When I returned to my duties, I learned that Typhon, greatest calamity of all the Titans, had freed himself from his mountain prison. That certainly brightened my mood. Currently he was tearing his way through the Midwest and continuing at a frightening pace towards New York, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake and as we half-bloods watched through a shimmering projector that looked like one of those star globe things, I sensed a few more grow afraid of the titans and their power, drifting away from the idea of serving under them. With Typhon released all was nearly ready, and war would soon be brought down upon Mount Olympus, where all would be decided. I was watched like a hawk, Kronos apparently growing suspicious of me again the closer we came to the day of the final battle and I did my best not to give him any indication of what I had planned, because in secret, I gathered Michael and all the other half-bloods that were having second thoughts about whose side they should be fighting on. I didn't know I had it in me, but I stood before them and told them that the gods were massive assholes, but they were assholes that at least kept balance in the world.
"The Titans will demolish everything, and perhaps things will be all well and good for a few years, but then it will change. They have no real love for us, demigods or mortals, and they will allow the Dark Ages to return and monsters will run wild, unchecked and unchallenged, with Gates of Tartarus thrown open wide so that if they are killed they will respawn almost instantly. We will be hunted and killed one by one until there are none of us left. The world will die…and our souls will be lost to the ether of the netherworld, because there is no one there to guide us after even Hades is destroyed. Is that what you want?" I questioned them as I stood with my hands on my hips like I was scolding them, but really I was just trying to look firm and calm, though I didn't feel it. "At least with the gods, they nurture the world, and deep down, I think they do have some kind of love for our world, and for some of us. If things could be made to change, then perhaps everything will change for the better. We could demand recognition for the minor gods, your fathers and mothers, and concessions to be made to those of us need them. I have no deep love for the gods, but I'd rather stick with them than him."
"Easy for you to say Lily. You're a daughter of Poseidon. You have some real power. I'm a child of Bia, goddess of violence." One half-blood said rather angrily, though this was pretty usual for him. Warren pretty much always walked around with a scowl and you could wish him 'good morning' and he'd want to pick a fight. He was tough to control, but that had made him all the more of an outsider. I'm pretty sure I remember someone telling me that he had run away from Camp Half-Blood because he'd picked a fight with the Ares cabin a number of years ago and it had ended badly, though I never got the details on it. "Do you have any idea what it's like for the rest of us? We've chosen our lot, I say we stick to it."
"Agreed. We have made our decision, and I for one would not easily be able to change it. My father is Zelus, god of dedication." Another spoke, Hannah, who often took ages to deliberate on a choice before making it, and afterwards she never changed her mind. She was exhausting to play poker with.
"And I'm a son of the god of blame, Momus. I never even got the chance to be taken to your precious Camp Half-Blood," Hayden sneered at me and I had to resist the urge to punch him. He always blamed other people for things when usually he was the culprit of something. "Why should we switch sides now when it's pretty clear who's going to win this war? Typhon isn't far away now and the gods are barely keeping up with him. Soon enough it'll all be over and I want to be on the winning side." A number of heads nodded and murmured in agreement, shifting uncomfortably as I studied them carefully. I knew them all by their voice and face, knew them all by name. We'd all grown close, because mostly none of us had had anyone else before. Some of them had managed to get by because they were children of such minor and seemingly insignificant gods that they were passed over by monsters, but not always. They had had to struggle and fight to find their way, not understanding their different natures which made it hard for them to exist in the normal world of mortals. Often their parents would be the ones who took pity on them and explain who they were and find means to give them a chance at survival. I dreaded to think how many of them hadn't made it. Still, everyone here I considered a friend, and I did not want to lead them into a battle where I would be then abandoning them. At the very least, I was going to tell them what I planned. I owed them that much at least.
"You all make excellent points, and to be honest…I agree with you." I told them bluntly, not even trying to sugar coat it. "If we switch sides, we will probably die. The Titans will most likely win this war and everyone who stood against them will be turned to dust. But so what?" My voice suddenly changed and I stood before them not as a demigod, but their commander. I was the one who lead them, had trained with them, helped them improve their skills as I imparted all I had learned from Luke, and stood by them all this time. We were all equal, but I chose then to stand apart from them as their leader. "They will trample us no matter whether we win or lose. They will use us as toothpicks and string us up to dance like puppets, nothing more than expendable toys. They will offer us no honour, no dignity, no glory. They care only for themselves and possess a selfishness worse than any god I can think of. Eventually we will be slaughtered, and in our last moments, we will think back and regret not trying to sway the tide of war in favour of more benevolent beings…and standing beside our fellow demigods as one. You all know me. You know I hate bowing my head to anyone, and I refuse to be degraded any longer. If I die then so be it. I will die in blazes of glory and total epicness that will last for a thousand years! Even with my last breath, I'd rather spit in the eye of a Titan than allow myself to become their slave. If we die, then we die as heroes. We die with our middle fingers stuck up at the gods, and we show them why they were wrong to underestimate the children of the minor gods, to forget the undetermined. We show them why they should not have abandoned us, and if we die then our souls will go to Elysium to be honoured and respected in the Halls of the Dead until the Underworld is no more, and our souls then depart in peace. I fear no death, but I shall not dishonour my conscience. Your decision must be made now. Who stands with me, and who against?"
Standing with baited breath, I watched as my words rolled through their minds. There were at least fifty of us gathered though I had hoped for more, but it was a start for now. Before I had only circulated rumours and whispers of a rebellion against Kronos, this was the first time I was coming forward and speaking outright to them. If one of them ran to Kronos…then I was so massively screwed. "I stand with you." A relieved smile came to me as Michael stepped forwards, which I guessed he would. He came and stood by my side and pointedly glared at everyone else who all still deliberated and agonised over their decision which would determine the outcome of their lives.
"Me too!" Hannah suddenly stuck her hand in the air which shocked everyone, because this was the first time we had seen her make a decision so fast. "I'll stand with you, Lily, because it's you. That is my choice. I don't care about the gods or Olympus, or anything like that. I respect and admire you, so if you'll be our leader, then I'll follow you anywhere. Even into the mouth of Hades." Respect flowed through me towards Hannah and, as if prompted by her unexpected action, others began to nod and agree. They murmured that it was better to die honourably than to become sport for Titans in the future, that their meal plans sucked and they had zero good taste in décor and good entertainment. To be honest, I probably could have bribed every last half-blood with cheeseburgers and fries we were that sick of eating something that was probably meant to be a cross between porridge and a soup but pretty much just tasted like tasteless gruel. We all swore on the River Styx to revolt against Kronos, to not give away our plans and to stand together until the end. I was floored when everyone knelt to the ground before me and swore their sword to me, a sort of tingling sensation of power overcoming me and I wondered if this was some kind of ancient rite that was happening here. I didn't know, so I just rolled with it, grinning and telling everyone to get up because they looked ridiculous before then tackling as many people as I could with a hug. If it weren't for these guys, I probably would have thrown in the towel a long time ago.
Nominating Michael as my lieutenant and gathering a few highly experienced half-bloods who were all at least in their thirties, I went over my plan with them so that they would know the drill. Then we started working on the others. Slowly and subtly, so that they didn't even notice it, though some people we stayed away from like Ethan. We were good friends, but he was far too loyal to Kronos, practically following him around as Luke's replacement as one of his lieutenants. Ethan wouldn't side with us, I knew that, so for those we couldn't turn I aimed to protect them as best I could. Hopefully the gods wouldn't be able to tell who'd stayed and who'd switched by the end, so they'd just pardon us all. There wasn't much left to organise, but there was one thing I knew I needed to do, and to do it, I would have to return to Camp Half-Blood at the right moment, when everyone else had left in order to defend New York and, most importantly, Manhattan. I had a gut feeling that I needed to visit the Oracle, because until I had some idea of what my destiny was, I couldn't make any final plans. I'd need to move fast, and for that, I of course needed Snowstorm and the blessings of the Anemois, the primeval gods of the winds, to speed us on our way and grant us safe passage, so when I was able to escape away for a little while beyond the sight and reach of Kronos, I made an offering to them with a gift of drachma, some treasures Kronos had collected but then left lying around, some impressive Spoils of War that I don't even want to talk about, and of course, a large olive and cheese pizza with chocolate shakes.
When the offerings were all made and I sent up my prayer, the flames flickered and waved as a breeze caught them with a sort of humming sound as the air and flames started to smell like chocolate. I assumed they preferred the shakes and that they would grant my request. Now all I had to do was wait for the right moment as the army mobilised and started to move, me commanding the troops and organising them into their ranks. I had rather coyly suggested to Kronos that he keep his demigods and his monsters separate with the point that monsters tended to go into a frenzy once they'd started to taste blood, and the last thing he wanted was for his monsters to start eating up a good chunk of his own army. He'd agreed, so now all the demigods were focused into one battalion under my command. It was all working perfectly so far, and still Kronos did not suspect a thing. I had not spoken to Luke in some time and I worried that this meant that he was beginning to fade, though I clung to the hope that he was still there. Kronos continued to treat me in a way that he perhaps thought was endearing and charming, probably still trying to persuade me into becoming his wife, but I just rolled with it the best I could whilst remaining true to my character, because any kind of deviation would just set off alarm bells in his head. We're not out of the fight yet, and if I had my way Kronos was going back into Tartarus where he would never again rise, and Luke would be returned to me as he had been. Safe and whole, which is all that I could ask for as the dawn arose with the first light of day as we set our sights upon my home city of New York.