Percy Annabeth and Ariana were on our way out when she spotted Hermes in a side courtyard of the palace. He was staring at an Iris-message in the mist of a fountain.
Ariana glanced at the pair. "I'll meet you at the elevator."
"You sure?" Then she studied her face. "Yeah, you're sure."
Hermes didn't seem to notice her approach. The Iris-message images were going so fast she could hardly understand them.
Mortal newscasts from all over the country flashed by: scenes of Typhon's destruction, the wreckage our battle had left across Manhattan, the president doing a news conference, the mayor of New York, some army vehicles riding down the Avenue of the Americas.
"Amazing," Hermes murmured. He turned toward me. "Three thousand years, and I will never get over the power of the Mist . and mortal ignorance.L
"Thanks, i suppose."
"Oh, not you. Although, I suppose I should wonder, turning down immortality."
Ariana haltered and shrugged. "I had a feeling like I was still needed."
Hermes looked at me curiously, then returned his attention to the Iris-message. "Look at them.
They've already decided Typhon was a freak series of storms. Don't I wish. They haven't figured out how all the statues in Lower Manhattan got removed from their pedestals and hacked to pieces. They keep showing a shot of Susan B. Anthony strangling Frederick Douglass. But I imagine they'll even come up with a logical explanation for that."
"How bad is the city?"
Hermes shrugged. "Surprisingly, not too bad. The mortals are shaken, of course. But this is New York. I've never seen such a resilient bunch of humans. I imagine they'll be back to normal in a few weeks; and of course I'll be helping."
"You?"
"I'm the messenger of the gods. It's my job to monitor what the mortals are saying, and if necessary, help them make sense of what's happened. I'll reassure them. Trust me, they'll put this down to a freak earthquake or a solar flare. Anything but the truth."
He sounded bitter. George and Martha curled around his caduceus, but they were silent, which made Ariana think that Hermes was really really angry.
She probably should've kept quiet, but Ariana said, "I owe you an apology.
Hermes gave her a cautious look. "And why is that?"
"I thought you were a bad father," she admitted. "I thought you abandoned Luke because you knew his future and didn't do anything to stop
it."
"I did know his future," Hermes said miserably.
"But you knew more than just the bad stuff - that he'd turn evil. You understood what he would do in the end. You knew he'd make the right choice. But you couldn't tell him, could you?"
Hermes stared at the fountain. "No one can tamper with fate, Ariana, not even a god. If I had warned him what was to come, or tried to influence his choices, I would've made things even worse. Staying silent, staying away from him ... that was the hardest thing I've ever done."
"You had to let him find his own path," Ariana said, "and play his part in saving Olympus."
Hermes sighed. "I should not have gotten mad at Annabeth. When Luke visited her in San Francisco... well, I knew she would have a part to play in his fate. I foresaw that much. I thought perhaps she could do what I could not and save him. When she refused to go with him, I could barely contain my rage. I should have known better. I was really angry with myself."
"Annabeth did save him," she said. "Luke died a hero. He sacrificed himself to kill Kronos."
"I appreciate your words, Ariana. But Kronos isn't dead. You can't kill a Titan."
"Then.."
"I don't know," Hermes grumbled. "None of us do. Blown to dust. Scattered to the wind. With luck, he's spread so thin that he'll never be able to form a consciousness again, much less a body. But don't mistake him for dead, Ariana."
Her stomach did a queasy somersault. "What about the other Titans?"
"In hiding," Hermes said. "Prometheus sent Zeus a message with a bunch of excuses for supporting Kronos. 'I was just trying to minimize the damage,' blah, blah. He'll keep his head low for a few centuries if he's smart. Krios has fled, and Mount Othrys has crumbled into ruins. Oceanus slipped back into the deep ocean when it was clear Kronos had lost. Meanwhile, my son Luke is dead. He died believing I didn't care about him. I will never forgive myself."
Hermes slashed his caduceus through the mist. The Iris-picture disappeared.
"A long time ago," Ariana said, "you told me the hardest thing about being a god was not being able to help your children. You also told me that you couldn't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they made it."
"And now you know I'm a hypocrite?"
"No, you were right, Luke loved you. At the end, he realized his fate. I think he realized why you couldn't help him. He remembered what was important."
"Too late for him and me."
"You have other children. Honor Luke by recognizing them. All the gods can do that."
Hermes's shoulders sagged. "They'll try, Ariana. Oh, we'll all try to keep our promise. And maybe for a while things will get better. But we gods have never been good at keeping oaths. You were born because of a broken promise, eh?Eventually we'll become forgetful. We always do."
"You can change."
Hermes laughed. "After three thousand years, you think the gods can change their nature?"
"Yeah," She said. "I do."
Hermes seemed surprised by that. "You think . .. Luke actually loved me? After all that happened?"
"I'm sure of it."
Hermes stared at the fountain. "I'll give you a list of my children. There's a boy in Wisconsin. Two girls in Los Angeles. A few others. Will you see that they get to camp?"
"I promise," Ariana said. "And I won't forget."
George and Martha twirled around the caduceus. Ariana knew snakes can't smile, but they seemed to be trying.
"Ariana Parker," Hermes said, "you might just teach us a thing or two."
"Well, you can't really get rid of me either if I'm your ambassador."
Hermes smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll see you around Ariana."
Annabeth and Percy were waiting for Ariana at the elevator. "You alright?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
And together theh made their way down to the streets.
The music was awful Neil Diamond or something. She should've made that part of my gift from the gods: better elevator tunes.
When they got into the lobby, they found Sally and Paul 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 sa him and her eyes widened. "Percy!"
She hugged the breath right out of him.
"We saw the building lit up blue," she said. "But then you didn't come down. You went up hours ago!"
"She was getting a bit anxious," Paul said drily.
"I'm all right," he promised as his mom hugged Annabeth and Ariana. "Everything's okay now."
"Mr. Blofis," Annabeth said, "that was wicked sword work."
"Yeah." Ariana agreed.
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," Percy's mom chided. "It's not for mortals. Anyway, the important thing is we're safe. All of us."
Ariana was about to relax. Everything felt perfect. Annabeth and Percy were okay. Olympus was saved.
But the life of a demigod is never so easy. Just then Nico ran in from the street, and his face told Ariana something was wrong.
"It's Rachel," he said. "I just ran into her down on 32nd Street."
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."
"Your fucking joking me."