Home Is Where The Heart(h) Is

Chapter 19: Awakening

Katie Maybell Gardner forced a smile at her boyfriend until he was out of sight, before it melted into the same expression she'd been wearing for the past two weeks.

It was a collection of emotions, none of them good, that she was trying desperately to hide in front of the younger ones, and the councillors, but once she was alone...

Gods, and everything was going so well too. After the war, she thought she could finally have a peaceful few years before heading to college. Even better, she finally got together with Travis Stoll, after five years of making passes and hinting.

Then the first incident happened.

The Ares campers disappearance shook the camp hard. Despite their really-bad attitude and stubbornness, they were the best fighters in the camp - well, now that Percy Jackson was...

Katie swallowed the lump in her throat. It was difficult to get over the fact that Percy had died. Like...he was actually gone. The two of them weren't particularly close: she had only known him as a friend she could count on and a leader, who had battled Kronos and other Titans, who fought the second Titan war alongside her and other older campers.

She was sure the other veterans felt the same way. It was hard to believe that he had died. His future was bright as well: he had a girlfriend, he could have went to college, but it seemed that the Fates were being their old, unkind selves, to put it lightly.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Shut up.

The second was the strange memory that everyone seemed to have about this blonde girl. Coincidentally or not, Percy Jackson was gone the night before everyone woke up to having that memory.

The third was the sudden and unexpected closure of Olympus. The gods went silent, Iris Messages to them didn't work, no one went in or out of the Empire State Building.

Fourth was, well...Percy's death. Moving on...

Up till now, the fifth was the message but what Katie assumed was Hippolytus and Nico di Angelo, both warning of a war occurring at camp.

She figured this would happen. The battle of the Labyrinth happened just before the actual Titan War. It was no surprise that the Giants would try to wipe out the demigods, since they were a key weakness they could eliminate.

Still, the news didn't help the morale. Drills were increased and guard posts were doubled. Chiron was trying his best to keep spirits high, but it was painfully obvious that this was one war the camp may not be able to overcome.

The only thing she could do now was pray and hope for the best. Maybe a miracle would happen.

Only time would tell. 

~

"Brenda! Lunch!" Butch called.

"Wait! A few more drachmas!" The nine year old girl replied. She heard him sigh in resignation.

Everyone told her it wouldn't work. Olympus was closed, the gods wouldn't respond, blah blah blah. Only Brenda Violet kept trying.

There was no harm. Being a child of Iris, the cabin had an infinite supply of drachmas which could only be used for Iris Messages, so the Hermes kids wouldn't raid the place every waking hour.

She had spoken the prayer a thousand times and got nothing a thousand times. She wasn't sure why she was doing it. Maybe it was due to the prospect of the world being ruled by the Giants and camp half-blood, her only home, being destroyed.

In spite of the attempts to shield the younger campers from this, Brenda wasn't dumb. She overheard conversations. She added up the facts. The war was in - what, 3 days?