"So, are you coming to the party now?" "Yeah. I just need a mo- forget that. It's not gonna get better anytime soon. I'll be going now. It'll probably help, and even if it just helps with the fact that I'm out of snacks" "Then you definitely should go" Annabeth was already dangerous enough normally and I really didn't want to find out what would happen if she got hangry. Annabeth put out her arm for me and I pulled her out of her blanket fort. Together, we walked over to the big house where everyone else was already partying.

"So yeah, Annabeth didn't know how to handle herself back then I told Percy. "Wait, my mom sent her recipes to camp. How did it taste. Did the campers do her justice?" "Percy, you just heard about Annabeth bawling her eyes out and you're thinking about food?" "Well, one of them is more surprising than the other" "I hate that you're right" "So do I" "You hate that you are right?" I asked. "Not directly. I just hate the fact that I'm not surprised by Annabeth having a major emotional breakdown. Seriously, this is becoming alarmingly common" "It is" Annie confirmed. I don't like when we're sad" "No one likes when you're sad. But at least now you have me to cuddle the pain away"

Percy

"Cuddles!" "Maybe later" Annie's response was a surprisingly good combination of puppy eyes and if-looks-could-kill eyes. I just couldn't dare to resist, so I answered "Fine, cuddles now" "Yay" Annie jumped on my lap, which, considering that she was still biologically 17, hurt a bit, but I didn't let it show. The idea that comforting her was somehow harmful to me was something I didn't think Annie could handle. "You're so big, Annie" I said instead. "When you're on my lap, I can't even see your face. Why don't you sit down next to me?" "Okay. You're right. I am a lot bigger than I used to be" She slid off my lap and sat down next to me. Right next to me. When I put an arm around her shoulders, I saw a smile spread on her face. "Cute" was Piper's only comment.

"I know. I'm cute" "The cutest" "But I'm also dangerous" "Cute and dangerous. I guess that would be a good combination on the streets" "I mean, I'm alive, so you're probably right. I had help though. Maybe ask Luisa how she managed to survive since she was alone" "From what I heard, she survived on cuteness alone. No one would be heartless enough to refuse a seven year old" "Oh, people can be mean" Annie said. "Many people don't like us homeless. People who get to decide stuff seem to hate us the most. They make our life harder" "You mean like the spikes under bridges?" "Yeah. Those hurt" "Yes, but not anymore. You have a home now" "I like that. This is all so new to me" "Makes sense. You've only been out for a few days max since you reached camp" "Yeah. Well, I was still active for like the first two weeks or so. I think that's how it was, at least that's how I remembered it. It took a while until I got the small role I have now. But I was important when we were homeless. When no one liked us. We weren't even allowed to eat the food other people throw away. I wonder what's happened to the big snake we killed" "The drakon?" "That one" "We can check right now if we want to. Lil dam, are you here?" Piper called out. Black clouds formed and a small half skeleton cat appeared. We all held onto it and shadow traveled to Central Park.

The first thing we saw was a woman who had a professional looking camera pointed at her, probably a TV reporter. "In other news, a freight train has mysteriously appeared in central park. It appears to have arrived at a high speed, like it derailed. We still don't know where the train came from or even what railway it was previously on. There appears to be a dark red liquid oozing out of the train. This, along with a rather unpleasant smell, has prompted most to stay away. However, the wreck appears to have sparked the interest of homeless with reports of suspicious activity coming from all over Manhattan. Some have compared this event to a whale fall. What prompted these people to come here is still unknown since no one was able to give us a sensible explanation, though many appear to agree on the train wreck actually being a serpentine monster. More on this situation as it develops"

The camera turned off and the team began to pack their stuff, revealing something behind them that was most definitely not a crashed train. It was a dismembered Greek monster. The homeless had done a pretty good job, about half of it was just bones. Even the leather was missing. "Annie, do you happen to know how they managed to cut up its skin? I barely got through it with riptide" "I'm not sure, maybe Chris knows… Hmm, I can't reach him. I'll ask on the computer" Annie got out her laptop and recorded a voice message: "Hey, uh, Chris, I noticed that someone removed the drakon's skin but I don't know how they can do that because it's so hard, even for Percy's sword. Do you know how they maybe did that?" "And now we wait until he comes out and responds, which could take, like, very long. But then again, he fronted like twice yesterday, so I wouldn't worry about it too much" "Wait, twice?" Piper asked. "Yeah, one time was before you joined us though" "Yeah, I think we were talking about how my mom almost killed us by sending us to find the big statue and after that came the part that Chris remembers, which triggered him" "Why do you remember that, you weren't out at that point" "Well, I feel asleep at front and when I woke up, I was still in the cockpit and everything happened while I was leaving. That's why I know. I'm just glad that we were able to help all these people in getting some food"

Piper

"It's not just food" Percy said. "They obviously also took the leather, which can be used for all sorts of stuff because it's so strong. Damasen's entire home was built from the stuff, and it also made for a soft bed when I was dying. That sucked" He got a look in his eyes that I knew all too well. It meant 'Trauma in process'. "Annie, I think Percy is gonna have a flashback. Can you handle that?" "I'm not sure. Maybe I'll get someone else" Annie disappeared in dissociation. Great. Two of the most powerful demigods of our generation, both trying to deal with their respective trauma, and I had to deal with both of them, at a public park. I hate my life. I started with Percy. "Hey, can you hear me? It's Piper" Percy nodded. "Can I take your hand?" He nodded again. If this was Annabeth or Jason, I would have gone straight for a hug, but with Percy that felt too awkward. To be fair, I had known him for less than three months at that point. Once again, I was glad for all the trauma dumping Annabeth (Chris?) had done as I knew exactly what Percy was remembered; the curse induced gorgon blood poisoning. But before I could do anything trauma related, I had to establish the basics. "What can you see?" I asked. "a weird dome above me. A big red man. Are those ribs holding it up?" "And you don't see anything else? Do you see me?" "No, I can only hear you" "What do you feel?" "Mostly pain. Those curse bats gave me a bunch of wounds. There's a soft bed below me. I think Annabeth is holding my hand" I let go. "Now she's let go"

"I think I can take it from here" Annabeth said. "What's his status?" "He's remembering when he was poisoned with gorgon blood. He can hear and feel" Annabeth (I know it maybe wasn't Annabeth who was out, but this was fastest) went over to him and took his hand again. "Ah, there she is. Annabeth" "Percy, I want you to only focus on my hand. Ignore everything else" "That could be difficult considering that my whole body is in pain, but I'll try my best" Annabeth gave me a look asking for help. "Percy, do it for Annabeth. Nothing hurts" I said. "You're fine. All that you see is irrelevant. Just focus on the hand. Do it for Annabeth" At some point I had figured out that when the person you're trying to charm speak isn't attracted to you, you can solve that by showing them something that they do love, like blueberry muffins or Annabeth. "The pain is going away. Okay, I'm down to her hand" "My hand is the only thing that exists to you right now. Is that clear?" Annabeth asked. After a while he answered "Clear as ice, but ice that was moved while freezing so it has no bubbles" I wasn't sure whether the ten seconds Percy hesitated had been used for solidifying the thought in his mind that only Annabeth's hand was real or for coming up with that ice comparison. Annabeth continued her flashback removal. "So, you got my hand, right?" "Right" "I want you to picture something. Picture me, attached to the hand" "got it" "Now imagine how I'm sitting on grass in central park. On our left are some trees, on our right is a small path, okay" I could tell Percy was focusing on imaging what Annabeth had told him until… "That stuff is really there" Percy said. "Good you're back" "Annabeth, that strategy was genius" "Yeah, about that..." She looked around nervously. "I'm not actually Annabeth. You can call me Sally, though I'm not sure if that name will stick" "Nice to meet you. Are you- wait, if you're going to introduce yourself now, it might be a good idea to record this for Annabeth to see. Can you give me that phone?" She gave it to me. I turned it to laptop mode and opened the communication app. Luckily, there was an account titled "unnamed alter". I selected that and pressed record, making sure the camera could see us both.

"Nice to meet you, Sally. Are you named after my mom?" "I don't know. Has your mother provided Annabeth with emotional support?" "Yeah, it's one of her biggest skills" "Then I am most likely based on her. My job is to be the emotional protector. I calm Annabeth down when she's had a flashback. And apparently you as well" "How come I've never seen you before? Annabeth's had a lot of flashbacks since the whole DID thing became known" "I'm usually active on the inside, so there's no reason to come out when we have a flashback. The only logical reason I would come out is to help others with their flashback and helping others is simply not the reason why alters exist. This is probably the first time in years I've fronted. We've definitely gotten taller since then" "Wait, how old are you? Like, how long have you existed?" "I'm not sure. It feels like a few months, but in the inner world, that could mean anything from a week to a decade. I've definitely changed throughout the time that I have existed. How was the relationship between Annabeth and your mom? Knowing that would probably help in figuring myself out" "I think I can give you a quick recap. So, the first time they met was almost three years ago when she picked up me, Thalia and Annabeth and drove us to Maine. We did spend a few hours in the car together, but I don't think much of a bond formed during that time. In retrospect, it probably became really obvious to her that we liked each other, but they didn't talk about anything related to that. After that, they probably didn't see each other until…

A few days had passed since the battle of Manhattan. A few days that had been filled with a lot of work; repairing streets, collecting the bodies of our fallen friends, burning their shrouds, you get the idea. But now, after three days, we could finally relax. "Perry Johansson!" Nevermind, I could not relax. I ran over to the big house where I found Mr. D waiting for me. "What is it?" I asked. "I wanted to say that I'm proud of you. You have done a great job at not dying and everything" Mr. D. being nice? I was about to get suspicious when he continued. "Also a pipe burst in the big house and the Hephaistos kids need you to keep the water in check while they fix it" "Already on my way"

When I left the building, my friend Annabeth was already waiting for me. No, not friend, Annabeth was my girlfriend now. I still could barely believe it. "Hey seaweed brain, what's got you smiling like that" "That would be my girlfriend" "Aww. I was actually about to talk to you about that" Oh, no, what was coming now. Didn't she want to be called that? After all, we had never formalized that we were a couple, we had just kissed for very long and everyone had accepted it. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna break up with you. I am happier with you than I've been for most of my life" "That's not a very high bar" "Shut up seaweed brain" She didn't say it in a mean way, it was as nice and loving as one could get with such a sentence. "It's just that we still have to tell our parents" "Right, we have to do that. I know one parent that would very much like to kill me for dating you, so maybe we should start with the easy ones" "Great idea. Sally is the nicest person I know (and the best chef), so why not start with her?" "Let's see if Mrs. O'Leary can do the trip without falling asleep"