Percy

Percy floated under the salt water, being with his element and letting the salt water give him energy and strength. Gods, he needed it.

Nico didn't love him. Nico had moved on.

Percy was still trying to process that.

Yes, Percy loved Annabeth, and he wasn't gay. He didn't find Nico attractive, and wouldn't ever become romantically involved with him. But still, it was disappointing to feel special to someone, only to have them disregard you weeks later.

Percy pondered that. Why did he care so much that Nico was with Leo? The two demigods had announced their relationship at breakfast (to the utmost horror of Mr. D and to the delight of Chiron), and for the most part, everyone supported them. It was surprising to find out that they were actually a thing. Yes, Percy had discussed this with Annabeth, but having his suspicions confirmed was a whole different thing. Why was he so shocked? And why did he even care?

Something weird and slimy touched his leg in the water, and he shivered. Everything sounded echoey underwater, and he felt like he was drifting in and out of time and space, except he wasn't. He was just floating near the beach by Camp Half Blood. He loved the ocean, but it was unpredictable and scary at the same time. Maybe that's why he found it so fascinating and wonderful. Afterall, those were the same feelings he had for Nico.

Nico was his ocean.

Yes, he could come to terms with that. He loved Nico like he loved the ocean. To see Nico move on from him only stung because Percy took him for granted and expected the same feelings in return. He shouldn't have. He cursed himself for it.

Why did he have to care about Nico so much? Nobody knew the true depth of Percy's feelings towards him. They were not feelings of romance but feelings of friendship and brotherhood. But it wasn't like Nico was just his brother. It was like Nico was his friend that he couldn't remember swearing to protect but protected anyways. Not everything had to be sworn on for it to happen.

He's with Leo now, Percy thought. He's happy.

Percy grinned underwater, the water colliding with his teeth. Nico was happy. That was what he wanted.

But he doesn't love you anymore. His grin vanished, and he shut his eyes tight.

Maybe this feeling he had wasn't one of a lost love, but of guilt.

That was it! That was why he cared so much!

He felt guilty because he couldn't love Nico di Angelo.

That night, after they had talked in the stables, Percy had gone to Jason's room. Jason had been cold at first, thinking that Percy was some kind of jerk. As he began to realize the situation, however, he realized that Percy hadn't been eavesdropping, and that he had been kind to Nico. They had talked about the whole thing, and agreed that it was very difficult to handle.

"I wish he hadn't kept it a secret," Percy had said.

"Why aren't people just honest with each other about how they feel?" Jason asked in response.

Percy had thought about that, biting his index finger and squeezing his blue T-shirt. Why? Then it hit him.

"We're scared to love," he had said. "Because to love is to become vulnerable, and we're all to proud for that sort of thing."

Jason had nodded, then stood. When Percy had asked him where he was going, Jason had responded with "I need to tell Piper that."

Percy cringed a little remembering that night. He did everything he could to protect Nico, but he felt like he didn't do enough.

He could feel the guilt in his ears and fingertips, and it seemed to be laced in the saltwater that waltzed around him. He hugged his knees to his chest and sank to the bottom. It was about ten feet deep, and he had no problem staying down. He could control that. The pressure didn't bother him. He could control that, too.

But he couldn't control all of this guilt.

No wonder Nico had forgotten about him and moved on to Leo. Percy had pretty much disregarded him ever since they began that stupid quest to defeat Gaea and restore order to the camps in the first place.

He hated himself for causing his friend so much pain. He sighed, then remembered he was underwater and was met with a mouthful of the atmosphere of Posideon's realm. He choked and swam to the surface, spitting out water and coughing. He looked at the sun, blinked because he was an idiot for looking at something so bright, and then went to look for his equally bright girlfriend.

Annabeth

When Percy found her, she was crying. She didn't know she was crying, of course. She was asleep.

"Annabeth!" She had heard him shout, but he sounded so distant. Tatarus had swept him off somewhere far, and she shouldn't worry about finding him because it was over. The army of monsters closed in on her, and she had no weapon. She screamed with all of the power of her mother and the horrors of the heroes, and it felt like a small person was standing in her lungs and scraping their fingers against them. She kept screaming. She felt herself shaking, and light surrounded her. She realized that Percy had been shaking her. And he really had been calling her name. She blinked and fully exited the nightmare, entering Percy's arms and sobbing.

He held the back of her head with his hand. "When did they start?" He whispered.

"As soon as we got back to camp," she whimpered, wondering if he had been having nightmares, too.

She didn't like feeling weak. She had to be strong and level-headed, not unsure and unstable. She realized that she was shivering. Percy was cold and wet. Had he been swimming?

"Um, seaweed brain?" She sniffed. "You are really cold."

"Sorry!" He said, an alarmed expression flooding his face. He grabbed a blanket off of the bed next to Annabeth's bed where they were sitting and put it over himself, then took Annabeth in his lap and wrapped it around her from behind. She put her head in his shoulder, her face leaning back to look up at the ceiling.

"Thanks," she said.

They sat there in warm silence, and Annabeth felt like all of the stars and planets in the universe were no longer weighing her down. She was with Percy, and she could be calm and collected as long as she had him.

"So why are you here?" She asked.

Percy looked alarmed and ashamed, as if he hadn't been prepared for that question.

"Why do you need to ask if I'm here?" He questioned. "Is it really so surprising that your boyfriend wants to spend time with you?"

She raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed.

"I don't know how you do that. You always know whether I'm here to be randomly romantic or to seek advice. It's seriously freaky. Kind of hot, but freaky."

She responded with a smirk.

"I'm feeling guilty about Nico," he confessed.

Oh, Annabeth thought.

"Percy, I don't know how to handle this. We've been over this before. I might be smart, but I'm just as good as everyone else at handling emotions. The only thing I can say to you is that Nico is happy and you did your best. He didn't move on because you were a jerk to him; he moved on because he found someone who loved him."

Percy nodded, absentmindedly rubbing his hand in circles on her knee. She snuggled her head further into his shoulder, trying to comfort the boy who was trying to comfort her.

"It's really incredible how much you care about him," said Annabeth.

Percy laughed bitterly. "I care about everyone."

Annebeth lifted her head and shifted so that her face was inches away from Percy's.

"Percy, you may care about everyone, but not because you have to. Because you actually do care about them. You are the most genuine person I know."

Percy gave her a little half smile but didn't look convinced.

"Percy, you've got to trust me. Why do you think I've stuck with you this long? Because to be honest, you are a huge idiot otherwise."

That actually made him laugh, and he kissed her shoulder.

Good, Annabeth thought. I've actually begun to heal him.

She then smiled and put her hand on Percy's, and decided to let him heal her.

Jason

Yes! Nico and Leo! Finally!

Jason sat in a field with Piper in silence, both of them thinking.

Jason, of course, was thinking about the new couple that had been announced at breakfast this morning.

Jason had honestly shipped them the minute he found out that Nico was gay. They were both misfits, and they both needed someone. And to be honest, they were both HUGE GAY. Well, Leo was bi, but still, HUGE GAY.

This was great. Jason could finally stop spending every minute worrying about how Percy could hurt Nico. And now, Nico had someone else to go to. Nico di Angelo was no longer his responsibility. Honestly, Jason didn't mind being Nico's confidant, and in fact, he was flattered that Nico trusted him so much. But now, he didn't have to constantly worry about Nico getting hurt, and it was great.

Leico? Valdangelo? Jason pondered their ship name as he sat in the field with Piper, braiding leaves of grass.

Despite the wonderful responses to Nico and Leo being a couple, nobody was prepared for the announcement that Calypso and Leo were going to make at the campfire that night.

Frank

Everyone had sort of gotten back into their old routine. By around noon, everyone had worked out their conflicts and actually settled in, and they had then spent their day training like they always had.

Training at Camp Half Blood was WAY different for training at Camp Jupiter. It was more fun, chaotic, and dangerous. Percy and Annabeth had sword fought for hours, giving each other pointers and working on technique. Piper had been learning a little archery from Chiron. Jason had had fun with the Hephaestus kids making and racing chariots. Leo, of course, was included in the chariot shenanigans, and was constantly getting on Jason's case for making things wrong, to which Jason would roll his eyes because they got on each other's nerves and they were best friends. Nico had vanished somewhere, but Frank had seen him at the edge of the forest once with his stygian iron sword. Maybe he was fighting monsters. Who knew. Calypso had been hanging out with some Naiads, and they already seemed to be best friends. As for Frank and Hazel, they had tackled the rock climbing wall. It was massive, and it spurted lava. Boulders would occasionally fall from it, and sometimes, as you grabbed a hold, it would vanish into the wall,causing you to fall. Hazel was small and fit and easily darted up the wall. Frank, however, was big and uncoordinated, and felt embarassed every time Hazel would look down at him from above. He just kept struggling up the wall. Eventually, he got the hang of it, and both he and Hazel had succeeded in getting a great workout in. Sure, Frank had been scolded by his girlfriend a few times for turning into a lizard and scurrying up the wall, but other then that they did really well.

Now, he held Hazel's hand and they sat in front of a beautiful camp fire. They sang campfire songs with the rest of the demigods, like "99 Bottles of Nectar on the Wall" and "On Top of Old Olympus". Hazel, for someone who was belting out the words loudly and without thought, actually had a really pretty voice. At first, Frank hadn't sung at all. But with his girlfriend singing loudly, giving him encouraging looks and squeezing his hand, he eventually sang along quietly with a smile. After a few more songs, he grew louder. And then he sang even louder. Finally, he was singing as loudly as Hazel was, and the whole camp was a beautiful sound of happiness.

They sang demigod nursery rhymes, like "Polyphemus Had a little Lamb."

They sang popular mortal songs with their own Camp Half Blood twists, like "Just Give me Elysium" by P!nk and "Summertime Solstice" by Lana Del Ray.

Demigods were really awful singers. Frank loved it.

After about two hours of the crazy, frantic, joyful singing, Chiron held up his hand. Everyone stopped singing, wondering what Chiron had to say.

"It seems that we have, erm, a request. From a few demigods. They are requesting that you allow them to make an announcement. I assume that you will treat them with the utmost respect and give them your full attention. I myself have no idea what this is about. However, I will allow them to speak."

Leo appeared in front of the campfire and shook Chiron's hand. Calypso, Grover, some girl from the Aphrodite cabin, and Nico all joined him, with Grover with his arm around Calypso and Leo and Nico holding hands.

The girl from Aphrodite stepped forward.

"Camp Half Blood is a growing place," she began.

Frank wondered, for the billionth time since he had known these people, what the heck was going on.

"And new people enter it constantly. There will be a new demigod at Camp Half Blood soon."

There were a few murmers.

"Except this one is special. This demigod is the child of a goddess and a demigod, so its more of a three-fourths god. Don't worry, it won't be THAT powerful, because it's mother is only the goddess of an island and all of the nymphs that live there, and the daughter of a Titan. She isn't a major goddess. Still, this is more than a demigod that is on the way."

Frank could have sworn he saw Calypso scowl at that.

"So you might be wondering when this demigod will arrive. The answer to that question is roughly nine months."

Frank saw Hazel's eyes widen, and he wondered why. Then it hit him.

"And you might be wondering where this demigod is right now. The answer to that question is roughly right here," said the Aphrodite girl, putting a hand at the bottom of Calypso's stomach.

There were a few gasps.

Clarrise pointed at Calypso angrily. "Really? Really. So now I bet she expects us to take care of her. Hah! Whose the dad?"

Leo raised his hand that Nico was holding, consequentially making Nico raise his hand, too.

"So you're both the dads?!"
"No, no!" Shouted Leo. "Just me. I'm the dad."

Chiron stepped forward. "I am so sorry about all of this." He whisked the demigods away, and Frank watched them vanish into the old farm house. He felt a pit in his stomach on his friends' behalfs.

Then everyone began to argue, except for Frank, Hazel, Piper, Jason, Percy, and Annabeth, who all exchanged looks not knowing how to process any of it.