𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

Percy's Birthday

A/N: SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO LONG I WAS BUSY.

Please don't kill me.

Y/n's Pov:

The rest of the summer seemed strange because it was so normal. The daily activities continued: archery, rock climbing, and Pegasus riding. We played capture the flag (though we all avoided Zeus's Fist). We sang at the campfire and raced chariots and played practical jokes in the other cabins. I spent a lot of time with Tyson, playing with Mrs O'Leary, but she would still howl at night when she got lonely for her old master. Annabeth and I pretty much skirted around each other. I was glad to be with her, but it also kind of hurt, and it hurt when I wasn't with her, too.

I wanted to talk to her about Kronos, but I couldn't do that anymore without bringing up Luke. And that was one subject I couldn't raise. She would shut me out every time I tried.

July passed, with fireworks on the beach on the Fourth. August turned so hot, the strawberries started baking in the fields. Finally, the last day of camp arrived. The standard form letter appeared on my bed after breakfast, warning me that the cleaning harpies would devour me if I stayed past noon.

At ten o'clock, Percy, Grayson, and I stood on the top of Half-Blood Hill, waiting for the camp van that would take us into the city. 

I hoped Annabeth would be riding into Manhattan with us, but she only came to see us off. She said she'd arranged to stay at camp a little longer. She would tend to Chiron until his leg was fully recovered, and keep studying Daedalus's laptop, which had engrossed her for the last two months. Then she would head back to her father's place in San Francisco. 

"There's a private school out there that I'll be going to," she said. "I'll probably hate it, but..." she shrugged.

"Yeah, well, call me, okay?"

"Sure," she said half-heartedly. "I'll keep my eyes open for..."

There it was again. Luke. She couldn't even say his name without opening up a massive box of hurt and worry and anger.

"Y/n," Grayson said. "What was the rest of the prophecy?"

This hit me by surprise. Time seemed to slow down as I wondered what to say next.

Is it too early to say I love him? Will he love me back?

Grayson said he did.

Yeah, but can we trust Grayson?

...Touché

I fixed my eyes on the woods in the distance but didn't say anything. I hoped, with that, he'd give up.

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," Grayson remembered. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. 

"We raised a lot of the dead," Percy thought out loud. "We saved Ethan Nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor. We raised the spirit of Pan, the lost one." 

I shook my head, trying to get them to see my panic.

Stop.

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," Grayson recited. 

"That wasn't Minos like I'd thought. It was Nico," Percy continued. "By choosing to be on our side, he saved us."

"And the child of Athena's final stand," Grayson finished.