[act five; chapter six - automaton]
Mrs. O'Leary was the only one happy about the sleeping city.
They found her pigging out at an overturned hot-dog stand while the owner was curled up on the sidewalk, sucking his thumb. Andromeda patted her back as they walked by, "I love you, but that is disgusting."
Argus was waiting for them with his hundred eyes wide open. He didn't say anything. He never does. Andromeda guessed that's because he supposedly has an eyeball on his tongue. But his face made it clear he was freaking out.
They told him what they'd learned in Olympus, and how the gods would not be riding to the rescue. Argus rolled his eyes in disgust, which looked pretty psychedelic since it made his whole body swirl.
"You'd better get back to camp," Percy told him. "Guard it as best you can."
He pointed at him and raised his eyebrow quizzically.
"I'm staying," the boy said.
Argus nodded, like this answer satisfied him. He looked at Annabeth and drew a circle in the air with his finger.
"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "I think it's time."
"For what?" Both Percy and Andromeda asked at the same time.
Argus rummaged around in the back of his van. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much standard issue—the same kind of round shield they always used in capture the flag—that is, unless you were Andromeda Storm. But when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty—which wasn't anywhere close to them.
Andromeda made an 'O' shape with her mouth and nodded, kneeling next to Annabeth. "This thing. Oh, I get it now. Time for that."
"Whoa," Percy said. "A video shield."
"One of Daedalus's ideas," Annabeth said. "I had Beckendorf make this before—" She glanced at Silena and Janaya. "Um, anyway, the shield bends sunlight or moonlight from anywhere in the world to create a reflection. You can literally see any target under the sun or moon, as long as natural light is touching it. Look."
They crowded around as Annabeth concentrated, Andromeda helping. The image zoomed and spun at first. They were in the Central Park Zoo, then zooming down East Sixtieth past Bloomingdale's, then turning on Third Avenue.
"Whoa," Connor Stoll said. "Back up. Zoom in right there."
"What?" Annabeth said nervously. "You see invaders?"
"No, right there—Dylan's Candy Bar." Connor grinned at his brother. "Dude, it's open. And everyone is asleep. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Connor!" Katie Gardner scolded. She sounded like her mother Demeter. "This is serious. You are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!"
"Sorry,' Connor muttered, but he didn't sound very ashamed.
Andromeda shook her head at him and turned back to the shield, muttering, "Children."
Annabeth passed her hand in front of the shield and another scene popped up: FDR Drive, looking across the river at Lighthouse Park.
"This will let us see what's going on across the city," she said. "Thank you, Argus. Hopefully, we'll see you back at camp...someday."
Argus grunted. He gave them a look that clearly meant good luck, then climbed into his van. He and the two harpy drivers swerved away, weaving around clusters of idle cars that littered the road.
Percy whistled for Mrs O'Leary and she came bounding over.
"Hey, girl," He said. 'You remember Grover? The satyr we met in the park?"
"WOOF!"
Andromeda hoped that meant, Sure I do! And not, Do you have more hot dogs?
"I need you to find him," Percy said. "Make sure he's still awake. We're going to need his help. You got that? Find Grover!"
Mrs O'Leary gave him a sloppy wet kiss, which seemed kind of unnecessary.
Then she raced off north.
Pollux crouched next to a sleeping policeman. "I don't get it. Why didn't we fall asleep too? Why just the mortals?"
"This is a huge spell," Silena Beauregard said. "The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want to sleep millions of mortals, you've got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder."
Donnie stared at her. "When did you learn so much about magic?"
Silena blushed. "I don't spend all my time on my wardrobe."
"Percy," Annabeth called. She was still looking at the shield. "You'd better see this."
The bronze image showed Long Island Sound near La Guardia. A fleet of a dozen speed boats raced through the dark water towards Manhattan. Each boat was packed with demigods in full Greek armour. At the back of the lead boat, a purple banner emblazoned with a black scythe flapped in the night wind. Andromeda had never seen that design before, but it wasn't hard to figure out: the battle flag of Kronos.
"Scan the perimeter of the island," he said. "Quick."
Annabeth shifted the scene south to the harbour. A Staten Island ferry was ploughing through the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with dracaenae and a whole pack of hellhounds. Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of marine mammals. At first the daughter of Dionysus thought they were dolphins. Then she saw their doglike faces and the swords strapped to their waists, and she realised they were telkhines.
The scene shifted again—the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic—giants with clubs, rogue Cyclops, a few fire-spitting dragons and, just to rub it in, a World War II-era Sherman tank, pushing cars out of its way as it rumbled into the tunnel.
"What's happening with the mortals outside Manhattan?" She asked. "Is the whole state asleep or is it just here?"
Annabeth frowned. "I don't think so, but it's strange. As far as I can tell from these pictures, Manhattan is totally asleep. Then there's, like, a fifty-mile radius around the island where time is running really, really slow. The closer you get to Manhattan, the slower it is."
She showed them another scene—a New Jersey highway. It was Saturday evening, so the traffic wasn't as bad as it might've been on a weekday. The drivers looked awake, but the cars were moving at about one mile per hour. Birds flew overhead in slow motion.
"Kronos," Percy said. "He's slowing time."
"Hecate might be helping," Katie Gardner said. "Look how the cars are all veering away from the Manhattan exits, like they're getting a subconscious message to turn back."
Andromeda looked over her shoulder at her brothers who watched her with cautious eyes. She glanced back at the shield and focused on the scene. Her eyes glowed as she tried to examine whatever it was that was helping slow time. She murmured, "I think Katie's right. Time slowing wouldn't make them go the opposite direction, but magic could. Change their minds, alter their motives and plans and they'll follow whatever directions they're given. But, that doesn't mean it is Hecate, it could be someone else, too."
"I don't know." Annabeth sounded really frustrated. She hated not knowing. "But somehow they've surrounded Manhattan in layers of magic. The outside world might not even realise something is wrong. Any mortals coming towards Manhattan will slow down so much they won't know what's happening."
"Like flies in amber," Janaya signed.
Annabeth nodded. "We shouldn't expect any help coming in."
Andromeda turned to her friends. They looked stunned and scared, and she couldn't blame
Them—she was scared too. The shield had shown them at least three hundred enemies on the way. There were forty of them. And they were alone.
"All right," Percy said. "We're going to hold Manhattan."
Silena tugged at her armour. "Um, Percy, Manhattan is huge."
"We are going to hold it," He said. "We have to."
"He's right," Andromeda said. "The wind gods should keep Kronos's forces away from Olympus by air, so he'll try a ground assault. We have to cut off the entrances to the island."
"They have boats," Michael Yew pointed out.
Suddenly, Athena's advice made complete sense. Andromeda nudged Percy, and he nodded in understanding.
"I'll take care of the boats," he said.
Michael frowned. "How?"
"Just leave it to me," he said. "We need to guard the bridges and tunnels. Let's assume they'll try a midtown or downtown assault, at least on their first try. That would be the most direct way to the Empire State Building. Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg Bridge. Katie, Demeter's cabin takes the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. Grow thorn bushes and poison ivy in the tunnel. Do whatever you have to do—but keep them out of there! Connor—take half of Hermes cabin and cover the Manhattan Bridge. Travis, you take the other half and cover the Brooklyn Bridge. And no stopping for looting or pillaging!"
"Awwww!" the whole Hermes cabin complained.
"Silena, take the Aphrodite crew to the Queens–Midtown Tunnel."
"Oh, my gods," one of her sisters said. 'Fifth Avenue is so on our way! We could accessorise, and monsters, like, totally hate the smell of Givenchy."
"No delays," Percy said. "Well...the perfume thing, if you think it'll work."
Six Aphrodite girls kissed him on the cheek in excitement, some of them, as they walked away, whispering little apologies to Andromeda whose face was bright red.
"All right, enough!" He closed his eyes, trying to think what he'd forgotten. "The Holland Tunnel. Janaya—take Hephaestus' cabin there. Use Greek fire, set traps. Whatever you've got.'
She grinned and nodded her head, giving him a thumbs up.
The whole cabin roared in approval.
"The Fifty-ninth Street Bridge,' Percy said. "Clarisse—"
He faltered. Clarisse wasn't here. The whole Ares cabin, curse them, was sitting back at camp.
"We'll take that." Annabeth stepped in, saving him from an embarrassing silence. She turned to her siblings. "Malcolm, take Athena cabin and activate plan twenty-three along the way, just like I showed you. Hold that position."
"You got it."
"I'll go with Percy and Andromeda," she said. "Then we'll join you—or we'll go wherever we're needed."
Somebody in the back of the group pointed at Andromeda and Percy, then said, "No detours, you two. Annabeth, you gotta keep an eye on them." There were some giggles here and there, and Andromeda's face was burning by the time they quieted down.
"All right," Percy said. "Keep in touch with cell phones."
"We don't have cell phones," Silena protested.
Andromeda reached down, picked up some snoring lady's BlackBerry and tossed it to Silena. "You do now."
Percy nodded at her in thanks, "You all know Annabeth's number, right? If you need us, pick up a random phone and call us. Use it once, drop it, then borrow another one if you have to. That should make it harder for the monsters to zero in on you."
Everyone grinned like they liked this idea.
Travis cleared his throat. "Uh, if we find a really nice phone—"
"No, you can't keep it,"
"Aw, man."
"Hold it, Percy," Jake Mason from the Hephaestus cabin said. "You forgot the Lincoln Tunnel."
Andromeda bit back a curse. He was right. A Sherman tank and a hundred monsters were
marching through that tunnel right now, and they'd positioned their forces everywhere else.
Then a girl's voice called from across the street: "How about you leave that to us?"
She's never been happier to hear anyone in her life. A band of thirty adolescent girls crossed Fifth Avenue. They wore white shirts, silvery camouflage pants and combat boots. They all had swords at their sides, quivers on their backs and bows at the ready. A pack of white timber wolves milled around their feet, and many of the girls had hunting falcons on their arms.
The girl in the lead had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess's tiara, which didn't match her skull earrings or her Death to Barbie T-shirt showing a little Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.
"Thalia!" Annabeth cried.
The daughter of Zeus grinned. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting for duty."
Andromeda skipped towards her and barreled into her arms, the two girls rocking from side to side as little laughs escaped them. "I missed you too, Dromeda."
There were hugs and greetings all around—or at least Thalia was friendly. The other Hunters didn't like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn't shoot any of them, which for them was a pretty warm welcome.
"Where have you been the last year?" Percy asked Thalia. "You've got, like, twice as many Hunters now!"
She laughed. "Long, long story. I bet my adventures were more dangerous than yours, Jackson."
"Complete lie," he said.
"We'll see," she promised. "After this is over, you, Annabeth and me: cheeseburgers and fries at that hotel on West Fifty-sixth."
"Le Parker Meridien," he said. "You're on. And, Thalia—thanks."
She shrugged. "Those monsters won't know what hit them. Hunters, move out!"
She slapped her silver bracelet and the shield Aegis spiralled into full form.
The golden head of Medusa moulded in the centre was so horrible the campers all backed away. The Hunters took off down the avenue, followed by their wolves and falcons, and Andromeda had a feeling the Lincoln Tunnel would be safe for now. Donnie had haphazardly decided to go with them, just in case they needed more power, and because he could work with them and their bows better than most. He and Andromeda hugged each other tightly, foreheads pressed together, talking to each other in Latin, something they always did. It was strange because the two of them, when speaking to each other, always spoke in Latin, not Greek. Donnie pulled away first and followed after Thalia, catching her up on some recent events.
"Thank the gods," Annabeth said. "But if we don't blockade the rivers from those boats, guarding the bridges and tunnels will be pointless."
"You're right," Percy said.
Andromeda looked at the campers, all of them grim and determined. She tried not to feel like this was the last time she'd ever see them all together, but there was no guarantee in war, this she knew.
"You're the greatest heroes of this millennium," Percy told them. "It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely, and we will win." He raised Riptide and shouted, "FOR OLYMPUS!"
They shouted in response, and their forty voices echoed off the buildings of midtown. For a moment, it sounded brave, but it died quickly in the silence of ten million sleeping New Yorkers.
Andromeda, Annabeth and Percy would've had their pick of cars, but they were all wedged in bumper-to-bumper traffic. None of the engines were running, which was weird. It seemed the drivers had had time to turn off the ignition before they got too sleepy. Or maybe Morpheus had the power to put engines to sleep as well. Most of the drivers had apparently tried to pull to the curb when they felt themselves passing out, but still the streets were too clogged to navigate.
Finally, they found an unconscious courier leaning against a brick wall, still straddling his red Vespa. They dragged him off the scooter and laid him on the sidewalk.
"Sorry, dude," Percy said.
"Okay, problem." Andromeda said as she examined the size of the Vespa. "There's three of us, and only room for two on that thing."
Annabeth grinned at the two of them, and clapped her hand on Andromeda's shoulder mischievously. "Well, you two take that thing, you know what to do Andy. I'll go the other way, get started there, cover more ground."
As she walked away without hesitation or waiting for them to respond, she threw a peace sign in the air and yelled, "Have fun you two! But not too much fun!"
And she was gone, leaving the two of them alone.
Percy drove with Andromeda behind him, holding onto his waist. Her head was turned, laying against his shoulder blade, the warmth from the bodies enveloping the others. They zigzagged down Broadway with their engine buzzing through the eerie calm. The only sounds were occasional cell phones ringing—like they calling out to each other, as if New York had turned into a giant electronic aviary.
Their progress was slow. Every so often they'd come across pedestrians who'd fallen asleep right in front of a car, and they'd move them just to be safe. Once they stopped to extinguish a pretzel vendor's cart that had caught on fire. A few minutes later they had to rescue a baby carriage that was rolling aimlessly down the street. It turned out there was no baby in it—just somebody's sleeping poodle. Go figure. They parked it safely in a doorway and kept riding.
They were passing Madison Square Park when Andromeda said: "Pull over."
They stopped in the middle of East Twenty-third. Andromeda jumped off and ran towards the park. By the time he caught up with her, she was staring at a bronze statue on a red marble pedestal.
The dude was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed. He wore an old-fashioned suit with a bowtie and long coat-tails and stuff. A bunch of bronze books were piled under his chair. He held a writing quill in one hand and a big metal sheet of parchment in the other.
"Why do we care about..." he squinted at the name on the pedestal. "William H. Steward?"
"Seward," the redhead corrected. "He was a New York governor. Minor demigod—son of Hebe, I think. But that's not important. It's the statue that's important."
She climbed on a park bench and examined the base of the statue.
"Don't tell me he's an automaton."
Annabeth smiled. "Turns out most of the statues in the city are automatons. Daedalus planted them here just in case he needed an army."
"To attack Olympus or defend it?"
She shrugged. "Either one. That was plan twenty-three. He could activate one statue and it would start activating the others all over the city, until there was an army. It's dangerous, though. You know how unpredictable automatons are."
"Uh-huh," he said. They'd had their share of bad experiences with them. "You're seriously thinking about activating it?"
"Annabeth showed me his notes a while back, just in case of a situation like this where we had to start them all up."
She pressed the tip of Seward's boot and the statue stood up, its quill and paper ready.
"What's he going to do?" Percy muttered. "Take a memo?"
"Shh," said Andromeda. "Hello, William."
"Bill."
"Bill—oh, shut up," Andromeda told him. The statue tilted its head, looking at them with blank metal eyes.
She cleared her throat. "Hello, er, Governor Seward. Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Defend Manhattan. Begin Activation."
Seward jumped off his pedestal. He hit the ground so hard his shoes cracked the sidewalk. Then he went clanking off towards the east.
"He's probably going to wake up Confucius," Annabeth guessed.
"What?" Percy said.
"Another statue on Division. The point is, they'll keep waking each other up until they're all activated."
"And then?"
"Hopefully, they defend Manhattan."
"Do they know that we're not the enemy?"
"We'll find out, I guess."
"That's reassuring."
Suddenly, a ball of green light exploded in the evening sky—Greek fire, somewhere over the East River.
"We have to hurry," Percy said. And they ran for the Vespa.
They pulled over outside Battery Park, at the lower tip of Manhattan where the Hudson and East Rivers came together and emptied into the Bay.
"Wait here," he told Andromeda.
"No, Percy, you shouldn't go alone."
"Well, unless you can breathe underwater."
She sighed. "You are so annoying sometimes."
"Like when I'm right? Trust me, I'll be fine. I've got the curse of Achilles now. I'm all invincible and stuff."
She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head, looking unimpressed.
Percy grinned at her and cocked his head to the side. "Do I get another goodluck kiss? You know, since last time it really gave me a boost of confidence. It would also be—"
He cut himself off when she pressed a quick kiss to his nose and whispered, "Don't die or I'll come find you, bring you back to life, and kill you again."
With that, he made his way towards the river.
—🍇—
A while later, no longer than fifteen minutes, Percy emerged from the water just as Andromeda hung up on a call.
"It worked," he told her. "The rivers are safe."
"Good," she said, trying her best to stay positive in light of everything going on. "Because we've got other problems. Michael Yew just called. Another army is marching over the Williamsburg Bridge. The Apollo cabin needs help. And, Percy, the monster leading the enemy...it's the Minotaur."
Did I update four times in one day?
Yes, yes I did.
Anywho, I am not ready for the next few chapters because. . .well, you will have to wait and read to find out, but personally I suggest sad music.
Okay, that's all. BYE!