Michael
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We spent the rest of the day resting and recovering from last night. Katie and a number of other injured demigods had been moved onto Olympus to keep them out of harm's way. We didn't know if we would be able to get to the Plaza Hotel again and didn't want to risk moving the injured while under attack.
Ethan's imprisonment was welcomed by some, but not all. Lee in particular wanted to take his time taking out his other eye, but we managed to convince them to let him live. As it were, he'd be sitting with the injured, sitting in the blood that he helped spill.
Thalia and the head counselors were waiting for us at the Reservoir. The lights of the city were blinking on at twilight. I guess a lot of them were on automatic timers. Streetlamps glowed around the shore of the lake, making the water and trees look even spookier.
"They're coming," Thalia confirmed, pointing north with a silver arrow. "One of my scouts just reported they've crossed the Harlem River. There was no way to hold them back. The army . . ." She shrugged. "It's huge."
"We'll hold them at the park," Percy said. "Grover, you ready?"
He nodded. "As ready as we'll ever be. If my nature spirits can stop them anywhere, this is the place."
"Yes, we will!" said another voice. A very old, fat satyr pushed through the crowd, stumbling over his own spear. He was dressed in wood-bark armor that only covered half of his belly.
"Leneus?" Percy said.
"Don't act so surprised," he huffed. "I am a leader of the Council, and you did tell me to find Grover. Well, I found him, and I'm not going to let a mere outcast lead the satyrs without my help!"
I gave Percy a look that said, You did? He ignored me.
Behind Leneus's back, Grover made gagging motions, but the old satyr grinned like he was the savior of the day. "Never fear! We'll show those Titans!"
I didn't know whether to laugh or be angry, but I managed to keep a straight face.
"Um . . . yeah," Bianca said awkwardly. "Well, Grover, you won't be alone. Malcom and the Athena cabin will make their stand here. And Michael, Percy, Killian, me, and . . . Thalia?"
She patted her cousin on the shoulder. "Say no more. The Hunters are ready."
Bianca looked at the other counselors. "That leaves the rest of you with a job just as important. You have to guard the other entrances to Manhattan. Kronos is tricky. He might try and sneak in another attack force while we're distracted with this one. It's up to you to make sure that doesn't happen. Has each cabin chosen a bridge or tunnel?"
The counselors nodded grimly.
"Then let's do it," I said. "Good hunting, everybody!"
We heard the army before we saw it.
The noise was like a cannon barrage combined with a football stadium crowd—like every Patriots fan in New England was charging us with bazookas.
At the north end of the reservoir, the enemy vanguard broke through the woods—a warrior in golden armor leading a battalion of Laistrygonian giants with huge bronze axes. Hundreds of other monsters poured out behind them.
"Positions!" Malcom yelled. His cabinmates scrambled. The idea was to make the enemy army break around the reservoir. To get to us, they'd have to follow the trails, which meant they'd be marching in narrow columns on either side of the water.
At first, the plan seemed to work. The enemy divided and streamed toward us along the shore. When they were halfway across, our defenses kicked in. The jogging trail erupted in Greek fire, incinerating many of the monsters instantly. Others flailed around, engulfed in green flames. Athena campers threw grappling hooks around the largest giants and pulled them to the ground.
In the woods on the right, the Hunters sent a volley of silver arrows into the enemy line, destroying twenty or thirty dracaenae, but more marched behind them. A bolt of lightning crackled out of the sky and fried a Laistrygonian giant to ashes, and I knew Thalia must be doing her daughter of Zeus thing.
Grover raised his pipes and played a quick tune. A roar went up from the woods on both sides as every tree, rock, and bush seemed to sprout a spirit. Dryads and satyrs raised their clubs and charged. The trees wrapped around the monsters, strangling them. Grass grew around the feet of the enemy archers. Stones flew up and hit dracaenae in the faces.
The enemy slogged forward. Giants smashed through the trees, and dryads faded as their life sources were destroyed. Hellhounds lunged at the timberwolves, knocking them aside. Enemy archers returned fire, and a Hunter fell from a high branch.
"Percy!" Zoe grabbed his arm and pointed at the reservoir. The Titan in the gold armor wasn't waiting for his forces to advance around the sides. He was charging toward us, walking straight over the top of the lake.
A Greek firebomb exploded right on top of him, but he raised his palm and sucked the flames out of the air.
"Hyperion," Zoe said. "The lord of light. Titan of the east."
"Bad?" I guessed.
"Next to Atlas, he's the greatest Titan warrior. In the old days, four Titans controlled the four corners of the world. Hyperion was the east—the most powerful. He was the father of Helios, the first sun god."
"I'll keep him busy," Killian promised.
"Killian, even you can't—"
"Just keep our forces together."
Without waiting for a response, he ran out onto the water to meet his father.
"Percy, you can't seriously think he can do this by himself can you?" Bianca said.
"He's our best chance," Percy answered. He summoned a bolt and fried a dracaenae. "You and Michael have no chance with him. Your powers are too dissimilar to his. He'll destroy you."
"Yeah, but-"
Whatever Bianca was going to say was suddenly cut off by a massive boom echoing through the air. We looked over just in time to see Killian fly past us and tumble to the ground.
"Killian!" Bianca yelped, running to help him. My instincts suddenly flared up. I twisted my ring and Freeze sprang into my hand in time to block a strike from Hyperion that would've cut me in two.
"Grandfather," I greeted casually.
Hyperion snarled. "So even more of my blood turns against me. So be it. I will extinguish my line if it helps me destroy those pesky Olympians!"
He punched me in my stomach suddenly, making me double over. He raised his massive golden sword, ready to slice off my head, but he was pushed over by hurricane-level winds.
I was pulled away from Hyperion and fell to the ground. I coughed and blood splattered on the ground. Someone rushed past me and metal clanged.
I tried to get a hold of my breathing. I pushed myself to my feet, using Freeze to hold myself up. In front of me, Percy was battling Hyperion, sword vs sword.
Hyperion closed in on Percy, intent on burying his sword in his chest, but was beaten back by a bolt of lightning.
Percy jumped back a few feet, ending up right next to me.
"You alright?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the Titan.
"Yeah." I wiped the blood off my chin. "Now I'm pissed."
"Me too."
Killian appeared on Percy's other side. The side of his head was bleeding, but other than that, he seemed fine.
"All three of us together?" he suggested. "Zoe and Thalia've offered to cover us from afar with their bows."
Percy rolled his shoulders. "Sounds good to me. Let's do this."
He charged Hyperion with a yell. Another bolt came down at Hyperion, but he deflected it off his sword. He met Percy's strike head-on, causing Percy to bounce back a step. He made to take advantage of Percy's momentary unbalance but a silver arrow hit him in the eye.
Hyperion yelled out in pain and stepped back. I ran up as Percy jumped out of the way of Hyperion's wild strike. I slid under his swing and sliced across his stomach with Freeze. He grunted in pain but backed up so I couldn't deepen the wound. He thrust a fireball at me. I sidestepped but the intense heat nearly made me blackout.
I retaliated with an ice spike, but it melted before it could get close to him. His smile widened.
"Your powers of ice and snow have no effect on me, grandson. I am the Titan of fire! You have no chance!"
He charged towards me, his armor flaring brighter. I squinted my eyes and met his strike. The force shook my entire body. My arms screamed as I kept Freeze locked with his sword. He used both arms to push his sword towards me. Slowly, he began pushing me back.
Suddenly, he yelled out in pain. I jumped away as he let up to turn to face Bianca, who had stabbed him in the back with one of her daggers.
"Brat!" Hyperion smacked her, sending her flying away. She hit a tree and collapsed to the ground.
"B!" I shouted. "You fuck!"
I ran at him with a yell. He turned, but too slowly.
I stabbed Freeze into his side, twisting it before ripping it out. Hyperion howled in pain. He tried to backhand me, but I ducked under his hand. I swung Freeze upwards, forcing him to step back.
I pointed the tip at Hyperion's chest, ready to thrust it into his heart. He looked ready to intercept my attack but stumbled forward suddenly. My eyes widened in surprise but I quickly took advantage of his unbalance, stabbing Freeze into his chest.
He yelled out in pain as I barely missed his heart. A dark shape flipping off the Titan's back caught my attention. It was Zoe. Her hands were empty, but judging by Hyperion's pained expression, she hadn't been a moment before.
Hyperion fell to one knee, coughing up ichor. I relaxed slightly, thinking he was finally beaten.
I was wrong.
Quick as a flash, he cut Freeze in half, leaving half still buried in his chest. He pushed me back with his other hand, igniting my shirt at the same time. I tried to put out the flames with my ice but was forced to step back as Hyperion swung his sword at me. His fist came next, too fast for me to dodge. I braced for it with my arms in front of me.
Everything went black for a second. When I came back to, I was lying against a tree. Freeze was speared through the ground beside me.
Ahead of me, Killian was matching his father blow for blow. Ichor was streaming down Hyperion's face, the silver arrow still in his left eye. Arrows sprouted from the chinks in his armor. Freeze was still in his chest, though further in now.
Killian's body was beginning to glow orange and red. His hair was pure fire. His sword, previously a single-edged white blade, was now a long, curved, single-edged sword made of fire. Each time their swords met, sparks and ash flew.
I saw Percy out of the corner of my eye helping Zoe stand up. Half of her face seemed to be burned, and there was a handprint burned onto her arm. Percy seemed mostly fine. He had a few cuts here and there. His worst wound seemed to be an arrow wound below his shoulder.
I yelped when I was abruptly pulled to my feet. I looked to my right and left to find Bianca and Thalia supporting me. Thalia had a cut below her cheekbone and blood covered her fingers. Bianca, on the other hand, looked perfectly fine, aside from the sweat covering her face.
"We need to get out of here!" Thalia yelled over the roar of Killian and Hyperion's battle. Each time their swords collided, a thrum was felt in the air. I was even beginning to feel a little hot. "They're going to blow this place apart!"
Percy and Zoe made their way over to us.
"Go!" Percy shouted. "Get the Athena cabin out of here! I'll try and put an end to this!"
"How?" Bianca asked.
"A trick I used last time!"
"Percy, don't!" Zoe protested. "Hyperion will kill you!"
Despite the situation, Percy smiled. "No, he won't," he promised. "I'll live, and I'll make sure Killian stays alive. I'll come back, Miss Nightshade." He tugged Zoe closer to himself and kissed her.
Thalia let out a slight squeak of surprise. She obviously hadn't known about their little relationship. Then again, she had been away from camp for half a year. Bianca and I knew, obviously, because, besides each other, we were the people at camp that Zoe and Percy were closest to.
Zoe herself looked shocked and dazed, but she didn't push Percy away.
Percy broke it off and smiled at her. "I promise, Zoe." He pushed Zoe into Bianca's arms. "Now go! I'll see you at the Empire State!" He turned and ran for the reservoir.
"Let's go!" Bianca urged, dragging Zoe away. Thalia and I raced after, yelling at the Athena kids to get out of the park.
