The Ambassador of Athena

I guess Nico was in a hurry, or he was distracted, because the place where we landed was a little bit humid:
We crashed right into the pond.
I came to the surface, taking a deep breath and screaming:
“What the hell?”
Nico broke the surface next to me, looking shocked.
“No, that’s where we were. Now we are in a lake.” he coughed while spitting out water.
I looked around for the person that was the reason for all my problems, but I couldn’t see her.
“Where is she?” I said, my voice a little bit shaken.
Nico just looked at me, and then we both dived down.

When we finally reached the shore I was so close to just falling over. I’ve never felt so exhausted in my whole life, my leg throbbed harder and harder and I was dripping wet. My phone and my IPod were probably trash and everything else in my backpack was for the trashcan too.
Johanna was unconscious but breathing, while Nico was wide awake but hardly breathing.
We just lay in the grass next to the sidewalk, catching our breaths. It was still dark, or as dark as New York can get.
Then I started to giggle. It was the kind of giggle you did when there was nothing else to do.
“I really did it.” I whispered and giggled again.
Nico nodded slowly.
“You did. And you shot my father in the shoulder.”
I nodded too.
“And I brought the girl back to life that once told me that it would never work out between us and I am still in love with.”
Now I broke.
I started laughing uncontrollable; I laughed and laughed and laughed till my stomach hurt and tears were streaming down my cheeks.
I didn’t know if they were tears of exhaustion, joy or sadness, but I didn’t care. I literally went through hell for someone that once rejected me, and that was really hilarious, at least it seemed that way to me that time.
I first stopped when Nico kicked me in the side.
“I have no idea what is going on with you, but we should head to Olympus, the solstice should have started by now.”
I stopped laughing and looked at him,
“No way. I left on the morning of the solstice; I could not have been there for more than a few hours.”
“Time runs different in the Underworld. According to my –waterproof- watch you were down there for almost 20 hours.”
I blinked, and then I jumped to my feet. A bad decision, concerning my leg with the bull-horn still stuck in it.
“We have to get to Mount Olympus, ASAP!”

We carried Johanna together, so we reached the van quickly. She was now dressed in a light blue dress with embroilments of golden owls; her blonde hair was braided with silver ribbons and around her neck hung a golden chain with a golden owl and a tiny silver wing.
When I first saw the wing I almost dropped her, because this wing was a present for her when we started dating. I used to call her my angel, for her blonde hair, her blue eyes and her beautiful face.
After we placed her on the back seats of the van Nico drove us to the Empire State Building.
“Just go up to the 600th floor, then go straight to the big building on top of the hill. There is the council of the gods.” He explained to me when he pulled over at the sidewalk in front of the Building. “I will stay here with her, in case she wakes up.”
“Thank you, Nico. I owe you one.”
I jumped out of the car and entered the lobby. Behind a desk a guy sat as comfortable as possible in a wooden chair and read a book. I could not make out a Title, but the Author seemed familiar, someone named Rick Riordan…
“We’re closed, come back tomorrow.” the guy said without looking up from his book. I just activated my bow and placed it on the desk.
“Sword or arrow?” I asked friendly.
Now I had his attention.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were one of them.” He placed a key card on the desk and said:
“Just stick it into the slot at the panel, then press the 600th floor button. Happy Solstice.”
And he returned to his book.
When the elevator doors closed behind me I could hear him mutter:
“O tempora o mores…”
I did as directed, and as soon as I pressed the button the elevator shot up.
The music in the elevator was kind of ironic, “Stairway to Heaven”. After “Highway to Hell” it was definitely the second best song to play on the way to Olympus, at least if you are as pessimistic as I was.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened.
To be honest, I had no time enjoying the beautiful palaces and buildings on Olympus. I just ran towards the biggest building on top of the hill, pushing minor gods and other divine creatures out of my way. I didn’t care for what they said, even when one of them called after me “May all your tulips wither!” I didn’t stop.
Then I reached the gates, my heart racing and my leg hurting. Running was probably not the best idea, and the bandage was turning red again. I pushed open the gates with the rest of my strength and entered the room.
All attention turned towards me, and concerning the 13 major gods and countless minor deities in the room it was like being hit with concentrated sunlight. Behind the major gods the minor gods sat on tribunes, some of the more important ones in separated areas on their own chairs. The campers who were invited to the solstice sat on a tribune next to the entrance, and Chiron was standing next to the fire pit in the centre of the room. I obviously interrupted him, because he was standing there with his mouth open, looking at me as well.
“Sorry I’m late, I had to resurrect someone.” I said, and then I did the only thing left for me to do:
I collapsed, and everything went dark.

Notes

Here is the next chapter for you, I hope you like it ;)
Only a few more chapters to go, so prepare for the end ^^