"So, were you planning on ever speaking to us again?" Jason inquired curiously as the group sat in the woods, devouring the food that Calypso's servants had so graciously prepared for them. Ryker sat off to one side in the shadow of a tree, staring murderously into the earth like he had been for the past several hours. In fact ever since leaving Mount Orthys the son of Cybele had not said so much as a single syllable to them. He just stared at the ground with enough intensity that Jason half expected the earth to burst into flames. Jason could understand exactly why Ryker was so angry. It wasn't that he had some heartfelt conversation with the guy, it was that he had actually seen how his mind worked. The fact that Ryker had seen as much of Jason's mind was somewhat reassuring to the son of Jupiter. Ryker had distanced himself so much from others that trusting other was something that was not going to come easy for him. Jason hoped that after seeing that he was no threat to Ryker the wild demigod would at least somewhat become friendlier. But, judging from his anger-filled stare, Jason was beginning to doubt that such a thing would ever come to pass. It wasn't that Ryker couldn't trust but more along of the lines of he simply did not want to.

As per the course, Ryker did not say a word in response. He did not even look up from the spot he was staring at so intensely. "Well, more for us then." Leo said cheerfully, tearing into another piece of bread. Jason watched him eat with mixed emotions. On the one hand, he was absurdly glad that his friend was back. Leo was back! Immense relief came with the knowledge, but so did anger and a sense of betrayal. Jason and the others had mourned Leo for weeks after the day they thought he had died. Leo had actually told Jason that he did in fact die, but the Physician's cure had brought him back. After springing Calypso from Ogygia Leo had evidently gone on vacation rather than telling his friends he was alive and combustible. Jason winced internally when he thought of what Hazel and Piper were going to do to Leo when they found out he had been effectively on vacation for the past several months. If Jason wasn't mistaken the idea of taking turns strangling Leo had been brought up in conversation.

In addition to Leo's apparent resurrection, it came with the fact that he was now dating a Titan of all things. After Jason had recovered enough for Rhea to allow Ryker to cut the thread that connected them Calypso had introduced herself. She seemed nice enough, and Jason could tell that Leo was head over heels for her. Actually it looked to Jason like every time Calypso touched Leo he wasn't far from bursting into flames. It was a rather odd change to see Leo not making jokes at everything. He still made a crazy amount of jokes, but not nearly as much as he had made in the past. If there was such a thing as a soul mate, Calypso might very well have been Leo's. She also seemed to have absolute zero wariness of Ryker, something that Jason was astounded by.

"So where to from here?" Leo inquired between mouthfuls. "Which camp?"

"I would say Camp Jupiter." Jason said hesitantly, glancing up at the night sky in case the gods had other ideas. He had asked Ryker about the state of both camps, but had been met with a glare and silence. Not exactly helpful. "The others will want to know that you are alive and besides, it's closer. Shouldn't take us too long, right?"

"Not with ol' Festus to give us a lift." Leo said proudly, patting the dragon on the wing where it lay beside them. Festus creaked in response and Leo laughed at whatever the bronze dragon said. He glanced back at Ryker and called, "You planning on running some more?"

They waited an appropriate amount of time for Ryker to answer before turning their attention back to the campfire Leo had started. "So things aren't going very well." Jason sighed and shook his head. "Even before I got grabbed by Orion things were starting to get bad. If the gods are starting to show up we have even bigger issues than I thought."

"Sure is nice to actually have some backup now though." Leo said fairly. "Usually they just stick us with the fighting and take all the glory or whatever for themselves."

"But now their change of heart seems to come at a grave time." Calypso reasoned, staring into the fireplace.

"Thanks Sunshine," Leo sighed. He received an elbow in his ribs for the comment but he grinned nonetheless. "You always know just what to say to make us all happier."

"I try." Calypso smiled back. Her smile faltered when she glanced back to Ryker. "Were that only the case though."

Jason followed her gaze and shrugged. "We can't do anything for him." He told them frankly. Leo seemed surprised by his callous judgement and Jason patted his chest where the thread had connected them. "That life force swap thing kinda let me see what makes him tick. We could talk to him all night and he would ignore everything we said."

"Nice guy." Leo muttered.

"Not nice." Jason corrected. "Just… not mean."

"So what's the plan Lightning Boy?" Leo asked finally, placing an arm around Calypso's shoulders. "Want to leave right now or did you want to get some sleep?"

"Sleep sounds fantastic." Jason admitted with a rueful smile. He was exhausted, more so than he had ever been before. Holding up the sky does that to you though. He glanced expectantly at Festus and then back to Leo. "I don't suppose that you have a sleeping bag stored somewhere in there?" he asked hopefully.

Leo smiled apologetically and gave a good-natured wince. "Sorry buddy, didn't exactly have much time to plan for this trip."

"Guess it's the ground for us-." Jason began. He was cut off when something solid hit him in the head and knocked him onto his butt. He recovered his balance and stared down at the backpack that had collided with his head and was now resting on his lap. Jason opened the bag and withdrew a familiar looking sheet of silver fabric. He examined it for a long moment, trying to remember where he had seen it before, and then realized that it was the same one that the Hunters of Artemis used. It was a really freaking big tent! Jason was not sure where Ryker had even gotten such an item, but he did not care. The thought of spending a night in an actual bed after being crushed by the sky was almost enough to bring a tear to his eye. He looked up to thank Ryker but the words died on his lips. Ryker was, as impossible as it seemed, staring at the ground with even more intensity. Perhaps it was just Jason seeing things, but he thought that there might have been a hint of confusion mixed in with his anger now.

Jason quickly set up the massive tent with a flourish. Leo and Calypso gave shouts of excitement and immediately disappeared inside. Jason was right on their heels before pausing at the entrance. Festus had laid his head on the ground and was evidently powered down judging from the way that the dragon was absolutely still. Ryker had not moved so much as an inch from where he had been sitting. "Uh, did you, uh, did you wanna come inside?" Jason offered hesitantly. "You don't have to stay out here you know. Probably nicer in here. Warmer too."

He did not get an answer, Jason hadn't really expected one, but Ryker's hands tightened into fists until his knuckles were white and shaking. Even in the dim light given by the fire Jason could see the tension rippling through Ryker. He did not press the matter, kicking dirt on the fire and then disappearing inside the tent. Leo and Calypso had claimed one room as their own and Jason took a room as far from them as he possibly could. He collapsed onto the soft mattress, not bothering to remove his shoes, and fell asleep almost immediately.

Jason hated dreams. They were more often than not more trouble than they were worth, especially being a demigod. But even as exhausted as he was, he still dreamed. He was standing on a battlefield, a bolt of lightning in one hand and his sword in the other. The campers of Camp Half-Blood were standing behind him with the Roman Legion beside them. Frank stood in front of them, nodding grimly to Jason as he sounded the call to march. Percy was on Jason's other side, his eyes set with determination. Jason gazed out before them to what appeared to be a decimated forest with what few trees were left lying on their side, smoking. Stumps littered the field, though they were scarce more than a few inches above the ground. Past the trees and stumps stood a massive army, but it was not like an army Jason had seen before. It was an ever shifting darkness that would occasionally give form to a monster before it would be absorbed back into the dark mass. The roman Legion marched forward, spears leveled at the darkness as they marched. Percy shouted for the Greeks to march forward and as the son of Poseidon moved past Jason he heard Percy mutter the words, "For Annabeth."

I apologize for the length of this chapter, but I did not want to delve into the next chapter too quickly. Thank you all so much for reading and your continued reviews. They mean the world to me, truly they do. Until next time!

Cheers, Hallowed