Cruel Summer. ¹

96. i remember it all too well

WE WERE ALMOST TOO LATE. The bridge to Olympus was dissolving. We stepped out of the elevator onto the white marble walkway, and immediately cracks appeared at our feet.

    "Jump!" Grover yelled, which was easy for him since he's part mountain goat. Not fair. He sprang to the next slab of stone while ours tilted sickeningly.

    "Gods, I hate heights!" Thalia yelled as she and Percy leaped.

     But Annabeth was in no shape for jumping. She stumbled around, her eyes glossy like she wasn't even aware of how close to death she was. And it was my fault. I pulled her by the waist away from a crumbling section of the pavement and guided her into Thalia's grasp. She pulled Annabeth off the bridge, but I was still stuck. No way I could make the jump with no momentum or anything.

     "Percy!" I yelled, and leapt from the pavement, marble crumbling to dust at my heels.

    He caught my hand at the very last second. For a terrifying moment I thought I was going to pull us both over. My feet dangled in the open air. My hand started to slip, dust and sweat and blood building up slickness between our palms, until Percy was holding me only by my fingers. Then Grover and Thalia grabbed his legs, and he found extra strength. He wouldn't let me fall.

    He pulled me up and we lay trembling on the pavement. I didn't realize we had our arms around each other until he suddenly tensed.

     "Thanks," I managed, meeting his stubborn green gaze.

     "Don't mention it," he replied.

     "Keep moving!" Grover tugged our shoulders. We untangled ourselves and sprinted across the sky bridge as more stones disintegrated and fell into oblivion. We made it to the edge of the mountain just as the final section collapsed.

    Annabeth looked back at the elevator, which was now completely out of reach—a polished set of metal doors hanging in space, attached to nothing, six hundred stories above Manhattan.

    "We're marooned," she said. "On our own."

    Grover let out a feared bleat. "The connection between Olympus and America is dissolving. If it fails—"

    "The gods won't move on to another country this time," Thalia said. "This will be the end of Olympus. The final end."

     I gazed at the elevator, then looked back to the top of the mountain. "We can't let that happen."

    We ran through streets. Mansions were burning. Statues had been hacked down. Trees in the parks were blasted to splinters. It looked like someone had attacked the city with a giant weedwhacker.

     Kronos's scythe, I realized. He was too far ahead of us. He'd probably already made it to the throne room.

     We followed the winding path toward the palace of the gods. I didn't remember the road being so long. Maybe Kronos was making time go slower, or maybe it was just dread slowing me down. The whole mountaintop was in ruins—so many beautiful buildings and gardens gone.

     A few minor gods and nature spirits had tried to stop Kronos. What remained of them was strewn about the road: shattered armor, ripped clothing, swords and spears broken in half.

    Somewhere ahead of us, Kronos's voice roared: "Brick by brick! That was my promise. Tear it down brick by brick!"

    A white marble temple with a gold dome suddenly exploded. The dome shot up like the lid of a teapot and shattered into a billion pieces, raining rubble over the city. A hot rage erupted inside of me as I watched it explode. Kronos would pay for the destruction he was causing, even if I had to inflict it myself.