Happy New Years! I made a lot of stupid decisions in my personal life last year I'm trying to grow from and I hope the same for all of you!

PJOHOOPJOHOOPJOHOO

There wasn't so much an argument as to what to do with the bodies so much as just working out technicalities. Annabeth hadn't argued about a funeral pyre for the two, but had a meltdown as she realized they didn't have a shroud for either of them. She didn't even know enough about her cousin to truly guess what it should be.

When Nico offered to cover the two in the books that had started all this with a cruel smirk, there had been a scary moment where nobody disagreed about burning away their future, but they all knew they should.

In the end as the last rays of sun touched down on them, Will had the bag back on his shoulder with only eight. They'd all ripped out pages from the first set, Percy's life, scattering them over the two. Phrases, passages, quotes leaped out at them as the fire was lit. They hadn't known them long, but it had started to feel like they'd really spent months together. They all knew they could never think back on Percy Jackson's wild adventures again without Alex and Magnus laughing just out of sight.

Annabeth stood beside Percy the longest in the shadow of the ruined mansion, surrounded by redwoods, looking into the flames. She occasionally glanced away, down into the Bay area that sat like a reflection of the stars, just little patches of light to mark the city in odd shapes and patterns. Percy wondered desperately what she was thinking, but every time he meant to ask he yawned.

They found Tristan McLean right where Will had left him, in the exact same state. He was only half conscious all through the night; asking them, the trees, or his own hand if they'd seen Piper and what these monsters were going to do to his daughter. No matter who said what to him, he just asked again a few moments later.

There was no prompt of if. Percy passed out in Annabeth's arms, whether he wanted to or not the moment they paused to take stalk of the situation. The rest of them promised to sleep in shifts, Annabeth offering to take the first as she kept her eyes on the flames still rising into the night.

Percy had his first nightmare in over a week. He hadn't missed them as much as he thought he would.

He saw a boy running through what was left of the grassy hill they hadn't demolished in a purple shirt, an empty quiver on his back. From the way his arms were swinging, Percy could just make out a familiar tattoo pattern, but couldn't place why as he headed for the Caldecott Tunnel. He heard a voice whispering that they'd won nothing, and this was only the beginning as the dirt stirred around them, swallowing them. He wanted to lurch to his feet, he'd never wanted to be off solid ground more than ever-

And then he was standing in a dark throne room, looking at a monster. The place was a mirror of somewhere he'd been, once. Everything just slightly off center, like studying a magnificent throne room his mind had been captivated with, through a cloud of smoke.

The face was molded from sponges and barnacles, jagged and smooth rocks alike, all the swell from the bottom of the seafloor. He was bald, his waist length beard was tangled seaweed, broken fishing nets, and ripped old sails that clung to his chin in restless energy. His eyes were the calm eye of the storm as his voice boomed with a deep anger, an unquenchable hunger from the sea. "You are a part of me..." he promised, though Percy had never been more terrified in his life to feel the ocean around him once more. If he were not his father's child, he would have been drowning, even in sleep. "You must not trust the usurpers who dishonor me. Never respect those who fear the sea..." the voice was like the hissing spray of the white foam speckling the sand, throwing salt into the wounds of his fears every time he saw Jason out of the corner of his.

"Who are you?" Percy demanded, instinctively knowing that drawing his sword would be useless in the face of this.

He already knew. There was laughter, one he'd heard since the day he was born, the only warm thing in here. He blinked again, and saw his father's twinkling eyes, before they were absorbed once more by Neptune's ferocity. "I spared you for a reason Percy Jackson, do not disappoint me..." and then a trident was racing towards his heart to pierce him through, and he awoke with a start to Annabeth telling him they needed to run. As usual.

...

They still didn't have any drachmas between them, nor any way to contact help.

Help away from help would have been nice.

Nobody had gotten as much rest as they needed. Annabeth was shaking them all awake barely an hour later, lacking a certain urgency all the same when she had to explain, "there's park rangers all over the place because of all we did. They're almost here!"

Nobody wanted to be caught up in one of Percy's specialties, running from the law explaining all this, so they staggered to their feet as fast and far away as they could until the faint sounds of helicopters and shouts of excitement upon finding a celebrity faded away. It felt dishonest, Percy had been looking back more than forward as they left Piper's dad out there to be found, but nobody really had a better idea of what to do for him in the meantime as he kept petting the grass and asking for his daughter back.

Percy's skin was still crawling with stress from his dreams, and found himself only wanting one way to travel right now as the thicket of the woods caught on his pants every other step, the crackling leaves underfoot and tree roots seemed to twitch every whisper of wind still, and the sounds of the ocean far off in the coast kept fading further away to his faint relief. He raised his fingers to his lips.

"Don't call one for me Percy," Thalia cut in as he took a breath. "I'll meet you guys there."

"Thalia?" Jason asked, and he actually sounded like a lost kid for a split second as he stumbled to a stop. Her little brother sounded hurt, and really seemed to believe even for a moment she was just going to take off and never come back.

Thalia stepped forward and hugged him. So tight it should have been impossible he didn't break. His arms dangled uselessly at his side. He was only a few inches taller, but he still felt like he was looking up at her when she leaned back and held his face in her hands, her voice stern, her face weary. "I need to reconnect with the Hunters. I can't just abandon them Jason, they need an update on what's been going on. But I will be at Camp to finish these with you guys, I swear it on the Styx."

A rumble of thunder rolled in the distance, the air smelled of ozone and Underworld as the wind blasted around them, tugging at their clothes. Jason reached for her wrists and stepped back, a forced smile and a nod was all he could do or his voice would crack. She needed him to do that, or she couldn't have let go a second time.

He would see her again though, he believed her, she could see it in their eyes.

She turned and leaped off in a silver streak, the emptiness she left in her wake like a shooting star. Still too fleeting, leaving their numbers too small...

"You don't need to call a pegasi for us Percy," Nico added, his hand in Will's and swinging it around just because he could. "I promised him a shadow traveling experience, why not now to camp?"

Will smiled in delight, but Percy gave them a knowing smirk back. "Suite yourself, but I have a few pit stops I plan on making, and I think you'll want to be around for one."

The two exchanged a look and immediately agreed to hop on a horse.

The problem was when they arrived.

The number of the herd made an empty feeling echo around the small clearing. Annabeth swallowed a fresh wave of tears at imagining how Magnus would have smiled at them, and Alex would have likely thrown himself onto one before they'd even landed in excitement.

Percy went over to Blackjack like usual, talking to his old buddy. He was lucky the enormous black horse didn't trample him in excitement honestly.

Will went to one they hadn't seen yet, a beautiful dappled gray. When the pegasi got one whiff of Nico, still hand in hand close beside him, those wings ruffled those feathers to twice their size and paced behind Blackjack, clearly saying something Nico wouldn't want to hear as an old familiar sadness crept over him. Nothing had changed out here in the world just because he had a boyfriend with a sunny attitude now.

Percy offered a hand and Annabeth hoisted herself up on Blackjack without question.

Will had given his hand a squeeze, before dropping and going after the newbie. The mare was smaller than her companions, possibly younger too? Will was making nice with the gray, running his hands along the mane and crooning to her in moments. She seemed to like Will enough and began nuzzling him, but the moment Nico stepped up she knickered and tried to trot away again.

"Aw come on girl," Percy sighed, hands on his hips. "He only smells funny until you get in the air, then you won't even notice."

Blackjack made a stern snorting noise too, tossing his head. She finally chewed on her thoughts for several moments before nudging back up to Will.

"Maybe we can both ride her?" Will asked, checking with Nico carefully.

Jason was studying Guido like he was ready for battle. Nico assumed it was him of Blackjack's usual friends because the dumpier of the white horses was grazing off to the side. Porkpie seemed completely indifferent to whatever conversation was going on.

Nico had a feeling if he just went over to the other he'd get the same trouble though, and Will was giving him an encouraging smile.

Screw it, he thought. What's the worst that could happen?

He could turn into a literal pile of butterflies. His knees were clearly attempting it as he nodded and went on the same side Will was, and it wasn't for the idea of being on top of the flying horse.

Will offered him a hand too, fingers cradled tight together to lift him up.

"What's her name?" He asked Percy.

Percy's eyes glazed over for a brief moment. "Zeta."

"Okay, um, Zeta," Nico put his hands cautiously on her back. "Easy girl."

He'd only accomplished this once, and he'd felt the resentment from the pegasus the entire trip. He really hoped this would go better on a longer trip if Will was there too. He put his foot in his hands, took a breath, still half expecting to be thrown to the ground, maybe break his neck...the image of Alex's lifeless body flashed to mind as he shifted his weight and jumped with all his might. Alex would have been screaming with delight at finally getting to be around these guys.

Zeta just shifted her weight around, her jaw still rotating like she was trash talking every second of this...but Nico felt fine. A little chill ran down her body maybe, but then she settled as his feet slid carefully behind her wing joints.

"She says you're light," Percy laughed, patting her withers as he went back over to Blackjack and hopped on behind Annabeth while Will did the same to him.

Everything around him was far too pleasantly warm. He could feel the horse's massive lungs expanding, every twitch her body made. It was the most uncomfortable pleasant experience Nico ever had as Will put his arms around his waist, chest molding with ease to his back, his head resting on his shoulders while Nico wasn't used to sitting astride an animal. He should probably make sure his heart didn't flutter out of his chest faster than the horse could fly as his hands went from patting his knees, to twisting his ring, to finally settling on top of Will's, before he realized he should put them on the horse for some kind of stability and settled awkwardly on her thick neck right beneath her mane. They weren't shaking, even if his heart still was with pure warmth.

"Jason?" Percy called.

Nico looked around, he still hadn't gotten on. It was more than possible he didn't know how to, and Percy shifted around on Blackjack like he was about to go and help him out next.

He was still staring where Thalia had run off. One hand on the horse, the other still holding tight to his coin. He turned to look at them, and then away, towards the Bay area.

"Did you change your mind?" Annabeth asked kindly. "Do you want to go home, first?" Her voice hitched painfully on the word home, but Jason knew it wasn't for him. They hadn't talked, in the brief time they'd been the only ones awake.

He finally looked back at them. "I've been there before," he wasn't talking to them really, he'd gotten as little sleep as Annabeth as he watched the light drink away the horrors and last of the flames. "I," he touched his temple in frustration. He'd said some crazy things during that fight. He felt more like himself during that battle than ever before...and it didn't sit right with how much he wanted to leave here. Whatever his home was, whatever he was remembering, he somehow knew he wouldn't get it back if he let his feet take him where they knew to go.

That Wolf House...home...Thalia...it all blurred together into a person he still wouldn't recognize.

"I still know where the entrance is," Nico promised at once.

"No," he finally whispered, his words nearly snatched away by the wind. He studied the pegasus for a moment, then took a gentle hop and landed on Guido with only a bit of clumsiness.

"Feet behind the wings man," Percy reminded.

"Right," Jason put his hands cautiously on the withers and adjusted himself. "You know I can just fly there, this isn't necessary." He still sounded distracted. Nico wasn't all that sure Jason wouldn't just fly into the nearest tree.

"Any man crazy enough to fly across the country after all that deserves what he asks for," Percy rolled his eyes, "but if you fall out of the sky from exhaustion, I don't know how I'm going to carry your ass. Just ride the damn pegasus."

Jason tried to settle in with a smile. The fact that he got an inside joke finally made this seem real. He was going to Camp Half-Blood.

...

Frank waited long after the hero's had flown off before he could force his trembling knees to begin moving towards home. Reyna was never going to believe what the alarm had really drawn him up there to do, because it sure wasn't to collect another child from the Wolf House.

No, Jason had returned home, only long enough to win another great victory and leave again. Giants?! Some ice goddess!? It was far too much for someone on probatio to properly explain, but he'd done what he could, raining arrows down on the wolves and Khione. It hadn't been enough though. That poor blonde girl in the orange shirt, he could still hear her screaming if he looked back. It must have been her brother, possibly her twin...

He was never getting off probation when he told the Senate he'd been too gobsmacked by all the strange other kids to do more than be a useless spectator. He'd thrown enough arrows to empty his quiver, to try and help fend them off alone while they freed a goddess, possibly Juno herself, but it hadn't done enough good in the end, only delayed.