By the time they got to the street, it was too late.
Campers and hunters lay wounded on the ground. Clarisse had clearly lost a fight with Hyperborean giant, as her and her chariot were frozen solid in a block of ice. The centaurs were nowhere to be seen, either ran away in fear or disintegrated.
The Titan army ringed the building, standing maybe twenty feet from the doors. Kronos's vanguard was in the lead: Ethan, the dracaena queen in her green armor, and two Hyperboreans. But Kronos himself stood right in front with his scythe in hand.
The only thing standing in his way was ...
"Chiron," Lilia said, her voice trembling.
If Chiron heard her, he didn't answer. He had an arrow notched, aimed straight at Kronos's face. As soon as Kronos saw Percy, his gold eyes flared. Then the Titan lord turned his attention back to Chiron.
"Step aside, little son."
Hearing Luke call Chiron his son was weird enough, but Kronos put contempt in his voice, like son was the worst word he could think of.
"I'm afraid not." Chiron's tone was steely calm, the way he gets when he's really angry.
Lilia tried to move, but her feet felt like concrete. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia were straining too, like they were just as stuck.
"Chiron!" Annabeth said. "Look out!"
The dracaena queen became impatient and charged. Chiron's arrow flew straight between her eyes and she vaporized on the spot, her empty armor clattering to the asphalt.
Chiron reached for another arrow, but his quiver was empty. He dropped the bow and drew his sword. He hated fighting with a sword. It was never his favorite weapon.
Kronos chuckled. He advanced a step, and Chiron's horse-half skittered nervously. His tail flicked back and forth.
"You're a teacher," Kronos sneered. "Not a hero."
"Luke was a hero," Chiron said. "He was a good one, until you corrupted him."
"FOOL!" Kronos's voice shook the city. "You filled his head with empty promises. You said the gods cared about me!"
"Me," Chiron noticed. "You said me."
Kronos looked confused, and in that moment, Chiron struck. It was a good maneuver—a feint followed by a strike to the face, but Kronos was quick. He had all of Luke's fighting skill, which was a lot. He knocked aside Chiron's blade and yelled, "BACK!"
A blinding white light exploded between the Titan and the centaur. Chiron flew into the side of the building with such force the wall crumbled and collapsed on top of him.
"No!" Annabeth wailed. The freezing spell broke. They ran toward their teacher, but there was no sign of him. Thalia, Lilia and Percy pulled helplessly at the bricks while a ripple of ugly laughter ran through the Titan's army.
"YOU!" Annabeth turned on Luke. "To think that I ... that I thought—"
She drew her knife.
"Annabeth, don't." Lilia tried to take her arm, but she shook her off.
She attacked Kronos, and his smug smile faded. Perhaps some part of Luke remembered that he used to like this girl, used to take care of her when she was little. She plunged her knife between the straps of his armor, right at his collar bone. The blade should've sunk into his chest. Instead it bounced off, the handle knocking Annabeth back with such force she stumbled.
Lilia yanked her back as Kronos swung his scythe, slicing the air where she'd been standing.
She fought her and screamed, "I HATE you!" She wasn't sure who she was talking to her or Luke or Kronos. Tears streaked the dust on her face.
"I have to fight him," she told her.
"It's my fight too, Percy!"
Kronos laughed. "So much spirit. I can see why Luke wanted to spare you. Unfortunately, that won't be possible."
He raised his scythe. Percy raised riptide, ready to defend, but before Kronos could strike, a dog's howl pierced the air somewhere behind the Titan's army.
"Arro0000000!" It was too much to hope, but he called, "Mrs. O'Leary?"
The enemy forces stirred uneasily. Then the strangest thing happened. They began to part, clearing a path through the street like something behind them was forcing them to. Soon there was a free aisle down the center of Fifth Avenue. Standing at the end of the block was Percy's giant dog, and a small figure in black armor.
"Nico?" He called.
"ROWWF!" Mrs. O'Leary bounded toward Percy, ignoring the growling monsters on either side. Nico strode forward. The enemy army fell back before him like he radiated death, which of course he did.
Through the face guard of his skull-shaped helmet, he smiled. "Got your message. Is it too late to join the party?"
"Son of Hades." Kronos spit on the ground. "Do you love death so much you wish to experience it?"
"Your death," Nico said, "would be great for me."
"I'm immortal, you fool! I have escaped Tartarus. You have no business here, and no chance to live."
Nico drew his sword —three feet of wicked sharp Stygian iron, black as a nightmare. "I don't agree."
The ground rumbled. Cracks appeared in the road, the sidewalks, the sides of the buildings. Skeletal hands grasped the air as the dead clawed their way into the world of the living. There were thousands of them, and as they emerged, the Titan's monsters got jumpy and started to back up.
"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Kronos demanded. "The dead are no match for us."
The sky turned dark and cold. Shadows thickened. A harsh war horn sounded, and as the dead soldiers formed up ranks with their guns and swords and spears, an enormous chariot roared down Fifth Avenue. It came to a stop next to Nico. The horses were living shadows, fashioned from darkness. The chariot was inlaid with obsidian and gold, decorated with scenes of painful death. Holding the reins was Hades himself, Lord of the Dead, with Demeter and Persephone riding behind him.
Hades wore black armor and a cloak the color of fresh blood. On top of his pale head was the helm of darkness: a crown that radiated pure terror. It changed shape as she watched; from a dragon's head to a circle of black flames to a wreath of human bones. But that wasn't the scary part. The helm reached into her mind and ignited her worst nightmares, her most secret fears. She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide, and she could tell the enemy army felt the same way. Only Kronos's power and authority kept his ranks from fleeing.
Hades smiled coldly. "Hello, Father. You're looking ... young."
"Hades," Kronos growled. "I hope you and the ladies have come to pledge your allegiance."
"I'm afraid not." Hades sighed. "My son here convinced me that perhaps I should prioritize my list of enemies." He glanced at Percy with distaste. "As much as I dislike certain upstart demigods, it would not do for Olympus to fall. I would miss bickering with my siblings. And if there is one thing we agree on it is that you were a TERRIBLE father."
"True," muttered Demeter. "No appreciation of agriculture."
"Mother!" Persephone complained.
Hades drew his sword, a double-edged Stygian blade etched with silver. "Now fight me! For today the House of Hades will be called the saviors of Olympus."
"I don't have time for this," Kronos snarled.
He struck the ground with his scythe. A crack spread in both directions, circling the Empire State Building. A wall of force shimmered along the fissure line, separating Kronos's vanguard, my friends, and me from the bulk of the two armies.
"What's he doing?" Lilia muttered.
"Sealing us in," Thalia said. "He's collapsing the magic barriers around Manhattan cutting off just the building, and us."
Sure enough, outside the barrier, car engines revved to life. Pedestrians woke up and stared uncomprehendingly at the monsters and zombies all around them. No telling what they saw through the Mist, but Lilia was sure it was plenty scary. Car doors opened. And at the end of the block, Paul Blofis and Sally got out of their Prius.
"No," Percy said. "Don't."
His mother could see through the Mist. Lilia could tell from her expression that she understood how serious things were. She hoped she would have the sense to run. But she locked eyes with Percy, said something to Paul, and they ran straight toward them.
Percy looked like he wanted to call out, Lilia pinched his arm, not enough to hurt him but it got his attention. He looked at her desperately, she shook her head subtly and he took a deep breath. The last thing they wanted to do was bring her to Kronos's attention.
Fortunately, Hades caused a distraction. He charged at the wall of force, but his chariot crashed against it and overturned. He got to his feet, cursing, and blasted the wall with black energy. The barrier held.
"ATTACK!" he roared.
The armies of the dead clashed with the Titan's monsters. Fifth Avenue exploded into absolute chaos.
Mortals screamed and ran for cover. Demeter waved her hand and an entire column of giants turned into a wheat field. Persephone changed the dracaenae's spears into sunflowers. Nico slashed and hacked his way through the enemy, trying to protect the pedestrians as best he could. Percy's parents ran toward them, dodging monsters and zombies, but there was nothing he could do to help them.
"Nakamura," Kronos said. "Attend me. Giants deal with them." He pointed at their friends and Percy. Then he ducked into the lobby.
For a second Lilia was stunned, she'd expected him to charge Percy, but Kronos completely ignored him like he wasn't worth the trouble.
"He didn't even look at me." Percy said tensing his jaw.
"And you're mad about this?" Lilia said struggling to comprehend it.
The first Hyperborean giant smashed at them with his club. Percy rolled between his legs and stabbed Riptide into his backside. He shattered into a pile of ice shards. The second giant breathed frost at Annabeth, but Grover pulled her out of the way while Thalia went to work.
She sprinted up the giant's back like a gazelle, sliced her hunting knives across his monstrous blue neck, and created the world's largest headless ice sculpture.
Lilia glanced outside the magic barrier. Nico was fighting his way toward Percy's mom and Paul, but they weren't waiting for help. Paul grabbed a sword from a fallen hero and did a pretty fine job keeping a dracaena busy. He stabbed her in the gut, and she disintegrated.
"Paul?" He said in amazement.
He turned toward them and grinned. "I hope that was a monster I just killed. I was a Shakespearian actor in college! Picked up a little swordplay!"
The moment was short lived when a Laistrygonian giant charged toward his mom. She was rummaging around in an abandoned police car-maybe looking for the emergency radio and her back was turned.
"Mom!" Percy yelled.
She whirled when the monster was almost on top of her. Lilia thought the thing in her hands was an umbrella until she cranked the pump and the shotgun blast blew the giant twenty feet backward, right into Nico's sword.
"Nice one," Paul said.
"When did you learn to fire a shotgun?" Percy demanded.
My mom blew the hair out of her face. "About two seconds ago. Percy, we'll be fine. Go!"
"Yes," Nico agreed, "we'll handle the army. You have to get Kronos!"
"Come on, Bubble Brain!" Lilia said.
Percy nodded. Then looked at the rubble pile on the side of the building. "Mrs. O'Leary," he said. "Please, Chiron's under there. If anyone can dig him out, you can. Find him! Help him!"
She bounded to the pile and started to dig.
Lilia, Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, and Percy raced for the elevators.
➳
AN:
Hi all! Sorry this isn't a very long chapter, but here it is anyway. I know I've said this a lot but I literally only have five more chapters to write!!!
And for anyone wondering, I will be writing the HoO series in parts, so their will be two more books in this order;
Book two:
-The lost hero (and a few small scenes of the son of Neptune)
-The mark of Athena
Book three:
-the house of hades
-the blood of Olympus
I'm not sure if I'll go further than that after I finish, as they will be long books, and I'm already struggling with how I'll write Lilia's plot into the books (especially with mark of Athena and house of hades revolving around Annabeth and Percy) but I'll get to that when I'm there. Hope you all stay for that because I don't know how long that will take! 😭
But on a side note, I've wrote a couple scenes I want to add into the lost hero, from Percy's point of view and I'm so excited to share them with you all!!! It won't be much but it will help bring about Lilia's plot and Percy and Lilia's relationship!!
That's all I have to say for today, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all when I post the next part!! (Should be sometime this week)
Love you all, byee!
🤍