Not much action but a necessary chapter- in which Zoe is horrified at the idea of having to deal with Leo more. Also, update on my progress- I think I'm more confident with Leo now so that's good! Most of TLH is from his perspective with a couple of Jason and Piper Chaps mixed in when things like important dreams happen. Also- is it bad that I'm still playing with the idea of bringing Alabaster back just to fuck with our faves? I know how I'd do it if I did. Anyway- please please do review. I live for the reviews I really do.
Percy and Annabeth sat together quietly for some time after that until Annabeth drifted off and Percy slid her hand out from her girlfriends tight grip, moving to the door, hesitating for a moment when she reached it, glancing back at her sleeping girlfriend before she opened it and slipped out of the room, very carefully shutting the door behind herself, waving down Connor- who was rushing past. "Hey, Con-"
"Percy! Is Annabeth okay?"
"Yeah, yeah she's asleep." Percy let out a breath, "Is everything-"
"It's under control." Connor gave Percy a small nod, "Thalia and Luke took over while you took a break, they said you'd need it-"
"Gods I love my brother." Percy let out a huff, "Where are they?"
"The living room." Connor told nodded in the right direction, "Grover's just arrived too so they'd have probably sent someone to get you soon anyway."
"I'll head there now- can you find someone to keep an eye on Annabeth for me-"
"Sure." Connor nodded, "Don't worry Percy. She'll be safe."
And Percy headed off quickly, it didn't take her long to find the room- all she had to do was ask a couple of demigods which way to go- and when she pushed the door open and stepped inside Percy couldn't help the way her lips twitched up into a smile at the sight that met her.
Grover, Luke, Thalia, Zoe and Leo were there, and Grover- now dressed for battle in an armored shirt made from tree bark and twist ties, with his wooden cudgel and his reed pipes hanging from his belt, was eating the furniture despite the fact that someone had laid out a very good buffet, with everything from pizza to pineapple ice cream. He'd already chewed the stuffing off a fancy chair and was now gnawing the armrest.
Her startled laugh drew everyone's attention to her as she spoke. "G-man, we're only borrowing this place you know?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Blaaah." Grover bleated, "We're saving the world, I deserve a snack, besides, it's Louis the Sixteenth furniture. Delicious. Plus I always eat furniture when I get—"
"When you get nervous," Percy nodded. "Yeah, I know. So-"
"How's Annabeth." that came from Thalia, who was tense, a worried frown on her lips, "She looked pretty bad when Drew rushed away with her?"
"It wasn't good." Percy admitted, "But she's okay. Will's seen to her-"
"Oh thank the gods." Thalia slumped into Luke's side and Luke wrapped an arm around Thalia's shoulder.
"Leo- how were things looking from above- Annabeth called-"
"I'm sorry I couldn't come. I was going to but the Hunters needed back up."
"It's fine." Percy waved a hand, "It's not your fault-"
"There is something weird I noticed." Leo hesitated, "Kronos- he- that dagger, the one he used to-" he looked almost nervous, "I spotted him during one of my flights, he was using it kind of like a compass-"
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Percy blinked, "Are you saying-"
"He must have enchanted it." Thalia breathed out, "That's why he came to the Williamsburg bridge- he came because he knew you were there."
"Fuck." Percy groaned, "Just what we need, he's going to know where I am wherever I go." she let out a breath and turned to Grover. "I don't suppose you have good news for me?"
"Afraid not." Grover shook his head, "I've mobilized most of the nature spirits in the city—well, the ones that will listen to me, anyway." He rubbed his forehead. "I had no idea acorns could hurt so much. Anyway, we're helping out as much as we can but-" he shook his head, launching into stories of the skirmishes he'd seen. Mostly the nature spirits had been covering uptown, where they didn't have enough demigods. Hellhounds had appeared in all sorts of places, shadow-traveling inside of the lines, and the dryads and satyrs had been fighting them off. A young dragon had appeared in Harlem, and a dozen wood nymphs died before the monster was finally defeated.
"We lost twenty satyrs against some giants at Fort Washington," he said, his voice trembling. "Almost half my kinsmen. River spirits drowned the giants in the end, but . . ." Grover trailed off, shaking his head, a pained look on his face.
Percy moved to his side, laying a hand on his shoulder and squeezing "We'll honor them all-" she paused when the door opened, relaxing very slightly when Zoe stepped in, giving Percy a small nod as she did.
"Persephone. I am here to make my report."
"Go ahead."
"The Titan lords forces gather at every bridge and tunnel- and Kronos isn't the only Titan. One of my Hunters spotted a Titan in golden armor mustering an army on the Jersey shore. I believe him to be Hyperion." Percy's brows furrowed.
"Well you're just a font of good news." Percy gave a wry smile, "Is there anything good?"
"I've ordered all of the subway tunnels in Manhattan to be sealed off- Zoe sent some of her hunters with some of our best trappers to do it." Luke spoke up. "The attacks seem to have died down for now. They're all retreating."
"Why?"
"Best bet would be that they're waiting for tonight." Thalia spoke up.
"Why bother?" Percy blinked, confused.
"Well a lot of his monsters will be stronger at night." Grover pointed out.
"Yeah but it's Kronos." Percy pointed out, "He's hardly going to be that affected by the time of the day."
"He's also currently bound by a mortal form." Zoe pointed out, "Thy have fought him before, yes?"
"I- yes of course-"
"Then thy must have realized that the son of Hecate's body binds him, restricts his power- and the power he must be using to slow time itself around the city must be considerable. Perhaps he needs to recover himself, much as we do."
"That's actually not a bad theory." Luke leaned forward, "And it's good news for us if it's true, right?"
"Sure, or it would be if I was even close to a match for him." Percy flopped down into one of the chairs that Grover hadn't eaten, letting out a breath and running her
fingers through her hair. She felt exhausted- and starving too if she was honest.
"Eh." Leo waved a hand dismissively, "You take him on below and I'll bring Festus and burn him up." and that made Percy let out a laugh, shaking her head fondly.
"How about we don't try that. We need you and Festus dealing with burning as many other monsters to ash as you can. I will figure out some way to deal with Kronos-"
"Kicking him in the face works-"
"I will maim you Luke-"
"It was a good kick."
"Thy kicked the lord of the Titans in the face?" Zoe raised an eyebrow and Percy flushed.
"In my defence we were both on the ground and he had my ankle, so I kicked out- besides it wasn't as cool as the time Rachel hit him in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush-"
Zoe blinked slowly as Leo cackled, "What?" she asked after a moment.
"One of Percy's girlfriends threw a hairbrush at him- the look on his face-" Leo was clutching his stomach he was laughing so hard.
"I see." Zoe looked bewildered- and very clearly did not see, but she shook her head, "In any case, it seems that we have tonight at least."
"Is there any news from the gods?"
"Lady Artemis would be here if she could." Zoe's expression was pained, "And Lady Athena would be too- but alas Lord Zeus has ordered them to stay at his side. The last I heard from my lady was that Typhon was destroying the Ohio River valley. He should reach the Appalachian Mountains by midday."
Percy blinked, mind moving quickly, doing the mental math before she said, "So we have about two days at best before he arrives."
There was a moment of horrified silence at that revelation before Luke spoke.
"It's bad, really bad. But we'll figure out what to do- the gods will hold him back. They have to."
"Luke's right." Thalia spoke quietly. "We can't worry about Typhon right now. We need to focus on what's happening here and now with Kronos.
"There's not much we can do right now." Percy pointed out.
"We can regroup." Leo piped up, "I'm going to do a bit of fixing up on Festus- there's no major damage but he did get a bit scorched- and look Percy-" he pointed to a cut on the left side of his chin, "Think it'll scar- I'd love a cool battle scar- I think Calypso would think it makes me look more manly-" and Percy snorted before Zoe spoke up.
"Calypso?"
"Yeah." Leo's expression became dreamy, "I met her last year- once the war is over I'm going to find her again and rescue her."
"Thy-" Zoe looked vaguely disturbed, "Calypso is my sister-" and Percy'e eyes widened at that before she let out a laugh.
"Does that mean that Leo might be your brother in law one day?"
"Persphone, you are my friend, but if thy don't shut your mouth I shall shut it for you."
"Hey! There's nothing wrong with me!" Leo protested.
"You truly met my sister- I know of her fate-"
"I know." Leo scowled slightly, "She's been hurt a lot but... she's still so... she's beautiful and kind and gentle and she's smart too. Really smart. And when I annoyed her she tore me to shreds-"
"Oh gods." Percy blinked, "Leo has a similar type to me- pretty badass girls who can and will destroy us if they feel the need to."
Maybe it's a Jackson family thing." Luke spoke up, as Thalia smirked smugly, "Because Thalia could definitely beat me into a bloody pulp."
"Damn right I could." Thalia declared.
"What about Nico though?"
"I mean-" Percy hummed, "It still kinda works- Will's cute I guess, and he can definitely take down Nico with a few words- did you see him that time Nico kept using his powers a few months back and he overextended himself- I swear Will practically had a spray bottle and squirted Nico every time he so much as hinted at using his powers-"
"Oh gods I remember that." Thalia let out a laugh, "Nico was fucking sprinting away and Will was chasing him yelling."
"I remember Nico grabbing and apple and throwing it at Will screaming, "I thought apples were supposed to keep the doctor away!"
The four demigods were laughing at the memories when Zoe spoke again, staring at them as if they were all complete lunatics- which honestly probably wasn't that
far off. "Insane. Thou are all completely insane."
"Yep." Thalia nodded serenely, "That's what happens when you've lived lives like we have. You lose all shreds of sanity." she let out a laugh as she shook her head, calming down slightly, and Luke was calming too, Percy was still laughing pretty hard though and Leo's snickering faded as he moved to Percy's side.
"Stop laughing, you're scaring the normal people-"
"None of us are normal." Percy managed, though she forced herself to stop laughing, breathing slowly. "Gods I needed that-" she felt shaky and drained, she always tended to find things funnier than they really were when she was stressed and nearing breaking point.
"You get some sleep." that came from Luke, "Go back to Annabeth and go get some sleep, we'll know where you are, we can come and wake you if you're needed. You need to rest-"
"There's still a lot to do."
"I can organise rotas, set up watches and things." Luke stated firmly. "You've done a lot today, don't push yourself too far or you won't be any good tonight."
"Luke's right." Thalia nodded, "And since Annabeth is currently not here I'll speak up on her behalf- if you don't get some sleep I will personally punch you in the head and knock you out so you have no choice-"
"I feel like that's pretty mean." Percy pointed out, "I mean-"
"Percy." Luke's voice was stern, "Go. Get some sleep, you'll need it. We will be just fine without you for a few hours. Thalia and I know what we're doing and we have Zoe here too to help back us up, right Zoe?"
"Of course." Zoe nodded, "You should rest Persephone- as much as I hate agreeing with a boy, you look as though you need some rest."
And so Percy reluctantly agreed, and soon she was heading back up to where she knew Annabeth would be waiting- where she'd be able to sleep.
