𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

Nico Finds Out

Y/n's Pov:

Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Annabeth, Grover, Grayson, Percy, and me at the Empire State Building and ferried us back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was nearly deserted. 

As we trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleeceglittered, I half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for us. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure. 

Instead, someone else met us.

"Moon!" screamed Will happily as he ran towards me.

We collided with a hug. I groaned, smiling widely. "Hi, Will. You've gotten taller."

Will sniffled. "I thought you were dead."

I hugged him tighter. "Don't worry. I'm here."

I played with his hair, soothing him. 

"C'mon," I said, pulling away. "I have to go to the Big House."

Will gripped my hand tight. "Okay."

Chiron greeted us at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about our strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was. 

Annabeth, Percy, Grayson, and I sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers. Even Clarisse from the Ares cabin was there, back from her secretive scouting mission. I knew she must've had a difficult quest because she didn't even try to pulverize me. She had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blond hair had been cut short and ragged like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors. 

"I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "Bad news." 

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved the girls!" 

I smiled gratefully at Percy. He looked away from me.

Someone burst into the door.

"Sorry I'm late," said Lee. "They needed me urgently in the infirmary - " He let out an incredibly high squeal for a fifteen-year-old boy. "Y/N/N! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Yay," I said enthusiastically.

"Oh, shut up and hug me!"

He engulfed me in a bear hug and I let out a squeal. 

After seven seconds and twenty-five milliseconds, I pulled away. "Missed you too, but we're kinda in a meeting."

"Right."

He sat down across from me.

"Luke is alive," I said. "Annabeth was right." 

Annabeth sat up. "How do you know?" 

Grayson looked annoyed at her interest. I told her what my mum had said about thePrincess Andromeda. 

"Well." Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "If the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out." 

I had a feeling that when she said "figure something out," she meant "get Luke to change his ways." 

Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. I mean... he was really old, but he usually didn't look it.