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"Nakamura," Kronos said "Attend me Giants--deal with them"

He pointed at my friends and me Then he ducked into the lobby

For a second I was stunned I'd been expecting a fight, but Kronos conored me like I wasn't worth the trouble That iant ss and stabbed Riptide into his backside He shattered into a pile of ice shards The second giant breathed frost at Annabeth, as barely able to stand, but Grover pulled her out of the hile Thalia went to work She sprinted up the giant's back like a gazelle, sliced her hunting knives across his est headless ice sculpture

I glanced outside thehis way toward rabbed a sword fro a dracaena busy He stabbed her in the gut, and she disintegrated

"Paul?" I said in arinned "I hope that was a e! Picked up a little swordplay!"

I liked hied towardaround in an abandoned police car--ency radio--and her back was turned

"Mom!" I yelled

She whirled when thein her hands was an uun blast blew the giant twenty feet backward, right into Nico's sword

"Nice one," Paul said

"When did you learn to fire a shotgun?" I demanded

My o Percy, we'll be fine Go!"

"Yes," Nico agreed, "we'll handle the aret Kronos!"

"Come on, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said I nodded Then I looked at the rubble pile on the side of the building My heart twisted I'd forgotten about Chiron How could I do that?

"Mrs O'Leary," I said "Please, Chiron's under there If anyone can dig him out, you can Find him! Help him!"

I'm not sure how much she understood, but she bounded to the pile and started to dig Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, and I raced for the elevators

NINETEEN

WE TRASH THE

ETERNAL CITY

The bridge to Oly We stepped out of the elevator onto the white marble ay, and immediately cracks appeared at our feet

"Jump!" Grover said, which was easy for hi to the next slab of stone while ours tilted sickeningly

"Gods, I hate heights!" Thalia yelled as she and I leaped But Annabeth was in no shape for juht her hand as the paveht she was going to pull us both over Her feet dangled in the open air Her hand started to slip until I was holding her only by her fingers Then Grover and Thalia grabbedto fall

I pulled her up and we lay tre on the pavement I didn't realize we had our arms around each other until she suddenly tensed

"Um, thanks," she muttered

I tried to say Don't mention it, but it caed led ourselves and sprinted across the sky bridge as rated and fell into oblivion We e of the mountain just as the final section collapsed

Annabeth looked back at the elevator, which was now co in space, attached to nothing, six hundred stories above Manhattan

"We're marooned," she said "On our own"

"Blah-ha-ha!" Grover said "The connection between Oly If it fails--"

"The gods won't move on to another country this time," Thalia said "This will be the end of Olyh streets Mansions were burning Statues had been hacked down Trees in the parks were blasted to splinters It looked like soiant Weedwacker

"Kronos's scythe," I said

We followed the winding path toward the palace of the gods I didn't reo slower, orme down The whole ardens gone

A few ods and nature spirits had tried to stop Kronos What remained of the, swords and spears broken in half

Somewhere ahead of us, Kronos's voice roared: "Brick by brick! That was my promise Tear it down BRICK BY BRICK!"

A white old dome suddenly exploded The dome shot up like the lid of a teapot and shattered into a billion pieces, raining rubble over the city

"That was a shrine to Arteru under the e statues of Zeus and Hera when the entiresideways like a boat in a storm

"Look out!" Grover yelped The archway cru Hera topple over on us Annabeth and I would've been flattened, but Thalia shoved us froer