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DAYS IN THE SUN

chapter thirty-seven
❛ 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. ❜

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

      THAT TINY OUNCE of happiness Amara had barely been able to get a glimpse of, was completely wiped away the moment afternoon rolled around.

The camp had come together in unity for the first time in a week, the children of Ares and Apollo calling a truth to attend Charles Beckendorf's burial shroud. Her sadness had disappeared completely, and instead was replaced with a numb feeling. She was sure that was the only thing keeping her semi sane, to keep going.

Amara sat in between Jake Mason and Silena, the older demigods each with a gentle hand holding onto hers. She knew more than anything, it was to keep her from digging her nails into the palm of her hands.

Clarisse and Chris Rodriguez, the daughter of Ares' boyfriend, sat on the other side of the Beauregard girl. The La Rue girl had a gentle arm wrapped around Silena, a soft look that was rarely seen resting on the former's face.

Beckendorf's shroud had been made out of metal links that melted in the fire, turning into golden smoke that rose into the sky. It wasn't long after that the rest of the campers, besides the small group of five, returned to their afternoon activities.

Silena was crying. The older girl cried into her hands, heavy sobs racking her body and Percy made his way over to the mixed group of demigods.

"Silena, Amara," he spoke gently. "I'm really sorry."

The daughter of Aphrodite sniffled, earning the son of Poseidon a glare from the daughter of Ares.

"You know, Beckendorf carried a picture of you three," Percy cleared his throat. Amara stiffened at the words, her hands gripping the son of Hephaestus' tightly as anger started swirling within her. "It was the first and last thing he ever saw during the battle, you guys made these the best years of his life."

Silena sobbed harder, her grip loosening on the daughter of Zeus until she let go completely.

"Good work, Percy," Clarisse muttered.

"No, it's all right," the daughter of Aphrodite said, her hand lowered from her face. "Thank . . . thank you, Percy. I should go."

"You want company?" The La Rue girl jumped to her feet, but the Beauregard girl shook her head and ran off

"She's stronger than she looks," Clarisse muttered, almost to herself. "She'll survive."

"You could help with that," Percy suggested. "You could honor Beckendorf's memory by fighting with us."

Jake Mason looked over his shoulder, his body stiffening at whatever he had seen before turning back to the brunette. "Jada's here," he whispered.

Amara's head whipped over her shoulder, and the Mason boy was right. Chiron stood at the top of the hill, talking to the eldest Beckendorf who held a smile.

The daughter of Ares reached for her knife, probably to threaten the raven haired boy. "Not my problem," she growled as her hand dropped. "My cabin doesn't get honor, I don't fight."

"All right," Percy told her. "I didn't want to bring this up, but you owe me one. You'd be rotting in a cyclops's cave in the sea of monsters if it wasn't for me."

Clarisse's jaw clenched. "Any other favor, Percy, not this. The Ares cabin has been dissed too many times, and don't think I don't know what people say about me behind my back."

"So, what, you're just going to let Kronos crush us?"

"If you want my help so badly, tell Apollo to give us the chariot."

"You're such a big baby."

The daughter of Ares launched herself forward, but her boyfriend was faster and got between the two demigods. "Whoa, guys," Chris held his hands up. "Clarisse, you know, maybe he's got a point."

Clarisse sneered. "Not you too!" She trudged off, the son of Hermes at her heels as he attempted to get her to talk to him again.

Percy turned to Amara, the brunette's gaze locked on the dark skinned woman who was talking to their camp director.

"Mara," her boyfriend spoke. "You know you meant the world to him, right?"

She shrugged, not paying attention while the numb feeling slowly began seeping into rage.

"He wanted me to tell you something," Percy said, earning her electric blue eyes to land on him. What he wasn't expecting, was the hallowed look in her eyes to be replaced with a cold one.

"Save it," she mumbled. Her words taking not only her boyfriend off guard, but Jake Mason too.

"Beauty, it's his finally words," Percy tried reasoning. "Not everyone gets to hear thos—"

"I already told you," Amara spat. "I don't want to hear what he said."

"Amara—"

"Just leave it alone, Percy." She got to her feet, dropping the son of Hephaestus' hand. "They're clearly not worth much, if he's not here to tell me himself."

The children of Poseidon and Hephaestus' faces dropped, shock forming while the younger demigod took off to the hill where her adoptive mother waited. Jada Beckendorf held a puzzled expression, looking at Chiron with her head tilted.

"Amara," the engineer began. She grabbed onto her adoptive daughter's hands, holding them within hers while the centaur held a sad smile.

"Chiron says he has something to tell me about Charles," Jada said. "Where is your brother anyway? I don't see him down there."

A piece of Amara's heart broke when Chiron told the mother what had become of her oldest son, the engineer rapidly shaking her head as her hand covered her mouth.

"No, no," Jada repeated, staggering in place and gripping her adoptive daughter's hand tighter. "No!" She cried, falling to her knees and the brunette followed.

Amara held the older woman, who cried helplessly into the demigod as she sobbed for her now deceased son. With this, the daughter of Zeus made a small vow to the older woman. One, she was sure Jada hadn't been able to hear over her crying.

She would kill every monster, every creature, every titan and demigod if she had too. Her rage grew, thunder rumbling in the sky while the engineer mumbled the same phrase over and over. "My baby boy," the mother cried. "My poor son."

Amara would get justice for her older brother, even if it killed her in the process.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

For the past two days, Sally Jackson volunteered to stay with Jada Beckendorf and keep her company. She kept an eye on the spouse of Hephaestus, tending to the older woman who had become a shell of her former self.

Amara stayed with them, unknowingly letting Paul and Sally keep an eye on her too. Until, Jake Mason showed up at the Beckendorf's family's doorsteps with a camp van.

She had answered the door, the Jackson family quick to follow and the son of Hephaestus held a tight lipped smile towards the adults.

"Amara," he nodded at the parents of the son of Poseidon. "It's time."

He held her dark grey and teal armor in one hand, his sword resting in the other. Jake was already dressed for battle, the Hephaestus' smoky red and black armor was worn.

She looked over her shoulder, Jada was sitting in the living room. A tape was playing, one she recorded of herself and Beckendorf when he was younger. The mother and son duo were in her workshop, building a small train from scratch.

Amara and the engineer haven't talked since that day on Half-Blood Hill, but then again, the latter hasn't spoken at all since. Part of her felt like the older woman was secretly angry at her, for letting her only child die while she gets to live.

"Dear," Sally stepped forward, Paul quickly following with a confused look. The son of Hephaestus and daughter of Zeus began moving fast, the former securing her armor straps while the latter tightened her gauntlets and anklets.

In under a minute, she had been properly attired for battle.

"What's happening?" Sally woman asked, sparring a look with the Blofis man beside her.

"War, Ms. Jackson," Jake answered, his gaze turned back to the camp van. "Amara, it's time to go."

She nodded, her eyes on her adoptive mother who lived in her own world. "Ms. Jackson, you'll take care of her?"

"I promise,"

"Okay." With that, she shut the door behind her before the parents of Percy Jackson could argue. The children of Hephaestus and Zeus rushed into the back of the van, their driver taking off as the campers of cabin nine and six greeted her.

Annabeth greeted her with a smile. The blonde was dressed in black camouflage with her dagger strapped to her arm, the laptop of Daedalus safely stored away in a bag slung over her shoulder.

The children of Hephaestus, Athena, and Zeus filled up the van. The daughter of Athena informed her the others campers filled the last two vans, all except the Ares demigods who stayed behind at camp. The older demigod caught the brunette up completely, filling in the blanks until she was interrupted.

Annabeth's phone rang, earning stormy grey and electric blue to meet briefly before she answered. The conversation was quick, not holding for long before the Chase girl held out the phone towards Amara with a look. "It's for you."

She raised a brow at her oldest friend, but picked up the cellular device anyway. "Hello?"

"Mara," Percy greeted. She could practically see the smile lacing his lips. "Annabeth tell you about my message?"

Amara rolled her eyes at his words. Annabeth had caught her up on his message, the message, that practically wasn't one at all.

"You mean the message that almost said nothing at all?" She asked, her tone slightly teasing as her boyfriend laughed. "Where'd you run off to this time, Seaweed Brain?"

"I'll fill you in later," she had a feeling the Jackson boy probably would forget too. "Where were you? Annabeth said you weren't at camp."

"With Jada," she explained, earning the children of Hephaestus' eyes to land on her when they recognized the name of Beckendorf's mom. "Sally and Paul were there too, they offered to take care of her and keep her company."

Percy was quiet for a moment, probably thinking until he spoke again. "Do they know?"

"Know what?"

"What we're heading off to do."

"No," Amara said. "Jake said war, and left it at that before we left."

"Hm," her boyfriend sighed. "Where are you?"

"On our way like you requested," she looked out the window to confirm their location. "Almost to the Queens Midtown Tunnel. What are you planning?"

"Trust me," Percy reassured. "I'll see you there."

It was late afternoon by the time the children of the gods arrived, the three camp vans pulling up to the curb next to the Empire State Building. Amara climbed out behind Jake, electric blue immediately meeting sea green.

She was quick to make her way towards Percy, his gaze never once leaving hers and she raised a brow when she stopped in front of him. "What is it?"

"What's what?" He asked.

"You're looking at me weird." She quickly looked him over, something about him seemed . . . different.

"It's, uh, nothing." Percy turned to the rest of the demigods. "Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."

The centaur shook his head. "I came to wish you luck, my boy. But I make it a point never to visit Olympus unless I am summoned."

"But you're our leader."

Chiron smiled. "I am your trainer, your teacher. That is not the same as being your leader. I will go gather what allies I can. It may not be too late to convince my brother centaurs to help. Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are their leader."

Percy looked briefly to the campers. Everyone was looking to him, even Amara as they awaited his orders. "Okay," he finally said. "Like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by tonight. Some kind of trap. We've got to get an audience with Zeus and convince him to defend the city. Remember, we can't take no for an answer."

He asked Argus to watch Mrs. O'Leary, which neither of them looked happy about.

The camp director held a proud look. "You'll do well, Percy. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses."

"Let's go," Percy told the campers, leading them into the Empire State Building where a security guard sat behind a desk in the lobby. He glanced up from his book, weapons and armor clanking filled the once soundless room.

"School group?" The guard raised a brow. "We're about to close up."

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

The security guard looked over the demigods. She would've thought he was a regular mortal, but the way his eyes lingered on their weapons showed otherwise.

"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid." He said. "Move along."

Percy leaned across the desk. "Forty demigods attract an awful lot of monsters. You really want us hanging out in your lobby?"

He thought about it for a moment, before hitting a buzzer and the security gate swung open. "Make it quick."

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

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

In order to get all the children of the gods up to Mount Olympus, Annabeth came up with a plan to spilt the campers into groups of two. Percy and Amara went up with the first group, music playing the ride up.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, breaking the silence between the two.

They haven't spoken since Beckendorf's funeral, Percy disappearing that night while she left with Jada and the Jackson family. "You barely just lost Bec—him, and we're already heading into a war. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"You don't need to worry, Seaweed Brain," she offered reassurance. "I'm up for it, my heads clear."

The elevator dinged. Demigods shuffled out quickly and Amara followed, not giving Percy a chance to say anything as she walked away towards the daughter of Aphrodite.

Silena held a permanent frown, but attempted a smile when the brunette joined her side. He could only watch as the girls talked, until the elevator dinged again signaling the last of the half-bloods have arrived.

Annabeth joined them, making her way towards the daughter of Zeus before they started their walk towards Olympus. The shops were closed, parks empty. A minor godling spotted them from a balcony and ducked inside, closing his shutters.

They made their way under a marble archway, statues of the king and queen of the gods on either side. Annabeth held a sour look, looking away from Hera's statue.

"Hate her," she muttered.

"Has she been cursing you or something?" Percy asked.

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

"Right."

"So she sends cows after me."

"Cows?" Amara could see the smile that threatened to spill on his lips. "In San Francisco?"

"Oh, yeah. Usually I don't see them, but the cows leave me little presents all over the place—in our backyard, on the sidewalk, in the school hallways. I have to be careful where I step."

"Look!" Pollux cried, earning Amara's attention as he pointed toward the horizon. "What is that?"

She looked, freezing at the sight in the sky. Blue lights streaked across the evening sky, heading towards Olympus like small comets. They appeared from all over the city, fizzling out the closer they got to the mountain. They didn't cause any damage, but it was still strange.

"Like infrared scopes," Micheal Yew muttered. "We're being targeted."

"Let's get to the palace," Percy instructed.

There was no one guarding the hall of the gods, the silver and gold doors swung wide open. Twelve, empty thrones greeted the demigods with a floating globe of water seen in a corner. The Ophiotaurus, turned in a circle as it greeted the half-bloods.

"Hey man," the son of Poseidon held a small smile towards the sea creature. "They treating you okay?"

"Moooo," the creature answered.

A woman's voice echoed through the throne room, a figure standing by the hearth. "Hello again, Percy Jackson." Her tone was warm and gentle. "You and your friends are welcomed."

The woman turned, giving Amara the opportunity to recognize her as the goddess Hestia. She fell to her knees in a bow immediately, the other campers following. "Lady Hestia," the demigods greeted.

The goddess gave them a small nod, but her fire red eyes glowed and analyzed Percy. "I see you went through with your plans," the glowing ceased as she smiled softly. "You bear the curse of Achilles."

Campers began murmuring. Annabeth shot them looks, but Amara was focused on her boyfriend with a raised brow.

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

The goddess' eyes glowed momentarily, disappearing just as fast as it appeared when Percy's knees suddenly buckled. Amara wrapped an arm around him, gripping onto him as his arm wound her waist to steady himself.

"Did . . . did you see that?" He asked, his sea green eyes slightly gazed over.

"See what?"

She glanced back at Hestia, but her face was still completely neutral.

"How long was I out?" Percy muttered, his grip on her waist slightly loosening the more he regained his footing.

"Percy, you weren't out at all." Amara explained. "You just looked at Hestia for like one second and collapsed."

He looked down at her, electric blue meeting sea green as concerned slowly formed in the former's eyes. Percy broke their stare, his attention moving back to the goddess. "Lady Hestia," he said. "We've
come on urgent business. We need to see—"

"We know what you need," a man's voice interrupted the son of Poseidon as a god appeared beside Hestia. His brown hair was wild underneath the helmet he wore, two wings fluttered on the side. Hermes wore a military pilot flight suit, paired with black leather boots while he carried his traditional staff entwined with two serpents.

"I will leave you now," the goddess bowed to the god before her and disappeared into smoke.

"Hello, Percy." The god's brows were furrowed, as if hiding an annoyed look. Percy slipped out from Amara's arm, bowing awkwardly at the god of thieves while she put her hands back into her pockets.

"Lords Hermes," he greeted. "Hello George and Martha."

Percy straightened back up. "Um, Hermes," he said. "We need to talk to Zeus, it's important."

"As if he would talk to anyone but her," the god mumbled underneath his breath as he eyed the daughter of Zeus.

"What was that?"

Hermes eyes turned cold as he sighed. "I am his messenger, may I take a message?"

The demigods began shifting restlessly, earning the son of Poseidon's attention. "You guys," he said. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses, see who's left in Olympus. Meet Annabeth, Amara, and me back here in thirty minutes."

Silena frowned at Amara, the younger girl giving the daughter of Aphrodite a nod. "But—"

"Conner, Travis," Amara called and the sons of Hermes looked to the girl. "You two lead."

Wide grins curled onto the brother's lip, their eyes shinning. "We're on it!" Travis promised, leading the campers out of the throne room with Conner by his side.

"My lord," Annabeth said. "Kronos is going to attack New York, you must suspect that. My mother must have foreseen it."

"Your mother," Hermes grumbled. "Don't get me started on your mother, young lady. She's the reason I'm here at all. Zeus didn't want any of us to leave the front line, but your mother kept pestering him nonstop. 'It's a trap, it's a diversion, blah, blah, blah.' She wanted to come back herself, but Zeus was not going to let his number one strategist leave his side while we're battling Typhon. And so naturally, he sent me to talk to you."

"But it is a trap!" The blonde insisted. "Is Zeus blind?"
Thunder rumbled across the sky at her words, shaking the throne room as Hermes sighed

"I'd watch the comments, girl," the god warned. "Zeus is not blind or deaf. He has not left Olympus completely undefended."

"And the blue lights?" Amara asked.

"Some mischief by that insufferable goddess of magic, Hecate. I'd wager, but you may have noticed that they aren't doing any damage. Olympus has strong magical wards."

He huffed, his mind going back to his own words earlier as he eyed the daughter of Zeus before continuing. "Aeolus, the king of the winds, has sent his most powerful minions to guard Olympus. No one but the gods can approach Olympus from the air, would be knocked out of the sky."

Amara nodded at his words, Percy's hand raising beside her. "Um," he spoke. "What about that materializing, teleporting thing you guys do?"

"That's a form of air travel too, Jackson. Very fast, but the wind gods are faster. No, if Kronos wants Olympus, he'll have to march through the entire city with his army and take the elevators! Can you see him doing this?"

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

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

"I thought that was Kronos."

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

"Met her once," the children of the big three muttered in unison.

"—and the father of all monsters. We can never forget how close he came to destroying us all, how he humiliated us! We were more powerful back in the old days. Now we can expect no help from Poseidon because he's fighting his own war. Hades sits in his realm and does nothing, and Demeter and Persephone follow his lead. It will take all our remaining power to oppose the storm giant. We can't divide our forces, nor wait until he gets to New York. We have to battle him now. And we're making progress."

"Progress? He nearly destroyed St. Louis." Amara remarked.

"Yes," Hermes admitted. "But he only destroyed half of Kentucky. He's slowing down. Losing power."

She didn't bother arguing, having a feeling the god needed the reassurance more than they did.

"Please, Hermes," Annabeth said. "You said my mother wanted to come. Did she give you any messages for us?"

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

Hermes stopped his grumbling, meeting eyes with the stormy grey eyed daughter of Athena.

"Blah," the god finally said. "Your mother said to warn you that you are on your own. You must hold Manhattan without the help of the gods, as if I didn't know that. Why they pay her to be the wisdom goddess? I'm not sure."

"Anything else?" Annabeth asked.

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

The blonde's face paled.

"Daughter of the sky," Hermes spoke. "Zeus left a message for you as well. He says to remember the wind gods, they will obey your every wish and command. Use them to your advantage, and this storm."

"Last thing," the god added. "Athena said to tell Percy: 'Remember the rivers.'"

"Thank you, Hermes," Annabeth said. "And I . . . I wanted to say . . . I'm sorry about Luke."

Hermes' expression hardened, his eyes turning harsh as they landed on the Chase girl. "You should've left that subject alone."

The stormy grey eyed girl stepped back. "Sorry?"

"Sorry doesn't cut it!"

The snakes curled around the caduceus. The staff shimmered, changing into the god's weapon. "You should've saved him when you had the chance," Hermes growled at Annabeth. "You're the only one who could have!"

Lightning flashed through the room. Amara now stood in between the god and daughter of Athena, teal flickered in her eyes with a cold stare. Hermes blinked, the daughter of Zeus reminding him an awful lot of her father in that moment.

Percy pushed the Amara behind him, moving himself in front of her and the blonde. "What are you talking about? Annabeth didn't—"

"Don't defend her, Jackson!" Hermes turned the staff toward him. "She knows exactly what I'm talking about."

"Maybe you should blame yourself!" Amara looked at Percy in shock. "Maybe if you hadn't abandoned Luke and his mom!"

The god began to shake, growing until he was around ten feet tall. She pulled Percy back, tugging him away from the seething immortal. The serpents leaned close to Hermes, whispering something in his ear.

"Percy Jackson," Hermes jaw was clenched, his weapon lowering. "Because you have taken on the curse of Achilles, I must spare you. You are in the hands of the Fates now. But you will never speak to me like that again. You have no idea how much I have sacrificed, how much—"

His voice broke, and he shrank back to human size. "My son, my greatest pride . . . my poor May . . ."

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

Hermes glared at him, causing his voice to falter. "I will you leave now," the god said tightly. "I have a war to fight."

He began to shine, the children of Zeus, Poseidon, and Athena hiding their eyes. Hermes glowed, filling the room with light before he was gone.

When the coast was clear, Annabeth made her way to Athena's throne where she sat and cried. The children of the big three gave each other a look, before following after the blonde.

"Annabeth," Percy said. "It's not your fault. I've never seen Hermes act that way. I guess . . . I don't know . . . he probably felt guilty about Luke. He's looking for someone to blame. I don't know why he lashed out at you. You didn't do anything to deserve that."

It was quiet between the three, until Amara spoke up with a raised brow. "Percy, what did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meet her?"

He nodded. "Nico and I visited her. She was a little . . . different." He described May Castellan, and the moment she had where her eyes glowed and she talked about her son's fate.

Annabeth frowned. "That doesn't make sense. But why were you visiting—" Her eyes widened. "Hermes said you bear the curse of Achilles. Hestia said the same thing. Did you . . . did you bathe in the River Styx?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Percy!" Amara held a scowl, her eyes narrowed at her boyfriend. "Did you or not?"

"Um . . . maybe a little." He told them the story about Hades and Nico, and how he defeated an army of the dead.

She could only scoff, shaking her head in disbelief at the Jackson boy. And he was worried she wouldn't have a clear head? "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

"I had no choice," Percy said. "It's the only way I can stand up to Luke."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You mean . . . di immortales, of course! That's why Luke didn't die. He went to the Styx and . . . Oh no, Luke. What were you thinking?"

"So now you're worried about Luke again."

"What?"

"Forget it," Percy muttered. "The point is he didn't die in the Styx and neither did I. Now I have to face him. We have to defend Olympus."

Amara studied her boyfriend's face. It made sense why he felt different than the last time she saw him, now she was trying to see if there was anything physically different since his swim in the Styx.

"I guess you're right," the blonde said. "My mom mentioned—"

"Plan twenty-three."

Annabeth pulled out Daedalus's laptop from the bag swung over her shoulder, the blue delta symbol glowing as she opened it up. She typed away, a few files popping up as she began reading. "Here is it," Annabeth said. "Gods, we have a lot of work to do."

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

"A lot of inventions . . . dangerous ones. If my mother wants me to use this plan, she must think things are very bad."

The daughter of Athena's attention was moved to Percy. "What about her message to you: 'Remember the rivers' What does that mean?"

The son of Poseidon shook his head, only to be saved by the Stoll brothers racing into the throne room.

"You need to see this," Conner huffed. "Now."

The trio shared a look. Annabeth was quick to pack up, following after the son of Hermes back outside. The blue lights in the sky had stopped, so at first Amara couldn't figure out the problem.

They met the rest of the campers gathered in a small park at the edge of the mountain, clustered at the guardrail while looking down at Manhattan. Binoculars filled the railings, occupied by every half-blood.

She looked down at the city, everything looked like normal but something felt off. Amara could feel it deep in her bones, until she realized what it was.

"I don't . . . hear anything," Annabeth said.

And that was the problem. Manhattan was a busy city, millions of people lived there with thousands of cars and machines. But, New York was silent and the city was never silent.

"What did they do?" Percy's tone was full of pain and anger. "What did they do to my city?"

He pushed Micheal Yew away from the binoculars and took a look. She frowned at the hurt in her boyfriend's voice, knowing there was nothing she could do.

In the streets, traffic was stopped. Pedestrians were lying on the sidewalk, or curled up in doorways. It was like the citizens of New York, had all simply passed out.

"Are they dead?" Silena asked in astonishment.

"Not dead," Percy said. "Morpheus has put the entire island of Manhattan to sleep. The invasion has started."

Amara shared a look with Jake Mason, the older boy gripped his sword in his hand. Anger flashing across the duo's faces, their agreement coming to mind.

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01-28-25

hello hello ! i hope you all enjoyed this chapter and i'll see you in the next one <3