I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS OR THIS INERADICABLE WORLD!

The loud crashing and banging that came from the dining room was a welcomed sound. The confused shouts of Jason, Piper and Frank has Percy shaking off his reoccurring Tartarus nightmare and jumping out of bed.

Annabeth and Hazel opened their bedroom doors the same time Percy did. Before any of them could enter the hallway though, Leo came running down the stairs and passed them, screaming bloody murder.

With Riptide in hand, Percy followed Hazel down the hall, which Annabeth following close behind him. When Percy entered the room he stopped dead in his tracks. Annabeth, having ran with Percy for years, thankfully stopped before hitting him; though he was so shocked he probably wouldn't have even noticed if she had hit him.

Standing before him in the middle of the dining room was Blackjack.

Hey Boss! Where you at?

"Blackjack," asked Annabeth quizzically. The large Pegasus quickly, and ungracefully, turned around.

Boss! Hey! You're okay! Screaming Blackjack as he stepped closer to Percy.

Annabeth nudged Percy, which snapped him out of his daze. "Blackjack? What are you doing here?"

Blackjack was shifting excitedly on his feet. Percy glanced around the room and noticed the mess Blackjack had made—chairs flipped and scattered, table pushed against the wall, plates laying on the floor. He smiled, some things never change, he thought to himself.

Blackjack lowered his voice, which caused Percy to worry before he even processed his horse's words. I heard you fell into Tartarus.

Percy took a sharp intake of breath. Annabeth placed a hand on his left shoulder. "You okay," she quietly asked.

Ignoring her, which he knew he would regret later, Percy focused on Blackjack. He was very much aware of the fact that all eyes were him, but he didn't care. It had been a week now since Tartarus. They had sailed to the boarder of Greece for three days to rest. Percy and Annabeth knew they only took the break because they were all worried about their mental state, but they quietly took the rest anyway because they both knew that they were in no shape to fight Gaea and her army. Everyone skittered around the topic of Tartarus once it became clear that neither demi-god wanted to talk about it with anyone other than each other. Percy couldn't talk about it with them. Annabeth was there and he still felt guilty for piling it on to her. He couldn't purposely scare them by telling them what happened.

Having Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel and Frank in the room made Percy cautious of his answer. "Who told you that?"

"How did I forget that he could talk to horses," asked Leo. If the situation was different, he would have smiled when Piper slapped him upside the head.

That girl, the roman. I don't know man. She was talking to the redhead—you know, the nice one—and I heard that you and Annabeth fell.

Percy closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. Annabeth's hand tightened on his shoulder. "Percy," she hesitantly asked. He heard the worry in her voice and tried to comfort her, but he couldn't find anything happy to say.

Piper questioned him too, but he was tuning her out so he could focus on his Pegasus.

"Blackjack."

Yeah Boss?

"I'm okay. We're okay. Everything's okay."

Don't lie to me Boss. Nothing about this is okay. You left for a long time, traveled to the Ancient Lands, got into a scary fighting match with blondie over there, fell into Tartarus—"

"Blackjack—" Percy tried cutting him off, but Blackjack wouldn't have it.

I just wanted to make sure you're okay. Are you okay Boss?

Knowing how well he could babble, Percy spoke up before he could ask any more questions. "What a second. You flew half way around the world—to the Ancient Lands—to make sure I was okay?"

Blackjack took a step back. Yeah, he said surprised. As if Percy was stupid for even asking that.

"Why?"

I lost you once, I don't want to lose you again.

If Annabeth hadn't been standing behind him Percy would have fallen to the ground. His knees wobbled a bit and out of reflex she placed her hand on his lower back to help steady him. "Percy, what is it," she asked quietly in his ear.

A small laugh escaped from Percy, and he quickly found his balance again. Annabeth moved her hand off of his back, and found a new place for it in his hand. He squeezed it tightly for a second in a reassuring matter. He took another deep breath and smiled at Blackjack, who was staring at him with curiosity. Letting go of Annabeth's hand, Percy walked forward and started lightly petting Blackjack's black fur. After a short moment, he laughed under his breath and smiled at him. "Blackjack," Percy hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Thank you," he said quietly.

You're welcome Boss! But uh, what did I do?

Percy laughed at the innocently confused tone. "Just, thanks."

It took a moment, which was impressive for Blackjack, before the sound of shifting hooves echoed throughout the room.

It was Jason who spoke up next. "Percy, why don't we move him to the stables." He started moving towards the Pegasus, but didn't get close enough to touch before Blackjack began freaking out.

"Woah, woah," Percy cooed, trying to calm him back down. "Blackjack, its okay. Blackjack,"

No duel! No fight! I don't want to fight. I hate fighting. Blondie looked scary on that other horse, I don't want to fight him again.

"Jason, step back," said Percy quickly. Jason did as he was told with a look of hurt wonder on his face. Percy sighed. "Remember our little duel?"

Understanding filled his blue eyes. "Yeah," Jason shifted his attention over towards Blackjack. "Sorry about that. I wasn't really myself that day."

You stupid blondie almost killed me!

Leo asked, "What did he say?"

"He said its fine," said Percy kindly.

No I didn't! That blonde punk and I are not fine at all! He tried to kill me!

Percy heard Annabeth laugh and knew that she knew he was lying, but one look at the others and they believed him. "Come on Blackjack," said Annabeth, "let's go get you cleaned up." Blackjack was glaring at Jason, ignoring her. Annabeth started walking back up the steps, over her shoulder she called back to him. "There's a bowl full of sugar cubes waiting for you."

Sugar cubes, asked Blackjack as he immediately began to follow Annabeth back threw the hallways in which he came in.

"No, no there isn't. Not a bowl full." Percy shouted after him as he followed them both.