To HoO Fan- (Chapter 24) did you have someone in mind for this random couple no one would ship? (Chapter 26) Sharkbait is DEFINITELY not a child appropriate name! And yes, I'm sticking with my joblot of Jackson kids, I spent too much time on them to write new ones! Yes, there are seven, three of them are triplets! None of them came from Annabeth's head, no matter how hard she tried!

To RandomFanAuthor- Preach!

Bit more of Lou and Nico's past, I am working out details. May focus on the Trouble is not restricted to Paradise story for a bit...

"Left a bit. Not that much left." Louisa patiently corrected his aim and he fired. He was targeting an apple, hanging from a branch about ten feet over their heads, about twenty feet away. His arrow skimmed the fruit, nicking the side, juice trickling from the tear. Nico sighed, lowering his aching arms.

"Your bow is too heavy."

"I'm sorry I can't magic up one of ya own, cuz. Ya gonna have ta make do. Now aim left."

"But not that much left?"

"Now ya gettin' it." She offered him a fresh arrow and an encouraging smile. "Nearly had it that time, try again."

"Fine." He grumbled, reloading. Louisa adjusted his arms a little, pointed out a few things about his stance.

"Pull back ta ya cheek, that's it. The longer ya take ta aim, the more wobbly ya gonna shoot. Load, aim, fire, done. Get that apple, Nico." Nico fired. The apple vanished. An excited, incredulous gasp escaped him.

"Did I get it?" Louisa ventured forward, following the arrow's path before it had disappeared in the bushes. She leant down, spinning on her heel as she straightened, brandishing an apple skewered on an arrow.

"You got it!" She beamed. Nico grinned, a victorious bounce in his step. He started forward, then remembered himself, faltering. He looked at the bow in his hand, smile dimming. Louisa's hand fell on his shoulder. "Hey, what is it? Ya got the apple. Ya can eat it now, if ya want."

"I think I'm done for today."

"But… OK. How 'bout some sword work, gods know ya need it."

"No. No, thank you, I…" He hesitated. "Thank you for your help, Louisa." He pressed the bow into her hand. She gave it a slight shake and it shrunk back into her watch. He could feel her trying to decipher him, the weight of her gaze. "Lou, I'm fine, stop trying to read my mind."

"How'd ya know I'm tryin' ta read ya mind? Could be tryin' ta set you on fire. Who knows?" Her grip tightened on his shoulder and she smiled. "Let's get some lunch. Hotdogs on me. Nope, no way out of it!" She threw an arm around his shoulders, whistling loudly. "Ya ain't met Storm yet, have ya? Ah, ya gonna love her." She stood, head tipped back to watch the sky through a break in the trees. Nico wanted to ask who Storm was, wanted to wiggle out of her hold. He had quickly learnt that she liked to surprise him and getting free was another ordeal all on its own.

The answer to his question did not take long, not even a minute of waiting. "There!" She grinned, pointing out a dark speck in the sky. It grew closer and closer, Nico could see the outlines of wings and then a horse. His heart skipped a beat.

It's not Blackjack, he told himself, she called it Storm, it's a different pegasus. He's not here. He glanced askew at Louisa as she waved and called to her pegasus. She knew Percy's name, knew what he had done, or failed to do. She did not know his heritage.

And he was going to keep it that way, for as long as he could.

He had known right away who she was. The same dark hair, the tanned skin, the same sea green eyes. But she carried herself differently, born of a different nature. She would not have let Bianca die. She was not a coward.

The pegasus landed. Now the creature was out of direct sunlight, he saw she wasn't jet black like Blackjack, but a dappled, dark grey with a raven mane and tail. She stomped her hoof and whinnied a greeting. Louisa beamed, dragging Nico forward. "Storm, this is me cousin, Nico. Nico, this is Storm. Say hello." Nico mumbled unintelligibly. Louisa sighed. She took him gently by the wrist, laying his hand on her snout.

Storm snorted, huffing hot breath over his palm. "Yeah, he's Hades' kid. Cool, right? Got another Big Three brat to fuck shit up." Storm headbutted Nico in the chest, eyes gleaming with a smile. Louisa grinned. "She says it's nice ta meet you."

"You… you can talk to her?"

"Oh, yeah. Pegasi, horses, zebras. 'N' fish. Joys of Ne- Poseidon-y stuff. Here, has ya dad got any sacred animals? Wonder if you can talk ta them…"

"Most animals hate me." Nico said stiffly. "They can sense death."

"Nah, can't be it. Must be that grumpy look on ya face." Louisa smirked. Storm neighed, snuffling at Nico's face. "See, Storm likes ya." She tipped her head to one side, Storm now burying her nose in Nico's hair. "Here, she says she'll give ya a ride, if ya want. You ain't lived ta ya've flown a pegasus, cuz. Come on, up ya go." She pushed him gently in the back. Nico immediately protested. "It's fine, I ain't gonna let her drop you."

"But-"

"Try for two minutes. If ya don't like it, we'll come straight back down, OK?" Storm pawed the ground, nodding in agreement, tossing her mane. Louisa instructed him where to put his foot to climb up, jumping up behind him with ease. "Mind how ya go, Storm, nervous rider." Storm fluffed her wings, turning her head slightly to look her human in the eye and snort indignantly. "I know ya know that, but Nico don't know ya know that, does he? He don't talk horse." Storm whickered, stomping her hoof. "Ugh, fine, sorry," Louisa held her hands up, "he don't talk pegasus, my deepest apologies. Ya'll sound the same, don't see what the problem is. Yes, I know ya've got wings! Just- use ya wings 'n' go, for the love of-" Storm took off before Louisa could finish her sentence, launching into the sky. Nico scrambled for handfuls of mane, pulling himself forward and throwing his arms around the mare's neck. Louisa held onto him tightly, the sky spinning into a vortex around them. "Storm! I said nervous rider, not make him a nervous rider! Fuck's sake, ya had one job!"

"Please stop spinning!" Nico requested, squeezing his eyes shut as his stomach began to churn. They lurched and the whirling stopped. Louisa huffed behind him, her hold loosened a little and then altogether.

"Ya can look now, cuz. She's gonna behave." Nico carefully opened one eye, his cheek smushed to the mare's neck. He opened his other eye. The ground was far below them, he could see the entire sprawl of the city in the distance, grey behind the expanse of green. Clouds floated overhead, the air was cool and pleasant, tickling his exposed skin. The sun was at their back, warming him through his aviator's jacket.

Louisa patted his head, laughing. "If ya think that's cool, wait until ya see the bastards at the bottom of the ocean. They'll rip ya arm off given the chance. 'N' the rest of ya body."

"That sounds like an amazing trip, sign me up."

"Keep the sarcasm up 'n' it won't be voluntary."