The Last Olympian

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, Percy. 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,” I 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,” I said. “And I won’t forget.”
    George and Martha twirled around the caduceus. I know snakes can’t smile, but they seemed to be trying.
    “Percy Jackson,” Hermes said, “you might just teach us a thing or two.”
    Another god was waiting for me on the way out of Olympus. Athena stood in the middle of the road with her arms crossed and a look on her face that made me think Uh-oh . She’d changed out of her armor, into jeans and a white blouse, but she didn’t look any less warlike. Her gray eyes blazed.
    “Well, Percy,” she said. “You will stay mortal.”
    “Um, yes, ma’am.”
    “I would know your reasons.”
    “I want to be a regular guy. I want to grow up. Have, you know, a regular high school experience.”
    “And my daughter?”
    “I couldn’t leave her,” I admitted, my throat dry. “Or Grover,” I added quickly. “Or—”
    “Spare me.” Athena stepped close to me, and I could feel her aura of power making my skin itch. “I once warned you, Percy Jackson, that to save a friend you would destroy the world. Perhaps I was mistaken. You seem to have saved both your friends and the world. But think very carefully about how you proceed from here. I have given you the benefit of the doubt. Don’t mess up.”
    Just to prove her point, she erupted in a column of flame, charring the front of my shirt.
    Annabeth was waiting for me at the elevator. “Why do you smell like smoke?”
    “Long story,” I said. Together we made our way down to the street level. Neither of us said a word. The music was awful—Neil Diamond or something. I should’ve made that part of my gift from the gods: better elevator tunes.
    When we got into the lobby, I found my mother and Paul arguing with the bald security guy, who’d returned to his post.
    “I’m telling you,” my mom yelled, “we have to go up! My son—” Then she saw me and her eyes widened. “Percy!”
    She hugged the breath right out of me.
    “We saw the blue flag,” 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,” I promised as my mom 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,” I said. “Yeah.”
    Paul looked at the ceiling with a dreamy expression. “I’d like to see that.”
    “Paul,” my mom chided. “It’s not for mortals. Anyway, the important thing is we’re safe. All of us.”
    I was about to relax. Everything felt perfect. Annabeth and I were okay. My mom and Paul had survived. 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 me 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?” I demanded.
    Nico nodded. “She’s heading to Half-Blood Hill. She