DISCLAIMER: NONE OF THE CHARACTERS BELONG TO ME AND ETC. THEY'RE ALL RICK'S
PIPER
For many reasons, Piper was happy. But not for a single moment could Piper forget about Leo – not that she wanted to – and his death, no matter what Jason had told her, loomed over Piper constantly. Even now, tears had started building up in her eyes.
She almost ran out of the Aphrodite cabin, but she held herself back. As senior counselor, Piper had to act strong for her cabin mates. However, her pace was hurried, and Piper strode out of the door. She had wanted to go to Bunker Nine, but Annabeth stopped her.
It was only two weeks after Gaia's defeat, yet the daughter of Athena already had her blonde hair tied back, and her head buried in scrolls of designs to continue her work on Olympus. Annabeth's gray eyes showed misery, though. As stormy, calculating, alert and threatening they were, Piper could clearly see sadness in them.
Percy had told Piper that working on architecture helped her a lot. He could be tricked, but as a daughter of Aphrodite, Piper knew better. She knew that those gray eyes were similar to hers. They hid emotions from the public.
"Piper, I need some help," Annabeth told her.
Forcing herself to focus, Piper replied, "what type of help?"
"I got stranded again."
Stranded was their codeword. Leo was once stranded in Ogygia, so whenever they needed to talk about him among the Argo II crew, they used the word. Besides, Percy and Jason was good camouflage. Most campers thought that one of the two left them somewhere.
Piper smiled sadly. "Me too. Let's go get the boys."
Bunker Nine was an ideal place to meet. The Hephaestus cabin had taken what they needed from it and created a new bunker inside their cabin. It reminded them all so much of Leo that they visited it often, up to the point where Bunker Nine's nickname became the 'headquarters of the Seven'. Now, however, it was only Piper, Annabeth, Percy, and Nico there.
Wistfully, Piper thought of Jason who was due to be back the next day, bringing Frank and Hazel along. Jason had changed a lot. The loss of Leo, being the Pontifex of both camps, along with just being the son of Jupiter, took its toll heavily on him. But Piper was always there to share the burden with him. Now, it was his first time away from her since the war.
Percy, turned down the volume of the Valdezinator, a gift from Apollo to them. "So, Annabeth called you here cause I couldn't wait till tomorrow to tell you guys this."
Though his tone was cheery, Piper felt something behind it.
He continued. "I had a dream. About Leo."
"What?" Piper asked, not believing.
"Yes. Leo. He's alive."
Nico shook his head. "That's impossible. I felt him die."
"But you said it felt different," Percy countered.
It was hard to believe, and Piper glanced at Annabeth. Apparently she'd known earlier.
Hope won over Piper. "Nico, you haven't checked the Underworld yet."
Again, the boy shook his head. "I – I can't. I can't let myself hope."
"Please, you have to," Piper pleaded, pouring charmspeak into her voice.
In a daze, Nico replied, "fine." He stood up and disappeared into the shadows.
Piper left Percy and Annabeth alone, knowing that they might want to have some time alone. Besides, Annabeth needed it. She walked through the forest, remembering all those times of happiness she'd spent there with Jason and Leo. Capture the Flag was tonight, and for the first time, none of them would be with her.
As she drew nearer towards the cabins, Piper saw more and more evidence of the recent war. It hurt to see her home destroyed, but the campers were recovering. Everything was going to be fine. Piper had to believe that. After all that happened, Piper couldn't stand another war.
JASON
Camp Jupiter was different, but Jason liked it that way. As Pontifex, he was building, with the help of Annabeth, hundreds of new temples on Temple Hill. Kympoleia's temple, the first temple built, was designed by Reyna because the official architect of Olympus was rather busy and also, she had refused downright to build a temple for a goddess who had nearly killed her boyfriend.
Looking at New Rome from his father's temple, Jason remembered his stroll with Piper there, and then kissing underneath the sea of stars at Camp Half-Blood. He sighed happily. Tonight he would get to see Piper again, and she had promised to come with him on his next visit to Camp Jupiter. Having her around would ease the pain Leo's death had caused.
"Pontifex, you are summoned to the principia by Praetors Zhang and Ramilez-Arellano, if you are not too busy."
Jason whipped around and saw Hazel. In the same mock official tone, he answered, "Tell our praetors that I will head there now, Centurion Levesque."
They both laughed, and went downhill together.
While walking, Jason couldn't help but ask, "Hazel, I don't mean to pry but how do you go through all this? All the loss you've felt in both lives, it must be overwhelming, especially for a thirteen-year-old."
Hazel's gaze hardened, and her face stiffened. Her golden eyes were distant. Jason feared for a second that he'd gone too far because from all of the crew, he felt that he was most distant with Hazel. They were from the same cohort, but he felt that he barely knew her.
"I dunno. I fight all the grief for the sake of my friends, and just keep going."
Jason looked at the threatening complexion of his friend who kept talking as they walked. "I'm only thirteen, I'm looked down on because of my age, because I'm Pluto's daughter. But now, I've proven myself. I've shown people that age is not a barrier, that my bloodline merely strengthens me. Jason Grace, I may be young, but I've experienced worse than many, and every time I rise from the ashes of grief, I grow stronger." A pause, then, "what about you?"
Momentarily, Jason stared at Hazel, whose expression was indiscernible. Then, he replied, "Piper. She keeps me going. Also, a sense of duty to both camps. I'm sorry I asked – I shouldn't have pried."
"No, I'm glad you asked. Now you know."
They continued in silence, with Jason was deep in his thoughts.
"Jason, Hazel, welcome." Reyna greeted them as they sat.
Frank smiled at Hazel, then at him. The Romans had supported his praetorship, but Frank always looked nervous and he had confided with Jason that he was often overwhelmed by such a high position. Being a friend and former praetor, Jason helped him when his duties as Pontifex allowed him to.
Along with Camp Jupiter, Reyna had also changed. Though she was constantly alert, she was easier to approach, easier to talk to. Coach Hedge's version of her quest couldn't be trusted much, but Nico's could. He had told Jason everything except one part, because he had said that Reyna had to tell it herself. Jason wanted to give Reyna time to recover before asking, and so he held back his curiosity.
Reyna cleared her throat. "There is only the four of us, so let us talk as friends, and not as officers, yes?"
Frank nodded gratefully and began talking. "Right, so tomorrow morning some Party Ponies will ride here and we'll go to Camp Half-Blood with them. Chiron says they should be in control."
"Great," Hazel told him. She loved horses.
After Jason nodded his approval, Frank continued, "Reyna will take over my praetor duties for three days, so I can only stay there for that long, but you both can stay longer."
"Jason, get Annabeth to design at least seven temples before you get back. I know she's busy but there are hundreds of temples we need to make. Oh, and some legionnaires will join you guys for an exchange program. Some campers are coming here too, which is why Frank can go for a short while only. Sorry for that, Hazel, but it's our first exchange," Reyna added, smiling.
Hazel smiled back. "Nah, it's okay. I can always shadow travel back here at night."
"That's against rules," chided the praetor, but her tone was light. Frank blushed.
Jason couldn't help but laugh. "So we're done here? I've got an appointment with Juno in like five minutes."
Reyna's expression hardened at that. "No, we aren't. There's one last thing."
"What?"
"Leo's alive."
ANNABETH
Playing Capture the Flag seemed absurd after two weeks of camp without the usual activities. Chiron had decided to let all the demigods do whatever they wished, as long as it was within reason. Mr. D was gone from the camp because Zeus had taken away his remaining fifty years at Camp Half-Blood. Everything was the same. Everything was different. It gave Annabeth vertigo.
Percy helped her deal with the pain of losing Leo, of losing all the dead campers. But it reminded Annabeth too much of when she had handed her lost dagger to Luke and allowed him to kill himself. It reminded her too much of the night she received that dagger. It was also Luke who gave it to her. Promise. It echoed in her head. One line of the prophecy still didn't make sense.
To distract herself, Annabeth studied architecture, continuing her unfinished work on Olympus. That gave her enough joy to hold back the sadness that always engulfed her. Meeting her mother almost everyday also made her happy. After fighting alongside Athena, Annabeth felt a stronger connection with her.
But nothing was ever peaceful. Only three days after the battle, Percy and some other campers had to subdue a monster crocodile with an Egyptian magician. Nine days later, Annabeth herself faced an Egyptian-Greek god with the brother of the magician Percy met.
She felt like punching the Fates, but remembering how they defeated the giant Thoon, Annabeth stopped herself. Her life was miserable. The Fates seemed to tell her, here, a stepmother for you who will make you run away from home. Oh, Luke will betray you and you have to kill him. Make friends with the Roman demigods, because they exist. You've got no choice cause your boyfriend is with them. Oh, Gaia is rising, you need to go fall into Tartarus.
As if that wasn't enough, they went on messing with her life. By the way, there are Egyptian gods too. Here, proof for that is you have to defeat an almost unbeatable god. Annabeth hated her fate. She wanted to ask the Fates whether she had to deal with Norse gods too or not. Her life was that absurd.
Percy walked over to her just as Annabeth finished donning her armor. He looked like he was ready to cause some trouble. His sea-green eyes sparkled with mischief.
"What are you up to now, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked him.
"Oh, just that Piper is in our team. The other cabins won't stand a chance against us."
"Well, with only the three of us they won't stand a chance."
"Yeah, especially with you, Wise Girl," Percy replied, then giving her a kiss.
As predicted, it was an easy win. Maybe the easiest win ever. Annabeth got the enemy flag over the line in less than fifteen minutes into the game. Chiron smiled amusedly when he hung laurel wreaths on the senior counselors of the Athena, Poseidon and Aphrodite cabins. She, Piper and Percy laughed at Clarisse who couldn't kill them because of she was being a godmother.
Annabeth took Percy from the dining pavilion early to stroll down the beach. Percy kissed her again, and Annabeth was reminded of her first kiss with him in Mount St. Helens.
"Happy seventeenth, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said when they pulled away.
"It's my birthday?"
A gust of wind swept them. Mellie had delivered Percy's blue birthday cupcake.
Percy's face couldn't clearly be seen in the light of the moon, but he looked up and whispered softly to the stars, "Bob says hello. Thanks, Wise Girl."
Every night, he would whisper those words to the stars. Tonight, Annabeth added more. "Zoe, your grandfather says hello."
"I never thought of that."
For a moment there was comfortable silence as Percy blew out the candles and they shared the blue cupcake – just like they had a year ago.
"Hey, you know what? Let's cause mass panic," Percy said.
"Why would I agree?"
Even with only the moonlight, Annabeth could make out that endearing troublemaker smile on Percy's face. He replied with a kiss accompanied by a tight hug. Then, he made them both fall sideways, into the lake, and still in the same position, they had their second underwater kiss.
And Annabeth agreed.
HAZEL
Being back at Camp Jupiter was nice, but Hazel missed Nico. During the few nights at Camp Half-Blood, it felt like she actually had a brother. Nico had comforted her when she cried about Leo, even if he himself was crying too.
"Centurion Levesque!" Julia called her.
Hazel smiled at the little girl who came running. "What do you need, Julia?"
Shyly, Julia handed her a scroll. "It's from Praetor Reyna." Then she ran away, heading towards her usual post.
Upon opening the scroll, Hazel saw Reyna's neat cursive handwriting. Hazel, one of the satyrs at Camp Half-Blood found a child of Pluto, maybe Hades. We do not know for sure yet. However, I would like you to help her out. Be gentle. She is only three years old. Her name is Bianca. She ran away from her home, and we do not know where her mother is. I could not tell you personally because I am to heading to Olympus on Lord Pegasus to find out about Leo. I'm sorry, but Frank cannot come to Camp Half-Blood with you tomorrow. Thank you, Hazel. It was signed by Reyna.
Hazel could've screamed in joy, but she was a centurion. She had to act collected. But a sister, a baby one at that, was news she could accept straight away. What would Nico say? Wait a moment, Hazel thought. Bianca. That was Nico's sister's name.
The absurdity was too much. Hazel ran to the deserted baths and made a rainbow. Tossing a denarius into the rainbow, she muttered Fleecy's direct number, asking for Nico.
A high-pitched note escaped Hazel's throat when the rainbow shimmered to show the Underworld. Hazel couldn't believe that Nico was there of all places. The picture cleared and she saw Nico's back.
"Ni-Nico," Hazel called.
Her brother whipped around, his dark eyes wide with fear. "Hazel?"
"What are you doing down there? Dad even said you're not to go shadow-travelling for a whole month."
"I had to try find Leo. Besides, dad's not home."
"Leo?"
"Percy had a dream that Le – "
"Reyna had one too!"
Nico looked stunned. "He's alive then?"
"I don't know either, but Nico – we have another sibling!"
An unrecognizable expression flickered across Nico's face. "Who?"
"A sister, only three years old, and her name is Bianca," Hazel answered, paying attention to Nico's face which had paled even paler than usual.
Silence. Then, "Hazel, I'll meet you at Camp Half-Blood tomorrow. Bye." Nico swept his hand over the rainbow and it dissipated, leaving Hazel speechless.
Hazel decided that after the day's fiasco, a nice, long walk with Frank was what she needed, but Frank wasn't at the principia. So, instead, she walked alone to Temple Hill, to her favorite spot near the Bellona's temple.
Since Polybotes entered Camp Jupiter, most damages had been repaired, but some still remained. All destruction inside Terminus' borders had been repaired, but outside it, a few craters in the pavement still remained. Legionnaires were working on them though. Even now ten of them were crowding around on huge crater.
In peace, Hazel sat down on the front steps of the temple. She sighed. Maybe Nico was right. She'd understood the secret, she'd made her second life better. Hazel lent on the pillar next to her, gazing at the city of New Rome, a valley of peace guarded by the Oakland hills, and prayed to the gods to let her live her life in peace – for once.
PERCY
They fell asleep underwater which was definitely going to cause trouble. Luckily, his bubble of air didn't disappear when he feel asleep hugging Annabeth, who woke him up when sunlight had already filtered through to the bottom of the lake. But, unluckily, the both of them knew that they were going to be in serious trouble.
"Percy, we need to get out of here," Annabeth whispered drowsily.
"Let's stay a while longer."
"Chiron's going to kill us."
"Who cares?"
Annabeth laughed. "Cause we're already in big trouble? Seaweed Brain, Hazel and Jason are arriving real soon."
"Oh, right. Let's go then." Reluctantly, and rather apprehensively, Percy lifted them both to the surface of the lake. He wanted to just keep smelling Annabeth's lemon-scented hair and feel her warmth – the warmth that had kept him going all the way through Tartarus.
They were dry when they got out of the lake and onto the pier. Many campers walked along the creek, as if looking for something. No, someone, Percy guiltily thought. Chiron, in full white-stallion mode, was also galloping around, his eyes alert.
"WHERE IN HADES WERE YOU BOTH?" Clarisse, the first to spot them, yelled.
Annabeth opened her mouth to speak but Percy cut her. "Technically, it was your fault. We decided to repeat the excellent underwater kiss you gave us last year. We fell asleep. Thanks for the idea."
Most of the campers had crowded around the pier, all of them with expressions of relief, except Clarisse and Piper, who walked towards the both of them. Chiron stood at the back of the crowd, expressionless.
With a sweet unnerving smile, Piper said, "I'll do the talking, Clarisse. Now, Percy, jump in the water and stay there for half an hour without Annabeth." Her charmspeak rolled over Percy and he couldn't resist it. He jumped in the water and stayed for half an hour.
After around twenty minutes of talking to naiads, however, the charmspeak washed off. Percy swam for the surface to see only Piper.
"Where's Annabeth?"
"Chiron said that as a punishment, which you deserve, you won't be seeing her for two days," Piper replied, with charmspeak so irresistible that Percy nodded. "Swear it on the Styx."
Immediately, Percy swore on the Styx. Piper smiled, and Percy cursed. How could he have sworn that?
"Your charmspeak got better," grudgingly, Percy told her.
"Annabeth is with Jason. Don't worry, they're only discussing about temples. Come on, Hazel's waiting for us."
Two horrible days later, which were spent daydreaming about meeting Annabeth, Percy finally met her.
"Wise Girl."
"Seaweed Brain."
"Sorry."
"Save it."
"No, re – "Annabeth kissed him, and Percy kissed her back. He remembered those days when one kiss from Annabeth froze all his thoughts and made him speechless.
Percy remembered when he didn't want to be a half-blood. Now, if being a half-blood meant that he got to be with Annabeth, Percy wanted to be one.
Annabeth must've known what he was thinking, because she pulled away from him and whispered, "I didn't want to be a half-blood either, but you're worth it, Seaweed Brain."
And that made his whole life.
LEO
Leo couldn't help but feel nervous. After three weeks of heaven with Calypso, fixing Festus, and buying a place to start Leo and Calypso's Garage, they were heading back to Camp Half-Blood.
Hephaestus, his father, and Aphrodite who must have taken interest in them, gave them a huge amount of money. Leo had persuaded Calypso to steer clear of demigods for the whole first week they lived in New York, because Calypso was priority.
But now, it had been three weeks, and Leo knew he couldn't postpone it any longer.
"It will be alright," Calypso told him. She gave him a light kiss on Leo's lips, leaving the comforting smell of cinnamon on Leo for a few seconds.
"Y-yeah." He'd spent three weeks with her, yet Leo kept on stuttering at every kiss she gave him, he kept gazing into her eyes and breathing deeply her cinnamon smell. Leo wondered how Frank and Hazel could be so comfortable with each other. That was a thought for some time later, though, because the Athena Parthenos on Half-Blood Hill already loomed over him and Calypso.
Leo decided to take Calypso to Bunker Nine first. He needed to cool his nerves – but it turned out that he couldn't.
"Um, hi guys."
Jason, Piper, Annabeth, Percy and Hazel stared blankly at him. But Jason literally jumped ten feet in the air. Nico, who was ridiculously pale, looked as if he had expected Leo to walk in the door. They sat in a circle on the floor, his Valdezinator – how had it gotten there? – was in the center, playing a beautiful melody.
He cleared his throat. "I told you I had a plan. Festus was the one who gave me the cure. I, uh, went back to Calypso cause of the "an oath to keep with a final breath" business. I got back last week, bought a place near Percy's, and, um, here I am," Leo told them hurriedly.
Piper was the first to recover. She almost knocked all the air out of his lungs as she got up and slammed into him, hugging Leo tightly.
"I love you, too, Leo. Sorry, Calypso. Leo was just such an idiot," Piper mumbled, wiping tears off her face.
Calypso laughed, letting off the clear, happy sound that always made Leo's heart go ka-bump. "It's fine, Piper. The idiot has spoken highly of all of you."
"Hey! The idiot found a way to get you away from Ogygia!" Leo protested, but he didn't actually mind – it broke the tension in the room.
Jason gave him a brotherly hug after Piper screamed at Leo and hugged him once more.
He muttered in Leo's ear, "when I'm over the fact that you've returned, I'm gonna murder you for making me, and Piper, go through all the pain."
Leo laughed nervously. Calypso had gone to talk with Percy privately because Annabeth had approached Leo and gave him a judo flip.
"That was for making me and Percy cry for hours," Annabeth said, not sounding sorry, but she added, "it's good to have our joker back, though."
Hours later, Leo, his body hurting, sat down on the foot of the Athena Parthenos next to Calypso. Stars had already dotted the dark sky, reminding Leo of the lamps he put in the Argo II.
"Hey, Supersized McShizzle," Calypso whispered.
"Sunshine."
Calypso sighed happily. "I sorted things out with Percy. Now I believe we will get on fine."
The constellation of Zoe Nightshade shone clearly among the millions of stars. "You know, she was your sister," Leo told Calypso.
Atlas' daughter understood what he meant. "Yes, I know. She died a hero. She died defying our father."
"I just wanted to tell you that the whole world may not see you every night, but I do. And you are a hero, too. You never betrayed the gods even when they forgot you. Calypso, just know that I won't ever forget you. Even the Lethe won't be able to do that."
A tear trickled down her cheek and Leo kissed Calypso. She reminded him of better days. Leo working with his mother, meeting his first friends, building the Argo II and defeating Gaia. Calypso reminded Leo what it felt like to be happy.
And he wanted her to be happy too, because under the sea of stars, gazing into her eyes, Leo couldn't remember ever being happier.
FRANK
Frank wanted to curse Leo for making Hazel go through all the pain, but he remembered the arai Percy and Annabeth had told him about. Frank didn't want to let Leo suffer a curse.
When he first saw Leo, Frank turned into a bulldog out of surprise. He had wanted to shout at Leo. He had wanted to hug him like Leo was his little brother and cry. And before he realised it, in bulldog form, Leo had picked him up and Frank had licked his face.
But neither happened because Leo made one of those sarcastic jokes that made Frank laugh. Besides, Hazel was there, looking happy that her friend was alive again. Frank understood why she could sympathize with Leo. They both had returned from the dead.
Frank and Reyna, who turned pale upon seeing Leo, offered Leo and Calypso, whose beauty Leo had understated, to stay at Camp Jupiter. But Leo told him that they were starting a garage together. Silently, Frank told himself to keep his firewood out of Leo's garage.
After that fiasco, Hazel left Leo with Reyna and dragged Frank to the top of Temple Hill.
"I wanted to walk with you here the other day," Hazel told him. Her gold eyes looked over Camp Jupiter.
"Well, you got your wish. Besides, I think I needed it. Me turning into a bulldog out of surprise in front of Reyna means that I need a relaxing walk with you."
"Calypso was nice, though."
"Yeah."
They had reached the temple of Diana. Hazel gently squeezed his hand and let go. He had told her what he needed to do.
Frank felt stupid, but he began talking to a statue. "Lady Artemis, if you can hear me, please listen. We never got any rewards for winning the second giant war, and I'm asking for one. I'm asking you because I've heard stories. I heard of Zoe Nightshade. All I'm asking is to erase Orion's constellation and in his place, I want you to make constellations of every dead hero. From the titan war and the giant war. I-I've heard stories about Luke and Silena and Bianca and Phoebe.
"I want the whole world to remember them like they remember Zoe. I know it's a bit too much to ask, but it's me and Hazel's wish. Nobody deserves to be forgotten like Calypso. Also, I want the gods to remember that they need heroes, that we are more than pawns. You, Lady Artemis, understand that more than the others. Grant my wish. Please."
He turned away from the statue, expecting to see Hazel's supporting gold eyes, but instead, a twelve-year-old girl with a stunningly beautiful face looked back at him.
The girl didn't wait for him to say anything. "Frank Zhang, I will talk to my father of your wish. I understand why, and I believe that Athena will agree with me. But heed my advice that you should pray to your father of this, for he is ready to accept any wish from his son whom he is so proud of."
"Lady Artemis." Frank bowed while blushing.
The goddess smiled softly at him. "Goodbye, Praetor Zhang. My hunters are heading here for the first time. Do not disappoint me." Her form flickered between a Greek chiton and a Roman toga for a second before she disappeared, revealing a shocked Hazel behind her.
A week later, Frank lay on the grass of the Fields of Mars with Hazel at his side. Helios, or maybe Apollo, was about to finish their journey. Half an hour later, the first stars twinkled in the darkening sky, and as Frank and Hazel lay there talking about life, thousands had risen.
Frank could make out a figure about to stab himself in the elbow with a dagger, a girl riding a war chariot, a boy in an exploding boat, a girl climbing inside a huge human-like figure, and so many others. His heart jumped when he spotted another girl with a cloud of stars covering her, and around her feet, a pile of stars – Hazel Levesque. Next to her, he saw himself armed with a bow and a spear.
He glanced at Hazel who smiled at him.
So many dead heroes, but they would be remembered forever. Through the demigods' tales, through the stars, and through the history books, demigods will find them again. Whenever anyone missed a dead hero, now all they had to do was look up at the stars and see their heroic deeds.
And maybe one day, mortals would know their tales too. After all, mortals know of Hercules and of Odysseus. Why shouldn't they know of Luke and Bianca, of Silena and Beckendorf, of Zoe and Phoebe? Their stories, their lives, might have ended, but Frank had made sure that their legacies would live on forever.