stollen things || c. stoll

5.7 ~ Fin

I was rudely shaken awake by Grover (who knows how many hours later) to the good news that Olympus had been saved. However, it had also been mostly destroyed so we had to go around checking on the nature spirits. It was a depressing process. Many of them had died.

I sat down dejectedly next to a satyr and we looked out at the destroyed parks. I hadn't even had time to think back to Connor or Travis, but just then the latter came up behind me. Travis tapped my shoulder and beckoned me to speak with him in private. I hugged him, glad to see him alive. He'd been hit on the head, but it had looked worse than it turned out to be.

He scratched his neck. "Look. Connor, he..." He said nothing more.

"What?" I whispered, expecting the worst. Tears came to my eyes. There was so much I hadn't told him. And now he was gone.

"He's down in the lobby helping move everyone out. A concussion is all." Travis grinned. "Gotcha there."

I punched him in the chest. "You're an asshole, you know that? You made me think he was dead!"

He laughed. "Come on, let's go find him. He should be on his way up here by now."

We took it slow moving due to Travis's probable concussion and my lasting dizziness. We eventually made it down to the sky bridge, where Connor was dragging an injured Ares camper to one of the parks on Olympus where Will Solace had set up his own hospital. As soon as he'd handed the camper off, I ran towards him. I almost fell over on the way there, still disoriented, but I made it into his arms.

He spun me around and held me tight against his chest. "I'm so glad you're alive." He muttered between kisses. Travis was still standing there, witnessing this.

"We'll talk later." I whispered, then separated from him. Percy, Grover, and Annabeth emerged from the throne room and started heading down to the elevators. The remaining campers followed shortly.

The brothers and I ran by the kitchens to grab our spiked seltzers and white claws and got back on the van with the wounded. It may have been in bad taste but after the last few days we'd had, we deserved it. After all, we'd lost the last of our friends in the past two weeks.

•

Silena's shroud was hot pink and smelled of perfume. I had to burn too many shrouds for my young siblings.

Dinner was low-key. Madge was seriously injured, so she was in the infirmary. They thought she would live, though. Just with rest. I only had two of my sisters sitting with me at dinner.

After dinner, many of us went to the campfire for sing-along. We stopped earlier than usual, because Connor spotted something at the dining pavilion. Percy and Annabeth hadn't come to the campfire. We quietly walked over to them, bringing torches with us.

We waited, watching as they laughed together. Finally, Annabeth kissed him.

"It's about damn time!" Clarisse said, grinning. Connor and I hoisted the two onto our shoulders. "Oh, come on!" Percy groaned. "Is there no privacy?"

"The lovebirds need to cool off." Clarisse declared. We cheered.

"To the canoe lake!" Connor shouted. We marched them to the dock and threw them into the water. Connor, Travis, and I high-fived and headed back to my cabin. We'd stashed our drinks there because we knew if we had put it in the Hermes cabin, someone would've nicked it immediately and we'd never find it again.

We considered our usual clearing in the North woods, but Mr. D had found it earlier in the summer and would probably know we'd be out tonight. Something came to my mind that Katie had said many years ago.