Last chapter…

"Is Hephaestus mad at me?", I was hoping he wasn't. I had been thinking about this ever since my "dream" with Patrick.

"No, dear. He said his son died in battle, for love. Just as he wanted. He's upset, but not mad", she answered.

I sighed in relief.

"Goodbye, child." She sarted glowing. I covered my eyes.

"Goodbye, mum", I muttered.

Chapter 13- We Say Goodbye For A While

We burned Patrick's shroud the third day after my mother's visit. The whole camp gathered at the fire to pay their respects. The Hephaestus cabin was very quiet. Only Maxwell stepped up to say a few words.

"Patrick Turner was someone people could look up to", he said, his voice shaky. "The best blacksmith in the world, after father himself, the best friend someone could ask for, and the best half-brother", he looked at his cabin mates, who were very pale and had purple circles under their eyes. They'd spent most of their time creating Patrick's shroud.

Maxwell cleared up his throat. "We say goodbye now, knowing he'll rest in the Elysian Fields forever, like he should. We'll always remember you, mate", he added quietly.

He took his place in the circle, and we watched the beautiful work of his cabin mates burn with a gentle fire. The shroud was made completely of metall with a twisted pattern. It sure looked like it had taken some time to make. We stood there, in silence, and eventually everybody left. But not me.

That night I stayed by the fire, watching the remaining ashes of the ceremony at my feet. I played absently with my locket, while I thought about my last conversation with him. His words still echoed in my head.

"Be open to love…"

But how could I?

A cheerful laughter made me jump. I looked up, and I saw Jasmin and Maxwell chatting on their way to their cabins. They were holding hands, and the looked a bit embarrassed, but I'd never seen my half-sister so happy. I smiled. It was about time those two got together.

I looked at the night sky, cloudless and perfect. The moon was so bright, there was no use in turning on the lights. It was really late, but Chiron had convinced Mr. D to send the harpies on vacation, so I could spend the night there if I wanted to. A cold wind made me shiver.

Not tonight.

I got up, and started walking towards my cabin. I froze when I saw my half-sister and her boyfriend at the door. I counted to twenty, and when I looked again, Max was already entering his cabin, and Jasmin was smiling and blushing furiously. I ran so she wouldn't close the door. She saw me, and she left it open.

I entered my cabin as quietly as I could. Everybody was already asleep, except for Jazz of course. She smiled and told me to come over. We sat with our legs crossed next to her bed, which luckily was far away of the other ones.

"Did you see us?", she asked in a whisper.

"Yes, but I looked away when you were at the door", I smiled sheepishly.

She blushed. "Oh…"

"…So?"

"He kissed me!", she said, and we laughed quietly.

Some of our siblings stirred in their sleeps, so we agreed it was better to leave this conversation for the next morning. We said our silent good nights, and for once, my dreams were normal. So normal, I didn't remember them the next morning.

September arrived, with a cooling weather that announced that the autumn was getting closer. More and more campers left every day, for school was starting already. Camp activities continued as usual, and the first Sunday of the month I got my first bead for my necklace. It had a metallic-looking olive blossom, symbolizing our quest. I switched the necklace for a bracelet, though. Jazz and Annabeth thought it looked better.

My older half-sister gave me a hug that same day. She was returning to college with Percy, so we wouldn't see each other for a while. Her boyfriend kissed me on the forhead to my surprise, making me blush and causing Annabeth to laugh. I promised her I would IM her every time I could, and then they left.

Jasmin on the other hand, was freaking out about my decision to be a year rounder.

"Stay with me!", she begged me. "That way you won't be all alone! Come one, our whole cabin is gone!"

"No", I said, shaking my head. "It's fine, really. Plus, remember some campers arrived today. Someone has to be here to show them around."

"So there's nothing I can tell you to change your mind?", she asked. "Not even if I promise to buy you every book you want, and bake chocolate chip cookies for you every day?"

"Tempting, but no", I stated with a smile. I was really going to miss her.

"At least promise me you'll visit. You have to stay with me for a while! Christmas! How does that sound?", she asked eagerly.

I laughed. "Okay, Christmas sounds great."

"Cool! I'll tell my mum!", she turned for a second. Maxwell was waiting next to Thalia's tree. "I gotta say goodbye now. IM me if something's wrong, 'kay?"

"Sure", I replied. I gave her a hug, and I started walking down hill with my hands in my pockets.

I thought about this summer. I though about how everything had changed. I'd fallen in love, and I'd lost my love. I'd lost my dad too. And somehow, I was still standing here. How dull and boring I'd thought my life was before…

"OW!"

I ran into something, and it made me fall hard on my back. Black dots filled my vision, and I had to blink several times before everything was clear again. I tried to get up. In front of me was boy, trying to stand up to.

He had piercing blue electric eyes, light brown hair, almost blond. He had a confused look on his face, and he had a hand on his head.

"That's gonna leave a mark", he said.

I'd ran into him. How distracted had I been to literally run into someone?!

"I'm sorry!", I said after a few seconds, completely embarrassed. "I don't know what happened to me!" My voice sounded three octaves higher. To my surprise, he chuckled.

"It's okay, it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention ", he assured me.

I snorted. "Come on, you know it was my fault. Just… I'm sorry", I didn't know what to say.

"Hey", he said getting up and offering me a hand, "Don't worry about it. I'm Andrew by the way. Andrew Rush" I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. "But you can call me Drew", he finished, smiling.

"Danielle Williams", I said. "But you can call me Dan."

"Okay, Dan", he said. I didn't realize how tall he was until we where standing face to face.

"Are you a new camper?", I asked. "I hadn't seen you around."

He nodded. "Just got here today", he explained.

"Do you know who your godly parent is?", I had my guesses, but I kept them to myself.

"Nope, I'm still…"

"Undetermined", we said at the same time, and we laughed.

"Who's your godly parent?", he asked.

"Athena", I said simply.

"Ah, the goddess of wisdom!", he said.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, that's right."

"Hey, if the daughter of Athena doesn't mind, could she show me around? I didn't need the orientation video, but it would be nice to check this place out", he said looking around.

"Sure", I said, smiling. "No problem."

"Thanks. But I need to go to the Big House. Chiron wants to know how I got here. Could we meet here in… let's say, 10 minutes?"

"Sounds good", I replied.

He grinned.

I smiled one last time, and he started walking towards the Big House. He looked back, and I waved. He winked in reply.

I absently touched my locket. Patrick's words echoed in my head once more.

Be open to love, he'd said.

I saw Drew look back several times, and I smiled, while I turned to see the last campers on the hill say their goodbyes.

Well Patrick, I thought, don't say I'm not trying. Who knows? This might be an interesting year.

And with that, I went to my cabin, remembering my promise.

Well, should I say "The End"? No people! There's a sequel coming soon!! Yay! *Celebration dance*

I want to thank everybody that reviewed or put on alert this story. You guys rock!!

I don't know how I will name the sequel, but I'll let you know as soon as I have the title!!

Thank you for all your support, specially PowerofWords and Awesome One :] Love you guys.

Cheers!!

S.