The Battle of Manhattan

Setting the Stage

Elijah sat in the dark trailer, nothing for lighting, save for the dim glow of the Celestial Bronze weapons around him. They were on their way from Camp Half-Blood, on the Long Island Sound, to the entrance to Olympus, known to the mortal world as the Empire State Building, to defend it from the armies of Kronos, and protect the whole of Western Civilization. He had only personally been to Olympus thrice, the last time being three months prior, during the Summer Solstice, when the camp takes a sort of field trip to the Olympian Counsel meeting.

Despite being a relatively new camper, with only a year and a half of camp time under his belt, Elijah was an excellent swordsman, and fighter in general. He wasn't nearly as good as Percy or Luke, but he was pretty up there. He was as talented as the Ares campers, but without their aggression and arrogance, and as intelligent and witty as the Athena kids, but he didn't quite fit the outward profile of blonde hair and grey eyes. His hair color was a dark black, and his eyes were an icy blue. His skin was rather pale, though he did have an athletic build, but everyone at camp shared that.

As the truck bounced along, he looked around the inside of the trailer. There was about twenty demigods in this one, give or take, and the other one had roughly the same amount. Forty was no army, but it was better than no one at all guarding the heart of the Western world, and better than forcing the younger ones to fight who didn't want to, or would just get themselves hurt or killed. The youngest ones are all at Camp, doing gods-know-what.

He looked around again, wondering who he would see after today, assuming he makes it, himself. He wondered how many of them had the gut -or the arm, for that matter- to manage against an army of monsters from the deepest pits of the Underworld, and the farthest corners of the Earth. He wondered how far these fellow demigods were willing to go to protect their life, their home, Hades, the very essence of civilization, itself. Would they be willing to kill for it all, even the traitors whom they had once possibly called 'friend'?

He was shaken from these thoughts as the truck came to a stop. He got up and stretched, and the back hatch opened, letting in the blinding rays of sunlight. One by one, the campers filed out of the trailer and gathered in a crude semi-circle at the base of the Empire State Building. In the center of the gathering, stood Chiron the Centaur, the camp's teacher, as well as the two heroes of Camp Half-Blood: Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson, in the flesh, although they weren't quite as glorious as the tales tell.

Percy was slightly shorter than Annabeth, although his wild jet black hair might deceive one into believing they're the same height. He had a wild, intense look in his sea-green eyes, along with the sense that he's had one too many Monsters, though that may just be because all demigods are hyperactive (though some more than others). The shirt he was wearing was tattered and ripped, as though it was on a hellhound's chew toy (which is a reasonable possibility, given he has one as a pet), but the man -well, teenager- himself was without a scratch, and his jeans were faded and in decent condition, though sporting minor tears.

Annabeth stood tall and proud, and suited for battle. Her armour was perfectly adjusted, and well kept. A dagger was strapped to her right thigh, and helmet was pressed between her side and left elbow. Her right arm held a leather bag with a silver laptop and ambrosia squares inside, and a canister of nectar in the bottle holder. Her golden hair blew in the wind, and her storm grey eyes scanned the crowd of demigods, as if mentally assessing them, another reasonable possibility, given her mother is the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena.

The two of them exchanged words briefly, before saying some to Chiron. Percy looked slightly distressed, before Chiron spoke loud enough that the campers could hear over the awkward shuffling of the armoured demigods and the buzz of Manhattan. "Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are their leader," he said, and the campers looked to Percy. He looks over these faces of those he calls friends and brothers and sisters in arms, and it seems to confirm something in his heart.

He leads them into the building, and, after words with the security guard, he leads half into the elevator that leads to the six hundredth floor -to Olympus. The other half would have to come up a second trip. Elijah was part of the second group. Both the wait and the ride up were extremely awkward, and the cheesy and ironic elevator music didn't help.

When the doors opened to Olympus, the breath was stolen from every camper that laid eyes on the majestic, beautiful, impossible scene before them. Suspended where the six hundredth floor would hypothetically be, spread out an impossibly beautiful landscape. Massive Ancient Greek temples and buildings in their prime and pristine state, and a long and winding stone road leading to the biggest and grandest building of all, the Palace.The demigods walked the road, usually beautiful and alive, with nymphs, spirits, and minor gods and goddesses, but was now sullen and eerily empty.

Inside, they were confronted by a young girl at the fire. She said something that the campers could have sworn was along the lines of 'the curse of Achilles' to Percy, but it wasn't clear enough, due to her quiet tone, and it didn't make sense. The girl says something about 'knowing your enemy,' and Percy stumbles. Then he asks Annabeth, who caught him, how long he was out.

Before things could get too awkward, Hermes materializes. Some of the campers are in awe, which isn't surprising, considering he's, well, the God of Messengers, Travelers, Thieves, and so on, but not everyone is impressed.

Elijah, for example, is less than happy with the god. Yeah, he's a god, but he is not exactly the most attentive person. More than half in his cabin are unclaimed, and can't help but feel resentment and bitterness, because they feel as if they don't belong. That's why a lot of the undetermined Hermes campers left to join Luke's side in the war; he promised to tear down the inattentive, unloving, self-important so-called 'gods', who either ignored their children, or sent them on suicide missions.

Percy sends all the campers out to "check defences," a task which Connor and Travis Stoll, the counselor brothers of the Hermes Cabin, take with pride.

About an hour and a half later, while the sky was glowing purple with the setting sun, Elijah finds himself on Fourth Avenue, en route to the Brooklyn Bridge. After his meeting with the Messenger God, and everyone regrouping on the road just outside the Palace, the forty demigods discovered silence. Complete, encompassing silence around the whole of Manhattan. The whole island was asleep. The invasion had started, and the campers were spread to various bridges to defend, and half of Hermes got Brooklyn. Their first sign of trouble was at the corner of Foley Square and Centre Street.