The group immediately set to work.

Well first, everyone but Ariadne had quickly changed into something with pants.

Ariadne tied her hair back into her signature buns with the two-piece bangs at the front before she went exploring the cave. The Stolls, her brothers in all but blood, fell into step beside her since the two had somehow become her guard dogs whenever the opportunity presented itself.

They knew she could take care of herself, but that didn't mean she had to.

The cave was simply breathtaking. Their bared feet shivered from the coolness of the stone. Ariadne could sense a cavern underneath the stone that led to the river. That made sense considering the pool of freshwater that sat directly in between the caverns.

Ariadne had to resist the urge to dive directly in and never leave.

It took more effort than she would have liked to take in the rest of the cave. It was far bigger on the inside than it appeared from outside. The caverns look like personalized cubicles with decorative curtains acting as doorways. Various gemstones and crystals littered the ground and walls coexisting peacefully with this example of nature untouched by mankind.

The three of them were hypnotized as their feet led them in different directions. Ariadne walked to one that overlooked the cave pool. She looked up to see sun rays bouncing off the crystals above creating soft prisms of light.

The marbled material of the floor did not match the stone of the cave. A vanity mirror in the shape of a scallop's shell hung on the wall. The bed was made with sea silk sheets that looked as if they had been woven by her stepmother.

Even smaller details stood out to her: mainly the cluster of framed pictures hung up on the wall of the room. Pictures of her and her brother; one of the twins and their mother. Another had a picture of her, Clarisse, and Silena. There was another with her standing with the preferred forms of Apollon and Hermes. One with the twins and their father's preferred form. Another with her and Hermes. One with her, Clarisse, Drew, Chris, Drew, Silena, and Beckendorf. Another with her and the Stolls. One with the twins, their father, stepmother, and some of their immortal half siblings. One was with just the twins. One of her and Lee.

And lastly, a painting of her wrapped into Apollon's arms with looks of love and wonder on both of their faces.

Dii Immortales, they thought of everything.

Something glittered out the corner of her eye and Ariadne spun so fast on her feet that she almost fell. Her caduceus charm. It was sitting on top of a picture of her and Luke. He was letting her play on a flute that he had stolen from Lee Fletcher. It was the day before she got claimed and right after another round of Maury: The Olympus Edition.

Luke smiled at her.

The blue of his eyes looked like clear skies as he handed her the charm in his hand. Pulling the flute slowly away from her mouth, she looked at him in confusion. The naiads that had swam up to listen to her giggled and laughed (she would later find out that gifting things attached to their family name was considered a part of the traditional courting process in the sea).

His smile was bright, and her heart skipped a beat. Ariadne knew even at twelve that she had a type. Blond and curly hair. She liked either one, but it was 100% better if they were together.

"I saw it in a dream," he had said. She didn't understand how seeing it in a dream meant giving a physical representation to her. Not until the summer on a boat with Clarisse heading to the Sea of Monsters to obtain the Fleece.

Not until she was in one of the rooms of the ship and Hermes appeared at her side. He told her that Luke had ordered it through his store ( Stolen Treasures ) that was mainly only accessible to his children and various gods. He had thought Luke had a thing for her. He was sure that she would be able to save him. The small part of her that had a crush on Luke wanted to believe that too.

Ariadne shook away the memories before clasping the charm back onto the bracelet. Percy had only felt right using Riptide, but Ariadne's mood changed as swiftly as the sea. She needed more weapons to match her. Her dagger, her sword, her trident, her staff, her spear, her caduceus and her bow & arrow were all connected to this bracelet.

She ran her across the dresser and sighed peacefully. Maybe only to herself she could admit this was similar to what she wanted her room in her father's palace to look like. (When a small part of her couldn't help but long for the chance to be an actual family.)

Ariadne turned to leave before she could though; she took note of the bag that was lying half way through the makeshift door. She smiled, turning back to place the things in their new designated places.

Once she finished, she happily exited the cavern and dived directly into the water. She felt at peace and all the stress that Hestia placed on their shoulders was gone in an instant. The bottom floor was littered with sand dollars, drachmas, pearls, and diamonds.

Closing her eyes, Ariadne let herself sink to the bottom. She moved around trying to get comfortable with the aforementioned items poking in her back when she realized something wasn't quite right.

That's when she opened her eyes and screamed.

In place of her legs should be, there was a tail.

It was quite pretty to be honest if not completely weird. A green tinge with golden and silver streaks flowing through it. The chiton she had been wearing shifted to look like something out of the Little Mermaid. But for the first time in her life, Ariadne felt better. It was as if she had always meant to have this tail. Why would she want legs? She felt free.

Percy stuck his head into the water, his eyes widened when he looked at her tail before falling right in. He popped back up like a dog and his eyes were trained on the tail she was now sporting. Too bad he couldn't see the one that he had gained. Naturally, it was blue. The same silver and golden streaks weave through his tail also just in the reverse direction of her own.

She took note of it at the same moment that Percy noticed he too had gained a tail. The emblem of the House of Poseidon was hidden with the swirls. The trident in the middle with two rearing horses on each side.

That was going to be a problem if this version of Father and the others ever saw it.

Ariadne stifled a laugh as Percy kept twisting and turning trying to look at every part of his tail. She shook her head before swimming back towards the top.

The Stolls brightened when they saw her emerge from the pool and she smiled just as brightly back. Since the day she first walked into Cabin Eleven, looking more like her brother, the two of them had latched onto her.

They weren't the closest of friends, but they were friends nonetheless. Of course, the very next summer after she ended up with Apollon's essence flowing through her veins just took them from casual friends to her close friends.

Ariadne didn't even blink when Connor wrapped his arm around her waist as she looked around them. "Where are the others," she asked, sensing Percy emerging from the water.

It was Travis who answered her. "They're outside separating everything into piles."

Emerging from the cave, they were able to see the grove that they were in its full glory.

Once they made it outside, she could see how true it was. Katie was morphing the beds and the chairs into bookshelves and giant baskets while Chase already had her head bent over a notebook.

Clarisse and Chris were going through her weapons' bag, sorting them out to clean and separating them into two of the baskets that Katie already made for them.

Ariadne couldn't see where the others went so after exchanging a nod with the Stolls; she set to work.


Months passed in a blur as they shaped and reshaped the grove to their liking. Hestia appeared as much as she was able; teaching them how to cook and eat more than just berries. She taught them more of the language as the ancient greek they learned had not come to pass. And well… it was not ancient greek. It was simply greek.

They broke down. They screamed. They cursed. They grieved. They moved on.

Time was nothing short of a social construct as they settled everything. A giant board had been set up to place in the square that dictated the laws that were to be established. It was currently colorful as they hadn't been able to decide which laws would be their more major laws. And it was also because they were still struggling with writing the language.

(Dyslexia doesn't just go away because they were 'hard-wired' for ancient greek. The twins were a quarter fish and they still struggled with learning ancient greek terms in the sea's tongue.)

(And really, only Chase, Will, Nico, Ariadne, Chris, and the Stolls know how laws were supposed to work.)

[Though knowing how laws work so one could find loopholes or just straight out break them shouldn't count.]

[Percy himself would know, but Ariadne had always been more interested in her duties as a princess. Percy was too busy assuming he was the child of the prophecy.]

It wasn't long before the grove began to become crowded as they filled it up with buildings to add to the kingdom around them. Hestia and the Moirai extended the veil from around the grove to over the river and beyond.

They took that as permission for what it was.

With Katie and Nico's help, they built an underground city that would function just the same as aboveground. They were next to Sparta and they had no idea just who was the current king. They may try to invade them so the citizens they would bring in would need to be safe.

(Was it wrong for Ariadne to wish for an invasion? She wanted to fight. She needed to fight. There was so much rage bubbling within her that she needed to let out.)

It took a little work but they managed to branch the river off into what would be the kingdom as a tourist concept. Percy would take them on little romantic rides that he was calling Flow of Love around the kingdom. The wood that the boats were made from was still alive as Katie encouraged it to grow quince, figs, strawberries, and grapes.

Will was starting his own pharmacy using the recipes that his siblings created over the course of millennia. (Most of which had been started by their half-brother Asclepius.) He had Annabeth build him a hospital that he ran the pharmacy out of.

[Luke had taken to working in the pharmacy as he would never forget the sight of Lee falling to the ground. If he had to choose the best guy friend he could ever ask for, he would choose Lee twice over. Lee who took college classes with him. Lee who was incapable of lying at all weaving the truth in such a way that Luke never got in trouble for being a typical Hermes' kid.]

And the hospital… Fletcher's Healing Center was Meredith Grey's wet dream.

Will didn't slack on anything that needed to be there. There was the emergency department, cardiology department, and an intensive care unit. He had neurology, oncology, OB departments. He set aside a place for the nursing administration. He had even helped measure how much room would be needed so that he could have the outpatient departments. And that was just what he explained to the others because Chris' mind went blank after the third '-ology' came into the conversation.

More than half the equipment needed didn't even exist yet, but Will didn't care. He was adamant about getting children of Iatrikoi Tou Theoi there. He was going for any children of Khthonioi Tou Theoi. Who better to know how to keep patients from dying than the children of the beings that resided there? Anyone with even the slightest skill at healing would have the chance to get there and have their family line set for life.

Katie had named her bakery, SWEET SITO, taking the advantage of using one of her mother's epithets. It was like going into the witch's house of Hansel and Gretel. But Katie made it work, keeping fresh produce and baked goods ready for them all. It was cute the lengths that she took to make the place welcoming. Nico had taken care to make the essence of the Netherworld extremely thin so that life could continue to flow within the nature around them. There were two quine trees that Katie framed around the bakery like a giant heart.

The floor plan for Silena's Eatery had been carefully crafted. Ariadne and Clarisse would hear no one's complaints on what would represent their friend. For every jewel that Ariadne brought from the cave pool and the ones that Nico snuck from the Underworld, the restaurant was starting to look like something worthy to bear their friend's name. They bypassed writing her name in greek instead it was like writing in caveat font as they wrote the name in english.

There were already plans to sit down with Will and audition the best 'undead' musicians, for the lack of a better word (and because Travis could not stop laughing), for a live band while also looking out for those that were still living to play also. Only those worthy of the Mousai would perform in her name.

With the wraparound patio view for the diners to enjoy meals outside and view the travelers sailing around the land. There was even a part that led to a makeshift beach where Ariadne planned to give swimming lessons. She was sure that it would help immensely if people knew how to swim early on and to enjoy the water. Her father's anger wasn't that bad.

Fourteen temples had already been constructed alongside smaller temples for the more minor gods. There was no need to start the Second Titanomachy if they could go ahead and make sure everyone received their respect.

A giant hearth was set directly in front of where the palace would reside. The river was led to a stream around it like a roundabout with five bridges connecting to it each direction. The bridges were made from marvel with each of Hestia's siblings' names carefully spelt in the guard rails of each pathway. Connor had the idea to decorate each bridge in subtle signs that dictated whom path they walked.

(For example, Hades' was lined carefully with water from the Styx and studded with rubies that Nico shaped into pomegranate seeds.)

Speaking of the hearth, the goddess of whom controlled it could be found tending to it occasionally as the country came into shape. She purified the land that Will and Katie began to use as fields for different fruits and grains.

The twelve of them moved around the land staking claim to what would be their own stations.

Sometime during the fourth month after another series of breakdowns, Nico managed to summon Luke, Silena, and Beckendorf's spirits with some help from the Moirai. The child of the underworld had passed out for like a week despite him being adamant that it was no effort at all.

Still–the appearance of the friends had given everyone pause especially once it became clear that they were aware of what was going on and the choices that led to that moment. There had been a lot of crying and cursing. Annabeth and Thalia had plastered themselves to Luke's side while Clarisse and Percy did the same for Silena and Beckendorf.

(Ariadne wanted to be there. She wanted to do the same, but—she couldn't. She couldn't help but to look at Luke and Silena and think of the last time she had seen them. Beckendorf had found her once and she could have recreated the flood of Deucalion.)

Hestia was the one to bring the "sacred" tortoise that Luke's soul would be bound to.

(Ariadne feared how strong their powers managed to be in this time. Despite being bound to the tortoise, Nico was still able to let Luke's soul linger and move freely.) He had helpful input whenever they hit a snag on planning. [It was strange to witness ghosts crying when Luke and Silena learned about the places being named in their honor.]

The rhythm shifted again.

More buildings had been placed and no expense had been spared. The fourteen temples looked both welcoming and imposing. Ariadne had the absent wonder in which life was Dionysus going through at the moment. Was he Zagreus? The son of Demeter and Zeus or had he been reborn as Dionysus the son of Zeus and Semele?

Silena's Eatery was up and running and ready for customers. (Sorry Italy, but Castellan seems to be the one to create pasta and pizza that go around.) The seafood section was to die for.

[Nico said that just because Hades was going to be the patron did not mean that was funny. Percy begged to differ.]

Rachel made waves to establish herself as a follower of Theoi Tou Mousikoi and Theoi Tou Mantikoi. She named her building Paint the Future R.E.D. The inside was filled with her own hand crafted tarot cards and paintings that depicted the gods in all their beauty. Ariadne had laid claim to two of them that depicted the friendship between Hermes and Apollon. (She refused to acknowledge anything that resembled Apollon with other lovers.)

Annabeth had her own little weaving shop which also doubled as an architect business. With the help of Will and Rachel she made all sorts of dyed colors and had a plethora of blankets and clothing ready to sell. The shop was going to originally be near the entrance, but they decided to relocate it near the market place where Silena had set up her own little shop. The daughter of doves immediately took over as a seamstress dedicated to bringing more modern clothing to ancient Greece and making armor more fashionable. She called it Deadly Fashion.

Even Nico got in on it as he too had his own little area. It's where he was going to do séances for those that needed "closure". Ariadne thought he was thoroughly underestimating how much it took to lead a kingdom, but the boy had the same lessons she had on being a proper noble of their realm.

(He was thankful for the greek sun though as he began to lose the paleness of his skin as the melanin washed back over his skin. He was looking more like that Italian boy that had been rescued all those years ago.)

The castle was grand and beautiful. The same brick and stone like all others. Annabeth didn't skimp on any details. Small statues of the twelve of them lined corridors with larger portraits of the gods covering the walls. In a private area, she had woven images of the twelve of them relaxing either in the grove or from their time in the future-past.

(And then they painted the bricks black with pretty green accents that glowed whenever the sun hit them in a certain way.)

With Nico summoning skeletons from left to right, Ariadne had taken to making him carry ambro-pops in case the strain became too much and no one was around to help him.

Considering there were apartment styled buildings all around and there was a gated community for houses. There was another area filled with more temples to the gods. And Nico helped Annabeth set up Charlopolis which was filled with miniature palaces for the gods to reside in. Another home away from Olympus where they could find comfort.

[Ariadne would never mention how jealous she was to see how fast Chase managed to construct the country. Though she guessed it didn't really matter… Beckendorf and Nico's zombies did most of the work. Nothing like getting things finished quickly when your workers don't need to take breaks.]

Not too far from Sweet Sito was a small grocery store that was named DEIONE DAILY BREAD . Considering that Deione was one of Persephone's epithets and meant Daughter of Demeter… the others found it ironically hilarious.

Chris had decided to take on being their national bank. He had set aside a huge betting pool for whatever games they set up as Hermes was one of the gods of Theoi Tou Gymnastikoi. Already he had it filled with a few hundred drachmas alongside an array for traps in case anyone with sticky fingers decided to try their hand at it.

There was also the fact that he and his brothers started their own Lost and Found business. It basically meant if you lost it and they found it, well you had to fork over some money to get it back. Little delightful scammers.

Of course, there was also their store that they ran in the backroom. The unofficial name was Stolen Treasures. Apparently, they were going to get it trademark and their dad had to buy the rights from them this time. Connor had already paid Rachel to write out the catalogs. It was mainly Hermes' and Apollon's kids exclusive. It's where more of the godly items could be purchased.

Another building where Thalia would be teaching indoor archery with a training field set up outside just in case. [As much as Thalia cared for everyone, she planned to once again join the Hunters. She felt unsettled without her sisters at her side.]

Next to that building was the armory with the training center for Clarisse's bootcamp. One could sign up for simple self-defense classes (which was mandatory for every female presenting person that would stay there) or they were doing basic training to sign up for Castellan's future army as they were aware that they were living in Sparta's backyard.

Ariadne was almost itching for a fight. Sparing with the others wasn't doing anything but taking the edge off.

It had taken little over half a year, and Castellan was ready to open to the public. Only one thing was left to do.

Gathering around Nico, they all gave him encouraging smiles that somehow managed to brighten the shadows of Hades' temple. According to the paintings Rachel was producing, they only had a few short weeks before Hades would take Persephone Kore as his bride. (Rachel nearly cried with relief when her visions began to come back through her artwork. It meant that she could also double as the kingdom's oracle.)

Nico looked at all of them equally. It was time. Even Aunt Hestia had returned from the heavens to give her support. (Well her support for their endeavor. She wasn't fond of Ariadne and Clarisse's crop tops, but when you had abs like theirs, you just had to show them off.)

"Go on, Ghost King," Percy teased. "We'll be right here waiting for you to come back."

Connor and Travis nodded their heads happily, "Yeah, and see if you could swipe some more rubies. Ooh, from the palace this time."

Each of them shouted out their encouragement before Nico gave one of his signature eye rolls and descended into the Underworld.


Word Count: 3,995

Things to Know:

Theoi Tou Gymnastikoi - gods of the gymnasium, athletics and the Games

Theoi Tou Mousikoi - gods of music, dance and education in the arts

Theoi Tou Mantikoi - gods of oracles, divination and prophecy

Iatrikoi Tou Theoi - gods of medicine and healing

Khthonioi Tou Theoi - gods of the underworld