The morning sprung a new dawn, a series of darling pink and yellow lights at the horizon visible amongst the skyscrapers of Manhattan. The streets were shadowed and empty, but it wasn't cold. 

She hadn't seen Apollo leave with the morning, but she hadn't noticed much after returning to the party with renewed energy and a bounce in her steps as Annabeth had shot out a hand to her the moment that she approached to invite her to dance. 

They had spun and jumped the three of them on and off all night, darting around minor gods and other demigods that approached them for a dance. 

At one point, right before the sun was set to rise and Argus was meant to come to pick them up, and Percy and Annabeth had gone their separate ways to do a few last-minute details, Kassandra had allowed herself a moment to stand still and listen to the music. 

The muses, as they played on, allowed them to hear whatever they wanted, she knew that, but she also knew that the song they played now, the one she was certain only she could hear, was meant for her and her alone. This was the song that they wanted her to hear. 

It was complete, the piece, all parts come together to create a full experience that leashed her in and dragged her along desperate to hear more. Kassandra hadn't heard the entirety of Ariel's song played like this since she lost her friend. She thought she was never going to hear it again when she had it sacrificed to her father. 

If she closed her eyes, she could remember each step, each facing twirl and flicker of movement that her friend had painstakingly choreographed. It was the greatest dance that Ariel had ever complete and her friend will never get another chance to choreograph a better one. 

She approached them slowly, uncertain. She watched them play for a moment, allowing herself a moment to enjoy the experience.

Thalia approached her first. Placing down the instrument that flickered in and out of focus to walk the few steps to her side. 

Neither said anything for a moment, and Kassandra simply took the chance to look at the goddess. Her hand twitched at her side, aching to grasp the flute that was no longer there.  

"I'm sorry I couldn't save Ariel," she blurts out. "It's my fault she's gone. I knew better, I should have kept my distance to keep her safe." 

Thalia, with all of her beautiful, joyous air, smiled this tragically sad smile that made Kassandra want to break apart into tears. The goddess laid a hand on her shoulder, brushing down the length of her arm to link their fingers. 

"Thank you, Kassandra, for bringing such joy and laughter into the life of my daughter. You were her dearest friend and you fought for her bravely until the very end," Thalia says, squeezing her fingers.

"I should have done more. I should have been faster or smarter. I- I wasn't enough to save her." 

"Don't blame yourself. There was nothing more that you could have done," Thalia comforts. "My daughter asked me to make sure that you didn't stay sad at the end. She wanted you to know not to worry about her, that she planned to go for rebirth. Ariel wanted to be more like you." 

"Like me?" she repeats in a broken whisper. "I got her killed." 

"That is not how either of us saw it. What you did was inspire my daughter to be a better, wonderfully joyful person," Thalia says. "Her final prayer to me was a wish to watch after her dearest friend. She didn't want you to blame yourself." 

A sharp breath escaped her. "She..." she trails off, shaking her head. "Then I hope the fates allow me to meet her again. I'll make sure that things go right this time." 

The goddess shakes her head. "Ariel only wants for you to be happy. You are a good friend, Kassandra," she says, leaving just as quickly as she had appeared to have called her over -- returning to her siblings and their music and the party that continued still. 

She was left wondering if this was the legacy that she was destined to create, a life spread out with nothing but good friends that were willing to do anything for her just as she was for them. If that was the case, Kassandra figured that it wasn't the worst way to live. 

Searching the large room, she found Annabeth saying a somewhat awkward and tense goodbye to Athena. The goddess of Wisdom had a tiny, almost invisible smile as she spoke to her daughter, saying a few final words. 

She wasn't sure what it looked like exactly, what it was that the goddess must have been thinking, and Kassandra wasn't too sure that she wanted to know. It was bad enough that she was going around talking to all sorts of gods in this infuriating, overwhelming blow to her self-identity. 

They hunt down Grover together and head out in search of wherever Percy disappeared to.  

Eventually, the four had left Olympus and the Empire State building entirely. 

Kassandra turned her face to the sky, flecks of snow melting against her skin. She sighed in relief, taking in the fresh air. 

"I can't wait to get home," Kassandra breathes, stretching out her arms. Percy makes a sound of agreement. "You think we'll be there in time for breakfast?" 

"Of course. I'm looking forward to some hot chocolate," Annabeth says. 

"Chocolate milk," Percy says. 

"Coffee!" Grover bleats. 

She laughs, shaking her head at Annabeth's slightly bewildered expression. She grins at the girl. "I'll tell you about everything later. After breakfast and a nap." 

"I could go for a nap," Percy agrees. 

Annabeth sigh, running her fingers through her hair. "A warm shower and my bunk. My books too! Oh, I can't wait to get home." 

"Home..." Kassandra murmurs, she points to the approaching fan. "And there's our ride." 

Trudging up Half-Blood Hill, she felt her chest lighten at the sight of the glinting golden fleece that hung from Thalia's pine tree. She couldn't help her grin or the way that she sped up just a little bit more. 

(There was so much behind her now that she knew would never seem right, but at camp there was the promise of home and comfort and that sense of belonging that would gather her up and keep her in a warm cocoon.) 

(Here, she could hide in the showers or the woods or the top of the amphitheatre and cry and know that she was always going to be fine and free and always protected.) 

Chiron was waiting for them outside the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. he was in his wheelchair, a warm blanket thrown over his lap. He welcomed them in to sit by the fire. 

Grover went off with his satyr friends to talk about his experience with Pan.

Kassandra went ahead and folded herself into Lee's waiting warms. Her older brother slumped against her, dropping a quiet prayer to the top of her head. They moved to sit in one of the seats furthest from the fire. It was an old armchair that must have been reupholstered more times than she could count. Her brother perched on the armrest, letting her balance her plate on his knee. 

Some of the other senior campers were there -- Selena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf, the Stoll brothers, and even Clarisse was back from her mystery mission. 

The Ares girl looked as ragged as Kassandra felt. "Nice scar," she points out, holding out a fist. 

Clarisse bumps it. "You, too. What's that all about?" 

"Fill you in later," she says, turning to say a quick hello to Travis and Connor. 

The brothers give her a tiny smile and promise to catch up later. 

"I got news," Clarisse mumbles uneasily. "Bad news."

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron says with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth!"

Annabeth smiles gratefully and it lifts her heart even as her stomach twists and settles uncomfortably. So much had happened on this quest, so much that could never be undone, and Kassandra knew that she could only be comforted knowing that they had gotten Annabeth and Artemis back. 

"Luke is still alive," Percy says. "Annabeth was right." 

Annabeth sits up. "How do you know?" 

She frowns, going over what they had said about the fight that she had missed. "Wasn't he, like, kicked off a cliff?" she asks. "How can you be sure?" 

"He was kicked off a cliff?" Connor asks, voice oddly tight. 

"How can you not know what happened to him for sure, Kass?" Clarisse turns to her in soft disbelief. 

"I was a little preoccupied at the time," she bites gently, running a hand down the side of her face. 

Percy interrupts, telling them all about the conversation that he had with his dad about the Princess Andromeda. 

(As much as it truly was terrible, the thought of the Luke that she used to know, the one that used to comfort and care for her gone forever, the idea of Luke as he was now, alive and broken and angry just as she was, desperate and reckless and prepared to burn down the world -- she thought it was better for him to just stay gone for good.) 

(Everything would have been so much easier for everyone if Luke had just died when her fell.) 

"Well." Annabeth shifts uncomfortably in her chair. "If the final battle does come when Percy is seventeen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."

"Two years doesn't actually seem like a long time, Beth," she says softly. 

"Kassandra's right. Two years may seem like a long time," he says. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos's first strike will be here."

"How do you know?" Percy asks. "Why would he care about camp?"

"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron says simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous... We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but—"

There's a knock at the door and they fall silent, watching as Nico pokes his head in to look at them. 

He was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's my sister?" 

Her lips part and she turns away from the boy quickly. She had barely even thought of Bianca all that much, had never thought of it beyond simply knowing that she was dead.  

But looking at Nico, so hopeful and open... she couldn't help but wonder if this was a representation of what her siblings had felt by her antics. 

(When she was younger and waiting for Luke and Oriana to return from their respective quests, Kassandra had experienced both of the possible outcomes to this type of situation. It would be like seeing herself lose Oriana all over again and she couldn't bring herself to watch.) 

"Hey Nico," Percy says, getting up from his chair. "Let's take a walk, alright? We need to talk." 

They didn't stay in the Big House long. Annabeth had a few things that she wanted to do, making a comment about how they would likely see each other when they went to the showers, before she jogged off to her cabin. 

Kassandra had taken a moment to speak with Clarisse, promising the girl that they could sit and talk for lunch. She paused by the Hermes boys, telling them that they could also catch up later on, but left the two alone to deal with their own news. 

She walked with her brother, dragging her bag at her side. She had handed over the loaned bow and arrow as soon as they got outside and he took it without argument. It had always been very obvious that she hated things that had anything to do with Apollo. Kassandra had no idea how she was going to explain her new bow and arrow to any of them. 

(Because she hadn't thought of it before, hadn't taken the time to consider, but when the gods gave a gift to one of their children and not another, it was terrible and rude --destructive to their relationship and bonds between the others. How could she ever explain this than trying to buy her favour with fancy weapons at the expense of everything that she had allowed herself to build with her siblings.) 

In the distance, golden blonde hair shines with the soft flutter of the pale light cast through the clouds, shaggy and messy as if he had just woken up. He was wearing the hoodie that she had gotten him for his birthday, the little Blissey embroidered over the heart clear -- Kassandra had taken that sweater all over the city looking for a shop that could put the design on. 

(She always got her siblings birthday presents.) 

(Just as she always set out a cupcake for Oriana and Ariel on their birthdays.) 

(Just as she always tried to avoid her own -- if the day that they were celebrating was even her birthday.) 

"Kassie!" 

"Will!" she cries happily, racing toward him with a laugh. She knocks into her little brother, nearly bowling him over as she throws her arms around his shoulders. "What are you doing here? I thought you were spending the year with Naomi." 

She pulls back, tugging at the slightly longer bits of shaggy blonde hair that had grown since she had last seen him. 

"Mom was asked to go on this alt-country group tour for two months. She was going to turn it down, but she really loves it. I told her I'd just spend the time at camp and go back and see her when she was home," he says, blue eyes roving over her face quickly. It was easy to tell that he wanted to check her wounds over. "I got here a day after you left." 

"That's great! I love knowing that you're close if I ever need to bug you for anything." 

He snickers, pushing her away. "You're ridiculous. Why do I put up with you?" 

"Because I'm the best sibling that you can ask for," she reason, shoving his shoulder.

Someone clears their throat. "Because we aren't actually just standing here." 

Pulling away from her brother, she grasps at one of her other siblings -- reaching for him with grabby fingers. Michael comes over, wrapping her with all of his strength from years of training, tight and desperate almost -- like he wasn't sure she was going to come back. 

She supposed, in a way, they weren't. She had certainly made it seem that way the last that they had spoken. 

"You're okay. You're okay," he reassures himself. "You came back." 

"It's okay," she says. "We got Annabeth back and saved. Artemis too. We- we're fine. We-- I don't know if you know, but Zoe is... gone. And Thalia joined the Hunters."

"It's okay, Kassie," Will says, patting a hand on her back. "We should get you to the infirmary to look over." 

"No need. Dad healed me up." 

Her brothers pull back, eyes startlingly wide. "You saw dad again?" 

"We showed up at the Winter Solstice. He was there." 

Michael clears his throat. "Well, that's great." 

"There is... there is so much that I have to tell you guys," Kassandra says, brushing a hand through Will's hair and using it to shove him away. 

"You can tell us in the infirmary," Will says. He eyes the tear in her jacket. "You think Silena might be able to fix that?" 

"We can ask her later," she mentions, poking at the smoothly cut edges. "We should get somewhere that we can talk." 

"You can start now," Michael tells her, throwing an am around her shoulders gently. 

Kassandra looks skyward, watching as the snow fell gently. She wondered if she would be able to see the new constellation during the night, if she would be able to spot the huntress that would run eternally to follow her lady or if she would ever be able to look at the sunset the same way after this. She wanted to be able to tell them everything but didn't know if she truly could. 

"It really starts when Percy gatecrashed the quest and came crashing into everything with the Nemean Lion and a bunch of spartoi behind him..." 

There were few moments that Kassandra truly found herself feeling bad for practical strangers, but Nico di Angelo seemed to be the exception to most things. The boy couldn't remember his past, and if what Bianca had revealed to them was true, then he was from a time long past where he would be able to make sense of much around him. 

And he had lost his sister, the only family that he seemingly had left. 

When Percy revealed to her, Grover and Annabeth what the boy had done, Kassandra really wasn't surprised, she already had an idea, an ominous sense that tracked her like a looming force the moment that they had started to dig up into the fallen hunters past and abilities. 

They searched for the boy for hours, had covered the entirety of camp over and over fruitlessly. Kassandra had even stopped to listen, had speared her hearing so thin, the distance so long that she had blacked out for a few minutes (though she had to bribe Grover not to say anything about it with a promise of more aluminum cans and coffee than he could dream of. He had folded pretty easily at the tone of urgency in her voice). 

In the end, the boy couldn't be found and Kassandra just knew that it was going to come around and bite them in the ass somehow. 

"We should tell Chiron," Annabeth pants, tired from hours of searching. 

"What's he going to do? He's already gone," she mumbles, rolling her shoulders. She was lucky to have gotten the chance to shower before Annabeth came crashing into her cabin to get her. 

"He couldn't have gone far," Annabeth counters. 

"No," Percy says. 

They stare at him for a moment. 

"What do you mean 'no'?" Grover asks slowly. 

"We can't let anyone know," Percy stressed. "I don't think anyone knows that he's a son of--" 

"Hades. A son of Hades," Annabeth says dryly. "Do you know how serious this is? This means that not even Hades kept the oath." 

"That's not true," Kassandra interferes. "Do you remember what Bianca told us?" 

"Bianca and Nico have been out of commission for a long time, since even before World War II," Percy adds, nodding along quickly. "Hades is there dad, yeah, but he didn't break the oath." 

"The Lotus Casino," Grover says quickly. The boys share everything that Bianca had told them, the truths that they had drawn from her words, and how they had, unknowingly, learnt a secret that they really had no business knowing considering how dangerous it was. "She and Nico were stuck there for decades. They were born before the oath was made."

Percy nods. 

Kassandra decides that she very much never wants to go anywhere near that casino. 

"But how did they get out?" Annabeth protests. 

"I don't know," Percy admits. "Bianca said a lawyer came and got them and drove them to Westover Hall. I don't know who that could've been, or why. Maybe it's part of this Great Stirring thing. I don't think Nico understands who he is. But we can't go telling anyone. Not even Chiron. If the Olympians find out—"

"It might start them fighting among each other again," Annabeth says. "That's the last thing we need."

Grover looked worried. "But you can't hide anything from the gods." 

"Sure you can," Kassandra says. "Look at Luke. Look at the di Angelo siblings for literal decades. Look at me, apparently. We just have to find Nico before anyone else has the chance to piece it together." 

"I don't need long," Percy says. "Just two years. Until I'm seventeen." 

Annabeth pales. "But Percy... That means that the prophecy might not be about you. What if it's about Nico?" 

"No. No," Percy says. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me." 

Biting the inside of her lip, she turns away quickly, she hadn't yet heard the entirety of the prophecy yet, but it was clear to all of them that it wasn't something good -- even if they didn't think that she was worth telling.

"Why are you saying that?" Annabeth cries. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?"

"I can't let Nico be in any more danger," Percy says. "I owe that much to his sister. I... let them both down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more."

"There was nothing that you could have done for Bianca, Percy," Kassandra argues. "You don't have to be the one in the prophecy just for Nico." 

"The poor kid who hates you and wants to see you dead," Grover reminds him.

"Maybe we can find him," Percy says. "We can convince him it's okay, hide him someplace safe."

"How do you plan to do that?" Kassandra argues. 

He gives her a sly look, imploring. "You seem to know all the demigod spots around. The four of us can find him easily." 

Annabeth shivers. "If Luke gets hold of him—"

"Luke won't," Percy says. "I'll make sure he's got other things to worry about. Namely, me."

"Don't forget that I have a bone to pick with him still," Kassandra mutters angrily, rubbing her hands together. 

Percy chuckles and Annabeth releases an exasperated sigh. 

"Don't go starting unnecessary fights, please," she requests weakly, rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand. 

"I never look for fights, they always seem to find me," Percy protests. 

Kassandra scoffs. "Speak for yourself. I love picking fights when I know I'm going to win." 

"Even when you can't, too," Grover grumbles. 

They laugh, such a wonderfully drastic change to the dim air that had surrounded them only moments before. "Hey! I'm not some reckless fiend that goes around beating on people!" 

Percy pats her on the back, leaning so that they bump shoulders. "Don't worry, Kass. I'm sure there will be plenty of fights in the future." 

Annabeth raches over and slaps his shoulder with the back of her hand. "Don't jinx it, Seaweed Brain." 

She snorts, grabbing the blonde's hand before she could fully think it through. "Come on, someone has to lie to Chiron and I can't exactly do it." 

"Oh, crap," she curses. "Try not to say anything at all." 

Kassandra wouldn't get the chance as Clarisse came toward them, demanding a moment to speak to her as she did. She eyes the trio and waves them off, stating that she would catch up to them later. 

Clarisse was just as ragged and tired as she appeared to be before, just as much of a mess with a newly jagged scar and rugged cut hair. 

Resisting the urge to reach up and touch it, to see if she could draw what happened from the brush of fingers upon skin, she tucks her hands in her pocket instead and tilts her head to get her friend talking. 

"You actually fought Atlas, then," Clarisse says, nodding her head at the scar that went down the side of her face. 

"And you fought something," Kassandra points out. "What's up?" 

Clarisse shifts on her feet in one of those rare displays of uncertainty. "Someone. Not something," she says softly, anxious. "I have to show you something. Your brothers thought it might not be the best idea, but Travis and Connor insisted that it might be some help." 

She ignores the pinch of annoyance at the easy way that Clarisse brushes over the dismissal of her siblings. 

Still, she follows the girl as she leads her back to the Big House. They pass Percy and Annabeth on their way, but she pays them no mind with how nervous Clarisse was growing to become. Her shoulders were growing tight, her hands slightly shaking, and it made her heart race quicker and quicker. 

They went toward the stairs leading upstairs, moving to one of the many rooms in the home that she had no idea what they were really used for. 

Clarisse moved to one of the rooms at the end of the hall that overlooked the entirety of camp. The door was unlocked. She knew exactly the reason why when she got in. 

(She couldn't blame her brother, not when there was an initial flood of anger and rage that burst through her at the sight of him, even as vulnerable and injured as he was, she couldn't help the tingling at her side that spread through her like electric twists and pangs of anger.) 

Her stomach swooped, twisting at the sight of him sad and broken looking. His hair was greasy and limp, his skin pale, ashen. He looked so ill, so unresponsive and broken. There was ambrosia and nectar on the bedside table along with a few other remedies that her siblings must have thrown together in an attempt to heal him. 

Connor was in the seat next to the bed, hands clenched tightly in his lap. "How could Luke do this?" he whispers, seething and sad, full of dismay and desolation. 

"We've already gone over theories," Clarisse grumbles. 

Kassandra shakes her head and moves to the edge of the bed, sitting carefully so that she could look him over. 

"Your brothers can't find what's wrong. Will was pretty torn up about it, but he suggested that you might have an idea," Connor says. "You've always been best at the darker aspects of healing." 

"You think this is some sort of plague or sickness?" 

"It has to be something." 

Nodding, she touches the back of the pale and scratched limp hand. She frowns the moment that she comes into contact. "I can't feel anything wrong with him at all," Kassandra says. "Oh, Chris. What stupid thing have you done now?" 

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and that brings an end to the titan's curse plot! hope you all enjoyed it! dont' forget to leave a vote and comment !!  

unedited

written: 2021-03-07

posted: 2021-05-03