Epilogue: Five years later

§Leo§

I walk nervously to the front desk where an elderly lady is arguing with a uniformed man.

"-I swear! I had nothing to do with it!" she is almost in tears.

"Why then," asks the man, "did they find a baby Peruvian Vipertooth in your kitchen?"

"Um… excuse me," I say "I'm here to see Ms. Clarion."

"Basement level five." he says in a bored tone.

§Lyra§

The man straightens his tie, his face creased with frown lines. "Have a nice day Sir!" I can't help saying as he rises from his chair and walked from the room. Well, that went well. Finding myself suddenly hungry, I unwrap my sandwich and take a bite. Pesto, tomato and turkey. My favorite. There is a knock on the door, and I rise from my desk yelling, "Mr. Allen! Have you ever heard of a lunch break?!" When nobody replies, I yank open the door, and almost scream in surprise.

§Leo§

I literally run down the hall smack into a fat dude with a gray beard. "Sorry." I mutter. He says something about stupid young adults these days. Then, I read the lettering of the door he just walked out of: Lyra M. Clarion, Head of Department of Communications with Magical Relations. I hesitate for a moment. What will I say to her? Then, mustering up my courage, I knock three times.

She looks just like she did five years ago, other than the fact that her short curls are now replaced with dozens of dark braids. For a moment, we are both silent. Then, Lyra throws her arms around me, sobbing into my shoulder.

"Why are you here?" she finally asks, leading me into her office. There is a large couch in one corner, and in the other a bookshelf full of novels. Directly in front of the door is a desk covered in piles of papers.

"Let's just say I needed a break from New York." I grin and tug at one of her braids

She gestures for me to sit down on the couch next to her.

"Leo, really. I'm not stupid. If you really just wanted to see me, you would've come about five years ago. What's the real reason you're here?"

§Harry§

The doorbell rings about five times before I get to it. As soon as I open it, Hermione charges right past me with a quick 'Hi Harry.' Ron follows.

"Where's the birthday boy?" She demands, walking down the hall.

"Ginny's getting him ready." I reply, "Have a seat."

I conjure three butterbeers and offer two of them them to my friends. Just then, James charges down the stairs followed worriedly by Ginny.

"He won't stop running. Scares me half to death." she complains, sitting down beside me. We watch him a while, spinning in circles around the living room until finally falling down with dizziness.

§Ron§

A ring of the doorbell makes Ginny jump up. "Who…?" She walks into the hallway. A moment later we hear her gasp in surprise, and then she walks back into the room, along with many others.

"Long time no see," Harry comments, getting up to man-hug Percy Jackson.

§Lyra§

I stare at him. "If it's so urgent, just tell me now!"

"Well, I normally would, but first of all, Annabeth told me I couldn't, and second of all, I don't even know what it is."

I sigh, exasperated. I had forgotten about this side of Leo. "Let's go, then." I lock my office door behind us and we charge to the elevator. Leo pounds on the "up" button repeatedly until the doors slide open to two old women bickering. They stop and gape at us as we rush in, and I tap my foot impatiently as the monotone voice in the elevator drones. As soon as the doors open with a ding we rush out, pushing past the startled men and women in their work robes. I gesture him to an open fireplace along the wall. He watches as I pinch floo powder from my pocket and throw it into the fireplace, then jumps back as it bursts into green flame. I push him inside, telling him the address on my "emergency contact" list. He repeats it nervously and holds his breath as he is whisked away. When the light above the fireplace turns back from red to green, I step inside and do the same.

I stumble out from the fireplace of Harry and Ginny's townhouse. Leo is brushing soot from his shirt as everyone else crowd around us.

The first words for five years between a certain daughter of Athena and me are, "What took you so long?"

"I didn't think he could stand apparating," I say, elbowing Leo playfully. "Oh! Right, it's James' birthday. Hello, little guy!" Annabeth rolls her eyes as I baby the toddler scowling at us from the couch.

Ginny comes in with a giant snitch shaped cake with unlit candles. Leo grins, flexes his pretty much nonexistent muscles and lights his hands on fire. He makes weird whooshing sounds and swirls his hands around the cake, eventually lighting both candles.

James claps his hands in delight and waddles over to the glowing cake.

"Me is TWO now!" he declares proudly in a squeaky voice, blowing out the candles. He giggles and grabs the candles and throws them at Leo who lights them on fire again and sends them back over, extinguishing them right before they reach James. They play this game until Harry comes over and gives them each a piece of cake which they immediately dig into. Everyone is happily enjoying the cake when Percy suddenly grimaces and sighs.

"I hate to be the party pooper but, I think we have some, um... how do I put this... urgent matters to discuss."

"I'll take the James up with Lyra!" Leo scoops up James in one arm and drags me out of the room with the other. We climb up the stairs to the children's room.

James squirms and kicks. "It's my birthday!" he protests.

I tuck him into bed, reassuring him soothingly. "Just a little nap. You'll feel

better, and when you wake up you can play more with Uncle Leo."

I turn off the light and slowly we back out of room. As I close the door Leo looks daggers at me. "UNCLE LEO?!" he cries furiously.

§Percy§

"So what's this all about?" Ginny asks, clearing the last of the plates from the table.

"Yeah, it'd better be worth crashing an awesome birthday party," Ron says.

I notice he has calmed down somewhat since I'd last seen him- even though his aggressive sense of humor hasn't changed much, his eyes wrinkle at the corners and he hides a grin. Leo and Lyra appear on the landing. "Did we miss anything?"

Annabeth drops her clasped hands to the table. "There's a new villain. This one's a demigod, but we're not sure of his parentage. He calls himself 'Everyone's Favorite Titan'."

Leo scrunches up his nose. "That doesn't even make sense, why-"

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth interrupts. "Even if he isn't a… legitimate or… smart threat, he still is one, and the danger will keep growing until we eliminate it."

"And you want us to work together again?"

"Actually, we're obliged to." The wizards turn in surprise to find a young woman standing in the hallway. "Remember? The whole treaty between magical races and stuff?" Clarisse LaRue grimaces at the thought.

"Have you been here the whole time?" The daughter of Ares doesn't answer.

"Chiron said we needed more people for this quest," Jason explains, looking uncomfortable. "And Clarisse volunteered."

"It's not like I begged to hang out with you losers, I just need the credit for the field trip to New Rome."

Before weapons are drawn I quickly say, "So, are you in?"

The wizards turn to face each other, then Harry looks back at me. He grins.