✔ | [1] 𝒞𝒶𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝒸 | ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ

𝓁𝒾𝒾. Darkness is the absence of light

⋆༺𓆩⚔𓆪༻⋆

To find the sun

Which we miss

Which will burn all our sorrows

The sun, which haunts us

Oh, come back, sun, sun

⋆༺𓆩⚔𓆪༻⋆

⚔ Percy refused to get back on the motorbike.

He had two reasons. One, it was a death trap, and two, that was the only reason he had. He whistled, and within a few minutes, two dark shapes circled out of the sky.

Yo, boss. Blackjack landed at a trot, his friend Porkpie right behind him. Man, I thought those wind gods were gonna knock us to Pennsylvania until we said we were with you!

"Thanks for coming," Percy told him. "Hey, why do pegasi gallop as they fly, anyway?"

Blackjack whinnied. Why do humans swing their arms as they walk? I dunno, boss. It just feels right. Where to?

"This is cute," Ethan smiles. "Do you want me to bring some nail polish so you can paint each other's nails and find out why they have feathers, too?"

"We need to get to the Williamsburg Bridge," Percy said, rolling his eyes at Ethan.

Blackjack lowered his neck. You're darn right, boss. We flew over it on the way here, and it doesn't look good. Hop on!

"I'll meet you guys there." Ethan frowned before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Whoa! Blackjack said. That guy totally just disappeared! Porkpie, you see that? It was magic, man!

On the way to the bridge, a knot formed in the pit of Percy's stomach. The Minotaur was one of the first monsters he'd ever defeated. Four years ago, he'd nearly killed his mother on Half-Blood Hill. Percy still had nightmares about it.

Percy had hoped he would stay dead for a few centuries, but he should've known his luck wouldn't hold.

They saw the battle before they were close enough to make out individual fighters. It was well after midnight now, but the bridge blazed with light. Cars were burning. Arcs of fire streamed in both directions as flaming arrows and spears sailed through the air.

They came in for a low pass, and Percy saw the Apollo campers retreating. They would hide behind cars and snipe at the approaching army, setting off explosive arrows and dropping caltrops in the road, building fiery barricades wherever they could, dragging sleeping drivers out of their cars to get them out of harm's way. But the enemy kept advancing.

An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead, their shields locked together, spear tips bristling over the top. An occasional arrow would connect with their snaky trunks, or a neck, or a chink in their armour, and the unlucky snake woman would disintegrate, but most of the Apollo arrows glanced harmlessly off their shield wall. About a hundred more monsters marched behind them.

Hellhounds leapt ahead of the line from time to time. Most were destroyed with arrows, but one got hold of an Apollo camper and dragged him away. Percy didn't see what happened to him next. He didn't want to know.

"There!" Annabeth called from the back of her pegasus.

Sure enough, in the middle of the invading legion was Old Beefhead himself. The last time Percy had seen the Minotaur, he'd been wearing nothing but his tighty whities. Maybe he'd been shaken out of bed to chase him. This time, he was prepared for battle.