“I don’t know what to say or do that fixes that,” I said, quiet. My gaze again went to the horizon. The timer. The Titans imminent. “What we’re up against is bigger and darker than any kind of hope I could offer. Do I give up leadership?”

“I don’t think he’s in a place to lead. Crystal’s the kind of person he gets along with. I think that helps,” Sveta said.

“And again, I feel like we’re kind of skirting you,” I said.

“I survive, Victoria,” Sveta said. “I endure the bad and I enjoy the good moments. I just… really hope the future doesn’t mean more bad stuff for my body.”

I swallowed and nodded.

“Tristan’s probably waiting, and he’s all out of patience,” Sveta said.

“Yeah,” I said. There was more to disentangle from the pole, but I was in position to just haul on it, using strength to break and snap what we hadn’t cleared away.

I flew over, Sveta still sitting on the log. She hopped off as I approached the chasm, and used the tangle of her body to soften the landing.

The pole crossed the gap, surrounded by red motes and lines.

I wished I could help. Wished I could do more. But I didn’t have the tools.

I wanted to figure out the power thing, and if there was a way to wrap my head around how our powers had changed. I had a general sense of it, but with no specifics.

Capricorn finalized his constellation. The lines became the edges of buildings, the points the corners. The result was a structure lying on its side, heaving and shifting as matter swelled from the center, breaking the exterior, then repeated the process yet again.

Crystal’s forcefield kept the broken bits from falling into the abyss.

We’d had some reinforcements arrive, but it wasn’t many. Ten people. Legend now floated in the air above the scene, looking over the horizon. Aunt Sarah was up there too, not flying as high, but surveying things. A forcefield stretched across one of the bigger chasms, and people periodically ran along it. There wasn’t much need, it seemed, for escorts or help getting people over ledges.

I could feel the chill sinking into me. It didn’t help that I’d sweat as much as I had after my initial skirmish with the Nemean Titan or Skadi, and my entire coat was clammy with me-moisture penetrating from the interior and melted snow penetrating from the exterior.

Gregor turned up. Slime gushed from his hands as he poured gunk over Tristan’s rubble. It hardened almost immediately.

“Thank you,” Tristan said.

“I could do more, if it does not take too long. I was watching from a distance while helping others.”

“Ah,” Tristan said. “I was going to take a minute to let my brother free.”

“You are a Case Seventy,” Gregor observed.