AN:

I'm back with another chapter. Before we get started, I first want to thank everyone for all the kind reviews, follows, and favorites. All of the appreciation and love has helped encourage me and is why I'll be back with a new story after this one is through. Anyways, about this new chapter. It's a little different. Since we were purely in Tartarus for House of Hades, I used this chapter mostly to show the impact Percy and Zoë's absence had on the rest of the Argo crew. It is not completely without them though, because they make the story, let's be honest. Also, fair warning, for The Blood of Olympus, I'll be doing a bunch of skipping, replacing, and completely new scenes, mostly because I didn't like Blood of Olympus that much so I only read it once, making myself too unfamiliar to follow canon super close. I hope that is alright with you all. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy chapter 22 of "The Spartan"

House of Hades, July 2010 CE

Hazel was seriously starting to get annoyed. Hecate had arrived a few minutes ago, but she seemed perfectly content to watch her and Leo fight Clytius by themselves. She merely stood across the room from the conflict, the torches in her hands dripping purple fire as she looked on. The infuriating part of that was, Percy and Zoë were supposedly on the next elevator ride up, and if they were too busy fighting Clytius to press the up button…

Leo, for his part, was doing his best to assist Hazel. To his credit, he was holding his own, but fighting had never been Leo's strong suit. He usually relied on fire, but Clytius, despite his rumored susceptibility to flames, seemed rather impervious to them. He'd claimed Leo's fire couldn't burn hot enough to harm him, unlike Hecate's torches, and so far, he'd been right. Unfortunately, Hecate seemed to be enjoying her role as a spectator far too much to intervene.

The hardest part of fighting the giant though, was not avoiding his physical attacks. Clytius honestly seemed untrained in that regard compared to his brothers. No, it was in the rolling black smoke that poured off him, dangerous to the touch. She was being forced to split her mind, half focused on creating her own mist to counteract his, and half focused on not getting crushed.

Back on the Argo II, before Percy had fallen with Zoë into Tartarus, he'd taken it upon himself to give lessons to all of the seven if they wanted. One of the things he stressed the most during training was the importance of fighting with complete focus. He'd told them that fighting with a distracted mind was a death sentence, and the more she fought with her attention split like this, the more she realized he had never spoken truer words to her.

"Magic lady! We could really use some help here!" Leo shouted to Hecate, ducking underneath a sword strike from the giant.

Hazel opened her mouth to agree, but as she rolled underneath the giant, she caught something in the corner of her eye. Billowing off of Hecate's body in waves were columns of white mist, clashing with the sinister fog that the giant emanated. She should've realized she hadn't created all the good mist by herself. Hecate was helping her, if only a little, and that inspired Hazel to keep up the fight.

"She is helping Leo," Hazel yelled, stabbing the giant in the ankle, "The white mist. It's protecting us."

Hazel didn't have time to gauge Leo's reaction. The giant had been too fast for her. After receiving the stab in the ankle, Clytius delivered a lightning fast kick to her chest. It sent her flying across the room, crashing into the wall with a huge crack. She felt a few of her ribs break, and she clutched her chest in pain. Now Leo was alone, significantly outmatched by the giant in a solo battle.

She coughed up blood. Things were looking grim. She leaned on her spatha, rising slowly from the earth. Leo looked panicked, backing away from the giant, sending fireballs at his face as he dodged for his life. Things only got worse though. From the elevator, she heard a ding. Percy and Zoë had arrived, and the longer they waited to press the button to let them out, the more they'd suffer inside.

Hazel started to limp towards the elevator. Leo needed her help too, but she wasn't sure she would be able to do too much in her state. If they really wanted to deal with this giant, they'd need the two people on the other side of those elevator doors. Luckily for Leo, and unluckily for Hazel, Clytius seemed to realize her plan. He completely ignored Leo, instead moving to stop her.

"Leo! Hold him off!" she gasped as she walked. Her voice came out weak, and her breathing was uneven. It felt like at least one of her broken ribs had punctured a lung.

"Oh sure. 'Leo, hold him off.' No problem." Leo muttered to himself, running after the giant.

Clytius seemed entirely uninterested in the son of Hephaestus though. He was slowly clomping after Hazel, drawing closer with each step. At this rate, he'd reach her before she got to the doors. Hecate was protecting Hazel from the encroaching black smoke, but he had to protect her from the giant that was creating it.

He was desperate to protect Hazel. To buy her the time she needed to get Percy and Zoë out of that stupid elevator. He felt responsible for them falling into Tartarus, all thanks to him cracking open that stupid fortune cookie back in Rome. Protecting Hazel so she could free them was his chance at redemption.

Drawing from deep within himself, Leo felt the fire burning within him. Percy had always told the seven that the key to unlocking one's full potential was within oneself. He'd always passed it off as cliché trainer mumbo jumbo, but now he could see it was true. His desperation had unlocked this realization for him.

Extending his palms outward, Leo unleashed what was by far the largest fire blast he'd ever conjured. It extended from his hands like a massive cone of superheated destruction, colliding with the back of the huge giant. The whole cavern lit with an orange hue as the fire raged on. Even Leo could feel the heat of the flames licking at his face.

Clytius whirled around at the touch of the fire, raising his sword to ward off the heat. Leo could see the look of pain on his face. He realized that these flames were strong enough. Hot enough to wound the giant. Hazel was drawing closer to the panel. He needed to hold out just a little bit longer. He dug deeper, bringing the fire from within himself like he was trying to squeeze juice from a stone.

Clytius roared in pain. The giant walked through the flames, stepping closer and closer to the fire user with his arms raised to protect his face from the fire. His flesh was searing off, but he ignored the melting of his skin, eager to disable the son of Hephaestus. Leo continued to summon more flames, but they were starting to wane. He was running out of energy.

As Leo's flames weakened, Clytius' confidence grew. His pace quickened as he waded through the torrent of weakening fire. Leo knew he was done for, but it didn't matter. Between the giant's legs, he could see Hazel had finally made it. Above him, the giant raised his hand, bringing it across in a punishing punch. The last thing he saw before the punch sent him into unconsciousness was those intricate elevator doors cracking open.

Hazel winced when she saw Leo get rag dolled across the room. She felt bad, but it had been necessary. They needed the two on the other side, especially with how unhelpful Hecate was being. The doors creaked open, and her heart soared, before sinking just as fast. The two that tumbled out of the elevator were in no condition to fight. In all honesty, she wasn't sure they were even alive.

"Rising from Tartarus is a difficult transition even for giants. I doubt your friends survived their return. They cannot save you." Clytius said slowly. His words came from the stone around them rather than from his person.

The giant began to walk towards her. She was alone and weakened now, but Hazel was defiant still. Hobbling to place herself protectively between Clytius and her friends, she raised her spatha. Blood trickled from her mouth, but the look in her golden eyes told a story that her battered form couldn't. Hazel Levesque would not die a coward. Not this time.

"Unfortunately for you, Clytius, the pit walkers are not the only friends Hazel Levesque has." Hecate said from the other side of the room. Her voice was guarded, but Hazel thought she was able to detect a trace amount of pride in the immortal witch's voice.

"You cannot defeat me alone goddess. The girl is too weak to fight. It is over."

"Not yet."

The goddess raised one of her hands, slowly waving it towards the center of the room. In the middle of the room, the air rippled, drawing mist all around it. It slowly converged into the shape of a small group of people before dispersing. When it dissipated, Frank, Nico, Piper, and Jason stood in its stead.

"Sorry we're late," Jason said. "Is this the guy who needs killing?"

Hazel saw this was her opportunity. The giant was distracted. After checking to make sure the maybe corpses of Percy and Zoë were clear of the doors, Hazel did what they came here to do. She sliced through the chains, allowing the doors to finally disappear. They vanished with a shudder, sending rocks tumbling from the ceiling. She groaned. Of course, the stupid elevator was key to the structural integrity of the giant's evil lair.

"Gah, I'll kill you all!" she heard from all around her. Clytius sounded frustrated.

Turning to the fight, she raised her spatha to join, but saw she wasn't needed. The four of them were swarming Clytius like flies. He was losing, and fast. The cavern though, was losing its ceiling at an even faster rate.

"Guys can we hurry this up please?" she squeaked, clutching her chest as her ribs flared in pain.

Across the room, Hecate looked up to the roof, seemingly seeing the same thing Hazel was. Apparently, the goddess who had been watching so nonchalantly before decided now would be a good time to intervene. For almighty gods that needed giants dead, the gods were annoyingly reluctant to help. Still, once Hecate stepped in, the fight was as good as over.

Clytius, too distracted by the entourage of bloodthirsty demigods, didn't even have time to see her before she was on him. The goddess wielded her torches like daggers, swinging them violently through the air, trails of smoke tracing their path like ribbons. They sliced across the giant's body in criss cross patterns, igniting his flesh like it was tinder.

With a final blow, the giant erupted into massive purple flames. The giant flailed uncontrollably, desperately trying to pat out the violet fire. He burned rapidly, like a fistful of dry grass, turning into nothing but ash. Hazel almost felt bad about how the giant died. Her ribs flared up again as she turned to her fellow demigods, her punctured lung wheezing in pain. She grit her teeth, slowly making her way to the goddess and her friends.

"This place is unstable, Hazel Levesque. I will transport your friends," Hecate shot a look towards Percy and Zoë, "back to your ship, but the rest of you are on your own." She said stoically. In a poof of mystical white fog, the goddess was gone, taking Percy and Zoë with her.

"Were they…" Frank asked the question on everyone's mind. The groups eyes turned to her. She gulped worriedly.

"I'm not sure." She admitted.

"Well, we better get back to the ship then. I'm sure they're fine, but they might not be for much longer if we don't hurry." Piper interjected. Hazel could feel the charmspeak oozing over, goading her into relaxing. She decided not to fight it. She needed the comfort.

"Anybody have any ideas how we get out of here?" Jason asked. Hazel smiled nervously, shooting a look towards Nico.

"I do, actually."

The Argo II, July 2010 CE

Piper was anxious. When they'd returned to the Argo II from the house of hades, they'd been barred from entering the med bay. Annabeth had locked herself in with Percy and Zoë, refusing to allow anyone else entry. The crew had reluctantly agreed to her demands for the time being. They were all worried about their friends, and eager to see them, but they knew better than to argue with Annabeth when she was like this.

The daughter of wisdom had claimed that her reasoning for keeping them out was because of the dark energy that clung to the pair. She'd said that if its effects were contagious, she didn't want anyone else to suffer from it. Personally, Piper didn't buy it. If she had to guess, Annabeth was trying to protect the other heroes from seeing their heroes so weak. It was honorable in a strange sort of way.

Annabeth had come out briefly in order to see Reyna and Nico off with the Athena Parthenos, but the rest of her time had been spent working tirelessly in the med bay, tending to their friends. Finally, after a few hours of arguing through the door, Alex had finally been able to convince her that everyone deserved to see them. He'd argued that even if it was dangerous to be around Percy and Zoë, they'd all take the risk to see their friends again. When the rest of the seven backed him up, Annabeth had been forced to give in.

That was how Piper found herself outside the med bay, hand gripping the handle of the door tightly. The rest of the seven stood solemn behind her. As much as she had waited to see the pair again, in the moment, she was almost afraid to open the door. Zoë had been her first and best friend at Camp Half-Blood, Jason and Leo aside of course, and she admired her like no one else. And Percy was, well, Percy. The idea of seeing them so damaged, so not themselves, frightened her.

"How bad is it… Really?" Piper questioned. Her eyes were clenched shut, and her knuckles were a pasty white as she gripped the door handle.

"It's… They're alive but… You should see for yourself…" Annabeth said quietly. She'd been like that ever since she'd first come out of the room housing the two. Reserved. Worried.

Piper turned back to the other demigods, making sure they were ready. Leo was tinkering with some object or another, a clear sign of his nervousness. Hazel had her face buried deep in a worried Franks shoulder. They were both pretty conservative when it came to PDA, so their open display of affection was a clear indicator of their worry. Annabeth's face looked apologetic. Like she was responsible for what they were walking into. Jason and Alex were the worst though. Piper could understand. Both had spent countless hours alone with Percy honing their skills and their mind. They were shaped by him. Molded by him. To the others, this was seeing their best friends again. To those two, this was seeing their idol in shambles.

With a deep breath, Piper steeled her nerves. Puffing out a breath, and choking back the bile creeping up her throat, she pushed into the room. The door swung open easily, giving way to the familiar hospital like room of the Argo II. It usually smelled like cotton balls and ambrosia, but now it smelled like blood and sulfur. It stung at her eyes and her nostrils. She tried not to cry.

"Oh gods…" she heard Frank mutter, eyes falling on the sleeping form of her friends.

She choked back sobs as she muttered her agreement. Zoë, for her part, looked worse for wear. She was still as gorgeous as she'd been the last time Piper had seen her, but this time she was hauntingly so. Her skin had lost a lot of its luster, and her eyes looked sunken in and dehydrated. She looked thinner, and her face seemed troubled, even in her slumber.

Two IVs dripped into her arm. One was filled with water, no doubt working on the rehydration, the other holding nectar, obviously fusing with her demi-titan blood to heal her. Her body was covered in bandages, so the total damage couldn't be seen, but the red soaking through said enough. She wasn't well. Not by a long shot.

More telling than Zoë, was her boyfriend next to her. Percy was not covered in bandages. In fact, he wasn't even in a bed. Annabeth had placed him in a tub of water, leaving his form for them all to see. His clothes were in tatters, cuts marring his body. They seemed slow to close, like some sinister energy was battling against the water as it tried to mend his wounds. The water was a murky faint red, hinting at his still bleeding wounds.

The sinister energy was the most worrisome thing about the whole situation. The injured pair still seemed dangerously close to death, even after being in Annabeth's tender care for nearly a day now. The evil aura Annabeth had spoken about was palpable in the air. It was as if Tartarus had somehow sent his evil spirit with the pair, a parting gift from the pit of damnation itself.

"Will they make it?" Jason asked from Piper's side, breaking the morose silence that had befallen the crew.

She turned to look at her boyfriend. He was swallowing a lump in his throat. It was clear he was distressed, but he was doing his best to put on a strong face for the rest of the crew's sake. Piper slipped her hand into his, squeezing it gently.

"I think so… Their wounds are healing, just slow. Really slow. I can't say when they'll be better, but until then…" Annabeth trailed off.

"We keep going. We push on to Athens. They wouldn't want us to sit and wait for things to get better. We make things better, like they would." Alex said confidently.

Around Piper, the other demigods nodded in agreement. It was true. If there was one message the couple had imparted on the seven before they fell into Tartarus, it was the importance of one's will power. The pure determination to force things to turn out in your favor, no matter the odds. The fact that the pair had made it out of Tartarus together was testament enough to their ability to exert their will on their own fates.

Hazel and Frank were the first to leave. They'd stayed for a while, but Hazel had been too distraught to linger any longer. Piper knew Hazel wasn't very close with Zoë in particular. The tears were clearly for Percy. She'd caught the daughter of Pluto having late night conversations with Percy in the dining room too many times to count. She knew what the ancient spartan meant to her.

She felt terrible for the girl. Hazel had always longed for family, and the only family she'd had was a distant brother who loved her, but struggled to really show it, in Nico. Piper knew Percy had been the mentoring and caring older brother Hazel had always wanted. She could sympathize with how she was feeling. Piper had always longed for family, what with her father being so distant. She figured the older sister Zoë was to her was roughly the equivalent of Percy's brotherhood with Hazel.

Leo left next. He was by far the least attached to the two. It wasn't that he disliked them by any means, but he had always been less interactive with them than the rest. He'd told Piper that it was because both of them made him nervous, but Piper knew the truth. Leo had a bad habit of putting himself down via comparing himself to others, and that was dangerous if you spent too much time around Percy. He was a lot to live up to. As for Zoë, well, Piper was pretty sure she reminded Leo of a certain someone he'd met on Ogygia.

Alex and Annabeth followed not long after Leo. She could tell Alex wanted to stay, but Annabeth needed to get out of there. She'd been in the evil energy that emanated off of Percy and Zoë for far too long now. Now that the other demigods were there to help her shoulder the burden of watching over their friends, she needed to get as far away from the clinging breath of Tartarus as was physically possible.

When the door closed behind the pair, Piper turned to Jason. Her hand was still intertwined with his, but his attention was anywhere but on her. He was still staring blankly at his friends, motionless as they lay in their pain. His jaw was clenched tight, and the scar on his upper lip was strikingly pale in the harsh light of the med bay.

"Jason?" she asked softly. She squeezed his hand to gain his attention. No response.

"Jason." She was louder this time. She bumped his shoulder, finally drawing his attention.

"Yeah?" he said, tearing his eyes away to look at her.

His eyes looked dull, not their usual vibrant lightning blue. His face was crestfallen, and she swore his adams apple was doing a nervous tap-dance. He looked on the verge of breakdown, and Piper knew she looked the same. She drew him in a crushing hug, trying to force down the sobs that threatened to form in her own throat.

"They're going to be okay." She said softly. She put charmspeak into her voice, whether to comfort Jason or herself, she wasn't sure.

"How do know?" He asked quietly. His voice was hoarse and raspy.

"Because they're them." She whispered back.

Jason laughed; despite the pain she could tell he was feeling in his heart. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was sloppy and filled with worry rather than calm, but it was comforting all the same. She snuggled deeper into him, relishing in the feeling.

"That they are." He murmured into her hair. "That they are."

The Argo II, July 2010 CE

It had been a couple days now, and neither Percy nor Zoë had woken up. They'd made it past the suitors at the palace of Odysseus, and now they were at Olympia. They were discussing plans to capture Nike, but Piper's heart wasn't in it. Percy and Zoë were still asleep, and now Jason was nursing a serious wound. Still, through the dull buzz of worry in the back of her mind she could hear Annabeth closing the meeting.

"We have our plan then," Annabeth said. "You guys have to find Nike and figure out how to subdue her … whatever Juno meant by that. I still don't understand how you defeat a goddess who controls victory. Seems impossible. Meanwhile, the rest of us will be here, waiting for Percy and Zoë to wake up. Don't take too long. We don't have time to waste."

Frank, Hazel, Leo, and Alex agreed. They left quickly, saying their goodbyes in short fashion. It was true, they were running out of time to reach Athens. That's why they left to capture Nike so abruptly. When the door closed behind them, that left just Annabeth, Jason, and Piper in the mess hall, twiddling with their thumbs as they waited. In her stomach, Piper had a gut feeling that something was going to happen, and soon. She just hoped it was a good something.

"So… Elephant in the room. What do we do if they don't wake up?" Piper said slowly, chewing on her lip.

She would never think to broach this conversation with all of the seven present, but Jason and Annabeth were easily the most levelheaded of the demigods. If anyone would be able to put their emotions aside and think about this potential problem rationally, it was them. At her words, she could see the gears turning in Jason's mind, but Annabeth didn't have the same look. She seemed like she already had her answer.

"They will." Jason said confidently. Piper could see it wasn't a façade. He truly believed it.

"And if they don't wake up, we do whatever it takes anyways. We get the job done. We're heroes too, we survived without them. We can do it again." Annabeth responded.

Piper knew it was Annabeth's hubris combined in a vicious concoction with her stress and worry talking, but the words were still ridiculous. Of course, they were capable, but Percy and Zoë were two of the greatest heroes in all of history. Pretending their loss didn't hurt was ridiculous.

"Yea, but this is different. All the giants will be there in Athens. Not to mention, if Gaea rises… You can't tell me you're not worried that without them we're doomed, even as skilled as we all are?" Piper retorted.

"It'll be tough, that's for sure. Damn near impossible. But we have to think that even without them, we can take the giants. We can take Gaea. Because if we think we can't, then what is this all for?"

Piper could see her reasoning now. Yea, the odds were stacked against them, but they couldn't just give up. Even without Percy or Zoë, they had to believe that they'd still be able to pull through no matter what. If they didn't, they might as well turn back now.

Before Piper could voice her agreement though, she was cut off by the door swinging open gently. Turning to the sound, she saw a figure standing there, wobbly kneed and pale like a ghost, but alive. Her midnight hair tumbled down her shoulders, and her eyes were sunken, but still held the same vibrancy they always did. It was Zoë Nightshade, in the flesh, and completely awake for the first time since Tartarus.

"Zoë!" Piper screamed.

She was the first one to the huntress, wrapping her in a tight embrace. She squeezed with all her might. Zoë returned the gesture, expressing with all her strength how glad she was to be back. Piper smiled a watery smile. Her friend was well and truly back now. And if Zoë was awake, that meant Percy was soon to follow. Maybe things weren't as desperate as they had seemed just moments ago.

"Piper, as good as it is to see you, would you kindly let go of me? My body still hurts." Zoë huffed out.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Piper said sheepishly, reluctantly releasing Zoë from her clutches. She patted her hands against her thighs nervously.

"Thank you." Zoë breathed out, gingerly sitting in one of the chairs around the table.

No one said anything for a while. The trio was too nervous to ask about Tartarus but saying anything else would've seemed superficial in the moment. As for Zoë, she seemed content with the silence. Her eyes were squinted in focus, aiming at no particular point on the wall over Annabeth's head. They waited for her to gather herself, knowing it had to be her that broke the silence.

"Piper was right, Annabeth." Zoë finally breathed out.

"What do you mean?"

"About Gaea. I heard what she said. She's right. If Gaea rises, we're doomed." Zoë explained carefully, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You can't really think that, can you?" Jason asked worriedly. He'd never expected Zoë of all people to give up so easily.

"I don't think it, I know it. Even with Percy, it's just not possible. I don't think all the gods together could destroy her, even if their personalities weren't split."

"And how do you 'know'?" Piper asked. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like the answer.

Zoë turned to her, and her eyes were haunting. They looked terrified. Scarred. Damaged. Like she'd seen something so terrible that she could never hope to impart what it was like on anyone else.

"Because when we were in… When we were down there. We met him… We met Tartarus." The name came choked out, like she was afraid to even speak it.

Around them, the temperature seemed to drop to an icy cold. The same dark feeling from the med bay washed over them. Down in Tartarus, Zoë's adrenaline had overridden her fear of the primordial somewhat, but now, far removed from the natural confidence that came with adrenaline, the memory of the deity of the pit made her shiver down to her soul.

"You what?" Piper shrieked. Jason and Annabeth had similar looks of horror on their faces.

"Percy and I met him. Percy made a deal with him to get us out of Tartarus. He had to go through some trial inside his own mind, I'm not even sure what. I think that's why he's still asleep now. I was only in Tartarus, and that slowed my healing a great deal, but Percy? Tartarus invaded his very mind. I don't know what he saw, what they discussed, or how it affected him, but whatever it was, it had him pretty shaken."

"Tartarus… He helped you?" Jason asked confusedly.

"Yes, be-"

"Why? Why would he help you escape to defeat Gaea?" Annabeth interjected. Her curiosity getting the better of her. Zoë rolled her eyes. Annabeth hadn't changed in her and Percy's absence.

"For the same reason we're doomed if Gaea rises. You guys don't understand just how powerful the primordials are. Tartarus showed us. You'd know if you could've been there. If you'd felt how hopelessly outmatched even Percy was, you'd see. Worse, we were only around a small fraction of Tartarus' power manifested in physical form, and it still dwarfed us, still warped reality around us. If Gaea wakes fully, all of reality will cave in on itself. The universe will self-destruct. Once she's fully awakened, there is no stopping her."

"So we what? Give up?" Jason muttered.

"No. We do what Percy would do. We stop the giants before they can wake her. We do our duty. We fight. We win. Or else…" she trailed off.

"Or else?" Piper whispered.

"We die."

The Argo II, July 2010 CE

Zoë hadn't really left Percy's bedside since she'd crashed the meeting between Piper, Jason, and Annabeth. She'd had her reunion with the rest of the seven, but after that, she'd planted herself right next to her unconscious boyfriend, waiting for his return.

It was where she found herself now, stroking his hair absentmindedly as he slept. His wounds had healed by now, at least externally. Whatever lay inside his mind though, was still working itself out. He'd seemed fine on the elevator, just before the opening doors had knocked them unconscious, so she knew he'd pull through, it was just a matter of when.

His face was contorted into a grimace, almost snarling at her as he slumbered. She didn't like it when he looked at her like that, even unintentional. Leaning down, she pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead, hoping to kiss away the uncomfortable creases in his forehead as he slept. When her lips met his skin, it seemed to spark something in him. His face twitched, and he started to move in his sleep.

"Percy?" she shook his shoulder gently. "Percy wake up."

He groaned, rolling towards her in his half-asleep state. Percy's eyes slowly fluttered open at her delicate touch. His pupils shrank rapidly, adjusting to the bright light after days of darkness. When his eyes finally focused, he was staring right at Zoë's face, leaning over him anxiously.

"Five more minutes?" he mumbled out cheekily. His eyes twinkled with mirth.

"No, absolutely not. You've been out for days." She tugged on his arm, but he didn't budge.

"Days? Where are we now?" he asked, all signs of joking gone.

"A few hours out from Sparta." She said quietly. His eyebrows rose at her words.

"Sparta? How poetic that I wake up now of all times."

Zoë examined his face. She could tell something about it was bothering him. Why he seemed nervous about returning to Sparta, she wasn't sure. She figured he'd tell her eventually but trying to squeeze it out of him when he'd just woken up from what was essentially a godly coma probably wasn't the best idea. She decided to take the comforting route rather than the interrogation one.

"You don't seem too thrilled." She teased. She dipped her hand in the water, sending a small splash into his face.

"Oh, it's on now." He said with a grin.

He reached out of the tub, grabbing hold of her arm. She tried to escape, but he was too strong. She couldn't wrench free. He reeled her in like a fish, pulling her closer and closer to the tubs edge, laughing all the way.

"Percy stop! Let me go." She choked out, but he didn't listen.

With one last tug, she was yanked over the edge, falling with a splash into the bath. Water spilled over the edge, and she spluttered up from underneath the water. Her clothes were soaked, and her hair was drenched. Looking to Percy, she could see that he at least had the courtesy to let himself get wet too. She'd probably kill him if he didn't.

"Percy, either dry me off, or I'm leaving." She said anyways, but her tone was playful.

"Nah, I don't think you're going anywhere." He said cheerfully, wrapping his arms around her.

He pulled her back into him, her back leaning against his chest. Her wet hair cascaded down her shoulder, and her soggy clothes clung uncomfortably to her body. Still, this was her first time with him since before Tartarus, and she couldn't find it within herself to be upset. She was the furthest thing from upset at the moment.

"So…" She said, sobering up for a moment. "Why aren't you excited about going back to Sparta? You're going home."

Percy whirled her around in her arms, lowering his eyes to meet hers. Her head was pressed against his chest now, and she could hear the heavy and steady pump of his heartbeat. His breath tickled her face, and his long lashes dangled precariously over his emerald green eyes. Her heart caught in her throat as she looked at him for what must've been the millionth time.

"I don't know what you mean about 'going home' Zoë." He whispered. "I've been with you this entire time."

AN:

There you are, another chapter in the books. I know, it was lacking in Percy time, but that's because I wanted to demonstrate a few things. First, I wanted it to be clear that Zoë was not privy to Percy's experience in Tartarus' mind game. She doesn't know about anything that happened there. Also, I thought this chapter was a great outlet to show how the seven had been feeling missing her and Percy, considering I didn't take time away from Tartarus to do that in the previous chapters. I did give you the tidbit at the end though, mostly because I know chapters without your main character are kind of dumb pointless. Who wants to read PJO without Percy? Luckily, up ahead it's pretty much all Percy all the time. We're nearing the end, which is both sad and exciting. It's a bummer realizing this will be over soon, but I'm ecstatic with how this story has turned out, and so pumped to write the next one. Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review and let me know how I did! I'll try to have the next chapter out in a timely manner, but school started again today, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have on a day to day basis. We'll see. Until next time,

Peace