It was dark inside the house. The house was relatively clean, besides the dirty dishes in the sink. That wasn't right, since Frank's grandma's maid came by every day. Maybe she was scared off by the monsters.

"Or eaten." Frank thought. He decided not to dwell on that.

The Buddah statues were still in the living room, smiling at them like killer clowns. They still gave him the creeps, even after all of these years. His grandma's vases were collecting spider webs. That was strange. His grandma had them dusted everyday.

They went upstairs. They checked every room that wasn't his grandmother's first. Then Frank knocked on her door.

"Come in." A male voice said.

Frank opened the door slowly. His grandma laid in her bed, not looking good. She looked about two minutes away from being a corpse. A single candle flickered on her nightstand. At her beside sat a large man in Canadian Forces fatigues. He wore dark sunglasses with red light glowing behind the lenses.

"Mars." Frank said.

Mars looked up impassively. "Hey kid, come on in. Tell your friends to leave."

"Frank?" Hazel whispered. "What do you mean, Mars? Is your grandmother… is she okay?"

Frank looked at his friends. "Can you not see him?"

Percy raised his hand. "I can." He turned to look at the god. "Hi Mars."

"Hi Percy." Mars said quietly, with a hint of humor. Kind of like he was entertaining a small child. He looked at Frank. "She can't see me, kid. Percy wouldn't be able to either, but I can't really affect an archangel, no matter how hard I try."

"I'm gonna go smoke. Hazel, leave Frank for now. It's Father-Son bonding time." Percy said.

"You can take the middle bedrooms." Frank told them both.

Percy walked downstairs reaching into the jacket of his suit. Frank didn't see what it was, as the Devil's head disappeared down the stairs right after.

Frank stepped into the room. "You're really here? You're not an illusion or something?"

"You'd prefer it if it wasn't me?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"God, Percy's rubbing off on you." Mars muttered. "Can't blame you. No one welcomes war, not if they're smart. But war finds everyone sooner or later. It's inevitable."

"That's stupid. War isn't inevitable. It kills people. It-"

"-took your mom." Mars finished.

Frank wanted to punch him. He held himself back, telling himself it was just the gods' aura making him feel like getting in a fight. He looked at his grandmother. He wished she would wake up. If anyone could take on a war god, it was her.

"She's ready to die." Mars said. "Has been for weeks. But she's waiting for you."

"For me?" Frank asked. He was surprised. "Why? How could she have known I was coming here. I didn't even know!"

"The Laistrygonians knew. I imagine Gaia told them. She's probably been keeping track of you. I think you worry her more than Percy or Jason or any of the seven."

"The seven?"

"You know, 'Seven will answer the call/ To fire the world will fall… And all that?"

Frank shook his head.

Mars sighed. "With Gaia rising, a prophecy was spoken. In it, it was said that seven would gather to defeat her. Fire would destroy the world. Someone would die keeping a promise. And some enemies would go to the Doors of Death. Anyways, that's not important. What is, is that you're one of the Seven."

"And she worries about me more than Percy, the archangel who can change reality to whatever he wants?"

"She thinks she can kill him. She has kidnapped his daughter, Aurora Morningstar. She has wings made of blades. Blades capable of harming archangels. She hopes to destroy him, and probably his wife as well. That's why he doesn't worry her. It's stupid, and foolish, but that's better for you."

"Why?"

"She underestimates Percy. He would burn everything if he saw his loved ones harmed. Nothing, and no one, would be safe from his rage. Just point him at her, and she doesn't stand a chance."

"Wow."

"But you, she doesn't have anything on you. She can't control you. You have no weaknesses. That's why she sent the Laistrygonians here. To kill you before you could be part of the seven. But she didn't see Percy interfering."

"No weaknesses? I am nothing but weaknesses! My life is tied to piece of fucking firewood."

"You're selling yourself short, kid. You have a gift any child of Neptune would kill for. The family gift."

"Right, the family gift."

"Yep. You figured it out yet?"

"Periclymenus. He was my ancestor, a Greek prince, an Argonaut. He died fighting Hercules."

Mars made a 'go on' motion with his hand.

"He had an ability that helped him in combat. Some gift from the Gods, Neptune, I think. My mom said he fought like a swarm of bees."

"That he did. That he did." Mars said, laughing. "What else?"

"Somehow the family got to China. I think, like in the days of the Roman Empire, one of Pericylmenu's descendants served in a legion. My mom used to talk about a guy named Seneca Gracchus, but he also had a Chinese name, Sung Guo. I think— well, this is the part I don't know, but Reyna always said there were many lost legions. The Twelfth Legion founded camp Jupiter. Maybe there was another legion that disappeared into the east."

Mars quietly clapped. "Not bad, kid. Ever heard of the Battle of Carrhae? Huge disaster for the Romans. They fought these guys called the Parthians on the eastern border of the empire. Fifteen thousand Romans died. Ten thousand more were taken prisoner."

"And one of those was my ancestor Seneca Gracchus?"

"Exactly. The Parthians put the captured legionnaires to work, since they were pretty good fighters. Except Parthia got invaded again from the direction—"

"By the Chinese," Frank guessed. "And the Roman prisoners got captured again."

"Yeah, it was kind of embarrassing. Anyway, that's how a Roman legion got to China. The Romans eventually put down roots and built a new hometown called—"

"Li-Jien," Frank said. "My mother said that was our ancestral home. Li-Jien. Legion."

"Now you're getting it. And good old Seneca Gracchus, he had your family's gift."

"My mom said he fought dragons," Frank remembered. "She said he was… the most powerful dragon of all."

"He was good. Not good enough to avoid the bad luck of his legion, but good. He settled in China, passed the family gift to his kids, and so on. Eventually your family emigrated to North America and got involved with Camp Jupiter–"

"Full circle. I'm supposed to bring the family full circle."

"We'll see." Mars turned to Frank's grandmother. "She wanted to tell you all of this herself, but I'd thought I'd cover some of it since she doesn't have much strength do you understand your gift?"

Frank thought so. He didn't want to say it out loud for fear of being wrong and Mars laughing in his face. He had an idea, but it was super crazy.

"Well then." Mars said, standing up. "I'm gonna go. In the morning, listen to your grandmother. I imagine she'll pass on after that."

"What?! But I have to save her! She can't just leave me!"

"She's lived a full life. Don't be selfish."

"Selfish?!"

"Yeah, you are. She wants to move on, but you're keeping her here against her will."

"So what, I just let her die?"

"Life's only precious because it ends, kid. Take it from an immortal. You don't know how lucky you have it."

"Yeah, real lucky." Frank muttered.

"Don't believe me? Go ask Percy. Guy rebirthed himself and lived as a mortal because he was bored. Besides, Eat bitter–"

"Eat bitter, taste sweet. I hate that proverb."

"But it's true. What is it the kids are saying these days? No pain, no gain? Same concept. Duty and sacrifice, they mean something. Think about it." Mars said, before walking out of the room.

LINE BREAK

Percy was sitting on the steps of the porch when Mars walked out of the house. Mars paused when he saw the winged man sitting on the steps smoking a cigarette. It was an odd sight.

Percy turned around. Well, as much as he could. "Want a smoke?" He asked.

Mars shrugged before sitting down next to the archangel. Percy held out a cigarette. He lit it with his pinky before handing it to the war god.

"How'd the chat go?" He asked Mars.

Mars took a long drag from the ciggie.

"That bad huh?"

"You know how demigods are."

Percy chuckled. "Yeah, especially when facing their own parents. Hell, I was the same way."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah. I thought I knew better than dear old Dad. Decided to fight against him. Didn't go that well."

"Do you ever think about your childhood?"

"All the time. And the more I do, the more I realized I never had one. It was always creating stars, or singing dad's praises. I guess… I guess that's why I parent Rory the way I do. I don't want her to grow up the way I did."

"Yeah."

Percy nodded. "Yeah."

They sat in silence.

"You know, I gave her her first drink when she was twenty-one? A glass of Redemption Rye." Percy said, smiling fondly. "Zoë was so mad. We rarely argue, but that was one of the times we did. She won, as she always does. Rory had to wait a little longer before drinking regularly."

"Man, you have every immortal's dream."

"What?"

"A functional family."

Percy snorted. "All it takes is a little effort. It's a choice at the end of the day. You can choose to keep loving those and fighting to make everything alright in the end, or you can give up. Say that it's too hard, or it's not worth it."

Mars was silent.

The sun was starting to rise. Light peaked just over the horizon. Percy stared ahead at it.

"What's it like? The result of fighting for it?" Mars asked finally.

Percy took a moment to think about it, taking a drag from his cig. "It's great. It's like you have everything you need in your corner, backing you up. You know that everything will turn out alright. It's constant reassurance that it was worth it."

"Sounds nice."

"Cause it is."

The sun was rising ever so slightly. Percy stood up. "Well, I better go. I hope to get to Alaska today, and free Death tomorrow."

"Godspeed." Mars said, smirking.

"Fuck you." Percy said, going back into the house.

A/N. Sorry for not updating in *checks ao3* 16 days. For those who don't know, I went to Florida to spend Spring Break with my grandparents. So I kind of took a little break with this story. My motivation has also taken a decline lately, so I don't know what to do about that.

Though I am motivated to write the We Are Venom rewrite, (which is turning out really well. I am very happy with it so far. Arc one has already been completed, so 9 more chapters to finish.)

Anyways, what did you think of Percy and Mars' talk? Kind of short, but kind of nice. I like it.

Also, the prophecy of Seven that Mars talks about is his interpretation, though not necessarily the correct one. (I haven't revealed the prophecy yet. It has some minor changes to fit what I have planned.)

(Also, I've been listening to Sinners by Barns Country a lot recently. Just felt like sharing. So sue me.)

Thoughts?