AN: Not sure if you liked the little Thalia/Nico bit I put in their but any way I'm really sorry about that last chapter being sooooo boring but I had to write more otherwise I would forget to keep writing. NO COPTRIGHT INTENDED: All of these characters belong to Rick Riordan. R&R sorry for any OOCness and if any of you are wondering about who died yes you find out in this chapter but be warned it will get kind of boring in the middle. Enjoy!

Piper

Listening to Nico trying not to break down and cry was worse than finding out one of her friends was dead and the other still in Tartarus no doubt crying over a body. When Nico was finally finished Hera spoke.

"We should contact Annabeth and Percy's mortal families and tell them about what has occurred." She said. Thalia stormed over to the goddess's throne and started shouting.

"WHY DON'T YOU CONTACT THEM, YOUR HINESS!" Thalia's face was red with anger. "IF YOU HADN'T KIDNAPPED JASON AND PERCY IN THE FIRST PLACE PERCY AND ANNABETH WOULD BE HERE WITH US NOW AND WE WOULDN'T BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION AND… and everything would be back to normal!" Piper walked up to Thalia and used her charmspeak.

"Hey," She said soothingly, "it's going to be okay there is no need to get angry and there is no need to shout at anyone." She saw Thalia's face going back to a normal color. Together they walked back over to where their friends were sitting.

"Contacting their families would be wise." Athena said in such a way that it almost sounded like she had already decided that neither of them would come back and it would be best to forget about them and move on. Of course they all voted that Piper should be the one to talk to their families and Thalia was voted to join her partly because she had already met Percy and Annabeth's mortal families and partly because they did not need someone shouting at the gods all the time. They went over to the fountain that Annabeth had put in the courtyard and threw a coin into the mist.

"O' Iris goddess of the rainbow accept my offering, show my Percy's mom, Manhattan." Piper sounded ashamed when she said it like she should be taking the blame for what happened. A woman appeared in the mist.

"Um, Can I help you?" She asked. Thalia stepped into her view.

"Um, Thalia Grace," She told the woman, "you drove us to a quest several years ago." The woman smiled like she was thinking back to the day it had occurred.

"Thalia! Of course I remember you. What's the problem? Who's your friend? ...Where's Percy?" The questions flowed out of her mouth so quickly Piper didn't know how she was going to be able to answer them all.

"Sally, this is my friend Piper. We have some news about Percy." Thalia told her.

"What kind of news?!" Sally asked obviously alarmed by the way Thalia had said it. Piper took a deep breath and told her about how they found Percy at a roman camp and how they had traveled to Greece and how Annabeth had to go on her solo quest. She took another deep breath and continued to tell Sally how they had found Annabeth and how they had been pulled into Tartarus. Piper was surprised on how calm Sally was being, but then Piper had to tell her that one of them was dead.

"We're very sorry Sally we will do everything we can to find out which one it is and to bring the other home." Thalia said her voice was filled with remorse.

"I…I…," She couldn't form words, "th… thank y…you." With that she started to cry and swiped her hand through the mist and she disappeared. Piper sighed as she through another drachma into the mist.

"O' Iris goddess of the rainbow except my offering blah, blah, blah show me Annabeth's father…," Piper leaned over to Thalia and whispered, "Where does he live?"

"San Francisco." Thalia whispered back.

"… San Francisco." Piper continued. The mist swirled and she saw a man (Annabeth's father Piper assumed) talking to two boys (presumably Annabeth's step brothers) "Um, excuse me um, Mr. Chase?" Piper asked nervously. He turned around and saw Thalia whom he recognized immediately.

"Thalia, my dear you haven't aged a bit." Mr. Chase noted.

"Well, um…" Thalia blushed, "it's kind of hard to age when you're immortal, Professor Chase."

Professor? No wonder Athena fell in love with him Piper thought.

"Uh…," Thalia continued, "this is Piper, she's a friend." Piper gulped and retold him the whole story.

"I see," he said calmly, "thank you." He tried to say something else but his voice quavered and he couldn't he swept his hand through the mist and he was gone. Piper started to cry again.

"Why is that always so hard to talk about?" She choked out. Thalia put her arm around her.

"I don't know," she replied plainly, "I don't know." They waited there for few more minutes, and then they went back in to join the others.

"Well then," Zeus began when they came back, "now that that's taken care of I would like to call this meeting to an end council is adjourned." Then suddenly before any of them could move a pure black Pegasus galloped into the throne room. Atop it's back rode a young man with a mop of black hair and stunning sea green eyes whom Piper immediately recognized Percy Jackson.

"What… How…," She started to ask but the words were ripped from her mouth when she saw what Percy held in his arms. In his arms laid the cold, pale body of Annabeth Chase.