▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE ▬▬▬

https://youtu.be/Q_dtR775pLE

PERCY HAD ALREADY MADE A call to Annabeth telling her to bring the entire camp to the Empire State Building. A little past the afternoon, and they had arrived.

Three white vans pulled up the curb. They said Delphi Strawberry, which was the cover name for Camp Half-Blood.

The first van was driven by Argus, their many-eyed security chief. The other two were driven by harpies.

The doors slid open. A bunch of campers climbed out, some of them looking a little green from the long drive. Esmerelda saw a bunch of familiar faces: Pollux, Silena, the Stoll brothers, Michael Yew, Jake Mason, Katie Gardner, Annabeth, and Lou Ellen. Chiron came out of the van last. His horse half was compacted into his magic wheelchair, so he used the handicap lift.

The only cabin she couldn't see was the Ares cabin, which made her bite her lip in frustration.

Esmerelda jogged over to hug Lou Ellen tightly. "I'm sorry for leaving without informing you."

"Where did you go?" Lou Ellen asked worriedly.

"The Underworld. Lou, I—our siblings, they're dead." She finally told her.

Lou Ellen didn't look too crushed, which was to be expected. She had only met the other Hecate kids briefly, and they tried to hunt her and Basil down. In her eyes, Esmerelda was pretty much the only sibling she had.

"O-oh," she stuttered, then her face fell. "I'm sorry, Essie."

"Alabaster is still alive though," Esmerelda murmured. "But no matter. How many came?"

"Forty." She answered grimly.

Not exactly enough to defeat an army of 1,000+ enemy demigods, some titans and minor gods, and a whole bunch of monsters.

But still, it was the largest group of half-bloods she had ever seen gathered in one place outside of camp.

Everyone looked nervous, which was understandable. They were probably sending out so much demigod aura that every monster in the northeastern United States knew they were here.

Percy cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him. "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."

Percy looked like he was internally screaming, but he took a deep breath and addressed the campers.

"Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by 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."

He asked Argus to watch Mrs. O'Leary, which neither of them looked happy about. When that was done with, he and the rest of the campers headed inside the building.

"Oh, not him again," Esmerelda quietly groaned upon seeing who was behind the counter.

It was the same annoying guard who had been on the job back when she was eleven. She had fought the Chimera, and had a deadline meeting with the gods but the guy just wouldn't let her in until she threw the Chimera's snake-tail at his lap.

Now here he was again, reading a big black book with a flower on the cover. She wondered if he was a fan of Persephone. If he was, then she hated him even more.

He glanced up when we all filed in with our weapons and armor clanking.

"School group? We're about to close up."

"No," Percy said. "Six-hundredth floor."

"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 hanging out in your lobby?"

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 all marched through.

They ended up needing to take two trips to get everybody in the elevator. Esmerelda went with the first group. She was awkwardly squeezed in with a bunch of people while some old disco song "Stayin' Alive" played in the background.

They stepped out once the ride was done. In front of them was a path of floating stones led through the clouds up to Mount Olympus, hovering six thousand feet over Manhattan.

Esmerelda had been to Olympus a handful of times (neither of which were willing) and the sight of it always took her breath away. The mansions glittered gold and white against the sides of the mountain. Gardens bloomed on 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 was majestic as ever, but there was one thing that was different: it was completely silent.

Beside her, she heard Annabeth say to Percy, "You look... different. Where exactly did you guys go?"

Yikes.

She turned to Percy. "You haven't told her yet?"

"Told me what?" Annabeth demanded.

Percy gulped, but luckily for him, the second group of half-bloods arrived.

"Tell you later," he said quickly. "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 flaming lyres, but their hearts didn't seem to be in it. A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted oak tree. A minor godling 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.

Travis nudged her side. "Where've you been?" He asked her. "You and Percy just up and left after Beckendorf's funeral."

She winced. "Sorry. I should've left a note. Nico and I had to, er, help Percy with something."

Connor rose a brow. "Help him what?"

Before she could reply, Pollux suddenly cried out.

"Look!" He pointed 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."

"Wait a second..." Esmerelda tilted her head, sensing some magic from beyond the barriers. "That feels like magic. I think that's my mom. Pfft. She can't even hit us. Serves the bitch right."

The campers stared at her in astonishment. They had never heard Esmerelda bad-mouth someone before.

"It's still something to worry about," Percy stated. "Let's get to the palace."

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.

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-size globe of water hovered in the air, and inside swam Bessie the Ophiotaurus, half-cow, half-serpent.

"Moooo!" He said happily, turning in a circle.

"Hey, man," Percy smiled. "They treating you okay?"

"Mooo," Bessie answered.

They walked toward the thrones, and a woman's voice said, "Hello again, Percy Jackson. 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.

He bowed, as did everyone else. "Lady Hestia."

Hestia focused on Percy. "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?

Travis and Connor turned to face Esmerelda. Their eyes screamed: You didn't.

Esmerelda shrugged back. We did.

"You must be careful," Hestia warned. "You gained much on your journey. But you are still blind to the most important truth. Perhaps a glimpse is in order."

Annabeth nudged Percy. "Um... what is she talking about?"

Percy didn't reply. He looked into Hestia's eyes, and then dropped to the floor. But Annabeth caught him before he could hit it.

"Percy! What happened?"

"Did... did you see that?" He asked, shaken.

"See what?"

Percy looked around, confused, but everyone gave him lost looks back.

"How long was I out?" He muttered.

Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "Percy, you weren't out at all. You just looked at Hestia for, like, one second and collapsed."

He shook himself off and decided to press on with more important matters.

"Um, Lady Hestia," he began. "We've come on urgent business. We need to see—"

"—We know what you need," a man's voice said and Esmerelda shuddered, because it did not sound happy.

A god shimmered into existence next to Hestia. He looked about twenty-five, with curly salt-and pepper hair and elfish 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 entwined with two living serpents.

"I will leave you now," Hestia said. She bowed to the aviator and disappeared into smoke.

Esmerelda understood why she was so anxious to go. Hermes, the God of Messengers, did not look happy.

"Hello, Percy." He greeted, looking displeased.

Esmerelda glanced over at the Stolls, who were shifting nervously on their feet.

"Lord Hermes." Percy bowed awkwardly.

Oh, sure, one of the snakes said in their minds. Don't say hi to us. We're just reptiles.

George, the other snake scolded. Be polite.

"Hello, George," Percy said. "Hey, Martha."

Did you bring us a rat? George asked.

George, stop it, Martha said. He's busy!

Too busy for rats? George said. That's just sad.

Esmerelda had to nudge Percy to get his attention. Her eyes basically screamed, 'Stop focusing on the snakes!'

He cleared his throat. "Um, Hermes. We need to talk to Zeus. It's important."

Hermes's eyes were steely cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?"

Fuuuuuuck, every demigod seemed to think. This was not going well.

"You guys," Percy turned to them. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses. See who's left in Olympus. Meet Annabeth and me 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, and Esmerelda was more than happy to follow.

The second they were out of the room, they blew up on her.

"What was Hestia talking about when she mentioned Achilles?"

"Essie, tell me you guys didn't."

"What did you guys do?!"

"Okay, okay, hold on," Esmerelda said tiresomely. "Nico and I... may have made this plan to have Percy take a dip in the River Styx."

"Are you guys crazy?!" Silena shrieked.

"In our defense, Luke did it too," she said weakly. "Besides, it was a necessity. There's no defeating Kronos without it."

"Whoa," was all Connor could say.

"So Percy's invulnerable now?" Pollux asked hopefully.

She shook her head. "Not exactly. He still has his weak spot, his Achilles Heel. Which may or may not be his actual heel. Maybe. I don't know. Don't quote me on this."

They all seemed pretty satisfied with her answer and resumed their prior task of checking the defenses. It was going pretty well, but it was going on for too long. Esmerelda was tensely looking around a small park at the edge of a mountain when she noticed something.

Her mother's attacks had stopped. The blue lights were gone. At first she was relieved, but then became suspicious. Why had her mother stopped attacking?

And then she noticed the second thing: it was eerily quiet, and New York was never quiet.

"No..." She whispered. "No, no, no...!"

She rushed to the guardrail, which was lined with those tourist binoculars. She deposited a drachma in one of them and peered through the lenses.

What she saw made her heart stop.

In the streets below, traffic had stopped. Pedestrians were lying on the sidewalks, or curled up in doorways. There was no sign of violence, no suspicious people prowling about, 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.

She pulled away from the binoculars, horrified.

A line from the prophecy rang in her ears: And see the world in endless sleep.

She remembered Grover's story about meeting the god Morpheus in Central Park: You're lucky I'm saving my energy for the main event.

"The main event..." She breathed out, ice coating her stomach.

Then she turned around and shouted: "Someone get Percy and Annabeth! NOW!"

Her shout had caused a lot of alarm. People started sprinting her way and using the binoculars as well. Naturally, what they saw had them all freaked. The Stolls dashed back the palace to fetch Percy and Annabeth while everyone fretted over the city.

Percy shoved through the crowd, looking angry.

"What did they do?" He demanded, his voice tight. "What did they do to my city?"

He pushed Michael Yew away from the binoculars and took a look. He was breathing heavily by the time he finished.

"Are they dead?" Silena asked fearfully.

"Not dead," he answered grimly. "Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"Oh this is bad," Esmerelda let out a shudder once they all exited out of the Empire State Building.

New York was littered with disaster. Mortals had fallen asleep from where they stood, and unfortunately, Morpheus didn't have the decency to at least shut the cars down. The streets was full of car wrecks thanks to his powers making the drivers fall asleep. Crushed cars blocked the streets, some had crashed into buildings, while some were still recklessly moving.

This scene, at least, further cemented the belief that she had done the right thing in forcing her uncle to leave the country. Sirius was safer in England and he'll learn to understand why she had done what she did.

Argus rummaged around in the back of his van. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much standard issue—the same kind of round shield the campers always used in capture the flag. But when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty—which wasn't anywhere close to them.

"Whoa," Percy awed. "A video shield."

"One of Daedalus's ideas," Annabeth explained. "I had Beckendorf make this before—" She glanced at Silena. "Um, anyway, the shield bends sunlight or moonlight from anywhere in the world to create a reflection. You can literally see any target under the sun or moon, as long as natural light is touching it. Look."

The campers all crowded around as Annabeth concentrated. The image zoomed and spun at first. It showed the Central Park Zoo, then zooming down East 60th, past Bloomingdale's, then turning on Third Avenue.

"Whoa," Connor suddenly tensed up. "Back up. Zoom in right there."

"What?" Annabeth said nervously. "You see invaders?"

"No, right there—Dylan's Candy Bar." Connor grinned at his brother. "Dude, it's open. And everyone is asleep. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Connor!" Katie scolded. She sounded like her mother, Demeter. "This is serious. You are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!"

"Sorry," Connor muttered, but he didn't sound very ashamed.

Annabeth passed her hand in front of the shield, and another scene popped up: FDR Drive, looking across the river at Lighthouse Park.

"This will let us see what's going on across the city," she said. "Thank you, Argus. Hopefully we'll see you back at camp... someday."

Argus grunted. He gave them all a look that clearly meant Good luck; you'll need it, then climbed into his van. He and the two harpy drivers swerved away, weaving around clusters of idle cars that littered the road.

Percy whistled for Mrs. O'Leary, and she came bounding over.

"Hey, girl," he said. "You remember Grover? The satyr we met in the park?"

"WOOF!"

"I need you to find him," he continued. "Make sure he's still awake. We're going to need his help. You got that? Find Grover!"

Mrs. O'Leary gave him a sloppy wet kiss, before she raced off north.

Pollux crouched next to a sleeping policeman. "I don't get it. Why didn't we fall asleep too? Why just the mortals?"

"This is a huge spell," Silena began. "The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want to sleep millions of mortals, you've got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder."

Esmerelda looked at her with wide eyes. "You've been listening to my rants about magic this entire time? I thought you and Clarisse would just blank out..."

She blushed. "Well, you're very passionate about them so..."

"Guys," Annabeth called. She was still looking at the shield. "You'd better see this."

The bronze image showed Long Island Sound near La Guardia. A fleet of a dozen speedboats raced through the dark water toward Manhattan. Each boat was packed with demigods in full Greek armor. At the back of the lead boat, a purple banner emblazoned with a black scythe flapped in the night wind. Esmerelda had never seen that design before, but it wasn't hard to figure out: the battle flag of Kronos.

Percy sucked in a breath. "Scan the perimeter of the island. Quick."

Annabeth shifted the scene south to the harbor. A Staten Island Ferry was plowing through the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with dracaenae and a whole pack of hellhounds. Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of marine mammals with doglike faces and the swords strapped to their waists. Esmerelda recognized them immediately from last summer, where she and Percy sneaked back onto Mount Tamalpais. They were telekhines—sea demons.

The scene shifted again: the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic: giants with clubs, rogue Cyclopes, a few fire-spitting dragons, and just to rub it in, a World War II-era Sherman tank, pushing cars out of its way as it rumbled into the tunnel.

"What's happening with the mortals outside Manhattan?" Percy asked. "Is the whole state asleep?"

Annabeth frowned. "I don't think so, but it's strange. As far as I can tell from these pictures, Manhattan is totally asleep. Then there's like a fifty-mile radius around the island where time is running really, really slow. The closer you get to Manhattan, the slower it is."

She showed them another scene—a New Jersey highway. It was Saturday evening, so the traffic wasn't as bad as it might've been on a weekday. The drivers looked awake, but the cars were moving at about one mile per hour. Birds flew overhead in slow motion.

"Kronos," Percy realized. "He's slowing time."

"My mother might be helping too," Esmerelda said darkly. "Look at all the cars—they're being magically pulled away from Manhattan exits. Plus, I can sense her interference everywhere, not just back up on Olympus."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked her.

Esmerelda's face turned solemn. "Manhattan's surrounded by layers of magic right now. The rest of the world probably doesn't sense anything off. Any mortal trying to come here are being slowed down so much that they won't know what's happening."

"Like flies in amber," Jake Mason murmured.

"We shouldn't expect any help coming in, then," Annabeth stated.

Esmerelda looked around. Everyone looked stunned and scared, and she couldn't blame them. The shield had shown them at least three hundred enemies on the way.

There were only forty campers. And they were alone.

But something was off. She expected way more demigod enemies then this. Where was the other half of Kronos' army?

"All right," Percy finally said, yanking her from her thoughts. "We're going to hold Manhattan."

Silena tugged at her armor. "Um, Percy, Manhattan is huge."

"We are going to hold it," he insisted. "We have to."

"He's right," Annabeth agreed. "The gods of the wind should keep Kronos' forces away from Olympus by air, so he'll try a ground assault. We have to cut off the entrances to the island."

"They have boats," Michael pointed out.

"I'll take care of the boats," Percy stated.

Michael frowned. "How?"

"Just leave it to me," he reassured. "We need to guard the bridges and tunnels. Let's assume they'll try a midtown or downtown assault, at least on their first try. That would be the most direct way to the Empire State Building. Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg Bridge. Katie, Demeter's cabin takes the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Grow thorn bushes and poison ivy in the tunnel. Do whatever you have to do, but keep them out of there! Conner, take half of Hermes cabin and cover the Manhattan Bridge. Travis, you take the other half and cover the Brooklyn Bridge. And no stopping for looting or pillaging!"

"Awwww!" The Hermes kids complained.

"Essie, Lou Ellen," Percy turned to the two sisters. "I'm gonna have to separate you two. One of you go with Connor's group while the other sticks with Travis'. Your magic could help a lot, so it's best that both groups have one child of Hecate each."

"Got it..." Esmerelda said uneasily. She glanced over at Lou Ellen, who gave Percy a determined nod. She didn't exactly feel very comfortable parting ways with Lou Ellen. What if something happened to her? What if she died too like the rest of her siblings?

But she couldn't protest, not when Percy's logic made sense.

"Silena, take the Aphrodite crew to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel." He ordered next.

"Oh my gods," one of her sisters said. "Fifth Avenue is so on our way! We could accessorize, and monsters, like, totally hate the smell of Givenchy."

"No delays," he said. "Well... the perfume thing, if you think it'll work."

Six Aphrodite girls kissed him on the cheek in excitement.

"All right, enough!" Percy exclaimed, then focused back to the battle. "The Holland Tunnel. Jake, take the Hephaestus cabin there. Use Greek fire, set traps. Whatever you've got."

He grinned. "Gladly. We've got a score to settle. For Beckendorf!"

The whole cabin roared in approval.

"The 59th Street Bridge," Percy continued. "Clarisse—"

He faltered. Clarisse wasn't here. The whole Ares cabin was sitting back at camp.

"We'll take that," Annabeth stepped in. She turned to her siblings. "Malcolm, take the Athena cabin, activate plan twenty-three along the way, just like I showed you. Hold that position."

"You got it."

"I'll go with Percy," she said. "Then we'll join you, or we'll go wherever we're needed."

Somebody in the back of the group said, "No detours, you two."

There were some giggles, and even Esmerelda managed to crack a smile.

"All right," Percy finished. "Keep in touch with cell phones."

"We don't have cell phones," Silena protested.

He reached down, picked up some snoring lady's BlackBerry, and tossed it to Silena. "You do now. You all know Annabeth's number, right? If you need us, pick up a random phone and call us. Use it once, drop it, then borrow another one if you have to. That should make it harder for the monsters to zero in on you."

Everyone grinned as though they liked this idea.

"Essie," he turned to her. "You got your phone on you?"

She nodded.

"Good. If anyone calls you for help, you think you can Mist travel to where they're at?"

"Of course." She nodded again.

Travis cleared his throat. "Uh, if we find a really nice phone—"

"No, you can't keep it," Percy said.

"Aw, man."

"Hold it, Percy," Jake cut in. "You forgot the Lincoln Tunnel."

Right, Esmerelda winced. A Sherman tank and a hundred monsters were marching through that tunnel right now, and Percy had already positioned their forces everywhere else.

Then a girl's voice called from across the street: "How about you leave that to us?"

A band of thirty adolescent girls crossed Fifth Avenue. They wore white shirts, silvery camouflage pants, and combat boots. They all had swords at their sides, quivers on their backs, and bows at the ready. A pack of white timber wolves milled around their feet, and many of the girls had hunting falcons on their arms.

The girl in the lead had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess's tiara, which didn't match her skull earrings or her Death to Barbie T-shirt showing a little Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried.

The daughter of Zeus grinned. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting for duty."

The two friends hugged and exchanged some words with Percy.

Once that was done with, Thalia turned to the girls, "Those monsters won't know what hit them. Hunters, move out!"

She slapped her silver bracelet, and the shield Aegis spiraled into full form. The golden head of Medusa molded in the center was so horrible, the campers all backed away. The Hunters took off down the avenue, followed by their wolves and falcons.

"Thank the gods," Annabeth said. "But if we don't blockade the rivers from those boats, guarding the bridges and tunnels will be pointless."

"You're right,"  Percy agreed. He took a deep, shaky breath before addressing the crowd. "You're the greatest heroes of this millennium. It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely, and we will win." He raised Riptide and shouted, "FOR OLYMPUS!"

They shouted in response, and their forty voices echoed off the buildings of Midtown. For a moment it sounded brave, but it died quickly in the silence of ten million sleeping New Yorkers.

Esmerelda looked at each of the campers, all of them grim and determined. She tried not to feel like this was the last time she would ever see them all together.

Before parting ways, she approached Connor hugged him tightly. When she pulled away, she gave him a moment to speak with Travis, who looked a little watery-eyed as well.

She went over to Lou Ellen and hugged her even tighter then she had with Connor.

"Please stay safe," she whispered to her ear, her voice breaking. "I can't lose you too—not after everyone else—"

Lou Ellen grasped her just as tightly, burrowing her face at her neck. Esmerelda could feel her sister's tears wetting her skin.

Lou Ellen sucked in a deep breath. "I will," she promised. "But you have to stay safe too, okay? Y-you're all I have too, Essie..."

Esmerelda sniffled as she pulled away. She wiped her eyes and stared at Lou Ellen, memorizing every detail of her face—something she hadn't been able to do before the rest of her siblings died.

Travis joined her side as Connor went to stand beside Lou Ellen.

Esmerelda tried to smile at them. "You guys watch out for each other."

Connor nodded over to them. "You too."

And with that, both groups separated.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"Well," Travis smiled dryly. "Maybe all the cars will get in the way of the incoming army."

Esmerelda couldn't exactly blame him for thinking that. The bridge they had been assigned to—the Brooklyn Bridge—was heavily crowded with vehicles. Usually she couldn't care less about it, the more blockades for the enemies the better, except there was just one problem...

There were still mortals inside the vehicles. All asleep. All blissfully unaware of the violence that was to come. If they didn't get those slumbering mortals out of the way fast, then there would be a lot of bloodshed once the enemies came.

Esmerelda suddenly had an idea. "Travis?"

"Yeah?"

"How good's your understanding of architecture?"

He gave her a weird look. "Do I look like an Annabeth Chase to you?"

"Right sorry," she said sheepishly. "But the Brooklyn Bridge is a suspension bridge right? And all suspension bridges rely heavily on the cables. If I were to destroy the main cables..."

"The bridge would topple," Travis finished for her, eyes growing wide. "It would cut the enemy off, unless they reached the bridge in time..."

"And even then they'd fall along with everything else." Esmerelda stated.

"But Essie, what about the mortals?" He asked her in concern.

"That's what I'm worried about. We need to get them all out of here..." Her eyes trailed over the vehicles, spotting several large tour buses. "Nabbing them one by one is too much work. Shove as many of them as you can in the cars—the tour buses specifically. They're large enough to fit a twenty or so. Keep driving back and forth if you have to, just make sure every mortal gets out of the bridge."

Travis nodded and turned to the rest of the cabin who had been listening in. "You heard what she said! Let's go! Get every mortal out of here!"

There were affirmative shouts that echoed throughout the group, and they all went to work right away.

The Hermes cabin had the largest amount of kids in camp but they were separated by half now, and there probably hundreds of mortals on the bridge. There was no way they could get everyone out in time. Esmerelda tried not to let it bother her, focusing more on transferring as many mortals as she can out.

But as she drove a van packed with about ten people that she had just randomly threw in, something in the rear view mirror caught her eye: a familiar purple banner with a scythe on the front. Kronos' army.

Esmerelda immediately honked on her horn to catch everyone's attention. As she lowered her window, she used the sonorus charm to maximize her voice and shouted: "THEY'RE HERE!"

Her voice rang all across the bridge.

Every car occupied by a Hermes camper was suddenly speeding for the other end of the bridge with Esmerelda joining them. Out the window she could hear the whizzing of arrows and glanced at the mirrors. Thousands of arrows were streaking through the air, piercing through car roofs and ripping holes through tires.

Esmerelda stuck a hand out the window, wordlessly using the shielding charm to protect herself. Arrows bounced off the shield she had conjured, falling uselessly onto the streets.

"Come on, come on," she muttered to herself, keeping a desperately tight hold on the steering wheel as she tried her best to avoid the other cars. She could see the other end of the bridge now, along with a bunch of other vehicles that were most likely full of mortals. Some Hermes kids were also out, weapons drawn and waving everyone over.

Once she made it across, she double-checked to make sure the mortals in the back rows were fine before hurrying out of the van.

"Did everyone make it?!" She asked Cecil, one of the younger Hermes kids.

"I think so! But Essie—you gotta cut the lines now!" He told her frantically.

She shook her head. "I can't! There's still hundreds of mortals and—"

"—We don't have a choice!" Travis jogged up to her, panicked. "Essie, I'm sorry, but there's way too many enemies coming after us! They've already crossed more than half of the bridge! You have to do it!"

She couldn't respond. She turned to the bridge, her face growing pale when she realized that he was right. She could see the incoming army, consisting of about a hundred or so monsters leading the front, and maybe fifty demigods lining the back. Dracaeana slithered forward quickly, joined by the a bunch of cannibalistic giants that were throwing cars out of their way. She could even see several harpies scouring the skies.

They were way passed the halfway mark. They were so close that she could hear every vicious hiss of a dracanae.

Travis was right. Destroying the bridge was their only choice now—even if it meant hundreds of innocent lives.

"Alright," she decided, feeling like she was going to throw up. "But I need you guys to cover me. Anyone with a shield, follow me. Everyone else, stand back."

Several Hermes cabins with shields followed forward. Travis didn't have have one, but he lifted up a broken car door and decided that was good enough.

They gathered at the middle of the roadway, just a few feet away from the bridge while everyone else fell back. The Hermes kids circled around her and lifted up their shields with Travis standing at the very front.

Esmerelda lifted up her shaking arms... but hesitated.

She had killed mortals before, but the lives she took were those who needed to be taken away—like the Death Eaters for example. But these people sleeping on the bridge weren't Death Eaters or wicked criminals, they were just regular mortals who had the misfortune of being caught up in the gods' wars.

She just couldn't kill them...!

"Essie," Travis voice brought her out of her thoughts. He craned his neck to face her, his eyes filled with pain and understanding. "I'm sorry, but you have to do this. They're getting closer."

Again, he was right. They were less than fifty meters away now. She had to destroy the bridge now.

"Okay." She let out a shaky breath before raising her arms up again. She squeezed her eyes shut, channeling as much magic as she could before opening them. They were glowing green, brighter than ever before.

Every cable on both sides of the bridge began to glow the same color. Esmerelda breathed in heavily, feeling something leak from her nose. She ignored it and closed her hands into fists.

Metal creaked as the cables squeezed in on themselves. And then, she swiftly brought her arms down in a slicing motion, and every single cable followed with her. They dropped and four of the main cables—massive and heavier then the rest—crashed onto the street.

The results were catastrophic.

The loss of the cables—the bridge's only support—caused the entire road deck to fall apart. Large chunks of the bridge started falling. Cars full of sleeping mortals were dropping into the water below. Monsters and enemy demigods screamed as they lost their footing, falling down along with everything else.

In the end, everything was gone. The Brooklyn Bridge was completely destroyed.

Esmerelda released her magic and fell to her knees, blood dripping down her nose and eyes.

"Essie!" Travis knelt down in front of her.

"Head hurts..." She whispered, shutting her eyes and clutching her forehead.

"You did good," he told her, rubbing her back. "You stopped the enemy from breaking through."

She could only respond by moaning in pain. Her head felt like it was going to burst. She wanted nothing more than to curl up right now, but after everything she had done, she probably deserved this pain.

Just then, she felt something buzzing in the pocket of her jeans. She pulled out her phone and answered it.

"Yes?" She said tiresomely.

"Essie, help us!" The person on the other end shrieked. It was Lou Ellen.

Whatever exhaustion she felt left her body immediately. "Lou? What's wrong?"

"You guys need to get over here quick! There's too many of them! And Essie! It's that guy again! The one who hunted me down in Minnesota! Our brother, Alabaster! He's leading them!"

Esmerelda felt like she had been punched in the face. "Wh-wha—"

"—Hurry!" Lou Ellen cried out, and the line died.

Esmerelda forced herself back up to her feet. "Travis, where's Connor's group stationed?"

"Manhattan Bridge," he answered.

"Everybody on a bus!" She ordered. "We're going to Manhattan Bridge!"

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

The tour bus she chose to drive was practical. It was large enough to fit everyone inside and still have leftover space for the other Hermes kids in case they needed to make a retreat, and judging by the carnage she saw on Manhattan Bridge, a retreat was definitely necessary.

There were a lot more enemies on this bridge then the ones on the Brooklyn Bridge. Demigods were fighting demigods, monsters were going around and destroying everything and everyone that got in their way. It was pure butchery, but Esmerelda didn't focus on that.

All her attention was drawn on the figure at the center. He was soaked in blood and so was his golden sword which he used to gut a Hermes camper. The body dropped to the ground and he and Esmerelda locked eyes.

Alabaster.

"ESMERELDA!" He roared, storming forward.

Esmerelda jumped, stumbling back a little. Her labrys nearly slipped out of her hands from how frightened she was.

"Did you know?" He asked her, his voice dangerously low.

She knew immediately what he was talking about. The explosion of the Princess Andromeda...

She swallowed thickly and answered, "Y-yes."

He stared at her, and she could feel herself shrinking under his gaze. His eyes were dark and full of madness, it felt as if all the hate he had for the Olympians and Camp Half-Blood were now being directed onto her.

He let out a war cry, full of hate and pain, and lunged at her. She barely managed to raise her labrys to block the attack, but it didn't matter. He pushed forward until she was backed against the side of a car.

"You knew!" He shrieked at her, tears and blood falling down his face. He added more force, and the blade of his sword was getting dangerously closer to her head.

"A-Alabaster, please," her voice shook, she sounded like a nine year old girl again. Her eyes watered. "I'm sorry...! I didn't—I wanted to warn you but—"

"—BUT YOU DIDN'T!" He spat. "AND NOW THEY'RE DEAD! ALL OF THEM!"

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed.

He forced the sword down even more as she cried. She could feel the cold, blood-soaked blade skim her forehead before Alabaster was suddenly thrown off. He had been struck by a ball of magical energy.

Esmerelda turned and saw Lou Ellen. The younger girl grabbed her hand.

"Come on!" She shouted, and began dragging her away. "Everyone should be back in the bus now! We're gonna retreat!"

Esmerelda didn't say anything, too shaken up by her encounter with Alabaster. Her older brother, the figure who she used to look up to as a child, was ready to kill her. He blamed her for their siblings deaths, and while he was right to, it still felt like a stab to the chest.

Lou Ellen ushered her into the bus and the doors shut. Travis, who was driving, immediately sped out once they were aboard. As they turned to drive away, Esmerelda looked out the window.

There were still hundreds of monsters crossing the bridge, getting dangerously close to the city. It was of utmost importance that they never reached Manhattan.

She bit her lip and came to a decision. Still dazed from everything that had happened, she stumbled to the very back of the bus and opened the window.

"Essie, what are you doing?" She heard Lou Ellen ask from behind.

She didn't answer and instead stuck her arm out, palm facing the road deck ahead.

A fiery orange sphere formed from her palm, like an explosion waiting to happen. It shot out, colliding with the road. A section of the bridge exploded, chunks of asphalt flying everywhere.

When the dust cleared out, she could see a huge gaping hole where the road used to be, effectively dividing the enemies from the rest of the city. They could still enter if they wanted to risk climbing the cables, but she doubted they were strong enough to hold after all the damage it had already sustained.

Standing just a few feet away from the destruction was Alabaster, and he was watching them leave. His form grew smaller and smaller until he was finally gone.

She had gotten away for now, but she knew.

This wouldn't be the last time she would see her brother on the battlefield.

— author's note —

To whoever built the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge, Essie is very sorry 😔

Ya'll I had to do a bunch of research to find out what was the easiest way to destroy a suspension bridge. I've learned so much about bridges I can possibly make my own... Jk Jk lol

"Author, why didn't Essie just use her telekinesis to lift up all the cars and save the mortals before destroying the bridge?!"

Lemme try and explain is as best as I can:

Using telekinesis takes strenuous mental strength and concentration. Imagine trying to lift up a hundred vehicles all at once (the average vehicle weighs 4,000 lbs and that's just for ONE sedan, there's a shit ton of other cars on that bridge and they were carrying a bunch of other ppl too) and then moving them out of the way. If you can't imagine what that's like, then try to imagine yourself lifting up a 100 lb barbell (or more) and then walking around the house for about an hour while still carrying it.

Essie cannot risk trying to telekinetically lift up hundreds of vehicles and then moving them to somewhere safe. What she can do is break the cables that are supporting the bridge. That's like, yanking a bunch of strings. Ok not really, the cables are a lot stronger and thicker then a bunch of strings, BUT WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY is that yanking something free is a lot easier then carrying a bunch of weights for a long time. Breaking the cables only took her several seconds, carrying all the cars would've taken her a helluva lot longer and she might not have enough strength in her to destroy the bridge afterwards, thus the enemy would've breached the city.

So yeah, I hope that makes sense!

Now the next chapter... is the one you've ALL been waiting for! GET READY EVERYONE!!!!!

(and no it's not the reveal on who the final couple is, that's for a later time. I was talking about the OTHER reveal)