All characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter 3 – Acquaintances

Hazel

Hazel stared in amazement as Leo stood awkwardly in front of them. They had all seen Festus blow up with him on board in the final fight against Gaia, and while Nico had mentioned it had felt weird, the heroes assumed he was dead.

Piper was the first to break the silence. "Where have you been?!" she asked angrily. Leo paled and stepped backwards as she stalked towards him.

"H-hey, Beauty Queen, calm down! I've been trying to get back –" he stopped babbling as Piper caught him up in a big hug. Hazel saw him glace back at the girl with him and breathe a sigh of relief. The girl smirked as he turned back to Piper. "It's good to see you too."

"How are you here?" Frank asked, confused. Hazel smiled and put up her sword, glancing around to see the others doing the same. Well, almost everyone. Percy seemed to be frozen, eyes glued to the girl behind Leo. Hazel glanced at Annabeth, who followed her gaze and frowned. She returned her attention to Leo, who was being crowded by the rest of the Argonauts.

"Hey, hey, hey, you'll all get a piece of me! Slow down!" Leo laughed. "It's not been that long."

"Actually, it has," Hazel said as she joined the group. "A year today, actually."

Leo's jaw dropped. He whirled to the girl behind him. "A whole year? It felt like – what, two days, maybe?"

The girl shrugged. "You're asking the wrong goddess. I've been disconnected so long I'm lucky I know what century it is." Frank started at this, while Piper and Jason exchanged a worried look. Hazel took Frank's hand and gave it a squeeze, then turned back to Leo, intending to ask him about his friend when Annabeth pushed past them directly to the goddess. She looked on in confusion while the girl's eyes narrowed.

"Lady Calypso," Annabeth bowed her head to the astonishment of the heroes, "it is an honor. I owe you much for your help those years ago. I am sorry it took so long for you to regain your freedom."

Calypso's eyes hardened. "Like you care." Leo frowned at her but Annabeth waved him off.

"I do, actually. Percy cares for you quite a bit" - here her voice wavered for a second – "and as you are important to him, you are important to me." Annabeth shook her head. "Figures that our parents conveniently forgot part of their promise; I'll bet Leto is still imprisoned as well." The others looked at her in confusion.

"What promise?" Hazel asked, curious.

"The promise they made me," Percy answered. She turned to see him finally back to the present, Riptide put away as he joined the circle. "Back during the last Titan War, I landed on Calypso's island after accidently blowing up Mount Saint Helens." He grimaced at the shocked looks around him. "She patched me up and asked me to stay, but I knew I needed to go back. I was needed in the war, and even back then I was realizing me feeling for Annabeth." At this, Annabeth smiled and took his hand.

Percy made eye contact with Calypso. "I do still have the moonlace you gave me; turns out my mom has a green thumb." He cleared his throat and turned back to Hazel. "Anyways, after the war I was offered godhood, which I turned down in exchange for three promises –"

"Wait," Frank interrupted. "You turned down godhood?"

"I didn't want to leave me friends behind," Percy replied. "Grover would have been completely useless without me." Annabeth swatted his arm as he laughed. "Seriously though, I had the opportunity to right some wrongs, which is far more important to me than immortality."

"The first promise, which you all are well aware of by now, is that all of the gods children be claimed by their thirteenth birthday, with the second being that all of the gods get cabins here at camp." Percy turned to Jason. "Your work with the shrines here and at Camp Jupiter have helped immensely with that, too."

Jason shrugged. "It needed to be done."

Percy nodded. "The third promise was that the release any Titans that did not participate in the first Titan War and were still imprisoned. It was bad enough having demigods feeling forgotten, but to be unjustly locked up for thousands of years?" Percy shook his head angrily. "I had assumed they had done that, too, and I might have thought to check if my memories hadn't been stolen when I got thrown in another war."

"Percy's the one who made sure you had a shrine here, too," Piper said. Calypso looked at her, surprised, then to Percy, who was staring at his shoes nervously. "Insisted, actually. Said it was 'necessary and overdue' or something like that."

Calypso was silent for a moment, then walked over and gave Percy a hug. He flinched, but returned it when he realized he wasn't getting attacked. Hazel saw Annabeth tense up, but she didn't make any moves to interrupt. She must love Percy a lot if she's willing to put up with all of this for him, Hazel thought. I certainly wouldn't have understood how important this was to him.

Calypso released Percy and turned to Annabeth, her expression neutral. "So you are Annabeth."

"I am," Annabeth answered. They stared at each other for a moment before Calypso nodded, a small smile on her face.

"I can see why he could not stay," Percy looked up, surprised. "I am sorry for any trouble I've caused these past years."

"I appreciate that," Annabeth said sincerely, then she smirked. "Besides, we both know Seaweed Brain here's the troublemaker."

Calypso laughed. "True, though I imagine you don't have to deal with him igniting himself when he gets excited. Sometimes I think Leo is trying to burn his clothes off."

Hazel flushed at the comment. She might be better adjusted to this century, but she still thought people were too forward sometimes. Leo just grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "Are you saying you'd complain?"

"Okay, Casanova, cool it," Piper said mirthfully after the laughter died down. Though uncomfortable herself, Hazel was glad to feel the tension in the air bleed away with Leo's joking. At least, I hope he was joking…

Frank nudged her and she snapped out of her thoughts. "You okay?" he whispered.

She smiled weakly. "Yeah. Still not used to that kind of humor yet." Frank smiled gently at her.

The moment was interrupted when Chiron cleared his throat. Hazel jumped; she had forgotten he had come with them. At least I'm not the only one, she thought wryly as she saw some of the others jump too.

"Welcome back, Lady Calypso." His greeting was warm, as was his smile. She nodded her head in response. "As much as I hate to ruin the reunion," he continued, turning to the heroes as he spoke, "I believe catching up will have to wait until after the council meeting. Leo, you should go with the others, as the request was for all of the Argonauts. Hermes is waiting for you in the Big House."

Percy

"You okay?" Annabeth whispered as they neared the Big House. Percy sighed, his train of thought momentarily derailed.

"Yeah," he murmured. "Just… taken a little off guard, I guess." He glanced at his girlfriend to find her face set forward, lips creased in a worried frown. He squeezed her hand to get her attention. "You know I love you, right?" The corners of her lips quirked up as she turned her head to look at him.

"I know," she said, "but it's hard not to worry when an old flame of your boyfriend who also happens to be a goddess suddenly shows up." Percy opens his mouth to protest but stops when he sees the playful glint in her eyes.

"If you say so, Wise Girl." Percy chuckles. "At least she seems happy with Leo, though I can't imagine what sorts of trouble he'll drag her into."

Annabeth laughs. "Please, you've dragged me on so many quests that I've lost count. I'm sure they'll be fine."

The rest of the walk to the Big House was filled with questions towards Leo about what he had been up to and idle chatter as they caught up with each other. Percy was surprised to learn that Piper had started attending a local college for an art degree. She had become good friends with their Oracle, Rachel, too. Frank was keeping busy with his praetor duties, though Hazel helped with a lot. Jason was of course busy up keeping all of the shrines to the lesser known gods. Honestly, Percy wasn't really surprised that Leo wasn't really dead; with all of the strange stuff that had happened to him since his inclusion in the Greek world, one demigod not staying dead wasn't really out of the ordinary.

Hermes was talking on his caduceus - in its phone form of course - when they returned to the Big House. Percy hoped he didn't have to put up with George asking for rats today; talking with the snakes on Hermes' totem was always an experience.

"…I'll be back with them soon! Don't get your toga in a knot. Yes, I know!" Hermes abruptly hung up and turned to the demigods, a tired smile on his face. "You guys ready to go?"

"Go where, exactly?" Percy asked. Annabeth elbowed him as Frank gave him a look that screamed astonishment at his less than formal interaction with the Olympian. Hermes, however, was unfazed.

"The throne room, of course. Did you think we'd forget you after your part in the last war?"

"I was hoping," Percy muttered. Annabeth shot him an exasperated look.

"Well, if the six of you are ready –" Hermes started, then tilted his head in confusion. He turned to the side slightly, ignoring the confused looks he was getting. "What do you mean, eight? I thought – oh. How did – yes, of course." Hermes sighed and turned back to the heroes. "Sorry, if the eight of you are ready to go-"

"Why should I stand before you Olympians?" Calypso interrupted. Percy turned to see her glaring at Hermes, arms crossed in irritation as Leo looked like he wasn't sure whether to hide or not.

Hermes scratched his neck embarrassedly. "There are… things we should probably discuss with you."

No kidding, Percy thought. Out loud he said, "Well then I suppose we should get going?" Leo shot him an appreciative look.

"Right you are," Hermes answered, relieved. "Close your eyes, now!" Percy shut his eyes quickly to avoid being disintegrated by Hermes' true form. There was a moment of heavy wind, and then Percy felt the ground settle beneath his feet again. He cracked his eyes open to see that they were in front of the doors leading to the gods' throne room.

"I feel like I'm going to be sick," he moaned. Annabeth rubbed his back for a moment, rolling her eyes at Piper.

She laughed. "Alright, Kelp Head, let's get a move on."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "I didn't realize you were hanging out with Thalia, Beauty Queen." Piper looked at him with mock indignation. He grinned and shook his head. "Nope, not the same. It just doesn't have the same zing as Pinecone Face."

"Hey!" Leo said. "I worked hard on getting that nickname to stick!"

"If by worked hard you mean overused it at every opportunity, then sure," Jason muttered. Leo looked at him, shocked.

"And here I thought we were best friends." He turned to Calypso and waved his arms around dramatically. "You see what I have to put up with?"

"I think you'll be fine, dear," she said dryly. Leo looked to Hazel and Frank for support but sighed when he saw their smiles.

"I see. It's pick on Leo day. I just got back, cut me some slack!"

Annabeth cleared her throat. "If you guys are ready?" She motioned to the doors, which started to swing open. Percy caught her eyes, the normally stormy gray muted and filled with worry.

You okay? Percy asked her. Well, asked isn't quite the right word. After all of their experiences and a year of living together while at college (Percy still hadn't told his mom about that) they had developed an unspoken communication that most couples seem to.

I've been better, Annabeth admitted, her eyes softening, but I've certainly been worse. Besides, I've got you.

Assuming the gods don't try to blast me again. Percy sighed but smiled as Annabeth laced her fingers through his. "Let's go," he said out loud and started through to the Olympian Council.

A/N Sorry for the long wait! Finals are done so I'm planning on getting a lot more of this done over the summer. Reviews are more than welcome!

Also, should I continue switching views mid-chapter or is it preferred to keep one viewpoint? I'm not sure about continuing with the current formatting.