CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

₊˚࿐࿔ 𖥧‧₊⚘ ❀༉. 𓏲｡

Just as Sylvie predicted, the enemy was closing in on the Empire State Building.

The Hunters had set up a defensive line on 37th, a street just two blocks north of Olympus. To the east on Park Avenue, Jake Mason and some other Hephaestus campers were leading an army of statues against the enemy. To the west, Sylvie, her Demeter siblings, and Grover's nature spirits had turned Sixth Avenue into a jungle that was hampering a squadron Kronos's demigods. The south was clear for now, but the flanks of the enemy army were swinging around. A few more minutes and they'd be totally surrounded.

Sylvie glanced her head only slightly towards the southeast corner. She spotted that Annabeth and two of her siblings were holding back a Hyperborean giant. Three surely wasn't enough numbers to take it down.

"Sylv!" Katie called out. "Go help her, we're fine over here!"

Sylvie looked away from Annabeth. "Are you sure?"

"Positive!" Miranda nodded. And, well, by the looks of it, they did.

"Just make sure to—"

"Keep our defenses up," Florian finished. "We know!"

"Stay safe, Sylv!" Cedar demanded.

Sylvie nodded. "You, too," she said, and then she was off.

She plunged toward the battle, heading towards Annabeth, Malcolm, and Unknown-Athena-Kid. Sylvie's right arm hurt like hell, and her energy was at an all time low, but she couldn't stand the thought of any of them getting badly hurt.

"Look out!" Sylvie shouted as she ran closer. The three Athena siblings scattered out of her line of sight, right as the ground began to quake.

Sylvie directed both of her arms forward, and two thick vines grew from behind her. They shot towards the Hyperborean giant, preventing him from moving anywhere.

Then Percy fell out of the sky (???).

As the Hyperborean giant wiggled helplessly to be freed of his plant-like chains, Percy landed on the giant's head. When the giant looked up, Percy slid off his face, shield-bashing his nose on the way down.

"RAWWWR!" The giant staggered backward so much that the vines wrapped around him ripped apart. Blue blood trickled from his nostrils.

Percy hit the pavement running. The Hyperborean breathed a cloud of white mist, and the temperature dropped. The spot where Percy landed was now coated with ice, and he was covered in front like a sugar donut.

"Hey, ugly!" Annabeth yelled.

Blue Boy bellowed and turned toward her, exposing the unprotected back of his legs. Sylvie and Percy charged in unison, stabbing him behind either knee.

"WAAAAH!" The Hyperborean buckled. Sylvie waited for him to turn, but he froze. Like—he literally turned to solid ice. From the point where Sylvie and Percy stabbed him, cracks appeared in his body. They got larger and wider until the giant crumbled in a mountain of giant shards.

Percy twirled Riptide around in his hand, just doing a quick circle around his knuckles. "We make a pretty good team, Applejack," he said, casually holding the blade of his sword on top of his shoulders.

Sylvie sent him a smile, but then she winced, trying to catch her breath.

"Thanks," Annabeth came up to them. Then to Percy, "The pig?"

"Pork chops."

"Good job." Sylvie flexed her shoulder. The wound was still bothering her, but she saw Percy's worried/kicked-puppy-dog expression and rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Fishstick. Come on! We've got plenty of enemies left."

She was right. The next hour was a blur. Sylvie fought like she'd never fought before—wading into legions of dracaenae, taking out dozens of telkhines with every strike, destroying empousai and knocking out enemy demigods. No matter how many she defeated, more took their place.

Sylvie, Percy, and Annabeth raced from block to block, trying to shore up their defenses. Too many of their friends lay wounded in the streets. Too many were missing.

As the night wore on and the moon got higher, they were backed up foot by foot until they were only a block from the Empire State Building in any direction. At one point Florian was next to Sylvie, and they used their combined forces to create a live and deadly beanstalk to attack their enemies. Then he disappeared in the crowd and it was Grover next to her, bonking snake women over the head with his cudgel. Mrs. O'Leary bounded out of nowhere, picked up a Laistrygonian giant in her mouth, and flung him into the air like a Frisbee. Annabeth used her invisibility cap to sneak behind the enemy lines. Whenever an enemy disintegrated for no apparent reason with a surprised look on their face, Sylvie knew Annabeth had been there.

But it still wasn't enough.

"Hold your lines!" Katie shouted, somewhere off to Sylvie's left.

The problem was there were too few of them to hold anything. The entrance to Olympus was twenty feet behind Sylvie. A ring of brave demigods, Hunters, and nature spirits guarded the doors. Even the invulnerable Percy was getting tired, and he couldn't be everywhere at once. Sylvie had to be moments away from collapsing for the millionth time.

Behind the enemy troops, a few blocks to the east, a bright light began to shine. Sylvie thought it was the sunrise. Then she realized Kronos was riding toward them on a golden chariot. A female demigod in armor sat next to him, someone who could only be Eurydice. A dozen Laistrygonian giants bore torches before them. Two Hyperboreans carried Kronos's black-and-purple banners. The Titan lord looked fresh and rested, his powers at full strength. He was taking his time advancing, letting the half-bloods wear themselves down.

Annabeth took off her invisibility cap. "We have to fall back to the doorway. Hold it all costs!"

She was right. Sylvie was praying Percy was about to order a retreat when she heard the hunting horn.

It cut through the noise of the battle like a fire alarm. A chorus of horns answered from all around them, echoing off the buildings of Manhattan.

Sylvie glanced at Thalia, but she just frowned.

"Not the Hunters," she assured Sylvie. "We're all here."

"Then who?"

The horns got louder. Sylvie couldn't tell where they were coming from because of the echo, but it sounded like an entire army was approaching.

Sylvie was afraid it might be more enemies, but Kronos's forces looked as confused as the demigods were. Giants lowered their clubs. Dracaenae hissed. Even Kronos's honor guard looked uneasy.

Then, to their left, a hundred monsters cried out at once. Kronos's entire northern flank surged forward. Sylvie thought she and her friends were doomed, but they didn't attack. They ran straight past her and crashed into their southern allies.

A new blast of horns shattered the night. The air shimmered. In a blur of movement, an entire cavalry appeared as if dropping out of light speed.

"Yeah, baby!" a voice waled. "PARTY!"

A shower of arrows arced over their heads and slammed into the enemy, vaporizing hundreds of demons. But these weren't regular arrows. They made whizzy sounds as they flew, like WHEEEEEE! Some had pinwheels attached to them. Others had boxing gloves rather than points.

"Centaurs!" Annabeth yelled.

"The Party Ponies!" Sylvie corrected with glee.

The Party Pony army exploded into their midst in a riot of colors: tie-dyed shirts, rainbow Afro wigs, oversize sunglasses, and war-painted faces. Some had slogans scrawled across their flanks like HORSEZ PWN or KRONOS SUX.

Hundreds of them filled the entire block. Sylvie's brain couldn't process everything she saw, but she knew if she were the enemy, she'd be running.

"Percy!" Chiron shouted across the sea of wild centaurs. He was dressed in armor from the waist up, his bow in his hand, and he was grinning in satisfaction. "Sorry we're late!"

"DUDE!" Another centaur yelled "Talk later. WASTE MONSTERS NOW!"

He locked and loaded a double-barrel paint gun and blasted an enemy hellhound bright pink. The paint must've been mixed with celestial bronze dust or something, because as soon as it splattered the hellhound, the monster yelped and dissolved into a pink-and-black puddle.

"PARTY PONIES! a Cajun centaur yelled. "NOLA CHAPTER!"

Somewhere across the battlefield, a twangy voice yelled back, "HEART OF TEXAS CHAPTER!"

"HAWAII OWNS YOUR FACES!" a third one shouted.

It was the most beautiful thing Sylvie had ever seen. The entire Titan army turned and fled, pushed back by a flood of paintballs, arrows, swords, and NERF baseball bats. The centaurs trampled everything in their path.

"Stop running, you fools!" Kronos yelled. "Stand and ACKK!"

The last part was because a panicked Hyperborean giant stumbled backward and sat on top of him. The lord of time disappeared under a giant blue butt.

They pushed the enemies for several blocks until Chiron yelled "HOLD! On your promise, HOLD!"

It wasn't easy, but eventually the order got relayed up and down the ranks of centaurs, and they started to pull back, letting the enemy flee.

"Chiron's smart," Annabeth said, wiping the sweat off her face. "If we pursue, we'll get too spread out. We need to regroup."

Percy protested, "But the enemy—"

"They're not defeated," Sylvie agreed. "But the morning is coming. At least we've bought some time."

Any argument fell away from Percy at Sylvie's insistence. He just watched as the last of the telkhines scuttled toward the East River. Then Percy grabbed Sylvie's healthy hand, turned, and headed back toward the Empire State Building.

They set up a two-block perimeter, with a command tent at the Empire State Building. Chiron informed them that the Party Ponies had sent chapters from almost every state in the Union: forty from California, two from Rhode Island, thirty from Illinois... Roughly five hundred total had answered his call, but even with that many, they couldn't defend more than a few blocks.

"Dude," said a centaur named Larry. His T-shirt identified him as BIG CHIEF UBER GUY, NEW MEXICO CHAPTER. "That was more fun than our last convention in Vegas!"

"Yeah," said Owen from South Dakota. He wore a black leather jacket and an old WWII army helmet. "We totally wasted them!"

Chiron patted Owen on the back. "You did well, my friends, but don't get careless. Kronos should never be underestimated. Now why don't you visit the diner on West 33rd and get some breakfast? I hear the Delaware chapter found a stash of root beer."

"Root beer!" They almost trampled each other as they galloped off.

Chiron smiled. Annabeth gave him a big hug, and Mrs. O'Leary licked his face.

"Ack," he grumbled. "Enough of that, dog. Yes, I'm glad to see you too."

"Chiron, thanks," Percy said. "Talk about saving the day."

"Yeah, we were getting pretty fuc—" Sylvie's eyes widened, and she retracted her statement. "Pretty screwed."

Chiron shrugged. "I'm sorry it took so long. Centaurs travel fast, as you know. We can bend distance as we ride. Even so, getting all the centaurs together was no easy task. The Party Ponies are not exactly organized."

"How'd you get through the magic defenses around the city?" Annabeth asked.

"They slowed us down a bit," Chiron admitted, "but I think they're intended mostly to keep mortals out. Kronos doesn't want puny humans getting in the way of his great victory."

"So maybe other reinforcements can get through," Sylvie said hopefully.

Chiron stroked his beard. "Perhaps, though time is short. As soon as Kronos regroups, he will attack again. Without the element of surprise on our side..."

Sylvie understood what he meant. Kronos wasn't beaten. Not by a long shot. She half hoped Kronos had been squashed under that Hyperborean giant's butt, but Sylvie knew better. He'd be back, tonight at the latest.

"And Typhon?" Percy asked.

Chiron's face darkened. "The gods are tiring. Dionysus was incapacitated yesterday. Typhon smashed his chariot, and the wine god went down somewhere in the Appalachians. No one has seen him since. Hephaestus is out of action as well. He was thrown from the battle so hard he created a new lake in West Virginia. He will heal, but not soon enough to help. The others still fight. They've managed to slow Typhon's approach. But the monster cannot be stopped. He will arrive in New York by this time tomorrow. Once he and Kronos combine forces—"

"Then what chance do we have?" Percy said. "We can't hold out another day."

"We'll have to," Thalia said. "I'll see about setting some new traps around the perimeter."

She looked exhausted. Her jacket was smeared in grime and monster dust, but she managed to get to her feet and stagger off.

"I will help her," Chiron decided. "I should make sure my brethren don't go too overboard with the root beer."

Sylvie thought "too overboard" pretty much summed up the Party Ponies, but Chiron cantered off. She watched as Annabeth cleaned the monster slime off her knife, and Percy kept his eyes glued on the blade. There was clearly something he wanted to ask Annabeth.

"I'm gonna go check on my siblings," Sylvie said.

She turned to walk away, but Percy clapped a hand on her left shoulder. "You're—uh—you're okay right?"

"I'm okay," Sylvie confirmed, smiling. "You?"

Percy's eyes trailed up and down Sylvie before he even responded. "I'm great," he answered eventually.

She nodded, turning her head before her ridiculous grin grew to be an embarrassing beam. Just as Sylvie said, she found where her siblings were trying to produce as much food for everyone as possible with the few ingredients they had. It was part of being a Demeter kid—they tended to be amazing cooks, for some reason. Well, Cedar wasn't doing anything food-related. He was helping Will heal up the injured members of their army, but he was staying by his siblings as if he were a nature spirit and they were his life force.

"Hey," Sylvie murmured. All of her siblings' heads whipped up, exhaling in relief to see their middle sister. "Sorry I haven't been with you guys that much."

"Are you kidding?" Miranda snorted. "You're literally, like, helping lead our forces to save Olympus."

Sylvie refrained from making a grimacing expression about that. She didn't know how much saving Olympus they were going to be doing in the future, but she was glad her sister was holding out hope. It would crush Sylvie to see that defeated look on Miranda's features. It was always a heartbreaking expression.

So she just shrugged with her healthy shoulder. "Yeah, well. I still feel bad."

Cedar seemed to notice the lack of use of Sylvie's right arm, as did the rest of the Demeter campers. "How's your shoulder?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing in a heavy amount of worry.

Sylvie forced a smile onto her face as she rubbed the top of Cedar's head fondly. "Better than ever, Cedar. Don't worry about me."

Behind Cedar, Florian and Katie shot Sylvie disbelieving looks. They saw through her lie, but they also understood that making Cedar any more panicked than he already was would be like shooting a wounded, innocent kitten. No one would willingly do that.

"Are you sure? Because I'd recommend you eat some abrosia, but I know you've probably had too much recently so I could probably whip up one of those energizing flowers—"

"Cedar," Sylvie smiled kindly at her little brother, "you're really doing so great at helping everyone out. I'm really proud of you. Seriously, you don't have to worry about me. I'm sure there's a bunch of other people that could use your help."

Cedar frowned, staring at Sylvie analytically, like he was trying to spot a lie. Luckily, Sylvie was getting good at hiding her pain from him. He just lunged forward and squeezed Sylvie tightly in a hug—She returned it, holding back a wince as he put too much pressure on her arm. Then he let go in what seemed to be approval before running back over to the wounded.

"Are we sure your fatal flaw isn't being a total fucking liar?" Florian raised an eyebrow, the moment Cedar was out of earshot.

Sylvie stuck her tongue out at him.

Florian gestured to her. "The designated heroine of this war, ladies and gentleman. How mature."

"Alright, Florian, you try doing this shit," Sylvie said. "Go create an earthquake, kill a Titan with a tree, and make the twelve-year-old have his second panic attack."

"Don't forget stupidly taking a poisoned knife for the boy you're hopelessly in love with," he reminded.

"Ah," Miranda interjected, "not 'hopelessly' anymore. Percy's pathetically down bad for her."

"Guys, can we just be chill for five seconds? Sylv, how about you eat?" Katie pleaded.

"Yeah, Sylv," Travis Stoll suddenly appeared, throwing an arm around Katie and leaning onto her. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"I'm already sick of this," Connor walked up, glaring at Travis and Katie.

"You and me both," Florian grumbled.

Katie was getting increasingly red in the face, but it was a mark of divine intervention that she didn't snap completely on all of them. It was why Sylvie didn't join in on the teasing of Katie and Travis—Travis actually seemed to calm Katie down from her fits of rage. Well, Sylvie was pretty sure Katie would never admit that, but it was clear as day. Seeing her sister so happy and serene almost made all of this war stuff worth it.

"What do y'all have left for food?" Sylvie asked, saving her sister from feeling any more embarrassed.

Katie sent Sylvie a grateful smile, then scrounged through her pack for food. "Uh, there's this sandwich—Oh, it's not vegetarian. Never mind."

"I'll take that," Connor swiftly plucked the turkey-and-cheese delicacy from her hands. Katie didn't even bother to glare.

"Here, I've got a bagel," Katie said. "I can probably whip up a spread to go on top real quick."

"I love you," Sylvie cried in ecstasy as Katie got to work. Travis frowned as he had to remove his arm from Katie to do so, but Sylvie grinned because Katie was the best chef in their cabin.

"On a real note," Florian said as they waited, "how's your arm actually doing?"

"Well, I'm not dying anymore," Sylvie tilted her head.

Florian raised an unamused eyebrow.

"It hurts like a motherfucker, Florian! Is that what you wanted me to say?"

Miranda and Connor laughed at that. While Florian expected the reaction from Miranda, he sent Connor an offended look.

"What?" Connor asked, in the middle of chewing his sandwich. "You kind of deserved that response, dude."

"Whatever," Florian scoffed.

"Alright," Katie said once she was done what she was doing. "Here's your bagel, Sylv. And I made two extra 'cause I figured Percy and Annabeth could eat something, too. You three have been fighting your asses off."

"Katie Gardner!" Travis gasped, mocking being appalled. "Did I just hear you curse?"

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes. Katie handed her sister the three bagels. "You, just go and give these to your friends. Well—Friend and boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"Yet," Katie waved a dismissive hand. "Now go."

Regardless of her urge to defend herself, Sylvie grabbed the three bagels and planned on listening to what Katie ordered of her. "Fine. I'll see all y'all later," she said, pivoting.

As Sylvie was walking away, she could've sworn she heard Travis say, "You're so bossy. It's so hot."

She knew she heard correctly when Florian, Connor, and Miranda broke out into disgusted complaints.

"I come bearing gifts," Sylvie announced her presence, walking up to Percy and Annabeth. She handed Annabeth one bagel, but when she tried to do the same with Percy, he just stared at her oddly. Sylvie frowned. "What?"

"Um... nothing, I guess," Percy blinked out of it, taking the bagel.

For a few minutes, they munched on their snacks in silence. Katie wasn't lying when she said the trio had been fighting their asses off. All three of them seemed desperate for rest or even some semblance of a break—even the one that bore the curse of Achilles. They chowed through the bagels fast. Percy was about to finish his, but it suddenly dropped out of his hands and to the concrete.

"Wh—My bagel!" said Sylvie.

Percy didn't answer. He just started bolting down the street.

"Percy!" Annabeth called. "Where are you going?"

Again, no response. Sylvie and Annabeth shared disgruntled looks, but followed after him regardless.

The object that caught Percy's attention had been a beat-up blue Prius. Sylvie really didn't understand what was so important about it until she got closer. Inside, Paul Blofis (Sally Jackson's boyfriend (Sylvie thinks)) was passed out in the diver's seat. Percy's mom was snoring beside him.

"They... They must've seen those blue lights in the sky." Percy rattled the doors but they were locked. "I need to get them out."

"Perce," Sylvie said gently.

"I can't leave them here!" He sounded a little crazy. He pounded on the windshield. "I have to move them. I have to—"

"Percy, just... just hold on," Sylvie tried calming him down while Annabeth waved to Chiron. He was talking to some centaurs down the block. "We can push the car to a side street, alright? They're going to be fine."

His hands trembled, and he almost looked like he was going to break down. Sylvie couldn't stand the sight of it. She stepped forward, and grabbed both of his hands softly.

"Hey," she whispered. "Perce, look at me."

Sylvie didn't speak again until he did.

"They're going to be fine," Sylvie repeated. "We won't let anything happen to them. I know you won't let anything happen to them. Right?"

Percy still looked a little shaky, and his eyes didn't stay glued to one part of Sylvie's face. They darted around her desperately, like he was still itching to run away and crumble into pieces. Sylvie's left hand slid a little up his until she reached his wrist. With her thumb, she swept it back and forth his pulse point lightly.

"Jackson, hey, you with me?"

"I—" he looked down at where she caressed him, then met her eyes firmly. "Yeah, I'm with you."

She smiled. "Good. It's gonna be alright."

"It's gonna be alright," he echoed.

Chiron suddenly galloped over, and the two of them broke apart. "What's... Oh, dear. I see."

"They were coming to find me," Percy said. "My mom must've sensed something was wrong."

"Most likely," Chiron said. "The best thing we can do for them is stay focused on our job."

After a few beats, Percy muttered, "No way."

Sylvie looked at what caught his attention. In the backseat of the Prius, seat-belted behind Sally, was a black-and-white Greek jar about three feet tall. Its lid was wrapped in a leather harness.

"That's impossible!" Annabeth gaped. "I thought you left that at the Plaza."

"Locked in a vault," Percy agreed.

"What is that?" Sylvie asked. Chiron's eyes were widening, and it all made her feel severely out of the loop.

"Pandora's jar," answered Percy. He told Sylvie about his meeting with Prometheus. Apparently the Titan had given that to Percy. All that was left in the pithos was Hope. Prometheus told Percy that when Percy is ready to surrender to Kronos, he should open it to "give up hope," essentially.

"Then the jar is yours," Chiron said grimly. "It will follow you and tempt you to open it, no matter where you leave it. It will appear when you are weakest."

Like now, Sylvie realized. While Percy was looking at his helpless parents.

Anger dawned on Percy's features. He suddenly drew Riptide and cut through the driver's side window like it was made of plastic wrap.

"We'll put the car in neutral," he said. "Push them out of the way. And take that stupid jar to Olympus."

Chiron nodded. "A good plan. But, Percy..."

Whatever he was going to say, he faltered. A mechanical drumbeat grew loud in the distance—the chop-chop-chop of a helicopter.

After two days of silence, a mortal helicopter was the oddest thing Sylvie had ever heard. A few blocks east, the monster army shouted and jeered as the helicopter came into view. It was a civilian model painted dark red, with a bright green "DE" logo on the side. The words under the logo were too small to read, but Sylvie knew what they said: DARE ENTERPRISES.

Sylvie's throat closed up. Her face went as red as the helicopter. She could feel Percy's stare burning into her, but she ignored it.

"What is she doing here?" Sylvie demanded. "And how the fuck did she get through the barrier?"

"Who?" Chiron looked confused, and bewildered at Sylvie's foul language. "What mortal would be insane enough—"

Suddenly the helicopter pitched forward.

"The Morpheus enchantment!" Chiron said. "The foolish mortal pilot is asleep!"

The helicopter careened sideways, falling toward a row of office buildings. Even if it didn't crash, the gods of the air would probably swat it out of the sky for coming near the Empire State Building.

Annabeth whistled, snapping Sylvie out of her daze. The pegasus that Annabeth had been riding lately swooped out of nowhere. She and Sylvie got ready to mount it, but Sylvie spotted Percy was too paralyzed to move.

"Come on, Percy," Sylvie sighed. "We have to save your friend."

╰━━━ ◦ ❀ ◦ ❀◦ ━━━╯

BAILEY YAPS...

Take a break but Eliza is like everyone and Sylvie, Percy, and Annabeth are Hamilton (shall I call them Persylvabeth???)

Basically fellas so what I'm seeing here is that everyone looks up to Percy as this mighty hero but to Sylvie they're equals and while yes he calms her down every time she's anxious Sylvie can calm him down too and they have this little special thing that they do and

THEY GOT ME MID THOUGHT THEY'RE TRYING TO SILENCE THE VOICES OF PERSYLV SUPPORTERS

Also an entire Demeter-Stoll little scene because I'm growing rather fond of this little found family of theirs