chapter ninety-nine

─── luke gets dumped

          "𝔚hat were you thinking?" Clarisse cradled Silena's head in her lap. Silena tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked. 

"Wouldn't...listen. Cabin would...only follow you." 

"So you stole my armor," Clarisse said in disbelief. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol; you stole my armor and pretended to be me and no one noticed." 

She glared at her siblings, who all developed a sudden interest in their combat boots.

"Don't blame them," Silena said. "They wanted to...to believe I was you." 

"You stupid Aphrodite girl," Clarisse sobbed. "You charged a drakon? Why?" 

"All my fault," Silena said, a tear streaking the side of her face. "The drakon, Charlie's death...camp endangered—" 

"Stop it!" Clarisse said. "That's not true." 

Silena opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of Kronos. A cold fist closed around my heart as my face hardened. I didn't know what to do. This girl had taught me how to ride a pegasus and also almost gotten me killed.

"You were the spy." Silena tried to nod. 

"Puck...He promised...he promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt. He told me he wouldn't hurt...Charlie. He lied to me." I met Annabeth's eyes. Her face was chalky. She looked like somebody had just yanked the world out from under her feet. 

Behind us, the battle raged. Clarisse scowled at her cabinmates. 

"Go, help the centaurs. Protect the doors. GO!" They scrambled off to join the fight. Silena took a heavy, painful breath. 

"Forgive me." 

"You're not dying," Clarisse insisted."

Charlie..." Silena's eyes were a million miles away. "See Charlie..." 

She didn't speak again. Clarisse held her and wept. Chris put a hand on her shoulder. Finally Annabeth closed Silena's eyes. 

"We have to fight." Annabeth's voice was brittle. "She gave her life to help us. We have to honour her." 

Clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. 

"She was a hero, understand? A hero." I nodded, grabbing her before she walked off and yanking her back. She struggled, but I wrapped my hand around the back of her head, hitting her forehead to mine as she tried not to cry.

"Not your fault. You understand?" She didn't say anything. "This is not your fault, alright? Listen to me, tell me, it's not your fault."

"It's..." She trailed off and I repeated my words again, as Chris covered Silena's body with a shroud. "It's not my fault."

"Good." I pulled back, patting her cheek. "Kronos will pay for what he has done. I swear that to you."

"I want his head on a pike."

"It'll be done." I promised. "Trust me."

She yelled, shouting in anger and sadness before the pair of us turned on the enemy lines surrounding the Empire State Building.

Clarisse and I hadn't fought together for a long time and despite the circumstances, I was enjoying this. We had similar unpredictable styles and the chariot was useful for crushing everyone in our path. Clarisse was inspiring, rallying the troops as we took down more and more enemies, slashing and hacking.

We had them on the back foot.

Clarisse drove to the drakon's carcass and looped a grappling line through its eye sockets. She lashed her horses and took off, dragging the drakon behind the chariot as she charged after the enemy, yelling insults and daring them to cross her. As she rode, I realized she was literally glowing. An aura of red fire flickered around her. 

"The blessing of Ares," Thalia had appeared, causing me to jump. "I've never seen it in person before." 

For the moment, Clarisse was as invincible as I was. The enemy threw spears and arrows, but nothing hit her. 

"I am Clarisse, Drakon Slayer!" she yelled. "I will kill you all! Where is Kronos? Bring him out! Is he a coward?" 

"Clarisse!" I yelled. "Stop it. Withdraw!" 

"What's the matter, Titan lord?" she yelled. "Scared?!" 

There was no answer from the enemy. Slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaenae shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. The two hundred-foot-long drakon carcass made a hollow scraping noise against the pavement, like a thousand knives. 

Meanwhile, we tended our wounded, bringing them inside the lobby. Long after the enemy had retreated from sight, Clarisse kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy, demanding that Kronos meet her battle. 

"I'll watch her. She'll get tired eventually. I'll make sure she comes inside." Chris patted my shoulder from my position hovering outside. 

"What's happening with camp?" I asked. "Is anybody left there?" 

Chris shook his head. "Only Argus and the nature spirits. Peleus the dragon is still guarding the tree." 

"They won't last long," I said. "But I'm glad you came." 

Chris nodded sadly. "I'm sorry it took so long. I tried to reason with Clarisse. I said there's no point in defending camp if you guys die. All our friends are here. I'm sorry it took Silena..." 

"My Hunters will help you stand guard," Thalia said. "Andromeda, you should go to the top. I have a feeling they'll need you up there—to set up the final defence." 

The doorman had disappeared from the lobby. His book was facedown on the desk and his chair was empty. The rest of the lobby, however, was jam-packed with wounded campers, Hunters, and satyrs. Connor and Travis Stoll met us by the elevators. 

"Is it true?" Connor asked. "About Silena?"

 I nodded. "She died a hero." 

Travis shifted uncomfortably. "Um, I also heard—" 

"That's it," I insisted, narrowing my eyes at the boys. "End of story." 

"Right," Travis mumbled. "Listen, we figure the Titan's army will have trouble getting up the elevator. They'll have to go up a few at a time. And the giants won't be able to fit at all." 

"That's our biggest advantage," I said. "Any way to disable the elevator?" 

"It's magic," Travis said. "Usually you need a key card, but the doorman vanished. That means the defences are crumbling. Anyone can walk into the elevator now and head straight up." 

"Then we have to keep them away from the doors," I said. "We'll bottle them up in the lobby."

 "We need reinforcements," Travis said. "They'll just keep coming. Eventually they'll overwhelm us." 

"There are no reinforcements," Connor complained. 

I looked outside at Mrs. O'Leary, who was breathing against the glass doors batting at them to try and get in. 

"Maybe that's not true," I said. I went outside and put a hand on Mrs. O'Leary's muzzle. Chiron had bandaged her paw, but she was still limping. Her fur was matted with mud, leaves, pizza slices, and dried monster blood. "Hi baby. I know you're tired but I've got a huge favour to ask you."

I whispered the rest in her ear, worried it would unnerve some of the others before going to find Travis and Connor.

"Where's Luke?"

"Which one?" Connor questioned as I cocked an eyebrow.

"The one I'm dating, who do you think I mean?"

"I don't know, maybe there's another Luke!" Connor shot back. "He went up to shore up the defences."

"He injured?"

"If he is, he's hiding it well." Travis called as I headed for the elevators.

"Romy!" Turning, I found Grover leaning beside a fat satyr.

"Leneus!" I said. The old satyr looked terrible. His lips were blue. There was a broken spear in his belly, and his furry goat legs were twisted at a painful angle. He tried to focus on us, but I don't think he saw us. 

"Grover?" he murmured. 

"I'm here, Leneus." Grover was blinking back tears, despite all the horrible things Leneus had said about him. 

"Did...did we win?" 

"Yes," Grover lied, though it sounded pretty shaky. "Thanks to you, Leneus. We drove the enemy away."

"Told you," the old satyr mumbled. "True leader. True..." 

He closed his eyes for the last time. Grover gulped. He put his hand on Leneus' forehead and spoke an ancient blessing. The old satyr's body melted, until all that was left was a tiny sapling in a pile of fresh soil. 

"A laurel," Grover said in awe. "Oh, that lucky old goat." 

He gathered up the sapling in his hands. 

"I...I should plant him. At the top, in the gardens." 

"We're going that way," I said. "Come on." 

Annabeth joined me, standing beside me quietly as we listened to the music. I leant back against the wall, watching the mirrored doors. I looked different to the first time I'd come up here at seventeen. Back then, I'd been smaller, my eyes less fidgety, my shoulders less tense. Now, I looked like a soldier coming home from war, I'd developed more muscles and having to save the world had put quite a large weight on my shoulders.

If I could do all this again, would I have chosen to accept the quest? That's what I wanted to know.

"Romy, you were right..." Annabeth whispered, and I turned to her. "Puck..."

She kept her eyes fixed on the elevator floors as they blinked into the magical numbers: 400, 450, 500.Grover and I exchanged glances. 

"Annabeth," I said. "I'm sorry—" 

"You tried to tell me." Her voice was shaky. "Puck is no good. I didn't believe you until...until I heard how he'd used Silena. Now I know. I hope you're happy." 

"That doesn't make me happy." She put her head against the elevator wall and wouldn't look at me. Grover cradled his laurel sapling in his hands. 

"Well...sure good to be together again. Arguing. Almost dying. Abject terror. Oh, look. It's our floor." The doors dinged and we stepped onto the aerial walkway. The streets were deserted and the doors were barred. The only movement was in the parks, which had been set up as field hospitals. Seven's campers scrambled around, caring for the wounded. 

Naiads and dryads tried to help, using nature magic songs to heal burns and poison. As Grover planted the laurel sapling, Annabeth and I went around trying to cheer up the wounded.

I passed a satyr with a broken leg, a demigod who was bandaged from head to toe, and a body covered in the golden burial shroud of Seven. I didn't know who was underneath. I didn't want to find out. My heart felt like lead, but we tried to find positive things to say. 

"You'll be up and fighting Titans in no time!" I told one camper. 

"You look great," Annabeth told another camper. 

"Leneus turned into a shrub!" Grover told a groaning satyr. I found Dionysus's son Pollux propped up against a tree. He had a broken arm, but otherwise he was okay. 

"I can still fight with the other hand," he said, gritting his teeth. 

"No," I crouched by him. "You've done enough. I want you to stay here and help with the wounded." 

"But—" 

"Promise me to stay safe," I said. "Okay? Personal favour." 

He frowned uncertainly. It wasn't like we were good friends or anything, but I wasn't going to tell him it was a request from his dad. That would just embarrass him. Finally he promised, and when he sat backdown, I could tell he was kind of relieved. 

There was one person missing, and I left the others, heading up to the palace. Standing in the entrance to the hall, staring at his father's chair was Luke.

"You're bleeding." I muttered, peeling the back of his shirt away as I saw the wound. Huffing, I took my spare ambrosia out, handing it to him.

"This is my fault."

"Shut up and eat the ambrosia." I shot back as Luke obliged, for once. "Silena died."

"What?" He turned.

"Silena was killed by the drakon, took Clarisse's place to rally Five." I sighed. "She was the spy."

"Oh."

"Yeah." I huffed.

The hearth was down to a dull red glow. Hestia, in the form of a little girl in brown robes, hunched at its edge, shivering. The Ophiotaurus swam sadly in his sphere of water. He let out a half-hearted moo. In the firelight, the thrones cast evil-looking shadows, like grasping hands.

Standing at the foot of Zeus's throne, looking up at the stars, was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She was holding a Greek ceramic vase. 

"You babysitting?"

"Yeah."

"You're doing a shit job because I think she's got my jar." I pointed out as Luke twisted and cursed. He'd been in his own head, mulling over if he'd caused all of this death, to the point that he hadn't spotted the auburn haired girl. "Rachel?"

"What are you doing with that?"

She focused on us as if she were coming out of a dream. 

"I found it. It's Pandora's jar, isn't it?" Her eyes were brighter than usual, and I had a bad feeling in my stomach. 

"Please put down the jar," I said. 

"I can see Hope inside it." Rachel ran her fingers over the ceramic designs. "So fragile." 

"Rachel." My voice seemed to bring her back to reality. She held out the jar, and I took it. The clay felt as cold as ice. 

Over by the fire, Hestia was huddled in her robes, rocking back and forth. Luke and I shared a look before I tightened my grip on the jar and grabbed onto Rachel.

"Come on," I pulled her away from Zeus' throne. "I want you to meet someone." 

We sat next to the goddess. 

"Lady Hestia," I said. 

"Hello, Andromeda Jackson," the goddess murmured. "Getting colder. Harder to keep the fire going." 

"I know," I said. "The Titans are near." 

Hestia focused on Rachel. "Hello, my dear. You've come to our hearth at last." 

Rachel blinked. "You've been expecting me?" 

Hestia held out her hands, and the coals glowed. I saw images in the fire: My mother, Paul, Luke and I eating Thanksgiving dinner at the kitchen table; my friends and me around the campfire at Camp Half-Blood, singing songs and roasting marshmallows; Luke and I slow dancing in our kitchen. I didn't know what Rachel saw, but the tension went out of her shoulders. The warmth of the fire seemed to spread across her. 

"To claim your place at the hearth," Hestia told her, "you must let go of your distractions. It is the only way you will survive." 

Rachel nodded. "I...I understand." 

"Wait," Luke muttered, and I had sort of forgotten that he was also hovering with us. "What is she talking about?" 

Rachel took a shaky breath. 

"Luke, when I came here...I thought I was coming for you. But I wasn't. You and me..." She shook her head as I turned to Luke. Had she just confessed to my boyfriend in front of me? And obviously it wouldn't work. She was a minor, he was an adult and also in a relationship.

I was beginning to grow worried that this girl was deluded.

"Wait, what?" Luke looked even more confused. "Rachel, I think you've got the wrong id-"

"I'm not sure I can put it into words," she said. "I was drawn to you because...because you opened the door to all of this." She gestured at the throne room. "I needed to understand my true sight. But you and me, that wasn't part of it. Our fates aren't intertwined. I think you've always known that, deep down." 

"You owe me money." I turned to Luke. "I called it!"

"Now's not the time!" He shot back, both of us looking at the pair. "Did she just try and dump me from an imaginary relationship?"

"Well, we all knew I wasn't going to dump you. Someone had to, got to curb your ego."

"Thanks." He hissed as I grinned and winked.

"Andromeda Jackson," Hestia said. "Rachel has told you all she can. Her moment is coming, but your decision approaches even more rapidly. Are you prepared?" 

I wanted to complain that no, I wasn't even close to prepared. I looked at Pandora's jar, and for the first time I had an urge to open it. Hope seemed pretty useless tome right now. So many of my friends were dead. Annabeth was angry with me. My mom was asleep down in the streets somewhere while a monster army surrounded the building. We were on the verge of failing, and I'd seen so many cruel things the gods had done: Hermes turning his back on Luke even when he knew his son could become evil; Hades sending cyclops to kill Thalia when she was only just twelve years old; the way children of the minor gods were treated; children forced to become soldiers. 

Surrender, Prometheus's voice whispered in my ear. Otherwise your home will be destroyed. Your precious camp will burn. 

Then I looked at Hestia. Her red eyes glowed warmly. I remembered the images I'd seen in her hearth—friends and family, everyone I cared about. I remembered something Chris Rodriguez had said: There's no point in defending camp if you guys die. All our friends are here.

Annabeth and Grover came back into the throne room and stopped when they saw us. I probably had a pretty strange look on my face. 

"Romy?" Annabeth didn't sound angry anymore—just concerned. "Should we, um, leave again?"

Suddenly I felt like someone had injected me with steel. I understood what to do. I picked up Pandora's jar. The spirit of Hope fluttered inside, trying to warm the cold container. 

"Hestia," I said, "I give this to you as an offering." 

The goddess tilted her head. 

"I am the least of the gods. Why would you trust me with this?" 

"You're the last Olympian," I said. "And the most important." 

"And why is that, Andromeda Jackson?" 

"Because Hope survives best at the hearth," I said. "Guard it for me, and I won't be tempted to give up again." 

The goddess smiled. She took the jar in her hands and it began to glow. The hearth fire burned a little brighter. 

"Well done, Andromeda Jackson," she said. "May the gods bless you." 

"We're about to find out." I looked at Luke, Annabeth and Grover. "Come on, guys." 

I marched toward my father's throne. The seat of Poseidon stood just to the right of Zeus's, but it wasn't nearly as grand. Gods in their natural state are about twenty feet tall, so I could just reach the edge of the seat if I stretched my arms. 

"Luke!" I turned to him. "Come here, help me up."

"Are you crazy?" Annabeth hissed.

"We've known that for years." Luke replied, putting a hand out and easily helping me up and onto his shoulders. I ruffled his hair in thanks.

"Romy, the gods really don't appreciate people sitting in their thrones." Grover bleated.

"I need to get his attention." I replied. "It's the only way."

"Luke, tell her no!" Annabeth called as Luke sighed.

"Andi-"

"No."

"I tried." Luke shrugged again, before catching my eyes. He was asking if I knew what I was doing, but I grinned and winked all the same. I turned sitting down, and took a deep breath.

I looked around at the other gloomy, empty thrones, and I could imagine what it would be like sitting on the Olympian Council—so much power but so much arguing, always eleven other gods trying to get their way. It would be easy to get paranoid, to look out only for my own interest, especially if I were Poseidon. 

Sitting in his throne, I felt like I had the entire sea at my command—vast cubic miles of ocean churning with power and mystery. Why should Poseidon listen to anyone? Why shouldn't he be the greatest of the twelve? 

Then I shook my head. Concentrate. The throne rumbled. A wave of gale-force anger slammed into my mind: WHO DARES—The voice stopped abruptly. The anger retreated, which was a good thing, because just those two words had almost blasted my mind to shreds. 

Dree. My father's voice was still angry but more controlled. What—exactly—are you doing on my throne? 

"I'm sorry, Dad," I said. "I needed to get your attention."

This was a very dangerous thing to do. Even for you. If I hadn't looked before I blasted, you would now be a puddle of seawater. 

"I'm sorry," I said again. "Listen, things are pretty shit up here."

 I told him what was happening. Then I told him my plan. His voice was silent for a long time. 

Romy, what you ask is impossible. My palace— 

"Dad, Kronos sent an army against you on purpose. He wants to divide you from the other gods because he knows you could tip the scales." 

Be that as it may, he attacks my home. 

"I'm at your home too. The mortal land is still home," I said. 

The floor shook. A wave of anger washed over my mind. I thought I'd gone too far, but then the trembling eased. In the background of my mental link, I heard underwater explosions and the sound of battle cries: Cyclopes bellowing, mermen shouting. 

"Is Tyson okay?" I asked. I didn't hear anything for a moment. 

He's fine.

"You let him fight?" 

Stop changing the subject! You realize what you are asking me to do? My palace will be destroyed. 

"And New York, Olympus, everywhere else might be saved." 

Do you have any idea how long I've worked on remodelling this palace? The game room alone took six hundred years. 

"Dad—" 

Very well! It shall be as you say. But my girl, pray this works. 

"I am praying. I'm talking to you, right?" 

Hm...yes. Good point. Amphitrite—incoming! The sound of a large explosion shattered our connection. I slipped down from the throne. Grover studied me nervously. 

"Are you okay? You turned pale and...you started smoking." 

"Cool!" I grinned, looking at my arms. Steam was curling off my shirtsleeves. The hair on my arms was singed. 

"If you'd sat there any longer," Annabeth said, "you would've spontaneously combusted. I hope the conversation was worth it?" 

"We'll find out soon," I said. Just then the doors of the throne room swung open. Thalia marched in. Her bow was snapped in half and her quiver was empty. 

"You've got to get down there," she told us. "The enemy is advancing. And Kronos is leading them."  

"Show time, baby." I turned to Luke, cocking an eyebrow. This time, we'd fight together, properly.

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

So, there's a couple of little things in here which might prove to be interesting later on. Once again, the plot has changed, things are changing so be prepared. Silena died, I love Rachel dumping Luke from her imaginary relationship with him and him just being like wtf and I also love Andi and Connor. Anyway...

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx