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.

New Comrades Means New Compromise

Percy and I sat at the picnic table with Leo and Calypso. As I kinda expected since hearing about Leo freeing Calypso our greeting was not so kind. Calypso ignored me. Percy gave Leo and Calypso a grateful hug, although it was awkward between Calypso and Percy. From what I understand, Percy was Calypso's last visitor before Leo, and although they patch things up, it is still awkward between them.

"So how was your Travels across America?" Percy asked.

"Horrible. We kept running into one crisis after another. It didn't help when Festus and the Archimedes sphere somehow lost its GPS function," Leo said. "I tried to contact Beckendorf for advice, but nothing got through. We ended up at the Junkyard of the Gods, Triple G-Ranch that is run by some son of Ares…"

"Eurytion," Percy said. "How is he?"

"Doing good actually. When I told him I knew you, he gave Calypso and I shelter for the night," Leo said. "Anyways we even somehow spend a week in some hotel in Las Vegas that was enchanted."

"Lotus Casino and Hotel?" Percy winced. "That happened to Grover, Annabeth and me on our first quest. Nico and Bianca had it worse though as they were there for sixty years."

"Please do not remind me of that place!" Nico shouted.

"Fortunately, after asking around, I remember Nico telling me of the place," Calypso said. "Otherwise, we might have been there longer."

"The enchantment didn't have a hold of Calypso like it did on me," Leo admitted. "We think it's because of all those centuries she was under house arrest on Ogygia."

"Rachel Dare thinks the communication issues and whatever disabled Archimedes Spheres got something to do with a company called the Triumvirate. Which is run by three of the worse emperors—we are guessing from the original Octavian Caesar to Diocletian," Percy said.

"The original owner of that scepter Nico has?" Leo asked.

"The same," I responded. "We know identity of one of them: Nero Caesar. He's the reason the Camp is the way it is right now."

"I think I heard of Nero before," Leo said. "Hazel mention him along with Diocletian and some other emperor name Caligula as emperors the nuns from her school use to teach her about—something about torturing and killing Christians."

"That's Nero," I responded. "He was nicknamed the Beast by Christians as he would burn them on crosses."

"That actually explains why any emperor after Diocletian can't be among the Triumvirate," Percy said. "Apollo said Nero called the Christians terrorist, right?"

I nodded. "He used the Christians as scapegoats for the fire of Rome."

"So naturally Nero wouldn't want to work with any Christian Emperor," Percy responded.

"So, whoever the other two emperors are, they're trying to take over the oracles."

"Yes," I agreed.

"And that's bad."

"Very."

"So, you need our help," Calypso said.

"Basically," Percy spoke for me.

Calypso looked quite different from what I remembered. Her hair was still long and caramel brown. Her almond-shaped eyes were still dark and intelligent. But now, instead of a chiton she wore modern jeans, a white blouse, and a shocking-pink ski jacket. She looked younger, my mortal age.

"So, any luck with what happened with your immortality?" Percy asked Calypso.

Calypso shook her head. "We think I lost my immortality for good when I left Ogygia. We just didn't realize it until we were at the House of Hades."

That is unfair! she keeps her otherworldly beauty with no flab or acne.

"Only bright side is I still have my magic power, and I still have skills I attained without magic," Calypso said. "But it's pretty much limited though."

I can understand that. Although I still have some powers, I was limited too.

At that moment Harley showed up and threw his arms around Leo and broke down sobbing.

"He been missing you," I explained. "Due to communication problems, he hasn't been able to contact Beckendorf, and without an oracle Chiron won't let him go out and visit him."

"Hey, brother." Leo ruffled his hair and had a good sense of ashamed. "You brought me home with that beacon of yours, H-Meister. You are a hero. You know I never would've left you hanging like that on purpose, don't you?"

Harley wailed, sniffled, and nodded.

"Tell you what Harley, now that the Grove of Dodona is back and active, you and I talk to Chiron later to see if I can't take you to NYU on weekends to see Beckendorf until Apollo can fix the communication problem so you can Iris Message both him and Leo again," Percy offered. "I'm sure Beckendorf be happy to see his youngest brother."

Harley nodded as he hugged Leo tighter.

"At any rate," Calypso said suppressing her smile (brotherly moments like that always cheer people up), "these problems with the Roman emperors."

"You're coming with?" I asked a little shock.

"Where Leo goes, I go," Calypso said. "Besides, I want to check on Reyna since I haven't been in contact with her since communications been cut, and you have to go there eventually to check on Ella."

"According to Jason, Camp Jupiter been out of communication longer than the rest of us due to some issues going on there," Percy said. "Maybe you guys can find out what that was and see if it's fixed. I don't think they need Roman Emperors marching on them while they are still having problems themselves."

"That's a good point," I agreed. "I'm grateful for the help. Leo Valdez, you have always been a gentleman and a genius. You created the Valdezinator."

Leo grinned. "I did, didn't I? I suppose that was awesome. So where is the next Oracle?"

Percy tapped the picnic table. "Chiron and I were talking about this. He figures the Triumvirate divided America into three parts, with one emperor in charge of each. We know Nero is holed up in New York, so we're guess this next Oracle is in the second dude's territory, maybe in the middle third of the U.S. Apollo, you said Dodona mention Indiana, right?"

Before I could answer, Rachel showed up pushing Chiron in his wheelchair by Rachel Dare. The old centaur gave Leo a warm fatherly smile. "My boy, I am so pleased you and Calypso made it back from your Travels Across America. Well done, and welcome back!" Chiron spread his arms for a hug.

Leo and Calypso hugged him back.

"Well, I guess I'd better keep my strength up," Leo said. "Where do you guys eat lunch now that the Colossus stepped on the dining pavilion?"

…

Percy left with Harley before dinner, taking a side trip to NYU to visit Beckendorf before going to the Jackson family home where Harley would stay until next weekend.

I expected a moving one-on-one farewell, during which he would ask about DSTOMP, being a hero, and living life in general. After he lent me his help in defeating the Colossus, it would have been the least I could do.

Instead, he just gave us some heart warm goodbyes before setting off. He even left me with his Kopis, saying we might still need it. Then he took Mrs. O'Leary and Harley and shadow travel out of there.

Like lunch, dinner was a casual affair. As darkness fell, we ate on picnic blankets around the hearth, which blazed with Hestia's warmth and kept away the winter chill. Festus the dragon sniffed around the perimeter of the cabins, occasionally blowing fire into the sky for no plain reason.

"We ended up going toe-to-toe with that Proto-Talos Percy warned me about at the Junkyard of the Gods," Leo said. "Dad apparently replaced the control disc in it so it can continue guarding the junkyard. Festus got a little dinged up. Sometimes he spews randomly like that."

He hasn't blowtorched anyone important yet," Calypso added, her eyebrow arched. "We'll see how he likes you."

Festus's red jewel gleamed in the darkness. After driving the sun chariot for so long, I was not nervous about riding a metal dragon, but when I thought about what we would be riding toward, geraniums bloomed in my stomach.

I had planned to go alone," I told them. "The prophecy from Dodona speaks of the bronze fire-eater, but… it feels wrong for me to ask you to risk your lives. You have been through so much just to get here."

Calypso tilted her head. "Perhaps you have changed. That does not sound like the Apollo I remember. You definitely are not as handsome."

"I am still quite handsome," I protested. "I just need to clear up this acne."

She smirked. "So, you haven't completely lost your big head."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Guys," Leo interrupted, "if we're going to travel together, let us try to keep it friendly. Besides, we were planning to head west once we got Festus' navigations fixed. I got to find my peeps Jason and Piper and Frank and Hazel and… well, everybody at Camp Jupiter, I guess. It'll be fun."

"Fun?" I asked. "The Oracle of Trophonius will supposedly swallow me in death and madness. Even if I survived that, my other trials will no doubt be long, harrowing, and quite possibly fatal."

"Exactly," Leo said. "Fun. I do not know about calling the whole quest thing Apollo's trials, though. I think we should call it Leo Valdez's Victory Lap World Tour."

Calypso laughed and laced her fingers in Leo's. She may not have been immortal anymore, but she still had grace and easiness about her that I could not fathom. She seemed genuinely happy to be with Valdez—to be young and mortal, even if it meant she could die at any moment.

Unlike me, she had chosen to become mortal. She knew that leaving Ogygia was a risk, but she had done it willingly. I did not know how she had found the courage.

"Hey, man," Leo told me. "Don't look so glum. We'll find her."

I stirred. "What"

"Your friend Meg. We will find her. Don't worry."

A bubble of darkness burst inside me. For once, I had not been thinking of Meg. I had been thinking about myself, and that made me feel guilty. Perhaps Calypso was right to question whether I had changed.

I gazed at the silent forest. I remembered Meg dragging me to safety when I was cold, soaked, and delirious. I remembered how fearlessly she fought the myrmekes, and how she had ordered Peaches to get the match box from Nero after Alabaster stopped the fire from burning down the Grove. She did that despite her fear of unleashing the Beast. I had to make her realized how evil Nero was. I had to find her. But how?

"Meg knows the prophecy," I said. "If she tells Nero, he ill knows our plans as well."

Calypso took a bite of her apple. "I missed the whole Roman Empire, and I wasn't there when Hazel brought up Nero. How bad can these emperors be."

"Bad," I assured her. "And he is allied with two others. We do not know which ones, but it is safe to assume they are equally cutthroat. They have had centuries to amass fortunes, buy property, build armies… Who knows what they are capable of?"

"Eh," Leo said. "We took down Gaea in, like, forty seconds. This'll be easy squeezy."

I seemed to recall that the lead-up to the fight with Gaea had involved months of suffering and near misses with death. I also wanted to remind him that the Triumvirate might well have orchestrated all our earlier troubles with the Titans and giants, as well as all wars since the fall of the Roman Empire, which would make them more powerful than anything Leo had ever faced.

I decided that mentioning these things might affect the group morale.

"We'll succeed," Calypso said. "We must. So, we will. I don't know how long this mortal life of mine will be, but I intend to live fully without fear."

"That's my mamacita," Leo said.

"What have I told you about calling me mamacita?"

Leo grinned sheepishly. "In the morning we'll start getting our supplies together. As soon as Festus gets a tune up and an oil change, we'll be good to go."

I considered what supplies I would take with me. I had depressingly little: some borrowed clothes, a bow, a ukulele, and an overly theatrical arrow.

But the real difficulty would be saying good-bye to Will, Austin, and Kayla. They had helped me so much, and they embraced me as family more than I had ever embraced them. Tears tung my eyes. Before I could start sobbing, Will Solace stepped into the light of the hearth. "Hey, everybody! We've started a bonfire in the amphitheater!" Sing-along time. Come on!"

Groans were mixed in with cheers, but most everyone got to their feet and ambled toward the bonfire now blazing in the distance, where Nico di Angelo stood silhouetted in the flames, preparing rows of marshmallows on what looked like femur bones.

"Aw, man." Leo winced. "I'm terrible at sing-alongs. I always clap and do the 'Old MacDonald' sounds at the wrong time. Can we skip this?"

"Oh, no." I rose to my feet, suddenly feeling better. Tomorrow I would weep and think about good-byes. The day after we would be flying toward our deaths. But tonight, I intended to enjoy my time with my family. What had Calypso said? Live fully and without fear. If she could do it, then so could the brilliant, fabulous Apollo. "Singing is good for the spirits. You should never miss an opportunity to sing."

Calypso smiled. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but for once I agree with Apollo. Come on, Leo. I'll teach you to harmonize."

Together the three of us walked toward the sounds of laughter, music, and a warm crackling fire.

A/N: Thank you to all my reader that stuck through with this story to the end. The Next story will be 'The Tales of the Trials of Apollo: The Dark Prophecy'