CHAPTER 1

Casey had to be physically detained and dragged away from the cave by her parents. She knew there was no way to open the pit back up, but she couldn't leave Jase down there. Jason and Piper fought Nyx as the remainder of the Jacksons ran. Nyx seemed to be distracted with not creating another crack that she could fall into to do much fighting. When everybody was out-excluding Jase and Charlie of course- Nico slammed his sword into the ground, creating a wave in the earth that pushed the giant from the doorway and allowed it to close, sealing Nyx in.

It was silent for a moment, then Annabeth fell to her knees and began to cry.

Piper had never seen Annabeth cry, not like this. When Percy when missing, she would sometimes walk past the Poseidon cabin and catch Annabeth in tears, clutching Percy's sweatshirt or his pillow to her chest.

But now it was different. Annabeth had just lost her child to her worst nightmare, and there nothing anybody could do about it. No amount of searching or questioning could get him back. There were no doors of death to meet him at. Percy dropped to the ground beside his wife and wrapped his arms around her. Piper wasn't sure who was comforting who. Jason took her hand and she turned, burying her head in his chest.

Jase was not just her best friend's' son, he was Piper's nephew and her children's cousin.

She remembered when Jase had first been born. It was a day that nobody was fearing for their life, where nobody was fighting. The gods stayed up in their palace and didn't bother anybody, and the Seven were happy. When Jason Grace learned of the baby's name, tears had welled in his eyes and he pulled Percy forward in a hug, a real hug. Annabeth pronounced Nico and Will godparents, and Will had promptly fainted.

Jason Jackson, known commonly as Jase, was a eight when he killed his first monster. He had been playing outside with Casey, who was just a baby at the time. Annabeth turned her back to take a phone call, just for a moment. Jase knew it was important because his parents never used phones. A long, supernaturally large snake slithered up behind Casey, and her big brother killed it with nothing but a blue lego building brick.

And now that same Jason was in Tartarus, unlikely to ever even see a lego again, let alone his sister.

"We need to get home so I can talk to Poseidon. I need a phone." Percy's voice was low and monotone, but there was a small crack in his voice as he said the word home. He sounded broken.

Max nodded and raced up to Jase's room, freezing at the doorway. He had been the first one to run from the cave; abandoning his best friend to a fate worse than death. He forced himself not to think about it, knowing Jase would slap some sense into him if he were there. But Jase wasn't there.

The door creaked as Max pushed it open. He would have laughed at the mess in the room if Jason was there for him to laugh at. Clothes were strewn across the room as if Jase hadn't been able to decide what to wear, and graph paper was spinning around the room like confetti thanks to the ceiling fan he'd forgotten to turn off. Max went back to the task at hand and took the small flip-phone from Jase's nightstand. He ran back to give it to Percy, unable to be in Jase's room any longer.

Percy nodded in thanks when he was handed the phone. He took a deep breath, then exited into the hallway to make a call.

The phone rang four times before anybody picked up.

"Hello?"

"Mom," Percy didn't know what else to say.

"Percy! Thank the gods your ok! Is Annabeth there, and the kids? When are you coming home?"

Percy was glad his mother couldn't see his tears right now.

"Almost everybody. Mom, something happened." He let out a loose sob.

"Oh no, honey...Who is it?"

Percy didn't know how to tell her, but he knew she needed to know. He swallowed another cry that was building in his throat.

"Mom, it's Jason. My Jase, he…"

He heard a short gasp and silence as Sally apparently clasped her hand over her mouth. He wished she were here to hold him and tell him it would be alright. Percy didn't want talk tell her what happened, but she deserved to know. She didn't know Percy had fallen until Tartarus until he got out, so she deserved to know this time. And it wasn't likely there would be a time when Jase got out.

"He's in, Mom he's in Tartarus. My boy is in Tartarus," Percy sobbed. If anybody else were listening, they would be able to tell the mother and son's cries apart.

Piper found him in the hallway, crying on the phone. She didn't say a word, she just sat down beside her best friend and rested her head on his shoulder in a form of comfort.

Casey didn't speak for a week. When they'd arrived back on the boat, nobody was in the mood to celebrate. Annabeth cried, not tears of joy, as she was reunited with her two youngest children. When Adora was finally told what had happened, by her father, she didn't make a sound. Silent tears fell from the five-year-old's stormy eyes. She only said four words,

"But he isn't dead,"

Nobody could correct her, but nobody could agree. Percy held her, rocking back and forth in silence, for hours. He still hadn't processed what had happened. Annabeth had tried to counsel him, but she was broken. She curled Oscar into her arms, who was no longer asleep. His bright eyes wandered around the room, as if looking for somebody. Somebody his mother knew he wouldn't find. As she looked into Oscar's eyes, she couldn't help but remember when she held Jason as a baby. Just a small baby boy with a tuft of blonde hair and shining sea green eyes. He was strong, Annabeth remembered the grip he'd had on her finger when he was just an hour old.

What if Oscar had to grow up without a brother? Annabeth had always imagined her boys in the future, Jase teaching Oscar how to fight, Percy watching over them with a loving gaze. Now she saw Oscar, fighting alone under a darkened sky, the faded scene of Camp Half Blood behind him. Annabeth, trying as she might, couldn't see Jason when she thought of the future. She'd been to Tartarus, and she didn't have faith that anybody could survive that place.

Without her watchful brother at her side, Casey would be sure to go down in any fight too harsh. Casey knew this, but it didn't bother her. If Jason wasn't there, then Elysiam didn't seem to be a terrible option. At least she would be able to see him again.

She wasn't sure that he was dead, but she was having difficulties convincing herself otherwise. Deep inside, something had shattered. May it be her will, her courage, her heart, Casey did not know. She didn't feel that there was anything left of her. She wasn't a shell, she was the long dead snail that had once occupied the shell. Not only had her big brother, her best friend and closest confidant, fallen into Tartarus, he had done it willingly. Part of her was angry with him, angry that he had gone and left her like that. But part of her was angry at herself. She should have been there to hold him back, or at least close enough to jump in after him.

Casey was terrified. She was scared for her brother's life, and of what her own would be without him. She tried to imagine waking up at home without Jase's cheerful whistle, or having a birthday without her brother making those terrible looking blueberry pancakes that somehow tasted better than ambrosia. A sob caught in her throat. She relied on her big brother, she depended on him. If he weren't in Tartarus, he would be beside her now, comforting her and telling her it would be alright with some cheesy joke. He'd come by late at night when he knew she wouldn't be sleeping and sneak her a small slice of blue cake, which Casey now realized she may never know how he got.

They had arrived at Camp a week after it happened. At first, the campers had been overjoyed. Chiron had even cried in relief. But not after they heard what had happened in Greece. From Jase's cabin on the boat, Casey could hear the campers' anguished cries. She could barely tell them apart from her own. Jason may have been her big brother, but he played the same figure to every kid at Camp Half Blood. And they just found out that he jumped into Tartarus after a kid they'd never even met.

Chiron wondered how long they would last. When Percy and Annabeth fell, the entire camp was devastated. But most of the kids at camp had grown up with Jason Jackson as their supervisor, teacher, and friend. He was a big brother to more than just the Jackson siblings.

Casey didn't leave the Argo 3, but she stood at its bow and looked over the edge, watching Camp's reactions with a feeling of dread filling her stomach.

The worst part about losing somebody you love is that you lose them every day all over again. There is no forgetting what happened, there's no way to move on when somebody means that much to you.

(Hey peeps! I know I haven't been updating lately but I've been really busy with finals… Anyway, I'm going to switch to weekly updates instead of daily. So, the next chapter will come next Friday! Also, what do you guys really want to see happen to Jase/Charlie and everybody else on the outside? I'm open to requests!

Also, I'll give shoutout to the person with the most creative answer 3 Thanks!)