AN: Hey minna! I know, it's been too long since my last update. It's kind of hard to think of how the war will go on, but I'll try to make it good to please you. I apologize if this won't turn out that good, but I'll do my best to live up to your expectations. So here's the latest chappie!
The once boisterous borough of Manhattan fell in a deep slumber. Morpheus casted sleep on the island, Titans shrouded Manhattan with great magic and Kronos seem to slow the time outside the island. Just like what they did last time.
Jason and the campers reached camp earlier. They readied all the necessary weapon, nectar and ambrosia, Greek Fires and the battle plan designed by the Athena Cabin and Andrew.
"Demeter Cabin, defend the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Katie, don't let any monsters pass through the Manhattan borough!" Jason ordered as the campers scurried to their designated area. All seemed to go all too well, except that the Olympians are locked in combat with the other Titans who remained neutral in the previous events of the Second Titan War.
Typhon was a big threat to Olympus last time. But the monster is now trapped once again in his prison where he slumbers. And that's a very good thing for Jason.
"Piper, lead the Aphrodite Cabin to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Spray your worst perfume your cabin have, bring the Hecate Cabin with you as well. You may need their help." Jason commanded Piper who smirked lightly as some of her siblings protested when Jason insulted their perfumes. Piper was wearing an orange camp shirt and blue fitting jeans and leather boots. Her knife, Katoptris was sheathed and hangs on her side. Piper's hair was tied into a braid that hung over her shoulder. Lou Ellen abruptly left with a groan. She still doesn't like the idea of her cabin being with the Aphrodite Cabin. Lou hated it even more when the Aphrodite kids often pair her with Connor Stoll of the Hermes Cabin before.
"Hey, not all of them are that bad! But I guess Givenchy perfume will suffice" Piper suggested and Jason shook his head. Piper is not your average Aphrodite kid. She may be a tomboy sometimes but she still has a bit of Aphrodite in her.
"I have no idea whatever perfume that is. But I'm sure monsters hates it" he grins and Piper left a light kiss on his cheek as she went to her cabin. Jason smiled lightly and went on with his work.
Jason hoped that Thalia and the Hunters will be here on time. Grover brought some satyrs and naiads once more to assist them. All seemed to be in order except for Cliff who was swinging his war sickle randomly beside to the Delphi Strawberry van. Jason wonders if he will be able to make it through the war. Cliff didn't do anything much back at camp.
"He'll be alright" Jason turned around to see who it was. Annabeth Chase strapped her dagger on her belt. She has her curly blonde hair tied in her usual ponytail and her Yankees cap was tucked in her pocket.
"What do you-"
"Are you referring to Cliff or Leo?" she cut him off and Jason looked over at Cliff who accidentally threw his sickle to the group of naiads.
"I can pretty much say, both" Annabeth nodded. Her stormy gray eyes darted towards the sky, as if she was waiting for something, or someone. Jason stared at her, confused. Maybe she already accepted the fact that Percy's long gone. Or she's still hoping to see him once more.
"Got a message from Chiron that Leo sent an IM to him last night, he said he might go straight to Manhattan with Festus. I guess he won't bother stopping by an empty camp"
Then they heard an explosion somewhere in the north. Annabeth hastily unsheathed her dagger, so did Jason with his sword.
"It has begun. As expected, they will push through the Hephaestus Cabin before going to other cabins" Annabeth muttered as she sprinted to where the explosion happened.
Jason was about to run after Annabeth, but an empousa attacked him from behind. Jason luckily dodged the monster and fired a blast of lightning at the monster.
She got a hit on the shoulder, but that made the monster even angrier. She aggressively attacked the demigod son of Zeus as if she was about to claw his face off.
"She's strong" Jason muttered as the empousa left a small gash on his cheek. He was about to retaliate and cut the monster into two until thick wooden tree trunks wrapped the monster, making an oak tree in the middle of the road of Manhattan.
Jason turned and saw Cliff with his sickle pointed to the monster. Cliff was too serious as his moss green eyes glared at the oak tree. He chanted an ancient Greek spell and the tree burst into flames.
"Cliff, how did you do that?!" Jason exclaimed and the boy looked surprised as well. His eyes weren't as angry as it did when he casted the spell.
"I don't know! The words just went out of me!" Jason shot a blast of lightning beside the boy, making a dracanae fly off a few meters away from them. Cliff's eyes widened, if it wasn't for Jason, he'd be cut off into thin slices of meat back there.
"Be careful next time, kiddo" Jason patted the boy's head, "It won't be that easy next time"
"What am I going to do now?" he asked, his voice cracked a little. Jason stared at the ground, he should've brought Cliff with Pollux or Katie.
Jason ran to the dracanae and plunged his sword at the monster. It soon dissolved into gold dust. Cliff ran before Jason and went to the Brooklyn-Battery Channel Tunnel.
Annabeth dashed through the Holland Tunnel. She still found it weird that there are no boats they have to take care of unlike last time. She and Percy used to make a bargain to the two River gods to avoid the forces reach Manhattan. Maybe the Titans think it's not a very good idea to repeat that once more.
"Nyssa!" she called out and the daughter of Hephaestus threw Greek fire at a Hyperborean Giant. Her greasy black hair was covered by her red bandanna and her camp shirt has burnt edges, so as her cargo pants.
"Annabeth?" Nyssa pushed her bronze sword through a dracanae. She ran to the daughter of Athena, while dodging a few throwing knives and nets. Her forehead was beaded with sweat and she was panting heavily.
"Is Leo going to be here?" Annabeth asked as she dodged a spear. Nyssa kicked a telkhine away from her and slashed her sword through the monster.
"No, he did not send anything! We need Festus around here, add a little fire and we'll be fine!" she yelled in reply and Annabeth groaned. Festus and Leo is a great asset to the camp in the war, how could Leo even get to be late?
"I'll have that guy's head as soon as I see him!" Annabeth seethed and Nyssa chuckled lightly.
"I'm looking forward to that!" she ran off and charged at an empousae. The demigods are getting outnumbered too quickly, Annabeth wondered if the other campers are alright. She sprinted to Jake Mason, the Hephaestus Cabin's second in command.
"We won't be able to hold more of them much longer! We must go back to the Empire State Building!" she yelled and Jake turned down a giant.
"But the defenses here-" Annabeth cut him off
"Olympus is our priority here! We will all die here if we don't move quickly!"
Jake decided not to argue with her anymore and called the Hephaestus Cabin back to the Empire State Building. The Holland Bridge was now swarming with monsters. As the cabin fights their way back to the skyscraper, Annabeth was able to see a familiar demigod lead the group of demigods to invade the whole Holland Bridge. It was Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis.
"Nakamura" Annabeth hissed as she glares at the demigod. Ethan seems to notice Annabeth, but he disregarded her. He pointed his bronze sword at the campers.
"Destroy the campers!" he ordered and the group of demigods and monsters lunged at the Hephaestus Cabin. The cabin fought with their remaining strength and Annabeth clashed with Ethan.
"I can see you never learned, didn't you Nakamura?" Annabeth jeered at the son of Nemesis. He chuckled humorlessly and pushed Annabeth away. She staggered backwards and gave Ethan a menacing glare.
"Perhaps you want another stab on the shoulder, daughter of Athena?" he taunted and Annabeth tried to kick him on his neck, but he blocked it with his arm. Annabeth glared daggers at him, and he threw a glare back. The daughter of Athena leaped backwards and Ethan charged at her. Annabeth swung her dagger and left a cut on his shoulder. Ethan put a hand on his wounded shoulder and gritted his teeth.
"Now we're even" she mocked. Ethan growled and threw hard blows at the daughter of Athena. Annabeth lost her hold of her dagger and she kicked him on his knee, so as to distract him. She ran to her knife and cut a telkhine down. She was searching for Ethan but he was not there. She figured another Hephaestus camper might've pinned him to the floor.
"We won't last long if it goes on like this…" she thought miserably and then a big bronze dragon toppled on top of a group of monsters.
"It's Festus!" a Hephaestus camper yelled gleefully. Annabeth never thought that Festus will be here faster than she expected. The bronze dragon stepped on some monsters and swatted them away. He clawed some of them with his bronze claws.
Festus was there, but there was no sign of Leo. Annabeth searched for the younger demigod son of Hephaestus. She saw a quick trail of fire run through the crowd of monsters. Annabeth didn't see much because of the smoke the fire emitted, but she saw a guy swing a fiery war axe around the smoke.
As the smoke vanishes, Annabeth saw a guy wearing a maroon jacket with an orange camp shirt and jeans standing in the middle of the trail of fire. He was carrying a bronze war axe whose blade edge is like glowing coals. And when she saw the greasy, curly black haired guy and the cocky grin, she was pretty sure it was no other than Leo Valdez.
"Miss me? Of course you do! I'm telling you, I'm still hotter than ever!" he cracks his usual grin. Yep, he is Leo. But of course Nyssa approached him and gave him a hard slap for burning her favorite bandanna, not to mention, almost burning her hair.
"What was that for?! So much for a welcome back!" he screamed and Annabeth sighed. And here she thought he'd be a little disciplined now since he was trained by Hephaestus himself.
"This is no time for jokes, Valdez. You almost destroyed the whole Holland Bridge down. And how did you go back here too fast?" Annabeth questioned and the demigod played with a small fire on his hand.
"I improved Festus on my time there. You should've seen the rare metals there! The awesome automaton-" he began to tell his story when Annabeth punched him on the stomach.
"What was that for again?!" he seethed and the daughter of Athena tried to hide a smirk. Annabeth remembered doing that a lot to Percy back then.
"You can tell your tales after this, Leo. More monsters are coming" Annabeth said and Leo went back to his normal composure. He put his war axe over his shoulder and fixed his gaze at the smoke.
"So how are the others? And what's the plan?" he said and Annabeth gripped her dagger tighter as she watches the shadows of the monsters through the smoke. Then she saw a pair of glowing eyes through the smoke. It was a Titan, she was sure of it. Leo's eyes widened and Annabeth knew he has the same thought as well.
"Retreat to the Empire State Building, now"
AN: Well that sucks. Sorry if it wasn't that outstanding. Again, I'm sorry for updating late! I'll make it up to you guys soon! There are a lot of school works to do that's why I wasn't able to make a chapter! So yeah, reviews are appreciated! :)
