Percy Jackson, The Missing Hero.

53. Campfire Celebrations are Apparently a Centaur Cure-All.

Percy was relieved to see Camp Half-Blood below them as they broke through the clouds, finally descending toward their final destination. It felt like arriving home, though his heart was heavy at the prospect of admitting they'd failed a major proportion of their Quest at the hands of The Fates.

They'd navigated the Maze, found a kidnapped god, and had managed to capture Nathan, Octavian, and Tanner with only a few minor hiccups. But they'd failed the part of their Quest that mattered the most to Percy. He'd wanted nothing more for their trade with The Fates to succeed, to see Will brought back to life and to see Nico happy again. He knew that a return to Camp Half-Blood would mean having to stand by and watch as the faces of the Cabin Counsellors turned from triumph at their return to despair as they realised the conspicuous absence in their ranks. He could only hope that they'd kept the true nature of Octavian's resurrection under wraps; that Nico wouldn't have to face a deluge of questions from the entire Camp, especially when Nico was yet to even face the rest of the demigods on board.

"Are you planning on putting that on?" Luke asked, making him jump. He turned to see his Lieutenant standing at the railing beside him, gesturing to the mask that Percy was holding loosely in his hands. Luke's own was on his face, hiding in the depths of his hood. "You look like you're about to hurl it into the clouds and let one of Zeus' bolts eat it for breakfast."

"Yeah, I'm putting it on." Percy nodded, sighing before reluctantly doing so. He followed the action by pulling up his hood, shrouding his identity once more. There would be a time in the next few days that he revealed his identity, but now was not that time. "I don't want to cause a riot."

"How is he?" Luke asked. He didn't need to say who he was referring to, they both knew exactly who he was talking about.

Percy sighed again. This was the first time he'd left his cabin, left Nico, since the night before. He'd been up half the night, a dismal Apollo popping in and out as he migrated between three different cabins with three different injuries. Leo's Minotaur inflicted gash, Eros' tortured body, and Nico's broken heart. Eventually, Nico had acquiesced to the potion that Apollo had offered, drifting off into a dreamless sleep. It had only been then that Percy had slept himself, waking not long after the dawn light started to creep through the porthole and the sun god had slipped in to check on them both. He'd uttered a quiet apology to Percy for waking him, subdued and totally unlike his usual self. Percy hadn't had the heart to start the conversation about Will's death that he'd been delaying, instead choosing to simply assure him that it wasn't Apollo that had woken him up.

"Percy?" Luke prompted again, voice soft.

"Sorry. I didn't sleep well." Percy shook his head. "I was up half the night with Nico and Apollo was popping in and out every twenty minutes for ten-minute intervals. He needed someone to talk to. Apparently Eros wouldn't stop asking some hard hitting questions when he wasn't too busy sleeping or complaining and it was hard to hold a conversation with Leo when Calypso was sitting and watching his every move."

"I can't believe what happened," Luke admitted. "It just seems so cruel."

"I can't stop replaying it in my head." Percy glanced down at Camp as he spoke. They were descending slowly, giving those below time to identify them as friendlies. "I just can't get over the fact they told him his father would be proud of him for returning a soul to the realm and then saying that Hades would say it was a shame that he didn't use an Oath on the Styx. It was just unnecessary."

"That's what they said?" Luke couldn't keep the shock out of his voice. "Hades will go ballistic when he finds out."

"I don't want to be anywhere near him when he finds out," Percy admitted. "Surprisingly, I've got a preference for staying alive."