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chapter forty-two
( the last olympian )
❝ the leading deceit! ❞

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infantwomanro
you know exactly why you're tagged in this chapter
and if you've forgotten, welp, you're about to get a huge reminder

I have a love-hate relationship with Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She has pretty red hair, and she would be way better for Percy and he would be really happy with her, and she has good taste in music and advocates for good things and has some humour (I guess) ... but she also decided to fly right into a demigod battle with a helicopter and a sleeping driver. I wonder what went through her head, oh, what's a good way to get Percy's attention? Oh, I know! I'll fly right into the middle of a war-zone!

(Good job, Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare, full points to you).

She just happened to be lucky enough that I knew the basics of a helicopter, considering it was one of my father's favourite choices in what his chariot turned into. Red Ferarri? Check. Schoolbus? Check. Million-Dollar-Gold-Helicopter? Double-check.

Percy clung on behind me, which was a strange change of scenarios. Usually he's the one riding the pegasus and I'm the one clinging on behind for dear life, but this time, I led Guido up towards the out of control helicopter with a grit of my teeth. I could hear Rachel screaming inside. For some reason, she hadn't fallen asleep, unlike the pilot slumped at the wheel beside her, pitching back and forth as the helicopter wobbled towards the side of an office building.

"Ideas?" Percy asked, his voice getting lost in the wind.

Grinding my teeth to push away the pain of my arm, I said, "You are taking Guido and getting out of here." I didn't mean to sound aggressive, this wasn't his fault, but I couldn't help it.

"What are you going to do?"

I'm going to save your idiotic friend, I wanted to say, but held back. Instead, I just urged Guido to go faster into a nosedive and cried out, "Duck!"

We passed so close to the rotors of the helicopter that the force of the blades rippled through our hair. Zipping along the side of the door, I swallowed my pain and reached out to grab the door. My fingers gripped the handle━

Guido's wing slammed against the side of the helicopter. He plummeted straight down with Percy on his back and I was left there, dangling from the aircraft with a terrible shoulder. (Why does this feel familiar━oh, right, that's because it is. Stupid St Louis Arch). I heard Percy shouting my name down below, but I just pulled myself up onto the steps. With my other arm, I gripped the top of the door, allowing for Rachel to push it open and pull me inside.

"Claire━!" she cried out, but I just pushed the pilot towards her and worked at the controls.

Muttering a small thank you to my father for having a large ego (for once), I shouted at Rachel to, "Hang on!" The helicopter spun in circles around us, and I tried my best to stay still in the seat to control it. Once I did, I pulled the handle and guided us slowly down to Fifth Avenue. Rachel, pale in her seat, stared at me with eyes wide in shock. I refused to meet her gaze, annoyed.

Setting it back down, the rotors spun to a stop and Rachel dragged the pilot out with her. I followed her, pushing my hair out of my face. I met Percy's gaze, who also shared a look of awe on his face. If I wasn't so annoyed over Rachel, or if this wasn't a battlefield, or I just wasn't annoyed, I might've actually liked the amazement on his face. "I didn't know you could fly a helicopter."

"I've got the key to Dad's chariot," I said, "sometimes he likes having a helicopter━so, I had to learn how to drive it. It's kind of spontaneous."

"You saved my life," Rachel breathed.

For a moment, the anger dispersed and I was actually glad she was okay. But I pushed that aside and flexed my bad shoulder, wincing slightly. "Yeah, well ... I wouldn't make a habit out of it, Red. What are you even doing here? Don't you know better than to fly into a warzone?"

"I━" Rachel glanced at Percy, and my stomach was back to boiling. Great, I thought to myself. Just great. "I had to be here. I knew Percy was in trouble."

"She's a genius," I grumbled. "Well, get in line, Dare. Now, if you would excuse me, I have some injured friends I've got to tend to━you know, people who've spent their time trying to save others instead of putting themselves into danger like idiots━"

Percy frowned at me, "Claire━"

"━glad you could stop by," with that said, I stormed off. Maybe it was a bit harsh, but no matter what Rachel had seen, or whatever in the dreams Percy has been talking about, she put herself at extreme risk doing that. She can't defend herself, she isn't a demigod, and she's just a liability for us all to protect while trying to fight monsters. That was something we couldn't afford to worry about. There was a difference about putting yourself into danger when you know you can handle it, and putting yourself into danger on purpose and then having to rely on others to get you out.

Heading up the elevator to Olympus, I prayed. I don't think any God was listening right now, and for once, I don't blame them. It seemed like a lost cause, this war. We were outmanned, and losing more and more. At the start of this battle, I think I had been naive, which was strange considering everything I've been through. But maybe we're all naive, we're always surprised, always hitting realisations, always growing━it's just terrible that the realisation I made is that they glorify battle, and glorfy winning, but when you don't win, when you're on the losing side, it's like you're battling through the River of Styx━all your hopes and dreams of it being over, of heading back home, just float away and your left with nothing but an empty shell of who you used to be. I felt like I had just come back to life again━blank and cold; numb. No wonder Pandora's Box was so tempting to open in the stories when they're all faced with horrors such as this where there is nothing left to do but to open more horrors. And the worst part of it all, was that the temptation followed; wherever we went.

When the doors opened, I was still awe-struck by Olympus. Even as quiet as it was, and as dull; with the lights down and the streets deserted, the magnificent temples and manors still gleamed━as if to remind me; we will always be better.

We had set up a base of operations on Olympus. The Apollo Cabin had a whole infirmary set up for wounded demigods━and there were a lot ... and far too many we've had to say goodbye to.

I saw Will sitting by himself, head in his hands, and immediately, I made my way over to him. Setting a hand on his shoulder, he looked up with a tearful gaze. "I miss them ..." he murmured.

I didn't need to ask who he missed, because I knew exactly who he was talking about. Bringing my younger brother to my chest, I hugged him tight and pressed my lips against his head. "Me too," I whispered.

The day got worse after that.

"Claire! Claire!"

Dean Morrow was breathless as he ran towards Will and I. His face was covered in dirt and grime, and there was a bandaid over a gash above his forehead (as if that was supposed to fix it, but we were at limited supplies).

At the look on his face, however, my heart dropped. Will and I stood up, breaths anxious. "What is it?" I asked.

Dean eyed the bandage around my shoulder nervously. "Do you have enough strength? We need you to━just━you gotta heal someone real quick."

"Who?" I think I dreaded the answer as Will and I started to run back to the makeshift infirmary; built up tents and small shrines to our father with whatever we could find to grow the healing power as best we could.

Dean winced, and the dread from my stomach rose up to my chest to my heart. "Who, Dean?" I asked him again.

He gritted his teeth, but decided to just burst out with it. "It's Cain, Claire━" there was a punch to my gut, and it made my run stagger. I was lucky to have Will there to push me along. "W━we're trying our best. Annabeth, she ... she did her best to stop the bleeding, but his arm..."

Dean didn't need to say anymore. We reached the tent. Throwing the flap away, I stepped inside and I tried not to retch right then and there. I could see Cain, unconscious━pale, like a sheet of pure white. Because all of the blood ... it covered the bandage around his arm ... or ... or the stump of what used to be his arm.

Annabeth was tearful━which was a strange sight to see. She was absolutely distressed and covered in blood━her hands, her arms, her hair, her face ... she rushed towards me. "I━I tried to stop it━but━but he had tried to help the Hephaestus cabin, and then everything just collapsed and his━his arm ..." she choked back a sob.

Will took her arm, leading her back as I rushed towards the side of Cain's bed. I grimaced at the blood; the bandage was doing nothing to hold it all back. "Oh, Apollo save us ..." I murmured.

"You did good Annabeth," said Dean, with her and Will to do his best to reassure her (not the usual Dean thing to do, may I add). "You carried him all the way back to Olympus, through so many monsters ... he's alive because of you."

"And he's going to stay alive," added Will. "Right, Claire?"

"Right," I said, and tried to believe it. But to be able to heal this ... I would need at least my father's help; for him to listen to my prayers. But he was busy fighting Typhon ... and what if the giant monster had gotten the better of him? What if I was all alone with this ...?

"O━okay," I tried to stay calm; to keep my voice steady. But my throat was filling up with a lump I couldn't swallow. This was Cain ... I couldn't lose━Cain was━he was one of my bestest friends ... we've been through too much for me to lose him now. "I━I can stop the bleeding, but we need━" I cleared my throat and blinked away the tears. "I need someone to stitch up the wound; you gotta be ready, and be real quick."

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and pushed back the whimper that threatened to escape my throat. Holding my hands out over the bleeding stump that was Cain's arm, I searched for my father━for wherever he was. Please, I begged. He's my best friend. Please, I have to save him.

And when I felt it, there was a cascade of relief that slumped my shoulders. "Okay━get ready!" Will was quickly by my side, and as the light slipped out of my fingers and around the stump; the bleeding stopped, and Will was quick to take away the bandage and get to work.

As soon as I could, I stepped back, feeling light-headed and drained. But Cain was going to be okay ... he will be okay. Annabeth appeared behind me, and wrapped her arms around my shoulders to sob. She rarely cried in front of people, but after what she just went through, to get Cain here━she must've been exhausted; she must've thought she'd lose him, too. So I just hugged her back, burying my face into her blonde curls.

° ° °

I wanted to tell Percy about Cain, but there was no time. As soon as he woke up, he bore news of a drakon coming our way. Now, to understand a drakon, one must know that a drakon is not a dragon. They're are a several millenia older, and much larger. Not all had wings (though some did), and not all could breathe fire (though some could). All were venomous. All were immensely strong, with scales harder than titanium. And all had eyes that could paralyse you. And this monster was heading straight towards us.

And we were gravely outnumbered. The Hephaestus cabin was out of Greek fire. The Apollo cabin and the Hunters were scrounging for arrows. We didn't have one of our big fighters who could have possibly scared the drakon away, and most of us had already ingested so much ambrosia and nectar we didn't dare take any more. In all, we had sixteen campers, fifteen Hunters and half a dozen satyrs left in fighting shape. The rest had taken refuge on Olympus. The Party Ponies tried to form ranks, but they staggered and giggled and all smelt like root beer, so that was great. I told Hannah to stay up with the other demigods on Olympus to help out with the injured; mainly because I didn't want her to get hurt, which was strange considering it's meant to be her job to make sure I didn't get hurt. But at the moment, I felt like it went both ways. She protected me, and so I protected her. If she came down despite what I said, which most likely will happen, I couldn't do anything. But for now, knowing that she was far away from one of the most dangerous monsters in the tales, it made me feel a little better.

Chiron trotted up with Rachel on his back. I felt a twinge of annoyance. Chiron rarely let anyone ride on his back, and he was letting Rachel?

(Let it go, Claire, my brain told me).

"Your friend here has some useful insights, Percy," he said.

Rachel blushed. "Just some things I saw in my head."

"A drakon," said Chiron. "A Lydia drakon, to be exact. The oldest and most dangerous kind."

We stared at her. Percy frowned. "How did you know that?"

"I'm not sure," Rachel admitted. "But this drakon has a particular fate. It will be killed by a child of Ares."

"Oh, that's great," I couldn't help the sarcasm; it's called no impulse control. "Except the Ares campers are at Camp, having refused to fight. So, thanks, Rach; what wonderful insight."

Rachel frowned at me, annoyed. "I just saw it, okay? I can't explain."

Annabeth pursed her lips and crossed her arms. She had reluctantly come down from Olympus to help out, considering we needed all the fighters we could manage. But making her leave Cain━that was a serious vandetta I don't think I ever want to go through again. She's grown protective of him, especially after lugging him through the New York streets, half-dead and fighting monsters to get him to safety. That changed Annabeth's attitude towards him. She had always been nice to him, and at his side, and I knew Cain liked her━at least, last time I observed━but now, Annabeth's loyalty and trust had been grounded which was strange to see, considering her trust issues made her trust barely anyone who walked this Earth.

"Well, let's hope you're wrong," said Percy. "Like Claire said, we're a little short on children of Ares ..." he trailed off, before suddenly cursing in Ancient Greek.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"The spy," he told us. "Kronos said: 'We know they cannot beat this drakon'. The spy has been keeping him updated. Kronos knows the Ares cabin isn't with us. He intentionally picked a monster we can't kill."

Thalia scowled. "If I ever catch your spy, he's going to be very sorry. Maybe we could send another messenger to camp━"

"I've already done it," Chiron said. "Blackjack is on his way. But if Silena wasn't able to convince Clarisse, I doubt Blackjack will be able━"

A roar shook the ground. It sounded very close.

"Rachel," Percy glanced at the redhead, "get inside the building."

"I want to stay."

A shadow blotted out the sun. Across the street, the drakon slithered down the side of a skyscraper. It roared; a thousand windows shattered. I took a deep breath, and reached up for my necklace, only to grit my teeth. Arrows won't work agianst this monster.

"On second thoughts," said Rachel in a small voice, "I'll be inside."

We had drakon-fighting classes at camp, but to prepare yourself to fight one is a competely different story. The serpent was at least fifty metres long, and as thick as a school bus. The fact that it looked like a snake didn't help my growing fear of it, at all. It's eyes; they were large and yellow, searchlights for souls to petrify and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth to eat them.

And meanwhile━as if things couldn't get any worse (I need to stop saying that, because, after all this time, I should realise that yes, this can get worse)━the enemy army were advancing down Fifth Avenue. We had done our best to push cars out of the way to keep the mortals safe, but that just made it way easier for the army to approach. The Party Ponies swished their tails nervously. Chiron galloped up and down their ranks, shouting encouragement, but it was running dry.

Beside me, Percy took a deep breath, "I'll take the drakon," but his voice came out as a timid squeak. He yelled louder, "I'll take the drakon! Everyone else, hold the line against the enemy!"

(Of course, Annabeth and I were apart of that I'll take the dragon, because we'll never let the idiot do it alone).

I pulled down my helmet over my eyes, and it covered the fear on my face━but not the pang of terror in my eyes. Beside me, I could see the red in Annabeth's eyes. I felt bad for pulling her away from Cain, but I knew she understood, and she was going to fight━and maybe with a fresh new determination.

Percy glanced at us, "Will you guys help me?"

Annabeth nodded. "Of course," she mumbled, sounding miserable. "That's what I do. I help my friends."

I squeezed her free hand to tell her, we'll get out of this, together. I then met Percy's gaze, "I'm with you," I told him. "No matter what."

He nodded, looking just as scared as we were. "Annabeth," he said. "Go invisible, look for weak links in its armour while I keep it busy. Claire, we need to blind it. Be careful, both of you."

"You too," I told him.

Annabeth replied with a pull of her Yankee's cap over her blonde hair, and she disappeared. I took a deep breath, and was happy that the sun was bright in the sky today. Percy raised his fingers to his lips, and with a great big New Yorker Cab whistle, he called, "Mrs O'Leary, heel!"

"ROOOF!" the hellhound leaped over a line of centaurs and gave Percy a great big slobbery kiss. He drew his sword, and with a glance to check whether I was ready, we charged.

Almost immediately, we separated. The drakon was three stories above us, slithering sideways along the building to size up our forces. Wherever it looked, centaurs froze in fear. From the north, the enemy army crashed into the Party Ponies and our lines broke. The drakon lashed out, swallowing three Californian centaurs in one big gulp.

I rolled out of the way from falling glass from the skyscraper above, and found a safe spot to focus and throw my hand up. Feeling the pull in my gut, I guided the light around and towards the drakon's eyes. When the blinding light hit, it squawked and shook it's head ... but it's eyes opened up again, and they were still bright yellow.

"Oh, seriously?!" I cried out. "That's just unfair!"

Those eyes had to be taken out manually by blade. I could use my arrows, but I couldn't aim without looking straight into it's gaze and be paralysed. I couldn't ask my siblings or the Hunters to do so, either. Even with their gifts of extreme accuracy, it would be useless. They'd be frozen before they could even let the arrow go.

I had to get close; and I had to blind it with my knife.

"Yay ..." I mustered before charging again.

Mrs O'Leary launched herself up into the air━a deadly black shadow with teeth and claws. Terrifying, but in comparison to the drakon, she was nothing but a chew toy. Her claws raked harmlessly off the serpents scales, she bit the monster's throat, but made no dent. Her weight━however━caused for the drakon to knock off balace. It flailed awkwardly and crashed to the sidewalk━hellhound and serpent twisting and trashing. The drakon tried to bite Mrs O'Leary, but she was too close to the serpent's mouth. Venom went everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but Mrs O'Leary weaved around the serpent's head, scratching and biting.

I took the chance. Leaping up from behind the beast while it was distracted by Mrs O'Leary, I landed on the top of it's head like it was a horse to ride. It thrashed and screamed; rearing and trying to buck me off. I heard Percy shout, "Claire! What are you doing?!" But I ignored him. Concentrating, and trusting Mrs O'Leary to not get me killed, I raised up my dagger and brought it straight down into the drakon's left eye━hilt deep.

The spotlight went dark, and it screeched. I held on for a little longer, trying to go at the second eye, but the beast was strong, and fast, and before I knew it, I was thrown off like a ragdoll. I gritted my teeth and flew my arm up. Light formed a slope to slow down my fall, and I rolled across the ground━ouch, ouch, ouch━that doesn't help my shoulder, at all. I managed to twist onto my feet, using my dagger to stop the momentum; scraping it along the sidewalk. The celestial bronze dug right in, but was strong enough; the blade didn't break.

Looking back over, the drakon reared and would've gobbled me up whole, but Percy was there to drag me out of the way. The serpent took a colossal-sized chunk out of the pavement where I had just been.

"What was that?" Percy asked me.

I frowned at him, "You told me to blind it!"

"Yeah, from a distance, with your powers━"

I gasped, "Duck!"

I tackled him to the ground as the monster's teeth snapped above our head. Mrs O'Leary body-slammed the drakon's face to get its attention and we rolled out of the way.

"I told you to be careful," Percy told me.

"I was! But Plan 'A' wasn't working, so, I went for Plan 'B'."

"And that plan was to bull-ride a drakon?"

He sounded a little impressed despite the situation. I sent him a tired grin. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Partly."

"Okay, so it half worked, still successful, kind of... Look, it's half-blind, now, okay?"

Suddenly, Annabeth appeared next to us. Percy jumped, "Hey! Warning!"

"I found clinks in its armour," she stated. "On the back━" I sent Percy a smug look, "━and the underbelly. If we could get it to rear up, and attack from underneath..."

It was a plan, but her attention faded away as we took in everything else around us. Our allies had retreated to the doors of the Empire State Building, and the entire enemy army was surrounding them. We were out of options. No more help was coming. Percy, Annabeth and I would have to retreat before we were cut off from Mount Olympus━

There was a rumble south; something you do not hear in New York. Ever. It made me recognise it; the sound of wheels hitting the ground━the wheels of a chariot.

A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!"

And a dozen war chariots charged into battle. Each flew a red banner with the symbol of the wild boar's head, and I was so stunned, I gaped. Each was pulled by a team of skeletal horses with manes of pure, white-hot fire. A total of thirty fresh warriors, armour gleaming and eyes full of hated, lowered their lances as one━making a bristling wall of death.

"The children of Ares!" Annabeth cried in amazement. "How did Rachel know?!"

How did Rachel know ...?

Leading the charge of chariots was a girl that I've never been excited to see until now. Clarisse was adorned in her usual red armour, with her face covered by a boar's head helm. She held up a spear that crackled with electricity, and with it, she ordered half of her cabin to go to the monster's army, while she and the other six headed straight for the drakon.

The beast reared, and Mrs O'Leary was thrown off, hitting the side of the building with a painful yelp. Percy ran to help her, but the serpent had already zeroed in on the new threat. Even with only one eye, already the glare was powerful enough to paralyse two chariot drivers; they veeered into a line of cars. The other four chariots continued to advance. The monster bared its fangs to strike only to get a mountful of celestial bronze javelins. It screamed in pain.

"Ares, to me!" Clarisse screamed. I frowned. Her voice sounded shriller than usual; not with the same power from her chest as it normally did in battle. But I pushed past it, maybe even Clarisse was terrified of a drakon━I wouldn't blame her.

The Party Ponies were given new hope, and they rallied at the doors of the Empire State Building, sending the enemy ranks into a moment of confusion.

Meanwhile, Clarisse and her chariots circled the drakon. Lances broke against the monsters skin, their skeletal horses breathed fire and whinnied. Two more chariots overturned, but the warriors simply leapt to their feet, drew their swords and went to work. They hacked at chinks in the creature's scales; dodging the venom spray; rolling and striking under it's reared underbelly ...

And Clarisse stood in front of them all, stabbing her spear at the drakon's face to try and take out its other eye ... until everything went downhill. The drakon snapped up one Ares camper in a single swipe, knocked aside another and sprayed venom on a third, who retreated in panic, his armour melting.

"We have to help!" Annabeth said.

She was right, and I cursed myself for being so struck with amazement, that I was frozen still. Mrs O'Leary tried to get up but yelped again; one of her paws bled.

Percy held a hand out to her, "Stay down, girl," he said. "You've done enough already."

And with that said, Percy, Annabeth and I charged into battle. We jumped onto the monster's back, running up it like it was just a excercise back at camp towards its head, determined to draw its attention away from Clarisse. Her cabin mates threw waves of javelins, most of which broke, but some managed to lodge into the monter's teeth. It snapped its jaws together until its mouth was a mess of green blood, yellow foamy venom and splintered weapons.

"You can do it!" Percy screamed at Clarisse. "A child of Ares is destined to kill it!"

Clarrise's blue eyes, filled with fear, met ours from behind the helmet━

My stomach lurched.

Clarisse doesn't have blue eyes.

"Oh, gods━no━" I tried to stop her, but the girl behind Clarisse's armour raised her spear and shouted, "ARES!" in a voice that was terrifyingly familiar. She levelled her spear, and charged the drakon.

"No!" Percy muttered. "WAIT!"

But the monster looked down at her and spat venom right in her face.

"Gods━Clarisse!" Annabeth jumped off the monster's back and I followed her. We ran to help while the other Ares campers tried to defend their fallen counsellor, or who they thought was Clarisse ...

Percy drove Riptide between two of the creature's scales and managed to turn his attention onto himself. He got thrown, but landed on his feet. "C'MON, you stupid worm!" he shouted. "Look at me!"

Annabeth and I tried our best to get the steaming helmet off the girls face. If this wasn't Clarisse━who was she? And why would she ...?

Those blue eyes were familiar, as were her cries, and it made me push harder. I tried to heal her, muttering whispers of, "Come on, come on, come on ..." but the damage was done ...

Then a final flying chariot landed on Fifth Avenue. A big beefy girl ran towards us, shaken with grief, "NO! Curse you━WHY?!"

The girl landed on her knees beside us, in no armour, and just her camp clothes; Clarisse. The real Clarisse. She took the girl dying on the ground into her arms as the rest of us continued to struggle to remove the venom-crodded helment. "WHY?!" she demanded, eyes welled up in tears. They dropped down onto the helmet, drying away with a hiss before they even reached the metal.

Percy was so stunned, he almost didn't dodge the strike the drakon sent him. The beast charged straight into the brick wall.

Chris Rodriguez ran over from the flying chariot━he and Clarisse must have ridden here from camp, chasing the Ares campers who had been tricked into following the other girl, thinking she was Clarisse.

The drakon tugged its head from the brick and screamed in rage.

"Look out!" Chris warned.

But instead of going for Percy, the mighty serpent turned onto Chris and bared it's razor-sharp teeth. The real Clarisse looked up at the drakon, and her face set━blazing with such fire that it made me shrink back in fear.

"You want death?!" Clarisse screamed at the beast. "WELL, COME ON!"

She grabbed the spear from the fallen girl. With no armour or shield, she charged straight at the creature. Percy tried to help, but Clarisse was faster━leaping aside as the monster struck, pulverising the ground in front of her and jumping right up onto the creature's head. As it reared up, she yelled with mighty defiance, and with a great strike, dove her electric spear into its good eye━so much force that it shattered the shaft, releasing all of the magic the weapon held in its power.

It was a lightning show. Electricity arced across the creature's head, and its whole body shuddered, convulsed━Clarisse jumped free, rolling safely to the sidewalk as smoke boiled from the drakon's mouth. It's felsh dissolved, bubbling and hissing before it collapsed into a hollow scaly tunnel of armour.

There was a silence; tense with dread mixed with awe. Clarisse had taken down one of the most ancient and dangerous monsters of all time, single-handedly, with no shield, no armour ... and she didn't care. She ran back to the wounded girl at Annabeth's and I's feet as we finally managed to remove her helmet.

My breath hitched, "No ..."

A circle surrounded us; Ares campers, Chirs, Clarisse and Percy━all of us ignoring the battle that continued to rage around us because right now, all that mattered, was the fallen warrior by our feet. With features, once stunning and beautiful, now badly burned. No amount of nectar or ambrosia, or hymms, or powers could save her.

Silena Beaurgard was dying.

° ° °

a/n: excuse me while i go quickly cry over silena so i can come back and talk about cain's arm. rip cain's arm. why am i such a horrible person━haven't i already put the boi thru enough? nope, apparently not.

aslo, yes, this chapter is dedicated to ro because you knew this would happen, and you were excited for what is to come, and i'll be sad if you've forgotten this inside joke i made, but that's okay, it's been a while. this chapter's still dedicated to you and your amazing work.