Here, have a much more upbeat chapter in which we get some cute scenes-and Will is a hoodie fiend. I have spoken and I decree it so.
Replies:
Undeath9087: There's a lot of stuff to address- but it's not easy for them to do that whilst saving the world lol.
Drizzle: Now I wouldn't know what you're talking about! ;)

The talk with Annabeth and Rachel had been.. difficult, to say the least. But Percy did feel a bit better after- though it was just a small step- and she knew that it wasn't going to be the end of the difficult conversations.

But on the plus side Annabeth and Rachel had given her cuddles after they'd talked- something which Percy very much liked- she always felt so safe and comfortable, and she was very happy for the nap- a dreamless one too.

And when she did wake up she was officially allowed to leave the medbay, which meant that she was able to actually go and get breakfast with the others, and Percy grinned when a pile of blue pancakes magically appeared on her plate- and she caught Luke's eye from across the table- he also had a stack of blue pancakes- and Thalia rolled her eyes.

"You two are ridiculous-"

"Blue food is superior." Percy stated simply, leaning across the table to grab the syrup, giving a slightly manic grin as she squeezed the bottle over her pancakes- and kept squeezing them and then-"

"Percy-" Annabeth was clearly trying not to laugh, "I say this with love but do you have to drown your pancakes?"

And Percy couldn't help the laugh that slipped past her lips as she met Luke's eyes again-and she heard Nico groaning loudly- after all Percy was always the same with her food-and her mom often complained along those lines.

Which was why Luke knew exactly what she was going to say and said it at the same time as she did. "I'm the daughter of Poseidon, I can't drown and neither can my pancakes." before they both dissolved into laughter and Thalia thudded her head against the table.

And Percy couldn't help but smile as she looked around.

Frank and Hazel had a map of Greece spread over the table, weighed down by their cereal bowls.

Jason was sat with Piper, she was squeezing his hand- clearly no longer broken and murmuring softly to him

Nico and Will were sat side by side- with Ethan leaning back on the chair next to them and talking about something with them, and Grover was sat with them too.

And of course Thalia and Luke was sat squished up together, the daughter of Zeus swiping pancake from Luke's plate at every chance she got.

And Percy got to be squished between her two girlfriends- she did so love her life sometimes. The laughter had felt like a balm to her soul.

The only one not there was Leo- but thankfully that was resolved firstly because Leo's voice came from the doorway
"What's up guys?" and Percy turned her head, grinning when she saw him.

She'd been keeping a close eye on her brothers- and she knew Will had been monitoring all three of them very closely.
Nico had been pale before Tartarus, but he'd been a lot paler after the pit- but there was color in his cheeks now- and he didn't look quite so gaunt as he'd started to look down there, the bags under his eyes were less prominent.

And Leo looked better too- they'd all lost weight in Tartarus but she could see that he'd been eating better- and much like Nico he was losing that gauntness in his face.

She knew she was losing the gauntness too, they were all still smaller but they were getting there. Tartarus would probably always leave it's mark- it was in their eyes at times, Percy had seen it more than once. A shadow, pain that hadn't been there before, haunted memories. But with time they should almost be normal again. Hopefully.

And a part of that was faking it until you made it Percy knew- and she could see that Leo was being a bit more cheerful than he actually felt as he snatched up a brownie from off the table, "Awe yes! Gotta love these babies-"

"PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" the voice made Percy jump, knocking over her plate of pancakes- and she stared mournfully at them as the syrup spilled all over the table.

"I thought you were getting rid of that stupid hologram!" Piper cried- and Percy did not blame her. Leo had made a hologram Coach Hedge to scare away enemies- unfortunately so far he seemed better at scaring them.

"Hey, Buford's just saying good morning. He loves his hologram. Besides we all miss the Coach, and Frank makes a cute bulldog-" Percy blinked, turning her head- and yep, yep he was a bulldog, must have transformed in his shock.

Then her gaze moved back to Leo. "Leonidas fucking Valdez Jackson." she pointed at her pancakes and raised an eyebrow. And it was honestly kind of comical, the look of sudden terror on his face.

"I- uh-" he let out a nervous cough, "I'm sorry Percy."

"You better be." she huffed the words, jabbing her fingers at her pancakes, "Because I am in mourning-" she paused, mostly because a pair of arms were sliding around her from behind and she felt lips pressing against her shoulder.

"C'mon honey, no murdering your little brother-"

"Cheater-"

"Is it though?" Rachel asked innocently, "I just know how to distract you-"

"Gross." Nico's voice was deadpan, "You are so fucking gross Percy."

"This coming from Mr thinks I don't know where you snuck off too yesterda-"

"Shut up-" an apple came flying through the air towards Percy's head, she dodged it and poked her tongue out at Nico in what she personally felt was a very mature reaction.

"What the fuck is it with you and apples Nico you're obsessed."

"It's his thing." Luke gave a wry smile, "You have blue food and Nico loves apples to torment Will."

"It clearly doesn't work." Will smirked at Nico, "You eat an apple a day and it doesn't keep me away-"

"Such a shame." Nico's voice was thick with sarcasm, "I'm so very sad about that fact."

"Is this your way of breaking up with me death breath? Because if it is then I get the hoodies you left in my cabin-"

"The hoodies I- you lying little-" Nico laughed, shoving Will, "You told me you had no idea where all my hoodies disappeared to! You've been stealing them,"

"Now that's just slander and lies." Will smirked, "Besides, you wear them a few times and never again mr 'I refuse to leave the house without my jacket even if it's boiling out-'"

"That jacket was a present from my father." Nico huffed the words, though he was smiling.

"Ahem." Jason coughed awkwardly, leaning forward, "Not to interrupt your lovers spat but we should probably focus guys."

"Of course." Percy nodded sagely, trying to keep her face straight, "What's our status then Superman?"

"I'm not-" Jason paused, "You know what, I'll let it be. We're going to stay airbourne and drop anchor as close as we can to Olympia. It's further inland than I'd like – about five miles – but we don't have much choice. According to Juno, we have to find the goddess of victory and, um … subdue her."

There was an uncomfortable silence that descended around the table at that and Percy shifted, tapping her nails on the table, "Subdue her huh." she said the words slowly, "Don't get me wrong I've fought more than my fair share of immortals-"

"You don't say." Nico muttered the words, "She'd have tried to fight T-"

"Let's not-" Percy gave him a narrow eyed look, "Hush now Neeks. Anyway-" she said the last word in an almost singsong voice. "I have no problem fighting immortals, heck I'd kinda like a rematch with a certain god of war-"

"No." Annabeth and Grover chorused the word at the same time and Percy pouted.

"Rude, as I was about to say, isn't Nike one of the good ones? I mean, personally I like victory. Can't get enough of it. So what's up with her that means that we have to subdue her-I mean I know what we were told but it's not making much sense, or am I just being a Seaweed Brain?"

Annabeth drummed her fingers on the table. "It does seem strange. I understand why Nike would be in Olympia – home of the Olympics and all that. The contestants sacrificed to her. Greeks and Romans worshipped her there for, like, twelve hundred years, right?"

"Almost to the end of the Roman Empire," Frank agreed. "Romans called her Victoria, but same difference. Everybody loved her. Who doesn't like to win? Not sure why we would have to subdue her."

Jason frowned. A wisp of steam curled from the wound under his shirt. "All I know … the ghoul Antinous said, Victory runs rampant in Olympia. Juno warned us that we could never heal the rift between the Greeks and Romans unless we defeated victory."

"How do we defeat victory?" Piper wondered. "Sounds like one of those impossible riddles."

"Like making stones fly," Leo said, 'or eating only one Fonzie." He popped a handful of them into his mouth before snickering, "Though, maybe we just dump Percy in front of her. I mean, she managed to win over Night herself-"

"Hey-" Percy tried not to laugh, "I happen to think that Lady Nyx is awesome and I love her very much, ten out of ten, definitely my favorite protogenos."

"Only you Percy." Rachel laughed, her lips brushing against Percy's cheek.

"And we're getting off track." Thalia rolled her eyes fondly, "We were talking about Nike-" she snorted, "Though if her kids are a way to judge..."

"You have a point." Luke admitted with a wry smile on his lips. "Cabin Seventeen is super competitive. When it comes to capture the flag they're almost worse than the Ares kids."

Percy whistled lowly, "Now I didn't even know that was possible. Bet Clarisse loves the competition-"

"Are you kidding?" Annabeth snorted, "She loves is an understatement."

"So you're saying Nike has a dark side?" Frank asked curiously.

"Her kids sure do." Annabeth said slowly, "They never turn down a challenge. They have to be number one at everything- do not laugh." Annabeth didn't even need to look at Percy, who was biting her lip hard.

"I love you Wise girl but-"

"Hush now."

"You sound like you're describing yourself-"

"Except I'm not quite so intense as they are."

"Woah." Piper put her hands on the table like the ship was rocking, "Guys, all the gods are split between their Greek and Roman aspects, right? If Nike's that way and she's the goddess of victory –"

"She'd be really conflicted," Annabeth said slowly. "She'd want one side or the other to win so she could declare a victor. She'd literally be fighting with herself."

Hazel nudged her cereal bowl across the map of Greece. "But we don't want one side or the other to win. We've got to get the Greeks and Romans on the same team."

"Maybe that's the problem," Jason said. "If the goddess of victory is running rampant, torn between Greek and Roman, she might make it impossible to bring the two camps together."

"How?" Leo asked, "Start a flame war on Twitter?"

"Maybe-" Percy hesitated, considering before, "Maybe she's like Ares. He makes people want to fight- the first time I met him I was ready to fight within less than five minutes. Seriously that guy gives off like, an aura that makes you angry. If she radiates competitive vibes like he radiates desire to grind someones face into the ground then she could make things a whole lot worse between the camps."

"Remember that old sea god in Atlanta?" Frank asked suddenly, glancing between Percy and Grover, "He said hat Gaia's plans always have lots of layers. This could be part of the giants' strategy – keep the two camps divided; keep the gods divided. If that's the case, we can't let Nike play us against each other. We should send a landing party of four – two Greeks, two Romans. The balance might help keep her balanced."

"I think Frank is right." Annabeth said after a moment, clearly thinking, "A party of four. We'll have to be careful who goes because we don't want to do anything that might make the goddess more unstable."

"Well then." Percy tilted her head, "Who's going to be the least competitive combination?"