III

JASON

Seeing Percy and Leo again had lifted a huge weight off of Jason's chest. Just the three days that they'd been in Tartarus had felt like an eternity to Jason – blaming himself every single day. If only he'd been stronger, braver; he'd have been able to protect all of his loved ones. He could have stopped Leo from taking on Gaia alone – it was either him or Leo in the prophecy. He could have stopped Percy dying by being there in time to stop Leo. He could have stopped the two of them falling into Tartarus if he had defeated Gaius on the ship. But he hadn't. And those two had paid the price for his weakness.

If this was how much he was blaming himself now – he shuddered to think what would have happened to his mental health if Percy and Leo had never returned. But they had – and that was the important thing.

A slight pain broke through Jason's reverie and he looked up to see Piper elbowing him in the ribs. He shook his head and looked around the meeting room. Percy and Annabeth sat on one end of the row, Piper and him next, then Leo and Calypso, then Hazel and Frank. In the row behind them sat the Hunters and the cabin counsellors.

"Do the two of you know anything about this attack, Percy and Leo?" Chiron asked, leaning forward in his chair, resting his face on steepled fingers. "No," Leo said but Percy cleared his throat and stood up. He looked much better than when they'd rescued him and Leo from Lake Avernus, his unruly hair and his new beard trimmed down to a size that suited him (he'd wanted to shave it off completely but Annabeth had refused). He still leaned forward, in a way that pointed out to Jason – who'd seen dozens of battle injuries – that his back had been broken recently and was still healing.

"Actually," Percy rasped, his voice extremely hoarse. "When I was – down there, I had a dream. One of Gaius' men was in this office, I think the President's."

"The President of what?" Lou Ellen from the Hecate cabin called. "The United States," Percy replied. A murmur went up around the room. "He told this guy, James, I think his name was – to go to Camp Jupiter with a team to see what was happening. Gaius already sent an entire group of mercenaries to attack New Rome."

Chiron nodded understandingly. "We know about the attack by Gaius," he said finally. "But this story of the government's involvement is news indeed. It only makes our journey there of the utmost urgency. We may already be too late," he ended ominously in only the way centaurs tucked into wheelchairs can.

"Why didn't you go there already?" Percy asked. An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Percy looked around at them; realisation dawning in his eyes. "You came for us," he said, deathly quiet. "Yes," Artemis spoke up from the dais, twirling a dagger in her hands. "Why?" Percy growled. "We would have made it out on our own. YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE TO HELP CAMP JUPITER!"

"From what I remember, Prissy," Clarisse shouted from the row behind them, standing up. "You would've died if we hadn't gotten to you."

Percy whirled around, his fists clenched. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Annabeth grabbed his hand. She shook her head at him and he reluctantly sat down, glaring at the floor like as if it had insulted his mother.

"We should be getting there in an hour or so," Chiron spoke once Clarisse also sat down. "So ready yourselves." The room emptied without many words, all of them heading for the exit. Jason waited for the others to leave before he walked over to Percy and Annabeth who were still sitting.

"You okay, Perce?" he asked warily. Percy looked up at him, barely restrained emotion on his face. He nodded stiffly before rising to his feet and storming out of the room. Clarisse stepped into his path. "Percy, I," she began but he shoved past her, almost knocking her off her feet.

She recovered and glared at Percy. She opened her mouth to shout at him but Jason quickly walked over to her and placed a warning hand on her shoulder. "Not now, Clarisse," he warned. "He's still not himself." She opened her mouth to protest but closed it, nodding curtly and walking out. Jason turned around to see Annabeth still sitting there, running her hands through her hair.

"You okay?' he asked, sitting down next to her. She turned sto look at him, smiling weakly. "Yeah," she whispered hoarsely. "It's just that, it's not been easy." Jason nodded understandingly and placed an arm around her shoulder. "Compared to the two of you," he said finally. "I've had a pretty easy life."

Annabeth chuckled. "You bet, Superman," she said, climbing to her feet with a groan. "You eaten yet?" Jason asked. Annabeth thought for a moment. "Nope, not since we picked Percy up?"

Jason felt his own stomach growl. "Me either." He followed Annabeth out of the room, heading for the breakfast room. Despite it being nearly 12, the room was half-filled. Chatter filled the air, with talk of nearly anything and everything present. "You grab a table," Jason said. "I'll go get Percy and the others."

Annabeth nodded and took a seat at one of the empty tables. Jason walked out of the room, heading for the cabins. There was no one there. He wandered around until he heard clanking and a very familiar voice. "No, the other one Sunshine."

He followed the sound of the voice until he came upon the engine room. Leo was hammering at something. He took a pause and grabbed some nails from Calypso and held them between his lips, taking one out, heating it with his hands and then ramming it between two metal sheets. He did the same with all the other nails as Jason watched with fascinated patience. He wiped his face on a rag and turned around. "Hey, Leo," Jason said. "Hey, man," Leo replied. "The Jet Mode shook the engine up a bit," he explained, pointing at the engine. "I was just putting it back in place." Jason nodded in understanding. "You and Calypso wanna join us for breakfast?" he asked.

Leo turned to Calypso. She nodded with a small smile on her face. Leo grinned at Jason. "We'll see you in 5," he said. Jason nodded and turned to leave. "Have you seen the others?" he asked Leo, turning around. Leo shrugged his shoulders but Calypso spoke up. "They're on the deck." Jason smiled at her and headed for the stairs. He climbed three flights of stairs before he reached the deck. He could barely comprehend the size of this ship. And Leo had built this in a fraction of the time it had taken him on the Argo II. Leo had changed. A lot. Especially after Tartarus. His smile would never be the same again, the mirth in his eyes destroyed and replaced by a darkness that would never go away. Leo was trying, just like he'd tried after Ogygia, but Jason could see past that.

"Hey, Jason," Piper's voice broke through his reverie. "Hey," he smiled at her. Behind her, Percy, Frank and Hazel were standing, looking at him as well. "You guys wanna come grab some breakfast?" Jason asked. Three of them nodded eagerly but Percy shook his head. "I'm not feeling like it," he murmured. Before Jason could protest, Piper had grabbed Percy's arm. "I don't give a shit what you feel like, Percy," she growled, dragging him towards the stairwell. "But you haven't eaten anything since – I don't even know when, and you're eating now!"

Percy threw a helpless look at Jason but Jason chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. F**k you! Percy mouthed. "Language, Aqua-man," Jason chastised. They walked down the stairwell, Piper still dragging Percy. They eventually made it to the breakfast room. Annabeth, Leo and Calypso were sitting there, the latter two relatively cleaned up. Leo was devouring a breakfast burrito, while Calypso picked delicately at a fruit parfait. Annabeth seemed to be waiting and smiled at them. Piper walked over to where Annabeth sat and practically threw Percy down next to her and pointed an angry finger at him. "Now," she growled. "Eat!"

"Yes, ma'am," Percy said weakly. Piper nodded approvingly and walked over to sit next to Jason, who had sit down next to Frank and Hazel. An inexplicable awkwardness hung in the air but Jason was unable to pinpoint the reason. He looked around the table and saw everyone talking to the person sitting next to them, except two people. Percy seemed extremely interested in his blue pancakes, even though he wasn't eating them, just moving them around in the syrup. Next to him, Calypso had abandoned the parfait, her fork on the plate and her eyes focused on the wooden table.

The others picked up on the awkwardness as well, and soon the entire table went quiet. Percy and Calypso didn't seem to notice, up until Annabeth nudged Percy and motioned with her head towards the Titaness. Percy swallowed deeply. "Umm, Cal – Calypso?" he said hesitantly. Calypso looked up from her inspection of the table, flustered. "Yes?" she asked, not meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he croaked. "About, umm, well, everything. I – I shouldn't have left you there, I'm really sorry." Calypso looked at Leo like a deer caught in the headlights. Leo said nothing, merely motioning with his head towards Percy. Calypso swallowed, coughing slightly. "Umm," she mumbled. "It's alright, I guess? I – I need to tell you something. Or rather, Annabeth." Annabeth looked up from her food, turning her head towards Percy. "I'm quite embarrassed to say this," Calypso mumbled. "But I – I cursed you."

Annabeth said nothing. Calypso evidently took this as a cue to continue, because she went on. "You mustn't think badly of me, I – I'd been left again, and – in my anger, I – I…" "I know," Annabeth stated, no anger in her voice. "You – you do?" Calypso croaked. "Umm-hmm," Annabeth hummed. "How?" Calypso asked. Annabeth's face went dark and a few tears slipped into her eyes. "Don't ask," she said, as quiet as a mouse. Calypso returned to her inspection of the table, and Percy and Annabeth went back to poking at their food.

A sudden commotion saved them all from the tension. "We're reaching there in 10 minutes!" a camper shouted, fully dressed in armour – one of the sentries. Everyone stood from the tables, all the food forgotten and rushed to their cabins to put on armour.

Roughly 9 minutes later, the entire deck was filled with armoured demigods, waiting on edge for when they'd reach Camp Jupiter. Jason walked to the prow, Percy and Frank already standing there. They looked down at the passing fields, the road into the tunnel and then the woods beyond. Acrid smoke filled the air in front of them, and Jason began fearing the worst.

The ship flew over the hill and Camp Jupiter and New Rome came into sight.

But nothing could have prepared them for what they all saw.