Heart Pierced - Kayla Knowles (1)

XX. Coming Back Home

(A/N: Here we go. One more chapter.. and then next is the part you've all been waiting for.)

The next day, Calypso made us a magical raft for us to sail back home on. Once I woke up in the middle of the night, I slept until morning, and then made Percy swear on the River Styx that he would get the Gods to promise to free Calypso. Because look, as much as she was a titaness, she didn't deserve to be kept on this island like a prisoner. She deserved freedom.

I wanted Kayla, sure, but that didn't stop me from wanting to help right the wrongs that others had been dealt as a consequence of their actions. Calypso's imprisonment on Ogygia definitely felt the bill as one of those wrongs. So in a sense, you can't really blame me for wanting to help right that wrong. Not all gods are idiots, but when it comes to the Olympians, ignorance, lack of empathy plus lack of caring and forgetfulness run deep in this family. Calypso, camp, and that traitor Luke - they had all been victims of those things one way or another. Had the Gods been better people, none of this would ever have happened.

Luke knew that full well. Yet, he chose to betray us. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Kronos who corrupted him into doing so. I was sure of it. I still was pissed off by Luke betraying us.

I will admit, I didn't look upon Luke as favorably as many of the other campers did. He did do some nice things for me, but I wouldn't consider us as friends, more like acquaintances if I were to be honest. He rarely saw much of me, especially after I got my Whitworth rifle. Speaking of this gun, I might get around to telling you the story of how I got this weapon once this war is done with. Maybe, just maybe.

Anyways, because of that, I think it was much easier for me to accept the betrayal of Luke than most of the other campers when he nearly killed Percy with that pit scorpion. I don't have any regrets about swearing that if I ever came across the bastard, I would not hesitate to put a bullet through the traitor's head. I still don't have any regrets about that even now, honestly.

You betray the gods, you pay the price. That's how it works around these parts.

Either way, getting back to Camp Half Blood would mean that we were one step closer to that goal.

So it was that after me and Percy had put on our other clothes, got all our gear, and had made final preparations to leave, that we stepped on to the raft. Percy said a few words to Calypso, but I wasn't paying attention to what they said. I had a certain redhead on my mind.

Okay.. look.. I was a little bit pissed off at Hephaestus for not telling Kayla, my siblings, and camp that me and Percy were still alive. Like, can you even blame me for such a thing? I wasn't the one who got the two of us into this mess to even begin with, Percy had. I was just collateral damage to put it bluntly. At least, that's what I saw myself as to be honest. How the hell was I supposed to know that Percy would blow up and get us here in the first place? So why did I have to suffer and have my friends - and the girl that was going to become my girlfriend one way or another - believe that we were dead? It was some Grade A Bullshit, if you ask me.

Enough of that, though. Point is, I was solely focused on Kayla.

"Camp. Take us home to Camp Half Blood.." Percy spoke, snapping me from my thoughts, and then the boat began to move. At it did so, aside from Kayla, I had one other thought. Calypso, I swear to you, if the Gods don't free you if they agree to Percy's request, then I'm going to make sure that someone comes along that does free you from that island. I swear it on the River Styx.

Little did I realize what that would mean for me down the road..

- — - — - — - — -

As we drifted through the sea, towards home, towards Camp Half Blood, I'm pretty sure Percy and I's thoughts were both focused on the same thing. Would Camp still be okay when we got back?