[1] 𝐼𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑢𝑠 - 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦 𝐽𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠𝑜𝑛

3.08

-

PERCY RAN BACK TOWARDS THE WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE as fast as he could. Kat - Kronos had said that while Percy was gone, his army would have been able to easily decimate the Apollo campers, Cassiopeia and Annabeth.

In a sense that was true; Percy did make up the bulk of the army.

Kronos's army was gone, save for about thirty monsters likely to stop the campers from pursuing. Percy advanced from behind while his friends took the front.

When they were done Percy got a clear look at the bridge. Some cars were broken and on fire. There were major holes, likely from greek fire.

Michael Yew ran up to him, his ferrety face smeared with blood and dust. "Percy! You okay? Where's Kronos?"

His face twisted into a pissed off scowl, which probably told him everything. "He got away."

Michael nodded, not seeming to expect anything different.

"What's the damage here?" Percy asked.

The son of Apollo shifted uncomfortably. "A lot of injuries. A few of my siblings..." he cleared his throat. "Annabeth's hurt too. An enemy half-blood stabbed her when she and Cass tried to follow you."

Percy turned his head sharply. "But she's okay, right? The both of them are?"

"I don't really know," Michael admitted. "I had Cass and Will take her back to the Plaza Hotel."

Tactically speaking, it wasn't the best place for a headquarters. It wasn't the tallest building in town, or the most centrally located. But it had an old-school style and had attracted a lot of famous demigods over the years, like the Beatles and Alfred Hitchcock, so maybe they were in good company.

Percy took a deep breath. "Keep looking for your siblings-" even though he knew it was hopeless. "Move the mortals in case Kronos tries a second wave here."

He borrowed a Yamaha FZI from a sleeping biker and drove to the Plaza Hotel at speeds that would've given his mom a heart attack. He'd never driven a motorcycle before, but it wasn't any harder than riding a pegasus.

Along the way, Percy noticed a lot of empty pedestals that usually held statues. Plan twenty-three seemed to be working. He didn't know if that was good or bad.

It only took five minutes to reach the Plaza—an old-fashioned white stone hotel with a gabled blue roof, sitting at the southeast corner of Central Park.

Percy gunned the Yamaha over the curb and swerved to a stop at the fountain outside the hotel.

The statue at the top of the fountain called down, "Oh, fine. I suppose you want me to watch your bike too!"

She was a life-size bronze standing in the middle of a granite bowl. She wore only a bronze sheet around her legs, and she was holding a basket of metal fruit. Percy had never paid her too much attention before. Then again, she'd never talked to him before.