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Mary would rather be in the forge. Any forge, really, but preferably the one at Camp Halfblood that she probably spent as much time in as the cabin itself. The underwater cyclops forges that Perseus convinced his father to let her tour would be a close second, though.
But eventually, the time came to put the products of the forge to use, and she would never let her friends fight without her by their side. Which was why she was in the hotel suite that they had commandeered as a command center for the defense of New York.
In many ways, it still felt like she didn't belong there. She had only just become the Head Councilor of Cabin 9 after Beckendorf died, and she was still aching from the loss. Everyone else had tons of experience leading people, whether with their cabins or on quests. Mary had been on a lot of quests, sure, but it was always Isaac coming up with the brilliant plan, or Hector with a flash of intuition and faith.
At the very least, being a part of the command room let her see her boys at their best. Hector, even if he couldn't see it, was an incredible leader, convincing the room that a few dozen teenagers could hold Manhattan against the Titan Army. And Isaac had been the one to make a plan for how to actually do that.
Well, a few dozen teenagers and two gods, who were currently sitting in the corner cuddling one another while probably having a telepathic conversation. Not setting the best example for their army of teenagers, but then again, the odds were grim, so maybe it was best to take any morale boost available. Plus, Hector was currently sleeping with his head in her lap, so she didn't really have any room to criticize.
She was trying very hard not to think too hard about how Hector's head was in her lap.
She was also trying very hard not to think about their chances of winning. Even with two protector gods defending their home turf, the fighting had been brutal. Perseus was able to make waves big enough to wash any monsters off the bridges crossing the East and Hudson Rivers, but the Bronx River was too small and that still left the tunnels. If they had more time to remove the sleeping mortals from their cars, Mary would have suggested blowing up the tunnels, but the only manpower they could spare was the kids too young to fight, who were also too small to drag adults out of their cars.
She tried to focus on the positives. They had survived this far, which was already better than expected. They had two gods on their side, plus a son of Zeus with the Curse of Achilles who was getting really good at zapping monsters. Annabeth said that Artemis was sending the hunters, so reinforcements were on the way.
The problem was simply numbers. Hector could only be in one place at a time, and the gods were significantly weakened when they split themselves into multiple places. The hunters were really good and Mary had nothing but respect for them, but there were even fewer of them than there were battle-ready campers.
In their corner, Mary noticed Perseus and Annabeth stiffen at the same time. The looked at each other for a moment before Annabeth left his lap and Perseus came over to her. “Mary. Prometheus is at the Brooklyn Bridge, he says he wants to talk. Wanna come?”
“Shouldn't you be waking Hector?” She asked, loathe as she was to disrupt his rest.
“Nah, he needs the sleep, especially with that curse. And before you ask, Isaac is out reinforcing the defenses at Madison Avenue. You got this.”
Mary still didn't believe it, but having a god express his faith in her did help, enough for her to gently move Hector's head so she could stand. “Do you think it's a trap?”
Perseus shrugged. “Probably more of a mental trap than a physical one. Prometheus is a crafty one, but he's more the type to trick you than blatantly lie to you. He's also not known to enjoy fighting, so don't worry about that.” Mary did not find that reassuring. He offered his hand. “Close your eyes.”
She took it and felt a flash of queasiness before opening her eyes to see them standing at their end of the bridge. “Why do you even want me here?” She asked quietly as they began to pick through the stopped cars towards the titan in the middle of the bridge.
“Because I like and trust you, and because it presents a united front. Just don't overthink it, okay?” Right. No pressure, then, just living up to the expectations of a god who's gotten it into his head to treat her like a friend.
Prometheus was standing next to a giant carrying a huge white banner and fiddling with a motorcycle that looked like a toy in his hands. “Perseus! Miriam! Good of you to join me.” The titan boomed. Mary couldn't say how she knew it, but she was certain that all of the defenders of Manhattan were hearing him, and maybe the monsters, too.
“Prometheus, right? The eagle guy! I don't think we've had the pleasure. Do you wish to surrender?” Perseus said, and Mary was pretty sure he was being broadcast too.
Prometheus gave an ominous chuckle. “I come here under a white flag to negotiate your surrender, not offer my own. Surely you can see when you're outmatched? Your army of children is outnumbered dozens to one.”
“Hmm. See, the thing about that is I'm kind of a protector god. Specifically, of this city. So letting in my evil grandfather and his army of monsters in here… you see how that's an issue.”
“You do my uncle a disservice, young godling. Kronos is not without mercy. Stand down, and we shall treat your rag-tag little band as children, rather than soldiers.”
“Ah, yes, because Kronos is so famous for never letting any harm come to children. I mean really, eating babies is like, the gold standard for evil. From what I've heard, Prometheus, you're not a sadist or a fanatic. Why are you siding with him?” Perseus said earnestly.
“Because I like winning. I'm the Titan of Foresight, and that means I never back the wrong horse. I didn't side with Kronos during the first war, and I helped out humanity against Zeus’ wishes. Kronos lost the first war, and humans went on to use my gift to tame the world. I've run the numbers, looked at it from every angle, and here are the facts: Kronos will win, which means I'm better off on his side and you're better off surrendering.”
“Oh. He's one of those ones.” Mary said under her breath, only to realize she was being broadcast the same way the immortals were.
“Excuse me?” Prometheus said icily. It seemed he was much less tolerant of cheek from mortals than gods, but if Hector got to yell at the Big Three and Isaac called Ares a dick to his face, then she could call out Prometheus’ faulty logic. She was probably even safer than her boys had been since she's kind of in a diplomatic meeting right now.
“You're one of those deities who thinks having some sort of domain over knowledge or the future makes you infallible.” Mary said, trying to sound as confident and inspiring as Hector did. “If you were so certain of the outcome of the First Titanomachy, why didn't you actually side with the gods instead of just sitting it out? You could have been a founding Olympian if you'd really been confident in your prediction. And then you gave humanity fire, which I very much appreciate, don't get me wrong, but how'd that story actually turn out for you? Right, you got chained to a rock for centuries while the people you helped out turned to worship your captors. Betcha didn't see that one coming, huh? So yeah, forgive me if I don't fall to my knees in terror just because the great Titan of Foresight says I'm gonna lose.”
Mary crossed her arms and smirked up at Prometheus. She could see why Hector enjoyed yelling at gods, even if there was a high chance the titan would break his word just to blast her for her impertinence. It probably didn't help her odds that after a second where the god and the titan stared at her in astonishment, Perseus began cackling. And then the flag-bearer giant started chuckling too, although Mary wasn't entirely sure he knew what he was laughing at.
“Enough!” Roared Prometheus. Was this the part where she got blasted? He was brandishing a jar at them, so unless the blast was in the jar, probably not. “I trust you know what this is, godling?”
Perseus stepped forward to take it with a raised eyebrow. “Pandora's pithos. I sense good ol’ Elpis is still in there. Not that I don't appreciate a good gift, but why?”
“As I said, Kronos is merciful. When you wish to surrender- and you will- open the jar. Release Elpis and I will know you have given up hope and surrendered. We will not be as kind as if you had surrendered now, but it will be better than being slaughtered in battle.”
“We’ll see about that.” Perseus said coldly. “Are we done here, or do you want to make any requests for what kind of bird we set on you when we chain you up again? I’m thinking some of Queen Hera’s peacocks, but I’m open to suggestions.”
Prometheus chuckled darkly. “Joke all you like, little godling. For tomorrow, the battle resumes, and I don’t think you’ll be in much of a joking mood.”
The titan turned and stomped away, his giant trailing after him. Mary watched him go for a little bit before turning to Perseus. “So what now?”
The god shrugged. “We head back to base, your friends probably congratulate you on verbally eviscerating a titan, and then you rest up for tomorrow. For all that Prometheus is full of it, I don't doubt that the battle will be grim. You wanna walk or just flash back?”
After a day of battle, Mary was dead on her feet, so she gratefully accepted the offer of teleportation. As soon as she appeared in the command room, she was wrapped in a familiar hug.
“That was awesome, Mary!” Hector whispered in her ear before pulling back a little to meet her eyes, but he was still so close. She felt like there was an electric current running through her, and maybe that was because she was being held close (so close!) by a son of the Thunder God, but then again she'd also felt the same thing with Isaac?
Speaking of Isaac, he had gotten back while she was out and was looking at them with an odd expression- not angry or disappointed or happy but thoughtful, like they were a puzzle he hadn't figured out yet. But this had maybe been the most stressful day of their short lives; she didn't want him to be thinking right now, so she held out an arm and beckoned him over.
He smiled as he came over, and it made her think of when they first met the Athenides. Not just because the god and goddess in question were watching them (Annabeth curiously, Perseus amusedly) but there was something else. Not the hug itself, either- three-way hugs had become more and more common over the years, usually in moments of high emotion but more recently they'd begun just asking for hugs when they wanted one. Which made sense, of course, with the war looming and the prophecy hanging over Hector like the sword of Damocles, it made perfect sense to ask your best friends for comfort and reassurance even if it was a little embarrassing.
Hector laid back on the couch he'd been napping on and dragged her and Isaac with, not that either of them complained. He gave them a sleepy smile as the curse of Achilles dragged him back to sleep, and Mary almost gasped when she realized why she was thinking of that Olive Garden. The way Isaac had looked at her and Hector when she'd drawn him into the hug and the way Hector was smiling at them now- it reminded her of the way Perseus had gazed at Annabeth.
Well shit. That was an elating revelation at the worst possible time. Camp was mobilized for war, Hector had an imminent choice to preserve or raze Olympus, and the Titan of Foresight probably had it out for her personally, now. She yawned. Those were problems for tomorrow, though. For now she was tired, but with her boys, so she was safe. So she would sleep.
—--
Being stabbed sucks, but she's a demigod and veteran quester. She's had worse.
Being stabbed and poisoned, however, was a whole new level of suck. Don't get her wrong, she'd do it again in a heartbeat- don't ask her how, but she was certain that it would have killed Hector if that blow had hit him- but laying in the command room feeling like her arm was on fire, helpless as the updates coming in got worse and worse- it was a unique torture.
From her position, she had an excellent view of the harbor out the window. Most days, it would probably be beautiful but right now the surface was roiling and churning. An all out assault had begun this morning, and it included Tethys, the wife of Oceanus, attacking from the harbor. Perseus had asked his father for whatever help he could spare and gone to fight her. As far as anyone knew, he hadn't received a response.
Tethys wasn't their only problem, though. Annabeth was keeping Prometheus from advancing, but in turn he was keeping her from helping anywhere else. Clarisse had managed to slay the drakon Kronos had unleashed, but the Ares cabin had suffered heavy losses in the process. It had seemed like Hyperion would be able to walk through Manhattan unopposed until Lord Hades himself showed up to stop him with an army of the dead.
And Hector had been battling Luke, or Kronos, or whatever godsforsaken amalgamation of the two they currently were, and doing a damn good job of it up until Mary got stabbed. And again, she didn't regret it, she would never regret saving Hector. But Hector had left to bring her back to the medics, and now the nine year old runner who went back and forth between the command center and the kids on the roof watching everything through binoculars and telescopes reported that LuKronos had entered the Empire State Building.
Mary couldn't help but wonder if she was worth it. Especially when the runner reported that Hector, Isaac, and Thalia went in a few minutes after him.
It occurred to Mary, as another wave of pain washed over her, that she might be witnessing the end of the world. She might have even caused the end of the world, with Hector choosing to save her instead of focusing on Kronos. She wondered if he was regretting it.
One of the rooftop observers, a son of Demeter whose knee had been broken by a Lairstrygonian early in the battle, got brought back to their makeshift infirmary because he’d apparently hurt his eyes watching Hades’ darkness clash with Hyperion's light at full force. Out the window, she sees Perseus get thrown out of the water, catch himself with a wave that reaches up from the harbor with no build-up, and launch himself right back in. It was hard to see, but Mary was pretty sure he had a smear of golden ichor on his face that somehow wasn't washed off. She hoped it wasn't his own. Typhon's approach could be seen from the rooftop with the naked eye, the runner reported.
Another of the rooftop observers came down, an unclaimed camper whose name Mary didn't remember, but she was pretty sure he only got to camp a few weeks ago. He couldn't be more than ten, and he was sobbing uncontrollably. Mary didn't think she wanted to know why, but she raised her arm to beckon the kid over and he didn't hesitate to cling to her uninjured side and sob into her camp T-shirt, despite all the blood and sweat and monster dust.
It wasn't killing monsters or confronting titans, but holding this nameless boy helped. She'd take another poisoned blade to keep this kid safe. She wasn't doing nothing anymore, she was being comforting, and she was hoping, and that would have to be enough to keep the world from ending.
—--
They won, somehow. Mary still wasn't sure she believed it. Maybe she had died and gone to Elysium, and Elysium was having Hermes whisk her away to the Olympian throne room, Apollo instantly healing her with a snap of his fingers, and Hector turning down godhood after a loaded look back towards her and/or Isaac.
Her Elysium probably didn't include going back to camp and dealing with the aftermath of the battle, though, so maybe she was alive after all. Elysium didn't involve Perseus and Annabeth driving the last two vans back to camp because Michael Yew died and Katie Gardener had been savaged by hellhounds too much for her to be moved, let alone for her to be in any condition to drive. Elysium wasn't supposed to have funeral shrouds for her two brothers, and after they'd already lost Beckendorf, too.
Sleep took her almost as soon as her head hit the pillow that night, but she woke up with a gasp a few hours later. Already the details of her nightmare were fading, but the terror and anxiety lingered. Air, she decided, she needed some fresh air.
Sneaking out of Cabin 9 without waking anyone wasn't too difficult- years of questing had taught her the basics of stealth, even if it wasn't traditionally a skill associated with her father. The porch of the Hephaestus cabin wasn't exactly designed as a hangout spot- Mary and her siblings tended to be the type who'd relax alone in a workshop, or doing something with their friends rather than just lounging around outside.
There was a miniature workbench for any non-Hephaestus kids to wanted to try a little bit of tinkering (with the tools chained to the table to discourage the Stolls from “permanently borrowing” them) and a customized grill built by some past camper that Mary couldn't recall ever being used. Neither the tinkering bench nor the grill had any decent seating however, so she opted to just sit on the stairs. It wasn't like she'd be in the way, what with everyone else sleeping off the battle fatigue.
Or, almost everyone. The porch light was on over at the Big House, and Mary could see two figures curled up together on the loveseat by the door. She didn't really have any reason to believe it was Hector and Isaac, but she started walking that way anyway on the off-chance that it was.
It wasn't, but Perseus and Annabeth weren't a bad alternative. They had swapped their battle armor and weapons for jeans and Camp Halfblood shirts, and with the way they were leaning into each other, they looked like two camp councilors who had snuck out to cuddle together. Perseus lifted a hand in greeting and Annabeth smiled gently as she approached. “Not gonna turn me in to the cleaning harpies?” Mary joked softly as she sat down on the rocking chair next to them.
“Eh, you got poisoned and fought in a war, I figure you deserve some leeway.” Perseus said, shrugging with the shoulder not pressed up against Annabeth's. “And it's not like you're causing trouble.”
Mary nodded. “So you guys couldn't sleep either?”
Annabeth swatted Perseus lightly when he made a snort of amusement. “Deities don't really need to sleep unless we want to. I do have an instance sleeping right now, but we also wanted to enjoy a little bit of peace- not that you're interrupting; stay as long as you'd like.”
“You're- huh. I knew gods could be in multiple places at the same time, but I never really thought about it that much. What's it like?”
“I'm not sure mortal languages have words for it, but it's basically advanced multitasking. Like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, except I'm sleeping in Atlantis and helping clean up after the battle and trying to keep my dad calm and talking to you.”
“Wait, what's your father doing now?” Annabeth asked, turning towards her… whatever they were to each other.
“Aunt Hera is mad that he didn't help against Typhon sooner, Poseidon is mad that Hera and Zeus didn't help with Oceanus at all, and both of them would rather be angry at each other than be scared that we almost lost. Keeping them relatively calm is mostly just standing off to the side saying ‘you don't actually mean that’ when someone says something too provocative and being ready to call Aunt Hestia if things get too wild.”
“I don't envy you that. At least Zeus and Dionysus are feeling relatively somber right now.” Annabeth said.
“What are you talking to them about? If I can ask, of course.” Mary said.
Annabeth smiled. “Well, it's looking like you'll hear an official announcement at breakfast tomorrow, but it's something along the lines of Camp Halfblood needing and deserving more protection, Mr. D's punishment causing as much misery for campers as it does for himself, and how there really should be an adult woman here.”
“You're replacing Mr. D?” Mary asked excitedly.
“We're replacing Mr. D.” Perseus corrected. “Or at least, that's the plan. A little bit of mist manipulation to get the mortals to make Camp legally a part of New York City will mean it's a part of our domain of protection, so Dionysus can go be sober and grouchy somewhere else and leave camp to some deities who actually enjoy protecting and teaching people.”
Mary grinned. “Thank the- well, thank you guys. With this and Hector's wish… I think camp is gonna be changing for the better.”
“I should hope so!” Annabeth huffed. “Honestly, millenia of knowledge plus a lifetime as a mortal hero, and he doesn't bother to actually teach anything. He's the best swordsman of the Olympians besides Ares and maybe my mother, but nooo, why on earth would he pass any of that knowledge on?”
Perseus pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Hey, it's like Mary said, we're fixing it, okay? We're gonna make it better. I'll teach them swords, and you'll teach them spears, and Chiron'll teach them bows, and we'll have a bunch of little badasses who can take care of themselves but won't need to when they're here.”
Annabeth smirked at Mary. “He doesn't advertise it, but he's also the God of Sappiness.”
“Hey! Not true!” Perseus protested. “That would obviously be Apollo, both because he's got so many damned domains that sappiness is probably in there somewhere, but also, have you seen his poetry when he's trying to woo someone? Hermes showed me some; I don't understand how he can be so bad at something in his domain.” Perseus sat up straighter with a grin. “Forget turning them into animals, that's what we threaten troublemakers with! Poetry night with uncle-slash-cousin-slash-papa Apollo!”
“I thought we said we wanted to move away from inflicting cruel and unusual punishments on children.” Annabeth chuckled.
“Cruel? Sure, guilty as charged, but it's not that unusual. The poor Olympians have to deal with this all the time, Beth, surely we can lighten their burden?” Perseus said, grinning right back at her.
Mary closed her eyes and let their banter wash over her. Tomorrow, she would have to keep working on funeral arrangements. Tomorrow, she would have to help Chiron track down contact info for the mortal families of dead campers. But that was tomorrow, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.