I just published the first chapter, so I didn't stop for reviews. I'm on a roll today!

Chapter 2: Hazel

I saw Annabeth and I have to say, Percy scored when he met her. She was all fawning over him and I could tell they'd been super-serious before he left, and she had been crushed when he disappeared. Like Reyna was when Jason left. And I can't believe he's here! He has a lot to explain to the rest of us.

Frank ran up. "Octavian…Octavian wants to accept you into Camp Jupiter."

"Us?" Annabeth asked. "But…we already have a camp."

"Don't question the guy," Percy said. "Just don't. And if you have a teddy bear, now would be a good time to let it go."

Annabeth gave a nervous laugh. "Give up my teddy bear? You know me too well, Perce. I could never let it go."

"No, you don't know what I mean," he said.

Her face fell. "What, he attacks stuffed animals?"

"He doesn't attack them," I said. "He destroys them."

She shuddered.

It ended up that we all split up—Jason, Reyna, and I talking together, while Frank pulled the others to the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

"So where were you?" Reyna asked.

She took my question.

"The Greek camp. Camp Half-Blood. There are some awesome things there—you should've seen Festus in action. Now…he's just the masthead on our ship." He pointed to the sky. A dragon head was mounted to it. "What have you been doing?"

"Percy and I are praetors," Reyna told him. "Frank's now a centurion—replacing Gwen. Gwen retired to college after she was speared by…we don't know who. She's officially titled, 'Centurion Shish kebab.'"

"Oh." Jason was astounded (like my word there, huh?). "Wait, and she's alive?"

"Yeah," I said. It was my turn. "Apparently, Thanatos had been chained up again—you know, god of death? So when Gwen died, she just came back."

"Same as you."

Jason, Reyna, Nico, Frank, and Percy were the only ones who knew. "Yeah. Actually, I came back because Thanatos was gone."

"That long?" Jason asked. "I wonder if this has anything to do with Ma Gasket."

"Yeah," I said. "We saw her, too."

"She's been traveling," Jason said. "We saw her in Detroit."

"Around here somewhere. And then we got to kill her just before you got here. There was a bit of a scuffle with the giants."

"Scuffle?"

I tried not to snap. He made so much fun of how I talked. I settled for glaring. "Yes. A scuffle. We had Polybotes and Alcyoneus. You?"

"Enchiladas and Porpoise fear," he replied.

"Not asking. So you apparently went on a quest?"

"Yep." He told us about Leo and Piper and their quest. "And the weirdest thing is…I have a sister."

"You what?" I asked the same time as Reyna.

"I mean, daughter of Jupiter? But I thought the big three had stopped having kids!"

"Well…her dad isn't exactly the same as mine. It's the whole…aspect thing. She's the daughter of Zeus and my mother. I'm the son of Jupiter and her mother. It's kind of…hard to understand."

He got that right.

"Hey, Haze?" Jason asks.

He should know by now I hate that nickname. "Yes, Sparky?" I ask pleasantly.

He grimaces. "Only Piper's allowed to call me that."

Noted.

He continues. "You might wanna clean up after yourself."

I look down. All around my feet are emeralds, silver, gold, topaz, garnets, and peridots. Peridot—Sammy's birthstone. I wanted so badly to give him one, but I knew he wouldn't live to see it the next day. I still can't get over the fact that his grandson is here. I mean, I knew Leo's grandpa! And I'm still the same age as him!

Leo looks so much like Sammy it's scary.