NAOMI, ANNABETH, AND PERCY WERE ON THEIR WAY OUT when Percy stopped. He was looking at Hermes, the god staring at an Iris-message in the mist of a fountain.
Percy looked at Naomi and Annabeth. "I'll meet you at the elevator."
"You sure?" Annabeth asked. Then she studied his face. "Yeah, you're sure."
They watched him walk away, then started walking toward the elevator.
Annabeth reached for Naomi's hand, tangling their fingers together. The butterflies that lived in Naomi's stomach raged.
"We need to talk when we get back to camp," Annabeth said softly. "You, me, and Percy."
Naomi feigned a wince. "Are we in trouble?"
Annabeth smiled. "Only for making it take this long."
She looked exhausted, and Naomi had a feeling the circles under her eyes would be sticking around for a while. But she was still beautiful. Naomi never wanted to look away.
"We made a mess of things, didn't we?" Annabeth whispered.
Naomi smiled. She leaned her head on Annabeth's shoulder, and Annabeth leaned her head on top of Naomi's. "You say that like you expected us to do it any differently."
Annabeth laughed. Naomi had heard the Muses singing and Apollo playing his lyre, but that laugh was more beautiful than either of them. She could listen to it forever.
"Besides," Naomi said lightly, "when is love ever not messy?"
"You make an excellent point, dear."
Naomi and Annabeth jumped, startled at the sudden presence of the goddess of love before them. Aphrodite smiled, but there was a diminished quality to it—as if the light of her smile had dimmed a few notches.
The goddess's appearance rarely stayed the same for long, but for a moment, Naomi saw Silena's eyes. Her heart ached.
"Lady Aphrodite," Annabeth said nervously.
"I just wanted to come and congratulate you two personally," the goddess said.
Naomi's face felt warm. "It was a... group effort."
Aphrodite waved a hand dismissively. "No, no, not on the battle—though, of course, you did very well in that, too, I suppose. But I came to congratulate you on you. I do so love a good love triangle, but there's something about all the sides connecting that just... well, it's a rare beauty, don't you think?"
Naomi's cheeks were officially on fire. "Um... thanks."
"And," Aphrodite continued, her voice growing softer. "I wanted to... You know gods can only do so much for their children, and I..." She took a deep breath. Her blue eyes were glassy. "I wanted to ask that you make sure my children are alright. With Silena..." She faltered.
Naomi swallowed against the tightness in her throat. "She died a hero in the end," she whispered. "That's all that matters."
Aphrodite nodded gently. "Yes," she whispered. "That is... all that matters."
She gave the pair a final smile, then turned, heading back toward the throne room with a flourish of her skirts.
Naomi's eyes stung.
Annabeth squeezed her hand. For a moment, it was the only thing anchoring her to the world.
Naomi knew her pillow would be soaked with tears when she went to bed that night—probably for several nights after it. There was a lifetime of healing in store for her, and a lifetime of grief.
But for now... she just had to breathe.
❊
Percy met them at the elevator.
"Why do you smell like smoke?" Annabeth asked him.
"Long story," he answered.
Together, the three made their way down to the street level. None of them said a word. The music was predictably awful—Neil Diamond or something.
When they got to the lobby, they found Percy's parents arguing with the bald security guy, who'd returned to his post.
"I'm telling you," Sally yelled, "we have to go up! My son—" Then she saw Percy and her eyes widened. "Percy!"
She hugged him, tears in her eyes.
"We saw the building lit up blue," she said. "But then you didn't come down." She pulled away from Percy and hugged Naomi so tight she thought she might break a rib or two. "You went up hours ago!"
"She was getting a bit anxious," Paul said dryly.
"I'm all right," Percy promised as Sally hugged Annabeth. "Everything's okay now."
"Mr. Blofis," Annabeth said, "that was wicked sword work."
Paul shrugged. "It seemed like the thing to do. But Percy, is this really.... I mean, this story about the six hundredth floor?"
"Olympus," Percy said. "Yeah."
Paul looked at the ceiling with a dreamy expression. "I'd like to see that."
"Paul," Sally chided. "It's not for mortals. Anyway, the important thing is we're safe. All of us."
Naomi almost let herself relax. Everything felt perfect. She, Annabeth, and Percy were okay. Kronos was gone. Olympus was saved.
But the life of a demigod was never that easy. Just then Nico ran in from the street, and his face made it clear something was wrong.
"It's Rachel," he said. "I just ran into her down on Thirty-second."
Annabeth frowned. "What's she done this time?"
"It's where she's gone," Nico said. "I told her she would die if she tried, but she insisted. She just took Blackjack and—"
"She took my pegasus?" Percy demanded.
Nico nodded. "She's heading to Half-Blood Hill. She said she had to get to camp."
❊
"What was she thinking?" Annabeth said as they ran for the river.
The traffic was chaos incarnate. Everybody was out on the streets gawking at the war zone damage. Police sirens wailed on every block. There was no possibility of catching a cab, and the pegasi had flown away. The Party Ponies had disappeared (along with most of the root beer in Midtown).
So they ran, pushing through mobs of dazed mortals that clogged the sidewalks.
"She'll never get through the defenses," Annabeth said. "Peleus will eat her."
"We've got to hurry," Percy said.
Naomi looked at Nico. "Where's Skia and Mrs. O'Leary?"
"Last I saw, passed out in a parking lot a couple blocks from Olympus," Nico said, wheezing as he ran.
Naomi chewed on her lip. Nico looked like he'd pass out just summoning a wishbone. She didn't feel much better, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
She pointed toward the closest alley. It wasn't completely dark, but the shadows should suffice. "Over there," she said, running toward it with the others on her heels.
"You can't shadow-travel all of us back to camp," Nico protested as they reached the shadows. "After the battle? You'll pass out."
"Probably," Naomi agreed. "But it's the quickest way. Just... someone catch me if I do pass out."
She grabbed Nico and Percy's hands as Annabeth grabbed their other hands. She called on the shadows around her, feeling them wrap around her and her companions. All the while, she concentrated on the Big House, praying to all the gods there was a good enough shadow to land in.
After a weightless second, they stumbled out of a shadow cast by the overhang of the Big House roof. Naomi wavered for a moment, but surprisingly, she managed to stay on her feet.
"Maybe I do need to practice more," Nico muttered breathlessly, looking at Naomi.
The four demigods ran around the side of the building. It was evident something big was happening. Green light was shooting out of all the windows. Mist—the magical kind—swirled around the yard. Chiron lay on a horse-sized stretcher by the volleyball pit, a bunch of satyrs standing around him. Blackjack cantered nervously in the grass.
Rachel Elizabeth Dare stood at the bottom of the porch steps. Her arms were raised like she was waiting for someone inside the house to throw her a ball.
"What's she doing?" Annabeth demanded. "How did she get past the barriers?"
"She flew," one of the satyrs said, looking accusingly at Blackjack. "Right past the dragon, right through the magic boundaries."
"Rachel!" Percy called, but the satyrs stopped him when he tried to go any closer.
"Percy, don't," Chiron warned. He winced as he tried to move. His left arm was in a sling, his two back legs were in splints, and his head was wrapped in bandages. "You can't interrupt."
"I thought you explained things to her!"
"I did. And I invited her here."
Percy stared at him in disbelief. "You said you'd never let anyone try again! You said—"
"I know what I said, Percy. But I was wrong. Rachel had a vision about the curse of Hades. She believes it may be lifted now. She convinced me she deserves a chance."
"And if the curse isn't lifted? If Hades hasn't gotten to that yet, she'll go crazy!"
The Mist swirled around Rachel. She shivered like she was going into shock.
"Hey!" Percy shouted. "Stop!"
He ran toward her, ignoring the satyrs. He got within ten feet and seemed to hit an invisible wall. He bounced back and landed in the grass.
Rachel opened her eyes and turned. She looked like she was sleepwalking—like she could see Percy, but only in a dream.
"It's all right." Her voice sounded far away. "This is why I've come."
"You'll be destroyed!"
She shook her head. "This is where I belong, Percy. I finally understand why."
The house rumbled. The door flew open and green light poured out. Naomi recognized the warm musty smell of snakes.
Mist curled into a hundred smoky serpents, slithering up the porch columns, curling around the house. Then the Oracle appeared in the doorway.
The withered mummy shuffled forward in her rainbow dress. She looked even worse than usual, which was saying something. Her hair was falling out in clumps. Her leathery skin was cracking like the seat of a worn-out bus. Her glassy eyes stared blankly into space.
Rachel held out her arms. She didn't look scared.
"You've waited too long," Rachel said. "But I'm here now."
The sun blazed more brightly. A man appeared above the porch, floating in the air—a blond dude in a white toga, with sunglasses and a cocky smile.
"Apollo," Percy said.
He winked at Percy but held up his finger to his lips.
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," he said. "You have the gift of prophecy. But it is also a curse. Are you sure you want this?"
Rachel nodded. "It's my destiny."
"Do you accept the risks?"
"I do."
"Then proceed," the god said.
Rachel closed her eyes. "I accept this role. I pledge myself to Apollo, God of Oracles. I open my eyes to the future and embrace the past. I accept the spirit of Delphi, Voice of the Gods, Speaker of Riddles, Seer of Fate."
Naomi wasn't sure where she got the words, but they flowed out of Rachel as the Mist thickened. A green column of smoke, like a huge python, uncoiled from the mummy's mouth and slithered down the stairs, curling affectionately around Rachel's feet. The Oracle's mummy crumbled, falling away until it was nothing but a pile of dust in an old tie-dyed dress. Mist enveloped Rachel in a column.
For a moment, Naomi couldn't see her at all. Then the smoke cleared.
Rachel collapsed and curled into the fetal position. Naomi and her friends rushed forward, but Apollo said, "Stop! This is the most delicate part."
"What's going on?" Percy demanded. "What do you mean?"
Apollo studied Rachel with concern. "Either the spirit takes hold, or it doesn't."
"And if it doesn't?" Annabeth asked.
"Five syllables," Apollo said, counting them on his fingers. "That would be real bad."
Despite Apollo's warning, Percy ran forward and knelt over Rachel. The Mist sank to the ground and the green light faded. But Rachel was still pale. She didn't look like she was breathing.
Nico grabbed Naomi's wrist. She knew he felt it, too—Rachel's life ebbing, fading.
Then her eyes fluttered open. She focused on Percy with difficulty. "Percy."
"Are you okay?"
She tried to sit up. "Ow." She pressed her hands to her temples.
"Rachel," Nico said, "your life aura almost faded completely. I could see you dying."
"I'm all right," she murmured. "Please, help me up. The visions—they're a little disorienting."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Percy asked.
Apollo drifted down from the porch. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce the new Oracle of Delphi."
"You're kidding," Annabeth said.
Rachel managed a weak smile. "It's a little surprising to me, too, but this is my fate. I saw it when I was in New York. I know why I was born with true sight. I was meant to become the Oracle."
Percy blinked. "You mean you can tell the future now?"
"Not all the time," she said. "But there are visions, images, words in my mind. When someone asks me a question, I... oh no—"
"It's starting," Apollo announced.
Rachel doubled over, as if someone had punched her. Then she stood up straight and her eyes glowed serpent green.
When she spoke, her voice sounded tripled—like three Rachels were talking at once:
"Eight half-bloods shall answer the call,
to storm or fire the world must fall.
Darkness falls where the ancestor dwells,
when hope is lost and terror swells.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."
At the last word, Rachel collapsed. Nico and Percy caught her and helped her to the porch.
"I'm all right," she said, her voice returning to normal.
Naomi blinked. "Um... what was that?"
Rachel shook her head, confused. "What was what?"
"I believe," Apollo said, "that we just heard the next Great Prophecy."
"What does it mean?" Percy demanded.
Rachel frowned. "I don't even remember what I said."
"No," Apollo mused. "The spirit will only speak through you occasionally. The rest of the time, our Rachel will be much as she's always been. There's no point in grilling her, even if she has just issued the next big prediction for the future of the world."
"What?" Percy said. "But—"
"Percy," Apollo said, "I wouldn't worry too much. The last Great Prophecy about you took almost seventy years to complete. This one may not even happen in your lifetime."
Naomi prayed to the gods that was true. She didn't like the sound of the prophecy—the lines about storms and fire and Doors of Death, and darkness falling. What could it mean?
Naomi hoped she'd die a peaceful, natural death before the world ever figured it out.
"Maybe," Percy said, "but it didn't sound so good."
"No," said Apollo cheerfully. "It certainly didn't. She's going to make a wonderful Oracle!"
It was hard to drop the subject, but Apollo insisted Rachel needed to rest, and she did look pretty disoriented.
"I'm sorry, Percy," she said. "Back on Olympus, I didn't explain everything to you, but the calling frightened me. I didn't think you'd understand."
"I still don't," Percy admitted. "But I guess I'm happy for you."
Rachel smiled. "Happy probably isn't the right word. Seeing the future isn't going to be easy, but it's my destiny. I only hope my family..."
She didn't finish her thought.
"Will you still go to Clarion Academy?" Percy asked.
"I made a promise to my father. I guess I'll try to be a normal kid during the school year, but—"
"But right now you need sleep," Apollo scolded. "Chiron, I don't think the attic is the proper place for our new Oracle, do you?"
"No, indeed." Chiron looked a lot better now that Apollo had worked some medical magic on him. "Rachel may use a guest room in the Big House for now, until we give the matter more thought."
"I'm thinking a cave in the hills," Apollo mused. "With torches and a big purple curtain over the entrance... really mysterious. But inside, a totally decked-out pad with a game room and one of those home theater systems."
Chiron cleared his throat loudly.
"What?" Apollo demanded.
Rachel kissed Percy on the cheek. Annabeth made a face, and Naomi was torn between laughing and joining her. Rachel whispered something to Percy, who blushed, before she turned and followed Apollo into the Big House.
❊
The rest of the day was as strange as the beginning. Campers trickled in from New York by car, pegasus, and chariot. The wounded were cared for. The dead were given proper funeral rites at the campfire, overseen by Naomi and Nico.
Silena's shroud was hot pink, embroidered with an electric spear. The Ares and Aphrodite cabins both claimed her as a hero, and lit the shroud together. No one mentioned the word spy. That secret burned to ashes as the designer perfume smoke drifted into the sky.
Ethan was given a shroud as well—black silk, with a logo of swords crossed under a set of scales. As his shroud went up in flames, Naomi hoped he knew he'd made a difference in the end. He'd paid a lot more than an eye, but the minor gods would finally get the respect they deserved. Naomi would make sure of it. And she'd remember him as a hero in the end.
The rest... well, she was okay forgetting some of the details.
Dinner at the pavilion was quiet. The only highlight was Juniper the tree nymph who screamed, "Grover!" and gave her boyfriend a flying-tackle hug, making everybody cheer. They went down to the beach to take a moonlit walk, and Naomi was happy for them, though she couldn't help but think of Silena and Beckendorf.
Skia and Mrs. O'Leary romped around happily, eating everybody's table scraps. Nico sat at the main table with Chiron and Mr. D, and nobody seemed to think that was out of place. Everybody was patting Nico on the back, complimenting him on his fighting. Even the Ares kids thought he was pretty cool. Naomi was happy to see him so easily accepted into the fold of the camp—after everything he'd been through, it was the least he deserved. She hoped he'd stick around this time, at least for a little while.
Slowly, the dinner crowd trickled away. Some went to the campfire for a singalong. Others went to bed.
Annabeth grabbed Naomi's hand and dragged her and Tyson to the Big House. They went to work baking a single blue cupcake. They let Tyson handle the icing.
A little while later, with the cupcake in hand, Annabeth and Naomi sat down on either side of Percy at the Poseidon table.
"Hey," Annabeth said, holding out the misshapen cupcake. "Happy birthday."
Percy stared at her. "What?"
"It's August eighteenth," Naomi said. "Your birthday."
Percy blinked. He looked stunned, and Naomi understood—after the last few days, she couldn't really blame him for forgetting his own birthday.
"Make a wish," Annabeth told him.
Percy looked at the cupcake. "Did you guys bake this yourselves?"
"Tyson helped."
"That explains why it looks like a chocolate brick," he said. "With extra-blue cement."
Naomi hit his arm lightly. "Like you could do better."
"Oh, you know I could," Percy countered.
Annabeth laughed that beautiful laugh. "Make a wish," she said again.
Percy thought for a second, then blew out the candle. Naomi wondered what he wished for, but she didn't ask. She could live without knowing.
They split the cupcake into thirds and shared, eating with their fingers. The three sat together and watched the ocean. Crickets and monsters were making noises in the woods, but otherwise it was quiet.
"You saved the world," Annabeth said.
"We saved the world."
"And Rachel is the new Oracle, which means she won't be dating anybody."
Naomi laughed, and Percy looked from her to Annabeth, raising an eyebrow.
"You don't sound disappointed," Percy told Annabeth.
She shrugged. "Oh, I don't care."
"Uh-huh."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?"
"You'd probably kick my butt."
"Oh, she'd definitely kick your butt," Naomi said, grinning at Annabeth.
Percy brushed the cake off his hands. "When I was at the River Styx," he said, his voice taking on a soft tone, "turning invulnerable... I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal."
Naomi looked at him, remembering how he'd sank into the river, how she'd been terrified it would kill him before Kronos ever got the chance to try.
Annabeth, on the other hand, kept her eyes on the horizon. "Yeah?"
"Then up on Olympus," Percy continued, "when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking—"
"Oh, you so wanted to," Annabeth teased.
"Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought—I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity, because things could always get better. And I was thinking..."
He faltered.
"Anyone in particular?" Naomi asked.
Percy looked over and saw the way she was fighting a smile. A look at Annabeth said she wasn't faring any better.
"You're laughing at me," he complained.
"We're not!" Annabeth said, but she was already breaking.
"You are so not making this easy."
They both laughed for real. Annabeth put her arms around his neck. "We are never, ever going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."
She kissed him, and Naomi wished she was an artist so she could immortalize the moment forever in a painting.
But she wasn't, so she settled for kissing him, too.
She would've been happy to stay there forever, except a voice behind them growled, "Well, it's about time!"
Suddenly the pavilion was filled with torchlight and campers. Clarisse led the way as the eavesdroppers charged and hoisted the three demigods onto their shoulders.
"Oh, come on!" Percy complained. "Is there no privacy?"
"The lovebirds need to cool off!" Clarisse said with glee.
"The canoe lake!" Connor shouted.
With a huge cheer, they carried Percy, Annabeth, and Naomi down the hill, but they kept them close enough to hold hands. Naomi's face felt as hot as the hearth on Olympus, but she couldn't help but laugh.
They held hands right up to the moment the campers dumped them in the water.
Afterward, they got the last laugh. Percy made an air bubble at the bottom of the lake. Their friends kept waiting for them to come back up, but the trio weren't in a hurry.
Instead, they just enjoyed the solitude, and had some of the best underwater kisses of all time.
❊
...how y'all feeling about that great prophecy? 👀 sounds intense
last chapter tomorrow, then a fun little epilogue on saturday! <3