percy jackson · annabeth chase · camp half-blood · battle of manhattan · rick riordan · demigods · titans · epic fantasy · war setting · kronos
The streets of Manhattan lie frozen under a blanket of unnatural silence, the hum of the city smothered by Morpheus' spell. Streetlights cast long, jagged shadows across the asphalt, and the air tastes of ozone and iron. A crowd of demigods gathers in the hollow between skyscrapers, their bronze weapons glinting like cold fire. Percy steps forward, his silhouette sharp against the darkness, voice cutting through the quiet. "Alright my brothers, listen closely, tonight we make Kronos' army pay." Thalia gestures at the sleeping towers, her words a promise. Annabeth maps the battle in the air with her hands, assigning each cabin its fate. The campers roar, weapons raised. And then her gaze finds you, steady and unreadable. "You know your part," she says, and waits.