"I have to," Nico insisted.

"You really don't. I thought you were past this," Will told him. "You're not responsible."

Nico ran a whetstone along the edge of his blade, holding Will's gaze but didn't answer.

"You guys are being weird. It's just a sword training class," Kayla interrupted. "Not the Battle of Manhattan."

"She's right," Nico told him. He sheathed his sword and pocketed the whetstone. "No big deal. It's just a sword training class." He glanced at Kayla. "Hey, I need you to run to the Big House and get some bandages just in case one of the younger demigods cuts themselves."

"Will has bandages," she said. "He can give you some."

"Kayla…"

"Oh my gods, whatever," she whined, leaving the Apollo cabin.

Nico turned to Will and said, "I'm doing it anyway but I'll never hear the end of it so say what's on your mind."

"You don't have to take on sword training just because it's the job that Luke used to have."

"Will… what happens when Olympus comes for them and they can't defend themselves?" The question hung in the air. "It happened. And I'm not going to act like it didn't anymore. So I have to be the one to finish it."

"You're right," Will admitted. "I didn't think, but you should teach them."

"Thank you. Besides, Chiron's paying me for it. I can legally have a job in the state of New York at fifteen." Nico suddenly realized that he had never thought of the future before. If Zeus is the enemy then maybe Kronos can be a friend. Nico was surprised that the idea didn't frighten him. There was less to be frightened of now that Nyx had lost her power and he wasn't the only one feeling it.

He left the Apollo cabin and walked onto the battlefield. The day was obscenely bright so Nico shielded his eyes and studied the demigods waiting. The oldest one looked to be around twelve all the way down to eight, maybe? He didn't recognize any of them.

Standing in front of them, Nico realized that no one had ever died here. There were no skeletons for them to spar, no dead to summon to his aid. "Do you know who Percy Jackson is," he asked them, improvising. A few looked excited, having heard the stories but most of them shook their heads.

"He killed the Nemean Lion and Medusa and-," the kid faltered when Nico stared at him. You're scaring them, he told himself. They should be scared.

"He's not here anymore. I am."

"But who are you and why are you being so creepy?"

"I know who he is. He's the one who got captured by the giants."

"That was me," he admitted. "I needed my friends to come rescue me. What are you going to do when things go sideways?"

"Is that why they sent you? So you could talk us to death instead of actual sword fighting?"

This kid was going to get on his nerves but he didn't survive Tartarus to be beaten by a twelve year old. "I'm not going to teach you sword fighting," he told them, improvising again. "Anybody can do that."

"Seriously?"

Nico grinned. "Disappointed?" He looked across camp, trying to decide what to do next. The strawberry fields…perfect.

The inside was crowded. Satyrs rushed back and forth, moving crates and filing documents. Nico moved around them, grabbing an empty crate. He took the demigods to the fields.

A few of them were leaving by now. Nico ignored them and started gathering berries. "This is how camp is funded during the off seasons. They supply the berries to some of the local businesses but they also ship them all over the country. You guys are going to go home to your families in a few weeks but some demigods have to live here."

The first one joined him. "What's your name," he asked her.

"Bronte," she told him.

"And who is your parent?"

"I don't know. I met her once though. She was carrying flowers."

That wasn't much to go on. He could relate. "And your dad?"

"I don't know that either. I ran away when Nero died."

He nodded. If Kronos is a friend, prove it. "Things happen. Camp Half-blood is a great place though. They came through for me when I needed it. Now they've given me a chance to prove myself again."

"Are they really the tears of Aphrodite," she asked, holding a strawberry up.

? "They are. When Persephone first got taken to the Underworld, and Demeter was on strike, Aphrodite wept for the starving mortals and those tears grew into the first strawberry plants. After that, mortals knew no matter how bad it got, there was something to look forward to."

"I thought she cried for Adonis?"

"Of course, he would say that."

A dryad moved to a patch two rows away and started to sing to it. He tried to ignore it by focusing on the demigods but her song was alluring.

You can defeat Olympus, it said. For a long moment, everything fit perfectly. Nico stopped working and watched the dryad. She noticed and made eye contact. Nothing was said but he aunderstood they were still on the same page somehow.

He went to Thalia's tree afterwards. The Golden Fleece had never been returned to it's branches but it didn't matter. The curse had been lifted.

Olympus had come for her too and it made no difference if his father was responsible instead of Zeus.

He was still there when Will came looking. The child of my enemies. Why can't I hate you? Will sat beside him. "How did it go?"

"We ended up helping the satyrs and dryads instead. One of them came from the tower. The rest of them are fine, but I think I can help her." Nico felt the contempt begin to dissolve.

"You were right. I'm not responsible. But I can help someone else understand they aren't either." It shifted into a new emotion and he broke. "I didn't need them," he told Will, crying and letting the tears go. "Bianca. Or my mother."

"I love you, Nico," Will told him.