Revenge.

23. Planning

Zoe

I stood beside Percy and looked at the giant map of Manhattan, New York,  spread out in front of me. His arm brushed against mine as he pointed at several streets that were circled in pen. 

"Ethan, take 10 others and choose any street you want except the street leading directly to the Empire State Building. I'll take that street myself." Percy ordered. Ethan nodded, trying his best to avoid meeting Percy's stare. 

Percy rattled off a bunch of names and gave them the same orders he had given Ethan. Finally, he turned to me, his green eyes glinting. "And of course, I can't forget about my beautiful girlfriend." I felt my cheeks heat up in happiness and embarrassment. "Where are you going to send me, Percy?" 

Percy put a hand under his chin and frowned as his eyes scanned the map. Finally, he said "I guess you can choose any squadron you would like and join them. I'll meet up with you after I make my own dramatic entrance." 

I rolled my eyes and playfully smacked him on the arm. "You sound like Zeus when you say that, Percy. Alright, that works for me. Is everyone in agreement?" Everyone gathered around the giant map quickly nodded their heads. It was clear that they were still stunned of what had happened between Percy and I. 

To be honest, I had a crush on him since when he had brought me back for a second chance in life. That feeling for him only grew after I saw how much he actually cared about me. I had been waiting for him to finally admit he likes me. 

Percy grinned at me before returning his attention to the army. "Okay. Everyone, we have a long day of training today. Tomorrow, I say we attack. I can't delay this any longer. I have been waiting for a long time to bring Olympus down." 

Mutters of agreement filled the air as people turned to leave the dining hall. I watched Alex and Jake argue amongst themselves as they left to the training arena, fire already flickering between their palms. I smiled to myself. Those twins of Hyperion were a source of daily entertainment inside the camp. I remembered one day when Percy ran out of his tent with his pants on fire. Jake and Alex had been sent flying into a lake.

Percy watched his army go, his dark green eyes trained on the retreating form of Ethan Nakamura. I walked closer to him and slipped my hand into his. He looked down at me, his lips curving into a smirk. "Why aren't you training, Zoe?" 

I leaned forwards and kissed him gently on the cheek. "I wanted to wait for you. I'm certainly not going to train without you, am I?" Percy exhaled before he tightened his grip on my hand and started towards the training arena. I enjoyed the feeling of Percy's hand in mine. 

When we neared the training arena, I saw a girl with blue hair and another girl with black hair standing at the archery range. They both had bows in their hands and were aiming arrows at the targets. Percy released my hand and strode over to them, narrowing his eyes at the way the girls were holding the bows. I could tell their stance was all wrong, after being a hunter for thousands of years. 

I approached as Percy said "Sarah, Jessica. You are both holding the bows incorrectly, and your stance is all wrong. If you release that arrow, it would fly into the woods." The two girls lowered their bows and gave Percy a questioning look. "But that is how we were taught at Camp-Half-Blood before we went to join Kronos." The black haired girl, Sarah, said. "When we joined Kronos, he never taught us how to use different weapons." 

"That's why we wanted to try to use bows." Jessica interjected. Percy growled angrily as he took the bow from Jessica's hands. "Camp-Half-Blood doesn't teach you everything you needed to know. When I got to Camp-Half-Blood, Chiron told me I was a natural swordsman. I learned how to fight with practice, and being in two major wars."