"Another one?" Poseidon groaned
"Oh I'm great friends with him now." Percy said
Nico groaned.
"It's me isn't it?"
Percy nodded.
Nico buried his heads in his hands.
Before I left Olympus…Annabeth was safe.
"Bessie is certainly cute." Percy grinned
Everybody chuckled.
Finally I got around…"I will visit and fix it next summer."
Tyson smiled.
The idea picked me up instantly. I guess I hadn't realized how much I missed having Tyson around.
Poseidon smiled at Percy.
Tyson gave Percy a bone crushing hug.
"Ribs big guy." Percy choked out, though he was grinning
Tyson grinned sheepishly.
"Seriously?" I asked…showing me the newest blade.
Beckendorf and Leo whistled.
"That's amazing." Beckendorf smiled at Tyson
Tyson grinned.
"The boss says 'good work'!
"Good? That's amazing!" Leo said
Tyson smiled at him.
"Thank you." He said
He will let me take the whole summer off…he had to get back to work.
"The boss is crazy. That many swords…" Beckendorf shook his head
"Yeah he is a little crazy." Triton agreed
Everybody laughed.
I dug out my last golden drachma…with her friend Mr. Blowfish.
"You knew his correct name right?" Amphitrite asked teasingly
Percy grinned sheepishly.
"Like father like son." She shook her head
Percy and Poseidon grinned at each other.
I felt so embarrassed…"Sure, Sally. No problem."
"Nice guy." Demeter said
Percy nodded.
He left the room…I couldn't help feeling happy for her.
Poseidon beamed at his son.
"That was the right decision." Hestia said
Percy smiled.
"You promise not to call him…not to his face, anyway."
Everybody snickered.
"Sally?" Mr. Blofis called…my mom really was pretty cool.
"The coolest." Nico said
"Best." Thalia and Annabeth agreed
"First place in being cool." Grover nodded
Percy grinned.
Compared to Mount Olympus…toasted cheese sandwiches.
There was a loud sound of a stomach rumbling.
"Sorry uh that was me." Leo said
"I'm feeling hungry too now." Percy laughed
"This is the last chapter." Demeter said, remembering the chapter.
"Okay then." Percy grinned
Grover went off with his satyr friends…asking where the nearest espresso bar was.
"Yeah, it was the best lead we had." Grover sighed
"Hey gods act in the weirdest ways sometimes." Percy said
"Hey!" Poseidon pouted.
"What you sent me a letter like a dam letter for two words." Percy laughed
"Touché." Poseidon grinned
Annabeth and I sat with Chiron…even try to pulverize me.
"Always a clear sign." Clarisse grinned
"Yeah she doesn't call him punk that means something's up." Travis said
Everybody laughed.
She had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blond hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.
Ares also got a scar on his chin but it wasn't deep and lucky for him his hair hadn't been attacked.
"I got news," she mumbled uneasily…And you saved Annabeth!"
The scar disappeared.
Annabeth smiled at me gratefully…I'd never even explained to her who I was.
"You were in a hurry and you made up for it later." Rachel smiled
Percy grinned and nodded.
"Luke is alive," I said…which annoyed me even more
"I did mean that." Annabeth sighed
Chiron's expression was gloomy…but he usually didn't look it.
"Thanks Percy." Chiron said though he winked at him, letting him know that he was joking.
"Sure Chiron." Percy grinned
"Two years may seem like a long time," he said…Kronos's first strike will be here."
The Greek campers looked down.
Pollux hugged Castor. Will and Michael hugged Lee.
"How do you know?" I asked….Chiron said simply.
The gods winced.
They were getting closer to their children and to hear it put that way… they didn't like it so they figured that the demigods didn't like it either.
"Destroy the tools…his cheeks bright red from the cold.
Hades' cheeks turned red too because of the curse.
He was smiling…to tell Nico in person.
"Yeah thanks for that." Percy said dryly
"Sorry Percy." Chiron winced
"I should've told him myself." He said
"You know not really, I owed it to Bianca. I told her I would tell Nico." Percy said
That was the last thing I wanted to do…which somehow made it worse
"It always does." Thalia sighed
I kept talking…"You promised you would protect her," Nico said.
"He promised he would try his best." Reyna said softly
"I know." Nico sighed
He might as well have stabbed…reminding me of my promise.
"Sorry Percy. I-I didn't know." Nico said
"It's okay, I might have done the same." Percy said
"No you wouldn't have."
"It's okay Nico, you lost your birth sister, you've had a difficult life and you were ten."
Nico gave Percy a side hug which surprised Percy a little but the older boy hugged Nico back.
"You promised!"… "Wait. What nightmares?"
"I'm so sorry Percy, I trust you a lot. You-You're my brother." Nico said
"I trust you too Nick." Percy smiled
"What nightmares though?" Will asked
"Dear old grandfather." Nico said
"He tried recruiting you?" Will asked
"No not really, he just told me not to trust anybody at camp and that my sister is dead."
"Ah granddad. I hate him." Percy sighed
"I love how you guys sarcastically call him grandfather." Leo laughed
"I remember when Nico had the nightmare, he woke up the entire Hermes cabin. It's happened to all of us." Travis said gently
He flung the god statue…I can feel it."
"Whoa." Connor said
"What do you mean…but it didn't matter.
"Somebody must have summoned them." Chiron said, alarmed
"That is not good." Poseidon said worriedly
I'd never get help in time…"You brought these…these things?"
"No, Percy would never do that." Nico said
Percy smiled at him.
"No! I mean, yes, they followed me…skeletons in one loud CRUNCH!
Everybody looked at Nico.
"That was so much power." Thalia said
"It was, were you tired?" Hades asked
"A little but it affected me only later. I would've been more tired but then the adrenaline..." Nico said
Hades nodded.
"Good job with the skeletons though." He said
"Thanks dad."
Silence…I wish you were dead!"
"I'm really very grateful you aren't dead Perce." Nico said
"Thanks Nick." Percy grinned
The ground didn't swallow me up…It was a statue of Hades, Lord of the Dead.
"So the only statue he didn't have was of me?" Hades asked
Percy nodded.
"That's odd." Demeter said
"It was a very rare model." Nico said
Annabeth and Grover helped me search the woods for hours, but there was no sign of Nico di Angelo.
"How long did you search?" Nico asked
"An hour or two." Percy shrugged
"What?!" Nico exclaimed
"We wanted to keep you safe." Annabeth said
Nico swallowed.
Percy figured what the problem might be.
"Nico don't feel guilty for what you said to me. You apologized many times. I'm absolutely fine with that. You're my younger bro and I love you. You were ten and lost a sister and you were new to the demigod stuff." He said gently
"Thanks Perce." Nico smiled
Percy gave Nico a hug. Will watched them with happiness.
"We have to tell Chiron," Annabeth said…"I don't think Hades broke the oath."
Hades nodded and glared at Zeus.
"What?"… "That's the last thing we need."
"You're right. Zeus would go all paranoid again and end up killing Nico which would lead to Hades beating the shit out of Zeus. That would lead to the sisters trying to calm them down but Zeus would be too egoistical to apologize. Dad would give up and Hades would not help during the war. Demeter and Persephone would be with him though Demeter might not be too happy about it. Hera would be with Zeus, quite possibly know he was wrong but still and the others would've given up." Triton said
"That… was very very accurate." Percy said
"I swear." Thalia shook her head
"This is way too accurate." Nico said
Triton grinned.
Grover looked worried…poor kid suffer any more."
Nico and Hades looked at Percy.
"Maybe we can find him," I said…Namely, me."
"Thank you, though I'm being a little selfish her but still…" Hades said to Percy
"No problem." Percy grinned
"Thanks Perce, I told you all of that and you still protected me." Nico smiled
"Sure little bro." Percy grinned
"I'm allowing that this one time." Nico grinned
"I'm going to keep calling you that." Percy smirked
Nico groaned good-naturedly.
Everybody chuckled.
I wasn't sure Chiron believed the story Annabeth and I told him.
"I didn't." Chiron said
He understood why those three had kept it a secret and he was proud of them for being so selfless.
I think he could tell…he accepted it.
"What choice did I have?" Chiron sighed
"Fair enough." Grover said
"So young," Chiron sighed…recruited into the Titans' army."
Hades was currently having mixed feelings. He did not want his son eaten by monsters or recruited into the army and luckily it hadn't happened.
That idea made me really uneasy…You will need rest."
The sea gang nodded.
I looked at Annabeth…I didn't want to think about it.
"This is one case when you actually fear your birthday." Percy sighed
"All right," I said…"Deal. And, Percy—"
"I don't think it was Annabeth we have to worry about." Thalia laughed
"I had to talk my dad out of doing stunts so many times." Annabeth chuckled
Everybody laughed good-naturedly.
Whatever she was going…like he'd seen a specter.
Dionysus' face turned extremely pale.
"He spoke!" Grover cried…And he spoke in my mind!"
"See I told you, a few gods, communicate in the weirdest ways." Percy grinned
Grover chuckled.
"Who?" Annabeth demanded…'I await you.'"
Grover, Hermes and Dionysus sighed.
The pale color Dionysus had gotten due to the curse disappeared.
"Done with the book." Hera said
"Let's take a break for one to two days then start with the next book." Chiron said
Everybody agreed.
They all went to the dining hall and ate some lunch and drank some shakes and coffee.
Aphrodite took the big three and their wives away to a corner.
"You three should get along better with your spouse." She said
"Huh what now?" Poseidon asked
"You heard me, I'll be giving you compatibility trials." She said
"No." Hades said
"Yes." Aphrodite said
"No."
"No choice."
"Damn it just agree to it now." Hera said
"Fine." Zeus said
"Dad, come on dress shopping." Percy came and took his father away.
Same with Nico, Thalia, Jason and Hazel.
The three gods chuckled and went.
"What did Aphrodite want?" Percy asked
"She wants to give us compatibility lessons with our spouses." Poseidon sighed
"Whaat? You guys get along great, except Zeus and Hera." Nico said
"We said something similar." Hades said
"She didn't listen." Poseidon said
"Sad." Nico said
They nodded.
"Let's go to the mall." Jason said
Everybody agreed and went to the road where the mall was located.