Lost

20

The doors of the elevator opened and instantly a light breeze and the bright sunshine of Olympus hit us.

The streets of Olympus where buzzing with satyrs, nymphs, and several minor gods, some of which I recognized.

"It's so cheery here!" Hazel commented as we passed several flower nymphs who were giggling. She grinned as she hesitantly waved at them.

Thalia groaned and rolled her eyes. "I know, it's the worst."

Before Hazel could reply we bumped into some water nymph, who seemed close to tears at our presence. Her face was red with rage.

"Uh, sorry?" I asked hesitantly as the water nymph's eyes widened and she pointed a finger in our faces.

"You're mortals!" she declared.

Thalia shook her head and crossed her arms across her chest. "Demigods, actually. And what's it to you?"

She bit her lip and peered at us nervously, her eyes shifting from me to Thalia to Hazel. "Well, it's just, you're not supposed to be here. The last time we had demigods here, there was a war...someone destroyed my garden!"

"Boo-hoo! People also died!" Thalia protested as he balled her fists in defiant anger. "Your gardens were not a big concern!"

"You're very rude, you know," she replied with a huff as she turned away from us and crossed her arms passive aggressively.

Thalia flared her nostrils and cracked her knuckles. "Oh, you think that's rude? I'll show you what rude is!"

Hazel and I grabbed Thalia, who looked as if she were about to punch this water nymph. The nymph just glared at us and stuck her tongue out at us before rushing off.

"What's all the trouble over here?"

We turned to see a god with dark hair and sea green eyes dressed in a Hawaiian shirt. He was holding a giant trident. I groaned under my breathe.

"Hey, dad," I said awkwardly. How were you supposed to greet your godly parent who you rarely spoke to? Was there even an etiquette for that?

"Perseus, I didn't expect to see you hassling a water nymph on the streets of Olympus," he said with a frown.

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, we didn't mean to. I hope she's okay."

Poseidon peered back at the nymph, who seemed to have readjusted quite fast. "I'm sure she will. How did you three even get on Olympus?"

"Uh, Lord Poseidon, the lobby man let us up," Hazel said hesitantly as if she was unsure if she were even allowed to address him.

"That man will let anyone up if the price is right," he grumbled as he narrowed his eyes and peered at the elevator.

Thalia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Of course, money! How didn't we think of that?!"

Poseidon looked concern for a second, but just shook his head and decided not to question us, which was probably a good thing. "What are you doing here?"

"Seeking the gods, or Apollo specifically," I responded. "We need a prophecy, and the Oracle won't tell us any. It's been silent for months!"

"I don't know much about prophecies, but all I can tell you is that Apollo won't take your case until the Winter Solstice, if even then," Poseidon said. "And you really shouldn't be here, and I shouldn't be talking to you three, either."

"But it's a life or death situation—!" I started, but before I could finished he'd vanished.

Thalia punched my arm. "Nice going, kelp head! What are we going to do now?"

"Wait until the summer solstice, it sounds like," Hazel suggested. "If they even let us in then. I dunno, he sounded pretty against the idea."

I shook my head and peered at the door to the palace. "We can't wait that long, there's got to be something else."

"They won't talk to us, and there's no way we can break into the palace," Hazel said. "Percy, please agree with me that we won't break into the palace."

"We won't," I grumbled. "I don't even think we can, it's not humanly possible."

Thalia sighed as she sat down on the marble streets of Olympus. After frowning at her for a few seconds, we decided to join her.

"I just wish there was a better plan!" Thalia protested as she threw her hands up in the air in anger. "There has to be another way, you guys! I mean, we're so close to the throne room..."

"I know," I agreed as I pulled my knees towards my chest. "But Hazel is right. There's no way we can break in, at least not without a god's help. And they're all in there, it seems like."

Hazel shrugged. "Well, how long until the winter solstice?"

"What, like four months? Three, maybe?" I asked. "That's too long. Annabeth...she could be dead by then."

She could even be dead right now...

"Well, there's no use just sitting here," Thalia said as she stood up and stretched. "Let's go back to camp and maybe pray to Apollo or something. Then check back in with the Oracle as they're clearly not letting us in."

I wanted to protest, but I just let Thalia and Hazel lead me away, still peering at the palace.