Chapter 90

[Third Person's PoV]

Thalia then appeared with Luke, who was wearing a sand-colored toga that matched his hair.

"We just asked everyone, and they all said they are ready to start," Luke said.

"Good," Lucian replied before looking towards Thalia. "I've been meaning to ask, why not wear a white toga? Isn't your dad going to get mad at you? You look like you're representing my dad more than him."

Thalia shrugged. "I'm not going to wear white. It's just not my color. I already hate wearing the toga; I can only take so much."

Lucian teased her with a smile. "Well then, as the unofficial Chancellor of the Unofficial Hades Cabin, I officially welcome you as one of us."

Thalia shook her head in amusement while rolling her eyes.

Lucian then became serious as he explained, "Now let's have each cabin hold the respective string for the tarp of their corresponding cabins. We'll do the countdown, revealing all the buildings and throw a party."

Everyone nodded in understanding and went to relay the information.

So everyone went towards their corresponding building, and all the members of each cabin held a string.

The Hermes Cabin all held theirs and shouted, "We're all set."

The Hephaestus Cabin, wearing mostly brown togas, gave their signal. "We're okay on our end."

The Aphrodite Cabin, in light pink togas (including the boys), shouted, "Ready!"

The Ares Cabin, in red togas, shouted, "We're good!"

The Apollo Cabin, in bright yellow togas, also shouted their readiness.

Athena's cabin, all wearing grey, shouted that they were ready as well.

The Demeter Cabin, in bright green togas, also shouted they were ready.

People wearing different colors stood in front of the tarp building, holding two strings. They were originally placed in the Hermes Cabin and didn't feel like they belonged. One string belonged to their cabin, which they were going to see for the first time, and the other belonged to the building they were getting alongside it.

"We're ready on our end!" They all shouted.

Thalia was holding two strings as well; one belonged to her own building while the other belonged to the one belonging to Hera. "I'm ready as I'll ever be."

The Dionysus Cabin, just two boys in purple-colored togas, said, "We're ready!" in unison.

Meanwhile, Lucian was holding three strings, one belonging to his cabin, another to Poseidon, and the last to Artemis.

"I'm ready on my end as well," Lucian said. "On the count of 3, we'll all pull, ready!?"

"YES!" They all said, resounding throughout the camp.

"You can't possibly be thinking about leaving us out of such a reveal," a woman's voice interrupted. It was a voice Lucian recognized.

At the entrance of the camp, Artemis appeared alongside her girls, surprising everyone.

"Artemis," Lucian greeted inwardly feeling weird seeing her now knowing they were tied together. It was almost symbolic what Lucian was about to do next.

He held the string of her building towards her, despite the awkwardness he was feeling. He smiled towards them. "What a surprise to see you guys here."

"We heard you were throwing a party and giving the gods a gift. I wanted to see for myself what it was, so we decided to drop by and see," Artemis explained her presence.

"And it's Lady Artemis to you," Zoe added, walking just a step behind her.

Lucian wiggled his fingers towards her. "Heyyyy, Zoeeeee."

Zoe looked at him in disgust. "I still see you haven't changed a bit."

Lucian held his chin and smirked. "Can't you tell? I'm definitely much more handsome now than I was three years ago."

Zoe took the string from Lucian's hand. "Maybe I was wrong; you did change; your head has definitely gotten bigger."

Lucian watched as each of the girls took a hold of the string while Artemis went up behind and joined Hestia, who was watching everything with a smile.

Seeing they were done, Lucian shouted, "On the count of three, we all pull."

"1," they all began to shout.

"2," they all said once more.

"AND 3," they yelled before pulling the tarp.

Underneath the tarps were the most beautifully crafted buildings anyone had ever seen; they were white and tall, made out of white marbles.

Artemis and Hestia stood wide-eyed, observing the buildings as it really did remind them of back in ancient times during the Greeks' golden age, where they were the most feared and most powerful.

Each building had the name of the gods engraved on the top.

Artemis looked around and read all of the names that were engraved:

Zeus Observatory, Hera's Counselor's Office, Hephaestus Forge, Poseidon's Aquarium, Aphrodite's Spa, Ares Colosseum, Apollo's Medical Facilities, Demeter's Greenhouse, Athena's Library, Hermes Communication Hub, Dionysus Bar, Camp Half-Blood Dormitory Home, Camp Half-Blood Rest Place, Hades's Mourning Palace, and Artemis's Nature Reservoir.

Lucian turned towards Hestia. "Alright, little Auntie, your turn."

Hestia rolled her eyes at being called 'little Auntie' and stepped forward, her expression growing serious.

She walked towards the Dormitories Home and placed her hand on the white walls.

Her hair started to rise as her voice sounded like multiple voices at once. "I, Hestia, Goddess of Family, Home, and The Hearth, bless this place. I bless it to bring comfort and the warmth of a home to all its residents and occupants, so that they never feel unloved or unwanted."

After Hestia finished her blessing, her hair fell back into place, and the building gained a slightly red-orange glow before disappearing.

Thunderous clouds then started to surround the place, causing the wind to pick up. The clouds converged, forming the face of an old man—Zeus, a figure Lucian recognized.

As Zeus opened his mouth, he said, "WE, THE GODS OF OLYMPUS, APPRECIATE THE GESTURE. IT DOES BRING FORTH A SENSE OF NOSTALGIA SEEING THEM. SO WE ALL HAVE DECIDED TO BLESS THESE GIFTS AS WELL."

All of the white buildings then started to gain a glow representing the god that blessed them.

Even Lucian's building gained a faint black glow, surprising him and causing him to let out a faint smile.

Lucian then closed his eyes and felt himself finally digest the Artisan potion upon receiving all of the feedback from the Gods.

'The things I learned about being an Artisan are:

Patience is key: Creating meaningful art takes time and persistence. After all, it took me months to create all of these.

Joy in the process: Embracing the joy of creating art, regardless of external validation or recognition. Even though it did take a while, I enjoyed myself nonetheless. It truly was fun.

Attention to detail in planning: Applying meticulous planning and foresight to anticipate outcomes and proactively address potential challenges.

Thanks to planning what I was going to make and what I wanted to bring forth, I was able to avoid multiple problems that would have arisen if I hadn't planned to evoke a sense of nostalgia.'