Chapter Text
Isha
This was the moment I'd been waiting for.
No, that sounded like I was looking forward to go to the best amusement park in the world. Instead, I was about to go up against the Titan lord Kronos.
Somehow, there was still a large army backing him. It was like they'd come back from the dead but they weren't zombies at all. Like he'd just plucked them out from the fabric of time.
Fear coiled in my gut. Lady Rhea had told me these things, I'd read them myself infact. It didn't stop me from being scared. Kronos was riding straight at us. We were the line of defense. I was the one commanding. If I failed...I tried not to think about it and make myself anxious.
I pulled out the clam from my necklace taking the last bit of Cicuta which I'd crushed right before we left. I put it in my left hand.
I re-convened with everyone I'd brought. They knew what they were doing but I felt the need to do something as Kronos arrived.
"Get on your pegasi and get as high as it takes. Summon the plants like I said and only engage monsters if you're sure you can fight and defeat them. Do not engage or even get near to Kronos on any circumstance. I will handle it. Okay?" I tried to sound as firm but encouraging as possible. They all looked nervous and I couldn't blame them. This was big. I was involving them into something with a lot of danger involved.
"Are you sure Isha?" Katie touched my arm where my sleeve had shredded earlier when I'd been helping at Brooklyn-Battery tunnel.
I thought of giving a reassuring smile but couldn't. So, I just nodded.
"Get into position guys. Do everything possible to survive and try to keep it here where there's no mortals. Leave once your job is finished" I spoke up, trying to be firm like a commander. I was very glad I'd initiated moving the citizens before this had begun.
I didn't look back to see what happened. I had to steel myself for this–reign in my restlessness, get the song that was plaguing my head out–my home was resting on me.
I took a deep breath in and stared Kronos and his armies down. Stay calm. You've done this. Remember what Lady Rhea taught you.
Lady Rhea had drilled me on this a million times. It'd worked on her. It worked on Lady Tethys. I knew each step of the plan.
The swish of the pegasi wings echoed in my ears as my friends hid. Skeletal hooves clattered across the newly-restored copper bridge. It grated on my ears but I decided to loosen my shoulders. I spoke out the spell that I'd harnessed from my memory and worked on perfecting the last few months. I almost wanted to laugh as I muttered under my breath. In a sick, twisted way, my mother had been right to teach me a spell to conceal my lies.
Focus
Kronos' army—or what was left of it—was charging forward again as tendrils of twilight made their way through the pink sunset sky. This time though, they were slower, trailing after their master in shadow. It was structured like a typical phalanx formation but they moved almost precisely in a line formation which mainly maximized mobility and front-faced firing with those crossbows. I'd come across something exactly like this when studying to get myself into Westover. It could mean only one thing.
Backup. Only there to keep me in place while...well I didn't want to delve into the twisted thoughts Kronos was having. He'd already been banking on Percy being gone which was why the army wasn't arranged in a fully attacking formation.
The monster army surrounded us but gave ample space for me and for the Titan Lord to step in. I felt a tingling sensation in my spine as if even it knew they were ready to jump. Yet, the enemy lines stayed still, waiting for orders.
Kronos stopped in front of me, regarding me atop the skeletal horse. All around, it was a weird sight. I'd never known Luke as anything more than an asshole who needed to be taken down. He'd manipulated so many of our friends, manipulated and hurt Annabeth, hurt Thalia and countless other people. He was dangerous beyond his swordsmanship. He was dangerous because he could gain allies and he knew how to use them.
Still, he'd been a young adult then. A dangerous and psychotic young adult but clearly that wasn't very unique in college campuses. Now? There was nothing very human about him. His golden eyes were unnerving–like nectar that had had its life-force seep out, replaced by steel–as they gazed down on me. He saw too much and nothing at all. I felt as if the Titan lord had leered me and saw right through me all at once. The look in his eyes made me feel like he was thinking I'd make a good headpiece for his throne-room. I swallowed.
"My, it seems the daughter's stayed." His voice was as cold and detached as always but there was an undertone of praise. Just that tiny undertone made me feel weirdly good about myself but I bit my tongue. This was exactly how he manipulated everyone else.
"He'd charmed me quickly. It was all smiles and praise at the beginning. He watched my wrestling matches and admired my strength openly. He valued my skills with diplomacy. He praised my beauty everyday and brought me flowers. That is how he gained as many followers as he did. He gave then validation. Watch out for it. Go along with it and make him think you feel flattered."
Kronos was powerful. Incredibly so. Still, he was limited even if Luke had dipped into the Styx. The height of his power was the problem. It would never be fully available in a mortal body. Even the Titans that had risen up from Tartarus were currently weak. Lady Rhea had told me as much to convince me into doing this. That was why the fight now was so crucial. It was the best time to put a stop to it. The only time we'd have a quarter of a chance.
Currently, the Titan lord's far sight was incredibly limited. So, I had the chance to pull off deception.
My mother used to tell me that there was no place in the world for a soft heart.
You must turn yourself into steel before their claws rip you apart.
I hadn't asked who 'they' was. I hadn't needed to confirm. I just listened, knowing sensitivity wouldn't do. This was the exact kind of plan my mother would have come up with. It didn't earn any points in favour of the plan.
I put on the act anyway. I straightened my shoulders and lowered my gaze with just enough restraint which I hope passed for demureness. Then, I looked up, carefully adjusting my gaze into determination.
"I wanted to speak with you, my lord. The way you've come here with no intent to attack makes me think you would like to speak first too" I spoke with a carefully practiced cadence; firm but knowing my place. I curled my fingers just slightly at my side, shifting reality as slowly as possible.
The Mist was not just a singular entity that molded perceptions at once, as most people assumed at first. Magic did not work as most thought it did. It was a careful practice, a manipulation of energies already present within the world. It took precise study and understanding to even begin. I'd gone over it for months and gotten explanations from three different people.
The Mist was an amalgamation of it all.
The Mist was more like the core of the earth (though I wasn't sure how true that was with Gaea being the Earth). There were many, many layers to it. Layers that weren't always clear cut or frequencies that collided and blended into each other. It was hard to make out and even harder to block once you open yourself to it.
Right now, I was messing with Kronos' perception. The more I looked like Lady Rhea, the more Kronos would be inclined to focus on me. I allowed the mist to coil around me, so that the monster army wouldn't be watched. I wasn't sure what exactly the enemy line would see but, I knew they'd be isolated from one another and that'd have to be enough. It was tricky working at such a fundamental level while also acting but I'd done this before.
There was no way of knowing if it'd work but Lady Rhea had told me Kronos's ego could cloud his judgement. He would not suspect or respect tricks of illusion if he was as confident as he was.
"You seem far more sensible than your brother and fellow allies then. Have you understood that you puny demigods do not stand a chance my dear?"
I wanted to gag right then and drive my sword into his chest but held myself back. Fear and disgust weaved in my gut but I'd long become used to burying it.
Just a little longer, man. Don't gut him. Don't gut him. Don't gut him.
"I know my own–and by extension, our–strengths and weaknesses, my lord. I may want to win but I am not foolish. I can see we have no chance and hence I am here to propose something different" I steadied my voice trying to imitate his wife's. It felt gross and I tried not to dwell on how he was looking at me. I didn't want to think about it. It'd distract my attention from keeping up the illusion while my friends dealt with the army.
"And what is that?" His face leaned down from atop the horse. It seemed like he was inclined to climb off.
Here we go
The threads of the mist tightened in my mind. I had to make sure I didn't change his perception of me too much before he actually got hooked.
He hopped off the horse. Luke's body was much taller than mine so I felt small almost immediately. I gulped but tried not to let it show.
"I offer surrender to you, and any other requests you may have"
I knew what that entailed. But if this is what I had to do, I would do it. I'd do whatever it took. Lady Rhea had told me it would be worth it and I had to do it. People that had the power I did had to take every strategic avenue. There was no point to power if it wasn't taken as far as it could go, especially with everything at stake. So even if it was awful, I had to do it. Not like I couldn't deal with pain.
He waded forward with interest gleaming in his golden eyes. Then, he grabbed my arm with much more force than I expected and pulled me closer. I tried my best not to flinch or breathe too sharply. His skin was ice-cold, as if Kronos was inhabiting nothing but flesh and bones with no life underneath. His grip on my arm hurt. It felt like it'd bruise but I bit my tongue. I couldn't show weakness right now.
"And what do you want for that?" He asked, leaning down to the point where I could feel his breaths on my face. He looked at me like he wanted to carve me up for entertainment as if I was a pet or a lab rat. I'd initially thought that the Titan Lord in an invulnerable body wouldn't be breathing at all. Luke was basically dead wasn't he?
No, he was breathing too much. I wasn't even sure who 'he' even was. All I knew was that his breathing was like that of a person who was drowning in deep water, someone who was about to lose all oxygen and didn't know the difference between grasping for help or pulling the next victim down.
"My brother, Nico and Annabeth protected and spared. I can handle them for you, my lord. They can become useful" I tried not to speak it like a recitation and instead like a devoted offering.
If someone asked me what happened in that exchange, I wouldn't be able to recall it exactly even minutes after it finished. Some part of my brain just blocked it out entirely, perhaps for the sake of protecting my own sanity. I remembered few things.
I remembered convincing myself I was in control. I was the one using what I knew to manufacture the means to an end. I was the one convincing the Titan Lord. It was an exchange of two monsters. Monsters couldn't harm one another without receiving the impact back. If he was drawing blood, so was I.
It didn't stop my brain from trying to black out when he drew me closer and lifted me into the air. I could not remember which part hurt. All I knew was what he wanted to see and what he wanted to hear. If I wanted to fulfill that task, my mind would have to be a little present.
"Arrangements like that can be made. If you swear your power and your allegiance to me, I would have you at the highest place a worm of a demigod could be in. I could make you immortal, girl, to enjoy for the rest of eternity when I take my throne."
His hand gripped my forearm enough to crack the bones. I almost thought he'd figured me out. But his expression curled in pleasure and satisfaction. Not the familar crooked smile I'd gotten used to. He just found pleasure on his own violence.
I grit my teeth.
I would take it. I would take it. I would take it if it killed me. The others needed time.
If I got through this, I'd kill him. No that would be too easy. He deserved to be in pain.
"I swear to remain loyal to you, my lord" I put my left hand on his chest–warmer than the rest of the corpse he took over–carefully transferring a memory Rhea had shared with me. Their wedding.
His face shifted, looking genuinely joyful for a second. It was working. It should've worked. I'd worked hard to achieve the same with Lady Rhea and Tethys while they used mental blocks. I reached in and pulled at the curse. Just a little to heal the wound while executing this. Just enough to keep me alive for this.
I knew it was successful when my skin began prickling and burning slightly. My senses heightened. The air felt a hundred times heavier, as if I could sense every single part of it. I felt as if I could see miles through the magic I'd twisted through the battlefield.
As he relieved the memory, I found exactly what I'd been looking for. A beating heart, though slow. Luke may have dipped in the Styx, Kronos may have inhabited his body but it didn't remove human organs. I'd suspected as much from the breathing but this gave me an opportunity like no other. So I focused. I bit down on my cheek so fury wouldn't pounce out and boil my brain but it was difficult because I despised everything about him. Maybe I could sympathise with what had turned him into this but he was the reason so many people were dead. I hated him so much sometimes that it made me feel weird because I knew even Thalia and Percy weren't like me.
I focused as much as I could on lowering Luke's body temperature. I focused on the water running through his veins. Thank the gods I'd practiced healing as much as i did. If I could successfully freeze his heart and lungs, maybe this could all be over. No one else would have to die. Percy wouldn't have to die.
It brought me glee for a few minutes. I could feel Luke's–or Kronos, whatever–veins freeze up and dissolve into nothingness. I could see how his body went paler and paler and the colour drained from his face and eyes second by second. It almost felt like it was accelerating every few seconds. I wanted him to feel the pain. I wanted him to know exactly what my friends had felt, what Beckendorf had felt when water filled his battered lungs and body. I wanted to suffocate every ounce of power out.
I realized soon that I was an idiot. I couldn't fight a prophecy.
It was a matter of milliseconds. I'd been nearly there, freezing up all the water within the diluted blood and ichor pumping through his organs. His lungs were about to be frozen solid when he wheezed. There was a flash of life, of blue, within the Titan Lord's pale golden stare. He wheezed and momentarily his stature of power wavered.
"My Lord! She's deceiving you!" Ethan Nakamura screeched. The little pet project. I was very close to slicing his head off.
Kronos–Luke? I wasn't sure–seemed dazed momentarily. He clutched his chest and shoved me away. I crashed right into the ground and would've stayed staring up for a second if I hadn't felt something on my arm. It was warm and...crumbly?
I looked to my side and saw a dracaenae, lying still. Her skin on the human half was sallow and dry and fully disinitegrating. Her arms were reaching out and grabbing violently at the hyacinth growing out of her mouth which was permanently open wide. The whites of her eyes dimmed that instant.
I turned away, unable to look and cursed my own weakness. My plan had worked. I looked around to see the rest of the army that'd come with Kronos. They were all in a similar state. Pale, greying skin which was crumbling off; eyes wide open with only blown milky whites to show; popped blood vessels and giant thorny vines curling through them. They'd just began to disintegrate.
I turned away from the few demigods there were. It'd been my plan, a poison I'd spent months whipping up from the cursed plant my parents left to me. It'd worked exactly according to my meticulous planning. I knew the pestilence I'd machinated.
I'd said I'd do anything it took and I would. I wasn't going back on that vow. I couldn't bury the weight of guilt spiking in my gut though. Somehow I was starting to feel numb. A part of me felt vindictive satisfaction. I wanted to laugh for a second because I did hate them but the rational part of my brain won. This was horrific.
But I knew this was the only way. I knew Percy couldn't stomach it. He was too kind to see the bigger picture sometimes. I would've called it stupid once. I still did sometimes but I knew it was actually just kindness. He didn't understand. It wasn't like I thought they deserved their deaths but if they were left alive, our friends wouldn't be.
The day he'd let Ethan Nakamura go, I'd decided my brother needed my protection. The world would destroy his bleeding heart if I didn't step in. Because, he wasn't a monster. He was the prophecy's hero–martyr–and I was not. If there was anything I could do, it was this. This was what I'd been reared for after all.
I understood now. I couldn't be good but I could protect his goodness. I could protect our friends.
I closed my eyes, swallowing my tears and shifting so I wouldn't have to see. I didn't want to see. I could hardly even remember the day my home had been crushed and all the people who'd died but this sure reminded me of it. It was a complete blur and all I did remember right now were the monsters and vague moments. But I couldn't think of that right now. I couldn't look at the disinitegrating monsters and think of a home I hadn't been in years and would never go back to.
As long as it was just numbers on a field, it'd be okay. I hated them. That was all I had to remember, even if all this did was make me sad. They were monsters. They deserved to die. I'd consider myself blessed that it didn't smell of sick or dead but I'd made sure it didn't smell at all. Both a tactical move and one to preserve my sanity.
What was it that mother used to say?
It's only a little blood, nothing to cry over.
"Get her!" Kronos' voice echoed, wavering with a violent cough. I'd failed. The curse flickered, building then fading out of my hold for a moment.
I scrambled to my feet, ready to fight him for real and probably die. But, he began to retreat instead. He mounted the horse and went in the direction of the bridge which boiled my blood. What a fucking coward. I really couldn't talk though. Now it was just a coward against a failure.
I summoned the force of the river, feeling its pressure build and slice through the bridge of cables but the horse just zoomed so quickly it may as well have teleported to the other side.
I decided to run. It was cowardly but I couldn't think of anything else. I guess I was a giant hypocrite.
I ran into the thinning crowds of Apollo campers retreating a half-mile away. Campers finding their dead. I assumed my friends already escaped. I didn't think I had it in me to help just now.
My arm was still partly injured and I was drained enough to become one with the ground. It wouldn't be smart to engage Ethan. He was a good swordsman and I was too exhausted for it. I didn't even know how he survived or where he hid. I didn't know why he hadn't started whining earlier if he had been there the whole time.
The rest of the army was disinitegrating or dead anyway. The orange of the sunset had faded fully into darkness and there were no street lights.
I thought I was in the clear. Then sharp pain shot up my leg and my vision blurred. An arrow had struck me in the thigh. I should've known he wouldn't let me get away that easy.
I couldn't help but cry out in pain. I was glad I'd reached for the curse earlier because it hurt like hell but I knew it was doing far less damage than it could've. I'd healed down my broken arm to a splinter but this would take serious work.
I gripped the pavement which was cooling now that it was night. Ethan would strike again. I cursed Percy's stupid gullible nature in trusting this rat. I was frustrated enough and the pain in my leg pissed me off beyond the realms of restraint. I felt like there were a thousand mosquito bites pricking my skin which I could never relieve.
I summoned every ounce of rage and concentrated on the water from below. I didn't exactly process the gales twisting and the water swirling around me. All I knew was Ethan had shrieked and blown all the way out and anything else he'd thrown at me had deflected uselessly and dissolved.
Adrenaline alone kept me limping and running despite the arrow sticking out of my leg. The spine of it had broken fully.
I didn't register anything more than reducing the pain and bleeding at my leg until some random Apollo kid yelled at me.
"Isha! You uh–there's a whirlpool or a hurricane I guess at your uh...around you"
I blinked at him. Ali. That was his name. His preferred name since last year anyway.
I looked down and there was river water swirling around me at rapid speeds. It contained the shredded parts of arrows in it.
"Shit. Sorry" I muttered, though I doubt he'd heard it and willed the water to go back under the demolished bridge. Atleast my leg was feeling better. Though I'd still have to fix it up.
"Where—" I started and he muttered something about the arrow and offered me a ride on some random mortal's cycle. He said it'd jostle the wound but there was nothing else. I agreed half-heartedly because even I wasn't stupid enough to walk all the way to the Plaza on this.
I didn't remember much of the ride. Ali seemed a little rattled and nervous. Couldn't blame him. I felt bad for taking him away from the search for Micheal but all that magic and exertion and my leg wound was making me too woozy to think straight. I mostly remember him talking endlessly about the medical procedure. He told me that I'd have to take out the arrowhead through an incision and stitch it even despite the regeneration from the water and my own healing. My own healing hadn't done much due to exertion alone. Infact, reaching for the curse probably made it worse. All in all, I wasn't sure what state my leg was in.
Once we reached the Plaza, he crashed into a car and the car alarms went off. I was really starting to value street lights. The shrill ringing grated on my ears. I vaguely remembered apologizing to him and sending him off.
My head was completely fuzzy, so much so that I only registered whites, blues, a fountain and the vague outline of someone or something who wasn't actually there. Stupid hallucinations scaring the living daylights out of me.
I dragged myself to the entrance, even if it felt like my leg was being cut again and again with each step. The thing about arrow wounds were that it would get worse with each movement. The metal digging into my tissue made sure of that.
There was a statue at the top of the fountain. It took one look at me, turned up her nose and started rattling about things I couldn't bother to try and register. I limped through the hotel’s entrance and nearly fell down onto my knees for a second but managed to hold onto the handle of the door.
The lobby seemed impressive. I probably would've marveled more had it not been for my state. I'd like to say I was a bit more dignified but unfortunately a mildly broken arm bone and an arrow in my thigh seemed enough incentive for grace to leave me. Not like I was usually graceful. All I remember was taking the support of the walls and hobbling along like an idiot.
For some reason, the lobby was practically empty except the sleeping rich people who'd been moved to a safe corner. I noticed something odd on the concierge's desk so I narrowed my eyes to make it out.
It was a sticky note which said "Civilization in penthouse suites. Direction to elevator on the back"
I stumbled toward it, gave the directions a long look then followed the instructions. I wasn't even sure how I remembered. I suppose I had to thank adrenaline alone for keeping me functioning enough to survive.
I'd wanted to collapse right there in the elevator but promptly held the wall behind me to prevent that scenario. I decided to engage myself by reading the posters they had marketing the facilities.
I picked the first empty room I saw once I came up. I'm not even sure how exactly I stumbled through the fancy room in a daze. I knew the air conditioning felt awful on the wound which had begun bleeding slowly again and that I'd turned on the radio in the room to distract myself. I just focused on limping my way to the bathroom and clumsily dragging myself into the bathtub.
I bit my cheek hard to ward off the pain while absent-mindedly wondering if Beckendorf felt this much pain before going. I didn't want to think about that or about the mess around the explosion I'd purposefully avoided. I already didn't like how much everyone had been talking about whether his sacrifice was in vain or not but I wasn't sure why. It just irked me. I decided to try and think about dealing with the wound. I had no love for cleaning and treating wounds but unfortunately there was no choice.
First, I had to remove the arrow. Then I could turn on the water and let it regenerate before figuring out how much I had to stitch. Thankfully, I still had a small knife at my belt. I made a shoddy attempt at stabilizing my hands while I pulled the knife from my pouch. Then, I took in a deep breath. There was no way out of this.
First I made a slit in the pant leg, to inspect how to pull this off. The wound was a complete mess to say the least. Luckily for me, there were only larger pieces of broken Celestial bronze here and there. The arrow was infact quite crude, having impaled only halfway through the flesh. Raiding their supplies had come to something good after all. Plus it'd been pretty fun exploding and stealing their stuff.
It wasn't poisoned. I probably would've been able to tell if it had been a poisoned arrow earlier. Ethan had used the same poison on Annabeth that had been used on me last year but clearly they'd changed the potency. It was diluted but there was other stuff in it this time which I presumed was to kill quickly rather than mess the target up. That was atleast what I got from the few minutes I could heal. I'd have to visit her after this was done. Fortunately, I'd made prior arrangements to getting poisoned. Ironically it was exactly what mother had me memorize when I was like six. But if I did catch some poison, I'd recover.
I tried to take a deep breath as I braced myself but I was far too shaky to do that. I held onto the side of the bathtub. Then, I created a thin slit the length of an inch down my skin. The pain made me see white for a flash. I almost thought I was about to die.
I didn't die. That was a bit dramatic. My leg just bled and burned even more. I grit my teeth and narrowed my eyes to see as well as my body would permit me to. Then, I reached through the skin and slowly pulled out the shaft and every other bit. I think I must've screamed a little the first time. My throat was hoarse. It was so excruciating, I got light-headed. My breath was too fast and too shallow as I chucked the piece of metal arrow to the side. That was right when the radio started playing something familiar; One Way or Another by Blondie. Extremely ironic music choice but a banger nonetheless.
There could've been an entire crime-scene's worth of blood oozing if I hadn't repaired some of it earlier. Still, the amount of blood was no joke. I pressed down on it with my hand to stop the flow and managed to fumble around and find the taps. I turned on the flow of water, hoping it would help while I healed myself and just lay there for a while as the dizziness slowed and the blood cleaned out.
I tried not to think about how useless all this was. Why'd I even try? I'd never once been able to prevent people's deaths. I just kept failing. Being mommy's little prodigy amounted to absolutely nothing in the end.
Being a waste of potential hurt worse than the arrow. I wasn't even sure what to cry about anymore–the physical pain or the fact that my heart felt like it had lead poisoning. Fortunately, the dizziness and fatigue was stronger.
I was on the verge of falling asleep or into unconsciousness. However, my eyes cracked open when I heard a clatter outside and familiar footsteps. I lifted my head right when the door flew open.
For a moment, I thought I saw my father and vaguely wondered why he'd be here.
"Isha?" It was Percy.
He already looked incredibly frazzled. He took one look at me, at the blood pooling in the tub and looked immediately like he'd start crying. Soft-hearted loser.
"You–" His voice cracked.
"Dumb mistake. It's fine." I managed to vaguely mutter. Still, my chest felt lighter which was funny because only my limbs were injured.
"It's clearly not!" He protested shakily. "What on Olympus happened?"
"Come sit and I'll tell you"