Happy Halloween! What a perfectly spooky chapter to kickstart this book!

We have been getting so much extra PJO stuff I have not been able to put this fic down even though I usually read more on my off times than write. I have chapters predone! I am so excited for this!

Which you still don't get to read until every Monday!

PJOPJOPJO

Alex snatched the book away and ignored the slightly sticky feeling of Magnus's jam fingers lingering on there and how he kind of wanted to sniff it to see what flavor it was as he loudly yelled the new title.

"Why does it not surprise me Bart Simpson made it to hell," Percy nodded, chewing thoughtfully on his pen cap and looking at Nico for what could be going on. The splitting headache he immediately got for this effort quickly made that no fun at all.

"My question is does Percy fall for it?" Thalia was already giving him a tragic look of disappointment. "Please don't tell me you cut up a refrigerator because a shadow made you jump."

Alex waited for the snickering to subside before he started reading, it really was something to be patient for.

Nothing caps off the morning like a taxi ride with an angry girl.

"You didn't summon the blind ladies again did you?" Magnus looked queasy at just the thought.

"We weren't in as big a hurry as last time," Percy promised, rubbing his stomach at the reminder. "Annabeth gave me the same filthy look though like I stole their eyeball and we were speeding half the time while I clutched my seatbelt, so really, it wasn't that different. Made me miss Tyson."

"I'll scream random numbers at you if you like, really dig home that sense of deja vu," Alex offered.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Percy promised.

... she was acting like I'd just punched her grandmother.

"Rhea's done nothing to deserve that Percy," Will snorted, "or would it be Hera?" He muttered with his own cross-eyed look for trying to figure out which would get the title in this case.

"In some versions, Athena doesn't even have a mother, so Annabeth couldn't be mad at him for punching nobody," Nico agreed.

"I thought we agreed not to talk about this!" Percy clutched at his ears in instant denial of how weird everything they said was.

"You brought it up," Thalia sided with them. "I'm personally more along the lines of laughing at you tracking down Dr. Chase's mom and punching her for not being around her grandkids enough."

"Next time, I'll think to myself where nobody else should hear, she was acting like I'd punched her best friend," Percy said triumphantly.

"Percy," Jason frowned in concern, "that's you. Why would you punch yourself in the face?"

"Argh," Percy bowed his head in defeat and Alex took pity on him and decided to keep going, despite how curious he was to see how deep Percy could keep digging himself.

... she hadn't even told me she was in New York

Magnus tried his best not to look accusingly at Percy, as Percy instantly shifted to his own concern and promised, "I found out about this in front of Sacks, I swear I didn't know. I sort of wanted a sack on my head when she told me."

Nobody bothered to laugh at the stupid joke, their worry for Annabeth clearly having hidden at least some of her hardships from Percy didn't make anyone feel better.

Percy sunk back into his seat bending his pen, his stomach rumbling for popcorn he'd deny himself now. Would she have told him, during the credits of the movie as they laughed about having put to much salt on their snack? Would she have given him details as they went back to his place, tried to stop denying how little she fit into the mortal world? His mom would have invited her in, just like always, and Annabeth would have inhaled blue cookies until Paul came over for dinner.

It was supposed to feel perfect.

and she'd learned nothing new about Nico (long story).

"Am I?" Nico asked blankly, his mind to awash with shock that Percy was actually still looking for him at all. Especially six months later! He would have thought his name wouldn't pop up again until Geryon's farm at minimum.

"Took a whole book to explain it to me, and there's still plenty I didn't get," Percy shrugged, still staring at him kind of strangely like he half expected Nico to spontaneously start getting hearts in his eyes or something. "I still don't even know who this is supposed to be narrated to!" He finished in loud exasperation to the ocean in general.

Will bit down on his lip hard to stop himself asking Nico if he was okay. He didn't look it. He still had a dazed kind of expression like something was in his eye. Will certainly hadn't forgotten him, but then, he'd always done his best to never forget any kid that passed through camp. Jay Martin had loved to stitch and embroidered a beautiful flag for the Hermes cabin, Rory Wayler had loved swimming, Nico Di Angelo had loved Mythomagic, the list went on and on...

...biding his time until he had enough power to challenge the gods.

"And you said I was a long story," Nico said, clearly unimpressed. "I could have summed up my shit twice as fast as that." He held up one finger, "find kids at boarding school," second finger that was suspiciously out of line, "leave one kid at camp," third finger, "Nico's sister went on quest with me and didn't come back," pinky finger, "now I think Nico wants me dead." He looked around at Percy daring him to contradict him. It was weirdly freeing and morbidly funny Percy was gazing back at him with a twitching mouth. He'd always thought he'd want to melt into the shadows permanently if Percy ever laughed at him, now here he was inviting it.

"You got me Nico," Percy chuckled, "Luke was just more worrisome and much more trouble, definitely needed more context for whichever idiot decided to pick up a book with a four on it first."

"I think you're important enough to get a paragraph Nico," Will grinned. "I think you should get a whole book next."

"Don't even joke about that," Nico looked at him in tragic betrayal.

In demigod-speak, we call this a "problem."

"I'm sure mortals would call that a problem too," Magnus assured from his end. "Nine out of ten things you ever come across would be a major problem."

"Your mom's the exception," Alex added helpfully like Percy had missed that.

"Yeah, I accept that," Percy sighed.

... he's not on Mount Tam. I would know."

"Does she have a GPS tracker on him?" Thalia asked mildly. "Is she not sharing that information?" She could never mock her little sister about this to her face, but Annabeth wasn't here and that was a silly thing to say.

"I'm sure she has a wise-ass answer for you that involves troops coagulating-"

"Congregating," Magnus sighed.

"-and weather patterns," Percy shrugged, but he didn't look much happier at Annabeth claiming that.

..."Grover's at camp. We'll see him today."

"Why does she know more about what's going on with your best friend than you?" Jason frowned.

"He's not as good having drachma on him for IM'ing," Percy frowned, "he loses his pants to much. At least I'd probably know if he was in real trouble," he tapped the side of his head uneasily. He still got random cravings for cheese enchiladas and smiled delightedly at flowers growing through cracks in the sidewalk like he never had before his empathy link, so he was sure that was still working fine.

..."You'll see," she said. But she didn't explain.

"That's a bad habit of hers," Magnus huffed.

"It doesn't seem very wise to constantly not be telling you everything!" Alex was mostly mocking but also annoyed about it too.

"It's a good thing she has a whole personality outside of her parent then," Percy rolled his eyes at them.

...I used Annabeth's phone to call my mom...like sending up a flare to the monsters.

"I want to know who pays for that subscription now, her dad or Chiron?" Jason asked with a weird mix of concern for whoever it was. He felt like both meant well and were just inviting trouble.

"I'm going to call crap on this entire gaslighting community if Percy isn't attacked by a monster by the time he gets to camp," Alex said, completely nonplussed. "First Rachel name drops a bunch of monsters in the gym which is a no-no, now this, I think someone somewhere just started lying to make things more complicated to you guys, and nobody's gotten to the truth of it yet."

"An investigation I'm sure we can gladly sick Annabeth on," Will snorted.

...I asked her to tell Paul Blofis I was sorry.

Percy breathed deeply through his nose and let it out slowly through his mouth. He owed his mom so much more than a sorry. If Paul even answered the phone he imagined any number of hurtful things he could say to his mom about her delinquent son and things would end so badly because she defended him. Days like this he wished his mom had abandoned him at camp, she really would have been better off.

"Percy?" Magnus asked in concern. He knew that guilt ridden look the scarce few times he'd been in front of a mirror.

It drew everyone's attention though, and Percy really didn't want to hear a bunch of nice claims like his mom loved him and didn't regret it. He knew that, but it wasn't making him feel better.

"Mmm, yeah," Percy agreed, "just hoping Alex is wrong and we don't attract monsters." He made an impatient movement to keep the reading going.

... past orchards and wineries and fresh produce stands.

Will smiled to himself, remembering the first time he'd come through this way on the back of a swan. The sun had just been starting to rise, and he'd been so pleasantly surprised and in awe to see how beautiful this landscape was after his ride had skirted all of those huge never ending buildings of the city.

... I was tempted to call Rachel... why had Kelli exploded into flames?

"Annabeth stops talking to you for five minutes and you want to decompress with a mortal?" Jason didn't sound insulting, just very dubious of how helpful that would really be.

"You met her," Percy needlessly reminded, "she's got this, this way of making you think she knows what's going on."

Jason nodded in agreement to that, she had a powerful aura to her.

...monsters never truly died. Eventually— weeks, months, or years from now—

"Or in Percy's luck, five minutes later," Will oh so helpfully inserted.

"Thank you Will, we all so needed that reminder," he sighed.

...Annabeth handed him a roll of cash, and the driver didn't argue.

"I need a book of excuses for when they do argue though," Alex's twitching lips already promised he was making up his own anyway.

"Badass scavenger hunt," Magnus said off the top of his head.

"The forest is haunted and I'm out here scrying for attention," Thalia smirked.

"My camp is on the other side, but it's invitation only," Jason said in a very posh voice.

"I'd tell you but I'd have to kill you," Percy snickered.

"This is the only place my mom lets me have band practice," Will chuckled.

Nico almost waited a beat to long. Nobody sat around and watched everybody else to see if someone had something to say before they kept on reading, especially not Alex. But the goofy thought sprung to mind, and he made himself say it before it was just interrupting and out of context. "Secret nerd convention. That sends most people running."

"All highly acceptable answers I will be stealing," Alex nodded his thanks.

We hiked to the crest of the hill where the dragon was dozing,

"Because that's still just a casual thing," Magnus rolled his eyes. He wondered if Zoe had spent her spare time there up cuddling with Peleus while missing Ladon.

...steam hissed out his nostrils as he went cross-eyed with pleasure.

Magnus's heart did melt quite a bit hearing that though. He smiled hopefully this was the only dragon he'd have to hear about from now on. At least he sounded like a cute, friendly one.

... as if the hill itself were holding its breath, waiting for something bad to happen.

"I've been doing that since we wound up down here," Magnus promised.

"Same," Nico muttered.

"Liars," Alex scoffed, "you two would have passed out by now, nobody can hold their breath that long."

"You got them Alex," Will chuckled while Magnus and Nico exchanged exasperated looks.

... Most of the campers had arrived last Friday, so I already felt out of it.

"You have still yet to get to camp at any normal time," Jason said in fascination. "At this rate I'd believe you not getting expelled before you wound up there first day with nothing bad going on."

Percy wanted to argue the point, and knew he couldn't.

... fighting a large orange sea serpent. A typical day at camp.

"Why is it orange?" Alex squinted suspiciously. "Was it there first and that's why you picked your camp colors?"

"One of my siblings actually put it in there last weekend," Will shrugged. "Lee was betting Michael he couldn't shoot the sucker off a squid for some reason, but they still had to drag it back to the ocean when they were done."

...I stared at her as if she'd just said I need to eat a large, smelly boot.

"Finding Clarisse is kind of like that," Will agreed. "You're usually left wondering why she's there, where did she come from, and how do I get her to go back."

"I hope Annabeth at least tried to add hot sauce to it," Alex snorted.

...Clarisse from the Ares cabin was one of my least favorite people.

"Like on a scale of one to ten, how does she rank compared to her dad, and Luke, and that smelly old guy you're convinced is dead on the back of a bus?" Alex asked clinically.

Percy honestly deliberated with himself for a moment before saying, "the smelly guy wins with a three, he's at least quiet and doesn't belch, then Clarisse is a four."

"Good to know for future notice," Alex grinned.

... tried to beat me to a pulp on a regular basis. Other than that she was just great.

"And she loves toilets," Jason smirked, "why do you never mention that?"

"Because I'd like to forget about it!" Percy groaned.

"Oh, well, that's not happening," Jason scoffed.

"We've been working on something," Annabeth said. "I'll see you later."

"Are you guys installing another deadly game?" Magnus looked very weary of what this team up could cause. "Giant chess that kills people? Monster simulators?"

"Those sound awesome," Percy grinned.

Magnus looked like Will could stitch the word dread into his forehead.

... "Great talking with you, too."

Jason looked like he was trying to eat that mangey old boot named Clarisse. "One of these days we're going to have to strap Annabeth to a chair and make her hear what we've been through with all this cryptic nonsense."

Percy looked like he was deeply considering it himself and Thalia swallowed her own horror at how that could possibly go.

... I made my way through camp, saying hi to some of my friends.

Percy waited for the crack from any of them, their mock shock that he even had friends. It didn't come. Of the two most likely to do so, Alex was reading eagerly for details, probably waiting for something to explode, and Jason had that mystified look on his face like someone said a pink elephant was just casually flying around like usual whenever his Camp was first described. Percy couldn't wait for these books to be done so he could just casually see them around camp too.

...where I usually go when I'm in a bad mood. Practicing always calms me down.

"You only mentioned four friends," Jason snorted, "when are you going to do a roll call of the whole place?"

"I'm not a psychopath who keeps count of these things," Percy sighed.

... because swordplay is one thing I can actually understand.

"I'm very disappointed Annabeth apparently hasn't sat you down and taught you the physics and fluid dynamics behind sword fighting now," Magnus grinned.

"I know where you sleep," Percy jabbed at the rooms beyond, "you will not put that idea in her head!"

Magnus didn't think it so funny, since Percy would have to hunt him down in the streets when they got back to follow through on the threat, but he didn't know that.

... the biggest hellhound I'd ever seen.

Percy's heart bounced around in his chest like a rubber ball ricocheting off each rib. That dog- hellhound!... he knew...her? His hand wasn't even trying to reach for his pocket now, he just sat looking at the book with a strange expression on his face like someone was trying to describe a giraffe to him.

...no idea how it had gotten past the camp's magic boundaries.

Will vividly remembered when Quintus had first had her over the property line. She'd been in the shadows of the forest, just glowing red eyes this stranger was promising them all was a harmless girl. Then Quintus had opened a jar of peanut butter, and she'd come bounding out, tail wagging like a fighter engine's propeller. The jar got stuck on her tongue as she tried to lap it all up at once.

The Stoll's had laughed, Katie had squealed and made apples fall on everyone's head, and Clarisse's eyes had gleamed with a challenge as she went for her spear; before Quintus began scratching her ears and promising them all she was a harmless softie and his pet as her tail felled trees around them making dryads pop out and shriek in shock.

Most of the kids scattered and locked their doors that night, one girl who everybody swore was a child of Echidna asked if she could rub Mrs. O'Leary's belly. It hadn't even been a blip in their life by next week honestly.

...if I made a sound, I knew it would sense me. I pulled out Riptide and uncapped it.

Nico winced. He knew it was silly and obviously didn't work, but he was fond of Mrs. O'Leary. She was Percy's dog, but still one of the very few animals who actively liked him whether he wanted her to or not, and he really could summon her down here or wherever he wanted and she'd most likely come, if he wasn't worried about her drowning.

"Yaaaaah!" I charged.

"I should not make a noise while attacking this monster or it will kill me," Alex raised one hand, then leveled the other palm up, "I shall scream like a lunatic while lunging to attack it," he began moving both up and down like scales. "Makes perfect sense to me!"

"Battle reflexes," Percy said with almost a straight face.

...a gray-haired man in Greek armor. He parried my attack with no problem.

"That's not the guy who trained Luke, is it?" Jason shifted around in distress who this new guy was who could also immediately keep up with Percy.

"Luke learned with me on the streets, no finer tutor," Thalia grimly corrected. It was the kind of learn or die technique that Percy still didn't have as much training in as them. "This is someone else." She wasn't looking forward to hearing the tale of Daedalus, a story that had made Annabeth flinch through the majority of the retelling with scant details.

... he said. "Truce!"

"You're a very lucky guy Percy," Magnus promised him, "there's not many people who wouldn't decide to murder you for attacking their dog."

Percy still looked a little to dumbfounded somebody was defending that massive monster to respond, but he had no heart to argue even if he could. He'd still never drawn his pen, let alone his sword in here, he'd instinctively been surprised at his past self wanting to attack her.

..."That's a hellhound!" I shouted.

"Was she having an identity crisis?" Alex asked in mock concern. "Did she think she was a harpy? That's not really for you to decide Percy."

He threw his hands up in exasperation already. There really was no point arguing that one.

"She's harmless," the man said. "That's Mrs. O'Leary."

Alex smacked his lips together a couple times as he thought about that one. "That's an acceptable name," he decided, leaving the rest of them now vaguely concerned what he considered their names.

"Never understood why people name their pet Mrs. or Mr. anything," Magnus admitted, "who are they married to? Why are we being proper to the critter that licks it junk?"

"Gender affirming care," Alex said in that weirdly serious way where you weren't actually sure if he was messing with you or not. Then he kept reading like nothing had happened.

...She nudged the soggy, badly chewed target dummy toward the swordsman.

"Aw, I think she wants to play fetch," Jason looked like he had a very bright light shining in his eyes. How did this camp manage to get weirder every time he heard of it? They now had pet hellhounds running around. Between her and Percy's brother the cyclops this place seemed like an oasis...so why did it always sound so unwelcome to him?

...pounced on the dummy, flattening its armor. She began chewing on its helmet.

"That's a very good trick," Will nodded along. "I'm sure it won't come in handy for anything."

"It's a good thing you never wear armor so she can't confuse you," Nico smirked.

"I slip her her favorite treat, nobody else realizes she loves apples," Will grinned, before he made an exaggerated 'oops' face and put his hand against his mouth.

Nico smiled back at this oddball, his sense of humor was so strange and Nico always wanted to keep watching for more.

... shifted his armor straps and the mark disappeared under his collar.

Percy rubbed uncomfortably at the spot on himself, his brain unpleasantly informing him to remember that. He wished his brain would shut up with its unhelpful advice.

...couldn't let you stick a sword in her rump, now, could I? That might have scared her."

"I hope she doesn't pee the floor when she gets scared," Thalia said, "because guess who would have to clean it up."

Percy debated for a moment if it was worth getting the oracle so pissed at him again it would go for another midnight stroll to this place instead. He could blame someone getting the piss scared out of them instead and be exempt.

..."Promise not to kill me if I put my sword away?" "I guess."

"Still on track with Percy nearly killing every person he's met," Jason muttered.

"And you were surprised he wasn't listing off a dozen friends," Thalia snorted.

He sheathed his sword and held out his hand. "Quintus."

"His name means five?" Jason's lips twitched in amusement. "Most half-bloods are an only child, but I really hope this guys parents got tired of coming up with names after the fourth kid and just went with that."

Alex threw his head back laughing and Percy shook his head as he grinned along.

...involving many close calls with death and quite a few giant chew toys.

"That was not much of an explanation," Alex looked hurt this guy hadn't launched off into an instruction manual of how to get his own.

"He's not much of a good story teller," Nico said sardonically. "I can find a pup later, if you really want to raise one." He'd spoken without thinking, he'd gone so long in here with no one freaking out over his mere presence being a death sentence, let alone a casual gesture that was meant as no threat.

By the time he braced himself for Alex to scream about strangling him for summoning a monster, he was already smiling in delight like Nico had just offered him his own close shave with death and a few giant chew toys.

I'm the new sword instructor, by the way.

"There was an old sword instructor?" Magnus asked wearily, already knowing he wasn't going to love this insane story.

"Nope," Will shrugged, "unless you counted, um," he stopped and didn't finish, but a name hung oddly in the air that rhymed with fluke. "No official teachers aside from Chiron," he finished all in a rush.

Alex leaned close to Magnus and murmured, "this place can't keep a competent adult anymore than Percy can stay in school. Ten bucks says he's dead by the end of this summer."

Magnus smiled and laughed just because that's what he was supposed to do. It's not like he could honor giving over a measly ten dollars on the silly wager.

Helping out Chiron while Mr. D is away."

"He's gone?" Percy, Alex, Magnus, and Jason all yelped in varying degrees of shock and pleasure.

"Away," Will corrected with a sigh. "Temporary," he emphasized, not looking particularly pleased.

"Last time he left was because of that winter solstice thing though," Magnus looked far from pleased at this temporary great news. "What could be so important Zeus would lift his punishment again?"

Percy leaned forward anxiously in his seat for that answer too, he knew it probably wasn't a good one.

... ripped off the arm off the dummy and shook it like a Frisbee. "Wait, Mr. D is away?"

"You know, that's fair Percy," Will said, "anybody would find that distracting no matter the news." It would have been more believable if Will had said that while trying to stifle a laugh, but Percy appreciated the attempt anyways.

... Make sure they're on the right side. I shouldn't say more than that."

Magnus didn't seem to find that answer all that cracked up. "Does he get them drunk and promise them free trips to the casino if they stay on his side of the war?" The wine god couldn't get through a conversation without wanting to kill half his charges, what was he out there doing trying to be a liaison?

"Mr. D wasn't born a god," Thalia informed. "He's a younger god, and as such he has pull with quite a few who fit into that category. Others like Artemis were talking with the older gods, each had their own whom they connected with and tried to find out their position. Athena was the one to talk Zeus into using all those at his disposal."

Jason was in awe of her having a goddesses first hand account of even the most brief meeting like that. The instinct kicked in of trying to scold himself, that wasn't information he should be privy to and he should have just reminded Magnus the gods knew what they were doing. The idea lingered less and less the more of this he heard.

...if Dionysus had actually started helping, things must be looking pretty bad.

"It's good to hear you think of both sides, that's a great skill Percy," Jason sounded pleased, but also just as exhausted as Percy felt about the duality of this situation.

... He distracted her with the bronze shield Frisbee.

"I really hope those crates aren't for me either," Percy said like he really hoped somebody would toss the book like a frisbee and he could run around without a care in the world, for once.

... took me a few minutes to decipher: TRIPLE G RANCH

"What do the G's stand for?" Magnus asked wearily, already knowing the results could range anywhere from gross to gore.

He got silence.

"Guys, what do the G's stand for?" Magnus repeated a tad more urgently.

"Enjoy your ignorance while it lasts," was all Nico would finally answer.

... MAIMING, OR EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL DEATHS.

Magnus slumped into his seat and groaned as if that maiming was happening to him just hearing about it. "I hate this guy," he already decided, "I don't care if there are bunnies in that box, nothing bought from a ranch that big is going to be good!"

"I bet it's flamingos, just to shake things up a bit- oh, no!  I want it to be chickens," Alex grinned, "I want to see someone get the great idea about Jurassic Park gone wrong."

"Well I know who I'm never going to vote to be the next sword instructor," Percy frowned at the horror Alex would wrought with one second of power.

"Don't be ridiculous Percy, I don't use a sword," he scoffed.

... "Training activity for tomorrow night. You'll love it."

"I don't believe him," Thalia mock whispered.

"We don't have to be best friends to agree with that," Percy groaned.

... I wasn't sure about the "excruciatingly painful death" part.

"Is there a way to be okay with that part?" Nico snorted. He could cause it with ease and he wasn't actively 'okay' with it either.

"Healthy coping mechanisms?" Will didn't sound so sure though.

...They didn't have camps like this when I was a boy."

Alex curled his lips around his teeth and imitated a wizened old man voice, "back in my day!" He even mock waved a cane around for a second.

"Yeah," Percy snickered along, "I bet he had to write on stone tablets and walk five miles up hill both ways to go to school in the snow."

... I'd never seen an old demigod before.

"I think that's more sad than anything," Thalia frowned, even as she tried to imagine it herself. Luke was one of the rare few who didn't get immortality as a teenager and almost got to twenty.

..."Some of us do survive to adults. Not all of us are the subject of terrible prophecies."

"No, I didn't know that," Percy said grumpily. It certainly exploded his brain for a second before he caught up with the rest of what Quintus had said. "Wait, does everybody know about my prophecy?"

"It's the worst kept secret at camp," Will agreed, "right up there with who smuggles in the good stuff and who's dating who."

"Great," Percy groaned.

... must've just come from teaching archery... flecked with mud and grass.

"Look at you playing detective over here," Jason grinned.

"He does have good powers of perception," Thalia agreed with an eye roll, she'd still like it if those would stop being used on trivial details like Chiron's activities and more on getting a clue in social situations.

...met our new instructor." Chiron's tone was light, but an uneasy look in his eyes.

"Because of Quintus?" Magnus asked wearily, "or because of what he needs you for?"

"When I find out I'll let you know," Percy squirmed in his seat just as uneasily for whatever the answer was. He hadn't even gotten to hack up a dummy, Mrs. O'Leary had slobbered on all the good ones.

..."No need to call me 'Master'," Chiron said, though he sounded sort of pleased.

Will looked a little chagrined he'd never thought to call him that, meanwhile Percy raised an unimpressed brow at anyone saying that.

... now chewing off the target dummy's legs.

"Hopefully not foreshadowing," Jason twitched and hoped that hellhound was as well trained as the swordsman.

"If it is, a shadow traveling monster would be the culprit," Percy agreed, but the words sounded all wrong on his tongue. Yet his unease for this introduction somehow all still lingered.

He didn't notice, as usual, Nico wincing at Percy calling his powers weird.

...A very qualified half-blood. Excellent swordsman, I just wish I understood..."

"You could feed Chiron this book and he'd spit out less horse shit," Alex scowled.

"At least he seems better than Tantalus," but Magnus knew that bar was pathetically low, and Quintus would probably still trip on it.

... simply escaped. It is not good that the she-demons are stirring."

"We were all well aware it's not good anything's stirring," Jason said from all the way back to that talk with Artemis.

"And we still haven't gotten any other kind of recipe," Percy agreed.

...almost any male hero would've fallen under their spell and been devoured."

"Almost any male hero," Alex looked extremely interested to test those limits.

"I didn't stop to ask about attracting the rainbow of it all, sorry Alex," Percy rolled his eyes.

... "Ironic to be saved by a mortal, yet we owe her a debt.

Thalia bit her lip against smiling. It turned into a pretty mutually beneficial relationship in the end.

..."The Council of Cloven Elders is meeting now to decide his fate."

Percy made such a loud groaning noise, the others checked the floor for any new cracks. "I've been back for hours and he's about to die, again! Can my best friend just go one time without almost dying!"

"Maybe they're voting on his fate over something less dramatic than his life," Magnus offered without much hope. "Like his coffee intake."

Percy didn't think he was right, but he gave him a nod of thanks all the same.

... I let him give me a ride on his back.

"You let him!" Magnus went cross-eyed in wonder. "You just casually rode on the back of a centaur!" He couldn't even answer himself why this was so fascinating when he'd now known Chiron existed for days.

"It wasn't something I was comfortable with," Percy promised. He'd never even gotten a piggy back ride from anyone before, not counting the monster boar, and as far as he knew, nobody at Camp casually rode around on Chiron, so it wasn't something he'd ever wanted to do and stand out more.

...first time I'd seen the place since last summer, and it brought back bad memories.

Nico cringed into his seat and gripped his sword.

Alex made a little huff noise and kept reading, just like that.

Percy did look at him this time though, and the expression was mingled pity with still plenty of weary concern. It wasn't the bright, shining acceptance he hated himself for wanting, but it wasn't murdery, 'can't take my eyes off your untrustworthy Underworld coat,' either, so Nico forced himself not to say anything too.

...monsters that were stocked in here as a challenge to the campers.

"You really should just call it the Forbidden Forest, make it the epitome of obvious they want you guys to all vanish in the night," Magnus shook his head.

Percy looked interested in the idea while Will opened his mouth in a silent scream of even more kids going in there!

...past a little waterfall, and into a glade blanketed with wildflowers.

"Percy, you haven't seen the half of that place," Thalia promised.

"The correct answer to that is, adventure time," Alex informed him.

Percy had to quickly wipe the smile off his face as his first thought had been, Exploring with Annabeth Time. The place would have made a fun picnic spot.

... I guessed they must be the Council of Cloven Elders.

Alex sounded very much like he was getting trampled by a goat. Percy knew he wouldn't have sounded much better, he didn't take well to authority, and now Grover was obviously in trouble for something he didn't do. Grover had an alibi, him!

... I realized with a start that I was taller than he was now.

"Poor guy," Nico looked almost concerned, "he's already got enough troubles without taking years for a growth spurt."

"The horns were kind of cool, but yeah, would not want to be a satyr just for that," Percy nodded.

It was a casual, silly little thing to agree on, but Nico still smiled in surprise there was a first that didn't make everything feel so tragically doomed. He'd already known they both liked Grover though, so he was probably being weird again.

...  meant she was in a good mood. Usually she says hello by trying to kill me.

"Happy days!" Jason looked cheered at least. Maybe she was in a good enough mood she'd even tell what she'd been up to last winter and only slightly maim Percy by the end.

...Annabeth looked at me and mouthed the words Grover's girlfriend.

"I've tried lip reading a couple times," Magnus looked at Percy in surprise. "I was curious how Hearth does it. It's harder than you'd think. That could have been anything from 'mowers year-land' to 'going golf-fiend'."

"I'll stick with my guess," Percy assured, even if the idea boggled his mind just as much as the other two options.

... that didn't make any sense.

"Grover can't have a social life outside of you?" Thalia snorted in surprise. "He's been chasing tree nymphs since before you were born, one was bound to take pity on him." She was personally glad, it made his weird admiration of her and her sisters a lot more tame on at least one more satyr.

...tinged green, the color of chlorophyll. She was a tree nymph— a dryad.

"Is that better or worse than a half-blood dating him?" Magnus asked curiously. "Is that even a thing?"

"Everything's a thing," Alex said with high confidence and great indifference to the answer as he kept reading before anyone could say otherwise.

..."Do you seriously expect us to believe this?"

"Yes!" Percy said robustly at once. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew his best friend wasn't a liar. Even when he needed to be.

... I wasn't sure why Grover seemed so nervous.

"You mouth off to gods," Jason reminded him in exasperation, "I feel like if I tried to explain the concept of an authority figure to you, you'd defenestrate me."

"Yes, yes I would, and I'm not even going to ask what that means," Percy nodded.

... hearing these scandalous claims that you heard the wild god Pan speak."

"Why is that, scandalous?" Magnus asked like he was missing the obvious. "Haven't they been looking for this guy since the dawn of time? Why are they not building Grover a thrown of orchids?"

"Don't know, but I hope that rosebush was stabbing his tail," Percy scowled.

... As if the wild god would speak to, to him."

Percy looked ready to storm up there and drown this guy in the saltiest goat feed he could find, but the bizarre mental image of that old goat eating his way out before he could manage started flashing through his mind and had him hesitating in here same as in that clearing so much Thalia didn't even have to give him a warning.

... almost seemed like they were working together.

"I always knew they'd make a badass team up," Jason looked in awe Annabeth and Clarisse's powers combined were already saving a dryad, they could save the quest from the next disaster too.

"I have so many questions," Percy looked five sentences away from drilling his fingers into his skull in hopes something would make sense.

... "Master Underwood," Silenus announced, "we will give you one more chance."

"Is Chiron the voice of reason in every room he's in?" Will looked sort of disappointed he'd had to step in there. It was depressing to think how many satyrs had their dreams shattered before this moment.

... "Thank you!" "One more week."

"Clearly he wasn't being loud enough!" Percy snapped.

... Puppet theater, perhaps. Or tap dancing."

"I bet Grover would be great at both of those and still find Pan," Alex sniffed. "Can this Silenus say the same?" His tone very much doubted Silenus could get his hind off that throne.

...now let us enjoy our noonday meal!"

Percy's lip was curling disturbingly, he looked about ready to find out what would happen if he fed a Council of Cloven Elders to Peleus.

... faded blue T-shirt had a picture of a satyr on it that read GOT HOOVES?

"Don't get me started on milk propaganda, I will make somebody regret it," Alex huffed.

Magnus, as usual with everything that came out of Alex's mouth, was fascinated and wished he could ask what the hell that meant, but Percy looked like Thalia was holding onto his patience by an actual thread if someone didn't start answering some questions around here, so he filed that away for later.

"Hi, Percy," he said, so depressed he didn't even offer to shake my hand.

"No goat-bear-best friend hug?" Jason looked as dejected as Grover had been. This satyr, not fawn, had been fascinating to hear about from the start. The idea of finally meeting him and Grover being, just, a pest like the rest of those goats seemed to give him double vision.

..."No." Juniper shook her head. "Grover, I won't let you."

Percy threw his hands up in frustration, he probably caused a wave to crash a few buildings above surface, and then just didn't have the restraint anymore and began pacing around behind Thalia and Jason. This was so frustrating constantly wondering what the hell was going on with his friends.

...In the distance, a conch horn sounded.

Percy hoped he never met who blew the conch horn or it would be lost at the bottom of the ocean.

... We'd better get back to our cabins. Inspection is starting."

"If she tells me one more time she'll explain later, I will steal her architecture books," Percy assured.

"How did you two not kill each other," Thalia said in awe, watching him over her shoulder with interest.

"I have no idea, but at least I explain what's going on!"

"Sometimes too much," Nico muttered, he could do without the other constant, his loving adoration of her.

...meant hot water guaranteed. Worst cabin got kitchen patrol after dinner.

"What I want to know is how much bribery factors into this?" Alex grinned.

"That's the first thought out of your mouth?" Will tried so hard to look disappointed in him. "You hear of an honor ranking system that keeps all of us accountable to clean up after yourself, and your first thought is-"

"Oh stop Will," Nico rolled his eyes, "Connor learned how to hide stuff in the rafters from you, he told me."

"That wasn't trash, I needed that stuff later, for um, testing," he was fighting a losing battle not to laugh by the end.

Nico's eyes gleamed with a light that made his breath catch when Nico said, "and I will be entirely innocent when I make my trash vanish into the shadows, so we're all innocent aren't we?"

"Yes, ahem, that's the take away here," Will dragged his eyes back to Alex and decided that was enough sharing and joking for now or he'd cave and admit to offering Silena more than one signed addition of Chewbacca, mint condition in the box. For some reason she never accepted them as she went about the cabin, so technically he'd never bribed anyone.

...my armor for capture the flag lying in pieces all around the cabin.

"I should be exempt from chores for that brief time, I was living through severe trauma," Percy clutched at his shirt and finally fell dramatically back into his seat, upside down.

"Your girlfriend was back in a week Jackson, and you had time to clean up before you went back for school," Jason scoffed as he waved him down.

"She's not my-" Percy tried again, but Alex was already ignoring his halfhearted attempt.

... Demeter kids were making fresh flowers grow in their window boxes.

"Now that definitely feels like cheating," Magnus agreed with Percy's put out look.

"Until someone comes rushing in with fresh mulch," Will waved his hand under his nose, though he'd always thought that was a good look on Katie.

... stashing dirty laundry under their beds and accusing each other of taking stuff.

Will couldn't help a nostalgic chuckle about the time his cabin had received second to last place when he'd let Conner hide his clothes under his bed, only to find out later it wasn't all just Conner's. He'd probably gone overboard by washing them before returning them back, but it had felt like the kind, sanitary thing to do even when he'd scowled at all of Katie's stuff mixed in.

... Silena was just coming out, checking items off the inspection scroll.

"That can't be fair," Thalia sided with Percy's tragic groan. "Inspection Barbie shouldn't get to review her own."

"Oh trust me, she's more strict on them than anyone, they hate it when she does," Will defended the bias.

... I could feel my arms getting heavy from all the dishes I would have to scrub.

"Anything's good training if you've got enough lava?" Jason offered.

"I'll remember that when you ask me to train with you," Percy promised.

... I found my half-brother Tyson sweeping the floor.

Everybody did a double take at that, especially Percy who got the clashing mental image and fell fresh out of his seat.

... If you've never been charged by a Cyclops wearing an apron, it'll wake you up quick.

"A pleasure I have not had," Alex said tragically.

"And I wasn't even asleep," Percy was rubbing at his heart doing double time. He wasn't even afraid of his brother, but some base instinct of his lizard brain had chosen flight over fight after seeing that, and he hadn't gotten the chance to act.

... he'd gone under the sea to work at the Cyclopes' forges.

"I'm hoping they didn't instill to many bad habits in him, like military cleanliness," Alex sniffed.

"What's wrong with that?" Jason frowned.

"I'm sure he just likes having a home for a change and is keeping up with it," Magnus said in a much gentler kind of way.

...I hoped he didn't mean all at the same time,

"And here I was hoping the opposite," Alex sighed.

"I kind of thought that was on a banner for the camp somewhere," Magnus admitted.

... I looked around and realized Tyson had been busy. The floor was swept.

"Yeah Percy, you walked in on him sweeping and in cleaning gear," Jason looked at him like he was out of his mind for not noticing this before the charging cyclops.

"I swear he wouldn't notice if Tyson were in a dress, big guy's a lot to take in at first," Thalia said in some defense of him.

... I couldn't believe Tyson, with his huge hands, could make things so delicate.

"One of the many great things about him, though his fascination with fish ponies is still my favorite," Alex assured. He personally still could not wait to meet Tyson to show off some of his pottery to someone with some level of skill.

... I didn't know how to thank him.

"And you're surprised?" Thalia chuckled at the wide smile so bright on his face, the first since he'd been back at camp, all just from his brother. "That look on your face was thanks enough I'm sure."

Percy glanced down at his wrist and saw the watch still wasn't there now, but hopefully it was just waiting for him back at his cabin like his brother.

... Silena was standing in the doorway with her inspection scroll.

"There's a floor in here!" Alex said in what he clearly thought was an approximation of Silena's voice.

"And it's polished," Percy sniffed in honor of Tyson, "and somehow peanut butter scented," he finished with his own perplexed mutter, hoping it was just his little brother eating a sandwich while taking out the trash and not some new cologne.

...She winked at me and left the room.

Alex wolf whistled, Percy blushed, and Thalia muttered, "gods am I glad Annabeth isn't here all of a sudden." The girl got quite jealous, and she didn't need Annabeth cursing over nothing.

Tyson and I hung out, which was nice after getting attacked by demon cheerleaders.

Jason began ticking off on his fingers, "and having all my friends being annoyingly vague, and running into a mortal who gave me nightmares, and blowing up another school."

"Yeah, it's no wonder Tyson's the easy guy," Percy agreed with an exhausted sigh.

... a flaming double-bladed war axe so fast Beckendorf was impressed.

"Setting aside how terrifying it is there's a whole forge of cyclops that can do that," Magnus began, "can Poseidon not just create all of that into existence if he needed them?"

"You are way overthinking this," Percy told him in exasperation. "They do have some limits, they can't just snap their fingers and reshape the world."

"Huh, good to know," Magnus said honestly.

... described the Cyclopes' forges and the palace of Poseidon,

Percy smiled through his jealousy of just how excited Tyson had been. Maybe one day when he did finally get to visit, Tyson would have so much fun showing him around they wouldn't stop smiling the whole day.

...Hearing that made me feel anxious, like I should be helping out,

"You cannot actually split yourself into multiple people," Thalia reminded him. "You would be down there and just as guilty you weren't back at camp helping with this big attack coming."

Percy looked wounded because she was entirely correct. Not even covering the fact he wasn't certain why he and his friends were currently trapped in the Titan Oceanus's palace.

..."Lots of bad people above the sea, too. We can make them go boom."

"Percy's number one talent," Jason nodded seriously, "I see he's spreading out his forces to great effect."

Percy knew he was kidding, and he still rolled his eyes.

... we spent some time at the canoe lake with Annabeth.

Percy took a deep breath, like he was trying to inhale that memory into him now. Traveling through the Sea of Monsters wasn't exactly a great moment in his life, but the memories were something he'd never want to lose again.

...like she was thinking about Grover's problem with the council.

"Or thinking about revenge on those goats," Alex helpfully added. "I'm thinking we start with the fun house of mirrors and work our way up." Alex had made one to many jokes about some guy eating goats in here to ask what came next.

... If the council took away his searcher's license it would crush him.

"I don't understand why he couldn't look without a license," Thalia scowled, "there's no goat police that's going to keep him in the system!" She knew he didn't need it anymore anyways and was still all for this plan.

Jason looked a little queasy at the idea of her blatant disregard of authority, and yet couldn't deny he'd still help Grover no matter how long his license was expired by.

...She picked up a stone and skipped it across the lake.

"She's weirdly good at that too," Percy grinned. "She gets so mad when she can't beat me cause I'll get the water to help mine skip farther every time. I don't care it's cheating, do you know how often I beat her at something?"

He always spoke with this hyper, happy kind of way when he started talking about her, then concluded with a forlorn smile when he looked around the room and realized she wasn't here. The others chuckled for the silly little anecdote all the same even if it was a little sad.

... that pretty much ended our Grover conversation.

"No, no, no, no, no," Alex looked ready to continue the verbal abuse of that one word until Magnus hesitantly began patting his shoulder and Alex finally articulated, "we politely ask Tyson to go to another room and we explain to Percy what the heck has been going on while not traumatizing the innocent cyclops! Both are possible!"

"I didn't want to exclude him," Percy admitted, "so we started talking about my mom, they wanted an update on her."

"Tyson's appropriate fear of the satanic features of goats and his allergies aside," Jason frowned, "I'm on Alex's side, this has been teased since the last one, I don't know how you could stand it back then."

"Being constantly distracted was a forced help," Percy sighed. Being bunted from one situation to another with his friends often left him the last to know about any of them.

... couldn't see the pattern until he won with a sword at your throat.

"Who did this guy say his godly parent was?" Jason grinned at such strategic battle strategies.

"He didn't," Percy frowned. He might not even know, but there was something strange in that question Percy felt he knew the answer for.

...He parried my overhead cut. "I've been many things."

"I'm still impressed he's lived long enough to grow facial hair," Percy muttered.

Thalia fought hard not to laugh at that, Percy might have an inkling of just how old Quintus is and she didn't want to encourage that line of thought.

...a bird with folded wings, like a quail or something.

"You went with quail?" Alex asked with interest. "That's the first bird you think of?"

"Well it didn't look like a penguin," Percy said in exasperation. "I don't know, it was bird shaped."

...you can blame my ADHD. I tend to just blurt things out.

"I usually just blame you, no ADHD required," Thalia said.

"Hey, I have layers," Percy grinned, "sometimes I just don't give a shit and ask, sometimes I'm trying to throw people off. It all just ties back to the ADHD."

"Uhhu," Thalia sighed, looking very much like she wanted to smother him. "You keep blaming that you little shit."

Quintus lost his rhythm. I hit his sword hilt and knocked the blade out of his hand.

"Percy's entire personality is a secret weapon confirmed," Jason chuckled.

"Don't encourage him!" Thalia yelped while Percy drowned her out laughing and leaned across her to give Jason a high-five.

Alex watched patiently to see if Thalia was going to break his wrist as he pulled back, and then kept reading in disappointment when she restrained herself.

... It was an old burn, like he'd been branded.

Will flinched at the insinuation, while Jason rubbed his thumb over his. He'd obsessed over the design of it for hours, but the act of getting it had never given him much pause. It had felt natural, he'd always looked upon it with a sense of pride as he tried to understand the mystery those lines were.

...He pressed me hard, not giving me time for any more questions.

Percy rubbed at his shoulder where the muscles remembered how much time he'd had off a lot more than his stomach had after all that. Quintus had definitely put him through his paces, but he was also smiling at some of the tricks he'd picked up.

While we fought, Tyson played with Mrs. O'Leary, who he called the "little doggie."

Magnus's heart skipped a beat at trying to figure out what he'd call Cerberus all of a sudden, while Alex nodded along to this statement. "She sounds like a very sweet puppy," he agreed.

Dogs, especially tank-sized monster-hell hound-dogs, were usually a little to close to wolves for Magnus to really like them. The bigger and messier the strays he saw were, the more he avoided them.

They had a great time wrestling for the bronze shield and playing Get the Greek.

"I really hope Quintus stays forever now, just for his dog," Jason chuckled. "Tyson's probably never had a pet."

"Neither have I, and it was surprisingly easy to stop expecting her to lunge at my back hearing him laugh with her," Percy agreed fondly. He'd gotten over his weariness of her that afternoon, and by the time Tyson had been rubbing her belly so much her tail put a hole in the arena wall, Percy had been guilty of promising her peanut butter treats himself they were so cute together.

...Quintus hadn't broken a sweat, which seemed kind of strange;

"I know everything in your body's supposed to start going downhill when you get old," Percy said in concern, "but do old people keep their sweat glands?"

"Yes Percy, old people still sweat. A lot," Will told him in exasperation. He was probably the only person who could have answered that without sounding condescending for the supremely ADHD question.

...a ten-foot-long jagged scar that hadn't been there last summer—

"Just another day in this madhouse," Magnus agreed. "If I didn't know why it was there, I really wouldn't bat an eye the place had almost sunk into the ground or something."

"You should have heard the rumors," Will said fondly. "My favorite was Silena's when she said it was Clarisse standing in one place to long," he snorted, and then quickly backtracked, "um, don't tell her I said that."

"Tell who what?" Percy mock cleaned out his ear, though there really was a strange buzzing there for a moment.

... looking in Tyson's big eye, I knew I couldn't hide it from him.

"We already knew you were terrible at keeping secrets," Jason snorted.

"This," Percy waved around the room in exhaustion, "isn't my fault. I just can't think of a reason to care against sharing my life with strangers."

Jason smiled in exasperation Percy only proved his point.

... asked me to guard his sister on a quest, and I failed. She died. Now he blames me."

Nico, of all people, snorted with laughter, causing Percy to chuckle in relief.

"You did use my summary," Nico looked oddly pleased.

"Wasn't going to leave you out Nico, then Tyson wouldn't get the chance to hug you when he meets you," Percy grinned.

Nico looked horrified at the idea of a cyclops being sicked on him in that way, but more than that, it was so calming to hear Percy just joking with him like he was anyone else. He'd been expecting the pressure of wishing it was more to be smothering him by now, but instead the opposite seemed to keep happening. The more they talked, the less intense it felt.

Tyson frowned. "So he put a crack in the floor?"

"It was a very reasonable response to be honest," Will said fairly.

"It was an awesome crack I want to see in person," Alex reminded.

"With flames, I remember," Nico nodded.

...I tried to search for him. So did Annabeth. We didn't have any luck.

Nico felt the burning eyes on him, everybody in this room wanting to know in detail what had happened to him in the intervening time. He fiddled with his ring and gave none of them an answer. His time in the Labyrinth would send any of them running and screaming.

Alex dragged his eyes away first, not for the obvious reason the book might tell, but because Nico had had more than enough of his life exposed lately.

... he would be in danger. You can't even tell Chiron."

Will dragged his eyes away next, and put on the corniest smile he could. "Hey, has anyone ever wondered why Chiron always gives a speech at dinner? It's because he loves being the cent-aur of attention."

Percy and Thalia groaned in unison while Jason looked at him as if in physical pain.

Magnus looked at him blandly and said, "if Chiron ever sends you on the next world ending quest, I'm not going to ask why."

Nico was smothering a laugh though. He wasn't doing a very good job of it, and that was all Will wanted to hear anyways.

... easy to forget that as big and childlike as he was, Tyson was pretty smart.

"I'm not questioning his intelligence," Alex promised, "but was this a secret? Was Tyson really showing some special smarts there by agreeing this is a good secret to keep from all not pertinent?"

"Like I said, I kind of forgot how much Tyson paid attention, more than I gave him credit for," Percy frowned. He wanted his little brother to hear about Nico and ask if the guy was going to be okay and if he could make things go boom on command, not realize he was a potential pawn for an evil Titan and all the horrible ways he could be manipulated. He hadn't had a lot of innocence growing up with all the strange things in his life, not to mention Gabe. He'd just deluded himself for a second Tyson had some.

..."Mouth sealed," Tyson promised. "Like the crack in the ground."

"Hopefully not as permanently, with fire and skeletons stuck in his mouth," Thalia offered.

"I don't want to know what that dentist visit would be like," Percy grinned.

... I was afraid once I drifted off I'd have nightmares.

"A valid fear," Magnus promised. He'd never had dreams even before this place, and he was really worried once he got back he would because of his realization he wasn't mortal.

...at camp, my dreams were always more frequent and vivid.

"Gods, I would be pissed," Alex scowled for Percy. His recurring dream of Loki visiting him was awful enough, but at least when he recognized that dripping cavern he could brace himself for what was coming and more tricks of his mother. The unknown of anything disturbing his sleep sounded somehow like a worse punishment than having to listen to a manipulative birth canal.

... there was a strange light in the room. The saltwater fountain was glowing.

They'd almost forgotten the chapter title should make an appearance about prank calls, with so much other stuff going on in this one. Now everyone looked on, as confused as Percy for what was about to happen.

...a female voice spoke from the steam: Please deposit one drachma.

"Can the goddess herself send you a prank call?" Jason asked. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing he'd heard of these Greek gods doing, and he knew for a fact not all receiving- iris messages were like this thanks to Sally. She'd never had a drachma on her before to accept a call from Percy, so something strangely specific must be going on here.

"Why am I the one who's going to find out?" Percy sighed in answer.

... sleeps about as heavily as a tranquilized elephant.

"Hopefully his snoring doesn't intercept the signal or something," Magnus muttered.

... I'd never gotten a collect Iris-message before.

"At least it didn't start with the message from a state prison," Thalia tried to say with chipper, but she really didn't like she wasn't sure what was going on so early in this one for it to come across right.

"Then we'd know it was from you and I could just hang up," Percy smirked.

"No prison could hold me!" She yelped.

"You were held in a stockade for quite a number of years," Percy's grin widened. The tree wasn't the perfect example of that, but the image flashed to mind of Thalia trapped in that trunk with just her face and hands sticking out now as he fought off a laugh.

"I'm going to put you in a headlock for the rest of your life," she promised.

As fun as that would be to see, Alex was worried it might put a dampening on the rest of their time here if Thalia murdered him. She'd probably regret it eventually or something and be all sad while finishing these.

...The flames burned an unnatural blue. It was Nico di Angelo.

Nico's face scrunched up with pure distaste like somebody had just tried to feed him cat food. He'd known this was a thing, but the reminder that he'd been withering away desperate for a sign from his sister all this time, and she'd chosen to send a message to Percy to spy on him, still left a burn in his mouth he wasn't sure would ever fully heal.

He was throwing Mythomagic cards into the fire...  a kid who'd been living on the streets.

"Dude, that sounds like such a waste, you could have at least sold them," Percy said out of the blue.

Magnus sort of wanted to smack Percy upside the head like Nico obviously wanted to do for that being his comment to all that. They all knew why he did it, a little levity to help ease the uneasy realization of the situation Nico was now in like they all constantly did to Percy, but Thalia didn't have to tug sharply on Percy's ear and hiss at him to shut it before he realized himself the kid hadn't thought that was funny as he shut his mouth back.

...I stayed quiet, not daring to move. If he hadn't sent this Iris-message, who had?

"You can send an iris message for someone?" Magnus went a little cross-eyed again as he tried to imagine how that worked. "Do you ask the goddess to hook you up like those old phones that had, um, what were they called? Like talking-group messaging?"

"I think I know what you mean," Percy had seen it on a few movies, but he had no more clue. "If so, nobody told me!"

"It's called a conference call, and it's still a thing people do," Thalia said in exasperation. She could excuse their ignorance pretty easily though, neither of them clearly had much time around a phone. The only reason she knew about them was because Beryl had near constantly been on one for work.

Nico kept to himself it actually seemed something Bianca alone had been able to do. He wasn't sure if she was somehow manipulating the Mist, Hades had pulled in a favor through Iris, or what specifically had been going on here. It's not like she'd ever stuck around to explain any of this to him.

..."Useless," he muttered. "I can't believe I ever liked this stuff."

Nico felt the questioning eyes on him like he'd slipped into Italian without warning. He shrugged indifferently and really didn't feel like explaining himself, he felt like that was an explanation.

Will couldn't blame him, in fact last night made all the more sense now, if he'd hesitated over playing for a multitude of reasons instead of just the one he'd guessed. His sister had died trying to get him a figurine from this game, he was trying to draw distance from his past. There were probably a number of other reasons he wasn't qualified to guess at all mixed in there.

...seemed to come from near the fire, but I couldn't see who was talking.

"Did you pick yourself up a yes man?" Alex asked, and he sounded actually concerned more than mocking.

Nico's face twisted as bad as his stomach did. "Something like that," he felt obligated to answer more because he had a lot of respect for Alex after last night than he really thought this would get him through this faster. Why hadn't he dug his way out with a spoon yet? Gotten on his knees and begged his dad to come pick him up from the sleepover set in hell? He was desperate enough to try after yesterday, sitting through a whole day of this was going to make him start neighing at these guys before he'd want to answer any more questions.

... Nico was camping at the edge of the river Styx.

"You left the camp with the lava climbing mountain and decided to rough it camping at the edge of the death river," Jason told him. "Did you think you needed more of a challenge, or were you just looking to get away for your health?" It was phrased more as a cheerful joke or a conversational starter depending on how Nico wanted to answer.

Will watched with growing agitation at how much Nico was struggling to figure out how to respond to all this before he said briskly, "no more questions for him, it's not helping anybody." Phrasing it in the vein of not antagonizing Percy's memories was always an easy cover.

"Yeah, what he said," Nico managed that without having a panic attack at least.

...if you looked out of the corner of your eye, you could make out his shape. A ghost.

Jason, Alex, and Magnus all looked like they had a lot of questions about that in fact, but Will's arm over the back of the couch had gone from casual to shielding behind Nico's back and they didn't want to pressure the guy to spill anyways. Percy was already at his wits end being the center of attention, Nico obviously didn't want to share the spotlight.

..."An exchange," the ghost said. "A soul for a soul." "I've offered!"

"We all did," Percy agreed. Any of them would have taken Bianca's place in that junkyard, but his instinct still kicked madly in protest at this kid wishing for the same.

Nico couldn't look at him. He'd already let the worst thing possible come out of his mouth, but he felt like it could still get worse if he let himself so much as nod at Percy.

...a soul that should have died already. Someone who has cheated death."

Thalia shifted uncomfortably in place for what that could have meant. There weren't a lot of possibilities that didn't relate back to immortal beings, though she knew in this specific case Daedalus fit the bill, he never would have come to mind before her fellow Hunters. They seemed the obvious choice for his revenge to her.

... "Not that again. You're talking about murder."

"Can I give an A+ for that response?" Alex said in the tone he wasn't taking no for an answer. "You've still got a great moral compass Nico."

"Thanks," he managed a real smile at him. Like every other half-blood, he'd never gotten anywhere close to a grade that good before, and nobody had ever even said he had morals before. Like being the child of the Underworld meant he went around not-so-secretly coming up with elaborate deaths.

"I'm talking about justice," the ghost said. "Vengeance."

"Those are not the same thing," Jason scowled.

"Those are not the same thing."

Percy laughed boisterously while Nico and Jason grinned faintly in surprise at each other.

The ghost laughed dryly. "You will learn differently as you get older."

"He could be a few thousand years old and his morals don't have to change," Will scoffed.

"Wow, your formative years are that important huh?" Magnus chuckled.

"Let's not get into the whole nature versus nurture thing," Thalia sighed, "we'll be here all day. I think we would all personally stab this ghost through the eye for trying to corrupt young Nico, can we just agree on that?"

"Maybe if you'd stop calling me young every five minutes," Nico didn't help his situation by looking a little pouty. Alex cleared his throat in agreement anyways to keep going so he didn't have to admit Nico did look a lot younger and more innocent when he made that face.

...Why can't I summon her? I want to talk to her. She would help me."

Magnus felt something very tight in him pull taught like a chokehold. Was that possible? The ghost had said it wasn't, but if Nico could bring people back from the dead...Was Bianca out there now still palling around with the Hunters? Would he feel like he had his mom back if she was a zombie?

...Do you want revenge for your sister or not?"

"I don't like this ghost," Will's tone was sharp as a blade. "He has no right to brag about saving your life and then make it feel like your fault if you don't get Bianca back. Revenge," he repeated in a truly dangerous snap.

"Mmmm, he was very manipulative," Nico murmured just for him. He'd been a fool for trusting him, but Minos had been a powerful ghost, and Nico had been grateful to him. His first ever friend who had helped him, with seemingly wanting nothing in return. So far the only other person who fit that was Will, and he was still waiting for that shoe to drop.

...The bully never got in trouble, but he got tons of other kids suspended.

"Ah geez, not another Luke," Percy scowled with his own near instant dislike of this ghost. He preferred the bull-like brain dead ones like Clarisse, punching first and asking questions never. Those he could almost understand when he went toe to toe with, he had anger issues too. These sorts, the ones that never got their hands dirty and were the last to be caught usually made him want to start a few fires just to get someone caught red handed.

...A tear traced its way down his face. "Very well. You have a plan?"

Nico's shoulders hunched. He ran a hand painfully through his hair, so sharp he expected his ring or nails to scratch through his scalp. Maybe he'd start bleeding and use it as a way to escape the looks of pity he refused to look at. Wild plans of how to get out of this cursed room were still offering themselves up like a flame he was forced to snuff out. His worst secret hadn't given him a free exit, his miserable pain for it hadn't attracted their jailer into thinking he'd suffered enough. What the hell was it going to take?

The moment of silence passed, and Nico had no new answers. He tried to comfort himself maybe the worst had come to fruition, having to hear Bianca's death in detail and Percy knowing the worst of him.

He didn't believe himself.

... Please deposit one drachma for another five minutes.

"What a tease," Alex frowned. "It's a good promo though, showing just enough of the goods I'd want to see the rest."

"So glad the trailer of my life would make a hit," Nico grumbled.

...The connection was broken.

"Could you have used a quarter?" Magnus was pretty sure Will wouldn't scowl at him like that if the question didn't pertain directly to Nico. "Do people throw pennies at her and get a few seconds more time?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure that's where that mortal idea came from," Thalia grinned.

...Nico di Angelo would come looking for me.

"So self-important," Will sniffed, "you think everybody wants you Percy?"

"I've made crazier leaps," Percy gestured at the past books. "If I wasn't sitting here now with the guy obviously not about to kill me, it would still make plenty of sense."

"Now I'm super curious to know who his target is though," Alex didn't look happy about having to give the book up to Percy. "Does Nico take down a god and cause a power imbalance?" He sounded way to hungry about those prospects considering they'd just eaten breakfast.

Nico took a shaky breath and wondered how long he was supposed to sit here and hear them chat about what a little psychopath he was.

"Would you guys cool it! He obviously doesn't want to talk about this!" Will knew he couldn't make them shut up permanently, but he was so frustrated watching Nico clearly loathing every second of this with no way to help.

Percy froze getting out of his seat as he looked awkwardly at them. He didn't exactly know how to avoid it when Nico was tangled up in his life on page.

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Not going to lie, after reading Chalice of the Gods a good dozen times and all the cute percabeth fluff, it was incredibly hard not to put Annabeth into this already. I have a set point where that happens though and I promise you all will love it if you can just hold out for me like I'm making myself do.