Hades P.O.V

Damn, that battle had me shivering. No wonder he thought the underworld was pleasant. I didn't know how he was still sane. He isn't though, is he a voice in the back of my head said darkly. It didn't surprise me; I doubt that anyone would be. I couldn't understand why we were all so attached to him.

Beijing

"You know somehow that wasn't what I was expecting," Artemis said, finally have moved off Apollo's lap. Something that the Sun God didn't look happy about if his Olympus sized pout was anything to go by.

Korea

"Wait, what," Poseidon said, "What happened in Beijing?"

"It doesn't say," Athena said passing the book over, "It's just got a list of places, sometimes city's, sometimes countries."

Amsterdam

Egypt

Rome

"I don't even want to know what kind of trouble they got into in Rome," I sighed.

"Wait, do they mean Italy, Rome or Camp Jupiter Rome?" Hermes asked suddenly. There was a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.

"Italy," Apollo said after a moment. We all let out a relived breath.

Ireland

Texas

Hong Kong

Hawaii

London

Mexico

Russia

Japan

Volretta

Paris

New Orleans

Spain

Vienna

Caribbean

"Cool, I love the Caribbean," Poseidon said happily.

"That really has nothing to do with all the ocean everywhere does it," Athena said sarcastically.

"And Jack Sparrow," Aphrodite added dreamily, "I wish he was real."

"He was real," Poseidon said, "One of my sons apparently, but he hadn't actually been conceived yet because he was a time… traveller…." Oh come on, you have got to be fucking kidding me.

"Damn it Percy," Hestia said with amusement.

We travelled all around the world and sometimes it ended well sometimes it didn't. We even met these really weird sparkly vampires that wanted to eat us in this city in Italy. Anyway by know it got so bad that we decided to stay in one place. We now had a beach house in the Caribbean.

"Sparkly vampire?" Ares asked, "That is so gay, their fairy's, blood drinking fairy's."

"Little more worried about how bad my son is getting in the lets go crazy and kill people department," Hermes said, even though he had a small smile.

"Times running out," Luke said looking at me with misery. I sat next to him on the porch and took his hand.

"Crap, it's going to get all depressing again isn't it?" Aphrodite sighed.

"Probably," Artemis said bluntly. It was going so well I thought… no, that wasn't true I had just hoped that it was.

"I know, but were good here," I said in denial. I didn't want to stop running I didn't want to leave here, because it was easy. Not watching my friend slowly losing his mind, or him frequently trying to kill me and then freaking out; but the fact that no monsters come here.

"Oh that's good," Hera said trying to cheer us all up… it didn't work very well.

"Hera I know your trying to help, but it's not really helping," I said in the kindest tone I could manage.

The wards around the house stop anyone from even coming to this particular beach let alone enter the house without an invitation. The strange thing was that I actually owned this house before… when I was running about the universe and in a room that was clearly mine there were girl's things.

"Does she live there?" Dionysus asked.

"Why, do you even care?" I asked him; usually he didn't care about anything.

"Because, she'll be as crazy as she is and as the God of madness watching over the insane is part of my job," he answered.

"I should leave," he said tiredly. I fought the impulse to groan and smack him in the back of the head. Why did he think that every time things went pear shaped I was going to make him leave. What's a little knifing between friends?

Everybody started to laugh. What was a little knifing between friends, nothing if you were immortal, but it could be your life for a mortal? There was a thought, was Percy even mortal?

"No," I said finally.

"I wonder how many time they've had that argument?" Zeus said smiling fondly. One that I found myself smiling along with because for some reason we knew that Percy wouldn't jet let him go.

"Lot's" Apollo said tiredly.

"But," he started to argue, again. I really thought that he would know better by now.

"Well he's stubborn," Hermes said, "Luke always was." Was… that was a past tense, shouldn't that be has been? I shook my head to clear the cobwebs out. What was I missing?

"But nothing, it doesn't matter," I insisted vehemently, "It doesn't matter how bad you get, your always welcome here."

Aw! I didn't join in… not at all. I wished that I could care about someone like that, that somebody could care about me like that. Sometimes I didn't always have to be strong.

"What to go quietly insane?" he demanded, his eyes flickering gold. Here we go again.

"That's… sweet," Artemis said after a while.

"Nah," Hestia said, "That's just Percy. He… you should see him around her, I never spoke to her but her looked at her like she was higher than a goddess."

"Or noisily, it doesn't matter. Just relax and we'll go from there," I said. His fist swung round with a knife in his hand. I ducked and caught his wrist sorrow burning through my stomach as his other hand closed around my throat. My mind blanked and a second later he had dropped the knife and was holding his stomach.

"That could go badly one day," Ares said, "Real badly."

"I know," I said, "Could you even imagine the amount of violence that he'd be used to using in a fight?" Many of us shuddered, it wasn't a pretty image but it was a reminder that we needed.

"Make it stop," he whispered helplessly, placing his head on my lap. "Can't you just make it go away?"

Bile rose in the back of my throat at our Father, how dare he? I shocked myself, I was a God the plights of mortals shouldn't be my concern. Should they? There family a voice that sounded suspiciously like Lyra said.

"I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry," I said running my hands through his hair, "But there isn't anything I can do." I felt guilt, even though I shouldn't because I tried. We went all around the world and everywhere we went I looked for something that could help. I didn't tell him and at the moment I was glad I didn't because I could let him hope like that only to take it away.

"I'm thankful that he didn't say anything, I don't think I could handle reading about that," Hermes said, "This is hard enough,"

"I wanted to grow up and have a family, I wanted to get a job and be able to die an old man," he said through tears he was valiantly trying to pretend weren't there. "Being a demi-god I probably wasn't going to be able to do that anyway but it's not the same as knowing that I never will."

"Sometimes I think that we should never have children, but then…" Zeus started to say.

"But then that empty feeling creeps up on you," Apollo said, "We need them."

"Scared the Gods will kill you?" I asked softly. That was a reasonable thing to be afraid of right? That was what a normal person would be afraid of?

"I like that, normal people… because it's so obvious that he isn't," I said chuckling. He isn't afraid of us and other people being afraid of us… wasn't obvious, how scary is that?

"No… I'm scared that they wont," he said. All I could feel was resentful, guilty, cold and regret; I just wanted it to go away, because if this is how I feel could you imagine how he feels?

"Ouch, time to break out the happy juice," Dionysus said sympathetically. I flinched, he gave a flying fuck about others… it was so wrong.

"Encouraging drinking isn't good," Athena said. Damn, this chapter she was doing so well.

"You know that most people drink out of sorrow and a lot of the time it helps if it's a one off thing," Dionysus responded.

"Come on, I have a bottle of Trinsky's inside," I said standing up.

"Dude, you called it," Apollo said laughing. Artemis just reached over and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Idiot," she said with… fondness.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking vodka?" he said, starting the customary argument that had become just something we do than anything with any real meaning behind it.

"Like me talking to Zeus about his knocking up of mortal women," Hera said cheekily, "You know I'm kind of looking forward to this whole dating thing,"

"Yeah, Hera's dating girls. Who would have thought?" Aphrodite said smirking while the rest of the room shivered.

"I think I'll give Nix a call when were done here," Hera said…. Zeus fell out of his throne in surprise.

"Isn't that argument a little old?" I retorted calmly filling to shots.

"I know he's not actually thirteen but I keep having the same reactions as I would if he were actually thirteen," Poseidon groaned.

"Wait a go?" Hermes questioned with a smirk.

"Wait a go," Poseidon confirmed. Only my brother, I thought to myself.

"It isn't even one o'clock yet," he protested picking up the shot and holding it to his lips.

"It doesn't need to be," I said sardonically.

"No, Percy does as he damn well pleases," Hestia said laughing.

"It'll probably be after 1 am before we finish," I said throwing it back, enjoying the fiery burn that forced it's way through my system and eradicating that awful coldness. Time to work on the guilt, I thought to myself pouring another.

"Is that why depressed people drink?" Athena said quietly.

"Yeah, that and because they want to forget whatever has fucked there life over," Dionysus replied.

"So why did you start drinking more? "Artemis asked, "It was so bad that you were forced to stop all together."

"I… I miss my best friend, they'll never be anyone else mortal of otherwise that will ever be anything like Lucy was," he said with a sad heartbroken smile on his face.

"Cheers," Luke said in Greek before downing it. His hand clapped against his throat and sat heavily on the couch. "Why do I always forget to sit before doing that?" he asked. I laughed and refilled the glass, heading to the stereo and putting on the radio.

"Hermes, your son is a pansy," Aphrodite said. Hermes being mature stuck his tongue out and Aphrodite be equally mature bit it.

"Ouch," Hermes complained.

"Because you're a baby," I told him swallowing the next shot.

"So is Luke a baby or does Percy have a huge tolerance for alcohol?" Hera asked.

"I don't know," Hestia said, "Could be either,"

"I am not, your just abnormal," he said jokingly, "This stuff was made at Saint T's where the expression could be used to tranquillise an elephant has been tested and it true."

"Okay, so he's not a baby," Aphrodite said hastily, "We need some of that for family bondage night,"

"Don't you mean bonding night," I asked.

"Nope I mean bondage," she said breezily.

"No," Zeus said, "Just no."

"Aw. I miss Rome," She pouted, "And Greece, stupid modern prudishness, we never get to have any fun anymore." I was not thinking that she had a point… not at all.

"Good stuff," I said smiling. He took the second drink, I hope he didn't try to keep up with me last time was a nightmare.

"Hangover," the room yelled. I could only imagine the migraine that follows the morning after. Egh!

"You know that it'll kill your brain and you wont be able to remember stuff and stuff," Luke said starting to slur slightly as the alcohol started to take effect.

"So does this make them happier?" Athena questioned sincerely.

"Give it a minute," Dionysus said surprised that there was no scorn in her voice, or anything else equally unpleasant. I was too.

"Shut up and smile," I demanded, because it wasn't like it could make my memory any fuzzier, in fact it made it clearer. When I woke up in the morning I always had trouble deciding whether it was something I wanted to remember or forget.

Half the room shouted remember while the other half shouted forget. I didn't understand why he would want to remember. I had the urge to feed him water from the river Lethe so he couldn't remember that he had to go anywhere. I didn't understand I hadn't met him for more than five minutes yet.

"Shut up, bastard" he said, and just like that we entered full party mode. Dancing around singing like idiots. Having fun Luke even started cleaning, my secret reason for liking him when he drinks. Somewhere in there Luke stopped drinking, and about quarter to two I passed out next to him.

"Wow, whatever they throw up could double as paint stripper," Apollo said laughing, "I wouldn't want to be them in the morning."

The next morning I woke up alone. There was a note on the pillow next to mine.

"Does anyone else have a bad feeling?" Poseidon sighed. I nodded I think he finally left. The question was is Percy going to go after him?

Percy,

I'm so sorry, but I can't stay anymore.

I was going to kill you in you're sleep, I could barley stop myself.

Next time I might not be so lucky.

So here's to wherever we meet again and thank you.

Thank you for everything.

Luke. X

"Oh, that… does anybody else think that that is so sad?" Artemis asked. She was worried… about boys. Gah, that is just so, so… freaking weird.

"Yes," Aphrodite sniffled. I didn't know how I would feel if I were him, trying so hard to help somebody, only to have them run when thing got to hard.

There was an achy sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that had nothing to do with the amount of alcohol I had consumed the day before. I couldn't help but wonder where he was now, I knew I'd never find.

"What?" Hestia yelled, "How come?"

"I don't know," Athena said shrinking back in her chair as fire spewed higher than normal at Hestia's demand.

We had been travelling around together long enough for him to know enough of my tricks for that. Within a few minutes I knew that I couldn't stay here, not now, not without Luke. I didn't feel in the mood for travelling either.

"Oh," Hestia said embarrassed.

"Where do you think that he's going to go?" Poseidon asked quietly.

"Camp," Dionysus said hopefully, "With Booze,"

I think that it was time to go home and see my Mom. I had missed her. The more I sat there contemplating the idea the more I liked it, unfortunately with three months until camp I hadn't anticipated the torture that Mom would put me through…

"Do you reckon that she figured out that he wasn't a camp?" I asked.

"Nah, Sally would understand. She's good like that," Poseidon said, "Actually if it's what I think it's just going to make Athena rant,"

School.

"Oh come on," Athena groaned after reading the last word, I laughed along with everybody else. She threw the finished book on the table and pouted. I picked up the next one.

"The Sea of Monsters" I read, "Are we going to read this?"

There was a murmuring of accent and I began to read.

I know I know it's finished way to early, But I was getting bored… pouty-face, please don't incinerate me. Tell you what I'll start writing the next one now, okay… Review me!