"You know, this attire does not make very much sense." Ryker observed, studying his sleeves and his pants. He looked at himself over the shoulder of a Hunter as she adjusted her silver necklace. "Yours at least offers you something in the way of maneuverability. Your upper body is unencumbered for the most part. Excellent for aiding your reflexes."

"For the last time, these clothes aren't meant for fighting." Thalia said, marching into the tent with little black clips in her mouth. Her hands were behind her head as she attempted to do something that Ryker did not understand. "They are meant to look good."

"I am afraid that I still do not understand that concept." Ryker shrugged, drawing more than one angry glare from the Hunters around him. He frowned at them in response. "What?"

Thalia rolled her eyes and muttered something that Ryker didn't quite catch. "Nothing, Ryker. Now make yourself useful and help me zip up my dress." She turned her back to him as she continued to fuss with her hair. "Come on, I don't have all day."

Ryker yanked the dress's zipper a bit harder than necessary and the zipper's tab snapped off when it reached the top of Thalia's dress. He frowned and stared down at the little piece of metal, somewhat concerned that he had just done something that would get him into trouble. When Thalia began to turn around he discreetly slipped it into the pocket of his pants and affected a bored look. "Anything else?" He asked, looking around at the girls as they slipped in and out of the main room.

"Nothing you can help with." Thalia said firmly, grabbing him from behind by the shoulders and steering him out of the tent. "Only girl stuff left, and you aren't allowed to be in here for that. You've seen what happens when you interrupt girl time."

"That was not my fault." Ryker snapped back irritably. It had become a running joke among the Hunters that he had actually been trying to sneak a peek at them. It was not a joke he was a fan of, nor was the nickname that they gave him. He neither knew who this Tom character was nor why Peeping was in his title. There were far better verbs that one could use instead. Thalia winked at him as she pulled the tent flap closed and, from within, there was a muffled zipping sound as she sealed the tent from anyone who attempted to get inside. "Hunters." He said the word like a curse, kicking irritably at a stone that was poking up from the earth.

"I suppose that it can only be expected that there would be some… difficulties that must be dealt with or overcome." Artemis said, striding up to Ryker in her adult form. Like her Hunters she wore a brilliant silver dress, though hers was much plainer than some of the others. "Give it time, I am sure that they will grow accustomed to you."

"Not sure I want them to grow any more accustomed to me than they already are." Ryker said gruffly, examining his sleeves once more. They were terribly itchy and uncomfortable. He already yearned for the much more simple attire he usually wore. "This kindness they have been showing me is… disconcerting. I fear they are secretly planning some manner of revenge."

"No, no." Artemis said reassuringly. "To my knowledge they are not planning any form of vengeance against you. Well, not in the way you are thinking. You will find that they are quite friendly to their compatriots. You have only seen them when you were unwanted or when they have been around the camps. When it is just us in the wilderness they are far more relaxed and fun-loving."

"Uh-huh."

"You sound surprised."

"Do I?" Ryker inquired, considering his tone. He hadn't thought that he conveyed anything. He had been working on that since he had woken up. Conveying more emotions than simple disdain or contempt. It was harder than he had thought, especially since emotions such as happiness and sadness were not useful in the wild. Generally speaking too much of either led to one becoming prey. He had learned from a very young age that controlling emotions was tantamount to survival. "Hm. I need to work on that then."

"You do that." Artemis said with an eye roll. She took a step forward and grabbed the lapels of Ryker's suit, adjusting it in some way. "In the meantime, try to enjoy tonight will you?"

"There is truly no point to this festivity." Ryker said for perhaps the thousandth and first time. "And these clothes-."

"You know, if you keep degrading the clothes the Hunters wear you may find yourself strung up by your feet. It wouldn't be the first time." Artemis warned him. "A compliment goes a long way with people."

"So you want me to lie to them?" Ryker asked. There was an angry growl behind him and he turned around to see one of the Hunters glare at him before retreating back into the tent. He turned his attention back to Artemis to see her holding her head in her hands. "I said something bad again, didn't I?"

"Well, at least you know you did." She said tiredly. "I suppose that might be some slight progress."

"It doesn't change the fact that I am right."

"And just like that we are back to square one."

"I don't understand that expression." Ryker said, shrugging.

"Never mind that for now. I think that the first thing you need to be taught is the concept to quit while you are ahead." Artemis mused, almost to herself. "But that is for a later discussion."

"Hey, Ryker!" Leo called jogging into the clearing. He was wearing a suit similar to Ryker's except that his vest was red and seemed to be smoking slightly. Jason and Percy followed after him a few moments later. "You ready man?"

"I sincerely doubt that I could prepare myself for whatever may come tonight." Ryker said guardedly.

"Oookay. Taking that as a yes." Leo said.

A tense moment passed as Ryker and Percy came face to face for the first time since the dead demigods had returned to the surface. They stood a few feet apart, the others, even Artemis, remaining quiet. They understood that this was something that the two of them needed to resolve on their own. "You went too far." Percy said finally, his words careful and controlled. "You didn't need to kill so many-."

"On the contrary, I could have gone a lot farther." Ryker interrupted coldly. "But you don't really care about that, not right now at least, do you? Your grudge is that I killed your beloved Annabeth, isn't it?"

Perhaps it was Ryker's tone or the reminder that Annabeth had been killed, but Percy's face went pale. "How… how can you say that like it doesn't mean anything at all?" He asked, his voice nearly a whisper. "Like you don't- or maybe you don't care- but the rest of us do! Do you know what it was like, not knowing that they were going to come back? That they died?!"

"I have a far better idea than you think." Ryker answered, now working to keep his voice cold. The memory of watching his mother fall was replaying itself over and over in his mind and he wasn't certain as to how he could turn it off. "Much better."

"Because you watched your mom die?" Percy asked hoarsely with a barked laugh. "As if you cared-."

"I think that's enough." Artemis interrupted him, stepping between the two and placing a hand on each of the boys' chests.

"No, let him continue." Ryker said, brushing her hand aside and taking a step around her so that he was within arms' reach of Percy. "Go on, continue what you were saying."

"As if you cared about her." Percy said finally, his hand slipping casually into his pocket presumably to grab the pen that was Riptide in his hand. "You even said that you only cared about yourself."

"Percy, come on man, easy." Jason said soothingly, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Ryker did some bad things but he made it right in the end. He brought them all back."

"No, he's right." Ryker said. He paused as he registered the slight waver in his voice and then continued once he was certain that he was in control once more. "He's right. I cared only about myself. I may have made it right, but at the time I did not know that I would be bringing them back. Until Annabeth, I did not know that the goal was for me to bring them back. I killed every one of them with the expectation that they would be gone for good."

That silenced Leo and Jason, both of whom seemed to be torn between taking Percy's side and attempting to help their friend get over his rage against Ryker. "The Fates work in strange ways." Artemis reminded all of them. "No matter how the final goal was reached, it was attained nonetheless. The demigods that were killed have returned. Thanks to Ryker. And at great personal loss."

"Look, as much fun as this little reunion has been, there is one wicked party going on." Leo said a little uncertainly, glancing between Ryker and Percy who were still glaring at one another. "And I really wanna see Calypso. I mean, you guys have seen how good she looks on a day to day basis, but at a party? Oh man, I am not staying away any more. I'm heading off, you guys are coming with me."

"Sure thing man." Jason agreed, throwing an arm around Percy's shoulder and leading him away. He paused and glanced back at Ryker and added, "She's waiting for you, you know. I wouldn't make her wait much longer. Seems like she might be scary if she has to wait too long."

"You go on ahead." Ryker told him, wary of who he was speaking about. "I'll…. See you there."

"Your funeral." He heard Jason mutter before the trio departed. Ryker watched them go, a strange mixture of feelings going through him.

"Come on man," Jason muttered to Percy, elbowing him in the ribs none too gently. "Don't you think that was a bit harsh?"

"Maybe." Percy admitted, rubbing his ribs. He sighed and shook his head. "I just… I couldn't help but remembering how angry I was at him for killing Annabeth. Everything just sort of… came out. I really didn't mean to say all that."

"I'm not saying you should apologize, but dude, you gotta make peace with him eventually." Leo added, his eyes bright as they rounded the corner and beheld the spectacle before them.

Camp Jupiter was lit up in such a way that no one had ever seen before. Floating balls of light of every color were strewn through the camp, pulsing in time with the music. Somehow Apollo had made it so that the music could only be heard when the party goers were in a set radius of the dance floor. There were so many decorations and additions to the camp, courtesy of the many gods who had deigned to attend, that even the demigods' ADHD brain could not even begin to notice all of them. The gods had certainly dressed for the event, all of them wearing their best attire. Apollo stood at his disc-jockey table, clearly enjoying all the dancing as he worked his divine magic on the music. The dance floor was packed with gods, satyrs, Lares, demigods and many more, all of them dancing wildly to the music. Even from where they stood the three boys could feel the music pulling at them to go dance.

"I think that Apollo might have enchanted the music." Jason said, raising his voice to be heard over the loudness. "I really don't think Thanatos would be dancing with that little girl otherwise."

"I think that's his daughter actually." Percy offered, grinning from ear to ear at the sight of the god of death dancing in circles. "But, still, I think you are right. Please, tell me someone is taking pictures."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Nico said, materializing out of the shadows cast by one of the orbs of light with Will at his side. "I have made sure to get plenty of pictures. And the night is so young too. Lots more pictures to take, so little time."

"He thinks it will be a good idea to have something to hold over the gods' heads." Will explained, rolling his eyes as Nico melted back into the shadows, leaving him behind. "I told him to leave me out of it. I don't feel like being turned into a tree. Or have Aphrodite do something to me I would really rather not happen. Where's Ryker? I thought you three went to get him?"

"Uh, well, you see, he and Percy didn't really get along very well." Leo said mildly. "Some words might have been said that weren't very kind, by both parties."

Jason looked at his friend in surprise. "You know, that sounded almost mature. Calypso must be having one hell of an effect on you."

"Oh, you have no idea." Leo said wickedly, waggling his eyebrows.

"There's normal Leo." Jason sighed.

"I really hope you weren't too harsh on him, Percy." Will said disapprovingly. "He's not exactly in the best place psychologically speaking."

"Yeah, well, when has he ever been?" Percy said roughly, shrugging. He wasn't at all pleased about being berated for what he perceived to be a fair and just action on his part.

"Oh, he was fine before." Will said, surprising him. "He might have been a bit… rough around the edges but his sense of identity was stable. Lately though, it has been somewhat fluctuating. A loss like his has a tendency to do that to one. You went through the same thing when you lost Annabeth, but you have come back under control since."

"And you are saying that Ryker, the one who doesn't care about anything but himself, is going through what I went through?" Percy asked disbelievingly. "I don't buy it."

"It doesn't matter if you don't but it or not." Will shrugged, raising his hands. "I can sense everything about someone just from touching them, remember? He might hide it better than most, but he is really hurting inside. His issue is that he doesn't know how to address pain like that. Loss, I mean."

"Hey!" A very annoyed female voice shouted. The four boys looked over to see a very annoyed looking Silver standing a dozen feet away, her hand on her hip. "I thought you guys went to get Ryker for us? What gives?"

"Uh, technical difficulties?" Leo called hopefully. "If you would just call back from the hours of-."

"Shut up, Leo." Silver said irritably, smoothing out the front of her dress and striding past them purposely. "Never send a man to do a woman's job."

"You know, I think he is actually surrounded by females and they haven't had much luck either." Will called.

Silver paused and whirled around on the spot, pointing one finger at Will. "They aren't me." She said confidently, turning back around and disappearing around the corner.