Ethan's POV

The next two days were unbearably slow, and that alone could have been something manageable, but at night, my life became a living hell. Literally.

After we had all gone to bed after Charlie had presented his idea, I had the worst nightmare I’d had all month, and I was still shivering when I woke, finding myself in a cold sweat. Last night hadn’t been any better. Visions of all of my friends dying in battle, or of Luke becoming possessed and going on a rampage, and many more horrible things poisoned my mind. I wanted to get angry, force myself to wake up, but I couldn’t. I had to endure the torture.

I woke up, again in a cold sweat, but this time, it was early in the morning. Too early.

Today's the 25th, I thought, Six more days after this.

I looked out of the Cabin 16 window, the window I currently shared with nobody, and saw that the sun wasn’t even over the horizon yet. I suddenly felt alone, more alone than I had in a long time. I realized that no matter how hard I tried to fight Kronos, I would always be a freak. An idiot who had supported the Titans at the wrong time.

I decided to wait for the sun to come up. No use going to breakfast when the nymphs who made it weren’t even up yet. I thought about the nightmares that I had seen over the last two days. I realized a scary thought: Kronos was pressing me for a reason. Tommy and Silena were out of his grasp, Charlie was learning to control his anger and powers more every day. Charlie also had a plan against the Lord of Time. Me? I had nothing to help me. I had a Black Spot on my chest that was poisoning me with the unbridled anger of a Titan who had been pushed down for over a thousand years by beings inferior to him.

Not just that, I had enemies at this camp. I knew that the other people here resented me, hated me for the crimes I committed in the past. I had nothing positive going for me.

But Life has a funny way of proving you wrong, doesn’t it? Life is stubborn, always trying to change your opinion, whether for the good or bad. For example, what if you were to think that you were alone in the world? Funny you should ask, because Life just proved that I wasn’t.

As soon as the sun’s light rose over the crest of Half-Blood Hill, I got out of my bunk and changed, yawning as I took off my ratty shirt and walked over to my dresser to find fresh clothes. I didn’t even notice that my cabin door was slightly ajar, enough for a passerby to see me inside. I had changed into khaki shorts and was about to put on a belt when a passing breeze opened the door with a long creak.

I looked through the door way and saw the one girl who proved everything that I had just thought about wrong. There was Alexandra Rodriguez.

“Hey,” She said, blushing.

“What are you doing up?” I asked, chuckling.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, looking down in an attempt to stop blushing.

“What’s up?” I said, smiling. For some reason, I couldn’t help but smile when I looked at her. She was so pretty that she didn’t even need to be happy to make other people happy.

“Nothing!” She said, cracking into a smile, “It’s just, I guess I wanted to see you.”

“Really?” I asked, faking like I was taken aback as I walked towards the door.

“Um, uh, yeah,” she stuttered, blushing even harder, staring at something on my torso. Why was she staring? She had seen the Black Spot before, so what was even there to see? Then I looked down at my chest.

“Oh,” I said, noticing something that shouldn’t have been there. I realized that she wasn’t staring at something on my chest, but rather, she was staring at my chest.

“Yeah,” She said, “You been working out much?”

“No!” I said indignantly, staring at my new six-pack abs, ripped chest, well-toned arms and strong legs, “I’ve been so sick, I’ve had no time to hit the weight room! When in Hades did this happen?”

“I thought you knew already,” Alex said, her face becoming less red, “People seem to know when they become, like, models.”

I chuckled a little nervously, but she was still staring, biting her lip in a cute way.

“So you like what you see?” I asked, smiling again.

She just blushed again, and looked down at her feet. I liked the fact that I could make her blush. Almost no one else at Camp could. Alex was usually such a headstrong, confident girl that it was almost refreshing to see her flustered.

But then I realize that I couldn’t afford to joke around and flirt with her. I needed the thought of her to be fresh in my mind, but not be distracting. I had to fight my battle first, and I couldn’t get sidetracked by love. Not yet.

“Well, yeah,” She said, and I found myself, even though I didn’t want to get distracted, pulled towards her. I walked down the stairs, and she walked the few feet towards me. She reached her hand out to touch my face, and leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my face.

You can’t, A voice that sounded suspiciously like my mother’s said in my mind, you can’t let your defenses down now, Ethan. You need to focus on what you priorities are!

I felt angry at my mother for being the voice of reason, for confirming what I had thought originally. But suddenly, another voice, raspy and metallic murmured,

Yes, Ethan. Hide behind your muddled human emotions. Don’t get close to anyone. Stay stranded. Stay by yourself. Stay exiled from your friends. Stay alone.

“Shut up!” I shouted, crumpling to my knees and pressing my fingers to my temples.

“Ethan, what’s wrong?” Alex asked, her voice full of concern.

“No!” I said, the panic rising in my voice. As the panic rose, so did the anger.

“Ethan!” She said, the panic evident in her voice. Then, Kronos took over.

“Somebody help—” She started to scream, but my hand reached out for me and closed around her throat, pressing into her trachea as I threw her against the cabin wall.

I panicked inside of my mind. Kronos’ Black Spot had finally won, and at the worst time. When Alex had been with me. I couldn’t let Kronos hurt her. I saw her face full of pain as she tried to grab my forearm in an attempt to free herself, but she failed. Her green eyes started to fade, and eventually, they closed. She was unconscious.

“No!” I struggled to gasp, fighting a battle in my mind for control, “You. Will. Not. Hurt. Her!”

Suddenly, an explosion went through my brain as I felt Kronos loose his grip. I regained control and let Alex drop into Cabin 16. I felt like I was drunk, as I staggered around, trying to maintain my balance. Then, I fell into Cabin 16 right next to Alex’s unconscious body. I hadn’t even gotten the chance to call for help.

---

I woke up first. Alex’s limp body was lying next to me, her vibrant face grey and dull, her bright red hair fading into brown, like a red piece of paper that had been thrown into a muddy river.

“No!” I shouted, and thank the Gods, she moved, groaning in pain. At that, I shouted, “Alex! Wake up! You gotta wake up!”

She groaned again, and I grabbed both of her shoulders, trying to get her to open her eyes. But she stayed asleep. Then, I realized what to do. I leaned in, and whispered, with as much energy as I could put into it,

“Alex.”

Her eyes fluttered open. I smiled at her as I moved up into a crouch, still staring at her.

“You okay?” I asked, looking at her concernedly.

“Hot,” She said, like it explained everything.

“Are you hot?” I guessed, “I can get you an ice pack or—”

“No,” She interrupted, “You. You are hot.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling my cheeks warm.

“You should go without a shirt more often,” Alex said, still kinda in a daze.

“Shut up,” I told her, and she smiled. I quickly pulled on a shirt and sprinted over to the Infirmary, my head still throbbing. Once a medic had helped Alex sit up against one of the bunk beds in Cabin 16 and gave her some ambrosia, she seemed better. By then, I had steeled my nerves. My emotional defenses were back up.

“Come on,” I ordered her, “Back to Cabin 18.”

“Why, Ethan?” She asked, looking hurt, “Why can’t you be around me?”

“I just…” My voice faltered, but I knew I had to keep strong. “I just can’t,” I managed.

She looked at me, her forehead wrinkled in confusion and concentration, and I could barely stand to look at her. The sight of her was too blissfully painful. I walked her back to the Hebe cabin and laid her down, and watched over her until she fell asleep. Then, I walked into the forest. I had to find out for sure.

Am I free? I asked into my mind. My Black Spot had disappeared. I had felt less angry since I had woken up. I prayed for silence, for no answer to greet me. I waited for five minutes, concentrating to hear any voice in my head, any trace of Kronos. But after those five minutes, no voice responded. I smiled to myself, grateful for my freedom.

I was about to scream in victory, but then, the worst happened. The Black Spot returned, twisting itself into the middle of my chest, stabbing through my ribcage.

“No!” I grunted in pain, and Kronos’ voice, that raspy, scratching metal grate, said,

Ethan Nakamura, you will never be free. You will never be forgiven.

“Forgiven,” I murmured to myself, “Kronos, you just gave me my jail keys.”

I knew now how to defeat Kronos. I had to forgive my enemy. I had to forgive Percy.

Notes

So, Ethan's free aaaand he's not. But at least he knows how to defeat Kronos, right? Also, it was good to get Alex back into a chapter, because she's kinda been forgotten.

Enjoy,
Grafon