A Black Heart

by ChiragTheseus2008

Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon gets adopted by the god of the dead, becoming the child of the two strongest gods. He has been living in the underworld ever since. Soon, circumstances make him come out of Hades' lair making him the target of several monsters. He has to now protect his siblings and also become the child of the prophecy! Rewrite of the Raging Seas!

14. The Battle Of Manhattan

A BLACK HEART Chapter 14
A/N:-

"Fine, come on let's go!" Percy said quickly. "Grab on to me, tightly."

Cam held Percy's left hand and Hector took his right hand as Percy jumped into a shadow, which wasn't really difficult as it was midnight.

They appeared on a building on top of Williamsburg bridge, which blazed with light. Cars were burning. Arcs of fire streamed in both directions as flaming arrows and spears sailed through the air.

The Apollo campers were retreating. They would hide behind cars and snipe at the approaching army, setting off explosive arrows and dropping caltrops in the road, building fiery barricades wherever they could, dragging sleeping drivers out of their cars to get them out of harm's way. But the enemy kept advancing.

An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead, their shields locked together, spear tips bristling over the top. An occasional arrow would connect with their snaky trunks, or a neck, or a chink in their armor, and the unlucky snake woman would disintegrate, but most of the Apollo arrows glanced harmlessly off their shield wall. About a hundred more monsters marched behind them. Hellhounds leaped ahead of the line from time to time. Most were destroyed with arrows, but one got hold of an Apollo camper and dragged him away.

In the middle of the invading legion was the Minotaur.

From the waist down, he wore standard Greek battle gear—a kiltlike apron of leather and metal flaps, bronze greaves covering his legs, and tightly wrapped leather sandals. His top was all bull—hair and hide and muscle leading to a head so large he should've toppled over just from the weight of his horns. A double-bladed axe was strapped to his back, but he was too impatient to use it.

He smelled Hector as his nostrils flared up and looked in their direction and suddenly picked up a white Limousine.

"Oh, shit!" Hector shouted as the limo came sailing toward them, flipping fender over fender like a two-ton boomerang.

Percy jumped to the right, Cam rolled to the left and Hector ducked as the limo sailed over his head, missing by maybe two inches. It cleared the suspension lines of the bridge and fell toward the East River. Monsters jeered and shouted, and the Minotaur picked up another car.

"Percy, we need to get to the ground," Hector said.

Percy nodded and jumped off the side of the building without thinking twice.

"What the fuck?" Hector muttered to himself.

"He's always like that… Come on," Cam said and hopped down.

"Alright, here goes nothing," Hector said and leaped off as well.

They landed down behind an overturned school bus, where a couple of campers were hiding.

Michael Yew ran up to them. He had a bandaged cut on his arm. His ferrety face was smeared with soot and his quiver was almost empty, but he was smiling like he was having a great time. Annabeth was by his side, helping the Apollo campers.

"Glad you guys could join us," Annabeth said. "Where are the other reinforcements?"

"For now, we're it," Hector said.

"Then we're dead," Michael said.

"You still have your flying chariot?" Cam asked.

"Nah," Michael said. "Left it at camp. I told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever, you know? Not worth fighting about anymore. But she said it was too late. We'd insulted her honor for the last time or some stupid thing."

"Least you tried," Percy said.

Michael shrugged. "Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped. Here come the uglies!" He drew an arrow and launched it toward the enemy. The arrow made a screaming sound as it flew. When it landed, it unleashed a blast like a power chord on an electric guitar magnified through the world's largest speakers. The nearest cars exploded. Monsters dropped their weapons and clasped their ears in pain. Some ran. Others disintegrated on the spot.

"That was my last sonic arrow," Michael said.

"A gift from your dad?" Percy asked. "God of music?"

Michael grinned wickedly. "Loud music can be bad for you. Unfortunately, it doesn't always kill."

Sure enough, most monsters were regrouping, shaking off their confusion.

"We have to fall back," Annabeth said. "We've got Kayla and Austin setting traps farther down the bridge."

"No," Percy said. "Bring your campers forward to this position and wait for my signal. We're going to drive these motherfuckers back to Brooklyn."

Michael laughed. "How do you plan to do that?"

Hector drew his sword, Cam brought out her guns and Percy brought out his gauntlets.

"Hector, you take the Minotaur, Cam, help Michael and Annabeth, stop any new monsters from approaching, and carry any sleeping mortals away from here," Percy said.

They all nodded and before walking off, Hector asked Annabeth. "Don't I get a kiss for good luck?"

"Come back alive seaweed brain, then we'll see," Annabeth said and drew her knife as Percy smiled at the son of Poseidon.

Hector came out from behind the school bus and walked forward, up the bridge in plain sight.

The Minotaur's eyes burned with hate when he saw Hector. He bellowed—a sound that was somewhere between a yell, a moo, and a really loud belch.

"Hey, Beef Boy," Hector shouted back. "Didn't I kill you already?"

Beef Head pounded his fist into the hood of a Lexus, and it crumpled like aluminum foil.

A few dracaenae threw flaming javelins at Hector but he knocked them aside. A hellhound lunged, and he sidestepped and stabbed it. The hellhound disintegrated into dust and fur.

More monsters surged forward—snakes and giants and telkhines—but the Minotaur roared at them, and they backed off.

"One on one?" Hector called. "Just like old times?"

The Minotaur's nostrils quivered.

He unstrapped his axe and swung it around. Each of its twin blades was shaped like an omega: Ω—the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Maybe that was because the axe would be the last thing his victims ever saw. The shaft was about the same height as the Minotaur, bronze wrapped in leather. Tied around the base of each blade were lots of bead necklaces.

At the back, Percy was dealing with the remaining monsters. With each punch, an enemy disintegrated, with each jab, an enemy cried out in pain, with each kick, an enemy demigod's joint dislocated or bone broke.

Percy was literally fighting like a demon against the monsters but with the demigods, he just either knocked them unconscious or immobilized them.

Slowly, the enemy started to get smarter and maintained distance from him, and soon they made a circle around him, trying not to get close.

Hector was at the edge of the bridge with the Minotaur's broken axe in his hands. He braced it against the railing.

The Minotaur charged and didn't even slow down, when the axe pierced him, the handle sprouting from his breastplate.

"Thanks for playing," Hector told him and lifted the Minotaur by his legs and threw him off the side of the bridge.

Mr. Beef Head disintegrated as he fell into the sea.

Hector turned to look at the monsters.

It was roughly one hundred to one because Percy had killed off the ninety-nine.

Hector sliced through armor like it was made of paper. Snake women exploded. Hellhounds melted to shadow. He slashed and stabbed and whirled, and laughed once or twice—a crazy laugh.

Soon Hector and Percy were fighting back to back.

The Apollo campers behind them were shooting arrows, though mainly Cam was the one doing the most shooting as the Apollo campers had run out of arrows and she had a lot of guns, disrupting every attempt by the enemy to rally. Finally, the monsters turned and fled—about ten left alive out of two hundred.

They followed with the Apollo campers.

"Yes!" yelled Michael Yew. "That's what I'm talking about!"

They drove the army back toward the Brooklyn side of the bridge.

The sky was growing pale in the east. The toll stations were visible.

"Percy!" Cam yelled. "You've already routed them. Pull back! We're overextended!"

At the base of the bridge, the retreating monsters were running straight toward their reinforcements. It was a small group, maybe thirty or forty demigods in battle armor mounted on skeletal horses. One of them held a purple banner with the black scythe design. The lead horseman trotted forward. He took off his helm, and the good demigods faltered.

His eyes were molten gold and a scar ran across his face, Kronos.

The monsters reached the Titan's line and were absorbed into the new force. Kronos gazed in their direction.

He smiled.

"Now," Percy said, "we pull back." The Titan lord's men drew their swords and charged.

The hooves of their skeletal horses thundered against the pavement.

The good archers shot a volley, bringing down several of the enemies, but they just kept riding.

"Retreat!" Percy told his friends. "I'll hold them."

Michael and his archers tried to retreat, but Annabeth, Cam, and Hector stayed right beside Percy, fighting with weapons as they slowly backed up the bridge. Kronos's cavalry swirled around them, slashing and yelling insults.

The Titan himself advanced leisurely, like he had all the time in the world.

Percy followed the same principle of not killing but immobilizing the demigods as he smashed the heads of two together.

Which probably killed them, but Percy couldn't care less.

The rest followed and tried to wound Kronos's men. Hector and Annabeth slashed at the legs of the horses, making the skeletal mounts disintegrate. Then after the first few demigods took a spill, the rest figured out they'd better dismount and fight on foot.

Soon Hector slashed at the demigods' legs, making them fall down, Annabeth cut off one's hand, Cam shot at the shoulder of another, and Percy, well Percy broke bones, a lot of them, but none of them were his own.

Percy and Cam were back to back while Annabeth and Hector stayed shoulder to shoulder, facing opposite directions.

They'd almost made it to the middle of the bridge, fighting when suddenly, Annabeth cried out.

"Annabeth!" Hector turned in time to see her fall, clutching her arm. A demigod with a bloody knife stood over her.

The demigod had been trying to stab Hector in the back, his only weak spot.

Percy turned and punched the demigod so hard that he made a dent in the helmet and made it fly off, while Hector stood there, dumbfounded. (A/N:- Yeah, here, this isn't a mistake, Percy turned and hit Ethan, not Hector.)

The half-blood had a black eye patch and black hair.

"Ethan!" Hector exclaimed and hit him in the head with the butt of his sword as the enemy demigod crumpled to the ground.

"Get Back! No one touches her!" Hector yelled, slashing Riptide in a wide arc, making the other demigods move away.

Suddenly someone grabbed Cam and held his arm against her neck. Percy spun around to hit him, but he couldn't move.

"Interesting." Kronos mused. He towered above them on his skeletal horse, his scythe in one hand. He studied the scene with narrowed eyes.

"Bravely fought, Percy Jackson," he said. "But it's time to surrender . . . or the girls die."

"Percy, don't," Annabeth groaned. Her shirt was soaked with blood.

Percy grinned and raised his arms and brought them down.

Everyone looked around, even Kronos, as a big shadow swallowed them and took Hector, Annabeth, and Cam, and shadow traveled them away.

"Urgh!" Kronos snarled.

"Come on, Kronos, one on one?" Percy said, banging his fists together.

"Oh, of course, though, as we all can see, you aren't invincible like your brother over there… you will be finished in just a few seconds."

"We'll see," Percy said and lunged forward, bringing his fist on Kronos's head, then rolled, and horse-kicked the Titan in the face.

Kronos turned around and slashed downward with his scythe.

Percy rolled to the right, did a kip up into a full fighting stance.

Then he met the Titan's strike with his hands, blocking it.

The impact shook the entire bridge, but Percy refused to budge.

Kronos's grin faded as it turned into a snarl.

Percy got down and swept the Titan's legs from below him as his scythe skittered across the pavement.

Percy punched Kronos, but he raised his arms up and kicked him back.

The scythe flew into his hand like Thor's Mjiolnir as it struck with a loud noise, shaking the monster line.

"You're good Percy Jackson, but you will never be able to best me. I'm still more powerful. I'M A TITAN!" Kronos roared and struck the bridge with the butt of his scythe, and a wave of pure force blasted Percy backward.

Cars went careening. Demigods—even Luke's own men—were blown off the edge of the bridge. Suspension cords whipped around, and the son of Hades skidded halfway back to Manhattan.

Percy groaned as he got unsteadily to his feet from the building that his back had struck. The remaining Apollo campers had almost made it to the end of the bridge, except for Michael Yew, who was perched on one of the suspension cables a few yards away his last arrow was notched in his bow.

"Michael, go!" Percy screamed.

"Percy, the bridge!" he called. "It's already weak!"

Percy looked down and saw fissures in the pavement. Patches of the road were half-melted from Greek fire. The bridge had taken a beating from Kronos's blast and the exploding arrows.

"Break it!" Michael yelled. "Use your powers!"

Percy nodded and brought his fist down on the pavement with all the strength he had.

For a second nothing happened. Then the bridge shook and began to crumble. Chunks the size of houses fell into the East River. Kronos's demigods cried out in alarm and scrambled backward. Some were knocked off their feet. Within a few seconds, a fifty-foot chasm opened in the Williamsburg Bridge between Kronos's army and Percy.

The vibrations died. Kronos's men crept to the edge and looked at the hundred-and-thirty-foot drop into the river.

The Titan lord studied the problem. He looked behind him at the rising sun, then smiled across the chasm. He raised his scythe in a mock salute.

"Until this evening, Jackson." Kronos mounted his horse, whirled around, and galloped back to Brooklyn, followed by his warriors.

Percy sighed as he bent over and turned to thank Michael Yew, but the words died. Twenty feet away, a bow lay in the street, its owner missing.

"No!" He exclaimed and searched the wreckage, but no such luck.

He knew that searching for Michael was worthless, he could feel his soul reaching the underworld.

Percy yelled in anger, and even from the distance, he knew Kronos heard him.

The sound echoed, carrying forever through the morning stillness as he retracted his gauntlets.

Percy's or rather Hector's phone rang, the LCD said it was a call from Finkelstein & Associates.

Percy picked up, hoping for good news.

"Percy?" Silena Beauregard sounded like she'd been crying. "Plaza Hotel. You'd better come quickly, it's . . . it's Annabeth. Hector's going nuts and Cam is trying the best she can."

"Don't worry, I'm done here, I'm coming."

Percy cursed and quickly grabbed a black jacket from a sleeping passenger and threw it over his hoodie and jumped in a shadow.

Soon he reappeared in front of the Plaza Hotel- an old-fashioned white stone hotel with a gabled blue roof, sitting at the southeast corner of Central Park.

Tactically speaking, the Plaza wasn't the best place for a headquarters. It wasn't the tallest building in town, or the most centrally located. But it had old-school style and had attracted a lot of famous demigods over the years, like the Beatles and Alfred Hitchcock, so they were in good company.

The lobby was impressive, with the crystal chandeliers and the passed-out rich people, but Percy didn't pay much attention. A couple of Hunters gave him directions to the elevators, and he rode up to the penthouse suites. Demigods had completely taken over the top floors.

Campers and Hunters were crashed out on sofas, washing up in the bathrooms, ripping silk draperies to bandage their wounds, and helping themselves to snacks and sodas from the minibars. A couple of timber wolves were drinking out of the toilets.

"Percy!" Jake Mason clapped him on the shoulder. "We're getting reports—"

"Later," Percy said. "Where's Annabeth?"

"The terrace. She's alive, man, but . . ."

Percy pushed past him.

The terrace looked straight down onto Central Park.

The morning was clear and bright—perfect for a picnic or a hike, or pretty much anything except fighting monsters.

Annabeth lay on a lounge chair. Her face was pale and beaded with sweat. Even though she was covered in blankets, she shivered. Silena Beauregard was wiping her forehead with a cool cloth. Cam was working on the bandages.

Percy pushed through a crowd of Athena kids as Cam unwrapped Annabeth's blood-soaked bandages to examine the wound.

The bleeding had stopped but the gash looked deep. The skin around the cut was a horrible shade of green as blisters had formed around it.

"Annabeth . . ." Hector choked up, he was sitting on the side of the lounge chair, holding her hand.

"The dagger was poisoned," Annabeth mumbled. "Pretty stupid of me, huh?"

Cam just swallowed, "Look, it's fine, the bleeding has stopped, just the poison is left, and, uh, we can treat it, right?"

She seemed to be convincing herself more than Annabeth.

"Someone hand me some nectar," Cam said and Percy gave her a canteen.

Cam cleaned the wound with the godly drink while Percy knelt down.

"Ow," Annabeth said. "Ow, ow!"

Cam set the canteen aside and gestured to Percy who nodded.

"Listen, Annabeth, this is going to hurt, but it's going to be worth it," Percy said and placed his hand on her arm.

Annabeth nodded. She gripped Hector's fingers so tight they turned purple, but she stayed still.

Percy concentrated and placed his hand on it and suddenly green liquid started to ooze out of the wound, dripping on the ground sizzling, and burning through the carpet.

Annabeth screamed as Silena muttered words of encouragement.

Soon when Percy was done removing the poison, Camilla put some silver paste over the wound and hummed words in Ancient Greek—a hymn to Apollo. Then applied fresh bandages and stood up shakily.

Both she and Percy looked equally pale as Annabeth, who seemed to shiver a lot less now.

"That should do it," Cam said. "But we're going to need some mortal supplies. There's a Duane Reade on Fifth. Normally I would never steal—"

"I would," Travis volunteered.

Cam glared at him. "Leave cash or drachmas to pay, whatever you've got, but this is an emergency. I've got a feeling we're going to have a lot more people to treat."

Nobody disagreed. There was hardly a single demigod who hadn't already been wounded, except for the children of Poseidon.

"Come on, guys," Travis Stoll said. "Let's give Annabeth some space. We've got a drugstore to raid . . . I mean, visit."

The demigods shuffled back inside. Jake Mason grabbed Percy's shoulder as he was leaving. "We'll talk later, but it's under control. I'm using Annabeth's shield to keep an eye on things. The enemy withdrew at sunrise; not sure why. We've got a lookout at each bridge and tunnel."

"No," Percy said. "We talk now."

Jake nodded. "Alright come on."

"Hector, I'm leaving you here with Silena and Annabeth, just stay safe, I can't afford anyone else to die," Percy said as his voice cracked near the end and closed the door behind him.

"Alright Jake, let's discuss battle strategies."

"Listen, the enemy troops have retreated from all the bridges, right at sun dawn. You said that Kronos said 'Until this evening…' so that means that they will attack again in the evening."

"I know, we need to place traps before sunset, otherwise, it's going to be impossible to defeat them," Percy said.

"Yeah, but we don't know what kind of monsters are going to be coming, because we have classified them into three, small monsters which contain telekhines and all that, medium monsters which include dracaenae and others, and finally, large monsters containing hellhounds. Now if we set up Small Monster Traps, and Hellhounds attack in that area, then the trap wouldn't work, and similarly if we place Large Monster Traps in the place for Telekhines, then again, it won't work!" Jake said.

"What do we do then?" Percy asked.

"We could…" Jake was cut off as a car alarm started blaring.

A plume of black smoke curled into the sky somewhere over Harlem.

"Shit! I forgot about that! We don't know how many have left their oven on, or how many people were cooking dinner! Oh My God, there are going to be a lot more fires if we don't stop them now."

"So you want me to send a group of demigods to disarm the ovens and turn off the stoves?" Jake asked.

"Yes."

"Consider it done Percy, I'm coming, till then, take a rest and sleep, we have a long night ahead."

Percy nodded and turned back, before he called out, "Hey, Jake!"

"Yeah?" The demigod in question turned around.

"I need a special delivery from you," The son of Hades said as Jake brightened up.

"Of course!" Jake grinned widely and nodded as Percy smiled and turned and sat on a chair, reclining back, and closing his eyes.

Two minutes later, Connor Stoll came and woke Percy up.

"Hey, Percy," He said. "Ms. O'Leary came back with Grover and he has some news."

"All right I'm coming down," Percy said, groaning, and followed Connor down. "Has Travis been successful in the medical store raid?"

Connor grinned. "Oh, yeah… he bought the whole store and just gave one dollar to the store owner!"

Percy just sighed and facepalmed as he just vaulted down the railings.

Grover was having a snack in the living room. He was 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.

The Demeter cabin had whipped up a whole buffet in the hotel kitchens—everything from pizza to pineapple ice cream. Unfortunately, Grover was eating the furniture. He'd already chewed the stuffing off a fancy chair and was now gnawing the armrest.

"Dude," Percy said, "we're only borrowing this place."

"Blah-ha-ha!" He had stuffing all over his face. "Sorry, Percy. It's just . . . Louis the Sixteenth furniture. Delicious. Plus I always eat furniture when I get—"

"When you get nervous, Hector told me. So what's up?"

Grover clopped on his hooves. "I heard about Annabeth. Is she . . .?"

"She's going to be fine. She's resting with Hector."

Grover took a deep breath. "That's good. 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."

He told Percy about the skirmishes they'd seen. Mostly they'd been covering uptown, where there hadn't been enough demigods. Hellhounds had appeared in all sorts of places, shadow-traveling inside their 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.

As Grover talked, Thalia entered the room with two of her lieutenants. She nodded to Percy grimly, went outside to check on Annabeth, and came back in. She listened while Grover completed his report— the details getting worse and worse.

Jake Mason had also entered the room at the same time, giving a nod of affirmation to the son of Poseidon about the package.

"We lost twenty satyrs against some giants at Fort Washington," Grover said, his voice trembling. "Almost half my kinsmen. River spirits drowned the giants in the end, but . . ."

Thalia shouldered her bow after the painful recounting of the memories of the satyr. "Percy, Kronos's forces are still gathering at every bridge and tunnel. And Kronos isn't the only Titan. One of my Hunters spotted a huge man in golden armor mustering an army on the Jersey shore. I'm not sure who he is, but he radiates power like only a Titan or god."

"Great, Hyperion's here," Percy said. "Any good news?"

Thalia shrugged. "We've sealed off the subway tunnels into Manhattan. My best trappers took care of it. Also, it seems like the enemy is waiting for tonight to attack. I think Luke"—she caught herself—"I mean Kronos needs time to regenerate after each fight. He's still not comfortable with his new form. It's taking a lot of his power to slow time around the city."

Grover nodded. "Most of his forces are more powerful at night, too. But they'll be back after sundown."

"Okay. Any word from the gods?"

Thalia shook her head. "I know Lady Artemis would be here if she could. Athena, too. But Zeus has ordered them to stay at his side. The last I heard, Typhon was destroying the Ohio River valley. He should reach the Appalachian Mountains by midday."

"So at best, we've got another two days before he arrives."

Jake Mason cleared his throat.

"Percy, something else," he said. "The way Kronos showed up at the Williamsburg Bridge like he knew you were going there. And he shifted his forces to our weakest points. As soon as we deployed, he changed tactics. He barely touched the Lincoln Tunnel, where the Hunters were strong. He went for our weakest spots like he knew."

"The spy."

"What spy?" Thalia demanded and Percy told her about the silver charm, the communication device.

"That's bad," she said. "Very bad."

"It could be anyone," Jake said. "We were all standing there when Percy gave the orders."

"But what can we do?" Grover asked. "Frisk every demigod until we find a scythe charm?"

Everyone looked at Percy, who was obviously uneasy as he tried to wink. "Why are you guys worrying about that? They know exactly what we needed them to."

They all narrowed their eyes. "You look like you're hiding something…" Thalia said.

Percy gulped. "No, no, no, I'm not hiding anything… come on don't tell me you guys think I'm the spy!"

They all narrowed their eyes further.

"Ugh, fine…. I swear on the river Styx that I am not the spy?"

Thunder crackled, but nothing happened.

Their eyes returned to the normal size and Jake grinned. "Good, I knew you wouldn't betray us!"

"But we had to be sure…" Grover said.

"But now we are!" Thalia said.

Percy laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah.. hehe."

"Alright, let's set up a rotation for the watches. Rest up while you can. We've got a long night ahead of us." Thalia said.

The demigods mumbled agreement. They went their separate ways to sleep or eat or repair their weapons until only Percy and Thalia were left.

"Thalia, you too," Percy said. "I'll keep an eye on things. Go lie down. I'll take the first watch."

***

Thalia was sleeping in a room when Percy suddenly came in.

"Psst! Thalia!" He whispered.

"AAAHHH!" Thalia screamed and punched Percy in the face.

"Ow!" Percy was holding his nose.

"Percy, what are you doing here?" Thalia asked.

"We've got visitors that want to see us," Percy said.

"Visitors?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah, they want to talk to me, but I said that I wanted company of my own as well, so Grover, Hector and You are coming to ensure that the Titan doesn't kill me."

"Titan?"

"A titan under a flag of truce, says he has a message from Kronos."

"Fine, come on let's go."

***

They could see the white flag from half a mile away. It was as big as a soccer field, carried by a thirty-foot-tall giant with bright blue skin and icy gray hair.

"A Hyperborean," Thalia said. "The giants of the north. It's a bad sign that they sided with Kronos. They're usually peaceful."

"You've met them?" Hector asked.

"Mmm. There's a big colony in Alberta. You do not want to get into a snowball fight with those guys."

As the giant got closer, they could see three human-size envoys with him: a half-blood in armor, an empousa demon with a black dress and flaming hair, and a tall man in a tuxedo. The empousa held the tux dude's arm, so they looked like a couple on their way to a Broadway show or something— except for her flaming hair and fangs.

The group walked leisurely toward the Heckscher Playground. The swings and ball courts were empty. The only sound was the fountain on Umpire Rock.

Percy looked at Grover. "The tux dude is the Titan?"

He nodded nervously. "He looks like a magician. I hate magicians. They usually have rabbits."

Percy stared at him. "You're scared of bunnies?"

"Blah-hah-hah! They're big bullies. Always stealing celery from defenseless satyrs!"

Thalia coughed.

"What?" Grover demanded.

"We'll have to work on your bunny phobia later," Hector said. "Here they come."

The man in the tux stepped forward. He was taller than an average human—about seven feet. His black hair was tied in a ponytail. Dark round glasses covered his eyes, and his was covered in several scratches.

"Percy Jackson," he said in a silky voice. "It's a great honor."

His lady friend the empousa hissed at them.

"My dear," Tux Dude said to her. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable over there, eh?"

She released his arm and drifted over to a park bench.

Behind Tuxy was the armed demigod, their backstabbing buddy, Ethan Nakamura. His nose looked like a squashed tomato from the fight on the Williamsburg Bridge.

"Hey, Ethan," Hector said. "You're looking good."

Ethan glared at him.

"To business." Tux Dude extended his hand. "I am Prometheus."

"The fire-stealer guy?" Percy asked.

"The human-creator guy?" Thalia asked.

"The chained-to-the-rocks-to-get-eaten-by-vultures guy?" Hector asked.

"Blaa-ah!" Grover bleated.

Prometheus winced. He touched the scratches on his face. "Please, don't mention the vultures. But yes, I stole fire from the gods and gave it to your ancestors. In return, the ever-merciful Zeus had me chained to a rock and tortured for all eternity."

"But—"

"How did I get free? Hercules did that, eons ago. So you see, I have a soft spot for heroes. Some of you can be quite civilized." Prometheus waved to a picnic table and they all sat down. "Now, Percy Jackson, let us parley."

Thalia and Grover and Hector stood behind him as they sat down.

The blue giant propped his white flag against a tree and began absently playing on the playground. He stepped on the monkey bars and crushed them, but he didn't seem angry. He just frowned and said, "Uhoh."

Then he stepped in the fountain and broke the concrete bowl in half. "Uh-oh." The water froze where his foot touched it. A bunch of stuffed animals hung from his belt—the huge kind you get for grand prizes at an arcade.

"Uh, I don't have any parsley, so I don't know why you're wasting time here…" Percy said.

"Idiot, he means Parley! P-A-R-L-E-Y! It means to hold a conference with the opposing side to discuss terms." Thalia said.

"Oh," Percy said silently.

"Very good, Daughter of Zeus, very good! She is right Perseus, I have come here to talk about some… terms," Prometheus said.

Prometheus sat forward and laced his fingers. He looked earnest, kindly, and wise. "Percy, your position is weak. You know you can't stop another assault."

"We'll see."

Prometheus looked pained like he really cared about the demigods. "Percy, I'm the Titan of forethought. I know what's going to happen."

"Also the Titan of crafty counsel," Grover put in. "Emphasis on crafty."

Prometheus shrugged. "True enough, satyr. But I supported the gods in the last war. I told Kronos: 'You don't have the strength. You'll lose.' And I was right. So you see, I know how to pick the winning side. This time, I'm backing Kronos."

"Because Zeus chained you to a rock," Hector guessed.

"Partly, yes. I won't deny I want revenge. But that's not the only reason I'm supporting Kronos. It's the wisest choice. I'm here because I thought you might listen to reason."

He drew a map on the table with his finger. Wherever he touched, golden lines appeared, glowing on the concrete. "This is Manhattan. We have armies here, here, here, and here. We know your numbers. We outnumber you twenty to one."

"Your spy has been keeping you posted," Percy guessed.

Prometheus smiled apologetically. "At any rate, our forces are growing daily. Tonight, Kronos will attack. You will be overwhelmed. You've fought bravely, but there's just no way you can hold all of Manhattan. You'll be forced to retreat to the Empire State Building. There you'll be destroyed. I have seen this. It will happen." Prometheus spoke with such certainty it was hard not to believe him.

"I won't let it happen," Percy said.

Prometheus brushed a speck off his tux lapel. "Understand, Percy. You are refighting the Trojan War here. Patterns repeat themselves in history. They reappear just as monsters do. A great siege. Two armies. The only difference is, this time you are defending. You are Troy. And you know what happened to the Trojans, don't you?"

"You think I'm dumb enough to let you cram a wooden horse into the elevator at the Empire State Building?" Percy asked. "If you are, then, Good Luck."

Prometheus smiled. "Troy was completely destroyed, Percy. You don't want that to happen here. Stand down, and New York will be spared. Your forces will be granted amnesty. I will personally assure your safety. Let Kronos take Olympus. Who cares? Typhon will destroy the gods."

"Right," Hector said. "And we're supposed to believe Kronos would spare the city."

"All he wants is Olympus," Prometheus promised, looking up. "The might of the gods is tied to their seats of power. You saw what happened to Poseidon once his undersea palace was attacked."

Percy winced.

"Yes," Prometheus said sadly. "I know that was hard for you. When Kronos destroys Olympus, the gods will fade. They will become so weak they will be easily defeated. Kronos would rather do this while Typhon has the Olympians distracted in the west. Much easier. Fewer lives lost. But make no mistake, the best you can do is slow us down. The day after tomorrow, Typhon arrives in New York, and you will have no chance at all. The gods and Mount Olympus will still be destroyed, but it will be much messier. Much, much worse for you and your city. Either way, the Titans will rule."

Thalia pounded her fist on the table. "I serve Artemis. The Hunters will fight to our last breath. Percy, you're not seriously going to listen to this slimeball, are you?"

Prometheus smiled. "Your courage does you credit, Thalia Grace."

Thalia stiffened. "That's my mother's surname. I don't use it."

"As you wish," Prometheus said casually. "At any rate, you need not be my enemy. I have always been a helper of mankind."

"That's a load of Minotaur shit," Thalia said. "When mankind first sacrificed to the gods, you tricked them into giving you the best portion. You gave us fire to annoy the gods, not because you cared about us."

Prometheus shook his head. "You don't understand. I helped shape your nature." A wiggling lump of clay appeared in his hands. He fashioned it into a little doll with legs and arms. The lump man didn't have any eyes, but it groped around the table, stumbling over Prometheus's fingers. "I have been whispering in man's ear since the beginning of your existence. I represent your curiosity, your sense of exploration, your inventiveness. Help me save you, Percy Jackson. Do this, and I will give mankind a new gift—a new revelation that will move you as far forward as fire did. You can't make that kind of advance under the gods. They would never allow it. But this could be a new golden age for you. Or . . ." He made a fist and smashed the clay man into a pancake.

The blue giant rumbled, "Uh-oh." Over at the park bench, the empousa bared her fangs in a smile. "Percy, you know the Titans and their offspring are not all bad," Prometheus said. "You've met Calypso."

"That's different."

"How? Much like me, she did nothing wrong, and yet she was exiled forever simply because she was Atlas's daughter. We are not your enemies. Don't let the worst happen," he pleaded. "We offer you peace."

Percy looked at Ethan Nakamura. "You must hate this."

"I don't know what you mean."

"If we took this deal, you wouldn't get revenge. You wouldn't get to kill us all. Isn't that what you want?"

His good eye flared. "All I want is respect, Jackson. The gods never gave me that. You wanted me to go to your stupid camp, spend my time crammed into the Hermes cabin because I'm not important? Not even recognized?"

"Your mom's the goddess of revenge," Hector told Ethan. "We should respect that?"

"Nemesis stands for balance! When people have too much good luck, she tears them down."

"Which is why she took your eye?" Grover said.

"It was payment," he growled. "In exchange, she swore to me that one day I would tip the balance of power. I would bring the minor gods respect. An eye was a small price to pay."

"Great mom," Thalia said.

"At least she keeps her word, unlike the Olympians. She always pays her debts—good or evil."

"Yeah," Hector said. "So I saved your life, and you repaid me by raising Kronos. That's fair."

Ethan grabbed the hilt of his sword, but Prometheus stopped him. "Now, now," the Titan said. "We're on a diplomatic mission."

"It bothers you what happened to Luke," he decided. "You know better than anyone, but even you don't know what actually happened . . ." The Titan reached out.

Thalia cried a warning, but Prometheus's index finger touched Percy's forehead before anyone could react.

Suddenly Percy appeared in May Castellan's living room.

Candles flickered on the fireplace mantel, reflected in the mirrors along the walls. Through the kitchen doorway, young Thalia was sitting at the table while Ms. Castellan bandaged her wounded leg. Seven-year-old Annabeth sat next to her, playing with a Medusa beanbag toy. Hermes and Luke stood apart in the living room. The god's face looked liquid in the candlelight like he couldn't decide what shape to adopt. He was dressed in a navy blue jogging outfit with winged Reeboks.

"Why show yourself now?" Luke demanded. His shoulders were tense, as if he expected a fight. "All these years I've been calling to you, praying you'd show up, and nothing. You left me with her."

He pointed toward the kitchen like he couldn't bear to look at his mother, much less say her name.

"Luke, do not dishonor her," Hermes warned. "Your mother did the best she could. As for me, I could not interfere with your path. The children of the gods must find their own way."

"So it was for my own good. Growing up on the streets, fending for myself, fighting monsters."

"You're my son," Hermes said. "I knew you had the ability. When I was only a baby, I crawled from my cradle and set out for—"

"I'm not a god! Just once, you could've said something. You could've helped when"—he took an unsteady breath, lowering his voice so no one in the kitchen could overhear—"when she was having one of her fits, shaking me and saying crazy things about my fate. When I used to hide in the closet so she wouldn't find me with those . . . those glowing eyes. Did you even care that I was scared? Did you even know when I finally ran away?"

Ms. Castellan chattered aimlessly in the kitchen, pouring Kool-Aid for Thalia and Annabeth as she told them stories about Luke as a baby. Thalia rubbed her bandaged leg nervously. Annabeth glanced into the living room and held up a burned cookie for Luke to see. She mouthed, Can we go now?

"Luke, I care very much," Hermes said slowly, "but gods must not interfere directly in mortal affairs. It is one of our Ancient Laws. Especially when your destiny . . ." His voice trailed off. He stared at the candles as if remembering something unpleasant.

"What?" Luke asked. "What about my destiny?"

"You should not have come back," Hermes muttered. "It only upsets you both. However, I see now that you are getting too old to be on the run without help. I'll speak with Chiron at Camp Half-Blood and ask him to send a satyr to collect you."

"We're doing fine without your help," Luke growled. "Now, what were you saying about my destiny?" The wings on Hermes's Reeboks fluttered restlessly. He studied his son like he was trying to memorize his face, he knew what May's mutterings meant.

"My son," he said, "I'm the god of travelers, the god of loads. If I know anything, I know that you must walk your own path, even though it tears my heart."

"You don't love me."

"I promise I . . . I do love you. Go to camp. I will see that you get a quest soon. Perhaps you can defeat the Hydra, or steal the apples of Hesperides. You will get a chance to be a great hero before . . ."

"Before what?" Luke's voice was trembling now. "What did my mom see that made her like this? What's going to happen to me? If you love me, tell me."

Hermes's expression tightened. "I cannot."

"Then you don't care!" Luke yelled.

In the kitchen, the talking died abruptly. "Luke?" May Castellan called. "Is that you? Is my boy all right?" Luke turned to hide his face, but I could see the tears in his eyes. "I'm fine. I have a new family. I don't need either of you."

"I'm your father," Hermes insisted.

"A father is supposed to be around. I've never even met you. Thalia, Annabeth, come on! We're leaving!"

"My boy, don't go!" May Castellan called after him. "I have your lunch ready!"

Luke stormed out the door, Thalia and Annabeth scrambling after him. May Castellan tried to follow, but Hermes held her back. May collapsed in Hermes's arms as the screen door slammed and began to shake. Her eyes opened—glowing green—and she clutched desperately at Hermes's shoulders. "My son," she hissed in a dry voice. "Danger. Terrible fate!"

"I know, my love," Hermes said sadly. "Believe me, I know."

The image faded. Prometheus pulled his hand away from Percy's forehead.

"Whoa Percy, what . . . what was that?" Hector asked.

Percy was clammy with sweat. Prometheus nodded sympathetically. "Appalling, isn't it? The gods know what is to come, and yet they do nothing, even for their children. How long did it take for them to tell you your prophecy, Percy Jackson? Don't you think your father, either father, knows what will happen to you?"

"Perrrcy," Grover warned, "he's playing with your mind. Trying to make you angry."

"Do you really blame your friend Luke?" the Titan asked Percy. "And what about you, Percy? Will you be controlled by your fate? Kronos offers you a much better deal."

"Percy, don't listen to him," Hector said and Prometheus raised his hand before Percy could say anything.

The Titan placed his hand in his office bag and after some rummaging, he brought out a celestial bronze object which made everyone alert.

It was a metal box that upon opening showcased an ornately designed revolver with one bullet on its side.

"What is this?" Percy said, worry leaking in his voice.

"A choice," Prometheus said as the demigods looked at him questioningly.

"Pick up the gun, and shoot," The titan clarified. "If you find our deal favorable, then put a bullet in your brother's heart."

Percy picked the weapon up after a few minutes, shocking his friends.

"What are you doing?" Thalia said warily. "Percy?"

The son of Poseidon took the bullet and pressed the release on the gun as the container swung out.

Percy studied the bullet as a smile graced Prometheus' face. He inserted it into the chamber and pushed it back in until the click echoed in the silent atmosphere as his friends' faces turned white.

He turned around and placed the revolver, keeping Hector's chest on target.

"Percy!" Hector exclaimed. "Don't do this!"

He cocked the gun and pressed the trigger as the titan smiled.

The sound resonated in the entire environment as everyone closed their eyes. Hector could only pray to his dad while thinking why, exactly why had no one else done anything to save him.

The son of Poseidon waited for the bullet to pierce his body, but after a few seconds, he opened his eyes to see that there was nothing.

He was perfectly fine.

Hector looked around to see everyone gaping looking at the frozen hyperborean giant behind them. The bullet had him straight in the chest as cracks started to spread until he dissolved into an icy wave that swept over them.

"I'll give you a deal. Tell Kronos to call off his attack, leave Luke Castellan's body, and return to the pits of Tartarus. Then maybe I won't have to destroy him," Percy said.

The empousa snarled. Her hair erupted in fresh flames, but Prometheus just sighed as if he knew this would happen. "If you change your mind," he said, "I have a gift for you."

"Nope, nope, nope," Thalia said covering her eyes.

A Greek vase appeared on the table. It was about three feet high and a foot wide, glazed with black-and-white geometric designs. The ceramic lid was fastened with a leather harness. Grover whimpered when he saw it. Thalia gasped.

"That's not—"

"Yes," Prometheus said. "You recognize it."

"Pandora's jar?" Percy asked.

Prometheus nodded. "Yes, I don't know why people started calling it box, but never mind that. Yes, she did open this jar, which contained most of the demons that now haunt mankind—fear, death, hunger, sickness."

"Don't forget me," the empousa purred.

"Indeed," Prometheus conceded. "The first empousa was also trapped in this jar, released by Pandora. But what I find curious about the story—Pandora always gets the blame. She is punished for being curious. The gods would have you believe that this is the lesson: mankind should not explore. They should not ask questions. They should do what they are told. In truth, Percy, this jar was a trap designed by Zeus and the other gods. It was revenge on me and my entire family—my poor simple brother Epimetheus and his wife Pandora. The gods knew she would open the jar. They were willing to punish the entire race of humanity along with us. Zeus had destroyed an entire hotel to eliminate two demigod children—just to save his own skin, because he was scared of a prophecy. He'd killed an innocent woman and probably hadn't lost any sleep over it. Hades was no better. He wasn't powerful enough to take his revenge on Zeus, so he cursed the Oracle, dooming a young girl to a horrible fate. And Hermes . . . why had he abandoned Luke? Why hadn't he at least warned Luke, or tried to raise him better so he wouldn't turn evil? These are questions, look, I am just telling you to be careful. Now, only one spirit remained inside when Pandora opened it."

"Hope," Percy said.

Prometheus looked pleased. "Very good, Perseus. Elpis, the Spirit of Hope, would not abandon humanity. Hope does not leave without being given permission. She can only be released by a child of man."

The Titan slid the jar across the table. "I give you this as a reminder of what the gods are like," he said. "Keep Elpis, if you wish. But if you decide that you have seen enough destruction, enough futile suffering, then open the jar. Let Elpis go. Give up Hope, and I will know that you are surrendering. I promise Kronos will be lenient. He will spare the survivors."

"I don't want the thing," Percy growled.

"Too late," Prometheus said. "The gift is given. It cannot be taken back." He stood. The empousa came forward and slipped her arm through his. "Nakamura!" Prometheus called to the demigod. "We are leaving. Get your flag."

"We will see you soon, Percy Jackson," Prometheus promised. "One way or another. Plus, be prepared, we have something special for you."

Ethan Nakamura gave them one last hateful look. Then the truce party turned and strolled up the lane through Central Park, like it was just a regular sunny Sunday afternoon.

Back at the Plaza, Thalia pulled Percy aside. "What did Prometheus show you?"

Percy told her about the vision of May Castellan's house. Thalia rubbed her thigh like she was remembering the old wound.

"That was a bad night," she admitted. "Annabeth was so little, I don't think she really understood what she saw. She just knew Luke was upset."

Small fires were still burning in the north, but otherwise, the city seemed unnaturally peaceful.

"Do you know what happened to May Castellan? I mean—"

"I know what you mean," Thalia said.

"I never saw her have an, um, episode, but Luke told me about the glowing eyes, the strange things she would say. He made me promise never to tell. What caused it, I have no idea. If Luke knew, he never told me."

"Hermes knew," Percy said. "Something caused May to see parts of Luke's future, and Hermes understood what would happen—how Luke would turn into Kronos."

Thalia frowned. "You can't be sure of that. Remember Prometheus was manipulating what you saw, Percy, showing you what happened in the worst possible light. Hermes did love Luke. I could tell just by looking at his face. And Hermes was there that night because he was checking up on May, taking care of her. He wasn't all bad."

"It's still not right," I insisted. "Luke was just a little kid. Hermes never helped him, never stopped him from running away."

Thalia shouldered her bow.

"Percy," she said, "you can't start feeling sorry for Luke. We all have tough things to deal with. All demigods do. Our parents are hardly ever around. But Luke made bad choices. Nobody forced him to do that. In fact—"

"But you don't know him the way I do! He was like a big brother when I was little! He used to take me out and show me what the outside world looked like, and to a person who has been living in the dark for his own life, seeing the Sun was the best thing that happened to me!" Percy yelled and punched a hole in the wall with his bare hands in frustration.

"Percy… After that night, after we left his mom's house? Luke was never the same. He got reckless and moody like he had something to prove. By the time Grover found us and tried to get us to camp . . . well, part of the reason we had so much trouble was that Luke wouldn't be careful. He wanted to pick a fight with every monster we crossed. Annabeth didn't see that as a problem. Luke was her hero. She only understood that his parents had made him sad, and she got very defensive of him. She still is defensive. All I'm saying . . . don't you fall into the same trap. Luke has given himself to Kronos now. We can't afford to be soft on him."

Percy looked outside, the sun was about to go down. Fires were raging in Harlem. He sighed knowing that the demigods must have evacuated the mortals.

"You're right," He said finally.

Thalia patted his shoulder. "I'm going to check on the Hunters. Also, you do know that you could've asked Cam to come as well?"

"Well, she was sleeping…" Percy said.

"And what was I doing?"

"Uh… sleeping?"

"Then?"

"Look, Cam needs the rest… it's important for her health, she's not immortal like you."

Thalia nodded. "Good Argument, anyway, I guess it's time to go fighting, huh?"

"Yeah, we need to be prepared before them, come on."

***

In the living room, Percy banged the table thrice, a call for war.

The sound echoed through the whole room and everyone quickly gathered around him, including a pale-looking Annabeth.

Outside, everything was red and purple, on a dark starry sky.

"There's an army heading south into Central Park," Percy said. "We need to be ready with all we have, and we need everything we have because Kronos has planned a surprise for us."

Everybody nodded and exited.

Thalia and the head counselors were waiting for them at the Reservoir. The lights of the city were blinking on at twilight. 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?" Hector 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!"

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!"

"Um . . . yeah. Well, Grover, you won't be alone. Annabeth and the Athena cabin are you guys ready?"

They nodded.

"Hector?"

"I'm ready Percy, I'm always ready."

"We'll all make our final stand here, Me, Cam, and Thalia."

"The Hunters are ready."

"And so am I!" Cam said and Percy smiled.

"You guys have to guard the other entrances to Manhattan. You know how tricky Kronos is. He'll hope to distract us with this big army and sneak another force in somewhere else. 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," Percy said. "Good hunting, everybody!"

They heard the army before they saw it.

The noise was like a cannon barrage combined with a football stadium crowd—like every Patriots fan in New England was charging 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!" Annabeth yelled. Her cabinmates scrambled. The idea was to make the enemy army break around the reservoir.

At first, the plan seemed to work. The enemy divided and streamed toward them along the shore.

When they were halfway across, the demigods' 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.

Percy and Hector were standing in the middle, their weapons out.

Cam shot down as many monsters as she could, the bullets hitting their targets with a thuck!

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 naiads faded as their life sources were destroyed.

Hellhounds lunged at the timber wolves, knocking them aside. Enemy archers returned fire, and a Hunter fell from a high branch.

"Percy!" Annabeth 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 them, 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," Annabeth said in awe. "The lord of light. Titan of the east."

"Bad?" Hector 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," Percy promised.

"Percy, even you can't—" Hector said.

"You said next to Atlas he's the greatest, right? I already defeated Atlas before, this shiny bitch shouldn't be much of a problem… Just keep our forces together," Percy said and cracked his knuckles.

He advanced toward Hyperion, running over the top of the water.

Twenty feet away, the titan raised his sword. His eyes were as gold as Kronos's but brighter, like miniature suns.

"The sea god's brat," he mused. "You're the one who trapped Atlas beneath the sky again?"

"It wasn't hard," Percy said. "You Titans are about as bright as my gym socks."

Hyperion snarled. "You want bright?" His body ignited in a column of light and heat.

Percy looked away, but he was still blinded as Hyperion's blade slammed him, but he used his instincts and raised his fists.

The shock wave sent a ten-foot ring of water across the surface of the lake and shook the trees around them.

Percy grunted and kicked Hyperion back, still keeping his eyes closed, as he slammed his fist on the water.

"AHHHHH!" Sunny titan yelled. The waves smashed into Hyperion and he went under, his light extinguished.

Percy landed on the lake's surface just as Hyperion struggled to his feet. His golden armor was dripping wet. His eyes no longer blazed, but they still looked murderous.

"You will burn, Jackson!" he roared.

"You know, you have more dick in your personality than in your pants!" Percy yelled back.

"Ha-ha! Burn!" Cam exclaimed as her bullet pierced through three monsters at once.

Hyperion roared and lunged forward with his blade.

Percy blocked his strike and spun around, returning the favor with his own jab, aimed straight at the titan's neck.

Hyperion choked and Percy punched him back.

The battle still raged around them. On the right flank, Annabeth was leading an assault with her siblings, Hector had joined them and was fighting like a mad man, slashing and slicing. On the left flank, Grover and his nature spirits were regrouping, entangling the enemies with bushes and weeds.

"Enough games," Hyperion told Percy. "We fight on land."

The Titan yelled and a wall of force slammed Percy through the air—just like the trick Kronos had pulled on the bridge.

Percy tried to resist but sailed backward about three hundred yards and smashed into the building, cracking the wall.

He got to his feet, groaning as he spat blood on the ground. "I really hate it when you Titans do that."

Hyperion closed on him with blinding speed.

Percy recovered quickly and jumped back to flip over a car, which the titan broke.

Hyperion attacked. He was powerful and fast, but he couldn't seem to land a blow. If he was strong, Percy was agile.

He kept leaping here and there trying to avoid getting hit.

The ground around Hyperion's feet kept erupting in flames. "Stop it!" the Titan roared. "Stop running!"

Percy was running out of options. His punches were devastating, but the titan's rage blinded him from the pain, and they were too far away from water.

Then suddenly, he looked at the fire in the ground and remembered what Hephaestus had told him.

He grinned and pushed Hyperion back, then spun around and kicked him.

"You know, your face looks like it was set on fire and then put out using chains!" Percy yelled trying to provoke Hyperion, and of course, being a dumb titan, Percy succeeded.

"I'll show you fire!" Hyperion roared and more flames erupted.

"Thanks, Hypy!" Percy grinned and concentrated on the fires raging.

Suddenly, they began to listen to him and started to swirl around him, slowly and surely gathering speed.

"What?!" Hyperion yelled.

"Oh, don't freak out so much Hypy… I… won't… do… anything to you!" Percy said with pauses while laughing maniacally.

He raised his hands and pulled his hands back, in the shape of a bird.

The flames formed a fiery phoenix behind Percy as everyone looked at him in shock.

Percy then pushed his hands forward and the flames started to cover Hyperion.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled.

"Nothing!" Percy yelled and the flames formed a cocoon around the Hyperion.

Then he walked forward to the screaming Hyperion and grabbed his neck, tightly.

"AAH! AAH! AA—" Hyperion screamed and finally disintegrated in the cocoon, the flames eating his essence up.

"What? How did you do that?" Hector yelled.

"A trick?" Percy yelled back.

The Titan's army started to retreat. A cheer went up from the Athena cabin, but their victory was short- lived. Because just then Kronos unleashed his surprise.

"REEEEET!" The squeal echoed through upper Manhattan.

Demigods and monsters alike froze in terror.

Grover screamed out in panic. "Why does that sound like . . . It can't be!"

"REEEEEET!" A huge pink creature soared over the reservoir—a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade nightmare blimp with wings.

"A sow!" Annabeth cried. "Take cover!"

The demigods scattered as the winged lady pig swooped down. Her wings were pink like a flamingo's, which matched her skin beautifully, but it was hard to think of her as cute when her hooves slammed into the ground, barely missing one of Annabeth's siblings.

The pig stomped around and tore down half an acre of trees, belching a cloud of noxious gas. Then it took off again, circling around for another strike.

"Don't tell me that thing is from Greek mythology," Hector complained.

"Afraid so," Annabeth said. "The Clazmonian Sow. It terrorized Greek towns back in the day."

"Let me guess," Percy said. "Hercules beat it."

"Nope," Annabeth said. "As far as I know, no hero has ever beaten it."

"Perfect."

The Titan's army was recovering from its shock.

Every time the sow belched, Grover's nature spirits yelped and faded back into their trees.

"That pig has to go." Cam grabbed her gun, pressed the magazine release, dropped the magazine, and inserted a loaded one, sliding the top back and releasing.

"Cam, are you sure? She's too high," Percy said.

"Well, so am I!" Cam said, and took a grappling hook from one of Annabeth's siblings. "I'll take care of it. You guys hold the rest of the enemy. Push them back!"

When the sow came down for its next pass, she threw with all her strength. The hook wrapped around the base of the pig's wing. It squealed in rage and veered off, yanking the rope and Cam into the sky.

The sow soared past the Plaza Hotel, straight into the canyon of Fifth Avenue.

Cam was swinging around dodging streetlamps and the sides of buildings.

They zigzagged along several blocks and continued south on Park Avenue. Grand Central lay dead ahead. Above the main entrance stood the giant statue of Hermes. They were flying right toward him at the speed of demigod-smashing.

Instead of colliding into the statue, Cam untied the grappling hook from the pig's wing and circled the rope under the statue's arms.

Then she jumped off of the back of the pig, swung around like Spiderman, and landed on the top of Hermes' head again, like Spiderman.

"Whoo! I've always wanted to do that!" She said.

Below, Percy, Hector, Grover, Thalia and Annabeth were trying their best to fight off the monster army.

Percy had lost a lot of his strength and was tired, but still he continued fighting, breathing heavily.

Hector was doing pretty good because of his "invulnerability" and he was just slashing through the demonic women, snake women, big, bad giants, and big, bad dogs.

Annabeth and her cabin were holding their own, while the hunters continued to shoot arrows at the enemy lines.

Grover and his nature spirits were pushing the enemies back, but they were outnumbered. The nymphs and dryads would disappear with a poof and became a tree again to avoid danger.

"Percy!" Hector yelled. "You ok?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Percy said.

Hector sliced through the monsters and came next to Percy.

"You don't look good, go take some rest, we'll retreat if we can't finish them off, but take some rest."

Percy shook his head. "No, I stay here, fight not fight, I stay here."

"Fine, but don't get hurt."

Above, Cam was having a hard time catching sight of the sow.

The porker had taken a right at East 42nd and was flying back toward Fifth Avenue. When it flew above the rooftops, Cam saw her.

"There you are you nasty bitch!" She said and readied her gun, and just as the pig was about to cross a library, Cam shot her.

The celestial bronze bullet whizzed past everything and hit the Clazmonian Sow right in the neck, above the spinal cord.

It reeted for one last time and then fell, disintegrating into nothing.

"Yes!" Cam exclaimed, but then said. "Crap, how am I going to get down now?"

"Aha! Maybe I can ask Hermes below me to carry me back, I might be able to…" Cam said, crouched down and knocked Hermes' head.

"Hey! Thick head! Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Carry me back to 33rd at the Park Avenue and then defend Manhattan! Begin Activation!"

The automaton got up, whirred around and turned it's head, making Cam scream.

"Aah!"

The statue started to walk forward, and on the way, Cam could see the battles raging.

Midtown was a war zone.

A giant was ripping up trees in Bryant Park while dryads pelted him with nuts. Outside the Waldorf Astoria, a bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin was whacking a hellhound with a rolled-up newspaper. A trio of Hephaestus campers fought a squad of dracaenae in the middle of Rockefeller Center.

The enemy was closing in on the Empire State Building.

The Hunters had set up a defensive line on 37th, just three blocks north of Olympus. To the east on Park Avenue, Jake Mason and some other Hephaestus campers were leading an army of statues against the enemy. To the west, the Demeter cabin and Grover's nature spirits had turned Sixth Avenue into a jungle that was hampering a squadron of Kronos's demigods. The south was clear for now, but the flanks of the enemy army were swinging around.

Then Cam spotted a familiar silver owl banner in the southeast corner of the fight, 33rd at the Park Avenue tunnel. Annabeth and two of her siblings were holding back a Hyperborean giant.

"There!" Cam told Hermes and he picked her up from his head and placed her on his hand.

"Thanks! Now go and defend Manhattan and help the others!" Cam said and leaped off his hand and landed on the Hyperborean's head.

When the giant looked up, she slid off his face, bashing his nose with her gun on the way down.

"RAWWWR!' The giant staggered backward, blue blood trickling from his nostrils.

Cam hit the pavement running. The Hyperborean breathed a cloud of white mist, and the temperature dropped.

The spot where she'd landed was now coated with ice, and she herself was covered in frost like a sugar donut.

"Hey, ugly!" Annabeth yelled.

Blue Boy bellowed and turned toward her, exposing the unprotected back of his legs.

Cam shot him behind the knee.

"WAAAAH!" The Hyperborean buckled and froze. From the point where he'd been shot, cracks appeared in his body. They got larger and wider until the giant crumbled in a mountain of blue shards.

"Thanks." Annabeth winced, trying to catch her breath. "The pig?"

"Pork chops," Cam said.

"Good." Annabeth flexed her shoulder and said, after seeing Camilla's expression. "I'm fine, Cam. Come on! We've got plenty of enemies left."

"Alright, where's Percy and Hector?"

"Oh, they are on the other side of the building," Annabeth said pointing to the 432 Park avenue.

"Oh, thanks, come on, let's kick some monster butt!" Cam yelled and they both charged.

The next hour was a blur.

They fought like never before—wading into legions of dracaenae, taking out dozens of telkhines with every strike, destroying empousai with every shot, and knocking out enemy demigods.

Annabeth and Cam raced from block to block, trying to shore up their defenses. Too many friends lay wounded in the streets. Too many were missing.

As the night wore on and the moon got higher, they all were backed up foot by foot until we were only a block from the Empire State Building in any direction.

Grover was next to them, bonking snake women over the head with his cudgel. Then he disappeared in the crowd, and it was Thalia at their side, driving the monsters back with the power of her magic shield.

Mrs. O'Leary bounded out of nowhere, picked up a Laistrygonian giant in her mouth, and flung him into the air like a Frisbee.

Annabeth used her invisibility cap to sneak behind the enemy lines.

But it still wasn't enough.

"Hold your lines!" Katie Gardner shouted.

Percy was back on his feet and kicking, courtesy of a little bit of Ambrosia and Nectar.

He and Hector were back to back and were slashing and slapping the monsters.

The entrance to Olympus was twenty feet behind them. A ring of brave demigods, Hunters, and nature spirits guarded the doors. Hector slashed and hacked, destroying everything in his path, but even he was getting tired.

Behind the enemy troops, a few blocks to the east, a bright light began to shine.

Kronos was riding toward them on a golden chariot. A dozen Laistrygonian giants bore torches before him. Two Hyperboreans carried his black-and-purple banners. The Titan lord looked fresh and rested, his powers at full strength. He was taking his time advancing.

Annabeth and Cam appeared next to Percy and Hector.

"We have to fall back to the doorway. Hold it at all costs!" Annabeth said.

She was right.

Percy was about to order a retreat when he heard the hunting horn. It cut through the noise of the battle like a fire alarm. A chorus of horns answered from all around them, echoing off the buildings of Manhattan.

Hector glanced at Thalia, but she just frowned. "Not the Hunters," she assured. "We're all here."

"Then who?"

The horns got louder.

Giants lowered their clubs. Dracaenae hissed. Even Kronos's honor guard looked uneasy. Then, to their left, a hundred monsters cried out at once.

Kronos's entire northern flank surged forward. They ran straight past the demigods and crashed into their southern allies.

A new blast of horns shattered the night. The air shimmered. An entire cavalry appeared in a blur of movement as if dropping out of light speed.

"Yeah, baby!" a voice wailed. "PARTY!" A shower of arrows slammed into the enemy, vaporizing hundreds of demons. But these weren't regular arrows. They made whizzy sounds as they flew, like WHEEEEEE! Some had pinwheels attached to them. Others had boxing gloves rather than points.

"Centaurs!" Annabeth yelled.

The Party Pony army exploded into their midst in a riot of colors: tie-dyed shirts, rainbow Afro wigs, oversize sunglasses, and war-painted faces. Some had slogans scrawled across their flanks like 'HORSEZ PWN' or 'KRONOS SUX'.

Hundreds of them filled the entire block.

"Percy!" Chiron shouted across the sea of wild centaurs. He was dressed in armor from the waist up, his bow in his hand, and he was grinning in satisfaction. "Sorry we're late!"

"DUDE!" Another centaur yelled. "Talk later. WASTE MONSTERS NOW!"

He locked and loaded a double-barrel paint gun and blasted an enemy hellhound bright pink and as soon as it splattered the hellhound, the monster yelped and dissolved into a pink-and-black puddle.

"PARTY PONIES.'" a centaur yelled. "SOUTH FLORIDA!"

Somewhere across the battlefield, a twangy voice yelled back, "HEART OF TEXAS CHAPTER!" "HAWAII OWNS YOUR FACES!" a third one shouted.

The entire Titan army turned and fled, pushed back by a flood of paintballs, arrows, swords, and NERF baseball bats. The centaurs trampled everything in their path.

"Stop running, you fools!" Kronos yelled. "Stand and ACKK!" That last part was because a panicked Hyperborean giant stumbled backward and sat on top of him. The lord of time disappeared under a giant blue butt.

They pushed them for several blocks until Chiron yelled, "HOLD! On your promise, HOLD!"

It wasn't easy, but eventually the order got relayed up and down the ranks of centaurs, and they started to pull back, letting the enemy flee.

"Chiron's smart," Cam said, wiping the sweat off her face. "If we pursue, we'll get too spread out. We need to regroup."

"But the enemy—" Hector said.

"They're not defeated," Annabeth agreed. "But the dawn is coming. At least we've bought some time."

The last of the telkhines scuttled toward the East River.

Then Percy, Hector, Annabeth, and Cam turned and headed back toward the Empire State Building.

They set up a two-block perimeter, with a command tent at the Empire State Building.

Chiron informed that the Party Ponies had sent chapters from almost every state in the Union: forty from California, two from Rhode Island, thirty from Illinois . . . Roughly five hundred total had answered his call.

"Dude," said a centaur named Larry. His T-shirt identified him as BIG CHIEF UBER GUY, NEW MEXICO CHAPTER. "That was more fun than our last convention in Vegas!"

"Yeah," said Owen from South Dakota. He wore a black leather jacket and an old WWII army helmet. "We totally wasted them!"

Chiron patted Owen on the back. "You did well, my friends, but don't get careless. Kronos should never be underestimated. Now, why don't you visit the diner on West 33rd and get some breakfast? I hear the Delaware chapter found a stash of root beer."

"Root beer!" They almost trampled each other as they galloped off.

Chiron smiled. Annabeth gave him a big hug, and Mrs. O'Leary licked his face.

"Ack," he grumbled. "Enough of that, dog. Yes, I'm glad to see you too."

"Chiron, thanks," Percy said. "Talk about saving the day."

Chiron shrugged. "I'm sorry it took so long. Centaurs travel fast, as you know. We can bend distance as we ride. Even so, getting all the centaurs together was no easy task. The Party Ponies are not exactly organized."

"How'd you get through the magic defenses around the city?" Cam asked.

"They slowed us down a bit," Chiron admitted, "but I think they're intended mostly to keep mortals out. Kronos doesn't want puny humans getting in the way of his great victory."

"So maybe other reinforcements can get through," Hector said hopefully.

Chiron stroked his beard. "Perhaps, though time is short. As soon as Kronos regroups, he will attack again. Without the element of surprise on our side . . ."

"And Typhon?" Percy asked.

Chiron's face darkened. "The gods are tiring. Dionysus was incapacitated yesterday. Typhon smashed his chariot, and the wine god went down somewhere in the Appalachians. No one has seen him since. Hephaestus is out of action as well. He was thrown from the battle so hard he created a new lake in West Virginia. He will heal, but not soon enough to help. The others still fight. They've managed to slow Typhon's approach. But the monster can not be stopped. He will arrive in New York by this time tomorrow. Once he and Kronos combine forces—"

"Then what chance do we have?" Hector said. "We can't hold out another day."

"We'll have to," Thalia said joining them. "I'll see about setting some new traps around the perimeter." She looked exhausted. Her jacket was smeared in grime and monster dust, but she managed to get to her feet and stagger off.

"I will help her," Chiron decided. "I should make sure my brethren don't go too overboard with the root beer." He cantered off, leaving Annabeth, Hector, Percy, and Cam alone.

"Well, what do we do now?" Percy asked.

"Take rest, be responsible, go to sleep?" Cam said.

"Yeah, we should do that," Hector said. "You know, you guys go along… we'll come later."

"Yeah… go on you guys… we'll join you later." Annabeth said.

Percy looked worried but got up and with Cam by his side, they walked off.

"Listen, Percy, I need to talk to you about something," Cam said when they appeared behind the Empire State Building.

"Go on."

"I have a plan to defeat Kronos…"

"Tell me," Percy said, interested.

"Well, you said that Prometheus told you that Kronos is going to destroy Olympus and the thrones of the gods, right?"

"Yeah…"

"And Kronos also has a throne, so what if we destroy it? Then that will weaken him, and then we can kill him! He will fade away, and won't trouble us again!" Cam said.

"That… that's a good idea… but no, it's a suicide mission! No one will be able to survive that, Kronos's energy is tied to his throne.." Percy said.

"Listen to me, Percy," Cam said holding Percy's face in her hands. "This is a good idea, think about it! We will be able to defeat him… I'll go, I have guns and ammunition, I have missile launchers, I have a lot of things, I will be able to carry out this mission successfully!"

"No, no, no, no!" Percy said. "You can't do that, it'll kill you, you can't do that. Please."

Cam looked at his pleading eyes and felt something break inside her as she sighed. "Fine, we'll keep this as a last option, if nothing else works, I'm going to Mount Tam… Are we good with that?"

Percy nodded.

"Good, now come on—" Cam was cut off with the horrible roar.

"What is it now?" Percy sighed and they both ran forward.

The Hephaestus cabin was out of Greek fire. The Apollo cabin and the Hunters were scrounging for arrows.

They had eighteen campers, fifteen Hunters, and half a dozen satyrs left in fighting shape. The rest had taken refuge on Olympus. The Party Ponies tried to form ranks, but they staggered and giggled and they all smelled like root beer. The Texans were head-butting the Coloradoans. The Missouri branch was arguing with Illinois. The chances were pretty good the whole army would end up fighting each other rather than the enemy.

Chiron trotted up with Rachel on his back while Percy and Cam rushed toward them.

"Rachel? When did you get here?" Percy asked.

"Oh, I came here to warn Hector about something and help you guys," Rachel said.

"Your friend here has some useful insights, Percy," Chiron said.

Rachel blushed. "Just some things I saw in my head."

"A drakon," Chiron said. "A Lydian drakon, to be exact. The oldest and most dangerous kind."

Hector who had arrived with Annabeth stared at her. "How did you know that?"

"I'm not sure," Rachel admitted. "But this drakon has a particular fate. It will be killed by a child of Ares."

Annabeth crossed her arms. "How can you possibly know that?"

"I just saw it. I can't explain."

"Well, let's hope you're wrong," Cam said. "Because we're a little short on children of Ares..."

"Kronos intentionally picked a monster we can't kill, because he knows we don't have any Ares campers, Si- The spy has been keeping him informed," Percy said.

Thalia scowled. "If I ever catch your spy, he's going to be very sorry. Maybe we could send another messenger to camp—"

"I've already done it," Chiron said. "Blackjack is on his way. But if Silena wasn't able to convince Clarisse, I doubt Blackjack will be able—"

A roar shook the ground. It sounded very close.

"Rachel," Hector said, "get inside the building."

"I want to stay."

A shadow blotted out the sun. Across the street, the drakon slithered down the side of a skyscraper. It roared, and a thousand windows shattered.

"On second thought," Rachel said in a small voice, "I'll be inside."

"What exactly are Drakons?" Cam asked.

"Drakons are several millennia older than dragons, and much larger. They look like giant serpents. Most don't have wings. Most don't breathe fire, though some do. All are poisonous. All are immensely strong, with scales harder than titanium. Their eyes can paralyze you." Chiron said.

"Oh," Cam squeaked as a two-hundred-foot-long serpent as thick as a school bus slithering down the side of a building, its yellow eyes like searchlights and its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth big enough to chew elephants.

Meanwhile, the enemy army advanced down Fifth Avenue.

The Party Ponies swished their tails nervously. Chiron galloped up and down their ranks, shouting encouragement to stand tough and think about victory and root beer.

Percy yelled. "I'LL TAKE THE DRAKON! Everyone else, hold the line against the army!"

Annabeth stood next to him, so did Hector and so did Cam.

"Will you guys help me?" Percy asked.

Everyone nodded as the son of Hades stretched and gave out commands.

"Annabeth, go invisible and look for weak links in its armor, Hector and Cam, keep the enemy away from the lines. And guys, just be careful."

Everyone nodded.

The drakon was three stories above them, slithering sideways along the building as it sized up their forces. Wherever it looked, centaurs froze in fear. From the north, the enemy army crashed into the Party Ponies, and the lines broke.

The drakon lashed out, swallowing three Californian centaurs in one gulp before anyone could do anything.

Percy leaped on the building, and used the momentum to propel himself further on the Drakon's head, punching straight at its face.

That didn't do anything but his weight, however, was enough to knock the drakon off the side of the building. It flailed awkwardly and crashed to the sidewalk, twisting and thrashing.

Poison spewed everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but Percy weaved around the serpent's head.

"YAAAH!" He slammed his fist in the monster's left eye so hard that the spotlight went dark.

The drakon hissed and reared back to strike, but Percy rolled aside. It bit a swimming pool-size chunk out of the pavement and slammed its tail forward, which Percy couldn't dodge and he was sent flying back.

The rest of the battle wasn't going well. The centaurs had panicked under the onslaught of giants and demons. An occasional orange camp T-shirt appeared in the sea of fighting, but quickly disappeared. Arrows screamed. Fire exploded in waves across both armies, but the action was moving across the street to the entrance of the Empire State Building.

Suddenly the drakon roared and coiled around, knocking something off its back.

The figure fell, materializing into Annabeth and Percy reached her just as she hit the ground.

He dragged her out of the way as the serpent rolled, crushing a lamppost right where she'd been.

"Thanks," she said. "DUCK!"

Annabeth tackled him as the monster's teeth snapped above his head and they rolled out.

Meanwhile, their allies had retreated to the doors of the Empire State Building. The entire enemy army was surrounding them.

"Go, help the others, I'll take care of it until Clarisse doesn't come…" Percy said but got cut off by a rumbling in the south: chariot wheels.

A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!" And a dozen war chariots charged into battle. Each flew a red banner with the symbol of the wild boar's head. Each was pulled by a team of skeletal horses with manes of fire. A total of thirty fresh warriors, armor gleaming and eyes full of hate, lowered their lances as one—making a bristling wall of death.

"The children of Ares!" Annabeth said in amazement. "How did Rachel know?"

Leading the charge was a girl in familiar red armor, her face covered by a boar's-head helm. She held aloft a spear that crackled with electricity. Clarisse herself had come to the rescue. While half her chariots charged the monster army, Clarisse led the other six straight for the drakon.

The serpent reared back and paralyzed two chariot drivers. They veered into a line of cars. The other four chariots kept charging. The monster bared its fangs to strike and got a mouthful of Celestial bronze javelins.

"EEESSSSS!" it screamed.

"Ares, to me!" Clarisse screamed, her voice sounding shriller than usual.

Across the street, the arrival of six chariots gave the Party Ponies new hope. They rallied at the doors of the Empire State Building, and the enemy army was momentarily thrown into confusion.

Meanwhile, Clarisse's chariots circled the drakon. Lances broke against the monster's skin. Skeletal horses breathed fire and whinnied. Two more chariots overturned, but the warriors simply leaped to their feet, drew their swords, and went to work.

They hacked at chinks in the creature's scales. They dodged poison spray like they'd been training for this all their lives, which of course they had.

No one could say the Ares campers weren't brave. Clarisse was right there in front, stabbing her spear at the drakon's face, trying to put out its other eye. But soon, things started to go wrong. The drakon snapped up one Ares camper in a gulp. It knocked aside another and sprayed poison on a third, who retreated in a panic, his armor melting.

"We have to help," Annabeth said.

Annabeth and Percy jumped onto the monster's back and ran toward its head, trying to draw its attention away from Clarisse. Her cabinmates threw javelins, most of which broke, but some lodged in the monster's teeth. It snapped its jaws together until its mouth was a mess of green blood, yellow foamy poison, and splintered weapons.

"You can do it!" Hector screamed at Clarisse. "A child of Ares is destined to kill it!"

Through her war helmet, her blue eyes shone with fear. Percy immediately knew something was wrong. Clarisse never looked like that. And she didn't have blue eyes.

"ARES!" she shouted, in that strangely shrill voice. She leveled her spear and charged the drakon.

"NO!" Percy yelled. "WAIT!"

But the monster looked down at her—almost in contempt—and spit poison directly in her face.

Percy jumped down in a desperate attempt to carry Clarisse away but failed as the poison hit her and she screamed and fell.

"Clarisse!" Annabeth jumped off the monster's back and ran to help, while the other Ares campers tried to defend their fallen counselor.

Meanwhile, Cam and Hector were doing a pretty good job at keeping the enemy away from Olympus.

Cam was riding Helena, while Hector was sitting on Mrs. O'Leary, chomping and shooting and slashing through the monsters.

"Silena, why did you do this?" Percy whispered, tears hitting the ground.

The girl was lying on the ground, her armor soaked and smoking due to the poison.

A flying chariot landed on Fifth Avenue. Then someone ran toward them. A girl's voice, shaken with grief, cried, "NO! Curse you, WHY?"

Annabeth and the Ares campers were trying to unfasten her helmet. And now, kneeling next to them, her face blotchy with tears, was a girl in camp clothes.

"Clarisse…" Percy looked at her, his face full of anger, sadness, and determination.

"WHY?" She demanded, holding the other girl in her arms while the campers struggled to remove the poison-corroded helmet.

Chris Rodriguez ran over from the flying chariot.

The drakon screamed in rage.

"Look out!" Chris warned.

It bared its fangs at the group of demigods. Clarisse looked up at the drakon, her face filled with absolute hate.

"YOU WANT DEATH?" Clarisse screamed at the drakon. "WELL, COME ON!"

She grabbed her spear from the fallen girl. With no armor or shield, she charged the drakon.

She leaped aside as the monster struck, pulverizing the ground in front of her. Then she jumped onto the creature's head. As it reared up, she drove her electric spear into its good eye with so much force it shattered the shaft, releasing all of the magic weapon's power. Electricity arced across the creature's head, causing its whole body to shudder. Clarisse jumped free, rolling safely to the sidewalk as smoke boiled from the drakon's mouth.

The drakon's flesh dissolved, and it collapsed into a hollow scaly tunnel of armor.

The rest of them stared at Clarisse in awe.

She ran back to the wounded girl who'd stolen her armor. Finally, Annabeth managed to remove the girl's helmet.

They all gathered around: the Ares campers, Chris, Clarisse, and Annabeth. The battle still raged along Fifth Avenue, but for that moment nothing existed except that small circle and the fallen girl.

Her features, once beautiful, were badly burned from poison.

They all looked down at the face of the dying Silena Beauregard.

"What were you thinking?" Clarisse cradled Silena's head in her lap. Silena tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked.

"Wouldn't . . . listen. Cabin would . . . only follow you."

"So you stole my armor," Clarisse said in disbelief. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol; you stole my armor and pretended to be me." She glared at her siblings. "And NONE of you noticed?"

The Ares campers developed a sudden interest in their combat boots.

"Don't blame them," Silena said. "They wanted to . . . to believe I was you."

"You stupid Aphrodite girl," Clarisse sobbed. "You charged a drakon? Why?"

"All my fault," Silena said, a tear streaking the side of her face.

"The drakon, Charlie's death . . . camp endangered—"

"Stop it!" Clarisse said. "I refuse to believe that."

Silena smiled. "Clarisse… you were there… You and Percy both know…" Silena opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of Kronos.

"You were the spy," Annabeth said, silently.

Silena tried to nod. "Before . . . before I liked Charlie, Luke was nice to me. He was so . . . charming. Handsome. Later, I wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. He promised . . . he promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt. He told me he wouldn't hurt . . . Charlie. He lied to me."

Behind them, the battle raged. Clarisse scowled at her cabinmates. "Go, help the others, protect the others… GO!"

They scrambled off to join the fight.

Silena took a heavy, painful breath. "Forgive me."

"You're not dying," Clarisse insisted, looking at Percy. "Can't you heal her?!"

Percy shook his head as he removed his hand from her forehead. "It's too much poison, Annabeth just had a small cut, but this, this is a lot, it's already reaching her heart…"

"Charlie . . ." Silena's eyes were a million miles away. "See Charlie . . ."

She didn't speak again. Clarisse held her and wept. Chris put a hand on her shoulder.

Percy had tears streaming down his face.

Annabeth spoke up. "You both knew she was the spy?"

Percy nodded. "I had a dream… about it, and I confronted Silena about it, Clarisse… was there at that time so she knows it as well. I decided… I decided not to do anything about it, because I thought that it would play out in our favor. Turns out, I was wrong, terribly wrong…"

"Yes, you were wrong, but I'm wrong as well… if it wasn't for my arrogance and stubbornness… she might've lived," Clarisse said.

Percy closed Silena's eyes. "We have to fight." His voice was brittle. "She gave her life to help us. We have to honor her."

Clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. "She was a hero, understand? A hero."

Everyone nodded. "Come on, Clarisse," Percy said.

She picked up a sword from one of her fallen siblings. "Kronos is going to pay."

Clarisse was a demon. She rode her chariot straight into the Titan's army and crushed everything in her path. She was so inspiring, even the panicked centaurs started to rally.

The Hunters scrounged arrows from the fallen and launched volley after volley into the enemy. The Ares cabin slashed and hacked, which was their favorite thing.

The monsters retreated toward 35th Street. Clarisse drove to the drakon's carcass and looped a grappling line through its eye sockets. She lashed her horses and took off, dragging the drakon behind the chariot like a Chinese New Year dragon.

She charged after the enemy, yelling insults and daring them to cross her. As she rode, she glowed. An aura of red fire flickered around her.

"The blessing of Ares," Thalia said. "I've never seen it in person before."

Clarisse was invincible, the enemy threw spears and arrows, but nothing hit her.

"I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON-SLAYER!" she yelled. "I will kill you ALL! Where is Kronos? Bring him out! Is he a coward?"

"Clarisse!" Percy yelled. "Stop it. Withdraw!"

"What's the matter, Titan lord?" she yelled. "BRING IT ON!"

There was no answer from the enemy. Slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaenae shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. The two hundred-foot-long drakon carcass made a hollow scraping noise against the pavement, like a thousand knives.

Meanwhile, the demigods tended the wounded, bringing them inside the lobby. Long after the enemy had retreated from sight, Clarisse kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy, demanding that Kronos meet her battle.

Chris said, "I'll watch her. She'll get tired eventually. I'll make sure she comes inside."

"What about the camp?" Percy asked. "Is anybody left there?"

Chris shook his head. "Only Argus and the nature spirits. Peleus the dragon is still guarding the tree."

"They won't last long," Annabeth said. "But I'm glad you came."

Chris nodded sadly. "I'm sorry it took so long. I tried to reason with Clarisse. I said there's no point in defending camp if you guys die. All our friends are here. I'm sorry it took Silena . . ."

"My Hunters will help you stand guard," Thalia said. "Annabeth and Percy, you should take Hector and Cam and go to Olympus. I have a feeling they'll need you up there—to set up the final defense."

The doorman had disappeared from the lobby. His book was facedown on the desk and his chair was empty. The rest of the lobby, however, was jam-packed with wounded campers, Hunters, and satyrs.

Connor and Travis Stoll met us by the elevators.

"Is it true?" Connor asked. "About Silena?"

Percy nodded. "She died a hero."

Travis shifted uncomfortably. "Um, I also heard—"

"That's it," Annabeth insisted. "End of story."

"Right," Travis mumbled. "Listen, we figure the Titan's army will have trouble getting up the elevator. They'll have to go up a few at a time. And the giants won't be able to fit at all."

"That's our biggest advantage," Percy said. "Any way to disable the elevator?"

"It's magic," Travis said. "Usually you need a key card, but the doorman vanished. That means the defenses are crumbling. Anyone can walk into the elevator now and head straight up."

"Then we have to keep them away from the doors," Percy said. "We'll bottle them up in the lobby."

"We need reinforcements," Travis said. "They'll just keep coming. Eventually, they'll overwhelm us."

"There are no reinforcements," Connor complained.

Percy smiled. "That's not true, one more reinforcement is coming…"

"Well, we'll hope for the best, till then…" Connor didn't say the last part as Malcolm from the Athena Cabin called him.

Percy and Annabeth went forward and met up with Hector and Cam, both of whom had gloomy faces.

They all went on.

On the way to the elevator, they spotted Grover kneeling over a fat wounded satyr.

"Leneus!" Hector said.

The old satyr looked terrible. His lips were blue. There was a broken spear in his belly, and his furry goat legs were twisted at a painful angle.

"Grover?" he murmured.

"I'm here, Leneus." Grover was blinking back tears, despite all the horrible things Leneus had said about him.

"Did . . . did we win?"

"Um . . . yes," Grover lied. "Thanks to you, Leneus. We drove the enemy away."

"Told you," the old satyr mumbled. "True leader. True . . ." He closed his eyes for the last time.

Grover gulped. He put his hand on Leneus's forehead and spoke an ancient blessing. The old satyr's body melted, until all that was left was a tiny sapling m a pile of fresh soil.

"A laurel," Grover said in awe. "Oh, that lucky old goat." He gathered up the sapling in his hands. "I . . . I should plant him. In Olympus, in the gardens."

"We're going that way," Percy said. "Come on."

Easy-listening music played as the elevator rose, Billie Jean.

'Billie Jean is not my lover
She's just a girl who claims that I am the one'

"But the kid is not my son
She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son!" Cam sang along.

"Cam?" Percy said.

"Oh, sorry…" Cam said back.

"Hector," Annabeth said quietly. "You were right about Luke."

She kept her eyes fixed on the elevator floors as they blinked into the magical numbers: 400, 450, 500.

The rest exchanged glances.

"Annabeth," Hector said. "I'm sorry—"

"You tried to tell me." Her voice was shaky. "Luke is no good. I didn't believe you until . . . until I heard how he'd used Silena. Now I know. I hope you're happy."

"That doesn't make me happy."

She put her head against the elevator wall and wouldn't look at anyone.

'For forty days and forty nights
The law was on her side
But who can stand when she's in demand
Her schemes and plans
'Cause we danced on the floor in the round
So take my strong advice, just remember to always think twice.'

Grover cradled his laurel sapling in his hands. "Well . . . sure good to be together again. Arguing. Almost dying. Abject terror. Oh, look. It's our floor."

The doors dinged and they stepped onto the aerial walkway. Depressing is not a word that usually describes Mount Olympus, but it looked that way now. No fires lit the braziers. The windows were dark. The streets were deserted and the doors were barred. The only movement was in the parks, which had been set up as field hospitals. Will Solace and the other Apollo campers scrambled around, caring for the wounded.

Naiads and dryads tried to help, using nature magic songs to heal burns and poison.

As Grover planted the laurel sapling, Annabeth, Hector, Percy, and Cam went around trying to cheer up the wounded.

A satyr had a broken leg, a demigod was bandaged from head to toe, and a body was covered in the golden burial shroud of Apollo's cabin.

"You'll be up and fighting Titans in no time!" Cam told one camper.

"You look great," Annabeth told another camper.

"Leneus turned into a shrub!" Grover told a groaning satyr.

Hector found Dionysus's son Pollux propped up against a tree. He had a broken arm, but otherwise, he was okay.

"I can still fight with the other hand," he said, gritting his teeth.

"No," Hector said. "You've done enough. I want you to stay here and help with the wounded."

"But—"

"Promise me to stay safe. Okay? Personal favor."

Pollux frowned uncertainly. Finally, he promised and sat back down.

Annabeth, Grover, Hector, Cam, and Percy kept walking toward the palace. That's where Kronos would head to destroy the throne room, the center of the gods' power.

The bronze doors creaked open. The constellations twinkled coldly on the ceiling of the great hall. The hearth was down to a dull red glow. Hestia, in the form of a little girl in brown robes, hunched at its edge, shivering. The Ophiotaurus swam sadly in his sphere of water. He let out a half-hearted moo. In the firelight, the thrones cast evil-looking shadows, like grasping hands.

Standing at the foot of Zeus's throne, looking up at the stars, was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She was holding a Greek ceramic vase.

"Rachel?" Hector said. "Um, what are you doing with that?"

She focused on him, her eyes brighter than usual. "I found it. It's Pandora's jar, isn't it?"

"Please put down the jar," Percy said.

"I can see Hope inside it." Rachel ran her fingers over the ceramic designs. "So fragile."

"Rachel!"

She shook her head as if coming out of a trance and held out the jar, which Percy took.

Over by the fire, Hestia was huddled in her robes, rocking back and forth.

Percy turned towards her "Lady Hestia."

"Hello, Percy Jackson," the goddess murmured. "Getting colder. Harder to keep the fire going."

"We know… The Titans are near."

Hestia focused on Rachel. "Hello, my dear. You've come to our hearth at last."

Rachel blinked. "You've been expecting me?"

Hestia smiled. "I've been expecting all of you," She said and looked at the rest of the people standing behind.

Hector, Cam, Annabeth, and Grover quickly sat beside Percy.

Hestia stretched her arm out and opened her palm.

Pieces of coal glowed and Percy saw images in the fire.

Four-year-old Percy was eating dinner with his parents, his actual parents, sitting around a campfire.

The scene changed to show 6-year-old Percy with Hades and Persephone and Demeter, celebrating his birthday by eating cupcakes. That was the first time that Demeter had eaten something aside from cereal, and probably the last time.

Then, Percy saw himself, sitting on the banks of a river, a normal river, with Cam. Eleven-year-old Percy had fallen asleep on Cam's shoulder and she was stroking his hair, murmuring something.

The scene showed Twelve-year-old Percy planting a tree with Persephone and Demeter.

Soon, the scene changed to a 14-year-old Percy sitting with Hector, Annabeth, Grover, Chiron, and the rest of the campers around the Camp Fire, roasting marshmallows and singing along to Hotel California.

Percy, while looking at these images, relaxed and smiled, hugely. He turned and saw that the others were relaxed as well.

"Perseus Jackson, are you prepared?" Hestia asked.

Percy looked down at Pandora's Pithos, picking it up, as everyone looked at him curiously.

"I've been having dreams of Camp burning, Olympus getting torn up brick by brick, reducing to rubble. I have revisited the day my mother died, several times. And, now? I am seeing everything happening in front of me, my friends dying, lying helplessly on the road, with not enough people to treat them. I know Camp is going to burn as well, and then Olympus is… and I feel like giving up, a lot of times, but then I think about everything else, friends and families are what I live for," He stood up. "So, I gift this to you, Lady Hestia, as an offering."

The goddess tilted her head, shivering. "I am the least of the gods. Why would you trust me with this?"

"You're the last Olympian, and the most important."

"And why is that, Percy Jackson?"

"Because Hope survives best at the hearth. Guard it for me, and I won't be tempted to give up again."

The goddess smiled. She took the jar in her hands and it began to glow. The hearth fire burned a little brighter.

"Well done, Percy Jackson," she said. "May the gods bless you."

"We're about to find out." Percy looked at Rachel. "Don't do anything stupid… I know what you're planning… just don't die…"

Rachel smiled. "You're worried about me doing something stupid?"

Percy smiled as well. "Goodbye Rachel… we'll see each other some other time." Then he turned to the rest. "Come on, guys, Hector has a plan…"

They all got up and followed Percy to Poseidon's throne.

"Alright then, Hector, what's your super amazing plan?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, I need to get up there," Hector said, pointing to the throne. "Help me up."

"'Are you crazy?" Cam asked.

"Probably."

"Hector," Grover said, "the gods really don't appreciate people sitting in their thrones. I mean like turn-you-into-a-pile-of-ashes don't appreciate it."

"I need to get his attention, it's the only way."

They exchanged uneasy looks.

"Listen, guys… let's just help him up, then we'll see what happens next," Percy said.

"Well," Annabeth said, "this'll get his attention."

Percy and Annabeth linked their arms to make a step, then boosted Hector onto the throne.

"How does it feel?" Cam yelled to Hector.

"Powerful!" He yelled back.

Suddenly his skin started to get red and hot, then it got normal again.

"I'm sorry father, I needed to get your attention," Hector said.

"You know, he looks paranoid, talking to himself," Cam said to Percy who laughed.

"Yeah, I suppose he does."

"I am at your home!" Hector said. "Olympus."

The floor shook.

"Woah, what was that?" Grover asked.

"Poseidon's angry," Percy said.

After a while, Hector slipped down the throne.

"Are you ok? You started smoking…" Grover said.

"I Did Not!" Hector exclaimed but then looked down at his arms.

"Yes you did, anyway, was the conversation worth it?" Annabeth asked.

"We'll see," Hector said.

Just then the doors of the throne room swung open. Thalia marched in. Her bow was snapped in half and her quiver was empty.

"You've got to get down there," she told them. "The enemy is advancing. And Kronos is leading them."

By the time they got to the street, it was too late. Campers and Hunters lay wounded on the ground. Clarisse must've lost a fight with a Hyperborean giant, because she and her chariot were frozen in a block of ice.

The centaurs were nowhere to be seen. Either they'd panicked and ran or they'd been disintegrated.

The Titan army ringed the building, standing maybe twenty feet from the doors. Kronos's vanguard was in the lead: Ethan Nakamura, the dracaena queen in her green armor, and two Hyperboreans. Kronos himself stood right in front with his scythe in hand.

The only thing standing in his way was . . . "Chiron," Annabeth said, her voice trembling.

He had an arrow notched, aimed straight at Kronos's face.

As soon as Kronos saw Percy, his gold eyes flared, freezing the demigods.

Then the Titan lord turned his attention back to Chiron.

"Step aside, little son." Kronos put contempt in his voice, like son was the worst word he could think of.

"I'm afraid not." Chiron's tone was steely calm, the way he gets when he's really angry.

Percy, Cam, Hector, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia were straining to move.

"Chiron!" Annabeth said. "Look out!"

The dracaena queen became impatient and charged. Chiron's arrow flew straight between her eyes and she vaporized on the spot, her empty armor clattering to the asphalt.

Chiron reached for another arrow, but his quiver was empty. He dropped the bow and drew his sword.

Kronos chuckled. He advanced a step, and Chiron's horse-half skittered nervously. His tail flicked back and forth.

"You're a teacher," Kronos sneered. "Not a hero."

"Luke was a hero," Chiron said. "He was a good one, until you corrupted him."

"FOOL!" Kronos's voice shook the city. "You filled his head with empty promises. You said the gods cared about me!"

"Me," Chiron noticed. "You said me."

Kronos looked confused, and in that moment, Chiron struck, a feint followed by a strike to the face, but Kronos was quick.

He knocked aside Chiron's blade and yelled, "BACK!"

A blinding white light exploded between the Titan and the centaur. Chiron flew into the side of the building with such force the wall crumbled and collapsed on top of him.

"No!" Annabeth wailed.

The freezing spell broke and they ran toward their teacher, but there was no sign of him.

Thalia and Hector pulled helplessly at the bricks while a ripple of ugly laughter ran through the Titan's army.

"YOU!" Annabeth turned on Luke. "To think that I . . . that I thought—" She drew her knife.

"Annabeth, don't." Percy tried to take her arm, but she shook him off.

She attacked Kronos, and his smug smile faded. She plunged her knife between the straps of his armor, right at his collar bone. The blade should've sunk into his chest. Instead, it bounced off.

Annabeth doubled over, clutching her arm to her stomach. The jolt might've been enough to dislocate her bad shoulder.

Cam yanked her back as Kronos swung his scythe, slicing the air where she'd been standing. Annabeth fought her and screamed, "I HATE you!" Tears streaked the dust on her face.

Kronos laughed. "So much spirit. I can see why Luke wanted to spare you. Unfortunately, that won't be possible."

He raised his scythe, but before Kronos could strike, a dog's howl, not one, but two howls pierced the air somewhere behind the Titan's army.

"Arroooooooo!"

"Mrs. O'Leary?" Percy called out.

The enemy forces stirred uneasily. Then the strangest thing happened. They began to part, clearing a path through the street like something behind them was forcing them to. Soon there was a free aisle down the center of Fifth Avenue. Standing at the end of the block was Percy's giant dog, and Daedalus's giant white dog, and a small figure in black armor.

"Nico, Helena,?" Hector called.

"ROWWF!" Mrs. O'Leary bounded toward Percy and so did Helena, ignoring the growling monsters on either side.

Nico strode forward. The enemy army fell back before him like he radiated death, which of course he did.

Through the faceguard of his skull-shaped helmet, he smiled. "Hey, am I too late to join the party?"

"Son of Hades." Kronos spit on the ground. "Do you love death so much you wish to experience it?"

"Your death," Nico said, "would be great for me."

"I'm immortal, you fool! I have escaped Tartarus. You have no business here, and no chance to live."

Nico drew his sword—three feet of wicked sharp Stygian iron, black as a nightmare. "I don't agree."

The ground rumbled. Cracks appeared in the road, the sidewalks, the sides of the buildings. Skeletal hands grasped the air as the dead clawed their way into the world of the living. There were thousands of them, and as they emerged, the Titan's monsters got jumpy and started to back up.

"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Kronos demanded. "The dead are no match for us."

The sky turned dark and cold. Shadows thickened. A harsh war horn sounded, and as the dead soldiers formed up ranks with their guns and swords and spears, an enormous chariot roared down Fifth Avenue. It came to a stop next to Nico.

The horses were living shadows, fashioned from darkness. The chariot was inlaid with obsidian and gold, decorated with scenes of painful death. Holding the reins was Hades himself, Lord of the Dead, with Demeter and Persephone riding behind him.

Hades wore black armor and a cloak the color of fresh blood. On top of his pale head was the helm of darkness: a crown that radiated pure terror. It changed shapes—from a dragon's head to a circle of black flames to a wreath of human bones.

Hades smiled coldly. "Hello, Father. You're looking . . . young."

"Hades," Kronos growled.

"I hope you and the ladies have come to pledge your allegiance."

"I'm afraid not. My son," Hades pointed to Nico and Percy. " here convinced me that perhaps I should prioritize my list of enemies. As much as I dislike certain upstart demigods, it would not do for Olympus to fall. I would miss bickering with my siblings. And if there is one thing we agree on—it is that you were a TERRIBLE father."

"True," muttered Demeter. "No appreciation of agriculture."

"Mother!" Persephone complained.

Hades drew his sword, a double-edged Stygian blade etched with silver. "Now fight me! For today the House of Hades will be called the saviors of Olympus."

"I don't have time for this," Kronos snarled. He struck the ground with his scythe. A crack spread in both directions, circling the Empire State Building. A wall of force shimmered along the fissure line, separating Kronos's vanguard, Percy, and his friends from the bulk of the two armies.

"What's he doing?" Annabeth muttered.

"Sealing us in," Thalia said. "He's collapsing the magic barriers around Manhattan—cutting off just the building, and us."

Sure enough, outside the barrier, car engines revved to life. Pedestrians woke up and stared uncomprehendingly at the monsters and zombies all around them. Car doors opened. And at the end of the block, Paul Blofis, Sally Jackson, Thomas Babington and Charlotte Babington got out of their Prius.

"No," Hector said. "Don't . . ."

Their mothers could see through the Mist and both knew how serious things were.

Sally locked eyes with Percy, said something to Paul, Charlotte, and Thomas and they ran straight toward the demigods, dodging monsters and zombies.

Hades caused a distraction. He blasted the wall with black energy but the barrier held.

"ATTACK!" he roared.

The armies of the dead clashed with the Titan's monsters. Fifth Avenue exploded into absolute chaos. Mortals screamed and ran for cover. Demeter waved her hand and an entire column of giants turned into a wheat field. Persephone changed the dracaenae's spears into sunflowers. Nico slashed and hacked his way through the enemy, trying to protect the pedestrians as best he could.

"Nakamura," Kronos said. "Attend me. Giants—deal with them." He pointed at Percy and the rest. Then he ducked into the lobby.

The first Hyperborean giant smashed at Hector with his club. He rolled between his legs and stabbed Riptide into his backside. He shattered into a pile of ice shards.

The second giant breathed frost at Annabeth, who was barely able to stand, but Grover pulled her out of the way while Thalia went to work.

She sprinted up the giant's back like a gazelle, sliced her hunting knives across his monstrous blue neck, and created the world's largest headless ice sculpture.

Percy jumped up and punched a hole through the third Hyperborean, and Cam again showcased her magical aim and shot three Ice giants with one bullet.

Outside the magic barrier, Nico was fighting his way toward Sally and Charlotte, but they weren't waiting for help.

Paul grabbed a sword from a fallen hero and did a pretty fine job keeping a dracaena busy. He stabbed her in the gut, and she disintegrated.

"Paul?" Percy said in amazement. He turned toward Percy and grinned. "I hope that was a monster I just killed. I was a Shakespearian actor in college! Picked up a little swordplay!"

Then a Laistrygonian giant charged toward Sally. She was rummaging around in an abandoned police car and her back was turned.

She whirled when the monster was almost on top of her, and cranked the pump and the shotgun blast blew the giant twenty feet backward, right into Nico's sword.

"Nice one," Paul said.

Next to them, Charlotte was slashing through monsters, while Thomas was shooting monsters down with an enemy's bow and arrow.

"Thomas?" Hector asked in amazement. "How did you learn to shoot an arrow?"

"I used to be an archery coach! Never thought that would help me!"

"When did you learn to fire a shotgun?" Percy demanded.

Sally blew the hair out of her face. "About two seconds ago. Percy, we'll be fine. Go!"

"Yes," Nico agreed, "we'll handle the army. You have to get Kronos!"

Suddenly, pure black arrows pierced a line of monsters, disintegrating them on spot.

Suddenly a small figure, shot a grappling hook arrow and swung around, and landed in front of Nico.

"Bianca?" Percy asked.

The three siblings smiled.

"Come on, Seaweed Brains!" Annabeth said.

Hector nodded, but Percy said. "Wait!"

"Mrs. O'Leary," Percy said. "Please, Chiron's under there. If anyone can dig him out, you can. Find him! Help him!"

She nodded happily and bounded to the pile, and started to dig.

Cam pulled Percy to a corner, out of earshot.

"Percy, it's time, we don't have any other option!" She said. "I have to go now!"

"No, Cam, if anyone has to do this, it should be me!"

"Percy, they need you here! I'm not important, you are, if you go away, who'll kill Kronos?"

"Cam, you are important to me!" Percy said.

"Percy, listen, we'll see each other again," Cam said, her hair shining in the moonlight.

"Promise?" Percy said tearfully. "I would spend a few moments with you while the world burned rather than spending an entire eternity without you."

"Promise," Cam said as she held Percy's cheeks and brought her face close to his as their lips connected.

They stayed like that for a few moments, and for those few seconds, nothing mattered to Percy. The war was raging around them but he couldn't care less about it.

"Cam," Percy said once they broke apart.

Cam had tears in her eyes. Oh how she wished to tell him the truth, but she knew she couldn't.

"Bye, Percy," She said as she hugged him tightly.

"Bye, Cam," Percy said as she ran and Percy could only watch. He had just gotten her back. He didn't want to lose her again.

Percy silently said a prayer to whichever god would listen to him and saw as Camilla jumped on the head of a Hyperborean and then on the head of another.

"Percy! Come on!" Hector called out. "Where's Cam?"

"She's going to destroy Kronos's throne."

The rest had widened eyes, but didn't say anything.

Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, Hector, and Percy raced for the elevators.

The bridge to Olympus was dissolving. They stepped out of the elevator onto the white marble walkway and immediately cracks appeared at their feet.

"Jump!" Grover said, which was easy for him since he's part mountain goat. He sprang to the next slab of stone.

"Gods, I hate heights!" Thalia yelled as she leaped.

Percy, and Hector jumped as well, but Annabeth was in no shape for jumping.

She stumbled and yelled, "Hector!"

The son of Poseidon turned caught her hand as the pavement fell, crumbling into dust.

Annabeth's feet dangled in the open air. Her hand started to slip until Hector was holding her only by her fingers.

Then Percy and Grover and Thalia all grabbed Hector's legs, and they pulled Annabeth up.

Hector and Annabeth had their arms around each other until she suddenly tensed. "Um, thanks," she muttered.

"Uh duh."

"Keep moving!" Grover tugged their shoulders.

They sprinted across the sky bridge as more stones disintegrated and fell into oblivion. They made it to the edge of the mountain just as the final section collapsed.

Annabeth looked back at the elevator, which was now completely out of reach—a polished set of metal doors hanging in space, attached to nothing, six hundred stories above Manhattan.

"We're marooned," she said. "On our own."

"Blah-ha-ha!" Grover said. "The connection between Olympus and America is dissolving. If it fails— "

"The gods won't move on to another country this time," Thalia said. "This will be the end of Olympus. The final end."

They ran through the streets as mansions were burning. Statues had been hacked down. Trees in the parks were blasted to splinters. It looked like someone had attacked the city with a giant Weedwacker.

They followed the winding path toward the palace of the gods. The whole mountaintop was in ruins—so many beautiful buildings and gardens gone. A few minor gods and nature spirits had tried to stop Kronos. What remained of them was strewn about the road: shattered armor, ripped clothing, swords and spears broken in half.

Somewhere ahead, Kronos's voice roared: "Brick by brick! That was my promise. Tear it down BRICK BY BRICK!"

A white marble temple with a gold dome suddenly exploded. The dome shot up like the lid of a teapot and shattered into a billion pieces, raining rubble over the city.

"That was a shrine to Artemis," Thalia grumbled. "He'll pay for that."

They were running under the marble archway with the huge statues of Zeus and Hera when the entire mountain groaned, rocking sideways like a boat in a storm.

"Look out!" Grover yelped. The archway crumbled. A twenty-ton scowling Hera toppled over them, but Thalia shoved Hector and Annabeth from behind and they landed just out of danger.

"Thalia!" Percy cried.

When the dust cleared and the mountain stopped rocking, she was still alive, but her legs were pinned under the statue.

They tried desperately to move it, but it would've taken several Cyclopes. When they tried to pull Thalia out from under it, she yelled in pain.

"I survive all those battles," she growled, "and I get defeated by a stupid chunk of rock!"

"It's Hera," Annabeth said in outrage. "She's had it in for me all year. Her statue would've killed me if you hadn't pushed us away."

Thalia grimaced. "Well, don't just stand there! I'll be fine. Go!"

Kronos was laughing as he approached the hall of the gods. More buildings exploded.

"We'll be back," Percy promised. "I'll get you out later."

"I'm not going anywhere," Thalia groaned.

A fireball erupted on the side of the mountain, right near the gates of the palace.

"We've got to run," Hector said.

"I don't suppose you mean away," Grover murmured hopefully.

Percy sprinted toward the palace, Hector and Annabeth right behind him.

"I was afraid of that," Grover sighed, and clip-clopped after them.

The doors of the palace were big enough to steer a cruise ship through, but they'd been ripped off their hinges and smashed like they weighed nothing.

They had to climb over a huge pile of broken stone and twisted metal to get inside.

Kronos stood in the middle of the throne room, his arms wide, staring at the starry ceiling as if taking it all in. His laughter echoed even louder than it had from the pit of Tartarus.

"Finally!" he bellowed. "The Olympian Council—so proud and mighty. Which seat of power shall I destroy first?"

Ethan Nakamura stood to one side, trying to stay out of the way of his master's scythe. The hearth was almost dead, just a few coals glowing deep in the ashes. Hestia was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Rachel.

The Ophiotaurus swam in his water sphere in the far corner of the room, wisely not making a sound, but even he knew that it wouldn't be long before Kronos noticed him.

Annabeth, Grover, Percy, Hector stepped forward into the torchlight.

Kronos turned and smiled through Luke's face, as if sensing them.

Annabeth made a painful sound in the back of her throat, like someone had just sucker-punched her.

"Shall I destroy you first, Jackson?" Kronos asked. "Is that the choice you will make—to fight me and die instead of bowing down? Prophecies never end well, you know."

"We'll see!" Percy growled out, and they lunged at each other.

Kronos's scythe started to change form until it became Luke's sword, Backbiter with its half-steel, half-Celestial bronze blade.

Percy charged and dodged the first strike, ducking under the blade, and then he swung his hand in an uppercut motion, then he jabbed to the right shoulder, and kicked Kronos back.

Hector quickly rolled to the right as Ethan ducked to one side, trying to get behind him.

Hector uncapped Riptide and intercepted Ethan's first strike.

Annabeth had joined them and was blocking the hits, protecting Hector from the back.

Grover was playing his reed pipes, the sound filling them with warmth and courage—thoughts of sunlight and a blue sky and a calm meadow, somewhere far away from the war.

Percy jabbed straight for Kronos's throat and then kicked his face.

Kronos recovered quickly and stabbed Percy, who rolled to the side and swept the Titan's legs from under him.

Kronos got up, growling and he threw Backbiter like a javelin at the son of Poseidon.

It missed Percy by a few inches as he ducked and jumped on Hephaestus's throne.

"You will die! Jackson!" Kronos yelled.

"Not if you die first!" Percy said and threw himself at the titan, grabbing him by the neck and pinning him down.

"Fool! I cannot die!" Kronos said and kicked Percy up, then he slammed his hand on his stomach and a blinding light sent Percy flying back on Poseidon's throne.

Percy groaned but jumped onto Zeus's throne as Kronos brought his sword down on Poseidon's seat of power.

He grabbed the other armrest and cartwheeled over Kronos's head, then he jumped and brought his fist down with so much power that the floor cracked.

"I'll leave you for the last, Jackson! I'll make you watch as I destroy your legacy!" Kronos said, and Backbiter transformed into a scythe and he pushed Percy back with it.

Annabeth and Hector were fighting Ethan, who was trying to get behind Hector, but Annabeth was covering his back, so Ethan had a hard time.

Grover was still playing his reed pipes and grass cracked through the marble forming roots and flowers.

Groaning, Percy stood up and brought his hands in an X position, to block Kronos's attack.

"What's the matter, Jackson? Getting tired?" Kronos said tauntingly.

"No, I'm getting mad!" Percy said and lunged forward, his eyes glowing.

He grabbed Kronos's head and slammed him on the floor, then picked him up and judo-flipped him on the ground.

"Argh!" Kronos roared and did a kip-up to get on his feet.

He backhanded Percy back, who slammed into Athena's throne.

The son of Hades and Poseidon groaned and got up, wiped the blood from his nose, and raised his hands in a boxing position.

"Come!"

***

Cam was at the base of Mount Othyrs, she had an entire arsenal of weapons.

A missile launcher was strapped to her back, and two pistols were on her waist. She herself held a minigun in her hands.

"Phew, this is it, Camilla, you have to do it." She said to herself and started climbing up.

In the dark night, it was difficult to make out things in front of her, but Cam just used her senses and instincts and kept going on.

Soon, she reached the top of the mountain, which was almost reconstructed.

The palace itself looked like a very oversized mausoleum which was made completely from black marble, which made it both terrible and beautiful, made of fear and shadow. The palace's glimmering black towers reached the clouds, like greedy fingers, reaching out for the stars.

The Mist surrounding Mount Othrys was more powerful than usual, like a veil, between her and the lower half of the mountain.

Suddenly Cam heard a clanging of weapons and thumping of footsteps.

"What?" She asked herself when suddenly an entire army of people marching in purple t-shirts appeared from the other side of the mountain. A boy with blonde hair was leading them. He had a gold sword in his hand.

"Who are you!" The lead boy asked, stepping in front.

"I'm Camilla Clawthorne! Who are you guys?!" She yelled back.

"I am Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, and these are my friends! There is no business of Mortals here!" Jason called back.

"Well, Jason, I am not a mortal! I'm the daughter of Apollo!"

"Apollo? Then why haven't I seen you at camp?"

"I was at Camp, but then I came here!"

"But we haven't seen you at camp!"

"What is your Camp's name?"

"Camp Jupiter!"

"Oh, well I live at Camp Half-Blood!"

"Oh… where is that?"

"Why should I tell you? Now tell me why you guys are here!"

"We are here to fight Saturn's army and topple his throne!"

"Uh… Saturn doesn't live here, Kronos does!"

"Kronos? Who's that? You're wrong! This is Saturn's palace, Mount Othyrs!"

"You mean the Titan, right? The titan of time and harvest?" Cam yelled.

"Yes! But he is Saturn!" Jason yelled back.

"No, he's Kronos!" Cam shouted. "You know, I think we should get close! This screaming is hurting my throat!"

"Fine, but how do we know we can trust you, how do I know you won't shoot us if we come closer!"

"Well, I am friendly!" Cam said walking forward.

Jason and his army walked forward as well.

"Fine… now why do you want to topple Saturn's throne?"

"Well, my friends are back in New York, fighting him… and I want to help them, because this is going to weaken Kro- Saturn, and they will be able to defeat him easily!" Cam said.

"Uh, fighting Saturn?"

"Yeah, he was chopped up, so he took a body of a demigod as a host, and now he is destroying Manhattan with it."

"Alright… Have you noticed there are monsters over here, that are not going to let you do what you want?"

"That's why we'll work as partners, send your army down to deal with the monsters, while you deal with Krios and I destroy the throne!"

"Krios? Where is he?"

"Oh, he'll drop from the sky anytime now… now, are you going to help me or not?"

Jason turned around and discussed the matters with his teammates.

"We don't have time, Blondie, the monsters are almost to the top," Cam said, pointing to the army of dracaenae marching forward.

"Fine," Jason said and shook Cam's outstretched hand.

"Good, I knew you were a smart boy."

"Romans! Advance to the enemy lines and destroy!"

The Romans yelled a battle cry and ran forward to the awaiting monsters.

"Now what, Camilla?"

"Well, Jacey, look up," Cam said as Jason looked up and saw a looming figure, wearing a ram-horned helm.

"Well, well, well… look what we have here!" The titan said, wearing full armor.

Krios jumped from the top of the palace and landed in front of them.

Jason flipped his sword and it turned into a javelin.

Cam readied her pistols, keeping the minigun down.

"Krios!" She growled.

Jason threw the javelin at Krios, who just stopped it in mid-air and threw it back.

"You thought that was going to do anything?" The Titan roared in laughter and brought out his own sword.

Jason grabbed his weapon and it transformed into a sword.

"Camilla, take the right side, I'll take left!" Jason yelled.

"Good idea!" Cam said and rolled to the right, shooting a volley of bullets at Krios, which did nothing but annoy him.

***

Percy and Kronos ran, circling each other when finally they clashed.

Kronos's scythe hit Percy's gauntlets and then with a blinding flash of white light, they both went sprawling in the opposite directions.

Kronos dragged his scythe on the floor, skidding to a stop while Percy rolled back and got up.

They lunged at each other again and Kronos jumped up to slice Percy, but he slid from between the Titan's legs.

Hector pushed Ethan back, and Annabeth threw her dagger at the son of Nemesis.

Ethan ducked, grabbed the dagger, and threw it back, which Annabeth grabbed.

Hector soon cornered Ethan to the side, who was weaponless.

Percy got up, and horse-kicked Kronos in the face, making him stagger backward, onto the Hephaestus throne, which warned 'Defense Mode!' and shot tendrils of electricity in all directions. One hit Kronos in the face, arcing down his body and up his sword.

"ARGH!" He crumpled to his knees and dropped Backbiter.

Percy got up and kicked the Titan's head, which Kronos dodged.

He grabbed Percy's legs and slammed him on the ground, then picked him up and threw him backward, where he hit the wall.

Annabeth was about to plunge her knife in Ethan's chest when Kronos blasted her backward with a wave of pure energy.

"Nakamura!" he yelled. "Time to prove yourself. You know Babington's secret weakness. Kill him, and you will have rewards beyond measure."

Ethan got up and his eyes dropped to Hector's midsection.

"Look around you, Ethan," Hector said. "The end of the world. Is this the reward you want? Do you really want everything destroyed—the good with the bad? Everything?"

Grover inched to Annabeth, who was unconscious, and Percy, who was groaning trying to stand up.

The grass thickened on the floor. The roots were almost a foot long, like a stubble of whiskers.

"There is no throne to Nemesis," Ethan muttered. "No throne to my mother."

"That's right!" Kronos tried to get up, but stumbled. Above his left ear, a patch of blond hair still smoldered. "Strike them down! They deserve to suffer."

"You said your mom is the goddess of balance," Hector reminded Ethan. "The minor gods deserve better, Ethan, but total destruction isn't balance. Kronos doesn't build. He only destroys."

Ethan looked at the sizzling throne of Hephaestus. Grover's music kept playing, and Ethan swayed to it, as if the song were filling him with nostalgia—a wish to see a beautiful day, to be anywhere but here.

His good eye blinked. Then he picked up his sword and charged . . . but not at Hector.

While Kronos was still on his knees, Ethan brought down his sword on the Titan lord's neck.

It should have killed him instantly, but the blade shattered. Ethan fell back, grasping his stomach. A shard of his own blade had ricocheted and pierced his armor.

Kronos rose unsteadily, towering over his servant. "Treason," he snarled.

Grover's music kept playing, and grass grew around Ethan's body.

Ethan stared at Hector, then at Percy and Annabeth, his face tight with pain. "Deserve better," he gasped. "If they just . . . had thrones—"

Kronos stomped his foot, and the floor ruptured around Ethan Nakamura. The son of Nemesis fell through a fissure that went straight through the heart of the mountain—straight into the open air.

"So much for him." Kronos picked up his sword. "And now for the rest of you."

Grover had stopped playing his reed pipes and was feeding Percy and Annabeth Ambrosia.

Everywhere Kronos stepped, the roots wrapped around his feet, but Grover had stopped his magic too early. The roots weren't thick or strong enough to do much more than annoy the Titan.

Hector and Kronos fought through the hearth, kicking up coals and sparks.

Kronos slashed an armrest off the throne of Ares and backed Hector up to Poseidon's throne.

"Oh, yes," Kronos said. "This one will make fine kindling for my new hearth!"

Their blades clashed in a shower of sparks.

Hector pushed him back and struck again—slashing Riptide across his breastplate so hard he cut a gash in the Celestial bronze.

Kronos growled and stomped his foot and time slowed.

Hector tried to attack but he was moving at the speed of a glacier.

Kronos backed up leisurely, catching his breath.

He examined the gash in his armor while Hector struggled forward, spouting curses.

"Now, now, Hector… that's no way to talk to your elders!" Kronos said and brought down his scythe when suddenly Percy appeared from behind and tackled him, down to the floor.

"Argh!" Kronos roared and threw Percy back.

Hector came from behind, but Kronos sensed him and slammed him with the back of his scythe, making him hit the wall near Grover, and fall unconscious.

"Hector!" Percy yelled and charged at the Titan of time, who stopped him by holding his neck, choking him.

"When will you learn? You can't beat me!" Kronos said and threw him back.

"I'll fight you until I die!" Percy replied, wiping the blood that was dripping from his mouth.

Kronos grinned and spread his arms, and the ceiling exploded with flames, lighting up the night sky.

"Really?" He asked, almost in a mocking way.

From the windows, Percy could see the scene below, cars exploded, monsters disintegrated, skeletons rose, arrows hit, people screamed, and things burned.

Manhattan was entirely destroyed, buildings were falling, and flames were rising.

Percy looked at the destruction helplessly, his mouth wide open. Everything was hopeless.

"Kiss Your Perfect Day Goodbye, Perseus Jackson!" Kronos said. "Because The World Is On Fire!"

Percy felt helpless, unable to stop the destruction… then he looked at the hearth, Hestia sitting there, huddled up, with her knees to her chest, Pandora's jar in her hands rocking back and forth with the coals glowing faintly.

They locked eyes, and a sense of hope filled Percy, and he charged at Kronos.

"Fool!" Kronos yelled in glee and met Percy's strike with his scythe.

And at that point, Percy's gauntlets gave way as they blocked the last strike of their lifetime and cracked.

The titan was shocked at first then began laughing evilly. "What chance do you have at stopping me now?"

"This," Percy said and from god knows where, smiling, pulled out the most ornately decorated weapon Hector had ever seen. "Meet the Blood Reaper."

A celestial bronze chain with two big curved blades on either end fell from the son of Hades' hand with a clang into the other hand. Those were the sharpest and biggest pair of nunchucks anyone had ever seen with round circular hilts.

Kronos' eyes widened but then he growled as he grabbed his scythe and split it into two perfect halves, a sickle on each end.

Percy smiled evilly as their eyes glinted and they lunged, closing the distance between them with a blinding light.

Hector had never seen anything like it.

He had been sitting there, cradling Annabeth in one arm while holding Grover in the other. What was going on in front of him was completely insane.

Percy had jumped up and slammed both the blades on the ground as a explosion was created and Kronos was instinctively forced backward.

Enraged, the titan leapt forward towards Percy who did the same as their blades clashed with each other to give another huge explosion.

As the smoke cleared out, Hector could see the sheer fierceness with which they were fighting and was in awe. In the night sky, everything seemed to be ethereal.

This Percy Jackson was different from the one he saw everyday. He was ferocious and had glows around him. The first was a sea green one which was obvious that Poseidon had been helping him and the second was with an orange tint, and the third was the most curious of them all, a silver one.

The same silver glow he had seen around Percy in the labyrinth was surrounding the son of Hades now against his battle with the titan.

Percy was swinging his blades around as they blocked Kronos's strikes as they jumped up and down, each trying to land a hit as they continuously changed positions in the throne room.

The speed with which they were moving was absolutely fucking divine as Kronos got tired and kicked Percy back before he could land an attack as the titan threw his sickles in the direction of the demigod.

But Percy's reflexes took over as he hit the ground with his knees and slid to a stop as he swung his nunchuck-blades to throw the sickles to the side but they just returned back to the Titan's hands.

Kronos ran towards him and Percy struck his weapon on the ground behind him and it propelled him forward straight at the Titan who blocked his blades with both of sickles but the force was too much as they crashed into the straight line of decorative pillars.

Hector was just shocked. He really was going to have to ask Iris to give a recording of this entire thing to him later on. He couldn't really understand anything at all now.

The two brawlers flashed back to the centre with a huge bright light as the two clashed head on.

The blades clanged as they roared, swirling around each other as Percy blocked Kronos's attacks and vice versa as Hector could only watch in awe as the two fought.

Weapons were flying in all directions as smoke and water rose. The atmosphere had darkened comparatively and skeletal hands rose from the ground.

Explosions.

Lightning.

Thunder.

Fire.

Rain.

That was all Hector could see and it was kind of reminiscent to the fight with the monster in the labyrinth.

The nostalgia was hitting hard and so was Percy.

The demigod and titan were moving too fast for their eyes to comprehend as Percy grabbed Kronos's leg and threw him into the air as he surged forward punching him straight into the ground.

Water was rising around him as skeletal hands rose to grab the immortal, immobilizing him momentarily, as shadows covered the Titan completely as he roared.

Percy groaned as he launched himself forward to the Titan, who had freed itself from the skeletal cage, grabbing Kronos's head as he jumped into the air, twirling around and throwing the titan to the ground with enough force to cause the walls to collapse.

Hector finally got a good look at Percy, and he was scared. Percy had cracked his ribs and one was poking out of his bloody stomach. His hair had gotten stained with his blood which dropped down his face and his right arm was broken.

Yet he stood there, tall and strong, emanating power.

Percy charged at the same time as Kronos as they roared, weapons clanging with each other more ferociously than before.

It was a sight to behold as lights flashed with blinding speed, streaks of light and explosions following their wake.

Percy's left hand cracked but in spite of that, they kept going, trading blows in their way.

Kronos hit his sickle point in the link of the chains and pulled it back, breaking the celestial bronze weapon.

The Titan threw Percy in the air and punched him directly in the ribs, making the demigod fly away and crash into the wall.

Percy didn't dodge in time as a sickle came his way, grazing his chest and breaking the wall and making it explode with the power of a hand grenade.

Percy groaned as the smoke cleared and Hector got an even better view.

He was even more badly bruised than before. His left arm was broken and his right was… also broken. His chest was covered entirely in cuts and there was the broken rib that had punctured his skin, showing itself off to the whole world. The red fluid was also dripping out from his lips as he panted.

Percy stood up with difficulty as he looked up groggily to look at the titan, who himself had decided to wait for a moment.

He noticed him looking and smiled a weak smile and it was difficult to see Kronos smiling through Luke's face.

"I respect you Percy Jackson. You've managed to go toe to toe with me, even if in human form, and still have survived so far."

Percy spat blood from his mouth as he groaned. "Thanks man. But we really need to finish this, shouldn't we?"

"You do know that there is something like a time out right?" Kronos said as he was gasping heavily. "Even immortals need rest sometimes. And so do you. Eat ambrosia, whatever you need. Until then, lets just look at what's going on."

He pointed to the hearth, and the coals glowed. A sheet of white smoke poured from the fire, forming images like an Iris-message. A column of storm was approaching the Hudson River, moving rapidly over the Jersey shore.

Chariots circled it, locked in combat with the creature in the cloud. The gods attacked. Lightning flashed. Arrows of gold and silver streaked into the cloud like rocket tracers and exploded. Slowly, the cloud ripped apart, and they saw Typhon clearly for the first time. His head shifted constantly. Every moment he was a different monster, each more horrible than the last.

He was humanoid, but his skin looked like a meat loaf sandwich that had been in someone's locker all year. He was mottled green, with blisters the size of buildings, and blackened patches from eons of being stuck under a volcano. His hands were human, but with talons like an eagle's. His legs were scaly and reptilian.

"The Olympians are giving their final effort." Kronos laughed. "How pathetic."

Zeus threw a thunderbolt from his chariot. The blast lit up the world. The shock could be felt even here on Olympus, but when the dust cleared, Typhon was still standing. He staggered a bit, with a smoking crater on top of his misshapen head, but he roared in anger and kept advancing.

The monster stepped into the Hudson River and barely sank to midcalf.

Like a miracle, a conch horn sounded from the smoky picture. The call of the ocean. The call of Poseidon. All around Typhon, the Hudson River erupted, churning with forty-foot waves. Out of the water burst a new chariot—this one pulled by massive hippocampi, who swam in air as easily as in water.

Hector's father, glowing with a blue aura of power, rode a defiant circle around the giant's legs. Poseidon was no longer an old man. He looked like himself again—tan and strong with a black beard. As he swung his trident, the river responded, making a funnel cloud around the monster.

"No!" Kronos bellowed after a moment of stunned silence. "NO!"

"NOW, MY BRETHREN!" Poseidon's voice roared loudly. "STRIKE FOR OLYMPUS!"

Warriors burst out of the river, riding the waves on huge sharks and dragons and sea horses. It was a legion of Cyclopes, and leading them into battle was . . . "Tyson!" Percy yelled as Hector was just confounded.

Tyson'd magically grown in size. He had to be thirty feet tall, as big as any of his older cousins, and for the first time he was wearing full battle armor. Riding behind him was Briares, the Hundred-Handed One. All the Cyclopes held huge lengths of black iron chains—big enough to anchor a battleship—with grappling hooks at the ends. They swung them like lassos and began to ensnare Typhon, throwing lines around the creature's legs and arms, using the tide to keep circling, slowly tangling him.

Typhon shook and roared and yanked at the chains, pulling some of the Cyclopes off their mounts; but there were too many chains. The sheer weight of the Cyclops battalion began to weigh Typhon down. Poseidon threw his trident and impaled the monster in the throat. Golden blood, immortal ichor, spewed from the wound, making a waterfall taller than a skyscraper.

The trident flew back to Poseidon's hand. The other gods struck with renewed force. Ares rode in and stabbed Typhon in the nose. Artemis shot the monster in the eye with a dozen silver arrows. Apollo shot a blazing volley of arrows and set the monster's loincloth on fire.

And Zeus kept pounding the giant with lightning, until finally, slowly, the water rose, wrapping Typhon like a cocoon, and he began to sink under the weight of the chains. Typhon bellowed in agony, thrashing with such force that waves sloshed the Jersey shore, soaking five-story buildings and splashing over the George Washington Bridge—but down he went as Poseidon opened a special tunnel for him at the bottom of the river—an endless waterslide that would take him straight to Tartarus.

The giant's head went under in a seething whirlpool, and he was gone. "BAH!" Kronos screamed. He slashed his weapon, now a scythe again through the smoke, tearing the image to shreds.

"They're on their way," Percy said while laughing a bloody laugh. The bleeding had sort of closed up as the red fluid had dried up. "You've lost."

"I haven't even started." Kronos growled and advanced with blinding speed.

Percy dodged and grabbed Kronos's weapon and ripped it from his hands.

"You don't deserve this!" Percy said and closed the distance between him and the titan with a jab to the face.

Then he kneed Kronos in the stomach and then grabbed his legs and smashed him on the ground.

Suddenly, a shockwave passed through the entire throne room, maybe even through the entire Manhattan.

Kronos gasped and Percy's eyes widened.

"What… what?" Kronos gasped, and suddenly he lost control.

"Percy…" The titan said, but it wasn't his voice, it was Luke's.

He stumbled like he couldn't maintain his balance.

"Luke!" Annabeth exclaimed, somewhere through the fighting she had woken up and this was the first thing she could say.

"Annabeth!" Luke said. "You're bleeding."

Percy's eyes were wide, not because Luke regained control but because he felt a soul enter the underworld. Cam's soul.

He stood there numb, his mouth open as Hector took this opportunity to move forward and kicked the scythe out of Luke's reach, but he didn't seem to care.

Luke was moving towards Annabeth, but Hector stood in his way. "Don't you dare touch her!"

Suddenly, Luke's eyes turned gold again and anger rippled across his face.

"Babington!" Kronos growled and started to glow gold.

He gasped again. Luke's voice: "He's changing. Help. He's . . . he's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please—"

"NO!" Kronos bellowed. He looked around for his scythe, but it was in the hearth, glowing among the coals.

He stumbled toward it and Hector tried to stop him, but Kronos pushed him out of the way with such force that he landed next to Annabeth and cracked his head on the base of Athena's throne.

"The knife, Hector," Annabeth muttered. Her breath was shallow. "Hero . . . cursed blade . . .Give the dagger to Percy. . ."

Kronos was grasping his sword. Then he bellowed in pain and dropped it. His hands were smoking and seared. The hearth fire had grown red-hot, like the scythe wasn't compatible with it. Hestia was in the ashes, frowning at Kronos with disapproval.

Luke turned and collapsed, clutching his ruined hands. "Please. . ."

Hector grabbed the knife and moved forward, but it was like he was a glacier, instead of a river.

Somehow he managed to reach Percy and gave him the blade.

"Percy, you know what to do, it's your prophecy, it's your choice."

Percy nodded and walked toward Luke with the knife.

Luke moistened his lips. "You can't . . . can't do it yourself, Percy. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can . . . can keep him controlled."

He was glowing, his skin starting to smoke.

Percy nodded, sighing as the world around them vibrated and looked at Annabeth, at Grover cradling her in his arms, trying to shield her, and Hector hugging them both.

He gave the knife to Luke, and at that exact moment, Kronos regained control.

He stood up, held Percy by the shoulder and stabbed the blade in his stomach.

Percy gasped, and fell to his knees, grabbing his stomach.

"Well, you are angry, I know that, but you aren't invincible like your friend over there! Too bad, you'll have to die now and watch me evolve. You may have destroyed my throne, but that won't stop me! I'll make a new one—" Kronos was cut off by Luke coming back.

"Percy…."

"Luke, you know what you need to do…." Percy sputtered out blood. "Do it…"

Luke nodded and unlatched the side straps of his armor, exposing a small bit of his skin just under his left arm, a place that would be very hard to hit.

With difficulty, he stabbed himself. It wasn't a deep cut, but Luke howled and Kronos roared. His eyes glowed like lava. The throne room shook and an aura of energy surrounded Luke, growing brighter and brighter.

Everyone shut their eyes and felt a force like a nuclear explosion.

Then, it was silent for a long time.

Luke was sprawled at the hearth. On the floor around him was a blackened circle of ash. Kronos's scythe had liquefied into molten metal and was trickling into the coals of the hearth, which now glowed like a blacksmith's furnace.

Luke's left side was bloody. His eyes were open—blue eyes, the way they used to be. His breath was a deep rattle.

"Good . . . blade," he croaked.

Percy knelt next to him. Annabeth limped over with Grover's and Hector's support. They all had tears in their eyes.

Luke gazed at Annabeth. "You knew. I almost killed you, but you knew . . ."

"Shhh." Her voice trembled. "You were a hero at the end, Luke. You'll go to Elysium."

He shook his head weakly. "Think . . . rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of the Blest."

Annabeth sniffled. "You always pushed yourself too hard." He held up his charred hand. Annabeth touched his fingertips. "Did you . . ." Luke coughed and his lips glistened red. "Did you love me?"

Annabeth wiped her tears away. "There was a time I thought . . . well, I thought . . ." She looked at Hector, like she was drinking in the fact that he was still here. "You were like a brother to me, Luke," she said softly. "But I didn't love you."

He nodded, as if he'd expected it. He winced in pain.

"We can get ambrosia," Grover said. "We can—" "Grover,"

Luke gulped. "You're the bravest satyr I ever knew. But no. There's no healing. . . ." Another cough.

He gripped Hector's sleeve. "Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don't let it . . . Don't let it happen again." His eyes were angry, but pleading too.

"I won't," Hector said. "I promise."

Luke nodded. "Percy?"

The son of Poseidon and Hades looked up, blood trickling from his mouth and hands.

"I'm sorry," Luke said.

"It's alright," Percy croaked out.

Luke nodded, and his hands went slack.

The gods arrived a few minutes later in their full war regalia, thundering into the throne room and expecting a battle.

What they found were Annabeth, Grover, Hector, and Percy standing over the body of a broken half-blood, in the dim warm light of the hearth.

"Percy, Hector," Poseidon called, awe in his voice. "What . . . what is this?"

Hector turned and faced the Olympians. "We need a shroud, a shroud for the son of Hermes."

The Three Fates themselves took Luke's body—three ghoulish grandmothers with bags of knitting needles and yarn.

They gathered up Luke's body, wrapped in a white-and-green shroud, and began carrying it out of the throne room.

"Wait," Hermes said. The messenger god was dressed in his classic outfit of white Greek robes, sandals, and helmet. The wings of his helm fluttered as he walked. The snakes George and Martha curled around his caduceus, murmuring, Luke, poor Luke.

Hermes unwrapped Luke's face and kissed his forehead. He murmured some words in Ancient Greek—a final blessing. "Farewell," he whispered. Then he nodded and allowed the Fates to carry away his son's body.

Apollo came, his fiery armor so bright it was hard to look at, and his matching Ray-Bans made him look like a male model for battle gear. The only thing missing was his smile, instead there were tears in his eyes.

He put his hand on Percy's wound and healed it. He then wrapped it in bandages and said, "You'll be ok Percy… you did well…"

Percy got up quickly, wincing. "Thanks, I'll come in a minute…"

He said and jumped into a shadow.

"Percy!" Apollo called out, but Percy was already gone.

He was on Mount Othyrs, standing over the ruins of the palace.

Black rocks, golden dust, dozens of dead bodies, and a ram-horned helmet.

"What…" Percy whispered. "What happened here?"

He waded forward through the rocks, looking side-to-side to see several demigods, lying dead and broken. They were wearing strange purple t-shirts and had a strange tattoo on their arms.

Seeing them, Percy got a bad feeling. He started to frantically look for Cam, but then he reached the center of the mountain.

There, lay a pale and very much dead Camilla, at the base of what used to be a throne, now reduced to rubble.

Percy gasped and ran forward, grabbed her, and fell on his knees.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

Cam's white hair was matted with blood, and her t-shirt had holes in it, blood seeping out. Pieces of rocks and metal had pierced her skin. There was a big piece of shrapnel in her stomach. She lay lifeless, but there was a smile on her face as if she was happy to complete her mission.

Percy hugged her close, tears dripping out of his eyes.

"Cam? Cam?" He asked tearfully, trying to wake her up, but he knew it was impossible.

"Cam! Wake up!" Percy said, shaking her. "Camilla…"

"No…" Percy broke down and started crying.

He yelled, his voice echoing and reaching the heavens.

It started to rain, flames erupted, the ground broke, skeletal hands rose, and trees died.

Percy kept crying and crying until there weren't tears left to cry.

He took a deep shaky breath, and sat there, stroking Cam's hair lightly. "Why…. Why did you have to do this?"

Someone cleared their throat from behind him.

Percy whirled around staring at the person, his eyes bloodshot.

Apollo walked forward and sat next to Percy.

"She was my favorite, you know?" Apollo said.

"No, I thought you gods were too busy to notice your children…" Percy said silently.

"Percy, god love their children, it's just that we can't show it to them, and we can't, it's not that we don't want to…. We just can't," Apollo replied.

"Yeah, because of those stupid Ancient Laws and all that," Percy said and Apollo nodded. "Why are you here Apollo?"

"Well, Zeus asked me to call you to the council," The sun god said. "We repaired the throne room and the bridge, will you come?"

Percy sniffled. "Is it necessary?"

Apollo nodded. "I'm afraid so, though I won't push you…"

"No, come on let's go," Percy said, and got up, picking up Cam's dead body in his hands.

Apollo put on a weak smile and took Percy's hand in his and flashed them both to Olympus.

Apollo and Percy reappeared in front of the gates of Olympus, where the sun god said, "Percy, if you want, you can come, if you don't, well no one can force you."

"Uh… Apollo, I would rather stay out here, I can't deal with all that shininess right now…" Percy said.

Apollo nodded, "Very well, I shall meet you here once the meeting ends…" and flashed away.

From inside, Percy could hear muffled voices.

"As for my brothers, we are thankful"—Zeus cleared his throat—"erm, thankful for the aid of Hades."

"And, of course," Zeus continued, "We must . . . um . . . thank Poseidon."

"I'm sorry, brother," Poseidon said. "What was that?"

"We must thank Poseidon," Zeus growled. "Without whom . . . it would've been difficult—"

"Difficult?" Poseidon asked innocently.

"Impossible," Zeus said. "Impossible to defeat Typhon." The gods murmured agreement and pounded their weapons in approval.

"Which leaves us," Zeus said, "only the matter of thanking our young demigod heroes, who defended Olympus so well—"

Percy sighed and walked forward to the edge of the mountain, hands in his pockets.

He sat down, dangling his legs. He was sad, though sad didn't fit the feeling… he felt like a broken china doll, taped together misshapenly with the same hands of the child that had broken it. He felt disappointed in himself, that he wasn't able to save those people who he cared for, that he wasn't able enough.

Wars have casualties, it's true, but it doesn't have to be that all your friends go to Hades' realm.

He sighed again and stood up, knowing what he had to do.

Percy took a deep breath and jumped, falling into the eternal darkness.

-ONE-WEEK-LATER-

A cheery guy, with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, walked into a small restaurant and sat down, taking off his coat and placing it on the chair. The whole place had a dim yellow ambiance with soft music playing in the background.

A young boy, with black hair and grey eyes, welcomed him in. "Hello sir, welcome to the Café Ply, I'm John, what can I get you?"

The blonde guy said, "Hi John, I'm David, what are your best dishes?"

To that, John replied, "Our specialties are Black Forest Pastries, Hummus Cookies, and the most famous Wood Bark pudding!"

"Wood Bark pudding? That's something new, I'll take one!"

"Great," John said. "Can I get you something else?"

"A cup of coffee would be fine!" David said.

"Sure!" John said and went behind the counter to talk to someone.

David was sitting there, earphones in his ears, humming along to the tune of 'I Can't Stop Loving You,' by Elvis, when suddenly John appeared again with a covered dish and a cup.

"Your order's ready sir!" John replied.

"Wow, that was quick! Thank you!" David said removing his earphones.

"Thanks, our baker is the best! And he gets things done really quickly, which is why our restaurant has the best rating ever! Hope you enjoy it!" John said and walked away.

David picked up the spoon and started to eat with caution. As soon as he took the first bite, his eyes lit up and he devoured the whole thing at once.

Then he drank the coffee and wiped his mouth.

David rung the electronic bell kept on his table and John came out holding a bill.

"How'd you like it?" John asked.

"It was amazing! Can I meet your patissier please?" David asked.

"Sure!" John said. "I'll just bring him in!"

Sure enough, 2 minutes later, John came out with another person, with messy black hair coming down to his neck and two different colored eyes, one black and one green. He had a gloomy expression and dark circles around his eyes and was wearing a brown jacket over a Led Zeppelin sweatshirt and black pants.

"That's the guy who ordered the pudding!" John said to the older boy. "He wants to meet you!"

They both came in front of David, whose eyes widened the moment he saw the other guy.

He gasped. "Percy?"

Percy's eyes widened and then narrowed.

"Oh, I see you both know each other!" John exclaimed.

"John, go, I need to speak privately with David." Percy spat the last word out with so much hate that John stepped back.

"Ok-Okay…" John said nervously, noting the tension between the two older guys, and rushed back to the counter

Percy grabbed a chair and turned it around and sat down.

"Why are you here, Apollo?" Percy whispered, angrily.

"Percy! Look at you! You've grown bigger! We were looking for you everywhere! We didn't know you were here and we were worri—" Apollo said.

"That isn't it…" Percy asked, his eyes closed. "Why were you looking for me?"

The sun god sighed. "We need you… it's another quest—"

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Listen, I promise that it's nothing, you just need to investigate something!" Apollo pleaded. "Please…"

"Why me? Why not someone else?" Percy asked emotionlessly.

"Because… we need someone who won't spill out the secrets of camp half-blood… we need someone who will blend in with the rest… we need someone like you…" Apollo said. "And right now, we don't have anyone like you…"

"So you come and find me? Someone who is supposed to be dead?" Percy asked and got up from his seat, ready to leave.

"Wait! Please listen Percy…" Apollo said. "I'm sorry… but we really need you…"

Percy turned around. "Why don't you just tell me why?"

Apollo said sadly. "I can't… I can't until we're sure we can trust you…"

"What do you mean, trust me?" Percy asked.

"I need to trust that you won't sell us out to the enemy… and I can't be sure until you swear to work with us…"

"What do you mean 'sell you out to the enemy'?" Percy asked, taking his seat again. "I don't even know who the fucking enemy is!"

Apollo just said, "Please, just tell me whether you'll help us or not…"

Percy sighed. "Urgh… fine… I'll do it… but just because you promised it's nothing more than just investigating…"

"Yes! Great," Apollo said, a little cheerful. "Now come with me… I'll tell you the plan while on our way."

"What do you mean 'On our way'? Where are we going?" The son of Poseidon asked Apollo who was getting up and wearing his coat.

"The new destination," Apollo said. "Now come on."

Percy sighed and followed him. When they were out of the cafe, he snapped his fingers.

"Why did you do that?" The sun god asked.

"Oh nothing, just returned things back to normal," Percy said. "The thing is, I used the mist to make it seem like I worked here… so now I just undo'd it all… so that the true baker comes back…"

"The mist can do things like that?" Apollo asked, bewildered.

"You're a god… you didn't know that the mist can do something as simple as that?"

"Well, there are many mysteries even we don't know…"

"That's fine… now where are we going?"

"San Francisco…" Apollo said.

Percy stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened. "Are you… Are you sending me back to Mount Othyrs to check for the titans? Cuz if you are, then I won't do this… I have tried really hard to make myself forget everything, but they still haunt me… every single person I've killed, even the ones I murdered before Camp Half-Blood…"

"No, we've investigated the mountain thoroughly…" Apollo said. "What do you mean by 'haunt you' and 'the ones you murdered before Camp Half-Blood'?"

"They keep coming back, not allowing me to sleep… I can't look at myself in the mirror without seeing their bloody and dead faces… sometimes it's like they whisper to me, and only me… the last week has been terrible…" Percy said. "I was an assassin before… for my father… I would kill people, bad people of course, but they were nevertheless people…"

"Oh…" Apollo said shocked and stood there. "That's good…"

Percy sighed and walked past him, looking at the setting sun.

"It's no good thinking about the past… tell me… where are we going?" He asked, his voice lacking any emotion.

"Right, we're going to a place beyond Mount Tam," Apollo said. "It's a camp, like Camp Half-blood, for demigods… except it's not for us Greeks."

"What?" Percy asked.

Apollo laughed, though it lacked any real amusement. "I see you are still as dim-witted as ever…"

"Excuse me!?"

"It's a camp for Roman demigods, offspring of the Roman version of us Greek Gods…"

"What? You mean the Romans—"

"Are not dead? Not gone? Still alive?" Apollo asked. "The answer to all these is yes…"

"So, you're sending me to investigate the Roman camp?"

"Well, yes but no…" Apollo said. "You have a quest over there to accomplish as well…"

"What! You lied!" Percy exclaimed.

They had reached a farmland of some sorts, with yellow maize growing in the fields.

"I'm sorry but that was the only way to convince you…" The sun god said solemnly.

"But… but—"

"Please Percy," Apollo said. "That day, you just disappeared without any trace… a nymph said that she saw you jumping down the side of Olympus but Hades told us that your sould never truly entered the underworld. We kept quiet about it to the campers, told them you had gone on some super-secret mission and won't be coming back for a long time as we set out search parties for you.…"

They turned around a corner and kept walking, Percy listening, his eyes getting wider each second.

"We have been looking for you for the last six days. Today after failing to find you, I came into that Café, and then met you… I bet the others would be happy to hear about–"

"No, don't tell the gods I'm back, not even my fathers… tell your sister if you want, but don't do more than that…" Percy said, his hands in his pockets.

Apollo sighed. "Fine…"

"Good, how's Hector? Annabeth? Sally? Paul?"

"Hector and Annabeth got together—"

"Finally, huh?" Percy said, a small smile on his face. "I was getting tired of Hector being so oblivious…"

"Yeah, the news' spread all over Olympus like rapid fire!" Apollo said, smiling, but then that got wiped away from his face. "Your parents are worried about you… Do you want me to tell them about your being alive?"

"No, you said you told them I was on a quest, right? Let them think that I won't be coming back for another few weeks…"

Apollo sighed and said, "Very well, come hold my hand, I'll flash us there…"

Percy grabbed the god's hand, and closed his eyes, as both of them disappeared with a bright light.

When they reappeared, it was night. The entire scene had changed and they were now standing in front of a service tunnel.

"Why didn't you do this before?" Percy asked first, then asked surprised, looking around. "Where… where are we?"

"Caldecott Tunnel, Oakland Hills, San Francisco," Apollo said. "Welcome to Camp Jupiter."

A/N:- Hey guys, uh, hope you liked this chapter! This is probably the longest I've written at a stretch with a swollen battery! So, yeah, you heard that right! My battery is swollen so gotta change that, and that probably wont happen until next month… so yeah…. Hope you enjoyed the fight sequence too! Do leave reviews down below letting me know how I did with the modifications! Bye, have a nice day!