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chapter thirty-eight
( the last olympian )
❝ the last olympian! ❞

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    I didn't find Percy the next morning. He wasn't in his cabin, he wasn't in the Big House, or at the lagoon, or with the horses. I checked the sword arena only to find that Mrs O'Leary was also gone. For a second, I got scared that he had actually left to go on vacation with Rachel, and I thought about stabbing something. Why couldn't I just tell him the truth? That I was scared? Why do I have to yell at everything expecting that to solve it?! When Juniper told me he had gone off with Nico, it didn't make me feel any better.

    I sat there, in the sword arena, for perhaps the rest of the day, waiting for him to come back. I felt stupid, but I was worried. I tried to Iris Message him, perhaps used about ten drachma's, but none answered. I grew frustrated━he was completely ghosting me! With Iris Messages!

    It was the afternoon when Annabeth came rushing into the sword arena with her phone. I immediately stood up, my stomach twisting as she said, "It's Percy━"

   "What? Is he okay? What's happening?" I rushed up to her.

   She was pale, "He sent a message━Luke is advancing on Manhattan to get to Olympus. He wants us ready to fight. The battle, Claire, it's starting."

    My stomach dropped. "Oh, gods..." I murmured, before together, we ran up towards the Big House to let Chiron and Hannah know. As soon as we did, it was a rush to get everyone ready and in the vans to drive up to meet Percy. We rallied forty campers in all━none of which were children of Ares, which made me furious. Cain met up with Annabeth and I, and when we told him what had happened, he had a look on his face as if he knew exactly what Percy had done. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he didn't explain. (That didn't help my mood).

    We were almost to the Queens Midtown Tunnel when Annabeth got another call. She answered, and I said, "Is that Percy?" she nodded, and before she could say anything else, I snatched the phone from her and placed it to my ear. The van we sat in━the first one, driven my Argus with all the cabin counsellors, Cain, Hannah, Chiron and the Apollo and Athena kids, rumbled along the road.

    "Where have you been?!" I snapped into the phone. "I sent you ten Iris Messages, Jackson!"

    "Hey!" he replied, a little flustered at my tone. "I sent Annabeth a message!"

    "Your message said almost nothing! We've been worried sick!"

    "I'll fill you in later," he promised me. "Where are you?"

    "We're on our way like you asked━almost to the Queens Midtown Tunnel," I was nervous, and I wondered whether he could hear it over the phone. "But, Percy, what are you planning? The camp is now practically undefended and there's no way the gods━"

    "Trust me," he said. "I'll see you there."

    He hung up, and I reluctantly handed Annabeth back her phone. Cain frowned, "What did he say?" he asked.

    "He has a plan," I murmured, glancing nervously at the others in the van. "What that is, I don't know. He said he'll explain when we get there."

     It was late afternoon when we reached Fifth Avenue and stopped by the Empire State Building. Percy was waiting for us with Mrs O'Leary. The vans stopped, and we all piled out. Everyone looked nervous, glancing around━this many demigods was the biggest beacon for monsters all over New York like a free Seven-Eleven.

    I pushed through some of the campers to walk up to Percy. I had rushed in getting ready for battle━my hair pulled messily off my face, dressed in black camouflage (as Annabeth had suggested best for tactics), and armour. I had my father's knife strapped to my right thigh, and my necklace hanging out of my shirt, ready for me to grab and spin.

    Reaching him, I frowned to see him looking at me weirdly. Like, yes, he's always weird and a dumbass, but this time, he was like really looking at me weirdly━more weird than he had yesterday. It made me arch a brow, "What is it?"

    He blinked, "What's what?"

    "You're looking at me funny."

    Percy's eyes widened, and for a second, he looked like a fish out of water. "Its━uh━nothing," quickly, he turned to the rest of the group. "Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."

    The centaur shook his head with Hannah standing beside him. "I came to wish you luck, my boy. But I made it a point never to visit Olympus unless I am summoned."

    "But you're our leader."

    He smiled. "I am your trainer, your teacher. That is not the same as being your leader. I will go gather what allies I can with Hannah, here. It may not be too late to convince my brother centaurs to help, and there are some older half-bloods here in the city that Hannah knows. Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are the leader."

     Chiron was right. I watched Percy expectantly, much like everyone else, and the son of Poseidon went a little red. I smiled slightly, trying to let him know, when he met my gaze, that he will be the best leader we could ask for.

    He took a deep breath, "Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by tonight. Some kind of trap. We've got to get an audience with Zeus and convince him to defend the city. Remember, we can't take no for an answer."

     He asked Argus to watch Mrs O'Leary, which neither seemed happy about. Chiron shook Percy's hand, "You'll do well, Percy. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses."

     Hannah rushed forward and pulled me into a hug, "Be careful," she told me.

     I nodded, "You too."

    Pulling away, I turned back to Percy with Annabeth and Cain at my side. He gave us his best confident smile. "Let's go," he told us.

    Walking into the Empire State Building side by side with Percy, I couldn't help but continue to frown at him. There was something ... different about him. Yes, sure, he walked with an aura of confidence much more than he had ever had before━a true leader, but there was something else. His skin looked like someone had exfoliated all the skin off till it was raw, and he was just healing from it. It was turning back to the usual tan, but there was a different glow to it. A powerful glow.

    A security guard sat behind the desk in the lobby, rading a big black book with a flower on the cover. Is he seriously reading New Moon? What is wrong with him? I mean, yeah, I've read some of the books, but I couldn't help but stop after the amount of times I had to read how pale Edward was in Greek. He glanced up when we all filed in with our weapons and armour. "School group? We're about to close up."

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

    He checked us out; eyes pale blue and head completely bald. He noticed our weapons━so at least he wasn't fooled by the Mist. "There is no six-hundreth floor, kid," he said it like it was a required line he didn't believe. "Move along."

    I smiled and leaned up against the counter beside Percy. I propped my chin onto the palm of my hand. "You know that forty demigods surely attract a lot of monsters━an awful lot, really. You actually want us to be hanging out in your lobby?"

    Beside me, Percy nodded. There was a sparkle in his eye that made me go red slightly. The security guard thought about it, and then he hit a buzzer and the security gate opened. "Make it quick."

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

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

    Percy tossed him a golden dachma and we marched through. It would take two trips to get everybody up in the elevator. I went with Percy amongst the first group. Cain, Annabeth, Will, Michael, Katie, Silena and the Stoll brothers were with us, fidgiting nervoulsy as we ascended. Cain muttered something to Annabeth along the lines of, "What if this doesn't work?"

     She replied back in the same tone, "We'll make it work. It's going to be okay."

     Music played━Stayin' Alive. I frowned, knowing this was one of my Dad's favourites, and I was glad when the elevator doors dinged open. In front of us, a path of floating stones led to the clouds up to Mount Olympus, hovering two thousand metres over Manhattan. It was a beautiful place; with mansions glittered in gold and white, and gardens blooming on a hundred terraces. But it was wrong━there was no music, no voices, no laughter. It was completely silent.

    I glanced at Percy, and I saw that difference again. I know it was probably the wrong time to ask, but I couldn't help it. My ADHD was like that. "You look different," I told him. "Like, different-different. Where did you go?"

    The elevator doors opened again and the second group of demigods joined us.

    "Tell you later," he said. "Come on."

    I pursed my lips, but let it be. We made our way across the sky bridge into the streets of Olympus. The shops were closed, the parks empty. A couple of muses sat on a bench strumming flaming lyres, but their hearts weren't into it. A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted tree. Up above, in one of the houses, a minor god spotted us from a balcony an ducked inside, closing his shutters.

    We passed under a big marble archway withstatues of Zeus and Hera on either side. Annabeth made a face at the queen of the gods.

    "Hate her," she muttered.

    "Has she been cursing your or something?" asked Cain, eyeing the statue warily like he would destroy it himself if she had. I hid my smile, sharing a knowing glance with Percy.

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

    "Right."

    "So she sends cows after me."

    Cain looked like he was trying hard not to smirk. So was Percy, who covered his laugh with a cough and a ruffle of his hair. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him. "Cows?" Cain said, humour glinting in his gaze. "In San Francisco?"

    "Oh, yeah. Usually I don't see them, but 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 cried, pointing towards the horizon. "What is that?"

    We all froze. Blue lights were streaking across the evening sky towards Olympus, darting back and forth like tiny comets. They seemed to be coming from all over the city, heading straight towards the mountain. As they got close, the fizzled out. We watched them for a few minutes, and they didn't seem to do any damage, but it was still strange.

    "They're like infrared scopes," I murmured━the only thing I could think of them being any similar to. Michael agreed with me (which was strange).

    He nodded, "Yeah, we're being targeted."

    "Let's get to the palace," decided Percy, and we continued on.

    The hall of the gods wasn't guarded; the gold and silver doors stood wide open. Our footsteps echoed as we walked into the humongous throne room. Twelve giant empty thrones stood in a U around a hearth, and in one corner, was a house-sized globe of water with a friendly Ophiotaurus swimming inside.

    "Mooo!" he said happily, turning in a circle.

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

    "Mooo," Bessie answered (oh yeah, Percy had called him Bessie, so ...)

    We walked towards the thrones, and a woman's voice said, "Hello again, Percy Jackson. You and your friends are welcome."

    A woman with bright red hair━much like the hearth she stoked━stood by the fire, poking it with a stick. She wore a simple brown dress, her feet were sooted with ash, but she smiled kindly like us as if we were old friends.

    Percy bowed. "Lady Hestia."

   We followed his example.

    Hestia regarded him with her red, glowing eyes. "I see you went through with your plan," she said. "You bear the curse of Achilles."

    I frowned. As the other campers started muttering among themselves ("What did she say━?", "━What about Achilles?"), I watched Percy swallow nervously. He didn't ... I didn't want to think that he had. I glanced back at Cain, who didn't look surprised, as if he knew. My frown deepened. If Percy had bathed in the River of Styx to get the Curse of Achilles, this wasn't good. Yes, he would be invincible, but the more powerful a demigod grew, the weaker they also became to compensate. One touch to his Achilles's Heel, and he'd be dead, the war would be lost.

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

    I nudged him, so many questions running through my head. "Perc ... what is she talking about?"

    Percy stared into Hestia's eyes, and went still━and then, suddenly, he buckled. I grabbed him, gasping. "Gods━Percy! What happened?"

    He looked pale. Percy looked at me and Annabeth, eyes wide like a hamster in a cage (I would know, since he's already been one). "Did━did you see that?"

    "See what?"

    He glanced at Hestia, but her face was expressionless. "H━how long was I out?"

    I frowned at him, confused. "Percy, you weren't even out at all. You just ... stared at Hestia for━like━a second before collapsing."

    Percy gritted his teeth. I knew what was going through his head━kind of. He couldn't afford to look weak, so I stepped back and let him get up on his own. "Um, Lady Hestia," he said, "we've come on urgent business. We need to see━"

    "We know what you need," a man's voice said━and Hermes shimmered into existence next to Hestia. He looked about twenty-five, with curly salt-and-pepper hair and elfin features. Not far from me, I saw Annabeth take a step back closer to Cain, her breath hitched. She stared at Hermes as if she was going to recieve her death sentence.

    "I will leave you now," Hestia said. She bowed to the aviator, but before she did, she turned to me. "Claire Moore, it's nice to meet you. You needn't worry about not knowing how to get where you are needed, the time will show itself━" and then she disappeared into smoke, leaving me slightly bewildered, but it soon disappeared like she did as I understood perhaps why Annabeth looked so wary, because Hermes seemed far from happy━in fact, he looked murderous.

    "Hello, Percy," his brow furrowed, annoyed. His gaze was settled on where Percy, Annabeth, Cain and I stood, and I wasn't sure who he was annoyed at. Most likely Percy━it's always Percy.

    Percy bowed awkwardly, "Lord Hermes."

    Oh, sure, one of Hermes's snakes whispered in my mind. Don't say hi to us. We're just reptiles.

    George, the other snake scolded. Be polite.

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

    Did you bring us a rat? asked George, and I was very confused.

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

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

    "Um, Hermes," Percy met the god's eyes. "We need to talk to Zeus. It's important."

    His eyes were steely cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?"

    This was not going how Percy wished it to. He glanced back at the rest of the campers. "You guys," he said. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defences. See who's left in Olympus. Meet Claire, Annabeth, Cain and me back here in thirty minutes."

    Silena frowned, "But━"

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

    The Stolls liked that━receiving an important responsibility in front of their father. They usually never led anything except toilet-paper raids (which are successful, so...) "We're on it!" said Travis, and they herded the others out of the throne room, leaving the four of us alone with Hermes.

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

    "Your mother," grumbled Hermes. He scratched his back with his caduceus, and George and Martha were not happy with it. "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."

    "Okay," I said, stepping forward. "How about you go ahead and tell Zeus that you all need me to fight Typhon. If he reaches the Hudson river, Olympus is going to be destroyed. I'm sure my father has told you all that it's prophesied that I have to fight him."

     Hermes narrowed his eyes at me. "Don't be so vain, girl. And yes, Apollo has been very loud in his opinion on the matter. But you are not needed━not yet. You will stay here while the gods fight."

    "But it is a trap!" I insisted, not sure why he was so aggressive. "Is Zeus blind?!"

    Thunder rolled through the sky. I didn't care. I was so annoyed with the lot of them they can just strike me out of the sky, I don't care!

    "I'd watch the comments, girl," Hermes warned. "Zeus is not blind or death. He has not left Olmpus completely undefended, and he does not need a half-blood to fight Typhon. You will die if you try."

    "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 raised his hand like he was in class. "Um ... what about that materialising/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?"

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

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

    "I thought that was Kronos."

    The god's eyes glowed. "No, Percy. In the old days, Olympus was almost overthrown by Typhon. He is husband of Echidna━"

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

    (No, not at all 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 poewrful 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. I will take all our remaining power to 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."

    "If you're so worried about not being strong enough," let out Cain, "you should take Claire. She's meant to destroy him! She can do it!"

    "He is slowing down," Hermes told him, though I wasn't sure whether he was trying to convince us or himself. "Losing power. We do not need Claire Moore."

    I clenched my fists. How could the gods be so arrogant and blind?! "Please, Hermes," Annabeth said before I'd do something I'd later regret. "You said my mother wanted to come. Did she give you any messages for us?"

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

    But at the pleading look on Annabeth's face, he gave in. "Bah! 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. Whythey pay her to be the wisdom goddess, I'm not sure."

    "Anything else?" asked Annabeth.

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

    Annabeth's face paled. She knew, and she didn't like it. "Go on."

    "Last few things," Hermes turned to Percy. "She said to tell Percy: 'Remember the rivers'. And then to Cain━" he fixed his gaze on the boy, "━something about staying away from her daughter."

    Cain looked like he choked on something. I wasn't sure whose face was redder, his or Annabeth's.

    "Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth said, the tone of her voice turning wary. "And I━I wanted to say ... I'm sorry about Luke."

     His expression hardened, and the murderous look wasback. "You should've left that subject alone."

    Annabeth stepped back, "Sorry?"

    "SORRY doesn't cut it!"

    Geroge and Martha curled around the caduceus, which shimmered in the light, turning into something that looked like a cattle prod━a high-voltage, electric one. "And you!" he sneered at me, and I jumped back as well, started. "You should've have saved him when you had the chance━the both of you! You're the only ones who could have!"

    Percy tried to step in between us while Cain pulled back Annabeth, confused. "What are you talking about? Claire and Annabeth didn't━"

    "Don't defend them, Jackson!" Hermes turned the cattle prod towards him. "They know exactly what I'm talking about!"

    I glanced at Annabeth, frowning. Do we? She wouldn't meet my gaze.

    Percy glared at the god, and stepped further in front of me, shielding me with his whole body. I felt my stomach jolt. "Maybe you should blame yourself!" he shouted, and I tried to stop him, muttering small whispers of no, but Percy wouldn't stop. He tried to get all the attention away from us and onto him. Away from me. "Maybe if you hadn't abadoned Luke and his mom!"

    Hermes raised his cattle prod, growing until he was three metres tall. I gripped Percy's arm, my breath hitched. No, no, no, no━

    But as he prepared to strike, he faltered. George and Martha leaned in close, whispering in his ear. Hermes clenched his teeth at what they said, and lowered the cattle prod. It turned back into a staff.

    "Percy Jackson," he said, "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 broke, and he shrank back down to the size of a human, pained. "My son, my greatest pride ... my poor May ..."

    I was so stunned, confused ... I don't know what was happening. What had he meant about Luke? How could I have saved him. I could have saved him? Annabeth still wouldn't meet my gaze, looking on the verge of tears.

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

    Hermes glared at him, and his voice fell away. It was no longer anger in Hermes's gaze. It was pain━deep and unbearable pain. "I will leave you now," he said tightly. "I have a war to fight."

    He began to glow. Percy turned away and pulled me with him. Cain made sure Annabeth did the same, because she was still frozen in shock. Heat seared, a light flashed like a supernova ... and then he was gone.

    As soon as he left, Annabeth fell down at the foot of her mothers throne and cried. I followed her, sitting down next to her and putting my hand on her shoulder. I don't know whether I wanted to cry either, because I didn't know what Hermes had meant. He said I could have saved him? When could have I saved him? Did I miss my chance? I knew I couldn't think like that, but I couldn't stop it. If there was a way I could have saved Luke, I would now feel that guilt for the rest of my life━I could have prevented this; all of this.

    "Hey," Percy said; he and Cain stood not far from us. "It's not your fault━either of you. I've never seen Hermes act that way. I guess━I don't know━he probably feels gulty about Luke. He's looking for someone to blame. I don't know why he lashed out at the two of you. You didn't do anything to deserve that."

    Annabeth wiped away her tears. She stared at the hearth like it was her own funeral pyre.

   "Annie ..." I used the nickname I called her back when I was seven. "What happened? What aren't you telling me?"

   She didn't answer. I rubbed her shoulder, slightly scared what Hermes had meant. But I couldn't show it━I couldn't cry. I had to stay strong for her. She always stayed strong for me, so I'll do the same for her. So I decided to stand up, turning to Percy. Walking up, I muttered, "What did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meed her?"

     He nodded reluctantly. "Nico and I visited her. She was a little ... different."

    I frowned, glancing back at Annabeth. I tried to solve this like she would, but it didn't make sense. "But ... but why were you visiting━?" it hit me, and my breath fell away. I had been right, but I didn't want it to be true. But it was worse than that ... far worse ... "Hermes and Hestia both said you bear the curse of Achilles. Did you ... Percy, did you bathe in the River Styx?"

    "Don't change the subject."

    "It's a simple question! Did you or didn't you?"

    "Um ... maybe a little."

    He told Annabeth and I the story about Hades, Nico and how he had defeated an army of the dead. He said Cain had been in with it the whole time, having been a helpful way for him to discuss and make a decision. I felt upset that he hadn't talked to me about it, but then I realised. I would have never let him do it. It was risky━far too risky. Once he was done, I sighed, shaking my head. "Percy!" I then shoved him, he jumped at the sudden change of demeanour. "That was stupid of you━do you have any idea how dangerous that was? You could have died! Lost your soul! You could still━"

     "I had no chioce," he argued back. "It's the only way I can stand up to Luke."

    Annabeth frowned. "You mean ... di immortales, of course!"

    "What?" I asked, feeling my stomach twist. Her eyes told me everything, though, and I bit my bottom lip. "Oh, Zeus ... Luke ... that's why he didn't die, isn't it? He went to the Styx and━" I sat back down next to Annabeth, feeling like I couldn't stand on my own two feet anymore. "Oh gods ... Luke ..."

    "So now you're worried about Luke again," grumbled Percy.

    I frowned, what was that supposed to mean? "What?"

    "Forget it," he muttered. I pursed my lips, and just reached for Annabeth's hand, squeezing it tight━she returned it with the same fierceness. We clung onto each other, just as we did when we were seven. "The point is he didn't die in the Styx," continued Percy. "Neither did I. Now I have to face him. We have to defend Olympus."

    Annabeth studied him, like he was some blueprint to figure out. "I guess you're right. My Mom mentioned━"

    "Plan twenty-three," spoke up Cain, crossing his arms. His sword was strapped to his hip, and he looked quite menacing. "What did she mean by that?"

    Annabeth rummaged through her pack and pulled out Daedalus's laptop. The blue Delta symbol glowed on the top when she booted it up. She opened a few files and started to read. "Here," she said. "Gods, we have a lot of work to do."

    "One of Daedalus's inventions?" I asked.

    "A lot of inventions ... dangerous ones. If my mother wants me to use this plan, she must think things are very bad," she looked at Percy. "What about her message to you; 'Remember the rivers'? What does that mean?"

    Percy sighed and shook his head. Cain pursed his lips, and the scowl on his face darkened.

    Feet pounded on the marble, and we looked back. The Stoll brothers ran up to us in the throne room. "You need to see this," said Connor. "Now."

    The blue lights that Hermes supposed to be of Hecate's doing had stopped, but what was there instead, was much, much worse. The other campers had gathered in a small park at the edge of the mountain. Clustered at the guardrail, they all looked down at Manhattan. The railing was lined with binoculars━ones where you could deposit one grachma to see the city. Campers were using every single one.

    Percy looked down at the city, and I joined him. Frowning, I could see just about everything━the East and the Hudson carving the shape of Manhattan, the streets, the lights, skyscrapers, Central Park in the north ... except, something was wrong.

    "It's ... I don't hear anything," murmured Annabeth.

    (And that was the problem).

    There should be the noise of the city━cars, people bustling around, machines, but it was absolute silence. Percy's jaw clenched, "What did they do?" his voice was tight and angry. He shoved Michael away from the binoclars to take a look. "What did they do to my city?"

    I tried to see without the binoculars, and saw that below, the traffic seemed to have stopped. There were dots like ants everywhere, but the weren't moving. They were still.

    "Are they dead?" whispered Silena, her beath caught in her throat.

    I realised something: a line from the prophecy. And see the world in endless sleep. Percy looked up, pale. "Not dead," he said. "Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."

*

    a/n: *realises I put hypnos instead of Morpheus in the gods cast* fUck

    also, like, I'm not ready for the end of the first series in this story. they were once eleven! can you freaking believe that? claire used to be a moody (well, she's still moody) eleven year old and look at her now 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 they've grown up so much!!! it's like I'm sending my babies off to school for the first time aghhhh