Once again, all recognizable writing comes from Rick Riordan.

By the time I had reached the Big House, a whole crowd of campers had noticed my arrival, which is exactly the opposite of what I had wanted. I was hoping I could sneak down to my cabin without anyone seeing so I could get some alone time, but the Fates seemed to have other plans for me. Annabeth, Grover, and Chiron descended from the Big House steps, and after that it was flowers and laurel wreaths and crowd-surfing all the way down to the mess hall, where a feast had been prepared in our honor.

For the first time since I moved into Cabin Three, I didn't have to sit alone at mealtime. The head table had been prepared for the three of us, and we got to eat with Chiron and Mr. D, the latter not looking too thrilled about it. I scraped a little less food into the brazier than I normally did. I was starving, and given how our conversation went on Olympus, it wasn't like it was winning me any favor points with Poseidon anyways.

It was nice being able to overlook the entire mess hall as I ate. I had never seen so much food in one place before, nor had I ever seen the campers in such high spirits, sans the Ares cabin, who still looked pretty miffed that I disgraced their dad.

The blue Coke I willed into my goblet had never tasted so bittersweet. As I sipped it, little memories of my mom filled my head, like how she would read Greek myths to me as bedtime stories when I was a child, or how she would hold me when I cried about not having any friends, or those weekends that we got to spend together when she took me to Montauk, just the two of us.

I felt a gaze resting on me. Wiping the mist out of my eyes, I scanned the crowd in front of me, and my search came to a stop on Luke. He was staring at me contemplatively, his scar seeming to have darkened several shades, but when he saw me looking at him, he flashed a tiny smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and went back to eating with his cabin.

I noticed Grover was also giving me a funny look, but that didn't really surprise me. Grover had always been good at reading my emotions, so he must have known something was up the moment I got back. It was just a trait of being a satyr, I supposed. I gave him a look that said, "I'll tell you later."

When the feasting was done, Annabeth, Grover, and I led a procession down to the bonfires where we got to burn the burial shrouds our cabins had made for us in our absence. I thought it was a bit morbid, but apparently it had been a long standing tradition at Camp Half-Blood. Before Chiron had stopped allowing campers to go on quests a few years ago, heroes often wouldn't make it back alive from their adventures. These shrouds were created to commemorate them and burned after the quest ended, whether the heroes survived or not.

Annabeth's shroud was so beautiful. Grey silk embroidered with owls, the kind that appeared on the crest of ancient Athens. I told her it seemed a waste not to bury her in it. She punched me and told me to shut up.

Being the only son of Poseidon in the camp, I didn't have any cabinmates to make me a shroud. Instead, the Ares cabin had volunteered to make one for me. I was taken aback at first—I thought they wanted nothing to do with me—until they actually brought the shroud out.

They'd painted smiley faces with Xs for eyes around the border of an old bed sheet, and in the middle, sprawled in red paint, was the word, "LOSER". It was fun to burn.

As the children of Apollo led the sing-alongs, I was suddenly very happy I hadn't snuck off to my cabin to be by myself. I was surrounded by my old Hermes cabin mates, Annabeth's brothers and sisters from Cabin Six, and a bunch of Grover's satyr buddies who were admiring Grover's new searcher's license, presented to him by the Council of Cloven Elders who were impressed with his bravery during the quest. Victory chants sounded, s'mores were roasted, and even the Ares campers seemed to get into it. Clarisse and one of her siblings pulled flaming sticks from the fire and dueled, the other campers taking bets on who would win. I don't think anyone was really surprised when Clarisse emerged without any burns.

Despite the heart wrenching news I'd been given earlier, I found myself just sitting back and smiling. The festivities were all welcome distractions from my grief, and I knew that as long as I had my friends around, I'd be ok.

Eventually, the fire began to die down, and the campers moved in groups back to their respective cabins. I hovered by the campfire a little longer, a little hesitant to go back to my cabin. All I had wanted earlier that day was to be by myself, but now the thought of being alone filled me with dread. Grover remained by my side, even as all his satyr buddies left for the woods. One by one, the straggling campers gave me their congratulations on a job well done and said goodnight. Chiron trotted back towards the Big House after giving me a salute. I saw Annabeth leave with her brothers and sisters, but when she looked back and saw the two of us, she said something to them and jogged back over.

The dying fire must have given enough light to see our expressions, because she slowed when she got close. "Is something wrong?" she asked, her voice concerned. "If I'm interrupting something, I can—"

"It's alright," I said quickly. "You can stay. I was just about to tell Grover how my meeting with Zeus and my father went." Grover nodded.

"Oh, ok," Annabeth said. She took a seat on the bench below, pulling up her legs to sit cross-legged so that she was facing us. "Let's hear it," she said.

I told them about how Zeus still thought I was the thief when I brought his bolt in, but in the end he believed me when I told him everything that had happened. I told them about the argument he and my father had concerning the thing in the pit, and how Zeus had given my father a gag order about it. As far as I knew, the order didn't extend to me, or if it had, I was sure my ears would have been ringing with thunder by now. Annabeth had a deeply troubled look on her face.

"You know what was down there, don't you?" I asked.

"It... could be a number of things. None of them good." She remained pensive for a moment. "This voice you've been hearing in your dreams, did it feel like that presence on the beach?"

"So the both of you did feel that," Grover said. "That was so bizarre. It felt like I was moving through molasses."

I nodded to both of them.

"Then I suppose there's only one thing it could be," she said, resting her chin on her knees. "Have you guessed?"

Grover looked completely lost. He picked up a soda can that one of the campers had left behind and began gnawing on it. I remembered the argument Zeus and Poseidon had. Pater, they had said. My mind travelled back to the field trip where Mrs. Dodds attacked me. Mr. Brun—Chiron had asked me this very question. "Kronos," I said. "The titan lord."

A chill ran up my spine, and I could feel Grover stiffen beside me. Annabeth drew her knees up to her chin, hugging her legs. The fire sputtered out, leaving glowing coals behind, but even those were fading quickly. I briefly wondered if I should share this tactic with the local fire department.

Annabeth glared at me. "You really shouldn't—"

"I know, I know," I interrupted her. "Names have power yada yada."

We sat in silence for a moment, pondering what the return of the titan lord could mean in the next few years. I supposed there'd be a lot more monsters floating around the country. If there was ever a good time to be a demigod, this was not it.

Grover stopped biting into his can for a moment and shifted uncomfortably. "Um, I don't mean to pry, but is that what was bothering you earlier?"

I looked at him, and remembered how he was staring at me during dinner. "Oh," I said. "Uh, no. There's more." Maybe Annabeth and Grover had sensed my change in tone, because they were quiet now, their eyes fixed on me. I wasn't sure why I was so hesitant to tell them. It was a personal matter, but they were both my closest friends and they deserved to know. I guess I was just afraid of how they'd take the news. When we were in the Underworld, they had seemed even more upset than I had been about leaving my mom behind. I didn't want them to blame themselves.

I took a deep breath and told them exactly what my father said to me after Zeus left, minus the part about how he wanted me to leave one of them behind. It was even harder for me to say it out loud than it was to hear it from Poseidon the first time, maybe because it made her death real, or because it meant that I had to accept that it was true. I could hear my voice cracking as I spoke, could feel the wetness on my face.

Grover had a hand on my back, and he moved it in small circles. I was grateful for that. It didn't take away from the pain I was feeling, but it was soothing. I wondered if a satyr's empathic abilities extended to providing comfort like this or if Grover was just that good at it.

I could hear Annabeth sniffling in front of me as I wiped at my eyes, but other than that, she just listened. It was another thing I was grateful for. I didn't really want them to pity me, or worse, apologize for something that wasn't their fault. I just needed them to be there, and they were, and that was all I could ask for.

We were silent for a long time. Grover was the first to speak. "I'm so sorry, Percy." His voice was tinged with guilt, and it made my fists tighten. "I—I should've used my pearl on her. It was because of me she was captured—"

"No," I interrupted. Grover looked taken aback at my forcefulness. "We've been over this already. I don't want to trade lives. If I could redo our mission to the Underworld... I'd do it the same way." He stared at me, stunned. "It wasn't your fault," I said.

"And it wasn't your fault either, Seaweed Brain. Your father was wrong. Honestly, the nerve..." Annabeth's fists were clenched, tears threatening to spill. "It's not fair," she said. "Monsters already make our lives dangerous enough as it is. You shouldn't have to worry about being killed by gods, too. We're supposed to be a family, for gods' sakes."

"Annabeth..." Grover said, stunned. She was hugging her legs to her chest, eyes glistening in the moonlight. "You're worried about him, aren't you?" he asked. She sniffled and nodded.

I blinked, feeling like I missed a conversation. Annabeth gave me a half-hearted smile. "I decided to take your advice," she said. "When Grover and I got back today, the first thing I did was write a letter to my dad."

"You're going to live with him for the rest of the year," I guessed.

She nodded. "I mean, if he says yes, I'd like to give it another try. But..."

"You're worried he'll get hurt because of you."

Her smile looked more and more like a grimace. "It was the reason why going home two years ago didn't work out for me, remember? The monster attacks were getting more frequent, and we had two little toddlers in the family. My step-mother wanted me gone, but my dad didn't have the heart to kick me out. So I left, and haven't spoken to them since. Until today."

She was scared for them, I realized. She was thinking that what happened to my mom could happen to her family as well. And honestly, she was right. The monsters were getting worse, and the gods didn't exactly care what they stepped on. Simply being around her family was putting them at risk. But did that mean we were supposed to seclude ourselves away in this camp and never interact with anyone on the outside? I looked up at the tall pine on Half-Blood Hill, and then over at the sea on the other side of the camp. I loved it here, but picturing myself living here for the rest of my life made me feel claustrophobic.

Honestly, I had no idea what I'd do in her situation.

"I'm sorry," she said, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "I shouldn't be burdening you with this."

"My problems don't make yours any less important."

"Maybe not. But you just lost your mom. You're grieving. I don't want you to worry about me on top of all this."

Silence fell on the fire pit. The cool night breeze rustled the trees around us as we were left to our own thoughts. After a moment, Grover stood, stretching out his back. "Boy, I sure am glad I'm not a demigod. Monsters don't follow me around, I live twice as long..."

"You smell like a barnyard," I supplied helpfully, grinning in spite of myself.

Grover scoffed in mock offense. "Hey, I resent that statement."

Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "No, he's right."

"Blaa-aa. Jerks."

I couldn't help myself. I laughed. Grover smiled and held out a hand, pulling me to my feet. I still didn't really want to go back to my cabin, but it was getting late and Grover and Annabeth were both looking sleepy. It had been a long day for us, and I could feel my eyelids growing heavy as well.

Grover looked hesitant to leave. I wouldn't have really minded having company tonight, but it was kind of forbidden to let anyone besides children of Poseidon stay in Cabin Three. "Percy," he said. "If you need anything, you know where to find us."

Annabeth nodded and got to her feet as well. "Don't be afraid to knock." Thinking better of it, she added, "Well, be a little afraid. I don't think all the Athena campers have warmed up to you just yet."

I chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. Good night, guys. And... thank you."

With that, the three of us went our separate ways for the first time since our quest started weeks ago. Well, second time, I supposed. As I made my way up the steps to Cabin Three, the smell of sea salt growing stronger, I realized there was something I forgot to do. I rushed back down the stairs and dashed all the way to the arts and crafts building. As I expected, there was no one there, and to my luck there were still plenty of supplies left out, probably from the Ares kids. I helped myself to some of them and went to work.

A few hours later, I had myself a shroud for my mother. It was painted blue, with white streaks representing the crests of ocean waves spanning it. Different types of candies that she'd bring home from her work dotted the cloth, and in the center was a golden trident, just as I had seen my father holding. I had debated for a while whether to include him in the design since he wasn't exactly ever there for us, but I knew that my mom had loved him and that he meant a lot to her. In the end, I decided to keep it.

I wasn't an artist by any means, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

I then grabbed some rope from the supply bin and foraged around the edge of the woods for some fallen branches. Lashing them together, I soon had a makeshift raft. I tested the sturdiness. It would do.

My next stop was the stables, where I grabbed a bundle of hay that I would use to fill the shroud and give it form. The pegasi were retired for the night, but I could hear one of them mumbling in its sleep.

Golden apples..., it moaned. Mane brushes...

I thought about how strange my life had become as I went to get the last thing I needed. Back in the arts and crafts building once more, I rummaged around awhile until I found a clay pot. Jogging back to the campfire, I dug up some coals that were still hot under the ash. I carefully transferred them to the pot and then made my way down to the beach with the completed product.

Purple light was beginning to paint the horizon when I reached the edge of the water. I kicked off my shoes and let the wind whip through my hair, wading out until the water reached my knees. Deadbeat dad or no, I still couldn't put into words how much I enjoyed being near his domain. The waves lapped at my feet as if they were reaching out for me. The sea itself felt like it was mourning. After a moment, I placed the raft down in the water, the shroud already tied to it. I opened up the clay pot and allowed the coals to fall into the hay underneath.

Without me even willing it, the ocean seemed to calm, and a gentle current began to carry it out to sea. The waves parted around the raft and allowed it to pass through. My vision blurred, and I wiped away at my eyes.

"Goodbye, Mom," I whispered. The shroud went up in flames, its orange halo melding into the colors of dawn on the sea behind it. "I love you."

This was mainly a filler chapter to get the other characters up to speed and allow Percy to say goodbye. The story will start to branch out from canon in one or two chapters. Again, sorry for the slow start, but I want to make sure Percy's change of heart is done right.