The Demigod Games

Epilogue

Annabeth watched as the doors swung open, demigod campers and minor gods flooding in through the ornate halls and filtering through pillars into the throne room.

She watched Frank as he scanned the group of huddled tributes, his eyes sunk, and he fell to his knees, covering his face in his hands, a moan of agony rising above the indistinct chatter. Annabeth turned away, grabbing Percy's hand and pulling him into a hug. She had almost lost him. She couldn't bear to think of a world without him.

--

Aelia had begun to try to slip away as a warm hand gripped her arm. She turned to see Apollo, in all of his glory, standing there with a grim expression.

"Come with me," he said, and she followed him, cutting through the crowd and going out through the gates into Olympus, where a black sports car with bright red flames painted on the sides sat in the middle of the path, standing out like a sore thumb in the city of quartz pillars and towering facades, glowing like the Sun, which, Aelia realized, was what the car was.

"Hop in," her father said, and she slowly obliged, gripping the handle on the side of the sleek vehicle and jumping back in surprise when the doors went up, not to the side. "Nice ride, eh? I got Hephaestus to do some tinkering on her."

Aelia slipped into the passenger seat, where Apollo already sat, slumped in his chair, foot on the petal. Aelia swung her door shut, and the God of the Sun put the car in gear and revved the engine, and the flame decals roared to life, the body wrapped in flames as the Sun took off into the sky.

--

Frank lifted his head from his hands to see the Throne Room deserted, save for a solitary figure that he could hardly make out through the blur of tears.

Wiping his face with his hands, he found himself staring into the eyes of Death. Thanatos stood erectly, arms stiff at his sides, his dark cloak hiding his face.

"Thanatos," he gasped, terror ripping the air from his lungs.

"Frank," he replied, his rasp echoing through the cavernous room, bouncing among the stars painted on the domed ceiling.

His cloak swaying, Thanatos began a confident stride toward Frank.

"Is this it?" Frank asked as Death came nearer.

Frank lay on his back, his arms crossed across his chest, the proper position to die in. He couldn't close his eyes; he could only stare at the god that now stood over him. Thanatos bent and reached toward Frank, and he finally shut his eyes, letting the overwhelming sense of finality wash over him. But instead he felt his arm, a cold hand wrapped around his wrist, being lifted and put the side. Frank waited longer as Thanatos did the same to the other side.

Frank opened his eyes to see Thanatos reach his bony hand toward his neck, where to Frank's surprise, he took a fistful of Frank's button-down and ripped the cloth, his bony fingers grasping onto the string that held his wood in place near his heart. Thanatos ripped the pouch from Frank's neck, gently opening the drawstring and pulling the wood from the pouch. He closed his fingers over it into a fist, tensed, and opened his hand, Frank's worst fear crumbling between Death's fingers and falling as dust onto the marble floor. Nodding, Thanatos disappeared, and Frank sat up, gasping for air, as the throng of people surrounded him once more, the weight of the world disappeared from the string around his neck.

--

Aelia eased as the Sun soared through the sky, Apollo gripping the wheel tightly. She sank back into the heated leather seat, imagining that she had been absorbed into the mechanisms of the car and teleported anywhere but where she was, sitting next to her father, who, despite her disgust, attracted her, her feelings seemingly unaware that