Happy Thanksgiving! Here's your holiday present!

Percy's POV

None of us were happy when the last day came around. The month had flown by way too fast, filled with days of Hermes kid pranks, training in the arena, Capture the Flag almost every day. I mean, even though all of us were dead beat all the time, it was awesome.

Of course, Annabeth would kill me if I said anything different. She and Tony surprised me with a big, misshapen cake and a balloon that spewed fireworks when it popped. Little Cadmus decided to eat some, but kept missing his own mouth. So he ended up looking like he was wearing a mask. Then Penelope ran over to stop him, saying he wasn't supposed to eat sugar, and Cadmus smeared it all over her face, making us all laugh so hard Tony spewed milk from his nose.

It was that evening that we had the biggest feast the nymphs had ever made. We were allowed to sit wherever we wanted. So naturally Annabeth, Tony, and baby Cadmus ran over to the Poseidon table with me.

Tony bounced Cadmus up on and down on his knee. "Okay, so guess what?"

"What?" I said, falling for it. Annabeth kneed me under the table.

"Chicken butt!" he grinned. "But seriously." His face went dead serious. "I don't want you guys to leave. I can't let my home boy and his kind of terrifying chick leave me alone!"

Annabeth only rolled her eyes. I bumped his shoulder. "Dude, just IM me whenever. My mom's cool with that."

"And you have Penelope," Annabeth added.

He smiled. I was a little surprise. Whenever my best friend smiled, it was a huge goofy grin, and always at his own joke or in a really funny situation. But this one was different. Softer. More serious. I guess he really did like Penelope. I glanced at her to see her expression, but she was asleep on the table.

"Ahem." We all turned to see Alice standing on the Artemis table.

"Time for the last speech," I heard Tony mutter. He grunted as Hayden kicked him again.

"Tonight is our last time together," Alice began. "Most of you will be returning to your other lives. Some of you will be staying with me. As you know, the mortals are still very confused about their glimpse of our world. We have managed to keep them at bay. As a precaution, you will be leaving at a scheduled time, depending on where you're heading. Cabin Six should have prepared a system for that.

"You should all be aware that monsters walk among the mortals. You can't risk any kind of suspicious approaches, teachers, mortals of any shape or size. Anyone could be one of them. If anything should happen—anything at all—return to Camp Half-Blood immediately." She paused, as if for dramatic effect. "So, be wary. Be cautious. Be prepared. Be safe."

And with that, dinner was over.

Standing on Half-Blood Hill, Annabeth and I looked at Camp Half-Blood sadly. Kids had already started to leave. Most were gone. Now it was time for us to leave. Annabeth was going home with her dad. I could tell she wasn't sure about that. I wasn't so sure about going home either. I missed my mom, sure, but her and Paul's house in New York would never really be my home. Not like Camp Half-Blood was.

"I can't believe I'm going back," Annabeth murmured.

"I know," I said. I took her hand. She let me have it. For me, going back meant dodging flying and possibly flaming bits of food. For her... "Write me, okay?" I prompted. "Just not anything that'll give my mom a heart attack."

She laughed. "Sure, Seaweed Brain." She looked past me. "Zoë, where are you going?"

I started. I hadn't even realized Zoë Perish was standing next to us. She fingered the strap of her messenger bag absently. "Home," she said finally. "For a while. I have some relatives in New Jersey. And some...unfinished business in Florida." Her face darkened. "Might run into Nico, though."

"Good luck," Annabeth said. I nodded in agreement. Zoë looked up, as if just realizing we were there. She murmured something like a thanks, then melted away.

"Show off," I muttered. Annabeth smiled briefly, squeezing my hand.

A honking noise from the highway drew our attention. I recognized a man as Frederick Chase sitting in the driver's seat of an SUV, watching us. Annabeth's hand slipped out of mine. She rested her hand on Thalia's tree, her gray eyes filled with memories I couldn't see. She hesitated, but she hugged me.

"Bye, Percy," she whispered in my ear.

I hugged back. "Bye." She kissed my cheek, then went down the hill to her dad, her blonde hair flying behind her as she went. Her dad looked at me. He gave me a short nod, as if to say, Thank you. I wasn't 100% sure what he was thanking me for, but I nodded back. I watched Annabeth climb in the backseat, expertly catching a flying rubber duck and throwing it back in. The car disappeared down the road too soon for comfort.

My hand raised to the spot she kissed me. I was alone. I already missed her.

I turned to Thalia's tree. "Bye," I repeated. I shouldered my backpack, then went down the hill too, to catch a bus back to New York.

I looked back only once.

And so ends Percy Jackson and the Lost Hero. No worries, new story will be up tomorrow. Percy Jackson and the New Era. The first chapter is: New Problem #1. Thank you guys for being such good readers.

Love, ~Alice~