Yes, I'm alive.

I'm so sorry for the long update break. I'm currently in rehearsal for a show that opens March 3rd, and with six or seven hours of rehearsals a day plus schoolwork I've been busy. In light of the show, I'll be posting another chapter in the next couple of days then taking a break until roughly the second week of March. I know that's almost a month but I promise I'll keep updating as much as possible. Thank you so, so much for the reviews, follows, and favourites. Y'all are better than the dam snack bar. Please enjoy this lovely fireworks night, and I'll write for y'all just as soon as I can. Cheers!

"Pick a number between one and thirty," Piper said, doling out paper plates.

"Eleventeen," Leo said, taking a third World-Famous Hazel Levesque cookie.

"Eighteen," Percy said, ignoring Leo, from where he lay sprawled over the ground with his head in Annabeth's lap. "Fifteen," she said, playing with his messy hair absentmindedly, watching the darkening sky.

"Nine," Reyna said, but she said it in Latin on pure force of habit as she passed the rolls over to Frank.

"Twelve," Calypso countered in Greek , grinning as she twisted the top off of a glass lemonade bottle.

"Twenty-two," Frank offered.

"Twenty-nine," Hazel said, smiling as her container of cookies returned to her, nearly empty. She took one and bit into it.

"Fourteen," Nico said, picking apart a ham sandwich that had been passed his way.

"That's everyone but you," Piper said, turning to Jason with the sunset reflected in her eyes.

"You already have my vote," he returned, picking a cupcake out of another circulating container.

They were sprawled over several picnic blankets in a forest of similar encampments spread through the vacant war games field. It was Fireworks night, and excitement hummed in the air. Leo had done his part in the setup; the execution was up to the visiting Hephaestus cabin and the Vulcan kids. The gang was enjoying an evening off, and dinner was a joint effort, everyone having brought picnic food and passing it around potluck-style. The sun was just now setting.

"What did we vote on?" Hazel asked, brushing crumbs of her sweet, red-dotted summer dress. Piper, lying flat on her stomach with her bare legs crossed in the air, laughed and bit into a sandwich. "Our wedding date."

"Wow," Reyna said. "You really are trying to be low-key."

"As if the rest of our lives aren't crazy enough," Jason said, smothering a brownie in peach preserve. "Point," Reyna conceded, nodding her head and reaching for a strawberry.

"So we decided on January," Piper announced. "I like the fifteenth. Smack in the middle. What do you think?" She asked Jason, pausing in her eating to look up at him.

"I'd like to get married right now, but sure, the fifteenth works." She threw a strawberry at him.

"I win," Annabeth announced. "That was my vote." She reached over Percy for another sandwich. "So how was everyone's week?"

Frank swallowed. "It was good. Busy."

"Four renegade unicorns, three explosions, and one mad harpy," Nico counted off. "So basically, it was extremely laid back."

Annabeth laughed. "How about you?" Calypso asked slyly. "How was your week?"

"Wonderful," Percy replied. "And that's all you need to know."

There was a mix of laughter.

"Look," Jason said, pointing to the base of the hill, where shadowy figures scurried around. "They're about to start."

"Hopefully no one gets incinerated this year," Hazel said with a sigh.

"When did that happen?" Percy asked incredulously.

"A while back. It wasn't a particularly Roman way to go, was it?" Hazel turned to Frank.

"What?" he said, startled, and shook his head as if to clear it. "Sorry. I got distracted."

"Where have you been lately?" She chided gently.

"I don't know." He smiled sheepishly. "Want to go for a walk?"

"Uh," she began, but Frank was already on his feet, offering her a hand. "We'll be back," Hazel promised the group, looking a little perplexed. The two strode off into the night, hand in hand.

"He's nervous," Leo remarked, on his third cupcake.

Nico sighed, his eyes on the horizon. "I know why."

"Why?" Reyna asked with interest. He turned to her, flashing a Ghost-King grin. "I'm not telling. You'll find out soon enough."

Just then, the first of the fireworks burst like a luminescent flower blooming over them all. Golden sparks flashed into formation, forming the SPQR of the legion, entwined with the Greek letters for CHB. Violet, sapphire, amber and ruby lights weaved in and out of the stars, forming scenes from mythology: Atalanta on the hunt, Bellerophon inadvertently killing his brother, Hercules causing Hera considerable pain. They tilted their heads to the sky as fireworks formed moving pictures in flaming colour, like movies on steroids.

"Look," Jason said, softly. He pointed to a spot a few sloped yards down the hill, lit up by the dazzling colour above them all. Frank and Hazel stood there, watching the sky, silhouetted against the glowing horizon.

"Is he—" Piper began, hopefully.

"Ssh," Annabeth whispered. "I don't want to miss this."

They watched as Frank turned to Hazel. He said something, and she stepped back, startled. He slipped to one knee then, smiling at her, and Hazel's hands flew to her mouth. Her shoulders shook, and they couldn't hear what Frank was saying, but they could see the ring box in his hand. There, against the backdrop of the twinkling, whirling fireworks illuminating the night sky, Frank Zhang asked Hazel Levesque to marry him.

She threw her arms around him and kissed him, her answer as clear to them as if she had spelled it out. It wasn't their moment to listen in on, anyway. It was absolutely magical, with the stunning backdrop of the lights, the warm summer air, the festivity dancing through the night.

"Wow," Reyna whispered from their picnic blanket camp. Somebody sniffled.

"That's why he was nervous," Nico said. His voice was impossible to read, but his face was bittersweet, as if he knew he was losing another sister. He smiled a little sadly. "Frank asked me beforehand."

"That's so sweet!" Calypso exclaimed quietly, leaning against Leo, who was smiling with his right ear ablaze.

"Yeah, well, Frank is nothing if not traditional." Nico lay back on the blanket, the light of the fireworks casting shadows on his face. "I'm happy for them," he said finally, as if he'd finished boxing away all the emotions that came with giving his last remaining relative away to someone else, even if that someone was perfect for her.

"I think we all are," Percy said quietly, and they watched the newly engaged couple kiss under the exploding stars.