As we walked in, I felt the eyes of the Olympians on us, but I was not afraid. Not anymore.

"Lord Zeus, we are honored to be in your presence!" I called, and Grover, who looked to be giving a report to Zeus, looked up and saw us, running to us before looking back at Zeus for permission.

"You may go." The king of the Gods told him.

"You guys made it!" He cheered, hugging most of us besides Jason and Zoë

"Lord Zeus, I beg you not to kill Bessie. In return, I give up my symbol of power to you!" I called, drawing my scythe and offering it to him.

"You would trade your immortality and power for a monster?" Dionysus asked, looking at me like I was crazy

"I understand now who I am, what I am. I'm giving it up, not just the monster, but for my mother and father. For Zoe and Bianca. For Jason, Grover, and the life I love." I told him, the gods thinking it over as Zeus pulled the scythe towards him.

"Your offering has been accepted. The monster will not be killed." He told us, already moving to the next order of business.

"We should kill these demigods while we can, before they can turn sixteen!" Ares yelled, and I looked the war god in the eyes.

"I'm not blasting my son to bits." Poseidon told him, Zeus stroking his neatly trimmed beard and nodding

"Nor my daughter."

"Then it seems all is in order. If you are protecting the Ophiotaurus, and we aren't going to die, there is one last bit I'm afraid we must discuss. The Roman Camp, they know of us now, and while it was only a matter of time before this happened, I've sped up the process. We need peace for you to find peace in both your forms because when one war ends, another begins." I warned, Zeus took my words to heart, looking worried.

"We have much to think about. But first, all in favor of killing the half bloods who could be at the center of the prophecy?" He asked, only three people raising their hands.

"Then it is settled. Since we are not destroying these heroes, we should be honoring them. Let the triumph celebration begin!" His voice boomed, and I took Annabeths hand in my own, walking calmly out of the thrown room.

"Okay, I need answers." She told me, and i stopped, sure I had them for her.

"When Luke eventually turns good, he is reborn. But his essence and that of Kronos was mixed, and it had become one. When I was born, I was both the reborn Luke Castellan and Titan Lord Kronos. But as I've given up my symbol of power and my immortality with it, I'm just me. The same me I've always been." I explained, waiting for a flood of questions to come for me, only getting one

"Why?" She asked, and I cupped her cheeks, kissing her softly for a few seconds. It felt like my head was exploding, but I had to keep it together.

"Because of you. And for everyone I love. What good is immortality when i can't live my life with them?" I asked, running my hands through her hair.

"That was so cheesy." She told me softly as she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me this time until I heard a cough behind her.

"Jesus, give me like, five minutes." I begged, turning to see Percy look like he'd walked into a horror movie, and I was confused about who'd coughed until I saw the woman with grey eyes that had intelligence beyond anything I could fathom inside them

"Oh, uh, Lady Athena. Thank you for honoring us with your presence." I managed to squeak out, Annabeth letting go and looking at her mother, while I wondered if the chill down my spine was what real fear felt like, or magically amped up.

"My daughter, you have done well on this quest. I am proud of you." She told her daughter, who looked like she was in shock before smiling at her mother.

"Thank you." Annabeth replied, more together than I would be.

Athena looked at me, knees weak as her eyes looked me over.

"This is just the beginning. You will have your chance to prove yourself soon, Alexander Dion Grace." She warned me, making me feel uneasy for a moment before she disappeared as quickly as she'd come.

"I love it when gods vaguely threaten me." I joked, Jason coming out of the throne room and finding me.

"You owe me answeres." He told me, and I nodded.

"You owe me questions." I shot back, waiting on him to laugh, but he never did.

"Okay, uh, for one, I'm from the future. Like, almost two decades from now in the future. My spirit was reborn, but due to circumstances that I can't divulge, I am also the Titan Kronos reborn in a mortal form. That scythe? The symbol of my power, and with it given to Zeus, my immortality is gone. The key was giving it away willingly. Oh, Greek and Roman gods are basically just split personalities for the same gods. So you are the son of Jupiter, Thalia is the daughter of Zeus, ect, ect. The only real difference is that you guys have way more structure than us Greeks." I told him, watching him catch up. Maybe it was a lot to throw on him right now, but the sooner we learned to work together, the sooner real peace could be achieved by mortals.

"Okay, well, those are answers." He mumbled, rubbing his head.

"Unfortunately, they're all I have now." I apologized, looking at him. He was someone else I never got to meet.

"Come on, uncle, it's a party. Stay long enough to celebrate with your family." I told him, grabbing a drink from a floating tray and looking at it.

"Uh, us half-bloods aren't 21. Can we get some soda, or, like, non-alcoholic drinks?" I asked, the liquor in my cup turning into coke.

"I can't stay. I left without permission." Jason tried to argue, getting shut down by Grover.

"Dude, you're on Olympus. If anyone asks, the gods summoned you, which is technically true." He told him, sliding a cup of soda to him.

"Besides, it's not like you can just leave anyway. We're in New York. The best you can do is just Iris message them." I told him, patting myself down and finding a drachma.

"I don't know what that is." Jason told me, the two of us heading over to a quieter fountain and making a rainbow.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." I spoke, tossing the coin in the mist.

"Show me," I paused, looking at him to say something.

"Oh, uh, Reyna at Camp Jupiter." He told the rainbow, the girls face coming into view.

"Jason! What is this? Where are you?" She asked, looking at him with worry on her face.

"I'm okay. I'm in New York right now, on Olympus. We, I, well, it's hard to explain like this. When i get back, I can explain more, like Lord Jupiter explained it to me." He told her, the worry on her face clearing up. She must have trusted him dearly to not question that explanation too much.

"Then we will speak you when you return." She agreed, the two of them looking awkward for a moment.

"Oh, do you need to hang up? Just swipe the message with your hand." I explained, Jason ending the call.

"See? Not so bad, was it?" I asked, giving him a little push towards Thalia.

"Go. We got memories to make, and my, uh, well, it's not labeled yet, but I gotta girl waiting on me, so come on." I told him, the two of us heading back towards the party.

Before the party ended, Bianca handed me the statue she'd risked her life for to get Nico, making me promise I'd give it to him. Zoë gave me my shield back, and I smiled at her.

"I'm glad you didn't die. Losing a friend so quickly would suck." I told her, offering my hand to her and getting an awkward hug instead.

"I thought hunters couldn't do this whole boy hugging thing." I mumbled, not sure what to do with my arms before she let go.

"I was not hugging a boy, I was honoring a friend." She told me, both she and Bianca returning to the hunters.

"So she does have a nice side." Annabeth joked, a rare thing for her.

"Is that a tone of jealousy I hear?" I asked, turning my head to grin at her.

"You planning on cheating?" She pulled the front of my shirt, so I had to bend down to her height.

"Never."

We shared a kiss, and I thought in the back of my mind that of any party I've gone to, that my favorite would always be this one.