A/N (I recommend reading this): I'm going to MAKE THIS CLEAR. Just like I mention on my bio page about every other fanfiction I done: I DON'T OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIAN SERIES or AND THE KANE CHRONICLES OR IT'S CHARACTERS as the rights goes to Rick Riordan. Also I suggest you guys start paying attention to the Author notes and my warnings that I left on EVERY chapter of EVERY story.

Sorry if this chapter is too much like the book.

This is a The Tales of version of the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles crossover and takes place after 'The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus part of the series. So if you haven't read them yet read before reading this story as stuff that happened in them will be mentioned:

The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Early Adventures
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Lightning Thief
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Sea of Monsters
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Titan's Curse
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Magical Labyrinth
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Stolen Chariot
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Sword of Hades
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Bronze Dragon
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Last Olympian
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Staff of Hermes
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Quest for Buford
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Son of Sobek
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Staff of Serapis
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Crown of Ptolemy

Also if you haven't got the chance feel free to read:

The Tales of Classical Mythology

A crossover with The Tales of series with my dictionary on Greek/Roman Mythology where The Tales of Percy Jackson tells his version of stories behind famous names in Greek and Roman Mythology.

And if you are a fan of Stephen King:

The Tales of the Heroes of the Stand

Which is basically a crossover of The Tales of series with one of Stephen King's best novels The Stand.

Lastly, any one who wants to do a Demigods and Olympian reads story using 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon' is allowed as long as you inform me about it.

I Should Have Dinner with My Children More Often, Even if it Includes Nico

I was not in the mood to celebrate.

Especially sitting at a picnic table eating mortal food. With mortals.

The dining pavilion was pleasant enough. Even in winter, the camp's magic borders shielded us from the worst of the elements. Sitting outdoors in the warmth of the torches and braziers, I felt only slightly chilly. Long Island Sound glittered in the light of the moon. (Hello, Artemis. Do not bother to say hi.) On Half-Blood Hill, the Athena Parthenos glowed like the world's largest nightlight. Even the woods did not seem so creepy with the pine trees blanketed in soft silvery fog.

My dinner, however, was less than poetic. It consisted of hot dogs, potato chips, and a goblet that produce any non-alcoholic drink asked for. It apparently also does not serve nectar because when I asked, nectar did not appear. So, I decided to go with good old Coke. Even the gods enjoy caffeinated drinks once a while.

I sat at the Apollo table with my children Austin, Kayla, and Will, plus Nico di Angelo. I did not know it was allowed for Nico to be dining with us, but I am not going to judge. I could see no difference between my table and any of the other gods' tables. Mine should have been shinier and more elegant. It should have played music or recited poetry upon command. Instead, it was just a slab of stone with benches on either side. I found the seating uncomfortable, though my offspring did not seem to mind.

Austin and Kayla peppered me with questions about Olympus, the war with Gaea, and what it felt to be a god then a human. I knew they did not mean to be rude. As my children, they inherently inclined to the utmost grace. However, their questions were painful reminders of my fallen status.

Besides, as the hours passed, I remembered less and less about my divine life. It was alarming how fast my cosmically perfect neurons had deteriorated. Once, each memory had been like a high-definition audio file. Now those recordings were on wax cylinders. And believe me, I remember wax cylinders. They did not last long in the sun chariot.

Will explained that was typical mortal memory. Older the memory less you tend to remember unless something triggers the memory to come back. Until then the mortal brain was just making room for fresh memories.

That did not make me feel any better.

Will and Nico sat shoulder to shoulder, bantering good-naturedly. They were so cute together it made me feel desolate. It causes one of those triggers Will mention, jogging my memories of those few short golden months I had shared with Hyacinthus before the jealously, before the horrible accident…

"Nico," I said at last, "shouldn't you be sitting at the Hades table?"

He shrugged. "Technically, yes. But Chiron lightened up on the rules of table arrangements since the last war so we can sit where we please if we scrape portions to the god of the table we are eating at. Besides, if I sit alone at my table, strange things happen. Cracks open in the floor. Zombies crawl out and start roaming around. It is a mood disorder. I cannot control it. That's what I told Chiron."

"Some of the older campers still follow the tradition," Will said, "But the younger campers—well, if they were here, they would be lingering around other tables.

I look around and saw what Will meant. I can see campers lingering at different tables, but some of the older ones or ones been at camp before the giant war I guess, stayed at their respected tables. I guess you cannot just erase years of tradition in half a year.

Meg, on other hand, was placed with the children of Hermes as camp tradition since her godly parentage had not yet been determined. But if the other gods were keeping their oaths made at the end of the second Titan war, I am sure that will change soon. I doubt Zeus turned all the gods of Olympus into mortals after all. Meg did not seem to mind her placement. She was bushy recreating the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest all by herself. The other two girls, Julia and Alice, watched her with a mixture of fascination and horror.

Across the table from her sat an older skinny boy with curly brown hair—Connor Stoll, I deduced, though I had never been able to tell him apart from his older brother, Travis. Despite the darkness, Connor wore sunglasses, no doubt to protect his eyes from a repeat poking. I also noted that he wisely kept his hands away from Meg's mouth.

An entire pavilion, I counted twenty-one campers. Most sat at their respective tables—Sherman Yang for Ares; a girl I did not know obvious by beautiful appearance one of Aphrodite's at her table; another girl for Demeter. At Nike table, two dark-haired young ladies who were obviously twins conversed over a war map. Nemesis cabin there were two campers that were obviously half-siblings. One had an eye patch I recognized as Ethan Nakamura, a camper who return to camp after being forgiven for turning against Olympus to help Kronos (on Percy's request). There was a third camper with brown messy hair that was not Ethan's half-brother, but the way he chatted up with Ethan told me they knew each other well. If anything, that camper was the only one of the older campers that was not sticking to camp tradition. Chiron himself, again in full centaur form, stood at the head table, sipping his drink as he chatted with two satyrs, but their mood was subdued. The goat-men kept glancing at me, then eating their silverware, as satyrs tend to do when nervous. Half a dozen gorgeous dryads moved between the tables offering food and drink, but I was so preoccupied I could not fully appreciate their beauty. Even more tragic: I felt too embarrassed to flirt with them. What was wrong with me?

I studied the campers, hoping to spot some potential servants… I mean new friends. Gods always like keep a few strong veteran demigods handy to throw into battle, send on dangerous quest, or pick the lint off our togas. Unfortunately, no one at dinner jumped out at me as a likely minion. I longed for bigger pool of talent.

"So… how many campers signed up at New Rome University?" I asked.

Will pondered on this. "Several really. I know Travis Stoll from Hermes. Jake Mason from Hephaestus…"

"What about Clarisse la Rue? Katie Gardner? Others?" I asked.

"Well not all campers joined New Rome University. It really was just optional, just as it was for the Romans there." Will explained. "Clarisse and her boyfriend Chris Rodriguez decided to go to University of Arizona, and Katie last I heard was in a university of her home state. Heck Even Beckendorf and Silena had left Camp for good to attend New York University."

"What about the ones who went on that quest with the boat?"

Will and Nico exchanged a look that might have meant, here we go. I suppose they got asked a lot about the seven legendary demigods who had fought side by side with the gods against Gaea's giants. It pained me that I had not gotten to see those heroes again. After any major battle, I liked to get a group photo—along with exclusive rights to compose epic ballads about their exploits.

"Well," Nico started, "you saw Percy. He and Annabeth are spending their senior year in New York but before we lost communication, he contacted Chiron occasionally with updates on ideas for new monuments he and Annabeth came up with. Hazel and Frank are at Camp Jupiter doing the Twelfth Legion thing. Jason and Piper are spending the school year in Los Angeles with Piper's dad, so Jason could be close to Camp Jupiter if needed before Percy and Annabeth start New Rome University."

"Oh yeah, Percy mention something about trade off of jobs with Jason," I responded. "But I didn't know Jason's exact location."

"Yeah, from what we heard if Percy not Iris-messaging Jason, or Jason not messaging him, Annabeth is, helping the boys exchange ideas." Will said. "No telling what they're doing now with communication cut."

"Anyways, Jason and Piper took Coach Hedge, Mellie, and little Chuck with them."

"Uh-huh." I did not know those last three names, so I decided they probably were not important. "And the seventh hero… Leo Valdez?"

Nico raised his eyebrows. "You remember his name?"

"Of course! He invented the Valdezinator. Oh, what a musical instrument! I barely had time to master its major scales before Zeus zapped me at the Parthenon. If anyone could help me, it would be Leo Valdez."

"Well, Leo isn't here," Will said. "Sometime after the fight with Gaea, Leo and his girlfriend Calypso—"

I sprayed my drink and coughed. "Calypso—from Ogygia?"

"Yeah. Leo freed her on the way to the House of Hades," Nico said. "She then traveled with me, Reyna, and Coach Hedge in getting the Athena Parthenos here."

"Nico and Calypso became good friends over the trip," Will said. "They were able to relate with each other, which helped him open up."

"Hard not to when she's the first person besides my sisters that knows what it's like to be locked away outside mortal time and then finally released into a world you don't recognize," Nico said.

"I'm not complaining. I'm just saying it helped you a lot." Will said.

Those two started to remind me of my time with Hyacinthus again.

"So… what did Leo and Calypso did?" I asked.

"Well, after the battle Leo got permission from Chiron and he and Calypso took Leo's bronze dragon, Festus out for a cross-country travel," Will said. "We got one of his holographic scroll messages before summer session ended telling us he and Calypso were fine, but that was back in August. We have no idea where he is now."

"Maybe whatever is cutting off communications is messing with Festus' navigation," I offered. "Chiron told me he hasn't been able to contact Rachel Dare either."

"I don't know much about automatons—that's more of Hephaestus specialty—but at this rate I wouldn't be surprise if you're right," Will said.

Kayla and Austin had been noticeably quiet, following our conversation with wonder and amazement. (My words have that effect on people.)

Now Kayla scooted toward me. "What did you guys talk about in the Big House? Chiron told you about the disappearances…?"

"Yes." I tried to avoid looking in the direction of the woods. "We discuss the situation."

"And?" Austin spread his fingers on the table. "What's going on?"

I did not want to talk about it. I did not want them to see my fear.

I wish my head would stop pounding. On Olympus, headaches were so much easier to cure. Hephaestus simply split one's skull open and extracted whatever newborn god or goddess happened to be banging around in there.

Okay, that only happened once with Zeus, and that was how Athena was born. But it just shows how unusual it is for gods to have headaches.

Still, in the mortal world, my options were more limited.

"I need time to think about it," I said. "Perhaps in the morning I'll have some godly powers back."

Austin leaned forward. In the torchlight, his corncrows seemed to twist into new DNA patterns. "Is that how it works? Your strength comes back over time?"

"I—I think so." I tried to remember my years of servitude with Admetus and Laomedon, but I could barely conjure their names and faces. My contracting memories might seem normal to mortals, but for me it was terrifying. It made each moment of the present balloon in size and importance, reminding me that time for mortals was limited.

"I have to get stronger," I decided. "I must."

Kayla squeezed my hand. Her archer's fingers were roughed and calloused. "It's okay, Apollo… Dad. We'll help you."

Austin nodded. "Kayla's right. We are in this together. If anybody gives you trouble, Kayla will shoot them. Then I'll cursed them so bad they'll be speaking in rhyming in couplets for weeks."

Nico muttered something that sounded like, "Let's hope it don't come down to that."

Will nudge Nico as though reminding him this was not the place.

My eyes watered. Not so long ago—like this morning, for instance—the idea of these young demigods being able to help me would have struck me as ridiculous. Now their kindness moved me more than a hundred sacrificial bulls. I could not recall the last time someone had cared about me enough to curse my enemies with rhyming couplets.

I then remember Hal, and the risk he took giving that one girl a warning about what was supposed to be impending death. I wonder if he felt the same way as his siblings right now. Ignoring the consequences for someone he cared about. Maybe it is something in their mortal blood that we gods do not understand.

"Thank you," I managed.

I could not add my children. It did not seem right. These demigods were my protectors and my family, but for the present I could not think of myself as their father any more than I am starting to realize I cannot think of being Hal's father. A father should do more—a father should give more to his children than he takes. I must admit that this was a novel idea for me. It made me feel even worse than before.

"Hey…" Will patted my shoulder, "It's not so bad. At least with everybody being on high alert, we might not have to do Harley's obstacle course tomorrow."

Kayla muttered in ancient Greek curse. If I had been a proper godly father, I would have washed her mouth out with olive oil.

"I forgot all about that," she said. "They'll have to cancel it, won't they?"

I frowned. "What obstacle course? Chiron mentioned nothing about this."

I wanted to object that my entire day had been an obstacle course. Surely, they could not expect me to do their camp activities as well. Before I could say as much, one of the satyrs blew a conch horn at the head table.

Chiron raised his arms for attention.

"Campers!" His voice filled the pavilion. He could be quite impressive when he wanted to be. "I have a few announcements, including news about tomorrow's three-legged death race!"

A/N: I'm going to say this about Chiara Paolo Holly and Laurel one more time since last time was a late addition to an author's note. I know I brought them up as minor characters in The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus part of the series, but since this story is in Apollo's POV and he doesn't know them, their names will be reintroduced.

I haven't had any complaints about that as I had hope but I thought I bring it up again.