As Percy and Frank crept along the road, they didn't speak. It was almost comforting, knowing that Frank with his Hawk Eyes was watching his back. Percy had never had that before, being a solo player and all. The closest thing he'd ever had to someone watching his back like this was Grover highlighting his battles after he had already logged out.

The thought of Grover brought a twist to his stomach. That same mostly crippled teenager was the only thing keeping all of them alive right now. The time clock on Percy's menu bar reminded him that their conversation had only been a couple minutes prior. Grover was probably still sitting his his swivel chair cursing Percy.

He wondered if he had made a good choice forbidding himself to see his family. To see his mom or Tyson. He knew if he saw them he wouldn't have been able to stomach what was coming.

"Don't worry, Percy, after this I'll make sure to pay baby brother and mommy a visit, too!"

Percy hadn't told anyone what Kronos had said to him in their last fight. It unnerved him that the monster would know him, Percy Jackson, the loser, loner of the school and the least likely candidate for The Age of Heroes Tournament. Kronos knew his name, his family, he knew how to push Percy's buttons, and all of his weaknesses in his sword fighting.

Percy doubted that he didn't have the same extensive knowledge on every player. He remembered how Annabeth had frozen at the sight of him, the broken grin of his golden mask, and the long scar that ran the length of his cheek. It wasn't surprise that had cemented her feet to the ground. It was fear. Annabeth had known him.

He snuck a glance back at the tall Asian behind him. Did Kronos have something on him? What about Leo? What chance did they have if Kronos knew all of them?

Percy clenched his fist around the handle of his sword. "So," He tried to sound nonchalant, "How am I going to know when my Valiant Hero will unlock?"

Hannibal pursed his lips and kicked at a virtual rock with his brown hiking boot. "I guess you'll just know."

"I'll just know." Percy echoed. Even for him, it sounded too far fetched. His whole plan had sounded better back in the comfort of the penthouse hideout. He really hoped his power was something useful. If any of them were going to survive, it depended on Percy figuring out his power before Kronos found it's weakness.

No pressure or anything.

There was a buzzing sound up ahead and Percy motioned for Frank to hold back. They skirted the area diving back into a thicket of trees in case it was some glitch of a monster. Frank pulled up his map just so they could both see it wasn't another player. Percy swallowed hard and snuck forward on the balls of his feet.

Around the clearing was the source of the buzzing. It almost made Percy laugh.

"Well at least we know Leo's code is working." Percy called back to his partner. Frank peeked out from the wood.

A floating camera, which was a bane of their existence at one point was faced directly towards a rock in the middle of the off path clearing. Percy couldn't help but snicker at the million of real time views it was broadcasting to the real world. RockTV just got it's first big break.

Percy nudged Hannibal and they both continued on in their cautious trip.

"Something's been bothering me." Frank said suddenly. They both scanned the area nervously as if Imthebest or Kronos was going to burst out at them with weapons drawn. "We were all in that penthouse. Kronos knew he had you on the line--no offense, man you were done for-- Anyone with a map knew where we were. If he knew even one of us was on the ropes, why did he go for team >Stolls<? It just doesn't make sense."

Percy shrugged. "Was it suppose to make sense?" He asked, "Hackers took over our game. This is a virtual reality that might kill us."

Frank frowned, "Yeah..." He said distantly, "But still."

The more Percy thought about it, the more an obvious answer came to mind. Percy felt guilty just thinking about it, but it was the only logical reasoning he could make out. Since Kronos knew all of them, their strengths and weaknesses, home life and online life, probably even their hopes and dreams, he knew who was the strongest players.

He also must have known who was the easiest to pick off. One by one.

Percy tugged at the tattered collar of his cape. Did Kronos pick out Stargirl365 like that? Or had her trying to save him been enough to single her out? Percy was living because she had saved him by dumping him in a river that carried him to safety. He was living off Stargirl365's blood. Why him? Why hadn't she left him to die like everyone else? What did she see in him that was worth giving her life for?

All he had done was proclaim his Solo Player motto. He stood on a rock, he talked reason to his peers, he got himself stabbed. Percy Jackson should already be dead.

"Do you think we should have started a guild, Riptide?" Frank asked again breaking the silence and steering Percy's thoughts from the dark road they were heading down.

"You can call me Percy, you know." He said musing over the question, "I...I've never been a guild before."

"Never?" Frank looked surprised. He strummed the string of his bow absently, "Really?"

"I've only been playing for seven months." Percy sighed, "And since I used my only friends headset, there was never really anyone to play with, any guild to join. Why does everyone want to join a guild anyway? It's just a friend group thing right?"

Frank glanced up at the sky watching a couple of virtual birds for signs of an attack. Percy was secretly glad they were doing this excursion in the daytime. If it had been night the generated monsters would have already torn them apart.

"Guilds are like teams. Yeah most of them are just friend groups, but they can consist of anyone the master allows in. Take the Ares Guild, my guild--"

"Wait you belong to the Ares Guild?" Percy snorted. "The one with all the gung-ho players and bad attitudes?" He remembered xxRedClarissexx, who he had to beat in the last match before being accepted into the AOH rankings. The Avatar had been ugly and the personality even worse, and Percy just couldn't see meek Frank Zhang being part of that.

"I didn't--don't-- fit in." Frank admitted, "But being part of a guild means you always have someone you can turn to if you wanna go on a dangerous quest or need help with a story plot. Some guilds form to join tournaments for medals or cash rewards or fancy weapon and armour upgrades."

Percy shrugged, "I just do better by myself."

Frank was quiet for a moment as they walked. His features seemed to hollow in the sun. "Some guilds give upgrades." He mentioned, "Like I know if the Ares guild gets six or more players on one quest, our attack power goes up five percent."

They were only a little bit away from where they had last seen Imthebest fleeing. Percy paused to pull out his map checking the markers. There were still fourteen left, so no one had died. It looked like -Chasing- had taken to his plan too, because the penthouse had been abandoned and groups of twos were taking over the board.

According to the map, Imthebest would be crashing their mini party in only a few minutes. Kronos's marker wasn't far behind him.

"Do you want to join a guild?" Frank asked quietly his eyes trained on the gray marker moving towards their stationary markers.

Percy's mouth twitched, "Dunno. I'm not good with authority figures. Just asked my math teacher."

"You could always be the master of the guild. Start your own."

Percy actually snorted, "Oh yeah? And who would join?"

Hannibal tore his eyes from the markers and readjusted his grip on his bow. He spun until he was pointed to where Imthebest would be coming and slung out an arrow from his quiver in a smooth motion. "I would," He said.

Percy almost snorted. He twisted his bronze sword in his hand twice readjusting his grip. "I'll think about it." He concluded and then, before his nerves could catch up with the rest of him, Riptide charged forward as if he had had a plan the entire time.

Imthebest looked like he had walked through hell and it didn't get much better. He was bleeding from just about everywhere, his stat bar in a red so dull it almost looked black. Cuts crisscrossed his arms and torso, as if he had been dodging a knife but mere speed and not doing it well. The Sandy haired boy came crashing into the ground right at Percy's feet.

"Son of a Mother!" He sobbed. For the moment, he didn't even seem to see Percy at all. He scrambled up to his feet spraying blood across the the both of them, and the code felt as wet as spit. Imthebest focused on him, took a second too long to recognize Percy's form and the floating stats beside him. "I can't! He's right--"

"Move!" Frank shouted from behind them. He let loose an arrow that slung so close to Percy's ear he heard it singing. It cut fire, and zipped across the clearing to an unknown destination.

"Can you stand?" Percy asked him urgently.

"It's Kronos!" Imthebest gasped, "He's behind--"

"Can you stand," Percy scraped his memory for the name; he knew he heard the boys call to each other, "Connor?"

The boy looked at him, squinting through a gush of blood. "Travis." He gulped in a fresh breath that sounded like it hurt more than anything else, "Connor...he's...I'm Travis." He grabbed Percy's shoulder to hoist himself up, "I can stand." He blinked twice, "Wait a second aren't you dea--"

"Percy!" Frank hollered, "Here he comes!"

The black haired boy looked at Travis and nodded, "Go, we'll handle this."

"How?" Imthebest choked.

Percy didn't mean to but he smiled, "Magic?" He swung his sword in a circle and loosened his stance, before placing himself in between Travis and the oncoming threat.

Kronos appeared, walking casually forward without a sign of a scuffle on him. Even the 5% damage that Annabeth had given him earlier was gone. His boots snapped the fallen twigs and Percy had a hard time not picturing them as bones. He had discarded the mask that him and Annabeth had worked together to break, but what he saw still didn't make him feel any better.

It wasn't a monster under the mask, and Percy thought maybe it would have made him feel better if there had been some grotesque thing that he could blame from the blood and the nightmares he would be having after all of this.

Kronos let his blue eyes shine with anticipation of killing them all. His blond hair glistened in the artificial sunlight, making him look like an angel discarded from Heaven for the attempted murder of God himself.

Blood was all over his clothes.

"Well isn't this curious," He said, a smug smile slipping through his shining teeth. "You haven't learned a single thing have you, Riptide?"

"My teachers say the same thing." Percy gritted his teeth, "Did yours ever tell you that killing people was wrong?"

"Only the boring ones."

Of course. Percy's hands were clammy around his sword handle. He watched Kronos's body language, trying to predict where the man would move from. Two days ago Percy wouldn't have even considered this skill a necessity, but now he knew it would be the only difference between all three of them dying.

It would determine if he saw Annabeth again, or if he let her be hurt again and again, hunted until the Titan hackers got bored of her.

All at once Percy realized he couldn't let anyone else die. The sudden resolve was a hard rock in his sanity, an anchor in the chaos, a calm that flooded his veins. He imagined Tyson in his arms, talking about his day with Rachel, and his mother in the kitchen making dinner with a sub conscious smile adorning her face with happiness the way she deserved.

Percy charged Kronos.

His movements were fluid like a river, with its currents only slashed by the brunt force of Kronos's sword. The other man locked their swords, laughing soundlessly. Percy pulled back skipping the swing of Kronos's leg by a mere centimeter. Percy flung his sword in another attack, a diagonal strike that was parried with spite. Kronos towered over him, his strength still higher than Percy's, at least until the arrow exploded in his back.

Kronos went stumbling back a few steps, allowing Percy to recover his balance. Kronos simply gritted his teeth and cracked his neck. His health bar was missing 1% damage for all the good it did them.

"Exploding arrows," the blond man spit, "I always thought they were pointless." His eyes flicked to where Frank stood ready with another two arrows to be released, "Wait your turn, Zhang."

Frank fired again, but his aim was off. The tree beyond both Percy and Kronos splintered into enough code to give Percy a headache. Travis gasped a short breath from where he was still holding his balance on a tree trunk. His hand prints were displayed as red tattoos on the bark. Kronos smirked. His hand reached out pulling a dagger from his inventory. The blade was still marked with old blood. Percy found himself not wanting to know whose it was.

"Fine then," The assassin said, "Both of you come at me. I'll kill you both right here."

Percy dove forward just as Frank reloaded his bow. Percy slashed at Kronos but he was faster, flipping out of the way, and still retaining enough balance to use his dagger to knock away Frank's arrow. Kronos whipped back catching Percy in his cheek with a shallow cut that stung of humiliation more than pain.

Riptide sung a metallic song along the blade of Kronos's sword. He lashed out with his elbow trying to throw the assassin off balance, but he only managed to stumble and fall. Sticks felt like needles in his skin, the leaves like a slick paper mat to keep him from getting up.

Frank yelled out dropping his bow into inventory. Percy watched with wide eyes as his enough body blotted and morphed, code weaving his muscles and clothes until something else entire had been created from the mass. A bear charged at Kronos with a roar that shook the whole forest.

Kronos spun to face it with a distasteful frown, but Frank was now two hundred pound of meat in a fur coat. He threw Kronos to the ground, leaping on him in an animalistic way. The assassin's sword clattered away, but he drove his dagger right into Frank's heavy shoulder.

"Frank!" Percy bellowed.

The bear let loose a bunch of growls that might have made any mother bears nearby wash his mouth with bear soap. Frank lurched back, and Kronos landed a powerful kick to the other boys face. Hannibal fell back, his body changing back into a human; he hit the ground in a pool of blood on the bad shoulder. Percy rushed forward again, his shoes sliding on the fallen leaves and twigs. Kronos caught his sword in his open palm.

"Don't you see, Riptide?" Kronos asked, holding all of Percy's weight with his single hand. Blood dripped off his wrist, dropping to the ground in one single drop. "You can't defeat me. No matter how many allies you gather. No matter what guild you join. You can't beat me in a swordfight."

"I'll find a way!" Percy swore.

"You're pathetic."

"No," Percy said, "I'm desperate." He lifted his foot and slammed his heel right into Kronos's sternum.

Kronos cursed retreating a few steps to catch his breath. Percy leapt for the opportunity to rush him, sloppily bringing his sword across the other man's torso. Before it got anywhere near him it ricocheted off a golden glow of a wall that hadn't been there before.

The energy crackled in the air. Percy had just enough time to suck in a breath before all of his force rebounded back at him. It came like a punch to his gut, powerful enough to send him flying backwards. He hit something, the crash sounded like a car wreck but his body kept moving. Bruises exploded across the small of his back and he hit the ground with all the delicacy of a bull in a china shop. He was pretty sure his health bar was broken. There was no way one attack backfiring like that could have placed him back at ten percent health. The world spun.

"Well it looks like stealing that Complete-Counter Activation Spell of Zoe's came in handy." Kronos's voice was thicker than tar. He appeared as a silhouette in Percy's vision, blocking out the sun dotting through the orange branches. "Well I guess that's Stargirl365 to you, isn't it, Percy?" He toed over Percy to nudge his sword out of his reach.

"You know she died because of you?" He said, "I was going to after -AngelQueen- first, her being the most interest statistic-wise. But when Zoe stopped to pick up your lifeless body...well I just couldn't help myself.

"And you...you weren't my real first pick. An ameture player in this game? Please! Olympus has truly fallen. But I must say I've never seen another player so suicidal." Kronos smiled with all his teeth, and drove his heel right into Percy's stomach. Percy wretched his own breath out from his lungs, his vision flashing black and white before refocusing. His fingers grappled for his sword, but his limbs weren't cooperating. "You've been an interesting toy, Jackson."

"Riptide!" Frank hollered threw his agony. He was struggling to sit up, his arm limp and scarlet painting his left side.

"But next time leave the big boy games to the adults." Kronos swung his sword down.

Two things happened at once.

First: There was a heavy thump and something dark and heavy bounced off Kronos's shoulder blade. He froze in his motion, blade still a foot away from decapitating Percy. Kronos blinked as if he had imagined it, then another black blob hit the ground just inches from Percy's hand.

"Hey! You jackass!" Travis panted, "Are you done... with your fucking.... lectures?" His hand curled around another rock from where he knelt on the ground, his other arm encases his stomach as if it was the only thing keeping his intestines on the inside. He lobbed the rock at Kronos but it missed by a foot. "I mean...the least you...could do...is...finish me... first."

To be honest, Travis didn't look like he needed any help dying at all. His dull blue eyes glared defiantly at the assassin, but every breath looking like it was rubbing lemon juice in an open cut. Blood rained off the wound on his forehead and smeared across most of his open skin. He threw another rock at Kronos and it hit his shin and fell into the mess of leaves.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kronos asked. For that moment he sounded a lot like a normal teenager with normal teenage problems.

The second thing that happened was Percy felt every molecule in the air suddenly go still. His brain froze in all the buzzing thoughts and fears and dreams until only one thing was clear. A single line of sounds he didn't recognize but were humming in his brain.

Wishhishh-Wishhishh-Wishhishh

Then, like the flicking of a switch, he knew exactly what it was.

When he closed his eyes, just for the second, a millisecond really, he could feel it. Under his fingertips, under his body, in his chest, in his arms. It was warm and cold, strange but familiar. Something he had never felt before but something he couldn't picture never having.

It felt like power.

Riptide opened his eyes and everything exploded. The ground betrayed itself, launching into the air with no warning. It was powerful, latched to Percy's emotions, his resolve, his calm and his promises-- all of them. The ground was nothing compared to the water that surged to the sky white hot and cold as ice. It moved like a sea monster swallowing the assassin in it's jaws. Percy imagined the assassin yelling a curse or two but all he heard was the sweet relief of every drop of water. The spray rained down on the three of them; Percy felt it soothe his muscles until all traces of the Counter Attack spell had faded in his memory.

"Sweet Mercy," Frank breathed, his eyes wide as the jet of water still going up and up and up.

Percy watched, maybe some part of him hoped that Kronos would never come back down. Eventually the water emptied itself, then it was just the three of them scattered among the leaves and trees staring at nothing.

"Hey Frank," Percy called to him.

"Yeah?"

"Did you know there was an underground river under us?"

Frank brought his non injured arm up to his face to cover a wet laugh, "No!"

Percy himself hiccuped a laugh, "Yeah, me neither."

"That was...." Travis shook his head, "Yeah...I've never...seen anything...like that." He frowned, "Is he dead?"

Percy stared at the hole made by the makeshift geyser. "I hope."

"He's not," Frank grunted as he got up. He staggered for a moment hold his arm tenderly. His health bar sang 72% but he swiped it to the side for his map. Fourteen blimps remained on it, only one was now out of place; Kronos had crash landed in one of the farther corners in the Native American TeePee camps. It wasn't as far as it could be, but for the moment Percy bet he had enough damage to slow him down and there was a good distance between them and him.

"Well," Percy said, "I think I've figure out what my Valiant Hero Power is." He looked at his hands then rolled over to find his sword. His control over water was dulled now. The sounds gone and the water dried from his skin in clothes made it look like he had never been wet at all.

"Your health bar," Travis pointed out.

Percy was at full health again. He stared at it until a message popped up.

Congratulations Player Riptide!

For your excellent work in kickbutt-ery over the past two years, you have been gifted with a blessing from the Gods of Olympus! We wish you luck on further excursions and remind you to play fairly and cooperatively! Powers are used better in guilds! And Remember to have fun!

~The Gods of Olympus

"That's..." Frank stared at the note over Percy's shoulder, "Not the same note I got." He pointed at the second to last line, "That's different."

"He's right," Imthebest added, then shook his head, "Wait...what's even... going on?"

Percy and Frank shared a look. Percy minimized the note and went to help Travis up. "It's a long story."

"For now let's just join up with Scorpio and BlackMagic, and hope that one of them has some type of healing potion." Frank winced as he tried to move his arm, "We can explain on the way."