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Chapter Text

Percy Pov-

It was two weeks after the giant war. It was hard for the camps to recover. Many kids died, well... Percy did not know if they could be called kids. None of them could.

Not after the things they saw.

He was lying on his bed in Cabin 3. It was where he spent most of his time except when there was a funeral for a camper. He looked at the ceiling, lost in thought.

He could have done better!

He could have saved her!

But he wasn't fast enough!

He wasn't strong enough!

It was all his fault.

Tears strted rolling down from his eyes.

He knew that Annabeth acted distant after they got out of Tartarus, and he got it.

It was too horrible to even describe.

But he thought that together they could get through it... apparently she did not think that way.

Maybe, if he had more time with her, even a couple of days, they could have figured it out like they always did.

He was still grieving for her and the rest of the fallen heroes. Both of the camps had agreed to have a graveyard dedicated for the fallen in both wars. Thalia and the Hunters also buried the fallen Hunters there.

In the past two weeks a lot of the Seven came to talk and help him move on. He appreciated that because he knew that they were grieving themselves and it wasn't easy on them aither.

That was one of the things that motivated him the most: the fact that he could not be a burden on his friends. He needed to be stronger for all of them and not the other way around.

Surprisingly Nico came a lot to make sure he was okay or if he needed to talk. Percy thought that Nico hated him before the war, but he came by every day. Some days several times a day.

He did not know what changed, but he was grateful for it. He could not ask for a better friend.

After a while, he heard a knock on the door.

He got up and opened it.

"Meeting at the Big House," Nico said.

"Why? If it's another prophecy I'm not going! And I don't care if it says 'the ocean’s prize shall go' or 'the son of the sea.' Worst case scenario, get Triton."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I don't know, Percy, but I don't think it's another prophecy."

"Oh, okay then," Percy said warily as he walked with Nico to the Big House.

On the way there he saw a lot of new campers who looked at him and whispered. One of the campers who looked at him from the Athena Cabin’s door was a girl, not older than twelve years old, with blonde princess curls and stormy grey eyes. Just like Annabeth.

At that momment a lot of memories came flashing in: 'You drool in your sleep,' the time each of them carried the sky, their underwater kiss, the judo flip...

Nico must have seen what he was thinking about.

"Percy, I know yo—"

"MOVE MOVE CLEAR THE WAY!!"

Percy took Nico's hand and pulled him aside in the last second.

A mechanical unicorn ran past them. Yes, a mechanical unicorn.

But not a fairy tale cute unicorn; this was a murderous-looking unicorn with a huge sharp horn in the front.

If they hadn't moved, they would have been stabbed. Percy could see it already: the hero and savior of Olympus, survivor of two wars - death by unicorn.

Nico was blushing hard. He was looking closer to being a tomato than to a dead person, and that was new. Percy wondered why.

He released Nico’s hand from his and heard someone chattering behind him.

"Hi there Percy! Nico! What do you think about the ultra-super-destroyer-unicorn-mechchizel?" A Latino boy appeared behind them. He jumped up and down in excitement and several flames appeared on his head and arms.

"I would say less 'destroyer' toward us and more toward monsters."

"I'm working on it. On your way to the meeting?"

"Yep," Nico said moodily.

"SO LET'S GO!"

When they reached the Big House, all of them took a seat around the o-so-great ping-pong table.

After all the seats were occupied with the cabin counselors and Jason, Reyna, Hazel and Frank, Chiron walked in.

"As you all know, Hecate was injured badly during the Giant War," he paused as Hazel and Lou Ellen looked down. "Hecate is no longer capable of keeping the Mist."

What?!

Everybody started whispering and talking between them.

"YET," he continued, "she still has enough power to cover the camps and Olympus with the Mist." He then paused again to let the news sink in. "And that is one of the reasons the gods decided to reveal themselves to the world again."

"WHAT!?!"

They all screamed in unison. They didn't normally agree on things and if it wasn't about their lives being completely destroyed, Percy would have pointed it out.

They started screaming until Chiron spoke yet again. "Moreover," he now looked nervous, and when Chiron was nervous, the situation was not good.

"For your mental health and recovery from the wars, your parents decided that a week from now you would go to a mortal school."

And then... all hell broke loose.

"Hades no!!"

"NO WAY IN HADES!"

"STOP CURSING WITH MY FATHER'S NAME!"

"I'm NOT going to a school without (accidentally) KILLING someone!!"

...

No! No! Not going to happen! Percy hated schools! ...Unless!

"HI EVERYONE," Percy said, successfully getting all of their attention.

"Who here prefers to overthrow the gods rather than go to school?"

Most, if not all, of those present raised their hands.

"So let's go to a war with our parents about it!!"

He said loudly while standing up, getting more than a lot of cheers.

"Or you could try to go to a school to try and live the 'normal lives' you always talked about." Chiron chimmed in.

"Ahhhh fine! But I still think that the war thing is better."

Time skip to a week after the gods revealed themselves

Amelia Andver POV

As Amelia entered her classroom in Goode High School she went to sit in her usual spot at the far end of the class. She was not really a talker, especially not in school.

And let's just say that the shock that she (and everyone else) got was not helping her to open up. She meant, the gods, Greek gods! were real.

It was only a week after they found out about the existence of the gods, but in this week their lives changed completely.

They prayed and thanked the gods for everything! And she meant EVERYTHING!

When they watered their plants they prayed to Lady Demeter. When they went to a swim they prayed to Lord Poseidon. And when it was not too hot outside they thanked Lord Apollo. And so on.

From what Amelia heard, a lot of new temples were being built at the moment, and some museums to honor the gods.

School was also changing: they learned Ancient Greek, Latin, Ancient History, they had classes about gods, heroes, and monsters.

Monsters.

The things you read about in fantasy books.

Amelia never saw a monster, but from what she heard they were terrifying, huge, and murderous.

She kept wondering about them, about the real heroes that had the bravery to fight them. She would still be lost in her thoughts if her friends, Jake and Ben, had not entered the class.

"Amelia! What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, just about the gods."

"Ah," Jake replied, mood souering a bit. Like her, Jake wasn't much of a talker. He would sit at the end of the class and although he was smart and did very well in tests, he never raised his hand in classes.

He, like Amelia, preferred to stay out of most things. To be the quiet one and consider what he was going to say and filter his words before speaking.

Not like Ben, who wasn't dumb at all but would speak with little to no filter.

"I mean, think about it. Every single thing we do now is connected to the mythological world in some way, but we never even saw any god, hero, monster, satyr or anything really!" Ben expressed his own opinion on the matter.

"While it's true, I don't think that the gods accept constructive criticism very well" Jake said with a smirk.

Ben went quiet immediately and looked out of the window at the sky nervously.

"I don't know about you but I think it's good we haven't met any godly being. I mean I know that we all had a class about how to act if we were to ever meet one. But still, I would be terrified," Amelia added.

"Same here."

Then the bell rang and they sat at their seats like everybody else. Mrs. Johnson, their Ancient History teacher, entered the class.

She was a strict teacher who could be nice if she wasn't alawys asking the students in the back tricky questions.

"Good morning class, today Mr. Jackson, a student who you might remmember because he was in this class a year and a half ago, returns. Please welcome him."

Amelia’s eyes widened to the size of golf balls.

Percy Jackson?! He was their friend before he stopped coming to school. He sat with them at the end of the class and never said much, but they would sit together at lunch breaks.

Something always seemed sad about him. Sad and a bit intimidating if she was honest.

And he was here!?

She thought she would never see him again. Jake, Ben and she looked at each other. Jake looked shocked but also thoughtful while Ben looked surprised and happy.

Why would he come back? Where did he go?

Her thoughts were cut off when Percy Jackson walked into the classroom

Percy was always handsome and lean, and could easily be one of the popular ones. But as he entered she saw he was more muscular than she remembered! And much more intimidating...

He had an aura of authority around him. When he entered, he scanned everyone, and when he turned to Amelia she saw his beautiful yet sad green eyes.

But now something had changed. They looked not just sad, but also broken. She did not have the chance to keep analyzing his eyes because he started walking to the back of the class where there was an empty seat.

When he sat down he pulled a pen out of his pocket and started twirling it, like he did before he left.

Amelia kept looking in his direction hoping he would look back at her so she could ask him some of the many questions she had, but he kept looking out of the window, his mind clearly wandering out of the class and to the bright sky.

Meanwhile Mrs. Johnson began her lecture about the Olympian gods’ symbols, powers and things they had done in ancient times.

Amelia shifted her attention back to her, knowing that this information would be useful in the future or at least in the next exam.

At the middle of the class the teacher asked for their full attention.

"Now class, the most recent news we heard were even more shocking. Apparently in the last few years two godly wars took place." Mrs. Johnson took a pause for the news to sink in.

All Amelia could think about was: How?! How had they not noticed? Even Percy perked up hearing it.

"From what we were told the first war was against the Titans and called 'The Second Titan War' and the second war was against Gaea and the Giants called 'The Second Giant War.' In both wars the gods and heroes had won."

Everyone was listening, not daring to make a sound. "We even heard that the day that all of Manhattan was in a mess and some statues seemed to move was the day the final battle in the Second Titan War took place. And that the Giant War ended not a long time ago."

For the rest of the class they listened to their teacher talking about the two big prophecies, the leaders of the wars, the Romans and the Greeks working together and much more.

Amelia was captivated by the stories. And to think that these stories happened in real life! To real people!

She looked around the class. Most of the students looked as amazed as her, if not more, including Ben and Jake. The only one who did not look amazed or even interested was Percy Jackson. He looked sad.

His amazing green eyes looked down, his hands clenching his pen hard. Amelia did not think anyone else noticed, the class was way too interesting to focus on anything else, and in school it was nearly an impossible feat.

As the bell rang, everyone got out of their seats and started talking to each other. Amelia saw Percy bolting out of his seat and going out of the classroom.

Jake and Ben came over, Ben still looked excited and Jake looked at the door where Percy was standing a second ago.

"What do you think about Percy being here again? Do you know why he had left in the first place?"

"Who cares Jake! He is back now. But more importantly, this was the best class ever! How do you guys think it is? To be really part of the godly world? It sounds awesome!"

"It depends. Like a demigod? I don't know. It sounds nice to have fame, but it sounds dangerous."

"Yeah, but they have the gods with them! I mean, the gods are literally their parents!"

"I guess..."

"Come on, we need to go to our next class, and hopefully catch Jackson."

They walked to their next class, Latin, and when they entered the classroom they found it empty except for one Percy Jackson.

"Percy! Where have you been? I didn't think I was going to see you again after you suddenly disappeared."

"Yeah man, you just went poof," Ben added wisely.

"Yeah... Sorry about that," Percy said, smiling at them. The smile looked so genuine. If Amelia had not seen the broken look from earlier she would have believed his smile.

"Where have you been?" Jake asked.

"I helped my uncle with our family business. It's a bit compliacted so stay with me" he chuckeld " My grandfather and his brothers claimed that the family business was theirs. So my father, his siblings and us went to court, and won."

"How can you help in court? You aren't a lawyer."

Percy smirked. "I'm good at causing a scene."

They laughed at that, and Ben said with a smile, "Soooo, what do you think about the whole thing with the mythological world?"

Something in Percy switched. His body language didn't change much, but his eyes looked defensive. "I don't like it, I don't think that the gods could just go 'hey remember us? Good, because we decided we are ruling the world again, yay,'" he said with a bored tone.

"Dude you can't just say that!" Jake said, looking worriedly at the sky.

"Yeah, they could hear you and curse you for that!"

"Okay, okay, chill..."

The bell rang and it was time to learn the undead language: Latin.

Mia POV -

It was another normal day at school. Well, as normal as a day when you learn about math, English and all-powerful gods who rule your world. Yes... really normal.

Mia and her friends sat in their classroom for their first class for today: 'The Gods and Their Personalities.' When their teacher entered the class, another boy that Mia never saw before entered with him.

The boy was very pale and had black hair and brown eyes that looked really close to black. Overall he looked very emo.

"Good morning everyone, today a new student joins our class, Nico di Angelo. Please make him feel welcome."

A new student? In the middle of the year... maybe he just moved here.

"Nico, please introduce yourself to the class."

"Hi."

There was a silence for a few long seconds, before Nico walked to the end of the class and sat at the only available seat.

What a weirdo.

As their teacher got over the initial shock from the boy's 'personality', he started the lesson about the gods.

"Who here can tell me what we did in our previous lesson?"

Mia’s friend Evan answered, "We talked about Lord Zeus and his kingdom, Olympus."

"Ah, yes. Thank you Evan. So today we are going to talk about Lord Poseidon. He is one of the twelve Olympians and one of the elder gods. He is the king of the underwater kingdom and known b—"

as their teacher kept talking about the sea god, Mia looked back to see that the new kid was sleeping.

How rude.

Nico POV

Nico hated his life.

First a war. Second another war. And when he thought he had enough, he was trapped in hell. But nothing could be compared to the torture that was called school.

Especially when the classes were about his messed-up family. And more so when it was about his crush's dad and siblings.

So he decided to take a nap. With great power comes a great need to take a nap! Wake him up later...

"-gelo! Di Angelo!"

"Ahh?"

"I don't appreciate students falling asleep in my class. Is it that boring?"

"Not that boring, but I believe you could do better."

"...Do you even know what topic we were discussing before deciding the class is 'boring'?"

"Poseidon."

The teacher made a face for not using the proper title for addressing a god.

"And I'm sure you did not mean to insult the lord of the seas by saying that learning about him is 'boring,' so from now on listen."

So not fair.

Not to mention Nico knew all about it. And more! Thanks to Percy, he now knew all the hot gossip from the underwater palace.

He bet the teacher didn't know all the dirt he had on Triton, or Mr. I-have-dolphins-plushies-collection, as Percy preferred to call him.

He was tempted to point that out, but then he reminded himself that he was not Percy, he was not stupid.

He calmed himself down and told the teacher, "I did not mean to disrespect, please continue the lesson."

He nodded to himself, looking pleased, and continued the lecture Nico dabbed as 'the most basic and usless details about Poseidon'.

Amelia POV

Amelia found out that she really didn't like Latin.

It was complicated and hard to learn, especially with all the pressure on them to be able to understand it.

Their teacher repeated again and again that this was the language the Roman side of the pantheon used, and therefore an important language they were required to know.

It was one of the hardest classes they had so far. Everyone struggled to learn it, with the exception of Percy.

He hadn't volunteered to answer questions, but easily did when he was asked.

He wasn't seemed to be bothered from it, which was surprising, because she remembered he struggled with reading.

It was just a bit weird. He was a natural in Latin, a dead language.

And he went missing for a year, just to come back and act like it was no big deal.

Amelia brushed it off.

For a minute she thought that he might be connected to the godly world, but that was ridiculous.

Percy seemed a bit weird, sure. But he was a student in her school, having troubles with math class because he had dyslexia.

She shook her head.

What was she thinking?

Percy was overall a very normal guy.

Chapter Text

Mia POV

Mia sat at her and her friends' usual lunch table. She and some of her close friends were never ones that considered themselves to be interested in politics, but when the world is upside down, you learn a lot of new things about yourself.

"There's no way that the other political parties have a chance at winning in the next elections," Liam argued loudly.

Liam and Emma were her best friends in their group, but Mia admitted to herself that Emma was just a bit more of a best friend than Liam was.

And they argued a lot. Not just them. Their entire group, the school, the country. Heck! The entire world is in chaos!

"You forget that Christianity is not gone completely! And the Republicans and Democrats had years to gather voters," Emma answered just as loudly as Liam.

"They might, but they can't promise the most important thing – protection! They can't provide safety to their voters."

"And the New-Eras can't promise that as well! They are no gods, they can't control the anger of the gods."

Liam talked more quietly when he said, "They can't promise 100% protection because that is impossible. But it is more likely to appease the gods to have a government that answers to them than a government that promotes Christianity or any other ideology."

Emma got quiet after that. She couldn't think about anything else to say. Mia also considered Liam's words to be the most possible outcome of the next elections.

In a week a new political party rose from nothing. A week.

The "New-Era party" quickly found funders who were more than willing to invest their money in them. A party who worshipped the gods, the past and future of the world. Because what is money compared to the power of a deity?

And the U.S. wasn't even close to being the only country with dramatic changes in religion and politics. Greece was the focus of the changes. Media turned to them for answers. Tourists came as fast as they could, and the old temples of Ancient Greece were swarmed with visitors from all over the world.

After five short days, Greece already had a new government that recognized itself with the gods. Italy and countries that were under its rule in ancient times soon followed.

It was maddening how fast the world was changing. A mere hour was all it took for new rules or regimes to replace old ones.

All of that happened partly because other religions were losing more and more followers. Each passing day was a hard blow on their population. Churches closed, synagogues were left unvisited. Mosques were still somehow left with a few people, but they too would leave—or at least, that’s what Mia thought would happen as a former atheist.

It was getting harder and harder to be anything but a believer of the gods, especially because those gods had actual proof of their existence. Something that no other religion could relate to.

Performing religious rituals that weren't for the Greek gods in public weren't illegal, yet. Mia saw, like everybody else, what happened to the priest who decided to perform his monotheistic ritual in public.

After that, everybody learned. Don't tempt the gods. You wouldn't win.

Mia shook her head. Thinking about that wouldn't make her life any easier.

"Hey, do you know," Emma started telling the rest, "that me, Mia, and Liam have a new student joining our class?"

Mia didn't know how the topic could change so quickly, but she guessed that everyone just wanted to avoid the grim topic and move to happier things.

Mark, another person in their group, spoke for the first time during this lunch. "Ahh yeah, I heard someone talking about that. What's the new kid like?"

Mia answered, "Kinda emo if you ask me. I mean, he wears all black—"

"And he's like super weird," Emma chimed in. "Everything he said was 'Hi' before he fell asleep in class." She shook her head disapprovingly.

All of them looked at Liam for his first impression.

"Agreed," he nodded. "I don't think he'll make such a big difference. We already have a few weirdos here, what's one more?" He shrugged.

Just then, in the corner of her eye, she could see the boy outside of the cafeteria. His black clothing was easy to spot among the mostly white walls of the school. He was walking somewhere she couldn't see.

Amelia POV

The end of the day was so close, and yet, home was still far from reach. Amelia, Ben, Percy, and Jake were talking near the lockers.

Well, she, Jake, and Ben were talking. Percy would only join the conversation if he was asked something directly.

Ben started to complain about his evil math teacher.

"You guys are lucky you don't have her teaching you," he whined. "I swear, her hobby is killing students who haven't submitted their homework on time."

At that, Percy smiled bitterly.

"I promise you, my pre-algebra teacher was far worse than yours."

That's a weird statement but sure...

"How could you be so sure?" Ben shot back. "You never even met the pure evilness that is Mrs. Donovan."

He smirked at them like it was an inside joke they weren’t a part of.

"I don't need to know her to know that my teacher had a better... killer mode than yours."

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do."

Percy POV

School was stressing. Every little thing had him on edge.

Life was hard as it is. Quests, monsters, prophecies, math exams, and wars. Life full of death, pain, battles, and wet exam sheets.

But with the Mist removed, life became much harder. Every presentation, banner, news report—every one of those threw his mind into a different memory.

Percy and his mortal friends had just finished school for the day. They were walking down the hallway to the school gate.

"Hey," Amelia started, "do you want to go to my place to do the group project?"

Percy sighed before answering quietly. "Sure, why not."

Percy didn't like Mrs. Johnson, if only because she taught Ancient History. And now he liked her even less because of the project she gave them as homework.

They were divided into groups of four to five students and were tasked with choosing a Greek god and doing a presentation about him.

As if Percy had to gather information about them from the internet when he knows them personally.

The only thing that could have been worse was if the project would be about the more recent events in the mythological world.

Amelia side-eyed him for his unenthusiastic (and a tiny bit depressed) tone before turning to Jake and Ben.

"And what about you guys?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok..."

---

Amelia knocked on the door of her apartment, and after a few seconds it opened to the smiling face of her father.

Once they entered, the four of them sat in the living room and started discussing the project.

How exciting...

"So, a presentation about a Greek god," Jake started. "Ben, can you google a list of the Greek gods' names?"

"On it," Ben answered, opening his phone and starting to look. Amelia opened her laptop.

"So," Ben offered, "we could go for one of the Olympians..."

Percy didn’t bother to hide his grimace.

Just great. This day couldn’t have gone any better.

"Okay, sounds like the best option,"

Jake clearly  never met them...

"What about Lord Zeus? The king of the gods?"

Oh fuck no. He refused to do anything that glorified his paranoid uncle.

Amelia thought for a few seconds before replying.

"Maybe, but a lot of groups might do a presentation about him. I think we should think of another god."

Ben nodded before looking down at his phone and offering a different god.

"What about Lord Ares? The god of war. It's not too tricky of a presentation—"

"No," Percy interrupted. "Find something else." He said it firmly.

Over his dead body. He refused to make any presentation about this sore loser.

His friends looked at him uncertainly (and a little afraid from his sudden outburst).

"O-okay."

"Umm..." Ben went back to his phone before sending a questioning look toward Percy that made him feel terrible about scaring his mortal friends.

"I'm sorry for the outburst." Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "What about... Hermes?" he asked hopefully.

The god was pretty chill and even helped Percy out a few times. He had nothing against Hermes, so it wouldn't be weird like doing a presentation about Ares who hated him, or his dad which would be embarrassing.

Percy's friends exchanged a look between themselves before nodding their heads in agreement.

"Cool. So what do we know about Lord Hermes..."

Amelia opened Canva to start designing the opening slide.

"We know he is the messenger of the gods."

"Yeah, he is also the god of travelers and thieves, I think," Jake added.

"His sacred animal is the snake," Percy told them, trying to be helpful.

He didn’t know a lot about the original myths of gods and monsters who didn’t try to kill him. He never saw how it could help him survive the mythological world.

But if you asked him about the current state of the gods, he knew far more than enough (unfortunately).

He could tell you about George and Martha, Hermes’ snakes. Or about Hermes’ current delivery outfit. He could tell them about the Hermes Express delivery service or about the god’s personality.

But if he did, it wouldn’t end well for him. So he obviously didn’t.

"Ok," Ben said. "Google says this: Hermes is the Greek god of roads, travel, gymnasiums, athletes, diplomacy, orators, thieves, commerce, trade, and invention. He is the messenger of the gods and is charged with guiding the souls of the dead to the afterlife. His Roman counterpart is Mercury."

"A good opening," Amelia noted while typing the information into the second slide.

This is going to be a long and boring night...

After a couple of hours of searching the internet for interesting myths about Hermes and organizing them into slides, the TV was turned on by Amelia's mother.

For some time, the newscaster had been talking about an expedited process for building new temples in New York and New Jersey.

That was until another newscaster cut him in favor of an exceptional case requiring immediate attention.

At that, Percy and his friends turned toward the TV, project abandoned for the time being.

"—ee hours ago a man named Steven Phelps, 22 years old, was shot with an arrow in the middle of his office. All of that while burning alive."

The newscaster took a few moments to let the sad story sink in.

"Many people were wondering how Phelps could die so publicly in his workplace. The answer is simple and complicated all the same. The fire couldn't be put down, and the arrow, which was the thing that killed him in the end, came out of nowhere.

It was later revealed that to get his position in the company, Phelps claimed to be a descendant of a god—specifically Lord Apollo."

Percy felt the dread coming.

The gods were getting stronger with each passing day. Like they weren’t strong enough...

He didn’t have to ask a god that, though. He could feel the power in his bones. The power was getting bigger and bigger every time he searched within himself.

With the gods' power in its prime (surpassing even the old days), their old personalities were starting to surface again.

So far it affected only the mortals and occasionally a nature spirit. The demigods weren't affected by their parents' sudden mood swings... at least for now.

"From the god of the sun’s reaction, we can assume that Phelps was lying. We urge every single person to never lie in any matter that involves the gods."

Percy really hoped people were smart enough to take the broadcaster's warning seriously.

The gods weren’t known for their forgiveness, and Percy was pretty sure he couldn’t convince every god to ignore every single insult that uncareful mortals uttered.

With this depressing vibe, Amelia, Jake, Percy, and Ben returned to work on the project in silence.

The air was tense with the sudden warning they got. They knew that the gods were dangerous. And they knew to never insult a god, because they weren’t known for their sense of humor or their belief in second chances.

But hearing and seeing are two different things.

After twenty or so minutes, Percy decided that the tense silence was too much for him. He got up, promised he’d complete his part at home, and walked out of Amelia’s apartment.

Percy was definitely avoiding Apollo at camp for a few weeks.

Nico POV

Nico’s homework was a joke.

Well, at least he was going to make it a joke by writing the ridiculous truth.

Nico knew that his teacher wasn’t going to believe him with all the detailed and personal things he’d write about the divine family of the sea, but... he wanted to see the chaos unfold.

He was already imagining his teacher reading the paper he’d submit. His paling face while he read the embarrassing stories about Triton and Kymopoleia. Looking out of the window to see if he was going to be smitten by some angry sea gods.

Nico knew he was going to fail the class, but he honestly couldn’t care less. He was here just because Chiron had told them that their parents demanded it.

And another plus, he admitted to himself, was more time with Percy. Asking him questions about Atlantis and his divine sea family.

Nico’s face started to redden with the thought of Percy. His bright smile... shining sea-green eyes... his blu-

No, nope, not the time or the place, he mentally scolded himself.

It was lunchtime at the boring school he was forced to attend.

He walked toward the cafeteria with the rest of the kids, but unlike them, he passed it and continued down the hallway.

He was aware that none of them liked him, and that was okay, because he didn’t like them either. He was just starting to warm up to the Romans as well as the Greeks. He didn’t need to be friends with the mortals as well.

Especially considering the... new order of the world...

Back in the thirties, other kids laughed at him for being different. For liking Mythomagic, for his uncased blabbering, and for his general weirdness.

Well, look how the tables have turned.

He now had all the power. He was the Ghost King, child of the Underworld, and a hero of Olympus.

He was the one who visited the Underworld weekly. Who played go-fish with Death. He was the one invited to parties on Olympus.

So many people would do anything for the power he held now... but would be unwilling to face all he had faced to achieve it.

Nico decided to walk to the toilets, where he could IM Percy and ask him if they could meet up tomorrow for help with his homework.

Chapter Text

Nico POV

Nico knew that he was going to get detention for at least a month after he submitted his homework. It was offending and disrespectful.

And for people who were not part of the mythological world, it sounded like an extremely bad lie.

'Why would the god of the sea wear a Hawaiian shirt!?'

They couldn't comprehend the idea of an all-powerful being wearing something so casual and unthreatening.

At least that was Nico's first impression of the gods back then when he was a naive nine-year-old.

But after the incident with Apollo, everyone became even more wary of any form of disrespect toward the gods.

Which meant that Nico's punishment was going to be much more severe than he originally thought.

Nico couldn't find it in himself to care. It was so worth it...

He sat in the principal's office, swinging his legs, and overall looking carefree, while the principal was reading his homework.

Nico tried to hide his growing smirk as the principal's face paled whiter and whiter with each sentence he read.

Nico was entirely unbothered when the principal lowered his homework and looked at him with a face full of disbelief and raw panic.

"What were you thinking Di Angelo?!" He shouted at him, face filled with fear and not anger.

"This is not only inappropriate, but also extremely dangerous! The whole school could be in danger because of you!"

Nico only shrugged his shoulders, although he felt somewhat guilty for making the school's staff think that their life was in danger when the worst thing that could happen would be a reprimand conversation with Chiron about why 'scaring mortals like that is wrong'.

"Listen to this part Di Angelo," the principal said with anger now evident in his voice.

"The god of the sea, also known as Poseidon, Neptune if you are Roman, and Barnacle Beard if you are Athena"

The principal glared at him before continuing to read from another paragraph.

"Poseidon normally wears a horrendous Hawaiian shirt and sandals, with the addition of a fishing hat."

He continued with, "Poseidon is also known as the Father of Monsters, his eldest being Triton who luckily has a better fashion sense than his father. He is also the holder of an impressive plushie collection..."

The principal read the last part of the sentence in pure disbelief before looking straight at Nico.

"Do you not see the problem, Di Angelo?!"

"I d-"

"For fixing this," the principal lifted the offending papers to Nico's face, "you and your teacher will have to go to a temple."

Nico's face paled. He did not take this as a possible outcome...

Nico's uncle wouldn't start smiting people because Nico wrote the truth (with some of Nico's personal opinion about said truth) about him, but calling his sense of fashion awful in his temple was something that was reserved for Percy and Percy only.

"It could even be made as a school trip..." the principal muttered to himself, but of course, Nico heard that.

Well shit.

Percy POV

Percy's day was like any other day, weird.

Percy had known his life would never be the same again from the moment Chiron had told them the mist would disappear.

He was ready for all the questions about 'where were you last year?' and 'what do you think about the gods?'

But he didn't know how hard it would be to balance his life without the mist.

Fighting monsters would be so much harder without the mist.

Luckily, his father had told him in a dream that monsters still roamed the earth but were much more wary about attacking demigods in the city.

His father explained that because the mortals believed the monsters exist, the mortals' scent is much stronger, and it confuses most of the monsters.

So all Percy needed to do was stay in the city and pray that monsters wouldn't come near.

Not the best survival tactic but the best he could think of...

Percy was doing his homework in English (anything is better than Mythology homework).

He was alone in the apartment, his mom, Paul, and Estelle were out for a walk in the park.

Percy was offered to join them, but alas, his homework was due tomorrow.

Percy cheered internally as he got to the last page of the book his teacher told the class to read.

There wasn't a better feeling in the world than finishing English homework (at least, that was Percy's honest opinion as a dyslexic ADHD demigod).

But just when he was about to put down the book and try to find his mortal family at the park—

Knock knock knock

Percy tensed, years of battle and trauma making themselves known.

Most of the time, Percy wouldn't have been so suspicious of someone knocking on their door.

But now, his instincts screamed at him that there was something wrong, that he was in danger.

Slowly, Percy rose from his place on the sofa while gently closing the book he almost finished, putting it on the table.

He walked, almost entirely silently, toward the door.

Riptide already in hand and ready to be uncapped to slash a monster at a moment’s notice.

Percy opened the door, just slightly, allowing him to see who was on the other side.

A second later Percy sighed tiredly before opening the door fully.

Why was it always him? Why couldn't they go bother someone else.

On the other side of the door stood proudly a young-looking man.

At first look, he could be mistaken for a regular mortal.

But on a closer inspection, it was obvious that this man was anything but regular.

The man had short curly hair that rested perfectly on his slightly glowing form.

His bright blue eyes looked a little too bright and much too intense to belong to a mortal.

He wore a simple delivery man uniform.

That is, if a normal delivery man's uniform was sewed with golden threads and was made with what looked like the finest of silks.

"Perseus," his voice was cheery yet deep and commanding, something that a regular mortal couldn't hope to achieve.

It felt like even the air around him leaned toward him, reality itself was not stable.

He looked younger than Percy had ever seen him. If he was a mortal, Percy would guess that he was around 23.

"Hermes," Percy nodded his head.

Once, when he was still a terrified child, he would have used the proper title 'lord' when interacting with a god, scared of the power they held, even when he sassed them to try to ease his discomfort.

He lost the feeling of fear from the gods long ago.

Now, after all that he saw, he would not show the 'proper respect'.

Not after all he had done for them.

Not after their grand reveal that ruined his life.

Not after he knew he could beat at least some of them in combat.

Hermes chuckled, eyes shining giddily.

"It is nice to see that you haven't changed, Perseus," he offered a small smirk.

"Pray tell, how is life as a demigod now?"

Hermes' smirk widened.

"If I remember correctly" which I do, the air around them seemed to scream, like it had its own mind.

"You brought up the hard lives of demigods at the last Solactic. About how they don't fit in."

Hermes' smirk became more real, closer to a real smile.

"I am positive the... treatment... toward demigods is quite different now."

Percy could only groan as a response.

"Sure, our life became so much better because now we also have to actively hide our identity instead of just being the dyslexic kids... thanks for that.." He rolled his eyes.

Gods, they have no self-awareness...

Hermes' smile instantly dropped, his tone lowered, more dangerous.

"The mortals dare to discriminate against demigods?" he hissed.

Percy's eyes widened as he tried to calm down the god.

His attempts proved to be a failure as the whole building started trembling from Hermes' rage.

"No no! They didn't say anything! But going around telling random people we're half gods will only make mortals fear us. It wouldn't help one bit in having the normal life we wanted." He tried to explain.

Hermes peered at him. His face twisted in a rare show of confusion.

"You hide who you truly are... because you care what some mortals will think about you?"

In that moment, Percy understood just how much the gods had changed after the fall of the mist.

Percy never saw the gods as humans. It was impossible to do when they could grow to 50 feet tall and zap you out of existence.

But before the fall of the mist, they at least tried to act more like humans.

They made an effort to understand human emotions and hide their power (that now was much much bigger).

Percy rubbed the back of his neck.

"I do?"

It came out more like a question than a statement.

"I... I just want to live a normal peaceful life, that's all I ever wanted. And I'm sure most, if not all, of the campers agree with me. Telling everyone I know about the demigod thing will just... ruin every hope for the future I wanted."

Hermes nodded his head slowly, but Percy thought that Hermes still didn't get it, at least not fully.

"Well then," Hermes started, "It was lovely to chat but I came here to deliver a letter," he declared.

Percy raised an eyebrow at him.

Hermes only smirked when he pulled out a letter from thin air and put it in Percy's hand.

Before he had time to react, Hermes winked at him and disappeared in a shimmer of gold.

"Why so dramatic," he mumbled under his breath as he closed the door, making sure no other residents of the building were present to hear his lovely chat with the messenger god.

After Percy retreated to his spot on the sofa, he examined the letter more closely, and to his annoyance, he recognized it.

A summon for the Solactic.

The letter was made of silk-like paper tinted with gold, Olympus' favored way to send invitations.

The content itself was written in Ancient Greek in golden ink.

The invitation's materials alone were probably worth a small fortune. Percy wondered how many apartments he could buy if he sold the invitation, though he would never actually do that.

Percy rubbed his head in annoyance. He hated the Solactic.

Maybe it was because this was usually the time of year in which the Olympians voted whether to kill him or not.

Or maybe it was just his general dislike for seeing the gods.

Either way, he did not feel excited about going to the Solactic at all.

He lazily got up from the couch and started marching to his room, all the while being filled with self-pity.

When he got there, he tried to organize his room to at least seem presentable before stuffing the offending letter into one of his drawers.

He had friends coming, so he needed to pull himself together.

Percy took a deep breath, trying to push the recent meeting deep down.

His mortal friends were coming over to finish the presentation they had to do about Hermes...

And now that Percy was thinking about it, he should have asked Hermes for help with an interview or something like that...

He'll try to catch him in the Solactic, at least one good thing would come out of it...

Amelia POV

Amelia was knocking on the Jacksons' door, Jack and Ben were right behind her, shuffling their feet awkwardly.

Truth to be told, they hadn't been to Percy's place in years now.

In fact, Amelia could only remember one other time she visited Percy in his house.

It was only to drop off homework after he hadn't been to school in a few days.

If Amelia remembered correctly, Percy told her it was his sixteenth birthday, so she guessed he celebrated it with his family.

But something about that just felt wrong.

Percy wasn't happy when he returned to school, and he talked about his birthday with such deep sadness...

The Amelia of a year ago found that unsettling.

But the Amelia of today, the one who found out about the existence of mythology, found that suspicious.

Percy always was the weird kid.

The dyslexic one, the one who was in his own world.

But maybe... maybe that was because he was in his own world! The mythological one at that!

Amelia banished the thought as soon as it came.

Percy was a (mostly) normal high school kid, and thinking he was part of something this far away from them was just her own wish to be the main character in a novel.

She shook her head, promising herself to act normal around Percy.

The door cracked open and out came Percy Jackson with all of his sleepy glory.

"Hey guys," he smiled at them, a crooked smile.

Amelia automatically smiled back. It was impossible not to.

"Hey Perce," Ben smiled.

They entered the homey apartment and were led to a small bedroom.

The walls were painted a shade of light blue, and the messy bed had an under-the-sea theme to it, and was painted with talking fish.

Amelia thought it was pretty cute (even if it was childish).

"Soooo," Percy crashed into the bed, uncaring of the papers he was squishing in the process.

"What do you guys wanna do?"

"We could continue with famous myths about Lord Hermes?" Jake offered.

"Sure," Ben answered easily as Amelia opened her laptop, ready to type the information for the presentation.

"I actually saw a TV show recently that described Hermes going t-"

Before Ben could finish the sentence, the doorbell rang.

Percy stood up and smiled.

"That's my parents and my sister, I'll be right back," he said to them.

Once Percy was outside the room and they could hear Mrs. Jackson's voice through the thin walls, Amelia stood and started to go through Percy's things.

When she entered the apartment she promised herself she was going to be normal, but she still had a tiny—almost nonexistent—doubt.

So, just to continue the project with no mixed feelings or doubts, she decided to prove to herself that Percy was indeed a normal person.

"What are you doing!?" Ben whisper-shouted at her, eyes wide in surprise.

"I'm just making sure that Percy is... you know... that he did what he said he did in the past year," she tried to reason with him and not sound crazy at the same time, which turned out to be a harder job than expected.

"You can't just start going through someone's things because you don't believe them or something!" Ben exclaimed silently.

"I'm just making sure," Amelia hissed at him.

Oh my gods, she sounded crazy.

All the papers on the bed and table were just homework or textbooks.

She started opening some of the drawers in a desperate attempt to justify the invasion of privacy.

The only thing she found was a ton of photos and a few crunched papers.

She had to admit defeat.

Amelia sighed loudly.

"Yeah... you're right, I was just being crazy thinkin-"

She uncrunched a few of the papers in the drawer. They were all the same—failed tests in English.

Which just made her feel worse about the invasion of Percy's privacy.

But then, she uncrunched a paper with a weird soft texture.

It was written in Greek. Greek.

Amelia's breath hitched.

It could be it, Percy could be... could be...

She forced herself to calm down. It could be a piece of homework for class or something like that.

Ben and Jake peered in interest.

Ben's face was scrunched up in confusion.

"I... take—take a picture of it."

Most chances that the Ancient Greek text would turn out to be a copy from a (now) famous piece of history, but what's the harm in making sure?

Mia POV

Mia found herself in a bus full of her chattering classmates.

They were excited at the prospect of missing school, but less excited about the idea of going to a temple because there was a risk that a god would smite them for disrespect.

And that was all because of the new kid.

The rumor traveled fast, and in a few days everyone knew that the new kid wrote insults about the lord of the sea.

Emma was sitting next to her, complaining about the unfairness of the situation, while Mia tried to block her words and look outside the moving bus window.

It wasn't like Mia didn't agree with her, but talking about fairness was of no use.

Fairness disappeared when the mist fell.

Mia looked behind her, at the back of the bus, and saw the new kid, Nico, sitting alone, looking out of the window.

A mean glare was sent his way once in a while by an annoyed student, but Nico didn't seem to care. He just stared out of the window.

"Freak," Emma said when she saw who Mia was looking at.

Mia only nodded in agreement.

Life might not be fair anymore, but it didn't mean that some new kid could just screw everyone up in his first week.

Chapter Text

Amelia POV

Amelia, Ben, and Jake bid Percy goodbye as he closed the apartment door.

"Bye guys, see you tomorrow."

"Bye Perce," Ben said. Amelia and Jake waved to Percy as they went down the stairs.

"See you tomorrow," he answered them with a small yet bright smile that only made Amelia feel worse about what they were going to do.

There were a few minutes of silence before Jake decided to say out loud what they were all thinking.

"We're going to translate the paper?"

Amelia only nodded as they kept walking. "We can do it at my place."

The two boys nodded, a somewhat solemn expression in their eyes.

The walk to Amelia's apartment was quiet and tense. There was something dangerous in the air.

They all entered the apartment with heavy hearts and a strange feeling that completely contradicted Amelia's father’s bright greeting.

"Hello there kids, didn’t expect you here so soon."

Amelia smiled awkwardly.

"Oh... yes... we finished the presentation early and thought to hang out here for a while."

He nodded, before his smiling face turned into a frown.

"I don't see Percy here..."

"Ah yes," Jake was quick to answer. "He had more homework so he couldn’t come."

Amelia's dad only nodded, then turned back to watching TV. The channel showed a reporter gesturing at a map that, from what Amelia could understand, displayed all the new temple locations.

But Amelia couldn’t be sure that was really what the story was about, because she and her friends moved to her room as quickly as possible.

When they all entered, Amelia closed the door and locked it.

"Okay... who has the picture?"

Jake, with a tight expression, said, "I do."

Ben nodded to Jake encouragingly as he sent the picture to Amelia so she could translate it on her computer.

She opened her laptop, found the image, and with a nervous smile toward her friends, she typed in Google’s search bar: English to Ancient Greek translator.

About a hundred options popped up immediately. Those kinds of apps had become extremely popular recently, and it was easy to guess why.

After copying the picture’s text and putting it into the translator, she froze in total shock.

Behind her, Ben’s eyes widened to the size of golf balls, and Jake wore a horrified expression on his face.

All Amelia could do was read the text again and again and again. Not even a single sound left her open mouth.

They, she, had thought it was just her imagination. That she wanted to be what people called “the main character” in this new world. She was sure it was just a copy (fancy as it may be) of some famous myth for homework or something.

But clearly, she was wrong. Horribly wrong.

Because the paper, more similar to a scroll now that she thought about it, held terrifying information about their very normal friend.

Perseus Jackson,

You are hereby invited to attend the Winter Solstice Celebration in the city of Olympus.

-Hermes, The Messenger

They kept staring at the translation, each of their minds racing with possibilities. Amelia tried to comfort herself with the idea that the letter was fake, and Percy was just playing a cruel prank on them.

But deep inside, she knew it wasn’t the case.

Nobody would fake a letter from the gods.

So... she was right?

Amelia always felt pride when she turned out to be right.

But this time, the feeling wasn’t sweet at all.

Nico POV

The bus ride to the temple of Poseidon was calm.

Nico honestly couldn’t care less about the evil eyes the other kids threw his way, so he just listened to music and looked out the window.

Nico was only nervous about what Poseidon and his father would do once the whole school started praying for forgiveness because of Nico’s “blasphemous words.”

He guessed he could apologize to Poseidon (while hiding behind Percy) during the Solstice. His father probably wouldn’t care at all. It was more likely that the god of the underworld would laugh it off as a well-deserved jab at Poseidon’s fashion choices.

They arrived at their destination just as Nico finished reflecting on the situation.

"I’m warning you only once," the teacher’s voice rang through the bus. "Be respectful and don’t tempt the gods!"

Some students nodded, but most were still talking among themselves.

As Nico stepped off the bus, he saw that the sidewalk across from the temple of Poseidon was crowded with students from other schools. Buses lined up everywhere, dropping more kids off.

Great, more sweaty people getting into my personal space... What a delight...

Nico’s class met the tour guide who was supposed to lead them through the temple and explain the famous myths surrounding the god of the sea. Apparently, he was a priest in training for Poseidon.

The shit Nico could tell him about that god…

The tour guide and their group tried to shove their way between all the other schools who had come for a similar tour.

"This illustration," the tour guide began after they found a relatively quiet corner, "describes the final and most recent battle we know of."

He paused his explanation when a group of people asked him to move so they could pass to the next room.

"This piece of art shows the final battle of the Second Giant War, a war that took place only a few months ago."

A student raised his hand. Nico thought his name was Liam.

"If it’s the final battle of the Giant War, then why are there only three people in the painting?"

The guide smiled and answered with far too much enthusiasm for Nico’s taste.

"This is the temple of Lord Poseidon, so the illustration only depicts the battle between him, his son who fought beside him, and the giant they fought."

He continued, "There are larger paintings of the entire battle in museums and of course online. But for now, let us focus on this work. Can anyone tell me the name of the giant they are fighting?"

The students looked at each other uncertainly, waiting for someone who knew the answer.

An uncomfortable silence followed. Their teacher sent them disappointed looks.

"We went over this in class," he said, trying to jog their memories.

One girl said quietly, almost as a question, "Polybotes?"

"Yes! Well done," the guide said, relieved that at least one student knew something.

Nico, of course, knew the answer too, but he wasn’t a fan of participating. He preferred sitting quietly in a dark corner… so that’s exactly what he did.

"Polybotes the giant is a son of Gaea and Tartarus. Each of the giants was born to defeat a specific Olympian. Polybotes was meant to defeat the god of the sea."

The guide paused for dramatic effect.

"But as you can guess, the gods defeated the giants in the first Giant War thousands of years ago. Though recently, just a few months ago, the giants and their mother gained enough strength to start the Second Giant War."

There were a lot of gasps around the room.

Wonder in teenagers was rare, but somehow, every student was paying full attention. The only other sounds were muffled voices from other guides nearby.

Nico rolled his eyes at their reaction. There had literally been a lecture about it a week ago.

"In the war, Greek and Roman demigods united their powers to fight the monsters and giants. The final battle was fought by the Olympians and seven demigods, chosen by the second great prophecy."

He looked around for questions, but every single student (except Nico) stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

"But that’s not the only divine war that took place recently. The final battle of the Second Titan War happened just a few months before the beginning of the Second Giant War."

Many students looked confused, trying to understand the complicated timeline.

"We can assume that the same heroes who fought in the Titan War also fought in the Giant War. We don’t know much about the heroes, only that the son of Poseidon"—he gestured to the illustration—"was mentioned in both great prophecies."

He finished his explanation and motioned for them to follow him to the next room.

As all the students rushed after him, chatting excitedly, Nico decided to take a closer look at the painting.

The illustration was far from the real thing. Poseidon’s features were more accurate than Percy’s, but that wasn’t saying much. Percy didn’t look anything like that.

The “Percy” in the painting had long black hair streaked with blue. He wore green armor decorated with shells, and his expression was grave and serious.

Nico couldn’t stop himself from laughing quietly. The painting looked ridiculous. Blue hair? Really?

He snapped a quick photo with his new phone. It took him a minute or two to find the camera app and remember how to take pictures, but in his defense, he’d only gotten this phone three weeks ago.

"Mr. Di Angelo!" His teacher appeared in the doorway, furious. "What are you still doing here? For the rest of this tour, you’re staying with me, am I clear?"

"Yes," Nico hissed back. His teacher really didn’t like him.

Amelia POV

"Just act normal," Ben whispered. "This whole thing could still be a big misunderstanding." He sounded uncertain, and that didn’t help calm Amelia at all.

The three of them walked side by side to school. They still had ten minutes before class started and were already close to the gates.

Jake chuckled, but there was no humor in his eyes.

"Yeah, I don’t think it’s a misunderstanding. The guy disappeared for a year, came back mysteriously, and now there’s a letter from a god stuffed in his drawer."

Amelia could only nod. She, like her friends, was still shaken from what happened the day before.

"So what do we do?" Ben asked quietly. His voice sounded so unlike his usual cheerful tone.

"I... I don’t know," Jake answered just as softly. "We’ll just have to bite our tongues for a while. Even if he is... you know... then it’s better to stay quiet, at least for now."

Again, Amelia just nodded. But deep down, she didn’t know how she could look into Percy Jackson’s unique eyes and not react, knowing who he probably was.

They entered their classroom. There were still six minutes before the first period, but the room was always empty until the last minute.

"Hey there, guys," said Percy Jackson’s tense voice.

Percy was never tense.

Something was wrong.

Mia POV

The new kid kept grumbling quietly in Italian all day. It was annoying.

This Nico kid had absolutely no respect for anything. Not only did he insult the lord of the sea, which was the reason they were even in his temple, but he also kept muttering what sounded like curses inside it.

Mia honestly couldn’t understand how he hadn’t been struck down by an angry god yet. The news was full of people who showed even slight disrespect and paid with their lives.

So how could Nico do all that and get away with it?

Emma even told her she’d been near Nico when their teacher told him to pray for forgiveness for his lies and disrespect toward the god of the sea. She said all he did was mutter “sorry” and walk away, leaving a fuming teacher behind.

Didn’t he understand the danger they were in? That he was in?

She and Emma walked side by side, surrounded by their classmates. They were all leaving the temple after finishing the tour and having lunch before heading back to school.

"What did you guys think about the tour?" Liam asked from behind them, appearing out of nowhere.

Emma jumped from surprise before smacking him on the arm.

Mia replied, "The tour was great! I can’t believe all of that happened right under our noses! Two wars!"

Liam nodded. "I know! And probably the same demigods fought both wars, and so close together! That must have been awful."

Emma shrugged. "Maybe, but they aren’t mortals, so we can’t possibly understand how they felt. Maybe they were excited for the fame and glory."

Mia nodded. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"I mean, yeah, they’re probably different from us," Liam said, "but I can’t imagine being happy about going to war."

"You can’t imagine. But a demigod might," Emma said. "Just think about the illustration of the Second Giant War at the beginning. The hero son of Poseidon wore armor made of shells, and he looked anything but human."

Liam raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fair point."

Mia, Emma, and Liam sat down to eat their packed lunches on the grass. From where they sat, they could see the buses coming and going.

The closest bus opened its doors, and students began stepping out.

"Hey Mia," Emma whispered, elbowing her. "Check out this guy."

A tall boy with curly brown hair practically jumped off the bus. Even from a distance, Mia could see his bright blue eyes. He was skinny and wore a big smile that didn’t fade for even a second.

"They’re probably from the school next to Jennifer’s house," Liam said. "I saw some of their students entering there earlier."

"Go talk to him," Mia teased, smiling.

Emma nodded nervously before standing up and walking toward the boy. Mia and Liam could still hear them; they weren’t too far away.

"Hi," she called. "I’m Emma."

The boy turned toward her, confused but smiling.

"Ahh, hi... I’m Conno—"

His expression shifted to surprise and then amusement as he looked at something behind Emma.

"Excuse me for a sec," he said cheerfully before almost running past her.

He stopped only when he reached... Nico?

"Hello there, Nico, what a pleasant surprise," he said with a mock bow.

Nico, who hadn’t been paying attention, looked up and grinned.

"Came for the tour?" he asked with a smirk.

"You bet."

"Well, it sucks..."

What was happening? Nico—the weird kid—had friends? And such nice-looking ones?

Emma froze, staring after him. The boy’s friends looked just as confused until one of them turned to her.

"Do you... do you know who that is? Connor never mentioned any other friends. Well, except a brother, but that doesn’t count."

"I... I..." Emma stammered before returning to Mia and Liam, still speechless.

"Okay, what was that?!" Liam whispered, sneaking a glance toward Nico and Connor laughing together.

They couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation, but Mia caught a few words:

"Oh, and make sure you look closely at the wall painting of the Giant War."

"Why?"

"You’ll see."

After lunch, when they got on the bus, Mia noticed Nico sitting at the back, typing furiously on his phone. After a few minutes, he sighed, put it away, and leaned back in his seat with a small, disbelieving smile.

Mia never thought she saw him smile so earnestly before. It was kind of sweet...

Mia thought she heard him mutter, "Percy... what have you done," before putting his earphones on.

So the emo kid had two friends... huh