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MORTALS SCREAMED AND RAN FOR COVER. nico slashed and hacked, trying toprotect them as best as he could. demeter waved her hand and an entire column of giants became a wheat field. persephone changed the dracaenae's spears into sunflowers. paul and sally ran toward them, dodging all, but there was nothing anyone could do to help them.

"nakamura," kronos said. "attend me. giants -— deal with them."
he pointed at the demigods. then he ducked into the lobby.

percy took care of the first hyperborean, stabbing riptide into his backside after which he shattered into a pile of ice shards. the second giant came at annabeth with frost breath, but andromeda shot a fireball at him which burned him from the inside.

"paul?" percy said in amazement.

he turned and grinned. "i hope that was a monster i just killed. i was a shakespearian actor in college! picked up a little swordplay!"

andromeda stabbed another giant in the gut as it approached them. "you like shakespeare?"

paul didn't get to answer, as percy called sally urgently. "mom!"

she whirled around from the back of a police car, a giant towered over her. andromeda formed a shield around her, but it wasn't needed. because the bullet from the shotgun blew the giant twenty feet backward, right into nico's sword.

"nice one," paul said.

"when did you learn to fire a shotgun?" percy demanded.

sally blew the hair out of her face. "about two seconds ago. percy, we'll be fine. go!"

"yes," nico agreed, "we'll handle the army. you have to get kronos!"

"come on, seaweed brain!" annabeth said.

percy nodded.

andromeda tugged at his hand, looking at the rubble pile on the side of the building under which chiron still layed.

"mrs. o'leary," percy said. "please, chiron's under there. if anyone can dig him out, you can. find him! help him!"

she heeded while the other four raced for the elevators.

the bridge to olympus was dissolving. they stepped out of the elevator onto the white marble walkway, and immediately, cracks appeared.

"jump!" grover said, easily covering the distance.

"gods i hate heights," thalia frowned ditastefully.

andromeda inhaled in preparation, and using her powers, she made a semi-solid platform for them to walk over and cross.

"keep moving!" she encouraged. "one at a time, it's not too strong."

thalia crossed the threshold swiftly, and annabeth followed suit. percy caught andromeda's hand and they ran to the other side. they repeated the process anytime they needed to cross a falling bridge, finally making it to the edge of the mountain.

the elevator was now completely out of reach -— a polished set of metal doors hanging in space, attached to nothing, six hundred stories above manhattan.

"we're marooned," annabeth noted. "on our own."

"blah-ha-ha!" grover bleated. "the connection between olympus and america is dissolving. if it fails —"

"the gods won't move on to another country this time," thalia frowned. "this will be the end of olympus. the final end."

they ran through streets. mansions burned. statues were hacked down. trees were blasted to splinters.

"kronos's scythe," percy deduced.

they followed the winding path toward the palace of the gods. the whole mountaintop was in ruins — beautiful buildings and gardens gone. what remained of the few minor gods and nature spirits who tried to stop kronos was shattered armor, ripped clothing, stray weapons, amputated body parts.

the magic that hung in the city was not radiating anymore. the ancient whimsical powerful magic that it once harboured had now dissipated, washed away in the winds. the aura of the nature spirits, the magic of the nine muses, the enchantment in every street had been destroyed. reduced to rubble.

the magic hadn't dissapeared, only its form had changed. once it was open and bold and bright. now it was buried beneath broken architecture and flittered in the air as deaths and sorrow. it was looming over the city like a threat waiting to descend. a calamity waiting to happen. this magic was a restraint, a drawback. it was dark.

magic comes from emotion. hecate had said. this twisted, dark magic had to be coming from desparity and hopelessness, anger and anguish, misery and melancholia. none of which should be felt on olympus.

somewhere ahead, kronos's voice roared: "brick by brick! that was my promise. tear it down brick by brick!"

a white marble temple with a gold dome exploded. the dome shot up and shattered, raining rubble over the city. andromeda felt its magic flit away into the air, changing form as it left.

"that was a shrine to artemis," thalia grumbled. "he'll pay for that."

they were under the marble archway with the huge statues of zeus and hera (one that andromeda scowled distastefully at) when the entire mountain groaned, rocking sideways.

"look out!" grover yelped. the archway crumbled. andromeda looked up in time to see a twenty-ton scowling hera topple over. her and percy would've been flattened, but thalia shoved them from behind, landing them just out of danger.

"thalia!" annabeth cried.

when the dust cleared and the mountain stopped rocking, they found her still alive, but pinned under the statue.

they tried desperately to move it, even with magic, but it weighed too much. they tried pulling thalia out from under it, but she yelled in pain.

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

"it's hera," andromeda sighed in guilt. "she's had it in for me and annabeth 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. ho!"

nobody want to, but kronos's laughter echoed from the hall of the gods. more buildings exploded.

"we'll be back," percy 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 don't suppose you mean away," grover murmured hopefully.

percy sprinted toward the palace, andromeda's hand in his. annabeth followed.

"i was afraid of that," grover sighed, and clip-clopped behind.

the grand doors of the palace had been ripped off their hinges and smashed like aluminum foil. they 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, taking it all in. his laughter echoed through the empty room.

"finally!" he bellowed. "the olympian council — so proud and mighty. which seat of power shall i destroy first?"

ethan stood to one side, trying to stay out of the way. the hearth was just a few coals glowing deep in the ashes. hestia was nowhere to be seen. bessie swam in his water sphere in the far corner of the room, utterly silent.

the four stepped forward into the torchlight. ethan noticed first.

"my lord," he warned.

kronos turned and smiled through luke's face. and it hurt her to see him like this. this was a person she once considered a brother. but right now, she wanted to gouge out those fucking golden eyes of his and melt them till they were a part of all that magic he was erasing from this city.

"shall i destroy you first, jackson?" kronos asked. "or does the savior wish to start off? is that the choice hero will make? to fight me and die instead of bowing down? and will the savior kill you for it? she will be easy to overpower. prophecies never end well, you know."

"luke would fight with a sword," percy said, squeezing andromeda's hand in his. "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.

annabeth gasped like she'd suddenly had an idea. "percy, the blade!" she unsheathed her knife. "the hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."

andromeda looked at her like really? right now? but the way annabeth was looking at her made her think there was more than what she understood in that statement. but then kronos raised his sword.

"wait!" annabeth yelled.

kronos came at him like a whirlwind.

andromeda conjured a shield in front instinctively, her hand leaving percy's to unlock the full power of it.

kronos laughed. "two to one? this will satisfy my victory even more!"

and then he fought, and andromeda and percy dodged and fought. the former taking care of the first, and the latter dealing with the second. more than kronos, ethan was a problem. trying to get one side of them, until annabeth intercepted him. they fought, but she couldn't tell how. the vague sound of grover playing his reed pipes filled her with warmth and courage — thoughts of the night sky, a deep sea and a calm life, somewhere far away from the war.

kronos backed her up against the throne of hephaestus — a huge mechanical seat. he slashed, and she managed to jump straight up onto the seat. percy busied him from behind, and the throne whirred and hummed. defense mode, it warned. defense mode.

andromeda jumped straight over kronos's head and shielded them as the throne shot tendrils of electricity in all directions. one hit kronos in the face, arcing down his body and up his sword. he crumpled to his knees and dropped backbiter.

annabeth kicked ethan out of the way and charged kronos. "luke, listen!"

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

"no!" andromeda screamed. she raced to her friend, but ethan stood between.

andromeda turned to percy, jerking her head to ethan. he gave her a silent nod.

she faced ethan with her spear drawn.

"didn't i already win one against you?" ethan asked.

"well, i'm about to make it even unless you step out of my fucking way." she warned.

ethan glared, stubborn. and andromeda charged at him.

she had flashbacks of the underworld, parrying ethan until both of them were exhausted. he was good at offense, but defense was her strongest suit, and they both fought for a long time. this time, andromeda didn't aim to win, she aimed to get ethan out of the way to reach annabeth.

"you can't win with kronos, ethan." she told him, their blades clanging together. "he will betray as soon as your use is over."

"he said i would save them," ethan insisted, parrying. "and i will not let him down."

andromeda dodged his blow. "he intended to make you the savior. your mother is nemesis. in his eyes, a minor god. he was setting you up to take the savior's prophecy, after which he would kill you."

ethan's eye shifted. "you're lying."

andromeda assumed her stance, ready to tackle incase he attacked. "why do you think i took up the savior's prophecy?"

"your loyalty to the gods!" ethan put up his sword, but he didn't attack.

andromeda shook her head. "fuck the gods. i hate the gods. i didn't do it for the gods. i did it to save all who would lose their lives to this pathetic cause. because one life lost is better than many. your life was one of the ones that i thought of saving."

ethan's eye clouded. his focus shifted. and in that moment of confusion, andromeda ran to annabeth.

she cleared the dust from her face, sat her up against the wall. she could vaguely hear percy talking to ethan and kronos in the background. she breathed heavily as she hoped that annabeth was too. she could hear annabeth's heart beat, but her eyes remained closed. grover neared the pair, playing a tune of urgency and nostalgia.

she turned to the battle behind, just in time to see ethan charge. . .at kronos.

he was on his knees, and ethan brought down his sword on his 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.

kronos rose unsteadily, towering over his servant. "treason,"

grover's music kept playing, and grass grew around ethan's body. he mumbled something.

kronos stomped his foot, and the floor ruptured around ethan. 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."

andromeda's vision clouded with tears of anger and desperation. she took annabeth's hand, holding it tight in her own and sobbing out phrases of encouragement to wake up while grover fed her ambrosia. after seeing silena, she felt like she was constantly at the brink of emotional breakdown. and annabeth would be her last straw.

"please, annabeth. please," she muttered rocking back and forth over the body of her friend. the tears fell on her clothes and skin, moistening them with sadness and the intensity of pleas.

magic comes from emotion. a little corner of her brain whispered. and she understood immediately what it meant. she didn't know if it would work, but she was desperate.

so she pushed all her emotions outward. the pleas to annabeth, the sadness of silena, the rage at luke. she directed it all out. she could only hope she was projecting it as healing magic or something. her fingertips buzzed, her mind cleared. her senses opened up.

she opened her eyes, and met annabeth's gray ones. she sighed with relief.

"you're tingling with magic," annabeth noted.

andromeda looked over herself, and it really felt like she was. she itched to do something. to focus all this energy somewhere. she looked behind, and the battle had stopped. but there was an image in the hearth fire.

nico and the others, down on fifth avenue, fighting a hopeless battle, ringed in enemies. hades fighting from his black chariot, summoning wave after wave of zombies out of the ground at the endless titan's army. mortals, now fully awake, running in terror, cars swerving and crashing. a column of storm approaching the hudson river, moving rapidly over the jersey shore. chariots circling it, locked in combat with the creature in the cloud. lightning flashing, arrows of gold and silver streaking into the cloud.

"the olympians are giving their final effort." kronos laughed. "how pathetic."

a thunderbolt from his chariot shot from a chariot and his the coloumn. the blast lit up the world. the shock carried all the way to olympus. but typhon still stood, only staggering a bit, with a smoking crater on top of his head. he roared in anger and advanced into the hudson river and sank to midcalf.

the suddenly, a conch horn sounded from the smoky picture. the call of the ocean.

the call of poseidon.

all around typhon, the hudson river erupted, churning with forty-foot waves. out of the water burst a new chariot, pulled by massive hippocampi, swimming in air as easily as in water. poseidon, glowing with a blue aura of power, a tan and a black beatd, rode a defiant circle around the giant's legs. as he swung his trident, the river responded, making a funnel cloud around the monster.

"no!" kronos bellowed after a moment of stunned silence. "no!"

"now, my brethren!" poseidon's voice echoed. "strike for olympus!"

warriors burst out of the river, riding the waves on huge sharks, dragons and sea horses. it was a legion of cyclopes, and leading them was. . .

"tyson!"

he'd magically grown in size to be thirty feet tall, as big as any of his older cousins, in full battle armor. riding behind him was briares, the hundred-handed one.

all the cyclopes held huge lengths of black iron chains with grappling hooks at the ends. they swung them 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 weighed him down. poseidon threw his trident and impaled the monster in the throat. golden blood, immortal ichor, spewed from the wound. the trident flew back to poseidon's hand.

the other gods struck with renewed force. someone stabbed typhon in the nose. a dozen silver arrows hit his eye. a blazing volley of arrows set the monster's loincloth on fire. and lightning pounded the giant. finally, slowly, the water rose, wrapping him like a cocoon, and he began to sink under the weight of the chains. typhon bellowed in agony, thrashing, making waves slosh the jersey shore, soaking five-story buildings and splashing over the george washington bridge -— but down he went as poseidon opened a tunnel for him at the bottom of the river — one that would take him straight to tartarus. the giant's head went under in a seething whirlpool, and he was gone.

kronos screamed. he slashed his sword through the smoke, tearing the image to shreds.

"they're on their way," percy finalized. "you've lost."

"i haven't even started."

he advanced with blinding speed. but andromeda was itching to use all that magic somewhere, and just as she thought of being in front of percy, she blinked and there she was. faced by kronos in the matter of seconds, without her weapons.

she pushed forward her hand, and he stumbled back, then she encased percy in a dome of a shield. and she faced him alone.

"hecate," kronos spat. "that traitor. let's see if her backstabbing pays off."

andromeda only scowled at him. she dodged every strike of his, teleporting to any side in his surrounding. she parried with magic, the force of exertion, or a simple fire, or even just levitation. all while keeping her shield encasing percy intact. she felt unstoppable. like she could truly defeat kronos with keeping this up. the magic fumes of the city powered her in a way she never could have imagined. she did things without having to think of them twice, without any struggle she picked up all the rubble around them and sent it at kronos, all the blades of the fallen demigods to pierce his skin. all that power at the tips of her fingers was the sweetest sensation she had ever felt.

she closed her hand in a fist, and the titan lord fell to his knees, clutching his chest. she could almost feel the delicate beat in her hands. a soft thump thump thump. it baffled her how easy he would be to beat if she just. . .

she tightened her fist. and kronos choked, trying to breathe.

she crouched down before him, eager to see his soul leave his damned golden eyes.

"am i easy to overpower, my lord?" she spoke low, yet clear.

kronos looked at her with an expression of malicious intent through his golden eyes, and she tightened her grasp on his heart. he cried out in pain, clutching his chest so tightly, it would draw out blood if he didn't have the achilles curse.

"stop!" annabeth came up.

andromeda didn't want to stop. she wanted to feel his heartbeat go out in her hand. she wanted to take her sweet time malfunctioning his heart. she wanted to see just how much time the lord of time could buy.

"andromeda!" she heard someone call.

she turned, and saw percy, hands pressed to her shield. with a flick of her finger, she deactivated it. and he came over to them.

"luke is in there," annabeth said to her. "i have to talk to him."

knowing annabeth, she probably had a plan.

"luke castellan is dead!" kronos insisted, still clutching his ribs. "his body will burn away as i assume my true form!"

andromeda seized control of his body, only giving him to liberty to hear, since annabeth wanted to talk.

"your mother," annabeth looked into his eyes. "she saw your fate. the prophecy: she saw what you would do. it applies to you!"

kronos's eyes flickered between blue and golden.

"luke. . ." annabeth trailed off. "you're holding kronos back even now, you can take control. i know you're in there."

his head struggled to remain straight, the flickering colours of the eyes drove andromeda dizzy, and she could feel the control slowly slipping out of her grasp, but she held on.

"family, luke." annabeth croaked. "you promised."

kronos shut his eyes painfully. and when he opened them again, they were twinkling blue.

"promise." he mumbled. then he gasped like he couldn't get air. "annabeth. . .andromeda. . .you're bleeding. . ."

it was his voice. luke's voice. and gods did it feel good to hear it again. not a threat or a sneer or a jab. just luke. this was just luke talking. and she underestimated just how much she missed it.

annabeth's eyes were clouded with tears. still, she picked up her knife, and she gave it to percy. "it has to be your choice."

grover, although with a shaky hand, bravely knocked backbiter out of luke's hand, and it spun into the hearth.

"luke. . ." andromeda trailed off, hearing the shiver in her own voice.

he reached out to her, but percy put himself between them. "don't touch her,"

anger rippled across his face. kronos's voice growled: "jackson . . ."

his figure glowed, golden hues spreading across his body.

he gasped again. and luke's voice returned. "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.

andromeda tried to seize control of him, but the power had subsided in her. she could feel the hole it had left. she tried to stop him with her spear, but he pushed her aside, and she landed against poseidon's throne, her shoulder wound searing with pain again. a gash erupted on her shin, soaking her pants in blood.

she blinked away the pain and saw kronos grasping his sword. then he bellowed and dropped it. his hands were smoking and sinched. the hearth fire had grown red-hot, she saw an image of hestia flickering in the ashes, frowning at kronos with disapproval.

luke turned and collapsed, clutching his ruined hands. "please, percy. . ."

she struggled to her feet, walking to him, ignoring the painful throbbing of her new wound as percy advanced forward to kill him.

luke 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."

his glow brightened, his skin smoked.

percy raised the knife to strike. then he looked at her, like he was finally realizing something.

"please," luke groaned. "no time."

percy gave the knife to luke.

grover yelped. "percy? are you. . .um. . ."

he didn't finish.

luke grasped the hilt. he unlatched the side straps of his armor, exposing a small bit of his skin just under his left arm, and drew the knife closer to it.

but then his eyes glowed as golden as his skin, and his mouth stretched into a smile.

"no!" annabeth cried.

kronos turned to face them with a smile, his resurrection nearly complete.

"the hero's soul the cursed blade shall reap," he looked at the knife, then at percy.

andromeda, whether in the pursuit of saving percy, or remembering her role as the savior, hooked a leg under his and pulled. he fell to the ground, the shock made his control loosen on both his body and his conscience.

andromeda grabbed the knife from luke, and she stabbed him in his achilles spot.

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ummm surprise??