──── chapter eighteen

{ 🔮 } · rest of the summer . ݁ ٬٬ ࣪

THERE WERE TOO MANY GOOD-BYES.

That night was the first time Endora actually saw camp burial shrouds used on bodies, and it was not something she wanted to see again. Among the dead, Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin had been downed by a giant's club. The brunette girl cried the whole night, tears wouldn't stop streaming down her cheeks as she watched the flames burn the golden shroud without any decoration.

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. His twin brother, Pollux, and his brother, Fredrick, tried to say a few words, but they choked up and just took the torch. The two brothers 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.

Endora was there for Madeline and Fredrick all throughout the night. After all, her best friends lost their brothers, and Endora knew that pain very well.

They spent the next day treating the wounded, which was almost everybody. The satyrs and dryads worked to repair the damage to the woods.

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, Endora, Madeline, Fredrick, Annabeth, and Percy stood by Grover's side, despite Grover telling Madeline and Fredrick to go and rest. The two wouldn't back down, despite their red eyes and heavy headaches. Silenus wanted to exile Grover immediately, but Chiron persuaded him to at least hear evidence first, so three demigods from the quest 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 Endora 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, 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 a 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. Endora looked down at the ground.

"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."

Beside her, Fredrick gripped onto hers and Annabeth's hand.

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 a tan 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 a 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 big cities.

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

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 ), sang at the campfire and raced chariots and played practical jokes on the other cabins. Hermes' cabin made mistake of planting a spider in Athena cabin, again, like every year, and they all had to run away from angry Annabeth and her siblings, again, like every year. But it was fun. They did it every summer so it sort of became some kind of a tradition for them.

Endora spent her time with her friends and around the infirmary, helping the still wounded campers and getting better at creating potions. Nico had left, going off on his own which worried Endora, but she guessed nothing could have held him back.

Percy and Endora. . . well, that was complicated situation. They both knew they liked each other, that one was obvious; if not, the kiss they shared clearly was a sign that they both had feelings for one another. But, none of them made a move. Maybe it just wasn't a good time to talk about it, with everything going on, maybe it was better the way it is. 

July passed, with fireworks on the beach on the Fourth. Percy and Endora sat next to each other, away from everyone else and they enjoyed the show together. Nothing really happened ─ they just talked, ate, laughed and held hands, which made Endora's heart skip a beat but also for her brain to make things more complicated.

August turned so hot the strawberries started baking in the fields. Percy spend time getting to know Madeline, Fredrick and Endora's siblings more, which made a smile creep on Endora's face whenever she saw Percy's brows furrow as Basil explain to him what each tarot card means. It filled her heart with joy.

Finally, the last day of camp arrived. Endora was, of course, staying at the Camp with her siblings and Madeline. She would tend to Chiron's leg, but also help with preparations for the war and just practice her control over her more. 

At ten o'clock in the morning, Endora and Annabeth stood on the top of Half-Blood Hill to say goodbye to Percy who would be returning back home for the winter. He'd made arrangements to leave Mrs. O'Leary at camp, where Chiron promised she'd be looked after. Tyson and Percy would take turns visiting her during the year. 

Annabeth had arranged to stay at camp a little longer. She would help Endora tend to Chiron until his leg was fully recovered, and keep studying Daedalus's laptop, which had engrossed her for the last two months. Then she would head back to her father's place in San Francisco.

"There's a private school out there that I'll be going to," she said. "I'll probably hate it, but. . ." she shrugged.

"Yeah, well, call me, okay?"

"Sure," she said half-heartedly. "I'll keep my eyes open for. . ."

There it was again. Luke. She couldn't even say his name without opening up a huge box of hurt and worry and anger.

"Annabeth," Percy said. "What was the rest of the prophecy?"

She fixed her eyes on the woods in the distance, but she didn't say anything.

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," Percy remembered. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. We raised a lot of the dead. We saved Ethan Nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor. We raised the spirit of Pan, the lost one."

Annabeth shook her head like she wanted Percy to stop.

But Percy didn't, "You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," the boy pressed on. "That wasn't Minos, like I'd thought. It was Nico. By choosing to be on our side, he saved us. And the child of Athena's final stand ─ that was Daedalus."

Seeing look on Annabeth's face, Endora stepped forward, "Percy ─ "

"Destroy with a hero's final breath. That makes sense now. Daedalus died to destroy the Labyrinth. But what was the last ─ "

"And lose a love to worse than death." Annabeth snapped. She had tears in her eyes. "That was the last line, Percy. Are you happy now?"

The sun seemed colder than it had a moment ago.

"Oh," Percy said. "So Luke ─ "

"Percy, I didn't know who the prophecy was talking about. I-I didn't know if. . ." she faltered helplessly. "Luke and I ─ for years, he was the only one who really cared about me. I thought. . ."

Before she could continue, a sparkle of light appeared next to them, like someone had opened a gold curtain in the air. "You have nothing to apologize for, my dear." standing on the hill was a tall woman in a white dress, her dark hair braided over her shoulder.

"Hera," Annabeth said.

The goddess smiled. "You found the answers, as I knew you would. Your quest was a success."

"A success?" Annabeth said. "Luke is gone. Daedalus is dead. Pan is dead. How is that ─ "

"Our family is safe," Hera insisted. "Those others are better gone, my dear. I am proud of you."

"Family? Better gone?" Endora snapped, "You're the first person who knows nothing about family! You have a cheating husband, and you threw your son, you own blood, off of Olympus because he was. . . ugly! You're no goddess of marriage."

Percy balled his fists. He couldn't believe she was saying this. "You're the one who paid Geryon to let us through the ranch, weren't you? You're the one who kept Endy there?"

Hera shrugged. Her dress shimmered in rainbow colors. "I wanted to speed you on your way."

"But you didn't care about Nico or Endora. You were happy to see them turned over to the Titans."

"Oh, please." Hera waved her hand dismissively. "The son of Hades said it himself. No one wants him around. He does not belong. As for the girl. . ."

"Say it," Percy challenged, "I dare you to. . . Hephaestus was right," Percy growled. "You only care about your perfect fucking family, not real people."

Her eyes turned dangerously bright. "Watch yourself, son of Poseidon. I guided you more than you know in the maze. I was at your side when you faced Geryon. I let your arrow fly straight. I sent you to Calypso's island. I opened the way to the Titan's mountain. Annabeth, my dear, surely you see how I've helped. I would welcome a sacrifice for my efforts."

Annabeth stood still as a statue. She could've said thank you. She could've promised to throw some barbecue on the brazier for Hera and forget the whole thing. But she clenched her jaw stubbornly. She looked just the way she had when she'd faced the Sphinx ─ like she wasn't going to accept an easy answer, even if it got her in serious trouble.

"Dora and Percy are right." she turned her back on the goddess. "You're the one who doesn't belong, Queen Hera. So next time, thanks . . . but no thanks."

Hera's sneer was worse than an empousa's. Her form began to glow. "You will regret this insult, Annabeth. You will regret this very much."

"Likely." Endora said and averted her eyes as the goddess turned into her true divine form and disappeared in a blaze of light. The hilltop was peaceful again. Over at the pine tree, Peleus the dragon dozed under the Golden Fleece as if nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth told the boy. "I-I should get back. I'll keep in touch."

"See you soon" Percy said.

And Endora and Percy were left alone.

"So. . ."

"So. . ."

"Happy early birthday," Endora said, handing the boy a small box, "It's nothing big, sorry, but I hope you will like it," the boy begun to open it, but Endora stopped him, "Don't open it now! On your birthday, okay?"

"Thank you," Percy smiled and stepped closer to the girl, putting the small box into his jean pocket, "Look, Endy," he was nervous, the girl could feel it, "I. . . I want to tell you ─ "

Then Argus honked his horn down at the road, and Percy let out a small fuck.

"You'd better getting going," Endora said, planting a sweet kiss on his cheek. "Take care, Water Boy and don't forget to Iris message me."

Endora jogged down the hill. Percy watched her until she reached the cabins. She didn't look back.

niki speaks!

y'all. . .
that's the end of act ii
holy shit !!
that ended way faster than i thought it would
thank u sm for my readers
for supporting me on this journey
voting, commenting and just reading
this book means so much
thank you all
i love you so much !!

have a nice day/night!
bye!