ｔｈｅ ｌａｓｔ ｏｌｙｍｐｉａｎ

LUCIA WOKE UP WITH AN EERIE CALMNESS. She didn't cry, she didn't scream, she didn't feel anything. She just stared off into space, trembling.

Even if she could, she had no time to wallow. An angry roar shook the city and the ground under feet. Aurora immediately called for her. "Drakon! Lucia! Come on!"

The Hephaestus cabin was out of Greek fire. Lucia's siblings and the Hunters were scrounging for arrows. Most of them had already ingested so much ambrosia and nectar they didn't dare take any more.

They had seventeen campers, fifteen Hunters, and half a dozen satyrs left in fighting shape. The rest had taken refuge on Olympus. The Party Ponies tried to form ranks, but they staggered and giggled and they all smelled like root beer. The Texans were head-butting the Coloradoans. The Missouri branch was arguing with Illinois. The probability of the whole army fighting each other rather than the enemy was pretty likely.

Camp Half-Blood is the enemy.

Lucia was to the point of pure exhaustion. She felt dizzier with every step, and her arm was a heavy weight against her. There was a crippling pain in her chest, but in a way, she felt disconnected from it.

When she found Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth standing with Rachel and Chiron she stumbled her way over, hoping they'd help her as they had before.

"Your friend here has some useful insights, Percy," Chiron said.

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."

Percy stared at her. "How did you know that?"

"I'm not sure," Rachel admitted. "But this drakon has a particular fate. It will be killed by a child of Ares."

Annabeth crossed her arms. "How can you possibly know that?"

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

"Well, let's hope you're wrong," Percy said. "Because we're a little short on children of Ares. . . ."

Percy cursed in Ancient Greek.

"What is it?" Lucia asked. His gaze fell on her, there were deep bags under her violet eyes, and they held no indicator of how she was feeling behind them. Her face was pinched and sallow, her brown skin subtle shades lighter.

"The spy," His eyebrows crinkled together. "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."

"It's my fault..." Lucia murmured, too weak to speak any louder.

All eyes fell on her in an instant, Percy frowned. "How?"

"...Ethan came to talk to me." She admitted,

He inched closer. His voice dropped an octave. "Did he hurt you?"

"No." She shook her head "He didn't"

forget it. he won't ever like you, no one will look at you. you're a disgusting little girl.

she looked ahead glancing at Rachel and avoiding Percy's gaze. he deserves better... "He wanted me back.."

"How does that make the Drakon your fault?" Annabeth questioned

Make them Pay

She groaned in pain, she knew there was no hiding that something was wrong anymore.

Yet she didn't want them to worry. She knew there were bigger things to think about. And they couldn't fight a war if they were busy trying to pick up after her mess.

Lucia figured she could simply manage a while longer, until she found Will, and asked for the handcuffs. She seemed to be doing a good job of not hurting anyone, and to her, that was the most important part.

If only she realized she was hurting someone.

"Lucy?"

"Sorry, it's my shoulder." She lied, "It wasn't about us. I meant back as in the Titans' army. He said Kronos was planning something... he didn't mention what just that it would be bad. And if I didn't go with him. He'd do it. I thought it could be a trick...Honestly...I... I didn't want to go...but...maybe I should have...Real-?"

"No." Percy finalized

"That'd be worse." Thalia agreed

"A drakon can be handled" Chiron reassured "You did well Lucia."

Then why was there something screaming at her that the drakon was about to bring terrible trouble? 

Lucia gave the centaur a weak smile

Thalia scowled. "I swear 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 said, "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."

☼

THERE ARE DRAGONS AND THEN THERE ARE DRAKONS.

Drakons are several millennia older than dragons, and much larger. They're like giant serpents. Most don't have wings. Most don't breathe fire (though some do). All are poisonous. All are immensely strong, with scales harder than titanium. Their eyes paralyze you; not the turn into stone Medusa-type paralysis, but a giant snake is about to eat me paralysis, which felt just as bad.

They had drakon-fighting classes at camp, and It wasn't Lucia's first rodeo with one. She had fended one off with her siblings just last summer when Lee was still counselor. Which felt like a millennia ago now.

Regardless Lucia didn't think she could ever be prepared for a two-hundred-foot-long serpent as thick as a school bus slithering down the side of a building, its yellow eyes like searchlights and its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth big enough to chew elephants.

Meanwhile, the enemy army advanced down Fifth Avenue. The campers had done their best to push cars out of the way to keep the mortals safe, but that just made it easier for their enemies to approach.

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, but Lucia figured any second they would panic and run.

"I'll take the drakon." Percy's voice came out as a timid squeak. Then he yelled louder: "I'LL TAKE THE DRAKON! Everyone else, hold the line against the army!"

Lucia stood beside him. She was overpowered with trepidation, she knew something terrible was going to happen. And it killed her to not have the power to do anything but know and wait for the next catastrophe to come.

Get it through your head, Lucia. Another memory emerged. One of Davis standing before her, police tape plastered on the penthouse door. he's dead. and he's not coming back.

Percy turned to her "Will you help me, Luz?"

I hate Percy Jackson

Kill Percy Jackson

Lucia looked up, her eyes cold and vacant. She muffled the deafening voice with his heartbeat. "That's what I do," Lucia said miserably. "I help my friends."

He looked like he wanted to say something else, his face twisting in regret but he only nodded reluctantly. "Can you do more of that thing you did with Hyperion?"

"I can do better. I'll go invisible, look for weak links in its armor. You keep it busy."

Her time with Kronos forced her to test the range of her abilities, Particle shifting was one of them. The ability to bend and shift light particles allowed her to not only create holographic images of herself but also turn invisible.

Percy seemed curious about her new skill but only nodded in agreement, he whistled. "Mrs. O'Leary, heel!"

"ROOOF!" His hellhound leaped over a line of centaurs and gave him a kiss that suspiciously smelled like pepperoni pizza.

He drew his sword and they charged the monster.

The drakon was three stories above them, slithering sideways along the building as it sized up their 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 before Lucia could even get close.

Mrs. O'Leary launched herself through the air—a deadly black shadow with teeth and claws. Normally, a pouncing hellhound is a terrifying sight, but next to the drakon, Mrs. O'Leary looked like a Beanie baby.

Her claws raked harmlessly off the drakon's scales. She bit the monster's throat but couldn't make a dent. Her weight, however, was enough to knock the drakon off the side of the building.

It flailed awkwardly and crashed to the sidewalk, hellhound and serpent twisting and thrashing.

The drakon tried to bite Mrs. O'Leary, but she was too close to the serpent's mouth. Poison spewed everywhere, melting centaurs into dust along with quite a few monsters, but Mrs. O'Leary weaved around the serpent's head, scratching and biting.

Lucia charged forward, invisible. She emitted a great beam of light and the monster hissed, flailing after getting temporarily blinded.

She flung two daggers which found themselves perfectly piercing through different spots of exposed scales, the monster roared in anger.

"YAAAH!" Percy plunged Riptide deep into the monster's left eye. The spotlight went dark. The drakon hissed and reared back to strike, but he rolled aside.

It bit a swimming pool-size chunk out of the pavement. Looking around in confusion the Drakon turned toward the only visible demigod, Percy.

Mrs. O'Leary did her best to cause a distraction. She leaped onto the serpent's head and scratched and growled like an angry black wig.

The rest of the battle wasn't going well. The centaurs had panicked under the onslaught of giants and demons. An occasional orange camp T-shirt appeared in the sea of fighting, but quickly disappeared.

Arrows screamed. Fire exploded in waves across both armies, but the action was moving across the street to the entrance of the Empire State Building. They were losing ground.

Lucia materialized on the drakon's back. She drove another dagger between a chink in the serpent's scales.

The drakon roared. It coiled around, knocking Lucia off its back.

Percy appeared just as she hit the ground. He dragged her out of the way as the serpent rolled, crushing a lamppost right where she'd been.

"Thanks," She said out of breath, her heart racing.

He glared, "I told you to be careful."

"That was me being careful." She defended

Kill Percy Jackson

Time slowed down when Lucia saw past Percy. And she immediately knew who was the cause...The feeling was all too familiar. Her throat went dry, almost like she had swallowed buckets of sand. The drakon approached leisurely but looked just as terrifying, and it was seconds away from sinking its razor-sharp teeth into Percy's back. Her body froze.

leave a message at the beep...

Make them Pay

She didn't budge. this is what I want

No matter where you are, or who you're with, or what you think of me, I will always, honestly, truly, and completely, love you.

"NO!" She cried "DUCK!"

She tackled him, her hand pushing down on his chest as the monster's teeth snapped above his head. Mrs. O'Leary body-slammed the drakon's face to get its attention, and they rolled out of the way.

Percy held her to his chest, which rose and fell harshly. He found himself staring at her, a look of surprise plastered on his face. Her cheeks burnt scarlet when she realized the upper half of her body was laying on his.

"Sorry-" She whispered, her hand still pressed against his chest. She quickly moved off him."A-are you okay?"

He grinned "Thanks to you Sunlight."

A pang of guilt shot through her chest. She almost let him die...

Meanwhile, their allies 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. Lucia and Percy would have to retreat before they were cut off from Mount Olympus.

Then Lucia heard a rumbling in the south. It wasn't a sound heard much throughout New York, but she recognized it immediately: chariot wheels.

A girl's voice yelled, "ARES!"

Lucia didn't understand why her stomach twisted into knots.

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 Ares kids?" Percy's mouth fell in amazement. "How'd Rachel know?"

Lucia didn't look as convinced "Percy...Something is wrong."

His face fell when he saw the fear on her face. She looked about seconds away from spilling her guts on the pavement.

Leading 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.

It appeared that 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's poor pet hit the side of the building with a yelp. They ran to help her, but the serpent had already zeroed in on the new threat. Even with only one eye, its glare was enough to paralyze two chariot drivers. They 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.

"EEESSSSS!!!!!" it screamed,

"Ares, to me!" Clarisse screamed. But it didn't sound like Clarisse to Lucia. Her voice was shriller than usual, maybe it was because 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 Building, 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 like they'd been training for this all their lives, which of course they had.

No one could say the Ares campers weren't brave. Clarisse was right there in front, stabbing her spear at the drakon's face, trying to put out its other eye. But as Lucia watched, 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.

Lucia panicked, she looked at Percy "We have to go help her."

He nodded, snapping out of his daze. He'd just been standing there frozen in amazement.

Mrs. O'Leary tried to get up but yelped again. One of her paws was bleeding.

"Stay back, girl," He told her. "You've done enough already."

Lucia and Percy leaped 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!"

Through her war helmet, Lucia could only see her eyes—but she immediately noticed something was wrong. Her blue
eyes shone with fear. Clarisse never looked like that. And she didn't have blue eyes.

"ARES!" she shouted, in that strangely shrill voice. She leveled her spear and charged the drakon.

Lucia gasped, an involuntary scream erupted from her chest.

"SILENA"

The monster looked down at her—almost in contempt—and spit poison directly in her face.

She screamed and fell.

Lucia scrambled off the monster's back and ran to help, while the other Ares campers tried to defend 'their fallen counselor'.

Percy drove Riptide between two of the creature's scales and managed to turn its attention on him.

Percy got thrown but he landed on his feet. "C'MON, you stupid worm! Look at me!"

At the edge of Lucia's vision, She saw a flying chariot land on Fifth Avenue.

Then someone ran toward them. A girl's voice, shaken with grief, cried, "NO! Curse you, WHY?"

Lucia looked up to find her fears confirmed. Her gaze fell back to the injured girl and with shaking hands she helped the Ares cabin to unfasten her helmet, which was smelting with the poison.

"WHY?" The real Clarisse demanded, holding the other girl in her arms while the campers struggled to remove the poison-corroded helmet.

Chris Rodriguez ran over from the flying chariot. He and Clarisse must've ridden it there from camp, chasing the Ares campers, who'd mistakenly been following the other girl, thinking she was Clarisse.

The drakon tugged its head from the brick wall and screamed in rage.

"Look out!" Chris warned.

Instead of turning toward Percy, the drakon whirled toward the sound of Chris's voice. It bared its fangs at the group of demigods.

The real Clarisse looked up at the drakon, her face filled with absolute hate.

"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.

Clarisse was fast. 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.

The rest of them stared at Clarisse in awe. They had never seen anyone take down such a huge monster single-handedly. But Clarisse didn't seem to care. She ran back to the wounded girl who'd stolen her armor.

Finally, with a frustrated grunt and one final tug, Lucia managed to remove the girl's helmet. They all gathered around: the Ares campers, Chris, Clarisse, and Percy. The battle still raged along Fifth Avenue, but for that moment nothing existed except their small circle and the fallen girl.

Her features, once beautiful, were badly burned from poison. Lucia knew, without even touching her, that no amount of nectar or ambrosia would save her.

Everyone looked down at the dying face of Silena Beauregard.

If you don't come with me something bad is going to happen...something really bad.

But little did she know...That it was only the beginning.

Don't worry brat I'm coming for you soon...