A great war cry arose from below as the armies of the ocean rose up and charged Typhon, making me start in shock as Snow and I remained above the storm though with the water vapour in the air, the ripples of vibrations rising through the currents of swirling winds and the presence of the water below, I could pretty much pick out everything that was happening. Poseidon led the charge, but behind him came an army of mounted Cyclopes riding a rather bewildering assortment of sea creatures, but one presence caught my attention more than anything else, more even than Poseidon. Tyson! He was huge, no longer a little baby, and I almost sobbed to think of him so grown up and leading a charge against a Titan. I'd missed him so much. Renewed with energy, I yelled with Snow as we dove down straight into the eye of the storm where things were still and clear, whereby I leaped from Snow's back and allowed myself to fall, causing several gods to shout in astonishment, but I ignored them. I landed directly on top of Typhon's head which was so large that it was like walking down a flat street, lifting Amaryllis up before driving her down.

Typhon suddenly gave a bellow that completely deafened me, but I didn't stop moving. I stabbed him as many times as I could before then leaping and sliding down his face, burying Amaryllis into his flesh which I could feel tearing a long line of wounds from his scalp to his neck where I then landed on his shoulder. Amaryllis herself didn't do much damage, however the magic she was imbued with started to take effect as I ran barefoot across Typhon's mountainous shoulders. I'd somehow lost them whilst fighting the winds. Ice began to grow and form, freezing Typhon until one side of his face was completely encased and gradually, he began to slow down. I stabbed again and again, pouring my faith into Amaryllis who seemed to respond as if she were alive, the freezing ability growing all the more potent the more I stabbed and thrust. Typhon roared again as the Cyclopes army flung things that clinked and rattled, chains, in order to tie up his arms and legs. Whistling, I called Snow to me as I leaped blindly into the open, but the moment I heard her wings, my hand caught hold of her neck and she carried me away as I heard a thundering boom even against the raging typhoon we were battling. "NERIDA?!" Dad had finally noticed I was there but I ignored him as right now, I didn't have time to explain to him what I was doing.

Feeling the turning tide of water I gulped in a breath before dropping down into it, Snow flying off once again to get out of range. The moment I plummeted into the water, I had instinctively felt afraid as I became completely engulfed, but rather than feeling cold or even broken from such an intense impact, I felt cushioned. It was warm, and the vicious currents seemed to part around me, growing smooth and steady so that I wasn't swept away and when I drew in a tentative breath, I could breathe. I was breathing underwater. Now I knew why Percy always went on about how cool this was, because now I was only giddy, the saltwater flooding me with even more strength and even healed me of the bruises and grazes I had before, perfectly dry and untouched. Beyond the water barrier, I could sense Typhon finally halting and beginning to weaken. If ever I was to make my move, it had to be now otherwise Percy could be in danger and Luke…I couldn't even think about Luke.

I don't know exactly how or why I did what I did next, because honestly I don't remember much. It was like my own mind had fallen away and all I wanted was to face Typhon and punch him in the face for causing so much devastation and death during his march across the states. Next thing I knew I felt this rather painful tug in my gut and then the water started to churn and bubble around me. More water from the Hudson began to burst up in towering geysers, shooting straight up and starting to roll and combine as I was pulled along with the water from the cyclone that surrounded Typhon, thrusting Amaryllis up in order to push the currents behind me and guide myself upwards. I could feel the shape the water was taking, growing taller and taller until it felt like it couldn't grow anymore, sprouting limbs from a watery torso and then a head which I burst out from, rising high into the air before then slowing. I willed the water to form disks under my feet and not break, letting me essentially walk and float on water as I then came to rest upon the shoulder of the androgynous giant that I had created that stood face to face with Typhon. The power of my godly side was flooding me all at once, years of suppressing it crashing down upon me with such force and power that it was the closest I would ever come to being an immortal. I could feel the gods staring, everyone frozen to see what I had created as a thunderous voice demanded of Poseidon if this was his doing, but my father didn't even answer. I could feel he was looking straight at me.

My attention, however, was on Typhon, who was now growling in such a way that made me think of what the earth might sound like if it had a voice. Deep, resonant, echoing and fathomless. Giving it a smirk, I touched Amaryllis against my watery giant and the moment she did so, I willed the water to gain a shell of ice which she spread, to take on the properties of ice whilst water continued to swirl and broil within. Then, with a lift of my trident into the air, I thrust it forwards. An ice encased fist pounded Typhon directly on the nose, my mind filled with the echoes of the movements as the ice hand shattered upon impact but Typhon's head was ripped backwards from the force. As the hand pulled back, it reformed its shape and fresh ice grew, fuelled by the source of the Hudson we stood in. Beneath me the Cyclopes' all cheered and I was pretty sure I heard Tyson yelling. "THAT'S LILY! THAT'S MY BIG SIS! GO LILY! PUNCH THAT MEANIE AGAIN!" A chaotic wildness came over me, drunk on the sensation of euphoria and invulnerability as I threw back my head and laughed like a maniac, moving my hands in order to make my giant move. It punched Typhon again, this time in the stomach to double him over before then sweeping up its foot in a massive swing that, had he any teeth, would have knocked them straight out of his skull.

A sound was radiating from my body that sounded something between a scream and a roar, pouring all my years of pain, stress, grief, sorrow, anger, hatred and the torture I had endured beside Kronos that made even gods back away from me. It was like the ice now refused to break, becoming one with my indomitable will so that as another punch to the Titan's head came, the ice did not even crack. My body was beginning to burn up and somewhere inside me, I knew that I didn't have a lot of time. If I held on like this then I would burst and become nothing more than dust, because although I was the child of a god, I was also part mortal, and that part of me could not handle the influx of power that felt like I had drank the entirety of an electric grid. I raced forwards, somehow carving my way through the rain as I whirled my trident which sent lashes of rain and water against Typhon, blasting into his mouth when he bellowed to choke him and blinding his eyes. Water now poured into his mouth like a hose, filling him up from the inside as I ran the length of my giant creation as Typhon tried to reach out and grab hold. The giant form locked hands with it, though I could sense the claws digging into the ice and beginning to crack it, both of them now wrestling and grappling at a standstill as I then climbed onto Typhon's hand, jumping like a flea.

Turning, Amaryllis was now vibrating in my grasp, stretched to the limit as I was as I stood facing Typhon, blind but seeing far more clearly than anyone else in that moment. My mouth opened and my voice arose in a shout that felt completely alien to me, a glow seemingly wrapping itself around me in a golden light as my godly side continued to radiate even to the point where it manifested itself in an aura. "I am Nerida Lily Jackson. Daughter of the mortal, Sally Jackson. Sister of Perseus Jackson, slayer of monsters, wave-maker and hero of Olympus! I am the cursed child, the ill-perceived one, blinded by the gods! I am a child of the sea and shaker of the earth, beloved of horses and wielder of Amaryllis!" Feeling the words come to my mind as I spoke them, I didn't even feel like myself anymore, as if I had evolved into something completely new and even Typhon was transfixed, staring at me with raging eyes as I then lowered my trident to point at him, prong tips sparking with ice and frost. "You will take no step further, calamity of a forgotten age. You have no place in this world! This age belongs to us, and you shall not take it without first facing me, for I am Nerida, DAUGHTER OF POSEIDON, GOD OF THE SEA!" It was the first time I had openly acknowledged my father, and more so, in his presence. The echoes of my cries rang out true and clear, making me wonder if they could perhaps hear me all the way from Olympus.

The water that Typhon had been forced to choke down suddenly ruptured with the explosion of my voice and he staggered, veering wildly as the chains around his legs and body tightened, trapping him as even his arms were pulled back to his side where the giant behind me then pushed down on his shoulders, attempting to wrestle Typhon down into the water as I leaped into the air and flung myself in an arc. I flew upwards and my head arched downwards, feet pointed and swinging with my lead leg in order to direct myself as I then descended upon Typhon and, with the zenith of my strength, threw Amaryllis like a javelin which I sensed suddenly burst with all its power and magic as it drove deep into Typhon's chest and blew apart, creating a huge hole the size of a football stadium. Twisting with a yell I flung all the water I could directly at Typhon so that he was swarmed all at once, too confused and weakened to react in time so that when the Cyclopes' all heaved, he tumbled into the surf of the river just as he released a Titan's wave of energy. It slammed against me all at once and I was flung into the air with so much force that I felt my ribs crack and break, soaring so high that I would have frozen to death were I not part god. The air was thin I couldn't breathe, now everything just a painful ringing and empty blindness as I couldn't sense anything at all.

I thought I was going to die when I started to descend, tossed over and over again until I felt sick, but then a voice rose upon the wind and I heard Snowstorm soaring towards me. Somehow she managed to catch me upon her back so that I was slung across the saddlebags, and even though this caused my chest to cripple once more I was too out of it to even register the pain. My body was on fire and I felt like I was being ripped apart by the atoms, unravelling and disintegrating all at once. "Drop me…water…" I somehow managed, and although Snowstorm was squealing in panic, she did as I asked. I was falling once more, blacking out even as I did so, unable to stay awake any longer so that when I did strike the Hudson River, I didn't feel it. Almost immediately however I felt my strength beginning to return to me, though I was still broken and with a start, I realised I was dying. I'd used up too much power and sustained it for far too long. It was over for me, but I couldn't leave it like this. I still had to save Percy and Luke, I had promised Hermes. I had to save Luke, I couldn't let his soul become lost and not even reach Elysium. I had to do something, I had to. But even as the water tried to heal me, it wasn't fast enough, and I could almost feel it crying out in mourning as I continued to sink to the bottom of the river, settling upon the muddy bed. Barely able to string my thoughts together, I did the only thing I could think to do.

I prayed to my father.