#annabeth telling piper how she thinks he's suspicious and piper being like “why are you still meeting up with him then”

[fictionalmenaremytype]

Percabeth band!au where Percy is in a band that Annabeth is obsessed with and adores every member of until he asks her out. Annabeth was raised in a toxic household she can recognise a potential power trip from a mile away, so when Percy asks her out after seeing her in his crowd, she draws an immediate non-existent link between Percy and those people who get off on being idolised.

Meanwhile, Percy just saw a pretty girl in the front row and wanted to take her for dinner and be the good man his mother taught him to be!

[emeagirnacamps]

say about the whole "nico + the seven not saving him" discussion pls

i read your tags in my post and i think this is a better place to discuss

probably we agree in everthing about piper, leo, frank and hazel's actions (except the part of piper and leo not knowing nico's life was im risk; i doubt SO MUCH percy wouldn't tell the whole picture to them)

jason yes, i probably was unfair bc of his memory, i only focused on his 'roman leader' side

AND YES, ANNABETH IS SAID TO BE SO FUCKING SMART AND SHE DIDN'T THOUGHT OF A LOGICAL REASON OF WHY NICO WOULDN'T TELL ANYONE THE TRUTH???? DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE

percy is... very difficult. i read accurate reason of why he would be either spiteful or it was just rr's bad writing. Want to hear your opinions

okay, here i go. i will just say my opinions on this, i'm not expecting you to agree with everything nor i want you to. please keep in mind i barely remember the series and have just reread the scene you mentioned. plus this is so long, i fear i will bore you.

the scene is so bad written. it's so funny how bad it is given the fact it is supposed to be a moment where both the readers and the seven get to be troubled and hesitant about what to do. except that we don't feel like that because the situation is showed to us like an emergency: nico has five days to live and he can't get out of it alone.

anyone who disagrees with the idea of saving him will be seem like an asshole. there's no question, because the situation that is presented was something urgent and without other choice besides them going and saving him.

i was surprised with piper being a mediator, i barely remember the stuff she did so reading she trying to calm and reassure hazel that yes, they are going to save her brother was so sweet. frank clearly was just trying to keep hazel from panicking so i will judge him here: he was only a trophy boyfriend in the whole scene. he didn't have an opinion and he just accepted that well, it's time to save hazel's brother then. i kinda can judge piper for the same, but given i hardly have good things to talk about her i will let it slide this time.

it's so funny how everything happens in percy pov and he. barely talks about it. he says he have a "rocky relationship" with nico, but he also affirms they are going to save him — that they have to —, but when he could say anything to make jason and leo to feel less suspicious about the whole thing, he does nothing.

it's interesting to see that since hearing about nico's situation, all annabeth does is analyze what's happening and say the obvious — she points out he is the bait when she is alone with percy and she is the first to make it seems ambiguous ether or not they were going to save him, as it shows here:

“The giants are trying to lure us,” Annabeth said. “They’re assuming we’ll try to rescue him.”

she doesn't say if she agrees or not to go save him. damn that's cold as fuck. in her defense, she is supposed to be more "rational", but she could still keep being neutral and make people think and theorize about the why nico couldn't tell anyone about the two camps instead of just passive watching. actually besides this and the other line about the death slumber, she says nothing in the entire scene.

(which is weird to me. guess i remember a different annabeth then.)

and now we came to the "assholes"! /hj

leo, like annabeth did in private with percy, was just pointing the obvious.

“Uh…” Leo shifted in his chair. “One thing. The giants are expecting us to do this, right? So we’re walking into a trap?”

that's his first line. it's after this that everything went downhill. in a critical approach, i think it should be questioned if they would save him or not before they know if nico is a) alive and b) could get out of the situation on his own. doing it after just seems like leo is being rude and apathetic to another human being life. which i doubt was the point here, given he does have some points to make:

“Don’t get me wrong, Hazel. It’s just that your brother, Nico… he knew about both camps, right?”

“Well, yes,” Hazel said.

“He’s been going back and forth,” Leo said, “and he didn’t tell either side.”

Jason sat forward, his expression grim. “You’re wondering if we can trust the guy. So am I.”

Hazel shot to her feet. “I don’t believe this. He’s my brother. He brought me back from the Underworld, and you don’t want to help him?”

while we, as a readers, knew about nico's intention and reasons, the characters does not. so if there was a change he was, in fact, a traitor, it would be great to point it out while they have time to discuss it. neither leo (, piper) or jason really knew nico — plus, while jason does says he remembers the guy — some pages ahead —, something we should keep in mind is how much does he actually remembers? and how much does he knew about him?

these two were not good judges of character here, since they didn't really knew nico beyond what others could tell them (and one of them was still working on remembering his past life). they really were the best ones for this, to add this tension, but the timing was bad. it made them look like bad guys even though they had the right to question if that was actually a good move.

hazel also gave them no actual reason as to why they should save nico (besides it being the actual heroic and right thing to do). the only thing she said here is he broke the law of the circle of life for her. and they don't want to help her?

she only made him look worse (/lh) while trying to defend him. it's not like jason or leo were bringing an impossibility to the table — he maybe could be gaea's ally, how would they know? his actions were not adding up and what she said is just a reminder of how far nico can go if he feels like it. were they right? of course not (but now my mind is like wHAT IF THEY WERE– damn being a ficwriter is ridiculous).

and even while bringing this possibility on the table, these two never said what if we don't save him, uh? it can be implied that maybe they didn't wanted to — to me it isn't though —, i guess it depends on the interpretation on who reads it. the thing is, they raised a point that nobody wanted to — or thought about — and the only thing that made they look like assholes was the fact that nico's days were counted. (my mind is so giddy to work on something like that i'm starting to hate this concept /hj)

and what it's the most funny about it for me is that hazel makes a jab at jason a lil later.

Hazel’s arms shook. A silver platter zoomed toward her and hit the wall to her left, splattering scrambled eggs. “You… the great Jason Grace… the praetor I looked up to. You were supposed to be so fair, such a good leader. And now you…” Hazel stomped her foot and stormed out of the mess hall.

my sweet summer child, he is being fair — but it doesn't seems like it because people are biased and are only caring about one life. (i probably sound like a big asshole too lmao, i swear i just being the "cold and analytical" cliche here, i hated this scene when i first read it too). was it really a good option to go in a rescue mission when they were fighting to save the world? one life is really more worth than thousand, millions one? should they really risk everything to save nico just because he is hazel's brother?

a good leader see all the options and try to see the situation from a lot of ways so they can better prepared for whatever is thrown at them. i don't think he is being a bad leader here (you, who is reading this, can totally disagree with me. my opinion won't change.)

now, if the question was only if it was a good choice to save him or not and his life time limit, i would end the post here. but no, there was another thing to put in the equation:

“That’s not much time,” Piper summed up. She put her hand on Hazel’s shoulder. “We’ll find him. At least we know what the lines of the prophecy mean now. ‘Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, who holds the key to endless death.’ Your brother’s last name: di Angelo. Angelo is Italian for ‘angel.’”

did they even had a choice here? another thing that came way too early in my opinion is how they must save nico because he was part of the prophecy puzzle. of course the majority would go on board with saving him if he is a necessary tool to defeat gaea — this could also be used as an argument, a pretty bad one being honest, since you would only see him as a way to finish your task. but still would be one more way to convince others to save him too.

it doesn't necessarily negates the point that leo and jason made though it does make it clear that ether it is a good or a bad idea doesn't matter — they will need him. they will have to rescue him, because the prophecy says that he is the one who can guide them, so even if they have solid proof that they shouldn't; it doesn't matter.

the prophecy always became true. be it by the way we think it would or be it in the unthinkable way.

to resume: does i agree with the character questions and debates? no, nico is dying and i need and want him alive. jason and leo acted like assholes? depends on how i am judging the scene, if i am being biased: yes. if i am not being biased: a little. does percy and annabeth silence is okay? no, cause it doesn't make sense — even if percy is feeling petty or is simple ooc (or both, because these two arguments can coexist), i still think he should have at least tried to make nico be seem in a better light (even if he failed at it, like hazel). annabeth could still make a neutral point about how he helped in the wars while also didn't help or made it easier in finding percy while theorizing about the reason why nico did that. frank could do better, maybe he could side with leo and jason (surprisingly) and it could be something to work on his relationship with hazel. piper actually was very interesting in this scene, i could feel she somehow empathized with hazel since she also was in a similar situation with her dad in the first book (also she calling jason and leo out for being cold?? amazing, perfect, i loved it, this piper is now part of the characterization i wil use to write her).

i don't even remember what point i was trying to do lmao. all i remember was being too annoyed with people being angry at the seven for this scene. like yeah it's completely okay and valid to be angry, frustrated or uncomfortable with their decisions (or lack of), i just felt like people didn't really understood why the scene was even there in the first place (although very bad done and executed).

[fbfh]

I mean, you did ask - leo x reader

all  characters are aged up to 18+ for smexy subtext

word count: 2k

pairing: leo x gn child of calliope reader

genre: adventure, romance, hints at a lowkey soulmate au

summary: after a bumpy reunion turned interrogation with your friends, you finally prove to Leo that you’re someone worth catching up with

warnings: swearing, friends hold you at knife point (for good reason) memory loss, dimesion/reality travel, the phrase “horrible sexy little goose” not about an actual animal, moderate time difference between worlds, reader is acting like a cocky piece of shit half the time, you call yourself sexy a lot, annabeth slaps reader and reader is unbothered, reader and leo hae very visceral reactions upon seeing each other, piper picks up on this, moderately aggressive face grabbing, discussing personal info with someone somewhat privately, brief mentions of hand holding and hair pulling during sex, you spill tea about the rest of the demisquad, I think that’s it pls tell me if I missed any

song rec: choke - i don’t know how but they found me

a/n: this is from a very vivid daydream I had so er ah if reader seems op coded that’s cause she is uwu

You were excited to reunite with your friends after so long, but being tied up and held hostage at knifepoint by the people you love who don’t even remember you wasn’t the welcome wagon you were hoping for. Then again, as a child of Calliope, you can’t say you’re surprised. 

Apollo has a lot of kids, but demigod children of the muses are exceptionally less common. They’re volatile, really powerful, extremely engrossed in their art, and usually care more about their latest thesis paper or painting or manuscript than going on quests, and more often than not have very specific powers. You, for example, love quests but feel like you never get to go on any, usually because you’re fighting monsters somewhere else. One fun little power you inherited from your mom is - somewhat involuntary - dimension shifting. 

A lot of times you just get summoned somewhere else, with a little inherent background knowledge and your weapon, set free into the new world like a horrible sexy little goose. There’s usually some kind of objective you need to meet; find this person, set something in motion, give someone support in a time of need, deliver a package. After that, you get sent back to your family at camp half blood. The catch, one of them at least, is that a few days Somewhere Else could be no more than a few minutes in your homeverse. 

Another catch is that because of all that, and the fact that you wouldn’t know how to begin explaining, let alone if anyone would believe you, no one knows you can do this yet. Chiron has an idea, but you’ve never told anyone outright. 

You guess now is as good of a time as any to come clean, as Percy holds his sword threateningly close to your neck. You let out a disbelieving laugh, and bite the inside of your cheek.

“Okay, okay… you want the truth?” he starts to back off, and you continue, leaning forward, “I’m not surprised you’d want to know where someone this sexy-” your words cut off as Annabeth’s hand slaps you across the face. You let out a laugh of disbelief, cheek stinging.

“A cheap shot, Annabeth? Wow, I really didn’t take you for the type,” she grabs your face, leaning in close, knife once again against your throat. 

"How do you know my name." She hisses, and behind her, the door opens. Messy dark curls peek over her head in your vision and you know instantly who it is. Your heart starts pounding, loud and hard, and something heavy starts swirling deep in your gut. Your eyes lock as soon as he enters the room and an instinctive smile blooms on your face, knowing what's inevitably on its way. 

"Hey Sparky…" 

Your voice, slow and drawling (and, he'd be lying if he didn't say kind of very sexy) impales him as soon as he enters the room. He watches your pupils expand, eyes locked, immediately swept away by your magnetic aura. A fox like grin decorates your pretty face, and he gets the feeling you know more than you let on. Way more. He's so drawn to you on a guttural level, way more than he's ever been to someone before. His face is hot, and when you slowly wink at him, he feels flames erupt on his cheeks. It takes him a second to put it out, feeling your white hot gaze on him the entire time. 

Piper, who's been helping with your interrogation, looks back and forth between you two as this progresses, taking in a breath and mumbling a shocked, "Oh," as she begins to understand. 

"How are those repairs coming?" Jason asks, oblivious to everything that's happening between you two. 

"Uh… nearly done…" Leo mutters, watching as you hold back an elated giggle at the sound of his voice. You never forget how good it feels to see him again, but the fresh feeling is always better than you can imagine. Jason glances between you two, and walks over to Leo, suspicious of your interest in him. 

"I'll walk you back," Jason says, glaring at you. Your eyes stay locked with Leo's until the door finally closes again. Piper stares at you, bewildered by the tension turned to frantic energy crackling around both you and Leo. She can sense it on him even after he's out of the room. 

Annabeth finally drops your face, pacing and pinching the bridge of her nose. Percy slams him hands down on the table and levels his face with yours. 

"I'm gonna ask you one last time. How do you know us?" 

You stare at the table for a second, still thinking about him. You have to see him again. You’ve waited for too long, you just can’t do it anymore. 

“H- okay. Um,” You blink a few times, facade falling away almost instantly as you look up in a silent prayer that this doesn’t go as badly as you feel like it will. You sigh, looking back up at the other people in the room, a new, deliberate intention in your eyes that they hadn’t seen before. 

“You want to know why I’m here?” 

Their answer is the silence that follows.

“You’re not gonna believe me.” They look around at each other, collectively thinking about everything they’ve been through in the last year alone.

“Try us.” Annabeth replies. You sigh again, and introduce yourself. “...I’m a child of Calliope, muse of epic poetry, and I know you all because we grew up together. One of the fun - quirks, I inherited from my mom is traveling into different stories, or realities, I guess. It’s hard to control, and sometimes happens involuntarily. I adapt to wherever I am, and the universe sort of auto adjusts to follow the rules that stories have to follow. 

The reason you don’t remember me is because I was gone for a really long time, and your story had to keep going. Trying to find me wouldn’t have moved the plot forward, questioning where I went would have been confusing, so it did the simplest thing and edited me out so you could get closer to meeting your objectives.”

Once again, their silence is your answer. 

“Guys, sidebar.” Annabeth says, pulling Percy, Jason, and Piper out of the room for a moment. The come back in a little while later, and she looks you dead in the eye.

“If you really know us as well as you say you do, prove it. Tell us you’d only know if we were as close as you say we were.” 

You sigh yet again, having lost count at how many times that’s happened today alone. You roll your shoulders and bob your head, irritable that you’re still restrained and itching to move. 

“Is there anything we can do before the whole tell me something really personal thing?” 

Percy looks at you, challenging.

“Can you do it or not?”

Another noise of exasperation leaves you, and you agree, resignation all over your face.

“You know what, yeah. Okay, we’re doing this. Someone go get Leo.” An involuntary smile once again launches onto your face at the mention of his name. Jason starts to object. 

“Hey, I’m not going to spill something personal about someone when they’re not in the room.” They agree reluctantly, and Jason leaves, returning again with Leo. You look at him again, enraptured by his presence. He can’t say he doesn’t like the attention - a hottie like you looking at him like that? Yes, please - but something about it feels different, and he gets the feeling there’s a lot more going on than they’re aware of. 

You nod your head once, indicating for him to come closer. He gets a little closer. You widen your eyes, nodding two more times, and he hesitantly gets within whispering distance. 

You turn your head to your left, dangerously close to his face. He can feel his pulse already speeding up. Heat radiates between your faces, your breath fanning over his neck as you whisper slowly,

“You really… really like holding hands, and when I pull your hair during sex.” 

He pulls away from you quickly, beet red, bewildered expression obvious to everyone in the room. “H-how-”

“How do you think?” You reply calmly, loving everything about him, “Okay, to be fair…” you nod once more, eyes flaring, and he leans in once again, equally hesitant and curious. Your words tickle his ear, seeming to light up his entire nervous system like a firecracker.

“I really really like when you bite that spot on my neck, just below my ear.” 

He pulls away again, trying not to literally and figuratively combust. He stares in your eyes intensely, searching for anything besides the truth. He finds absolutely nothing. He turns around, unable to look his friends in the eye. 

“They’re legit, guys.” 

“Wait, what did you say to him?” Piper asks, unsure if she wants to know the answer. 

“Yeah,” Annabeth agrees, “what if it’s some kind of mind control-” Your deep, burning desire to finally hold Leo after god knows how long is starting to beat your better judgement, and you really, really want to be untied from this stupid chair. “Annabeth! Your favorite show was Cyber Chase growing up, you used to come up with plans on how to defeat Hacker, your best was cutting off his food supply - good strategy, I’ve used it before, myself. 

Percy, you feel like you can’t sing because you were forced to participate in an elementary school recital and some kid called you tonedeaf behind your back, it kicked you right in the RSD balls. 

Piper, you’re a closet weeb, you watched Ouran High School Host club obsessively and still do sometimes, you fell for Jason because he had, quote, 'Tamaki's looks and Kyoya's brains, the ideal man'. 

Jason, that scar on your lip is from biting a stapler as a child-"

"Okay, everyone knows that-"

"-and," you continue, showing no signs of stopping, "the reason you ate the stapler is because you were pretending to be a trash compactor because you saw one on TV. 

Nico is totally not right outside the door keeping guard right now, but if he were and you asked him if he likes the diary of a wimpy kid movies he'll ask how the hell you know that - should I continue."

Again, the answers are in the silence hovering in the room. 

“I think it’s about time to catch me up on what I missed.” 

A beat passes.

“Right,” Annabeth says, blinking and readjusting her ponytail as she sits down across from you, Percy already taking the bindings off of your wrists, “so, about the quest…”

She starts to fill you in on the details you missed, bringing you up to speed. After a little while you all decide to call it a night. Piper senses your energy ramping up in spite of the exhaustion settling in. You finally bid them all good night, but Piper’s not sold by your forced yawns. After what feels like another lifetime, you finally leave the room you’ve been in for hours with one objective. 

You can’t stay away from him anymore, you have to find Leo. 

After navigating a maze of hallways and doors, you finally push open the right one to see him looking up at you, and find yourself saying for the second time tonight,

“Hey, Sparky…” 

His heart is racing, and he gets that heavy, full feeling in his chest again, not having fully shaken it from the last time you saw each other. Looking into your eyes makes him nostalgic for something he can’t quite remember, and he knows with full certainty that you have more history than he’s aware of. He wants more than anything in this moment to remember. He sets down the wrench in his hand, taking a step toward you.

“Hey…”

[i-am-a-reader-fear-me]

A Percabeth AU where they keep their relationship secret in fear of what their parents might think. (Warning: this goes over both PJO and HoO so it's very long):

The beginning of TLT goes as it should but after Percy is claimed, Annabeth is suddenly meaner and colder.

He remembers the Poseidon/Athena rivalry but doesn't see why they have to hate each other bcuz of their parents.

But Annabeth doesnt relent.

They still go on the quest together bcuz "you are so going to fail without a daughter of Athena."

But they still argue a lot and give poor Grover a satyr migraine.

When they have that bonding moment on the truck, Percy thinks maybe they're sorta friends, but Annabeth proves that wrong later by calling him a "Seaweed Brain" bcuz he's so stupid.

Percy fires back with "Wise Girl" but Annabeth seems to take that as more of a compliment than an insult.

(He doesn't stop calling her that tho)

After Luke betrays Percy, Annabeth's the one that found him after the dryads and she drags him to the infirmary but completely denies caring about him afterwards.

By SoM, Percy is so done with this and goes over to her asking if they could be friends.

Annabeth, who actually would like to be his friend, agrees with reluctancy, saying, "We have to keep it a secret though, or who knows what our parents might do."

Percy agrees.

Grover knows they're friends now cuz of the empathy link, but doesn't say anything.

In TTC, when Annabeth falls off the cliff, he blames himself more than ever, bcuz if they hadn't been fake arguing she might not have been distracted and fallen.

Thalia blames him even more too, and he has to keep his cover and can't tell her he knows it's all his fault.

Nico asks if Annabeth is Percy's girlfriend.

He says no, but he has a funny feeling in his heart.

He goes to the attic to ask the Oracle about Annabeth.

It doesn't answer.

When he thinks Artemis is about to ask Annabeth to join the Hunters, he knows he has to tell her something, even if it meant blowing their cover.

He breathes a sigh of relief when Artemis asks Thalia, and Annabeth is waiting for him to talk with narrowed eyes as if trying to figure out what he wants to say.

He chokes. (~Like doesn't say his feelings, not actually choke lol~)

In BotL, they are totally going out on a secret unofficial movie date but ofc the fiasco with Kelli at Goode happens.

Annabeth gets really jealous when Rachel appears. (Especially since Rachel has more opportunity to go out with Percy bcuz Annabeth and Percy have to pretend to hate each other.)

Percy, ofc, does not realize why in Hades she's acting like she really hates him even though they're in private.

At camp, they're playing Capture the Flag when they stumble on an entrance to the Labyrinth.

They go down to hide from monsters and end up stuck.

It's so dark Annabeth grabs his hand to keep from being separating. (~this is canon, they were holding hands I checked~)

When they find their way back out, it appears almost an hour had gone by when they were sure they were down for a couple minutes.

The campers were searching for the two of them and are immediately suspicious when they find the two alone. Together.

But they forget about that when Clarisse comes and asks about the "hole" they fell into and Annabeth suggests they continue talking in private.

It is then that Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and Tyson go on their quest.

When Annabeth and Percy reach Mount St. Helens they are quickly found out.

Percy tells Annabeth to escape saying he has a plan. (He really doesn't)

She kisses him. (~whaaaaaaaat~)

When she leaves, Percy apparently decides to cause a volcano to erupt. (~ya he doez~)

He lands on Ogygia, while Annabeth, thinking he is dead, goes back to camp, alone.

When she returns, they ask where Percy, Grover, and Tyson are but she refuses to say anything.

They realize what happened.

They have a burning of the shroud ceremony where she doesn't say anything, sitting, her face emotionless, but her heart in turmoil as she listens to Chiron.

That's when Percy crashes the funeral.

Annabeth is outraged.

She pretends it's because "THE WHOLE QUEST IS BEING HELD UP BECAUSE OF YOU! AND WHAT WERE YOU DOING, ENJOYING A VACATION AT PARADISE ISLAND?!?!"

It's really because she was head over heels with worry and grief (while he's off with sOmE imMorTal gOdDeSs) but she can't let anyone know that.

She is certainly not happy when Rachel joins their quest.

(Percy still doesn't get it.)

Before TLO, they are playing Capture the Flag, and the two are on opposite sides. (~in The Demigod Files, the story they find Festus for the first time in~)

Annabeth and Silena capture Percy and Beckendorf and the boys suffer an utter loss. (Were the myrmekes part of the plan? They'll never know.)

Beckendorf and Silena totally know they like each other no matter how much Percy and Annabeth fake it and try to get one of them to ask each other to the Independence Day firework show.

Annabeth does end up asking Percy and they watch the fireworks secretly next to the woods so no one sees them.

They hold hands or something else just as cute idk.

In TLO, when the Battle of Manhattan starts, everyone is surprised when Annabeth let's Percy take the lead.

When she takes the blade for Percy she says it was bcuz "I didn't know it was him!"

"So you would take a blade for anyone if it wasn't Percy?"

"...yes."

But by this time everyone secretly ships Percabeth so no one questions it.

After the war, Percy gives up immortality mostly for her but only those two know it. (And maybe Grover).

Annabeth asks him to meet her in the woods and when he does, she brings him a lumpy blue-colored cake which Tyson helped make. (Bcuz of course Tyson knows that they're secretly friends but Grover told him not to tell anyone).

They kiss, duh.

But then a monster comes out from the woods and they don't want to fight it after they just had a war so they run.

They end up by the lake and Percy pulls Annabeth in to get away from the monster.

Cue best underwater kiss ever.

They date in secret for two months but Percy's mom knows.

When Percy goes missing, Annabeth freaks.

She searches for him everywhere and if anyone asks why she's searching so hard for someone she doesn't even like, she just replies, "He probably just disappeared bcuz it's his turn to do the camp chores and I will not let him slack off," or "Who else am I supposed to use for target practice???"

(None of the campers who'd been in the Titan war buy it.)

In SoN, the only thing Percy remembers is Annabeth, but for some reason, he has this instinct to not tell anyone about her so he doesn't.

In MoA she still judo flips him and acts all mad (which she is) but he still laughs it off and says all sarcastic, "Oh, did the smartass daughter of Athena miss me?"

But he missed her too.

When they go to eat lunch Annabeth and Percy excuse themselves to "go to the bathroom" but they really snuck off to have their own private reunion.

"I missed you so much, Seaweed Brain. Don't ever disappear like that again."

"I'm sorry, Wise Girl. I missed you too."

*kissing*

Later, when Annabeth and Percy sneak off to the Pegasi stables on the Argo II and sleep next to each other.

Frank finds them.

They swear they didn't do anything and threaten Frank into silence.

He can never look at them the same way again though.

When Annabeth has to get the Athena Parthenos, Percy paces the deck of the Argo but says he's not worried about a daughter of Athena.

When she finally gets the statue, he goes down to meet her but she trips and falls into the Pit.

He catches her, but now he's hanging on a ledge.

"Percy, let me go. You can't pull us both up." She whispers, knowing they're too low for the others to hear.

"We're staying together. You're not getting away from me. Never again." He whispers back.

"As long as we're together."

At least in Tartarus, they don't have to pretend they don't absolutely, utterly love each other.

In Blood of Olympus, Percy, Annabeth, and Piper are walking underground to the monster's base in the Parthenon when they see a trident mark in the ground.

Annabeth says it's the place where Poseidon struck the ground.

At this point, Percy turns to Piper and asks, "Can you keep a secret?"

Piper nods.

That's when Percy kisses Annabeth.

When he pulls away, he says, "This is where the rivalry ends….for us, at least."

Piper acts surprised but on the inside she is rAGING bcuz now Leo owes her ten bucks but she can't tell him.

After the Giant war they consider telling their friends, but they're not sure…

Idk how to end this just keep going

Sort of a bonus:

The Hephaestus and Athena cabins worked together to make everyone monster-proof phones (which also correct their dyslexia) and Annabeth and Percy use them all the time to text each other and no one knows.

Jason asks Percy to come to a cafe with some of the others, and Annabeth and Percy are texting the whole time.

Their convo goes something like this:

'hey Annabeth, me, Jason, Frank and some of the others r going to that cafe on 31st street'

'*Jason, Frank, some of the others and I' 'Really? Piper, Hazel, and I are going there too. They mentioned Jason, Frank, and Leo might be there, but not you.'

'weird, they didn't say anything about u either' 'hey wait a sec, Jason's texting on some gc called Operation Get Them Together' 'the other guys' phones r ringing everytime he sends something…'

'What? Operation Get Them Together???'

'yeah'

'....'

'what'

'Oh no.'

'what??? Annabeth????'

'They're trying to set us up.'

'wdym set us up'

'I MEAN, they're TRYING to get us TO GET TOGETHER'

'huh?'

'THEY WANT US TO GO OUT PERCY! YOU KNOW, TO BE A COUPLE???'

'ok okkk u don't have to yell'

'🤦‍♀️'

'so what do we do'

'I think we should go along with it.'

'wait hold on, Jason's asking me who im texting'

'Wait, tell him it's your girlfriend. Just to screw with them.'

'haha yes ur a genius'

'I know.'

Percy tells Jason that he is texting his girlfriend, to which Jason replies by "What?!" and frantically starts typing on the group chat to tell everyone that 'YOU GUYS PERCY SAYS HE HAS A GF ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION!!!'

To which Piper is the first to reply, saying, 'Nah, trust me, keep going with it'

At this point, they reach the cafe, and the boys and girls meet up at a table.

Annabeth, immediately going into acting mode, says, "What is he doing here?"

Percy fires back with a scowl and says, "You didn't tell me she was going to be here. I'm leaving."

Jason stops him tho

Percy and Annabeth sit down at the table, but everyone is still standing.

Piper and Hazel say they have to go to the bathroom and leave.

Jason and Leo say they're going to go order (even tho it's a sit down with a menu and order type of cafe???)

Everyone seems to have some kind of excuse to leave until Percy and Annabeth are left alone.

The two pull out their phones again.

'Seriously? This is their plan? Say we're all going out to eat and then leave the two of us alone?'

'ig' 'what do we do now'

'I don't know.' They're probably spying on us…'

'um is that Reyna, Hazel, and Calypso in the bushes with mud and green war paint on their faces?'

Reyna, Hazel, and Calypso were indeed hiding in the bushes (with binoculars) with mud and green war paint on their faces.

'Wtf?? How'd they do that so fast???' 'And is that Leo and Piper holding newspapers with eyeholes cut through???'

'lol yea...then that eagle flying above us is prolly Frank'

'Jason is hiding in the clouds to your six.'

'where r Nico and Will?'

'I think that's them making out in the bushes.'

'lmaoo im so gonna tease them for that' 'so what do we do now Wise Girl'

'...' 'Follow my lead.'

'k'

Annabeth puts away her phone and stands up.

Percy follows her lead.

She says, "We know you guys are there, just come out. It's not going to work. And we see you too, Nico and Will."

The other demigods come out of their hiding spots (the two who had been called out looking especially sheepish).

"Why not?" Piper says, knowing perfectly well why not.

Percy looks between Annabeth and Piper, and seems to come to a decision.

"Because," he says and goes over to Annabeth and kisses her, "we're already together."

The responses were very diverse.

"What?!"

"I knew it!"

"Leo! My ten bucks. Now."

"Yeah, I walked in on them sleeping together…"

"So we did all this for nothing???"

"Wait, did you say sleeping together?"

They arguing stops as two flashes of light almost blind everyone and two gods appear.

Poseidon and Athena.

For several seconds, the two gods just stare at Percy and Annabeth (who are now holding hands just bcuz)

Then, finally, after what seemed and EXCRUCIATINGLY long time, Poseidon turns to Athena and says:

"I was right, you were wrong, I was RIGHT, you were WRONG, I WAS RIGHT, YOU WERE WRONG, YOU OWE ME FIFTY DRACHMAS BIRD BRAIN"

This was not the reaction the demigods was expecting if you couldn't tell

Athena just scowls and makes a pouch filled with drachmas appear, and throws it at Poseidon.

Poseidon catches it, bringing out what appears to be a phone and starts calling someone.

Athena goes over to Percy and Annabeth.

She looks mad, and Annabeth tries to let go of Percy's hand, panicking, trying to think of a lie, but Percy doesn't let go.

"My daughter is the smartest and best of my children, and as much as I don't approve of this, if she chose you, sea-spawn, she must have a good reason. But if you step one foot out of line, I will have you punished, understood?"

Athena addresses this to Percy, who nods fearfully.

"Good."

Suddenly there are a bunch more flashes of light as more gods appear bcuz apparently, Poseidon wanted everyone to see that he was right and Athena was wrong.

Ofc chaos ensues.

But Percy and Annabeth are still holding hands and look at each other and feel overwhelmingly happy for the first time in a long time because now they don't have to keep their relationship a secret anymore.

THE END~

WTF HAVE I WRITTEN.

[percabethfangirl]

Percabeth College AU: Chapter 3

Ch. 1   Ch.2

_____________________________

It was Friday a month or so after the skateboard incident. Percy had sat next to her every government and politics class since then. He had this habit of biting his lip, bouncing his leg, and tapping his pencil in class. Not that she was complaining, no quite the opposite really. He was so cute when he did that. Not that Annabeth noticed. Of course not. She was completely focused on the lesson, straight A student that she was. 100% absolutely focused on the professor.

Oh who was she kidding. She totally noticed. Actually, that was the only thing she noticed, really. She took notes on auto pilot, but when she went back to study, she didn’t remember writing down any of it. All she could remember was Percy. It was becoming a problem. Not only was there the possibility of her grades dropping, Piper might catch on. If that happened, she was screwed. She loved Piper, she really did, but she was so over the top when it came to things like this. It would inevitably end with Percy finding out, and Annabeth being embarrassed and probably rejected.

Percy was a really nice guy, that’s why she liked him, but despite Piper’s reassurances, she didn't understand how Percy would like her like that. She was the nerdy nobody who had about 1% of the social life he did. Plus, she-

“Annabeth!” her teacher called.

“Uh- sorry, yes?” Annabeth stuttered. She had totally zoned out.

“That’s the third time I’ve said your name. Talk to me after class.”

“Yes sir,” she mumbled dejectedly. This was exactly what she was afraid of. And if it got any worse, if it actually affected her grades, she could lose her scholarship. And she couldn't lose that. Not when it was all that was keeping her out of her dad’s house.

But she refused to go down that mental rabbit hole. It wouldn’t happen. Not if she could help it.

And she could. She just had to try harder.

—————————

The weekend came and went, and Annabeth realized there was only a week until Christmas.

She hadn’t gone home for the holidays in previous years due to her awkward family situation, but knowing Piper, she would probably get dragged to some party or another this time. They had given almost an entire month off this year, which didn’t leave Annabeth any excuses for staying holed up in her dorm. For once she was dreading her weekly coffee date with the other girl.

Monday second period came with the usual butterflies and mindless notes. She would sneak a glance over at Percy every so often. Sometimes he saw her, sometimes he didn’t. Either way, Annabeth would quickly look back at her notes after just a second. She didn’t want to seem like a creep or a stalker, but Percy drew her gaze like a magnet. Annabeth struggled to keep her eyes on the teacher and her notebook, but they always ended up back on Percy. Hopefully Piper wouldn’t notice her randomly zoning out to think about Percy tomorrow. She really would try to listen to her, but once she started rambling about Jason, Annabeth would inevitably zone out. It was now her default state of mind to think about Percy. She really hoped Piper wouldn’t notice.

—————————

Piper noticed.

She had been talking about Jason’s soccer practice, and how good he looked when he was playing. Annabeth had been paying attention, but at some point, her mind had drifted to imagining how Percy would look in a soccer uniform. That had sent her spiraling into what she now liked to call ‘Percy-land’.

After a couple minutes, Piper realized she wasn’t paying attention anymore, and abruptly stopped in the middle of a sentence. “Annabeth! Hello? You in there?” She snapped her fingers in front of Annabeth’s face as she came back to reality. “Oh, sorry, um you were talking about Jason?” Piper ignored her attempt to bring the conversation back on topic. “What were you thinking about?” Piper asked suspiciously. “Oh uhhhh nothing...” she stammered out, slightly blushing against her will. “You’re thinking about Percy!” Piper crowed triumphantly. Trying to regain control and dignity, Annabeth brushed a few nonexistent crumbs off her lap and said, “Of course not! I was thinking about.... Christmas break.”

But it was too little, too late. Piper knew she didn’t like thinking about the holidays due to her family situation. She would never have fallen for that, and Annabeth should have known better. “Ok, that has to be the worst lie you’ve ever told,” Piper laughed. Annabeth frowned in annoyance at her inability to think of a better excuse, “Ok, yes, I was thinking about Percy. Are you happy now?” “I KNEW IT!” Piper yelled.

The majority of the cafe gave the two girls strange looks as Annabeth buried her face in her hands. “Could you be any louder?” she groaned. Piper didn’t seem to mind the stares, and cheerfully continued. “So how are things going with Percy? Has he asked you out yet?” “Oh my gods Piper! He probably doesn’t even like me, there’s no way he’s gonna ask me out! And wouldn’t I have told you if he did?” Still smiling, the other girl shook her head, “For one thing, you don’t tell me anything, I have to force everything out of you. Secondly, there is every chance Percy likes you, but doesn’t know if you like him. You can be very stoic, Annabeth Chase.” Annabeth laughed sarcastically, “Yeah right. That’s totally what’s going on here.”

Piper let the matter go, seeing that she wasn’t making any progress in that area. But little did she know, Annabeth kept thinking about her comment for the rest of the day. And night. And the rest of the week. It soon became all she could think about. Annabeth resolved to be less stoic around Percy. She didn’t think Piper was right, but if there was any chance that she was, Annabeth had to do something about it.

______________________________

Thanks so much for reading!! I know its not that long, and kinda boring, but it's setting up the next part. Chapter 4 will be much more interesting, I promise :P

Tag list: @deathbyathousandfucks @technicallyburninggarden

DM me if you want to be tagged for the next chapter! :D

[judgejurythceif]

What the Seven’s relationship should have been like

We didn’t get to see a lot of the seven bonding as it was more focused on the quest, which makes sense in the story. But, I feel like some relationships people had and everyone instantly being best friends doesn’t make sense. So here’s a web of what I think the relationship between each member of the seven should have been like, with explanation.

Key

Pink- Dating

Dotted Pink- Crush

Close Friends- Blue

Friends- Green

Civil- Grey

Distrustful- Orange

Percy + Annabeth - Dating

Okay, I feel like this seems kind of obvious so I’m not going to go into much detail, but there were five books that built up their relationship with each other. It’s a healthy relationship and they trust each other. I might explain this in detail later why I ship Percabeth and why it’s not toxic but I’m not going to right now.

Percy + Jason - Friends

Okay, the bromance stuff was completely made up by the fandom except I think for one time where they called each other “bro.” They also have sort-of a Greek-Roman rivalry going on, but after the fight in Kansa, they seem to ditch that except for a couple of jokes about them being able to beat the other in a fight.

Percy + Leo - Distrustful

I’m pretty sure (I haven’t reread HoO in a while) that Leo didn’t like Percy. But Percy definitely didn’t trust Leo after he bombed the Romans while he was possessed. He knows that Leo wasn’t in control, but it was very important to Percy that the Roman and Greeks got along, and Leo blew up the Roman camp.

Percy + Hazel - Friends

Okay so they definitely became friends in SoN when they were on a quest. I just don’t see them becoming really close friends like Percy is with Grover and Thalia? Like, I can see them as the type of friends that talk in school, but not the type of friends that would schedule days to hang out together unless it was for a project.

Percy + Frank - Friends

Basically same as Hazel and Percy. I love their friendship, but I can’t see them trying to figure out time to hang out between their schedules.

Percy + Piper - Close Friends

Okay, this is partially influenced by posts I saw about the potential for their friendship, but I definitely see a lot of potential for their friendship without headcanons and just reading the books.

Annabeth + Jason - Civil

So, in different circumstances, like a mortal au, I can see them being friends. But in the canon universe, her boyfriend disappears, Hera gives her a clue, she goes thinking Percy will be there, and it’s some Roman kid that’s supposed to be his replacement. I just don’t see them being able to get past that and actually be friends. I don’t think she would hate him or distrust him though, because he didn’t exactly have a say in it.

Annabeth + Leo - Friends

Okay, there was so much potential in this friendship and Rick just ignored it. Annabeth and Leo both like to build (Annabeth more so the planning part of it but still), they’re both extremely smart, and they’re also both dating people that are considered the hero of their respective camps. I just feel like we could have gotten a lot more interaction from them.

Annabeth + Hazel - Distrustful

Okay, so we’re going to start this from Annabeth’s point of view: your boyfriend goes missing for months, you go to find him, and he’s just chilling with some new Roman friends he found? He didn’t even tell you anything? Time for Hazel’s point of view because that’s all I have for Annabeth: There’s this boy that shows up at camp, he’s a son of Neptune and also your cousin. He has amnesia and doesn’t remember anything except for his girlfriend. If you hadn’t know what Percy and Annabeth’s relationship was like and how well they knew each other wouldn’t you find that a little suspicious. Also as Reyna mentions, Minerva (Athena’s Roman form) doesn’t have demigod children. It would probably be harder to trust a child of someone who isn’t supposed to have kids.

Annabeth + Piper - Close Friends

It’s implied that they’re pretty close friends in canon while they’re at Camp Half-Blood, and I love that, but it’s like the second they were on the Argo ll Rick completely forgot about that. I think they only interacted once or twice on the ship.

Annabeth + Frank - Distrustful

This is pretty much the same as Annabeth and Hazel’s but a little less distrustful. I see it as more distrustful at the beginning, but as time goes on they grow closer and maybe become friends.

Jason + Leo - Dating

I will die mad that this ship isn’t canon. It had much more potential than Piper and Jason, which seemed kind of forced. I think that this ship would definitely be better if Jason didn’t wake up on the bus already dating someone, and everyone had time to figure out their feelings.

Jason + Piper - Friends

I just don’t really feel like they worked together as a relationship. Hera literally forced it together when Jason woke up on the bus. If I was Rick Riordan (and I am very obviously not since I’m making this post), I would just not have made Piper and Jason wake up on the bus already dating. You need to give them time to figure out what they actually want to do and not shove them into a relationship on the first page.

Jason + Hazel - Friends

This is purely based on the fact that they’re both Roman and I’m assuming they talk at the Argo ll meet up parties that Percy mentioned. They get very little time to talk in the books (I don’t remember them talking at all) and they never mention each other. Hazel seems sad when he dies though so it’s kind of implied they were friends. (Am I still supposed to tag for spoilers for that?)

Jason + Frank - Friends

This is again based on the fact that they were both Roman and the fact that Jason promoted Frank to praetor in the middle of a fight. You probably don’t do that if you only kind of know the person, you need to build a relationship* with each other and trust each other.

Leo + Piper - Close Friends

Hmmmmmm, okay. They definitely knew each other before Jason just popped onto the bus, and they were definitely close (possibly dating?) But I see their relationship ship as more of a sibling relationship instead of romantic. 10/10 I love them though.

Leo + Hazel - Close Friends

Okay, so. Because Frazel isn’t happening in my mind, there isn’t any weird tension between them except for the Sammy thing. So, they figure that out and through that just become really good friends. I would also die for this friendship. That was underdeveloped because Rick rushed a love triangle.

Leo + Frank - Friends

Okay, no Frazel here still so there’s no weird tension between “are you trying to steal my girlfriend?” which was the main part of their relationship. Frank would definitely be wary of Leo because of his fire powers but Calypso gave him the fireproof fabric and he made the bag for Frank’s firewood so they definitely don’t hate each other.

Piper + Hazel - Friends

Okay, this just seems like a really neat friendship to me? They don’t interact that I can remember beside the visit with Aphrodite/Venus and they don’t really talk during that. There’s definitely a lot of potential for a friendship here though.**

Piper + Frank - Friends

Okay, I absolutely love the potential for this friendship. Again, it didn’t happen because Rick is a coward but I absolutely love this and they would be such good friends.

Hazel + Frank - Close Friends

Okay, so. I put two lines between them. ‘Crush’ and ‘close friends.’ No matter what’s going on, I feel like Hazel would have a crush on Frank. He obviously doesn’t like her back, because he is two years older than her. I know that people are saying Frazel isn’t problematic, and I somewhat agree, but I feel like if Hazel was aged-up a little it would be better. No matter what, they’re definitely going to be best friends though. And Hazel definitely still carries his firewood.***

*by ‘relationship’ when I mention it, I don’t always mean a romantic relationship.

**I do really want to put all of them as friends, but I just can’t see that happening, as they were seven demigods out on a ship and told to save the world. In a random group of seven people, there’s going to be at least one you don’t like.

***Another point I wanted to put on here but don’t know where to put it is that Rick forced them all into relationships. A lot of teenagers just don’t date anyone, and that doesn’t feel reflected at all in his books, as he just pairs every single character off with someone.

[winryofresembool]

Caleo one-shot: Back in Waystation

Warning: Tower of Nero spoilers! Do not read past this point if you don’t want to know anything that happens in the book!

Summary: Calypso returns from the band camp and she and Leo finally sort some things out (Post ToN).

A/N: Here’s the 'fix it' fic I promised. Like I said in one of the author's notes of TWLitF, I feel like Rick did these two very dirty in ToA, especially in the end when he left things so open ended. It would have been better for both characters if he had made them, you know, deal with their issues. I know this fic ended up being very sappy but it was something I myself would have liked to read so... I hope you guys enjoy it too.

Also, since this fic has taken a lot of my writing time for the past 2ish weeks, I'm not going to post a new chapter for TWLitF tomorrow. But worry not because I am hoping to post normally again next Thursday! Stay tuned!

Don't forget to let me know what you think of this fic!

Words: 4100+

genre: fluff, slight hurt/comfort (you know, the usual)

warnings: none

AO3

...

It was already late August. The weather had started getting slightly cooler in Indianapolis and people were getting prepared to go back to work and school after the summer vacation. Even Leo was preparing for the start of the new high school year; he had finished his community service teaching the homeless kids shop skills a week before and gone to buy some supplies for the school year. Now all that was left to do was waiting.

If the young demigod was totally honest to himself, he was getting a bit antsy. His girlfriend had been gone for pretty much the whole summer, counseling at a band camp and not telling him when exactly she would be back. If ever. Leo was worried that she’d meet someone way cooler than him at the camp and just leave some message that he shouldn’t be expecting her to return.

Before she had left, things had been complicated between them; they had been arguing quite a lot and Leo hadn’t exactly been his usual self after returning from his trip to California. He had found out about the death of his best friend Jason and accompanied the heartbroken Piper to her new home before flying back to Waystation where the information about Jason had fully sunk in. Unlike Leo himself, Jason would never be back.

Calypso had never known the son of Jupiter and she didn’t know how strongly his death had affected those who had known him. That’s why Leo felt like he couldn’t show his mourning to her and for a few weeks after his return he had been pretty withdrawn. Instead of going back to school with Calypso he had been tinkering in Jo’s workshop until Jo had dragged him out of there and forced him to take care of himself, to eat, to shower and so on. She had also been the one to suggest the community service for Leo, and after considering it he had finally decided it could be a good idea. Having something to do that forced Leo to leave the house had a positive impact on him and even though he still missed Jason, he also knew that Jason would be mad if he didn’t try to move forward, so he did. That led to Leo’s current issue, Calypso. He wished he would have had an opportunity to talk with her properly before she had left….

Loud clanking pulled Leo back from his thoughts. He was in the workshop again, this time with Jo and Georgie, trying to fix a part of Festus’ wing that had broken when one of Leo’s homeless pupils had accidentally thrown something at it, not knowing Festus was there. Jo was instructing Georgie with something that looked way too dangerous in the hands of a 7-year-old but Leo knew from experience that since she was a demigod (suspected to be Apollo’s daughter), she would have to learn to fight sooner rather than later. Waystation may have been a safe haven for demigods but Georgina wouldn’t be able to hide from the monsters forever.

Leo was going to ask Jo’s opinion on how to make the wing part more durable when the workshop door opened. Expecting it to be just Emmie who would tell them the dinner was ready, he didn’t even turn to look at the newcomer. But soon he felt weird tingling on his skin that had absolutely nothing to do with Emmie as he smelled the very familiar cinnamon scent and realized that the steps were lighter than the older woman’s.

“Hi,” he heard a soft voice say and he finally turned around to see his girlfriend standing right behind him. She was smiling at him, although slightly awkwardly, probably as unsure about their situation as he was. A hundred different emotions rushed through Leo as he took her in; happiness, nervousness, uncertainty… and how had he forgotten she was so damn pretty? When he didn’t say anything for a moment, she tilted her head slightly, looking at him expectantly. Finally the gears started moving again in Leo’s head and he spread his arms, leaping into a hug.

“You late, Sunshine,” he mumbled against her shoulder as he tightened his arms around her. Calypso recognized the reference to what she herself had said back on Ogygia and couldn’t stop her smile from widening a bit as she responded to Leo’s hug. He probably would have kissed her on the mouth too but Jo and Georgina’s presence made Leo a bit self conscious about showing affection and he ended up kissing her cheek instead. “Missed ya,” he whispered after that.

Eventually the couple pulled away from the hug. Calypso greeted the other two people in the room and turned her attention back to Leo again.

“So, I’m Sunshine now again? No more Mamacita?” Her tone was suspicious but Leo could tell that she was actually happy about the change.

“Yeah,” Leo shrugged. “Reyna had quite a talk with me about how ladies should be addressed and apparently Mamacita isn’t an appropriate way to do that,” he said sheepishly.

Calypso cocked her eyebrow a bit at that piece of information. Even though she hadn’t met Reyna personally because she had left for her band camp before Reyna and the other hunters of Artemis had visited Waystation, she did remember hearing the name before. “Reyna? Isn’t she that girl who you saw in that vision back on Ogygia? The one with dark hair and…”

“Yes, that’s her,” Leo said cautiously. “She’s a Hunter now so she and her group visit here pretty often.” Before Calypso had time to say anything to that, he added: “She’s acting like a sister figure towards me and she’s scolded me a lot for… well, a lot of things.” He decided to not reveal that a lot of their talks had revolved around Calypso.

Calypso’s expression softened at his comment. “I’m glad someone has been keeping you in check while I was gone. Maybe I should let her do that more often.”

Worry flashed briefly in Leo’s eyes because he thought she was implying that she would be leaving Waystation so she decided to calm him down. “Relax, Repair Boy. I didn’t mean it that way. I wanted to stay here with you and that hasn’t changed. Besides, high school is pretty great, you know? I want to get through that. But, um… I’ve been thinking. About what was going on between us before I left.”

“Oh? Yeah, me too,” Leo replied, combing his messy hair with his hand.

Suddenly they remembered that there were two extra pairs of ears in the room listening to them, ending the conversation there.

“Ahem,” Jo cleared her throat, understanding the situation all too well. “Leo, how about you take Calypso’s bag into her room? I can see the wing meanwhile. I promise Festus will be better than new soon.” “Sure, I can do that, mom,” Leo said with slight reservation in his voice.

Calypso gave Jo a thankful look, exchanging a couple of words with her and Georgina before pulling Leo out of the workshop.

The two occupied the room Calypso used to sleep in before the band camp. Leo didn’t hang out there that often, but he was reminded of one particular time earlier that spring when he had been there. That night Calypso had had some nightmares and she had found out Leo was awake as well. They had stayed up talking for a long while in Calypso’s room until falling asleep next to each other. Even though they had been fully clothed when Emmie had come to wake Calypso up for some morning gardening (Leo felt like bursting into flames even at the thought of having done something that involved taking their clothes off. It wasn’t that he had never thought of it - he was a 17-year-old boy who was very much in love with his girlfriend after all - but he didn’t think they were quite there yet. And he highly doubted that Calypso would appreciate him even requesting that), the mother hens of Waystation had still pulled them apart and had some very embarrassing talks with them. Comparing it to the time when Percy and Annabeth had fallen asleep at the stables of Argo II, Leo felt like those two had gotten off easy.

“So… How was the camp?” Leo started awkwardly after setting Calypso’s bag down in her room, snapping out of his memories.

“It was good,” Calypso said simply, sitting down on her couch, Leo following her. “I am impressed by how talented these kids with no special powers can be.”

“Don’t underestimate the regular mortals,” Leo noted. “In my homeless kid group there were a few that were really good at the shop skills even though I’m pretty certain they couldn’t see Festus.”

“What do you mean with that?” Calypso asked. Before she had left for her camp, she had heard about Leo’s plans for the community service, but what she didn’t know was that Leo had used Festus as the place to teach the kids. Leo explained the situation to her.

“But isn’t that kind of risky?” she wanted to know then. “I mean, I know he’s your friend, and all, but what if he had accidentally started blowing fire at them or something?”

“C’mon, of course I had safety precautions for that,” Leo protested. “I may be an idiot but I do know my way around mechanical dragons.”

“Right. Of course.” Calypso said. Before their break she might have started a debate about Leo’s safety precautions but given the circumstances she decided that it would be better to not question it. A silence fell between the two as both wondered how to approach the topics they really wanted to talk about.

“So how have you been doing, really?” they asked almost simultaneously.

“Um, you go first,” Leo said, attempting to be polite.

“Like I said, I did enjoy the camp,” Calypso answered, getting a dreamy look on her face. “It’s… still so fascinating to me to see how the regular mortals – I guess I’m one of them now – live, having no idea what’s going on behind their backs… And I learned a lot of things about modern music that Apollo didn’t teach me. I know how to play the guitar now! But…” she hesitated a bit. “What about you?”

Leo got a strong feeling that she was actually going to say something else after that ‘but’. Her face told him that she was debating in her mind about something. Maybe she was even going to say she had missed him? But instead of asking about that, he answered Calypso's question.

“Decent, I guess, all things considered… Who would have thought that I enjoy teaching? But I guess it helped me that I could relate to those kids’ situations… and it’s kept me distracted from what happened with Jason…” He was looking down at his hands, hoping it would manage to keep him calm enough.

“Yeah…” Calypso seemed to be thinking about something for a while. Eventually she asked: “Hey, would you like to tell me more about him? I mean, what was he like?”

Leo was surprised by the request but he did what he was told to do.

“Jason… He always put the others’ happiness before his own. On the day we met, Piper was about to fall in a canyon but he jumped after her without knowing that he could fly. Crazy, I know, but that’s the kind of guy he was” He noticed that even though it hurt, he was now able to smile at the memory.

“I don’t remember if I’ve told this to you but Hera had messed with his memory; he didn’t remember almost anything about his past, but I think he took it all like a boss. If I had been in his boots I would have probably punched her in the face. Jason also accepted me as his friend even though…” Leo’s lip started trembling but he bit it and managed to continue: “Even though I had never had real friends before Piper and Jason and didn’t really know how to act around other people. That’s why the jokes. He was probably everything I wished I was - strong, smart, etc. - but never made a big deal out of it. He was so humble. After what happened with Dirt Face he probably thought he’d get to live a normal life and be a regular high school student, but...

“The Triumvirate…” Calypso said for him, having heard that part of the story before.

“Yeah,” Leo nodded sadly. “From what I’ve heard, Jason knew he would have to die in order to let Piper and the others survive and Apollo to succeed in his mission. He wasn’t like me, though. I hadn’t really accepted death when I decided to sacrifice myself against Potty Sludge so I used the Physician’s Cure. Jason, though… he had accepted his fate and he died knowing that Apollo would make things right. I’ve heard from Apollo that his last wishes were that no minor god would be forgotten again, and that Apollo would remember what it was like to be a human even after he becomes a god again. And to me it seems Apollo is holding to that promise. I know things won’t probably ever be perfect for us, but… if even one god is on our side… I feel like some things might improve at least for the next generation of demigods and… Jason didn’t die in vain.” He sighed, fiddling with his hands like always when he was dealing with difficult topics.

“So you think that Jason was the reason why Apollo was able to change?” Calypso asked.

“No, probably not the only reason, but… a reason nevertheless.” Leo said absentmindedly.

“Jason and you were willing to die for your cases. Sometimes I wonder… if giving up my immortality was the right choice, but hearing these stories makes me feel more peace with it. Life is short when you are a mortal and that’s why we should live it the fullest every day… and that’s why…” Calypso leaned towards Leo until their lips touched. It was a short and gentle kiss but it made Leo flustered and worried he might accidentally burn something.

“W-what was that for?” he stuttered when they broke apart.

“Stupid. You thought I found some hot clarinet guys from the camp and forgot about you?”

“You still… love me?” Leo asked in return. Even though he technically knew it (how else would he have gotten out of Ogygia in the first place?), it wasn’t something Calypso said aloud often and especially after the events of the past couple of months Leo had had a lot of doubt in his mind. Hearing it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he felt a smile spread on his face automatically.

“We may argue sometimes and you may be kind of insufferable when you’re in that mood but after taking some time to think I recognize that I am at fault too for the issues we’ve had and I am willing to admit that. Sometimes I’ve blamed you for things that were not your fault and I’m sorry about that. Besides, I see that you have learned a thing or two while I was gone. Not calling me Mamacita is a good start. So, yes, Leo Valdez. Se filo.

Even though Leo hadn’t spent a lot of time learning Ancient Greek at Camp Half-Blood, he still knew what Calypso’s line meant. His heart suddenly feeling full, he had to admit that the line felt more powerful when said in your first language. But there was a language even more near and dear to him than Spanish; one that his mother had taught him when he had been very young, one that he had repeated countless and countless times when missing her. During their flight from Ogygia back to the States he had taught a certain rhythm to Calypso so she knew the meaning too. When he started tapping against the back of her hand, a small sniffle came out of Calypso’s mouth.

“You haven’t done that in a long while,” she said quietly, her voice slightly cracked. “Gods, I feel I’ve been pretty selfish lately… All this time I have been thinking about my own struggles and have forgotten you have your own… yet your feelings towards me haven’t changed… You know, Apollo was right to get mad at me that one time.”

“What?” Leo asked, not understanding what Calypso was talking about.

“When we were on our way to that zoo…” she referred to the time when they had just arrived at Waystation. “Oh, never mind. What matters is that I see more clearly now. I’m not sure if I’m much better than those men who left me in Ogygia.”

“Of course you are!” Leo exclaimed. “You were stuck there for thousands of years! I… can’t even imagine… being forced to fall in love that many times and having to watch all of them go… I would have gone nuts. Thinking about it, I find it crazy that you didn’t just throw me out of your island. You deserved something better.”

“Leo…” Calypso said, turning his face towards her gently. “I think the fact that you weren’t exactly the type of hero that I was hoping for back then was the reason why things ended up going differently with you. I did not fall for you because of the curse. I fell for you despite that. And… after spending so much time together without having any time off from each other, I… started taking things for granted and forgot to be grateful. I owe you a lot. But I want to make it clear that that’s not why I want to be with you. I want to be with you for you. Sarcasm and bad puns included. And that’s what I remembered while I was gone.”

“Hey, Cal…” Leo removed Calypso’s hand from his jaw and took it into his. “I think we’ve both been faulty for these issues. The others here have made me realize that I haven’t exactly been the best boyfriend material either. I don’t talk about my issues. I make jokes at moments when I shouldn’t and probably make you think I don’t take our relationship seriously. Like that one time when I compared it to machines. I… I think I can see now why that annoyed you but that’s just how I roll. A machine geek and a clown. Those will probably always be a part of who I am so I’m not gonna promise that I’m just gonna magically change. But what I can promise is that I will try to make you see that I do take this seriously. Because I do.”

Calypso gave him a small, genuine smile and squeezed Leo’s hand slightly.

“I believe you. And… maybe we’re just one of those couples who enjoy bickering. What’s a life without challenge?”

Leo chuckled at that. “Wouldn’t have said it better myself, Sunshine.”

“I haven’t given my permission for the nickname ‘Sunshine’…” Calypso gave Leo a pointed look, which however quickly melted into a mischievous smile. “But we’ll see about that. More seriously speaking, though… I should try to keep my temper in check more as well. That doesn’t mean that I won’t call you out, though, when you deserve it.” She nudged him playfully.

“That’s fair enough,” Leo admitted too, giving her a lopsided smile.

“Yeah… Listen,” Calypso said suddenly. “In case you still doubt my commitment… I have something to show you.”

She went to her desk and took some papers out of the drawer.

“Here. Something I found on Ogygia after you left. Thought you might want to see it again.”

Leo took a closer look at the drawings and his mouth opened in surprise.

“You… these…” he said, dumbfounded.

“I just made Leo Valdez quiet? Miracles do happen.” Calypso teased but then turned her focus on the papers as well. It was a blueprint of a garage building Leo had drawn while stuck on Ogygia with Calypso. Besides Leo’s own workshop, there was a space for Calypso to do her work as well. For something that had been sketched in only a few hours, it seemed that he had still put a lot of thought into it. Even Annabeth Chase would have been proud of it.

“I… I wasn’t expecting to see these anymore,” Leo said with a hoarse voice, his eyes gleaming in the dim light of the room.

“But it was something you dreamed about, right?” Calypso asked, worried she had done something wrong.

“Yeah… still do.” Leo nodded, the papers shaking in his hands. “I didn’t think you’d remember…”

“I remember a lot more than you think I do,” Calypso said. “I used to be a titaness, remember? But… when I saw it I knew it was important to you and I kept it because it was my way to hold onto the hope that…” She swallowed. “That you would come back to me.”

Leo leaned in to give Calypso a kiss on her forehead. “And I did. Hey, wanna hear a secret? I took something from Ogygia to guide me back there. I think I still have it…”

He started fiddling with his toolbelt for a while before he found what he was looking for. It was a tiny piece of crystal from Calypso’s old cave.

“It was thanks to this that I got the astrolabe to work and managed to find back… You can have it.”

“But I…”

“It has done its job. It brought me to you. So, who is more suitable to carry it?”

“Thank you.” Calypso looked at the crystal with teary eyes. “It… may have been my prison but it was also a home… This… means a lot to me.”

“I hope it’ll remind you of the good things you experienced there. Not the bad," Leo said quietly.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, it… it will.”

“Good.”

Calypso leaned against Leo’s chest to calm herself down, getting his shirt wet but he didn’t complain. She didn’t move from there for a long time, and Leo was starting to get a bit worried before she finally lifted her head and swiped her nose on a tissue Leo dug for her from his toolbelt. Then she looked at him with her puffy eyes, somehow still looking good in Leo’s opinion.

“I don’t know what just happened there…” She mumbled. “I guess… this whole past year… or more… has been a lot. Yet I haven’t been able to cry even once… Somehow it just all flooded out of me now.” “’s OK.” Leo said, stroking Calypso’s long hair. “Trust me, I’ve been feeling that way… well, probably since I was 8.”

“When your mom…”

“Yeah,” Leo nodded. “But wanna hear a weird thing? Even though things haven’t exactly been easy for us… Right now I’m feeling more balanced than in a long time.”

“And why is that?” Calypso asked.

“This is gonna sound cheesy as hell but I think it’s because I’ve finally found a home. No, I don’t mean Waystation as a place, although I admit it’s cool as heck and the only place about as safe as Camp Half-Blood. But I mean the people here. You guys make it home.”

Even though Leo didn’t say it aloud, his eyes told Calypso that he wanted to say ‘especially you’. She understood.

“I think… I feel the same way,” she said.

Leo brushed a strand of her hair aside from her face and leaned in to kiss her. The gesture made Calypso happy because so far Leo hadn’t been the one to initiate the more romantic displays of affection, even though she sometimes wished he would. It might have been a bit sloppy, but neither minded, just enjoying the warmth of the kiss.

After they finally separated, they continued talking for a long time, occasionally bickering, but it cleared the air between them. Calypso wanted to teach Leo to play the guitar (“But what if it makes me too irresistible? You’ll have to drive all the ladies away!” “You have a bit too high expectations on yourself, Leonidas.”). Leo told her about his pupils’ and Georgina’s most recent shenanigans. They also ended up speculating about Apollo’s plans now that he was a god again and reminiscing the times on Ogygia. At some point Leo dug the Valdezinator from his toolbelt and got Calypso to sing along to the music, making both a bit emotional again but in a good way. They fell asleep huddled in each other’s arms on the couch and didn’t even care when Jo and Emmie found them there the next morning, giving them quite a scolding again.

[bubblegumwitchswriting]

Abducted, Possessed or In Love

Pairing: Will/Nico

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12119691

Summary:  Nico is acting really different and Leo is slightly convinced that Nico has been abducted by aliens. Jason has a different theory. After all Nico is only different around a certain blonde-haired medic.

“I think something is wrong with Nico,” Leo said.

The effect of his words was instantaneous. Jason put down his toast and reached for his sword.  Piper continued buttering her bread, outwardly unmoved, but her hold on the knife suddenly looked a lot more threatening.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked. "Is he alright? Has someone said something to him because if they have-"

"Whoa chill man. That's actually kind of the opposite of the problem."

Jason glanced down at his sword as though he'd only just realised he was holding it, and put it back down with deliberate care.

"Leo it's too early for this. What exactly is going on?"

"I think Nico might have been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by an exact double."

Jason blinked at him. Piper let go of the butter knife and took a bite of bread.

"Well?" Leo asked.

"Well what Leo?"

"You don't look overwhelmed by my news."

"Because," Jason said wearily, going back to his breakfast. "You are being ridiculous."

"Well okay maybe the alien thing is a little farfetched. Do you think they could get into camp with the defences? Maybe only half-blood aliens-"

"Leo!"

"Demons then. Maybe he was wandering around a hell-scape somewhere and got possessed."

"Somehow I think that might actually be more farfetched," Jason said. "And why exactly do you think this run of incredibly unlikely things might have happened to Nico?"

"Because he just wished me good morning."

"Says something that you think a demon would be more cheerful than Nico," Piper commented.

"Hey I like the kid I’m just saying he’s gloomy. At least he used to be. It's an invasion of the body snatchers I'm telling you!"

"Isn't that the opposite of what happened in the invasion?" Piper asked, yawning. "It's if he gets more emotionless then we have to worry."

Jason gave her a look and she shrugged and smiled.

"I'm kidding. But seriously Leo, he's probably just in a good mood."

"Okay," Leo said pointing a stick of pineapple at her "But riddle me this: when was the last time Di Angelo was in a good mood?"

"Just because he's not often happy doesn't mean he can't- " Jason began wearily but Leo intercepted him.

"No man, I mean what do you think has made him cheerful?"

"Oh."

Jason seemed to think about this.

"Well maybe just being around camp has made him realise -" he trailed off. "Huh."

"Aliens," Leo whispered knowledgeably with a nod.

"It's not aliens Leo, wait where are you going? Leo!"

"Do you ever feel like your talking to yourself?" Jason asked as his calls fell on deaf ears.

"Well if Nico sends him to a shadow realm for bugging him at least you can say you tried," Piper said.

"Has anyone seen Nico?" Jason asked.

"Maybe he's -"

"He's not hiding out in his secret alien spaceship or whatever it is you were going to say."

Leo grinned but held up his hands in surrender.

"Have you lost him?" Piper asked. She was cleaning her knife while the rest of the Aphrodite cabin rallied behind her ready for a day of fun and adventure and the lava climbing wall. Jason could dimly hear Drew complaining about her nails.

"Not really," Jason said. "It's just Nico usually hangs out with me for activities."

Piper shrugged. "Sorry. He'll turn up though."

Jason nodded but he couldn't help feel a little concerned. He'd thought - he'd hoped - Nico was over the feelings that he didn't belong. After his stay in the infirmary he'd certainly seemed a little more settled and since then had begun settling into camp activities he’d fallen in with the rest of camp, even hanging out with Percy at times which Jason knew must have taken a lot of courage. But with Nico’s absence he began to worry all the same.

"Percy have you seen Nico?" he asked.  

Percy, tying his amour as he walked over, gave Jason a slightly mischievous smile.

"He's moved on," Percy said.

"What?"

"Trust me," Percy said. "He's fine."

Jason gave him an odd look. Percy's grin got bigger and he nodded over to where the Apollo cabin were coming down. Nico was in the middle of them, talking to Will animatedly.

"He looks happy!" Jason said before he could help himself.

"Now look who's comparing Nico to a gloomy demonic -" Leo said with a grin.

"I never said demonic."

Will laughed at something Nico said, and Nico looked momentarily stunned before blushing furiously. Percy raised an eyebrow, Piper gave a knowing smirk and Leo's jaw dropped so low Jason was slightly concerned it was going to unhinge and drop off.

"I see what you mean," Piper commented.

Nico went to snatch something from Will's hands, giggling as Will it pulled back and out of the way at the last minute.

"I just meant he wasn't going to come do archery with us!" Percy said stumbling over his words in his shock. "Be he just -"

"What you've never seen Di Angelo smile before?" asked Piper with a slight smirk. Jason got the feeling she was enjoying this somehow.

"Not for a very long time," Percy said quietly. His eyes had clouded over slightly as he watched Nico and eventually he shrugged and moved away.

"You coming Jason? Without Nico around I need you to make me feel better about my archery skills."

"Hilarious Jackson."

But he followed. Percy was right: it looked like Nico was okay after all.

Percy hadn't quite been able to shake Tartarus. He supposed that was only natural, and he knew it would take time to forget, but every time he thought he was nearing a place where it wouldn't pervade his dream space quite so much it came back to haunt him. Normally when the nightmares hit he would seek out Annabeth but she had an important test, something about entrance into one of New Rome's top colleges and he didn't want to disturb her rest. Instead he wandered up to the dining pavilion, watching the sun as it began to climb above the horizon. He wondered, absently, where Apollo was and what his punishment had been. He knew Rachel was still cut off from prophecies. It didn't seem to bode well for the god.  

When he reached the pavilion, he saw Nico sitting on the Hades table, swinging his legs and gazing absently at the horizon. He was eating which was the first surprise. The second was that, despite it being horrendously early Nico, who would be the first to describe himself as not a morning person, looked reasonably content.

Percy hadn't been alone with Nico since Nico had confessed, and he wasn't sure what he should say. He wanted to apologise for being such an idiot but that would mean bringing up Nico's crush and he wasn't sure Nico would want that.

Nico glanced over at him, but didn't say anything as Percy sat down.

"I don't know how you did it," Percy said finally. "Tartarus I mean."

"I don't know why you think I want to talk about this," Nico said but there was less antagonism about him than usual so Percy took that as a good sign.

"The dreams don't ever really go away," Nico said suddenly, glancing over at Percy. "But they get better."

Percy smiled at him surprised, but Nico was no longer paying any attention to Percy. He was distracted by another early riser who was coming up from the direction of the cabins. Will.

"You're eating then?" Will asked, as soon as he was close enough. He pulled his earphones out and shoved them into a pocket. Nico folded his arms.

"You highlighted the importance of a balanced diet," Nico said with a very straight face. "Besides an apple a day keeps the doctor away and I refuse to spend any more time in the infirmary with you. The first time was bad enough."

Nico words were normal enough but the way he was looking at Will, like Will was his personal sunshine, didn't quite match the grumpy tone.

Will just smirked.

"Anything to get you to eat properly," he said and wandered off to get juice.

Percy watched Nico watching him go. The look in Nico's eyes was surprisingly soft.

"I'm just saying," Leo said ignoring the way Jason and Percy groaned and Piper threw a bread roll at him.

"I thought you were over the alien thing?" Jason asked.

"I am. You know, mostly. I'm not ruling everything out. But you've got to admit Di Angelo is like a completely different person these days. He's gone soft."

"I don't know-" Jason began but stopped abruptly as Nico himself stalked over with a bad case of bed-head, a moody expression and skeletal hands threatening to break the surface of the earth in his wake. Leo happened to be between Nico and the coffee.

"Get out my way Leo," Nico mumbled, "or I will let these zombies drag you into hell."

Leo wasn't entirely convinced Nico would carry out that threat but he moved aside sharpish anyway. Instead of pouring himself a mug, he just took the whole pot.

"I'm going back to bed. And I swear if anyone wakes me -" he didn't finish off the threat because he was too busy yawning but somehow that was scarier.

"Sure Leo," Jason said as Nico wandered away. "He definitely seems different to me. Gone totally soft. We'll have to work on that."

"Are you humming Mulan?"

Nico looked up, startled.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Shut up Grace."

"I'm surprised you even know Mulan," Jason commented.

Nico stopped cleaning his sword to glare at Jason.

"Will made me watch it," he admitted.

"Will?"

"Will."

Nico picked up the cloth again.

"He really likes Disney. I mean they all do, but Will does not stop. And musicals. Did you know there were so many musicals? And I swear to the gods Solace knows the words to like every single one of them. And he's not a bad singer. Did you know that? He makes out like he's not talented but you shouldn't listen to a word because - what?"

"I didn't say anything."

Nico glared at him suspiciously.

"I'm going back to my cabin," he said.

"They're dating."

"They're not."

"They so are."

"They're not."

"I'm starting a betting pool," Cecil said. He'd been walking past but he'd obviously caught wind of the conversation and had insinuated himself in. "If you want to put your money where your mouth is."

There was a pause. Leo and Jason looked at each other.

"Betting on our friend's happiness seems wrong."

"It does feel a little exploitative."

"Ten dollars that they are dating."

"Twenty that they're not."

Jason had gotten used to Nico turning up at his table at breakfast. He was used to Nico's grumpiness and general animosity towards the world in general and anyone who tried to talk to him in particular. He wasn't used to Nico laughing.

He hadn't seen the light in Nico's eyes before either. Or that quiet, shy smile.

But then Will Solace didn't usually sit with them. Jason was beginning to think there was something in Leo's insistence that Will and Nico were secretly dating. At least Leo had moved on from the alien theory, but he was slightly worried at the lengths Leo was apparently prepared to go to to prove he was right. In fact half the camp seemed to be taking sides of the debate thanks to Cecil's dating pool. Jason wasn't sure where he stood, or whether he quite condoned the others dropping Will into the conversation at every opportunity just to test Nico's reaction, but he did know he was happy to see Nico so happy. The kid definitely had it coming.

He just hoped that the rest of camp's obsession with his relationship wouldn't distract from that. Or take away the light in Nico's eyes whenever he spoke about Will.

"If you're going to be that dopey about getting the flag, then we've got this one in the bag."

Jason shook himself out of his thoughts and found Nico standing in front of him.

"I'm fine," Jason said, standing and trying not to pretend like he hadn't just been worrying about his friend. "More than ready to beat you."

Nico just smirked.

"We'll see about that," he said and walked off.

And since when had Nico stopped siding with them in favour of Will?

Jason shook his head again and forced his mind to empty. Nico could look after himself, and would only get frustrated at Jason worrying about his welfare and love life. Besides Nico was right, if he kept on this distracted path he really would be handing the victory over to them. And then Percy would never forgive him.

When the game began he watched as his friends split off, following the paths and roles determined for them by Annabeth and her siblings. Annabeth was reasonably confident about where Ares and their allies would be stashing their flag. She'd marked Jason out to find it, sending a deployment consisting of herself, Percy and several other obvious heavy hitters to distract the main forces. It was a good plan and the only thing Jason was slightly worried about was running into Nico, who Annabeth admitted was hard to plan for since he was so unpredictable.

He crept through the woods, dodging behind trees whenever he thought he heard campers coming his way. Eventually he spotted a flash of red through the trees and made towards it, counting every breath and placing each step with meticulous care.

He emerged from the clearing, spotting Nico hanging out by the flag.  That wasn't ideal, but Will was with him and Nico for the moment looked was enough not to notice Jason so close. As long as the two kept talking instead of paying attention to what was going on around them -

He stopped dead as Nico suddenly stood up on tiptoes and kissed Will.

"Oh my gods!" he cried out before clapping his hand over his mouth.

Nico glanced over at him and took half a step back from Will, glancing up at the sky like he was praying with strength. Will just started laughing.

Jason chucked twenty dollars at Leo.

"Told you they were dating."

"Well it wasn't aliens," Jason said, a little moodily.

Leo just grinned.

"I still haven't ruled that out. I mean Death Boy and Sunshine? They aren't the world's most likely couple."

"I don't know," Jason said, looking over at Nico. He was supposedly listening to Connor, but was really watching Will reading on the step to the Apollo cabin with a distracted smile. "I think they work."

[itsomgitsgreenblogging]

Keeping it Classy (Chapter 2): A Solangelo fanfic

I finally got the inspiration to finish this week thanks to Solangelo Week! This meets the College/Roommates prompt so I’m just going with it. Enjoy!

Read on AO3

Chapter 1

Preview: 

“You are such a sourpuss,” Hazel said with frown. “Nico, would it kill you to be a little more positive?”

“Honestly it might,” Nico said with a shrug. “I don’t know who positive is but she sounds bothersome.”

“Just meet him for lunch,” Hazel told him. “Give the cute boy a chance.”

“I’m telling you, this is a horrible idea. I’ll mess this up badly, I just know I will,” Nico said as he trudged forward, kicking a pebble in his path.

“Didn’t you just tell me yesterday that you were going to find out if he was interested?” Hazel asked with an impatient sigh.

“Well I changed my mind! I’m allowed to do that it’s a free country you know!”

“Listen, Nico, I know you’re pissed at me, but seriously stop toying with the scissors,” Thalia whined exasperatedly as she snatched the hand towel to dry her face. Nico looked up and gave her a look, bathroom scissors still in his hand.

“What? Am I not even allowed to cut my nails?” Nico asked her sullenly.

“You aren’t cutting your nails, you’ve just been glaring a hole in the wall! Listen, I don’t know how many times I can apologize. But I’m already suffering here! My head feels like it’s being split open, literally, like I might die from this hangover!”

“Then perish,” Nico told her.

“You suck,” Thalia said, throwing the towel at his head. He ducked it and stuck his tongue out at her. They both glared at each other for a solid minute.

“Hey, we’re going to brunch. And you’re coming with us Nico,” Annabeth announced as she walked into the bathroom in just a bra and underwear which made Nico lose his balance and slide off the toilet.

“Woah! Annabeth! Put some damn clothes on!” Nico demanded of her, watching as she picked up the blue toothbrush and began brushing her teeth. “And oh my god, that’s Percy’s toothbrush! That’s disgusting!”

“Please stop yelling,” Thalia begged, taking the position of cuddling against Nico who was now wedged between the tub and the toilet and the wall. Annabeth just watched them, obviously amused before swishing and spitting.

“Thalia, get off of me,” Nico told her.

“Bathroom party!” Percy said, only wearing boxers as he walked in, giving Annabeth a sloppy kiss, which left both of them smiling like dopey idiots. Annabeth put toothpaste on the toothbrush and stuck it in Percy’s mouth.

“You’ve got morning breath,” she explained.

“Babe you can shove anything in my mouth and I’d be into it,” Percy promised her, voice muffled between the toothbrush and his teeth. Annabeth just snorted in amusement.

“Ew,” both Thalia and Nico said.

“Anyways Annabeth told you guys about family brunch, right? It’s mandatory,” Percy said as he brushed his teeth.

“Family brunch?” Jason chimed in, popping his head in as he walked by. “Awesome! Thalia, you coming with?”

“Sorry, I have to go back to my dorm. I feel like I’m gonna die,” Thalia said as she got up unsteadily.

“I’ll walk with you over there. I’m gonna go pick up Piper, Leo, and Calypso from their dorm,” Jason said as he gave his sister a smile.

“Nico...thanks for last night,” Thalia said honestly. “I hope everything goes well with the boy.”

“Get out of here before I change my mind about the scissors,” Nico said as he pulled himself up. Thalia leaned in and kissed his temple, making Nico squawk and swat her away. Both Jason and Thalia were laughing as they left the bathroom.

“So brunch?” Percy asked curiously.

“If we go somewhere where there is enough maple syrup to drown me so I no longer have to deal with this wretched plain of existence then I’m okay with brunch,” Nico told him seriously.

“Sounds good, will do. But don’t forget I’m a lifeguard so I’m like contractually obligated to administer CPR,” Percy reminded him before he swished and spit.

“Percy, you’d find me shoving my entire fist into your big mouth way less sexy than anything Annabeth has planned for you,” Nico told him as he managed to get himself unwedged.

“Yeah I know isn’t she sexy?” Percy said dreamily.

“That wasn’t where I was going with this,” Nico said hopelessly. “Come on, doofus or we’ll miss brunch.”

Nico, Percy, and Annabeth disembarked from the dorm and took an Uber over to the restaurant. Nico generally didn’t mind third-wheeling it with Percy and Annabeth, since they were generally a good time with their antics and penchant for getting into trouble. However on that particular morning, they were basically attached at the hip. Whatever kind of sex they had last night had to have been either extra good or extra weird, Nico thought as Percy blew bubbles into Annabeth’s water and she giggled. Nope, definitely extra weird he corrected.

“So you got Will Solace’s number last night?” Percy asked curiously.

“I did, before I had to save Thalia’s life,” Nico told him as he swirled the ice cubes around with his straw. “It doesn’t mean anything though. He probably just feels bad for me.”

“Highly doubtful,” Annabeth said with a roll of her grey eyes. “When are you going to get it through your thick skull that people find you attractive?”

“Um excuse me?” Nico called the waiter over. “I just want to make it clear that we’re not splitting checks.”

“Okay sure,” the waiter said before walking off.

“There’s going to be seven of us!” Annabeth gasped in indignation.

“Yep, and you’re going to have to check all that math when we pay because I know for a fact that you are anal retentive about that stuff,” Nico said with a vicious grin. “Today’s a good day to exploit my enemy’s weaknesses.”

“Nico you petty bitch,” Annabeth said darkly. “I was giving you a complement and this is how you treat me?”

“What can I say? That’s how I roll,” Nico said with a shrug. Suddenly hands were placed on his shoulders. Nico looked up, glaring into Jason’s face.

“Why are you touching me?” Nico asked him.

“I’m breaking up whatever fistfight that was going to ensue before it even starts,” Jason said calmly before releasing Nico and sitting down next to him, Nico brushed off his shirt.  

“You’re no fun at all,” Annabeth told Jason while pouting.

“Babe, we can’t get kicked out of here before we even order pancakes. I really want blueberry pancakes,” Percy told Annabeth with puppy dog eyes, and Annabeth sighed as if Percy had just made a really good point.

“Anything look good?” Piper asked as she plucked the menu right from Nico’s hands and gave Nico a smile that made it virtually impossible for him to complain.

“I love the omelettes here,” Leo said as he slid into the seat next to Percy, bringing Calypso with them. She laughed as their chairs collided.

“Great now I’m like the seventh wheel,” Nico mumbled under his breath.

“You could’ve invited Will, I’m sure he would’ve come,” Piper told him.

“Listen, I have a bone to pick with you over that,” Nico told her with an angry huff. “Don’t just go blabbing about my business to everyone and their mother, and I mean that literally I’m half convinced Sally’s going to call me by one over this.”

“Oh, you mean Will Solace?” Calypso asked curiously. “He was at the party last night, he’s the same Will that Piper was talking about?”

“Great, you know Will Solace? Does everyone know Will Solace?” Nico lamented. Everyone at the table looked around for a minute, before there seemed to be a general consensus made.

“Yeah, I think everyone does now that I think about it,” Annabeth concluded.

“He’s in the Orientation Club, he showed me around when I transferred here. Had one of those super slick white jackets, you know the ones? The ones the people wear when they give tours around campus? He’s a really cool dude,” Leo said with a envious nod. Nico definitely knew the ones. The whole jacket and dress pant combination that the student-led tour guides wore that was a combination of both over eager and incredibly good looking that he had admired from the second floor of the student union as they walked by leading hopeful high schoolers and their parents.

“His brother Austin is in the drama club, Will went to like all of the performances we put on of Anything Goes,” Calypso said as she rested her head on her chin. “He even bought an ad, it was so sweet and thoughtful.”

“Will helped out with the Habitat for Humanity thing last spring break with the rest of the mission from his church,” Annabeth said with a shrug.

“He’s part of the Biology Society, so we meet with them for student government,” Jason said thoughtfully.

“How the hell does he do all of that stuff?” Nico asked suspiciously.

“He’s the kind of person who can’t help but get involved when people ask for his help,” Percy explained easily. “Somehow he just sort of...does it?”

“He’s perfect,” Nico said as he was locked in a deep unfathomable horror. “He’s a perfect human being. Literally he was probably carried to Earth on a sunbeam.”

“Probably,” Percy agreed.

“I can’t deal with this, nope. No way. I thought he was in a totally different league but now I know he’s from a like different planet. How the hell do you guys think that I can just casually ask a guy like that out?” Nico demanded of his friends. “Especially when I’m...like...me?”

“Nico, you’ve got a lot of good qualities,” Piper promised him.

“Name one,” Nico challenged.

“You buy your sister breakfast every morning because you love her and you know it makes her happy,” Piper immediately said.

“Shit, I wasn’t expecting you to come up with one that fast,” Nico admitted as he looked away pointedly, feeling his face flush from the unexpected compliment.

“Why is it Nico takes compliments from Piper and not me?” Annabeth asked Jason, who shrugged.

“Aside from the fact that Nico should totally go for it, does everyone know what their getting because I’m starving and ready to order,” Percy said, thankfully bring the topic around to something Nico could actually deal with which was stuffing himself up to the gills with pancakes. The conversation shifted to something Clarisse had done during a soccer game, and Nico half listened as he tried to think through his own issues as he dumped more maple syrup on his stack of pancakes and poked the yellow of his sunny side up eggs and watched the yoke run.

He was lucky to have great friends, even if they drove him up the wall. But he also knew that their perspective was skewed by their obvious hope that Nico would find love as if he was on some sort of Lifetime movie. What Nico needed to do was do what his dad always said...even if it burned him to think that way. He needed to think like a freaking lawyer.

Now Nico’s dad was possibly one of the most infuriating people Nico had ever met and they disagreed on basically everything they could. Hell, if they could argue on the color of the sky they probably would do that too. But they were also a lot a like in a lot of ways too, and even if what his dad usually spat out was a load of garbage he sometimes did give valid advice. He had to think defensively: to protect himself and to do that he needed to proceed slowly, find the traps, measure and calculate the risk. And above all, never, ever let anyone see him sweat or be weak.

First course of action he could take was to do absolutely nothing. He didn’t have proof that Will was at all interested in him, save for being friendly at the party. This whole thing was probably all of them thinking about this too hard, really. If that was the case all he needed to do was avoid, which should be easy because before last night Nico had never come in contact with Will Solace before. Second route would be to pursue Will Solace and find out if he was interested in Nico. That was the hard one, since Nico sucked at flirting in general. But hey if it didn’t work out then at least he could say he tried.

So what should he do?

Nico thought long and hard about this. He had Will’s number but Will didn’t have his. When Will saw him at the shop, would Will be weird about the fact that Nico hadn’t texted him? He doubted Will would though, he seemed so effortless in everything he did. Hell, Nico knew that Will certainly was not interested in him like that. Nico hadn’t probably even come across as an actual human being during his interactions.

But…

As he walked a few steps behind the group as they excited the restaurant, Nico pulled out his phone. After a moment of thought, he bit the bullet.

Hey, Nico typed. He waited for a moment, stepping over a crack in the sidewalk. But then just as he was about to put his phone away, there came a reply:  

Hi there!

Nico smiled.

“Hey,” Will greeted, and when Nico looked up Will was insanely close and insanely smiley. Nico couldn’t help but jump, but be settled as quickly as he could and pushed over so Will had room to stand next to him. Will smiled gratefully.

“Woah, uh, hi,” Nico said, and he wasn’t sure what expression he was making but it didn’t damper Will’s positivity in the slightest. That had to be a talent of his.

“It’s nice to actually, I don’t know, know who you are,” Will explained as he stood right next to Nico as they both awaited their orders. “So I’ve got to ask, you always get two coffees. Is it for the girl that meets you here or do you just drink both because no judgment.”

“Yeah, that would be my sister Hazel,” Nico explained with a shrug. “Our schedules really conflict, so it’s nice to get to see her.”

“Oh, wow. That really is nice. I wish my siblings bought me food,” Will said with a pout that was so cute Nico thought he was going to have a heart attack. “I guess they don’t love me.”

“Well, I am the older brother,” Nico pointed out.

“Shoot, I guess that means I’d have to buy food for them,” Will said with a sigh and Nico couldn’t help but snort and laugh at Will’s troubled tone. Will met his eyes and grinned.

“You’ve got a great laugh,” Will told him, blue eyes catching the light.

“Ugh, no I do not. I’ve got a horrible laugh,” Nico dismissed with a scoff, cheeks feeling warm. He hoped that Will didn’t notice.

“But I like that,” Will said.

I like that, I like that, I like that, Nico parroted in his mind. The sound of that was divine, even if Will was seriously probably on drugs. Nico’s laugh was pretty hideous. But somehow Will sounded like he meant it, like he really did like Nico’s laugh. After all, Will seemed like the kind of person who really and truly found good in everyone. That was an admirable quality for sure, and not something that came easily to Nico.

“So do you have class later?” Will asked as Piper presented them both with their coffees. For a split second Piper stared him down, and he pointedly ignored her before walking out the door quicker than he needed to.

“Yeah, today’s my easy day though. I’ve got one class at ten and then my other one at eleven. Done at twelve,” Nico explained easily.

“Well if you see me at Hestia come on over,” Will said, saying the name of the main cafeteria building.

“Okay sure,” Nico said before his brain had a chance to catch up with his mouth. It was at that precise moment that Hazel turned the corner and waved to him before walking over. She plucked the coffee out of Nico’s hand.

“Hi there, and you must be…?” Hazel asked, obviously being coy. If Nico didn’t love her he would hate her in that moment.

“Will. Will Solace, nice to meet you,” Will introduced.

“I’m Hazel, Nico’s sister. It’s nice to meet you too,” Hazel said, giving Nico a knowing smile.

“I’m going to go to class, but I’ll maybe see you later,” Will said pleasantly.

“Yeah, later,” Nico said, fumbling the words out of his mouth like he had stuffed it full of peeps. Will walked off towards the science building, and thankfully Hazel only started teasing him when they began their own walk and they were out of earshot.

“Later? Later? What does later mean, Nico please you have to tell me what later means!”

“Later just means Later! Like I might see him later, that’s it!” Nico said quickly, trying to defuse Hazel’s excitement but he found that it was far too late.

“But he wants to see you later,” Hazel told him as she bounced on his arm and Nico quickly traded his coffee with his other hand to keep it from spilling.

“We just became acquaintances he probably is just being friendly!” Nico told her quickly. Hazel sighed dramatically and got off his arm. “Will Solace is just a friendly dude.”

“Well I think he is interested in you,” Hazel said as she looked at her phone, grinned madly, and then held up the group chat for him to see. “And everyone else thinks he is too.”

“Shit! Piper!” Nico grumbled, as he watched Leo’s response of about twenty kissy-face emojis flash by the screen as everyone else spammed with reaction gifs. He batted her hand and got his phone out of his line of sight. “You guys don’t get it. Even if Will Solace is into dudes, which hasn’t even been confirmed, he’s probably not interested in me like that. I doubt he goes out with every gay guy he meets. Really, he’s just being friendly.”

“You are such a sourpuss,” Hazel said with frown. “Nico, would it kill you to be a little more positive?”

“Honestly it might,” Nico said with a shrug. “I don’t know who positive is but she sounds bothersome.”

“Just meet him for lunch,” Hazel told him. “Give the cute boy a chance.”

“I’m telling you, this is a horrible idea. I’ll mess this up badly, I just know I will,” Nico said as he trudged forward, kicking a pebble in his path.

“Didn’t you just tell me yesterday that you were going to find out if he was interested?” Hazel asked with an impatient sigh. 

“Well I changed my mind! I’m allowed to do that it’s a free country you know!” Nico told her before running a hand through his hair, probably not helping any of his cowlicks at all. “Okay, okay I know I’m being slightly ridiculous--”

“Slightly?” Hazel asked him. 

“Okay, very ridiculous,” Nico corrected. “But every time I’ve tried the whole romance thing it’s ended up being a total disaster.” 

“It hasn’t been a total disaster,” Hazel tried to tell him but Nico shook his head. 

“Hazel. Albania.” 

“Okay, fine it’s sort of been a disaster, but really what do you want me to say to that? I think you should give it another shot. Meet him for lunch, he already offered and you already agreed.” She had got him there, Nico realized. He had already agreed, and if he skipped out then it would be rude of him. Usually he didn’t care about being rude but Will Solace had never done anything wrong to him, so Nico knew he didn’t deserve that. Nico would meet him for lunch, if was pretty much decided. As if sensing her victory, Hazel sipped on her coffee with a content smile. 

So that was how Nico found himself in the cafeteria, nervously playing a dating sim on his phone as he waited for Will to get back from the lunch line. Will was all smiles as Nico sat across from him in the cafe. In fact, Nico didn’t think he had seen Will frown at all. Nico wondered if it hurt his face to stay like that all the time. Nico hoped it didn’t, Will had a very attractive face after all. Nico wouldn’t want him to hurt...unless he was into something like that. 

“So, tell me, how’s your day going?” Will asked as he stuck his fork into his salad. 

“Pretty normal I think,” Nico responded as he scooted a carrot across his plate, eyeing it with distaste. 

“Not a fan of carrots,” Will asked with a chuckle.

 “Not really,” Nico admitted. Then watched with horror as Will picked up the vegetable and popped it into his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. Holy shit, was Nico’s immediate thought. My fork had touched that. Oh my gods, am I in fourth grade? Nico’s more conscious mind asked, thoroughly annoyed. At this point Nico was probably gaping at Will like he had just grown another head. Will just continued to smile as if he had no clue what had befuddled Nico so thoroughly. Oh, he was tricky. Nico thought. 

“So...um, you mentioned you have siblings earlier?” Nico asked, hoping to get onto a topic he felt he could contribute to. Will nodded as he continued to eat his lunch. “How did you all end up going to the same University?”

“Well, my deadbeat dad sorta kinda donated a whole bunch of money to this school as his Alma mater, so, I got in for a nominal fee as did they,” Will said with a shrug. “Well, also it’s a pretty awesome school with stuff we all liked.”

“I’m sorry?” Nico said, his voice creeping up awkwardly.

 “What for?” Will asked curiously. 

“Uh...for having a deadbeat dad?” 

“Oh, well, Apollo’s not that bad really,” Will said as he waved off the concern. “He’s harmless, just super irresponsible and also utterly incapable of keeping it in his pants. I tend to be more of the parent in most cases. It’s just annoying, but he’s got money so I can’t really complain.” 

He didn't say it in a bragging way, nor like he was looking for pity, instead he seemed matter of fact about it. Nico didn’t really know what to say to any of that. Nico’s family...well it was the definition of complicated. Hell, Nico wasn’t sure that he’d told the therapist he had been seeing for three years about half of the drama. Nico’s relationship with his dad was light-years ahead of where it had been even a year ago, and it was currently functional (which was the first time he could even say something like that). But Nico knew about having an absent dad. Not that this was the conversation he wanted to be having with Will at all, actually if he could help it he wouldn’t be nudging this topic with a two foot pole. 

“Well, I have Hazel so I get what it’s like to have a sibling go to the same school,” Nico said, switching the topic back as fast as he could. “Plus...I guess Percy and Jason count as family sort of, but you aren’t allowed to tell them that.” 

“Speaking of, they aren’t having another party this weekend are they?” Will asked with a glint in his eyes. 

“Not that I know of, but I’m usually the last to find out. Why?” Nico asked suspiciously. 

“Would you like to come out with me tomorrow night? Grab a drink or something?” Will asked hopefully. 

 “Sure, yeah, of course,” Nico agreed in an awkward tumble of words. “I mean, I’ll go out to get a drink with you.”

 “Awesome,” Will said with another of his signature smiles that basically melted Nico’s brain into mush. Nico wasn’t even sure how he functioned for the rest of the day. He certainly didn’t breath a word of what was happening to any of his friends of Hazel, especially now that he knew that they had some kind of bet going on. With as little fanfare as possible, made better by the fact that it was date night amongst his friends, Nico slipped out of the dorm and arrived to the designated spot. 

Will had chosen to meet Nico at The Gladiator, which was a five minute walk from campus, and was generally a hustling and bustling establishment. Since it was so busy, Nico hoped he wouldn't see anyone he knew. And as they made it to the bar, it just seemed to be people Will knew who all greeted him in the same fashion that everyone else did. By the point that Nico managed to sit down he was almost certain that he was breaking out into a cold sweat.

 “So what do you drink?” Will asked curiously as he leaned against it, white t-shirt looking almost horrifyingly good against his tanned skin. Nico wanted to bite it...which wasn’t great for his focus because he already had a difficult time processing what was being said to him. 

“Depends on what mood I'm in,” Nico said with a shrug, managing to get the words of his mouth without blubbering. “I think I'm just in the mood for a vodka tonic or something.”

 “You got it then,” Will said with a smile.

“I can buy my own drinks,” Nico argued weakly. “I--” 

“Oh hi Will, and hi--ohmygodNicodiAngelo!”

That wasn't a particularly good sign. Behind the bar was Mitchell, and Nico groaned. He had forgotten Mitchell worked here. He was a distant relative of Piper’s, a nice enough guy but with the backbone made of gelatin and a gossip monger’s brother. Dangerous combination if you asked Nico (though people tended not to). 

“People tend to have that reaction to you don't they?” Will asked, a mirthful glint in his eyes. Nico wanted to sink into the floor. 

“Oh, hey Will!” A voice greeted from the side, a group of people waving at him.

“Give me a minute?” Will asked apologetically, and Nico waved him on numbly before returning his attention to Mitchell who was standing dumbfounded behind the bar just staring at him as if he had grown another head.  

“Vodka tonic please Mitchell,” Nico said glumly. Mitchell made a sound that was a cross between a delighted giggle and a boiling kettle.

 “Oh my God, like oh my God,” Mitchell said, nearly pulling himself over the bar in his enthusiasm. “You are on a date. With Will Solace. In the gay bar I work at. And I'm witnessing it with my own two eyes. Oh my God. I'm going to die, I have to text Lacy right now.”

“Didn’t I order something?” Nico asked crossly. 

“Oh my God you aren't denying it! Ahhh! This is the best day of my whole life!” 

“We are not on a date!” Nico said harshly. “We are just friends, this is platonic!” 

“Honey, please. Denial is not a good look for you,” Mitchell told him before fanning himself excitedly. “Oh my God Sebastian is gonna flip!”

 “Mitchell, please, my drink,” Nico begged. 

“Okay, okay. I'm cool. I'm cool,” Mitchell said as he took a deep breath. A giggle spurted out of him before he went to go retrieve whatever he needed to make Nico’s drink. Nico sagged against the bar. What was he even doing here? Five minutes in and he had already embarrassed himself. He should just quickly down his drink and then leave. 

“Sorry about that,” Will said as he slid into the bar seat next to Nico. 

“It’s fine,” Nico said, trying to come off cool and unaffected. He wasn't sure how that was going for him but he certainly could try. Mitchell came back with Nico’s drink and smiled at Will. 

“What can I get you?” He asked Will who smiled. “Rum and coke, also, put Nico’s drink on my tab,” Will told Mitchell.

 “Oh of course! I'll be right back with that,” Mitchell said as he nodded so hard he nearly dislocated something and then ducked out of the way of Nico’s annoyance. 

“You aren't paying for me,” Nico informed Will curtly. 

“Why not?” Will asked, sounding confused. 

“Because I'm perfectly capable of buying my own drinks!” Nico huffed, greatly annoyed by Will’s very resistant denseness. If Will paid then this was definitely a date, and Nico didn't think he could handle that. 

“I see,” Will said with a sly look. “Well you'll have to excuse me for buying this round.”

 “Fine,” Nico said as Mitchell returned and placed down the drinks before running off to help another customer. Nico got bustled at the bar a bit, and managed to scare off a guy with a glare before sighing. 

“So you mentioned to me you don't come here often, was there somewhere else you would prefer? If you really dislike--” Will began to say before Nico cut him off. 

“It's not that, I just usually go to quieter bars. Like Easton Street or something.” 

“Oh, so you like old people bars,” Will teased and Nico rolled his eyes. 

“I don't see anything wrong with having fifty year olds buy you drinks all night,” Nico said with a shrug.

 “But you don’t want me to buy you a drink?” Will asked with a laugh, and Nico felt his face flush.

 “Because if you buy me a drink--we’re not on a date,” Nico spluttered.

 “What would it take for this to be a date?” Will’s tone was curious and Nico swallowed heavily.

 “Um…” Nico mumbled, and then suddenly Nico felt Will’s hand touch his fingers, curling around them. He looked at Nico, as if for permission, and Nico couldn't look away. 

“Here’s what I think we should do,” Will said with a smile, staring at Nico so intensely that he was half convinced he had something on his face. 

“We should finish our drinks, then go dance on the dancefloor, and then I think you ought to kiss me.” Now it was Nico’s turn to stare at him. Woah, okay, so this was happening, Nico thought before he eloquently concluded with: screw it. 

“Why? Because you won't kiss me?” Nico asked him, as he slid his arm around Will’s waist, doing his best to give a flirty smile. “I don't think I've done anything that bad yet.”

 “I think I like where this is going,” Will whispered in his ear, as a thrill ran up his spine. 

“I think I do too.” 

Will’s lips were hot on his as they burst through the door of his apartment. Nico grabbed the bottom of Will’s shirt and nearly ripped it as he aimed to get his hands everywhere they could go--and Nico gasped as Will curled his fingers in his haired and pulled just right. 

“Are you--God, Nico,” Will gasped as Nico trailed his mouth down his neck, looking for places to mark his skin. “Are you sure you’re good with this?” 

“Just shut up and make out with me!” Nico ordered, managing to shut Will up with another bruising kiss. Nico groaned as Will half sent them sprawling back on the couch, and how good his weight felt on him--how his touch traced fire down his skin. Oh, they would have time later to do all the things he had imagined, but for right now Nico just wanted more. Nico wanted whatever Will could give him and yet it didn’t seem like enough. 

“God, you’re hot,” Will half-moaned into his neck, kissing down his shoulder, over his chest, down his belly as he fumbled with his belt and Nico desperately tried to kick off his boot. 

“I know,” Nico said.

“And you’re cocky,” Will said, looking up at him with eyes a darkened blue that sent a shiver down his spine. “But I don’t dislike that.” 

“Why don’t you put me in my place then?” Nico asked him with a grin, as he trailed his fingers under Will’s chin. “Unless you like it the other way around, I can be very obliging when I want to be. You always seem to be taking care of other people, I’d be happy to take care of you” 

Nico watched Will have a physical reaction, eyes blown wide, cheeks flushing red, and he seemed to freeze for a single moment. 

“Holy crap,” Will said, looking away for a second as if trying to compose himself before squinting at him suspiciously. “Are you sure you are a real person and you haven’t been hanging out in my head for a few months because you are like, hitting all my very odd specific kinks right now.” 

“What can I say? I’m just that good. And plus I’ve been having plenty of my own naughty thoughts,” Nico said with a laugh as he pushed Will on his back on the armrest. Will was laughing--a low rumbling vibration that made Nico groan again and reach down--

The door slammed open.

 “We’re back--holy crap!” 

In that moment, Nico jerked to look up and his leg slipped. He felt Will attempt to grab him to keep him from falling, but the next thing he knew Nico was clinging the back of his throbbing head and laying half underneath Will who was sprawled over with their legs tangled up together. Nico looked up with a glare to see Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason standing in the doorway all with various expressions of surprise, embarrassment, and amusement. Nico placed one hand on the coffee table he had bashed his skull into and glared. 

“Didn’t your mom ever teach you to knock you goddamn degenerate?!” Nico demanded of Percy as he felt Will reach over.

 “Shit, that’s going to be a nasty bump,” Will said, gentle fingers prodding the back of his head, and though his cheeks were reddened he carried on like business as usual. “You guys wouldn’t happen to have an ice-pack would you?” 

“Yeah, probably,” Jason said as he quickly went into the kitchen, pulling Piper behind him who was offering a thumbs up.

“Wow, you really fell head over heels there, didn’t you?” Percy asked with a grin. Annabeth just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“You are definitely not helping,” Annabeth told him as she grabbed him by his shoulders, and physically steered him away. “We’re going to your room, I’m so sorry guys.”

 “Please, don’t stop on our account! Keep making out,” Percy hollered at him. “Nice seeing you Will!”

 “Yeah, good seeing you too Percy,” Will said, with a embarrassed laugh that was still good-natured and totally hot. Nico now felt his skin erupt into heat as he sank somehow further into the floor. 

“God I hate this fucking family,” Nico said as he put his face in his hands, looking up only to see Jason handing Will the ice-pack which Will pressed to the back of Nico’s head. Nico looked at him and sighed as he touched it. “If you never want to talk to me ever again, I totally understand and support your decision.”

  “Why would I do that when this is so much fun?” Will asked, and Nico tried to detect any sarcasm but saw nothing in his expression that indicated such. Will knotted their fingers together as they held the ice-pack together. “I would totally do this again...though, I always appreciate a head’s up for interruption. Do you think we could do that?” 

“Yeah…” Nico said, nearly beaming. “Yeah, I think that can be arranged.” 

“Get a room!”

 “It’s my fucking apartment--Percy Jackson get over here so I can kick your ass!” 

Will laughed, and somehow disaster appeared to be avoided. 

[gatesofember]

Meadows of the Sea: Chapter 5

PJO Arranged Marriage/Royalty AU Part 7

Rating: M | Pairing: Percabeth, Jiper, Solangelo

Prev | Next | AU directory | Read it on AO3 (Recommended) | Arranged Marriage AU Masterpage

Summary: Prince Percy couldn’t be happier. After years of waiting, he is finally marrying the friend and lover he has been betrothed to since childhood. Prince Nico invites his fiancé to accompany him to the wedding, where he can’t help but dream about his own pending marriage. Prince Jason, who has been unable to secure a new engagement after Reyna’s rejection, may finally find the right woman to make his empress.

Nico was not in the mood to see anyone.  He would have gladly hidden in his guest room all day, hiding under the blankets and feeling sorry for himself.  Unfortunately, Reyna would not allow it.  She arrived early in the morning and woke him up with the announcement that he had been invited to breakfast in Prince Percy and Annabeth’s apartments.

He dragged his feet the entire way there, and no amount of glaring or scolding from Reyna made him behave.  Finally, Reyna stopped him and asked if something was bothering him, but Nico brushed her aside.  No matter how upset he was, Nico was too ashamed to tell her about how he’d lashed out at Will the night before.  He knew that she would be able to advise him on what he ought to do, but Nico couldn’t bring himself to admit what he’d done.  For once, pride wasn’t the only thing holding his tongue; what really kept him from speaking was the extreme sense of guilt.

Annabeth and Percy were in the drawing room when he arrived.  Nico was disgusted as he eyed their clothes—or lack thereof.  Although they were both wearing dressing gowns, neither of them were very covered.  Annabeth was the most dressed of the two, as she at least appeared to be wearing a stay and petticoat under her dressing gown.  Percy had put on his breeches, but Nico thought he should have had the decency to wear a waistcoat.

When Reyna didn’t join Nico inside, he nearly panicked at the uncomfortable thought of being left alone with the bride and groom.  Before he could beg her not to go, Percy greeted him.  “Good morning, Nico,” he said.

“Prince Nico,” Nico corrected automatically.  He cursed himself when he heard the door shut behind him, meaning that he’d lost his chance to keep Reyna from leaving.

“Would you like some tea while we’re waiting for the others?” Percy asked, as though Nico hadn’t said anything.

He was glad to at least hear that he wouldn’t be having breakfast with the bride and groom alone.  “I suppose,” Nico said glumly.  He was taken aback when Percy poured the tea himself.  In fact, there weren’t any servants in the room at all.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a door to his left opened and Jason stepped out, covering his mouth as he yawned.  Jason was in the same state of dress as Percy and looked as though he had barely woken up.  He did not seem surprised to see Nico; he just smiled and wished them all a good morning, and Percy offered to pour him tea as well.  Nico looked between the three of them for an explanation, but none of them acted like anything out of the ordinary had happened.  He decided not to question Jason’s odd appearance.

“Here you are,” Percy said as he passed out their cups.  “The kitchens should bring our food soon, so have a seat until then.”

Percy joined Annabeth on one of the couches and Jason say on another, but Nico was still standing in idle bewilderment when a second door opened and a woman Nico didn’t recognize stepped out.  She was even less dressed than the others, judging by the rather free movement of her body underneath her dressing gown.  She didn’t even appear to be wearing a corset, much less a stay.

“How many people do you have hiding in here?” Nico demanded, searching the rest of the doors and wondering which would open next.

“Just the two,” replied Annabeth before standing to kiss the woman’s cheeks in greeting.  “Good morning, Piper.  Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, very well,” answered the woman.  “Thank you for loaning me your dressing gown.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” said Annabeth.  “You may as well keep it; it looks far better on you than it ever did on me.”

By the time Percy offered the woman a cup of tea, Nico’s surprise had worn off enough for his outrage to return.  “Who are you?” he demanded.

“Ah,” Jason said, smiling as the woman sat beside him.  “Nico—”

“Prince.  Prince Nico.”

“—I would like to introduce Piper of Venus, who, with luck, will soon be my fiancée.”

Nico was too shocked to even blink.  “Fiancée?” he repeated.

“Yes!” Jason answered cheerfully.  “I have found a fiancée.”

“Oh, praise the gods,” Nico whispered.  At least Reyna was safe from him.

“Well, hopefully she will be my fiancée,” Jason went on.  “We will meet with Athena today to seek her approval.  If we have Athena’s approval, we’ll get the approval of the rest of the court, and then we’ll need to sort out the details of the contract before anything is made official.  We just met and nothing has been planned yet.  So are we friends now?”

Nico shook his head in confusion.  “I...what?”

“In Venadica, you promised we would be friends if I found someone to marry,” Jason explained.

“I did no such thing!”

“I think he’s happy for you,” Percy said.

“Thank you for your support, Nico,” Jason said, then he bitterly added, “Of course, all of this is assuming that Athena can behave herself.”

Annabeth muttered a few rude words into her tea.  Percy and Jason beamed at her in approval.  Nico was even more perplexed.

“Athena’s a bitch,” Percy said in response to Nico’s expression, as though that explained everything.

Nico’s bewilderment gave way to indignation.  “You Neptonians and your revolting use of language—”

“Yes, we Neptonians are wonderfully scandalous,” Percy said dismissively.  “Anyway, do you have Neptonian blood, Nico?  You have some Neptunian features—the shape of your nose, for one.”

Nico almost dropped his cup.  His birth mother, Lady Maria, had been Venusian.  In appearance, Nico took after Hades, so no one found it suspicious that Nico didn’t look much like Persephone.  In fact, people often imagined that they could see bits of Cerese blood in him and compared him to Persephone.  “Neptonian?” he asked, pretending to be indifferent.  “Going back several generations.  But we all have mixed blood; your eyes are Plutonian.”

“So is your personality,” Percy replied in such a casual voice that Nico didn’t realize it was a taunt until Jason snorted.

“Personality...?” Nico asked.

“You fit the stereotype,” Percy commented.

“What stereotype?” Nico demanded.

Percy is calling you a prude,” Jason said.

“A prude?” Nico repeated in outrage.  “I have a sense of decency, unlike you Neptonians!”

“Is that so?” said Percy.  “But you know, I think that we vulgar Neptonians are starting to rub off on you.  With all those kisses you gave your fiancé yesterday, I fear that you will soon become just as delightfully debauched as me.”

Part of Nico felt horrified by the idea.  Part of Nico feared that he had already become as licentious as Percy.  But most of Nico felt miserable, because he didn’t know if he’d even have the opportunity to kiss Will again.

Percy’s eyebrows drew together like he realized he had gone too far.  “I meant that in jest, Nico.  I apologize if I offended you.”

“I am offended,” Nico said, intending to seem angry but only sounding pitiful.

“I did not intend to sound like I was belittling your people,” Percy said.  “It’s true that we are very different and I don’t completely understand Plutons, but I do not look down on—”

“That’s not it,” Nico mumbled.

“Then why...oh.  I see.”

A second of silence ticked by.  Annabeth was the one to break it.

“Piper, come with me and I’ll help you dress,” she said, putting aside her tea and standing.  She offered Piper her hand and led her through one of the doors.  Nico was not sure what made Annabeth think that he wanted to be alone with Percy and Jason, but, strangely, a piece of him enjoyed the privacy.

“Is everything alright with you and Will?” Percy asked when the women were gone.

“Everything is fine,” Nico mumbled.

“Annabeth and I have argued plenty of times,” said Percy.  “Perhaps I can help.”

Nico looked from Percy to Jason, taking in their identical expressions of concern.  He reminded himself to keep his feelings private.  It was inappropriate enough that he had acted the way he had the night before.  There was no need to share it, and he certainly should not burden anyone with such things.

And yet, Nico found himself blurting out, “I shouted at him.  I said some things that I shouldn’t have.”

“Such as?” Jason asked.

Nico shook his head.  He couldn’t bring himself to repeat it.  The words he’d said were so cruel and thoughtless—he was even more ashamed of what he’d said to Will than he was of his obscene desires.

“I didn’t mean it,” Nico mumbled without offering an explanation.  “I was just...nervous.”

“Why were you nervous?” Jason asked.

“Because he started to tease me!” Nico hissed, jabbing his finger in Percy’s direction.

Percy looked taken aback.  “You mean...about kissing Will?  That upset you?”

“Of course it upset me!” growled Nico.  “I shouldn’t...it’s not...it wasn’t appropriate.  I shouldn’t have done it.”

Percy sighed and shook his head.  “Nico, I should have known better than to tease,” he said.  There wasn’t even a hint of a taunt in his voice, but it still took Nico a second too long to trust that Percy was being honest.  Nico wanted to be angry, but Percy’s apology was so obviously heartfelt that Nico couldn’t even bring himself to feel more than mildly annoyed.

“You weren’t at fault,” Nico sighed.  “I was already overwhelmed.”

“So what did you say to Will?” Jason asked.  “That you didn’t want to kiss him?”

“Or that you regretted kissing him?” Percy said.

“Something like that,” Nico mumbled.  What he had really said was worse, but Nico couldn’t bring himself to repeat it.  “I didn’t mean it,” he said again.

“Did you tell him you didn’t mean it?” Percy asked.

“I tried,” Nico grumbled.  “But he just apologized and told me that he wasn’t offended and he’d be more careful in the future.  But I don’t want him to be more careful!  He didn’t even kiss me when we said goodnight and now he’ll never kiss me again and it’s my fault for losing my temper and—”

“Slow down, Nico,” Percy cut in.

“Prince Nico!”

“Prince Nico.  I’m sure Will would love to kiss you.  In fact, he seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit yesterday.  All you have to do is talk to him and sort this out.”

“I’m terrible at talking,” Nico mumbled.  “Things always go horribly wrong and everyone ends up hating me.”

“Jason and I don’t hate you,” Percy said.  “I wouldn’t have invited you to my ritual bathing ceremony if I didn’t like you at least a little bit.”

“Have you not noticed how hard I’ve been trying to get you to like me?” Jason added.  “I find your company quite enjoyable.”

Nico scowled.  He might have blushed.

“All you have to do is be honest with Will,” Jason went on.  “Just explain how you feel.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Nico snapped.

“Tell him what you told us,” Percy said.  “Say, ‘Will, I apologize for last night.  I was upset because that idiot Percy started teasing me about how much I like you and I didn’t mean what I said.  I like kissing you and I think you are very handsome and I love you.’  Then all your problems will be solved.”

“I cannot say that!”

“Yes, you can,” Percy said.  “You’re just afraid to.”

Nico sniffed indignantly and folded his arms.

“Do you love him, Nico?” Jason asked.

“Prince Nico,” Nico corrected weakly, but he nodded.

“Have you told him?” Percy asked.

Nico shook his head.

“Then I think you need to.  Will might not understand.”

Nico sighed.  “Right.  Yes, I...I ought to talk to him.”

Percy’s entire demeanor changed.  His concern melted away and he grinned, his expression lighting up in satisfaction.  “Well, I’m glad you agree, because I invited him to join us this morning.”

“What?” Nico squeaked.

“He should be here soon,” Percy went on.  “I asked Reyna to bring you early, but he’ll arrive about the same time as our food.”

Before Nico had recovered enough to say anything, Annabeth and Piper reemerged as if they’d been waiting for the conversation to end.  Annabeth had helped Piper into a stay and petticoat under her dressing gown.  Nico was relieved that she was at least wearing that much.

Percy’s manservant arrived with their platter a moment later, followed shortly thereafter by Will, who was so hopelessly handsome in his pale blue suit it made Nico miserable.  Will looked a bit surprised by the state of everyone else’s dress, but did not comment on it.  When Percy directed Will to sit beside Nico, Nico tried to smile.

“You look stunning,” Nico blurted out.  Will’s cheeks turned pink and he returned the smile, and Nico began to hope that maybe he could fix things with Will.

“I’m flattered, Your Highness.  I think you look stunning, as well.”

But Nico’s hopes were dashed when Will barely looked at him throughout the meal.  Will hardly joined the conversation, and Nico was too distracted to listen to what the others were discussing.  He nudged Will’s foot with his own and even tried to hold his hand, but Will did not respond.  By the time that breakfast was over, Nico just as miserable as he’d been the night before.

Reyna returned when they finished to escort them to the hall in order to prepare for the gift-giving ceremony.  Will offered Nico his arm, but he still felt stiff and unreachable.  Nico could sense no warmth or feeling through the hand he had placed on Will’s arm.  It was more like being escorted by a statue than by his fiancé.

“Will,” Nico said, quietly enough that Reyna would not overhear.  “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Yes, Your Highness?” Will asked.

Nico felt even worse when Will addressed him with the same polite, gentle voice he always used.  “About last night,” Nico forced himself to say.  “I wanted to talk about last night.”

Will nodded like he had expected that answer.  “You have my apologies, Your Highness,” he said.  “I forgot my place.”

“You already apologized,” Nico said.  “I don’t require your apologies.”

“Then you have my assurances that it will not happen again.”

“No, that’s...I wanted to...I’m the one who ought to apologize.  I went too far.  You didn’t deserve that.”

“Not at all, Your Highness,” Will said in that same infuriatingly kind voice.  “Had I not behaved the way I did, there would not have been a problem.”

“That’s not...I...I should not have reacted the way I did, Will.”

“If you insist upon it, your apology is accepted,” Will said.

That didn’t make Nico feel better, but he lost his confidence and fell silent when they reached the crowding hall where the gift-giving ceremony would take place.  He doubted that his talk with Will had accomplished anything.

*   *   *

Gift-giving ceremonies were dangerous affairs.  A simple misstep, like a forgotten present or an improper show of favoritism, could start a war that lasted for decades.  Of course, it had been centuries since a scandal of that magnitude had occurred, but gift-giving ceremonies were still filled with tension.  Everyone was on edge, praying to the gods that they would proceed into the evening’s ball without incident.

Knowing how much Percy and Annabeth loved to cause a scandal, Piper should have expected at least one blunder.

It came in the form of Percy’s unbridled enthusiasm for Prince Nico’s gift.  The Plutonian Royal Family was known for dog breeding, so naturally their prince presented the couple with a magnificent breed of bandog called a Plutonian Mastiff.  She was primarily bred and trained to guard, Nico explained, but was also skilled in large game hunting.

Percy leapt from his seat to greet the dog with an embrace, so obviously happy that he was nearly in tears.  The massive dog looked ferocious enough to rip out Percy’s throat without difficulty, but she proved to be surprisingly patient when she allowed Percy to coddle her.  Percy gave the dog the very odd name of “Mrs. O’Leary” and commanded her to sit by his side, then he spent the remainder of the ceremony cooing over her.  Annabeth just shook her head and sighed with resigned affection.  She thanked Nico for his gift with the decorum of a proper bride while her husband was busy sobbing with joy over his new favorite dog.

Thankfully, no one seemed overly offended, or at least not offended enough to declare war.  Nico looked embarrassed more than anything else and Percy’s expression was too endearing for anyone to feel very upset.

Fortunately, that was the only scandal to occur during the ceremony.  It passed without further incident, and by that afternoon the guests were scattered throughout the dining halls for a late lunch.  Jason and Piper were both invited to join the royal family, but Jason and his sisters were seated at the opposite side of the room from Piper and her mother.

“I assume last night went well,” Aphrodite said, her tone betraying her satisfaction.

“I didn’t stay with him, if that is what you mean to imply,” Piper grumbled.  She certainly wouldn’t have minded spending the night with Jason, but she doubted he was ready for that yet.  “But other than that, you’ll be glad to know your plan is working.  We planned to speak with Athena about our engagement today.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that she is in the best of moods.”

“Athena is notoriously temperamental,” Aphrodite said, tapping the rim of her wine glass in thought.  “I shall join your meeting.  Surely between the two of us, we will be able to sway her.”

Piper nodded her gratitude.  She knew what a skilled speaker her mother was and considered herself fortunate to have her as an ally at that moment.  She didn’t always like being used in her mother’s schemes, but for the time being, Piper was willing to be a part of the plan.

After the meal, Jason wove through the crowd to meet her, bringing Athena with him.  They had managed to exchange a few words that morning and came up with a plan for confronting his sister, but Piper could tell that Jason was just as nervous as she felt—if not more.

“Let’s get this over with, shall we?” Athena scowled.

Jason sighed.  “Athena—” he started.

“As I said before, Jason, I see no reason why you think this match is so beneficial,” Athena said.

“Lady Athena, I can assure you that the house of Venus can prove to be a very lucrative ally,” Aphrodite said, her voice just barely tinted by a sultry purr as she ran her finger over the rim of her glass.  It was a subtle enough tone and an innocent enough statement, but Piper knew her mother well enough to recognize when she was beginning to charm someone.  Aphrodite was still trying to gauge her prey’s weaknesses before she really attacked.

But when Piper glimpsed at the unforgiving expression on Athena’s face, it was the first time she could sense that Aphrodite was bound to fail.  In that instant, she knew that no matter what any of them would do or say, the meeting was not going to end well.

Athena turned to Aphrodite with a vicious snarl.  “Spare me, Duchess.  I know when I’m being baited.  Do you think that you are the first to attempt to sway my judgement?”

Aphrodite looked shocked.  It lasted only a moment before she fixed her expression.  She opened her mouth to reply, but Athena didn’t give her the chance.

“Jason, this is a waste of my time,” Athena snapped.  “I don’t need to hear more than I already have.  I know this house’s reputation; Venus has nothing to offer but shame.”

“Lady Athena—” Aphrodite began, anger now creeping into her voice.

“I know what sort of games you like to play, Your Grace,” Athena interrupted.  “I am not my father.  If you think that your petty attempts at seduction will be as effective on me as they would be on Jupiter’s whore of an emperor, then you are sorely mistaken.”  She sneered at Piper before turning her glare back to Jason.  “I thought you were better than this, Jason.  I did not believe you could be captured by such an ambitious, unprincipled house, but it seems that you’re no better than your parents.  I should have known that you were off in some harlot’s bed when you didn’t return to your room last night.  You were bound to be seduced by a filthy upstart like her.”

Athena didn’t allow anyone the chance to speak before she turned on her heel and stormed away, her shoes clapping loudly against the floor.

“What a wretched bitch,” Aphrodite growled before Jason and Piper’s shock wore off.  “She ought to be honored that I even considered bedding her!  How dare she speak to me like that?  Piper, darling, you know that I adore you, but I have standards.  No matter how much she begs, I will never allow her into my chambers.  And believe me, my dear, I will make her beg.  This is far from over.  No one talks about my daughter that way.”  She turned to Jason and looked at him through narrowed eyes.  “You will marry Piper, Your Highness.  And when you do, you will ensure that your sister never speaks to her that way again.”

Aphrodite turned and stomped away with just as much rage and melodrama as Athena, smashing her wine glass against the floor and staining her skirts red to demonstrate exactly how furious she was.  A few servants stared at her in bewilderment before they hurried forward to clean the shattered glass and spilled wine.

“Piper,” Jason said, reaching for her hand.

“Jason, I told you, I wasn’t trying to seduce you,” Piper said quickly.  “It’s true that my mother asked me to, but it was never my plan to do anything that would unfairly sway your judgement.  I wanted to do this the right way.  My mother doesn’t have the cleanest reputation, but—”

“Piper, I know,” Jason interrupted.  “You were honest with me from the start.  You have my trust.”

“But Athena....”

“I didn’t realize how angry Athena was after fighting with Annabeth last night.  I should have waited.  I’ll talk to her again; she’ll be much more reasonable when she calms down.”

“And if she isn’t?” asked Piper.

“Then I’ll have to leave Neptune immediately,” Jason said.  “As influential as she may be, Athena is only one member of the Imperial Court.  The best chance we have is if I return to Jupiter and win over the rest of the court before Athena makes it back.”

“You don’t have to do this for me,” said Piper.  “Like you said, you haven’t made me any promises.  We both knew that this might not work.”

Jason shook his head.  “This is the first time in years that I have felt excited about marriage,” he said.  “I’m not letting this go so easily.  If I can’t make Athena see sense, I’ll find another way.  I am going to marry you, Piper.  I swear it.”

*   *   *

When he finally got a moment of freedom just before the evening’s ball, Percy wasted no time practically skipping up to Nico and showering him with thanks for Mrs. O’Leary.  Nico grimaced adorably.

“So have you spoken to your fiancé yet?” Percy asked when he finished rhapsodizing about his new dog.

Nico glared, but he didn’t last long before breaking.  “I tried, but I can’t,” he said.  “I’m no good at that sort of thing.”

“Of course you can do it,” Percy said.  “It’s easy.  I tell Annabeth that I love her all the time.”

“That’s different,” said Nico.

“Maybe,” Percy admitted.  “It was hard the first time.  But if you love Will, you have to be honest with him.  He needs to know how you feel.”

Percy expected Nico to scowl or snap at him, but instead, Nico looked miserable.  “Percy?” he said in a pathetically vulnerable voice.  “I-I suppose that if I need to be honest, I ought to practice.”  Percy almost melted at Nico’s use of his given name.  He wanted to keep Nico in the palace and raise him with Annabeth as their son.

Nico took a deep breath, scuffing his shoe on the floor and playing with the ends of his coat sleeves.  “I...um...when we were children...I admired you.”

Percy blinked in shock.  “You did?”

Nico shrugged vaguely.

Percy was silent before: “My gods, Nico, that is the most adorable thing I have ever heard.”

“Prince Nico!” Nico corrected with his usual indignation.

“I am so flattered, really, I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Don’t let this get to your head—”

“Although I have to tell you that I am completely, monogamously in love with my wife—”

“I don’t feel that way anymore—”

“I hope you’ll understand—”

“Gods above, I was a child—”

“Because I do value our friendship—”

“I am not your friend!”

“But I must have you know that I am honored by your feelings—”

“There are no feelings!  I want Will!”

Nico obviously didn’t realize what he’d said until his rage simmered down and he found Percy grinning at him victoriously.  Then he blushed and started to stammer excuses, but Percy wasn’t having it.

“You’d better go find your darling fiancé,” Percy said, shoving Nico’s shoulder good-naturedly.  “You have something to tell him, don’t you?”

Nico blushed even harder.  He opened his mouth like he meant to say something, then he hurried away.  Still grinning, Percy went in search of Jason to brag about being Nico’s favorite.

Instead, he nearly ran into Athena, who looked even more sour than usual.  “Pay attention to where you’re walking, Your Highness,” Athena snarled.

“I was looking for your brother,” Percy said, trying to control the anger already simmering in his stomach.  “Pity that I found my least favorite of the siblings instead.”

“Watch your tongue,” Athena snapped.  “Don’t you think you’ve made enough scandals for one day?”

Percy smirked even though he wanted nothing more than to rip Athena’s face to shreds.  “You ought to know better than to ask.  I love a good scandal, as you are aware.”

“Yes; that was quite the scene you made earlier,” Athena said, her tone and her glare like sharp ice.  “Fortunately for you, the guests are familiar with your...eccentricities.”

“Being eccentric is not a crime, Lady Athena,” Percy said.  He tried his best to keep his voice calm and clear, but he could hear his own fury reverberating in his ears.

“No.  But idiocy ought to be.”

Percy’s fingers tightened into fists.  He took a deep breath, then another, and then a third.  He wanted to recommend a law requiring citizens to have a basic capacity for human emotions, but he knew he shouldn’t fight with Athena during the wedding more than was strictly necessary; he couldn’t do that to Annabeth.  Besides, it was far from the first time that Athena had made derogatory statements about Percy’s intelligence.  He could tolerate it for a little while longer.

“Weddings are supposed to be joyful occasions, Lady Athena,” Percy said.  “I was simply expressing my happiness.  I apologize if I went too far and offended you.”

“I see no reason for this wedding to be a ‘joyful occasion,’” Athena growled.  “This marriage was a mistake, and yet you seem to be determined to cause even more atrocious marriages.  I hear you encouraged my brother to accept the advances of that girl?”

For a second, Percy’s surprise rendered him speechless.  He was used to Athena reminding him of exactly how much he inconvenienced her, but it took him a moment to realize what Athena meant.

“Wait— Piper?” Percy said.

“And now he’s trying to marry that harlot,” Athena sneered.

“Piper is one of Annabeth’s dearest friends,” Percy said furiously.  “What you just said was an insult to my wife.”

Athena scoffed.  “I have never heard of this before.  Annabeth doesn’t even know that girl.”

“If you’d been at all invested in Annabeth’s life, you would have known that they met years ago, and if you had arrived to the wedding on time, you would have known that Piper attended Annabeth’s bathing ceremony.  If you don’t believe me, then ask your ward.  But personally, I think you have broken Annabeth’s heart enough.  It was Annabeth’s choice to stay with me.  Annabeth decided to befriend Piper.  You may not think much of me or of Piper, but are you so uncertain of your ability to raise and educate your ward that you feel you cannot trust her judgment?”

“Your pathetic excuse for an argument is designed to aggravate me rather than to make a valid statement.  Once again, you have demonstrated that your mind is only capable of the simplest feats of faulty logic.  Annabeth requires a spouse with more intellect.  She has sentenced herself to a lifetime of misery.”

“Has she?” Percy asked coldly.  “I may be a simple-minded fool, but from what I’ve observed, it seems as though Annabeth is most miserable when she’s with you.  Unlike you, I care about Annabeth.  I will make her happier than you ever could.”

Percy knew how much Athena loved to have the last word and a dramatic exit, so he made sure to steal that from her.  He would have loved to stay and scream at her for the rest of the evening—she was a pathetic excuse for a human being and Percy wanted nothing more than to let her know that—but Percy had other guests to greet and every last one of them was more pleasant company than Athena.

Next

[imaginejercy]

An Omegaverse Biology Lesson (part 1)

Yo i wrote another dumb PJO story set in my OC Verse

You can also read it on ff.net and AO3

This is kind of a sequel to "An Omegaverse Sex Ed Lesson", and just like that story, this is also kinda cracky and humorous, and i planned for it to be a two parter. The IGIRLS won't appear on the first chapter, they will only be mentioned, but they will appear on the second chapter.

Information on everyone's second genders:

Alphas: Jason, Frank, Will, Reyna

Betas: Piper, Leo, Calypso

Omegas: Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Nico

"I can't believe i'm saying this, but i think we need to teach those IGIRLS sex ed." Percy sighed exasperatedly.

He has asked all of his friends—the ones that also have The IGIRLS as Bonded Helpers just like him—to meet him in the Poseidon Cabin to discuss something very important: giving The IGIRLS sex ed lessons on their world's biology. Ever since his awkward conversation with Aina the other day, where she asked him about whether or not he gets periods sometimes, he decided that maybe it's about time The IGIRLS get some lessons on their world's sexual biology to avoid further awkward questions like Aina's previous one. And he is going to ask the help of the other Bonded Families.

"I think i have to agree with Percy." Nico rubbed his forehead as if he has a headache. "Just yesterday Vile asked me if i have a vagina, i had to explain to her multiple times that i don't have a vagina!"

"Also, one time Laura asked me if being a beta makes me a hermaphrodite." Piper exclaimed. "I don't even know what that means!"

"A hermaphrodite means having both male and female body parts." Annabeth explained to her girlfriend.

"Well i didn't know that!"

"Emerald once tried to take a look at my knot." Reyna deadpanned. Everybody else seemed really surprised when they heard the alpha female tell them that, even Reyna herself looks like she can't even believe her own words. "I don't want to talk about it." Nobody pressed further.

Jason is the only one that looks more exasperated than surprised. "That sounds like Emerald. Speaking of which, she also once asked me the same question as Vile did about Percy."

"What did you said to her?" Percy stare suspiciously at his boyfriend. Whatever his respond is to Emerald, it better not be something stupid.

"Don't worry, i told her i'm pretty sure you don't actually have a vagina." He reassured the male omega.

Percy sighs in relief.

"Wait, you don't right?" That earn him a slap in the head from Percy. He then began spluterring apologies to his boyfriend for asking such a thing.

"I don't think my experience is as weird as any of yours, but there was that one time Amber wanted to know if us omegas give birth to a lot of children all the time." Hazel thought out loud.

"That really doesn't sound that weird, since it's partially true." Annabeth said.

"That's what i said to her too, but then she grabbed onto me and wanted to know if condoms and birth control existed in this world, she looks so worried for me that she almost starts crying, i felt bad for her and told her that those things do exists." Hazel covers her face with her hands, while Frank rubs her back trying to comfort her.

"Okay then, it's official! We need to teach them sex ed immediately!" Percy announced.

Leo snorted. "I feel very sorry for the poor souls who has to do that."

Frank finished comforting his girlfriend to turn to Leo. "He said we Leo, that means we're all going to do it."

"Do i look like a sexologist to you?"

"Well, do you have a better idea on who should be giving those Helpers 'The Talk' Leo?" Piper raised her eyebrow at him.

"Yes i do," Leo retorted; "i think only four people should be giving them 'The Talk'. A female alpha, a male alpha, a female omega, and a male omega. No betas because i remember Hester saying something about betas being pretty much like the normal people from their world, so i believe they don't need any lessons on me, my girlfriend, and Piper's second gender."

"I guess that's understandable." Annabeth hummed in though. "So, who are going to be the unlucky alphas and omegas that are going to be teaching them?"

Everyone look towards Percy, Jason, Annabeth, and Reyna.

"Oh no, no way," Percy immediately refuse; "i do not want to deal with similar awkward questions about my body from them."

"You were the one who suggested the idea." Nico said matter of factly.

"And why am i the other chosen omega? I'm not the only female omega in this room. Why not Hazel?" Annabeth argued.

"I'm not that knowledgable in these kinds of things, also you're the smartest one out of all of us Annabeth." Hazel explained to her.

"I'm also not the only male alpha here, what about Frank or Will?" Jason pointed at the other alpha in the room.

"Oh hell no," Frank shook his head; "you have much more experience dealing with their crazyness, there is no way i can't ever handle all of them at once."

"I can't argue because i know i'm the only female alpha." Reyna sighed in defeat.

"All in favor of Percy, Jason, Annabeth, and Reyna to be the ones to teach The IGIRLS sex ed?" Leo exclaimed.

Everyone except for Percy, Jason, Annabeth, and Reyna raised their hands.

Percy groan. "Fine, we'll do it." He then look towards the other three unlucky chosen teachers. "So, how are we going to teach them?"

[imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch]

Abducted, Possessed or In Love

“I think something is wrong with Nico,” Leo said.

The effect of his words was instantaneous. Jason put down his toast and reached for his sword.  Piper continued buttering her bread, outwardly unmoved, but her hold on the knife suddenly looked a lot more threatening.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked. "Is he alright? Has someone said something to him because if they have-"

"Whoa chill man. That's actually kind of the opposite of the problem."

Jason glanced down at his sword as though he'd only just realised he was holding it, and put it back down with deliberate care.

"Leo it's too early for this. What exactly is going on?"

"I think Nico might have been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by an exact double."

Jason blinked at him. Piper let go of the butter knife and took a bite of bread.

"Well?" Leo asked.

"Well what Leo?"

"You don't look overwhelmed by my news."

"Because," Jason said wearily, going back to his breakfast. "You are being ridiculous."

"Well okay maybe the alien thing is a little farfetched. Do you think they could get into camp with the defences? Maybe only half-blood aliens-"

"Leo!"

"Demons then. Maybe he was wandering around a hell-scape somewhere and got possessed."

"Somehow I think that might actually be more farfetched," Jason said. "And why exactly do you think this run of incredibly unlikely things might have happened to Nico?"

"Because he just wished me good morning."

"Says something that you think a demon would be more cheerful than Nico," Piper commented.

"Hey I like the kid I’m just saying he’s gloomy. At least he used to be. It's an invasion of the body snatchers I'm telling you!"

"Isn't that the opposite of what happened in the invasion?" Piper asked, yawning. "It's if he gets more emotionless then we have to worry."

Jason gave her a look and she shrugged and smiled.

"I'm kidding. But seriously Leo, he's probably just in a good mood."

"Okay," Leo said pointing a stick of pineapple at her "But riddle me this: when was the last time Di Angelo was in a good mood?"

"Just because he's not often happy doesn't mean he can't- " Jason began wearily but Leo intercepted him.

"No man, I mean what do you think has made him cheerful?"

"Oh."

Jason seemed to think about this.

"Well maybe just being around camp has made him realise -" he trailed off. "Huh."

"Aliens," Leo whispered knowledgeably with a nod.

"It's not aliens Leo, wait where are you going? Leo!"

"Do you ever feel like your talking to yourself?" Jason asked as his calls fell on deaf ears.

"Well if Nico sends him to a shadow realm for bugging him at least you can say you tried," Piper said.

"Has anyone seen Nico?" Jason asked.

"Maybe he's -"

"He's not hiding out in his secret alien spaceship or whatever it is you were going to say."

Leo grinned but held up his hands in surrender.  

"Have you lost him?" Piper asked. She was cleaning her knife while the rest of the Aphrodite cabin rallied behind her ready for a day of fun and adventure and the lava climbing wall. Jason could dimly hear Drew complaining about her nails.

"Not really," Jason said. "It's just Nico usually hangs out with me for activities."

Piper shrugged. "Sorry. He'll turn up though."

Jason nodded but he couldn't help feel a little concerned. He'd thought - he'd hoped - Nico was over the feelings that he didn't belong. After his stay in the infirmary he'd certainly seemed a little more settled and since then had begun settling into camp activities he’d fallen in with the rest of camp, even hanging out with Percy at times which Jason knew must have taken a lot of courage. But with Nico’s absence he began to worry all the same.

"Percy have you seen Nico?" he asked.  

Percy, tying his amour as he walked over, gave Jason a slightly mischievous smile.

"He's moved on," Percy said.

"What?"

"Trust me," Percy said. "He's fine."

Jason gave him an odd look. Percy's grin got bigger and he nodded over to where the Apollo cabin were coming down. Nico was in the middle of them, talking to Will animatedly.

"He looks happy!" Jason said before he could help himself.  

"Now look who's comparing Nico to a gloomy demonic -" Leo said with a grin.

"I never said demonic."

Will laughed at something Nico said, and Nico looked momentarily stunned before blushing furiously. Percy raised an eyebrow, Piper gave a knowing smirk and Leo's jaw dropped so low Jason was slightly concerned it was going to unhinge and drop off.

"I see what you mean," Piper commented.

Nico went to snatch something from Will's hands, giggling as Will it pulled back and out of the way at the last minute.

"I just meant he wasn't going to come do archery with us!" Percy said stumbling over his words in his shock. "Be he just -"

"What you've never seen Di Angelo smile before?" asked Piper with a slight smirk. Jason got the feeling she was enjoying this somehow.

"Not for a very long time," Percy said quietly. His eyes had clouded over slightly as he watched Nico and eventually he shrugged and moved away.

"You coming Jason? Without Nico around I need you to make me feel better about my archery skills."

"Hilarious Jackson."

But he followed. Percy was right: it looked like Nico was okay after all.

Percy hadn't quite been able to shake Tartarus. He supposed that was only natural, and he knew it would take time to forget, but every time he thought he was nearing a place where it wouldn't pervade his dream space quite so much it came back to haunt him. Normally when the nightmares hit he would seek out Annabeth but she had an important test, something about entrance into one of New Rome's top colleges and he didn't want to disturb her rest. Instead he wandered up to the dining pavilion, watching the sun as it began to climb above the horizon. He wondered, absently, where Apollo was and what his punishment had been. He knew Rachel was still cut off from prophecies. It didn't seem to bode well for the god.  

When he reached the pavilion, he saw Nico sitting on the Hades table, swinging his legs and gazing absently at the horizon. He was eating which was the first surprise. The second was that, despite it being horrendously early Nico, who would be the first to describe himself as not a morning person, looked reasonably content.

Percy hadn't been alone with Nico since Nico had confessed, and he wasn't sure what he should say. He wanted to apologise for being such an idiot but that would mean bringing up Nico's crush and he wasn't sure Nico would want that.

Nico glanced over at him, but didn't say anything as Percy sat down.

"I don't know how you did it," Percy said finally. "Tartarus I mean."

"I don't know why you think I want to talk about this," Nico said but there was less antagonism about him than usual so Percy took that as a good sign.

"The dreams don't ever really go away," Nico said suddenly, glancing over at Percy. "But they get better."

Percy smiled at him surprised, but Nico was no longer paying any attention to Percy. He was distracted by another early riser who was coming up from the direction of the cabins. Will.

"You're eating then?" Will asked, as soon as he was close enough. He pulled his earphones out and shoved them into a pocket. Nico folded his arms.

"You highlighted the importance of a balanced diet," Nico said with a very straight face. "Besides an apple a day keeps the doctor away and I refuse to spend any more time in the infirmary with you. The first time was bad enough."

Nico words were normal enough but the way he was looking at Will, like Will was his personal sunshine, didn't quite match the grumpy tone.

Will just smirked.

"Anything to get you to eat properly," he said and wandered off to get juice.

Percy watched Nico watching him go. The look in Nico's eyes was surprisingly soft.

"I'm just saying," Leo said ignoring the way Jason and Percy groaned and Piper threw a bread roll at him.

"I thought you were over the alien thing?" Jason asked.

"I am. You know, mostly. I'm not ruling everything out. But you've got to admit Di Angelo is like a completely different person these days. He's gone soft."

"I don't know-" Jason began but stopped abruptly as Nico himself stalked over with a bad case of bed-head, a moody expression and skeletal hands threatening to break the surface of the earth in his wake. Leo happened to be between Nico and the coffee.

"Get out my way Leo," Nico mumbled, "or I will let these zombies drag you into hell."

Leo wasn't entirely convinced Nico would carry out that threat but he moved aside sharpish anyway. Instead of pouring himself a mug, he just took the whole pot.

"I'm going back to bed. And I swear if anyone wakes me -" he didn't finish off the threat because he was too busy yawning but somehow that was scarier.

"Sure Leo," Jason said as Nico wandered away. "He definitely seems different to me. Gone totally soft. We'll have to work on that."

"Are you humming Mulan?"

Nico looked up, startled.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Shut up Grace."

"I'm surprised you even know Mulan," Jason commented.

Nico stopped cleaning his sword to glare at Jason.

"Will made me watch it," he admitted.

"Will?"

"Will."

Nico picked up the cloth again.

"He really likes Disney. I mean they all do, but Will does not stop. And musicals. Did you know there were so many musicals? And I swear to the gods Solace knows the words to like every single one of them. And he's not a bad singer. Did you know that? He makes out like he's not talented but you shouldn't listen to a word because - what?"

"I didn't say anything."

Nico glared at him suspiciously.

"I'm going back to my cabin," he said.

"They're dating."

"They're not."

"They so are."

"They're not."

"I'm starting a betting pool," Cecil said. He'd been walking past but he'd obviously caught wind of the conversation and had insinuated himself in. "If you want to put your money where your mouth is."

There was a pause. Leo and Jason looked at each other.

"Betting on our friend's happiness seems wrong."

"It does feel a little exploitative."

"Ten dollars that they are dating."

"Twenty that they're not."

Jason had gotten used to Nico turning up at his table at breakfast. He was used to Nico's grumpiness and general animosity towards the world in general and anyone who tried to talk to him in particular. He wasn't used to Nico laughing.

He hadn't seen the light in Nico's eyes before either. Or that quiet, shy smile.

But then Will Solace didn't usually sit with them. Jason was beginning to think there was something in Leo's insistence that Will and Nico were secretly dating. At least Leo had moved on from the alien theory, but he was slightly worried at the lengths Leo was apparently prepared to go to to prove he was right. In fact half the camp seemed to be taking sides of the debate thanks to Cecil's dating pool. Jason wasn't sure where he stood, or whether he quite condoned the others dropping Will into the conversation at every opportunity just to test Nico's reaction, but he did know he was happy to see Nico so happy. The kid definitely had it coming.

He just hoped that the rest of camp's obsession with his relationship wouldn't distract from that. Or take away the light in Nico's eyes whenever he spoke about Will.

"If you're going to be that dopey about getting the flag, then we've got this one in the bag."

Jason shook himself out of his thoughts and found Nico standing in front of him.

"I'm fine," Jason said, standing and trying not to pretend like he hadn't just been worrying about his friend. "More than ready to beat you."

Nico just smirked.

"We'll see about that," he said and walked off.

And since when had Nico stopped siding with them in favour of Will?

Jason shook his head again and forced his mind to empty. Nico could look after himself, and would only get frustrated at Jason worrying about his welfare and love life. Besides Nico was right, if he kept on this distracted path he really would be handing the victory over to them. And then Percy would never forgive him.

When the game began he watched as his friends split off, following the paths and roles determined for them by Annabeth and her siblings. Annabeth was reasonably confident about where Ares and their allies would be stashing their flag. She'd marked Jason out to find it, sending a deployment consisting of herself, Percy and several other obvious heavy hitters to distract the main forces. It was a good plan and the only thing Jason was slightly worried about was running into Nico, who Annabeth admitted was hard to plan for since he was so unpredictable.

He crept through the woods, dodging behind trees whenever he thought he heard campers coming his way. Eventually he spotted a flash of red through the trees and made towards it, counting every breath and placing each step with meticulous care.

He emerged from the clearing, spotting Nico hanging out by the flag.  That wasn't ideal, but Will was with him and Nico for the moment looked was enough not to notice Jason so close. As long as the two kept talking instead of paying attention to what was going on around them -

He stopped dead as Nico suddenly stood up on tiptoes and kissed Will.

"Oh my gods!" he cried out before clapping his hand over his mouth.

Nico glanced over at him and took half a step back from Will, glancing up at the sky like he was praying with strength. Will just started laughing.

Jason chucked twenty dollars at Leo.

"Told you they were dating."

"Well it wasn't aliens," Jason said, a little moodily.

Leo just grinned.

"I still haven't ruled that out. I mean Death Boy and Sunshine? They aren't the world's most likely couple."

"I don't know," Jason said, looking over at Nico. He was supposedly listening to Connor, but was really watching Will reading on the step to the Apollo cabin with a distracted smile. "I think they work."

Was originally for the lovely anon who wanted moony Nico but I’m a bit meh about this one. I realised half way through I had no idea when this was actually taking place since Leo was there but they weren’t dating yet, and that kind of really threw me off. So I guess this is a Leo survived somehow AU? I don’t know. Anon I will have another go at your prompt soon. x

Oh and edit because I forgot to say sharp eyed of you might have noticed this crosses with We Tried to Tell You. I was trying to be all continuity and stuff til I remembered Leo wasn’t there...

[rainagainstmywindow]

No Control

So here it finally is! My Big Bang fic for this year! I’m so happy to be finally posting and I really hope you like it cos I worked really hard! Huge shout out to all the admins of the @pjohoobigbang for being patient with me and organizing this whole thing! Also a massive thanks to my two awesome betas @strugglinginthedatabase and @poison-for-breakfast for not only getting me out of many slumps but also geeking out with me about the books! And of course to my artist @nightowlagainsttheworld ! Enjoy!

*****EDIT here’s the link to the art

Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of Artemis, made her way quietly towards the Big House of Camp Half-Blood where Chiron was waiting for her. The old centaur had chosen his human form for their meeting and was seating by the fire when she walked in, a blanket covering his fake human legs. His smile was warm but his eyes told her he was all business today. “So glad you could make it.” he told her, “Please, have a seat.” Thalia did as she was told, anxious to know what this whole meeting was about. “Were you surprised to get my Iris message?”

Thalia and Chiron had always kept good connection with each other, but it was mainly due to their links to the Hunters and the Campers respectively. “Yes.”

“It’s nothing bad,” he reassured her. After a pause he added, “Annabeth is fine.”

Thalia eased a little, but -as always- was uncomfortable by how easily Chiron could read her.

“I need a favor, one that might include you donating some of your time to the camp.” Chiron could tell that the idea didn’t particularly settle with Thalia. “I’m asking now because I know Artemis has given your hunters a bit of a break at the moment. Not that you’re not still busy.” He added the last part to appeal to her pride, which he knew resembled the one of another certain demigoddess, but it just made Thalia even more suspicious.

“What is it?”

“I want you to teach.”

Thalia allowed herself a small chuckle. She always felt like she had to be extra professional around the old centaur. “Teach what exactly? I know you have no shortage of great fighters. Unless something’s happened…”

“Nothing’s happened, my dear child, and you are right we have no shortage of great fighters that can teach how to throw a javelin or archery. But we both known that for some those are not their only weapons.”

Thalia started to get an idea of what Chiron was leading up to and couldn’t help but feel like he was over-estimating her. “Chiron, I…”

“You’re the eldest-”

“Well technically Hazel is.”

“You’ve been managing your powers for longer.”

She thought of Jason and how he flew through the skies. She thought of Percy’s surprise at her fear of heights and his promise to keep it a secret. “That doesn’t mean anything, not with us.”

Chiron leveled her with his dark eyes. She was once again reminded of just how old he actually was. With a jolt of surprise she realized that one day she might look like that, untouched by time but carrying the weight of it nonetheless. “You’ve grown more than you could think, Thalia. You understand things I don’t think they do yet. You can help them.”

Thalia suddenly felt very nervous and very small, which was embarrassing. She was the eldest. They listened to her, right? “I don’t know-”

“At least try it, Thalia. That’s all I ask. You won't be alone. I'll try to give you pointers every once in awhile.”

She took a long breath, not daring to meet his eyes again.  Something didn't feel right, but she couldn't think of any reason to deny him. “Okay.”

***********

I hate mornings. There’s no reason that any sane person should wake up before nine a.m. When my alarm blared fifteen minutes ago, at 6:45, I was in the middle of a perfect dream about picnics and Annabeth’s tan legs, a rare novelty nowadays. It'd probably been the first good night’s sleep I've had in weeks. I don’t see why I had to trade that for the painful trek to Zeus’ Fist. I especially don’t get why I wasn’t even told the details of this ridiculous meeting.

I’m still dwelling on self pity when Nico sulkily appears next to me. I’ve gotten more used to his silent walk and I’m barely fazed. He grunts an incoherent ‘good morning’ and I nod back. In many ways Nico and I are polar opposites, but we both agree in our hatred of mornings. He looks like he got out of bed and walked straight to the clearing without really stopping but to maybe brush his teeth, which is probably exactly what he did. It’s what I did, anyways. Which is why Hazel, fresh faced and cheery as ever, looks extremely out of place between us. “Morning!”

I force a smile for her because it's impossible not to. “Hi, how's Frank?” Hazel has stopped by often enough since the war ended, but I haven't seen Frank in a while.

“Busy. He says hi.”

“Do you know what all of this is about?” Asks Nico.

I tell him that I was just about to ask them the same question. I gathered it was probably a head counselor meeting but Annabeth didn't know anything about it when I told her last night and those are alway held in the rec room.

“Well it must be important because Chiron called Jason too.” Adds Hazel.

“What?”

“Yeah, Piper told us yesterday that Chiron called Jason late last night. Told him to come in as soon as possible. He should be here soon actually.”

I'm suddenly wide awake. Chiron called Jason, both Nico and Hazel, and me to a meeting in the woods? I exchange a glance with Nico. “Is Thalia here?”

“Jason’s sister?”

“I don't know,” answers Nico, “I hope not.”

We both know that if she is, it means a quest. Big Three children are not gathered all at the same time at random. Last time we were we had to follow a magical flower around the Underworld and I ended up wiping a Titan’s memory away. Long story.

We walk in silence the rest of the way. Hazel keeps looking at me and I can hear her whisper something to Nico but I don't pay attention to what they're saying. I'm trying to keep my temper in check, to convince myself that Chiron doesn't actually expect me to go on some ridiculous quest. Not now.

I walk without thinking, letting my feet lead me down the familiar path and subconsciously following the tug of the lake. When we finally get there, Chiron is talking with  none other than Thalia Grace, in all her punk glory. I dig my nails into my palm and curse.

“Nice to see you too, Percy.” I open my mouth to apologize but she waves it away. She understands. “Relax,” she tells me, “it's not what you think. We’ll explain once Jason gets here.”

She is in no hurry and there's a warm smile, or at least Thalia’s version of a warm smile, on her face as Nico officially introduces her to Hazel. Thalia wants to know everything about her experience with the Amazons and both girls start talking excitedly. I'm still not fully at ease, but at least it isn't a quest.

I wish Jason would hurry up already.

“There you are, Jason my boy!” Chiron finally calls ten minutes later as Jason jogs towards our small group. He looks as confused as I feel.

“Can you tell us what's going on now?” I ask. I add please after I realize how blunt I sounded. This is Chiron after all.

It's Thalia who answers, though. For the first time I notice that she actually seems a bit nervous. Only someone that knows her well could tell since her expression is as hard and as fierce as ever, but I notice how she fidgets with her bracelet. “Well, Chiron called me a few days ago to express his… concern towards a particular aspect of… us.”

“By ‘us’ you mean Big Three kids, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” says Nico, arms crossed, “what about us?”

Thalia looks really uncomfortable which half amuses me and half worries me. “Well…” She looks at Chiron for help.

“You're powerful.” He states.

Nico rolls his eyes. “Water is wet.”

I stifle a chuckle but elbow him anyways. “What Nico means is that you've always known this. What’s ‘concerning’ you now exactly?”

“What if you blow up another volcano?”

I'm immediately taken aback with Thalia’s comment. “That was one time!”

“What if Jason causes a tornado?”

“What are you talking about?” It seems like the thought never even occurred to her brother.

“What if Nico brings back a dead person he can't control?”

“What's happening?”

Jason looks from his sister to me, puzzled. Nico looks honestly offended. And Hazel seems to actually be considering what Thalia is saying. “Chiron,” this conversation is getting us nowhere, “what's going on?”

“I've asked Thalia to come and teach you control over your powers.” I don't bother hiding my snort of laughter, but Chiron ignores me. “She's the eldest of the current Big Three children as well as an experienced hero. I can think of no one better for the job.”

An old wave of jealousy comes flooding back, the exact same feeling I had all those years ago after I realized I wasn't going on the quest to save Annabeth from Atlas. I push it aside now though and process what Chiron is saying. Does he think we’re out of control? I look at Jason who is practically the poster boy for control, at Hazel who has shown incredible precision when we've needed it the most. Even Nico has managed to always pleasantly surprise with his power, each time they've randomly manifested they've pretty much saved my life.

Does he think I’m out of control?

What if you blow up another volcano?

“What exactly would we be doing?” Hazel is pretty much the only one that has accepted the idea right away.

Thalia has gone back to looking uncomfortable but I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for her. If I remember correctly, she was the one that lost control and hit me with lightning last time we were here. Granted, I almost dumped the lake on her, but that was a conscious decision.

“I haven't decided yet. I think we should learn what triggers each one of us first.”

Anger. Panic. Helplessness. We all know what makes our powers surface.

Jason, being Jason, back-tracks a little. We need to sort some things out before we get to that point, he tells Thalia. He is pretty busy in New Rome at the moment, what with  just barely being named Pontifex a few days ago, and Thalia has the Hunters. Not to mention the fact that I need to graduate high school and I'm already a semester behind. I was hoping to use my new free time to catch up on homework (Gross, school work over the summer. Thanks Hera).

“For now,” Thalia assures Jason, “we can meet for a couple of hours during the morning. I'm sure Reyna and Frank can handle the camp while we figure out the schedule. The Hunters will be staying here for a couple of days too.”

Thalia ignores the look I give her. Hunters and campers don't exactly hate each other but things get tense fast, and she knows it. Is Artemis okay with her hunters taking a break for the sake of Thalia teaching a class that's supposed to be recreational? It doesn't seem like her at all.

“Chiron suggest we should start straight away, so we’re meeting back here tomorrow at the same time.”

None of us say anything for a while. We’re all waiting to rush off and tell someone about this ordeal. It's Nico who breaks the silence by stating “It’s settled then” and proceeds to walk away. Hazel waves sheepishly at me and Jason, tells Thalia it was nice to meet her, and follows her brother out of the clearing.

I know Thalia and Jason haven't seen each other in a while and I'm itching to find Annabeth and Grover, so I quickly excuse myself too. “I'll see you tomorrow then.”

I'm walking away when I hear Thalia. “Wait!” She calls out. I turn on my heel, certain she’ll make fun of my hair or tell me my fly is down or something. “Just give it a shot, okay? Just… try.”

I don't know how to answer. Her face is barely guarded and, even though it hasn't aged in years and I've started to look older than her, for the first time I sense how much younger I am. “Okay.” Whatever is actually going on here, she's noticed it too.

By the time I leave the clearing most campers are probably done with breakfast and are heading to their daily activities. I myself have a sword-fighting class to teach in half an hour, according to my watch. Nevertheless I head to the Dining Pavilion and I’m not surprised to find Annabeth  waiting for me in the Poseidon table. She doesn’t say anything as I slide in beside her. I’m not going to fake enthusiasm with her.

“What was it about?” Annabeth finally asks.

I tell her, forcing any sort of resentment towards Thalia out of my voice since I know she’ll defend her (and I know she’ll be right). I’m acting childish by getting angry at Thalia, but I’m choosing to divert my anxiety towards our old jealous feuds. When I’m done explaining she tries, and fails, to look sheepish, not meeting my eyes. I know what she’s going to say.

“Honestly,” Annabeth starts, “I think it’s a great idea. And I know you think Thalia-”

“It’s not that.” I can’t stop thinking about the look in her eyes. I agree with Chiron. She is the best person for the job (of course I’ll never admit it out loud but I know it anyways), but Chiron had plenty of chances to do this in the past. It doesn't make sense to do it now. “It’s not about Thalia.” I know that if I think about it too hard I'll realize something I don't like. Suddenly, I don’t feel like talking about it anymore.

Annabeth notices my change of heart and drops any sort of argument about Thalia I know she’s tempted to start. “When’s the first meeting?”

“Tomorrow.”

**************

“-he was just acting really weird.” Hazel finishes. She couldn’t possibly imagine why a class like this might bother Percy so much, even I’m guessing. But I’ve got a pretty good idea.

“He’s got his reasons, Hazel.”

“Which are?” She is concerned for him, but prying is the last thing he probably wants. She stops and pulls me aside so that we're facing each other. “Should I know something? About… us?”

Maybe she’s not only concerned about Percy. “What do you mean?”

“…What happens to our powers as we get older?”

I haven’t forgotten how Hazel died. People tend to forget that she’s a powerful demigod, but I don’t. She doesn’t either apparently. “I don’t know.”

“Why would Chiron be so concerned about us learning control now then? Why not when Percy was younger? Or when he found out who our father was?”

The timing seems strange to me as well, but it could be a number of things or nothing but a coincidence. “I don’t know, Hazel.” I try to reassure her even though her questions have made me even more suspicious. “It’ll be fine.”

“Nico,” she pulls me to a full stop this time, just a few feet away from the dining pavilion, “tell me what you really think.”

I sigh. “I think this is definitely weird and I don't buy Chiron’s excuse for it. I also think that maybe we’re all overreacting because we’re still on edge from the war.”

She looks a little more relieved, grateful even that I'm being honest with her. “Okay.”

******

Piper greets me with a dazzling smile as she open the door to her cabin. “How was it?”

I walk towards her, aware that Lacy, along with another one of her sisters, is observing us from the corner of the room. “Fine,” I say, my voice clearly guarded. Piper casts a glance towards her sisters and a few seconds later I hear them shuffle out of her cabin. Only when I hear the door close behind them do I bend down to kiss her. “Thalia was there.” She raises an eyebrow at that. “And Nico and Hazel, and Percy.”

She completely pulls away now. “What?”

“Thalia is going to teach us how to ‘control our powers’ apparently.” I see her physically relax at the knowledge of this not being about a quest.“She didn’t seem too excited about it.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know she seemed… nervous.” Piper gives me a look. We’re both thinking the same thing: Thalia doesn’t get nervous. “And Percy wasn’t too happy about it either. Thalia told me it was just how they got along but…”

“But they’re friends right? She went looking for him when he disappeared.”

I haven’t forgotten the jealousy I felt towards Percy after seeing how worried my sister was over him. “It didn’t seem like they hated each other or anything. Plus it wasn’t just him. Nico wasn’t thrilled about the idea either.”

“They’re probably nervous. You guys are really… powerful.”

“So are you,” I argue, “you literally lulled a goddess to speak with you voice!” She looks like she wants to argue but I continue. “I mean, Katie Gardner can grow plants at will. Kayla con manipulate sunlight. Frank can turn into pretty much anything.”

Piper’s eyes are steady. “Yeah but not like you guys. I can’t cause a natural disaster.”

I asked Thalia about Percy making a volcano explode after everyone else left. Apparently he caused an earthquake underneath Mt. St. Helens when he was fifteen and ended up waking the giant that lived underneath it. I remember hearing about it on the news too. People were hurt, half a million had to be evacuated. That was almost two years ago. I know he’s only gotten more powerful since then. It makes sense Chiron would want us to know how to reign in our power better, but still...

We sit side by side on her bed. She grabs my hand. “I don’t think you guys have to worry about anything. Maybe Chiron had been thinking about it for a while and wanted to try it out with a smaller group first, the hardest group, before making an actual activity at camp.”

She doesn't sound too confident. “Why bring in Thalia then? She can't stay here and teach.”

“Maybe Chiron wants her to train you guys so eventually you teach-”

“Piper.”

She sighs. “I know. Something's definitely up.”

She starts chewing on her lip, finally giving up the look of fake enthusiasm she greeted me with. I immediately feel guilty about weighing her down with my own worries. She's got enough on her plate. She might not show it, but Leo’s death is more present than ever. It's only been a few weeks after all.

“Have you been talking with Nico again?” She immediately turns away and attempts to hide how her hands shake as she makes her bed, but I notice. She's been pestering Nico ever since the final fight with Gaea. She won't accept Leo is dead until he confirms it. I wish he just would, because without it it's hard to not hope he's still out there, but Nico downright refuses. A few days ago he admitted to me that it was because he simply couldn't find him. He seemed a little embarrassed, but I understood why he preferred not telling anyone else. I haven't even told Piper. “Pipes, I think you should-”

“I should what?!”

“Piper.”

“Forget about him?! Is that what you want?! Because no one else seems to mind-” Whatever she was going to say next gets caught in the sobs that suddenly rack her body. I rush forwards to her and wrap my arms around her. What was I going to say? I don't even know. I just wish she wasn't so miserable all the time now. I wish I had Leo back.

I kiss her forehead and try to soothe her by rubbing circles down her back, but her cries cut through me, and suddenly it's very hard to keep my own composure. I haven't really let myself fully embrace it all. Somehow I've managed to trick my mind into thinking that Leo is just away, that any day now he’ll descend onto camp atop Festus and apologize for taking so long. But every day he hasn't.

“I think about him every day too, Piper,” I whisper by her ear, embarrassed by how my voice cracks, “I don't know what to do. I just- I can't see you like this.”

She looks up from where she buried her face in my chest. I can't meet her gaze; I'm properly crying now. I curse myself for blubbering like a child. She wipes my tears away with the back of her hand and gently pulls my face to meet hers. When I look into her beautiful, puffy red eyes I lose it. I'm sobbing almost as bad as she was just a few seconds ago. She takes my glasses off and takes my face in her hands before hugging me tightly to her.

I think we're finally mourning Leo.

“I can't just accept he's gone, Jason.” I can't either, it's as if my whole being simply rejects the mere possibility.

I manage to get a grip on myself after a couple minutes. I pull away from Piper slightly to wipe away my tears. “Sorry. I'm ..sorry. I'm a mess.”

“Don't be,” she tells me, not bothering with her own tears, “we’re both a mess. We have a right to be.”

With a huff I pluck down on her bed. My thoughts return to the meeting this morning, but they're half-hearted. The significance of whatever might be going on there seems to have diminished. Piper sits beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. We stay like that for a while. I can still hear her crying beside me.

“Hey,” she calls in an attempt to lighten the mood, “I've been meaning to ask you. And I get if you don't want to, or want to stay at the camps. It makes more sense-”

“What's up, Pipes?”

Her eyes are still puffy from crying and her hair is sticking up at random places, clearly she was just getting ready when I walked in because she's also still in her pajamas. Being head counsellor she gets to be the last one up (or at least that's her interpretation of the title). She still looks amazing to me though. Somehow it seems very intimate to see someone like this, which is new for me but I love it anyways. I realize I probably look like a wreck too.

She plays with the peeling nail polish on her thumb before answering. “I want you to go to school with me in L.A.”

I wasn't expecting that at all. I hadn't really thought past this summer that much. I didn't know she wanted to go back to mortal school. “Actually,” a slightly guilty look crosses her face, “I kind of already registered both us.”

“Oh.”

“I know I should've definitely told you first! But I was on the phone and I dunno I just kind of blurted it out!”

“It's...yeah. I mean I just didn't know you wanted to go back to L.A is all.”

She runs a hand through her face. “Yeah. I figured I should probably spend some time with my Dad, y'know. Sit him down and explain everything.” She takes my hand. “But I really don't want to be away from you now.”

“Ok.” I just blurt it out.

“What? Really?”

“Yeah.” She smiles at me and I smile back until I realize something. “Wait! Does this mean I'll stay with you and your Dad? In the same house?!”

She laughs at me, the morning’s meeting completely forgotten.

********

Hazel convinced me to get to the clearing earlier. Thalia is already here. She greets us both with a smile. Hazel and I are armed with our swords but Thalia doesn’t have any weapons out. I know her bow and arrow will appear if she needs them and she has her Aegis bracelet on, but it doesn’t seem like we’ll be using any weapons today.

A few minutes later Jason walks in. He’s right on time, not a minute before and not a minute after, which I find annoying but I still wave back at him. He hugs Thalia and looks politely curious, but I can tell that some of our trepidation has made its way to him.

Percy is five minutes late. It doesn’t look like he overslept.

“Okay,” Thalia starts, throwing Percy the stink eye which he happily ignores, “I thought we’d do something fun.”

“Your version of fun usually isn’t that fun,” I point out. She waves me away but we all seem to agree.

“Normal training session, but no weapons allowed.”

“So a completely abnormal training session?” Percy mumbles.

She throws her bracelet to the ground along with about a dozen other weapons. I make a mental note to never sneak up on her. Once she’s done, she looks at the group expectantly. Jason throws his coin in, Hazel her spatha. I cave in and throw my own sword in. Only Percy is left.

“It reappears in my pocket”,  he explains.

“What about the watch?” Thalia asks, pointing at the shield Tyson disguised as a watch. He rolls his eyes but throws it into the pile anyways. She makes him promise not to use the sword. “Alright then.” There’s a scary grin on her face as she rubs her hands together, sparks crackling off her knuckles. “Let’s go.”

Thalia decides to pair us off like a “normal training session” but takes a different approach to what I would've personally done. Where I would've grouped her, Jason, and Percy together and paired Hazel with me, she decides to pair Hazel with Percy and me with Jason. “I'll take it easy on you today and observe,” she tells us. Percy raises an eyebrow at me as if to say Not what I expected, how about you? I shrug back and face Jason. We're both pretty stumped as to what we're supposed to do. If anything this is making me realize how much I rely on a sword. Percy and Hazel seem to be playing a weird game of tag where Hazel lunges towards him and Percy side steps her.

Jason, ever the good student, takes a page out of Hazel’s book and lunges. I'm not fast enough and he manages to catch my wrist. I'm about to swing at him with my free hand when I remember that the whole point of this is to use our powers. What the hell? I stomp the ground and a large crevice appears at Jason’s feet, not much unlike the one I called up all those years ago to save Percy and Annabeth from that skeleton warrior. They little souvenir still adorns the dining pavilion to this day.

Jason is forced to step back but doesn't let go of me. He's about to pull me down with him when I feel the wind pick up, making him regain his balance. This is starting to look more like hand-to-hand combat than anything else and I'm pretty sure Jason can beat me at that no sweat, but we're both trying to do what Thalia wants to see. I can tell he, like me, is going through his list of tricks.

I slowly call for the dead to rise out of the crevice I created, reaching out with my mind. Jason concentrates on picking up the wind so we only grapple a little, our focus elsewhere. I can start to see a skeletal hand make its way out when suddenly Thalia tells us to stop. We all immediately do. I realize that the strong breeze was not only due to Jason, but Percy had managed to create a smaller, weaker version of the hurricane that usually engulfs him in a fight. He's also bleeding from a cut above his eye. Hazel looks guilty and keeps apologizing. My guess is she chucked some sort of precious metal nugget at his head. I almost laugh but then I see Thalia’s face.

“That was hard to watch.” It was also hard on us. We, except maybe Hazel, are breathing hard. Usually I'm pumped with adrenaline when I use my powers, and only as a last resort. Summoning them with no real incentive took some effort. “You were distracted and awkward. You know that you won't be able to take your time like that in a real battle, right?” Real battle?

“In a real battle we’d be armed and scared out of our minds,” argues Percy.

“We're not always armed.”

“But we always start with a weapon!”

“That's your problem! You rely too heavily on your weapons!”

I don't know if she's addressing all of us or just Percy. I missed their back and forths. Either way, they both have a point.

Jason steps in. “Whoa guys, settle down.” Percy shoots Thalia one last angry look and walks towards the lake to take care of his cut. “C’mon Thalia. It's only our first practice.”

I feel that uneasiness again. Thalia is taking this too seriously. Maybe I'm just not fully acquainted with Lieutenant Thalia but this doesn't seem like some light-hearted idea from Chiron. I think she's starting to understand that too. I wonder what instructions the old centaur gave her.

I turn to Hazel, her eyes are trained on Thalia’s face. She's been skeptical all the way, but she's choosing not to show it to see where this is going. Smart plan. “Yeah, Jason's right. I mean we're not used to it yet,” she says

Thalia glances at Percy. “Fine. Let's go again.”

She doesn't change the partners and it doesn't get easier. By the end we're all soaked in sweat and I'm ready to take a long nap. Of course none of us can do that since the day’s barely started at camp. I wish we had Roman baths here. All of us that have been to Camp Jupiter have been campaigning for them but Annabeth still has us at maybe.

Afterwards Hazel asks “Why did you think she paired us up like that?”

“I don't know.” She can collapse underground tunnels and Poseidon is the Earthshaker but Jason and I made no sense. Pairs didn't make sense, period.

“Maybe she thinks frustration triggers our powers.”

I consider it. “Well it definitely works for her.”

She shrugs and we drop the conversation, heading to our respective activities, both still clearly weary about the whole situation.

************

“-I don't know that's what Jason said,” finishes Piper. She's only half paying attention to her sculpture. I haven't even tried to examine my blueprints as she tells me about the training session this morning. I won't get to see Percy until tonight so she got to hear about it from Jason first.

“Thalia does seem very on edge lately. I think she's avoiding me actually.” I don't mean to sound hurt but Piper notices anyways. “I mean I get it, she has a lot on her plate and she has to spend all the time she can with Jason.”

“No she doesn't. Even Jason thinks something is up. Not just between Thalia and Percy.”

“It is pretty weird timing.” I've tried not to think about how the whole thing actually does bother me slightly. I want things to not be complicated for once in my life. “But I trust Thalia and Chiron. They're just not used it.” I try to change the conversation. “So what did Jason think? About the whole high school idea?” After being away from her dad for so long Piper decided to go back to mortal school. She wasn't big on the idea of not getting to see Jason as often, so she told me she was going to ask him to start school with her.

“He's really on board with it actually!” She's smiling again which is nice. I haven't seen many of those from her since Leo. “He's kind of nervous about spending time with my Dad, though.”

“Oh please! There isn't a parent out there that wouldn't love him!”

“Which is what I told him.” She tries to go back to her sculpture but it's stopped looking like anything a long time ago. “What about your Dad? Does he approve of you dating a delinquent?”

“Hey, all charges against my delinquent have been dropped!”

She chuckles and I go back to my blueprints. I actually haven't seen my Dad in a while. I sent him an iris message before heading to New Rome and a text after the fight with Gaea to let him know I was alive, but I keep putting off going to San Francisco. After hearing about Piper’s plans to go back to L.A I make a mental note to schedule a visit with my mortal family.

I finally catch up with Percy at the stables; a mare is pregnant and Will has Percy check in on her a couple of times a week. “How is she?”

“She's about ready to not be pregnant anymore.” The grey Pegasus neighs irritably and he chuckles. “More than ready actually.”

“How was everything today?” He's probably guessed that Piper told me everything. He knows what I'm asking about. He chews on his lip. I can tell he's debating whether or not to tell me what he actually thinks. “That bad, huh?”

“No, I mean… something just feels off y’know? Like she's not telling us something.” I don't know what face I make but he drops the brush he's holding and takes my hand and tries and easy smile. “We're probably reading too much into it. Old habits. For all we know she's anxious to get to whatever project Artemis assigned the Hunters this time.”

“Yeah.” Old habits. “You're probably right.”

He kisses me so I don't start thinking too much about it. I will eventually, but not now. His lips actually manage to tug a smile out of me. “There she is.”

Idiot.

**********

We haven't been able to beat the Hunters at capture the flag for years. I no longer wonder why. Lieutenant Thalia is like every drill Sergeant I've seen on TV except she can call down lightning. She insists on her ‘no weapons’ policy and I suspect it's so we don't try to attack her because we're all about ready to do so. Even Jason shot her a wolf stare after his tornado flickered and she struck the spot right next to him. Needless to say she makes it really hard to hold back.

I haven't been able to control my powers quite as well as I used to. Probably because, ever since Tartarus, they've been easier to call. I used to have to reach so hard until I felt an aching pull. It was last resort, always in the heat of battle. I can see the same strain in the others. However they've been using their powers, it hasn't been for the reasons I did down there.

It's intoxicating. I'm afraid they'll realize that, how freeing it is. How so utterly in control you feel.

Hazel is currently wrapping what used to be a block of gold around my ankles. She summoned it a couple days ago and has been practicing at molting it. By now it's basically like play doh under her control, but it still takes a lot out of her. I can feel the beads of sweat running down her forehead just as easily as the icy mist of the hurricane I'm currently maintaining around me. I can sense the water in her tears as lose droplets sting her eyes. I could reach out and grasp the water in the plasma of her blood if I wanted to.

I have to concentrate on this hurricane or I'm going to lose the delicate hold I have on my restraint. I make it bigger and urge it to move towards her. I try to envelope her in it so that she completely loses focus and I can move my legs again. The force of it knocks me back, but my feet are still secured by the gold so I end up doing a very Matrix-like backbend and then springing upright again. The move is so ridiculous it makes Hazel crack up and her focus finally shatters. The gold melts away so I'm left standing in a very expensive puddle.

“Okay I guess that's enough for today.” Thalia calls out. She tries to sound irritated but I can tell she's also amused. “I want you guys to bring armor tomorrow to see what Hazel can do with that.”

“I can only control precious metals,” she reminds Thalia, “and I've only seen Celestial Bronze used in weapons here.”

“There's some in the armory and Cabin 9 always has some around.” I add, but it's true. We rarely use it for armor, opting to save it for weapons instead.

“I've just been thinking,” continues Thalia, “what exactly is considered precious? You've been able to summon different types of granite and stone right?”

“Yeah.”

“Like the schist.” Nico and Jason shoot me a look. “It's a rock!”

Thalia ignores me. “There's value to any metal, especially the one we use to protect ourselves from monsters. Gold and silver are only considered riches because we give them that value.”

“So you're saying that any metal is precious?” Asks Nico. “That Hazel could  possibly control any and all metals?”

“Pluto is supposed to control all the riches under the earth, right?” Jason adds. “Makes sense.”

We all let that sink in. Hazel is already insanely powerful, the fact that she could have Magneto-esque powers is pretty alarming. She tries to act normal even though I can tell the idea also makes her nervous. She gives us her cheeriest ‘see ya later!’ when Thalia finally dismisses us, but it comes out pretty shrill, and runs off with Nico close at her heels.

“And don't think I didn't see you today, Kelp Head.” For a second I think she's talking about my little stunt with the hurricane but then she nods to where I was  just standing. Huge cracks cut the ground exactly where my feet were a few seconds ago. “Earthshaker indeed.”

Later that day I'm walking back from a sword fighting class with Jason. He's been helping me out since it keeps him busy while he's at camp. We're just passing the Big House to head to the Amphitheater when we run into Annabeth storming out. She spots us and I'm about to ask what's wrong when Clarisse bursts out behind her and heads for the cabins. “What was it this time?” I ask after Annabeth greets me with a kiss.

“She insists that we start work with her cabin first! Which is ridiculous since we all agreed to finish the expansions to the Dining Pavilion and we still need to finish some of the newer cabins!”

Jason is vaguely alarmed by Annabeth which goes to show he's used to this kind of thing and actually knows her. Most run the other way at the sight of a pissed off Annabeth. I can't blame them, but after five years I only notice how her exasperation brings color to her cheeks, making her even hotter than usual. “She's starting to panic.” I tell her. She knows; it doesn't make dealing with her any easier, though.

“Clarisse doesn't seem like someone who panics over remodelations,” says Jason.

“She’s not. She's starting college in September.”

“She’ll be the first along with Travis in a while to do so,” Annabeth explains, “and it's especially hard to leave now y’know.”

Jason nods. I can tell he's still not used to the normal Greek life-span which is basically short and painful. “How long is a while?”

Annabeth goes silent beside me.

I know we’re both thinking of Beckendorf, who of course was all set for college until I left him to be blown up in the Andromeda. I take her hand and start walking. “C’mon, we're going to be late.” Jason gets the hint and doesn't press it.

It's bizarre to think that it's only actually been a little over a year. We celebrated the one year anniversary of the Battle of Manhattan a week ago. It was especially gruesome to hear Jake Mason talk about their fallen brother when they'd just lost Leo too. As I looked around, I realized that almost all the head counselors were different than last year. Most, like Will and Jake, had stepped up after their siblings had died fighting. Will was made head counselor mid-battle, after Michael disappeared in the bridge I collapsed. That would make it the second time the mantle had been passed on that way for Cabin 7, since Michael only became head counselor after Lee Fletcher died a year earlier in the Battle of the Labyrinth.

Clarisse nearly broke down when it was her turn to talk about Silena.

“You'd think they'd gotten used to it by now.” Neither me or Annabeth were paying much attention so Jason nods towards several groups of people who seem to be staring at us as we walk. “You guys have been dating long enough for it to be old news, right?”

Well considering I was only here for two months after we got together and then disappeared for the other ten… “Who says they're looking at us?”

Annabeth laughs. “Yeah. They better hope Piper doesn't catch them ogling her man.”

Jason blushes but chuckles along when I punch his arm. I wrap my arm around Annabeth so I can press a kiss to her temple. I’m here now.

**********

I'm exhausted. The point of controlling metal with your mind is supposed to be that it's easier than actually picking it up and hurling it yourself, right?

WRONG!

After two hours every single one of my muscles are screaming for me to stop. Thalia was right. It didn't matter that they boys’ armor wasn't Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold; I could control it. It's much harder though. Even though I haven't stood up from this boulder in over an hour I feel like I've run a marathon.

Thalia's instructions were simple: get the boys to stop fighting by pulling them away from each other. Simple. Simple? Even though it's obvious they are going pretty easy on each other, it still feels like I’m physically pulling them away by the collar. And my tugging doesn't seem to be bothering them nearly as much as I hope. I'm concentrating on keeping Percy in place by willing his breastplate to keep still, but it only slows him down. I try the same with Jason and eventually Nico to no avail.

I'm so tired and so frustrated that with one final tug I bring my hands together, clapping so hard my palms sting. The second my hands come together the three boys fly towards each other -guided by their breastplates- and smack so hard against one another that I'm sure they hear the clang all the way to Half-Blood Hill.

“Yes! That's what I'm talking about Hazel! Well done!” No one really shares Thalia’s enthusiasm but Nico manages to shoot me a pained smile that ends up looking quite gruesome since his mouth is bloody from head butting the other two boys at maximum speed.

Strangely, I'm not feeling the effects of that last pull. I actually feel better. The knots that have been forming in my shoulders for the last two hours actually feel looser and my potential headache is gone.

I shrug it off. I've done way more damage than manipulating some rusty breastplates. I guess I just needed to get used to the metal.

I'm walking towards Jason and Percy who are still groaning on the floor when a rustling from the trees stops me. I'm not the only one that hears it because in a flash Percy springs off the ground and uncaps Riptide, the rest stand tense. We hear it again and this time I notice something (someone?) behind the trees. Percy immediately dives towards the thicker forest ignoring whatever it is Thalia tells him. A few seconds later we hear a loud bleat and an ominous oompf!

We all scramble to see what's happening. At first my brain is confused by what it's seeing. Whatever was rustling behind the trees Percy seems to have tackled it to the ground. Furry hindquarters stick up, goat legs ending in shiny hooves. For some reason an ill-fitting shoe dangles from one. Then I remember that Greek fauns, satyrs, are much different from the ones in New Rome. That's what it, he, appears to be. This one in particular accepts the hand that Percy offers to lift him off the ground with great gusto and proceeds to hug him like one would a brother. Behind me Thalia exclaims “Grover!” and rushes to join the embrace. A memory of the strange hours after the battle with Gaea surfaces; he fought alongside the Greeks, alongside Percy and Annabeth. I'm sure they introduced us but I don't remember much of the moments after the fighting stopped. Just Leo flying atop Festus. Leo exploding above me, all of us knowing we'd never reach him in time…

“Why didn't you tell us you were coming, G-man!” I'm brought back to the present by Thalia and Percy’s excited chatter. Jason and I stand awkwardly while the little reunion takes place. Nico leans casually against a tree but I detect a ghost of a smile. Finally Percy realizes we're still here. “Oh hey sorry. You remember Hazel, right? And-”

“Jason,” the satyr finishes, “of course, of course.”

He shakes Jason's hand and then takes mine. I wish I'd paid more attention the first time we got introduced because I immediately like him. He seems a bit shy, fiddling with his hands and playing with the reed pipes hanging from his neck, but he stands straight and smiles broadly. I wonder out loud why he and Jason never properly met all those months he was at camp.

“Oh I don't get to spend too much time at camp anymore I'm afraid.” He answers. “Lord of the Wild business never ends.” Lord of the Wild? I make a mental note to underestimate him. “Which is why my girlfriend is always mad at me which is why I should go meet her right about now.” Percy is visibly disappointed and looks like he's about to argue but Grover stops him. “Don't worry man I'll be here all week.”

Both boys clap each other on the back one again. I hear Grover whisper something to Percy making a fleeting dark look pass in his eyes, but the next second it's gone and they're all smiles again. Thalia hugs him again too. “I'll be at Camp for a little while too -long story- so we have to do something.”

The satyr agrees and tells both Jason and I it was nice to see us again. “You too, Nico!” This time my brother actually smiles and gives him a wave before Grover disappears into the forest.

Thalia finally let's us go after that. As we walk out of the forest Percy's in a better mood than I've seen him in weeks. “You're really close with him, aren't you?”

He smiles sheepishly. “I mean, yeah. He's my best friend. He brought me to camp, went with me and Annabeth on our first quest and a bunch of others after that.”

“He also brought Thalia and Annabeth in, right?” Asks Jason.

“Yeah, along with Luke. He seems to have pretty good instincts when it comes to Big Three kids. He found Nico too.”

“No wonder he's Lord of the Wild.”

Percy smiles proudly as we compliment his friend. I try to focus on his good mood but can't help but revert back to wondering what Grover told him that made his smile vanish for a brief second.

*******

Ever since my birthday, I haven't been big on picnics. But since a picnic on the beach for Grover -it was Annabeth’s idea- is the only day Thalia’s letting us have off from practice, I'm not complaining. Especially after yesterday's session.

My sister finally decided to zero in on me. She'd tortured Hazel and now it was my turn. I knew it was going to be bad when I arrived at Zeus’ Fist five minutes early and she was already there looking all excited. You can tell she's excited because little sparks of electricity bounce off her spiky hair.

“I've been wanting to teach you this trick for a while now,” she told me as I made my way towards where she was standing. She pulled out a hunting knife and told me to get closer. Then, she knitted her eyebrows in concentration. A few moments later I gaped as the long blade started to be encapsulated by tiny rivets of electricity. It was like watching those videos of spiders building their webs but a hundred times faster and with bluish, purple static. I watched as her grasp on the handle tightened making the tendrils thicken. She'd wrapped her blade in lightning.

Just then everyone else decided to arrive. Nico and Hazel were transfixed by the blade but Percy kept looking at Thalia. I guess she did look pretty crazy, grinning like a maniac and holding her mutated knife. Finally he said: “Is that supposed to be a cheap replica of the Master Bolt?”

“Ha ha, Jackson.” She rolled her eyes at Percy and with a flick of her wrist made the knife go back to normal. “It's what we’ll be working on today.” Percy arched an eyebrow and Nico did his best to look bored (which, given that that's his default expression, wasn't hard). Their mood significantly rose when she announced we could use our own weapons. “Don't get all excited, I just think Jason needs a little incentive to pull this trick out of him.”

I was grateful for the vote of confidence. I could tell that Thalia was less than impressed by my lightning-calling skills. In battle, Thalia called down thunder every few seconds and still managed to have enough strength to fight like a beast. For me it's always been last resort because it takes a lot out of me. She thinks it's lack of practice. I'm not sure I agree.

She made the others stand in a circle and joined them as well. I was to try to electrify my sword while they took turns lunging at me. Where does she come up with these drills? Which seemed unfair to me because 1) it would be impossible to properly concentrate, and 2) she hadn't really explained how to do it in the first place.

Hazel went first. Her cavalry sword gave her a wide berth and she almost got me but I side-stepped right into Nico’s attack. This time I used my sword to deflect the blow. All the while I thought about calling down lightning. By the time I got to Percy the hairs in my arms when standing upright because of the static, the sky rumbled above me. “Concentrate on the blade! Redirect the lightning!” Thalia shouted at me as I met her spear.

It was a blur for a while. I was stuck in between concentrating on sparring the attacks and willing the static to engulf my sword. At one point I saw a spark fly but it might've been from the force of meeting Nico’s sword. Thalia kept shouting out advice. It was pretty unhelpful but then I caught a piece that maybe had a point. “Use your own body to conduct it onto your sword! It has to pass through you!”

It was a scary thought, willing yourself to be struck by lightning, but I knew from experience that it wouldn't kill me and I'd done crazier (dumber) things.

I finally called down the strike I'd been feeling creep on and redirected it towards me.

The hard part was concentrating it in the sword. I'm pretty sure that if it hadn't been Imperial Gold it would've been shredded to pieces. And while Thalia laughed delighted, the rest backed away. Smart since I doubt they can sustain electricity the way Thalia and I can.

My sister electrified her own spear - easy, barely broke a sweat- and struck once again. What she didn't know was that it was taking all of my strength just to keep up the little “trick”. The same fatigue I get from calling down lightning the normal way attacked me but twice as hard. There was a tugging in my gut that was was getting so painful I almost doubled over. Her first blow brought me to my knees.

“I think that's enough, Thalia.” She completely ignored Percy, who seemed to have noticed I couldn't go on for much longer. I drew on a last reserve of strength, determined to keep going, and the tug lurched violently. “Thalia stop!”

Then I blacked out. Again.

I woke up in the infirmary to a Percy and Nico that could barely hold in their laughter because at this point me passing out is a cosmic joke designed to make me look like an idiot. Hazel at least bothered to look concerned. But no Thalia.

“She's off somewhere sulking and beating herself up about it. Don't worry.” Percy's words didn't make me stop worrying at all.  Nor did the worried glances Nico seemed to steal when Percy wasn't looking. I'll have to ask him what exactly happened after I passed out later.

I know I should've gone looking for Thalia then, I don't really enjoy making my sister feel guilty, she already did that long enough during all those years she thought I was dead, but I didn't.

She's been avoiding me ever since. I was hoping to get a chance to talk to her today since I knew she couldn't skip a picnic thrown by Annabeth for Grover, but so far she's been stalling by refereeing arm wrestling matches between her Hunters and the Ares Cabin.

“What I'd really pay to see is for her to go against Clarisse,” says Piper beside me.

“I thought you liked Clarisse.”

She chuckles. “Are you going to talk to her, or are both of you still avoiding each other?”

“She's avoiding me!”

Piper gives me a stare that says really? because maybe she's a little right. Thalia might be avoiding me but I haven't really tried to talk either. If I'm being honest I'm still pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. Plus, I was hoping these training sessions would be a way for us to bond more. I could tell she was excited to get to train with someone and not be worried about electrocuting them, to talk shop about the joys of having Jupiter/Zeus as a father and all the fun side-effects it comes with. I didn't want her to think I couldn't take it.

“You guys need to start getting used to talking to each other. Trust me, it's weird at first but then it's so easy.”

“It's different for me and Thalia, Pipes. You know that.”

She rolls her beautiful eyes which today decided to look a dark, hazely green. “How is it different? I met a whole cabin of siblings I didn't even know existed when I was sixteen and believe me it was pretty weird at first, especially with Drew. But, at the end of the day, they're family, y’know? They get it.” She takes my hand. “Just talk to her.”

I sigh but stand up from the blanket we spears out in the sand. Piper shoots me one last smile as I make my way towards my sister. It seems the arm wrestling has turned into just wrestling so she doesn't hear me coming. “C’mon, Sherman! You can take her!” I hear Clarisse roar somewhere behind the wall of Ares kids that have formed around two grappling figures on the floor. Thalia is a few feet away laughing along with a blonde huntress in silver cargo pants to match her own. They don't seem too worried about losing.

She turns around when she hears me come up behind her. “Oh hey, Jason!” Both their smiles melt away. Usually the hunters act fairly nicely around me but Thalia’s blonde friend doesn't seem too happy about having to stay at camp and, from the looks of it, she blames me. “Helen can you gives us a moment?” Helen gives me one more intimidating look and then walks away to join the angry mob around the wrestling match.

“Hey, I just wanted to-”

“Wait. Jason, before you say anything I just wanted to say, I'm sorry.” The apology seems to taste bitter in her mouth. I know she doesn't do this often. “I shouldn't have pushed you so hard.”

I don't want her to think she can't. I don't want her to go easy on me. “No, you're right. I need more practice and that trick could come in handy. And if you can do it, I should be able to too.”

Her face seems to soften. “Just because I can do it doesn't mean you'll be able to too. I don't think that's how it works.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, look at Nico and Hazel. Same parent but they both represent different aspects of their Dad. Greek and Roman.”

I think she's just trying to make me feel better. “Jupiter isn't that different from Zeus.” She raises her eyebrow at me as if saying wanna bet? “Plus, we don't have just one parent in common.”

I feel like a kid throwing a tantrum, but I don't care. So what if I want to be more like my big sister. Sue me.

“Hey, c’mon J look at me,” I peel my eyes away from the floor and look at hers. At least we have that in common. “When have you seen me fly? Or control the winds like you do?”

“I-”okay she's got a point there- “you probably could if you tried.”

“Oh I’ve tried!” She looks a little pale for some reason, making her freckles stand out. “Heights are just not my thing.”

Wait. “You're afraid of heights?”

“Yes, okay!” Her tone tells me to drop it, but a little warmth spreads across my chest nonetheless. I can tell it's something that really embarrasses her, but she chose to tell me anyways to make me feel better. She rolls her eyes at my smile. “Shut up.”

I follow her to where everyone else is sitting. When Annabeth sees us she slightly nods her head towards where Nico is sitting a slight blush on his place cheeks. She's keeping her boyfriend’s mouth shut by stuffing it with food.

A thought crosses my mind as I watch Percy try to avoid Annabeth's hand. Thalia and I, we divide our father’s power between each other. Nico and Hazel do the same. But not Percy. The full power of Poseidon, Percy represents it all by himself.

*******

“Gods Nico just talk to him.”

My cheeks go bright red as Hazel catches me staring at Will. He's just sprawled there basking in the sunlight, what am I supposed to do?! At least she's embarrassed as well, fanning her face in that old-fashioned way.

I'm actually quite surprised about how she's dealing with the whole situation. She lived most of her life in the 1930s-1940s, so I would've understood some trepidation, but she only gave me a wide smile and thanked me for trusting her. When she caught on about Will she was delighted. She loves the idea of me and a doctor or something. Or maybe it's the fact that literally no one hates Will. It's kind of creepy.

“I do talk to him.”

“You told him his fly was down two weeks ago. That doesn't count.”

As always, Percy has perfect timing. “What are we talking about? Why does Nico look like a tomato?”

“Nothing!” I make the mistake of glancing at Will when I notice him standing up and suddenly Percy's face breaks into a grin worthy of any Hermes kid. “Shut up!”

“Oh. My. Gods.”

“Percy I mean it!”

Annabeth doesn't look any more innocent than her boyfriend. “I might've heard a rumor or two about him”- she nodded her head towards Will- “having a crush on you.”

Hazel actually squeals.

“We are not talking about this.”

“Fine,” says Percy, laying down on Annabeth's lap, “I guess we’ll just have to wait for him to make the first move.”

“I hate you all.”

Grover, followed by Piper, takes the final spot on our picnic blanket and Hazel and Annabeth are kind enough to keep quiet. Annabeth stuffs her boyfriend’s mouth with grapes before he can say anything but she stills shares a look with Piper.

Piper’s probably known since she has the whole Aphrodite cabin at her disposal and Percy will eventually tell Grover. By some idiot move I told Jason myself.

Great, now everyone knows.

I would complain but it's such a normal, embarrassing problem to have that I end up having to suppress a smile. Normal. The concept seems so foreign to me, but here we are having a stupid picnic by the beach and hearing Grover play terrible versions of Hilary Duff classics on his reed pipes. It might not be a mortal’s version of normalcy, but it's as close as a demigod gets.

“Where’s Jason?” I ask Piper.

“Talking to Thalia. I finally convinced them to stop acting like children and actually communicate.”

“Ah yes,” exclaims Percy, “communication. One of Thalia’s fortes.” Annabeth slaps his arm. “Ow! What? She's great at death threats.”

“You'd know.”

Normal. Annabeth and Percy playfully arguing. Normal. Hazel gushing about Frank and what a good praetor he is. Normal. Jason and Thalia finally walking towards us, Jason looking awkward until she puts him in a headlock and musses his hair making him laugh. Normal.

Yet.

Piper keeps looking to her right, but Leo’s gone. I searched for his spirit, but I never felt him die. I didn't tell them this though; there are worse things than death. Loss is torture enough, I couldn't bear to add false hope to the list.

Thalia laughs along, but she's worried. Guilt plagues her nervous hands as they dig into the sand. I remember the panic in Percy's voice as he told her to stop, how he snapped at her for being blinded by her own power. I remember her silence as they both dragged Jason to the infirmary.

Grover shoots Percy and Annabeth concerned looks when he's sure they won't notice, because even though they've gained the weight they lost and no longer look like ghosts, they're exhausted. Everyone at camp has heard them scream themselves awake.

Then there's the issue of these training sessions. Training for what? What else could they possibly throw our way?

“Hey.” Everyone noticeably goes quiet as Will sits besides me. There's barely enough space so our knees are touching. I get the very distinct urge to run.

“Hi!” Hazel’s smile practically touches her ears.

I try to focus on a) not running away and b) not looking at him. I see him reach for the grapes in my peripheral and quickly focus on my hands. Suddenly I'm very aware just how crowded it is. I try to lean back as far as I can and catch a breeze to myself. Everyone else’s chatter fades to the background.

Will leans back too, this time I allow myself to look at him. I guess I've been avoiding him. The second Thalia arrived it was like a bubble burst. “What's up?” He asks. He seems concerned; this close I can admire how his long eyelashes frame his eyes gold in the sun.

I want to tell him about everything, but I don't want to corrupt him. He's light. And maybe I don't have to talk about, maybe I can just forget and pretend nothing strange is going on. “Nothing,” I answer, “I've just been a bit busy-” I nod towards Thalia- “ that's all.”

I don't think he buys it but he smiles at me anyways. “Okay.” He takes my hand and I don't even care that everyone notices, or that he doesn't let go.

*****

“Dionysus.” Chiron hadn't seen or heard from the god of wine in days. “Come to finally celebrate our victory?”

“Victory?” He huffs and tries to brush some of the lint from his grey and purple striped suit. “Maybe here. Olympus is tearing itself apart trying to allocate blame! Zeus isn't happy! Not happy at all!”

Chiron paused to take in the day. Beautiful. He could hear the laughter coming from the beach where his heroes now celebrated their friends, themselves, being alive. He hoped for his father’s power, to freeze them in this moment and spare them from the darkness that was to come. “Who will it be this time?”

“It seems they have narrowed down on Apollo.” Dionysius scoffed, as always irritated by his half-brother. “No wonder. Had we had the power of prophecy…” The god left the thought there. “What about you? How has your little task played out so far?”

Chiron clenched the railing of the Big House. To have to prep the children to be presented… as if there were lifeless weapons instead of feeling, thinking beings. To have to betray them for the sake of the gods… “When have they ever let down Olympus?”

“Good! At least I'll have some good news to bring to Zeus!” With a puff that left the scent of tangy grapes in the air, the god disappeared.

Chiron had actually thought he'd trained his last tragedy. Finally, heroes that would get to enjoy the riches of the world they'd help save.

Oh, how cruel the Fates were.

********

Thalia’s officially lost it. She's decided to zero in on me today. She has to repeat herself because my brain doesn't really process when she says it the first time.

“I-” she points at herself and jabs a finger at my chest as she continues- “want you to bring this-” she motions to the dead squirrel at her feet- “back to life.”

I understand that I've done things similar to this in the past. It wasn't until recently that I was able to deal with non-humans, though. At first I looked confused, did she want me to control its corpse or something? Get more practice with animals? (It sounds gruesome but it's quite doable for me) But she shook her hair as she saw the thought form. Alive. She wanted it to breathe again.

“You're insane.” Not even Jason pipes up to defend his sister. Percy and Hazel look at her as if she's grow a third eye. “That's impossible, way out of my reach.”

“I know you can do it.”

“I could get in trouble for even attempting to do it.” My warning comes out as a low hiss.

“Just try it, Nico.” She's been holding my gaze the whole time but suddenly a nerve jumps in her forehead. She doesn't actually want me to do this. This is Chiron speaking through her.

“No.” I feel everyone stiffen around me. We've all been pretty hesitant about this whole ordeal, but up until now no one’s downright refused to do it. I'm now certain these training sessions won't benefit us at all, though, and I refuse to cross that line. Tartarus itself didn't make me.

I must admit I tried it once, after Bianca died. People’s souls or spirits (whatever you want to call them), I’ve always been able to sense them. It's how I can summon ghost for brief periods of time, call on the skeletons of the Underworld to my service. If I reach hard enough with my mind, I can barely stroke their essence. I briefly give them some of my strength so they can materialize if they are ghost or move if they're a body. I figured that if I focused hard enough I could fully grasp an essence that had seized to exist in the mortal world, and give it enough of my strength to come back.

And so that's what I did. I guess Bianca knew me too well, because she hid away from me. Not many could, but she was a daughter of Hades even in death. I tried it on the first ghost that appeared to me instead.

I knew I'd made a mistake as soon as I closed a hand around Minos’s essence. I immediately felt my own seep out of me, but it wasn't restoring what had been lost during his death. I was just making a dead person have a physical form again. Alive but not living. It made me want to explode with how wrong it felt.

I thought I'd do anything to bring my sister back, and since then I've caved in and allowed myself to crack. But not that. Not ever.

“I won't do it, Thalia.”

She flashes her eyes at me but I see past it. Underneath it all, I see relief.

******

Chiron hears Thalia Grace stomp her way into his office before he actually sees her. He knows exactly what he'd see if he turned around. He hadn't fully processed himself what he'd last asked her to do.

She'd looked at him incredulous. After the incident with Jason she'd warned him not to push too far; it was clear to him that she was now fully distrusting of what he'd told her were his intentions initially, and was only sticking around to figure out what this was actually about. Her warnings, of course, were nothing new to the old centaur. He'd said the same thing to Dionysus when he was first ordered him to do this.

“He didn't do it.” She tells him.

Chiron’s aware that the gods expect him to convince her to go back out there and not come back until the boy has at least attempted to do what they want to see, but he just nods. Good, he thinks. Nico has enough to deal with already.

“I'm done. I'm taking my hunters and leaving right now.”

A vice-like grip seems to take hold of Chiron, reminding him that the gods have other, less friendly, methods to obtain the information they seek. “Thalia.”

“I mean it. If you don't want to tell me what's really going on here, fine! But I won't be a part of this!”

“Thalia. Don't you trust me?” He tightens his fists at his sides. If there was any other way… “Because Annabeth, does. Luke did.” At the mention of his name her anger seems to slightly melt away. “I know what I'm doing.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.” He finally turns to look at her. He makes sure she listens to him, really listens. “I know exactly what I'm doing, Thalia. I know I'm asking a lot from you, from the others, but we’re almost done.” Then I'll give them the truth, Chiron thinks. He knows Zeus is listening.

She sighs. “Percy. He's next, isn't he?”

Something happened after Jason collapsed, but Thalia wouldn't tell him. He knew Thalia wasn't easily shaken, but somehow this had. Chiron suspected it had something to do with the special interest the gods had taken on Percy. With the rest of the children they seemed to be speculating, but with him they were sure.

“Yes.”

*********

“C’mon Jackson! I've seen you do it!”

“You've seen me make a few cracks on the floor!”

Thalia rolls her eyes at me. I should've known she'd come after me next with the way I snapped at her after the whole Jason incident and how badly her attempt with Nico went. “I'm not asking you to do anything you haven't done before. I took the necessary precautions and everything!”

“A change of venue hardly counts as necessary precautions!” I should've known something was up when Thalia suggested we go on a hike. This is the farthest into the woods I've ever walked -it took us hours- and I've been getting lost in here since I was twelve. We must be close to the Western Hills of the Camp. “Last time I almost tore a volcano apart and it almost killed me!”

“Details!”

“They had a funeral and everything!”

She makes a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. I'm uncomfortably aware of the others watching us, their eyes following us the way one would follow a very important ping pong match. Why does she care so much about this anyways?

“How would this help me have more control over my powers?” I ask, my voice lower. “What I did back then is the definition of losing control.” And you don't want to see me lose control now. She catches the look in my eyes and seems to read my mind. I can't believe she’d push me after the incident with Jason.

I hadn't allowed myself to touch that part of my powers since Tartarus. Most of my nightmares consist of re-living that moment. The moment I felt something inside me shatter irreparably. The moment I turned into everything I've been fighting for five years.

I don't even remember calling on my powers. I just saw the strain in Jason’s face, Thalia looked mad. I felt anger hitting me in waves and suddenly I was telling Thalia to stop. But I did more than that. Her eyes widened, but she wasn't looking at Jason, who had just collapsed. She was staring at me in horror because she couldn't move. I was holding her in place, willing all the water in her body to stay static. It was only for a second, the others didn't notice, but she’d felt herself lose control of her own body and probably felt my tightened fists even though they hung at my sides.

Much like they do now.

“You're suppressing them, building pressure,” she argues, answering my questions.

“Who made you the expert?”

“Chiron, dumbass, remember?”

We don't stare away from each other as Hazel steps in between us and starts telling us to calm down. Neither Jason nor Nico were bold enough to intervene, but Hazel only sounds slightly irritated.

Thalia just won't shut up though.

“I can't believe we're having the same argument as always! You just can't stand anyone but yourself being in charge!” She spits in my face. Hazel places a hand on my chest. I've gotten so close to Thalia that we're practically squishing her in between our taller frames. “You're not the hero, remember?!”

I'm only half aware of pushing Hazel aside and Nico’s cry of protest.

                          The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap

“Don't you dare throw those lines at me!”

“OR WHAT?!”

I don't get a chance to retaliate because just then Nico raises a solid, black wall of obsidian between us. “THAT’S ENOUGH!”

My adrenaline drains in a second. I turn in time to watch Jason help Hazel up. I pushed her aside. An apology dies on my lips when I catch Nico’s eyes. Dark, angry eyes.

What am I doing?

‘I won't tell on you, but you have to promise to keep my sister safe.’

‘Promise.’

‘Tell him...tell him I'm sorry.’ She ran off before I could stop her.

What am I doing?

It's like nothing's changed. I'm arguing with Thalia. I'm letting down Nico.

But what's my excuse now?

The wall of obsidian slowly melts back into the ground. Thalia and I stare at each other in shock. I know what she's thinking by the look of guilt that frames her eyes. We could've hurt someone. I was about to hurt her. I was so close to losing control; my temper rose in an instant. I look down at my feet and sure enough there are cracks there. Nico stopped us just in time...stopped me.

I turn to Hazel. There's an angry red scrape on her elbow. I want to melt right into the ground along with the obsidian. I want to melt all the way to Hell where I belong. “I'm...so sorry,” I choke out. I said the same thing to Bianca Di Angelo’s ghost.

*******

I'm worried about Percy. I'm worried about Annabeth. I'm worried about the real reasons behind this damn training sessions. I'm worried and I can't think. I can't think because I can't sleep. The calm from the picnic didn't last a goddamn second.

Thalia probably didn't know it, but she was pushing too hard, harder than she'd done with Jason. It isn't like before, when we were younger. Even back then our powers scared me. Watching Thalia and Percy fight by Zeus’s Fist all those years ago had been the most awesome display of power I'd ever seen. They were more intimidating than I'd ever imagined any of my Mythomagic figurines would be in real life. Now, I know that was only a fraction of what we can do.

I would've done anything to have powers like them when I was ten. I didn't understand what it meant, the pain you'd have to undergo to tap into that part of yourself. I didn't understand that something inside you had to break to reach them.

When Annabeth and Percy fell I hoped they'd come out untouched by that vile hellhole. They've always been stronger than me. No matter what happened, Percy had never lost hope. He was good. I hated him for it. I could look into his eyes and know they would never look as angry and as bitter as mine did, and I envied that. But it also made me want to be just as brave, made me trust him despite everything. I realize now it was unfair to put him on such a pedestal.

It makes me angrier than anything that I lived through down there. I never minded them taking hope from me, I didn't have much to begin with, but Percy...Annabeth...they are true heroes. They've earned hope.

After I broke up their fight, I was the one that suggested Thalia go talk with Annabeth. She looked like she needed it. No one really knew what to do. We’d been pretending everything was fine and in a second we dropped the front and it was impossible to get it back. For some reason I felt calmer than the rest. Pretending has always made me edgier.

“You need to find out why they’re training us,” I told Thalia. We weren't skirting past the obvious any longer. “I’m sure Annabeth will figure something out.”

She gave Percy a side glance as she dove back into the forest. He flashed one right back, Later. Whatever discussion they should have it wasn't going to be in front of us.

Jason followed his sister and Hazel looked down at her scraped elbow. My anger at seeing Percy push her aside had been painfully poignant, like a stab in the heart, but it was momentary. Percy tried to step towards her and apologize once again but she put her hand up. “Don't, Percy. It's fine.” It wasn't, you could hear it all over her tone. She simply meant she'd get over it, but right now she wanted to leave. So she did, and suddenly it was just me and Percy.

Only then did I notice that we were almost the same height now, that seventeen wasn't too far from fourteen. We'd never been too far apart. But he, unlike me, had shouldered two Great Prophecies.

He seemed to notice it too. “When did you grow up?” I don't know if he was asking me or himself.

It was very subtle: his shoulders drooped down so that he was properly hunching, he slid his hands through his face with a deep sigh. Suddenly, he wasn't The Percy Jackson. He was just Percy.

Bianca used to wake up hours before I did on Christmas Day and place presents under our tree. I caught her doing it at the hotel once. I didn't make a sound; for the first time she didn't look like my older sister, but like the eleven or twelve-year-old she was. She looked like she was playing at being an adult, and for once I noticed how childish it all seemed. I remember feeling sad and guilty because no one did it for her. The next morning I was set on telling her I knew, but she seemed so excited for me to open my presents that I never did.

Percy looked like she did placing those presents.

“Since when do you take care of me?”

I felt guilty all over again. “I'm sorry.”

“Nico, you don't-”

I'd forgotten about the argument. I could only hear the echo of Thalia and Percy's  voices getting louder and matching the ones inside my head. And watching Percy come undone in front of me then, the words just tumbled out of my mouth. “It was stupid of me to go looking for the doors! If I'd just thought it through or told someone…”

“Nico…” He looked a hundred years old. Exhausted, concerned. “Nico it wasn't your fault...any of it...you being there…it shouldn't have happened.”

I felt very small then. I like to remind people how old I truly am all the time. Truth is: I've never stopped feeling ten and petrified.

“You were there alone.”

I was and, even though I knew they were probably looking for me, they didn't find me. What's more darkness to someone who is already made out of shadows? “I'm always alone, Percy. That wasn't going to change in Tartarus.”

“I'm the one that's sorry. You didn't deserve that. I did.” I wanted to tell him it wasn't true but he didn't let me. “When I got there they were all waiting for me. I killed them all without thinking twice about it.”

“You had to, Percy! We all do-”

“I know it's what I am. But not you. Not Annabeth. You're different.”

“No we're not! What are you talking about?!”

He chuckled and it was so cold. “It's all I've ever been good at. They know it.” He pointed a trembling finger at the sky. “They know what I did down there. They crave that power...I crave that power.”

I looked at the cracks he'd made on the ground to avoid his eyes and allowed myself to wonder how far he'd gone if I didn't step in between him and Thalia. He'd been down there longer. I know that if I had, I would've crossed that line, the line I've been avoiding since Bianca died. What choice did he have down there but to let himself break.

What does that make him now?

“No.” He was right. I didn't deserve Tartarus. Neither did Annabeth. Neither did he. “You're scared of what you can do; you're aware of the hurt it can cause,” I told him. he wasn't consumed by it. He rejected it. “You're still the hero I met when I was ten. That's why I'll always fight beside you, Percy. It was never about the gods.”

Thunder rumbled above us, but he didn't jump.

***********

At first I think it's Percy who's entered my cabin, then I distinguish the lighter tread and decide it's Thalia. We haven't properly talked since she came to camp, not like I've wanted to anyways. She's been putting that off.

“Hey,” she peers over my shoulder to look at the plans I'm currently working on, “what you've got there?”

“Just some sketches for the cabin expansions.”

She doesn't seem that interested. “Nico wants us to talk,” she tells me. Thalia's always been terrible at small talk.

“What about?”

“What are we training for Annabeth?” I put my pencil down and turn to face her. Her eyes are nervously scanning my face for answers. “Chiron made up some bullshit about wanting us to learn to manage our powers better but it's the opposite of it! It's like he wants to see-”

“-exactly how powerful you really are?”

“Yeah.”

I knew better than to believe what Percy told me. He didn't buy it either. None of us did. I also know that if Chiron approved he would've told a better lie. “I don't think this was Chiron's idea.”

“I know. Artemis seemed too relaxed about it.”

“Have you talked to her recently?

“She never stopped communicating with us but not face to face, no.”

“I saw Dionysus a few days ago talking to Chiron...Chiron didn't look very happy.” I add.

“That'd be the first god to show up in a while.” She'd probably been thinking of this since her first meeting with Chiron. A million thoughts seem to be racing through her head. “Chiron didn't seem like himself at any of the meetings we've had. Like you said, he never looked quite happy about what he was asking me to do. I figured I could wait and see how it panned out in training before coming to any conclusions but today…” Her eyes widen. She's said too much.

Something happened, something she doesn't want me to know about. “Why did Nico send you to talk to me?” She opens her mouth but can't seem to articulate whatever excuse she was going to tell me. I hold her eyes. Everyone always tells me my stares can be pretty intimidating. I learned from the best. Thalia made a pretty intimidating twelve-year-old. “Thalia.”

“Percy and I-”

“Don't tell me you were fighting again?” Percy told me what's happened afte Jason passed out the other day.

She looks away. “I guess it got a little out of hand-”

“You two are so childish! Why can't you just-”

“Annabeth!” It's been awhile since she raised her voice to me. It's the twinge of panic that keeps my mouth shut. She pinches the bridge of her nose. “I...I pushed too far. He got so worked up and...I don't know why I fed into it.”

She doesn't have to say more. “Where is he?”

“I left him with Nico.” I immediately stand up but she catches my arm. “I think he's the best person he can talk to at the moment.” I try to shake her off but her grasp is like steel. “It's not him you should talk to right now, Beth.”

I want to go to Percy. I want to be alone with him and rub the space between his eyebrows because he scrunches it up so hard when he's worried. I want us to drift into our peaceful bubble where only the two of us exist and we can pretend we’ve stopped hurting. I don't want to find out the gods’ new scheme, the Fates’ new wretched turn to our already messed up life.

But I don't run to Percy like I want to. Instead I march towards the Big House, the remnants of Thalia’s steel grip still pressing against my arm.

Dionysus is here. He's sitting beside Chiron, who's in his wheelchair, out on the porch. Something like relief crosses Chiron’s face as I stomp up the steps. “Anniebell!” At this point Dionysus just does it to get under our skin. “So glad to see your cheerful face as always!”

“What are you playing at?!” I growl.

His ironic cheer melts off his face right away, the usual discontent replaces it.

“Perhaps it'd be best if we took this inside.” I want to tell Chiron that I don't care who hears me, but his eyes dart quickly to the right and I notice Harley. He's dragging parts for the beacon he's built for Leo back to his cabin but has stopped to check out what's going on. His eyes dart to Dionysus then to me.

I shoot Harley a quick smile then turn back to Chiron. “Fine.” They both follow me inside into the living room where the fireplace is already lit even though it's probably 8 AM and close to ninety degrees outside. I wait until I can't see Harley through the window to speak again. I meet Dionysus’ purplish eyes. “What have they sent you here for?”

“Typical of demigods! First they're begging us to talk to them and when we finally show up this is what we have to face?” He huffs indignantly. “You always thought so highly of yourself Annalyse-”

“You know that's not my name.” I want Chiron to speak up but he just stares sadly at the flames. “And I know Zeus sent you to check in on the training sessions.” He's listening to me now. I walk up to him so that our noses are almost touching. “What's. Your. Game?”

“I don't have to inform some mortal girl on the business of Lord Zeus.”

I grab him by the cuffs of his stupid grey suit. “Annabeth that's enough!” I whip my head towards Chiron, hot bile churning in my stomach. He's stepping in for him? “Annabeth.” I know what that tone means. I let go of Dionysus.

I stand fuming while the wine god pats the wrinkles out of his suit. I try to search Chiron’s face for an answer but it's like stone. For the first time since I've known Chiron, I can't read his expression. He's never shut me off, and it scares me more than anything Thalia told me earlier. Instead he turns to Dionysus and I have to stand there feeling how I assume everyone else always feels when Chiron and I have a silent conversation.

“They deserve to know,” he finally says.

To my surprise, Dionysus doesn't object. “He's gonna make me stay another millennia here, you do know that? Right?” Chiron stays silent, looking at him expectantly. “Look kid,” he finally starts, looking up at the ceiling with a pained expression, “Zeus really screwed up, okay?” He winces as the sky rumbles. Before, I would've worried about us being blown to bits. Now, I don't even look up. “With the Titans, and the Giants...he's let his ego get in the way-”

“I already know all of this. Get to the point.”

Annoyance etches his face but he doesn't stop. “Maybe the most recent war made him see things more clearly. Maybe he didn't like his Queen doing what she pleased with his heroes. Either way, he did some digging around of his own after the whole Gaea incident. The Titans AND the Giants rising so close to each other...it seemed almost-”

“-orchestrated.” A heavy stone of dread finally settles in my chest. I'm almost relieved. Of course the idea had entered my mind. I don't believe in coincidence and after defeating Gaea so easily I knew she couldn't have been behind it all. “Who-”

Dionysus shakes his head. I know he's already said too much but I want to press him for more. I need to know. But he holds his hand up before I can say anything. “Zeus wants to be prepared this time around. He's ah ‘sharpening his best weapons’, one could say.” There's a slight undertone of disgust as he says the last part, never looking away from me. “We can't know for certain what role each will have due to our lack of Oracle, I'm afraid, but surely that'll be fixed soon enough. In the meantime we can make sure no potential is being wasted.” I cling to his words, taking in the double-meaning behind them. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment to be blast to bits.”

He vanishes before I can ask anything else.

Chiron reaches to touch my hand but I pull away. I can see the hurt in his eyes but I don't care. “Annabeth, you have to understand…”

“Understand what exactly? You could've warned us! Told us sooner!”

“You know I don't have much choice-”

“You couldn't stick up for us...for me?” I can tell my words are killing him, but I mean them too much to keep them quiet. It's barely been a couple of weeks. He knows, more than anyone, how much we need the time.

“I tried...Annabeth these are the gods we're talking about. What could've I've done?”

“Anything! Everything you could and then more because it's what we've have to do!”

His old, tired eyes are glassy with tears. He has always protected me, when everyone forgot he always remembered I was a kid. I can't count the times I've bawled into his chest or sought a comforting word and found it. I want to do that now, but we both know what he's trying to tell me. He lets me in just a crack and I finally understand.

We're going to war again.

“I'm sorry.”

********

I watch everyone’s face fall as Annabeth tells us what Dionysus revealed. We're all  seated inside cabin 13 except Annabeth who is standing up. Jason and Piper are seated on my bed, Thalia and Percy on Nico’s. Nico himself is sitting beside me on our small couch.

“He mentioned the Oracle. Something about restoring it somehow,” Annabeth continues. She seems to be talking more to herself than anyone of us in particular, too immersed in the millions of possibilities that are probably racing through her head. “If the gods are all meeting as we speak they're probably looking for someone to pin the blame on-”

“Wait,” Jason interrupts, “but didn't you say my dad admitted to messing up? Why pin it on someone else?”

“Zeus would never admit he made a mistake,” answers Percy. For someone who knows the power of names he sure doesn't mind throwing them around. “He’ll have to punish someone to cover up. It won't be a mortal. It was too big and too close to the Titan War. Didn't you see him in the Acropolis?” They all remembered the Lord of the Sky snapping at a couple of the Olympians after the fight.

“It all comes down to the prophecies,” Annabeth insists, beginning to pace now. “The biggest excuse for the gods not to intervene isn't their laws. They won't meddle with prophecies, especially ones that say hand picked heroes get to fight for them.”

“So what?” Thalia interjects. “They won't do anything to stop whoever set all of this in motion until they've got a prophecy?”

Annabeth shakes her head. “Only a god can restore The Oracle. They'll have to. Plus, we can't do it for them unless we have a prophecy! Which is how their messes are usually cleared up.”

“Gods don't meddle, you said so yourself,” argues Thalia. “If they supposedly did nothing wrong to begin with, why would they try to fix it?”

“Not them,” I can tell Percy has been following his own train of thought, “whoever they end up blaming, whoever they punish. They'll separate themselves that way and send whoever they decided messed up.”

Annabeth stops pacing and looks at Percy. They exchange a look, and suddenly I realize what Percy might be implying. They'll never fight alongside us as immortals...but immortality can be taken away.

I don't know if everyone thinks what I do, but we all go quiet. Before, we would've been jolted awake by such critical information, but we're all so palpably tired now. I turn to look at my brother, whose eye bags have become almost permanent under his eyes. Aboard the Argo II we all seemed so much more energized. I realize now that those were our ‘imminent danger, scared-out-of-our-minds’ selves. We were pushing so hard because we could see the finish line; we were tired then too, but we could handle it because we knew it was almost over. Now they're telling us it's barely even begun? None of us are eager to jump into action.

Before we would've gone to work, now we simply drift apart, a silent agreement passing between us all to do nothing until absolutely necessary. Piper tugs at Jason’s arm, whispering a quick bye to the others. She's barely had time to properly mourn her best friend. Thalia follows her brother out the door. Annabeth and Percy are the last to leave, their fingers loosely locked together. Nico and I watch them all go.

“I should probably send word to Frank,” I say after a while.

Nico doesn't take his eyes away from the door. “You leaving already? I could shadow travel you back to Camp Jupiter if you want.”

In light of recent events I'm not too keen on air travel. For the first time I allow myself to feel hatred towards Jupiter and all the Olympians, but force it right down almost immediately. It's not good for us to hold grudges, Nico once told me, it's our fatal flaw. “No, it's okay. I'll ask Frank to send a veteran.”

“It'll be okay.” Nico finally turns to look at me. Somehow that doesn't sound as reassuring coming from the boy that lies awake at night haunted by nightmares. “Whatever happens, we'll get through it. We've done it before.”

“Not all of us made it.” I think of Leo and it becomes much harder to keep my anger down. I wait for Nico to try to reassure me again, but he's always been too honest. He can't promise me that.

He stays silent and goes back to staring at the door. After a while I decide I can't put off calling Frank much longer and head towards the volleyball court where they keep a hose. I look back at my brother as I'm closing the door behind me. “Nico,” he stares up at me, “we’ll be fine.” He nods and tries to offer me a smile but it comes out more like a grimace. I turn around and close the door behind me.

It's not that sunny today. Hopefully it's enough to get a decent rainbow going. I could ask Chiron for one of the few cellphones but I doubt Frank is close to one at Camp and I want to see his face. I'm almost to the forge when I hear Will coming out of the pegasus stables. “Hey Hazel!” He catches up to me, all smiles. “Did your training session get extended or something? Percy was suppose to check on the mare-”

“Yeah,” I lie, “Thalia got a little excited.” I briefly remember Percy telling us about a pregnant pegasus he and Will have been taking care of. I've been dying to meet her since he mentioned it at the picnic. “Maybe I could help.”

Will’s face lights up, almost literally. Nico is right, he looks like the improved version of Octavian. I didn't really get sun god vibes from him, but Will almost embodies sunshine. “Yeah of course! After seeing you ride Arion I don't think she’ll be any trouble at all!”

I follow him to the stables and make a silent promise to get in touch with Frank later in the day. “How far along is she?”

“Oh she's almost there!”  He pulls out a giant glove as I enter a section that seems more spacious and my eyes widen. I didn't realize it was that kind of check up. “Don't panic on me now, Levesque. I just need you to calm her down. I have Percy help me since he can talk to her.” He pulls out a stool and sits behind the grey mare grazing in the corner. My nerves melt away the second I set eyes on her. Her wings are so silky that they almost look like silver, her big brown eyes scan me nervously.

“It's okay,” I reassure her, slowly walking towards her and softly placing my hand between her eyes. I try to not pay any attention to whatever Will’s doing and find myself chatting nonsensically with the mare. “What's her name?”

“Misty.”

I tell Misty about the strawberry fields, and babble about the unicorns back in Camp Jupiter until Will is finished. I don't know how much time passes but I'm grateful for the distraction. I pat Misty one last time and follow Will outside. I don't even realize I'm hungry until my stomach growls. I haven't really had time to eat anything, nor have I felt inclined to until now. “C’mon, I'll buy you something from the Camp store.” I try to decline but Will waves me away until I gratefully accept.

He buys me a muffin and gets a sandwich for himself, then we make our way to the Hearth where a small, mousy girl is tending to the flames. I smile at her and she looks at me curiously before smiling back and placing a small finger to her lips. “Thanks,” I tell Will as he sit beside me, “I needed that.”

“Don't mention it.”

We eat in silence. I watch as Will waves to everyone and how they all wave back, unable to not mirror Will’s smile. I stare at the door to my cabin and will Nico to come out. I imagine his gloomy, tired face breaking into a grin when he sees us, and him walking towards us and chatting away. But the door stays closed. “Hey,” I know I'll pay for this later but I go on anyways, “do you mind checking in on my brother?”

Will swallows the last of his sandwich before asking: “Is something wrong?” When I don't answer his gaze momentarily shifts to the angry scrape on my arm.

“He's just in a mood.”

He looks skeptical but nods anyways. I guess he has enough experience with us all and knows better than to push it. He calls a small later over his shoulder as he walks towards cabin 13 and I feel a little lighter. I'm glad Nico now has Will. He's good for him.

Now all I want to do is talk to Frank.

*******

Thalia sits beside me at the base of the Zeus statue inside cabin 1. Piper wanted to stay with me but a fire erupted inside the Aphrodite cabin (something about too many hair straighteners being plugged in) and she had to rush there before actual people were set on fire (again). Thalia's old things are still in the corner. I wonder if my father would get mad if I asked Annabeth to remodel the place, make it feel less like an ominous temple. I turn to ask Thalia what she thinks about it and realize she's crying.

“Gods, Thalia…” I awkwardly put my arm around her. “It'll be fine-” I stop abruptly when I notice that what I thought were sobs shaking her body, is actually a laugh she's failing to contain. Maybe she's finally losing it. She catches a glimpse of whatever face I'm making and properly starts laughing. It sounds insane and it's starting to make the corners of my mouth twitch. “Stop it, you sound crazy.”

She manages to tone it down to a few chuckles and wipes her eyes, smudging her mascara so she looks like a blue-eyed, tiara-wearing raccoon. “Aw man,” she exclaims, “Dad sure outdoes himself, doesn't he?” There isn't much humor left in her voice. “Although I must admit it did warm my heart to know he considers me one of his greatest weapons-”

“Thalia.”

“-every child's dream, truly.” I look up to the statue above us nervously. “Oh don't worry, J. Daddy knows better than to wreck his precious toys.”

“Thalia c’mon.”

“Sometimes I wish he'd let me die all those years ago, y'know. I would've had a hero's death and be done with it-”

“Don't say that.” I take her hand and she meets my eyes. I understand what she's feeling because I'm pretty angry myself. But, unlike her, our father has pretty much ignored me my whole life. I don't know him enough to feel the betrayal I know she probably feels. “It'll be okay.” It sounds lame even to me but she smiles anyways.

“I don't think it's ever been okay, but…” She shrugs. Just like that she's pulling herself together again. It scares me to see her so undone but I also realize how much she must trust me to lose control like that in front of me. “...we've never had much of a choice.”

“They don't control us, Thalia. As much as they want to, they can't.”

“That doesn't sound very Roman of you.”

I'm feeling pretty un-Roman, yes. “So we’re caught in a war again?! I won't fight because he-” I point at the statue- “needs saving! I don't really care much for making him proud at the moment.” Once again I glance nervously at the huge marble Zeus and adjust my glasses which, in my flurry, started to slide down my nose. I don't know where that came from. I guess I've finally hit my rebellious, teenage streak.

Thalia looks amused. She's smirking, so that can't be good. “You really are my brother, aren't you?” Maybe she wasn't amused, maybe she was...proud? “And yeah, you're right. I won't be fighting for him. I don't know what difference it'll make when the time comes, but I at least want him to know that.” She pulls me into a headlock and starts messing up my hair. She really liked doing that. “I love you, little brother.”

*******

I jump when the door creaks open. I'm surprised to find Will’s face poking in, “Can I come in?”

I don't really feel like talking but I find myself muttering sure anyways. He joins me on the floor (the couch was too comfortable for my liking), resting his weight on his elbows and spreading out his long legs in front of him. “So Hazel’s worried about you.”

“Did she send you?”

“Yep.”

“Figures.”

I can feel him searching my face for any hint as to what happened. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“No!” I don't mean to raise my voice. I turn to apologize but he shakes his head.

“It's okay.”

I uncross my legs and mirror his pose so our arms are touching. I can feel his bare bicep against my shoulder. “Hazel helped me out with Misty,” he tells me, “she did a great job. I didn't get kicked once!” He shifts his weight to his left arm so he can bring his hand up to place a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I predict we’ll have a healthy, male baby pegasus this time next week.” He grabs my chin with his long archer’s fingers and tries to nudge my head towards him but I don't buck because...well because I'm stubborn, okay? Instead he places a kiss to my cheek and keeps on babbling. “I don't think Porkpie and Blackjack will be too happy about having another, cuter, smaller pegasus around. They're always fighting over Misty and now they'll always lose to him.”

The sides of my mouth twitch slightly and I can see a triumphant smile spread across his face. Still, he soldiers on. “But maybe once he's born we’ll finally figure out who the father actually is! I know Percy's got his money on Blackjack but that seems like favoritism to me, Porkpie can be quite charming-”

He stops abruptly as I let out a chuckle. “Okay,” I tell him, “you win! Just please stop.”

He laughs, and in a fit of bravery rushes in and kisses me. We both stare wide-eyed at the other as he pulls away. I brush my lips with my finger, convinced they can't possibly be the same after being pressed against Will Solace’s mouth. My first kiss.

“Oh Gods! Nico, I'm sorry.”

“It's okay,” I whisper, my fingers still on my lips.

“I'll leave!”

“No!” I'm shaken out of my daze as he stands up. I reach for him and catch his wrist, and gods I'm blushing so hard. “Stay,” I clear my throat which has suddenly gone very dry. “I mean, only if you want to.”

He looks petrified but eventually nods and sits back down next to me, both our backs against the foot of Hazel’s bed. I don't notice I'm still holding his wrist until I  realize that the loud thumping I feel beneath my fingers is his racing heartbeat. In my own moment of bravery I intertwine my fingers with his.

It's easy to forget what Annabeth told us when I'm willing my palms not to sweat and when my lips can't stop tingling.

**********

We should've left Percy's cabin a while ago. I'm pretty sure he just missed his sword fighting class and Malcolm must be waiting by the climbing wall for me, but neither one of us moves from his bed. It's only a couple degrees cooler inside the cabin and the combination of summer weather and the heat from Percy's body against mine is making me drowsy. I trace circles on his chest absentminded until he catches my hand. “If you keep doing that I'm definitely going to fall asleep.”

I stop. “Sorry.”

“S’okay.”

I sigh and will my entire body to disentangle itself from Percy. He catches my arm as my feet touch the floor. “We can't just stay here,” I tell him, “they're probably already looking for us.”

He groans and hugs me from behind, placing a small kiss on my neck then burrowing his face on my shoulder. “If they wanted to find us, they'd know where to look. Let's just stay here a little while.”

It's tempting, so tempting to just stay here inside our bubble and ignore everything else. “We can't. Percy…”

“What?”

“We can't just act like what just happened didn't happen.”

“Why not?”

I turn so I can properly glare at him. “Why?! This changes everything!”

“No, it doesn't.” I want to argue. I want him to be annoyed by me and roll his eyes at what I have to say. I want to yell and have him yell back. But all my anger melts away when he tucks a strand of loose hair behind my ear. “We’re still graduating. We're still going to college. You're still going to design a whole city for our camp.” I only told him a few days ago about my ideas for New Athens. “Our plans are still there, Annabeth.”

“They won't ever leave us alone.”

He pulls me closer to him. I could almost count all the different shades of greens and blues in his eyes. “They don't matter.” He kisses me, first on the lips then down my jaw, all the way to my collarbone. It's hard to to focus on the bleak aspects of life when you can feel Percy Jackson’s warm breath against your chest. He pulls me back down into the bed so we're facing each other. After a while he says: “You're staring at me.” I am. He's taking this whole mess too well, his features look completely calm.“Stooop,” he whines.

“Are you blushing?”

“What? No,” he totally is, “it's just really hot in here.”

I laugh at the duality of Percy Jackson. One second he's peppering you with kisses, the next he's embarrassed if you stare too long at his face. I'm so happy in this moment it's scary. He probably notices the shift in my eyes and his smile melts away. Why is he so calm about this? We seemed to be on the same page as me a while ago in Nico’s cabin. Thalia even mentioned they fought earlier!

He presses him forehead against mine. “Stop thinking.”

But I can't. All I can think about are Chiron’s sad eyes as he said sorry and the million possible enemies we’ll have to face and how I just can't anymore. “I can't.”

His lips are against my ear now. “I know, Annabeth. I hate it too. But I'm not giving up now.”

I turn around and kiss him again. I kiss him because just now he sounded terrified, because he's probably been freaking out about this since Thalia showed up and he hasn't let it ruin a single moment with me. I kiss him because I wish I wasn't so powerless and actually had a say in my own life. And he kisses me back because he feels it too.

“Hey,” he says after a while, breaking away from the kiss, suddenly looking nervous, “I have to tell you something. It's not bad,” he adds quickly. Slowly his smile comes back and he looks straight at me and we're both twelve and jittery again. “My mom’s-” he lets out a shaky, embarrassed laugh as tears pool in his eyes- “she's pregnant Annabeth!”

All my drowsiness melts away immediately. I sit up and start saying something but falter and all that comes out is something between a shriek and a gasp. And I'm crying and so is he, but we're also laughing and if someone were to walk in on us now we’d probably look insane.

I look back at him once again, and it hits me. I rush forwards and take his face in my hands, searching. I search the bags beneath his eyes and the brand new sun freckles above his nose. I search in the one slightly crooked front tooth as he gapes at me in confusion through his tears, and in the spot on his left eyebrow that always looks messy.

I search and search, but I never find it. And maybe that darkness comes back when Thalia pushes too hard, or in the middle of the night when we realize our nightmares are actually memories. Or when we realize that the wars will never stop.

But right now Percy’s going to be an older brother again.

Right now, we're nothing but light.

*******

EPILOGUE

It took Percy Jackson two hours to convince the cops not to tow his car (with heavy help from a few tricks Hazel had taught him on how to control The Mist) and another hour to wedge the Prius out from the two trees he'd swerved into, all while being slowed down by his constant sneezing. He finally caught his breath as he rested his hands on his knees and admired his handy work. Both car doors were heavily scratched and the one on the driver’s side had a dent from where Percy banged it against the tree trunk as he tried to open it, he'd also busted a headlight and the mirror that'd been on Meg’s side lay pathetically on the floor. Yeah, he was definitely grounded. He checked his watch even though the dark sky already let him know he was very late indeed. With a sigh he opened the door and sat behind the wheel. His head had started to throb and he let out final sneeze before he put the keys in the ignition and attempted to start the car. “C’mon,” he grumbled, placing his forehead against the wheel as he turned the keys a second time. It took him another two tries but he finally managed to start the car.

As he drove back to his apartment, stuck in traffic and painfully congested, he tried to convince himself that he's denial to get involved in whatever trouble Apollo was going to cause was going to hold up. It wasn't working. For the first time in seven months he allowed himself to think about what Annabeth had told them inside Nico’s cabin. The Oracle. An enemy so strong they'd coordinated the last two wars.

He thought he'd have more time.

When he finally made it to the apartment it was almost midnight. The combination of his head cold and the guilt at making his extremely pregnant mother worry were enough to make him hesitate at the door, but he finally turned the key and pushed his way into the dimly lit apartment.

Sally Jackson was wearing the same tye-dye dress she'd wore earlier in the day when she prepared snacks for Apollo and Meg McCaffrey, Paul was sitting beside her in the kitchen.

“Mom, I'm so-” he was interrupted mid-way by a sneeze followed by a groan.

“Oh Percy! What happened now?” In a second she was right beside him guiding him into an armchair and heating up the kettle. Before he could explain further he was wrapped in a blanket, a warm mug of tea in his hands.

“It's fine, Mom. It's just a cold.” She didn't look any less worried, making Percy's guilt flash back. “I'm sorry. I was in a field and there wasn't any signal. Plus, I couldn't even get to my phone because these dumb cops-”

Paul raised a hand and stopped him right there. “What about the cops? Percy, did you get arrested?”

“What? No! They just wanted to tow the car.”

Sally brought her hand to her hip in a very motherly way. “Perseus Jackson you'd better not have crashed that car!”

Percy winced as he remembered the scratches on the door. He looked towards Paul but thankfully he seemed more concerned about his stepson and Sally getting worked up than whatever damage was done to his vehicle. “Cut him some slack, Sal. Clearly, it wasn't his fault.”

Sally sighed and slumped back down onto the chair she'd been sitting on before. “I know, I know. I'm sorry. I was just so worried, Percy!”

“I know. I'm sorry, Mom. Things just got out of control.” She went back to looking worried. Her son had inherited her habit of knitting her eyebrows together when they worried. “But I dropped them off now. It's okay.” Even though he didn't know for sure it wasn't true, Percy still felt like he was lying. And he hated lying to his Mom, but she'd already stayed up so long and she looked exhausted. “Let's just all go to bed, okay?”

She looked at her son and then at Paul, finally surrendering and nodding as she absentmindedly rubbed her swollen belly. Before she went to her room she kissed Percy on his temple and placed the back of her hand against his forehead. He rolled his eyes and once again reassured her he'd be fine. He didn't pull away when she hugged him tightly to her though, after being away from her for almost a year he didn't mind her fussing over him.

He said goodnight to Paul and his stepfather patted his shoulder, following his wife down the hall to their bedroom.

Once they were gone Percy stayed on the armchair and finished his tea, debating whether or not he should try to Iris Message Annabeth and if she'd even answer. He finally got up and rinsed his mug at the sink with one hand and held the blanket atop his shoulders in place with the other. He groggily made his way to his bedroom and practically fell face first onto his mattress, groaning as the pounding in his head increased. Maybe calling Annabeth could wait until the next morning.

He was just starting to fall asleep when his phone buzzed in his pocket (now it decided to work?). It was only for emergencies which meant very few people had his number and most of them could've easily Iris Messaged him. He reached into his jeans and pulled it out, squinting at the brightness. It was Annabeth. He propped himself on his elbow and picked up. “Hey. I almost Iris Messaged you just now. What's up?”

“Sorry! Did I wake you up?”

“No, I just got here actually.”

He could hear her pause at the other end of the line. “How come? Why do you sound weird?”

“I got a cold.” Another sneeze overtook him to further confirm his statement. “Oh and...Apollo came by.”

“The god Apollo? What? He hasn't been seen for months?” They both had had their suspicions as to why. Now, Apollo had confirmed it for Percy. Zeus had finally chosen who to blame.

“Yeah, well he's mortal now apparently. We're the same clothe size.” Percy could almost see her pinching the bridge of her nose and starting to pace inside whatever Boston hotel she was staying at. “Any luck with your cousin?”

She sighed and let out a stressed out little laugh. “Oh yeah he's fine. He died, but he's taking it rather well, all things considered.”

“What?!” Percy silently cursed and peered out his door to make sure he hadn't woken up his parents. “What do you mean died?” He shout-whispered into the phone.

“It's okay he was resurrected in Valhalla!” Annabeth sounded like she knew she was crazy and had made her peace with it.

“Man, crazy day huh?”

She laughed, properly now. “Yeah! What's new?”

They both stayed quiet for a little while, neither one eager to break the silence because they knew what came next. Percy was eager to get inside his bed and take a ten hour nap, but he knew he wouldn't sleep much that night. “When are you coming back?” They couldn't slack off on their training now. Percy almost missed his worry towards the SAT that morning.

“Tomorrow.”

She sounded quite crestfallen but he knew it wasn't about leaving Boston. “Hey,” he tried, his throat was getting sore, “we won't get involved until it's totally necessary, right? They might not even need us.”

One could still hope.

There was some static ruffling from her side of the line and then a deep sigh. “Right. Okay. See you soon.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you.”

[percyjacksonfan3]

Finding Home (Part Ten)

Part One: http://percyjacksonfan3.tumblr.com/post/164310003982/finding-home

Part Two: http://percyjacksonfan3.tumblr.com/post/164310003982/finding-home-part-two

Part Three: http://percyjacksonfan3.tumblr.com/post/164310003982/finding-home-part-three

Part Four: http://percyjacksonfan3.tumblr.com/post/164310003982/finding-home-part-four

Part Five:  http://percyjacksonfan3.tumblr.com/post/164310003982/finding-home-part-fiive

Part Six: http://percyjacksonfan3.tumblr.com/post/164310003982/finding-home-part-six

Part Seven: http://percyjacksonfan3.tumblr.com/post/164310003982/finding-home-part-seven

Part Eight: http://percyjacksonfan3.tumblr.com/post/164310003982/finding-home-part-eight

Part Nine: http://percyjacksonfan3.tumblr.com/post/164310003982/finding-home-part-nine

The giant claps gleefully. “Is he dead? The poison acts fast, really he should have died minutes ago.”

No one speaks. They’re all staring at Annabeth, hunched over Percy, hands cradling his face, pressing into his torso, her voice begging him to open his eyes, to say something, to look at her.

Percy doesn’t move.

“It had to be done.” The giant says, and now his tone is almost regretful. “Quite the demigod you see, much too dangerous to be left alive. And after everything he saw and heard in the last couple of days… I couldn’t risk it, you understand?”

Everything happens quickly.

Hazel staggers to her feet, holds her hands out, mutters an incantation and suddenly the demigods can move again.

Jason absolutely lunges for the giant, rage contorting his features. He slashes once, twice, deep gashes that makes Aristaeus howl and brandish his axe but Jason parries and keeps pressing forward, so lethal the giant backs up.

The Chimera moves to protect it’s master but then Leo is there, withstanding the fire, taking it, molding it to suit his needs and throwing it back at the monster. The boys move together effortlessly, covering each other’s weaknesses and Jason summons winds made of fire, throwing it at the giant.

Meanwhile Hazel is bringing every spell the giant ever wrought down. Every ward on the cave, every glamour, every mind trick is gone, and she notices a mortal lying unconscious just inside the cave walls.

She silently wills the mortal to stay that way until this is all over. It will be safer for her that way.

Frank begins to groan and Hazel looks at him, seeing him start to move.

She doesn’t stop speaking but she does back up, keeping an eye on her best friend, the boy she’s loved for months.

Annabeth looks at Piper as soon as Leo moves away from where he was standing near Percy. “You saved Jason. Come save Percy.”

Piper looks stricken. “Annabeth-”

“You brought him back to life after he saw Hera’s true form, you told me!” Annabeth’s voice is wild, almost a yell. “Do it for Percy! Bring him back too!”

Piper’s running over, coming to a halt beside Annabeth and Percy’s bleeding body.

She swallows the bile in her throat. Percy’s blood, still wet, likely still warm, is covering Annabeth’s hands.

“I don’t know if-”

“Try!” Annabeth demands, and Piper, not knowing what else to do, does.

oooOOOooo

“Nephew.”

Percy’s eyes fly open.

Hades’ oily face looks back at him.

Percy promptly vomits all over Hades’ throne room floor.

Or he tries. He dry-heaves, but nothing escapes his stomach. When he tries to breathe he feels his body move, but there’s no relief, no feeling, from the action.

Percy looks down and sees he’s hovering about an inch above the floor.

He walks, or tries to, and instead just manages to float a little closer to his uncle, who’s seated on his throne carelessly. Ceremonial robes with faces of the tortured souls on it is his fashion choice of the day, and Percy is reminded strongly of the first time they’d met.

That meeting hadn’t ended well.

Hades sighs. “You're dead. Really, why does everybody who arrives here act like a newborn trying to walk for the first time?”

Percy looks at him, not comprehending the words. “Dead?”

He thinks back, tries to remember what had happened. It takes him a few seconds of Hades’ scrutiny, but eventually he manages it.

“No, no, no…” He looks at Hades desperately. “No, I can’t be-”

“Finally caught on, have you?” Hades doesn’t sound the least bit interested. “Thank Zeus. No, thank me. Usually it takes more blubbering and dramatic staring off into the distance for memories to return.”

“There’s a giant,” Percy says, mind racing. “My friends need help-”

Hades waves a hand dismissively. “I am well aware.”

“Then help them!” Percy shouts, trying to stomp a foot but not managing to do anything other than kick some air. Skeleton guards appear from nowhere and Hades look down his nose to meet his eyes, thoroughly unimpressed by his temper tantrum. “They need a god-”

“I do not see why I need intervene more than I already intend to.” Hades says, looking at his cuticles with pursed lips.

“More than you- what are you talking about?” Percy asks him.

Hades raises an oily eyebrow, finally meeting his gaze steadily. “You are not in Charon’s lobby. You are not in the lines of judgement. You are not standing before three judges being tried, nor are you standing before me on trial. Have you come up with no reason for this? Does it not seem odd to you? Dead souls generally don’t all end up in my throne room, demigod.”

Percy looks at him dumbly. Really, he hadn’t even thought to wonder about why he was here, it’s not like he was an expert on death. “Umm…”

Hades rolls his eyes in disgust. “Honestly,” he says scathingly. “Do you know how much I dislike you, nephew? I would love to see you sentenced to working on castle construction for eternity, or working at the admittance gates- what a miserable job that would be- but that will have to wait.

“What do you mean?” He’s really trying not to get his hopes up, but…

“You’re not staying. As much as I love the pleasure of your company, there are some,” Hades sneers, “who have requested- no, demanded- that I allow you to leave. So when your friend calls you back I am letting you answer her call.”

“Demanded I leave?” Percy asks. “Who-”

Hades gives him a long suffering look. “You want me to list them all? Not a chance. Just know you have some very powerful, very unexpected allies. Immortals I never would have pegged for being on your side.”

Hades waves a hand. “Now go. Even being in your presence this long exhausts me. You have a giant to fight and a much more horrendous death years ahead of you.”

Percy’s mouth falls open. “You’re letting me come back from the dead?”

“Letting you?” Hades scoffs. “Demigod, I am ordering you. Get out of here. I don’t want the Underworld to suffer from your presence before the Fates deem it necessary.”

“But-”

“Goodbye, Perseus. Consider this the last favour I ever do for you.”

oooOOOooo

Next time Percy opens his eyes it’s Athena standing in front of him, on the edge of a grassy hill overlooking an ocean. Sun glares down on them and Percy thinks this must be a dream because the landscape looks suspiciously like Greece. He might even see Athens in the distance.

She turns to him. “Don’t make me regret it,” is all she says before she’s gone.

He blinks and he’s in Apollo’s sun chariot. “I heard you, kid.” The god grins. “Now go kick some butt for me, will you?”

When the words sink in, Percy’s at Camp Half-Blood, in front of the fire, and Hestia is sitting cross legged in the flames. Homesickness fills him faster than the Chimera’s poison did as she smiles warmly at him. “You belong home, Percy.”

When he draws in his next breath there’s Hermes, standing outside the house of May Castellan, looking wistfully at the house but never going in. “You’re a good kid.” Hermes says, never looking away from the house. George and Martha are silent around the caduceus. “It was Luke’s time, up on Olympus. Yours is still to come.”

Next is Hephaestus who’s in a forge, banging on some sort of blade. He pauses enough to look up. “Ares didn’t want you to live,” the blacksmith shrugs. “That was good enough for me.”

Artemis follows. She’s staring up at the sky and from where she is, it’s night and they’re sitting on the edge of a cliff. Percy follows her line of sight to be greeted by the view of Zoe Nightshade’s huntress constellation, eternal up in the stars. “It would be a shame,” Artemis says, “to lose one of the only men I can stand. You could still teach my brother a thing or two. Besides,” she looks at him, and she’s not in her preferred twelve year old form, she’s in the form she adopts for council meetings and serious matters. “My Lieutenant says you owe her cheeseburgers. It wouldn’t do to let a debt go unpaid.”

Percy’s confusion morphs into reluctance when he’s greeted by Aphrodite laying on a white chaise lounge. He really tries to meet her eyes, given that she’s scantily clad in a sheer white dress. “Your love story isn’t over yet,” she sniffles, dabbing at her eyes. “And Annabeth was just so sad!”

He can’t say anything before he’s whisked away and greeted by Ares.

For some reason he can speak now. “I thought you-”

“You don’t even want to know what Aphrodite’s giving me for this,” the god of war says grinning wickedly, right before he punches Percy in the face.

He feels the pain briefly, but it’s gone by the time he’s standing before Hera in the middle of a garden. She looks over at him and purses her lips. “It wasn’t for you or the silly blonde girl, I can tell you that,” she sniffs, right before he’s whisked away to stand in the throne room of Olympus.

The sight of Zeus, full sized and looming from where he’s sitting on his throne, greets him.

Percy would bow but he really doesn’t feel like it. Instead he just stands and looks at the King of the Gods, who frowns down at him for a few moments in silence.

He’d blame the rudeness on his very recent, very sudden death but really it’s because he just didn’t feel like it.

“Every single member of my family vouched for you, and many outside as well.” Zeus looks troubled and furious in equal measure. “Even I cannot go against the Fates. Don’t mess it up.”

Finally, the next time his eyes open Percy feels more permanently settled.

He looks around and realizes; he’s in the water just in front of the cabin he and his mom always rented at Montauk.

Floating on his back in the water just beside Percy is his father.

“Dad?” Percy whispers and he’s ashamed when tears fill his eyes. “I haven’t seen you since-”

“We killed that nasty giant in Greece,” Poseidon’s eyes met Percy’s, and neither his Hawaiian shirt, nor khaki shorts seemed to be wet from floating on the waves. Poseidon’s voice is as gentle as his facial expression. “I would have stayed longer but you know how my brother gets. He was especially grumpy that day.”

Percy blinked strongly, the tears receding as quickly as they’d come and lays down on his back beside him.

“Am I still dead?” He asks, looking up at the blue sky. Clouds drift past, the water is cool against his back and Percy sees the cabin tucked away on the beach.

Peace settles over him.

Poseidon hummed at the question. “Technically, though that’s soon to change. Your friend, Piper, is calling you back right now. Can you hear her?”

Percy concentrated, trying to hear anything except the waves against the shore and his father’s breathing.

“No.”

Poseidon looked thoughtfully up at the sky, eyes tracking a seagull overhead. “You will.”

Percy turned to look at him, keeping the water away from his face subconsciously. “Why am I seeing you? All of the gods. Am I hallucinating?”

“Are you?” Poseidon looked surprised, but there was a twinkle in his eyes that made Percy think he knew more than he let on. “It’s not a hallucination. Funny, isn’t it, how many of us are willing to stick our necks out for you.”

Percy closed his eyes. “I thought they hated me.”

“Many do.”

Percy chooses to not think about that. It will save him a headache, he’s sure. “I don’t deserve it.”

When he opens them his father is watching him intently. “Believe me, son,” Poseidon says quietly. “You do.”

“You said you were sorry I was born,” Percy says past the lump in his throat, sitting up on the water. “The first time we met, you said you wished I hadn’t been born because I had a hero’s destiny and that it was full of sadness and pain. Was this it?”

Poseidon’s eyes turned sad. “Even I can’t see the future, Percy. I know snippets, as Hermes did with Luke.” He lifted a hand to rest heavily on Percy’s shoulder. “I saw your death, yes. I never foresaw all of the immortals coming together to argue it, nor did I ever know the Fates themselves would overturn it, mending a snipped string.”

Percy’s mouth fell open and Poseidon nodded. “Perhaps your mother named you aptly after all,” he said, his eyes moving past Percy to stare sadly at the beach and the cabin sitting there.

Percy closed his mouth, new questions occurring to him. “Do you come here? In real life I mean?”

Poseidon looked at him sharply before his features softened. “In real life,” he mused as if amused by the question. “Sometimes.” He answered softly. “Not as much as I used to, and not as much as I would like. But sometimes.” His eyes looked over Percy, making him shift uncomfortably. “I am- so proud of you, son.”

The lump in Percy’s throat grew. “Thanks, dad.” He whispered.

He started when a new voice reached him, breaking the moment. “Percy,” Piper was saying, and he looked up, trying to pinpoint the voice’s location. It echoed in his ears. “Percy, come back. Please. Wake up!”

Poseidon smiled at him again as if hearing the voice too. “You will need a god when you go back,” he said seriously. “Remember, son, that I am always looking over you. And that almost three quarters of the earth is water.”

Percy opened his mouth to ask but Poseidon spoke first.

“And congratulate your mother for me when you see her again.” Poseidon looked at the cabin once more, the timeless grief that all gods seemed to share etched in his features.

“Percy, Annabeth needs you. Come back.” Piper’s voice is stronger this time, and Percy feels like something grips his heart and stomach inside of him only to give a powerful yank.

Poseidon winked at him and then was gone.

oooOOOooo

Percy woke up with a gasp.

He sucked in air greedily, sparing a thought to anticipate the familiar pain in his ribs and feeling nothing. He breathes again and still nothing hurts.

Feeling the air go down his throat to his lungs and out again. Feeling warm hands on him, hearing Piper’s gasp and mutter of, “Oh my gods,” and seeing Annabeth over him, hair hanging down from her ponytail, grey eyes locked on his. “Seaweed Brain?”

Percy smiled at her crookedly. “Turns out I’m not that easy to kill.”

Annabeth gives a half-laugh-half-sob and throws herself at him. Percy grips back tight, holding her against him and tucking his face into her neck, breathing deeply once more.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, and her grip tightens to be almost painful.

“Never do that again.” She says brokenly before her voice steadies itself. “Piper might not be around next time and then I’d have to go to the Underworld, like Orpheus. You think I’d let you get away so easy? We’re staying together, remember?”

“I promise.” He replied gently, knowing deep in his bones that Annabeth isn’t bluffing. He knows because he would do the same for her.

He lets her go and grabs Riptide from where it lays beside him on the ground. He used the sword to stand up, half expecting his legs to collapse under him. When they didn’t he looked at Annabeth who was watching him from the ground and grinned.

Piper’s eyes are shiny with tears as she slowly creeps forward. “Percy, you were dead, oh my gods…”

He opens his arms just in time for her hug, feeling the newly found air in his lungs whoosh out at the force of her embrace. “Thanks, Pipes.” He says, and she lets out a strangled laugh of disbelief before backing away slightly.

He turned away, his dad’s words ringing in his ears. “Be ready.” He warns, looking to the giant.

While it seems like a lifetime had passed- which, Percy supposed, his had- there was still a giant and a Chimera to fight. Still enemies, which had taken the wrath of Jason, Leo and Hazel, but still stood standing.

Jason was lying on his back, fear written across his face, gladius feet away from his splayed hand, as Aristaeus advanced towards him. Percy looked at Leo and saw him once again try to summon a fireball only to have it sputter out as the Chimera looked like it was almost grinning while it prowled towards him. Hazel was panting, pale and sweaty as she murmured beside Frank, but her voice never faltered and her focus never wavered from the giant. Frank was still unconscious.

Aristaeus stopped moving towards Jason as he caught sight of Percy.

“Impossible!” He said as Percy stumbled towards him, Riptide in hand. “I felt you die!”

Jason’s head turned to look at Percy and a grin split his face. Percy was surprised at the strength of the reaction because he and Jason had never been that close, not really, but for a moment Percy allowed himself to believe that maybe in the future they could.

Leo laughed, backing away from the Chimera long enough to meet Percy’s eyes. “Did you have a secret cure for death too”

Percy’s smile twitched at his lips but he was distracted by a light touch on his arm.

“Percy, what are you...” Annabeth started, and he looked over and met her eyes as he felt her grasp both of his arms in support. “You’re too weak.” She said, eyes searching his, trying to silently ask what he was doing. “Percy, he’ll kill you.”

“Hold your breath,” Percy told her again before closing his eyes and ignoring the giant’s confusion and fear completely.

Three quarters of the earth was water.

Percy feels that familiar tug in his gut, he lifts his hands, curling his fingers in a come hither gesture. He’s filled with rage, he has been for a while now, and when Percy taps into it, using it to help fuel his powers, he realizes he can’t find the bottom.

When he opens his eyes Aristaeus’ axe’s blade has fallen to the ground, the handle gripped loosely in his hand as the monster turns to look at the tops of the trees, wide eyed.

Percy silently prays that Hazel can keep the giant’s magic at bay long enough just as the wave crests over the treetops and surges into the clearing.

He clenches his hands, containing the water to the clearing alone, remembering the mortal in the cave, and he makes air bubbles around his friends as the water from the Mississippi River rushes towards Aristaeus.

Percy surrounds himself with it, feeling it surge past him without knocking him off his feet. A sudden rush of energy fills him and Percy pushes the water forward, looking around to see the air pockets he’d wanted surrounding each of his friends.

The water is like a tidal wave when it finally reaches Aristaeus and the giant doesn’t stand a chance. He’s bowled over by the force of it, falling to the ground and the water is like chains, criss-crossing the giant, holding his arms and legs in place, making him powerless to move.

Percy stops pulling from the river, allowing the liquid around his friends to fall and flow away, soaking into the ground and creating little rivers and tributaries to stream between the trees. Aristaeus is laying flat on his back and Percy moves to stand overtop of him, walking across his chest and standing with Riptide poised at the giant’s heart.

“You can’t.” Aristaeus’ voice is a croak. His eyes betray him, flickering with fear. “You can’t kill me.”

Percy tightens the water’s hold on him. He’s tempted, for a moment, to draw the water from Aristaeus’ very pores out of him, to leave him a wrinkled and shrivelled husk. It would be so easy, too, that’s the worst thing, Percy doubts he would really care to remember in the long run if he did so. Just another death by his hand.

He’s lost count of how many people and monsters he’s killed.

It would be so easy to torture Aristaeus. Easy to prolong his agony through death but Percy finds he’s just too exhausted.

“After everything… You can’t kill me,” Aristaeus says again brokenly, and Percy’s resolve hardens.

“I can.” Percy replies steadily. “And I will.”

“You hate the gods,” Aristaeus says and his tone is honest confusion. “More than any of the others you despise them. You’ve tortured them in the past. Yet you are their fiercest protector. Why?”

Percy swallows, remembering Akhlys. It had taken him months to come to terms with what he’d been capable of doing to her down in Tartarus; to come to terms with everything he’d wanted to do to her.

But he had.

Long ago Percy accepted that he didn’t agree with most of the gods and the things they did. He couldn’t silently go along with them ignoring their kids and wreaking havoc only to leave others to clean up their messes.

But his dad was a god.

He knew all of the gods made mistakes. He’s suffered from many of the most recent ones himself.

Percy made mistakes too. Akhlys, Bob, Damasen, Calypso, Luke, Ethan, the manipulations, the pain.

He was mortal and he made mistakes.

So did the gods. Just like mortals. The only difference was that they had an eternity to keep making mistakes, and the power to do it on a much grander scale. Percy finds he can’t fault them just for being gods. It’s what they are, how most of them were born. Every mistake and consequence is a result of that.

And they’d saved him. Granted, he’d saved them more times than he could count which evened out the scales, but the gods had brought him back. He hadn’t expected it- the thought had never crossed his mind that they even could- especially when so many of them hadn’t seemed to care one bit whether he lived or died any other time.

Percy glanced over at Annabeth to see her standing and watching him closely. Her blade was in hand, her ponytail was a mess and her grey eyes somehow still had a sparkle in them, her mouth hinted at the ghost of a smile. The relief was still evident on her face and his heart swelled with love.

The gods had brought him back to her. He had to be grateful for that. That had to prove something about them.

“I believe they can change,” Percy answered Aristaeus, feeling the breeze around him pick up and he moved with it, by lifting Riptide a little higher. “Which is more than I can say for you.”

Percy felt power fill the clearing and run just across his skin, and the smell of ocean, of salt water and a coastline breeze, filled his senses.

Arion whinnied and Percy saw a bright green glow surround the horse’s injured ankle. His eyes were caught by Frank who was surrounded by the same thing, and when it faded the blood coating his friend’s skin was gone. Percy looked at Riptide, which was glowing green as well; the same colour that had surrounded Frank, the same colour, Percy remembered, that he had seen fade from around him when he’d fought the Chimera a couple of nights ago.

The Chimera that was currently yelping in pain, drawing all eyes towards it, before it went on to dissolve into golden dust.

Aristaeus’ expression morphed into one of genuine fear at the sight of the glowing sword. “No!” He rumbled, the vibration running up Percy’s legs at the exclamation. “The gods cannot interfere-”

It was the last thing Aristaeus said. Percy brought Riptide down sharply and Aristaeus dissolved, his howl echoing throughout the clearing as Percy was left down on one knee amidst a pile of sand. The smell of saltwater fades as the sand is gently blown away, scattered across of the surface of the earth.

It’s quiet for a couple of minutes, the only thing Percy hears is his own heavy breathing. All of his injuries may have disappeared, but he did just die and come back to life only to kill a giant minutes later. He felt like he deserved a short time out.

A hand slid up from the small of his back to rest between his shoulder blades and Percy tensed before realizing it was Annabeth.

“Hey,” her other hand pushed some of his hair back from his forehead and he looked up to meet her eyes, which were glistening. He blinked and realized his own were slightly damp.

“Hi.” He said back, soaking in the fact that she was standing in front of him, alive and relatively unharmed.

They were both alive. It was over. He could go home.

A sound escaped him, a choked and strangled sound, and Annabeth’s expression immediately softened before she settled down to kneel  in front of him. “Come here,” she murmured, and Percy felt another sob escape him just as she pulled him to rest against her.

Riptide fell forgotten to the ground and Percy’s arms came up shaking. He wrapped them around Annabeth and brought her closer, taking full advantage of the fact that they were alive, they were together and for the moment, they were safe. They had all the time in the world.

“Annabeth,” he gasps. He doesn’t say anything else, just her name, but it’s enough and she understands because she just grips him tighter and keeps running her fingers through his hair.

“Shh,” she says gently. “I’m right here.”

He loves her for that. The way she doesn’t say it’s okay, or thank the gods that they’re both still alive. She doesn’t say anything like that, she just reassures him that yes, they’re still together. They beat this just like they’ve beaten everything else and somehow, miraculously, despite the odds and the fact that, by all logical reasoning, they shouldn’t be, they are together.

Annabeth repeats the most important thing, the most comforting thing she could have possibly said to him at that moment. “I’m right here, Percy. I’ve got you.”

He lets himself fall completely against her

oooOOOooo

Afterwards, when Piper and Jason have embraced, and Hazel has checked Frank over and seen that his injuries are completely healed, when Leo goes in and finds the mortal still unconscious and unharmed, they all slump to the ground in exhaustion at once. Leo sits beside Festus, the woman beside him, picking up loose pieces of metal, stroking a hand over what used to be a golden dragon’s head.

"Let's take a vacation," Piper says suddenly. "I think we all deserve a couple of weeks. I'm feeling Paris, personally. Or London."

Leo looks up. "London, please. Paris is too mushy, and we all know what a romantic you are Beauty-Queen."

Piper scoffs and goes to give a sharp retort but Frank groans, making all of them look over at him.

Annabeth and Hazel hover over the son of Mars and Percy looks at them. "How is he?"

"We have enough ambrosia to keep him stable for now but he needs to get medical attention." Hazel looks up and meets his eyes. "I want someone to check him, make sure he’s really healed."

Arion whinnies and nuzzles Frank's shoulder, surprising Percy. He has enough tact not to say anything. Now is not the time for that horse to start cussing.

He looks over at Jason. "So what they're saying is, we need rides."

Jason's brow scrunches together in confusion for a second before his face clears and he grins at Percy. "Whoever gets them here first makes the other debrief Mr. D."

"You're on," Percy says, ignoring the confused looks from the others and Piper's exasperated eye roll before he closes his eyes and concentrates.

Luckily Blackjack answers.

He swoops down, wings flapping, and Percy grins up at him, clambering to his feet. "Hey buddy, long time no see."

Boy am I happy to see you, Blackjack answers him straight away, annoyance and exasperation obvious in his tone. Porkpie here has been getting ideas boss, about who's in charge in the stables. I keep trying to tell him that after you there's a certain rank-

He's a tyrant, Porkpie chimes in from where he's nuzzling Annabeth. Those two seem to have developed quite the bond. First dibs on donuts all of the time-

The horse that pulls the most weight gets first pick-

"Enough, guys, can we figure this out at Camp?" Percy interrupts, and both horses turn to him with an unimpressed look, almost as if they were raising an eyebrow.

Which was very strange because horses didn't even have eyebrows.

Tempest appears seconds later after a quick drop in air pressure and the distinct smell of ozone follows him. Percy shoots a grin at Jason who just sighs in defeat.

Hazel and Annabeth are already moving to lift up Frank.

"Which of them will be able to handle him better?" Hazel asks Percy and he doesn't have time to respond before Blackjack sticks his neck forward, prancing up to Hazel and preening before her eyes.

Hazel stifles a laugh. "I guess that answers that."

Percy grins at the girl's amused faces and moves forward, helping to hoist Frank onto Blackjack, careful of his wound. "Blackjack could carry three-"

"I'll go on, Arion." Hazel says. "His ankle looks better..." She trails off and Percy glances at the horse in question. Whatever magic Percy's father had swept through the clearing seems to have cured the Chimera's bite and Arion looked just as impatient as ever. "But I don't want to put too much weight on him until we know for sure. Camp Half-Blood?" She finishes.

Annabeth nods. "It's closer."

Jason and Piper settle onto Tempest's back. "Leo?" Jason calls and Leo looks up again from Festus.

Leo's face clouds over. "With enough parts- if I could get all the metal I need I could fix him."

Annabeth looks at him sadly. "Leo."

"I fixed him before." Leo says stubbornly. "Maybe if I stay I could at least figure out what I need."

"Leo," Piper slips down from Tempest to walk over and kneel beside him. "Frank needs help now."

"You guys could go-"

"We're not leaving you here." Jason trots Tempest over to them, voice allowing no argument.

Leo swallows, looking back down at his automaton. "I can't just leave him here."

Piper places one hand on Leo's shoulder, another on his cheek. "We'll come back for him."

Hazel's voice rings clear. "All of us will."

Percy nods at Leo's inquiring gaze and he watches as the son of Hephaestus catches sight of Frank and nods. "Okay."

He pulls away from Piper and stands up, still looking at Festus. "Don't worry buddy," and Percy didn’t comment on the break in his voice. "You'll be whole before you know it."

Then he visibly gathers himself and turns towards the four horses. "So how are we doing this?" He asks, gesturing towards the woman.

“You said she’s okay?” Percy asked Leo.

He nodded. “I think she’ll wake up eventually… I didn’t do anything to knock her out when I took her, Aristaeus did something and I just found her…” He trails off, face clouded. “If Hazel just takes her back to the town I could tell you where I- where did I find her?” Leo trails off to mutter to himself and Hazel frowns before walking over to him and the woman.

She snaps her fingers and the woman wakes up in a jolt. Her hair is in disarray, her clothes are wrinkled and dirty and her face is flushed.

She looks around and screams, scrambling back straight into Leo’s legs.

The woman shrieks again and stands up, taking in her surroundings.

Percy wonders what she sees. The horses probably just look like regular horses to her, but what about the mess of metal that was Festus? What about their weapons? Do they look like guns? It had happened before.

“Where am I? Who are you people?” The woman gulps. “What am I doing here? Please don’t kill me. I’ll give you money, seriously, anything you want-”

Hazel moves a little closer and the woman pales. “What are you- you’re just kids, she’s coloured just like me, how can you all commit these- these hate crimes-”

Percy frowns trying to make sense of what she’s talking about but it’s Hazel who puts it together.

“We’re not going to hurt you, please don’t panic.” Hazel looks stricken. “I promise. We- we-”

Annabeth jumps in. “We’re a camping group,” she says, moving closer to get into the woman’s line of sight. “We’re learning horseback riding- well, we’re the more advanced group, and we all know how to ride, so the counsellors let us go on a little run as long as we promised to stick together.”

The woman looks at their horses before meeting Annabeth’s eyes again, eyes wide.

“We found you here, so it should really be us asking you why you’re out here all alone.”

The stranger looks around, meeting each of their eyes. Percy tries to smile.

“I don’t know. I was in bed, last I remember.”

“Maybe you sleepwalked?” Percy asks her and then he cringes, because it takes hours to walk from the town to here.

“I- I guess so?” She looks confused.

“Listen,” Piper hunches down in front of her. “How about you let my friend here take you home,” she gestures to Hazel, “and then you can get to work or- or your family.”

All eyes zero in on her wedding ring and the woman nods. “If- if you wouldn’t mind. Actually could I borrow one of your cell phones?” She pats herself down. “I don’t seem to have mine.”

Annabeth has a hand out before she’s done talking, cell phone in hand. “Of course.”

The woman gets up and dusts herself off, looking at them all warily once more before dialling and walking a little bit away. Percy hears her say the name “Marshall” and “I don’t know, but some campers are bringing me home, it shouldn’t take more than- hold on,” she covers the mouthpiece. “How far away from home am I? How long will it take to get back?”

Hazel shrugs. “If we go on horseback, then about half an hour? 45 minutes tops?”

The woman nods and goes back to speaking while Hazel turns to look at Piper. “Why am I the one bringing her home?”

“Blackjack has Frank,” Piper points out. “She can’t fly, that would be too weird. Plus Arion will be fastest, and you both already know where the town is. I’m sure Tempest could find it, but why waste the time? And she’ll trust you most, I think.”

“Why?” Percy asks, feeling like he was missing something obvious.

“My skin colour.” Hazel sighs and Percy says, “Oh,” dumbly. He hadn’t though skin colour would be an issue, but now that he thinks about it, and what he’s seen recently on the news, it makes sense. “Ok. Then you’ll meet us all at Camp?”

Hazel nods, the woman finishes her phone call and Piper claps her hands. “Okay great. Well, we’re going back to… our camp. It was nice to meet you…”

“Dalia.”

Jason smiles at her. “Nice to meet you, Dalia.”

“You too. Thank you, all of you. And thank you…”

“Hazel,” Hazel jumps in at the woman’s questioning look. “I’m Hazel.”

“Hazel, for being able to bring me home. My husband was worried.”

Leo makes a strangled noise that he turns into a cough and Jason moves over to say something to him. Leo shakes his head and turns away.

Dalia gives him a look but apparently decides it’s better not to ask. From the guilt all over Leo’s face Percy thinks it’s a wise choice.

“If we could go soon?” She asks. “I really do need to get back.”

“Of course.” Hazel moves over to Arion, saying a few calming words while she strokes his nose. “Do you ride?”

“My family owns a ranch, I grew up around horses,” Dalia said. “I ride.”

Hazel grins and Percy looks back and forth between them, almost able to see the horse bonding going on.

He looks over at Blackjack and Frank, wondering if Dalia even noticed Frank or whether he was made into something else. A saddle maybe?

With one last farewell and a significant look from Hazel to Frank the two girls are gone with Arion.

“Well,” Annabeth says. “I think that went pretty well.”

Piper snorts and rejoins Jason on Tempest as Percy swings up behind Frank, taking care to keep from jostling him.

Annabeth hoists herself up on Porkpie and looks at Leo. "Looks like it's you and me, Valdez," she says and Leo nods, slowly moving to climb up behind her, gazing sadly at Festus from the pegasus' back.

"Alright Blackjack," Percy tears his gaze away from the automaton and claps the black pegasus. "Take us home."

[jflashandclash]

Attrition of Peace

Fifteen: Annabeth

How to Predict Unicorn Collisions. You Don’t.

             Annabeth hated when things didn’t go according to plan, and being side-rammed by a unicorn hadn’t been part of the plan. As she pushed off the black pavement of the Brooklyn street, she thought about how she should recalculate this.

           She’d been furious that her call with Frank had been interrupted. No matter how many drachmas she and Percy tried to throw at Iris, they kept getting the message, Your rainbow has been disconnected. Please hang up, and try your rainbow again.

           The two most important parts of the message had been left out: Leo is alive and these demigods were probably terrified.

           And now Frank and Hazel were here. Something must have gone wrong for them to ride all the way to the East coast on Arion.

           Finding the right flight over had been child’s play. She knew which airlines the Romans had frequent flyer miles with because of some deals they’d worked out with the Amazon. She knew their preferred airports and the approximated time the flight would have left. They only ever did direct route flights, since layovers were bad news for ADHD, monster hunted demigods.

           She had hoped Piper could talk to them first, using that line she never got to use on the Romans when they first got to Camp Jupiter, “Lower your weapons. We just want to talk.” Or Will, since he and the shy daughter of Apollo, Kally, seemed to get along well. Or Nico, her friend. Or Jason, who connected really well with Axel over Capture the Flag.

           Something about this felt like a set up: the way the video of Euna Song turning people into trees had zoomed carefully onto hers, Kally’s, and Pax’s faces without any context as to why they were fighting against those people, the way the dialogue had been muted from the video of Axel attacking Leo, the way her phone, and the phone with the videos, malfunctioned so she couldn’t watch it again for a closer analysis, and the way the two ex-Kronos soldiers had ended up in a town whose policy was to execute ex-Kronos soldiers.  

           This group of half-bloods was suspicious, and very dangerous, but she also suspected something else was happening here, possibly something out of their control. From what she’d seen of Calex Rupin McKenzie and Merry Blythe at Camp Half-Blood and from Piper’s solid impression of them, neither seemed the type to associate with murders without reason.  

           But she also knew that desperation could crack a person. She wanted to know what was going on. They needed more data. Like where Axel had found Leo Valdez.

           Percy gently touched her arm. “Are you alright?” he shouted over the sound of the getaway taxi-van zooming away and horns blaring from oncoming traffic.

           Scraps and bruises. Minimal damage. They needed to focus on their target. She nodded, checking him over first. He looked the same—just dazed from being thrown off Blackjack.

           Had he been hurt, she’d have to murder a unicorn.

           They staggered to their feet in enough time to see the unicorn blur in retreat, Arion, riderless, was in quick pursuit. Annabeth wondered if that unicorn knew mythology was not on its side in a race against that horse.

           “Is Blackjack okay?” she asked, assessing the situation. Percy’s pegasus stumbled to his hooves. Hazel was on foot, Frank had disappeared, and an SUV pulled up beside them. She didn’t get to see what had attacked Hazel and Frank to knock them off Arion.

           Percy nodded, quoting in his best equestrian mimic, “Good as new, boss. I think I’m going to take it easy for a bit. I get a carrot for that, right?” He reached to pet Blackjack’s face. “Thanks for the ride, bud. Get to safety. You’ll get a whole bushel when we get back to camp.”

           Blackjack huffed and flew off into the air. Percy turned to Annabeth. “I hope Arion teaches that unicorn to play nice with other ponies.”

           Someone threw open the door to the SUV beside them, and Annabeth was glad to see Jason Grace motioning them inside. Piper gave them a happy wave from the back and a, “Hey guys! Tell me about NRU after we’re done doing some demigod hunting.”

Hazel hopped in from the other side, glancing towards the front in concern.

“Sorry I’m running late,” Jason apologized. “I couldn’t summon Tempest. I was scared my powers might throw off weather patterns around the airport.”

           Something felt uncomfortable inside the SUV, and it took Annabeth a moment to realize it wasn’t because the driver was a French zombie. There was an argument happening.

           “What’s the one thing I told you not to do?” Will demanded, his hands on his hips, despite being seated in the middle. If he hadn’t been such a firm believer in seatbelts, she was pretty sure he’d be leaning over Nico’s passenger seat.

           Nico sighed and leaned his head against the headrest to stare at the ceiling. “Raise the dead.”

           “And what did you do?”

           “Raise the dead—but look Will, it’s been a month since my last incident, and it’s just summoning the dead—not rocket science or shadow travel—”[1]

           Annabeth winced as they rearranged the seating. Everyone had promised to enforce Will’s no excess power usage for six months on Nico, but none of them  predicted Apollo showing up to shake Nico like a ragdoll. It put Nico’s recovery back by a lot and terrified Will and pretty much everyone at camp.

Jason jumped into the back. Percy pulled Annabeth into his lap so they could conserve on seating. From the uncomfortable glance that Jason and Piper shared, Will and Nico had been arguing since the airport. Maybe a chat about rogue half-bloods or college entrance exams would be relaxing.

           “Nico, I’m not saying this because I don’t have faith in you. I’m mad because we made an agreement and because I care about you and it would crush me if anything happened to you.”

           Nico went bright red in the face and sank into his seat. “Will,” he grumbled, “Not in front of everyone.”

Hazel cleared her throat. She looked concerned for her brother, but her expression also had serious problem written all over it. Something had gone wrong in Rome. Annabeth’s mind raced with ideas.

“It’s great to see you guys, but Frank scouted ahead. We should—”

           A hummingbird darted through the door before Annabeth could shut it. When Frank turned back into a human, the SUV became uncomfortably cramped, and Annabeth started to really miss the expansiveness of the Argo II. Annabeth’s brain filed through excuses to push them past any cops that might pull them over for having too many people in a vehicle.

           Normally, Frank would have been embarrassed to squish in the tiny bit of space between Will and she and Percy. Instead, he leaned forward to talk to the driver, jumped to find it an undead person, and turned in confusion to Nico. “Uh—hey Nico—they’re five blocks ahead, can you uh tell—”

           “Monsieur Jules-Albert.”

           “Yes, Monsieur Jules-Albert to follow—”

           The zombie driver stepped on it. Their SUV lurched forward, knocking Frank back. Though they quickly jerked back to a stop in Brooklyn’s absurd traffic. Annabeth’s mind whirled to calculate if it would be faster to walk.

           “Seatbelt,” Will said to Frank, folding his arms and frowning at the passenger seat in the best charades of, we’ll finish this later, that Annabeth had ever seen.

           “Augh, dude, what happened to your ear?” Percy asked.

           Annabeth was about to ask the same question. Frank had a hasty patch job of gauze on his ear with medical tape wrapped around his head to keep it in place. From the old blood dried on the gauze, she had a feeling there wasn’t much of an ear left under there.

           “I can probably reattach it if you have the ear,” Will offered, sensing the same.

           “I don’t,” Frank said grimly, like he’d forgotten a number two pencil on test day. “Axel bit it off after he set Reyna’s house on fire.

           “He what?!” Nico demanded, sitting up in his seat and forgetting his prior embarrassment. “Is Reyna okay?”

           “Physically, yea,” Frank said. He gave them a brief update on what happened as Jules drove.

           “Wait—why were they in Reyna’s house? I thought she pretty much lived, ate, slept, and plotted punishments for bad legionnaires in the principia,” Percy asked.  

           Annabeth swatted him. She’d seen Reyna and Axel interact once, when Axel first parked outside Camp Half-Blood’s boundaries and refused to come inside. From what she’d seen then, and from a few comments Piper had made about the type of guy Reyna might like, Annabeth had a guess why Axel was in her house.

           “They were on a breakfast date, sort of,” Hazel confirmed from the back of the SUV. “It was… hard to convince her not to come on this quest, but she’s making sure Camp Half-Blood is safe, since she knows you guys are out.”

           Annabeth hoped that wouldn’t make everyone lose focus. She kept reminding herself that they needed all the facts first, that something wasn’t adding up here, but Nico voiced the opinion of the group perfectly.

           “I’m going to drag Axel to Tartarus and craft him a personal punishment for the rest of eternity. How dare he hurt Reyna,” Nico growled. As the SUV rolled to a stop, he glanced back. “Or Frank. Sorry about your ear, Frank.”

           “It’s okay; it’s just gone for good.”

           “Nico, we talked about this,” Will scolded.

           Nico rolled his eyes and threw his door open. “Fine. In a few months, I’ll drag him to Tartarus and craft him a personal punishment.”

           “There’s my responsible son of Hades.”

           They got out of the SUV and took off down a wide alley between two brick buildings designed with the classic flare of late nineteenth century architecture. This was an old part of Brooklyn, one the gentrification hadn’t yet touched, but the neon blue and purple lights around two ionic columns were new. They stood on either side of a club entrance that Annabeth could see Euna, Calex, and Merry darted through.  

           They needed a plan.

           The bouncer was a huge guy in a biker jacket—what you’d expect to find at a club in New York. Unlike what you’d expect, he stood off to the side of the door, leaning against the wall and grinning stupidly at their approach. He held a hand out to prevent the small line of guests from entering. The guests in line whispered, looking far less agitated than Annabeth would expect with a bouncer not letting anyone in.

           From what Annabeth had read and seen, clubs weren’t usually active this early at night. She hoped this wouldn’t be a rerun of Club Lotus.

           “Stop,” Annabeth said before they reached the entrance.

           Everyone skittered to a stop, like she’d pulled a gear out of a watch. Jason, Percy, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Nico all paused to glance at her expectantly. She forgot how well their team worked together. The only person who stumbled was Will.

           “We need a plan.” Jason read off her face.

           Annabeth’s mind spun. That was her territory. But she was missing some integral data to make a full plan. Her instinct told her not to go in with swords drawn. “We should try to parley. When they ran from the airport, and when they were in the cab, they didn’t attack any of us. The Pax brothers may have only done that in New Rome because they were cornered.”

          They’d have to worry about Frank’s quest from Ares later. Right now, she wanted to know what was going on.

          “Seeing Roman colors is going to probably scare them, so Hazel, use the Mist to hide what you and Frank look like. Stay to the entrance to make sure they don’t double back to escape. Everyone else, keep with your partner—” She didn’t need to say who was partnering with whom. “—keep alert. They are dangerous, but try to talk them down first. If you see them—”

          “Find or walkie-talkie Jason and I,” Piper finished. “And I can make sure things don’t get out of hand.”

          Annabeth was pleased to see Will open up his jacket to show off a charging station for walkie talkies beside his medical kit and a package of latex gloves. He handed one off to Percy and one to Hazel.

          Because Iris Messaging had been so inconsistent, and the presence of a half-blood tended to make technology go haywire, she’d been experimenting with ways to keep in contact. Older walkie talkies proved somewhat reliable.

          The other problem was getting into the club. If Axel Misted a group of underaged kids in, Hazel could probably do the same. Annabeth just hoped everyone either had a driver’s permit or a library card for Hazel to Mist.

          The bouncer put a huge arm out across the door. “The guitarist says you’re with him. And he said you’re allowed to keep your weapons. And we aren’t supposed to kill you.”

          Annabeth wanted to swear. She should have assumed the others had connections here, else they wouldn’t have ran straight to this club. Her brain pierced through the Mist to reregister the bouncer’s single eye, and how tall he was. Despite all the time she’d spent with Tyson, the seven year old in her always cowered at the sight of Cyclopes. But she was almost a legal adult now, a hero of Olympus and a daughter of Athena. Annabeth maintained steady eye contact. This guy wasn’t mimicking any of them, and didn’t even look interested in chowing down on one of their heads.

          The people in line hazed into various monsters and ghosts.  

          “This is a club for monsters,” Frank said. The way he said it made her wonder when Frank would bring the entire legion here for a warm up drill.

          Everyone else must have seen it too. They touched their weapons.

          This Cyclops kept grinning, not seeming to realize which demigods he was stalling. “The guitarist says you can come in, but,” he said, “the tiny Pax said you can only come in if that one gives me a hug.” The Cyclops pointed at Jason Grace.

          Jason Grace pointed at himself in confusion. “Me?”

          The Cyclops nodded. “He said you love hugging Cyclopes. And the tiny Pax knows I love hugs.” The Cyclops folded his arms and stood up tall, like he had declared how much he liked breaking people’s necks.

          Percy stifled a laugh. “Hey, Cyclopes give the best bear hugs, probably only second to Frank.”

          “You’re not going to hurt him,” Piper asked her question as a statement, one enlaced with charm speak.

          The Cyclops didn’t change his posture or expression at all. Maybe he really did like hugs. “Nope!” he affirmed.

          Jason frowned as Hazel giggled and Nico and Will choked on laughs.

          Percy patted Jason’s back. “He seems like a good Cyclops. Go get ‘em, tiger.”

Thanks for reading guys! I had a great time writing this one :D XD

 Foonote:

[1] I need to thank both Gravity Falls and BruneGonda for this. I’ve been trying to find a way to slip her hilarious fanart in for three books.

[lgbtqpjo]

* slams $300 on the table* Frason headcannons. Jason and Frank constantly saying " we're just a bros" then sneaking off on a date

Thanks for paying 0.012% of this years college tuition bud

Frank can easily lift Jason - bridal style, piggy back, you name it

Jason absolutely loves this, even if it turns him into a blushing/frazzled mess

“Hahaha he’s just carrying me in his arms like…normal friends do”   “He never cradles me or Percy like that”   “Ummmm”

The last 7 times they’ve asked Frank if he could hang out he’s been ‘sick’ and Jason volunteers to take care of him

One time the group says that Frank won’t be able to make it and Jason just goes “I’ll go make him some chicken noodle soup and make sure he’s okay” …even though they just … didn’t say he was ill

Frank thinks this is hilarious but Jason is embarrassed

Any time someone asks about their relationship (cause they’re suspicious but not entirely sure what they are) they say they’re just bros

Cue “just bros being dudes” 

Once Frank was cuddling with Jason in the Zeus cabin and Piper came by to talk

Frank had to hide. For 45 minutes

Piper knew he was there. She could hear his voice before she went in and his breathing from under the bed

She really only wanted to return Jason’s pen, but she wanted to see how long they would keep it up before she eventually got bored and left

Chiron gives them permission to go get food in town and the Hunters happen to come by on their way to chb

When Thalia gets to camp, she asks Annabeth how long Frank and Jason have been dating

The Athena cabin groans in unison

She decides to ask Jason when he gets back (”We’re just bros, sis, honest”)

They go ice-skating once and Leo finds them. He doesn’t realize what’s happening cause he’s too busy building skates to join them, complaining the whole time he wasn’t invited 

Frank and Jason stare wide eyed because ?? they were holding hands? How did Leo not notice?

One day they talk and are like “wait, why are we not telling everyone we’re dating?” cause frankly they’re silly boys

They tell everyone after months of these shenanigans and they all breathe a collective sigh of relief

Mod Isabel