Chapter 7 - Terror
The trek from Yellowstone to Camp Jupiter would be long and tiring, but Nico knew they couldn't rush. Kronos would be watching for them and any single mistake would have his attention within mere minutes.
So, the demigods took their time. Still nymphs and other such beings ignored them. Some squeaked and vanished upon spotting them, clearly not wanting to get involved in any fight or possibly even a Titan following them and wanting to know where they went. Nico couldn't help but worry every time he noticed one of them; the Titans weren't above torture to get information from anyone and any one of those nature spirits would have the information the Titans sought. He clearly wasn't the only one, all of the other demigods looked terrified too as they muttered between themselves. Nico noted that a few were arguing between themselves.
"Hey."
Nico blinked, glancing to the side in surprise when he heard that voice. He cleared his throat. "Hi," he returned. He kept walking in silence for several more minutes, trying to keep an eye out for any monsters. Worryingly, there wasn't a sign of a single one in the area. Nico would've assumed they'd have at least come across one monster by now. With the number of demigods he had with them, it was only expected that monsters would come looking for them.
"You look like you need some rest," Will Solace finally continued.
Nico scowled, his hand tightening around the sword at his side. "I'm fine," he disagreed. "Everyone here needs to get somewhere safe. The longer we're out in the open without any protection or shields, it's just likely they'll find us. I'm the best one to lead us there."
"Yeah, but you're not going to be the best if you drop from exhaustion," Will pointed out.
"How are the others?" Nico asked instead.
"Oh, no. We're talking about you," Will said pointedly with a light scowl. "They're alive. But you've barely got any sleep the last few days."
"What, have you been watching me or something?" Nico asked. "I'm fine. We need to keep going," he insisted.
Nico held back his groan when Annabeth materialised at his side. "What's going on?" She asked.
Will pressed his lips together, ignoring the sharp glare Nico shot his way. "I'm trying to tell Nico to get some rest," he stated. "But he's refusing."
Annabeth turned then to look at Nico, probably noticing the dark bags under his eyes and the stiffness with which he moved. She frowned at him. "Will's right, Nico," she said. "You look like you need to rest."
"I'm fine," Nico insisted. "Okay?" He pointedly started walking faster, but both Will and Annabeth easily kept pace with him.
"If you're not tired, then it's something else," Will said. "You've been stressed ever since we started moving to this Roman Camp."
Nico pressed his lips together. "You have been watching me," he said, turning to glare at Will. "Would you stop?"
"It's my job, as the medic in our group, to make sure everyone's okay," Will stated. "You're not okay. So spill."
"Is it something about the Romans?" Annabeth asked.
Nico grit his teeth. "There's lots of things. Just like everyone else, I'm worried about the Titans. I'm worried about the Romans because every time Romans meet Greeks they start a Civil War, and I'm just going entirely off Hades' directions of how to find them, because I've never been there before. And that's not even mentioning that to get there we have to trek through some of the most heavily fortified areas in America now with the Titans taking up residence in California, which happens to be where the Romans are too." Will and Annabeth were both gaping at him, probably surprised with him saying so much, but Nico didn't care. "And then there's the fact that Percy's disappeared since we left the Labyrinth and there's been no sign at all if he's still alive or not."
Annabeth stared blankly at Nico, some form of realisation in her grey eyes. "And Thalia and Clarisse," she stated flatly. "And Hades. They're all gone too."
Nico stared back at her. "Them too," he agreed. Though honestly he didn't care so much about them. The fact that Hades hadn't brought them out of the Labyrinth meant that something had happened to them. Percy would be in trouble, probably dead - though Nico wasn't sure with his Blessing from the River Styx how likely that would be. "I just - something's going to go wrong," he said. "There's too many things going on that can go wrong." A chill ran down Nico's spine, like fingers tracking down his back. Nico resisted the urge to turn around - he was sure he felt several pairs of eyes on him. "We're in the middle of nowhere with nothing to stop any of the Titans from noticing us, but we're still not being attacked. Isn't that weird to any of you?"
"I've been trying not to think about it," Will slowly said.
"The nature spirits are hiding, they're not going to be saying anything," Annabeth added.
The arguments behind Nico suddenly grew louder. He frowned, turning to face the others just as one of the demigods threw a punch. His eyes widened. Will shouted and threw himself back at the other demigods, planting himself between them only to be punched in the face himself.
"Hey!" Annabeth yelled, immediately moving in to back up Will. Nico raised an eyebrow when she brandished her dagger. "What in Hades is the matter with you all?"
"We shouldn't be here," one of the demigods snapped. "It's just - we're done. It's over. The Titans have won, Olympus has gone - and where the fuck are the gods?" He demanded. "Even Hades has left now! Percy - Percy's gone, and so have Thalia and Clarisse, they were the strongest of us and they're just gone now. What's the point anymore?"
Will spat blood out of his mouth, clutching at his nose. Blood dropped from beneath his fingers. "Maybe for everyone who's still alive?" He demanded. "If we give up, then who's fighting for them?"
"The rest of America seems happy having the Titans rule them," the demigod grumbled.
Annabeth shook her head slightly. "There has to be more behind that. The mortals wouldn't support the Titans."
Will nodded slightly. "The Titans wouldn't have any problems lying to them," he agreed.
"Who cares? We're alone and we're fucked!" The demigod glared in Nico's direction. "And all we've got is him to help us!"
Several other demigods joined in too, clamouring and complaining. Nico grimaced. He tightened his grip on his sword, trying to keep himself calm. His own heart was racing, palms sweaty. Nico just wanted to crawl under a rock and wait all of it out, wait until someone else took down the Titans.
Nico clenched his jaw. He wasn't the same as Percy, he couldn't lead the demigods. Who was he kidding thinking he could? Nico shut his eyes, taking a deep breath. His hands were shaking - the fear which had seized him was unnatural. "Wait," Nico said loudly, cutting through the argument. He swallowed, trying to ignore the terror which had slowly crept up on him and crawled up his throat. "There's someone else here," he said, thinking of the eyes he felt earlier. "We're not alone," Nico said. "Someone's watching us."
The demigods paused as they looked back at Nico. Annabeth was tense as she turned to scan the area around them. Nico already was, but he couldn't spot anything immediately obvious.
"It's too quiet," Annabeth murmured. "Where are the birds? The animals? There should be some." Of course, Nico privately thought either his own presence or all the arguing would have scared anything away, but he kept that to himself. Clearly there was already anti-Nico sentiment because of his parentage and Nico didn't want to make that any worse.
Nico wasn't the only one shaking out of fear. He actually seemed to be the most capable out of them all - spending time exploring the Underworld probably helped. Nico slowly unsheathed his sword, the ring of the Stygian Iron blade against the sheath seeming to make a nearby presence pause briefly.
Nico's skin crawled. He narrowed his eyes, scanning the area around them. "Who are you?" He demanded loudly.
Yellowstone around them was deadly silent. Nico wasn't sure if that was just him being the son of Hades anymore. He shifted his grip on his sword, wiping his sweating palms as he tried to focus past his racing heart.
This fear was unnatural.
Nico's heart crawled into his throat as he spotted two red eyes in the darkness a few dozen yards away from him. Nico scrambled to raise his sword at the creature. "Hey - back off," he snapped, voice shaking slightly.
His yell caught the attention of the others and there was a scramble for weapons to be bared in this creature's direction as the demigods closed ranks around the injured. There was a quiet, breathy laugh which rippled around them. "Little demigods. You're far from the safety of Olympus."
Nico tightened his grip around his sword, knuckles whitening. "Who are you?" He repeated sharply.
Nico felt his trembling steady slightly, at least until there was a whisper next to his ear which made his heart jump. "You're a long way from the Underworld, son of Hades."
Nico spun and swung the blade, but it cut through only air. There was a second pair of red eyes watching him now, clearly the voice which had spoken in his ear, from much closer than the others. Nico swallowed, glancing between the two beings. Realisation dawned on him, the overwhelming fear which had gripped the demigods making it all the more obvious. The two were clearly both immortals. "Phobos and Deimos," he guessed.
Both pairs of eyes blinked. Nico jumped when he saw a figure stalking through the shadows, eyes narrowing. For the first time since he could remember, Nico was scared of the dark.
"It has been a long time since there has been no one whom tries to stop us from terrorising mortals," one of the brothers mused.
"The Titan King has given no such order," the other mused. "In fact - he has said the exact opposite."
Nico shook his head slightly. "No," he firmly said.
"No? You are nothing compared to Perseus Jackson. He will always be greater than you. You are only the son of Hades, forever the outcast. Untrusted. Forgotten. Yet you expect to be able to match a son of Poseidon?"
"You wish to fight the Titans, little cousin? Let us show you the consequences of your rebellion."
Nico gaped, suddenly seeing Percy curled in a corner, covered in his own blood and in dozens of cuts and wounds – stuck in a tiny cell, tears cutting through the blood and dirt on his cheeks. Nico's heart lurched, and the image he saw changed: Will, his eyes wide and unseeing as he lay dead from an arrow to the heart, one body among hundreds on a raging battlefield beneath a burning sky. Nico gaped, staggering back. "No!" He yelled, the earth rumbling beneath his feet.
The twin sons of Ares cackled. "Careful, little demigod! You don't want to get the Titan Lord's attention!" One of them mocked.
Nico sharply pulled back, controlling his raging powers to try to stop himself from giving their location away. The thought of Kronos finding them all because of Nico – "You will give your friends away," Phobos whispered suddenly in Nico's ear. "You will get them all killed."
Nico was too scared to think straight. His Stygian Iron sword dropped from his hand, and he noticed Deimos across from him immediately grin.
"Nico, wait!" He heard Will scream.
But before the god could move in, Nico had already fled through the shadows.
He stumbled when he landed, immediately having to scramble out of the way of a car which beeped it's horn and swerved to avoid him. Nico stared around, noticing that he'd appeared on the side of an near-empty road. There were only a few headlights and taillights visible in the darkness. He froze when he saw them, instantly recalling the two gods of fear he'd just encountered. The unnatural fear and terror was fading quickly now, only leaving Nico shivering from the cold.
The son of Hades had only shadow-travelled out of panic. He didn't know where he was and darkly cursed Phobos and Deimos. He was tired and could've easily curled up on the side of the road and slept there, but knew it was a bad idea. A monster would easily stumble across him and take him for an easy meal.
Nico sighed when he realised he didn't even have his sword. He'd left the other demigods – but really, it wasn't like they'd care. They'd made it more than clear that he wasn't welcome amongst them even two years ago, he wasn't surprised that he wasn't welcome now either. So Nico started down the road, not knowing where he was going, but hoping it wouldn't get him killed.
He didn't know if the visions that Deimos had showed him were real or not. The sight of Percy covered in his own blood – Nico stopped short. Of course that one wouldn't be real – Percy had the Curse of Achilles now, he couldn't be wounded unless his Achilles Heel was hit. Nico scowled, angry that he'd been tricked by the two gods. But he supposed he shouldn't be so surprised, not after the last few horrible months he'd been having. Nico had barely slept or eaten, he'd been trying to lead the other demigods for days now and hearing comments about them not being able to trust him the entire time. No one knew what had happened in the Labyrinth with Hades, Percy, Thalia and Clarisse, but it seemed they'd all come to their own conclusions.
Being a son of Hades automatically put suspicion on him along with his father.
Nico stared at the billboards on the road in front of him, finding himself at the entrance to a town. He ignored the sign, only noting that he had shadow-travelled to Connecticut from Yellowstone and really needed to sleep somewhere. The second billboard was clearly new from the look of it, even more so since it was broadcasting 'Wanted' images clearly distributed by the Titans. It was the image that had flashed onto the screen that caught Nico's attention, since he was certain that Rachel Elizabeth Dare wasn't a demigod – yet clearly Kronos didn't seem to care. The Titans had offered an extortionate reward for her information leading directly to her capture. He'd met her briefly himself, but not for very long. Still, she'd been nice to him.
Nico shook his head slightly, not understanding why the Titans might want to take a mortal alive. Whatever the reason, Kronos clearly seemed to think she was important. Nico pressed his lips together.
He'd fled from Phobos and Deimos, a coward, and left the other demigods to survive on their own. Clearly, that had been the intention of the two gods, since the other demigods hadn't been targeted by them. Though Nico knew Annabeth and Will would be able to look after them fine, they didn't need him.
The son of Hades sighed. He didn't have a weapon anymore, but that was fine. He'd manage without one. Nico turned off the road, heading away from the bright lights of the town and into the forest surrounding.
Once he'd made it some distance away from the road and civilisation, he cupped his hands to his mouth, "Mrs. O'Leary!"
Rachel didn't belong at the top of the Titan Hit-List. Nico watched as the shadows thickened and a giant, shaggy hellhound bounded out. As she barked at him in greeting and eagerly licked his face, tail thumping against the ground and knocking a smaller tree over, Nico grimly thought back to the words of the demigods while they'd been under the influence of the two gods they'd just had an encounter with.
"What's the point anymore?"
Will had been right. Not that it was surprising Nico much, if there was one thing he'd figured out lately it was that the son of Apollo was usually right. If the demigods didn't fight the Titans, then who would?
Percy was scared – terrified. The guards dragged him with no way to go but where they wanted. It was a march of many minutes, half-dragged through the great halls of Othrys with giant walls and alcoves looming down over him. The ceiling stretched up so far above him that it may as well be clouds. Staggered at intervals up both sides of the walls were balconies looking into the massive corridor and Percy's stomach churned as he saw probably hundreds of faces peering down at him with the two guards. Sharp bitterness rose into his throat and he blinked back tears – so much for being a hero. Now here he was, captured, dragged through Othrys for all the inhabitants to watch. The sheer size of the fortress he was trapped inside was staggering, Percy couldn't even begin to figure it out. Panic bubbled up into his throat and Percy shoved back against the guards, twisting with his heart racing to shove his bound hands into one of the guard's chests. The guard staggered back in his heavy armour, but as Percy tried to step forward to follow him, the chains around his ankles pulled short as the same time as a heavy blow fell across his shoulders. He stumbled, and that was all that was needed for him to fall. Percy yelped as he fell backwards and landed on his ass on the freezing marble floor. The murmurs from those watching increased and Percy squeezed his eyes shut as he heard a few laughs too.
Percy grunted as he was hauled upright, the guards not allowing him to gain his footing before dragging him forward. He tried to get his feet back under him, but one of the guards noticed and blocked him without even breaking his stride.
Percy tasted blood in his mouth when they turned a final corner and Percy noticed the massive gleaming doors in the distance that were slowly approaching. Percy's chains rattled as he shook, out of terror or the chill he wasn't sure. He squeezed his eyes shut as the guards finally halted a few dozen yards from the doors, heart hammering away at his chest. Percy worried that the guards could hear it too – he wouldn't be surprised if they could.
The demigod stared down at the marble floor beneath his feet, breath coming out in sharp, misty breaths. The giant doors before him slowly first only a fraction and then the shimmering golden doors groaned open, and Percy grunted as a rush of warm air washed over him. It made him stop shivering briefly from the cold, but he'd be lying if he claimed he wasn't trembling in fear.
The guards began dragging Percy forward again and his heart rose into his chest. He felt like throwing up all over the polished marble floors of the throne room. Percy glanced up, and was taken by surprise by the length of the throne room. It was the same one he'd seen in his dreams, with Kronos, Hyperion and Koios discussing Percy's appearance in the capital. He'd underestimated the size when in his dream – it was far larger than Olympus' throne room. Greek fire torches cast an eerie green glow over the black marble, the green tinge reflecting off the walls and floor. Great marble arches soared overhead, and when Percy painfully craned his neck up to follow them higher he noted the ceiling of the throne room. He couldn't help but gape at the dark expanse above him, the ceiling either heavily magicked or simply so massive that he couldn't make it out.
Finally, Percy's gaze dropped from the ceiling, and he set his gaze towards the dais at the far end. Their movement forwards was slow but steady, but Percy caught only a glimpse of the figure seated in a throne at the far end before one of the guards grabbed the back of his head and shoved it down harshly, making Percy hiss at the jerk on his neck. "Show some respect to your King," the other guard spat angrily. A quiet chuckle reached Percy's ears then, and immediately his thoughts flashed back to the Titans' attack at Camp – the laugh in Percy's mind as Kronos had mocked him after the Titans had killed Hestia. Percy shut his eyes, his blood running cold despite the warmth that was clearly coming off Kronos and heating the throne room around him.
It was at least a minute later that the guards suddenly halted, jerking Percy to a stop. Percy opened his eyes just in time as he was dropped, grunting as he landed heavily on the marble floor.
He shut his eyes again, letting his head rest against the cold floor as he heard movement, someone stirring slightly. "Leave us," a voice from in front of Percy ordered.
Kronos. Not that Percy was expecting anyone else, but it still stunned him to hear the Titan King's voice so close to him. It was one thing through a dream, another entirely to be standing – lying, in Percy's case – right in front of him. Percy squeezed his eyes shut tighter as he heard the footsteps of the guards fade away and the doors open and close behind them again with a heavy thud.
Percy took a deep breath, slowly pulling his legs up underneath him and sitting up as he opened his eyes. He glanced up briefly, unable to hide his nerves as he sat up Kronos was watching him the way a hawk intently watched a little mouse, lips quirking up slightly as Percy continued, aiming to stand on his own two feet. Percy didn't even get halfway before an immense force crashed into the back of his legs, sending him falling forward onto his knees before the Titan Lord with a pained cry.
Kronos smiled. The Titan was still studying him, so Percy took the opportunity to reply in kind. He noted the smoke curling from Kronos' body, the source of the warmth in the throne room. He was wearing a white shirt and, surprisingly, a pair of jeans. It looked so out of place on the ancient throne he was seated on that for a moment, Percy was taken aback. But he quickly noticed the burning patches of skin, red and raw in some places and half stripped of the outer layer of skin in others. The smell of burning flesh stuck in Percy's throat, along with his rising horror.
What had Percy been told? That Kronos would burn through Luke's body. Percy felt sick, watching as a crack opened in the skin along Kronos' forearm, glowing brightly in the fissure as the skin either side curled over and burnt. The Titan Lord didn't even seem to care or couldn't feel it, since he made no reaction.
The Titan Lord was literally slowly burning Luke's body away. From the looks of the mottled patches of burnt skin, there wasn't much left of the body that Kronos had inhabited.
"You have disappointed me, Perseus Jackson," Kronos finally spoke. Percy bit his tongue, holding himself back from telling the Titan that he didn't really care about his opinion. "I was very much looking forward to hunting you down for longer, but it seems you were caught too quickly." He seemed genuinely disappointed with Percy's failure, which Percy couldn't quite figure out.
"Take off these chains and fight me yourself then," Percy retorted sharply, lifting his bound wrists to Kronos as an invitation.
Kronos' smile did reach his eyes then as the Titan Lord chuckled. Percy swallowed back nausea as the movement caused a fleck of burnt skin to abruptly turn to ash on Kronos' forehead. "Both of us know the outcome of that. It would simply be a waste of our effort to retrieve you alive. If I had wanted you dead, Koios would have killed you in the Labyrinth."
Percy narrowed his eyes at him. The Titan's presence was far, far stronger than it had been when they'd come face-to-face on Olympus. Percy had no doubts that if Kronos genuinely did want to kill him, then Percy would have died in that Labyrinth – it didn't bode well that he was still alive to speak to Kronos now.
Kronos just settled back in his throne with a lazy smile. "You see, Perseus Jackson," Kronos said, and Percy held back the urge to correct him with 'Percy', "I could kill you. But that will inspire your friends. You and your half-bred friends seem to think death means their lives are suddenly worth something more than merely pawns." Kronos tapped a finger against the armrest of his throne, the constant sound irritating to Percy's ears. The Titan Lord's smile turned wicked as he leant forward. "Fortunately, our coliseum is soon to be completely rebuilt. It has been some time since it was last used, but I am sure everyone will still enjoy the odd execution between the fights we will hold for them. Of course," Kronos added, smile growing crooked, "we are rather short of gladiators to fight for now – but that can be easily remedied, no? I am sure you would not mind."
Percy gaped at him. Percy had genuinely expected that he'd be executed, that Kronos just wanted to do it himself. But making him fight in a coliseum for the entertainment of everyone? Percy knew they'd force him to fight and kill his own friends. Kronos just raised an eyebrow at him, clearly amused. "No," Percy said flatly, wildly – feeling nauseous at the thought. "I won't do it."
Kronos didn't grow angry, if anything he just seemed even more entertained. "You do not have a choice in the matter," Kronos dismissed. "You will fight and kill in our coliseum, or else you and your friends will suffer the consequences immensely."
There was no warning, no movement from Kronos before a force slammed into Percy's face and sent him flying backwards. The weight behind the blow could have easily snapped Percy's nose if he didn't have the Curse of Achilles. He ended face-down after having been flung nearly halfway back down the massive throne room. Percy struggled to breathe, the force having winded him. At least the Curse of Achilles prevented his broken nose from breaking skin. Percy gasped, struggling to stand against the weight pushing down on him. He glanced towards the centre throne to see Kronos was simply staring at him blankly, smile gone, but other than that he still hadn't twitched a muscle. He didn't move even when the chains suddenly jerked and Percy was wrenched forward along the floor by his limbs, eyes widening as he approached the dais at dizzying speeds.
A garbled mix between a scream and a gasp were torn from Percy's throat as his ribs were driven straight into the edge of the raised platform. All the breath was driven from his lungs and he struggled to even gasp in a breath, half curled up over the dais. He chanced a glance towards Kronos, gritting his teeth when he saw the smile was back on his face as he watched Percy struggle to breathe.
"The good thing about that Curse of yours is that I can throw you around as much as I please, and it will not kill you… as long as you do not hit your back." Kronos tilted his head to the side. "You will begin to regret that you cannot die, I believe." Percy just groaned, still unable to breathe. He just couldn't believe this had happened – he was supposed to save Olympus, to kill Kronos, but now the Titans were going to force him to fight for their entertainment.
"You have no choice, Perseus. Olympus is destroyed, your gods are defeated; your friends are on the run and they know that they cannot hide forever," Kronos summed up. "And your parents – unfortunate, no?" Percy's gaze flashed with hatred at the jab towards his mother and Paul.
"You killed them," he accused wildly, gaze dark.
Kronos smiled. "Me? No. I do not kill mortals in my way. They are not worth the swing of my blade. There are others whom can deal with pests for me."
The demigod let out a wordless cry of anger directed towards Kronos, furious with his dismissal of Sally's and Paul's deaths. Percy's thoughts flashed then to Rachel, remembering how she'd flung that hairbrush at Kronos, and wondering what the Titans might want to do to her. She'd definitely been in his way. A chill tracked down Percy's spine, like a cold breath on the back of his neck. His gaze cut up towards Kronos to find that the Titan's eyes had narrowed drastically, his burning gold eyes suddenly angered and sharp – yet also satisfied. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare," Kronos mused, tone tinged with anger. Percy realised with mounting horror that Kronos had just plucked the name straight out of his head.
Kronos' eyes flashed a wicked smile in Percy's direction. "Even your thoughts are no longer your own, Perseus. Something you would do well to remember from here," he said, his tone clearly warning Percy against rebellion. But the smouldering fire of hope was a difficult one to stamp out, and the Titan would clearly be more than aware of this.
"Try all you want," Percy finally said with a fierce glare. "It doesn't matter how much you try, how many of us you kill or capture. We're never going to stop trying to take you down, I swear it on the Styx." Thunder roared overhead, a small crack running down one of the walls of the throne room in response to the loud rumble. Clearly, Othrys was still rebuilding itself. But it only seemed to amuse Kronos even further and the Titan Lord hardly cast a glance towards his cracked wall.
"Try all you wish. You will simply drive you and your friends into extinction. Do try to sleep," Kronos added after casually threatening to wipe demigods out of existence as the throne room doors rumbled open. "You will be needing it for your coming battle."
The guards re-entered, grabbing hold of Percy after each bowing to Kronos and then marching Percy towards the exit. Percy clenched his fists, eyes burning as he squeezed them shut. His ribcage ached from the collision with the dais.
"Oh, and Perseus?" The guards froze at hearing Kronos' voice, and Percy stiffened. He didn't look back, blankly staring ahead down the corridor in front of him. "You should also consider that perhaps you are not the only demigod we have retrieved alive. It would not do well for your actions to inadvertently harm them."
The threat was more than obvious – if Percy stepped out of line, his friends would suffer for it. Kronos couldn't dramatically hurt Percy because of the Curse of Achilles, but he could definitely hurt Percy's friends instead. The guards continued when it became clear that Kronos would say no more, and Percy felt a tear tracking down his cheek when the doors slammed shut behind him.
I genuinely don't know how this one turned out so long (may be the longest chapter EVER for me at a ridiculous 5200 words). The Percy and Kronos scene was done first... and then Nico's scene just didn't want to end.
In case anyone is confused, the Percy and Kronos scene takes place literally an hour or two before the Nico one.
Guest: Kronos is burning through Luke's body. It's mentioned more in this chapter. Hades... I'm saying nothing for now. He should be in the next chapter though. XD I've jut got back in the mood for writing haha - no guns, I promise! (Though with how long it's been I wouldn't be surprised if some people wanted to get them out lol)
Basileos: Hades, you had one job! Yeah XD. Gotta love Hades though!
Guest: I hope Kronos was good enough for you! Took like 10 days... and it may be the longest chapter I have ever written XD.
thegoldraven: RIP Percy, yeah. Hopefully Othrys and Kronos were up to your expectations in this chapter!
