❛016❜

THE THREE DEMIGODS and their satyr friend were escorted back to camp by argus, the many-eyes security chief. it was the friday before christmas, but given the early hour the long island expressway was deserted.

as they trudged back up half-blood hill to the pine tree where the golden fleece glittered, iy half expected to see thalia there, waiting for them. but she wasn't. she was long gone with artemis and the rest of the hunters, off on their next adventure.

but there was somebody else waiting there. the person who she hadn't updated on anything that had happened in the last week. ivy cringed, knowing this was the moment of her death.

gabriel delgado.

he stood with his hands on his hips, tapping his foot rapidly. his face was contorted in anger, for a second his eyes flashed purple. ivy could see the steam coming out of his ears.

"ivy maria fitzgerald!" gabriel shouted as he stomped towards her.

ivy looked around for a quick escape, but there was nothing to take his attention. there was someone. she turned to her friends, percy was already sprinting away, annabeth wasn't so fast though. ivy grabbed her by the shoulder, annabeth let out a squeak when she was yacked in front of just in time for gabriel to reach them.

"hi, gabi!" ivy said from behind annabeth.

the son of dionysus' eyes softened immediately. "annabeth! i– i heard what happened!" he smiled awkwardly at the blonde, all his anger gone. "ar– are you okay? i'm, um, glad you are."

ivy took a cautious step back from her two friends.

annabeth ran her hands through her hair frantically. "yeah, yeah. um, i'm fine– ah, i was really getting sea sick. you know– boats aren't my thing."

five more steps back.

"go– good thing they got to you o– on time, right?" gabriel chuckled awkwardly. "i– i would've gone if..." his eyes drifted to ivy who was standing a few meters away from them. he glared at her. "if they would have told me you were in danger in the first place instead of going off on a deadly class without telling me!"

"oh shit!" ivy turned on her heel and ran towards the big house.

"you're gonna get it, ivy!" gabriel chased after her, annabeth snorted in the distance. "if there's someone more mad that i am is ma! we need to talk, young lady!"

panting heavily, ivy reached the big house. gabriel glared at her once more when he entered the room after her, pointing two fingers to his eyes then back at her as if saying i'm watching you. she held up her hands in surrender.

chiron greeted them with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about their strange encounter with the magic of pan. within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

annabeth, percy, ivy and gabriel sat with chiron and some of the other senior campers – beckendorf, silena beauregard and the stoll brothers. gabriel wasn't his cabin's counselor, since his brothers had seniority but since they weren't at camp he took their place at meetings. clarisse from the ares cabin was there, back from her scouting mission to... there. ivy sent her a question look, after all she had helped clarisse when it came to research, but the girl didn't met her eyes.

ivy knew clarisse must've had a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to pulverize percy. she had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blonde hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.

"i got news," clarisse mumbled uneasily. "bad news."

"i'll fill you in later," chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "the important thing is you have prevailed. and you saved annabeth!"

annabeth smiled at ivy and percy gratefully, the brunette returned it while nudging percy playfully. the boy looked away, for some reason.

"luke is alive," percy said. "like annabeth said."

ivy raised an eyebrow. "so you were eavesdropping."

percy rolled his eyes, not even trying to deny it. annabeth ignored them and sat up. "how do you know?"

gabriel pursed his lips at her interest. percy told them what his dad had said about the princess andromeda.

"well." annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "if the final battle does come when percy is seventeen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."

ivy had a feeling that when she said figure something out, she meant get luke to change his ways, which irked her. but at the same time, ivy understood where her best friend was coming from.

chiron's expression was gloomy. sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. the centaur was really old, but he usually didn't look it.

"two years may seem like a long time," he said. "but it is the blink of an eye. i still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, percy. but, if you are, then the second titan war is almost upon us. kronos's first strike will be here."

"how do you know?" percy asked. "why would he care about camp?"

"because the gods use heroes as their tools," chiron said simply. "destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. luke's forces will come here. mortal, demigod, monstrous... we must be prepared. clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but–"

there was a knock on the door, and nico di angelo came huffing into the parlour, his cheeks bright red from the cold.

he was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "hey! where's... where's my sister?"

dead silence. ivy stared at chiron. she couldn't believe nobody had told him yet. and then she realized why. they'd been waiting for us to appear, to tell nico in person.

"hey, nico." percy got up from his chair. "let's take a walk, okay? we need to talk."

ivy stood after him. "i'll come–"

"no," percy said. "stay here... i'll be fine on my own."

she bit down on her cheek. he looked determined, and being as stubborn as a mule ivy knew percy wasn't going to budge. she nodded, sitting back down as nico and percy left the room.

ivy took this time to fill chiron in her powers. how she gained control, and how her mother said she was in control. when she brought up going to texas for the rest of the school year he didn't object, agreeing that if her mother approved it was fine by him. the centaur left after that, the senior counselors trickled out slowly after him. it left gabriel and ivy, annabeth said she was going to get a quick shower and that she'll come back later.

the brunette looked down on her lap, feeling her heart break for nico on what he was about to go through. she should've done something to help bianca, anything. she promised herself, right then and there, that she would protect nico like she didn't protect his sister.

"hey," gabriel nudged her shoulder. "you okay?"

she shrugged glumly, looking up at him."fine, i guess..."

"i'm not mad at you, ivy," gabriel sighed. "i was just worried, you know. i got that iris message from tobias, saying that annabeth had been kidnapped and that you went to rescue her. and i just– i got scared."

"i get it." ivy brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "i was scared, too. i should've told you, and your mom, i know. i'm sorry for that, i just kinda got caught up on everything."

gabriel grinned, he brought her in a side hug. "other than our depressing demigod life, i have news."

"news?" she asked.

"we... are moving to new york."

ivy sat up, grabbing him by the shoulder. "really? like not joking at all?"

"no joking at all," gabriel confirmed.

she squealed in delight. ash much as ivy loved texas, new york was new york. it was the fashion capital, so no more exhausting heat and ugly boots.

"why? i mean, the vineyard is in texas. your mom would have to leave the business."

gabriel shrugged, tapping his fingers on his knee at a maddening pace with no rhythm . "you know tio polo?"

ivy thought about it. "yeah, i met him once, i think. last christmas."

"well, he died."

"i'm... sorry," she said carefully.

"no need to be, nobody liked him anyway. viejo amargado," the son of dionysus said with a roll of his eyes. "but he was the one that took charge of the new york office. and since ma and i didn't know when you were going to fix your inner light-saber–"

"–i have never watched star wars–"

"–which is a crime. we thought that moving to new york to be closer to you would be cool. even if you couldn't leave camp, visiting was easier."

ivy blinked. "and... you did all that just to see me? leave texas?"

"'course we did," gabriel smiled. "texas is boring, anyway. and broadway is here, i could audition for the production of–"

she jumped and brought gabriel in a hug. the daughter of aphrodite had to suppress the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. while she had found a family within camp, it wasn't the same as an actual family. ivy has felt void of that connection ever since her dad died. now, gabriel and his mom took her in as her own without hesitation. they moved states just to be closer to her while she struggled to understand a new part of herself.

"oh, gabi. i love you so much," ivy blubbered on the crook of his neck.

"i love you, too, ivy." he said while holding her tight. after pulling back from the hug he said, "but now that you won't burn my ass off by accident, we can live in the city together!"

ivy laughed, the prospect of it made her giddy. she opened her mouth to respond when the door snapped open.

percy was breathing heavily, a freshly showered annabeth behind him. "nico," percy breathed out. "he's gone."

ivy, gabriel, annabeth, and grover helped percy search the woods for hours, but there was no sign of nico di angelo.

"we have to tell chiron," annabeth said, out of breath.

percy shook his head. "no."

they all stared at him.

"um," grover said nervously, "what do you mean... no?"

"we can't let anyone know," he stressed. "i don't think anyone realizes that nico is a –"

"a son of hades," annabeth said. "percy, do you have any idea how serious this is? even hades broke the oath! this is horrible!"

"horrible?" gabriel's eyes were wide, he resembled that animal from asia with the big eyes. "more like disastrous, terrible, ghastly–"

"i don't think so." percy sent ivy a meaningful look, her mouth opened in realization. "i don't think hades broke the oath."

"what?" annabeth asked.

"he is their dad," ivy said, "but bianca and nico have been out of commission for a long time, since even before world war ii."

"the lotus casino!" grover said, and he told annabeth and gabriel about the conversations they'd had with bianca on the quest. "she and nico were stuck there for decades. they were born before the oath was made."

ivy and percy nodded.

"then how did they get out?" gabriel said. "when you guys went there you barely escaped."

"i don't know," percy admitted. "bianca said a lawyer came and got them and drove them to westover hall. i don't know who that could've been, or why. maybe it's part of this great stirring thing. i don't think nico understands who he is. but we can't go telling anyone. not even chiron. if the olympians find out –"

"it might start them fighting among each other again," annabeth said. "that's the last thing we need."

grover looked worried. "but you can't hide things from the gods. not forever."

"i don't need forever," percy said. "just two years. until i'm seventeen."

annabeth exchanged a worried glance with ivy. "but, perce, this means the prophecy might not be about you. it might be about nico. we have to –"

"no." percy licked his lips. "i choose the prophecy. it will be about me."

"why are you saying that?" ivy cried. she remembered the prophecy, what it meant for him. "you want to be responsible for the whole world?"

"i can't let nico be in any more danger," he said. "i owe that much to his sister. i... let them both down. i'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more."

"the poor kid who hates you and wants to see you dead," grover reminded him.

"maybe we can find him," percy suggested. "we can convince him it's okay, hide him somewhere safe."

gabriel winced. "if luke gets hold of him–"

"luke won't," the son of poseidon said. "i'll make sure he's got other things to worry about. meaning, me."

ivy wasn't sure chiron believed the story ivy and percy told him, annabeth had left with gabriel to avoid lying to their mentor. it was impossible for him not to noticed that they were holding something back about nico's disappearance, but, in the end, he accepted it. unfortunately, nico wasn't the first half-blood to disappear. she wondered how ethan was doing, if he was alive or joined kronos.

"so young," chiron sighed, his hands on the rail of the front porch. "alas, i hope he was eaten by monsters. much better than being recruited into the titans' army."

that idea made ivy really uneasy.

"you really think the first attack will be here?" percy asked, looking over camp as if it was the last time he was going to see it.

chiron stared at the snow falling on the hills. ivy could see smoke from the dragon guardian at the pine tree, the glitter of the distant fleece.

"it will not be until summer, at least," chiron said. "this winter will be hard... the hardest for many centuries. "it's best that you go home to the city, percy, try to keep your mind on school. and rest. you will need rest."

percy looked at ivy. "what about you? did annabeth decide what she was going to do?"

ivy smirked at him. "annabeth is going to try san francisco, i made her promise to keep in contact with the both of us. and me, well, i'm going to go back to living with gabriel..."

"so, all the way to texas, huh?" percy looked down glumly.

"who said anything about texas?"

he looked up at her and said, "that where they live, the ranch is there."

"details, they are so important," ivy looked at chiron, who shook her head at her antics. the centaur already knew about the move. "the ranch will be fine in texas. new york, though, i wonder if it's able to handle gabriel and i together–"

"you're moving?" percy looked between chiron and ivy. "you're not shitting me?"

"language," chiron chided.

"no, i'm not shitting on you."

"no cursing."

percy grinned. "well, if you're living in the city i could show you this skatepa–"

whatever he was going to say was interrupted by grover, who stumbled out of the big house, tripping over tin cans. his face was haggard and pale, like he'd seen a spectre.

"he spoke!" grover cried.

"calm down, my young satyr," chiron said, frowning. "what is the matter?"

"i... i was playing music in the parlour," he stammered, "and drinking coffee. lots and lots of coffee! and he spoke in my mind!"

"who?" ivy asked worriedly, hearing voices wasn't normal.

"pan!" grover wailed. "the lord of the wild himself. i heard him! i have to... i have to find a suitcase."

"whoa, whoa, whoa," percy said. "what did he say?"

grover stared at him. "just three words. he said, i await you."

A SPEAKS!

LAST CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK WHAAAT.
the epilogue is coming in a few days,,, do we want in percy's pov bc i can make it happen jUst say the word
you don't understand how excited i am for book 2 hehe