“He should be stuck down there for a while,” Hades said. “The Furies are all riled up, and Thanatos is happy to have a bunch of prisoners again.”

“I hope they can hold the Titans,” Zeus said, frowning. And then he realized something. “The others!”

He ran to the edge of the cloud and looked down, but all he could see were clouds floating below. Hot tears filled his eyes. Even though he had just gotten rid of Cronus, it didn’t matter if the entire group was still out there.

“They’re . . . they’re gone,” he said quietly.

“Looking for us, Bro?”

Zeus whirled around at the sound of Poseidon’s voice. The god of the sea was clutched in one of Briar’s hands. The other hundred-handed giants marched next to Briar. Between the three of them, they held each and every Olympian!

Zeus’s heart leaped. Poseidon jumped down from Briar’s hand, and Zeus hugged him.

“You guys are okay!” Zeus cried.

Poseidon nodded. “These guys are good catchers,” he said.

“I guess you could say they came in handy, then,” Hades joked.

“Rhea helped,” Hera said. “She swooped down and grabbed the cloud, and that slowed us down as we fell.”

“Is she okay too?” Zeus asked, and as he spoke, Rhea stepped out from between the giants, smiling.

Zeus ran into her open arms. “You’re all right!” he said.

She nodded. “Yes. Are you?”

Zeus motioned toward the portal. “Yes,” he said. “Cronus is still alive. He’s in Tartarus.”

“And I shall follow him,” she said. “Hades, your Furies will need some help keeping the Titans imprisoned this time.”

Hera, Demeter, and Hestia ran up to her. “But you’re our mom, and we hardly even know you! Can’t you stay?” Hera asked.

Rhea shook her head. “I wish I could,” she said. “But for too long I stood by while Cronus did bad things. Now I must make sure he can never harm anyone again.”

She hugged each of the girls and then called Poseidon over.

“I must say good-bye to you too, Poseidon,” she said. Then she turned in the direction of Hades. “Maybe you’ll let your brothers and sisters come visit me once in a while.”

“Of course, Mom!” Hades said. He took off his helmet and turned to Zeus. “I guess I’ve got to go back to the Underworld. Now that, you know, everything is over.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Zeus said, and he started to feel sad. He had known for only a short time that Hades was his brother. Zeus didn’t want to lose him now. He took a deep breath. “So, good-bye. For now.”

“For now,” Hades said. Then he smiled. “Hey, have you heard that the Underworld is really popular? People are dying to get in.”

Zeus groaned. “I’m going to miss your awful jokes,” he said.

“I’m not,” Hera said. “But I will miss you.” She gave Hades a tight squeeze.

While the Olympians took turns saying good-bye to Hades, Rhea turned to the three giants.

“I need you three to come with me,” she said. “We’ll need all the extra hands we can get to keep the Titans in line.”

Briar brightened up. “You mean we’ll have an important job?” he asked.

“Yes,” Rhea replied. “Gaia will be very proud of you.”

The three brothers looked at one another and nodded.

“More hitting!” Briar cheered.

“But not each other,” Kottos added. “Just the other Titans.”

“Do we have to stop knitting, though?” Gyes asked. “I kind of liked it.”

“I’m sure you’ll have time for knitting and hitting,” Rhea said, with a twinkle in her eye.

“Hooray!” they shouted, and they jumped into the portal.

Rhea and Hades climbed into the chariot. “Come visit soon, everybody!” Hades called out. He steered the chariot into the portal, and then it closed behind him.

Hera turned to Zeus. “What now, Boltbrain?” she asked.

“Maybe you can stop calling me that, since I’m, like, the main ruler now,” Zeus said.

“Main ruler of what, exactly?” Hera asked, her hands on her hips.

Zeus had to think about it. “Well, Greece, I guess,” he replied. “Pythia said we were all supposed to rule in place of the Titans.”

As he spoke, Pegasus flew up onto the cloud, with Ron on his back.

“Hey, you guys did it!” Ron said. “All the villagers down there are really excited. Everybody wants to know what you’re going to do next.”

“Next?” Zeus asked. “We just defeated the Titans. We’ve been fighting huge creatures and running and being hungry and cold and tired for . . . well, what feels like forever.

The other Olympians nodded.

Zeus continued, “So I think what we’re going to do next is take a nap! And get a snack—I’m hungry!”

Everyone cheered at that.

Ares started to run up the castle steps. “I call first dibs on a bedroom!” he yelled.

Hephaestus started to follow him. “No fair!”

Poseidon sighed. “I’d like to be able to hang out here with you guys in the palace,” he said. “But I guess I’ve got to go be lord of the sea. And swim around with the fish and stuff.”

Ares stopped running and spun around. “Hey, why does Poseidon get to rule all the oceans? Can’t I rule something big too?”

“You’re the god of war,” Zeus reminded him. “That’s a pretty big deal.”

“Yeah, but war isn’t a place,” Ares said. “I’d like to rule a place, like the ocean or the Underworld. Or volcanoes or something.”

“If anyone is going to rule volcanoes, it’s going to be me!” Hephaestus argued. “I lived on a volcanic island for years.”

Everyone started talking and arguing at once. Zeus was beginning to wonder how hard being the ruler of everything was going to be.

“So, what should I tell the villagers?” Ron asked.

Zeus thought. He took a deep breath. “Silence!” he boomed as loudly as he could, and everyone quieted down. “Ron, tell the villagers that from here on in, this mountain shall be home of the Olympians!”

The Olympians let out another cheer.

“And if the villagers have a problem, they can call on the Olympians for help,” Zeus declared. “But . . . ask them to wait for a couple of days. We need a vacation!”

“Got it,” Ron said, and then he flew off.

Poseidon’s stomach growled. “Do you think there’s any food in that temple? Fighting monsters makes me hungry!”

“Let’s find out,” Hestia suggested.

As they moved toward the palace stairs, a foggy mist appeared at the top. A woman appeared in the mist. She had long black hair and wore wire spectacles.

“Olympians! You did it!” she said, smiling. “Congratulations!”

“Nice to see you, Pythia,” Zeus said. “And we couldn’t have done it without you.”

“It’s good to see you smiling,” Poseidon said. “Usually when you show up, it’s to send us off on some dangerous and super-tiring adventure.”

Pythia laughed. “Ha! I suppose that’s true,” she said. “But don’t worry. I’m not sending you off anywhere.”

“Thank goodness,” Zeus said.

“No. This time the danger is coming to you,” she said cheerfully. “A farmer is on its way to Mount Olympus!”

“A farmer?” Hera asked. “That doesn’t sound too dangerous.”

Pythia cleaned her glasses with her cloak. “Erm, sorry. My glasses were a little foggy. I mean an armadillo.”

“But armadillos are cute,” Athena said.

Pythia cleaned her glasses one more time. “Oh, here we go. An army. Yes, an army is headed to Mount Olympus!”

Zeus groaned. “I guess there’s no time to rest when you’re an Olympian!”

Maybe they wouldn’t get a vacation. But for the first time, Zeus realized, he wasn’t scared or worried about one of Pythia’s predictions.

All the Olympians were together now. It didn’t matter if Hades lived in the Underworld, or Poseidon lived in the sea. They were still a team. They were stronger together—and better than ever!