The demigods raced home in anticipation of seeing Luke again. They briefly said their farewells to the mermaids and their boyfriends. Percy and Annabeth had refused to tell Piper or Jason anything the entire school day, so they were just as excited, if not more, than Percy or Annabeth. The four of them burst into the house to find Luke sitting on the couch watching TV and eating popcorn.
"What are you watching?" Percy asked, his ADHD kicking in.
"The Real Housewives of Olympus. I rigged the TV to be able to play Olympian channels," Luke explained. "Watching Hera and Aphrodite fight is hilarious. What makes it better is when Demeter tries to stop them by offering them cereal." The demigods all turned their heads towards the screen just in time to watch Demeter throw a box of Cheerios at Aphrodite, who was knocked out cold.
"Man! I think I've underestimated the power of cereal," Percy marveled. Thunder boomed in the distance.
"Yeah, yeah! You were right!" Percy shouted at the ceiling. Luke started cracking up. All five demigods watched the rest of the episode and Luke was about to start another one when Annabeth stopped him.
"Luke, you have some explaining to do. Especially to Piper and Jason," she reminded him.
"Fine," Luke grumbled and turned off the TV. Then he explained everything to Piper and Jason, including what happened when he died, considering they weren't there.
"So… Who is Antaeus, again?" Jason asked once Luke was finished talking.
"He's my half brother, son of Gaea. Antaeus is a giant red monster who is healed by the Earth. So we have to suspend him off the ground somehow to kill him. I did it once in the… Labyrinth," Percy elaborated.
"So he's coming to destroy you because he hates that he's your brother and he blames you for killing… uh sorry… putting his mother back to sleep?" Jason confirmed. Percy nodded.
"Wait. Your dad had a child with Gaea?" Luke pointed out, stifling a laugh. Percy playfully glared at him.
"Well, that kind of makes me angry. He's giving you all the credit for putting Gaea back to sleep!" Piper joked. Percy cracked a smile.
"Yes, Pipes. We know you, Jason, and… Leo did all the work," Percy paused before he said Leo's name. It was still a touchy subject for all of them. They just couldn't believe he was dead.
"Who's Leo?" Luke asked. No one answered. They were trapped in mournful silence.
Finally, Annabeth broke it. "He was one of the Seven. Leo sacrificed himself to defeat Gaea." Luke nodded understandingly.
"You know, I just realized I know nothing about your guys' quest," Luke pointed out.
"We'll tell you but you have to understand there are some parts we aren't ready to tell yet," Annabeth explained gravely. Luke nodded and Piper and Jason began by telling him about their quest.
When they were finally done, Luke didn't know what to say. They were all crying from telling him about Leo and Luke was still shocked about Nico.
"Wait, Nico is gay?" he questioned.
"Yes. He is dating Will Solace. Keep up," Annabeth teased while wiping tears from her eyes.
"And he had a crush on you?" Luke pointed to Percy. Percy nodded slowly to get his point across.
"And you were the first one to know about it?" Luke asked Jason in astonishment.
Annabeth took a deep breath. "Why are you so hung up on that?"
"I didn't even know Nico so I really don't know. I just remember seeing him fight with his dad. Gods, that was crazy," Luke marveled.
"You should see him now," Jason commented.
"Well, who wants to watch another episode of The Real Housewives of Olympus?" Luke announced to the group while grabbing for the remote. Everyone agreed and snuggled into the couch. Piper was especially excited to see her mother get whacked with cereal again.