Chiron told us he was going to go gather allies. Hopefully he gets the Party Ponies. We all went inside we all went inside after he cantered off. The guy behind the desk asked, "School group? We're about to close up."
"No," Percy said. "600th floor."
"There is no 600th floor, kid. Move along." He noticed our weapons and still wasn't letting us up! What the Hades is his problem? Does he not know that the second titanomachy is starting right now?
"40 demigods attract an awful lot of monsters," I smirked. "You really want us hanging out in your lobby?" The guys eyes widened in fear and he handed us the key card. We went up in two groups of 20. I took the last group up and Percy took the first group up. A disco tune was playing. A disturbing image of Apollo in bell-bottom jeans and a silk shirt filled my mind. If I make it out of this alive, I'm going to make him swear on the Styx never to wear that, ever.
I looked over and saw Lav, Percy, and Annabeth talking quietly. Vati came over to me. "Where did you go? You look different, more invincible than you already did."
"Tell you later, we need to keep moving." Percy and I led the demigods to the throne room. No one was guarding it. The ophiotaurus was in one corner of the throne room. He mooed at us happily. We walked towards the center of the thrones.
"Hello, Percy and Christina Jackson. You and your friends are welcome."
Lady Hestia stood by the hearth, caring for it. "Lady Hestia," Percy and I bowed. She had come to talk to us while we were waiting for the demigods to reach Manhattan. Our friends followed our example.
"I see you went through with your plans. You both bear the Curse of Achilles." The campers began muttering amongst themselves. Percy and I nodded. "You must be careful. You gained much on your journey. You gained much in your journey. But you are still blind to the most important truth. Perhaps a glimpse is in order." My brother and I stared into Hestia's eyes. She showed us when Luke and Thalia found Annabeth. Luke gave Annabeth her knife and promised that the three of them would always be family. I had a feeling that would be important to remember.
The scene shifted. Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke were running. It looked like several days had passed. Thalia was limping on her left leg. They ran to a house. Thalia was a little iffy about Luke going in there. She said he had sworn never to go back. This was Luke's mom's house. A gold flash illuminated the clearing and a man's voice bellowed, "You should not have come home!" The vision turned off.
I looked at Hestia again and she shook her head. They had not seen the vision. "How long were we out?" Percy asked.
"You weren't ut at all," Annabeth informed us.
"You looked at Hestia for a second then collapsed," Lav added.
"Um, Lady Hestia," Percy said as we stood up, "we've got urgent business. We need to see-"
"We know what you need," a man's voice said. I would recognize it anywhere, Hermes, the man from the vision. Hermes appeared next to Hestia. The demigods all bowed to him. Hestia bowed to Hermes as well before disappearing. "Hello, Percy, Nina, my kids, and other demigods."
Hello, Lord Hermes. Hey, George. Hello, Martha," Percy and I said together.
"I am Zeus' messenger. May I take a message?" Hermes seemed to be trying not to roll his eyes.
"Connor, Travis, lead a sweep of Olympus," I ordered. I had a feeling we should be speaking in private. "Meet us back here in thirty minutes. Annabeth, Lav, Vati, you three stay with us." Connor and Travis seemed very excited to have gotten an important mission in front of their dad. He smiled at them as they led the demigods out of the room. Lav, Vati, and Annabeth walked up to stand next to Percy and me.
"My lord, Kronos is going to attack Manhattan. Typhon is a trap. My mother must have foreseen it."
"You mother," Hermes grumbled at Annabeth. "Don't get me started on your mother, young lady. She's the reason I'm here at all. Zeus didn't want anyone to leave the front line. But your mother kept pestering him nonstop, 'It's a trap, it's a diversion, blah, blah, blah.'" I willed myself not to laugh at Annabeth's face. We may be getting along a little better, but I still don't like her and she doesn't like me. We only tolerate each other. It was nice seeing her get put in her place. "She wanted to come back herself, but Zeus was not going to have his best strategist leave his side while we're battling Typhon. And so naturally he sent me to talk to you. Apollo offered, he hates fighting, but Zeus wouldn't let him come. I'm pretty sure that was just to annoy Apollo though."
"But it's a trap! Is Zeus blind?"
"Watch it with those comments girl," said Hermes as thunder rumbled. "Zeus is not blind or deaf. Zeus has left Aeolus, king of the winds, guarding Olympus from the air. No one can approach Olympus from the air without getting blasted."
"Maybe a few of you could come back," Percy suggested. Hermes shook his head sadly and got ready to leave.
"Athena said to warn you you are on your own."
"That's real helpful," I grumbled. Hermes snorted, I could tell he didn't like his half sister very much.
"You must hold Olympus by yourselves. As if I didn't know that. Why they pay her to be the wisdom goddess, I'm not sure."
Lav, Vati, and I giggled. "Anything else?" Annabeth asked, hopefully.
"Something about plan 23. She told Percy to remember the rivers. Oh, and Apollo said don't die. He was referring to his kids and you, Nina, I think. Tell my kids I would prefer it that they didn't die as well, would you?"
"Of course, my lord," I said. He nodded and flashed out just as the other demigods arrived. Lav and Vati pulled me off to the side.
"Hestia said you took the Curse of Achilles," said Vati.
"Did you and Percy bath in the River Styx?" asked Lav.
"Yeah, but that doesn't matter right now. We have a war to fight." I turned to face the demigods. Before I could say anything, Connor dragged us to the edge of Olympus. He pointed out the army of Kronos, which was surrounding Manhattan. I gulped, the worst part was that Manhattan was entirely silent. Manhattan was never silent, not even in the middle of the night! I looked through the binoculars. All the mortals down there were fast asleep. I guess Kronos had Morpheus do it. He didn't want the orals getting in his way.
"Are they dead?" asked Silena. Beckendorf was holding her hand comfortingly. A line of the Great Prophecy rang through my head.
"And see the world in endless sleep," I said out loud. "That was a line in the prophecy."
"Morpheus has put Manhattan to sleep," continued Percy. "The invasion has started. We all rushed down to the city below. We found Mrs. O'Leary pigging out on hot dogs from a hot dog cart. The owner was sleeping next to her. Annabeth rummaged around in a van and pulled out a bronze shield. What the Hades is that? She put it on the ground. The Statue of Liberty appeared on the inside of the shield. Awesome. It bent natural light to show you anywhere as long as natural light touched said place. Percy sent his hellhound familiar off to find Grover and the other nature spirits. Annabeth showed us an image of a bunch of demigods coming across the East and Hudson rivers. We saw where all the monsters were coming in.
"Alright," I tried to grin. "We're going to hold Manhattan."
"Um, Nina, Manhattan is huge," whispered Sillena.
"We have to," Percy agreed with me. "Nina and I will take care of the boats. Don't question it," he added when Michael looked like he was about to ask a question. "Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg bridge. Katie, take Demeter's to Brooklyn-Battery tunnel. Grow thorn bushes and poison ivy in the tunnels. Connor, take half of Hermes to the Manhattan bridge. Travis, take the other half to Brooklyn bridge."
"No stopping for looting or pillaging," I added.
"Aww," said the entire Hermes cabin. I rolled my eyes at them.
"Silena, Lav, Vati, take the Aphrodite kids to Queens-Midtown Tunnel," I continued.
"Oh my gods," giggled Drew. "Fifth avenue is so on our way! We could accessorize, and monsters,like, totally hate the smell of Givenchy."
"No," I groaned. Well...the perfume thing, if you think it'll work."
The Aphrodite girls squealed. "Don't encourage them," groaned Vati.
"The Holland tunnel is next," said Percy. "Beckendorf take your siblings. Set up traps and Greek fire. The works." Beck grinned and nodded. "The 59th street bridge. Clarisse-" Percy faltered. The Ares cabin wasn't there.
"We'll take that," Annabeth said.
"Alright," I said. "Keep in touch with cell phones."
"We don't have cell phones," Silena said. I took the one from the hot dog vendor and threw it at her.
"You do now. Okay, my mom's phone number is 212-467-8903." Everyone took out markers and pens and scribbled the number down on multiple parts of their bodies. "If you need Percy or me, pick up a random phone and call us. Use it once, drop it, then borrow another one if you have too. That should make it harder for monsters to zero in on you. And no, Travis, you cannot keep a phone no matter how nice it is." Travis pouted along with the rest of the Hermes cabin.
"Hold it you two," said Jake Mason. "You guys forgot the Lincoln Tunnel." I knew there was something I was missing. There wasn't another cabin to put there. Pollux was going with the Demeter cabin and there weren't any other cabins.
"How about you leave that to us," a girl's voice echoed from behind the campers. Thalia walked through the demigods with Padma by her side. The other Hunters followed closely behind them. "The Hunters of Artemis reporting for duty." Percy and I hugged her and Vati and Lav hugged their sister. "Hunters," Thalia ordered, "move out!" The Hunters rushed off and all the cabins went to their respective positions.
Percy and I found an awesome motorcycle. We pulled the guy off it and dragged him to the side.I climbed on behind Percy and he started the engine. He drove us to where the East River met the Hudson River. Percy and I dove in, something I don't recommend unless you're a child of Poseidon or a god, and found the spot where the two river's currents were equal. "Hey!" shouted Percy. "I heard you guys are so polluted you're embarrassed to show your faces! Is that true?"
"Bad insult, fratellino. Let me show you how it's done. Is it true that the East is more toxic but the Hudson smells worse or is it the other way around?" Percy seemed a little nervous about insulting gods, but I knew better. These were New York river gods. Their instinct would be to get in our faces. I was right.
Two giant forms appeared in front of us. The one I assumed was the East River, he seemed to radiate radiation, said, "Are you idiots trying to get yourself killed, or are you just extra stupid?"
Hudson scoffed. "You're the expert on stupid, East."
"Watch it, Hudson. Stay on your side of the island and mind your own business." The two river gods floated towards each other, ready to fight. I gotta say, it was pretty ridiculous looking.
"Hold it!" shouted Percy. "We've got bigger problems."
"Kids right," agreed East. "Let's kill him then fight." The two gods threw a whole lot of garbage at us. Percy and I raised a shield of solid water. A couple pieces got through and would have pierced my chest and Percy's head if not for the curse. The bounced right off.
"Poseidon's kids?" asked Hudson.
We nodded.
"Took a dip in the Styx?" asked East.
"Yup," I said. Wanna stop the monsters crossing your rivers so Kronos doesn't take over Olympus?"
"Why would we want to do that?" asked East.
"Zeus has never done anything for us. Poseidon tries to help us with the pollution every now and then, and Apollo warms us up everyday, but the King of Olympus does nothing for us. Why should we help him?"
"You'd also be helping Poseidon and Apollo," I said.
The two gods shook their heads. "Because I can pay you," Percy said suddenly. He took out a sand dollar. Ah..."You can each have half. In exchange, you keep the forces of Kronos away from Manhattan."
"Deal," the river gods said. They each took a half of the dollar. They snapped their fingers and I knew the monsters and demigods all just took an unplanned swim. Percy and I quickly swam to the shore. I had left the phone there. There was a voice mail from Michael. The Apollo cabin needed help.
Percy rushed us to the Williamsburg bridge. The minotaur was there. "I thought you killed him," I whispered to my brother.
"I did. I was hoping he'd stay dead for a few centuries," my brother whispered back. The Apollo campers were hidden behind cars, shooting arrows at the monsters while staying out of harms reach. They, like their father, weren't big fighters. Michael ran up to us.
"Glad you could join us, where are the other reinforcements?"
"We're it," I sighed.
"Than we're toast," he groaned. Michael drew an arrow and fired it at the monsters. It let out a piercing wail that caused at least 10 of the 100 monsters to disintegrate. "That was my last sonic arrow."
"A gift from your dad?" Percy asked. "God of music?"
Michael grinned wickedly. "Mad music can be bad for you. Unfortunately, it doesn't always kill." I grinned. We told Michael to set up defenses. He nodded and ran back to his siblings. Percy and I walked up the bridge in plain sight, to distract the monsters. The minotaur attacked Percy and I took on the rest. Percy easily killed the minotaur. He helped me kill the rest. When they retreated, only about 20 of them were left alive. Apollo's campers and my brother and I went after them, that is until we saw them join another army. Percy and I told them to retreat as the army surged forward. Kronos advanced leisurely after his men.
The demigod with an eyepatch rode up to us on his skeletal horse. I was too busy fighting monsters to engage him in contact. He rode up behind my brother who didn't seem to notice him. The demigod drew a knife and tried to stab my brother in his lower back. I lunged forward and let the knife deflect off my stomach. I don't know why, but I felt the need to protect Percy. Kronos approached us as Percy helped me to my feet. He jumped down from his horse and stood in front of us. He banged the butt of his scythe down on the bridge. A wave of pure force blasted Percy and me back. The entire bridge collapsed in front of us. Kronos' army was on one side and the Apollo cabin, Percy, and me were on the other.
I looked around. Everyone was there, everyone except Michael. I began sifting through the rubble, desperately looking for my friend. Before I could get to far, my mom's phone rang. It was Silena. Lav was hurt! They were in Plaza Hotel. The Apollo campers rushed back with my brother and me. Beckendorf led us to the terrace with Will Solace. Lena was bandaging the wound. She had been stabbed by a poison dagger. Will removed the bandage and began cleaning the wound out with nectar. Lav gasped and grabbed Percy's hand. It turned purple with the force she was squeezing it with. Percy didn't seem to mind. As Will was working, he gave me a list of things he needed. I summoned them from the healing charm on my bracelet.
Silena jumped up. She had a determined look on her face. "I'm going to go get the Ares campers, and Chris, he stayed to try and convince Clarisse to come. I'll bring Blackjack and Silvermist too!" Lena rushed out of the room.
"What brought that along?" I asked. Percy, Will, and Lav shrugged. Will and I left to give Lav and Percy some private time. I went to go talk to Grover who had just arrived with Mrs. O'Leary. He told me about the nature spirit that were mobilized. Thalia came over to us and told us that a golden Titan was also in the army. He was at the Jersey Shore. After filling us in, Thalia ordered me to go to bed. I glared at her but went into a bedroom and almost instantly fell asleep. I had a dream. Nico was watching a vision which I watched along with him.
A young Nico and Bianca di Angelo were playing in a hotel lobby. Hades was talking to a woman that could only be my cousins' mother in rapid Italian. They were talking about the Great Prophecy and how they needed to protect Nico and Bianca. Maria, the woman, refused to raise them in the Underworld. Maria stood up to go get her purse from the room the family was staying in. Hades tensed. The children did as well, as if they sensed whatever it was their father sensed.
"No!" Hades shouted. He only had time to erect a wall of black energy around his kids when lightning struck the hotel. When the smoke cleared, I saw Hades holding the broken form of Maria di Angelo. Dead bodies were strewn all over the place throughout the rubble. Zeus had just killed so many innocent people to get at two innocent children. My hatred for my uncle grew even more, something I didn't know was possible. Hades looked ready to turn into his true form, which would vaporize his children. At the last second, he regained control. Alecto appeared and Hades told her to wash the children's minds in the River Lethe and place them in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The vision faded and I woke up.
Thalia was standing over me. She informed me how the Titan Prometheus had spoken with my brother and given him Pandora's Pithos. It wasn't a box like t said in the myth. It was a pithos, a clay jar. I nodded. "How many were lost?" I asked.
"6 out of the 40 demigods," Thalia replied sadly. "We lost 3 Hunters. Vati and Padma are okay if that's what you're trying to ask."
I smiled at her and she left. We still had another hour before sunset, when the battle would restart. I summoned my guitar and put up a silencing charm on the room so I wouldn't wake anyone up.
A warning to the people,
The good and the evil,
This is war.
To the soldier, the civilian,
The martyr, the victim,
This is war.
It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie,
The moment to live and the moment to die,
The moment to fight, the moment to fight
To fight, to fight, to fight!
To the right, To the left
We will fight to the death!
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
From the last to the first
To the right, To the left
We will fight to the death!
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world!
A warning to the prophet,
The liar, the honest,
This is war.
To the leader, the pariah,
The victor, the messiah,
This is war.
It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie,
The moment to live and the moment to die,
The moment to fight, the moment to fight,
To fight, to fight, to fight!
To the right, To the left
We will fight to the death!
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
From the last to the first
To the right, To the left
We will fight to the death!
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world!
I do believe in the light
Raise your hands into the sky
The fight is done, the war is won
Lift your hands toward the sun
Toward the sun
Toward the sun
Toward the sun
The war is won
To the right, To the left
We will fight to the death!
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
From the last to the first
To the right, To the left
We will fight to the death!
To the edge of the earth
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world
It's a brave new world!
A brave new world
The war is won
The war is won
A brave new world