Annabeth had just taken a knife for me. Fortunately, Will Solace had been there in time to save her. I was now at her bedside, my hand resting on her burning forehead. ''You're cute when you worry like that. With your eyebrows all furrowed.''
''I forbid you to die while I owe you a favor. Why did you intercept that knife?''
''Because you would've done the same.''
She was right, I absolutely would have done the same.
''How did you know?'' I asked. She frowned. ''How did I know what?'' I looked around the terrace of the hotel we had made our headquarters. No one. I leaned forward, whispering in her ear. ''About my Achilles Heel. Had you not taken that knife for me, I would be dead.'' I guided her hand towards my Achilles Heel and felt electricity course throughout my back.
I stayed there for a little while longer before Travis Altir entered the room. Grover had come back whit Kitty O'Leary. I made my way down there and Grover made his report. He had convinced most nature spirits of the area to support our fight, but they had also lost many. Thalia entered, accompanied by two of her huntress and a little girl. I knew she wasn't part of her crew because she wasn't dressed like a huntress. Thalia greeted me with a nod and went upstairs to see Annabeth. Grover continued his report, the details worsening. We had lost a lot of nature spirits and Satyrs.
Thalia finally came back and listened through the rest of Grover's report before making her own. Apparently, there was another Titan assembling an army on the shore of New Jersey clad with gold armor. It was the Titan I had seen in my dream, the one in Mount Othrys. ''Got any good news?'' I asked. Thalia shrugged.
''The metro entries into Manhattan are closed off. The enemy also seems to wait for the night before attacking.'' Grover nodded. ''Yeah, that makes sense. A lot of monsters are at their strongest when night falls.''
''Also, it seems like Luke… I mean Kronos needs time to rest after every battle. It seems like he's not used to his new body. He probably also uses a good part of his power to slow down times in the areas around the city. He doesn't want any mortal interferences.'' Thalia added.
''Any news about what's happening with the gods?'' I asked, hopeful. Thalia sighed. We had two days before Typhon entered New York, best case scenario. Thalia then said something that worried me. Jake Mason, who was very silent until then, spoke up. ''Percy… there's another thing you should know. Kronos went to Williamsburg bridge as if he knew that's where you'd go. He also moved his troops where the areas we covered were at their most vulnerable. It's like as soon as we deployed, he changed strategies. He barely attacked the Lincoln tunnel where the Huntress were in a position of strength, instead aiming for our weak points, almost like he knew them.''
''The spy…'' I couldn't help but mutter. Jake Mason nodded while Thalia looked at me perplex. I told her of the amulet Kronos had shown me. ''It sucks… it sucks even worst than I thought…''
''It could be anybody. We were all there when Percy gave the orders.'' Jake added. ''But what can we do? Search every demi-god until we find the amulet?'' Grover asked. Not a good idea. ''We have no choice, we continue to fight. We can't fixate on the spy, if we don't trust each other then we lose the war. You guys really did great tonight, I couldn't dream of a more courageous army. We'll organize the guard tour.''
I then looked down to see the little girl next to Thalia. I was so focused on the war that I forgot she was even in the room. She was around 7 or 8 years old, clad in a blue and gray outfit. Her eyes were sea green, the same color as mine, but she also had wavy shoulder length blonde hair. She was staring at me, mouth wide open as if in shock. I decided to speak up. ''Hey! I'm sorry but I'm not sure we've met before?'' The girl now looked out of her trance, looking around as Thalia caressed her head. ''We found her wandering around town. She was running away from a Hellhound, fortunately one of my huntress was there at the scene and managed to save her.''
I sighed in relief before pondering on where she could have come from. If that Hellhound had chased after her, then she was a half-blood, no doubt about it. If I had to guess, she was just like all of us before coming to camp. Someone who had no idea of the mythical world, who ended up wandering around Manhattan as the city went to sleep. Compared to her, my first meeting with the Greek world was tame. I had to reassure her. ''Well, it's nice to meet you. My name's Percy Jackson.''
She looked at me, eyes still wide, before shaking her head. ''M… My name is Z… Zoe…'' She looked around, not believing what she was seeing. I understood how confused and lost she seemed to be, after all my first reaction to the world I lived in right now was denial.
