Percy wasn't happy.

But after a very brief argument with Annabeth, he'd had to concede that it was like trying to find a red needle in a stack of mortals.

So they were heading off to Boston. Argus handed the keys over, only blinking a few suspicious eyes at them as Percy showed off his license. Percy had sadly understood the confusion, the lady before him that day had smelled way to suspicious of illegal substances and it had lingered, he looked like he was trying to smile, breathe through his mouth, and show off his teeth all at once while forgetting the question he'd just been asked. It wasn't a face he was happy to repeat on inspection.

Someone had repainted the buses recently to draw in more business in the wintertime. They were now bright pink, the strawberries painted all over with adorable cartoon faces, some even had googly eyes jostling in place with sunshine smiles and green hats. Percy's promise not to crash it had sounded like a lie to his own ears as he started the engine.

At least he got to drive, as the other two made no claims.

Jason had remained silent through the ordeal of them bickering over eclairs and coffee as the bus wound its way through mid-morning traffic.

"I'm going to rip that horn out if you do that again," Annabeth groaned from the seat behind him, still swaying from the motion of his lane change. "The Harpies don't use it half as much as you!"

"It was a valid call ref," Percy shrugged, nearly taking the bumper off a little hamster car with him as he swerved behind to make his exit.

Jason waited until they were through the worst of it and the green tinge to Annabeth's face had faded, as well as her cussing out half the universe to a dull mutter, to ask, "did you guys dream last night?"

"No," Annabeth said with a miserable frown, toying with the beads of her necklace once more. There was a red coral pendent there that looked like a real ruby flashing about. He'd almost rather she finger the hilt of her knife strapped in place, that felt less ominous. Even though Jason had never seen them before, they looked right, made her look whole again.

"Nada," Percy agreed, though he at least sounded relieved not to have any more twisted nightmares from his 'not dad.'

"I dreamed I was back at the Wolf House," it felt like a confession, though it was nothing to really hide. "I saw this enormous wolf, twice the size of any of them there. She promised me I was on the right path now, but she wouldn't offer me any help." He kept the craziest part to himself, worried they'd tell Thalia. She wouldn't take it well if she heard him refer to some animal as his mother, but that's what he'd felt when he looked at Lupa. The she-wolf was the closest thing to family he'd had before he'd lost himself, he'd woken up sure of it.

"I've heard of Lupa," Annabeth agreed, she'd already tried to get a bit of studying on Rome's history in, if not as much as she liked. Curse her easy proneness to car sickness or she'd still be studying now. "It's odd she got a message to you when the rest of the gods either can't or won't still." Her nails ripped up some polyester when the bus went up on two wheels to make a hairpin turn. Neither of them looked out the window to see why Percy had made that decision.

They weren't exactly sure what park they were looking for, and it was hard to believe anyone would be waiting there in this weather that constantly spat ice and rain down all day as they searched, but when they finally rumbled into the strange town of Boston, it only took them a few hours to hunt around all of them and find them. They sort of stuck out.

Percy barely took the time to throw the bus in park, and it still skidded a few feet on the ice and rested on the sidewalk anyways as he jumped out. "Rachel!"

She was in a downy teal jacket that somehow made her startling red curls a fashionable accessory for once, and the marker littered jeans seem artful instead of erratic. She was sitting on a duck statue just out of the stormy gloom and watching a stout man intently when she whipped around and went running to meet Percy.

They collided and went down in a pile of snow and laughter from the ice, but helped each other up quickly still hugging and trying to out talk the other, Annabeth and Jason smiling all the while.

"-found myself in Pakistan," she was explaining, still a little breathless.

"What?" Percy asked blankly.

Rachel laughed again and clapped her hands together to chase the snow out of her matching gloves. Which was strange. She never wore anything matching unless she was in her school uniform. "So glad I still get to see that confused look, book or no book. It's the largest dam in the world. I think Oceanus was aiming for the Hoover dam? Maybe he was listening in? Honestly Percy, who can say," she rolled her eyes and didn't seem particularly concerned at having found herself halfway across the world. "I only just got here this morning from all the flight connections I had to make."

"Why are you here?" Annabeth asked with polite puzzlement, still studying her first elf with deep interest more than paying attention to the two; despite the fact she had half a dozen questions ready for Rachel on such a landmark in her back pocket.

"Don't know," she confessed. "I was making my way towards Camp, but I just had this hunch when I was at my last terminal." She shrugged and looked back at the two. "I found them here, and we got to talking. They seemed to guess I wasn't just another crazy art student somehow. I'm sure you've guessed, this is Blitz, and Hearth."

"I've got a nose for that kind of thing," the stouter of the two agreed, his dark skin and wild black beard hiding most of his face.

"Hey man, glad you're okay, Magnus was pretty worried about you," Percy grinned at Hearth. "Where'd you land?"

"Some all girls school," Blitz answered, his voice remaining gruff as he studied Annabeth.

Rachel barely smothered a giggle as she explained, "mine, to be exact."

"I'm going to kill that Titan," Percy sighed. They never would have found him there!

Hearth signed something else. Not one of them had a clue what, but it didn't look like he was offering to bring them to a taco joint as far as Percy could tell to explain how he'd wound up here next.

Then he waved his hand impatiently at them, and Blitz reluctantly seemed to ask a question that he knew the answer to as he kept studying the three of them. His voice was bleak. "Where's the kid?"

Annabeth's tears froze in the corner of her eyes, her voice choked on nothing.

"We promised him you'd have a safe place to call home if you wanted," Percy said. "I'm making good on that," he gestured back to the bright bus, he'd only lost one googly eye on the ride, glad his girlfriend had a strong stomach and it wouldn't smell like vomit, or strawberries.

The two exchanged a look, and their hopes plummeted like those stone ducks would if they were dumped in the pond even before they shook their heads.

"Please," Annabeth stepped forward, offering out her hand. "I'm sorry, I want to explain, and we want to help you."

"We don't need help," Blitz said not unkindly. "He was under our protection, and I'm glad you two got a chance to get to know each other."

Hearth signed something and pointed at the tree. Blitz nodded and went back to studying Annabeth. "Did he die with a weapon in his hands?"

Annabeth looked down at her palm in confusion, before she shook her head.

This clearly troubled both of them more than the obvious news he was dead. Hearth signed something else, and Percy and Jason knew one of those. He was asking something about Alex.

"Alex did," Jason said firmly. "He died protecting one of our friends."

"Then that's where we'll start," Blitz nodded his thanks and turned to walk off.

"At least come to camp for a few days, just, just so you know where to find it," Annabeth tried, but there was defeat in her voice Percy loathed to hear.

"Oh, we've got our ways of finding places we need to," Blitz assured. "You look after yourself Annabeth."

"How did you-" but she stopped and smiled at Hearth, who nodded and waved farewell. They walked towards the tree, and then like the world bent out of shape to mess with them, suddenly the two were gone. They wanted to blame their exit on the Mist, but somehow they felt it was something else, something different than what they could even comprehend. Just like everything else about Alex and Magnus since the moment they'd met.

"They're going to try and find him in their afterlife," Percy said, a chill running down his spine that had nothing to do with the tree dripping ice down his jacket.

"I hope Nico's back by now," Jason said grimly. "We've got way too many people going underground when they couldn't possibly be doing it at the worst time."

Percy put his arm around Annabeth and turned to Rachel. "Nice jacket."

"Thanks, Blitz picked it out." Rachel grinned. "He's got an amazing sense of style, though according to him he's a special dwarf."

Nobody even blinked. It really just made too much sense at this rate. "How many days you got left for your winter break?" He asked instead.

"A week," she said in relief. "It's high time I get to enjoy some of it!"

"Yeah, about that," Percy sighed as they began trudging back to the bus. Annabeth kept sniffing and looking over her shoulder, but tucked her hands into his pockets all the same. "We didn't exactly get early parole for good behavior..."

HOOPJOHOOPJOHOOPJO

Incredibly short chapter I know, but the next one's super long to make up for it, and the last before we get back to reading!