The climb upwards from the Underworld is worse than the descent, for two reasons. 

First, because while the descent was terrifying for the anxiety incited by what they were about to encounter, and what they would have to do there - what Percy would have to do - what awaits them on the surface is even worse. Percy may be almost indestructible right now, but they both know Kronos is preparing to march his army through New York as they walk. Worse - he may already have begun. They could be too late. 

Second, because they are climbing upwards. Lila's trained at the camp for many years, so she's not weak by any means - especially recently, she's been working hard. Yet, while she may be able to scale a climbing wall of lava, the upwards climb that seems endless is almost impossible. It's not so much of a climb as a mountain to walk up, but it's steep and rocky. Multiple times she nearly topples backwards and has to be pulled back up by Percy. Sometimes he trips, too, but he's quicker to regain his balance than her. 

Mrs O.Leary bounds ahead of them - when she gets too far away, she runs all the way back, and then runs forward again. She has far too much energy. 

"You good?" Percy pants, gripping her hand tightly as he pulls her up a particularly steep part of the climb. 

She nods. "You?" She's too tired for full sentences. 

"Yeah," he stares at her for a little longer, a strange emotion in his eyes. Lila recognises it, but she can't name it. 

"Are you - " she stops to catch her breath again, "- are you sure?"

He furrows his brows. 

"You're looking ... at me weirdly." 

She's sure he's blushing, though the dark cave makes it hard to be sure. "Sorry." 

She shrugs as they help each other over the next rocks. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he grins lopsidedly, "Should we take a break? You look tired."

"Sure," Lila agrees gratefully, too tired to make a joke about it, instead sitting on a tiny ledge on the side of the wall. "We could try calling Annabeth."

"Hm, good idea." he grabs his phone, dialling. "What should we tell her?"

"I don't know," Lila admits. "Something about the trap?"

"I don't want to cause panic..."

"What about just asking her to bring the campers to Olympus?"

"Oh, good idea," he agrees. The call goes to voicemail, so he leaves a message with those words, saying virtually nothing. Knowing Annabeth, she's probably freaking out right now, but hopefully Grover got to camp and was able to talk to her. 

They must be halfway to the surface now, but Mrs O. Leary returns and starts licking Lila's face, which is surprisingly cooling, though also a bit gross. But - well, Lila just pats her head gently. He holds his hand out to her, helping her to her feet. 

By the time they finally emerge onto the surface, Lila must be sweaty and disgusting, and her legs are aching. She's not even sure she'll be able to fight in the war at this rate. Percy looks tired too, but perhaps the curse of Achilles gave him some extra strength as he's able to pull her out of the tiny crack, where she lies on the dewy grass and breathes in the cool air. Percy chuckles, calling Annabeth again - Lila doesn't listen to the conversation, but he fills her in when it's finished. 

"They're on their way - she said to meet her at the Empire State Building," he says. "Let's go." 

Lila pulls herself to her feet, linking her hand in his. "It's like, late afternoon. We should get something to eat. We can get a taxi over to Fifth Avenue." 

Percy nods, and together they go off in search of food. They end up getting waffles, and Lila also gets herself a black coffee - she doesn't even like the taste of coffee, but she's had less than an hour of sleep, and it doesn't seem like she'll be getting anymore soon, so she downs it and tries not to wince at the taste, blocking it out with the sugary taste of waffles. 

Percy sees her eyeing his waffle and cuts in in half, so Lila does the same to hers, and she gets to try both flavours. They don't really talk while they eat, both exhausted from the last day's events, and they don't have much to talk about. Well, other than the imminent threat of war, and Lila would rather not think about that. 

When they've finished eating, Percy hails a taxi and they sit comfortably in the back. She's jittery now, having drunk too much coffee too fast. 

"Hey, I saw you redid your garden," Percy mentions. 

She nods. "Yeah, with some different plants. It's more me now, you know? Apparently it's scary, though -  Katie said she finds it super creepy."

"I didn't find it creepy," he says honestly. "It just reminded me of you." 

She blushes deep red. "You can't say stuff like that, it's embarrassing." 

He grins evilly. "Oh, am I embarrassing you?"

"That's not what I - Stop it - "

"I'll have to do it more." 

"Please, no." She raises her eyes to the sky as if praying, like the gods would ever be listening. Which reminds her of the gods, and the threat to their world. "Do you have a plan?"

"Yep." 

"A good plan?"

"Nope."

"Oh." Wonderful. She's doesn't really want to know, so she's glad he's not telling her. 

"Li," he says seriously, facing her, looking her dead in the eyes. The prolonged eye contact makes her uncomfortable, but she forces herself to meet his eyes, memorising the exact shape and shade of green his eyes are. "If something happens - if something does go wrong - I want you to know - " his voice cuts off, like he can't quite find the words. 

She squeezes his hand. "I know." He smiles slightly at that. "But - well, the plan's not that bad, is it? You're not going to..." 

"Yeah, probably not." He does not sound certain. 

"Percy - " 

"We're here," the taxi driver says, pulling up beside the huge tower. Lila and Percy slip out, just in time to watch three white vans named Delphi Strawberry Service pull up to the curb, the cover name for Camp Half-Blood. As the door slides open, a bunch of campers climb out - possibly more than is technically allowed, but they've broken worse laws. The Ares cabin is missing, but Lila forces herself not to dwell on it. Everyone looks nervous, which could be for many reasons - for one, too many demigods outside camp is probably drawing every monster in the US towards them.

Percy makes a sour face. Lila nudges him. "What?"

He studies her for a moment, before a resolute mask slips down, like he doesn't want her to worry. "It's nothing." She stares up at him, silently wishing he'd confide in her, before he sighs. "Just thinking about the spy." 

She'd forgotten about that, but she's glad he told her. She wants him to confide in her, not keep the things that worry him to himself, as he sometimes does. Sometimes she thinks he worries too much about her, worries too much about her feelings, which are perhaps more delicate than his own. That doesn't matter though; she can handle the truth, and they're a team. Even if it kills her mood, she wants - needs to know how he's feeling, just as she would tell him. 

Annabeth approaches them, armed with a laptop and a bronze knife. It's very Annabeth of her. 

Percy turns to the rest of the group,  "Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."

Chiron shakes 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."

"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 inhales, steeling himself, perhaps with realisation. "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 gets Argus to watch Mrs. O'Leary - she whines, but Lila pats her head and gently whispers that they can't fit her in the elevator, so the hellhound lies down on the sidewalk and stares at the many-eyed man, who looks uncomfortable. 

"Let's go," Percy instructs. 

There's a security guard behind the desk in the lobby, reading a giant black book with carnations on the cover. Lila shifts uncomfortably -  often carnations are given to mourners at funerals. He looks up as they approach, taking in the armour and all the weapons. "School group? We're about to close up."

Katie huffs, carrying three different swords, and Lila can spot at least five knives hidden on her person. "Do we seriously look like a school group?" 

Lila shrugs, eyeing the various weapons Katie is adorned by. "Nice collection." 

The daughter of Demeter grins, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Thanks, I'm very proud of it."

"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid." The guard deadpans. "Move along."

Lila watches as Percy leans across the desk. "Forty demigods attract an awful lot of monsters. You really want us hanging out in your lobby?"

He thinks about it. Then he hits a buzzer and the security gate swings open. "Make it quick."

Lila knows, with absolute certainty, that they are not going to be quick. 

"You don't want us going through the metal detectors," Percy adds.

"Um, no," he agrees. "Elevator on the right. I guess you know the way."

They walk through - it takes two trips to get everybody up, so Percy, Annabeth and Lila all go up with the first group. 'Stayin' Alive' is playing, which is pretty ironic, in an incredibly morbid way. 

When the door open, Lila almost forgets how to breathe. She's never seen Olympus before, but she's dreamt of it - well, not in her dreams, but in her daydreams. She always imagined it high in the sky, as it is. The footpath literally marks a path through the clouds, hovering over Manhattan, which she can see below. The mansions are glittering, in golden and white, like a scene from a movie. There are gardens on every terrace - Lila doesn't dare look at them for too long, knowing she's going to be fully distracted. Ahead lies the giant palace of the gods, rising high above everything else. 

Yet, the mountain is silent. 

The second group of half-bloods join them, so Percy leads them over the sky bridge. All the shops are closed, the parks empty. There are a few Muses, a single Cyclops sweeping the street - even a couple of very minor gods, who duck inside and close their doors as soon as they spot the demigods. 

As they pass beneath a large marble archway, Annabeth makes a face at the huge statue of Hera. "Hate her," she mutters. 

"Has she been cursing you or something?" Percy asks. 

"Just little stuff so far," she says. "Her sacred animal is the cow, right?"

"Right."

"So she sends cows after me."

Percy and Lila share a secretly amused look. "Cows? In San Francisco?"

"Just following you around?"

"Oh, yeah. Usually I don't see them, but the cows leave me little presents all over the place—in our backyard, on the sidewalk, in the school hallways. I have to be careful where I step."

"Look!" Pollux cries, pointing toward the horizon. "What is that?"

Everybody freezes, watching. Blue lights are flying across the dusky sky toward Olympus, like a thousand little shooting stars. They seem to come from all over the city, but as soon as they get close, they disappear, without doing any damage. 

"Like infrared scopes," Michael Yew mutters. "We're being targeted."

"Let's get to the palace," Percy decides. 

The hall of the gods is entirely unguarded, the gilded doors standing wide open. The footsteps echo as they walk into the throne room, the gigantic emptiness of the huge building emphasised. 

"Hello again, Percy Jackson," a woman's voice says. "You and your friends are welcome." 

As they approach, Lila realises it's Hestia, standing by the hearth and tending the fire. Percy bows. "Lady Hestia." They all follow. 

The goddess watches Percy analytically, eyes glowing red. "I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles."

Behind them, people start to mutter in confusion. 

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

Annabeth nudges Percy. "Um . . . what is she talking about?" Lila avoids her eyes, just in case she can see exactly what Lila's thinking with just a single glance. 

Suddenly, Percy's knees buckle, so Lila and Annabeth both grab one of his shoulders, keeping him on his feet. 

"Percy! What happened?" 

"You okay?" Lila whispers, and he nods subtly to her. 

"Did ... did you see that?"

"See what?"

"How long was I out?" he mutters then, standing on his own without their help. Annabeth exchanges a confused glance with Lila, both frowning. 

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

Lila squeezes Percy's hand, as he's looking unnaturally pale. He looks at her and she tries to seem as reassuring as possible, despite how shaken she's feeling, watching him panic. Yet, he again steels his nerves, perhaps realising how many people are relying on him. 

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

"We know what you need," a man's voice interrupts, and Percy shudders.

Beside Hestia, a god appears, shimmering in the way gods do, like all the light is shining on them in exactly the right way. They don't have a bad angle. Anyway, this god has curly hair, and is wearing a military pilot's suit, with tiny bird wings on his helmet and boots, while in his arms is a long staff with two serpents twirling around it. He looks about Luke's age, which is a little weird to think about, but hey, that's gods for you.

"I will leave you now," Hestia says hastily. She promptly disappears into smoke. Lila envies her - Hermes looks furious. 

"Hello, Percy." 

Percy bows.  "Lord Hermes. Um, we need to talk to Zeus. It's important."

Hermes frowns, his eyes cool, like steel. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?"

Percy blinks, taken aback, before coming to a decision. "You guys, why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses. See who's left in Olympus. Meet Annabeth, Li and me back here in thirty minutes."

Silena frowns. "But—"

"That's a good idea," Annabeth agrees. "Connor and Travis, you two lead."

Lila offers Silena a smile that's as comforting as she can manage, but her friend is unhealthily pale, and has to be practically dragged from the room by Connor Stoll. Finally, the trio are left alone with an angry god. 

"My lord," Annabeth says. "Kronos is going to attack New York. You must suspect that. My mother must have foreseen it."

"Your mother," Hermes scowls. "Don't get me started on your mother, young lady. She's the reason I'm here at all. Zeus didn't want any of us to leave the front line. But your mother kept pestering him nonstop, 'It's a trap, it's a diversion, blah, blah, blah.' She wanted to come back herself, but Zeus was not going to let his number one strategist leave his side while we're battling Typhon. And so naturally he sent me to talk to you."

"But it is a trap!" Annabeth insists. "Is Zeus blind?"

Outside, the sound of thunder echoes, despite the clear sky. 

"I'd watch the comments, girl," Hermes warns. "Zeus is not blind or deaf. He has not left Olympus completely undefended."

"But there are these blue lights—"

"Yes, yes. I saw them. Some mischief by that insufferable goddess of magic, Hecate, I'd wager, but you may have noticed they aren't doing any damage. Olympus has strong magical wards. Besides, Aeolus, the King of the Winds, has sent his most powerful minions to guard the citadel. No one save the gods can approach Olympus from the air. They would be knocked out of the sky."

Percy raises his hand, like he's in school. "Um . . . what about that materializing/teleporting thing you guys do?"

"That's a form of air travel too, Jackson. Very fast, but the wind gods are faster. No, if Kronos wants Olympus, he'll have to march through the entire city with his army and take the elevators! Can you see him doing this?"

It does sound stupid. Lila tries to imagine Kronos listening to 'Stayin' Alive' and can't even picture it. Yet, something is about to happen. "But it could happen," she says. "Isn't there anything else you can do to defend Olympus?"

"Maybe just a few of you could come back," Percy agrees. 

Hermes shakes his head. "Percy Jackson, you don't understand. Typhon is our greatest enemy."

"I thought that was Kronos."

"No, Percy. In the old days, Olympus was almost overthrown by Typhon. He is husband of Echidna—"

"Met her at the Arch," Percy agrees. "Not nice."

"—and the father of all monsters. We can never forget how close he came to destroying us all; how he humiliated us! We were more powerful back in the old days. Now we can expect no help from Poseidon because he's fighting his own war. Hades sits in his realm and does nothing, and Demeter and Persephone follow his lead. It will take all our remaining power to oppose the storm giant. We can't divide our forces, nor wait until he gets to New York. We have to battle him now. And we're making progress."

"Progress?" Percy raises his eyebrows. "He nearly destroyed St. Louis."

"Yes," Hermes admits. "But he destroyed only half of Kentucky. He's slowing down. Losing power."

Lila decides not to argue with that, as Hermes doesn't sound sure at all. 

"Please, Hermes," Annabeth insists. "You said my mother wanted to come. Did she give you any messages for us?"

"Messages," he scowls. "'It'll be a great job,' they told me. 'Not much work. Lots of worshippers.' Hmph. Nobody cares what I have to say. It's always about other people's messages."

Rodents, George, one of the snakes on the Caduceus, muses. I'm in it for the rodents.

Shhh, Martha (the other snake) scolds. We care what Hermes has to say. Don't we, George?

Oh, absolutely. Can we go back to the battle now? I want to do laser mode again. That's fun.

"Quiet, both of you," Hermes grumbles, frowning.

He meets Lila's eyes - she tries to look as pleasant and helpful as possible. She looks to Annabeth, who is doing this thing with her eyes where she widens them and instead of looking desperate in a bad way, she just looks desperate in a pleading way. It's a skill. 

The god sighs. "Your mother said to warn you that you are on your own. You must hold Manhattan without the help of the gods. As if I didn't know that. Why they pay her to be the wisdom goddess, I'm not sure."

"Do gods get paid?" Lila wonders. Percy nudges her, like it's not the time.

"Anything else?" Annabeth asks.

"She said you should try plan twenty-three. She said you would know what that meant."

Annabeth's face goes pale, suggesting she knows exactly what it means. "Go on."

 Hermes turns to Lila. "She said to tell Lila to 'remember the prophecy', and for Percy: 'Remember the rivers.'"

Remember the prophecy? She's been actively trying to forget the prophecy. Still, it is burned in her mind, forever. There are a few things of concern. First, the soul reaping blade. Second, the drakon. Third, the endless sleep. The last two lines of the prophecy are going to be avoided for as long as possible. 

"Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth says. "And I . . . I wanted to say . . . I'm sorry about Luke."

The god's expression hardens like he's turned to marble, a Grecian statue staring down at them. "You should've left that subject alone."

Annabeth steps back. "Sorry?"

"SORRY doesn't cut it!"

The caduceus shimmers and changes into something that Lila doesn't recognise, but looks dangerous. 

"You should've saved him when you had the chance," Hermes growls at Annabeth. "You're the only one who could have."

"That's not fair!" Lila protests. "She hasn't done anything!"

Percy tries to step between them. "What are you talking about? Annabeth didn't—"

"Don't defend her!" Hermes turns the weapon toward Lila. "She knows exactly what I'm talking about."

"Maybe you should blame yourself!" Percy snaps. "Maybe if you hadn't abandoned Luke and his mom!"

Hermes raises his weapon, properly this time. Lila tries to put herself in front of Percy but he doesn't let her get in front of him. The god grows, until he's about ten feet tall, a god in almost his entire might. But then, George and Martha lean in to whisper into his ear.

The god lowers his weapon, which turns back into a staff. "Percy Jackson, because you have taken on the curse of Achilles, I must spare you. You are in the hands of the Fates now. But you will never speak to me like that again. You have no idea how much I have sacrificed, how much—" His voice breaks. "My son, my greatest pride . . . my poor May . . ."

Lila watches him in shock. She was certain they were all dead, but now the god seems like he might fall to his knees in grief. There is devastation, pain like she's never seen before, on Hermes' face.

"Look, Lord Hermes," Percy begins, "I'm sorry, but I need to know. What happened to May? She said something about Luke's fate, and her eyes—"

Hermes glares at Percy, and Lila's grip on his arm tightens. But the incredible, fuming rage the god had a moment ago has vanished, quenched by his grief. 

"I will leave you now," he says, chokingly. "I have a war to fight."

As he begins to shine, Lila turns away, pulling Annabeth around too - she's frozen in shock.

Then he's gone.

Annabeth falls to the feet of Athena's throne, on her knees, and begins to sob. Lila watches in shock - she can't even remember the last time she saw Annabeth cry so much. Each sob seems to wrench itself out of her, like she's trying hard to keep it locked inside, but can't anymore. The sadness in her has built up so much she can't contain it. 

Lila hugs her, letting her best friend cry into her shoulder, until the tears begin to dry up. 

"Annabeth," Percy says, "it's not your fault. I've never seen Hermes act that way. I guess . . . I don't know . . . he probably feels guilty about Luke. He's looking for somebody to blame. I don't know why he lashed out at you. You didn't do anything to deserve that."

Annabeth wipes her eyes. Lila and Percy look at each other, both equally confused. 

Percy gulps. "Um, you didn't, right?"

"Percy," Annabeth says, ignoring his question. "What did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meet her?"

Percy nods. "Nico, Li and I visited her. She was a little . . . different."

Lila shivers. "She thought Percy was Luke, and that Nico was Luke. And her eyes started glowing - "

"- she kept talking about her son's terrible fate. But it seems like she wasn't .. wasn't always like that," Percy adds. "Hestia said she got offered a job and it went terribly wrong."

Annabeth frowns. "That doesn't make sense. But why were you visiting—" Her eyes widen, and she looks at Lila questioningly. "Hermes said you bear the curse of Achilles. Hestia said the same thing. Did you . . . did you bathe in the River Styx?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Percy! Did you or not?"

"Um . . . maybe a little."

"We went to the Underworld," Lila informs her. "We found Grover - he was put to sleep by Morpheus, for some reason, for two months. I don't know why. Then we went to the Underworld - my mother was there, with Demeter - Hades is keeping them there, for "safety". Nico is trying to convince him to fight."

"Hades wanted to lock me up, so Nico could be the child in the prophecy," Percy adds. "Nico helped us escape and then we got to the Styx."

"Don't worry, it definitely worked," Lila assures Annabeth. "He defeated an army of the dead, and Hades. It was crazy. The weapons just didn't touch him, somehow."

She shakes her head. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? I mean, I'd expect it of you, Percy, but Lila? I can't believe you went along with this."

Lila shrugs. "It was Percy's choice."

"I had no choice," he defends. "It's the only way I can stand up to Luke."

"You mean . . . di immortales, of course! That's why Luke didn't die. He went to the Styx and . . . Oh no, Luke. What were you thinking?"

"He was probably thinking the same thing Percy was thinking," Lila comments. 

"So now you're worried about Luke again," Percy grumbles, scowling. He's told Lila before how he feels Annabeth has never really accepted Luke's betrayal, and that she still sees him as her friend. It's always seemed to irk him. Some part of him has always worried a little that, when it comes to it, Annabeth may not be able to do what she needs to do. 

Annabeth only stares at him, entirely unable to comprehend what he's saying. "What?"

"Forget it," Percy mutters sulkily. He makes a sour face, like he's just swallowed a lemon.

"It's fine, it doesn't matter," Lila says, trying to bridge the gap between the two best friends. Annabeth is clearly hiding something, but there's no point in forcing her to tell them; if they needed to know, she would've told them. There are more pressing problems right now, as much as it hurts to admit. 

Percy nods. "The point is he didn't die in the Styx, and neither did I. Now I have to face him, we have to defend Olympus."

Annabeth sighs. "I guess you guys are right. My mom mentioned - " 

"Plan twenty-three."

"How bad is it?" Lila asks, knowing from the look on Annabeth's face that it must be pretty dire. 

Her friend doesn't answer, but pulls out Daedalus's laptop, opening it and beginning to read. 

"Here it is," she murmurs. "Gods, we have a lot of work to do."

"One of Daedalus's inventions?"

"A lot of inventions . . . dangerous ones." She glances to Lila. "If my mother wants me to use this plan, she must think things are very bad. What about you - what was she going on about, the prophecy?"

Lila shrugs, sensing Percy's eyes on her. "I don't know. None of it seems to relate to me. Like, there's all that stuff about P - a hero, but nothing that could even loosely connect to me. I mean, what have I got to do with a drakon, or a hero's soul?"

Annabeth hums in agreement, her brows drawn together in thought. "Let's hope we can work it out later." 

It's pretty optimistic of her to assume there'll be a "later". 

 She turns to Percy. "What about her message to you: 'Remember the rivers'? What does that mean?"

Percy shakes his head, looking utterly confused. 

"Which rivers?" Lila wonders. "The Nile? The Styx? The other one?"

Annabeth raises an eyebrow. "There are more than thr- " 

They are interrupted by the Stoll brothers running into the throne room, their eyes wide with panic. "You need to see this, now." Connor says. 

Following the brothers out onto a small park at the edge of the mountain, Lila resists the urge to seek Percy's hand for comfort. They shouldn't be getting distracted; she needs to take care of herself here, without hoping for his presence to make her feel safe. It's better she's on edge. 

She feels him link his fingers with her own anyway, and represses a smile, despite the dire situation which is yet to be explained. 

Around the park are tourist binoculars, where you can see the city if you put in a drachma - campers are using all of them. 

Lila stares out onto the city. They can see everything - the East River and the Hudson River winding around the shape of Manhattan, the regular streets in perfect parallel lines and perpendicular angles to each other, the sky scrapers far below Olympus, but still towering over the rest of the city. Everything looks as it ought to, but something is wrong, something Lila can't put her finger on. 

"I don't . . . hear anything," Annabeth whispers.

The realisation hits her harder than it should. New York is one of the loudest cities in the world - definitely in America. Every time Lila enters it, the constant hum of people, and cars and machines, the flashing lights and sparking electricity shocks her slightly. She's used to the quiet of fields and gardens, of the isolation of the forest. New York is like an entire entity of it's own, a sentient being, made up of all the many people within. New York is never silent. 

But it is now. 

"What did they do?" Percy says, his voice tight with anger, or maybe fear. "What did they do to my city?"

He pulls his hand away from Lila's stepping up to the binoculars to look. Silena offers her own to Lila, who takes it gratefully. Below them, all traffic has stopped. People are lying on pavements or in doorways - but there's no blood, no sign of struggle. 

"Are they dead?" Silena asks, eyes wide. 

Lila meets her eyes in confusion, fear turning in the pit of her stomach. She squeezes Silena's hand and they grip each other tightly, offering each other whatever comfort they can. 

"Not dead," Percy says, voice cold. "Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."

a/n was sposed to be more lila &  silena moments but it wasn't really fitting in so maybe next chapter? gotta get them in before ...

i really need to write lila having dreams but she literally hasn't had the chance to sleep yet ... maybe on editing i'll fix that but for now there's just a chapter coming up where she dreams for like 60% of it sorry but i think it'll still be interesting anyway

ly xx