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halothenthehorns · 2 days

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Chapter 22: WE TRASH THE ETERNAL CITY

Nico forced himself out from under Will's arm and tried to take an even breath as he took the book. He hated how he still felt as unsure of himself and his creepy death-drawn-to-him abilities as when all of this had started, gods if he could ball up his insecurity and chuck it in that trash he would.

But he couldn't. He could have something he found just as comforting though, and Will did indeed draw him right back to his side and it was always very nice and warm there as he read the new chapter title.

"You would," Jason frowned at Percy. Just Percy.

"It said we!" Percy protested. "Annabeth's probably blown up her own share of national monuments and just hasn't had it on print yet!"

"Yeah, I know," Jason tried hard to resist smiling as he kept his stern look in place, "it's just habit to blame you first."

"It's okay, I don't mind sharing the blame, Athena knows we share everything else," Annabeth chuckled. Jason finally nodded and looked away while Percy grumbled at the two.

The bridge to Olympus was dissolving. We stepped out of the elevator onto the white marble walkway, and immediately cracks appeared at our feet.

Thalia groaned and was more than happy she'd given the book up before she had to read that. The memory in her head of the ground falling from beneath her feet like so many a vivid nightmare had done to her was more than enough without her voice shaking to add to it all!

"Jump!" Grover said, which was easy for him since he's part mountain goat.

"The only ones at camp who can still beat me at the lava wall," Will chuckled. It was a running gag to get newbies to try and beat the slow, shaky legs of satyrs and have to do all the chores as consequences.

"Mmm," Nico said with interest for more insights into Camp as he studied Will's long, nimble fingers that had more calluses than someone who claimed to just sit around reading in the infirmary all day should have. It wouldn't surprise him in the slightest if Will just didn't think it important to mention what else he got up to around there, but Nico certainly wanted to know.

He sprang to the next slab of stone while ours tilted sickeningly.

"Gods, I hate heights!" Thalia yelled as she and I leaped. But Annabeth was in no shape for jumping.

She stumbled and yelled, "Percy!"

Percy felt a glowing sense of pride as he held her hand firmly and she just sighed from exhaustion and leaned against him without a trace of distress for this specific thing happening. It hadn't been a question if he'd catch her. Just a plea for help he'd answered as usual.

Thalia shook her head affectionately at the two. She couldn't even begrudge her little sister that happiness and peace she'd found. She actively tried to hope it might just last long enough Nico could get through this fast enough that whatever had happened to Luke while she'd once again been absent from Annabeth needing her would just pass.

Like that wasn't a wasted wish.

I caught her hand as the pavement fell, crumbling into dust. For a second I thought she was going to pull us both over. Her feet dangled in the open air. Her hand started to slip until I was holding her only by her fingers. Then Grover and Thalia grabbed my legs, and I found extra strength.

Jason had been toying with the winds in his mind, some part of him he didn't yet have full memory of but his muscles did was dusting all of their hair around like a sharp breeze he'd only vaguely been aware of. They stopped with a row of goosebumps for everyone though as he sadly at his sister.

He'd only ever heard of her problems with heights, seen the faces she'd made as an outsider of her life. The part of him that had been wanting to kick up the air and push them all to safety while he floated harmlessly over the void vanished though. She didn't need his help. She was there to keep them alive just like always. Thalia wasn't going to let them fall any more than he would, magic god powers be damned. Or dammed.

Annabeth was not going to fall.

There was something too tight in her grip though. It wasn't uncomfortable for him, but the way her nails dug in, the stress he could feel as he watched those stormy gray eyes glare at the book. Was she picturing that manticore and the sea below?

"I'm not ever going to let you fall," he promised her in surprise she could be doubting that.

"Yeah, I know Percy," she said it like she meant it too, smiling at him, but he could feel something about this was bothering her as she tried to dart her eyes back away.

He jumped up, but not away. She didn't release his arm as she tried to get up too. Instead he spun and was now kneeling before her, knees pressed into the cracked ground. His hands braced themselves on either side of her beanbag, still trying to meet her eyes that wanted to see what he couldn't. "I'm not going to let you fall," he repeated stubbornly.

"I know," her smile was sad, her grip too tight. He didn't understand.

She'd let him fall. She'd been unable to stop it as he fell off the face of the earth. Artemis had to step in to get her back where she belonged beside him.

He watched her silently and she just stared back with that sad smile because her failures were already out loud in every stupid word of this and if he didn't realize it already he would eventually. He'd stick around and not blame her but she needed to hold onto that blame or she'd forget to keep her focus.

"Let's just concentrate on this," she reminded, running her other hand through his hair. She wished Nico would keep reading and distract him.

Stubborn met stubborn for a very long, uncomfortable amount of time as the rest of them exchanged looks wondering if they were supposed to interrupt.

Yeah, Thalia decided. She did need to do that. "If you two don't stop this we're never getting out of here!" She fought hard not to get up and grab the bag of books and whack the pair with it. It would hurt Annabeth more than Percy, but even he might feel it as many as there still were left to go.

It really was like asking which would stop first, the immovable object or the unstoppable force. So they would have been equally surprised no matter who said what.

But it was Percy who leaned back and said, "fine, we'll finish this later," and settled back into his beanbag as if nothing had happened.

Annabeth had no doubts about that. She just knew she could distract him until she made that later set at her own time.

I pulled her up and we lay trembling on the pavement. I didn't realize we had our arms around each other until she suddenly tensed.

"Um, thanks," she muttered.

Annabeth let herself chuckle and whisper to him for at least some answer, "gods, you had your arms around me more this day than ever before. It was what I really needed, and I hated you for distracting me!" She gave him a light swat on said arm.

"Consider it my specialty wise girl," Percy grinned back. She wasn't sure if he meant distracting her, or holding her, but she liked the answer either way.

I tried to say Don't mention it, but it came out as, "Uh duh."

"You were pretty close Percy, only a few syllables off," Magnus told him in pity.

"Reading all of these could only have helped with his annunciation problems," Alex chuckled.

"Keep moving!" Grover tugged my shoulder. We untangled ourselves and sprinted across the sky bridge as more stones disintegrated and fell into oblivion. We made it to the edge of the mountain just as the final section collapsed.

"Maybe next time you decide to nearly die, do it on solid ground," Thalia groaned. She loathed how useless she constantly felt to Annabeth.

"I will pencil that in just for you," Annabeth promised.

Annabeth looked back at the elevator, which was now completely out of reach—a polished set of metal doors hanging in space, attached to nothing, six hundred stories above Manhattan.

Magnus did not like that. Not one little bit. It was horrifying literally, symbolically, and physically to imagine. Just doors floating in space now his cousin could not reach. No turning back, no more magical backup.

"We're marooned," she said. "On our own."

"Blah-ha-ha!" Grover said. "The connection between Olympus and America is dissolving. If it fails—"

"The gods won't move on to another country this time," Thalia said. "This will be the end of Olympus. The final end."

We ran through streets.

"Not away from the danger," Magnus needlessly clarified to no one. "Not towards safety and some magical ex-machina McGuffin! Towards the psycho Titan who could kill you all with a look, blasting you off the ground vanishing beneath your feet!"

"Can you even imagine us doing that?" Thalia smiled in surprise like he'd just told the funniest joke.

"I'd be so hacked off if Grover suggested that," Percy shook his head. "All that crap we did, building up to that! No fight! What was all that training for otherwise?"

"You should cut him some slack guys," Annabeth chuckled, "maybe Percy would have gotten into slightly less trouble if he'd been there to warn us what bad ideas you always have."

"Me?" Percy sighed.

"Don't underestimate your cousin Annabeth," Thalia scoffed, "I think he does it for show half the time now. He's far to indulgent of Percy and Alex's every whim. Have you heard him actually pretending he wouldn't help every step of the way once while freaking out?"

Annabeth smiled in agreement, which grew as Magnus sighed and right in line did not bother to deny that's exactly what he'd do while slumping into the arm of the couch.

Mansions were burning. Statues had been hacked down. Trees in the parks were blasted to splinters. It looked like someone had attacked the city with a giant Weedwacker.

"Was the we not even about Percy and you guys?" Jason asked, still smirking at Percy's put out look for being singled out. "It's already trashed before you even finished stepping foot around there."

"It would be a nice change of pace if so, these stupid things are finally targeting Kronos and Ethan," Percy shrugged without much care.

"Kronos's scythe," I said.

We followed the winding path toward the palace of the gods. I didn't remember the road being so long. Maybe Kronos was making time go slower, or maybe it was just dread slowing me down. The whole mountaintop was in ruins—so many beautiful buildings and gardens gone.

Annabeth couldn't help but grin at him as she told in a weirdly happy tone of voice after all that destruction, "it really hasn't gotten old yet to know what you focused on."

It didn't take a genius, let alone a seaweed brain to grasp she'd been seeing the same as him. He smiled right back. It was always nice to know they were on the same page even without a book between them.

A few minor gods and nature spirits had tried to stop Kronos. What remained of them was strewn about the road: shattered armor, ripped clothing, swords and spears broken in half.

To say nothing of their shattered, ripped, and broken bodies, Percy shook his head in sorrow. There had been as much ichor on the streets as rubble with as little mercy as had been shown.

Somewhere ahead of us, Kronos's voice roared: "Brick by brick! That was my promise. Tear it down BRICK BY BRICK!"

"That sounds like it would take a really long time though," Alex sounded grudgingly admirable of putting that much patience into something. "I'm surprised really, though I guess he of all of them does have the time to spare."

"Well it wasn't a very well kept promise, just like all of them," Percy rolled his eyes. "I saw plenty of half toppled buildings and bricks standing."

"Guess Hades has something new he can agree with his siblings about," Thalia smiled faintly, "their father is a terrible liar too."

"Hmm, I'm sure he'll be thrilled," Nico chuckled.

A white marble temple with a gold dome suddenly exploded. The dome shot up like the lid of a teapot and shattered into a billion pieces, raining rubble over the city.

"That was a shrine to Artemis," Thalia grumbled. "He'll pay for that."

"As opposed to all the other things he'd done he was just going to get some minor gripes over," Jason asked her mildly.

"Well it's not like the stakes were personal for any other reason," she groused without meeting his eyes. He sighed and quickly let it go.

We were running under the marble archway with the huge statues of Zeus and Hera when the entire mountain groaned, rocking sideways like a boat in a storm.

"Look out!" Grover yelped. The archway crumbled. I looked up in time to see a twenty-ton scowling Hera topple over on us. Annabeth and I would've been flattened, but Thalia shoved us from behind and we landed just out of danger.

"Thalia!" Grover cried.

"When, when it said we-" Jason was suddenly so stark pale in concern the faint tattoo on his lip was the clearest thing on his face.

"Relax, I'm not a ghost haunting Percy or anything," she said with a casual enough smile, but it did little to soothe him or Percy who shuddered in fear right along with him. Gods, if he'd gone into this battle with one of his best friend's deaths hanging over him like this, he'd be as reckless as she'd once accused Luke of being. The light fading from Zoe's eyes would have been the only thing he'd see in her dark blue gaze.

Jason couldn't swallow, couldn't breathe for a moment as he realized she could have died just then and he'd have never met her. He would have gone the entirety of his life never meeting her...he still wasn't sure if that was in his future at all except for this cosmic joke of a room!

"Thank you," Annabeth said all the same, her voice as small and full of warmth as that girl she'd found on the streets.

"Of course," Thalia bobbed her head as if acknowledging she'd given her the extra fries.

Annabeth sighed at once again realizing far to much how alike Percy and Thalia were. Always eager to brush off their own compliments and then worry they hadn't done enough.

When the dust cleared and the mountain stopped rocking, we found her still alive, but her legs were pinned under the statue.

We tried desperately to move it, but it would've taken several Cyclopes.

"Even I wouldn't have protested a team of them showing up right then," Thalia scowled as she fought the urge to rub her legs. She had about as much love for them as Annabeth did just seeing one pop up, but she might have tried to pull a Nobody at minimum or begged for help at worst to get that thing off so she could continue what she started all those years ago...

When we tried to pull Thalia out from under it, she yelled in pain.

"I survive all those battles," she growled, "and I get defeated by a stupid chunk of rock!"

"Hopefully the height of your Greek tragedy?" Nico told her in mild concern, though it did come out as more of a question he at least hoped it for her. She did seem to have found some kind of happy ending with the Hunters in between all this.

"I'll get back to you on that," Thalia scowled at the dark ceiling. She dared not glance at Jason, or hear the Fates laughing in her ear.

"It's Hera," Annabeth said in outrage. "She's had it in for me all year. Her statue would've killed me if you hadn't pushed us away."

Thalia grimaced. "Well, don't just stand there! I'll be fine. Go!"*

We didn't want to leave her, but I could hear Kronos laughing as he approached the hall of the gods.

More buildings exploded.

"We'll be back," I promised.

"I'm not going anywhere," Thalia groaned.

A fireball erupted on the side of the mountain, right near the gates of the palace.

"We've got to run," I said.

"I don't suppose you mean away," Grover murmured hopefully.

I sprinted toward the palace, Annabeth right behind me.

"I was afraid of that," Grover sighed, and clip-clopped after us.

Magnus laughed into the awkward silence their joke had come to pass. Even Jason might not have been able to keep track of how many times that happened and went right over their heads.

He was to busy watching his sister in concern.

Thalia had watched them go feeling gutted, useless. As if she might as well go steal some seeds and plant herself there as a tree for another thousand years as Annabeth had dashed off after Percy with one last lingering look at her, mouthing something. She didn't know what. She didn't want to ask. A promise to save Luke? A promise to kill Kronos once and for all?

She'd struggled under that statue until she couldn't breathe from her burning muscles, hating herself for everything she'd ever done, and feeling a laugh echo in her head from a demigod she'd never met. Hercules might as well have appeared above her though, scolding her for trying to be like him. No child of Zeus should ever hope for more than just getting the chance to grow up, let alone be important enough to have some sort of final say in the lives she'd revolved around.

When she'd finally been dug out, when Luke's body was carried past her, she'd convinced herself she didn't care she hadn't been there. She'd gone back to the Hunters with a sense of peace that it was meant to be this way and she'd played her part as Annabeth and Percy had held hands.

But being back in the thick of this was really thinning out that resolve.

The doors of the palace were big enough to steer a cruise ship through, but they'd been ripped off their hinges and smashed like they weighed nothing. We had to climb over a huge pile of broken stone and twisted metal to get inside.

Kronos stood in the middle of the throne room, his arms wide, staring at the starry ceiling as if taking it all in. His laughter echoed even louder than it had from the pit of Tartarus.

"Which is strange, you think it would have far less of an echo in there. As big as that place is, it's still got to be slightly smaller than Tartarus," Alex offered.

"I should have recorded it," Percy frowned at her, "so I can make you fall asleep listening to it every night."

"What does Chiron take away if he catches you torturing someone?" Magnus asked in mild concern, more worried about other campers than Percy specifically. "Hopefully something worse than desert, right?"

Alex's laugh sounded far to amused. Percy had no idea that would truly be a comical noise compared to her usual dreams.

"Give us a little more credit than that, would you?" Will sighed at his usual theatrics. Any psychos the place had really collected over the years had quickly vanished to Luke's side, and hadn't been seen since.

"Finally!" he bellowed. "The Olympian Council—so proud and mighty. Which seat of power shall I destroy first?"

"Was he actually asking for advice?" Nico asked with a small smirk. He had some opinions.

"No, and I doubt he'd give you a vote. His loss," Annabeth rolled her eyes. She really hoped they'd stop with the jokes soon, this wasn't funny to her.

Ethan Nakamura stood to one side, trying to stay out of the way of his master's scythe. The hearth was almost dead, just a few coals glowing deep in the ashes. Hestia was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Rachel. I hoped she was okay, but I'd seen so much destruction I was afraid to think about it. The Ophiotaurus swam in his water sphere in the far corner of the room, wisely not making a sound, but it wouldn't be long before Kronos noticed him.

"Could Kronos himself sacrifice him?" Magnus shivered in unease. Zoe had only said it would give one power to destroy the gods, there hadn't been a clause mentioning a Titan was exempt.

Nobody answered him, which usually meant yes and nobody wanted to admit it.

Annabeth, Grover, and I stepped forward into the torchlight. Ethan saw us first.

"My lord," he warned.

"He needs to die first, like, seven backstabs ago," Alex said in a deep, guttural voice of anger.

To her surprise though, Percy frowned. He looked like he was fighting back a sigh and just seemed very, very tired. She'd thought he'd be at least wincing in pain over how this victory went down so close at hand, or even pleased he had at least some confirmation at his side those important to him lived through it.

It left her feeling unbalanced what was to come even knowing the outcome.

Kronos turned and smiled through Luke's face. Except for the golden eyes, he looked just the same as he had four years ago when he'd welcomed me into the Hermes cabin. Annabeth made a painful sound in the back of her throat, like someone had just sucker punched her.

Which was a very strange thing to ever exist in Magnus's mind for even a moment. He just imagined Percy's hand coming out of nowhere and snatching that fist away to break someone's arm if someone ever tried while Annabeth wound up to punch back.

"Shall I destroy you first, Jackson?" Kronos asked. "Is that the choice you will make—to fight me and die instead of bowing down? Prophecies never end well, you know."

"I must have a better track record than most," Percy muttered in absent surprise. He gestured to Jason in a subconscious way he must have learned from Rachel, like summoning his accountant. "Right?"

"Going by my numbers, yeah," he agreed. Though only two had been specifically about him, Percy's involvement did seem to be a good mark.

"Luke would fight with a sword," I said. "But I suppose you don't have his skill."

Kronos sneered. His scythe began to change, until he held Luke's old weapon, Backbiter, with its half-steel, half-Celestial bronze blade.

"Why would you want that thing back?" Will asked in concern.

"Mental strategies and such," Percy grinned in his usual doofus way, tapping the side of his head.

Will wasn't fooled. Percy turned to Annabeth and gave her an exaggerated wink before his eyes slid back to the book. Will shifted through his mind for a few moments before he felt he'd landed on some sort of Percy like reason. He was trying to draw Luke out as much as he could. He'd seen the human behind those golden eyes enough times to at least hope he could draw him out.

Next to me, Annabeth gasped like she'd suddenly had an idea. "Percy, the blade!" She unsheathed her knife. "The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."

A broken promise could curse an item, in some myths. It had been a long shot, but Annabeth had rallied with absolute confidence as she'd looked upon her hero for the last time without the tunnel vision of the halo of light surrounding him. Maybe he didn't have to just be a hero to her if she did this right.

It seemed a miracle even Zeus couldn't perform it had all worked out, if not in the way she'd have once wished.

I didn't understand why she was reminding me of that prophecy line right now. It wasn't exactly a morale booster, but before I could say anything, Kronos raised his sword.

"I think this is one of those times where it's allowed for you to shout the answer without completing the sentence!" Alex threw her hands up with a groan.

"I don't judge how your mind works," Annabeth frowned.

Alex still had to sigh and grumble for a moment before letting it go, more eager to get to the answer than complain to her. For now.

"Wait!" Annabeth yelled.

Kronos came at me like a whirlwind.

"I cannot believe he didn't stop to listen to you," Thalia sounded far to sarcastic for her outrage to be real. Annabeth still wished it was. That some part of Luke would have hesitated even after all this.

My instincts took over. I dodged and slashed and rolled, but I felt like I was fighting a hundred swordsmen. Ethan ducked to one side, trying to get behind me until Annabeth intercepted him. They started to fight, but I couldn't focus on how she was doing.

Magnus sure could, he had no problems splitting his attention between wondering how Percy wasn't headless and how his cousin had survived with one entire freaking arm being a hindrance!

I was vaguely aware of Grover playing his reed pipes. The sound filled me with warmth and courage—thoughts of sunlight and a blue sky and a calm meadow, somewhere far away from the war.

Kronos backed me up against the throne of Hephaestus—a huge mechanical La-Z-Boy type thing covered with bronze and silver gears. Kronos slashed, and I managed to jump straight up onto the seat.

"If you're hoping that godly smiting thing redirects, I wouldn't think your luck extends that well," Jason cringed and glanced down at his seat for the first time as if to make sure it wasn't going to start strangling him by association.

"I didn't do it on purpose," but even to Percy's own ears he could hear how useless that would be to the God of the Forge. He definitely didn't think he'd get away with this one for nothing even if he won. Great. Any future hope of getting on a bus without it exploding had probably just vanished too.

Nobody looked twice at Magnus's mouth hanging open Percy had managed to jump that high only on adrenline. It was just another detail in the long list of Percy's fighting feats.

The throne whirred and hummed with secret mechanisms. Defense mode, it warned. Defense mode.

"I would move," Will oh so helpfully pointed out in case Percy had never tried to poke a high-voltage electrical fence before. That would strangle him. Then shock him back to life and kill him again.

"Thanks man, don't know how I got through this without you there," Percy snorted.

That couldn't be good. I jumped straight over Kronos's head as the throne shot tendrils of electricity in all directions. One hit Kronos in the face, arcing down his body and up his sword.

"ARG!" He crumpled to his knees and dropped Backbiter.

At least that got a good round of laughter throughout the room, Nico helpfully adding, "look on the bright side, of all the gods in there, he might be the sole one to thank you for helping him get more ideas of how to weaponize his chair."

"Yeah, just what I always wanted, to help a god figure out more ways to kill me," but Percy was smiling along something had gone right.

Annabeth saw her chance. She kicked Ethan out of the way and charged Kronos. "Luke, listen!"

I wanted to shout at her, to tell her she was crazy for trying to reason with Kronos, but there was no time.

"Literally in this instance," Magnus tried his best to say without an eep in his voice and covering his face like that would do any good to stop the words pouring in.

It was true though, Alex gave him a sad smile. Kronos was sucking up all the time for himself and refusing to share. He'd really been the worst.

Kronos flicked his hand. Annabeth flew backward, slamming into the throne of her mother and crumpling to the floor.

Gods that felt so deliberate, Thalia winced in disgust. She didn't know anymore how aware Luke really was in there, Kronos had been spying on them long enough, either of the personas could have done that to her with a purpose...or no care at all where she landed. She wasn't even entirely sure Athena would recognize which child it was right away to care past the insult.

"Annabeth!" I screamed.

Ethan Nakamura got to his feet. He now stood between Annabeth and me.

The most dangerous place to be, Nico frowned to himself. Nobody could say this guy wasn't brave.

I couldn't fight him without turning my back on Kronos.

The fact that he was in there alone having to deal with this fight was still a ragged edge inside Thalia that made every breath a painful exhale, every new breath feel wasted. Screw the stupid prophecy saying Percy was the only one to stand against this! This had not been an epic tale told around the campfire, but quick hushed words around Camp between the shouts of delight in Kronos being gone and the cries for the dead.

It really wasn't better to have it all inlaid in detail where she couldn't ever escape it again, but a chain she allowed upon her shoulders without regret if it would help Annabeth even a moment later at having to revisit this too.

Grover's music took on a more urgent tune. He moved toward Annabeth, but he couldn't go any faster and keep up the song. Grass grew on the floor of the throne room. Tiny roots crept up between the cracks of the marble stones.

Even among everything else going on, Magnus couldn't help but shiver as Hyperion came back to mind. Grover probably wasn't capable of single-handedly recreating that given past evidence, but he wouldn't put it past the guy to try.

Kronos rose to one knee. His hair smoldered. His face was covered with electrical burns. He reached for his sword, but this time it didn't fly into his hands.

"Nakamura!" he groaned. "Time to prove yourself. You know Jackson's secret weakness. Kill him, and you will have rewards beyond measure."

"The reward of, being killed last?" Alex's voice was disdainful and mocking and something else tied in such a knot it should have sounded only painful.

"He's not going to get to find out," Percy's voice was a cold menace, only tempered because Annabeth was in his arms now, breathing. Alive.

Ethan's eyes dropped to my midsection, and I was sure that he knew. Even if he couldn't kill me himself, all he had to do was tell Kronos. There was no way I could defend myself forever.

"Look around you, Ethan," I said. "The end of the world. Is this the reward you want? Do you really want everything destroyed—the good with the bad? Everything?"

Grover was almost to Annabeth now. The grass thickened on the floor. The roots were almost a foot long, like a stubble of whiskers.

"There is no throne to Nemesis," Ethan muttered. "No throne to my mother."

Will sighed deeply that so many of their worlds problems could have been solved if this had just been able to be solved with a quick lawn chair around the room. The power imbalance wasn't theirs to say, but that didn't mean they should be silenced for voicing it. There just had to be a balance. Percy might have stopped the war, but hearing that only reminded him there were going to be more battles down the road if something didn't change.

"That's right!" Kronos tried to get up, but stumbled. Above his left ear, a patch of blond hair still smoldered.

Jason laughed, a dark noise under his breath. His sister might not be in there to have done the deed, but it felt good all the same to know that chair must have fried his brain for even a split second before the Titan shrugged it off.

"Strike them down! They deserve to suffer."

"You said your mom is the goddess of balance," I reminded him. "The minor gods deserve better, Ethan, but total destruction isn't balance. Kronos doesn't build. He only destroys."

Ethan looked at the sizzling throne of Hephaestus. Grover's music kept playing, and Ethan swayed to it, as if the song were filling him with nostalgia—a wish to see a beautiful day, to be anywhere but here.

His good eye blinked.

Then he charged . . . but not at me.

While Kronos was still on his knees, Ethan brought down his sword on the Titan lord's neck. It should have killed him instantly, but the blade shattered. Ethan fell back, grasping his stomach. A shard of his own blade had ricocheted and pierced his armor.

Annabeth gasped, covering her mouth with her hand on instinct to muffle it. She'd been in white hot pain and pretty out of it, but the moment now replayed in her head in too vivid detail. That could have been her if she'd been given half a chance, if she'd struck out with her knife like she'd wanted to upon seeing him.

Kronos rose unsteadily, towering over his servant. "Treason," he snarled.

Jason wondered if Ethan so flagrantly taking back his once vow had done any good at this point. Had it weakend Kronos in the body he'd constructed of magic and power? Had it made Luke take even a fraction of a stronger hold inside seeing the boy so easily tossed aside as a god would do to him?

Grover's music kept playing, and grass grew around Ethan's body. Ethan stared at me, his face tight with pain.

"Deserve better," he gasped. "If they just . . . had thrones—"

Kronos stomped his foot, and the floor ruptured around Ethan Nakamura. The son of Nemesis fell through a fissure that went straight through the heart of the mountain—straight into open air.

"So much for him." Kronos picked up his sword. "And now for the rest of you."

Percy leaned forward in his seat, that scowl back on his face he'd never admit to. The one they'd first had described upon meeting Ethan back in that arena but had seen numerous times now.

About the same amount of times as Ethan had backstabbed, betrayed, and generally made the wrong decision again, and again.

Yet Percy had gone from shock at such a death, to this.

He would have helped Ethan. He would have offered his hand and pulled him back into that thrown room and gotten him ambrosia and taken him back to Camp after turning that look on Kronos.

Ethan had already lost his eye for his cause. Was this last minute change of heart enough to redeem him? Did he deserve anything else besides this?

Percy clearly thought so.

My only thought was to keep him away from Annabeth.

Jason felt a shaky sigh though, wishing he could stop Nico for a moment to really catch his breath, catch up with the whirlwind of emotions that gave him. He didn't know this guy, it wasn't an unsound guess to say nobody would mourn this loss. He wanted to, he just didn't know anything more on how to do it.

Grover was at her side now. He'd stopped playing and was feeding her ambrosia.

Everywhere Kronos stepped, the roots wrapped around his feet, but Grover had stopped his magic too early. The roots weren't thick or strong enough to do much more than annoy the Titan.

Which Percy was usually all on board with, but maybe now was a good time to hope for something a little stronger so he wouldn't join Ethan.

We fought through the hearth, kicking up coals and sparks. Kronos slashed an armrest off the throne of Ares, which was okay by me, but then he backed me up to my dad's throne.

"Oh, yes," Kronos said. "This one will make fine kindling for my new hearth!"

Our blades clashed in a shower of sparks. He was stronger than me, but for the moment I felt the power of the ocean in my arms. I pushed him back and struck again—slashing Riptide across his breastplate so hard I cut a gash in the Celestial bronze.

He stamped his foot again and time slowed. I tried to attack but I was moving at the speed of a glacier. Kronos backed up leisurely, catching his breath. He examined the gash in his armor while I struggled forward, silently cursing him. He could take all the time-outs he wanted. He could freeze me in place at will.

Will gave a shaky smile, that stupid old joke on his lips, but what he instead said was, "at least you can take all the breaks you want this time around."

Percy nodded with gratitude. The adrenaline, the near constant stress of the past days, hell the past years of his life had not been easy to all be tipped back into his brain a teaspoon at a time. It had felt, strange, but almost better getting to laugh with his friends about the absurdity of it all along the way and not feel like an outcast or alone through so much of it. He could look back on some of those more painful memories with a sense of nostalgia now.

My only hope was that the effort was draining him. If I could wear him down . . .

Magnus winced though at how that would wear Percy down faster than him. Even fighting over a body, Kronos had been raining hell down. Had he even bothered needing to sleep? Eat? But Percy was far more human. It didn't feel possible that could be the downfall of this battle, but could it be?

"It's too late, Percy Jackson," he said. "Behold."

He pointed to the hearth, and the coals glowed. A sheet of white smoke poured from the fire, forming images like an Iris-message.

"I really hope Hestia and Iris band together to at least make him regret using their shtick before he gets thrown back in the pit," Alex grumbled. She was personally imagining him just being trapped in a rainbow bubble he couldn't escape and watching Percy and his friends enjoy the victory party that was soon to follow all of this.

I saw Nico and my parents down on Fifth Avenue, fighting a hopeless battle, ringed in enemies.

It had been bad enough when he'd been in that situation, but being forced to see them doing this without him really was like Kronos had just thrown one of his worst nightmares right into his face with the burning hot coals being the least painful part.

In the background Hades fought from his black chariot, summoning wave after wave of zombies out of the ground, but the forces of the Titan's army seemed just as endless.

And yet Hades's forces had made all the difference, the reason Percy's mom was even alive, Will sighed in relief. Nico would have been overwhelmed trying to keep Percy's parents alive on his own. He couldn't help his thudding heart that had him squeezing Nico's arm again in relief to have him here now. The muscle only went into double time as Nico just grinned back at him.

Meanwhile, Manhattan was being destroyed. Mortals, now fully awake, were running in terror. Cars swerved and crashed.

The scene shifted, and I saw something even more terrifying.

A column of storm was approaching the Hudson River, moving rapidly over the Jersey shore.

Chariots circled it, locked in combat with the creature in the cloud.

The gods attacked. Lightning flashed. Arrows of gold and silver streaked into the cloud like rocket tracers and exploded. Slowly, the cloud ripped apart, and I saw Typhon clearly for the first time.

I knew as long as I lived (which might not be that long) I would never be able to get the image out of my mind. Typhon's head shifted constantly. Every moment he was a different monster, each more horrible than the last. Looking at his face would've driven me insane, so I focused on his body, which wasn't much better. He was humanoid, but his skin reminded me of a meat loaf sandwich that had been in someone's locker all year. He was mottled green, with blisters the size of buildings, and blackened patches from eons of being stuck under a volcano. His hands were human, but with talons like an eagle's. His legs were scaly and reptilian.

"I can see why he and Echidna make the perfect couple though," Nico said snidly.

"I'm back wondering why meatloaf sandwiches keep being mentioned so much." Jason rolled his eyes. "Does Percy's mind ever leave his stomach?"

"Not that I've heard," Thalia agreed.

"The Olympians are giving their final effort." Kronos laughed. "How pathetic."

Zeus threw a thunderbolt from his chariot. The blast lit up the world. I could feel the shock even here on Olympus, but when the dust cleared, Typhon was still standing. He staggered a bit, with a smoking crater on top of his misshapen head, but he roared in anger and kept advancing.

My limbs began to loosen up. Kronos didn't seem to notice. His attention was focused on the fight and his final victory. If I could hold out a few more seconds, and if my dad kept his word . . .

Typhon stepped into the Hudson River and barely sank to midcalf.

The fact that it covered half his foot gave Magnus's mind a weird influx of trying to figure out how to scale this guy in his head. None of it made sense, and he was sitting here listening to a book that had made it all real. This was his life right now.

Now, I thought, imploring the image in the smoke. Please, it has to happen now.

Like a miracle, a conch horn sounded from the smoky picture. The call of the ocean. The call of Poseidon.

Percy's grin was a wild thing. He finally felt like he'd been a part of this battle in a significant way, like he'd been crouched in that muddy water tense and waiting for the order to charge right along with his dad and godly and mermaid family. His dad had really listened to him!

All around Typhon, the Hudson River erupted, churning with forty-foot waves. Out of the water burst a new chariot—this one pulled by massive hippocampi, who swam in air as easily as in water.

"It's been an option to ride Rainbow or Blackjack this whole time?" Magnus yelped.

"I'm going to be chased by a whole herd of animals when I get out of here and it's going to be entirely you's two's fault," Percy sighed as he gestured between him and Alex. Neither looked the slightest bit repentant.

My father, glowing with a blue aura of power, rode a defiant circle around the giant's legs. Poseidon was no longer an old man. He looked like himself again—tan and strong with a black beard.

Jason smiled. He would have loved to have done a whole essay to study on how Poseidon depicted himself not truly on the shape of his realm but the way he perceived it. Now his home was in ruins but he was back to his favorite body. His eyes flickered between Percy and Alex as his hands itched with curiosity to get started.

As he swung his trident, the river responded, making a funnel cloud around the monster.

Nico laughed at having gotten to witness that once with Percy doing the same. The seaweed didn't flow far from the ocean on those ideas.

"No!" Kronos bellowed after a moment of stunned silence. "NO!"

"NOW, MY BRETHREN!" Poseidon's voice was so loud I wasn't sure if I was hearing it from the smoke image or from all the way across town. "STRIKE FOR OLYMPUS!"

Warriors burst out of the river, riding the waves on huge sharks and dragons and sea horses. It was a legion of Cyclopes, and leading them into battle was . . .

"Tyson!" I yelled.

I knew he couldn't hear me, but I stared at him in amazement. He'd magically grown in size. He had to be thirty feet tall, as big as any of his older cousins, and for the first time he was wearing full battle armor.

Annabeth had a hard time wrapping that one around her mind. She'd grown to like Tyson for how much he was like Percy, sweet with a big heart and smarter than most people gave him credit for. To hear of his ruthless size, that he was and could be as vicious as the monster who had once haunted her nightmares as clearly as the furies made it hard to swallow for a few moments even if she knew she'd hug him tight next time she saw him again.

Riding behind him was Briares, the Hundred-Handed One.

All the Cyclopes held huge lengths of black iron chains—big enough to anchor a battleship—with grappling hooks at the ends. They swung them like lassos and began to ensnare Typhon, throwing lines around the creature's legs and arms, using the tide to keep circling, slowly tangling him. Typhon shook and roared and yanked at the chains, pulling some of the Cyclopes off their mounts; but there were too many chains. The sheer weight of the Cyclops battalion began to weigh Typhon down. Poseidon threw his trident and impaled the monster in the throat. Golden blood, immortal ichor, spewed from the wound, making a waterfall taller than a skyscraper. The trident flew back to Poseidon's hand.

It was a strategy worthy of Athena, Percy and Annabeth exchanged grins. The timing was just glorious, the age old trick of just toppling your enemy with their own weight.

The other gods struck with renewed force. Ares rode in and stabbed Typhon in the nose. Artemis shot the monster in the eye with a dozen silver arrows. Apollo shot a blazing volley of arrows and set the monster's loincloth on fire. And Zeus kept pounding the giant with lightning, until finally, slowly, the water rose, wrapping Typhon like a cocoon, and he began to sink under the weight of the chains. Typhon bellowed in agony, thrashing with such force that waves sloshed the Jersey shore, soaking five-story buildings and splashing over the George Washington Bridge—but down he went as my dad opened a special tunnel for him at the bottom of the river—an endless waterslide that would take him straight to Tartarus. The giant's head went under in a seething whirlpool, and he was gone.

"I want to get a raccoon and name him Typhoon now," Alex nodded to herself. She had plenty of options finding them, it was just a matter of picking the right little monster to tame.

"Because that's the first thing someone should think after hearing all that," Percy said in resigned exhaustion to her. At least that should be the worst thing he should ever have to face, he could brush off Alex making light of it since he'd never had to be around that thing in person.

"It will be now," Thalia promised as she rubbed her temples.

"BAH!" Kronos screamed. He slashed his sword through the smoke, tearing the image to shreds.

"They're on their way," I said. "You've lost."

"I haven't even started."

He advanced with blinding speed. Grover—brave, stupid satyr that he was—tried to protect me, but Kronos tossed him aside like a rag doll.

Percy's heart thumped in his chest like it was trying to take the impact for his best friend. Grover had just thrown himself in front of a Titan for him! He didn't know how to even describe to himself how stupid and reckless and impulsive that was any more than how much it meant to him.

"He's our Protector Percy," Annabeth reminded his tense hands, which still held hers. He breathed and brushed his hand through her hair instead. It was all he could do.

I sidestepped and jabbed under Kronos's guard. It was a good trick. Unfortunately, Luke knew it. He countered the strike and disarmed me using one of the first moves he'd ever taught me. My sword skittered across the ground and fell straight into the open fissure.

"STOP!" Annabeth came from nowhere.

Kronos whirled to face her and slashed with Backbiter, but somehow Annabeth caught the strike on her dagger hilt. It was a move only the quickest and most skilled knife fighter could've managed. Don't ask me where she found the strength,

"Funny, because you're the first person I think of where that strength comes from," she whispered gently into his ear.

Percy huffed and wondered if that impact knocked a few columns loose in her head. Brilliant still, of course, but maybe kind of nuts.

but she stepped in closer for leverage, their blades crossed, and for a moment she stood face-to-face with the Titan lord, holding him at a standstill.

"Luke," she said, gritting her teeth, "I understand now. You have to trust me."

Thalia physically bit her tongue to stop herself waving at Annabeth, 'see! You did not Do Fine! You are still talking to that traitor!'

She didn't though because here finally was an answer to a question that had plagued her. How had it worked? No filter, nothing from her sister to glorify this moment. Just Percy finding the right thing to say.

Kronos roared in outrage. "Luke Castellan is dead! His body will burn away as I assume my true form!"

I tried to move, but my body was frozen again. How could Annabeth, battered and half dead with exhaustion, have the strength to fight a Titan like Kronos?

Annabeth couldn't help but chuckle at the absurd way he phrased that. It wasn't the kind of strength she'd get by jumping in the Styx. He should know that better than anyone.

Kronos pushed against her, trying to dislodge his blade, but she held him in check, her arms trembling as he forced his sword down toward her neck.

"Your mother," Annabeth grunted. "She saw your fate."

"Service to Kronos!" the Titan roared. "This is my fate."

"The Fate's seem kind of bad at telling the whole story," Nico wanted very much to snap back in his face. He'd never sat around looking for someone to cut a string in front of him, and he wouldn't care now if they did.

"No!" Annabeth insisted. Her eyes were tearing up, but I didn't know if it was from sadness or pain.

Sadness and pain were to light of words for what she'd been crushed with looking into those golden eyes and trying to get through to him. This had been her moment. From the day she'd realized Luke had broken his promise she'd tried to stop this.

And she had.

But she didn't know if the cost would have been worth it to her before this day.

"That's not the end, Luke. The prophecy: she saw what you would do. It applies to you!"

"I will crush you, child!" Kronos bellowed.

"You won't," Annabeth said. "You promised. You're holding Kronos back even now."

"LIES!" Kronos pushed again, and this time Annabeth lost her balance. With his free hand, Kronos struck her face, and she slid backward.

There was a collective wince around the room, the anger and outrage that instinctively went around was heartwarming and something Annabeth had never seen before aside from Percy, all in her name.

I summoned all my will. I managed to rise, but it was like holding the weight of the sky again.

"It's a good thing you got all that practice in," Will nodded. Something about what Nico had said really paying off right now about history repeating itself with Percy. He brought it on himself in this marvelous kind of way.

Kronos loomed over Annabeth, his sword raised.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She croaked, "Family, Luke. You promised."

Thalia still couldn't believe what she was hearing with her own ears. How stubborn her sister was for still trying. For thinking that reminding him of this one last time would do any good.

That it had worked.

I took a painful step forward. Grover was back on his feet, over by the throne of Hera, but he seemed to be struggling to move as well. Before either of us could get anywhere close to Annabeth, Kronos staggered.

He stared at the knife in Annabeth's hand, the blood on her face. "Promise."

Then he gasped like he couldn't get air. "Annabeth . . ." But it wasn't the Titan's voice. It was Luke's. He stumbled forward like he couldn't control his own body. "You're bleeding. . . ."

There was a triumphant air about her now that was to hollow to feel like a real victory. She'd done this with nothing. No knife, nothing to snatch out of her bag, no training from Chiron, she couldn't even really attribute this to her mother's wits. She'd just taken a breath and said something to Luke, as herself. That seven year old girl who'd been abandoned at every turn finally got to be heard, and it changed everything.

"My knife." Annabeth tried to raise her dagger, but it clattered out of her hand. Her arm was bent at a funny angle. She looked at me, imploring, "Percy, please . . ."

I could move again.

I surged forward and scooped up her knife. I knocked Backbiter out of Luke's hand, and it spun into the hearth. Luke hardly paid me any attention. He stepped toward Annabeth, but I put myself between him and her.

"Don't touch her," I said.

Percy was starting to get angry at how many times he'd had to say that lately. Annabeth was so strong and usually the one to lead him in the right direction. It was downright strange to have to defend her even when he stepped up to do it without thinking.

Anger rippled across his face. Kronos's voice growled: "Jackson . . ." Was it my imagination, or was his whole body glowing, turning gold?

Percy had been around a few to many gods who liked to burst into their godly form without warning to not know the danger that this came with. He wouldn't even be able to fight Kronos anymore. He would be truly unstoppable.

He gasped again. Luke's voice: "He's changing. Help. He's . . . he's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please—"

"NO!" Kronos bellowed. He looked around for his sword, but it was in the hearth, glowing among the coals.

He stumbled toward it. I tried to stop him, but he pushed me out of the way with such force I landed next to Annabeth and cracked my head on the base of Athena's throne.

Percy rubbed the back of his head and looked around at his girlfriend with the most exhausted puppy dog eyes. "Think this'll finally get her to cut me some slack? Or did I just dig myself deeper?"

"It's not like you decided which throne to crash into," she chuckled lightly for him, patting the back of his hand.

"The knife, Percy," Annabeth muttered. Her breath was shallow. "Hero . . . cursed blade . . ."

When my vision came back into focus, I saw Kronos grasping his sword. Then he bellowed in pain and dropped it. His hands were smoking and seared. The hearth fire had grown red-hot, like the scythe wasn't compatible with it. I saw an image of Hestia flickering in the ashes, frowning at Kronos with disapproval.

There was a soft but sincere laugh that echoed in the room for several moments. Last Olympian indeed, she'd done more to cripple Kronos with that one disapproving act in her own flames than all the others had done up to this point to thwart him.

Luke turned and collapsed, clutching his ruined hands. "Please, Percy . . ."

I struggled to my feet. I moved toward him with the knife. I should kill him. That was the plan.

But Percy wasn't a murderer. He never had been. Even in the throws of battle, given chance and again to preemptively strike to protect, he only defended. When he did kill, only dust was left.

Luke was still just human enough, nobody considered he'd go through with it.

So the prophecy could really only end one way now.

Luke seemed to know what I was thinking. He moistened his lips. "You can't . . . can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can . . . can keep him controlled."

He was definitely glowing now, his skin starting to smoke.

Percy had never watched a baby chick crack out of an egg, but he had a bad feeling that's what he was about to see while throwing in a star exploding. There had been translucent cracks under his skin, like something was pulsing and glowing. Like the godly blood they all had inside of them was straining to get out at every pore possible at once.

I raised the knife to strike. Then I looked at Annabeth, at Grover cradling her in his arms, trying to shield her. And I finally understood what she'd been trying to tell me.

You are not the hero, Rachel had said. It will affect what you do.

"Please," Luke groaned. "No time."

If Kronos evolved into his true form, there would be no stopping him. He would make Typhon look like a playground bully.

Which Percy had an abundance of practice dealing with, but even the gods and great prophesies and all the forces in their world didn't mean a matchup could be possible. There would always be a bigger monster in the world, until there wasn't.

The line from the great prophecy echoed in my head: A hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. My whole world tipped upside down, and I gave the knife to Luke.

There was still a small part inside of Thalia that resented Percy this moment. Even knowing she never would have done the same, and it would have ended the world as they knew it. She should have been there, even while Percy ignored her to tilt the handle to him.

But, like Luke had used her name in vain, like Annabeth had only needed her for a short time as a crutch, like Percy only needed her for a stepping stone to see what he shouldn't be like, like Artemis needed her to replace Zoe, she'd only been involved long enough to be a vague memory.

Grover yelped. "Percy? Are you . . . um . . ."

Crazy. Insane. Off my rocker. Probably.

Oh I'm sure Grover was going to say something much more colorful than that, Alex shook her head at this guy. Grover had been there for at least a majority of Percy's crazy stunts and this was somehow the most mad as a hatter of them all.

But she wasn't really surprised. It seemed Percy's innate ability to do the right thing for everyone, just like any proper hero from a story should. He was just real enough to be a bit of an idiot in their world to be doing it.

But I watched as Luke grasped the hilt.

I stood before him—defenseless.

He unlatched the side straps of his armor, exposing a small bit of his skin just under his left arm, a place that would be very hard to hit.

Percy waited for the jokes. For the teasing and laughter that Luke had actually used his armpit for his weak spot. Somebody to start making snide comments about worshiping his gut. Something.

There was just a long heavy silence. They'd won. They'd all wanted Luke and Kronos dead. But the moment was here. And there was just silence.

With difficulty, he stabbed himself.

It wasn't a deep cut, but Luke howled. His eyes glowed like lava. The throne room shook, throwing me off my feet.

Again. Jason could never turn off that part of himself, but he just blinked a few times as he held it back. Percy had been thrown off his feet three times in that thrown room.

He couldn't wait to find out what kind of patterns he'd find in his own past.

An aura of energy surrounded Luke, growing brighter and brighter. I shut my eyes and felt a force like a nuclear explosion blister my skin and crack my lips.

It was silent for a long time.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Luke sprawled at the hearth. On the floor around him was a blackened circle of ash. Kronos's scythe had liquefied into molten metal and was trickling into the coals of the hearth, which now glowed like a blacksmith's furnace.

Luke's left side was bloody. His eyes were open—blue eyes, the way they used to be. His breath was a deep rattle.

"Good . . . blade," he croaked.

Annabeth finally broke down in tears. She'd been trying so hard not to. She'd known this was coming and it felt silly and ridiculous but she couldn't stop the sob that shook loose and the hot feeling pouring out.

Thalia watched Percy gather her as tight to his chest as she could, her arms wrapping around his throat and pulling herself closer still. She'd never told the story of how Luke had come into the possession of it nor its even more sordid past with Apollo. She should though. She could see the questions and the hunger in more than just Jason.

Maybe when they got out of here though. These dark halls and corridors they couldn't leave were full of to many shadows.

I knelt next to him. Annabeth limped over with Grover's support. They both had tears in their eyes.

Luke gazed at Annabeth. "You knew. I almost killed you, but you knew . . ."

"Shhh." Her voice trembled. "You were a hero at the end, Luke. You'll go to Elysium."

He shook his head weakly. "Think . . . rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of the Blest."

Annabeth sniffled. "You always pushed yourself too hard."

"Oh, is that what he was doing this whole time? I always knew over achievers were the worst," Percy grinned at the one in his arms.

She coughed on a laugh and kissed his neck as she tried to convince herself to stop crying. The secure feeling of being in his arms was helping with that a lot.

He held up his charred hand. Annabeth touched his fingertips.

"Did you . . ." Luke coughed and his lips glistened red. "Did you love me?"**

Yes and no, no and yes. It depended on the way he meant love, it depended on what Percy had said to her within the hour, it depended on what year of her life he meant. Gods, if she'd been able to freeze time to this moment she still didn't know how she would have given him a better answer.

Annabeth wiped her tears away. "There was a time I thought . . . well, I thought . . ." She looked at me, like she was drinking in the fact that I was still here. And I realized I was doing the same thing. The world was collapsing, and the only thing that really mattered to me was that she was alive.

Nico fought the urge to surround himself with shadows so he could groan and vomit in peace for just a moment. He really hoped those two were done being the most sickeningly in love people. It was old.

"You were like a brother to me, Luke," she said softly. "But I didn't love you."

Annabeth rubbed at her flushed cheeks and was unsurprised to see it didn't look like the others believed her. She'd probably come across to all of them in her absence as some love sick princess not to be taken seriously. She grimaced though at the alternative of trying to justify herself and no one listening to her either, possibly not even Percy depending on how strong his crush had really been through all this.

He nodded, as if he'd expected it. He winced in pain.

"We can get ambrosia," Grover said. "We can—"

"Grover," Luke gulped. "You're the bravest satyr I ever knew. But no. There's no healing. . . ."

Another cough.

He gripped my sleeve, and I could feel the heat of his skin like a fire. "Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don't let it . . . Don't let it happen again."

His eyes were angry, but pleading too.

"I won't," I said. "I promise."

Luke nodded, and his hand went slack.

It meant something to Will that his last words were for others. The ones at Camp who hadn't fallen into complacency at their lot in life. Luke had gone about fixing it in the wrong way, but then, if he'd never done all of this, who ever would have figured out if there was another way to do it?

The gods arrived a few minutes later in their full war regalia, thundering into the throne room and expecting a battle.

"And not a single one of them even flinched," Alex muttered without surprise, elbows digging into her legs, head resting on her palms as she watched in jittery anticipation for Will's turn, for the real fall out of how the gods were going to act to all this. Sweep it under the rug? Try to just throw another party and move on like nothing had happened? The real story ended when the dust settled.

What they found were Annabeth, Grover, and me standing over the body of a broken half-blood, in the dim warm light of the hearth.

"Percy," my father called, awe in his voice. "What . . . what is this?"

I turned and faced the Olympians.

"We need a shroud," I announced, my voice cracking. "A shroud for the son of Hermes."

Jason could see that Nico was done. That this final page of Luke's life was at an end as he cradled the book and whispered something only Will heard. The son of Apollo gave him a rogue smile and whispered something back Jason didn't have a care to listen to, eyes on his sister.

He'd felt out of place here since the beginning. Mismatched. Alone. Everyone in here had someone they could relate to, even Magnus who'd thought himself a mortal had come in with one of his best friends and quickly found a companion in Alex.

Thalia should have been that for him. Instead, she'd been at Percy's side, keeping him out, at arm's length.

So he snatched up his beanbag and dragged it back to where it had once been without question and plopped back down beside her. One of them had to deal with this eventually and he didn't feel like waiting and hoping for a miracle from their dad for it to happen.

She jumped. Thalia Grace jumped. He'd startled her, and he grinned as her red-rimmed eyes narrowed on him and she had a wicked hunting knife in her hand he was not afraid of.

Nobody said anything more as Will took the book.

PJOPJOPJOPJO

*I will never forgive RR how he ROBBED Thalia of her resolution of being in that room with them. He really couldn't have come up with any better way for Hera to get her last lick in at Annabeth for this?!

And I haven't even gotten Started on Jason.

Is this some divine joke about ignoring Zeus's children in the narrative, or does he secretly have a grudge against the Grace children for personal reasons!?

Regardless, the majority of this fic has been soothing my teenage constipation of emotions of this topic, and I hope you've been enjoying the ride as much as I have writing it.

So, I'm already working on a draft for the next chapter because I'm so excited to almost be done with this, and I have a question for you all. What do you think Percy wished for before Zeus offered him immortality? We never get any moment in the series before this of Percy longingly thinking of Something he couldn't achieve-ably have that Zeus would even grant him before Luke died. I toyed with him wanting to gift his mom something, but A) the point of the first book was she didn't need Percy's help and that feels regressive for that to be Percy's first thought, and B) He is well aware that any gift a god gave him would come with some sort of kick-back price and he'd never put that on his mom so I'm stewing on ideas I'd love to hear from you guys.

**Ah the most controversial moment in this entire series. When I first read this I wasn't clear on how much older than Annabeth Luke was, I thought him like, seveteen to their fifteen so middle school me who already had a distinct lack of care in relationships just read right past this moment without thinking twice on it.

This series just didn't have much of an impact on my life except fondly remembering how it made me laugh in class with friends. I hadn't reread it in many years before deciding to do this series.

Now you can read back on this moment two different ways. RR is notoriously poor at cannon, changing it between series and sometimes books. You can imagine Luke whatever age you want to make this less creepy.

Or you can be one of the amount of people who send me comments saying Luke was a creepy creeper creep who groomed Annabeth and fell in love with a seven year old the second he met her at fourteen.

Regardless of your opinion on a piece of fiction, let's all just take a step back and appreciate that this story did have an impact on so many for the good of getting us into looking at other cultures and history. That's how I chose to look at it.

Hope you enjoyed.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #Annabeth chase #percabeth #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #alex fierro #magnus chase #fierrochase #nico di angelo #will solace #solangelo

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