****between the astricts is my addition to this chapter****

Chapter 22: I Am Dumped

Rachel has just accepted her position as the new Oracle. This chapter is rather long, so I chose not to re-write that part of it. 

The rest of the day was as strange as the beginning. Campers trickled in from New York by car, pegasus, and chariot. The wounded were cared for. The dead were given proper funeral rites at the campfire. 

Silena's shroud was hot pink but embroidered with an electric spear. The Ares and Aphrodite cabins both claimed her as a hero, and lit the shroud together. No one mentioned the word spy. That secret burned to ashes as the designer perfume smoke drifted into the sky.

Even Ethan Nakamura was given a shroud-black silk with a logo of swords crossed under a set of scales. As his shroud went up in flames, I hoped Ethan knew he had made a difference in the end. He'd paid a lot more than an eye, but the minor gods would finally get the respect they deserved.

**********

After the burning of Ethan's shroud, the burial proceedings had been completed. Never had I seen that many shrouds burned at camp, and I hope I never have to see that many again. Dinner was scheduled in the pavilion at a time a little later than normal, but I was okay with that. As the small crowd of campers began to go their separate ways, I found myself walking silently to the Poseidon cabin with my head lost in thought. I vaguely heard a girl's voice calling after me, but I didn't need to turn around to see who it was. 

Annabeth slowed her pace and was walking side by side with me. She was trying to talk to me, but I couldn't focus on what she said. The day had been won, but I still felt guilty. Guilty for all of the damage that had been caused to my beautiful city, guilty for all of the demigods I couldn't save, guilt for all of this happening in the first place. 

We were at the door of the Poseidon cabin now, and I still couldn't find the words to talk to Annabeth. 

"Percy." Annabeth grabbed my hand and forced me to look at her. I stared at her, thinking how grateful I was that we made it through the last few days. She looked worn out by the battle, but I still thought she had never looked more beautiful. 

She reached up and lightly touched the matching gray streak in my hair. We've gone through a lot together since we were 11. There were times when the world was falling apart, but at times all that mattered to me was that Annabeth was alive.  Even if I hadn't survived this war, I would have done anything I could to make sure that she did. 

Annabeth stopped playing with my gray streak and gingerly wiped a tear from my cheek. I hadn't even realized I was crying. 

"Come on, Seaweed Brain." She pushed open the door to my cabin and pulled me inside toward my bunk, our hands still intertwined. "Lay down." 

"Annabeth," I said, "I'm fine."

She sat down with me on my bunk. "You may be invulnerable, Seaweed Brain, but that doesn't mean you aren't human." She was lightly running her thumb over my hand as she said this. I couldn't think of any better feeling than sitting next to her just existing. 

I slowly switched into a laying position as Annabeth loosened her grip on my hand and began to stand up. I pulled her back towards me and she sat back on the edge of the bed. 

"Where do you think you're going, Wise Girl?" I asked her. 

She blushed and stumbled over her words. "Well...I um...cabin needs me...don't want to bother you anymore..." her voice trailed off. 

I blushed a little but pulled her in so that I was holding her close to me. "We're staying together. You're not getting away from me that easy," I whispered in her ear.  

She smiled and nuzzled herself closer to me. "As long as we're together" she whispered back. 

I could feel the tears building up in my eyes. With all the responsibility I had the last few days, I hadn't really let myself process what had happened. I may be a teenage boy, but that doesn't mean that I can't cry. I let myself cry for a lot of things. I cried for all the campers we lost. I cried for all the damage to my beautiful city. I cried out of pure exhaustion. The entire time, Annabeth just held me closer. There were tears streaming down her face too, and I knew that she was feeling the same way I was.  

I know a couple of things for sure. One, letting yourself rest and process what you've been through is severely underrated. Two, I was wrong before. I thought Annabeth running her thumb over my hand was the best feeling in the world, but laying here with her was even better. 

We laid there crying and sleeping until the sun went down and we heard the dinner bell ring. I looked down at Annabeth and touched her matching gray streak. "Wake up, Wise Girl," I whispered down to her. 

She slowly opened her eyes and smiled up at me. I got up from my bunk first and offered my hand to her. She smiled again, and that made it all worthwhile. 

We walked towards the dining pavilion hand-in-hand. I didn't want to let go of Annabeth's hand, but as we walked in and saw Clarisse staring at us suspiciously, we quickly dropped the other's hand and went to our respective tables blushing like crazy.  

**********

Dinner at the pavilion was low-key. The only highlight was Juniper the tree nymph, who screamed, "Grover!" and gave her boyfriend a flying tackle hug, making everybody cheer. They went down to the beach to take a moonlit walk, and I was happy for them, though the scene reminded me of Silena and Beckendorf, which made me sad. 

Mrs. O'Leary romped around happily, eating everybody's table scraps. Nico sat at the main table with Chiron and Mr. D, and nobody seemed to think this was out of place. Everybody was patting Nico on the back, complimenting him on his fighting. Even the Ares kids seemed to think he was pretty cool. Hey, show up with an army of undead warriors to save the day, and suddenly you're everybody's best friend.

Slowly, the dinner crowd trickled away. Some went to the campfire for a sing-along. Others went to bed. I sat at the Poseidon table by myself and watched the moonlight on Long Island Sound. I could see Grover and Juniper at the beach, holding hands and talking. It was peaceful.

"Hey." Annabeth slid next to me on the bench. "Happy birthday."

She was holding a huge misshapen cupcake with blue icing.

I stared at her. "What?"

"It's August 18th," she said. "Your birthday, right?"

I was stunned. It hadn't even occurred to me, but she was right. I had turned sixteen this morning-the same morning I'd made the choice to give Luke the knife. The prophecy had come true right on schedule, and I hadn't even thought about the fact that it was my birthday.

"Make a wish," she said.

"Did you bake this yourself?" I asked.

"Tyson helped."

"That explains why it looks like a chocolate brick," I said. "With extra blue cement."

Annabeth laughed.

I thought for a second, then blew out the candle.

We cut it in half and shared, eating with our fingers. Annabeth sat next to me, and we watched the ocean. Crickets and monsters were making noise in the woods, but otherwise, it was quiet.

"You saved the world," she said.

"We saved the world."

"And Rachel is the new Oracle, which means she won't be dating anybody."

"You don't sound disappointed," I noticed.

Annabeth shrugged. "Oh, I don't care."

"Uh-huh."

She raised an eyebrow. "You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?"

"You'd probably kick my butt."

"You know I'd kick your butt."

I brushed the cake off my hands. "When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable . . . Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal."

Annabeth kept her eyes on the horizon. "Yeah?"

"Then up on Olympus," I said, "when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking-"

"Oh, you so wanted to."

"Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought-I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity, because things could always get better. And I was thinking . . ." My throat felt really dry.

"Anyone in particular?" Annabeth asked, her voice soft.

I looked over and saw that she was trying not to smile.

"You're laughing at me," I complained.

"I am not!"

"You are so not making this easy."

Then she laughed for real, and she put her hands around my neck. "I am never, ever going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."

When she kissed me, I had the feeling my brain was melting right through my body. 

**********

Now I know another thing for sure. I thought that laying in my bunk with Annabeth was the best feeling in the world, but my Wise Girl went and proved me wrong again. This moment, kissing her after all that we've been through together, finally letting ourselves feel things for each other, is the best feeling in the world. 

**********

I could've stayed that way forever, except a voice behind us growled, "Well, it's about time!"Suddenly the pavilion was filled with torchlight and campers. Clarisse led the way as the eavesdroppers charged and hoisted us both onto their shoulders.

"Oh, come on!" I complained. "Is there no privacy?"

"The lovebirds need to cool off!" Clarisse said with glee.

"The canoe lake!" Connor Stoll shouted.

With a huge cheer, they carried us down the hill, but they kept us close enough to hold hands. Annabeth was laughing, and I couldn't help laughing too, even though my face was completely red.

We held hands right up to the moment they dumped us in the water.

Afterward, I had the last laugh. I made an air bubble at the bottom of the lake. Our friends kept waiting for us to come up, but hey-when you're the son of Poseidon, you don't have to hurry.

And it was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time.