Lila wakes up to Percy's worried eyes staring down at her. 

She groans in pain, forcing herself to sit up. He helps her, hands shielding her back as slowly her sight returns. She's sitting in a garden of Olympus, surrounded by other wounded demigods, Hunters and satyrs, all lying in pain. Yet, when Lila looks down, she's completely unharmed. 

"What happened?" She mutters, rubbing her eyes. 

Percy's eyes swim with worry. "I don't know. Thalia found you passed out on Fifth Avenue. We brought you up here, but all your wounds just healed themselves. I don't know how - you haven't had any nectar or ambrosia."

Slowly, Lila's memory begins to return. Gaia, Clarisse, Silena. Gods, what has she done? She's not even certain herself. Yet, while her body aches, the pain is dull, a distant memory of days ago, despite it being mere hours since her body was slashed. 

"I think you'll be okay," Percy says uncertainly. "Be careful, yeah?"

He turns to leave, but, quicker than she usually moves, Lila grabs his wrist, stopping him from leaving her. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Kronos is advancing on Olympus," he says. "I've got to go down there. Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia are waiting for me." 

Lila pulls herself to her feet. "I think you mean we've got to go down there."

"Lila, no. You're healing."

She scoffs. "Healing from what? You said it yourself, my wounds have healed. You need all the help you can get." 

He doesn't have the time to argue with her, she knows. So he concedes, allowing her to pull him towards the elevator. When Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia see Lila, they all look surprised, but none of them dispute her presence, knowing they need help. Annabeth's bandages look matted and red, while Thalia's bow is snapped in half, no arrows left in her quiver. 

The elevator ride downwards is silent. Everyone stares into space, thinking of anything. This could be the last time we are alone before we die. When Lila dies, she wants her last thoughts to be of her friends, so she takes the time to memorise every little thing about them. Annabeth, retying her ponytail so it doesn't come undone while she fights. Grover, nervously playing his reed pipes without blowing, as if to memorise the notes. Percy, staring into space as if visualising what they could find out there on the street. 

Lila wishes Silena was with them. The thought hurts a little too much to continue, so she shoves it away, ignoring her grief. She can't afford to be distracted, not now. There's no time to think about this.

Whatever he imagines, Lila's sure reality is worse. Campers and Hunters are splayed across the ground, either dead or wounded. Clarisse is frozen in a block of ice. There are no centaurs left - whether they're dead, or panicked, Lila's not sure. About twenty feet from the doors, Kronos stands, backed by Ethan, the lead dracaena, and two giants. 

And, facing Kronos, stands one person. 

"Chiron," Annabeth sobs. 

The centaur has an arrow notched, aimed right into Kronos's face, though the Titan is staring through it, unbothered. As soon as he sees them - or sees Percy - his eyes glow slightly, and they are all stopped in their tracks. Lila's feet refuse to move, rooted to the ground, no matter how she wills them. 

Kronos looks toward Chiron. "Step aside, little son."

It's weird to think of Chiron as someone's son. But he says "son" with as much contempt as he can, like he can think of nothing worse. 

"I'm afraid not." Chiron says calmly. 

"Chiron!" Annabeth cries. "Look out!"

The dracaena queen charges toward him - Chiron's arrow flies straight between her eyes, and she turns into nothing more than empty armour. 

He reaches for another arrow, but, like Thalia, his quiver is empty. He draws his sword - it looks awkward in his hands, the way a bow looks wrong when Percy wields it. 

Kronos chuckles, advancing a single step.

"You're a teacher," Kronos sneers. "Not a hero."

"Luke was a hero," Chiron answers. "He was a good one, until you corrupted him."

"FOOL!" The buildings tremble. "You filled his head with empty promises. You said the gods cared about me!"

"Me," Chiron comments. "You said me."

For a moment, Kronos seems confused, his brows furrowing. In that second, Chiron strikes - so quick, Lila hardly registers it. But Kronos is quicker, knocking aside the blade and yelling "Back!"

There's a flash of blinding light from the father and son. Chiron is blasted into the side of the building, so hard the wall crumples on top of him. 

"No!" Annabeth wails. 

The spell breaks - they all rush to Chiron's side, but he's so far buried within the bricks they can't even see him. Lila tries to move the bricks, but it's slow and heavy and there's an army behind them.

"YOU!" Annabeth turns on Luke. "To think that I . . . that I thought—" She draws her knife. 

"Annabeth, don't." Percy tries to grab her arm, but she shakes him off, advancing toward Kronos. It's weird, to see a single person facing down the army and a Titan lord, but someone, Annabeth pulls it off. 

She attacks him without so much as a second thought. Before Kronos can react, her knife hits between the straps of his armour, where it should sink into his chest. Instead, it just bounces off with double the force, Annabeth falls to the ground, clutching her arm like it's broken. 

Percy pulls her back, and Kronos slices the air where she was standing. Lila helps Percy hold her back as she fights them, trying to go back to fighting Kronos. 

"I HATE you!" She screams. 

"I have to fight him," Percy says nobly.

"It's my fight too, Percy!"

"Stop it!" Lila begs. "He'll kill you."

Kronos laughs - no, cackles. "So much spirit. I can see why Luke wanted to spare you. Unfortunately, that won't be possible." He turns to Lila. "And you, my mother's chosen one. I suppose I should call you ... sister?" 

Lila thinks she might vomit. 

"Get away from them," Percy says. His voice is dark enough to scare almost anyone, but Kronos only laughs him off. 

"Why are you fighting me?" he asks Lila. "You helped my mother, I can sense her spirit on you. Surely you must want Olympus to fall, too?" Her confusion must be showing on her face, because he suddenly laughs. "Oh, she didn't even tell you. I see." He laughs again. "You fool."

"Li," Percy mutters. "What's he talking about?"

Lila's not sure what to do or say, frozen in place. Please, please, don't let me have messed everything up again, she prays. Gaia was kind, Gaia wouldn't have lied. Surely not. 

But hasn't everyone? Luke, Persephone, even Nico. 

Kronos's gaze skips past Lila like she's nothing, of no consequence, landing back onto Annabeth. He raises his scythe, but before he can lunge, a howl pierces the air from behind his army, stopping everything. Lila recognises it - hope blooms in her chest, an almost forgotten feeling. 

"Mrs. O'Leary?" Percy calls. 

The enemy armies shift unhappily, looking toward each other. Then, for some reason, they part, a path through the street forming between the centre of their ranks. At the end of the block is Mrs O'Leary, and a small figure in onyx-coloured armour. 

"Nico?" Lila calls.

"ROWWF!" Mrs. O'Leary jogs leisurely toward their huddle, as if there is no army of monsters standing between them at all. Nico follows, the monsters backing away from him. 

Nico smiles. "Got your message. Is it too late to join the party?"

Lila forgives everything in that second. She loves her brother dearly, and he has saved them again. One mistake is nothing, in the scheme of things. 

"Son of Hades." Kronos spits onto the ground - it's a classless gesture, and unlike Luke. "Do you love death so much you wish to experience it?"

"Your death," Nico smirks, "would be great for me."

"I'm immortal, you fool! I have escaped Tartarus. You have no business here, and no chance to live."

Nico draws his sword - Stygian Iron, the darkest shades of black like pure shadow. "I don't agree."

Around them, the ground rumbles. Lila feels each crack like it's her bones cracking. The tarmac and cement splits, as skeletal hands appear, clawing the air. Slowly, they pull themselves up into the world of the living. There are thousands, and when they appear, the monster army begins to back off, uneasy. 

"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Kronos orders. "The dead are no match for us."

The sky turns black. A war horn sounds - not melodic and natural like the Hunters' call, but harsh and scrapy, like metal on metal. Yet, at the noise, the dead soldiers form ranks, holding guns and swords and spears, every weapon ever used since men began to kill each other. A chariot appears, formed from shadow, which stops beside Nico. The horses aren't skeletal, but literal shadows, with pitch black eyes that seem as deep and endless as the pit of Tartarus itself. The chariot is a mixture of obsidian and gold, a mix of Hades and Persephone. Hades holds the reins, while Demeter and Persephone ride behind him. 

Lila meets Persephone's eyes. Her mothers eyes are cool, but when they see Lila, they do soften slightly. Persephone tilts her head a little as she examines Lila - what she's searching for, Lila's not sure. Whatever it is, as her eyes flit back to Kronos with detached interest, Lila hopes she hasn't disappointed. 

Hades smiles coldly. "Hello, Father. You're looking . . . young." 

In another circumstance, Lila might have been amused. 

"Hades," Kronos growls, glaring at his son. "I hope you and the ladies have come to pledge your allegiance."

"I'm afraid not." Hades sighs, as if he's truly regretful about it. "My son here convinced me that perhaps I should prioritize my list of enemies." He glances at Percy, and then at Lila. "As much as I dislike certain upstart demigods, it would not do for Olympus to fall. I would miss bickering with my siblings. And if there is one thing we agree on—it is that you were a terrible father."

"True," mutters Demeter. "No appreciation of agriculture."

"Mother!" Persephone complains. "He ate you." 

"Why me, and not grains? No appreciation, I tell you."

Hades draws his sword, a Stygian-Iron blade that matches Nico's; father and son, facing the Lord of Titans together. "Now fight me! For today the House of Hades will be called the saviours of Olympus."

"I don't have time for this," Kronos snarls. Hades looks slightly offended. 

Kronos raises his scythe again, this time striking the ground. Another crack spreads, circling the Empire State Building. Something shimmers around the line, some kind of magic radiating out. But it's effective; he's separated Olympus, their group of friends, and his vanguard from the two armies. 

"What's he doing?" Percy mutters.

"Sealing us in," Thalia says. "He's collapsing the magic barriers around Manhattan—cutting off just the building, and us."

Lila looks out, and she's right. Car engines suddenly turn back on, while mortals are waking up, looking confusedly at the monsters, at the bodies on the ground. Lila spots Percy's mom and stepdad get out of their car. 

He inhales sharply, spotting the same thing. "No, don't . . ."

Sally Jackson turns to Paul, saying something to him - and then they both run toward the battle. 

Hades is a great distraction. He charges his chariot at the magic barrier, but the chariot only crashes into it, turning over. Demeter and Persephone tumble out, but quickly get to their feet, staring down at the army. Hades faces the barrier, blasting it with black energy, but to no avail.

"ATTACK!" he roars.

The dead armies surge into the monsters. Chaos begins to overtake everything - mortals scream, running away. Demeter waves her hand and a bunch of giants turn into a wheat field. Persephone turns a hundred dracaenae into sunflowers. Nico slashes through the enemy, trying to defend the mortals. 

"Nakamura," Kronos says. "Attend me. Giants—deal with them." 

He points at their group, ducking into the lobby. 

Percy's jaw drops. Lila figures he was expecting some kind of fight, but Kronos just moves on, like they're not worth the effort it would take to kill them. The three giants turn to them, snarling. 

Riptide shimmers back into existence as Percy rolls between the first giant's legs and shatters him into a pile of ice shards. The second breathes frost toward Annabeth, who's crumpled on the ground, but Grover pulls her out of the way, while Thalia sprints up the giants back like a gazelle and slices her knives across it's neck. 

Lila takes the third. She raises her spear and, with a well-aimed throw, lands it into the Hyperborean's eye, cutting right through it's head. He stops in his tracks, falling to the ground and toppling over like an unbalanced ice statue, before shattering into shards of ice. She retrieves her spear and moves on. 

Percy's talking to Paul- his mom is being charged by a Lasitrygonian, but Mrs Jackson's back is turned as she rummages in a police car. 

"Mom!" Percy yells.

When the monster almost reaches her, Sally turns around, blasting him with a shotgun onto Nico's sword. 

"Nice one," Paul says.

"Wow," Lila comments a little miserably. "Your family is so cool."

A couple dracaena advance on Annabeth, perhaps sensing weakness. Lila copies her mom's actions and waves her hand, searching for her power to turn their spears into sunflowers. Instead, she turns them into sunflowers, the power so much easier to access now. It flows out of her like a river that's been replenished, as if she never overused it in the first place. 

"When did you learn to fire a shotgun?" Percy says accusingly.

"About two seconds ago. Percy, we'll be fine. Go!"

"Yes," Nico agrees, "we'll handle the army. You have to get Kronos!"

"Come on, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth agrees. Lila bends down beside her, helping her friend stand - she's still clutching her shoulder, which looks dislocated, but somehow Annabeth finds the strength to get to her feet. 

"Mrs. O'Leary," Percy nods to the pile of rubble. "Please, Chiron's under there. If anyone can dig him out, you can. Find him! Help him!" The hellhound nods eagerly, beginning to dig up bricks, a couple hitting some monsters in the head. 

So Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, Percy and Lila race to the elevators, praying they can get to Kronos before it's too late. 

before nico came out as gay i had the hugest crush on him

ok i was planning on this chapter being longer but i literally put two chapters together for this one and it's still only 2.5k words which is shorter than my usual, but i felt like all of chapter 20 needs to be in the next one. like that all needs to be one chapter otherwise it's a bit overly drawn out imo. 

may change the chapter title but i was binging hadestown clips since eva noblezada's last day was yesterday and it felt apt

three more chapters left! (i decided to put 19 & 20 together)

been updating a lot recently idk if that's going to keep up but i'm so close now to finishing this so im motivated