𝓐𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓼 𝓗𝓮𝓮𝓵-𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓾𝓴𝓮

~𝓐𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓼 𝓗𝓮𝓮𝓵~

𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓪'𝓼 𝓟𝓞𝓥

When we stepped out of the elevator onto the white marble walkway to the throne room of Olympus, the bridge was crumbling.

"Jump!" Grover yelped. I looked down at the cracks appearing at my feet and at the dissolving bridge and the chasm spanning below.

"Gods, I hate heights!" But I jumped after Grover at the same time Percy did. Then Annabeth went to jump, but she stumbled.

"Percy!" Percy grabbed her hand as the stone beneath her feet crumbled. She flailed in the air, and it seemed like she was going to take him over. He started to skid as her hand began to slip from hers.

"Grover!" I yelped and together we grabbed onto his legs, pulling both of them back up.

"Um, thanks," she breathed, hugging Percy on the stones.

"Uh duh," he replied stupidly. I gestured for them to get up and keep moving. We didn't have forever to stop Kronos.

Kronos- my heart ached just thinking about it. The evil Titan Lord of Time, who was currently trying to destroy Olympus, the gods, and even Western civilization itself- was currently inhabiting the body of his former servant Luke Castellan, son of Hermes- and my ex-boyfriend.

Luke, Annabeth, and I all went way back. Even before we found the seven-year-old daughter of Athena, Luke and I had been on the run together for years. We'd been the best of friends, and as was probably expected, eventually more. But after I'd been turned into a tree for six years, he'd gone off and joined Kronos's efforts to destroy the gods. Needless to say, that had been a bit of an, erm, deal-breaker in our relationship. Now I was a Hunter of Artemis who had sworn off romance for eternity.

"Keep moving!" Grover dragged the two lovebirds to their feet. They got up and we ran. I gulped as the stones split and crumbled under my feet. I was facing my worst fear for what? To face my Titan lord-possessed ex?

No, I told myself mentally. To save the world. Just keep going, Thalia. You can do this. One foot in front of the other.

Finally, we made it to the end- just as what was left of the bridge collapsed. We were stranded. There was no way back now. We had to keep going.

"We're marooned," Annabeth said, speaking my mind as she stared back at the elevator doors. "On our own."

"Blah-ha-ha!" Grover bleated in distress. "The connection between Olympus and America is dissolving! If it fails-" Something churned in the pit of my stomach.

"The gods won't move on to another country this time," I stated. "This will be the end of Olympus. The final end."

We took off and ran through the once pristine streets of Olympus, chaos and destruction everywhere we looked. The city of the gods was a desolate war zone.

"Kronos's scythe," Percy said, commenting on the way some things seemed to have been chopped to splinters.

We kept moving down the path, though the trip seemed slower than ever. Was it Kronos trying to stop us? Or did time simply seem to have slowed to a crawl due to my dread of seeing those haunting golden eyes staring out of my Luke's face?

As we kept running, suddenly a booming voice roared out of the throne room.

"Brick by brick! That was my promise. Tear it down BRICK BY BRICK!" My breath caught in my throat, and when I saw the others' faces, I knew my suspicion was confirmed. Kronos.

Suddenly, a nearby marble templed exploded. I recognized the building and frowned.

"That was a shrine to Artemis," I growled. "He'll pay for that." No one destroyed a temple, especially not one to Lady Artemis.