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It took two trips to get everybody up in the elevator. Rory, Percy, and Annabeth went with the first group. "Stayin' Alive" was playing and even that wasn't enough to lift Rory's spirit.
She was glad when the elevator doors finally dinged open. A path of floating stones led through the clouds up to Mount Olympus, hovering six thousand feet over Manhattan.
Rory had seen Olympus several times, but it never failed to take her breath away. The mansions glittered gold and white against the sides of the mountain. Gardens bloomed on a hundred terraces. Scented smoke rose from braziers that lined the winding streets. And right at the top of the snow capped crest rose the main palace of the gods. It looked as majestic as ever, but something seemed wrong. The mountain was silent — no music, no voices, no laughter.
Rory observed her boyfriend. "You smell different," she told him.
Percy blinked. "What."
"Yeah. You smell like..." She trailed off. A god, she wanted to say. But that was crazy. Instead she shook her head. "It's probably just the Underworld I smell on you. Speaking of which!"
Rory punched Percy's arm. Hard.
"Ow, Rory!"
"This little disappearing act is a one-time thing, okay?" She smiled sweetly at him, contradicting her serious tone.
Percy just laughed. He kissed her and Rory tried to glare at him, but no doubt the blush on her cheeks gave her away. She glanced around her, the campers with them were clearly pretending that they weren't listening to them, but they were. Rory knew them well — each and every one of them were crazy nosey.
The elevator doors opened again, and the second group of half-bloods joined.
They made their way across the sky bridge into the streets of Olympus. The shops were closed. The parks were empty. A couple of Muses sat on a bench strumming flaming lyres, but their hearts didn't seem to be in it. A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted oak tree. A minor godling spotted the campers from a balcony and ducked inside, closing his shutters.
They passed under a big marble archway with statues of Zeus and Hera on either side. Annabeth made a face at the queen of the gods.
"Hate her," she muttered.
Rory rolled her eyes. "Me too."
"Has she been cursing you two or something?" Percy asked.
"Just little stuff so far," Annabeth said. "Her sacred animal is the cow, right?"
"Right."
"So she sends cows after me."
Rory and Percy looked at each other. They were both trying not to smile.
