The sun was beginning to set as Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Jason, Leo, Thalia, Nico and I stood gathered on the front porch of the Big House, our bags of stuff at our feet.

  "So... the last day of summer is almost over," Leo said, fiddling with his toolbelt.

  "It's crazy, isn't it? That after everything that's happened to us, we still have to go back to school tomorrow." Percy laughed, his arm slung around Annabeth's shoulders.

  "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I prefer doing homework over battling Giants." Frank chuckled. He and Hazel were sitting on one of the benches together, their fingers laced together.

  "True." Jason agreed. "And we'll all be going to Goode together."

  "You'll have to show us around, Percy," I said. "Seeing as you're the only one who has actually been there before."

  "Well, I kind of missed almost all of my Junior year so I don't know how good of a guide I'll be." Percy shrugged.

  "A whole year?" I exclaimed. "Is that how long the thing with Gaea lasted?"

  "Yeah. I was missing for about six months and then Gaea happened. So during all that I really didn't have a lot of time for school." He explained.

  "I hadn't realized how long all of that had taken," Hazel said as she took a small golden nugget out of her pocket with her free hand and began to fiddle with it.

  "I guess you could say time flies when you're having fun." Leo jokingly elbowed Jason, who was standing next to him. Needless to say, that earned him a death-glare from Annabeth.

  "You know, we should do something before the day officially ends and the cleaning harpies eat us," Thalia suggested.

  "You know, I think I spied a couple packages of water balloons in the Big House the last time I talked to Chiron in there," Percy said with a mischievous look in his eye.

  "Are you suggesting a water balloon fight, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked.

  "No Wise Girl, I'm suggesting a water balloon war," Percy said matter-of-factly.

  "So are the teams gonna be something like Greeks vs. Romans?" Leo asked.

  "I think we've all had enough of Greeks and Romans fighting each other," Nico said. "How about boys vs. girls?" He suggested.

  "We are so gonna get our asses kicked..." Jason groaned, a terrified look on his face. Thalia laughed and said,

  "So it's settled then. A water balloon fight-"

  "Water balloon war." Percy interrupted.

  "Whatever. Anyways, We'll have a water balloon war. Percy and Hazel should go find the balloons and Piper and Leo can find a hose or something to fill the balloons with. The rest of us will split up into our teams and start to plan." Thalia explained.

  "Sounds good." Annabeth nodded in agreement.

  "You're going down Wise Girl." Percy grinned cheekily at his girlfriend.

  "You wish Seaweed Brain." Annabeth laughed and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. "Come on Thalia, let's go figure out how we're gonna beat these guys." She ducked out from under Percy's arm and the two girls headed off towards the cabins together.

  "Come on Leo, we should probably go find that hose." I grabbed his arm, dragging him off of the porch and away from the rest of the group. I heard a few giggles from the others as we rounded the side of the Big House. Fortunately, it didn't take too long to find a silver faucet attached to the side of the blue farmhouse, a long green hose lay coiled on the ground next to it. I bent down and screwed the hose onto the faucet. Leo stood there, tinkering with something in his toolbelt. Once I had finished, Leo looked up from his miscellaneous machine parts.

  "Should we go back and tell the others we found it?" He asked. I picked up the hose, a mischievous look in my eye.

  "Yeah, I've just got to test it first." I smiled and pointed the hose at him.

  "Pipes..." Leo began to slowly back away, his hands raised in surrender. "You don't want to do this. I know you Pipes, you would never want to hurt m- AAAAHHHHH FUCK!" A jet of cold water hit him in the face, dousing him completely in water. He sputtered and flailed his arms wildly, trying to block the water, but with no such luck. I turned off the hose to reveal an angry Leo, his clothes dripping with water.

  "The look on your face is priceless!" I exclaimed, doubling over in laughter. Leo smirked and shook himself off like a dog, drops of water flying everywhere. I squealed and covered my face to try and shield myself from the water.

  "Is the Beauty Queen scared she's gonna ruin her makeup?" Leo teased his hands on his hips. I rolled my eyes and aimed the hose at him again.

  "Do you want me to spray you again?" I raised an eyebrow.

  "You know what? I think I'm just gonna go find Percy to see if he'll dry me off. Please don't spray me." Leo ran off towards the front porch of the Big House. I smirked and tossed the hose down on the ground. I then headed over to the cabins to see what Annabeth and Thalia had begun planning.

  "If we stash some balloons here we can-" Annabeth looked up from her map of the camp as I walked towards her and Thalia. Her face broke into a grin and waved me over to where they sat on the ground just outside the Athena Cabin. I walked over and sat down cross-legged next to them.

  "What have you guys come up with so far?" I asked as I looked over the map. Lines were drawn in different directions and small Xs covered the map.

  "Well, we have some places like here and here-" Annabeth pointed to two Xs on the map near the woods. "Where we could easily hide some balloons."

  "And then we have some spots like this one here-" Thalia pointed to a spot on the map near the Big House. "Where we can see the boys, but they can't see us. It's the perfect spot for an ambush." I smiled and nodded, those boys had no idea what had just signed up for.

  "Hey, guys! I got balloons!" I turned around to see Hazel jogging over to where we sat, two packages of water balloons clutched tightly in her hand. She slowed to a stop in front of us, her eyes glowing with excitement. "There was four packages total, Percy took the other two. Will this be enough?" She asked, holding out the two plastic packages. Annabeth got up and took one from her outstretched hand and examined the balloons.

  "It's a little less than I thought there would be but we should be fine." She said, handing it back to Hazel.

  "Oh, and one more thing you guys should know. The area by the hose is a safe zone to fill up water balloons, anywhere else is fair game though. Percy and I just thought that we should be able to safely fill up balloons and not have to worry about the other team." Hazel explained.

  "Sounds good." Thalia nodded. "We should probably go over to the hose and start to fill some of these up." She gestured to the balloons.

  "Ok, but first I should probably put this somewhere safe," Annabeth said as she folded up the map. "I'll be right back." She quickly ducked inside the Athena Cabin. As we waited for her we explained to Hazel our strategies for the game. Soon, Annabeth came out with a blue drawstring bag slung around her shoulder.

  "Getting that is what took you so long?" Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Was that even worth getting? The water from the balloons will just soak right through it and get the map all wet."

  "Ok, first of all, it was wedged underneath my bunk and I couldn't get it out. And second of all, it's waterproof. Percy gave it to me a while back and it actually comes in handy a lot." Annabeth smirked.

  "Wow," Hazel said, her eyes glittering in amusement.

  "Well, should we get this show on the road?" I asked.

  "What are you, a middle-aged dad? Who even says that anymore?" Thalia joked. We laughed as we headed back towards the big house, the sun dipping further below the horizon.

  "Hey, guys! The girls are here!" Jason shouted. The other boys looked up from the water balloons they had been tying.

  "Hey, Wise Girl," Percy smiled as Annabeth walked over to him.

  "Hey, Seaweed Brain, I can't talk now. I wouldn't want to be caught fraternizing with the enemy." Annabeth replied with a mischievous smile. Percy laughed.

  "Well, in that case, I'll see you on the battlefield, Chase." Annabeth rolled her eyes affectionately.

  "Get a room you two," Thalia called out as she walked past the pair, heading for Hazel who had taken a seat by the water hose and was already filling up balloons. I laughed and joined the two girls, closely followed by Annabeth.

  By the time we had filled up all of our balloons, the boys had already run off to wherever they had chosen to hide out.

  "Shouldn't we be worried that the boys have a head start?" Hazel asked.

  "I wouldn't worry too much." Annabeth said, tying off her last balloon, "You know what they say, the early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese."

  "Now that we've got everything ready, what's our next move?" I asked as I gingerly picked up my plastic shopping bag filled with water balloons.

  "We need to stash some of our balloons somewhere safe and we also need to find where the boys are hiding out," Thalia explained.

  "Well since you and Piper have more balloons than the two of us, you can hide those and Annabeth and I can try and find the boys," Hazel suggested.

  "Perfect," Annabeth smiled.

  "Sounds like a plan." Thalia grabbed her balloons. "Come on Piper, let's go." I nodded and followed Talia away from the Big House and towards the woods.

  The two of us stayed silent as we walked, trying not to draw attention to ourselves just in case anyone was around. Eventually, I couldn't stand the silence any longer and whispered,

  "You know, we totally-" Thalia suddenly clamped her hand over my mouth, effectively shutting me up, and pulled me down behind the bush. Not long after, I heard footsteps approaching us. I shot a grateful glance at Thalia who was quietly reaching for one of her balloons with her free hand. I pried her fingers off my face and silently swatted her other hand away from the plastic bag. Thalia gave me a look but reluctantly drew her hand away. The footsteps eventually faded away and we slowly peeked over the shrub.

  "What was that for?" Thalia whisper-yelled. "I could have got them!"

  "We have to stick to the plan," I whispered back defensively. Thalia sighed and stood up, brushing the stray bits of dirt off her ripped jeans.

  "Who do you think that was?" I asked softly, standing up beside her.

  "Jason and Nico, for sure. It sounded like they were headed for Canoe Lake," Thalia replied.

  "Maybe they're going to meet up with Percy," I suggested, reaching down to grab my bag of water balloons.

  "That would make the most sense, seeing as the lake is where Percy would be the strongest." Thalia agreed.

  "Should we go get Hazel and Annabeth to ambush them?" I asked. Thalia shook her head,

  "They're still probably out looking for the boys' stash of balloons. Besides, the boys could be gone by the time we get back with the others." She reasoned.

  "So, it's up to us." I placed my hands on my hips.

  "It's up to us," Thalia agreed with a smile that I knew could only mean trouble. She knelt down and gingerly picked up the plastic shopping bag filled with her balloons. "Let's give 'em hell." I laughed and we began to follow the path Jason and Nico had gone down.

  As we neared the Canoe Lake, the sound of voices floated through the trees. Thalia and I slowed our walk, careful not to step on any twigs.

  "Yeah, we can put these over there." Jason's voice rang out as the lake came into sight. Nico and Jason were standing by the edge of the water, each holding some kind of contraption.

  "I don't see Percy anywhere," I whispered to Thalia.

  "Shhhh." She put a finger up to her mouth.

  "These little water balloon catapults Leo whipped up are actually pretty cool," Nico said as he looked over the catapult in his arms.

  "Yeah," Jason laughed. "The girls won't even know what hit 'em!" Thalia and I rolled our eyes as the two positioned the catapults near one of the small bushes.

  "We have to tell Annabeth and Hazel about this!" I whispered.

  "Yeah," Thalia agreed. We were about to turn back when suddenly, Thalia grabbed my arm to stop me. "Wait, they're already here!" I turned around and sure enough, there they were, sneaking up behind the two boys.

  "What do we do?"

  "We wait for them to make their move and while Jason and Nico are distracted, we use their own catapults against them," Thalia explained, a fantastically wicked look in her eye. Thalia and I each grabbed a balloon, ready to throw them at the perfect moment. Just then, Hazel and Annabeth leaped out from their hiding place and began to pelt the boys with water balloons.

  "AHHH WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Jason screamed, covering his head with his arms in an attempt to shield himself from the freezing cold water.

  "IT'S AN AMBUSH!" Nico yelled.

  "Come on!" Thalia exclaimed, leading the way to where the miniature catapults were hidden. We each grabbed one and loaded our balloons. Without hesitation, we began launching them at the two boys.

  "THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" Jason cried.

  "PERCY GET YOUR ASS UP HERE WE NEED YOUR HELP!" Nico yelled at the lake. As soon as the words had left Nico's mouth, a jet of water shot out from the lake, depositing Percy at the edge of the water.

  "You called?" He asked with a smirk. Before he could say much else, Annabeth threw a balloon, hitting him square in the face. "Oh, it is on Wise Girl!" He exclaimed, grabbing some of Nico and Jason's discarded balloons. Not long after, Frank and Leo finally managed to show up and joined in with the rest of us.

  "Shit! That was my last balloon!" Annabeth exclaimed after throwing her's at Frank.

  "I'm all out too," Hazel replied.

  "Me three," I said.

  "Guys, I think everyone is out." Thalia gestured to the boys.

  After calling a truce, Thalia and Hazel ran back to the Big House to grab towels for everyone to dry off with. Percy, of course, didn't need one and just loved to rub it in all of our faces.

  "Honestly this just proves that Poseidon powers are the best powers." He joked. We all just rolled our eyes and prayed to every single Olympian (except Poseidon, of course) that Hazel and Thalia would be back soon. Eventually, they did and distributed the towels amongst everyone.

  "Well, this was fun." Leo laughed, drying his wet mop of hair off with a towel, "Very spur-of-the-moment."

  "I would have to agree, Mr. Valdez." We all turned to see Chiron sitting there in his wheelchair, a small smirk on his face.

  "Chiron." Annabeth smiled. "Has everything been sorted out for tomorrow yet?" she asked.

  "That is precisely what I wanted to talk to you children about." He replied. "Now, if you'll follow me, we have much to discuss." We all nodded and followed him back to the Big House.

  "I have good news," Chiron said as we gathered on the porch of the Big House, our clothes still dripping wet. Well, except for Percy of course (ugh). "We were able to solve the housing issue for those of you who need it."

  "That's great! Where will we be staying?" Frank asked.

  "Well, since the camp's strawberry sales have been doing so well, we've had a bit of extra money. I took some of that money and was able to rent a small apartment for you." Chiron explained.

  "That's great! I smiled. "Now we won't have to stay at camp."

  "What's it like?" Hazel cocked her head curiously.

  "It has two bedrooms and it's right near the school, so travel won't be an issue," Chiron said.

  "Wait, only two bedrooms? For all of us?" Jason asked, looking around at the rest of us worriedly.

  "Unfortunately, that was all we could afford. But, at least the girls will have a room separate from the boys." Chiron replied. "There is one other thing."

  "What could be worse than two bedrooms?" Leo exclaimed dramatically, which earned him his second death glare of the day from Annabeth.

  "There were only enough funds to cover the cost of rent for a few months. That being said, eventually, the nine of you will have to find ways to make money for yourselves."

  "That is definitely worse than two bedrooms." Leo gave an exasperated sigh. "Can't the gods just... I don't know, magic up a big mansion for us?" He threw his hands up in frustration.

  "The gods are very busy people, Leo, and unfortunately can't be bothered to 'magic up mansions' no matter how badly we may need them. Just be thankful that Mr. D allowed me to rent you that apartment." Chiron said with a sigh.

  "Wait, how will we be getting to school? You said travel wasn't going to be an issue." Jason pointed out.

  "The apartment is relatively close to the school so you could walk or take the city bus if you really wanted to," Chiron explained.

  "We've all been through worse." Percy shrugged. "How bad could it be?"

  "Famous last words, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth chided.

  "Well, you should probably go finish your packing. Argus will drive you in the morning to school and give you the keys to the apartment, I'll be in the Big House if you need me." We all nodded, and with that, Chiron turned around and wheeled himself inside.

  "Let's go then, we don't want the cleaning harpies to come after us, it's getting pretty dark," Hazel said, taking Frank's hand in hers. We nodded in agreement and together, the nine of us headed off towards the cabins laughing and goofing around as we went, leaving the last day of summer behind us for good.