OH, CHÉRIE!¹ percy jackson

015

❛015❜

THEY CIRCLED OVER midtown manhattan, making one complete orbit around mount olympus. ivy had been there once before, travelling by elevator up to the secret six hundredth floor of the empire state building. no matter how many times she visited, olympus never failed to amaze her.

in the early-morning darkness, torches and fires made the mountainside palaces glow twenty different colours, from blood red to indigo. no one ever slept on olympus. the twisting streets were full of demigods, nature spirits and minor godlings bustling about, riding chariots or sedan chairs carried by cyclopes. winter didn't seem to exist here. ivy 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.

their pegasi set them down in the outer courtyard, in front of huge silver gates. before ivy could even think to knock, the gates opened by themselves.

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

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

twelve enormous thrones rounded 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. ivy swallowed down her sadness when looking at it.

all of the seats were occupied. each god and goddess was about five metres tall. and now that ivy had a dozen all-powerful super-huge beings turn their eyes on her at once... well, suddenly she was anxious to face a monster instead of them.

"welcome, heroes," artemis said.

"mooo!"

that's when ivy noticed bessie and grover.

a sphere of water was hovering in the centre of the room, next to the hearth fire. bessie was swimming happily around, swishing his serpent tail and poking his head out of the sides and the bottom of the sphere. he seemed to be enjoying the novelty of swimming in a magic bubble. grover was kneeling at zeus's throne, as if he'd just been giving a report. but when he saw them, he cried, "you made it!"

the satyr started to run towards percy, then remembered where he was. he turned his back to zeus, and looked for permission.

"go on," zeus said. but he wasn't really paying attention to grover. the lord of the sky was staring intently at thalia.

grover trotted over. none of the gods spoke. every clop of grover's hooves echoed on the marble floor. bessie splashed in his bubble of water. the hearth fire crackled.

the satyr gave annabeth, ivy and thalia big hugs. then he grasped percy's arms. "percy, bessie and i made it! but you have to convince them! they can't do it!"

"do what?" he asked.

"heroes," artemis called.

the goddess slid down from her throne and turned to human size, a young auburn-haired girl, perfectly at ease in the midst of the giant olympians. she walked towards them, her silver robes shimmering. there was no emotion in her face. she seemed to walk in a column of moonlight.