RECLUSE ?Leo Valdez?

Kept Me Alive

With curiosity, she set the record on the player and let it spin in a circle, the beginning melodies of Kept Me Alive starting to fill the emptiness of her room.

Her hands carefully undid the strings of the bag and a couple of pictures fell out, along with a small box.

"I was walking faster to catch up with you."

She looked confusedly at the bag, until she had remembered when she had received it. Right before they had left for this quest, it was Donovan who shoved it into her palms, claiming it was a present and was specifically for when she missed camp.

She had forgotten about in the all the chaos and battles they had fought, but she was glad she had it. Maisie could definitely use it right about now.

"I didn't know if I liked it."

She chose to look at the pictures first, pushing the letter and box to the edge of her bed.

One picture was of Maisie and Donovan. He had his arms looped around hers and carried her in what kinda looked like to be a piggyback ride, but Maisie was squirming, kicking, and yelling to put her down as he carried her off.

Next was one of her and Parker, and Maisie remembered this moment vividly. It was during a match of capture the flag when the Nemesis and Hermes cabins had been on opposite sides. Both Donovan and Maisie hand encountered Parker when guarding nearby the flag. Donovan allowed Maisie to fight Parker while he kept lookout. The fight hadn't lasted long, Parker had charged towards them, but due to a recent storm, slipped on a puddle of mud and landed face first into it.

The picture shows Maisie doubled over in laughter as Parker made no attempt to move from his fallen state. Donovan had been quick to snap a picture.

The next was of her and Cora. They both sat in the Demeter cabin surrounded by pillows and blankets along with Cora's cabin mates. Miranda Gardiner was fast asleep next to them and Maisie was laser focused on the movie in front of them, a bowl of popcorn in her lap.

Cora had Maisie's hair grasped in her hands, beginning a French braid down her neck as she too was glued to the screen.

"I don't feel bad anymore."

Another picture was one she had never seen before, but the memory was fuzzy in the back of her mind. Her and Harmony sat at the edge of the lake at camp, bare feet dipping into the blue water. Maisie's head was in Harmony's shoulder, and her head was laid on top of hers. They both looked to be about thirteen.

Maisie couldn't even remember this picture being taken, but the sight of Harmony's hair blowing in the wind gave her a twinge of homesickness.

"Wish I was sad about you still."

The final picture was of all of Maisie's friends together. She sat in the center at a table, large smile on her face as she blew out the candles of a black and red cake, a banner behind her flew in the wind that read, "Happy Birthday Maisie!" in big bold letters.

Donovan stood behind her and held her hair back as she blew, making sure her hair didn't catch fire as she did so.

Parker and Cora stood a little off to the side, cheering and whooping with glee at the sight of the candles going out.

Piper and Jason stood near them, arms wrapped around each other as they held their shared gift for the girl, wrapped in a large purple box with a bow.

Annabeth and Thalia could be seen in the back, adorned with birthday hats and both giving small smiles as they watched the birthday girl.