him as a lord of the Wild, with all rights, privileges, and honors, blah, blah,

blah. Now please, drag him off before he wakes up and starts groveling."

 

"FOOOOOD," Grover moaned, as the nature spirits carried him away.

 

I figured he'd be okay. He would wake up as a lord of the Wild with a bunch of

beautiful naiads taking care of him. Life could be worse.

 

Athena called, "Annabeth Chase, my own daughter."

 

Annabeth squeezed my arm, then walked forward and knelt at her mother's feet.

 

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?"