The Path Of Glory (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

87. Party Hard

Midtown was a war zone. Y/N flew over little skirmishes everywhere. A giant was ripping up trees in Bryant Park while dryads pelted him with nuts. Outside the Waldorf Astoria, a bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin was whacking a hellhound with a rolled-up newspaper. A trio of Hephaestus campers fought a squad of dracaenae in the middle of the Rockefeller Center.

Y/N was tempted to stop and help, but he could tell from the smoke and noise that the real action had moved farther south. Their defenses were collapsing. The enemy was closing in on the Empire State Building.

He did a quick sweep of the surrounding area. The Hunters had set up a defensive line on 37th, just two blocks north of Olympus. To the east on Park Avenue, Jake Mason and some other Hephaestus campers were leading an army of statues against the enemy. To the west, the Demeter cabin and Grover's nature spirits had turned Sixth Avenue into a jungle that was hampering a squadron of Kronos's demigods. The south was clear for now, but the flanks of the enemy army were swinging around. A few more minutes and they'd be totally surrounded.

Y/N spotted a familiar silver owl banner in the southeast corner of the fight, 33rd at the Park Avenue tunnel. Annabeth and two of her siblings were holding back a Hyperborean giant.

He plunged toward the battle.

He changed to human shape and landed on the giant's head. When the giant looked up, it was already too late; he raised his sword high, point down, and drove it into the monster's skull.

Blue blood splattered out of Blue Boy's head. The Hyperborean breathed out a cloud of white mist, and the temperature dropped. Ice coated the pavement, and frost like a sugar donut covered Y/N. The Hyperborean buckled. Instead of falling, he froze. He literally turned to solid ice, and a new ice statue—which would have been a huge hit at an ice sculpting competition—now decorated Manhattan.

Y/N hit the pavement and ran to Annabeth. She was trying to catch her breath, but he kissed her anyway.

"Thanks," she said once they parted. "The pig?"

"Pork chops," he said.

"Good." She flexed her shoulder. Obviously, the wound was still bothering her, but she saw his expression and rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Y/N. Come on! We've got plenty of enemies left."

Annabeth was right. The next hour was a blur. Y/N fought like he had never fought before—wading into legions of dracaenae, taking out dozens of telekhines, destroying empousai and knocking out enemy demigods. No matter how many he defeated, more took their place.

He raced from block to block with Annabeth, trying to shore up their defenses. Too many of their friends lay wounded in the streets—or worse, but better not to think about it. Too many were missing.

As the night wore on and the moon got higher, they were backed up foot by foot until they were only a block from the Empire State Building in any direction. At one point Ethan was next to Y/N, running snake women through with his spear. Then Ethan disappeared in the crowd, and it was Percy by Y/N's side, driving the monsters back with the power of the Styx. Mrs. O'Leary bounded out of nowhere, picked up a Laistrygonian giant in her mouth, and flung him into the air like a frisbee. Annabeth used her invisibility cap to sneak behind the enemy lines. Whenever a monster disintegrated for no apparent reason with a surprised look on its face, Y/N knew Annabeth had been there.

But it still wasn't enough.

"Hold your lines!" Katie Gardner shouted, somewhere off to the left.

The problem was there were too few of them to hold anything. The entrance to Olympus was twenty feet behind Y/N. A ring of campers, Hunters, and nature spirits guarded the doors. He slashed and hacked, destroying everything in his path, but he couldn't be everywhere at once and was getting tired.