Hello! I hope you feel satisfied with the last section of this story. I am not quite satisfied with it, so don't be surprised if I re upload with a few small changes later. I re-outlined it several times, and the original draft was completely different from what you'll be reading now. This (final, I think) version of the epilogue has two different first person perspectives in it, which I normally wouldn't do, but I wanted to include both Molly and Leta's stories, and when I write in third person, the style of writing wast just so different from the rest of the book. As always, I am open to suggestions.

I'm going to miss having you guys as readers so much! Unless you want to read my Merlin or Harry Potter stories.. :P Either way, happy reading!

Molly Bell

When one of your closest friends goes missing for weeks, most people would see it as a cause for concern. They would be right to show concern, too. And, please don't get me wrong, I do care about Vivi, but when when she went missing, I honestly wasn't too worried about it. Vivi and I had been friends for more than four years, ever since the two of us started spending our summers at camp. I knew that Vivi had gotten a quest during the summer - it probably had just gone on for longer than expected. Sure, I had my doubts every once in a while, but I knew she'd be back.

On the fourth day of school someone ran straight at me and wrapped their arms around my neck as I exited the building, and I knew the waiting was over.

Vivienne Clarke, 5 foot midget, daughter of Aries, and my closest friend, was back.

"Sorry I missed the first week of high school," she said.

"It's okay." I looked her over. She walked with a slight limp, and wore a knee brace, but otherwise seemed to be okay. "As long as you're safe."

She grinned. "Nothing I couldn't handle. And I had Raine and Fiona as backup."

"They're both okay then?"

"Yep."

Vivi waited with me until Christian got out and then walked home with us. It had taken Christian and I a lot of internal debate to decide where we would go for high school. We could have stayed in New Rome, or decided to go to Camp Half Blood or Camp Jupiter year round, but in the end, we had decided Goode was the good way to go.

Savannah had long ago graduated with her friends, and it was almost as if we had switched places. Savannah was now the one that lived in New Rome with our parents as she went to college to study psychology, and Christian and I lived with Lara and Claire.

"Vivi!" Claire hugged my friend when she walked into the apartment. "Clarice said you were back. Congrats on a successful quest!"

"Thanks, Claire," Vivi responded. "Do you mind if I stay here for tonight?"

"Of course not, as long as you don't mind a crowd. We're hosting a bit of a reunion later this evening."

I looked at her in surprise. "A reunion of what?"

Lara entered the room to answer my question. "Savannah's coming for a visit, and she's bringing friends." She walked over to pick up a book from off of the dining table and kissed Claire on the cheek on her way out. "Make sure to clean up your stuff, you two," she said, talking to me and Christian.

I looked at the pile of jackets and shoes by the door as well as books littered across the table.

"I guess I have work to do," I told Vivi. "You can relax though."

Christian and I cleaned up the mess, most of which was indeed ours, before we heard the door being unlocked.

In walked Savannah, Annabeth, Percy, Mira, and Andrew. My role models of what a high school friendship should look like.

At the moment, all I had was Christian, Vivi, and the guy who talked to me when I sat next to him in English, but we would get there.

And of course, none of Savannah's friends were in high school anymore. Annabeth and Percy were at college in New Rome, studying architecture and marine biology respectively. Mira and Andrew were both still in New York. Mira was studying law, and Andrew education. They weren't at the same school, but aside from a brief period of time just after highschool when they temporarily broke things off and weren't speaking to each other, the two were as close as ever.

"Hey, Molly," Mira greeted. I hadn't spoken to her as much as I had spoken to Annabeth, but we had already found that we had tons in common.

Annabeth nodded at me as well. I had seen her somewhat recently, seeing as I stayed in the Athena cabin at Camp Half Blood. It had taken some time for people to accept that legacies would be attending camp, but my cabinmates (which I suppose are technically all my aunts and uncles even though a few are younger than me) were all pretty nice. Once our mother had been claimed as a daughter of Venus, Christian had spent most of his time in the Aphrodite cabin.

My brother seemed to like the Greek way of life better than I did. I, however, admired the structure of Camp Jupiter, and probably could have been just as happy there, but I wasn't ready to separate from my twin brother just yet, even with our differences.

Besides, this way I could stay close to Vivi.

"Make yourselves comfortable," Claire told everyone. Not that she needed to - no one present hadn't already visited at some point, and most were already finding places at the table or on a couch.

We all played card and board games for hours, and even though us younger teens weren't included in all of the conversations (we didn't understand some of what they were talking about) it was fun.

Later that night, everyone had spent enough time gaming and we just talked.

"How's your first week at high school been?" Annabeth asked.

I shrugged. "Okay."

Christian had more of an elaborate description, talking about all the classes in detail, which teachers he thought he liked, and which classes he guessed would be the hardest, concluding with the fact that he still wasn't really a fan of the whole school thing, but he thought it would be okay.

"Do you have any advice?" Vivi asked.

The adults in the room smiled and glanced at each other.

"I think," Andrew said, "There are some things you just have to live through to understand. But have fun."

Mira shoved his shoulder playfully. "That's not advice, idiot." She turned to us with a more thoughtful expression on her face. "Academically, I'd advise you to take studying seriously, and when you get to college entry tests, study hard. And apply for college scholarships early. But that's a long way off for you. In terms of people... " She faded out, giving a place for Annabeth to jump in.

"Don't judge people too quickly. That was the worst mistake I made with people in school."

Mira nodded. "Join clubs you're interested in, and don't get to worked up over relationships that seem to be failing. They really won't be significant in a month or two. I'd also advise you to respect other people's boundaries, and not to take petty revenge."

Andrew nodded in agreement.

"Try not to miss too much school," Percy added.

Everyone laughed. Out of everyone there, Percy had missed the most school. Although he still graduated on time, it had been a struggle. Everyone but Mira and Andrew knew the reason why, but even they seemed to understand that it wasn't something he had absolute control over.

"Thanks for the advice," I said.

"Don't be afraid to ask for more," Andrew said. "You have us all as resources."

Leta Diaz

"Excuse me, pardon," I murmured as I walked through the crowd of students in the auditorium. I carried my brother's violin and several sheets of music in my arms, trying not to drop them as I rushed.

Of course, someone didn't hear me, and I ran into them, dropping music sheets in the process.

"Oops, I am so sorry - Leta?" The girl looked up at me as she handed me the papers she had picked up.

She wasn't hard to recognize. Her features were ones I had seen regularly for years before college.

"Hello, Mira," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see a friend," she said cautiously. She looked at the violin I was carrying. "Do you play?"

I shook my head. "I brought it for my brother."

Speaking his name seemed to summon him. My brother appeared from thin air, uttered a quick thanks, took his items, and raced off.

"Late?" Mira asked.

"Yeah. He's always so scatterbrained."

Mira and I looked at each other for a few moments. I wondered if she still hated me after all of the time that had passed. We had never been friends. I knew that much. At some point during high school I had thought that we could've been allies.

That had ended for sure after the 'asking Percy Jackson to prom' incident. Mira hadn't tried to take any type of revenge or anything, but she'd made it clear where I stood with her, even without the rude gestures.

True to Mira's prophecy, Annabeth and Percy didn't break up. Not that school year, over the summer, or during our senior year. I was stupid enough that I kept trying to make something work well into our last year at high school. Nothing ever came of anything I did, or at least, nothing good.

I had promised myself that college would bring a new start, but breaking out of an obsession was hard. I'd done my best to forget Percy and removed everyone in my life that reminded me of my high school years, but for some reason I just had to find a guy to fill Percy's place.

When I found out the guy wasn't single this time either, I let it drop. Jealousy hadn't gotten me anywhere the first time, and it wouldn't do any good here either. If only I had learned that lesson earlier.

"Where are you sitting?" I asked Mira, hoping that we would be a significant distance away from each other.

"24 B."

I looked down at my ticket. It said 23 B. Just my luck. "We have seats right next to each other!" I tried for a winning smile. "Isn't that just the weirdest coincidence?"

Mira nodded. I couldn't tell whether or not she believed my enthusiasm. I never had been able to tell with Mira, and it had always made me nervous.

"How do you do it?" I blurted.

"Do... what?" Mira asked.

"Conceal what you're thinking, yet always seem so... authentic."

Mira didn't say anything, but she gestured for me to follow her to our seats. Once we had sat down in our fold out red auditorium seats, she spoke.

"I guess I seem authentic because I am. I don't care what most people think of me, and I guess it shows."

We sat in silence for a little bit. I tried to guess at what Mira might have been thinking about, but came up with nothing.

"What about you?" She asked out of the blue. "How do you make people instantly like you, and instantly feel liked by you?"

I looked at her in surprise. "You never liked me."

She laughed. "I'm naturally skeptical of people. In general, people like you when they meet you, though. I keep getting told I come across as bossy."

I didn't know what to say. Could my jealousy of Mira's situation possibly have been a two way street? All I did was try to make friends when I met a new person - it could never hurt to have another person who trusted you, at least a little bit, but I was never sure how well it worked.

"I don't know. I just smile and compliment a lot I guess. It helps to be genuinely interested in what someone's talking about. Even if you're not interested in the topic, you can learn a lot about a person by the way they talk."

"Why do you do it though? Just for the fun of manipulating them into doing what you want?"

My shoulders tensed. I'd been trying to be less manipulative ever since my one true friend had pointed it out in me as the only thing she didn't like. I couldn't hide that part of my actions from Mira, though.

"I don't know," I said again. "I just wanted to be popular."

I just wanted to have friends like Mira had, have a cute boyfriend like Mira had, even if it wasn't Percy. I wanted to be in control over all of it, and all of my wishing had blocked me from looking at the world realistically.

"You were popular," Mira pointed out.

"Not in the way you were."

She didn't ask for clarification, but she seemed to get what I was talking about.

We didn't talk again after the orchestra started to play, but I did do something else. I unlocked my phone, opened the contacts app, and held it out to Mira with a new contact open. I held my breath. I didn't know if she'd want to have any connection with me now that she didn't have to.

She took the phone and typed a number in.

I smiled - and it wasn't just pretend this time.

Again, thanks for all the supportive comments and all of the favorites/follows. This is currently my most popular work, and I never expected it to be. I didn't expect to be very proud of this story, and if you've been following for a while, you'll know I kind of hated it at some points.

But you were all inspiring, and now I think I've written something worth being proud of.

~Ravenclaweruditeowl