The Forbidden Daughter | PJO Book One

seventeen

"Hey Luke." Then, she fainted.

When she woke up, Ariana was in a bed. She groaned.

"Hey Ari." She turned her head to face the voice. It was Will Solace, one of the Apollo Campers. He often helped out in the first aid.

"Hey Will. What happened?"

"You fainted. Most likely from dehydration and exhaustion. Luke brought you in." The boy, just younger than her, told her.

"Gosh."

"I think Chiron wants to speak to you as well but you should rest first."

"I'm fine." Arianna stood up. She wasn't fine, she still felt tired but she needed to see her friends and make sure they were alright.

"Well. At least come back later?"

"I promise."

They were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke, so of course everybody treated them as if they'd  won some reality TV contest.

According to camp tradition, they wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in our honour, then led a procession down to the bonfire, where they got to burn the burial shrouds our cabins had made for us in our absence.

Annabeth's shroud was so Athena -grey silk with embroidered owls - Percy told her it seemed a shame not to bury her in it. She punched him and told him to shut up.

Being the son of Poseidon, Percy didn't have any cabin mates, so the Ares cabin had volunteered to make his shroud. They'd taken an old bedsheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border. In the middle it had big writing saying, 'LOSER'

Ariana's shroud was produce by the Hermès cabin in her absence. They used black silk and dotted it in stars.

They were fun to burn.

As Apollo's cabin led the sing-along and passed out toasted marshmallows, Ariana was surrounded by cabinmates, Annabeth's friends from Athena and Grover's satyr buddies, who were admiring the brand new searcher's licence he'd received from the Council of Cloven Elders.

The council had called Grover's performance on the quest 'Brave to the point of indigestion. Horns-and-whiskers above anything we have seen in the past.

The only ones not in a party mood were Clarisse and her cabinmates, whose poisonous looks told Ariana they'd never forgive Percy for disgracing their dad.

Although, Clarisse quickly forgave Ariana for destroying her spear.

That was okay with her.

Even Dionysus's welcome-home speech wasn't enough to dampen her spirits. "Yes, yes, so the little brat didn't get himself killed and now hell have an even bigger head. Well, huzzah for that. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday."

On the Fourth of July, the whole camp gathered at the beach for a fireworks display by cabin nine. Being Hephaestus's kids, they weren't going to settle for a few lame red-white-and-blue explosions.

They'd anchored a barge offshore and loaded it with rockets the size of Patriot missiles. According to Annabeth, who'd seen the show before, the blasts would be sequenced so tightly they'd look like frames of animation across the sky.

The finale was supposed to be a couple of thirty-metre-tall Spartan warriors who would crackle to life above the ocean, fight a battle, then explode into a million colours.

By the end of it, Ariana was grinning. She was surrounded by her friends, her found family. She wouldn't of had it any other way.

"Ariana!" Silena gasped, staring at her in utter belief.