III. DEEP CUTS

That accusation hurt. Leo didn't remember him and Piper taking down the world by themselves. At least, as far as he knew at the moment. The five years between the war against Gaea and today, he was sure that he spent on something else.

Are you sure, Leo? The maggot in his brain was speaking in again. Are you really sure you haven't done any of this?

Everyone stood there for a while, staring at each other, not knowing what to say or do. Someone would clear their throat and try to break the silence, but the words died before they were out of their mouths. The door bell rang two times before Hazel snapped away from the group and moved slowly to the intercom. She peered into the monitor. "It's Percy," she announced rather meekly. "I'm going to get him. How about we all settle down and maybe have a cup of coffee? Frank, can you help me?"

Alabaster didn't take his eyes off Leo and Piper. Dr. Claymore looked around for a place for his briefcase. Nico and Will cleared the table for him, but lifting the staff seemed to be a difficult task for both of them. "Holy crap," Will gasped, shaking his hands after trying for the fourth time. His palms were red. "Why is this heavy?"

"Let me get it," Leo said, happy to be away from Alabaster's piercing glare. They both stepped back and watched him take the staff effortlessly. He assessed it for a moment. "Huh. It's not that heavy. You guys are just messing around."

"Let me try." Annabeth said. "I won't kid." When he passed it to her, it pulled her down like a dumbbell. The head of the staff weighed down on her toes. "N-no, they aren't kidding."

Leo still looked skeptical, but they all sat back down when Frank came back with the tray of coffees, and Hazel showing a group of people inside the house. Percy entered first, all dirt and grime and still wearing his vest. He carried a little boy in one arm—around four or five years old—while he held a huge luggage in the other. His mother, Sally Jackson-Blofis came last, carrying lighter bags.

Percy bright smile turned down slowly when he felt everyone staring at him intently through the silence. "I'm interrupting something really important, am I?"

Alabaster suddenly stood up and glared at Percy, pure hatred in his eyes. The son of Poseidon was taken aback, but he dropped the luggage and was reaching to his pocket within a second. Alabaster marched towards him, ready to draw his sword again, until a hand caught him by the arm. "Not now, Alabaster," Claymore sneered.

Annabeth and Nico moved in front of Percy, ready to spring if Alabaster made sudden moves. The tension between both parties was unbearable. Hazel stood besides Mrs. Jackson, holding her and whispering something to her. Words of assurance, maybe, because the mother looked the most alarmed out of all the people in this room.

Alabaster gritted his teeth and shook off Claymore's hand, stepping back. "You should be thankful you brought your little brother with you." He shot a glance to the little boy. "I wouldn't want to kill you in front of him and your mother, but I wouldn't give a shit if I do it in front of everyone else."

The little boy's face scrunched up. He gave Alabaster an unfriendly look. The latter looked away, in shame and anger.

"Enough, Alabaster." Claymore pressed again. "And sit down, please. It is not the time, nor the place, to avenge whatever grudge you are holding against these people. Everyone here is important. We have more work to do after this, you know that." Alabaster sat down on the arm of one of the couches and wiped his mouth with his hand. Claymore's voice softened. "We'll talk later, just not now."

Hazel directed the arrivals, including Percy, to the dining room. She constantly looked behind her back. After making sure that his companion didn't go charging at anyone else, Dr. Claymore placed his suitcase on the coffee table and started setting up shop; he took out a large map—a world map—and taped it on the balcony door. The map illuminated in the sunlight. The names of the continents, the countries, and the oceans didn't appear till light shined through it. Like magical map.

"Alright, so how should we begin?" Dr. Claymore turned back to the demigods. He was a bit shaky. "I think I should start by introducing ourselves."

Everyone awkwardly introduced themselves one by one. God, it reminded Leo of the first days in the schools he went to. Though Dr. Claymore presided, their focus was on Alabaster. He made Leo uncomfortable for some reason. He had not seen someone with so much anger in him.

"I'd like to ask about Miss McLean and Mr. Valdez's health." He heard Claymore say. "So, how are you two fairing in the land of the living again?"

Leo and Piper looked at themselves and then shrugged. The doctor nodded knowingly. "I see, I felt the same as well. Did something felt missing when you woke up?"

"Well, they lost their memories," Annabeth answered for them. "But it's coming back to them. I think."

That was true, but Leo still felt a bit off. In pieces. Hera said that if their marks were "activated" they would feel complete again. But what's the trigger?

Dr. Claymore drank some of his coffee and placed it on the table. "I'm sorry about Alabaster's actions before. He has a reason; he has a history with some of you, though you haven't met us before. But I want to talk to you all about a heavier topic. Hecate sent us here to help you and get you started for what's coming up ahead. If you've been told about the situation we are in now, that saves us a lot of time. But to refresh our memories again, I'll tell you now that the world is ending—our world—because another world is trying to replace us. Ridiculous, I know. How did that happen and why, we all don't know yet, but maybe through careful planning we'll find out and get our questions answered."

"How do you we trust you, though?" Will said, his arms folded together in front of his chest. "How do we really know that Hecate sent you to help us?" He laughed. "Torrington here fought in a war against us. His side wants to destroy the world. Now he wants to save it?"

The coffee table lurched up, startling everyone. Mugs tumbled sideways, coffee dribbling on the surface. Alabaster was about to spring up from his seat, but Claymore held his down his shoulder firmly. No one said anything, but the younger man huffed like a bull.

"We don't have the proof you want to show that we are on your side," the doctor said sadly. "The only proof we have, well, it's invisible to the eyes. And a short notice given to you by Hera. I guess it's really up to you all if you're willing to let us proceed further, but you must know that we have to tell you what we have to tell. If you'll let us..."

The demigods looked at each other, silently reaching other for their thoughts on it. Annabeth nodded for all of them. "Alright."

"Thank you." Dr. Claymore took out a Sharpie and uncapped it. "Everyone in this room has a task in this, but to start off—" He circled around the lower left part of the United States in the map—California. "Let's talk about the war outbreaks. In the past few days you may have noticed that there are isolated battles appearing during the night, and disappearing at day. It's safe to assume that they are from the other world, slowly leaking to ours. They go in and out. But this isn't the only place where it happens." He circled a couple of more spots on the map, most of them outside the US. "It's happening on other parts of the world as well, and they are rapidly expanding. More and more of them are coming and are fighting against each other. So far as we have observed, they are demigods. They haven't made any severe impact or damage to the people in this world, but I wouldn't rest easy about that because they will. Soon enough."

"Those places where the fights happen are where they're coming from," Frank said. "I think there's a portal every night for them to climb over and fight over here. I don't understand why they would go back to their world again when they want to take over this place."

"Maybe they're slowly migrating here," Annabeth said. "Like projections. But what I don't get is why they fight against each other instead of trying to fight us."

Will answered, "They don't notice that they've jumped over here, maybe? They're just going through their business and they were just here. Someone or something else might have put them here."

Annabeth looked back at Dr. Claymore. "Is there any way to stop them from coming over here?" The answer was obvious, but asking the question was to make sure they could cross off the option.

"I'm afraid not. We don't know exactly who we are against with. Hera and the rest of the Olympians need to send some of you out to observe them. They want to measure the severity and how—for want of another word—broken this other world is. We have to know who we are going to fight, and the consequences when this isn't stopped at time. The gods are selecting a few demigods—including all of you—to be dispatched all over the world for certain tasks. There are those who will investigate and fight the enemies, and there are those who will seek alliance with the other gods from different regions for help."

"Gods," Leo muttered. "There are more gods?"

Alabaster crossed his arms. "Did you really think that it's just the Greeks here?"

"There are the Romans, but the Greek and Romans are in some way the same people, right?"

"There are the Egyptian gods in Brooklyn. The Norse gods in Boston. There are more gods in their home countries, and some secret and dead religions still being practiced underground. People keeping the old gods alive. And we don't know all of them."

"Well." Leo leaned back to his seat. "I guess that complicates things."

"I wonder what America has that keeps attracting all these gods. It isn't that great of a country." Percy said. He and Hazel were joining their friends. The room tensed once more as Alabaster clenched the handle of his sword, but didn't draw it. Percy was twirling his pen around his fingers and made himself comfortable on a seat besides Annabeth, glancing at Alabaster once in a while. Hazel stood besides where Piper sat, placing a hand behind her back.

"It gets complicated from here," Annabeth said to Leo. "Mixing up with other gods is dangerous."

"Good dangerous or bad dangerous?" Hazel asked.

"A little bit of both, but it's too risky. And to do this with more gods? I don't know, we're supposed to save the world, not be the ones who are responsible of ending it."

"But I guess there isn't much of a choice," Piper said quietly. "Is there? This is what we're going to do. Get the word out and help each other."

Nico stood up from his seat. "Thank you for telling us all about this, it's great that we're in the know. But what about Jason? Is there a way to find him?"

"Ah, about that." Dr. Claymore eyed Leo and Piper. The look unnerved Leo a bit. "That's primarily why we're sent here in the first place. These two are assigned with special tasks, but the discussion has to be done privately."

Leo leaned forward. "You mean, they can't know what these special tasks are? Don't they deserve to know too, since we're all in this together?"

Alabaster and Dr. Claymore glanced at each other. "The reason is a bit complicated," Alabaster said. "We're going to reveal sensitive information. Like a...top secret mission for them. What happens to the duration of their quest will affect the other quests that has been assigned for them."

Percy placed a hand behind Annabeth. "And...we can't know them? Even though it's important for our quests too?"

"No, sorry. Just the two of them."

"I feel so pressured," Piper murmured to herself, but Leo heard her and he agreed.

Dr. Claymore downed the last drop of his coffee. "I think that's about it for everyone. The gods didn't tell me who's going to do to what, so I imagine that they left it all for you to decide on what to do at this point. If there are no more questions, I'd like to talk to these two about their quest. We don't have much time, we have others to inform as well."

Annabeth said, "Can you give us more details? Where are these portals happening specifically, what our gods have in mind, and what about the other people chosen along with us? Who are they? I mean, we can't be the only ones."

"You're right, you're not alone in this quest, and it's for the best that all of you speak of this together. Alabaster can you fill you in with the other details. Now, I'm taking these two with me. Do you mind if we use the balcony?"

He excused himself and brought Leo and Piper outside. The heat was more punishing here than inside. Dr. Claymore brought with him his suitcase, and behind the glass doors and windows, their friends watched them. Though their attention quickly turned to the Alabaster, who started talking to them and gesturing to the taped map on the glass.

Claymore gestured to the bench which was shaded by the mansion's shadow. "Would you like a seat?"

Leo stared at the place he sat down last night. The memories weren't so welcoming. "I think I'm good," he said.

"Me too," Piper added.

"Alright then." He placed his suitcase down. "It's best to go straight to the point and skip the frills." Claymore took a deep breath. "You two have a different task, and I think you both know that. You have to bring your friend back before it's too late. He's name is Jason Grace, am I right? To do that, you have to do a magical taboo."

"And what's that?" Leo asked.

"I don't know," he said, sounding a little disappointed and frustrated himself. Just as Leo groaned silently, he continued. "But I do know it's a powerful form of magic, one of the oldest magic that stayed in this world, magic that has been deliberately forgotten and purged because of how powerful it is. It is forbidden to be performed until now, and the gods want you two to do it."

"But we don't know what it is and what we're going to do," Piper said. "So how do we do this?"

"This is what I want to talk to you about." Dr. Claymore placed his hands together like he was going to pray, and pressed them to his lips. His tone was quiet. "There's a place in this world—or outside of it—that holds all the answers. All the powers you can imagine. The heart of the universe. We call it the Sanctuary. It is one of the most heavily guarded secrets in the world—from anyone and everyone—watched over by a group of people across alternate dimensions to prevent unwanted visitors. Even to the gods or any higher deity, they have to respect the rules and the rights of the Sanctuary and not interfere. You may get your answers there."

"If it's not known to anyone at all, then how come you know?" Leo said.

Dr. Claymore looked back at the inside of the mansion. "Alabaster is a guardian. He makes sure that whenever the Sanctuary is being spoken about—like right now—no one is eavesdropping." He looked up to the sky. "The gods may or may not know it exists, but they will never find it. Uninvited guests are not welcomed there. The people guarding the Sanctuary, they'll do everything to keep off trespassers. It's the motherboard of the universe after all.

"Alabaster was approached by Hecate to assist you. He grants you entrance to the Sanctuary and get what you need there, so you don't have to worry about being slaughtered by the guardians. You have to go to the innermost keep of the Sanctuary to find out about what you must do, and to know about the taboo."

He stopped there, so they could take in the new information. By this point, Leo's partly empty brain was taking in what it could devour without any reaction from him. He wasn't surprised at anything anymore. They were definitely facing the worst of the worst. He learned so much today that he didn't think that his old memories would find room in his mind when they came back.

"So how do we get there?" Piper asked.

"It's not a hard place to find, but you need a key to enter it. That key is broken into five pieces and scattered in places. Someone chosen to enter must seek these pieces and put them back together, and then they would be taken to the Sanctuary. Before they leave, they have to break it into five pieces and scatter them again in the United States, since this is where many gods of the world dwell nowadays. If you want to find the Sanctuary, you must find the pieces all over again. It's the process. It's tradition. Only the guardians and the last known user know where the pieces are, and even then the guardians don't know the exact locations, so I can't provide addresses for you."

"Great, I think this will be a walk in the park then," Leo said. "Not that it's just simple as that. I mean, we're going to scout the entire the entire country for the key pieces. Just a simple fetch quest, right? Right?"

Claymore wouldn't hide his doubtfulness. And Leo knew that look. Of course it wasn't simple as that. Every time Leo laid something down in simpler terms, people would tell him it would be much more than what he just said. Every time.

"It's a bit more complicated than usual," Claymore said. He glanced inside the mansion again. "The last visitor of the Sanctuary had entered and delved into deepest level. He found what Alabaster and the guardians have been protecting all this time. Before—"

"What is it?" Piper interrupted. "What are they guarding?"

"I don't know, and I'll never know, that's for sure. But whatever it is, before he got out he wanted to make sure that the next person will have a harder time getting in. So he broke the key into nine pieces and scattered it all over the world. He broke tradition to protect what's inside of the Sanctuary."

"Oh." Leo said. "Oh no."

"While adding false leads to slow down the next one who wants to find them."

"NO."

"But why would he do that?" Piper said, equally distraught at the thought of more work to be done. "Was he allowed to break tradition? Can we?"

"No, he wasn't. And, no, you're not. We don't know his true motives for doing that though, and we never really questioned him. Maybe it was done to keep whatever is inside it from the wrong hands, or he wanted it for himself. He was the first person to break tradition, but it had several consequences, although it appeared unrelated to the case. He had to give up his old life and past, was exiled from his home and country. He became a guardian, just like Alabaster. We keep a close eye on him from time to time. He's not a real threat, but he can be when he wants to."

The wind blew on Piper's untied hair, the edges of the strands tickling Leo's arm. "Where do we find those key pieces?" Piper asked, brushing her hair back behind her ears.

"Usually it's easy to tell you, but even we're fooled by the false leads. It's safe to start on the routes of the Silk Road, within it and just outside of it." He opened his suitcase. Leo just noticed that covered under layers of papers and other small intricate artifacts was a pistol, and it wasn't just any gun. Just by a glance he knew it was a M11 by SIG Sauer. How he knew this he didn't know. He sifted through his memories. He wasn't exactly a gun expert.

Dr. Claymore took another world map from it before closing his suitcase. In close examination, Europe and Asia were covered in lines. Routes. "The Silk Road is a very Asia-centric location, but that's where we sense many of the key pieces, including the false ones. There are a few pieces far away from the old trade route, like Australia, and some a bit...otherworldly, but nonetheless easy to find if you know where to look. That's all I can say, because that's all we know."

Piper frowned. "How long does someone take to find the pieces?"

"One week at least, if the locations are given to you."

"Can't you give us more than the Silk Road then?"

Claymore shook his head. "Alabaster and the others only sense these pieces, but they can never know where they truly are unless they go out to find them themselves. They can't give you the exact cities where the pieces reside, especially now that someone didn't follow the rules of the tradition to further protect the Sanctuary from being easily accessible to anyone. The pieces could be anywhere for all we know. Some of them may be in museums, or some may be in someone's basement."

"Then can we talk to the last person who went there?" Leo said. "He's the one who broke the pieces, so he's the one who really knows where the pieces are."

"I have some bad news for you then, son. I'm afraid he's unapproachable at the moment. Like Jason Grace, he's also missing. That, and..." He didn't finish.

Leo wanted to throw his hands up in the air. Everything kept getting hard. "So, we're on our own then?"

"Yes."

"We're literally going to go around the world to find these pieces, and we don't know how long it would take. The end of the world could happen next month and we don't know if we have all the pieces?"

"Sadly."

"And you're not going to help us?"

"We'll help you, but we can't go with you. We have other problems we want to look at as soon as possible. You can keep tabs with Alabaster through any means of communication. Iris messaging, for instance, and you don't have to worry about anyone else listening to our conversations as long as he's there. We're, in simpler terms, your mission control. But you are not to tell your friends that you're seeking the Sanctuary. You have to understand that."

Piper nodded. She reached out to shake the man's hand. "Thank you, Dr. Claymore, for all this. We'll talk to our friends, smooth everything out before we do anything. We promise won't tell them about the Sanctuary. Although..." She looked at the sky. "You said that anyone except us shouldn't know where it is. I'm not sure about other beings eavesdropping on us. They could be listening right, you know, being out of the open like this."

Claymore chuckled. "Not to worry about it, Ms. McLean. Paradox is an iffy little thing. Also, a really handy amplifier of magic and actions. I think you'll learn a lot from that soon enough..."

While ignoring the man's last remark, Leo looked back to their friends inside the mansion. They seemed to be finishing up with their own discussion. Alabaster was taking down the map from the glass. "What did he mean that it's our fault that the end of the world is coming? Alabaster, I mean."

Claymore sat down on the bench and stretched his legs. He looked exhausted. "There's no solid answer for that. We're still trying to figure out the meaning behind Alabaster's dream if it's about events in the past. Now I'm sure he's wondering if it'll happen in the future."

He eyed Leo carefully. Leo wanted to turn away, but he had to look at him. He didn't do anything bad. He was not guilty of anything, he was sure of it. "He's keen trying to kill Percy, doesn't he?"

"Normally he isn't," Claymore said. "He's in exile from the other demigods. If he isn't, he would have been killed by the gods for the service he had done in the war a few years ago. This is the only exception that he's allowed to interact with you." He paused. "Alabaster's roughened up by his past. His grudge against Percy Jackson I'd rather not talk about. All your friends have a history with him; I'm not sure about you two. He was reluctant to help you because you are associated with them. But Alabaster is a good man. I'm sure you can trust me on that."

"Then what about you, Dr. Claymore," Piper said. "Who are you? And why do you know all this?"

Claymore smiled. "I guess the correct question should be 'What am I?'. I was mortal once, Ms. McLean. I died just like the two of you." He placed the tips of his fingers on his chest. "I was resurrected to guide Alabaster. This is not my body. Before, I was just a writer with best-selling books. I called all the copies of my works back after I was brought to all of this, and cut off contact with the people I know. I now live in this sort of nomad life, with Alabaster."

They were both silent for a moment. Piper stepped up once again. "The gods gave us what Hera called gifts. She says we're not complete until they're activated, and they'll help in our quest. What does she mean?"

"You mean the tattoos in your body?" Claymore stood up. "They're marks, that's for sure. They could have magical properties, or they could just be simple brands. I don't know how to activate them. I don't know how it'll help you. But I know that both of you have been resurrected imperfectly. Instead of giving you new forms, the gods bounded you back in your original bodies. They don't have the time nor power to give you both a fresh start."

"Andthere are severe side effects?"

Claymore nodded. "As a result, your body may experience the moment of your death your from time to time. You'll feel the pain all over again, but you'll never die, so you'll have to endure it."

Piper rubbed her neck gently. Leo gulped down the growing lump in his throat. He recalled yesterday morning's incident, and the moment he first woke up. The worm in his brain drilled in his mind, spreading lies and doubts in his memories and thoughts, and causing so much pain he could barely stand it. He didn't want to go through that again.

But are you sure that they're just lies? The worm said. Because I'm happy to point out what's true.

Dr. Claymore looked at the city below them. "I'm sorry I can't help you any further. But you're not the only one with those tattoos." He rolled up a sleeve of his shirt and revealed an Omega mark similar to Piper's at the back of his arm.

After lunch, Alabaster and Dr. Claymore left. Everyone sat down in the living room once more and discussed about what to do at this point. They had everything they needed to get started. It was time to sort them out and know when they would get started. They didn't have a second to waste.

Piper and Leo told their friends about going to travel around the world to collect something and pointed out the trip's focus was on the old beaten Silk Road, but they were going to make a couple of detours after that. "I don't know how we'll able to get around fast. I mean, I don't think me and Leo have the money to buy plane tickets, or time to wait through the screening processes. I don't want to burn a hole in my dad's pocket. We're all facing the same problems here, right?"

Percy and Annabeth looked each other. "We think we know a couple of people who can help all of us with that problem," Annabeth said. "Since it's best that we all team up with other people with other gods, we might as well have to make a pit stop there."

"You know other people with other gods?" Frank said. Percy and Annabeth didn't answer.

They didn't really question what Piper and Leo had to do for their quest. Maybe their friends were told not to by Alabaster. Maybe they were just going easy on them. Who knows?

They were done just as dinner time was announced. The first thing everyone were going to do was to see Leo and Piper depart safely abroad the next day, before Annabeth and the rest went with their other plans. Team Amnesia's mission was more important than the rest. The sooner they find what they were looking for, the sooner this mess would end.

At the dinner table the conversation was turned to the Jackson-Blofis family. Paul Blofis arrived in the mansion and joined his wife and two sons for dinner. Everyone's attention was towards Percy's cute little brother, who was born a few months after the war against Kronos the titan. Talking about anything other than the world ending and how to prevent it made everyone relax. Leo even welcomed it, even though he didn't remember the kid. He was supposed to, from the way the kid acted around him. The boy kept smiling and waving at him, but didn't approach. He seemed like a shy kid, and was waiting for Leo to talk to him.

Hazel showed Piper her bag, and they both went upstairs. The girls and Leo bid each other goodnight before he retired to his own room. Behind him, he heard someone. "Wait a minute, Leo."

Annabeth followed. She also carried a huge bag with her. "This is your stuff. Mostly your clothes, and maybe your secret stash of porn you share with the boys that somehow bypassed airport security."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." He took the bag from her and placed it on top of his bed. He opened it and rummaged through the contents. They were mostly clothes, a shoe box containing his boots, and a couple of books on engineering. He took them out one by one, unfolding them and laying them down on the bed.

One set of clothing caught him by surprise. An army dress uniform. A few decorations were stitched on the left breast, along with his ranking on the left shoulder. There was his nameplate, his unit and his other identification, his buckles, his other patches. Tucked inside the coat were letter envelopes held together by a rubber band. They were all addressed to him.

Leo touched the fabric of his coat, his thumb gliding down his nameplate. "I was in the army?"

"You enlisted when you were eighteen." Annabeth said, crossing her arms. "Shortly after you and your girlfriend broke up. You thought that the normal college life wouldn't suit you, and you admitted to me once that you wanted to be back at the game. You wanted to be around the Noise. That's what you call all the fighting. You thought you didn't feel useful here, at home. So you were abroad for three years."

"In Afghanistan," he finished. "I was deployed in Afghanistan as a combat engineer."

He bombed buildings, and cleared out rubble. Repaired the engines of fried combat vehicles. Built bridges for them to cross, and forts and barricades to defend themselves. He fixed drones. He forgot the amount of C4 he planted on countless gates and steel doors. The amount of innocent people he scared with the noise they made. He and his unit were rescuing these people, but they had every right to be afraid.

He had pulled his service pistol from his holster—a Beretta M9, he remembered—and shot a man in the chest. He turned the gun over to the armory, along with his combat uniform and the rest of his equipment, before packing home. The souvenir for his service was in the dress uniform he kept for himself. He wasn't planning on wearing it in the future.

Annabeth knelt down on the floorto his uniform, sitting next to him. "We were reluctant to let you go back then, when you decided to enlist. We just had you back, you know. You just came home and you were going to leave again. Jason and Piper were especially heartbroken." She pointed at the letters. "They sent most of the pile."

Leo snorted. "I bet." He stood up, sat down on his bed, and intertwined his fingers together, fiddling with his thumbs.

Annabeth made herself comfortable besides him. "You just got back home a few weeks ago. Honorable discharge. Piper fetched you, and she told you about Jason. Then you guys came here and went out to search for him. The rest is history."

He nodded. "Thanks for looking out for us."

She smiled. "It's nothing." She patted his back gently. "Get ready for tomorrow. It's best you travel light, especially if you're going to carry that staff everywhere. Prepare what you're going to wear. I'm going to bed. And you do the same. You're healthy, but not healthy enough." She kissed the side of his head. "Good night, Leo."

"Sweet dreams, Night Owl. Get out before your boyfriend starts to wonder why you're taking so long here with me."

She grinned and stood up. At the doorway she stopped and turned her head back. "You have a place here, Leo. With us. We're not your ex-girlfriend, and we may not have what she had, but you're our family, okay?"

He smiled. "Thanks for everything, Annabeth. Really."

She closed the door. Leo sat down for a while, breathing slowly and staring into space. He reviewed everything new he learned after he woke Piper up this morning and told her about Jason. It scared him that he was calm, when he shouldn't be. The world was ending, it might have been his fault for doing that. He touched the side of his forehead, where his tattoo was. A gift from Aphrodite. Whatever you are and whatever you do, I hope you're useful.

He removed the rubber band holding the envelopes together in a pack, and started reading the letters written to him by his friends.

In the morning, Percy and Hazel saw Mrs. Jackson and her youngest son out safely with her husband Paul Blofis. Then Rachel Elizabeth Dare was the visitor of the day in Nico di Angelo's humble abode. "So where are we heading? New York? Brooklyn?" She looked past the crowd of demigods and zeroed on Leo and Piper at the back. "There they are, in the flesh and breathing."

Leo was just putting on his favorite leather brown jacket, and imprinted at the back of it was a pair a wings, in the middle a halo, above that was a banner with a text. LET ME DOWN SLOW, it said. Underneath his jacket he wore a black sleeveless turtleneck and he packed a long sleeve version in case the weather called for it. He completed his own outfit with a new pair of cargo pants and his boots. Strapped behind him, just over his small backpack carrying his essentials, was the magical staff Hera gave him. It may be light, but if he needed to run it would be a hassle lugging it with him always.

Piper finished tying her hair into a high ponytail. Her leather jacket was white, but adorned with pink battlement patterns. It gave Leo a vibe of royalty from her. She wore a shirt similar to his except red, then just jean shorts and boots. She looked more exposed to the elements, so he expected to see her packed with more stuff if they came across harsher weather in the cold side. But she only had with her a sword and her dagger strapped on her belt.

"Hey," he said to her. "Aren't you going to be a little cold in that?"

She shrugged. "I think I'll be fine. I'll just get clothes on the go. Travel light, remember?"

"Suit yourself then, princess."

Rachel went to back and hugged them both. "I'm glad you two are okay. Hope you guys are strong enough to survive the trips around the world."

Annabeth gestured for them to get in the front, to the exit of the mansion. "Me and Rachel are going to take both of them to Brooklyn and meet up with certain contacts," she said to everyone. "Then I'll come back with the necessities for our own quests. Percy and Frank will scout Los Angeles for disturbances related to the people from the other world. The rest of you, be prepared for anything that might happen. Will, Hazel, Nico, stay connected. Everyone get ready."

Leo and Piper were passed around in circles of hugs and kisses and wishes of good luck, safe travels. Annabeth opened the doors. They all stepped out and walked towards the limousine waiting down the path.

a/n: Soooooo good afternoon Philippines and...good...aftermidnight Canada? sorry for the late update? life happened? like these past three months, me and my beta-reader are really busy in our non-fandom interests. On my side, I got enrolled to college for a month, invested myself in my studies, then pulled out because I was moving to Canada and now I'm in Canada. Tadaaaa. I was prepared to write a long author's note but you know what fuck that im not even gonna try and explain myself ha ha ha

I just really want to apologize still for the late update. But I'm glad that we're finally leaving the exposition phase of this story, and by the next chapter we gonna get some excitement now! The real action is gonna roll in! I'm totally pumped about this! i hope i dont fuck up because i already have

I edited the previous two chapters because of factual inconsistencies. Nothing major. Just about Leo's haircut. Because since I realize that since he's still fresh from the army, it's impossible that his hair would grow that fast from a military cut (which is a part of their uniform) to his natural curls. Give it three months though.

Thanks Hazelle More for beta-reading this and putting up with this trash bag that happens to be me.