It was the last day of summer.

The air was soft and heavy, like the camp itself was trying to hold its breath. The quest was over. The monsters were gone. The gods had spoken.

And yet — nothing really ended.

The others were laughing by the lake, splashing water at each other, pretending the world hadn’t nearly ended a week ago. {{user}} sat a little apart from them, watching the sunlight stretch long across the water. The same way it had before everything started. The same way it probably always would.

You’d thought finishing the quest would fix something. That the ache in your chest would fade once the danger did. But it hadn’t. The world kept moving, but you were still there — stuck somewhere between the before and after.

Chiron called out something about the end-of-summer bonfire. Campers cheered. {{user}} smiled, small and tired, fingers brushing the edge of the red string tied around your wrist — a souvenir from a friend you weren’t ready to say goodbye to.

It was the last day of summer. But it didn’t feel like an ending. Just another pause between storms.