The Last Olympian

Elders.”
    Grover collapsed on the spot.
    “Oh, wonderful,” Dionysus sighed, as several naiads came forward to help Grover. “Well, when he wakes up, someone tell him that he will no longer be an outcast, and that all satyrs, naiads, and other spirits of nature will henceforth treat him as a lord of the Wild, with all rights, privileges, and honors, blah, blah, blah. Now please, drag him off before he wakes up and starts groveling.”
    “FOOOOOD,” Grover moaned, as the nature spirits carried him away.
    I figured he’d be okay. He would wake up as a lord of the Wild with a bunch of beautiful naiads taking care of him. Life could be worse.
    Athena called, “Annabeth Chase, my own daughter.”
    Annabeth squeezed my arm, then walked forward and knelt at her mother’s feet.
    Athena smiled. “You, my daughter, have exceeded all expectations. You have used your wits, your strength, and your courage to defend this city, and our seat of power. It has come to our attention that Olympus is . . . well, trashed. The Titan lord did much damage that will have to be repaired. We could rebuild it by magic, of course, and make it just as it was. But the gods feel that the city could be improved. We will take this as an opportunity. And you, my daughter, will design these improvements.”
    Annabeth looked up, stunned. “My . . . my lady?”
    Athena smiled wryly. “You are an architect, are you not? You have studied the techniques of Daedalus himself. Who better to redesign Olympus and make it a monument that will last for another eon?”
    “You mean . . . I can design whatever I want?”
    “As your heart desires,” the goddess said. “Make us a city for the ages.”
    “As long as you have plenty of statues of me,” Apollo added.
    “And me,” Aphrodite agreed.
    “Hey, and me!” Ares said. “Big statues with huge wicked swords and—”
    “All right!” Athena interrupted. “She gets the point.
    Rise, my daughter, official architect of Olympus.”
    Annabeth rose in a trance and walked back toward me.
    “Way to go,” I told her, grinning.
    For once she was at a loss for words. “I’ll . . . I’ll have to start planning . . . Drafting paper, and, um, pencils—”
    “PERCY JACKSON!” Poseidon announced. My name echoed around the chamber.
    All talking died down. The room was silent except for the crackle of the hearth fire. Everyone’s eyes were on me— all the gods, the demigods, the Cyclopes, the spirits. I walked into the middle of the throne room. Hestia smiled at me reassuringly. She was in the form of a girl now, and she seemed happy and content to be sitting by her fire again. Her smile gave me courage to keep walking.
    First I bowed to Zeus. Then I knelt at my father’s feet.
    “Rise, my son,” Poseidon said.
    I stood uneasily.
    “A great hero must be rewarded,” Poseidon said. “Is there anyone here who would deny that my son is deserving?”
    I waited for someone to pipe up. The gods never agreed on anything, and many of them still didn’t like me, but not a single one protested.
    “The Council agrees,” Zeus said. “Percy Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods.”
    I hesitated. “Any gift?”
    Zeus nodded grimly. “I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Perseus Jackson—if you wish it—you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father’s lieutenant for all time.”
    I stared at him, stunned. “Um . . . a god?”
    Zeus rolled his eyes. “A dimwitted god, apparently. But yes. With the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you immortal. Then I will have to put up with you forever.”
    “Hmm,” Ares mused. “That means I can smash him to a pulp as often as I want, and he’ll just keep coming back for more. I like this idea.”
    “I approve as well,” Athena said, though she was looking at Annabeth.
    I glanced back. Annabeth was trying not to meet my eyes. Her face was pale. I flashed back to two years ago, when I’d thought she was going to take the pledge to Artemis and become a Hunter. I’d been on the edge of a panic attack, thinking that I’d lose her. She had looked pretty much the same way I did now.
    I thought about the Three Fates, and the way I’d seen my life flash by. I could avoid all that. No aging, no death, no body in the grave. I could be a teenager forever, in top condition, powerful, and