Nico waits for Percy and Sally to get checked into their rooms and looks around the hotel lobby to pass time. It's not what he was expecting, although come to think of it, he's not sure what he was expecting. Honestly? It looks like any ordinary hotel. It's not cozy like an inn, but it's also not as grand as the Lotus Casino. There are some bell carts lined up along a wall, a sofa, and some chairs around a mahogany coffee table with a stack of trashy New Roman magazines on it. The paintings of different heroes on the walls aren't even that obvious. The only thing that screams "demigods" is the faun sitting behind the front desk, who is currently checking Percy in.

Percy got those Jack and Jill rooms that connect, so it'll be even easier for him to be an overbearing son. And on Sally's vacation nonetheless. She's a saint for putting up with Percy's craziness.

He likes Percy, really. Nico even had a crush on Percy once. But Percy's identity nowadays seems to completely revolve around taking care of his mom and missing his ex-girlfriend. Gods, Annabeth might not even be remotely the same person. For that matter, Will might have changed too. Nico doesn't want to be a sour ex-boyfriend, but he isn't so sure he'll be able to be mature about Will's commitment issues. He couldn't commit to Nico, but now he's committed to Annabeth, the girl with attachment issues? It doesn't make sense.

Percy spins around. He still looks a little pale from the plane, but other than that, he seems fine. A smirk paints his face as he spins the hotel keychain around on his finger. "You're up, di Angelo."

Nico approaches the faun behind the desk. "Uh, my name's Nico di Angelo. I'm here for the wedding."

There's clicking on the keyboard and then: "Ah, yes! You're the future Mrs. Zhang's brother! So nice to meet you; what a wonderful sister you have!"

It's weird to hear 'Mrs. Zhang.' It's so weird.

"Thanks," Nico says, taking his room key from the faun.

"Oh, before you two go!" He gestures for Nico and Percy to come back to the desk. "Once you get settled, Mr. Zhang will want to meet with you and go over the itineraries for the next couple of days. Be sure to contact him."

"Cool, thanks, man," says Percy. Leave it to Percy to call a faun 'man'.

Nico grabs his suitcase by the handle as Percy picks up his duffel bag as well as Sally's suitcase. "Ready, Mom?" Percy asks. "Mom?"

Sally has begun to make her way across the lobby towards two people coming through the entrance. A blonde woman wearing high-top Converse and a leather jacket- in the middle of July- waits in the entrance for someone whose bright red scarf is caught in the revolving door.

And Nico thought he looked like a foreigner.

He's starting to get secondhand embarrassment for the guy stuck in the revolving doors until the woman helps him pry his scarf free. They're an odd couple, although if Nico's intuition is correct, they are definitely not dating. The woman just radiates coolness and confidence, and the guy is so... not... that...

"Oh my goodness! Annabeth Chase! I'd recognize you anywhere." Sally goes in to hug the woman. This woman is not Annabeth Chase. Great. Now Nico has to intervene.

Nico hands Sally her purse and turns towards the characters she's found. "I'm so sorry, guys, my friend's mom can be a little forgetful; she probably thought you were..."

The blonde woman takes off her aviator sunglasses. Oh. Nico knows those grey eyes, although they weren't so dull last he remembered, and what in Hades is on her face?

She is Annabeth Chase. So next to her must be...

"Hey, Nico," says Will Solace. His face is as red as his scarf.

Nico's secondhand embarrassment evaporates. So Annabeth is even cooler now and Will is even more of a dork. That, he can handle.

Sally goes in to hug Annabeth. She hugs back. You don't refuse a hug from Sally, and even ten years haven't made Annabeth forget it.

"What kind of a reunion do we have going on here?" Percy asks. He stops in his tracks, however, when he sees Annabeth hugging his mom.

"Look who it is, Percy!" Sally points to Annabeth, who smiles weakly. Nico figures she probably thought she'd get a chance to settle in before running into her ex. To be fair, all four of them probably made that same assumption.

"Hey," Annabeth says. She leaves her sunglasses hanging from her shirt.

"Well, Annabeth, that's certainly a different look," Sally notes. No shit.

Nico thinks Percy's jaw is going to come unhinged from how low it's dropped.

Someone needs to break this ice. "I uh, like your scarf, Will," Nico says.

Everyone looks at him in shock, like Nico is the last person they expected to break the tension. Then again, Nico thought Percy would do it.

"Thanks," Will says. "Um, Annabeth, I think we left the horn in the car-"

"Oh yes, the horn," Annabeth says, still shell-shocked. "The horn in the car."

"The horn?" Sally asks. "What have you two been up to?"

"Oh, nothing much." Annabeth picks at her fingernails nonchalantly. "Just killed the Minotaur the other day."

"It wasn't 'nothing much'," Will explains. "She saved a bus full of little kids! It was amazing!"

Sally continues to gush. "That is amazing! Percy, remember when you fought the Minotaur? You couldn't even save me! Granted, you were twelve, and you did eventually, but... why can't you be more like your girlfriend?"

Everyone winces at that. Will wraps his scarf around his neck. Annabeth puts her Yankees cap on backward. Is that a new hat, or does her gift from Athena no longer turn her invisible?

"I'm... I'm sorry about that," Percy says. "She can't remember things very well anymore. I'm so sorry, Annabeth." His eyes dart back and forth between Annabeth's lip piercings and the floor. Way to be subtle.

"Dude." Nico elbows Percy.

"What happened to your lip, honey?" Sally asks, addressing another elephant in the room.

Annabeth stands a little taller. Is that intentional? "They're called spider bites."

How about that for irony? Or maybe she isn't afraid of spiders anymore, Nico isn't sure. Either way, he has to admit the piercings are pretty cool. He'd been pondering getting his ears pierced on and off for the past few months. Maybe this is the push he needs to finally do it.

"Okay," Will says. "I'm going to go get our room keys. Annabeth? Get the horn out of the car."

"On it." They exchange finger guns and part ways, leaving Nico, Percy, and a very excited Sally in the hotel lobby.