Piper fled. She sprinted away as fast as she could. She could hear Jason calling out to her in a broken voice, but she heard no one following her. Good. She leaped over a bonnet of a car and kept running. She ran and ran until she reached a park, several kilometres away. She collapsed onto the damp grass and broke down. She sobbed. Leo… she thought. She had seen so much pain in his eyes. So much anguish. How had Leo managed to hold in that sort of pain? How did he bear it? Was he going to be the same joking idiot he used to be? Piper thought about this. It sounded so much like…

"Piper," someone put a hand on her shoulder. Piper turned.

"Nico…" she said. "I… I'm sorry. I know we're on a tight schedule, but…"

"I just wanted to let you know that I know what you're thinking. You think he's broken. That Atlas broke him. That he won't be the same. That he will never be the same. It's not true."

Piper sniffed.

"What do you mean?"

"Leo was at his weakest. His anger brought out his power that shouldn't have been brought out. Pure chaos, revealed when you lose your loved ones. It has happened to me. It has happened to Percy as well. But it's not forever. It can be healed."

Piper looked at him.

"What happened with yours?"

Nico sat down.

"You might know what happened to my sister Bianca when I was ten. I started to have these dreams. They were horrible. A bit like what Leo told you before. I watched my sister die. This giant, a metal giant killed her. I saw it every night. And then Percy showed up and told me my sister was dead. I lost it. That's when it happened. There were some skeletons following Percy. They were killing machines that were no match for even Percy, and I caused the ground to swallow them up with two words."

Piper stared.

"Two words and the Earth split?"

"Yes."

"What happened to Percy?"

"Annabeth told you about this I believe. That time when Percy controlled those poisons?"

"Is that what happened to him?" Piper asked. "Was that why he lost control? Because of his chaos?"

"Yes. They were in Tartarus. Percy thought Annabeth was going to die. He snapped."

"But that doesn't make sense," Piper stood up, and began to walk back. Nico followed her. "99% of the time, demigods are going to die. What was so different about…"

"Piper," Nico said. "They were in Tartarus. In Akhlys' lair. That place radiates of misery. I've felt it. Whatever dismay Percy would have felt in normal circumstances, multiply that by a thousand. You wouldn't even be close to how it felt."

Piper felt heartless.

"Oh my gods. I'm sorry. So Percy…"

"He was chaos. An emotionless being with the power and will to completely obliterate a goddess in Tartarus. But Piper, that's beyond the point. Look at him now. He couldn't be happier. He has his whole life planned out for him with Annabeth."

"What about you?" Piper asked. "Did you ever recover?"

"I am recovering, Piper. Percy recovered quickly. He has Annabeth. I didn't have anyone for a long time. I still carry the anguish with me. But it's getting better."

Piper nodded.

"Does anyone else know? Gods Nico, if someone had known what happened… they could have helped you."

"Reyna knows. During out quest with the Athena Parthenos, she had to take some of my burden. She nearly fainted in doing it. Afterwards, she asked about it. I told her. Best thing I ever did. Having someone else share the burden. And that's what Leo needs. And you need to help him."

"I will," Piper said.

"Then we can start by heading off to California to meet him."

Together, they ran back.

"Piper!" Jason called, and sprinted to meet her. Piper cried out and launched herself into his arms.

"Jason, listen…"

"Piper," Nico laid a hand on her shoulder. "Not now. We have to go. We don't have time."

Piper nodded. Everyone bunched up together, and Nico closed his eyes. The world started spinning, and the world went black.

Nico's aim was perfect. They materialised smack in the middle of Camp Jupiter. Piper looked around. Everything was silent. That was definitely unusual. If there was one thing she knew, demigod camps were never silent… unless something was wrong. Jason, Percy and Nico looked shell-shocked, and mad. Especially Jason, who probably was still very protective over his old camp.

"Something's wrong," Jason stated.

"Ya think?" Percy snorted. "Look, let's just look around. Find out what's going on. Hecate did tell Annabeth that something was keeping Hazel and Frank from leaving."

"Ok. Percy and Annabeth, you guys head off together," Jason told them. "Piper, you come with me. And Nico…"

The son of Hades looked up.

"Thank you Nico, for bringing us here. The quest would have been lost without you."

Nico nodded and turned his back to them, to walk away, but Piper called out.

"Nico, wait!" and tackled him in a hug. "Thank you Nico… for you know…"

Nico awkwardly patted Piper's back.

"You watch out for Leo."

"I will…"

And he vanished into the darkness back to Camp Half Blood. Piper turned to the rest, who were staring at her.

"Hazel and Frank! Come on guys!"

"Right," Annabeth said, and marched on, pulling a protesting Percy along with her. "Come on Seaweed Brain. Hazel and Frank."

"Yes Ma'am!"

Piper watched as Annabeth dragged Percy by the collar of his orange camp shirt and smiled. If Piper didn't know about what happened to Percy in Tartarus, she wouldn't have believed it. Nico was right when he said that you could recover from chaos. Piper could only hope that it would be that easy for Leo, especially since Calypso wasn't around.

"Piper?" Jason called from a few metres away. "I think… I think I know what happened."

Piper looked over at Jason, who was peeking his head into the Principia. Still deep in thought, Piper wondered inside.

"Piper…" Jason called warily from the doorway. Piper looked back at him.

"Wha… Oh My GODS!" Piper shrieked. She had just run straight into Frank… who was standing in the middle of the room, grinning at Hazel, who was at the back, studying scrolls with Reyna. They were all statues… ice statues… and that could only mean…

"Bonsoir Piper, ma chère. Ah! Jason! This is fantastique!" Khione laughed from behind Piper. Piper froze. Not literally… The hair at her neck was standing at its end with cold and anticipation. Without turning around, Piper laughed.

"Hello Khione! Come back for round two?"