VIDEO GAMES! (p. jackson) (#1)

- fifteen

act iii, chapter xv
august 28, 2020
long island, new york

CAMP WENT LATE THAT SUMMER.

It lasted two more weeks, right up to the start of a new school year, and Rose had to admit they were the best two weeks of her life.

Grover had taken over the satyr seekers and was sending them out across the world to find unclaimed half-bloods. So far, the gods had kept their promise. New demigods were popping up all over the place— not just in America, but in a lot of other countries as well.

"We can hardly keep up," Grover admitted one afternoon as they were taking a break by the strawberry fields. "We're going to need a bigger travel budget, and I could use a hundred more satyrs."

Rose was out picking strawberries a couple hundred feet away. They were her favorite fruit. Percy was half watching her, half listening to Grover.

"Yeah, but the satyrs you have are working super hard," Percy said. "I think they're scared of you."

Grover blushed. "That's silly. I'm not scary."

Percy rolled his eyes. "You're a lord of the wild, dude. The chosen one of pan. A member of the council of—"

"Stop it!" Grover protested. "You're as bad as Juniper. I think she wants me to run for president next."

He chewed on a tin can as they stared across the pond at the line of new cabins under construction. The u-shape would soon be a complete rectangle, and the demigods had really taken to the new task with gusto.

Nico had some undead builders working on the Hades cabin. Even though he was still the only kid in it, it was going to look pretty cool: solid obsidian walls with a skull over the door and torches that burned with green fire twenty-four hours a day. Next to that were the cabins of Iris, Nemesis, Hecate, and several others. They kept adding new ones to the blueprints every day. It was going so well, Annabeth and Chiron were talking about adding an entirely new wing of cabins just so they could have enough room.

The Hermes cabin was a lot less crowded now, because most of the unclaimed kids had received signs from their godly parents. It happened almost every night, and every night more demigods straggled over the property line with the satyr guides, usually with some nasty monsters pursuing them, but almost all of them made it through.

"It's going to be a lot different next summer," Percy said. "Chiron's expecting we'll have twice as many campers."

"Yeah," Grover agreed, "but it'll be the same old place."

He sighed contentedly.

Rose took a break to watch as Tyson led a group of Cyclopes builders. They were hoisting huge stones in place for the Hecate cabin, and Rose knew it was a delicate job. Each stone was engraved with magical writing, and if they dropped one, it would either explode or turn everyone within half a mile into a tree. Rose figured nobody but Grover would like that.

"I'll be traveling a lot," Grover warned, "Between protecting nature and finding half-bloods. I may not see you as much."

"Won't change anything," Percy said. "You're still my best friend."

Grover grinned. "Except for Rose."

Rose stumbled back over with three baskets of strawberries that probably weighed half as much as she did.

"Do you think this is enough? They don't really go bad, since they're magical or whatever. I figured they could last until November? Thought maybe I'd give some to Katie. She still feels bad about accusing me of being the spy."

"It should be fine, Rosie. The Whole Foods normally have them anyway." Percy took a bite of a strawberry and looked back at grover as Rose lugged her baskets off to cabin four. "She's different."

"Yeah," Grover agreed. "She sure is."

That evening was the last night of camp—the bead ceremony. The Hephaestus cabin had designed the bead this year. It showed the Empire State Building, and etched in tiny Greek letters, spiraling around the image, were the names of all the heroes who had died defending Olympus. There were too many names, but Rose was proud to wear the bead. She put it on her camp necklace—seven beads now.

"Never forget this summer!" Chiron told them. He had healed remarkably well, but he still trotted in front of the fire with a slight limp. "We have discovered bravery and friendship and courage this summer. We have upheld the honor of the camp."

Everybody cheered. As Rose looked at the fire, she saw a little girl in a brown dress tending the flames. She winked at Rose with red glowing eyes. Rose smiled at her. No one else seemed to notice her, but Rose realized maybe she preferred it that way.

"And now," Chiron said, "Early to bed! Remember, you must vacate your cabins by noon tomorrow unless you've made arrangements to stay the year with us. The cleaning harpies will eat any stragglers, and I'd hate to end the summer on a sour note!"

The next morning, Rose and Percy stood at the top of Half-Blood Hill. They watched the buses and vans pull away, taking most of the campers back to the real world. A few old-timers would be staying behind, and a few of the new-comers, but Rose was heading back to Good High School for her sophomore year—the first time in her life she'd done two years at the same school.

"Stay safe," Rachel said to them as she shouldered her bag. She looked pretty nervous, but she was keeping a promise to her father and attending Clarion Academy in New Hampshire. It would be next summer before camp got their oracle back.

"you'll do great." Rose hugged her. Funny, she seemed to get along fine with Rachel these days.

Rachel bit her lip. "I hope you're right. I'm a little worried. What if somebody asks what's on the next math test and I start spouting a prophecy in the middle of geometry class? The Pythagorean theorem shall be problem two... gods, that would be embarrassing."

Rose laughed, which made Rachel smile.

"Well," Rachel said, "You two be good to each other."

She wished them well and ran down the hill to catch her ride.

Percy, thank God, would be staying in New York. He would also be a sophomore at Goode.

The guard dragon Peleus curled contentedly around the pine tree underneath the Golden Fleece and began to snore, blowing steam with every breath.

"You've been thinking about Rachel's prophecy?" Percy asked Rose.

She frowned. "How did you know?"

"Because I know you. You're an overthinker."

She bumped him with her shoulder. "Okay, so I have. Eight half-bloods shall answer the call. I wonder who they'll be. We're going to have so many new faces next summer."

"Yep," Percy agreed. "And all that stuff about the world falling in storm or fire."

She pursed her lips. "And foes at the doors of death. I don't know, Percy, but I don't like it. I thought... well, maybe we'd get some peace for a change."

"Wouldn't be Camp Half-Blood if it was peaceful," he said.

"I guess you're right... or maybe the prophecy won't happen for years."

"Could be a problem for another generation of demigods," he agreed. "Then we can kick back and enjoy."

She nodded. She was still uneasy, but it was hard to feel too upset on a nice day, with Percy next to her.

"Race you to the road?" he said.

"You are so going to lose." She took off down Half-Blood Hill and Percy sprinted after her.

For once, she didn't look back.

END OF BOOK ONE.