Fire and Wisdom [Leo Valdez]

XV - Caroline

The long ride back to Camp Half Blood was long—with Leo, Caroline, Annabeth and all the Hunters on the nearest subway, it seemed to take forever. Thalia felt a little better, but was still weakened. Caroline wondered if she would be able to get back to Seattle soon to see her dad again. Even though she's been in New York for about a month, it felt like a year. She wondered if he was either writing in his new novel again, or was hoping that his only daughter was alive and well in Manhattan. Since Annabeth had told her she couldn't use a cellphone for monster reasons, she would have to find the nearest payphone after this was over. Caroline was sitting in a seat reading a book on architecture Annabeth had given to her that was printed in English while Leo was sleeping on her shoulder, thinking about camp and her apartment in Seattle, as well as her fish Olaf. She missed him dearly. "We are now in Long Island. Please watch your step when getting off of the subway." The intercom said, and everyone stepped out—with a drowsy Leo and still-weakened Thalia following; the latter having to practically be dragged out by a few of the Hunters. Considering camp wasn't that far away, everyone decided to walk the way while Annabeth lead them there. Caroline felt someone take her hand, and she saw that it was Leo, who smirked at her. "Thanks for saving my butt back there," He said, blushing lightly "No problem. And I was going to say the same thing after you decapitated that Gorgon with your hatchet." She smiled, pecking his cheek and blushing afterwards as Half Blood Hill was coming into view. "Did we get any spoils of war?" Caroline asked "Yeah. Those weird looking javelins. I honestly think their made out of human spines," Leo smiled, and his girlfriend lightly shoved him. "You're about to make me throw up just thinking about how they got those things, dude." Caroline joked as they climbed up the hill, passing Thalia's pine tree after Annabeth told Peleus the dragon it was okay to pass. Once they passed the barriers and into the camp, everyone ran over and cheered for them. "You have survived the quest!" "Let's have a shot of Nectar to celebrate!" Some campers praised, and Caroline was lifted up by her cabin mates along with Annabeth, and Leo was given the same treatment by the Hephaestus cabin while the Hermes cabin cheered for him. "All hail before Caroline Thompson and Annabeth Chase! The best heroes in Cabin Six!" Malcolm joked while Caroline watched as the Hunters carried Thalia into the Big House, while a few went inside Cabin Seven, ignoring the yelling of joy from everyone—except for the Ares cabin, who were burning a silver shroud with a brown owl embedded in it that had the words "LEFTOVER OWL DROPPINGS" in red caps at the campfire. She hoped it was for her, and not Annabeth. Caroline enjoyed seeing it burn.

Once the celebration was over, Caroline was taken by the hand over to the entrance to Bunker 9 by Piper McLean, someone she befriended after arriving at camp for the first time. "C'mon!" Piper said, dragging Caroline behind her, "Piper, what in the name of Zeus are you doing?" Caroline laughed, running with her friend. "Just wait and see!" Piper stopped in the forest, where Leo was standing in a ring of fire that was shaped like a heart. "Whoa," Caroline gasped, walking over to her boyfriend. "What is this?" She asked, blushing madly "Just a little surprise," he smiled, taking out two golden bracelets, each having the words I love you in Ancient Greek and Latin. He knelt to the ground dramatically, then putting the Latin-printed bracelet on her wrist as she grinned while he stood up, causing her to pull him into a tight hug. "Thank you, Leo. You don't know how much this means to me," She said, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I have a few reasons why they should," He teased, kissing her cheek. The moment was cut short, however, as Chiron walked over to them, "Caroline? I apologize to ruin this romantic moment, but I need to speak with you privately inside the Big House."