The bridge to Olympus is dissolving - something Lila didn't know was possible, considering it's marble. But, starting from the elevator, cracks are forming, the stone crumbling like the Age of Gods, the rot from the inside beginning to show. 

"Jump!" Grover instructs, which is a lot easier said than done, considering he's half goat. He jumps onto the next slab, while the one the rest of them on tilts backwards unsteadily. 

"Gods, I hate heights!" Thalia yells, squeezing her eyes shut as she jumps, pulling Percy and Lila with her. Annabeth, however, stumbles weakly, staying on the tilting block. 

Percy grabs her hand as the pavement falls - they both begin to dangle in the open air, as her weight pulls Percy down toward the void below. Lila's instincts kick in, and vines grow, dragging both of them back safely onto the block they're both on. 

"Thanks," Annabeth pants, nodding to them both. 

"Keep moving!" Grover my gives them no chance to catch their breaths, pulling Annabeth to her feet and across the sky bridge. Lila and Percy follow, Thalia at the back of the group, steadily avoiding looking down. Just as the final section begins to collapse, they manage to jump onto the last bit of ground. 

Annabeth looks back toward the elevator, hanging in space now, disconnected from the rest of Olympus. "We're marooned," she says. "On our own."

"Again?" Lila whines. 

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

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

They begin to run through the streets. Houses are burning, marble walls crumbling down in flames. The park is mostly uprooted, trees blasted into nothing, or lying on their sides, roots flying in the air. Lila winces at the sight, horror filling her at all that life, now dead.

"Kronos's scythe," Percy imagines.

They follow the path towards the palace of the gods. It seems longer - like time is slowing down, though that could be Lila's imagination. Everything lies in ruins around them. The world has been building toward this for four years - but somehow Lila never really believed it could happen. 

Some minor gods and nature spirits are strewn across the road - armour in pieces, clothing lying torn, weapons split in half. 

Kronos's voice echoes out in the unnerving silence. "Brick by brick! That was my promise. Tear it down brick by brick."

A temple explodes, a golden dome shooting upwards before shattering, golden pieces littering the city. The rubble rains toward them - one piece cuts into Lila's arm, leaving a thin red scratch. 

"That was a shrine to Artemis," Thalia scowls. "He'll pay for that." Somehow, Lila doubts that. 

When they're beneath the main archway, decorated with gigantic statues of Zeus and Hera, watching over the world, suddenly the mountain groans, tilting sideways like it's on the edge of a precipice. 

"Look out!" Grover yelps, tugging Lila out of the way. The archway crumbles, as the Hera statues begins to tip over onto Annabeth, Percy and Thalia. Someone screams out, and then the statues has hit the ground with a huge thud, Percy and Annabeth on the other side. 

"Thalia!" Grover cries.

It takes a second for the dust to clear, but when it does, Thalia's figure is still alive and breathing, only trapped beneath the statue. They try to move it, but it's so heavy it barely shifts with all their efforts. When they try to pull her out, she cries out. 

"I survive all those battles," she growls, "and I get defeated by a stupid chunk of rock!"

"It's Hera," Annabeth sighs. "She's had it in for me all year. Her statue would've killed me if you hadn't pushed us away."

"Seriously?" Lila glares at the face of the Queen of the gods. "Now? Her priorities are so messed up."

Thalia grimaces, but a steely glare enters her eyes. "Well, don't just stand there! I'll be fine. Go!"

They all hesitate, but more buildings are exploding in the background, each one sending tremors through the earth. 

"We'll be back," Percy promises.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Thalia says snarkily, rolling her eyes.

Near the palace, something explodes into flames. 

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

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

Percy doesn't answer, turning and sprinting toward the palace, Annabeth right beside him. Grover and Lila turn to each other with a sigh, but they both know they won't be turning back. For one thing, the path behind them has literally disintegrated. 

"I was afraid of that," Grover mutters. 

The doors of the palace, despite being huge, large enough for as many giants as Kronos's heart should desire, have been ripped apart and smashed. Lila figures it must be some kind of symbol of Kronos's power. They have to climb over the broken remains to get inside. 

In the middle of the throne room, Kronos stands with his arms wide. He stares at the starry ceiling like he can't believe he's really there, laughing. 

"Finally!" he bellows. "The Olympian Council—so proud and mighty. Which seat of power shall I destroy first?"

To one side of him stands Ethan, nervously watching his master's scythe like it might accidently slash him in half. The fire is dull and nearly dead now, left without someone to tend it - Hestia has smartly disappeared, hopefully with Rachel and Elpis - if they're not dead. 

"My lord," Ethan warns, as they approach. Traitor. Lila scowls at him, but he meets her eyes with his own, not betraying any hint of emotion. 

Kronos turns and smiles with Luke's face. It reminds Lila of the way he used to smile back at Camp - it's the same, only this time his eyes are cold and golden. 

"Shall I destroy you first, Jackson?" Kronos asks. "Is that the choice you will make—to fight me and die instead of bowing down? Prophecies never end well, you know."

It reminds Lila of Hermes' message from Athena: "Remember the prophecy," she whispers to herself. 

 Now, with everything that's happened since then, it doesn't seem unreasonable that Athena's advice should still ring true. But which lines? The first two have come true, as have the ones about endless sleep. What was the rest?

The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. In the wake of a drakon slayed the prophecy of old is made. A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze. 

The drakon has been slain - what prophecy has been made? 

"Luke would fight with a sword," Percy taunts. "But I suppose you don't have his skill."

Kronos is easily baited, for a Titan. His scythe shifts, until Backbiter is in his hands - half-steel, half-bronze. 

Annabeth suddenly gasps, squeezing Lila's arm. "Percy, the blade!" She pulls out her knife. "The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."

Lila frowns at her. Is she becoming delirious?

Before Percy can reply, Kronos raises his sword.

"Wait!" Annabeth yells.

Kronos does not wait, attacking Percy like a tornado. His sword whips in his hands, but Percy seems to be defending well enough, though it's all happening too fast for Lila to notice. Annabeth charges at them, her knife out - though she doesn't seem to be preparing to attack, more to break up their fight. Ethan steps into her way, shoving her onto the ground. She falls onto her dislocated shoulder; Lila hears her cry out in pain, and lunges toward her old friend, tackling him onto the ground with zero grace. 

Ethan is strong - he shoves Lila off easily, grabbing his sword from where he dropped it, while she rolls to her feet, drawing her spear. He scowls at her, and, with no hesitation, lunges with his sword, bringing it down in a fierce blow designed to cleave her in two. She ducks out of the way, stepping out from his side - he stumbles, but regains his balance quickly. 

"You've gotten slower," Lila taunts. 

His teeth clamp together in a snarl. "I don't want to kill you, but I will." 

"Why?" she scowls. "Why do it if you don't want to?"

He doesn't answer, only raising his sword again, lunging toward her. This time, he takes more care with his blows, each one directed to her with precision, like he truly wants to slash her in half. Lila deflects, her spear catching or pushing away each blow, but Ethan's been training hard since last summer, where he was beaten by Percy, apparently. 

It doesn't matter much, though. Whatever gifts Lila gained in the last hours, her limbs seem renewed with energy, each blow coming faster and quicker as she forces him backwards. His blows begin to get more slow and come further apart as she goes on the offensive, forcing him to dodge and parry. 

With a feint that would have even Clarisse impressed, Lila lunges toward his shoulder, before pushing the spear downwards, shoving the point into his thigh. Ethan cries out in pain, stumbling toward the pillar behind him, on which he now leans, blood seeping out from his leg, pooling on the marble ground. 

He raises his sword again, weakly, and Lila knows he can't stop another blow. She raises her spear, fully ready to end his life right there. Then, she looks at his eye - the eye of her friend, a guy she grew up with. How many nights had they spent outside the Hermes cabin, imagining their future? Neither guessed it would end up like this. 

Something in his eyes reminds her of Silena. It's that quiet acceptance, the willingness to die for your cause. He has the same empty look, like there's nothing left to live for.

She can't do it. With a shudder, she presses the blunt part of the spear into his stomach, pressing him further against the wall. 

"Goodbye, Ethan." He looks at her, eyes full of confusion. 

With that, Lila turns back to the battle, just in time to see Percy jump over Kronos's head, while Hephaestus's throne shoots electricity in every direction. One hits the Lord of the Titans in the face, leaving him to crumple to his knees. Annabeth manages to get to her feet, and raises her lips, charging at him. 

Before Lila can react, there's a sharp pain in her side.

The spear falls out of her hands, twisting back into a hairpin as she looks down, seeing a long Celestial Bronze knife cutting into the flesh just beneath her ribs. Red liquid soaks her Camp T-shirt as the knife is roughly pulled out, and Lila falls to her knees, coughing. Her hands reach for the wound, trying to press on it to stop the bleeding. It's deeper than most her past wounds, but not bad enough to incapacitate her - at least, not yet. Soon, something will need to stop the blood loss. 

On the ground, she turns, to see Ethan drop a bloody knife. She can't stop the tears that fill her eyes. "E - Ethan?" her voice sounds all croaky. 

She hears Percy scream, just in time to see Annabeth be blasted away into her mother's throne, crumpling into the floor. 

"Annabeth!" Percy screams. Then his eyes meet Lila's, and he sees her on the ground, side bleeding, while Ethan stands over her. It's one of the first times Lila's ever seen him look so worried - the other being when Annabeth was stabbed.

Grover's playing music - slowly moving toward Annabeth, but he's struggling to keep up the song and get to her. Lila will be okay, she thinks. The wound only stings a little bit, though she can't find the strength to get to her feet, or to summon anything. 

Kronos rises to one knee. "Nakamura!" he groans. "Time to prove yourself. You know Jackson's secret weakness. Kill him, and you will have rewards beyond measure."

Ethan's eyes drop to Percy. Lila gets the feeling that he knows. 

Then his eyes flick back to her. She doesn't say anything, only meeting his eyes. She's so weak. She should've killed him when she had the chance - now he's going to get Percy killed, and doom Olympus. 

Lila's never hated herself as much as now. Why does she always make the worst decision? Why does she always ruin everything?

"Look around you, Ethan," Percy says. "The end of the world. Is this the reward you want? Do you really want everything destroyed—the good with the bad? Everything?"

"There is no throne to Nemesis," Ethan mutters. "No throne to my mother."

"That's right!" Kronos tries to get to his feet, but stumbles. "Strike them down! They deserve to suffer."

"You said your mom is the goddess of balance," Percy adds. "The minor gods deserve better, Ethan, but total destruction isn't balance. Kronos doesn't build. He only destroys."

Percy gestures to Lila, still crumpled on the ground. "Look at what you've done. You two were friends." 

Ethan looks down at Lila. His eyes seem to focus on the wound at her stomach, the blood now coating her fingers, pressing into it. He blinks. 

"Li - I'm sorry." He says miserably. 

Then he charges. 

At first, Lila thinks he's going toward Percy, and a pained scream rips itself out of her lips. But then he turns to Kronos, bringing down his sword onto Kronos's neck. It would kill anyone else, but the blade shatters. 

Ethan is shot back, falling onto the ground beside Lila. With a pained groan, he grips his stomach, and Lila sees his hands come away red. 

Lila's scream turns into something more strangled. She pushes herself over to his broken body, to see a shard of his own blade has pierced his armour. How poetic - after stabbing her in the back, his own blade has betrayed him.

She grabs his hand, squeezing. This can't be real, not again. Not another death. Gaia promised. She never really wanted Ethan to die. Tears are beginning to fill her eyes, but she blinks them away. "Ethan - " 

He coughs, blood pooling at the corner of his mouth, dripping onto his chin. She tried to wipe it away, but her hands are bloodstained too. 

"I'm sorry," he whispers again. "You - always were too - too good to me."

Kronos rises, towering over Ethan and Lila. She grabs her spear, the hairpin expanding in her hand as it usually does, but Kronos grabs it, ripping it violently out of her hands. With a yell, he snaps her spear over his knee, dropping one piece behind him. Lila flinches at the sight, her trusted weapon abandoned in pieces. Somehow, she doesn't think it's ever coming back. 

Then he presses the blunt edge of the other into her wound. She screams, trying to pull the spear away, but he's stronger. He presses it deeper, pinning her to the ground. 

"Stay down," he hisses. Then he turns to Ethan, raising his hand to blast him back onto the steps leading up to Zeus's throne. "Treason," he snarls.

Lila, looks to her friend, reaching out from her place on the ground. She can't move, the blunt edge of the spear still digging into her skin. With every breath, splinters pierce her skin, pain erupting over her stomach. In her heart, she knows what's about to happen, and there's nothign she can do to stop it.

Ethan looks over at Percy. "Deserve better," he rasps. "If they just . . . had thrones—"

Kronos stomps his foot, and around Ethan, the floor cracks and breaks. Beneath him, a fissure opens going straight through the mountain into air - and he falls straight down. 

"So much for him." Kronos picks up his sword. "And now for the rest of you."

i lied, & split this into two parts. it felt better lol. 

not fully happy with ethan's death scene but i will edit it at some point