Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Walking down through Goode High School was a surreal experience. Never mind the fact that I had been missing from school since the last Christmas holidays, this was the first time I would be continuing at the same school for the third year in a row. Grasping Annabeth's hand tighter in mine, I dragged her faster down the hall to Paul's classroom. He had pulled some strings to get us in his homeroom and English class, claiming some undisclosed medical condition as a result of our time away, something not too far off the truth to be honest.

I was never particularly memorable before I disappeared (aside from the odd times I'd unintentionally cause something to blow up), but judging by all the stares and whispers following us through the school my not returning from Christmas break last year had given me infamy.

I turned my head to look at Annabeth, and was once again left in awe of her. Despite everything that had happened this past year she was still able to walk with all the confidence in the world, glaring at anyone who dared make a comment too loud. Sometimes I was struck dumb by how brave she truly was. Able to come out of what we had and push herself into a completely new, uncomfortable environment in less than two months… It was more than was expected from any of us that had survived.

"Perseus Jackson!" A voice pulled out of my reverie and I swung my body in front of Annabeth, going for Riptide out of habit from whenever someone called my full name.

Two of my old mortal friends, Zach and Jae were glaring at us from the doorway to Paul's classroom, the man in question peeking in from behind their shoulders to shrug apologetically at me. Annabeth reached back and pulled my hand out of my pocket and into hers. I hadn't even realised how tightly I had been gripping Riptide, but her touch calmed me as it always did.

With a heavy sigh, we made our way to my friends and I prepared myself for interrogation.

The cover story we'd had to invent didn't honestly make the best sense to anyone looking closely. My dad's family in Greece were dealing with a tragedy and so a bunch of my cousins and I had to rush to Europe to be there for them. They lived in a very remote area so it was hard to get any outside communication out unless it was an emergency so when our aunt had been kidnapped and we'd been drawn into a whole scheme, there wasn't any time to travel and let others know. Annabeth and I especially had been forced into some tough situations, explaining our newfound PTSD.

Annabeth and Chiron had argued time and again before settling on the story, Annabeth at the glaring holes in the story and Chiron in favour of letting the Mist and mortal obliviousness do its work. Finding it hard to argue with someone with thousands of years of experience, Annabeth eventually folded.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Annabeth thumped me in the back, hard. Paul shook his head at me and even I cringed at my attempt to be casual.

"'What's up?' What do you mean what's up? We don't see you in nine months, you disappear without a word and all you can say is 'what's up'?" Zach was gesticulating wildly as he talked while Jae was frowning next to him. I looked to Annabeth and she just gave my hand a squeeze and an expression saying 'well they're your friends'.

"Not cool, man."

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm sure Paul's already explained some of what happened but we're really not supposed to talk about it-"

"No, no. You don't get to say 'I'm sorry' and expect us to just let it go. We've been checking up with your mom and Mr Blofis for months trying to get any kind of news and suddenly we find out you've come back but you don't come to visit us? Let us know you're okay? Not to mention, you come back with a random girl by your side and obviously no intention to explain." Zach was ranting now, and I could see no end in sight. Jae was looking a little more understanding, he probably actually listened to Paul when he told them what he could, but he was still looking decently upset with me. I hated being the one to put that expression on their faces.

"-and Reagan has been absolutely freaking out ever since she heard you were back, she's gonna kill you when she sees you."

Paul then put his hands on Zach and Jae's shoulders, finally deciding to intervene.

"The bell is going to ring soon boys. Best get inside the room and to your desks, yes?"

They both stiffened up, having forgotten their favourite teacher was behind them and I couldn't help but chuckle, the sight so comfortingly familiar. Zach glared at me and turned on his foot to march into the classroom. Jae shrugged but followed him inside to where Zach had claimed his usual desk at the back of the room. I chanced a look at Annabeth and led her inside.

We put our things down at the nearest free desks to the boys, ignoring the whispers starting up from my fellow classmates when they noticed me. Paul moved to the front of the room, getting his papers out for homeroom roll call and motioning to us to quiet down. The bell rang overhead and there were last minute scramblers in the hall outside racing to get to their homerooms in time. Annabeth sat down with a huff and put to work at pulling her hair up into her usual ponytail. I turned around to look at the boys, ignoring Paul who had started greeting us back to school.

Zach immediately started to chat to Jae, who gave me yet another apologetic look and responded.

"He just needs a little time." Annabeth murmured. I sighed and turned back to the front of the room. I hated when she was right.

"Now we have a new student starting today." Paul was saying. "If everyone can welcome Annabeth Chase to Goode and make sure she can find her way around, that would be greatly appreciated."

Annabeth straightened her shoulders as gazes fell on her and shot her glare at anyone willing to make eye contact. I could see a mortal who used to hate me smirking from his desk at the front of the room and rolled my eyes. Paul looked down to start going through the roll when Bella put her hand up with her eyes on me.

"Yes, Bella?"

"Why haven't you welcomed Percy back? He left for long enough he might as well be a new student." She said.

Paul closed his eyes briefly and and shot Annabeth and I a glance.

"Percy is… I want everyone to know here and now, Percy and Ms Chase experienced a great deal over the past few months and no member of the staff or student council will tolerate anyone intruding into their privacy. There are to be no comments on Percy's missing school for something of no fault of his own. You have all been warned.

"And I'm aware that as teenagers you all have a penchant for gossiping. As teachers we have come to expect that. But we won't allow any malicious rumours. Anyone caught spreading these will be punished."

It was weird for me to see Paul so serious, but the look he placed on the teenagers grabbed their attention better than anything else I'd ever seen him do. Annabeth shifted uncomfortably at the seat next to mine as eyes swivelled back to us. I was a little annoyed at Paul for involving her when no one in the school knew she had anything to do with my disappearance. Hardly anyone even knew she existed yet!

Annabeth took my hand and laced her fingers through mine. This didn't go unnoticed by the masses and whispering started anew. I sighed and settled in for a day of being stared at by mortals. And not for the reason I'm used to.

"Now let's get on with roll call." Paul said.

Chapter Text

We’d made it through to lunch with only a little extra staring from the masses. It had grown once word had spread about Annabeth, and what she was doing here, and who she was to me. Zach was still steadfastly ignoring me, except to make awkwardly loud comments on how good Jae was at being his friend. Annabeth was there telling me not to take it personally, but by the time I’d heard what seemed like the hundredth repeat of Zach exclaiming (“See, Jae? You lending me your notes for Modern History just shows how much you care!”) right near my locker, I couldn’t take it anymore. I slammed my fist into my locker and turned toward where my mortal friends were chatting.

“I know you’re mad at me. You have every right to be mad at me! But you can give it a rest because I already feel bad enough and have enough on my plate without you guilt-tripping me every second of the day.” 

The hallway had gone very quiet at my outburst and Zach was staring at me with his mouth wide open. There was some kind of commotion down the hall but I ignored it.

“Well, I guess that’s one way to get him to shut up,” Annabeth muttered from beside me. She was looking down the corridor where a group of students had formed a wide circle around a busted water fountain. 

Annabeth whistled lowly beside me.

“You didn’t even realize, did you?”

I clenched my fists and began to stomp away to the cafeteria, Annabeth following. 

“Hey. It wasn’t your fault, and so what if a couple mortals got wet? At least they got a wash, gods know some of them need it.” She muttered, giving a side glance to a boy grinning at us from his locker.

The murmuring picked up behind us and we looked back to see a dent the shape of my fist in my locker. I jolted at the sight. Students had started to look back at us and we suddenly seemed to have a very wide berth from the people near us.

“Next time we’re at camp, Percy, we need to get you back on your training regimen,” Annabeth said. She was looking stone-faced at my locker. I turned away from it and continued on our way to lunch. She quickly caught up with me and I groaned.

 “I know you don’t like it but Percy, it’s important you know what you’re capable of so what happened with Akhlys doesn’t happen again. Especially not to someone who doesn’t deserve it.”

I grabbed her wrist and stopped us. 

“You don’t really think I’d hurt someone.”

She squared her shoulders. 

“No. I- I know you wouldn’t. You’d never intend to at least. But you and I both know you can lose yourself sometimes. Just look at the two accounts of damage you’ve already done to the school and we’ve only been here for four hours.”

I was taken back to my father’s words, about how us children of Poseidon could be violent and out-of-control. 

“You’re just frustrated. I am too. It’s okay, Percy.”

Shaking myself, I murmured a half-hearted agreement and released Annabeth’s arm. We continued on our way past the wary mortals to the cafeteria.

Inside, it wasn’t hard to find a table for ourselves on the edge of the room, neither of us having to get in line for food since my mom practically forced the lunch she’d packed for us in our arms on the way out the door that morning. 

My mom really is an amazing woman, by the way. Considering she not only lets Annabeth stay with us and sleep in the same room as her teenage son, but she also doesn’t bat an eye at the hassle and quick-thinking it takes to care for two demigods at once. My mom is a superhero. 

A superhero who wants to make sure we both have good food to eat instead of the trash they serve in the cafeteria.

Annabeth and I sit down and are pulling out our lunches when someone basically slams themselves into the chair across from us.

“Percy!” 

We both had to stash our weapons back away when the unidentified object revealed herself as Reagan, yet another mortal friend I had to abandon without a word. Thanks again, Hera.

“I have been looking for you all day, how do we have no classes together? As soon as Zach said you were back in French, I’ve been writing a speech in my head, and boy, let me tell you I am ready to yell.” 

Reagan took a few deep breaths to make up for her lack of during that and slams the textbook she was holding down on the table. She blows her fringe out of her eyes and sits down with her hands clasped together on the table like she was getting ready for an important business meeting.

It was only upon sitting that she seemed to realize that I wasn’t alone and blinked in surprise at Annabeth. Her presence appeared to throw her.

“Who’s this? You already found someone to replace us with?”

Annabeth stiffened at my side. Reagan also tensed up as she realized what she had just said. Her mouth opened but Annabeth beat her to it.

“Excuse me? Despite the fact that it’s not really any of your business who I am, even though I am his girlfriend, how dare you assume Percy would just dump and pick up friends when it suits him.”

“Annabeth-”

“No, Percy, I’ve had enough of people just taking advantage of your friendship and then getting mad when its inconvenient for them that something terrible happens to you. And I know they have no idea what happened but that doesn’t give them the excuse to treat you like dirt when you don’t deserve it.”

She turned back to Reagan, who had been joined by Jae and Zach, probably expecting a good scolding. All three had mixed expressions ranging from shock, regret, and dumbfoundedness that made for an interesting array of faces.

“So, if you still have plans to make the little speech you’ve prepared, I’d say you can scrap them right now because I for one have no intentions on listening to it.”

My mortal friends looked ready to wet themselves at the glare Annabeth was giving them, and I knew my girlfriend had the ability to make them, so I figured it was probably time to intervene.

“Babe, I know you have a running tally somewhere on how often you have to save my ass, but don’t think you need to defend me at every given moment.” I glanced at the mortals before shifting my gaze back to the blonde next to me.

“They mean well, and they’re angry, understandably. Less so than you were. If I remember right, you flipped me right over your shoulder and none of them have done that yet so I think we’re good.”

Something in her face softened and I swear I could hear a synchronized sigh of relief come from the other side of the table.

Then Annabeth seemed to pause and turn back to me.

“Did you just call me babe?”

I barked a short laugh and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. 

“I figured it might grab your attention enough so you would stop scaring my friends.”

She dug her knuckles into my side and I yelped, squirming away from her.

Jae cleared his throat from where he had sat down with Zach and Annabeth and I quickly shifted back into our seats.

“Right. I’m sorry I went off at you. But, that still doesn’t give you the right to treat Percy like anything except the friend he tried to be.”

All three sets of eyes turned to me and I gave them a sheepish smile.

“I’d listen to her. She can be scary.” Annabeth rolled her eyes but cracked a smile. I grinned back at her.

There was an awkward pause and Annabeth cleared her throat. She tilted her head towards my mortal friends and then stepped on my foot when I still didn’t get it.

“Oh! Uh, you guys still haven’t been properly introduced yet, have you?”

“No, we haven’t.” Jae said graciously. 

“Annabeth, this is Jae-Shin Jung, we just call him Jae though. Zach Salvatore and Reagan Woodbridge.”

“Guys, this is my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase. We’ve been together, what two, two and a half years now?”

“Just about.” She smiled.

“So, you know everything that happened?” Reagan asked her.

Annabeth’s smile dropped.

“I was there for most of it, yes.”

“Then you can tell us, right? We just want to make sure-”

“Reagan, Mr. Blofis warned us not to ask about it.” Jae interrupted. “I want to know as badly as you do, but if they don’t - or can’t - tell us, then they shouldn’t have to.”

I looked at Jae gratefully. 

“But-”

“Jae’s right.” Zach said. He turned to me. “I’m sorry, man. I know you would tell us if you could.”

“And I want to. It’s just…” I trailed off

“Everything’s complicated. It wasn’t just about us.” Annabeth picked up.

“You gotta understand though, you have no idea what it was like to not only lose contact with you but to see Mr. Blofis and your mom freaking out too? It felt like we’d never see you again.”

Jae nodded solemnly. 

“Doesn’t mean we’re not glad you’re back.” he said.

“Oh no, totally! We missed you and your crazy shenanigans.”

“Yeah! You still need to explain how you ended up locked on the roof of the gym with three chickens.”

Annabeth looked at me incredulously. 

“Tell you later.” I mumbled to her. She shook her head at me.

“You better. And you best believe I’m telling Sally that story when we get home.”

“Home? Wait - you guys are living together?” Reagan exclaimed. 

I winced. I’d hoped that would have stayed quiet just out of privacy for us. Once it got out to the rest of the school, we’d never hear the end of it. 

“Yes, but only because Annabeth doesn’t really have anywhere else to stay in the city.”

Thunder rumbled outside. Annabeth looked at me with a Why did you say that? expression. One I was very familiar with. 

I rolled my eyes at the ceiling. Athena knew very well Annabeth couldn’t stay on Olympus, and that staying with my mom and me made it easier for our nightmares. 

“And your mom and Mr. Blofis trust you? Like, you’re not staying in the same room, right?” Zach asked disbelievingly. 

“I mean, of course-”

“Not. Of course, we aren’t,” Annabeth interrupted me. “I have a really good relationship with Sally, and she trusts me, at least.” She explained.

She shot a look at me from the side, one I didn’t think my mortal friends missed. They seemed to let it go, though.

The bell for the end of lunch rang overhead. I hadn’t even realized how long we had been talking. Our lunch was still sitting unopened on the table.

“Well, we need to get back to class, but don’t think we aren’t hijacking you after school is over mister,” Reagan said.

“We have far too much catching up to do.”

I laughed and agreed, just happy I had my mortal friends back and talking to me again without too much drama. Something I knew I attracted too easily.

We all said our goodbyes and headed to the first of our last two classes of the day. 

I didn’t share either with Annabeth, sadly. Paul wasn’t quite able to swing us having every single class together, but we’d survive. 

The first was an art class I already knew I’d do badly in. The teacher started off talking about ancient art and I couldn’t help laughing at the inaccuracies of the Roman and Greek statues. Reagan, who I luckily shared the class with, kept elbowing me in the side to shut me up. 

It didn’t take long for the class to pass, fortunately, and I headed to my next one.

It was when algebra equations were swimming around in my head during Math that the screaming and sirens built up outside. Now, I live in New York, so sirens and even screams aren’t anything to glance at. But when it sounds like the whole population of the city is shouting at you to ‘Notice me please!’ you tend to listen. 

The students sitting closest to the window called to the rest of the class to come look and in seconds they were all pushed up against the glass like there was a rockstar performing outside. 

“What the hell is that?” Someone yelled incredulously.

Through the gaps between teenagers, I saw something large swoop past the window and multiple people screamed. I got up and pushed my way to the front. 

Outside it was a mess; mortals were running around in a panic, police cars and fire truck lights could be seen flashing everywhere. It looked like a scene straight out of a zombie movie. I prayed the gods hadn’t done something to piss off Hades again, because I was not in the mood to deal with another one of their messes. 

Suddenly, everyone started pointing to something moving fast towards the school. The mortals screamed and backed away from the windows and I could hear the same happening in the classrooms closest to us as well. The teacher was trying to call for order but at that moment the evacuation alarm started ringing and they yelled for us all to move out of the classroom.

While everyone else was trying to scramble out of the room, I tried to get closer to see what it was that was coming. It looked like - like a hellhound! But that couldn’t be, the Mist should be covering it up. The mortals wouldn’t be able to see it. Another shadow passed over the window and I looked up. It was an empousa. This wasn’t possible. Seeing the chaos on the streets, it was like all the monsters had risen from Tartarus to attack at once, and that the mortals could see it.

“Mr. Jackson! We need to leave, now!” The teacher yelled, and I realized I was the last one still in the room. I raced past him into the hall, pulling out Riptide, and ran the opposite direction to everyone else. I had to find Annabeth.

If I knew her, she would try to get to the best advantage point to figure out what was going on.

I knew her last class was on the floor above mine so I charged up the stairs to the classroom. I wasn’t surprised to find she had left already. She’s smart enough to have kept up pretenses with the mortals until she could get away.

Then, I heard glass smashing down the corridor and a yelp. Heading that way, I pulled off the cap on Riptide and transformed it into the sword. If the mortals really could see everything now, I hoped everyone was already off this floor or I was screwed. 

Focusing on the potential monster attack, I reached the room and inside Annabeth was facing off against the empousa who’d smashed through the window.

With the Mist seemingly not working at the moment, I jumped into the fray without needing worry about being hypnotized.

“Need some help?” I swung my sword at the monster’s goat leg and she shrieked at me in rage.

“Son of Poseidon! You will pay for that.”

With her well and truly incensed, I kept her occupied with swipes to her arms and legs while Annabeth snuck behind her. The tip of the drakon bone dagger emerged from the empousa’s chest and she disappeared in the familiar cloud of dust.

I sneezed as wind from the smashed window blew some into my face.

“Oh, that is so gross.”

“Percy, what is going on?” Annabeth turned to me. “It looks like, well, it looks as if the Mist is gone.”

“I know. I think it has. Monsters are out in the open and attacking mortals, who can see them?”

She narrowed her eyes, watching the chaos outside.

“Put Riptide away, but stay on guard. We need to get down to the evacuation point with the others.”

I nodded and placed the cap back on until it shrunk back into the pen. We headed downstairs to the football field, where the crowd of mortals from our school had congregated, watching for more monsters as we went.

Chapter Text

Down at the football field, the principal was calling for some kind of order, teachers frantically trying to count the students and make sure they weren’t missing anyone. Every mortal was on their phones, either watching news channels, checking on social media or calling their loved ones. The distinctive busy phone line beeping was coming from many of the student’s phones.

There was lots of talking of news reports seeing similar situations across the globe, many mortals with family overseas panicking.

“Percy, Annabeth! Over here!” 

Paul was waving at us from the edge of the crowd. We rushed over to him.

“I’m hoping you guys have some answers, because everyone is freaking out over here, and honestly I kind of am too.” He said.

Percy and I looked at each other and made sure the other mortals weren’t in ear-shot. 

“It seems like the Mist is gone.”

“What? Is that possible?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Hecate is sick or thought it would be funny, you never know with gods.” Percy said.

“Can gods even get sick?”

“Not technically,” I rolled my eyes at Percy. “And I don’t think that’s what has happened here, either way. It’s not what’s really important at the moment, don’t you guys think?”

I couldn’t stop running through different questions, all the different scenarios. Why was this happening? Was there a way to stop it, and how would they do it?

“Okay, so what do we do?” Paul asked.

“There don’t seem to be any monsters around at the moment, but we can’t count on it to stay that way, Percy’s and my scents are too much of a beacon together.” 

“Can’t even have one normal day at school without something crazy happening.” Percy muttered. 

“Hey, at least this time, it wasn’t either of our faults.”

“I need to make sure all these kids are okay before I do anything else, and I already know you two can keep yourselves safe,” Paul started. 

Percy and I exchanged glances. 

“We understand. You need us out of here to minimize risk.” I said.

“I’m sorry, guys, I really am. But, here,” He handed Percy the keys to his Prius. “Take my car. I’ll cover for you here. And call me as soon as you get home.”

Percy clenched his fist around the keys. 

“We will. And, hey, we’ll make sure Mom and the baby stay safe, too.”

Paul smiled at us. 

“Thank you, Percy. I know you will.”

We rushed away, avoiding Percy’s mortal friends in the crowd.

We reached the teacher’s carpark but quickly realized it would be pointless to even turn the Prius on.

The Minotaur was marching down the street, many mortals abandoning their cars in exchange for screaming in terror and running for their lives.

Percy groaned next to me.

“Are they serious? Again with him?”

I grabbed his wrist. 

“How about you let me take it this time, babe?”

Percy gaped at me as I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and ran off, pulling my Yankee cap out of my back pocket.

Sprinting down the road, I let the Minotaur see me waited long enough for him to register what I was before I put the cap on and vanished.

He roared with rage, and, back in his Fruit of the Loom briefs, mind you, charged for the spot I was just standing.

Too bad for him, I was long gone and taking a swipe at his legs with my drakon bone knife. He crashed to the pavement and I removed my cap before he had time to get back on his feet. 

Jumping on his back, I pushed the tip of my knife into the center of his back.

“This is for Percy Jackson,” the monster roared again as he recognized the name. “And you’ve got to realize you’re not going to beat us at this point. It’s just getting sad.”

And before he could vault me off of him, I slammed the knife down into his heart.

He disappeared in a cloud of sulfur-colored dust and Percy came running up to me.

He grabbed me in a tight hug, tucking his face into my neck.

“That was amazing. And the fastest I’ve ever seen him go down.” He mumbled into my skin. I laughed and slid a hand into his hair.

“That’s because you’ve only seen yourself take him down.” I tugged his head up to look at me. “And I’m a better fighter than you.”

His eyes crinkled as he laughed and pulled me into a kiss. 

“I love you. So much.” He said when we separated. 

More screams echoed in the distance and the moment was broken. 

Percy sighed, knocking his forehead against mine.

“Guess we better get going.”

I nodded and let go of him.

We ran home, deciding to abandon Paul’s car at the school. Screaming mortals raced past us as monsters of all kinds scrambled around. I was thankful that in all the commotion no monsters recognized us as demigods. That was the last thing we needed. 

As we neared his mom’s apartment we could see bumper-to-bumper traffic and crashed cars as people tried to escape like in a zombie-apocalypse movie. Mortals were sprawled about everywhere, running around erratically and in absolute chaos. 

Despite all this, many of them still had their cell phones out, filming everything in sight. 

A couple of hellhounds ran across our path towards the school. I grabbed Percy’s hand and stopped him when he started to pull Riptide out.

“We can’t fight any of the monsters.” I whispered.

“What? But-”

“I know, I don’t like it any more than you do, but if the Mist is gone, then we can’t be seen fighting. We can’t be recorded.” I said,  moving closer to him.

“So, what? We just let them get hurt?”

“I don’t see how we can help them without the whole world finding out who, or what, we are!” I whispered furiously. 

“And that’s more important than their lives?” He looked at me askance.

“No-” I stammered. “No, of course, it isn’t.” I shook my head, shocked at myself.

When had I reached the point that only our self-preservation was what was important? And that keeping Percy and me safe meant more than anything else. 

I knew exactly when, of course.

Percy pulled me into his arms again. I tucked my face into his neck and let his familiar scent wash over me.

“I understand, Annabeth. Gods, I really do.” A screech echoed overhead and mixed in with the rest of the distressed noises coming out of the city.

“And I know where you’re coming from. But we can’t just let them suffer. That’s happened enough.” 

“You’re right. Of course, you’re right.” I mumbled. He squeezed me tighter for a moment before releasing me.

“Now, I think we’ve had enough hugging in the middle of a developing war zone, don’t you? We need to get back to my mom’s so we can make a game plan, your favorite thing.”

I chuckled lightly and nodded.

We continued on way through crowds of panicking mortals.

It was as we saw more picking up speed that a clawed hand reached out and swiped at Percy’s chest from a nearby doorway, surprising us. I cut it off before any real damage could be done with a quick swipe of my drakon bone knife, which I put straight back away. The monster it came from shrieked in outrage and flew off to lick its wounds. Or stump.

Percy was looking down at his ripped shirt and the blood seeping through and started to breathe heavily. He looked back up at me, eyes far away and not seeing me. His hand came up to paw at his scratches seemingly without his notice and his breaths became raspy.

I pulled him into an alleyway close by and placed my palms on his cheeks. His eyes were frantic, not able to settle on any one thing. His breathing had wracked up fully into hyperventilating.

“Percy,” I said. “Percy, you need to look at me.” His eyes flickered for a few more seconds more meeting mine. He seemed shocked to see me.

“You’re okay. We made it out, and we’re in New York. We’re on our way to see your mom.” I said in a low, even tone.

He started nodding in time to my words. 

“We’ve beaten all these monsters a thousand times over, and when they die they go right back down there where they belong and where they can’t hurt us anymore,” 

“With me, Percy. In, out. In, out.” He slowly came back down from his panic attack, his breathing still shaky.

We stood there for a few more moments in silence before he spoke.

“We need to get to my mom’s. Right now.”

I agreed and chided myself internally for forgetting our bags, and ambrosia, at the school. 

“Yes. Plus we need to get you some ambrosia or water, at least so you can heal up.”

He looked shaken but reassured at the idea of actually having supplies to heal with and we set off.

It didn’t take us long to make it the rest of the way to Sally’s, with only a couple more incidents with monsters. We passed a couple of police blockades that didn’t seem to be doing any good. 

In the lobby of Percy’s building, a crowd of panicked mortals was gathered, hiding from the commotion outside. We slipped through and headed straight to the stairs, making our way up as fast as we could.

Sally opened the door with an obvious look of relief on her face. She didn’t let her growing pregnant belly get in the way of giving us the tightest hugs imaginable. 

“I’m so glad you guys are okay.” She said, fussing over the injured Percy.

“Paul called and said he sent you off a while ago.” 

She led us into the kitchen and sat us down at the table. 

“Sorry, Mom. We had a couple of… setbacks.” Percy winced at his wording and I looked at him incredulously. He shrugged his shoulders at me and I rolled my eyes.

Sally, unsurprised, looked at him knowingly and put two glasses of water in front of us and a piece of ambrosia for Percy. Thank gods for Sally Jackson and her well-stocked kitchen.

She plopped in a chair at the table with a huff, running a hand over her stomach.

“Any trouble?” I asked.

She adjusted herself in the hard chair and groaned with a hand pressed into her back.

“Just the usual - pressing on my bladder, kicking my ribs. Nothing Percy didn’t do at six months.” She knew I was trying to avoid the problem but was humoring me anyway. I did that a lot while Percy was missing.

Percy, who had drained his glass and was still chewing on the ambrosia, hopped up and grabbed a pillow from the sofa in the living room for her. She thanked him and placed a hand on his cheek. They exchanged soft looks and I focused something on the other side of their small kitchen. I knew Percy still felt extremely guilty for missing so much and was constantly trying to make up for it. I tried to give them as much privacy as possible but neither Jackson let me. My heart warmed remembering the conversation we all had when they essentially welcomed me to the family.

“So,” Sally started, and I directed my attention back to them. Percy had sat back down, his wounds now healed under his shredded t-shirt.

“All the news channels are saying we should stay indoors because of some kind of terrorist attack, which means they have no idea what’s going on.” She leveled us with a look. 

“We think the Mist has disappeared.” I said.

Sally gawked. 

“Is that even possible?” She looked between us. “I mean, I know there are other people like me who are impervious, but I thought we were rare.”

“You are. To be honest, the mortals who can see through naturally are kind of defects in the system. You shouldn’t be able to see anything unless you have ichor running through your veins.” I explained.

“But basically,” Percy went on. “Monsters are everywhere, mortals can see them, and it’s absolute chaos outside.”

Sally took a moment to process this. 

“Okay. I think…” she started. “I think we need to call Paul and get him back here.”

She said, grabbing her cell phone out of her pocket.

At that moment there was a loud boom and it felt like the very foundations of the earth shook as what could only be described as a magical shockwave raced through the building and, I assumed the rest of the city. 

A sudden silence resounded from outside. There were no more sirens, no shrieks or roars or screams. Nothing to indicate the city was even still alive. Percy made to approach the window but I held him back. I lifted my Yankees cap and put it on so no one could see me from outside.

Where previously there were police cars and monsters streaking through the streets, there was… nothing. It was as if everything had been swept away, or reversed in time to how it was before the attacks started.

“Everything’s…” I hunted for a word. “Normal. Everything’s back to normal outside.”

I moved away from the window and chucked my hat off. 

“Normal? What do you mean? How can it be-”

Percy was interrupted by the loud static of the TV turning itself on. We jumped in front of Sally in an instant and pulling out our weapons.

To our disbelief, Hermes in all his twenty-year-old looking glory appeared in front of what looked like a news set from the fifties. He was even wearing a suit that looked straight out of Mad Men. 

“Hello, gods, mortals, demigods, satyrs and whoever else might be watching! My name is Hermes, god of messengers, roads, thieves, yadda yadda. I am here, you guessed it, to deliver a message, about what has been happening down on your mortal plain.” He said in an extremely cheery voice. He appeared to be impersonating a weatherman.

Percy and I were gobsmacked. Sally was looking at her phone and I saw the same video playing there. The gods had taken over all communication.

“So, you’ve all been attacked by monsters! We’ve just cleared all that up for you though, sorry about that. And, no, none of you are going crazy, unless my brother Dionysus has gotten to you.” Thunder rumbled overhead and his eyes widened minutely.

“Not to say that he would. Anyway, moving on. I’m just here to tell you: the Greek Gods are real! All the ‘myths’,” He brought up his fingers in air quotes. “Though slightly misremembered, are true and very real. The reason we’re coming out to you now is we have made the executive decision that you shall no longer be left in the dark. And so we have removed the Mist, a barrier that was protecting your minds from our existence.”

Hermes lifted his hands so they were visible on the screen.

“You may not believe me now, but I have a small gift for each and every one seven billion of you.” 

He snapped both hands and his face appeared strained at the corners of his mouth and eyes.

Three small glowing envelopes popped into being before each of us with our names on them.

We opened them and inside were small notes merely saying:

Sorry about the inconvenience. Here’s a drachma.

A golden drachma appeared suddenly as well in my palm and looking over at Percy and Sally, one in theirs too. 

Percy raised his eyebrows.

“Is… is he serious? They chose to get rid of the Mist?” He looked at me.

Hermes had paused, obviously anticipating a reaction to his ‘gift’. 

“You’re welcome, everyone. Now, I know this might be distressing to many of you but rest assured I am here to explain everything.”

Hermes flashed a blinding grin reminiscent of his brother, Apollo.

“I guess we’ll just start at the beginning.” 

Chapter Text

We were sitting around the small table in Percy’s kitchen, silently mulling over the new world we found ourselves in. Paul, having arrived around two hours after the gods’ announcement, had his arm wrapped around Sally. He’d stayed to make sure the students made it all home safely, despite the threat of monsters gone. Sally had given him one of the tightest hugs I’d ever seen when he walked through their front door, second only to the one she’d given Percy when we returned from saving the world from Gaea.

Hermes had gone on to outline a brief history of the gods and then focused on the recent wars, detailing what seemed like everything but specific names. He finished up with a wink and a “Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.” Before disappearing in a flash of light and the TV turning itself off.

Paul broke the silence around the table by whistling lowly. 

“So…” He said, drawing out the vowel.

“I understand how you manage to cause all those fires now, at least.” Paul said.

Sally barked out a laugh. 

“You don’t think the gods would actually get rid of the Mist, do you?” Paul asked.

“No, I don’t. It doesn’t make any sense for them to remove it, though when have the gods ever worked with the best of sense?” I said. Thunder rumbled lightly and I rolled my eyes.

“I think, Hecate has either gone rogue or left or lost her powers somehow. Either way, the gods are revealed and they would never admit they made a mistake, especially to mortals.”

“So they’re just saving face?” Percy said.

I raised my eyebrows at him. He considered me for a moment.

“Yeah, that checks out.”

Sally stood up, Paul jumping to assist her and brushed off.

“My back is hurting, so I’m going to sit in the living room if anyone would like to join me.”  

Paul quickly followed her to sit on the couch and I took the armchair while Percy sat crosslegged at my feet.

“We might as well see how the rest of the world is reacting to this.” Said Paul, who switched the TV on and flicked through the channels until he found the news.

“-footage has been submitted by a bystander, who witnessed and filmed a couple of these so-called demigods in action.” The newsreader was saying. The image of her was replaced by extremely shaky footage clearly taken from a phone. It showed the Minotaur clearing charging at someone before stumbling in pain. A blonde girl popped into existence out of nowhere behind him and jumped on his back, quickly slamming her sword into his chest. A dark-haired boy ran up to her as the monster dissolved and pulled her into his embrace. The video ended there and Percy was shaking in anger next to me. 

“Oh, gods.”

I slipped my hand into his and Sally and Paul looked over at us.

“These demigods have yet to be identified, but the New York Police Department urges them to come forward for questioning. If you have any information, please call-”

“I hate cell phones.” I said, grabbing the remote and shutting the TV off.

“That was you, right?” Sally asked.

“Yeah. You know I’ve been on the news before but even when we were the subjects of a nationwide manhunt, I don’t think I felt quite this anxious.”

“The video was really blurry, it’s hard to tell it was you unless you already know,” Paul said optimistically. I leveled him with a stare and he shook his head and shrugged.

“Plus, you know people on the internet are going to claim it’s all edited anyway.”

Percy had started pacing across the living room.

"Why can't we just get a fucking break? Haven't we done enough for them? Haven't enough people died?" He started ranting.

”Percy, calm down." He ignored me and kept pacing. Sally had stood up as well and we exchanged looks.

”No, you don't understand. They are going to ask us to clean up their mess again with no thought as to how we feel about it. You think they would have learned by now." I put my hands on his shoulders, stopping him in his place. Looking him right in the eyes, I made him focus on me.

“I do understand, Percy. I’m just as frustrated and angry as you are.” I placed a palm on his cheek.

“But we don’t know what this means for the rest of the world. For us.” I emphasized. “And if someone is in trouble, we can’t just stand by and not help.”

He shook me off. 

“No. No, I refuse to help them again when they’ve done next to nothing in return for us. What did we get after the wars? After Kronos, I had to basically blackmail them into acknowledging their own children. And after Gaea, all we had were new scars and shrouds to burn, with barely a thank you for saving their holy asses.”

He stood up taller.

“Someone else can handle it this time, we’ve done enough.” 

With that, he let out a whistle and Mrs. O’Leary came bounding out of the shadow behind the couch, knocking it, and Paul who was still sitting on it, over. Percy grabbed two handfuls of her fur and flattened himself against her hide in the very limited space left in the room.

“I’m going for a swim - clear my head.” A pat to her neck had the hellhound disappearing back into the shadows she’d come from, Percy with her.

Sally came and wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

“He’ll come around. He knows you’re right.” She said.

I looked at her gratefully and sighed.

“I don’t know if I want him to. He wasn’t exactly wrong, either.”

There was nothing but understanding in her eyes. Paul was a little more confused, but he always was when it came to the matter of our other life. He propped the sofa back onto its right side up.

“I’ll make some tea, shall I?”

“No, thank you,” I said. “It’s been a long day, I think I might just go to sleep.”

Sally gave me a hug and a kiss on the temple like she did for Percy, and I was never more glad to have her in my life.

I made my way to the bedroom I shared with Percy and shut the door behind me with a thud.

His room was a medium size with an attached bathroom. His queen size bed dominated the room. Despite that, he’d made space for a second desk to match his, both of which were home to the mass that was my hundreds of pages of designs. A couple of papers had been blown to the ground from a light breeze through the ajar window and I picked them up, letting them join their kin in the sprawl.

I flopped onto the covers of the bed, hugging the pillow from Percy’s side to my chest and burying my face in it.

I tried my best to sleep, using all of my usual tricks for when my brain was too busy to rest, but none of them were working. I knew I wouldn’t be able to until Percy had returned. We needed to talk.

I decided to read one of the few books he had in his room, a cheesy romance novel I would absolutely tease him about later. 

About a half hour later, a large shadow appeared on the fire escape outside and two tan hands were pushing the window up and further open. The rest of Percy climbed in, tripping over something and he rolled back up into a standing position.

“Nice save.”

He whirled around, obviously surprised to see me in bed already.

“Thanks.”

I put the book down on the bedside table and sat straighter against the headboard. I crossed my arms over my chest just to make sure he knew I meant business.

His expression grew a little wary.

“I’m just gonna let Mom know I’m back, and then we can talk, okay?”

He disappeared into the hall and I heard light conversation over the top of the drama they were watching. He came back not long after with a plate of cookies in his hands, holding them around the door frame before entering himself like a peace offering.

I rolled my eyes at him fondly and he smiled in relief.

“Before we start, I know I shouldn’t have left like that. I’m not a toddler and I can’t throw tantrums and I want to say that I’m sorry.” He put the plate between us on the bed and climbed so his back was resting against the headboard as well, his knees bent.

“Thank you, but honestly, I probably would have done the same if I had somewhere peaceful to go as easily as you do.” 

He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. I reached up and dusted some residual sea salt out of it and he ducked his head to let me get it all out.

“We can’t ignore that there’s a problem, Percy. You know that.” I said when I finished.

“Yes, I do.” He replied. “But that doesn’t mean we have to be the ones to deal with it, right? Don’t we deserve a break from fatal quests at this point?”

“Technically, none of them have been fatal for us.”

He leveled me with his self-proclaimed wolf stare. I raised an eyebrow in response.

“That’s not the point, and you know it.” He said. “All I’m saying is there are plenty of other demigods out there itching for a quest and to prove themselves, so why should we take this opportunity away from them?”

“So, you’d rather a pair of thirteen-year-olds die because of their lack of experience, than try and help? I’m sorry, but that’s selfish.”

Percy gaped at me. The noise from the TV in the living room rose in volume. I hadn’t realized I’d been shouting.

“That’s not what I meant. Of course, I don’t want anybody else to die. We’ve lost far too many friends already. We still don’t know if Leo is even alive.”

“Then what do you expect us to do?” 

“I don’t know!” Percy was shouting now. “I don’t know, okay! All I want is for this to be over, for us to be able to live like normal people for once in our lives without some bigger-than-life, unearthly beings coming along and forcing us to clean their fucking messes.”

He was breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry. You don’t deserve this.”

I put my hand on his shoulder and wordlessly passed him a cookie. He chuckled.

“The gods have treated us like crap basically since we were born.” I began. “But they’re still family. We can’t turn our backs on them, because that would be the same as turning our backs on Tyson, or my siblings, or your mom.”

Percy hung his head. 

“We haven’t been issued a quest. No one has sent word of a prophecy and Chiron hasn’t contacted us.”

I blew out a breath.

“If the gods want to treat this like it was their plan all along, who are we to argue? If we’re not being summoned to help with something when we can’t even say there’s actually a problem…”

He lifted his head and met my eyes.

“We deserve a rest. And a chance at going to high school like regular teenagers. And if we need to help, we will. But… until then, why not go along like normal?”

A moment passed before Percy launched himself at me, planting kisses all over my face. His arms wrapped around my waist and pinned me to the bed. I heard the plate of cookies fall off the bed and onto the carpet but I couldn’t find it in me to care as Percy’s lips finally met mine.

A while later, the TV in the living room had been turned off and Percy and I were a little disheveled and picking up the remnants of smashed cookies out of the carpet. 

Percy went to go put the plate away, stuffing his mouth with as many of the cookies as he could while I gagged at the sight. I jumped back into bed, satisfied that I could finally get to sleep. I drifted off waiting for Percy to return.

I was in a large cavern, the mossy stone walls reaching higher than I could see. There appeared to be a dark, thick fog encasing the cave, the only light source a strange, shifting glimmer coming from a limp figure on the ground. Inspecting closer, I found the light came from two sets of glowing chains wrapped binding the wrists of the person to concrete bases embedded into the stone floor. They seemed to be made of glass, and fluctuating yellow and purple lights whirled within each link of the chains leaving an eerie, water-like reflection bouncing off the walls. They were thick chains, as well, each link at least the size of my fist.

I moved closer and the figure moved, rising up off her knees to fight against her restraints. Hecate’s dark hair was coming free of its high ponytail, and dirt streaked her beautiful face. Her farting polecat and Labrador were nowhere in sight.

“You! You’re not who I wanted!” Hecate shrieked when she noticed me. I winced at the golden ichor pouring from the ripped skin at her wrists where she was pulling on the chains. 

“Where is the daughter of Pluto? I meant for her to receive this.”

What could only be spots of raw power popped and flickered around her as two separate faces appeared on either side of her already existing one. The disappeared as soon as the appeared and she slumped back down onto her knees. 

“Fine, daughter of Athena, you’ll do.” 

I rushed over to her, already knowing it was futile and that I wasn’t physically there. It didn’t stop me from trying to pull the chains off, but hands just passed through them like a ghost. I’d never seen a goddess detained and in pain like this. Hecate exclaimed in pain. 

“I’ve become too weak too quickly. These abominations are pulling my power from me faster than I can harness it.” She yanked at her restraints again and grunted as they pulled at her wounds. 

“You need to listen to me, child. I don’t know how long I can hold the connection. You have many enemies around you who you can’t see. And you’ll have gained many more before this is over.”

“He has grown in power faster than even we could have anticipated and his allies are spread far and wide. You need to tread carefully, half-blood.”

“I don’t understand. Who did this to you?”

“Have you not learned? Names have power, child. I cannot speak his name. Especially not in his domain like this.”

The walls around us started to rumble and Hecate shrieked again. The strange light swirling inside the chains brightened and they seemed to constrict around the goddess.

“Hurry! I’m afraid the gods will not be of much help to you on this quest, not with the Mist gone. You will need to do it yourselves.”

A shadow grew on the wall behind Hecate, and I felt the presence of… something approaching. 

“Look after my children. They will be weak with my powers gone.” She whispered. 

A deep, throaty laugh sounded from behind me, but I found myself frozen in place as if someone was holding puppeteer strings over me and pulled them taut. 

A shiver raced down my back as the presence put a hand on my shoulder. The heavy grip pierced my skin and seemed to wrap itself around my spine and I found it hard to breathe. Another hand appeared in my line of vision and waved towards Hecate who instantly slumped over, unconscious. I would have been shaking if I was able to move. Any force that could put a goddess out of commission like that wasn’t someone to be reckoned with. 

“She made a mistake bringing you to me, daughter of Athena.” They said. Their voice reverberated around me and it was almost like multiple people were speaking at once. And yet at the same time, the voice was seductive and familiar.

“Run, to your precious friends and centaur, tell them all about me.” They continued. 

“It will change nothing. You all have to fall someday.” They seemed to become playful. “I’m just here making sure it happens sooner than later.”

I tried to gasp out some words.

“Uh-uh. I know you have questions, but I’m speaking now.”

They paused and it felt like they were considering me.

“Perhaps you can be persuaded. I know you and your little boyfriend, the son of Poseidon are frustrated, sick of never getting the gratitude you deserve. I can give you that. You want to live mortal lives? Come fight with me.”

I had been fighting against my invisible restraints with all my might and I felt a finger twitch.

The voice chuckled.

“I’ll leave you to think about it. I’ll contact you again, myself.”

I jolted awake and Percy stiffened as woke up next to me.

Later, Percy was stifling a yawn as he watched me fiddle with a strand of my hair. He didn’t ask what I was doing when he woke up at three in the morning to find me retching in the bathroom. Only held my hair back and stroked the back of my neck soothingly.

He sat next to me on the bed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder without a word. His boxers were covered in goldfish and had speech bubbles proclaiming “I’m a good catch!” and they were such a Percy pair of boxers I had to blink away tears at the sight of them. 

When he heard my sniffle, he tucked my head into the curve where his neck met his shoulder and kissed the top of my head. We sat in silence with only the slow trickling flow of the water fountain Poseidon had gifted Percy accompanying us. It wasn’t until much later that either of us spoke.

“Was it Tartarus? You haven’t had one that bad in a while.” He whispered.

I shook my head minutely, knowing he would feel it. 

I couldn’t help but tell him. About Hecate wrapped in those glass-like chains screaming at her unseen captor and the strangely heavy voice that had spoken to me at the end. We’d been through far too much together for me to keep secrets from him. I went to tell him everything the voice had told me but something in the back of my mind was telling me he couldn’t know about the mysterious voice’s last words. You want to live mortal lives? I can give you that. I couldn’t force them to come out of my mouth. I knew that after everything, we might be too tempted.

Percy blew out a harsh breath when I’d finished.

“Well, at least it wasn’t what I first thought it might be.” He finally said.

“And what was that?” I asked.

“That you’re pregnant.”

I sat up to look him in the eyes, judging how serious he was. Seeing the cautious laughter in his expression I dug my elbow into his side and settled back on his shoulder.

“You aren’t, right? Because you know your mom would kill me and then my mom would kill me and that’s a lot of Percy killing when really it’s both of us to blame-”

I let out a weak chuckle to appease him and told him to shut up. By the small, satisfied smile he gave me it seemed like that was the reaction he was going for.

Then I sighed, my mind whirring at all the new information.

“You know we have to head to camp now, right? Chiron needs to know.” I said.

He nuzzled my hair briefly before saying “Yeah, I know.”

“I hate this as much as you do.” I continued. “But we agreed, we can’t ignore a direct summoning from the gods.”

“No. But we can ignore it until morning. And I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. And going back to sleep.” He dropped another kiss to my head before flopping back onto the pillow and wriggling his way under the covers.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his antics and Percy looked extremely pleased with himself, at least the half of his face he was showing from under the blanket did. He always knew how to lighten the mood.

I shook my head and curled up against him for an extra few hours of sleep.

Chapter Text

Once we’d woken up, we sent a quick IM to Chiron to let him know we would be heading to camp. He let us know he’d be sending Blackjack to pick us up as Nico had taken charge of Mrs. O’Leary for the day. When we emerged from my room, my mom was already busy making breakfast and informed us Paul had left early for the school, which had been closed to students for the day, to figure out what the plan was. She sat us down at the table and plied us with plates full of french toast, eggs, and bacon. She waited for us to dig in before settling down and starting herself.

My mom tried to hide it, but I could see it in her eyes whenever she placed food in front of us - she was worried. We were both still too skinny. Of course, we couldn’t have expected that subsisting mainly on the Phlegethon for weeks not to have more permanent consequences. We’d gained back some muscle, that was unavoidable with the amount of training we did. But we were nowhere near our healthy weights. It didn’t matter how much food the people at camp and my mom tried to fill us with.

It was something we saw in Nico every time he visited, the shadows under his eyes more pronounced, the gauntness of his cheeks matching ours. Worse, because he didn’t have someone to share it with. It had been better since he had started seeing Will, though. As if Will was stripping away all the bad and leaving him able to be happy for the first time in a long time.

“How long until Blackjack gets here?” Paul asked.

I struggled to swallow too big a bite to answer him, but Annabeth beat me to it.

“Should be here in another fifteen minutes, I think.” She elbowed my side again. I was starting to think I was developing a permanent bruise.

“Yes!” I exclaimed, finally successful in getting my mouthful down. “He’s pretty fast when he doesn’t have any passengers. And good motivation.” I added at the last second.

“I’m pretty much done, so I’ll go grab our stuff, Percy.” Annabeth lay her cutlery all proper on her plate and walked down the hall to our room. My mom was frowning at her half-full plate.

“You two aren’t planning on staying the night, are you? You’ve both got school tomorrow.”

“Mom! Do you really think any of the schools will be open any time soon?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “This is New York, even in the event of the apocalypse, they’re not going to close anything.”

“I’m guessing some people still think this is the apocalypse.” Paul mused. Annabeth chuckled when she came back into the room.

“But no, we should be back tonight anyway. This is just some supplies in case of… anything, really.” I explained. “Oh, you didn’t forget Oliver’s snowglobe, right?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “No, I didn’t forget. That’s usually your job.”

I pouted at my mom and Paul, where they were laughing at me. Annabeth’s smiling face was lighting up the room, so I couldn’t pretend for long. I felt a sudden rush of all the air out of my lungs. We hadn’t had an ordinary moment like this in what felt like forever. Or about a year, I guess.

Boss! Get the landing gear ready.

“Blackjack’s here.”

Annabeth hooked one arm of the backpack over her shoulder and hugged my parents. We both said our goodbyes and headed up to the roof, not before I made sure to grab a couple sugar cubes from the kitchen. Blackjack was fussing about on the roof, sniffling at some suspect mounds of fabric stuffed in a corner.

You’re not gonna wanna come near this stuff, Boss. You got the goods for me?

“No donuts, sorry. Didn’t have time to grab you any, but I’ve got some sugar cubes. You know, for being such a good horsey.”

Aww, Boss, why you gotta be like that.

Despite his complaints, he drifted closer and eagerly licked the treats out of my extended palm. Annabeth, used to my one-sided conversations with equestrians of all sorts, was already getting ready to straddle the pegasus. She had begun giving him absent-minded strokes to his mane and down his chin.

Little to the left, if she pleases.

I didn’t relay the message, instead choosing to jump in front of her and replace her hand with mine. I scratched at that one spot that got us in the air faster.

“You ready?” I asked her. Her arms wrapped around my waist. With a powerful beat of his wings, Blackjack propelled us into the sky.

“Make sure to try and stick to cloud cover, Blackjack. Who knows what the mortals are going to try to do to the magical flying horse?” Annabeth pointed out. Even from our height, I could see people gesturing up at us. Guess we could have been more discreet in our departure.

Another few wing beats and a shock of cold wind later, we were soaring safely through and above clouds. This was something I would surely hate in any other situation. Still, the early morning light filtering through wasps of sky and white was beautiful. Especially when experiencing it with the daughter of Athena seated behind me. From the sigh and tightening of her arms around my waist, I’d say she agreed.

It was enough for us to forget for a few moments the clusterfuck awaiting us once we touched down.

It wasn’t long before we dipped back down below cloud cover. Long Island Sound was visible, the rolling strawberry fields and cabins of our beloved camp fast approaching.

Blackjack let us down at the bottom of the hill housing Thalia’s tree, far enough from Peleus to avoid any unwanted animal tensions.

We’d only just said thank you to Blackjack (with a promise of actual donuts on our return) that we heard someone calling our names.

“Percy! Annabeth!”

“Oof-”

A pure ball of energy slammed into me. Little arms and legs snaked around my body and constricted, forcing the wind out of me. Annabeth’s laugh rang in my ears.

A young boy was wrapped around me, and I couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. It had only been three weeks since we’d last been here, after all.

I untangled us and lowered him gently to the ground, placing my hands on his shoulders.

“Been racing with the wood-nymphs, Oliver? You must have run all the way from your cabin to get here at the same time as us.”

“Yeah! Did I surprise you?”

“You definitely did,” Annabeth said. Oliver turned around and gave her a tight hug as well. He was a relatively new camper, one of the many casualties of circumstance following the war with Gaea and the Giants. His mother died defending him from monsters and gave him enough time to get away with a satyr that had been assigned to his area. I admired him though, for such a young kid, he adjusted well, and latched onto us as role models pretty quickly. I couldn’t speak for his taste in me, but choosing Annabeth to follow is always the best bet.

“It’s good to see you, Oliver, but we actually need to speak with Chiron right now.”

He released Annabeth and grabbed my hand, leading me away from the Big House.

“I know! He sent me to get you guys because he’s busy teaching archery to the Ares cabin right now.”

Annabeth caught up to us quickly - for an eight-year-old, Oliver sure was a fast leader.

“Then lead the way, buddy.” She said. “Have we missed anything interesting since we’ve been gone? You promised you’d be my eyes and ears while I’m stuck at school.” With her last words she leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially.

Oliver’s eyes lit up.

“Oh, you won’t believe what prank Anna was trying to pull in the Apollo cabin!” With that, he was off, chatting away the whole way to the archery range. Annabeth shot a wink my way.

By the time we got there, Chiron was wrapping up his lesson. Clarisse was wrangling her siblings into a group calm enough to make it back across the green - and without anyone getting stabbed ‘playfully’ with arrows. The daughter of Ares thrust her finger in my direction when she saw us.

“I’ll see you in the training ring, Prissy! We’re having a rematch, and this time I’ll beat your briny ass.” Clarisse demanded as she walked away. She jabbed the tip of her lance in my direction but continued her route back to the Ares cabin.

Annabeth and I hurried forward to help Chiron collect the remaining arrows.

“Hello, Percy, Annabeth. Glad Blackjack could get you so quickly. Thank you, Oliver, for delivering them to me.”

“You’re welcome.” The boy said with a big grin on his face.

“Would it be too much trouble for you to head back to the cabins and let the cabin leaders know I need to see them at the Big House?”

Oliver straightened up.

“I’m on it, Mr. Chiron. I’ll make sure everyone’s there.” With that, he gave an imitation of a salute and ran off to the green.

“That kid is a force of nature,” I said.

“Reminds me of someone,” Annabeth said, nudging me.

“If you mean Nico when he first came to camp, I wholeheartedly agree.” I was only joking. But looking at the wild hair of the boy in the distance as he enthusiastically ran up to Katie Gardner and shouted something in her face, I couldn’t help but think on Annabeth’s words. His story was very similar to my own. Unclaimed, without any family, but still trying his best to do what he can. My heart went out to the kid. When we met, and I saw his exuberance for life despite the trauma he’d just been through, I’d silently promised that he would join our little found family here at camp. It is a family business, after all.

Chiron kicked at the ground next to us.

“Still nothing, huh?”

“No sign of his father, unfortunately. And with Olympus still closed to us and recovering, I fear there won’t be one for some time. Especially with this new… development.”

“But we had a deal - we saved their butts, they actually acknowledge that their children exist,” I exclaimed.

“I understand your frustrations, Percy. Really, I do. But the Hermes cabin is happy to continue housing him. And it seems we have a larger problem right now.”

“Chiron’s right, Percy. The Mist is gone, and whatever is happening is what’s important right now.”

I had to cede the point.

“Let’s meet the others at the Big House, I think it’s time we had a meeting.”

We made our quickly with little conversation, the tensions noticeably rising the more campers we passed. Obviously, they had all been discussing the situation and seeing us back at camp so soon after our departure for the year was a telling sign.

Half the cabin leaders were already waiting for us, Oliver taking to his task well.

“Mr. D is already inside, we figured we’d wait for everyone else out here,” Piper said as we walked up. She was standing on the porch with Jason, Katie, the Stoll brothers, and Will Solace. We could already see the rest of the counselors hurrying in our direction, so I suggested we head inside and get set up.

Mr. D willfully ignored us for the most part, playing what might have been a game of solitaire on the ping-pong table.

Nico melted from a shadow and immediately ducked out of the way of his boyfriend’s hand, swatting at the back of his head.

“This isn’t what I’d call obeying doctor’s orders.”

“I was told it was an emergency - plus Mrs. O’Leary is tired, you don’t want me abusing an animal, do you?”

Will narrowed his eyes at the son of Hades but was interrupted by the entrance of an arguing Nyssa and Clarisse. The rest of the camp counselors soon followed them in.

Nico slunk into his seat, and with Chiron leading the table in his wheelchair, everyone else quickly followed suit.

“Thank you all for coming here with such haste.” Chiron began.“As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, the Mist has disappeared.”

“Monsters are attacking openly in the streets because the mortals don’t know how to handle what they’re seeing and are reacting badly,” Annabeth said.

“But the gods said they did this on purpose - to what, free the mortals of their ignorance? Get more power from belief? What?”

“That’s not all,” Annabeth said. She quickly explained her dream, including the strange multi-voice and light shifting chains.

Neither Chiron nor Mr. D looked very surprised at the description. Chiron kept his eyes on the god who was examining his can of Diet Coke with vigour. We all followed his gaze until Mr. D sighed.

“What do you wish me to say, Chiron? Admit that we don’t know how this happened? Perhaps Hecate decided she’d had enough and wanted to take a vacation to Cancun.”

“So, she really is gone then?” Jason said. “But who would be capable of chaining up the goddess of magic?”

“Or tricking her? Isn’t that her whole thing?” Will pointed out.

“Either way, she’s been kidnapped,” I said. “And without her, the Mist is gone.”

Piper was anxiously carving lines into the ping-pong table with the tip of Katoptris. My eyes widened.

“Are you able to see her? With your dagger?”

Piper looked at me with surprise.

“I could try, but by what Annabeth described, it might not give us anything new.”

We all watched as she tilted the dagger this way and that. Her face soon paled.

“What is it?”

“There’s like this… fog. Surrounding Hecate. It’s hard to see through. But there’s definitely someone there - wherever there is.” She shook her head and dropped Katoptris onto the ping-pong table with a loud clang. “I’m sorry, there really isn’t anything more than that. Other than she looks like she’s in pain.”

I didn’t know what to think. What was powerful enough to capture a goddess and hurt her?

Actually, by now, I’d met a few things. But which of them would want to?

“Why?” Someone else asked the question before I could. It was Nyssa.

“I mean, capture Hecate, okay. Probably for revenge or something, right?” she continued. “But why get rid of the Mist? Did they do it on purpose or, was it just a consequence of them taking her?”

“How would they even know how to do that?” Butch asked.

“Well, we have an obvious source on the Mist, don’t we?” Nico said after a moment of silence.

He received a few blank looks.

“Hazel? She does have a sort of authority on the matter - after Hecate.”

“Of course!” Annabeth said. ”Does anyone have a drachma? We probably should have thought about contacting them before now, anyway. They’ve got to be dealing with the same problems as us right now.”

Chiron pulled one from I-don’t-want-to-know-where and passed it across the table to Annabeth.

“Percy, if you can?”

I took a bottle of water over to where the sun was streaming through the open window. With a wave of my hand and pull in my gut, a mist appeared and created a rainbow. Annabeth threw the drachma through the rainbow, reciting the age-old words.

“O Fleecey, do me a solid. Show Hazel, Camp Jupiter.”

The rainbow rippled, and the council room of Camp Jupiter appeared. It seemed we’d interrupted a meeting of theirs. Reyna and Frank, in their position as Praetors, were presiding over the meeting, Hazel keeping close and the other centurions filling the rest of the space. Reyna was talking, Argentum and Aurum laying at her feet.

“-mortals have drones, and satellites, and planes. It is only a matter of time before they find us.”

Frank seemed to be wincing at whatever she was proposing.

“Reyna! Frank!” I called before it seemed like we were just plain eavesdropping. The feud might be over, but any harsh feelings between the camps still hadn’t fizzled out.

Reyna turned toward us, any surprise she may have had not shown on her face.

“Percy!” Frank exclaimed.

“Hey guys, sorry to interrupt. Any chance you’re talking about the same thing we’re talking about?”

“Unless you mean the Mist, please don’t tell me there’s anything else we need to deal with right now,” Reyna said.

“We might have some bad news.”

Annabeth and Chiron succinctly explained the situation. Reyna rubbed at the crease between her brows.

“I figured it would be something like this.”

“You did? How?”

“The gods would never risk exposure like this when they can’t immediately control the situation. Nothing about what’s happened says they knew what was going on.”

Nico got up and stood behind my chair.

“Hazel, you didn’t feel anything, did you? No contact from Hecate - besides Annabeth’s dream, that is.”

The daughter of Pluto shook her head.

“I’m sorry, no. When the Mist collapsed there was this… sort of shockwave that went through me. But I can’t think of that being anything other than a reaction.”

“The biggest question is,” Annabeth said. “Why do any of this?”

“Well, for the Mist? It could be acting as a diversion of sorts.” Frank said.

We looked blankly at him.

“Think about it. With all of the chaos going on, no one was paying much attention to any behind-the-scenes stuff.”

“Frank’s right,” I said. I glanced at Mr. D, who looked like he was still pretending he wasn’t a part of this conversation at all.

“I bet the gods didn’t even think to check on Hecate when it happened. Just focused on what would save themselves with the mortals.”

“Percy,” Chiron reproached me.

“I’m sorry, but you know that’s probably true.”

Chatter was rising on the other side of the IM. Reyna seemed unsettled, looking over the assembled Romans. The image started to flicker and fade out around the edges. Her face hardened.

“It seems we have no helpful information for now, and our time is running out.” She said.

“If you come across anything new, please contact us. We best be getting back to our meeting.”

“Of course, Praetor.” agreed Chiron.

Hazel looked a little panicked, but the signal started to warp with water-static.

“Stay safe, you guys. And-” She looked nervous and leaned closer. “Make sure you stay in groups if you leave camp. We’ve already had some… incidents.”

I blinked wide eyes.

“Incidents? Hazel, what does that-”

But she swiped her hand through the message, instantly dissipating it.

There was a shocked silence rocketing around the table. Even Clovis looked less asleep than usual.

“You guys should probably be watching the news.” A new voice came from the doorway.

“Rachel!” I exclaimed. “When did- How did you get here?”

She rocked her head from side to side and squeezed herself between the Stolls and Pollux.

“Well, I kind of fought off a monster in the middle of a panicked street in Brooklyn. And in front of my dad.” She spread paint-splattered hands in a ‘what-can-you-do’ motion.

“Didn’t really take it too well judging by the coffee he spilled all over his over-expensive coat.”

Will shook himself. “A monster? But you’re-”

“Mortal? Yeah, I don’t really understand what it was doing, either. But, in any case, something strange is going on. I grabbed some cash from my dad’s wallet while he was still out of it and got a cab out here.”

“Do you remember anything details about the prophecy?” Chiron asked. “This is crucial information, Rachel.”

“No, I don’t.” She replied. “There’s this feeling though, like it’s sitting on the tip of my tongue.”

“Is there anything we can do to get it… off your tongue?” I asked. Annabeth kicked me under the table.

“Maybe-”

“That’s not important right now.” Rachel said.

Connor leaned closer to his brother.

“The prophecy isn’t important?” He murmured to him.

“Not when the mortals have already found Camp Jupiter.”

Silence followed Rachel’s exclamation.

“You guys should really have a news station playing in here. New Rome isn’t exactly small - or subtle. A helicopter flying over San Fransisco spotted it in the valley a few hours ago, and its been popping up in headlines all day.”

Annabeth’s brow was crinkled.

“If New Rome was found so quickly, we should have been seen too,” she muttered.

“Would Thalia’s tree be covering us?” Katie asked.

“I don’t believe the camp’s protections have that ability. They can keep mortals and monsters out, but it was purely the Mist keeping us from being seen as anything other than strawberry farms,” explained Chiron.

I felt they were all missing an important point.

“What’s been happening at Camp Jupiter, though?” I asked. “Obviously nothing dangerous, otherwise they would have mentioned it to us. But if they’ve been seen, then the mortals won’t just be ignoring an entire city, no matter how small.”

“There have been some ‘experts’ on TV,” Rachel used air quotes around experts. “Mostly conspiracy theorists digging up some random facts to explain how no one believed them when they said it was there all along.” She rolled her eyes.

“Some people have been comparing it to a ‘lost’ Atlantis. But most have been questioning who - exactly - lives there and if we have anything to fear from them. If they’ve sent anyone to check it out, they’re not reporting anything yet.”

While she was talking, Rachel had dragged a leftover napkin to her from the center of the table and started lightly sketching some vague lines with a pen.

“There’s also been some talk about the ‘Demigod saviors of the new world’ as Hermes so eloquently put it in his explanation,” Rachel continued. “People want to know who he was talking about.”

“This is advancing far faster than I anticipated. Has there been any news from Mount Olympus about this, Dionysus?”

Mr. D was still sulking in his chair at the end of the table.

“You know there hasn’t, Chiron. If any decisions have been made, they have occurred without my input.”

Rachel’s hand began flying over the napkin. I didn’t know how she wasn’t tearing it to pieces with the tip of the pen, but then again - all I did with my pen was cut things up. There was something off about the way she was doing it, her eyes focused on the wall opposite instead of the drawing.

“Rachel?” Annabeth asked.

Rachel didn’t reply - her eyes had gained the green glow that usually accompanied one of Apollo’s prophecies.

Travis looked over her shoulder.

“She’s writing something!” He said. “But it’s really twisted. Kind of giving me a headache.” He rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

“Anyone else want to give it a go?”

Pollux shook his head.

“Can’t figure it out either.”

Rachel’s hand finally stopped, pausing in mid-air. Her eyes closed before she sucked in a large breath. The pen in her hand clattered to the table. When her eyes opened again, they were back to their usual - human - green.

“Rachel? Are you okay?” I asked. “What was that?”

Once again, she didn’t reply. Her gaze was focused on the miraculously still-intact napkin, scanning it frantically.

“Is it a prophecy?” Asked Chiron. He was leaning as far forward in his magic wheelchair as physically possible. I could only imagine how squished his horse-half was getting in that position.

“I-I think so? It’s hard to make out - some pieces are missing.”

“Missing? What does it say?”

Rachel cleared her throat and began to read aloud.

“Firebringer … deceit and contention

Camps divided and … unified

… only with loss and all-destruction

Resolve … all shots are fired.

“There are words that are just… gone.” She explained, pushing the napkin into the middle of the table so we could all see.

It was hard to make out to my dyslexic eyes, but I could tell what she meant. It looked someone had taken white-out and gotten rid of random parts of each line. Or like a parent crossing out naughty words in something their kid might read.

“So, you can get - what, incomplete prophecies?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It didn’t feel like any prophecy I’ve ever given before. And it wasn’t delivered to a single person like they usually are.”

Rachel looked at Will.

“Maybe, with whatever is happening with Apollo, this is the best he could give us?”

Will nodded slowly, then scrunched his nose up in frustration and bowed his head to the table. His golden blond hair fell to cover his face, and Nico patted his back awkwardly.

Silence rang through the room, only interrupted by the sounds of campers running to their various activities outside.

“I believe we should focus on what we do have,” said Chiron. “The prophecy mentions a Firebringer, yes? Many have been given that name, but it does help narrow our options down considerably.”

Annabeth’s face gained that determined look I had seen so many times before. I knew as soon as she was able, she would dive into research.

“For the moment, it seems the best we can do is carry on.” Chiron continued.

“Carry on? We can’t just ignore this!” I exclaimed.

“And we won’t, Percy. But the little information we have is not enough for us to start a quest. For now, I think we should inform Camp Jupiter of this new prophecy and try to come up with an answer for what to do about the mortals.”

He tipped his head from side-to-side before focusing on the rest of the table.

“Percy and Annabeth will need to be heading back to New York. Is there anyone who would like to go with them?”

The entire table stirred.

“It seems we will need to send out some people to keep an eye on any escalating situations with the mortals.”

The other counselors all looked at each other. Nico, who had since stopped patting Will’s back and instead started absentmindedly rubbing it, spoke up.

“I’ll go.”

Will’s head popped up, nearly colliding with his boyfriend’s nose.

“You will?”

“I can be of some help. It’s not like it takes that long for me to get around in case anything happens.”

“What?” Will replied. “You better not be talking about your shadow traveling, because you know what the doctor’s orders are-”

“You mean your orders? It’s been months since-”

“Two months! That’s not enough time-”

“You guys! Enough!” I shouted. “You can both come. Nico, you can help, and Will can keep Nico in line.”

They both turned to look at me.

From the side, Piper raised her hand after making eye contact with her boyfriend.

“Jason and I can come too. Maybe head out a bit further than Manhattan?”

“That’s a good idea,” Annabeth said. “We shouldn’t just keep it close to us. Spreading out gives us more of a chance to catch anything brewing.”

“Then, it is settled.” Said Chiron. “Nico, Will, Piper, and Jason will leave with Percy and Annabeth. The rest of us will stay here and try to prepare for a potential discovery. I will look into my sources to see if I can find out who, exactly, has managed to trap Hecate.”

Without a moment of hesitation, Mr. D stood up and stalked out of the room. The rest of the counselors stood and trickled out, leaving only Rachel, Chiron, and those of us departing left in the rec room.

“I guess I’ll catch a ride back into the city with you guys.” Rachel said, after a moment of silence.

Chiron looked at her. “If you could keep an eye out as well, having a knowing mortal on our side could not harm things.”

Rachel grinned at him.

“Of course. What else is a broken-oracle-slash-boarding-school-student supposed to do?”

Chiron nodded his head in thanks to her and turned back to the rest of us.

“You four should go pack your things. We don’t know how long you will need to be gone, so plan for an indefinite amount of time.”

Will grabbed Nico’s hand and, thanking Chiron, yanked him out of the Big House with Nico complaining about something the whole way.

“I’ll go let Mitchell know that he’ll need to look after the cabin for now.” Said Piper. She and Jason left, with Rachel meandering out behind them.

Annabeth immediately started jumping into theories with Chiron, bringing up names I didn’t even know she could pronounce, let alone remember. I put my hand on her back as I stood to leave.

“I’ll meet you outside?”

She gave me a vague nod of acknowledgment, not pausing in her reply to whatever Chiron had said. I chuckled and kissed her on the forehead before heading out to the porch.

As if he knew I was coming, or he was waiting for me, Mr. D sat alone at the table where they usually played pinochle. I avoided eye contact and started making my way down the porch stairs.

“Johnson. I wanted a word with you.”

I winced and pivoted where I stood.

“Yeah?”

His eyes flicked up at me from the deck of cards he was shuffling.

“I suggest you move forward with caution. I have some experience of being a… lauded figure-“

“Because you’re a god?” I interrupted.

“Because,” he stressed. “I was once a favored son of Zeus in a time when we were celebrated just for existing. And I know what happens to people when they get too - absorbed.”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.”

“Not a new experience for you, Johanssen.”

I scoffed and made to continue walking away. I paused.

“I know you’ll deny it, but you’ve told me before that the gods need heroes.”

Mr. D gave me barely a grunt of acknowledgment.

“Well, what happens when you have the whole world again? Seven billion people to believe in you. What will you need us heroes for, now?” I asked.

Mr. D leveled a glare at me.

“Young man, if you truly think this disastrous situation will last, you are even more ignorant than I thought before.” His eyes were burning with purple fire when they made contact with mine.

“Thanks for the advice,” I said, sarcastically.

I walked away.

Visiting the Hades Cabin was always a unique experience. This time the black obsidian walls served as a poignant background to the bickering filtering out.

Nico and Will were inside, one packed suitcase covered in travel stickers at their feet. Nico was stuffing clothes into a black duffle bag haphazardly, spitting out responses to his boyfriend every five seconds.

Instead of going in, I decided it was probably best to avoid them for now. I made a beeline for the Hermes cabin. I had to say goodbye to someone.