Piper

"Are we almost there?" I asked Rachel. She rolled her eyes from behind the controls of the sky canoe.

"You've asked five times within the last hour, " Grover complained.

"I'm with Piper on this one," Katie said, leaning over Rachel's shoulder to look out the windows of the cockpit. "I just need to know that Travis is okay."

"We'll be there in twenty minutes, now would all of you shut up!" Rachel yelled.

I nodded and backed out of the cockpit, taking a seat in the interior. Even though it had been cleaned thoroughly, I could still see Jason's blood in my mind. The rescue itself was two days ago, or early yesterday morning, depending on how you look at it.

Immediately after we'd gotten everyone on the sky canoes, we flew off to the Caribbean Islands, where Thalia had a safe haven set up for her hunters. We intend to expand it a bit and really make it a home.

My eyes teared up as I thought about Reyna. She had been so brave. So selfless. Her only goal was to save Jason and she died for it. It breaks my heart over and over again to know that I lost her. I've lost too many people I love.

But thankfully, Will was able to save Jason. When we left, he was all wrapped up in bandages, confined to a cot. And Katie, Rachel, Grover, and I left right away for Hashima Island, the Second Drop Zone.

And now we were approaching it.

The crowded buildings prevented us from a proper landing so Rachel decided she'd keep it in a hover, while she stayed aboard. She sent down the ramp onto the top of the closest building and we sent Grover to scout out if the stairs were sturdy enough to navigate. We figured he was the best choice, being half goat.

He returned after ten minutes with a thumbs up. "Go get our friends," Rachel encouraged, and we were off. We got down the many flights of stairs as quickly as possible and broke out into the shadows at the bottom. About a block over from where we were standing, a figure emerged from a crumbling building, hand covering his eyes as he looked up at the helicarrier.

Katie recognized the figure before I did. "Travis!" She yelled, breaking into a sprint, Grover and I not far behind.

She reached him before we did and tackled him in a hug. He only barely managed to stay on his feet. My face hurt from how wide I was smiling, seeing the two of them.

Katie was crying, quick hard gasps escaping as she clung to Travis, cupping the back of his head with her hand. He had his arms tight around her middle pulling her close, his hands shaking.

Two others emerged from the doorway. I recognized them immediately as Clovis and Valentina. They were hand in hand, looking a bit frightened. Their hard stares softened at the sight of us.

Valentina's face crumbled and she wrapped me in a hug. "Thank the gods!" She said. I smiled into her hair and patted her back.

"We're getting you guys out of here," I assured. After all the sentiments, we led the three to the building and up the stairs to where the sky canoe was waiting.

"Connor," Travis said, "is he here? Can I—can I see him?" Travis's voice trembled a bit. He just wanted to see his brother.

I offered him a sad smile. "That's actually our next stop. You see, he was sent to Drop Zone Three the day after you were sent here."

Travis's eyes widened. "He had to be alone too? But- hold on, where's Drop Zone Three?"

"Chernobyl," I supplied. "The sooner we get on the sky canoe the sooner we can get there."

Travis all but ran to the sky canoe, dragging Katie along behind him.

And thus a little while later, we landed over the nuclear disaster known as Chernobyl. It seemed desolate and empty from the sky. It was a lot greener than I expected it to be, but still in an artificial, sick looking way.

Rachel did a scan. "I'm picking up three signatures in that building there. I'll have to land in the grass out here. I can't get close enough and land safely."

She turned around in her seat to look at me. "Go get 'em," she said with a smile.

So it was that Grover, Katie, Travis, and I embarked from the sky canoe to go find Connor, Cecil, and Damien.

We tried to maintain a jog because Travis was so desperate to get to his brother, but he wasn't healthy enough, so we eventually fell into a walk.

When we got close enough, I brought out Hedge's very special megaphone that he let me borrow for this special occasion.

"CONNER! CECIL? DAMIEN? THIS IS PIPER, WE'RE TO RESCUE YOU!"

I paused, then added, "TRAVIS IS HERE, TOO!"

We approached the building and Cecil came out, looking war torn. He looked weary but cracked a smile nonetheless.

"Travis?" He asked. Travis was looking past him, around him, searching for Connor, but nodded and offered his half brother a hug anyway.

"Where's Connor?" Travis asked.

"And Damien," Grover added.

Just then Damien emerged as well. His face broke into a grin as he breathed in relief. He jerked his head back in the direction he came. "He's inside. Listen, Travis, he's— well he's not doing too well. We think he's contracted radiation poisoning or something. The last time he was conscious was...forty-eight hours ago. Thank gods you came when you did, we need to get him help."

With that, Travis shoved past everyone and ran in the direction Damien pointed him in. We all followed quickly.

"Grover, you should run back and get a stretcher from the canoe," I suggested and he nodded and ran off. When I got there, Travis had just fallen to his knees in front of Connor.

Connor was propped up on a mound of hay and leaves covered in a blanket, sort of like a bed. He was curled up in a ball, looking pale and sickly.

Travis quickly grabbed his hand, pushing his brown curls out of his face. He was the embodiment of worry.

"What are his symptoms?" I asked Cecil.

He wrung his hands in front of him. "Well he's been throwing up almost nonstop. Most of the time it's bloody. You see he's got a nasty rash on his arm and uh, well he normally doesn't stay awake for long when he does wake up. Talks sometimes, nothing coherent. Doesn't know where he is half the time."

I nodded, cataloging this information in my brain.

Cecil continued, "He seems to always have a fever, gets bloody noses often. He'll eat when we tell him too, drink the water we give him, but he's still pretty dehydrated. We've done everything we can think of. I really am thankful you came to save us."

Then, in a lower, fearful voice, he said, "We were starting to worry whether he'd make it or not."

I smiled reassuringly. "Grover's gone to get a stretcher. We'll get him back to base and Will will fix him right up. Everything will be fine."

He cocked his head at me. "Base?" He asked.

"Yeah. We got everyone out of the Harvest Compound, burned it to the ground. We're headed somewhere safe. Everyone else is there already, waiting to welcome you home."

He looked relieved, but a bit disappointed. "So we can't go back to Camp Half-Blood?" He asked solemnly.

I shook my head. "It's not safe. We can't risk going there. Not after what happened. It hurts me too, but it's what's best."

Cecil nodded. "Percy'll know what to do." He said confidently.

My smile dipped from my face, almost disappearing altogether. "You've been away awhile," I said.

"Huh?" He asked. Travis looked up at that too, a questioning look in his eyes. "We'll fill you in on the way. In the meantime, let's get you all some safety and comfort."

Finally, Grover came jogging through the entranceway, toting a stretcher behind him, Rachel right behind him.

Grover and I, with the help of Travis, moved Connor gently onto the stretcher. He didn't even stir a little bit. After getting him buckled and secured, we began our journey back to the sky canoe.

"Why do you call it a sky canoe?" Damien asked, looking in awe at the ginormous helicarrier. I pointed at it and rolled my eyes.

"Leo called it that and it kinda stuck. We don't know what else to call them."

We secured the stretcher to the sky canoe and Travis stayed glued to Connor's side, eyes never straying from his face. Katie sat next to him, arms around his middle in a side hug, cheek pressed to his shoulder.

"So what happened?" Clovis asked once we took off, heading for the Safe Haven. "Tell is everything."

So we did. I started by explaining how after searching the compound for Annabeth, I got sent to the First Drop Zone and how the four of us girls formed a plan to rescue everyone.

I told them how the Hunters and the Amazons all showed up to help and I told them how we got everyone out and destroyed the place, making sure to emphasize the bit where Everette was killed.

But Cecil knew that something was wrong. He raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe I heard of any heroic deeds committed by the magnificent Percy Jackson," Cecil joked, half in denial. "Do tell."

I looked down as Grover's eyes started to water again like they did every time someone mentioned him.

"Everette...Everette killed Percy, Cecil. He's dead," I said.

Travis sputtered, looking up for the first time. He looked like he'd been punched. "What?"

"It was the Harvester technically," Katie clarified quietly. "But Everette's got a lot of blood on his hands."

Travis looked heartbroken, shocked. "Who else?" He asked quietly, because if the greatest hero of this generation was dead, then surely he wasn't the only one.

I kept my eyes trained on the ground. "I don't know for sure the entire death toll. I do know that Malcolm Pace was killed in the initial invasion of Camp Half-Blood, among five others. Hazel Levesque was executed. Reyna died making sure Jason got out. He almost died too, would've if it hadn't been for her sacrifice. A—a lot of people died, Travis. But we're safe now. We're out of that place."

Travis nodded numbly, turning to bury his face in Katie's neck.

We arrived at the Safe Haven some time later in the Caribbean Islands to quite the crowd of demigods welcoming us back.

I couldn't help but feel pride for the gathering. Us half-bloods are nothing if not resilient.

We got the stretcher carrying Connor to the makeshift infirmary and Will got right to work healing him.

Meanwhile, I found my way over to Jason who was sitting up in his cot, watching me approach with a smile.

"You can see me that far?" I joked, poking fun at his missing glasses.

"No," he admitted. "But I knew it was you. I can tell by the way you walk."

I smiled and sat next to him on the cot, taking his hand and lacing my fingers through his. In that moment, both of our smiles seemed a bit forced.

I looked over and Jason's eyebrows were scrunched together. I nudged his shoulder and he caught my eye. "I never thought...I never thought this would become of us. On the Argo II, I never thought this would be our future. Gods, I miss them all so much."

I nodded, looking out across the beach to the setting sun. "I know. I do to."

He followed my gaze, squeezing my hand a bit tighter. "I wonder..." he trailed off, lost in thought.

"Wonder what, Sparky?" I asked. "I wonder if they know where we are. If they know we got here. That we're alright." His eyes glistened a bit, filling with tears, no doubt make his vision all the blearier.

I let out a breath, a great weight that had been resting on my shoulders. "He knows," I said, thinking of Percy, of how determined he was to protect everyone and to make sure all of his people were safe. Then I thought of everyone. Of what everyone did to get us where we are, even before all this happened.

"They all do."

Heyyyyyy everyone. My gods, that was a long wait. A whole month! I was just very uninspired and needed a bit of a break. I've been quite obsessed with the Marauders(HP) lately so I've been reading about them.

Anyway, thanks for reading, I'll have a few more chapters before this book will be wrapped up. I've really enjoyed this story and I love all of your comments. They make my day.

(Also that last line was inspired by Avengers Endgame *wink wink* if you know what I mean)

So please remember to vote and comment and have a wonderful day. Love you demigods:)