Chapter Text
Ch.68 When Everything Crumbles
THIRD POV
The flames in the Hearth guttered low, sputtering sparks like dying stars, casting long shadows that stretched across the room. The assembled Olympians watched with trepidation, glancing between the Hearth and the empty throne in the center of the room.
Athena paced in front of her throne, her chiton fluttering behind her as her gray eyes ran over those who were present. Hera sat on her throne, her fingers tapping against her peacock-shaped armrest while Demeter and Aphrodite twitched nervously with every crackle of the flames that rang through the eerie silence.
Artemis’ throne was empty, as were Poseidon’s, Hermes’, Ares’, and Apollo’s. Of the male gods, only Hephaesteus and Dionysus were present, the former tinkering absently while the latter drank his seventh can of diet soda.
A flash of crimson light caught her eye, and Athena whirled around, watching Ares stagger into the throne room, his armor scorched, with some of its designs melted off.
“Ares, what happened?” She surveyed his condition, knowing there was only one who could have left damage of this sort on Ares’ armor.
He scoffed. “Jackson happened, who else? Him, Atlas, and his majesty.”
Hera bristled from her throne but said nothing while Athena raised an eyebrow. “I suppose that was the trap Perseus feared, in which case, his facing off against Atlas makes sense. He was the only one amongst the Titans whom Percy couldn’t defeat by himself.” Her gray eyes narrowed on Ares. “But how did Father get involved, that too on a quest of all things?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the others in the room perk up and lean forward, while the flames in the Hearth flared a dangerous red, which had Ares taking a step back.
“Well, it wasn’t just Atlas who was there, from what I gathered.” Ares shuffled toward his throne, eyeing the flames warily. “Hermes picked me up because they needed help to subdue Jackson. The boy was going nuclear because his friend was killed by Atlas, from what I picked up. And that went down exactly as Poseidon being pissed, which isn’t a good thing on any day.”
Athena felt her heart drop in her stomach at the thought of her daughter, her fingers clenching the rim of Aegis that lay by her throne.
“Which one of his friends died, Ares?” She asked.
“The Satyr. The one who found Pan,” Ares grunted, and she nearly let out a sigh of relief. “He died a warrior’s death, worthy for the halls of Elysium. But Jackson didn’t take it well. When we got there, he had demolished the Titan and was about to kill him for good.”
“The boy would’ve killed Atlas?” Demeter asked with surprise, and Ares grunted in confirmation. “That is something I thought no one could’ve done, let alone a demigod.”
“Well, he did. I saw it with my own eyes.” Ares scowled. “And he would’ve gone through with it, had father not had us intervene, saying that we needed Atlas to hold the sky. If you ask me, we should’ve let Jackson kill him. Isn’t that what we sent him to do anyway?”
“Only Atlas is the one capable of holding the sky at bay for eternity.” Hera’s frosty voice rang through the throne room as her eyes flashed golden. “That is why we put him there instead of sending him to Tartarus. When we finished off the Four Titans and took the rule, the sky fell, and we had to hold it at bay immediately. Had we not done it, everything we know would’ve been destroyed. And even now, it would be, if Atlas doesn’t bear his burden. So, if Lord Zeus asked you to do something, it was for a good reason, Ares.”
Ares shrugged. “Tell that to Jackson. He was hell-bent on killing Atlas off for revenge, and even the three of us— Apollo, Hermes, and I could barely restrain him until Father sent Atlas away.”
“If Atlas was sent away, why did we hear the Master Bolt, Ares?” Athena frowned, a part of her fearing the answer.
As Ares opened his mouth, a slight tremor shook the throne room. The next moment, the doors banged open hard enough to crater the walls, and stormy winds tore through the Throne room.
“ZEUS!” Poseidon’s roar carried like a tsunami as the man stormed in, sending the drapes and tapestries fluttering in the billowing winds that followed. “I WILL HAVE WORDS WITH YOU!”
“Brother—” Hera began, but Poseidon slammed his trident on the floor, creating an earthquake that sent Hera stumbling back onto her throne.
“ZEUS! SHOW YOURSELF!” Poseidon bellowed. “ANSWER ME FOR YOUR ACTIONS!”
Thunder rumbled overhead for a moment, and then lightning flashed brightly as Zeus appeared on his throne, raising his hand, which was wrapped in blue bandages.
“Brother, be seated and calm yourself,” Zeus said.
“Calm?” Poseidon snarled, sea-green power flashing in his eyes. “My son lies broken in a healer’s bed, his flesh scorched by lightning. Power potent enough to nearly kill him could come from only one hand—yours or your daughter’s. SPEAK, before the oceans rise in wrath!”
Zeus scowled. “My daughter had nothing to do with this.”
“Then it was you.” The winds howled around Poseidon as he leveled his trident at the King of Gods. “You dared attack my son!”
Athena gasped loudly, and the gods turned to her as she paled.
“The Master Bolt,” she whispered, her voice trembling as she met her father’s gaze. “You used it on Percy, didn’t you?”
Another quake shook the room as Poseidon whirled around to look back at Zeus, his armor forming on his torso.
“Is this true, brother?” he asked, his voice a deadly calm that had most gods instantly on edge. “You unleashed the most powerful weapon in existence upon my son? My son, who has done nothing but battle for Olympus? Answer me!”
Zeus leaned back on his throne. “I did what I had to, Poseidon and I—”
The hearth exploded upward in a burst of blood-red flames, and Zeus flinched, his eyes widening. Hestia rose from her Hearth, her body wreathed in red and gold flames, her eyes blazing molten wrath.
“YOU DID WHAT!?” Hestia’s voice burned through Olympus, ringing in every flame that blazed under her power. The marble melted beneath her feet as she stepped out, her form growing as tapestries turned to ash around her.
“Hestia—”
“You tried to kill your own family.” The gods flinched as the heat seeped through the throne room, burning against their skins. “You tried to kill the person who was fighting your battles at your command. You—”
“ENOUGH!” Zeus boomed, shooting to his feet as lightning flickered around him. “The two of you, sit down and let me say what I must!” He glared at Hestia and Poseidon. “Had I wanted the boy dead, he would be dead, and not with Apollo, being healed. I only used enough force to subdue him.”
“Subdued?” Poseidon scoffed. “Do not think of us as fools, brother. The Master Bolt has never been used to subdue. You’ve only used it to obliterate those whom you don’t like.”
Lightning flashed in the sky, falling across Zeus’ darkening face. “I told you, had I wanted to kill him, I wouldn’t have failed.”
“What could’ve possibly even led to you needing to subdue Percy?” Hestia hissed, and the flames in the braziers flared. “And you better have a very good reason, Zeus. Because I’ve known you—”
“Preventing the East Coast from sinking seems like a pretty good reason, sister,” Zeus snapped, slamming his Master Bolt down.
The doors banged shut behind them, a veil of magic rising over the walls as he descended the steps, striding toward Poseidon and Hestia.
“Percy would never,” Hestia scoffed. “He’s more mindful of collateral destruction than any of us are, brother. He has always strived to protect rather than destroy like Poseidon or you.”
Poseidon slowly inclined his head. “I would usually take offense, but I agree. My son—”
“Your son was distraught and angry over his friend’s demise and was facing impossible odds at the same time,” Zeus said. “We all know how demigods can achieve miracles when pushed. My own daughter, Thalia, destroyed a legion of Hades’ most fierce monsters when she made her last stand despite being tired and barely able to stand. She wasn’t even twelve when it happened. So think what Perseus could do.”
His electric blue eyes swept the room before he focused on Hestia, who still had flames burning over her body, the red glow shining over Zeus’ face.
“Poseidon, Hestia… Perseus killed Eurybia whilst in a lake.” Zeus continued. “Eurybia, for all intents and purposes, was a minor primordial. And he didn’t kill her in a swordfight as you’d expect. No, Perseus overpowered her very control over the water in his grief.”
Demeter gasped, while Hera’s and Athena’s eyes widened.
“Eurybia controlled the domain of the mastery of the sea. She was the daughter of Pontus,” Zeus continued. “And the boy defeated her by taking control of her very domain from her. Not even Alexander defeated Gaea in controlling her own domain! No one has!”
A hush fell over the throne room at the name, and thunder rumbled dangerously in the sky. Zeus’ eyes flicked up, and he scowled, clutching his Master Bolt tighter.
“I still fail to see how this would’ve ended in sinking the coast, brother,” Hestia said.
“In his anger, he called to the sea, Hestia. He pushed the boundaries between mortal and divine. When Poseidon or I get angry, the weather is also affected. But our own power and restriction by the fates forbid a catastrophe from happening as a side-effect.” He turned to Poseidon, who had paled. “Perseus had no such restriction upon him. And brother, need I remind you how exactly the island of Atlantis sank all those centuries ago?”
“No. Percy…”
“Called to the sea, and the storm followed, as it does with you,” Zeus said. “He wished to defeat monsters, but the power he called to do so was beyond his own control. It was exactly what happened with Atlantis. Only this time, the demigod was far more powerful. Thankfully, I was restraining the storm. Had I not, the place they call Pennsylvania would’ve been wiped off the mortal world in seconds. And that was before his power reached the sea.”
Poseidon nodded shakily. “If it had, the result would’ve been the same as it was for Atlantis. And Percy being Percy, as you said, is far more powerful, which would’ve resulted in a huge part of the mortal realm sinking beneath the sea, including the city Olympus stands on.”
“The flame would have had to shift if a quarter of the United States went under the seas, just like the flame shifted when Atlantis sank,” Zeus muttered. “That would lead to far more problems, given that we are amidst a war.”
Hestia suddenly narrowed her eyes. “Brother, if you were counteracting his power, why subdue him? And why use the Master Bolt? You had sent Atlas away, back to his burden, and you were limiting the storm.”
“When I sent Atlas away, Perseus channeled his anger at me, which led to him fighting my control directly.” Zeus showed her his bandaged wrist. “I tried to talk him out. Believe me, I really did, for Perseus has done great deeds for Olympus that even I cannot overlook.” His eyes flashed with lightning. “Had it been anyone but him, I wouldn’t have shown mercy for such a display, let alone attacking me.”
“Yet you used the bolt. You could’ve subdued him some other way!” The red flames turned orange. “What if he dies?”
“I told you, I ensured that he doesn’t.” Zeus snorted a mirthless laugh. “And as for using my bolt, the boy had just overpowered a primordial and broken the Titan of endurance to the point that he tried to take back his burden rather than be killed.” His electric eyes met Hestia’s fiery gaze. “You look me in the eye, Hestia, and tell me anything less than my bolt would’ve taken Perseus down.”
Hestia glanced away, the flames over her body dying as she sat down by the Hearth. “I see. Is he going to be alright?”
“Since the action to harm him was mine, I’ve decreed Apollo to use his powers to cure him, Hestia. I didn’t wish to do what I did.” He glanced at Poseidon. “If you don’t believe me, believe my word as King.”
Poseidon took a deep breath, glancing at Ares, who nodded. “For once, brother, I do. But if he dies—”
“He won’t,” Zeus vowed. “I’ll ensure that he not only survives but gets fully healed. I promise it on my power as King of the gods. He will make it through. Because if he doesn’t, we’ve as good as lost this war.”
ARTEMIS POV
The flames in the torches around the room flared, and thunder rumbled in the sky, as the wind rattled against the windows of Apollo’s medical center, swaying the trees outside. My heart hammered in my chest with every rumble of the storm and every flicker of the torches.
Something had happened today. Something that concerned Percy. I knew in my heart that something was not right here.
That Percy wasn’t alright.
I screwed my eyes shut and tried to concentrate, calling to the wild and all my divinity, focusing on Percy’s smiling face and his warm hug. Bright sunlight seared my mind in response.
The thunder rumbled louder, shaking the room, sending the instruments and medicine vials rattling on the table. The nymph tending to my wounds shifted nervously, continuing to wrap bandages over my forearm where Hecate’s curse had cut deep.
“Where’s my brother?” I asked the nymph.
“Lord Apollo is tending to another patient in need of urgent care, my lady.” The nymph poured some nectar on my wound, and I hissed, clenching my fist. “He’ll be with you as soon as he can.”
My heart clenched, and my gut twisted into a knot.
In the battle I had just fought, my hunters and I had faced off against Krios and Hecate, who had attacked us with their monster army. Some part of me was always sure that the attack was designed to stop me from aiding Percy and the quest members, as I had promised him.
I knew Percy was going into enemy territory only a few minutes before the hunt was attacked. He had thought about me like he always did during this quest. And I knew he had detected two gods in there, with several monsters.
It was nothing that’d give them much trouble, usually, and what they had been prepared to face.
But if the attack on me was a distraction, it meant that the Titans had prepared for Percy. A trap that was laid in a way that ensured Percy would need to call for help to get out of it.
So, they had distracted the help from coming too. They had orchestrated an attack on the hunt because my hunters and I were the only ones who could’ve intervened through my aid and my leeway under the Ancient Laws.
It was evident that they had been stalling now that I thought about it. Krios and Hecate had designed the attack on me to keep me occupied for as long as they could. It wasn’t devised to harm or kill anyone but those who fought the two Titans, who were Zoe and me.
And none of my hunters were far too injured that they’d need direct care from Apollo. And unless there was someone in need of his full attention, my brother would always come and tend to me first, or at least check on me.
The fact that he hadn’t meant that either Percy or one of his friends had been injured during their fight. As I realized this, I felt bile rise in my gut, as anxiety churned in my stomach.
“Whom is he tending to?” I asked in a hoarse voice
“I'm sorry, my lady. I cannot tell you that,” the nymph replied, hanging her head. “Lord Apollo has forbidden us from speaking about our patients to anyone but their family.”
“Olympus is a family, and I am an Olympian. You’ll tell me, and you’ll tell me now.” I snarled, and she flinched. “Is it Percy?”
“Yes, it is,” Apollo’s voice rang from the doorway, and I whirled around, spotting my brother leaning against the doorframe, wearing white scrubs.
“Percy’s injured?” I shot out of the bed, pushing past the nymph. “How bad is it?”
“My lady, your dressing—”
I drew my dagger, and the nymph let out a strangled yelp before I slashed through the gauze she had been wrapping around my arm. I glared at her and tucked the loose end in, unmindful of the burning pain as I strode forward, only to be stopped by Apollo at the door.
“Apollo, let me pass. I need to—”
“Lotis, you are dismissed. Tend to my sister’s huntresses. I’ll look after Artemis myself,” Apollo cut in, leading me back to the bed almost forcefully while I protested. As Lotis left, he turned to me with a grim expression, his eyes looking over me critically. “Sit. There is a cut just beneath your ribs that—”
“Apollo, I want to see Percy.” I went to stand up, but he pushed me down. “Let me go! What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Your boyfriend is under my care and will be absolutely fine in time. But he’s not waking up anytime soon. I’ve put him in a healing sleep, and he needs to be left undisturbed for a few hours, while you, my dear, need treatment. So be a good little sister and let me heal your wounds.”
“I’m fine.” I glowered at him. “Let me go see him at least!”
Apollo took a deep breath. “You shouldn’t go rushing in to see him, Artemis. Not before you know what exactly happened.”
I felt an awful, churning feeling in my stomach. “What do you mean? What happened to him?”
Apollo shifted on his feet, and I narrowed my eyes, my heart drumming faster. I growled and pushed past Apollo before he could protest, rushing out of the room and extending my senses to look for Percy’s presence, which I found in the room right next to me.
As Apollo ran out after me, calling my name, I pushed the door open and ran in, only to stop dead in my tracks as I laid eyes on Percy.
He lay suspended in a clear tub of water, tubes sticking in him while IVs dripped nectar into his body through a gap in his bandaged arms. What caught my eye were the severe, horrific third-degree burns on his chest and torso, which made bile rise in my throat just by looking at them.
I staggered back, and slowly rage clouded my vision.
Some bastard had tried their utmost to kill the love of my life, and nearly succeeded. The huntress in me was murderous.
They had almost killed my Percy.
I whirled around to look at my brother. “Who did this to him?” I demanded. “Answer me!”
“Artemis, you should—”
I seized him by his collar and slammed him into the wall, cracking it. “Who did this?” I growled. “Tell me, or I’m going to hunt them down myself anyway.”
Apollo hesitated. “The burns were, well, caused by the Master Bolt.”
“The Master Bolt?” My brain froze. “No, that’d mean—”
I stopped and turned to look at the burns on Percy’s torso, seeing beyond the burns and scars that looked like a carnage on canvas. They were electric burns and burns caused by melted metal. And the only weapon capable of melting Percy’s armor through electricity was the Master Bolt.
My father’s Master Bolt.
Fury rose in me like a tide, and I let go of my brother, summoning my bow and armor, ichor pounding in my ears. “I’m going to put an arrow through him then.”
“Artemis, no!” Apollo seized me, pinning me to the wall, and slapped the bow out of my hand. “You don’t know the full story. This was done for a reason. And Hestia and Poseidon are already—”
I pushed my brother away with a snarl, sending him staggering. “Then I will join them in killing Zeus. He tried to kill my Percy, and I’m going to return the favor. Give me my bow back!”
Instead, he blurred forward in a flash of sunlight, snapping something around my wrist before I could defend myself. Immediately, I felt my connection to the wild dwindle, the moonlight in me dimming.
“What?” I asked, feeling dizzy.
“This room was meant to treat gods. And when they’re really injured, a widespread connection to their domain does only more harm. This blocks it, so the god’s powers don’t fight mine when I heal them. For you, it means you cannot use your godly strength or speed to overpower me.”
I glared at him. “You’ll release me this instant, or I’m going to do something horrible to everything you have, brother.”
“First, hear me out. Know the full story before you go out to hunt our father. Please? For my sake? If not for mine, do it for Percy. Just… know about the whole situation before you react, eh?”
I folded my arms, scowling at the celestial bronze bracelet my brother had put on me. “Make it quick before I decide to put an arrow through you, too.”
Apollo nodded and led me softly to a chair by Percy’s tub. “Take a seat beside him. Maybe your presence would help him stay connected.”
I looked down at him, my heart tearing as I saw the burns up close, brushing my fingers over them. I felt Percy’s heart throb beneath the water, my breath hitching in my throat as I drifted into the seat.
Apollo summoned some medical supplies and cleared his throat. “You’re also injured. Let me tend to the wound while I tell you what happened.”
“Brother—” I stopped as he gave me an imploring look. Sighing, I took off my parka, grimacing as the wet, ichor-soaked cloth peeled off my body.
“That’s a nasty cut,” Apollo eyed the gash that started just below my silver bra, extending down the side of my abdomen. As he picked up a cotton swab and doused it with nectar, his lips quirked into a small smile. “Though your boyfriend might be more than pleased to see you sitting by his side like this.”
I felt heat rush to my cheeks, but before I could retort, he pressed the cotton swab to the wound, and I hissed as it burned.
“Well, as Percy had predicted, it was a trap,” Apollo began, his hands working on cleaning my wound, while I listened with growing horror as the story played out.
The Titans had employed trickery— one of Hecate’s illusions to disguise Atlas as Astraeus, someone far tamer and more harmless than the General of Titans. It was the one thing no one had seen coming, despite Percy having planned for a trap and having taken the help of everyone he could.
Asteria was there with him, for once, not under disguise, but her job had been to summon Draco back from the stars, something I hadn’t thought was even plausible, least of all Draco, the first of the true dragons. The dragon whom I had taken days to put down after the once greatest, and in some ways, the shittiest demigod of his age had fled from. The dragon I had to put in the stars so he wouldn’t be reborn from Tartarus and terrorize the Earth again.
I had been wrong.
Atlas had used what I did to summon Draco back to kill Percy and his friends. The General of the Titans, the Titaness of the stars, one of the most dangerous creatures to ever walk on Earth, and a battalion of monsters had been pitted against six demigods and a Satyr.
Yet, they had prevailed. I listened with growing pride about how my new second lieutenant had taken down Draco alongside the Daughter of Ares while Annabeth had finished off Asteria.
Then my heart dropped as Apollo told me about Eurybia and Grover’s death.
My hand drifted in the water of Percy’s tub, his fingers brushing against mine. I looked down as his fingers wrapped around my hand, and I felt my heart clench.
“That’s when we had to intervene,” Apollo said, drawing my attention back. “Father was barely containing the storm, and he needed Atlas alive to take the sky back. So we stopped Percy from killing Atlas and sent him away, which Percy didn’t appreciate one bit. So, he took it out on Zeus, attacking him in a fit of rage. That is when the storm slipped out. I felt it.”
“Like hurricane Katrina that happened due to the Poseidon-Oceanus fallout, or like… Atlantis?”
“Worse than the two combined, sis. Your boyfriend is the most powerful demigod to have ever been born. Who will ever be born, probably.” Apollo’s eyes flashed. “He would’ve sunk a quarter of America before he might’ve realized it. It was a good thing that Father knocked him out before it could get to that. Yet there’s still massive damage in Pittsburgh.”
I squeezed Percy’s hand. “I see. Will he—” the words caught in my throat. “Will he be okay?”
Apollo nodded. “He’ll come back to you in one piece and good as new, sis. I’ll ensure he does.”
“Thanks,” I looked at Percy’s face beneath the water. “I hope he wakes up soon.”
PERCY POV
Pain thrummed in my muscles as I blearily opened my eyes, feeling dizzy. Artemis’ face swam into view, and she smiled at me, her fingers grasping mine.
That was when I realized I was underwater and slowly pulled myself up, my arms aching in protest.
“Careful, Percy,” she whispered, her arm supporting me as I felt bile rise in my throat. I heard the faint snap of a finger as I blinked the bleariness out of my eyes.
Slowly, the memories flooded back. Atlas, the Dragon, Eurybia… and Grover. The memory hit me like a sledgehammer. The image of Grover’s life bleeding out of his eyes burned in my mind, and I felt the world get pulled out from under me, the darkness screaming at me as the world spun.
“Percy,” Artemis’ voice pulled me back, and I looked at her, tears clouding my eyes.
“Grover,” I croaked, and she winced, nodding at me. “He’s… he…”
I couldn’t say the words, but Artemis pulled me into a tight hug, her breath wafting against my ear. “He died a hero’s death, Percy. He’s a Satyr worthy of Elysium. He’ll be forever honored amongst the heroes.”
No words came to me as I clung to her like a lifeline, my heart hammering, my soul tearing itself in two.
“Hey, cuz,” Apollo’s quiet voice rang in my ears, and Artemis eased back, breaking the hug, her hand still clutching my arm for support.
Apollo’s white doctor coat fluttered behind him as he came closer, his blue eyes flashing yellow as he scanned me. “You’re way better than you were last month.”
“Last month?” I pulled the words up like stones through the sea of grief. “I… since when am I here?”
“Five weeks. Almost six, really. You may or may not remember, but Lord Zeus hit you with the Master Bolt,” Apollo said, and the faintest memory of a massive bolt of lightning and burning pain flashed in my mind. “How’re you feeling?”
“Fine.” I ignored the aching pain in my limbs and looked around. “Where are the rest of my friends? Are they… are they alright?”
Apollo nodded, and I let out a sigh of relief. “The rest of your friends are at the camp. Father ordered Hermes to send them there as soon as we arrived that day. They’re all well.”
Except Grover.
No one said those words, but I could hear them.
Grover was no more. My best friend had died, killed by Atlas. Atlas, who had gotten away with no consequences at all.
My blood burned in my veins. “Zeus… he rescued Atlas. And you all helped.” My fist clenched as I met Apollo’s eyes. “You, Hermes, and Ares. You all helped Atlas.”
Artemis and Apollo shared a look.
“We did send him away,” Apollo said, shooting Artemis a look. “Death, we felt, would’ve been a far kinder punishment than the General deserved. Now he is back beneath his burden, thrice defeated, and almost broken. He’ll never live it down. The greatest warrior of the Titans was defeated by a demigod to the point of him begging for mercy.”
“I didn’t defeat him,” I said, feeling my heart twist like a dagger beneath my ribs. “It was Grover… Atlas would’ve killed me when Eurybia came out, but Grover… he intervened. He stopped Atlas cold.” The words hitched in my throat. “Then Atlas got his revenge.”
“Grover will forever be remembered for it,” Apollo bowed his head. “We found his tree in your bag. He reincarnated as an eastern cottonwood and now stands by Thalia’s tree in the camp. His story will not be forgotten, Percy. Grover was brave beyond measure.”
The words blurred beyond that amongst the pounding in my ears. I couldn’t answer. I dragged myself out of the water, though my body screamed, and Apollo cursed under his breath while Artemis caught me before I collapsed.
“No, no, Percy, get back in bed. You aren’t—”
“I want to visit him. I need to see Grover.”
“Percy, you can’t.” Apollo protested. “You haven’t healed yet. You were hit by the freaking Master Bolt, man. Do you have any clue—”
“Brother,” Artemis’ voice cut through Apollo’s. “I’ll be with him.”
I gave her a small smile, stepping onto the cold floor, the air biting into my skin. Apollo sighed and snapped his fingers. In an instant, I was dry and dressed in hospital clothes, a thick, light blue robe draped over them.
“Don’t stay long,” Apollo ordered. “You’re still very weak. Your burns and scars may have healed, but you haven’t.”
I nodded, leaning onto Artemis for support, who held me tight. In truth, I didn’t really care about what Apollo was saying. I just wanted to see Grover.
Artemis’ grip tightened, and we flashed away, reappearing by the edge of the camp.
The moon shone in the night sky above us, and the stars twinkled as we climbed up the hill to where Thalia’s tree stood tall, Peleus wrapped around it.
My limbs ached, but I ignored them, Grover’s face burning in my mind.
As we approached, I felt the breath leave my lungs. Beside the pine tree, no taller than my knee, stood a sapling. Bright, green, and heartbreakingly small.
For a moment, I thought I could hear the faint wheeze of reed pipes in the wind… and then nothing, only the silence where Grover should’ve been.
My legs gave out, and I sank to my knees before the cottonwood. I felt tears stream down my cheeks as I sobbed, staring at the sapling, feeling my world crumble.
Grover, my best friend and brother, was no more.