The Ghosts of Millennia

To Fuck or Not to Fuck a Fish

"Thank you, Lady Hestia." Hestia nodded with a small, humble smile.

Annabeth wanted to ask her to come with her to the Apollo kids, but she knew that would be stupid. It was Hestia's magical aura that made her feel comfortable. But you're not supposed to feel comfortable around a god--they're your betters, and if you forget that, no matter how nice they are, you're history. In a way, that made Hestia the most dangerous Olympian of all.

Annabeth left. Most of the structures were damaged; campers cleaned the fallen trees and branches littering the ground. Some moved dead wildlife away. Piper readjusted the Golden Fleece on its branch.

"Piper!" Annabeth cried. The two friends embraced, tears in their eyes.

"Where were you?! We all thought-- Percy's going to be glad to see you."

"He's okay?"

"Yeah! As far as I know, no one died in the storm."

Right on cue, Annabeth was ripped from Piper's arms and ferociously kissed by Percy. Neither of them cared about the P.D.A., in fact, they weren't the only couple kissing. She passed Miranda and Travis on her way over, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Frank and Hazel in the shadow of the Big House where they thought no one could see them.

"I thought I lost you," Percy whispered in between kisses.

"I'm right here," Annabeth reassured him. Tears were falling down her cheeks. She was in shock--she'd been closer to death than she had been in a very, very long time.

One month streak. Ruined.

They parted, breathless. Percy smiled at her through tears of his own. He wiped one of hers away with his thumb. "You're stuck with me forever," he whispered.

"Forever," Annabeth agreed with a tearful, breathless laugh. Right now, the feeling of Percy playing with the engagement ring inexplicably still on her finger was the only thing keeping her grounded. She made that promise, and she was going to keep it.

They barely had time to exchange "I love you's" when they heard the sound of the conch shell. Everyone turned at the noise... to see Nico, Thalia, Alabaster, and the other Hunters walking into camp.

So that's why the storm ended. They did it.

Everyone else had the same idea. They burst into roaring applause. Alabaster enjoyed it from the sidelines with his usual sly smile. Nico shrank from the attention; he stood beside Alabaster, hands in his pockets, looking at the ground with his shoulders hunched. Thalia ate it up with a huge grin, waving and slapping the back of her fellow Hunters. The three of them kept smiling at Artemis, standing on the border of the camp, clapping along with the crowd.

Thalia made the 'zip' motion with her hands, silencing them the way a conductor silences their orchestra. They played along and stopped clapping. Laughter rippled through the crowd. Making a big show of it, Thalia grabbed Nico and pushed him forward.

"I, Thalia Grace, give you permission to enter the camp!"

Nico stumbled over the boundary line to cheers and another round of applause. He shot Thalia his signature death stare, earning an "oooo" from the crowd. He was still slouching, but he was smiling along with everyone else.

They cheered louder when Nico shouted "Paul!" and ran across the lawn and into his waiting arms. Percy let go of Annabeth's hand and joined the hug, then Sally joined with tears streaming down her cheeks.

If anyone asked, Annabeth definitely didn't hear their conversation, even though she was well within earshot.

"I thought I was going to die..." Nico whimpered into Paul's chest. "I thought I'd never see you again... I'm done, I'm never doing another quest... I missed you... I missed you..."