The Labyrinth (percabeth)

Chapter 22

Annabeth

Of course, as soon as I walked in, I stared in amazement. I had never been in the throne room of the gods before, and it was more magnificent than anything I had ever seen.

The ceiling was impossibly high, making all other magnificent structures I had seen before dinky in comparison. The tile everywhere gleamed, and each Olympian's throne was amazing, customized for each one of them. For example, Apollo's was bright gold and Percy's father, Poseidon, had one covered in fishnets.

The twelve Olympian gods were seated in a semi circle around me, Zeus straight ahead. They all were in their massive form, about 10 feet tall, so they looked even more intimidating than usual. All 12 gods in one room. The power of the room hovered thickly in the air, and you could almost feel it.

In the center, there was a massive bonfire, which would have been massive had the gods not been so large. Compared to them, we looked tiny, even though Percy was relatively tall, and me pretty tall for someone my age. If I squinted closely at the heart, I could swear there was a little girl in the flames who turned her eye and winked at me, but the next second I blinked, she was gone.

I shook my head, certain I was seeing things, and focused my attention back on the gods.

I saw Hera, looking extremely queenly, seated next to her husband, and my mother, who kept casting disapproving looks in our direction, specifically at Percy. I cast my eyes downward so I wouldn't have to meet her scary eyes. Artemis, who was Thalia's leader, looked at us with curiosity, while Apollo was checking out his reflection in his throne. Poseidon, who was looking at us warmly, was a much more welcome sight than my own mother, and I smiled at him, not caring what Athena would think.

Percy and I dropped to one knee. "Lord Zeus." I said, humbly and respectfully. "You called for us?"

"Rise demigods." He said. I rose, and faced him. Even though he was definitely intimidating, with the blue eyes that were the exact shades of Thalia's and Jason's, Athena still had him beat any day.

Zeus looked about thirty years old, with striking blue eyes and tanned skin, though not like Poseidon's and Percy's. In his hand, he held the famed lightning bolt, crackling with energy. Just looking at it, I felt the pull of the power and the simultaneous urge to shrink away.

"Demigods." He began, his voice reverberating around the throne room like a blast from a cannon.

"You said you had important information concerning the future of Olympus?" He boomed.

"Yes my Lord." Percy said. "When our parents, Lord Poseidon and Lady Athena, sent Annabeth and I into the Labyrinth, we were looking for one of the monsters when we stumbled upon Luke Castellan making a plan to overthrow Olympus. He had another person with him, Ethan Nakamura, who seemed to be a close friend. We heard that he was planning on having us killed to turn our parents against each other and divide the Olympians, we decided to get out and tell you about the development."

Zeus stroked his beard thoughtfully. "That does make sense. Did you vanquish all the monsters?"

I nodded. "Yes, Lord Zeus we did. Luke had trapped us in the Labyrinth, but we killed the rest of monsters and used the Hydra to get out. We then hunted down the Hydra and killed it, making our way here. We hit a few roadblocks along the way, but we managed to make our way here. We did not hear anything else about the rebellion on the way."

"Good." Zeus said. "Did you find out anything else from the Labyrinth?"

"I don't remember." Percy answered.

"Wait!" I said. "Luke mentioned that they had a secret weapon, but I'm not sure what."

"Do you think this secret weapon is already accessed by them?" He asked.