The drakon was three stories above them, slithering sideways along the building as it sized up its forces. Wherever the monster looked the centaurs froze in fear.

From the north, the enemy army crashed into the Party Ponies, and their lines broke. The drakon lashed out, swallowing three Californian centaurs in one gulp before Percy could even get close. 

Mrs. O'Leary launched herself through the air—a deadly black shadow with teeth and claws. Normally, a pouncing hellhound is a terrifying sight, but next to the drakon, Mrs. O'Leary looked like a child's night doll.

Her claws raked harmlessly off the drakon's scales. She bit the monster's throat, but couldn't make a dent. Her weight, however, was enough to knock the drakon off the side of the building. It flailed awkwardly and crashed to the sidewalk—hellhound and serpent twisting and thrashing.

The drakon tried to bite Mrs. O'Leary, but she was too close to the serpent's mouth. Poison spewed everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but Mrs O'Leary weaved around the serpent's head, scratching and biting.

The son of Poseidon plunged Riptide deep into the monster's left eye. The spotlight went dark. The drakon hissed and reared back to strike, but the Jackson boy rolled aside.

It bit a swimming pool-sized chunk out of the pavement. It turned towards the raven-haired boy with its good eye and Percy focused on its teeth so he wouldn't get paralyzed. Mrs O'Leary did her best to cause a distraction. She leaped onto the serpent's head and scratched and growled like an angry black wig.

The rest of the battle wasn't going well. The centaurs had panicked under the onslaught of giants and demons. An occasional orange camp T-shirt appeared amidst the battle but quickly disappeared. Arrows screamed. Fires exploded in waves across both armies, but the action was moving across the street to the entrance of the Empire State Building. They were losing ground.

Suddenly Evangeline appeared on the drakon's back. She drove her sword between a chink in the serpent's scales causing the monster to roar. It coiled around, knocking the brunette off its back.

Percy reached her as as she hit the ground. He dragged her out of the way as the serpent rolled, crushing a lamppost right where she'd been.

"Thanks," She said.

"I told you to be careful!" Percy said.

"This is war, nobody's going to—DUCK!" Evangeline yelled.

It was her turn to save him. She tackled the son of Poseidon as the monster's teeth snapped above his head. Mrs. O'Leary body-slammed the drakon's face to get its attention, and the children of the Big Three rolled out of the way.

Meanwhile, their allies had retreated to the doors of the Empire State Building. The entire enemy army was surrounding them. They were out of options. No more help was coming.

Evangeline and Percy would have to retreat before they were cut off from Mount Olympus. Then the Jackson boy heard a rumbling in the south. It wasn't a sound you hear much in New York, but he recognized it immediately: chariot wheels.

A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!"

And a dozen war chariots charged into battle. Each flew a red banner with a symbol of the wild boar's head. Each was pulled by a team of skeletal horses with manes of fire. A total of thirty fresh warriors, armor gleaming and eyes full of hate, lowered their lances as one—making a bristling wall of death.

"The children of Ares!" Evangeline said in shock. "How did Rachel know?"

He didn't have an answer. But leading the charge was a girl in familiar red armor, her face covered by a boar's head helm. She held aloft a spear that crackled with electricity. Clarisse herself had come to the rescue. While half her chariots charged the monster army, Clarisse led the other six straight for the drakon.

The serpent reared back and managed to throw off Mrs O'Leary. The hellhound hit the side of the building with a yelp. Evangeline ran to help her, but the monster had already zeroed in on the new threat.

Even with only one eye, its glare was enough to paralyze two chariot drivers. They veered into a line of cars. The other four chariots kept charging. The monster bared its fang to strike and got a mouthful of Celestial bronze javelins.

The serpent roared in pain.

"Ares, to me!" Clarisse screamed. Her voice sounded shriller than usual, but Percy guessed that wasn't surprising given what she was fighting. 

Across the street, the arrival of six chariots gave the Party Ponies new hope. They rallied at the doors of the Empire State Building, and the enemy army was momentarily thrown into confusion.

Meanwhile, Clarisse's chariots circled the drakon. Lances broke against the monster's skin. Skeletal horses breathed fire and whinnied. Two more chariots overturned, but the warriors simply leaped to their feet, drew their swords, and went to work. They hacked at the chinks in the creature's scales. They dodged poison spray like they'd been training for this all their lives, which of course they had.

No one could say the Ares campers weren't brave. Clarisse was right there in front, stabbing her spear at the drakon's face, trying to put out its other eye.

But as the son of Poseidon watched, things started to go wrong. The drakon snapped up one Ares camper in a gulp. It knocked aside another and sprayed poison on a third, who retreated in a panic, his armor melting.

"We have to help them," Evangeline said.

She was right. Percy had just been standing there frozen in amazement. Mrs O'Leary tried to get up but yelped again. One of her paws was bleeding.

"It's okay, just rest," The daughter of Hades spoke to the dog in a caring tone. "You've done enough already."

The children of the Big Three jumped onto the monster's back and ran toward its head, trying to draw its attention away from Clarisse.

Her cabinmates threw javelins, most of which broke, but some lodged in the monster's teeth. It snapped its jaws together until its mouth was a mess of green blood, yellow foamy poison, and splintered weapons.

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

Through her war helmet, he could only see her eyes—but he could tell something was wrong. Her blue eyes shone with fear. Clarisse never looked like that. And she didn't have blue eyes.

"ARES!" She shouted, in a strangely shrill voice. She leveled her spear and charged the drakon.

As if on cue Evangeline tensed beside Percy. "Wait, don't!"

But the monster looked down at her—almost in contempt—and spit poison directly in her face. She screamed and fell.

The brunette jumped off the monster's back and sprinted, while the other Ares campers tried to defend their fallen counselor.

Percy drove Riptide between two of the creature's scales and managed to turn its attention toward him. The son of Poseidon got thrown but landed on his feet. "C'mon, you stupid worm! Look at me!"

For the next several minutes, all he saw were teeth. He retreated and dodged poison, but he couldn't hurt the serpent.

From the corner of his eyes, Percy saw a flying chariot land on Fifth Avenue. Then someone run toward them. A girl's voice, shaken with grief, cried, "No! Curse you, why?"

The raven-haired boy dared to glance over, but what he saw made no sense. Clarisse was lying on the ground where she'd fallen. Her armor smoked with poison.

Evangeline, Annabeth, and the Ares campers were trying to unfasten her helmet. And kneeling next to them, her face blotchy with tears, was a girl in camp clothes. It was...Clarisse.

His head spun. Why hadn't he noticed before? The girl in Clarisse's armor was much thinner, not as tall, and not nearly as buff. But why would someone pretend to be the daughter of Ares?

Percy was so stunned the drakon almost snapped him in half. Landon tackled him out of the way and the beast buried its head in a brick wall.

"Why?" The real Clarisse demanded, holding the other girl in her arms while the campers struggled to remove the poison-corroded helmet.

Chris Rodriguez ran over from the flying chariot. He and the La Rue girl must've ridden it here from camp, chasing the Ares campers, who'd mistakenly been following someone else, thinking she was Clarisse.

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

"Look out!" Chris warned.

Instead of turning toward the sons of Hermes and Poseidon, the drakon whirled towards the sound of Chris's voice. It bared its fangs at the group of demigods.

The real Clarisse looked up at the drakon. Her fave was filled with absolute hate. Percy had seen a look that intense only once before. Her father, Ares, had worn the same expression when the raven-haired boy had fought him in a single combat.

"You want death?" The La Rue girl screamed at the drakon. "Well, come on!"

She grabbed the spear from the fallen girl. With no armor or shield, she charged the drakon.

Percy tried to close the distance to help, but the daughter of Ares was faster. She leaped aside as the monster struck, pulverizing the ground in front of her. Then she jumped onto the creature's head. As it reared up, she drove her electric spear into its good eye with so much force it shattered the shaft, releasing all of the magic weapon's power.

Electricity arced across the creature's head, causing its whole to shudder. Clarisse jumped free, rolling safely to the sidewalk as smoke boiled from the serpent's mouth. The drakon's flesh dissolved, and it collapsed into a hollow scaly tunnel of armor.

The rest of them stared at Clarisse in awe. He had never seen anyone take down such a huge monster single-handedly. But Clarisse didn't seem to care. She ran back to the wounded girl who'd stolen her armor.

Finally, Annabeth managed to remove the girl's helmet. They all gathered around: The Ares campers, Chris, Clarisse, Landon, Annabeth, Evangeline, and Percy. The battle still raged along Fifth Avenue, but for that moment nothing existed except their small circle and the fallen girl.

Her features, once beautiful, were badly burned from the poison. He could tell that no amount of nectar or ambrosia would save her and from the look on Evangeline's face it made him certain.

Something is about to happen. Rachel's words ran in Percy's ears. A trick that ends in death.

Now, he knew what she meant, and he knew who had led the Ares Cabin into battle.

The son of Poseidon looked down at the dying face of Silena Beauregard.

"What are you thinking?" The daughter of Ares cradled Silena's head in her lap.

The daughter of Aphrodite tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked. "Wouldn't...listen. Cabin would...only follow you."

"So you stole my armor," Clarisse said in disbelief. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol; you stole my armor and pretended to be me." She glared at her siblings. "And NONE of you noticed?"

The Ares campers developed a sudden interest in their combat boots.

"Don't blame them," Silena said. "They wanted to...to believe I was you."

"You stupid Aphrodite girl," Clarisse sobbed. "You charged a drakon? Why?"

"All my fault," Silena said, a tear streaking the side of her face. "The drakon, Charlie's death...camp endangered—"

"Stop it!" Clarisse said. "That's not true."

The daughter of Aphrodite opened her hand. In her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of Kronos.

"You were the spy," Landon said.

Silena tried to nod. "Before—before I liked Charlie, Luke was nice to me. He was so—charming. Handsome. Later, I wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. He promised...he promised I was saving lives. Fewer people would get hurt. He told me he wouldn't hurt Charlie. He lied to me."

Evangeline met Annabeth's eyes. The blonde's face was chalky. She looked like someone had just yanked the world out from under her feet.

Behind the demigods, the battle raged.

Clarisse scowled at her cabinmates. "Go, help the centaurs. Protect the doors. GO!"

The children of Ares scrambled off to join the fight.

Silena took a heavy, painful breath. "Forgive me."

"You're not dying," Clarisse insisted. "Merlyn, tell her that she isn't dying. Tell her!"

The daughter of Hades stared at the Beauregard girl with a pained expression. She could see Silena's life force slipping away. 

"Charlie..." Silena's eyes were a million miles away. "See Charlie..."

She didn't speak again.

Clarisse held her and wept. Chris put a hand on her shoulder.

Evangeline's ears stopped ringing as Annabeth closed Silena's eyes.

Clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. "She was a hero, understand? A hero."

Percy nodded. "Come on, Clarisse."

She picked up a sword from one of her fallen siblings. "Kronos is going to pay."

Even without her armor or spear, Clarisse was more of a demon than usual. She rode her chariot straight into the Titan's army and crushed everything in her path.

She was so inspiring, that even the panicked centaurs started to rally. The Hunters scrounged arrows from the fallen and launched volley after volley into the enemy.

The dead warriors reassembled, picking up their spears, and charging the enemy. The Ares cabin slashed and hacked, which was their favorite thing. The monsters retreated toward 35th Street.

The daughter of Ares drove to the drakon's carcass and looped a grappling line through its eye sockets. She lashed her horses and took off, dragging the drakon behind the Chariot.

Clarisse charged after the enemy, yelling insults and daring them to cross her. As she rode, Evangeline realized the daughter of Ares was literally glowing. An aura of red fire flickered around her.

"The blessing of Ares," The former tree said. "I've never seen it in person before."

For the moment, Clarrise was as invincible as Percy was. The enemy threw spears and arrows, but nothing hit her.

"I am Clarisse, drakon-slayer!" She yelled. "I will kill you all! Where is Kronos? Bring him out! Is he a coward?"

"Clarisse!" The raven-haired boy yelled. "Stop it. Withdraw!"

"What's the matter, old man?" The daughter of Ares taunted. "Bring it on!"

There was no answer from the enemy. Slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaena shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. The hundred-foot-long drakon carcass made a hollow scraping noise against the pavement. 

Meanwhile, they tended to your wounded, bringing them inside the lobby. Long after the enemy had retreated from sight, Clarisse kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy, demanding that Kronos meet her battle.

Chris spoke, "I'll watch her. She'll get tired eventually. I'll make sure she comes inside."

"What about the camp?" Percy asked. "Is anybody left there?"

The Rodriguez boy shook his head. "Only Argus and the nature spirits. Peleus the dragon is still guarding the tree."

"They won't last long," The raven-haired boy said. "I'm glad you came."

The son of Hermes nodded sadly. "I'm sorry it took so long. I tried to reason with Clarisse. I said there's no point in defending camp if you guys die. All of our friends are here. I'm sorry it took Silena..."

"My Hunters will help you stand guard," The former tree spoke. "Annabeth, Percy, Landon, and Evangeline, you guys should go to Olympus. I have a feeling they'll need you up there—to set up the final defense."

The doorman had vanished from the lobby, his book was facedown on the desk and his chair was empty. The rest of the lobby, however, was jam-packed with wounded campers, Hunters, and satyrs.

Conner and Travis met them by the elevators but that was after they tackled Landon into a tight hug.

They pulled away checking their brother for injuries. "You okay?" Travis asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Landon gave them a slight nod. "You have to stop worrying, I'm not going just to disappear again."

The Stolls frowned. Ever since last summer, the brothers had been keeping an extra close eye on Landon as if they were worried he'd disappear again, which they were.

"Is it true?" Conner asked, turning to the son of Poseidon. "About Silena?"

Percy nodded. "She died a hero."

Travis shifted uncomfortably. "Um, I also heard—"

"That's it," The Martin boy said. "End of story."

"Right," The older Stoll mumbled. "Listen, we figure the Titan's army will have trouble getting up the elevator. They'll have to go up a few at a time. And the giants won't be able to fit at all."

"That's our biggest advantage," The raven-haired boy said. "Any way to disable the elevator?"

"It's magic," Travis said. "Usually you need a key card, but the doorman vanished. That means the defenses are crumbling. Anyone can walk into the elevator now and head straight up."

"Then we have to keep them away from the doors," The Jackson boy said. "We'll bottle them up in the lobby."

"We need reinforcements," Travis said. "They'll just keep coming. Eventually, they'll overwhelm us."

"There are no reinforcements," Conner complained earning a glare from Landon.

Evangeline looked around the lobby but she saw Mrs O'Leary outside, who was breathing against the glass doors and smearing them with hellhound drool.

"That's not all true," She said as she went over to the hellhound.

"Hey," She told the dog as it turned to her. "I know you're tired but I have to ask you to do me a favor." The brunette leaned up and whispered in her ear.

After Mrs O'Leary had shadow-traveled away, she rejoined Annabeth and Percy in the lobby while Landon was staying back with his brothers. On the way to the elevator, they spotted Grover kneeling over a fat wounded satyr.

"Leneus!" Percy said.

The old satyr looked terrible. His lips were blue. There was a broken spear in his belly, and his furry goat legs were twisted at a painful angle.

He tried to focus on the demigods, but she wasn't sure if he saw them.

"Grover?" He murmured.

"I'm here, Leneus." Grover was blinking back tears, despite all the horrible things Leneus had said about him. He was the most forgiving one out of all of them.

"Did...did we win?"

"Um...yes," Grover lied. "Thanks to you, Leneus. We drove the enemy away."

"Told you," the old satyr mumbled. "True leader. True..."

He closed his eyes for the last time.

The alive satyr gulped. He put his hand on Leneus's forehead and spoke an ancient blessing. The old satyr's body melted until all that was left was a tiny sapling in a pile of fresh soil.

"A laurel," Grover said in awe. "Oh, that lucky old goat."

He gathered up the sapling in his hands. "I...I should plant him. In Olympus, in the gardens."

"We're going going that way," Percy said. "Come on."

Easy-listening music played as the elevator rose. Percy thought about the first time he had visit Mount Olympus, back when he was twelve. Annabeth, Grover, and Evangeline hadn't been there with him then, but he was glad they were with him now. He had a feeling it might be their last adventure together.

"Evangeline," Annabeth said quietly. "You were right about Luke." It was the first time she'd spoken since Silena Beauregard's death. She kept her eyes fixed on the elevator floors as they blinked into the magical numbers.

Grover and Percy exchanged glances.

"Annabeth," The brunette said. "I'm so—"

"You tried to tell me." Her voice was shaky. "Luke is no good, that he didn't deserve a second chance. I didn't believe you until...until I heard how he'd used Silena. Now I know. I hope you're happy."

Evangeline had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything. "That doesn't make us happy," Percy said.

The blonde put her head against the elevator wall and wouldn't look at them.

Grover cradled his laurel sapling in his hands. "Well...sure good to be together again. Arguing. Almost dying. Abject terror. Oh, look. It's our floor."

The doors dinged and they stepped onto the aerial walkway.

One word that could not be used to describe Olympus was depressing but right now it looked that way. No fires were lit in the braziers. The windows were dark. The streets were deserted and the doors were barred. The only movement was in the parks, which had been set up as field hospitals.

William Solace and the other Apollo campers scrambled around, caring for the wounded. Naids and dyads tried to help, using nature magic songs to heal burns and poisons. 

As Grover planted the laurel sapling, Percy and Annabeth went around trying to cheer up the wounded while Evangeline went to look for a son of Dionysus.

She found Pollux propped against a tree. He had a broken arm, but otherwise, he was okay.

"I can still fight with the other hand," he said, gritting his teeth.

"No that's fine," she said. "You've done enough. I think you should stay here and help with the wounded."

"But—"

"Just promise to stay safe," The brunette said. "I kind of need you to stay alive."

The son of Dionysus watched her for a moment, they weren't that close but they were familiar with one another. Finally, he promised, and when he sat back down, she could tell he was kind of relieved.

The three demigods and Grover kept walking toward the palace. That was where Kronos would head. As soon as he made it up the elevator—she didn't doubt that he would one way or another—he would destroy the throne room, the center of the gods' powers.

The large bronze doors creaked open. Their footsteps echoed on the marble floor. The constellations twinkled coldly on the ceiling of the great hall. The hearth was down to a dull red glow.

Hestia, in the form of a little girl in brown robes, hunched at its edge, shivering. Bessie swam sadly in his sphere of water. He let out a half-hearted moo when he saw them.

In the firelight, the thrones cast evil-looking shadows, like grasping hands. Some of the shadows were reaching out to the brunette's feet, low whispers being heard from them but she tried to ignore them.

Standing at the foot of Zeus's throne, looking up at the stars, was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She was holding a Greek ceramic vase.

"Red?" Evangeline asked. "What do you have there?"

She focused on the brunette as if she were coming out of a dream. "I found it. It's Pandora's jar, isn't it?"

Her eyes were brighter than usual, Evangeline stepped closer to the mortal. "Please, put the jar down,"

"I can see Hope inside it." Rachel ran her fingers over the ceramic designs. "So fragile."

"Rachel." Percy said.

His voice seemed to bring her back to reality. She held out the jar, and Evangeline took it. The clay felt as cold as ice.

"Grover, Evangeline," Annabeth said. "Let's scout around the palace. Maybe we can find some extra Greek fire or Hephaestus traps."

"But—"

The blonde cut him off by elbowing him in the side.

"Right!" He yelped. "I love traps!"

She dragged them out of the throne room.

If Evangeline had a dollar for every time Percy has had the dumbest fucking ideas in the world, she would be as rich as her father.

The seat of Poseidon stood just to the right of Zeus's, but it wasn't nearly as grand. The molded black leather seat was attached to a swivel pedestal, with a couple of iron rings on the side for fastening a fishing pole (or a trident). Basically looked like a chair on a deep-sea boat, that you would sit in if you wanted to hunt shark or marlin or sea monsters.

Gods in their natural state are about twenty feet tall, so Percy could just reach the edge of the seat if he stretched his arms.

"Help me up," he told them.

"No." The brunette said.

"Are you crazy?" Annabeth hissed.

"Yeah," he admitted.

"Percy," Grover said, "the gods really don't appreciate people sitting in their thrones. I mean like turn you into a pile of ashes don't appreciate it."

"I need to get his attention," Percy said. "It's the only way."

The three exchanged uneasy looks.

"Well," Evangeline said, "that'll be one way to get Fish Jesus's attention."

Grover and Annabeth linked arms to make a step and boosted him up onto the throne. Percy felt like a baby with his feet so high off the ground.

He looked around at the other gloomy, empty thrones, and could imagine what it would be like sitting on the Olympian Council—so much power, but so much arguing, always eleven other gods trying to get their way. It would be easy to get paranoid, to look out only for his own interest, especially if he were Poseidon.

Sitting on his father's throne, he felt like he had the entire sea at his command—vast cubic miles of ocean churning with power and mystery. Why should Poseidon listen to anyone? Why shouldn't he be the greatest of the twelve?

Then his mind flashed an image of an annoyed Evangeline, snapping him out of it. He shook his head and focused back on concentrating.

The throne rumbled. A wave of gale-force anger slammed into his mind: WHO DARES—

The voice stopped abruptly. The anger retreated, which was a good thing because just those two words had almost blasted his mind to shreds.

Percy. His father's voice was still angry but more controlled. What—exactly—are you doing on my throne?

"I'm sorry, Father," the raven-haired boy said. "I needed to get your attention."

This was a very dangerous thing to do. Even for you. If I hadn't looked before I blasted, you would now be a puddle of seawater.

"I'm sorry," Percy said again. "Listen, things are rough up here."

The son of Sally Jackson told his father what was happening. Then he told Poseidon his plan.

Poseidon's voice was silent for a long time. Percy, what you ask is impossible. My palace—

"Dad, Kronos sent an army against you on purpose. He wants to divide you from the other gods because he knows you could tip the scales."

Be that as it may, he attacks my home.

"I'm at your home," Percy said. "Olympus."

The floor shook. A wave of anger washed over his mind. Percy thought he'd gone too far, but then the trembling eased. In the background of his mental link, he heard underwater explosions and the sound of battle cries. Cyclopes bellowing, merman shouting,

"Is Tyson okay?" The son of Poseidon asked.

The question seemed to take his father by surprise. He's fine. Doing much better than I expected. Though "peanut butter" is a strange battle cry.

"You let him fight?"

Stop changing the subject! You realize what you are asking me to do? My palace will be destroyed.

"And Olympus might be saved."

Do you have any idea how long I've worked on remodeling this palace? The game room alone took six hundred years.

"I'm not going to give Evangeline the hat you got her if you don't," Percy blurted.

Very well! It shall be as you say. But my son, pray this works.

"I am praying. I'm talking to you, right?"

Oh...yes. Good point. Amphitrite—incoming!

The sound of a large explosion shattered the father-son connection.

Percy slipped down from the throne.

Grover studied him nervously. "Are you okay? You turned pale and you started smoking."

"I did?"

"He's still smoking," Evangeline said, pointing at his arms.

Percy glanced down at them. Steam was curling off his shirtsleeves. The hair on his arm was singed.

"If you'd sat there any longer," Annabeth said, "you would've spontaneously combusted. I hope the conversation was worth it?"

Moo, said the Ophiotaurus in his sphere of water.

"We'll find out," Percy said.

Just then the doors of the throne room swung open. The walking charger marched in. Her bow was snapped in half and her quiver was empty.

"You've got to get down there," she told them. "The enemy is advancing. And Kronos is leading them."

------✧------

A/N: Rip Silena bye bye ig.

Percy and Evangeline being their fathers favorites in this and the last chapter.

The next maybe two chapters (depending on how long the next chapter is going to be) are going to be full chaos.