Thalia met Percy first.

Frank flew next to her, watching the isles around them gently drift past as they soared a couple thousand feet in the air.

Thalia's dress swirled around her, catching the wind softly and creating clouds behind her. She wasn't particularly tired, but was eager to get back to her hill in Germany-Denmark after an unusual vacation in America.

That's when the song caught her ears.

At first, it was only violin playing. Crisp, sharp, and smooth sounding, something you would hear in classical music.

If I die young

Bury me in satin

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in my river at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song

Ocean'll make me a rainbow

I'll shine down above it

All will know I'm safe when they see all my colours

So life ain't always what you think it outta be, no

Ain't even gray but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life

Well I've had just enough time.

A hand grabbed Thalia suddenly, and she realised she was falling.

In a startled scream, she and Frank hit water.

In a burst of bubbles, she got sucked underwater and Frank lost her grip on her.

His fingers brushed against her hair, and then he was gone. She sank down, a minute passing while she kept flailing around before two strong arms grabbed her from under her shoulders and she surfaced on a beach.

She scrambled away from the person, who was still chest deep in water.

"Who the hell are you?" Thalia snapped. The boy, who looked about 19 or something years old, raised an eyebrow.

"I was about to ask you the same thing?"

Thalia glared at him.

"Well I asked you first."

The boy pierced his lips. "Percy. I expect a thank you."

"Why should I thank you?" She stared at him like he was crazy.

"Because I saved your life. What were you doing in the middle of a strait?"

"I fell." She admitted grudgingly.

"Fell… I didn't see a ship though."

She almost facepalmed, before deciding he's probably never seen a Vila before.

"I was flying."

He blinked. "Flying?"

"Yes."

"Like… with wings?"

Thalia took a deep breath. "No, i'm a Vila."

"A what?"

"A wind spirit."

He pierced his lips again. "You mean a nymph?"

She blinked. That was new.

"No… A vila is a wind spirit."

"So are nymphs… well, some of them are."

He shifted a little, sinking a little slower into the slightly choppy blue waters.

"Why don't you come on land and introduce your self properly." Thalia suggested. Percy shock his head. "Well why not?"

He frowned, then something behind him fluttered and broke the water.

At first, Thalia thought it was a shark. Then, slowly, she realised it was a tail.

"Because the sand is extremely uncomfortable and hard to get off my scales."

Jason's day was almost as bad as the ghost next to him.

"So go over this again - my best friend has turned to stone."

"Yep."

"Only vampires don't turn to stone."

"Yep."

"Because your girlfriend-"

"Wife"

"- wife, whatever, turned him to stone with her eyes."

"Yep."

"And the only way to undo it is to drop him into a body of water that had sage soaking in it?"

"Pretty much, yes."

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is exhausting."

"Well think of it this way," Annabeth played with a piece of ribbon. "It could be a full moon right now."

Jason growled softly, but knew she was right. The local gorgon sat next to Annabeth, her pastel pink Burka matching her pink dress. Jason noted it was probably uncomfortable in there, even if they were in a diner at the moment.

"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to suddenly turn your boyfriend-"

"He's not my boyfriend, he's my friend."

"Right… sorry. I didn't mean to turn him to stone, he accidentally yanked my scarf off while we were running from that fire."

Jason sighed. "One vacation and Leonidas gets himself turned to stone."

"Well good news is that he didn't die!" Lacey offered. "Being something other than a human, there is a reversible way."

Jason sighed again, looking around. "You said he was here? Like the freezer or something, I don't think-"

He was cut off by Annabeth placing a stone object on the table.

Jason dropped a couple of curse words, picking up the bat statue.

"Of course he is." He grumbled. "Bloody bat."

Annabeth bit her lip as to keep from laughing. "We should probably get to soaking some sage in the bathtub, it's got to soak for at least a full day. We'll also get you some contacts so you can.. er, not turn into stone either."

"Fair enough." Jason smiled at the waitress who put down their food and whisked herself off. Jason's steak didn't smell nearly as appetizing now that this situation had arisen, but if Lacey was offering to pay he should at least eat half.

"Here is to one crazy new adventure." Lacey cheered up bottle of soda, before carefully sipping the long straw under her wrap.

Nico was sure that the girl standing across from him was holding a gold knife, but he wasn't sure if she intended on using it.

"You have wings." The girl stated, her dark brown eyes scanning over Nico's figure.

"… Yes, I do." He said slowly.

"But you're not flying away?"

"If you attack me, I might." He admitted. She paused, before noticing her knife.

"Oh, sorry. I'm not going to attack, I was just collecting some native plants. They only grow here." She held up a mesh bag of leaves.

"I know, I live here." He frowned.

"Right… sorry, who are you?"

He figured she definatly was from out of town.

"I'm Nico." He said slowly. "An Unseelie."

"A unseeing what?" She blinked. "You can see me, you're looking at me."

"No… An Unseelie. A Faery."

The girl shook her head. "Never heard of it. You're a fairy? Why do you have feathery wings then?"

Nico bit the inside of his lip for a moment. "A Faery. F-a-e-r-y, we're different."

"How so?"

"Well for one, we have courts. Fairies have insect-type wings while Faeries, like me, had animal wings."

"Still making no sense, they sound the exact same."

Nico decided that he might not like this human.

"I'm a damnation faery, an Unseelie. We're typically the Yin to a Seelie's Yang."

"You're the darker half?"

"Not necessarily. We're more mischievous than dark, though some of us can get a little out of hand… who are you exactly?"

"My name's Reyna." She replied. "I'm from Winston-Salem."

"Where is that?"

"North Carolina."

Nico paused. "Oh, you're from the South America?"

"No…" Reyna replied slowly. "I'm from Southern America, there is a difference."

"And what's that difference?"

"One speaks mostly Spanish and the other one is apart of capitalism."

"Still making no sense, they sound the exact same."

Reyna opened her mouth, before narrowing her eyes.

"Very funny."

"Well… since you're obviously new here, why don't I show you around? Town's that why if you want me to-"

Reyna glanced in the direction he was pointing, before nodding and jumping upwards. In a flurry of feathers, Reyna was replaced with a giant crow, soaring up above the tree line and west with a mesh bag in her hands.

"That's… a first." Nico muttered, before flying after her.