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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN xviii. one last kiss before going to battle _______
Four hours. That's how long it took the fastest horse on the planet to get from Alaska to San Francisco Bay, heading straight over the water down the Northwest Coast.
That's also how long it took for Percy's memory to return completely. He'd immediately told Sebastian when he remembered everything. Sebastian was happy for him, but was also selfishly disappointed. He didn't want Percy to leave, but knew that he would. Camp Half-Blood was his home, not Camp Jupiter.
Well, if both camps were still standing at the end of this.
But Sebastian understood Juno's plan clearly. She wanted to unite the Roman and Greek demigods to create an elite team of heroes, then somehow convince the gods to fight alongside them to defeat the giants. But first, they had to save Camp Jupiter.
The coastline began to look familiar. They raced past the Mendocino lighthouse. Shortly afterwards, Mount Tam and the Marin headlands loomed out of the fog. Arion shot straight under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay.
They tore through Berkeley and into the Oakland Hills. When they reached the hilltop above the Caldecott Tunnel, Arion shuddered like a broken car and came to a stop, his chest heaving.
Hazel patted his sides lovingly. "You did great, Arion."
The three boys jumped off the chariot, legs slightly wobbly but other than that, in perfectly fine condition.
Frank hobbled to the top of the hill and peered down at the camp. "Guys... you need to see this."
When Sebastian, Percy and Hazel joined him, Sebastian's heart sank. The battle had begun, and it wasn't going well. The Twelfth Legion was arrayed on the Field of Mars, trying to protect the city. Scorpions fired into the ranks of the Earthborn. Hannibal the elephant plowed down monsters right and left, but the defenders were badly outnumbered.
On her pegasus Scipio, Reyna flew around the giant Polybotes, trying to keep him occupied. The Lares had formed shimmering purple lines against a mob of black, vaporous shades in ancient armour. Veteran demigods from the city had joined the battle, and were pushing their shield wall against an onslaught of wild centaurs. Giant eagles circled the battlefield, doing aerial combat with two gorgons.
The legion itself was taking the brunt of the attack, but their formation was breaking. Each cohort was an island in a sea of enemies. The Cyclopes' siege tower shot glowing green cannonballs into the city, blasting craters in the forum, reducing houses to ruins. As Sebastian watched, a cannonball hit the Senate House and the dome partially collapsed.
"Oh gods," Sebastian mumbled. This was horrifying to see, especially for him. He'd seen this all be built and developed over the years into something beautiful. Into his home. And now it was being so carelessly destroyed. It made him homicidal, which might have been a good thing.
