A/N - I'm really sorry for not updating for so long. I've been quite busy and then I went on vacation with my family. But here's another chapter and I hope you all enjoy it. And just so you know, I'm not planning on abandoning my stories :))

Also, on a completely random note, how many of you have been watching the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial and who do you all support? Personally, I support Johnny.

HAZEL FELT LIKE SHE'D JUST INTRODUCED two…to see which one exploded first.

"I have never agreed more with a description." Demeter shook her head.

"Wasn't Hazel talking about Percy and Nico though?" Aphrodite raised an eyebrow.

"Oh they're practically the same as their fathers." Demeter waved it off.

"Thanks?" Percy, Poseidon, Nico and Hades said at the same time with the same expressions.

"I rest my case." Demeter said with raised hands and a grin. Everybody chuckled.

Until that morning, her brother Nico…or Octavian, or maybe even Jason.

"I think we're equal." Nico said to Jason who couldn't help but nod.

"I mean, I'd say it depends on the circumstance and the specific power. Though Nico's right." Pollux said.

"That's true." Jason nodded.

Then she'd met Percy.

"Oh." Percy said a little awkwardly. Nico and Jason snorted.

"She ain't wrong, cuz." Nico shook his head.

"Thanks, Haze." Percy said with a small smile.

At first, when she saw him stumbling up...and wind blown black hair.

Percy turned red at that. Poseidon beamed proudly.

"I always thought that too." Annabeth nodded.

"He definitely looks like a god." Aphrodite said with raised eyebrows.

"He looked like one even before immortality." Lee shrugged.

"Perce, you should watch out for a fan club." Nico teased.

"Yeahh." Percy said with a chuckle but with wide eyes.

"You were kidding right?" he asked. Nico just chuckled evilly.

She'd ordered Frank not to fire on him

"Thanks cuz." Percy said to Hazel.

She thought the gods might be testing…Percy really take away her curse?

"I'm a son of Poseidon so that's where the thing comes in because though the forms of the same gods, the way… perceived - might be the right word, is different. So Frank would be the descendant of Neptune. And like, descendant and son are also different." Percy explained. Hazel nodded. Athena looked at the boy in surprise and Poseidon rolled his eyes at her after noticing it.

It seemed too much to hope for…things could get ugly.

"Percy would win though. It would be ugly but he'd win." Nico shook his head.

"This guy can win against anybody when it comes to sword fighting." Travis nodded.

"That's not true." Percy said awkwardly.

"You're good. Very good. Some personal training and you're going to be great." Ares said to Percy with a nod.

"Personal training?" Percy asked excitedly.

"What about 4pm?" Ares asked Percy who nodded eagerly.

Nico didn't appear scary.

"Hey!" Nico protested.

"He's plenty scary when he wants to be." Jason shook his head.

"I know that now." Hazel nodded.

He was skinny and sloppy in his rumpled…her mind about that quick enough.

"He, Thalia and Percy are definitely related. Both the sides are a gone mad when they get angry. You can actually hear them growl like wolves and vampires when they get frustrated." Will shook his head.

"I heard Percy and Nico's once. Chilled me and the guy they growled at wet his pants." Pollux said

"Sorry Pollux." Percy and Nico said. Pollux chuckled and waved it away.

Percy scowled. "I—I know you." Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do you?"

"Do you though?" Thalia teased.

"Shut up." Percy pouted.

"Make me." Thalia smirked. Percy opened his mouth and then smirked and snapped his fingers. Thalia only had time to swear before she was drenched in water.

"Wrong challenge, Thals." Nico shook his head sagely.

He looked at Hazel for explanation…Nico's expression turned as dark as Tartarus.

"And that's when his opponents would want to run for their lives." Will narrated with a grin.

"Run as fast as your legs can carry you." Hazel nodded. Nico smirked.

Hazel didn't understand why…"Who is Gaea, anyway?"

"Ah, so she is your half brother's mot-" Nico started.

"Don't even go there." Percy said pointing a cushion at Nico threateningly. Nico held up his hands in a surrender gesture. Poseidon shuffled.

Hazel's mouth went dry…feeling her lungs fill with black oil.

Everybody looked horrified at just that. Hades took in a deep breath because of the feeling of horrible memories washing over him.

"She's the earth goddess."… but she couldn't help it.

Nico winced.

If Percy knew the truth about her, and the horrible things she'd done…

"I wouldn't care." Percy stated firmly. Hazel gave him a grateful smile.

"Last summer," Nico continued…Percy's memory might come back

"Yeah. Thanks, mate." Percy grumbled.

"Sorry, Perce." Nico said.

"Um, anyway," Nico continued…We're bad luck."

"That's a load of bullshit!" The demi youngers shouted.

"They let Hazel stay here," Percy noted…to know what they were facing

"Yes and because its Percy. You can't help but trust him." Thalia stated. Everybody nodded in agreement.

"Nico and I," she said carefully…tap-dance—which really irritated her

"Well, I feel offended." Frank said with a grin. Hazel grinned sheepishly.

"That's how they all start." Aphrodite said dreamily.

"Personal experience, is it?" Clarisse asked with a raised eyebrow. Aphrodite winked at her.

Sure, he was a good friend…But she didn't like him in that way.

"The good old denial." Silena chuckled. Hazel and Frank turned red.

He was three years older than she was…more determined not to like him.

"Yeah, that's not going to work." Annabeth chuckled.

"Ah so you were determined to not like me, eh?" Percy asked with a wink and a grin reserved specially for Annabeth.

"Didn't work, seaweed brain." Annabeth smiled. Percy winked again.

"So, I'm missing Gwen so I'm just gonna continue." Dakota coughed. Percy and Annabeth grinned sheepishly at him and Dakota continued.

But her heart wasn't with the program…have nightmares about that guy

Everybody snickered.

"Teddy nightmares. That's sad." Percy sighed. They all looked at him amusedly.

But you're in! We need…I can't shake the feeling—"

"I hate you." Percy grumbled.

"No you don't." Nico said "I had no choice." He sighed.

"Yeah." Percy sighed.

"Sure," Nico agreed…some black cats and broken mirrors.

"I don't understand. You're afraid of power then honor it. Worship the gods properly. Romans are all about military anyways. And then to consider people bad luck isn't the best way to treat anybody or make them like the customs too much. And besides, what are they going to do? Kill you? Commit mass murder? Destroy camp? Haunt your dreams? None of that." Castor shook his head. The Romans sighed.

"Its just what we're taught. That's what we followed. We don't believe it anymore." Dakota assured him.

"What you're taught isn't always right. What we all are taught isn't always right. Customs…well they can be wrong sometimes. Lot of us learn that the hard way." Castor tried to explain. The Greeks nodded in agreement.

"Go on, Percy," Nico said…You know him, don't you," Hazel said

"Ah. Another empath. Why are only we not empaths?" Thalia groaned, gesturing to herself and Jason.

"Well, apparently, only Uncle P and H's kids are empaths." Jason sighed.

"Because they are empaths." Demeter snorted.

"Ah. That makes sense. No offense dad." Thalia said. Zeus nodded.

They sat on the roof of Pluto's shrine…Nico swung his feet like a little kid

"He is a little kid." Katie nodded.

"No, I'm not." Nico defended.

"You're a teen. It's a good thing to be a kid sometimes." Percy stated.

His Stygian iron sword lay by his…"Is he dangerous?" she asked

"Very much to his enemies." Connor nodded.

"Understatement." Jason snorted.

"Thanks?" Percy asked a little insecurely.

"It's a good thing, mate." Travis assured him.

"I wouldn't exactly put it like that. I'd say being dangerous to only enemies is good." Percy sighed. Everybody nodded.

Nico managed a dry smile…"Like I trust you," Hazel said bitterly.

Nico and Hazel winced.

Nico twisted his skull ring…spheres of control: death and riches

"I wonder what Bianca could control." Nico wondered. Hades thought about it.

"I'd say death because of the way she was able to banish skeletons easily." He said. Nico nodded.

"That makes sense."

Sometimes Hazel thought Nico had gotten the better end of the deal.

"It's a way of how you look at it. It depends on how you use your powers and how much you train and extend them. Now, riches can do things that skeletons can't and skeletons can do things that riches can't. It goes both ways and both are important." Hades explained to Hazel.

"Now, my powers are like that. People might think that spring may not be much but with a mere flick of my hand, I could turn a person into a non living thing and crush them easily enough. Their soul would be trapped until I would release it. Its dangerous and fearful in its own way." Persephone told Hazel who nodded.

"Yeah. I understand that now. Thanks guys." She said. Hades and Persephone smiled at her.

"Look, I know this is hard," Nico said…"They won't," Nico promised

"I don't know what you're talking about but we know that we won't care. Past is past. You're a good person and we've all had something insane happen to us. Trauma can't be compared but we all understand that something bad happened to you as well. So we're not going to care because we're with you." Chris said with a smile which Hazel returned.

"They'll call a quest soon…You'll make me proud. Trust me, Bi—"

The ones on the Artemis quest grimaced. Nico winced and shot Hazel an apologetic look and Hades sucked in a breath as he closed his eyes. Dakota decided that it would be best to continue and not let them delve too much into the thought.

He caught himself, but Hazel knew…a consolation prize from the Underworld.

There was silence at that. Nico flinched and looked at Hazel painfully. Hades sighed.

"Is that what you think?" he asked quietly.

"Just then. I-I don't know. I know you love me, though." Hazel said tentatively

"Then its not true! What you think- that you're only a consolation prize is not true! I'd go to the end of the world for you. I'd go through Tartarus for you. You're my sister. And that's all that matters. I love you and you're no consolation prize. Bianca, yes, she was my sister but she's not alive anymore. She's not in the underworld anymore. Now she's gone. Forever. But I have you and I won't let anything happen to you. I love you just as much as I loved Bianca. Just don't ever think that you're just a consolation prize." Nico said with thick emotion in his voice.

"I almost called you Bianca then but now if I see Bianca again, I might call her Hazel." He said. Hazel looked at Nico with wide watery eyes. Hades gave him a smile. It touched him that Nico cared that much about Hazel. Hazel pulled her brother in a hug which he gladly accepted. The others smiled and Will clicked a photo with a smile on his face. Frank gave Nico a smile and a grateful look as well.

"Treat her well, Zhang." Nico said as he noticed that. Frank nodded.

"Yes sir." He saluted. Everybody chuckled and laughed good naturedly.

"I'm sorry," he said…crazy trying to keep things under control.

Hades grimaced.

"Oh, the system would be a mess with souls escaping. Keeping track of the ones gone and ones back especially with the giants would be so annoying." Will winced. Hades nodded at Will.

"It's a pain especially with other problems surfacing." He said.

From what Percy said about the…She didn't even belong in this century.

"Nobody is born as belonging. Nothing and nobody decides that you belong or not except yourself. And you belong. You belong with all of us. Nico found you and you deserved the other chance you got. Hence, you're our family and now you're stuck with us." Leo said to Hazel. Hazel smiled gratefully at him. She was glad to have this gang of friends and family. That's exactly why she renounced her last name because this was her present and this would be her future. And the people there were her family, not the ones in her past.

Leo knew how it felt to not belong and to hear one of his best friends think that she did not belong pained him. Nobody should ever have to feel like that. He never wanted anybody in the world to feel like that and especially not anybody close to him. Everybody belonged.

She should have known better…the last day she had lived in New Orleans

"Chapter's done." Dakota stated.

"And there's the note." Travis said, holding one in his hand.

"What's it about?" Katie asked.

"Kind of random at this point but its about the function." He said

"Ah. What's the function about then?" Artemis asked

"Oh well-" Travis cleared his throat "This should be fun… It says that as the Aphrodite therapy failed-"

"You don't say." Nico and Percy snorted.

"-the fates have decided to help out a little-in how they put as-dysfunctional couple routine and uh distractions-"

"I'm not sure that I'm liking where this is going." Thalia said.

"-the function is only for the ones who were involved in the Aphrodite therapy. Percy, Nico, Thalia, Jason and Hazel are to come up with routines and tasks instead of Aphrodite for the counselling. There will be incidents which might scar you with the images-" Travis continued. He looked like he wanted to laugh but held it together. The big three kids were pale and looked about ready to pass out.

"-Once the tasks end, the couples are going to be renewing their vows. In case the couples haven't been clear yet, they are- Hera and Zeus, Hades and Persephone and Poseidon and Amphitrite. Aphrodite, Apollo, Hermes and Ares are to assist the demi youngers. All the best to the demi youngers and hopefully you can sleep after seeing or…hearing certain incidents." Travis read out. As soon as he ended he started snickering but then patted his dad's shoulder comfortingly as the messenger of gods had gone just as pale as the demi youngers.

"Why-I- this is going to be traumatizing." Nico shook his head

"I'm trying to get rid of the mental images that have already formed in my head." Percy replied weakly. The others nodded in agreement. The ones who had to come up with the tasks looked at each other painfully. The big three couples were red by now and were trying to not to look at the ones who were going to come up with the tasks.

"Maybe we should just read, right now?" Dakota suggested with a snicker that he couldn't help. They agreed to it at once.

"I'll read." Piper offered.