Midtown was a war zone.
The enemy was closing in on the Empire State Building. Their defenses were collapsing.
It had taken everything in her and more to rip open that pocket dimension, but she had eventually overpowered Aeëtes whose blind rage made him the weaker of the two deities. And if she now had the king strung up by his underwear on top of the Statue of Liberty while she chewed on his mageia core like an apple then that was her business.
Of course, she now had a long scar across her back that had been bandage carefully until she could get somewhere to wash the hex off of her alongside whatever paste that Hecate dug into it. At least the goddess would be running around with half her body burned off and an image of Lævateinn carved into her skin.
Lea moved through the armies with an ease that she didn't even know she had.
She sat atop of Salome bounding against the army, mageia in her eyes and singing throughout her soul. She turned arrows into poisonous snakes and swords into binding ropes. A giant went from ripping up trees in Bryant Park while dryads pelted him with nuts to stopping and smashing hellhounds after one glimpse of her eyes.
A trio of Hephaestus campers fought a squad of dracaenae in the middle of Rockefeller Center and gained a bit of relief when a massive fireball emerged from her head and vanquished the monstrous hags into the asphalt.
She stopped long enough to heal any bruises, lift any cruses, and cast any protection spells before she kept moving forward.
(She looked a bit like Shego with the way that her mageia curled around her hands.)
Salome made scratching posts out of their enemies, and she growled loudly in her grief for Arkas.
Leaneíras understood that very well.
At some point, she's flanked by Travis and Connor as they grow closer to the Empire State Building.
Leaneíras smiled as she saw enemy demigods take one look at her and rush away in the opposite direction. She listened to their pleas for mercy, but it was them who decided to join the opposition; it was their side that called for war, and it was because of them that Arkas was gone.
She laughed darkly watching as their armour mold itself to their body, watched as their skin turned mossy green, their hair fell away to make room for scales.
She laughs and she cackles as she bears down on the enemy, and the mortals stare at her in awe.
She, rich-haired Leaneíras, an enchanting goddess with shining hair, with human speech and with strange mahō; earth-shaking Perseus that bares a brave heart was her brother.
Leaneíras cast a glance over at her brother; he was leaping off of Blackjack and landing on the head of Hyperborean giant and shield-bashing his nose on the way down.
"RAWWWR!' The giant staggered backward, blue blood trickling from his nostrils. The Hyperborean breathed a cloud of white mist, and the temperature dropped. Percy only just barely missed being coated with ice though he was covered in frost like a sugar donut.
"Hey, ugly!" Annabeth yelled.
Blue Boy bellowed and turned toward her, exposing the unprotected back of his legs. Percy charged and stabbed him behind the knee.
"WAAAAH!" The Hyperborean buckled, froze, and turned to ice. Cracks appeared in his body. They got larger and wider until the giant crumbled in a mountain of blue shards.
She looked over her brother, gave a nod to see him okay, then turned back to fighting. There were plenty of enemies left.
The next hour was a blur. Lea fought like she'd never fought before—wading into legions of dracaenae, taking out dozens of telkhines with every strike, destroying empousai and knocking out enemy demigods. No matter how many she defeated, more took their place.
Leaneíras' smile was sharp as she smiled at the enemy demigods equipped with their sparse forms of mageia. Her own power surrounded them like smoke and her words were filed with enchantment. "Lavender, Mimosa, Holy Thistle, cleanse this evil from our midst." They cried out, shaking and moving about like it was an exorcism. "Scatter its cells throughout time, let them no more exist."
A loud scream rung out through the streets; a sound so high in pitch that even though Leaneíras couldn't hear it... she could feel it. Hellhounds howled and whimpered in face of it as Salome whimpered, but it was over as fast it happened, and she ran a soothing hand over her pet before continuing on.
Drew flew above her on the back of Ginevre, arrows flying from the sky as fast as the raindrops from the storms she conjured. A few streets away, Lou Ellen had brought night to day and she saw even the girl's siblings avoiding the alley where the shadows gained life. Lea recognized a few of Katie Gardener's "babies" running around which didn't make it any better that the local dryads wanted to adopt the cannibalistic plant animals either though it was... amusing to watch the way that the enemy ran when small gerbils came close and they rushed off screaming as they opened their mouths wide and devour a Laistrygon with one bite.
She had to stop attacking after a while and move on to defending. Too many of the campers laid wounded in the streets and just as many were missing. Leaneíras sat beside Drew's sister, Valencia, pouring mageia into her. "Eight broken ribs," she murmured. "Six on the right. Two on the left. I have to do it one by one so its gonna hurt like a bitch to heal."
"No ambrosia or nectar?"
"Not if you want them to heal correctly," she snorted. She asked Lee Fletcher that before and he told her quite plainly that if broken ribs managed to find itself in a position where the rib moved out a place similar to Slipping rib syndrome then the ambrosia or nectar won't fix it by putting it back in place, but by melding it in the spot that it was at. Not a very fun experience for anyone when it needs to be fixed.
The girl cursed but held Eliza's hand tightly when her sister slid to her side and managed to hold back her screams as Lea's mageia found its way under her skin.
As the night wore on and the moon got higher, they were backed up foot by foot until they were only a block from the Empire State Building in any direction.
"Hold your lines!" Katie Gardner shouted, somewhere off to Lea's right. The problem was there were too few of them to hold anything. The entrance to Olympos was twenty feet behind them. A ring of brave demigods, Hunters, and nature spirits guarded the doors.
Before her, Percy was slashing and hacking, destroying everything in this path, but she could tell that he was getting tired. Lea could understand. Her mageia core was begging for reprieve and she knew that she needed to go somewhere to check on it.
But then...
Behind the enemy troops, a few blocks to the east, a bright light began to shine that was matched only intensity by Leaneíras's eyes as they emitted a light like glow sticks. Even Lou Ellen and her own siblings' eyes weren't glowing as brightly as Leaneíras.
For a moment, Lea thought it was the sunrise.
And then her Grandfather rode up on a golden chariot.
Drew and the campers of the Seventh Cabin all growled as one.
A dozen Laistrygonian giants bore torches before him.
It was only a little creepy to see Katie's babies licking their chlorophyllide lips.
Two Hyperboreans carried his black-and-purple banners. The Titan lord looked fresh and rested, his powers at full strength. He was taking his time advancing, letting them wear themselves down.
Leaneíras allowed herself to sink deeper into herself.
Remember what a blessing love is.
A hunting horn cut through the noise of the battle like a fire alarm. A chorus of horns answered from all around them, echoing off the buildings of Manhattan.
The horns got louder. It was hard to tell where they were coming from because of the echo, but it sounded like an entire army was approaching.
She was almost afraid it might be more enemies, but Kronos's forces looked as confused as we were. Giants lowered their clubs. Dracaenae hissed. Even Kronos's honor guard looked uneasy.
Lea took it for the distraction that it was.
As Kronos' entire northern flank surged forward, a hundred monsters crying out at once, Lea's mageia burned through their southern allies. The Northern flank crashed into the southern and they got disintegrated right alongside them.
A new blast of horns shattered the night. The air shimmered. In a blur of movement, an entire cavalry appeared as if dropping out of light speed.
"Yeah, baby!" a voice wailed. "PARTY!"
A shower of arrows arced over the campers heads and slammed into the enemy, vaporizing hundreds of demons. But these weren't regular arrows. They made whizzy sounds as they flew, like WHEEEEEE! Some had pinwheels attached to them. Others had boxing gloves rather than points.
"Centaurs!" Annabeth yelled from below.
The Party Pony army exploded into the midst in a riot of colors: tie-dyed shirts, rainbow Afro wigs, oversize sunglasses, and war-painted faces. Some had slogans scrawled across their flanks like HORSEZ PWN or KRONOS SUX.
Hundreds of them filled the entire block. Lea laughed, soaring through the air like Peter Pan and refiling quivers with arrows littered across the streets or made of her own mageia for Drew.
"Percy!" Chiron shouted across the sea of wild centaurs. He was dressed in armor from the waist up, his bow in his hand, and he was grinning in satisfaction. "Sorry we're late!"
"DUDE!" Another centaur yelled. "Talk later. WASTE MONSTERS NOW!"
He locked and loaded a double-barrel paint gun and blasted an enemy hellhound bright pink. The paint must've been mixed with Celestial bronze dust or something, because as soon as it splattered the hellhound, the monster yelped and dissolved into a pink-and-black puddle.
Lea sighed because she knew for a fact that Drew would soon be harassing the children of Cabin Nine for replicas, and she kept an eye on Hermes' kids because she knew that they might try to steal some and then resale them at camp because no one could say that they weren't good businessmen.
"PARTY PONIES.'" a centaur yelled. "SOUTH FLORIDA!"
Somewhere across the battlefield, a twangy voice yelled back, "HEART OF TEXAS CHAPTER!"
"HAWAII OWNS YOUR FACES!" a third one shouted.
It was the most beautiful thing Lea'd ever seen. The entire Titan army turned and fled, pushed back by a flood of paintballs, arrows, swords, and NERF baseball bats. The centaurs trampled everything in their path. Lea and Drew's attempts at help was completely unneeded.
"Stop running, you fools!" Kronos yelled. "Stand and ACKK!" That last part was because a panicked Hyperborean giant stumbled backward and sat on top of him. The lord of time disappeared under a giant blue butt.
Still, they joined up with the centaur army and managed to push them for several blocks until Chiron yelled, "HOLD! On your promise, HOLD!" It wasn't easy, but eventually the order got relayed up and down the ranks of centaurs, and they started to pull back, letting the enemy flee.
Lea landed on wobbly feet beside her brother who helped her stay upright. Her hand cradled her waist as if she could ease the pain of her core with her arm alone.
"Chiron's smart," Annabeth said, wiping the sweat off her face. "If we pursue, we'll get too spread out. We need to regroup."
"But the enemy—"
"They're not defeated," Eliza agreed, dabbing at Annabeth's face with a handkerchief that she pulled out her Nanny McPhee fannypack. "But the dawn is coming. At least we've bought some time."
They set up a two-block perimeter, with a command tent at the Empire State Building. Lea quickly moved over to the healers' tents helping wherever she could and soundly ignoring the way that her core pinched and pulled every other moment or so.
Chiron informed them that the Party Ponies had sent chapters from almost every state in the Union: forty from California, two from Rhode Island, thirty from Illinois . . . Roughly five hundred total had answered his call, but even with that many, they couldn't defend more than a few blocks.
She moved quickly, conjuring supplies for even the Hunter's medics that managed to put their dislike for boys away just enough to heal them.
After the fifth person that they lost even after Lea had her hands deep within their guts, she had to step away to take a breather.
Her eyes moved over their people. Drew was checking over her siblings, whispering invocations to their Mother to strengthen their armor, bandaging Lacy's ankle, while Jaemin and a few others crafted some perfume bombs, others were collecting their weapons, and some were moving over to help the healers even if they couldn't do much more than stitches.
Travis was embracing one of his younger siblings, holding them close while Connor was speaking reassuring words to others like Cecil. The latter was wincing every other second and she remembered something about him inheriting Hermes' soul guiding powers.
Clovis and a few of his siblings were sitting with the healers, giving those that were too far gone to be saved, pleasant dreams as they descended to her Uncle's realm.
Katie and Miranda and Billye were sitting with a few children of Nike even if they were under the umbrella of being Athena kids as they were all pale in the face, shivering, and vomiting. Victory was near, but whose victory they didn't know, and it was making them sick the closer that Kronos got to Olympos.
Percy was standing with Eliza and Annabeth, murmuring to each other.
And then her brother bolted down the street.
Lea's eyes tracked his trajectory and her heart just about stop when her gaze rested on a beat-up blue car. The hood was badly dented, like somebody had tried to hammer out some huge craters. Lea was moving before she knew it though she really hoped that she was wrong, but... but what other reason would Percy be running.
She overtook Annabeth and Eliza quickly, a blur as she stopped next to her brother.
It was Paul's Prius.
Paul was passed out in the driver's seat. Their mom was snoring beside him. Blood roared in her ears. How long had they been sitting there while their children battled around them without even noticing?
"They . . . they must've seen those blue lights in the sky." Percy rattled the doors, but they were locked. "I need to get them out."
"Percy," Annabeth said gently.
Lea concentrated on the lock, not minding Eliza as she tried to pull her away. "I can't leave them here!"
Percy pounded on the windshield. "I have to move them. I have to—"
"Percy, Lea, just . . . just hold on." Annabeth waved to Chiron, who was talking to some centaurs down the block. "We can push the car to a side street, all right? They're going to be fine."
Lea's hands trembled and she moved without thinking. She pushed Eliza away, grabbing ahold of the doorhandle and pulled.
The passenger door crumbled.
Chiron galloped over. "What's . . . Oh dear. I see."
"They were coming to find us," Percy said. "My mom must've sensed something was wrong."
"Most likely," Chiron said. "But, Percy, they will be fine. The best thing we can do for them is stay focused on our job."
"No way," Percy muttered, but Lea paid no mind to that. Her hands cradled her Mother's face. She wanted to breakdown in tears. How long would have they have been fighting before some monster would have gotten lucky and took them from her?
Annabeth pressed her hand to the window. "That's impossible! I thought you left that at the Plaza."
"Locked in a vault," Percy agreed. She looked up, teary-eyed. In the backseat of the Prius, seat-belted behind their mother was a black-and-white Greek jar about three feet tall. Its lid was wrapped in a leather harness.
Chiron saw the jar and his eyes widened. "That isn't— "
"Pandora's jar." Percy told them about his meeting with Prometheus.
"Then the jar is yours," Chiron said grimly. "It will follow you and tempt you to open it, no matter where you leave it. It will appear when you are weakest."
Like now, Lea thought. Looking at their helpless parents.
She looked up at Percy, and she felt his anger before she saw it. He drew Riptide and cut through the driver's side window like it was made of plastic wrap.
"We'll put the car in neutral," Percy said. "Push them out of the way. And take that stupid jar to Olympus."
Chiron nodded. "A good plan. But, Percy..."
Whatever he was going to say, he faltered. A mechanical drumbeat grew loud in the distance—the chop-chop-chop of a helicopter.
On a normal Monday morning in New York, this would've been no big deal, but after two days of silence, a mortal helicopter was the oddest thing they'd ever heard. A few blocks east, the monster army shouted and jeered as the helicopter came into view. It was a civilian model painted dark red, with a bright green "DE" logo on the side. The words under the logo were too small to read, but Lea knew what they said: DARE ENTERPRISES.
Her eyes moved back to Percy, noticing the way he looked at Eliza and Annabeth both. Each girl looked as if they could rip Kronos apart with their bare hands and the Titan would thank them for it.
"What is she doing here?" Annabeth demanded just as Eliza sneered, "How did she get through the barrier?"
"Who?" Chiron looked confused. "What mortal would be insane enough—"
Suddenly the helicopter pitched forward.
"The Morpheus enchantment!" Chiron said. "The foolish mortal pilot is asleep."
They watched in horror as the helicopter careened sideways, falling toward a row of office buildings.
Even if it didn't crash, the gods of the air would probably swat it out of the sky for coming near the Empire State Building.
Annabeth whistled and a pegasus swooped out of nowhere.
You rang for a handsome horse? Guido the pegasus asked.
"Come on, Percy," Annabeth growled. "We have to save your friend."
She shooed her brother on as Eliza turned firmly away and helped her pushed the car out of the way and place protection runes into the car.
Once she was reasonably sure that they were as safe as they could be, she moved back to the field hospital. She had no time to worry about Percy's pet mortal. After a while she was shooed away to a nearby bunk, she collapsed into it, but sleep didn't truly find her until her brother found his way to her side. Seconds later, their eyes closed.
She was back in Planet Drool, but Hermes was nowhere to be found. In front of her a shimmering mirage shone. It showed her the outside of the United Nations, about a mile northeast of the Empire State Building. The Titan army had set up camp all around the UN complex. The flagpoles were hung with horrible trophies—helmets and armor pieces from defeated campers. All along First Avenue, giants sharpened their axes. Telkhines repaired armor at makeshift forges.
Kronos himself paced at the top of the plaza, swinging his scythe so his dracaenae bodyguards stayed way back. Ethan Nakamura and Prometheus stood nearby, out of slicing range. Ethan was fidgeting with his shield straps, but the other dude that she recognized as Prometheus from Percy's description looked as calm and collected as ever in his tuxedo. He was the same one that told Ethan that Kronos wanted to speak to him.
"I hate this place," Kronos growled. "United Nations. As if mankind could ever unite. Remind me to tear down this building after we destroy Olympos."
Well... he wasn't wrong.
"Yes, lord." Prometheus smiled as if his master's anger amused him. "Shall we tear down the stables in Central Park too? I know how much horses can annoy you."
"Don't mock me, Promêtheus! Those cursed centaurs will be sorry they interfered. I will feed them to the hellhounds, starting with that son of mine—that weakling Kheírōn."
Prometheus shrugged. "That weakling destroyed an entire legion of telkhines with his arrows."
Kronos swung his scythe and cut a flagpole in half. The national colors of Brazil toppled into the army, squashing a dracaena.
"We will destroy them!" Kronos roared. "It is time to unleash the drakon. Nakamura, you will do this."
"Y-yes, lord. At sunset?"
"No," Kronos said. "Immediately. The defenders of Olympos are badly wounded. They will not expect a quick attack. Besides, we know this drakon they cannot beat."
Ethan looked confused. "My lord?"
"Never you mind, Nakamura. Just do my bidding. I want Olympos in ruins by the time Typhōeús reaches New York. We will break the gods utterly!"
"But, my lord," Ethan said. "Your regeneration."
Kronos pointed at Ethan, and the demigod froze.
"Does it seem," Kronos hissed, "that I need to regenerate?"
Ethan didn't respond. Kind of hard to do when you're immobilized in time.
Kronos snapped his fingers and Ethan collapsed.
"Soon," the Titan growled, "this form will be unnecessary. I will not rest with victory so close. Now, go!"
Ethan scrambled away.
"This is dangerous, my lord," Prometheus warned. "Do not be hasty."
"Hasty? After festering for three thousand years in the depths of Tartarus, you call me hasty? I will slice Percy Jackson into a thousand pieces."
"Thrice you've fought him," Prometheus pointed out. "And yet you've always said it is beneath the dignity of a Titan to fight a mere mortal. I wonder if your mortal host is influencing you, weakening your judgment."
Kronos turned his golden eyes on the other Titan. "You call me weak?"
"No, my lord. I only meant—"
"Are your loyalties divided?" Kronos asked. "Perhaps you miss your old friends, the gods. Would you like to join them?"
Prometheus paled. "I misspoke, my lord. Your orders will be carried out." He turned to the armies and shouted, "PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"
The troops began to stir.
From somewhere behind the UN compound, an angry roar shook the city—the sound of a drakon waking. The noise was so horrible it woke the twins, and they realized they could still hear it from a mile away.
Grover stood next to over, looking nervous. "What was that?"
"They're coming," Percy told him. "And we're in trouble."
The Hephaestus cabin was out of Greek fire. The Apollo cabin and the Hunters were scrounging for arrows. Most of them had already ingested so much ambrosia and nectar they didn't dare take any more.
They had sixteen campers, fifteen Hunters, and half a dozen satyrs left in fighting shape. The rest had taken refuge on Olympos. The Party Ponies tried to form ranks, but they staggered and giggled and they all smelled like root beer. The Texans were head-butting the Coloradoans. The Missouri branch was arguing with Illinois. The chances were pretty good the whole army would end up fighting each other rather than the enemy.
Chiron trotted up with Rachel on his back.
"Your friend here has some useful insights, Percy," he said.
Rachel blushed. "Just some things I saw in my head."
"A drakon," Chiron said. "A Lydian drakon, to be exact. The oldest and most dangerous kind."
Percy stared at her. "How did you know that?"
"I'm not sure," Rachel admitted. "But this drakon has a particular fate. It will be killed by a child of Ares."
Annabeth crossed her arms. "How can you possibly know that?"
"I just saw it. I can't explain."
"Well, let's hope you're wrong," Percy said. "Because we're a little short on children of Ares. . . ." Percy cursed in Ancient Greek.
"What?" Eliza asked.
"The spy," Percy told her. "Kronos said, We know they cannot beat this drakon. The spy has been keeping him updated. Kronos knows the Ares cabin isn't with us. He intentionally picked a monster we can't kill."
Thalia scowled. "If I ever catch your spy, he's going to be very sorry. Maybe we could send another messenger to camp—"
"I've already done it," Chiron said. "Blackjack is on his way. But if Silena wasn't able to convince Clarisse, I doubt Blackjack will be able—"
A roar shook the ground. It sounded very close.
"Rachel," Percy said, "get inside the building."
"I want to stay."
A shadow blotted out the sun. Across the street, the drakon slithered down the side of a skyscraper. It roared, and a thousand windows shattered.
"On second thought," Rachel said in a small voice, "I'll be inside."
Lea grimaced.
There were dragons, and then there were drakons.
Lea never wanted to meet either, but man....
Drakons are several millennia older than dragons, and much larger. They look like giant serpents. Most don't have wings. Most don't breathe fire (though some do). All are poisonous. All are immensely strong, with scales harder than titanium. Their eyes can paralyze you; not the turn-you~to-stone Medusa- type paralysis, but the oh~my~gods-that~big~snake~is~going~to~eat~me type of paralysis, which is just as bad.
They had drakon-fighting classes at camp, but there is no way to prepare yourself for a two-hundred- foot-long serpent as thick as a school bus slithering down the side of a building, its yellow eyes like searchlights and its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth big enough to chew elephants.
It tore right through the magical defenses that had been set up as if they weren't even there.
Meanwhile, the enemy army advanced down Fifth Avenue. They'd done their best to push cars out of the way to keep the mortals safe, but that just made it easier for our enemies to approach. The Party Ponies swished their tails nervously. Chiron galloped up and down their ranks, shouting encouragement to stand tough and think about victory and root beer, but Lea figured any second they would panic and run.
"I'll take the drakon." Percy's voice came out as a timid squeak. Lea looked at him as if he was insane. He did hear Rachel say that it needed a kid of Ares to defeat it, right? Like her ears weren't playing tricks on her. Then he yelled louder: "I'LL TAKE THE DRAKON! Everyone else, hold the line against the army!"
Annabeth and Eliza stood next to them. Annabeth had pulled her owl helmet low over her face just as Eliza was crowned with a dove helmet, but Lea could tell their eyes were red.
"Will you help me?" Percy asked.
"That's what I do," Annabeth said miserably. "I help my friends."
"Go invisible," Percy said. "Look for weak links in its armor while I keep it busy. 'Liza, if you can a find a way to draw its attention away with your violin that'd be awesome. Just be careful. Both of you, please."
He whistled. "Mrs. O'Leary, heel!"
"ROOOF!" The hellhound leaped over a line of centaurs and gave him a kiss.
He drew his sword, and they charged the monster.
The drakon was three stories above them, slithering sideways along the building as it sized up their forces. Wherever it looked, centaurs froze in fear.
She was quick to blast it giving the centaurs enough time to gather themselves as it focused its attention on her. Not that she needed that either as she moved about placing Eliza far out of its reach, but close enough that charmed violin could still do a bit of damage.
From the north, the enemy army crashed into the Party Ponies, and their lines broke. The drakon lashed out, swallowing three Californian centaurs in one gulp before Percy could even get close.
Lea cursed, finding herself back on ground level pushing the enemy back and throwing out a spell that amplified Eliza's violin. A bunch of enemy demigods and monsters turned on each other as the song continued which really wasn't helped when Lea recognized one of the Muses coming to her aid.
Well, Lea wasn't going to turn down a bit of alieny help.
Mrs. O'Leary launched herself through the air—a deadly black shadow with teeth and claws.
Normally, a pouncing hellhound is a terrifying sight, but next to the drakon, Mrs. O'Leary looked like a child's night-night doll.
Her claws raked harmlessly off the drakon's scales. She bit the monster's throat but couldn't make a dent. Her weight, however, was enough to knock the drakon off the side of the building. It flailed awkwardly and crashed to the sidewalk, hellhound and serpent twisting and thrashing. The drakon tried to bite Mrs. O'Leary, but she was too close to the serpent's mouth. Poison spewed everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but Mrs. O'Leary weaved around the serpent's head, scratching and biting.
Lea would love to say that she would send her Salome to help, but after losing her Arkas, she wasn't sending her babies nowhere near anything that can't be killed except by a specific category. Instead, she and Salome tore into the army.
She couldn't afford to pay attention to her brother, but she kept tracked of him out of the corner of her eye.
The centaurs had panicked under the onslaught of giants and demons. An occasional orange camp T-shirt appeared in the sea of fighting, but quickly disappeared.
Arrows screamed. Fire exploded in waves across both armies, but the action was moving across the street to the entrance of the Empire State Building. They were losing ground.
A large blast of wind wiped out almost a quarter of the army. Eliza's song grew louder in power as the monsters were forced to attack their forces and defend against their own allies attacking them. It still wasn't enough. They had been pushed back to the doors of the Empire State Building. The entire enemy army was surrounding them.
Lea gave a small cry of pain as her mageia core screamed at her and she dropped out of the sky.
Salome grabbed her by her lapels and Lea only had half a mind to throw out her enchanted knives and use Lævateinn to keep them back. The tiger deposited her in front of the doors where Will Solace appeared at her side to check for wounds.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to see this one.
Her eyes moved across the battlefield. They were out of options. No more help was coming. She couldn't even see where her twin was.
Salome licked her face in worry, but then she heard a rumbling in the south. It wasn't a sound you hear much in New York, but she recognized it immediately: chariot wheels.
A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!"
And a dozen war chariots charged into battle. Each flew a red banner with the symbol of the wild boar's head. Each was pulled by a team of skeletal horses with manes of fire. A total of thirty fresh warriors, armor gleaming and eyes full of anger, lowered their lances as one—making a bristling wall of death.
"The children of Ares!" Lea smiled in relief.
Leading the charge was a girl in familiar red armor, her face covered by a boar's-head helm. She held aloft a spear that crackled with electricity. Clarisse herself had come to the rescue. While half her chariots charged the monster army, Clarisse led the other six straight for the drakon.
She watched as Mrs. O'Leary went soaring through the air to hit the side of a building. Lea winced and groaned as she climbed to her feet, curses spewing from her mouth at the pain radiating from her core.
The arrival of the six chariots gave the Party Ponies new hope in front of her whereas two chariots veered into a line of cars.
"EEESSSSS!!!!!" the damned beast screamed, which is probably drakon for OWWWW!
"Ares, to me!" Clarisse screamed. Her voice sounded shriller than usual, but Lea figured it was because of how far away she was.
The Party Ponies rallied at the doors of the Empire State Building, and the enemy army was momentarily thrown into confusion.
Meanwhile, Clarisse's chariots circled the drakon. Lances broke against the monster's skin. Skeletal horses breathed fire and whinnied. Two more chariots overturned, but the warriors simply leaped to their feet, drew their swords, and went to work. They hacked at chinks in the creature's scales. They dodged poison spray like they'd been training for this all their lives, which of course they had.
No one could say the Ares campers weren't brave. Clarisse was right there in front, stabbing her spear at the drakon's face, trying to put out its other eye.
Lea allowed herself to be pulled into the building away from the main battle. She was handed over to children of Cabin Eleven who presence soothed her core which she attributed to her connection to Hermes.
But as Lea sat and breathed and tried to focus on anything but the pain radiating from her core, things started to go wrong. A certain tension moving through the ranks. She heard it in whispers, sensed it in the fear. The battled raged and grew closer to the door. Silena Beaugard returned to the battle except... except she wore Clarisse's armor. She heard whispers of Rachel's word: a trick that ends in death and... and... it all clicks in place.
Kronos words, Silena wearing Clarisse's armor, a trick that ends in death.
She stood on shaky feet, pushing past the hands grabbing for her and stumbled to the doors. Her flight spell spluttered on her feet, but what she could see was the monster looking down at Clarisse... no, Silena and spitting poison directly in her face.
She screamed and fell.
Somewhere above her, Eliza screeched, and the world trembled in face of her grief.
Further away, Clarisse... the real Clarisse made her way to her side, both sides of the army clearing a path for her as if she was Moses parting the Red Sea.
Lea's feet were moving before she could even think about it. Her core tinged painfully, but her illuminating eyes was enough to keep some people from nearing her. Salome helped her stay upright, growling and destroying any monster that strayed too close.
The real Clarisse looked up at the drakon, her face filled with absolute hate.
"YOU WANT DEATH?" Clarisse screamed at the drakon. "WELL, COME ON!"
She grabbed her spear from the fallen girl. With no armor or shield, she charged the drakon.
Lea could see Percy as he tried to close the distance to help, but Clarisse was faster. She leaped aside as the monster struck, pulverizing the ground in front of her. Then she jumped onto the creature's head. As it reared up, she drove her electric spear into its good eye with so much force it shattered the shaft, releasing all of the magic weapon's power.
Electricity arced across the creature's head, causing its whole body to shudder. Clarisse jumped free, rolling safely to the sidewalk as smoke boiled from the drakon's mouth. The drakon's flesh dissolved, and it collapsed into a hollow scaly tunnel of armor.
Lea froze in place just like the others as they stared at Clarisse in awe. She had just taken down a huge monster single-handedly. But Clarisse didn't seem to care. She ran back to the wounded girl who'd stolen her armor.
Lea's feet started moving again and she dropped to their side as Annabeth finally managed to remove the girl's helmet. They all gathered around: the Ares campers,
Chris, Clarisse, Annabeth, Percy, Lea and Eliza as she dropped to her sister's side to cry.
The battle still raged along Fifth Avenue, but for that moment nothing existed except our small circle and the fallen girl. Lea's core protested it all, but her hands still glowed as she held them over her: "Mother, Maiden, Crone, stand around her, shoulder to shoulder, so only precious life may hold her. As your lunar light doth wax and wane, keep her on this mortal plane. By torchlight, key, and holy knife, hold Silena close to life."
She repeated it over and over again, but a part of Lea knew it wouldn't work.
For one, it was a partially a prayer to Hecate who Lea had pounded into the earth. Another was something that Hermes had told her so long ago; back when she had first awakened at camp.
"You mayhaps would have been metamorphosed into new flora as it happened before as not even we, gods, could separate two souls such."
Beckendorf was dead. It made sense that Silena would follow right behind him. Romantic soulmates hardly ever lasted long as platonic soulmates after one of them died.
But for the most part, she could hear those whispers in her ear as she looked at the once beautiful features that were badly burned from poison.
A trick that ends in death.
"What were you thinking?" Clarisse cradled Silena's head in her lap.
Silena tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked. "Wouldn't . . . listen. Cabin would . . . only follow you."
"So you stole my armor," Clarisse said in disbelief as Lea tried to force more mageia into the girl. Hecate would listen to her. She would. She had to. Please. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol; you stole my armor and pretended to be me." She glared at her siblings. "And NONE of you noticed?"
The Ares campers developed a sudden interest in their combat boots.
"Don't blame them," Silena said. "They wanted to . . . to believe I was you."
"You stupid Aphrodite girl," Clarisse sobbed. "You charged a drakon? Why?"
"All my fault," Silena said, a tear streaking the side of her face. Lea's mageia stuttered. "The drakon, Charlie's death . . . camp endangered—"
"Stop it!" Clarisse said. "That's not true."
Silena opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of Kronos.
Lea stiffened, her mageia slowing to a stop.
Eliza was crying out denials as she clutched at her sister.
"You were the spy." Percy murmured.
Silena tried to nod. "Before . . . before I liked Charlie, before we blessed, Luke was nice to me. He was so . . . charming. Handsome. Later, I wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. He promised . . . he promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt. He told me he wouldn't hurt . . . Charlie. He lied to me."
Lea supposed some part of her should feel pity, she should feel sorry for her, but... but the large part of her could only think of how utterly broken Drew was going to be. To lose her soulmate, then her favorite brother, and now... now her favorite sister... Silena, who was her entire world; her rock and if Lea was being honest, her moral compass... it was bound to be too much.
She thought of Ethan's words from last summer, when she learned that terrible truth about him. She had spent nights obsessing over those words. He had said: "They want Drew on the other side also. It had been working at first I think but then you two became friends and their usual manipulations stopped and then I found out that she was my soulmate, so I had to try to convince her to join."
Did Silena even care about Drew or had she always been using her?
Behind them, the battle raged.
Clarisse scowled at her cabinmates. "Go, help the centaurs. Protect the doors. GO!"
They scrambled off to join the fight.
Silena took a heavy, painful breath. "Forgive me."
"You're not dying," Clarisse insisted.
"Charlie . . ." Silena's eyes were a million miles away. "See Charlie . . ."
She didn't speak again.
Eliza sobbed as Clarisse held her and wept. Chris put a hand on her shoulder.
Finally Annabeth closed Silena's eyes.
"We have to fight." Annabeth's voice was brittle. "She gave her life to help us. We have to honor her."
Clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. "She was a hero, understand? A hero."
Percy nodded. "Come on, Clarisse."
She picked up a sword from one of her fallen siblings. "Kronos is going to pay."
Lea was led back to the Empire State Building while Clarisse laid waste to the enemy army. Eliza wasn't far behind her utilizing her violin as batting ram.
Even without her armor or spear, Clarisse was a demon. She rode her chariot straight into the Titan's army and crushed everything in her path.
They were so inspiring even the panicked centaurs started to rally. The Hunters scrounged arrows from the fallen and launched volley after volley into the enemy. The Ares cabin slashed and hacked, which was their favorite thing. The monsters retreated toward 35th Street.
Clarisse drove to the drakon's carcass and looped a grappling line through its eye sockets. She lashed her horses and took off, dragging the drakon behind the chariot like a Chinese New Year dragon. She charged after the enemy, yelling insults and daring them to cross her. As she rode, Lea realized she was literally glowing. An aura of red fire flickered around her.
Meanwhile Eliza put her violin up, pulled out twin swords and dived right into the masses, moving as if she was the one that had the Curse of Ahkilles. It was awe-inspiring in a way, and she did notice the heated way that Percy and Annabeth stared at her.
For the moment, Clarisse was as invincible as Percy was. The enemy threw spears and arrows, but nothing hit her, and they left themselves defenseless to fall victim to Eliza's swords.
"I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON-SLAYER!" she yelled. "I will kill you ALL! Where is Kronos? Bring him out! Is he a coward?"
"Clarisse!" Percy yelled. "Stop it. Withdraw!"
"What's the matter, Titan lord?" she yelled. "BRING IT ON!"
There was no answer from the enemy. Slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaenae shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. The two-hundred-foot-long drakon carcass made a hollow scraping noise against the pavement, like a thousand knives.
Meanwhile, they tended their wounded, bringing them inside the lobby. Long after the enemy had retreated from sight, Clarisse and Eliza kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy, demanding that Kronos meet them battle.
Lea searched for Drew, holding onto Salome as a support animal before a loud crack brought her to her knees. She screamed, falling to her knees holding onto herself. Her hands clutched at her chest as she curled into herself. Salome butted her with her nose, but Lea couldn't pay any mind to that.
Not too far away, the doorman disappeared from view. His book lied face down on the desk and his chair emptied.
Hands were touching her, and she wanted to shake them off, but she felt so empty.
Something was wrong.
Kírkē.
The defenses to Olympos had fallen.