explosion.

 

I knew in my gut he was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to take out the Princess

Andromeda, and I had abandoned him.

 

I thought about my dream: the Titans discussing the explosion as if it didn't

matter, Nico di Angelo warning me that I would never beat Kronos without

following his plan — a dangerous idea I'd been avoiding for more than a year.

 

A distant blast shook the room. Green light blazed outside, turning the whole

sea as bright as noon.

 

"What was that?" I asked.

 

Tyson looked worried. "Daddy will explain. Come, he is blowing up monsters."

 

The palace might have been the most amazing place I'd ever seen if it hadn't

been in the process of getting destroyed. We swam to the end of a long hallway

and shot upward on a geyser. As we rose over the rooftops I caught my breath —

well, if you can catch your breath underwater.

 

The palace was as big as the city on Mount Olympus, with wide courtyards,

gardens, and columned pavilions. The gardens were sculpted with coral colonies

and glowing sea plants. Twenty or thirty buildings were made of abalone, white

but gleaming with rainbow colors. Fish and octopi darted in and out of the