Even knowing the order of events, having lived through them, Nico had been having such a casually good time he'd almost forgotten this part was coming, or he'd been subconsciously deluding himself something else terrible and major happened in between these two major events he hadn't the chance to dwell on it as much as usual.

The second Percy read the chapter title, Nico knew. The casual chats, the admiration of his mysterious powers, they would all vanish. Will and everyone would see how one of the most beloved ancient gods gave him no second thought, that saw him as nothing worthwhile. They would see something was wrong with him too.

"Will, leave."

The sharp words snapped from his mouth like a slap in the face to everyone else.

Will blinked once as that sunk in, then got up without hesitation to hastily do that.

"Nico!" Thalia's voice was a raspy, shocked reprimand, and only drove in his own instant guilt.

"He can't hear this!" Nico could hear the desperation in his voice, bordering on insanity. "None of you should!"

"Nico," Percy sighed. He sounded more disappointed, but resigned to keep reading if the guy didn't want some other part of him exposed to whoever.

"It's his call," Alex said in a challenging voice.

"I know," Thalia was already holding up her hands to let it go. Gods knew there were plenty of things from her past she didn't want on display, his snap reaction had just surprised her. He and Will seemed to have been getting along well.

Percy took an uneasy breath and started...and yet it instantly felt wrong to Nico. He missed that sun-dazed idiot already. He knew he could have talked and laughed with anybody he wanted to, he didn't need Will like a security blanket to manage that, but it sure made it feel easier. Was it so terrible to want something to be easy for once?

"I'll go get him," Nico spoke quietly, expecting to be ignored and talked over as Percy read about Rachel's usefulness in guiding them seamlessly through the maze.

Percy stopped instantly though, looking around at him in surprise, then smiled and closed the book, jumping out of his seat in relief for the brief break and chatting about going off to get food.

Nobody else said a word for or against it, and it only solidified Nico's resolve to having something so wholly in his control for once.

...

Will was in the farthest room from the destroyed center of their entrapment. He was humming to himself and sitting on the bed, snaking on a s'mores and sorting through his deck of mythomagic cards with concentration.

Nico watched, his heart convinced his eyes were playing tricks on him as it tried to twist up too tight in his chest. The only thing you might be able to hear from here is someone yelling, and even as he thought it, Will swept up the ones he seemed to want, stacked them into a neat pile, and jumped from the bed, eyes flickering up as if to go to the roof before they landed on him in surprise.

"Coming to join me?" He asked in delight.

Nico couldn't think how to answer, now Will might just hate him if he explained his stupid impulsive fear and think him an idiot.

"Taking a break?" Will asked, but his smile slipped as he kept watching him. "Nico?"

"Sorry," he finally pulled out of the long well of feelings buried in him.

"For?" Will's smile was nothing but encouraging and curious.

Nico couldn't seem to get the answer out, he flapped his hand around, and Will still seemed to get it. "I told you I would, why are you sorry?" Will shrugged, his voice only surprised.

Because he was selfish. Because he was still convinced if Will kept getting to know him he'd change his mind. Because he was tired of being alone, and every detail of how different his life was compared to the great Percy Jackson was about to be on display and he loathed it.

"I want you to come back," he said the words mechanically slow, like a busted up old automaton would come for him like a family tradition.

"I'm not going to unless you really mean that," Will studied him carefully now, that eerie ability of his to always spot when Nico was lying was clearly being put to the test. "The others didn't make you do this did they?"

"No," he said honestly. "I, you should hear, this is a moment of history-" he tried to cobble together some half-truth at least.

"That clearly bothers you," bother being a nice word as Will kept watching his clammy skin. "I don't know why, but you don't have to tell me."

Nico didn't think he could ever get the words out if he tried.

Will had never needed him to say much though. He was weird like that. The happiest guy Nico had ever met, and yet he seemed to have no problems sitting in silence when it was needed.

So they just stood like that until Nico's pounding heart finally subsided and he could catch his breath and tried to poorly explain. "I am different than them Will, and the gods know it, and this, this is going to make it really obvious."

"I don't expect anyone to be 'normal,'" Will even used air quotes. "Have you met Percy? Alex is probably one of the strangest people anybody will meet. Nobody's telling them to normal up. It doesn't matter why you don't want me to hear Nico, I told you I don't care whatever it is."

"Yeah, I know," Nico grinned, finally starting to believe that. "I'm still just getting used to that."

"Fair enough," Will shrugged, pocketing his deck and waiting patiently to see what Nico wanted to do next. Nico was really, really starting to fall under the delusional belief he could just ask Will to come to Tartarus with him and he was so chill he'd just agree like a nutjob.

For now he just gestured back to the main room, and Will only hesitated a moment more, assessing Nico for something. He must have passed, because Will walked past the staircase for the roof without a second look and flopped back out on the couch as stretched out as much as humanly possible.

Everybody had grabbed something for an early dinner. Nico was surprised to feel a slight grumble of his stomach agreeing with that idea, so he sighed and didn't protest when Will gave him a knowing smirk and walked back out.

There wasn't much talking and laughter during the downtime. It was a combination of Thalia's lingering unease and shaking her head at Percy offering her his french fries and Nico's obvious distaste for whatever else could possibly happen next that caused Percy to eat even faster than usual, somehow, and start reading again without much enthusiasm despite eating dessert before dinner with nobody around to stop him.

... no destination in mind, only away from the roar of Kronos.

"So, honestly, you should end up in New York by proximity anyway," Alex grinned. "That's plenty far away from California."

Magnus grinned Alex was probably going to make up for those five minutes of silence by being even more talkative for the next few. Nobody else was going to even notice the difference.

... those unnatural golden eyes staring out of Luke's face... slowly turning to stone.

Percy's breaths were still hitching ever so slightly in here, and Thalia's eyes were still suspiciously red-rimmed, but neither of them looked about to fall to pieces any second. Percy had in fact been running from this very presence since he'd been dropped into this world. Thalia had only ever seen this in her head. It was a horrible memory, but it had already been there long before now.

... put her head between her knees, her sobs echoed in the tunnel.

Percy had just watched. As she'd coughed and snot ran down her nose, her shoulders shook and her hair spilled everywhere, sticking to her face in a fantastically gross mess.

He remembered the vivid terror he had of seeing her like that as well as he did Luke's golden eyes. He'd been powerless to do anything about either.

He wanted to pound Luke's face into the mud for causing all this!

Yet he was already suffering his end fate... and it didn't feel very satisfying.

He'd briefly wished Thalia had been there, maybe she'd know what to do, but sitting next to her now as her hands still shook clasped in front of her, her knee bounced in place with agitation, and her own breath just as ragged, that didn't seem to be the answer anymore either. There probably wasn't an answer for that kind of pain.

..."That sucked," he said, which I thought summed things up pretty well.

"Can't say I never said a nice word about you Nico," Percy grinned.

"Hmm, yes, a compliment I've craved all my life, I make great Sparknotes," Nico smirked.

"You saved our lives," I said... "Blame the girls for dragging me along."

Will had the fight of his life not to burst out laughing, and he very poorly smothered a snort of amusement for it.

Nico gave him an unimpressed look, and Will managed to chokingly explain, "I mean, yeah, I blame Percy being alive on Annabeth too, but you don't have to say it like that Nico!"

"If I start admitting I went around and saved people's life, I'd ruin my brand," Nico sniffed. "Don't you dare tell a soul about this!"

"I'll take your secret to the grave," Will was still grinning like a fool. Nico was having a lot of trouble looking away when Percy ignored them to keep reading.

... the only thing they agreed on. We needed to help or you'd mess things up."

"And it turns out participation was just an option," Jason grumbled, "that screw-up happened long ago."

Thalia still found herself chewing on that like a hang nail, one she really wished she could just yank out and carelessly watch the blood finally clot up. It seemed obvious to everyone but her there had been no fixing this because nobody, not even Annabeth knew him like she did...but then nobody like Kronos had known him for too long for it to matter.

..."Nico, you, uh, kind of gave yourself away. That wall of black stone?

"Are you telling me I couldn't do that if I tried hard enough?" Will yelped, just because he didn't want Nico saving anyone to be framed as a bad thing. Making a joke out of it felt better. "I bet I could, um, make a musical sound so bad the sound wave would make the earth shoot up and try to kill me."

"Oooh, I like this game," Alex cackled. "I wonder if Thalia could do it too, send a surge of electricity through the earth and yank up a cable along with all the stones with it. Maybe Annabeth could find just the right spot and cause an earthquake if she can build something fast enough-"

"The point is," Percy sighed extra loudly, "I don't think Kronos is going to fall for that."

"It would have been nice if he just blamed it all on Percy," Magnus couldn't help but agree, "maybe if Nico had just been hiding behind a rock when he did that it could have worked."

"And yet, we're moving on," Percy reminded in exasperation.

...trying to hide how scared he was, and I couldn't blame him.

"Or he just didn't know the danger he was in," Jason frowned, looking from Nico to the book in concern. "Nobody's told him the prophecy, or much of anything he hasn't had to figure out on his own."

"I would have done it even if Kronos knew," Nico shrugged. "Percy was running for his life, I knew that meant tactical retreat without question or I would have taken a turn at stabbing him. He's lucky I wasn't strong enough yet to wither him with a stare."

'Yet?' Magnus mouthed with the biggest concerned question mark of a face.

"I know Nico," Percy grinned, "ignore Jason, he's a worry wart. I said thank you."

"You did not," Will frowned, "you acknowledged he saved your life."

"Yet?" Magnus squeaked, but it must have been to high pitched for the others to hear, because he was ignored.

"Yes, we all heard, what a miraculous day this is," Thalia snorted. It still came out a little runny, but at least she was mocking them again.

...what was wrong with Luke? What did they do to him?"

Nobody was exactly going to jump up and volunteer the information to her. Percy took a deep breath because he knew he would. He didn't want to deliver this news to her, she probably already hated him, but he had been there. He was the only one who could do this to her.

..."You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush."

"If the gods don't offer her immortality for that, you know it's an unjust system," Alex snickered one last time. He was surprised he hadn't died holding in that laugh while Thalia fought off a sob.

Rachel looked embarrassed. "It was the only thing I had."

"I desperately hope somebody makes her a hairbrush sword," Magnus didn't want to let this go either. "Gods, a statue in her honor, Kronos being afraid of hairbrushes the rest of his reign, anything to commemorate this moment."

There was a good healthy laugh at this long after the fact. Rachel deserved to be there to hear it, but that little moment of levity did help a lot as Thalia sat a little more comfortably in her seat and Percy kept reading without quite so much fear in every other word.

... "When it hit him, he was dazed. He came back to his senses."

Which was a very interesting moment Jason wished he could dissect. The problem was he didn't know a thing about what was going on or exactly what had been shown. Luke had said ouch, his eyes had flashed back to normal, but other than that he'd been perfectly 'normal.' Trying to kill everybody, using horrible magic to fling Percy around like he once had to the furniture on the Andromeda. All Kronos seemed to have done was settle into a body he'd claimed long ago.

..."Why do you keep defending him?" "Whoa, you two," Rachel said. "Knock it off!"

"Truly a brave girl Chiron himself should take notes from," Will chuckled. Everybody at Camp usually just retreated a safe distance when they started going at it.

"I would have let them keep going," Magnus frowned, "these two have been fighting about this since day one, I'd like to settle this once and for all."

Percy would very much like the same, but considering there had still been tears glistening at the corner of Annabeth's eyes and her voice hadn't been hoarse from shouting at him, he'd felt bad for snapping at her this particular time and was rather grateful Rachel had cut them off.

... "Stay out of it, mortal girl! If it wasn't for you-"... put her head down and sobbed.

Nobody could even begin to guess what biting remark Annabeth had been about to finish that with. Percy's throat lodged tight for several moments, he couldn't speak either as if her pain had transferred to him. He'd known exactly how to help Thalia, as she tried to quietly clear her throat again and was breathing easier, but he didn't know what to do to help one of the most important people in his life. He hated seeing Annabeth so mean to Rachel, he hated seeing her in so much pain...

..."We have to keep moving," Nico said.

"Thanks Nico," Percy managed, the most miserable feeling in his gut gave him the sensation like he was vomiting up his own shit. He hated the useless words out of his mouth back then for not being able to be there for her, for being weak to the enemy he was supposed to be born to destroy. He would have just sat there and done nothing.

He didn't know how to hold her, how to tell her he loved her. He barely knew how to explain the words and feelings to himself, it all felt foggy, like trying to pull something through a mirror. He knew he felt that way, now and back then, but it just wasn't clicking right in his brain along with all the other disjointed feelings and memories he didn't have for her yet.

Annabeth was supposed to be leading this quest, but ever since he'd come back from Calypso's island, she'd been different, so much less confident in herself at every step.

"Yeah, any time," he nodded his head. He felt like he spent half his time in here trying to remind them all to keep moving along, it was a skill he'd possibly perfected a little too well, and he tried not to dwell on the idea constant movement kept the bad feelings away.

"You did good back there," I told her.... "How am I going to collect if you die?"

"Truly intelligent, this girl is," Alex chuckled. "That's some mafia mentality if I've ever heard it."

"If she grows up to be a debt collector I'll never speak to her again," Magnus rolled his eyes.

I knelt next to Annabeth. "Hey, I'm sorry. We need to move."

Thalia shook her head miserably for her sister. She was probably at her lowest point ever, felt so alone and inconsolable beyond words or even a sob could make anyone understand...and here was Percy, complimenting someone else all while telling Annabeth to get her butt moving.

She knew Percy didn't mean it like that, but Thalia still found herself regretting joining the Hunters once again. She wished she could have gone on this quest to be there for Annabeth so many times, she still felt like she'd abandoned her little sister even if she had just been a phone call away every time. It didn't seem to have made any major difference.

...It was a Rasta cap: the one Grover always wore.

"Grover." Percy was physically incapable of having a one-track mind, but his focus was on one thing. His dream of Grover and Tyson running for their lives, his best friend holding onto life by a breath, if Grover had left that there as some goofy trail to follow and where he even got that from. Had his daddy goat knitted that for him?

Percy hadn't forgotten about Luke, Annabeth, or his camp for that matter, but his focus right now was absolutely on Grover.

* * *

My hands shook as I picked it up...it had been stepped on by a muddy boot.

With this one little detail, Percy's thoughts ping-ponged around in his head with particularly good players. Mercenaries could have wound up down here and continued chasing him across the country, maybe they'd found another half-blood down here they'd tried to assist, or maybe Grover had found a shoe and was eating it for a snack before he was startled and had to leave without it.

..."What about Camp Half-Blood?" Nico said. "There's no time."

There was a sense of harshness in Percy's voice. He wouldn't have acted on it, Nico knew that, but he could feel the frustrated question that wasn't said. Why did he even care? Nico was just stuck there with them, he shouldn't have any opinion about where they went.

The answer was simple, Nico had no idea who Percy as a person was back then. He'd thought Percy would want to get back to camp for the big battle and be the champion and Nico was trying to be on his side.

...She snatched Grover's cap into her hand and forged ahead.

Percy's hand fell away from the book, rubbing his thumb against his fingers for a moment like losing the sensation of that material in his hand had burned. He wondered if Grover liked eating knitwear and what his favorite flavor was or if the coloring mattered. He'd never bothered to ask, let alone why he liked this rasta cap so much.

He knew he'd followed Annabeth without question. He often forgot how much she cared about him as much as him. That Grover had been her satyr first, had guided her through the worst parts of her life right along with Luke, was now the only person left of her first family who had never let her down and she wasn't going to let him forget it. As annoying, frustrating, and confusing as she was about Luke, he knew all of that about her without question.

...Half the time we were slipping and sliding rather than walking.

"Will finally got his slide down there, and it's a mud bath," Jason sighed.

"Which I am still all for installing as part of an obstacle course at camp, it would be fun," Will tried to suppress his grin just a touch. He knew Grover and Tyson were okay, but it would still be a little morbid if he laughed to much right now.

...Grover's eyes were closed. He wasn't moving.

Kronos/ Luke might as well have still been right on their tail. Everything had slowed down around Percy for that one second where time itself was the enemy. If he just stayed in that moment forever, like an image of Death of Adonis could have been superimposed over what he was seeing.*

... "Large dogs. Men with dogs. Then, we got close to here. Grover was excited.

"Tyson officially learned his name!" Alex cheered. "At what stage though? Before or after the large dogs? Did he just forget and was to embarrassed to ask and only figured it out when Grover tried to introduce himself to something down there?"

"Hallelujah, we can all go home happy," Percy tried to say with renewed confidence.

..."He said, 'We're close.' Then hit his head on rocks."

"We'd be done with these dang books if Tyson would just sum them up for us," Percy sighed.

"I bet it still would have hurt plenty if he hit his horns, right?" Magnus frowned.

"It's the same stuff our fingernails are made of, much thicker, but still with nerve endings and bones under there," Will agreed anxiously, his mind flitting to all the possible problems that could be had by Tyson moving him alone would cause if Grover had some sort of injury from that fall. "So yes, it would still hurt plenty."

"Wait, then how do people put shoes on horses if they can feel it," Percy yelped in sudden concern.

"Hooves don't," Will corrected, "they're essentially a giant toenail with bones in them, but no blood running through. They can feel it, but it's painless."

"Do satyrs get shooed?" Thalia asked in surprise. She still felt raw and too exposed, but her light-headedness was clearing the farther away they got from talking about that black marble fortress.

"And we are so off-topic," Nico sighed, he really just wanted to get this over with.

Percy agreed and kept reading, though he was now imagining Grover getting gold horseshoes and a grill if he went through his rebellious teenager phase.

...Annabeth knelt next to him and splashed icy cold river water in his face.

"Is that nicer than smacking someone? I can't decide?" Alex grinned.

"You'd do both just for insurance," Jason rolled his eyes.

"And a secret third thing depending on the person," Alex agreed with a wickeder grin.

..."Something powerful is just beyond that doorway."

"What is it with you?" Magnus looked one deity away from strangling Percy. "Why do you continue to just stumble upon the most powerful presences in doorways repeatedly!?" He was already imagining a killer goat hell-bent on eating the planet Percy was going to awaken next.

"I'm really indecisive like that," Percy shrugged, "I always try to leave my problems at the door, but they just keep playing sonatas with my doorbell."

* * *

I made quick introductions, since Tyson and Grover had never met Rachel.

...Tyson told Rachel she was pretty...making Annabeth's nostrils flare.

"Microscopic flamethrower," Alex nodded seriously. "The invention of the century."

"Oh how the turns table-" Percy was to busy snickering like he'd been afraid for his life to do back then. He still remembered Annabeth smacking Tyson's hand away and being disgusted with his little brother in exchange for that look.

"Anyway," I said.

"I'm going to make you a card," Thalia still sounded a little nasally, but Percy was too relieved she was back to mocking him again to risk mentioning it. "A pocket-sized one, but very elaborate cursive in calligraphy. You can just flash that around whenever you want to get out of awkward conversations."

"The best gift you'll have ever given me," Percy nodded his thanks.

"Might want to make multiples," Magnus mock whispered.

... I could still feel the cold, like wading through a snowdrift.

Annabeth had been shaking like a leaf and holding onto Grover for support by the time they reached the other side, but Grover had actually looked more awake and revitalized. His distaste of water might as well have been washed away, his shaggy goat legs almost seemed to repel the water as well as he had.

"I think we're in Carlsbad Caverns," ... "How do you know?"

"Why do you still question how she knows anything," Jason snorted.

"She was about to bite her tongue off and still being smarter than me," Percy sighed, "I couldn't stop myself from seeing her keep trying."

... That's where he'd felt closest to the power of Pan.

Alex couldn't help but splutter on a laugh. "So Magnus was right? All you guys had to do was get a shovel!"

"It was bound to happen eventually," Magnus grinned in surprise.

Jason bit back a smile he'd said the same thing and let them have their moment. Instead, he looked a little constipated and started muttering about writing down everything everybody said, and Percy kept reading loudly in horror over that idea.

... My weariness fell away, as if I'd just gotten a good night's sleep.

"Well now we have to drag Pan out of there, even kicking and screaming to do his damn job," Alex snorted in delight. "If even half of humanity got the sensation of a full night's sleep again we'd have world peace."

"Alex, we will not be bottling up people's essences against their will," Thalia sighed in exhaustion.

"You guys are so missing out, we could sell it for a very reasonable price," Alex was already sighing in defeat though.

... It smelled of trees, flowers, and a warm summer day.

Percy swallowed the sweet memory taste of smoked food. He closed his eyes and could hear his mom laughing as they walked home from the candy store. The feeling was as vivid as if he'd popped a piece of ambrosia into his mouth.

So why was he getting a cold feeling deep in his core, as if this ended no better than the feeling of a wild bore chasing them down a mountain?

... I was too stunned to talk. Even Nico seemed speechless.

Nico looked around, vaguely offended. "Why do you always say that like I would be some major exception to how you feel?" He tended to think so too, he'd just like to hear Percy say it so he could correct it better.

He didn't realize how bluntly he'd addressed Percy until he looked up from the book, and then Nico fought off a scowl as his stomach did a backflip for talking to Percy like that.

Swallowing and holding his ground for once though, Nico didn't look away this time. He was just so tired of feeling ostracized, and Percy nor anyone had really treated him like a freak in here...so that must mean he was missing something?

Percy, at first, of course, tried to play it off like a joke. "For all I know you could be allergic to this place, it's your opposite."

Nico looked at him, unimpressed, and Will's little scoff made Percy sigh and shrug. "Sorry, I still keep expecting you to be that kid that won't shut up, I see you out of the corner of my eye and think you're going to ask me if I can split that cavern with my third eye or something."

"Well I'm not," Nico reminded with almost saint-like patience for him. This was the first god he'd ever interacted with apart from Dionysus's drunken aloofness and a very brief moment with Artemis's cold aloofness. He'd been happy and excited, but kept himself in check not to make a fool of himself.

It had been a fool's errand from the start, the only thing Pan would say to him was just confirmation he was a death specter. That's all anybody seemed to associate him with.

If Percy's past tense tone was anything to go by, at least Percy's continued constricting moments of de-aging him to five finally seemed to be wearing off?

Animals lounged around...a dodo bird... mother of all guinea pigs...a wooly mammoth.

Percy's mind flashed back to sitting in those dreary woods, that marshy clearing on his first quest, with pollution blotting out the stars in the middle of the night, litter in all directions and Grover telling him how no searcher had come back in two thousand years looking for a place like this.

It was such a palace of beauty, the whole world could have looked like this if it weren't for how the planet was treated.

Enough to hope that maybe, this one time, things would work out okay. That they found Pan chilling in here, lost and happy to see them. Willing to come back and give the earth this chance.

...Around his neck hung a set of reed pipes.

The idea of satyrs had bothered Jason from the very beginning. Something of these fawns didn't feel natural to a life he couldn't remember.

This Satyr wasn't even in the room, and felt the most familiar of any gods Jason had to hear about. The power and majesty that didn't feel like a show or forced, it was just a part of him. The indifference to their presence and the way it felt like an honor to be in front of this deity, rather than a summons. He swallowed and resisted the urge to get on his knees just hearing of this.

Grover fell to his knees in front of the bed. "Lord Pan!"

Percy slipped and still called him Lord Pam. Then he looked around with a smile, and his face fell. They suspected it had been on purpose. Like he forgot for a moment Grover wasn't in here to relive this with him.

... I have waited a very long time for you." "I, got lost," Grover apologized.

"Truest words ever spoken," Percy snorted in delight. He really should have a medal or something for holding in back then all the things that had crossed his mind.

"He's rescued dozens of kids and nearly been eaten by a cyclops, while attacked by this guy's pet boar. I think roadblocked is a more apt summary," Magnus frowned.

"Are we just skipping the part Grover told the Lost God he got lost," Thalia snickered. It was the first time she'd really laughed the whole chapter, so nobody was going to roll their eyes too hard over that obvious joke.

Pan laughed.

"Does he know he's a lost god?" Jason asked, his voice still a bit in awe. "He doesn't exactly sound trapped, just chilling."

Yet he didn't seem very upset by this. He'd always been one of the best at just accepting the gods were nuts like that, Percy observed.

"I wonder if he heard all the satyr's prayers over the years, it might not just be godly intuition this time," Will agreed.

... I could swear it was humming "It's a Small World."

Alex snorted in delight and instantly declared, "well, that's going to be my next pet project."

"I hope you teach the bird many songs Alex, maybe even a dance number or two," Nico grinned.

"My dodo bird will outshine whatever you put them against," Alex assured.

"We are not discussing how you will get a dodo bird," Thalia said it more like a statement than a question, though Magnus felt it deserved the latter.

...Pan looked tired. His form shimmered as if he were made of Mist.

His spirit was gone a very long time ago, Nico had instinctively known. Maybe now, older and more aware of his powers, he could have pinpointed the exact date and time. This was more like the ghosts milling around inside DOA studios. Trapped between the two worlds until he finally had an outlet for his release, Grover.

...my friends were kneeling. They had awed looks on their faces. I got to my knees.

"Surprised somebody didn't have to drop-kick you to get there," Jason muttered.

"The look on Annabeth's face said she was considering it," Percy nodded.

"I'd like to see that," Will chuckled. He didn't get to see Annabeth awed very often at all, and mingling that with the usual way she looked at Percy was probably as close as he'd ever get.

"You have a humming dodo bird," I said stupidly.

"It's not stupid Percy," Alex chastised, though he wasn't exactly reassured Alex of all people was trying to reassure him.

"Could dodo's hum?" Magnus asked in surprise, "or is this a special one?"

"How should we know? I bet I could still ask my dad about the ice age too," Thalia rolled her eyes hard while giving Percy a significant look that clearly said she'd still thought it was a stupid comment, so that was at least still on track.

...My little actress."...hummed something that sounded like a funeral dirge.

Alex threw back his head and laughed from delight right from his belly, a sound that really should have caused small children to flee in terror, but oddly had an addicting quality and they all joined in anyway.

...This shall stay undisturbed, for a little longer."

Tourist trap, the words immediately buzzed to mind. Nobody had the heart to protest this might not be so. Even Thalia couldn't post a Hunter there for the rest of eternity to make sure such a place was reserved, Artemis would simply remind them that change was inevitable, even for the gods. Just their mere presence in the place had tainted the last spot of wild with a human's footprint.

..."Chose?" Grover said. "I don't understand."

Percy's voice wobbled with just as much confusion. He didn't think it had much to do with the empathy link. He'd felt it too. Here was finally a god that just seemed at peace, which automatically made him seem like the coolest god willing to help out Camp he'd ever met. Why was he talking like this?

...You prolonged my dark twilight sleep. It must end."

"Wow," Magnus murmured with a surprising burn in his eyes. He'd never met Grover, but he'd always been on his side about preserving nature as much as possible. Satyr's might not think humans could possess that want as much as them, but his mom had, and so did he. Nature was beautiful in itself and didn't need humans all over it admiring what they were losing. Sometimes they should just stay away, it was the best gift they could give.

..."You must accept the truth. Your companion, Nico, he understands."

Nico's stomach still quivered at this with delight a god was turning to him, speaking to him. There was no hate or fear of the Son of Hades in place.

His hands still shook this was what he'd been asked of. Not of anything else on the planet he might want to discuss, just death, what he was best at.

His eyes darted to Will. He wished he could distract from this conversation with some stupid thing to come to mind, but he suddenly couldn't think of a single thing other than this fact. That everybody would always just associate him with one thing.

Will felt the familiar feeling of those eyes boring into his and turned to smile at Nico, saying out of the blue, "hey, I made up a pirate joke, want to hear?"

"Um, Will, is now the time-"

Will ignored Jason. "Why did the pirate struggle to learn the alphabet?"

"Something to do with R..." Nico trailed off with a smile already on his face.

"He kept getting lost at C!" Will cried.

Nico laughed in surprise, hard, the kind they'd only seen before when he imagined Percy as a guinea pig.

"Ooo, my turn!" Alex raised his hand in excitement.

"Guys," Thalia sighed, trying to reign them in.

Alex ignored her. "Why was the pirate not allowed to play cards," he didn't let anyone think about the punchline before he finished with a shout, "because he kept standing on the deck!"

Percy jumped in without prompting, "What do you call a flower that runs on electricity?" He gave Thalia a shit eating grin like he just knew she was going to love this. "A power plant."

"I'm going to kill you," she promised with a sigh.

"Percy, incapable of keeping a theme for five seconds," Magnus sighed...and yet he couldn't help but chime in with his mother's favorite joke. "How do you grow the best flowers? Through trowel and error."

"We started this conversation talking about a nature god, at least I tried getting us back on subject," Percy shrugged.

"You did no such thing," Jason frowned. Then he added, out of the blue, "What is a spell that you can learn with a frying pan? Cast Iron."

"See, that's how you stay on topic," Thalia admitted. Percy looked at her tragically and demanded she liked Jason's joke better than his.

There were tears running down Nico's face by now, but as Thalia said with a proud smirk, "You'd fail any drug test, weed brain," did Nico realize he'd have to be the one to put a stop to this with an overwhelming sense of warmth. They were doing this for him. Because he'd been blatantly uncomfortable at this chapter and Will at minimum recognized part of why and nobody else was going to stop this, they didn't have the attention span to get back on track when Percy wasn't about to die.

Nico had to take several shuddering breaths and clear his throat a few times to make himself heard, "would you guys please get on with it, this is kind of disrespectful." Even as he said it as a pitiful excuse, he suspected Pan would be bursting with pleasure his essence had invoked this in any way. Children laughing was the sound of summer.

"You have to say a joke first Nico, everybody else did, thems the rules," Percy held the book hostage to his chest in protest.

Jason reached around Thalia to try and smack him. "No he doesn't! What are you, four? Next you're going to declare your superhero can't die."

Nico sized Percy up, and gave a hesitant smile. The first joke that came to mind was lame and circled right back to his first thought and only felt like it would prove his worst fear...and yet it was a part of him he'd never want to be without. "I put the fun in funeral. Ya happy?"

"Ecstatic!" Percy decreed.

...this is more like a memory." "But gods can't die," Grover said.

Oh yes they could. It was a sobering thought, but the smiles lingered all the same. Time marches on for everyone, even the gods. It was a humbling thought, but one that gave them a flicker of comfort. The domain Kronos himself controlled could not be stopped forever... surely they would find his weakness in the end.

..."Are you singing Kumbaya again?" Pan sighed. "Everybody's a cynic.

Will got a good laugh out of that, and when he saw a few blank faces he was happy to explain this joke, "Kumbaya was originally a song that appealed for God to come and help those in need."

"Christian religion really touches everywhere," Alex said in a disparaging sigh. "It's just a book club that got out of hand, now they're even down here converting extinct birds?"

"A tad insensitive Alex?" Will sighed. "They can coexist." He'd grown up hearing his mother's favorite songs, mainly country, many of which sang of God he still enjoyed singing to this day. His feelings on religion could get very tangled up very fast if he sat around thinking of it all to long.

Alex had grown up knowing who his mother was and having a great dislike of most religions because of it, but he didn't press the point. It was a debate for another time.

... my spirit can no longer be carried by a god. It must be taken up by all of you."

Nico braced himself, his breath caught in his throat. He'd never timed how long he could do that, but he was about to find out. That was the last thing Pan had said to all of them. Then he'd turned eyes on Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and even the mortal girl Rachel before fading...because Nico had done his purpose there already. It had been such a horrible feeling for so long to think it was all he'd ever be good for he still wasn't sure how to let it go.

But it was a part of him, and Will was watching with the same riveted attention to hear this as he did everything. If Will found it odd this was all a god thought he was good for, he wasn't showing it.

... He meant half-bloods, too, and humans. Everyone.

Percy grinned nervously. He'd probably caused more dead plants than the average fourteen-year-old due to his many sporadic fires and inability to water a plant without drowning it. Grover had never broken his knee kicking him for this fact, but he didn't have a lot of faith in himself being much help with this.

Yet he remembered the hippocampi and how he found Bessie. Nature wasn't just plants and vegetarianism. He cared deeply for the oceans and all that inhabited his father's domain.

He would do his best to help with this, and if his lazy ass made a horrible shot that missed the rim of a trashcan and still made sure to put it where it belonged could manage it so could anybody.

... when the time comes, you will not be ruled by fear."

Percy yelped like something inside of him was yanked out and held up on display. They all knew of this fear, his rodent persona making a reappearance. For Pan to just tell him, 'nope, you're good, not going to happen again,' was somehow a simultaneous relief and ten times the pressure. Now if it happened again he'd let down a god's last words?!

Thalia squeezed his shoulder. "Did you want me to finish?" She knew what was coming next anyway, heading back to camp and a fight on the horizon. If Percy was having some horrible preemptive feelings about that in relation to this, she didn't want him getting hit with feelings of guilt any earlier than he had to.

"No," Percy said, quietly but stubbornly. For every other memory he got back, he kept wishing Annabeth were here. That she'd somehow be able to articulate his thoughts because he was to idiotic to string them together right now.

... You will play a great role, though it may not be the role you imagined."

Magnus didn't suppose that had anything to do with hiding under a bed and being somewhere safe away from all of this. The problem was, he wanted the best for his cousin, and that was for her to determine. He hoped whatever role she did play she'd be happy with. Annabeth might just start another war to prove otherwise if she wasn't.

...Tyson, your name shall live among the Cyclopes for generations.

"So what I just heard was, we should be raising Tyson as a hero who can't disappoint us," Alex offered.

"I'll get the shields ready," Percy and Jason said together before high-fiving across Thalia's face.

...Rachel flinched when he said her name. She backed up like she was guilty of something,

"She doesn't blame herself for that Hoover Dam mess does she?" Percy said stupidly. "I didn't even blow up that nature monument."

"Could be anything in her past," Will said swiftly. Percy looked vexed about this from his five seconds of trying to remember the rest of her past that he probably knew better than any of them after their summer together. They'd been doing good for a while now not nearly dying, he was hoping that might continue.

Percy reluctantly let the feeling go and read with a feverish curiosity instead he rarely showed.

... look for opportunities. They will come."

Finally he turned back toward Grover.

Percy groaned like his spleen was rupturing at that lack of explanation. Why couldn't gods ever spout somebody's life story to make his life easier? "Even this god has to be a vague acorn head!"

"What did acorns do to you?" Thalia frowned.

"I still haven't forgiven the one that decided I was deformed," Percy shrugged.

... You cannot wait for anyone else, even a god, to do that for you."

Magnus really hated how insignificant that made him feel. He'd been blaming the gods a lot for how the world continued to turn because they'd let such horrible things go on without a care, because he sure couldn't do anything about it. Not unless he wanted to steal seeds or throw garbage at people and act like the crazy stereotype homeless person everybody already assumed he was by taking one look at him.

..."We should go now," he said, "and tell them. The great god Pan is dead."

Percy sounded absolutely exhausted as he came to a finish. He was kicking one foot around and clearly rummaging around in his brain more than anything by the end, probably trying to figure out how his empathy link worked two ways again as he attempted to hand Thalia the book by missing her hand completely and tossing it over her head instead.

"Let's take a break for the night," Thalia's voice croaked just as much for herself as him. "It's been, more than enough for one day."

Will looked at that thing on the floor and instantly agreed. All he could imagine left was the fight to come, and he sure wasn't looking forward to the fresh memories of blood, screams, and the funerals to fall asleep to.

Nobody was exactly telling the others they had to go to bed too, so there was no real protest.

In fact, it was a rather strange concept all of a sudden, to just have leisure time even for a few hours while the Greek kids all clearly passed out for sleep.

Jason went to his own room without much clue what to do, and decided to test a theory. He tapped the fridge and asked it for his favorite book. He opened it, and to his shock he didn't recognize it. Sitting on the shelf was a dog-eared copy of a book with such a faded cover he couldn't even read the peeling letters, only a few vowels were still visible and it was obviously being held together with glue and a prayer.

He yanked it out and was at once lost in the world outside his own. It felt familiar though...like he'd heard this story before, and yet every new character and plot twist grabbed him in a new level of shock like he was hearing it for the first time. When exactly his eyes gave out and he fell asleep with it open on his chest he couldn't say as his imagination blurred into dreams spoiling the end of the book into a vague memory of sitting in a warm pavilion, a blueberry muffin in hand being left forgotten as he couldn't put down the ending.

Alex and Magnus signed good night to each other, and yet departed a tad awkwardly for some reason neither of them were willing to admit to right now. Alex was more than happy to get back to his project and asked the fridge to turn into a kiln for the night.

Magnus dragged his pillow and blanket up to the balcony to sleep up there. He'd been feeling restless on that plush mattress, and it wasn't until he sunk onto the cool hard floor up there did he figure out why. There was no sky above, but the murky deep of the ocean often glittered with unknown sea life and shimmered with white specks floating all around if he concentrated enough. It was like trying to nap on another planet, but so had sleeping on a roof his first time. He found himself dozing off at once.

Nico found himself pacing in his room with no clue why. His stomach kind of hurt again, though he'd eaten when he was hungry for once.

It wasn't until he put his hand in his pocket and didn't feel his figurine, causing his heart to massively skip a beat before he remembered where he'd left it.

Duh Nico! You were supposed to be playing Mythomagic with him before you chickened out!

Yet he hadn't been this stressed to march out of his room since his dad had tried to ground him. He kept shaking his head and his hand to just grab the doorknob and go, either Will would be asleep or doing something else and Nico could go away...or maybe even join him to see what he was doing? There probably wouldn't be anything wrong with that...

He steeled his nerves, told himself enough was enough, and forcing his hand not to grab at his sword to prepare for battle, marched back into the halls looking for Will.

He was sprawled out on his bed, one leg dangling off and humming some tune to himself as he shuffled through mythomagic cards, a new wrapper glittering evidence across his lap. The decks they'd set up were sitting on the floor right where they'd left them, untouched.

"You're cheating," Nico grinned.

Will didn't even jump. Just looked around with a ready smile. "You've memorized every deck, I'm just trying to catch up."

"You're going to have those stupid images seared into your dreams." Nico chuckled. "Trust me, you don't want to have the one where the katoblepones chase you around an old coliseum."

"See, I don't even know what that is," Will jumped off the bed and pocketed them with a shrug. "So, technically, you're cheating."

"Okay, then we don't play to win," Nico easily gave in. "Just play for fun. Why you think this will be fun is beyond me, you have all the monsters you want in those woods."

"Because in this game we all survive and win and are heroes," Will said with a wide-eyed, childlike stare.

Nico laughed, he felt like he should feel bad for having done that so much today when Percy and Thalia had had really crappy days, but it was harder not to around him.

Then Nico blinked and realized Will had been gesturing at himself with maybe a little more mocking in his mockery than Nico had been meant to pick up on.

"You're a hero Will," he said in surprise, voice just a hint angry, his face drawn tight if he should be offended at someone who had said otherwise.

"I feed kids godly food, often with no clue what it does to make them better," he shrugged with a wistful tone to his voice. "I can sing healing hymns, but I'm studying to do more. Until then, I practice. Can't get very far trying to perfect what isn't broken."

Nico didn't know why, but he felt called out. He knew he'd been holding onto his past with his sister with this stupid game and his stupid clinging to his long dead mom and had virtually nothing outside of his past to look ahead to.

Nico was beginning to suspect Will had set up a secret empathy link with him because he watched the blond instantly switch to healing, gentle, concern. Nico would swear he'd even started glowing, just a bit, as he stepped forward. Nico stayed where he was in the open doorway.

"You're your own person Nico," Will voiced his guess wearily. It wasn't a diagnosis he could run a test on, he felt invasive trying to explain something about Nico to Nico, but those dark brown eyes were still watching him for an answer. "You don't have to be who Bianca or Percy wanted you to be. Be mad at your sister, take as long as you need to get over Percy, you don't have to keep up this, this face for either of them."

Nico wanted to get angry. He wanted to tell this guy he had no idea what he was talking about. "I don't know who else to be."

He'd spent exactly five days at camp feeling 'normal,' by day anyway. Chiron hadn't been able to explain the nightmares other than the general, "I'm sorry my young friend, it is something all demigods must adjust to."

Nico hadn't told him details to help, he'd been to nervous the wise old centaur would see to much of a crazy kid talking about ghosts and kick him out. Other than that it had been great, he hadn't been worried for a single second Percy and his sister would be back while he trained with pride to be good enough for both of them.

Minos had been a whisper of everything wrong with him. He'd spent his days after the Titan War trying to figure out what was a lie and what had been the truth. Now he just wanted some space from his only solid link to his life, death, and yet knew he didn't want to let go all ties to his dad either. It made no sense to him, how could it to anyone else?

"That's okay," Will promised. "Just don't try to fight whoever that is."

Will reached out slowly, waiting for Nico to pull away any second, step out into the hallway the slightest bit to tell him he didn't feel the same, to run away again as Will's fingers finally graced the edge of his cheek. He didn't, just stayed frozen in place as Will leaned in to just the smallest breath apart so that Nico's shaky exhale ghosted across his face as Will whispered, "can I-"

Nico leaned in that last inch and kissed him.

He had never even let himself indulge in excessive fantasies of kissing a boy. The idea itself wasn't supposed to exist, let alone the one person he'd woken up dreaming of. Such forbidden delusions of Percy had always left him feeling like filth in his own skin.

Will didn't feel wrong, as his sun chapped lips gently brushed against his. It felt right as Nico put a curious hand on Will's shoulder and the boy so, so gently tightened his grip on his chin to lean in closer and pressed the tingling heat down more forcefully.

The son of Apollo leaned back and Nico's eyes snapped open without remembering when they'd closed to see that bright light shimmering around him he always seemed to carry. For one horrible train of thought he questioned what he'd been doing, Will of all demigods- but then Will smiled that same cheerful grin of his natural self and said casually, "that crush on Connor faded by the way. Not sure when exactly, but it's long gone. Just thought you ought to know."

"Um," Nico's lips were still warm and yet he felt strangely numb. "Yeah, that's good to know." Nico's hand had fallen away at some point, but Will was still gently holding his face, using his thumb to brush at his cheek where he suddenly realized he was blushing and the heat from his trembling mouth was still all he felt. It had felt so, so good, and he wanted to do it again...but he didn't, needed a moment...but he didn't want to leave...

Nico stepped to the side, farther into the room, and Will's hand fell away but watched him curiously. "So, want to get started playing?"

"I call first dice roll!"

Nico was smiling to much to spoil Will's fun it was usually the highest roll that went first. He seemed to enjoy himself more when he ignored rules around Will.

PJOPJOPJO

You guise have no idea how excited I am to finally get to this chapter! All the solangelo finally being paid off! Hope you enjoyed!

*The exact image that came to my mind/ Percy's mind was Venus and Cupid lamenting the dead Adonis (1656) by Cornelis Holsteyn. I took an art history class a couple years ago and guess which my favorite section was.