[audeamus]
The weeks following the battle went by slowly, both camps limping through the aftermath of what had been a gruesome war. The wounded needed attention, the dead needed burials, and the living needed reminders that the tragedy and strife of the past weeks, past months, was behind them for good. Their storm had come, but now, it had passed, leaving only work to be done.
Tessa watched from the windows of the infirmary as even now, campers worked to keep the valley safe. While Camp Half-Blood had not sustained any direct attacks, it had been breached time and time again over the years and that was something that would no longer be tolerated.
And most harrowing of all were the fallen and the shadows they left behind, despite the endless days of sun. The funeral pyre had burnt for hours, illuminating the night with those who had perished for this cause. Tessa's cause.
Orpheus Spencer, killed in the ambush.
Sierra Hanson, killed in the attack on Camp Half-Blood.
Angela Hale, killed by the Necklace of Harmonia's curse.
Julius Finnicum, Luci Glaw, and Parker Andrews, all killed in the Battle of the Harbor.
So many lives had been claimed by Menoetius and his forces, during this battle and all those in the past. Despite it all, Tessa vowed that they will not have died in vain.
Some hadn't died at all though.
Tessa turned back to the viewing window of the infirmary, into the room and temporary prison of Vinny Maxwell. The traitor himself was sprawled across the cot, being attended to by children of Apollo. Reese was standing guard inside, his arms folded and his bow across his back.
Tessa wasn't entirely sure why Kaden had spared Vinny's life, but she figured it came from that intransigent heart of gold of his. He couldn't kill a friend, not when that friend had been misguided. That's at least what Kaden had said when Tessa asked, and she decided to not argue with him on it. He'd already lost so many people; he didn't have to defend anything to her.
"Tessa?"
Tessa turned to find Flynn walking towards her, lab coat draped across his camp shirt and board shorts. Drumming his pen across the clipboard in his hands, he nodded to the viewing window.
"Keeping an eye on him?"
Tessa sighed as she cast another look at Vinny, who was glaring tiredly in her direction. If he knew she was standing there, Tessa wasn't sure, but she figured it explained the look.
"Forgive me if I'm being cautious." Tessa turned back to Flynn. "It might take me a while to pardon him."
Flynn shook his head. "I don't blame you whatsoever." He turned towards the window, and a furious look that Tessa didn't associate with the bumbling son of Apollo before her filled his face. "In my opinion, he deserves a whole lot worse."
For a moment, neither of them said anything. There were merely the sounds of the infirmary rising and ebbing in the background: the hum of voices, cabinets being opened and closed, footsteps meandering the halls. The sounds of simplicity, recovery, healing.
Flynn cleared his throat, drawing Tessa's attention. "Tessa, how've you been feeling lately?"
Tessa furrowed her eyebrows at Flynn, ever so slightly. "Fine, I guess. Tired."
That seemed to further something in Flynn's mind.
"Tired? As in exhaustion or fatigue? Or both?"
Tessa narrowed her eyes at him. "Flynn, what's going on?"
A familiar look of panic filled Flynn's blue eyes. He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, as if he couldn't find the right words. Finally, he just looked down at his clipboard.
"You know how I had everyone do those physicals after the battle?"
"Yeah, to make sure no one had any internal injuries, right?"
"Right, right, that's totally right. It's just..."
Flynn chewed on the inside of his cheek, glancing back up at Tessa. Tessa rolled her eyes.
"Flynn, spit it out."
"Your powers," Flynn blurted. He widened his eyes in horror at himself as Tessa froze.
"What about my powers?" Tessa asked.
Flynn cursed under his breath and hurried down the hall, motioning for Tessa to follow him. She did, into an examination room. Flynn typed something into the computer and Tessa's records, as well as those of her friends, flooded the screen.
"Okay, here are the results of the physical. Blood type, body comp, all that fun stuff. Here's all of the injuries you sustained." Flynn pointed to a list on the computer next to Tessa's picture. "A lot of them."
"Yeah, well--"
"That's not my point," Flynn said darkly. He took a deep breath and swiped on the monitor, and pictures of Dale, Mark, Reese, Kaden, Amelie, and other friends showed up. Every so often, a shimmering emblem of their godly parents' symbol would send a similar shimmer over an example strain of their DNA.
"That," Flynn said, pointing to the shimmering strains of DNA, "is a representation of our godly powers. Control of nature, light, love, magic, whatever."
Tessa's eyes floated over to her record, and with a jolt, she saw that her DNA strain was not shimmering.
It was dull.
"Mine isn't shimmering," Tessa muttered. She looked up at Flynn, who was watching anxiously. "What does that mean?"
Flynn took a deep breath, as if preparing himself for what was to come. He turned off the monitor, averting Tessa's undivided attention to him. "It means your powers are..."
"Gone?" Tessa asked.
"No, not gone," Flynn said hurriedly. "At least, I don't think so."
Tessa felt her face go pale. "You don't think so?"
Flynn put his hands out placatingly. "Just...hear me out." He took another breath. "During the battle, you subjected yourself to a kind of strain that has hardly been seen before. I'm talking, like, Atlas level. You channeled a storm god, do you know how much energy that both requires and drains?"
Tessa was starting to feel dizzy. She leant against the counter as she guessed, "A lot?"
"A shit-ton," Flynn confirmed. "And you used up every last drop--metaphorically speaking--of your power to fight off Typhon."
Tessa flinched, images coming back to her from that fateful day. The feeling of lightning replacing the blood in her veins, the wind spinning around her as if she was the eye of a hurricane.
She had been the eye of a hurricane.
She'd nearly decimated the east coast.
Tessa floated back to reality, taking a deep breath. "So, what? That doesn't make any sense. I was shot back to sea and managed to bring myself back. I-I couldn't have lost my powers then."
"No, not exactly," Flynn said and pulled up some more files. It looked like one of those seismographs to track tremors before and during an earthquake, full of sharp points and steep declines.
"This is a representation of your energy exertion in the form of your hydrokinetic abilities. The plateaus are just normal days, when your energy reserves are full. The peaks are moments of full exertion, like during these kinds of battles. The valleys, however, are your power depletions."
Tessa studied the graph, her eyes darting back and forth. "It looks like those are natural, though. They happen after every major battle."
"Yes, you're right, but there's something different this time, Tessa." Flynn's voice turned soft. "It's like something snapped inside of you, like a muscle or a bone with respect your powers. They're still there, but it might take a very long time to regenerate."
Suddenly, Tessa felt very far away. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't felt different since the battle, like something inside of her had just..dissolved. But hearing that that dissolve could have been her control of her powers, turning to dust, making her entire mortal--
"Tessa."
Tessa met Flynn's eyes, and the fear and panic and uncertainty had gone from his visage. Instead, she saw only the face of a beloved and trusted friend, one who had gone to the ends of the universe for her and her crusade. One who would do it again, if needed.
The idea made her want to cry.
"I know that this probably sounds terrifying, but you need to understand something. The Fates didn't choose just anyone to take down one of Zeus' enemies. They didn't choose just any ordinary half-blood. They chose you because of the strength you always had, not the powers your father gave you. Because you know something, Tessa? The power that you fought with? That didn't come from Typhon. It didn't come from Poseidon. It came from you."
Tears spilled from Tessa's eyes, and ironically, she could not control them.
"You're the strongest I've seen, Tessa. You'll conquer this, too." Flynn smiled at her, sunny and hopeful as he'd always been.
Tessa took a shaky breath, brushed away her tears, and then leapt onto Flynn for a hug. Flynn yelped but laughed it off, hugging her back.
"Thank you, Flynn," Tessa whispered. "For absolutely everything."
"No problem," Flynn responded cheerfully, patting her on the back. "Now, I hate to be that guy, but you've a council to lead."
As Tessa pulled away, the memory of the plan came back to her. She swallowed and nodded to Flynn.
"Come on," Flynn said, nodding to the door as he pulled it open. "Let's go face this monster one last time."
~~
When Tessa stepped into the rec room, each of her friends got to their feet. The movement took her by surprise, and she faltered before continuing in her tracks to her typical seat.
"At ease," she said with a slight laugh. When her friends sat down, so did she.
"How're you feeling, Tessa?" Mark asked, a concerned look on his smiling face.
Tessa took a deep breath and managed a smile. "I'm great." She looked around the room, meeting the eyes all poised on her. "Really."
"Well, I'd hope so," Alex said, his voice booming through the rec room. He leant back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. "This is the first time we've had some damned peace."
"Alex." Kaya shot the son of Mars a look, but Tessa could discern the playful glint in her dark eyes when she looked back at her. "We're glad you're okay, Tessa."
"Thank you." She nodded before glancing back around the room. "Although I'm sure there's still more to fix."
A ripple of unease floated through the room, among the group of Greeks and Romans gathered there.
"Oh, come on," Dale groaned, fixing everyone with a look. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Speak for yourself, Dale," Eli said softly. "This affects you too."
Tessa furrowed her eyebrows at Dale, but before her best friend could speak, Adhara got to her feet, circling the table. "Amelie, if you will?"
Amelie obliged, and with a flick of her fingers, holographic images appeared on the long table they were seated around. Tessa recognized the Sword of Peleus, Ariadne's String, and the Necklace of Harmonia, but there were a handful of outlined artifacts she couldn't identify.
"These," Adhara began, "are the artifacts that Menoetius—among other villains—has occupied himself with hunting down. Their power allured discord, and through discord, violence. They might not have been crafted to kill, but they are weapons all the same."
"We have the Sword, though," Reese said from his seat around the table. With his arms folded across his chest, he looked as ever the brooding young man that Tessa grew up with. His eyes darkened upon realization. "And the Necklace."
Adhara nodded shortly, taking a pensive breath. "We do," she said. "But it isn't a good idea to keep each of these artifacts together in such close proximity."
"Hold on." Kaden leant forward. He motioned to the rest of the artifacts displayed on the table. "What about the rest of these?"
"The Helm of Darkness, the Staff of Circe, and the Sword of Storms," Adhara recited, and each holographic representation glowed as she spoke. "All very powerful weapons, capable of starting conflicts that would make our little war against Menoetius look like a fight in the sandbox."
"Then they should be retrieved," Flynn argued from his place at the table. "There's no reason that something of that caliber should just be hiding somewhere in the middle of nowhere."
"I agree with Flynn." Mark nodded. "Besides, there are old enemies awakening, ones that could want those these things."
Tessa's attention flew to Mark. "Mark, what're you talking about?"
Everyone's eyes averted to the son of Iris, who merely huffed a defeated sigh upon meeting Tessa's gaze. "I saw Orion at the Battle of the Harbor."
Tessa recoiled as if she'd been hit. "What?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth." He looked between Tessa and everyone else, as if convincing them of the truth with nothing but his eyes. "I fought him."
"And, what, no one else saw this happen?" Alex huffed what sounded like a scoff and a laugh in one.
"He didn't even try to fight back." Mark's voice was low, his eyebrows furrowed. "He said it wasn't time yet."
"Mark, are you sure—" Dale tried.
"Yes!" Mark exclaimed, and everyone jumped.
Catching himself, Mark took a deep breath. "I'm sure of it. I wouldn't lie about this. Not after what he put me through."
Tessa pursed her lips. If what Mark said was true, that Orion was awake and about, biding his time, that didn't bode well for anyone. With peace barely having become a reality in their two camps, Tessa wasn't sure if it was time to pursue something like this just yet.
Tessa turned to Adhara, who was watching Mark with equal parts sorrow and tempered rage. "Adhara, what do you suggest we do about these artifacts?"
Adhara met Tessa's eyes and straightened up. "Right." She cleared her throat. "I propose that the artifacts we possess be separated and transferred from the Camps' vaults and into a more...secure one."
At that, Lukas furrowed his eyebrows. "Where is more secure than the camps?"
Adhara glanced at Kassie Gray, who was seated beside her brother. The Huntress looked up from where she'd been sharpening her hunting knife, her eyes wide. "Oh, is this where I come in?" She lowered her knife. "There's a place in the Northwest that has the security protocols necessary to keep these things safe."
"Where?" Reese asked her, but Kassie merely shook her head.
"It's not my place to give up their secret. They only trusted me with its location because of my role."
"As Lieutenant of Artemis?" Ben asked.
Kassie smirked. "Among other things, but sure, let's go with that."
Tessa shook her head. "All right, then it's settled. We'll send the Sword and the Necklace over to this mystery storage facility and that's that? Problem solved?"
"Well, not so fast," Adhara mused. She perched herself on the end of the table just as Amelie manipulated the holographic images once more. The images of the Sword and Necklace dissolved, leaving only empty outlines of those images of the Helm, Staff, String, and Sword.
"If you all recall, there is a set of artifacts believed to be cursed by Menoetius himself. He called them the Forsaken, for the strife they could reap." Adhara wiggled her finger towards the images. "Save the String, these are the Forsaken and one of them is actually in the room today."
Everyone fell silent as upon Adhara's command, one of the remaining outlines was filled in with a glowing bronze sword with a gilded hilt. Turquoise gems and polished bronze studs lined the pommel and crossguard, and from where Tessa sat, she spotted the trident etched into the rain-guard at base of the blade.
She sucked in a breath.
Tempest.
She looked up to find Adhara watching her, an impish look on her face. "Didn't realize you were packing quite a punch with that sword, huh?"
Tessa blinked, shaking her head. She pulled out Tempest from her hair, tapping the gem and watching as it elongated into its true form. The Sword of Storms. Capable of starting a war.
"Your father gifted you that blade upon your birth, right?" Adhara asked.
Tessa nodded. "My mom gave it to me after the accident."
"Smart woman," Adhara noted. "How's she doing, by the way?"
"Objection," Lukas drawled. "Relevance?"
Adhara sighed tiredly. "Never mind, then. Anyways, that sword," she said, pointing to Tempest, "is deadly."
"We know that, Adhara," Dale chimed. "What do you expect her to do about it?"
Adhara fixed Tessa with her signature invasive look. "I expect her to do what needs to be done."
Tessa's eyes widened. "What, you want me to get rid of it?"
"Exactly."
"That's crazy!" Kaden exclaimed on Tessa's behalf. "That's her trademark."
"Yeah, I agree." Eli nodded. "We all have our respective weapons that can do some harm, right? Why's Tessa's any different?"
"All of our weapons, save a few, were forged at one of our respective camps. Nothing holy or sacred about their creations or histories. Tempest, however, is a cursed blade. Forsaken. It can only bring destruction." Adhara's voice echoed through the room, each word more assertive than the last.
Tessa couldn't exactly argue with Adhara either, and that's what angered her most. As the daughter of Nemesis spoke, all Tessa could think of was all the hardship she'd gone through. All of the losses and the pain. Had her sword really been an omen of all that? A sort of beacon that led the demons and monsters right towards her?
Her gaze floated down to the sword itself, safe in her grip. She'd done more good than harm with it. She'd saved people, won fights, defeated enemies. A sword was just an object, right? It cannot be innately good or evil. It's the person wielding it who decides what to use it for.
But still...
"Tessa?"
Tessa looked up to find everyone watching her expectantly. She met Adhara's burning gaze, wondering what terrible future she'd sensed through that curse of hers that needed Tessa's relinquishment of Tempest to prevent it.
"What'll it be?" Adhara asked.
Tessa took a deep breath.
A sword was just a sword.
Her strength came from her. Not a curse. Not a god.
Her.
"Tempest is safest with me. If I can't protect it after all I've been through, no one can." Tessa said, ferocity laced in the mellow tone of her voice.
Adhara took a short breath. "Very well. It's your future, after all."
Before Tessa could ask what she meant, Adhara waved her hand and the display disappeared. Tessa half expected Tempest to dissolve along with it, but the sword remained in her hands. She tapped the hilt and stuffed the pin away into her pocket.
From then on, the other post-war matters came to discussion and the demigods came to some tough decisions. Dale would endeavour on her own quest to appease Melinoe and potentially retrieve Hades' stolen helm. Mark would work with Adhara to find Orion. But most disturbing of all, the divide between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter needed to be put in place once more. The leaders of both camps would continue to communicate, but until security could be consolidated, there would be no further exchange between the Greeks and Romans. To the new campers of either valley, the only camp that existed would be their own.
"The gods themselves are incapacitated," Alex had argued. "That puts Olympus at a disadvantage, and with times like these, we need to have our guards up."
It had been unanimous, if not reluctant. Tessa wondered how that would work, when so many of their campers had spent weeks, if not months at the other camp. Making friends, meeting their other siblings, meeting significant others. How could you put a divide on that? How could you keep people fated to be together apart?
Her gaze floated to her friends, getting up from their seats as the war council adjourned. It landed on Kaden, watching her all the while.
They'd defied it all, hadn't they? So had the rest of her friends. Reese and Imogen; Sophia and Alexia; all of the rest who had found those that they loved across circumstance and divide. They'd been defiant, courageous, and determined to fight for their happiness, and it seemed that when happiness was at stake, there was no limit to what people would do to maintain it.
Tessa found herself at the door of the rec room, the ping pong table now empty. She was the last one in the room, the last remnant of this ugly war that had taken so much from them.
With a deep breath as she turned around, Tessa flicked out the light.
~~
That night, Tessa found herself at Fireworks Beach with the rest of Camp Half-Blood. People had come out in droves, claiming their seats among the grass and sand for what was the hottest ticket in town: the Fourth of July fireworks show. There was truly nothing else like it, and no better way to celebrate a victory.
Tessa stood some ways off from the pulpit of the crowd, somewhere she could stand at the water's edge in peace without being too far removed from the excitement. The warm water of the Sound lapped at her feet, but Tessa felt no familiar surge in energy come from its comfort. The thought filled her with a sad sort of numbness, but she forced herself to look up at the sky, to the stars just beginning to twinkle.
It was shocking to her, how so much had changed in her life and yet this view--the stars and the sea--never had. They had always been there to welcome her home, offer her solace in her times of need.
A hand slipped into hers just as the first firework went off, dazzling the crowd. Tessa didn't have to look, but she did anyway, and found Kaden standing beside her.
His lips curved into a small smile. "Fancy meeting you here."
The fireworks erupted around them. The audience 'oohed' and 'ahhed.'
Tessa squeezed Kaden's hand, mirroring Kaden's smile. "How'd you know?"
Kaden made a contemplative face. "Well, firstly, I know you better than I know myself. Secondly, it's tradition."
It was then that Tessa realized that she and Kaden were not alone. From where, she didn't know, but Dale, Reese, and Mark approached them, matching expressions on their faces.
"Thanks for saving us some seats, Brennan," Mark said by way of greeting as he sat down at Tessa's feet. He whipped open the basket he'd been carrying. "One last group firework show is just what the doctor ordered."
Reese made a face, poking through Mark's basket. "Yes, because it's such a morale booster before we all head out on our own deadly quests."
Tessa whipped around to face Reese. "What, you've got one too?"
Reese nodded grimly. "It's called dealing with our landlord. The gods know how pissed he's going to be when he finds out his two newest tenants have been AWOL for pretty much a year."
Dale unfolded the blanket she'd been carrying and they all sat down.
"I'm sure Imogen can charmspeak her way out of it," Dale said, snagging a French fry and popping it in her mouth.
Reese looked over his shoulder, and Tessa followed his line of sight to where Imogen was currently pacing with her phone to her ear. Kaya and Alex were standing nearby, offering to yell at whoever it was she was talking to.
"Without a doubt," Reese said as he turned back around, his smile a little dreamier than it had been a moment ago.
Mark met Tessa's eyes, motioning between her and Kaden as he chewed. "How about you both?"
Tessa and Kaden glanced at each other, almost in surprise.
"What about us?" Kaden asked.
"Where do you two go from here?" Mark asked.
Tessa blinked. Between fighting a war and all it entailed, she hadn't really had time to think about where she and Kaden stood. There was still so much left between them, but did it all have to be said? Labeled? Discussed?
Tessa looked at Kaden to find he was looking at her, and suddenly, the years seemed to melt away. All of the darkness and the gore of the past few months--past few years--appeared to dissolve, into golden rays of sunshine turning the cerulean sea into a thousand tiny diamonds. It brought her to a time when this valley had been more than a training ground, when it had been her home above all else. When she and her friends would draft up strategies for camp games or sing along to the campfire songs, day in and day out.
Tessa reached for Kaden's hand, only to find that she'd never let go of it in the first place.
"We're staying together," Kaden said the words on her tongue. "No matter what this world may throw our way, no matter the label we choose to put on it, we'll be together through it all."
Tessa smiled, reaching up to press a quick kiss to his lips. They pulled away beaming. The kiss tasted like summer.
"PDA," Mark coughed.
"Hey!" Tessa swatted at him with a laugh, and Mark yelped, getting to his feet. Tessa followed suit, chasing him around their little blanket while Reese exclaimed in protest from behind his full mouth and Dale and Kaden merely locked eyes and shook their heads, laughter in their eyes.
Fireworks exploded above them, but there was nothing louder, nothing brighter, nothing stronger than the love Tessa had for her friends. Her friends, who had followed her into Hell without looking back. Her friends, who had helped her lead an army from the moment she'd become a soldier. Her friends, who loved her back the same way she loved them.
The gods may be immortal, and the Fates may be all-knowing, but Tessa knew that so long as she was alive, there would be nothing that could keep her from her friends. There was no force on this earth or others, no monster or god or enemy that could threaten her happiness and walk away breathing.
Because Flynn had been wrong. Tessa's power may have come from her, but her strength, her will, and her happiness resided in the people sitting around her. In Mark's quick retorts. In Reese's brooding faces. In Dale's heart of gold and in Kaden's easy smile.
So as the sky ignited into color and light, illuminating all reaches of the valley, Tessa looked back out to the glittering horizon and welcomed the happy days to come.