"Ok," I stood up slowly and tried to keep myself steady. Ashley came to my side to support me. I took a few steps forward, then a few steps on my own, before being able to walk normally. "Ok. I think I'm good."
"We should stop, let you get some rest."
"No, no. Seeing as I'm alive, we need to keep going with the quest. We can just finish this and get home."
"Brandon, no. We need to stay put for a moment and just relax, ok?"
"Look, Ashley, we don't have a lot of time. They have all the pieces, they'll be going to the cave today. We need to get there at around the same time for my plan to work."
She looked a little taken aback. "You're telling me that all of this is in your little plan?"
I looked down at the bandage at my side. "Well, getting stabbed wasn't part of it, but everything else was almost entirely planned, yeah."
She rolled her eyes. "Why do I get the feeling this is another one of your plans I won't like that ends up working anyways?"
"Because it is."
"Of course it is."
I started to walk slowly in the direction of the cave. "Come on, let's go. We still have a ways to go before we get to the cave. We might as well start moving now."
Ashley came to my side immediately, grabbing on to my arm, before slipping it over her shoulder. "Ok, but I still don't want you talking on your own. Come on. Together."
With the support, we were able to move slightly faster than I normally could in this condition. I was sure I could still reach rather high speeds, but then the blood would most likely fly our of my wound, break off my bandage, and cause me to die of blood loss.
After some time, Ashley was breathing really heavily, so I decided to call a break for her sake. She slumped against a tree and caught her breath. "Are you ok?"
She waved her hand and focused on her breathing. "Yeah. Just give me a minute."
"Ok."
I closed my eyes and entered the archives. I pulled together my plan and reviewed it several times. Everything had to be in place, in the perfect time, at the most vulnerable and crucial moment. I didn't even know if Kronos would act the way that I predicted, but it was the best shot I had.
"Brandon?"
I opened my eyes. She was standing now, walking towards me. "Yeah?"
She looked at her feet, face red. "When," she paused. "When did you fall in love with me?"
I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Oh, man. Seriously? Ok, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you, that first day you were at camp. You were beautiful, fun, everything I could really ask for, and I haven't stopped since." I coughed. "But, now, there's greater things to focus on than this. The world could end at any moment and we have to get a move on, ok?"
She nodded and murmured, "Ok." We continued to walk (or in my case, limp walk) to the mouth of the cave.
When we finally got to the cave, there were maybe a dozen guards standing guard in front of the mouth. I grinned. Less than I had planned. That meant we were early.
"Ok, Ashley," I grabbed the sides of her head and focused her on me. "This is important. I have a plan, and it's going to suck, and I hate doing this, but it's unavoidable that this happens to make them feel like they have the upper hand."
She nodded carefully. "Ok."
I gulped. "You are going to have to go first, alone." She shivered. "Listen to me. I'll help you kill the guards, but you have to go in the cave first alone. They are going to capture you, and things will be unpleasant for a while, but after I come in later, everything will be alright. When they capture you, scream as loudly as you can, so that I know that it's time to come get you."
"Now then, do you still have that ball I gave you early on in the quest?"
She nodded and pulled it out of her pocket. "Ok, look. I'm going to do something stupidly dangerous in there, and if I don't make it, you have to teleport straight home and tell Chiron about the quest, ok?"
She nodded. "W-what are you going to do?"
I sighed. She couldn't know, or else the plan was screwed. "It's for the good of the world, Ashley, that's all that matters. Come on, let's take them out."
"Wait." She pulled on my sleeve before I could get up. "Don't. Don't sacrifice yourself for what you think is right, ok? Don't. We still need Brandon Lee in this world. Don't do anything crazy."
"Ok."
Right after she said that, she did something crazier than what I had planned for the cave.
She pulled me in and kissed me.
Right on the lips, full on, and it was one of the few surprises I wasn't prepared for. I decided to break apart after six seconds and then chose to stare dumbfounded at her. She was blushing so furiously that I was positive all the trees around us would be disintegrated.
"Let's go."
I jumped out, ran forward, and slashed through three guards in one slice. I then did a followup with stab to another. Within twenty seconds, twelve piles of dust lay in the grass, carried off by the wind.
"It's safe to come out now."
She shakily came out from the bushes she was hiding in and looked at me, sad eyes staring into mine.
I tried for a smile. "Hey. See you soon."
She nodded and walked into the cave. I dragged myself back to the bush to wait.
