"It's three thirty here, June 22nd the day after the solstice." Diana told us. We'd accepted bus passes from the secretary Grenda after pulling down our photos, and were on our way to the Empire State Building, the last stop before home. "That means it's almost midnight in Russia. Hm, can't believe I slept for ten hours on that airplane."

"I told you you were tired." I noted, fixing the Pithos so it was very comfortably resting on my lap.  I traced its grooves and bumps with my finger.

"Chiron's gotta know it's all good by now," Johnny added. "It's the next day and the world hasn't blown up."

"Not necessarily," Diana shook her head, frowning. "He might know that the Pithos hasn't been opened, but for all he thinks we could be dead on top of Mount Elbrus right now."

The thought made a chill run along my spine. "As soon as we get to the Empire State Building, we can duck into a bathroom and--"

"Too crowded." Diana shook her head. "Think of all the tourists. And we need to get up to Olympus as soon as possible. We're back in America - where most monsters reside. Pandora isn't with you anymore, which means monsters are already in your scent."

"Right." I nodded solemnly. "On Olympus then. There has to be a fountain somewhere."

"Our stop," Johnny announced, standing and limping along in his fake shoes. I followed him out, and he stopped to turn to me as soon as we stepped off.

"When we were walking to Elbrus, I said I smelled a monster. I said the smell was coming from you. Was that Pandora?"

"Must've been." I agreed, and we made our way towards one of the most famous landmarks in New York. "Why?"

"Dunno. Just thinking." He shrugged, pulling his bag tighter over his shoulders. "Need help with the jar?"

I shook my head, holding it tighter to my chest. For some reason I felt I should be the only one to carry it. Of course I didn't have that luxury when I was unconscious, but I'd grown rather protective of it since. I wouldn't let it out of my sight until Zeus had it somewhere safe and sound.

~

When we got inside the lobby of the Empire State Building, my chest got tight with panic. But the onset of a claustrophobia attack ended there, Johnny promising everything would be okay. The lobby was full of people waiting to go up the elevator to the viewing gallery. I pushed past a couple of tourists to speak to the guy at the front desk.

"Olympus, please." I told him. Johnny bleated.

"She means: tickets to the six hundreth floor, please."

Without lifting an eye above the marble desk to look at us, he said "No such thing, kids. Scram."

Diana leaned haphazardly against the desk. The guy was in a blue uniform, stringy black hair hidden under a matching hat. His face was young and angry, like he had been asked this question so many times. He strummed his fingers against the marble as he looked up to see what Diana had to say.

"We need to go up to see the big guy,"

"No one sees Zeus without an appointment." He rolled his eyes. I wondered if he were anything like Charon - waiting for a tip of drachmas.

"Well, you know, we could just wait here in the lobby. With the Pithos. This Pithos," Diana pointed to the ceramic jar I was holding. "Pandora's Pithos. You know the one - open it and all the plagues are released into the world."

But he still wasn't budging.

"Not to mention," Johnny quickly added, jabbing a thumb in my direction. "Zeus is her dad. She must cause quite a powerful scent, so I'm sure the monsters'll be here in no time."

The guard turned pale, and managed a small, "Oh, that six hundreth floor."

After holding Johnny's hand tightly on the way to the top (shut up, the elevator was small), we stepped off onto Olympus.

My breath caught in my throat as I dropped Johnny's hand, fixing the Pithos in my grip. My eyes followed a white marble staircase that curled around the clouds ahead, high above Manhattan. Peaking above the tops of the clouds was the peak of a mountain covered in snow - and I shivered thinking about Elbrus where Prometheus was now chained tightly. Grasping the sides of the mountain for fear of falling to the busy streets below were numerous glittery temples. There were white marble porticos, multileveled palaces, a city of shiny white mansions that would make even the richest men shudder. Along their walls shone braisers alit with golden fire.

Roads tracked their way around the clouds, leading past open-air markets full of colourful tents towards the biggest palace of them all, strikingly beautiful against the snow. Gardens bloomed with piercing red rosebushes, olive trees, and hyacinths wrapping their way around the boarders.

There was a stone amphitheatre built vicariously on one side of the mountain. It resembled the one at camp, but was so much bigger. Statues of the gods loomed over me at every turn point. It was like a magnificently restored ancient Greek city, but more spectacular.

I turned to my friends, who didn't seem to be much interested in the decor.

"How are you not freaking out!" I cried. "It - it's beautiful. It's paradise!"

"We have an annual trip for the year round campers," Diana said, shrugging. 

"I chaperoned one year." Johnny added.

I sighed, and pushed ahead. I followed a side road towards the market where merchants offered me ambrosia-on-a-stick for an affordable price, a new sword (I stopped to inspect the daggers), and a pocket-sized statue of whatever god I so chose. I followed where my gut told me I'd find Zeus, which led me to the amphitheatre. 

Nine beautiful and elegant women were playing their instruments in perfect harmony - an orchestra I'd never before had the pleasure of witnessing. Satyrs, naiads, and minor gods and goddesses in the form of good-looking teenagers took seats to watch the concert. Several turned to watch me as I passed, carrying Pandora's Pithos in my arms.

I led my friends towards the front row, where a man in a dark blue pinstripe suit was sitting. As I watched his back and made my way closer, I spotted a magical array of clouds drifting across the blue sky that was the fabric of his coat.

"Zeus," I said, before sitting beside him. My friends took their seats in the row behind us. "I have brought you the Pithos."

He stared at me with his electrifying blue eyes, then turned his gaze to the ceramic jar in my hands.

Nymphs and satyrs and minor gods alike stood from their seats around us and moved somewhere else, like Zeus had told them to do so telepathically. It gave us privacy right in front of the stage where the nine muses continued to play their instruments.

He turned to look over his shoulder, right at Diana and Johnny. Without an exchange of words, Diana had huffed a sigh and grabbed Johnny's hand, following the nymphs to a seat a few levels higher. 

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Seeing him in a sort of dream had been one thing, but in real life - on Olympus, high above my home, listening to the sound of the most harmonious melody I'd ever heard... It was like I was meeting him for the first time.

"Y/N," Zeus nodded curtly. "You have done well." His shoulder length black hair was unruly, like he'd been running his hand through it a lot before I got here. His demeanour was as powerful as ever, the strong scent of rain wafting from him made me a little less anxious. 

"I can tell," I told him. "The zeta symbol isn't pulsing."

He frowned. I wondered why I brought it up in the first place. Was I still angry about it? Definitely. Should I anger him? Oh, gods no.

In order to resolve the conflict of that predicament, I placed the Pithos in the space between us on the seat, and moved it closer to him. He took it in his hands, inspected it, and suddenly it was gone.

"Where did you--"

"It's best if you do not know." He replied, and I nodded, looking at the nine muses. The silence was awkward. "I will not apologize for not claiming you without proving yourself - which you have done. I will locate Elpis and Pandora and thank them as well. I also plan to visit Prometheus," He smiled, amused at himself. "And, of course, punish his brother, who took the Pithos from Olympus in the first place."

I bit my lip nervously. "Don't punish Epimetheus."

"Excuse me?" He had an eyebrow raised, the angry voice I'd gotten used to coming back into play. His stern face was, for lack of better words, absolutely terrifying.

"He only took the piece of pottery because Prometheus made him. He's the Titan of Afterthought, literal stupidity. He was scared of his brother." I said slowly, watching my fathers face as I spoke. "I'm willing to bet anything that he'll never do it again."

"I would wonder if this were Pandora speaking, but I can see she has long since gone." He paused. "But because you once told me it is I who needs to prove myself to you, perhaps I will consider it. Anything else?"

"I'm sorry." He looked at me quizzically. "For the things I called you, everything I said to Aegina, hating you for a while. You can't really blame me, pleasedon'tbrandmeagain, but I'm sorry for embarrassing you like that."

He gave a curt nod, and an unexpected small chuckle. "Y/N, I really am proud of you. And tell your mother I say hello, and support her marriage to that repulsive mortal."

"Oh yeah," I agreed, grinning. "She'd love to hear that. And my dad would love to know the god of gods finds him repulsive."

"Only compared to me."

In all the time I'd know my stern-faced, scary father, I could never had imagined us toying around. Of course, the moment was short lived when he fixed his composure and dropped his smile.

"Hera won't like that you're here. In truth, if she does see you she might smite you. So perhaps it is best if--"

"If I leave," I stood, nodding, trying not to let that offend me. 

"Y/N," Zeus stopped me from retreating back to my friends. "Here," he touched my left shoulder. It felt like a million little electric charges were uncomfortably running down my arm. I pulled away, and the pulses stopped. I pulled my arm up to rub the tingly sensation away, the stopped in mid air. I could move my arm perfectly fine, and not a singly part of it hurt.

"Thank you!" I said, flexing my fingers and admiring how easily they moved. 

He nodded. I couldn't tell if the look on his face was of sadness, or if I was just misinterpreting it.

"Thank you," He replied shortly, and I wondered if he showed gratitude often. If I were the queen of the gods, I'd certainly hold myself a little higher, think I was just that little bit better than everyone else - I already knew I was right all the time (most of the time, anyway). I guess that was my dad in me. "Now, go."

~

I was surprised to find a shiny bronze-and-white chariot waiting for us. A caramel coloured pegasus was attached to the front, and eyed us coyly as we approached. For a fleeting moment I thought it must be from Zeus, but upon further inspection we found a note attached to the front of the chariot. Stepping in, we got Johnny to tell us what it said (it wasn't in ancient Greek). 

"IF YOU DID NOT CALL FOR A CHARIOT TAXI, THIS IS NOT YOURS. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THE PEGASUS CIRCLING THIS DESTINATION. YEW IS SCHEDULED TO FLY OVER OLYMPUS FOR THREE DAYS BEFORE RETURNING HOME SHOULD THE HEROES IT IS FOR NOT COME TO OLYMPUS. HOWEVER, UPON RECOGNITION, YEW WILL DECEND TO COLLECT THE HEROES AND TAKE THEM HOME EARLIER. REPEATED: IF YOU DID NOT CALL FOR A CHARIOT TAXI, THIS IS NOT YOURS. BY LAW SIX-HUNDRED-SEVENTY-THREE OF OLYMPUS AIRSPACE THIS PEGASUS IS ALLOWED TO REMAIN IN THE AIRSPACE FOR NO LONGER THAN THREE DAYS. SIGNED, CHIRON. WRITTEN BY BRANDON, WHO DOESN'T KNOW ANCIENT GREEK. SORRY."

"Chiron sent this," I grinned.

"Yeah, under the suspicion that we were dead." Diana said, noticing the suspicious lack of reins. "Yew knows where to go, so if we didn't show up he'd go back to camp - tomorrow. And then Chiron would know we were dead."

Johnny and I mirrored her, tightening the straps on our backpacks (so nobody could accidentally kick them from the floor) and placing our hands on the sides of the chariot.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be happy to find out we're not." I smiled.

"Come on, Yew!" Johnny said, then neighed, and suddenly we were flying away from Olympus, my father, and the thing that had caused so many problems for everyone.

"Guys," I said, looking out over Manhattan, smiling devilishly as we soared through the open sky. "We did it. It's officially over. Thank you for accompanying me on this quest."

They shared my smile. 

"Wouldn't have missed it for an annual volleyball game," My favourite goat-man wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Never doubted you," Diana said appreciatively. "You know, except when you spotted Amalthea in the woods and decided to follow her. Oh, and when you two wouldn't tell me Hades owed you a favour and you ran to the motel front desk. Then, of course, there was that one time on Attic when..." As we flew, we listened to Diana comfortingly point out everything she thought I'd get horribly wrong, but ended up getting one hundred percent right (told you; I'm right about most things).

Very soon, I spotted Camp Half-Blood, and a familiar rush of excitement to when I saw Olympus for the first time hit me. I grinned. Okay, now that we had taken care of business, we could officially go home.

FOREWARNING: This story is coming to a close. Perhaps the next chapter will be the last. See you there, heroes. Also, apologies that this chapter was so short (2000 as opposed to the usual 3000), but I promise the next chapter will make up for it. ^-^