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chapter ninety-five. ☄︎. *. ⋆
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BY THE TIME WE GOT TO THE STREET, it was too late.
Campers and Hunters lay wounded on the ground. Clarisse must've lost a fight with a Hyperborean giant, because she and her chariot were frozen in a block of ice. The centaurs were nowhere to be seen. Either they'd panicked and ran or they'd been disintegrated. It didn't matter which—either way, our backup was long gone.
The Titan army ringed the building, standing maybe twenty feet from the doors. Kronos's vanguard was in the lead:, the dracaena queen in her green armor, and two Hyperboreans. Ethan. I glowered at him, hoping I was expressing all my full hatred in the glare. I didn't see Prometheus. The slimy weasel was probably hiding back at their headquarters. But Kronos himself stood right in front with his scythe in hand.
The only thing standing in his way was...
"Chiron," Annabeth said, her voice trembling.
If the centaur heard us, he didn't answer. He had an arrow notched, aimed straight at Kronos.
As soon as Kronos saw Percy, his gold eyes flared. Every muscle in my body froze. Then, surprising both Percy and me, the Titan lord turned his attention back to Chiron. "Step aside, little son."
Hearing Luke call Chiron his son was weird enough, but Kronos put contempt in his voice, like son was the worst word he could think of.
"I'm afraid not." Chiron's tone was steely calm, the way he gets when he's really angry.
"Chiron!" Annabeth said. "Look out!"
The dracaena queen became impatient and charged. Chiron's arrow flew straight between her eyes and she vaporized on the spot, her empty armor clattering to the asphalt.
Chiron reached for another arrow, but his quiver was empty. He dropped the bow and drew his sword. I knew he hated fighting with a sword; it was never his favorite weapon. I needed to intervene.
Kronos chuckled. He advanced a step, and Chiron's horse-half skittered nervously. His tail flicked back and forth.
"You're a teacher," Kronos sneered. "Not a hero."
"Luke was a hero," Chiron said. "He was a good one, until you corrupted him."
"FOOL!" Kronos's voice shook the city. "You filled his head with empty promises. You said the gods cared about me!"
"Me," I muttered, my eyebrows scrunched together in thought. I glanced to my boyfriend, hoping he could help me better understand. "Percy, he said me."
