A quest. He was going without me.

Gods, I hate him. Damned son of Hermes. Doesn't he see how much it killed me to be left behind?

"Katie?" his voice calls my name and my head snaps up from the strawberry bush I'm nursing to health.

"Travis," I say, seeing him standing behind me. "Today's the day, huh?"

He nods. "Yeah. I'm sort of nervous actually. It's going to be really dangerous. I didn't think Kampe would reform this quickly."

I stand and let him hug me. "I'll be worried about you every second you're gone," I say, leaning into his sturdy arms.

"Don't be," he scoffs. "I'll be homeward bound again. Sing that song to me, Katie, one last time."

Homeward bound is a song I learned when I was a little girl. It used to be a lullaby my father would sing to me as I tried to sleep, before I came to Camp. I'd always found it beautiful and hopeful.

"Fine." I take a deep breath.

"Go on," he urges. "Don't be shy." I can't help myself. I get nervous in front of people.

"In the quiet misty morning

When the moon has gone to bed

When the sparrows stop their singing

And the sky is clear and red

When the summer's ceased its gleaming

And the corn is past its prime

When adventure's lost its meaning

I'll be homeward bound in time.

"Bind me not to the pasture

Chain me not to the plow

Set me free to find my calling

And I'll return to you somehow

"If you find it's me you're missing

If you're hoping I'll return

To your thoughts I'll soon be listening

In the road I'll stop and turn

And the wind will set me racing

As my journey nears its end

For my path I'll be retracing

When I'm homeward bound again.

"Bind me not to the pasture

Chain me not to the plow

Set me free to find my calling

And I'll return to you somehow." I finish the song on the high note, my voice wavering. I am close to tears.

"That was beautiful, Katie-Kat," Travis tells me, whispering. "Don't cry. Please."

I press my face into his chest. "Don't leave me." He looks torn.

"If I don't, so many will die. I was chosen for this. I can't say no. But I'll come home. I promise."

The quest party leaves the next day. I try to keep myself busy so I won't think about Travis. I do most of the cleaning in my cabin, take up extra chores, volunteer for cabin inspection, and work extra hours in the strawberry fields. Even though it's winter, the magic berries still grow. I help teach younger demigods Ancient Greek.

A few days after they leave, I am sitting on a fence by the strawberry fields, talking to Annabeth. "How are you and Percy?" I ask.

"We're good. He's been... less naive than he usually is lately, and that's always nice." She stares at the setting sun.

"Valentine's Day is coming up," I prompt. She sighs, leaning back to let the setting sun shine some of it's last chilly rays onto her face.

"That's what I'm worried about. I think he wants to... you know. But I'm not ready for that. I love him, but... I'm scared that if he tries, and I reject him, he'll be mad." She bites her lip anxiously.

I roll my eyes. "Oh please. Don't worry! If he really loves you, he won't mind waiting," I advise, giving a knowing nod of my head.

"How are you and Travis?" I groan. Just what I need. A reminder that my everything is off risking his life because some stupid monster had to go and get reborn. Great.

"I miss him. I have nightmares every night, that he comes home bleeding, or that he doesn't... doesn't come home at all." I lean my head against the tree behind the fence.

She smiles sympathetically. "I know what you mean. Every time Percy goes on a quest..."

I shake my head. "It's different for you. Percy is invincible. Travis... he just has his sword. A sword against Kampe isn't much."

Annabeth nods. "Did you guys ever... go all the way?"

I nod my head yes. "Once. On my nineteenth birthday. He took me out to the gardens in Central Park. I'd never seen them, you know, and they were so beautiful in the moonlight. Then we came home and... we were just kissing at first and... you know, I don't really know how we got from... well, whatever. It was beautiful. My first time."

We sit there and stare up at the darkening sky for a while, until the conch shell calls us for dinner.

Two other people went on the quest with Travis, Jake Mason and a boy I don't know from the Hecate cabin. When Jake and Nameless Boy stagger into the Big House, a cold feeling fills me, starting at my stomach and spreading into my fingertips.

I rush up to them. "Jake! Where's Travis? Is he behind you or...?" The look on his face stops my question. I sink to my knees. "Oh...oh my gods..." I want to cry, but I can't. The only thought that I have is, How could you break your promise?

Jake wraps his arm around my shoulders, and I don't shake it off because I can feel that it is only comforting. "I'm sorry," he says, his deep voice seeming to cut into my soul.

I am curled up in a ball, in the farthest back part of the fields. I don't feel the cold.

He promised me he'd come home. He promised...

I remember our last time together, how I'd sung that song. There would be no homecoming for Travis.

Set me free to find my calling

And I'll return to you somehow.