Chapter 26

Olympus was destroyed. Everything was starting to crumble. Where was Zeus? Why didn't he stop this? "We're too late," Grover said.

"No," I snapped. "We can still stop him before he destroys the gods."

"By the looks of it, I'd say the gods aren't even here," Thalia said.

"Yeah, they probably went into hiding." Nico folded his arms.

It was probably true. Like always, the gods wanted us to clean up the mess. Only if we all were killed would they take on John themselves. "Percy, what exactly are we going to do when we find John?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know," I said.

"Well, he's got the Achilles spot, so the chances of us lucking out and hitting it are very slime," Thalia scoffed.

"Annabeth and I are the only ones that know where it is," I snapped. "Which means you guys will have to not get killed while we get close enough to stab it."

"So we're just supposed to die, like the others?" Nico growled.

"I told you not to get killed," I spat.

"Look, our ADHD kept us from dying in battle, but now we're just mortal. We'll probably be dead by the time you guys get close enough," Thalia said.

"Fine! Don't help! Just know that if we fail, the gods are done. That means, the world will go with them. So pick: your life or the world," I snarled.

I continued to walk. When I looked back, I saw Thalia following. Though, she didn't look happy about it. We were probably walking into our deaths. But we had to make sure John died.

The gods' throne room was trashed. Athena's throne was smashed, along with Hermes, Ares, my father's, and all the other gods' thrones. All of them, but one. Zeus's. John Martin sat on Zeus's throne like he had every right to do so.

John looked more...threatening than he had before. His eyes kept changing colors. But lightning still flashed in them if they were green, blue, or brown. One of his legs was hanging off the throne (which looked strange considering the throne was meant for the gods who were like ten feet tall). The other leg was pulled up on the throne. A sword was lying against John's shoulder.

The sword had to me at least a foot wide. Like Backbiter, on one side of the blade was celestial bronze and the other edge was tempered steel. The hilt was black as night. There was something written in Greek on the sword, but we were too far away and I wouldn't be able to read it because I was mortal. Attached to John's arm, was a round shield. A spear with blue lightning shining off it was painted on the shield.

I looked at John's face. He didn't look tired or anything. It almost looked like he was bored. I noticed that his hair had grown longer. The scar on his face looked really white. John was smiling at us mockingly.

John gripped the hilt of the sword and flew down from Zeus's throne. The flying thing I know didn't come from Poseidon and it sure as hell didn't come from Hades. I looked at Thalia and mouthed, "I didn't know you could fly."

She mouthed back, "Neither did I."

John put his sword's blade on his finger. It was completely balanced. He grinned at us. "My sword's name is Nightbane," John told us. "Did you know I could concentrate my powers through it? Well, I guess not. Humph."

"What?" I growled.

"I thought there would be more of you," he shrugged. "Let me guess, you couldn't protect your friends so Cain killed them, right?"

I wanted to rip his head off. Annabeth grabbed my arm. John laughed and shook his head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Temper, temper. As you know, I can't leave you alive because you know where MY Achilles spot is. And I know from your girlfriend knows where it is as well. As for the rest of you, you all just annoy me and I have no more use for you."

John flipped Nightbane into the air and the hilt landed in his hand. I starred at Nightbane. That sword was HUGE. I looked at Backbiter in my hand. Could Backbiter stand up to a sword like that?

Suddenly John pointed Nightbane at us. "DUCK!" I yelled.

We all fell to the floor as a lightning bolt shot out of Nightbane. I shielded Annabeth from the lightning. I opened my eyes. Smoke was coming off of Nightbane. In an instant John was in the air, with Nightbane above his head.

"Move!" I yelled.

We all jumped out of the way just in time before Nightbane slammed into the ground. The coalition made an explosion.

"We are so dead," Nico said.

I wanted to yell at him, but we didn't have time to argue. The dust cleared and John ran at us again. We separated, running in different directions. I knew John was going to go after Annabeth or me first. Annabeth.

I stopped dead in my tracks and whirled around. Annabeth was running and holding her shoulder. I knew her bullet wound hadn't completely healed yet and she was in pain. I gripped Backbiter tighter and ran toward her. She tripped and fell on the ground. John appeared in front of her and raised Nightbane.

I got there just in time for Nightbane to slam into Backbiter. "Attack me if you want, but don't attack my friends," I snarled.

John laughed. "I'm stronger than you, Jackson! In case you haven't noticed, I have the Achilles spot, plus your powers and all the other power of the Big Three's children!"

"That doesn't mean you can't be killed!" I protested.

John grabbed my shirt and threw me. My back slammed into a broken pillar. "Percy!" I heard Annabeth cry.

I painfully stepped away from the pillar. Blood trickled down my forehead. John raised an eye brow. "Good. I'm glad your going to fight. That will make it more fun to kill you."

My body hurt. The thought of just letting John kill me was temping. I gripped Backbiter and charged at John. He hit my head with the hilt of his sword and leaped on Zeus's throne. "YOU'LL HABE TO DO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT IF YOU WANT TO KILL ME!" John scouted.

I panted and wiped some blood off my forehead. When I started to walk toward John, Annabeth put her hand on my chest. "Percy, you don't have to do this. We could run. Go somewhere where John wouldn't find us," Annabeth whispered.

I grabbed her wrist. "We have to face him sometime. I'm not going to run. If I die trying to kill him, at least I died trying."

"But I don't want anyone else to die," she protested.

I pressed my forehead to her's. "I'm not going to die, okay?"

She pursed her lips. I began to limp toward John. He jumped down from the throne and punched my stomach. "Ack!" I hacked.

I grabbed John's face and pushed him back. He hit Zeus's throne. Then Thalia jumped on his back. He snarled and threw Thalia off his back. She scrapped across the floor. Nico tried to stab John, but his sword bounced off him. Nightbane slammed down on Nico's sword.

Nico grunted and John pushed Nightbane. Nico's feet were pushed into the ground and John began to push him backwards. That was my chance. I ran up behind John and was about to stab his Achilles spot when he kicked Nico back and swung around to me. "Hello, Percy," he smiled and sent lightning through my body.

I screamed in pain and fell on my knees. A green crack split the ground in front of me. Three skeletons rose out of it. The pain was too much and I fell on my back. Once the lightning had stopped, my body still hurt like hell. The skeletons had grabbed Nico. Two holding his arms, the third holding a knife to his throat.

John wasn't in front of me anymore. He was standing in the middle of the room. A shockwave came from his body. Olympus was crumbling.

I looked at Thalia her foot was caught under the remains of Zeus's throne after the shockwave destroyed it. A pillar was being held up by a rope. If it snapped Thalia would be crushed.

John looked at Annabeth and reached his hand out. Water shot toward her and she was blown at the edge of the crumbling Olympus floor. Her feet danged over the edge. "Percy!" she screamed.

Grover was trapped under a bunch of ruble. He would be crushed if I didn't get him out.

John held his hands out. "Choose, Percy Jackson. You can only choose one of your friends before they die."

"W-What?" I stammered.

"Each one of your friends' life is in danger. You may choose one to save. However, keep in mind that you only have about two minutes," John said.

I grabbed Backbiter and charged at him. He blocked my attack and kicked my feet out from under me. I smacked my face on the ground. I forced myself to look at John. I couldn't choose between my friends. All of them were calling out my name.

My heart was beating a hundred miles an hour. I couldn't stand up. To my horror, John said, "Your time it up, Percy."

The skeletons prepared to slit Nico's throat. The rope broke on holding the pillar. Grover was crying out. Annabeth began to slip from the ground. Everything was happening at the same time. I grabbed Backbiter. I couldn't take it anymore and just yelled, "STOP!" And time stood still.

Author's note: How's that for a cliff hanger? Oh, and the John flying thing, if you have read the first two chapter to The Lost Hero, you know that Jason, the main character of the book, can fly. So I guess he's a son of Zeus. If he turns out to be a different demigod then my bad.

The next chapter will be the last one.

By the way, everyone who's like "y r u killing off all the characters?" Well, think about the last line, "And time stood still." Anyone see a plan coming together?