Y/n's Pov:
Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Annabeth, Grover, Grayson, Percy, and me at the Empire State Building and ferried us back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was nearly deserted.
As we trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleeceglittered, I half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for us. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure.
Instead, someone else met us.
"Moon!" screamed Will happily as he ran towards me.
We collided with a hug. I groaned, smiling widely. "Hi, Will. You've gotten taller."
Will sniffled. "I thought you were dead."
I hugged him tighter. "Don't worry. I'm here."
I played with his hair, soothing him.
"C'mon," I said, pulling away. "I have to go to the Big House."
Will gripped my hand tight. "Okay."
Chiron greeted us at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about our strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.
Annabeth, Percy, Grayson, and I sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers. Even Clarisse from the Ares cabin was there, back from her secretive scouting mission. I knew she must've had a difficult quest because she didn't even try to pulverize me. She had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blond hair had been cut short and ragged like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.
"I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "Bad news."
"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved the girls!"
I smiled gratefully at Percy. He looked away from me.
Someone burst into the door.
"Sorry I'm late," said Lee. "They needed me urgently in the infirmary - " He let out an incredibly high squeal for a fifteen-year-old boy. "Y/N/N! YOU'RE ALIVE!"
"Yay," I said enthusiastically.
"Oh, shut up and hug me!"
He engulfed me in a bear hug and I let out a squeal.
After seven seconds and twenty-five milliseconds, I pulled away. "Missed you too, but we're kinda in a meeting."
"Right."
He sat down across from me.
"Luke is alive," I said. "Annabeth was right."
Annabeth sat up. "How do you know?"
Grayson looked annoyed at her interest. I told her what my mum had said about thePrincess Andromeda.
"Well." Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "If the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."
I had a feeling that when she said "figure something out," she meant "get Luke to change his ways."
Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. I mean... he was really old, but he usually didn't look it.
"Two years may seem like a long time," he said. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos's first strike will be here."
"How do you know?" I asked. "Why would he care about camp?"
"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron said simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous... We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but—"
There was a knock on the door, and Nico di Angelo came huffing into the parlour, his cheeks bright red from the cold.
"Y/n!" he screamed as he ran up to hug me.
"Neeks!" I hugged him. "How was your experience at camp?"
"Awesome!" He was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"
Dead silence. I stared at Chiron. I couldn't believe nobody had told him yet. And then I realized why. They'd been waiting for us to appear, to tell Nico in person.
"Hey, Nico." Percy got up from his chair. "Let's take a walk, okay? We need to talk."
~
Annabeth, Percy, Grayson, and Grover helped me search the woods for hours, but there was no sign of Nico di Angelo.
"We have to tell Chiron," Annabeth said, out of breath.
"No," Grayson said.
Annabeth and Grover both stared at him.
"Um," Grover said nervously, "what do you mean... no?
"We can't let anyone know. I don't think anyone realizes that Nico is a—"
"A son of Hades," Annabeth said. "Percy, do you have any idea how serious this is? Even Hades broke the oath! This is horrible!"
"I don't think so," I said. "I don't think Hades broke the oath."
"What?"
"He's their dad," I said, "but Bianca and Nico have been out of commission for a long time, since even before World War II."
"The Lotus Casino!" Grover said, and he told Annabeth and me about the conversations they'd had with Bianca on the quest. "She and Nico were stuck there for decades. They were born before the oath was made."
Percy and I nodded.
"But how did they get out?" Annabeth protested.
"I don't know," Grayson admitted. "Bianca said a lawyer came and got them and drove them to Westover Hall. I don't know who that could've been, or why. Maybe it's part of this GreatStirring thing. I don't think Nico understands who he is. But we can't go tell anyone. Not even Chiron. If the Olympians find out—"
"It might start them fighting among each other again," I said. "That's the last thing we need."
Grover looked worried. "But you can't hide things from the gods. Not forever."
"I don't need forever," Percy said. "Just two years. Until I'm sixteen."
Annabeth paled. "But, Percy, this means the prophecy might not be about you. It might be about Nico. We have to—"
"No," Percy said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me."
"Why are you saying that?" she cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?"
"I can't let Nico be in any more danger," Percy said. "I owe that much to his sister. I... let them both down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer anymore."
"The poor kid who hates you and wants to see you dead," Grayson reminded him.
"Maybe we can find him," I said. "We can convince him it's okay, hide him someplace safe."
Annabeth shivered. "If Luke gets hold of him—"
"Luke won't," I said. "I'll make sure he's got other things to worry about. Namely, me."
~
I wasn't sure Chiron believed the story Annabeth and I told him. I think he could tell I was holding something back about Nico's disappearance, but in the end, he accepted it. Unfortunately, Nico wasn't the first half-blood to disappear.
"So young," Chiron sighed his hands on the rail of the front porch. "Alas, I hope he was eaten by monsters. Much better than being recruited into the Titans' army."
That idea made me really uneasy. I almost changed my mind about telling Chiron, but I didn't.
"You really think the first attack will be here?" Percy asked.
Chiron stared at the snow falling on the hills. I could see smoke from the dragon guardian at the pine tree, the glitter of the distant Fleece.
"It will not be until summer, at least," Chiron said. "This winter will be hard... the hardest for many centuries. It's best that you go home to the city, Percy; try to keep your mind on school. And rest. You will need rest."
I looked at Annabeth. "What about you?"
Her cheeks flushed. "I'm going to try San Francisco after all. Maybe I can keep an eye on Mount Tam, make sure the Titans don't try anything else."
"You'll send an Iris message if anything goes wrong?"
She nodded. "But I think Chiron's right. It won't be until the summer. Luke will need time to regain his strength."
I didn't like the idea of waiting. Then again, next August Percy would be turning fifteen. So close to sixteen I didn't want to think about it.
"All right," I said. "Just take care of yourself. And no crazy stunts in the SopwithCamel."
She smiled tentatively. "Deal. And, Y/n—"
Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by Grover, who stumbled out of the BigHouse, tripping over tin cans. His face was haggard and pale like he'd seen a spectre.
"He spoke.'" Grover cried.
"Calm down, my young satyr," Chiron said, frowning. "What is the matter?"
"I... I was playing music in the parlour," he stammered, "and drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee! And he spoke in my mind!"
"Who?" Annabeth demanded.
"Pan!" Grover wailed. "The Lord of the Wild himself. I heard him! I have to... I have to find a suitcase."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Percy said. "What did he say?"
Grover stared at him. "Just three words. He said, 'I await you...'"
A/n: And that's a wrap for the third book!
See you in the next chapter!
I should be asleep now, so, BYE!
Emi Riddle