"What is pinochle?" Jason asked a breath after Will had finished reading the newest chapter title.

"You clearly didn't spend any time around oldfolks, it's their idea of a card game," Thalia chuckled.

Jason got a strange idea in his head for a moment of imagining seeing this in someplace now, but the elusive idea faded from his mind and he looked more frustrated than ever.

Thalia gave him a concerned look, but got a little distracted before she could ask him what was wrong.

"Do you win?" Alex asked.

"That was really the important questions you two had there?" Magnus demanded. "Horse's don't have hands in Greek mythology, do they?"

"Better than playing pinochle to the death," her green tinged hair waved around her like a personal swill of seaweed as she shrugged.

"That would be Mr. D," Will disagreed, before reading loudly so he didn't have to not explain.

'Hyper intelligent pegaus, I'm calling it!' Hearthstone grinned while Magnus looked to the sky above for some sanity to come back to this place.

"That's actually a pretty accurate description of being in a barnyard," Alex nodded.

"What kind of barnyard have you been to?" Magnus asked in concern.

"The kinds with chicken and pigs, and you'll never guess which is which," she grinned. Magnus did the exact same as before, an awkward smile, tinge of unease, and then turning away again. Alex adjusted her sweater vest with pleasure.

"Bombardment comes to mind," Will muttered for her poor bedside manner.

"If the first thing out of her mouth wasn't a question, I'd call for an imposter," Thalia shrugged cheerfully.

"Was that a cyclops?" Magnus asked in confusion.

"Cyclops have one eye, how did you switch that?" Alex asked.

"I knew it was something about an eye," he protested.

Hearthstone looked a little terrified to interrupt, but Will had plenty of practice breaking up fights and made a pretty good Sally throat-clearing before continuing.

Home. That's what all of that meant to him. More than any apartment he'd ever lived in. If only his mom were able to be there, it would be the best place on earth. He had his memories of home back.

Percy flexed his palm uncomfortably at the description, while Thalia and Will pursed their lips unpleasantly at just how much ambrosia Percy must have been given to heal him to get that effect.

"He hadn't," Will said solemnly. If he hadn't been by Percy's side he'd been getting chewed out by the Council. Will had threatened him multiple times to get some rest and the stayr always came back looking more exhausted than ever until Percy finally woke up.

"Why didn't that disintegrate with the rest of the monster?" Magnus asked in fascination.

"Spoils of war," Thalia told him with an almost proud smile. She had several pelts and trophies of her own from even her short time working as Artemis's lieutenant. "Monsters will leave a trace of themselves behind when you vanquish them, but be warned, when they come back for revenge, that bit of them can still call to them."

Magnus nodded, and then shuddered at the thought of any of those wolves getting left behind. He'd never checked and was glad he never had now.

Nico kept his voice very low and quiet as he asked, "why wouldn't Grover tell him she wasn't really dead?"

"For all intense and purposes to us, she was," Will softly answered so Percy wouldn't hear. "Just because we couldn't find the body, well, it was a pretty safe guess after she vanished Percy likely wouldn't ever see her again. Grover wouldn't give him false hope like that."

Nico frowned heavily and wanted to know what had happened, he'd only heard the grandiose stories of Percy's adventures to the underworld and sea of monsters but never this accurate, but Percy was already side eyeing them considering Will was the one who'd stopped reading and clearly knew when he was being talked about. Will didn't like doing such a thing at all and quickly kept going.

Thalia smoothed down her silver hunter's jacket and twisted her bracelet, telling herself now to get over it, that was going to be mentioned quite often. She still didn't much like hearing of that thing any more than seeing it when she came to visit.

Percy took a ragged breath and cleared his throat hard to stop himself catching his breath. She was fine, he had no means to verify that except trust in Thalia, but that's exactly what it was. His mom would be fine...

Hearth fiddled with the ends of his scar for a moment but didn't drag his eyes away from Will, who had learned from Thalia how to angle the book so Magnus still didn't have to sign every word, and nobody had ever even said a word about it. He'd been a burden to his parents his whole life, he'd felt like the worst excuse for an elf and always alone until he'd met Blitzson. Grover had tried until he'd been knocked out to do his best, there were far worse crimes out there.

Jason watched the longing expression on Percy's face as he gazed up to the shores above and thought at least he now knew his mother existed. No matter how much he rooted through his mind, he got nothing even resembling an impression for a mother.

Hearthstone and Magnus grimaced, fighting back the urge to tell Percy he had no idea what he was in for if that turned out to be the case. Alex controlled her expression better but eyed the two with sudden realization they maybe did have something in common.

"Don't all terms apply there?" Jason chuckled.

The smile instantly vanished from Jason's face all over again, that sentence somehow managed to sound more weird every time he heard it rather than less.

Percy grimaced, he knew all to well what that felt like since he'd wound up down here.

"Woah," the four none greek kids muttered with a touch of envy for what magic this was.

"The nectar of the Gods," Will said cautiously. "It can heal you if it doesn't kill you first."

That wiped the blissful expression from Percy's face and dropped the other's enthusiasm in a pinch. Nico suppressed a smirk, nobody could ever say he was the downer.

"Don't be," Thalia said with a sad smile, "only children of the immortals can drink it. Grover can't."

That didn't exactly make him feel less guilty.

"So much for throwing Cheto Girl," Alex muttered.

"Maybe a hundred yards translates differently in Greek," Jason grinned.

Percy rolled his eyes good naturedly at the ribbing and massaged his neck, he could still feel his muscles trembling from fatigue and the energy boost leaving him a mess even in memory alone.

Thalia was watching for it this time and frowned in concern when Jason's shaking hands clasped in front of him and he looked dead ahead. He was not a Camper, or at least Will would have recognized him. He wasn't like those odd Norse kids, who were weird but so far harmless. Jason was...different. He had some sort of disposition to take all this in stride like Percy, but just slightly off kilter, like teaching a cat instead of a dog. Her suspicion something was afoot when she glanced at Percy and saw that even as lackluster as he'd been since his mother's disappearance, he at least was smiling again for such a wonderful description of this place, while Jason looked like he was dreading every word to come.

Because it wasn't his home.

Hearthstone raised his hands in victory while Magnus gave him a light shove.

"No card games have yet been mentioned, you haven't won anything," Alex agreed.

"Please never let him find these books," Will muttered in dread, glancing all around carefully to make sure he wouldn't appear in here and kill them all from that alone.

"Seconded," Nico agreed.

"I'd like to see him try," Thalia said sincerely. Not that she had the power to do so, but if not Artemis, than Dionysus would be a good God of choice to lock in a room with Gabe.

Magnus choked and made some flailing gesture that wasn't any language at all but still needed no translation.

Hearth tapped him in concern on the shoulder, but Percy was watching him with bright-eyed excitement.

"It's really her," Magnus sounded as deeply confused as when he'd first found himself alive down here.

"You know Annabeth?" All four Greek kids demanded of him at once, in varying multiple confused tones.

"She's my cousin," he admitted, looking at the book a little wistfully, before turning to his friend. He tried not to sound to resentful as he signed, "did you know?"

'About other Gods existing and you having a cousin on another pantheon? No, my friend, I did not.' He promised. 'We were sent to watch a child that would have stakes in our world, it was all we were told of you.'

Percy looked delighted as he asked eagerly, "when did you last see her?"

Magnus reluctantly told him the tale of his mother's and uncle's last ugly visit when he was six. Thalia looked the most distraught of all at this news, she'd thought Annabeth had told her everything, but never mentioned any other family? She knew her friend didn't get on well with her dad, but even now when things were so bad for her she'd even phoned him in her desperation if any strange news had been sighted in California that could link back to Percy, she hadn't once mentioned some family in Boston who could possibly offer the same?

Her eyes flickered to Jason and away, guilt quickly stemming anything else. She was being ridiculous, and had no room to judge. She'd never shared everything with her friends either.

Percy looked devilishly delighted at such news of his young old flame and any other cute stories this could be worth, but was also the first to ask Will to go on. He had other things to worry about first.

Magnus still remembered the frantic phone call from Uncle Fredrick and him having to swear to his mom and him he had no clue where Annabeth was, she'd never said a word about running away or where she could be...he frowned guiltily now as he thought about going back and somehow finding someone he'd been avoiding for his own homeless status to confess she was now at some camp up in Long Island. No, he would find her first, ask some questions of his own, he owed his favorite cousin that.

"Chiron," Percy repeated the name fervently now, a statement of recognition rather than a question for the first time, as he smiled and now felt completely confident about his Latin teacher always being his favorite teacher.

"Wait, where's the horse?" Alex demanded.

"Wait for it," Will promised with an ever growing smile.

"That was in the top twenty warmest greetings he's ever given," Will told him. "You must have almost impressed him."

"That's in the top five hundred things I almost care about," Percy told back.

"I'm not even going to demand you take off your shoes to prove it," Alex nodded.

"Here I thought lesson number one would be which nose plugs work best, but that's fair too," Nico grudgingly agreed.

"Did she?" Percy looked abundantly pleased with this news.

"Threatened me with her knife and everything," Will agreed, only making him smile wider.

"She still swears she's going to drown you in all that drool she collected someday," Thalia could not pass that up without teasing. "If anyone could find a way, she could."

Percy seemed as unconcerned with that as he did of drowning now as the lone memory of her in his mind only grew stronger by the word.

Nico sighed and braced himself for exactly that, along with everyone else in the camp fanboying over him like his deluded self had once done. It's no wonder Percy had always found him a pestilent child.

Percy smiled along and grinned all the wider as the seven around him burst out laughing for this rather underwhelming response.

"There's no B in Chiron," Percy frowned.

"That's an anagram Percy," Magnus chuckled.

"Right," he said, looking at his gray eyes with a resigned smile. Definitely related to Annabeth.

"Next time we should all introduce ourselves by our favorite color," Alex huffed, shifting in her seat and glancing at the ceiling in frustration. She well knew about power, and how not to let it dictate your life.

"He's a real charmer," Jason said in something close to approval for that, as if this were the first thing about this camp that made any kind of sense to him. He had no idea why the idea of a hero having to test their merit should mean any more to him, but it felt comforting none the less.

"Vacation to the Carribian ala Mist, I presume," Nico said, far more annoyed than he'd rather let on that reminded him to much of his own first meeting with Percy, Grover summoning backup and all.

"Kinder than what Mrs. Dodds did to her replacement I'm sure," Will uneasily agreed.

Percy stared down at his shoes, agitation wanting to bubble to the surface of it being true, his mom and Chiron and everyone had kept him in the dark for so long. He swept it away and looked quickly back, he had no wish to dwell on the past except what it would give him to move forward.

"Ugh, he's one of those," Alex huffed, she'd never wanted to go to this Camp in the first place, and was toying with the notion less and less now.

'Choice words,' Magnus agreed silently as he exchanged a look with Hearth. One to many cops had demanded respect while giving them none as they were shooed along.

"We all do," Thalia promised.

"Grover didn't strike me as skittish when he came to warn Sally," Magnus frowned.

"He has his reasons, with him," Will promised while still glancing at Percy to emphasize he wasn't going to be the one to reveal anything to him early.

Jason didn't seem bothered though, he finally looked like something around here had the world spinning right again from this reaction.

"A pity, those effects didn't look half bad," Nico grinned.

"It's PG13," Will added cheerfully for the benefit of those who didn't know. For some reason this didn't impress any of them.

"Seriosly, is it an invisbile horse?" Alex demanded.

Hearth got a funny look on his face though as he remembered quite vividly the Mist getting explained, and it sounded a lot like what they called Glamor. Grover with hooves had now been explained, but that bow Percy mentioned when he was listening in on these two having a conversation hadn't, and the satyr hadn't yet been mentioned with such a thing when he knew a monster was after him. This Chiron though had sure been getting around pretty easily and already supplied Percy with one weapon...

"Did I miss something?" Magnus asked blankly. Even he'd never gotten that desperately hungry, and he'd chewed on some bread so stale it might as well have been a brick.

"Part goat, keep up Magnus," Alex grinned and wished she could ask what that tasted like.

"Is it though?" Jason looked amused at this dismissal. "I have no idea about the Christianity version myself, but doesn't their God medal in affairs as much as any immortal? Seems on the same level as far as I'm aware."

"I'm not going to be the one debating it with them," Percy shook his head in exhaustion at just the thought.

Jason squinted suspiciously at Will for a moment, as always the urge to correct he meant Juno on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped himself as usual, this time because the idea of that particular goddess gave him a deeply unsettling feeling. Thalia was glowering more at the book than him now at least.

"Ominous," Alex mock whispered before chuckling. Despite her joke, she along with the others gave yet another uneasy look at the world above, and very much hoped the same wasn't being invoked there now. Saftey from Loki, all the gods, was not a gift any of them had ever fully been given before now.

"Science hardly explains everything though," Thalia cheerfully reminded him as she magically twisted her bo into existence now as if anybody had needed the reminder just to let it glimmer in the barely visible light for a moment and it to vanish again.

Percy frowned as he felt an echo of his life's past whisper that in his ear. He had a bad feeling this guy would not be the last one to use his full name, and it never once turned out to be for a pleasant reason.

The five that were not in the know weren't sure how to take this news. The fact that everything Chiron was saying was true was an unequivocal fact considering where they were, but none of them had been expecting another god to just...show up. Be sitting there playing some strange card game against no present horse, a paraplegic, a preteen, and a half-goat.

The most Hearthstone had dealt with was an all-knowing mob-boss head, literally, who floated in water and bossed him around. This was, oddly casual.

Even Alex, who had the most unpleasant interactions with her mother, found it hard to picture something so picturesque going on.

Thalia frowned and looked to her boots uncomfortably for a moment. She hadn't had her immortality long, had yet to see her friends really age around her, past her, and leave her only having memories to visit that even still would fade with time. She did not regret her decision, but she would not wish it on just anyone.

Percy brushed his hand over his chest now, his beating heart. He was still mortal, of this he had every confidence, but there was something lingering in his soul that made him question if, at one point, he'd once been offered more than just impenetrable skin. His mind lingered on Annabeth and his mother once again and he was relieved for whatever had left him with only a partial gift.

"Low blow," Magnus said stiffly. Hearthstone squeezed his shoulder in comfort while Percy swallowed back his anger he hadn't quite managed all that well by causing the ocean to swell about the room, churning up the water and lifting the empty table right off the ground before settling back down.

"Bachus," Jason said in understanding. He noticed Thalia watching him carefully now and met her eyes steadily, just waiting for her to correct him again. She did not, but only after a frown at Percy to show why. She had noticed, she now knew as well as he did Jason did not belong here.

"Does Zeus just have a button for that?" Alex chuckled.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Thalia nodded.

"It could be," Nico nodded with a straight face. "We've never gotten proof where he gets them from." He'd snuck into a coke factory once and the experience had not been one he'd want to repeat.

Percy nodded like Nico had just made a valid point.

"To us maybe," Will muttered. Zeus's punishments were wildly erratic and usually unfair, tending to punish more than just the transgressor in the process.

Thalia gave a slow clap of approval for Percy, who swatted at her hands with an eye roll.

"I'm guessing you made at least a C plus on that Latin test," Will chuckled.

"Best grade of my life, and I'll bet it still never came in handy," Percy sighed.

"Better than cursing you out in Latin," Magnus shrugged. "It's even worse when you don't know how you're actually being insulted."

Hearthstone pursed his lips up innocently while Magnus grinned at him, one to many times of his friend using a few innocuous looking signs to jerks coming to mind.

'Was he expecting a choir of angels to follow them all around?' Hearthstone grinned.

'I'm still wrapping my head around it too, this isn't exactly what I would have expected,' Magnus reminded.

Magnus straightened up and glanced uneasily around, not finding it reassuring at all that even Percy didn't really look surprised at this glimpse of a gods true power. He looked at Alex and saw her least surprised of all, her hand tangling in strands of green hair, and then going higher, rubbing at something on the back of her neck.

'Is he going to turn Chiron into a horse?' Hearthstone asked halfheartedly now, but at least Magnus still smiled for someone still trying to figure this out. Thalia bit down on her lip to stop a smile of her own giving it away.

Thalia grimaced and Percy winced. Grover's heart was in the right place!

"He's said your name three times now!" Will noted in surprise.

"What's with you guys and the number three?" Percy demanded.

"It's three more times than he's ever bothered with anybody else's name," Thalia shrugged.

Jason made a huffy noise and rolled his eyes so hard it looked like it should have hurt. Same gods, in most cases they were almost entirely different- he lost his train of thought like it had crashed headlong into a colosseum. He was confident he was right, but the elusive idea held no weight.

He looked around to realize he was rubbing at his tattoo so hard he was distorting the lines, all four of the Greek kids were watching him and he must have been spaced out pretty bad not to have noticed. "What?" He demanded, feeling defensive for no good reason. He was not shy of attention.

"You good man?" Will asked in concern. "You turned all pasty and looked like you were trying to pull your arm off."

"Fine," he said stoutly. Will and Nico shrugged, but Thalia caught his eye again, and even when she looked back towards Will as he kept going, Percy still watched him for a few more moments...almost in empathy before he too turned back. Jason swallowed, a bitterness on his tongue that had nothing to do with being surrounded by sea salt for how twisted around everything felt.

Will paused for a moment as he imagined his dad in bright, shining knight's armor trying to woo a princess in Camelot and quickly dashed the image from his head.

Magnus chuckled as he remembered how good Annabeth had been with those building blocks when they were little, he got the feeling she got on well with this teacher.

It wasn't so overwhelming to hear the second time, but Magnus still felt like he hadn't yet grasped the full idea of what was being told here. He'd never left Boston, and to be told there was a whole other plane of existence where legends just lounged around drinking diet cokes and threatening to turn people insane was just a few states over made him feel more disconnected than even being at the bottom of the ocean could even do. He glanced at his friend though, his elf friend who looked amused at this version of explanation. He thought about Annabeth, how his cousin had never felt like she belonged, and it was because she was destined to be at this Camp. He'd get used to it.

"We have a secret handshake and everything," Will agreed.

"Please don't ask," Nico groaned when Alex opened her mouth, "it'll take him an hour to teach you."

"It's not like we have to sit around doing nothing but reading," Will objected. "We could still have some fun!"

"I will summon a hellhound on you if you drag this out a moment longer than we have to be here," Nico threatened.

Will made pssht noise as if he didn't take the threat very seriously at all, but Nico looked like he meant every word. Still, he turned back to the book, leaving the others to watch the scene in ever growing confusion why those two were still sitting casually next to each other.

Percy's eyes bored into the little orange spine of the book, as if trying to divine all of the missing answers from its pages at once. Thalia gave Percy a nudge and promised, "you're a friend."

"I know," he promised. "Thanks."

"It's like asking why you're alive," Alex agreed. "You take the hand you're given and make it your own."

"Chiron was the horse by the way," Will finished as he looked up with a grin to several astounded faces who hadn't seen that coming.

"Yeah, thanks, got that," Magnus said faintly, before shaking himself off and saying, "I want to go next!"