The trio of Percy, Zoe and Bianca were now standing right in front of the Empire State Building while people passed them by.
"You have got to be kidding me." Percy grumbled. "Is a relic really up there on Olympus?"
Not all the way up, Gaia said. Somewhere between Olympus and the Earth.
"There's nothing between the two except thin air." Percy pointed out.
You'd be surprised.
"Huh,"
"What's wrong?" Bianca asked.
"Gaia said the relic is between Olympus and the Earth."
"Um, what?"
"Oh, so you mean the lower sky," Zoe said as if it was obvious. Bianca and Percy stared at her, looking for an explanation. "You guys don't know about it?" Bianca and Percy shook their heads. "You know how the Greek pantheon has the God of Upper Air, right?"
Bianca nodded while Percy shook his head. Percy tend to not store that kind of information since, well, it doesn't help.
Zoe sighed. "Aether is the Primordial of the Upper Sky. In our skies, there are two parts. One is the upper sky, which is where Olympus is. The other is the lower sky, which is meant for mortals."
Percy stared at her blankly. "Uh-huh."
Bianca chuckled while Zoe rolled her eyes. "In short, there is something between Olympus and the Earth. The only question is how do we get there."
"You know all this stuff but you don't know how to get there?" Percy asked. Zoe hit him on the arm.
"It's not like you can get an Uber there. Plus, it's no place for mortals. From what Lady Artemis told me, the lower sky contains the strongest winds known to man. It'll be impossible for us to go there." Zoe explained.
"But aren't we immortal?" Bianca gestured at both Zoe and herself.
"Partially," Zoe said. "Besides, it's not about being immortal. Only someone with the strength of a god can withstand those winds. Even some minor gods struggled against those winds."
"What kind of winds are we talking about?" Percy asked.
"The kind that creates climate changing, catastrophic hurricane. The kind of wind that's equivalent to Typhon's strength. The kind that as soon as you walk into it, your skin will be peeled off of your body." Zoe explained.
Percy gulped. "So it's a strong wind." Percy said nervously. "Got it."
"Even if we somehow made it through all that, it's most likely guarded by Aeolus, the Master of Winds." Zoe said.
"Ah, can't forget about that." The more Percy hears about the place, the more he is unsure about getting the relic. "So, any ideas?"
Bianca sighed. "I have one, but you won't like it."
Line Break
Lucia made it to Camp Half-Blood without any problems. You'd think that having the aura of someone like Poseidon would attract the attention of all kinds of monsters, but surprisingly nothing went near them.
Maybe it was for the fact that Poseidon had took the time to send his daughter there personally.
Chiron was waiting in front of the Big House along with Mr D as Poseidon and Lucia walked over there. You wouldn't know that the man was Poseidon with his Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt, but the golden trident gave it away.
"Lord Poseidon," Chiron bowed in his centaur form while Dionysus just yawned.
"Fresh meat, Uncle?" Dionysus asked with boredom.
"You would do well not to address your cousin like that, Dionysus," Poseidon said calmly. "Chiron, I trust you will care for her, yes?"
"Of course, my Lord," Chiron nodded. "She will be safe within the borders of our camp."
Poseidon nodded in approval. Then, he turned to Lucia. "You will do well here." Lucia didn't look like she was paying attention. "Is there something wrong?"
Lucia sighed. "It's just so much to take in all at once. I mean, you're a god,"
"I'm here too," Dionysus said without excitement. "But who wants to talk to me when you got Poseidon around, right?"
Poseidon chuckled. "Chiron will teach you everything you need to know." He turned towards Chiron. "I leave her in your care."
Chiron nodded. Poseidon was about to teleport away but Lucia stopped him. "Wait," She called. "Will I see you again?"
"Not likely. Your dad's a busy man." Dionysus offered.
Poseidon sighed. "You will, but not often. But you can be sure I will watch over you." He said with a smile before disappearing in a gust of sea breeze.
"Well, that was entertaining." Dionysus said. "Chiron, we're still up for the game of pinochle?"
"I look forward to it," Chiron nodded before Dionysus disappears. "You'd have to tolerate him for a while. That was Dionysus, the God of Wine and the camp director,"
"Huh," Lucia said. "Not looking forward to meeting him again."
Chiron chuckled. "Come, child. We'll take a walk."
Chiron accompanied Lucia and gave her a tour of the camp. Along the way, he explained on how the gods came to be and how the standard life of a demigod is.
"Though, it is strange." Chiron said. "It's been a while since I've seen a child of Poseidon. Both Zeus and Hades have their children and both have become great heroes."
"Shoot," Lucia said. "Did I miss my shot?"
Chiron actually laughed. "I think it's better that you did. It's only been a year since we'd gone up against Mother Earth herself,"
"Mother Earth . . ." Lucia muttered. "You mean Gaia?"
Chiron nodded. "And just before that, the senior demigods from this camp took on the Titan army that was invading Manhattan, let by the Titan King himself, Kronos."
Lucia whistled. "That must be one hell of a fight. How did you guys win?"
Chiron then slowed down before stopping in his tracks. "I can't seem to recall. It's all a blur." Chiron then smiled apologetically. "You must forgive me child, I am an old man."
"No worries." Lucia said.
Chiron tried hard to remember the event, but he couldn't seem to do it. It might be due to his old age, but he doubted it. He remembered every single hero that he's trained. Heck, he even remembered what every hero he trained liked for dinner. But he can't seem to remember the details of the war with Kronos and Gaia. He knew they'd won. He just couldn't remember how.
"Ah, here's your cabin." They stopped in front of a low and long cabin, similar to a seaside house. The windows appear to be facing the sea and the symbol of a trident could be seen carved into the wood above the door.
"Am I the only who lives here?" Lucia asked.
Chiron nodded. "Well, except for Tyson whenever he stops by."
"Who's Tyson?"
"A friend of ours. A cyclops who is currently the General of the Cyclopes army. Now he's trying to reconstruct the Sibylline Books along with Ella and Rachel, our Oracle." Chiron explained. "Which reminds me, Tyson is technically your half-brother, since Poseidon is the father of all cyclopes."
"Huh," Lucia said. It took all she had to not burst into confusion. "Can I go in?" Chiron gestured for her to do so. Lucia stepped into the cabin. It was incredible as she could totally see herself getting used to this. There was just one problem though.
"Chiron," Lucia called. "What does Tyson look like?"
"Big guy, beefy hands, one eye in the middle of his head." Chiron said. "Why?"
"Then who's this?" Lucia examined the pictures that were plastered on the wall. It was pictures of someone that she didn't know. Some of them included various people from Chiron to a blonde girl to a woman who looks like she's in her late thirties. Nothing was similar in each picture except for one guy who seems to be in all of them. A boy with raven black hair and sea green eyes, similar to Lucia's. While he looks to be around Lucia's age in the picture, she could tell that these pictures were taken a while ago.
"That must be Percy Jackson," Chiron said. Since the doorway was too low, he had to duck down and peek inside.
"Who now?"
"Apparently, he's someone we know of and has been here for quite a while, but no one seems to remember who he is." Chiron explained.
"Not even the girl in the picture?"
"That's Annabeth Chase, one of our camp counsellor." Chiron said. "And yes, not even her."
Lucia looked at the pictures for a bit longer. "Strange."
"It is indeed," Chiron agreed. "That picture was taken a while back. I would've remembered if someone like him had –"
"No, not that." Lucia said.
Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Then what is it, my dear?"
"I feel . . . drawn to him. Like I'm supposed to know him."
"Well my dear, if you do know him then please tell us. I heard he's caused quite the commotion in New Rome."
"Where?"
Then, the sound of a horn could be heard. "Is that a call for lunch?"
"An attack," Chiron's voice turned serious. "Get to the armory, Lucia. We're about to engage in combat."
Line Break
Annabeth was standing by near Festus, ready to depart for Camp Half-Blood along with Jason, Leo and Piper who were on their way.
Reyna was there to bid them farewell. "I do wish you can stay a bit longer. I've got tons of things to figure out."
"Yeah, same on my side." Annabeth smiled. "Along with designing Olympus again. I'm tired of declining requests from Ares for his statue to be built with actual human skin."
Reyna shuddered. "I'm glad I'm Roman. Mars doesn't do that."
Annabeth chuckled. "Well, see you some other time," Annabeth pulled Reyna into an embrace before an Iris Message shouted her name.
"Annabeth!"
Annabeth jumped. She turned around to see the floating head of Connor Stoll in a rainbow. "Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry, but we got a problem!" Connor said. Annabeth could hear commotion in the background along with an explosion.
"What's going on?"
"We're under attack," Connor explained. "And the enemy. They're huge. There's a lot of them. We need back up!"
Annabeth's heart filled with dread. "We'll be right there. Hang tight!" Annabeth said before waving her hand through the message. She turned around towards Reyna. "Reyna –"
"Way ahead of you," Reyna said as she hung up on her phone. Her face turned serious. "I've assembled the Romans. We'll be ready to depart in a few minutes."
Jason, Leo and Piper arrived next to them. "Okay, we're ready."
"Change of plans." Annabeth said. "Camp Half-Blood is under attack and from the sound of it, they're in trouble."
That couldn't be good. Sure, the Greeks weren't really known for their militia tactics and battle prowess like the Romans, but they're a formidable force. They have a huge number of demigods and all of them are trained in combat.
If something manages to threaten a force like that, then it can't be good.
"The Romans are getting ready." Reyna said. "But Annabeth, how do we get there? I mean, we can drive or fly, but it would take hours for us to arrive."
Annabeth bit back a curse. Travelling by sea is not an option. Travelling by land would take far too long and so will flight. Annabeth wished Nico was here right now to shadow travel them to Camp Half-Blood, but he was on another mission.
Plus, Annabeth doubt he could cover that much distance in one jump without passing out.
Out of all the people, Leo spoke up. "Well, I guess it's time."
"Time for what?" Piper asked.
"There was supposed to be a big reveal for it, but the situation requires for it." Leo said. "Festus, if you would do the honor."
Festus creaked as its body straightened. Festus' body started to tremble with puffs of smoke going out everywhere.
"Um, is that normal?" Jason asked.
On cue, something popped out of Festus' body. It landed right in front of them. At first, it was something the size of a compact disc, but it later expanded to a circular platform, probably thirty meters in diameter. In the middle of it was something that looked like a disco ball balanced on a stick.
Everyone stared at him. "What's this supposed to be?" Annabeth asked.
"Glad you asked." Leo said. "With the help of the Archimedes' Sphere, the Goddess Iris' magic, an astrolabe, a crystal dug out by our friend Hazel, a couple of wind gods, and a sprinkle of Leo Valdez's geniousity –"
"That's not a word."
"– I present to you, 'Leo's Totally-Awesome-and-Works Transporter'."
Everyone stared at him.
"Tough crowd," Leo said. "Basically, this thing enables us to transport between two points instantly. It uses the astrolabe to figure out the coordinates while Iris' magic enables us to see where we're going, and the wind gods' magic will help us travel in that speed. And the Sphere makes everything work the way it's supposed to be. The crystal is so that the magic doesn't overload the machine. When the wind gods' magic do their thing, they will lock on to the other device in Bunker Nine like a homing beacon so that we don't accidentally get transported to Egypt."
"So, basically a teleporter." Jason said.
"You're no fun. Yeah. It's a teleporter." Leo grumbled. "I made two of these. The other one is in Bunker Nine in Camp Half-Blood."
"Why did you wait to tell us?" Reyna asked.
"Well, I have some trouble to get it to work properly." Leo admitted. "I did a few test runs and I've ended up in Italy, Mexico, and one time I landed in Asphodel."
"So, is it working now?"
"I'm positive." Leo said assuringly.
"How positive?" Jason asked.
"About eighty percent."
"Where's the other twenty percent?"
Leo winced. "I haven't actually tested this new version. There might be some side effects to it like being temporarily transformed into a dandelion, but I can assure you it's nothing lethal. I think."
They all looked at each other. "Well, it's better than nothing."
Line Break
"Let me get this straight," Percy said as the elevator climbed up to the top floor. "Your plan to make sure we survive this wind is to scare it?"
Bianca nodded.
"You've done this before?" Zoe asked.
Bianca nodded again.
"And it works?"
Bianca nodded the third time. "Children of Hades can radiate terror onto all living things. Since these winds must be controlled by wind spirits, I'm going to scare them."
Zoe and Percy looked at each other. "How come when she says it, it makes sense?" Percy asked. Zoe just shrugged.
A few minutes went by before the elevator made a screeching halt, signaling that they've arrived on their floor.
Now you're wondering, how do you arrive in the middle between Olympus and the Empire State Building?
Simple, take the elevator next to it.
The Empire State Building has six elevators that goes beyond the height of the building. Only one of them leads to Olympus. The other five leads to various places. This is to keep unwanted visitors from arriving.
One of them stops just near the border between upper air and lower air. As the doors of the elevator opened, they were completely blown away.
Literally. The winds were so strong that it felt like Percy's something was peeling his skin off of his body. He pressed the button to close the elevator doors.
"Okay, we need a new plan." Percy panted. "This isn't going to work."
"No kidding," Zoe said as she took a deep breath. "It's like being hit with by a freight train."
"Come on guys, we can do this." Bianca assured them. She pressed the button to open the elevator doors. Once again, they were completely blown away.
Somehow, the winds were stronger as they pushed Percy, Zoe, and Bianca against the walls of the elevator. The pressure of it eventually becomes way too strong for their lungs that Percy had trouble breathing. He could barely lift his fingers, which was a problem since he wants to close the door.
Percy could see Bianca's eyes closing as she passed out from the pressure. They had no choice. This was a mistake.
Percy gathered up all his strength and slowly lift his hand forward along with the sword.
At first, it looked like he was going to stab himself. Percy pulled the sword back and it sank through the metal walls of the door next to Percy, creating a hole.
The wind the rest as the hole expanded instantly and they were blown off into a free fall through the hole and towards the sky being tossed around by the winds like a piece of paper in a hurricane. The whole world was twisting and turning. Percy felt like he was riding the most insane roller coaster ever.
"Is this part of your plan?!" Zoe shouted through the wind.
Percy dived towards Bianca who was free falling unconsciously. As they descended through the cloud, Percy could see Long Island Sound just a few hundred meters in front of them. They had been flung away so far by the wind that they arrived at Long Island. If they could land in the water, Percy could save all three of them.
Percy offered his hand to Zoe. If they were going to do this, they need to stick together. Zoe grabbed Percy's hand. "We head for the water!" Percy shouted over the roaring wind.
His face felt numb from the constant pressure of wind. The sea of Long Island glistened from the sun. He aimed carefully to make sure that he didn't land on land.
Three hundred meters . . .
Two hundred meters . . .
One hundred meters . . .
SPLASH!
Percy, Zoe and Bianca did what could've been the world record for highest free fall diving.
They landed safe and sound, but their clothes were all wet. Percy propelled them to the beach. "Thank god we made it."
"Couldn't you at least make it so our clothes would stay dry." Zoe grumbled.
"In my defense, I was focused on making sure both of you wouldn't die from the impact." Percy panted. "And you're welcome for saving you."
Bianca then woke up, gasping for air. "What happened?" She asked. "Why are we all wet?"
"Well, your plan didn't work." Percy said. "You passed out,"
Bianca winced. "Sorry. I guess it's hard to scare something when you can't move."
"You got that right," Zoe said as she pulled the kelp out of her hair. "So, new plan?"
Before Percy could answer, he heard a horn blaring through the sky. "What was that?" Bianca asked.
He swore he's heard that sound before, but he couldn't recall. As he was trying to remember, monsters started to appear on the beach. Some came from the water while others just appeared from the shadows.
"We've got company," Percy grumbled.