Welcome.
This is the thirteenth chapter of Falling Star. I love it, Rylin loves it, and Nico loves it.
Kronos doesn't.
Ho hum. I don't care about your opinion anyway, loser. Get outta here before I kick your butt.
Yeah. Sorry about that. Anyway, here I go. The Countdown has started, people.
Disclaimer: I'll get back to you on that.
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"Out of my way!" The Lord of Time snarled, practically kicking the telekhine out of his way. Raw anger roiled through him. Out of all his brothers and sisters, it was him that always ended up with the incompetent ones…
"But sir!" The telekhine squeaked hastily, quickly scurrying back out of hitting range, "The enemy approaches! None of our scouts have returned with their reports yet-"
"What a surprise," Kronos said savagely under his breath, his fingers itching to pull out Backbiter right then and there.
The telekhine plowed on, either completely ignorant, or filled with a wary terror. "-and we are currently having problems with our defense-"
"Like what?" Kronos' tone was quiet.
The telekhine turned a sickly shade of green. "The girl is approaching, accompanied by the son of Zeus and the son of Hades." He watched the Titan carefully- there seemed to be no suspicious signs of his oncoming rage- and minutely relaxed. It was the wrong thing to do.
"What are you waiting for? Get back out there!" Kronos growled menacingly, thrusting the telekhine out of the shelter of the trees. He was immediately set upon by a demigod, who proceeded to neatly slice him in half, the dust scattering on the wind.
The Titan surveyed the battlefield, satisfied; the demigods were being overrun, and it was about time for him and his siblings to interfere.
His eyes fell on the horizon, and he was filled with a sudden longing desire that bit angrily at his self-control. He wanted to go out now, wanted to find her; she was the only one who could fill the empty part of his heart, the part that fought inside him. Only she could fulfill his desire for a worthy opponent in battle, fill his lust for bloodshed.
And the fact that she was his sister made him look forward to it more than ever.
The Lord of Time focused his gaze on the rising sun, willing time to speed up. All the figures around him froze as he slowly raised his hand toward the sun, reaching out like he was attempting to pluck the very sun from where it was slipping out into the sky. She would come, he knew.
They always did.
* * * * * * * * * *
The entrance of the gods was terrific.
At least I thought so, anyway. Max and Nico didn't show a single shred of incredulity on their faces as they stood on either side of me. A feeling of déjà vu rocked my head, the memory of the long ago battle of the Titans racing through my head in slow mo.
Poseidon erupted from the lake, tons of the water slipping and sliding down the god as he rose slowly, gripping the trident tightly in his hands. The look on his face was mildly interested as he examined the raging battle with one eye. Zeus popped into existence across the lake behind his brother in all his battle finery, his master bolt held to the sky. I bit my lip at how fierce he looked. I'm certainly glad we're fighting on the same side again.
The ground rumbled beneath us, sending tremors rolling across the camp. I slowed them down around Max, Nico, and me, all of us managing to keep standing upright. All the demigods around us weren't as lucky, though. I saw Bianca across the clearing, protecting as many as she could, and a fiery feeling of affection welled up in my heart. Despite myself, despite all I had ever gone through, here I was finally beginning to trust again.
My father would have been proud.
Finally the earthquake stopped, and I felt Nico stiffen next to me. Max's hand was resting on the hilt of his sword, tension pouring from the both of them. I rolled my eyes.
"Your father doesn't scare me, Nico," I said fiercely. "Not anymore, anyway."
"And I thought you'd never felt fear before, Rylin Becker." Hades said coolly. "How wrong we all are."
I felt Nico freeze next to me. I turned slowly, arranging my expression from surprised to rather bored. I felt Aryryn pulsing heartily against my back. The party's all here. "Hello, Hades."
His face was exactly like I had last seen it, arrogance etched into every line, his eyes narrowed. Cold and calculating, they washed over me, Max, and Nico standing together. He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.
"You never told me you'd made friends, Nico."
"You never asked," Nico said quietly, stiffly. I gently laced my fingers through his, and he gave a grateful squeeze as I saw him relax. "You didn't care."
"Too right I didn't," The Lord of the Dead muttered under his breath. "Ungrateful brat."
I flashed the god a grin that he ignored. "Aren't we trying to fight a war here?" Max interrupted, his blue eyes impassive. I looked quickly at him, but he avoided my gaze.
"Max," I whispered under my breath.
"What?" He was fidgeting, still avoiding looking at me like he was afraid I would turn him into stone. I reluctantly dropped Nico's hand, turning toward Max, leaving Nico alone to deal with his father.
"If you didn't want to come, you should have said so." I hardened my voice, lest it should suddenly crack. "We can't afford to own doubts anymore."
"I know," he said, and I winced at the rawness in his voice. What wasn't he telling me?
"We were born for this, you know. You and me and Lyss." I murmured, but if I had thought to reassure him, I was wrong.
"Like pigs being raised for slaughter," he growled, finally looking at me. "First Lyss. Then me. And then you'll die in the attempt, Ryley. All of us will. We're outnumbered. This is the one battle you can't win by yourself."
His eyes chilled me, running through my veins like ice, locked on mine. I couldn't look away.
"You need me." Max whispered, his face surprisingly vulnerable.
"No I-"
"Don't lie to yourself."
This time I was the one to look away. "I can't. I don't need anyone. How could you say that, Max?!" I snarled. I can't need him. The only one I need is Nico. I ran the thought through my head again and again, desperately trying to convince myself. I got more and more frantic as I realized it wasn't working, realized that Max had been working up to saying this for a long time. I shook my head, feeling anger spread through me.
There was only one answer. He was right.
The expectation in his eyes was overwhelming. I raised my face toward his reluctantly.
"What do you want from me, Max?" I said quietly.
He opened his mouth. But then I heard the cries loud and clear.
I shoved Max hard to the side, Aryryn heavy in my hand. The scythe rang hollowly against it, the sheer cold singing off the blade and traveling up my arm. I shook my right hard, but no matter what I did, I couldn't regain the feeling in it. I passed Aryryn over to my left hand, my eyes blazing.
"I suppose you couldn't wait."
"I've never been as patient as you, Rylin." Kronos grinned. "Just one of the things you're better at then me."
I could hear the demigods crowding around us. Hades muttered an oath as he turned to shadow, flowing across the clearing to join his brothers. Coward.
The sun rose behind the Titan, bloody in its glory, just as it had been on the day I had fought in Athens, the fiery light spilling through the palace…
Those watching had thought it to be a dance, a smooth, reassuring dance that was beautiful. So it was, in its very own deadly way. But they were mortals, only able to see what the Mist showed, only able to see what they wanted.
The marble splintered beneath our feet. The very air was choking around us, and I could barely breathe without gasping. Dust bathed in the bloody light of the sun swirled around us as Kronos and I continued to dance, neither gaining, neither losing, the ancient Law keeping us in check.
He had turned his eyes to gold for the occasion; they glowed thirstily at me. He was the hunter, pursuing his prey with wild anger and dogged determination. The rapid movement of his scythe proved that. His swings were turning wild as he gradually became drunk with the hunt; with the ecstasy of what he thought was a winning battle, ending in a death. Mine.
I stayed calm and collected, my eyes completely drained of anything that might give away my advantage. Aryryn easily parried every swinging blow, remaining firm and not weakening and slipping even an inch. I was reluctant to cut him; tired as I was of bloodshed and the loss of the many lives that day. Fighting was in my blood, and I hated it.
Loathed it, actually.
A wild grin spread across Kronos' face as he swung hard at my head. Aryryn flashed up, blocking the blow, then slid sideways, slashing at his chest. I hit his face instead; ichor sprayed me on the forehead, running down my cheek.
"You got me," Kronos said, his eyes widening. Then his grin was back. "Great!"
He really was insane.
The palace was made of the finest marble, the doors strong in their foundations. However, the statues, alas, were not. They were made of stone, much to the horror of the priests as they later found out. I flung a statue of Heracles hard at Kronos; it caught him in the stomach, and he doubled over for a second. He straightened up with a look of smugness clinging to his handsome face.
"It will take much more than-"
Achilles was much, much bigger, this time knocking him back against the carefully hand carved walls. I briefly flashed a smile as I twirled Aryryn. "What was that?"
"Nothing," he muttered, shaking the dazed look away.
Zeus had to go.
Kronos sank out of the hole in the wall, the pieces of the Sky god statue strewn all across the Great Hall around him. I eyed it appreciatively. "Zeus isn't gonna like that."
The Titan set his mouth in a scowl. "Shame on you."
I ignored him as Aryryn burst into flame, the fire swirling around my body like a tornado. The dust gathered with it, pelting him with little stones. He swung the scythe once; all the stones froze in mid air, falling to the ground like hail. I bit my lip as the water rose from the fountain set in the center of the hall, a huge wave roiling toward the Titan. I glared at him.
He cut right through the center, making a small sliver through the wave that he could slip through. "My turn," he said, baring his teeth in a wolfy grin.
He cut a hole behind him with the scythe; demons poured from the gap, their eyes glowing bloody. I danced through the ranks; second later all that was left were piles of dust lined up in neat little rows. "Easier for the cleaning lady," was all I said. Kronos smirked.
A second later he was behind me, and his scythe was slashing through the air downward toward my head…
The cold bit into me, and I stared in shock down at the thin cut that spanned down my arm. Then I looked up at Kronos, looming over me with his golden eyes and his scythe bloodied. It was MY blood.
Except it wasn't red. The scythe looked like it had been dipped in molten gold, glowing and shining in the sun's morning light. It was ichor, the blood of the gods.
No way.
"No," I heard someone breathe in behind me. I froze, cuddling my arm to my body, barely clinging to Aryryn, ichor still seeping down my arm into my clothes. Ichor was for the gods; for the parents, not for the offspring. What was I doing with it running through my veins?
Kronos, for one, didn't look shocked at all. If anything, the madness in his eyes had grown.
"At last it comes out," he whispered in obvious delight. "By the gods, I thought it never would." His scythe was lightly gripped in his hand. "But I told myself that I would cut her a million times, force my blade in as hard as I could to discover the truth. And here it is."
"What the heck are you babbling on about, Kronos?" The person behind me said, and I felt someone press up against me. I sank gratefully against Nico, the coolness of him chasing away the stinging pain.
"Did you never wonder," the Titan said, "why she was immortal? How she could fight as she does and never get hurt? How she could be so powerful? I would have expected better from you demigods, what with your Oracle and all. Did she never tell you the mystery surrounding Pan's only daughter?" He raised his eyes to mine. He was reveling in all of this, I realized, disgusted.
"It never mattered before," someone else said quietly, stepping up on my other side. I took a deep breath. It was Max.
Kronos turned his gaze from me to him, and I felt a sudden urge to draw it back. The Titan was dangerous; he could kill Max in a second if he wanted to. And if I was being completely honest with myself, I didn't want that.
Max stared defiantly back at the Lord of Time. I began to feel helpless, still leaning against Nico and holding my arm. The feeling rose up and crushed me as I watched the two of them, blue against gold, staring each other down.
At last Kronos slid his gaze back to me. One side of Max's mouth quirked in a grin as he moved closer to me, eyes still resting on the Titan.
"Of course you wouldn't care, son of Zeus. You never had reason to take advantage of her." Kronos sneered. "But I'm sorry to tell you that Rylin isn't one of you. There's no reason to protect her anymore. She's one of us."
My knees buckled; Nico caught me, his eyes concerned. Then his gaze switched to Kronos, and he narrowed them in dislike.
"What do you mean?" Max asked shakily; he was having trouble masking his shock.
"He means," Zeus's voice echoed out from behind us, "that she isn't a demigod. Rylin is the daughter of Pan, but her mother wasn't mortal. Her mother was Gaia, the Titan goddess of the Earth."
"And that," Kronos said, a malicious grin on his face, "means you're a goddess, and also my stepsister."
A wave of fury crashed over me; in a second I was standing on my own, my knuckles beginning to crack from holding Aryryn so tightly. Strength surged through me.
The wind picked up, the sky turning grey with the coming storm. I almost let my powers loose, to trample that stupid smile right off the Titan's face, but then I remembered the demigods. What would happen if I lost control now?
I gritted my teeth. "You're no brother of mine," I spat. "Look at what you did to Hanna, just to get to me. I'm tired of trying to make you see sense, Kronos; this time I won't hold back."
He hefted Backbiter, a look of savage pleasure on his face. "Good."
"Nico," I whispered, not sparing a look behind me at him, " please get the demigods out of here. All of them. Max, could you help him for me?"
I heard only one pair of footsteps walking away.
"I've been waiting all my life for this too. You won't get rid of me that easily," Max breathed in my ear.
I turned away from him, avoiding his gaze. "It's your choice." I could barely feel Aryryn in my right hand, the numb feeling burning lightly through me. "But I had hoped you wouldn't say that." Kronos was staring impassively at us, tipping his head like he couldn't understand what was going on. I was surprised at his patience that he had always said he was lacking. That made him a liar as well.
"Maybe you do care after all," Max said breezily, gently sliding his sword out of the sheath across his back. His voice was guarded.
"I always have," I whispered to no one in particular. "You're like my brother."
"So sweet," Kronos said behind me. "Maybe you two can finally be together in the Underworld."
I dodged, Aryryn still held loosely in my hand. The scythe crashed uselessly in the dust where I had been standing, glittering wickedly at me. I hadn't expected Kronos to hold up that long. I leaned against an elm, watching casually as Max joined the fight, his sword a flashing arc. One slash spattered a nearby tree with golden ichor, the leaves looking like they had been carved out of actual gold. The demigod's movements were smooth and graceful, and I found myself looking at him against my will. Why did I have to choose this time to suddenly find myself liking him more than I should? I had just discovered myself to be in love with Nico, and that was who I should have been concentrating on.
Max was drawing on energy from the storm, his sword crackling along the blade with electricity. In turn he was taking my energy; the storm had to be fed by me in order to stay alive. It felt draining, but I was still surging with fury.
I was Kronos' STEPSISTER?! I still couldn't believe it, even though I had heard from Zeus himself. Max and Ben's father. Could I even trust him? He hated me. But the fact that I was a goddess suddenly explained a lot of things. If I had complete control of nature, that explained why everyone that I had cared about lived as long as I had. Lyss, Max, Ben, and Hanna had been alive for more than three hundred years. Well Max hadn't exactly been alive; he had been imprisoned in the Underworld since he was fifteen. But he had come out still looking exactly like he used to. None of the others had aged at all either.
And yet, why did I feel older than ever before?
The clearing was empty, save me, Max and Kronos. The forest hauntingly quiet, the only noise was of iron grinding on iron, of swords meeting in a flurry. I felt instinct boiling up under my skin, a red haze beginning to mist over my sight. The urge to rip, to tear sinew from bone, skin from sinew, the instinct to hurt him as much as I could without a single thought for myself…
"Why don't you feel it?!" he hissed at me, his eyes narrowing. "With power like yours, you should revel in it, should use it to kill me. We are alike, dear Rylin, whether you wish to believe or not."
"My choice lies not with you," I replied simply. "It is mine, and mine alone. Look at yourself, Kronos!" I gave a bitter laugh. "Merciless, friendless, completely at odds with yourself. I didn't do this, Kronos. You did."
I glanced down at Aryryn, tip bloodied in ichor, hovering over the Titan's chest. I felt myself trembling, shaken down to my very heart. He was laying spread eagled on the ground, his golden eyes looking me over calmly; he knew I didn't have the guts to kill him. His scythe lay where I had kicked it, ten feet away among the smoking ruins of the palace.
"Kill me, dear sister, and you will finally belong. The gods will worship you, as right they should, for you are not from this world. They know not of what you hold in the palm of your hand, the power to unravel the universe."
"Lies, all lies." A voice whispered in my ear. "Kill him and be done with it."
Without ever me ever deciding, the sword plunged down, and I barely managed to avert it in time. Aryryn nicked Zeus' statue's head; it went spinning off into the darkness, the pieces exploding. "What are you doing to me?" I gasped, bending over and retching on the ground. "Do you want to die?"
One golden eye stared lazily at me. "Maybe."
"Don't lie to me," I growled again, raising Aryryn weakly. "Don't you dare."
He shrugged, closing his eyes. "Maybe I'm not."
My nails bit into my palms, blood seeping slowly out of my fist and dropping to the ground, like blood rain, staining the dirt. I stared at him in amazement. "You're giving up, Kronos?"
"When was the last time I beat you?" He said quietly. "Not a century ago, not two. I am fighting a losing battle even before we ever decide to begin. I will always be second best, as long as you're alive. My life has been all about battle from the moment I was born, driven as I was to attack my own father, and to restrain each and every one of my own children. Look what they have done to me now; do you not think that I am destined to be killed one day?"
I narrowed my eyes. "If you want to be killed, you came to the wrong place."
His eyes flew open. "What?"
"One day, when you're asking for it, I may decide to do away with you myself." I was backing away slowly, raising my hand to the sky. "You're too busy wallowing in self pity for me to kill you now. But until that time comes, you'll just have to wait. Won't he, Ace?"
Indeed he will, Rylin.
I flashed Kronos a sly grin, and he launched himself at me.
I felt Ace flash by me, and suddenly I was rising up into the air, the Titan yelling empty threats at me. "You'll regret it, Ryley! I promise you!"
Here it was, three hundred years later, and oh man, was I regretting everything.
That was when I heard the crack, and the unmistakable sound of someone crumpling on the battlefield, all their life gone in one single, merciful stroke. I raised my head, the red haze clearing instantly, as my eyes fell on Kronos, advancing on me, scythe bloodied, then beyond him to the figure lying against the ground coughing up blood.
Oh crap.
I couldn't move.
C'mon, I snarled at myself. Move,you idiot, move!
My muscles had seized up, my heart pounding vulnerably in my chest. Aryryn was still hanging limply in my hand. The dull throb of my heart pulsed through my still body as I stood frozen, my eyes wide. Kronos moved slowly and deliberately toward me, the sunlight bending around him like he was simply an apparition, a figure in my imagination. But I knew as the cold dread tingled down my spine that this wasn't my doing. It was beyond me, and that power was what held me there, helpless.
The Lord of Time paused. His golden eyes settled on mine, noting the anger in them, then flicked around the clearing. The birdsong was gone, the trees frozen in the middle of their attempt to waver in the wind, the very ripples on the surface of the lake still in their tracks.
The idea hit me quite suddenly.
He wasn't doing this.
Impossible.
I exhaled ever so softly, the breath fluttering over my lips. My throat suddenly constricted; the air was driven from my body and I began to choke.
But frozen as I was, I was forced to feel the racking gasps as my lungs struggled to keep up, but finding they couldn't, began taking out their revenge on me. Kronos' head whipped toward me, and a second later I was flying through the air, slamming into an elm with all the force the Titan had mustered in his backhand. I slid down the tree, my knees buckling as I landed in the dirt. My strength seeped out of me as I lay there coughing. Something cool touched my hand.
My eyes opened slowly.
Blood was mixed in with the dirt, sinking into the ground resolutely like it had somewhere to go. It stained my hand, blossoming across my palm like a flower. I concentrated hard, prizing myself up with my elbows so I could see where it was coming from, this blood. I must have hit my head harder than I thought if all this blood was mine. That was about when I realized that I bled ichor now.
Oh gods, no.
I had been six when I saw my father die. He had gone out in a magnificent explosion; his aura winking out from around me like someone was pulling a warm blanket out from over me. The true cruelness of the world had hit after my cover had been torn so painfully apart, my world burning itself straight to the ground. I cried and I cried, until all my weakness had been drained into the earth that I lay on. I wanted to die. To have my life snuffed out like my father's, my life flame dwindling into embers, and from there, ashes. I stared down at the dirt. Where my tears had stained the ground, a flower had risen up, the petals gently opening to reveal new life. The leaves rustled as it reached up and brushed a tear from where it was trickling down my cheek.
"Dear princess, why must you cry?"
"My ddaddy's ggggone," I answered honestly, trembling. "He's gone…and he's never coming back."
The flower expanded its petals ever so slightly in exasperation. "Those who leave us are never truly gone. Their fire still burns."
"I wouldn't expect you to understand. You're a stupid, lousy flower. Why are you even talking anyway? Flowers don't talk!"
The flower ignored my outburst and continued. "Your father lives on in you, Rylin. You were chosen for a purpose, and it is buried deep in your heart, a burning instinct that will one day eat you up. The wild needs you to save it.
"It needs a sacrifice."
A sacrifice. No way would I ever let them take Max.
Not Nico either.
Nobody I had ever loved.
The amount was so few; I could count them all on my right hand. But it didn't matter anymore. All that mattered to me was that I had been in love. I had once believed that to be beyond me.
I shifted myself onto my knees, unseeing. I could hear the crunch of the leaves under Kronos' feet as he moved ever closer, his fingers curling around Backbiter. Aryryn lay at least ten feet from me, too long of a stretch even for the goddess powers.
If the wild needed a sacrifice, then I was ready.
I stood unsteadily, my eyes still blind. I blinked a couple times, but it did nothing to clear my sight, much less my mind.
Dying is as easy as breathing.
Alyssa had promised me so. And right now, I was very much inclined to believe her. She knew more about dying than I ever would.
I kept my eyes away from Max, fearful of the blind terror that would run rampant through me at the sight of him lying on the ground, dead. I slowly forced all my doubts out of my mind. My regrets quickly followed, and soon my mind was completely free of emotion. I wanted to die happy.
But I was as far from happy as anyone could ever be. It most definitely wasn't working.
Kronos wasn't gloating. The only sound I heard from him was the crunch of dirt under his boots as he slunk closer, the wind ruffling his hair. He was feet from me now, taking the steps two at a time. I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to block out the tears sliding down my face. I wouldn't even get to see Nico one more time…
I felt a cool breath on my face.
"You're the one who wants to die now?"
"A sacrifice is needed…" The forest was whispering through the trees. Far off a wolf howled, another yowling back. I heard branches snapping under the heavy feet of some animal barreling through the trees, its ragged breath slicing in and out of its throat. The animals themselves were coming to see the sacrifice.
"Don't complain; I'm making it easier for you," I hissed.
The golden eyes were impassive. I stared into them hard, seeing and not seeing at the same time. There would be no second chances here.
The greatest act of love is to give yourself up in the place of one that you love.
Was I doing that? Yep. Check. Was I too late to save Max? Maybe. I couldn't see him breathing. Did I want to die?
No. No check.
All of a sudden I wanted very much to live.
The scythe swung downward toward my head.
I closed my eyes in the final moment. It never came.
The clang of metal echoed through the clearing, loud in my eardrums and rattling my head. I froze, not daring to open my eyes.
I couldn't help it; I peeked.
"If you want to kill Ryley, Kronos," a voice said quietly, but full of strength, "You'll have to get through me."
* * * * * * * * * *
Wonder who…?
And by the way, Unsigned and anybody else who has read my story Secret of Time, the moment in which Rylin was frozen was the moment Jay was born. That's why Kronos wasn't doing it. His son was.