the winemaker's daughter [ percy jackson & the olympians ]

chapter nineteen

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴𝚁'𝚂 𝙳𝙰𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝚁༉‧₊˚.[𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙲𝚈 𝙹𝙰𝙲𝙺𝚂𝙾𝙽 & 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙻𝚈𝙼𝙿𝙸𝙰𝙽𝚂]

chapter nineteen: the gods decided who they should kill & why
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ASHANTI TOLD percy that flying was bad enough for a son of poseidon, but flying straight up to zeus's palace, with thunder and lightning swirling around it, was even worse.

they circled over midtown manhattan, making one complete orbit around mount olympus. ashanti only been there a few times to watch the winter solstice meeting, but olympus stopped those after the lightning thief issue. before, they used to travel by elevator up to the secret six hundredth floor of the empire state building.

this time, if it was possible, olympus amazed ashanti even more.

in the early-morning darkness, torches and fires made the mountainside palaces glow twenty different colors, from blood-red to indigo. apparently, no one ever slept on olympus. the twisting streets were full of demigods and nature spirits and minor godlings bustling about, riding chariots or sedan chairs carried by cyclopes. winter didn't seem to exist there. ashanti caught the scent of the gardens in full bloom, jasmine and roses and even sweeter things she couldn't name. music drifted up from many windows, the soft sounds of lyres and reed pipes.

towering at the peak of the mountain was the greatest palace of all, the glowing white hall of the gods. the pegasi set them down in the outer courtyard, in front of huge silver gates. before ashanti could even think to knock, the gates opened by themselves.

"yeah," percy told his horse, and ashanti couldn't help but wish she could talk to horses as well.

as they walked toward the throne room, ashanti didn't know why, but she had a sense of doom. ashanti knew any one of them could blast her or her friends to dust, and a few of them would like to.

blackjack and his friends flew off, leaving thalia, annabeth, ashanti, and percy alone. for a minute they stood there regarding the palace, the way they'd stood together in front of westover hall, what seemed like a million years ago.

the only thing different, ashanti intertwined percy's fingers with her own. percy gave her hand a squeeze, and sent her a reassuring look. ashanti held otto to her side snugly, wanting extra comfort.

and then, side by side, they all walked into the throne room.

twelve enormous thrones made a u around a central hearth, just like the placement of the cabins at camp. the ceiling above glittered with constellations – even the newest one, zoë the huntress, making her way across the heavens with her bow drawn. it made ashanti's heart hurt, but she managed a smile.

all of the seats were occupied. each god and goddess was about fifteen feet tall, and ashanti was saying, if a dozen all-powerful super-huge beings turn their eyes on you at once...well, suddenly, facing monsters seemed like a picnic.

"welcome, heroes," artemis called.

"mooooo!"

that's when ashanti noticed ophi and grover. a sphere of water was hovering in the center of the room, next to the hearth fire. ophi was swimming happily around, swishing his serpent tail and poking his head out the sides and bottom of the sphere.