SEN
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Sen strode over to her friends, her body feeling fresher than it ever had in her life. She was renewed, completely reborn. The only sign she'd even been in the battle were her destroyed clothes. She reached down and lifted Ethan Nakamura up with one hand. His eye was wide, and he was shaking- whether in disbelief or in fear, Sen didn't know, but it all melted away when she smiled at him.
"You were gonna give your life for Silena." She said softly. She looked over at Silena. "And you? What's going on here, another Achilles-Patroclus thing?"
Silena blushed. "We-well, they would only listen to Clarisse. Ares campers, I mean. My siblings were ready when we heard about Aphrodite Areia, but..."
Clarisse stood up. "So you stole my armor. You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol; you stole my armor and pretended to be me." She glared at her siblings. "And NONE of you noticed?!"
The Ares campers took a sudden interest in their combat boots.
"It's not just them." Sen said. "Aphrodite Areia was never here."
Everyone stared at her.
"What?" Chris asked.
Sen held her hand out and the spear came flying back into it. She stared at the blood on it- her blood- and the beautiful designs that made it seem like a rose. "She never was. It was me." She grinned at Silena. "Great minds think alike, right?"
Silena was still crying. "It's all my fault. This- None of this would have..."
Sen walked over to her. "You're the spy."
"That's crazy." Chris said. "There's no w-way..."
Silena held her palm out, producing a bracelet with a silver scythe charm.
"The spy." Clarisse breathed.
"Traitors course the veins of war." Sen said. "Only death to open the door. This is exactly what was supposed to happen. Silena and Ethan betrayed us, and then Kronos. I betrayed Aphrodite by stealing her armor. I died, and Ethan came back to sacrifice his life for Silena, who was going to sacrifice her life for the Ares campers." She looked at all of her friends. "The prophecy came true."
Suddenly, a roar sounded out from down the street. Sen realized the battle was still raging around her. But, far down Fifth Avenue, slithering with immense speed, a second drakon was coming.
"We're not done here." Sen said, turning around. Percy was standing so silently, she forgot he was even there. She turned back to Silena and handed the spear to her. Silena gaped, her hands trembling, still holding the silver scythe charm.
"You... but- but I was the spy." Silena said.
"I'm aware." Sen replied. She gestured the spear forward, and Silena took it. "Where's my sword?"
Annabeth ran forward holding the sword. Her grey eyes were wide and teary. Sen figured she had a pretty hard time with her death, seeing as she watched it happen. Sen surged forward, wrapping her arms around Annabeth.
"I'm here." She whispered. Annabeth nodded, sniffling as Sen pulled away. Sen walked forward, standing next to Percy. His sea green eyes were almost manic, like he didn't know what he was supposed to think, say, or do.
She stared at him. "We're taking the drakon. Together."
Percy nodded. "Together." He whispered. He turned back to the troops. "The rest of you- take the army! Don't let them past thirty-fifth."
"I just came from thirty-fifth!" Sen grinned. Then, she frowned and turned back around. "Hey, who threw a camouflage net over my body?"
Thalia and Phoebe raised their hands awkwardly.
"You knew where the body was?!" Percy said like he was angry.
"We also knew she was dead. You didn't." Phoebe replied.
"You didn't know I was dead?"
"Not until about ten minutes ago."
"How did you not..." She turned back to Annabeth, who was looking at the sky like it was very interesting all of a sudden. "What did you tell him?"
"That you ran off for your plan."
"Wha- I already did my plan!"
"To be fair, as soon as he found out, he caused an earthquake." Ethan replied. "It was probably better that he didn't know."
"How did you not know?" Sen scoffed.
"They told me you ran off!"
"I'd never bail on my friends like- You know what? This is not important." Sen shook her head. She stared at her hands, focusing on the golden rings gifted to her by Mars. She remembered that very clearly, how special she felt. She slid one off and handed it to Percy.
He grinned. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Sen nodded excitedly. "Wait, wait... we gotta time it."
"Uh, we have a war to get to." Chris said awkwardly.
"Let us have this moment!" Percy snapped. He looked at Sen, holding the ring. "Three, two, one..."
They tapped the rings.
"IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!"
Sheets of metal spun out from either ring, encasing the demigods. Percy and Sen's eyes widened as armor appeared on their bodies, gold and glittering like the sun itself. Finally, it was done, and every single demigod in the battle stopped and stared.
Sen's armor slid around her, the shoulders akin to the wings of a butterfly. Her skirt was light blue and short, perfect for running- or flying- and her shoes were lacy sandals, perfect room for her wings to spout from. She had no helmet, her hair flowing freely behind her, and arm guards went up her to her elbow. She noticed the armor... it almost shimmered when she moved. A reflective quality, a sort of top coat that shimmered with a pale blue. She'd only seen that quality one before.
"A Morpho." Percy breathed.
Sen looked at him and gasped. His armor curled around him like the waves of the sea itself, wave designs all over his boots, arm guards, and chestplate. The more Sen watched it, she realized it was the sea itself- it was moving, constantly shifting in design.
"OH, WE LOOK SO BADASS!" Sen announced.
The drakon shrieked, "EEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!"
"Oh." Percy nodded. "That guy..."
Sen looked at him. "Are you ready, kids?"
"Aye, aye, captain." Percy sighed. "Can someone sing the Power Rangers theme song?"
"You're not fucking for real." Ethan said. Annabeth was grinning and shaking her head.
"Sing!"
Ethan went rigid. "GO, GO, POWER RANGERRRSSS!"
Sen and Percy charged.
Sen refused to look at the beast's yellow eyes. She knew she'd get paralyzed if she did. She got a running start before switching to her wings. She saw the shimmering blue scales of a Menelaus Morpho on her ankles, and she pounced the sky- left, right, left, SLASH! She cut out the monster's first eye.
Below her, Percy was moving just as fast. Faster than she'd ever seen before. He had what seemed to be the entire Manhattan water supply propelling him forward, and he roared as he hacked at the monster's mouth, spraying the blood everywhere. In the sky, dark storm clouds were forming. The wind was whipping around, bending antennae, and even shattering windows. Flowing through the sides of the street were the demigods, charging straight into battle, alight with a new kind of fire.
On the left, Clarisse lead the charge with the entire Ares cabin behind her. She hadn't any armor, no weapons, but she was a demon. She rode her chariot straight into the Titan's army and crushed everything in her path.
She was so inspiring, even the panicked centaurs started to rally. The Hunters scrounged arrows from the fallen and launched volley after volley into the enemy. The Ares cabin slashed and hacked, which was their favorite thing.
The monsters retreated toward 35th Street. Clarisse drove to the drakon's carcass and looped a grappling line through its eye sockets. She lashed her horses and took off, dragging the drakon behind the chariot like a Chinese New Year dragon. She charged after the enemy, yelling insults and daring them to cross her. As she rode, Sen realized she was literally glowing. An aura of red fire flickered around her. A grin spread on Sen's face as she dodged a spray of acid.
The blessing of Ares.
And in that moment, she was as invincible as Achilles himself.
"I AM CLARISSE, DRAKON-SLAYER!" She yelled. "I will kill you ALL! Where is Kronos? Bring him out! Is he a coward?" The Ares cabin screeched and cheered. "What's the matter, Titan lord? BRING IT ON!"
On the right, Sen was shocked to see Ethan and Silena in a chariot together, Ethan with his bronze sword, and Silena with Aphrodite's spear and Clarisse's armor. Behind her, the Aphrodite cabin was going nuts. They clawed and scratched like wild beasts, charmspeaking left and right. Some even grew rose bushes full of thorns on their enemies. Sen saw someone using a sash like a whip, another using one like a lasso- pulling in their enemies and murdering them brutally. Someone even had a garrote wire.
"Rip them apart!" Ethan screamed at the top of his lungs. And suddenly, Sen realized he was amplifying all of her friends. Silena heaved her spear and screamed as it drove through one monster, two, three, four, five...
Sen looked at Percy. He stared at her, his sea green eyes glittering through his helmet, and their eyes locked.
Up.
Sen whistled and shot into the sky on her wings. Below her, Percy had his own typhoon rolling. A whirlpool of water swirled around the two-hundred foot drakon, locking it at the intersection, and the water began swirling up. The drakon lashed and chased after Sen as she shot to the sky. A spray of acid came to her, but she dodged. Gravity took effect and the acid dropped right back down.
No! She saw it coming for Percy. It'd kill him. His eyes widened as he stared at it, his hands outstretched as he controlled the hurricane. Rain poured and lightning cracked louder than a god in Sen's ears. She was getting high enough, now.
"Percy!" She screamed. "ACID IS LIQUID!"
She had no idea if it would work. Percy held his hand out, almost as if to shield himself from the acid.
It stopped midair. It hovered there, and Percy gasped, shocking himself. The drakon sprayed acid left and right at Sen, but she was too fast. It fell back into Percy's storm, and he cackled like a maniac as it joined in the fun. His swirling water turned a sickening shade of green as the acid mingled with it. The temperature rose all around as the water pushed in on the drakon. It was panicking, screeching, writhing. It knew it was close to death.
Finally, Sen was higher than the Empire State Building itself. She looked down, seeing the vortex of water and Percy screaming as he controlled the drakon's acid. It choked out, trying to spray more, but Percy wouldn't let it. He was drowning it.
Sen held her sword up, her breath calming. She was right in the eye of the storm, and she finally stared at the drakon's only eye, her sword pointed right below her.
She dropped, feeling the rush of wind and the spray of water. The drakon looked defiant at first, but then, its pupil turned to a slit as thin as paper and it shrieked as Sen screamed at it, her sword driving right inside. She knew she'd hit the brain. It roared, a sound that made the very earth tremble, and it began to dissolve, leaving a shell of armor.
Drop it on them.
Percy threw his hands out and Sen landed next to him, standing on the column of water he'd created. The rest of the vortex, still swirling with acid and a new drakon-skin aimed straight at the enemy. They screamed as it turned into a spiraling funnel right down the middle of thirty-fifth street. Monster dust exploded everywhere. They either drowned, or the acid got them, or the drakon-skin armor cut them up. Whatever the case, it didn't really matter.
Finally, Percy's exhaustion let out. He and Sen dropped safely to the floor as the water funnel stopped, melting over the street, steaming up from the acid. Sen took his hand and led him to the Empire State Building.
Slowly, the monster army began to fall back behind a dracaenae shield wall, while Clarisse drove in circles around Fifth Avenue, daring anyone to cross her path. The two hundred-foot-long drakon carcass on her chariot made a hollow scraping noise against the pavement, like a thousand knives.
Meanwhile, the demigods tended the wounded, bringing them inside the lobby. Long after the enemy had retreated from sight, Clarisse kept riding up and down the avenue with her horrible trophy, demanding that Kronos meet her battle.
Chris said, "I'll watch her. She'll get tired eventually. I'll make sure she comes inside."
"What about the camp?" Sen asked. "Is anybody left there?"
Chris shook his head. "Only Argus and the nature spirits. Peleus the dragon is still guarding the tree."
"They won't last long." Percy said, his face pale. Sen draped his arm over her shoulder and let him use her for support. "But, I'm glad you came."
Chris nodded sadly. "I'm sorry it took so long. I tried to reason with Clarisse. I said there's no point in defending camp if you guys die. All our friends are here. I just... I can't believe that Silena..." He nodded at Sen. "And you?"
"Unimportant." Sen grinned. "Nice to see ya, Chris. But, you got a city to defend."
"My Hunters will help you stand guard." Thalia said. "Sen and Percy, you should go to Olympus. I have a feeling they'll need you up there- to set up the final defense."
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The doorman had disappeared from the lobby. His book was face down on the desk and his chair was empty. The rest of the lobby, however, was jam-packed with wounded campers, Hunters, and satyrs.
Connor and Travis saw Sen, and ran up to her.
"SEN!" They screamed, tackling her in a hug. Percy laughed and sat down on a nearby chair as Sen hugged her friends, planting kisses on both of their cheeks.
"You died!"
"But you lived!"
Sen nodded as they pulled away. "You guys got the campers to come!"
"Well, it wasn't just us!" Travis grinned. He looked a little wild, but he often did. "You- You were Aphrodite Areia!"
"Yeah, even we believed it!" Connor yelled, bouncing up and down.
"And then you healed Ethan?!"
"AND YOU AND PERCY TOOK THE DRAKON-"
"Guys." Sen smiled and stopped them. "We'll talk about this in great detail after we win. Right now, we have a war to get to."
"Right." Travis nodded. "Listen, we figure the Titan's army will have trouble getting up the elevator. They'll have to go up a few at a time. And the giants won't be able to fit at all."
Sen walked over to Percy and helped him back up. "That's our biggest advantage." He said. "Any way to disable the elevator?"
"It's magic." Travis said. "Usually you need a key card, but the doorman vanished. That means the defenses are crumbling. Anyone can walk into the elevator now and head straight up."
"Then we have to keep them away from the doors." Percy said. "We'll bottle them up in the lobby."
"We need reinforcements." Travis said. "They'll just keep coming. Eventually they'll overwhelm us."
"There are no reinforcements." Connor complained.
Sen thought back to the odd things Apollo had shown her. Her mind flashed back Nico's argument with his dad. Sen looked at Percy, but he must've been reading her mind. He looked outside at Mrs. O'Leary, who was breathing against the glass doors and smearing them with hellhound drool.
"Maybe that's not true." Percy said.
Sen and Percy went outside and Percy put a hand on Mrs. O'Leary s muzzle. Chiron had bandaged her paw, but she was still limping. Her fur was matted with mud, leaves, pizza slices, and dried monster blood.
"Hey, girl." Percy tried to sound upbeat. "I know you're tired, but I've got one more big favor to ask you."
He leaned next to her and whispered in her ear.
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sen and percy immediately being stupid together after she gets resurrected is literally the funniest thing