Percy Jackson and The Council's Army

31. The Last One

"I see what you're saying. If I was dead, I'd not want you to bury me, then party with my death looming over your heads like a dark shadow either. Just think. Silena, Charles, the hunters, the amazons, every person that has ever died for us. We always think of them so sadly. We never see how they died protecting us and are in a better place. I'm not saying we should be happy about it, I'm saying we should honor their deaths. Their memories. For most of us, their memories open old wounds that can never heal, that just fade away over time. I still remeber when Silena used to advise me to put some makeup and I'd just ignore it. But whenever I think of her, I tend to think only one thing now. 'She's gone.' Instead, why not ponder over the happy times, cherish the beautiful memories I had with her? That goes for everyone here. Think about it." Annabeth said, while wiping a tear from her eye. All the campers eventually nodded. But I had something more to say. And I said it. Once I did, they all nodded apprehensively and the funeral began. Incantations were spoken and golden drachmas left in the coffins so that they could have the money to board the ride to the underworld. Casualties had been heavy. We'd lost about 60 campers, 12 soldiers from the army of Peace and surprisingly (or not) The Council's Army had come out scathed, but with every member a survivor.
Then, the most novel way of celebrating began. Just what I'd suggested after Annabeth's moving words. This party didn't have any kind of lavish food or drinks or music. No pomp no reverance. No grandeur no splendor. Instead, people - friends of the dead. They took chances in narrating the gappy memories they had with the deceased. Those embarrassing, funny moments that made most of them break down at the end. Even a few guys from my army went on stage and spoke. There was one thing in common in all the speeches. Almost every person broke down into tears at the end, but with a smile rather than a sad face. People were touched, but in q positive way. They were motivated by the deaths of their loved ones to live the life that the deceased would have expected them to live. An honorable, honest and loyal one. One more proof of the change in their mindset was the fact that every one, while concluding, instead of ending it with the usual 'I'll miss you' ended it with 'No matter where I am, I'll always remeber you.'

It was a very moving moment for everyone. They were happy yet sad, content yet with a nagging thought of having something taken away from them. In the end, Chiron spoke for each camper. The most emotional scene so far. That guy literally spoke with names of those 60 campers, listing their likes, dislikes, habits, some specific memories related to them. The speech lasted avout an hour, and had everyone in tears including me and my army and everyone who probably didn't even know the dead that well. This guy was really like a father to everyone here. He himself was in tears.

Once he'd composed himself, he began once more "That was touching. And relieving at the same time. Thank you Percy. We all feel a lot better now. Thank you. For everything. For helping us despite what we did to you, for being there for us, for suggesting us this wonderful way of celebration. We are forever indebted to you." Chiron said, smiling affectionately at me like he used to. That smile still melted me. Still made me feel so secure.

"You made a mistake, we are past it. That's what family does. In the process I found another family and now I'm blessed with two. So no matter what you do, you were and always will be my family. Nobody can take it away from me. I did what I had to in order to protect my family. Both my families. It was an honor allying with these campers. They are doing excellent under you, hope they excel at whatever they do." I stood up and said.

Chiron came forward and engulfed me in a tight embrace. Eventually all the immortal campers led by Frank and Hazel came and it became a group hug. The hug consisted of, in the campers' words legendary people. A photo was taken and circulated, and it came to be known as the legendary hug. I smiled a bit when I first heard the name, but Sky felt it was a cute gesture.

Once the night was over, we all went to sleep in our respective cabins after burying the dead with proper burial rites. Omega built his own little cabin beside ours. Yeah, I went to our makeshift cabin to see Skylar. I knocked on her door and her sweet 'come in' invited me inside.
"Hey."
"Hey." I sat beside her.
I just kept staring at her beautiful face.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
"No. You just look lovely."
She blushed a bit before her expressions became serious.
"What?"
"How are you feeling? Like really. All this while we haven't gotten much time to talk about it."
"About what? I'm fine. We won the war, I'm happy!"
"Yeah, but what about your feelings towards camp?"
I sighed. "Yeah, I hated them when I came here, but I can't blame them. It's difficult to be a leader. You need to put yourself and your loved ones behind the priority which is keeping the majority safe. And like I said. They're family, and family forgives. So I let go."
"I know you let go. What I'm asking is how much have you let go?"
"All of it! Why? Why are you asking this? Okay I know you're twisting the main point. Cut it out and tell me what's bothering you."
She sighed and said "Do you want to stay here again now?"
"Of course I wanna stay here! I don't understand your question! I forgave them so why wouldn't I wanna stay here?"