A short and sad chapter, this one is. It had tears welling in my eyes writing it. I hope you don't cry too much because of it.

Chapter 24:

Good Night Buddy

In the black and grey that surrounded him, he could hear someone cursing softly nearby and someone else whimpering in the distance. He didn't think much about it, though. The way he saw things, he had been tricked into losing his best friend for his worst enemy. How could he have possibly been so stupid? But then his mind would think about the promise that he had made to the dying enemy in the attempts to try and make him less of an enemy.

Again, he cursed himself. He should have known that second chances in life were rarely given… to mortals at least. That meant that second chances for demigods were even rarer. And life and death were like two peas in a pod, like Travis and Connor Stoll; you couldn't take one and not take the other.

Now he realised - found out the hard way - that in order to give life, you must first take life.

Now he found out that he was more like Kronos than he thought he was.

But why couldn't he have been the sacrifice instead? Why did it have to be one of his best friends? By lengthening Magnar's life, why did he have to shorten Buddy's? Why did time have to be so cruel like that? What did he ever do to lose something as important as the dog that he had saved months ago from death? These thoughts buzzed through his head as the black and grey mist gave way to a dim bronze glow within darkness.

" Hey, kid. Wake up." Someone ordered.

Slowly, unwillingly, Jaden opened his eyes only to find himself staring into the hazel eyes of Magnar Forza. It took him a few moments to get his head around the fact that Magnar was looking at him – during which he closed his eyes again – before he sat up right with his eyes nearly bulging out of his head. Of course, he suffered afterwards when he was suddenly hit by a massive wave of nausea that had him heaving.

" Okay. You can stop that now." Magnar ordered from beside him. " You're lucky I didn't slice you in two, sitting up like that. I said you can stop trying to be sick!"

Despite the rough talk, Jaden was surprised to find that Magnar was actually trying to get him over the nauseous feeling… although it did feel rather awkward and tense when the older boy was rubbing his back. In the end, despite Magnar's attempts to help, it was a couple of deep breaths that managed to settle Jaden's head and stomach. Finally free of the dizzy spell, the younger boy slowly turned to the son of Ares.

" You… you died." He said.

" So? I'm back. And without a shirt. That was my best shirt too, you little punk!" Magnar growled in reply.

" I promised I'd save you. I promised on the River Styx. Your life was more important than your shirt. You can torment me for the rest of my life now."

" I think I'll do that. But you might want to get rid of that thing first before Chiron sees it."

Jaden followed the direction in which Magnar was throwing his thumb and felt his heart skip a beat. His dog was lying on its side on the side of the hill. What was once blue brindle and white fur was now black burned skin. Red raw wounds laced Buddy's back and side like fast flowing rivers of blood. Buddy was struggling to breathe despite trying to get up and see his master. It was clear that he was in pain.

" Buddy!" Jaden called, tears springing into his eyes as he tried to get up.

Magnar was just able to catch him before he fell face first into the ground. " What the Hades are you trying to do, kid?"

" Why can't I get up?"

" You're too weak."

" I am not weak!"

Neither of the two knew what happened, but somehow Jaden managed to find the strength to get up and walk over to his dog. Just like when he was walking to the television in his grandparents' house, it felt like his legs had been pumped with celestial bronze. But, finally, he collapsed beside Buddy, tears now falling down his cheeks at the close up view of the lightning strike. Seeing the tears, Buddy tried to sit up and lick them clean, but it only put him in more pain and, with a yelp, he was forced back to the ground where he was left to whimper.

" Shh, Buddy. It's okay. It's okay, I'm here." Jaden soothed, his voice tight in his throat, as he stroked the pitbull's head.

Looking down, Jaden noticed that Buddy was having troubles breathing. He also couldn't help but notice the amount of yellow stuff starting to form inside the massive wound. Seeing the infection seemed to make things final for the boy. He was losing his dog… and it was initially his fault. If it weren't for his promise on the River Styx, Buddy would still be healthy and free of pain.

The thought drove Jaden to shut his eyes and wrap his arms around Buddy's head. And despite the small whimper in his ear and the rough but gentle motion of Buddy's tongue on the side of his face, he couldn't stop the cries from escaping. But he knew what he had to do. Despite how much pain he was going to be in, it was the best thing for Buddy.

With tears still streaming down his face, he dug his fingers into the dog's short fur, relishing the touch as he sang his dog to sleep with the lullaby that his mother had once sung to him. He didn't know how he remembered the lullaby 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' after years of not hearing it at all, but he used it to his advantage. The lullaby seemed to distract his heart from the very thing that his mind was concentrating on.

So it was that Buddy slipped into death's awaiting arms, aided by his master's power over time and comforted by the lullaby his master sang.