chapter 36: battle prep

Distance was shorter in the Labyrinth. Still, by the time Rachel got them back to Times Square, Hoa felt like she'd ran all the way from New Mexico. They climbed out of the Marriot basement and stood on the sidewalk in the bright summer daylight, squinting at the traffic and crowds.

Hoa couldn't decide which seemed more real—New York, or the crystal cave where she watched a god die.

Percy led the way into an alley, whistling loudly five times to call for Blackjack. Hoa leaned a bit more into Nico's chest before Rachel gasped. "They're beautiful!"

A flock of pegasi descended from the sky, swooping between the skyscrapers. Percy's main ride, Blackjack, a beautiful and rare black pegasus, was in the lead, followed by five of his white-coated friends.

Blackjack neighed and Percy responded with, "Yeah, I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick."

He's lucky that he's a Poseidon kid, Hoa thought. He can understand horses.

Blackjack neighed again, a pegasus Hoa recognized as Guido trotting next to Tyson. They made several noises that seemed to resemble groans as he walked to the Cyclops. Everyone began saddling up except for Rachel.

Poor Guido, she thought out of sympathy. Their back will be dead.

~•~•~

Everyone took their time saddling up, waiting for Percy to finish talking with Rachel. Finally, he came back, looking solemn. "If anyone wants Rachel's number, tell me. Is Nico good?"

The son of Hades was having trouble as his pegasus seemed to not want him on their back. They kept neighing in protest as Blackjack neighed back at them. "Go without me!" he ended up saying out of frustration. "I don't want to go back to that camp, anyway."

"Nico," Percy said, "we need your help."

The son of Hades folded his arms and scowled at Percy. "No way."

Hoa dismounted her pegasus and put her hand on his shoulder. He leaned into her touch, sighing in relaxation.

"Nico," she said gently. "Camp was and still is my home. I'm going to fight for it, but please, we could really use some of your help."

He hesitated. On one hand, Nico really wanted nothing to do with that place anymore. But he had that tingly sensation that told him Hoa would die soon.

I won't let it happen, Nico thought.

Slowly, he let his expression soften for the girl in front of him. "All right," he said reluctantly. "For you."

At last, everyone was on a pegasus. They shot into the air and went over the East River with Long Island spread out below them.

~•~•~

They landed in the middle of the cabin area and met with Chiron, the potbellied satyr, Silenus, and a couple of Apollo cabin archers. Chiron raised an eyebrow when he saw Nico, but if she expected him to be surprised by their latest news of Quintus being Daedalus, or Kronos rising, she was mistaken.

"I feared as much," Chiron said. "We must hurry. Hopefully, you have slowed down the Titan lord, but his vanguard will still come through. They will be eager for blood. Most of our defenders are already in place. Come!"

"Wait a moment," Silenus demanded. "What of the search for Pan? You are almost three weeks overdue, Grover Underwood! Your searcher's license is revoked!"

Grover took a deep breath. He stood up straight and looked Silenus in the eye. "Searcher's licenses don't matter anymore. The great god Pan is dead. He has passed on and left us his spirit."

"What?" Silenus's face turned bright red. "Sacrilege and lies! Grover Underwood, I will have you exiled for speaking thus!"

"It's true," Percy said. "We were all there when he died. All of us."

"Impossible! You are all liars! Nature-destroyers!"

"I literally haven't said anything," Hoa said. "And my name is literally 'Flower' in Vietnamese. I don't think I qualify to be a nature-destroyer."

Nico laughed under his breath, grabbing her wrist and pulling closer. He was extra cuddly today.

Chiron studied Grover's sad face. "We will speak of this later."

"We will speak of it now!" Silenus said. "We must deal with this—"

"Silenus," Chiron cut in. "My camp is under attack. The matter of Pan has waited two thousand years. I fear it will have to wait a bit longer. Assuming we are still here this evening."

And on that happy note, he readied his bow and galloped toward the woods, leaving them to follow as best they could.

~•~•~

It was the biggest military operation Hoa had ever seen at camp. Everyone was at the clearing, dressed in full battle armor, but this time, it wasn't for capture the flag.

The Hephaestus cabin had set up traps around the entrance to the Labyrinth—razor wire, pits filled with pots of Greek fire, rows of sharpened sticks to deflect a charge. Beckendorf was manning two catapults the size of pickup trucks, already primed and aimed at Zeus's fist. The Ares cabin was on the front line, standing in phalanx formation with Clarisse calling orders. Apollo's and Hermes' cabins scattered in the woods with bows ready, many taking up positions in the trees. Even dryads aimed their bows, and the satyrs trotted around with wooden cudgels and shields made of rough tree bark.

Annabeth went to join her brethren from the Athena cabin, who had set up a command tent and were directing operations. A gray banner with an owl fluttered outside the tent. Their security chief, Argus, stood outside the door. Aphrodite's children were running around, straightening everybody's armor and offering to comb the tangles out of their horsehair plumes. Even Dionysus's kids had found something to do. The god himself was still nowhere to be found, but his two blond twin sons were running around, providing all the sweaty warriors with water bottles and juice boxes.

It seemed like a pretty good setup, but Chiron muttered next to Percy, "It isn't enough."

Hoa thought about what she'd seen in the Labyrinth, remembering all the monsters in Antaeus's stadium. Her heart sank. Chiron was right, but it was all they could muster. She wished Mr. D would be here, but even if he had been, she didn't know if he could do anything. In war, gods can't interfere directly.

Apparently, the Titans didn't believe in restrictions like that.

Over at the edge of the clearing, Grover was talking to Juniper. She held his hands while he told her our story. Green tears filled her eyes as he delivered the news about Pan.

Tyson helped the Hephaestus kids prepare the defenses. He picked up boulders and piled them next to the catapults for firing.

"So..." Nico sounded behind her, startling her a bit. "This is it?"

"Yeah." She turned around and grabbed Nico's hands. They were cold, freezing despite the amount of sweaty bodies in full battle armor around them.

"Hoa..." Nico's voice faltered as he stared into her eyes. "I... someone told me you would die soon."

She froze. Her muscles stilled, her fingers clenched in Nico's hands, her eyes focused on his face. But despite all of this, her mind was racing at hundreds of miles per hour. How did he find out? He isn't supposed to know.

"I..."

Her voice faltered as tears started coming to her eyes. Breaking eye contact with Nico, she looked down. "I-I'm not ready to die."

"I'm sorry," Nico said, his voice becoming more shaky.

Hoa looked up at the taller boy. "You can feel it, right? You can feel that I'm dying soon."

"I can feel it," he confirmed. "I also know that many people that are here today are dying soon. But there will also be a lot of survivors, which gives me hope."

Hoa sighed, lowering her head again as the first tear slipped. Nico immediately noticed, grabbing her arm and pulling her behind a tree.

His hand softly went into her hair as he soothed the crying girl. Hoa buried her head into his chest as she keeled, gripping Nico's waist tightly.

"I-I'm not ready to die," Hoa sobbed, clutching Nico tighter. He wrapped an arm around her, then another.

"Nobody is ever ready to die," Nico said softly. "But when you do, I'll be able to visit you, and you will have a lot of friends with you. Or," he joked, "I can try my best to drag you back to the land of the living."

Hoa sniffled. "Okay." She slowly peeled off of him, refusing to look at the son of the dead.

But Nico was too observant. "Hey, hey, what's wrong? Why aren't you looking at me?"

Hoa stared at the floor, the mind turning blank. Nico crouched lower, peeking up at Hoa's still tear-filled eyes.

"Hush," he said softly. "Don't cry. Stop crying."

He stood up again and tilted her face upwards, wiping the tears from her eyes. Hoa looked up at him, the frown still on her face.

"Hey," he said. "Until your last breath, you fight the hardest you can, alright?"

"Okay."

"You will kill as many monsters as you can. I'll keep count for you."

A small smile crept onto Hoa's face. "Okay."

"Good." With that, Nico stepped back. He grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the other demigods.

Fight my hardest, she thought.

But before they stepped out, Nico stopped her. He put a hand on her cheek and gently kissed the corner of her lip—gentler than one would think a child of the Underworld could be.

"I love you, Flower. Let's go fight our hardest together."

And he ran off just as the Titan lord's army exploded from the Labyrinth.

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hi im madi, your loyal author ♥️

can i j say that silenus is such a bitch

also FINALLY THEY KISSED

check out muse! its a jax x reader (from tadc--the amazing digital circus)

anyways again

how was the chapter?

also, what are some questions of your own?

anyways, tysm for reading this crappy book! 😃