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THE HEPHAESTUS CABIN WAS OUT OF GREEK FIRE. the apollo cabin and the hunters were scrounging for arrows. most of the demigods had already ingested so much ambrosia and nectar and didn't dare take any more.

with eighteen campers, fifteen hunters, and half a dozen satyrs left in fighting shape, they didn't make much of an army. annabeth had sent the rest to take refuge on olympus. the party ponies tried to form ranks, but they staggered and giggled and they all smelled like root beer. the chances were pretty good the whole army would end up fighting each other rather than the enemy.

chiron trotted up with rachel on his back. "your friend here has some useful insights, percy,"

rachel blushed. "just some things i saw in my head."

"a drakon," chiron said. "a lydian drakon, to be exact. the oldest and most dangerous kind."

"how did you know that?" percy vocalized the shock for both of them.

"i'm not sure," rachel admitted. "but this drakon has a particular fate. it will be killed by a child of ares."

andromeda raised an eyebrow, the thought of prophecies appearing to her again. "how can you possibly know that?"

"i just saw it. i can't explain."

"well, let's hope you're wrong," percy frowned. "because we're a little short on children of ares. . ."  he trailed off. "fuck,"

"what?" andromeda asked.

"the spy," he gulped. "kronos said, we know they cannot beat this drakon. the spy has been keeping him updated. kronos knows the ares cabin isn't with us. he intentionally picked a monster we can't kill."

thalia scowled. "if i ever catch your spy, he's going to be very sorry. maybe we could send another messenger to camp —"

"i've already done it," chiron said. "blackjack is on his way. but if silena wasn't able to convince clarisse, i doubt blackjack will be able —"

a roar shook the ground. it sounded very close.

"rachel," percy called, "get inside the building."

"i want to stay."

a shadow blotted out the sun. across the street, the drakon slithered down the side of a skyscraper. it roared, and a thousand windows shattered.

"on second thought," rachel said in a small voice, "i'll be inside."

"get in," andromeda nodded. "i'm doing my shield charm on the building."

"the whole thing?" percy asked. "will you manage?"

andromeda tried not to doubt herself. "i'll try. i've rested. i have no excuse."

"i need your help out there, andy," percy pointed to the drakon.

she gave him a mischievous smile. "you with your invincibility? you need my help?"

"a hero needs their savior, right?" percy returned the expression.

she changed glances between his eyes, caught between the two choices. her magic might not be as effective on just the lower floors, the whole thing would be more than she could manage, and she needed to be in a good enough shape to fight with percy. . .

the drakons roared again, this time in their line of sight. it looked like a maximized anaconda, whether it breathed fire or not she didn't know yet. but it's poison would be a problem, along with it's strength and protective scales. it slithered down the side of a building, its yellow eyes like searchlights and its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth big.

simultaneously, the enemy army advanced down fifth avenue. they'd done their best to push cars out of the way to keep the mortals safe, but that only made their enemies approach faster. the party ponies swished their tails nervously. chiron galloped up and down their ranks, shouting encouragement to stand tough and think about victory and root beer.

"i'll take the drakon." percy said timidly. then he yelled louder: "i'll take it drakon! everyone else, hold the line against the army!"

andromeda sighed, pulling out her spear. "let's get this over with."

"no protective charm?" percy asked with a relieved smile.

"i think you need more protection right now, hero." she gave him a glare.

"you look for weak links in its armor," he uncapped riptide. "i'll keep it busy. just be careful."

he whistled. "mrs. o'leary, heel!"

the hellhound leaped over a line of centaurs and licked his face, making him smile as he drew his sword and charged at the monster.

the drakon was three stories above, slithering sideways along the building as it sized up the forces. wherever it looked, centaurs froze in fear. from the north, the enemy army crashed into the party ponies, and their lines broke. the drakon lashed out, swallowing three californian centaurs in one gulp as andromeda began to find chinks in it's scales.

mrs. o'leary launched herself through the air — her claws raked harmlessly off the drakon's scales. but her weight had slammed the drakon to the side of a building, andromeda moved about the beast, swift enough to not be detected, but visible enough to be a distraction. she kept her shield steady with one hand, using the other to poke between scales and trying to do some damage.

suddely, poison spewed everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but andromeda was protected by her shield.

percy jabbed riptide deep into the monster's left eye. the drakon hissed and reared back to strike, but he rolled aside. the drakon bit a chunk out of the pavement, bowing his head to do so.

andromeda noticed the lack of scale on the top of his body. the light didn't reflect off scales, because there were none. she saw percy standing before the drakon, the latter ready to attack. she leaped off the ground, driving her spear between a chink in the serpent's scales as she landed on it's back.

the drakon roared. it coiled around, and she was knocked off its back. she flew off and landed on the hard concrete, her shoulder thankfully not taking the blow this time. percy pulled her away moments after she was struck down, and the serpent rolled, crushing a lamppost right where she'd been.

"thanks," she breathed out.

"i told you to be careful!"

she felt the urge to roll her eyes. "yeah, well — duck!"

she tackled him as the drakon's teeth snapped above his head. mrs. o'leary slammed the drakon's face to get its attention, and the two demigods rolled out of the way.

meanwhile the other campers had retreated to the doors of the empire state building. the entire enemy army was surrounding them.

they were out of options. no more help was coming.

then, somewhere south, a rumbling was heard.

"are those. . .chariot wheels?" andromeda listened closely.

a girl's voice yelled, "ares!"

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

"the children of ares!" annabeth said in amazement.

the charge was a girl in familiar red armor, her face covered by a boar's-head helm. she held aloft a spear that crackled with electricity. clarisse herself had come to the rescue. while half her chariots charged the monster army, clarisse led the other six straight for the drakon.

the serpent reared back and managed to throw off mrs. o'leary. percy ran to help her, but the serpent had already zeroed in on the new threat. two chariots veered into a line of cars. the other four chariots kept charging. the monster bared its fangs to strike and got a mouthful of celestial bronze javelins. it screeched in pain.

"ares, to me!" clarisse screamed. her voice was thinner than usual, but that wasn't surprising given what she was fighting.

across the street, the arrival of six chariots gave the party ponies new hope. they rallied at the doors of the empire state nuilding, and the enemy army was momentarily thrown into confusion.

meanwhile, clarisse's chariots circled the drakon. lances broke against the monster's skin. skeletal horses breathed fire and whinnied. two more chariots overturned, but the warriors simply leaped to their feet, drew their swords, and went to work. they hacked at chinks in the creature's scales. they dodged poison spray as they swiftly moved around. no one could say the ares campers weren't brave. clarisse was in front, stabbing her spear at the drakon's face, trying to put out its other eye.

then things started to go wrong. the drakon snapped up one ares camper in a gulp. it knocked aside another and sprayed poison on a third, who retreated in a panic, his armor melting.

andromeda snapped out of her trance of amazement, and nudged percy. "we have to help."

percy blinked awake. mrs. o'leary tried to get up but yelped again. one of her paws was bleeding.

"stay back, girl," percy told her. "you've done enough already."

he caught her hand, and they jumped onto the monster's back and ran toward its head, trying to draw its attention away from clarisse.

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

"you can do it!" percy screamed at clarisse. "a child of ares is destined to kill it!"

they both froze for s moment, and if andromeda wasn't busy trying to stop the drakon from spitting poison at clarisse, she would've asked.

"ares!" she shouted, in an even shriller voice.

"something's wrong," percy shook his head with an expression of confusion.

andromeda looked between him and clarisse, and through the girl's helmet, she saw scared blue eyes.

but clarisse didn't have blue eyes. and she was never scared. andromeda's mind went numb for a moment.

clarisse leveled her spear and charged the drakon.

"no," percy said. "wait!"

but the monster looked down at her, and spit poison directly in her face.

she screamed and fell.

"no!" andromeda raced to help.

she bent doen next to the fallen girl, and so did her other campers. they tried to pull her armor off. but the poison was melting into her skin, and the helmet wouldn't shift without prompting an agonizing scream.

"no!" yelled the voice of a girl, stricken with grief. "curse you. why?"

and what happened next made no sense.

through a haze of hurry and anxiety, andromeda saw a set of feet come nearer, and then someone in camp clothes bowed beside her, looking over at clarisse. it was. . .clarisse.

her head spun as she looked between the teo of them. now it made sense. the girl in clarisse's armor was much thinner, not as tall, and she remembered seeing blue eyes through the helmet.

she shook her hed in shock. "but who. . ."

"why?" the real clarisse demanded, holding the fallen girl in her arms while the campers struggled to remove the poison-corroded helmet. chris rodriguez ran over from the flying chariot. "look out!" he warned.

"you want death?" clarisse screamed at the drakon. "well, come on!"

she grabbed her spear from the fallen girl. with no armor or shield, she charged the drakon.
she leaped aside as the monster struck, pulverizing the ground in front of her. then she jumped onto the creature's head. as it reared up, she drove her electric spear into its good eye with so much force it shattered the shaft, releasing all of the magic weapon's power.

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

andromeda felt goosebumps go through her body, never had anyone take down such a huge monster single-handedly, she could only remember achilles doing it. and he had invincibility.

clarisse didn't seem to care. she ran back to the wounded girl who'd stolen her armor.

andromeda gulped, and finally, trying to disregard the blood-curling screams, she pulled the helmet off, pressing her eyes shut. when she opened them, the ares campers, clarisse, annabeth, and percy were gathered around. the battle still raged along fifth avenue, but for that moment nothing existed except the small circle and the fallen girl.

her features, once beautiful, were badly burned from poison.

andromeda felt her heart clench in anguish, all the breaths leaving her lungs and tears already clouding her vision as she looked down at the disfigured face of silena beauregard.

"what were you thinking?" clarisse cradled silena's head in her lap.

silena tried to swallow, but her lips were dry and cracked. "wouldn't. . .listen. cabin would. . .only follow you."

"so you stole my armor," clarisse said in disbelief. "you waited until chris and i went out on patrol; you stole my armor and pretended to be me." she glared at her siblings. "and none of you noticed?"

the ares campers developed a sudden interest in their combat boots.

"don't blame them," silena said breathlessly. "they wanted to. . .to believe i was you."

"you stupid aphrodite girl," clarisse sobbed. "you charged a drakon? why?"

"all my fault," silena said, a tear streaking the side of her face. "the drakon, charlie's death. . .camp endangered —"

"no. no, silena," andromeda shook her head, caressing silena's hair desperately. "that's not true."

silena opened her hand. in her palm was a silver bracelet with a scythe charm, the mark of kronos.

andromeda let out a quiet sob.

"you were the spy. . ." annabeth trailed off.

silena tried to nod. "before . . . before i liked charlie, luke was nice to me. he was so. . .charming. handsome. later, i wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. he promised. . .he promised i was saving lives. fewer people would get hurt. he told me he wouldn't hurt. . .charlie. he lied to me."

"silena," andromeda choked out, the tears falling from her eyes down to the body of her friend.

clarisse scowled at her cabinmates. "go, help the centaurs. protect the doors. go!"

they scrambled off to join the fight.

silena took a heavy, painful breath. "forgive me."

"i can heal you," andromeda insisted. "i will heal you."

silena made a gesture that could only be seen as the shake of a head. "don't. . .don't cry,"

"you're not dying," clarisse warned.

"charlie. . ." silena's eyes were a million miles away. "see charlie. . ."

she didn't speak again.

andromeda held her hand, the one that she had kronos's necklace in. she held it tightly, desperate to find a pulse at the wrist, but the only thing she cluld feel was the cold metal of the scythe charm. she brought silena's hand to her mouth, pressing her lips to the nerves within which blood once flowed. her tears fell on her skin, soaking with melancholia.

she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

"we have to fight." annabeth said in a brittle voice. "she gave her life to help us. we have to honor her."

clarisse sniffled and wiped her nose. "she was a hero, understand? a hero."

andromeda blinked down at the girl. the eyes that once shifted colours like the auroras of the north now were shut off in the imitation of a starless sky. "i can't leave her. . ."

percy leaned in closer. "andy, come on."

but all she could think about was how silena had treated her to health when she took a poisoned knife for percy. she wanted to return the favour. she wanted to make silena live somehow. anyhow. giving up on her felt like she was betraying her.

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

and they went to fight.

andromeda stayed there, on the side of her fallen friend, holding onto her wrist and weeping on her dead body, touching her cold skin with shivering hands. she plucked out the silver charm and stared at it with sadness and anger.

luke did this. not only was he the reason of this entire war, but he was also a reason of a lot of deaths. he was the reason everything that was happening was happening. the reason that percy went through so much in his childhood, the reason she was forced to take up the prophecy because she didn't want ethan to be the subject of it. the reason silena was dead.

her brain nearly stopped in panic. silena was dead.

and it was luke's fault.

the battle still raged on in the  background, the only person who stayed behind with her was percy jackson, watching patiently as he waited for her to gather her mind.

she looked back at the fight, seeing clarisse charg after the enemy in a chariot with the carcass of the drakin attacked to it, yelling insults and daring them to cross her. as she rode, andromeda saw an aura of red fire flicker around her.

"the blessing of ares," she mumbled. "i've never seen it in person before."

percy looked at her nervously. "andy. . .we need to go."

she rubbed her thumb against silena's liefless skin, afraid that her body would dissipate if she let go. but she braved her own mind in the urgency of the situation. she carefully closed silena's hazy eyes, got up and tried not to look back as she walked away with percy.

she watched clarisse, and for the moment, she was as invincible as percy. the enemy threw spears and arrows, but nothing hit her.

"i am clarisse, the fucking drakon-slayer!" she yelled. "i will kill all you shitheads! where is kronos? bring him out! is he a damn coward?"

"clarisse!" percy yelled. "stop it. withdraw!"

"what's the matter, bitch lord?" she yelled. "let's fucking go!"

there was no answer from the enemy. slowly, they began to fall back behind a dracaenae shield wall, while clarisse drove in circles around fifth avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. the two-hundred-foot-long drakon carcass made a hollow scraping noise against the pavement, like a thousand knives.

andromeda looked aside, and saw annabeth and evander tending the wounded, bringing them inside the lobby. percy and andromeda joined them.

even long after the enemy had retreated from sight, clarisse kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy, demanding that kronos meet her battle.

chris said, "i'll watch her. she'll get tired eventually. i'll make sure she comes inside."

"what about the camp?" annabeth asked. "is anybody left there?"

chris shook his head. "only argus and the nature spirits. peleus the dragon is still guarding the tree."

"they won't last long," percy sighed. "but i'm glad you came."

chris nodded sadly. "i'm sorry it took so long. i tried to reason with clarisse. i said there's no point in defending camp if you guys die. all our friends are here. i'm sorry it took silena. . ."

andromeda gulped down the plethora of tears welling in her throat. she tightly fisted the scythe charm in her fist, still not having let go of it.

"my hunters will help you stand guard," thalia said, and then she went away.

"you three, you should go to olympus." evander nodded. "i have a feeling they'll need you up there — to set up the final defense."

"and you?" annabeth asked.

"i'll stay down her with the others," he gestured around. "help the wounded and all, you know."

annabeth gulped, then she leaned forward and gave evander a hug. one that made andromeda feel very out-of-place as she stood on the sidelines. after about a minute, they parted.

evander kissed annabeth's forehead. "i'll be here when you come back,"

annabeth closed her eyes, "promise?"

evander smiled, his lips still on her skin. "promise."

they seperated, and stared into each other's eyes like nothing else mattered.

andromeda wondered if her and percy looked like that, and how annabeth must've felt when they did. she cleared her throat.

the two snapped out, looking away.

"sorry," annabeth mumbled with a blush on her cheeks.

evander smiled, and then he turned to the other two. "i'll be here when you two come back, too."

andromeda smiled. "it's fine if we're not in your priorities, compost,"

evander shook his head laughing. "come here," and he pulled her in for a half-hug, kissing the crown of her head lightly.

andromeda soaked the feeling. she was reminded of the time after a summer solstice when she was ten, when ares had nearly choked her to death, and the pain burned more than just her flesh. luke had hugged her just like this. comforting her. and now he has slipped out of her grasp.

evander pulled away, facing percy. he put his hand up for a high-five, and percy offered a small smile as he dabbed him up.

his eyes lingered on annabeth as he left, and the other three entered the lobby.

the doorman had disappeared from the lobby, only his book layed facedown on the desk. the rest of the lobby, however, was jam-packed with wounded campers, hunters, and satyrs.

jasmine met them in there. "listen," she panted. "connor and travis said the titan's army will have trouble getting up the elevator. they'll have to go up a few at a time. and the giants won't be able to fit at all."

"that's our biggest advantage," percy nodded. "any way to disable the elevator?"

"it's magic," jasmine scowled. "usually you need a key card, but the doorman vanished. that means the defenses are crumbling. anyone can walk into the elevator now and head straight up."

"then we have to keep them away from the doors," annabeth deduced. "we'll bottle them up in the lobby."

"we need reinforcements," jasmine agreed. "they'll just keep coming. eventually they'll overwhelm us."

"there are no reinforcements," andromeda reminded.

". . .maybe that's not true," percy trailed off.

he went outside and put a hand on mrs. o'leary's muzzle and whispered something to her.

"you guys going up?" jasmine asked.

the two girls shared a look, and nodded solemnly.

jasmine's eyes glistened, then she flung herself into a hug with both of them.

"this better not be goodbye," she warned.

"it won't, sprout," annabeth assured.

"you're not getting rid of us that easily," andromeda gave her a smile as she parted.

jasmine sniffed once, and then she was called away by her brother.

percy rejoined the two in the lobby. on the way to the elevator, they spotted grover kneeling over a fat wounded satyr.

"leneus!" percy exclaimed.

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

he tried to focus on us, but his eyes were hazed.

"grover?" he murmured.

"i'm here, leneus." grover was blinking back tears, despite all that had happened between him and leneus.

"did. . .did we win?"

"um. . .yes," grover lied. "thanks to you, leneus. we drove the enemy away."

"told you," the old satyr mumbled. "true leader. true . . ."

he closed his eyes for the last time.

grover gulped, putting his hand on leneus's forehead and spoke an ancient blessing. his body melted, until all that was left was a tiny sapling in a pile of fresh soil.

"a laurel," grover said in awe. "oh, that lucky old goat."

he gathered up the sapling in his hands. "i. . . i should plant him. in olympus, in the gardens."

"we're going that way," percy said softly. "come on."

music played as the elevator rose. nothing but music. it felt peaceful.

but after the events of the last time she had experienced peace, she didn't trust it enough. her thoughts would not quieten. the lines between sadness and anger  blurred into pure rage.

rage against luke.

she couldn't find a corner of a brain that felt sympathetic toward him. that remembered that he was like her brother once, because all that he was to her now was a monster. and no amount of invincibility would save him from what she would do to him when she saw him next.

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i'm having sm fun writing all this angst lol

this isn't even half of it though, if that makes you guys feel better 🤭