[A/N] I'm not Rick Riordan so that's the disclaimer done. Thank you all so much for your support and don't worry! It's not over yet! Hope you guys like this chapter and I love you guys! So anyway, this is your last chapter for probably a long time and hope you guys like it. Thanks for reading and please review!

Chapter 26

…Percy's P.O.V…

The sudden force of being hauled backwards momentarily stunned me as I landed on my bum. Or at least, the closest to a bum that a serpent can have. Shaking my head to get rid of the swirling I felt in my head, I looked around me and saw that there were twelve people with five females and two males watching me carefully as they stood in a semi-circle surrounding me. They were all super tall and were radiating power like I have never seen before. They all commanded respect and immediately, I felt the urge to comply to their every wish.

Snapping to my senses as I fought of whatever that urge was, I grew to full size and got ready to attack when I saw them holding weapons but stopped as I realised they were not attacking me; they were just staring me down. I relaxed slightly but still kept my guard up and remained at that size as strangely, I was only slightly bigger than them.

I could not tell if it was just the proportion of this weird place that made us around the same size or if these were abnormally large people. I looked over my shoulder at the portal where a perfect future was waiting for me. I was about to charge for it again, but a strong hand held me back. I tried fighting, thinking that no one would be able to hold me back if I used my full strength but the person who was was having nearly no trouble at all. Giving up after a few futile attempts, I used my telepathy to talk to the guy and refused to look at whoever it was.

What are you doing? Let go of me! I want to go there!

Calmly, the same voice that had previously spoken said, "Calm down, young one. That is not a portal to your home. That is death. Come on out, Hades. You know it is not his time." After his words, I loud and dramatic sigh could be heard seemingly coming from the portal. Moments later, the portal turned black and swirled, disappearing with a strong gust of wind. In its place was a… thing? The same size as all the others. He was dressed from head to toe in black with a crown resting on his head that seemed to suck in light itself. Throwing out his hands, the thing exclaimed, "Zeus, my man!" Zeus? I swivelled around and my eyes widened as I saw the person that was holding me back wearing regal white robes with a golden crown embedded with priceless jewels and a giant lightning bolt.

Suddenly, it struck me as I looked at the eleven others in this place. They were all gods too! I observed them all. And they looked mightier than any pot, wall, carving or painting could depict them. Now that I look closer, I could see them all radiating an aura with their respective colours. Could they be the original Olympians? My own ancestor -Poseidon- was wearing robes that looked like the waves of the sea when he moved. His crown was made of coral and his trident looked even greater than the one that was passed down from generation to generation in my family.

I waved and received a small smile and a nod back before returning to look at the conversation that had been going on while he had zoned out. "…I told you to leave the boy alone, Death Breath. He plays a part in saving Olympia unless you want to see it destroyed. That was plain cruel the way you tried to lure him in. You haven't tried this since… Hercules? Ah, whatever. Please leave at once." With a huff, Hades disappeared in a tornado of shadows and screams.

I blinked once. Then twice, trying to contemplate what just happened. Zeus sighed and clicked his fingers. In an instant, twelve chairs appeared and floated in mid-air along with a small sphere of water. I leisurely floated through the air, shrank myself and entered the bubble. After making myself comfortable, I turned to face the Olympians who had seated themselves and were watching the serpent do backflips in the nice water amusedly.

I stared at them, trying to keep my face expressionless. Well? What was that? And what do you mean it's not my time? Zeus sighed. The other gods frowned, their expressions grave. "We are the Olympians. The original ones. I believe that my brother, Poseidon, is you ancestor. We are here to stop you from making a big mistake. You, Perseus were almost fooled into dying. That portal was not supposed to bring you home. Hades looked into your heart and made it show your greatest desires, knowing you would want to go through it. If you had, you would have died. Right now, you are in the middle of life and death. Should you stay with part of you in there for a long time of fully went through, you won't be able to go back. Oh, and you don't need to use telepathy. You can speak here like a human."

My eyes widened, my mind flashing back to his last few moments of consciousness. Luke had stabbed me in a near fatal spot and now I was like this! That bastard! Wait, but… it didn't make sense. I spoke up. "Wait, why did he want me to die? And if he did, why did it hurt so much? And why are the Original Olympians visiting me?"

This time, it was Poseidon who answered, "Our brother is the god of death. He feeds on it. And since he knows you are the key to the survival of Olympia, he wants to kill you to ensure it ends. He has been bitter since we revoked his Olympianship and wants the country we all hold dear to crumble. And the pain was not under his control. It was the combined negative feelings of all the people who are worrying about you. Frankly, it is quite astounding how much pain it was. Even more amazing is the fact that you still pushed for what you wanted the most. And we were here to make sure you knew what was happening. We were a bit late so I guess I have to thank the pain."

"…So what now? I thank you all from saving me from my death but what can I do? All my life, I've been nothing but trouble. And you are telling me that the reason I can't peacefully live my life is because I'm your and Olympia's stupid hero? Bloody hell! Ever since I could walk or talk or maybe even before that I have been nothing but a fucking burden! On my mother, my friends, my father? I even keep making the one I love cry!

"I can't even scavenge my own life and now you expect me to save thousands of others!" My voice grew louder with every word. All the frustrations came tumbling out; the responsibilities of a prince that I didn't want, the fear of being a burden and a curse on my parents, endangering my friends and causing Annabeth so much pain. For some reason, I felt oddly calm even though I was screaming at probably the most powerful people ever.

When I was finished, most of the gods were looking at me sympathetically, having read my mind and seen my memories. I have no idea how I knew that although I kind of guessed it because I suddenly felt like my head had become an open book and people were rummaging through it like a sock drawer. They exchanged a couple of looks and hesitantly, Zeus said, "Now when you put it that way, it's a little harsh. But… I guess the answer is… um… yes?"

The anger inside of me was not able to be put into words. They say a picture was worth a thousand words, a special moment worth a million. Also, a powerful emotion was worth a billion. That was the kind I was feeling right then and there. Only problem I had with it? It was anger and not the good stuff.

Poseidon saw that I was ready to blow my top and wisely intervened before I could come up with any other ways to kill the gods either than the one thousand already ready to be used and planned to perfection. He walked up to the sphere, holding out a bronze pen and inserted it inside. I swam to it and nosed it. "Percy, I believe I speak for the other gods here." He shot a glare at all of the others that looked like they were about to say otherwise.

"We will let you decide whether to let all your sufferings end or to fight for a possibly better ending. We are sorry for all the pain that we have caused you over the years. The fates are always hardest on those born heroes as they need to be taught the right lessons before they are ready to save the world.

"Some heroes are made halfway while some are born heroes. Percy, you are one of the rare ones; you are both. I trust you to make the right decision. This is a magical pen called Riptide. It will remain with you at all times and will appear in your pocket when you are in human form. Should you choose to live, uncap it when you need it the most. I will support you either way. Just remember when you make your choice, think of everyone counting on you.

"Perseus, you are neither a burden, nor are you a curse. You are a blessing in disguise. Whatever lengths your parents went to to raise you will be paid hundredfold if you decide to live. In here, the fates have no control over you. Your fate is in your hands now and no one else's." With those words, Poseidon stepped back and with a snap of his fingers, all twelve gods were gone along with the chairs, water sphere and pen.

Just then, the scene around me changed drastically. I stood at the intersection of a tunnel and there were two paths laid out in front of me. At the end of both of them were two portals. One was the one I saw just now and the other was one with a lot of war, bloodshed and dying. It was truly horrible. I watched a man reeking of pure evil that was laughing maniacally as he conquered Olympia. My head turned back and forth between the choices again and again, just like a spectator at a tennis match. I always was quite an indecisive person. [A/N] It is quite an old sport, you know. And the Olympics did start in Greece.

Now, it was time to choose. I could either choose to die and wait for everyone else as the world ended or I could go back and save the world with the risk of losing the people he loved anyway and in other words; being the gods' pawn once more no matter what Poseidon said.

So, what was a guy like me supposed to choose now?

END OF CHAPTER

Sorry for the cliffies. No flames please! I just got one for one of my other stories and it really hurt even though it was supposed to be a tragedy and I couldn't really bring myself to take down the anon review…

That aside, I might update on my 13th birthday on the 31st of Jan so please don't lose interest in this story!