𝒊𝒊. 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝒙𝒗𝒊𝒊.

They arrived in Long Island just after Clarisse, thanks to the centaurs' travel powers. When they got to camps the centaurs were anxious to meet Dionysus. They'd heard he threw some really wild parties, but they were disappointed. The wine god was in no mood to celebrate as the whole camp gathered at the top of Half-Blood Hill.

The camp had been through two hard weeks. The arts and crafts cabin had burned to the ground from an attack by a Draco Aionius (which was pretty much Latin for "really-big-lizard-with-breath-that-blows-stuff-up"). The Big House's rooms were overflowing with wounded. The kids in the Apollo cabin, who were the best healers, had been working overtime performing first aid. Everybody looked weary and battered as they crowded around Thalia's tree.

The moment Clarisse draped the Golden Fleece over the lowest bough, the moonlight seemed to brighten, turning from gray to liquid silver. That made Noelle's face brighten with hope and joy. A cool breeze rustled in the branches and rippled through the grass, all the way into the valley. Everything came into sharper focus— the glow of the fireflies down in the woods, the smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of the waves on the beach.

Gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green.

Everybody cheered. It was happening slowly, but there could be no doubt— the Fleece's magic was seeping into the tree, filling it with new power and expelling the poison.

Chiron ordered a twenty-four/seven guard duty on the hilltop, at least until he could find an appropriate monster to protect the Fleece. He said he'd place and ad in Olympus Weekly right away.

In the meantime, Clarisse was carried on her cabin mates' shoulders down to the amphitheater, where she was honored with a laurel wreath and a lot of celebrating around the campfire.

Nobody gave the three younger demigods a second look. It was as if they'd never left. In a way, that was the best thank-you anyone could give them, because if they admitted they'd snuck out of camp to do the quest, they'd have to expel them. And really, they didn't want anymore attention. It felt good to be just one of the campers for once.

Later that night, as they were roasting s'mores and listening to the Stoll brothers tell them a ghost story about and evil king who was eaten alive by demonic breakfast pastries, Clarisse shoved Percy from behind and whispered in his ear, "Just because you were cool one time, Jackson, don't think you're off the hook with Ares. I'm still waiting for the right opportunity to pulverize you."

He only gave her a grudging smile.

"What?" she demanded.

"Nothing," he said, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist, Noelle smiling up at him in turn, having heard the interaction. "Just good to be home."

~

Unlike the other campers, Noelle and Percy went back to their old habits, climbing onto the roof of Cabin Three. Noelle laid out the blanket and sat down, Percy sitting next to her, pulling her in close by her waist.

"Percy?" Noelle whispered after a few moments of looking at the stars.

"Hm?" he hummed in response.

"I meant to tell you this sooner, back when we had just gotten away with the party ponies—" Percy's full attention had snapped to the girl beside him. "—My mom came to me in a dream back at Polyphemus's island."

Noelle then explained the conversation between her and her mother, careful not to leave a single detail out.

"The future?" Percy questioned. "You think she knows what happens for the Prophecy?"