A/N: So people, we got to 4 reviews, and I'm very proud of you, but for this one, I'd like 5 reviews. That's all, I'm not even asking too much.
But to be real, I'm going to update whether you review or not. Because I do this for me, not you. Though it's awesome if you review, because it makes me very very happy. Just ask my mother.
(Please don't do that)
But here is the much awaited campfire scene. It's going to be EPIC. DFTBA!
Percy was sitting next to Jason, which would have been fine, had Jason not also been sitting next to Piper. They were casually holding hands and over all being cute, but it wasn't as casual as they'd assumed. So Percy was awkwardly third wheeling.
Annabeth seemed to walk into the campfire in a spotlight, or so it appeared to Percy. She walked next to Taylor, who seemed smaller by comparison. Conversation went on, but the topics changed to theories as to Taylor's existence.
"Excuse me," Annabeth cleared her throat, standing in front of the group of campers with Taylor. Percy had expected her to shy away from their attention, but instead she stood up straight like Annabeth and smiled.
"So apparently in the wood there was some confusion as to Taylor's parentage, so I'm going to explain it, for those of you who don't understand. Most demigods don't make it to adulthood, but Taylor's parents both made it to adulthood, and had her. Her father was a son of Aphrodite; her mother was a daughter of Athena. This makes her a demigod, just like us, but she has both the skills of Athena and Aphrodite. We as a camp are going to get more campers like Taylor with mixed parentage, so I suggest we get used to it." Annabeth smiled at the end and gestured to the group to go back to its usual gossip and behavior.
"Taylor!" Mitchell called out to her, "Sit with us!" He patted the area of bench next to him. Taylor looked to Annabeth to find the answer, but Annabeth was already sitting with the older kids.
"Hi," Taylor said quietly to Mitchell. He smiled and added her into their conversation about the cutest couples in the camp. It was an easy conversation to follow, mostly arguing over whether Percy and Annabeth were better than Jason and Piper. Taylor wasn't really expected to add in, but she could comment in agreement or ask little questions every so often. It wasn't too complex.
Then the real organized campfire event started. The Apollo cabin led the camp in songs that Taylor didn't know, but could easily pick up. It wasn't really about the songs or knowing the worlds. It was about being part of a group. They were all sitting in the orange glow of the fire, smiling goofily in the dark. Couples were holding hands like the darkness could hide them, and the entire camp was a family. It was exactly how the perfect family should be according to Taylor. Everybody got along alright, but here they were all one, smiling and being kids. It was exactly what she'd missed out on as a younger child.
After the singing was exhausted and every voice was rough and tired, it was story time. The counselors all told scary stories about heroes who'd died horribly, or greedy mortals who'd been cursed by the gods. It seemed a bit depressing, but there was a kind of magic to it. Sitting in the dark with just the children of the gods, the stories didn't seem as outlandish as they would in daylight. The darkness hid the insanity and made all the terrifying aspects seem much more possible.
But the last spectacle was by far the most incredible. Demigods recounted their quests for the camp, a sort of shared history, so the younger kids could understand exactly where they were coming from. The camp had already heard the early tales of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, so now it was time for the more recent escapades.
Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo and Nico sat on a bench infront of the camp, Nico looking mortified that he was expected to talk infront of people.
"So as many of you know, we are a few of the heroes from the prophecy of seven, but not Nico. He's just a kid we found in a jar and dragged along." Percy said, shooting a provocative glance to Nico.
Nico laughed sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that Jackson. Gods know I saved your sorry ass more times than we could count." Percy laughed at this, and the rest of the bench laughed along with him, like the statement was true.
"So Leo started the official quest by building the Argo II, which many of you helped to build," Jason began. He was cut off by Leo's siblings hooting in agreement. Leo raised his hand as if he were attempting to stop their shouts.
"But after landing in New Rome, we ran into a small issue," Piper continued, and Percy snorted in agreement. Leo's eyes fell to the floor and whispered "Sorry for that one, my bad."
"So after Leo accidentally blew up New Rome, the seven of us took off from California for Greece, with Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque who will be joining us here tomorrow. So we stopped off in Kansas or somewhere to chat with Bacchus," Piper's voice was cut off by Percy leaning forward and stage-whispering, "Not to be confused with Dionysus."
Piper rolled her eyes at his antics, but let Jason continue. "So after a quick Duel with Percy and brief unconsciousness, we headed to Atlanta, where we were told to find salt water." Percy smiled devilishly and continued for him.
"So Frank, Coach Hedge and I went to the massive aquarium in Atlanta, where we got stuck in a massive tank. We eventually got busted out by the coach and I hear the other animals were freed as well." He added the last bit on for the benefit of the other's on the bench with him. They nodded appreciatively.
"So then we went to Charleston, where the Romans caught up with us. It was later discovered that it was in fact eidolon that were causing the issues, not Leo, not that the Romans were really going to listen." It was Jason's turn to laugh at that comment. To say they were not going to talk was the understatement of the century.
"So after tea with my mother in a park, Annabeth, Hazel and I were ambushed by Octavian," She was cut off by gagging noises from Annabeth. She was about as far as you could get from an Octavian fan.
"But never fear, we were once again saved," Piper began, but her sentence was finished by Percy.
"By the heroic Percy Jackson." He smiled gallantly, but was only met with eye rolls.
"I was actually going to say Annabeth's quick thinking, but if your ego needs a boost then go for it." Piper said, trading looks with Percy. He rolled his eyes but put an arm around Annabeth's shoulders.
"So then we stopped by fort Sumter for a brief search for clues. Annabeth found her clue and we got the hell out of here. But we left quite a bit of flaming national monuments in Charleston." Leo laughed at Piper's amusing comments.
"So we crossed the Atlantic and only sustained one major attack, and after meeting the mer-people, we were back on our way." Leo stuck his tongue out at Percy, who only rolled his eyes in response.
"We met Hercules, who turned out to be a massive jerk, but Piper and Jason beat him and we got into the Mediterranean Sea." Percy made explosion noises and the group chuckled a bit at that.
"It wasn't that impressive," Jason commented, but Percy just gestured like 'he's so modest'.
"So we started getting attacked all the time, but luckily Piper and Hazel found some super cool powers. Like magic and talking to dragons," Percy said. The camp assumed that he was overdramatizing it, but the bench group knew he was actually downplaying the weird.
"So we got to Rome and Annabeth went off on her solo death quest, but not before a nice lunch on the river Tiber." Percy said, his eyes darkening. The Aphrodite cabin was atwitter but the bench was not so cheerful, they knew what was coming.
"The rest of us went to the coliseum and fought some giants, eventually beating them with our awesome skills and some help from Bacchus." Leo made a handful of fire and threw it up dramatically, like a firework. The group looked impressed, but the bench wasn't celebrating yet.
"But don't worry kids, the death defying act isn't over yet. On our way out, we accidentally dropped Percy and Annabeth into Tartarus. Oops!" Leo attempted to keep it light, but the darkness made the six on the bench look like ghosts.
"Well, this seems like a good place to stop, so we can continue this story later, clearly they make it out and the Athena Parthenos is saved and everybody lives happily ever after, so sleep well! See you in the morning!" Leo sent the kids back to their cabins, but the group on the bench didn't move to get up. They sat together, like old veterans mourning a war that was long over and forgotten, but not to them. For them it was every day, and very real.
They walked off in pairs, Jason and Piper to the fields to stargaze, Percy and Annabeth to the beach and Nico and Leo to their cabins.
So the story ended there for the night, and would be continued the next night at the campfire, along with Frank and Hazel.
A/N: not the best ending ever, but not too terrible as endings go. So please Review! I'd love to chat! And my writing is better with responses, so I know what to do more of, and what to stop doing!
Have an awesome day, Muchas Gracias my lovelies, and DFTBA! ~M