Indigo Eyes

Chapter 127

The bridge to Olympus was dissolving because the second they stepped out of the elevator and onto the marble walkway it began to crumble.

"Jump!" Grover said, which was easy for him since he was part mountain goat. He sprang to the next slab of stone while theirs tilted sickeningly.

"Gods, I hate heights!" Thalia yelled as she and Percy jumped. But Annabeth was in no shape to jump as Cressida took her hand and jumped with her, giving her a bit of a boost as she barely got over the edge. Thalia grabbed Annabeth and got her safely onto the edge while Percy dived. His stomach slid across the ground as he reached over the edge of the broken bridge and grabbed Cressida's hand which so happened to be her bad arm as she let out a pained scream.

"Why is it that I'm always dangling above deadly heights with you being the only thing keeping me from falling?" she asked in agony as she dangled, Percy straining to hold her as the jagged stone dug into him. But he wasn't about to let her go.

"I don't know. But you're not falling this time," he promised as he reached down with his other hand and with every bit of strength, he had he hauled her over the edge of the bridge and into his arms, both of them breathing heavily. "You ok?"

"Definitely feeling less alive now," she murmured as she pressed her hands to his chest.

"Alright, let's go," Thalia urged as she ripped Cressida from his arms and got her back on her feet.

"Keep moving," Grover said as he tugged Percy up and sprinted across the sky bridge as more stones disintegrated and fell into oblivion. They made it to the edge of the mountain just as the final section collapsed.

Annabeth looked back at the elevator, which was now completely out of reach – a polished set of metal doors hanging in space, attached to nothing, six hundred stories above Manhattan. "We're marooned," she said. "On our own."

"If Kronos wins, it won't matter," Cressida said.

"Blah-ha-ha!" Grover said. "The connection between Olympus and America is dissolving. If it fails –"

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

And they ran through the streets.

Mansions were burning. Statues had been hacked down. Trees in the parks were blasted to splinters. It looked like someone had attacked the city with a giant Weedwhacker.

"Kronos's scythe," Percy gaped as they headed for the palace, the road seeming longer than before or maybe it was Kronos' magic.

The whole mountaintop was in ruins – so many beautiful buildings and gardens gone. A few minor gods and nature spirits had tried to stop Kronos. What remained of them was strewn about the road – shattered armour, ripped clothing, swords and spears broken in half.

Somewhere ahead of them, Kronos's voice roared: "Brick by brick! That was my promise. Tear it down BRICK BY BRICK!"

A white marble temple with a gold dome suddenly exploded. The dome shot up like the lid of a teapot and shattered into a billion pieces, raining rubble over the city.

"That was a shrine to Artemis," Thalia grumbled. "He'll pay for that."

They were running under the marble archway with the huge statues of Zeus and Hera when the entire mountain groaned, rocking sideways like a boat in a storm.

"Look out!" Grover yelped and the archway crumbled.

Percy knew that he was in the clear but Annabeth and Cressida, specifically Cressida were on par to get crushed by the scowling Hera statue. Thalia was the one to save their lives as she shoved them from behind.

"Trees!" Cressida's voice called from within the cloud of dust.

"Thalia!" Grover cried as they coughed, and the dust cleared.

Thalia was alive but her legs were pinned under the statue as she yelled in pain. "I survive all those battles," she growled, "and I get defeated by a stupid chunk of rock!"

"It's Hera," Annabeth said in outrage. "She's had it in for me and Cress all year. Her statue would've killed us if you hadn't pushed us away. She's been trying to get to Cress for months."

Thalia grimaced. "Well, don't just stand there! I'll be fine. Go!"

They were hesitant but they had to go because more buildings were exploding as Kronos got closer to the palace.

"We'll be back," Percy promised.

"I'm not going anywhere," Thalia groaned. A fireball erupted on the side of the mountain, right near the gates of the palace.

"We've got to run," Percy said.

"I don't suppose you mean away," Grover murmured hopefully.

Percy broke into a sprint, Cressida and Annabeth right behind him.

"I was afraid of that," Grover sighed, and he clip-clopped after them.