A/N: As a quick note, I've not read Heroes of Olympus in a long time (and only read the first two anyway), so how the Romans are characterized is of dubious accuracy to canon. Also, after this chapter, there is only one last epilogue chapter, which will probably come out around a week after this one.
A fun fact: this chapter narrowly beat Chapter 26 for the title of longest chapter in this story by a margin of 53 words.
The trek down Mount Tamalpais was an incoherent journey for Percy. Contrary to his earlier bravado, he could feel the pain in his body steadily increasing along with the pounding in his head. All he knew was that he was being carried by Chiron one of the peak's many paths, and in the brief moments of consciousness he had, he could see only glimpses of his fellow Greek demigods walking in line with decidedly not Greek warriors and Chiron's back. On an off-handed note, he found that the experience of riding on Chiron like a horse was actually pretty comforting, though how much of that was due to his sheer exhaustion was up for debate. With the rhythmic marching and the general quiet that had pervaded the group after the battle, one could almost say it was ripe conditions for a short nap, to just close his eyes for a brief moment…
Percy suddenly awoke, eyes wide and gasping.
One hand immediately flew up to his forehead. The pounding was not anywhere near as bad as it had been, but it was still present. With a soft groan, Percy sat up in the small cot he lay in. Looking around, he was in unfamiliar surroundings. It was the inside of a tan colored tent, far longer than it was wide. Rows of cots similar to the one he inhabited were lined up, and the few that were occupied had sleeping figures in them. Crucially, he eyed his trident being propped up on the end of his cot's frame.
A figure poked their head through one of the tent flaps that were interspersed between every couple of cots, and upon seeing Percy sitting upright, walked in.
"How are you feeling?" the woman curtly asked.
"Fine," Percy replied, his voice sounding hoarse. His throat felt parched and dry.
"Here," the woman said, handing him a small brownie square and a cup before backing up a few steps. "Eat up."
Looking at Percy's confused expression, the woman sighed. "Ambrosia and nectar. It'll make you feel a lot better."
Taking her word, Percy swallowed the brownie with a single bite and gulped down the liquid in the cup. Immediately, he felt warmth and strength flow throughout his body. The dull throb in his head was reduced to a point where he no longer was bothered by it. Taking full advantage of his renewed condition, Percy swung his legs over one side of the bed and stood up.
"Hey, you shouldn't be getting up," the woman suddenly said, walking forward. She futilely tried to get him to lay back on the bed, but relative to her, he was built like a wall.
"I'm fine," Percy murmured, brushing off the woman's attempts to get him back on the cot. "Where am I?"
The woman pursed her lips as she hesitated for a few moments. "You're safe in the camp."
Percy narrowed his eyes. "What camp? I don't recognize you."
She put up her hands as if to say that she was not a threat. "Relax kid, we're all demigods around here. Only difference is that your parent was Greek and mine was Roman."
Percy's brow furrowed as he suddenly remembered his last few conscious memories. Romans appearing. The fighting. The water. The exhaustion.
"Where are the others?" he gruffly asked, stretching out to take hold of his trident in his left hand.
The woman sighed, realizing that she was never going to get Percy back into bed. "Command is down the main road and to the left. You'll know it when you see it."
Nodding in thanks, Percy looked around to see if he had anything else he needed to grab. As he looked, he finally met the woman eye-to-eye and paused.
The woman in question was no doubt a nurse – her scrubs were enough to give that away, being no different than those worn by a nurse at a normal hospital – but that was not what had Percy surprised. What had him surprised was her age, at least relative to his own. It was an epiphany that suddenly occurred to him; apart from the Perseus of the past, he had never actually seen an adult demigod before. This nurse was the first he had seen in his own time.
"Is there something on my face?" the nurse sarcastically asked. Percy quickly shook his head, stowed away the thought, and slipped out of the tent, taking a deep breath of fresh air as he felt the wind on his face. He took in the rows of tents that engulfed his sight, stretching up and down the well-trodden dirt path and numbering in the dozens. Walking down the path, Percy suddenly felt oddly self-conscious about himself. With his trident, he made for a rather conspicuous figure, and there was no shortage of people that stopped what they were doing to stare at the unfamiliar demigod holding an ornately-designed out-of-date weapon.
Doing his best to ignore the stares and move on, Percy looked around for the command tent the nurse had mentioned. As he passed a fairly large canopy that had people sharpening swords and other weapons, his sight fell on a discrete looking tent, one that would be no different from the others around it were it not for the word "COMMAND" written in bold lettering on a piece of poster paper.
Percy's eyebrows rose a notch as he nodded slightly. "Alright, yeah," he whispered to himself, "I guess that's about as easy to find as it can be."
Without further ado, Percy brushed open the entrance flap of the tent and walked in, drawing the attention of everyone who was already inside. In that first second, Percy quickly saw Thalia standing beside a guy he did not know, Annabeth standing near the side with a notebook in her hand, and Chiron barely fitting at the back of the tent in the equivalency of a sitting position.
"Percy, you're awake!" Thalia exclaimed, quickly nudging her way through a few people to pull Percy into a hug.
"Yeah, yeah I'm awake," Percy responded, wrapping his own arms behind her back. "At least I think I am." He felt Thalia loosen her hug and he reciprocated, letting her pull away after a few seconds. "How long have I been out?"
Thalia checked the digital watch on her left wrist. "A couple of hours. It's one in the afternoon now, so it hasn't been all that long. I'm surprised you're already up – are you sure you should be up?"
"The nurse gave me some nectar and ambrosia, gave me the needed kick. I'll be fine."
Any further conversation between the two was cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them. Percy leaned slightly to look past Thalia's head to see the person she had been standing beside earlier looking back at him.
"I don't believe we've met properly," the guy said, making his way over to Thalia and Percy. He extended a hand, which Percy took in a firm grip. Up close, Percy could see that he was quite tall, possibly even taller than himself. "I'm Jason Grace. Thalia's brother."
"Oh." Suddenly the grip on Percy's hand seemed viselike.
"I understand that you're… dating my sister," Jason said to Percy with an amicable-looking smile that somehow seemed hollow. He leaned in a little so that only Percy could hear him whisper. "I trust that I won't need to say what will happen if you break her heart."
The grip on Percy's hand suddenly loosened as Jason found himself falling to the side with a small yelp. Both male demigods turned to see Thalia, a fire in her eyes as she retracted her hands from the shove.
"Seriously, I'm right here. What are you even doing, Jason? I'm the older one."
Jason sheepishly grinned, this time in good humor, as he ruffled the blond hair on the back of his head. "Ah, just testing the waters. Gotta see what my future brother-in-law's gonna be like, right?"
"Jason!" Thalia admonished him, though not without a hint of uncharacteristic sheepishness, as she playfully hit his shoulder. Percy smiled at the strangely domestic sight, a rarity in their lives.
A second throat clearing snapped all of three of them back to reality, and all three demigods turned to see Chiron trying his best to stand up and walk forward without breaking the entire tent.
"As nice as that was, I'm afraid that we don't have much time," Chiron gravely began, his dark tone mirroring his solemn expression. "Chaos continues to gather his powers in his fortress, and he still has considerable forces standing strong and ready to fight. We must attack now."
"I think you are overstating the gravity of the situation, centaur," a slim young man with blond hair wearing a toga spat out. "I see no need for the legion to deploy for our… Greek brethren."
"Octavian, that's enough." This time, it was a young woman who spoke, one who looked no older than Percy himself and had dark eyes and long black hair. She carried herself with a regal disposition, and while she had a toga like the aforementioned Octavian, she also wore golden armor. Turning to Percy, she extended a hand. "I am Reyna, one of the two praetors of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata and of Camp Jupiter."
Percy accepted the hand. "I'm Percy, Percy Jackson of, uh, Camp Half-Blood. No title, though."
Reyna smiled. "Your reputation proceeds you, Percy. I have heard rumors of a powerful demigod from the east part of the country coming westward."
Percy blinked. "Oh, really? That's neat, I guess."
Reyna turned to direct his attention to the others. "You've already met the other praetor, and Octavian here is the augur of our camp, in addition to being one of the two centurions of the First Cohort."
"Wait, what do you mean 'other praetor'?" Percy asked, a confused look coming onto his face.
"Ah, that'd be me," Jason spoke up, raising his hand as he did so. Percy turned to look at Jason with a faux-incredulous look which Jason laughed off.
"You know, I'm still not over how you two are brother and sister," Percy noted, looking between Thalia and Jason. "That's… honestly pretty crazy."
"You're telling us," Jason noted. "I can't believe I actually found my sister."
"I couldn't believe he was even still alive," Thalia said quietly, barely above a whisper. "I thought he was dead all this time." She paused. "But Chiron's right," she said louder. "We can have a proper reunion after all of this."
"We need your legion's strength," Annabeth finally spoke up, putting down her notebook, "or we don't stand a chance against Mount Othrys. Percy can't pull another stunt like that and still expect to be able to fight. We'd get crushed."
Jason sighed. "Look, we get that you guys feel really anxious about this, we really do, but we have other things to worry about too. You know, there's a whole council behind us, and part of the deal we had to make to even come here was that we would put the legion's safety ahead of everything else."
Reyna nodded. "We cannot willingly endanger the lives of our legionnaires, especially when nothing Chiron has said has been confirmed yet. Our strategy has always been to wait and assess the situation, and barring any more developments, that is what we will do."
Octavian looked smugly at the Greek demigods. "There you have it. From both of the praetors of this legion. Nothing will happen before we make a complete and thorough assessment of the situation, and then and only then will we make a final deci–" The lanky man was cut off by the sudden sound of a horn blowing. It was a unique pitch, quite unlike the one that the Romans used.
Reyna pushed away the tent flap to poke her head outside. Already, armored legionnaires were running toward the sound, spears and swords in hand.
"What's going on?" she yelled out. One legionnaire, still struggling to get his shin guards properly strapped on, stopped mid-jump to look at his praetor.
"I don't know," the young soldier responded. "My centurion just ordered the century to assemble in preparation, but I have no idea what it is." Reyna nodded and the legionnaire sped off down the path with the rest of his century.
"We should go," Percy quickly said, slipping through the tent flap. He was quickly joined by Thalia, Jason, and Reyna, and the four of them sped off alongside Roman legionnaires and Greek campers alike. At the end of the path, a small barricade was set up, with nearly a hundred Roman legionnaires already in formation with spears while campers from Camp Half-Blood took positions on either side of the formation to protect from flanking attempts. They all faced toward the forest that stood just a few dozen yards away, nervously shifting around as they waited for whatever had blown the horn to come.
Reyna and Jason stood behind their soldiers, looking into the dense forest in a vain attempt to see the potential threat. Percy, planting himself between the right flank of the Romans and some of the Half-Blood campers along with Thalia, breathed deeply to steady himself as he tightened his grip on his trident.
A bush ruffled slightly and everyone stiffened, ready for the worst. After a few moments, a lone hooded figure walked out, holding a bow in their hand as they came into the clearing. Before anyone could do anything else, other figures walked out as well, each armed with the same kind of bow and dressed in similar garb.
"Stop!" Reyna commanded the figures. "Identify yourselves or else!"
The lead figure who had had come out first stopped just a few yards from the Greco-Roman line before pulling down their hood to reveal a distinctly feminine and familiar face to Percy.
"Zoë!" Thalia cried out, recognizing the woman faster than Percy.
Reyna and Jason both sharply turned to face Thalia. "You know her?" Jason asked his sister.
Thalia nodded. "She's a good friend of ours." Turning to Zoë, she continued speaking. "Are these the Hunters of Artemis?"
"Indeed," a graceful female voice floated from the forest. By now, the Hunters had already maneuvered themselves into a formation, compacting their numbers, which ranged into the dozens, into neat lines. From behind them, a single figure walked out of the woods. Her appearance was hazy and undefined, and even as she approached, things as simple as what she wore was hard to say.
"Lady Artemis?" Thalia hesitantly asked.
"Maybe," the figure murmured, throwing back her own hood. "Maybe not. I always knew it was a risk for us to come here."
"What do you mean by risk?" Reyna prompted.
"And what do you mean 'us'?" Jason followed up.
"She means," a second voice came from the woods, "that we will all face the same pain because of this." From behind the Hunters, eight more figures walked out of the woods, each of them as hard to see as Artemis had been.
"It's because of your Roman aspects, isn't it," Annabeth blurted out. She focused on her mother, Athena, whose form constantly flickered between a lady wearing a Greek-style dress and an armored general.
"Very astute," Athena/Minerva responded. "As I expect of a… daughter of mine."
The largest of the figures strode forward, ignoring the nearly cowering Roman line in favor of stopping in front of Percy and Thalia.
"Dad," Thalia breathed.
Zeus/Jupiter lowered his head, before he clenched his fists and contorted his face into an expression of pain. He twisted and writhed for a few moments before he settled back down, his form solidifying into a visible person. Looking back up, Percy could immediately see a difference. Some of the naked pride that had been visible on the king of the gods was gone, replaced by a stoicism that his Greek aspect never would have possessed.
"Do we call you Zeus or Jupiter?" Percy quietly asked, looking up at the Olympian. There was a moment of tension between the two of them – many events had transpired since the last time they had faced one another, and their relative statures were far from the same as they were a year earlier.
"Either will be fine," Zeus replied. "I have temporarily forced both of my aspects into one, fusing our personalities and memories into a single being as it should've been from the beginning. I have no doubt that I will regret doing this afterward, but I fear that if I do not do it, I would have nothing to regret later."
"Dad, is there… something you need?"
Zeus shook his head. "No, I have things you will need." Without further ado, the god brandished out two objects from under his cloak. The first of them was a two feet long thin bronze cylinder, and the other was a bronze Greek war helmet.
Percy gulped. He knew both items by sight, and the last time he had laid eyes upon them was not a particularly pleasant memory for him even though he had triumphed then.
"My Master Bolt and Hades' Helm of Darkness," Zeus stated, holding the two powerful weapons in his hands. "I must do this. Thalia, take out your sword."
Thalia blinked once before complying, drawing out the sword that Percy had given her. It was still as ornate and intricately designed as it had been when Percy had received it. The wood on the hilt was unmarked and the inscription on the blade itself undamaged. Zeus looked down at the ancient writing on the blade, and he visibly flinched when he read it.
"I must do this," he repeated, this time with a slight strain in his voice. Without any pause, he slammed the two symbols of power into the extended sword, causing a blast of light that forced everyone to turn away. Percy instinctively clamped one hand on Thalia's shoulder in concern before he was forced to close his eyes, and he could feel the thrum of power that rushed from the sword into her. It seemed to last indefinitely, but suddenly it was over and Percy fell backward, shaken by the experience. Looking up, he saw even Zeus has taken a step back while everyone else was rubbing their eyes and trying to recover their vision.
Thalia alone was left standing, her sword in her hand. Now, however, it was a visibly very different weapon that she wielded. In addition to the wood highlights, the hilt guards of the sword were given horns, and the carvings on the guards themselves almost looked to be like faces. The blade itself still bore the ancient writing, but there was an added aura to the blade that became visible every now and then when it crackled with energy. Like Chronos had done with his staff, Zeus had now fused the two Olympian symbols of power into the sword. For what reason, Percy could not fathom.
"Why?" Percy uttered, looking confused. Zeus looked at Percy with the same lost expression.
"I truly do not know, only that it was needed for me to do that. It was prophesied from Apollo himself." From behind Zeus, Apollo spoke up.
"Even I can't fully understand what I was given as a prophecy, but that's what it said from my interpretation."
"Can we hear this prophecy?" Reyna asked, cutting into the conversation.
"No," Apollo quickly said. "No way. No one except for the gods that are here are ever going to hear that prophecy. I'll take it to my grave."
"Father–," Octavian began, only to be cut off by a sharp look from the god in question.
"I'm not budging on this," Apollo said with an uncharacteristic harshness. "You guys aren't going to hear it, period."
Percy was rather taken aback by Apollo's aggressiveness. From the few times he had interacted with the god, Apollo had always seemed like an easygoing and fun-loving kind of person. It was more than just a little strange to see him so on edge and, dare he say, scared.
Two more of the figures stepped forward, one hooded and dressed like a Hunter and the other clearly being one of the Olympians. The Olympian's haziness fell away as his features morphed clearly into those of Hades, while the second figure took off their hood to reveal Nico di Angelo's face.
"Nico," Percy greeted. He hadn't seen the younger boy in Camp Half-Blood after they had returned from journeying to Mount Othrys the first time and was worried until Chiron had told him that he wanted to find his father. While Percy had little trust in Hades, he doubted the god would smite his own son.
"Hey Percy," Nico happily replied, a smile on the boy's face. He looked considerably different than the last time Percy had seen him – a year had given him plenty of time to grow. He noticeably stood a few inches taller and strapped to his belt was a short sword. He carried himself with a poise and confidence that he did not have just a year earlier.
"Zeus," Hades finally said, his voice as oily and dark as ever, "is it done?" The god in question nodded. Sighing, Hades turned to eye Percy. "I cannot believe I gave up so much just to help you of all demigods." With another huff, he turned and walked back toward where the other Olympians stood.
"Ignore my dad," Nico amicably said, looking at his father's retreating form. "He's been like this for a couple of weeks now."
"I can imagine," Percy dryly responded. "Especially since he thought I stole his helm at one point."
"Well, that's pretty understandable." Nico looked up and down Percy's own weapon. "How would you feel if you had to give up your trident?"
"I would give it up in a heartbeat if I had to."
Nico raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well then, I stand corrected I guess."
As they spoke, another two figures approached from behind Nico. One of them was Artemis while the other, taking off her hood as she walked, was none other than Bianca di Angelo.
"Lady Artemis," both Percy and Thalia politely deferred to the goddess, nodding slightly as she approached them. Off to the side, Zeus huffed. "They didn't do that for me."
"Your reputation does not help, father," Artemis gracefully said out loud, coming to a stop with Bianca in front of the two powerful demigods.
"Perseus Jackson. Thalia Grace," Artemis said in a quieter voice. Absentmindedly, Percy noticed both Reyna and Jason coming up behind him to hear what the goddess had to say. "We have come for a single purpose – to end the threat that Chaos poses to the world as we know it."
"How bad would it be if we fail?" Jason asked from behind Percy. Artemis quickly flicked her sight to the son of Zeus, causing him to wilt slightly under her formidable stare. Reaching out, she placed one hand on Jason's shoulder. Instantly, his jaw went slack as his eyes de-focused. He convulsed in place for a few seconds before stopping, dropping to his knees as he panted.
"Jason!" Reyna cried out, holding onto her fellow praetor and friend. "Are you okay?"
Jason weakly nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. Just… a little tired." He forced himself to look upward at the waiting goddess. "What was that? How'd you do that?"
"A combination of some of my more esoteric powers," Artemis cryptically answered. "What you saw was just a glimpse of the madness that will dominate life as we all know it should Chaos gather his full strength and release it upon the world."
"A glimpse, huh?" Jason said, shakily standing up. "I think I'm good with just a glimpse."
"Indeed. That is why we must all fight, because what we will lose if we don't is far greater than any possible alternative course of action."
Reyna grimaced slightly. "You want us to march against Mount Othrys? I'm sure you know about our mandate."
Artemis turned toward the other praetor of the Twelfth Legion, her form shimmering slightly even though it was already in its combined state to reflect the more militaristic nature of Diana. "If you do not join us, all of your legionnaires will perish, along with your camp and council. There is no alternative."
Jason slowly nodded his head. "I agree, Reyna. We can't ignore this. If we can save more lives by fighting, then the council can't say anything about it."
Reyna considered her fellow praetor's words for a few moments before nodding as well. "Alright, that'd work. I mean, we even have the backing of the gods themselves, so I can't see how the council could go against this. What do you need us to do, Lady Diana?"
"Work with Perseus and Thalia to fight against the forces of Chaos. We," she gestured to the other Olympians, "will fight the Titans that are under its thrall and distract them from all of you." Some of the demigods from Camp Half-Blood that stood nearby shuddered at the thought of the Olympians fighting against the Titans again – the last time they did, the entire camp had been destroyed, and many had been lost in the crossfire of such a destructive encounter.
"Very well," Reyna agreed. "When do we begin our attack?"
"We should prepare to fight in the morning," Artemis responded. "My Hunters have traveled fast and hard to get here, and I would like them all to be well-rested and ready to fight."
"Wait!" a voice suddenly cried out. Everyone turned to face Octavian, who stood straight-backed in an air of self-importance. "It is against the legion's tradition to move so hastily. We must urge caution and restr–"
"You would do well," Artemis tightly said, her tone clipped as she shifted closer to her Diana aspect, "to remember your station, augur. You have no say in these proceedings, nor any control of the direction of the legion."
The son of Apollo looked miffed at the shutdown but sagged under the gazes of so many powerful figures.
"Return to your posts!" Reyna ordered the assembled cohort. "Prepare for battle tomorrow morning. Further orders will be given to your centurions."
Romans and Greeks alike murmured as they all walked away, leaving the Hunters standing in lines, the various Olympians scattered in the open field, and their leaders alone at the end of the path. Annabeth cast one backward glance at Percy and Thalia, her eyes belying her desire to stay with her friends and help them, but she eventually turned away and continued to walk on the path.
"My Hunters will require some temporary lodging for the night," Artemis said directly to Reyna. The younger woman nodded.
"I'll… see to that." With a curt nod, the female praetor turned on her heel and walked down the path that her soldiers had left on.
Artemis gave Percy and Thalia one last look before gesturing to her Hunters to follow her down the path. Nico waved a good-bye to the two of them as he followed his sister and the rest of the Hunters. Zeus looked as if he wanted to pat Thalia on the shoulder, but he paused his arm mid-raise and lowered it again, instead just walking past them with the rest of the gods. Soon enough, Percy and Thalia were the last two left standing, Percy with his trident impaled in the ground and Thalia with her sword hanging loosely in her two hands.
"Are you okay?" Percy quietly asked, his voice full of concern. Thalia looked up at him, her normally vibrant blue eyes taking on a glassy quality, listless and unfocused.
"Thalia," Percy said her name again, this time placing a hand on her shoulder. She blinked a few times in quick succession.
"Oh, yeah, I'm… I'm fine, I think. Just a little fried, you know."
Percy slowly nodded, his expression somewhat disbelieving. "Are you sure? You don't see alright."
"No, I'm good. It's just the sword. I think my dad combining his bolt and Hades' helm into it kinda rebounded on me. I mean," Thalia began to quietly chuckle as she slid her sword back into her empty scabbard, "I swear I even heard words. I think I just need to lie down and rest a bit. Plus, aren't you the one who just woke up from exhaustion? You're not one to talk."
Percy waved it off. "I'll be fine. On the other hand, let's get you to a bed or something. You need to keep up your strength." He picked up his trident with his left hand and held Thalia's left hand with his right.
The two of them slowly but surely made their way back onto the path, walking toward her tent. Every time she stumbled or slipped, Percy was there to catch her, and she was grateful for him being a steady presence in a time of need. She was sure that it wouldn't be the last time she would have to rely on him, and she was ready, mentally if not physically, to reciprocate when the time came.
Percy sat in the mess hall of the now enlarged Roman camp, an empty plate in front of him as he rested his elbows on the table, his hands clasped and fingers crossed as he contemplated the various thoughts running through his head. It had been quite a few hours since he had helped Thalia into her cot, and while she had rested peacefully, he was still concerned by her sudden lack of energy and strength. The only conceivable attributable factor was Zeus enhancing her sword with two Olympian weapons, but it was a strange reaction considering Percy had not suffered anything similar to that when Chronos had first enhanced the blade.
A series of shocked gasps shook Percy out of his musing, and he turned to see none other than Zeus himself standing behind him. The king of the gods stood tall and regal in a suit, and even though Percy knew he had grown tremendously in strength, there was still an intimidation factor from Zeus stemming from age and experience that Percy could not hope to match. Combined with the steely glare from the god of the sky, and there was a little more than a queasy feeling beginning to show itself in Percy's stomach.
It was, in essence, a classic case of the boyfriend meeting the dad.
"Come with me," Zeus murmured, though his murmur still boomed like thunder. Percy nodded, picking up his plate to put it on the cleaning table before jogging slightly to follow the fast-walking god out of the massive cafeteria tent.
The two of them quietly walked to the end of the camp, back to the edge of the forest where the Hunters and the Olympians had appeared earlier that day. Finally, Zeus came to a stop at the end of the gravel path, and Percy, though he could not say he was an expert in Olympian psychology, swore that he saw a hint of wistfulness in Zeus' eyes as he viewed the landscape of nature in front of them.
"I remember many things, young Perseus," Zeus finally said. "Many things. Perhaps too many. But one that now clearly stands out to me is that of a namesake of yours."
"King Perseus, your son?"
"No. A different namesake, as Fate would have it, from the same period. Curiously enough, it took me a while to hear of this particular namesake, and by the time that I had, he was long gone from my reach."
Percy gulped. "I… see."
"I bring this up because I had found out he was a son of Poseidon, so for centuries upon centuries until I forgot about the matter entirely, I pondered why a son of Poseidon would be named the same as one of my own sons at the same time." Zeus eyed Percy with a knowing look. "I also talked to Pleione after a while. She gladly showed me her new sword, one of that I am sure you know quite well."
"Uh…" Percy was unsure of how to respond.
"I do not know why you existed millennia ago, but truly, I do not care. The time for that is long past. Rather, I would only want you to know that I know what great deeds you have done, be it in that time or this."
"Okay…" Percy hesitantly said. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
Zeus sighed and turned to Percy. "There may come a time when I am no longer able to be here like this. One day when I will not be able to see my daughter grow up and traverse mortal life's many perils and dangers." He placed a hand on Percy's shoulder, a move that shocked the demigod as being wholly uncharacteristic of the god from what he knew of Zeus. "I place my trust in you that you will keep her safe when I can no longer do so."
"Wait, what do you mean? I can't imagine that you'll be going anywhere soon."
Zeus chuckled quietly, another action that was seemingly uncharacteristic of the god even though it was humorless. "Immortality is not a defense against everything, young Percy. Your father – my brother – is an example of that. We can still fall, be dispersed beyond any hope of ever achieving consciousness. That is death in and of itself."
"If you are gone, what can I do against whatever defeated you?"
Zeus pursed his lips. "You do not know your own strength. Thalia, with her sword's essence combined with my Master Bolt and Hades' Helm of Darkness, could more than stand toe-to-toe with any of us Olympians now. You, however, could do that without that sword, and certainly without my brother's trident, which is now yours. Triton may have taken the throne to be king of the seas, but you are the true god of the seas now."
A wave of power and aura washed over Percy like the water of the oceans with Zeus' words, forcing him to close his eyes and internalize what he felt. When he reopened them, he felt the change immediately. It was a christening, elevating him officially to the stature of the Olympians even though he had already been at their level before.
"That is my declaration of faith in you. That is why I will trust you with my daughter even though a year ago I would have destroyed you for less. I trust that you will prove my faith to not be misplaced, and I daresay that I have no need to explain what would happen should you break her heart. A battle between the two of us alone may be inconclusive, but I would bring the full might of Olympus to bear upon you should you do wrong by her."
"I understand," Percy vowed. "You can trust me when I say that I will always try to do my best regarding Thalia."
Zeus leaned back and nodded. "Very well then, Percy, god of the seas. You may go."
"Uh, wait," Percy suddenly spoke up. "Does this mean I'm immortal?"
Zeus wryly smiled. "Only if you choose to be."
Percy opened his mouth as if to respond before closing it again and tilting his head slightly in acknowledgement. He turned around and walked down the path back to the camp, leaving Zeus alone.
The god of the sky's expression showed none of even the passing humor he had when he spoke with Percy as he stared into the stars of the night sky. He could trace the history of great heroes and events through the stars, memories of times long past. His shoulders slumped as he recalled the prophecy that Apollo had unexpectedly uttered, with the clear message and ominous tone it brought.
Their time was ending.
Percy quietly entered Thalia's tent with a plate of food, immediately looking to her in bed. She was still quietly slumbering, the only noise being the soft sound of air being breathed in and out. Percy lowered the plate of food onto the small folding table that stood beside the cot, but as he turned to leave, Thalia's hand stretched out to touch him.
"Percy," she murmured, "what time is it?"
Percy checked Thalia's digital watch, which lay on the folding table. "About nine. How do you feel?"
Thalia yawned and sat herself up in bed. "Sleepy, but more like the regular kind. I could probably sleep until tomorrow morning. I am starving though." She blinked a few times to clear her vision before it fell upon the plate of food that Percy had placed down. "Thanks."
"No problem," Percy whispered as he sat in a nearby folding chair while Thalia swung her legs over the side of the bed, pulled the table to the edge of the bed, and started digging into the hot food.
"So, anything happen while I was out?" Thalia muttered out between bites.
"I had a talk with your dad."
"Oh, really? What about?"
"… stuff."
Thalia paused with the spoon halfway in mid-air. "That's not very descriptive."
"Well, stuff about us."
"Oh." The spoon completed its journey and fell back into the now-empty plate.
Percy stood up and moved the folding table away, leaving Thalia to utter a quick "thanks" as she swished her mouth out with a nearby water bottle and slid back underneath the cot's blanket. Turning to go, he felt Thalia's hand stretch out for him a second time, and he placed the empty plate on the table as he turned to face her again.
"Sleep with me?" she whispered. "Like we did last night?"
Staring into her eyes, Percy could never refuse.
"It'll be kinda tight."
"That's okay. Here." She shifted slightly to the left side of the small cot, giving Percy some space to light on the right side. He took off his shoes and socks before sliding into the cot, feeling Thalia's warmth permeating to him underneath the cover of the blanket. Even in the late summer night, it was comforting, and he felt his grasp on the waking world quickly sliding as exhaustion crept back in. The last thing he felt was Thalia, holding onto him just as he held onto her.
The march back up Mount Tamalpais to Mount Othrys was quiet. Trepidation filled everyone's heart for what was to come, even though they had spent the last night steeling their hearts for it. No amount of preparation could ready them for the possibility of dying.
Percy and Thalia walked alongside Chiron, Reyna, and Jason near the front of the column, while Annabeth, Grover, Bianca, and Nico walked right behind them. The Olympians had elected to be in front, while the Hunters marched behind the lead demigods and in front of the other Greek demigods. The Twelfth Legion Fulminata made up the rear as they continued on the path they had walked just the day before.
Soon enough, they found themselves back on the plateau that had seen much bloodshed already. It was battle-scarred, the terrain features having been soaked with blood and dead bodies before being eroded by Percy's feat. Still, the wall to Mount Othrys proper stood as tall as ever, almost mocking them for their futile attempt to breach it.
This time, however, they had more than enough firepower to break down the wall.
Zeus grunted as he generated a massive bolt of lightning from his right arm. Even without his Master Bolt, he was still the god of lightning, and with a roar, he flung the bolt toward the tall, reinforced doors of the wall.
The explosion was nearly deafening, forcing everyone that wasn't an Olympian to cover their ears at the sound. When the smoke finally cleared, Percy saw that the door was no longer there – more accurately, half of the wall was no longer there, along with a good portion of the ground both inside and outside the wall. It created a shallow, circular basin which had its diameter where the wall used to be and curved up to meet the steps of the temple, partially built into the side of the mountain, that stood inside the walls.
"Forward!" Reyna yelled, followed by Chiron and Thalia. At once, the mass of demigods, nature spirits, and Olympians charged forward. As they ran, monsters of all shapes and sizes rushed out of the temple, forming lines that numbered into the thousands as they prepared for the attack. After the last monster had come out of the temple, multiple figures slowly came out as well. They were unlike any monster before them, clad in armor and radiating power and authority. The Titans had come as well.
"Percy," Zeus quickly said with a hint of being out of breath, pulling beside the demigod as they ran toward the fight, "we will deal with the Titans. Let the others handle the monsters. You and Thalia need to get inside the temple to deal with Chaos, or all of this will have been in vain." Percy nodded, and Zeus pulled away as he and the other Olympians sprinted faster than anyone else. As one, they all jumped into the air, clearing the hordes of monsters below them to land in front of the Titans that had deigned to join the battlefield. Explosions, flashes of light, and rumblings commenced, but Percy paid them no heed as he ran toward the monsters.
The Romans, coordinated as they were, came to a halt, forming solid lines before slowly advancing once they reached the ruins of the wall. The Greeks quickly followed suit, taking notes from the Romans as they taunted the monsters. Behind the formed lines, the Hunters quickly began firing volleys of arrows into the horde of monsters, vaporizing dozens with each round.
Percy ignored all of that behind him, rushing forward with his trident. He blew away multiple monsters with each swing as he moved forward, his mere presence enough to cause some of the weaker monsters to cower in fear. Beside him, Thalia did much of the same, combining her sword skills with her powers to devastating effect.
The Greco-Roman line finally closed with the monsters and chewed up those that were left in the path of carnage after Percy and Thalia had already moved through. The disorganization of the monsters made it easy for the experienced Greek and Roman campers to quickly slaughter those that were left while Chiron's forces cleaned up the sides, and soon enough they were making their way past what was left of the walls and into the courtyard.
Percy and Thalia finally reached the other side of the horde of monsters, rushing up the battle-scarred steps of the temple where the Olympians had fought the Titans just minutes earlier. Making their way into the temple itself, they ran across the marble floor, their footsteps echoing in the grand, if dark and empty, chamber.
"Ah, you have made it this far," a voice echoed from the dark recesses of the other side of the chamber. Percy and Thalia both came to a pause as the figure came into view. He was glowing, bathed in a golden light, and color was shared by his armor, hair and even eyes. It was an intense golden color, one that reminded Percy more of the sun than of the metal. There was a faint resemblance to Apollo.
"Let me introduce myself," the Titan grinned. "I am Hyperion, and this is as far as you will get." Without further ado, the Titan swung his long golden sword, with the two demigods narrowly dodging it by falling backward. Hyperion held his sword over his head before swinging it down on Percy who, laying on the floor, barely pulled his trident up in time to catch the sword mid-swing. Thalia, having picked herself off the floor, quickly swung at the Titan, who retracted his blade to parry Thalia's.
Percy used the distraction to pick himself off the floor, and seeing Hyperion locking blades with Thalia, quickly thrust his trident forward. Hyperion snarled and jumped backward, holding his sword out as both Percy and Thalia advanced on him. Thalia made the first move, swinging her sword horizontally to force Hyperion to block, but instead, he moved in closer and past Thalia's swing, opting instead to throw a brutal punch at her chest. Thalia flew across the chamber into a pillar, wheezing after the air had been knocked out of her chest.
Percy tried to back away as quickly as he could, his trident too long to use effectively at such a short distance, but Hyperion grabbed him by the throat before he could, lifting him off the ground. The trident slipped from Percy's hand as he tried to pull Hyperion's grip off his throat, but it was ironlike and unmovable. Just as his vision began to blur and darken, he heard a familiar voice from the entrance of the temple.
"No!" Grover yelled out, his goat hooves echoing on the marble floor. Quickly acting, the satyr pulled out his reed pipes and began to blow. As he did so, Hyperion roared in anger and pain, and Percy barely could look down to see thick roots growing around Hyperion's legs. As Grover walked closer and the spell intensified, the roots grew faster and thicker until they covered much of the Titan's lower body.
Hyperion dropped Percy as he focused on peeling the wood off of himself, and with a yell, emanated a wave of power that blew the growing roots off of his body. The shockwave passed through Grover, filling him with a deep fear that he could not immediately overcome and metaphorically rooting him to the spot. With clear anger, he strode forward and swatted the reed pipes out of Grover's hands.
"For that, satyr" the Titan snarled, "you die." With a heave, Hyperion thrust his long golden sword through Grover's chest, and pulled it out after a moment and lowering it to his side, letting the blade, slick with Grover's blood, drip onto the pristine floor.
"Agh!" Percy cried, forcing himself up as he picked up his trident. Dodging Hyperion's first swing by ducking, he elbowed the Titan in the chest, forcing him backward.
"Percy!" Thalia yelled, causing him to turn to her. She was already sitting upright, albeit coughing slightly. Grunting, she threw her sword as well as she could across the chamber, and Percy extended his left hand to catch it out of the air and parry Hyperion's wild counter-swing. With his trident, he slammed its back end into the Titan's foot, causing Hyperion to yell with pain as he stumbled backward. Dodging another wild swing, Percy slammed the trident with such force into Hyperion's sword arm that he could feel whatever bones were underneath crack. The long golden sword that the Titan wielded fell to the ground with a clang, but Percy paid that no heed as he swung Thalia's sword and sliced off Hyperion's left arm, causing a spray of golden ichor to come out.
"Die!" Percy howled, and he swung the trident upward into the bottom of the Titan's head. The middle prong pierced all the way through Hyperion's head, the tip poking through the top of his skull, and the Titan's face immediately went slack as ichor leaked out of every orifice of his head. Percy leaned in to stare the Titan eye-to-eye as the light faded from Hyperion's, and drawing back, he pulled the trident out and swung Thalia's sword one last time, beheading the already-dead Titan.
Ignoring the decapitated body of Hyperion falling to the ground, Percy rushed over to Grover, throwing his weapons on the ground as he knelt by his first friend.
"Hey, hey, come on," Percy quickly said, holding Grover's right hand with his own. "Come on, G-man, you can pull through this."
Grover shook his head and smiled yearningly.
"Just, just hold on and let me get some help."
Grover placed his left hand on Percy's chest. "No, no, it's too late." He coughed out blood as he struggled to breath. "I want you to stay."
"No," Percy quietly cried, tears forming in his eyes. "Not like this. Not now."
Grover grimaced in pain but did his best to appear happy for Percy. "It's alright, man. It's fine. When I die, you know, I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. I–" he coughed again, "I've always wanted to be reincarnated as a flower. A nice daffodil, maybe, or a daisy. I'd be okay with that."
Percy wiped away some of the tears that had fallen. "You'd really be okay with being a flower?"
Grover serenely looked at the dark ceiling of the temple. "Can't imagine another way to go." He looked back at Percy. "But you need to do what you gotta do." He pulled himself closer to Percy using the latter's arm. "Chaos. You need to end this." Falling back down to the ground, Grover wheezed as he quickly panted with shallow breaths.
"I– I'm really glad I got to be friends with you, Percy."
Percy swallowed. "Me too, Grover, me too."
Grover smiled one last time before closing his eyes. The last bit of breath left his body as his chest fell, and suddenly he was still.
Percy knelt there for a few seconds, shaking as he struggled to contain his tears. Finally, he stood up, his fists balled up.
"Percy?" Thalia's voice came from behind him. He turned to see Thalia slowly walking over. She looked alright for having been thrown with such force, and Percy sighed as he saw her.
"Let's get Chaos," he spat. Slowly nodding, Thalia picked up her sword and Percy his trident before the two of them ran deeper into the bowels of the temple.
The very air grew thicker and wilder as they ran deeper into the mountain, and instead of going deeper into the mountain as Percy had originally assumed, they actually climbed it, scaling stairs at a rapid pace. Soon, they found themselves on a familiar open summit.
"You!" Atlas spat, still where Percy had left him a year earlier holding the sky. "You dare come back? If I were not under this, I would crush you like an ant!"
"Quiet, or I'll cut your head off!" Thalia snapped at the Titan, nervously looking around the summit.
"Empty words," the Titan sneered. "Ignoring the fact that the sky would come ccrashing down and destroy your puny mortal world, I am the Titan of endurance and have lasted for millennia under the weight of the sky – your sword–" The Titan paused when his eyes bulged as he examined her sword. "Even your sword cannot kill me."
Percy ignored the trapped Titan's posturing and looked past the immense weight Atlas carried. At the far end of the summit, Aphrodite's figure stood, facing off the cliff in the other direction. Around the figure, the air contorted itself in unnatural ways, and Percy could feel his goosebumps rising just from the sight of the figure.
Chaos turned, and Percy forced himself to look forward and not turn away in horror. It was a grotesque sight – where Aphrodite had once been a paragon of beauty, Chaos had morphed the features into something terrible. Her face had been mixed and mashed until it was nearly unrecognizable, save for a mouth, a nose, and two eyes that swirled like kaleidoscopes into oblivion.
"So, you have come," Chaos said, its tone neutral.
"It's time to finish this once and for all," Percy yelled back, sounding braver than he felt.
"I agree," Chaos quietly replied. "Today, everything will be finished… once and for all."
Percy charged forward with his trident, thrusting quickly. Chaos deftly dodged the attack, sidestepping it and allowing Percy to overextend himself. Out of its cloak, Chaos pulled out a long, thin blade, and for a moment, Percy feared that he had made a terrible mistake. Luckily for him, Thalia charged in as well, swinging her sword, and Chaos turned to parry that attack instead of ending Percy.
Chaos overpowered Thalia in a battle of locked blades, causing her to stumble backward as Percy swung his trident at Chaos' head. Chaos simply tilted its head to avoid the swing and flung itself forward, forcing Percy to backpedal and try to keep Chaos at arms-length.
"This isn't working," Thalia huffed, coming to Percy's side. They were now on the other side of Atlas from Chaos, a good twenty yards apart. Chaos merely smiled at their predicament but was seemingly content to just watch them.
"Whenever you two are ready to continue," Chaos' voice echoed across. "The longer you wait, the worse it will be for you. Even as I speak, I gather more chaos to me."
Percy looked at his trident and back at Chaos. It seemed absurd to beat Chaos using it – even Hyperion was easier to fight, considering he could actually land blows on the Titan. He had no ability to get close to touching the primordial.
"I have been waiting an eternity for this. I will not be denied by two children, no matter how powerful you two may be. There is no power, Olympian or Titan, that can stand against me."
Olympian or Titan. Percy's mind raced to find a solution. He looked back down at his trident. It had been his father's, a symbol of power akin to those formerly held by Zeus and Hades. When the bolt and helm had been added, Thalia's sword had increased in power…
"Even your sword cannot kill me." Atlas' words echoed back.
"There is no power, Olympian or Titan, that can stand against me." Chaos' words.
It was a sudden epiphany that came across Percy, his mind finally piecing it all together. Without speaking, he slammed his trident into Thalia's sword.
"What, Per–" She was cut off by the intense light that emitted from the reaction. The light was so bright that even Atlas and Chaos turned away, yet Percy stood there, weathering its full might as he pressed his trident into the essence of the sword. Thalia stood still, taking the feeling of power and might that surged through the sword into her without moving. Like with Zeus, as soon as it began, it stopped, but to Percy, it felt like both an instant and an eternity at the same time.
His trident was gone. Instead, the sword now had a new design – the blade had an intricately carved three-pronged trident on one side, while the ancient writing persisted on the other.
"It feels… different," Thalia whispered. "This wasn't how it was like after my dad did it."
"That's because it's complete now," Percy replied, stepping back. "A complete trifecta of the Olympians' power distilled into a form more powerful than any other weapon before it. And now, we can end this." He reached out a hand, and Thalia handed over the sword. Feeling the power hum contently through its hilt, Percy strode over to Atlas, who had fallen silent at the sight of the sword, and cleaved his head off in one blow.
"No!" Chaos roared, jumping forward. But it was too late.
Atlas' headless body fell to the ground, and with it, the sky itself. A balance that had been crafted by the protogenoi themselves, it was beyond even Chaos' ability to stop.
And so the sky fell.
In that moment, Thalia knew what was going to happen, so she rushed forward and took Percy's other hand in her own, wanting to stand together at the very end. Chaos screamed at its own impotence in the situation, having no ability to stop Gaia and Ouranos' point of creation.
And yet, something happened. Something wholly unexpected.
A bright light emitted from the sword, but one completely unlike the others before it. It was a bright, pure white light, overpowering the features of everything else around it until Percy could see nothing but white light. Suddenly he felt himself being sucked into something, but he had no time to even scream before it happened. His only comfort was the sensation of Thalia's hand in his.
SomewhereNowhereEverywhere
Percy blinked. For a moment, it felt as if he were floating in a pool, at peace in the water. But now he could see that he clearly was not. He looked down at his hand, seeing Thalia's in it, and he traced her hand all the way up to her face, where he saw Thalia looking at him with much the same expression. Then he turned to see his surroundings.
He stood on a white tree. More accurately, he stood on the massive trunk of a horizontal white tree. When he turned backward, he could see no roots, only an endless trunk. On the other end, the tree curved, its trunk extended upward – if directions had any meaning where they were – and split into branches, all devoid of leaves. Each branch had more on it, a seemingly endless pattern to Percy's eyes.
He glanced at the surrounding blackness around the tree, only to quickly turn his gaze back to the tree. In that single moment, he felt terror take hold of his body, and he truly feared for his sanity from just that one glance. It was like Chaos, but even more primordial, more untamed, more removed from the logic of human beings. It was not meant to be understandable by mere mortals, and Percy was pretty sure that it was not meant to ever be viewed by anyone, ever.
"I see you have found your way here, young Perseus," a familiar voice rang out. Percy spun around to see Chronos standing behind, staring at the tree much as he had earlier. "I was wondering when you would come."
"Who are you?" Thalia quickly asked, before realizing that neither she or Percy had any weapons on them.
"This is, uh, Chronos. Thalia, Chronos; Chronos, Thalia," Percy tried to introduce the two of them.
"Kronos?!" Thalia nearly shrieked.
"No, no," Percy hurriedly explained. "They just sound the same. Chronos with a 'c-h', no 'k'."
"Quite right from young Perseus," Chronos beamed. "I am Chronos of the protogenoi, not the Titan Kronos."
"Protogenoi…" Thalia whispered to herself. "Wait, Percy, you know a primordial?!"
Percy sighed and rubbed his chin. "Long story." He turned to Chronos. "Anyway, why are we here?"
Chronos clapped his hands together. "I am glad you asked. I have been waiting for this for a long time – ever since I gave you that sword, in fact. You see, that sword was nothing more than an empty vessel until I imbued it with a considerable portion of my strength and thus myself. I gave it powers beyond the mortal imagination, but it would require more power to activate at all. That way, I knew it would not activate until it was needed."
"But how did we get… here? And what is this place, anyway?"
"One at a time," Chronos replied. "So, when you kept adding more powerful Olympian weapons to the sword, it began to properly channel the power that I kept inside the sword in the first place. By completing the trifecta and having the three powerful symbols of Olympian power contained inside the sword, it finally became what it was meant to be – a conduit for pure, unadulterated power and a connection to more. When the sky, a representation of the creation event of the Titans themselves and the beginning of the Greek mythos, fell due to the sword, it opened that conduit and led you here."
"As for where you are," Chronos continued, chuckling slightly. "Well, that is a hard question to answer. For one could easily say you are nowhere, compressed to an infinitesimally small space. Perhaps you are everywhere, looking at the fabric of reality itself. The most correct, yet the least rewarding and explaining answer is that you are somewhere, and that is all you can possibly know about this place."
Percy looked down at the white wood. "What is this, then?"
Chronos looked at the multitude of infinitely branching branches. "A representation. Your minds could not possibly handle what the real presentation of this place is, so it has made a façade for you to view, one that you can comprehend. In a sense, this is a world tree, even though world trees have never been part of the Greek mythos. It is a world tree for the Greek mythology, one that contains everything you have ever known as demigods. And in it lies the answer to how you can prevail."
Thalia's sword suddenly reappeared in her right hand, and she looked at Percy with confusion.
"There is a choice to be made here," Chronos explained. "What you see before you is what sustains the Greek mythology – it is a distillation of every terror and joy you have experienced from what mortals consider to be nothing more than myth. And you now have a weapon that can destroy it all."
"Destroy?" Percy incredulously asked, turning to Chronos.
"Destroy," Chronos confirmed. "It would wipe out everything in the Greek mythos – the Titans, the Olympians, satyrs, centaurs, nymphs, the godly parts of both of you, and yes, even the protogenoi. Even me."
With a sudden chilling realization, Percy understood. He understood perfectly. It all fit together.
The Great Prophecy.
A half-blood of the eldest gods shall reach sixteen against all odds
Thalia was sixteen. Today. Or at least was, in the world where time had meaning. In fact, Percy could feel it in himself as well. He had no idea how long he truly spent in the ancient world or what it had done to his body, but he could feel it in him. Against all odds, two half-bloods of the eldest gods had reached sixteen.
And see the world in endless sleep
They stood in a world without time, where nothing would move forward or back. It was endless until they chose to end it.
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap
Thalia's sword was destined, marked, cursed to do this. It would rip the Olympian part of them from their soul and destroy it.
A single choice shall end his days
It was his choice to be immortal or not. And now it was contingent on what he chose here.
Olympus to preserve or raze
The terrible, final line brought clarity.
This war was never about saving Olympus from destruction and Chaos.
It was about razing Olympus to save everything else.
"Thalia," Percy whispered. "Thalia."
"I know," Thalia replied, still holding the sword. "But I don't know if I can."
"Then we do it together."
Thalia looked into Percy's eyes.
"Together."
Each clamping both hands on the sword's hilt, the lifted it as high as they could, then slammed into the white bark of the world tree of Greek mythos. Pulp flew out, yet the tree was still intact. They raised the sword again.
"It is interesting to ponder," Chronos began to speak to no one in particular, "what it will be like."
The sword fell again, sending small wood chips flying into the dark abyss.
"For most never see or hear anything about these myths in their lives. No indication that there are gods and Titans and monsters all around them, courtesy of the Mist. That begs the question – is any of it real?"
The sword fell again, and now it was ripping pieces of wood away.
"The Mist obscures mortal sight, but really, is it not just separating these worlds. Functionally, do these myths truly exist, or are they just a figment of a collective imagination of some humans? And where does that leave me – a being with independent thought and free will, or just a tool to an end?"
The sword fell again, and now the faintest of light was visible from deep within the tree.
"I suppose it does not matter in the end, for this will all be over. Soon, it will be like a portion of humanity waking up from a terrible nightmare, free from the clutches of this mythos and thrust into the motions of regular mortal life. It will be a challenge in and of itself, but one that you may find is worth the pain."
The sword fell again, and now entire chunks of the trunk were flying away.
Chronos smiled one last dry, humorless smile.
"A childhood's end, indeed. An awakening from the dream."
The sword fell one last time, and suddenly Percy and Thalia and Chronos and the white tree were all bathed in light, overwhelming bright light, and suddenly there was only light–