ʙᴏᴏᴋ ɪɪ : 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 | 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚢 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Chapter 15

They arrived in Long Island just after Clarisse, thanks to the centaurs' travel powers. Percy rode on Chiron's back, but they didn't talk much, especially not about Kronos. He knew it had been difficult for Chiron to tell him. So he didn't want to push him with more questions. Besides, his mind was preoccupied with the little conversation he had with Y/N.

And to his relief, it wasn't what he feared. 

"I know it happened cause we were both tired but...hugging my waist even after we woke up? Did you think about Annabeth for once? How would you feel if she went and hugged Luke like that?" she said.

"As if she doesn't want that already," Percy muttered looking over at the blonde.

Y/N sighed, "Okay here's the thing. She has a past with him, yes, but why are the both of you letting it come in between you? Just...just focus on the present!"

He looked into her eyes again, and she cleared her throat, shifting her eyes towards her friends in discomfort. Well, it did hurt to tell him to go back to Annabeth but she knew it would happen sooner or later. And she didn't want to get her hopes up. All that happened these few days felt like they were getting closer, even though she knew her friends were going to patch up again. She didn't want to feel hurt all over again. It was better to maintain some distance from Percy. He probably had no idea how his actions were affecting her.

When they got to camp, 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 a hard two weeks. The arts and crafts cabin had burned to the ground from an attack by a Draco Aionius. 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. 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 an 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 Annabeth, Percy or Y/N a second look. It was as if they'd never left. But 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 an 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 gave her a grudging smile.

"What?" she demanded.

"Nothing," he said. "Just good to be home."