CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

₊˚࿐࿔ 𖥧‧₊⚘ ❀༉. 𓏲｡

Mrs. O'Leary was the only one happy about the sleeping city.

They found her pigging out at an overturned hot dog stand while the owner was curled up on the sidewalk, sucking his thumb.

Argus was waiting for them with his hundred eyes wide open. He didn't say anything. He never did. Sylvie guessed that was because he supposedly had an eyeball on his tongue. But his face made it clear he was freaking out.

Percy told him what they'd learned in Olympus, and how the gods would not be riding to the rescue. Argus rolled his eyes in disgust, which looked pretty psychedelic since it made his whole body swirl.

"You'd better get back to camp," Percy told him. "Guard it as best as you can."

Argus pointed at Percy and raised his eyebrow quizzically.

"I'm staying," Percy said.

Argus nodded, like this answer satisfied him. He looked at Annabeth and drew a circle in the air with his finger.

"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "I think it's time."

"For what?" Percy asked.

Argus rummaged around in the back of his van. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much standard issue—the same kind of round shield they always used in capture the flag. But when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty—which wasn't anywhere close to them.

"Woah," Percy said. "A video shield."

"One of Daedalus's ideas. I had Beckendorf make this before—" Annabeth glanced at Silena. "Um, anyway, the shield bends sunlight or moonlight from anywhere in the world to create a reflection. You can literally see any target under the sun or moon, as long as natural light is touching it. Look."

They crowded around as Annabeth concentrated. The image zoomed and spun at first, so Sylvie got motion sickness just watching it. They were in a big park (that Sylvie didn't know the name of because she lived on a farm), then zooming down a street, past Bloomingdale's, then turning on another avenue.

"Wait," Connor Stoll said. "Back up. Zoom in right there."

"What?" Annabeth said nervously. "You see the invaders?"

"No, right there—Dylan's Candy Bar." Connor grinned at his brother. "Dude, it's open. And everyone is asleep. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Connor!" Katie Gardner scolded. "This is serious. You are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!"

"Sorry," Connor muttered, but he didn't sound very ashamed.

Katie rounded on his bother, then snapped, "Travis Stoll, get your brother in line!"

"You wanna kiss me so bad," Travis grinned.

Annabeth passed her hand in front of the shield, and another scene popped up: FDR Drive, looking across the river at Lighthouse Park (she knew some geography, so hah).

"This will let us see what's going on across the city," she said. "Thank you, Argus. Hopefuly we'll see you back at camp... someday."

Argus grunted. He gave them a look that clearly meant Good luck, you'll need it, then climbed into his van. He and the two harpy drivers swerved away, weaving around clusters of idle cars that littered the road.

Percy whistled for Mrs. O'Leary, and she came bounding over.

"Hey, girl," Percy said. "You remember Grover? The satyr we met in the park?"

"WOOF!"

Sylvie had no clue Percy found Grover in a park, and she wasn't going to ask. She just hoped for Mrs. O'Leary that meant Sure I do! and not Do you have any more hot dogs?

"I need you to find him," Percy said. "Make sure he's still awake. We're going to need his help. You got that? Find Grover!"

Mrs. O'Leary gave Percy a sloppy kiss. Then she raced off north.

Florian crouched next to a sleeping policeman. "I don't get it. Why didn't we fall asleep too? Why just the mortals?"

"This is a huge spell," Mickey said. "The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want to sleep millions of mortals, you've got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder."

Percy stared at her. "When did you learn so much about magic?"

"Aphrodite kids don't spend all our time on our wardrobes," she crossed her arms.

"You guys better see this," Annabeth called. She was still looking at the shield.

The bronze image showed Long Island South. A fleet of dozen speedboats raced through the dark water toward Manhattan. Each boat was packed with demigods in full Greek armor. At the back of the lead boat, a purple banner emblazoned with a black scythe flapped in the night wind. Sylvie had never seen that design before, but it wasn't hard to figure out: the battle flag of Kronos.

"Scan the perimeter of the island," Percy said. "Quick."

Annabeth shifted the scene south to the harbor. A Staten Island Ferry was plowing through the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with dracaenae and a whole pack of hellhounds. Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of marine mammals. At first Sylvie thought they were dolphins. Then she saw their doglike faces and the swords strapped to their waists, and Sylvie realized they were telkhines—sea demons.

The scene shifted again: the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic: giants with fire-spitting dragons, and just to rub it in, a World War II–era Sherman tank, pushing cars out of its way as it rumbled into the tunnel.

"What's happening with the mortals inside Manhattan?" Sylvie wondered. "Is the whole state asleep?"

Annabeth frowned. "I don't think so, but it's strange. As far as I can tell from these pictures, Manhattan is totally asleep. Then there's like a fifty-mile radius around the island where time is running really, really, slow. The closer you get to Manhattan, the slower it is."

She showed them another scene—a New Jersey highway. It was Saturday evening, so the traffic wasn't as bad as it might've been on a weekday. The drivers looked away, but the cars were moving at about one mile per hour. Birds flew overhead in slow motion.

"Kronos," Sylvie realized. "He's slowing down time."

"Hecate might be helping," Miranda said. "Look how the cars are all veering away from the Manhattan exits, like they're getting a subconscious message to turn back."

"I don't know." Annabeth sounded really frustrated. She hated not knowing. "But somehow they've surrounded Manhattan in layers of magic. The outside world might not even realize something is wrong. Any mortals coming toward Manhattan will slow down so much they won't know what's happening."

"Like flies in amber," Jake Mason murmured. Annabeth nodded.

"So basically," Sylvie summarized, "we shouldn't expect any help coming in. Fun times."

Sylvie wasn't the only one who seemed this way. She turned to her friends. Everyone looked stunned and scared. The shield had shown them at least three hundred enemies on the way. There was forty-five of them. And they were alone.

"Alright," Percy said. "We're going to hold Manhattan."

Silena tugged at her armor. "Um, Percy, Manhattan is huge."

"We are going to hold it," Percy said. "We have to."

Out of habit, Sylvie looked Florian's way. She held back a laugh at the fact he was already looking at her. They shared judgmental looks, confirming that they didn't really believe a word of what Percy said. It had become a second nature for them.

"He's right," Annabeth said. "The gods of the wind should keep Kronos's forces away from Olympus forces but air, so he'll try ground assault. We have to cut off the entrances to the island."

"They have boats," Michael Yew pointed out.

Percy looked like he'd been hit with a realization, and he shivered. "I'll take care of the boats," he said.

Michael frowned. "How?"

"Just leave it to me," Percy said. "We need to guard the bridges and tunnels. Let's assume they'll try a midtown or downtown assault, at least on their first try. That would be the most direct way to the Empire State Building. Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg Bridge. I want Sylv with me, so Katie, bring Demeter's cabin to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel."

Sylvie smiled at Percy's insistence for her presence, but it wasn't the time for that right now. "Guys," she said, "grow thorn bushes and poison ivy and strangling vines and, Miranda, those types of violent flowers you can make. Do whatever y'all have to do, but keep them out of there."

Sylvie's siblings smiled at her, nodding in agreement.

"And be safe," Sylvie finished. She silently prayed they'd all be okay.

"Connor," Percy continued, "take half of Hermes cabin and cover the Manhattan bridge. Travis, you take the other half and cover the Brooklyn Bridge. And no stopping for looting or pillaging!"

"Awwww!" the whole Hermes cabin complained.

"Silena, take the Aphrodite crew to the Queens–Midtown Tunnel."

"Oh my gods," one of her sisters said. "Fifth Avenue is so on our way! We could accessorize, and monsters, like totally hate the smell of Givenchy."

"No delays," Percy said. "Well... the perfume thing, if you think it'll work."

Mickey gave him an excited high five. It was the nicest thing she'd ever done for him.

"And the Holland Tunnel," Percy continued. "Jake, take the Hephaestus cabin there. Use Greek fire, set traps. Whatever you've got."

He grinned. "Gladly. We've got a score to settle. For Beckendorf!"

The whole cabin roared in approval.

"The 59th Street Bright," Percy said. "Clarisse—"

He faltered. Clarisse wasn't here. The whole Ares cabin, curse them (especially Phoenix), was sitting back at camp.

"We'll take that," Annabeth stepped in, saving Percy from an embarrassing silence. She turned to her siblings. "Malcolm, take the Athena cabin, activate play twenty-three along the way, just like I showed you. Hold that position."

"You got it."

"I'll go with Sylvie and Percy," she said. "Then we'll join you, or we'll go wherever we're needed."

Somebody in the back of the group said, "Make sure they don't make any detours, Annabeth."

There were some giggles. Sylvie got flustered and tilted her head down, but Percy just ignored them.

"Alright," he said. "Keep in touch with cell phones."

"We don't have cell phones," Silena protested.

Sylvie reached down, picked up some snoring lady's BlackBerry and tossed it to Silena. "You do now."

"You all know Annabeth's number, right?" said Percy. "If you need us, pick up a random phone and call us. Use it once, drop it, then borrow another one if you have to. That should make it harder for the monsters to zero in on you."

Everyone grinned as though they liked this idea.

Travis cleared his throat. "Uh, if we find a really nice phone—"

"No, you can't keep it," Percy said.

"Aw, man."

"Hold it, Jackson," Florian said. "You forgot the Lincoln Tunnel."

Percy cursed. Florian was right. A Sherman tank and a hundred monsters were marching through that tunnel right now, and Percy had positioned their forces everywhere else.

Then a girl's voice called from across the street: "How about you leave that to us?"

A band of thirty adolescent girls crossed Fifth Avenue. They wore white shirts, silvery camouflage pants, and combat boots. They all had swords at their sides, quivers on their backs, and bows at the ready. A pack of white timber wolves milled around their feet, and many of the girls had hunting falcons on their arms.

The girl in the lead had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess's tiara, which didn't match her skull earrings or her Death to Barbie T-shirt showing a little Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried.

The daughter of Zeus grinned. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting for duty."

Sylvie was first to run and give her a hug. There were embraces and greetings all around... or at least Thalia was friendly. The other Hunters didn't like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn't shoot any of them, which for the Hunters was a pretty warm welcome.

"Where have you been the last year?" Sylvie asked Thalia. "You've got like twice as many Hunters now!"

She laughed. "Long, long story. I bet my adventures were more dangerous than Jackson's, though."

"Complete lie," Percy said.

"We'll see," she promised. "After this is over, you, Annabeth, Sylvie, and me: cheeseburgers and fries at that hotel on West 57th."

"Le Parker Meridien," Percy said. "You're on. And Thalia, thanks."

She shrugged. "Those monsters won't know what hit them. Hunters, move out!"

She slapped her silver bracelet, and the shield Aegis spiraled into full form. The golden head of Medusa molded in the center was so horrible, the campers all backed away. The Hunters took off down the avenue, followed by their wolves and falcons, and Sylvie had a feeling that Lincoln Tunnel would be safe for now.

"Thank the gods," Sylvie breathed.

"Well," Annabeth started, "if we don't blockade the rivers from those boats, guarding the bridges and tunnels will be pointless."

"You're right," Percy said.

Sylvie looked at the campers, all of them grim and determined. Sylvie tried not to feel like this was the last time she'd ever see them all together.

"You're the greatest heroes of this millennium," Percy told them. "It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely, and we'll win." He raised Riptide and shouted, "FOR OLYMPUS!"

They shouted in response, and their forty-five voices echoed off the buildings of Midtown. For a moment it sounded brave, but it died quickly in the silence of ten million sleeping New Yorkers.

Sylvie, Percy, and Annabeth would've had their pick of cars, but the cars were all wedged in bumper-to-bumper traffic. None of the engines were running, which was weird. It seemed the drivers had time to turn off the ignition before they got too sleepy. Or maybe Morpheus had the power to put engines to sleep as well. Most of the drivers had apparently tried to pull to the curb when they felt themselves passing out, but still the streets were too clogged to navigate.

Finally they found an unconscious courier leaning against a brick wall, still straddling his red Vespa. They dragged him off the scooter and laid him on the sidewalk.

"Sorry, dude," Percy said.

Sylvie hoped they'd be able to bring his scooter back. If they didn't, it would hardly matter, because the city would be destroyed.

She really didn't like the idea of riding this Vespa, however safe Percy and Annabeth tried to convince her it was. Sylvie was still the same Sylvie who got freaked out by little things like this.

"I won't let you fall," Percy had told her. "Just wrap your arms around my waist, and you'll be fine."

So Percy drove with Sylvie behind him, holding onto his waist. Annabeth was behind her, doing the same to Sylvie, but she certainly wasn't as close to her as Sylvie was to Percy.

They zigzagged down Broadway with their engine buzzing through the eerie calm. The only sounds were occasional cell phones ringing—like they were calling out to each other, as if New York had turned into a giant electronic aviary.

Sylvie, Percy, and Annabeth's progress was slow. Every so often they'd come across pedestrians who'd fallen asleep right in front of a car, and they'd move them just to be safe. Once they stopped to extinguish a pretzel vendor's cart that had caught on fire. A few minutes later they had to rescue a baby carriage that was rolling aimlessly down the street. It turned out there was no baby in it—just somebody's sleeping poodle. Go figure. They parked it safely in a doorway and kept driving.

They were passing Madison Square Park when Annabeth said, "Pull over!"

Percy stopped in the middle of the street. Annabeth jumped off and ran toward the park. By the time Sylvie and Percy caught up with her, she was staring at a bronze statue on a red marble pedestal.

The dude was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed. He wore an old-fashioned suit—Abraham Lincoln style—with a bow tie and long coattails and stuff. A bunch of bronze books were piled under his chair. He held a writing quill in one hand and a big metal sheet of parchment in the other.

"Why do we care about..." Sylvie squinted at the name on the pedestal. "William H. Steward?"

"Seward," Annabeth corrected. "He was a New York governor. Minor demigod—son of Hebe, I think. But that's not important. It's the statue I care about."

She climbed on a park bench and examined the base of the statue.

"Don't tell us he's an automaton," Percy said.

Annabeth smiled. "Turns out most of the statues in the city are automatons. Daedalus planted them here just in case he needed an army."

"Um, to attack Olympus or defend it?" Sylvie asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "Either one. That was plan twenty-three. He could activate one statue and it would start activating the other automatons all over the city, until there was an army. It's dangerous, though. You guys know how unpredictable automatons are."

"Uh-huh," Sylvie said. They'd had their share of bad experiences with them. "You're seriously thinking about activating it?"

"I have Daedalus's notes," she said. "I think I can... Ah, here we go."

She pressed the top of Seward's boot and the statue stood up, its quill and paper ready.

"What's he going to do?" Percy muttered. "Take a memo?"

"Shh," Annabeth said. "Hello, William."

"Bill," Sylvie suggested.

"Bill... Oh, shut up," Annabeth told her. The statue tilted its head, looking at them with blank metal eyes.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Hello, er, Governer Seward. Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Defend Manhattan. Begin Activation."

Seward jumped off his pedestal. He hit the ground so hard his shoes cracked the sidewalk. Then he went clanking off toward the east.

"He's probably going to wake up Confucius," Annabeth guessed.

"What?"

"Another statue on Division. The point is, they'll keep waking each other up until they're all activated."

"And then?" Percy asked.

"Hopefully," said Annabeth, "they defend Manhattan."

"Do they know that we're not the enemy?"

"I think so."

"That's reassuring," Sylvie squeaked.

Then a ball of green light exploded in the evening sky. Greek fire, somewhere over the East River.

"We have to hurry," Percy said. And they ran for the Vespa.

They parked outside another park (why were there so many?) at the lower tip of Manhattan where the Hudson and East Rivers came together and emptied into the bay.

"Wait here," Percy told Sylvie and Annabeth.

"Perce," Sylvie protested, "you shouldn't go alone."

"Well, unless you can breathe underwater..."

She exhaled sharply. "You're so annoying, you know that?"

"Why, Duvall, because I'm right?" Percy smirked. "Trust me, I'll be fine. I've got the curse of Achilles now. I'm all invincible and stuff."

Sylvie didn't feel convinced. She looked over at Annabeth to gauge her thoughts, because she trusted Annabeth's judgment more than anyone. Annabeth just shrugged, like they didn't have any better options.

"Just be careful," Sylvie told him, caving finally. "I don't want anything to happen to you. I mean, because we need you for the battle."

"Always worried about me," Percy's grin grew. "Back in a flash."

He clambered down the shoreline and waded into the water. For a minute or so, Sylvie and Annabeth stood in silence.

"Wow," said Annabeth.

Sylvie stiffened. "Don't say a word."

"Oh, I have lots of words to say," Annabeth began to sound smug. In a deep voice, she mocked, "Always worried about me—"

"Annabeth, please," she begged.

"I won't let you fall. Wrap your arms around me waist—"

"Okay, stop—"

"I want Sylv with me, blah blah blah," Annabeth teased.

Sylvie glared. "Are you done now?"

"I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life," she said. "You know how long I've been waiting for this?"

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for this?"

"Oh, no," Annabeth shook her head. "I've tried telling you for over a year. And no. It's always he could never like me back or this is such a lost cause and Annabeth, will he ever like me back?"

"I don't sound like that," Sylvie grumbled.

Adorning a southern accent, Annabeth echoed, "I don't sound like that."

"Alright, you're supposed to be the one that's actually nice to me," she complained.

"Sorry," though she didn't sound very sorry at all, "I just love being right."

"We still don't know if you are."

"Oh, my gods you have got to be kidding me."

"What?! We don't!"

Sylvie and Annabeth went back and forth like this for a few more minutes, Annabeth insisting why it was obviously plain to see that Percy was head over heels for Sylvie. Every time, Sylvie came up with an argument to dispute that, but she didn't know why, because she should want the intensity of her feelings for Percy to be reciprocated. But in the end, Sylvie was always so scared. Even this thing with Percy, the one thing that shouldn't scare her, still made her feel timid in the end. The more real the two of them became, the more Sylvie's brain conjured up poisonous thoughts that made her cower. It always came down to one thing, really: the people Sylvie loved seeing her in the same way she saw herself.

Instead of Percy pulling Sylvie out of her anxiety, this time, it was a phone vibrating and ringing in her pocket.

"Oh, shit," she said, pulling out the device that was still going off. "I forgot I still had your phone."

Sylvie tried handing it back to Annabeth, but she just waved a dismissive hand.

"Keep it. I'll just find a civilian's to... borrow."

"Are you sure?" Sylvie worried.

"Yeah," she grinned. "You're getting pretty good at this 'leader' stuff, anyways."

Sylvie could really beg to differ—like really—but the phone was going off, and it was more than likely an emergency. Someone needed to answer the call before it was too late.

"Hello? It's Sylvie!" she greeted.

"Hey, Sylvie, it's Michael," he said. "We've got a little—uh—situation."

"What is it?" her voice dropped in fear, because the tone of his voice didn't sound very good at all.

"So, yeah, well, you know, everything's basically fine. Except for the fact that another army is marching over the bridge we're at. And the monster leading them is the Minotaur."

Sylvie felt her heart drop, or maybe speed up. "Are you fucking kidding?"

"I wish I was," said Michael. "We kind of really need any kind of help we can get."

"O-Okay," Sylvie's mind was running a million miles per hour. This is why Annabeth should be the one with this phone. She lied about Sylvie being able to be even a semblance of a leader. But still, she tried, "Well, I'll see who else we can get, but I know for sure that Percy, Annabeth, and I will be on our way. Is that okay?"

"That's perfect," he exhaled gratefully. In the background, Sylvie could hear shouting and screaming and wailing and clanging. "Thank you so much, Sylvie."

"See you soon, Michael," Sylvie's shaky voice managed out.

She hung up, and Percy suddenly appeared on the shore. Sylvie felt (and probably looked) thoroughly shaken, something that Annabeth eyed her anxiously for, but Sylvie tried to swallow her fear for what Percy had to say.

"It worked," Percy said. "The rivers are safe."

"Good," Sylvie said. "Because we've got another problem. Michael Yew just called. Another army is marching over the Williamsburg Bridge. The Apollo cabin needs help. And, Percy, the monster leading the enemy... it's the Minotaur."

╰━━━ ◦ ❀ ◦ ❀◦ ━━━╯

BAILEY YAPS...

This one goes out to Annabeth Chase finally getting to witness the Persylv dub she's been praying for since Sea of Monsters

If only Grover was here

Something something about Annabeth telling Sylvie she's getting good at being a leader Something something about that's the last thing Sylvie wanted to end up being but here she is

Sylvie I'm hugging you Mickey I'm hugging you Florian I'm hugging you Cedar I'm hugging you You guys stay safe out there okay

Michael Yew I've grown quite fond of you I'm so glad nothing bad will happen

Apollo kids I love how there are the most of you guys here I'm so glad nothing bad will happen

Lmfao