𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀, percy jackson!

𝐗𝐕𝐈. matching wounds.

──★ Chapter sixteen

Adira arrived back at Camp Half-Blood, a wave of nostalgia and relief washing over her as the familiar grounds came into view.

After Percy insisted on going to Olympus alone and Adira calling him a maniac, they split up at a taxi stand. Adira hoped that Percy would return, and that he'd get his mother back.

The sun was slowly setting as she stepped onto the camp's grounds, and was immediately enveloped by the warm embrace of Kian. His blonde hair blurring her vision, his arms were like a shield, and the pressure of his hug was so intense that for a moment, she felt as though she might lose her breath. He buried his face in her hair.

He kissed the top of her head and couldn't even begin to express his relief that she was alive. Before he could engulf her in another bear hug, Adira took a step back, her hands up. "I missed you too, Kinnie," she said, her voice strained, "but I'm not going to be alive much longer if you give me another one of those hugs."

Kian grinned, a playful glint in his eyes. He ruffled her hair, his touch warm and comforting. "Oh, how I missed your positive energy," he said sarcastically. "Now, spill it. I want to know everything that happened."

"Later!" Adira protested, trying to wriggle free from his arm as he slung it over her shoulder. "I need a shower."

"I'll walk you to your cabin, it's like my second home, anyway."

Adira smirked. "Trust me, I know," she replied, as they made their way towards Cabin Eleven. Kian's arm remained draped over her shoulders.

When she walked in, she was greeted by yet another – or rather multiple – hugs from the Stolls and Luke."Our favorite victim is back!" Connor Stoll exclaimed, pulling away to give her a wide, mischievous grin.

Adira laughed, the sound bubbling up from deep within her. It was a genuine, heartfelt laugh, one that conveyed just how much she had missed her friends.

Luke pulled her into another hug, the kind that lingered just a second longer than usual. "I'm so glad you're back," he murmured.

She smiled up at him. "I missed you, Luke."

"Where's Percy?" he asked, his brow furrowing with concern.

"It's a long story. He's returning the Master Bolt," she explained.

Kian nudged her shoulder playfully. "Go take a shower, you stink."

Adira rolled her eyes but couldn't help the grin that spread across her face and retreated to the bathroom.

She scrubbed away the grime and weariness of the past few days, letting the steam envelop her. Post-shower, Adira dressed in her comfortable yet casual camp attire: a pair of black low-waisted jeans that hugged her legs and a Camp Half-Blood shirt with the neckline cut off, paired with white sneakers.

Her curls, damp but now free of the constraints of the past, tumbled down her back as she made her way to cabin seven where she told Kian everything – down to her golden incident at the arch.

──★

Adira, Annabeth, Percy and Grover were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke, so they got treated as if they'd won some reality-TV contest. According to camp tradition, they wore laurel wreaths – a symbol of Nike – to a big feast prepared in their honor, then led a procession down to the bonfire where they got to burn the burial shrouds their cabins made in their absence.

Adira's shroud was a shimmering light gold, adorned with intricate embroidery of laurel wreaths. The gold fabric caught the firelight, casting a warm, ethereal glow.