NEVER BE THE SAME . . . percy jackson

twenty: the deal.

THE THREE FATES themselves took Luke's body.

Brooklyn hadn't seen the old ladies in years, although her mother told her that the Haywards had a tradition of taking their children to the Fates to ensure a long life. They scared her, and she was never scared — despite the fact that they were three ghoulish grandmothers with bags of knitting needles and yarn.

It is done, one of them said.

She held up a snippet of blue yarn. Then, with her sisters, they gathered up Luke's body, now wrapped in a white-and-green shroud, and began carrying it out of the throne room.

"Wait," Hermes said.

The messenger god was dressed in his classic outfit of white Greek robes, sandals, and helmet. The wings of his helm fluttered as he walked. The snakes George and Martha curled around his caduceus.

Hermes unwrapped Luke's face and kissed his forehead. He murmured some words in Ancient Greek — a final blessing.

"Farewell," he whispered. Then he nodded and allowed the Fates to carry away his son's body.

Next to Brooklyn, Annabeth's knees buckled. Percy caught her, but she cried out in pain from him grabbing her hurt arm.

"Oh gods," he said. "Annabeth, I'm sorry."

"It's all right," she said as she passed out in his arms.

"She needs help!" Brooklyn yelled.

"I've got this." Apollo, who looked eerily like Brooklyn, stepped forward. His fiery armor was so bright it was hard to look at, and his matching Ray-Bans and perfect smile made him look like a male model for battle gear. "God of medicine, at your service."

He passed his hand over Annabeth's face and spoke an incantation. Immediately the bruises faded. Her cuts and scars disappeared. Her arm straightened, and she sighed in her sleep.

Apollo grinned. "She'll be fine in a few minutes. Just enough time for me to compose a poem about our victory: 'Apollo and his friends save Olympus.' Good, eh?"

"Thanks, Apollo," Percy said. "I'll, um, let you handle the poetry."

The next few hours were a blur. Brooklyn stuck by Percy, now awkwardly standing with her arm wrapped around his as he talked to her father about lighting up the Empire State Building in blue.

Zeus glanced dubiously at their entwined arms, then he told her: "come find me later, Brooklyn. We need to . . . have a chat."

Then he left, leaving her staring at his back.

"That sounds intimidating," Percy commented.

"The first time my father talks to me, and he says that," she grumbled, rubbing both of her eyes with her unoccupied hand, before shaking her head. "I don't want to think about him. Let's go."

The gods set about repairing the throne room, which went surprisingly fast with twelve superpowerful beings at work. Percy, Grover, and Brooklyn cared for the wounded, and once the sky bridge re-formed, they greeted the people who had survived. The Cyclopes had saved Thalia from the fallen statue. She was on crutches, but otherwise she was okay. Connor and Travis Stoll had made it through with only minor injuries. They promised they hadn't even looted the city much. They told Percy his parents were fine, though they weren't allowed into Mount Olympus. Mrs. O'Leary had dug Chiron out of the rubble and rushed him off to camp. The Stolls looked kind of worried about the old centaur, but at least he was alive. Katie Gardner reported that she'd seen Rachel Elizabeth Dare run out of the Empire State Building at the end of the battle. Rachel had looked unharmed, but nobody knew where she'd gone, which was also troubling.