𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗𝐈𝐑, 𝐏𝐉

𝟎𝟏𝟔.𝟒

𝟎𝟏𝟔.𝟒

They landed in the middle of the cabin area and were immediately met by Chiron, the potbellied satyr Silenus, and a couple of Apollo cabin archers, Juliet was smashed into a hug as soon as her foot touched the ground. Chiron raised an eyebrow when he saw Nico, but if they expected him to be surprised by their latest news about Quintus being Daedalus, or Kronos rising, they were mistaken.

"I feared as much," Chiron said. "We must hurry. Hopefully you have slowed down the Titan lord, but his vanguard will still be coming through. They will be anxious for blood. Most of our defenders are already in place. Come!"

"Wait a moment," Silenus demanded. "What of the search for Pan? You are almost three weeks overdue, Grover Underwood! Your searcher's license is revoked!"

Grover took a deep breath. He stood up straight and looked Silenus in the eye. "Searcher's licenses don't matter any more. The great god Pan is dead. He has passed on and left us his spirit."

"What?" Silenus's face turned bright red. "Sacrilege and lies! Grover Underwood, I will have you exiled for speaking thus!"

"It's true," Percy said. "We were there when he died. All of us."

"Impossible! You are all liars! Nature-destroyers!"

Chiron studied Grover's face. "We will speak of this later."

"We will speak of it now!" Silenus said. "We must deal with this—" 

"Silenus," Chiron cut in. "My camp is under attack. The matter of Pan has waited two thousand years. I fear it will have to wait a bit longer. Assuming we are still here this evening."

And on that happy note, he readied his bow and galloped toward the woods, leaving them to follow as best they could.

It was the biggest military operation Juliet had ever seen at camp. Everyone was at the clearing, dressed in full battle armor, but this time it wasn't for capture the flag. The Hephaestus cabin had set up traps around the entrance to the Labyrinth—razor wire, pits filled with pots of Greek fire, rows of sharpened sticks to deflect a charge. Beckendorf was manning two catapults the size of pickup trucks, already primed and aimed at Zeus's Fist. The Ares cabin was on the front line, drilling in phalanx formation with Clarisse calling orders. Apollo's and Hermes's cabins were scattered in the woods with bows ready. Many had taken up positions in the trees. Even the dryads were armed with bows, and the satyrs trotted around with wooden cudgels and shields made of rough tree bark.

Annabeth went to join her brethren from the Athena cabin, who had set up a command tent and were directing operations. A gray banner with an owl fluttered outside the tent. Augustus fist bumped Juliet as they both went to their cabin that had grouped together.

Their security chief, Argus, stood guard at the door. Aphrodite's children were running around straightening everybody's armor but still holding up their own pretty well, decked out in armour with weapons ready.  Even Dionysus's kids had found something to do. The god himself was still nowhere to be seen, but his two blond twin sons were running around providing all the sweaty warriors with water bottles and juice boxes.

It looked like a pretty good setup, but Lee muttered next to her. "It isn't enough."

Juliet thought about what she'd seen in the Labyrinth, all the monsters in Antaeus's stadium, and the power of Kronos she'd felt of Mt. Tam. Her heart sank. Lee was right, but it was all they could muster. She wished Dionysus was here, but even if he had been, Juliet didn't know if he could do anything. When it came to war, gods were forbidden to interfere directly. Apparently, the Titans didn't believe in restrictions like that.

Over at the edge of the clearing, Grover was talking to Juniper. She held his hands while he told her their story. Green tears formed in her eyes as he delivered the news about Pan.

Tyson helped the Hephaestus kids prepare the defenses. He picked up boulders and piled them next to the catapults for firing.

"Hey, we got this okay?" she whispered to her older brother, giving him an encouraging smile.

Lee returned the smile before speaking, "I'm glad to see you okay, after you went missing," His tone turned somber as he ran a hand through his hair, "I thought we were going to get a repeat of last year. All the time you get in danger makes me feel like an incompetent brother and I..."

His voice wavered. The ground underneath them was trembling.

Everyone in the clearing stopped what they were doing. Clarisse barked a single order: "Lock shields!"

Then the Titan lord's army exploded from the Labyrinth.

Juliet had been in fights before, but this was a full-scale battle. 

The first thing she saw were a dozen Laistrygonian giants erupting from the ground, yelling so loudly her ears felt like bursting. They carried shields made from flattened cars, and clubs that were tree trunks with rusty spikes bristling at the end. One of the giants bellowed at the Ares phalanx, smashed it sideways with his club, and the entire cabin was thrown aside, a dozen warriors tossed to the wind like rag dolls.

"Fire!" Beckendorf yelled. The catapults swung into action. Two boulders hurtled toward the giants. One deflected off a car shield with hardly a dent, but the other caught a Laistrygonian in the chest, and the giant went down. Juliet and her siblings fired a volley, dozens of arrows sticking in the thick armor of the giants like porcupine quills. Several found chinks in armor, and some of the giants vaporized at the touch of celestial bronze.

But just when it looked like the Laistrygonians were about to get overwhelmed, the next wave surged out of the maze: thirty, maybe forty dracaenae in full battle armor, wielding spears and nets. They dispersed in all directions. Some hit the traps the Hephaestus cabin had laid. One got struck on the spikes and became an easy target for Juliet. Another triggered a trip wire, and pots of Greek fire exploded into green flames, engulfing several of the snake women. But many more kept coming. Argus and Athena's warriors rushed forward to meet them. Juliet saw Annabeth draw a sword and engage one of them. Nearby, Tyson was riding a giant. Somehow he'd managed to climb onto the giant's back and was hitting him on the head with a bronze shield—BONG! BONG! BONG!

Chiron calmly aimed arrow after arrow, taking down a monster with every shot. But more enemies just kept climbing out of the maze. Finally a hellhound—not Mrs. O'Leary—leaped out of the tunnel and barreled straight toward the satyrs.

Juliet jumped down from her position, shooting at Augustus's blind side before slowly walking towards the attackers, aiming and shooting.

As she walked across the battlefield, she saw horrible things. An enemy half- blood was fighting with a son of Dionysus, but it wasn't much of a contest. The enemy stabbed him in the arm then clubbed him over the head with the butt of his sword, and Dionysus's son went down. Another enemy warrior shot flaming arrows into the trees, sending our archers and dryads into a panic.

A dozen dracaenae suddenly broke away from the main fight and slithered down the path that led toward camp, like they knew where they were going. If they got out, they could burn down the entire place, completely unopposed.

The only person anywhere near was Nico di Angelo. He stabbed a telekhine, and his black Stygian blade absorbed the monster's essence, drinking its energy until there was nothing left but dust.

"Nico!" Juliet yelled.

He looked where she was pointing, saw the serpent women, and immediately understood.

He took a deep breath and held out his black sword. "Serve me," he called.

The earth trembled. A fissure opened in front of the dracaenae, and a dozen undead warriors crawled from the earth—horrible corpses in military uniforms from all different time periods—U.S. Revolutionaries, Roman centurions, Napoleonic cavalry on skeletal horses. As one, they drew their swords and engaged the dracaenae. Nico crumpled to his knees, but Juliet didn't have time to make sure he was okay.

An army of empousa were closing in on her making her switch her attention there. From the corner of her eye she saw Percy charge for the hellhound.  Fighting with a bow and arrow was easy, just perfect and aim and boom, the enemy turned into dust.

Just when it seemed like the battle had balanced out again—like they might stand a chance—an unearthly shriek echoed out of the Labyrinth.

Kampê shot into the sky, her bat wings fully extended. She landed on the top of Zeus's Fist and surveyed the carnage. Her face was filled with evil glee. The mutant animal heads growled at her waist. Snakes hissed and swirled around her legs. In her right hand she held a glittering ball of thread—Ariadne's string—but she popped it into a lion's mouth at her waist and drew her curved swords. The blades glowed green with poison. Kampê screeched in triumph, and some of the campers screamed. Others tried to run and got trampled by hellhounds or giants.

"What the fuck is that?" Juliet yelled, shielding Will as he ran behind her yelling.

"Di Immortales!" Chiron yelled. He quickly aimed an arrow, but Kampê seemed to sense his presence. She took flight with amazing speed, and Chrion's arrow whizzed harmlessly past her head, Juliet tried to assist him aiming her own arrow but the monster just kept flying around.

Tyson untangled himself from the giant whom he'd pummeled into unconsciousness. He ran at their lines, shouting, "Stand! Do not run from her! Flight!"

But then a hellhound leaped on him, and Tyson and the hound went rolling away.

Kampê landed on the Athena command tent, smashing it flat. Juliet ran after her and found Percy at her side, keeping pace, his sword in his hand.

"This might be it," Percy said.

"Could be." Juliet answered back, wiping sweat off her forehead, before joking, "I'm gonna haunt you in death too,"

Percy smiled at her, "Together, this time. Even if we die."

And Together they leaped into the monster's path. Kampê hissed and sliced at them. Percy dodged, trying to distract her, while Juliet went in for a strike launching an arrow, but the monster seemed able to fight with both hands independently. She blocked Juliet's arrows, and she had to jump back to avoid the cloud of poison. Just being near the thing was like standing in an acid fog. Her eyes burned. Her lungs couldn't get enough air. Juliet knew they couldn't stand their ground for more than a few seconds.

"Come on!" Percy shouted. "We need help!"

But no help came. Everyone was either down, or fighting for their lives, or too scared to move forward. Three of Chiron's arrows sprouted from Kampê's chest, but she just roared louder.

"Now!" Juliet  said.

Together they charged, dodged the monster's slashes, got inside her guard, and almost...almost managed to stab Kampê in the chest with Juliet's arrow, but a huge bear's head lashed out from the monster's waist, and they had to stumble backward to avoid getting bitten.

Slam!

Her eyesight went black. The next thing she knew, Percy and her were on the ground. The monster had its forelegs on their chests, holding them down. Hundreds of snakes slithered right above them, hissing like laughter. Kampê raised her green-tinged swords, and Juliet knew they were out of options.

Then, behind them, something howled. A wall of darkness slammed into Kampê, sending the monster sideways. And Mrs. O'Leary was standing over them, snarling and snapping at Kampê.

"Good girl!" said a familiar voice. Daedalus was fighting his way out of the Labyrinth, slashing down enemies left and right as he made his way toward them. Next to him was someone else—a familiar giant, much taller than the Laistrygonians, with a hundred rippling arms, each holding a huge chunk of rock.

"Briares!" Tyson cried in wonder.

"Hail, little brother!" Briares bellowed. "Stand firm!"

"I got hit so bad, I'm hallucinating that man having hundred hands, hah" Juliet mumbled while huffing out. Percy gave her a look which meant she wasn't hallucinating, "Whoa, fuck."

And as Mrs. O'Leary leaped out of the way, the Hundred-Handed One launched a volley of boulders at Kampê. The rocks seemed to enlarge as they left Briares's hands. There were so many, it looked like half the earth had learned to fly.

BOOOOOM!

Where Kampê had stood a moment before was a mountain of boulders, almost as tall as Zeus's Fist. The only sign that the monster had ever existed were two green sword points sticking through the cracks.

A cheer went up from the campers, but their enemies weren't done yet. One of the dracaenae yelled, "Ssssslay them! Kill them all or Kronossss will flay you alive!"

Apparently, that threat was more terrifying than they were. The giants surged forward in a last desperate attempt. One surprised Chiron with a glancing blow to the back legs, and he stumbled and fell. Six giants cried in glee and rushed forward.

"No!" Juliet screamed, but she was too far away to help.

Then it happened. Grover opened his mouth, and the most horrible sound she'd ever heard came out. It was like a brass trumpet magnified a thousand times—the sound of pure fear.

As one, the forces of Kronos dropped their weapons and ran for their lives. The giants trampled the dracaenae trying to get into the Labyrinth first. Telekhines and hellhounds and enemy half-bloods scrambled after them. The tunnel rumbled shut, and the battle was over. The clearing was quiet except for the fires burning in the woods, and the cries of the wounded.

 They ran to Chiron.

"Are you all right?" Percy asked.

He was lying on his side, trying in vain to get up. "How embarrassing," he muttered. "I think I will be fine. Fortunately, we do not shoot centaurs with broken... Ow! ...broken legs."

"You need help," Juliet said. "Stop it, old man, let me help you."

"No," Chiron insisted. "There are more serious injuries to attend to. Go! I am fine. But, Grover...later we must talk about how you did that."

"That was amazing," Percy agreed.

Grover blushed. "I don't know where it came from."

Juniper hugged him fiercely. "I do!"

Before she could say more, Tyson called, "Percy, come quick! It is Nico!"

There was smoke curling off his black clothes. His fingers were clenched, and the grass all around his body had turned yellow and died.

Percy rolled him over as gently as he could and Juliet put her ear against his chest. His heart was beating faintly. "Get some nectar!" she yelled.

One of the Ares campers hobbled over and handed her a canteen. She trickled some of the magic drink into Nico's mouth. He coughed and spluttered, but his eyelids fluttered open.

"Nico, what happened?" Juliet asked. "Can you talk?"

He nodded weakly. "Never tried to summon so many before. I—I'll be fine."

They helped him sit up and gave him some more nectar. He blinked at all of them, like he was trying to remember who they were, and then he focused on someone behind them.

"Daedalus," he croaked.

"Yes, my boy," the inventor said. "I made a very bad mistake. I came to correct it."

Daedalus had a few scratches that were bleeding golden oil, but he looked better than most of them. Apparently his automaton body healed itself quickly. Mrs. O'Leary loomed behind him, licking the wounds on her master's head so Daedalus's hair stood up funny. Briares stood next to him, surrounded by a group of awed campers and satyrs. He looked kind of bashful, but he was signing autographs on armor, shields, and T-shirts.

"I found the Hundred-Handed One as I came through the maze," Daedalus explained. "It seems he had the same idea, to come help, but he was lost. And so we fell in together. We both came to make amends."

"Yay!" Tyson jumped up and down. "Briares! I knew you would come!"

"I did not know," the Hundred-Handed One said. "But you reminded me who I am, Cyclops. You are the hero."

Tyson blushed, but Percy patted him on the back. "I knew that a long time ago," Percy said. "But, Daedalus...the Titan army is still down there. Even without the string, they'll be back. They'll find a way sooner or later, with Kronos leading them."

Daedalus sheathed his sword. "You are right. As long as the Labyrinth is here, your enemies can use it. Which is why the Labyrinth cannot continue."

Annabeth stared at him. "But you said the Labyrinth is tied to your life force! As long as you're alive—"

"Yes, my young architect," Daedalus agreed. "When I die, the Labyrinth will die as well. And so I have a present for you."

He slung a leather satchel off his back, unzipped it, and produced a sleek silver laptop computer—one of the ones they'd seen in the workshop. On the lid was the blue symbol ∆.

"My work is here," he said. "It's all I managed to save from the fire. Notes on projects I never started. Some of my favorite designs. I couldn't develop these over the last few millennia. I did not dare reveal my work to the mortal world. But perhaps you will find it interesting."

He handed the computer to Annabeth, who stared at it like it was solid gold. "You're giving me this? But this is priceless! This is worth...I don't even know how much!"

"Small compensation for the way I have acted," Daedalus said. "You were right, Annabeth, about children of Athena. We should be wise, and I was not. Someday you will be a greater architect than I ever was. Take my ideas and improve them. It is the least I can do before I pass on."

"Whoa," Percy said. "Pass on? But you can't just kill yourself. That's wrong."

He shook his head. "Not as wrong as hiding from my crimes for two thousand years. Genius does not excuse evil, Percy. My time has come. I must face my punishment."

"You won't get a fair trial," Annabeth said. "The spirit of Minos sits in judgment—"

"I will take what comes," he said. "And trust in the justice of the Underworld, such as it is. That is all we can do, isn't it?"

He looked straight at Nico, and Nico's face darkened.

"Yes," he said.

"Will you take my soul for ransom, then?" Daedalus asked. "You could use it to reclaim your sister."

"No," Nico said. "I will help you release your spirit. But Bianca has passed. She must stay where she is."

Daedalus nodded. "Well done, son of Hades. You are becoming wise."

Then he turned toward Percy. "One last favor, Percy Jackson. I cannot leave Mrs. O'Leary alone. And she has no desire to return to the Underworld. Will you care for her?"

Percy looked at the massive black hound, who whimpered pitifully, still licking Daedalus's hair. "Yeah. Of course I will."

"Then I am ready to see my son...and Perdix," he said. "I must tell them how sorry I am."

Annabeth had tears in her eyes. Juliet's eyes fell away thought, where the hell was Augustus?

Daedalus turned toward Nico, who drew his sword, he simply said, "Your time is long since come. Be released and rest."

A smile of relief spread across Daedalus's face. He froze like a statue. His skin turned transparent, revealing the bronze gears and machinery whirring inside his body. Then the statue turned to gray ash and disintegrated.

Mrs. O'Leary howled. Percy patted her head, trying to comfort her as best he could. The earth rumbled—an earthquake that could probably be felt in every major city across the country—as the ancient Labyrinth collapsed. Somewhere, Juliet hoped, the remains of the Titan's strike force had been buried.

"Juliet!" All of them turned towards the desperate yell of Katie and Lee, Juliet's heart stopped when she saw who they were helping, "Juliet, Quick!"

Augustus was groaning in pain with his arms around Lee and Will, it was as if...as if his legs weren't working. They were dragging him to her, his legs limply scraping the earth.

"Gus!" Juliet yelled before running towards a bloody and sweaty Augustus, her friends behind them, "What happened?" she fell to her knees, trying to find the injury.

Lee gulped in guilt before speaking, "He took a club, to his legs."

"Oh gods<" Juliet whispered as tears filled her eyes, his legs were broken both of them.

"Man," Augustus groaned, "I feel like that one guy from the film Misery. damn, maybe this is karma for skateboarding past James when his leg was broken."

"How can you joke right now!" Annabeth yelled, tears streaming down her eyes. Augustus just grinned and tried to wink, but due to the pain he just rapidly blinked both his eyes.

"Let's take him to the cabin," Juliet decided, "We can heal him there."

Lee and Katie nodded, dragging a howling Augustus to the cabin as Juliet, Percy and Annabeth followed. As soon as Augustus was placed on the bed Juliet got to work, feeding the patient some nectar and ambrosia, before singing hymns to her dad.

By the time Augustus was stable enough to walk around in crutches, Juliet was sweaty and pale, exhausted and ready to drop dead.

But the work wasn't done. There were still the good-byes.

That night was the first time Juliet actually saw camp burial shrouds used on bodies, and it was not something she wanted to see again.

Among the dead, The son of Dionysus who'd gone down fighting an enemy half-blood was wrapped in a deep purple shroud embroidered with grapevines. His name was Castor. He'd been seventeen years old. His twin brother, Pollux, tried to say a few words, but he choked up and just took the torch. He lit the funeral pyre in the middle of the amphitheater, and within seconds the row of shrouds was engulfed in fire, sending smoke and sparks up to the stars.

They spent the next day treating the wounded, which was almost everybody. The satyrs and dryads worked to repair the damage to the woods. Juliet didn't know how she was functioning at this point, all her energy was drained.

At noon, the Council of Cloven Elders held an emergency meeting in their sacred grove. The three senior satyrs were there, along with Chiron, who was in wheelchair form. His broken horse leg was still mending, so he would be confined to the chair for a few months, until the leg was strong enough to take his weight. The grove was filled with satyrs and dryads and naiads up from the water—hundreds of them, anxious to hear what would happen. Juniper, Annabeth, Juliet and Percy stood by Grover's side, Augustus resting in his cabin.

"You good?" Percy asked when Juliet lightly leaned on him, she looked super pale, she just nodded in response.

Silenus wanted to exile Grover immediately, but Chiron persuaded him to at least hear evidence first, so they told everyone what had happened in the crystal cavern, and what Pan had said. Then several eyewitnesses from the battle described the weird sound Grover had made, which drove the Titan's army back underground.

"It was panic," insisted Juniper. "Grover summoned the power of the wild god."

"Panic?" Percy asked.

"Percy," Chiron explained, "during the first war of the gods and the Titans, Lord Pan let forth a horrible cry that scared away the enemy armies. It is—it was his greatest power—a massive wave of fear that helped the gods win the day. The word panic is named after Pan, you see. And Grover used that power, calling it forth from within himself."

"Preposterous!" Silenus bellowed. "Sacrilege! Perhaps the wild god favored us with a blessing. Or perhaps Grover's music was so awful it scared the enemy away!"

"That wasn't it, sir," Grover said. He sounded a lot calmer than Juliet would have if she'd been insulted like that. "He let his spirit pass into all of us. We must act. Each of us must work to renew the wild, to protect what's left of it. We must spread the word. Pan is dead. There is no one but us."

"After two thousand years of searching, this is what you would have us believe?" Silenus cried. "Never! We must continue the search! Exile the traitor!"

Some of the older satyrs muttered assent.

"A vote!" Silenus demanded. "Who would believe this ridiculous young satyr, anyway?"

"I would," said a familiar voice.

Everyone turned. Striding into the grove was Dionysus. He wore a formal black suit, so Juliet almost didn't recognize him, a deep purple tie and violet dress shirt, his curly dark hair carefully combed. His eyes were bloodshot as usual, and his pudgy face was flushed, but he looked like he was suffering from grief more than wine-withdrawal.

The satyrs all stood respectfully and bowed as he approached. Dionysus waved his hand, and a new chair grew out of the ground next to Silenus's—a throne made of grapevines.

Dionysus sat down and crossed his legs. He snapped his fingers and satyr hurried forward with a plate of cheese and crackers and a Diet Coke.

The god of wine looked around at the assembled crowd. "Miss me?"

The satyrs fell over themselves nodding and bowing. "Oh, yes, very much, sire!"

"Well, I did not miss this place!" Dionysus snapped. "I bear bad news, my friends. Evil news. The minor gods are changing sides. Morpheus has gone over to the enemy. Hecate, Janus, and Nemesis, as well. Zeus knows how many more."

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Strike that," Dionysus said. "Even Zeus doesn't know. Now, I want to hear Grover's story. Again, from the top."

"But, my lord," Silenus protested. "It's just nonsense!"

Dionysus's eyes flared with purple fire. "I have just learned that my son Castor is dead, Silenus. I am not in a good mood. You would do well to humor me."

Silenus gulped, and waved at Grover to start again.

When Grover was done, Mr. D nodded. "It sounds like just the sort of thing Pan would do. Grover is right. The search is tiresome. You must start thinking for yourselves." He turned to a satyr. "Bring me some peeled grapes, right away!"

"Yes, sire!" The satyr scampered off.

"We must exile the traitor!" Silenus insisted.

"I say no," Dionysus countered. "That is my vote."

"I vote no as well," Chiron put in.

Silenus set his jaw stubbornly. "All in favor of the exile?"

He and the two other old satyrs raised their hands.

"Three to two," Silenus said.

"Ah, yes," Dionysus said. "But unfortunately for you, a god's vote counts twice. And as I voted against, we are tied."

Silenus stood, indignant. "This is an outrage! The council cannot stand at an impasse."

"Then let it be dissolved!" Mr. D said. "I don't care."

Silenus bowed stiffly, along with his two friends, and they left the grove.

About twenty satyrs went with them. The rest stood around murmuring uncomfortably.

"Don't worry," Grover told them. "We don't need the council to tell us what to do. We can figure it out ourselves."

He told them again the words of Pan—how they must save the wild a little at a time. He started dividing the satyrs into groups—which ones would go to the national parks, which ones would search out the last wild places, which ones would defend the parks in the big cities.

"Well," Annabeth said to them, "Grover seems to be growing up."

Later that afternoon Juliet finally found time to sleep, trudging inside her cabin she was about to hit the hay when Augustus jitteriness kicked in. Will had given him a little morphine as he rested in the cot in her cabin but now he was wide awake and his add was making him a menace. 

"I'm so glad you are back! I was all alone, now we can keep each other company!" 

"No we can't the fuck, man just go to sleep." Juliet mumbled gravitating towards her bed.

"But Juliet, I can't sleep!" He whined, pouting like a little kid.

"I can though, so I'm going to. Call Annabeth or something to keep you company."

"I'm not talking to Annabeth." Juliet stared longingly at her bed after listening to Augustus's reply. She wanted to sleep but she wanted to hear the Annabeth and Augustus lore too. With a sigh, she settled next to Augustus's bed. "Why? What happened?" 

"Well, When you and Percy fell asleep in the Labyrinth, I tried talking to her," he gulped, averting his gaze, "I tried telling her, that...that maybe her choice in men was just a little wrong?"

"What?" Juliet said in confusion, what was he talking about.

"You know choice in men," Augustus said as if it was going to explain anything.

"No I don't know, what are you talking about?"

"I said Luke was an asshole and she deserved better than an old ass adult! there! I said It!" He screeched out, huffing in indignation. Juliet stared at him with wide eyes, surprise coating her features, "Oh damn,"

"Yeah, And you know what she said in reply? That Luke was better than me! Luke was nice and sweet until he turned genocidal, she was all team Luke while I was out there trying to help her! Just because I might've had the biggest crush on her doesn't mean I'm a doormat she can use until Luke comes in and does the saving. Like have you seen her Juliet? She has such questionable choices, Who even admires a psycho like Daedalus!"

He was huffing after his angry rant, glaring at the ceiling, Juliet held out the box of morphine tablets again, "Do you want that morphine again?"

"Yes, fuck," He sighed, "Yes, I need to sleep. You've tired me out, completely useless."

"Fucking ungrateful bitch" Juliet grumbled, while stuffing the tablets in his mouth.

There was a knock on the cabin door then, both Augustus and Juliet looked towards the door to see Annabeth standing there, "Juli, dinner."

Annabeth looked in Augustus's direction, her eyes sad, but Augustus just shifted to his side cutting the eye contact making Annabeth grow somber. Juliet looked between them with a sigh before standing up and following Annabeth to dinner.

Juliet tripped over her feet to the amphitheater, Her entire body feeling woozy and drunk as she wobbled around.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked, looking at her weirdly as Juliet nearly face planted.

"Superb!" She slurred and was about to fall when arms circled her waist, "Woah, Jules, why are you diving in dry land?"

Percy held her up, stabilising her against his body as she stumbled, "I just tripped," 

Then her body became dead weight in his arms, Percy looked at her against him, she was staring ahead with tired eyes, "I'm tired."

"Let's go eat," He tried to move her, but she was just, limp. "Too tired to move," She mumbled, Annabeth chuckled at her antics as Percy sighed picking her up.

He had to make her sit at the Poseidon table and spoon feed her because she was basically dead to the world. The Apollo cabin behind him was snickering while there was a lot of hooting from the Ares cabin. After dinner was done, Juliet rested by the camp fire, head laying in Silena's lap as Percy took his leave for a moment.

Juliet watched with a tired smile as Clarisse and Chris sang a stupid campfire song together all off tune, holding hands in the darkness, where they thought nobody could see them, Michael whined at how bad of singers they were, while Lee did a bad job of flirting with Katie. It felt homely.

The rest of the summer seemed strange because it was so normal. The daily activities continued: archery, rock climbing, Pegasus riding. They played capture the flag (though they all avoided Zeus's Fist). They sang at the campfire and raced chariots and played practical jokes on the other cabins. Percy and Juliet spent a lot of time with Tyson, playing with Mrs. O'Leary, but she would still howl at night when she got lonely for her old master. Annabeth and Augustus pretty much skirted around each other.

July passed, with fireworks on the beach on the Fourth. Juliet's birthday was celebrated in the amphitheatre with a lot of singing from the Apollo and Hermes cabin, there had been a lot of dancing, a lot of food and a lot of cheering. When the campers had retired Juliet had her own small party with Percy by the beach, where they blew the candles on a small yellow cake and laughed till their stomachs were aching.

August turned so hot the strawberries started baking in the fields. Finally, the last day of camp arrived. The standard form letter appeared on their bed after breakfast, warning them that the cleaning harpies would devour them if they stayed past noon.

At ten o'clock they stood on the top of Half-Blood Hill, Percy, Juliet and Augustus for their respective drivers to pick them up. Juliet had told Percy she would drop him home, before heading back to Washington. As their drivers pulled up, Juliet and Percy sat in their seats, Augustus about to do the same when Annabeth came up the hill.

Juliet and Percy decided to leave early, to give the two some privacy. They just didn't realise that by leaving early they missed an encounter with Queen Hera.