Sisters Together Again

The general consensus from the Reviews was basically anything is good except for Annabeth. Which is fine, as I didn't want Marina and Annabeth to be together anyway. The jury's still out as to whether there's going to be an official pairing or not, but I am leaning towards Reyna.

Still undecided. However, that's many chapters away, so lots of time for decisions and suggestions.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or Elden Ring

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Poseidon, Amphitrite, and Triton were left speechless after Marina concluded her rather involved story about how she wasn't just a demigod from a whole other world, but a demigod princess from a whole other world. Certified, actual royalty, even more so than she was as Penny, because where Triton was next in line as god of the sea, Marina was next in line as goddess of this place called the Lands Between, and the hemisphere it had conquered.

Also, Chaos was involved. The father of the Primordials. A being that hadn't been active since…ever…really. This was literally the first time the three deities were ever hearing of Chaos actually doing something. In fact, they'd heard and knew so little about Chaos that they honestly thought that Chaos wasn't even a deity, so much as just an abstract ocean of primeval energy.

"So…yeah," Marina said. "Anyway, I've gotta go. Big war to fight and all. Hey, since this place is now secure, that means I can expect your help against Kronos, right?"

"Uh, sure," Poseidon blinked, still trying to process that his princess was a princess from another world.

He didn't like this Radagon individual. He was the dad, not this other guy.

"Thanks. Alright, bye!"

Marina turned and darted off through the depths.

A faint, golden blush appeared on Triton's cheeks as he watched her leave, a certain portion of her anatomy being pointed right at his eyeballs.

Poseidon noticed his son blushing, and he instantly knew why. With a fatherly smile on his face, he gently set his arm around Triton's shoulders and brought him in close for a hug. He said in a sweet voice, "It's in your best interest to stop thinking about fucking your little sister."

Triton squeaked.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marina was a girl on a mission. She tore through the ocean, heading back for the East Coast. She wanted to give her other mom Sally a great big hug and a kiss in thanks for all that she had done for her, she wanted to start preparing for battle, and she wanted to see her dragon and her wolf again. Chaos said that Marsinax and Morgen would be waiting for her at the surface, and Marina was eager to test the validity of that statement.

She went rocketing out of a wave, a glow of purple pulsing around her as she called upon her Gravity magic to become airborne. The sun was rising, making her wonder just how much time had passed since the Princess Andromeda debacle.

Marina couldn't help the spike of anger that ran through her as she recalled that event. If only she'd had her powers then, she could've destroyed the cruise ship all by herself. Oceanus might've been protecting the ship from Poseidon, but that said nothing about an orbital bombardment.

Oh, well. Marina supposed she could just go get Beckendorf out of the Underworld, either by making some deal with Hades, or just taking him by force. Despite how much of a hazard it would be to her health, she was curious as to how she would match up against the gods now that she had all her powers back.

Marina couldn't help but wonder how much of a terror Uncle Maliketh would be with his huge greatsword packing Destined Death.

Would Destined Death be as effective against the Olympians and Titans as it was against the Outer Gods from her home world?

Questions for later, Marina supposed.

From above, there was a booming, ferocious roar, a roar that Marina would recognize anywhere. A grin split her face as she looked up and saw a white dragon diving at her, and leaping from that dragon was a black shape.

Marina soared up and snagged Morgen straight out of the air, and her little sister wasted no time in wrapping her arms and legs around her and dousing her face in saliva as she excitedly licked her, her tail wagging back and forth so fast it was in genuine danger of breaking. Marsinax changed into her human form, and Marina caught her too.

"Morgen! Staaahhhp!" Marina laughed.

Morgen paused in her fervent licking just long enough to say, "No!", and she resumed her efforts.

Marsinax squeezed so hard that Marina thought her spine might actually break.

The demigod kissed her draconic sister on the cheek. "I missed you guys."

Morgen ceased her licking to nuzzle the top of her head underneath her big sister's chin. "Missed you too."

"Was it almost sixteen years for you like it was for me?"

"Not a clue," said Marsinax. "We were falling into that black void, then there was light, and then it was like we were dreaming, watching you in fast motion. Then we were flying."

"I don't like Annabeth," Morgen said. "She's bossy. Would you like for me to kill her?"

"No," Marina said flatly.

"I can permanently disfigure her with third degree burns," Marsinax offered.

"Also no. There will be no harming Annabeth, got it? I need an answer from you both."

Marsinax grinned. "Are you asking as our sister, or as our goddess-to-be?"

Marina tilted her chin up. "Goddess."

"Oh, well, in that case…"

Marsinax and Morgen answered at the same time.

"No."

Marina rolled her eyes. "You two are impossible. Come on, we need to check in with Chiron at camp, start getting ready for battle, and I need to say hi to my Mom."

Marsinax resumed her dragon form, Marina riding on her neck just before her shoulders, and Morgen insisted on sitting in Marina's lap, her fuzzy face buried in Marina's chest. She had missed her big sister.

That, or she was just over the moon that Marina was no longer four feet taller than she was, but now only eight inches. Morgen being an even five feet, Marina being 5'8 as Penny.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At CHB, there was first panic at seeing the white dragon barreling at them. The alarm was sounded, weapons were grabbed, formations (putting it mildly) were taken, and adrenaline was pumping. When the dragon turned over to reveal Penny Jackson was riding on its back, happily waving at them, the second thing was confusion. Then panic set back in when everyone appreciated that the resident wild child was riding a dragon.

Marsinax came for a hard landing, and Marina slid off her back. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

Morgen slid off the dragon, and that's when Silena burst through the ranks. "Ch-Charlie?"

Morgen wrinkled her nose. "No. I'm Morgen."

You could practically here the ancient dial up noise going off in Silena's head right now. "Then…where's…"

Marina held up a finger and said in an academic way, "I will get him back."

"He was captured!?"

"No, he blew himself up along with the Princess Andromeda. So he's in the Underworld right now, and I'll get him back."

Marsinax took her human form, and that finally did it for Silena. Penny saying her Charlie was just in the Underworld, the wolf girl, and the dragon turning into a tall, muscular woman was too much for the daughter of Aphrodite, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her siblings caught her as she tumbled backwards.

Chiron steppe up, beads of sweat on his brow. "Uh, Penny-?"

"This is Morgen, and this is Marsinax. They're my sisters. Dad's been busy—with nymphs. So they're kinda like Tyson."

"I…I see…erm, well then. Glad to see you returned safe and sound."

"Thanks. We need to get ready for battle. Titans are marching on Manhattan tomorrow night, which is three days before I turn sixteen. Buttholes're gonna ruin my birthday party."

Chiron blinked. "A travesty to be sure."

Marina nodded. "Yeah." She raised her voice so the 50 or so demigods currently present could hear her in the back. "Alright, listen up! The big, end-of-the-world battle starts tomorrow night, so you have the rest today and most of tomorrow to decide for yourself if you want to put your life on the line for your family, friends, and the future of humanity!"

Someone from the back called, "I'm down!"

"That's the spirit! Okay, great chatting with everyone, now I need to go have a chat with my mom. Bye!"

Before anyone could say anything, Marsinax took her dragon form again, Marina and Morgen hopped on, and they took off into the sky.

That's when Annabeth came running up. "Where's Penny!? I was told Penny was back."

Connor Stoll dumbly pointed to the sky.

Annabeth looked up. "Is that a dragon? Is that Penny? Someone turned Penny into a dragon!?"

"Penny is riding the dragon," Chiron clarified.

"Oh." Annabeth blinked. "When did she get a dragon!?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marina appreciated that Zeus was busy with Typhon right now, otherwise she might've been in serious risk of getting blasted out of the sky. Then again, if what Chaos said was anything to go by, Zeus may very well want to have sex with her, whether or not she wanted to being irrelevant, and so wasn't too keen on killing for the minor infraction of flying through his domain on the back of her dragon sister.

Of course, where Zeus was one thing, the however many people between CHB and the Long Island countryside were something else entirely, especially in broad daylight. Good thing Marina knew concealment magic, right?

With nothing but a small application of Unseen Form, Marina cloaked herself, Marsinax, and Morgen from view, just like she had done so many years ago when she and Marsinax flew into Farum Azula to confront the Dragonlord. Now practically invisible, the trio easily flew across Long Island airspace without triggering a mass panic reminisce of over two decades ago.

They landed in front of Sally's big house with a thud, probably scaring the crap out of everyone inside because Marsinax could only land so gently given her size and weight. The dragon resumed her human form, and the trio walked right inside the front door.

"What are you even going to tell her?" Marsinax asked. "The truth?"

"Yeah," Marina said. "She deserves that. She changed my diapers, potty trained me, helped me clean up in the mornings if I wet the bed, provided me with food, water, clothes, an education, a roof, a life, birthday presents, treats, vacations, taught me about my period—everything. She's my mom. She deserves to know who I really am."

Marsinax and Morgen didn't say anything. It might've been a full sixteen years for their sister, but for them, they had just watched everything in a massively sped-up video. They hadn't lived it like Marina had, and so their connection to Sally was nonexistent. Marsinax was more neutral to it all, being a dragon, but Morgen was a tad more uncomfortable with this double life thing, not liking how her mistress was now so much shorter, lacked her golden hair and golden eyes, and was the child of beings other than Goddess Marika and King Consort Radagon.

It was wrong and unnatural, and Morgen didn't like thinking about what the Greater Will would say and do when they returned to the Lands Between, and it saw that Marina had really been tainted by an Outer God. After all, that's what all these Greek gods would be considered by the Greater Will, yeah? Outer Gods? And it was already a dicey situation that Marina harbored the power of the twinbird's Outer God within—how much more so, then, was it now that she was literally the child of an Outer God?

Morgen didn't like to think about it, because she wasn't liking the answers she was coming up with.

The house was cozy and cool, and Sally was peacefully working on her next novel in her study, the door cracked open a tad. Marina knocked anyway, as she had been taught.

"Come in!"

Marina and her sisters entered, and Sally adopted a confused expression, especially when looking at the lupine girl. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to bring friends, dear."

"They're my sisters, actually," Marina said. "This is Marsinax, and this is Morgen." She sat down in the chair in front of her mother's desk, her expression controlled. "We need to have a long talk, Mom."

Sally took it rather well, actually. As well as can be expected when your daughter that you raised comes to you and reveals that she's actually a demigod from another world with a whole other family, and the reason she's in your life in the capacity that she is, is because an absolute nutcase of an almighty deity decided it would be funny.

Yes, the literal whole reason that Marina was specifically Penelope Jackson is because Chaos thought it would be amusing.

Something that definitely helped Sally process and digest this landslide of information was that she knew the Greek gods were real, and one of them had put a baby inside her. When you appreciated that, it suddenly wasn't so outlandish for your daughter to tell you she's from another dimension.

Now, did Sally care that her Penny was actually Marina, and was next in line to be the supreme goddess of her homeworld? Not at all; she'd wiped the poop from this girl's butt thousands of times and taught her how to use toilet paper. Whenever she did laundry, she sometimes questioned if she'd done a good job teaching Penny how to use toilet paper. In that personally intimate respect, you could say Sally was a closer mother to Penny than Marika was to Marina.

After all, changing diapers and wiping butts was beneath a goddess, but perfect for servants.

"So…" Marina shifted in her chair, "yeah."

"Yeah," Sally echoed, and then she shrugged. "You're still my daughter. I didn't spend the past sixteen years raising you for nothing."

"Wait—just like that? No tears, or feeling like your life has been a lie?"

Sally looked at her with an expression so flat and unimpressed that Penny felt stupid. "Dearest daughter, I was there when you were three and crying about your butt being itchy, and when I checked your underwear, there was a huge stain in them. I asked if you had wiped when you pooped, and you said no. I then had to reexplain the importance of wiping, and then you called me for help for the next three years and only fully stopped after you turned eight."

Marsinax didn't bother hiding her fanged grin at that embarrassing story, while Morgen remained composed.

Marina was blushing red as a tomato. "U-Uh…"

Sally was far from done in reminding the demigod who her mom was. "I was also there when you were seven and had your first sleepover with Piper, and were jealous that she was wearing Cinderella pull-ups, and demanded I get you those same pull-ups so you could have Cinderella on your underwear."

Penny blushed deeper as she recalled that night. The girls had been roughhousing and Piper's pajama shorts had gotten yanked down, revealing said pull-up. Piper had been scared to death and freaking out that Penny was going to make fun of her for still wearing diapers to bed because she still had accidents, but instead Penny had been green with envy because none of her smalls had Cinderella on them, only Ariel. It was a complete nonfactor to Penny what the garment in question was, she just wanted Cinderella on her butt.

"I was also there when you were nine and tried spicy wings for the first time, and made the mistake of trusting a fart."

Penny blushed deeper still, but she didn't go walking down that avenue of Memory Lane.

"And I was there when you were twelve, were taking a shower, and screamed so loud I heard you from in here when you looked down and saw blood running down your legs. Penelope Jackson, I am your mother, and I will not be tolerating any argument on that fact. Do you understand me, young lady?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Penny's voice cracked. She was sure she was going to die from embarrassment if her mom decided to share any more stories of such intimate moments of parenting.

Sally looked at Marsinax and Morgen, and they both stood straighter with a couple of nervous gulps. "And you two…welcome to the family," Sally said warmly.

"H-Happy to be here!" Marsinax laughed.

Morgen just nodded.

Sally nodded. "Good girls. Now, your birthday's in a few days, and I have a big surprise for you."

"What is it?" Marina asked, curiosity piqued.

"It's a surprise."

Marina pouted. "No fair."

"Sure it is. So, if you want to find out what your surprise is, you'd better save the world, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Good girl. Now go have fun and kick their asses."

Marina couldn't stop the burst of air that rushed from her nose as she snorted. It was rare for Sally to curse, and that was why it was funny. It was also uplifting in a way, that Sally had such faith and confidence that her daughter could handle this crisis like it was no more than a Saturday afternoon softball game.

(Penny had tried softball almost three years ago when she was thirteen. During tryouts, though, when she was batting, the pitcher had been the snobby daughter of the head coach and had taken an immediate disliking to Penny at first sight, and so when she had the opportunity to fling the ball at Penny, she did so. At her head. As scary as that had been, it had not been as scary as when Penny stuck her bare hand in front of her face and stopped the ball dead in her grasp with a resounding smack, but as scary as that had been, it was still not as terrifying as when Penny lightly tossed the ball up, and then smashed it with a textbook swing on its way down…sending the ball into the snobby girl's face at what was mathematically calculated by Annabeth to be 117mph. They had to get an ambulance, the girl had to have facial reconstruction surgery, and when the coach filed a lawsuit, Sally had better lawyers. Penny didn't make any of the teams, which was for the best.)

The girls left Sally's study.

"You know something?" Marsinax said. "I think I like your new mom better than your old one."

"Hey," Marina glowered. "Not cool. Both my moms are cool."

Marsinax shrugged. "Just my opinion."

"Noted."

"One that you would do well to keep to yourself," Morgen said. "Queen Marika is still the goddess, even here."

"Yeah, yeah, half-pint, relax."

Morgen growled. She hated that nickname.

"Girls," Marina said sharply.

Morgen settled, and Marsinax backed off.

"What now?" asked the dragon.

"We go back to Camp Half-Blood, see who's decided to fight, who's decided to stay, and then get them all to the Empire State Building."

"For a big meeting?"

"For a big line of defense," Marina answered. When Marsinax and Morgen looked at her, she elaborated. "What? They're a bunch of little kids. I'm not about to let them fight and die for the Olympians of all people, even if I can just bring them back from the Underworld. Besides," she snorted, "I think the three of us can hold the city by ourselves."

"There are many blind spots and points of ambush," Morgen noted.

"And we can always drop a building or two on them," Marsinax added.

"…yeah," Marina said after a pause, "let's not do that if we can help it. I'd rather not lay waste to the human population."

Marsinax snorted. "Objectively speaking, it would actually be of great benefit to the general population of the city if the population was drastically reduced."

"If only certain members of the population were reduced," Morgen said.

"Woah, what are you trying to say, Morgen?" Marsinax asked with a knowing grin and manic gleam in her golden eyes.

Morgen, stoic and objective as ever, said, "It is undeniable that there are specific demographics that pose the greatest threats to the people. Removing those demographics would be a great step towards a safer environment, just like it would be safer for a flock of sheep if the lions were removed."

"Alright, that's enough of that," Marina said. "We'll talk about crime statistics and public safety later. We have to make sure there's a world for everyone to live in first."

"I mean," Marsinax said, "short of killing a lot of people and exponentially reducing the population to a more manageable level, is defeating the Titans really going to make this world a better place? This world isn't like the Lands Between. The advent of technology, the many different religions, and the stark contrasts in culture all sum together to make a situation that will not be as easily rectified as Queen Marika's campaigns."

"Perhaps," Marina said evenly. "However, I do think that a few public displays of power along with a small lie may work in our favor."

"A small lie?" Morgen asked.

Marina shrugged. "There are many different religions here, yes, but there is one that stands far above all the others. I could probably descend from above, tell everyone I'm an angel of judgement sent by God to herald his second coming, and most everyone would start clambering to obey."

Marsinax grinned again. "Wouldn't that be an invitation to disaster? What happens if God decides to send an actual angel after us?"

"It would be a good fight," Marina decided.

The dragon released a loud bark of a laugh. "Ha! That it would, the three of us against an angel of the Lord over how much of an iron fist is required to bring peace to the world."

"To be fair," Morgen said, "the idea behind the Second Coming is that God will bring his whole army of angels to wage a one-sided war with the devil and his demons, cast them all into hell, and then render judgement on all mankind, casting the majority of them into hell as well. Then the current heaven and earth will be destroyed, and be replaced with a new, eternal heaven and earth with only God, his angels, and the repentant ones. So, and perhaps this is an oversimplification, but…God's plan for world peace is the genocide of mankind and the destruction of the planet."

"A bit ironic, isn't it?" Marsinax asked rhetorically. "Here we are, going to wage war with the Titans because their goal is more or less world domination with the extermination of humans and enslavement of those they decide to spare, and such things are generally considered to be utter evil—killing millions and billions of people, destroying massive swaths of the planet, or even the whole planet—and yet the grand plan of the ultimate being of love, kindness, and compassion is the extermination of humans and blowing up this entire rock."

"I think that is the incorrect way of viewing it," Morgen rebutted. "I see it as Queen Marika's campaigns: bringing law and order to a chaotic and unruly world, passing judgement on the evil and the wicked, rewarding the righteous, and asserting dominance as the one true power in the universe."

"Whew, that does sound cool," Marsinax said. "I'm getting chills just thinking about the angels tearing apart the demons. Do you think God would let us help if we asked?"

"If he doesn't smite us first," Morgen answered.

Marina had an arched brow. "For a couple of girls who spent the past sixteen years in limbo watching my new life go by in fast motion, you both have an awful lot of knowledge regarding a religion I haven't actually done that much study on."

Marsinax and Morgen looked at each other.

"Huh," said the dragon. "That is a great point. How do we know all this?"

"I…hm. I do not know," Morgen blinked.

Silence fell between the girls for a few seconds as they pondered on where this theological knowledge came from, but after being unable to arrive at any conclusions, they all shrugged.

"Anyway," Marina said. "We need to get going."

The girls walked out of the house and found Nico waiting for them on the front veranda.

His eyes widened. "Uh, who are these two?"

Marina smiled. "This is Marsinax and Morgen, my sisters. Which means they're your sisters."

"…wut…?"

"Mine and Beckendorf's mission was botched. I ended up down in Atlantis with Dad, and it turns out he got busy with a couple of other nymphs—you know, Tyson is also one of Dad's 'illegitimate' kids, but Triton and Amphitrite like him because his mom is a nymph, but they don't like me because my mom is a human; that's like, literal racism, but anyway—Dad got busy with a couple of other nymphs and now here they are. He let them come back to the surface with me to fight the Titans."

Nico stared at her for a few seconds, the spinning cogs in his head almost visible in his dark eyes.

To put it simply, Nico didn't like this. First, Bianca tried to dump him on camp so she could run off with the Hunters, but luckily Penny convinced (read: punched her in the face) her to not do that…then she died anyway. Ten-year-old Nico had been ready to kill, but Penny hadn't let him go even after his nails had carved out her skin. She helped him grieve, mourn, make peace with Bianca's death, and then she gave him a new home: her's. Sally even officially adopted him, and his official legal name was now Nico di Angelo-Jackson, something that had made him blush once upon a time because it sounded like he was married to Penny with her as the husband and him as the wife.

Penny hadn't become Bianca's substitute, per se, but she had helped fill a big, sudden gap that had appeared in Nico's life, and now here she was, standing before him on the eve of war with two random sisters. Call it youth, maybe call it immaturity, or perhaps call it was it truly was: insecurity. Nico was now feeling like his position was threatened, like he was on the verge of being replaced, like Penny was going to start hanging out more with Marsinax and Morgen because they were all girls, and could connect on different levels than Penny could with Nico.

"That's cool," Nico said in a neutral tone. He opened his mouth again to state the reason why he was here, but Morgen sniffed the air.

"You reek of jealousy."

Nico immediately went on the defensive. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Marsinax rolled her eyes. "Save it, kid. Denial isn't going to work with us."

"Girls, be nice," Marina said before looking at Nico. "They're not your replacements, little brother. They're your sisters, too, if you let them be."

Marsinax and Morgen had no outright rejections to this notion.

Nico swallowed. "Whatever. Anyway, I'm glad I caught you. I know why Luke can't be hurt: he has the Curse of Achilles."

"He's invulnerable except for a small spot on his heel?" Marina blinked.

"No—I mean—maybe? I don't know. But that's not how the Curse actually works. You have to bathe in the River Styx, not let your soul get torn apart by the river, and also focus on a spot on your body that becomes your one weakness. The reason it was Achilles's heel is because that's where Thetis held him when she dipped him in the Styx."

"Wasn't he a baby when she did that?" Marina asked with a screwed up expression. "Or at least a small child?"

"I think?" Nico said.

"How come his soul survived the River Styx if he was so little?"

"Uh…maybe…er…maybe the river went easy on him because he was so little?"

"How did Thetis even get to the River Styx in the first place?"

"…I do not know—but we're getting off topic here. Luke bathed in the River Styx. That's how his body was able to host Kronos without blowing up. So not only is Kronos packing his Titan powers, he's also got an invulnerable body buffed with enhanced speed, strength, and stamina."

"Good to know, thanks. Good job, Nico!"

Nico rolled his eyes. "You need to bathe in the Styx, too."

The girls all stared at him.

"What? You need the power of the Curse so you can stand a chance against Kronos!"

Marsinax snorted. "No, she doesn't."

"I concur," Morgen said. "Mar—er, Penny is more than strong enough as she is."

"I'm interested," Marina said flippantly, causing her sisters to look at her. "What? A buff that gives me permanent invulnerability and more attack damage? How could I say no to that?"

Well, that was certainly logical.

Morgen had a question. "Why just Penny? Why don't all four of us bathe in the Styx to receive this boon? Why not all of the demigods of camp so that we have a battalion of invulnerable warriors?"

Nico shifted. "Well, having a bunch of nigh unkillable teenagers would probably create a lot of problems in the long run-"

"Fair point," Morgen said.

"-and the Curse doesn't work that easily. You need the blessing of your mom or else the river will destroy you as soon as you step foot in it. My mom's…well…she's in the Underworld, but Dad says I'm not allowed to visit her or I'm grounded for the rest of my life and my afterlife. Rules about life and death and other minotaur crap. Can either of you get a hold of your moms real fast?"

"No," was the in-synch answer from Marsinax and Morgen.

"Okay, then." Nico looked at Marina expectantly.

"I'll be right back." Marina dashed inside the house, and made Sally look up in surprise when she barged through the door. "Hey, real quick, can I get your blessing to go bathe in the River Styx? It'll give me invulnerability, and that'll be a big help in fighting Kronos."

"Sure. You have my blessing."

"Thanks!"

Marina dashed back outside. "Mom said it's cool."

Nico nodded. "Okay."

He raised a Stygian iron whistle to his lips and blew, making Morgen cover her ears with a whine. A huge black dog erupted from the shadows, and Mrs. O'Leary greeted Marina with a huge lick.

"Ah! Down girl, down!"

"Yes, down," Morgen hissed.

She did not like this other canine slobbering all over her mistress.

Marina and Nico saddled up atop the hellhound, and Marina looked down at her sisters. "You two get back to Camp Half-Blood. Marsinax, you're in charge until I return."

The girls nodded, and then Nico directed Mrs. O'Leary into the shadows.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Okay, so this chapter was actually supposed to kick off the Battle of Manhattan, but then words started coming out of me, and it's been almost a month since the last update, so here we are.

Next chapter will be about Marina bathing in the Styx, and finally the start of the Battle. Which will be largely humorous.

A few questions:

I've seen here and there some people asking me about my subreddit days, specifically my essays. Would anyone here actually be interested in reading my 45k-word essay on why ToA sucks, along with a few other drabbles that I managed to dredge up from the subreddit? If so, I'll compile them and post them on my Ao3 page.

Given the pattern I've set up, the next update would be Remnant, but it's also been months since I updated Voidwalker, Promised Year, and AC:T. Does anyone want to see those updated instead? If so, which one?

To anyone that's read Chalice of the Gods: is it explained why Percy has to get rec letters for NRU despite this having never been mentioned previously in prior books? Does Annabeth also have to get rec letters? Is Annabeth going to Alt High with Percy? Where is Annabeth staying? Percy's apartment, her own place, or is she going to boarding school? Is any thought given as to the many alternatives Percy has available to him in terms of education, such as getting his GED or attending CHB's year-round program like Jason, Piper, Leo, and Annabeth once did? Does Ganymede turn Percy into a rainbow?

I saw somewhere that Percy apparently gets turned into a rainbow.

Obviously, I don't care about spoilers. Thanks in advance!

In the meantime, Fav, Follow, and Review please!