Thýella woke up with a start. He hadn't thought of that day in a long time. It wasn't the last time he'd seen his mom, but it was the first time he'd met his siblings. His breath was shaky, and his mind swarmed with the memories. Thýella knew he wouldn't be falling back to sleep. He got up, deciding to go for a walk in the woods. Perhaps clear his head. Somehow, he ran into Luke.

"Hey!"

"Hi, Luke. How're you?"

"Fine. I have a question."

Thýella sighed. "Yes Luke?"

Luke looked giddy. "When will I be able to do what you do?"

Thýella shook his head. "I swear, you're still a toddler." Luke pouted, proving Thýella's point. "It took me a hundred fifty years to master my inborn powers. I was given these abilities only a few months ago, but for the most part, they match the powers I had already mastered. We don't know what you are, so it could be anywhere from a year to a century. But I can help you understand them so you can use them in battle. Make sense?"

Luke looked put out. "Nope."

Thýella sighed again. Luke really was just a little kid at heart. He probably never got the chance to grow up.

"You can't master your powers in time for the war, but I get help you master the basics. Maybe, after the war, we can go in-depth."

Luke pouted again, then quickly changed personalities and smiled. "Ah well. See you later, Thýella!" He said before skipping off.

Thýella shook his head fondly. The little part of him that was Old Percy tugged at his heart. Thýella quickly squashed that part down. After the war, he told himself, after the war I can be Percy again.

Aeráki sat by the lake. She knew that her friend would show up there at some point. For that moment, however, she just thought. Thalia never thought she'd ever go back to camp. Not after the betrayal. But Thýella said that even Artemis agrees that it was a behind-the-scenes style attack. So what to do? Telling Zeus that she was Thalia didn't go over well. Zeus at first had a minor freak out and even went into overprotective-father mode, despite the fact that he never seemed to care in her "first" life. After that, Zeus became the distant person she was used to. So yeah, Thalia was a little worried about what to do. Should she tell the camp? Maybe, but then how would Camp react? And they could be put in danger – and Thalia didn't want these people to be hurt because of herself and her cousins. In the end, she decided not the tell them.

Lightly stepping on the water, Aeráki flew low enough and slow enough that it looked like she was actually walking on the water. One early-morning camper stared at her until a horn sounded. It was odd. Not the three horn sounds for breakfast, nor the five sound for an attack. The camper rushed to the Big House while Aeráki headed towards her tree. There, she saw a rather unusual sight. Campers she recognized from her time as a camper were standing there – about five of them. Silena Beauregard was one, but Charles Beckendorf wasn't there. Another familiar face was Lee Fletcher, the Apollo head counselor that died in the Battle of the Labyrinth. Katie Gardner was there, one of the few demigods who had lived through the wars and the mind-control. She had died at the ripe old age of ninety-two, twenty years after her mind-control wore off. The fourth was Leo Valdez – the "fire elf" who was always a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. There was also a sixth person that Thalia didn't recognize. She was an adult, old enough to be the mother of the demigods standing there, who were all back to being teenagers. The woman had Latina features, with warm eyes and curly hair. She looked familiar for some reason, but Leo answered that unasked question by saying: "Mom?" The woman turned around as fast as she could, staring in awe at her son. "Hijo! I missed you! Look how you've grown. Tia Rosa raised you right, didn't she?"

Leo flinched, and Aeráki remembered him talking about how he ran away. "No. She didn't want to put up with un pequeño diablo."

Leo's mother's smile faded. "Then who raised you?" Leo shook his head. "Tia Rosa sent me to live with Abuela. Then they sent me to live con su amigo, pero el no le gustaba me and I went to a foster home."

Leo's mixture of Spanish and English confused Aeráki for a moment but she got the gist of it. Grandma asshole sent Leo to live with a friend, who didn't like Leo and sent him to a foster home.

Leo's mother muttered "Cuando llego a mis manos en esos jartos, romperá los miembro del miembro," but Leo assured her, "Está bien mamá, que es lo que me convertían en quien soy hoy."

Aeráki wasn't sure what was said, but both Leo and his mother relaxed, so it must have been reassuring for the both of them. It was at that moment that Aeráki made herself known.

"Who in the name of Tartarus are you?" Leo yelped.

Aeráki frowned before she remembered that she had the mask.

"I am Aeráki. One of the Elements. We are here to assist the god in the war. If I may ask, Leo, how is it the dead are coming back to life? And last I heard, you were a god. How did you die then?"

Leo stiffened, Aeráki noticed. "It's complicated. I'd rather not talk about that."

While Aeráki was dealing that problem, Thýella was at I Zoí Spílaia. The caverns calmed him. He didn't notice when Luke wandered in behind him. He did notice when Luke sat down beside him. He noticed when Luke spoke, but he acted like he didn't. "I guess I like for the same reason you do, huh?"

"It's calming."

"Thýella? You gonna say anything?"

"I guess that's a no."

Neither noticed when a woman wearing an invisibility cap on came in. That was probably because she was invisible. Thýella had almost fallen asleep with Luke following his example when the glowing hand picked them up. Annabeth's cap fell off, revealing her. Neither was surprised, despite not seeing her come in. The hand seemed to teleport them somewhere. That somewhere was very blue and green. "Hello," a loud voice boomed from behind them. The man looked similar to Poseidon, and Thýella quickly found out why. "I am Pontus. Primordial god of the Sea."

That makes sense. "Pontus," Thýella kept his voice even, "what is it?" Annabeth winced, but Thýella figured it was better to be blunt and get it over with.

Pontus laughed. "Well, the others weren't kidding. I like you, kid, I really do."

"Thanks," Thýella's words were dry. "I don't suppose you kidnapped us for a reason."

Pontus winced. "Yes well, that is complicated. And it a very long story."

Thýella sat down, pulling Annabeth and Luke with him. "It's not like we're going anywhere."

With those words, Pontus began his story.

"So what you saying is that we're not fighting a war against the Primordials, only their corrupted parts. And that the whole fading thing the elements are doing is fading their corruption, but not the gods themselves, so really, we're helping them."

Pontus mulled it over. "I guess that would be the short version. But be warned, Tartarus has unlocked death. Already, some of the dead have returned. I think they plan on returning some heroes, then when everyone is all happy and celebrating, they introduce their own spies, who are impersonating a returned."

Annabeth sat back, thinking about the implications. "We won't know who the spy is."

She looked downcast.

"Yes we will." Thýella said.

"How?" Annabeth asked.

Thýella didn't answer; instead, he reached up. He stopped when he felt a hand encircle his wrist. "Thýella, are you sure?" Annabeth asked, her eyes searching his. Thýella stared at her until she nodded. The hood fell off, and seconds later, the mask followed.

"Percy?"

"Dad?"

I won't translate what Leo said, because I don't feel like it and Aeráki tells us anyway. But the gist of the second part in Spanish is "I will rip them limb from limb" along with a lot of swearing. Leo says something like "Calm down mama. It was them hating me that made the person I am."