Annabeth's POV

I heard the monster before I saw it, even though I was facing it's direction. Percy was blocking my view, and I stood on my tiptoes to look over his shoulder. It annoys me that he's so much taller now, but he loves it.

Percy whipped around and held his sword out in front of him. I reached for my dagger, but of course it wasn't there. I cursed and stepped to Percy's side. He gave me a funny look, like, you're going to fight without a weapon? You're insane! But I gave him a reassuring nod and he faced the monster again... but it wasn't just any old monster.

"Was two times being turned to dust by me not enough, beef brain?" Percy growled. The Minotaur huffed, snot dripping from it's slimy nose. It's eyes were bloodshot and it's lips were curled into a snarl. Definitely not a happy cow. Percy lunged forward, probably to run the Minotaur threw with his sword, but it just disappeared. Percy stumbled when there was no impact and turned around angrily.

"Why the Hades does everything keep doing that?!" he demanded.

"Percy, we have bigger problems." I ran my hands through my hair, my brain kicking into high-gear. "Now they know we've escaped. The space we're in is all open, they'll surround us before we can hide anywhere. The fighting chance is-"

"What did you two do?" Zoe interrupted me in a shrill voice.

"Where did you even come from?" Percy shouted exasperatedly. Zoe and I ignored him.

"What did we do? What did you do?" I retorted sharply.

"Well, I went and got your dagger back." She flung something at me, and fortunately (thanks to my training and quick reflexes) I caught it without being impaled. My dagger from Tartarus. I looked and Zoe and softened my expression slightly.

"Thanks," I muttered.

Zoe gave a barely-noticeable nod and asked again, "So what did you do?"

"The Minotaur came," Percy cut in. "But he vanished before I could slice-n-dice him."

"That's how they know you're here," she muttered to herself. Then she spoke to us. "The fight will be beginning soon. They've been ready this whole time, they were just..."

"Having fun?" I offered. Zoe nodded gravely. She opened her mouth to say more, but Percy stopped her.

"Speaking of a fight..." 

I followed his gaze to a horde of monsters swarming the sides of the mountain. It was pretty hard to miss.

"We need to get to Atlas. Run," Zoe ordered. But Percy and I were way ahead of her.

The three of us tore up the mountain, not looking behind us. Zoe, who was dead and didn't need to breath, was filling us in on the plan again. It was a conscious effort to not roll my eyes. She said Atlas would want us as far away from him as possible so he could pass off the sky to a fellow monster. I had asked earlier why he wouldn't want one of us to take the sky. She said that, one, he just wanted to kill us, and two, he didn't want to take the chance that we would get out like last time. I'll admit, I felt a little pride for everyone that was at the fight here last time when she told me that. But back to the plan: she was going to somehow harness all of his spirits together for good and he would remain trapped under the sky for eternity, never to bother anyone again. Yeah, right. But whatever. She said it had be her because she knew how to do it and Atlas wasn't expecting her. Valid reasons, I suppose. Zoe wanted me and Percy to each take a side of the mountain to stop all the monsters. But I have a different thought. The only problem is telling Percy without Zoe knowing.

We finally reached the top, a place I thought I wouldn't ever have to visit again. It looked remarkably the same. A shimmery form of Atlas was holding the sky on his shoulders. Just looking at the sight made me nauseous with pain. Bearing the weight of the sky was more painful than the poison dagger, broken ankle, and drinking fire-water from the River Phlegm combined. Percy, who's shoulder was leaning against mine (actually, it was more like his triceps but we're going to pretend it's not), didn't look too good either. He grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, and I did the same back.

Suddenly, Kelli and the Minotaur appeared on either side of Atlas. Well, the Atlas under the sky, anyway. Four more Atlas' sparkled into sight around us. Like, they literally sparkled. It seemed they came from the light itself. All five forms of the titan were not quite opaque, a bit translucent. Ghosts, almost.

"Well, well, well," Atlas rumbled. The sound came from all five of him, so it completely encompassed us. I shuddered.

"It's over," Percy said, even and confident.

"But it hasn't even started." Atlas' mouth curled into an evil smile. The five of him raised their hands and the sky immediately blackened. I risked a look down the mountain. California seemed to be experiencing a terrible storm. For the first time all summer, I wished Camp Jupiter wasn't in Long Island. The Mist was keeping mortals from seeing what was happening, but the Roman demigods would have noticed right away. They would be here to help us take down the army of monsters. But anyone that would be able to help was on the other side of the country, and we had no way to contact them.

Zoe looked at Percy and I and then ran off towards the center point of the sky to... well, I'm not exactly sure what, but to harness the five Atlas' together. I made eye contact with my fiancee. I knew I wouldn't have to tell him my plan; he was thinking the same thing. We would stay here, together, and fight. Wait for the monsters to come to us. This way, Percy and I could fight how we do best: back to back, shoulder to shoulder. Just how we always have. Also, I had a gut feeling Zoe would need our help eventually. 

"Together," he whispered to me. With that, he charged in the direction of the Minotaur. I turned towards Kelli.

"You must be as stupid as him-" I gestured to the Minotaur, "-if you think you can fight us again and win. Is three times a charm?" I yelled at my old enemy.

"You did not beat me lasssst time," she hissed back. She had finally ditched the girly, cheerleader voice. "You had that titan traitor assssissst you. But he issss not here, sssssweetie."

I looked up at the stars that were just barely visible in the dark and foreboding sky. I thought of Bob, with Einstein hair and wicked broom skills, and a kitten sitting on his shoulder. "Maybe not physically," I told Kelli. I wasn't really known for heartfelt speeches before I killed a monster, but Bob had affected me too greatly. "But he's always with us." With that, I surged forward.

My dagger met her nails (talons) with a shink. She swiped at me again and again, but I repeatedly dodged or deflected her strikes. I kicked her feet out from under her to gain leverage, but my plan backfired. She grabbed my arm on the way down, and her claws dug into my skin. We both hit the ground, and she flipped on top of me, pinning me down.

"I've finally got you, Annabeth Chassssssse." She grinned wickedly and raised her hand, probably to rip my eyes out or bash my head in. At the last second, I used all my strength and rolled over. Now I was the one on top.

I wasn't stupid and didn't waste time talking. Before Kelli had time to react, I plunged my dagger straight into her chest. She wailed and the wound smoked. Just as she was turning to dust, I muttered, "That was for Bob."

I was left sitting in a pile of messy-Kelli when something silver caught my eye in all the gold. My ring. I scrambled for it and brushed it off on my shirt, thinking the next chance I got, I was going to disinfect it. I slipped it onto my finger and smiled. Then I turned around to see how everyone else was doing.

Zoe was moving around in between the Atlas' too fast for me to hardly be able to see her, but I was more focused on Percy. He was riding the Minotaur. Like, sitting up on his head and riding him like a bull. All I saw was the end of the show, though, because Percy stabbed the monster in his head with Riptide. Amazingly, the blade cut right through his hide and into his skull. I guess the Minotaur has a soft spot. Percy fell to the ground as the monster burst into a cloud of dust. 

He hobbled over to me and I raced towards him. His shoulders were slumped like his back hurt and he had a nasty cut running the length of his upper arm. Luckily, it wasn't his sword arm.

"What's happened? Look at your arm," I rushed out once I was close enough to touch him. I tried to examine his wound but he brushed me off.

"I'm fine. Look at your arm." He sounded worried. 

"What...?" I started but then I looked down. The arm that Kelli had grabbed was bleeding and turning a nasty purple and green all around the punctures.

"Oh, it's alright. It doesn't really hurt," I told him. It was pretty much true. I hadn't even noticed until he said something, and the pain was only a slight sting. Probably the adrenaline. He tried to look closer but this time I brushed him off. "We need to start working on the army..." but the words died in my throat when I saw that the horde of monsters was already here.

Percy raised Riptide with determination shining in his eyes. I gripped my dagger and gritted my teeth, ready to attack. I didn't know how we could take all of them, but we didn't have to. A mix of blue, deep gray, yellow, and silver light shown all around us, nearly blinding me. When I could see again, I saw Athena, Poseidon, Apollo, and  Artemis standing in front of us.

My mother simply said, "We were never here." Poseidon winked, Apollo flashed a peace sign, and Artemis nodded. Percy and I looked away as the four gods went supernova. A sound of a thousand gunshots blared in my ears. When I risked opening my eyes again and my ears stopped ringing, every single monster was gone.

"Wow," was all Percy said.

"Wow," I agreed.

We whipped around towards Zoe and the Atlas'. But now there was only three. One of them was much more solid-looking than the other two. I guess two of the spirits had been forced into that form. I watched in amazement as Zoe zipped around, firing arrows from her bow. The arrows had a glowing rope attached to the end. I could see what she was doing: physically harnessing the spirits together.

Finally, she had two of the forms wrapped around lots of times each. She made a jerking motion with her bow, like she was tying a knot, and the spirits collided, merging into one body. When she was done with that, she turned to face me and Percy.

"I can't do it to the one holding the sky without bringing the sky down too," she shouted. Her face was desperate and apologetic. Like a slap in the face, I realized what she was asking us to do. I looked at Percy and he wore an expression that was exactly how I felt. We walked over numbly, and knelt beside Atlas underneath the sky.

"Be ready," Percy told Zoe with a thick voice. She knocked an arrow in her bow.

"Together," I whispered as Percy and I took the weight of the sky on our shoulders again.

The pain blinded me and seemed to crush every bone in my body. I wanted to make some sort of noise, but nothing came out. The only thing that I was aware of around me was Percy, who was enduring the same feeling as me. Sharing the burden with him made it easier than last time.

I have no idea how long we held the sky. I was only able to focus on the task at hand: not being crushed or dying of pain. When I felt another body find itself under the sky, I knew Percy and I could get out. Should get out. With strength that I know I didn't have left, I plowed into Percy's side. It didn't take much to knock him over and we rolled out from under weight.

The two of us lay there, gasping, spots swimming in our vision. It was hard to breathe, but the pain was gone. Percy shifted slightly and multiple joints cracked and popped.

"Don't...feel...thirteen...anymore," he muttered. I wanted to laugh, but I couldn't.

Zoe rushed over to us and bent down. "Are you two alright?"

I nodded weakly and Percy grunted.

"Good to hear, and I wish I could let you rest longer, but we have to go." She pointed beside me, and I turned my head to see what she meant. I hadn't noticed up until now, but Atlas was screaming nasty things and the sky was a dangerous purple.

"Uh, sure," I gasped and propped myself up on my elbows. My vision swam, but I kept getting up.

"Stop, I can do it," Zoe said gently and grabbed my shoulder. The next thing I knew, we were at the bottom of the mountain, inside a huge but shallow crevice. I collapsed against Percy, but I didn't pass out. We sat like that for a little while, and Zoe walked a little ways away to give us space. When we could talk normal again, we called her over.

"You two did it," she told us immediately.

"We did it," I corrected. "You harnessed the spirits."

"I couldn't have done it without your help, though." She smiled. "Thank you." I just smiled back.

"So that's it?" Percy asked. "We won? It's over?"

"Yes. It's over," Zoe answered. Percy visibly relaxed and slumped against the mountain.

"But wait," I interjected. "The whole prophecy isn't completed."

Percy looked at me unhappily and Zoe raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, really?" She said. "Which lines?

"Well, 'following the bitter scent.' We didn't follow anything."

"That's easy," Zoe told me, waving her hand like she was swatting a fly. "You didn't follow a bitter scent. The monsters and Atlas did. They can smell demigod, you know."

I thought about that, and it fit into the puzzle. But I wasn't satisfied yet. "What about 'someone from both sides will take their last breath'?"

She thought about that for a long time before responding. "What 'sides' are you thinking about?" she asked me.

"Uh, good versus evil, I suppose."

"Well, that's not what it means. You two defeated Kelli and the Minotaur on opposite sides of the mountain. Taking a last breath refers to dying, even if it's not technically a final breath for them. Therefore, someone on both sides of the mountain died. It fits." She finished proudly. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Good enough for me!" Percy exclaimed. "Let's go home."

"Sounds good to me," I agreed. "Zoe," I said, addressing the huntress. "The Hunters of Artemis are staying at Camp Halfblood right now, if you want to come with us to see them-"

"I would love to, and thank you for the offer, but I can't." She smiled at Percy and I. "I must return back to the stars."

"Thank you, Zoe. It was great to see you again," Percy told her.

"You too, Percy Jackson. And Annabeth Chase, it's been an honor to meet you for real."

"And you," I replied.

Then Zoe Nightshade turned away from us and walked out into the open. When she was still close enough to hear her, she swiveled our way and shouted, "I get the joke now, Percy. Have a dam good life." And with that, she faded into the night sky.