Blank.

"Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from two, it's research."

~Wilson Mizner

Chiron raised his arm, all talk grounding to a halt, and in a hesitant, pained voice, said 8 words that turned Percy's life upside down…again.

"Percy…the Second Giant War ended fifteen years ago…"

The son of Poseidon stood rooted to his spot in the sand, staring up at the centaur. A few tense seconds passed, the beach unnaturally quiet, before Percy snorted derisively, and began to walk towards the crowd.

"I know I'm back and all, but this is no time for jokes...as weird as it is for me to be saying that. Now, can you get me back to Greece, or not? The world is at stake here, Chiron," he frowned.

Mutterings from amongst the crowd of demigods sprang up again, whilst Chiron shifted nervously on the spot. The trainer, if at all possible, had aged visibly in the months he had been away, Percy noted.

"Well?" the green-eyed hero persisted, pausing several feet in front of the half-horse and ignoring the multitude of eyes trained on him. On any other day, the reunion between himself and the camp would have been an effervescent occasion, but he had other priorities, so perhaps he could be excused for giving the immortal trainer slightly less respect than he deserved.

"I...I..." Chiron stuttered, before sighing dejectedly, and remaining silent.

Percy's frown deepened as he gazed into those scarred brown eyes. Chiron's odd change in persona since Percy had last seen him was disconcerting to say the least. The centaur always kept his emotions in check, even after thousands of years of endless tragedy. The number of heroes that must have come and gone under his watch, the amount that must have fallen prey to monster attacks, to war, was unthinkable. He had held himself together all those years, yet here he was, in front of Percy, teary eyed and at a loss for words.

The crowd looked on, a fair few wide eyed and pointing. He was fairly used to crowds, but not ones that were as awkward as this one was. However, his thought from earlier sprang up again, looking the demigods over. He really didn't recognise any of them. It was if the gods had one massive breeding drive in the months he was away, and then replaced the existing heroes with new ones. As ridiculous as it sounded, it was definitely the kind of thing they would do.

"What's going on here, Chiron?" he asked. "Some of these kids look like they've seen a ghost...metaphorically speaking, of course."

The centaur continued to shift nervously, glancing back and forth between the crowd and Percy. "Look Percy, perhaps we should go to the Big House and discuss things," he pleaded, something he never thought he'd see Chiron do.

"I don't have time to discuss things, Chiron!" he exclaimed, causing the sea behind him to churn restlessly. Didn't he understand there was a war on? Didn't he understand that camp was under immediate threat? "I need to get to Greece as soon as possible. Now can you help me or do I need to fork up five-hundred dollars for a plane ticket?"

Chiron shook his head vigorously, while the crowd watched on with bated breaths. "You don't understand, Percy. You need to come with me so we can clear this all up," the centaur said, his voice desperate.

Percy looked around. The crowd, the beach, the air. All of it was different to what he remembered. He was only gone for six or seven months, yet the landscape, the sand itself had moved so drastically that it was unrecognisable to his eyes.

He held out his arms in a 'what' gesture. "What don't I understand, Chiron?" he asked. His voice was calm, but internally he was losing patience. "This place has changed so much in such a short time...Why don't I recognise anyone? What happened while I was gone?"

"We should g-" Chiron began, but before he could finish his sentence, a hopeful, melodic voice rang out from the crowd. There was a brief moment of silence, heads turning, before the crowd started to shift.

"Percy?" the voice rang. It was agonisingly familiar, but Percy couldn't quite put a name to it.

Demigods from amongst the crowd continued to move, forming a narrow pathway and revealing the glowing figure of his charmspeaking friend.

"Piper?"

"Oh my gods…" she whispered. For a few seconds, they stared at each other, shock displayed all over Piper's face. Then, wordlessly, she ran at him at full pelt, right into his arms.

They stood there for a while, Piper sobbing into his chest, his arms around her back, reveling in the comfort and relief her warmth provided.

"Back to your classes, heroes!" came the order from Chiron, and the crowd of unknown faces dispersed slowly, much to Percy's satisfaction.

Piper gently pushed herself out of his grasp, her eyes stained with tears, but a wide smile plastering her face. Percy couldn't help but reciprocate for a second, but then a sudden thought struck him. Why was Piper here?

"What are you doing here?" he asked, voicing his thought.

"I-I live here...You're alive…" she shrugged, staring at him with those kaleidoscopic eyes, scarily duller than what they were the last time he had seen them.

"Live here? We were in Greece fighting Gaia's army a couple of days ago...Why are you here...How are you here? Where is everyone else?" he persisted. If Piper was here...then who was fighting Gaia?

She searched his eyes, trying to detect any sign of humour, or dishonesty, but sensing he was completely serious, turned to Chiron, wide eyed. "Y-you haven't told him…?" she stuttered.

"I have...He refuses to believe me…"

The daughter of Aphrodite turned back to Percy, her face now devoid of relief and pain, instead only deathly seriousness played on her face. She gently placed her hands on his shoulders, and stared directly at him. "Percy, I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?" she insisted.

Her gesticulation with the shoulders made him shift nervously on the spot, his eyes darting

between her face and Chiron several times in rapid succession.

"W-what's going on, Piper? Why are you here? Where's Annabeth?" he stuttered.

Piper, who, apart from the eyes, didn't look a day older than when he last saw her, shook her head, dismissing his ramblings.

"Percy, look at me...What Chiron said was true. I don't know what happened to you while you were...but fifteen years have passed since the Second Giant War...I-I'm sorry Perce…" she croaked, immediately withdrawing her hands from his shoulders and taking a step back.

Behind him, the sea began to churn, and chop more vigorously than it had done, and above, the sky was beginning to turn a shade of dull grey, in contrast to the perfect weather he had awoken to.

"F-fifteen years…? N-no...T-that's not...No! You're lying! Where's Annabeth! D-did she…?" he asked, trailing off at the end, unable to say the word.

Piper hesitated for a second before answering, "Annabeth is...fine, Percy. Just calm down, okay? We'll explain everything, I promise."

"A-Annabeth got out? She's safe?"

The daughter of Aphrodite smiled, though it didn't quite meet her dulled eyes. "Yeah, thanks to you...You saved her, Perce," she nodded.

"I saved her..?"

"You did."

Percy's stomach did somersaults at the news. His reasons for thinking Annabeth would have survived the elevator trip were non-existent. He had hoped, blindly, not willing to think of the alternative. To hear her safety confirmed was like the sky had been lifted off his shoulders once more.

Just as she had done with him, he gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "I-I want to see her...Take me to her."

"W-well...I…" she stuttered, looking at Chiron for support.

"Please Piper…" he pleaded.

The half-horse nodded, and Piper turned back to Percy's wide, desperate eyes.

"Alright, Percy, we'll take you to her...after we've a little chat in The Big House though. There are...a few things that you should know," she relented, praying her voice was firmer than she felt inside.

Slowly, he nodded, "Alright...alright."

Walking through camp was a surreal experience for Percy. Changes, some subtle and others not so subtle, had been made everywhere. The largest of the not so subtle changes were the cabins. After the Second Titan War, eight more had been built, in addition to the twelve that were already there. Now though, there were at least forty, all arranged to form two vast circles, one inside of the other.

As they walked along the path in between Cabins one and two, he spared a glance towards the Poseidon cabin. It was dull and dirty compared with other cabins, as if no one had given it any love for quite a long time. He prayed no one had touched his stuff while he was away, but knowing the Stolls, that was highly unlikely.

To his rear, Piper and Chiron were whispering amongst themselves. He couldn't quite hear what they were saying but he was sure they were talking about him. He could just feel the words roll off their tongues and hit him square in the back. His mind was elsewhere, though. Namely on Annabeth, but also on the eyes that continuously followed him.

Across the expanse of the cabin circle, multitudes of campers stared at him shamelessly. He had been given the same treatment when he had first been claimed by Poseidon, and somewhat towards the end of the Second Titan War as well. But whereas before he would receive looks of admiration and comfort, all he was receiving now were blank, emotionless stares.

He was awfully tempted to look each in the eye and give them his deluxe wolf stare. However, before he could give in to temptation, he froze under the shadow of a large object that was seemingly out of place. Where the hearth should have been was a large bronze statue, of about twenty-five feet tall, mounted on a square, marble plinth. The front of the statue was around the other side, so Percy couldn't see much except for the sword raised in the air triumphantly, and the Corinthian helmet the figure held in its other hand.

"Where's the campfire?" he asked, not bothering to turn towards the duo behind him.

There was a moment of brief silence before Chiron spoke up. "We moved it down the path to make room for the memorial," the centaur explained, following Percy as he moved around to the front for a closer look.

The plinth was simple in appearance, so as to avoid diverting attention from the statue itself. Nonetheless, it was elegant in its own right, with several intricate carvings on the side, some depicting events that Perseus recognised all too well. The fight against Kronos in New York, chief among which.

At the front was a single celestial bronze plaque, with the words 'Όλοι έδωσαν μερικοί. Μερικοί έδωσαν όλοι' etched in bold.

"All gave some. Some gave all," he translated aloud, before taking a step backwards and finding himself staring up at a twenty-five foot bronze clone of himself.

All in all, it was a very good likeness of himself, he would happily admit. The hair was it's mad, windswept self, and the facial features were like they had been lifted straight from his living face. But as impressive as it was, and Percy certainly had an idea who the person was that designed it, he couldn't help but feel a little angry at its existence. He was not the arbiter of heroism. For every great thing he had done, there was at least one way he had failed someone, or something. The statue made him out to be someone demigods should aspire to be, but his was not a life he wanted anyone to experience.

"A fitting memorial, is it not?" asked the ancient voice of Chiron. Percy gave the centaur a once over before turning back to his likeness.

"Memorials work best when the figure depicted stays dead," he frowned.

The centaur laughed, not sensing the seriousness, and truthfulness in what Percy was saying. Now that he was alive, the statue itself was all but redundant. Perhaps he had given everything, but a large chunk had just been given back to him. By all accounts, he had cheated death, while truer heroes still had the pleasure, and misfortune, of remaining in the underworld. He felt incredibly guilty at that fact, he realised, even if he was pretty much forced to come back.

"The one who truly epitomised heroism immortalised for all to see. You're the first thing the campers see when they wake up, and the last thing they see at night," the centaur continued, and Percy couldn't stop himself from cringing at the words.

"It's very...flattering..." he managed to force out. "...but there were many greater heroes than me. Beckendorf, Silena, Bianca...You shouldn't have singled me out. It wasn't fair to."

Chiron smiled sadly but otherwise said nothing. Wordlessly, Percy gave his likeness a quick disapproving glance, before turning on his heel, and continuing onward towards the Big House.

Comfortingly, the Big House was in exactly the same shape as he last saw it, as were the volleyball courts. Thalia's pine, too, was a welcoming sight, though looking at it did remind Percy of the inevitable punch he would receive at the hand of the pine's namesake.

Bizarrely, Mr. D was not on the front porch sipping Diet Coke as per the norm, and neither was he in the house itself.

"Where's Mr. D?" he asked, as they stepped into the sky-blue house.

"Oh, Zeus did away with the 'Camp Director' part of his punishment, and instead decided to confine him to his palace on Olympus. It's actually worse for him, if you think about it. I hear they party 24/7 up there," the daughter of Aphrodite piped.

Percy snorted. He could just image Dionysus standing on his balcony with a can of Diet Coke, shouting expletives at anyone who would dare appear happy on the sidewalk below. But despite being rude, lazy, and slightly repulsive, Percy would miss him in a weird sort of way. His carefree attitude certainly made things interesting around the place, and the look on new campers when he purposely forgoed addressing them by their actual names was nothing short of hilarious.

At least now he wouldn't be threatened with dolphin-ification every time he laid eyes on the man.

They walked through the main room, passing a leopard head, the eyes of which Percy swore were following him, and entered Chiron's office. The two demigods plonked down into two beige armchairs that complemented the old fashioned room perfectly, while Chiron's body had retracted into its wheelchair state.

Their eyes met, and in a soft but strangely foreboding voice, said, "There are some things you should know."

Percy glanced at Piper briefly, and saw that her eyes were staring downwards at her lap.

"Such as?" he answered, with a due sense of dread.

"It's been 15 years to the day since you departed this world, Percy. I swear on the styx that it's true."

Thunder crackled overhead.

Once more, his eyes turned wide. "B-but-" he began, but Chiron raised his arm before he could continue.

"There's more. After the Second Giant War, the Seven were each offered immortality. Some took it...and others didn't. Annabeth was one of the ones that didn't."

"W-What are you saying, Chiron?"

The centaur sighed deeply. "There's no easy way for me to say this, Percy...Annabeth made the gods promise to leave her alone, and reluctantly they accepted. For the twelve years after she left, we had no contact with her, until one day, she miraculously appeared on Halfblood Hill with a baby in her arms. She wasn't alone, though."

What had happened was suddenly dawning on him. A great pain in his chest, whether real or imaginary, rose up from within as he put the pieces together. "N-No..."

"With her was a man-a clear-sighted mortal, I believe...She explained that they had met several years ago, that the baby was theirs, and that they were married. I'm...I'm so sorry, Percy...Annabeth has moved on."

"N-No...N-No, t-that's not tr-"

"I swear on Styx everything I just said was true," he swore. Thunder crackled again.

The son of Poseidon inched out of his chair, mouth agape in a mix of horror and disbelief.

"I-I'm...I'm going to be sick," he choked, before promptly staggering out of the room, banging his shoulder on the door in the process.

Tearfully, Piper looked up from her lap at Chiron. "Y-You didn't tell him about...you know who?" she questioned.

"He's shocked enough as it is...He doesn't need any more excitement for today. Go to him, comfort him. He will need someone close to him in these coming days...Make sure he doesn't do anything rash…"