𝒊𝒗. 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐎𝐔

𝒙𝒊𝒙.

The rest of the summer seemed strange because it was so normal. The daily activities continued: archery, rock climbing, Pegasus riding. They played capture the flag (though they all avoided Zeus's Fist). They sang at the campfire and raced chariots and played practical jokes on the other cabins. Percy spent a lot of time with Tyson and Noelle, playing with Mrs. O'Leary, but she would still howl at night when she got lonely for her old master. Percy understood when Noelle needed space, especially after an archery class that she now had to teach alone. But they were in a good place, no more outside pressure weighed on their relationship.

He and Annabeth pretty much skirted around each other though. 

He wanted to talk to her about Kronos, but he couldn't do that anymore without bringing up Luke. And that was one subject he couldn't raise. She would shut him and everyone else out every time they tried. Only Noelle had been able to breach her walls on a few rare occaisons when Annabeth was feeling particularly vulnerable.

July passed, with fireworks on the beach on the Fourth. August turned so hot the strawberries started baking in the fields. Finally, the last day of camp arrived. The standard form letter appeared on Percy's bed after breakfast, warning him that the cleaning harpies would devour him if he stayed past noon. 

At ten o'clock Percy stood on the top of Half-Blood Hill with Noelle, waiting for the camp van that would take them into the city. He'd made arrangements to leave Mrs. O'Leary at camp, where Chiron promised she'd be looked after. He and Tyson would take turns visiting her during the year. 

Noelle hoped Annabeth would be riding into Manhattan with them, but she only came to see them off. She said she'd arranged to stay at camp a little longer. She would tend to Chiron until his leg was fully recovered, and keep studying Deadalus's laptop, which had engrossed her for the last two months. Then she would head back to her father's place in San Francisco. 

"There's a private school out there that I'll be going to," she said. "I'll probably hate it, but..." she shrugged. 

"Yeah, well, call me, okay?" Noelle said.

"Sure," she said half-heartedly. "I'll keep my eyes open for..." 

There it was again. Luke. She couldn't even say his name without opening up a huge box of hurt and worry and anger. 

"Annabeth," Percy said. "What was the rest of the prophecy?" 

She fixed her eyes on the woods in the distance, but she didn't say anything. 

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," Percy remembered. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. We raised a lot of the dead. We saved Ethan Nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor. We raised the spirit of Pan, the lost one." 

Annabeth shook her head like she wanted him to stop. 

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," Percy pressed on. "That wasn't Minos, like I'd thought. It was Nico. By choosing to be on our side, he saved us. And the child of Athena's final stand—that was Daedalus." 

"Percy—" Noelle tried, seeing Annabeth's distress. 

"Destroy with a hero's final breath. That makes sense now. Daedalus died to destroy the Labyrinth. But what was the last—" 

"And lose a love to worse than death." Annabeth had tears in her eyes. "That was the last line, Percy. Are you happy now?" 

The sun seemed colder than it had a moment ago. "Oh," he said. "So Luke—" 

"Percy, I didn't know who the prophecy was talking about. I—I didn't know if..." She faltered helplessly. "Luke and I—for years, he and Noelle were the only ones who really cared about me. I thought..."