THE WRAP-UP

5 years ago. . .

"So let me get the facts straight," Apollo started. "I know all of you are demigods but I don't know who exactly your godly parent is. Do you know?"

With different cups of coffee on the table, the four of them, namely Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, and Apollo Charleston, had settled at the table by the window of Starbucks the next morning after the Python fiasco. They sat on the couch, Jason and Apollo being nearest to the window. Reyna was sitting beside Jason, across from them was Apollo and Percy.

The latter three looked at each other and all of them shrugged.

"All of us never met our parents on the godly side." Percy air quoted the word godly. "Our mortal parents mostly didn't have any idea that they hooked up with a god and after a one-night stand. Poof! Whoever those gods were, they just vanished."

Apollo nodded in agreement "We're assholes that way."

"I know right," Jason muttered.

"But I have some assumptions as to whom my godly parent is," Reyna said. "Based on my powers and weapons they left to me. Plus, I made some research."

"We made some research too and have some assumptions," Jason said.

"Oh yeah, the weapons you wielded last night," Apollo said nodding. "At least they're quite sentimental to leave you weapons. Most of the gods don't just leave something for their children especially if they decided to vanish from their lives."

"So who do you think your godly parents are?" The sun-god continued.

"I can control water, breathe underwater, and make mini hurricanes occur," Percy answered. "So I was thinking Poseidon. There's also a symbol of a trident on my sword anyway."

Apollo looked impressed. "That's one of the big three."

"Just you wait till you hear Jason's," Percy said.

"Not totally a big deal, dude," Jason said, then he sighed. "I can fly and summon lightning-"

"Let me guess, Zeus?" Apollo interrupted him.

"I was thinking Jupiter because I got a coin made of imperial gold which is what usually Romans used in building weapons back then. Is that even possible for there to be a roman and a greek side? Are they different or just one god. .?"

"Totally different." Apollo sipped on his coffee. "I have a roman counterpart, after all." He looked at Reyna. "How about you?"

"Oh, just highly skilled with weapons than your average people out there. Our family heritage had been acquainted with the goddess Bellona, so it's most likely her." Reyna answered.

"Wait, I am curious," Percy said leaning forward and looking at Reyna. "Can you read minds because you can easily tell when a person's lying so. . ."

"Ah, that," Reyna snapped her fingers.

Outside the coffee shop just right by the window, two metal dogs appeared. One was gold and the other was silver. Jason yelped in surprise.

"Holy shit!" Percy exclaimed. Some customers looked at them, curious and also annoyed.

Jason looked around nervously and spoke in a low voice. "Can mortals see them?"

"No," Reyna answered. "They're covered by the mist. They are just going to bark when a person's lying. That's Aurum and Argentum. They are useful in interrogation and sniffing out the criminals in hiding. They can detect bombs too."

"You have your own K-9 units, dam," Percy said.

When Reyna snapped her fingers, the two dogs disappeared.

"Well, that's pretty impressive," Apollo said.

"But there's one thing I don't understand, Lord Apollo," Reyna said looking at Apollo.

"Apollo is fine," Apollo said.

"Apollo," Reyna corrected. "Why are you here in the mortal world? You mentioned something about living as a mortal, what does that mean?"

"I got punished by dear father Zeus before-"

"Hold on a sec, does that mean we're siblings?" Jason looked at Apollo, mouth slightly open.

"Don't dwell on the technicalities, dude. Gods don't exactly have DNA and the Olympian family is sort of twisted in its own way," Apollo said. "So as I was saying, I got punished because of someone else's mistake and Zeus stripped me of my divinity for the third time. I got redemption sometime later on and my godhood was given back to me. The thing is, when I became a mortal for the third time, I realized how much I enjoyed living here, so I stayed. Never stayed in Olympus for more than fifty years. A god's power could weaken if he doesn't go back to his home turf, which for me is Olympus and that's what basically happened to me. I didn't go back. I just got updates from Hermes on what's been happening back on Olympus."

Silence.

"What's going to happen to Will and Nico now?" Jason suddenly asked.

The image of Will Solace lying on the hospital bed unconscious crossed their minds. His bare chest was wrapped in a bandage and several tubes hooked to his body while an oxygen mask was on his face. They left his hospital room with Nico sitting on the chair beside Will's bed and falling asleep.

"Well, just like what Nico said before passing out, they're mortals now as a price of leaving the Underworld, which I'm not surprised of," Apollo answered, looking out the window. "Somehow, I could sympathize with them on that one. But I believe they'll do just fine. If there's one thing I learned from living here, power is not the only thing that can make your life go round and round."

"You said something about Olympus," Percy mentioned. "Where exactly is it?"

Apollo gave them a knowing smile. "Empire State Building."

"What?" All three exclaimed at the same time.

Will Solace woke up after about a week. Another more week passed before the tubes connected to his body were finally pulled out, except for the IV line. The upper frame of his bed was elevated so he could read more comfortably on his phone he was holding. He's been out for a while so he was catching up on the news.

Apparently, Triumvirate Laboratories was forced to be shut down after their CEO Nero Johansen had been arrested for being involved in a long time operating syndicate, and after discovering illegal weapons, drugs, and money hidden in the building. The explosion accident that happened there was concluded as a gas leak on the lower levels. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured and died in that event.

Oh, Will Solace was back on the news again. According to it, Will was shot after rescuing the love of his life, Nico di Angelo, who had been kidnapped by a psychopath named Bryce Lawrence and had died on the scene. The building where the said kidnapping had happened was set for demolition at the end of that month.

Will sighed at that news. He heard that Agatha was devastated on what happened that she didn't finish the internship at Jupiter Half-Blood Hospital, and moved to another town. Will didn't get a chance to talk to Agatha before she moved out but he made sure to check up on her as soon as he got discharged from the hospital.

Then he and Nico seemed to get the attention of the public because of the drama they had created. Solangelo ship was sailing again and extended not just only on the walls of JHH. Will might have read a few blogs about them while Nico was still confused about it. To be honest, Will thought that the news about the kidnapping was a little bit exaggerated. His father mentioned something about taking care of what had happened and he wouldn't be surprised if Apollo was involved in things like that. The news was a tad dramatic, after all, and the kind of drama that only Apollo would be able to come up with. Will was not really looking forward to another set of media interviews after getting out of the hospital.

"Knock, knock,"

He yelped in surprise, dropping the gadget in his lap. He looked to his side. Bianca di Angelo was standing there, her hand raised to the open window next to her. She was leaning back on the windowsill. Her long straight black hair was tied in a high ponytail. There was a smidge of eyeliner around her eyes, too. She wore a black leather jacket, and underneath was a white blouse half-tucked into her black skinny jeans she had buckled with a black thick leather belt. To finish the look, she also wore high heeled boots that reached her knee. All in all, she looked like she was ready to kick anyone's ass for pissing her off in an instant. Will was likely the candidate.

Will frowned.

"Yeah, I get it, you're not so thrilled to see me." Bianca stood straighter and walked around. Her eyes roamed as if trying to find something extraordinary to the plain hospital room.

"It's not that," Will said. "I just don't understand why I can still see you. I thought I lost the ability to see death angels. I haven't seen any death angels until you."

"Oh, don't worry, you still lost your ability." Bianca tapped the sunflower on the vase resting on the bedside table. The flowers were courtesy of Nico. "I retired from being a death angel, not that you cared about that, of course."

"Retired? Wow, I didn't know there was retirement for your job. I thought it was for eternity," Will said putting down his phone on the bedside table.

"It is, but I'm special, so I can do it." Bianca sat at the edge of Will's bed.

"Of course you are." Will nodded. "Does Nico know you're here?"

"We just met a while ago for a proper goodbye and all. . ." Bianca answered. "He's probably on his way here now."

"You going somewhere again?" Will raised an eyebrow.

"I asked Father to be reborn, so this is going to be the last time you're ever going to see me."

"Oh. . ."

"Please don't cry. I can't handle any more crying after Nico."

"I'm not."

"Good."

"I never got a chance to thank you, you know," Will said, playing with the edge of his blanket. "For what you did for us back in the Underworld and everything before that. Thank you."

"Oh, it's mostly for Nico but sure, you're welcome."

Will rolled his eyes. "Gosh, you're gonna hate me until the end."

"It's one of my simple pleasures in life, my heartfelt hatred for you." Yet, Bianca di Angelo's eyes were twinkling as she smiled a little bit when she looked at Will.

Then Bianca's face turned serious. "Anyway, I don't have to tell you that you have to take care of Nico because I know you're certainly going to do it, right?"

"Why does it sound like a threat when you say it?"

"You might be surprised if you suddenly turned into a walrus because you failed to do something like that."

Will stared at Bianca."You're kidding, right?"

"Who knows. . ." Bianca shrugged as she stood up and turned to face Will. "But, Dr. Walrus sounds fun, doesn't it?"

Will stared some more

"You and Nico lack self-preservation, you know?" Bianca continued "And because of that, you may see father again faster than you could blink, and I am not going to be there to save your asses again."

"Uh, your point?"

"I guess, just stay away from things that will give you a one-way trip to the Underworld. You're just regular mortals now and that makes you more vulnerable to the messed up things out there." She gestured toward the window.

Will was smiling. "Did you just become concerned for me?"

"The concern is mostly for Nico because he's going to be a wreck when you suddenly disappear."

"Bianca, if there's one thing you and Nico have in common, both of you are so bad at expressing your feelings out loud. Well, Nico is learning. You need a crash course on it."

"Careful, Solace, you might turn into a walrus."

Will clamped his mouth shut.

"Anyway, my stay here is long overdue. Just stay out of trouble . . . both of you. Ciao." Bianca walked towards the window and disappeared in a black puff of smoke.

"There's a door you know," Will muttered but he was smiling.

The door opened, revealing Nico di Angelo. "Why are you smiling?" He stepped in, closing the door behind him.

"Because you're here, and I might have learned that I was able to wedge my way in through the thick skin of hatred."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I love you. Come here." He gestured for Nico to come closer, which Nico gladly did.

Percy and Jason climbed into the police mobile car with Jason at the wheel.

"It's been two weeks since the Triumvirate Labs drama ended and I feel like I've aged ten years," Percy sighed, sliding into the passenger's side.

"Yeah, and it doesn't end there. You have another homicide case to take care of that is probably related to another syndicate. The file's in the back." Jason turned on the ignition.

"Yeah, yeah." Percy twisted his body to reach for the folder in the backseat but he froze when he saw something that shouldn't be there.

"Holy shit." Percy jerked back, facing the windshield. His eyes were wide.

"What?" Jason paused to look at him.

"I think I'm hallucinating so can you confirm something in the back."

Jason turned to look at it. His eyes widened too as he looked back at Percy.

"There's a gold bar sitting on the back seat," Jason said slowly. "There's also a note saying 'Token of thanks. -From H.'"

"Damn, it's real."

"Who the hell is H?"

"Dude, what we should be worrying about is if it came from the Federal Reserve, we could be in serious trouble because of it!"

"What are we going to do?"

"Let's call Annabeth."