The Truths Spoken In The Sea Of Lies

Kronos takes the elevator up to Olympus

To Olympus, they journey,

Kronos' dark laughter resounds,

Clash foretold, nears.

***

By the time they got to the street, they found Campers and Hunters lying 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. The Titan army ringed the building, standing maybe twenty feet from the doors. Kronos's vanguard was in the lead: Salvadore, the dracaena queen in her green armour, and two Hyperboreans. Prometheus was not there, he was hiding back at the enemy's headquarters.

Kronos stood right in front with his scythe in hand. The only thing standing in his way was...

"Chiron," Annabeth said, her voice trembling.

If Chiron heard her, he didn't answer. He had an arrow notched, aimed straight at Kronos's face. As soon as Kronos saw Rhea, his gold eyes flared. Every muscle in Rhea's body shivered in disgust.

Then 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.

The four of them were frozen.

"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 armour clattering to the asphalt.

Chiron reached for another arrow, but his quiver was empty. He dropped the bow and drew his sword. He hated fighting with a sword. It was never his favourite weapon.

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," Chiron noticed. "You said me."

Kronos looked confused, and at that moment, Chiron struck. It was a good manoeuvre—a feint followed by a strike to the face, but Kronos was quick. He had all of Luke's fighting skills, which was a lot. He knocked aside Chiron's blade and yelled, "BACK!"

A blinding white light exploded between the Titan and the centaur. Chiron flew into the side of the building with such force the wall crumbled and collapsed on top of him.

"No!" Annabeth wailed. The freezing spell broke.

They ran toward the centaur, but there was no sign of him. Rhea pulled the bricks off while a ripple of ugly laughter ran through the Titan's army.

"YOU!" Annabeth turned on Luke. "To think that I... that I thought—"

She drew her knife.

Rhea pulled the girl before she could attack the titan and didn't let go despite Annabeth trying to get away from her grip. "Pull yourself together damn it !"