"That's odd." Reyna said
Mrs. O'Leary was the only one happy about the sleeping city.
"Well at least somebody is happy." Frank said
Hazel chuckled.
We found her pigging out at an overturned hot dog stand while the owner was curled up on the sidewalk, sucking his thumb.
Everybody snickered.
Argus was waiting for us with his hundred eyes wide open…psychedelic since it made his whole body swirl.
"That was very weird." Michael said
The demigods nodded.
"I don't want to imagine that, no offense." Reyna said
"None taken." Percy told her
"You'd better get back to camp," I told him…Statue of Liberty—which wasn't anywhere close to us.
"Whoa." Leo said
"Whoa," I said. "A video shield."… As long as natural light is touching it. Look."
Leo's mouth hung open and he stared at Beckendorf.
"Brother, you're amazing." Leo yelled and jumped on Beckendorf
Beckendorf chuckled and hugged Leo back and tickled him. Leo shook with laughter and tickled Beckendorf back. Beckendorf chuckled and roared with laughter once Leo tickled his side.
The demigods chuckled and Hephaestus beamed.
Thalia jumped on Jason and started tickling him. Jason roared with laughter and tried to tickle Thalia back. Will and Percy winked at each other and tickled Nico. Nico was yelling and roaring with laughter. He tickled Will and Percy who fell off the couch onto the mattresses. Nico smirked but then Annabeth and Hazel tickled him from behind. Nico fell on top of Will and Percy who groaned dramatically and laughed.
By the end of two minutes everybody was roaring with laughter. The demigods winked at each other and jumped on their parents and families, tickling them. They were shaking with laughter.
Apollo and Hermes were laughing at the top of their lungs. They tickled their kids back. Jason and joined the Hermes kids in tickling Hermes. Rachel and Grover joined the Apollo kids. Poseidon and Amphitrite were chuckling and tickling Percy, Triton and Tyson back and the three of them were roaring with laughter. Nico and Hazel were tickling Hades who was shaking with laughter and was trying to tickled Nico and Hazel. Hazel tickled Persephone was chuckled and tickled Hazel back.
Ares was being tickled like crazy by a smirking Frank and Clarisse. He smirked and tickled them back and they shook with laughter. Silena and Piper shrugged and tickled Aphrodite who chuckled. Castor, Pollux and Dakota grinned and tickled their father who had a smile plastered across his face. Reyna, Zoe and Thalia winked at each other and tickled Artemis who grinned and tickled them back.
"Let's continue." Chiron chuckled, enjoying the scene
The demigods nodded, coughed a little and took deep breaths and sat back down.
Everybody chuckled at the looks on their parents/patrons' faces.
We crowded around as Annabeth concentrated…Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Oh yeah brother." Travis grinned
They looked at Chris who winked at them. Then they looked and Rachel and Leo who gave them a thumbs up.
"What about you dad?" Connor asked
"You don't even have to ask. I'm in." Hermes grinned
Everybody chuckled.
"Travis!" Katie chided
Nico jumped.
"Damn Katie. You sound like your mother." He grumbled
Everybody burst out laughing. Katie and Demeter smirked.
Travis grinned and winked.
"Connor!" Katie Gardner scolded. She sounded like her mother, Demeter.
Katie and Demeter grinned.
"See, even Percy agrees." Nico said
"Good." Katie said
"You aren't going to ask to eat cereal right?" Nico asked with wide eyes
Katie gave a mysterious smirk which made Nico groan.
Demeter smirked while Hades groaned.
"This is serious. You are not going to loot a candy store…but he didn't sound very ashamed.
Connor grinned sheepishly.
Annabeth passed her hand in front of the shield…And not, Do you have more hot dogs?
Everybody chuckled.
"I need you to find him," I said. "Make sure he's still awake…You got that? Find Grover!"
Grover smiled at Percy who grinned back.
Mrs. O'Leary gave me a sloppy wet kiss…Sleeping demigods is much harder."
Aphrodite, Piper and Beckendorf beamed at Silena who blushed.
I stared at her. "When did you learn so much about magic?"… but it wasn't hard to figure out: the battle flag of Kronos.
The demigods sighed.
"Scan the perimeter of the island," I said. "Quick."… I realized they were telkhines—sea demons.
Poseidon groaned.
"I hate those things." Castor said
Everybody nodded.
The scene shifted again: the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel…Birds flew overhead in slow motion.
"Father." Hestia breathed
The demigods nodded grimly.
"The time shit is annoying as heck." Percy grumbled
The gods stared at him. Apollo, Hermes and the demigods were snickering.
"What?" Percy asked
"You just described the power of the titan lord as annoying as heck." Triton snickered
"What can I say? Mad Percy skills." Percy grinned
Everybody laughed.
"Kronos," I said. "He's slowing time."… She hated not knowing.
Annabeth shrugged.
"But somehow they've surrounded Manhattan in layers of magic…"Like flies in amber," Jake Mason murmured.
"Unique comparison but accurate." Poseidon said
The demigods nodded.
"It was absolutely insane. The comparison Jake made was very accurate." Michael said
Annabeth nodded. "We shouldn't expect any help coming in."… Remember the rivers.
The sea gang grinned.
"Sand dollar time." Triton grinned in a sing song voice
A few chuckles.
"I'll take care of the boats," I said…Travis, you take the other half and cover the Brooklyn Bridge.
Reyna, Frank and Hazel looked at Percy in awe.
"That's an amazing plan at such a time." Dakota nodded
Percy smiled.
The sea gang was grinning smugly, Chiron was nodding and smiling.
"And this is why you're our leader." The Stolls grinned
Percy blushed and gave a shy smile.
Everybody chuckled.
And no stopping for looting or pillaging!" "Awwww!" the whole Hermes cabin complained.
The Hermes gang complained this time as well.
"Guys not the time. Raid whichever store you want now." Percy chuckled
The demigods chuckled. The Hermes gang grinned.
"Silena, take the Aphrodite crew to the Queens…Six Aphrodite girls kissed me on the cheek in excitement.
Everybody laughed.
Silena kissed Beckendorf on the cheek which made him blush. The demigods wolf whistled.
"All right, enough!" I closed my eyes…The whole cabin roared in approval.
Beckendorf blushed.
"Guys-" he said
"Definitely a score to settle." Leo nodded
Hephaestus nodded in agreement.
Beckendorf blushed as the demigods nodded and cheered their approval.
"They hurt our family, we hurt them. They kill one of ours, we kill all of them." Percy said
The demigods roared their approval. The gods were momentarily deafened by how loud the cheers were. The demigods punched the air and pounded their feet and cheered.
The gods smiled. Chiron chuckled.
"The 59th Street Bridge," I said. "Clarisse—"…The whole Ares cabin, curse them, was sitting back at camp.
Clarisse swallowed guiltily.
"We'll take that," Annabeth stepped in, saving me from an embarrassing silence.
"Yeah, thanks for that." Percy smiled
"Any day Seaweed brain." Annabeth grinned
She turned to her siblings…Somebody in the back of the group said, "No detours, you two."
The demigods burst out laughing as Annabeth and Percy turned bright red.
"I bet they wanted to go out for detours." Travis smirked
Annabeth tossed a cushion and threw it on his face. Travis pouted.
There were some giggles, but I decided to let it pass…That should make it harder for the monsters to zero in on you."
"That's a good idea." Chiron smiled
Percy grinned.
Everyone grinned as though they liked this idea.
The demigods grinned at each other.
The gods smiled but then grimaced. The realization that their children were still kids hit them again. At least it hit the ones who cared.
Travis cleared his throat. "Uh, if we find a really nice phone—"…many of the girls had hunting falcons on their arms.
Artemis and the hunters grinned.
"Thalia Grace, right on time as usual." Zoe grinned
Thalia chuckled and grinned.
The girl in the lead had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket…little Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.
Everybody laughed at Thalia's t-shirt.
"What a t-shirt sis." Jason laughed
Thalia grinned.
"Thalia!" Annabeth cried…or at least Thalia was friendly.
Thalia gave hugs to Annabeth, Jason and her cousins.
They grinned.
The other Hunters didn't like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn't shoot any of us, which for them was a pretty warm welcome.
Everybody snickered and smiled.
"Very warm." Connor laughed
"Where have you been the last year?" I asked Thalia…cheeseburgers and fries at that hotel on West 57th."
Percy, Annabeth and Thalia grinned and smiled.
"You me, Nico, Annabeth, Will and Jason, cheeseburgers after the next two chapters with drinks. My treat." Percy grinned
"You bet Squirtle." Thalia grinned
"I'm in." Will and Nico said
"Definitely." Annabeth and Jason grinned
They high fived.
The gods chuckled.
"Le Parker Meridien," I said. "You're on…the campers all backed away
Thalia smirked.
The Hunters took off down the avenue…feel like this was the last time I'd ever see them all together.
The demigods sighed.
"You're the greatest heroes of this millennium," I told them. "It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely, and we will win." I raised Riptide and shouted, "FOR OLYMPUS!"
Each and every elder Greek demigod pounded their approval and cheered at the top of their lungs, repeating the war cry. Then they all jumped and punched their fists in the air.
"You bet!" The demigods cheered
The gods smiled.
"That was very inspirational Percy." Chiron smiled
Percy grinned.
"You guys really are like Dauntless." Hermes grinned
The demigods grinned back.
They shouted in response, and our forty voices echoed off the buildings…but still the streets were too clogged to navigate.
"Well it's kind of good." Rachel said
Everybody nodded.
Finally we found an unconscious courier leaning against a brick wall…because the city would be destroyed.
"That's fair." Thalia snickered.
I drove with Annabeth behind me, holding on to my waist.
The demigods and a few gods Oo'hed.
Percy and Annabeth blushed and grinned.
We zigzagged down Broadway…Once we stopped to extinguish a pretzel vendor's cart that had caught on fire.
"That's nice of you guys." Frank smiled
"Hey, they were probably big problems for them." Annabeth shrugged
The demigods chuckled fondly.
A few minutes later we had to rescue a baby carriage…somebody's sleeping poodle. Go figure.
Everybody snickered.
We parked it safely in a doorway and kept driving…Daedalus planted them here just in case he needed an army."
"That's so cool." Leo whined
"Yeah but why are you whining?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow
"It's that cool." Beckendorf answered
Leo nodded vigorously.
Jason and Hephaestus chuckled.
"To attack Olympus or defend it?"… We'd had our share of bad experiences with them.
The demigods sighed.
"That's true. Automatons are super cool but if they're built wrong, then it's a super huge problem." Leo said
"Yep." Beckendorf said
Hephaestus nodded.
"You're seriously thinking about activating it?"… "Shh," Annabeth. "Hello, William." "Bill," I suggested.
Everybody laughed.
"Wow Percy." Silena laughed
Percy grinned.
"Bill…Oh, shut up," Annabeth told me.
Everybody snickered.
The statue tilted its head, looking at us with blank metal eyes…"Do they know that we're not the enemy?" "I think so."
"Hopefully and I think so…" Dakota trailed off
"We needed numbers, the risk had to be taken." Annabeth said
"That's fair." Dakota said
"That's reassuring." I thought about all the bronze statues in the parks…"Well, unless you can breathe underwater…"
Percy grinned.
"Super water skills." He grinned
The sea gang chuckled.
Zeus grumbled about too much power which unfortunately for him was heard by everybody. The gods looked at Nico and Percy but they just rolled their eyes at Zeus.
"You aren't mad?" Ares asked
"What? No. We don't care what he or Athena say about us." Nico shrugged
"Uh okay." Ares said
She sighed. "You are so annoying sometimes." "Like when I'm right?
Everybody snickered.
"Lover banter." Silena grinned
Annabeth and Percy grinned.
"Friendship banter as well." Grover grinned
Everybody chuckled.
Trust me, I'll be fine. I've got the curse of Achilles now…I mean, because we need you for the battle."
"Oh you have more reasons for him coming back." Thalia grinned
Annabeth blushed.
Percy grinned.
I grinned. "Back in a flash."… Third eye or have mutant children when you grow up.
The sea gang scowled.
"I'll pass." Pollux swallowed
I dove into the murk and sank to the bottom…I figured that was the best place to get their attention.
Poseidon nodded.
"HEY!" I shouted in my best underwater voice…Or is it the other way around?"
"Do you want them to kill you or something?" Triton asked
"Only way to get their attention." Percy shrugged
Triton sighed.
The water shimmered. Something powerful and angry was watching me…. I figured their instinct would be to get in my face.
"Yeah, that's true." Will said
Sure enough, two giant forms appeared in front of me…His deep blue eyes burned with anger.
The sea gang groaned.
Percy grinned sheepishly.
The seal, who had to be the god of the East River…They floated toward each other, ready to fight.
Everybody face palmed.
"Hold it!" I yelled. "We've got a bigger problem."… then we'll fight each other."
The sea gang scowled.
"Sounds good," Hudson said…flew straight at me from both directions: broken glass, rocks, cans, tires
Poseidon growled.
I was expecting it, though…probably should've killed me, but it shattered against my skin
The demigods whistled.
"Epic." Leo grinned
Percy grinned.
The two river gods stared at me…"If I could just find some jumper cables—"
"You won't dare." Poseidon growled
"Calm down dad." Percy said
"Listen to me!" I said. "Kronos's army is invading Manhattan!"… "So they invade Olympus. What do we care?"
Zeus, Hera and Athena sneered.
"Stop sneering you three." Nico rolled his eyes
"Yeah, it's your fault that the minor gods think like that." Percy said
Zeus growled but Percy glared.
"Hey Chiron, maybe we could add a small building and maybe divide it into several quarters. We could make each corner a small cabin for these kind of minor gods." Percy said
"That's a good idea." Annabeth nodded.
"We'll look into it." Chiron nodded
Percy grinned. The sea gang grinned.
"Because I can pay you." I took out the sand dollar…"We'll compromise." I broke the sand dollar in half.
"Will that work?" Leo asked
"Yeah." Triton said
"Wish that worked with all kinds of money." Travis said
Connor and Chris nodded. Hermes chuckled.
A ripple of clean fresh water spread out from the break…"He's a jerk, but he sure knows how to sweep pollution away."
Poseidon looked affronted and pouted.
The sea gang chuckled.
"You're still helping them dad." Percy said
Poseidon nodded.
They looked at each other, then spoke as one: "It's a deal."… . "They always think that'll save them, don't they?"
"It's helpful but dangerous." Percy sighed
"It seems like even the two river gods have taken a fascination to you." Amphitrite said
"Because I paid them." Percy said
"Yes but still." Amphitrite chuckled
Percy smiled.
"If only he knew," East agreed. They both laughed…And Percy, the monster leading the enemy…it's the Minotaur."
"Oh look it's beef boy again." Clarisse snorted
Everybody laughed. The sea gang looked worried.
"Done." Aphrodite said
"I'll read." Ares said
Aphrodite gave him the book.