~ ☼ ~

I got off the highway, first, heading inland. If I was near the Williamsburg Bridge, then heading inland and to the right - North - would take me back to the Empire State Building, but I had no idea if that was still our HQ or not. I ignored the doubt. I just ran.

Then I remembered that Theia had shown me Hyperion approaching from the North, and I paused. When I looked that way, I saw smoke above the buildings, but no sign of him otherwise.

Then, suddenly, there was a gold fleck flying down from the sky.

"Hemmings!" I shouted. "Now you come back?"

I wasn't really mad; in fact, I hugged him, to his chagrined whinnies, the kissed him square on the head. He tasted like hay.

"Will you take me to my friends?" I said. "I don't know where they are."

He looked at me like this was the most absurd idea in the world. Then he breathed out a snort of hot air and looked northward - no, back towards Central Park.

"Hemmings," I said, again. "Come on. I don't have time-"

He neighed, then imitated walking further inland, then made the same gesture north. It was like playing charades, but luckily I was in a good mood - both because of Theia and the fact that Hemmings was so talkative. He was like one of those people who turn out to be absolutely insane once you get to know them.

I had a feeling I had a little of that deep inside, too.

I sighed, somehow guessing what he was saying. "If I promise to come back and help Meri, you'll help me now?"

He neighed gleefully.

"Ugh." I rolled my eyes. But - that honestly worked well. I don't know why I hadn't tried for a compromise earlier. Probably because I don't think Meri would've agreed, and she was annoying me too much to give her the chance anyway.

For a moment, I thought of it. Of saving Central Park. It didn't seem at all like me, which is part of the reason it made me cringe. But then, it would certainly make my adoptive dad proud. I had been to a lot of state parks.

"It's a deal," I said, and Hemmings erupted with glee like a dog given a bone. I did not know horses could be so happy.

"Okay, okay," I said, sticking out my hands to settle him. Slowly, he did, lowering himself enough so I could board. "Will you take me into the air now?"

Hemmings took off immediately; I found, for once, it did not scare me. It felt like a roller coaster.

~ ☼ ~

I was hoping I'd find Riley, but wherever she'd gone, she was far from me now. In the air, I could see a few pockets of fighting, but I did not swoop down to assist. I was on a mission.

From above, and with the sun rising, I could see everything. The light shining on New York, rosy and peach colored, and every building below. LED signs for international brands and paper and pasted billboards for local businesses. Brick rowhouses and tall apartments, every window peering into someone else's life.

Hemmings felt the feeling as much as I did. He paused, for a moment beating his wings, and all I knew was the dawn over the city. If I ignored who was bringing it, it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

Then my stomach rumbled.

"Go downwards," I said to Hemmings. "Find me a restaurant."

I was hoping on some lux place I could sneak into and eat at for the first time in my life. Sushi... crazy Italian food... one of those places that mixed five different kinds of pastries into one or put gold caviar on their ice cream...

Hemmings landed on a city street in front of a bodega.

Whatever neighborhood we were in, it was silent. I hoped the people who lived here wouldn't be too affected economic wise by their whole sleeping curse.

I dismounted Hemmings, then said, "I'll be right back."

Hemmings said nothing, just spluttering out a breath.

I walked over to the bodega. Upon entering, I saw the cashier slumped over at the counter. The last thing I wanted was to steal from a mom-and-pop business, but at the same time, depending on how long this curse lasted, some of their stuff might rot before they got the chance to sell it. Indeed, another worker was literally in the middle of making a sub when he'd fallen asleep; his tan hand was still on the salami, which smelled rancid.

I crinkled my nose, then went to the fridge. I was hoping they'd have some local, perishable products the way the farm markets up in the Hudson Valley did, but it was mostly just sodas. So I turned back to the deli case and decided to sneak out some sort of lunch meat. At least it was in the fridge, so it was still cold, unlike the salami. I nibbled on it, got a couple bottles of water and a bag of chips, then headed back outside.

"This is amazing!" I said to Hemmings, since I could apparently talk to him now. "You don't know this, but I'm always hungry on quests. I've never gotten so lucky!"

I held out a piece of bologna for him, but I didn't think of the fact that horses were not really carnivores - right? - so he refused it. I shrugged, eating it and savoring its salty taste-

Suddenly, I heard a growl.

I turned, all the hairs on my neck raising. Standing right behind us was some sort of wolf man - a lycanthrope, almost, on hind legs but covered in hair and muscle. If I wasn't scared, I would've been grossed out.

"I smell meat," he said, grinning - baring a row of sharp teeth. "And it's not the bologna."

Frick.

I scurried to put the food down on the ground, then unsheathed Liakada. By then, the lycanthrope had already approached me. I swung Liakada blindly.

To my surprise, my swing hit not air or muscle but another weapon - a gold, glowing...

Sickle.

"Holy crap!" I exclaimed, and he lunged forward.

It almost got me, but I jumped out of the way at that exact moment. 

I was so distracted by the fact that he had a sickle that I almost let him hit me. Then I turned around and ran for my life.

I know I shouldn't have, but I wanted to drive him away, then somehow get back to Hemmings before he could, so I could grab my food and fly away. I should've just stopped and turned around, shivving him, but-

I needed a chance to decide whether or not this was a coincidence.

I turned towards a stoop and jumped up to the top of it, turning so I had the upper hand. I held Liakada out like a wall; the lycanthrope stopped a few feet away, growling. I felt like I  was in a wild west shootout at high noon. 

Dramatic, I said, "You! Where did  you get your weapon!"

"Half blood!" the thing growled. "Wait - what?"

Now, the wolf blinked. He looked at the sickle in his hand for a moment, then shook his head.

"Uh-" He was caught off guard, but he growled again. "None of your business!"

"It'll be my business," I said, stepping closer. "Either that, or you're dead."

He backed up, right into the car. Pathetic, I thought. Is this really what we were so afraid of?

I  held out Liakada, feeling its warmth take me over. "I know that's not a normal weapon. Surely you got it somewhere. Does it belong to a certain  Olympian?"

"No!" shouted the wolf man. "May- maybe!"

"Tell me!" I shouted, and the wolf trembled.

"I know it's Lord Ares'! I'm sorry!" he said. "I got it from the titan armory at Red Square!"

I blinked. That was not what I was expecting. I guess I'd wanted confirmation this was Demeter's sickle before I went and presented it to  her, but now when I looked at it I realized it couldn't be hers. It  wasn't glowing gold or green enough.

"Um-" I said. "Well, now I feel bad. Go, Before I kill you."

The wolf man stared at me, then quickly scampered away.

Once he was gone, I heard Hemmings, a few yards away now, stop and whinny. I turned, and said, "What! It wasn't her sickle."

When he neighed again, I said, "He was so scared. He might not be all that bad. Let him be."

I walked back over to Hemmings, grabbing my stuff again, then boarded him - even though his nostrils flared. As I finished my lunch meat, I said, "He said there was an armory in Red Square. Do you know where that is?"

Hemmings whinnied. I took that as a message that he did, because of course he did. He was a chaotic good pegasus who did what he wanted and explored Manhattan in his free time.

We heard rumbling a couple streets over, suddenly - marching, and not the way us half-bloods did. I gasped, feeling freaked out, then said, "Okay! Go to Red Square!"

Hemmings took off before it could be thirty on one.

~ ☼ ~

Red Square wasn't far away, only a few blocks to the south. And, apparently, it wasn't actually a square at all. It was a giant soviet-style apartment building made of red brick, with a clock ower at the top. And, was that...?

A statue of Vladimir Lenin. I recognized him from my occasional - very, very occasional - jaunt through the History Channel. He stood at the far corner of the building, holding out a hand, inspiring the proletariat or whatever.

"What the actual Hades," I said, as I dismounted Hemmings. We were standing across the street, in fear there might be monsters outside the apartment building, and sure enough, there were, guarding it at intervals. Like little soviet soldiers, I guess.

When Hemmings was silent, I added, "That is so bizarre. They... they didn't put that up, right?"

He whinnied, and I took it as a way to say, That's just New York.

Yeah, that tracked.

I glanced at the monsters, trying to figure out if this was a suicide mission. But before I could overthink it, I knew I had to do it. To show up before Alec, not only alive but with the sickle, would feel amazing. I could just imagine the pride that would be on his face. But I also was not exactly someone who generally liked to charge headfirst into danger.

I moved backwards towards my horse, then felt a sharp pain at the reminder of Michael's death. I had to contribute something.

"Hemmy," I said, "Stay here, but listen closely for my calls. You're my getaway car."

He whinnied. Whether or not it was in agreement or disapproval, I didn't want to figure out.

The first guard to see me was another lycanthrope. I swung my sword blindly this time, and, like always, it somehow worked. Soon I had slain all of the guardsmen, feeling like the sword itself was pulling me forward with its heat. I ran inside,

"Holy crap," I said, upon entrance. It was obvious immediately where the armory was - the door to the basement was left open, and I could feel the magical energy coming up the stairs.

Without anybody there to help me, I was forced to ask that stupid, stupid voice in my head all the questions I would normally ask questmates.

Is this a trap? I wondered.

You tell me.

I thought about it for a moment, then nodded like a determined anime protagonist. I started towards the staircase, then thought better of it - if this was a whole armory, I couldn't just take one sickle, if it was even here. All of camp would benefit from it.

I quickly ducked back outside and hissed, "Hemmings!"

Hemmings looked up at me; he had my chip bag in his mouth.

"What the Hades!" I exclaimed. "Why'd you steal my chips!"

Worst thing was that I think he was eating the bag and not actually the chips inside.

When I heard a crash from a few blocks away, I froze.

"Go find more campers!" I said. "Bring them back here!"

I waited until he had dropped the half-mangled chip bag on the ground, then began flapping his wings to take off. Relief flooded through me, and pride - the thought of all my friends coming back, raiding a titan armory because of me?

It made me a little too giddy.

I ran back inside, taking the stairs downstairs two at a time. The feeling of the magic was quickly matched in intensity by the smell of a dank New York City basement. And there, on every wall, were weapons - glowing red or glowing white, knives, swords, and bazookas. And there, on the far wall, were all curved weapons. Scythes and sickles alike. In the middle was...

A figure.

I froze on the steps, but it was too late. The thing had noticed me. It looked exactly what I imaged a titan might look like, made of shadows with a black, warping, bulky form. He had his hands clasped behind his back, but he turned, slowly, to face me.

I could barely make out his eyes. He had on a Greek helmet that covered much of them, but still, I could see the bottom half of them. They were sickly green, like acid.

"Well," he said. "A half blood made it past the guards. Color me surprised."

No wonder there had only been one line of guards.

I stepped back, instinctively. Fear was taking away all of the confidence I'd had 15 minutes ago, turning it into pure, abject, freezing cold terror. Whatever this thing was, it was ancient.

"Hi," I squeaked out.

Slowly, I reached for liakada, but then - the sword flew out of my sheath and clattered to the floor with a thud. I yelped.

"I control weapons, darling," said the beast. "Don't even try to unsheath your sword, unless you'd like to lose it, too."

So I stood there, frozen, as the titan stalked towards me, slowly. He was considering me carefully, like he was trying to figure out whether to flay me or crush me. Thank Gods I had called for backup.

Unless - unless that would go just as bad. Unless that would turn into a bloodbath. My stomach hurt at the thought.

I had to run, but now that the titan had moved, I could see a sickle in the very center of the far wall. It glowed gold green, and just looking at it I could see the Demeter vibes within it. I had to get it - had to get Demeter's blessing. Get her help. Prevent her from smiting us down.

Make Alec proud.

Then the titan swiped his arm down; immediately, a chunk of the ceiling crumbled and fell to the stairs beside me. It almost hit me in the head. I sprinted for my life.

If I went out onto the street, there'd be nowhere to hide; I could see through the open front door that Hemmings really had left. So I ran upstairs, thinking the thing might actually be too bulky to fit through the stairwell. I was partially right.

I made it to the first floor landing of the stairwell, gasping for breath. The titan was a giant cloud of ink below me, trying to squeeze through a tiny box. It didn't stop him, but it did slow him down. He paused for a moment to look at the walls that he was squeezed up against in disgust, then at me.

When he let out a roar of fury, I ran for my life again. 

I didn't want to keep going up the stairs, so I sprinted down the hallway, instead. It was dank here, too, looking it hadn't been renovated since the 70s. I felt like I had been transported into a Kubrick film rather than real life.  I sprinted across paisley carpet to the elevator and slammed the button.

What exactly was my plan here, you may ask? I didn't know. For one, I wanted to hold the thing off until more demigods came. For two, I wanted to figure out who he was. Use his weaknesses against him. But I didn't know anything about the titans. Obviously.

"Wait!" I yelled, as the elevator very, very slowly approached me. I could hear the titan struggling for breath, still compressing himself up the stairs. "Can you hear me?"

It paused.

"Yes, you-" he said, then an ancient Greek word that I imagined translated to an English word beginning with B. "I can hear you."

"Do you know Hyperion?"

It let out a shuddering noise, but didn't respond else wise. I paused, hoping this was Hyperion's old friend or something, who would pity me. Or, on the other hand, his worst enemy, who would also pity me. I could spin it either way.

Please, I thought. Please...

Then, just as the elevator arrived in the dock, he let out another roar, making the whole building shudder. Even though I couldn't see him, I could feel him suddenly surging forward. I had .3 seconds.

The elevator doors opened; I blinked, jumped in and pressed a floor, then turn and ran down the hallway, turning the corner to hide in a little nook that looked like it was used for random junk. A couple people kept their bikes here and there was also a skateboard. I resisted the urge to grab it and bring it to Alec, instead squatting, hoping beyond hope the thing was as dumb as its minions.

Indeed, I heard him sniffing as he came upon to the floor. Felt him pause in front of the elevator.

Then he let out a laugh.

"You really think you can escape me in an elevator?" he bellowed upwards. "I am the lord of destruction, half-blood! I can bring down anything!"

The Lord of Destruction. That did not help; I could've figured out as much.

He stomped his foot, and a moment later, I heard a creaking noise come from higher up in the building. With the moment this gave me, I reached towards the window near me, slowly trying to open it...

Then, there was a huge rush of wind, even here. And then, a screeching sound; a free-fall thud.

It literally made me fly upwards, and I had to keep my scream in my chest. He'd brought the elevator down. If I'd been in it, I would've been killed, or at least very injured. And here I'd just run because I wanted to. Maybe I was a little psychic too - or maybe I had a Victorian street urchin's skills of escaping every situation they got into. I smiled, proud of myself.

The titan made a noise of similar pride, then began to walk away, back towards his prison cell of a staircase. I gave him a few moments, then, when I felt like his scent was far enough away, I squeezed out of my nook and opened the window. Before, I'd been putting my arm out, but now I was in the open, but it was fine. He couldn't see me-

"Half-blood!" swore the Lord of Destruction. "How in Tartarus?!

I froze. Shoot.

I whipped my head over my shoulder and saw him coming for me; I had only a moment to scramble out of the window and thump onto the fire escape beyond it. Which wasn't helpful, because he would just bring that down, too.

For what was probably a split second but felt like much longer, I didn't know what to do. Then I heard a whinny and saw, to my shock, Hemmings. And on his back - two daughters of Athena. One of them being Lacey.

"You have to be kidding me," I said, genuinely furious.

Hemmings neighed and Lacey said, "Get on!"

I scrambled over the side of the fire escape and hopped on, practically sitting right on Hemming's neck, just as the Lord of Destruction opened the window. Hemmings took off, going up.

"Who is that?!" screamed the other Athena girl.

But the Lord of Destruction gave us no answer, only howled as Hemmings flew upwards. He might have been able to bring down objects, but he couldn't bring down an animal, apparently.

"Hemmings!" I said. "Stop! Stop on the rooftop!"

So he did exactly that, coming to a skidding halt on the nearest rooftop, out of view of the window from whence I'd escaped. The beast would have no idea where we'd gone, unless he ran into one of the apartments and looked out the window.

"What the Hades are you doing?" Lacey snarled. "We have to get out of here!"

"There's a reason I had you come!" I exclaimed. "They have an entire armory down there!"

"So?" Lacey asked. "We already have weapons!"

"So," I said, jumping off of Hemmings and nearly rolling my ankle in the process, "There are godly weapons down there. That's going to help so much more than celestial bronze. Imagine the Ares Cabin - they might even help if they know they'll get their dads weapons. Which are down there."

Lacey's sister looked down at me, impressed and awed. Her name was Liz; she might've been the one who had shoved into me in the bathroom. At least she could give me credit about this.

Remembering that reminded me that this was not one of my siblings I was arguing with, but my bully. Lacey narrowed her pretty eyes.

"If you really think the Ares Cabin will help now," she said, "You're wrong. It's a pride thing - anything but the chariot would be a consolation prize. Not that you'd know anything about pride."

Immediately, my chest hurt. Not that I understood what she was saying. I think she was just trying to be mean. I wanted to defend myself, anger growing within me. Then I realized there was one last thing.

"My sword," I said. "My sword's down there."

"So what."

"My father gave it to me."

"Your father?" Lacey asked, crinkling her nose. "Is that really something to be proud of?"

For the first time, I thought... no. It wasn't. No that I hadn't criticized Apollo before, but I'd never extended it to Liakada. Never thought that maybe it was holding me back from fully believing in myself. But every time I looked at it - I thought of him. Thought of the fact that I was his daughter.

Suddenly, from the building, there was another thud, and then - an entire corner of the building went down. Luckily, it wasn't the one Lenin was standing on. No - that one was fine. Lacey noticed the Lenin statue then, and gasped.

"Wait," she said. "What's your pegasus' name?"

"Hemmings."

She crinkled her nose, and I wanted to slug her.

"Get back on!" she yelled, with such ferocity that I did it. If only because, then, another corner crumbled, too. I didn't know if the titan was just furious, or -

No, that was it; I could feel his fury from here, pure destruction.

I hopped back on Hemmings, wedging myself in front of Lacey and forcing she and her sister backwards. I heard Liz sniffle haughtily, but this was Alec and I's pegasus, gods-darn it.

"Hemmings!" Lacey instructed from behind me. She smelled like blood now. "Go fly over to the Lenin statue, but don't land."

Hemmings did as she said, but it was obvious he was struggling the more he flew with all three of us on his back. His wings almost gave out, but he caught himself, then flew up to get us face to face with old Vladimir.

"Command Sequence Twenty-Three: Destroy the thing that lives here!" Lacey yelled at the statue. "Begin activation!"

I whipped my head towards her, confused beyond belief.

Then, a moment later, Vladimir Lenin slowly clicked. His arm moved downwards, no longer pointing at the people or whatever he was doing. Then he full on moved, swinging himself around to hunt for the titan. I gasped.

"What the Hades!"

Lacey looked on smugly. "It's Daedalus' back up plan. Annabeth told me about it. All the statues in the city are supposed to wake up and help. I guess they forgot about Lenin."

I watched as Lenin flexed his metal fists, wondering if he'd be enough - wondering if he'd count as a weapon or an animal. Then I thought of my social studies class, and, feeling bad, shouted, "Lenin!"

Lenin turned, so I guess he knew his name.

"Change... Command Sequence Twenty-Three!" I said, hoping this wouldn't be gibberish. "Join the workers of the world and help them!"

Lacey scoffed. "What-"

Then I kicked Hemmings in the side; he let out a neigh of annoyance, then flew off, before Lacey could change my mind. That left Lenin behind to deal with the titan like one of those Godzilla vs King Kong movies.

"Why did you do that!" she exclaimed. "He's going to be helpless now!"

"No," I said. "He won't. Because the titan has power over weapons. I made him... not a weapon."

Lacey was silent, but I could feel her eyes like lasers on the back of my head.

"That's semantics."

"That's magic!" I said, popping my lips, feeling proud. The truth was, that really was magic; anyone who watched any fantasy content knew spells, wards, and rituals could be changed in a heartbeat with the smallest pronunciation or word shift. If Kiera had ever gotten to be the daughter of Hecate she wanted to be, I wanted to hope she would've appreciate it.

"But-" Liz said, from behind Lacey. I turned and saw her gray eyes big, her brown head tucked into her sister's neck, holding on to her for dear life. "He won't be able to fight now."

"It's what the real Lenin would've wanted," I said. "Not that he wasn't willing to use force, but he... he might've sided with the Titan Army, to be honest. I'd feel bad making a statue of him act against his wishes. This way, we'll leave it up to him."

Then I turned before either girl could react, though I could feel Lacey soften. If she was a nerd, then... hopefully she'd appreciate that sometimes, I was one, too. I felt pride in my chest at everything I'd gotten away with.

I was hardly able to enjoy it when, a moment later, Hemmings' wings gave out again, and he fell with a thud to the nearest rooftop, sending all three of us flying off of his back. 

~ ☼ ~ 

A/N: This was such a fun chapter to write T_T Including the Lenin Statue was so silly (in a good way), I loved it. I've always wanted to include it in a story because I think it's so random, and once I realized Mr. Castellan himself is basically a Greek tankie I just knew what I had to do ;)