Forgotten

~Eleven~

Epilogue
5 years later

I couldn't believe that we finally had some peace for once. That winter after I had joined the Hunt, Percy had been kidnapped by her royal highness, Hera, swapping her out for Thalia's long-lost brother, Jason Grace. Then there was this whole Prophecy of Seven mess (I would blame either Rachel or Apollo, but they can't control when prophecies come to pass, so I blame the Fates), Nico resurrected his Roman half-sister, there was a Hephaestus kid, Leo, who could control fire, and an extremely powerful daughter of Aphrodite, Piper, who could charmspeak like no one else. There was also this Chinese Canadian kid named Frank, who apparently was in Poseidon's bloodline, and can apparently change into animals. I nearly castrated the Roman augur, Octavian (the bastard), but he flung himself to his own demise. Also, I learned that Nico, Annabeth, and Percy had fallen into Tartarus, literal Greek hell. I can't tell you how close I was to flinging myself into that pit after learning that my baby brother was in there, then kept as a prisoner of war by the twin giants that apparently are like Dionysus on steroids at thirty feet tall.

Oh, if I hadn't mentioned by now, this was when Gaea and her second spawn of children, the Giants, tried to take down Olympus.

After that mess, Zeus cast Apollo down from Olympus, making him a mortal, and that is a whole other mess that I will not go into. The only thing I'm sure of is that Nero and his two other goons are dead for real this time. I wonder where that ragamuffin, Meg, is now.

"You're brooding again," Thalia's sarcastic voice said, nudging my arm with her elbow. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just the mess that was the last three years." I raked a hand through my hair, moving to re-braid it. "The lack of monsters is nice."

"You can say that again, sister!" She clapped me on the back twice, smiling as the other Hunters made s'mores or were playing truth or dare.

I smiled at the sight. The Hunt is probably the place I feel most at home. They accepted me with open arms, not even caring that Luke had been a traitor against Olympus, because I had fought alongside them defending Manhattan.

Speaking of Luke, today was December 29th, the day Hades had took him back to the Underworld. Lady Artemis usually gave me the 29th through the New Year away from the Hunt, before I'd have to return.

I stood up from the log I had been sitting up, entering Lady Artemis' tent. She was always distant during this time as well, which I had learnt from Atalanta, one of her oldest hunters, was due to the death of Zoë Nightshade.

"My Lady?" I asked respectfully, fiddling with the bracelet that I still had around my wrist. Ever since his death, I've never taken it off.

"Hmm? Oh, it's you, Layla. Is it the date I believe it is?" she asked, gracefully sitting up from her bed.

"Yes, my Lady. May I take my leave?"

"Permission granted. You already know when to be back by. You may go."

I smiled sadly. "If you ever need to talk to someone, my Lady, know that I understand better than most Hunters what you're going through. Plus, any one of us would be more than willing to listen to you. Just remember that."

I left Artemis in her tent with an expression that I can only describe as though she discovered something new. Using my heightened abilities I had gained from being a Hunter, I covered the distance from northwest New York, up by Niagara Falls, to Long Island in an hour.

Shaking the snow off my clothes, I smiled widely as I entered camp. All the cabins were decked out in Christmas decorations, despite the fact that it was a Christian holiday, we still celebrated it anyways. Annabeth had designed New Athens, the Greek version of New Rome, so demigods could live safely inside of camp borders and still live like mortals, having jobs and other responsibilities. The Athena Parthenos was another protector of the magical borders, like the Golden Fleece the dragon, Peleus, guarded.

I waved to Chiron, who had finally retired as activity director for Camp Half-Blood. He was now the principal of the school in New Athens, but he would offer advice to any demigod who asked him for help. I smiled as I saw Melody, my niece, chasing after some boy with honey blonde hair and sea green eyes. Melody was Chris and Clarisse's daughter, and from what Chris has told me, she has a major crush on Lucas Charles Jackson, Percy and Annabeth's son.

The first time I had heard Jackson's son was named Lucas, I nearly blew a fuse, multiple times. Now, I know I don't have the copyright on the name Luke, but it felt like a huge insult to me for the girl that still thinks of me as a murderer to name her son after my brother. What's even worse (in my opinion that is) is that Luke went for rebirth, and Nico confirmed that Lucas was Luke.

He still had faint traces of memories with me, because I remember Annabeth's pissed off voice on the end of an Iris message when his first word had been "Layla." I remember smiling smugly while she cursed me to all the gods, until Percy pulled her away, apologizing sheepishly. Percy and my relationship got much better over time, but it never got farther than an amicable, friendly manner. We had an agreement to not talk too much about the past, unless it was to help Nico with his PTSD.

As I thought of Nico, my face muscles hurt as I smiled widely, a happiness that I haven't felt around my sisters in the Hunt in a while. Though I loved the girls, I truly loved my baby bros. Which was actually kind of weird now that they were dating.

I paused in the middle of the sidewalk for a second as the thought sunk in. Oh well. I mean, Zeus married Hera, and then screwed Demeter over, which resulted in Persephone. Immortal families are immortally messy, as Dad had told me once, which is one of the truest statements I have ever heard from an Olympian.

That day, I met up with Nico and Will, spending the entire day catching up with them. We traded stories, and I used every single opportunity to make them blush, making me laugh hysterically as their faces burned. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen when the both of them were underneath a mistletoe, and their faces were so red as they kissed in the doorway of their apartment building.

At night, I went back into the main part of camp, walking into the forest where Luke had found a small alcove he usually went to as a way to get away from camp. There was where I had built my own little shrine to Luke, well, more as a gravesite anyways.

I had three pictures surrounding a polished piece of marble that I had carved in the arts and crafts center. There was rotten flowers around the marble, which I dusted off. I smiled sadly as I touched my bracelet, setting down a fresh bouquet of daises next to a picture of me and Luke hugging each other at home. I was the last Castellan I knew of now.

I bit my lip as I thought of how bad Mom had been. The last time I visited, I had found her dead in the kitchen. The coroners said it had been from some kind of fungal disease that ate away at her internal organs until she died. Mom's death hadn't hit me as hard as Luke's had, but it still hurt nonetheless. At least she had looked peaceful when I found her – eyes shut in eternal slumber with a half-made peanut butter and jelly sandwich in her hand. Yeah, I'm never eating a PB&J again.

"Hi, Luke," I said, smiling sadly as I sat on the cold ground. "I still can't believe that you're back, you stubborn bastard. I thought you would've waited at least another few years, you know. I guess Achilles wasn't the best company, huh?" I was quiet for a few moments, before saying, "I miss you, Luke. You have no idea how much I regret hating you for so long. But this time, I'll watch out for you, make sure you don't make the same mistakes. Not that you will; your parents would kill you otherwise.

"I'm happy with how my life turned out, bro, and that is more than I ever hoped for. Please stay safe in your new life, okay?" I then blew a kiss into the air and left. The only thing I left behind was the silver cross that had given Luke a second chance at life, a second chance to be a brother.

And for the first time in my life, I didn't regret a single thing.

~The End~