The day they came was a Tuesday.

Tuesday was particularly memorable for more reasons than that. Tuesday was the day Hestia destroyed Kronos' scythe. Tuesday was the day Luke Castellan destroyed Kronos. Tuesday was the day Camp Half-Blood held off the Titan Army in Manhattan. Tuesday was the day Nico di Angelo and his father Hades fought to save Olympus. Tuesday was the day Poseidon helped defeat Typhon. Tuesday was the day Rachel Elizabeth Dare became the new Oracle of Delphi. Tuesday was the day Percy Jackson gave up godhood in favor of forcing the gods to claim their children. Tuesday was the day the Great Prophecy was fulfilled. Tuesday was the day the new Great Prophecy was made. And Tuesday was the day Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase finally started dating.

But they came on Tuesday too.

August 18, 2009, marked the end of the Titan War and everything that came with wars ending. It was mourning and celebrations. It was supposed to be the beginning of peace.

Tuesday was the day the fight ended, but Tuesday was the day everything finally went to Hades.

It wasn't so much of an obvious arrival. No, they only realized the arrival happened on Tuesday much later. But there was a change in the Camp. A sudden breeze or whisper, and a feeling inside each demigods' gut.

It was the dreams too.

They all had been through a lot during the war, and no one could argue that Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, and Grover Underwood who had been there at the very end had gotten the worst of it all. But it was not enough to warrant the dreams.

At 10:00 PM on Tuesday, August 18, 2009, the screams started. No one knew why, but Percy and Annabeth were screaming in their sleep.

Nico di Angelo was staying in the Poseidon cabin with Percy until he finished construction on the new Hades cabin. He seemed to know exactly what to do. It shouldn't have been possible considering how tired he was after fighting monsters the whole day, but he managed to shadow travel himself and Percy into the Athena cabin where they were met with confused and scared Athena kids. He quickly woke the two screaming demigods up.

Percy's eyes seemed much older. He barely registered his surroundings.

"Excuse us," Percy said firmly, dragging Annabeth and Nico out of the cabin.

Annabeth did not return to the Athena cabin that night.

Wednesday, August 19, brought something new. Annabeth and Percy walked into the dining pavilion hand in hand. They sat down together at the Poseidon table despite the rules of not being able to sit at a different cabin's table.

Chiron raised an eyebrow, but the events of last night had clearly reached him because he said nothing. At least not in front of everyone.

Then there was the subtle change in Nico di Angelo. The son of Hades had been very much secluded prior to the end of the war, however, he was seemingly trying to make an effort to be more sociable. For one, he started to smile and laugh however small when he was with Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia. For two, through some mutual understanding of some kind that was unseen by the other campers, he and Will Solace started a strange kind of friendship that was so unlikely to work that it worked just fine.

And so it continued throughout the rest of the summer until the very last day of camp for the campers that went back to school.

Percy and Annabeth seemed much too reluctant to leave. They had flat out told Chiron they were going to share Poseidon's cabin and if he wanted to argue with them they would like to see him sleep at night with the nightmares that plagued them. Chiron must have understood, because he went deathly pale and nothing more was spoken of the subject. This would be the first time they would leave the security of the camp.

Percy's goodbyes were strange too. He gave Nico a long hug and made him promise.

"Hazel," Percy said seriously, looking into Nico's eyes. "And don't tell me anything. Promise?"

Nico looked reluctant to do so. "Promises worry me."

Percy scowled at nothing. "Well you don't have to worry." His eyes flickered with a dark shadow. "Don't go looking either. Annabeth and I will figure it out."

Annabeth's eyes seemed to darken for a moment. "We'll see you in June."

Nico nodded. "See you then." He allowed a small smile. "I've got to go soon then. And, yeah, I promise. Just don't hurt me when you see me."

"No promises," Percy said with a grin. "But I'll remember this conversation, so we're all good."

"You're leaving?" Will asked Nico.

Nico shrugged. "For a while. I'll probably pop in from time to time. But I've missed a lot. Lot of world to see. Getting old sucks," he said, referring to his actual age.

Percy and Will snickered, while Annabeth sighed.

"Iris message us," Annabeth told Nico. "Don't be a stranger."

"Bye, Annabeth," Nico said wryly. "Later, Will."

"What about me?" Percy asked looking offended.

Nico eyed him dubiously. "Eh, still not my type," he said before melting into the shadows. A ghost of his laugh echoed.

Percy sputtered before stalking away.

"Bye, Chiron," Percy said to the centaur. "It's been real."

Chiron looked startled. "Are you not returning next summer?"

"I'll be back," Percy promised. "Annabeth will kill me if I don't come back."

Annabeth nodded to confirm this. "Yep. So don't do anything stupid, Seaweed Brain."

Percy turned to face the group of campers as a whole. He raised a hand.

"Bye, everyone!" he shouted. Then he spread his middle and ring fingers. "Live long and prosper!"

Annabeth just shook her head before pulling her boyfriend out of the camp's borders. "Come on, Percy. If we don't hurry it'll be December before we get out of here."

It was small things like that too that indicated the arrival of something new. Inside jokes that weren't very funny to those in the know. Someone would say something and look at someone else, but the joke they very clearly shared was no laughing matter.

When they came, it was not obvious. When they came, there was no celebrations for the knowledge they brought. When they came, no one knew to care.

Time passed on. Year round campers trained. Some new campers arrived. The new cabins were finished. The months passed by. September, October, November, December.

Then Annabeth showed up. Her eyes sought out Nico because he seemed to be in on the whole thing. He gave her a terse shake of his head.

"Percy's missing," Annabeth announced in the middle of dinner. "Chiron, we have to talk."

She marched off to the Big House, stunned centaur following her a moment later.

A/N: Okay, so this story was originally posted on my AO3 account. It's doing pretty good there, so I wanted to see how well it does here. Anyway, tell me how you liked it.