Luke
For a second Octovain just stood there.
"You're..." It took a second before he just straight up ran over and dragged me and pulled me into the hug I've missed for so damn long.
Before I managed anything, he did.
"What the hell, Luke?" He asked me," what... Where did you even go? When I woke up they said you were gone. Middle of the night one night your mom woke up and you weren't there."
We both sat against a log, fingers intertwined as I started to explain.
"I started to head north," I explained," I didn't have a plan or anything. But it was in... Somehow I ended up in Jersey and that's how I met Thalia. She told me she was a demigod, the daughter of Zeus and she was going to New York. She wasn't sure where in New York but somewhere. And circling around to Pennsylvania we heard this loud crash behind a dumpster and decided to check it out and there was this little girl who was almost 7. Looked fairly beaten up and scared half to death. Just me like and like Thalia she was on the run from home. So we took her with us and well we got in an issue I believe with ogres and that's how Grover found us and at the border Cyclopes had chased us and killed Thalia. So that was the whole Thalia's Tree business. It was her father's way of letting her sort of live. But after that I stayed here. After a year I took over as Camp Leader and I did go on one quest which um... Didn't end well exhibit a: the scar on my face. But I stayed here for 6 years until Percy showed up and everything started with Zeus blaming him for whatever and I was long past pissed with the gods and made a stupid deal and I left camp giving it to Percy for Kronos. That's what they were arguing about. I've betrayed the gods and deceived people here before, why wouldn't I do it again? It was 3 summers ago I lost control over my body. I was supposed to die then but I didn't. Two summers ago in August was the war and um that was when I died. I regained control and knew if anything was going to survive it meant my death by my own hand and that's what happened. I wasn't even sent to the Fields, no, it was straight to Tartarus. Which I found a way out in July and with the understanding you weren't around anymore I just got myself and apartment in the city now so. I'm not staying here, I don't know why they're arguing so much. I mean they do anyways. But still."
Octovain took all of that in and told me his story. How he looked, like I had, for a few years before he found Camp Jupiter and they didn't let him leave and they all slowly started to hate him just because he wanted to leave so he could find somebody and have some reassurance that there was something out there. Then Percy showed up with amnesia, there was a battle between camps and nor long after Percy told him that I was dead.
"And by the way," Octovain adds," I have a box of your stuff in my room that they gave to me. But the song was sweet. Thank you for that."
But that night we both left Camp. He flat out bribed the harpies, it was great. But we left. Argus drew us to my place and we passed out there. It was nice having him back again and not totally pissed at me like I always imagined he would be.
Percy
I'm not an idiot, I knew Octovain wanted out of this place and I knew if I excused him with Luke theyd just sneak out of camp. Which is what happened.
I retired as Camp Leader. I gave it to Leo as a matter of fact. You might think it's insane, but I trusted him with it. I also left that night. I didn't want to go home to my mom but at least Paul and them were there. And maybe things could get better with my mom. I mean Annabeth could go home after six years and mend things. If she can do that I can do this with my mom.
I got home around 10. Which the plan was 9 so I explained that some crap happened we were called to camp and I left as soon as I could without trouble. Which they didn't mind. It just meant I was done with camp, right?
