Chapter 29

Manhattan, New York

August 18th, 5:42 PM

3rd POV

The demigods were scrambling to prepare their defenses, using whatever traps they had left to reinforce their position. The demigods worked harder than ever, Greek and Roman banding together to get an impossible amount of work done before the monsters returned. Just a day prior, none of them would have been this motivated to do anything - even with the fate of the world in their hands, but now, they had something they didn't have for a long time: hope.

The arrival of Percy Jackson brought that hope, the return of Olympus' greatest warrior ignited a fire in each of the demigods' hearts; they had their hero back. Nobody except a few of his closest friends had actually seen Percy since he had left after the battle, but the constant strumming of the guitar and howling of a wolf assured them he was still there.

The demigods used whatever they could to try and create barricades; broken pieces of concrete and plants grown by children of Demeter and Ceres were both viable options. Frank Zhang was overseeing all of these changes when one of his scouts, Mark Sanchez, came running up to him, "Praetor Zhang..." he stopped to catch his breath, "The monsters.. are amassing in Central Park, I think... they're planning on going straight down fifth avenue."

Frank nodded, he already knew all of this, "Anything else, Legionnaire?" The son of Mercury nodded furiously, still trying to regain his breath from sprinting all the way from Central Park, "I couldn't tell who, but there was definitely a godly presence there, definitely a Titan, maybe more." Frank became worried, they could barely take the monsters alone, now they had a Titan to worry about.

From behind Frank, Percy's voice rang out, "I'll take 5th Avenue." Frank had nearly jumped out of his skin. He had not heard Percy sneaking up behind him, which should be impossible considering all the weapons and armour he was wearing. Frank quickly dismissed Mark and turned to face his black clad friend, "What do you mean, you'll take 5th Avenue? There's going to be an army of monsters marching straight down that street."

Percy took off his helmet and looked Frank dead in the eye, "I'll take 5th Avenue and hold it until all the monsters are dead, I'll have the Hunters of Artemis behind me to shoot down any monster that gets past me.

"You and your Romans can hold Broadway and 6th Avenue while the Greeks spread out and cover our flanks; the archers from the Apollo cabin will join you." Frank analyzed his plan, it had merit, but he still didn't like the idea of Percy going Mano a Mano with thousands of monsters and a Titan, "With all due respect Percy, I don't see how you could possibly hold your own."

Percy looked off into the distance, "I was born for war Frank, handcrafted by the Fates themselves. I am a demigod son of Poseidon, a Lord of Time, the bane of all monsters." Percy turned back to Frank, "Too many have died while I was in Tartarus, I will not allow anymore blood to be shed in this war." Percy put his helmet back on and walked into a puddle and dissapeared, not leaving any room for discussion.

Frank went to find Hazel and the rest of the Seven, he needed to let them know what was going on. He found them all chatting away in the command tent, "Guys. I think Percy is suicidal." That had gotten their attention, Frank explained Percy's plan, how he intended to hold 5th Avenue alone.

When he finished, a silence hung over the group like a rain cloud. Surprisingly, it was Thalia Grace, who had been making a pastrami sandwich at the other end of the tent, that spoke up, "Well if Percy wants to do it, let him."

All heads immediately snapped to the lieutenant of Artemis, who just shrugged indifferently, "Percy isn't the same kid that was constantly sent on quests. He fell into Tartarus - alone - and fought down there for longer than we can even comprehend, he even killed Typhon for gods sake; If he holds 5th Avenue, the monsters will just be marching to their deaths, and my hunters will be there to back him up." Thalia took a bite of her sandwich and walked away, leaving a stunned group of demigods.

—

Manhattan, New York

August 18th, 10:22 PM

As predicted, the monster army marched down 5th Avenue, small detachments broke off this army and went down Broadway and Madison Avenue. Ouranos continued to gain in power and a majority of the gods were trapped on Olympus; bar Poseidon, who was fighting a war of his own at the bottom of the sea.

Percy Jackson waited patiently for the monsters to make it past 42nd Street, where he would stop them dead in their path. Percy looked at the army that was quickly making its way towards him and inspected their ranks; he found nothing of interest. Most of the stronger monsters had been vanquished in the earlier stages of the war, but he did pick up on two godly presences in the back of the army; one of which, he recognized.

Percy slowly got up and put his helmet on. He firmly planted his greaves in the asphalt road and readied his sword and shield. The first monster to reach him was a hellhound, it was also the first to be killed, celestial bronze piercing through its body. Percy charged the monsters, whirling through their ranks and killing any monster that dared to face him. Many had tried to run past the demigod, only to find a silver arrow between the eyes.

The Romans defended 6th Avenue with ferocity, impaling many monsters with their pila and imperial gold weaponry as they tried to break their shield wall. The Apollo cabin sent volleys of arrows into the monsters, killing anything lowered its shield. The Greeks defended Madison Avenue, repelling smaller teams of monsters that would try and slip behind their ranks.

The monsters continued their failed charge down 5th Avenue, the monsters' moral was rapidly depleting, but running away was not an option with two Titans and Ouranos watching over them. Percy reached St Patrick's Cathedral and realized he was overextending and retreated back down to 37th Street, not willing to give the monsters an opportunity to sneak around him and overwhelm the hunters.

Percy heard some ineligible shouting from the back of the army and all movement immediately ceased. Percy took this as a time to taunt his enemies, "Krios! I know you're back there, come out and face me! Or will you continue to hide behind these worthless monsters?"

More shouting came from the back of the army and the monsters all moved to the side, clearing a wide path down the middle of their ranks. Down this lane came two Titans, one clad in stygian iron armor and a rams helmet and the other wearing a goatskin while brandishing a celestial bronze spear; Krios and Pallas.

Percy sheathed Riptide and slung his shield over his shoulder. He pulled Time's March off his back and watched it transform into the Scythe of Kronos; he planned on ending these two Titans permanently. Seeing the weapon, the two Titans faltered in step, they knew all too well the damage it could do.

Pallas and Krios continued walking down the aisle anyway, not believing that a mortal could kill them - Scythe of Kronos or not. Percy smiled at this, immortals always were overconfident, their hubris will be their doom. Percy continued taunting them, "Come Krios, come forth and reclaim your brother Hyperion's armor! You can give it to him when you reach the void.

"Come and face me Pallas, o' mighty Titan of Warfare. Come kill the man that ended your brother Perses." With each word he spoke, the Titans were getting exponentially more irritated, a mere demigod was calling them out, flaunting the deaths of their fellow Titans.

The three of them stood in the middle of an intersection, the two Titans glaring daggers at Perseus. Percy smirked under his helmet, he had missed angering immortal stepped forward, "You will die for those insults, mortal."

As the two Titans charged him, he slammed his scythe into the ground and unleashed the power of time. Both Krios and Pallas were basically motionless and stood frozen not two feet away from Perseus. Percy started walking around the Titans, attempting to intimidate the also frozen monsters. "Feast your eyes on the greatest warriors Ouranos could send to kill me: Krios and Pallas!"

Percy turned towards the Titans and cut both of their heads off in one swing of his scythe. As their heads hit the floor, the monsters found themselves unfrozen and immediately sprinted away from Perseus, running as if their lives depended on it - which it did.

Pallas' body was the first to be sent to the void, blood red light breaking through cracks in his body. The light slammed into Perseus and he felt as if he were stabbed with a thousand knives, each one twisting its way out. As he got up, a white light that shined as bright as the stars knocked him back to the ground. Percy tried not to scream in pain as Krios' power over stars and constellations burned its way through his body.

Percy got up and gave a thumbs up sign to Thalia and the other hunters, indicating that he was still alive. Thalia came running over to her cousin, "Why did you let them run?"

Percy just shrugged, "I didn't want you to waste arrows, your supply is already low." Percy looked up to the sky as it started rumbling, "Besides, I think we have bigger problems; Ouranos is about to wake."

Percy's armor changed back into his clothes and he immediately started searching his bag, "Thalia, I need some drachmas." Thalia didn't even ask why, and tossed him a bag full of the golden coins. Percy caught it and sprinted off towards the Empire State Building, claiming he had a few calls he needed to make