The countdown to August was torturous. We were still weeks away but knowing what was going to happen in the middle of the month was driving me crazy. So I combated it by keeping myself so busy that I couldn't spare even a moment to think about it.
Most of my time admittedly was spent creating battle plans, drawing up rosters for the defence of the camp and checking to make sure all entrances to the camp were heavily guarded. I even went to check on Zeus' Fist a couple of time, just to make sure that it was safe. I knew that the Labyrinth was destroyed, turned to rubble when the spirit of Daedalus finally died after centuries of drawn out life, but it still didn't ease my worry. If there was one thing I'd learned from my many years of being a demigod, was that if something could go wrong, then it usually would.
We could barely keep up with the amount of monster activity running rampant in the Long Sound neighbourhood. Teams of demigods were being sent out nearly every day to either deal with a monster sighting or to bring in a discovered demigod. A lot of those missions ended with injuries and not many ended in success. I'd gone on several of those missions myself, and every time I wished that Percy was beside me. Leaving the camp on a perilous mission just wasn't the same without him. It wasn't just because he was the best fighter the camp had produced in years, but it was also because he was the best fighting partner I'd ever had. We got each other.
But if I wasn't missing his reassuring presence beside me in a fight, I was blocking out any thoughts of him from my mind. The events of last year had left a certain strain on our relationship. It wasn't just because of his obvious interest in Rachel, but also the kiss that we'd shared before he blew up Mount St Helen and got trapped on Calypso's Island for two weeks. We'd never spoken about that moment, neither of us daring to bring it up, but I thought of it constantly. I had no idea if he did.
I actually called Sally Jackson when I first got back to camp, just to check on him. I was one of the few demigods who owned a phone and I used it sparingly, mainly for emergencies. Sally had given me her number years ago, which was wise considering the amount of trouble that Percy got himself into on a daily basis. She liked to call me to check on him, especially as he was too forgetful to call her himself. Sally and I had a good relationship, bonded through the way that we both worried about the son of Poseidon.
The call with her didn't last long though, as we'd barely gotten through the greetings before I heard Rachel's voice in the background. She and Percy were joking about something and the sound of his laughter mixed with hers cut through me deeper than I'd like to admit. I made up the excuse that a camp emergency had popped up suddenly and hung up quickly, Sally barely getting through a goodbye before I ended the call.
That call more than anything had shaken me. I should have known that Percy would hang out with Rachel when he was home. He didn't have many friends outside of camp that I knew of, and even if he did, it's not like he could speak of his ancient Greek life to them. It was only natural that he would turn to Rachel, someone who he'd shared a life/death quest with. And yet my reasoning did nothing to settle the angry roiling of my stomach and the ache of my heart.
To forget it all, I threw myself into my work even more. One of my focuses became Daedalus' laptop, gifted to me before he died. It had thousands of ideas and projects on it that the inventor had created, many of them never having been built. I hadn't had much time to work on the laptop while I was home thanks to all the schoolwork I'd had, but I found time now. I reasoned that one of these projects could help us change the course of the war. The fact that I was fascinated by all the projects had nothing to do with it.
Someone else who was equally entranced by the laptop was Charlie Beckendorf. He was the best builder the camp had ever seen and spent more of his time in the workshop tinkering with things than he spent out of it. It was a wonder that he ever spent anything time with his girlfriend, Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite.
"Hey, Becks! Come check this out," I called, beckoning him over from where he'd been entranced in his latest project. It was a crossbow that when you pulled a lever, the handles expanded into wings so that you could soar. Perfect for a sniper who needed a quick getaway. He'd found the idea among the endless files of the laptop and been obsessed with it ever since. He was on his third prototype now and he'd only started work on it the day before.
Now, he hurried over to where I was sitting on one of his benches, the only place I could sit as all the other surfaces and chairs were covered with scrap and half-made projects, and peered over my shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw what was on the screen.
"A javelin shield? That's incredible! Who even thinks of that?" He snatched the laptop off my lap and began scrolling through all the images of a bronze shield could project from the tip of the javelin, muttering over the way you'd have to shape the metal to open it up.
I grinned as he quickly forgot that I was there, so entranced was he in Daedalus' design. He was one of the few people in camp that I had shown the laptop to, and I was glad that I did. He appreciated the designs that it contained as much as I, and was enthusiastic in making them come to life. Already, some of Daedalus' designs were appearing around camp.
"Charlie!"
We both turned, startled, to see Silena had appeared at the entrance of the workshop, her arms crossed and hip cocked. She looked lovely in a flowery dress that accentuated her body nicely with her dark hair curled over one shoulder. That didn't quite detract from the frustrated look on her face as she gazed at her boyfriend.
He checked his watch and swore. "Oh, gods! I am so sorry, babe! I lost track of time!"
"My fault, really," I cut in, rescuing my laptop from the son of Hephaestus as he panic looked around for somewhere to put it. "I distracted him with work."
Silena smiled indulgently. I knew that the frustration was a facade. She found her boyfriend's fascination with the laptop and his craft endearing and I'd often found her sitting beside him as he worked, handing him tools and holding down parts while he worked on it. She'd became so good at helping, that she often would hand him things before he even thought to ask for them.
She also had Beckendorf wrapped around her little finger. The only thing that the big boy seemed to be afraid of was the daughter of Aphrodite and had been seen to slink behind her like a puppy when she was in a temper. He didn't know that it was all act though, that she could never truly be angry with him. Sometimes it was good to keep boys on their toes.
He hurried over to her now and kissed her on the cheek as he wrapped one arm around her. She laughed as she pushed him off, telling him that he needed a shower. I couldn't help but smile as I followed them out of the workshop, staying a few metres behind and watching them as they play fought, their hands remaining linked.
A feeling of sadness and longing washed over me suddenly, and I hugged Daedalus' laptop tighter to my chest. Watching them be so happy and comfortable with each other reminded me of my own relationship problems, if you could call the absence of an actual relationship a problem.
Unbidden, my feet took me to the arena, where I was enthusiastically greeted by a giant wall of black fur and barely managed to stop my laptop from being soaked by a wet tongue. The rest of my body had no such luck.
"Down, girl," I laughed, trying to settle the giant hellhound, which was a struggle considering that she towered over me. "Wanna go for a walk?"
That, evidently, was the wrong thing to say as Mrs O'Leary immediately bowled me over in her excitement to go, a second layer of saliva coating the first.
Once I managed to get her off me, and secured my laptop more safely in my backpack, I lead her out of the arena and immediately headed to the forest. As loveable as she was, she was way too big to take through camp, especially if she decided to leave her business urgently where campers could fall into it.
As soon as we reached the forest, she scampered away to sniff some trees, checking to see if any new scent had appeared. I headed deeper into the forest, knowing that she would come find me when she was done and ready to head back. The further in I went, the quieter the forest seemed to become. Usually, it would be alive with dryads and satyrs playing games and having parties and just generally having fun. I barely caught a sign of either, even the big clearings empty. It was as if with the approach of the war, they'd decided that it was safer if they stayed low and hide until it was all over. Grover's announcement that was Pan was dead didn't exactly help either, those who believed it having taken into mourning and those that didn't would sulk by themselves. The nature community was as divided as the demigod one was.
When I reached it, Zeus' Fist was as deserted as all the other times I'd seen it, but I still made sure to skirt the edges of it, unwilling to go closer. Memories of the battle and Daedalus' death still made frequent appearances in my dreams and while it posed no threat now, I didn't exactly like to be in the area.
I nodded to the demigod on watch there before approaching the juniper bush that lay just on the edge of the clearing.
"Juniper," I said and the dryad appeared before me. "How are you?"
Even as I said it, I knew that she wasn't well. Her hair was ragged and unwashed, her dress looked untidy and her face was haggard. The war was taking a toll on everyone.
"Not good," she admitted, her voice tired and soft. "I haven't heard anything from Grover in awhile. Have you?"
Her face was so pleading and desperate that I was tempted to lie, but I shook my head slowly. Since his announcement, the Council of Cloven Elders had been treating him like an outcast and he'd receive a lot of angry looks from some of the the dryads and satyrs during the small amount of time that he'd spend at camp. I guess that was one of the reasons why he was always away, but the other was that he was trying to spread the message of Pan. Whatever the reason, it was evidently placing strain on his relationship with Juniper.
"I'm sure he'll contact you soon," I reasoned, placing my hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
She smiled slightly, but I could tell that she didn't believe me. "Let me know if you hear anything from him."
"I will. You do the same."
She nodded, then stiffened as her eyes slid over my shoulder. I turned to see that Mrs O'Leary had chosen that time to make an appearance and was making a beeline for Juniper. The dryad shivered with disgust at the hellhound and disappeared back into her bush, Mrs O'Leary sniffing around in in disappointment.
"Let's head back," I told the hellhound, beginning the trudge back to camp.
As I walked away, I couldn't help but think of the other person who had disappeared. I had not heard any news of Nico di Angelo in several months, the young son of Hades having completely evaporated like the ghosts he spent time with. I worried about him constantly. I knew what it was like to be alone out in a monster-infested world and while he was older and stronger than I had been, it didn't mean that he didn't need friends with him. I hoped he was okay and that he'd come back soon.