Percy’s POV

“Percy.”

I groaned. I was feeling really comfortable and I really didn’t want to wake up. “Five more minutes,” I murmured sleepily.

“Stupid seaweed,” I heard the voice muttered irritable before something came crashing down on my head.

“Ow!” I swore, my eyes flying open.

I blinked. What was I doing back in my cabin at Camp Half-Blood?

Rachel’s face suddenly appeared right in front of mine. I crawled backwards on my bed in shock before stopping. “Whas going on?” My words rushed out in a stream of inaudible words but somehow Rachel managed to catch them.

“You have to get back here as soon as possible. They’re almost here and we can’t keep them back forever, especially since we’ve never fought them before,” she replied edgily, her eyes constantly darting to the door leading out of the cabin.

I cursed. “How long and how many?” I demanded. “What about the barrier?”

“They’ll be here in five. There are about only three to five of them I’m guessing. We’re not entirely sure the barrier could hold them back so we’re not going to be relying on that. I don’t know where you are right now but get here quickly.”

The vision started to fade as she got up. Before she left, she looked back at me once more. “Hurry.” Her tone was serious; and then she was gone.

“Percy!”

I shot up, gasping, nearly hitting Annabeth, whose head had been hovering over me.

“Percy, you’re awake, thank gods,” she breathed, relieved.

I looked around the room. We were back in the Atrium that had been deserted before, except now it was full of people. The fireplaces were flickering with green flames, wizards were conferencing in loud urgent tones and the beautiful fountain was now in ruins. All my friends were gathered around Annabeth and me, looking sombre. Neville and Luna were there as well. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were missing.

I felt a terrible feeling in my stomach. Something was wrong.

“What happened?” I demanded, looking straight at my girlfriend.

Tears began to gather in her eyes. “Sirius is dead,” she blurted out.

I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.

“What?” I choked out. No. It couldn’t be.

“Bellatrix killed him. She hit him with some kind of spell and he fell into the veil,” Neville spoke up. His voice was quiet.

“And Harry?” I was almost afraid of the answer; I knew how close he had been to Sirius and how much he had loved him. “Ron, Hermione, Ginny?”

“He ran after her,” This time, it was Grover. “Dumbledore had captured the rest of the Death Eaters but Bellatrix escaped. He fought her in the Atrium” – that explained the destroyed fountain – “and then Voldemort arrived.”

No way. That was – no way.

“Dumbledore fought him off, apparently,” he continued. “And Voldemort left with Bellatrix, but not before Fudge and the Aurors arrived. They saw him. That’s all we know. Dumbledore sent Harry back to Hogwarts around five minutes ago with a Portkey. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sent to get treated. Luna woke up not long ago so she stayed here with us and they fixed up Neville’s nose. Did a rather rough job but I guess they’re leaving the rest up to Madam Pomfrey. The Order took James with them. I'm not sure what they're going to do with him though. I think somebody else was suppose to bring us back and –“

“No,” I interrupted. My mind was whirling with all the new information but I decided to absorb it all later.

“What do you mean ‘no’?”  Annabeth asked, frowning.

“We can’t go back to Hogwarts. We have to get back to camp. They’re in trouble. Voldemort sent Death Eaters there to attack them,” I spoke as fast as I could, feeling the desperate need to leave at that very moment. Suddenly, I could relate to Harry.

“What?” Clarisse demanded. “That little –“

“When are they attacking?” Thalia cut in. She was now standing on her own, looking as fierce as ever. Guess she had healed up while I was out.

“Now. Right now.”

“How are we going to get there now? We’re halfway across the world!” Nico sounded frustrated. “I mean, I can shadow travel but you know how exhausting it is, and I would only dare to do it myself.”

“Shadow travel?” Luna cast Nico an eager look.

“Later,” he replied, waving her off impatiently.

“Flying horses?” Tyson suggested hopefully.

“They would have most likely left by now. We can’t rely on that,” I shook my head.

“Portkey,” Neville suggested. “That’s the fastest way. Maybe the Order would help us with that.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot though,” I sighed, pushing myself to my feet. “Let’s go.”

We headed over to where Kingsley stood, in a corner with Arthur. Nobody noticed us as we walked in silence, too involved in their own discussions. They were talking in low tones but stopped when they saw us approaching.

“They still haven’t sent someone to take you back?” Arthur’s voice was weary. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you right now.”

“No!” I exclaimed, softening my tone when I saw them staring in surprise. “No, we need to get back to Camp Half-Blood.”

“We were wondering whether you could help us get there,” Luna piped in. “With a Portkey, maybe?”

“Why are you returning there? Shouldn’t you be going back to Hogwarts?” Kingsley asked slowly.

“Camp’s under attack by Death Eaters. We have to go back there to help them,” I explained impatiently.

They exchanged an alarmed look. “Alright, we’ll help you. I’m coming as well,” Arthur said firmly before striding off.

I raised an eyebrow at Annabeth. “Well, that was easy. I expected more persuading on your part.”

She huffed. “Thank gods it didn’t have to come to that then.”

It wasn’t that long before he returned, clutching a broken mug in his hand. When he reached us, he took a nervous glance around before murmuring in a low tone, “It’s set to go off in five minutes. We won’t be directly transporting into your camp because I have no idea where that is but we would probably be going somewhere close so worry not.” He gave another worried glance around. “It’s best not to do it here with all these ministry wizards around, especially since none of them have noticed you lot yet. Not to mention that creating an unauthorised Portkey comes with serious consequences.”

“But Dumbledore created one for Harry just now right in front of Fudge though,” Annabeth asked curiously.

“Yeah well, it’s Dumbledore, isn’t it?” Arthur replied.

We followed him out of the Atrium and into a deserted office room. He gathered us around in a circle and we each placed a finger onto the mug. I was starting to feel nervous; I didn’t like travelling by Portkey. The first time was bad enough. I shuddered just thinking about being whirled around.

“Five, four, three, two –“ Arthur breathed, counting down.

I felt a jerk in my naval and barely held in a groan as we were yanked off the ground. I heard the others screaming while being jerked all around and grunts of pain, including mine, when we were slammed onto the ground. The mug rolled away from us, stopping just after one turn.

I scrambled to my feet, looking around to identify our location. I recognised it immediately.

“We’re in Manhattan. This isn’t very far from where I live,” I informed the others while they stood up on shaky legs, turning to Arthur. “Have you been here before?” I asked him curiously.

“Yeah, I have,” he replied, looking rather excited as he glanced around at all the muggles. “It was only one time but I still remember this place quite clearly.”

“We need a cab. Camp Half-Blood is at Montauk, at the North Shore of Long Island. We could be there faster if we leave now,” Clarisse said impatiently, lifting a hand and hailing a cab.

I raised my hand and did the same; there was no way a single cab could fit all ten of us. “Let’s go,” I urged, jumping into one that stopped right in front of me.

Annabeth, Grover, Tyson and Mr Weasley jumped in as well and the cab set off as soon as all the doors were slammed shut. Annabeth threw a thin wad of money to the driver. “Get us there as fast as you can and all of this belongs to you.”

His eyes widened and he nodded, pressing hard on the accelerator. I could hardly control myself, constantly fidgeting and tapping the door with my fingers. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the guy shooting me dirty looks. He was probably getting annoyed with the constant noise but I could really care less.

I kept a sharp eye out for any signs of magic but there were none, which was probably a good thing. It meant two things: one, the battle hadn’t started yet and two, we didn’t have to obliviate the poor man if he saw anything out of the ordinary.

When we were finally close enough, I stopped the man from driving any further and jumped out after thanking him. I could see the other cab carrying the others screeched to a stop behind us but didn’t bother waiting for them. They knew where it is, they would catch up sooner or later. I led the way to the entrance, praying that nothing had happened.

That was when we heard the first scream.

More screams and yells of panic filled the air, along with the sound of exploding stuff. Without another word, we sped up our pace, practically sprinting now. As we got closer to camp’s property line, I saw plumes of smoke escaping into the air. Uh-oh. That didn’t look good.

We shot through the entrance to camp. Directly in front of us, close to the volleyball courts, four Death Eaters were striding calmly forward, casting spells in all directions. The ground beneath many campers exploded, sending them flying through the air and crashing onto the ground with a loud thud. A few weren’t moving but many were groaning in pain as they lay where they were. A whole row of campers were standing with shields and bows and arrows. They shot arrow after arrow at the Death Eaters but it was useless; they bounced off effortlessly or were redirected back into their direction. When it did, they had no choice but to scatter, avoiding the deadly bolts.

“Defend your camp!” Chiron roared, swinging his own sword. “Do not back down.”

“Chiron!” Grover shouted as we dashed towards them.

At that exact same moment, Arthur waved his wand and shouted, “Stupefy!”

A red jet of light shot out of his wand and hit a Death Eater directly in his back. He jerked forward and crumpled onto the ground, knocked unconscious.  This brought the other Death Eaters’ attention to us.

At a distance, I could hear someone screeching, “There are more of them?!”

One of them pointed his wand at Annabeth and roared, “Crucio!”

Before it hit her however, I tackled her to the ground. “Neville, Luna, help us!” I shouted over my shoulder, spotting them emerge in the entrance and rolling onto my feet.

Neville and Luna ran towards us, crouching and ducking their heads to avoid the jets of light shooting above them. Clarisse, Thalia and Nico were hot on their trails. The rest of us were moving closer towards the Death Eaters as well, removing our weapons at the same time. While wizards may be able to fight long distance, our only hope was close distance. I couldn’t afford to use my powers; too many campers were on the ground.

“Petrificus Totalus!” Neville yelled, wildly pointing his wand at the direction of the Death Eaters.

It struck yet another whose attention had been focused towards the fleeing campers. His body completely froze up, and he fell onto the ground with a loud thump. I could see his eyes widened in panic and anger but he couldn’t speak.

I ran faster when I saw the third Death Eater raising his wand to cut him free and tackled him to the ground with a grunt. We grappled and struggled on the ground; he was trying to point his wand at my face but I held it away with my own hand. The other clutched Riptide and I was attempting to knock him unconscious with the hilt of my sword but just like me, his hand was holding it away as well.

From behind me, I could hear voices shouting out spells and a lot of thumping sounds. Yet, it didn’t sound like anybody was hit by the spells, merely dodging them with heavy pants. “Let – me – just – knock you unconscious, dammit!” I cursed, as we rolled once again, this time onto my back.

“Stupefy!” someone shouted from behind the Death Eater above me but much to my chagrin, he heard it and wrenched free of my grasp. At the same time, his foot struck my head.

I felt the impact and yelped in pain as my head started throbbing. I was dazed as well, but pushed myself up to a sitting position. Thankfully, the Death Eater hadn’t noticed my moment of weakness; all his attention was focused in dodging Luna’s hexes and trying to hit her with his own. Just then, Nico crept up behind him and raising his sword, sent him collapsing onto the ground with a sharp hit to his temple.

“Nice,” I grinned at him. He returned a small smile of his own, offering a hand and pulling me to my feet.

The last Death Eater had already been restrained, overpowered by both Arthur and Neville, with the help of the others. All four of them were tied up on the ground, their backs facing to each other and Arthur proceeded to wipe them of their memories, removing the existence of demigods from their minds.

“Percy,” Chiron’s voice spoke up from behind me.

I turned around to see him smiling at me.

“Chiron,” I nodded back. “Looks like we came back in time huh?”

“It was a good thing you did,” he agreed. “After all, you should have learned enough throughout your visit.”

“A-are we returning back there?” Nico asked hesitantly, sounding uncertain.

Chiron seemed deep in thought. “No,” he said finally, frowning. “I think it’s been long enough. If it would have helped, it should have been done by now. I’m certain that your purpose does not belong there after all.”

I felt a little miffed that all of our efforts would have been for nothing but I wasn’t really complaining either. I missed camp and I was glad that I was returning home. The only downside to all this was that we would be leaving our friends behind.

“The only thing now would be to return to Hogwarts and to collect all your belongings. Dumbedore should be able to send you back without a problem,” Chiron continued.

I did a double take. Chiron knew Dumbledore?

“You’ve met Dumbledore?” Grover asked, sounding shocked.

He merely gave us a mysterious smile. “You could call it that.”

“Wait,” Neville interrupted. “Does that mean you’re leaving?” His voice was pained.

“Yeah,” Annabeth said gently. “It looks like our time with you all has ended.”

“Oh,” he replied in a small voice. “But you’re coming back to say goodbye right? To Harry, Ron, Hermione? Ginny?”

“’Course we are, mate,” I replied, slapping him cheerfully on the back. “How could we not?”

Luna didn’t seem to paying any attention to the conversation. She was looking around, with a look of calm interest on her face. Thalia was reunited with the Hunters, as they questioned her worriedly about her disappearance. Arthur was watching us converse before stepping up to Chiron and starting a conversation with him. It didn’t look like a chat about the weather though.

Rachel suddenly appeared next to Annabeth, giving her a hug. “You guys are really coming back?” There was a huge smile on her face.

“Hey Rachel,” Annabeth hugged her back, returning her smile. “Yeah, we are.”

“Awesome! You have no idea how time drags by here with all of you gone,” she complained.

“It’s nice to be missed,” I sighed happily.

They both just shot me a look of disgust.

“Come on then,” Arthur said with a smile. It looks like his conversation with Chiron was over. “We should be heading back now to collect your stuff.”

“Sure,” I said, everybody gathering around us. “How are we going to Hogwarts? Portkey?”

“You got that right,” he winked and I stifled a sound of irritation. He had somehow produced an empty tin can and now tapped it with his wand. “We'll probably arrive outside the gates. Everybody place your hand now.”

Sighing, I raised a finger and placed it on the can. We looked rather foolish, standing in a circle with all our fingers pressed onto a crumpled can. That much was proved when the other campers began muttering among themselves behind us. Some were sniggering, mostly from the children of Ares. They seemed to forget that Clarisse was here too.

“Here we go,” Arthur said cheerfully, followed by the familiar jerk.

The last thing we heard as our feet left the ground was the sounds of incredulous gasps and screams behind us. I grinned; this was fun. If only I could have turned around to see the look on their faces.

And with, we made our way back to Hogwarts.

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A/N: IMPORTANT!

No, don't worry, this isn't the ending. There's probably one more chapter and an epilogue left :) I know you guys are probably wondering why I'm ending it this way, that they haven't manage to find a way to stop Voldemort or to help the demigods find the cause of monsters not dying. If you guys haven't noticed, my storyline is based on the book, meaning i follow them as best as I could. If I resolved all their questions now in Harry's 5th year and before the Lost Hero, there wouldn't have been a point to the books following that. So it's like, if you guys want to know about killing off Voldemort or finding the reasons why monsters aren't dying, just continue reading the series! After all, this is merely like a filler book in a way haha. I hope you guys understand where I'm heading with this and aren't too disappointed :) Thoughts of how I'm ending this book?

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