VIDEO GAMES! (p. jackson) (#1)

- thirteen

THE THREE FATES THEMSELVES TOOK LUKE'S BODY.

rose had never seen them in person.

they gathered up luke's body, now wrapped in a white-and-green shroud, and began carrying it out of the throne room.

"wait," hermes said.

the messenger god was dressed in his classic outfit of white greek robes, sandals, and helmet. the wings of his helm fluttered as he walked. the snakes george and martha curled around his caduceus, murmuring, luke, poor luke.

hermes unwrapped luke's face and kissed his forehead. he murmured some words in ancient greek—a final blessing.

"farewell," he whispered. then he nodded and allowed the fates to carry away his son's body.

as they left, rose thought about the great prophecy. the lines now made sense to her. the hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. the hero was luke. the cursed blade was the knife he'd given annabeth long ago—cursed because luke had broken his promise and betrayed his friends. a single choice shall end his days. percy's choice, to give him the knife, and to believe, as annabeth had, that he was still capable of setting things right. olympus to preserve or raze. by sacrificing himself, he had saved olympus.

wow. was it just her, or was it really hot in here?

next to percy, rose's knees buckled. percy caught her, but she cried out in pain, and he realized he'd grabbed her hurt arm.

"oh gods," he said. "rosie, i'm sorry."

"it's all right," she mumbled as she passed out in his arms.

"she needs help!" percy yelled.

"i've got this." apollo stepped forward. his fiery armor was so bright it was hard to look at, and his matching ray-bans and perfect smile made him look like a male model for battle gear. "god of medicine, at your service."

he passed a hand over rose's face. her arm straightened, and she sat up sleepily.

the next few hours were a blur. percy asked if zeus could light up the top of the empire state building blue. zeus didn't even blink an eye when percy told him his strange request. he snapped his fingers and informed them that the top of the empire state building was now lit up blue. most mortals would just have to wonder what it meant, but percy's mom would know: they had survived, olympus was saved.

the gods set about repairing the throne room, which went surprisingly fast with twelve superpowerful beings at work. grover and rose cared for the wounded, and once the sky bridge re-formed, they greeted their friends who had survived. the cyclopes had saved thalia from the fallen statue. she was on crutches, but otherwise she was okay. connor and travis stoll had made it through with only minor injuries. they promised rose they hadn't even looted the city much. they told her and percy that his parents were fine, though they weren't allowed into mount olympus. mrs. o'leary had dug chiron out of the rubble and rushed him off to camp. the stolls looked kind of worried about the old centaur, but at least he was alive. will solace practically shoved ambrosia down rose's throat. katie gardner reported that she'd seen rachel elizabeth dare run out of the empire state building at the end of the battle. she'd also apologized to rose for accusing her of being the spy. rachel had looked unharmed, but nobody knew where she'd gone, which also troubled rose.

nico di angelo came into olympus to a hero's welcome, his father right behind him, despite the fact that hades was only supposed to visit olympus on winter solstice. the god of the dead looked stunned when his relatives clapped him on the back. rose doubted he'd ever gotten such an enthusiastic welcome before.