I was a nervous wreck as I walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building, which was eerily quiet. The gold ceilings above reminded me a little too much of Kronos and his golden eyes, almost four years ago now. Piper, Jason, Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel followed me inside as well, their faces lit up with awe.
"The sixth-hundred floor, please. Mount Olympus," I told the guard, who was nodding off at his desk, phone lying on his lap.
The security dude bolted awake then jumped out of the seat when he saw a rag-tag group of six demigods standing in front of him.
"I—you—me—we—she—"The man stammered, eyeing our glistening weapons nervously. "Umm… okay…" He extended one shaking finger, pressed a button, and the metal detector shut off long enough for us to go in.
I clicked the "UP" button for the elevator. A second later it stopped with a pleasant Ding! and the doors opened, revealing the interior of a very luxurious lift. I looked around at the remaining six of the Seven and smiled. "Now who's ready for our appointment with King Thunderbritches and his group of gods?"
"Welcome, PERCY JACKSON, ANNABETH CHASE, FRANK ZHANG, HAZEL LEVESQUE, JASON GRACE, and PIPER McLEAN," said a calm woman's voice. "Please, step inside."
We did as told. The horrible elevator music played and annoyed us (seriously, Apollo?) as the elevator ascended towards the home of the gods. Ding!
The doors opened, revealing the huge, beautiful Mount Olympus. I got to say, with Annabeth on the job as "Head Architect," Olympus was looking much prettier. The black night was sprinkled with stars. Temples were scattered about, magnificent statues in front of them. Vines and vegetarian decorated the marble walkways and buildings, and we saw the throne room in the distance, lit by torches.
"Wow, Annabeth… this is just great!" I said, breaking through the awed silence. Annabeth turned red and mumbled, "It was nothing."
When we got into the throne room, the power of the gods practically roasted my mind. How did they stand this type of power? If I was given half of the power Poseidon had, I'd probably become demigod Swiss cheese. Great.
The gods were oddly silent, and the only sound was the "Moo!" from Bessie and the sound of our footsteps as we walked inside. Their eyes followed us as we walked across the throne room and knelt at the feet of Zeus.
"Rise, heroes of Olympus and Rome," Zeus boomed. "Once again, you have saved the gods from ruin, and managed to make yourselves look good in the process."
My friends and I (smartly) remained quiet at the insult, but stood up as Zeus ordered.
"And of course, because of your brave actions, blah blah blah, you get presents from the gods." Zeus said presents as if he was talking about a hydra, or Medusa's head.
Then Aphrodite smiled at me, and I knew that the present I was getting probably wasn't something, umm, let's say… nice. At all.
"Now I guess you want me to announce the presents and whatnot, so yeah." Zeus was starting to sound like Dionysus to me, with his annoyed tone and his downcast face. I wondered what could be troubling him so much.
"First up, for your bravery, Jason Grace is rewarded to title of Pontifex Maximus, between all of the—ahem—minor gods and the two camps." Polite clapping followed this, and Jason looked proud of his new title.
"Next, we have Hazel Levesque, who is awarded for trusting yourself and putting sacrifice over friendship. She will receive Elysium, along with her mother and her boyfriend—er, ex-boyfriend-Sammy Valdez." More polite clapping. Hazel looked like she was going to cry. I noticed Frank did not look very happy. Hmm, I wonder why.
"Frank Zhang," Zeus boomed, and Frank immediately dropped his face to a neutral expression. "For your outstanding trust and loyalty, you will be awarded a new bow, complete with—"
"Personal lessons from me, some enchanted arrows, and—oh! Did Zeus mention the bow was handmade by me and has my signature on it?" Apollo asked, tipping his sunglasses in a way that could be considered cool if you didn't know how much of a show-off he was (I did.)
Zeus glared him into silence. "Piper McClean, for you voice and gut instinct, I grant you permission for you to revoke the memory wiping potion—that is, if you want. And of course, you get a new Cornucopia—Ares does not like fresh fruit." Wait a moment. Did Zeus just attempt to joke? I looked over at Annabeth to see if I heard correctly.
"After that, Annabeth Chase, for your cunningness and guidance, you are now in charge of both redesigning Camp Jupiter and Camp Half Blood, both of which are heavily damaged after the war." I squeezed Annabeth's hand, and she smiled at me, eyes shining.
"And last but certainly not least, Percy Jackson." The room suddenly went silent. I looked around at the gods. Poseidon looked uncomfortable. Aphrodite smiled in her un-evil evil way. Athena was staring at Annabeth, who was smiling at me. "Percy Jackson, remember before all of this with Gaea? Remember when you defeated Kronos, and we gave you one wish? And this wish was anything you want, even… even a place amongst us?"
I suddenly realized I should answer. "Yes, sir." My gut suddenly felt clammy, my throat was dry.
Zeus continued, "But you refused. Something mortals only dream about, you refused. And we gods did not take this lightly, no we did not." The room was eerie silent. Annabeth's smile was gone and she was clutching my arm like I was a life raft and she was drowning. "This time, I give you the same gift.. You become a god. One of us."
I began to reject the offer, but the lord of the gods held up his hand to shush me. "This is not a choice, Percy Jackson. You must become a god, whether you like it or not."
And suddenly, my stomach left me behind. My knees felt like Jell-O. I was lightheaded and dizzy. "No…" I heard someone murmur, but I wasn't completely sure it was me.
"What? No! You can't—you can't—"sputtered Annabeth quietly, her face pale. "You took away Seaweed Brain away from me once before. Never again, never again, never again!" She yelled, her voice rising. "Mother! You agreed to this?"
Athena stared at her daughter. "It is for the best."
"Then it is decided." Zeus said. "You are dismissed. All of you."
