THEY STOPPED AT THE FRONT…in his coat for the first time.

Nico and Leo winced in sympathy for Frank.

"I remember how it felt when I realized." Leo grimaced. "Man, I would have set fire to the earth if I could have just then." He shook his head "That's the only thing that kept me going on the insane quest to defeat Gaea. I wouldn't have stopped at anything." He sighed. Hephaestus grimaced. He remembered finding out and taking it out in his forge, knowing that he couldn't do anything about it this time either.

"I didn't even attend the funeral." Nico said bitterly. Hades sighed. "As a son of Hades, I realize just how much of an impact funerals can have. Gives you closure. But I couldn't even attend that." He said. Hades squeezed Nico's shoulder reassuringly. He would have never let the kids miss Maria's funeral but he knew that at that age, for them to see their mom being buried, to know how and why she had died, it would scar them for life and the time that they got before being sent to camp would have been taken away from them as well.

"It made it real for me, man. It made me hate what killed her. That's probably the reason why I didn't want anything to do with war." Frank sighed. Ares grimaced but he was glad that Frank understood the meaning of life now but not about how much pain he had to go through to understand that.

He remembered standing here…chase them off with a frying pan.

Frank chuckled weakly.

"Frank?" Hazel asked…Especially Mars.

Ares winced. He was pretty sure that he had lost count of how many times Frank had said that he didn't want him as his father. He knew that Frank said that it wasn't true anymore but it still didn't stop him feeling the guilt about what he had done in the past and he knew that he owed Frank an apology for that.

"I think I'd be angrier at Juno but hey that's just me." Nico shrugged. Zeus grimaced.

"Lets not mix the anger of the present with the facts of the story, please?" Jason said tiredly.

"The mind works in strange ways, Jase. Gonna have to train it to not do that. Especially right now. You talk to me in a few days then I might be less angry but not right now. But hey, I'll try." Nico shrugged again. Jason looked at Percy weakly who looked conflicted at either agreeing with Nico or Jason.

"Lets just read." He said finally, his voice not wavering.

The fireplace was dark…hopelessly lame was that?

"That is so not embarrassing!" Lee jumped in.

"I swear. I have so many pictures of my mom and I add to them every birthday of hers. I even carry one of her pictures in my wallet." Leo told Frank seriously.

"I had Rachel make a sketch for me as well." Nico added. Frank looked at Leo and Nico, realizing at that moment just how well both of them could make him feel so connected to them.

"Even I carry a photo of my mother everywhere. She's even my phone wallpaper and the amount of photos that I have in my room and the amount that I used to have in my college dorm." Percy said with a small smile.

"Actually, even I have photos of my mom with me." Apollo smiled. "I made sure to get some as soon as cameras were invented and of course, develop a few from memory." He said.

"Frank, having pictures of your family…its one thing that you should never ever be embarrassed of." Ares told him gently and Frank gave him and all the others a smile.

"And yes, she was really beautiful." Ares told Hazel with a small smile, making Hazel return a shy one.

But mostly he felt sad…he trusted himself to speak.

"That's a good trick." Piper nodded.

"Guys, it's…it's nothing…—maybe all three.

"That's the pain that's being channeled into all that." Chris sighed

Hazel laid her hand…calm look off his face

"It is not a calm look because I don't care. It is because you care a lot. The more I react, the more will you and that would not help you at that moment. And yeah, normally, nobody welcomes war and you aren't either but you know that its coming and you hate it because it took your mom. I'm sorry about that, kid." Ares sighed and kept his hand on Frank's shoulder as the younger god kept quiet, not knowing what to say.

But maybe that was just…only way to stop Gaea."

"In a way it is." Reyna admitted.

"Yeah but Octavian existed." Dakota shook his head.

Mars shrugged, clearly…Happens to everybody."

Everybody chuckled but nodded in agreement.

"But my grandmother…my kids' battles for them.

Percy, Annabeth and Grover looked at Ares with raised eyebrows, remembering when he said the same thing to them during their first quest.

"I'm very true to a few rules." Ares shrugged. "I can't break them even if I want to."

The Fates have clear ideas…bring the family full circle."

"Thanks for the help, dad." Frank smiled at Ares who returned the same. "I didn't get the chance and didn't have the mindset to say that before." He said. Ares chuckled.

"No problem, kid." He said. He was glad that he was able to help out at least in some way.

"We'll see…She can't just leave me."

"She's ready to move on." Hades sighed, knowing just how everybody felt like that when they knew that they were going to lose somebody they cared about.

"Yeah, you need to respect that no matter how hard it gets." Persephone said to Frank with a small sad smile. Frank nodded and swallowed. He had lost everybody as far his family went but now he'd found another one and though they could never replace his mother and grandmother, he still loved him. And he may not express it much but he was glad that his father was there with him as well.

"She's lived a full life…know how lucky you are."

Athena looked at Ares in mild surprise. Apollo nodded in agreement with Ares.

"I can say things like that, you know? I'm a god too, Athena." Ares sighed. Athena nodded.

"You were right. You need to know just how precious it is and you live it to your fullest only when you realize that someday it will end because if you don't then you'll forget what you're living for in the first place. Take it from us. But yeah, now its like we're being reminded of that again. Hopefully it stays like that." Hades said with a small smile at Frank and Ares and everybody else nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Frank muttered…This was his father?

Ares winced again. He understood that Frank didn't understand what he said had meant at that time but it still hurt to hear about how Frank was so repulsed by what he had tried to explain.

Frank grimaced at the thoughts of his book self. He understood now what Mars had tried to tell him but at that time…well, it wasn't the best.

"He's right, you know?" Chris said quietly. "You don't do anything and you just watch and don't do anything about it, then you might as well be aiding the wrong side just like Percy said before. When you realize that you have a duty and sometimes that duty may require sacrifices, its then when you are actually remembered as a hero and especially when you don't do it to be remembered as a hero." He said. Ares gave him a smile and nodded.

Sure, Frank understood…It wasn't right.

Hades sighed as he thought about how Frank thought. He had seen so many people complain about the same thing but at one point, he knew he had to understand what Ares had tried explaining to Frank in the first place.

"I'll be going…face a sacrifice he can't make

Percy clenched his jaw at that statement.

"I'm so tired of hearing that again and again." He said. "We all have our faults. Its not like anybody is without them. And the fact that my flaw is loyalty is something that I have accepted. If there's ever a sacrifice that has to be made then I will figure it out. Its practically painful to keep hearing people telling me that I can't face a sacrifice. I mean who can? Maybe its going to be harder for me but I'll figure it out so please stop telling me that again and again." He said.

Annabeth squeezed his hand and gave him a small kiss.

"We know, seaweed brain. We've got you too." She said. Percy gave her a smile and kissed her forehead.

Without you, Frank…escape here alive."

"Man, I love your grandmother." Thalia laughed. Frank grinned at her.

"Chapter's done." Will said. Nico grinned at him.

"I'll read." Will passed him the book and held onto his hand for a moment longer, making everybody chuckle lightly and Nico turn red and give him a small smile.