[act five; chapter two - war council]
After spending several hours flying over the bay, waiting for sight of Percy, Adonis decided to go home. He had a strange feeling that the sea green eyed boy would be just fine, so he went home.
What he didn't expect, however, was for his sister to be sitting on the porch steps of the Big House when he arrived, her eyes bloodshot and her face swollen. He immediately knew something was wrong and joined her inside to speak with Chiron about what had occurred on Cape Cod. He was devastated to know that Beu was gone, but he had been fearing something like that would happen at some point. He didn't tell her about Beckendorf, someone she viewed as an older brother, just that Percy was alive. She seemed relieved by that, but still very much on edge and all too quiet.
When Annabeth got word that her best friend had arrived, she had dropped whatever it was that she was doing, and ran as fast as she could. When the two saw each other again, the blonde had barreled into the redhead with a loud laugh, muttering, "You're invincible. I knew you couldn't be killed."
It was some sort of inside joke that had started between them after the Sea of Monsters, something that Donnie wasn't ever going to try and understand.
They were talking quietly amongst themselves when a camper came running up the steps shouting, "He's back, he's back!"
—🍇—
Word of Percy's arrival spread as soon as he walked out of the ocean. Their beach is on the North Shore of Long Island, and it's enchanted so most people can't even see it. People don't just appear on the beach unless they're demigods or gods or really, really lost pizza delivery guys. (It's happened—but that's another story.)
Anyway, that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll from Hermes cabin. When he spotted Percy, he got so excited he fell out of his tree. Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp and ran to greet him.
Connor had a crooked smile that matched his crooked sense of humour. He's a pretty nice guy, but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he's around and do not, under any circumstances, give him access to shaving cream unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it. He's got curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother Travis, which is the only way anyone can tell them apart. They are both so unlike Percy's old enemy Luke it's hard to believe they're all sons of Hermes.
"Percy!" he yelled. "What happened? Where's Beckendorf?"
Then he saw Percy's expression, and his smile melted. "Oh no. Poor Silena. Holy Zeus, when she finds out...and Naya..."
Together they climbed the sand dunes. A few hundred metres away, people were already streaming towards them, smiling and excited. Percy's back, they were probably thinking. He's saved the day! Maybe he brought souvenirs!
He stopped at the dining pavilion and waited for them. No sense rushing down there to tell them what a loser he was. He hoped Donnie had gotten back and told them what happened, but based on Connor's reaction, he doubted that he had.
Percy gazed across the valley and tried to remember how Camp Half-Blood looked the first time he saw it. That seemed like a bajillion years ago.
From the dining pavilion, you could see pretty much everything. Hills ringed the valley. On the tallest, Half-Blood Hill, Thalia's pine tree stood with the Golden Fleece hanging from its branches, magically protecting the camp from its enemies. The guard dragon Peleus was so big now he could see him from here—curled around the tree trunk, sending up smoke signals as he snored.
To his right spread the woods. To his left, the canoe lake glittered and the climbing wall glowed from the lava pouring down its side. Twelve cabins—one for each Olympian god—made a horseshoe pattern around the commons area. Further south were the strawberry fields, the armoury and the four-storey Big House with its sky-blue paint job and its bronze-eagle weathervane.
In some ways, the camp hadn't changed. But you couldn't see the war by looking at the buildings or the fields. You could see it in the faces of the demigods and satyrs and naiads coming up the hill.
There weren't as many at camp as four summers ago. Some had left and never come back. Some had died fighting. Others—they tried not to talk about them—had gone over to the enemy.
The ones who were still here were battle-hardened and weary. There was little laughter at camp these days. Even the Hermes cabin didn't play so many pranks. It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one.
Chiron galloped into the pavilion first, which was easy for him since he's a white stallion from the waist down. His beard had grown wilder over the summer. He wore a green T-shirt that said MY OTHER CAR IS A CENTAUR and a bow slung over his back.
"Percy!" he said. "Thank the gods, we were worried when only Adonis came back. But where..."
Annabeth ran in, and soon Andromeda followed right behind her. Percy would be lying if he said his heart didn't do a little relay race in his chest when he saw her. It's not that she tried to look good. They'd been doing so many combat missions lately she hardly tried to tame her curly red hair and she didn't care what clothes she was wearing—usually a pair of jean shorts or one of her many denim overalls with simple tank tops or t-shirts underneath, and of course she always wore a pair of hightop Chuck Converse. Her amethyst eyes glinted in the sun, and the white lines of the scars on her face—a long scar the size of Percy's middle finger across the left side of her forehead and another on the right side of her chin that ran down her neck halfway. But gods, if she wasn't the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. Most of the time, they couldn't get through a conversation without trying to strangle each other or began throwing insults at one another. Still, just seeing her made him feel fuzzy in the head. Last summer, before Luke had turned into Kronos and everything went sour, there had been a few times when he thought maybe...well, they might get past the strangle-each-other phase. But in all honesty, Andromeda Achillea Storm would probably always be that way, it was just part of her charm.
"What happened?" She grabbed his arm. "Is Luke—"
"The ship blew up," Percy said. "He wasn't destroyed. I don't know where—"
Silena Beauregard pushed through the crowd. Her hair wasn't combed and she wasn't even wearing makeup, which wasn't like her, and Janaya Silva came rushing behind her, amber eyes wide with panic.
"Where's Charlie?" Silena demanded, looking around like he might be hiding.
Percy and Donnie looked at each other, then glanced at Chiron helplessly.
The old centaur cleared his throat. "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this at the Big House—"
"No," she muttered. "No. No."
She started to cry, and the rest of them stood around, too stunned to speak. They'd already lost so many people over the summer, but this was the worst. With Beckendorf gone, it felt like someone had stolen the anchor for the entire camp.
Finally Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward. She put her arm around Silena. They had one of the strangest friendships ever—a daughter of the war god and a daughter of the love goddess—but ever since Silena had given Clarisse advice last summer about her first boyfriend, Clarisse had decided she was Silena's personal bodyguard.
Clarisse was dressed in her blood-red combat armour, her brown hair tucked into a bandanna. She was as big and beefy as a rugby player, with a permanent scowl on her face, but she spoke gently to Silena.
"Come on, girl," she said. "Let's get to the Big House. I'll make you some hot chocolate."
Everyone turned and wandered off in twos and threes, heading back to the cabins. Nobody was excited to see Percy or Donnie now. Nobody wanted to hear about the blown-up ship.
Janaya was standing there, completely silent, with her hand over her mouth. Her bright eyes had pooled with vicious tears, and Annabeth rushed towards her, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend. The two held each other tightly, too afraid to let go after everything that had happened. The blonde turned towards her friends and nodded her head towards the Big House, signalling that she would meet them there.
Only Andromeda, Donnie, and Chiron stayed behind.
Andromeda sniffled and turned towards Percy, regarding him with her teary amethyst eyes. "I'm really glad you're not dead, Fish Face."
"Thanks," he said. "Me too."
Chiron put a hand on Percy and Donnie's shoulders. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Percy, Donnie. Will you tell us what happened?"
Andromeda could tell that neither of them wanted to go through it again, but they told her and Chiron the story, including Percy's dream about the Titans. He left out the detail about Nico. Nico had made Percy promise not to tell anybody about his plan until he made up his mind, and the plan was so scary he didn't mind keeping it a secret.
Chiron gazed down at the valley. "We must call a war council immediately to discuss this spy, and other matters."
At the mention of a spy, Andromeda picked at the sleeve of her shirt, trying not to wince when her fingers brushed against the fresh burn on her wrist. Eliza and her had gotten too close to the burning house during their fight, and Andromeda's skin had been shoved through a window and was met with flames licking at her skin.
"Poseidon mentioned another threat," Percy said, "something even bigger than the Princess Andromeda. I thought it might be that challenge the Titan mentioned in my dream."
Chiron and the twins exchanged looks, like they knew something he didn't. He hated it when they did that.
"We will discuss that also," Chiron promised.
"One more thing." Percy took a deep breath. "When I talked to my father, he said to tell you it's time. I need to know the full prophecy."
Andromeda's body shook as Donnie laced their hands together. They both knew the full prophecy, they had heard it one night after eavesdropping on him and their father. Dionysus had been outraged that his children were involved in yet another prophecy, rightfully so, and accidentally repeated it so loud the twins heard it. Donnie hadn't been able to sleep for days after, and neither had Andromeda. Eventually, Chiron and Dionysus found out that they knew and made them swear not to tell anyone.
Chiron's shoulders sagged, but he didn't look surprised. "I've dreaded this day. Very well. Andromeda, Adonis, we will show Percy the truth—all of it. Let's go to the attic."
Percy had been to the Big House attic three times before, which was three times more than he wanted to.
A ladder led up from the top of the staircase. He wondered how Chiron was going to get up there, being half horse and all, but he didn't try, and neither did Donnie when the centaur wrapped his hand delicately around the demigod's wrist.
"You know where it is," he told Andromeda. "Bring it down, please."
She nodded. "Come on, Perc."
The sun was setting outside, so the attic was even darker and creepier than usual. Old hero trophies were stacked everywhere—dented shields, pickled heads in jars from various monsters, a pair of fuzzy dice on a bronze plaque that read: STOLEN FROM CHRYSAOR'S HONDA CIVIC, BY GUS, SON OF HERMES, 1988.
Percy picked up a curved bronze sword so badly bent it looked like a letter M. He could still see green stains on the metal from the magical poison that used to cover it. The tag was dated last summer. It read: SCIMITAR OF KAMPÊ, DESTROYED IN THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH.
"You remember Briares throwing those boulders?" He asked.
She gave me a grudging smile. "And Grover causing a Panic?"
"And you driving dozens of monsters insane?"
They locked eyes. Percy thought of a different time last summer, under Mount St Helens, when Andromeda thought he was going to die, and she kissed him. He remembered the way her fingers clasped around the back of his neck and the way goosebumps travelled all over his body when they brushed against the hair at the nape of his neck. He remembered the way her lips felt against his, soft and plush, warm and the perfect wetness to them, even after being stuck in the Labyrinth. He remembered the way their foreheads leant against each other, or how they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle that had been made to fit together. He remembered how his heart nearly beat out of his chest and her words, "You make my heart beat fast, too."
She cleared her throat and looked away, rubbing the back of her neck. "Prophecy."
"Right." He put down the scimitar. "Prophecy."
They walked over to the window. On a three-legged stool sat the Oracle—-a shrivelled female mummy in a tie-dyed dress. Tufts of black hair clung to her skull. Glassy eyes stared out of her leathery face. Just looking at her made Percy's skin crawl.
If you wanted to leave camp during the summer, it used to be you had to come up here to get a quest. This summer, that rule had been tossed. Campers left all the time on combat missions. They had no choice if they wanted to stop Kronos.
Still, he remembered too well the strange green mist—the spirit of the Oracle—that lived inside the mummy. She looked lifeless now, but whenever she spoke a prophecy she moved. Sometimes fog gushed out of her mouth and created strange shapes. Once, she'd even left the attic and taken a little zombie stroll into the woods to deliver a message. He wasn't sure what she'd do for the 'Great Prophecy'. He half expected her to start tap dancing or something.
But she just sat there like she was dead—which she was. "I never understood this," Percy whispered.
"What?" Andromeda asked.
"Why it's a mummy."
"Perc, she wasn't always a mummy. For thousands of years the spirit of the Oracle lived inside a beautiful woman. The spirit would be passed on from generation to generation. Chiron told me she was like that fifty years ago." She pointed at the mummy. "But she was the last."
"What happened?"
The redhead started to say something then apparently changed her mind. "Let's just do our job and get out of here. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to."
Percy looked nervously at the Oracle's withered face. "So what now?"
Andromeda approached the mummy and held out her palms. "O Oracle, the time is at hand. I ask for the Great Prophecy."
He braced himself, but the mummy didn't move. Instead, Andromeda approached and unclasped one of its necklaces. He'd never paid too much attention to its jewellery before. He figured it was just hippie love beads and stuff. But when the girl turned towards me, she was holding a leather pouch on a cord braided with feathers. She opened the bag and took out a roll of parchment no bigger than her pinky.
"No way," Percy said. "You mean all these years I've been asking about this stupid prophecy, and it's been right there around her neck?"
"The time wasn't right," Annabeth said. "Believe me, Percy, I heard it when I was, like, seven, it's not great. I couldn't sleep for weeks afterwards, neither could Donnie."
"Great," he said. "Can I read it now?"
"Downstairs at the war council," she said. "Not in front of...you know, old grey lady over there."
He looked at the glassy eyes of the Oracle, and decided not to argue. They headed downstairs to join the others. Percy didn't know it then, but it would be the last time he ever visited the attic.
The senior counsellors had gathered around the ping-pong table. Don't ask any of them why, but the rec room had become the camp's informal headquarters for war councils. When Andromeda, Donnie, Chiron and Percy came in, though, it looked more like a shouting match.
Clarisse was still in full battle gear. Her electric spear was strapped to her back. (Actually her second electric spear, since Percy had broken the first one. She called the spear 'Maimer'. Behind her back, everybody else called it 'Lamer'.) She had her boar-shaped helmet under one arm and a knife at her belt.
She was in the midst of yelling at Michael Yew, the new head counsellor for Apollo, which looked kind of funny since Clarisse was so much taller. Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer. Michael stood a little over a metre tall with another half metre of attitude.
"It's our loot!" he yelled, standing on his tiptoes so he could get in Clarisse's face. "If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver!"
Around the table, people were trying not to laugh—the Stoll brothers, Pollux, Katie Gardner from Demeter. Even Janaya, who had just been appointed the new head counsellor of the Hephaestus cabin, managed a faint, teary smile. Only Silena Beauregard didn't pay any attention. She sat beside Clarisse and stared vacantly at the ping-pong net. Her eyes were red and puffy. A cup of hot chocolate sat untouched in front of her. It seemed unfair that she had to be here, Janaya too. Andromeda couldn't believe Clarisse and Michael standing over her, arguing about something as stupid as loot when she'd just lost Beckendorf. She scoffed and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest.
"STOP IT!" Percy yelled. "What are you guys doing?"
Clarisse glowered at him. "Tell Michael not to be a selfish jerk."
"Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael said.
"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!'" Clarisse shouted. "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin."
"What are you talking about?" the son of Poseidon demanded.
Beside him, he could hear Andromeda mumble, "Being a bunch of inconsiderate idiots is what."
Pollux cleared his throat. "Clarisse has refused to speak to any of us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days."
"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully.
"What issue?"
Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?"
Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters—"
"Sure," Clarisse snapped. "Always more important matters than what Ares needs. We're just supposed to show up and fight when you need us and not complain!"
"That would be nice," Connor Stoll muttered.
Clarisse gripped her knife. "Maybe I should ask Mr D—"
The three children of Dionysus winced at the mention of their father. Ever since Castor died, their relationships with him had been ruff and hard to explain. Pollux had a hard time talking to him without wanting to break something; Donnie knew he disagreed with everything relating to his life, and Andromeda had never felt so betrayed or as angry as she did than what she felt with him—it was really because of his opinions on Percy Jackson and his dislike for the boy, something she couldn't stand for.
"As you know," Chiron interrupted, his tone slightly angry now, "our director Dionysus is busy with the war. He can't be bothered with this."
"I see," Clarisse said. "And the senior counsellors? Are any of you going to side with me?"
Nobody was smiling now. None of them met Clarisse's eyes.
"Fine." Clarisse turned to Janaya and Silena. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into this when you've just lost...anyway, I apologise. To you both. Nobody else.'
Silena didn't seem to register her words and Janaya just sent her a small smile, probably the best she could muster as Annabeth squeezed her hand.
Clarisse threw her knife on the ping-pong table. "All of you can fight this war without Ares. Until I get satisfaction, no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying."
The counsellors were all too stunned to say anything as Clarisse stormed out of the room.
Finally Michael Yew said, "Good riddance."
"Are you kidding?" Katie Gardner protested. "This is a disaster!"
"She can't be serious," Travis said. "Can she?"
Andromeda looked at him and rolled her eyes, "Of course she can. She's Clarisse la Rue, she's as serious as it gets."
Chiron sighed. "Her pride has been wounded. She'll calm down eventually."
But he didn't sound convinced.
Percy wanted to ask what the heck Clarisse was so mad about, but he looked at Annabeth and she mouthed the words, I'll tell you later.
"Now," Chiron continued, "if you please, counsellors. Percy has brought something I think you should hear. Percy—the Great Prophecy."
Andromeda handed him the parchment with a reluctant look in her eyes. It felt dry and old, and his fingers fumbled with the string. He uncurled the paper, trying not to rip it, and began to read:
"A half-blood of the eldest dogs..."
"Er, Percy?" Donnie interrupted. "That's gods. Not dogs."
"Oh, right," Percy said. Being dyslexic is one mark of a demigod, but sometimes he really hated it. The more nervous he is, the worse his reading gets. "A half-blood of the eldest gods, Shall reach sixteen against all odds..."
He hesitated, staring at the next lines. A cold feeling started in his fingers as if the paper was freezing, and his sea green eyes briefly flickered towards Andromeda who avoided his gaze at all costs.
"And see the world in endless sleep, Daughter of Madness will climb the steep, The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."
Suddenly Riptide seemed heavier in his pocket. A cursed blade? Chiron once told him Riptide had brought many people sorrow. Was it possible his own sword could get him killed? And the Daughter of Madness—that was, without a doubt, Andromeda—shall climb the steep? He didn't even know where to begin with that. And how could the world fall into endless sleep, unless that meant death?
"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest."
Percy's mouth felt like it was full of sand, but he spoke the last three lines.
"A single choice shall...shall end his days. Fate shall twine like a vine. Olympus to per—pursue—"
"Preserve," Annabeth said gently. '"t means "to save"."
"I know what it means," he grumbled.
"Olympus to preserve or raze."
The room was silent. Finally Connor Stoll said, "Raise is good, isn't it?"
"Not raise," Silena said. Her voice was hollow, but Percy was startled to hear her speak at all. "R-a-z-e means "destroy"."
"Obliterate," Annabeth said.
Andromeda grumbled, "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."
"Got it." Percy's heart felt like lead. "Thanks."
Everybody was looking at him—with concern—all of them except for the one person who he wanted to look at him—or pity, or maybe a little fear. Chiron closed his eyes as if he were saying a prayer. In horse form, his head almost brushed the lights in the rec room. "You see now, Percy, why we thought it best not to tell you the whole prophecy. You've had enough on your shoulders—"
"Without realising I was going to die in the end anyway?' Percy said. "Yeah, I get it."
Suddenly, Andromeda stood up from her seat and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders tense. When Chiron tried to place a gentle hand on her shoulder, she flinched away and clenched her jaw. Her breathing was shallow and harsh, but silent.
Chiron gazed at her, and then Percy sadly. The guy was three thousand years old. He'd seen hundreds of heroes die. He might not like it, but he was used to it. He probably knew better than to try reassuring any of them.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "You know prophecies always have double meanings. It might not literally mean you die."
"Sure," Percy said. "A single choice shall end his days. That has tons of meanings, right?"
"Maybe we can stop it," Michael Yew offered. "The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. Maybe we could find this cursed blade and destroy it. Sounds like Kronos's scythe, right?"
Percy hadn't thought about that, but it didn't matter if the cursed blade was Riptide or Kronos's scythe. Either way, he doubted they could stop the prophecy. A blade was supposed to reap his soul. As a general rule, he preferred not to have his soul reaped. And he really doesn't want Andromeda to get herself into trouble or whatever her line of the prophecy meant.
"Perhaps we should let Percy think about these lines," Chiron said. "He needs time—"
"No." He folded up the prophecy and shoved it in his pocket. He felt defiant and angry, though he wasn't sure who he was angry with. "I don't need time. If I die, I die. I can't worry about that, right?"
Andromeda looked down at the ground at his words, biting her lip as a choked sound left her lips. She looked like she wanted to say something, but against everything her mind was probably telling her, she didn't.
"Let's move on," he said. "We've got other problems. We've got a spy."
Michael Yew scowled. "A spy?"
Percy told them, with Donnie's help, what had happened on the Princess Andromeda—how Kronos had known they were coming, how he'd shown them both the silver scythe pendant he'd used to communicate with someone at camp.
Silena started to cry again and Annabeth put her arm around her shoulders.
"Well," Connor Stoll said uncomfortably, "we've suspected there might be a spy for years, right? Somebody kept passing information to Luke—like the location of the Golden Fleece a couple of years ago. Wait, that was Eliza. Does that mean there's a new spy? It must be somebody who knows him well.'
He glanced at Andromeda who had been in a relationship with the last spy, then Donnie who had been in a relationship with Luke himself and then at Annabeth who knew him better than pretty much everyone, but Connor looked away quickly. "Um, I mean, it could be anybody."
"Yes." Katie Gardner frowned at the Stoll brothers. She'd disliked them ever since they'd decorated the grass roof of the Demeter cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies. "Like one of Luke's siblings."
Travis and Connor both started arguing with her.
'"Stop!" Silena banged the table so hard her hot chocolate spilled. "Charlie's dead and...and you're all arguing like little kids!" She put her head down and began to sob.
Hot chocolate trickled off the ping-pong table. Everybody looked ashamed.
"She's right," Pollux said at last. "Accusing each other doesn't help. We need to keep our eyes open for a silver necklace with a scythe charm. If Kronos had one, the spy probably does too."
Andromeda raised her hand slightly and looked up, "Eliza had one. She left it with her letter that she gave me."
"Where is it?" Donnie asked.
"I burnt it with her letter and everything she owned at camp."
Michael Yew grunted. "We need to find this spy before we plan our next operation. Blowing up the Princess Andromeda won't stop Kronos forever."
"No, indeed," Chiron said. "In fact his next assault is already on the way."
Percy scowled. "You mean the "bigger threat" Poseidon mentioned?"
He and Annabeth looked at each other like: It's time. But this time, Andromeda and Donnie didn't meet their mentors' eyes.
"Percy," Chiron said, "we didn't want to tell you until you returned to camp. You needed a break with your...mortal friends."
Andromeda blushed. It dawned on Percy that she knew he'd been hanging out with Rachel, and he felt guilty. Then he felt angry that he felt guilty. He was allowed to have friends outside camp, right? It wasn't like...
Damn you ugly green guy.
"Tell me what's happened," he said.
Chiron picked up a bronze goblet from the snack table. He tossed water onto the hot plate where they usually melted nacho cheese. Steam billowed up, making a rainbow in the fluorescent lights. Chiron fished a golden drachma out of his pouch, tossed it through the mist and muttered, "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show us the threat."
The mist shimmered. They saw the familiar image of a smouldering volcano—Mount St Helens. As they watched, the side of the mountain exploded. Fire, ash and lava rolled out. A newscaster's voice was saying:—even larger than last year's eruption, and geologists warn that the mountain may not be done.
Percy, Annabeth, and Andromeda knew all about last year's eruption. Percy had caused it. But this explosion was much worse. The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole cover. He hoped the Mist would keep the humans from seeing it clearly, because what he saw would've caused panic and riots across the entire United States.
The giant was bigger than anything he'd ever encountered. Even his demigod eyes couldn't make out its exact form through the ash and fire, but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could've used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat. The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster were laughing.
"It's him," Percy said. "Typhon."
He was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good, like No, that's our huge friend Leroy! He's going to help us! But no such luck. He simply nodded. "The most horrible monster of all, the biggest single threat the gods ever faced. He has been freed from under the mountain at last. But this scene is from two days ago. Here is what is happening today."
Chiron waved his hand and the image changed. Percy saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains. Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path—ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys.
Monumental floods, an announcer was saying. Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction. The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest city. He couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm he could see the giant—just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city block. His angry roar rolled across the plains like a nuclear blast. Other smaller forms darted through the clouds, circling the monster. He saw flashes of light, and he realised the giant was trying to swat them. He squinted and thought he saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness. Then some kind of huge bird—a monstrous owl—dived in to attack the giant.
"Are those...the gods?" Percy said.
"Yes, Percy," Chiron said. "They have been fighting him for days now, trying to slow him down. But Typhon is marching forward—towards New York. Towards Olympus."
Percy let that sink in. "How long until he gets here?"
"Unless the gods can stop him? Perhaps five days. Most of the Olympians are there...except your father, who has a war of his own to fight."
"But then who's guarding Olympus?"
Connor Stoll shook his head. "If Typhon gets to New York, it won't matter who's guarding Olympus."
He thought about Kronos's words on the ship: I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus.
Was this what he was talking about: an attack by Typhon? It sure was terrifying enough. But Kronos was always fooling them, misdirecting their attention. This seemed too obvious for him. And in his dream the golden Titan had talked about several more challenges to come, like Typhon was only the first.
"It's a trick," Percy said. "We have to warn the gods. Something else is going to happen."
Chiron looked at him gravely. "Something worse than Typhon? I hope not."
For the first time in a while, Andromeda scoffed and met their eyes. "What's worse than Kronos himself?"
"We have to defend Olympus," Percy insisted. "Kronos has another attack planned."
"He did," Travis Stoll reminded him. "But you sank his ship."
Everyone was looking at Percy. They wanted some good news. They wanted to believe that at least he'd given them a little bit of hope.
Percy glanced at Andromeda, then Donnie and Annabeth. He could tell they were thinking the same thing: what if the Princess Andromeda was a ploy? What if Kronos let them blow up that ship so they'd lower their guard?
But Percy wasn't going to say that in front of Silena. Her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for that mission. Or Janaya who had lost her brother.
"Maybe you're right," Percy said, though he didn't believe a word of it.
He tried to imagine how things could get much worse. The gods were in the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before. Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus. Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood were on their own with a spy in their midst, again.
Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, Percy was going to die when he turned sixteen—which happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.
"Well," Chiron said, "I think that's enough for one night."
He waved his hand and the steam dissipated. The stormy battle of Typhon and the gods disappeared.
"That's an understatement," the son of Poseidon muttered. And the war council adjourned.
I watch NWH for the first time last night and I just. . .have nothing to say. It was so good and now we own it so we can watch it at any point and you best believe I rewatched it again today.
Anywho, I feel like this chapter was all over the place, like a lot happened and I always forget how fast this book goes compared to the others. It's like "let's be normal kids" one minute, to them fighting a full fledged war.
Alright, well, I hope you enjoyed!