Hey, gang! Happy Friday! (Have you noticed I feel the need to say that every Friday? You don't understand how important Fridays are to someone with a repetitive 45-hour work week, haha)

Yes, three updates this week! I'm making really good progress so I figured I might as well start upping the post count. There won't be three every week, but here and there I'll throw an extra one in :) This chapter's a lot of fun, too. Nice and exciting.

Thanks bunches to my reviewers! :D Enjoy, everybody!

XXVI
PERCY

The trio of pegasi reached Manhattan in barely a few minutes thanks to their unnatural speed. No one was out of their houses, which was hardly an abnormal occurrence these days. A few lonely monsters roamed the streets, digging through garbage cans or feasting on abandoned cars, but there were no campers in clear sight.

"What now?" Frank yelled from midair a little ways off to Percy's left. Percy squinted through the darkness toward the ground below them and was about to suggest they split up to search for Lou Ellen's extraction team when a deafening roar answered the question for him. It was raspy and high, very different from your average monster roar and yet somehow strangely familiar.

"Well, whatever that was," Percy shouted back, "it was coming from over there. Come on!" He and Blackjack led the way down toward the sound, and when they all landed on Fifth Avenue outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Percy, Frank, and Hazel dismounted immediately.

The instant their feet touched the pavement, the roar sounded again, this time much closer than before. They all flinched in alarm. Hazel breathed in sharply and Frank looked wildly around while Percy tried to place its source. It sounded strangely reptilian, like the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. But that was stupid, because it wasn't like Godzilla was wreaking havoc in downtown—

And then it hit him. He did know that roar. He'd met a creature that sounded just like that once before, and it wasn't something he had ever wanted to run into again.

"Uh-oh," he muttered, uncapping Riptide and gripping the hilt a bit too tightly.

"What is it?" Hazel asked urgently.

Percy didn't answer her. "Stay here," he told the pegasi. "Don't follow us unless I call you. And don't leave this spot unless staying will get you killed." They agreed, all three of them a bit perturbed by the volume and proximity of the monster. They cantered over to the nearest fountain in the Met's front plaza and busied themselves drinking from it, which may or may not have been completely sanitary.

"Do you know what that was?" Frank demanded.

Percy looked seriously between him and Hazel and said, "We should hurry."

Locating the extraction team from that point wasn't difficult. When the three of them had rounded the nearest corner of the museum and begun heading toward Central Park, a voice Percy had no trouble recognizing shouted, "Over here, ugly! Point those teeth this way so I can snap 'em in half!"

"Don't make it angrier, you stupid goat!" a second voice shrieked furiously. "And watch out for the poison!"

Percy followed the voices, Hazel and Frank at his heels. The second they cleared the building, they were met with the sight he'd been waiting for.

Resting on the grass ahead of them and hissing threateningly was a drakon. A long, slithering serpent with shiny gray scales tougher than iron and piercing, yellow eyes. It was the length and width of a four-car subway train, and had rows of thin, sharp teeth that could impale a stone statue and dripped with steaming, gold poison. In front of it, hopping up and down on the concrete steps that led up to the Met's back entrance, was Gleeson Hedge. Hedge held his trusty silver baseball bat in his meaty hands and was swinging it in a circle as though waiting for the drakon to pitch him a fastball. Not far from the satyr, just on the creature's left, stood Clarisse La Rue of the Ares cabin, who brandished a pointed spear and was glaring at Hedge like he was the one causing the trouble.

"I-Is that a…?" Frank muttered, voice oddly light as his eyes stared wide at the monster.

"A drakon," Percy confirmed, his throat suddenly dry.

"Percy!" another voice called, and Percy spun to the side to see Lou Ellen Baker, the pretty, redheaded, sixteen-year-old head counselor of the Hecate cabin, running toward them. "Frank! Hazel! Oh, thank the gods you guys got my message. Clarisse didn't want to send for help, but I told her we would need the extra swords—"

"Oh, and look who decided to answer the call," Clarisse said drawlingly as she turned at the sound of visitors. "Jackson the Hero. Anyone surprised? Anyone?" She looked around mockingly as though waiting for an invisible audience to dispute her, and when no one did she raised an eyebrow pointedly at Percy, who scowled in response. "And you," she snarled at Frank, eyes sweeping over Hazel like she wasn't even there. "What makes you think you can take on a monster like this?"

Frank glared at his Greek half-sister, grip on his bow tightening. Ever since they'd first met a year ago, Frank and Clarisse had never gotten along. He'd been friendly enough toward her in the beginning, but she seemed to have decided even before laying eyes on him that she didn't like him. Whenever she looked at him, there was obvious contempt in her expression. She might have resented the fact that he was one of last summer's Prophecy Seven instead of her, when she had always considered herself their father's favorite. Whatever the reason, Clarisse had developed a habit of trying her hardest to bring Frank down, possibly in an effort to ensure that everyone else believed just as readily as she did that whatever made him special was nothing more than a fluke. Frank wasn't sure how to deal with her hostility, given the fact that he wasn't the best at handling confrontation, which didn't exactly help matters. Percy was starting to wish he'd asked who the rest of Lou Ellen's team was before bringing Frank and Hazel along.

"What happened?" Percy asked Lou Ellen before either War God child could escalate an argument.

Lou Ellen turned anxious eyes on the three kids behind her—all boys, two of whom looked to be brothers between the ages of six and ten. They had identical caramel hair and bright blue eyes, though the younger one had quite a few more freckles than his brother. The third boy had to be at least fifteen and was clearly not related to the others by mortal blood. He was barely an inch shorter than Percy but a good deal stockier, built a bit like Frank. He had dirty blond hair that stuck up in tiny spikes, and a crooked nose that was probably broken at least once before. One of his eyes was dark brown and the other a pale, milky sort of color, like it was blinded. A white scar bisected his right eyebrow and stretched over the pale eye to his cheekbone. The two youngest kids were looking at the drakon as though every single one of their nightmares had just come true and the older one was switching his apprehensive gaze between the monster and Clarisse—who, admittedly, could be just as scary as a drakon depending on the circumstances.

"We were on our way back," Lou Ellen explained, "when this drakon caught up with us. It poisoned Clarisse's pegasus and forced us to land. We couldn't outrun it on foot, so we decided to take a stand instead. I sent Dusty back to camp with a message asking for help." Clarisse huffed in annoyance, but Lou Ellen ignored her. "Clarisse and Hedge have been holding it off while I protect the boys, but if we don't make some headway soon then—" She broke off and turned as Hedge gave a loud bellow and was flung face-first to the grass as the drakon bowled him over with a swing of its head. It roared into the sky as Hedge pushed himself up on his hands and spat out a mouthful of dirt.

"I'm telling you, it's pointless!" Clarisse yelled at the satyr. "I know that drakon! It's gotta be killed by a child of Ares!" She shook her head and muttered something under her breath about idiotic, brainless goat-men, but Percy had stopped listening after 'child of Ares'.

"What—It can't be the same one," he said skeptically.

Clarisse turned back to Percy with an exaggerated eye-roll. "Oh, can't it?" she shot back sarcastically, flinging her arm out behind her. Percy followed her indication and did a double-take as the drakon swung its head to hiss at Hedge—its right eye was milky white, a jagged, silver cataract etched vertically across the middle. It was the same eye Clarisse had driven an electric spear through almost two years ago—which meant that this was, in fact, the same Lydian drakon that Kronos had summoned, the same Lydian drakon that had killed Silena Beauregard and a number of other campers, and the same Lydian drakon that could only be defeated by a child of the god of war.

Maybe it was a good thing he'd brought Frank after all. If he had to rely totally on Clarisse to kill this monster, he'd probably never hear the end of it.

"Well, uh…" Percy said intelligently, trying to come up with a plan around his persistent headache. "Guess that means the killing blow is up to you two. Hazel and I'll get in close and distract it, while—"

"Please," Clarisse interrupted, rolling her eyes again. It was clear she was already in a foul mood, and the appearance of Percy and Frank couldn't have helped that. "Better sit this one out, Zhang. Leave it to a real warrior."

An angry flush crept up Frank's neck. "Hey, I'm just as much a child of war as you are—"

"Uh, guys?" the boy with the scar interrupted them. "Maybe somebody better tell that goat the plan? Because his idea doesn't seem promising."

Percy leaned around Clarisse to see Hedge back on his feet and running toward the drakon, waving both arms above his head and yelling like a maniac. Percy's heart almost stopped as the creature snapped at the satyr and missed. Hedge leapt onto the drakon's back and straddled it like a horse, sitting up and whacking its titanium scales repeatedly with his bat and shouting, "Take that! And that! Back to the Underworld hole you came from, worm!"

Percy groaned. "Oh, for the love of… Alright, we've got to move now. I don't care if you two can't work together," he said flatly to Clarisse and Frank, "but just don't get in each other's way. Lou Ellen, stay by those guys. Hazel, you're with me. We're gonna—no, Clarisse, wait! Don't just—!"

But she wasn't listening. With a smart retort of "Who put you in charge, Jackson?" she charged the drakon head-on, holding her spear high. The creature looked down at her with its good eye and opened its jaws, spraying a stream of golden poison that Clarisse just barely dodged. The steaming liquid sank into the ground, melting the concrete at the base of the museum stairs.

Clucking his tongue in annoyance, Percy shot a glance at Hazel and Frank, who nodded, and followed Clarisse's lead—albeit a bit more carefully. The drakon was still trying to bite or poison Clarisse, who was dodging back and forth while avoiding looking into its paralyzing eye. Percy approached the right side of its neck and attempted to stick the point of his sword between two of its scales, but it shifted and threw off his aim. The bronze blade glanced off the monster's armor and Percy stumbled, staggering sideways into the creature's body. It still seemed occupied with other prey, so he held onto it and struck again, this time succeeding in stabbing its flesh between the armored scales. It roared and whipped its head around, teeth spread wide, and he barely had time to feel accomplished at getting its attention before he had to dive to the side to keep from being impaled on a dozen thin, pointy chompers. He rolled onto his back in time to see the drakon lunge for him again. He scooted frantically backward before an arrow with blue fletching and an odd, flat tip smacked the drakon on the nose. Its head jerked sideways like it had just been hit by a car and it hissed and spewed poison angrily in all directions.

"What was that?" Percy asked Frank as the son of Mars suddenly appeared by his side and pulled him to his feet, bow in hand.

"Sonic impact arrow. The Apollo kids have come up with some pretty neat stuff lately."

Percy looked over Frank's shoulder to see that his quiver was full of arrows with an array of different-colored fletches, each likely indicating a special effect. "Sweet," he said with an appreciative nod.

There wasn't much time to dwell on it, however, as the drakon seemed to locate where the offending projectile had come from and sprayed a mess of yellow poison in their direction. Percy and Frank were forced to leap aside to dodge it. Frank reached around his back and snatched another arrow, this one decorated with white fletching and a narrow, triangular tip. When the drakon turned its head toward them, he nocked and loosed it, hardly taking aim, and it cut the air before embedding itself resolutely at the base of the creature's good eye. The drakon shrieked in pain and retracted its head, but its roar suddenly grew louder as thin bolts of electricity sparked across its face. Clarisse shot a look at Frank that was somewhere between resentful and impressed, but apparently she had nothing to say. Percy supposed this was a step in the right direction.

If any of them had been hoping this would be enough to kill it, they were disappointed. The drakon raised its head high, leaning far up from the ground, and Hedge, who was still on its back, bellowed, "WOO-HOO! Now that's what I call a rodeo!" What he could possibly be holding onto, Percy had no idea, but miraculously he managed not to be thrown from the drakon's back as it hissed and swiveled around in an effort to bite Hazel and Clarisse at the same time, evidently convinced that the thing that had blinded it had come from that direction.

"Help distract it," Percy told Frank, "I'll get Hedge!" Frank nodded and ran immediately off toward Hazel and Clarisse, and Percy started toward the monster's side while wondering what the best way to keep the satyr from getting himself killed would be. "Coach!" he shouted, trying to get his attention. "Hey, COACH!" It was no use. Hedge was having the time of his life up there, and no insistence that he was very close to falling and breaking his neck was likely to get through.

Percy looked around for help. The JKO Reservoir lay behind him a ways, probably too far to reach quickly or to call water from. There was, however, a small lake across the road from the grassy patch in from the Met, only a score or so of yards from where he stood. That would work nicely.

He raised a hand and focused on the water, feeling a pulling sensation in his gut as it began to move. His head ached painfully—the mental strain aggravating the minor injury from before. He probably should have grabbed some nectar or ambrosia before leaving camp, but it didn't matter now. He would just have to ignore it. He couldn't see the lake that well in the darkness, so instead he concentrated on instinct alone and formed a fist with his hand, pulling it back against his side. Not a second later, a stream of water about twelve feet long and three feet wide hurtled into Coach Hedge, knocking him from the drakon's back with a surprised splutter and dumping him unceremoniously at Percy's feet.

"Who was it?" Hedge demanded at once, hooves scrambling on the now-wet grass as he fought to stand. "Who else wants to challenge me? Come out, coward, and face me like a man!"

"Coach, it's me!" Percy answered, leaping backward when the satyr turned on the spot and swung his bat (he wouldn't be falling victim to that again). "It's not a challenge! Calm down!"

"Jackson? That you? Well, butter my fur and call me toast—when did you get here? Never one to turn down a fight, are you, kid? I always knew you were the right sort—just like me, I said. Yup, just like ol' Coach."

Percy grimaced. The day he would admit to being 'just like ol' Coach' would be the day he and Clarisse got married.

"So what are we waiting for?" Hedge exclaimed. "Let's show this lizard who's boss!"

"No—wait!" Percy lunged after Hedge, but those short little goat legs could really move. In no time, Hedge was back at the drakon's side, whacking his metal bat against its scales with what looked like a surprising amount of force. When Percy reached him, he realized that one of the scales had actually dented under the pressure.

"How did you do that?" he demanded, staring dumbfounded at the tiny indents that now numbered about five.

"What does it look like?" Hedge called back over the sound of another loud whack.

"But… You…" Percy ducked to avoid getting his skull cracked on the satyr's backswing. "What the heck is that bat made of?"

Hedge turned to face him, suddenly serious. "Justice, Jackson," he answered sagely, a hand over his heart. "Justice."

Percy stared at him, unsure whether to laugh or smack his forehead. Before he could decide, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned in time to realize with a jolt that Hedge's relentless bludgeoning had succeeded in reclaiming the drakon's full attention and its mouth was now shooting toward them at an impressive speed. Percy yelped in alarm and grabbed the shoulders of Hedge's T-shirt, dragging him backward and throwing them both out of the way. As soon as its jaws snapped closed, however, the drakon swung its head to the side, looking for its prey—and subsequently smacking into said prey and throwing it skyward. Percy and Hedge both soared through the air and landed yards away, rolling hard across the grass.

Percy must have blacked out for a few seconds, because the next thing he knew he was lying on his stomach and someone was shaking his shoulder, their voice a distant sort of roar in his ear. He groaned and pulled his hands up beneath him, pushing himself up from the ground. The hand on his shoulder was pulled away, and he glanced sideways to see Hazel kneeling beside him, her sword on the ground at her feet.

"What's going on?" he asked, sitting back and wincing. His ribs were sore where the drakon's armored head had slammed into him, and his head hurt much worse than before. The breastplate he'd been wearing during training was dented and poked painfully at his chest, so he shrugged it off and threw it aside. Looking around, he saw Frank nudging Hedge a few feet away, but to no avail. The satyr appeared to be out like a light.

"This isn't working," a curt voice behind Percy answered, and he twisted around to see Clarisse standing stiffly and staring in the opposite direction. "We need a new plan."

"Lou Ellen's distracting the drakon," Hazel informed him, "but we haven't got much time."

Percy struggled to his feet, fighting back a brief wash of dizziness, and followed Clarisse's gaze to see that Lou Ellen had apparently enchanted three leafy bushes to come to life and hop around the drakon's head, confusing it. It was snapping at each one in turn, sometimes catching a branch or a few leaves, but they kept bouncing over its nose or just out of its reach.

"This is just perfect," Clarisse muttered, a sour look on her face.

"Well, you killed the thing before," Percy grumbled, not in the mood for her bad attitude. He stood up and she turned toward him, an eyebrow raised.

"I had the blessing of Ares last time," she snapped. She looked sideways at Frank at these words as though expecting him to either roar in jealousy or bow down and kiss her boots. When her brother did neither of those things, she folded her arms and scowled at the grass.

"No," Percy argued slowly, trying to remember their last battle against the Lydian drakon. "No, you got the blessing after. You killed the drakon out of rage after it killed Silena. You know, when she was pretending to be you to lead your cabin into battle because you were too busy pouting about some petty—"

"Whatever!" Clarisse interrupted, glowering at Percy while she flushed in anger. "The point is, the situation is different."

"How? It's still the drakon that killed Silena."

"I know that! There's just… something about failing a friend that gives you strength, okay? And I'm sorry, but I really don't think I'd feel the same if something happened to any of you, meaning it's not likely to go down that way again." She huffed and glared at something off to her right, and Percy decided not to argue. It wasn't like Clarisse to admit to failing at something, and all this talk of what had happened to Silena, who had been a good friend of hers, must have been getting to her. "So why don't you come up with another genius plan?" she demanded after a minute of awkward silence. "You know, instead of pushing everything on me."

"Alright, alright." Percy turned away from Clarisse; watching her scowl at him certainly wasn't going to clear his mind. She was right, though—they did need a plan. And fast, if the strained look on Lou Ellen's face was any indication. Percy pressed both hands to the sides of his head, wishing the sharp ache would go away. The buzzing was really getting annoying.

"It's still bothering you, isn't it?"

Percy raised his head to see Frank watching him guiltily. "No, I'm fine," he lied. "Really. Everything's completely—" But Frank was obviously unconvinced, so Percy breathed out shortly and admitted, "Alright, yeah, a little. But it's no big deal, I mean, with the right plan and all of us together we can still—"

A raspy roar interrupted and Percy spun toward the drakon—but something wasn't right. The sound hadn't come from that direction at all, and the drakon was still snapping and biting at the hopping shrubs. In front of him, Clarisse was staring wide-eyed at something over his shoulder, her face frozen like a mask. Heart sinking in dread, he turned slowly and could just make out through the darkness the long, slithering form of a second drakon slinking toward them from the east bank of the reservoir, sliding along the jogging path as though it had just spotted some tasty demigods while out for its evening run.

Frank gulped. "Now I'm really wishing I hadn't hit you on the head."

"Yeah," Percy agreed in a small voice. "Me, too."

I've been so looking forward to writing Frank and Clarisse together. It's rather fun.

Anyway, as you can imagine, next chapter is also action-y and about the same length, with an added major plot advancement at the end! Woo-hoo! Review for me and I'll throw it up sooner rather than later ;)

Later days!

-oMM