𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐋¹ || 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍

𝐗𝐂𝐈𝐈𝐈

✦ 𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐍 ✦

MIDTOWN WAS A WARZONE. Percy and Aurora flew over little skirmishes everywhere. 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.

Percy was tempted to stop and help, but he could tell from the smoke and noise that the real action had moved further south. Their defenses were collapsing. The enemy was closing on the Empire State Building.

They did a quick sweep of the surrounding area. The Hunters had set up a defensive line on Thirty-seventh, 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' demigods.

The south was clear for now, but the flanks of the enemy army were swinging around. A few more minutes, and they'd be totally surrounded.

"We have to land where they need us most," Percy muttered.

That's everywhere, boss. Said Blackjack.

"Over there, Perce!" Aurora pointed.

Percy spotted a familiar gold sun banner along with a silver owl banner in the southeast corner of the fight – Thirty-third at the Park Avenue tunnel. Aden and Annabeth and a couple of the Apollo and Athena campers were holding back a Hyperborean giant.

"There!" Percy told Blackjack.

He plunged towards the battle.

Percy and Aurora leaped off his back and landed on the giant's head. When the giant looked up, Percy slid off his face, shield-bashing his nose on the way down. Aurora spun her ring and turned Sunbeam into a sword before stabbing the giant in the eye, following Percy's lead.

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

The Hyperborean breathed a cloud of white mist and the temperature dropped. The spot where Percy and Aurora landed was now coated with ice, and they were covered in frost like a sugar doughnut.

"Hey, Ugly!" Aurora yelled.

Percy hoped she was talking to the giant, not him.

Blue Boy bellowed and turned towards her, exposing the unprotected back of his legs. Percy charged and stabbed him behind the knee.

"WAAAAH!" The Hyperborean buckled.

Percy waited for him to turn, but he froze— he literally turned to solid ice. From the point where Percy had stabbed him, cracks appeared in his body. They got larger and wider until the giant crumbled into a mountain of blue shards.