ｔｈｅ ｌａｓｔ ｏｌｙｍｐｉａｎ

"SO HE FOUND PAN?" Lucia beamed. "And caused a panic!"

Annabeth sat across from her the next morning. They were positioned the same way they were the day before except this time Lucia looked at Annabeth with a bright smile instead of a scowl.

The blonde girl had spent almost the entire morning talking to her. Half of the conversation was her gushing about Daedalus's laptop and all the notes she found in them. Annabeth talked long and hard about his different plans, ideas, and inventions. Even though it took Lucia a lot of brain power at times she listened to every word she said.

Then she started explaining what happened after the battle of the labyrinth, Lucia noticed her being careful when she talked about him, never using his name. Which she was grateful about. Because even though she trusted Annabeth, She did not want anything to do with Percy Jackson.

But Annabeth mentioned someone else that grabbed Lucia's attention, one of her close friends: Grover Underwood.

Not a lot of things were clear to Lucia about him, mostly that he was shy and ate her cardigan one time. But when Annabeth mentioned that he'd found the god Pan, Joy filled her.

"Grover." Lucia said "Finding Pan was important to him. Real or not real?"

"Real," Annabeth answered, This would happen often in their conversation. If Lucia became curious or a blurred memory or thought unraveled itself from all the knots in her head she would ask. Things were going well except Lucia hadn't asked a single question about him.

I hate Percy Jackson.

"The Council of Cloven Elders treated him like an outcast after he announced that Pan was dead but Grover still traveled all over the East Coast" Annabeth explained " He was trying to spread the word about Pan and convince nature spirits to protect their own little bits of the wild. He would only come back to camp a few times to see his girlfriend, Juniper."

"Why are you using past tense?" Lucia asked, She felt her stomach drop." "Annabeth. He's not-."

"No no," Annabeth reassured, she was careful with her words. "Last we'd heard he was in Central Park organizing the dryads, but nobody has seen or heard from him in two months. We've tried to send Iris messages. They never go through."

Lucia felt a sudden twist in her stomach, what if Kronos had Grover? what if he was hurt? what if—"

Camp hal—

Grover's voice rang in her head do you think I could stand it if you...

Grover, She was worried about Grover.

"We need to find him." Lucia insisted "He can't. He can't get his hands on him."

Annabeth smiled slightly "We will Lucia...Look about the war—"

"No." Lucia shook her head "Don't tell me anything. You can't trust me. I might believe in you Annabeth but I'm still flighty. I still don't know how to organize everything."

Annabeth frowned "I trust you."

"You shouldn't," Lucia said in a bitter tone

"Lucia. Do you want Kronos to win?" She whispered

Lucia thought about the people she had remembered she cared about. Her brothers and Sisters, Annabeth, Grover, and Chiron. She couldn't let them get hurt like Lee. Not without a fight.

"No." She whispered shyly "I want to protect the people I care about." She thought back to the ship "Kronos made me think I cared about him that he was important to me...but it never felt like that...Now things are clearer. I don't want Olympus to fall."

The Gods must Pay.

"but only because of you, Grover, will...and innocent people that don't deserve what Kronos will do if he wins....that don't deserve what's going on now..."

Annabeth frowned "Then let me tell you. You're on our side. We need your help.

"What's going on?" Lucia whispered, "How can I help."

"You already know about the gods and the prophecy right?" Annabeth asked

Lucia nodded

Annabeth continued "There's something else. There's a spy at camp."

"It's not me-" Lucia said immediately

"Oh, we know." Annabeth's hand found her shoulder "Don't worry, It would have been impossible for it to be you. They've been reporting for months now. But...do you have any idea who it could be?"

Lucia thought long and hard, she had noticed Luke—Kronos speaking into his wrist. But most of the time he'd lock himself away, or storm away from her.

He only really allowed Lucia to be near him if it was to train...or hurt people.

I'm a monster. she thought

"He didn't trust me that much...for good reason, clearly."Lucia winced. The pain in her head became duller ever since Lee threw Kronos off the pedestal he was on, but that didn't mean she didn't still feel the pain. The voice was still there, only muffled at times. "I'm sorry Beth."

Annabeth repeated, "I trust you."

"I feel like that may be really unwise of you." Lucia laughed half-heartedly "Your mom's likely pissed that you're entertaining me."

Annabeth shook her head "I think everything through it's true, But I don't want to stop believing in the people I care about."

Lucia looked at her face, her stormy grey eyes looked at her pleadingly. She was afraid to lose her like she lost Luke. Afraid to feel that pain with someone else. Lucia understood her. She wanted to do everything in her power to prevent her from feeling it. If Annabeth believed in her, She believed in herself.

Lucia leaned forward, Her chin rested on Annabeths shoulder. "I will fight for you. and will. and Grover. I'll do everything to prevent him from hurting innocent people again." She shut her eyes tightly "...It's all my fault. Lee...Beckendorf."

Annabeth pushed Lucia back, her hands resting on her shoulders "No it's not."

"Annie it is." Tears fell, and her chest ached "I killed him."

open the bag she heard her voice echo in her head open the bag

"Did you?" Annabeth asked rhetorically "Or did Kronos invade your mind, and use something stronger than you to take control over you."

Lucia frowned "I've hurt people—"

"Lucia." Annabeth frowned. She spoke to her with a clear mind, with reason. "He would have hurt them, with you around or not. He's the Crooked one, this is what he does. You are not the villain but another victim of his."

Lucia's face streamed with tears, she wiped them away. Rubbing at her face harshly.  "I'm so sick of crying."

Annabeth frowned "I know." She wrapped her arms around her "But if it helps I'm here for you."

Lucia let her, her hair smelled like her apple shampoo. "It does Beth. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'll never have to find out."

The moment was interrupted when something vibrated. Annabeth broke away from the hug. Her hand dug into her pocket immediately and pulled out a phone. She looked at a message and sighed in relief. Her eyebrows then knitted together

"What is it."

"It's—" She began but stopped herself. "Seaweed Brain."

Lucia didn't feel any different. No voice in her head yelled at her to murder him, but she still grimaced. "What did he say?"

Annabeth smiled, like she had cracked the code to something. "He's been missing for hours since last night but he just texted me saying to gather campers and meet him at The Empire State Building."

"Why?" Lucia asked

"I don't know but I have to-"

Lucia nodded "Go."

Annabeth looked at Lucia's chained-up state and frowned. "Will!" she called

Will bounded into Lucia's section of the infirmary, he had been walking around patching up some Demeter kids who accidentally lost control of their rose vines.

"What's up?" He sounded alarmed "are you okay."

"I'm fine," Lucia muttered.

"Where's the key?" Annabeth asked "We need to call Argus and Chiron. Seaweed Brain wants us to gather campers and meet him in Manhattan."

Will looked at her in hesitation, "Annabeth—"

"She can't stay here. She needs to come with." Annabeth spoke strategically "The best chance we have at this war is if we gather everyone we can get. We need to get the best of the best. You can't deny Lucia is one of the best Will."

"No." Lucia refused "I can try and tell you everything I know. But Hecate's voice is still in my head, I can lose control. I could hurt someone. The things I can do—"

"I'll keep the key on hand." Will made a plan, "She can come with and I can take them off her when she feels comfortable with it. When she's ready."

Annabeth nodded "That works."

Kill Percy Jackson

"If I'm near him. I won't be able to control myself." Lucia warned "I have to hurt him. I will hurt him." Lucia said her voice dropping in octaves "there's nothing you can do to stop me from hunting him. I hate him."

Despite Lucia's cruel words, they looked at her with hope

Will nodded "You're right. we can't do anything to stop it. But he can."

Lucia felt like herself again "What does that mean." The dark veil came back "You think I can't take him?" she scoffed

"It means!" Annabeth announced, "That it's time to gather an army."

☼

MOST CAMPERS WERE MORE THAN A LITTLE SKEPTICAL OF Lucia coming with them. All eyes were on her when she made her way inside of one of the white Delphi Strawberry Service vans.

To her surprise, Chiron didn't protest her participation or Annabeth and Will's plan. She'd come to realize that he'd do that a lot. Trust her to be a part of important quests, meetings, and battles despite the risks. That made her feel a little warm inside.

She thought of Kronos on the boat, always yelling out orders. Working her to the bone. Only seeing her as a weapon to be forged. Maybe Chiron is who she thought Kronos was to her this entire year?

Lucia turned to Annabeth and Will as their van started going down the road. They were in the van that argus was driving, the other two manned by harpies. In this one she was with Will, Beth, her siblings, and most if not all of Lucia's siblings.

"Chiron cares about me," She asked them after a while in silence "Real or not Real."

"Real" Will replied

"And you guys?" She asked her siblings "You too?"

"We love you," Michael spoke. He faced her. "You're our sister."

The van chimed with harmonious yeses and mmhms. Austin looked at her and pouted "Lulu we want you to be happy. We don't want you to be in pain."

Lucia pursed her lips.

"He loved you too," Will said suddenly. "Before he died. We all talked, we swore we wouldn't stop until you were found."

Lucia knew immediately he was talking about Lee. "I miss him."

"Me too." Austin lower lip trembled "But we found you again."

"You found a mess of me." Lucia sighed, she looked down at her shoes. She played with the ends of her black shirt. "I'm sorry for being a bitch."

"You've always been a bitch." Michael reassured, "Don't worry about it."

Lucia scoffed, a smile forming on her face. She reached forward with her cuffed hands, flicking him in the head "Hey!"

"Respect your elders!" He teased

"You're barely a month older!" She exclaimed. She stopped, something swirled in her stomach and her smile dropped.

Lucia was about to open her mouth to speak when Annabeth's phone began to ring. She grabbed it and pressed it to her ear.

"Hey," The voice said. "You get my message?"

Something glossed over in her eyes, Annabeth was cautious, her gaze flicking to her.

"Seaweed Brain, where have you been? Your message said almost nothing! We've been worried sick!"

We did not include Lucia....at least that's what her mind told her.

"I'll fill you in later," He said, "Where are you?"

"We're on our way like you asked, almost to the Queens—Midtown Tunnel. But, Percy, what are you planning? We've left the camp virtually undefended, and there's no way the gods—"

"Trust me," He said. "I'll see you there."

Lucia thought he was going to hang up but he paused.

"Annabeth."

"She's alright." She answered, "She's with us."

"She is?" He exhaled, there was hope in his voice. "I'll see you there."

"Was that Percy?" Malcolm, Annabeth's brother asked.

Lucia stiffened

The van broke into clattering voices throwing questions at Annabeth.

Lucia stared forward.

I hate Percy Jackson

so why was her heart racing?

☼

THE DOORS OF THE VANS SLID OPEN. A bunch of campers climbed out, some of them looking a little green from the long drive. So many had come: Pollux, Silena, the Stoll brothers, Michael, Jake Mason, Katie Gardner, Annabeth, Lucia, along with most of their siblings. Chiron came out of the third van last. His horse half was compacted into his magic wheelchair, so he used the handicap lift.

Lucia did a quick head count: forty campers in all.

Not many to fight a war, but it was still the largest group of half-bloods she'd ever seen gathered in one place outside camp.

Everyone looked nervous, Lucia felt like she was being eaten alive with anxiety. Both because she was afraid to lose control and because of the waging war.

They were also probably sending out so much demigod aura that every monster in the northeastern United States knew they were here.

Annabeth came up to Percy. She was dressed in black like Lucia with her Celestial bronze knife strapped to her arm and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder—ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first.

Lucia didn't know what possessed her to follow behind her. Her weapons were being guarded by Will and her handcuffed hands would prevent her from being able to try anything, but she still wanted to be close. She wanted to stick to Annabeth, at least that's what she guessed.

Percy's green eyes met her violet ones. Their eyes locked onto each other like magnets. His look didn't waver and she didn't know what it meant, she only knew it made her feel vulnerable.

"What is it?"

"What's what?" He asked.

"You're looking at me funny." She said softly "Stop it."

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

His old mentor shook his hand. "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."

He 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 the leader."

He looked like he wanted to protest, but everybody was looking at him expectantly, even Lucia.

He took a deep breath. "Okay, 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."

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

Chiron shook Percy's hand. "You'll do well, Percy. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses."

He nodded and gave him a somewhat confident smile.

"Let's go," He told the campers.

A security guard was sitting behind the desk in the lobby, reading a big black book with a flower on the cover. He glanced up when they all filed in with their weapons and armor clanking. "School group? We're about to close up."

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

He checked them out. His eyes were pale blue and his head was completely bald. Lucia couldn't tell if he was human or not, but he seemed to notice their weapons, so she guessed he wasn't fooled by the Mist.

"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid." He said it like it was a required line he didn't believe. "Move along."

Lucia shoved Percy behind her and leaned across the desk. She tilted her head, a golden smile formed on her lips. "Forty demigods attract an awful lot of monsters. You really want us hanging out in your lobby?"

He thought about that. Then he hit 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."

Percy tossed him a golden drachma and they marched ill rough.
They decided it would take two trips to get everybody up in the elevator. Lucia went with the first group. Elevator music was playing—that old disco song "Stayin' Alive."

Lucia turned to see Percy staring at her again. He gave her a once over.

"What is it now." She rolled her eyes.

"Have you ever thought of bell bottoms?"

Lucia's eyebrows knitted together.

I hate Percy Jackson.

She was glad when the elevator doors finally dinged open. In front of them, a path of floating stones led through the clouds up to Mount Olympus, hovering six thousand feet over Manhattan.

She'd seen Olympus before, but it still took her breath away. The mansions glittered gold and white against the sides of the mountain. Gardens bloomed on a hundred terraces. Scented smoke rose from braziers that lined the winding streets. And right at the top of the snow-capped crest rose the main palace of the gods. It looked as majestic as ever, but something seemed wrong. Then she realized the mountain was silent—no music, no voices, no laughter.

Annabeth studied Percy. "You look . . . different," she decided. "Where exactly did you go?"

Lucia looked away, acting like she was uninterested.

Deep down though the moment she saw him she had noticed that his posture was better, his arms looked stronger, and his chin was raised higher. He looked unbreakable, resilient. He looked like a true warrior.

The elevator doors opened again, and the second group of half-bloods joined them.

"Tell you later," He said. "Come on."

They made their way across the sky bridge into the streets of Olympus. The shops were closed. The parks were empty. A couple of Muses sat on a bench strumming flaming lyres, but their hearts didn't seem to be in it.

Lucia made eye contact with one of them. Clio....my grandmother.

She looked away and pressed herself closer to Annabeth.

A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted oak tree. A minor godling spotted them from a balcony and ducked inside, closing his shutters.

They passed under a big marble archway with statues of Zeus and Hera on either side. Annabeth made a face at the queen of the gods.

"Hate her," she muttered.

"Has she been cursing you or something?" Percy asked. Last year Annabeth had gotten on Hera's bad side.

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

"Thought it was the Peacock?" Lucia asked

"That's her sacred bird."

Lucia hummed "Obviously."

"Right," Percy answered

"So she sends cows after me."

Percy held back a smile. "Cows? 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."

"Oh gross." Lucia wrinkled her nose "That janitor must be asking a lot of questions about the students."

"Look!" Pollux cried, pointing toward the horizon. "What is that?"

They all froze. Blue lights were streaking across the evening sky toward Olympus like tiny comets. They seemed to be coming from all over the city, heading straight toward the mountain. As they got close, they fizzled out. They watched them for several minutes and they didn't seem to do any damage, but still, it was strange.

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

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

No one was guarding the hall of the gods. The gold-and-silver doors stood wide open. Their footsteps echoed as they walked into the throne room.

Of course, "room" doesn't really cover it. The place was the size of Madison Square Garden. High above, the blue ceiling glittered with constellations. Twelve giant empty thrones stood in a U around a hearth.

In one corner, a house-size globe of water hovered in the air, and inside swam something Lucia hasn't thought about in a while. An old friend the Ophiotaurus, half-cow, half-serpent.

"Moooo!" he said happily, turning in a circle.

Despite all the serious stuff going on, Lucia had to smile. She suddenly remembered two years ago she'd spent a lot of time trying to save the Ophiotaurus from the Titans, and she'd gotten kind of fond of him. He seemed to like her too.

"Hey, man," Percy said. "They treating you okay?"

"Mooo," Bessie answered.

They walked toward the thrones, and a woman's voice said, "Hello again, Percy Jackson. You and your friends are welcome."

A woman stood by the hearth, poking the flames with a stick. She had mousy brown hair and a simple brown dress. She wore a scarf over her head. She poked the fire with a stick, and it seemed to glow more richly red than a normal fire.

Percy bowed. "Lady Hestia."

The gods must pay.

His friends followed his example. Everyone but Lucia.

Annabeth elbowed her.

"It's alright. I am not one to take offense." Hestia looked at Lucia with red glowing eyes "You are but a lost soul right now. Taken from her home. But you will find the warmth of your hearth again."

Lucia gulped, she didn't bother saying a word.

Hestia regarded Percy with her red glowing eyes. "I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles."

The other campers started muttering among themselves: What did she say? What about Achilles?

"Curse of Achilles?." Lucia grumbled, like oh this will make killing him harder.

"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."

Annabeth nudged him. "Um . . . what is she talking about?"

Percy stared into Hestia's eyes his knees buckled, but Annabeth grabbed him. "Percy! What happened?"

"Did . . . did you see that?" He asked.

"See what?"

Lucia glanced at Hestia, but the goddess's face was expressionless. Her eyebrows knitted together. What did she show him?

"How long was I out?" He muttered.

Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "Percy, you weren't out at all. You just looked at Hestia for like one second and collapsed."

All eyes were on him. He put on a strong face. Lucia didn't understand how but she could tell that he was forcing himself to stay focused on their mission.

"Um, Lady Hestia," He said, "we've come on urgent business. We need to see—"

"We know what you need," a man's voice said.

Lucia's cuffed hands formed into fists.

A god shimmered into existence next to Hestia. He looked about twenty-five, with curly salt-and-pepper hair and elfish features. He wore a military pilot's flight suit, with tiny bird wings fluttering on his helmet and his black leather boots. In the crook of his arm was a long staff entwined with two living serpents.

"I will leave you now," Hestia said. She bowed to the aviator and disappeared into smoke. Lucia understood why she was so anxious to go. Hermes, the God of Messengers, did not look happy.

"Hello, Percy." His brow furrowed as though he was annoyed with him, and Lucia wondered if the vision Percy had, has anything to do with it.

He bowed awkwardly. "Lord Hermes."

Oh, sure, one of the snakes said in Lucia's mind. Don't say hi to us. We're just reptiles.

Lucia looked around "You hear that too right?"

George, the other snake scolded. Be polite.

"Hello, George," Percy said. "Hey, Martha."

Lucia exhaled, I thought I really lost it.

Did you bring us a rat? George asked.

George, stop it, Martha said. He's busy!

Too busy for rats? George said. That's just sad.

"Um, Hermes," Percy said. "We need to talk to Zeus. It's important."

Hermes's eyes were steely cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?"

Behind him, the other demigods shifted restlessly. This wasn't going as planned.

"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, Lucia, and me back here in thirty minutes."

Lucia hesitated, The gods must pay.

Silena frowned. "But—"

"That's a good idea," Annabeth said. "Connor and Travis, you two lead."

The Stolls seemed to like that—getting handed an important responsibility right in front of their dad. They usually never led anything except toilet paper raids. "We're on it!" Travis said. They herded the others out of the throne room, leaving the trio with Hermes.

"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. He scratched his back with his caduceus, and George and Martha muttered Ow, ow, ow.

"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."

"It's clearly a freaking trap" Lucia snapped "What is Zeus blind?

Thunder rolled through the sky.

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

Annabeth said, "But there are these blue lights—"

"Yes, yes. I saw them. Some mischief by that insufferable goddess of magic, Hecate, I'd wager. She has been causing some trouble lately hasn't she?" He stopped to look at Lucia. Her expression was blank. "but you may have noticed they aren't doing any damage. Olympus has strong magical wards. Besides, Aeolus, the King of the Winds, has sent his most powerful minions to guard the citadel. No one save the gods can approach Olympus from the air. They would be knocked out of the sky."

Percy raised his hand. "Um . . . 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?"

Hermes made it sound pretty ridiculous—hordes of monsters going up in the elevator twenty at a time, listening to "Stayin' Alive."

"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 at the Arch," Percy muttered. "Not nice."

"—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?" Lucia said. "He nearly destroyed St. Louis."

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

No one seemed to argue, but it sounded like Hermes was trying to convince himself. In the corner, the Ophiotaurus mooed sadly.

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

"Messages," he 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."

Rodents, George mused. I'm in it for the rodents.

Shhh, Martha scolded. We care what Hermes has to say. Don't we, George?

Oh, absolutely. Can we go back to the battle now? I want to do laser mode again. That's fun.

"Quiet, both of you," Hermes grumbled.

The god looked at Annabeth, who was doing her big-pleading-gray-eyes thing.

"Bah," Hermes 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."

Annabeth's face paled. she knew what it meant, and she didn't like it. "Go on."

"Last thing." Hermes looked at Percy. "She said to tell Percy: 'Remember the rivers.' And that you must take Lucia's handcuffs off. um, something about her staying away from her daughter too."

Lucia huffed. "Hater."

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

The god's expression hardened like he'd turned to marble. "You should've left that subject alone."

Annabeth stepped back nervously. "Sorry?"

"SORRY doesn't cut it!"

George and Martha curled around the caduceus, which shimmered and changed into something that looked suspiciously like a high-voltage cattle prod.

"You should've saved him when you had the chance," Hermes growled at Annabeth. "You're the only one who could have."

Lucia stepped between them. "What are you talking about? Annabeth didn't—"

"Don't defend her!" Hermes turned the cattle prod toward her. "She knows exactly what I'm talking about. and you-"

"Maybe you should blame yourself!" Percy yelled, he was turning his attention away from Annabeth and Lucia. "Maybe if you hadn't abandoned Luke and his mom!"

Hermes raised his cattle prod. He began to grow until he was ten feet tall. Lucia suddenly felt panic fill her. Though she didn't understand why. She wanted Percy to die.

But as he prepared to strike, George and Martha leaned in close and whispered something in his ear. Hermes clenched his teeth. He lowered the cattle prod, and it turned back to a staff.

"Percy Jackson," he said, "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 . . ."

He sounded so devastated Lucia didn't know what to say.

"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, and his voice faltered. The look on his face wasn't really anger, though. It was pain. Deep, incredible pain.

It reminded her of her dream of Apollo crying over Hyacinthus' death.

"Lucia." Hermes regarded her, his eyes pained as he looked at her with familiarity, like she reminded him of someone. "My older brother...He cares. There is just a limit to our involvements. We try in different ways. There is a reason you were chosen to bear his gifts. Don't let...Don't let them win."

"I will leave you now," he said tightly. "I have a war to fight."

He began to shine. Percy turned away and made sure Annabeth and Lucia did the same because they were still frozen.

Good luck, Percy, Martha the snake whispered.

Hermes glowed with the light of a supernova. Then he was gone.
Annabeth sat at the foot of her mother's throne and cried. Lucia wanted to comfort her, but she wasn't sure how. Her head was starting to hurt again.

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

Annabeth wiped her eyes. She stared at the hearth like it was her own funeral pyre.

Percy shifted uneasily. "Um, you didn't, right?"

She didn't answer.

"Percy," she said. "What did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meet her?"

He nodded reluctantly. "Nico and I visited her. She was a little . . . different." He described May Castellan, and a weird moment when her eyes had started to glow 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! Did you or not?"

"Um . . . maybe a little."

Lucia stormed forward, she pressed her cuffed hands together, swinging her arms to hit him in the stomach. Percy doubled over in surprise.

Annabeth stood in worry but Lucia wasn't under any spell. She glared at him "You kelp head! Why the fuck would you curse yourself?! why do you do these stupid dangerous things!"

Percy's eyes widened. He grinned. "You're worried."

Lucia huffed, she winced at the sharp pain in her skull.

I hate Percy—

"No." She shook her head, She backed away "I'm just mad that killing you is going to be harder now."

Percy didn't seem to believe her. His gentle smile didn't waver.

He then began to tell them the story about Hades and Nico, and how he'd defeated an army of the dead. He left out something, Lucia could tell by the way her brain started to itch, but if she was honest she didn't care enough to ask. Or at least didn't want to seem like she cared. Because she didn't.

Annabeth shook her head in disbelief. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

"He doesn't have ideas!" Lucia huffed "You knock on his head and it's hollow! just straight up algae, shells and the occasional fish if we're lucky!"

"I had no choice." He defended. "It's the only way I can stand up to Luke."

"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?"

Lucia wondered what Hermes had meant about Annabeth not saving Luke when she'd had the chance. Clearly, she wasn't telling them something. But at the moment she wasn't in the mood to ask.

"The point is he didn't die in the Styx," Percy said. "Neither did I. Now I have to face him. We have to defend Olympus."

Lucia stayed silent at a distance she studied his face, she was trying to see differences since his swim in the Styx.

"I guess you're right. My mom mentioned—"

"Plan twenty-three."

She rummaged in her pack and pulled out Daedalus's laptop. The blue Delta symbol glowed on the top when she booted it up. She opened a few files and started to read.

"Here it is," she said. "Gods, we have a lot of work to do."

"One of Daedalus's inventions?" Lucia remembered.

"A lot of inventions . . . dangerous ones. If my mother wants me to use this plan, she must think things are very bad." She looked at Percy. "What about her message to you: 'Remember the rivers'? What does that mean?"

"As usual, I have no clue what the gods are telling me. Which rivers am I supposed to remember? The Styx? The Mississippi?" He shook his head. "But, What about the other thing your mom said...About taking Lucia's cuffs off?."

Just then the Stoll brothers ran into the throne room. "You need to see this," Connor said. "Now."

The blue lights in the sky had stopped, so at first, Lucia didn't understand what the problem was.

The other campers had gathered in a small park at the edge of the mountain. They were clustered at the guardrail, looking down at Manhattan. The railing was lined with those tourist binoculars, where you could deposit one golden drachma and see the city. Campers were using every single one.

Lucia looked down at the city. She could see almost everything from there—the East River and the Hudson River carving the shape of Manhattan, the grid of streets, the lights of skyscrapers, the dark stretch of Central Park in the north. Everything looked normal, but something was wrong. Lucia felt it in her bones before she realized what it was.

"I don't . . . hear anything," Annabeth said. That was the problem.

Even from this height, Lucia should've heard the noise of the city—millions of people bustling around, thousands of cars and machines—the hum of a huge metropolis. You don't think about it when you live in New York, but it's always there. Even in the dead of night, New York is never silent.

But it was now.

Percy spoke like his best friend had suddenly dropped dead.

"What did they do?" His voice sounded tight and angry. "What did they do to my city?" He pushed Michael away from the binoculars and took a look.

Percy stepped away. His face pained.

Lucia stepped up, "Let me see."

In the streets below, traffic had stopped. Pedestrians were lying on the sidewalks, or curled up in doorways. There was no sign of violence, no wrecks, nothing like that. It was as if all the people in New York had simply decided to stop whatever they were doing and pass out.

"Are they dead?" Silena asked in astonishment.

Ice coated Lucia's stomach. A line from the prophecy rang in her ears: And see the world in endless sleep.

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