Horizon's Point: The Rise of the Lyre (Jason Grace)

Chapter 21: Back at Camp

It had been about three weeks since Rachel gave the prophecy, we'd figured out that it was going to happen on the summer solstice, so we were to leave for Camp Jupiter on the 5th of June. That gave us three and a half months, and I relished each one of them; especially the moments spent with Jason.

One night, when I was fast asleep, my boyfriend knocked softly on the back door, the one that leads to the balcony. He didn't wait for an answer and came in, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and glanced at the clock; it was half past midnight.

"What are you doing?" I asked; he helped me to my feet and lead me over to his cabin. I was too tired to protest so let him do so.

"Couldn't sleep." He responded with a shrug but I heard the unspoken words: he wanted cuddles.

We got into his bed and he wrapped he strong arms around my cold body and I pressed my forehead against his chest, laying my hands in his back. I felt so safe and nothing could make me feel otherwise, I loved this boy with all of my heart and nothing could ever change that.

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That morning, I awoke to Jason stroking my hair. We seemingly hadn't moved and I wasn't willing to, but he clearly had different ideas.

"I want to show you something." He declared after dragging me out of bed and a lot of forehead kisses.

I snuck back into the Poseidon cabin in the knowledge that we'd just broken a camp rule and I was not willing to get caught. It felt so strange: being in an empty cabin. For the first year I had bunked in the Hermes cabin which was never quiet, and now I was in a cabin on my own because my brother was away at school.

I quickly pulled on my camp T-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans, then jogged over to the Zeus cabin to see what Jason wanted to show me.

My knuckles didn't even touch the door before it flew open and my boyfriend's grinning face was in the entrance way. Should I have been scared by this? Maybe. But I was glad to be unfazed, there was nothing terrible that he and Leo could have created that would terrify the life out of me... probably.

Without a word, he took my hand and dragged my inside.

"What is it?" I asked and -try as I might- failed to hide the wide grin that was rapidly spreading across my face. I loved to see him so happy, it was defiantly contagious.

"Ok, close your eyes." He sat me down on a chair and I did as he asked, then something was placed into my lap and it started to wriggle, this confused me so much; I refused to open my eyes until he said so, which was right then.

In my lap sat a tiny, baby grey wolf. It was the cutest thing that I had ever seen, it looked into my face and did a little yawn then jumped up putting its tiny paws onto my shoulders.

Jason looked like a verry proud boyfriend and declared his reasoning, "I saw how much you wanted one when we were with the Hunters and I Iris-Messaged Percy, he said that it was fine so long as it can live in the woods for prolonged periods of time. Like, when we're on quests, so I thought a wolf."

I picked up the tiny fluff-ball and held her close to my chest then placed her on the ground so that she could run around at her own will. She was so adorable.

"I lover her! Thank you!" I got up and kissed him lightly before crouching down to play with her.

"What are you going to call her?" He asked, letting her bite his arm and playing tug-of-war with it, just like someone who had been raised by wolves. I thought for a moment, what would I call her? There was that one Latin word that sounded so lovely, it was sometimes used to describe goddesses... Celestine. That would be the little cub's name.

"Celestine." I decided, it was pretty, I thought. Jason looked up at me and smiled warmly,

"Heavenly." He translated, then looked down at her, "It suits her."

We played with the little wolf for such a long time, it was really fun. Then Leo came in with Piper and Annabeth, they were taken aback by the presence of Celestine, but instantly loved her. It didn't take her long to grow tired after new affection came along; the sleepy thing padded over and fell asleep on my lap.

"You're showing that dog more affection than you show your own boyfriend." Leo laughed, of course that wasn't true, yet I played along, laughing too.

"I do not! But look at her!" And held up her tiny body so that she and my first friend were face-to-face, in one swift, unscripted movement, she licked his nose. This caused us to all break out into fits of laughter.

We spent the rest of the day together, the five of us. Drew didn't bother me any more and I was determined to enjoy every second at camp until we had to head off onto another quest.

It was so serine, so peaceful, so perfect. The sound of the waves lapping at the sand and rolling over to us, the gentil brees that pushed my hair out of my face, Leo's ridiculous jokes, Annabeth's easy-going smile, Piper's consistent fussing over small things, Jason's warm hand in mine and his welcoming presence.

I hoped that each of them knew that they are what made life worth living, that they are the light at the end of the tunnel, that they are the sole reason that I was able to face my fears and go underwater again since my mother's death. These people are my family and I was to protect them, no matter the cost.

Hello everyone!

This is my first ever completed story and I'm going to start work on a second book for this one soon (I'm not sure when though).

What do you all think of Abigail finally getting a puppy? I named the cub after one of my previous pets who died, RIP Celestine :(

Thank you all so much for reading this, you have no idea how much it means to me <3