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FIC: The Final Sacrifice, chpt 27
Title: The Final Sacrifice (Daughter of Wisdom 5)
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Thalia Grace, Charles Beckendorf/Silena Beauregard, Clarisse La Rue, Michael Yew, OCs, multiple others
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Word Count: WIP, estimated 100K+ (3336 chapters planned)
Summary: The war on Olympus is heating up, and Annabeth Chase is right in the thick of it. Bad enough that she's gearing up for battle while wrestling with the emotional turmoil over two of her dearest friends that is turning her heart inside out. She doesn't need more mysterious glimpses about the Great Prophecy and how it connects to her own history. But in order to understand what lies in her future, Annabeth has to dig into the past. What she finds will shape her choices … and change the course of the final battle. An alternate PoV retelling of The Last Olympian. Part 5 of the Daughter of Wisdom series.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: Grover Plants A Tree In A Hurricane
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, Jake Mason, Thalia Grace, Malcolm Pace, OCs, Hyperion, Nyssa Barrera
Word Count: 3,563
Chapter Summary: The next wave of attacks arrives from the north.
Notes: This chapter is brought to you by Google Maps, which was indispensable in working out the logistics of the Battle of Manhattan.
Back to Fic Content Page
Grover's signal came at sunset. The dryads near Yankee Stadium had spotted a disturbance in the north. Sure enough, the video shield showed a massive army stampeding through the Bronx. A blazing golden ball preceded them, a bright star heralding their approach. Iphigenia ran for Thalia at once.
'They're coming,' I told her. 'An attack from the north.'
Thalia let out a sharp whistle. Every single timber wolf, falcon, and Hunter in the lobby sprang to attention. Our campers were slower to react. They yawned and rubbed at their eyes as they were shaken out of sleep.
I studied the nearest map, looking for the best place to position our forces. 'The Central Park Reservoir,' I decided. 'We could use the nature spirits' help.'
Thalia glanced around the lobby, at her Hunters, ready and alert, and our campers, who were mostly half-in, half-out of their armour. 'We'll meet you there.'
'Guess this is it,' Jake Mason said, checking his supply of explosives. 'Where do you want us?'
'We'll rendez-vous at the reservoir,' I said, 'but we shouldn't concentrate our forces. If Luke held any monsters in reserve-not to mention any of the other Titans ... I'll need to talk to Percy, but be ready for each of your cabins to take a flank.' I nodded to Will. 'We may need you guys to split up, so each group has a combat medic on hand.'
Will glanced at my arm. 'Are you going out there, too?'
I strapped on my breastplate and bronze greaves. 'I'm fine. We need every hand we can get.'
I found Percy asleep in a bed one floor down. A line of drool trickled from the side of his mouth. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. Some things never changed.
before I could rouse him, he sat bolt upright, smacking straight into my shield. I winced and moved it aside. 'Sorry, Percy! I was just about to wake you.'
He didn't answer. He seemed dazed, but surely he hadn't hit his head that hard?
'Percy?' I waved my hand in front of his face. 'What's wrong?'
He shook his head, clearing it. His eyes focused on me. 'Nothing. What-what are you doing in armour? You should be resting.'
Was everyone going to give me grief about my arm? 'I'm fine,' I said crossly. 'That nectar and ambrosia fixed me right up.'
'Uh-huh.' Percy raised his eyebrows. 'You can't seriously go out and fight.'
I pulled him out of bed with my good arm. 'You're going to need every person you have.' I told him what I'd seen in my shield.
'Yeah, I know,' Percy said. 'I had-'
'A dream.' Of course.
'A couple of them, actually. I saw Tyson leading a peanut butter charge.'
My face must have revealed my confusion, because he said, 'Uh, never mind. That's not important. I also saw Kronos at Medusa's place. You know, that garden gnome-'
'Emporium,' I finished. 'He regrouped his army, then,'
'Yeah. He was with Prometheus, and Ethan Nakamura. He ...' Like Thalia, he hesitated before continuing. I wondered if it was the same thing about Prometheus that Thalia hadn't wanted to talk about. 'He said to move their main forces into Central Park. And to unleash a "surprise."'
'A surprise. Oh, goody.'
Percy smiled faintly. 'Yeah, we don't get enough of those. And he wanted to know about our fight on the Williamsburg Bridge. You know, when you ...' He gestured guiltily at my right arm.
I shook my head to indicate that it was nothing. 'Go on.'
'He wanted to know where Ethan was aiming when you stepped in.'
My eyes drifted immediately to the small of Percy's back, to the spot that left him vulnerable. I could identify its precise location, which was weird since I couldn't see through his shirt, and it wasn't like his skin had a mark to indicate it anyway. But I could still feel that jolt of electricity that had run up my arm when he'd laid my fingers on it.
'Do you think Ethan suspects about your weak spot?'
'I don't know. He didn't tell Kronos anything, but if he figures it out-'
'We can't let him,' I said firmly. A fierce protectiveness rose in me. If I had to slit Nakamura's throat myself to shut him up, I would. After all Percy had done for the kid last year, sparing his life in the Labyrinth, his treachery was unspeakably vile.
Percy shrugged. 'I'll bonk him on the head harder next time. Any idea what surprise Kronos was talking about?'
If it had been in the shield, I hadn't noticed. 'I don't like surprises.'
'Agreed,' he said.
I helped him strap on his armour. 'So are you going to argue about me coming along?'
His lips quirked. 'Nah. You'd just beat me up.'
It wasn't even all that funny a joke, but Percy just had that way of pulling a laugh out of me. I bumped him on the shoulder. 'As long as you know it.'
+++
We sent each cabin out to the bridges and tunnels on the southeast, letting them choose which to defend. There was no longer any tactical advantage to matching cabins to entrances now. Thalia's scouts had reported on the size of the army marching in from the north. Any forces that tried to slide through elsewhere would be small.
Percy and my cabin joined the Hunters and Grover's nature army, dividing up Central Park among us. Thalia and the Hunters booby-trapped the roads east and west of the reservoir so that the Titan army would be forced to march through the park. Mrs O'Leary trotted by Percy's heels, sniffing the air and growling at the distant scent of the monsters.
'The reservoir was a good call,' Percy said. 'I can use the water if we need it.'
I hadn't consciously thought about this when I'd sent Thalia out here, but I guess some part of me must have made this allowance for him naturally. Between Percy and Grover's knowledge of the park and its routes, we managed to identify the key defensive positions. We staked out a bunch of narrow trails where the monsters would have to pass through in compacted lines in order to move south.
It wasn't long before they appeared, shattering the silence of the sleeping city. In the lead, glowing like a sunburst in the middle of the park, was the golden Titan I'd seen days ago, the one who'd sacrificed Delphyne to wake Typhon. He was the bright star I'd seen in my shield.
Our defences took out most of the front line of attack. My siblings launched their Greek fire bombs and grappling hooks, bringing down the first wave of Laistrygonians. Thalia and her Hunters wiped out at least thirty dracaenae with their arrows. At Grover's signal, the earth itself began to pelt the monsters with rocks.
But the enemy had the might of sheer numbers. They continued forward relentlessly. And none of our defences even slowed the golden Titan. While the monsters had to split around the sides of the reservoir, he just walked straight onto the water's surface. Malcolm hurled a Greek fire bomb at him, but the deadly fire only fuelled his blinding light.
'Hyperion, the Lord of the Light,' I said. 'Titan of the east.'
Percy grimaced. 'Bad?'
I explained what I knew of Hyperion from my mythology books. Percy set his jaw. 'I'll keep him busy.'
What did he think he was going to do, duel him? This wasn't like facing Luke, with his invincible but mortal body. Hyperion was an actual Titan. I had a feeling invulnerability wouldn't apply if you actually combusted.
'Percy, even you can't-'
He had that stubborn look on his face that always preceded one of his crazy, reckless acts. 'Just keep our forces together.'
Off he went, sprinting over the water's surface as easily as the golden Titan. There was nothing I could do. I led Athena cabin around the right flank of the reservoir to meet the incoming monsters. The narrow paths worked like a charm. There was only room for two giants, or three dracaenae, to march forward at a time without getting tripped up by tree roots and wild grass at the sides (courtesy of Grover's nature spirits). We cut them down as they advanced.
I kept an eye on the reservoir as we fought. Percy was battling Hyperion one on one, meeting every strike of the Titan's blazing sword with Riptide. He used the water as effectively as his sword, raising himself to strike at Hyperion's head, or attacking the Titan with hard jets and five-foot-tall waves. It stunned me how strong his powers had become-greater and more terrible than I'd ever seen. Practically on par with an immortal.
His earlier joke about me beating him up suddenly seemed less funny. It was a stupid thought to have in the middle of battle, but a small corner of my brain fumed that I could never keep up with him again. He was a one-man show.
Then a wave of bright energy rippled through the air. I screamed as Percy was flung backwards across the reservoir. He smashed to the ground near Grover, so hard I was sure it had killed him. But he got up without a scratch.
Hyperion charged at him.
It was the Williamsburg Bridge all over again, only more impressive. Water churned up from the reservoir, surrounding Percy in a swirling hurricane that repelled every attack levied at him. Every monster on Grover's flank was swept away by its howling wind. Hyperion couldn't get close enough to strike. The Lord of Light had lost his glow. The constant barrage of water had put out his flames.
Was this all Percy's newfound invulnerability? That had to help, but I remembered watching Percy call up a storm of ice and fire in the heart of Mount St Helens. Some of this had to be his own raw power. Even without the curse of Achilles, he was amazing.
On my side of the reservoir, campers and monsters alike had stopped to watch the incredible sight of Percy flinging a full-grown Titan to the ground. He tossed Hyperion across the path to Grover, who began a frantic melody on his reed pipes. A fresh breeze blew across the park, scented like new foliage. It had an energy I'd only sensed once before, deep in the unexplored caves of Carlsbad Caverns. Every satyr in the park joined in. Their music called forth a joyful song inside my heart-the power of Pan himself.
Grover had clearly embraced that power. He brought it forth, growing roots and branches around Hyperion. The Titan's protests were soon silenced as tree bark encased his body, his arms, his head.
'You are a very nice maple tree,' Grover said, and the transformation was complete.
The monsters, seeing their leader arborified, turned and fled. Thalia stared at the maple Titan with her jaw hanging open. My siblings cheered.
I took off around the edge of the reservoir, running to Percy. He was clapping Grover on the back when I got to them, congratulating him as though Hyperion's defeat had been all Grover's doing. But I hadn't forgotten the crazy stunt he'd pulled.
'Percy, that was the craziest, most reckless-'
My scold was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal. It was even higher than Will Solace's worst taxicab whistle, and ten times as loud.
Grover gulped. 'Why does that sound like-it can't be!'
I didn't know what he was talking about, but I didn't like the sound of it. A surprise, Percy had said. It looked like we were about to find out what that was.
It appeared in the air, a bright pink pig with matching wings. If the wings weren't a clue that this was no ordinary pig, its size would have been a dead giveaway-it easily dwarfed a hot air balloon. It could be one of several crazed pigs in Greek mythology, most of which had been slain by one hero or another, except ...
Of course. Kronos would send the one creature that had never been defeated before.
'A sow!' I yelled, as the thing came swooping in for an attack. 'Take cover!'
She landed on the right side of the reservoir, nearly crushing my brother Arthur on impact. Her hoof kicked him out of the way, straight across the reservoir. He landed with a splash near our side of the park. Two satyrs pulled him out by his grappling hook.
The narrow paths didn't bother this porcine terror. She simply tore up the trees, clearing a corridor twenty feet wide, and launched herself into the air again.
Percy wrinkled his nose at the cloud of pig gas that came wafting over the water. 'Don't tell me that thing is from Greek mythology.'
'Afraid so-the Clazmonian Sow.' I told him what I knew about it ... including its special status in the history books as the one pig no hero had ever dispatched.
The Titan army stopped retreating. They had been fleeing back towards the north, but with the arrival of their Clazmonian reinforcement, they turned around and marched forward with renewed vigour.
Percy grabbed Arthur's grappling hook. 'That pig has to go. I'll take care of it.' He jerked his head towards the advancing monsters. 'You guys hold the rest of the enemy. Push them back!'
Grover eyed them nervously. 'But, Percy, what if we can't?'
I squared my shoulders, wincing at the sharp stab of pain in my right one. I was probably way past the point of overexertion. But I didn't have a choice. We had to hold back the enemy.
Percy clapped Grover on the back. 'Retreat if you need to. Just slow them down. I'll be back as soon as I can.'
He flung Arthur's grappling hook into the air, straight at the sow. The moment it connected, the pig jerked and changed direction, dragging Percy skyward.
'Come on,' I said to Grover. I was desperately tired and my stupid shoulder wound was hurting more than I wanted to admit, but there was nothing for it. I raised my good arm and shouted, 'Athena cabin, to me!'
Holding back the enemy was harder than ever. The Clazmonian Sow had trampled a path straight out of either side of the park, which meant that the invading monsters were no longer confined to the narrow trails. They fanned out all the way to Broadway and Park Avenue. Grover and Thalia spread left to defend west Manhattan, while I took my cabin east.
It was pandemonium. No longer confined to Central Park, the monsters swarmed the streets. Dracaenae and hellhounds stampeded over sleeping mortals. Giants trampled cars in the road. Some of them met with Daedalus's statues, but our automaton army were too scattered to form a tight line of defence. Mrs O'Leary weaved among them, almost indistinguishable from the enemy hounds. I just hoped she hadn't gone native.
'Retreat!' I yelled. We couldn't fight them off from our current position. We'd have to give up several blocks to form a more cohesive barricade.
Jake Mason met us on East Fifty-ninth, where his cabin had been guarding the bridge.
'We can try to use the tram line on Fifty-third Street,' Nyssa Barrera suggested. 'Rig it like a trap wire.'
'Go,' I said. Nyssa and two of her siblings ran off. I led the rest of them further south, sprinting through side streets and back alleys to stay ahead of the monsters. Above us, the Clazmonian Sow shrieked. Percy was no longer dangling from his rope. He'd been replaced by a large bronze statue.
I didn't have time to wonder what he'd done. We ran to Grand Central Station, where a line of Daedalus's statues clanked back and forth.
'Statues!' I shouted. 'Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Engage monster army! Begin activation!'
I nodded to Jake, who ran to the front of the statues to lead them into battle. Meanwhile, Malcolm and I spread the rest of our forces along East Forty-second.
I can't even begin to describe everything I saw in battle. Some were too quick, like Percy flying past on Blackjack, chasing down the pig and its passenger. Some were too painful, like the two Laistrygonians who broke through our defensive line and clubbed my sister Celia on the head at once. Some were simply bizarre, like the statue of Hermes that came charging out of nowhere down Park Avenue with a fleet of metal lions behind him.
We got pushed relentlessly back, block by block. Judging from the smoke and shouting on the west side, Grover and Thalia weren't doing much better. Mrs O'Leary reappeared, shaking a telkhine in her mouth like a rag doll. A pack of hellhounds set upon her and she bounded off again. Demeter cabin and Pollux ran up from the Queens Midtown Tunnel. I sent them across to Sixth Avenue, where Grover was under siege from a legion of enemy demigods. The Hunters fell back to form a line of traps on Thirty-seventh Street, but the monsters were wising up to it. A line of Hyperboreans marched into the Park Avenue viaduct on Thirty-ninth, bypassing Thalia's defences completely.
'We've got to cut them off at the exit!' I yelled. Malcolm and our sister Holly sprinted after me. She was clinging to our battle standard as if this were capture the flag.
We got there just as the first Hyperborean emerged. Holly got right in his face, shoving the Athena flag up his nose. He sneezed out a storm of snow flurries. When I looked up, Holly was encased in a block of ice. I ran to her, trying to chip it away with my dagger.
Malcolm yelled in rage and stabbed at the giant with his javelin. The Hyperborean grabbed the weapon by its point and snapped it in half. He raised his arms to bash Malcolm in the head.
Then out of nowhere, Percy leapt onto the giant, yanking his head back. He jabbed the Hyperborean in the nose on his way down. Flecks of blue blood spattered the pavement, turning to ice the moment it hit the concrete. Percy landed in a shower of frost that turned his hair snow white. The Hyperborean took a deep breath, preparing to turn Percy into an ice sculpture.
'Hey, Ugly!' I waved my arms to get his attention, ignoring the complaint from my right shoulder. It wasn't my best insult, but it did the trick. The giant roared and turned. Immediately, Percy plunged Riptide into the back of his knee. The Hyperborean crumpled from the leg up, like a mirror splintering into a million shards of glass.
I locked eyes with Percy. 'Thanks. The pig?'
'Pork chops.'
'Good,' I said. My shoulder gave another twinge of pain, like can we rest now? I willed it to shut up.
Percy's gaze darted to my injury, his forehead wrinkling in concern.
'I'm fine, Percy!' I insisted before he could get on my case. 'Come on! We've got plenty of enemies left.'
With Percy by my side, we got through more monsters than before. He fought like a demon, sweeping Riptide through the enemy ranks like, well, like an actual riptide. Before the monsters knew what was happening, their legs were cut off beneath them. I tried to keep up as best as I could. With my arm hampering me more than I cared to admit, I resorted to craftier tactics. I put on my invisibility hat and waded out unseen into the monster lines, delivering as many stealth kills as I could.
Even with all this, our front lines were pushed back. Percy was good, but he couldn't be everywhere at once. The campers at the southern bridges made their way back, but they had to fight through enemy lines that had crept around the outsides of our defences and swung back to come at us from downtown. We lost so much ground that we were only a few blocks from the Empire State Building. I didn't even know how many of us were left fighting.
And to the east, Kronos himself was advancing on a chariot as bright as Hyperion. Even though he was still two blocks away, I swear I could see the slow, smug smile that didn't belong to Luke spread across his face.
'We have to fall back to the doorway,' I said desperately. 'Hold it at all costs!' There were too few of us left fighting. The more we spread out, the likelier that Kronos would find a way through when we were busy with his monsters.
Percy ground his teeth. I could tell he agreed, even if he didn't like the idea. He started to shout to the others, but his voice was drowned out by the loud, clear note of a hunting horn.
We looked at Thalia.
'Not the Hunters,' she said, puzzled. 'We're all here.'
'Then who?' Percy asked.
More horns followed, echoing through the city. The encroaching army paused, looking back at Kronos as if to ask, was that a signal? Kronos himself seemed mystified. He turned his head back and forth, searching for the source of the sound.
Then the cavalry arrived.
Chapter 28
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Thalia Grace, Charles Beckendorf/Silena Beauregard, Clarisse La Rue, Michael Yew, OCs, multiple others
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Word Count: WIP, estimated 100K+ (3336 chapters planned)
Summary: The war on Olympus is heating up, and Annabeth Chase is right in the thick of it. Bad enough that she's gearing up for battle while wrestling with the emotional turmoil over two of her dearest friends that is turning her heart inside out. She doesn't need more mysterious glimpses about the Great Prophecy and how it connects to her own history. But in order to understand what lies in her future, Annabeth has to dig into the past. What she finds will shape her choices … and change the course of the final battle. An alternate PoV retelling of The Last Olympian. Part 5 of the Daughter of Wisdom series.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: Grover Plants A Tree In A Hurricane
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, Jake Mason, Thalia Grace, Malcolm Pace, OCs, Hyperion, Nyssa Barrera
Word Count: 3,563
Chapter Summary: The next wave of attacks arrives from the north.
Notes: This chapter is brought to you by Google Maps, which was indispensable in working out the logistics of the Battle of Manhattan.
Back to Fic Content Page
Grover's signal came at sunset. The dryads near Yankee Stadium had spotted a disturbance in the north. Sure enough, the video shield showed a massive army stampeding through the Bronx. A blazing golden ball preceded them, a bright star heralding their approach. Iphigenia ran for Thalia at once.
'They're coming,' I told her. 'An attack from the north.'
Thalia let out a sharp whistle. Every single timber wolf, falcon, and Hunter in the lobby sprang to attention. Our campers were slower to react. They yawned and rubbed at their eyes as they were shaken out of sleep.
I studied the nearest map, looking for the best place to position our forces. 'The Central Park Reservoir,' I decided. 'We could use the nature spirits' help.'
Thalia glanced around the lobby, at her Hunters, ready and alert, and our campers, who were mostly half-in, half-out of their armour. 'We'll meet you there.'
'Guess this is it,' Jake Mason said, checking his supply of explosives. 'Where do you want us?'
'We'll rendez-vous at the reservoir,' I said, 'but we shouldn't concentrate our forces. If Luke held any monsters in reserve-not to mention any of the other Titans ... I'll need to talk to Percy, but be ready for each of your cabins to take a flank.' I nodded to Will. 'We may need you guys to split up, so each group has a combat medic on hand.'
Will glanced at my arm. 'Are you going out there, too?'
I strapped on my breastplate and bronze greaves. 'I'm fine. We need every hand we can get.'
I found Percy asleep in a bed one floor down. A line of drool trickled from the side of his mouth. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. Some things never changed.
before I could rouse him, he sat bolt upright, smacking straight into my shield. I winced and moved it aside. 'Sorry, Percy! I was just about to wake you.'
He didn't answer. He seemed dazed, but surely he hadn't hit his head that hard?
'Percy?' I waved my hand in front of his face. 'What's wrong?'
He shook his head, clearing it. His eyes focused on me. 'Nothing. What-what are you doing in armour? You should be resting.'
Was everyone going to give me grief about my arm? 'I'm fine,' I said crossly. 'That nectar and ambrosia fixed me right up.'
'Uh-huh.' Percy raised his eyebrows. 'You can't seriously go out and fight.'
I pulled him out of bed with my good arm. 'You're going to need every person you have.' I told him what I'd seen in my shield.
'Yeah, I know,' Percy said. 'I had-'
'A dream.' Of course.
'A couple of them, actually. I saw Tyson leading a peanut butter charge.'
My face must have revealed my confusion, because he said, 'Uh, never mind. That's not important. I also saw Kronos at Medusa's place. You know, that garden gnome-'
'Emporium,' I finished. 'He regrouped his army, then,'
'Yeah. He was with Prometheus, and Ethan Nakamura. He ...' Like Thalia, he hesitated before continuing. I wondered if it was the same thing about Prometheus that Thalia hadn't wanted to talk about. 'He said to move their main forces into Central Park. And to unleash a "surprise."'
'A surprise. Oh, goody.'
Percy smiled faintly. 'Yeah, we don't get enough of those. And he wanted to know about our fight on the Williamsburg Bridge. You know, when you ...' He gestured guiltily at my right arm.
I shook my head to indicate that it was nothing. 'Go on.'
'He wanted to know where Ethan was aiming when you stepped in.'
My eyes drifted immediately to the small of Percy's back, to the spot that left him vulnerable. I could identify its precise location, which was weird since I couldn't see through his shirt, and it wasn't like his skin had a mark to indicate it anyway. But I could still feel that jolt of electricity that had run up my arm when he'd laid my fingers on it.
'Do you think Ethan suspects about your weak spot?'
'I don't know. He didn't tell Kronos anything, but if he figures it out-'
'We can't let him,' I said firmly. A fierce protectiveness rose in me. If I had to slit Nakamura's throat myself to shut him up, I would. After all Percy had done for the kid last year, sparing his life in the Labyrinth, his treachery was unspeakably vile.
Percy shrugged. 'I'll bonk him on the head harder next time. Any idea what surprise Kronos was talking about?'
If it had been in the shield, I hadn't noticed. 'I don't like surprises.'
'Agreed,' he said.
I helped him strap on his armour. 'So are you going to argue about me coming along?'
His lips quirked. 'Nah. You'd just beat me up.'
It wasn't even all that funny a joke, but Percy just had that way of pulling a laugh out of me. I bumped him on the shoulder. 'As long as you know it.'
+++
We sent each cabin out to the bridges and tunnels on the southeast, letting them choose which to defend. There was no longer any tactical advantage to matching cabins to entrances now. Thalia's scouts had reported on the size of the army marching in from the north. Any forces that tried to slide through elsewhere would be small.
Percy and my cabin joined the Hunters and Grover's nature army, dividing up Central Park among us. Thalia and the Hunters booby-trapped the roads east and west of the reservoir so that the Titan army would be forced to march through the park. Mrs O'Leary trotted by Percy's heels, sniffing the air and growling at the distant scent of the monsters.
'The reservoir was a good call,' Percy said. 'I can use the water if we need it.'
I hadn't consciously thought about this when I'd sent Thalia out here, but I guess some part of me must have made this allowance for him naturally. Between Percy and Grover's knowledge of the park and its routes, we managed to identify the key defensive positions. We staked out a bunch of narrow trails where the monsters would have to pass through in compacted lines in order to move south.
It wasn't long before they appeared, shattering the silence of the sleeping city. In the lead, glowing like a sunburst in the middle of the park, was the golden Titan I'd seen days ago, the one who'd sacrificed Delphyne to wake Typhon. He was the bright star I'd seen in my shield.
Our defences took out most of the front line of attack. My siblings launched their Greek fire bombs and grappling hooks, bringing down the first wave of Laistrygonians. Thalia and her Hunters wiped out at least thirty dracaenae with their arrows. At Grover's signal, the earth itself began to pelt the monsters with rocks.
But the enemy had the might of sheer numbers. They continued forward relentlessly. And none of our defences even slowed the golden Titan. While the monsters had to split around the sides of the reservoir, he just walked straight onto the water's surface. Malcolm hurled a Greek fire bomb at him, but the deadly fire only fuelled his blinding light.
'Hyperion, the Lord of the Light,' I said. 'Titan of the east.'
Percy grimaced. 'Bad?'
I explained what I knew of Hyperion from my mythology books. Percy set his jaw. 'I'll keep him busy.'
What did he think he was going to do, duel him? This wasn't like facing Luke, with his invincible but mortal body. Hyperion was an actual Titan. I had a feeling invulnerability wouldn't apply if you actually combusted.
'Percy, even you can't-'
He had that stubborn look on his face that always preceded one of his crazy, reckless acts. 'Just keep our forces together.'
Off he went, sprinting over the water's surface as easily as the golden Titan. There was nothing I could do. I led Athena cabin around the right flank of the reservoir to meet the incoming monsters. The narrow paths worked like a charm. There was only room for two giants, or three dracaenae, to march forward at a time without getting tripped up by tree roots and wild grass at the sides (courtesy of Grover's nature spirits). We cut them down as they advanced.
I kept an eye on the reservoir as we fought. Percy was battling Hyperion one on one, meeting every strike of the Titan's blazing sword with Riptide. He used the water as effectively as his sword, raising himself to strike at Hyperion's head, or attacking the Titan with hard jets and five-foot-tall waves. It stunned me how strong his powers had become-greater and more terrible than I'd ever seen. Practically on par with an immortal.
His earlier joke about me beating him up suddenly seemed less funny. It was a stupid thought to have in the middle of battle, but a small corner of my brain fumed that I could never keep up with him again. He was a one-man show.
Then a wave of bright energy rippled through the air. I screamed as Percy was flung backwards across the reservoir. He smashed to the ground near Grover, so hard I was sure it had killed him. But he got up without a scratch.
Hyperion charged at him.
It was the Williamsburg Bridge all over again, only more impressive. Water churned up from the reservoir, surrounding Percy in a swirling hurricane that repelled every attack levied at him. Every monster on Grover's flank was swept away by its howling wind. Hyperion couldn't get close enough to strike. The Lord of Light had lost his glow. The constant barrage of water had put out his flames.
Was this all Percy's newfound invulnerability? That had to help, but I remembered watching Percy call up a storm of ice and fire in the heart of Mount St Helens. Some of this had to be his own raw power. Even without the curse of Achilles, he was amazing.
On my side of the reservoir, campers and monsters alike had stopped to watch the incredible sight of Percy flinging a full-grown Titan to the ground. He tossed Hyperion across the path to Grover, who began a frantic melody on his reed pipes. A fresh breeze blew across the park, scented like new foliage. It had an energy I'd only sensed once before, deep in the unexplored caves of Carlsbad Caverns. Every satyr in the park joined in. Their music called forth a joyful song inside my heart-the power of Pan himself.
Grover had clearly embraced that power. He brought it forth, growing roots and branches around Hyperion. The Titan's protests were soon silenced as tree bark encased his body, his arms, his head.
'You are a very nice maple tree,' Grover said, and the transformation was complete.
The monsters, seeing their leader arborified, turned and fled. Thalia stared at the maple Titan with her jaw hanging open. My siblings cheered.
I took off around the edge of the reservoir, running to Percy. He was clapping Grover on the back when I got to them, congratulating him as though Hyperion's defeat had been all Grover's doing. But I hadn't forgotten the crazy stunt he'd pulled.
'Percy, that was the craziest, most reckless-'
My scold was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal. It was even higher than Will Solace's worst taxicab whistle, and ten times as loud.
Grover gulped. 'Why does that sound like-it can't be!'
I didn't know what he was talking about, but I didn't like the sound of it. A surprise, Percy had said. It looked like we were about to find out what that was.
It appeared in the air, a bright pink pig with matching wings. If the wings weren't a clue that this was no ordinary pig, its size would have been a dead giveaway-it easily dwarfed a hot air balloon. It could be one of several crazed pigs in Greek mythology, most of which had been slain by one hero or another, except ...
Of course. Kronos would send the one creature that had never been defeated before.
'A sow!' I yelled, as the thing came swooping in for an attack. 'Take cover!'
She landed on the right side of the reservoir, nearly crushing my brother Arthur on impact. Her hoof kicked him out of the way, straight across the reservoir. He landed with a splash near our side of the park. Two satyrs pulled him out by his grappling hook.
The narrow paths didn't bother this porcine terror. She simply tore up the trees, clearing a corridor twenty feet wide, and launched herself into the air again.
Percy wrinkled his nose at the cloud of pig gas that came wafting over the water. 'Don't tell me that thing is from Greek mythology.'
'Afraid so-the Clazmonian Sow.' I told him what I knew about it ... including its special status in the history books as the one pig no hero had ever dispatched.
The Titan army stopped retreating. They had been fleeing back towards the north, but with the arrival of their Clazmonian reinforcement, they turned around and marched forward with renewed vigour.
Percy grabbed Arthur's grappling hook. 'That pig has to go. I'll take care of it.' He jerked his head towards the advancing monsters. 'You guys hold the rest of the enemy. Push them back!'
Grover eyed them nervously. 'But, Percy, what if we can't?'
I squared my shoulders, wincing at the sharp stab of pain in my right one. I was probably way past the point of overexertion. But I didn't have a choice. We had to hold back the enemy.
Percy clapped Grover on the back. 'Retreat if you need to. Just slow them down. I'll be back as soon as I can.'
He flung Arthur's grappling hook into the air, straight at the sow. The moment it connected, the pig jerked and changed direction, dragging Percy skyward.
'Come on,' I said to Grover. I was desperately tired and my stupid shoulder wound was hurting more than I wanted to admit, but there was nothing for it. I raised my good arm and shouted, 'Athena cabin, to me!'
Holding back the enemy was harder than ever. The Clazmonian Sow had trampled a path straight out of either side of the park, which meant that the invading monsters were no longer confined to the narrow trails. They fanned out all the way to Broadway and Park Avenue. Grover and Thalia spread left to defend west Manhattan, while I took my cabin east.
It was pandemonium. No longer confined to Central Park, the monsters swarmed the streets. Dracaenae and hellhounds stampeded over sleeping mortals. Giants trampled cars in the road. Some of them met with Daedalus's statues, but our automaton army were too scattered to form a tight line of defence. Mrs O'Leary weaved among them, almost indistinguishable from the enemy hounds. I just hoped she hadn't gone native.
'Retreat!' I yelled. We couldn't fight them off from our current position. We'd have to give up several blocks to form a more cohesive barricade.
Jake Mason met us on East Fifty-ninth, where his cabin had been guarding the bridge.
'We can try to use the tram line on Fifty-third Street,' Nyssa Barrera suggested. 'Rig it like a trap wire.'
'Go,' I said. Nyssa and two of her siblings ran off. I led the rest of them further south, sprinting through side streets and back alleys to stay ahead of the monsters. Above us, the Clazmonian Sow shrieked. Percy was no longer dangling from his rope. He'd been replaced by a large bronze statue.
I didn't have time to wonder what he'd done. We ran to Grand Central Station, where a line of Daedalus's statues clanked back and forth.
'Statues!' I shouted. 'Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Engage monster army! Begin activation!'
I nodded to Jake, who ran to the front of the statues to lead them into battle. Meanwhile, Malcolm and I spread the rest of our forces along East Forty-second.
I can't even begin to describe everything I saw in battle. Some were too quick, like Percy flying past on Blackjack, chasing down the pig and its passenger. Some were too painful, like the two Laistrygonians who broke through our defensive line and clubbed my sister Celia on the head at once. Some were simply bizarre, like the statue of Hermes that came charging out of nowhere down Park Avenue with a fleet of metal lions behind him.
We got pushed relentlessly back, block by block. Judging from the smoke and shouting on the west side, Grover and Thalia weren't doing much better. Mrs O'Leary reappeared, shaking a telkhine in her mouth like a rag doll. A pack of hellhounds set upon her and she bounded off again. Demeter cabin and Pollux ran up from the Queens Midtown Tunnel. I sent them across to Sixth Avenue, where Grover was under siege from a legion of enemy demigods. The Hunters fell back to form a line of traps on Thirty-seventh Street, but the monsters were wising up to it. A line of Hyperboreans marched into the Park Avenue viaduct on Thirty-ninth, bypassing Thalia's defences completely.
'We've got to cut them off at the exit!' I yelled. Malcolm and our sister Holly sprinted after me. She was clinging to our battle standard as if this were capture the flag.
We got there just as the first Hyperborean emerged. Holly got right in his face, shoving the Athena flag up his nose. He sneezed out a storm of snow flurries. When I looked up, Holly was encased in a block of ice. I ran to her, trying to chip it away with my dagger.
Malcolm yelled in rage and stabbed at the giant with his javelin. The Hyperborean grabbed the weapon by its point and snapped it in half. He raised his arms to bash Malcolm in the head.
Then out of nowhere, Percy leapt onto the giant, yanking his head back. He jabbed the Hyperborean in the nose on his way down. Flecks of blue blood spattered the pavement, turning to ice the moment it hit the concrete. Percy landed in a shower of frost that turned his hair snow white. The Hyperborean took a deep breath, preparing to turn Percy into an ice sculpture.
'Hey, Ugly!' I waved my arms to get his attention, ignoring the complaint from my right shoulder. It wasn't my best insult, but it did the trick. The giant roared and turned. Immediately, Percy plunged Riptide into the back of his knee. The Hyperborean crumpled from the leg up, like a mirror splintering into a million shards of glass.
I locked eyes with Percy. 'Thanks. The pig?'
'Pork chops.'
'Good,' I said. My shoulder gave another twinge of pain, like can we rest now? I willed it to shut up.
Percy's gaze darted to my injury, his forehead wrinkling in concern.
'I'm fine, Percy!' I insisted before he could get on my case. 'Come on! We've got plenty of enemies left.'
With Percy by my side, we got through more monsters than before. He fought like a demon, sweeping Riptide through the enemy ranks like, well, like an actual riptide. Before the monsters knew what was happening, their legs were cut off beneath them. I tried to keep up as best as I could. With my arm hampering me more than I cared to admit, I resorted to craftier tactics. I put on my invisibility hat and waded out unseen into the monster lines, delivering as many stealth kills as I could.
Even with all this, our front lines were pushed back. Percy was good, but he couldn't be everywhere at once. The campers at the southern bridges made their way back, but they had to fight through enemy lines that had crept around the outsides of our defences and swung back to come at us from downtown. We lost so much ground that we were only a few blocks from the Empire State Building. I didn't even know how many of us were left fighting.
And to the east, Kronos himself was advancing on a chariot as bright as Hyperion. Even though he was still two blocks away, I swear I could see the slow, smug smile that didn't belong to Luke spread across his face.
'We have to fall back to the doorway,' I said desperately. 'Hold it at all costs!' There were too few of us left fighting. The more we spread out, the likelier that Kronos would find a way through when we were busy with his monsters.
Percy ground his teeth. I could tell he agreed, even if he didn't like the idea. He started to shout to the others, but his voice was drowned out by the loud, clear note of a hunting horn.
We looked at Thalia.
'Not the Hunters,' she said, puzzled. 'We're all here.'
'Then who?' Percy asked.
More horns followed, echoing through the city. The encroaching army paused, looking back at Kronos as if to ask, was that a signal? Kronos himself seemed mystified. He turned his head back and forth, searching for the source of the sound.
Then the cavalry arrived.
Chapter 28