Disclaimer: I don't own anything, Rick Riordan does.

AN: This is it. After 7 months, we're actually here. I've got to say, I love all of you. When I started this, I expected, like, ten people, max, to read this, and now, I'm still surprised with how many people actually did end up reading it. I just really love all of you. There's not much else I can say, except Thank You for reading my story.

Annabeth started reading once everyone had calmed down a bit.

"Percy, help me!" Annabeth yelped.

She shoved her entire body against the left door, pressing it toward the center. Percy did the same on the right. There were no handles, or anything else to hold on to. As the elevator car ascended, the Doors shook and tried to open, threatening to spill them into whatever was between life and death.

Annabeth's shoulders ached. The elevator's easy-listening music didn't help. If all monsters had to hear that song about liking piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, no wonder they were in the mood for carnage when they reached the mortal world.

"We left Bob and Damasen," Percy croaked. "They'll die for us, and we just-"

"I know," she murmured. "Gods of Olympus, Percy, I know."

Annabeth was almost glad for the job of keeping the Doors closed. The terror racing through her heart at least kept her from dissolving into misery. Abandoning Damasen and Bob had been the hardest thing she'd ever done.

For years at Camp Half-Blood, she had chafed as other campers went on quests while she stayed behind. She'd watched as others gained glory...or failed and didn't come back. Since she was seven years old, she had thought: Why don't I get to prove my skills? Why can't I lead a quest?

Now she realized that the hardest test for a child of Athena wasn't leading a quest or facing death in combat. It was making the strategic decision to step back, to let someone else take the brunt of the danger-especially when that person was your friend. She had to face the fact that she couldn't protect everyone she loved. She couldn't solve every problem.

She hated it, but she didn't have time for self-pity. She blinked away her tears.

"Percy, the Doors," she warned.

The panels had started to slide apart, letting in a whiff of...ozone? Sulfur?

Percy pushed on his side furiously and the crack closed. His eyes blazed with anger. She hoped wasn't mad at her, but if he was, she couldn't blame him. If it keeps him going, she thought, then let him be angry.

"I will kill Gaea," he muttered. "I will tear her apart with my bare hands."

Annabeth nodded, but she was thinking about Tartarus's boast. He could not be killed. Neither could Gaea. Against such power, even Titans and giants were hopelessly outmatched. Demigods stood no chance.

She also remembered Bob's warning: This may not be the last sacrifice you must make to stop Gaea.

She felt that truth deep in her bones.

"Twelve minutes," she murmured. "Just twelve minutes."

She prayed to Athena that Bob could hold the UP button that long. She prayed for strength and wisdom. She wondered what they would find once they reached the top of this elevator ride. If their friends weren't there, controlling the other side…

"We can do this," Percy said. "We have to."

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "Yeah, we do."

They held the Doors shut as the elevator shuddered and the music played, while somewhere below them, a Titan and a giant sacrificed their lives for their escape.

"And, that is the end of the book," Annabeth said closing the book. "Now you guys know everything we went through down there."

"And, you guys know better than we do, what happened next." Percy said to the rest of the demigods.

"Yeah, I hit that button with my amazing skills with a screwdriver." Leo said.

"I really don't know what to say, now that it's all over." Calypso said.

"I know that you guys didn't really have much of a choice and that it must have been terrible for you three, having to relive all of that, just now. So, thank you, for letting us know what happened." Poseidon said.

"It really was very eye-opening, seeing the things that you demigods go through on a regular basis. How much you all have to deal with threats and danger and monsters and all." Hermes said.

"He's right, none of us ever really thought about it, we would just send you on quests when we needed it, but we didn't exactly think about how much danger there really was in your lives." Demeter added.

"I think that we still need to talk about how Poseidon gave his son more power than he was supposed to." Zeus said, dramatically.

"Do you really think that after finding out that he would be the subject of two major prophecies, the likes of which we haven't seen in thousands of years, and after knowing some of the things Percy would go through, I was just going to sit back and not do anything I could to help him survive the terrible life that the Fates had laid out for him? Because if you do, you are sadly mistaken, and I will physically fist fight you." Poseidon said, ending his rant by teasing his younger brother.

"Yeah, and I'll help, you big drama queen." Hades said, defending one of the first demigods in a long time to give him some respect.

After that, everybody got up and decided to stretch. I mean, they had been sitting down for a very long time, so.

Poseidon made his way over to Percy and Annabeth, who were talking to each other, away from everyone else.

"Thank you, so much, dad, for everything." Percy said.

"I'm glad that you've managed to make it this far and done so much, even with everything the Fates have thrown at you and Annabeth. I'm so proud of you both. Without you, Annabeth, I don't know how far Percy would have made it. I can never thank you enough." Poseidon said, hugging them both. He left them alone a little bit after that.

The demigods decided that it was time to go back to their unfrozen-in-time lives, so they started to head to the doors, but before they could get too far, they were stopped by another one of the gods, or in this case, goddesses.

"You were the one to get us gods to change our ways for the first time in millenia, Perseus Jackson. You may just end up being the reason we change how we see and treat you all. Have a good life, and while now I doubt that you would, if you ever do anything to hurt my daughter… Let's just say that I would be careful, if I were you." Athena said, ending her threat with a small smile.

"Mother!" Annbeth groaned, blushing.

"Anyways, I think that it's time for us to leave and get back to our regular lives, we'll come and visit once in a while, if you want." Percy said.

But, when the demigods got to the throne room doors, they found that they were unable to open them.

They were just about to panic, when a bright light began shining above them all, and a single piece of paper floated down from above.

AN: And that officially marks the end of the "Why Did It Have To Be Us?" I wasn't really sure what else to do with the ending, so I hope you guys like it. You know what, just for old times, I'm gonna have one last recommendation for you guys. I don't remember if I've already recommended this or not, but it's called Wise Girl's Seaweed Brain by Drake Hayward. Happy Holidays and as always, I'll see you guys.