Fortunately, Blackjack was on duty.
Percy let out his best taxicab whistle, and within a few minutes two dark shapes circled out of the sky.
They looked like hawks at first, but as they descended Lilia could make out the long galloping legs of pegasi.
Blackjack landed at a trot, his friend honey right behind him.
"Thanks for coming," Percy told him. "Hey, why do pegasi gallop as they fly, anyway?"
Blackjack whinnied. Lilia made her way over to Honey, her favourite Pegasus. Honey let out a nervous neigh in greeting.
"I'm sorry you have to be here girl." Lilia said stroking her mane.
She whinnied, pushing her head toward Lilia, who looked at Percy expectantly,
"She said 'anything for you'"
Lilia smiled at the Pegasus.
"We need to get to the Williamsburg Bridge," Percy said. Blackjack lowered his neck.
➳
On the way to the bridge, a knot formed in the pit of Lilia's stomach.
They saw the battle before they were close enough to make out individual fighters. It was well after midnight now, but the bridge blazed with light. Cars were burning. Arcs of fire streamed in both directions as flaming arrows and spears sailed through the air.
They came in for a low pass, and saw the Apollo campers retreating. They would hide behind cars and snipe at the approaching army, setting off explosive arrows and dropping caltrops in the road, building fiery barricades wherever they could, dragging sleeping drivers out of their cars to get them out of harm's way. But the enemy kept advancing. An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead, their shields locked together, spear tips bristling over the top. An occasional arrow would connect with their snaky trunks, or a neck, or a chink in their armor, and the unlucky snake woman would disintegrate, but most of the Apollo arrows glanced harmlessly off their shield wall. About a hundred more monsters marched behind them.
Hellhounds leaped ahead of the line from time to time. Most were destroyed with arrows, but one got hold of an Apollo camper and dragged him away. She didn't see what happened to him next. She didn't want to know.
"There!" Lilia called from the back of her pegasus.
Percy let out a shocked gasp, in the middle of the invading legion was the Minotaur, ready for battle.
From the waist down, he wore standard Greek battle gear—a kiltlike apron of leather and metal flaps, bronze greaves covering his legs, and tightly wrapped leather sandals. His top was all bull-hair and hide and muscle leading to a head so large he should've toppled over just from the weight of his horns. As he saw them circling overhead (or sniffed, more likely, since his eyesight was bad), he bellowed and picked up a white limousine.
"Blackjack, dive!" Percy yelled.
They were at least a hundred feet up, but the limo came sailing toward them, flipping fender over fender like a two-ton boomerang. Lilia and Honey swerved madly to the left, while Blackjack tucked in his wings and plunged. The limo sailed over Percy's head, missing by maybe two inches. It cleared the suspension lines of the bridge and fell toward the East River. Monsters jeered and shouted, and the Minotaur picked up another car.
"Drop us behind the lines with the Apollo cabin," Percy told Blackjack. "Stay in earshot but get out of danger!"
Blackjack swooped down behind an overturned school bus, where a couple of campers were hiding.
Lilia and Percy leaped off as soon as their pegasi's hooves touched the pavement. Then Blackjack and Honey soared into the night sky.
Michael Yew ran up to them. He was definitely the shortest commander she'd ever seen. He had a bandaged cut on his arm. His ferrety face was smeared with soot and his quiver was almost empty, but he was smiling like he was having a great time.
"Glad you could join us," he said. "Where are the other reinforcements?"
"For now, we're it," Percy said.
"Then we're dead," he said.
"You still have your flying chariot?" Lilia asked.
"Nah," Michael said. "Left it at camp. I told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever, you know? Not worth fighting about anymore. But she said it was too late. We'd insulted her honor for the last time or some stupid thing."
"Least you tried," Percy said.
Michael shrugged. "Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped. Here come the uglies!"
He drew an arrow and launched it toward the enemy. The arrow made a screaming sound as it flew.
When it landed, it unleashed a blast like a power chord on an electric guitar magnified through the world's largest speakers. The nearest cars exploded. Monsters dropped their weapons and clasped their ears in pain. Some ran. Others disintegrated on the spot.
"That was my last sonic arrow," Michael said.
"A gift from your dad?" Percy asked. "God of music?"
Michael grinned wickedly. "Loud music can be bad for you. Unfortunately, it doesn't always kill."
Sure enough, most monsters were regrouping, shaking off their confusion.
"We have to fall back," Michael said. "I've got Kayla and Austin setting traps farther down the bridge."
"No," Percy said. "Bring your campers forward to this position and wait for my signal. We're going to drive the enemy back to Brooklyn."
Michael laughed. "How do you plan to do that?"
Percy drew Riptide.
"Percy," Lilia grabbed his arm, "let me come with you."
"Too dangerous," he said. "Besides, I need you to help Michael coordinate the defensive line. I'll distract the monsters. You group up here. Move the sleeping mortals out of the way. Then you can start picking off monsters while I keep them focused on me. If anybody can do all that, you can."
Michael snorted. "Thanks a lot."
Percy kept his eyes on Lilia.
She nodded reluctantly. "All right. Get moving."
Percy looked like he was trying to build up courage before saying, "Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?"
He readied himself for a slap but instead she drew Whisperer.
"Come back alive, Bubble-Brain. Then we'll see."
He smiled, gave her a nod and then stepped out from behind the school bus. He walked up the bridge in plain sight, straight toward the enemy.
When the Minotaur saw him, his eyes burned with hate. He bellowed — a sound that was somewhere between a yell, a moo, and a really loud belch.
"Hey, Beef Boy," Percy shouted back. "Didn't I kill you already?"
Lilia turned away from Percy, she knew he could do it, but still couldn't bring herself to watch.
"Hold up, what's this about good luck kiss traditions?" Michael said turning to Lilia.
"This isn't the time Mike." She said a tense look in her eyes.
"But just so we're clear?-"
"Yes we've kissed a...couple times." Lilia blushed
"Okay. Cool." He said with a grin.
"Now concentrate." She said.
Percy killed the Minotaur in a matter of minutes, barely even hesitating to throw him off the bridge.
There were still a couple hundred enemies making their way toward Percy, but he didn't falter, slicing through monsters, one after the other.
"Ready your bows!" Lilia called to the Apollo cabin, who had formed a line, Celia took the spot next to her best friend a grim look on her face, she had burns on her arms and a graze on her face, Lilia nodded at her. The cabin followed her order and listened for her call. She waited, watching Percy's every move.
"Now!" She shouted. "Make sure no one gets past Percy!" Volleys of arrows whistled past Percy, hitting any enemies he didn't quite finish off. Finally, the monsters turned and fled—about twenty left of two hundred.
Percy moved forward, Lilia and the Apollo cabin at his heels.
"Yes!" yelled Michael Yew. "That's what I'm talking about!"
They drove them back toward the Brooklyn side of the bridge. The sky was growing pale in the east. Lilia could see the toll stations ahead.
"Percy!" She yelled. "You've already routed them. Pull back! We're overextended!"
Some part of him knew she was right, but he was doing so well, he wanted to destroy every last monster.
Lilia spotted the crowd at the base of the bridge, Percy faltered. The retreating monsters were running straight toward their reinforcements. It was a small group, maybe thirty or forty demigods in battle armor, mounted on skeletal horses. One of them held a purple banner with the black scythe design. The lead horseman trotted forward. He took off his helm, and I recognized Kronos himself, his eyes like molten gold.
The Apollo campers faltered. The monsters they'd been pursuing reached the Titan's line and were absorbed into the new force. Kronos gazed in their direction. He was a quarter mile away, but Lilia swore she could see his sickening smile from back there.
"Now," Percy said, "we pull back."
The Titan lord's men drew their swords and charged. The hooves of their skeletal horses thundered against the pavement. Lilia and the rest of the archers shot a volley, bringing down several of the enemy, but they just kept riding.
"Retreat!" Percy told his friends. "I'll hold them.'"
In a matter of seconds they were on him.
Michael and his archers tried to retreat, Celia grabbed Lilia's arm and managed to drag her a few metres away from the soldiers, but she pulled away. She needed to stay right beside Percy,
She shot arrow after arrow but as they neared she couldn't keep aiming, she was going to get hit.
"Throw the bracelet in the air!" A familiar voice said in her head, she wanted to question it, it didn't sound like a rational thing to do whilst getting charged at by an army, but she had no time. Whisperer shrank back into a gold bracelet and she threw it. As it fell through the air it slowly began to grow again, but not into its usual bow form, it shifted into a long sharp sword.
She caught it just in time as an enemy swung at her. She blocked the attack and slashed at their arm, the enemy fell to the ground and she ran to help Percy.
Kronos's cavalry swirled around us, slashing and yelling insults. The Titan himself advanced leisurely, like he had all the time in the world. Being the lord of time, she guess he did.
She tried to wound his men, not kill. That slowed her down, but these weren't monsters. They were demigods who'd fallen under Kronos's spell. She couldn't see faces under their battle helmets, but some of them had probably been her friends. She slashed the legs off their horses and made the skeletal mounts disintegrate. After the first few demigods took a spill, the rest figured out they'd better dismount and fight them on foot.
Percy and Lilia stayed shoulder to shoulder, facing opposite directions. A dark shape passed over them, and she dared to glance up. Blackjack and Honey were swooping in, kicking their enemies in the helmets and flying away like very large kamikaze pigeons.
They'd almost made it to the middle of the bridge when Lilia saw a boy charge for Percy, he was aiming for the small of Percy's back, Lilia didn't know why, but a huge wave of discomfort fell over her, she knew something awful would happen if he reached Percy. She jumped between them and felt the boys blade sink into her shoulder, she let out a cry of pain.
She could just about make out one of the boys eyes, horror crossed over them, "Lili!" He cried. "What have you done?!" She recognised his voice, Ethan's voice.
"Lilia!" Percy turned in time to see her fall, clutching her shoulder. Ethan, with a bloody knife, stood over her.
Percy looked between the two, realising what had happened, his face paled.
Percy locked eyes with Ethan. He slammed him in the face with his sword hilt so hard it dented his helm.
"Get back!" Percy slashed the air in a wide arc, driving the rest of the demigods away from Lilia.
"No one touches her!"
"Interesting," Kronos said.
He towered above Percy on his skeletal horse, his scythe in one hand. He studied the scene with narrowed eyes as if he could sense that Percy had just come close to death, the way a wolf can smell fear.
"Bravely fought, Percy Jackson," he said. "But it's time to surrender... or the girl dies."
"Percy, don't," Lilia groaned. Her shirt was soaked with blood. He had to get her out of here.
"Blackjack!" Percy yelled.
As fast as light, the pegasus swooped down and clamped his teeth on the straps of Lilia's armor.
They soared away over the river before the enemy could even react.
➳
Lilia was struggling to stay awake, the pain from her shoulder was excruciating and she was losing a lot of blood. She wasn't sure how many times she'd gone in and out of consciousness, but when she opened her eyes again she was lying on a lounger chair.
"Lil! Lili stay awake!" Connor said desperately.
"Someone call Percy! We need a healer!" Travis shouted.
Lilia tried to look around, but everything was blurry, she made out the faint outline of Silena, she was shakily typing Percy's phone number, her body trembling.
"Percy?" She cried. "Plaza Hotel. You'd better come quickly and bring a healer from Apollo Cabin. It's...it's Lili."
➳
AN:
OMFG this chapter was insane!!!
Protective Percy coming into action, but poor Lilia's getting stabbed by her old best friend, absolute betrayal 💔💔💔
This chapter was so so so so so fun to write, and I literally love Percy and Lilia so much. BUT (sorry if you didn't know this, you should do but still sorry) I saw a tiktok earlier talking about how the Apollo cabin was one of the biggest cabins before the war and after the battle of Manhattan there were only like three of them left, and this absolutely broke my heart because if the ares cabin had just fought, the Apollo children wouldn't have had to take the brunt of the front line alone 😭😭😭.
That hurt me mentally and I didn't want to be alone in it so I'm passing it on to all of you!!!!
Anyways I hope to get the next chapter up soon, have a great week, feel free to comment on any of your favourite parts I love when you interact!!!
Love you all! 🤍