There's no time for overthinking. Percy summons Blackjack and two of his friends to carry them over to the Williamsburg Bridge. Lila feels like she's in some kind of trance as she slips onto the back of a pegasus named Guido. 

It's midnight, but even from high above, the bridge is blazing with light as they approach. Cars are on fire, with flaming arrows and spears sailing through the air. It's impossible to even tell which direction they're coming from. 

Lila spots the Apollo campers retreating, hiding behind cars wherever they can, but always backing away. Kronos's army seems unstoppable, steadily marching forwards. Occasionally an arrow will connect with a dracaena, or another monster, but the majority just bounce straight off their shield wall, useless. Even if they do connect, another monster is always ready to take their place, marching behind the ever-advancing front lines. Dancing ahead are hellhounds, snatching at the campers - sometimes managing to get their jaws around a camper. Lila can't bear to see what happens to them. 

"There!" Annabeth calls, pointing to a black shadow in the middle of the legion. As fire lights the ground up again, Lila sees the shadow's features - bared teeth, the nostrils and black flaring eyes of a bull. At ten feet tall, in full Greek battle gear with bronze around his limps, the bull head and muscle seems larger than Percy ever described it to be. At his back is a double bladed axe, but the moment he spots Percy, he lets out a furious battle cry, grabbing a limousine from the ground. 

"Blackjack, dive!" Percy yells. 

The pegasus swoops downwards just in time to avoid a flying car, which spins over their heads. Guido swerves sharply to the right; Lila nearly slips off, barely holding on by her tight grip on his mane. He lets out a neigh that probably means Hold on! in pegasi. 

The Minotaur picks up another car. 

"Oh no," Lila muttters. Guido flies backwards slightly, in agreement with her. 

"Drop us behind the lines with the Apollo cabin," Percy orders. "Stay in earshot but get out of danger!"

The pegasi follow quickly, eager to escape the dangers of flying cars. They land behind an overturned school bus, where a couple of campers are hiding - Lila slips off Guido as soon as he hits the ground, and he quickly escapes back into the sky, flying as fast as he can away from the battle field. (She kind of wishes she was a pegasus right now). 

Michael Yew runs up to them. His face is covered in soot, and his quiver has five arrows left, but he seems unharmed, and he grins like he's having fun. "Glad you could join us." (Lila isn't.) "Where are the other reinforcements?"

"For now, we're it," Percy says. 

"Then we're dead," he replies cheerfully.

"Having fun?" Lila asks, completely seriously. Or have you lost your mind?

"Not yet." 

"You still have your flying chariot?" Annabeth adds.

"Nah," Michael replies with a sigh. "Left it at camp. I told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever, you know? Not worth fighting about anymore. But she said it was too late. We'd insulted her honour for the last time or some stupid thing."

Lila represses a useless burning rage at her friend. People are dying, and she's worrying about her honour? Maybe this is why people insult her honour; because she doesn't care about anybody except herself. 

That's not fair, a little voice in Lila's head called her conscience whispers, but Lila ignores it. None of this is fair, but Clarisse could at least be a friend to them. 

"Least you tried," Percy offers.

Michael shrugs. "Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped. Here come the uglies!"

He draws an arrow, shooting in vaguely in the direction of the army. As it flies, the arrow lets out a horrific screaming, and as it lands, a blast is emitted, exploding cars, disintegrating monsters. 

"That was my last sonic arrow," Michael says. 

"A gift from your dad?" Percy asks. "God of music?"

Michael grins again. "Loud music can be bad for you. Unfortunately, it doesn't always kill."

Lila looks back toward the battlefield; most of the monsters that didn't disintegrate are getting back to their feet, blinking confusedly. 

"We have to fall back," Michael says. "I've got Kayla and Austin setting traps farther down the bridge."

Lila looks back toward that direction, but she can't see them. 

"No," Percy says. "Bring your campers forward to this position and wait for my signal. We're going to drive the enemy back to Brooklyn."

Michael laughs. He's way too happy for this. "How do you plan to do that?"

Percy pulls Riptide from his pocket, the glowing sword slipping into his hand seamlessly. 

Lila reaches for her spear. No way is he going alone. "We're coming with you." 

"She's right," Annabeth agrees. "You need all the help you can get." 

He shakes his head, meeting Lila's eyes, his own devoid of any amusement for once. "Too dangerous. Besides, I need you two to help Michael coordinate the defensive line. I'll distract the monsters. You group up here. Move the sleeping mortals out of the way. Then you can start picking off monsters while I keep them focused on me. If anybody can do all that, you can."

Michael snorts. "Thanks a lot."

Lila is already shaking her head. "No way." 

"It's too dangerous," he insists.

Annabeth nods reluctantly. "He's right, Li." To Percy, she says, "Get moving."

Percy nods, stepping away, before turning back to Lila. She smiles, for a moment forgetting that they're in the middle of a battle, leaning in to press a light kiss to the corner of his lip. "Don't die, please." 

"I'll try my best." He grins. 

She lightly hits his arm. "It's not funny." 

"You're smiling," he mutters quietly, his eyes alight. 

He steps out from behind the bus, out of it's cover. Lila can't see him, but she hears the Minotaur let out an echoing bellow, a sound that sends a shiver down her spine. It doesn't seem to have any effect on Percy, how yells back "Hey, Beef Boy, didn't I kill you already?"

"Okay," Annabeth resumes control. "You guys," she gestures to the Apollo campers, "start picking off monsters. Uh, try not to hit Percy." 

"Thanks, Annabeth," Michael says. 

"You and I are going to start moving the mortals out of the way," she tells Lila. "Hopefully without being killed. Maybe you can give me some cover with your shield, while I drag them out of their cars." 

Lila nods. "Should we move the cars too?"

Annabeth frowns. "For what?"

"I don't know. Those things are expensive. I don't think insurance will cover this." 

There's a loud crashing noise from over toward the battle. 

"I don't think we have time for that." 

"No, I don't think so either," she mutters as they jog over to the nearest car. 

While Annabeth forces open the door to drag the body out, Lila tries to hold up her shield to give her as much cover as she can. She doesn't need to bother; not a single spear or arrow comes her way, as every single monster is completely focused on Percy. She dares to peek out from behind the shield, but she can't see him, only a sea of monsters surging forwards, and the Minotaur crumbling to dust on the edge of the bridge. 

She doesn't have time to watch - she jogs over to another care, smashing the window with her shield and reaching inside to unlock it, before pulling the mortal from the seat. Together, the pair pull the mortals over to somewhere further away from the school bus where they're making their stand. 

They repeat this a few times, until a good chunk of the bridge is free of the mortals, who are piled close to each other behind a thicker cluster of cars. Annabeth helps Lila carry a huge guy who must be a body builder or something, and they carefully shelter a couple of babies, making sure, as well as they can, that the children are cushioned by something soft, though there's no guarantee, and they could easily be killed by a stray fireball or an explosion of Greek fire, or just a deflected arrow. 

There's no time to dwell on it; they run back to join the Apollo campers, who have re-joined Percy further up the bridge and are slowly advancing. Somehow, the monsters have been cut down to a tenth of their former size, and are running away. Lila grabs her spear and cuts through one straggler, and Annabeth beside her manages to get her knife into the neck of a hellhound. Lila nearly feels sorry for the hellhound that's about to die, but between it's teeth are the orange scraps of a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, and that quells any sympathy she might have had. 

They continue to advance, the shielded dracaena slowly backing away, until they nearly reach the Brooklyn side of the bridge. To the East, the sky is beginning to lighten, signalling the coming of dawn. Will the monsters retreat when day comes? Lila's not sure. Hopefully they need sleep, too. 

"Percy!" Annabeth yells. "You've already routed them. Pull back! We're overextended!"

Lila looks ahead; she's right, as always. The campers are beginning to spread thinner and thinner, the gaps between them getting larger. If the monsters weren't so afraid, weren't so dedicated to running in the opposite direction, they might even have been able to slip between them and start to isolate them, pick individuals off. 

"She's right!" She tells him - he's slightly ahead of them all. The monsters are now running toward their reinforcements. (Wow, they get reinforcements?) There aren't many, but they look more dangerous - somehow, she feels they've only defeated the weakest part of Kronos's force. They all seem to be demigods, all in battle armour, on skeletal horses. One holds a banner with the sigil of Kronos. 

The leader moves forward, taking off his helmet - Lila falters, at first thinking it's Luke. Then she realises it's Kronos, which is actually worse. 

Kronos looks toward their force. Lila's sure she seems him smile. 

"Now," Percy agrees, "we pull back."

The demigods ahead of them draw their swords, charging. On horseback, they're way faster in approach than Lila and the others could be to retreat, so they're left with no other choice than to dig their heels in and stand their ground. Some of the Apollo campers shoot a few of the demigods down, but the others just continue to advance. 

"Retreat!" Percy says. "I'll hold them.'"

This time, Lila ignores him. Most of the Apollo campers back away, more helpful at a distance anyway, but Annabeth stays with Lila and Percy, slashing through the enemy. Lila grabs a shield from a fallen dracaena, bracing herself. 

To hold her nerves, Lila takes a deep breath in - counting one, two. She exhales - three, four. Then the horses reach them. 

It's hard to see much, completely surrounded by cavalry. The trio stand shoulder to shoulder in a kind of defensive triangle, protecting each other's backs slightly, though they're still a little open as they move. Kronos himself approaches slowly, as if he has all the time in the world. Maybe he does. 

Percy, at first, only slashes the legs off their horses, leaving the demigods to tumble to the ground. It's a good idea, so Lila follows his lead, doing the same with her spear to anyone she can reach. Most of the skeletons seem unwilling to approach Lila anyway, perhaps because of Persephone's influence over her, so after the first wave, the other demigods decide to dismount and fight on foot. At first, this is a relief, but it's a lot harder to defend against a series of slashing blades than it is to defend against a horse. Slowly, they try to back away, step by step, slashing and stabbing at demigods as they retreat. Above, Lila notices the three pegasi, kicking enemies before flying away. 

They continue this, until Lila's spear is met by a sword, matching her swing. She hits out, slashing at the demigod, but her spear slips upwards and the guy falls to the ground, rolling. Another approaches; she lets vines climb up from the ground to restrain him, before the first demigod returns for another go, this time without his helmet. 

Unfortunately, she recognises him, and he must recognise her too. 

"Ethan?"

From the look he gives her you'd think she's the one who betrayed him - it's one of hurt, anger brewing in his dark eye. For a moment she forgets they're in a battlefield - they're back in the Hermes cabin together, hopelessly waiting to be claimed by their parents. She remembers all the nights she'd cry over her abandonment, while Ethan would only glower silently, angry instead of sad. When a camper was claimed from the cabin, Lila would stifle the hot whips of jealousy and congratulate them, while Ethan would seethe and sabotage their next endeavour. And now, here they stand, one in defence of the people who cast her out, the other ready to destroy them. 

"What are you doing?" she asks, as he readies his sword. "You're not actually going to - " she's cut off when he lunges toward her, his sword narrowly missing her shoulder as she ducks from reflex, shocked by the lack of hesitation in his attack. 

"Sorry, Li," he says quietly, almost too soft to hear. "You chose the wrong side." 

Somehow, this betrayal hurts more every time she thinks of it. They used to be friends. They used to train and eat and sleep together. Before the Demeter cabin, Ethan was her brother. 

Lila deflects his next blow with her spear, her arm aching from the force of the blow. She can't quite bear to attack him; she knows she needs to, but her limbs are not obeying her brain in this, refusing to lay a finger on Ethan. 

"Fight back," he snarls, his eye narrowing. "Don't make me kill you like this." 

She swallows back tears. He's going to kill her. He's actually going to kill her. "I hate you."

"Good," he retorts. "Fight me, then." 

Their eyes meet, and for that moment of silence, of quiet in the centre of the battle field, on a huge bridge on the edge of Manhattan, it's the first time Lila understands this war. It's not the clash of two huge armies, but it's the battle between friends, allies, that matters. Luke and Annabeth, the spy, Ethan, all the traitors. They're the real cost of war. 

She realises something else, too - if she doesn't fight Ethan here, now, she'll die by his hand. It's kill or be killed, and no matter how much she doesn't want to hurt him, she wants to live. She needs to help her friends and protect Olympus; it's her purpose. 

Lila's more trained than him, and more practiced. At her first blow, his eye widens, but he meets her spear with his sword. Spears have always held an advantage over swords - they can strike from further away, harder, and almost as fast. He dodges one blow, then another, then a third - then he deflects the fourth, and Lila stumbles back a half-step, digging her heels in to hold her ground. 

Another demigod tries to attack her, with a wave of her hand, weeds from the ground burst upwards, pulling him to the floor. It's not fatal, or incapacitating, but it buys her time to stumble away. 

"You're a coward!" She yells to Ethan. She's not sure if it's true, but she's angry. 

"Me? I'm the coward?" he scoffs, slashing upwards. The blows are becoming more sloppy as they both become more enraged. "You're too scared to stand up for yourself." 

She narrows her eyes. Perhaps it would've been true a year ago. But things have changed - Lila's changed. She's different now, better. "I'm standing up for myself right now! You're too afraid to admit your mistakes. I know you - you're not evil, not like Kronos." 

"Like Luke?" he asks sarcastically. "Not everyone on our side is "evil". That's such a shallow word. I'm fighting for balance, and justice." 

She gestures around them, to the destroyed bridge, the smashed cars, a few mortals scattered on the ground. "This? This is justice?"

"A necessary sacrifice. Collateral damage." 

She blinks away tears, her spear slicing into the flesh of his arm. "I take it back. Maybe you are just like Kronos." 

A flash of hurt falls over his face before he quickly masks it, his expression hardening to stone. "You don't know what you're talking about." 

She wishes that were true. 

"Come to our side," he offers suddenly. "He would accept you. You don't have to die." 

The question offends her. Does he really think so low of her? "I'd rather die."

 "I hope your death is painless, then."

 He is staring at something behind her. Lila half turns, trying to work out the object of his fascination, but before she can, a skeletal horse barrels into her, knocking her a few feet into the air and onto the ground. She hits it with a thud, the hard cement giving her no soft landing. She has no time to think - she holds her hand out, drawing on her power, and from the ground sprout vines, plants of different kinds - she doesn't even register what they are, only that they wind around the skeletal horse, drawing it back down below the ground, back to the Underworld where it belongs. A total accident, but she gets to her feet like it wasn't. 

She's further from the centre of the battle now - further away from Percy and Annabeth, even Ethan is out of sight. The force of her fall must have been greater than she thought; somehow, she doesn't seem to have broken bones, only bruises and aches all over. 

The fight continues. Lila slashes through a couple more horses, sending them tumbling to the ground, mortally wounding a couple, only injuring two others. She tries her best not to kill any of them; most of the demigods have visited the Hermes cabin during their stay - these were her friends. 

After what feels like a hours, but is probably only seconds, she spots Percy and Annabeth, fighting in the centre. As soon as Percy sees her flash of blonde hair, he cuts through the few demigods between them so the trio can be reunited, and then they continue to fight, defending each other as much as they can while they retreat. 

They're almost in the middle of the bridge when Annabeth cries out - it's unnerving, as Annabeth is usually too good to be hurt. 

Percy turns, catching her arm. "Annabeth!" 

Lila turns to check - a demigod stands over her, holding a bloody knife. She looks closer - he's found a new helmet, but underneath is Ethan, again. 

That's the last straw in Ethan's betrayal. Any sympathy she had for him evaporates. 

Percy slams him in the face with the hilt of his sword, and his helmet dents into his face. "Get back!" he slashes the air. "No one touches her!"

Lila raises her spear, hitting Ethan in the wide with the blunt part, hard enough to knock him onto the ground. 

"Interesting," Kronos says. Lila looks up to see the Lord of the Titans towering above their cowering group of demigods, in Luke's body. He has the same messy hair, the same shine to his skin - but glowing golden eyes, and a Machiavellian grin. He's holding a scythe in one hand, the skeletal horse beneath him, kicking it's legs. Somehow, Lila imagines this one will be a little harder to get rid of. His eyes are narrowed as he searches Annabeth, Ethan, Percy, even Lila, like he's looking for something. 

"Bravely fought, Percy Jackson," he admits. "But it's time to surrender . . . or the girl dies." 

Lila steps in front of Annabeth, raising her spear. Not like she can do much, but if Annabeth goes down, they all do. Percy's not surrendering; she won't allow it. Even if he tries. 

"Percy, don't," Annabeth groans, perhaps thinking the same. Her clothes are sticking to her body with dark blood, the wound somewhere on her body - not her arm, as Lila first thought. She needs medical attention, and quick. 

"Blackjack!" Percy yells. 

Before Lila can blink, the pegasus slips down, a dark black mass grabbing Annabeth by the straps of her armour, pulling her upwards and flying away from the battle before even Kronos can react. Thank the gods. Before anyone can even do anything, Annabeth is hopefully safe. 

Kronos snarls, his upper lip rising. "Some day soon, I am going to make pegasus soup." Lila shivers unwillingly - his eye catches on her. "Hmm." 

Percy steps forward as if to shield her from the Titan's watchful eye, but it does nothing. His golden stare is fixed on Lila. 

"So you're the girl who's got my nephew all stressed," he says thoughtfully. Lila halts, frowning. Which nephew? "You know what, just this once, I'll give you the choice. Join me." he raises his scythe, gesturing to the demigod forces surrounding them.  

Lila takes a breath. "I told Ethan already. I'd rather die." 

His lip twitches. "So stubborn. My mother will have to wait."  He dismounts from the horse, his golden scythe shimmering in the light of dawn. "I must confess... I was rather hoping you'd say that. I'll settle for two more dead demigods." 

"Lila," Percy mutters through his teeth. "Get behind me." She opens her mouth to protest, but thinks better of it, knowing that he's stronger than her - both as a son of Poseidon, but with the Curse of Achilles. This is the battle he's trained for. Sometimes she has to force herself to let him go into danger, as he was born to. 

Percy meets Kronos's first strike with Riptide. The bridge shakes - Lila nearly stumbles to the ground, but manages to keep her balance, eyes fixed on the battle ahead. Percy then kicks out Kronos's legs from under him - his scythe falls to the ground with a loud clatter. Percy slashes downwards, but the Titan rolls to the side, back to his feet, the scythe flying into his hands. 

"So . . ." he frowns, looking slightly irritated. "You had the courage to visit the Styx. I had to pressure Luke in many ways to convince him. If only you had supplied my host body instead . . . But no matter. I am still more powerful. I am a TITAN."

He raises his arms, striking the bridge with the butt of his scythe. From the blade, a wave of power blasts everything backwards; cars, demigods, even Percy. Even his own men are thrown off the edge of the bridge, and so is Lila. She tries to dig in her heels to stop her fall, but it does nothing, and her body is beginning to ache in a way that is hard to ignore. 

"LILA!" she hears Percy scream, but there's no time to react, her body toppling over the side into the air. She falls, hurtling toward the river hundreds of feet below, squeezing her eyes shut in the hopes that her end will at least be a surprise. 

Suddenly, something grabs her armour straps, pulling her back up. Lila opens her eyes, looking up to see that Guido, the pegasus, has come back for her, and is pulling her back up into the air. Just in time too, for she is pulled up to the same height as the bridge, just in time to see Percy dig his sword into the ground, for it to crumble into nothing, to dust, until it's only suspension cords held together by physics. Rubble and cement falls downwards toward the river, plummeting downwards. 

Lila hangs in the air, watching. She can't believe she's alive. She can't believe Kronos has been stopped, at least for now. Guido rises high enough, just in time for her to watch the Titan look towards the rising sun, before turning back, allowing the demigods to hold him back for a little longer. 

The message is clear. Williamsburg Bridge - what's left of it - is theirs, for now.