This is it, guys. Welcome to the FINAL CHAPTER of this series! Wow, it feels weird to be posting this... Part of me kind of wanted to wait until the 23rd since that's exactly one year since I posted the first chapter of Blood and Sand, but that's a Saturday and the new season of Doctor Who starts so you know I'll have other things on my mind, haha. So INSTEAD I went with 8/18, which is, of course, also a special day in the PJO fandom. And to throw in the element of inception, this chapter actually takes place on August 18th. Go figure.

So here it is, everybody - THE END. Really. The actual conclusion. I'll have the usual notes at the end - be sure to check 'em out before we say goodbye.

Here we go, guys! Enjoy!

LIV
PIPER

The weeks following the end of the Shadow War were some of Camp Half-Blood's busiest. There were cabins to rebuild, fields to repair, weapons to remake—a whole list of post-war renovations that needed doing. With so many people, though, things moved along at an effective rate. Everyone was willing to do their part to help out. Even the members who didn't live at camp devoted all the time they could. After all, the camp was all of their responsibility now.

The gods kept good on their promises to Annabeth, Jason, and Reyna and supplied them with whatever they needed, provided it was within their power. For the most part, though, the campers did the work themselves. It wasn't really discussed, but every time she volunteered for a project or watched someone else working, Piper knew why. The place was their home. Repairing it with their own hands was just something they had to do. If they let the gods do everything with magic, it wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be theirs. This way, together they could make their new camp into something they could all be proud of.

Piper smiled at the thought as she strolled aimlessly past the new forge and through the slowly-returning strawberry fields on the afternoon of August eighteenth, two and a half weeks since the end of the war, watching a handful of Demeter kids plowing the northern sections. Katie Gardner was standing nearby, hand in hand with Travis Stoll as she supervised the work. She caught Piper's eye and they both waved, and with a smile Piper waved back, still glad to see them back on their feet and together again. Katie had recovered physically two days after the gods' council meeting, though she'd remained quiet and despondent until the following week, when her boyfriend had finally come out of his coma. Another week had passed since then, and though he was told to keep movement to a minimum he was no longer confined to the infirmary, which evidently he was extremely pleased about. According to his brother Connor, he'd hated being stuck in bed for so long.

Travis and Katie weren't the only ones who'd experienced recent recoveries, either. All of the minor injuries from the Battle of the Black Moon, as they'd begun calling it, had been healed, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Greek and Roman medics. Even Rachel Dare, their Oracle host, was up and about and just as friendly and lively as the first day she and Piper had met. When Erebos had been defeated and the darkness had gone, her condition had begun to improve almost immediately. After another day, she'd finally woken up, saying she felt good as new, as though nothing had ever happened at all. Will Solace, who'd been observing her during her illness, was completely baffled by the whole thing. Piper remembered Annabeth hypothesizing once that Rachel's deterioration had been due to the darkness' clouding of the Oracle's sight, which in turn affected its host body. She supposed it didn't matter now whether that had been the case or hadn't. All that mattered was that Rachel was back to normal.

Beyond the strawberry fields used to be the camp's western border. But now, the border had been expanded roughly half a mile to make room for a whole slew of new living areas—a combination of cabins and barracks. At all hours of the day, people could be seen out here, laying stones on what would soon be a road or gathering building materials and measuring plots of land according to the Athena kids' construction and placement blueprints. As Piper approached the east end of the road, she spotted a group of Ares campers (assisted by Argus, the camp's many-eyed security detail) hauling piles of wooden paneling to a flattened plot of land on the roadside that had been roped off—Kendall Donelson, the kid with the scar whom Piper had showed around the camp a few weeks ago, among them. She'd been a bit surprised to learn that he'd been claimed by his father during the Battle of the Black Moon, but all in all he seemed to fit in well with his new cabin mates. He'd settled into life at camp rather well, and was putting just as much effort into renovations as anyone.

Farther down the halfway-completed road, the ground was still wild and uneven. Plans dictated that it would one day be filled by a Roman coliseum and a few temples to the Roman gods. For now, though, priorities were focused on building proper living areas, and as such the space was left open for the time being and had thus become the temporary playground for Benny and Mrs. O'Leary, the camp's two giant hellhound mascots. In fact, if Piper squinted, she could just barely see them there now, two black shadows running in circles around each other. She chuckled to herself, thinking that the two of them were rather like the rest of the camp's residents—happy and carefree with no lingering threats looming over their shoulders. It was the sort of realization that gave Piper an odd feeling of warmth, like sunlight was threading itself through her muscles and relaxing her body.

In a little while, Piper and her cabin mates were scheduled to begin cleaning and organizing the mess hall, half of the pavilion over which had been demolished and had yet to be cleared as everyone had been eating around the campfire every night. She still had some time until then, though, so with no other plans she turned and started ambling toward the stables, not wanting to disturb the people working on the new living quarters. As she neared, she noticed quite a few children out and about, playing with the pegasi near the stables and the fields. It was great to see them laughing and having fun; there hadn't been many small children before the war, but when the Romans had moved in, the surviving families from New Rome had added to that number. It was just another factor that made the camp feel more like home—more like a safe place for people like them to just live their lives. Sure, they'd have to work hard to keep the border around the camp strong and effective. But it was worth it, easily. And with everyone working together, they were confident that it could be done.

"Piper! Hey, Piper!"

Piper shook her head and looked around as she heard her name, coming slowly out of her distracted thoughts. Nearby, two small boys with identical caramel-colored hair were standing beside a sleek, white pegasus and feeding her handfuls of berries. They were both grinning and waving at Piper, and she smiled as she recognized them as the brothers who'd arrived at camp on the same day as Kendall—Grant and Nathan Parker.

"Hey, guys," she said brightly as she approached them. "What are you up to?"

"We wanted to help, so Miranda asked us to feed the horses," Grant replied as Nathan held out his berries as evidence. Piper's smile grew. It seemed that even the kids were kept busy nowadays. And what was more, they appeared excited to have their own jobs to fulfill.

"Well, looks like you're doing a great job," Piper told them as the white pegasus whinnied happily, scooping the berries from Nathan's hand.

After a beat, Grant frowned up at Piper. "You seem sad," he said.

Piper blinked in mild surprise. "What do you mean?"

He exchanged a look with his brother and shrugged. "I don't know, you just seem sad. Like you lost something."

Piper felt her breath catch momentarily in her throat, her smile faltering. It was true, they'd lost a lot to the war. One of her siblings was dead, and others had been hurt and almost killed as well. A few of her friends had even temporarily died, giving her some of the worst scares of her life. She'd been focusing on work, staying positive and throwing her efforts into repairing what had been destroyed. But sometimes when she looked at all that had changed, it hurt to remember the way things used to be. The changes they were going through brought a mixture of good and bad, and it was difficult to ignore either one.

"Maybe you're right," Piper admitted. "I guess the things I've lost… Well, I'm still trying to accept the fact that they won't turn up again."

"But that's why we're making new stuff, right?" Grant replied, stepping up to a dark brown pegasus and offering it some purple berries. "'Cause when you lose things, that's the best way to remember them."

"Like that time I lost my favorite teddy, remember, Grant?" Nathan added, looking at his brother with his blue eyes wide. "Dad said it got left in the hotel after a game once, and he bought me a new one. I missed the old one, but it made me less sad 'cause now I had a new friend. If I'd never lost the first one, I never would'a got the second one, right?" His eyes rose to look at Piper and he smiled. "So you just need to find somethin' new that makes you happy. Then you won't be sad anymore."

Piper couldn't help a heartfelt smile as a comforting warmth swelled in her chest. How was it that these two little boys knew exactly what to say to make her feel better? It was a lot like the empathy reading ability she'd used on Octavian, actually—the one Mitchell had told her children of Aphrodite often possessed.

At that thought, something stirred in her heart. She studied Grant and Nathan's eyes and somehow she suddenly knew—they were like her. She may have been imagining it, but she could swear she heard her mother's voice in her head—They're right, you know. How about two new brothers to bring you that happiness? She may have lost one sibling, but at the same time she'd gained two new ones. Maybe they had a point—the things she'd gained really could help her move on from the things she'd lost.

"You guys are really smart, you know that?" she said, reaching out to ruffle both their hair. Nathan laughed and Grant tried to dodge her with a grin. She decided not to tell them yet about their parentage—heck, maybe if she was lucky, she could get Aphrodite to come tell them herself. She'd been pleased enough with Piper the last time they'd spoken at the gods' council meeting. If that hadn't worn off yet, maybe a favor wouldn't be out of the question.

"Well, I'll let you get back to work," Piper said. "Wouldn't want to get caught slacking off, now, would you?" They smiled and waved, bidding her goodbye as she started away from them. Near the opposite end of the stables, though, she slowed to a stop when a flash of movement caught her eye—a pure black pegasus leaping high into the air and spreading its wings, shaking its mane in apparent excitement. Below it, she saw Percy smack a hand to his forehead as the two girls on either side of him giggled with delight. When the pegasus landed and cantered up to them, Percy glared at it and said something Piper couldn't hear from where she stood. It didn't seem to mind, though, as the girls—two kids a bit older than Grant and Parker, somewhere between the ages of ten and thirteen, who were obviously sisters—smiled and applauded. The younger girl stepped forward to pet its mane while the older latched tightly onto Percy's arm and started talking with what looked like inhuman speed. He smiled a bit uncomfortably and tried in vain to free himself as the horse nickered in amusement. When he shook his head in exasperation and looked away, his eyes suddenly met Piper's and after a brief look of thought they clearly registered one unmistakable message: Help!

Suppressing a smile, Piper jogged down the hill toward them. "Percy!" she called out. "There you are! I've been looking for you. Connor Stoll managed to drop an entire stock of iron nails into the canoe lake. I told them if they don't hurry and get them out, they'll rust, but obviously they're having a tough time finding them all. Think you could use your magic sea powers and help us out?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Percy said with a grin, looking obviously relieved.

"We wanna come watch!" the younger girl said immediately.

"Yeah," her sister agreed. "Sounds cool."

"Actually, you know," Percy argued evasively, "Blackjack's saying he wants a little exercise. Why don't you guys take him for a ride around the camp?" The pegasus neighed loudly and Percy shot it a pointed look.

"Ooh, really?" the younger girl said. "Yes!" That seemed enough to keep the sisters occupied, and at last Percy was able to separate himself from the one clinging to his arm and follow Piper up the hill toward the arena.

"Thanks, Piper," he said with a heavy sigh as soon as they were out of earshot of the stables. "You're a lifesaver."

"Consider it my birthday gift," Piper joked. "Happy eighteenth."

"I'll take it," Percy replied with a laugh. "Thanks."

"So what was that about, anyway? Got yourself a couple admirers?"

Percy grimaced, and Piper tried not to laugh as she noticed his ears redden just barely. "New Dionysus girls," he explained. "Tyler and Lydia. Annabeth, Grover, and me brought them in a few weeks ago, and they kind of won't leave me alone."

"Yeah, I get that. Nice bling," she added with a smirk, nodding to the rope made of flowers that was hanging around his neck. "Very manly."

He laughed weakly. "Yeah… Lydia made it for me. Heard it was my birthday, you know? What was I supposed to do, refuse?" He made a face, but Piper noticed with a small smile that even though they were well out of sight of the sisters, he didn't remove the gift.

As they neared the arena, weaving their way around small crowds of people, Piper almost ran smack into somebody who was striding very quickly toward the forest. As it was, she jerked backward to avoid a collision and instead bumped into Percy, causing him to stumble sideways as a hand swiftly grabbed Piper's arm to steady her.

"Whoa," Percy said in surprise as he regained his balance. "Slow up, Leo, where's the fire?"

Leo let go of Piper and smirked. "Is that a trick question?" Percy shrugged in admission and Piper laughed. "In all seriousness, though, I've got some major work to do before the party tonight. Make sure you're there, 'cause I'm promising you guys the best fireworks show you've ever seen—bar none. Trust me, it's gonna be epic." The excited gleam in his dark eyes made Piper a little uneasy and a brief vision of all their reparation work going up in smoke—literally—flashed across her mind.

"We're, uh… looking forward to it," she said with a tentative smile. "Just don't go too crazy, okay?"

"Who, me?" Leo replied innocently, raising his eyebrows. "Too crazy? Impossible."

"There you are!" an irritated voice interrupted, and Piper turned to see Reyna dodge around a group of gaggling girls and approach them with her glaring eyes fixed on her boyfriend, who grinned in that same air of innocence that convinced no one. Hands on her hips, Reyna said pointedly, "What part of 'minimal activity' do you not understand? Do you want to re-break that leg?"

"Aw, chill out, Reyna," Leo insisted airily. "You know I was getting stir-crazy on those crutches. Besides, I'm totally fine now! Good as new, see?" He stomped his right foot on the ground a few times—and subsequently flinched in pain. Reyna raised an eyebrow as if to say, You were saying? and Leo shot her a slightly sheepish smile.

Rather than argue anymore, though, Reyna sighed. "Alright, alright. But do me a favor and stay where I can see you, okay? That way if you hurt yourself you'll have someone to drag you back to the infirmary."

Leo gave her a half-handed salute. "Yes, ma'am." Reyna rolled her eyes, but when Leo stepped up and slid his hand into hers the corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile. "I mean it, though, guys," Leo added to Percy and Piper. "Nine o'clock. Shoreline. Be there. And hey, Percy—groovy necklace. Diggin' the flower power." He held up a peace sign and flashed a friendly grin as he and Reyna set off for the forest, disappearing into the trees.

"I worry about him sometimes," Piper said, shaking her head.

"Reyna'll keep an eye on him," Percy said assuredly. "She's pretty good at keeping people in line."

Piper smiled unconsciously, thinking to herself that Leo and Reyna's relationship was another addition to the list of good things the war had given them. She loved seeing her best friend so happy, and anyone could tell that Reyna's mood was much improved lately as well.

"That's good," Piper replied. "I'd really like to survive tonight, personally."

Percy smirked. "That makes two of us."

That night they'd all agreed to take a camp-wide break from working to properly celebrate the end of the war, in conjunction with Percy's eighteenth birthday. They were planning a big dinner around the campfire in the middle of the cabins, which would probably include singing and story-telling and all the things their camp used to be known for, ending with a fireworks show down by the beach (considering they hadn't been able to put on their usual Fourth of July display). For that night, they were all going to relax and enjoy the fact that they'd won. And if Piper was honest, she was really looking forward to it.

They ran into Annabeth and Lacy near the cabins, and Piper bid her friends goodbye as she grabbed Lacy and headed for the mess hall to get started on their assignment. There were still a few hours to go before they got their time off, and until the evening came she would continue to work just as hard as everyone else, Grant and Nathan's words about losing and finding still echoing in her mind and serving as the most perfect motivation she could imagine.

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

Leo's fireworks didn't disappoint.

Piper had seen plenty of fireworks displays in her life, but none of them even came close to the ones she watched that night. The show lasted about forty-five minutes, which should have gotten boring after a while. But it was anything but. Normally, the Hephaestus cabin's fireworks depicted moving scenes of great battles and events in Greek history (and Roman, starting last summer). This time, though, it was a tribute to the members of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.

In the sky, Piper watched fiery, sparkling representations of things her fellow campers had done over the years—Gaea attacking the camp, and the Greeks and Romans uniting to defend it; Annabeth fighting Arachne beneath Rome; Percy and Jason dueling while possessed by eidolons in Kansas; the first time Leo found Festus in the woods; herself battling the giant Enceladus, who held her father captive; Frank as a giant elephant, barreling through Gaea's monster army in Greece; Hazel riding Arion in midair, hair flying and sword held high.

Leo had evidently done his research, because some of the scenes Piper found out had happened before they'd arrived at camp a year and half ago. She watched these with heightened interest, having only heard the stories before but never seen firsthand what had happened—in firework form or otherwise. She saw Clarisse La Rue slaying a drakon; a tall guy with huge muscles whom she assumed must have been Charles Beckendorf, the previous Hephaestus counselor, destroying an enemy cruise ship in a fiery, green explosion; the Golden Fleece drawing Thalia Grace from the pine tree at the crest of Half-Blood Hill; Chiron heading a battle in the woods near Zeus's Fist, the former entrance to the Labyrinth; her own predecessor, Silena Beauregard, leading a group of Ares campers into a fight; and Percy, Annabeth, and Grover fighting the Titan Lord Kronos. And for the finale, what played was a gigantic, rapid-fire succession of short sequences from the Shadow War—everything from the eclipse to the Battle of the Black Moon, ending with Erebos disappearing in a brilliant burst of light that nearly blinded everyone watching. It was absolutely incredible—exactly what they all needed to celebrate the end of the war and the fact that they were still standing strong. It was a reminder of everything they'd been through—everything they'd overcome. And not a single person wasn't smiling and laughing by the end of it as they reminisced with their friends.

After the show, people began to slowly trickle off to bed. Piper was one of the few who stayed; she was seated comfortably on the beach next to Jason, leaning on his shoulder with his arm around her back. It felt so good to just sit and relax, surrounded by the people she loved with nothing immediately threatening their security.

"Not that I'm trying to get out of work," she said lightly after a while of silently listening to the waves, "but I kind of wish this night could last at least a few more days, you know?"

Jason chuckled. "I hear you," he agreed.

On his other side, Leo straightened suddenly from where he'd been lounging on the sand and leaned around Jason. "So did I tell you, or what? I'd like to see another fireworks display in history top that."

With a soft laugh, Piper admitted, "You were right. It was… amazing. Really." That felt like an understatement, but Leo didn't seem to take it as such. He grinned at Piper, tugging at the tool belt around his waist—the one his father had given him as a gift—and looking rather proud.

Reyna, who'd been lying beside Leo, sat up and shook her head. "Don't encourage him," she warned. "Next thing you know, this'll be a nightly occurrence. And he'll try to outdo himself every time."

Piper laughed again, a bit louder this time. "Safe bet."

Leo raised an eyebrow at Reyna. "That sounds like a challenge," he said, bumping his shoulder against hers. She shook her head and bumped him back.

"You're gonna run out of material before long," Annabeth pointed out from Piper's other side. She was sitting sideways, hands absently brushing through Percy's hair as he lay on the beach with his head in her lap. "You pretty much just covered all the exciting things that have ever happened to us."

"Guess we'll just have to rack up a few more impressive accomplishments," Percy decided with a wry grin.

"If that means another war," Frank put in from where he sat just up the beach from Percy and Annabeth, "then count me out. I'm fine with a nice, peaceful life."

Leo twisted around to look at him. "Come on, Zhang, where's your sense of adventure? Aren't you descended from the god of war?"

Frank rolled his eyes and leaned back on his hands. "Don't remind me."

"Your father's proud of you, Frank, remember?" Hazel said matter-of-factly with a smile, linking her arm with Frank's. "We all are."

"Either way," said Nico, who was lying on his back next to Hazel with his arms crossed under his head, staring up at the night sky, "we should probably lay off the fireworks for a while. Unless we want to alert every monster and mortal in the area to our presence."

"Always the sensible thinker, aren't you, Nico?" Leo said. "Looking out for the greater good while the rest of us try to have some fun."

"Somebody has to," Nico replied simply.

"He's probably right, though," Annabeth admitted. "We're trying to focus on repairs. The last thing we need right now is an attack."

At that thought, all of them fell into silence. Piper didn't want to think about the possibility of their being attacked. But the fact of the matter was that it had happened before, and she knew that despite the few peaceful weeks they'd had it would happen again. Plus, with so many of them in the same place, the chances of their being found had to be greater than before. But at the same time, with all of them together, maybe they'd be okay. Maybe it was better this way, no matter the extra risk.

As if sharing the same thoughts, Percy spoke up finally in a steely voice, "We'll protect this place."

"All of us," Jason added. "No matter what happens."

Piper smiled, leaning closer to him. "Together."

As Jason tightened his grip on her waist, Piper let her eyes travel over her friends as she remembered what Annabeth had said the day after the Battle of the Black Moon. Whatever happens, one thing's for sure. We face it together. As a family. They'd all been through so much together in a few short years, and Piper—who'd learned to recognize all forms of love, no matter how hidden—knew that that was exactly what existed between them. She trusted these people with more than just her life—she trusted them with the lives of everyone she knew, everyone she cared about. She knew without a doubt that her family would protect each other no matter what the opposition. She didn't want to have to fight anymore, but that didn't mean she wouldn't. After all, that was what you did when you had things worth fighting for. Sometimes it was easy, and sometimes it was hard. But each and every time, it was worth it.

Because Camp Half-Blood—no, Camp Lumina was their home, whether they chose to live there or not. It was where they belonged. And for as long as they could help it, it would always be there—their brightest light in the darkness.

-ψ-ψ-ψ-
THE END
-ψ-ψ-ψ-

IT'S DONE! AT LAST! AFTER A LONG, CRAZY YEAR IT'S FINALLY DONE!

I swear, this thing is like my freaking magnum opus. Together these books total almost 300,000 words. That's INSANE. The longest single plot I've ever written, and probably will ever write. I can't believe I pulled it off. Seriously. And just in my spare time between my real job and other commitments. What the hell is wrong with me? Haha XD

So anyway, things I need to say:

Firstly, a huge, HUGE THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU for reading, and a HUGER THANK YOU to all the regular reviewers! Really, 400 reviews or whatever we're on now is the most I've ever gotten for a fanfic. True, this thing's been ridiculously long, but still. It wouldn't have been anywhere near as much fun without all of you guys and your awesome words of encouragement and, sometimes, (justified) frustration, haha. Yes, I know I tend to make things a bit on the dramatic side. But it all worked out in the end, see? So THANKS SO MANY BUNCHES for sticking with me! I love you all to bits :D

Now, just because this story's over, that certainly doesn't mean you've seen the last of me. For any of you following my Bloodlust trilogy, Eagle Eye is going to continue on at a (hopefully) normal pace, plus it'll have one more (yet untitled) sequel afterward. AND those of you who've read my one-shot Snare will be glad to know, I've got the longer, chaper-version of that which I've been talking about forever in the works as well. It'll be called "Amber Ashes," be set about 5 years after the Giant War, and should show up sometime over the next couple months. So ALL LEYNA FANS - get ready for it, because it's totally happening ;)

SO AGAIN - thank you all so, so much for reading this stupidly long series! I hope you like the ending as much as I do! If you've had enough of my antics and aren't reading any of my other fics, then fare thee well, my friends. It's been an awesome ride!

So this is the Darkness Falls duology tuning out for good! For the last time, guys - LATER DAYS!

-oMM