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This chapter's going to yama's warrior, tlover13, ausumist, and Frankie-JaymeENGLISHPROUD. You guys totally take the cake, all of it!

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The countdown begins…

* * * * * * * * * *

I tipped my head, cupping my right ear. I couldn't have heard right.

"What?"

"Alyssa-"

"Don't say it again! How the heck do you even know who Alyssa is?" I felt anger rising up in me. I hadn't seen Alyssa in forty years, and this must be some kind of welcome back present. I could imagine her cold voice saying "Surprise! I asked the guy you like to kill you for your birthday. Hope you like it!"

I shook my head.

"Alyssa asked me to do it. Something to do with a prophecy. Bianca had to come back. It was important somehow."

"Are you lying to me?" The only way he could have known about Alyssa was if he had heard me talking in my sleep, and believe me, I do do that a lot. That was awkward. I'd have to be careful what I said in the future.

"No!" Nico protested, his eyes widening. Somehow, somewhere deep down, I knew he had to be telling the truth. This was just too Alyssa-ish for her not to be involved. "Listen. All I got was a note saying to meet her somewhere. I went, and all she said was that I had to take you to the Underworld and trade for Bianca. And she told me to tell you that she and Max say hi, whoever Max is."

Despite myself, a sudden grin spread across my face. "That is sooo totally Alyssa."

He nodded. "So you believe me?"

"Duh. So, um…" I looked down at my transparent self. "What are we going to do with me?"

Nico had a sparkle in his eyes as he looked at me, his expression thoughtful in a way that scared me.

"I think I know."

* * * * * * * * * *

The wind brushed along his wings as he beat them frantically. He was falling, falling in the darkness that ate him up as he plummeted. The ground was rushing up to meet him, and Ace could already feel the wealth of pain it would bring him. He closed his eyes for the contact, the sudden death that would await him…

"Dad!"

Sparkles was suddenly floating in the space next to Ace, his legs kicking in every direction possible, his wings fluttering. Ace pulled up out of the dive twitching.

"What?"

Sparkles turned. "I don't think we can afford to give Rylin any more time."

Ace followed Sparkles' gaze.

A huge tornado was swirling on the horizon, far, far away. But Ace could still see the damage it was dealing, the houses it was crushing, and the people it was killing. It was the biggest he had seen in his immortal lifetime. No normal tornado could be that powerful. And at the center of all the turmoil, if he squinted, he could see…

"Typhon." Sparkles said. "He's back."

Ace kicked out at the air angrily. He buffeted the air with his wings, Sparkles trembling like a leaf in the aftershock as the wind generated off of Ace's wings blew over him.

"Blackjack. We have to warn him!" Sparkles whinnied, backing away. Blackjack was his uncle and Ace's brother, the one who lived at Camp Halfblood with the demigods. The black Pegasus was already hovering excitedly, facing east.

Ace looked down at the cave mouth that Rylin had disappeared into.

I'll be back to rescue you, Rylin. Ace vowed. We all will.

And then, for the first time in centuries, he turned his back on the only one who had ever called him friend.

* * * * * * * * * *

"I hope you know what you're doing." His brother murmured quietly beside him. The leaves crackled gently under their feet as they moved quickly through the forest, the trees whipping by. He halted and stared at his brother in surprise.

"Of course I do, Ben," Max Perry said.

"Trusting Lyss has always been difficult for me," Ben explained uneasily. "Especially when she tried to kill Rylin all those years ago." He leaned against a tree, his expression turning to one of anxiety. "Let me ask you this; are we doing the right thing?"

Max's face was in shadow, so he couldn't quite tell, but it looked like it shifted into a smile. Ben still felt the unease deep inside himself, even at his brother's reassurance. This was Max's first day back, and they had spent an eon apart. What if he didn't know Max as well anymore? What if he was following Max to his own death and the destruction of the world?

"We have to be, Ben. This is what the prophecy was about all those years ago, before me and before you, before Lyss, and even before Rylin was born. Kronos will keep going until we stop him." Max's eyes glowed dimly. "And we both know that the only ones who can do it are us."

Ben felt like protesting, fighting hard against what he knew was their destiny. But he had long ago learned not to fight what you couldn't help. And this was just one of those things that was so far out of his reach that he had no control. But the thought that one of them would never return continued to haunt him in the corners of his mind. He may not trust Lyss, but he trusted Max. He would bring all of them out of this safely, of that Ben was sure. However, now wasn't the time for doubts…

He pulled the sword from its sheath, the blade glimmering in the moonlight.

"For Rylin."

"For Rylin." Max agreed.

A second later all that was left of the two sons of Zeus was a rustling of leaves that stirred in their wake as they raced.

To save a dying world.

* * * * * * * * * *

Peleus looked up at the quickly darkening sky, smoke trailing out of his nose along the ground. The dragon was curled up around the tree that had once been Thalia, daughter of Zeus. The Golden Fleece hung above his head, casting a golden light that radiated softly over the guardian as he sat watching, just as he had for the last three years.

The dragon wasn't fazed by the peacefulness of the camp. The Horse-Man had warned him of the Time Keeper that would attempt to cross the border, of the horrid scent of monsters that would wreath about his head and cause him to gag. Peleus was as ready as he would ever be, and that, that was what caused the problem in the first place.

Suddenly mist covered everything, obstructing the dragon's vision and ominously blocking out the moon. The Golden Fleece seemed to blow in the breeze.

There was no breeze.

"Sleep, young guardian. All of this will be over soon." A voice said soothingly, echoing from everywhere and nowhere.

Sleep, sleep. Voices whispered gently, only to him. Sleep.

Peleus obediently lowered his head. Then froze as he saw the figure appear out of the mist, stepping delicately toward him and the tree. A cloak extended down to the ground, giving the figure the appearance of gliding just a few inches above the ground. Peleus's heart pounded hard in his chest. He roared threateningly, forcing himself to stand up, his legs trembling with the effort. His tail whipped angrily across the ground, thudding against the tree.

"I said sleep!" The voice roared. Peleus crumpled to the ground, his golden coat speckled with dust. The Golden Fleece stood guard over him now, its faint light all that protected everything that he had ever known. The dragon was asleep before he hit the ground.

The figure stepped over him, reaching for the Fleece. It slid quietly and helplessly from the branch into the hands of the Titan.

"Here we come, Chiron." Kronos whispered.

* * * * * * * * * *

And so the Guardian falls.