Disclaimer: I do not own PJO

"You guys okay?"

"Why wouldn't we be okay?"

"With Percy gone, it's a freaking apocalypse. Everyone's loosing it. I just wanted you make sure you weren't."

"Well, that's sweet, Sam, but we're fine."

Sam pursed his lips. He flipped his hair out of his eyes at the same time Ashton did, making the girls smile. Sam was perched on the top of the rock formation. Ashton sat on the grass while Silfer lay on the lower branch of a nearby oak. Lexi was relaxing on a flat span on rock near the bottom of Zeus' Fist. The sun was bright and warm. The breeze from the ocean balanced out the heat leaving them comfortable.

"Where do you think he is?"

"Well, it's Percy. I don't think anything bad would happen to him. Actually, I don't think anything bad can happen to him," Silfer answered.

"Yeah, but when you bathe in the Styx you have a weak point. Remember Achilles? What if they found out Percy's?" Ashton inquired.

"Okay, not to be insensitive or anything, but why are we still talking about him?"

They all stared at Lexi.

"What?"

"I mean, yeah it's sad that he's gone and everything, but campers go missing all the time. They die sometimes. That's what happened before Ashton and I showed up, isn't it? A ton of campers were killed. And here we are," she said, motioning to the forest around her. "I guess I just don't see what makes him any different."

"Well, it's not that simple, Lex. Yeah, a lot of campers were killed last year but that doesn't mean no one was affected by it. I lost some siblings in that war. You don't think that changed my cabin?" Silfer challenged.

"No, I get that. But what I'm saying is what makes Percy any better?"

"I think it's because he's our leader, you know? Like, he led us into battle and he kicked some Titan butt. He's the only mortal to fight a Titan and survive, let alone win. That's what makes him so important," Sam said.

Lexi looked at the sun, ignoring the pain in her eyes. Was Percy even under the sun's light where he was? She felt stupid for even bringing up the subject. It did make sense for everyone to be worried. She just wasn't quite sure why.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's been dead before this," Ashton said, trying to reassure his friend. She looked at him and gave a small smile.

"You know, I think we'll be okay," Sam murmured.

"Camp?" Silfer asked.

"Well, maybe. But I mean us. Our group, you know?" He shrugged.

"Awww, Sammy's getting soft on us," Ashton teased.

"Shut up Dead Head."

"You have a problem, Little Bird?"

Sam launched himself off the rock. He narrowly missed crushing Lexi's head under his shoe in his haste to kill Ashton. The son of Hades jumped up and ran in whatever direction was necessary. Silfer rolled her eyes and shook her head. She shot Lexi a glance.

"Well there you go," she said. Lexi flicked her head back and laughed before jumping up and chasing after the boys. Soon enough Silfer was wrestling with them too.

The world was falling apart around them, and they couldn't give less of a damn at that moment.

Keshia tore open the envelope, temporarily immune to the fact Darian was standing beside her. She unfolded the lined paper inside, nearly grinning at the messy handwriting only her boyfriend could use. Biting her lip she took in every word, every letter. Darian tried to decipher what it said, but he wasn't having any luck.

Dear Keshia,

I hope your summer's going good so far. I already miss you. Nothing interesting has happened to me so far, maybe you're having better luck. I don't have much else to say, other than that I hope you enjoy the gift!

Love,

Dirk

"Present?" She murmured. She tipped the envelope upside down over her hand. A thin silver chain spilled out into her palm followed by a dark blue gem. It was framed in silver and in it she could see her shattered reflection off the many cut sides.

"Woah," Darian choked. The necklace was obviously expensive. He could see her face light up as soon and the chain fell into her hand.

"I know. Help me put it on," she requested, handing him the jewelry and pushing her dark brown locks over her shoulder. He strung it around her slender neck, clasping it carefully. After she readjusted her hair she turned at looked up at him for approval.

"I'm not sure. I think Nightwind'll get jealous. You probably shouldn't wear it," he teased. She rolled her eyes, fingering her amulet.

"Nightwind will be fine. Especially if you go down and practice with me now," she suggested slyly. He smiled at her. Keshia took off towards the sword fighting arena, leaving a now frowning Darian near the Big House.

Nightwind wasn't the only thing getting jealous.

(A/N) Hello my lovelies.

Firstly, thank you all for the reviews for my brother. He's fine and as annoying as ever, which I guess is a good thing. But, from being in the hospital I got conjunctivitis in my eye and a minor skin infection in my cheek. It sucked, which is why this chapter took me so long to update. That and I had major writers block.

And good news for you, bad news for me, it seems I won't be heading back to New Mexico for Christmas. Good for you because I'll have nothing to do but write over the break (not that I mind that at all), bad news for me because I miss my family. And, frankly, New Hampshire and New Mexico are two totally different ball games. I actually don't think I've ever been away from the latter for this long. Weird.

Lastly, I have an idea for a story, not sure if it's going on this site or FictionPress, but I think it'll be good if I actually go through with it. If anyone's willing to, I would sure like someone to bounce my ideas off of to see if it's even worth writing.

Side note: Just so everyone knows, the SYOC is closed. I do appreciate it though!

XOXO

~Cherry Punch