/ thálassa | pjo \

/ chapter nineteen | my song is sung & another plot-twist ending\

edited.

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 The first thing I heard when I woke up again was Will saying, "You idiot...I'm gonna kill you one of these days..."

"Nice to see you again too, Will..." I grunted–trying to fight off the sense of deja vu finding him at my bedside like last summer when I almost died last time. I wasn't as stiff as last time, so that was good. Once I was sitting upward against the metal headboard, I asked quietly, "Did it work? The Fleece?"

The young son of Apollo sighed, coming into view on my right, "Yeah. It did. There are patrol units around it 24/7, and Chiron's working on getting a monster to come and protect the tree."

"Cool beans..." I yawned–rubbing my eyes a couple times. Then I noticed the lack of my brothers and friends. I furrowed my brows, "Where are—?"

He looked unamused–which was a funny look on a kid as smiley as Will typically was. "They're getting ready for the chariot races."

I looked at him, my brows furrowing, "Wait. I thought—"

"Chiron said they would go on."

I readjusted my right arm–trying not to wince as my joint tightened up and my skin pulled. "Well...I bet Percy and Annabeth are loving that. So, how long have I been here exactly?"

Will scratched his head, ruffling his blond curls as he sat beside me, pulling his knees up to his chest, "Uh...like three-ish days?"

A choked laugh fell from my lips, "Oh, lovely."

Will grinned at me, whispering, "I'm glad you're back. I was worried...and lonely."

I could see the tears forming in his blue eyes, and I had to remind myself he was only eleven years old and I was only thirteen.

It was normal for him to feel scared when a friend just disappeared, but I had forgotten that for some reason. I had somehow forgotten that we were just kids whose normal had become praying and hoping that the gods would bring back friends who vanished on quests in the middle of the night.

But I knew sometimes–that didn't happen. I had heard enough about campers I had never seen around to know that they had left and never come home.

I could not help but wonder if Will had siblings who had done that, then I had just left without saying goodbye–leaving him to wonder if I would make it back.

It made me feel sick.

As the first crocodile tear fell down his face, I pulled Will into my arms, hugging him as tightly as my sore body would let me.

He reciprocated–his face buried in my uninjured shoulder–but his embrace was much tighter, his hands clenching my clean Camp shirt tightly between his fingers.

"I'm here now..." I murmured–kissing his golden curls. He smelled of disinfectant soaps and bubblegum shampoo–probably something he used without asking one of his siblings. "You're okay..."

He nodded against my shoulder, his voice so tiny as he admitted, "I prayed to my dad that he would keep you safe every day. I even asked the other gods, too."

I thought about some of the weird moments on the quest and smiled down at him, murmuring, "Well, someone listened. A few times. And now I'm here."

Will pulled away, smiling brightly and pressing a kiss to my cheek, "Yup!" He stood up–putting his hands on his hips before saying, "I want to give you a check-up, and then you should be okay to go."