𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔢𝔲𝔰

Chapter Twenty Six [Percy] - This is the End for Now

A/N: This is the last chapter of this part of the story and what a ride it has been... Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has come on this journey with me this far! You have no idea how honored I feel and how thankful I am to have all of you guys. You all seriously mean so much to me! We're at 2K reads and about to hit 3K and I honestly never thought I'd get that far! So thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you guys.

This story is for you guys, so always feel free to comment or DM me any opinions you have about it and any suggestions you might have. I want you guys' suggestions because some of them are things I never even thought of... and they're genius!

One last thing before I get on with this last chapter. Something is going to happen with Percy (as you'll see at the very end), and part of that is because of what will happen during this chapter. I've seen a lot of stories about this particular scene, but for some reason I think they're all kind of the same. So I changed it because I believe that after everything Percy has been through, this is what he will think.

Again, thank you so much for your support and pretty much everything. I'm so blessed to have all of you.

Let's get on with the story!

Percy

Zeus took my immortality and gave it to Jason and the others. I smiled as they got back the lives that they so deserved. Zeus nodded to me in gratitude for giving his son this chance, and then sent me home. I caught Tartarus's gaze as he was being brought into the throne room as I was exiting. Celestial bronze chains wrapped his arms, but that wouldn't be much use against him if he so desired it. I knew he was stronger than that, which just made me all the more sad for him.

If he wanted, he could've escaped from those chains. But he wasn't, because he believed that he deserved some sort of punishment for his actions. If he voiced it out loud, I would immediately counter with the fact that in the end, he had chosen the right path. My brother would argue that he had stayed by our father's sides for longer than anyone could imagine, and that didn't make up for his decision now.

Perhaps that was true. But still, he deserved better.

"Tartarus, son of Chaos," Lord Zeus's voice boomed across the entire expanse of the large throne room. "Your trial begins now. How do you plead?"

I was about to exit the room, the door closing to a slit behind me, when I heard the word that made me stop and turn back.

"Guilty."

I froze and slipped in through the door. Poseidon saw me and shook his head in warning.

Do not interfere this time, Percy, he said in my head. But he knew that I wasn't going to heed that advice. When had I ever, after all?

"What do you mean, guilty?" I demanded. The Olympians besides Poseidon turned towards me, the Sea God burying his face in his hands like he couldn't bear to watch.

"Tartarus... if it weren't for you, we would have lost this war."

"Percy, that doesn't make up for everything that I have done," my brother said solemnly. He gazed at me with sympathy. I was confused. I wasn't the one who was about to suffer the consequences. "I stood by my father as he destroyed entire planets, systems, even galaxies... and I did it with pride. Because I believed he was right - right about it all. That some don't deserve to breathe the same air as us, walk on the same grounds. That they are all below us. Just as he almost got you to believe."