Book 5 - The Last Olympian
"What did you do?" Thalassa paced back and forth. Ayden was lying on the couch as she struggled to stay conscious. She'd only been there for a few hours. Knox had picked her up and brought her inside while Dean cut Achlys's mark on her. They had to wait for her to close up.
"Why do you assume she did something?" Esme snapped. She was sitting near Ayden's feet, and Blair was on the other side of her too. They looked worried.
"She has gold blood all over herself. That is never a good sign." Aion explained. "Which god was it?"
"Was it Hecate?" Esme turned to face her. Ayden slowly sat up her stomach was still stinging, but it was bearable. She touched her face expecting to feel blisters but there were none. Thanks to Achlys.
"Ayden," Chaos knelt in front of her. "Please talk to us so we can help you." Ayden just shook her head. Tears started to pool in her eyes as she looked around the room.
"Just give her some space," Dean explained as he stepped forward. "She's only been here for a few hours."
"Who says you get to be defensive of her," Thalassa glared at him.
"I'm simply saying give her more time, she's clearly not going to," Knox added. The others seemed to walk out of the room.
Ayden grabbed her necklace. A tear slid down her cheek as she pulled her knees closer to herself. She just wanted a hug. She needed a hug from Percy. She knew it wouldn't undo anything, but it would make her feel better. She felt his heartbeat through the charm and it seemed to calm her. Blair and Esme stayed on the couch with her as the others left the room.
"Hecate and Eris took me," Ayden muttered. She didn't look away from the ground. "The gods are going to kill me when I leave this place."
"Why?" Blair sat forward. "What did you do?"
"I killed Eris."
"You did what?" Aion came back into the room. He wasn't angry, he looked more confused than anything. His face was pinched together as he stared at her.
"I was chained up," Ayden ran her hand over her thumb. They'd put themselves back into place. "I don't know where I was or how long I'd been there, but I'd ripped the chains from the walls and fought them. Hecate ran, but I got Eris. She's—I killed her." Ayden's chest moved up and down rapidly as she stared at the floor. "What does that mean?" She looked down at her clothes. She'd been changed. Someone changed her clothes, they weren't covered in gold anymore. "I gotta stand up." Ayden pushed herself up and fell back onto the couch. Her legs were still pins and needles as she pushed herself up again.
"Slow down Ayden," Blair got up to help her, but Ayden refused.
"What is going to happen now? I mean they were going to kill me. I didn't—they were on Kronos' side." Ayden looked at Aion for help, but he didn't look calm at all. He was chewing on the inside of his cheek as he stared at the table.
"Hello," Esme snapped her fingers in his face. "You're supposed to help her, not freak her out."
"You killed Eris," Thalassa came in shocked. "You killed a god." Ayden slowly nodded.
"Well, you fulfilled the prophecy." Thalassa laughed a little. "What does that mean?"
"She cursed you didn't she?" Chaos walked in as well.
"Stop eavesdropping, just come back into the room," Ayden shook her head. The other conduits came from around the corner and took their places around the room.
"The gods will want your head," Aion muttered. Chaos smacked his arm.
"Don't say that, we'll protect you."
"No you won't," Ayden shook her head.
"We will," Thalassa added. "We've done it before and we'll do it again."
"None of you knew I was missing." Ayden stared at them. "None of you sensed it." She hit her arm. "Nothing."
"You're friends didn't come after you either," Nyx came around the corner. "You can't just blame us."
"We have much more going on than me going missing," Ayden shook her head.
"How did you kill her?" Nyx asked. "That will be important if we are going to try and save you from the Olympians." The other three nodded.
"I ripped her head off. It should be with Kronos by now." Thalassa started hysterically laughing. Chaos ran her hands through her hair.
"You sent the head to Kronos?" Esme asked. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the younger girl in front of her.
"Didn't know you were that kind of psycho," Nyx smirked.
"I'm ready for the fight to be over. He sent two goddesses after me. I'm not playing games anymore." Ayden crossed her arms. She could feel the skin under her shirt. It wasn't smooth anymore. The carving mark stayed. She was scarred once more.
"Ayden, this is a bad situation for you." Chaos rubbed her head.
"Are they going to kill me?" Ayden looked at each of them.
"They will try. You are a demigod. Zeus will want to kill you immediately others will probably kill you after you've served your purpose." Thalassa explained out loud.
"They're going to kill all of us aren't they?" Knox asked. He was on the opposite side of the room leaning against the wall.
"They already want you dead and they don't know that you've taken markings," Nyx waved her hand through the air.
"What did they take you for?" Chaos asked. "To ask about them?" She gestured toward the others. Ayden nodded.
"That's what they asked at first, but once they realized they weren't going to get anything out of me," She stared at the floor. "They just started messing with me."
"I thought you said you would protect her?" Esme glared at the primordials.
"We will." Aion nodded.
"No, you won't," Dean shook his head. "You didn't protect her from getting taken."
"Not everything can be our fault," Thalassa explained. Ayden ran her hand through her hair as she let out a long breath.
"I've gotta get to camp," She muttered.
"No, Dionysus will immediately drag you to Olympus for prosecution," Chaos shook her head.
"What does this mean for us?" Charlotte finally asked. Ayden had barely noticed she was there. The girl hadn't said anything like she had before. She was calmed down, quieter.
"If Ayden is killed, it will be your job to kill Kronos. Then you will be hunted by the other demigods until you're killed—well if you aren't killed in the battle."
"They won't die." Ayden shook her head. "I'll protect them."
"How?" Nyx stepped forward. "How are you going to protect them? You've condemned yourself." Ayden just stared at them. She thought it was a smart idea to come here, but all they were doing was making it seem like her life was over already.
"I have to get to camp."
"We're coming with you," Blair muttered.
"You can't," Ayden looked at both of them. "They are right that it's going to be too dangerous for any of you to leave the cabin yet. I will come back to get you all for the battle." Ayden looked at all of them. "If you're still up for it."
"Of course," Dean nodded. Charlotte didn't seem as enthusiastic as her brother.
"You'll get yourself killed," Thalassa shook her head. "I mean can you really trust the people at camp or are you only going there for your little boyfriend?"
"His name is Percy. I trust the people at camp. We've been through enough to have each other's backs." She let out a long breath. "Thank you for letting me heal here, but I have to get back. Just because something happened to me doesn't mean the war stopped if anything it just means that Kronos has the upper hand now. I may have just taken myself out of this fight."
"Well be here," Knox nodded. "You just have to give us some kind of signal or message. We'll be there with you." Ayden nodded as she played with her necklace once more. The primordials were giving her disapproving looks. She hated how out of place she felt being in this house.
"I thought you were my family once," Ayden looked at each of them. "But really you just showed me that it didn't matter who the god was Olympian other. You're all the same at your core." Chaos stepped back like Ayden had stabbed her in the chest. Aion put his arm out steadying her. Thalassa just pressed her lips into a flat line. "Thank you."
She teleported to the strawberry fields. Then into the Ares cabin. She was up on her loft. There were voices below, but she didn't know who it was. She didn't know who she could trust. She teleported out and into the Athena cabin.
"Ayden?" Annabeth stared at her. She was alone in the cabin. There were a lot of maps and drawings on the table in front of her. They'd been hard at work designing attack plans and new strategies. "Ayden!" She moved around the table giving her a tight hug. "I'm glad you're okay–wait," She leaned back gripping her arms. "Are you okay? No one has heard from you since you disappeared from Percys weeks ago."
"Weeks?" Ayden repeated. "It's been weeks."
"Three weeks almost an entire month Ayden. Where have you been? He's Iris messaged us every day to ask if you've shown up. What happened?"
"You can't let anyone know I'm here," Ayden shook her head. "I did something."
"Okay, I won't." she shook her head. "Where have you been?"
"Can you go grab Clarisse and Grover?"
"I–uhm sure, I'll try just wait here." Ayden's hand went to her necklace as she paused. She felt the thump of a heartbeat.
"Will the others from your cabin be back soon?" Ayden asked. She looked around quickly seeing how clean their cabin was. Hers wasn't like this.
"No, they should be out. The others are running drills today with Ares, Apollo, and Hermes cabins." Annabeth explained as she jogged out of the cabin. Ayden paced back and forth cracking her knuckles. There was panting as the other three came forward.
"Thank the gods you're alive." Grover hugged her.
"Don't thank them just yet," She muttered. Grover moved to the side and Clarisse patted her shoulder.
"Glad to have you back, the cabin is insane without you here. You're supposed to be the new cabin leader, what are you shirking your duties now?" Clarisse tried to joke with her. Annabeth closed the front doors as she came back over.
"Okay, do you want to explain what happened to you then? Percy is going out of his mind trying to look for you. He even roped in that mortal girl, Rachel," Grover explained. "He just keeps saying you're gone and then asks if we've heard anything. Nico said something about Hecate and Eris."
"I killed Eris." Ayden blurted. The three of them went silent as they slowly turned to face her.
"You're going to have to say that one more time, I really hope I didn't hear that right?" Annabeth closed her eyes as she waited for Ayden to say it again.
"I killed Eris."
"Can you, can you change that?" Clarisse stared at her. Ayden shook her head.
"Wait, wait, wait," Grover can his hands over his face. "You're telling them you killed a god. You killed the Goddess of Strife and Discord," he leaned closer. "You killed Ki's mom." Ayden lifted up her shirt showing them the mutilation.
"They kidnapped me," She showed them the marks. "She carved into me and burned me. She had it coming after all the torture and amusement she put me through. It was humiliating." Clarisse clenched her jaw.
"I would have murdered her."
"Her head should be with Kronos by now." Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You sent her head to Kronos?" Clarisse laughed a little.
"That's iconic." She held out her hand. Ayden smiled a little as she high-fived her.
"No, it's not!" Annabeth snapped. "I mean seriously what is up with you and Percy sending people heads."
"They deserved this one honestly," Ayden shook her head.
"Ayden," Annabeth stared at her. "This is serious."
"It's a sign of war," Clarisse argued. "I think what she did was right. It gives him fear. She's coming for him now."
"That's not the issue, the issue is that she killed a god." Grover let out a low groan as he rubbed his face again. The doors were thrown open to the cabin. Ayden teleported to the back wall hiding behind several crates full of books.
"Why are you three in here together?" Chiron asked.
"We were discussing plans," Clarisse lied. "Do you need something?"
"I was curious to see why you three ran across the camp." Ayden heard his hooves as he walked into the cabin. "It wouldn't have anything to do with Ayden now would it?"
"Why, have you heard anything?" Grover asked.
"So you haven't seen Ayden around camp?"
"Nope." Clarisse shook her head.
"No."
"I haven't, why? Has something happened?" Annabeth asked.
"Let me know if you see her, the gods are looking for her."
"Again?" Clarisse scoffed.
"They want to kill her Clarisse, this isn't a matter of favouritism," Chiron cleared his throat. "So if you see her. Tell her they are looking for her."
"Sure thing, I'll tell her to go to her death." Clarisse snapped. "I mean honestly."
"I just want to make it known that she shouldn't show herself around camp. There are many people here who might take her up there themselves for what she did." Chiron was projecting his voice. He knew she was there.
"Who are you talking to?" Annabeth asked. She understood he was talking to her.
"Just the general consensus," Chiron gestured to the three of them.
"Well sir, if I see her I'll be sure to send her your way," Clarisse nodded as she leaned against the table. Chiron looked at Grover and Annabeth too before he left. Grover quickly shut the doors behind him.
"He knew you were here," Annabeth explained as Ayden reappeared from the back corner.
"Well, now we know they want you dead." Clarisse leaned forward staring at the table.
"What are we going to do? We can't keep you hidden forever."
"I can stay in the shadows." Ayden crossed her arms.
"If they kill you that is almost sealing Kronos's win in this war," Annabeth shook her head. "They wouldn't do that."
"I bet Ares is proud of you." Clarisse shrugged.
"Well his pride won't save me," Ayden looked at each of them. "Thank you for not telling him I was here. I doubt he would have done anything, but thank you."
"Of course," Annabeth squeezed her hand. "I would never let anything happen to you. Not again, I'm sorry none of us knew where you were."
"It's okay, I'm used to doing things on my own."
"Do they always turn out this bad?" Clarisse ran her hand over her ponytail.
"Yes, pretty much." Grover and Annabeth nodded as well. "I'll be around to help plan and such. Also, I found the other conduits, they will be helping with the battle as well." She looked through the piles of drawings seeing the different manoeuvres.
"You need to go see Percy, I think he's don't he bring of insanity," Grover gave her a tight smile. "Also he's driving Rachel insane." Ayden touched her necklace as she smiled.
"I'll do that, but where should I come back to."
"Percy's cabin, it's empty. No one goes in there. They don't want to offend one of the big three," Clarisse crossed her arms. "I wish you wouldn't go into hiding I need you for drills. They won't listen to me sometimes."
"Just keep yelling eventually they will listen," Ayden shrugged. "I'll be back."
"Be safe." Annabeth smiled as she stepped back and turned. She was face to face with the same white door. It had the gold numbers. 263.