Percy knew what that conch horn meant and he didn't like it. Still, it was better than staying with the sea god and almost doing something he might regret. He sighed in annoyance as he took off into the sky. He raced to Half-Blood Hill, beating the other demigods by a landslide.
What he saw confirmed exactly what he had been suspecting from his meeting with Posidieon. The attacking group was the same size as the first monster army that attacked Manhattan burning the Second Titan War. The giants from Alaska, titans and everything. Even Kronos was there.
"Perseus Jackson," Kronos said from the front of his army. In Percy's opinion, the 'army' could have used a bit more monsters if they even had a shiver of hope of defeating Percy.
Yet, Percy was not going to fight this one.
No, Percy was going to have the campers and gods work together to defeat this small army. He needed to see how well they worked together, how well they took orders and how much he needed to train them. Both the campers and gods needed training from what he saw from Posidieon. He could only imagine how horribly unfit the gods have gotten. They were all out of shape, all he needed to know was how much he needed to train them.
The only group of campers and gods he knew for sure could actually take care of themselves were the Seven, Clarisse, Apollo, Hestia, Hades and Hermes. Apollo, he knew had been training for the last century. The same with his cabin at camp. None of Apollo's or Hermes' kids had slipped in their rigorous training.
"Kronos," Percy acknowledged. "I see you are just like the campers and gods; not getting any better."
Kronos growled. "You dare compare me to those nincompoops?" He demanded.
Percy laughed. "Yes," he said. "Now are you going to tell us what you want or are you going to attack us with out telling us the reason?"
Kronos was still growling. "Surrender before it is too late Jackson," he said. "You can save thousands of lives if you just give up." He said the last part slowly and tauntingly.
Yet, Percy was not taunted. He knew that a century ago, he would have been tempted, to just give up hope and leave Olympus to itself.
But this was not Olympus, it was Camp Half-Blood. It was his home despite the horrible memories. No one was going to raise a finger to destroy it and get away with it. And this was not a century ago, this was now and Percy had gotten better than before.
"We may have had troubles defeating you a century ago, Kronos, but we are better now." Percy said with confidence that he did not have. He was not sure they would be winning this fight with out Percy's help. Even with the gods.
Kronos chuckled darkly. "We shall see."
From an unseen signal, the monsters charged. They were still quite a ways away so Percy had time to yell out orders to the gathered campers and Posidieon and Apollo.
"Apollo and Posidieon call the rest of the gods!" Percy started. "Campers, listen to your counselors. I will not fight in this one unless it is absolutely necessary."
"What?" Annabeth and Leif cried, shocked.
Percy's father was too shocked to say anything, he just stared, opened mouth at Percy.
Percy sighed. "Apparently they do not take orders very well," he muttered to Apollo who chuckled.
"Okay Percy," Apollo said, pretending he did not say anything. "I'll get the rest of the gods since Barnacle Beard here is too shocked to do anything."
"You are not going to fight?" Annabeth asked, getting red. "The Ancient Laws have been revoked, what excuse could you possibly have for not joining us in battle?"
Percy sighed. "You should not need me to help you," he said sternly. "I am going to observe you all in a real fight and see how you do. This will help me see how much training you need."
"But-"
"You don't think you can do it?" Percy challenged, raising an eyebrow.
Annabeth closed her mouth, opened it and closed it again; obviously flustered.
"You have had all this time to train, you should have gotten better than you were then," Percy said casually. "If you haven't, well... you guys are seriously in trouble. This is the same exact group as in the Second War. The only difference is, there is no Minotaur."
The Seven minus Leo and Percy shuffled uneasily, unwilling to admit that they were not strong enough to defeat Kronos' army.
Before another word could be said, the rest of the gods arrived.
"Did I just hear you correctly?" Athena asked in disbelief. "Percy Jackson will not be fighting along side his family?"
"You are a traitor!" Zeus shouted, reaching for his master bolt.
Percy rolled his eyes. "Shut up Thunder pants," he said, "I was just going to explain."
"I thought your fatal flaw was loyalty?" Athena said, changing the topic.
"Yes," Percy said, waiting for her to get to the point. "It still is."
"Then why are you not going to join us on the battlefield?" She asked.
By now the monsters were almost upon them and Percy was out of patience. "Immortal campers, take charge of your clueless campers before they are ripped to shreds," he said in his commander's voice. "You," he said, pointing to the gods standing next to him. "Help your children, all questions will be answered at the end of the battle. Assuming you are all still alive."
Their confused faces were replaced with determination and the gods and campers raised their weapons in anticipation.
Percy sat back, conjuring up a lawn chair while ordering his hunt to stand down. Once he got everyone popcorn, he was ready to watch the fight.
"I can't believe he is really going to do it," Clarisse muttered as she readied her weapons. Percy never told her to stand down.
"Get used to his random orders, Clarisse," Phoenix said, chuckling a little. "There is a reason for everything."
Clarisse shrugged and ran into battle, following the rest of the campers.
From his vantage point on the hill, Percy could see the horrible form the demigods used as they fought. They have not practiced and they were not in tune with their battle instincts. Even the Seven were not as good as they used to be; they were struggling.
The second the fight started, Percy decided to do all he could to keep the innocent demigods alive. And yes, even the Seven; they will need all the fighting hands they could get for the final battle.
A few minutes into the battle, Percy saw a struggling demigod get slashed in the arm by a dracnae. "Phoenix," he said, catching the attention of his second in command. "Four hands and a half to the right, Ares camper, go."
Understanding immediately, Phoenix took off, running down the hill and in the direction Percy had said.
Percy watched as Phoenix came up behind the monster and stabbed her in the back, effectively making her burst into dust. From there, Phoenix ran off, looking for other demigods in need of help.
Ten seconds later, Percy sent Dove to bring a fallen camper for the Apollo campers to take care of. Shooter and Luminus were sent to the campers that had gotten separated from the rest of their comrades. Shizzle was sent to save the struggling Seven and Shade was sent to help the struggling gods. Once they had finished with the original tasks that Percy set them out to do, they stuck with it, doing similar jobs to keep the campers alive.
It wasn't until the Hunt joined the battle that things started to go their way. Until then, they were losing terribly.
Once the fight was over, Percy got up and stretched. He had finished his popcorn half way through. He looked around and saw that the campers had not lost nearly as much as they did the first time they had fought Kronos' army. The only monster left was Kronos, who was staring around him in shock and a few dozen monsters.
"You did a lot better than you did before," Percy commented lightly.
"Perseus Jackson, you will pay for this!" Kronos exclaimed.
Percy shrugged. "Go ahead and try," he said.
Kronos and what was left of his army then disappeared before the campers could do anything.
"You let him get away!" Posidieon yelled, dismayed.
Percy rolled his eyes. "He would have reincarnated by the time the final battle came around anyways, this is Tartarus we are up against," he told them in a 'duh' voice. "He can make the monsters and titans come back long before their time."