The Warfighter, the Storm, and the Moon

Chapter 10: Surprise

'Surprise'

26-Aug-2030, 2115R

Piper McLean, Hero of Olympus, Daughter of Aphrodite

Camp Half-Blood

Long Island, New York, USA

It seemed like just another normal, end-of-summer evening at Camp Half-Blood.

I looked out towards the amphitheater to see perhaps eighty or ninety year-round campers. This included, but was not limited to, the entirety of the Ares Cabin, half of the Athena Cabin, half of the Hermes Cabin, a third of the Hephaestus Cabin, a quarter of the Hecate Cabin, a quarter of the Apollo Cabin, and an assortment of others. We were even joined by Tyson the cyclops, who was currently making s'mores with some children of Hephaestus.

The camp had grown dramatically in the past two decades, and we were now over two hundred campers strong, with at least twice as many nature spirits as well. These campers not only included demigods, but legacies as well, including the children of demigods one generation ago. Said parents were often found in New Rome, but a few lived in camp as well.

People sure were getting busy thanks to a reduced likelihood of dying, courtesy of the cooperation of both camps and the lack of a crazy immortal trying to kill everyone.

Actually, scratch that. Not sure about the last one, but I'm hoping I haven't jinxed us.

Anyways, I sat with Annabeth and Jason at the campfire. The two were deep in conversation regarding camp management while I was lost in thought, forgetting about the marshmallow I was roasting.

Due to us becoming immortal (and a select few campers becoming partially immortal), we had the responsibility of training future demigods. This meant that we were the future directors of Camp Half-Blood, while Reyna, Frank, and Hazel watched over Camp Jupiter. As for Nico and Leo, they mainly played support.

Well, Leo did. Nico was usually off doing his own thing, especially where funerals were involved, though he was usually seen hanging around Camp Half-Blood more often than at Camp Jupiter. Oh, and I couldn't forget that Jason was also the Pontifex Maximus, doing a lot of work with the minor deities.

And yet, I couldn't help but wonder about the ultimate wild card that I had nearly forgotten about: Percy Jackson.

He disappeared twenty years ago after the celebration of the end of the Giant War, and I hadn't seen him since. Nico and Hazel did say that he wasn't dead, but that report was nearly fifteen years ago. Combined with the fact that his mother and stepfather also disappeared, according to Annabeth, as well as the fact that he didn't receive immortality like the rest of us, it was enough information to make me believe that he was dead.

But this idea raised an important question: how?

The dude was practically indestructible. As I've witnessed in the past, he could definitely get hurt, but he would never die. He'd faced off against armies in the past and came out on top, so I wasn't sure what it would take to kill him. Maybe a few nukes would do the trick.

Okay, that may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but it's undeniable that Percy was a force of nature. He never became a god, but still managed to go toe-to-toe with a few.

"What do you think, Piper?"

I was shaken out of my thoughts by Annabeth's question, who was looking at me along with Jason.

"Lost in thought. Can you repeat that?"

"What do you think of Jason's idea for the fall and spring education plan?"