Annie Chain and the Olympians: The Anomaly of the Sky

Chapter 15: Goodbye Summer... And Pretty Much Everyone Else Too

In an effort to salvage the ceremony that had been wrecked all those weeks ago, the gods allowed the older demigods to stay for the remainder of the summer. Through their guidance, us current demigods learned a lot about our powers and our limits.

Percy taught me a lot about my control over the ocean and other water sources. He taught me how to summon it without the presence of a body of water. I learned a lot, which surprised me, considering I'd been mostly unaware of all the things I could apparently do.

The gods stuck around as well. Well, for the most part. They left and arrived again as they pleased for the most part. They had their domains to handle, but they came back everyday. Based on the rather amazed looks on the Romans faces, they weren't used to seeing their parents so often. But as the summer continued, they seemed to adjust pretty well. I even got to become friends with a couple of them, now that I wasn't just the annoying daughter of Neptune, but rather an important war hero.

Even the Titans remained around for the summer, though they kept to themselves more often than not to avoid startling the campers. Plus, I think they were just happy to have each other still, after the fading scares with Metis over the centuries.

But even summer eventually had to end. I had been asked if I wanted to be a full time camper, and had immediately agreed. I didn't have any mortal family to return to. Not anymore. But when I asked Peter if he was staying, he shook his head.

"My dad wants me to come home for the school year. It's my second year here, so I stayed year round last year. My dad wants me to get an education." Peter looked apologetic but more nervous than anything.

"Not excited?" I tried to sound nonchalant.

"Not really. My dad lives with my grandma and my aunt. They don't like me much. Didn't like the idea of my dad having a kid and the mom not being involved. And hated the idea of the Greek pantheon even more." Peter shrugged.

"That sucks, Peter."

"Yeah, don't worry about it though. I can get through one year. Worst comes to worst, I just run back here." He gave me a small smile.

I smiled back but was dreading spending the rest of the year without him. He was my best friend. He'd been my partner since I had come here. What would I do without Peter?

The final day of summer, the older demigods were hugging their younger siblings and their parents, rushing about to grab their old weapons and saying goodbye to Chiron and Mr. D.

Percy came up to me, before he joined Annabeth. "Stay out of trouble, alright, Annie?"

I gave him a watery grin. "Sounds good, Percy."

I hugged him and let him leave.

Hades and Persephone were waiting for them, the Olympians in their familiar U shaped stance.

The older demigods smiled at the rulers of the Underworld.

Hades sighed softly. "I release you. Return to Elysium."

There was a bright flash of light and when I could see again, the older demigods were gone once more. I felt a pang of grief at the sudden loss of the wisdom and kindness of the older demigods, of my brother. I glanced around, trying to see if I was the only one. To my surprise, everyone else was also looking rather grief-stricken.

Thalia Grace looked like she had been stabbed in the gut, eyes downcast. Reyna Ramirez-Arellano looked down too, flashes of old grief visible on her face.

They'd personally known all these campers....seventy-five years ago.

I looked to my right, knowing that Calypso had been standing there with Rachel. I hadn't seen much of my older friends since the war started, but I knew they'd helped where they could in the final battle. Rachel had a hand over Calypso's shoulder, both of them looking rather bittersweet. I vaguely wondered if they would even make it to next year when they would see their friends again.