chapter three
i've never heard silence quite this loud
MELODY DIDN'T CONSIDER HERSELF much of a fighter. Yeah, she knew how to use a bow, and was decent at a sword, but she didn't really like engaging in fights or arguments unless she really had to.
In this case, she unfortunately had to. Michael was being an insufferable pain in her ass, deciding it would be fun to curse the Ares kids to rhyme nonstop. Melody did not partake in that activity, since she didn't feel like getting pulverized.
After teaching archery lessons, she was immediately confronted with her siblings being chased by rhyming Ares kids. She fought back a groan, as she saw Michael, dodging a camper trying to stab him. In the distance, she saw Gabriella, Annabeth, and Percy walking by, witnessing the whole scene.
Melody walked over, and yanked Michael by the arm. "Come on, Mike," She muttered, whisking the 4'6 foot boy away.
Michael glared at her, trying to get himself out her grasp. "Melody let me go."
"So you can go taunt that guy some more? No." Melody glared back. "We have been going at this for what? Two weeks? There are more things to worry about than some stupid fucking chariot." They made their way to the Apollo cabin. Luckily, it was empty, so none of their siblings were there to witness it.
As they entered, Michael finally shook off Melody's arm, looking up at her in disbelief. "Stupid fucking chariot? You think that's what it is?"
"Well compared to everything else that's gonna happen, yeah!" Melody shot back, narrowing her eyes. "We're going to be fighting for our lives, and the Ares cabin isn't even going to help."
Michael scoffed. "We deserve this chariot, Chiron even said we could have it."
Melody rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms. "Can we just... not engage with the Ares kids like this?"
"What do you want us to do? Go sing some consensus song at the campfire?" Michael asked sarcastically. "It's not like we're the ones starting the fights."
"It was literally your idea to curse them with rhymes." Melody pointed out simply. "And I'm going to admit, some of them were pretty creative. Did you know that fucking bitch, could be rhymed with—"
"We had to do what we had to do!" Michael yelled, irritatedly. Melody flinched in surprise, not liking how loud his voice was raised.
Michael noticed, and immediately softened. He took a breath to calm down. "Look, I'm sorry. I know you hate arguing... it's just," He sighed, sitting down on his bed. "It's been rough, you know? Being head councilor. Lee didn't prepare me enough for this shit."
Melody snorted, at that. "Do you think he would've agreed with this?" She sat down next to him.
"Maybe," He shrugged.
"What about Juliet?" Melody asked, gently.
Juliet. Their older half-sister, who basically Camp Half-Blood Princess. Every head councilor wished they were as cool as her.
Michael rolled his eyes, a smile appearing across his face. "She'd do the exact thing you're doing right now. Playing peacemaker, trying to get everyone to get along. You're a lot like her you know? It's kinda freaky."
Melody smiled at the compliment. "Yeah, I guess."
Michael nodded, and pulled Melody into a hug. Melody leaned down, resting her head on his shoulder. Around others, she was usually the shortest one, since she was about 5'1. With Michael, it felt weird being taller.
"Look, I'll try to stop fighting with the Ares kids." Michael told her.
Melody smiled, lifting her head. "Thank you." She kissed his cheek, and then stood up.
"Why are you so tall?" He huffed, as he stood up.
Melody chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better, I think you grew an inch." She patted his head.
"Don't lie to him," A new voice appeared, by the door. "He's still the height of a second grader."
It belonged to their younger brother Will Solace, who was watching them amusedly by the doorframe. Michael scoffed, offendedly.
"How long have you been standing there?" Melody raised her eyebrow.
Will shrugged. "Just right now. Michael said he'd give me some medical training in the infirmary."
"Oh right, sorry bud," Michael walked over to his brother. He reached up and ruffled Will's blonde hair.
"Later, Mel," Michael told her, and Will waved bye as they walked away. Melody waved back, and closed the cabin door.
Melody went over to her bed, and flopped on it. Then she sat up, and reached under her bed to dig up a turquoise worn out journal. Juliet's old songbook. Whenever Melody needed comfort, she'd read the words her sister had written.
They were both similar in ways. Both of them loved music, fell in love with writing, hated conflicts because of their parents...
She'd witness her sister fall in love with Luke Castellan, and how her heart break ultimately broke in the end. A part of her was glad she wasn't here to see how worse her ex boyfriend became. She flipped to a random page, read the lyrics, and tried imagining how Juliet would react if she saw everything now.
Then suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. Melody assumed it was one of her siblings, and didn't care to look up.
"Hey Mel?" Melody's head immediately shot up, and was met with Percy Jackson, who shut the cabin door.
Melody stood up. "Percy? What are you doing here?"
"I barely got a chance to see you when I got back," Percy explained. "And, I—I missed you."
Melody smiled and raised an eyebrow. Her mind was set on some certain camp rules, that prohibit two campers to be alone in a cabin together. Thanks Silena and Beckendorf.
"You know you're not supposed to be in here, right?" Melody reminded him.
Percy grinned. "I know, I just wanted to stop by. I was with Annabeth and Gab earlier and gods—" He sighed. "They are so fucking insufferable."
Melody chuckled. "Tell me about it."
"Gabriella told Annabeth that their kiss meant nothing. Like the fuck?" Percy scoffed, throwing his hands up in the air. "She's an Aphrodite kid for gods' sake!"
"That's what I've been saying!" Melody exclaimed. "She was so convinced that Annabeth had a crush on you."
"Well I am pretty amazing," Percy shrugged. Melody rolled her eyes playfully. "But Annabeth clearly only has eyes on her."
"When they get together this summer, you and the Stolls' owe Silena and I a shit ton of drachma." She teased him.
Percy sighed exasperatedly. "At this rate, I'd be happy to give you it. Seeing them pinning like this is painful."
Melody laughed. Then, she caught Percy staring at her.
"What?"
Percy shook his head, smiling. "Nothing—it's just—you have a nice laugh."
Melody felt her cheeks turn pink, but she smiled bashfully at him. "You have nice eyes," She blurted out without thinking.
"Thanks," Percy grinned. His green eyes twinkled with mischief. If she had blinked, Melody would have missed his rose tinted cheeks.
They continued to stare at each other for a few more moments, just taking in each other's presence.
Has he always looked this good? Has he always been this tall? He basically towered over at this point.
"I should uh—I should get going," Percy finally spoke.
"Yeah, totally," Melody agreed. "See you later?"
Percy nodded. As he opened the door, he was met with Will, who stared at him wide-eyed. Percy smiled awkwardly at the young boy, and quickly walked away.
Will looked at Melody suspiciously. "Why was Percy Jackson in our cabin?"
Melody groaned, not expecting her brother back so soon. "I thought you were with Michael."
"He told me to get extra bandages," Will explained, going over to where they stored extra supplies. "He was teaching me how to deal with poison and stuff."
"Please don't tell him," Melody pleaded.
Will smirked, and left the cabin without a word.
MELODY MISSED THE DAYS WHEN SHE got a decent night of rest. She barely got any good sleep anymore. She still felt groggy and tired when she woke up. Ever since last summer, she's been getting these weird dreams of people she's close with. There were some like Gabriella sprayed her magic perfume bottle at her, causing Melody to lose her vision, the Stolls pushing her into a pit full of snakes, Annabeth trying to stab her with her dagger, Michael trying to shoot an arrow at her.
She knew those dreams were all just fake and trying to scare her. They had to be. Her paranoia needed to stop.
Yet, the thought of the traitor still lingered in her mind. Melody couldn't even bring herself to tell Michael, who was determined to find out who it was. No matter how hard she tries convincing herself, she eventually has to face the truth: someone in her inner circle was betraying camp.
Or, maybe Luke was just trying to get under her skin. The traitor could be someone else, who she never talked to. At least that's what she wanted to believe.
Melody hated how Luke had to choose her with this knowledge. All because he still has a thing for her dead sister, who he claimed to love.
Apparently over night, Percy decided to disappear. He left a cryptic voicemail to Annabeth, telling her to bring all of Camp Half-Blood to the Empire State Building. Yeah, Melody had questions about that.
Melody had her bow hung behind her back, and was dressed in black comoflauge. She rode in the Delphi Strawberry Service van, sitting between Gabriella and Annabeth. There was some weird tension between them, but she was used to it at this point. The bus was packed with their siblings, and other campers. Argus drove their van, while the other two were driven by harpies.
Suddenly, Melody's cellphone began to ring. Technically, phones weren't allowed, as they could attract monsters, but she's been pretty cautious with it. And if Annabeth could have one, so could she.
Melody looked at the random caller ID, confusedly. Then she decided to answer, "Hello?"
"Daylight," She heard Percy breath out from the other end, with a mix of relief and exhaustion.
Melody's eyes widened. "Percy?" She exclaimed. Annabeth and Gabriella immediately looked in her direction.
"Where have you been?" she questioned. "We've been worried sick! The message you sent Annabeth wasn't exactly detailed."
She heard Percy sigh. "I'll fill you in, later."
"Also how do you know my number?" Melody couldn't help but ask.
"You told me once, and I remembered it," Percy answered swiftly and casually. "Anyways, where are you?"
"We're almost at Queens–Midtown Tunnel. Percy, what are you planning? The camp is basically left undefended, and there's no way the gods—"
"You're gonna have to trust me here," Percy interrupted. "I'll see you guys there."
"Wha—" And just like that, he hung up.
"What did he say?" Annabeth asked.
Melody sighed, tucking her phone away. "Nothing important."
"He knows your number?" Gabriella raised an eyebrow.
"I gave it to him once when we were hanging out... I guess he somehow remembered it." Melody shrugged. Gabriella gave her an amused look.
"What?" Melody asked. Gabriella just shook her head, a small smile on her lips.
When they reached their destination, all the campers climbed out the van, some feeling sick from the long drive. Percy was there waiting for them. Melody mentally counted about forty campers showed up in total. Not many to fight a war, but it was a huge number of demigods gathered together outside of camp. The Ares cabin still refused to fight, and as much as Melody understood, she still felt slightly annoyed.
As Melody looked at her friends, she felt a pit in her stomach, remembering one of them was the spy.
Melody followed Gabriella and Annabeth to meet with Percy. Melody noticed him giving her a strange look as she approached.
Melody frowned. "What is it?"
"What's what?" Percy questioned.
"You're looking at me weird." Melody raised an eyebrow.
"Oh! It's, uh, nothing." Percy answered, with an evident blush in his cheeks.
He turned to the rest of the group. "Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."
Chiron shook his head. "I came to wish you luck, my boy. But I make it a point never to visit Olympus unless I am summoned."
"But you're our leader." Percy said confusedly.
Chiron smiled. "I am your trainer, your teacher. That is not the same as being your leader. I will go gather what allies I can. It may not be too late to convince my brother centaurs to help. Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are the leader."
Percy looked like he wanted to protest. Then he glanced at Melody, who nodded her head, giving him an encouraging smile.
He took a deep breath. "Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by tonight. Some kind of trap. We've got to get an audience with Zeus and convince him to defend the city. Remember, we can't take no for an answer."
Chiron shook his hand. "You'll do well, Percy. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses."
"Let's go," Percy instructed everyone.
A security guard sat behind the desk in the lobby, reading a big black book with a floral cover. He glanced up when the campers all filed in with weapons and armor clanking. "School group? We're about to close up."
"No," Percy spoke. "Six-hundredth floor."
He checked them out; his eyes were pale blue and his head was completely bald. It was difficult to tell if he was human or not. He didn't seem to be fooled by the mist though, since he could see their weapons.
"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid." The guard told him, however, it didn't sound like he believed it. "Move along."
Percy leaned across the desk. "Forty demigods attract an awful lot of monsters. You really want us hanging out in your lobby?"
The man thought about it for a moment. Then he hit a buzzer and the security gate swung open. "Make it quick."
"You don't want us going through the metal detectors," Percy added.
"Um, no," he agreed. "Elevator on the right. I guess you know the way."
Percy tossed him a golden drachma and the demigods marched through.
They decided to take two trips to get everybody up in the elevator. Melody, Percy, Gabriella, and Annabeth went with the first group. The old disco song Stayin' Alive, started playing which Melody thought was ironic. It's been a long while since she's been to Olympus. The last time she's been there was that little field trip when she twelve, visiting during the Winter Solstice.
When the elevators opened, in front of them, was a path of floating stones leading to the clouds up to Mount Olympus, going six thousand feet over Manhattan. She forgot how breathtaking everything was. Mansions glittered gold and white at the sides of the mountain, gardens bloomed on numerous terraces. The top of the snow-capped crest rose the main palace of the gods. It looked absolutely unreal...but something did seem off. She realized how silent it was—no voices, no music.
Annabeth turned to Percy suspiciously. "You look... different," she decided. "Where exactly did you go?"
The elevator doors opened again, and the second group of half-bloods joined them.
"Tell you later," Percy replied. "Come on."
They made their way across the sky bridge into the streets of Olympus. The shops were closed, and the parks were empty. Some Muses sat on a bench strumming flaming lyres, but they weren't doing it with a full heart. A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted oak tree. A minor godling saw them from a balcony and ducked inside, closing his shutters.
They passed under a big marble archway with statues of Zeus and Hera on either side.
Annabeth made a face at the queen of the gods.
"Hate her," she muttered.
"Same," Gabriella rolled her eyes at the statue. "Has she been giving you shit too?"
From Melody had learned, Gabriella and Annabeth did not get along with Hera. Apparently last summer, the goddess said some not so nice things to Gabriella. Then, Hera got pissed off by valid points Gabriella and Annabeth made about her family.
"Just little stuff so far," Annabeth sighed. "Her sacred animal is the cow, right?" Gabriella nodded. "So she sends cows after me."
Gabriella couldn't help but chuckle. "Cows in San Francisco?"
"Oh, yeah. Usually I don't see them, but the cows leave me little presents all over the place—in our backyard, on the sidewalk, in the school hallways. I have to be careful where I step." Annabeth grumbled. "What about you?"
"I keep finding these stupid, little pink bows everywhere." Gabriella rolled her eyes. "I guess she must really like the coquette aesthetic for me."
Percy snorted. "That shit was so funny. Remember at lunch when your burrito was wrapped in a bow?" Gabriella glared at him. Annabeth chuckled.
"Look!" Pollux suddenly cried, pointing toward the horizon. "What is that?"
Everyone froze. The blue lights streaked across the night sky toward Olympus like tiny comets. They came from all over the city, heading straight toward the mountain. When they got closer, they fizzled out. They watched them for several minutes, observing how they didn't cause any real damage, yet was still strange.
"Like infrared scopes," Michael muttered. "We're being targeted."
"Let's get to the palace," Percy suggested.
No one was guarding the hall of the gods, and the gold-and-silver doors stood wide open. Their footsteps echoed as they walked inside the throne room.
The word 'room' didn't exactly cover it, though. It was probably the size of Madison Square Garden. The blue ceiling glittered with constellations high above. There were empty thrones that stood in a U around a hearth. At one corner, a house-size globe of water hovered in the air. Inside it swam a half-cow, half-serpent.
"Moooo!" The Ophiotaurus smiled happily, turning in a circle. Percy seemed to recognize it, and smiled.
"Hey, man," Percy said. "They treating you okay?"
"Mooo," The cow-serpent seemed to agree.
They walked toward the thrones, and a woman's voice called out, "Hello again, Percy Jackson. You and your friends are welcome."
A woman stood near the hearth, poking the flames with a stick. She wore a brown dress.
Percy bowed. "Lady Hestia."
Everyone followed his lead.
Hestia regarded Percy with her red glowing eyes. "I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles."
Melody exchanged questioning glances with Michael and Gabriella, who were equally as lost. Other campers were confused too. She could hear them muttering, What did she say? What about Achilles?
"You must be careful," Hestia warned him. "You gained much on your journey. But you are still blind to the most important truth. Perhaps a glimpse is in order."
Annabeth nudged his arm. "Um...what is she talking about?"
Percy stared at Hestia for a moment, then suddenly his knees buckled. Melody quickly caught him before he hit the ground.
"Whoa—hey, you okay?" Melody asked him worriedly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Did...did you see that?" Percy questioned, reaching to grab her hand, interlacing them. He brought their hands back down to their sides.
"See what?" Melody shook her head. In the back of her mind, she took a note on how he never let go.
Percy glanced back at Hestia, who looked back at him emotionless.
"How long was I out?" Percy muttered.
Annabeth knit her eyebrows in confusion. "Percy, you weren't out at all. You just looked at Hestia for like one second and collapsed."
"Um, Lady Hestia," Percy began, "we've come on urgent business. We need to see—"
"We know what you need," A man's voice said. A god shimmered next to Hestia. He looked around twenty-five, having salt-and-pepper hair with elfish features. He was wearing a military pilot's suit, with small bird wings fluttering on his helmet and his black boots. There was a long staff entwined with two living serpents in the crook of his arm. Melody immediately recognized who it was, and stepped back slightly. Snakes weren't exactly her favorite animal in the world.
"I will leave you now," Hestia said, as she bowed to the aviator and disappeared into smoke. Hermes, the God of Messengers, did not seem so happy.
"Hello, Percy." The god's brow furrowed as if he was annoyed with him.
Oh sure, Melody jumped at the strange voice in her mind. Don't say hi to us. We're just reptiles. She soon realized it was one of Hermes' snakes.
George, the other snake scolded. Be polite.
"So...snakes talk," Melody whispered.
Gabriella shrugged. "Apparently."
"Hello, George," Percy greeted. "Hey, Martha."
Did you bring us a rat? George asked.
George, stop it, Martha said. He's busy!
Too busy for rats? George said. That's just sad.
"Um, Hermes," Percy greeted. "We need to talk to Zeus. It's important."
Hermes's eyes were steely cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?"
"You guys," Percy faced the rest of the campers. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses. See who's left in Olympus. Meet back here in thirty minutes."
Silena frowned. "But—"
"That's a good idea," Annabeth agreed. "Connor and Travis, you two lead."
The Stoll brothers seemed to like that idea, being handed a huge responsibility infront of their father. Besides toilet paper raids, they never led anything.
"We're on it!" Travis exclaimed. He and Connor rallied everyone out of the throne room. As Melody was about to follow, Percy pulled her back. Melody looked down at their still interlocked hands, realizing he hasn't let go yet.
He gave her a look, as if saying, Stay with me. Melody nodded, squeezing his hand.
Everyone left the throne room, leaving only Melody, Percy, Annabeth, and Gabriella.
"My lord," Annabeth acknowledged. "Kronos is going to attack New York. You must suspect that. My mother must have foreseen it."
"Your mother," Hermes grumbled. He scratched his back with his caduceus. "Don't get me started on your mother, young lady. She's the reason I'm here at all. Zeus didn't want any of us to leave the front line. But your mother kept pestering him nonstop, 'It's a trap, it's a diversion, blah, blah, blah.' She wanted to come back herself, but Zeus was not going to let his number one strategist leave his side while we're battling Typhon. And so naturally he sent me to talk to you."
"But it is a trap!" Annabeth insisted. "Is Zeus blind?"
Thunder rolled through the sky.
"I'd watch the comments, girl," Hermes warned her. "Zeus is not blind or deaf. He has not left Olympus completely undefended."
"But there are these blue lights—"
"Yes, yes. I saw them. Some mischief by that insufferable goddess of magic, Hecate, I'd wager, but you may have noticed they aren't doing any damage. Olympus has strong magical wards. Besides, Aeolus, the King of the Winds, has sent his most powerful minions to guard the citadel. No one save the gods can approach Olympus from the air. They would be knocked out of the sky."
Perct raised his hand. "Um...what about that teleporting thing you guys do?"
"That's a form of air travel too, Jackson. Very fast, but the wind gods are faster. No, if Kronos wants Olympus, he'll have to march through the entire city with his army and take the elevators! Can you see him doing this?"
"Maybe just a few of you could come back," Percy suggested.
Hermes shook his head impatiently. "Percy Jackson, you don't understand. Typhon is our greatest enemy."
"I thought that was Kronos."
The god's eyes glowed. "No, Percy. In the old days, Olympus was almost overthrown by Typhon. He is husband of Echidna—"
"Met her at the Arch," Percy muttered. "Not nice."
"—and the father of all monsters. We can never forget how close he came to destroying us all; how he humiliated us! We were more powerful back in the old days. Now we can expect no help from Poseidon because he's fighting his own war. Hades sits in his realm and does nothing, and Demeter and Persephone follow his lead. It will take all our remaining power to oppose the storm giant. We can't divide our forces, nor wait until he gets to New York. We have to battle him now. And we're making progress."
"Progress?" Percy said in disbelief. "He nearly destroyed St. Louis."
"Yes," Hermes admitted. "But he destroyed only half of Kentucky. He's slowing down. Losing power."
In the corner, the Ophiotaurus mooed sadly.
"Please, Hermes," Annabeth pleaded. "You said my mother wanted to come. Did she give you any messages for us?"
"Messages," he muttered. "'It'll be a great job,'they told me. 'Not much work. Lots of worshippers.' Hmph. Nobody cares what I have to say. It's always about other people's messages."
Shhh, Martha scolded. We care what Hermes has to say. Don't we, George?
Oh, absolutely. Can we go back to the battle now? I want to do laser mode again. That's fun. George replied.
Yeah, Melody was not getting used to that.
"Quiet, both of you," Hermes grumbled.
The god looked at Annabeth, who looked at him desperately.
"Bah," Hermes groaned. "Your mother said to warn you that you are on your own. You must hold Manhattan without the help of the gods. As if I didn't know that. Why they pay her to be the wisdom goddess, I'm not sure."
"Anything else?" Annabeth asked exasperatedly.
"She said you should try plan twenty-three. She said you would know what that meant."
Annabeth's face paled. It was obvious she knew what it meant and didn't like it. "Go on."
"A few more things." Hermes looked at Percy. "She said to tell Percy: 'Remember the rivers.'"
Then he looked back between Annabeth and Gabriella. "And uh—she said to keep the Aphrodite girl around."
Melody wasn't sure whose face was redder: Annabeth's or Gabriella's.
"Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth said. "And I...I wanted to say...I'm sorry about Luke."
The god's expression hardened as if he had got turned to stone. "You should've left that subject alone."
Annabeth stepped back nervously. "Sorry?"
"SORRY doesn't cut it!" Hermes yelled.
George and Martha curled around the caduceus, which shimmered, transforming into something that looked almost like a high-voltage cattle prod.
"You should've saved him when you had the chance," Hermes growled at Annabeth. "You're the only one who could have."
Percy let go of Melody, and stepped between them. "What are you talking about?"
Gabriella stepped forward as well. "I'm sure Annabeth didn't—"
"Don't be defending her!" Hermes turned the cattle prod toward both of them. "She knows exactly what I'm talking about."
"Maybe you should blame yourself!" Percy's eyes widened for a moment, realizing he probably should've kept his mouth shut. "Maybe if you hadn't abandoned Luke and his mom!"
Hermes raised his cattle prod, and grew until he was ten feet tall. Melody momentarily regretted not going along with the rest of the camp. Just as the god was about to strike, George and Martha leaned in to whisper something in his ear. Hermes clenched his teeth, and lowered the cattle prob, turning it back into a staff.
"Percy Jackson," Hermes spoke, "because you have taken on the curse of Achilles, I must spare you. You are in the hands of the Fates now. But you will never speak to me like that again. You have no idea how much I have sacrificed, how much—" His voice broke, as he he shrank back to human size. "My son, my greatest pride...my poor May..."
Hold up, Achilles curse?
Hermes changed completely in the span of minute. A moment ago he was willingly to vaporize them, and now, he looked like he needed a hug.
"Look, Lord Hermes," Percy told him. "I'm sorry, but I need to know. What happened to May? She said something about Luke's fate, and her eyes—" Hermes glared at him, making hus voice faltet. There was no anger in his face, though. Just pure pain.
"I will leave you now," He spoke tightly. "I have a war to fight."
His gaze then focused on Melody. "He really did love your sister." Hermes spoke in a pained voice. Melody just nodded, not having the heart to argue.
The god began to shine. The demigods turned away instantly. Gabriella made sure Annabeth did the same, since she was still frozen in shock.
Good luck Percy, Martha the snake whispered.
Hermes glowed with the light of the supernova and disappeared.
Annabeth sat on the foot of her mother's throne and started crying. Gabriella knelt down beside her and wrapped her arms around. She whispered comforting words in her ear.
"Annabeth," Percy spoke gently to her, "it's not your fault. I've never seen Hermes act that way. I guess...I don't know...he probably feels guilty about Luke. He's looking for somebody to blame. I don't know why he lashed out at you. You didn't do anything to deserve that."
Annabeth wiped her eyes, staring at the hearth sadly.
Percy shifted uneasily. "Um, you didn't, right?"
Annabeth didn't respond. Melody elbowed him, and Gabriella gave him a look.
"Percy," Annabeth looked at him. "What did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meet her?"
Percy nodded hesitantly. "Nico and I visited her. She was a little...different." He began describing May Castellan, and a weird moment when her eyes glowed as she talked about Luke's fate.
Annabeth frowned. "That doesn't make sense. But why were you visiting—" Her eyes widened. "Hermes said you bear the curse of Achilles. Hestia said the same thing. Did you...did you bathe in the River Styx?"
Melody and Gabriella looked at Percy, alarmed.
"Don't change the subject." Was all Percy said.
"Did you or did you not, Percy?" Gabriella questioned, exasperatedly. You knew it was really bad when she didn't call him Merboy.
"Um...maybe a little."
"A little?" Melody blinked in disbelief.
Percy sighed, and told the girls the story about Hades and Nico, and how he defeated an army of the dead. Melody had a feeling he was leaving something out.
Melody shook her head, incredelous. "Don't you know how dangerous that is? It's miracle you're even alive!"
"Yeah, definitely a miracle," Percy agreed. "But guys, I had no choice. It's the only way I can stand up to Luke."
"You mean...di immortales, of course! That's why Luke didn't die. He went to the Styx and...Oh no, Luke. What were you thinking?"
Melody saw Gabriella take a deep breath, trying to conceal her distaste for Luke. Percy, on the other hand did not, and rolled her eyes.
"The point is he didn't die in the Styx," Percy explained. "Neither did I. Now I have to face him. We have to defend Olympus."
Annabeth studied his face, as if trying to detect any differences since his swim in the Styx. "I guess you're right. My mom mentioned—"
"Plan twenty-three."
Annabeth rummaged in her pack and pulled out Daedalus's laptop. The blue Delta symbol glowed on the top as she turned it on. She opened some files and began reading.
"Here it is," Annabeth said. "Gods, we have a lot of work to do."
"One of Daedalus's inventions?"
"A lot of inventions...dangerous ones. If my mother wants me to use this plan, she must think things are very bad." She looked at Percy. "What about her message to you: 'Remember the rivers'? What does that mean?" Percy shook his head.
Suddenly, the Stolls came barging in.
"You need to see this," Connor told them urgently. "Now."
The blue lights in the sky had stopped, so Melody was confused at first. Other campers l gathered in a small park at the edge of the mountain. They were huddled up at the guardrail, looking down at Manhattan. The railing was lined with those tourist binoculars, where depositing one golden drachma lets you view the city. The campers were using every one.
Melody looked down at the city. She could see almost everything: the East River and the Hudson River carving Manhattan, the grid of streets, the skyscraper lights, the dark stretch of Central Park. Everything looked normal, yet felt so wrong.
"I don't...hear anything," Annabeth spoke.
That was what's wrong.
Even from very high up, you're so supposed to hear the sound of New York. The bustling crowds, and plenty of machines and vehicles. New York was never this silent, even in the dead of night.
"What did they do?" Percy questioned, his voice tight and angry. "What did they do to my city?"
Percy pushed Michael away from the binoculars and took a look. Then he let Melody look at it too.
In the streets below them, the traffic stopped. Pedestrians were either lying on the ground, or curled up in doorways. There wasn't a sign of violence or wrecks. It was like all of the city decided to just pass out.
"Are they dead?" Silena asked in astonishment.
A line from the prophecy echoed in Melody's line: And see the world in endless sleep.
"Not dead," Percy shook his head. "Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."
hi guys... sorry i suck
maybe this 5k+ word chapter could help make up for it :)
i'm not even gonna promise when the next chapter is coming bc atp it could either come next week or next month i'm sorry 😓
BUT i can promise i am NOT giving up on this fic. i refuse to leave maychase n pelody (i can't come up w anything for them) hanging like this 😔
we're making it to the HoO era trusttt
anyways... mel pov !!! we love some sibling bonding <3 especially bc of later events...
also juliet !! if u remember in the bonus in labyrinth (its been a minute so i get it 💀), she's first mentioned there too :))
(and she may or may not be getting her
own lil fic soo 🙊)
if you are still here, thank you so so much for reading and for ur patience i luv u <33