𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 | 𝐩. 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

The princess and the fish

The rest of the day had been as strange as it had started.

Campers trickled in from New York by car, pegasus, and chariot. The wounded were cared for. The dead were given proper funeral rites at the campfire.

Silena's shroud was hot pink, but embroidered with an electrical spear. The Ares and Aphrodite cabins both claimed her as a hero and lit the shroud together. No one said the word spy. That secret was burned with as the designer perfume of the smoke drifted into the sky.

Even Ethan was given a shroud—black silk with a logo of swords crossed under a set of scales. Evangeline and Landon were the ones to burn his shroud. The brunette would see the son of Nemesis again but for the time being, she stared at the flames spreading across his shroud while she stood with Landon.

Dinner at the pavilion was pretty low-key. The only highlight would've been Juniper, screaming, "Grover!" and giving her boyfriend a flying tackle hug, making everybody cheer. They went down to the beach to take a moonlit walk, and Evangeline was happy that the satyr had found someone.

Mrs O'Leary and Sam romped around happily, eating everybody's table scraps. Nico sat at the Hades table with his sister. Everybody was patting the children of Hades on the back, complimenting them on their fighting.

Even the Ares kids seemed to think Nico was pretty cool, and after eight long years of arguing, they finally apologized to Evangeline.

Slowly, the dinner crowd trickled away. Some went to the campfire for a sing-along. Others went to bed.

Percy sat at the Poseidon table by himself and watched the moonlight on Long Island Sound. He could see Grover and Juniper at the beach, holding hands and talking. It was peaceful.

"Hey," Evangeline said as she slid next to him on the bench. "Happy birthday, pretty boy."

She was holding a cupcake with blue icing.

Percy stared at her. "What?"

"It's August 18th," She said. "Your birthday."

The son of Poseidon was stunned. It hadn't even occurred to him, but she was right. He had turned sixteen that morning—the same morning he'd given Luke the knife. The prophecy had come true right as it was planned, and he hadn't even thought about the fact that it was his birthday.

"Make a wish," Evangeline said. "I think that's what you say."

"Did you bake this yourself?" He asked, looking at the cupcake.

"Tyson helped."

"That explains why it looks like a chocolate brick," The son of Poseidon chuckled. "With extra blue cement."

She chuckled lightly and Percy blew out the candle.

The children of Hades and Poseidon cut the cupcake in half and shared it. The two sat together and watched the ocean. Crickets and monsters were making noise in the woods, but otherwise, it was quiet.

"You saved the world." The brunette spoke up.

"We saved the world." Percy corrected.

"And Rachel became the Oracle, which means she won't be dating anybody."

"You don't sound disappointed," The raven-haired boy noticed.

The brunette shrugged. "I don't care."

"Uh-huh."

She arched a brow. "You have something to say to me, waterboy?"

"You'd kick my ass."