Do-over (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

13. Olympus is apparently a democracy

But I can't. The Fates know I can't and that is why they are so cruel.

I wouldn't have noticed that I had arrived at the Empire State Building if the cab driver hadn't told me. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it before thanking the driver and handing him all the leftover money from my supplies.

I walked off before the man could protest and entered the lobby, going straight to the front desk. I had no idea how old the guard was because I remembered him from the final battle and he hadn't aged a day. He might be immortal, which was a pretty likely scenario since he is the gods' first line of defence.

The man didn't even look up when I stopped right in front of him, still flipping through a rather large book. I cleared my throat impatiently which finally prompted the man to look up at me from his book.

'What do you want, kid?' the guy asked annoyed.

I narrowed my eyes but continued either way, 'I need the key card to the six hundredth floor.'

The man rolled his eyes at me and returned to his book, 'No such thing, kid.

This guy always manages to annoy me. Every. Single. Time.

'Look, man,' I said, forcing a calm voice as I smashed an uncapped Riptide onto the table. 'I need to see Zeus right now. I have something of his that he would most probably want back. Now give me the key before I shove this sword down your throat.'

I may have gone a bit overboard but it felt good releasing some of my anger, even if it was on Olympus' doorman.

I must have sounded pretty convincing because the key card to Olympus was in my hand in under a minute and I was already halfway to the elevators. Making sure nobody was in the elevator with me, I inserted the card and pressed the red button that had the number 600 engraved on it.

I had promised myself that I would fix my mistakes this time around. Even being only a few weeks into this redo, I had found more things I wanted to fix.

Like the dam elevator music.

The ride up wasn't as long as I remembered it to be. Maybe because the last time I was in this elevator, I was rushing to intercept Kronos from destroying the thrones of the Gods with Thalia, Grover and Annabeth.

Just like the choice of elevator music, that didn't turn out so well.

No matter how bad Muzak is, the scenery that greeted me when the elevator doors opened made up for it. Every single time I visited Olympus, it always took my breath away. As I walked along the path towards the throne room, my mind just stopped thinking to make sure I appreciated the true beauty of Olympus. 

I found my eyes wandering over everything in the city as I walked on autopilot. It must have been the amount of time I spent with Annabeth because I found myself appreciating the architecture and the design of Olympus a lot more than I would have when I was twelve. The Ancient Greek-style buildings still amazed me. I could detect the faint smell of food coming from the open-air market a few meters away. 

I snapped myself out of my daze after realising I was standing in the middle of the pathway, my eyes closed and a stupid smile on my face. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I had a job to do.

I walked the rest of the way to the throne room ignoring all distractions. It wasn't long before I came upon the two gigantic doors that were the entrance to the throne room. Without even hesitating, I pushed the doors open and walked right into a room occupied by twelve super-powerful beings.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the throne room was Hestia sitting by the central hearth of the throne room. Seeing her made me freeze for a fraction of a second but I relaxed when she smiled at me. It wasn't that I was afraid of her, more so that I was confused that she was here this time.