A/N

Hey everybody. Welcome to the latest chapter of this story and thank you for continued patience as I take far too long to upload.

Disclaimer: PJO and HOO belong to Rick Riordan. All I own is plot of the story and some of the characters.

Now onto the chapter.

Olympian Council Chambers, Olympus

"So you're saying that your little girl scouts got their asses kicked and Old Seaweed beard's spawn had to come in and save them." Ares said smugly. Both Artemis and Poseidon shot the war god a glare that caused him to flinch in his throne.

"No, you idiot. I'm saying whoever attacked my girl are still out there and still a threat. Not just to the hunt but to the camps as well. As great as young Perseus' abilities are, I doubt that even he would survive long against such odds." Artemis said, looking back at Zeus, who was contemplating the situation.

"Don't doubt the abilities of my son, Artemis." Poseidon said as he folded his hands in front of his face, mulling over the information. "Percy has faced worse odds before and lived. The fact that your lieutenant and your hunt still draws breath is only proof of that."

"Uncle, I mean no disrespect to your son but then where is he? Why run?" Artemis countered. "He was gone before any of my girls awoke. More so, there was a group of girls that many didn't recognize in my camp taking care of my hunters before I arrived."

"Maybe it's because your girls have a reputation to mistreat men." A new voice chimed in. The gods looked over to see Aphrodite looking over her nails. Pleased that they met her high standards, she looked at the rest of the council. "To answer you question, Perseus isn't as dumb as some of us would like to believe. He wouldn't have made it this far as demigod if he was. Had he not left before your arrival or before any of your girls awaking, he would have been in danger, especially if your lieutenant wasn't awake to stop them from harming him. As for the mystery girls, he most likely left your hunt in their care so it means he's working with them or, at the very least, trusts them enough to keep your girls safe. Most likely both. He wouldn't have left your lieutenant's side otherwise." Aphrodite's voice held a small bit of smugness to it as if the answer was obvious.

"And where did this great wisdom come from?" Athena asked Aphrodite skeptically. "Did all those perfumes suddenly restore your intelligence or did you find it while looking in a mirror?" The jab got a few chuckles from some of the other members of the council.

"Love and war go hand in hand and I am just as much of a war goddess as you are." Aphrodite said with a sly smile. "Perseus cares greatly for the daughter of Zeus. He wouldn't risk her safety by leaving her unless he knew that she would be safe with those left behind. So he must have trusted them if he left them in charge of the Hunt's protection since he couldn't risk being there. Perhaps he struck a bargain with them to ensure their safety. One can only imagine the length he would go to protect the ones he cares about." She took a sip of wine from a goblet on her throne. The gods looked among themselves, some unsure how they felt about the situation. They weren't use to Aphrodite being so insightful or logical.

"So what do we do now?" Hermes asked, trying to get the meeting to continue from the tense silence it had entered.

"We find the girls." Athena sighed as she rubbed her forehead in growing frustration and annoyance. "If what Aphrodite says is true, then they will be able to lead us to Perseus..."

After the meeting

Hades let out a sigh after the other gods had left. The meeting had not turned up anything he didn't know. To his disappointment and annoyance, most of the meeting was spent arguing over trivia matters after the opening moments of productivity. Of course, he wasn't very surprised by this. His immortal family seemed to do little else besides argue when they gathered in groups larger than four. He was starting to remember why he left in the first place but he knew he was needed here and more importantly, he needed their support once the Legion became known.

"Something troubling you, brother?" A voice brought him out of his thoughts. Looking over, he looked at the smiling face of his brother, Poseidon. He could see the mischief in his eyes and his thought were brought back to Poseidon's sons that were in the army and wondered what he would think and react to the news. "Hades?" Poseidon's voice once again interrupted his thoughts.

"Ah, yes, Poseidon, I'm fine, thank you." Hades said with a dismissive wave. "I thought you were off arguing with our niece?"

"Athena left as soon the meeting ended. I suppose the idea of me being right was too much for her to bear." The sea god said with chuckled and Hades could have swore he heard a distant scream of frustration. "Come now, Hades, I think we know each other well enough to know you're deflecting. What worries you?"

"Nothing you need concern yourself with, brother." Hades said, once again trying to dismiss the younger god.

"You're worried about the souls that escaped, aren't you?" Hades looked at him with a bit of surprise. "I remember you mentioning it but Zeus and the others felt it was issue for you and the others of your house."

"So you remembered that I said that?" Hades asked regaining he composer.

"Of course. I've kept an eye on my realm in case any of them have been tried to cross it but none have. But if anything comes up, you'll be the first to you."

"Well... thank you brother. I wasn't expecting this kind of kindness."

"It's the least I can do considering you've been the only one to provide any real information on my son until recently." Hades felt pang of guilt in him at that. "That reminds me, how are your children?" Poseidon asked.

"They are well. Melinoe is still doesn't speaks with me very much but its better than before and Makaria is has been a large help with increased work load and helping myself and her brother search for the lost souls." Hades said with some pride. He appreciated his children and their willingness to stand by him, especially in these trying times, though Melinoe worried him since she side with father and the titans during the Second Titan War.

"And what about your other son? Is he not helping?" Poseidon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nico has been busy as of late. Along with the duties I assign him, he has also volunteered at a health clinic that the Son of Apollo works at. He has enough on his plate to worry him without me adding more." Hades said with a smile and sigh. He didn't want to push more of his problems onto his youngest child, not when Nico was actually starting to enjoy the peace they have been given.

"To be young and in love. I do hope for the best for your son and the son of Apollo." Poseidon said with a laugh, grasping Hades on the shoulder. "Oh how I enjoy and miss our chats, brother. Unfortunately I must take my leave of you. My wife and son had something they wished to discuss with me." As he said that, thunder began to roll in the distance. "It seems the youngest is throwing another tantrum. Maybe he doesn't enjoy being left out of our brotherly bonding." Even Hades snickered at the jab at their little brother as more thunder sounded in the distance. "Be well, Hades. Perhaps we can have another wager next time." Poseidon smile before turning to walk away. As he did, some of the guilt from earlier crept back up with vengeance.

"Poseidon, wait." Hades said. "I'm sure Percy is doing well. He's proved himself a hero time and time again and has saved many lives. I'm sure he'll be back soon." Poseidon's smile only grew wider.

"I know and when he returns, I will be here to welcome him with open arms." Poseidon beamed with pride as he thought about his son. "Farewell, brother. Give your family my greetings." With that, Poseidon walked away and dissipated into sea spray. Hades quietly huffed air out in amusement, the guilt now lessened somewhat. He did what he could for the time being. In a veil of shadow, Hades returned to the underworld.

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Camp Half-Blood, A few days later

The campers of Camp Half-Blood went about their business and enjoying the day like any other even with the Hunt present among them. Things for them have been good since the end of the last war and many have embraced the peace with open arms, thinking many of their troubles were over, at least for now. So much so that few noticed the angrier than normal and somewhat depressed expressions the Hunt wore.

For the Hunt, many felt humiliated. Never before have they been snuck up on and hit in their own camp like that, many even refused believe it and were convinced of some kind of interference by something or someone. Along with this, the fight with those enemy soldiers bothered them. Had they been fighting at full strength, without that Hades forsaken fog affecting them, they were positive that they would have won the day. Yet deep down, they knew there was no certainty of it. They had just fought off a large horde of monsters and they only knew of a portion of the enemy forces. Who's to say that a larger force wasn't laying in wait. However, what hurt some of them most of all was the knowledge that they had been saved by a boy. The thought that a boy did what they couldn't bothered them, it didn't matter who it was. Some had even taken to blaming him or even tried making the leap in logic and saying he was somehow involved in the attack to make himself out to be a hero again but their lieutenant quickly shut that line of thought down. Now they were left to wonder about the girls who cared for them.

After they had began waking up, a number of girls who were taking care of them disappeared with discarded uniforms tossed into random tents. A search was quickly formed but they lost the trial when they reached a campground parking lot. With nothing left to go on, they went back to their camp and Apollo came at the request of Artemis to make sure they were healthy and to bring them to Camp while she prepared to call for a meeting with the rest of the council. When they arrived they immediately took over the archery range and training field with their sights set on making sure would be better prepared for next time and have been doing so since, with brief breaks to attempt to recruit girls or chase off boys to make them feel better. However, while the rest trained, Thalia mostly stayed in Cabin 8, looking over a piece of paper trying to find the words to put on it. Like every other time, nothing coming to mind. She huffed in frustration and was ready to fry the offending piece of paper and take her anger out on a training dummy when a knock at the door shook her from her thoughts.

"What do you want?" Thalia shouted, a bit more aggressively than she intended.

"Well I wanted to talk to my friend but I don't think she wants to talk to me apparently." A familiar voice said on the other side of the door. Thalia's eyes widen and she rushed to the door. On the other side was the person she considered to be her sister, Annabeth.

"Annie! What are you doing here? When did you get back?"

"I was already planning on visiting but when I heard about something happening to the hunt, I came as fast as I could." Annabeth explained. Thalia groaned in response.

"How did New Rome hear about it?"

"Actually my mom told me. Said I should come visit you and see how you were doing."

"Really? That's nice of her." Thalia said with surprise. The gods were rarely this kind, especially with her.

"I guess. She also said she was happy I wasn't 'wasting my time with Percy anymore.' I ended up getting into an argument with her on that." While Thalia was relived to hear that Annabeth hadn't turned her back on Percy after their breakup, she still felt that pang of anger at Athena for talking bad about Percy. "So what happened? No one would tell me anything and the rest of the hunt seem more aggressive than normal with the Ares and Apollo kids." Thalia frowned. A problem she would have to deal with later. She also wasn't sure where to start but she knew she had to tell her about Percy.

"I saw him, Annie." Thalia said with a sigh, her voice sounding tired and dejected. "He was there."

"Who was?"

"Percy." Annabeth's eyes widened and her mouth opened to say something but no words came out. "Monsters attacked our camp and we drove them off but then this weird fog came in and started putting everyone to sleep. I got rid of it but I was so tired when these people attacked us. We did our best but more of us passed out until I was the last one. I was staring down a shield wall but then out of nowhere, Percy just strolls right in wordlessly like nothing is happening and put himself between us." Thalia recounted.

"You're sure it was him? Did anyone else see him?" Annabeth questioned, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"No. I was the only one left standing. Well the bad guys might have seen him but I doubt they're gonna be of much help now."

"And you're sure you didn't imagine it? Or it wasn't someone else?"

"I may not have seen his face because of his helmet but I'm sure. I realized it was him cause of his sword. When I called him out, I almost fell over but he caught him and I could just barely see his eyes and could smell the sea on him. He even spoke to me."

"What did he say?" Annabeth asked expectedly. Like many others, she hadn't heard anything from the demigod in months so any news was welcome news.

"He asked me not to shock him before telling me to rest and that he'd protect me. After that, I passed out." Thalia's voice got quieter as she thought about the events of a few days ago.

"I don't know, Thalia, this is a little hard to believe." Annabeth sighed. "As much as I want to believe that Percy was actually there and protected you, you were the only one who saw him and you were extremely tired from the sound of it. You're sure you didn't imagine it?" The logical part of Annabeth's brain kicked in, frustrating the daughter of Zeus. With a huff of frustration, Thalia shoved a hand in her pocket.

"Yes, I'm sure. What don't you believe...me..." Thalia's sentence trailed off as she brushed against something in her pocket.

"Thalia?" Annabeth watched as Thalia reached into her pocket and pulled something out. As she held it out for her, Annabeth's grey eyes went from confused to widening with surprise at the sight of the very familiar necklace. "Is that...?" Thalia nodded. "Where did you get that?"

"It was in my hands when I woke up." Thalia explained. Annabeth sighed again, taking the necklace in her hands and looking over each bead.

"He really was there." Annabeth said, her voice held a mixture of both disbelief and relief before frustration of her own kicked in. "But why didn't he stay or try to contact us?"

"I don't know. I really don't. I wish I did." Thalia's voice fell and sounded exhausted as familiar thoughts from the past couple of days came back. 'Why did he leave? Was he worried about the Hunt or Artemis seeing him there or how they'd react? I doubt the Hunt or Artemis would do anything him and even if they wanted to, doesn't he know I would never let them hurt him? Doesn't he trust me?' The last thought sent a sharp pain through her for some reason. The idea that Percy didn't trust her bothered her, more than it should have have considering her position as a hunter. What one male thought of her should mean nothing to her, even if it was a man like Percy. Yet her she was, her thoughts adding fuel adding fire to her internal conflict.

Annabeth, on the other hand, watched the woman who was basically her sister sit in silence, deep in her own thoughts. Part of her felt bad for questioning what Thalia had seen, especially since she knew no one was looking for Percy as hard as Thalia or missed him as much as her, while the other part of Annabeth wanted to keep pushing and find out everything she knew. To try to get everything she could out of her in hopes that one of those details might bring back their lost friend. She look down at the bead necklace in her hands, the one she had spent hours mindlessly playing with while with Percy. She knew every story and quest for each bead. There was still part of her that miss those sweet and tender moments, missed him. But life had brought them on separate paths and no matter how hard he tried to stay with her by following her to college and attempting the academic lifestyle, he wasn't happy and his blood always brought danger. The mist rarely worked in their favor when monsters attacked and made trying to live and go to school outside of New Rome a challenge and in the end, they ended their relationship. All good things have to come to end eventually.

Looking back the necklace, her resolved hardened. After another minute of silence, Annabeth finally decided to pull Thalia back to reality.

"Thalia?" The girl in question's head shot up and looked her with widen eyes. Annabeth was worried for a moment that the turn might have given her whiplash with its speed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." There was an emotion in Thalia's eyes that she didn't recognize but it was gone as she blinked. "Really, I am." Thalia glanced at the necklace in Annabeth's hands. "You should hold on to that. Percy will want it back and I'm sure he'll have the biggest shit eating grin possible when you hand it back to him." Annabeth took a moment to think about it and heavily considered it but as much as she wanted to...

"No. You should hold on to it." Annabeth finally said. "Percy left it with you. You should be one to return it." She gently put the necklace in Thalia's palm and closed her hand around it. "Besides, you're the only one who's seen him. It has to be you." Annabeth smile at her friend warmly. "Just when you do, give Percy a good shock for me. Maybe it'll fix that seaweed brain of his" Thalia laugh at that.

"Don't worry, I'll do more than that." She said with a wide smile. "Come on. I've been the cooped up in here for too long. Let's go have some fun." Annabeth's smile got wider and nodded. With that, the two women got up and headed out the door together.

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Original Site of Camp Jupiter, San Francisco

The original site of Camp Jupiter was a mess when the Seventh Legions arrived there. Like the reports said, the earthquake of 1906 did a number on the camp, forcing the Twelfth Legion to seek a new location in the east side of the Bay Area. Any material that survived the event was brought to Camp Jupiter's new site and used in the construction there, with campers only ever coming back there one time since they left to scavenge whatever material they could. However, that was a long time ago and now that Camp Jupiter has become more self-sufficient, no one had been back to the site in decades until now.

Now the camp was bustling with life once more. As the most intact legion of the three, the Seventh was able to divert half of their manpower on reconstruction while the other half focused on keeping the perimeter safe. The first thing to be built were temporary shrines to the gods until temples or proper shrines could be rebuilt in the future. Fortifications and observation posts were next on the agenda and were just in their beginning phases when the Ninth Legion came back from their patrol and investigation.

"Welcome back, sir." Remus called out as he set the shovel he was using back into the ground and grasped forearms with the fellow Legate.

"Good to be back. What's with the perimeter guard? I thought Lady Vesta's blessing would protect while in the borders of this camp." JT asked as he removed undid the straps for his helmet and removed it.

"Actually we haven't finished her shrine yet." Remus said, though JT could see a bit of a mischievous smirk forming. "We needed something before we could finished."

"Oh? And what's that?" JT asked, deciding on indulge his friend.

"You, sir." The smile grew on Remus face. "We figured that the leader of our merry band should be the one to have the honor of restoring Lady Vesta's shrine. It's been a quiet day so the men on watch were happy to keep their vigil until you returned." JT looked at the armored men on the perimeter. A few of them, noticed the Legate looking at them and saluted at him, JT nodding in acknowledgement to them in return.

"I think they just didn't want to pick up a hammer." JT joked, getting a chuckled from Remus. "Alright. Take me to the shrine so we can relieve the troops." Remus nodded and led him to the shrine. The shrine was simple. Set inside a rebuilt structure, an alter was constructed where multiple small shrines and statuettes could be placed and where people can leave offerings to the gods. All that was missing were the shrines themselves. JT looked to Remus, who held a stone statuette of the goddess Vesta bearing a torch in her arms. Cautiously taking the statuette in his arms, JT gently placed it on the alter, bowing his head to say a prayer to the goddess. Once he finished, he turned to see Remus still in his prayer and waited for him to finished as well. As the Seventh Legion Legate finished his own prayers, the two stepped outside when what felt like a wave of comfort and warmth washed over them. The others around them felt it too as it spread through out the camp. When they looked out toward the boarder, there was what looked like a heat haze shimmer over it followed by cheer that erupted from the legionaries. They knew they were safe.

"Well I think we did some pretty good work for one day." Remus said with a smile. JT was about to agree when a horn sounded in the distance followed by some of the legionaries gathering at the entrance. From where they were, they could see the soldiers ready themselves before relaxing and some even cheering as Hunter and his troop came running in, relishing in the comfort and warmth the new sanctuary provided.

"No rest for the wicked." JT sighed, getting a chuckle from Remus. "Come on, let's see what they have for us."

A/N

And that's a wrap. Did you know that one of the Sparta worshipped Aphrodite as a war goddess and that she had a epithet "Areia"? I thought it was interesting and wanted to include that. Anyways thank you for reading. Have a great day.