suggestion:
don't listen to long live
while reading this. :')

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

chapter one hundred. ☄︎. *. ⋆

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CAMP RAN A LITTLE LATE, BUT I DON'T THINK ANYONE WAS UPSET ABOUT THAT. It lasted two more weeks, right up to the start of a new school year, and I have to admit they were the best two weeks of my life.

    There was just so much relief all around, I think, and that added to it all. The war was over. Grover had taken over the satyr seekers and was sending them out across the world to find unclaimed half-bloods. So far, the gods had kept their promise. New demigods were popping up all over the place. Luckily, we had plenty of room for them now, with all of the new cabins being built in the field. Tons of half-bloods were helping build. Some of the wood nymphs did the dirty work, but still, it was nice to see everyone getting along so well. I even saw some Aphrodite kids and Ares kids working together to install a fire-rimmed vanity in one of the new cabins.

     The Hermes cabin was a lot less crowded now, because most of the unclaimed kids had received signs from their godly parents. It happened almost every night, and every night more demigods straggled over the property line with the satyr guides, usually with some nasty monsters pursuing them, but almost all of them made it through.

     Things were going to be a lot different next summer, I knew that. Chiron was expecting twice as many campers.

     None of them could replace my siblings, of course, but they weren't coming back. I was slowly starting to come to terms with that.

     The last night of camp, as traditional, was the bead ceremony. The Hephaestus cabin had designed the bead this year. It showed the Empire State Building, and etched in tiny Greek letters, spiraling around the image, were the names of all the heroes who had died defending Olympus. There were too many names, but I was proud to wear the bead. I put it on my camp necklace—eight beads now. I felt like an old-timer. I thought about the first campfire I'd ever attended, back when I was just a little kid, and how I'd felt so at home. That at least hadn't changed.

    "Never forget this summer!" Chiron told us. He had healed remarkably well, but he still trotted in front of the fire with a slight limp. I still felt bad. "We have discovered bravery and friendship and courage this summer. We have upheld the honor of the camp."

    He smiled at Percy and I, and everybody cheered. As I looked at the fire, I saw a little girl in a brown dress tending the flames. She winked at me with red glowing eyes. No one else seemed to notice her, but I realized maybe she preferred it that way.

    "And now," Chiron said, "early to bed! Remember, you must vacate your cabins by noon tomorrow unless you've made arrangements to stay the year with us. The cleaning harpies will eat any stragglers, and I'd hate to end the summer on a sour note!"

     The next morning, Percy, Annabeth, and I stood at the top of Half-Blood Hill. We watched the buses and vans pull away, taking most of the campers back to the real world. A few old-timers would be staying behind—including me, of course—but Percy was heading back to his mom and Paul. I wished I could go with him, but Chiron couldn't legally let me do that. I tried to argue that most of what we did wasn't legal, but he just couldn't let me.

     "You'll visit, right?" Percy asked me. We were the last ones on the hill. Those staying behind had already retired to their cabins, and Annabeth waited in a van at the bottom of the hill, ready to drive back to Manhattan with Percy. They would both be living at home, lucky them. Annabeth had convinced her dad to let her come home so she could attend a boarding school and be close enough to Olympus to oversee the rebuilding efforts.

     I pursed my lips. "Hmm... no, I think I'll stay here and leave my two best friends alone so I can forget all about them forever. Of course I'll visit, you doof. I need to see your mom, anyways. I'll be coming over so often, you'll be sick of me by next month."

     Percy smiled. "I could never be sick of you, Sunshine."

     I groaned, rolling my head back. "Ew, Perce. You can't get all soft on me now that we're dating."

     "Well, what can I do on you?"

I shoved his shoulder, scrunching up my face and trying not to laugh. "Gods, you're gross. Save all your dirty jokes for the car ride with Annabeth. I'm sure she'd be delighted to hear them."

He laughed, taking my hands and lacing his fingers through my own to bring his lips to the back of my palms in a kiss. A smile melted onto my lips. He pressed his forehead against mine, tracing one of his thumbs down my cheek in a way that brought butterflies all over again.

"Don't worry about it," he whispered.

I furrowed my brows, pulling my head back to meet his eyes. "About what?"

"Rachel's prophecy," he said. "I know you've been thinking about it."

"How'd you know?"

"Because I know you." He bumped me with his shoulder. "Are you worried?"

"Not really worried, no," I admitted, shaking my head. "Just curious. It.. it's strange, Percy. It feels like it's waiting for us. I dunno if that makes sense. And I know I've never felt like this about any prophecy before, but maybe because this one is so big and new and it could mean anything—"

"Theo." His voice brought me back. "Like I said; don't worry about it too much. Your dad was right. It could be decades. Centuries. It won't have to do with us. Not if I can help it."

I laughed, but my voice wavered, and I knew Percy could tell I was still worried. I bit my lip and shook my head. "I just.. Percy, you heard the line about the child of wisdom. It's weird for the Oracle to ever give such an explicit line. It even referred to the child of wisdom as 'her.'"

He knew what I was thinking. "Hey," he said, his voice smooth. He put a hand on my cheek again. "It's not Annabeth. It can't be."

"I just..." I scoffed lightly. "It just feels too strange. Something's up with this new Great Prophecy, Percy. I know you don't want to believe it's going to happen within our lifetimes, but I can't ignore the possibilities. And if it does happen with us... what does that mean for Annabeth? And who's the person walking alone to the Doors of Death? And the whole part about the world falling to blue or gray skies..."

"Listen." Percy put a finger beneath my chin to lift my gaze. "You can't worry about this for the rest of your life. It could have to do with us, sure. But it could also have to do with a whole new generation of demigods. Either way, it's not happening right now. The best we can do is kick back, relax, and be excited for whatever next summer's gonna bring us."

A pit in the middle of my stomach began to unwind as Percy spoke. He wasn't always the most observant person, or the brightest, and it took him years to realize I was in love with him, but he was good for at least one thing: He could always talk me off the precipice of disaster. I wasn't sure what I was going to do without him for the whole school year.

"You're right," I whispered, the ghost of a smile returning to my lips. "Of course you're right. I need to let it go."

"You're gonna be fully gray by twenty if you keep this up," he warned me, a teasing tone to his voice.

"Is that a bad thing?" I mused. "Would you break up with me?"

"Of course not," he said quickly. "In fact, I think I'd love you even more."

"Oh, yeah? Why?"

"Because everyone would be jealous that I'm dating a silver fox," he said impishly, grinning down at me.

I punched his arm, but I was smiling, too. "You're annoying as shit, Percy Jackson."

He laughed and shoved me back. "You love me for it, Theo Scott."

The loud, drawn-out honking of a horn interrupted us, and we both looked to the bottom of the hill to find Annabeth leaning over the driver's seat, her palm spread out on the steering wheel to press on the horn. Percy and I waved at her dismissively.

"Time to go," I told him. "Annabeth's not one to wait."

"Oh, I know," he said, raising his eyebrows. "I'm surprised she hasn't left me behind yet."

I peered over his shoulder at the van. "She looks like she's about to. Go!"

Both of us laughing, I watched from the top of the hill as Percy scrambled down to the white van, holding his bag in one hand and ripping the door open with his other. Before he hopped into the driver's seat, he turned over his shoulder back to me. I could see his green eyes sparkling even from such a distance away. He lifted a hand and waved to me, the sight of his mischievous grin bringing a smile to my own face. I waved back—both at him and at Annabeth.

I tried not to think about the fact that, with Grover out on the search for new half-bloods, this was the first time I'd ever be at camp without any of my best friends. I'd always had at least one of them. Now I had none.

"Wish me luck!" Annabeth yelled, ripping me from my thoughts, her head poking out the window of the van. She had her Yankee's cap in her hand. I'd bet she was planning on freaking Percy out by going invisible halfway through the drive.

"See you weirdos later," I called down the hill, waving again. "Try not to get into too much trouble, okay?"

"Please!" Percy laughed. "Trouble's my middle name, isn't it?"

"Something of the sort," I agreed, laughing to myself.

Before I could even register it, their van was speeding off into the distance, and I could almost imagine Annabeth screaming for Percy to slow down. It brought a smile to my lips again, a bittersweet memory to linger in my mind as I made my way back into camp.

"Hey, there you are!" Will jogged up to me. He had a nasty gash on his forehead, dressed messily. "We're just about to start campfire. You ready to lead, Head Counselor?"

I puffed up my cheeks. "I guess I don't really have any other choice. How do I look? Good enough to stand in front of the entire year-round camp?"

Will inspected me. "Good enough," he granted. "And me?"

"Always perfect," I said with a shrug. "Though whoever dressed your wound needs a little bit more training."

He shrugged as we turned and began to head to campfire. "Nico did it. He's not exactly a medicine connoisseur."

"Certainly not," I agreed, smiling, falling into trail next to him. "But he's better than Grover

As we walked, I glanced back over my shoulder. I could just barely make out the white van speeding down the path, bouncing at every tiny pebble. I smiled to myself and turned back around, jogging to keep up with Will, shoving his shoulder in a way to show I loved him. He shoved me back, and we kept it up, all the way to the campfire.

     "Alright, everyone," I called, once I'd made it to the front of the crowd. And a crowd, it was; tons more half-bloods were staying year-round now. Faces I didn't recognize smiled up at me, mixed in with all the ones I did. I smiled out at the sea of demigods. "Who's ready for the best year of their lives?"

unbelievable. this is actually so crazy. the last chapter? are u kidding me? i'm going to cry. im tearing up rn. ITS THE LAST CHAPTER GUYS. i tried not to make it too bittersweet but i can only do so much when there are tears welling up in my eyes.

but don't worry—theo isn't gone! i already have my heroes of olympus fic up: bloodshed. go check it out! theo, percy, and annabeth get to meet all of your favorite HoO characters—including a character of my own ;)

thank you so so much to all of you for sticking with me this long. it's been a wild ride. i'm so appreciative of all of your support, patience, and love. i hope you enjoyed this story as much as i did writing it. thank you for everything <3.