I wake up and shake Percy. "Hmm?" He says. "It's the Summer Solstice, Percy." I say. "Really?" He asks. "Great." He mumbles. I get up and wake Annabeth and Nina. Percy and I pack everything up. Annabeth and Nina run to a convenience store and gets us a little something to eat. We sit in the alley and eat. "Today's the day, huh?" Nina says. I nod. "Whatever is waiting for us, can't be that bad, can it?" Annabeth asks. I shrug. "I have no idea who the voice is, what the prize is, or anything." I say. We all finish eating. Percy slings the bag over his shoulder. "Guess we should make our way to the Empire State Building." Percy says. Percy and I go ahead and get our swords ready. I don't know what the mortals see in our hands. I had learned that something called the Mist makes mortals see stuff in our demigod world differently- to kind of fit into their understanding.
As we slowly make our way to the Empire State Building, I start thinking, We're a weird bunch, huh? A son of Poseidon, two daughters of Athena, and a daughter of Aphrodite. Four teens with a bag, weapons, and a gold trash can. I don't even know what I look like. I haven't seen a mirror in days. "What do you think is going to be there?" Nina asks. "Something." I say. Nina giggles. "No, I mean, really." She says. "I don't know." I say. "Let's not think about it, right now." Percy says. "Yeah, if we think about it now, we'll get really nervous. Or.. Nina will at least." Annabeth says. "Hey, that is not fair." Nina says. We walk for a long time and then we see it. The Empire State Building- just a little bit away.
I stop and turn to Percy. "Whatever happens and whatever is going to be there. Can you promise me something?" I ask. He looks at me. "Please, don't do anything stupid." I say. He smiles a bit. "I don't think I can promise that." He says. I smile and hug him. We start walking again and then we go into an alley next to the Empire State Building. We sit there for a few minutes. It's probably about lunch-time now. I start pacing back and forth in the dark, back part of the alley. "What if Gr-" I begin. "Olivia Trane." Someone says. I look and see a guy coming in the alley. Percy makes a face as he gets up. The alley's big. "You're the voice? In my dreams?" I ask. "Finally realized that, kid?" The guy says. I step up and see who it is. Annabeth and Nina walk behind me and Percy comes up next to me. "Ares." I say.
I glare at him. "I don't have the prize." I say. "We do have a trash can you can have though, but I don't know if you'll fit." Nina says. Ares gets mad. I get angrier with him around. But this time, I'm already mad. "You do have the prize. You've had it all along." Ares says. "What?" I ask. I grip my sword tighter. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you." He says. I step forward and swing. Then we both start fighting. Am I crazy? How can I fight a god? Especially the war god. Some gray see-through dudes come up from the ground and Annabeth, Nina, and Percy fight them. "Stupid girl." He says. "What's the prize?" I ask, while we fight. He cuts my arm and then pushes me down. All the gray dudes are gone. Ares stands over me and raises his sword. "It's what you care about most." He says. "No!" Percy yells. Ares turns around and they start to fight. Percy's already tired from beating the gray guys.
"What I care about most..?" I say to myself, slowly getting up. Then I realize what the prize is. Your little prize of a boyfriend. Ares had said in my dream as the mysterious voice. "Or a who..." I say. I look at the fight. "Percy, no!" I scream. Just then Ares stabs Percy and Percy falls. I run next to Percy. "You figured it out." Ares says. Ares leaves, laughing, "Good-bye Percy Jackson." Percy's eyes are closed, and he's hurt. I start crying. "Percy!" I shout. Nina and Annabeth drag me away from him. Out of no where, Grover drops to the ground next to us. "Grover!" I say. I hug him and he hugs back. He's shaking. "It was Ares." He says. "I know." I say. Then I let go and go back to Percy. Annabeth and Nina grab me again. "Let me go, please." I say. "Percy doesn't want to see you freaking out. You shouldn't freak out." Nina says. "Just please, let me talk to him." I say. They look at each other and then nod and let go.
Annabeth and Nina explain what happened to Grover. "Percy, I'm sure you can't hear me." I say. "I'm sorry. For having you leave camp. For having you fight monsters. For getting you hurt. Everything." I say. I'm still crying. I take his hand. "You were there for me. You took every step with me. You fought by my side, and stopped Ares from hurting me. You were brave and amazing. I don't care what happens after this, but I wanted to let you know: You're my hero, Percy Jackson. And you always will be." I say. His eyes open. "Percy." I say. I hug him, and he hugs back. I start smiling. Percy's okay. Grover comes over to us. Grover and I help Percy up. We help Percy walk. Annabeth and Nina carry the bag as we make our way towards Camp Half-Blood.
"I thought I told you not to do anything stupid." I say. "I told you that I didn't think I could promise you that." He says. "We're taking you to the infirmary when we get there." I say. "Okay." He says. "But, as I was saying.. I guess it wasn't really stupid. Yeah, fighting Ares for me? Stupid. But you cared about me. That was brave and heroic. And that's why I love you." I say. "I love you too." He says. "And I love you both, and I know you love me." Grover says. I smile. We all enter Camp Half-Blood. We get to the infirmary and they help Percy. Percy goes to sleep while Annabeth, Grover, and I go to the Big House with Nina to tell who she is. Chiron welcomes her and I show Nina around. Then I show her her cabin and I leave. I go around telling my camp friends that I'm okay. They all seem so relieved. This is my family. And this is home.
Chiron gestures for me to come over to him. I explain about the dreams and Ares and the whole journey. I tell him about what happened to Percy. "You were brave, Olivia." Chiron says. I hug him. He seems surprised but then he hugs me back. After that, I go to dinner and eat. I get a single cookie and go to the Infirmary. I sit in a chair next to Percy. He wakes up. "Where am I?" He asks. "Infirmary." He says. "I brought you a cookie." I say. I give him the cookie and he eats it. "You really are the best, Olivia Trane." He says. "And you're the best too, Percy Jackson." I say. He gets up and we walk to the door. He opens it up. I take his hand and smile. I see Grover, Annabeth, and Nina together. They wave at us. We wave back. "Welcome back to Camp Half-Blood, Percy Jackson." I say. He smiles as we start running to our friends. I have a great boyfriend- son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson. The greatest friends, and an awesome sister. I'm back at Camp Half-Blood, I'm safe, and it's great to be home.
