The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5)

by Rick Riordan

Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper of out his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light—the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite. They’d started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying, “Duh, you guys like each other!” Even with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier this summer than I’d ever seen him.

Annabeth ran in right behind him, and I’ll admit my heart did a little relay race in my chest when I saw her. It’s not that she tried to look good. We’d been doing so many combat missions lately, she hardly brushed her curly blond hair anymore, and she didn’t care what clothes she was wearing—usually the same old orange camp T-shirt and jeans, and once in a while her bronze armor. Her eyes were stormy gray. Most of the time we couldn’t get through a conversation without trying to strangle each other. Still, just seeing her made me feel fuzzy in the head. Last summer, before Luke had turned into Kronos and everything went sour, there had been a few times when I thought maybe…well, we might get past the strangle-each-other phase.

I found myself staring at her, which was stupid since I’d seen her a billion times. She and I were about the same height this summer, which was a relief. Still, she seemed so much more mature. It was kind of intimidating. I mean, sure, she’d always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful.

“You know…” She brushed her hair behind her ear, like she does when she’s nervous. “This whole thing with Beckendorf and Silena. It kind of makes you think. About…what’s important. About losing people who are important.” I nodded. My brain started seizing on little random details, like the fact that she was still wearing those silver owl earrings from her dad, who was this brainiac military history professor in San Francisco. “Um, yeah,” I stammered. “Like…is everything cool with your family?” Okay, really stupid question, but hey, I was nervous.

The cord, a familiar voice said. Remember your lifeline, dummy! Suddenly there was a tug in my lower back. The current pulled at me, but it wasn’t carrying me away anymore. I imagined the string in my back, keeping me tied to the shore. “Hold on, Seaweed Brain.” It was Annabeth’s voice, much clearer now. “You’re not getting away from me that easily.” The cord strengthened. I could see Annabeth now—standing barefoot above me on the canoe lake pier. I’d fallen out of my canoe. That was it. She was reaching out her hand to haul me up, and she was trying not to laugh. She wore her orange camp T-shirt and jeans. Her hair was tucked up in her Yankees cap, which was strange because that should have made her invisible. “You are such an idiot sometimes.” She smiled. “Come on. Take my hand.” Memories came flooding back to me—sharper and more colorful. I stopped dissolving. My name was Percy Jackson. I reached up and took Annabeth’s hand. Suddenly I burst out of the river. I collapsed on the sand, and Nico scrambled back in surprise. “Are you okay?” he stammered. “Your skin. Oh, gods. You’re hurt!” My arms were bright red. I felt like every inch of my body had been broiled over a slow flame. I looked around for Annabeth, though I knew she wasn’t here. It had seemed so real.

“Percy, you shouldn’t go alone.” “Well, unless you can breathe underwater…” She sighed. “You are so annoying sometimes.” “Like when I’m right? Trust me, I’ll be fine. I’ve got the curse of Achilles now. I’ll all invincible and stuff.” Annabeth didn’t look convinced. “Just be careful. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I mean, because we need you for the battle.”

Before I could lose my courage, I said, “Don’t I get a kiss for luck? It’s kind of a tradition, right?” I figured she would punch me. Instead, she drew her knife and stared at the army marching toward us. “Come back alive, Seaweed Brain. Then we’ll see.”

Once she was gone, I knelt next to Annabeth and felt her forehead. She was still burning up. “You’re cute when you’re worried,” she muttered. “Your eyebrows get all scrunched together.”

She lifted her hand. “Where? Here?” She put her hand on my spine, and my skin tingled. I moved her fingers to the one spot that grounded me to my mortal life. A thousand volts of electricity seemed to arc through my body. “You saved me,” I said. “Thanks.” She removed her hand, but I kept holding it. “So you owe me,” she said weakly. “What else is new?”

He tried for a smile. “Thanks, Percy. I hope…I hope you know I’m really proud to be your friend.” I patted his arm. “Luke was right about one thing, G-man. You’re the bravest satyr I ever met.”

Athena smiled. “You, my daughter, have exceeded all expectations. You have used your wits, your strength, and your courage to defend this city, and our seat of power. It has come to our attention that Olympus is…well, trashed. The Titan lord did much damage that will have to be repaired. We could rebuild it by magic, of course, and make it just as it was. But the gods feel that the city could be improved. We will take this as an opportunity. And you, my daughter, will design these improvements.” Annabeth looked up, stunned. “My…my lady?” Athena smiled wryly. “You are an architect, are you not? You have studied the techniques of Daedalus himself. Who better to redesign Olympus and make it a monument that will last for another eon?” “You mean…I can design whatever I want?” “As your heart desires,” the goddess said. “Make us a city for the ages.”

Rise, my daughter, official architect of Olympus.” Annabeth rose in a trance and walked back toward me.

“All hail, Perseus Jackson,” Tyson said. “Hero of Olympus…and my big brother!”

“I want to be a regular guy. I want to grow up. Have, you know, a regular high school experience.” “And my daughter?” “I couldn’t leave her,”

We held hands right up to the moment they dumped us in the water. Afterward, I had the last laugh. I made an air bubble at the bottom of the lake. Our friends kept waiting for us to come up, but hey—when you’re the son of Poseidon, you don’t have to hurry. And it was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time.

“Won’t change anything,” I said. “You’re still my best friend.” He grinned. “Except for Annabeth.” “That’s different.” “Yeah,” he agreed. “It sure is.”

Annabeth, thank goodness, would be staying in New York. She’d gotten permission from her parents to attend a boarding school in the city so she could be close to Olympus and oversee the rebuilding efforts. “And close to me?” I asked. “Well, someone’s got a big sense of his own importance.” But she laced her fingers through mine. I remembered what she’d told me in New York, about building something permanent, and I thought—just maybe—we were off to a good start.

She nodded, though she still seemed uneasy. I didn’t blame her, but it was hard to feel too upset on a nice day, with her next to me, knowing that I wasn’t really saying good-bye. We had lots of time.