How Do You Say Gods- Last Olympian

23: WE WIN FABULOUS PRIZES

Will read out the new title, "We Win Fabulous Prizes," but there was something lacking in his usual chipper voice, though no one was really surprised. They were all just tired of this. Tired of the old feelings being ripped open, of second guessing and wondering what if's.

The absolute cynicism in Will's voice for the word prizes after all that was said and done was more than enough to set the tone for how all this was going to wind down.

So Alex piped up with, "so when you say fabulous, you mean, fabulous," and she did the gayest twirl with her wrist.

"I, kind of doubt it Alex," Percy laughed for her anyways.

The Three Fates themselves took Luke's body.

That felt like an honor, Magnus frowned as he hugged his jacket closer to himself. He hadn't sat around and thought about what he'd like included in his funeral, though he'd had ample opportunity in the past few days in particular. The same old bags who had once stopped a bus to get Percy's attention while they cut a string in his favorite color that could represent his dad.

It all felt very neat and laid out hearing of it in past tense, but he still had a bad feeling that it was still a bit of a show with these gods. Nobody could really know every twist and turn along the way.

...They'd scared me then, and they scared me now

Magnus couldn't help but sigh for the time when Percy's biggest problem was feeling like a singled out freak for normal human reasons while he was laughing with Hearth at this strange world. Now Hearth was off to lands unknown and he was still here, left wondering why those socks had been the size of a small boat apparently. Had they been metaphorical for Kronos? Were they planning to stuff Luke's body in that old blue yarn?

...It is done, she said.

Percy wanted to believe that as he threaded his fingers through Annabeth's. The drain he felt, down to the bone, that had nothing to do with that curse or any plug he could use. That his life was already used up and toyed with enough, and it was all just done to have the rest to himself in peace.

...showing me the life that would have to be sacrificed to set things right.

Annabeth was looking restlessly from the books she'd missed to Percy and back without a word. It wasn't hard to catch up, but she was still aggravated she'd apparently missed something of such importance as Percy once meeting the fates at a fruit stand. Which he never bothered to tell her about?!

... wrapped in a white-and-green shroud, carrying his body out of the throne room.

Alex narrowed her eyes with interest for that color choice, wondering who had picked it. The Gods seemed to have some strange attachment to one of her favorite colors. They claimed their kid in that glow, the Oracle's smoke came out green. There was an elusive idea spinning in her mind she couldn't quite nail down what it all meant yet in comparison to the gold and blue also permeating the shades of this world.

...baking cookies and making sandwiches for a son who would never come home.

That had been true for a long time before this, but Magnus still felt his hand close into a fist with no specific person in mind, just the feeling of miserable hate for that. If Luke had ever been free to choose another path in life, would he go back to her?

...As they left, I thought about the Great Prophecy. The lines now made sense to me.

Jason rubbed the back of his head in agitation at his own thoughts. That his first instinct was to roll his eyes and grumble and wish those stupid things came with an instruction manual or at least a postscript for some kind of understanding before flailing through the mess.