~ ☼ ~

"What happened?" Riley asked when she finally pulled away. Alec hugged me a moment longer, but it was all so group hug, dog pile-y that it didn't look suspicious.

Alec and I glanced at each other. I felt so warm right now, so proud of myself, that I could not bring myself to tell her. Besides, there was so much else to say, and a war was still going on.

So I explained everything that had happened since Riley left me the night before. Lacey and Liz; seeing Apollo. Everything except Alec and I's rising heat. By the end of it, when I'd finished with her pushing down the door, she was gaping at me.

"Holy shit," she said, and Alec burst out laughing.

"What!" she exclaimed.

"You've never sworn before!" Alec said. "Finally!"

She rolled her eyes, sighing.

"I can't believe this," Riley said. "You helped destroy the Titan of Destruction-"

"More like we held him off until a goddess arrived," I said.

She rolled her eyes again. "Can you just take the praise?"

Yeah. I could.

"Demeter's Blessing," said Alec, slowly, like he was trying it out on his tongue. "This is insane. Did you ever expect that?"

Slowly, I looked at him, and when I met his eyes I knew he wasn't going to run away again. The nerves had turned to bashfulness - it was just a matter of time, until everything slowed down again, that we'd fully, fully address it.

Shit. In a good way.

"never," I said. "If anything, I thought it'd be Riley. She got the infinite arrows."

"Well, we all have a little of the same gods," Riley said. "You get dreams from his dad's wife, I have arrows from your... um, Angel Investor-" this made Alec chuckle again - "And Alec was claimed by our dad."

She was right. Though there were other elements - Alec and his friendship with the Hermes' cabin, my enthrallment with Athena's children, and Riley's love for pottery, which put her more in league with Cabin 9 - we were a combination of all four. This made me realize-

"Theia's still out there," I said. "Where do you think she went? There's no way she isn't planning something."

Alec and Riley's face fell.

"Well," Riley said. "Maybe we should - maybe we should go back to the Plaza. The battle with Hyperion has to be over by now. Maybe Percy will know."

Alec swallowed.

"Yeah," he said.

I think he wanted to see Theia himself at this point. It was the only closure he'd get.

"Then let's go," I said, "And hope we get some more information somewhere along the way."

We quickly ran out of the basement. I felt so bad leaving all the weapons behind. Riley must've thought the same thing, because she stopped to grab all the knives she could carry.

"Get weapons," she said. "We'll probably need all we can get."

I had no idea how the showdown with Kronos would go.

~ ☼ ~

As we walked back to Riley and I's makeshift car - Alec had stolen one too, but he said he'd rather me drive - I kept thinking about Demeter. About what she'd said. Giving me plenty rather than the seed. A happy ending instead of another new beginning.

Could I be so lucky?

"You okay?" Alec asked.

"I'm good," I said. "How can I not be?"

Alec made a face as if to say, Lots of ways. Then he said, "You healed me."

For some reason, I hadn't even focused on that.

"Yeah," I said. "That's insane."

"AJ, you heal when you sing," Alec said. "That's more than insane."

"Yeah."

"We could start a medical clinic together," he joked. "That's - that's - I mean, that's Percy level power."

My skin went hot. Even though he was talking in a very objective way, all I could think of was the romance underlying it. Our kiss, and Riley not knowing. I started thinking about the idea of him and I running a medical clinic together, obviously the most absurd idea in the world, but - I could certainly help when we got back to the Plaza. I could make sure Imani was okay, take some pressure of of Will. Alec and I could do it together. It was where we'd met, after all.

As I was daydreaming, we reached the car. Riley opened the back door and shoved the weapons she was holding into the backseat, followed by ones Alec and I had taken.

"And with Demeter's blessing," Riley added, as she did this, "You are pretty Percy level now."

"You're kidding," I said. "I am not Percy level. Percy can summon hurricanes. I sing country music and-"

"AJ," Alec said, serious. "You brought me back from the brink of death."

He was right. It should've been something to make me feel better, all strong and capable and what not, but all it did was put in my head the idea that maybe I could find Michael's body and bring him back, too. That maybe I should've figured this out last summer - maybe I could've sang some sad-ass Fall Out Boy song in Millennium Park and Lucas and Kiera would still be here. Gods know what song. Probably the Kanye West remix of This Ain't a Scene It's An Arms Race.

I snorted to myself, and Alec looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Am I missing something?"

"I think it's hilarious you were on the brink of death," I said, sarcastically. Then I felt bad, because we were at war, but Alec, to my surprised, tipped his head back and laughed.

"It's nice to finally be part of the club," he said.

My skin went hot again as I chuckled.

Riley turned around, a little amused but also glaring at us. "Can you guys help me?"

"What?" I exclaimed.

I realized that she was confused about how to sit in the backseat with all the weapons. We were already risking the woman being pricked in the thigh - though Riley had put down the center console to try to stop that from happening.

"Just forget it," Riley said. "I'm sitting on the passenger's lap."

Alec and I looked at each other, wondering who would drive and who would be Riley's seat.

"You drive," I said. "I'll control the radio."

Alec snorted and Riley smiled.

I meant that, but I also just didn't really want Riley to sit on Alec's lap. not that it would mean anything to either of them, because they actually were platonic. To Riley, Alec was her brother. I almost started spiraling as I headed towards the passenger's seat.

"Maybe you'll have a really good green thumb now," Riley said, trying to cheer me up (not that she knew what I was worried about). "I'm sure the satyrs would love help with the strawberry patch."

The idea of spending the rest of my time at Camp in the dirt in the strawberry patch, quite frankly, made me want to die.

"But then again," Riley said. "Demeter said she wasn't giving you growth powers. Maybe it'll be something else. Something that gives... instant reward."

I didn't know how to feel about this. The thought shot dopamine through my head.

As I sat down, Liakada bumped against the car seat, reminding me it was there - that it was back where it supposedly belonged. I didn't know how to feel about that, either. If I thought too much, I think I might faint.

"Come on," Alec said, seemingly reading my mind. "Let's do this."

So I turned on the radio, hoping for music to save me one again.

But as Alec pulled out of our space and began carefully driving back uptown, I was hit with static. I tried again, but with every static-y station, dread started to creep up on me. Yes, the city was asleep, but some of the radio stations were based outside of the city. They should have been coming in, unless someone was purposely messing with the connection. Could somebody do that? Was there a god of mu-

Oh. Right.

"That's weird," Riley said. "Maybe it's Kronos."

"Why would Kronos be messing with the radio?" I asked.

"Maybe it's on purpose," Alec supplied. "There are more half-bloods out there than you realize. They might be the radio DJs and they had to stop DJ-ing before monsters found them."

"There aren't that many half-bloods out there," Riley corrected, as I said at the same time, "If there's so many half-bloods out there, why aren't they helping us?"

veither of them had an answer for me. At first, I thought it was because they knew something i didn't - I still had this idea that they knew so much more about this world than I did, thanks to their being here before I was - but then I realized they really didn't know.

"Some of them die shortly after leaving camp," Alec said, after a moment. "That might be why."

If being outside of camp was so dangerous, but we had to stop attending once we graduated high school, then honestly, I wouldn't want to come back and help. Once again, I was convinced Chiron didn't actually care about us. Or he cared more about the platonic ideal of training us for battle than our mental health.

I understood why Alec was so clingy to camp. Once next summer was over, we'd all never get to come back. Would we be separated from each other, too?

I looked sideways at Alec, and he felt it. He looked at me, too, and lifted his hand off of the wheel like he was going to grab mine reassuringly -

Then he thought better of it.

I gulped, turning back to face forward. Wondering if Riley had noticed it. Wondering where that part of me that had felt confident in Theia's hands was. Wondering where Theia was now, and if she'd give me any clarity with all her starlit transparency.

~ ☼ ~

We never made it to the Plaza, because we got caught up only a few blocks away from Red Square. It started with something landing on the roof of our car. All three of us screamed.
"Get out!" Alec exclaimed as he threw on the brakes, everything in the car screeching. He didn't have to tell me twice.

The roof fell in just as Riley tumbled out onto the street. I narrowly avoided being crushed as I jumped out, finding one of those giants from the bridge. Thankfully, he'd mainly landed in the front seat, so the roof hadn't crumpled in on the back, where our poor passenger was still sleeping. Unthankfully, he had friends.

"AJ!" Alec exclaimed. "Turn around."

I whirled just as Riley shot an arrow at the giant in the car and found another one coming up behind us. I quickly unsheathed Liakada and swung it wildly like I always did, slicing the thing's arm off. He fell into dust, and I backed up into Riley.

"What are these things?!" I exclaimed.

"I don't know!" she exclaimed.

"Hyperboreans!" Alec exclaimed. "Ice giants!"

There were 3 more charging towards Riley and I, but I spun to look at my bestie. He didn't have his knife, but - he was throwing around his light orbs like he'd practiced making them his whole life. After making a far-off giant fall, he turned towards me, grinning, looking just as surprised as I was.

"Since when can you do that?" Riley exclaimed.

"Since now!" Alec exclaimed back.

"But-" Riley looked between him and I, flabbergasted. She had no more time to wonder, because the three near us were within striking distance. I swung again as she knocked another arrow, but this time, I missed my target. The giant bowed out of the way, then smiled at me.

"A little sunny thing," he said, smiling. "Perfect."

He paused just in front of me and held up his hand, blowing like he was holding a lit candle and it was his birthday. I realized a moment too late that he had some sort of power over ice, as I saw snow and pure cold fly out of that hand towards me-

Then it was hit by a ball of light, making it retrograde and hit the giant smack in the chest. This gave me the chance to swing again, twice in a row this time, eventually killing the thing. I was so astonished I turned towards Alec again, who was waiting for my reaction with another grin on his face.

Then he said, "Come on, runaway! I can't be protecting all of us!"

I groaned as he finally left the defense on his side of the car and ran towards the charge without another word. There were 5 more coming. They seemed to just keep coming and not stop coming like the years of the guy from Smash Mouth's life.

"I thought we were all stopping everything from coming in!" I exclaimed to Riley. "Where are they all coming from?"

Riley looked across the street, like the brownstones in the Lower East Side would somehow hold an answer. Then she grimaced.

"AJ," she said. "I think... we were supposed to stay at the bridge all night."

Embarrassment flooded through me. "You're kidding."

Of course we were. There wasn't going to be just one wave of foot soldiers. Why the frick had I thought there would be? I knew I shouldn't have been in charge of defending the bridge. God knows if the Ares Cabin found out about this, we'd never hear the end of it. And rightfully so.
Once again, I had to make it up to everyone.

So I ran forward with Alec and went on the offense. Running back when I had to, avoiding icy winds and swinging arms. Riley's arrows shot all around me as she climbed up on a car to get a better angle. Little by little, we felled the hyperboreans; it helped that they were so big and sluggish and, once again, I was good at being light on my feet.

But I didn't feel better once they were all gone. It felt like it was only the beginning. Dread seeped through me as we decided to leave the car and run the rest of the way to the Plaza.

~ ☼ ~

There were battles all around us. And with every skirmish we got into, I got more exhausted, but Alec got more empowered, getting better with his light-bending, bewildering both Riley and I more. She had yet to figure out what had happened between us, but I was still terrified she would.

When at last we'd stumbled on the border of Midtown, we ran into people we knew. Before we did, Alec came to my side, Riley a few feet ahead of us, on the offense with her bow taught.

"Hey," he said. "You okay?"

His nonchalance annoyed me as much as it always had. Still, I let him reach out; didn't stop him as he, hesitantly, touched my back. Rubbed it.

"Alec," I whispered.

Both of us looked at Riley, and I swear I felt her psychic powers kick in and tell her. But she must've only gotten messages about saving lives and whatnot, because she didn't turn around.

"I know you're probably tired."

I glared at him. "Is that an insult?"

He stared back at me. "Yes, AJ. I'm making fun of your lack of physical fitness in the middle of battle, an hour after you saved my life."

I couldn't help but giggle. "So you do admit that I'm not physically fit."

Before he could retort back, Riley stopped, making us stop too.

"I can hear someone," she said. "Hold on a minute."

She was right. I could hear someone too. A minute later, the sound exploded once the source of it veered around a corner. It was two people on a pegasus, then a third running behind them.

I almost backed up into Alec.

"Hemmings?" I scowled. "Wha-"

I felt like I'd been cheated on. Because on his back was Lacey Gonzaga (and Liz). Malcolm was running behind them. I had no idea how they'd ended up down here, unless the battle with Hyperion was already done and over with. Alec's face went pale, but I didn't know if it was because he'd come to the same conclusion or if it was because he, too, was being cheated on.

"Guys!" Malcolm yelled at us. "Move out of the way!"

We had no time to argue. All three of us immediately ran out of the way, flattening ourselves into an alleyway. A moment later, a giant stone came barrelling down the street, 10 times bigger than the last time I'd seen it. Behind it ran Sisyphus, himself much taller. Like Alec killing him had somehow given him more strength when he came back. Alec sucked in a breath.

Sisyphus didn't see us. He ran after the stone like a reverse Indiana Jones, so big that when he kicked out his leg cars would go flying like he was side-sweeping a soccer ball. As one crashed into an apartment building, I held my hands over my ears, falling into a crouch.

"He's back!" Alec hissed, once Sisyphus was a block down, the poor children of Athena trying to figure out how to divert him. "What the Hades!"

"How?" Riley cried. "That - they can't reform that quickly!"

"He's not even a monster," I said. "He shouldn't be able to come up here, anyway."

"Unless someone brought him up," Riley said, thoughtfully.

"Uh, yeah," Alec retorted. "Kronos."

"Maybe he's-"

I met Riley's eyes right as both of us thought of it. It was a guess, but Riley seemed sure; a fire lit in her eyes like a determined anime protagonist.

"They brought him up," Riley said. "That much is obvious. But he won't go back down. Somehow he's - it's like they reversed his curse. now, no matter how many times you kill him, he'll come back."

Alec groaned, leaning back against the brick wall in the alleyway. It smelled like sewage back here, but that was better than blood, I guess.

"Unless you get rid of the source," I said.

"So what?" Alec asked. "We just have to keep killing him until Kronos is defeated?"

"We don't have to keep killing him," I said. "Leave it to those 4. They seem like they've got it under control."

But even as I said it, I knew I didn't mean it. Even if he came back later, we had to do what we could to help him die again right now. I could hear him a different block away now, followed by Liz screaming; it seemed like the children of Athena, largely weaponless, were unable to do anything but lead him in circles.

Remembering how Hemmings hadn't been there when I'd needed him... had been with Lacey, apparently, this whole time... it made me want to sour. I knew he owed no loyalty to me, but I thought we'd developed a bond. If he cared so little, he could've just told me. Maybe all he cared about was getting me to side with his dryad BFFs.

While Riley was crouching, looking out onto the street and waiting for the right time to jump back out, I looked at Alec.

"I guess Hemmings doesn't want us to be his parents any more."

Alec gave me a reluctant smile. "That's on him. We'd be much better parents than Lacey Gonzaga ever could be."

My face went warm.

"You know everybody at camp," I said. "Do you have any hot goss about her?"

"Lacey?" Riley asked, turning back towards us. "She's from the Bay Area. That's all I know."

"She's mean," Alec said.

"Thanks, Alec," I said. "I'm aware of that."

Surprised, Riley looked at me, and I realized I hadn't given her the details of my dynamic with Lacey - if I'd told her anything. I frowned as it dawned on her that she'd been left out of something. I hadn't meant to leave her out. Alec wouldn't even know if he hadn't figured it out himself.

"I told you when you first met her that I don't know her," Alec said. "I only befriend other people that are outgoing. Katie, the Stolls, Nina, Ashley, Jake-"

He probably could've kept going, but I stopped him.

"You befriended me," I said. "I wasn't outgoing."

He smiled, and my skin went warmer as I waited for a compliment. Something telling me I was special from the get-go.

Then he said, "You were, too, outgoing. You were going out. You were trying to escape camp."

I choked on the breath I was holding. Then I tipped my head back and laughed. Riley laughed too, and Alec looked pleased with himself. Somehow, it made me feel even better than it would have had he told me I was special.

Unfortunately, our laughter-filled moment hurt us. A moment later, Riley suddenly stopped, holding up a hand. I shut up, fear creeping up my spine.

"Hold on," she said. "Get Liakada."

With both of us grabbing our weapons, she and I both crept to the edge of the alleyway, leaning out-

"Ah!" Sisyphus said, leaning in at the very same time. His rock was behind him; to my terror, there was blood on it.

"There you are!" he said. "I've been looking for you ever since earlier!"

His brown eyes went straight to Alec.

Alec jumped to his feet, his jaw dropping.

"Don't- don't get any closer!" He exclaimed. "I'll kill you again!"

He looked down at his hands, lips trembling as he waited for the power to return. but this time, no light showed up. My heart plummeted to my stomach.

Alec let out a shaky breath, then slowly looked up - at Sisyphus, at Riley and I. Then he shouted, "Run!"

We ran.

We ran down the alleyway, which was too narrow for Sisyphus. But he could easily run around the city block and come to the other side, which is what he did. I heard him tottering around as we reached the next street, could see his hair above the roof line. The children of Athena were nowhere to be found.

"There's no way we're gonna be able to get out of here," I said. "We - we need to just hide in the alleyway. He'll send the ball rolling after us no matter which way we go."

Once again, the reminder that there were people in these cars that were getting crushed and sideswept made me - made me want to puke. They had not asked for this war; they hadn't even known it was coming. And we had to pick up the pieces. And for what - for one tyrant to rule rather than another?

I sympathized with the demigods on the Titan Army. I sympathized with Lucas and Kiera and Luke Castellan. But I wished they had found strength in each other rather than in yet another source of authority.

I straightened, thinking, Dang. Lenin and I could have some great conversations.

"AJ!" Alec exclaimed.

I snapped out of my daze and ran.

We ducked back into the alleyway, just as Sisyphus spotted us and sent the ball rolling. Sure enough, it crushed everything in its path, and that would've included us had we not hid.

"Frick!" I exclaimed. "Gods!"

"You little demons!" Sisyphus bellowed. He charged towards us, coming to a stop in front of the alleyway. "I - I'll just get you myself!"

He reached his arm in and tried to grab us, but his arm wasn't long enough. We were just out of reach. He glanced in the direction his stone had rolled then, swore and decided to chase after it.

"Let's go!" I exclaimed.

So we ran back out to the initial street, the street he was no longer on but had chased the children of Athena down. now, Lacey, Liz, and Malcolm were nowhere to be seen. We needed their help - needed someone like Hemmings to take us above.

Then, I saw a glint of blonde. Malcolm, a block down, looking out of the alleyway like we just had. I gasped, but we could not make it to him. As Sisyphus came back for us, we had to run across the street and duck into another alley.

"I bet Hemmings left!" I exclaimed. "With Lacey and Liz!"

Riley and Alec both swore.

"He's invincible!" Riley exclaimed. "We're screwed unless we're able to out-run him!"

"We can't leave Malcolm behind," Alec said, just as I said, "We have to save Malcolm!"

Riley groaned. "Gods! We're too nice!"

But it wasn't niceness, or even loyalty. It was just... I don't know. Decency. Human decency, the kind that separated us from the monsters. And, even moreso, from the Gods. Apollo dropping us into the sky flashed through my mind. I would not do the same to my fellow half-bloods.

We turned towards Alec, looking at him. Because he was the only one that could kill Sisyphus. Unless we ran for Malcolm ourselves-

The stone came rolling, and Sisyphus came after it.

"I'll find you," he said, in a sing-song voice. "You know why they gave me this punishment in the first place? Because I wasn't afraid to kill."

All three of us sucked in a breath.

Then Alec and I locked eyes. And, in a moment of desperation, I knew what he was going to do.

He stepped forward and, my heart racing, kissed me. In front of Riley. The way it made us both melt - though not nearly as much as earlier given the situation - must've been enough. I felt the static between our lips, making me jump backwards.

The next thing I saw was light in his hands, overtaking his forearms as he ran out into the alleyway, shouting Sisyphus' name.

It dawned on me then what it must feel like for the man. Because when he died, we'd have to do it again. We'd have to do it again, and again. And the same was true, here. Just when I thought I'd gotten over another problem, there was another. And no matter how many times Alec kissed me, it never took away the shame.

Not as I turned to Riley and saw her mouth open, looking more bewildered, more betrayed, than I'd ever been in my life.

~ ☼ ~

A/N: Why is Wattpad so freaking bad at keeping formatting. Like I will make something centered 50 million times over and it NEVER STICKS!!!

Anyway pls vote and comment if you like :) <3