Percy POV
I was running out of time. Zeus was expecting me to return his lightning bolt in less than ten minutes. I was at the bottom of the elevator in the Empire State Building, going up to the very top. The one hundredth floor. Olympus. The lightning bolt was weighing my back pack down. Man, that thing was heavy. The elevator went up, up, up until I couldn't see the ground of New York out the window. And then we were there. At Olympus. The door opened and we stepped out. Annabeth first, and me second.
"Percy, hurry!" she yelled.
"I am trying to hurry. I don't want the Gods to fight either!" I yelled back. We ran through the windy streets and down back alleys, trying to find our way to the Gods's castle or whatever they called it. My watch read 11:56Four minutes left until deadline. And the big metal lightning bolt in my backpack wasn't helping my speed.
A couple more turns, and then there it was, high and mighty in the sky. I honestly don't know how I missed it before. We ran up the steps, (there was at least one hundred) pushed open the doors and burst into the room. But not before the clock read 12:00. It was midnight, and I was too late. Zeus came thundering up to me.
"Where's the bolt?" His voice echoed in the big hall. I pulled it out of my backpack with great effort. Zeus snatched it from my hand.
"Since you got the bolt to me so soon after the deadline, I will not wage war on all the Gods. But you yourself will be punished for giving it to me after the deadline." He said. And with that, he raised the lightning bolt over his head it came crashing down. I heard my father yell.
I expected to feel pain, but all I felt was heat. Heat so hot it would have burned my skin off my body if I hadn't been wearing my jacket and jeans. I opened my eyes which I had closed to prepare for the blow. I was in the middle of a desert. On my right side, there was a city. On my left side, there was nothing. But then there was something. A large group of people had appeared out of nowhere. And they were headed in my direction.