Time had stopped altogether for him.

Kronos turned back to the remaining three with an evil smile. "That's one taken care of, now for the rest of you—"

The son of Poseidon swung his sword at Kronos but the Titan moved out of the way, and the raven-haired boy swung again.

Kronos deflected his attack by interlocking their swords together, Percy swiped Kronos' feet from underneath him, as he jabbed his sword straight for the Titan's head.

The blond rolled out of the way as Riptide plunged into the marble floor leaving cracks where it had hit the ground.

Kronos got to his feet and laughed mockingly. "Don't be surprised, Jackson. That girl was going to die by my hands one day."

Percy gripped Riptide tighter as he attacked the Titan.

They fought by the hearth, kicking up coals and sparks. Kronos slashed an armrest off the throne of Ares and then backed Percy up to his father's throne.

"Oh, yes," Kronos said. "This one will make fine kindling for my new hearth."

The two's blades clashed in a shower of sparks. Kronos was stronger than him, but for the moment Percy felt the power of the ocean in his arms. Percy wasn't going to let Kronos get away with what he did to Evangeline.

The raven-haired boy pushed him back and struck again—harder this time—slashing Riptide across his breastplate so hard he cut a gash in the Celestial Bronze.

Kronos stamped his foot again and time slowed. Percy tried to attack but he was moving at the speed of a glacier. Kronos backed up leisurely, catching his breath. He examined the gash in his armor while the son of Poseidon struggled forward, cursing him.

"It's too late, Percy Jackson," he said. "Behold."

He pointed to the hearth, and the coals glowed. A sheet of white smoke poured from the fire, forming images like an Iris message.

Percy saw Nico and his parents down on Fifth Avenue, fighting a hopeless battle, ringing in enemies. In the background Hades fought from his black chariot, summoning wave after wave of zombies from the ground, but the forces of the Titan's army seemed just as endless.

The son of Poseidon felt guilt wash over him as he thought about what he would tell them when Nico and Hades looked for Evangeline only for her to be gone.

Meanwhile, Manhattan was being destroyed. Mortals, now fully awake, were running in terror. Cars swerved and crashed.

The scene shifted, and he saw something more terrifying.

A column of storm was approaching the Hudson River, moving rapidly over the Jersey shore. Chariots circled it, locked in combat with the creature in the cloud.

The gods attacked. Lightning flashed. Arrows of gold and silver streaked into the cloud, like rocket tracers and exploded. Slowly, the cloud ripped apart, and Percy saw Typhon clearly for the first time.

He knew as long as he lived, the Jackson boy would never be able to get the image out of his mind. Typhon's head shifted constantly. Every movement he was a different monster, each more horrible than the last.

Looking at his face would've driven the son of the sea insane, so he focused on the monster's body, which wasn't much better.

He was a humanoid, but his skin reminded Percy of a meatloaf sandwich that had been in someone's locker all year. He was mottled green, with blisters the size of buildings, and blackened patches from eons of being stuck under a volcano.

His hands were human but with talons like an eagle's. His legs were scaly and reptilian.

"The Olympians are giving their final effort." Kronos laughed. "How pathetic."

Zeus threw a thunderbolt from his chariot. The blast lit up the world. Percy could feel the shock even while he was on Olympus, but when the dust cleared, Typhon was still standing.

Typhon staggered a bit, with a smoking crater on top of his misshapen head, but he roared in anger and kept advancing. The monster stepped into the Hudson River and barely sank to midcalf.

Like a miracle, a conch horn sounded from the smoky picture. The call of the ocean. The call of Poseidon.

All around Typhon, the Hudson River erupted, churning with forty-foot waves. Out of the water burst a new chariot—this one pulled by massive hippocampi, who swam in the air easily as in water. His father, glowing with a blue aura of power, rode a defiant circle around the giant's legs.

Poseidon was no longer an old man. He looked like himself again—tan and strong with a black beard. And swung his trident, the river responded, making a funnel cloud around the monster.

"No!" Kronos bellowed after a moment of stunned silence. "NO!"

"Now, my brethren!" The Sea God's voice was so loud Percy wasn't sure if he was hearing it from the smoke image or from all the way across town. "Strike for Olympus!"

Warriors burst out of the river, riding waves on huge sharks and dragons and sea horses. It was a legion of Cyclopes, and leading them into battle was...

"Tyson!" The son of Poseidon exclaimed.

Percy knew his brother couldn't hear him, but he stared at the Cyclops in amazement. He'd magically grown in size. He had to be thirty feet tall, as big as any of his older cousins, and for the first time, he was wearing full battle armor. Riding bending him was Briaries, the Hundred-Handed One.

All the Cyclopes held huge lengths of black iron chains—big enough to anchor a battleship—with grappling hooks at the ends. They swung them like lassos and began to ensnare Typhon, throwing lines around the creature's legs and arms, using the tide to keep circling, slowly tangling him.

Typhon shook and roared and yanked at the chains, pulling some of the Cyclopes off their mounts; but there were too many chains.

The sheer weight of the Cyclops battalion began to weigh Typhon down. Poseidon threw his trident and impaled the monster in the throat. Golden blood, immortal ichor, spewed from the wound, making a waterfall taller than a skyscraper. The trident flew back to Poseidon's hand.

The other gods struck with renewed force. Ares rode in and stabbed the giant in the nose. Artemis shot the monster in the eye with a dozen silver arrows. Apollo shot a blazing volley of arrows and set the monster's loincloth on fire.

And Zeus kept pounding the giant with lightning, until finally, slowly, the water rose, wrapping Typhon like a cocoon, and he began to sink under the weight of the chains.

Typhon bellowed in agony, thrashing with such force that waves sloshed the Jersey shore, soaking five-story buildings and splashing over the George Washington Bride—but down he went as Poseidon opened a special tunnel for him at the bottom of the river—an endless waterslide that would take him straight to Tartarus.

The giant's head went under in a seething whirlpool, and he was gone.

"Bah!" Kronos screamed. He slashed his sword through the smoke, tearing the image to shreds.

"They're on their way," Percy said. "You've lost."

"I haven't even started."

He advanced with blinding speed. Grover—brave, stupid satyr that he was—tried to protect the son of Poseidon, but Kronos tossed him aside like a rag doll.

The Titan raised his sword to attack Percy but then the floor cracked open between them and Kronos stumbled back as he lost his focus.

Something slammed into the Titan knocking him down to the ground. The throne room started freezing to a temperature that should've been able to freeze them to death. The air in the room was getting so thick, that Percy could barely breathe.

Then, all the shadows in the room circled around one spot like a mini hurricane. When it settled, Percy saw Evangeline.

Just seeing her like that made Percy want to crawl into a hole and hide, she was radiating death, and a terrifying amount at that.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you," Evangeline spoke in a cold tone.

She tightened her grip on her sword, and struck before he could focus again.

The blade managed to hit his sword, she locked the hilts and pushed them down. She twisted her free hand, tendrils forming from the shadows of the thrones, shot out and wrapped around Kronos, yanking him back into Zeus' throne.

The Titan Lord hit the seat with a thud, his face scrunching up for just a second before he forced his way out of the grip.

She doubled the tendrils and smacked him back into the throne again, her ears were ringing, one of the tendrils coiled around his shoulder. Kronos snarled, wrenching out of the grip and slashing his sword at her in an arc, she barely managed to dodge the attack.

Riptide hit Kronos' sword from below, pushing it up and making the Titan stumble to the side as Percy slammed into him.

She met Percy's gaze, his hand tightened around the hilt of the Celestial Bronze blade. Kronos got up, and lunged at them. Evangeline ducked to the right while Percy went left, using the momentum, slamming the hilts of their swords into the Titan's back.

Kronos was only momentarily caught off guard, she saw the cracks in the ground spread out toward them.

Before she could attack again, the daughter of Athena came out of nowhere. "Stop!" Annabeth yelled.

Kronos whirled to face her and slashed Backbiter, but somehow Annabeth caught the strike on her dagger hilt. It was a move only the quickest and most skilled knife fighter could've managed.

The daughter of Athena stepped in closer for leverage, their blades crossed, and for a moment she stood face-to-face with the Titan lord, holding him at a standstill.

"Luke," she said, gritting her teeth, "I understand now. You have to trust me."

Kronos roared in outrage. "Luke Castellan is dead! His body will burn away as I assume my true form!"

Kronos pushed against the blonde, trying to dislodge his blade, but she held him in check, her arms trembling as he forced his sword down toward her neck.

"Your mother," Annabeth grunted. "She saw your fate."

"Service to Kronos!" The Titan roared. "This is my fate."

"No!" The blonde girl insisted. Her eyes were tearing up, but Evangeline didn't know if it was from sadness or pain. "That's not the end, Luke. The prophecy: she saw what you would do. It applies to you!"

"I will crush you, child!" Kronos bellowed.

"You won't," Annabeth said. "You promised. You're holding Kronos back even now."

"LIES!" Kronos pushed again, and this time Annabeth lost her balance. With his free hand, Kronos struck the blonde's face, and she slid backward.

Evangeline was about to attack when Kronos snapped his fingers and she realized she couldn't move anymore.

The Titan loomed over Annabeth, his sword raised.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She croaked, "Family, Luke. You promised."

Percy took a painful step forward. Grover was back on his feet, over by the throne of Hera, but he seemed to be struggling to move as well. Evangeline was breathing heavily as she clutched her sword tightly. Before either of the three could get anywhere close to Annabeth, Kronos staggered.

The blond stared at the knife in Annabeth's hand, the blood on her face. "Promise."

Then he gasped like he couldn't get air. "Annabeth..." But this time it wasn't Kronos' voice, it was Luke's. He stumbled forward like he couldn't control his own body. "You're bleeding..."

"My knife." Annabeth tried to raise her dagger, but it clattered out of her hand. Her arm was bent at a funny angle. She looked at the raven-haired boy, imploring. "Percy, please..."

The son of Poseidon could fully move again.

He surged forward and scooped up her knife. Evangeline managed to move and knocked Backbiter out of Luke's hand, the sword spun into the hearth. Luke didn't pay much attention to her as he stepped toward Annabeth.

"Don't touch her," Percy said, stepping between the two.

Anger rippled across his face. Kronos's voice growled. "Jackson..." Evangeline blinked twice when she swore she saw his body glowing, turning gold.

He gasped again. Luke's voice; "He's changing. Help. He's...he's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please—"

"No!" Kronos bellowed. He looked around for his sword, but it was in the hearth, glowing among the coals.

He stumbled toward it. Percy tried to stop him, but he pushed him aside with such force the son of Poseidon landed next to Annabeth and cracked his head on the base of Athena's throne.

Kronos grabbed the hilt of the sword but then he bellowed in pain and dropped it. His hands were smoking and seared. The hearth fire had grown red-hot like the scythe wasn't compatible with it.

The brunette saw an image of Hestia flickering in the ashes, frowning at Kronos with disapproval.

Evangeline smashed the hilt of her sword straight into Luke's face causing him to collapse, while he clutched his ruined hands. Once Luke regained his awareness he said, "Please, Percy..."

The son of Poseidon struggled to his feet. He moved toward the son of Hermes with the knife. He should kill Luke. That was the plan.

"You can't...can't do it yourself." Luke croaked. "He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can...can keep him controlled."

The son of Hermes was most certainly glowing now, his skin had started to smoke.

Percy raised the knife to strike. But then he looked at Annabeth, at Grover cradling the blonde in his arms, trying to shield her. He looked at Evangeline who had no expression written on her face, just a cold, dead look.

"Please," Luke groaned. "No time."

Evangeline froze once she saw Percy hand the weapon to the son of Hermes.

Grover yelped. "Percy? Are you...um..."

"Are you crazy?" Evangeline hissed.

The son of Poseidon watched as Luke grasped the hilt. He stood before the blond defenseless.

The Castellan boy unlatched the side straps of his armor, exposing a small bit of his skin under his left arm, a place that would be very hard to hit. With difficulty, he stabbed himself.

It wasn't a deep cut, but Luke howled. His eyes glowed like lava. The throne room shook, throwing Percy off his feet.

Before he could hit the ground Evangeline caught him, covering herself, Percy, Grover, and Annabeth with darkness as an aura of energy surrounded Luke, growing brighter and brighter.

The brunette winced as she felt a force like a nuclear explosion hit the shield. She started hearing a light buzzing in her ears.

It was silent for a long time.

When she removed the shield, she caught sight of Luke sprawled at the hearth. On the floor around him was a blackened circle of ash. Kronos's scythe had liquified into molten metal and was trickling into the coals of the hearth.

Luke's left side was bloody, His eyes were open—blue eyes, the way they used to be. His breath was a deep rattle.

"Good...blade," He croaked.

Percy and Evangeline knelt next to him. Annabeth limped over with Grover's help. They both had tears in their eyes.

Luke gazed at the blonde. "You knew. I almost killed you, but you knew..."

"Shh," her voice trembled. "You were a hero at the end, Luke. You'll go to Elysium."

No, he won't. Evangeline wanted to say, she was going to make sure Luke spent the rest of the afterlife in the Fields of Punishment.

The son of Hermes shook his head weakly. "Think...rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of the Blest."

Annabeth sniffled. "You always pushed yourself too hard."

He held up his charred hand. Annabeth touched his fingertips.

"Did you..." Luke coughed and his lips glistened with red. "Did you love me?"

The brunette met Percy's gaze, to see him staring right at her.

Percy couldn't believe that she was okay, that she was right there next to him. The world was collapsing, and the only thing that really mattered to him was the fact that she was alive.

The daughter of Athena wiped her tears away. "There was a time I thought...well, I thought you were like a brother to me, Luke," she said softly. "But I didn't love you."

Luke nodded as if he'd expected it. He winced in pain.

"We can get ambrosia," Grover said. "We can—"

"Grover," Luke gulped. "You're the bravest satyr I ever knew. But no there's no healing..." Another cough.

He gripped Percy's sleeve, and he could feel the heat of his skin like a fire. "Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don't let it...Don't let it happen again."

His eyes were angry, but pleading too.

"I won't," Percy said. "I promise."

Luke nodded, and his hand went slack as his gaze went to the brunette. "I'm so sorry, for everything. For what I did, I'm sorry."

She licked her lips as the buzzing in her ear turned to a light ring before it went quiet.

The gods arrived a few minutes later in their full war regalia, thundering into the throne room and expecting a battle.

What they had found were the three demigods and the satyr standing over the body of a broken half-blood, in the dim warm light of the hearth.

"Percy," Poseidon called awe in his voice. "What...what is this?"

Percy turned and faced the Olympians.

"We need a shroud," He announced, his voice cracking. "A shroud for the son of Hermes."

The Three Fates themselves took Luke's body.

The brunette had seen the Fates before, once but she didn't know it was them at the time. When you're a nine-year-old girl who'd just witnessed her mother's dead body being carried out, you don't really pay much attention to the three ghoulish old ladies with bags of knitting needles and yarn sitting on the bench.

One of them looked toward her and, even though she didn't say anything, Evangeline's life flashed before her eyes. Suddenly she was twenty. Then she was a middle-aged woman. Then she was staring at her tombstone. All of that happened in less than a second.

It is done. The woman said.

The Fate held up the snippet of blue yarn—and it looked a lot like the one she'd seen years ago, the lifeline she'd watched them snip.

They gathered Luke's body, now wrapped in a white-and-green shroud, and began carrying it out of the throne room.

"Wait," Hermes said.

The God of Messengers was dressed in his classic outfit of a white Greek robe, 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.

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 the daughter of Hades, Annabeth's knees buckled. She caught the blonde, but Annabeth cried out in pain, and Evangeline realized she'd grabbed her broken arm.

"Shit!" Evangeline hissed. "Sorry, blondie."

"It's okay," she said as she passed out in her arms.

"She needs help!" Percy yelled.

"I've got this." Apollo 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."

The Sun God 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.

The god turned to Evangeline and gave her a dazzling smile that almost blinded her. "Hello, sweetheart," he said.

She gave him a subtle nod. "Hey, Apollo."

The god snaked an arm around Evangeline's shoulders. "My, you don't look so good, here. He placed a hand over her wounded shoulder and spoke an incantation, soon after she felt much better.

Apollo grinned. "You'll both be fine in a few minutes. Just enough for me to compose a poem about our victory: 'Apollo and his friends save Olympus. He gets a date with a beautiful demigod.' " He winked at the brunette. "Good, eh?"

"Yeah, sounds great," Percy said hastily. "why don't you handle the poetry from across the world, Apollo." He dragged the god away from Evangeline.

The next few hours were a blur. The gods had set about repairing the throne room, which went surprisingly fast with twelve immortal beings at work. Evangeline, Percy, and Grover cared for the wounded, and once the sky bridge was re-formed, they all greeted their friends.

The Cyclopes had saved Thalia from the fallen statue. She was on crutches, but otherwise, she was okay.

She found Travis and Conner outside, and they told her about how Mrs O'Leary and Sam had dug Chiron out of the rubble and rushed him off to camp. The sons of Hermes looked worried about the centaur, but at least he was alive.

Katie Gardner reported that she'd seen Rachel run out of the Empire State Building at the end of the battle. Rachel had looked unharmed, but nobody knew where the redhead had gone.

She saw the gods all around the room, Poseidon placing a hand on Percy's shoulder as he pulled him to the side.

Evangeline inhaled sharply, she didn't feel as much as pain as she had before, but something felt off.

The back of her head throbbed ever so slightly, she figured it must've been because of her using the shadows of the chasm Kronos had pushed her into and shadow travelling back to Olympus.

She heard a shuffle of footsteps behind her and glanced back. She saw the person who was only allowed on Olympus for one day of the year, walk into the throne room.

Her father looked stunned when his relatives clapped him on the back. Evangeline knew the gods had never shown him even the tiniest of appreciation before but seeing him receive it, made her smile.

"You okay?" Nico's voice cut through the air, snapping her back.

She moved her gaze from her father to the younger boy. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a few minor injuries, nothing big. Are you okay?"

He answered with a nod, glancing at the god of the dead. "He seems happy," Evangeline said.

"He kind of does," Nico admitted. "If that's what he looks like happy."

The brunette chuckled, turning to face him. "Looks like your plan worked out after all,"

"I guess it did," murmured the boy. "I wasn't really sure if he'd listen. I'm not exactly someone he's proud of."

"But he did listen," Evangeline said. "He came here and helped. And without your help, I don't think we would've won. If he's not proud, I'm sure Bianca would be. I know I am."

Nico finally met her gaze, his lips pressed into a thin line as he shifted on his feet. "Thanks, Eve," he said.

She opened her arms ever so slightly, silently asking for him to cave. Nico shook his head at her, but he still came closer, his arms wrapping around her.

Evangeline sighed in relief, her chin resting on the top of his head. Across the room, at the threshold she saw Landon staring at the hearth which had melted Backbiter.

He met her eyes briefly, he offered her a smile and she gave one back. But then, she saw his eyes flicker towards his father, Hermes was too occupied talking with Aphrodite to even notice him. Landon didn't seem fazed by it, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, spinning on his heels and walking out of her line of sight.

She pulled away from Nico, and ruffled his lazily. He swatted at her hand. "Stop it," he muttered, his voice lacking malice, as he fixed his hair.

Behind Nico, their father stopped, his eyes trained on the two of them. He tilted his chin up and spoke, "You two are still alive," he said. "I'm glad."

"And I'm glad you decided to let go of the grudge." Evangeline said. "Doesn't it feel better?"

"Yes, yes," he looked at Nico. "I suppose it was time to...not be selfish, no matter how badly they deserved it, at the end of the day it was the House of Hades that shall be known for saving Olympus."

"You also helped because they're your family, right?" She raised a brow.

He clenched his jaw. "I might have, but not for them, for the sake of my children."

"Oh, wow, thanks," Nico said.

Evangeline glanced at the other gods, her eyes momentarily stopping on Percy before moving back to her father. "That's what you do for the people you love," she said.

Hades looked straight at Percy, his eyes narrowing as if considering disintegrating him on the spot. "You couldn't have chosen anybody else?"

She tilted her head, frowning at the god. "Please don't start again."

"I do not understand what you see in him, and I never will," Hades admitted. "But, if the Jackson boy is who you believe to care for, then I suppose I can learn and try not to kill him."

"Thank you," Evangeline's lips curled up into a tight lipped smile.

------✧------

A/N: Ahh we're almost done, I'm so sad. Also, this chapter was not proofread because I was too lazy so there will be mistakes but whatever just ignore them.

Y'all wanted Evangeline to use her powers so here it is, I was waiting for the right time for her to use them cuz during all the old books it didn't feel right to me and this seemed like the perfect time.

Also Luke's dead, I'm happy now.