Enjoy my birthday gift to all of you! Next one on Monday, which all updates will continue on!

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Nico read casually enough this time, just trying to blend in and pretty sure he was doing it alright and that the others were muttering in confusion about the odd chapter title as usual, not him.

"Does Hades own a taxi?" Jason fidgeted in place if they were being dragged back to the Underworld for some reason.

"Do you never get the gum off the seats?" Alex asked in disgust.

'I've never been in a taxi, what would qualify as torment in them?' Hearth asked.

'The same thing that qualifies out of them,' Magnus uneasily promised, though he'd never been in one either.

"I wonder if fire stations took bids on putting a homing beacon on you," Thalia grinned.

"More like begged the police to take it," Percy sighed.

Percy smiled sadly now. According to Thalia, he'd only been away from her for three days, but since she was the only memory he'd woken up with before he'd started getting them back, it felt much longer.

Percy was grateful for the first time Annabeth wasn't here though, he felt like the center in a tug-o-war all of a sudden as his first impulse was to snap at her for being so rude to his friend, when he wasn't even sure that's what Tyson was to him. He groaned and rubbed his temples in frustration the smartest person he knew always gave him such a headache.

Thalia gave him a commiserating pat on the shoulder and hated not being able to explain this to him even if she could, she wasn't quite sure herself why this cyclops had latched onto Percy and sort of wanted this whole story herself.

Magnus and Alex frowned for the spurn they could imagine in Annabeth's voice Nico tried hard to hide, but it was a strange question even without that. If Tyson was some kind of monster, where did she expect him to live?

Hearth ducked low in his seat as Magnus shifted closer to him with real frustration for his cousin. Tyson was being treated the same way his deaf friend was for what reason again?! After he'd just saved Percy's life!

"What is he that you are not seeing?" Alex demanded even knowing nobody would answer.

Even Nico and Will were clearly surprised about Annabeth's dislike of Percy's brother and exchanged a mystified look for it, only Thalia was left truly guilt ridden again while holding her tongue and not speaking of their mess of a journey.

Annabeth might not like him much, Jason reasoned out, but she wasn't trying to stab Tyson either, she wasn't concerned he was around. Whatever he was, this must be something personnel to Annabeth, like his odd feelings about faw- satyrs.

'They're not the only thing you and Odysseus will run across on this trip,' Thalia kept to herself.

The eight of them burst out laughing hard, and then Alex had to escalate the joke, "did they have to get visas to come here and try to eat you?"

"I thought they were only violent about hockey," Magnus's laugh was a touch more forced than the others, but he wasn't holding a grudge against whatever Annabeth's ignorance was until he could talk to her about it.

"Again," Will added. "Does that happen before every time you come to camp?"

"Man I hope not, my mom doesn't need the extra stress," Percy sighed, feeling awful already for the knock she'd be getting on her door about this.

They wanted to believe her and give benefit of the doubt thanks to her fabulous reappearance and saving Percy's skin, but since there was already something she wasn't saying about Tyson, they were still pretty on edge.

'The polite way to interrupt a conversation,' Hearth nodded.

'As opposed to Blitz kicking that guy in the shins,' Magnus agreed.

"So am I," Alex said impatiently.

"Um, noting his lack of surprise here for Percy," Jason mock raised his hand.

"Duly noted," Percy sighed.

"And I now vouch for a third surprised and confused party," Magnus assured.

"We're not about to have to overcome another rivalry or something are we?" Percy asked, how many other gods could hate his dad? He just knew Tyson tied into Poseidon somehow...

"Um, no?" But Thalia didn't sound to certain herself, she wasn't looking forward to Percy feeling in the middle of his little brother and Annabeth until they made nice, but at least she knew they did eventually. Annabeth spoke fondly of Tyson nowadays.

"I guess your mom wouldn't just hide him in the closet for you," Alex mock agreed, though she recalled Sally could see through the mist and must have known Tyson wasn't mortal this whole time, so he was more assured than ever Tyson meant Percy no harm.

Annabeth's reluctant acceptance of Tyson was even stranger than Percy's though, Jason was more uneasy than ever. Did the monster have some way to lull people into falsely trusting him? Yet why had he saved Percy then?

"Percy, I think she knows that," Alex promised.

"Doesn't make me feel better about what she is doing," Percy promised.

Magnus was looking around pleadingly for someone to tell him he hadn't heard what he just heard. No such luck. His cousin was actively summoning damnation now.

'Why couldn't it be a Dalmatian,' Hearth pouted. 'I would love a chariot of dogs.'

'Same buddy,' Magnus nodded.

'After your plan was to blow up a boys locker room, I can't imagine this'll be worse,' Hearth reminded.

"Do I want to know what he said?" Percy asked, as Hearth had been looking at him when he signed that.

"He says your plans are equally as bad as Annabeth's so you have no room to complain," Magnus translated.

Alex was practicing the sign for boy in fascination and Hearth leaned behind Magnus to correct his fingers while Percy didn't even deny it.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Jason protested. "You could have taken a Taxi to LA last time!"

"Oh no," Thalia corrected, "they work out of that tri-state area only," she drew an invisible circle in the water like that would clear it all up.

"Plus tipping them is the worst," Nico sighed. He'd only been in it once and had gotten nothing but fake compliments from them about his dad, he'd figured out how to shadow travel the very next day out in the middle of nowhere when they'd dumped him out. He'd rather sleep in China for another week than try summoning them again anyways.

"Why wouldn't it be in Greek considering their cliental?" Alex asked.

"Why do you keep expecting anything in this to make sense?" Magnus asked back.

Alex reached over and gave him a mock pat on the hand to sympathize, and Magnus would swear all the blood rushed to his face and that tingling bit of nerves for several moments.

"Oh, so it's not just me," Magnus said in relief.

"No, it is," Alex mocked, "I'm a little jealous actually, do you know how hard it is to get a taxi? Let alone in an even busier city!"

Percy wanted to come to the guy's defense and assure he was still catching up too, but Magnus always looked so riveted anytime Alex spoke to him it felt rude to interrupt.

"You do hear what you just thought right?" Alex confirmed.

"They're my thoughts," Percy protested, "I don't have to be nice and censored in my head! Just because the guy wouldn't win a beauty pageant doesn't mean he should be treated like that!"

Alex raised his hands in surrender to let that one go.

"They're not knitting blue socks again are they?" Jason asked.

"Wrong old ladies," Will corrected.

"How many are there?" Jason sounded way to excited about more crazy triplets out there.

"To many to count," Nico promised, and he'd once tried to collect them all. Stupid exclusive packs...

"I'm curious what the limit on that desperation is," Thalia asked.

"I'd be wearing it now," Percy settled farther back into his beanbag now for this coming ride.

"I have so many questions," Magnus rubbed his own eyes in exhaustion what bizarre thing was going on on top of a taxi coming out of the ground.

"Give it a chance to explain," Alex leaned forward eagerly in his seat and wondered who he could most easily steal a drachma from to try this next.

"These chicks put GTA to shame," Will was wondering if the mortals were somehow inspired through the Mist and an accidental ride in this thing.

"What's that?" Nico asked, trying not to make the same mistake as last time and wanting to stay on at least Will's good side today in case there was anything else he might be warned about before hand rather than bumbling along even slower than Percy putting this together.

"A game, the Stoll's sneak them into camp sometimes and we all take turns playing and keeping Chiron from confiscating it as long as possible. Anyways, very violent, lots of car crashes," Will had felt morally guilty just for playing the stupid thing and had never been allowed more than one turn as he wouldn't run over the pedestrians, let alone what Clarisse got up to.

"The blind person is driving!" Magnus repeated like they'd missed that.

"And probably still better at staying in their lane than half of New York," Will grinned.

"Speak for yourself," Percy said as he rubbed his stomach again.

"Because that clarified things," Magnus frowned, but he'd swear he remembered seeing some cartoon movie when he was little about Hercules and three ladies arguing over an eye declaring they knew everything...it wasn't one of his favorites and his mom had shut it off when she caught him watching.

"Payback for something I'm sure," Thalia shrugged.

"I'd still like to see that look," Alex chuckled as he imagined the puppy eyes Percy could give, but all he got for his troubles was Percy scowling at him too along with Thalia.

"Wait, what!" Jason sat up so hopefully in his seat, it sort of broke Thalia's heart to remind, "um, she might not mean you."

"That Jason of myth might have sought them out, and well, immortals aren't very good at keeping track of time," Will sadly pointed out. Nobody needed clarification after Oceanus himself had gotten Magnus confused with Annabeth and countless other unnamed kids just this morning.

"We can ask them when we get out of here though if we don't find out," Thalia promised.

"Oh, right, yeah," Jason sat back in his seat and tried not to look as dispirited as he felt. It was of the most mild comforts he might have another option in Thalia for getting some sort of answer as he glanced at Nico, who kept reading without missing a beat like his words from last night had still never happened.

There was his answer anyways, but somehow he wasn't surprised. The idea of going to New York just didn't sit right in his mind, where as he still felt homesick if he even considered looking for a place in California Nico had only mentioned if he thought about it for to long.

"That chapter title was no lie," Magnus looked past carsick, "this is eternal torment for them, and us for having to know they exist."

"I'll be sure to scratch this one off your datebook," Alex grinned, but there was no mocking, doubled edged, teasing tint to it like usual. He sincerely meant he wouldn't drag Magnus into this thing with him when he tried it himself.

Magnus was very glad he wasn't reading as his brain shut down for just a moment.

"That does interest more people than you'd think," Nico said.

"There's a reason we don't use this thing unless we're in a hurry," Will agreed, but he was just a tad grateful for their arrival that day considering the camp might have burnt down if they'd gotten there any later.

"So only Percy would survive, ironic as this was Annabeth's idea," Will looked a little queasy like he was in the ride too.

"Consider velocity rates and the angle they crash," Jason seemed weirdly calm in the face of this danger as he did some mental imaging's and math, "he might get launched onto dry land and still die."

"Thanks man, real comforting," Percy snorted.

"Great, now people are throwing quests in your lap before the disaster's even happened," Magnus frowned.

"The disaster did happen," Percy reminded, tapping his temple impatiently. "Something's wrong with Grover, I hope he's the location they mean but-" he stopped with an ugly wince for trying to sort any of this mess out and Nico kept reading quickly.

"Never say it's only the Aphrodite girls that can be a tease," Will looked just as offended as everyone else they'd brought it up and denied what they meant.

Percy made a squealing noise of disgust and surprise, jumping out of his seat so hard the water launched him into the domed ceiling and right back into his beanbag chair. He didn't even seem to notice as he kept rubbing his lap with a look nobody needed to imagine anymore had been there at the time.

"Nobody ever mention eyeballs again!" Percy snapped at the book, this was definitely a memory with Annabeth he might have been happier leaving where ever he'd lost it.

"What would happen if you like," Alex mimed stabbing it, and Percy was still holding his pen even with no monster around, he felt to threatened to put it away.

"I don't want to find out," Thalia shivered at what could happen to such a powerful magical object.

'That would not surprise me,' Hearth nodded.

"I don't think anybody's ever taken a taxi to the Underworld, please don't try to be the first," Nico muttered.

"Oh thank the gods," Percy scrunched his hands up into his shirt one last time to get the idea of the residue off.

"I'm half surprised they didn't leap over the back of the seat and strangle you for it," Jason wasn't so surprised they had a sixth sense for the thing, they had to have found it somehow in that lake.

"I am going to take the sharpest arrow I can find and embed a sense of danger into your skull," Thalia promised.

"I've always wanted a tattoo," Percy said without concern, his face still hilariously scrunched up like the biggest regret he had of all this was that eyeball still in his hand while he threatened his own death.

"4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, see, I can scream random numbers too," Alex threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Maybe he wins the lottery on it," Magnus hadn't taken his eyes off him again for half the chapter.

"Maybe I have to do a math problem with it to find the square root of a castle and we're all doomed, I can promise we won't figure it out until we get there," Percy sighed.

Percy looked far to relieved when the vehicle hadn't even been stopped yet, but he even repeated the motion now like he was still trying to get that thing away.

Alex mock caught it and pretended to study it for several moments before Magnus started snickering and Nico tried to finish.

"At least somebody around here is," Will nodded.

"Whew, that is one worry off my check list," Alex mock wiped his forehead and really rolled his eyes.

"Is Annabeth in on what that means too!" Magnus groaned, his cousin sure had the best and worst of all the timing.

"There's never a welcoming party when I arrive at camp, only world saving quests and monster attacks!" Percy grumbled as Will took the book. "Just once I'd like to arrive to some handshakes and slaps on the back for showing up."

"We'll throw you a whole dang celebration when we get back," Will promised, "if Annabeth doesn't kill you first."