His Assassin and His Creator

Walking Away

Published Thursday, July 7, 2022

Percy's POV:
I kick a stray pebble and watch it skid along the plush green grass below me. All around me I can hear the campers shouting as they work to rebuild what was destroyed in the war. The Hunters of Artemis have already left, Lady Artemis on a mission to find new recruits, and the Amazons have departed as well, where they head back to their warehouse to regain strength and honor those that have fallen.

Thankfully, the damage Camp Half-Blood retained is manageable, although it would've been nice if the gods could've found it in themselves to help out, especially after their enormous fail of shutting Olympus down when catching wind of the trouble heading our way, but the last of the damage that needs to be attended to is in relation to the cabins, as all other areas have been reconstructed already.

A glint, like that of a ray of sun just glancing something shiny, perhaps something made of gold, catches my attention and a sad smile creeps onto my face as I see the new garden dedicated to all the heroes that have fallen.

Unconsciously, my feet carry me towards the large expanse of land concealed within a brown picket fence. I push open the gate and step onto the stone pathway, letting the door slam shut behind me.

The stone pathway diverges in multiple directions, each new path leading to a special grove where one can be buried and of which it corresponds to one's godly parent. The only exception is the path that leads straight back, no twists or turns halting its journey, perhaps in atonement to the idea that no matter what obstacles came their way, these heroes specifically could not seem to be stopped or deterred from their goal of saving the world, and thus their family and friends, too.

I head forwards, down a long path lined with trees green with foliage and plants blossoming with flowers of all shades and varieties.

Upon reaching the end of the road, the narrow path transforms into a wide open space where short grass becomes the new ground. In front of me, nine statues, impeccably carved from stone and coated in gold, stand tall and proud.

On the far left, a replica of Hazel marks the beginning of the row. Her statue is followed by Frank's then Reyna's, then Jason's, Annabeth's (which stands in the middle of them all), Thalia's, Nico's, Piper's, and Leo's (whose statue is on the far right.

Slowly, and in no hurry, I kneel before each statue, say a few words, and then place down a white rose on each pedestal.

After a minute longer, I finally step back and leave the garden, where I intend to walk to the Big House and talk to Chiron about how things should be carried on from here, until I hear a scream echo from the direction of Half-Blood Hill.

"Oh Styx!" I curse as I pull Riptide from my pocket, uncapping it as I run towards Thalia's Pine tree.

I almost topple to the ground as memories slam into my mind, but I catch myself just in time and keep running until I see a girl about my age, probably 16 or so, trying to escape an empousa.

With a huff, I pull the girl out of the way, shoving her safely behind me as I do, before ducking under the empousa's kick and stabbing my sword into her heart.

The empousa erupts in a shower of golden dust, which floats away on the light breeze. Frowning, I recap Riptide and stash the pen in my pocket.

I turn and look at the girl before me. "Umm, hi?" she says nervously, her green eyes flitting back and forth from me to the ground where the empousa just stood.