Tyson Gets The Nicest Stick

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The Three Fates themselves took Luke's body.  One of them looked at me, and even though she didn't say anything, my life literally flashed before my eyes.  Suddenly I was twenty.  Then I was a middle aged man.  Then I turned old and withered.  All the strength left my body, and I saw my own tombstone and an open grave, a coffin being lowered into the ground.  All this happened in less than a second.  The Fate held up a snippet of blue yarn.  They gathered up Luke's body, now wrapped in a white and green shroud, and began carrying it out of the throne room.

Hermes: Wait.

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, murmuring, Luke, poor Luke.  I thought about May Castellan, alone in her kitchen, baking cookies and making sandwiches for a son who would never come home.  Hermes unwrapped Luke's face and kissed his forehead.  He murmured some words in ancient Greek, a final blessing.

Hermes: Farewell.

Then he nodded and allowed the Fates to carry away his son's body.  As they left, I thought about the Great Prophecy.  The lines now made sense to me.  The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.  The hero was Luke.  The cursed blade was the knife he'd given Annabeth long ago, cursed because Luke had broken his promise and betrayed his friends.  A single choice shall end his days.  My choice, to give him the knife, and to believe, as Annabeth had, that he was still capable of setting things right.  Olympus to preserve or raze.  By sacrificing himself, he had saved Olympus.  Rachel was right.  In the end, Percy wasn't really the hero.  Luke was.  And I understood something else.  When Luke had descended into the River Styx, he would've had to focus on something important that would hold him to his mortal life.  Otherwise he would've dissolved.  I had a feeling he'd seen Annabeth.  Hurting Annabeth in battle had shocked him into remembering his promise.  It had allowed his mortal conscience to take over again, and defeat Kronos.  His weak spot, his Achilles heel, had saved us all.  Next to me, Annabeth's knees buckled.  I caught her, but she cried out in pain, and I realized I'd grabbed her broken arm.

YN: Oh gods, Annabeth, I'm sorry.

Annabeth: It's all right.

With that, she passed out in my arms.

YN: She needs help!

Apollo: I've got this.

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.

Apollo: 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.

Apollo: 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?

YN: Thanks, Apollo.  I'll, um, let you handle the poetry.

The next few hours were a blur.  Olympus was saved.  The gods set about repairing the throne room, which went surprisingly fast with twelve super powerful beings at work.  Grover, Percy, and I cared for the wounded, and once the sky bridge reformed, we greeted our friends who had survived.  The Cyclopes had saved Thalia from a 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 me 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 also troubled me.  Nico and Bianca di Angelo came into Olympus to a hero's welcome, their father and mine right behind them, despite the fact that Hades was only supposed to visit Olympus on winter solstice.  The god of the dead looked stunned when his relatives clapped him on the back.  I doubt he'd ever gotten such an enthusiastic welcome before.  They even gave my father a warm welcome.  He looked overwhelmed and quickly went off to a corner alone.  I guess he has social anxiety.  Sarah marched in, quickly followed by Clarisse, who was still shivering from her time in the ice block.

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