𝒊𝒊𝒊. 𝐋𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒

𝒙𝒗𝒊𝒊𝒊.

Noelle left Percy to his own devices as he made a few calls to his family to let them know he was okay after she made her own call to her father. She let him know that Annabeth was safe again and that everything was all right for now. She left out the parts of death and despair as she recounted their events, also leaving out the part that she had been a cat for a significant amount of time.

Her father just told her that he was glad she was safe and that he loved her. Noelle had smiled at that, telling him she loved him back and that hopefully she'd be back home in time to celebrate her birthday.

Percy had rejoined his friends outside the entrance to the Empire State Building where Argus was waiting for them.

Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Annabeth, Grover, Noelle, and Percy at the Empire State Building and ferried them back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was almost deserted. 

As they trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleece glittered, Percy half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for them. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure. 

Chiron greeted them at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about their strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was. 

Annabeth, Noelle, and Percy sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers. Even Clarisse from the Ares cabin was there, back from her secretive scouting mission. Percy knew she must've had a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to pulverize him. She had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blond hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors. 

"I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "Bad news." 

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth!" 

Annabeth smiled at her two best friends gratefully, which they returned with a smile of their own.

For some strange reason, Percy found himself thinking about Hoover Dam, and the odd mortal girl he'd run into there, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. He didn't know why, but her annoying comments kept coming back to him. He was only alive because so many people had helped him, even a random mortal girl like that. He'd never even explained to her who he was.

"Luke is alive," Percy said. "Annabeth was right." 

Annabeth sat up. "How do you know?" 

He tried not to feel annoyed by her interest. He told her what his dad had said about the Princess Andromeda. 

"Well." Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "If the final battle does come when Percy is eighteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out." 

Percy had a feeling that when she said "figure something out," she meant "get Luke to change his ways," which annoyed him even more. Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. Well... he was really old, but he usually didn't look it. 

"Two years may seem like a long time," he said. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos's first strike will be here."