Down at the center of the temple, Percy let Thalos fall into the lake at the bottom of the shaft, laughing as they both swam toward the shore.
"You're lucky that I needed to cool down," Thalos said, still feeling the phantom heat of Lethel's flames.
Percy chuckled watching Thalos dry himself, his stone body meant his clothes and hair were unsoaked. Then they walked by the crystal beasts to the central cave.
The small room that hadn't seen anyone in the past five hundred years had a lot of people inside today.
Dina and her kids sat in one corner sharing a small meal that she carried with her, Hugo and George were watching Ramona, who was still fighting against the gravity trap.
At the center of the room, on a white stone altar, was the myriad lines of a multilayered circle. And at the center of the circle was Percy's real body still sitting there with his eyes closed. A golden box rested on his lap.
