I 04. I
𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔
❝ hermes ❞
PERCY CONCENTRATED ON THE SMALL OF HIS BACK—A TINY POINT JUST OPPOSITE HIS NAVAL.
It was well defended when he wore his armor. It would be hard to hit by accident, and few enemies would aim for it on purpose. No place was perfect, but this seemed right to him.
He pictured a string, a bungee cord connecting him to the world from the small of his back. And he stepped into the river.
For a split second, he felt the familiar touch on that same part on his back, and the string tugged sharply, and he thought it was her.
Imagine jumping into a pit of boiling acid. Now multiply that pain times fifty that still won't be close to understanding what it felt like to swim in the Styx. Percy planned to walk in slow and courageous like a real hero. As soon as the water touched his legs, his muscles turned to jelly and he fell face-first into the current.
He submerged completely. For the first time in his life, he couldn't breathe underwater. He finally understood the panic of drowning. Every nerve in his body burned. He was dissolving in the water. Percy saw faces—Rachel, Annabeth, Grover, Tyson, his mother—but they faded as soon as they appeared.
"Percy," his mom said. "I give you my blessing."
"Be safe, brother!" Tyson pleaded.
"You drool when you sleep," Annabeth said.
"Enchiladas!" Grover said. Percy wasn't sure where that came from, but it didn't seem to help much. Percy was losing the fight. The pain was too much. His hands and feet were melting into the water, his soul was being ripped from his body. He couldn't remember who he was. The pain of Kronos's scythe had been nothing compared to this.
The cord, a familiar voice said. Remember your lifeline, dummy!
Suddenly there was a tug in his lower back. The current pille at him, but it wasn't carrying him much anymore. He imagined the string in his back keeping him tied to the shore. A familiar touch ghosted along the string, and his body yearned to feel it again.
"Hold on, Kelp Head." It was Ariadne's voice, much clearer now. "You're not getting away from me that easily."
The cord strengthened.
Percy could see Ariadne now—standing barefoot above him on the canoe lake pier. He'd fallen out of his canoe. That was it. She was reaching out her hand to haul him up, and she was laughing at him. She wore her white crop top and a black and white flannel shirt and jean shorts. Her hair was tucked in a low ponytail, and her hair was straight, which was strange seeing as she usually kept it curly no matter what.
"You are such an idiot sometimes." She smiled. "Come on, Perc, take my hand. Gods know you couldn't survive without me."
Memories came flooding back to him—sharper and more colorful. Percy stopped dissolving. His name was Percy Jackson. He reached up and took Ariadne's hand.
Her hand was tight against his, and her familiar touch sent a shock wave through him. Her purple eyes sparkled as she grinned brightly, and she hauled him toward her.
As he came closer, the girl leaned forward and held his hand tighter than before. And to his surprise, her lips claimed his, and he immediately closed his eyes and leaned into it.
And that was when Percy burst out of the river.
***
ARIADNE BIT HER LIP HARSHLY, CAUSING A TWINGE OF PAIN IN HER MOUTH. Her hands messed with her purple ring. She sat at the docks, her body felt tugged there that morning, like a string in her back.
The girl hadn't heard from Percy or Nico, and neither had returned from their escapade. She didn't know where exactly where they went after her dream of them at May Castellan's place.
She had spent all that morning trying to understand what she had seen, but there was no real proper answer.
Her hands twisted the ring back and for the against her finger. She kept her eyes focused on the water, trying to wait for Percy to pop out of it at any given moment.
The girl couldn't shake the feeling in her body. She knew the war was inching closer and closer as August eighteenth approached. Ariadne was to do something that would hurt monsters and heroes alike, and it was her decision that could end something for them all. But Percy was the priority. This was his prophecy, and his choice could end the gods, she needed to make sure it was the right one.
"Hey," a hoarse voice spoke behind her.
Ariadne looked to see Silena standing on the deck behind her. Her dark hair blew in the wind, and the brunette gulped at how pretty she looked. "Hi."
Silena sat next to her, legs dangling down, grazing the top of the water. She was quite for a small moment. "How are you?" she asked quietly.
The brunette shrugged. "Okay." Her purple eyes scanned the older girl. "How are you? After everything..."
Silena knew she meant Charlie. Everyone had kept the name quiet since the news arrived, and no one really knew what would set the daughter of Aphrodite off. But Ariadne wasn't afraid to ask someone how they were, she could handle it.
"Fine." But she didn't sound fine. Her voice cracked slightly, and it sounded raw in her throat. Her blue eyes were puffy and red, her cheeks flushed and pale in the summer day. "I guess that's all I can be right now."
"No." Ariadne shook her head. "You lost someone close. We all did. It's okay to not feel great, I know the feeling."
Silena spared her a glance. "You understand what it's like losing someone you kissed?"
Ariadne eyed her ring. She did. No one aside from their friends knew that Ariadne had kissed Percy in a desperate attempt last summer when she left him at Mount St. Helens. And it was hard for him to come back alive after everyone aside from her believed he was dead.
"I'm guessing you figured it out?" Silena said, leaning back on her hands as she created a ripple in the water with the tip of her shoe.
Ariadne's brow furrowed. "Huh?"
Silena chuckled. "You figured out why you felt that way about some girls. You told me that a few years ago."
The brunette nodded. She remembered. "Yeah... I did."
"That's good."
It was quiet for a few more minutes. She quit messing with her ring, in favor of admiring the fish that swam beneath them quickly. It must've been nice to not have to worry about a war. But she wouldn't know the feeling.
She brushed a strand of her hair back. The girl couldn't get the dream out of her mind, and there was a tugging sensation in her back, one that made her walk to the docks and continue glancing back at cabin three.
Silena sighed, "I miss him."
"I do too," the brunette said. "But he's okay. He's in Elysium."
"How do you know?" the daughter of Aphrodite said.
"I just do."
Silena looked a bit doubtful, but she dropped the topic, as her lip began quivering. Ariadne gripped her hand and have the girl a comforting look.
"Silena," Ariadne said, "I've known you for years, okay? And I know you're scared."
The rave haired girl shook her head. "You don't know that." She was given a raised eyebrow. "I'm not."
"I know because I'm scared, too." Ariadne let go of her hand and let it brush back a strand of hair that got caught in her face again. "I've known about the prophecy since I was ten. Everyday I've had to imagine what would happen when I was sixteen, and what choice I would need to make. For the past six years I've been terrified of this. But I know everyone else is, too. I know you are Silena."
Silena gave the water a glare. "How can I not be? I'm a daughter of Aphrodite who just lost the one person I loved. I'm not you, Ari."
Ariadne scoffed, "That's not true. You are amazing. When the Hunters were here, you were one of the only people who were ready to fight them at any given moment. And you're not bad with a knife. You can rival anyone with your charm speak, okay? Just because you're a daughter of Aphrodite doesn't mean that you're useless. I've met your mom, Silena, and she is as bad ass as you are."
Silena smiled. Her rosy lips quirked up before turning into a grin. "Thanks, Ari." Her eyes darkened before her voice went deep. "What do you think about this whole spy thing?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the spy. Would you—would you be angry at them. If you found out who it was... what would you do?"
Ariadne wondered why she was acting so strange. She only thought it to be because of Charlie and how shook up she was that someone close to them could be a spy.
The brunette shrugged. "I wouldn't."
"You wouldn't?" Silena looked shocked. "But I thought—"
"I wouldn't be angry because I understand. The gods aren't the greatest, but... I would be frustrated as to why they would switch sides." Ariadne chuckled darkly. "But then again, they could've also been manipulated by Luke, you know?"
Silena nodded. "Yeah, I do."
The older girl patted her hand. "I love you, Ari. Never stop fighting, please."
Ariadne smiled. "I won't."
The daughter of Aphrodite left. And Ariadne stared at the water again, twisting her amethyst ring back and forth as she tried to understand what was happening to her friend.
Silena spared a glance over her shoulder at the girl and gave a sad smile.
Neither of them knew what secrets awaited them, or what the war would bring to their doorstep.
***
PERCY HAD CALLED AND THEY WERE HEADED TO QUEENS. Ariadne sat next to Annabeth in the back of the camp can as it drove into the city.
She had her arms crossed as campers began looking sick around her. Pollux and Sydney whispered quietly between each other, the latter sharpening an arrow with a small celestial bronze knife that rested in a sheath on her leg.
Ariadne twisted her ring back and forth. She kept glancing back at everyone in the van, attempting to not imagine who would be left, hoping that they would all make it.
Her anxiety was spiking up while she thought of her five year old self being dropped off at camp, wondering if her mom would come back, only to find out she wouldn't. She imagined her ten year old self hearing the prophecy and attempting to guess who it was about.
The brunette was growing increasingly worried as they came closer to the city, and her heart was racing in her chest.
Her eyes stayed on her hands. The cuticles were destroyed, and her nails were chipped and cracked from her months of running and fighting. There were a few small scars along her palms from branches and bramble in woods or trees, and the occasional rabid animal they came across.
Annabeth noticed her best friend and gripped her hand, stopping her from twisting her rings. "Hey," she said softly, "it'll be okay." But even the blonde seemed to have trouble believing her own words.
"I hope so," Ariadne said. "I'm just worried about everyone else."
"They'll be okay," she said. "We'll be okay. Promise."
Ariadne gave her a soft smile and gulped down her worries. As long as Annabeth and her friends were safe. She brushed a hair out of her face, curling it around her finger tightly before letting it spring back into shape. It was often something she did, and Percy had ended up taking the habit when he was stressed or in need of calming down.
Soon, Annabeth's phone rang and the girl put it on speaker phone.
"Hey," Percy said. "You get my message?"
"Percy, where have you been?" Annabeth said. "Your message said almost nothing! We've been worried sick!"
"I'll fill you in later," Percy said. "Where are you?"
"We're on our way like you asked, almost to the Queen—Midtown Tunnel. But, Percy, what are you planning? We've left camp virtually in defended, and there's no way the gods—"
"Trust me," Percy said. "I'll see you there."
He hung up.
Ariadne gave the blonde a look, but she only grumbled to herself.
The vans pulled to the curb done Fifth Avenue, and the brunette saw Mrs. O'Leary bounding up and down, licking cabs and sniffing hot dog carts. Nobody seemed to notice her, although people did swerve away and look confused when she came close.
The vanes said Delphi Strawberry Service, which was the cover name for Camp Half-Blood. She'd never seen all three cans in the same place at once, even in her many years at camp, though she knew they shuffled their fresh produce into the city.
Their van was driven by Argus, their many-eyes security chief. The other two were driven by harpies, who were basically human/chicken hybrids with bad attitudes. They used the harpies mostly for cleaning camp, but t he y did pretty well in midtown traffic too.
The doors slid open. Campers climbed out, some still looking green from the long drive. Pollux, Sydney, Silena, the Stoll Brothers, Michael Yew, Jake Mason, Katie Gardner, Hailee, and Annabeth and Ariadne, along with most of their siblings. Chiron came out of the van last. His horse half was compacted into his magic wheelchair, so he used the handicap lift. The Ares cabin wasn't there, and Ariadne had almost punched Clarisse when she said they weren't going.
They had forty campers. That was it.
Not many to fight a war, but a good number. Everyone looked nervous, and she understood why. They were probably sending out so much demigod aura that every monster in the northeastern United States knew they were there.
Annabeth and Ariadne came up to Percy. The blonde was dressed in black camouflage with her Celestial Bronze knife strapped to her arm and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder—ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first.
Ariadne was dressed in black leggings and a dark grey shirt, with Lunacy glistening on her finger along with her purple ring and the many piercings in her ears.
She frowned. "What is it?"
"What's what?" Percy asked.
"You're looking at me funny."
Percy realized he was thinking about his strange vision of Ariadne pulling him out of the Styx River and kissing him. "It's, uh, nothing." He turned to the rest of the group. "Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."
Their old mentor 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."
He 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."
He wanted to protest, but everybody was looking at him expectantly, even Ariadne.
Percy took a deep breath. "Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen 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."
Percy asked Argus to watch Mrs. O'Leary, which neither of them looked happy about.
Chiron shook his hand. "You'll do well, Percy. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses."
Percy nodded and tried to give him a confident smile.
"Let's go," Percy told the campers.
A security guard was sitting behind the desk in the lobby, reading a big black book with a flower on the cover. He glanced up when they all filed in with their weapons and armor clanking. "School group? We're about to close up."
"No," Percy said. "Six-hundredth floor."
He checked them out. His eyes were pale blue and his head was completely bald. Ariadne couldn't tell if he was human or not, but he seemed to notice their weapons, so she guessed he wasn't fooled by the Mist.
"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid." He said it like it was a required line he didn't believe. "Move along."
Percy leaned across the desk. "Forty demigods attract an awful lot of monsters. You really want us to hanging along."
He thought about that. 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 they marched ill rough.
They decided it would take two trips to get everybody up in the elevator. Ariadne went with the first group. Different elevator music was playing since their last visit—that old disco song 'Stayin' Alive.' A terrifying image flashed through her mind of Apollo in bell bottomed pants and a slinky silk shirt.
She was glad when the elevator doors finally dinged opened. In front of them, a path of floating stones led through the clouds up to Mount Olympus, hovering six thousand feet over Manhattan.
Ariadne had seen Olympus several time, but it still took my breath away. The mansions glittered gold and white against the sides of the mountain. Gardens bloomed in a hundred terraces. Scented smoke rose from braziers that lined the winding streets. And right at the top of the snow capped crest rose the main palace of the gods. It looked as majestic as ever, but something seemed wrong. Then she realized the mountain was silent—no music, no voices, no laughter.
Ariadne studied Percy. "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," he said. "Come on."
They made their way across the sky bridge into the streets of Olympus. The shops were closed. The parks were empty. A couple of Muses sat on a bench strumming glamming lyres, but their hearts didn't seem to be in it. A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted oak tree. A minor gosling spotted 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. Ariadne and Annabeth made a face at the queen of the gods.
"Hate her," Ariadne muttered.
"Has she been cursing you or something?" Percy asked. Last year Ariadne had gotten on Hera's bad side, and Annabeth was no fan either, but the brunette hadn't really talked about it since.
"Just for Annabeth," Ariadne said. "Her sacred animal is the cow, right?"
"Right."
"So she sends cows after me," Annabeth said.
Percy tried not to smile. "Cows? In San Fransisco?"
"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."
"Look!" Pollux cried, pointing toward the horizon. "What is that
They all froze. Blue lights were streaking across the evening sky toward Olympus like tiny comets. They seemed to be coming from all over the city, heading straight toward the mountain. As they got close, they fizzled out. They watched them for several minutes and they didn't seem to do any damage, but still it was strange.
"Like infrared scopes," Michael Yew muttered. "We're being targeted."
"Let's get to the palace," Ariadne said.
No one was guarding the hall of the gods. The gold and silver doors stood wide open. Their footsteps echoed as they walked into the throne room.
Of course 'room' didn't really cover it. The place was the size of Madison Square Garden. High above, the blue ceiling glittered with constellations. Twelve giant empty thrones stood in a U around a hearth. In one corner, a house sized glove of water hovered in the air. And inside swam their old friend the Ophiotaurus, half-cow, half-serpent.
"Moooo!" he said happily, turning in a circle.
Despite all the serious stuff going on, Ariadne and Percy had to smile. Two years ago they'd spent a lot of time grind to save the Ophiotaurus from the Titans, and Percy and Ariadne had gotten kind of fond of him. Frankly, she had grown more fond of sea creatures ever since she had known Percy.
"Hey, man," Percy said. "They treating you okay?"
"Mooo," Bessie answered.
They walked toward the thrones, and a woman's voice said, "Hello again, Percy Jackson, Ariadne Phoenix. You and your friends are welcome."
Hestia stood by the hearth, poking the flames with a stick. She wore the same kind of simple brown dress as she had before, but she was a grown woman now.
Percy bowed. "Lady Hestia."
Ariadne and her friends followed his example.
Hestia regarded him with her red glowing eyes. "I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles."
The other campers started muttering among themselves: What did she say? What about Achilles?
"You must be careful," Hestia warned Percy. "You gained much on your journey. But you are still blind to the most important truth. Perhaps a glimpse is in order."
Annabeth nudged him. "Um... what is she talking about."
Ariadne narrowed her eyes and looked at the boy.
Percy stared into Hestia's eyes, and an image rushed into his mind. The brunette watched with furrowed eyebrows as the boy's eyes twitched for a second.
His knees buckled, but Ariadne grabbed him. "Perc! What happened?"
"Did... did you see that?" Percy asked.
"See what?"
He glanced at Hestia, but the goddess's face was expressionless. "How long was I out?" he muttered.
Annabeth knit her eyebrows as Ariadne rubbed his back. "Percy," the blonde said, "you weren't out at all. You just looked at Hestia for like one second and collapsed."
"Um, Lady Hestia," Percy said, "we've come on urgent business. We need to see—"
"We know what you need," a man's voice said.
A god shimmered into existence next to Hestia. He looked about twenty-five, with curly salt and pepper hair and perish features. He wore a military pilot's flight suit, with tiny bird's wings fluttering on his helmet and his black leather boots. In the crook of his arm was a long staff entertained with two living serpents.
"I will leave now," Hestia said. She bowed to the aviator and disappeared into smoke. Ariadne understood why she was so anxious to go. Hermes, the God of Messengers, did not look happy.
"Hello, Percy." His brow furrowed as though he was annoyed with him.
Percy bowed awkwardly. "Lord Hermes."His eyebrows raised for a second. "Hello, George. Hey, Martha."
"Um, Hermes," Percy said. "We need to talk to Zeus. It's important."
Hermes's eyes were steely cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message."
Behind them, the other demigods shifted restlessly. This wasn't going as planned.
"You guys," Percy said. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses. See who's left on Olympus. Meet Aidan, Annabeth and I back here in thirty minutes."
Silena frowned. "But—"
"That's a good idea," Annabeth said. "Connor and Travis, you two lead."
The Stolls seemed to like that—getting handed an important responsibility right in front of their dad. They usually never led anything except toilet paper raids. "We're on it!" Travis said. They herded the others out of the throne room, leaving Ariadne, Annabeth, and Percy with Hermes.
"My lord," Annabeth said. "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 caduceus, and George and Martha didn't look happy. "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 leaving 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 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. "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 the 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."
Percy raised his hand. "Um... what about that materializing/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." He shared a glance with Ariadne who glared at the sound of Echidna.
"—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 except 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?" Ariadne said. "He nearly destroyed St. Louis."
"Yes," Hermes admitted. "But he destroyed only half of Kentucky. He's slowing down. Losing power."
Ariadne didn't like that her home state was half-destroyed. She didn't want to argue, but it sounded like Hermes was trying to convince e himself.
In the corner, the Ophiotaurus mooed sadly.
"Please, Hermes," Annabeth said. "You said my mother wanted to come. Did she give you any messages for us?"
"Messages," he muttered. "'It'll be a great,' 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."
"Quiet, both of you," Hermes grumbled. Ariadne assumed he was talking to his snakes.
The god looked at Annabeth, who was doing her big-pleading-gray-eyes thing. The brunette has been hit with it a bit too much when she was younger and lost a lot of cookies to then blonde because of it.
"Bah," Hermes said. "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.
"She said you should try plan twenty-three. She said you would know what that meant."
Annabeth's face paled. Obviously she knew what it meant, and she didn't like it. "Go on."
"Last thing." Hermes looked at Percy. "She said to tell Percy: 'Remember the rivers.' And, um, something about Ariadne keeping her daughter safe." Hermes's brow furrowed. "Dionysus also sent a message for you, Jackson. Staying away from his daughter."
Ariadne wasn't sure whose face was redder: Percy's or her's.
"Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth said. "And I... I wanted to say... I'm sorry about Luke."
The god's expression Ed hardened like he'd turned to marble. "You should've left that subject alone."
Annabeth stepped back nervously. "Sorry?"
"SORRY doesn't cut it!"
George and Martha curled around caduceus, which shimmered and changed into something that looked suspiciously like a high-voltage cattle prod.
"You should've saved him when you had the chance," Hermes growled at Annabeth and Ariadne. "You're the only two who could."
Percy tried to step between them. "What are you talking about? They didn't—"
"Don't defend them, Jackson!" Hermes turned the cattle prod toward Percy. "Both of them know exactly what I'm talking about."
"Maybe you should blame yourself!" Percy should've kept his mouth shut. Ariadne wrapped an arm around Annabeth's shoulders. "Maybe if you hadn't abandoned Luke and his mom!"
Hermes raised his cattle prod. He began to grow until he was ten feet tall. But as he prepared to strike, George and Martha leaned in close and whispered something in his ear. Hermes clenched his teeth. He lowered the cattle prod, and it turned back to a staff."
"Percy Jackson," he said, "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, and he shrank back to human size. "My son, my greatest pride... my poor May..."
He sounded so devastated Ariadne didn't know why to say. One minutes he was ready to vaporize them. Now he looked like he needed a hug.
"Look, Lord Hermes," Percy said. "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, and his voice faltered. The look on his face wasn't really anger, though. It was pain. Deep, incredible pain.
"I will leave you now," he said slightly. "I have a war to fight."
He began to shine. Percy turned away and Ariadne made sure Annabeth did the same, because she was still frozen in shock.
Hermes glowed with the light of a supernova. Then he was gone.
Annabeth sat at the foot of her mother's throne and cried. Ariadne squeezed her shoulder and let her cry into her shoulder.
"Annabeth," Percy said, "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 or Aidan. You didn't do anything to deserve that."
Annabeth wiped her eyes. She stared at the hearth like it was her own funeral pyre.
Percy shifted uneasily. "Um, you didn't, right?"
She didn't answer. Her Celestial Bronze knife was strapped to her arm—the same knife Luke had given her all those years ago.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "What did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meet her?"
Ariadne looked at the boy. Percy nodded reluctantly. "Nico and I visited her. She was a little... different." He described May Castellan, and the weird moment when her eyes had started to glow and she talked about her son'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?"
"Don't change the subject."
Ariadne stood up straight. "Percy! Did you or did you not?"
"Um... maybe a little."
Percy told them the story about Hades and Nico, and how he'd defeated an army of the dead. He left out the vision of Ariadne pulling him out of the river. He still didn't quite understand that part, and just thinking about it made him embarrassed:.
Ariadne shook her head in disbelief. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"
"I had no choice," Percy said. "It's the only way I can stand up to Luke."
"You mean... di inmortales, of course!" Annabeth said. "That's why Luke didn't die. He went to Styx and... Oh no, Luke. What were you thinking?"
"So how you're worried about Luke again," Percy grumbled.
She started at him like he'd just dropped from space. "What?"
"Forget it," Percy muttered. "The point is he didn't die in the Styx. Neither did I. Now I have to face him. We have to defend Olympus."
Ariadne studied his face, like she was trying to see the differences since his swim in the Styx. "I guess you're right. Athena mentioned—"
"Plan twenty-three."
Annabeth rummaged in her pack and pulled out Daedalus's laptop. The blue Delta symbol glowed on the top when she bolted it up. She opened a few files and started to read.
"Here it is," she said. "Gods, we have a lot of work to do."
"One of Daedalus's inventions?"
"A lot of inventions... dangerous ones. Of my mother wants me to use this plan, she must think things are very bad." Annabeth looked at Percy. "What about her message to you: 'Remember the rivers'? What does that mean?"
Percy shook his head.
Just then the Stoll brothers ran into the throne room.
"You need to see this, Connor said. "Now."
The blue lights in the sky had stopped, so at first Ariadne didn't understand what the problem was.
The other campers had gathered in a small park at the edge of the mountain. They were clustered at the guardrail, looking down at Manhattan. The railing was lined with those tourist binoculars, where you could deposit one golden drachma and see the city. Campers were using every single one.
Ariadne looked down at the city. She could see almost everything from there—the East River and the Hudson River carving the shape of Manhattan, the grid of streets, the lights of skyscrapers, the dark stretch of Central Park in the north. Everything looked normal, but something was wrong. She felt it in her bones before she realized what it was.
"I don't... hear anything," Annabeth said.
That was the problem.
Even from this height, she should've heard the noise of the city—millions of people bustling around, thousands of cars and machines—the him of a huge metropolis. You don't think about it when you live in New York, but it's always there. Even in the dead of night, New York is never silent.
But it was how.
"What did they do?" Percy's voice sounded tight and angry. "What did they do to my city?"
He pushed Michael Yew away from the binoculars and took a look. Ariadne grabbed a spot and filled in where Pollux had once been.
In the streets below, traffic had stopped. Pedestrians were lying on the sidewalks, of curled up in doorways. There was no sight of violence, no wrecks, nothing like that. It was as if all the people in New York had simply decided to stop whatever they were doing and pass out.
"Are they dead?" Silena asked in astonishment.
Shivers ran through Ariadne's body. A line from the prophecy rang in her ears: And see the world in endless sleep.
"Not dead," Percy said. "Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."
Ariadne's hand clenched into a tight fist. Something gripped her hand and interlocked their fingers. She glanced over to see Percy, who was giving her a sad look.
And Ariadne couldn't help but give one back.
authors note:
I'm sooo sorry for the late ass update. I've been so busy with school and just life in general.
So here it is.
Once again, I'm sorry it sucks ass.
Anyways, now we get into the good stuff so, stay tuned for whenever I have enough time to get around to that.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and tell me your favorite moment between Percy and Ariadne that you've read so far. It can be throughout any of the books so far.
Love you guys!