A Pawn For Time (Daughter of the Olympians #1)

(27) Piecing it Together

•A/N Sorry I have not been able to update. I just got back from Thanksgiving break and school has been crazy! I have 8 days left of school until Christmas break. I'm going to New York for Christmas, so I don't know if I'll have time to update then. I'll try to squeeze as many chapters as I can beforehand! Now that I got that out of my system, enjoy this chapter!•

•Katherine's Point of View•

His lips were firm as I kissed him. He didn't respond to my action. I pulled back and Kai looked at me with an unfamiliar expression. I think it was shock.

I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, Kai's lips came crashing down on mine. I kissed back. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I put my arms around his neck. He tilted my head back and deepened the kiss.

We made out for what seemed like hours, and then pulled back to catch our breath. Well, I needed to catch my breath. Kai didn't even seem fazed by the lack of oxygen.

I finally learned to breathe again so I turned to Kai.

"So, what'd you think? Was it a memorable first kiss?" Kai asked me as he sat on the couch again. He was still shirtless, and it caused much distraction.

He cleared his throat and I met his eyes again. "It was wonderful, thanks for asking." I replied. I sat on his lap.

Kai set his hands on my waist. "You're welcome. I'll be here all day." He leaned in closer to where our noses were almost touching.

"That's nice to hear." I smiled and we dove into another make out session.

•Athena's Point of View•

Everyone sat around a round table. We normally use this table for planning battle attacks during war, so I guess it fit the best for the subject we were discussing.

It was pass noon, and the fates were still here. I'm thankful they want to help, considering they hold Katherine's lifeline.

Right now we are trying to piece together things about Katherine. Someone says what they know, and we confirm if it is useful. Honestly, we're all pretty clueless, but the fates are eager to get whatever we know about her out of us.

"When's the last time you saw her?" Clotho asked.

"How do you not know this stuff already? You can read people's fate, so don't you know this?" Hermes asked abruptly. Lachesis's eyes shone darkly.

"I fear we don't know this information. For some unknown reason, we are unaware of what's happening our what had happened to Katherine. There is a wall blocking us from knowing."

I shivered. This was very bad. Katherine was so powerful that she even overruled the fates. I cleared my throat and we continued to answer the questions.

"Yesterday, around sunset." My father responded. He looked weary and defeated. This must be taking a toll on him.

"Alright. What was her attitude like when she first approached you? What kind of aura did she have?" Atropos continued.

Everyone shifted in their seats. To be honest, nobody even realized that she was there. Well, not until she started to laugh at her phone.

"She seemed distracted," Demeter said.

"How do you know that?" I asked her.

"I held a brief conversation with her when dinner first started. The entire time she was holding an aura of mixed emotions. It was a combination of many random feelings. I can't tell you specifically, though. I tried to see what emotions were there, but there was a block between our minds, telepathically speaking."

"So she seemed lost, so to speak," Hera stated.

"Yes. Pretty much." Demeter replied.

The fates nodded. "Very good. Now tell me, what did Katherine do earlier that day?"

"Well, we had our council meeting that morning. We were about to begin when Katherine walked in. She was droopy, and had sunglasses on. She looked exhausted." Poseidon answered.

"Why was she wearing sunglasses?" Lachesis questioned.

"Not sure." Atropos nodded. "Anyway, she sat on her throne, but didn't really pay any attention to us. Shortly after, she left to go greet the campers. We didn't see her again until dinner." Poseidon finished.

The fates were silent. I could tell that they were trying to figure out Katherine's timeline. It's as if they only know small but important things, like Malakai is Katherine's murderer. However, they only know few events like this.

"If she left in the beginning of the meeting, and didn't return until dinner, that means she was gone for 9 hours. I know the campers only stayed for the meeting, which was 2 hours long. That means Katherine had 7 hours to wander around and do whatever she pleased. Including meeting Malakai."

"What are you implying?" Hades asked. The three fates exchanged glances.

"We believe Katherine has power over time." Clotho stated simply as if it was no big deal.

I looked at Zeus. He had a look of confusion written on his face. The other gods did as well, but he was revealing more of his emotions.

"I do not understand. What makes you think that?" I asked. I was clueless, which really got to me. I have to figure this out.

"Now that you have told us these things about Katherine, we were able to interpret what happened to Katherine yesterday, and some of the days Katherine was distant to you. Yesterday, after she got to know the campers and they left, she shadow traveled to Central Park where she then began to wander about. But what doesn't make sense is she was technically only walking around for about 45 minutes. In her timeline, however, it shows she was walking for 6 hours." Lachesis continued.

"I don't get it." Apollo said.

"Yeah, me either." Ares agreed.

"In Katherine's timeline yesterday it only showed her walking in a short route for 45 minutes, but in reality, 6 hours had past. Which means she either was walking super duper slow, or she sped up time. If she did speed up time, she did it unintentionally." Atropos explained.

"Oh," Apollo said. Everyone took that information in.

"Wait, but how does she have the power over time? None of us have that gift. Including you three." Hera asked. I know something is about to be revealed. We're so close.

"Exactly. Katherine has been speaking to some of your old enemies. One more than others." Atropos said.

We were all on the edge of our seats. If only I had the gift of Fate and prophecy, I would never dramatically pause like that.

"Hades," he straightened up, "You were right. Katherine has been in contact with your father, Kronos."

"Oh my gods," Demeter muttered. She covered her mouth.

"And you were also correct when you assumed she was helping him. In fact, she is his top recruit." Lachesis finished.

Everyone gasped. Zeus shook his head in denial.

"No, no, no. There is no way that is correct," Zeus desperately said.

"Unfortunately, it is. Kronos gave Katherine the power over time in order for her to fully trust him. I want this to change. There is no happy ending to this tale. That's why we are trying to defy our old morals." Clotho replied.

Artemis put her head in her hands. Poseidon stared at the ground, shaking his head. Aphrodite was fanning herself and mumbling.

We were all a mess. Katherine betrayed us. She's trying to overthrow us. Topple us from our thrones. How could she? All this time she was vengeful and so eager to team up with Kronos to take us down!

No. I refuse to believe it. Maybe the fates are wrong. None of this was really carved in stone. There might still be hope for her. There has to be.

I am determined to keep Katherine on our side. I will, ever if it is the last thing I do.