Oh wow. Second to last chapter already. Wow. I just realized the irony of Harry going on a quest where a possible title for the seventh book involved the word quest.

I got nothing but plot bunnies & Twigtown Tales. And remember to check out "Percy Jackson and the Sorcerer's Stone"! Please?

Edited by Mellie Erdmann.

Chapter Twenty-one: I Settle My Tab

The sun was just past its zenith on June 20th when Annabeth, Clarisse, and Harry arrived in New York City. Their trip back east had been eerily uneventful; Annabeth theorized that the gods were holding back the monsters since Harry had the master bolt in his possession. During the last leg of their journey they cleaned up and got into the clothes Miles had bought for them while they had slept since their camp clothes had gotten pretty dirty over the past week and a half. Annabeth had gotten khakis and an indigo T-shirt; Clarisse got camouflage pants and a fire red sweatshirt; and Harry got a black T-shirt and slacks.

Most of the time was spend in silence. All three were still processing what had occurred in Los Angeles: Hades was not the thief, Ares had tricked them, and there was a force trying to (further) divide the Greek gods. Clarisse looked a bit lost about her father's actions, Annabeth kept scribbling out strategies, and Harry found himself rubbing his forehead from his near-constant headache. After all he had gone through, though, Harry wasn't surprised his head hurt. His marker scar was faded now, and Harry didn't feel like redoing it.

Since Harry didn't know his way around NYC, the two girls helped him get to the Empire State Building. That involved trekking city blocks and taking the subway with some of their remaining money. Quietly the three stared up at its spire.

"So… Mount Olympus at last," went Clarisse. "I gotta say, I still love quests."

"You're insane."

"Like you're one to talk, bird brain."

"You two can go back to Camp Half-Blood now. I can go myself," Harry assured them. Clarisse slugged him in the arm, saying, "No way, Hairball. Dad might think I didn't want to show my face."

"Zeus might still blast us, but I used the bathroom last night to IM Chiron after you two went to sleep. He knows what really happened, so let's get this over."

Taking a deep breath, Harry said, "All right."

Once in the lobby, they walked up to the security guard. He was reading a book with a lion-rabbit-sheep hybrid on the cover. Politely Harry said, "Six hundredth floor, please."

After a minute the guard looked up. "No such floor, kiddo."

"We need an audience with Zeus," explained Annabeth.

"Sorry?" he commented with a vacant smile.

Clarisse narrowed her eyes, "You heard blondie."

The guard shrugged, "No appointment, no audience, kids. Lord Zeus doesn't see anyone unannounced."

"I think he's expecting us," Harry commented, tugging off his backpack. He unzipped it and pulled out the master bolt. "Ta-da."

After a moment of staring at it, the guard realized what it was and paled. "That's not…"

"Want me to prove it? I like lightning," Harry observed, reaching for the cap.

"No! No! No!" he went hastily, scrambling out of his seat. The three preteens waited as he searched his desk, the guard finally handing Harry a key card. "Make sure nobody else is in the elevator with you and inset this into the security slot."

Putting away the master bolt, Harry followed the girls into the elevator. Once he slipped the key card into the slot, it disappeared but a new button appeared. The new button was red and said 600. Harry gave the two girls a look. "One more chance to leave while you still can."

"Press the stupid button already, Hairball," Annabeth told him with a teasing grin. With a smile Harry pressed it.

As they went up, ABBA played. Nearly all of "Waterloo" had played before the elevator emitted a ding. The doors slid open and they exited. Harry's eyes widened at the sight.

They were standing on a narrow white marble walkway midair, the steps winding up a cloud further up into the sky. Far below was Manhattan. Annabeth smiled dreamily. "It's always so breath-taking. What architecture."

On top of a pile of clouds was a mountain peak covered in snow. On the mountainside were dozens of multistoried palaces all with white-columned porticos, gilded terraces, and burning bronze braziers. Roads made their tangled way up to the peak where the largest palace was. Olive trees and rosebushes bloomed in many places. There was an open-air market full of colorful tents, a stone amphitheater took up a large part of one mountainside, a race track, and a coliseum. It looked pristine and full of life.

"Enough gawking already," Clarisse interrupted impatiently. "Don't fall, Hairball, 'cause it's a long way down."

Harry bounded over the steps, enjoying the sensation of near-flight, leaving the girls behind. Everyone was busy preparing for tomorrow's celebration but all stopped to wave or stare at the passing trio. A few even whispered among themselves as the demigods went by. They climbed up the main path to the big palace in white and silver.

Annabeth noted, "It looks a lot like Hades' palace."

"I guess the gods have similar tastes," quipped Clarisse wryly.

"Very funny, Clarisse," sighed Annabeth. "Just remember they could blast us with a thought… so be polite."

They went up the steps to the central courtyard, and from there to the throne room. Harry suddenly felt very tiny. All of Privet Drive could have fit in with room to spare in the chamber, with its huge columns reaching up to a domed ceiling which showed gilded constellations.

Twelve titanic thrones were arranged in an inverted U, showing where the cabins had gotten their pattern from. Only two of the thrones were occupied: the head throne on the right and the one to its immediate left. Harry, Clarisse, and Annabeth knew who they were and approached meekly.

The two were in giant human form and nearly glowed in power as Ares had right before revealing his true form. Unlike Hades, Zeus and Poseidon wore modern clothes.

The black haired, storm grey eyed Lord of the Gods wore an indigo suit with a deep gold tie. His throne was unornamented platinum. Zeus was proud, handsome, and grim with a grey-flecked, trim beard. The air around him sparked of electricity and smelled of ozone.

The Earthshaker was clearly Zeus and Hades' brother but was far more relaxed than either of them. He was tanned with scarred hands, black hair, and sea green eyes surrounded by laugh lines. His attire was leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and an orange Hawaiian shirt with a pineapple pattern. A giant deep-sea fisherman's chair was his throne, one that could swivel and whose built-in holster for a fishing pole held a bronze trident that flickered with green light at the tips.

Although they weren't moving or speaking, the two gods had clearly been arguing before the demigods' entrance. Harry waved awkwardly. "Hello. I'm Harry Potter."

"Greetings, Harry Potter. So, brother. You still claim that boy who was in this form before Harry? You claim Perseus Jackson, sired against our sacred oath?"

"I have admitted my wrongdoing. Now let the boy speak."

"Um, can Annabeth and Clarisse help me tell the story? They were there too," requested Harry.

Zeus nodded curtly, saying, "I shall listen. Then I shall make up my mind whether or not to cast them down from Olympus."

"Address Lord Zeus and tell your story," Poseidon instructed them. So they began to recount their story, backtracking and overlapping when needed. After they finished, Harry got out the master bolt and laid the shining cylinder at Zeus' feet.

For several minutes everyone was silent, the only sound being the hearth fire's crackling. Zeus opened his palm, the lightning bolt flying into it. As his fist closed on it, its metallic points flared brightly until he held something that looked more like Harry's scar that then turned into a twenty-foot arc of brilliant energy that took Harry's breath away.

"I sense the demigods speak the truth. Yet that Ares would do such a thing… it is most unlike him."

"Well, we can be pretty impulsive and arrogant sometimes," Clarisse admitted. Poseidon agreed, "That does run in the family."

"What about the pit?" asked Annabeth. At her urging all involving the pit had been told. "What is in the pit came up with the idea, not Ares. Like Harry, Ares was used to begin a war."

Clarisse looked hopeful. "That's certainly possible."

"It was very old- perhaps even predating you," suggested Harry.

The two gods looked at one another, holding a brief, harsh discussion in ancient Greek that Harry couldn't follow. Judging from their expressions, Annabeth and Clarisse couldn't quite follow them either. Poseidon suggested something, trying to argue when Zeus tried to silence him. But Zeus held up his free hand angrily, thunder booming as he did so.

"We will not speak of this anymore." He glanced down at the master bolt. "I must go personally in order to purify this thunderbolt in the water of Lemnos, to remove the human taint from its metal."

Harry felt kind of offended by that. Zeus stood up and looked down at Harry. "You have done me a service. Few heroes could have accomplished as much, mortal."

"Annabeth and Clarisse helped," mumbled Harry, looking down at the cold floor.

"To show my thanks, I shall spare your life. But retaining a mortal link to Poseidon does not bode well for the future of Olympus. However, for the sake of peace in the family, I shall let you live."

"Thank you…?"

"Do not let me find you three here when I return. Otherwise you shall taste this and it shall be your last sensation." Thunder shook the palace, and Zeus vanished in a blinding flash of lightning.

Poseidon propped up his head with a hand. "My brother has always had a flair for dramatic entrances and exits. I still think he would've done well as the god of theater."

Clarisse hid a burst of laughter as a cough. Harry looked between the three of them. "So, what exactly is in that pit? You three know, don't you?"

"Just a suspicion," Annabeth stated quietly. Clarisse clarified, "Kronos, the king of the Titans."

Harry couldn't deny that the name put a knot in his stomach. Annabeth, Clarisse, and even Poseidon looked very nervous and uneasy. Leaning back in his throne Poseidon recounted, "In the First War, Zeus cut our father Kronos into a thousand pieces, just as Kronos had done to his own father, Ouranos. Afterwards Zeus cast Kronos' remains into the darkest pit of Tartarus. Then he had the Titan army scattered, their mountain fortress on Etna was destroyed, and their allies driven to the most distant corners of the earth."

"But Titans cannot die any more than a god can," Annabeth frowned.

Poseidon nodded somberly. "Correct. So whatever is left of Kronos is still alive in some twisted way, conscious in and of his eternal pain. Still hungering for his former power and authority."

"He's trying to return," realized Harry. "That's what this was all about, isn't it?"

"The key word is try. From time to time Kronos has indeed stirred, awakening monsters and causing nightmares in life and fantasy. Suggesting he could rise from the pit… it is unlikely."

"But he's going to do anything he can to come back," Harry argued. He was starting to feel light-headed from the pervading sense of déjà vu.

Poseidon shook his head seriously. "Lord Zeus has closed discussion on this matter. He will not allow talk of Kronos. The quest is done with- that is all you need to do."

"Very well," conceded Harry, deciding to trust the gods for the time being. They were gods, after all, and this was their world, not his. Annabeth and Clarisse just as reluctantly concurred.

"You must go before Lord Zeus returns. Enjoy the summer solstice and the summer itself," the sea god told them. Then he added, "I am sorry that you have been brought into this, Harry. This has brought a hero's fate upon you, and a hero's fate is never anything but tragic."

Harry was quiet for a minute. "I think I can live with that, Poseidon."

"Perhaps, but you shouldn't have to," Poseidon commented seriously. "Now, leave for camp. Farewell, Harry. Farewell, Clarisse. Farewell, Annabeth."

The three bowed and departed. On their way back the minor gods, naiads, and satyrs all stared at them with respect and gratitude. Clarisse whistled that song she had started to sing in the truck on their way to Los Angeles.

"Knock it off, Clarisse."

"Never, bird brain. We totally need to do this next summer."

"No, not another quest to save the world," Annabeth denied empathetically.

"Well, not necessarily to save the world. But another quest would be wicked," Clarisse grinned. "Right, Hairball?"

"Right," laughed Harry. "Okay, I'm Hairball and Annabeth is bird brain. Clarisse, you need a nickname, don't you? Sparky maybe?"

"No, no," giggled Annabeth. "One of Ares' symbols is a boar- so Miss Piggy!"

"Hi-yah!" went Clarisse, karate chopping. Then she shook her head. "No, not quite."

"Blood brat?"

"I like that one," grinned Clarisse.

"Blood brat?" went Annabeth in disbelief. Harry shrugged. "She is a daughter of war."

"All right then. You're Hairball, I'm bird brain, and she's blood brat. Gods, we're messed up."

"Have you seen our family tree? All things considered, we're pretty normal," snorted Clarisse.

Once back in Manhattan they went to Mrs. Jackson's apartment. Smelly Gabe's stuff was gone, and the apartment was much better for it. They had vanilla cake with vanilla icing (both dyed blue) for dinner, and Mrs. Jackson stayed up late with them as they retold the story of their quest.

Mrs. Jackson looked years younger without Gabe around. Early the next morning, Harry woke up to her making blueberry pancakes. She accepted his offer of scrambling the eggs as part of breakfast. As they worked side by side she told him, "You could come home at the end of summer. I'd find a school for you, you could enroll under Percy's name-"

"Mrs. Jackson, I won't live a lie," interrupted Harry. "But thank you. I- I know this must be hard on you."

She gave him a one-armed hug and kissed him on the head. Harry could not remember having ever been hugged like this before. Actually, he had a hard time remembering the time he had gotten a hug at all. "Maybe, but it's so much harder on you. And it will only get worse."

"It'll be okay," Harry told her.

"I'm going to start working on getting my degree this fall… I guess I'll just say my son is at boarding school."

Harry closed his eyes, and saw himself- his real self- sitting by a lake with four other preteens in the same strange old-fashioned uniforms. "You know, somehow I doubt that's far from the truth."

Sally smiled sadly. "I know."

After breakfast, she drove them to Camp Half-Blood, dropping them off at the base of Thalia's tree. They were back in their worn camp clothes, since they were going back to being campers instead of questers.

"Huzzah, it's the summer solstice," sighed Annabeth, looking up at the giant pine tree.

"Yeah, well, let's go get the party started then," suggested Clarisse.

Harry nodded. "I like that idea."

And together they went up the hill, back to camp.