Magnus read the new title with that usual feeling he was taking two steps forward and one step back in the constant insanity of this book. "Santa's real?" He repeated. "And has a twin?" Okay, fine, can't get any stranger. "Percy can wrestle?" Nope, the trifecta left him forgetting how to function like a normal human. Which he probably wasn't...

"Deep breaths Magnus," Alex always had such a domineering way of speaking, always being so easy for her to keep everybody's attention. Especially his. "Maybe Percy gets an early Christmas present if he wins. Like Annabeth. With a bow around her neck."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" He asked blearily, even though it had. It was a nicer way to think about than the constant insanity like getting past the fact that every stupid sitcom that never questioned where the magic presents came from were more right than their reality somehow.

"Yes," Alex said as confidently as ever. "Now hop to the part where Percy uses cookies and that beard to put saint nick in a headlock or I will."

He knew if she'd really wanted to she would have snatched the book away from him to read it herself. Instead he found himself smiling as he took a breath and firstly informed, "I don't know anything about wrestling, so I hope the rules get explained first."

"When is it ever that easy?" Percy reminded as he lounged back in his chair and kept doing his best to remind Thalia she wasn't being abducted by angels flying off with her right now by making gusts of water soak into her socks and then absorbing it back. She had a pretty specific scowl on him as she kept trying to kick him for doing it, so his plan was at least working.

... Thalia clutched his arm like it was the most important thing in the world.

"It was," Thalia promised, she still looked a tad green around the edges just remembering the feeling. Her hands were in a strangle motion though because she was still considering wringing Percy's neck if he didn't cut it out.

"Everything's fine," I promised. "... are we very high?"

"Lie again," Jason mock whispered, but he was completely serious.

... I stretched out my foot and kicked snow off one of the peaks.

Thalia went from green to the ugly pale of glue gone wrong.

"At least you knew Zeus wouldn't strike you down for this one," Will clearly thought he was being helpful while Thalia tried to get in a shuddering breath. "This was sanctioned by him."

Percy rubbed the back of his head and muttered an awkward apology, quickly waving Magnus on before they had to linger on this long enough for Thalia to come back to herself and pulverize him for sharing that.

"Nah, not that high."

"Good man," Jason sighed, resisting the urge to squeeze Thalia's shoulder for comfort. She probably wouldn't take well to anybody but Percy right now as she sat as far back in her seat as she could with her feet planted firmly on the ground.

...She and Grover were hanging from the arms of the other statue.

Thalia gulped at the visual she hadn't needed and took a deep breath. Then another, this kind of situation called for it.

..."We gotta have some fun once in a while, right?" our statue said.

"What kind of Toy Story shenanigans caused security not to notice whatever I just heard," Magnus rubbed at his ear like that one physically pained him.

"That's an interesting one," Will grinned as he considered. "Would the Mist have the statues there when they weren't so as not to have the humans freak out they could move? Or were they programmed to have memories and personalities? I'll ask a few Hephaestus kids when we get to Camp if they have any insights."

"Looking forward to it," Magnus said only a bit reluctantly. If one of them told him to open a hatch, he would bail.

..."Hank!" the other statue cut in. "They're kids, man."

"At least somebody remembers every once in a while," Alex frowned.

Percy looked as relieved as anybody to have that interrupted, even as he wondered about those creepy lifelike marble statues he'd seen and what exactly he wouldn't want to hear a bunch of Yancy morons try to brag about in comparison.

... If bronze statues could blush, I swear Hank did.

"Now that takes some talent," Jason grinned.

"Being able to make a robot that can blush, or making a robot blush?" Percy asked.

"Both," Jason nodded.

...the store's sign with a few bulls-eyes at a hundred miles an hour.

Jason let out an impressed whistle as he watched Thalia. She gave him a weak but genuine grin as she elaborated, "we might be blessed with talent when we join, but it still takes time to build up being that good. Zoe could still outshoot practically anybody I know," she finished a tad wistfully, almost chasing away her tight fear.

...She muttered to herself a lot, like she was praying.

Thalia swallowed hard against admitting the truth. She'd been reciting an old song Luke had made up. Some goofy one-minute tongue twister he'd play on an old harmonica while collecting money in a cup while she'd gone around and picked a few pockets. She wasn't sure now any more than she was then why that memory had come to mind.

...It was hard to tell what she was thinking with her eyes closed.

Same as in here where she purposely wasn't looking at anyone now to give away her massively twisted feelings about Percy reminding her of Zeus listening to her prayers. Zeus had saved her, twice, but what had he let happen to his son? Had her guess been skewed by hindsight and her path to Annabeth was just pure luck? Or was her father and his favorite daughter guiding them along on a fate's string to her family all this time? She was getting sick to her stomach even trying to figure it out, let alone dumping all of this on anyone else.

..."How did you get away in the generator room? You said they cornered you."

"Percy never told you that," Alex frowned. "He showed up and you started arguing about burritos."

"I figured it out from the way he came bursting in all hysterical," Thalia shrugged, which at least looked casual again while she was still shaking slightly.

...I thought Thalia was going to call me crazy, but she nodded.

"I can still call you crazy if you want," Thalia offered.

"There is no right answer to that," Percy sighed.

"Some mortals are like that, nobody knows why."

Will raised his hand like they were in class and even said, "ooh! Oh!"

Magnus slowly lowered the book with an uneasy smile, like he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer to this. It would probably be more confusing than the idea itself.

Will's smile was inviting, the kind that made you grin along just for being around him as he told Thalia, "I have this theory they're descendants of other demigods! I know most of us die young and they're mostly mortal now, but they have just a hint of godly blood left."

"Like a legacy," Jason agreed slowly, clearly likening to the idea.

"Most of us don't live long to populate that well," Thalia didn't seem very convinced.

"My mom's like that," Percy murmured for himself. He wasn't sure how he felt about it, since that might mean he was descended from some other god than Poseidon, or worse, some long, long line of inbreeding might have happened? Both ideas freaked him out to much to want to know more.

"It's a cool idea though," Magnus nodded. At least it hadn't made his brain hurt worse.

...my mom saw through the Mist better than I did.

They'd all guessed that from the beginning. Sally had never batted an eye or made any strange comment about Grover's goat legs, and even the way she spoke of Poseidon seemed...more than any mortal should.

"Well, the girl was annoying," I said.

Percy groaned and looked at Rachel's empty seat. "First time I'm glad she got poofed away, she might have stabbed me with a marker."

"And that's starting kind," Thalia snorted.

"I'm glad I didn't vaporize her. That would've been bad."

"At least I still got that going for me," Percy smiled.

"I'm sure she'll be glad to know you still don't want her vaporized," Thalia agreed.

... "Must be nice to be a regular mortal." She said that as if she'd given it a lot of thought.

It had been on her mind near constantly while going to school with Annabeth. Slowly learning how to use a keyboard and constantly glancing over her shoulder while girls around her texted without a second thought. Their careless laughter and loud shrieks, hugging the same friends before and after every class as they casually wondered what was for lunch while Annabeth whispered and muttered about battle strategies to employ if this or that attacked them next.

"Where you guys want to land?" Hank asked, waking me up from a nap.

Thalia looked at him appalled. "You slept while we were dangling for our life!"

He gave her a sheepish smile and said, "at least I didn't try to hold your hand? You would have opened your eyes just to watch me die."

"True," she nodded grumpily. It was worlds better batting the drool off her face than having him keep trying to talk to her. At least she'd been able to pretend just for a few heart-stuttering moments the world wasn't going to end if she opened her eyes while imagining whatever she wanted in her head without interruption.

... Greetings from Frisco. Haven't Died Yet. Wish You Were Here.

"Your mom would love that," Will nodded.

"And me without a stamp," Percy sighed.

"We can blend in with the pigeons."..."Sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humor?"

"They can if it's a good one," Nico muttered.

"I'll take a bad sense of humor over no sense of humor," Will offered.

Nico watched him nervously for a moment, wondering if Will was implying he thought he had no sense of humor? Will just kept smiling at him without explanation though and he had no idea why.

...ran off yelling something about metal angels from Mars.

"Poor guy," Alex said with a kind of sympathy that meant she'd have rolled her eyes at another person needing medication they couldn't afford and mildly indulging this.

Magnus felt a quiver of guilt. Were the countless people he'd met like that not crazy at all, but just seeing through the mist and constantly suffering for it? Even if he told them all they were right now, it would only make them feel better for a moment before their world collapsed like his did realizing monsters were real and it wasn't all in their heads.

...We'd made it to the West Coast.

Jason let out a blistering sigh of frustration. Percy had ended up here, twice, and he was starting to feel like there should be a laugh track mocking him for why that still felt so important.

Artemis was here somewhere. Annabeth too, I hoped.

"So near, yet so far," Magnus muttered anxiously. Thalia at least didn't seem too distressed over Annabeth's fate, and he knew the world hadn't ended at the very least, but wondering what agonizing details would be awaiting all of that in between still left him on edge.

... It was supposed to "show the trail," but it never had.

"You've had a surprising lack of monster attacks on this," Jason agreed in surprise. "We all didn't think it could be the lion. Only the skeletons and the manticore really. Grover summoned the pig, so I don't think that counts."

Thalia kept the comment to herself Jason was slacking, not counting something as cute as Bessie as a monster.

"The one time I can't be grateful I wasn't chased across the country by some fearsome beast," Percy agreed with a scowl.

... stuck with not much money, no friends, and no luck.

"Percy, I'm hurt," Thalia pressed her hand to her heart. "I thought we made friends along the way? Grover would be crying right now! and Zoe-"

"I get it, you breeze brain," Percy swatted at her.

"That's worse than air head," she scoffed.

... we agreed we needed to figure out what the mystery monster was.

Magnus swallowed the traitorous comment to Percy he'd switched up his priorities. He was still adamant finding Annabeth, and by proxy Luke, was the most important task and everything would follow.

The argument between him and Jason had never come to a head, let alone simmered all this time as they focused on the path to get there, but Percy said now with his own sense of justification, "Grover and Zoe both agreed finding the monster was about the only thing we could do and I didn't have a better idea how to start finding anything." He glanced at Thalia who had still gone oddly quiet since the metal angel ride.

She gave an unconvincing smile and said, "err, yeah, needed to get the urge to kill something out of my system." She had not been looking forward to confronting Luke. It had been her only driving force as she ran headlong towards it.

..."Nereus." Grover said. "What?" I asked.

"What do you mean what?" Will looked personally offended like Percy had forgotten he was in the room.

"How do you forget advice from a god?" Jason seemed just as baffled at Percy's existence once again.

Percy had to really think for moment, going back a few chapters to recall why he vaguely recognized that name. It had come up around the time he'd been assigned haiku homework.

Apollo had helped them quite a lot, his passage stopping right before the town where Grover had his Pan breakthrough. Yet the prophecy, as always, was only clear with hindsight, and they still had no clue what the rest of it was going to lead to.

Sure they'd gone as far west as they could without leaving America, but they felt no closer to the answer. There had yet been a bane of Olympus? The Hunters and Campers hadn't exactly prevailed along the way so much as just learned not to hate each other while losing one. The last two lines felt as ominous as ever as Percy stewed over what they didn't know. As much as when they'd started all of this. With one day left to figure it all out.

... I'd completely forgotten my last conversation with the sun god.

"How do you even?" Thalia would swear he didn't have a brain sometimes if she wasn't forced to hear it right now.

"I've had other things on my mind," Percy reminded with a very obvious look at her. He'd been well distracted by running for his life by a pig and saving Thalia's bacon, then losing Bianca. It hadn't crossed his mind again since.

..."Old Nereus, eh?" "You know him?" Thalia asked.

"I'm starting to think she knows everybody," Will said, clearly impressed.

"Being immortal has to come in handy for something," Thalia muttered, still coming to terms with the idea herself.

... I know him, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell."

"Err," Magnus looked from the book and around like he was missing something. "Are we still talking about evil Santa? Are you chasing peppermint cookies in San Fran?"

"I couldn't guess," Percy reminded with his own bewildered stare.

..."Come," she said without enthusiasm. "I will show thee."

Percy was pretty sure Zoe liked him enough now she wouldn't be so unhappy about leading him to his doom, but he still wasn't feeling better about the coming wrestling match. There was just to much he didn't know about what was left of all this.

I knew I was in trouble when we stopped at the Goodwill drop box.

"Because you have no good Will with you?" Will asked innocently.

"I am going to duck tape your mouth," Percy tried to say through a laugh.

"You're only mad because he's right," Thalia chuckled.

... jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat.

"Letting your real colors out I see," Alex studied Percy in a way that concerned him. "If you ever want another wardrobe change, do let me know."

"I will keep that in mind," Percy said nervously, clutching his orange shirt closely while Nico swallowed uncomfortably. At least Percy hadn't started screaming his disgust at wearing a rainbow.

...Zoe nodded with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."

Magnus looked a little ruffled what that was supposed to mean. He still had on the same clothes he'd been dumped in here with, five layers of shirts with one ripped up black jacket with the stuffing threatening to fall out and the only pair of jeans he owned with hiking boots a half size too small. Did he look like a typical male vagrant?

Compared to Thalia's punk clothing with all manor of pins underneath her silver camo, Nico's black aviator jacket that looked just as worn and held on by the seams, and not even getting started on Alex, he wasn't sure what a typical anyone looked like anymore.

..."Why am I doing this again?" "I told thee. To blend in."

"Pretty sure we already looked like homeless kids by that point," Thalia smirked. They'd been running around for days with little sleep in the same clothes they'd left camp in. Grover even still had a chunk of guacamole in his hair she hadn't the chance to mention.

"You couldn't have mentioned that then?" Percy protested.

"And ruin your makeover?" She asked innocently. "Those clothes smelled better than what you had on."

"I'm going to glue a cowboy hat to your head and ruin, this," he waved at her outfit for emphasis.

"I would rock a banjo," she said without concern.

Percy sighed and let it go, knowing a win he couldn't have when he saw one against her.

... waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch.

Magnus and Alex were both starting to get creeping sensations up their spines. Like they were waiting for the others to turn to them and ask if they were okay and wanted extra blankets. When none did, they unintentionally exchanged relieved looks, and sympathized with Nico keeping his mouth shut about his dad more than ever. Nobody wanted to walk around with a label you couldn't pick for yourself.

..."Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell, different."

Jason's nose dilatated on instinct, like he was trying to get a whiff of that now. The smell of the ocean never brought up a pleasant memory in mind, but he'd swear on the styx he should have an idea what Zoe meant. For a moment the flutter of a purple cape rippled in his mind before Thalia gave him a painful nudge, dislodging him from his scrunched up face.

"Like when you accidentally mix cologne and perfume together different?" Alex asked. "Like play-doh you baked? Like fur on fire?"

"You worry me," Percy told her. "I didn't want to ask her what she meant, I'm terrified of how you know any of those."

"I've clearly led a more interesting life than you," she shrugged without concern, and wow was it worrisome to the others she really seemed to mean that after all she'd heard.

"Great." I didn't want to ask for particulars.

"How!?" Jason looked at him dumbfounded anew. "How do you not want to know every detail of what you're about to get into?!"

"I do best when I go in without a plan," Percy shrugged. Why dwell on something that would go wrong anyways?

... do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster."

Jason opened his mouth with a sharp, "make sure the second net has cross-patterned to throw over-" before he stopped with such a strong sense of deja vu. He looked around at Thalia and didn't recognize her for a moment. Equal bouts of pain and electricity zinged down his neck before he shivered. He didn't want to shake it off! Percy was in the area for one page and already actual memories were starting to come back of some life he couldn't begin to guess at!

"I wish we'd thought to bring a net," Percy nodded as he watched him just like everybody else with concern what he'd gotten up to in another life.

...I grumbled how nice it was to have super-powerful friends.

Which they were all getting a live reaction of as their chuckling accompanied it.

 ...stumbling like I was about to pass out, which wasn't hard considering how tired I was...

Magnus stamped down on the comment Percy was doing a good job off the bat of acting homeless. Maybe they could hang around in line sometime and compare traumas if it wasn't for the fear he still had of Sally getting involved.

...He didn't smell good, but he didn't smell, different.

Jason still looked like he wanted to pull his hair out Percy was just going in expecting to figure out what one thing didn't belong in a sea of the strangest people mortals had to offer.

... grimy dudes with plastic bags for hats said, "Beat it, kid!"

"On brand," Thalia sighed, making Alex and Magnus do double takes at her. She'd never said how much time she spent on the streets looking after Annabeth, but it seemed time enough for her to know they wouldn't get sympathy spots to go in first just because of their age. If anything they often got resentment, some assuming they could just go back home if they shut their mouth and sucked it up.

... She glared at me like I was going to steal her birds.

Magnus was almost smiling for a second, a strange thing in itself to anybody but him. There were crazy bag ladies in every city, it made the world feel not so strange for a second.

... if Santa had been rolled out of bed and dragged through a landfill.

Magnus squinted his eyes at the book for a moment before he nodded in conclusion. "Got it, Santa still isn't real and you were just being, you."

"I didn't name these chapter titles!" Percy protested. "Don't blame me every time you have a meltdown at them!"

"Fair point," Magnus nodded, "I blame Oceanus."

"Got to give the guy mad props for his writing style though," Alex said with honest admiration. "He's clearly a grumpy old coot at the bottom of the ocean, but he's got a knack for describing all this bizarre stuff."

"Gods help me if it is that Titan posting my thoughts," Percy groaned.

"Gods help him," Thalia smirked. Percy was going to inevitably have a brawl with him before this was over, she knew him to well.

...If the ocean had an ugly side, this guy was it.

"Fascinating," Will said genuinely. "Does your sweat smell like that Percy?"

"And you all think I'm the crazy one," Percy sighed, and that was the only answer Will was going to get.

...muttering about stupid school and stupid parents, figuring that sounded right.

"More than you think," Alex muttered. It was the first time she hadn't said something loud and proud for everyone to hear, and it made Magnus want to lean in even closer.

... I didn't know how the other homeless people would react.

"Depends on the individuals there," Thalia said. She and Grover would have stepped in if any of them had rushed to help, but most had run before the cops were called, and a fair few just stood there dumbfounded. Only two looked like they'd really want to jump in, so she'd snapped the Mist into helping them see a couple of sea lions wrestling instead.

... didn't act like a weak old man. He had a grip like steel.

Jason gave one last eye roll Zoe might have thought to warn Percy of a trick if the guy had asked, but it was overshadowed by his sickening sense he'd known this himself. It was a great feeling of frustration not targeted at Percy. Whatever plan they'd tried to concoct catching this guy, he got the feeling it hadn't worked.

... "Kid rolling an old man like that!"

Nico was surprised that any of them cared. He was homeless and not many people looked at him twice when he was chased by anything the Mist had them see.

...I locked my arms around his chest. His rotten fish smell was awful, but I held on.

"I lived through Smelly Gabe Land!" Percy cried triumphantly, not even plugging up his nose.

"Not something I'd brag about, but I see your point," Thalia was waving her hand under her nose, she could still vividly remember that reek and she'd been breathing through her mouth as much as possible talking to him.

... "I'm a half-blood! I want information.'"

"I'm surprised he doesn't just know that," Will frowned. "If he's supposed to be wise enough my dad recommends him, shouldn't he already know the question you want to ask and is just fighting you to earn it?"

"Will, I think you're putting a little to much faith in your dad," Percy tried to say not unkindly.

"Maybe he's like any old man and needs some time to wake up," Nico managed slightly better until he started snickering.

..."Heroes! Why do you always pick on me?"

Thalia was still watching Jason from his last little episode and saw the tick that crossed his face. She felt a pain lance through her, like she was sharing his headache. Heard her mothers awful words again through her slurred speech. He'd been in California all along, a place she'd fled when she couldn't find him. What if she'd stayed, tried harder?! Had he been a part of that homeless camp and she'd passed right over him...

...He growled and tried to shake me off his back. It was like holding on to a roller coaster.

"Cool," Alex said.

"How many amusement parks have you been thrown out of?" Magnus asked with resignation already. At least that was one thing he'd never have to worry about paying to get into, sneaking would already be involved when they went- shit-wait-what?

"I'll never tell," she raised a single brow and grinned in a way that made his stomach preform a roller coaster ride of its own.

..."Oh, no!" I said. "Not the water!"

"Percy, with the mad acting skills over here," Jason at least got a good laugh out of that.

"Thank you," Percy grinned, giving his wrist a flippant little twirl he'd learned from Rachel.

...we plunged into San Francisco Bay.

"That poor, poor fool," Will almost sounded sorry for how bad this guy was about to be beat now.

... He changed shape until I was holding a sleek black seal.

"Cool!" Magnus blurted. "I didn't think this could get weirder than Santa Claus!"

Alex was studying Magnus, and the book in his hands, and seriously considering turning into a seal right now just to show off. She decided she was going to do it, maybe Magnus would scream, or want to pet the seal...but it didn't work. An eerie, creeping sensation surrounded her for a moment, the horror of being unable to change again- but she had been. She'd felt as normal as ever yesterday. So why couldn't she change animal forms?

And how was it fair Percy had got to keep his hydro powers?!

...trying to hold a greased pig, but holding on to a seal in the water is harder.

"More like impossible," Thalia said confidently. "You're basically the only one who could."

"Good to know I'm useful for something, wrestling wild hogs into snow and seals in the harbor," he rolled his eyes.

"We can write a children's book about you when we get back," Will snorted.

...I managed to wave at the crowd. Yeah, we do this every day here in San Francisco.

"You're a walking tourist attraction," Jason looked a little envious of that like he was thinking of selling tickets to the next show. Like that city needed more revenue.

Thalia could only guess what his real problem was. How much time did he spend in the Bay area? Was it possible he'd been there at that moment, a ghost in the crowd she'd been to distracted to notice by watching Percy pull a Sea World stunt?

... "Why won't you drown?" he wailed,

"You just said he changed back to human form," Will smirked for the pun.

"You have the worst sense of humor of all," Percy sighed, "nobody laughs at puns except the person who made them."

"Aw, Percy, nobody's ever told me I have a sense of humor before," Will's grin widened, so Percy just let it go before this got any worse.

... I wanted him to feel like he'd put up a good fight.

"I don't know if that would win you any favors with him," Nico shook his head. Nereus could probably tell Percy was faking. His admiration was there as always, Percy really was kind to everyone he met.

"I get credit for trying?" He asked innocently.

Nico's heart did a swoop, a tiny little one almost like his emotions had forgotten how to do it as Percy smiled at him and looked away. "Uh, yeah, sure," he muttered far to late.

..."You got him!" Zoe said. "You don't have to sound so amazed."

"She could sound a little more impressed," Magnus agreed, he couldn't imagine anything close to doing that.

"It's quite amazing when Percy manages to do anything without blowing something up," Thalia reminded.

... how to rescue her. How could I ask that all in one question?

"How do we win the quest," Alex said sharply.

"This isn't a game," Jason scowled as he tried to cobble together the best answer.

"There's no downside to what his answer would be though," Alex still shrugged without that much concern.

"What if it has to be more specific and you wasted a question, he just bolts and Percy can't-"

"Hey you two," Thalia put a placating hand on Jason's shoulder while watching Alex carefully. "Let's focus on what did get asked." Swallowing a wince of guilt as Magnus was trying to hold his breath so he didn't read ahead, while side eyeing Percy who looked immensely sick to his stomach.

She knew as well as anyone what he'd most desperately wanted to ask, and a part of her wanted to go back and duck tape Zoe's mouth shut so she couldn't complain when they did ask about Annabeth.

They needed one goal though. The beast a goddess had thought would sway Zeus to their side. It's what Annabeth would have wanted.

...Chiron had told us the monster was even more important.

"We really should have just brought Chiron on this quest," Thalia smacked the side of her head. "Not me and Zoe being right, not even Annabeth! Nooo, it's Chiron!"

"He would have been a faster ride too," Percy nodded like she'd made a great point.

...The Old Man of the Sea smiled, showing off his mossy green teeth.

"Ew," Magnus muttered, once again wondering how the homeless people up above had better descriptions than some of these gods.

"I bet I could pull that look off," Alex said.

Magnus once again just watched her, like he was imagining it. He still didn't turn away with anything resembling disgust.

...Nereus pointed to the water at my feet.

"Can, can he play made you look?" Jason asked mystified.

"Dionysus sits around playing games all day, I wouldn't put it past any of the others," Percy huffed.

...With a pop, he turned into a goldfish and did a backflip into the sea.

"Now he's just showing off," Alex scowled, and she looked a little more hacked off than usual somebody other than her was doing that.

...Thalia's eyes widened. "What is that?"

"It's not that sea monster Chiron thought it could be is it?" Magnus asked wearily.

"You'll certainly never see it coming," Thalia said with a grim smile.

"MOOOOOOOO!"

Alex and Magnus's mouths flopped open. They didn't even laugh like they had the last two times. Jason looked like he'd tried to swallow Bessie tail first. Percy was cross-eyed.

Thalia smirked she'd been right, again.

...She nudged my shoe and gave me the sad brown eyes.

"Duuude," Jason finally sounded like his brain was melting too. Percy gave him a commiserating fist bump.

"I don't get it," Magnus was looking from the book to them like he was still waiting for a trick. "Is it a shape shifting monster? Is it trying to steal Percy's heart?"

Alex gave him a distasteful look he'd slipped into calling Bessie non-gender pronouns just because she was revealed to be a monster and decided she was grateful she had kept some of her secrets to herself.

"Oh trust me, Zoe explains," Thalia sighed. There was a hint of unease in her expression again, she was not proud of what happened next and swallowed back the usual selfish need to steal the book away and just gloss over the rest. Her friend had already learned one of her secrets, did Percy need to remember what a gullible selfish idiot she was too?

Jason hadn't judged her fear of heights, maybe she'd get lucky again and her little brother wouldn't want to disown her finding this out too. She still held back a longing she had no idea what kind of hero he was. Did he perhaps have the same fatal flaw as her and would have hesitated too, or was he better than her like she'd always hoped he could be?

...Grover gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."

"It's comforting that's all he said to Grover, instead of like, die, or, doom," Alex shrugged.

"But why did he hear a cow at the dam but heard Bessie now?" Magnus frowned.

"Eye contact matters," Jason chuckled. He had no clue, but who knew, it usually did elevate conversations.

... he says his name is the Ophiotaurus."

"Why can't things in Greek ever have pronounceable names?" Percy sighed.

Nico bit back the laugh that sprung to mind about Bob the Titan not being as menacing as Iapetus. Some names just had a certain ring to them.

..."It means serpent bull in Greek," Thalia said.

"Of course it does," Percy sighed.

Jason's face was glazed over with sudden want as he asked greedily of her, "do you have a translation book handy?"

"I study, unlike this dingdong," Thalia smiled in surprise, even a hint of joy. She could still impress her little brother.

...I was wondering how you got all that out of a single moooooo.

"Dude, I've been wondering that since the poodle," Magnus said.

..."And you just forgot to mention this before?"

"When would it have come up?" Percy huffed. "When we were running for our lives from that helicopter and Bianca was talking about magical subways? When you weren't talking to me in the car? Oh I know, during that awesome flight with the metal angels!"

Thalia looked ready to spear his guts if he didn't shut up, so Magnus graciously kept reading to prevent that mess.

 ...Bessie  seemed like a minor detail.

"I'll give Percy that," Will nodded. "He did say he goes out and rescues hippocampi from that situation all the time. Unless he just sporadically mentioned it for no reason, it didn't seem like it would come up."

"Thank you," Percy grinned.

"He's still a smart ass," Thalia scoffed.

"We have that in common," Percy smirked.

... my father told me this tale. This is the beast we are looking for."

"I still feel like that Nereus question was wasted," Percy grumbled, knowing he probably would have mentioned Bessie to Annabeth and she probably knew that myth too. They'd have figured it all out together.

Thalia fidgeted with her bracelet in silent relief Percy hadn't thought about the rest of what Zoe had just said. That Zoe's father apparently put her to sleep with bed time stories of monsters destroying the world.

...whoever sacrificed its entrails would have the power to destroy the gods."

"And Percy just, stumbled across this thing?" Jason looked like he was being had. "In the backyard of his camp? Is this some sort of trap?"

"It's always a trap," Percy shivered at his words. It all felt very final all of a sudden, and the cold chill breaking out on the back of his neck promised the end would not go quietly.

... "Maybe we could avoid talking about entrails, too."

"Would one of you please learn to censor yourself around the embodiment of the innocent creature," Will chuckled.

"At least he probably didn't hear our dam jokes," Thalia grinned.

...Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."

"You know what Percy, I take it back," Alex laughed. "I've never met someone in person who would name a world destroying creature something as cute as Bessie."

Magnus grinned to himself as he imagined showing her the sign Hearth made up for Hagrid, knowing she'd get a kick out of that later. Maybe they could sit around and read that book next...

"Why thank you," Percy gave a gracious bow.

...Thalia's expression bothered me. She almost looked, hungry.

"I'd always wanted to try rattlesnake," she tried and failed at convincing sarcasm. She had been in awe Percy had found this thing, the power he could have had without even realizing it, but of course he'd fallen naturally into the roll of protector first and foremost. How the prophecy seemed shaped in that moment like countless times before to pin them against each other... and who would come out on top.

... "The power to overthrow Olympus. That's huge."

"Glad we can agree on that," Percy muttered uneasily. Thalia looked, conflicted, in here. That look of hunger was long gone in memory only, but it disturbed him a bit she hadn't denied it either.

"Yes, it is," said a man's voice in a heavy French accent.

"Oh gods, not the French," Alex smirked.

"I'd rather somebody try to convince me to eat a snail than have this guy back," Magnus groaned.

... We'd been so busy talking, we'd allowed ourselves to be ambushed.

Jason looked nauseous at such a fumble while Percy shifted from his usual bemused expression at how his life was going, to battle ready. The power that lit up his eyes should have that manticore running.

..."This is just pairrr-fect," the manticore gloated.

Percy had never thought he'd agree with a monster, but his sword in hand did so for him. He owed this manticore a world of pain...if only he hadn't been caught at the worst time! He had to protect the Ophi-whats-it-Bessie!

... he didn't look much better than the guys down at the soup kitchen.

"Sounds to me like he grew a wee bit obsessed," Nico muttered. Yes he was speaking from personal experience.

"He should have more than one hobby," Will agreed brightly, making Nico snort in surprise.

... the gods banished me to Persia. I never fought any great heroes...

"I knew that," Jason grinned with delight. "I don't know where I read that, but I knew it."

"I never really wanted to know what a monsters dream job was," Magnus looked a little uncomfortable, he'd never thought he'd tell someone not to follow their passion before.

"Well the guys about to be famous now," Percy's scowl promised. "The first manticore to ever be drowned by me!"

...There were tourists all around, but that wouldn't stop the manticore.

Percy's confidence was already starting to feel weighted down though. He didn't know how he'd made that toilet explode. He couldn't possibly use the water to just shield his friends without causing a massive hurricane, and even if he could, he was not comfortable setting up mortals to die like he did that pig Ares set after him. They were plenty trapped.

... getaway with a five-hundred-pound cow serpent? And what about my friends?

Magnus bit back the comment they weren't likely to be followed into the water, and he'd used an air bubble last time to at least make sure Annabeth could keep breathing. He didn't know the extent of how Percy's powers worked, maybe even he didn't know that.

"We beat you once before," I said.

Nico made an uncomfortable little frown as he swallowed the idea of correcting Percy on something. Technically they really hadn't, Annabeth had saved them.

"Who's this we?" Alex had no problems calling out. "You're on this quest because Annabeth pulled this guy over a cliff."

"What I said sounded better than reminding me of that," Percy scowled, though he'd happily launch Thorn over another cliff with Annabeth safely beside him if that was how this monster was destined to die.

Nico let out a brittle sigh and a good mental scolding. It was no wonder Percy never took notice of him, he never gave him a reason to. There had been no good reason not to say that and at least garner Percy's temporary eye roll like Alex got. He had no one to blame but himself for constantly feeling invisible to him, but there was still that fear lodged in him. That if he ever did try to have anything resembling a conversation with Percy, it would somehow be worse than he was feeling now.

Though that was hard to believe at the moment.

... There will be no help for you now."

Help. The word still burned in Thalia's memory of all the ways it had come in vastly different forms. Her own father, Apollo and Artemis, Athena, hell even Dionysus saving their bacon while Percy always helped her remember the best parts of herself. Thorn had no idea what kind of help they had on her side, and her dark smile set all of their hair on end to much to ask. Nobody would ever make her feel helpless again.

Zoe notched an arrow and aimed it straight at the manticore's head.

"I'm more surprised she didn't do that while he was monologuing," Alex admitted.

"She was probably feeling a little homesick, Persia being mentioned and all," Thalia shook her head. Alex still had a unique form of annoyance, picking on their surprise.

... for your sixteenth birthday, you will overthrow Olympus."

Percy's nerves quivered in place like an interpretive dance. A flimsy idea that had gained more traction the more he thought about it and always sounded more believable each time.

It was like she'd told him, she'd already lost everything. This quest was supposed to get her only family back, but somewhere along the way even Thalia had shifted her focus to finding the monster over Annabeth. She was losing faith in why she was fighting.

Percy would just have to remind her, and he opened his mouth to do just that before Magnus kept reading, and the vivid scoff followed by his disparaging voice showed how much Magnus thought of that idea himself. He might not have spent much time around his cousin since they were little, but they were quite similar. Annabeth would never lose faith in Thalia, she'd remember that.

... a terrible choice that could mean the end of the gods. Just like the prophecy said.

"We actually don't know the exact words of the prophecy," Jason reminded sharply, sounding very much like Chiron. A scholar not letting his class get away from the thesis. "For all we know neither of you are, stop worrying about details you can't control."

"This coming from the guy who's been marking every little detail he can find," Thalia's smile was a bit strained. She was about to massively disappoint Jason and take back whatever pride he might once have had on her when he heard she'd actually hesitated.

...I wasn't the prophecy kid after all. Doomsday was happening right now.

"The worst part is always the waiting," Magnus agreed like he had some degree in psychology he'd never shared.

"The worst part is the constant interruptions," Nico muttered. They'd be done by now otherwise.

I waited for Thalia to tell Thorn off, but she hesitated. She looked completely stunned.

"I think you compartmentalized too well," Jason told her with a little to much confidence. "You filed the idea away and managed to lose it in the shuffle."

She looked miserable as her eyes darted to him and away. Jason had her spot on, she had been managing to put off the worry of everything except finding Annabeth so well she'd barely felt a thing during this quest except angry, tired, and for one brief moment drunk and loopy with laughter before fear took over. Her mother and all who Beryl reminded her of, Bianca, even her impending birthday had been collecting dust in safe corners of her mind until that moment where Thorn threw in her face she could fix it all. Have the power to do anything, like bring her brother back, save Luke, fix her family. Do anything.

"You know it is the right choice," the manticore told her. "Your friend Luke recognized it.

He'd managed to say the exact right thing to her too. He'd answered a question she'd been asking herself since she woke up. Luke had seen no other way out, and there had been a moment, a split second as her mind conjured up the image, she could have him back too. Happy, beside her, to finish what they'd started together...

... She looked as she had the morning she woke up on Half-Blood Hill, dazed and uncertain. 

'I don't know how to give it up,' she'd almost stuttered. The power, the yearning for more. If her fatal flaw wasn't hubris like Annabeth's, than it was certainly a craving to be needed. Like her father. Not in charge, she'd resented Zoe for a multitude of reasons, but sharing the decisions was a personal problem she tried to over come. No, Thorn had dug right into her strongest desire to make the world bend to her will so nobody could ever take her family away from her again. 

..."He sent the metal angels. He turned you into a tree to preserve you."

Her father who had let her die, let her brother vanish...the same father who might have led her right to Annabeth and Luke when she'd needed them most and saved enough of her to be reborn in just the right circumstances. It had to be impossible he'd know one day she'd get a chance to come back, but Percy had looked at her and promised yet another answer she'd woken up in this world needing. Maybe Zeus had let her tree be poisoned, had done nothing to save the camp, because it helped get her out.

... before they could figure out the kid with the pipes was the bigger problem,

"A rather dumb mistake on their part, those things are the most dangerous weapon there," Magnus said confidently. They could both do magic and bash someone's head in.

... Fart arrows!

"And here I thought she reserved those only for me," Thalia said with her usual grin in place like nothing had happened.

Percy breathed a sigh of relief and gave himself a mental kick for each time he'd doubted her in here.

Jason was still looking at her kind of wearily, but in a concerned way, like he wanted to ask if she was alright but thought she might use that spear on him if he tried.

... Grover translated. I could only hope that Bessie got the message.

"What would happen if he spoke ox right then or something?" Magnus couldn't help but laugh even in this most serious of situations.

"He'd tell Bessie with an accent I hope," Percy frowned with plenty of worry for both of them.

"The cow," Thalia muttered, still in a daze.

"Yes, very good Thalia," but there was no mocking in Alex's voice for Thalia somehow unintentionally repeating her and Magnus's joke this whole book.

"Maybe next time I'll identify what Percy is," she agreed with a cheerful, if reluctant enough smile.

...I heard the manticore shouting at his minions, "Get them!"

"I always hated redundant orders like that," Nico rolled his eyes. "After them, catch them, stop right there, action speaks louder than words!"

"If I ever have an evil mad man chasing me I'll be sure to tell him he's being cliché," Will grinned.

...wind chimes and dream catchers and stuff like that, glittering in the sunlight.

"This isn't the kind of bad vibe I think they'll be able to take away," Percy scowled.

"I bet the kiosk person will still try," Jason squirmed, still watching Thalia more than paying attention.

There was a water fountain next to us.

"Could you squirt them in the face with that Percy?" Magnus asked with a resigned air of having to ask.

"Maybe to annoy them," he frowned.

"To bad there's not a bathroom around, we could use you becoming one with the plumbing again," Thalia smirked.

"You guys are never letting that go," Percy groaned.

"Nope," she agreed.

Down below, a bunch of sea lions were sunning themselves on the rocks.

"At least somebody's having a good time," Jason muttered, squinting a bit at nothing in here. He'd still swear this whole scenario should feel familiar, minus the being chased by an angry French manticore, though that didn't seem as wildly out of place as it should have.

... A peaceful moment, except we were about to die and the world was going to end.

"Couldn't ask for better circumstances?" Will offered.

"The not dying part!" Percy scoffed.

"You didn't," Will waved at him obviously, "and now you get to remember that lovely view you'll probably never see again."

"I'm going to shove your optimism so far up your-" Percy sounded more exasperated at his kidding at a time like this than anything, but Nico still cleared his throat to get a move on already.

... Call on thy father for help. Maybe you can save the Ophiotaurus."

Percy had just reminded Thalia that their parents weren't uncaring, but he still swallowed a bitter taint of his own his father might deliver one scrap of help, and a self-serving one at that in protecting a beast who could destroy him. If he asked his dad for anything more, like saving all of his friends too right there on the ocean front, it would probably be to close to that whole pesky interfering business.

..."You have to get word to camp, let them know what's going on!"

"The most awkward part is I don't even think a tsunami in California would make the headlines in New York," Alex said. More likely the reason Percy couldn't do that was he didn't have control enough of his powers to not swipe up his friends and countless pedestrians in the crossfire, again. Man it would be more helpful if the bad guys would stop catching up to them in places Percy couldn't conveniently destroy.

... The fog seemed to clear from her eyes. "Are you crazy?" she asked.

"Always," Percy agreed. "What does that make you Thals?" His smirk grew at calling out how similar they were.

She smirked in the exact same way and agreed, "crazier."

"Bet I'm declared craziest by the end of this," Percy said with way to much confidence.

"Only because we're following your adventures," she reminded with an even more annoying smirk than the last one. "Now if we were following the Hunters around-"

"It's not like that's my fault," Percy groaned, giving her a shove. "If I could trade I would!"

"No you wouldn't," she said softly, her mind on one person.

Percy sighed, but agreed, "no I wouldn't," his mind on the same blond.

 Grover understood.

"And that is why Grover is my first best friend," Percy said with pride, elbowing Thalia even more. "He goes right along with my crazy schemes while you were in a fog!"

"I was having an identity crisis," she agreed without a drop of chagrin. "You're lucky I came out of it, or you would have been my first victim."

He laughed again, properly without a bit of hesitation, and she sighed everything felt almost back to normal for a second.

... Mr. D, rummaging through the refrigerator.

Percy slammed his palm into his face in an almost painful sounding strike, and then dragged his hand down to his chin like slowly dripping acid.

"I'm very sad to see you didn't learn your lesson about this the first time," Magnus agreed with that display.

"Chiron is one less syllable than your camp, it's faster," Jason agreed like that was going to make all the difference next time.

Percy still had his head bowed towards his hand like he wanted to slap himself again. How were they not all dead?

..."Hello," I amended. "We're about to die! Where's Chiron?"

"If that place ever got a phone, that should be the recorded message," Alex nodded.

"Who says it isn't?" Will grinned. "It's option two though, you don't want to know what one is." Why Dionysius had insisted on offering a connection to Olympus that left you on hold forever first they'd never know...

...the manticore's troops were closing in. "About to die," Mr. D mused. "How exciting.

"Is it really though?" Magnus frowned. "It sounds to me like it happens at that Camp all the time."

"Maybe iris-messaging has more entertainment value than the real stuff," Percy rolled his eyes.

"I doubt the quality is better, and the off screen developments have to be lacking," Thalia sniffed with distaste.

I'm afraid Chiron isn't here. Would you like me to take a message?"

"I have several for him," Alex's tone promised an expletive after every word.

I looked at my friends. "We're dead."

"You're not doing a very good job of that," Jason at least sounded relieved to contradict that.

Thalia looked like her old angry self again. "Then we'll die fighting."

"I really don't want that to be your last words," Percy said, while sounding genuinely in awe of his friend.

"Hasn't happened yet," her smile was grim but proud as Percy gave her one of those looks that meant he was on the exact same wavelength as her. Jason, to her surprise, was still watching her with the same concern like she was still in that foggy state. It was surprisingly kind of him, though she couldn't imagine why he was.

"How noble," Mr. D said, stifling a yawn.

"Does he have a permanent hangover?" Alex rolled her eyes.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Magnus couldn't imagine any hair of the dog could cure him.

...I think I'm in the mood for pizza tonight."

Percy looking grudgingly respectful of that for a moment. He'd want that to be his last meal too. Didn't make him less of a jackass.

...He saw the mist and snorted. "Alone, without any real help. Wonderful."

"Well now he went and done it," Will scoffed with the same amount of confidence as ever. The one way to piss off any god was to tell them what they couldn't do.

"You could ask for help," Mr. D murmured as if this were an amusing thought. "You could say please."

"When pigs fly!" Percy snapped. He'd go down in any fight with his head high and pride intact before he pleaded for help, only to hear the maniacal laughter from the wine dude!

When wild boars fly. No way I was going to die begging a slob like Mr. D just so he could laugh as we all got gunned down.

Percy managed a smile through his gritted teeth as he kept a tight hold on his pen. It was a relief in some part he hadn't changed to much over the years.

... a tear running down her cheek. This had happened to her before.

Thalia had never felt shocked before. She was usually the one doing that. The kind of heart-skip, breath catching feeling as she quickly rubbed at her cheek to hide any such thing had been there as she did a double take at Percy. Damn this boy for always noticing everything but the battle at hand!

She couldn't say what sort of expression would have been on his face at the time. Her sole focus had been on Thorn. She saw now though. It was pity mingled with yet more understanding in those sea green eyes. He would have done anything to save her in that moment.

Like make a pig fly, or something even more unthinkable.

..."Please, Mr. D," I muttered. "Help."

"Percy," she didn't have the words. She hadn't heard what he'd said when he'd muttered all those years ago. She'd thought it had been a self serving act, that Dionysius had changed his mind when Thorn had spoken to spare her. Even Mr. D wouldn't want her falling into the wrong hands, it was more convenient to save her.

Her friend just gave her a casual grin of no regrets. Percy gave her a little tip of his head, and then pressed his finger to his lips and pointed at the book. Despite his calm mood back as placid as ever, he clearly was going to pretend he didn't know if it had worked until the book said so. Not to spare her having to choke out a thanks or anything.

... "Spare the daughter of Zeus. She will join us soon enough. Kill the others."

Magnus felt like the words were being jerked out of him one syllable at a time. Camp Half-Blood had felt like a morbid place to him the second it was described, a 'home' designed to train kids that were just going to die inside the boarders as quickly as outside.

He found in this moment though a sense of understanding, like group therapy. A way to accept an outcome all those kids were going to face, because he was obviously the only one still gob-smacked over the careless words out of that monsters mouth.

... It would have been funny if it hadn't been so terrifying.

"I think it can be both just fine," Thalia promised. Zoe had been just as guilty as her giving a self pinch and Grover's mouth had fallen comically wide open.

... somewhere inside there, the manticore was no more.

Percy's fingers twitched once in regret. That he hadn't gotten his revenge for this creature making him think Annabeth was dead.

It only lasted a moment as relief swept over him and he gave a cheerful high-five to Thalia. Another day they lived!

She gave him a rueful shake of her head as she gave him an enthusiastic answer by doing so back.

"Well," said Dionysus, closing his refrigerator. "That was fun."

"Was it?" Magnus asked in concern. "Because I'm now over here shitting myself how long range he has!"

Nobody answered him, as usual, which probably meant he'd never stop hyperventilating if he got an answer.

... Too much explaining if I made that permanent. I hate writing reports to Father."

"They have to file reports?" Alex looked personally offended paperwork existed at that moment.

"I'm sure he just makes the satyrs do it," Will grinned, making them all smile for a moment as they realized Mr. D was just brushing off his moment where he'd saved their life.

... It isn't easy to resist power, is it?" Thalia blushed as if she were ashamed.

"We really are a lot a like, it's eerie how Annabeth called that," Percy told her without surprise. "We both over came our fatal flaws on our first quest, got our asses saved by a surprise god, Grover even got to start both by saving some dumbass kid."

"Hey," Nico frowned, even if he found himself glowing with shock and pride Percy had really just compared them. The words had really come out of his mouth, he'd seen it in person!

"Stop trying to be all happy and encouraging Percy, it's creepy," Thalia was doing anything but flushing with shame now as she rolled her eyes at him with her usual grin.

...Don't make me regret it, satyr. Now get going, Percy Jackson.

Magnus stuttered over his name like he was Jason trying to read Greek. "Did he just say your name?"

"Holy Toledo!" Jason yelped just as loudly. "I didn't think he learned your names!"

"He has to get them wrong on purpose somehow," Percy looked just as dazed, even plugging his nose up for a moment to make sure that crazy smell of grapes and minds snapping wasn't affecting him.

Will looked downright smug as he savored all of their shock. It was almost sad, he was the only one not surprised. Mr. D did care about them, in his way. It took some time to get used to him and his subtleties, but considering he'd never actually blasted a kid, he'd always been sure of it.

Nico picked at his lip curiously for a moment before he said to nobody in particular, "names have power. It's possible the god was even evoking a little something extra, never saying any names unless he meant it."

Percy looked at him like he was crazy now. "Have you been sniffing the grapes? There's no way Mr. D thinks of us as worthy of that kind of idea."

Nico didn't feel very abashed though, especially since Will looked extremely interested beside him like it was something he'd want to ask Mr. D about. Nico watched as Percy turned back to the book, and then made himself look away too without expecting more, which was growing easier with practice.

... "I do not transport livestock. That's your problem."

"Isn't his sacred animal big cats or something? Shouldn't he be able to oversea that?" Magnus asked. He figured that was why he always wore the printed jogging outfit.

"In some myths it's also a donkey," Thalia snorted.

"I have so many questions," Magnus muttered, rubbing his forehead in exhaustion.

"I'm sure the answer in this particular case is, he's done more work in those five seconds than he's had to in centuries," Alex reminded.

... You must enter at sunset today, or all is lost. Now good-bye. My pizza is waiting."

"He didn't even threaten to throw you off another building," Jason said in admiration.

"Must have been a good pizza," Percy said, just as dumbstruck.

... "You called me Percy Jackson."

"You weren't supposed to point it out!" Alex laughed. "Now he might have been the one to erase your brain just for this!"

Percy flinched uneasily, that wasn't a joke he'd laugh lightly at, but it didn't feel right either. Dionysius could have been sporadically causing memory problems to all the kids at Camp if he'd ever cared enough about one before.

... they were having a serious conversation about metal angels from Mars.

"Now where's my B Alien movie over that," Magnus grinned.

"Awaiting popcorn and the Claymation on us," Alex smirked. Magnus wondered for a moment if that crazy juice was leaking through the book. That wasn't a date proposal. Right?

...making animal noises and trying to steal their shoes.

"I swear you bring the strangeness of New York with you everywhere you go," Jason told while giving one last annoyed sigh as he curled his toes up in his sneakers and rubbed at his forehead. He still felt like the crazy one in the room for swearing some of this should be familiar!

..."The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."

"Do they still remember she exists?" Magnus asked, his mouth dry as sandpaper, his tongue feeling rough with the stress even if he wouldn't be the one reading it. "What happens when you're blotted out of existence and try to go back."

Percy was making grumbling noises of protest and had his eyes closed to bully down the pain of any idea what was coming, so Alex quickly made a swipe for the book. The more he paid attention to these books rather than whatever that was, the better for all of them.