CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

₊˚࿐࿔ 𖥧‧₊⚘ ❀༉. 𓏲｡

Fortunately, Blackjack was on duty.

Percy did his best taxicab whistle, and within a few minutes, three dark shapes circled out of the sky. They looked like hawks at first, but as they descended Sylvie could make out the long galloping legs of pegasi.

Blackjack landed at a trot, his two friends right behind him.

(Queue equine greeting.)

"Thanks for coming," Percy told him. "Hey, why do pegasi gallop as they fly, anyway?"

"Is that seriously what you're thinking about right now?" Sylvie hissed.

"It's a valid question!"

(Queue equine answer.)

"We need to get to the Williamsburg bridge," Percy answered whatever question Blackjack had asked.

On the way to the bridge, the knot grew in Sylvie's stomach. The Minotaur was a horrible monster with an even more horrible past, part of that including Percy killing him four years ago. Sylvie couldn't imagine he'd be very happy about that, or be very easy to defeat a second time. It didn't ease her anxiety that Percy seemed really confident now that he bore the curse of Achilles. Not that it was essentially a bad thing to be invincible, but it could certainly make him more reckless.

His normal state of recklessness already brought Sylvie to constant panic, so now she had to worry about him an extra amount.

They saw the battle before they were close enough to make out individual fighters. It was well after midnight now, but the bridge blazed with light. Cars were burning. Arcs of fire streamed in both directions as flaming arrows and spears sailed through the air.

They came in for a low pass, and Sylvie saw the Apollo campers retreating. They would hide behind cars and snipe at the approaching army, setting off explosive arrows and dropping caltrops in the road, building fiery barricades wherever they could, dragging sleeping drivers out of their cars to get them out of harm's way. But the enemy kept advancing. An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead, their shields locked together, spear tips bristling over the top. An occasional arrow would connect with their snaky trunks, or a neck, or a fissure in their armor, and the unlucky snake woman would disintegrate, but most of the Apollo arrows glanced harmlessly off their shield wall. About a hundred more monsters marched behind them.

Hellhounds leaped ahead of the line from time to time. Most were destroyed with arrows, but one got hold of an Apollo camper and dragged him away. Sylvie didn't see what happened to him next. She didn't want to know.

"There!" Annabeth called from the back of her pegasus.

Sure enough, in the middle of the invading legion was the Minotaur himself.

Sylvie had never seen the Minotaur in real life—sure, she'd seen pictures and heard stories, but she wasn't like Percy, who had the unfortunate luck of meeting him before. She could see now though that the Minotaur was prepared for battle.

From the waist down, he wore standard Greek battle gear—a kiltlike apron of leather and metal flaps, bronze greaves covering his legs, and tightly wrapped leather sandals. His top was all bull—hair and hide and muscle leading to a head so large he should've toppled over just from the weight of his horns. He seemed at least ten feet tall. A double-bladed axe was strapped to his back, but he was too impatient to use it. Suddenly, he caught Percy circling overhead and bellowed, picking up a white limousine.

"Blackjack, dive!" Percy yelled.

(Queue equine panic.)

They were at least a hundred feet up, but the limo came sailing toward them, flipping fender over fender like a two-ton boomerang. Sylvie screamed, holding onto her pegasus for dear life as they swerved madly to the left. Annabeth's pegasus jerked the same way, but to the right, while Blackjack tucked in his wings and plunged. The limo sailed over Percy's head, missing by maybe two inches. It cleared the suspension lines of the bridge and fell toward the East River.

Monsters jeered and shouted, and the Minotaur picked up another car.

"Drop us behind the lines with the Apollo cabin," Percy told Blackjack. "Stay in earshot but get out of danger!"

The three pegasi swooped down behind an overturned school bus where a few of the demigods were hiding. Sylvie could've sworn there was more Apollo campers than this, but she didn't have time to fully process the depth of that thought. She, Percy, and Annabeth had to leap off as soon as their pegasi's hooves touched the pavement. Then the pegasi soared into the night sky.

Michael Yew ran up to them. He was definitely the sortest commando Sylvie had ever seen. He had a bandaged cut on his arm. His ferrety face was smeared with soot and his quiver was almost empty, but he was smiling like he was having a great time.

"Glad you could join us," he said. "Where are the other reinforcements?"

"Everyone else is preoccupied," Sylvie told him. "For now, we're it."

"Then we're dead."

"You still have your flying chariot?" Percy asked.

"Nah," Michael said. "Left it at camp. I told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever, you know? Not worth fighting about anymore. But she said it was too late. We'd insulted her honor for the last time or something."

"Least you tried," he said.

Michael shrugged. "Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped—Here come the uglies!"

He drew an arrow and launched it toward the enemy. The arrow made a screaming sound as it flew. When it landed, it unleashed a blast like a power chord on an electric guitar magnified through the world's largest speakers. The nearest cars exploded. Monsters dropped their weapons and clasped their ears in pain. Some ran. Others disintegrated on the spot.

"That was my last sonic arrow," Michael said.

"A gift from your dad?" Annabeth asked. "God of music?"

Michael grinned wickedly. "Loud music can be bad for you. Unfortunately, it doesn't always kill."

Sylvie knew that for sure. After living with Florian for six years, it was a quickly learned lesson. Sure enough, most monsters were regrouping, shaking off their confusion.

"We have to fall back," Michael said. "I've got Kayla and Austin setting traps farther down the bridge."

"No," Percy said. "Bring your campers forward to this position and wait for my signal. We're going to drive the enemy back to Brooklyn."

Michael laughed. "How do you plan to do that?"

Percy drew his sword.

"Percy," Annabeth glared.

"No way," said Sylvie, "let us come with you."

"Too dangerous," he said. "Besides, I need you two to help Michael coordinate the defensive line. I'll distract the monsters. You group up here. Move the sleeping mortals out of the way. Then you can start picking off monsters while I keep them focusing on me. If anybody can do all that, you can."

Michael snorted. "Thanks a lot."

Percy kept his eyes on Sylvie. So much going on behind those sea-green eyes.

Sylvie nodded reluctantly. "Alright. Get moving."

She started walking away, but a hand pressed on her chest and pushed her backwards again. "Wait a minute," Percy tilted his head, like come on.

"What?" Sylvie asked, worried she'd forgotten something

Hand still keeping Sylvie where he wanted her, Percy said, "Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of tradition, right?"

Sylvie figured she would keel over. Instead, she found it kind of fun to give Percy payback for all of those years of pining she went through.

"You wish," Sylvie grinned.

"I do wish," Percy nodded. "I really, really do."

Sylvie drew her daggers, shrugging like that was too bad. "Come back alive, Fishstick. Then we'll see."

If she waited four years, he could wait a little too.

"I'm holding you to that," he said eagerly. Then he stepped out from behind the school bus. Percy walked up the bridge in plain sight, straight toward the enemy.

Sylvie pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She had to restrain herself from getting dazed when she realized this was real—They were kind of in the middle of a battle. Sylvie had to tune out the sound of Percy's voice shouting at the Minotaur so she could focus. She, Annabeth, and Michael began coordinating the defensive line.

Sylvie got Will Solace to help her move the sleeping mortals out of the way while Annabeth and Michael grouped up the rest of the cabin where Percy told them to. Sylvie tried not to think too much about the blood that covered Will. Or the shakiness of his hands. She knew he was more of a healer than any other role that the Apollo kids took on. She wondered how many of his siblings he'd been trying to heal before this.

"Are you okay?" Sylvie asked, setting a toddler down and out of harm's way.

Will did the same with the kid's (supposed) father. It took him a while to even gather his voice. He tried wiping the sweat off his forehead, but all that did was smear more blood onto his skin. So much blood.

"I'll be fine," he managed.

"Will..."

"I'll be fine, Sylvie," Will insisted. He sounded so old for a thirteen-year-old.

"If you need to stop and take a br—"

"I'll be fine."

Sylvie sighed. Maybe he thought if he said it a third time, Sylvie would believe him. She decided to drop it, even if she didn't want to.

"Okay, there's a few more mortals over there," Sylvie muttered. "Let's move them then group back up."

As Sylvie brought the few remaining mortals over to safety, she spared a glance over to Percy only once. She looked just in time to see Percy run the Minotaur through with his own axe handle. Sylvie blinked in shock to see he was perfectly fine, despite having been fighting the Minotaur this whole time. The curse of Achilles really seemed to be working its magic.

Sylvie and Will sped up their task as the Minotaur disintegrated. They didn't know what would happen now that the leader of the enemies' army was gone, and they couldn't afford to wait and find out. When they were done, they rushed back over to the school bus where Percy instructed them to go.

Sylvie could do nothing but watch as Percy charged at the army, one hundred and ninety-nine to one. The invincibility on his side was almost magical. She almost felt herself falling in love with Percy Jackson a millionth time as she watched it happen.

Percy sliced through armor like it was made of paper. Snake women exploded. Hellhounds melted to shadow. Percy slashed and stabbed and whirled, and—once or twice—let out a crazy laugh that scared the enemies but attracted Sylvie. Behind him, Apollo campers shot arrows and Sylvie wrapped them with thorny vines that made monsters disintegrate when the forestry squeezed. Their combined forces disrupted every attempt by the enemy to rally. Finally, the monsters turned and fled—about twenty left alive out of two hundred.

Percy followed with Sylvie, Annabeth, and the Apollo campers at his heels.

"Yes!" yelled Michael Yew. "That's what I'm talking about!"

They drove the army back toward the Brooklyn side of the bridge. The sky was growing pale in the east. 

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "You've already routed them. Pull back! We're overextended!"

Sylvie knew Annabeth was right, and even if she didn't, she would've trusted Annabeth enough to believe her. But, just like Sylvie feared, Percy was getting so confident because of his success in battle. He was getting reckless.

Then they saw the crowd at the base of the bridge. The retreating monsters were running straight toward their reinforcements. It was a small group, maybe thirty or forty demigods in battle armor, mounted on skeletal horses. One of them held a purple banner with the black scythe design.

The lead horseman trotted forward. He took off his helm, and Sylvie recognized Kronos himself, his eyes like molten gold. Sylvie couldn't decipher faces because of the armor they wore, but she knew the woman riding right next to him had to be Eurydice.

She faltered with Annabeth and the Apollo campers. The monsters they'd been pursuing reached the Titan's line and were absorbed into the new force. Kronos gazed in their direction. He was a quarter mile away, but Sylvie swore she could see him smile.

"Now," Percy said, "we pull back."

The Titan lord's warriors drew their swords and charged. The hooves of their skeletal horses thundered against the pavement. The Apollo archers shot a volley, bringing down several of the enemy, but they just kept riding.

"Retreat!" Percy told his friends. "I'll hold them!"

There was no way in Hades that Sylvie was listening to him. While Michael and his archers tried to retreat, she and Annabeth stayed. Annabeth was near, fighting with her knife and mirrored shield. Sylvie was right beside Percy, utilizing Halcyon, Cerael, and her chlorokinesis as the trio slowly backed up the bridge.

Kronos's cavalry swirled around them, slashing and yelling insults The Titan himself advanced leisurely, like he had all the time in the world. Being the lord of time, Sylvie guessed he did.

Sylvie tried to push out the thought that Eurydice was here as she fought. Like most things, though, she failed. She couldn't stand the thought of killing these warriors around her. Just like Eurydice, they were demigods. They had probably been Sylvie's friends. The only thing Sylvie could bring herself to do was wound them.

She whipped vines, knocking skeletal mounts over, and if that didn't work, she slashed the legs of the horses to make them disintegrate. After the first few took a spill, the rest figured they'd better dismount and fight on foot.

Sylvie and Percy stayed shoulder to shoulder, facing opposite directions. She couldn't see where Annabeth was, so she figured the daughter of Athena was on the other side where Percy was turned towards.

A dark shape passed over Sylvie, and she dared to glance up. Blackjack and his two pegasi friends were swooping in, kicking their enemies in the helmets and flying away like very large kamikaze pigeons.

They'd almost made it to the middle of the bridge when it happened.

Sylvie had just slashed back one demigod when she saw another about to strike for Percy. She couldn't explain the feeling, or why she felt it, but it had Sylvie moving out of instinct. Despite knowing Percy was invincible.

She lunged in front of Percy's back, and the knife struck her right in the shoulder.

Sylvie cried out on pain. It wasn't her first time getting stabbed like this, but it hurt a million times worse than the first.

"Sylvie!" she heard Percy and Annabeth and maybe even Eurydice call in unison as Sylvie fell, clutching her arm in pain.

It hurt. It hurt so bad that Sylvie could barely breathe. It had only been mere seconds since the hit landed, but Sylvie's eyesight was already getting foggy. The burning flames of pain were spreading throughout her arm. Above, Percy and Annabeth were putting together the pieces of what happened.

The enemy demigod was still holding the knife used on Sylvie, now coated in her blood. Her hazy mind couldn't help but think it might've been Eurydice who stabbed her. This scene felt too familiar. It made the pain in her arm worsen.

Percy dared his eyes to glance down at Sylvie once, taking in her curled up frame, letting out pained grunts and whimpers. Then his eyes narrowed dangerously, but it wasn't on Sylvie.

He slammed the demigod in the face with his sword hilt so hard that Percy dented his helm.

"Get the fuck back!" Percy slashed the air in a wide arc, driving the rest of the demigods away from Sylvie. "No one touches her!"

"Interesting," Kronos said.

Sylvie blinked away the fogginess in her vision, whimpering in agony again. Kronos towered above her and Percy on his skeletal horse, his scythe in one hand. He studied the scene with narrowed eyes, the way a wolf can smell fear. Sylvie's brain vaguely registered the threat at Kronos being so close, but there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't move an inch without black spots threatening to overtake her vision. Pain blazed where blood poured from her shoulder. It was so intense that Sylvie began to sob.

"Bravely fought, Percy Jackson," he said. "But it's time to surrender... or the girl dies."

"Perce, don't," Sylvie groaned. Her shirt was soaked entirely with blood. This had happened before. This had happened before. This had happened before.

"Blackjack!" Percy yelled.

As fast as light, the pegasus swooped down and clamped on the straps of Sylvie's armor. She cried out as the pain doubled at the sudden movement. She tried hanging on a little longer, for Percy's sake, but this was the final straw for her dying body.

Sylvie fell unconscious, her last thought being something akin to loving Percy.

╰━━━ ◦ ❀ ◦ ❀◦ ━━━╯ 

BAILEY YAPS...

She's got that dog in her and they're tryna euthanize it😭😭😭🙏

Persylv save me This healed my trauma of the past 18 years I am no longer sad I am no longer hurting This was everything to me

Who's going to tell thirteen year old Sylvie that one day that kid from the strawberry fields would make sure he keeps himself alive because she said she'll kiss him if he does

Who's going to tell thirteen year old Sylvie that one day that kid from the strawberry fields would go crazy in front of everyone (even the Titan lord) because she got hurt

Who's going to tell y'all that the strawberry fields have been tainted and rotted for Sylvie because of Eurydice but it's where she met Percy and suddenly they don't seem so horrible anymore

Anyways Sylvie keeps catching stab wounds like crazy lmfao...

Chapter title reference if this is anything