"You're supposed to be guarding it." Hera grumbled

"Well you're here aren't you?" Percy retorted.

The bridge to Olympus was dissolving…"Gods, I hate heights!" Thalia yelled as she and I leaped

Everybody chuckled.

But Annabeth was in no shape for jumping…Annabeth was not going to fall.

The seven and Nico froze. This reminded all of them too much about Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus.

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other.

I pulled her up and we lay trembling on the pavement…"This will be the end of Olympus. The final end."

Everybody froze.

"That is not good at all." Apollo said

"We figured." Thalia said dryly.

We ran through streets. Mansions were burning…Tear it down BRICK BY BRICK!"

Everybody was flinching.

A white marble temple with a gold dome suddenly exploded…"He'll pay for that."

The hunters nodded.

We were running under the marble archway…Her statue would've killed me if you hadn't pushed us away."

Athena glared at Hera and so did Zeus. Hera was quite shocked. So were the demigods.

"That was very stupid. They are trying to save Olympus and you're taking the anger of a petty grudge which might as well have killed some of the demigods." Hermes said

"She said I don't belong." Hera said

"And maybe have you thought that at that point she was right?" Hermes asked angrily.

"Hermes." Hestia said. Hermes sighed.

Thalia grimaced. "Well, don't just stand there! …"I don't suppose you mean away," Grover murmured hopefully.

"This isn't something we could run away from, goat boy." Percy said. The demigods sighed.

I sprinted toward the palace…smashed like they weighed nothing.

The gods winced.

We had to climb over a huge pile of broken stone…Which seat of power shall I destroy first?"

The gods and demigods shuddered at the thought of Kronos standing in the throne room with the bone chilling laugh of his.

Ethan Nakamura stood to one side…glowing deep in the ashes

The gods stiffened and the demigods grimaced.

"That was not good at all. The Hearth is kind of like the center." Annabeth said

"It was freaky seeing it like that." Grover nodded.

Hestia was nowhere to be seen… I was afraid to think about it.

"We found a place to hide. It was mostly safe." Rachel said. Hestia nodded.

The Ophiotaurus swam in his water sphere…long before Kronos noticed him.

"That would be disastrous." Jason said

"Bad." Tyson agreed

Annabeth, Grover, and I stepped forward…like someone had just sucker punched her.

The elder Greek demigods winced.

"Seeing a villain smile is bad enough but seeing them smile through a face that was a person you used to know, that's even creepier. Way more creepy." Chris said. Everybody nodded in agreement.

"Shall I destroy you first, Jackson?" Kronos asked…half-Celestial bronze blade.

"He definitely does have his skill." Poseidon warned.

"I had to get him to fight with a sword. The scythe was way more dangerous. Taunting his pride was the only way to do that otherwise he would have just laughed it away and would have fought with his scythe." Percy explained.

Poseidon sighed. Percy had a point.

Next to me, Annabeth gasped like she'd suddenly…but I felt like I was fighting a hundred swordsmen.

The sword fighters grimaced.

"That's not fun." Jason said.

"You've fought a hundred swordsmen?" Thalia asked.

"No, I just imagine and know that that would suck." Jason said

Ethan ducked to one side, trying to get behind me…somewhere far away from the war.

Grover and Percy exchanged smiles.

Kronos backed me up against the throne of Hephaestus…Defense mode, it warned. Defense mode.

"Oh you have to move away from there, lad. The defense mode is trouble for you." Hephaestus warned

"I figured." Percy said

"Wait. You jumped on the seat? You said that you were barely able to reach to your father's throne and Annabeth and Grover had to help you reach the top. Now you just jumped straight on the seat." Dakota said.

"I never thought about that." Percy frowned.

"The curse of Achilles might have given him a boost. Even the adrenaline might have helped out." Leo said.

That couldn't be good…his knees and dropped Backbiter.

Hephaestus smirked.

Annabeth saw her chance…"Annabeth!" I screamed.

Athena gave a groan of pain.

"Why were you trying to reason with him at that point of time?" Nico asked

"I had to save him." Annabeth said.

"You should've waited." Nico said.

"I didn't know when the right time was." Annabeth said a little angrily. Nico sighed and nodded.

Ethan Nakamura got to his feet… but this time it didn't fly into his hands.

The demigods nodded.

"Nakamura!" he groaned. "Time to prove yourself…the good with the bad? Everything?"

"Percy's talking. If anybody can turn Ethan then that's him." Thalia said. Percy sighed and gave a small smile. Ethan made the right decision as well. Percy hoped he knew that his decision changed a lot for everybody.

Grover was almost to Annabeth now…own blade had ricocheted and pierced his armor.

The gods gasped and the demigods looked sad.

"That kid came through." Hephaestus said with a small smile.

Kronos rose unsteadily, towering over his servant… heart of the mountain—straight into open air.

The demigods grimaced and closed their eyes in respect.

"What the heck?" a voice said.

"Ethan?" Percy asked in surprise as he looked at the boy.

"Jackson?" Ethan asked. Percy nodded.

"Oh well I guess the fates weren't kidding. They sent me here for five minutes to apologize or something." He said

"You don't have to apologize." Will said.

"We wanted to tell you that the minor gods have cabins at camp now. Your final decision changed a lot of lives for the better." Percy said. Ethan's eyes widened.

"You got them to get cabins for the minor gods?" he asked in shock. Percy nodded.

"Th-thank you." Ethan said. Percy gave a small sad smile.

"No, thank you." He said. Ethan looked at everybody, nodded and disappeared.

"That was sad but nice." Lee said. Everybody nodded.

"So much for him." Kronos picked up his sword…was feeding her ambrosia.

Annabeth and Grover smiled at each other.

Everywhere Kronos stepped…armrest off the throne of Ares

The Ares gang scowled.

Which was okay by me

They glared at Percy who grinned sheepishly.

But then he backed me up…kindling for my new hearth!"

The sea gang scowled.

Our blades clashed in a shower of sparks…I cut a gash in the Celestial bronze.

"Well Kronos just got Percy mad…again. I mean Percy was already mad but now he just got madder." Travis said. Connor nodded.

Percy had a small smirk on his face.

He stamped his foot again and time slowed…Cars swerved and crashed.

Everybody grimaced.

The scene shifted, and I saw something…His legs were scaly and reptilian.

The gods gave small shudders while the demigods' eyes widened at the description.

The Olympians are giving their final effort."…but he roared in anger and kept advancing.

"That's insane." Jason said. The demigods nodded.

My limbs began to loosen up…The call of Poseidon

The sea gang got huge smirks on their faces. Thalia and Nico rolled their eyes playfully at Percy's face but they were smiling.

All around Typhon, the Hudson River erupted…making a funnel cloud around the monster.

The sea gang cheered loudly. Some of the demigods joined in.

"No!" Kronos bellowed after a moment…"STRIKE FOR OLYMPUS!"

"Probably both." Apollo said.

Warriors burst out of the river… Briares, the Hundred-Handed one.

Tyson grinned widely.

All the Cyclopes held huge lengths of black iron chains…under in a seething whirlpool, and he was gone.

The demigods cheered at the top of their lungs. Some of them whistled and whooped. Percy was grinned and soon joined in. The gods were grinning and smiling.

"That was one heck of a plan, brother." Triton muttered to Percy as he grinned. Percy smiled at Triton.

"BAH!" Kronos screamed…Kronos tossed him aside like a rag doll.

The demigods scowled at once. Dionysus flinched in pain.

"I'm your protector." Grover murmured. Percy gave him a smile.

I sidestepped and jabbed under Kronos's guard… fell straight into the open fissure.

Everybody grimaced.

"STOP!" Annabeth came from nowhere…her arms trembling as he forced his sword down toward her neck.

The demigods growled.

Then there was a note –

Connor read it out loud.

'Dear demigods and gods,

Luke Castellan does not wish to join you for the readings due to emotional troubles.

The Fates'

"Well, I was wondering when the fates would send him." Zoe said. The demigods nodded as they frowned.

"Your mother," Annabeth grunted… but it was like holding the weight of the sky again.

Poseidon winced.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

Same for Athena.

"Dad!" Will said in a panicky voice.

"The curse." Apollo said grimly.

She croaked, "Family, Luke. You promised."

Thalia flinched.

I took a painful step forward…couldn't control his own body. "You're bleeding…."

Thalia and Annabeth grimaced but managed small smiles. The ones who weren't there gasped. Hermes gave a small soft smile.

"My knife." Annabeth tried to raise her dagger…or was his whole body glowing, turning gold?

"Not your imagination." Zeus said grimly

He gasped again. Luke's voice…his skin starting to smoke.

Everybody were on the edge of their seats.

I raised the knife to strike…Off my rocker. Probably.

"Usually yes but not this time." Thalia said. Percy chuckled slightly.

But I watched as Luke grasped the hilt…throwing me off my feet

Hermes screamed in pure agony. His kids panicked and were freaking out.

"DAD!" Will shouted as he went to their side. Apollo ran to his son and brother.

"It's the curse." He said. "Hermes, breathe." Apollo instructed.

"Read please." Will said. Nico nodded and continued.

An aura of energy surrounded Luke…His breath was a deep rattle.

Hermes was yelling in pain. His left side was bleeding. The Stolls and Chris had tears in their eyes. Poseidon grimaced a little under the pain he felt but it wasn't anything much.

Hermes' kids kept their hands on his shoulders, not caring if they had blood on their hands.

"Is it possible to share the curse?" Travis asked

"Are you crazy?" Katie asked in worry.

"Not right now." Travis said.

"I don't know." Chris said. A note popped up in his hands. The note got stained with blood as he read it out loud.

'It is but only in extreme circumstances. You have to hold your fists to the fists of your parent to share it. It is only sharable by the children of the respective god or goddess.

The Fates'

Chris gave the note to Clarisse who looked a little freaked out. He, Connor and Travis held out their fists to each other and Travis held it out to Hermes. As soon as their fingers touched, the three of them gave a yell of pain and fell to their knees. Hermes' felt a little better but it turned to fear as some part of him saw what happened. The demigods looked freaked out.

"Read." Connor choked out. Nico came out of his shock and continued.

"Good…blade," he croaked…Isles of the Blest."

"He always loved a challenge." Thalia gave a watery smile.

Annabeth sniffled. "You always pushed yourself too hard."…"Did you love me?"

The Hermes' gang's lips were glistening red. Chris, Travis and Connor's a little more than Hermes. The three demigods were holding in which the gods found amazing. Hermes had tears on his face as he tried to pull his fist away but it looked like a bond was formed around his and Travis's fist.

"It's all right dad. It was our choice." Travis choked out. Hermes was shaking.

Annabeth wiped her tears away…thing that really mattered to me was that she was alive.

Annabeth and Percy exchanged smiles.

"Honestly, I knew that you liked him." Percy said to Annabeth

"I had a deep crush but I didn't love him romantically." Annabeth said. Percy nodded.

"You were like a brother to me, Luke," she said softly…There's no healing…." Another cough.

The Hermes gang coughed as well. Apollo and Will were trying their best to heal the four of them and it was working slightly.

He gripped my sleeve, and I could feel the heat…"I won't," I said. "I promise."

"Never." Percy promised. The demigods nodded. Poseidon grimaced under the heat he felt due to the curse.

Luke nodded, and his hand went slack…into the throne room and expecting a battle

Immediately all the blood and symptoms of the curse vanished from the entire Hermes gang except for the blood the three demigods had from touching Hermes at first. Hermes was still shaking with tears from the curse and what his children did as well as the death of Luke.

He pulled his kids in for a tight hug and the three of them felt their t-shirt get wet but they didn't pull away. Even the three of them were sobbing. Apollo and Will went back to their couch.

Percy, Annabeth and Grover had closed their eyes and had rested their heads on the back of the couch. Annabeth had tear stained cheeks and so did Grover while Percy looked disturbed as if the entire day came back to him which it obviously had.

The other demigods and gods who didn't know what had happened were stunned and frozen in shock. Zeus, Hera, Triton and Athena now understood why Luke was called a hero by the demigods. The sacrifice he made had changed things and saved Olympus but of course that didn't excuse all the trouble he caused but they still got some respect for him.

Thalia had tear stained cheeks as well while Jason tried comforting her but he didn't know what to say. The other demigods were still trying to process the entire thing. They knew the brief event but they didn't know the whole thing and to hear it well they knew that it would leave a mark somewhere.

The gods were thinking about the decisions Luke made and why. They were thinking about how Luke had come back. He had come back by a girl he regarded as family, reminding him of his promise. They knew that their children cared about family but the depth and truth of that just sunk into them. They studied their children and their reactions. They looked at the Hermes gang who were still in an embrace and the thought about how Chris, Connor and Travis shared the curse just to reduce Hermes' pain.

The demigods had all closed their eyes by now, digesting what the book told them. They opened them after a few minutes and the gods saw that though most of the elder Greek demigods had tears in their eyes, there was a fiery kind of determination in them.

Nico decided to continue after 15 minutes to finish the chapter.

What they found were Annabeth, Grover, and me standing over…"A shroud for the son of Hermes."

The demigods looked down.

"Done." Nico said quietly.

"I'll read." Hades said equally quietly.