To Jason, Greece didn't seem all that different from Italy—or Spain or Portugal, for that matter. Saying this out loud would incite the wrath of all four countries and at least twice as many cultures, but as an American, he couldn't help but think it was all the same: foreign shores greener than anywhere in New York and California.

Annabeth stretched her arms, jogged on the spot, and said, "We should scout the area before heading to the Parthenon. Shoon, you're with me. I gotta keep you out of trouble."

Shoon pumped her fist. "Vacation with Annabeth Chase! Yes!"

Percy snapped his fingers at Jason. "You. Me. Gyros. Right now. I'm starving, and airplane food's awful."

Leona grinned up at Piper. "Looks like we get to go shopping, McLean."

Piper perked up. "Great, because I'm looking for this specific shade of saffron—"

"Shopping for machine parts, hermano," Leona corrected him. "We still have a couple weeks before the end of April. I want to build some contraptions to scare the bejesus out of those annoying Zealots."

Jason would rather go shopping with Leona than eat out with Percy, but he didn't want to be rude, so he trailed after Percy Jackson. "Do you know where we can get gyros?"

Percy whirled around and walked backward so he was facing Jason. He had no problem side-stepping other pedestrians, as though he had eyes on the back of his head. "Let's clear the air, Jason Grace. He began counting on his fingers. "First, it's pronounced yee-ros. You'll get spatula'ed by an angry Greek if you call one of their national dishes jye-ros—not that I know from experience."

"Mm-hmm."

"Second, this is Greece, and like I said, gyros are one of their national dishes. Everyone and their grandma probably sells them."

He was right. The first eatery they encountered boasted a wide variety of meat-filled gyros. But when they tried to order chicken-and-lamb yee-ros, the employees couldn't understand them. Jason changed his order to a jye-ro, and the cashier rang him up without further hassle. "You were saying, Jackson?"

"Did I say something?" They brought their food and soda outside, along with a basket of fries and tzatziki dip. Pigeons pecked at fallen crumbs, and Jason tossed a fry at one of them. Instead of gobbling it up, the bird hopped away for a better treat. Picky.

Percy took a massive bite, closed his eyes to savour it, and then put his food down. With the waters polluted from all the tourism and traffic, his eyes were actually more sea-coloured than the sea itself. "Why did you make Nico lead a quest to Tartarus?"

Jason startled. A fly buzzed near his ear, and he swatted it away with a napkin. "I didn't make him do anything. He volunteered."

"You must have told him about the Primordial Ooze. Out of everyone in our group, you know the most about myths and stories. You knew the Ooze was the easiest way for you to fix all your problems—you'd only need to send the son of Hades off to Tartarus."

Jason's hands shook. "I swear, I didn't. You're right that I knew about the Ooze before Nico told me about it, but I don't think he or Marcus knew that. Nico explained the whole thing to both of us; he wanted to help us. I didn't want to stop him, because it'd help Marcus a lot, and... and me, too. It's selfish of me, but in the end, it's what Nico wanted to do, anyway." Jason's appetite had been wonky since waking up in Boston all those months ago. He ate because he needed the nutrients, and he ate a lot because he was a growing teenage boy, but he didn't want to eat. He didn't have any craving for food—only discipline kept his diet typical. "How bad is it in Tartarus?"

Percy didn't answer, having taken another massive bite. By the time he finished chewing, the question was pretty much forgotten. "Sorry I accused you. I should know by now that you're not like that." The right side of his mouth quirked up in a half smile. "And it's okay to be a little selfish sometimes, bud." He tossed a fry toward the pigeon who'd rejected Jason's offering. When it came from Percy, the pigeon nibbled at it heartily. "The thing is, Annabeth and I have known Nico for a long time. He's like a little brother to us. And everyone loves Lilian; xyr music always livens up the camp. And Will is a good guy, and I'm happy for him and Nico. That's why I don't like this messed-up sidequest to Tartarus. None of them deserve to be there."

I'm sorry. Jason bit back the apology. He was tired of apologizing for things outside his control. Instead, he remarked, "You didn't mention Marcus."

Percy raised one dark eyebrow like a raven's wing. "I didn't? Eh, he'll be fine. The guy was practically built for a trip to hell. You, too."

"Wow, thanks."

Percy struggled to hold back laughter. He waved a fry around. More pigeons had gathered and were staring at it hungrily. "No, really. You go on a quest to Canada – our cold, suspiciously friendly neighbour – and then return having forgotten everyone. Your boyfriend had to baby you." His eyes lit up as he continued, "You didn't crack a single joke with Rachel. You didn't conspire to electrocute Seymour or Mr. D. You didn't even go on your rooftop at full moon half-naked and yodel."

"You're making this up."

"You were freaking crazy, buddy. You didn't get into as many fights, even though you used to have this intense macho rivalry with Marcus and the other Ares kids."

"No way."

Percy was enjoying this a little too much. "You know why you have basically no furniture in your cabin? You blew it all up with your lightning and called it an offering—and Zeus accepted, because in return, he gave you a statue of himself. You and Zeus were old buddies, closer than anyone else is with their godly parent."

Jason wondered if that was true. He hadn't heard from Zeus at all, but before the amnesia, had they actually been on friendly terms? Would they have worked together to fight monsters?

"But still," Jason protested, "I couldn't have been that wild. Piper loved me, after all, and he's too sweet to have dated whomever you just described."

Percy's gaze darkened. "This might not be my place to ask—but what's up with you two?"

Jason's cheeks flushed. He willed the pigeons to attack Percy for his fry, but sadly, the goddess of wild animals had no children to share her powers with. "Nothing—really, nothing."

Percy's eyebrows went up. "You two are definitely patrolling together next. Whatever's between you two, air it out before we face the Zealots."