AN: And the next chapter. Only one again, but when I can finish Chapter 10, I already have a few more ready to go. So next week I should be able to give you guys at least three chapters. So yay! The character in this story was submitted by JustGoingWithTheWind.

Chapter 9: Raye Lynn

Wednesday: hump day. It had officially been more than a week since school started, and still there was no rest for the weary. I had to wake up the same time as always. As I waited outside the shower for Thalia, I fell back asleep. After showering I made the mistake of looking at my refection. I looked awful. I'd been told that I was handsome, and that several girls would date me if I wanted to go for them. Looking at myself, I didn't see it. My eyes were sunken, my hair was a mess, and for some reason, the gray streak that had steadily been fading was starting to become more obvious again. I might have once been attractive, but no longer. The Curse of Achilles was sucking energy out of me every passing moment. I needed a week where I wouldn't have to fight so that I could just sleep and get my energy back.

That wasn't going to happen, of course. Every day had involved some kind of rescue mission, and I doubted that today would be any different. I poured my usual bowl of cereal and sat across from Thalia, staring blankly ahead, half asleep. I yawned wide, and as I looked back, I caught Thalia looking at me with worry.

"You sure you don't want to take today off, Percy?" Thalia asked. "You look terrible. You need to sleep, Percy. Stay home today. I can handle it, trust me."

The offer was tempting, and I almost took her up on it, but after last night, at the theatre, I knew that danger was always right around the corner, especially when you least expect it. And like hell was I going to make Thalia face it alone. I was tired, yes, but I was still powerful, and even if she denied it, Thalia needed me. "Not happening," I said. "Thanks for the offer, but I need to keep my grades up. And besides, where would you be without me? More often than not, I'm the one who finds the demigod. I'm like a magnet to the demigods."

"Percy…"

"I'm not arguing about this anymore," I said. "I'm going to school. Now, changing the subject, yesterday, remember that Crusty said he was only supposed to get you and Alex? They're not trying to kill me, at least not yet. So that begs the question, what are they planning to do to me?"

"I don't know, Percy," Thalia said. "But it's dangerous, whatever it is. And it involves the Curse of Achilles."

I nodded. "We need to end this soon, before everything falls apart."

Thalia grunted, then glanced at the clock. "Time to go. I'm driving, at least. No arguing with that."

I sighed. "Alright." Internally, I was actually really glad I wouldn't be driving. I handed Thalia the keys, and we loaded into the car. On the way to school, I fell asleep. And just when I needed some good, restful sleep, I had a dream.

And guess who? That's right, Kronos again. He looked younger still, and was starting to look a little familiar, though I couldn't place my finger on it. His close cropped hair was black, though the sides were gray. His silver goatee had a stipe of black down the middle. As for our location, we were yet again in the Olympian throne room. The hearth was dying down, casting an eerie glow on everything.

Kronos spoke to me. "Hello, Jackson. Good to see you again. I don't actually have long to talk to you this time, because you're going to be at your school soon, and will need to wake up. Don't worry, though, we'll talk again tonight. I thought I'd briefly explain the nature of time and my relationship to it."

"Why?" I asked. Unlike last time, I was able to speak.

"Tonight, you will see," Kronos said. "When we speak tonight, I want to be able to jump right into the conversation, rather than have to explain all this to you." He paused. "Time," he continued, "is not how you think of it. Time is not a linear progression of events. Time is actually…" he paused again. "I think that the Doctor from Doctor Who said it best. It's a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff."

"You seem to know an awful lot of pop culture references," I observed.

"Yes," Kronos sighed. "Feedback from possessing Luke again. But to continue, time is, quite simply, not a line. It twists and turns and occasionally it doubles back on itself." He paused. "As for me and my relationship to time, I can pause and slow time, and I can look back at the past, but the future is often veiled even to me. However, I occasionally get bursts of insight and can, for a brief instant, view the whole of time."

"Why does all this matter?" I asked. "And why are you telling me all this?"

"I have my reasons for everything," Kronos said. "We'll talk again tonight. For now, it's time that you woke up."

My eyes snapped open as we pulled into the school parking lot. I groaned. What could Kronos possibly be up to? How was he still alive? And where was he? Still, though, something stopped me from telling Thalia. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, but something told me that this was something I needed to handle myself. Something strange occurred to me. I hadn't even told Annabeth about this thing with Kronos.

If I told anyone, it was going to be her. But should I tell her? I didn't know if I should. Why was this happening to me? I was becoming all secretive.

We walked into homeroom, and I turned to Thalia. I had to find out what she thought, but I didn't want to give anything away. My wording would have to be very careful."Thalia, I have a question for you."

"Go ahead," she said.

"What do you think happened to Kronos?" I asked.

Thalia looked at me like I was a mental patient, but I needed to know, so I waited. After a pause, Thalia finally said, "I don't presume to know. When Luke was destroyed, any chance Kronos had for regaining a physical form was lost, but he is a Titan. He's immortal, he won't just die. His mind, his consciousness, is still alive, but I don't know what happens to consciounesses that become detached from their bodies. Why do you ask? Do you think that Kronos might be up to something?"

"No," I quickly lied. "I was just curious about your opinion."

Thalia looked at me strangely. "Alright, well, if you have anything else you're curious about, I'd be interested to know."

She suspected something, but I had to know. So Thalia knew next to nothing about Kronos. I sighed. Nobody else would have much of anything either, then, except maybe Annabeth, but she and I had already talked about that, in the days immediately following the invasion of Manhattan.

Helen then came on over the intercom. "Happy Wednesday everyone! We have officially made it more than a week of school! Incredible how fast time goes during school." She went on with normal announcements. I was starting to doze off, when Thalia hit me. I jerked awake to hear, "That's it. Have a fantastic day!"

"Why'd you hit me?" I asked.

"We may have a problem," Thalia said. "Helen used the Greek word for Salamander when she told us what was for lunch today."

"So?" I said. "We're eating slimy amphibians. Not the first time we've had something weird to eat at school."

Thalia shook her head. "Not the Salamanders that live in the water. The fire spirits, Salamanders. They live in fire, they're extremely hot, and some can even breathe fire. I think they're trying to capture multiple demigods at once during one of the lunch periods."

"So what do you want to do?" I asked.

"We have to stake out the cafeteria," Thalia said, "for all three of the lunch periods. That way, when something happens, we're there."

I nodded through a long yawn. "Alright. Where are we going to hide? Teachers won't take kindly to two kids skipping class to go to all three lunch periods."

Thalia looked thoughtful. "Well… who said that the same two kids would go to all three lunch periods?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Do you still have those hoodies in your locker?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but why?"

"Well I can go into my lunch period normally, and you can go into yours normally, but for the other two, we can use those extra hoodies. The lunch monitors don't pay much attention. They won't notice the same kid if that kid is wearing different clothes."

"Interesting," I said. "I like it. Let's do it."

Thalia smiled. "Let's go stuff those hoodies in your backpack."

Thalia was in the first lunch period, so she walked into the cafeteria in her usual clothes. I walked in two minutes later to avoid suspicion, a gray hoodie on, with the hood pulled down low over my face. I found a table near the back, where I sat down. Thalia sat half way across the room. We didn't want to be seen sitting together. I could see Thalia from where I sat, eating. I looked down at the empty table spot in front of me. We both agreed that if we plugged in our student IDs to get lunch in each period, that would be more suspicious than not eating, so we decided that we wouldn't eat when it wasn't our lunch period.

I was kind of bitter about that, because my stomach was growling angrily at me, not matter how much I told it that it wasn't time for us to eat. I sat silently, looking around the room, bored. Nothing was happening. I yawned widely, and before I knew it I was falling asleep. That was bad, because I awoke to screams as a fire blazed throughout the room.

I jerked awake. Thalia was across the room, trying to corral people out of the room. I looked around, trying to get my barings. And then I saw her. There was a girl trapped underneath a burning table. I leaped over a table and a line of fire running across the floor. I ripped the hoodie off, trying to prevent getting overheated. I reached the table. The fire licked at my skin, but I felt no pain. I hefted with all my might, and gasped, "Get out."

The girl did, scrambling out from underneath the burning table. I let the table slam down hard. My shirt was burning. I patted it out quickly. Thalia was by my side in an instant. "Good of you to join us," she said.

"Sorry," I said, guiltily.

The girl I had saved tried to stand up, but winced and fell to the floor. She was rather small for a high schooler. Her hair was very long, and so blonde that it was almost white. Her clothes were charred, but her shirt was a bright neon green and her skinny jeans were dark.

I was about to pick her up to carry her out, but the the door to the lunch line burst apart in a blast of fire. Through the door emerged three massive orange creates. They walked on all fours, and had orange and black skin. Each was about six feet long, and seemed to be the source of all the fire. I assumed that these were the Salamanders.

This presented a problem. I pulled Riptide out, and charge at the Salamanders. The first breathed fire at me, but I dived to the floor, narrowly avoiding the jet of flame. Then I was up on my feet. I stabbed the first Salamander between the eyes and it disintegrated. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying enough attention to my surroundings. I was blasted off my feet by the second Salamander. Thalia leaped over me, her spear expanding in her hand. She jabbed towards the second Salamander, but apparently the things were nimble too.

I climbed back to my feet, and ran towards the Salamander that Thalia was attacking, but then I heard a scream. I turned. The third Salamander was approaching the girl, who was trying to edge away, but was still stuck on the floor, her leg apparently broken. I had to think fast.

Then I remembered the first time I had wielded Riptide. I capped the sword, turning it back into a pen. Then I threw it at the girl, yelling, "Uncap it then swing!"

The girl caught it deftly, flicked the cap off with her thumb, then swung in an upward arc. A huge cut was sliced in the Salamander's head. It fell apart into a pile of sand.

She looked at me in amazement. "That was so cool. Who are you?"

"No time to talk," Thalia coughed, having deftly finished off the last Salamander. "We have to get out of here or we'll all die of smoke inhalation."

I dashed over to the girl and picked her up, first taking my sword from her and putting it safely in my pocket. Then we ran towards the windows. I burst through, Thalia right behind. We practically ran into the fire fighters.

"Whoa," one said. "We got you. Did you two save this girl?" I nodded. "Good job. You two are heroes. Now get behind the fire-line."

As we stood among the mass of students watching the fire fighters put out the flames, Thalia and I got acquainted with the girl.

"My name is Raye Lynn," she said. "Who are you two?"

I looked at Thalia. Raye was still in my arms, her leg being broken and all. Thalia had out the list of demigods. "Is that your full name?" she asked. "Are you sure your full name isn't Sunraye?"

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Don't call me that. My name is Raye Lynn. Last time someone called me Sunraye I tried to bite off their finger."

"Well, it's official," Thalia said. "Percy, we have ourselves a daughter of Apollo."

"Great," I said. "Well, Raye, I'm Percy, and that's Thalia. You know how you slashed that monster and dissolved it?"

She nodded.

"Do you want to learn how to do it even better?" Thalia asked.

Raye almost rolled out of my arms. "Yes! That was so cool!"

"Good," I said. "I'm pretty sure the rest of the school day is cancelled. Let's get you to the training place. But first, Thalia, we need to stop by a McDonalds, I'm starving."

That night when I got home, I pretty much went straight to bed, despite dreading another conversation with Kronos. I was so tired though, that I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. I actually managed to sleep peacefully for a while, but it didn't last. Soon I was dreaming. Again Kronos and I were in the Olympian Throne room. His appearance hadn't changed from earlier, but I suppose he hadn't had enough time.

"Hello, Jackson," he said. "Ready for part two of our conversation?"

"Get it over with," I said. "I need as much rest as I can get."

Kronos chuckled. "Headstrong as always I see. That won't help you much. On to business. Remember how I said that I occasionally get flashes of insight and can view the whole of time and the way it moves?"

"Yes," I said shortly.

"I recently had one. And what I discovered was quite interesting. My mother was an extremely powerful goddess, stronger perhaps than all the Titans combined. A force as powerful as her actually causes distortions in the time stream. Normally, she doesn't act on that ability, as it is very difficult, even for her, to control the wibbly wobbly nature of time.

"But she's made an exception. The moment when Luke killed himself to destroy me, the time stream shot off in a totally different direction than it should have. In short, what is happening now, should not be happening at all. This whole business with Helen and the 50 demigods at Goode, and even further than that, the events that will happen shouldn't occur. And, in fact, it won't ever have occurred.

"You see, my mother has manipulated the time stream in such a way that it is going to loop back to the moment that Luke stabbed himself, and everything that happened since then, will never have happened, and will never happen again."

I was very confused, and didn't understand most of what he was saying, but I knew one thing, Kronos was being surprisingly generous with dishing out information. "Why are you telling me all this?"

Kronos smiled. "He wants to know the catch. Spoken like a true business man. Very well, Jackson. I would like to show you a few images fist." The room around us blurred, until the scenery changed completely. We were on a mountaintop, over a high way. We were looking at… well… me. I was standing a few feet away, fending off two snake haired ladies with tusks. The scene dissolved again, and I saw myself walking through what looked like and Ancient Roman barracks. Again the scene changed, and we were standing on a barren field of ice, where I saw myself and two others approach a replica of the barracks from earlier made of ice.

Next I saw a giant flying ship, and I watched myself, a new tattoo on my arm, welcoming the ship. Next I saw Annabeth and I alone at night. We sat talking until we fell asleep. Then I saw myself at the bottom of a well with two others, different from the two from the ice field. The well was filling up with water, and I didn't seem able to breathe it. Lastly, I saw myself, holding desperately to Annabeth's hand as we dangled over a seemingly endless pit. Then, I let go, and Annabeth and I fell.

Kronos and I were back in the throne room. "What I just showed you," Kronos said, "is how the time stream should have continued from when Luke killed himself, and it is the way that the time stream will occur, if you do not take my offer. My offer is this. In that time stream, there is so much pain and suffering in store for you, but you could avoid it, if only you were able to remember what happens in the time stream you're in now. That is impossible though, because none of this will have ever happened, so how do you remember something that never happened. I am the Lord of Time though. I can remember things that never happened."

"What are you saying?"

"In due time," Kronos said. "Know this, though. If you want to save those you love, you will need to remember what happens in this time stream, because if you don't, then you will fail."

AN: Also, to let you guys know, I'm going to be in London for the entire second semester. I'll give you more information about that next week.