Order of the Olympians

Order of the Olympians Ch. 20

Chapter 20

Annabeth paced at the foot of Will's bed in the infirmary waiting for Will to wake up. It hadn't been very long since they brought him in, and Madam Pomfrey didn't seem too concerned, but Annabeth was still on edge from their earlier battles.

How did so many monsters find their way to the castle grounds without tripping any of the alarms Hogwarts had in place? Dementors, Hellhounds, a Manticore and a Fury all at once? The coincidence didn't sit right with her. Annabeth grabbed a washcloth from the nightstand and wiped the grime off her face. Ugh, she thought, I am in desperate need for a shower.

As she went to dab the towel with water, Will's blue eyes flew open. All three demigods sprung to attention and lined up at their friend's side. "How are you feeling?" Nico asked with a breath of relief.

Will sat up in bed with little effort, which was a great sign. "I'm feeling fine, don't worry about me." He checked to see if anyone was eavesdropping then motioned them in closer. "We need to talk."

Annabeth grimaced at Percy, knowing that whatever Will had to say couldn't be good. Nico helped him out of bed, and they waited for him to feel comfortable on his own two legs before heading off to the Room of Requirement. Once they reached the seventh floor, Percy pulled open the door for everyone and then filed in behind them.

"So, what's going on?" Percy asked with his arms crossed.

Will tightened his grip on the object resting in his hand. "I know who Dr. C is."

That caught everyone's attention. Annabeth's eyes widened in surprise, "Who is it?"

"Chronos." He said with a large gulp.

Percy's brow furrowed. "That's impossible. Luke took care of him. There's no way he could have reformed."

Will shook his head, "Not Kronos, Percy. Chr-on-os, with a 'CH.'"

Percy and Nico still looked confused, but Annabeth shook her head. "That's even more unbelievable, Will. Chronos? Like Father Time, that Chronos? He's one of the first primordial deities to ever exist. Chaos was born from him. He's been in the wind for millenia....so people started lumping him and the Titan King, Kronos, together. Their names were used interchangeably after a while."

Nico chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Why in the world would the Father of...everything...be hanging around a castle in Scotland discovering new stars?"

"And if Chronos is more powerful than Erebus, wouldn't he be able to stop him?"

Will sighed and took a seat on one of the cushions available. "It sounded like he's lost some of his power over time, and now there's not enough left to put Erebus back to sleep. He said he needs a huge amount of power and magic for that...which is where we come in, supposedly."

Annabeth didn't like the sound of that one bit. "And how exactly are we supposed to do that?"

"I'm not sure, he said he would explain when the time is right. I guess there is a battle coming up." Will shrugged. His eyes widened, "Speaking of battles, he said that our separate fights against those monsters were part of some kind of test."

Percy's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he growled, "Chronos sent the Fury and the Manticore into the castle? What if the students had been around? Someone could have been killed!"

Will held up a pretty golden necklace in his hand. "But nobody did, and we won, which means we passed the Trials. He gave me this Time-Turner and told me to hold onto it until the time is right."

Nico leaned in and examined the hourglass with fine blue sand. "When is the time supposed to be right?"

Annabeth's fingers fidgeted wildly by her side, "We can assume that it will be a tool for the final battle. If that Time-Turner was given to you by the Father of Time himself, I will bet you anything that it's one of the most powerful objects in existence right now."