Forgotten memories

Too Late.

The elevator ride felt... wrong. Too slow and too fast at the same time, like time couldn't decide what to do. The soft elevator music playing in the background didn't help either—it was cheerful in a way that made the tension worse, like the universe was mocking us.

I shifted on my feet, stealing a glance at the faces of my friends—Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, and Christine. Every single one of them was quiet, and that was when it hit me. This... this might be the last time we'd all stand together. The thought punched me in the chest harder than any monster ever had.

I swallowed and broke the silence. "If we survive this—"

Percy didn't let me finish. "When we survive this," he said, his voice calm, steady, like he believed it. Like he needed us to believe it too.

"When we survive this," I repeated quietly, holding onto those words like a lifeline. And then, before I could stop myself, I said, "You guys... wanna pick strawberries when we get back to camp? No powers, no monsters, no prophecies hanging over us. Just... normal. Just us. Like regular kids."

They all stared at me for a second, like I'd said something completely random. But then Christine nodded slowly, her lips trembling in the smallest smile. Grover gave me one too. Percy chuckled under his breath and nodded. Thalia shrugged like it wasn't the worst idea in the world.

"Sounds good, Starman," she said, smirking faintly.

"I agree," Annabeth murmured, and even she smiled—genuinely.

And then—ding. The elevator chimed, loud and final, like a bell before a battle. The doors slid open to reveal what waited beyond.

"Now or never," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else. I drew in a long, shaky breath and stepped forward.

The bridge to Olympus was falling apart.

The moment we stepped out of the elevator onto the white marble walkway, cracks spiderwebbed beneath our feet.

"Jump!" Grover yelled—easy for him to say, being part mountain goat and all. He bounded to the next slab of stone like it was nothing.

"Gods, I hate heights!" Thalia shouted as she leaped after him, Percy and Christine right behind her.

But Annabeth—Annabeth wasn't in any shape for jumping. She stumbled hard. Without thinking, I grabbed her by the straps of her armor and leaped, just as the stone under us tilted and crumbled into dust. For a terrifying second, I thought we were both going over. Her feet dangled in open air, and her hand slipped until I was holding on by just her fingers.

"Hold on!" I gritted my teeth, every muscle in my arms screaming.

Grover and Thalia grabbed my legs, pulling hard, and somehow—somehow—we managed to haul Annabeth up. Percy was there too, helping me drag her back to solid ground. We all collapsed in a heap, trembling and gasping.

Percy didn't even realize his arms were around Annabeth until she stiffened and muttered, "Uh... thanks."

"Uh, duh," Percy said quickly, his ears turning bright red.

"Keep moving!" Grover bleated, tugging Percy's shoulder before the moment could get any more awkward.

We scrambled to our feet and sprinted across the last of the sky bridge as more stones disintegrated and plummeted into the void below. We barely made it to the edge of the mountain when the final section fell away.

Annabeth looked back. The elevator—the only way down—was gone. All that remained was a polished set of metal doors hanging in space, attached to nothing, six hundred stories above Manhattan.