Chapter Twenty Five

Endgame

This was the craziest thing I'd ever done. I had no armour, no backup, no water and I was facing one formidable foe and one completely indestructible one. One or the other would be bad enough and I knew in my heart I had no chance of victory. Luke had the curse of Achilles, rendering him impervious to injury and I didn't have any such advantages, but I had to try. The prophecy may be dead or dying, but if I killed Luke here then the prophecy would be irrelevant, but first I had to get through the bull man in his tighty-whities.

"Come on then you ugly bastard, I beat you when I was twelve!" I screamed sprinting at him. He sprinted at me, bellowing loudly. He swung at me with his meaty left fist, with a punch that would have taken my head clean off if it had connected. It didn't. I rolled to his right and slashed Riptide at his right thigh, only to find my sword jammed stiff and wrenched from my grasp. A sudden backhand from the beast threw be backwards into the side of the van, buckling its side inwards. I slid to the floor, knowing instantly that I had broken ribs and a concussion. I looked up at the Minotaur, to see him holding my sword by its blade in his hand. He was wearing celestial bronze gauntlets! No wonder he could grab my sword, and his strength was far superior to mine.

Luke walked up clapping slowly.

"Even monsters can learn, Jackson." He sneered. "Do it Beast!" He ordered the Minotaur.

I watched in horror as he held my sword from both ends, and with a mighty bellow, head butted its flat side. With a crack of power, Riptide split into two pieces and was unceremoniously dumped on the floor, where it transformed itself into a broken ballpoint pen. I tried to stand up, only to receive a punch in my face for my trouble. I saw stars as I felt my nose break in a shower of blood. I fell back to the floor where the Minotaur proceeded to stomp on my ankle. I heard the crack and knew I was finished. Luke walked up to me and held out his sword Backbiter.

"Any last requests Jackson?"

I spat a gob of blood onto his shoe. He angrily recoiled and then thrust his sword into my shoulder. I screamed as the sword, both magical and mortal burnt its way through my flesh. In desperation, I madly searched for any water in the area and could only find the radiator in the truck. In my agony I ripped the radiator through the side of the cab and straight into Luke's head, knocking him clean across the car park. The Minotaur bellowed loudly lifting his hoof up to mash my head flat, before his head vanished in a ball of fire, followed by the rest of him. I looked up in astonishment as the smoke cleared.

Charles Beckendorf. Holding a huge bronze sledgehammer.

"Never leave home without it. Shit Percy, you're a mess." I said looking concerned.

"Luge or Kwonos is ower there, gud me do wader!" I said through my bloody broken nose. Charles nodded and put his hammer away, and picked me up with Backbiter which was still stuck through my shoulder. He ran to the strip and towards the Bellagio, where he unceremoniously dumped me into the famous fountain pool.

The sword shot out of my shoulder and I could feel the pain dissipate and my body start to knit back together. My ankle clicked back into place and I stood up and picked up Luke's sword. I noticed with grim amusement that my pen, even when broken returned to my pocket. I saw Luke heading our way, and stop. He mouthed the words 'Next time Jackson' and disappeared in a blur.

"Why did he leave?" Beckendorf asked.

"Invulnerable or not, he's not going to take both of us on, when I have his sword and am standing in water. He chooses his battles wisely."

"We need to take out that ship of his." Beckendorf stated.

"The Princess Andromeda? It might help.

"I'll think of something. What are you here for anyway Percy?"

"You, Charlie, the Gods need us at Olympus, can you come?" I asked

"Sure! I'll Iris message my mom! Is it about the quest? How do we get back?

"Yes it's about the quest, and we get back via hellhound air." I told him. "I'm afraid you may have to give up the dragon and Bunker 9, it's not for our use, by godly decree."

Beckendorf looked crestfallen. "I've just adapted the dragon's control disk to connect to my thoughts and I was gonna put the wings back on!"

"Sorry Charlie, no choice." I commiserated.

He shrugged and we walked off to find Mrs O'Leary who was conveniently where I left her. I stuck Backbiter down a storm drain and climbed on with Charles.

"Camp Half-Blood forest please. Hold on Charlie and don't puke on me."

We appeared in the forest, to find Grover waiting for us.

"Perrrcy!" he shouted, slapping me on the back. I winced in pain. I needed some nectar.

"G-Man! Not so hard! Been looking for you."

"Leneus told me, I saw Nico too. I knew you'd be back soon."

"Well we have to go to Olympus, Me, You, Charlie, Annabeth and Thalia. And we have to take Laelaps."

"I know Percy, I've seen Annabeth and Mr D, and they've already taken Laelaps."

"Well, that helps I suppose." I shrugged. "Let's go find the others."

"By the way Grover, I found some unclaimed demigods out west. In Vegas"

"Yeah? We don't normally go far west, too dangerous, but I can get Gleeson Hedge to have a look. The mad goat has no fear whatsoever. Who are they?"

"They were at a wilderness school and their names were Leo Valdez and Piper Maclean. That's all I know. Potential Hephaestus and Aphrodite kids by their talents."

"That should be enough to find them. I'll get Hedge on it, cheers Percy!"

The three of us wandered down to the Big House, and we found Mr D and Hermes waiting with Thalia and Annabeth.

"Percy! What happened?" Annabeth ran to me but stopped short. I had forgotten I was injured and covered in blood. I told them the story, and gave Hermes my broken pen-sword. Annabeth gave Charlie a big hug, and got me some nectar and Ambrosia.

"I'm sure Hephaestus can fix your sword, Percy. In fact he must, it's a crucial chess piece." Hermes told me.

"What else is going on?" I ask.

"We know a few more things." Dionysus answered. "Charles Beckendorf, We needed you here because you went on the recent quest, but looking into the prophecies a bit we have discovered that you play little part in it, and can go. You can even keep the dragon, but we must remove your knowledge of Bunker 9 and the recent quest.

"Do I have a choice?" He asked.

"No."

"Do it then."

"Drink this wine, and go to your cabin. You won't remember this in the morning." Dionysus handed him a glass of wine. Charlie drank it with a pinched look on his face and said his goodbyes.

"Grover, we need to do a minor memory intervention with you too, we can use nature magic and your memories of the quest will fade. Apollo gave me this to give you." Dionysus said as he handed a piece of paper to Grover. "Go to a remote part of the forest and play this tune on your reed pipes."

Grover nodded sagely and took his leave. "See you soon Percy!"

"You three were more important to the prophecy and were changed more by the quest, you will need to come to Olympus for some retraining." We nodded. We knew that already.

"Did you catch Aphrodite?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes. Yes we did." Hermes said without looking at us. "Shall we go see?"

The god transported us straight to Olympus and into what could only be Hephaestus Temple. Or giant factory is how I would have described it. Boeing's airliner factory in Seattle, the biggest in the world, would have seemed like a small office in this place. Hephaestus, like Hermes also had a mock throne room and in the middle of this one was a giant bronze cage containing one beautiful looking woman. Aphrodite.

"Here, drink this, you three." Hermes gave us all a potion. "It will prevent love magic being used on you." We drank greedily. I didn't want her to manipulate me ever again.

Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Hephaestus and Dionysus were already sat on their thrones, Hermes came in with us and sat us on chairs at the end of the U-shape the thrones were in, before taking his own throne. Athena spoke first.

"Aphrodite, you have been charged with treason against the Gods, how do you plead?"

"Guilty darlings, how could I deny it?"

"You admit it?"

"Yes, why not, you already know."

"You wanted to change the great prophecy?" Apollo asked.

"No I wanted to change to a new great prophecy." Aphrodite responded.

"There is no new great prophecy!" Apollo thundered.

"Not to the Gods, maybe, but those lovely Titans have one too you know."

"How do you know of this?"

"Prometheus, came to me with a very interesting proposal, he's a lovely deity by the way. Anyway his proposal was that a child of mortal children of Poseidon and Athena, born on the day of reckoning, will be the catalyst for the end of the big three Gods, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. The Titans would fill the power vacuum, with us having no chance against their full might. If we co-operated, we could keep our realms under the oversight of the Titans, and the child will grow up to be a God of desire and my natural partner. With Kronos resurrected and Typhon on his way, I thought this would be the best option for us. We've been dominated by the big three for far too long!"

"You know we won't let that happen." Apollo snarled angrily.

"Yes. It can't happen now, it had to be done without the God's knowledge." Aphrodite stated, with no shame whatsoever." I can however help get the great prophecy back on track."

"How so?" Hermes enquired.

"Thalia Grace for instance, I can remove her love of boys and recalibrate her memory to fit this whole saga in with a Hunter Quest. She will have no recall of her interactions with Percy Jackson, she will be a psychological virgin, even if she isn't a physical one. The prime requisite for a cross legged frigid girl like Artemis like to hang around with.

"Do it! Do it now! Thalia cried.

"I can't my dear, you have had one of Hermes twenty-four hour potions." You'll just have to wait."

"What do you want out of all this, Aphrodite?" Asked Athena.

"What can you do to me really? You can't kill me, and you can't imprison me forever, Zeus, Hera and Ares won't hear of it." You will just have to let me be, I'll accept you will keep a closer eye on me, but Gods will be Gods. I'll assist to get the prophecy back on track, and no one needs to know any more."

Annabeth was hugging Thalia who was in tears. Artemis came over and took her from Annabeth.

"Do you renounce boys, Thalia?" She asked.

"Yes! Yes I do!" Please take me back! She cried. Annabeth was in tears watching her friend in such anguish.

"Come with me, Thalia, and we will cleanse your soul and your mind, and take this burden from you."

"Thank you! My lady, Thank you! She cried as she followed Artemis out of the room without a backward glance. I was starting to get worried. There was a pattern forming here.

"Now you two are the real difficulty." Athena told us.

"There is a possible prophecy that says your child will be the destruction of the big three. If Zeus, Hades or even Poseidon discover this, they won't hesitate to kill Annabeth and her child."

I was shocked, and Annabeth collapsed to her knees.

"Poseidon would kill his own grandson?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Gods are not human Percy, they will snuff their kids out in a microsecond if there is any risk to themselves. Your father is no different. I am no different." Athena told us with no remorse whatsoever.

"Apollo? It's your turn. Athena walked away.

"Annabeth Chase, I'm very sorry to tell you this, but you can under no circumstances take that child to term." Apollo told her gently.

"I-I don't want an Abortion, I don't believe in them!" She said barely able to speak now.

"No, we don't do that here, but we can take the new life away from your body and raise it here with the gods. First we will delay any birth to prevent any dangerous prophecies from occurring, and then we give your child a godly birth and bring them up here, or in some other safe place."

"That's even worse!" Annabeth cried. "Taking my child away from me and raising it without me! How will I be able to function knowing my child is out there somewhere and doesn't even know its parents! That's just cruel!

"It's not cruel Annabeth because you will never know of it." Apollo looked down. The first time I'd seen a god look upset.

Annabeth just knelt there with her mouth open, and It took a few seconds to register in my brain what that statement meant. They were going to make us forget. Make us forget everything. Our adventures together, our love for each other, carefully honed by a love goddess, was at its peak. We were partners, lovers, complete soul mates, and future parents, and they were going to take it all away from us. Everything that made us who we were right now was being taken. I felt like an adult being kicked back to childhood. It was too much, and the tears started flowing as Annabeth looked me in the eyes. She has clearly thought the same thoughts as me and was taking the news just as badly.

"You will remember nothing after and including the Rachael Dare incident. Suitable back stories will be made up for you. It's the only way to save you lives, your child's life and the great prophecy."

I looked at Aphrodite with hatred.

"Don't hate me son of Poseidon, I have given you love as pure as anyone, and you won't remember the pain. I assure you the pair of you will find a different path to love. The second great prophecy, which you initiated, has said so."

"You have until morning together." Apollo announced and clapped his hands.

We found ourselves in what seemed like a five star apartment. We both sat on the bed, too numb to talk. I leaned over and wrapped my arms around her. She looked me in the eyes and kissed me gently on the lips, and for a brief second we shared our mutual anguish with each other.

"They're going to do it." She whispered. "They're killing our love."

"Yes."

"There's no other option is there?"

"No."

"There's no light at the end of the tunnel."

"Only the thought of going through the anguish of trying to go out with you again." I joked. She smiled briefly.

"Do you think we will end up together?"

"I have no doubt whatsoever. If Rachael doesn't get in the way." I said

"How so?" Annabeth asked, with no anger or envy.

"She likes me, Annabeth, and the old me wasn't always strong enough to fend her off. It's you I've always loved, and you used to go green with jealousy."

"I did not!"

"You were for half the quest, Annabeth!"

"Well maybe for a bit. I'll try and calm down a bit!"

"You won't remember trying to calm down."

"Oh yeah." She paused. "I feel so lost. I don't want to lose you Percy."

"You won't remember that either."

"Percy?"

"Yes?"

"We have a few more hours." Annabeth said, in a way which had no misinterpretation. I took her hand and walked her out onto the balcony, we were very high up, in a hot country somewhere, maybe Rio. I slowly peeled off her clothes and let her stand in front of me naked for a moment.

"You are so beautiful, Anna." I told her with tears in my eyes. I had been with her for a long time with none of us wearing a stitch of clothing, and I had memorised every curve and imperfection, and now I was trying to make sure I could keep her image in my brain when the time came. I wiped a tear from her cheek and ran my hand down her breasts until I reached her ass. I grabbed it and lifted her onto a stone table. I kissed my way down her body, eliciting moans of pleasure, before I kissed the little moon shaped birthmark she has on the inside of her upper thigh. I then decided to show her what Calypso taught me. I parted her legs and teased her with my tongue, she was already very wet and I relished the taste of her as she cried out in ecstasy. I kept going for a while, then I noticed the rainclouds above us and with a little Poseidon effort started a downpour. The warm rain lashed off of our bodies and added extra sensation, and Annabeth's moans got louder. I tried to pull away, but she wouldn't let me, imploring me to keep going. I did, noticing her body shake uncontrollably as I forced her to her climax, and as she came the sky pulsed with light and sound as lightning and thunder surrounded us. She finally let my head go, and she was gasping for breath.

"Did you do that thunder thing?" I asked her.

"I don't. Think. So." She gasped between breaths. "I hope not!"

"You okay?"

"That was fucking amazing, Jackson even better than leccy lips Thalia! And the rain! Perfect! Was that you?"

"Guilty as charged, Moony" I laughed

"Moony?"

"You have a cute birthmark in a private place, I named you for it!"

She playfully slapped the top of my head and scrambled uneasily to her feet and pulled my remaining wet clothes off, grabbed my erection and dragged me inside.

"Right, Big Boy, if we are being reset in a few hours, I want to have you for every second of it. Understand?"

I nodded slowly and smiled. She wasn't getting any arguments from me. And I was Big Boy!

"Get on the floor, Big Boy." She ordered. I complied immediately.

Annabeth climbed on top of me, and slid down onto me, so I was deep inside her. We never took our eyes off of each others, and suddenly I was scared, I didn't want to lose this. My rational brain took over and told me I wouldn't remember anyway, and I made the decision to enjoy my last few hours and not spend the whole time worrying.

We made love in every way possible in every place we could. In the shower, the balcony, the kitchen, the elevator, even the hotel foyer. The fire escape was thrilling, as was every time we got caught by someone. We had no fear whatsoever, it was like our own sexual Groundhog Day, only different because we were not going to repeat this. We eventually retired back to our room in exhaustion, only to find Apollo there waiting for us.

"It's time.

I was scared now. The thought of this process was like death to me. Considering how much I had changed this winter, it would literally be like a death. I didn't want to die! I didn't want to lose Anna! I wanted to live in this hotel room for the rest of my life! Fuck the prophecy!

I looked at my Mooney, she was biting her bottom lip again, god I find that sexy, but she nodded to me, as if to tell me don't worry, it's for the greater good. She reached for my hand and started breathing faster. I noticed my adrenalin had spiked, real fear, real sorrow, I must hold on for a few for seconds. Tears streamed down my face as Apollo reached for our heads.

"I love you Annabeth Chase!"

"I always will love you Percy Jackson!"

Apollo touched our foreheads and everything went dark.