"No," Chiron harshly cut through the notion. "You are the one responsible. So let us anticipate the future. Tell me what happens the morning after."

Nico sighed and pushed forward.

As it turns out, the Big House was more structurally sound than what he had feared. Most of the foundation was still intact.

The dead and injured had long since been removed. All around him, demigods were working furiously to clean up the damage. Some were Romans, others wore the insignia of Nero but they had come anyway.

Nico froze, watching in disbelief as Thalia paused in front of him. She didn't notice him but her arms and face were smudged with soot and there a few small bleeding cuts visible here and there.

"Timing is everything," Chiron explained, drawing Nico back to his office. "The Hunters of Artemis will be arriving before for the new annual celebration. It is the Fourth of July after all. Perhaps that is what made you think of Thalia?"

Nico didn't answer. He looked at Will who turned off the tape recorder. "Georgia McAllister fell into poison ivy last night and I need to check on her before I cram for my AP exam on Friday." Will left the room, having barely looked at Nico.

"Why's he-"

"You did make it very clear to him yesterday that you were more than capable of killing him and his siblings. You followed that by proving that you might feel justified in doing so and then you told him that you were ruthless enough to carry out the act. The fact that the two of you are the same age has little consequence in that situation. And speaking of consequences, didn't you realize that there would be a few?

That said, will you be returning to the Hades cabin in the meantime?"

Nico looked up at Chiron. "Should I?"

"Perhaps you should. Already there are those uncomfortable with your presence inside the Apollo cabin. This may be the opportune time to alleviate their fears. Let them experience things the way they ought to be again."

Nico looked at clock. It was three thirty-three. There was more than twenty minutes to go. "That's not the only reason I thought of Thalia."

"Oh?"

"I've been wanting to talk to her. She's a part of things too and I wanted to... I wanted to say that I was sorry for the things that happened and that I forgive her too."

"Ah...the war they are not talking about."

Nico nodded. "Between my father and hers. My part in it is over and I wanted her to know that."

"Well then it is excellent that you'll be getting the chance this evening. The Hunters will be arriving shortly after sunset and after that we can begin the festivities."

He was anxious at dinner. Everyone was talking about the night ahead: the game of capture the flag, which new hunters had joined their ranks, would Artemis herself be there? Or maybe it would be Diana to make things interesting.

Will Solace was not at dinner that evening and his absence was inescapable.

Nico hated the idea of meeting with Thalia even if he was kind of looking forward to it at the same time.

He waited by the Athena Parthenos until almost ten o'clock, hoping to see Reyna. He went to the Hades cabin and sat in front of the altar. "I'm sorry I said those things to you, dad."

A sheet that had been resting on the side of an antique mirror suddenly slid to the floor. "Dad," he said, confused.

He went over to it and picked up the cloth. He started to readjust the sheet when he saw his reflection. The sunken gaunt features, the hollowed eyes, the pale skin; he looked like he belonged here after all. He lifted his shirt and was horrified to see every rib.

The voice of the cabin spoke, "Did you really think there would be no consequences?"

He clutched the rosary desperately but the jagged agate cut the inside of his hand. He looked at his bleeding palm with a horrified fascination. He threw the rosary. This wasn't stigmata; it was self-destruction.

"Hey calm down," Will called behind him. He felt instantly grounded again. He turned around only to find there was no one standing there.

It was after midnight when Will joined him on the roof of the Apollo cabin. He brought with him two bowls of fried rice.

"The Hunters never showed up," Nico said miserably.

"And instead of having fun with the rest of us, you came up here to mope around about it." Will handed him a bowl and some chopsticks.

"Seriously," Nico said, looking at the chopsticks.

"Oh yeah, that's what you have to use to eat it with." Will took a few bites and made it look effortless. "Yeah. Chiron had to cancel last minute."

"Chiron cancelled! Why would he do that? He knew I was going to talk to Thalia."

"Um... maybe because there's a tulip pox outbreak among the dryads. We're already short handed with Argus out on assignment."

"What is tulip pox?"

"A problem for the Demeter cabin."

Nico fumbled with the chopsticks, managing to secure a few grains before one of them snapped in half.

Will started laughing. "You should see the look on your face right now." He handed Nico some plasticware. "Anyway I'm sorry you didn't get to make closure with Thalia. The Hunters will be around again soon. And it's not like you have to get everything done in one day."

Somewhere within the camp grounds demigods were gathered to send off the fourth wave of fireworks.

"I miss Reyna too. I wanted to see her." Nico sighed. "Chiron says I need to forgive and I don't know if I have the capacity."

"He keeps telling me taking responsibility is not the same as taking the blame." He put his food aside. "What you saw in Chiron's office isn't something that has to happen. In fact, I don't think it's ever going to happen. Nico, you're not capable of doing the things that Luke did. You're just not. So you have a lot of anger, so what? Let's think of a hypothetical-"

"Oh gods, Will. I'm not doing that again."

"Relax and hear me out. So Iapetus is out there in the world again. He's probably plotting his revenge as we speak. Any day he's going to come back with an army and there won't be any thing left to salvage."

"But Will... Iapetus is gone. Bob is out there. They are not the same person. I thought you knew that."

"I do know that but do you understand what it means?"

The sky exploded in reds and blues. "It's working," Nico cried. " Will, it's actually working!"

"It is. Bob came back from Tartarus instead of Iapetus. You did that."

Nico almost got to his feet but Will grabbed his wrist in a death grip and pulled him back down. "There's more. Some of the demigods, they're changing too. They aren't as afraid of their Olympian parents anymore. It's almost like Kronos is empowering them again the way he was meant to," Will said. He gave Nico a searching look.

"I think you might be right. Luke was greedy and he wanted revenge. It wasn't his place to do something like that."

"So you made it yours. There's. Not. Going. To. Be. Another. War anytime soon. I'm so grateful that you made it possible for all of us."

"You were there too," Nico pointed out.

"Only because you invited me. Why did you invite me?"

Wasn't it obvious?