Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It's been four months since he's been at Camp Jupiter yet everything about the camp feels brand new; whether it's the people, the camp itself or the way the Romans lived, he had no clue. It was foreign to him, but that's not surprising since most things were.

Four months ago he woke up at this place called Camp Jupiter with his only memories being his name- Percy Jackson, or if he wanted to feel fancy or important, Perseus Jackson- his father was Poseidon, or as he was hastily corrected, Neptune. And for some gods-awful reason, he was a demigod, meaning that his mother, whom he can't seem to remember, got the hots for a god and poof! here he was. It was bizarre to him how he could remember all about his 'mythical' heritage but can't for the life of him remember the woman who birthed him, but he can, hopefully, figure that out later. Upon waking, an intimidating woman was knelt by his side, as well as multiple other people who didn't seem nearly as important as her. She radiated a strong aura like she was making sure he knew she was the boss and he didn't dare challenge her. She introduced herself as Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion and daughter of Bellona- the roman goddess of war. Percy knew Reyna didn't trust him, and he honestly didn't blame her, it's probably a natural instinct to be suspicious of someone who just randomly showed up inside the walls of your home, heck even he would be suspicious of himself if he wasn't already so preoccupied with being confused.

Reyna explained things to him about Camp Jupiter, obviously holding back on some things that she wasn't comfortable sharing with a newcomer, and after that, he got a basic grasp of camp; there were five cohorts, cohorts are where the campers are divided and placed, your cohort is your family, there are no other people you can trust more than them, well unless your Cohort is a mess. The First Cohort is Camp Jupiter's pride, and the Fifth Cohort is the lowest you can get- and as if his life couldn't get any worse, that's where Percy resided. Many things were done as a cohort such as seating assignments for eating, teams for the war games and a lot of other things. Percy also learnt that Camp Jupiter consisted of Roman demigods and nobody else, and fairly quickly he made the point that this sucked ass because he discovered that the Romans were some of the most strict, boring, and harsh people he'd ever met, but it wasn't like this bothered Percy- he wasn't liked among the higher-ups of camp for his rule-breaking, it just got old fast.

Luckily for him, a couple of people at camp liked him, emphasis on a couple. There was Hazel, Frank and occasionally some others from his cohort but that was only if he won the war games. Hazel and Frank were some of the nicest people he had ever met, not like he would remember meeting anyone nicer than them. They befriended him instantly and gave him his own personal tour of camp, offering helpful tips on how to stay alive and how to avoid the fauns from snatching his food. The three of them bonded quickly, falling into a friendship full of banter, sword fighting and Percy unintentionally third-wheeling. If Percy was being honest, they were both just as oblivious as they were kind, which was saying a lot. Trust him.

Fortunately, Percy had also found a strong connection with Hazel, and he'd learnt it to be mutual. Hazel was the daughter of Pluto, and with him being the son of Neptune, they understood each other rather well, more than most would. They both called it a "Big Three Thing" if Frank ever asked, and he truly appreciated Hazel and considered her one of the only people he'd trust with his life. But Frank also understood him too, just not to that extent. Frank was a son of Mars, the god of war. Now when Percy first found that out he did laugh, albeit a little guiltily, but could you blame him? Frank, the cuddly teddy bear who had taken him under his wing like an overprotective big brother, was the son of a war god. He still struggled to come to terms with it now but had learnt not to question anything about his demigod life.

But still, after four months, he didn't remember a thing about his life before Camp Jupiter. There was just a blank chunk in his mind, almost like he didn't exist before he got here. Now many people would say "Well Percy! That's impossible!" but those people would probably also say that being a son of a god was impossible too, but here he was. Percy honestly didn't know what to believe, he just hoped that one day everything would work itself out, but that's normally not how it worked, a demigod could only dream.

"Percy! What the hell are you doing in here? Dinners in 5 you moron," an amused voice hissed above him. Percy jumped up from where he was laying on his bed and smacked his forehead against the intruders.

"Ow..what the fuck??" Percy practically growled, rubbing his forehead where a bruise was sure to form soon. Looking up, his eyes met Franks, drifting to watch him massage his temple where an angry red splotch had formed. "Shit, Frank! I'm sorry man, you scared me!" he said apologetically.

"It's okay, Perce. Shoulda know you would've been daydreaming again, it's all you ever do," Frank chuckled, fondness seeping into his voice. He dropped his arms to his side, crossing them a moment later. If anyone else would've said this to Percy, he would've taken offence, but both Frank and Hazel make him all soft and sweet, he swears they're magic. A faux glare spread across Franks's face, "But if you don't get your ass up you're going to miss dinner again, and this time I'm not explaining to Reyna why you missed it."

Percy groaned, reluctantly standing up, "This is betrayal, Frank. You've betrayed me."

A grin spread across Frank's face, "Nobody's going to have to explain to Reyna if we get there in time, come on you dufus!" He grabbed Percy's wrist and started dragging him along, talking all about his day as they made their way towards the Mess Hall. "Hazel and I had a picnic earlier today, we thought to invite you but we heard from Dakota that you were on Stable duties," he smirked, turning his head sideways to catch Percy's eye, "What did you do this time man?"

Percy hesitated, thinking of the best way to tell him without getting Franks's usual disappointed glare, he hated that face, "Well, uhm.. you know Octavian right..?" he scratched the back of his neck, avoiding Frank's eyes as he stopped and turned to face him.

"Uh..yeah? I think everybody does... Please tell me you didn't do anything bad to him Perce..." Frank's eyes widened comically, he had the look of a worried father who had been called into School by the principal after their son got in trouble for beating someone up or some shit like that.

"Well, I kinda stole one of his dumb stuffed animals..? But like c'mon! He has like millions of those things, I didn't think he was going to notice one measly Pegasus going missing! He's weird man, it's not my fault..partially." Percy rambled, muttering towards the end of his confession. He looked back up at Frank, his nose scrunched up and eyes wide in disbelief, at what? Percy wasn't so sure.

"Honestly? You're right man, he really is weird. How'd he even notice that?" Frank shook his head amused, sounding more amused than Percy had been when Octavian first showed him his plushie collection. Frank turned back around and carried on towards the Mess Hall, muttering under his breath fondly about Percy's strange choice of theft, he just liked horses okay?

Octavian was Camp Jupiter's augur- an individual charged with observing and interpreting omens in order to provide guidance for future events. That's what Reyna said anyways. Nobody really liked Octavian, even Reyna's kindness was strained towards him and she treated the majority of people at camp with kindness, well that's only if they respected her. But don't feel bad for the asshole, he's arrogant and selfish, always thinking he's above everyone else, especially Percy- ever since the augur found out he was the son of Neptune he despised Percy.

Percy quickly chased after Frank, dreading the loud environment the Mess Hall always adopted at dinner but dreading being late even more, Reyna could be really scary when she wanted to be. They entered the Mess Hall side by side, migrating towards their Cohorts table as everybody else was already seated, luckily arriving just in time since everyone was still chatting at their own tables and not interrupting Reyna's daily dinner speech as Percy had done a week prior.

"Frank! Percy! Gods, I thought you both weren't going to show up!" Hazel beamed at them as she noticed them approaching, she tapped the empty space next to her on the bench she was sitting at. It was an unspoken rule between them to always save each other seats at dinner if you were the first to arrive, which was almost never Percy- but he had once made a bet with Frank that he couldn't be there first, so he had arrived at dinner an hour before anyone was even allowed inside, safe to say that he had indeed been first.

Franks's face split into a grin at the sight of her, Percy almost thought his face was going to break in half from how wide his smile was, "Hey, Haze! I had to go pick this one up from the fifth. God knows how you'd live without us, Percy." Frank smirked, directing his last sentence towards Percy, taking a seat next to Hazel and giggling with her as Percy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up Frank. I'd do sparkling on my own thank you very much!" Percy mumbled, false annoyance seeping into his voice. He glared at Frank before taking a seat next to him and smiling at Hazel. "Hi Hazel, sorry I made you wait, I just got caught up again."

Hazel smiled fondly at him, "It's okay Perce, happens to the best of us!" She grinned at him and Percy grinned back. Hazel always brightened the room, even if it was already bright from the start, and Frank thought the same, the love-sick idiot couldn't stop smiling ever since they'd sat down.

Percy leaned back in his seat, half-heartedly listening to Frank and Hazel's conversation with a lazy smile on his face, occasionally quipping in his thoughts or chuckling at a joke one of them made. Dinner was finally served and they all tucked in, enjoying the delicious meals Camp Jupiter had to offer. Percy didn't think he'd ever get tired of the food here, and he knew many felt the same. He was in the middle of drinking a lovely glass of blue lemonade when Reyna stood and made her way to the front of the Mess Hall with a glass of her own in her hand.

"Romans, I'm unfortunately here to remind you that tomorrow marks 6 months since our Praetor, Jason Grace, disappeared without a trace. To honour him we will be having a feast at dinner where we will send offerings to the gods that he will be brought home. This is not an optional matter, you will all participate in this whether you knew him or not. Thank you all, and enjoy the rest of your evening!" She raised her glass in the air, her face as stoic as ever. Everybody followed her lead in raising glasses as the mood of the Mess hall was considerably dampened by the mention of their lost Praetor.

Percy had heard about this Jason Grace guy quite frequently after being at camp for four months, yet he still didn't know a thing about him besides that he was a Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, and that he meant a lot to many people at camp. Percy had also heard of the rumours that he apparently is the reason Jason Grace is no longer at camp, which explains why people choose to ignore him and glare at him when he walks past, but it can't be true. He doesn't understand, it's not like he chose to come here and he is certain he has no idea who this guy even is. He was lucky that Reyna didn't hold it against him like the majority of people did though, Reyna seemed to have been close to Jason and while he feels bad for her, a small part of him feels relieved that she doesn't hate him, or at least doesn't show she hates him. He'd asked Reyna about Jason plenty of times but never got an answer other than, "He was important to our legion, one of the strongest demigods at camp, if not the strongest." And he'd even asked Hazel and Frank but they just shrugged and continued whatever they were doing like he'd never asked anything. It confused the fuck out of him, was Jason really just that touchy of a subject? Or was it because they just didn't trust him yet? He had suspicions that it was both of those reasons mixed with another thing he just couldn't place, but he'd eventually stopped asking about it after feeling like he was never going to get anything out of them.

Dinner continued in a more dull chatter after that, everybody feeling bummed out beside the ones who hadn't known Jason, just like Percy himself. But Percy didn't talk that much, feeling like it'd be disrespectful to act like everything was fine and to start making jokes to cheer people up. Hazel and Frank kept sending sad subtle smiles to each other, and sometimes Percy, but that was the most they did after Reyna's speech. Percy just really wanted to sleep, he could feel his bed calling his name and he wanted to call out and say he was coming.

Luckily for him, dinner was over soon after. Each Cohort stood up from their table together and headed out of the door to their respected barracks. The fifth was the last to leave, making their way to their own barrack which was separated from the others, he didn't know what these guys did to get separated from the rest of the campers but he decided that it was probably best not to know, and he also just didn't care that much- it meant that there was less noise and it was closer to the Mess hall so it's really a win-win situation. Percy shared a bunk with Frank, him taking the bottom bunk and Frank having already claimed the top before Percy had even arrived, he was yet again thinking about how grateful he was for Frank, top bunks sucked ass.

Sleep quickly overtook him, but surprisingly plunged him into lightness instead of the familiar darkness he was used to.

Chapter Text

He was standing in a field, strawberries were growing all around him as some people walked past, ignoring him like he didn't exist. Everything felt so familiar, so real. The wind blew his hair in a way he found comforting, and the strawberries smelt as good as they had last time. But there wasn't a last time. At least a last time he remembers, anyway. Percy started wading through the grass towards the buildings he had spotted in the distance where one house stood tall above the rest, almost like how a leader would stand above their army and start shouting out commands.

He walked past a structure with four pillars holding up the roof, it was a pretty sight, the pillars almost looking like they belonged straight out of New Rome. People worked underneath the roof, making too many weapons than he could count. One boy, in particular, stood out from the rest, he was melting a chunk of bronze into the shape of a spear from the fire that shot from his hands, brown curly hair sat untamed on his head that complimented his tanned skin, which was unsurprisingly covered in soot and oil. The boy felt important to Percy, yet he didn't know why. The guy didn't feel familiar like the air around him, but Percy felt like he was going to get to know him whether he liked it or not.

Reluctant to leave his spot from observing, somebody interrupted his onesided stare-off by whistling and then all of a sudden the brown-haired boy was jogging the other way with a grin spreading across his face. Percy itched to follow him but his legs would only allow him to move in his original direction, so, albeit stubbornly, he followed a path leading towards the buildings that first caught his eye.

The scenery around him was beautiful, a forest was off to the left of him in the distance whilst a lone pine tree stood on a hill behind the house he was heading toward. It radiated power that he couldn't name, but it left the impression that it was a very important thing. The branches of every tree in sight swung in the soft breeze, and Percy could sense an extremely big source of water nearby, an ocean for sure. And if he'd be to his full senses he'd probably laugh at the fact he could sense an ocean even in his dream. But he was dreaming and he felt drowsy and delusional which confused him even more than he had already been. He reached the end of the dirt path and stopped in front of the house, Percy could hear voices inside. Some were shouting, others just talking normally and a couple of people were murmuring incoherent sentences to themselves or the people nearby. He walked over to some steps that lead up to the porch of the house and climbed them silently, that'd been something he had noticed as well. He didn't make a sound. He felt like a ghost, eerily similar to the Di Angelo kid he'd seen around at camp. Nico Di Angelo was also Hazels' brother, on their dads' side of course- they were both children of Pluto. Percy had never personally talked to Nico, he was actually pretty sure that Nico purposely avoided him like the plague. But he didn't question it, most people did that anyway.

Percy stood in front of the door on the porch, debating whether to open it or to just stay outside. He walked over to the windows, crouching before he got into view, better to be safe than sorry. The windows had curtains covering them, but luckily they weren't drawn properly, and some slivers of light slipped out. He straightened his back a bit more, almost at his full height, and looked through the gaps of the curtains.

A table was in the middle of the room, roughly 15 chairs sat around said table and only about 12 of those chairs were taken. A man in a wheelchair sat at the head of the table and a girl with golden-blonde, curly hair was stood at the other. The girl was pretty, her eyes were as grey as a storm and her golden hair was sat in a ponytail. She was wearing a bright orange t-shirt, as were the other people in the room, which looked perfect against her tanned skin. Her face looked tired as well as stressed, her eyebrows were pinched together and eye bags sat under her eyes almost looking like they had made a home there for themselves and had gotten comfortable like they didn't expect to leave anytime soon. A scary-looking girl was sitting to the left of her with pale brown hair cut to her shoulder which looked stringy and chopped but she somehow made it work. Her brown eyes were dark, almost pig-like and she was obviously strong, her body was made of muscles almost looking like a rugby player. She sneered viciously at the blonde-haired girl, and multiple people seemed to avert their eyes like they were scared of her. It made sense honestly, she was pretty fucking scary.

There were a couple of others that were talking to the two girls but Percy couldn't focus, at the top of the table next to the man in the wheelchair, sat the most gorgeous boy he had ever seen. Now Percy couldn't remember much about his past life- that including his sexuality- but after seeing this guy, he knew he couldn't be straight. The guy had the same coloured blond hair as the first girl, but this time his hair was short, it looked like it had been close-cropped and had been growing out ever since he had cut it. Percy desperately wanted to feel it, was that creepy? Oh gods he never wants to meet this guy, that'd be so embarrassing. He quickly went back to examining the guy, his face was sharp and perfect. His eyes were a bright blue colour, like the sky on a beautiful summers day, they flickered around the room like he was trying his best to focus on one thing at a time. His lips were pulled into a small, very subtle frown and he had a small scar at the corner of his lip. Percy would love to know how he got it- maybe he had fought some mythical creature or had fought the gods. Well, maybe not that one. He wouldn't have been surprised though, the guy was extremely muscular, he reminded Percy of a blond superman. The children of Mars back at camp had nothing on this guy, Percy was sure he could defeat them all in seconds and then do it all again one thousand times over. The guy was so mesmerizing that Percy almost didn't catch the way his eyes drifted over to the window he was looking through. His eyes widened, crouching back down underneath the window. Fuck! Did he see him? No, no that's impossible Percy, nobody else had seen you so why would he? He probably just wanted to look outside or something. Yes, that's it! Obviously.

Percy finally got the courage after a couple of seconds to peek back through the window, but when he stood back up everyone was gone. The room was desolate. He looked around confused, he wasn't even looking away for 10 seconds? Where had they all gone? He stood up fully and walked over to the other window which pointed into another room, this time with a couch and some other objects which weren't exactly normal to have in a living room, but the room was also empty.

"Percy! Percy, oh gods! Percy, is that really you?" Somebody shouted, sounding distressed and in disbelief. He whirled around to face the same blonde-haired girl he had seen at the head of the table running towards him, this time a faun-like man was hot on her tail, trotting behind her. He wanted to speak, to ask so many questions that were circling around his mind at that moment in time, but the words wouldn't come out. Damn stupid dreams and their ability to control him so fucking well.

"Percy! We have missed you so much, man! Where have you even been?" The faun man bleated, he sounded so relieved that Percy almost felt like he had to be relieved as well, but he didn't know who any of these people were. He didn't even know where he was.

The two had nearly reached him now, the sand they were running on making it harder for them to get to him. Wait...sand? Percy turned, the house was gone and all that was behind him was the ocean. He turned back around, expecting the girl and the faun to be in front of him, waiting for him to explain, but they had stopped a couple feet away. They stared at him, faces stoic and bodies stiff. They didn't move an inch, just pinning his feet to the sand he was standing on, he didn't dare move nor did he dare breathe. He was terrified, this didn't feel normal and it definitely didn't feel right. But then again, when did anything feel that way?

"Percy Jackson?" A new voice interrupted the silence. Percy looked left towards the ocean and saw the beautiful boy standing there but this time his eyes were dark, different to the glowing orbs of light he had seen earlier. "You need to leave." His voice was stern, but still held a hint of caring in it. Percy wanted to drown in it, he opened his mouth about to ask the mysterious boy a question like 'who are you' or just any question that would give him an answer about anything to do with the boy but before he could speak a word, everything was fading to black.

He turned to face the two who had been there before, their faces were melting away in the wind of the darkness. He wanted to sob, to cry out to them and plead for them to come back. He flicked his head towards the golden boy, but he was nowhere to be seen. Percy looked down, and then to the right and then to left. Complete darkness.

Panic was the only thing that crossed his mind at that moment, the amount of darkness was unnerving, uncomfortable. He tried to call out to anyone, Frank! Hazel! Gods he wouldn't even mind if Octavian came to rescue him, he just needed to be out. Out, out, out. Out of the darkness. He needed to see again, gods please. Anyone Please! Plea-

"PERCY! Fuck, Percy wake up buddy, you're okay Perce, c'mon," Hands were shaking his shoulders, the voice sounding as panicked as he felt. "Hey, hey Perce. Look at me man, I'm here, you're safe I've got you."

Frank. That was Frank's voice, he could recognise him anywhere at any time. Percy slowly cracked his eyes open, his breaths coming in short pants. Adjusting to the light that was switched on overhead, he turned his face towards the top of the bunk he was lead under and Frank's worried face appeared. Percy sighed with relief, he could see again, and Frank was here, and Frank wouldn't let anything hurt him.

"Good job, what happened? I've never seen you like that before..." Frank's voice faced towards the end of his sentence, almost like he was nervous or maybe even uncertain.

Percy smiled slightly at his concern, his breathing slowly coming back to normal, "I-it was just this weird dream I had, nothing too bad. Just kinda scared me I guess man, sorry if I woke you or anything..." His voice felt a little strained but Percy frowned, finally noticing that Frank looked like he had just woken up, guilt settled low in his gut but at the moment he was just thankful Frank was there.

"Don't apologise, it's okay. It's almost time for breakfast anyways so I'm glad you woke me." He chuckled hesitantly like he was unsure if the joke was going to land but Percy's face broke into a grin, "That was a harsh dream though Percy, are you okay? You looked upset when I climbed down here, do you wanna talk about it?" He offered a shy smile.

"Well uh, you know, I don't remember much of it," a lie. "but I'm fine Frank, thank you for waking me up, I appreciate it." His grin died down being replaced by a small smile, he didn't want to lie to Frank, he just felt like he should keep this bit of information to himself for now, or at least until he finds an explanation.

Frank's smile never faded, "Alright Perce, but if you ever wanna talk I'm always here for you buddy! We're best friends and that's what best friends are for," He grinned, nudging Percy's shoulder with his hand, "We should get ready though like I said, It's almost time for breakfast and Hazels waiting for us outside. Told her it'd be best to not overcrowd you when you woke up, I felt bad though but I'm sure she'll be glad you're okay." He looked guilty for a second but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Well, wouldn't wanna make her even more worried, right?" Percy cracked a grin, pushing himself into a sitting position before climbing out of his bed. Frank grinned with him, moving to gather his clothes for the day as Percy did the same.

"Percy! You're okay right?" Hazel ran up to him and Frank, crashing into Percy and pulling him into a hug. Hazel was short, reaching up to just below his chin and to Frank's collarbone, Frank was the tallest out of them all. 'Stupid Mars genes' is what Percy calls it and Frank just calls it luck.

"I'm alright Hazel, I promise. We should head to breakfast though before we all get our asses beat by Reyna." He chuckled, letting Hazel untangle her arms from around him and as she looked towards Frank with a grin.

"Mind your language or else I'll make sure Reyna knows it was your fault." She huffed amused, starting to walk away from them. Frank immediately following like a lost puppy. Percy tried his best not to break into laughter at the sight. Gods Frank was hooked.

"Okay, okay. Sorry Haze." Percy teased following after them, purposely walking behind trying to avoid listening to them flirt obliviously, it was too early for that crap.

The day went smoothly after that, Percy sparred with some other demigods at the Coliseum who desperately wanted to be better than him, he won every fight just to make that clear, and then wandered around New Rome with no goal in mind. All the other demigods were doing their tasks for the day but the Senators didn't trust him yet so they just let him go wandering. It was boring but at least he didn't have any chores to do, sometimes being untrusted had its perks!

Percy headed back towards the barracks just before sunset to prepare for dinner. Today was the feast for the Jason guy, everyone was ordered to be on their best behaviour and to be respectful. He figured he could do that, just for today anyways. He found Frank and Hazel waiting outside the barracks together, they were talking to each other with Hazel laughing at everything Frank said whether it was funny or not. Gods, it was painful to watch.

"Frank! Hazel! Hey guys, what are you two doing?" Percy jogged over to them, interrupting their conversation thankfully.

"Oh! Hey Percy, me and Frank were just waiting for you so we could all head to dinner together!" Hazel grinned at him, gesturing to the Mess Hall behind them that was already full of people. Frank got up from where he was leaning against the wall, stretching out his limbs before smiling at Percy.

"C'mon let's go in, we don't wanna miss this one." Frank gestured towards the Mess Hall before walking towards it. Hazel walked after him, gesturing for Percy to follow and he did.

The Mess Hall was a lot quieter than most nights, but there was still some muted chatter. Reyna was nowhere to be seen, as were some of the other Senators of camp. Percy guessed they were preparing themselves, or maybe even giving each other pep talks, this had got to be difficult for them. Some of them had definitely been close to Jason, he could tell whenever the name 'Jason Grace' would be mentioned. If he'd ever go missing, he would hope his friends would do this for him. Or he'd at least hope they'd honour him in some way. But maybe he'd have to earn that and actually do something with his life other than walk around New Rome all day. He sighed voicelessly.

Not long after the trio had sat down, the Senators walked through the door. Reyna entered first, leading the rest of them down to the front of the Mess Hall. The room turned so silent that he could almost hear his thoughts echoing around the room. Reyna stood in front as the rest of the Senators that must've been friends with the missing praetor crowded around her. Next to her was an easel that had a purple cloak covering it, the purple cloak was identical to Reyna's. If Percy had to guess, he'd say the cloak belonged to the lost praetor, but he's no genius so he can't be sure.

Nobody spoke, Reyna stared at the ground for a few long seconds before lifting her head to gaze around the room. She looked as upset as a woman who composed her emotions very well could possibly look, which was surprisingly quite upset. But when she spoke her voice was as strong as ever, "Romans. Tonight we are gathered together to honour Jason Grace, our lost praetor of the Twelfth Legion here at camp." She paused, lifting the hidden canvas under the purple material. Percy's breath hitched. There, displayed right in front of him, was the same gorgeous boy he saw in his dream earlier that day. The same beautiful face, the same startling eyes, the same scar in the corner above his soft-looking lips, all captured in one single photo. Percy's jaw dropped, literally. How is this even possible? There's no way he had just dreamt about a lost man randomly on a day there was meant to be a feast to honour him. This had to be linked somehow, it didn't make sense. His eyes scanned the room, seeing if anyone else looked at least a little startled but nobody stood out, well besides one person but that was Nico Di Angelo. He was standing behind Reyna at the front of the Hall, staring straight into Percy's soul with his eyebrows pinched together so subtly that if Percy hadn't started staring back at him he wouldn't have noticed. They continued their stare-off up until Reyna began speaking again when Nico averted his eyes towards the picture of Jason. Percy still didn't take his eyes off of Nico. He knew. Percy knew he knew, and Nico now knew that Percy knew he knew. A funny tongue twister, he also knew that too. Percy mentally made a checklist in his head, writing down 'Talk to Nico Di Angelo after this feast. HE KNOWS!' at the top.

Frank must've noticed Percy's face as he softly but sharply elbowed him in the ribs. Percy snapped out of his staring and faced him. Frank looked at him weirdly, like he wanted Percy to explain himself before quickly turning back to look at Reyna who was now talking about how Jason was still out there, and that they shouldn't give up hope. When Percy turned back to look for Nico, he was gone. He blinked a couple times and scanned the room from left to right, but Nico was truly gone. Stupid son of Pluto. Hazel had told him that Nico had the ability to shadow travel and to manipulate the shadows whenever he wanted to, that's probably what he just did. Percy wished he could do that, he’d run away from every responsibility he had if he could. He turned to his right to look at Hazel and Frank to see if they noticed anything out of the blue but Hazel was already staring at him in concern, he knew it wasn't for him though, most likely for Nico. Hazel raised her eyebrow at him and gestured towards the front before mouthing 'Nico' in what he assumed was a question, all he did was shrug his shoulders in response before turning back to listen to Reyna talking about Jason Grace, and how important he was to everyone at camp and still is, to the best of his abilities since his mind was already mostly occupied with other things; like a missing pretty blond man and the mysterious brother of one of his best friends.

Percy just knew he needed to do one thing and one thing only, find Nico Di Angelo.

Chapter Text

The past few days had been weird for him. Jason hadn't been sleeping well nor eating enough and for some reason, he'd always be paranoid although he didn't know what for. Piper and Leo had both noticed something was bugging him as well but he couldn't explain something he didn't have an explanation for. It all started a week ago when the first of many dreams to come interrupted his current one of eating burgers with Leo, Annabeth and Piper on the beach.

Jason had been standing in front of a temple that was rested at the very top of a hill with many other similar structures nearby yet none stood quite as proudly as the one in front of him.

White polished steps led the way upwards to the open doorway that reached high up the wall of the temple. Multiple large circular pillars stood tall on the marble-floored veranda outside with beautiful pure gold accents around both the top and bottom of every single pillar, if Jason was ever told to describe a rich, important person as a temple then he'd lead them straight to this one with no hesitation. A thick strip of gold wrapped around the roof of the temple with the suns' raze hitting it and causing the gold to shin almost blindingly, patterns were engraved into the gold strip that he couldn't quite make out from being so far away on the ground but they reminded him of the markings on the wall of the Zeus cabin at camp.

Jason hastily climbed the steps in hurried curiosity, accidentally tripping over himself and the stairs a couple of times.

The temple was darker than he expected, torches were attached to four pillars that guarded the centre of the polished floor where a statue sat untouched. The faint torchlight cast shadows over the statue's face making it seem creepier than it was probably intended to look which fed into the uneasiness starting to form in the low of his gut. Complete silence was the only thing he was remotely familiar with, well that and the statue that strangely resemble his dad, Zeus, the closer he got to it.

At Camp Half-Blood, the Zeus cabin had a statue of the god himself at the far end of the cabin. It uncomfortably watched Jason's every move sometimes making it difficult to sleep at night, but he had studied it enough when he was bored or couldn't sleep to know the features fairly well and weirdly enough, this statue looked almost identical. The only difference really being the clothing choice and the headpiece, with some small facial features being slightly adjusted to what he was used to. Jason had no idea where he was or what he was doing there but he weirdly didn't feel uncomfortable under this statue's gaze unlike the one back at camp, he felt like he had known this statue his whole life like it was alive and they were familiar with each other.

He stepped forward, wanting to examine the statue more clearly, but before he could move any closer footsteps sounded out behind him. The owner was running - probably sprinting - towards the temple. Jason turned around just as the person was close enough for him to make out.

Beautiful sea-green eyes. That was the first thing he had noticed about the stranger, their eyes had him so captured by their intensity that it was almost hard to look away, but he scanned the stranger from head to toe. The stranger was a boy, no younger than him - probably the same age or maybe slightly older - he had hair as dark as the deep depths of the sea that looked like it hadn't been brushed in weeks but he made it look good, he suited it well. The boy wore a purple t-shirt that covered tanned skin but his arms were still on display as well as his legs from the khaki shorts he was wearing. Scars littered his exposed skin looking like he had more than Annabeth and that was saying something, she had looked like she'd defeated the whole world from the number of scars that littered her skin. Jason hoped this boy had a story for every one of his scars like Annabeth did for hers. He was slender but you could tell he was no doubt strong - maybe even more so than himself - but Jason was reminded of the professional swimmers he had seen on the TV at the Big House once: slim waist, strong legs and strong arms. He was breath-taking.

The boy was stood like he was ready to fight, a sword in his right hand and his eyebrows were pinched together like he was confused. He didn't move towards Jason, not daring to step past the doorway.

Once the boy was sure that he wasn't about to get attacked, he dropped his stance and let his arm fall back down to his side. The sword in his hand disappeared suddenly as the boy pocketed a pen into his shorts pocket, a little strange but Jason couldn't care about that when the guy's lips tugged up into a smirk that he had seen on Leo many times when the curly-haired boy was about to cause some trouble or something just as bad. The boy, gods he was getting tired of referring to him like that, advanced towards him slowly still seeming a little cautious. He stood a few feet from Jason - just out of arms reach - before speaking in the most gorgeous voice he had ever heard, maybe this is what people feel like when they encounter a siren.

"Jason Grace, Son of Jupiter!" The smirk grew even more like the boy knew Jason couldn't respond. He had tried to open his mouth a couple of times prior but nothing had come out. "It's lovely to finally meet you!"

How did this stranger know his name? And what did he mean by Son of Jupiter? He wanted to ask the boy so many questions but he just couldn't, nothing would work. He couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't do anything. The boy seemed to notice his inner frustration and walked closer to him before putting a hand on his arm, patting it in a comforting manner.

"It's okay Jason. You can't know everything in the world or else that would be unfair. But you will what you want to know soon enough, I promise you." He smiled sympathetically at Jason, yet Jason couldn't tell whether it was meant to be friendly or whether this boy was just an asshole who wanted to meddle with his mind more than he already had. The boy's expression turned into one of surprise, "Oh Jason! It looks like it's time for you to leave! Isn't that brilliant?" He grinned at him, filling Jason with a strange warmth that was all too quickly replaced with pain.

Hot searing pain burst through his gut making him clutch his stomach in pain, he removed his hand and looked down to assess the damage but nothing was there. He hastily lifted his...purple t-shirt? He didn't own a purple t-shirt...What?

Suddenly the pain stopped. Everything stopped. It was all gone.

Jason opened his eyes - half expecting to be in the underworld somewhere, aimlessly wandering around as a ghost - but he was in his cabin. Sitting up, he saw the all too familiar Zeus statue staring at him again and he instantly led back down, not falling asleep for the rest of that night.

That one dream had repeated itself about five more times after that, the same one every time, nothing ever changing. Jason could almost recite everything that happened in it like how an actor would recite their lines for the next play they were to be in. He had explained to Annabeth what had happened, every detail he could remember - holding back on the full-fledged description he had saved into his mind of the boy he saw just in case word spread to Piper. He felt guilty about that. Piper was his girlfriend yet he couldn't remember her and even worse, he didn't feel attracted to her as he had probably been before he lost his memories but he was too scared to hurt her feelings by telling her. He still cared about her lots and didn't want to lose her

Annabeth had been listening intently to everything he was telling her, occasionally noting down something he had said to save for later like she was his therapist, but when he had started describing the boy her interests seemed to have peaked even more. She had abandoned the notepad in her hand on the table they were sat at in favour of curling her golden blonde hair around her fingers - a nervous habit Jason had noticed she had.

When Jason had finished talking, Annabeth looked like she was about to burst into tears. Her eyebrows were knitted together in a frown whilst she had her lip between her teeth, biting down hard.

She cleared her throat before talking, her voice wavering slightly, "So uh, you said this boy had a sword right?" She looked away from Jason's concerned face, instead choosing to focus on the wooden pattern of the table.

"Uhm, yeah. About 3 feet long, definitely looked like it could hurt.." He chuckled weakly, completely stopping when he saw Annabeth's face. "Why? What's wrong, Annabeth?" Jason reached out his hand, grabbing Annabeth's own in an attempt to comfort her.

"Did you uh.. this is going to sound like I'm insane," She muttered under her breath before raising her head to look him in the eyes, "Did you happen to see the sword turn into a pen, or maybe even see a pen turn into a sword?"

Jason didn't respond. How could she know? He wracked his brain for answers, completely forgetting about the original question at hand.

"Uhm, never mind. Forget I even ask-"

"I did." Jason interrupted her, clearing his throat as she had done earlier, "I saw his sword disappear before he slid a pen into his pocket, i..well I didn't know what had happened originally but now that makes a lot more sense." Annabeth's eyes widened before she stood up abruptly, nearly sending the chair she was sitting on across the room. She looked panicked maybe even a bit scared before shaking her head to herself.

"J-Jason that's..that's Riptide. Percy's pen." She sounded in disbelief before turning around and sprinting out of the room they had chosen to sit in and talk which was inside of the Big House, probably on her way to find Chiron or someone else she felt like she could talk to.

Jason didn't move, his mind was confused. Probably even more so than it was when he originally walked in here.

Percy Jackson - Annabeth's boyfriend - had gone missing 6 months ago without a trace. Nobody knew where he went or where he is now but they have never stopped looking for him. When Jason had first arrived at camp ,4 months ago, he had been greeted by a pissed-off looking Annabeth Chase, who had looked rather disappointed at the sight of him - which she apologised for later, explaining that she had been hoping that Percy had come back to camp somehow. Jason had arrived at camp with his best friends - and girlfriend - Piper and Leo. He had woken up on a school bus without his memory with the both of them sitting next to him, Piper claiming she was his girlfriend with Leo agreeing and then explaining that he was also Jasons' best friend. They had then been surprised with the news that they were all demigods - children of the gods - by Coach Hedge (their Coach who had randomly revealed himself to be a satyr - or a goatman as Leo liked to call him.) Coach Hedge had taken them to Camp Half-Blood after they got attacked by some weird storm spirits, one even being their classmate. It didn't make sense at all and he used to sometimes think that he was in a dream instead of real life, but after being pinched by Leo repeatedly he can confirm that it's definitely not a dream, and his life just didn't make sense. Nobody still knows how he lost his memory, or why it happened but he will be damned if he never figures it out.

Percy was the only Son of Posideon currently known, he had been brought back to camp when he was twelve with the help of a satyr named Grover, who was very close to both him and Annabeth, the satyr had been out looking for him nonstop since he had first gone missing according to Annabeth. She had basically explained Percy's whole life story once she had discovered the three of them weren't threats, you could tell they were very close and that she cared about him deeply.

Jason suddenly felt uneasy, was that boy in his dream Percy Jackson? If so, had he been crushing on his friend's missing boyfriend this whole past week? Gods, he was such a horrible friend - sure you can argue that he didn't know, but he still felt like crap. He stood up and exited the room, hoping to distract himself in some way around camp.

He didn't hear from Annabeth until a few hours later, he had just finished sparring some Ares kids in the arena when she found him, "Hey! Jason!" she called him over, waving her hand to make herself know. Annabeth was standing with Nico Di Angelo leaning against the arena wall, obviously waiting for someone.

He jogged over to them, a small smile on his face when he spotted them - especially Nico. Nico was the son of Hades, he was younger than Jason and most of his friends and for some reason he got the strong urge to treat him like a baby brother even though they had only known each other for a couple of months. Nico was always leaving camp and then coming back a week later, nobody knew what he did when he left but people gave their theories. The Apollo cabin always teased their cabin head, Will Solace, by saying Nico went to New York to visit his lover which Will always dismissed quickly and sternly, telling them to shut up and stay out of other people's business. It was funny to watch, they both thought they were being sly with their flirting but everybody knew they liked each other - but acted oblivious to entertain them.

"Hey Annabeth, Nico! What's up?" He nodded towards them both as he greeted them, sliding himself against the wall like they had been doing a minute prior.

Annabeth looked away from him, staring straight towards the cabins in the distance - or more likely towards Cabin 3, Posideons Cabin.

"Well, I just wanted to apologise for, you know, running away and leaving you alone earlier. I was...surprised, to say the least. But I'm still sorry." Annabeth's mouth tugged downwards into a frown, she crossed her arms still keeping her eyes on the cabins.

Jason gave her a small smile even though she was looking away, "It's okay, Annabeth. I understand why you probably ran but I just want to fully know what happened...if that's okay with you, I guess. And no offence to Nico but why is he with you?" He gestured to Nico giving him a friendly grin. Nico rolled his eyes playfully, suppressing a smile.

Annabeth turned towards him again but never looked him in the eye, she was obviously debating what to say as her mouth kept opening and closing - she almost looked like a confused goldfish.

"Nico knew Percy too. We saved Nico and brought him to camp with the help of others so I went to him when you told me you saw him in your dreams, he's worried about Percy as well." She exhaled long and slow before continuing, "And about what happened, well...when you were telling me about your dreams you mentioned a boy with dark hair and green eyes - it sounded like Percy but there are plenty of people in the world that look like that, but when you described him more and more I just couldn't help think that you were talking about him. So I asked about Riptide. It's Percy's sword, he doesn't go anywhere without it and there's technically only one in the world. Chiron gave it to him when he was twelve and he's never been without it since." She instinctively reached towards her knife that was strapped to her waist before crossing her arms again, sighing sadly.

Nico spoke up for the first time since Jason had seen him, "Percy is alive, just so you both know. If he would've died then I would've felt it since I know him personally, and if he did die I'd immediately tell you guys," he turned to face Annabeth directly, "He will come home eventually, you just have to have faith, Annabeth." Nico spoke softly, the softest Jason has ever heard him - besides when he whispered to Will occasionally. Nico always made himself out to be a big tough guy with no emotions when in reality he cares the most, Jason had noticed this when he had finally warmed up to him. Nico would randomly start up conversations with him, always asking if he was okay and constantly checking up on him but to strangers, he would avoid them whenever he could - it was honestly sweet, being one of the only people someone cares about.

Annabeth flashed him a grateful smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Thanks, Nico. I appreciate it and everything else you've done. I trust you." She looked back towards the cabins, just missing the flash of guilt that was quickly wiped off of Nico's face in favour of a small smile.

Jason furrowed his brows. He'd never seen Nico look guilty, but it was fairly obvious that was guilt. But what was he even guilty about? Jason wracked his brain for any possible reasons but came up empty-handed. He debated asking him about it but he didn't think asking in front of Annabeth would go too well.

The trio stood in silence for a couple minutes, leaning against the arena wall and looking around at camp. It was midday and campers were going about their business. He could see the forge in front of him to the right and behind that was the strawberry field where some satyrs were tending to the plants. Leo was probably in the forge, he was a child of Hephaestus after all and the forge was like a second home to them. Piper was probably in the Aphrodite Cabin or playing volleyball with her cabinmates, who knew that children of Aphrodite liked volleyball. He smiled to himself thinking about his friends, he was so grateful for them.

Annabeth cleared her throat before pushing off of the wall and turning to face them both with a soft smile.

"I promised I would help some of my siblings with their chores today so I better get going before they start thinking I've broken my promise. I'll see you guys later?" She started walking backwards slowly, waiting for their responses.

"See ya later Annabeth!"

"Bye Annabeth, see you at dinner!"

The boys chorused, both of them giving a smile - one admittedly bigger than the other. Jason waved at her and she waved back before turning on her heel and heading towards the Athena Cabin, leaving Jason alone with his own curiosity about Nico's unexplained guilt and Nico, the man himself.

Chapter Text

The two boys stood in silence for a while after Annabeth left, gazing around as different campers passed by.

"You know something, Nico." Jason practically whispered, avoiding Nico's face at all costs. He may see Nico as a little brother - but that boy can make anyone nervous just by being in the same room as them.

Nico didn't respond. Maybe he didn't hear him or maybe he just wanted to ignore him but Jason turned to the side to face Nico, who looked like a statue frozen in time. His body was stiff and his eyes were unblinking with his eyebrows knitted together in what looked like confusion, yet Jason wasn't one-hundred percent sure.

Suddenly even more nervous than before, Jason addressed him again, "Nico...? Did you uh, hear what I said?" His own eyebrows pinched together in concern.

A few moments passed before Nico's face turned back to its normally stoic self, he was about to start walking away but Jason grabbed his wrist.

"Nico. What's going-"

"Nothing." Nico snapped - yanking his wrist out of Jason's grip, watching as Jason's hand fell back to his own side.

Nico stood for a second before sighing softly and turning to catch Jason's eye, "Look, Jason, I'm sorry for snapping at you but I...Ugh." He groaned in irritation, "I can't tell you Jase... I-I don't like hiding stuff from you... and Annabeth especially, but I promised someone else that I wouldn't talk about it. A-and..." he took a deep breath in before continuing, "I can't break that promise." He averted his eyes, lifting his hand to scratch the back of his neck - a nervous habit that Jason also shared with him.

Jason was even more concerned. Nico never normally got nervous nor did he stutter often, so this had to be serious.

"Nico...who did you promise?" He hesitantly asked, wondering if he had overstepped a line.

Nico huffed in amusement, "I can't tell you that, you'd practically kill me."

"That just makes me want to worry even more, I hope you know that. So I'm just going to keep asking until you tell me." Jason's lips tugged up into a small smile, letting amusement slip easily into his words - but still letting Nico know that he wasn't lying, he would keep asking.

They stood in silence for a few minutes with Jason half-thinking that Nico wasn't going to respond but then remembering that Nico wouldn't do that and that he was probably just debating what to say. And just to prove Jason right, Nico interrupted the silence.

"My Dad."

Jason almost choked on his own spit. "What?! Nico, what? Your dad?" He knew he probably sounded disapproving right then, but he didn't care. Why would Nico promise his dad something?

"Yes, my dad. He took me to the underworld after I found something that I wasn't supposed to find and then made me promise I wouldn't tell a soul. And I haven't." Nico sounded annoyed. Jason didn't know whether he was annoyed at the fact he had promised his dad something or the fact that he had just told Jason he had promised his dad something - but Jason didn't want to find out.

"O-Okay Nico, but uh...One more question is it a dangerous thing or...?" His voice wavered at the start of his sentence but he quickly took control back from the anxiety that had started flaring up in his gut.

Nico sighed, choosing to look Jason in the eye again, "If the secret got out..then yeah, it could be." Nico didn't sound particularly bothered about that at all, but his own mind was racing with endless "What ifs" and "What the fucks."

"Jase, look. Don't worry about it, dude! Nobodys going to know a thing...and that also includes you!" He gave Jason a cheeky grin before disappearing into the shadows like he often did, this time he had left after frying Jason's brain - which he didn't appreciate one bit.

He sighed irritatedly, before walking off in search of his best friends so he could rant to someone about how dumb the son of Hades was when he was being so mysterious all of the time - Jason didn't like not knowing things, it meant that he couldn't be prepared, and he definitely did not like being unprepared.

Jason found Leo in the forge with his siblings - working on this weird dragon head he had found. Leo was leaning over a workbench with a wrench in his hand, his curly brown hair was stuck to his head with sweat and his skin was covered in oil and rust yet he wasn't surprised. Leo spent more time in the forge than he did in his own cabin.

Leo lifted his head when he heard someone coming over, letting his face break into a grin once he saw who it was. "Jason! My man! What are you doing here, buddy?" He set down his wrench and turned to face Jason completely, leaning against his workbench.

"Just had an encounter with Zombie Dude and he just left me in the middle of our conversation." Leo had invented secret code names for everyone at camp so that they could gossip without anyone knowing who they were talking about. Nico was Zombie Dude, Annabeth was Miss Brainiacs, Piper was Beauty Queen and so on, sure some were obvious but it had become a habit for both of them to refer to certain people as certain nicknames when they were alone with each other.

Leo's eyes widened as he raised his eyebrows, "Yikes, what happened Lightning Boy? You seem very...tense. I think that's the right word for the way you look right now." He tried to suppress his amused smile but it slowly made its way onto his face making Jason roll his eyes playfully.

"Zip it Elf Boy," He smirked at Leo's offended face before continuing, "Anyways, Annabeth had told him about my dreams earlier and then I found them waiting outside the arena for me. Long story short, Nico knows something so I asked him about it and he said he couldn't tell me because he promised someone, his flipping dad, that he wouldn't speak about it. Then he went all Ghosty and disappeared on me." He inhaled loudly, letting air get to his lungs after he ranted all that out without stopping - it was quite impressive if he did say so himself.

"The fuck?" Leo looked more confused than ever.

"What?"

"What the fuck do you mean by 'What?' Dude, all I caught from whatever that was is that Nico promised his dad some weird shit that you don't know about." Leo huffed, obviously amused by this whole situation.
Jason smiled slightly, "Well, that's basically the best summary of it honestly."

Leo's face scrunched up in confusion, "Then why didn't you just say that instead of nearly suffocating yourself by accident you dumbass!"

Jason held up his hands in front of him in mock surrender, "Sorry, sorry. I just need to let it all out, man! You know how annoying mysterious Nico can get." He grinned at Leo, seeing the youngers mouth start tugging up into a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure I get it Sparky." Sarcasm seeped into his words before he slung an arm around Jason's shoulder, leading him out of the forge - waving goodbye to his siblings on his way out. "Let's go find Pipes, you know how much she loves to gossip." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully before continuing to half-drag Jason towards the Aphrodite Cabin.

The duo found Piper chilling with her siblings in their cabin. Leo hastily informed her of Jason's latest annoyance, failing to notice that basically everyone else inside the cabin was also listening to everything he was saying - not just Piper and Jason. So by the time they had gotten to dinner that evening, the whole camp had known about Jason's latest annoyance - funnily enough even Chiron and Mr D knew about it, Chiron finding it more concerning than anything else.

Everybody was talking about Nico and Jason knew Nico hated attention. He felt extremely guilty but there was nothing he could possibly do - and it wasn't like he had intended for this to happen, he had just wanted to rant to his best friend and now suddenly the whole camp knows. He needed to find Nico and explain himself before Nico seeks him out first, he just didn't know where the boy was nor did he know where to look for him.

Jason soon solved that problem after dinner. Annabeth approached him with a person trailing behind her - said person being Nico Di Angelo.

Fuck. He was fucked.

He had been walking with Piper and Leo back to their cabins for the night before they saw Annabeth's irritated face, causing the trio to disband into just Jason standing alone whilst the other two ran ahead, shouting their goodbyes to him - like they were expecting to find him dead tomorrow, occasionally turning around to catch looks of betrayal from Jason.

"Jason Grace. You two," She started, glancing back towards Nico who had stopped a few feet away and was giving Jason the deadliest glare he could possibly muster, before turning back to Jason and continuing, "need to explain yourselves."

If Camp Half-Blood were to have a leader, Annabeth would definitely be it. Everyone in camp knew her and respected her, even looking to her for advice - so if you were thinking "Is she entitled to know?" the answer is yes. Jason stuttered, suddenly feeling nervous, "W-well, Uhm, so-"

"Spit it out, Grace." She crossed her arms over her chest, giving Jason a glare that even Nico would be afraid of.

And that sentence was all it took for the explanation to come spilling out of his mouth in a spew of unintelligible words that Annabeth somehow understood, "When we were all talking with each other earlier, you mentioned how you trusted Nico and then I saw Nico look guilty for a second before hiding it. I waited until you left to ask him about it and he told me that he knew something he couldn't tell me because he had promised his dad that he wouldn't say a word," Annabeth scoffed at this, "I then asked him if it was dangerous and he said if word got out then it would be, and holy crap. I just realised that word technically got out uhm.." he paused for a second, forgetting about his audience before Annabeth cleared her throat and he hastily continued, "Nico disappeared on me after that so I went to tell Leo about it all, then Leo took me to Piper and told Piper what happened, and then the Aphrodite kids got a hold of the news and well...now everyone knows." Jason scratched the back of his neck before looking toward Nico and clearing his throat, "Uhm, Nico? I'm sorry man, I really didn't mean for this to happen. I know you don't like being the centre of attention and stuff so I was going to try to find you to explain myself, but I didn't know where to start looking. You don't have to forgive me but I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

Annabeth turned around to look at Nico, obviously awaiting his response. Nico's face had gone back to being stoic whilst Jason had been talking, removing the deadly glare completely from his face. A soft smile subtly appeared on his face, albeit a little strained but there non the less, "It's okay, Jase. I will admit though that you're an idiot for letting Leo anywhere near the Aphrodite Cabin with that information but I guess I can forgive you, I know it's not your fault - and besides, I haven't broken my promise to my dad yet, still, nobody knows what I'm talking about." He looked relieved at that like he'd only just remembered.

But then Annabeth shot down his relief.

"You're going to have to tell us, Nico. Chiron will ask you about it and you can't exactly ignore him." She looked at him guiltily, like she was guilty about having to ruin his only hope at the moment but she just wanted to help.

Nico's face dropped, "Chiron knows?"

"And Mr D." Jason unhelpfully added, earning a glare from Annabeth.

Annabeth sighed, walking over to Nico and pulling him into a hug which he surprisingly didn't pull away from, "I'm sorry Nico."

He slumped against her, defeated, "Nothing I can do about it." He muttered, obviously upset.

Jason was yet again hit with the guilt - this time it came as a truck running into him instead of a bullet piercing his gut. Nico's face was hidden by Annabeth's body but the way he held himself showed that he was definitely holding back his emotions. "N-Nico, I'm so sorry." He felt the need to say it again, to make sure that Nico knew that he truly meant it.

Nico let out a wet-sounding laugh, Gods please say he hadn't been crying or else Jason might cry too, "Gods Jase, it's okay. It's not even your fault and trusts me, you would know if it was." He wriggled out of Annabeth's hold, looking towards Jason before gesturing to the Cabins with his head, "Anyways, we should go before our asses get eaten by those annoying ass harpies." He sounded like he was in a rush, but they both chose not to question him. He started walking back to the Cabins, expecting Annabeth and Jason to join him - which they did, but only after Annabeth gestured for Jason to meet her at the Big House tomorrow again and Jason nodding in understanding. That was something Jason had learnt during his stay at Camp, Annabeth's nonverbal communication. If anyone was to ask him about his skill level then he'd say he was pretty good at reading it, the only person better than him being Piper - the two girls were close.

Annabeth reached her cabin first as it was closer than both Cabin 1 and 3, they said their goodbyes before Nico and Jason walked to their cabins - well in Nico's case, Percy's Cabin.

"You're one of my closest friends, Jase. I could never hate you, well... I could definitely hate you but not forever." Nico said unexpectedly, grinning, as he stepped into Cabin 3, closing the door firmly behind him and yet again leaving Jason's brain fried for the second time that day. Luckily, it was positive frying this time.

Chapter Text

The Apollo Cabin had slowly become one of Nico's favourite places at Camp Half-Blood. It was always so empty with the majority of the Apollo kids going to practice archery and help out at the infirmary, or just going about their daily tasks for the day. Nico also liked the Apollo cabin for its residents or more specifically, Will Solace. But he would never admit that until the day he died.

Nico was sprawled across Will's bed whilst Will sat on the floor with his back against the bed that was opposite to his. Will and Nico had become extremely close and nobody could deny that. They first met after the Battle of Manhattan when Will was busy in the infirmary healing other campers non-stop. Nico had reluctantly walked in with a cut on his arm from the battle, he had been against having it checked and instead just asked for some ambrosia so that he could leave but Will wouldn't let him go without a check.

They instantly clicked after that, soon becoming closer than Nico would ever normally let someone become but Will was different. He didn't know why but he could just tell and Nico needed somebody who actually cared about him - sure he had Annabeth and the others but sometimes it was nice to have someone this close to him without them being that close with anybody else, it was like they were each others and each others only. And he appreciated Will a lot for actually putting up with him.

"What the fuck am I going to tell Chiron?" Nico groaned, rolling onto his stomach so that he could hide his face in Will's pillow.

"The truth I guess, did your dad threaten you or something?" Will responded, fiddling with the hem of his CHB t-shirt.

Nico stayed silent for a moment, "Well, no he didn't. But I did promise I wouldn't tell a soul, Will. What if he like...I dunno, murders me?" His voice was half-muffled by the pillow but Will understood him perfectly fine.

"Come on, Neeks. You know he wouldn't do that, when Zeus turned Thalia into a tree I heard that he apparently disapproved and thought he was an idiot." Will offered a reassuring smile and to Nico's surprise, it half-helped.

"If he murders me then I will haunt you in the afterlife." Nico lifted his head and stuck his tongue out playfully to make sure that Will had seen him.

Will shook his head fondly, "Yeah, yeah sure thing. It'd be pretty cool to be haunted by a Son of Hades. Oh my gods, you could be my guardian angel!" Will teased, a grin spreading across his face.

Nico groaned again, "Shut up Solace, I hate you." Will laughed at that, ending up with a pillow being thrown at his face.

"What the f-" Will started but was cut off by Nico immediately standing up.

"I have to go." Nico sounded apologetic, he really didn't want to leave Will but he had no choice. His head and his hands were tingling - a sign that Hazel needed him, they had figured out they could practically communicate with each other when they had first met. It had been weird to wake up with a tingly head, but then Hazel explained everything and to this day he's still confused.

Will looked confused but also a bit bummed out, "Do you have to?" He practically pouted, his eyes following Nico as he made his way over to the door.

Nico snickered, "Yes Will, I do. But I'll be back in a few days, if anyone wants to know where I went then just tell them I'll be back soon, okay?"

This time it was Will's turn to groan, "Okay, stay safe Neeks." He offered a shy smile, hastily standing up and walking up to Nico.

Nico blushed at how close Will was to him, before almost squeaking as Will wrapped his arms around him. Nico surprised himself by hugging back, which he never normally did with anyone else.

When they pulled away they were both blushing, Will beginning to stammer out a sentence that would escape his mouth.

"I'll see you later Will. Don't move a muscle!" Nico joked as he reached for the door, he gave Will a quick smile before walking outside.

Nico really hated having to leave camp, and he especially hated having to leave Will. Maybe it'd be good to tell Chiron about what he had promised his dad because then he could bring Will with him. And maybe even Hazel could come here instead. Those thoughts filled him with a giddy feeling - seeing his sister interact with his...with Will.

He reached Cabin 3 and opened the door, preferring to shadow travel in places where nobody could see him. He didn't like being watched because then he felt pressured and would probably mess up, ending up with him putting himself into eternal darkness for the rest of his life. He shuddered at the thought before closing his eyes. He thought of Camp Jupiter and Hazel before the darkness began to consume him.

Nico had met Hazel about a year ago.

He had been searching for his sister, Bianca, in the underworld after she had died whilst on a quest a while ago. Nico had been hoping that his sister would be wandering around the Fields of Asphodel, waiting for him to come save her - but instead, he found someone completely different but also somewhat similar. Nico had sensed a child of Hades from miles away which lead him straight to the fields, but instead of seeing the familiar sight of his sister, he had seen a young girl with curly brown hair, dark skin and innocent chocolate-brown eyes.

The girl was obviously a child of the Underworld - she was completely aware of her surroundings unlike everybody else around her and she didn't at all seem afraid of everything around her but rather familiar with it instead. She turned around to face Nico once she had heard him approaching and hastily introduced herself as Hazel Levesque, Daughter of Pluto. Hazel seemed to instantly trust Nico which made him smile, she said that she could tell he was a child of Pluto too but Nico corrected her - telling her he was a child of Hades. This confused them both, Nico had never heard of a god of the underworld called Pluto, and Hazel had never heard of a god of the underworld called Hades. But before they could even argue, the fields of Asphodel faded to black around them.

The two of them appeared in a room that looked oddly like a Throne Room. In front of them sat a large black chair that was decorated with many skulls, the chair was surrounded by many hellhounds and dead soldiers of many decades. And, strangely enough, the chair was occupied. A tall, muscular man with startling white skin awaited them at the other end of the room, his eyes were as black as the void as he stared at them. The man brushed his shoulder-length hair behind his ear before reaching down to fiddle with his beard- and that was when Nico finally realised that this was his dad, this was Hades. The flowing black robe and the dead souls sewed into said robe now made sense in Nicos' mind.

"Nico Di Angelo, my son. What brings you here?" His voice was oily and undeniably strong, it made Nico shudder.

Nico hesitated before responding, "F-Father, I came here in search of my sister, Bianca Di Angelo." His voice wavered when he spoke his sisters' name, suddenly feeling like he was 8 years old again - wanting to hide behind his older sister.

Hades frowned slightly, "And, to what business do you have with Hazel Levesque?"

Nico only then realised that Hazel was standing slightly behind him, almost cowering under Hades' gaze, "I found her in the Fields of Asphodel and we began talking, Father." He didn't mention that he didn't know how he got to be standing in front of Hades himself, just in case the God took it as sarcasm or something worse.

Hades sighed, "Nico, you need to understand that two are not supposed to know each other. Hazel is also not meant to leave the Fields of Asphodel." Hades sounded conflicted before speaking again, "But, I can't just send her back. It just doesn't feel...well, right." Hades uttered something under his breath before shaking his head slightly. "Nico, I need you to do me a favour - well a few favours."

Nico nodded his head, albeit a little hesitantly. Whenever a God wanted a favour it hardly ever ended well.

"I need you to take Hazel to camp. But not the camp you know. Take her to Camp Jupiter - it's a camp for Roman Demigods like Hazel." Hades' voice had deepened slightly, sounding more serious than ever, "You cannot tell anyone you are Greek, or that you are a child of me. You must let them know you are an Ambassador of Pluto and that you come on behalf of him. And, Nico, you have to promise not to let anyone know about this - about the Romans or the Roman camp. Hazel," His eyes found their way over to Hazels, "You also must promise not to speak of this encounter or of the Greeks. The other campers do not know of each other and it must remain that way. Do I make myself clear?"

When neither of them answered instantly, he raised his voice and spoke again, "Do I make myself clear!?"

"Yes, Father!"

"Yes, Lord Hades!"

They chorused nervously under Hades' stern gaze.

"Very well. You two are dismissed. And I will know if you break our little pact." Hades emphasised the word will.

Hazel's whole body instantly brightened after they resurfaced from the underworld. Her eyes glowed in the sun and her hair bounced as she spun in a circle - taking in her surroundings.

Nico had then instantly taken Hazel to Camp Jupiter, battling monsters on the way there, with Nico teaching Hazel some basic sword practice even though she knew quite a bit. Nico had instantly grown fond of Hazel, feeling like he needed to be a protective older brother when he was around her. He swore to himself that he'd be the same person to Hazel, as Bianca was to him - the best sibling he could've ever asked for.

Nico arrived just outside New Rome, startling some residents who were just regularly going about their day. He started walking towards a local coffee shop where he suspected he would find Hazel, it had become a thing for them to meet each other at a specific coffee shop every time they wanted to see each other. And just to prove his suspects right, Hazel was sitting at a table outside the coffee shop. But she wasn't alone - Percy Jackson sat to the right of her, staring at a patch of patterned tablecloth that covered the table. It looked like they were sitting in silence, waiting for Nico to join them before speaking.

When Nico was almost at the table, Hazel lifted her head. She could always sense whenever he was close - he used to find it weird but now he loves it, he once embarrassingly confessed that it made him feel special. Hazel offered him a small smile before beckoning him to come closer, Nico began to feel nervous. Normally whenever he met up with Hazel again she would be grinning from ear to ear, unable to stop chatting about stuff she had done in the past week. But now she looked just as nervous as he felt, and he suspected that it had something to do with the Son of Poseidon - or Neptune - that was sitting next to her.

Nico slid into the chair opposite Hazel whilst giving her a confused look. Percy finally looked up from the spot on the table he had chosen to study, he looked annoyed and Nico just knew that it was aimed at him.
"Hey, guys...Why is he here?" Nico directed his question towards Hazel who still hadn't spoken a word since he arrived.

"I'm here because I know you know about my dream, Nico." Percy practically hissed, answering Nico's question instead of Hazel.

Nico's face soured, not finding Percy's tone of voice pleasing, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Jackson." He hissed back, glaring at Percy before quickly averting his eyes.

Percy huffed in fake amusement, "Sure you don't. Just like how you'll probably deny that you disappeared during the feast, or how you were staring at me the whole time like you were expecting something from me, and when you got it you fled." Nico was surprised. The Percy he used to know was never as observant as this, it was almost like he had gotten his memory wiped and for some reason just became ten times smarter than before.

When Nico didn't respond for a couple seconds, Percy smirked and rested his forearms on the table, leaning closer to Nico.

"What do you know, Di Angelo?" he practically whispered. Nico shuddered and just then decided that he didn't like this Percy, he could be quite fucking intimidating. But before Percy could interrogate him even more, Hazel sweeped him and saved him like Wonderwoman - she was incredible.

"Percy, please remember that Nico has literally just got here. Give him some space." She placed her hand on Percy's shoulder and nudged him back a tiny piece. Percy turned towards her and let her hand guide him back before sighing.

"If you saw what I saw then you would also wanna know." Percy shrugged his shoulders and turned his head downwards, apparently finding something interesting on the ground.

Nico almost felt bad for him, Percy had been brought to Camp Jupiter with no memory and now he knew that someone might know something about him, but they won't tell him. But put emphasis on the almost.

Nico also remembered that this same demigod was the reason his sister had died, and he doesn't think he'll ever forgive him - no matter how many times Percy had apologised to him before he disappeared, and no matter how many times everyone told him that it wasn't Percy's fault. Heck, Nico had been kinda happy that Percy had lost his memory, it meant that Nico could live his life without having to be around the guy, but it was just his luck that his sister decided to befriend him. And now here he was, being interrogated by the same guy he wanted nothing to do with. He groaned internally.

"Look, Jackson. I know you saw Jason, and I know exactly what you saw. But you have to trust me on this. You can't know about it." Nico spoke after a hot minute, earning a surprised look from both Percy and Hazel.

"What?" Percy asked incredulously, "That's just not fair and you know it, Nico." He glared at Nico.

Hazel sighed, "Percy he's right. You should just leave it for now."

Percy gasped at Hazel like she had just stabbed him in the heart, "Do you...know too?" And in that moment, he sounded like the same Percy who had come up to him and informed him his sister had died, the same Percy who profusely apologized and tried to explain to him what had happened. The same Percy who he completely ignored.

"N-No, no. I don't, I just think you should listen to Nico." Hazel stammered as she technically lied to him. She didn't know about his dream, or Jason being at Camp Half-Blood. But she knew about the Greeks, and she knew Percy was one.

Percy nodded before hastily standing up, "Uh, sorry but I gotta go find Frank. He told me to meet him to spar and I completely forgot until now." He smiled sheepishly before jogging off without waiting for their goodbyes.

Hazel watched him jog off and Nico could see her having an internal war with herself.

"Hey, Haze. It's okay, don't worry about it." Nico offered a soft smile, reaching out to intertwine his hand with hers, squeezing it in reassurance.

She turned to face him, "Yeah...you're probably right. I'll go check on him later." Hazel squeezed his hand back before speaking again, "I didn't just call you here to talk to Percy, you know."

Nico frowned at her, "Is there something else that's up?"

She laughed at his reaction, "No, Neeks. I just wanted to talk to you. You're my brother and I've hardly seen you when you've been staying at camp recently. You're always discussing with Reyna about things." She rolled her eyes playfully, but he could tell she was a bit upset.

"Gods, Hazel. I'm so sorry. It's just that Reyna has been wanting me to help her plan for Jason's feast for a few weeks, so I finally helped her." He squeezed her hand again, "Hey, how about I make it up to you...and we go get ice cream?" He grinned at her, waiting impatiently for her response.

She slowly cracked a smile, "Only if you get me a smoothie too...then maybe you'll be forgiven." Hazel teased, before standing up and yanking Nico with her.

Despite being the children of the Gods of Death, they could always spare some time for ice cream together.

Chapter Text

The Coliseum was emptier than usual when Percy arrived, the only other people inside were two demigods sparring with each other who he didn't know the names of. He made his way over to the back corner of the Coliseum, away from everybody else.

Percy had been lying when he said that Frank had wanted to spar with him, heck Frank didn't even like sparring with him - he always said that Percy was too difficult to fight with and that his 'style of fight' was too different. He didn't even understand how fighting had a style nor how it could be THAT different, but apparently Frank thought otherwise.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his pen before uncapping it. Percy had discovered that he had a ballpoint pen in his pocket on his second day of camp and then learnt that said pen could turn into a sword, which unfortunately wasn't the weirdest thing he'd had to deal with - in fact it was kinda normal compared to other things. The pen read 'Anaklusmos' on the side and for some reason, he had translated it to mean "Riptide" in Ancient Greek like it was his first-spoken language, he never told anyone about the word though - anything Greek was forbidden.

Riptide was about 3 feet long and fit his grip perfectly, it was almost like it was made specifically for him and he decided that it must've been given to him before he lost his memory or something - probably a long time ago since he was able to wield Riptide like it was a piece of cake when he first uncapped it.

Percy held Riptide in front of him, studying it for a minute before swinging it in an arc - bringing it down on one of the training dummies that were stored in the Coliseum for training purposes. He swung his sword to the left before bringing it down yet again, repeating different techniques one after the other in perfect motion.

It wasn't long before Hazel found him with Frank tagging along behind her.

"Percy!" Hazel called out, jogging across the coliseum towards him.

He didn't acknowledge her, opting to keep swinging Riptide downwards onto the training dummy. Percy wasn't particularly thrilled with her being there, he wasn't really mad at her but more upset. It was obvious that she knew something earlier and didn't want to tell him - sure, she wasn't obligated to tell him anything but Percy was her friend and friends normally told each other things, especially if said things were about their friends.

Percy had stopped swinging his sword a few moments prior, too busy thinking about whatever Hazel could even know that he didn't even notice Frank approaching him with Hazel waiting behind him.

Frank placed his hands on Percy's shoulders with a firm grip causing Percy to flinch, "Perce? Are you okay, buddy?" Frank sounded concerned, suddenly making Percy feel guilty - he couldn't stay mad at people for long, it just wasn't him.

He sighed before turning towards Frank, making Frank loosen his grip on his shoulders so that he could turn fully, "Do you need something, Frank?"

Frank's current frown deepened, "I want to know if you're alright Percy, you're my friend and I care about you."

Percy winced slightly but if Frank noticed then he didn't show it, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Frank. I just wanted to burn some steam you know? Beating this dummies ass is hella fun man, you should try it." He cracked a smile at Frank.

Frank huffed in amusement, "I've tried it Perce and I know it doesn't keep you in the Coliseum for 4 hours, no matter how fun it is."

Percy choked on his own spit, "What?"

Frank raised his eyebrows in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean 4 hours?" Percy asked incredulously, capping Riptide nonchalantly.

"You've been in here for 4 hours...You didn't know that?" Frank dropped his hands off Percy's shoulders, opting to grab his wrist and beginning to drag him to the exit as Hazel walked in front of them.

Percy was silent for a couple moments as they walked together, "I-I didn't know it had been that long, have I missed dinner?"

Frank offered him a small smile, "Not yet but you will if you don't move your ass."

Percy nudged his shoulder against Franks playfully before smirking, "Race you there."

He sprinted out of Frank's grip before exiting the Coliseum. He heard Frank cursing behind him whilst Hazel giggled, promptly telling Frank to hurry up or else he'll lose.

Spoiler alert: Frank still lost.

The trio reached the Mess hall just on time. They walked over to the table where the rest of the Fifth Cohort and weirdly enough, Nico Di Angelo, were sitting.

"Nico!" Hazel sat down next to Nico with a grin on her face as Frank sat next to her, leaving Percy to sit at the end.

Nico offered her a shy smile and in a hushed voice responded, "Hey Haze."

"What are you doing sitting here, Nico?" Frank questioned him as food started to appear on people's plates.

Nico stayed quiet for a moment, "I need to talk to Percy."

Percy looked up from where he was intensely staring at his plate, "What?" He hoped he didn't sound as surprised as he thought he did, but knowing him he probably sounded like Nico had murdered his whole family.

"Erm, yeah. I needed to talk to you...about earlier." He sounded nervous, which was weird for Nico. The Son of Pluto was always good at hiding how he felt, sometimes it was about unnerving.

"Oh, okay. What's up?" Percy cleared his throat, suddenly more alert than he was a couple seconds ago - forcing his face to become as stoic as he possibly could.

Nico looked around the room before turning to face Percy, "I'll talk to you after Dinner because you know...privacy is nice." He muttered the last part sarcastically, probably hoping that Percy didn't hear him but he did anyway.

"Asshole," Percy murmured as his mood soured, getting a slap on his arm from Frank.

Dinner was tense after that. Well, not really, but neither Percy nor Nico spoke a word - both just listening to Hazels and Frank's conversation about random ass crap that he didn't understand. Percy caught Nico occasionally smiling out of the corner of his eye whenever Hazel laughed especially hard, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

As soon as dinner was over and the rest of the campers started to leave, Nico stood up and gestured for Percy to follow him, even though he looked like he wanted to be doing anything else but talk to him. They both said their goodbyes to Hazel and Frank, Percy telling them he'd see them back at the barrack, before walking off towards Temple Hill.

Temple Hill stood on the other side of the Little Tiber - towering over Camp Jupiter with the many different Temples that resided on top. Percy followed Nico towards the Shrine of Neptune - which couldn't even be classed as a temple - it was the size of a toolshed and looked more rundown than anything he had ever seen before. Seeing the Shrine made a pang of hurt pulse through his body, he didn't know what his dad did to get his 'temple' in this shape but it couldn't have been good.

"Sooo... What did you wanna talk about?" Percy asked as they entered the shrine. He plopped down onto the ground and leaned against the wall as he stared at the pathetic altar of his father, like c'mon it was smaller than the training dummies at the Coliseum.

Nico cleared his throat before sitting down next to Percy on the floor, although with more grace than Percy could ever muster, "Well, Uhm...I-I don't know how to tell you t-this..."

Percy looked over towards Nico, his hands were shaking as he kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, "Nico...? Are-are you ok, man?" He leaned forwards so that he could get a better look at Nico's face - which was as pale as a ghost, but he couldn't tell if that was Nico's normal face or if he was sick.

When Nico didn't respond, Percy put a hand on his shoulder which was the wrong thing to do as Nico flinched - hard.

"Nico? What's up?" Percy frowned at him, concerned. Even though he didn't know the guy well, and though said guy hated him, he was still worried about him. This wasn't like Nico at all.

"Nico, please. What's wro-"

"I knew you, Percy." Nico practically whispered, his voice wavering uncharacteristically.

Percy paused for a moment in confusion, "What?" His voice lowered significantly. He had an idea about what Nico was talking about but he needed to be one hundred percent sure.

Nico took a deep breath in, "Before you lost your memory, I knew you. We were friends, well you thought we were anyways."

Percy's mind froze. He couldn't blink, he couldn't talk, he couldn't even think. Nothing made sense.

"Then...why would you not tell me? Why would you ignore me?" Percy's voice wavered. He just didn't understand. Why?

He had so many questions yet he just couldn't get any words to fall out of his mouth.

Nico gulped so hard that Percy heard it, "P-Percy you...I, I didn't like you. Well...well I used to look up to you dude back when we first met. I...but then you-you did something. Something I don't think I can talk about right now and I just couldn't...see you the same. When you lost your memory," He took a deep breath in like he was preparing himself for something big, "I took it as an opportunity to...well, avoid you. You didn't know me so I pretended not to know you."

Percy hastily stood up, "Why are you telling me this now?" His voice was harsh, and if he wasn't so angry he would've felt bad - but he didn't care. "Why now? Why not when we were literally talking earlier?" He paused for a second, "Did...Does Hazel know?"

Nico stood up as well, turning to face Percy as he practically cowered under Percy's glare, "No...Uhm no, she didn't. Not until I told her earlier - she was the one to convince me that I should tell you so...so I am. Look, Percy, I'm sorry. I didn't want to know you anymore and honestly? I still don't. But you needed to know and right now you don't even know what you did...it's not right."

Percy turned away before looking towards his dad's shrine, "Do you know the people who knew me?"

"Y-yes," Nico mumbled, nervously - like he was unsure of what would be the right answer.

"Can you...can you take them to me?" Percy asked, unsure whether he would actually want to meet them - or if it'd be weird since he couldn't remember them.

Nico sighed, "I can't, no. I'm sorry Percy. I told them you were okay... and when I go see them again, I might have to tell them about you. Well, not you specifically but where you are. But I can't take you to them.

Percy's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fuck." He muttered under his breath before turning towards the door of the shrine, "Nico...listen. I'm sorry for whatever I did and if I could I would've never done it. Just...Thank you for telling me. Now's better than never I guess." Percy forced a small smile on his face, he knew it was strained but he was trying his best. He didn't want Nico to feel too bad about it, he obviously did something bad for Nico to not want to talk to him ever again so they were probably even now. He hoped anyways.

Nico coughed - almost like he choked but not quite, "Uhm yeah...yeah."

Percy scratched the back of his neck, "I'm...gonna go back to the barracks before, you know, my ass gets beat. I'll see you...uhm later. Bye Nico."

Percy scrambled for the door, suddenly needing fresh air in his lungs. He ran down Temple Hill towards the bridge that crossed the Little Tiber and followed the path towards Camp Jupiter.

What the fuck just happened.

Chapter Text

Jason hadn't seen Nico in nearly two weeks, the boy had told them that he needed to go to the Apollo Cabin as he needed to talk to Will and they never saw him again. But after asking Will they had learnt he had left camp again - they being Jason, Annabeth and Piper.

Will had told them that he'd be back soon but nobody had heard from him yet and it wasn't like Nico to be out this long, even Will was getting a little antsy which wasn't like him at all.

It was a breezy Friday afternoon when Nico arrived back at Camp Half-Blood, looking more distressed than he had been when he'd first found out that Jason had spread his secret all-around camp - Jason still felt bad about that. Nico appeared outside of Cabin 1 where Jason, Will, Annabeth, Piper and Leo were all hanging out. Jason wasn't as close to Will as he was to the rest but ever since Nico had been gone a little longer than they'd anticipated, Will had wanted to keep occupied and Jason took that as a challenge, constantly making sure Will had something to do and Jason would say that it had worked. Will had relaxed significantly without having Nico on his mind 24/7, but when Nico ran through the door frantically everything changed.

"Neeks?" Will jumped up from where he was sitting on Jason's bunk, running to Nico who stood in front of the open door - almost like a statue.

The others stood up from where they were seated around the cabin but decided not to move any closer, making sure they didn't spook Nico as he looked like he was on the verge of breaking down. What had happened whilst he had been gone?

Nico sounded breathless when he responded, "Will? Thank gods it's you." He met Will halfway, engulfing the boy in a hug. The others turned their heads away from the two who were still standing near the doorway. The action seemed too private for them to be seeing but instead of interrupting they just averted their gazes so that Nico wouldn't be too embarrassed when he finally noticed they were all there.

"Nico...? What's wrong, where have you been?" Will's voice was slightly muffled by Nico's hair, which Will had buried his face in.

"Camp Jupiter," Nico responded deliriously, he froze after he realised what he had just said and pulled away from Will's embrace. Jason looked back towards them, Camp Jupiter...? That name sparked something in his mind but he couldn't figure out what it was, almost like it was on the tip of his tongue - waiting to spill off but it just wouldn't fall.

Jason interrupted, "Camp Jupiter...?" he stuttered slightly, the words feeling uncertain yet weirdly familiar in his mouth at the same time, "Is that like Camp Half-Bloods secret sibling or something?"

Leo muffled a giggle at that, always finding amusement in situations somehow.

Nico didn't respond, too busy staring at the ground as Will placed his hands on Nico's shoulders - trying to coax the boy to look up at him.

"Nico, what are you talking about?" Will sounded more concerned than anything, probably wanting to know that the place was safe. Obviously, Jason wanted to know that too, but he also really wanted to what it was and what you did there. Maybe it was like Camp Half-Blood, maybe they were both camps - or maybe Camp Jupiter was for Mortals and Camp Half-Blood was for demigods, what if Nico had a job at a mortal summer camp or something? That would kinda make sense...

"I...I wasn't meant to say that..." Nico stammered, he sounded nervous and somewhat scared which was very strange for Nico. His eyes were wide as he lifted his head to stare past Will, looking straight at Jason.

Nico abruptly stood up and left the cabin leaving the rest of the group in stunned silence.

"So...What's this 'Camp Jupiter' thing?" Leo broke the silence, sounding nonchalant but definitely intrigued. His voice seemed to have broken an invisible spell that was cast onto the group and everyone began moving again, Will raced out the door - probably to follow after Nico - and Annabeth followed shortly after him too. Piper turned to face Jason, her brows were pinched together in confusion and her mouth was turned into a frown.

"Do you know anything about Camp Jupiter?" She sounded unsure almost like she was nervous to hear Jason's answer. Jason shrugged before responding,

"I mean it sounds a little familiar yeah, but that's all." He turned to look at Leo who had returned to the bag of crisps he was eating before looking back towards Piper, "Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders, mimicking his movement from moments before. "I just saw Nico looking at you. It was almost like he wanted you to speak up or something." She shook her head slowly, "I probably just imagined it."

"No, no. I saw him too!" Leo sat down on Jason's bunk where Will had been sitting. The two others turned towards him, surprised that he had spoken up.

"You did?" Piper's frown somehow deepened, even more, Jason didn't know how that was possible.

"Yeah! Completely ignored Will, it was like Nico thought Jason was the only guy in the room," Leo snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. "It was sorta weird though, Nico comes rushing into the cabin, he tells us where he's been going and then says that he didn't mean to say it. Then stares at Jason like he wants him dead or something."

Jason huffed, "Sorta? It was so weird, man."

Leo smirked, "It's Nico Di Angelo, dude! He's always weird, just this time it was a bit more."

Piper smacked his arm before sighing, "We should head to dinner, it's almost time anyways."

She walked past Jason towards the door. Leo started to follow her but Jason caught his wrist.

Leo let out a sound of surprise before turning to face Jason, "You good, man?"

Jason let go of his wrist before scratching the back of his neck nervously, "Do you think...that maybe I knew something about this Camp Jupiter place before I, you know, lost my memory...?"

Leo's eyes widened, nodding his head like he was processing what Jason had just said.

"That...that could make a lot of sense, but how would Nico know that?"

Jason felt his eyebrows scrunch together, "Uh...maybe it's a Son of Hades thing?"

Leo smiled, it was the smile that he used whenever Jason said something that he found dumb, "Sorry to ruin whatever's going on in your head, but I don't think that time travelling to the past is a 'Son of Hades' thing."

Jason scoffed, "I didn't say anything about time travelling."

"It was implied!"

"No, it wasn't! I didn't mention a thing about it!"

Leo walked out of the cabin as Jason followed.

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say Sparky!"

"That's your dumb brain making things up Elf boy!"

Chapter Text

2 days had passed since Percy's last encounter with Nico. Percy had learnt that Nico left camp the morning after their conversation, and honestly...Percy couldn't be any happier about that. Yeah, that definitely sounds mean but he doesn't think he could handle sitting at the same table as Nico Di Angelo for every single meal he ate. He wasn't mad at Nico but he was definitely mad, mad at the fucking person who decided that taking away his memory and sending him somewhere completely random was a normal thing to do. Like seriously? Who does that?

"Fuckin' Gods probably." Percy scoffed under his breath, he was on his way towards the Coliseum, alone. He hadn't talked to anybody since Nico had left and nobody had made the effort to talk to him either, they could probably tell that he was not in the mood for any conversations. Well everyone but Frank that is.

"Percyy! Man, where have you been?!" Frank shouted from behind Percy, making said demigod start to walk slightly faster. Frank jogged up beside him and slung his arm around Percy's shoulder, giving a little squeeze like he normally did - it was Frank's little way of saying "I'm here for you" - and usually it did cheer Percy up slightly but today was not one of those days.

Percy shrugged his shoulders, trying his best to make Frank's arm fall but it didn't budge. And thus was another reason he hated Mars kids - their stupid strength.

"Hey Frank." he mumbled under his breath, trying to sound as uninterested as possible - which wasn't very difficult - to hope that Frank got the hint and left him alone asap.

He did feel a little bad that he wanted one of his best friends to go away but he really wasn't in the best of moods and he didn't want Frank to piss him off even more without meaning to which would end in him facing the wraith of a tsunami on land. We all have those days where we almost kill our friends, right? Or maybe it's just a Son of Neptune thing, he doesn't know.

"Uh...Perce are you alright?" Frank ducked his head more towards Percy's ear and lowered his voice. He gripped Percy's shoulder loosely, trying to make him stop walking but Percy kept going, if Frank really wanted him to stop he could easily make him.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm gonna go practice sparring, ill see you later!" Percy spoke as he started picking up his pace again, praying to whatever God up there, that still had some decency, would let him get away. And surprisingly, it worked. Frank shouted back some jumbled mixture of a goodbye and a concerned squeak before turning on his feet and jogging back the way he just came from, probably on his way to find Hazel.

Percy sighed. He felt like such a dick.

He sparred for about 2 hours before someone interrupted him. Reyna came marching into the Coliseum like a hurricane tearing through houses of innocent people except she hadn't caused any damage...yet.

"Perseus Jackson! I need to speak to you." She stopped in front of him, blocking his view of the training dummy he was currently slashing. Percy pocketed Riptide before sighing.

"What can I help you with, Praetor?" Percy folded his arms across his chest. This day just kept getting better and better! - Yes that was sarcasm, Percy currently wanted to die.

"It's a private matter, Jackson. Follow me please." Reyna mirrored him by folding her arms too before turning on her heel and walking towards the exit of the Coliseum. He rolled his eyes before walking after her, preferring to stay behind to avoid as little small talk as possible. He hated it.

Reyna lead him into the Principia and straight into her office where Hazel, Frank and other unimportant people were waiting. Percy internally groaned, he guessed all the decent gods really don't exist anymore and he honestly isn't surprised. Reyna sat down in her chair where her dogs Argentum and Aurum guarded either side of it. She gestured to the seat on the other side of her desk, "Sit. Make yourself comfortable, Perseus."

"Percy. It's Percy." He mumbled, already wanting to get this over with. Percy walked over to the chair and ungracefully flopped onto it with his arms still crossed over his chest. He immediately made eye contact with Frank who sat on the chair next to him, with Hazel on Frank's other side. "What the fuck is this?" He mouthed as clearly as possible, hoping that Frank understood whatever he was trying to say.

All Frank did was shrug his shoulders before frowning and turning back to face Reyna, who was currently grabbing different papers and files out of her drawers.

She seemed to have gathered everything she needed as she cleared her throat before placing the papers in front of the three people seated. Percy went to grab a paper before Frank slapped his hand away, earning a deathly glare from the already pissed off boy. "You all know Nico Di Angelo, yes?" Reyna looked at all three of them individually, expecting some sort of answer. The three of them nodded with Hazel chorusing a quiet "Yes, Praetor." She nodded to herself before clapping her hands together quickly, startling the other people standing around the outside of her office who some had started spacing off. Percy couldn't blame them, he also really did not want to be here. Has he made that clear enough yet?

"Brilliant, but I already knew that so it doesn't matter." Reyna offered a small smile in Hazel's direction - Hazel seemed to be Reyna's favourite out of the trio but Percy didn't care, he was fine with that. "Nico came to speak to me just before he left," She turned her head towards Percy, somehow sitting up even straighter than she had been doing prior, "He informed me on how he had to leave to sort out some business and told me that he could be in contact with me, and indeed he was." Reyna shifted self-consciously, almost like she was nervous about what she was about to say - but Reyna can't possibly be nervous so Percy must have read her wrong.

"Is Nico okay?" Hazel interrupted hastily, sounding panicked about her brother. She looked seconds away from a breakdown and he couldn't blame her, Reyna was being a bit overdramatic if he had to say so himself.

"Yes, Hazel. Nico is fine, well not 'fine' but he's not hurt if that makes you feel any better." She smiled sympathetically at Hazel before turning back to address them all, she looked down at the paper she had set on the table. "Nico said he had told some people about us and about Camp Jupiter, he said they were not dangerous but he wanted me to know."

"Well if he wanted you to know then why are you telling us?" Percy asked, what did this have to do with him, Hazel and Frank? He could maybe understand Hazel with her being his sister and everything, but him and Frank? His brain was empty.

"Well, I'm trying to get there if you'd stop interrupting." She glared at him, shaking her head subtly.

Percy frowned in confusion, "I've only said one thi-"

"Percy. Shut up" Frank interrupted him, elbowing him in the ribs. Kids of Mars really do underestimate their own strength sometimes.

"Thank you, Frank. Anyways, Nico said that soon he wouldn't have a choice and he would have to tell more people about us - so he thought that it would only be fair if we knew some things too." The trio all looked uncertain, Percy was about to ask another question but Reyna continued, "Now, I don't want other people finding out about our Camp and about us in general but Nico assured me that they were not threats and that they were like us in a way, and I trust Nico."

"So basically if we all die, we blame Nico." Percy unhelpfully added, earning a glare from Reyna and Hazel. Frank covered his mouth with his hand, trying his best to conceal his smile.

"We are not going to die, thank you very much. Like I was saying, Nico told me he visits this place called Camp Half-Blood every time he leaves. It's-" Reyna continued talking but Percy couldn't hear her, he was too focused on what she had just said.
Camp Half-Blood. Camp. Half-Blood.

It was too familiar yet when he thought about it nothing popped up beside a few extremely fuzzy memories of the dreams he had been having. Was that where his dreams had been taking him? No that couldn't be possible, it wouldn't make sense - but then again...most things didn't make sense, being a demigod is really the embodiment of expecting the unexpected.

But if he really was at that Camp Half-Blood place during his dreams then wouldn't that also mean that...Jason Grace, the missing praetor, is at Camp Half-Blood? Yeah, sure maybe he just randomly dreamt that Jason Grace was at Camp Half-Blood and he really isn't there, in fact he's actually dead, but there's also a high chance that maybe Jason is at the other Camp.

But then that would also mean that Nico would also know that Jason was at Camp Half-Blood, which wouldn't be fair on keeping that information away from Reyna. But maybe Reyna already knows. But then again maybe his dream wasn't at Camp Half-Blood. Or maybe it was actually Jason there and he ran away from Camp Jupiter for some reason or even-

Percy stood up from where he was sitting and ran to the door, desperately scrambling to get out. It was getting too much, his mind was doing too much thinking and he just needed fresh air. Now.

He ran outside the Principia and towards New Rome. He had just passed the Pomerian Line when he noticed how wet he was, looking up he noticed the dark grey sky that had somehow formed over Camp Jupiter. Camp Jupiter NEVER rained and the sky never changed unless it was dusk or dawn.

Percy looked around him. All the Romans were racing through the cobbled roads of New Rome seeking shelter or any safe place they could find, for some reason the rain seemed to be affecting them more than it was him but he just assumed it was because he was the Son of Neptune - and the fact that he could be waterproof whenever he wanted to be.

A rumbled of thunder shook the ground, making a young child almost fall to the ground before they scrambled away. Percy couldn't tell what was happening, nothing was making sense. It was almost like he wasn't real - like he was from behind a TV screen.

What was he doing? What was going on? Why the fuck is it raining? What is-

"PERCY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Chapter Text

Percy spun around hastily as he forced his eyes to search over the hoard of crowds running in every direction. What the actual fuck was going on? Should he also be runnin-

A pair of hands grasped both of his shoulders tightly, spinning him back around to face the familiar faces of Hazel, Frank and Reyna.

“Percy? Percy look at me!” Hazel released one of his shoulders to pat his cheek, trying her best to get his attention. Percy snapped his head towards her, eyes panicky and wild - and just so unlike Percy that it was almost startling.

“Wha-” Percy wheezed before being betrayed by his airways and coughing violently. Hazel gripped his shoulder once more and dug her nails in even deeper, of course with no mean intent but it still hurt like hell.

“Ouch- Wha- Hazel, what is happening-” Percy gasped out, trying his best to wriggle out of Hazel's grasp but she just held on even tighter.

“Percy, you need to calm down...please!” Hazel pleaded, trying her best to keep the panic out of her own voice and succeeding well enough that Percy didn't notice. Hazel was always the best out of their little trio at staying calm in dire situations - this moment adding to that list.

“I- I really can’t do that when I don’t know what the fuck is going on and the fact that you are gripping my shoulder like some God is about to swoop down and take me away-” Percy rushed out, looking down at his shoulder to where Hazel's hands faltered and quickly relaxed but still held onto him securely, but at least she wasn't digging her nails into his skin - it almost reminded Percy of a cat with its claws and if he wasn't about to combust from confusion he might’ve laughed.

“Jackson, you need to relax and then we can discuss what is happening. Listen to Hazel.” Reyna commanded, interrupting his thoughts and bringing him back to everything that was happening right then and there. The four of them were the only people out on the streets now with the rain relentlessly pelting down around them, the Romans watched them from the safety of their houses and the various shops scattered around the area, obviously confused as to why they weren’t seeking shelter like every other smart person - but Percy is a son of Neptune so technically they are the dumb ones for thinking he needs shelter - he didn’t know why the other three hadn’t run yet but surprisingly he noticed that they were dry like him, although they seemed to have gotten wet a few minutes before if the faint raindrops on their clothes indicated to anything.

Percy took a deep breath and tried to focus on things he found calming and things he enjoys at that moment in time - and yes he did depressingly struggle for a second because currently, his life is quite shit but nobody needs to know that. He focused his attention on when he had spent time sparring with Hazel and Frank, and when he once pissed off Octavian by stealing his toga and got Hazel to convince Reyna to let him go free of punishment - it didn't work.

Gradually the rain ceased the more Percy calmed down, and eventually the sun peeked back out from behind the clouds it had previously hidden behind. Frank, Reyna and Hazel had all waited with him for the rain to stop with Hazel never letting go of her grip, always letting him know she was standing there right in front of him - it was a very comforting gesture that he was grateful for.

“There you go, man! You did it,” Frank praised, giving Percy a soft smile - the type an older brother would give you if they were proud of something you had done - and it make Percy hesitantly smile back before looking back towards Reyna and Hazel.

He cleared his throat before looking around and finally taking in the assorted patches of puddles scattered all over the cobbled street they had stopped on, the street may as well have been a small stream from the amount of water that was running down it.

“So...Uhm, what-,” he gulped before returning his attention back towards his friends, “what happened?” His throat felt irritated and ticklish like he hadn't drank water in a few hours - which wasn't true, breakfast had been an hour ago, at the very least, and Percy can vividly recall the blueberry milkshake he had chugged down. It was the best one he had ever tried, and he would totally be getting it tomorrow again.

Hazel shared a glance towards Reyna who he had only just noticed looked deep in thought. “Well… I’m not sure, Percy.” Hazel frowned, only now just taking her hands off his shoulders. The lack of weight felt uncomfortable for a few seconds before the feeling disappeared and the confusion overpowered it.

“Well, what did it look like happened? Did Jupiter lose some shitty card game or something?” Percy questioned as he furrowed his brows, there was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for what just happened yet somehow nobody knows what it is which unsurprisingly happens more than he’d like.

“Listen, we just followed-” Hazel started before being interrupted by Reyna.

“It was you.” That sentence grabbed the group's attention, all turning their heads to look at Reyna. Reyna lifted her eyes towards Percy's face and when nobody responded she continued, “You caused that Percy. I don’t know how you did it, I guess you just got overwhelmed by something but I’ve seen something similar happen once and only once.” She sighed quietly, letting her eyes drop from Percy’s concerned-looking face.

“What do you mean? How could I have done this?” Percy somehow furrowed his brows even further, making them look like they were about to touch. Some type of irritation flickered to life at the bottom of his stomach but he tried his best to contain it, there wasn’t anything to get annoyed at - Reyna was just trying to help.

Reyna took a deep breath in before releasing it almost like she was psyching herself up for what she was about to say. “Jason,” she paused, “He…this happened to him once. It wasn’t the same obviously, you two aren’t the same people. But he got angry at something - very angry - and then the sky lit up with thunder following straight after. The air was filled with this static feeling and the thunder kept going, it was like it was on a broken record of some sort - repeating itself over and over again.” She breathed out before continuing, “But really, Jason had caused a thunderstorm. It was the worst one I have ever seen. He could even control the lightning but since he wasn’t aware of what he was doing, the lighting wasn’t being controlled and if we didn’t figure out what was causing it as soon as we did? Well...it wouldn’t have ended nicely that's for sure.” She looked back towards Percy as she finished speaking, “I don't know what would've happened if you didn't calm down when you did and I don’t ever want to find out. Do you remember anything you were feeling before it started raining? Or the reason for why you rain away?”

Percy was speechless. Why did every single thing link straight back to Jason? He hadn’t even met the guy yet but somehow he knew the poor dude's whole life story.

He thought back to what Reyna had just asked him, he faintly remembered running out of the Principia because of the Camp that Nico had been visiting - the name had felt uncomfortably familiar and Percy had needed some air. But why...why did it feel familiar? Percy furrowed his eyebrows in thought, desperately trying to rejig his memory and faintly thinking about what they say about goldfishes and their memories - it kinda made sense that his memory wasn't the best since he was a son of Neptune after all, the thought almost made him chuckle before he continued trying to remember what had caused him to scram.

"Jason!" Percy snapped his fingers in excitement having finally remembered what he had been thinking about before he ran out of Reyna's office but that excitement quickly faded once he realised he had just spoken out loud and unfortunately not in his head.

"...What?" Reyna hesitantly asked mirroring Percy by furrowing her eyebrows too. "What does Jason have to do with this?" She sounded a little defensive but mainly confused and that was rightfully so since Percy himself was still very confused.

Percy took a deep breath before beginning, "Listen...this might- well actually, this will sound a little weird and unbelievable but I think I might know where...Jason is." He looked towards Reyna's face trying to decipher whatever she was thinking at the moment, but before anyone could speak Percy continued, "I'm not one hundred per cent sure that I'm right...but it would sound more believable if you knew about all the dreams I've been having..."

"Dreams?"

"What?"

Hazel and Frank both chorused their confusion but it was quickly drowned out by Reyna's voice sounding as commanding as ever, "Then tell us, Jackson. What dreams have you been having? And what does Jason have to do with these dreams?" She sounded irritated, probably trying her best to not get too hopeful that she might've located her missing Praetor.

Percy nodded his head before hesitating - finding the best way to explain the weird dreams he has been having, "When you told us about Camp- Camp Half-Blood I felt like I recognized it, I know it sounds stupid but I pictured it in my head and it was the same place I had been going to in my dreams, and that's where I saw Jason. He was at Camp Half-Blood in my dreams and he saw me, he told me to leave but I don't think that was him - it was just someone using his body as a way to communicate with me." He sucked in a breath before releasing it, "But he was okay, at least he seemed it." Percy's voice quietened significantly almost like he was hesitant to say what he was about to, "I...I think that's where I'm supposed to be."

"Wha- Why do you think that?" Frank quietly asked seemingly unsure if he was allowed to ask that.

"Nico...well Nico told me that he knew me before I lost my memory and that he knew the people he knew me. I asked him if he could take me to them but he told me he couldn't, so I'm just guessing that maybe Camp Half-Blood is the place where the people I knew are and when I was at Camp Half-Blood in my dream two people came to me and they knew me, they started asking me where I had been and I just...I just didn't remember them but I know I wanted to speak to them. I really, really did but I couldn't - not before everything disappeared and I woke up." He sighed solemnly, "Again I'm not- I'm still not completely sure I'm right but it makes sense the more I think about it."

Hazel looked towards Reyna who stared straight at Percy like he had just killed someone she loved deeply before she too turned to Percy. She opened her mouth multiple times before finally speaking, "I...I believe him." Reyna looked towards Hazel not portraying her emotions on her face but slowly nodding after a couple seconds of tense silence.

"Why do you believe him?" Reyna asked sounding more thoughtful than disbelieving, almost like she also believed Percy's theory and was only asking so that she could hear Hazel's input which did make sense - Hazel was always known to be very wise around camp, demigods always ask for her opinions on various different things.

She cleared her throat before trying her best to sound sure of herself, "I- well, I know...I know about Camp Half-Blood too, less than Nico knows but I still know something. But before I can tell you I think Nico needs to be here, he can help explain everything I don't know."

Reyna nods before straightening up and turning away, gesturing for the trio to follow after her. Her voice was stern and demanding when she spoke, "Okay then, let's go contact Nico and get him back here."

Chapter Text

Nico was well and truly fucked.

He had arrived back at Camp Half-Blood a day ago and things were already going downhill rapidly. Once he had shadow travelled himself to the top of Half-Blood hill, he immediately set off in search of Will - the boy always knew how to comfort Nico whenever he was going through one of his many crises. But upon not finding Will in the usual places he meandered around, Nico started to grow panicked and he resorted to asking members of the Apollo Cabin if they had seen him. Which was how Nico ended up running blindly into Cabin 1 and accidentally telling all his friends about the existence of Camp Jupiter.

But of course, that wasn't the only reason why everything Nico had tried his hardest to keep hidden away started revealing itself. After getting his ass out of the predicament he made at Cabin 1, he, unfortunately, ran into the worst possible person for him to see at that moment, Chiron.

Nico was immediately bombarded with questions about the rumours that spread around camp a few weeks ago but with him still being worked up from whatever the fuck had just happened a few minutes ago, Nico thought it would be best for him to stay silent and hope that Chiron would run out of questions, leading him to eventually lose interest in whatever Nico had done.

After another minute of questions, Chiron did indeed run out of questions but instead of losing interest like Nico had hoped he would've, he instead demanded that Nico joined him for a meeting at the Big House and didn't that just feel like a big 'Fuck you Nico!' from whatever Gods were currently watching him right that second.

And that was what Nico was doing right now - making his way to the Big House for the weird meeting that he dreaded so badly, he was fucking terrified. He already knew what the meeting was going to be about and he knew that meant that he would have to reveal what the rumours were about, which also meant he was about to break the pact he made with his dad - his dad who was also the fucking god of the underworld. He cursed under his breath as he approached the stairs leading up to the porch of the Big House, pausing momentarily before climbing up them slowly - yes, he was stalling but could you blame him?

Looking through one of the windows of the house, Nico spotted Chiron seated around the table where the weekly camp meetings normally took place. But instead of the cabin counsellors sitting around it, Nico saw the familiar faces of Annabeth, Jason and Mr D - who didn't look any way interested in whatever the others were gossiping about. And for one of the first times in a long time, Nico was upset to see his friends, especially Annabeth - whose boyfriend he had hidden from her for almost half a year. He felt like a massive piece of shit.

He took a deep breath before opening the front door and making his way to the room they were all waiting in. The voices of Chiron and Annabeth hushed as he made his footsteps announce his presence, something he did often so that he didn't have to say anything to show he was there - it worked the majority of the time.

Nico walked into the room in silence and took a seat as far away from everyone else as possible but not too far so that he seemed like a massive dick. Jason gave him a reassuring smile as he decided to look around at the other people in the room, which did little to calm his nerves but he appreciated the fact that Jason was trying to make him feel better.

The room was silent for a few moments as they all waited for someone else to speak so that they wouldn't have to.

Chiron cleared his throat before looking at Nico, "I'm sure you know why you're here and I don't want this to take too long so let's get talking." Chiron gave him a small, somewhat sympathetic, smile before continuing, "I know you probably don't want to do this but if you promised Hades something then it's definitely important, so I apologise for making you do this but we need to know."

The room was silent for a moment before Nico sighed, "If I get locked in the underworld forever it will be all your fault and I will blame you," he mumbled under his breath before sighing yet again, "Well...long story short, there's another camp like ours but its also nothing like ours and I'm not meant to tell you, that's all I know." He lied before trying his best to smile but it turned out looking more like a grimace than anything else, "So...can I leave now?"

Chiron put his head in his hands before groaning. Everyone besides Mr D looked at him with confusion before Chiron lifted his head to look back towards Nico, "Camp Jupiter?"

"Uhm...yeah?" Nico responded furrowing his eyebrows, "You know about it?"

Chiron chuckled humourlessly, "Of course I do. It's the camp of the Romans and we all swore to keep the Romans and the Greeks separate from each other," he rolled his eyes, "but I guess Hades doesn't care about that."

"Surprise, surprise." Mr D added, sounding bored out of his mind.

Jason and Annabeth both remained uncharacteristically quiet as they observed the situation before Annabeth locked eyes with Nico who tried his best to look away but he found he couldn't, "So you've been visiting a camp full of Romans?" She didn't sound angry nor did she sound happy, in all honesty, there wasn't much in her voice and that was even scarier than her being angry.

"Yeah.."

"Why?" This time it was Jason who questioned him and Nico sighed, he hated lying to Jason.

"My sister is there," and just before Annabeth interrupted him to probably question him some more, he added, "My half-sister, Hazel."

"Wha-" Annabeth started before being cut off.

"Nico, I need you to explain everything to me. What do you know about Camp Jupiter and why do you know about it." Chiron interjected, his voice stern.

Nico nodded slowly, processing what he was about to do and wondering which bits he should say or not, "I was in the underworld about a year ago, in the Fields of Asphodel looking for uhm..." he paused and looked at the floor, "I was looking for Bianca. But instead, I found this girl, she was just so different to everyone else there and it was like I was drawn to her. She told me she was a child of Pluto and said that I was one too but I told her I was a child of Hades, before we could discuss anything else we teleported in front of a throne where Hades sat. He had sensed me in the underworld and brought us to his palace, he explained everything to us about the Greeks and the Romans, how Hazel was Roman and I was Greek, and how they weren't meant to mix. He decided he wouldn't send Hazel back to the fields and instead made me promise to take her to Camp Jupiter where she would stay and be safe. Obviously, I agreed but I also promised him I wouldn't tell any Greeks of the Romans or any Romans of the Greeks...but I've done both of those." His voice trailed off towards the end of his sentence and he averted his eyes to the floor where his shoes were nervously tapping the floor.

Annabeth's head snapped towards him, "What? What do you mean you've done both?!" This time it was clear she was somewhat angry.

"If I was going to tell you all about the Romans it's only fair that I tell them about the Greeks. They're my friends too." He kept his gaze on the floor, trying his best not to think about how Annabeth would react if he mentioned Percy and how he knows where he's been the whole time.

Annabeth sighed frustratedly before looking at Chiron, "So, what do we do?"

"Right now? We keep this conversation between us and pretend that we don't know Camp Jupiter exists. Got it?" Chiron replied giving the three demigods a slightly strained smile before wheeling his wheelchair out of the room. Mr D soon got up too and walked out towards the front door, probably going back to whatever boring activity he was doing beforehand.

"What the fuck." Annabeth muttered angrily before running a hand through her hair. "How does he expect us to do nothing?! There's literally Romans out there who are like us, and who are probably plotting to murder us this very second or something and we're supposed to do nothing?"

Nico barked out a laugh, "What!? You think they're plotting to kill you?" He looked towards Annabeth and after seeing that she was definitely not joking about that he groaned, "Annabeth please listen to me. They are nice people and I trust them. They wouldn't hurt you guys if they know you're friends of mine I promise."

For the first time in a while, Jason piped up too, "I think he's right Annabeth. I know it's kinda difficult to trust him after he's been hiding all of...that..but he did it for a reason. Also," He looked towards Nico," if I was you I'd be stressing the fuck out every day so props to you, Nico. It's quite impressive that you hid it for that long dude."

A small smile slid onto Nico's face, "Thanks, Jase."

Annabeth sighed again, making them both look at her, "Okay I sort of understand. I'm not mad at you, by the way, Nico. I'm just more mad about the fact we're supposed to do nothing." She looked up, facing both Jason and Nico who were sitting on the opposite side of the table from her, "You said they were nice right?" She asked causing Nico to nod, humming a small affirmation.

Annabeth paused, clearly debating in her head whatever she was about to blurt out before asking, "Can we meet them?"

Nico almost choked on his own spit, "What!? You literally thought they were about to kill you 2 minutes ago!"

"I mean yeah and if they do try to kill us i'm sure we could beat their asses easily, but anyways you said they were nice and I trust you. So if we're not going to fight them we should befriend them, right?" She questioned, Jason hummed in agreement. "And who knows, maybe it could be good for Camp Half-Blood as well - you know that quote, We are stronger together? That could be Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter or some shit."

Nico groaned running his hands down his face, "Annabeth, I don't know...I'm not too sure about this, like what if the Romans don't want it?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Why don't me, Pipes, Jason, and Leo come with you to check it out when you go back? We can discuss with whoever runs the place about forming some kind of alliance in the future or something and if they say no then they say no, and then we come back to Camp Half-Blood and pretend we never went there."

Nico was almost about to fucking explode. How the fuck was he meant to tell Annabeth that the real reason he doesn't want her to go to Camp Jupiter was because her long-lost boyfriend was literally there? There was literally no way he was getting out of this without either lying to Annabeth by telling her that the Romans really didn't like alliances or admitting the truth to her.

Nico looked over to where Jason was sitting and was surprised to see him looking straight at him, their eyes locked immediately and as soon as they did - Nico immediately knew that Jason understood. Jason knew that Percy Jackson was at Camp Jupiter and they both knew that Annabeth was going to have to know the truth.

Chapter Text

He was close to figuring it out, Jason could feel it.

There were too many thoughts going through his head all at once but he didn’t try to shut them out - Hades, Jason was honestly embracing them.

After the meeting with Nico, Jason had gone back to his cabin in a blur, he couldn’t remember even getting there - nor falling asleep - but he had woken up out of his bed over an hour ago. He just couldn’t stop thinking about everything: Camp Jupiter, Annabeth and Nico, Percy fucking Jackson - Gods that boy was always sitting at the front of his mind, constantly tapping at his brain trying to get his attention and most of the time it worked.

Jason knew Percy was at Camp Jupiter, he had known it from the moment Annabeth had asked if they could go visit Camp Jupiter themselves - Nico’s face was what gave it away. Now Jason never prided himself as a ‘people-reader’ but he could read Nico Di Angelo like the back of his hand, sometimes it scared him how close he and Nico had bonded in such a short amount of time - but he really appreciated the kid, the son of Hades was like the little brother he never had. Nico’s face had moulded ever so slightly into a look of guilt and although he was good at keeping his face stoic Jason had picked up on it, and when they locked gazes afterwards Nico’s eyes told him the whole story - that's when he definitely knew Percy Jackson was at Camp Jupiter and Nico Di Angelo had known the whole time.

Jason wasn’t mad at Nico for not telling anyone, of course, Jason didn’t even know Percy so why would he be mad? One thing he did know however was that whenever Nico kept a secret there was always a reason behind it, an important reason at that. But Nico couldn’t keep that secret forever because Jason knew part of the story and now he wanted the rest of it.

Before he knew what he was doing, Jason sat up from his bunk, walked out of Cabin 1 and headed straight towards Cabin 13 - the Hades cabin. He knocked heavily on the door and stood in silence, straining his eyes to hear any sort of movement from inside the cabin but it was deathly quiet. Jason knocked again, waiting a couple more moments before sighing in defeat. Nico obviously wasn’t in his cabin so he headed to one of the only other places the son of Hades would probably be at - Cabin 7, the Apollo Cabin.

Getting a brief moment of déjà vu, Jason knocked on the Apollo cabin door - this time already hearing some type of commotion inside the cabin and instead taking a step back from the door, anticipating its opening. A moment later the door swung open, revealing an unfamiliar short kid who stared at him obviously waiting for his explanation as to why Jason was standing outside the door.

“Is uh…Will here? Will Solace?” Jason asked suddenly feeling awkward and scratching the back of his neck - a habit he had picked up from somewhere before he lost his memory.

The kid turned around and shouted Wills's name, and to Jason’s relief Will appeared at the door not even seconds later. When he spotted Jason standing outside awkwardly he smiled at him before thanking his sibling and joining him outside - shutting the door behind his back.

“Hi, Jason! What’s up?” His smile remained on his face, shining just as brightly as always - Jason always found it funny how well Nico and Will clicked, with one being the definition of depressing and the other being the human embodiment of a ray of sunshine.

Jason smiled back, “You haven’t seen Nico around anywhere, have you? I need to speak to him and it's kind of…urgent.”

Will’s smile dropped ever so slightly, “No I haven’t actually. We were meant to meet for breakfast earlier but I haven’t seen him… although someone did mention that they saw him this morning heading towards Thalia's tree,” Will sighed, his smile now fully wiped away, “I think he’s left camp again, I don’t think it’ll be long before he gets back though. He’s done this before and came back like…a couple hours later? Yeah, a few hours and he’ll be back I hope.” Will tried for a smile again but it came out looking more like a grimace than anything - Jason knew Will was worrying about Nico and it would be quite sweet if Jason wasn’t also worried about him too. He didn’t show it though.

“Oh okay thanks, Will. And don’t worry I'm sure he’ll be back before dinner, a few hours just like you said.” He gave Will the most real smile he could muster up before turning away from the Apollo cabin.

Heading nowhere specific, Jason was deep in thought - too deep in thought that he bumped straight into his own girlfriend, Piper McLean.

"Oh shit! Sorry Pipes." Jason apologised shaking his head in disbelief before scanning her over for any injuries.

Piper laughed before giving him a smile, "It's okay Jase, are you alright though? You look like you're having some trouble in that head of yours." She playfully frowned nudging him with her shoulder and earning a small smile from Jason.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just having one of those days." He joked hoping that Piper wouldn't question him anymore, he trusted Piper one hundred per cent but the only person he wanted to talk to about this right now was the son of Hades and he wasn't here - so he needed to keep his thoughts to himself.

Piper smiled sympathetically before hooking her arm through his, "Alright, if you say so. But...I've actually been meaning to talk to you about something, something important. Wanna go to the beach?" She sounded slightly nervous but Jason surprisingly didn't feel worried, he just nodded to her before they started walking towards the path to the beach in silence.

After a few minutes, they made it to the sand. The beach looked as serene as ever and Jason faintly wondered why he didn't visit it more often. The waves lapped at the shore as they spoke a soft melody over and over again but the repetitiveness was welcomed. Piper tugged his arm as she made her way closer to the water, sitting down a few feet away in the middle of the golden dust. He joined her and they sat in silence for a few minutes. He knew something was about to happen but he didn't feel anxious he felt calm - smiling softly as he looked out towards the ocean.

"You feel it too don't you?" Piper finally broke the silence turning to face him with a soft smile of her own mirroring his face.

He turned towards her, making eye contact, "I think I do, yeah."

She took his hand in hers and squeezed it, causing him to squeeze back.

"Friends?" She said, her smile widened ever so slightly.

"Friends." Jason smiled back, before turning back to the water.

They sat together for a while, the only noise being the waves dancing in front of them and the occasional squawk of birds flying overhead.

"This is going to sound super shitty," Piper spoke before laughing lightly, "But...coming to Camp Half-Blood and you not really acting like, you know, my boy- my Boyfriend," she laughed again, this time sounding more nervous than before, "I've uhm... I really, really feel like I've, uh, understood myself better. Like, I've discovered more things about myself if that makes sense?" Piper sounded like she wanted to get this conversation over and done with as fast as possible but at the same time, she sounded more relieved the more she spoke.

Jason expected her to be bitter about the 'Boyfriend' thing but she didn't seem to care at all.

He squeezed her hand again, "Yeah?" She nodded slowly. "How so?"

Piper was silent for a few moments, turning to look back towards the ocean as she had done when they first sat down, "I'm-" She cut herself off before sighing and running a hand down her face, smudging her makeup slightly. "Just- just promise me something, Jase." Piper turned back to face him as she brought up her unoccupied hand and lifted up her pinky, her hand was shaking slightly causing him to frown slightly.

Jason brought his hand up too but not yet entwining their pinkies together, nodding at her to continue.

"You won't ever hate me, right?" Piper gulped hard searching Jason's eyes for his reaction.

Jason's frown deepened, "Of course not, I could never."

Piper nodded her head, "Okay, then promise me that what I'm about to say won't change us, our friendship." A tiny subtle smile graced her lips as she said the word 'friendship' and Jason's frown lessened as he watched her.

Jason hooked their pinkies together, holding them there as he stared into Piper's eyes which were starting to become slightly wet, "I promise, Pipes."

Piper looked forwards again, angling her head slightly upwards so that she could see both the sea and the sky. She didn't speak again for a few moments but Jason could see her mouth opening and closing as she tried her best to get her words out.

"I like girls." Piper's voice practically whispered into the air. She didn't take her eyes off of the view in front of her and when Jason didn't reply after a couple seconds, she added, "I'm a lesbian." Her voice trailed off into a relieved sigh, it was like she was finally relieved to have told someone and Jason was grateful that she trusted him enough to share something as important as that with him.

"I love you," Jason finally spoke, "I love you, Pipes. And I am so proud of you." He softly put his hand on Piper's cheek, angling her face so that she was looking at him, "I will always fucking support you. Always."

Tears spilt from Piper's eyes as Jason tugged her in for a hug, gripping her tightly - she hugged back with no hesitation, tucking her head into his shoulder and crying silently.

Now the only thing that occupied Jason's mind was Piper and at that moment he decided everything could wait a little while whilst he held Piper a little bit longer.

Chapter Text

Jason had spent the rest of his day with Piper and everything just felt so right between them now, there were no more short and awkward conversations to fill the uncomfortable silence nor were there any robotic kisses shared to each other's cheeks. If Jason actually remembered his life before they started dating and were just best friends, he knew he would've said that he had missed the feeling. It was perfect.

It was so perfect however that Jason had almost forgotten what he had started his day doing until Nico had walked over to where he and Piper were stood, talking about everything they possibly could.

"Hey Jase, hey Piper," Nico nodded his head towards them in greeting earning hellos from the both of them, before staring expectantly at Jason.

Jason's brows furrowed in confusion, "What? Is there something on my face?" Jason frowned before standing up straighter and running his hands over his face.

Nico scoffed before rolling his eyes dramatically, "No Jason, I just thought you had something to tell me - well that's what Will said at least."

And as if a lightbulb went off in Jason's head, he snapped his fingers towards Nico, "Oh yeah! Yeah, I did- well I do," Jason shook his head lightly, trying his best to clear it, "Can we go talk in my cabin? Or just somewhere," Jason paused before gesturing around, "not as public."

"Yeah, sure I guess. Lead the way superman." Nico sighed before walking off, not waiting for Jason to actually lead him as he had said.

Jason frowned at Piper apologetically, "Sorry Pip-"

Piper squatted at his arm playfully, "Don't apologize you dumbass, I'll see you later yeah?" She gave Jason an easygoing smile.

"Why of course you will, you can't get rid of me that easily," Jason offered her a cheeky smile before beginning to walk off after Nico but turning back towards her, "Cya later Pipes!" He waved and turned back around to the retreating figure of the son of Hades.

Jason took a deep breath before he started walking again - this was going to be a long conversation.

Nico was sitting on one of the many bunks in Cabin 1 when Jason walked in, taking the bunk opposite to the other and cracking his fingers nervously.

Nico's face deadpanned as he looked toward Jason, although a small smile was tugging at his mouth, "Will said it was urgent...and this doesn't really feel urgent."

Jason scoffed playfully, "Well it kind of is, it definitely was at the time. Just...give me a few seconds I need to memorize the list full of my questions again." He joked, cracking a grin at the confusion that spread across Nico's face.

"Questions?"

"Yup, questions."

"About what?" Nico eyed Jason sceptically as he pulled his legs onto the bunk he had claimed, now sitting criss-cross.

"That meeting. And whatever was going on with you when Annabeth mentioned going to Camp Jupiter."

Nico sighed heavily as rested his arms on his legs and ungracefully plopped his chin into his palm, "Nothing was going on." Nico's voice sounded tired almost like he hadn't slept in a while - and Jason faintly wondered if that was true.

Jason offered him a sympathetic smile, "You know you can't lie to me, Nico."

"I'm not lying."

Jason folded his arms across his chest, "Yes you are, you're pulling your lying face right now."

The lying face in question was when Nico furrowed his brows and tried his best to keep his mouth in a straight line, his best definitely had room for improvement, as he avoided all eye contact possible.

Nico groaned as he threw his head back letting it hit the wall of the cabin with a harsh thunk, "I hate you and your skills."

Jason huffed out a laugh, "Yeah, yeah whatever you say Neeks." Jason gazed over at the younger boy as he tried his best to catch his eye - it was impossible, "Now are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to tell you what I know?"

That question made Nico's head snap up violently in surprise.

"What? You know something?"

Jason snorted at that and rolled his eyes playfully, "Yeah, Nico I do."

Nico scoffed, "I didn't mean it like that... but what do you know?

Jason's face took on a more serious look at that question as he took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he was about to say and whether he would be right or wrong, "Percy Jackson. He's at Camp Jupiter isn't he?"

Nico's jaw dropped ever so slightly as he stared at Jason in shock, his eyes were wide as he sat in silence for half a second before quickly snapping his face back to his normal stoic one.

"No."

Jason huffed in amusement, "You can't lie like that after whatever the fuck just happened to your face." A smirk appeared on his face as he watched Nico glance anywhere but at him.

The son of Hades settled his eyes somewhere on the opposite side of the room as his shoulders sagged in defeat, the boy opened his mouth a few times in silence until he finally spoke, "Ye- yeah. Yeah, he is."

Nico's eyes didn't move off of whatever he was focused on. Jason knew he just didn't want to make eye contact and he himself was fine with that - as long as he got the truth out of the younger then he really didn't care where he looked.

"Is...is he okay?" Jason asked hesitantly, deciding to get the worst possible scenario out of his mouth as soon as he could.

"Yes. He's fine." Nico immediately answered, wasting no time before answering the question. Jason released a small sigh of relief at Nico's answer, relaxing a little bit in return.

"And the reason you don't want us to go to Camp Jupiter is because of him, isn't it?" Jason questioned, his voice contorting into one a teacher would adopt when talking to a scared child - the comparison nearly made Jason laugh out loud because it was kind of true.

Nico nodded mutely as he stared fidgeting with the hands in his lap.

"You don't want Annabeth to know because you're scared she'll blame you." Jason stated, not bothering to make it sound like a question because he was sure that it was true.

Jason's suspicions were confirmed when Nico finally tore his eyes away from the place on the other side of the room and redirected them to stare at his lap.

Nico took a shaky breath in before speaking quietly, like he was afraid someone might hear him, "She will blame me, Jason."

Jason started to protest against him but Nico cut him off, "She will because I knew. I knew the whole time that Percy was at camp, I was there the day he arrived and I didn't tell anybody. I kept everything to myself whilst Annabeth has been worrying for months," He sunk into himself slightly, "fucking months."

Nico's words were spat out like venom, like he was disgusted with himself and knowing the boy he probably was. Jason didn't know what to say and he didn't think that his opinion really mattered, he didn't know Percy - he hadn't searched for months just looking for the missing boy like Annabeth and her friend Grover had. But Jason did know one thing he was certain that he could say,

"You need to tell her."

Nico snapped his head up as he stared at Jason like he had murdered his pet skeleton dog - which he hadn't of course, Jason would never do such a thing.

"Are you insane?" Nico spat, his voice was angry but the anger wasn't directed at Jason, it was more directed at himself.

"Neeks, she deserves to know and the longer you keep it from her the worse it'll be."

Nico's body stilled as his eyes started to water but the boy didn't make any move to wipe them, he looked conflicted.

"You deserve to know something too then."

That caught Jason by surprise - what could he possibly deserve to know? Was this some dumb prank or something? No, no. Nico wouldn't do some stupid shit like that. He tried to push away the small amount of panic that started to make its way up his gut.

Jason stared at the son of Hades, mirroring the look of expectance the boy had given him earlier.

Nico swallowed harshly as a tear escaped his eye and tumbled down his cheek, his voice was scared and shaky as he began to speak, "Camp-" Nico's voice broke, "Camp Jupiter- That's you, uhm, that's where you are- you're from there Jason." The boy's voice made it difficult for Jason to decipher whatever he had just said but when the information finally made its way to his brain, he froze.

"What?" Jason knew he sounded upset but he was, so what was the point in hiding it?

"I'm sorry Jason. I-" More tears streamed down Nico's face as he tried to stay composed, "I really, really am-" A small sob cut him off and if Jason wasn't already hurt then that really topped it off as his first tear travelled down his cheek.

"So- so let me," Jason cleared his throat harshly, "Let me get this straight." He wiped his eye quickly before staring off into a little space above the other boy's head, if he looked at Nico's face any longer Jason didn't think he'd be able to hold everything in. "I'm from Camp Jupiter."

Nico nodded his head tentatively.

The cabin was silent for what felt like hours but in reality, it was only like 30 seconds. Nico covered his mouth with his hand to stifle his sobs as Jason willed himself not to cry, a son of Zeus doesn't cry. He kept that sentence on repeat in his mind as it would actually stop the tears from falling, but unsurprisingly his second tear fell and then after that, they wouldn't stop coming.

Before he could even question whatever he was about to do, Jason stood up and walked the small gap between the bunks the two were seated on, before sitting down next to Nico and pulling him into a tight hug. Jason felt Nico press his face into his shoulder before the younger gripped onto Jason just as tight - like he was afraid Jason might disappear if he let go.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Nico kept repeating his mantra of apologies as Jason did nothing but hug him, secretly hoping the son of Hades would stop talking so he could think in peace.

If he was going to be honest, Jason had no idea how to react to what Nico had just said. He wasn't really angry at Nico surprisingly - he understood. Jason knew that Nico couldn't have told him but it still made his heart hurt thinking about what might've happened if Nico did just tell him, would he be with his old friends right now? Would he have gotten his memories back? His mind was running with so many different "what if" scenarios that Jason started to feel sick.

He needed to visit Camp Jupiter and he needed to go as soon as he could. That was something that Jason knew was one hundred per cent true.

Jason pulled back from the hug as he placed his hands on Nico's shoulders and pushed the boy backwards so that he could see his face.

"Nico, listen to me. I'm not...I'm not mad at you. I understand why you couldn't tell me but now that you have told me, I need to go there." Jason stared at Nico's face desperately looking for any indication of what he was thinking.

After a few seconds of tense silence, Nico finally nodded before he spoke for the first time in a while, "There are more things I need to tell you before we can leave and..." his voice was croaky and still wet from the tears he shed minutes prior, "Annabeth should come too." He sighed deeply almost like he really didn't want to bring her but he knew he had to.

Jason nodded in understanding, "Leo and Piper as well." He cleared his throat slightly before explaining, "Annabeth suggested we should all go together so why not?"

Nico started fidgeting with his hands again, he was clearly nervous but it was to be expected - this conversation wasn't the easiest to discuss.

Jason released Nico's shoulders before scratching the back of his neck, "So uhm, what else do you need to tell me?" He hesitantly asked like he was afraid to know the answer and in some ways he was.

Silence stretched for almost a minute before Nico began, "You're a child of Jupiter, he is the-"

"Roman equivalent of Zeus, right?" Jason cut him off, internally cursing himself out for interrupting.

Nico seemed slightly startled before he nodded, "Yeah he is, how did you know?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders as a frown appeared on his face, "I...I don't know? It just sort of sprang to the front of my brain like I already knew the answer but at the same time I didn't."

Nico mirrored Jason's expression, "Maybe it has something to do with your memories? The more we talk about your life before this whole mess, the more you remember different things or something like that."

Jason nodded in agreement as he said nothing else, waiting for Nico to continue explaining what he had just interrupted.

"Uhm yeah, so you're a son of Jupiter and if it's not already obvious then you're also Roman. Camp Jupiter is for the Romans and Half-Blood is for the Greeks, it's almost like..." his voice trailed off as his mouth began to frown again.

"Almost like what?"

Nico looked up from where he was staring at his hands which were folded neatly in his lap, "It's almost like you and Percy got switched, on purpose." He inhaled heavily, "Like, just think about it. You're a son of The Big Three and so is Percy, you have both lost your memories and you're both somewhat leaders of your camps but the only difference is that you're Roman and he's Greek."

Jason's brows furrowed, "Sorry, what?! Percy doesn't have his memory either?"

Nico looked at him with confusion written all over his face," Uh, no? You didn't kno- Oh for the love of Hades, please tell me I didn't forget to tell you that part." He practically pleaded out the last part of his sentence.

Jason looked back at him grimly, "Nico, I think you did."

The son of Hades groaned in frustration, "This is all just too much. Why did I have to be the only one to know about everything going on?" He mumbled the last part under his breath but Jason caught it - he didn't mention it though.

"It's okay, Nico. We'll figure this out together alright? You, me and hopefully Percy in the future." Jason offered him a reassuring smile - the son of Jupiter trying his best to push the thoughts about finally meeting Percy to the back of his mind for safekeeping.

Nico looked up at him and weakly smiled back at Jason, obviously not finding his words very comforting.

"Oh, and I have one more question," Jason spoke up again, cracking one of his knuckles absentmindedly.

Nico nodded his head towards Jason in a 'go on' motion.

"You said me and Percy are- well, were both somewhat...leaders of our camps. What do you mean by that?" Jason asked timidly as he went back to scratching the back of his neck which was slowly becoming redder and redder as time passed on.

Nico cleared his throat as he furrowed his eyebrows in thought, a thing he did often to help himself concentrate better, before he broke the silence again, "Well Percy was looked up to by many demigods at camp, he's a great swordfighter and well his powers are powerful too. He's helped the Gods plenty of times and people truly believe he's one of the strongest demigods to ever come to Camp Half-Blood - and I can see why they'd say that, just wait until you see him in battle..." Nico awkwardly chuckled before continuing, "And you...well, you were a Praetor at Camp Jupiter with a woman named Reyna. She's refused to replace you countless times and has basically ended up running the camp by herself, she's doing a great job though, " Nico smiled softly like he was recalling a sweet memory before he continued talking with the smile slightly fading on his face but never leaving, "The Praetors are the leaders of Camp Jupiter, there can be only two praetors at a time, one male and one female, acting as the leaders in all of the legion's affairs, including battles."

Jason smiled softly, "That sounds like some shit from a book."

Nico chuckled nervously, "Well, I kind of memorized it from Percy back at Camp Jupiter, Reyna was pissed off that Percy kept asking what being a Praetor meant so she made him go study it like a school subject," his soft smile from earlier returned back to his face, "he still asks her about it even though he knows it off by heart. Those two act really act like long lost brother and sister, always arguing and rilling the other up." His smile grew wider at the mention of the two arguing and Jason couldn't help but smile too.

After deciding that they both needed cheering up, Jason asked Nico to tell him some more stories from back at Camp Jupiter. The stories ranged from some stupid prank Percy had pulled on some innocent Romans to how Nico's little sister, Hazel, and one of her best friends, Frank, were totally crushing on each other, yet they were both just oblivious as the other that it physically pained anyone who witnessed their flirting.

And after Nico had tired himself out from all the crying, stressing and story telling - falling asleep soundly in one of Jason's bunks. Jason just couldn't help but feel more nervous than excited to visit Camp Jupiter as he climbed into the bunk he normally slept in every night. He was nervous as to how Annabeth would react to Percy being at camp, he was scared to finally see everyone he used to know before he lost his memories, and he was dreading having to eventually leave Camp Half-Blood behind after he had gotten used to calling it home, but out of all of those reasons, he was the most nervous to finally meet the beautiful boy from his dreams in person, the beautiful boy whose girlfriend was also one of his only best friends.

How the fuck was he going to get out of this mess?

Chapter Text

Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to get Nico back to Camp Jupiter.

All Hazel had to do was contact the son of Hades, tell him that they all needed to talk urgently and boom, Nico Di Angelo now stood in the middle of the Praetors office after appearing from nothing but thin air. Percy really didn't understand how Hazel could contact Nico by shutting her eyes and thinking but he also really didn't care because now that Nico was here he could get all the answers he desperately wanted.

"So uh, what did you guys need to talk about?" Nico hesitantly asked as he awkwardly remained standing in the middle of the room, the boy slowly began curling into himself the more the silence stretched and Percy honestly couldn't blame him - he'd do the same.

"They want to know about Camp Half-Blood and basically everything else you probably don’t want to tell them," Hazel joked, offering Nico a small smile as she patted the seat next to her so that Nico could sit down, the boy took the offer as he looked wide-eyed at his sister.

"O-oh?" Nico whispered, before looking around at the other people in the room. Percy met his gaze head-on causing Nico to look away and towards his shoes which were tapping the floor in some sort of nervous pattern.

"Listen, Nico. We want to know about the camp and the people there." Percy broke the short-lived silence, still staring straight at Nico's bowed head.

"We also want to know if...Jason... is there." Reyna whispered Jason's name like it was a curse and Percy suddenly felt like hugging the Praetor who could definitely slice his head off in seconds - and after that thought, he no longer felt like hugging her.

Nico stiffened at the mention of Jason's name before looking back up at Hazel who was watching him with concern plastered over her face. Hazel reached out to grasp Nico's hand in her own before starting to rub comforting circles onto the back of his hand. Nico's shoulders slumped in something akin to defeat as he turned his head away from his sister and faced his feet again.

The son of Hades sighed before nodding, "Yeah. Yes, Jason is at Camp Half-Blood." Nico practically whispered out, he sounded ashamed but at least 10 other different emotions swam in his voice and Percy really couldn't tell how he actually felt - he knew none of the emotions were positive though.

"He's okay, right?" Reyna questioned immediately, there was a slight bite to her voice but everyone could tell she wasn't upset with Nico - she was just more concerned about her friend.

"Yes, I promise you, Reyna. He's completely fine." Nico locked eyes with Reyna as he spoke, it was almost like he was trying to convey his honesty in his eyes but Percy was already pretty convinced as he let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding since Reyna asked the question.

"That's great! Can we go bring him back?" Frank enthusiastically asked with a bright smile on his face. Percy knew that Jason meant a lot to everyone at Camp Jupiter so hearing that he was alive and well would probably be the best thing to happen to the Romans in years.

Nico suddenly looked uncomfortable as he shifted in his chair and started fiddling with his fingers. Percy watched in confusion as Frank's smile slowly started sliding off of his face before morphing into a conflicted expression.

"Nico...?" Frank questioned again but this time it lacked the same enthusiastic feel to it as it had last time. The son of Mars stared at Nico like a confused dog, patiently waiting for the boy to answer him.

"No. No, I'm sorry. You can't bring him back- well not yet anyways." Nico finally stuttered out looking guilty and Percy had no fucking idea what was going on.

“Why not?” Reyna basically demanded, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she stared at Nico's bowed head - and if looks could kill, the son of Hades would’ve been down in his father's domain almost instantly.

“They…” Nico paused before groaning in obvious frustration, “I don’t know how to tell you this without you all asking even more questions.” His face soured yet he never lifted his head and Percy really couldn’t blame him - he was nervous just sitting in the room yet he wasn’t even the one being questioned.

“Just try your best Nico, take your time,” Hazel practically whispered to him, reassuring the boy with her soft voice. And if Hazel Levesque's voice had to resemble anything at the moment, Percy thought a hot cup of cocoa and a fluffy blanket on a cold winter evening fitted perfectly.

And at the moment Percy wanted to thank the Gods for Hazel Levesque because her reassurance seemed to ease Nico enough to finally look back up. The boy then turned towards his sister and smiled a rare smile at her before taking a deep breath in and releasing it a few seconds after - that was when Percy knew he'd better brace himself for whatever the fuck Nico Di Angelo was about to spill out of his mouth.

"We can't go to see Jason at Camp Half-Blood because only a few select people know about you guys and..." He paused for a second, "they already want to come here instead," and before anyone could interrupt - more specifically Reyna - Nico continued, "Okay, before you start shouting at me," he glared at Reyna, "I haven't told them where you guys are or that they're allowed to visit. I was going to ask for your permission and now that I'm here that's what I'm going to do."

He looked towards Reyna again, "So, Praetor. What do you say about having 3 Greeks and one Jason Grace visiting Camp Jupiter?"

Now Percy really is not good during serious situations in general but after watching Reynas face morph into horror to confusion to a horror-confusion mix, he was about two seconds away from cackling out loud. Reyna looked around at everyone else in the room, almost like she was asking them if they were also hearing what the son of Hades was saying too - Percy barely managed to cover his badly suppressed grin before Reyna looked towards him.

The daughter of Bellona cleared her throat before turning back to Nico, "Look, Nico. I trust you and you know that but you've got to understand that I have no idea who these people are, besides Jason." She frowned slightly as a thought entered her head, "And if anything happened to this place and our people then it will all be my fault." Reyna set her mouth into a firm line that almost looked like a barely concealed grimace.

Percy cocked his head to the side in thought before spitting out his idea, "Well, what if Nico just told us more about Camp Half-Blood and then you can decide? Like, didn't we want to know about that in the first place anyways?" He looked around the room and specifically focused on Frank who was looking straight back at him. Percy pulled on the best 'kitten eyes' - as Hazel liked to call them - he could muster and practically pleaded with Frank for the son of Mars to back him up. And like always, they worked.

"I don't think that's a bad idea, Perce." Frank started, earning a grin from Percy, "Nico could tell us more about Camp Half-Blood and everything, and if Reyna still doesn't like the sound of it then it won't happen at all. But we could at least hear Nico out first before making a decision."

And like the plan that had formed in Percy's head, everyone agreed. Percy already knew that if he suggested something by himself then either Reyna or Nico would shut it down since they still didn't trust him after literal months of him roaming around Camp Jupiter, so that's why he got Frank to help. Everyone trusted Frank, he was one of the most trustworthy people at Camp Jupiter and the majority of people liked him a lot, so Percy knew that Reyna, Nico and Hazel would listen to him. And yeah, it used to hurt when he knew they didn't trust him, but the son of Neptune has slowly gotten used to it over time.

"Okay, that makes sense." Reyna nodded before looking toward Nico, "Start explaining Nico."

Nico tapped his shoes on the floor a couple times before finally speaking, "Camp Half-Blood is for the Greek demigods. It's like Camp Jupiter but it's also very different too and it's difficult to explain without seeing it really..." He swallowed forcefully before looking towards Percy, who was watching him with the most concentration a guy with ADHD could, before continuing in a less confident voice than before, "Me and...Percy- uh, well we both come from Camp Half-Blood, we're both Greek."

"I fucking knew it," Percy mumbled under his breath, earning a soft slap on his arm from Hazel.

Nico sighed before talking directly to Percy, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, Percy. I know I told you one of the reasons why I didn't say anything, but I seriously wasn't allowed to tell anyone anything. I had promised my dad that I wouldn't speak to the two camps about each other but I accidentally slipped up at Camp Half-Blood and I just couldn't do anything without telling them, they wouldn't let me." And for once, Nico didn't look away.

Percy really didn't know how to feel at that moment. For starters, Nico Di Angelo who he thought fucking hated his guts just apologised to him in front of everyone and now he had confirmation that he really didn't belong at Camp Jupiter as he originally thought. And for some reason, Percy didn't feel angry towards Nico - he just felt more relieved than anything because now he finally knew something, and he knew it was true.

Percy tried to speak but the only sentence that would come out of his mouth was, "Huh! So that's why I call you the son of Hades in my head." Nico stared at him as confusion completely took over his features.

"W-what?" The son of Hades stuttered out, "Why aren't you mad? And what do you even mean?" The poor kid looked so confused that Percy could not hold back the little grin that danced across his face.

"Well, I don't know why I'm not mad, I guess I just feel happier that I finally know something about myself 'cause earlier I felt like I was going insane with all these crazy theories about myself, but now they're true and I'm just really glad I haven't lost my mind after all." Percy admitted with a slightly embarrassed smile gracing his face.

Nico, who still looked at him like he'd grown a third head, just nodded before turning away, "So yeah, uh what else would you like to know?" He asked, almost sounding nervous.

"Who knows about Camp Jupiter?" Reyna asked, she seemed to be the only one out of the three other demigods who could actually form a full sentence.

"Well, Jason obviously knows as well as Chiron, he's our camp director, and Annabeth, she's a daughter of Athena and is a very important part of camp." And either Percy was imagining stuff or Nico was actually looking at him like he was expecting Percy to suddenly jump out of his seat for no reason whatsoever, but he just stared blankly back at the boy and Nico quickly looked away when he knew he wasn't going to be getting what he wanted.

"You said three Greeks but you only mentioned two." Frank pointed out with his eyebrows dipped downwards in confusion.

"Ah yeah well about that, when I said that, I wasn't talking about Chiron. Annabeth and Jason want to visit, but we haven't told the two other half-bloods about Camp Jupiter and I won't unless they can visit." Nico replied easily like it was the most obvious thing in the world to know.

"Who are the other two potential candidates for the Camp Jupiter school trip?" Percy questioned, he secretly really wanted Reyna to agree to this whole thing just so that he could meet the people he used to know, and of course Jason Grace, so he decided he'd better start asking more questions.

"Leo Valdez, a son of Hephaestus, and Piper McLean, a daughter of Aphrodite."

"Hm, so a daughter of Minerva, a son of Vulcan and a daughter of Venus," Reyna started before pausing and mulling everything over in her head, "I must say it's a very different bunch of demigods but I won't question that part. Although, I do want to know why they want to come to visit us, what have you told them, Nico?"

That seemed to be the question that the Romans were a lot more interested in as all three of them leaned a bit more forward in their seats, eager to hear what Nico had to say.

"Annabeth said she wanted to befriend you and potentially form some sort of alliance in the future if everything went well and I honestly think Camp Jupiter could benefit from an alliance too." Nico replied, looking towards Reyna with something akin to hope in his eyes."

Reyna nodded slightly, "Does Jason know about...you know?" She asked hesitantly and it was clear to see that this was a touchy subject for her.

Nico winced ever so slightly, "He definitely knows something, but I don't know if it's the full thing."

"So like me then?" Percy asked as his mind flashed back to the dreams he had a couple weeks ago.

Nico nodded thoughtfully before speaking, "Well yeah, kind of. I think that sums it up nicely."

"Has he been having any weird dreams at all?" Percy blurted out, eyes going wide as his mind finally caught up to what he just said. Frank and Reyna were both looking at him strangely whilst Nico and Hazel just looked deep in thought - but that's how Hazel had been looking for the past 5 minutes now.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, he has, a few weeks ago or maybe like a month." Nico answered slowly like he was trying to piece things together in his mind.

Percy just nodded hastily before looking around the office and practically begging someone else to ask a question instead.

"So you want three Greek demigods to come to Camp Jupiter with Jason Grace." Hazel finally broke the silence, her face was still the same as it had been the last time Percy'd checked. "Does that mean we could get Jason back?" She continued, her voice was careful and to Percy, it almost sounded calculated until it clicked in his brain. Hazel was trying to win Reyna over by tempting her with Jason's return - Hazel Levesque never ever fails to impress Percy Jackson.

"It's definitely possible. I think I'd just need to speak with him about everything and then I think he'd want to see you guys again." Nico almost immediately replied, his voice strong and he hadn't sounded that confident this whole time they'd been talking.

Percy looked over to where Reyna was sitting. She was gazing down at the floor with her hand on her chin, clearly thinking. Nobody asked any more questions and it was clear to everyone that it was time for Reyna to decide what she wanted to do.

"I..." Reyna started before cutting herself off by clearing her throat, "I think we should give it a shot." Her voice was serious but it didn't stop a smile from reaching Percy's face.

"But! This can only happen if you tell Jason about his past here, let him know where he comes from and that we need him back. That we miss him." Her voice wavered slightly at the end but nobody mentioned it.

"I also think you should tell them about Percy," Hazel suggested, her face pulled into a small smile as she flickered his gaze between Nico and Percy himself. And it was at that moment when Percy finally remembered that he probably knew these people that were going to come to Camp Jupiter, he was a Greek just like them.

"Yeah...yeah you're right. But I think before I tell them about Percy, I should probably tell Percy about them first." Nico replied as he started to fidget with his hands again and suddenly Percy felt nervous but he had no clue why.

"I thought you just did?" Frank muttered, a small frown on his face.

Nico shrugged, "I told you who they were but I didn't really tell you about them."

"Okay, then spill it, Di Angelo," Percy replied, his uncertainty sounded strange in his own ears and he almost cringed at the sound.

Nico rolled his eyes, "Annabeth was your best friend, you both met when you were kids and everyone says you were inseparable ever since. She's been looking for you ever since you went missing, Percy - just like Reyna has been for Jason, but you and Annabeth... you were different." Nico's voice had turned quieter now, it was almost like a whisper.

Percy furrowed his brows in complete confusion, "What..? What do you mean different?" Percy felt like he really didn't want to know but he knew he also really needed to.

Nico looked at him with something similar to guilt crossing his face, "You...you were dating, well you currently are unless something changed." Nico sounded slightly uncomfortable but Percy didn't think anything of it, well he technically couldn't - he was so shocked about what Nico had just said.

Percy Jackson was currently in a relationship with a girl he doesn't even know and seeing how nervous Nico was to tell him then it must've been a somewhat serious relationship too.

"You're kidding, right?" Percy stared at Nico with wide eyes, "Please say you're kidding."

Nico slowly shook his head and all Percy wanted to do was curse out all the Gods he could remember at that moment in time - obviously, he didn't because he didn't really feel like dying to a lightning bolt right then and there, that would be quite embarrassing.

"And this Annabeth, my uh...girlfriend. She doesn't know I'm here?" Percy rushed out, stumbling over the word girlfriend.

"No, all she knows is that you're alive because I told her that." Nico grimaced as he replied, it was like he'd finally realised how fucked up this all was.

"Well, fucking hell," Percy muttered out as he suddenly felt very overwhelmed and if he remembered correctly, the last time he felt that way in this same room he almost drowned Camp Jupiter with rain.

"I agree." Frank nodded his head slowly, looking a Percy with a sympathetic grimace on his face. He tried to offer Percy a small, reassuring smile but it didn't even reach his own eyes.

"Well, maybe after telling Jason about Camp Jupiter, you should tell Annabeth about Percy," Reyna suggested. Her face was void of emotions but even Percy could tell that she sounded somewhat concerned.

Nico scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "I feel like it would go better if she just saw him with her own eyes."

"I feel like you want me dead but then I remember you're a son of Hades so I'm probably correct, aren't I?" Percy glared at Nico who rolled his eyes in retort.

"Just because I'm a child of Hades doesn't mean I want you dead, Hazel's basically the same as me and does that mean she wants you dead too?" Nico responded as he looked at Percy like he was the most dramatic person the boy had ever seen.

"Sometimes I think she does," Percy grumbled in return, pouting like a seven-year-old but he guesses it's better than getting angry and summoning a tsunami or crying his eyes out because he felt like doing both of those at that moment too.

Hazel smiled softly at him before standing up, "I think Nico's right, Perce. It'd probably make it easier if you'd explain it to her considering she's your girlfriend..." Hazel's smile turned more and more sympathetic the longer she stared at his currently crumbling face.

"I don't even know her!" Percy argued back with a hint of panic mixing into his voice and he really wanted this all to be a dream because what the fuck was happening?

"You'll know her soon enough, Jackson." Reyna chimed in somewhat sympathetically as she stood up too, she took her gaze off of Percy before moving it to Nico, "Do you understand everything you've got to do, Nico?"

"Yes, Reyna. I'll let Hazel know when we're planning to arrive and she'll hopefully tell you all." Nico answered as he subtly smiled at Reyna who reciprocated it.

"Perfect. Any more questions?" Reyna's eyes scanned the four other demigods but nobody said a thing. Truth to be told, Percy had about 1000 questions on the tip of his tongue but he knew it'd be best to stay quiet or else they'd be here for weeks and he also knew he wouldn't be able to work his voice at the moment.

"Okay then," Reyna sighed quietly, "Meeting dismissed."

The first person to move was Nico as he started to walk out of the Principia but before he could completely disappear he turned back around, "I'm going back to Camp Half-Blood now, if you need me then just ask Hazel or something." And with that, he walked away and the only thing Percy could hear of him was his quickly fading footsteps.

Reyna was next to leave after that, taking Hazel with her and telling them that she wanted to discuss more things about Camp Half-Blood with the daughter of Pluto, so that left just Frank and Percy in the Principia.

"Are you alright, Perce?" Frank quietly asked as he started heading towards the door, dragging Percy with him as he passed.

"Uh, as good as I can be after that bomb just got dropped on me." Percy tried his best to force out a chuckle but even he could tell that it sounded strained.

"You wanna talk about it, buddy?" Frank gazed softly at him as he still held onto Percy's arm.

"I..." Percy paused, "I don't know...I'm just so confused, you know? Like why me? What did I do?" His voice broke slightly but he really didn't care. He left the meeting with even more questions than he originally started with.

"Hey." Frank stopped walking and placed both his hands on Percy's shoulders as he forced Percy to look at him, "We'll work it out, okay? I won't let you do this by yourself and I promise that. I'm always here for you, Perce."

Percy flung himself into Frank's chest, gripping onto his shirt like he was afraid the son of Mars would disappear just like his memories had - and for the first time in months, Percy allowed himself to cry.

Chapter Text

Nico wasn't going to tell Annabeth about Percy.

He had awoken to a startling accurate statue of Zeus staring daggers at him and declared then and there at that moment that the day was going to be a shit show.

After the draining confessions he had made the day prior, Nico wanted to avoid human confrontation for the next foreseeable future but of course, he was never that lucky.

"Sleep well?"

Nico almost jumped out of the bunk he was laying in before he looked to his right and saw Jason Grace sitting across from him, looking way too awake for 7:21am - Nico had discovered that it was a Roman thing.

"What the fuck? You almost gave me a heart attack." Nico glared at the Son of Zeus/Jupiter - Gods he didn't fucking know - before sitting up in his bunk and rubbing his eyes.

Jason gave him an amused smile before shrugging his shoulders, "Sorry man, I thought you could sense people with you being the son of Hades and all."

"Not when I've only just woke up, Jason." Nico grumbled back as he attempted to brush his mess of hair out of his face.

"You should shower and then we could head to breakfast together," Jason chuckled as Nicos' hair yet again fell in front of his eyes which earnt him another glare from the son of Hades.

"Thanks for saying I stink you asshole," Nico jokingly spat back even though he was already making his way towards the Cabin 1 bathroom, grabbing a towel on his way past a little basket Jason had next to one of the bunks.

Nico turned on the cold water before undressing and stepping into the shower, instantly relaxing as the droplets hit his bare back. Taking cold showers was something that Nico had done since he was a kid, he didn't know where the habit had come from but he hadn't changed it since.

When he returned from the bathroom, Jason was still sat on his bunk but instead of sitting there in silence, he was reading a book. The boy looked up from his page once Nico had shut the bathroom door before putting the book down and standing up from his bunk.

"You ready to go?" Jason asked, already starting to walk towards the door without hearing Nicos' response.

Nico furrowed his eyebrows yet he still followed Jason to the door, "Breakfast isn't until 8am...did I really take that long in the shower?"

"No it's only like 7:30 but who cares, the guys from the Hermes Cabin always eat breakfast early so why can't we?" Jason snorted at Nico's confusion as he held the cabin door open for the boy.

Nico narrowed his eyes, "Jason Grace, THE Jason Grace, wanting to disobey Chiron's orders? What's going on?" Nico was very confused, Jason normally followed the rules so intently that it was almost like he'd die if he didn't so of course, Nico would be suspicious as to why he wanted to have breakfast at the same time as the Hermes kids did.

Jason frowned at him, "What? I can't have breakfast just a bit earlier because I'm hungry?" And as if he wanted to emphasise his point, Jason patted his stomach a few times making Nico narrow his eyes even further.

"No. You can't because you're Jason Grace and you'd rather die than break the rules." Nico replied as he and Jason both made their way toward the Dining Pavilion side by side. Some other campers, mainly the Hermes and Ares kids, were also heading towards the same place but other than that majority of the campers were still in their cabins getting ready for the day.

"Shut up, Di Angelo. We have a very busy day today so stop questioning me and just accept that I want an early breakfast." Jason knocked their shoulders together playfully as they continued walking, although Nicos' pace almost faulted at Jason's words - they didn't sound too good.

"What do you mean by a very busy day?" Nico hesitantly asked, the son of Hades almost didn't want to know what Jason meant but he knew he would find out sooner or later, why not just get it over with now?

Jason sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he averted his gaze strictly to the approaching structure of the Dining Pavilion, "Uh, well...you're telling Annabeth. Today." He practically spat out his sentence, like he was afraid to say it but he didn't leave much room for argument.

Nicos' pace actually did falter this time, his legs froze as he tried to picture how badly everything could go if he did tell Annabeth, how much she was going to hate him when she finally saw Percy at Camp Jupiter. Nico had grown to love Annabeth like any younger brother loves their older sister - he was very familiar with that feeling. Nico wasn't prepared for her to hate him, he wasn't prepared to lose another sister - Nico didn't think he could handle that but he knew it would eventually happen, nothing good lasted too long for him.

"O-...Okay. I'll tell her after breakfast." The son of Hades croaked out the lie, beginning to make his way towards a now-still Jason, who had stopped a few feet in front of him.

Jason looked mildly surprised at Nicos' response, the boy probably expected some sort of protest from him, but he tried his best to rid the expression off of his face before they both continued on their way towards breakfast.

"I wouldn't worry, Neeks. Everything will be fine." Jason tried to reassure him but it didn't help, Nico didn't believe him one bit. Not only was he not going to tell Annabeth about Percy but he was convinced that when Annabeth finally saw the lost son of Poseidon, everything would fall apart and Annabeth would hate Nico forever. But he didn't say anything, nodding along to whatever Jason was saying as they continued on their way to the Dining Pavilion.

Nico and Jason were halfway through their meals when Nico blurted out the fact that he wasn't going to tell Annabeth about Percy but instead let her see him for herself. Jason was visibly baffled by the decision and Nico didn't blame him.

"Why aren't you going to tell her?" Jason asked with his eyes wide before shoving some eggs into his mouth, his eyes never closing slightly.

Nico averted his own eyes and distracted himself by looking around the dining area, which didn't help since his eyes unintentionally fell onto Annabeth who was slightly more slouched over her plate than normal. All the campers had come into the Dining Pavilion about ten minutes prior but Jason and Nico were allowed to eat together at the Zeus table since they had no other siblings at camp so it didn't really bother them.

"I...I just think it'd be better if she saw him herself because...er. Because then she'll see that he's perfectly fine?" It wasn't meant to sound like a question but Nico had never been the best at lying to people he cared about.

"You just don't want to tell her, that's the reason isn't it?" Jason asked, he looked almost disappointed but Nico didn't look at him long enough to tell if that's what he really looked like.

Nico sighed before eventually muttering out, "Yeah. Yeah, it is." The truth was that Nico couldn't bare to see the looks of disbelief and anger that would definitely cross Annabeth's face when he finally told her the news, call him selfish all you want but he just couldn't deal with seeing someone he could call his sister look so upset at him - it would hurt too much.

Before Jason could speak again, Nico explained, "Listen, Jase, I know it's wrong, it's probably selfish too but I can't do it. I can't watch her face when I tell her, you've got to understand that. Hades, I wish I could tell her, it would be so much better but I just can't - I'm a fucking wimp, Jace and I know that but I can't change that either."

Nico wasn't one to explain all his thoughts, he didn't like being vulnerable but sometimes he couldn't keep it all in and Nico trusted Jason with his life, if there was anyone he felt comfortable enough to talk to - besides Annabeth - it would be Jason.

Jason sighed before he set his fork down, "Neeks, you're not a wimp. I don't think I could deal with half the stuff you've dealt with, you're one of the bravest people I know. If you don't want to tell Annabeth about Percy then that's your decision and your decision is final, I won't say anything about it." Jason reached out for his hand, "You do understand that seeing Percy without any warning might make her react worse right?"

Nico hesitantly nodded before ducking his head down and staring intently at his half-touched food, "I know it will, but I can't help but think that it could make her react just a slightly bit better."

Jason nodded, "Okay Nico but promise me you'll organise something so that we can see them?" He squeezed the boy's hand.

"I promise." Nico replied, looking back up at Jason, "You know, I was thinking...what if I told Annabeth, Leo and Piper that we could visit them like very soon, as in tomorrow very soon," He thought it'd be easier to try and get it over with as soon as possible.

"Hm, i think that would be good, but you still need to tell Camp Jupiter about us right? And we need to tell Leo and Piper about Camp Jupiter too." Jason asked as he let go of Nicos' hand so that he could pick his fork back up before he shoved another egg into his mouth - Nico didn't know why he had so many eggs on his plate and he didn't really care either.

"Well, about telling Camp Jupiter...When I left camp yesterday, I went to Camp Jupiter because my sister needed me...and I kinda had to explain to Percy, as well as two Romans, what Camp Half-Blood was and how it had anything to do with Percy. They know you're here by the way."

Jason looked dumbfounded as he stared at Nico for a solid 15 seconds before finally speaking, "You really need to start telling me stuff man, stop dropping stuff on me." He was joking but Nico knew that he meant it too, note taken.

"Yeah, sorry about that. And we can tell Leo and Piper before we talk about meeting the Romans?" He offered the son of Jupiter a small smile before finally taking a bite of his breakfast again - Jason would only complain about him not eating later anyways.

"Yeah, that could work. So what's the main plan, Death man?" Jason asked as he leaned forwards on his elbows, listening intently.

"Death man? That's a new one." Nico muttered. Leo definitely made that name up, Nico was 100 per cent sure of it.

"Nice, isn't it? But tell me the plan, I want to help."

"Ugh fine, after breakfast I was going to ask Annabeth to meet me at the Big House. It's the only place I know that's quiet majority of the time and I'm sure Chiron wouldn't mind us being in there." Nico replied. Chiron would definitely let them meet in the Big House if they had Annabeth with them - if Chiron had a favourite child it would without a doubt be Annabeth but he couldn't blame the centaur, Annabeth was really great.

Jason hummed, "Makes sense, I'll go find Leo and Pipes after breakfast then, ask them to go to the Big House and then we can begin."

"You're making it sound like we're going to perform some ritual or something," Nico added as he scrunched up his nose in distaste.

"It only sounds like that to you because you're a son of Hades, it sounds perfectly normal to everyone else." Jason teased as Nico kicked his leg under the table, "Ow! What the hell, man?"

"Stop talking and finish your food." Nico faux glared at him before starting to finish his own breakfast.

Unfortunately, breakfast finished relatively quickly after that and Nico was then on his way to find Annabeth.

He hadn't spoken to Annabeth since the meeting they had had a few days prior, he didn't know how she was feeling but from the way her sisters and brothers kept looking at her, he figured it wasn't very good.

Nico found Annabeth by the lake. It was a common spot for her to be in if she didn't have any activities to do or any campers to teach, it was fairly obvious why Annabeth always enjoyed sitting by the lake whenever she got the chance but nobody ever mentioned it. The son of Hades silently walked to her side before ungracefully sitting down beside her, the girl didn't even blink but then again, she also didn't look like she was aware anyone had even sat down next to her.

"Hey, Annabeth," Nico spoke as soft as he could, almost like he was talking to a scared little animal - Annabeth was usually the complete opposite.

The daughter of Athena turned her head towards him and offered a small smile, "Hey Neeks, what's up?" Her voice was as soft as his but it wasn't unusual for her to speak like that to people she cared for, she mainly used that voice for Percy - and more recently Piper, the two had grown super close the past couple of months even though they were polar opposites in many different subjects.

"Nothing much just wanted to speak to you. How are you?" Nico kept her gaze until Annabeth turned back to the water.

"I'm fine Nico, just one of those days." She sounded anything but fine, but Annabeth was stubborn and Nico knew she wouldn't talk about her feelings. She had been having 'one of those days a lot since Percy had left and he couldn't blame her, it must really suck and that always made his guilt skyrocket.

"I'm always here for you, Annie. You know this." Nico grabbed her hand gently and squeezed it, he smiled slightly when she squeezed back. "I do want to talk to you about visiting Camp Jupiter though."

Annabeth's gaze snapped back to meet his her face mirrored Jason's expression from earlier that morning, she also seemed surprised about what he had just said, "Really?" Her voice seemed more lively than it had a second ago and Nico was yet again hit with another wave of guilt - if only she knew what, or who, was waiting at Camp Jupiter.

"Yes really. I'm planning on meeting Jason, Leo and Piper at the Big House soon if you'd like to join me." Nico mustered up the most honest smile he possibly could as he tried to avoid eye contact. He hated the way her seemingly permanent dull grey eyes lightened up slightly when he mentioned visiting Camp Jupiter.

"Yeah, I'd love to join you. I could use a distraction anyways." She chuckled humourlessly as she briefly turned back to the lake whilst Nico resisted the urge to cringe - he needed to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Alright," He stood up and offered her a hand, "Let's go?" Annabeth took his hand as she pulled herself up, she seemed to be in a much better mood than she had been when Nico had first arrived at the lake, and normally Nico would've felt proud of himself for making her feel better but now he just felt empty.

Nico and Annabeth arrived at the Big House to Jason and Leo sat on the porch steps whilst Piper leaned against the wooden porch railings, when the trio spotted them Piper instantly lit up like a firefly whilst Jason just looked relieved - he probably thought that Nico had bailed on his promise just like he had done the last 20 times they'd played Mario Kart and the son of Hades had lost.

"Hey, Annabeth!" Piper grinned before finally remembering that Nico had also arrived as her face went red with what Nico assumed was embarrassment," And Nico, hey."

"Hi, Pipes." Annabeth offered a sweet smile before turning to Nico, "Are we going inside?"

"Yeah, c'mon. It's a private matter." Nico replied, before leading the group into the sitting room of the Big House, "Make yourselves comfortable 'cause this is going to be a long one."

"Are you getting married?" Leo asked as he plopped down onto one of the sofas and spread himself across it like he owned it.

"What?!" Jason laughed out as he sat on the couch opposite the one Leo had claimed. Piper and Annabeth took the sofa in between the other two as Nico slid into the seat next to Jason.

"No, Valdez. I am not getting married." Nico huffed as he rolled his eyes causing Leo to snicker.

"What's up then, man? Jason made it seem like a really big deal." Leo yawned out as he somehow stretched even further across the couch.

"It is a big deal, Elf Boy. Shut up and let Nico explain it." Jason bit back with faux heat causing Leo to stick his tongue out childishly, but the son of Hephaestus didn't say anything else.

"So, Annabeth and Jason already know this but there's another camp out there that's like Camp Half-Blood." Nico started but was interrupted, surprisingly not by Leo for the first time in forever, but by Piper.

"Camp Jupiter...?" She guessed as she unconsciously picked at her nails, Annabeth grabbed one of her hands to prevent her from hurting herself causing the daughter of Aphrodite to blush ever so slightly.

Nico furrowed his brows in confusion, "Uh...yeah? How'd you know?"

Clearly flustered by Annabeth, she stuttered out, "Uh..you- uh, you said it that day when you rushed into Cabin 1, I thought it would mean something important."

Nico groaned in embarrassment as he remembered the day, "Hades, that was so embarrassing," he muttered under his breath, "But uh, yeah it is important, it's the camp of the Roman demigods and I've been visiting that place for the past year or so because of my sister, Hazel. She's a Roman and she lives there since the Romans and Greeks aren't meant to mix but that doesn't really matter anymore since Jason's here now."

"Jason's a Roman?" Leo opened his previously closed eyes in surprise, "What the fuck, man?" He turned his gaze onto Jason, "Why didn't you tell me?" The boy practically whined out as he pouted at Jason.

The son of Jupiter threw his hands up in surrender, "Hey, I didn't even know until Nico told me recently."

Annabeth sighed, "Can we move onto the bit where we're meant to be going to see the Romans?"

"We're doing what?!?" Piper asked as her jaw opened in shock, she scanned Annabeth's face to see if she was lying and turned to Nico when after a few seconds, "Really?"

"Uh, yeah. We're going to see the Romans and their camp, hopefully soon if Chiron allows us to go." Nico responded as he directed his gaze towards the floor, he didn't get why everyone was so eager to see the Romans, sure Camp Jupiter was pretty and the buildings were amazing but the Romans were terrifying - they could and probably would gut all of them if they randomly turned up without contacting Reyna first and letting her know.

"When's soon?" Annabeth questioned and Nico could feel her gaze burning itself onto the side of his head.

Nico gulped, "Tomorrow maybe...or the day after," Secretly Nico hoped that Annabeth would say that date was too soon so that he had more time to prepare himself for what was about to go down, but he quickly shot that thought down - he was being selfish again and anyways, he was the one who suggested the date in the first place.

"Tomorrow?! We don't even know anything about the place!" Leo shrieked as he looked around the room like everyone but him was insane.

"Me, Jason and Nico do. We can explain the basics to you later today if Chiron lets us leave tomorrow and if he doesn't let us go that soon then we can tell you tomorrow anyways." Annabeth interjected, sounding far too excited than Nico would've liked - both she and Piper were practically buzzing in their seats.

Nico looked over to Jason and saw that he was also looking in Annabeth's direction with a look of guilt taking over his face, the sight made something uncomfortable form in Nico's chest as he hastily looked away and back towards the rest of the group, "Is that alright with everybody?"

A chorus of agreements sounded out across the room causing Nico to count the mini-meeting as a success. Now the only thing left to do was get in contact with Reyna and wait patiently - impatiently - until everything comes crashing down, how fun!

Chapter Text

Chiron had agreed to let them leave for Camp Jupiter in the morning thanks to Annabeth's persuasion skills, it wasn't like she had the power of charmspeak like Piper but she could definitely be convincing when needed.

Jason didn't know how to feel about their little trip to Camp Jupiter. Nico had told him a day prior that he was basically a leader of some camp that he didn't remember at all, and now he was going to visit that same camp tomorrow. Jason was going to meet the people he unintentionally left behind and it was a terrifying thought.

What if he wasn't the same as he used to be? How would he feel if they didn't like him anymore? What if he messed everything up? How was any of this going to work?

He had so many questions racing through his mind yet no answers to balance them out and it was absolute torture. Jason wondered if Percy felt the same as him, maybe the other boy was sitting somewhere in Camp Jupiter trying to remember Camp Half-Blood, his friends and even his girlfriend. And then Jason's thoughts drifted to Annabeth.

How the hell was she going to react to Percy being at Camp Jupiter? He didn't blame Nico for not wanting to tell her but he did feel bad for Annabeth. The daughter of Athena had been searching for Percy for months now and Nico knew where he was the whole time, but he also understood it from Nico's point of view. The son of Hades was under orders from a God to not mention the camps to one another which also meant that he couldn't tell anyone of Percys' whereabouts. Jason had no idea how Nico kept everything a secret for so long considering the amount of pressure the boy must've been under, he really wasn't lying when he said that the son of Hades was one of the strongest people he knows.

Jason just hoped that Annabeth wouldn't blame Nico, he hoped that she would hear the younger boy out and realise that he didn't have a choice. But hoping had never helped any demigod he knew so why would it help him?

Ever since Annabeth's conversation with Chiron, Jason had been sitting on the beach that was on the outskirts of the camp. The group had split up almost immediately to go take care of any unfinished business they had left before their trip tomorrow, Nico had to go contact Reyna about their arrival and the others needed to help their siblings in their cabins. But Jason didn't need to do anything, being a son of Jupiter meant he didn't have any siblings to help and sometimes he didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. In some ways it was good, his cabin was always clean and there wasn't anybody nagging him to do something for them but in some other ways, it wasn't the best. The loneliness always bothered him and no matter how many times he tried to occupy himself with reading or something like that, it never worked.

Jason wondered if this was the way Nico felt before he found Hazel, maybe it was also the way Percy felt when he had been at Camp Half-Blood. Being a kid of the Big Three really did suck, huh?

Before his brain could stumble even further down the depressive thoughts he was experiencing, Jason stood up and started to head back toward the main area of Camp Half-Blood and away from the waves. He didn't know where he wanted to go so he just let his feet guide him to wherever they thought was necessary and apparently, that place was in front of Cabin 9 - the Hephaestus Cabin.

Leo was always that person who could distract you from the ongoing war inside your head and that was the exact type of person Jason needed. He rapped his knuckle on the door a few times before it opened to reveal the man himself, Leo immediately gave him a blinding grin as soon as he saw him which inevitably caused Jason to mimic one of his own.

"Sparky! My man! What's up?" Leo asked as he walked out of his cabin and shut the door behind him. The son of Hephaestus leaned against the wall next to the door all the while his grin never faltered.

Jason visibly deflated, "Just wanted to come see how you were doing, that's all." His grin faded into a small smile but hey, at least he was still smiling, right?

Leo's grin followed Jason's own as it dropped before his face morphed into one of concern, "Yeah...no. I'm not buying it, sorry Lightning Boy. What's actually up?" Leo leaned forward slightly from where he was leaning, almost like he was interrogating him but he wasn't very intimidating, considerating that the boy was 5'6 at the max.

Jason sighed before he walked over to where Leo was leaning and copied his stance, relaxing against the wall as his eyes drifted to the sky, "I'm scared." His voice was a whisper but Leo still heard him perfectly clear.

The younger boy angled his body to face Jason's as a frown slowly spread across his face, "Why?"

"What do you say to people you used to know but now you can't remember?" Jason muttered, "What if I'm not the same person that they wanted to come back, what if I've changed too much?" His voice wavered ever so slightly but he wouldn't let himself cry, he was being pathetic.

Leo stared at his face in silence before he started to laugh, they weren't even small giggles or something like that instead, they were full-blown belly laughs. Jason whipped his head towards him as he kept laughing, did he say something wrong? Was he actually being pathetic?

"You're so stupid!" Leo finally cackled out as he wiped a fake tear from under his eye, his hands were clutching the fabric of his shirt around his ribs as he started at Jason like he was an idiot.

"W-What?" Jason could feel his cheeks heating up as he stared straight back at Leo, eyes wide.

Leo's laughs had now faded out slightly as the boy took notice of the look on Jason's face, "You can't be serious, Jase. If they don't like you when you go back then they're officially stupid. Leo's declaration."

Jason let out a small breath of relief, he was about to have a heart attack and end up in the Underworld, "R-Really? You think so?"

"Oh don't you worry, I know so." Leo offered him a cheeky grin, the boy looked so proud of himself that he couldn't help but grin back at him.

"You seriously don't think they'd hate me?"

"Nah, dude. They'll love you! I'm sure of it." Leo's grin somehow stretched even wider, "And about the whole not knowing what to say thing, just let yourself go on autopilot. Maybe talking to familiar people will hotwire something in your brain, I wouldn't worry too much about it." Leo offered him a thumbs up, "You'll do great Lightning Boy."

Jason smiled softly at him before turning his face to look at the rest of Camp Half-Blood, "Thanks, Elf boy." His eyes scanned over every inch of camp he could see from where he was standing, mainly all the over cabins that were scattered around, "Do you think I'll be able to come back here once I've gone back to Camp Jupiter? I don't think I'm ready to leave it all behind so soon."

Leo clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "I don't see why you wouldn't be able to come back, it's not like they can stop you from leaving Camp Jupiter, right? And anyways, Nico would definitely teleport you out of there if you asked nicely enough." Leo snickered out the last part, for some reason he found shadow travelling extremely funny to imagine.

Jason sighed softly, "Yeah. I guess you're right, I can't leave you and Piper unsupervised."

Leo barked out a laugh, "What, are you our dad or something?" He snapped his head to look straight at Jason as he tried to stifle his laughter, "Oh Gods, I shouldn't say that about you if you're dating Pipes."

Jason chuckled along with him, "Well actually, we broke up a few days ago."

This caused Leo's laughter to immediately die down," What?!" The boy practically shouted, causing Jason to wince.

"Could you not shout in my ear?" Jason muttered with faux anger, "But yeah, we broke up and decided we'd be better off as friends." A small smile graced his face at the memory they shared on the beach.

"I'm busy for a couple days and suddenly all the shit goes down! What the fuck?" Leo muttered underneath his breath before he offered Jason a smile, "I'm glad you decided to still be friends though, I don't know what I would've done if my two best friends hated each other."

Jason snorted, "Gods, I don't think I could ever hate Pipes."

"Hm, true. She's practically unable to be hated." Leo's grin finally returned back to his face as he knocked his arm against Jason's.

"Damn right she is." Jason chuckled, Piper was one of the sweetest people he'd ever met and no matter how badly their relationship could've ended, he would've never been able to hate her.

Leo and Jason sat outside of Cabin 9 all the way up until Dinner, they walked to the Pavilion together and eventually split up to go sit at their own respective tables.

Jason headed over to where Nico was sitting picking at his food and took the seat opposite him. The son of Hades looked up at him as he sat down and nodded in greeting, the eyebags under his eyes looked worse than usual.

"I've contacted Reyna, she's aware that we're coming and says that it's a good idea." Nico dropped his gaze back towards his plate and resumed his previous action of prodding his food.

"That's good." Jason offered him a soft smile before he went back to watching the boy move his food around his plate for a few more seconds, "Eat something Neeks and promise me that you'll get some sleep tonight. I don't want to sound mean but you look like you're reading to collapse any minute."

Nico huffed in amusement but took a small bite of food anyways, "Thanks, Jason." He chewed his food slowly before replying, "Can...Can I sleep in your cabin again? It's nice having some company." Nico sounded hesitant and Jason wanted nothing more than to wrap him up in a massive hug.

"Of course you can, Nico. You're welcome anytime." Jason smiled at him again before they lapsed into a comfortable silence filled with the sound of their cutlery tapping the plates.

Dinner went by quickly and soon all the campers were retiring back to their Cabins, Jason and Nico walked side by side as they made their way to Cabin 1.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Nico asked, his voice no louder than a whisper.

"Not really, but there's nothing I can really do to prepare myself." Jason sighed as he turned to look at Nico, "What about you?"

They reached the steps that lead to the cabin door and started to climb them, Nico trailed behind him slightly, "I don't think I'll ever be ready for Annabeth to hate me. But like you said, there's nothing I can do either."

Jason opened the door for the both of them, making sure that Nico made it in before he shut it, "It'll all work out in the end, Nico. I'm sure of it." Jason sent a small smile Nico's way before changing his clothes and climbing into his bunk, Nico did the same and before they knew it the cabin was dark and silent.

"Night Nico," Jason whispered into the darkness, closing his eyes.

"Goodnight, Jason." Nico faintly whispered back, the boy didn't sound like he was going to fall asleep anytime soon yet Jason couldn't help but feel the complete opposite, he was out like a light in minutes as he fell asleep to the picture of green eyes and black hair finally being real.

Chapter Text

"Romans! Important visitors are to be coming to our camp later today, I expect you all to obey my orders and behave." Reyna's voice bellowed around the Mess Hall but Percy really wasn't paying attention.

Reyna had already told them about the Greek's planned arrival last night. Percy was shocked, to say the least, he didn't expect them to arrange to visit so quickly, but here he was, slouched over a bowl of blue cereal as he desperately tried to block out any thoughts of his supposed girlfriend or the cute boy she would be arriving with.

But seriously, how are you meant to act in a situation like that? He vaguely wondered if one of the Minerva kids had any books on how to cope in extremely weird, and awkward situations.

"An announcement will be made at dinner once our visitors have arrived but for now I hope you will all welcome them with open arms." Reyna nodded her head once and the majority of the Romans returned it, "Thank you." She walked away from the front of the hall towards her table as chatter began to start back up, she sat down and began to discuss some important stuff with centurions that were also seated at her table.

"How do you think everyone's going to react to Jason coming back?" Hazel asked quietly as she leaned forward to try and shelter her voice from everyone else, her question was directed towards both Frank and Percy but only one of them seemed present.

Frank frowned in thought, "I don't know...I think they'll be happy. The majority of Romans loved Jason." Hazel hummed in agreement before their table lapsed into silence again.

Percy had no idea what he was going to do when the Greeks arrived, he was half-hoping that he'd just be able to just wing it and hope for the best but looking at his current situation, luck wasn't on his side - yet when had it ever been? Percy just really wished that everything would go well, he secretly hoped that his memories would just randomly pop back if he saw his 'girlfriend' - honestly, that was one of the only reasons as to why he was on board with the whole meeting thing, he just wanted his memories back.

Sure, he had other reasons as to why he wanted the Greeks to come to Camp Jupiter, some being that Annabeth was his supposed girlfriend and even he knew that it was wrong if he didn't let her know he was safe, it didn't matter if he didn't know her at the moment. He also didn't belong at Camp Jupiter and he knew that, Percy wasn't a Roman. And he also wanted to meet Jason Grace in real life, like really badly. But nobody needed to know that.

"-ey? Hey, Perce? You there, buddy?" Frank's concerned voice filtered through his thoughts. Percy looked up to see Frank staring down at him with Hazel standing at his size, she had a slight frown on her face as she watched him.

"Huh? I'm here, yeah," Percy replied, he looked down at his cereal which had turned soggy a while ago before wrinkling his nose in distaste.

"Breakfasts over, you've been sat here for like 5 minutes." Percy thought that he was probably exaggerating as Frank flicked his forehead playfully. Percy looked around the Mess Hall which had become significantly more empty than the last time he'd checked, a few people were still finishing off their meals but breakfast was most definitely over.

Percy stood up from his chair before punching Frank's arm playfully, "Sorry, I was just thinking about stuff." Frank smiled slightly before leading the way to the exit of the Mess Hall as Hazel and Percy trailed after him, Hazel softly placed a hand on Percy's arm as she walked next to him.

"Are you alright, Perce?" She sounded concerned as her frown deepened ever so slightly yet her voice was still as soft as ever. It's probably weird that Percy saw her as an older sister since she was younger than him but the girl just seemed so much older than she actually was, she was a lot wiser than most campers her age too.

Percy flashed her a reassuring smile, "I'm fine, Haze. It's just still a shock to me that I'm finally going to meet someone who knew me well before, you know?" His voice quietened down slightly towards the end. Percy didn't want Hazel to worry about him since he was sure that he'd be just fine but he was still hella nervous and it was hard to hide when faced with his friends.

"Well no, I don't really know, sorry Percy." She looked towards him sympathetically before a small smile took over her face, "But hey, you'll have me and Frank by your side the whole time. We've got your back, Perce."

Percy grinned at her, "Thanks, Hazel. I appreciate it." Hazel returned his grin before she linked their hands together and swung them childishly. He swears that's the only childish thing she'd ever done and it made him chuckle slightly.

The trio ended up in the Coliseum to watch some Mars kids spar each other until Reyna found them, she looked slightly agitated as she made her way over to them.

"They're going to be here any minute." Reynas voice was stern but they could all tell that even she was slightly nervous. Her eyebrows were pinched slightly whilst her mouth was pulled into a tiny frown. If Reyna's face wasn't normally so stoic you might've not been able to notice the little details but Percy could.

"What's the plan?" Frank asked, seemingly more focused on the fight going on in front of them. Hazel whacked his arm slightly causing him to snap his attention towards them instead.

Reyna looked towards the ground and Percy suddenly felt slightly nauseous, "Well, we don't have one."

"So, we wing it. Right?" Percy asked. Reyna nodded as his face was pulled into a grimace. That was his original plan anyways, but it made everything feel worse when Reyna also admitted that they were going to have to do that - there really wasn't any other option.

"Great!" Percy sighed sarcastically before wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, "Where are we meeting Nico?"

"He said that he was going to shadow travel all of them in front of the tunnel but maybe we should meet at the barracks. It'll be easier for us to get there and then we won't have to walk back." Reyna mused as she started to turn away from them. The three of them all began to follow her yet nobody was in a rush, it was like they were all hesitant to see what was going to happen and Percy didn't blame them, he felt like it was going to be a shit-show.

"Does anyone else wanna puke right now?" Percy asked as they had just passed the borders of New Rome. The four of them had walked in silence beside the muttering of the other Romans staring them down as they passed, that was another thing Percy had learnt about the Romans - they couldn't keep out of anybody's business.

"Yeah, I do but I'm not sure if it's from excitement or from my nerves for you." Frank rambled from in front of him. Percy watched as Hazel whacked him on the arm yet again, this time it was slightly more violent.

"Gee, thanks, Frank," Percy muttered dryly, he thought that Frank definitely deserved that whack, thanks, Hazel. But before anyone else could speak, Reyna cut them all off with her serious-sounding voice

"Greetings Nico and friends. Welcome to Camp Jupiter.”

And Percy would be lying if he didn't flinch.

His head snapped quickly to the figures standing in front of Reyna, since when had they made it to the barracks already? Percy easily recognised Nico, the boy looked like...death, to be perfectly honest. He had eye bags under his eyes that looked like he hadn't slept in decades, his hair looked untamed as he smiled slightly at Reyna but Percy could see that it was strained - and it seemed like Hazel had noticed it too from the frown that was slowly taking over her face.

Standing behind Nico was a girl with long brown hair that looked like it had been cut with the same safety scissors he had seen Octavian using on his stuffed animals, she was wearing a pink vest with a plaid shirt over the top which she paired with denim shorts. Her eyes shone so many different colours at once that it almost physically hurt Percy's brain but she was beautiful, that was for sure. Standing next to her was a boy with fluffy brown hair who was roughly the same size as Nico, he was wearing a slightly stained white shirt with suspenders over the top. He looked like he had come straight out of a car factory with the amount of new and old oil stains he had on his hands but the boy definitely made it work.

Standing exactly next to Nico was another girl with curly blonde hair and intense grey eyes, she looked startingly familiar yet nothing zapped his brain, but Percy couldn't help but think that she might be Annabeth - he wasn't complaining though, the girl was pretty except he didn't think that she was really his type. Her eyes scanned over every single one of his friend's faces before they eventually landed on him. Her face instantly dropped as she took an unconscious step forward, Percy gulped - yep, this was definitely Annabeth.

"Perc-" She cut herself off with a choked gasp. Too many emotions were crossing her face and Percy genuinely couldn't decipher what she was feeling but he definitely knew what he was feeling, Percy was fucking terrified.

Subconsciously, his friends parted way for him to get to the front of their group and Percy seriously wanted to curl up and die right then and there. Having the eyes of 8 different people on you was not a pleasant feeling, especially when the majority of them had expressions of disbelief on their faces and others just had plain guilt.

"Is- Are-" Annabeth sucked in a breath, "Are you real?" Percy felt bad for her, he really did. Her voice was so soft that he could barely hear it over the slight sudden wind that had picked up just recently.

Percy nodded his head hesitantly, he really didn't want to speak, he didn't trust his voice to not waver and Gods, would that be embarrassing.

But before Percy could even blink again, Annabeth was charging at him. And if he let out a yelp he just hoped that nobody would bring it up ever again, because he totally did.

He was on the floor in seconds with Annabeth towering over him and only after laying there motionless for a few moments did Percy finally realise what had just happened, his supposed girlfriend had just flipped him over her shoulder onto the pavement with no struggle whatsoever. What the fuck.

“What the fuck?” This time Percy said it out loud - his voice sounded breathless, probably due to the wind being knocked out of him.

Annabeth paid him no mind, “Where the fuck have you been, Seaweed Brain? Why are you in this Roman camp and why the hell did you not tell me where you were?” She sounded pissed but Percy was really only aware of the dull pain in his lower back and the small panic slowly growing in his throat.

“I don’t- I don’t know.” Percy choked out as he tried his best to get the air back into his lungs, he was practically gulping for breath.

“You don’t know?! Gods, you are stupid.” Annabeth glared at him like he had killed her whole family and in that moment Percy decided that the girl in front of him was fucking terrifying.

“Listen I-“

“Hey..uh, he doesn’t remember anything.” Hazel hesitantly interrupted as she frowned slightly, saving Percy from what was about to be another stuttering attempt at conversation.

Annabeth's head snapped towards Hazel's voice, “What?” She turned to look back at Percy before returning her gaze to Hazel again, “Are you being serious?” Her voice was smaller than it had been just seconds ago.

Hazel nodded her head slowly like she was afraid any sudden movement would set Annabeth off, “I’m not lying.”

Annabeth looked horrified as she turned around to a blonde boy who was standing slightly behind her. Percy hadn’t noticed the boy until that moment but he instantly remembered his face, how could he ever forget the face of someone so goddamn pretty?

Jason Grace was standing behind Annabeth with a guilt-stricken face and a tense posture. His blonde hair was more tussled than in Percy's dreams but it still looked good, Percy didn’t think Jason could ever look bad - he vaguely doubted the fact that Jason wasn’t a son of Venus because how the fuck could Jupiter create something so beautiful?

When Percy's eyes finally made their way to Jason's lightning blue own, he was surprised to see that they were already looking down at his. The moment their eyes locked, Percy felt all the breath inside his lungs suddenly leave which shocked him even more because the son of the sea was already struggling with his lack of air.

From his position on the floor - seriously, why the fuck was he still on the floor? - he watched as Jason's guilty face was replaced by a slightly alarmed expression and Percy thought that if he could see his own face, he'd probably look the same.

"What the fuck." Annabeth angrily muttered as she snapped Percy out of the trance he had put himself in, her hands had moved into her curly golden hair and her expression had turned stormy, it kind of suited her with the grey eyes and all. She turned fully back towards Percy before grabbing his arm and yanking him back up and of course, this nearly caused Percy to fall straight back onto his ass.

"Fuckin' hel-" Percy yelped before Annabeth was immediately up in his face, he could practically see the smoke steaming out of her ears. Why was she so angry at him? It wasn't his fucking fault that he didn't remember.

"Do you know anything?! Anything at all?!" The girl in front of him looked like she was about to kill him any second and Percy didn't doubt that she easily could.

"N-No. I don-" Percy started before being cut off.

"Let me guess, you don't know." Annabeth practically growled out, her glare hardening more and more every second.

"Well, no shit! You think glaring at me is going to make me remember something?" Percy replied as he felt irritation start to bubble up inside of him, isn't she supposed to be his girlfriend? Isn't she meant to help him?

She faltered ever so slightly before her glare returned a split second later, "No...I know it won't, but what else am I meant to do? You're the idiot who somehow lost your memories!" Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw Jason reach out to grab Annabeth's shoulder before Piper grabbed his arm and whispered something to him, he didn't pay it any mind though because he was fucking pissed.

"How the fuck is it my fault?" He practically sneered at her, "Do you seriously fucking think I asked for this? Why would somebody ever want to live like this? It's fucking torture! Gods, I'd do anything to just remember one stupid fucking thing about myself!" He thrust his finger into Annabeth's shoulder, "So don't you dare fucking say it's my fault!" He was basically shouting at this point but he couldn't care less, he didn't care who heard him.

Percy vaguely registered rain starting to trickle its way down his face before lightning struck the floor that was way too close to the group. Annabeth jumped back as thunder rumbled through the sky, and oh Gods the sky. It was basically pitch black as the rain started to pelt down from the clouds that all blended together in the same shade of darkness. He thought that maybe he should calm down, maybe take a deep breath - but he wasn't finished.

He was so fucking done with this whole memory thing. Percy expected to meet his 'girlfriend' and suddenly he'd start to remember things again but surprise! It went way worse than he ever expected it to but considering that was something that constantly happened in his life, you'd think that he would be used to it, right? But he wasn't. He never would be either.

A gush of sudden wind almost sent Annabeth and everyone else straight to the ground yet it didn't affect Percy whatsoever - hell, he didn't even realise it had happened. He was only aware of his mind and his feelings: the anger, the frustration and the exhaustion.

He felt a ghost of a touch on his wrist before something was suddenly tugging at his arm, he snapped his head down to where somebody had his wrist in a tight grip but not one that could hurt him, just one that could make itself known. The hand didn't look like Franks and it was too big to be Nico's for sure, his head snapped up to stare straight at the face of a son of Jupiter, who looked perfectly fine besides the look of concern that rested on his face.

The boy's lips were moving yet Percy couldn't make out what he was saying, he really couldn't hear anything but his own heart beating rapidly in his chest. Percy's face was still pinched in annoyance as he finally looked around at his friends and then at their guests, they were barely standing up from the wind that was battering their bodies yet somehow he and Jason were both unaffected.

Annabeth's eyes were flickering between Percy and the other girl they had arrived with, her hand gripped the girl's hand as if her life depended on it but the girl looked as if she was holding on just as tight. The boy wearing suspenders was holding onto the girl stranger's other hand as his other was secured around a toolbelt that was slung across his waist. Reyna had an arm slung around Nico's shoulder tightly as said boy held both arms up in front of his face to try and block the wind whilst Hazel and Frank stood behind them, Frank had Hazel's face pressed into his chest with his arms around her as he tried his best to hide his face in Hazel's hair.

Gods, what had happened?

Jason was tugging on his hand again causing Percy to look at him but this time he could hear Jason ever so slightly, "-rcy! Calm-... You need to-... down!" Percy's face turned into a frown of confusion as he tried to read Jason's lips but he just couldn't.

Jason was staring at him with worry, his eyes never leaving Percy's face. Upon Percy's confused face, he moved closer to his face as he tried to shout louder - and miraculously it worked.

"Hey! Please! Calm down!" Jason's voice sounded far away but he could still hear it clear enough and what did he mean by calm down? He's completely fine, plus he's the only other person besides Jason who is actually standing up with ease right now!

Wait.

Oh fuck.

He felt panic quickly starting to build up before reminding himself to actually calm down like had just Jason said. C'mon Percy. Breathe in, breathe out, you fucking idiot. Just breathe in and breathe out. Jason's hand remained on his wrist as the wind slowly started to calm and the rain started to trickle instead of stream. The sky was still as dark as midnight but hey, at least the others weren't about to fly away, right?

Gods, what the fuck had he just done? He had definitely just caused that storm, hadn't he?

Shit.

Before anyone could speak another word, Percy yanked his wrist out of Jason's grip and sprinted like his life depended on it. He did not want to deal with whatever the fuck had just happened.

Chapter Text

His knees were pressed against his chest so tight that he could barely breathe, at least it was grounding.

Percy sat on the floor against some random wall with his head rested on his knees, his shaking hands were pressing into his neck tightly but it was almost comforting in some odd way - he could almost imagine that it was his mother's hands but that's silly right? He couldn't even remember her so how would he be able to imagine something so impossible?

He sighed out a shaky breath at the thought, his fingers tensing up ever so slightly yet his hands never stopped their constant routine of trembling. Adrenaline still coursed through his veins with a hint of slight panic there too, he knew that panic probably wasn't the best feeling to experience at that moment in time, but he couldn't control it.

Once Percy had run away from the others, he had no memories of what happened next, nor did he have any ideas of where he went during his panic. When he finally came back to his senses, Percy discovered that he was in a darkly lit room with a solid wall to his back, oh and the floor was fucking freezing but that was about all he could figure out.

Percy didn't bother to check where he was though, and he honestly didn't care either. The son of Poseidon wanted to be alone and this room was certainly lonely enough for his standards, though he doubted anybody would be looking for him since he almost killed them all.

Fuck, man.

It was still hard to believe what he had done. He had no recollection of what he had been doing with his powers whilst the storm was going on and the more Percy thought about it, the more he didn't want to know. Hell, the expressions on the faces of the others told him more than words probably ever could.

Annabeth looked terrified. That's something that Percy remembered clearly even though he originally didn't see it in the actual moment, and he desperately wanted to forget it. He didn't want to be feared unless he was opposite an enemy and nobody in that group was an enemy, especially since some of them were his friends.

Gods, he was such an asshole!

What kind of friend runs away without checking to see if everyone's alright? What if someone was hurt and he just ran away like a coward?

Percy felt nauseous. He hoped Jason was okay or else he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

Nausea rose even higher. What the fuck was wrong with him? He had only just met Jason, yet he was more concerned about the son of Jupiter's health than his own friends. He really needed to stop thinking before he actually threw up his breakfast all over the floor, that wouldn't be a pretty sight - or smell.

Percy breathed in before breathing out harshly and then repeating it a few more times. He scrunched up his eyes painfully as he tried to rid the thoughts invading his mind yet it was practically useless.

Well...that was until a light flickered on above him causing him to let out an embarrassing yet quiet yelp. Percy's head jerked upwards as he scanned the now-lit room to find the entrance, where the actual fuck was this place? He swear he had never seen it before in his whole time at Camp Jup-

Oh.

Jason Grace was standing at the door looking relieved, causing Percy to scrunch his brows in confusion. The boy walked into the room before closing the room behind him softly, it was almost like Jason thought any loud noise would cause the room to instantly shatter into tiny shards - and maybe Percy also thought that the words 'the room' could definitely be replaced by his name.

Jason was still standing near the door when he cleared his throat before scratching the back of his neck, "H-hey uh, we've all been looking for you." Percy's brows scrunched together even more as he stared at Jason's hunched form.

"Wha...what?"

The son of Jupiter's face slowly began to gain a red tint, Percy thought he looked adorable, "I-I said we've all been looking for you...Uh, it's been like an hour since we last saw you."

Percy literally felt his mind pause at that moment, "An hour?" He knew his voice raised an embarrassing amount in pitch but he couldn't care less - how had he been gone for an hour? It seriously felt like he had been sat down for 10 minutes max.

"Er, yeah." Jason nodded as he scanned the room they were currently in, "What- uh what are you doing here anyways?"

Percy shrugged. He wasn't about to admit to Jason that he genuinely had no fucking clue where he was or where he had run off to, that was way too embarrassing.

"It was quiet." Were the only words Percy gave Jason to work with - pathetic, he knew that already.

Jason hummed softly before he started walking again, this time stopping next to Percy and sitting down ungracefully. His head was pressed against the wall as he spread his legs out in front of him, it looked like a more comfortable position than Percy was in at the moment yet he didn't feel like moving anytime soon.

"Hazel and Frank," Jason paused, "That's their names right?" Percy smiled slightly before nodding his head.

"Hazel and Frank are worried about you, they're basically running around like headless chickens." Percy watched Jason smile softly out of the corner of his eye, "It would've been funny if we all weren't just as worried about you as they were."

Percy chose to ignore that last sentence in favour of huffing, "Yeah, that sounds like good ol' mom and dad." His voice was slightly scratchy when he spoke and he felt his face heat up slightly in embarrassment.

Jason let out a breathy chuckle - it sounded strained, "Do they do that a lot?"

Percy nodded as he trained his eyes strictly onto the boring wall in front of him, "Sometimes." He felt Jason sigh next to him, the sound was almost inaudible but he still got the feather-light feel of Jason's breath - since when were they sat so close?

"...Are you okay, Percy?" Gods, his voice sounded so soft -so, so, so soft. If a teddy bear had a voice, it would be Jason's at that exact moment in time. But don't even get Percy started on the way Jason said his name - sure, to you it might not seem a lot but holy fuck, he made his name sound like something extraordinary just because of his voice.

Percy barely managed out a meek, "yes," before Jason grabbed his shoulder in a gentle grip. Percy never wanted him to let go.

"You're not. I know you're not," Jason muttered as he sighed again, this time it was louder and a bit sadder - Percy didn't know why.

"Why did you ask then?" Percy asked - he felt braver than before, turning his head towards the blond who was now gnawing his bottom lip with his teeth. Percy had never noticed that Jason had a scar just above his lip but my god was it the cutest thing ever.

"I..." Jason sighed again - goddam this guy sighed a lot, "It's...stupid, like really." The boy shook his head softly, the same way Percy did when he was trying to rid stupid thoughts out of his head.

"You can tell me, I don't really care if it's stupid." Percy offered him a small smile, he desperately wanted Jason to trust him and he didn't even know why.

"I...ugh." The blond groaned, "I just wanted to see if you'd talk about how you're feeling after all...that. I don't know why I thought that though, it's probably something you don't feel like talking about, yeah?" Jason's voice had turned into a soft mumble but Percy could still make out his words clear enough, he didn't think he'd ever be able to not hear Jason's words perfectly. The boy's eyes were practically speaking to him, silently pleading with him to talk about it, to trust him.

Percy sighed and muttered a quick 'I can't believe I'm doing this' before beginning to speak, "I- I'm...I'm scared." He choked on his words but he couldn't stop now, it'd be way too awkward, " I nearly killed...my friends and now they probably hate me, and you know what? I would too!" Jason started to speak but Percy spoke over him, "I couldn't control myself and that's the worst bit. I was so fucking angry and I wasn't even thinking about what I was doing, hell I didn't even know I had done anything until I heard you talking to me." His voice was quick as he spoke, trying to get everything over and done with but also running from the silence that would soon appear once he was done talking.

Percy's arms were flailing around as he spoke but he didn't notice, he didn't even notice the small but noticeable draft slowly picking up around them - he was too busy panicking and ranting. Jason reached for his hand before squeezing it tightly, making Percy's mouth slam shut from his rambles of nonsense.

"They don't hate you."

Percy blinked at the wall before facing Jason again, "Wh-what?"

Jason squeezed his hand again, "They don't hate you and I don't think they ever could."

Percy huffed in annoyance, "How-how would you even know? You've just met us all."

Jason smiled softly, "Yeah and I can see the way they watch you, always constantly on guard and ready to step in. You can see that they care so much about you and I know for a fact they would never hate you."

Percy felt his eyes growing wet before he suddenly blinked harshly, "But...but what if I did actually kill them? What if they would never hate me because they were too busy being dead because I fucking murdered them."

"You wouldn't."

Percy let his eyes scrunch shut, "You don't know that, you don't even know me."

Jason huffed in amusement, "Considering the amount of stories I've heard about you, we could practically be best friends. I know that you have a pen called Riptide and it's transforms into a sword, I know that you love going to the beach and you especially love swimming in the sea. I know that you love the colour blue."

Percy froze as he stared blankly at Jason, the boy knew more about him than he did and that thought was terrifying.

Jason seemed to notice what Percy was thinking as he squeezed his hand again but this time with more force, "You know, I'm just like you." He smiled again but it seemed strained and slightly pained, "I can't remember anything either and I'm a son of the big three. I don't know exactly how you feel but I'm fairly certain that I have a rough idea."

Percy felt his eyes soften at Jason's pained voice and he suddenly felt guilty, "I'm sorry, Jason. If any of this is my fault then I am so fucking sorry."

The blond's eyes flashed with confusion, "You have nothing to do with this, this is clearly a God's doing - or just someone with higher power, I know it." Percy smiled sadly at Jason and squeezed the other boy's hand just like he had been doing before.

"You, know. I think we could help each other."

Jason returned his smile, "Yeah? Well, I think so too." He looked toward the door that he had entered from, "You should go let the others know that you're okay though, I bet they're tearing down camp or something."

Percy sighed but began to get up anyways, slowly dragging Jason with him as the two never dropped hands. His legs hurt like hell when he stood up but he didn't mention it, it was his fault for sitting in that uncomfortable position anyways.

"You're right," He paused, "are you sure they won't hate me?" He knew it was a stupid question to ask but he just couldn't help it, he needed to be sure.

"I promise." Jason gave him another smile before squeezing his hand one last time and then dropping it, Percy immediately missed the warmth but followed after Jason anyways.

But wow, Percy fucking Jackson just had a therapy session with Jason Grace. What the actual fuck.

Chapter Text

"How has Greek life been treating you?" Percy's voice broke through Jason's thoughts as he took his eyes off of the way they were heading and turned to look at the dark-haired boy.

"Good, very good. Greek's really know how to have fun," Jason grinned at Percy, "Everyone at Camp is super nice too but I think they might've just been too scared to upset me though, you know with the whole being a son of Jupiter thing."

Percy cracked a smile as he chuckled softly, "Yeah, makes sense." Percy sighed as he continued to look straight forward, "Everyone here just stays clear of me beside Hazel and Frank. They all say I'm going to destroy Camp Jupiter or something."

Jason frowned, "Why?"

"Dunno. I think it's 'cause I was different, which makes sense now but at the time it was annoying. Just because I fought differently and said things that the Romans had never heard of didn't mean I was going to destroy camp, it's stupid." Percy pouted as he huffed in annoyance, Jason thought he looked cute.

"I wouldn't take it personally though, it just sounds like they are extremely paranoid." Jason nudged his shoulder against the other boys, trying to lighten the mood.

Percy snorted as a smile started to appear on his face again, "Gods, they are way more than just paranoid. Hopefully, people will start relaxing a little more now that you're back, they have all been worried about you."

Jason gritted his teeth together, that was something he really didn't want to think about at the moment. He really didn't know if he would be fit to be a Praetor, especially with people he didn't remember.

Percy turned to look at him in concern, "Hey, you okay?"

Jason shook his head to get rid of the thoughts before looking in front of him, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine man."

He heard Percy scoff from beside him, "Look, I'm no expert in reading people's feelings but even I can tell that you're not fine. You literally look like you have shit yourself." Percy paused, "Have you shit yourself?"

Jason turned to look at Percy in disbelief, "No? Why would you think that?!"

"I literally just said that it's because you look like you have shit yourself."

"Okay, well no I haven't shit myself and I am perfectly fine." Jason huffed in faux annoyance before facing forward again.

"You're not," Percy replied and Jason could practically hear the grin on his face but before Jason could retort some fake reply, a voice cut through their little bubble.

"Percy! Where have you been?!" A girl, who he thought was Hazel, was running towards them - or more so running towards Percy.

Hazel crashed into Percy as she wrapped her arms around his waist, Percy hugged her back with a soft smile on his face, "Sorry Haze, I just needed to calm down." The boy's smile was slowly starting to drop off his face but Percy quickly fixed it.

"Perce! Holy crap, you scared us!" This time a boy was jogging towards them, Jason thought this was the Frank that Percy talked about a few minutes ago, but he wasn't sure.

Percy gave the boy a sheepish smile before letting Hazel go, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

The boy huffed before pulling Percy into a brief hug that looked more like a suffocation tactic than anything, "It's okay, Percy, just please let us know before, yeah?"

Percy nodded in response as he held his ribs and Jason fought down the urge to smile at the sight, but he quickly won the battle when Frank turned towards him, "Oh and your girlfriend isn't very happy with you running off too," Frank gave him a pitiful smile but Jason was just left confused.

Did he have a secret girlfriend that not even he knew about?

Jason didn't have time to think about that, though since Hazel was grabbing his arm and starting to usher him towards a building - the office, his brain supplied - with Frank and Percy trailing behind them quietly.

"Reyna really needs to talk to you and well, we all really need to talk too," Hazel informed him as she lead him through two tall doors and up some stairs that echoed every time someone climbed a step.

"Why does Reyna need to talk to me?" Jason had a slight idea of what Reyna might want to speak to him about but he just wanted Hazel to confirm it so that he could have time to prepare for the dreaded talk.

Hazel shrugged her shoulders as she pushed some more doors open at the top of the stairs, "It'll be easier if she just tells you."

Jason sighed internally as they paused in front of a wooden door that looked like every other door they passed, the only difference was that this door had a plaque that read 'Praetors' Office' with 'Please knock' underneath the first text.

Hazel knocked on the door, earning a muffled 'come in' from inside the room before she pushed the door open. He took a deep breath before being dragged into the room and seated on a chair next to Piper. She gave him a faux glare before turning her attention to Reyna, Annabeth and Nico, who were quietly talking as they stood in front of a desk that he assumed was Reynas.

Taking a quick scan around the room, Jason learnt that they were in some type of office - obviously - and that they were two sofas that faced each other on two different sides of the room. He, Piper and Leo were all sitting on one sofa whilst Percy, Hazel and Frank took the other one across from them.

Speaking of Leo, the boy was currently leaning over Piper just to face him, "Where did you go, Mr Sonic? Me and Pipes were worried, bro."

Jason snickered at Piper's face which had turned from confused to annoyed extremely quick, "I just went to check something, that's all."

Leo smirked at him before waggling his eyebrows with what looked like great difficulty for some reason, "Okay, Grace."

Jason frowned at him in confusion, "Why are you doing that?"

Leo shrugged his shoulders before sitting back down in his seat normally and then earning a sharp elbow in his ribs from Piper - which then caused him to hiss in pain and start grumbling to himself about how girls have really sharp elbows, it was very amusing to watch and Jason had to cover his mouth to stop his laugh from coming out.

He decided to distract himself by scanning the room some more but that was until his gaze fell onto Percy, who was glaring daggers at him from across the room. Jason frowned slightly before watching as Hazel whacked the son of Poseidon's arm causing Percy to snap out of his hate-filled stare.

Jason didn't know what he had done to piss the boy off but he hoped it was nothing too big, he really liked the guy and was hoping that they would become good friends. Jason observed as Hazel whispered something to Percy before the boy started to turn a light shade of pink and turned his gaze towards the floor.

The son of Jupiter had no idea what had just happened, luckily he didn't have to think about it right that second since Reyna cleared her throat, grabbing everyone's attention in the room immediately - besides Percy's, the boy just kept his eyes trained on the ground.

Reyna clapped her hands together once before rubbing them together a couple times, she turned to face everyone before speaking, "Great. You're all here. Now before we talk about anything else." She turned her gaze to focus on Percy's stoic face that was still facing the floor, "Jackson. What happened?" Reyna's voice sounded void of any emotions besides a slight tinge of annoyance trickling in.

Percy didn't lift his gaze from the floor as he shrugged his shoulders and mumbled an "I don't know," causing Reyna to sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

She shook her head slightly before redirecting her gaze to lock straight onto Jason's, "It's great to have you back, Jason." She gave him a smile that he thought looked pretty genuine, "Nicos' filled me in on your whole memory thing already and we are already discussing ways to get your memories back."

"And yours as well, Percy," Annabeth interjected, her voice sounded slightly hollow but Percy's gaze still didn't budge, he just nodded his head twice. Jason really needed to talk to both Annabeth and Percy sometime soon, something wasn't right.

"Yes, right." Reyna nodded sharply before beginning to speak again, "But for now, we are going to need to continue like normal. Tonight at dinner, there will be a party for the return of our missing Praetor and I will have to explain everything we know to the people, I can't keep this a secret and they will question us anyways. But after that, you are all free to carry on like normal." Reyna turned to look at the couch that Jason, Piper and Leo sat on, "You three," She glanced at Annabeth, "And Annabeth, will be staying in the Fifth Cohort along with Frank, Hazel and Percy. They will be here to help you all get settled in and answer your questions if you have any, alright?" Everybody nodded along as Reyna gave them a short smile, "Great, if you have any questions then ask away."

Leo stuck his hand up like he was in school but decided to speak anyways, "Are there any single ladies here? Asking for a friend." He grinned at Reyna as she stared at him uncomfortably still. Leo's smile dropped as she continued to stare at him in silence until Annabeth finally cut in.

"Leo, do whatever you want in your own time, but right now that's not important." Annabeth glared at him before Piper stuck her hand up.

"Yes, Piper?" She smiled softly at the brunette, causing Piper to smile straight back.

"What about Camp Half-Blood?" And oh, Jason completely forgot about camp.

"I'll contact Chiron soon and inform him that we may be staying here for a while until we sort out the memories and everything else like that," Annabeth replied as she quickly glanced at Percy concernedly before looking back at Piper again.

Jason saw Piper's smile drop ever so slightly out of the corner of his eye before she quickly picked it back up. So many things were happening at once and he seriously couldn't keep up.

"Great," Piper's smile grew larger before she nudged Leo's side, "It's so nice to be out of camp again, isn't it?"

Leo nodded quickly, "Hell yeah, I was wondering how long we'd be there."

Annabeth shook her head softly before turning back to Reyna, "I think we're all set. What time is dinner?"

Reyna nodded, "Just as the sun starts to set, I'm sure the others will let you know as well," She turned to look at Jason, "Oh and Jason? Could I speak with you, please?"

Jason felt his nerves slowly creeping back up, "Oh, uh, sure." He agreed, making Reyna send him a little smile.

"Perfect, this meeting is over. Hazel, Frank, Percy, please take Annabeth, Piper and Leo over to the barracks so they can get settled. I'll bring Jason over once we're done." Reyna asked as she turned her back to gather up the paper that was laying across her desk messily.

"Of course, Praetor," Hazel replied as Frank copied her seconds later, the two of them stood up together and made their way to the door as they waited for the others to join them. Leo and Piper quickly followed their actions and stood up too, Leo walking over to the door as Piper waited for Annabeth to join her.

"Percy?" Hazel questioned as she furrowed her brows, only now just realising that Percy was still sitting on the sofa. The boy stood up from the sofa suddenly.

"Uh, sorry, I've kinda got stuff to do but I'll see you all at dinner?." The room was silent for a second and after nobody replied Percy huffed, "Yeah, great. See you then." The son of Poseidon walked out of the door as quickly as he could without actually starting to run.

Reyna sighed and mumbled something under her breath that sounded strangely like 'what an ass," - but Jason didn't think that was right considering he didn't Reyna was the type of person to swear, he wasn't completely convinced though.

"Okay, well..." Frank began but trailed off as he looked down the hallway outside of the door that Percy must've just walked down, "Uh, anyways. Let's go shall we?" He blinked a few times before plastering a smile on his face as he turned to look at the others in the room.

"Yeah, come on," Hazel smiled at him before walking out of the room with the Greeks in tow, leaving only Reyna and Jason left in the office.

Chapter Text

One new thing that Percy had learnt that day was that he was definitely the jealous type.

Seriously though, was glaring at someone like you were about to murder them - just because they were talking to their girlfriend- a normal thing to do? Percy was no expert on this shit, but he didn't think it was - especially considering the fact that he hardly knew the people involved too.

He couldn't help it though, if Hazel hadn't picked up on his staring then he'd probably still be sitting in that office glaring holes into Jason Grace's perfect face. Seriously though, the guy was way too attractive - hell, even his girlfriend was pretty too, those two are practically the definition of a 'power couple' in Percy's opinion.

Gods, he really needed to take a break from thinking, even if it was practically an impossible task.

Another thing that was currently plaguing Percy's mind was the fact that he felt guilty for leaving Frank and Hazel all alone to sort out their new visitors. It wasn't any of their fault that he decided to ditch them, Percy just really couldn't deal with helping out Annabeth or even Jason's girlfriend at the moment - he felt like it'd probably end in a disaster anyways.

"What are you doing?"

Percy yelped at the sudden voice as he spun around to face a very stoic Nico Di Angelo.

"What the fuck, man?!" Percy practically gasped out, clutching his chest in surprise.

"What?" Nico replied, looking at Percy like he was some idiot - which he wasn't, by the way.

"You- You fucking scared me! Seriously, why do you always creep up on people?" Percy huffed in annoyance as he turned back around and began walking again, hoping that Nico would leave him alone.

But obviously, it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Sorry," Nico mumbled, sounding the complete opposite of sorry, "What are you doing, though?" Percy could slightly hear the light crunch of gravel behind him and had to practically restrain himself from groaning out loud.

Percy sighed irritably, "I've got things to do in New Rome." He knew his sentences were definitely not the most explanatory, but he also really did not care.

"Like what?" Nico's footsteps were a bit louder now, it was almost like the boy was trying to make sure that Percy remembered he was there.

This time Percy did indeed groan out loud, "It's none of your business, Nico." The older boy stopped walking and turned around, "Seriously, why are you here? Shouldn't you be planning that party shit with Reyna or something?" Percy knew he was being unnecessarily rude but why couldn't some people just take the goddamn hint, it wasn't that hard to understand that he really didn't want to talk right now, was it?

Nico rolled his eyes before crossing his arms as he stood in front of Percy, obviously not bothered by the older's attitude, "She asked the other Senators to plan it all, said I could go help Hazel or something. But answer my question properly, Jackson. What are you doing?"

Percy ignored the question and mimicked Nico's stance, "Why aren't you helping Hazel then? I'm like one hundred per cent sure that she needs you more than I do."

"She can handle a lot of things by herself, besides she has Frank with her. But you, Jackson, you're pretty unreliable." Nico glared at him, and fucking hell, that kid could be scary when he wanted to be.

"Wha...What the fuck does that mean?" Percy sneered, he felt himself growing more irritated as the seconds passed, seriously though, Percy could do just fine by himself.

"You're upset, I know it. And I also know what happened the last time you were upset and the time before that too." Nico's intimidating stance dropped ever so slightly, "I only want to make sure that you're alright, Percy."

Percy stared at him in disbelief. The Nico in front of him was also the same Nico that literally acted like he hated his guts just last week.

And after probably reading Percy's incredulous face, Nico sighed, "I'm being serious, Percy. I'm sorry for acting like a...a dick? Yeah, I'm sorry for acting like a dick and not telling you everything straight away, but we did use to be friends once, and I really did care about you." The younger boy sighed again, only this time completely dropping the whole 'don't mess with me' energy and looking towards the ground like he was embarrassed, "I just don't want you to go walking off and end up hurting yourself by accident. Hades, Annabeth probably already hates me and if she found out I let you go and get yourself killed? I'd be deader than the ghosts in the Underworld." Nico's voice gradually turned into a mumble as he continued rambling on and suddenly Percy felt really guilty yet again.

"I'm uh...sorry too, Nico." Percy practically forced himself to keep his eyes trained on Nico's barely readable face. The younger boy snapped his head up in surprise as he just stared back at Percy.

"Why?" Nico practically whispered, making Percy feel like an old grandpa for trying to strain his ears.

The son of Poseidon scrunched up his face in confusion, "Why what?"

"Why are you sorry?"

Percy mouthed an 'oh' in understanding before looking away guiltily, "Basically everything honestly. If I didn't lose my memories then your life would probably be a whole lot better."

Nico scoffed, "You think so?"

Percy shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know? How was your life before this all happened?"

"Pretty depressing."

Percy grimaced slightly as he scratched the back of his neck, "Oh."

And surprisingly, Nico snorted - which was honestly almost scarier than when he sneaked up on Percy, "'Oh?' That's all you have to say?" Nico basically laughed out, the younger had a small smile plastered on his face that almost immediately made Percy reciprocate it.

"I mean, I could give you some encouraging words?" Percy smiled slightly, "So many people care about yo-"

Nico groaned loudly, "Gods, no. I prefer the 'oh.'" The boy covered his ears with his hands as he glared at Percy in faux irritation causing Percy to chuckle lightly.

The son of Hades slowly removed his hands from his ears as his smile slowly turned into a small upturn of his lip, the boy grasped his hands together before clearing his throat, "But seriously, Percy, you can talk to me. I know what happened there and I know what it's like, I will always be there for you if you need it." Nico stared at him intensely and Percy suddenly felt like one of those characters in a show that are being told a silent message but are too oblivious to understand it, so he did what every single one of those characters also do and ignored it.

Percy smiled at him slightly, "Yeah, uh thanks, Nico. I appreciate it."

Nico rolled his eyes playfully, "Yeah, yeah, I know. And don't get used to me being so nice, Jackson." The younger stuck out his tongue before slowly walking backwards and glaring at him slightly, "And please don't miss dinner this time or else Reyna will literally hunt you down herself. Jason's return is a special day for Camp Jupiter and you know it."

Percy sighed before nodding his head slowly, "Gods, how could I not know. It's all 'Jason this' and 'Jason that' everywhere you walk." He practically grumbled out, probably sounding more annoyed than he wanted to.

Nico smirked at him, "Jealous, Jackson?"

Percy scoffed, "Of Jason? No, why would I be?"

Nico's smirk widened slightly, "Well, I never said you were jealous of him, but I'll see you later," And before Percy could even process what the boy had just said, he was already walking back the way he came with inhuman speed.

Man, why does everything have to be said in riddles?

Percy sighed before continuing his walk to New Rome, this time feeling a hell of a lot better than he had previously.

After three hours of aimlessly wandering around, Percy learnt another thing that day - never say you have something to do when you definitely don't, it takes boredom to a whole other level. Most places were full of Romans excitedly talking about seeing glimpses of their missing Praetor around Camp Jupiter, and whilst it was sweet to see how much they cared about Jason, it got annoying really fast.

So, instead, Percy just stuck to wandering around the cobbled pathways of New Rome and blocking out every person that he physically could until the sun started to dip below the horizon. There was a moment where Percy thought about skipping dinner and instead heading straight to bed, but after picturing Jason's smiling face he immediately decided against it.

The walk back to the Mess Hall was relatively peaceful with majority of the eager people already having made their way to dinner, it was quite relaxing beside the occasional person running past him in a hurry - Percy didn't care though, he'd probably be doing the same thing if he actually cared about Camp Jupiter's Praetors and all that crap.

Once Percy had caught sight of the building that the Mess Hall stood in, he could easily hear the excited chatter spilling out of every crack that existed - he wistfully wondered if the people at Camp Half-Blood would be this excited to have him back, but after remembering Annabeth's reaction it gave him little hope.

"There you are!"

Percy looked up as a hand was placed on his shoulder firmly. Frank stood in front of him with a hint of concern dancing in his eyes.

"Hey, Frank. What are you doing out here?" Percy smiled slightly before walking towards the door of the Mess Hall with Frank beside him, the hand on his shoulder never leaving.

"I was waiting for you, Perce," Frank patted his shoulder softly as his lips twitched upwards, "I told Hazel I'd wait outside to make sure you found us in there, it's pretty crazy."

Percy frowned as he looked at Frank, "Crazy?"

"Yeah," Frank nodded, "Turns out some people saw Jason earlier and spread the news around camp, now everyone is super excited to see him again."

Percy snorted, "Yeah, they definitely spread it around, alright. Jason's return is the only thing I've heard about today."

Frank chuckled, "Oh yeah?" Percy nodded in response, "Where did you go, anyways? Annabeth would not stop asking questions about you, I'm sure if you were there then she would've been as quiet as a mouse." Frank let his hand fall off Percy's shoulder in favour of grabbing his arm and leading him through the growing crowd of campers.

Percy grimaced slightly, "Oh, uh sorry about that by the way. I didn't mean to leave you guys."

Frank shrugged his shoulders to the best of his abilities whilst also dragging Percy along, "It's fine, man. You can't be there all the time, can you?"

Percy gulped, "Uh, yeah I guess not."

"So?" Frank started, "Where did you go?"

Percy sighed silently, "I had promised to teach this kid how to spar, turned out he needed more help than I thought." He hated lying to Frank, the boy always saw through his lies.

"Oh," Yep, Frank definitely didn't believe him, "What happened?"

"Nothing really, just had to go over some basics first before we could start. It just took a while." Percy rushed out, stringing together the first words that fell out of his mouth.

"Right, okay." Frank sounded so disappointed that it almost made Percy want to confess that he actually spent his time aimlessly wandering around for no reason instead, but he decided to keep quiet as he started to hear familiar voices over all the other ones.

Frank made Percy sit down next to Hazel before he slid in next to him, practically preventing Percy from escaping if he ever wanted to. Hazel smiled at him as he sat down before nudging her shoulder against his, "I thought Frank wasn't going to find you."

Percy returned the smile, "Nah, he'd probably hunt me down one way or another."

"Damn right, I would," Frank chimed in before he began animatedly talking to Hazel about some strange thing he had seen yesterday. Percy didn't know what the conversation was about, but after hearing a few words occasionally, he decided that he didn't care.

Instead, Percy decided to scan the room. At the table he was sitting at was the rest of the group from earlier, minus Jason and Reyna - for obvious reasons. Nico was quietly sitting next to Hazel on the other side, his head trained on the table they were sitting at - almost like he was staring into space, which he probably actually was. Straight in front of Percy was the boy wearing suspenders who he hadn't yet caught the name of yet, he was eagerly listening to Frank's rants and occasionally chiming in with his own input - the boy looked absolutely mesmerized yet Percy really didn't understand why.

Sat next to the suspender boy was the girl that Percy had dubbed as 'Jason's Girlfriend', she was quietly talking to Annabeth, who was sitting right next to her. Jason's girlfriend twirled her hair as she looked straight at Annabeth as though nothing else existed, she had a constant smile on her face that brightened every time the other girl laughed at whatever she was saying, and Percy would honestly think it was quite cute if it wasn't for the fact that Annabeth kept glaring at Percy anytime he looked at brunette. Did she think he was checking her out or something? Look, Jason's girlfriend was obviously pretty, but she just wasn't his type - he preferred blondes that didn't look like they wanted him dead.

After a brief glare-off with Annabeth, the room quickly started to quieten and after looking towards the front of the hall, Percy saw the cause of the sudden volume decrease. Reyna stood tall as she wore her Praetor's cape with pride, she cleared her throat before stretching her arms out wide like she was about to hug someone, "Romans! Our visitors have arrived yet I'm sure you're all aware of this, they are not Roman like we are, but I do hope this will not affect your behaviour towards them. But now, as I said this morning, I have an important announcement to make." The room had completely gone silent now, the only sound being Reyna's voice echoing off the walls as a smile slowly started settling on her face, "Almost 8 months ago, our Praetor, Jason Grace, went missing. We sent out many of our soldiers to search, but they always came back alone." The vibe of the room had dropped to a sombre hum, everyone obviously remembering memories that they'd rather forget, "But I have some good news. Thanks to Nico Di Angelo, our lost Praetor has been brought home."

And then the whole room went batshit crazy.

Jason Grace walked out to the front of the room clad in a purple cape that matched Reyna's. The two Praetors stood next to each other as the room erupted into cheers, shouts and chants that all blended together. Jason's golden hair reflected in the unnatural light like he was an angel sent from heaven itself, his blue eyes seeming to sparkle with some time of unexplainable magic - Percy was absolutely mesmerized.

Jason smiled brightly at all the people sitting in front of him before his eyes landed on Percy's table. The blond held up his palm and the room instantly went silent just like it had minutes prior, it seemed that Percy wasn't the only person mesmerized, huh.

"Thank you, seriously. It's so glad to be back here at Camp Jupiter, but I couldn't have made it back here without the help of Nico and my other friends, Leo, Piper and Annabeth. They all gave me hope that I'd return even though I hardly believed that I would, so thank you all." Jason dropped his hand and the whole room erupted into cheers again, this time they were directed at the others sitting around his table as well as Jason.

"Romans! Eat, drink and celebrate! Our missing Praetor has returned!" Reyna shouted, earning more cheers and claps that started to fade into loud chatter as food started appearing across tables. Reyna and Jason made their way over to the table before sitting down next to each other, big smiles still on their faces.

"That went well." Jason started before being clapped on the shoulder by the suspender boy.

"'Well!?' That was freaking awesome, dude! You're like royalty, Sparky!" The boy squeaked, surprise still clear on his face.

"Leo's right, Jason," So, suspender boy is called Leo, huh, "You've even got me a bit jealous." The brunette girl grinned - Percy felt bad for just calling her 'Jason's girlfriend.'

Jason had a red tint on his cheeks that Percy thought was absolutely adorable, "Stop it, you guys," The boy practically whined as he hid his face in his hands. Jason was definitely not as composed as he looked up at the front of the hall, considering how red his face had begun to turn.

"They're right, Jason." Reyna finally spoke, turning to look at him with a smile, "The Romans are so glad you're back. We all really needed you."

Jason removed his hands from his face, "I'm not going to be much use though, I can't remember shit." Percy had to grimace at that, the guy definitely had a point.

"Hey man, I'm sure you'll do just fine." Leo reassured him, "What's the worst that could happen?"

Jason turned to face the boy with a look of defeat, "I don't know and I really, really do not want to find out."

Reyna clapped Jason on the shoulder, "Then don't mess up, Praetor Grace." She was obviously joking, but Percy swore he saw Jason turning slightly green.

"Anyways, let's tuck in, yes?" Everybody nodded in agreement beside Jason, who was looking at Percy like he was a wild animal that could attack any minute.

"Uh, actually...Percy?" Jason spoke softly, causing Percy to snap his head up in surprise, "Can I talk to you, quickly?"

Percy stared for a few seconds before blinking back to life, "Oh, uh yeah. Yeah, sure." His voice definitely cracked, but he chose to ignore it considering the fact that everyone around the table probably already picked up on it.

And when the two of them were standing up, Percy was sure that Nico sent a smirk his way - but when he actually turned to look, the younger boy was staring at the food on his plate with a stoic face like always.

Was he finally going insane or what?