I was listening to the song 'Just a Dream' by Carrie Underwood when I thought of this. thought it fit Travis and Conner pretty well.

In this story, Travis joined the U.S Army and Conner became a Computer repairman, as he was just getting started with a career.

PERCY'S POV

I walked slowly, Annabeth by my side. This was one quest that we knew would be harder then ever. When Dionysus came and told the camp what had happened, nearly half the senior campers were in complete shock, some even crying. Even Katie Gardener, who hated Travis, cried when she heard of what happened. Conner had returned to camp, being picked up by Argus with his van, and he looked terrible.

Now, we were all gathered in the amphitheater, while Chiron set it up for upcoming funeral. Normally, because of the circumstances, we would have let the Stoll's mother come, but she didn't care for her kids. When we walked in, we saw Conner sitting away from the rest of the senior campers, with Hermes on his right side. they were sitting close together, and Hermes had his arm wrapped around his son. I couldn't see their faces, but from what I knew about Hermes, I could tell he just as upset as Conner, if not, then more. the rest of the Hermes cabin was clustered together a little ways away from Conner and Hermes.

But to my surprise, many other Olympians were there. Even Zeus and Hera. Everyone from the second Titan War. The only ones who weren't here were Hades and Nico. As the shroud –which was open just enough for us to see the top half of Travis's pale, unmoving body (he was wearing the camp half-blood shirt under an Army jacket)- the trumpets sounded, the sad sound echoing through the camp. Me and Annabeth found seats just as they places the shroud over the area in which it would be burned.

"Travis Stoll," Chiron began. "A son of Hermes, brother of Conner Stoll, and half-brother to many others. He was by-far one of the best pranksters in Camp along with Conner. A true camper, who never once showed any sign of betraying us to join Kronos's Army. He was a joy-bringer, able to bring a smile to anyone's face. He came here when he was only ten years old, and now we gather to honor his life and the times we shared with him, and mourn his death, at only twenty-three years old. Anyone who wishes to share the times they had with him, may come up now." And with that, the old centaur stepped back, and Conner walked up.

His face was red from crying, his curly hair a mess, and his shirt was wrinkled. But when he spoke, his voice rang out clear and strong.

"There's no way I could ever possibly say how great of brother he was. He was a mastermind when it came to pranks, could take anything from anyone and keep a strait face, never got caught, and always, always looked toward the bright side of things. I owe him my life. I cant remember how many times he saved me during that titan war. We had each other backs, and I couldn't think of anyone else I would want to travel with me on our way up here from down in Colorado…." He couldn't say anymore. he had to walk back to his seat.

Then Amanda, daughter of Persephone –the only daughter of Persephone- stepped up. She and Travis had been dating for 4 years.

"I don't think I've ever met anyone as gentle and loving as Travis. He was due to come home from the Middle East in two weeks, and then we were supposed to get married two weeks after that. He…he shouldn't have died yet." Then she to had to sit, being unable to speak anymore.

"I know you're going to ask," a voice from behind us said suddenly, and me and Annabeth jumped around to see Apollo sitting himself behind us.

"So I'll tell you now. You're clearing wondering why all the Olympians are here. To answer that, it's because Hermes has been very….unstable lately." He glanced up as someone from his cabin stepped forward to say something about Travis, but then looked back at us and continued to quietly explain.

"Not only mentally, but physically and health wise as well. When you saw him after the war, Percy, that wasn't really him. it was a creation Hephaestus made so no demigod would realize he was missing. He had been severally wounded in the war, and was unconscious from loss of ichor. Hard to believe, but true all the way. He helped Luke gain control over Kronos when you gave him the knife, and because of that, Hermes didn't see Typhoon's fist coming toward him. he only woke up three weeks after the war, dizzy, weak, and confused.

He had hoped Luke would somehow survive so he could explain why he couldn't help him, and he wanted to tell Luke how much he loved him and regretted every minute that May would go into her episodes. But when Luke died, so did May. Those facts hurt Hermes like no one ever expected and left him in a shell. You know the other, younger children he lost these past five years, and this one we fear may be too much for him. that why we're here, because if he goes into a rage, then there's a high chance none of you demigods would survive." He explained.

"He doesn't seem like someone who would kill so many." Annabeth stated.

"He isn't. but he has a rage possibly worse then the rest of us. He's dangerous at times….." his voice trailed off as he watch Hermes stand and walk over to where Travis's shroud lay, and face the crowd. A deadly silence gripped the camp, and the gods all crept forward to the front and sides, ready to get Hermes away if he happen to snap. It was so quiet, you would be able to hear a pin drop.

"The Fates are terrible, evil beings." He said. "Of every mortal I've fallen in love with, they chose the one I love to most to become a crazed, insane lunatic. Of all demigods, they chose my kids to die the most painful, unfair ways. Of all the great heroes of old, mine are the least recognized. What of Autholykos and Aethalides? Forgotten and thrown aside. A few years from now, so will Travis and Luke. They'll be forgotten. Only remembered for faults and mistakes. And of all the gods, why do they chose me to torment?" a shudder ran through his body and his voice began to get tight with anger.

"Get ready to look away…." I whispered to Annabeth. I had feeling that at any minute we would have to.

"Hermes, relax…..watch your temper befo-" Athena began, but was cut off by Hermes.

"DON'T TELL ME TO WATCH MY TEMPER, ATHENA! DON'T TELL ME TO DO ANYTHING!" he yelled.

"Hey, just relax! You don't want to put your other kids in danger, do you?" Aphrodite stepped forward, reaching a hand toward Hermes. He slapped her away.

"Apparently the Fates do. And no one else cares, so why should I?"

"Hermes, you know that not true. Come on, go sit down for a bit." Apollo tried to walk over to Hermes and bring him back to his seat, but even from here I could see the wild look in Hermes eyes, like a rabid wolf cornered- scared, unsure, confused.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"CLOSE YOUR EYES, DEMIGODS!" Poseidon yelled. And just at the right time, too. Even with my eyes tightly closed, I could tell the light from Hermes true form was unbearably bright. I heard someone scream from somewhere, which was cut off abruptly as the person –most likely a new camper- was vaporized.

APOLLO'S POV 3rd Person

Apollo ignored Hermes yelling and grabbed his half-brother by his shoulder and lead him out of the area and away from the demigods, while mentally sending a message to Aphrodite and Artemis to get out here. The goddesses always seemed to be able to calm Hermes.

"Relax…you're going to yourself. Remember your leg- it hasn't healed fully yet." He said as the light died from Hermes, leaving the messenger a shaking, emotional mess. Apollo could feel pain radiating from his brother's leg, which had been terribly cut up, to point it was a miracle he still had it. even the Olympians could lose limbs and some still had scars from the Trojan War. The cut on Hermes leg would never fully heal, and would forever be a painful reminder of the terrible war on August 17-18. he felt the tears of his half-brother sink through his shirt just as his sister and Aphrodite came out.

No one knew why, but Artemis seemed to be able to calm anyone down, especially Hermes. Apollo made him sit down to get the weight off his leg, and the goddesses calmed him down, while inside, people were still saying things about Travis Stoll.

CONNER'S POV

I watched other campers come up and say things about my brother, but I didn't hear them. I was confused. I was mad. I was sad. I wanted Travis back. I wanted to know what had happened to my dad. He had seemed so strong when I would see him in dreams, or when he would occasionally IM me and tell me how Travis was doing to the Middle East. I knew he was different after the war. He just had a distant look in his eyes.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I turned around, I saw Apollo standing there.

"Come with me." was all he said, then turned and walked away. I followed silently. He lead me outside of the arena, and over to where two goddesses, Aphrodite and Artemis, sat talking quietly to Hermes. Even from here, I could see the tears glistening on his face. Apollo gestured for me to go over to my dad while Aphrodite and Artemis walked away and back into the arena with Apollo.

"Im sorry that happened, Conner." Hermes sniffled from next to me as I sat down. He was rubbing his leg again. I've seen him do that all day, sense he came here this morning. He caught me looking.

"The Titan war. And Trojan war. During both I got my leg cut up pretty badly, in the same place. It's a habit now to rub it." he explained, wrapping an arm around me.

"You seem different." I blurted out.

"I've seen too many people die. and I could've saved Travis. Zeus wouldn't let me. he held me back by my arm, ignored me yelling for him to let go. He doesn't know how it hurts to lose one kid after another. But it hurts so much…..it makes me understand why Helios left.-"

"You're not going leave like him, are you?" I asked, alarmed.

"No, im not. Though I might go away for a few years, like Pan, but I wont leave forever….i have to get my head strait." I heard him sniffle again, and he reached a hand up and pulled something out of his eyes –contacts.

"You wear contacts?" I asked.

"Yes. Im blind without them. but I don't want to see anything right now. If I see Travis's body, so lifeless like that, I fear I'll go completely insane and end up destroying camp, and half the country…." He couldn't talk anymore. instead, we sat there, trying to comfort each other. We heard the trumpets again, and the 21-gun goodbye go off, and headed back for the remainder of the funeral.

My dad was handed the bullets from the guns (there were only 3 gun, so why it was called '21 gun' I don't know), and I watched as they closed the shroud, and Hermes walked forward –still without contacts- took the torch, and lit the shroud on fire. The sparks blasted into the air. As he walked back, they folded the flag carefully, the fire making an almost perfect background. They handed the flag to Hermes, who hand to wipe tears from his eyes. We heard others cry out as well, and when the mortals left, Hermes handed me the folded-up flag.

"Until your day comes to join Travis, you keep it." he gave me one last hug, before eh morphed into a hawk –his sacred bird- and took off over the flames, circling over them once, before disappearing to join the others on Olympus (they left earlier). And as he flew off, I swear the fire's colored shaped into Travis's face for a few minutes, before it faded away. I looked down at the folded flag I held, and decided, right then and there, that I would do something, anything, to help other soldiers. No one else should have to face the same fate my brother did.

Im not sure if any of my really care for this story, but I wrote it half-way from experience. I've been to a veteran's funeral –my own dad's funeral- and im only 13. But the sound of the 21-gun goodbye and the trumpets will never stop echoing in my mind. My dad may not have fallen from a bullet (it was cancer from Burn Pits in Iraq –for anymore on burn pits, look it up on google, or on Face Book type in 'burn pits'….my mom made a Face Book page for that) but I've known other soldiers who have died from bullets.

Don't forget our veterans and soldiers. Without them, we would've been drown in the violence from terrorists, and none of the good things we know would be here.