σɾɳιƚԋαʂ (ρʝσ x ɱαʅҽ σƈ)

The Last Stand for Olympus

Annabeth: (to Kronos) YOU! To think that I...that I thought—

She drew her knife.

Theo: Annabeth, don't!

I tried to take her arm, but she shook me off.

She attacked Kronos, and his smug smile faded. Perhaps some part of Luke remembered that he used to like this girl, used to take care of her when she was little. She plunged her knife between the straps of his armor, right at his collar bone. The blade should've sunk into his chest. Instead, it bounced off.

Annabeth doubled over, clutching her arm to her stomach. The jolt might've been enough to dislocate her bad shoulder.

I yanked her back as Kronos swung his scythe, slicing the air where she'd been standing.

Annabeth: I HATE YOU!

I wasn't sure who she was talking to—me or Luke or Kronos. Tears streaked the dust on her face.

Percy: I have to fight him.

Annabeth: It's my fight too, Percy!

Kronos: (laughs) So much spirit. I can see why Luke wanted to spare you. Unfortunately, that won't be possible.

He raised his scythe. I got ready to defend, but before Kronos could strike, a dog's howl and a tiger's roar pierced the air somewhere behind the Titan's army.

Percy: Mrs. O' Leary?

Theo: Diego?

The enemy forces stirred uneasily. Then the strangest thing happened. They began to part, clearing a path through the street like something behind them was forcing them to.

Soon there was a free aisle down the center of Fifth Avenue. Standing at the end of the block was a familiar giant dog, my saber-toothed companion, and a small figure in black armor.

Theo & Percy: Nico?

Mrs. O'Leary and Diego bounded toward us, ignoring the growling monsters on either side. Nico strode forward. The enemy army fell back before him like he radiated death, which of course he did.

Nico: (smiles) Got your message. Is it too late to join the party?

Theo: (chuckles) Better late than never, kid.

Kronos: Son of Hades. (spits on the ground) Do you love death so much you wish to experience it?

Nico: Your death would be great for me.

Kronos: I'm immortal, you fool! I have escaped Tartarus. You have no business here, and no chance to live.

Nico drew his sword—three feet of wicked sharp Stygian iron, black as a nightmare.

Nico: I don't agree.

The ground rumbled. Cracks appeared m the road, the sidewalks, the sides of the buildings. Skeletal hands grasped the air as the dead clawed their way into the world of the living. There were thousands of them, and as they emerged, the Titan's monsters got jumpy and started to back up.