❦𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓮❦ - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷

𝒳𝒳𝐼𝒳. 𝐻𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒮𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝐻𝑜𝓂𝑒

𝓐𝓯𝓽𝓮𝓻 the shock wore off, Grover ran for the porch steps, mumbling about packing a bag. And coffee.

"Wha-Grover!" Zoe said, grabbing his wrist before he made it to the stairs. "Where are you going?"

"Coffee! Pan! The wild!"

Zoe knew there was nothing she could do to calm him down right now, so she let him go, huffing out a sigh. She exchanged exasperated looks with Annabeth and Chiron, rolling her eyes as Grover bolted down the stairs, almost tripping over his hooves.

Turning back to the other three, Zoe shrugged. Chiron sighed heavily and shifted on his hooves, glancing back out at camp.

"I suspect your family will be here soon, Annabeth?" Chiron asked, shifting his gaze to the blond.

She nodded, picking at her nails. "Yeah, my dad's gonna take Zoe and I to the airport. We're catching a red eye so we can make it back sooner. Percy, will you need a ride?"

He shook his head, his eyes still watching where Grover had been. "No, I IMed my mom earlier. She's coming to pick me up in the morning."

Zoe nodded at him, shooting a small smile his way. "I'm gonna go make sure I have everything packed. What time did you say he was getting here?"

"You should have packed hours ago, you doofus," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "He'll be here in about forty-five minutes. Hurry."

Zoe rolled her eyes and laughed, jumping down the porch steps and heading to her cabin. She didn't have much to begin with, having only brought the things that would fit in her overnight bag that she had brought to Westover Hall. It felt like forever ago now, that they had stepped up to the military school. So much had happened in the last week.

After packing her bag, Zoe gave hugs and kisses to all her siblings that were still at camp for the winter. They were getting ready for bed, so she made sure she was quiet as she left. She wasn't too worried about getting everything because she could always have someone send it to her, get it when she came back during the summer, or just buy another one.

Finishing up with 15 minutes to spare, Zoe walked over to Percy's cabin. The only light that was on was his bedside lamp, as he finished cleaning up. The term was used loosely because Percy was really just shoving things in cubbies, the trash, or his bag so he was ready to leave the next morning.

Dropping her stuff by the door, Zoe said, "Hey, Perce. Got any big plans before summer?"

He shook his head, cramming another shirt into his backpack.

"Nah. I'm hoping not to, actually. Just need to get through the rest of 8th grade right? Well, I guess not you. You're in, like, college."

Zoe laughed, sitting on an empty bunk across from him. "Yeah. I'm almost done. Only got one more semester to go. But nevermind that. Give me a call if you ever need help with math, ok?"

Percy chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck and nodding. "Uh- yeah. Sure thing."

Percy turned around, messing with some nicknacks on his bedside table, muttering to himself. It almost sounded like, "Sure thing? Who says that?" but Zoe couldn't be sure.

They both glanced up when someone rapped their knuckles on the doorframe. Annabeth stood there, in jeans and a sweatshirt, her bag slung over her shoulder, her yankees cap clipped to a belt loop on her jeans.

"You two idiots done flirting? My dad should be here any minute."

"We weren't flirting." Zoe and Percy said in unison. They glanced at each other then looked away, blushing.

"Yeah, sure," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Whatever. We gotta go, Starky."

"I'm sorry, what did you just call me?" Zoe stood up, rushing towards Annabeth, who was already walking towards the hill. Zoe grabbed her bag, calling after the blond. Percy watched the two go, bickering the whole way up the hill.

"It's just your last name, Starky." Annabeth raised a brow at the brunette. The blond tapped her foot impatiently as they waited for Dr. Chase. The moon cast a silver glow over camp, illuminating the areas that were otherwise swathed in shadows.

"So? How does that have anything to do with Starky? There are so many other better nicknames you could come up with."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Zoe spluttered for a second, but was saved by Dr. Chase calling to the duo through the open car window.

"Hey girls! You ready? We have a flight to catch."

Zoe gave Annabeth a wide smile before she rushed down the hill. "Shotgun!"

"Wha-No! My dad is driving! I get shotgun." Annabeth chased after her, beating the brunette to the car.

"C'mon, that's not fair. Your legs are longer."

"So?"

"So!" Zoe threw her hands up. "How could I have ever beat you?"

"I guess I'm just better than you," Annabeth teased, tossing her bag in the empty seat next to Zoe. The brunette pouted but threw her stuff in, getting buckled and shifting to get comfortable.

"You girls all set? You got everything? Drachmas, weapons, ambrosia, nectar?"

"Yes dad," Annabeth sighed exasperatedly. "We have everything. At least, I do. Zoe?"

"Yup! All good back here."

Frederick nodded and turned the car around, heading back into the city.

❦ 🌊❦

When the three of them arrived at the airport, they split up. Zoe found Happy waiting by security and Annabeth and Frederick went to get through security and find their boarding gate. Happy quickly ushered her to the car so they could get to the private airstrip, only a 7 minute drive from the airport.

"Happy! How have you been? How was Pepper's birthday? Is my dad back yet?"

"Hey, Starky,"

"First Annabeth and now you too?"

"I've been calling you Starky since you shocked me when you were four. Anyway," Happy glanced at her in the passenger seat. "Everything is good. Your dad is actually doing his demonstration, probably right now. It's 12:30, so it's around 9 over there. He should be back in the next day or two."

Zoe nodded, looking out the window as the airstrip quickly came into view. Happy parked and got out, grabbing her bag and his own. The two of them boarded the plane, and Zoe quickly got comfortable and immersed herself in her own world of designing.

Sometime during the flight Zoe must have fallen asleep because suddenly Happy was shaking her awake so they could unload. The jet had to refuel before going to Afghanistan to get her dad. Her and Happy hopped in the car that was waiting for them, and went straight to the house.

Zoe, after dropping everything in her room, headed straight to the lab. Tony would be gone for at least a few more hours, maybe a day or two, and Zoe wanted to get a head start on some of the things they had been designing.

"Hey, J, drop my needle," she said. Music started playing throughout the lab, her personal playlist that her and Tony had made. Highway To Hell by AC/DC was the first song that blasted through the speakers, drowning out everything and quieting her mind enough for her to get in the zone.

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours before Pepper interrupted her.

"Zoe?"

"Oh! Hey Pep!" Zoe sprung out of her seat, almost knocking over a coffee cup as she squeezed Pepper. "Happy birthday! I missed you so much, oh my gods. You're never going to guess what-"

"Zoe," Pepper interrupted her. "Something... your dad..."

Zoe pulled out of the hug and saw Pepper's red rimmed eyes, felt the onslaught of crushing emotions.

"Pepper... what happened?"

I bet you guys thought it was over! Nope 🫣. Now it's over. Here's the last chapter of Titans Curse. Sorry about the cliffhanger but also not sorry 🤭 (also sorry for posting late... again 😅). -IDK003

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