The Dissonant Notes Of Fate

Twenty-seven

"PULL OVER," Luke shouted over the rush of the wind. Thalia stopped, in the middle of East 23rd. The son of Hermes jumped off and dashed into the park. Thalia swore, jumping off the motorcycle they had nicked, and rushed after him.

When she caught up with Luke, he was staring at a bronze statue on a red pedestal, sitting in a chair, wearing a bow tie, coat tails and a top hat and all that. Thalia didn't know who he was, and she shot Luke an unimpressed and confused glance, wondering why he'd made them stop when he knew they were needed somewhere.

"He's an automaton," Luke said, and that explained it all. Thalia watched as he climbed the pedestal. Honestly, Daedalus was a genius. She wasn't going to think about how he'd basically created an army in Manhattan, which no one else except probably Zeus and Athena knew of. Whether to defend Olympus or attack it, she didn't know.

Luke moved forward, pressing the tip of the statue's boot. Thalia jerked when it stood, looking at them expectantly, with blank metal eyes. It was unnerving. The blond haired boy cleared his throat, glancing down at the placard which showed the statue's name.

"Okay, Governor Seward. Command Sequence: Daedalus, Twenty-Three. Defend Manhattan. Begin Activation."

Thalia watched as Seward jumped off the red pedestal and went marching off towards the east.

"They'll keep waking each other up until they're an army," Luke told her.

"And then defend Manhattan?"

"Probably," He looked doubtful.

"How would they know we aren't the enemy?" Thalia asked, arching an eyebrow.

Luke sighed, then shrugged. "I'm no Athena kid, I don't get half the things on Daedalus' laptop. We can only hope everything works—"

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, the sound of it resonating across the city. Thalia swore, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, watching as green smoke rose up towards the sky in spirals. Greek Fire.

"Come on," She barked. Without hesitating, they dashed towards the motorcycle.

XMX

LUKE got off the phone, muttering a string of curses in Greek. "What's wrong?" Thalia was still in front of him, and he placed his phone back in his pocket before sliding his hand around her waist once more.

"Michael Yew just called," He told her. "An army's moving through Williamsburg Bridge. They need help." He hesitated. "The leader of the army is the Minotaur." He remembered when he, Thalia and Annabeth had been pursued by furies, hellhounds and cyclops before getting into Camp. Right before that, they'd faced down the Minotaur, and it had been the daughter of Zeus who had finally killed it, but not without breaking a few bones in the process. After, they'd gotten lost in a Cyclops lair, and it was Annabeth's brains and Thalia's fighting which had gotten them out alive.

Thalia didn't say anything, but her hold on the hand grip tightened and they sped up. Luke glanced up. They needed to get there, and fast. But the thousands of sleeping mortals and the vehicles were blocking the roads and making it fucking hard to navigate. He heard a neigh, and looked around, breaking into a smile of relief when he spotted the pegasus hurtling towards them.

He'd called for Blackjack about an hour ago, but the horse hadn't been on time, and Thalia had gotten sick of waiting, which was what had made them steal the bike in the first place. The black winged horse descended, and the demigoddess, who had seen him, screeched to a stop, just coming short of riding over a mortal.

"What took you so long?" Luke asked his companion, flatly, jumping off the bike. Blackjack neighed, and the son of Hermes was sure it was something offensive. For once, he was glad he didn't understand horse. He slid onto Blackjack's back, and turned to Thalia.