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... 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 a consequence.

"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.

...Annabeth 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.

... 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 gazed 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.

...didn't realize we were holding each other until she 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.

... 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.

... polished metal doors hanging in space, 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.

... "This will be the end of Olympus." 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 Magnus 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.

...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.

...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.

...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.

... "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.

..."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.

... 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.

...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...

..."I survive all those battles," she growled, "and I get defeated by a 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.

..."I don't suppose you mean away," ..."I was afraid of that," he sighed behind 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.

...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.

... "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.

Bessie was wisely not making a sound, but Kronos noticed him soon.

"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.

 ...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.

...Annabeth made a painful sound, 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.

... "Is that the choice you will make? To fight me and die instead of bowing?"

"I must have a better track record than most on the prophecies thing," 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, but you don't have his skill."...Backbiter in hand.

"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.

...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.

... 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.

...Ethan tried to come at my other side, Annabeth intercepted. They fought, 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!

... 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.

... 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.

..."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.

...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.

... Annabeth flew, 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.

...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 an urgent tune...roots crept up from the cracks of the marble.

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.

...You know Jackson's weak spot. 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.

..."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.

... Kronos tried to get up, but stumbled. 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.

... Ethan fell back, grasping his stomach. A shard of his own blade had 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?

..."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.

...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.

... 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?

He pointed to the hearth, and the coals glowed...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 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.

... 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.

...Typhon's skin resembled a meatloaf sandwich that had been in a locker all year.

"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.

...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.

... a conch horn sounded. 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!

...a chariot 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.

... 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.

...Tyson, as big as any of his cousins, and 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.

... The sheer weight of the Cyclops battalion began to weigh Typhon down. ...

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 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.

...Grover—brave, stupid satyr 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.

... Don't ask me where Annabeth 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.

..."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.

... 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.

..."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.

...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.

...Annabeth lost her balance. 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 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.

...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.

...Luke 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.

..."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.

... 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.

... 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.

...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.

...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.

...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.

...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.

... 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.

...exposing 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.

...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. Everyone in that room had been thrown off their feet at least once.

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

..."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.

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

"Oh, is that what he was doing this whole time? I always knew overachievers 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.

..."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.

...The world was collapsing, and the only thing that mattered 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.

..."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, 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.

..."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

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 would have 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.

*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.

**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, seventeen 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 canon, changing it between series and sometimes books. You can imagine Luke at 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.