Poseidon's Daughter; A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

The End of an Era

Y/n's POV

The rest of the day was just as strange. Campers slowly trickled in from New York by car, pegasus and chariot. The wounded were cared for by the Apollo cabin, and the dead were given proper funeral rites at the campfire. Silena's shroud was hot pink, but was strangely embroidered with an electric spear. The Ares and Aphrodite cabins both claimed her as a hero, and lit the shroud together. No one mentioned the word spy. That secret burned to ashes as the designer perfume smoke drifted into the sky.

Even Ethan Nakamura was given a shroud. His was black silk, with a logo of swords crossed under a set of scales. As his shroud went up in flames, I hoped Ethan knew he had made a difference in the end. He'd paid a lot more than an eye, but the minor gods would finally get the respect they deserved. With how crazy the day had been, I was surprised that dinner at the pavilion was low-key. Mrs. O'Leary romped around happily, eating everybody's table scraps. Nico sat at the main table with Chiron and Mr. D, and nobody seemed to think this was out of place. In fact, everybody was patting Nico on the back, complimenting him on his fighting. Even the Ares kids seemed to think he was pretty cool. Slowly, the dinner crowd trickled away. Some went to the campfire for a singalong and others went to bed. Percy and I sat at the Poseidon table by ourselves and watched the moonlight on Long Island Sound, but it wasn't long before Annabeth sat with us.

"Hey," Annabeth greeted and extended a huge misshapen cupcake with blue icing towards Percy. "Happy birthday."

Percy frowned. "What?"

"It's August 18th," I remind him. "Your birthday. Looks like the prophecy came true right on schedule, huh."

"Make a wish," Annabeth instructed.

"Did you bake this yourself?" Percy asked.

"With Tyson and Y/n's help," Annabeth responded.

Percy laughed. "That explains why it looks like a chocolate brick."

"With extra-blue cement," I add. After Percy blew out the candle, we split the cupcake into thirds and watched the ocean as we ate. For a while, it was silent, but it was hard not to discuss what had happened the past few days.

"You saved the world today," Annabeth brought up.

"We saved the world," Percy corrected. "I couldn't have done it without you guys. Seriously. I hope you know how important you guys are to me."

"Aw. Percy's getting a little sappy," I tease and wrap an arm around my brother. "You're important to us too, Perce. I mean, I can't imagine what the last few years would have been like if I hadn't met you."

"Rachel being the new Oracle is interesting," Annabeth commented. "Which means she won't be dating anybody."

"You don't sound disappointed," Percy noticed.

Annabeth shrugged. "Oh, I don't care."

"Uh-huh," Percy hummed.

"You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth quizzed.

"You'd probably kick my butt," Percy pointed out.

"You know I'd kick your butt," Annabeth countered.

"When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable, Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal. Then up on Olympus, when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity, because things could always get better. And I was thinking..." Percy trailed off.

"Anyone in particular?" Annabeth pushed.

"You're laughing at me," Percy complained.

"I am not!" Annabeth argued.