Author Notes: Hey guys, so this chapter is not very action-packed, but it's necessary for me to set up the story so bear with me for a bit. This chapter was a little tougher to write so it took me a bit longer, fingers crossed I'll be faster with the next update!

Chapter 2: Our Purpose is to Find Happiness

(All characters are property of Rick Riordan)

Annabeth

"Do you have enough paper to write letters home? Did you remember to pack food for Arthur? I don't want him getting hungry and scavenging around camp, there are harpies around at night and I don't want him getting mistaken for their dinner." Annabeth had entered full panic mode and was frantically rummaging through backpacks to make sure food and paper were in there.

"The harpies won't eat Arthur mom, they know he's blessed by grandma, they won't go near him," Jason whined, wanting to get away from the car and over the hill to camp, before his mum came up with a hundred more reasons to keep him from going and seeing his friends. Arthur, his pet owl, whooed his agreement from his position on Jason's shoulder.

Annabeth huffed "You know, I don't like this superiority complex you're developing Arthur, maybe it would do you some good to get chased by harpies."

Arthur turned his head in a full 180 away from Annabeth and gave a whoo of disagreement. Jason grinned and patted his owl on the head before reaching into his pocket to give him a small bug for a snack.

"Don't go giving him too many of those Jason, you'll run out before the summer's over, and then Arthur will be stuck eating the local wildlife and I don't want another complaint from Chiron about that." Annabeth sighed in exasperation before her husband's hand snaked around her waist and pulled her into his chest. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered for her to relax in her ear. She leant back into him and let out another huff of frustration.

"Everything will be okay, gorgeous," Teddy promised her, "Arthur has been going to camp longer than Jason has, he'll be fine. Besides, worst comes to worst Percy can look after him. Right, Percy?"

"You got it dad!" a voice called from the other side of the car. There was a sound of rustling before Percy's blonde mop emerged from the front passenger seat. "You know I'll look after them both, I've done it the past two summers and no one died."

Jason grinned at his mum before running up and giving her a hug. "Love you, mum, love you, dad. See you in August!" And with that, he took off up the hill with Arthur jumping off his shoulder and following in hot pursuit.

Percy reached into the back of the car and grabbed the two bags Jason had forgotten, which combined with his own bags posed quite a problem.

"Do you need help carrying them to the cabin?" Annabeth asked.

Percy laughed, knowing that his mother would do absolutely anything to not have to leave them. "It's okay mom, I already told Sophie that I was probably going to need help via iris message."

As if on cue a brunette bombshell emerged at the crest of the hill, and even from where Annabeth was standing she could see the giant grin on her face. Sophia sprinted down the hill and practically jumped into Percy's arms.

"I've missed you so much!" the daughter of Aphrodite exclaimed. Hopping back down out of Percy's arms she turned her attention to his parents who were observing the scene with raised eyebrows, "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Walker, sorry about that, I just haven't seen him since winter break. I feel like I haven't seen him in ages."

Teddy chuckled, "Nothing to apologise for Sophia, but you know you're always welcome to come to see us in LA whenever you want."

"I know Mr. Walker, it's just my dad's been pretty sick recently so I haven't had the chance to go. I want to be there for him in case his situation deteriorates."

Annabeth frowned "How's his condition now?"

"He's feeling a lot better now," Sophia grinned "And I think he has the hots for his nurse so I don't think he's going to want to kick the bucket anytime soon."

Annabeth and Teddy both smiled at that before turning to their son. Percy was 16 now and was beginning to tower over his mum and was almost the same height as his 6-foot tall dad.

"Promise me you'll be safe. No more scars when you come back home in the fall." Annabeth warned, raising her finger as if doing so would further reiterate her point. Percy simply grinned and kissed her on the cheek before giving his dad a tight hug.

"You know me, I'm always safe. Besides, Sophia will keep me out of trouble." Sophia quickly nodded in affirmation of Percy's statement and grabbed the bags that Jason had left behind. With one last hug from his mum, Percy and his girlfriend set off up the hill towards Thalia's tree where Peleus was snoozing in the midday sun.

"Those kids are gonna be the death of me you know," Annabeth muttered, watching their retreating figures as they made it to the top of the hill and gave the sleeping dragon a quick pet.

Teddy laughed at his wife. "They're named after the two greatest heroes to ever live. The spirit of their namesakes will protect them."

Annabeth turned to face her husband and gave him a quick kiss. Despite not being a demigod, Teddy was clear-sighted and took the whole Greek gods being real completely in stride. He had been a classics major in college and nothing had made him happier than finding out he was married to the daughter of a Greek goddess.

"I love you, you know!" Annabeth told him.

Teddy grinned and kissed her on the nose, "I love you too gorgeous."

Hazel

"Hazel!" Frank yelled from the bathroom, "where did you put the cufflinks that I had out with my suit?"

Hazel paused momentarily from styling her hair and reached out to see if she could sense the solid gold cufflinks in the room. A light pull in her gut told her exactly where she'd put them. "They're in the first drawer on the left."

She heard Frank rustling through the drawers and then heard a relieved sigh as he walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where she was just finishing up her preparations. "You have to stop rearranging the bathroom babe, I'm losing things left and right," Frank said with a grin.

Hazel sighed, "I know, it just helps me relax, especially since Grandma Zhang passed away. I miss her a lot."

Frank pulled Hazel into a tight embrace, "She loved you so much, probably more than she loved me."

"Definitely more than she loved you," Hazel retorted with a smile. Frank narrowed his eyes at his wife but quickly broke into a smile as well. With the kids away at Camp Jupiter and Grandma Zhang having passed a couple of years ago he knew Hazel had been feeling pretty lonely.

"She lived a very long life," Frank told her "But I know she was happiest in her last few years living with us and the kids. I think we made her feel young again."

Hazel looked at her husband and buried her head into his neck. "I'm sorry Frank, I know I haven't been the easiest partner the past couple of years. I promise I'm going to work on it!"

Frank tightened his embrace around her, "You don't have to apologise for anything Hazel, I just want you to be happy. If you're happy, I'm happy, you know that." Hazel sent a quick prayer of thanks to Venus not only for helping her find Frank but also for the fact that she was wearing waterproof mascara. "Maybe we should get a dog, I think you'll have more fun with a friend around since the kids are at camp."

Hazel just nodded, letting herself get lost in the warmth of her partner's arms. After a moment Hazel composed herself and grabbed her purse from the bed. She reached out her hand to Frank and led him out and down the stairs. The two strolled down the streets of New Rome towards their dinner reservation, hand-in-hand with smiles on their faces.

Leo

Leo took a deep breath as his hand edged closer and closer to the glowing reactor core held in place by the mechanical prongs. One wrong move and he'd likely overload the circuits and give himself a nasty electric shock, something which had marked the last seven occasions he had tried to fuse the two components together. He edged closer and closer to it, and as the small chip in his hand neared the core and trickle of electricity began between the two of them. It was working, albeit slowly, and now all he had to do was…

"LEO!"

The voice of Calypso jolted Leo upright and sent the chip flying into the reactor core, immediately overloading the circuits and letting off an electric charge that sent him flying across the room.

"Yes, honey?" Leo growled back.

"You better not be giving me attitude after you forgot to sign Espis form for the field trip she wants to go on next week!"

Leo frowned before slapping himself. He knew there was something he forgot to do. He had been so caught up in trying to get his reactor to work that he had totally forgotten to sign the form Espi had put on his workbench the week prior. "Shit," he muttered to himself, realising that he had let his work get ahead of his family. Refusing to resign himself to failure he jumped up and grabbed the keys to the car.

He walked out of his workshop and into the kitchen to find Calypso cooking breakfast for the three of them. Espi sat at the table with her summer camp backpack ready to go, looking at Leo with a pout. Leo rolled his eyes and scooped up Espi in his arms, carrying her out towards the car.

"And where exactly are you going with my daughter Mr. Valdez?" Calypso enquired.

"I'm getting her on the trip, I'm going to use my irresistible charm to win the counselors over and get them to accept the form late," Leo called back.

"Wouldn't that require bringing the form?" Calypso mused while casually flipping pancakes over the stove. A grin played across her lips as she heard her husband sprint back into the house and into his workshop to grab the form. "Also, what charm exactly do you possess?"

"The one that got the most beautiful girl in the world to marry me," Leo yelled as he raced back out to the car.

Calypso was grateful her back was turned so her husband couldn't see her cheeks flush bright red."Drive safe, breakfast will be ready and waiting when you get back."

"Thank you Sunshine, I love you!" was followed by the slamming of the car door and the sound of the engine igniting.

"I love you too Leo Valdez," she whispered under breath, turning her attention back towards finishing breakfast.

Piper

Piper wiped the sweat off of her forehead as she finished shoveling the last of the horse manure out of the stables and took a brief moment of respite by leaning against the barn door. The sun had been brutal today and the temperature made any fieldwork difficult, something Shel had warned her about when she set off to do her midafternoon chores. She thought about letting her know she had been right but decided against it. Shel didn't need a boost to her ego.

In the shade of the stable door, with the evening sun casting a warm glow across the house and the fields her home looked beautiful. 'A good thing too, considering the buyers are going to be coming around tomorrow,' she thought to herself. The farmhouse that she had called home for the last 20 years was going to be sold so she and Shel would be able to follow their daughter to college in New York. It would be near camp too, so Piper would be able to stop by and see her old friends. She hadn't been to camp in over a decade and wondered if it had changed at all, the last time she had visited they had been planning a memorial for those who had fallen in battle in previous years. She hadn't had the courage to go due to the shame she knew she would feel at seeing Jason and Percy's name there. Two heroes whose deaths she was responsible for.

She had struggled for a long time after Percy's death and then finding out that Jason's spirit was still in the Underworld. How it had disappeared in the first place she didn't know, but if they had just waited a few days, instead of rushing off headfirst without knowing what they were getting themselves into, Percy would still be alive. She went with him into that cave. She came out and he didn't.

She was broken out of her stupor by a shadow blocking out the sun's evening rays. She glanced up to see Shel looking at her with a soft smile on her face.

"You looked a little lost there, Pipes." She murmured.

Piper tried to smile in return but it didn't reach her eyes. Shel had stared at her face long enough throughout their life together to know when Piper's thoughts drifted to her old friends. Piper reached to the locket hanging around her neck and unclasped it, turning it over in her hand to stare it. She popped the lock and opened it to reveal the pictures inside. On the left, it was her and Jason back at camp around the campfire, fresh off of their first quest to rescue Hera. On the right was a group picture of herself, Jason, Percy, and Annabeth on the Argo II. Back when everything seemed a little bit easier and the world felt a lot less empty.

Shel knelt down next to her and gently took the locket out of her hands, taking a closer look at her wife's friends who she never got the chance to meet. She saw how happy Piper looked in both the pictures, how carefree and at ease, she seemed around them. It was a side of Piper she so rarely got the pleasure of seeing. She closed the locket and handed it back to her partner, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"There was nothing you could do Pipes," she whispered to her, "They were heroes, sometimes heroes die. Don't dishonour their sacrifice by blaming yourself."

"They wouldn't have had to sacrifice themselves if I had just stood up and been a hero myself," Piper sniffled, reaching up and wiping away the tears that had started to well up in the corners of her eyes. "I'm the daughter of a goddess, and I stood back and let my friends die. How can I look Annabeth or Thalia in the eye knowing I'm the reason they can't see them again?"

Piper buried her head into her knees as she let the tears roll down her cheeks. She remembered Thalia's face when she returned from the arctic trip with neither of the two most important guys in her life. She would never be able to forget the emptiness in her eyes as her world collapsed around her. She didn't think Thalia had returned to Camp Half-Blood or New Rome since unable to stomach visiting places so tainted by the memories of the people she missed most.

Piper could understand that pain, she lived with it every day. Someone told her it would get easier with time but they clearly didn't understand what it was like to live with that kind of guilt on their conscience. She had thought that moving out to Oklahoma, to live on the farm that her dad had bought, would make things easier. Meeting Shel had helped. She was so innocent, so isolated from all the horrors and evils that filled her demigod life that it made her feel normal.

Her dad had passed away shortly after they'd moved, and Piper had decided to keep the farm, appreciating the peace and quiet after all the adventure and chaos that came with being the daughter of Aphrodite. She and Shel had adopted a young girl, Abigail, an orphan whose parents had died in a car accident. The three of them became a family, a family that helped to fill the hole in Pipers chest.

Now of course their daughter was all grown up, and off to some fancy private school in upstate New York. Shel and her had considered staying on the farm, but couldn't bear to let their little girl go so far from home without being nearby. They decided to sell the farm and move to New York to join her. It was going to be hard leaving the family home after so many years of memories, but Piper was ready for the new chapter in their life.

She felt her tears being gently wiped away and looked up to see her daughter kneeling next to her. "No crying mom," she said "You're not allowed to cry on our last night on the farm. Too many happy memories."

Piper looked from Abigail to Shel and couldn't help but smile. No matter the nightmares and the guilt of her past, she'd found her own slice of happiness right here, with her family. She pulled her daughter and wife towards them and held them tightly for a moment. The pain and bitterness disappeared, replaced by the warmth of knowing how much she was loved. Abby stood up and made her way towards the house.

"Come on, I ordered pizza from that place you love in town. It'll get cold if you don't hurry."

Nico

Nico considered the possibility of the fact that he had gotten in over his head as he eyed up his stepmother. The Queen of the Underworld's face was a mask, any thoughts that might've been going through her head were completely sealed from the son of Hades. Thousands of years of life as a goddess gave her an advantage over him that was impossible to quantify.

"E-4." The goddess announced decisively, turning her gaze to Nico.

Nico sighed and let his head drop to the table. "Hit," he muttered.

Persephone grinned and marked the successful guess on her side of the board, adding to an already impressive tally of successful hits on Nico's ships. After getting destroyed at chess, monopoly, and poker Nico had thought a game that involved a lot more guesswork would be a little more in his favour, but alas his stepmother was continuing to steamroll him.

"I believe you have one remaining ship my dear," Persephone said, unable to stop the short laugh that escaped as she realised she was about to win without Nico hitting a single one of her ships. "Fingers crossed this one is a little harder to find."

Nico, having grown tired of continuously being turned into a flower, had come to an agreement with Persephone that instead of taking out her anger during the winter months on him, they would play games instead. Persephone had been hesitant of the idea at first but quickly warmed to it after realising she could absolutely dumpster Nico in just about any game she tried to play against her. Nico had been spending more and more time in the Underworld since Will started his job as a full-time doctor and was often working late shifts at the hospital, and although his and Persephone's relationship had been rocky for a long time, the longer he was down there the closer they grew, especially through playing the various board games he had brought down.

Nico reevaluated his board state and figured he'd give random guesswork another shot. "F-8," he told his stepmother, clearly lacking any sort of confidence that his guess would actually hit anything.

Persephone gasped, looking at Nico in shock, before breaking out in a fit of laughing. "Miss, try again dear."

Nico leant back in his chair and sighed. He eyed his ships sprawled out across the board and his thoughts drifted to Percy teaching him the game back when they were at camp. Percy had always had an affinity for the game considering the fact that it was to do with ships and Percy thought that that would make him naturally good at the game. Plus, it was one of the only games he could best Annabeth at back when they were dating.

As his thoughts turned to his long passed friend he remembered the look on his father's face when he had broken the news to him. Hades was not the kind of father who showed emotion with his children, but even the lord of the dead couldn't keep the look of grief off of his face. For all the rockiness that defined their relationship, Percy was still Hades' favourite nephew. Whether Hades liked him personally or not didn't matter, the son of Poseidon had earnt his respect, and that was no mean feat. Nico had asked his father if he could see Percy's spirit, but he had been told that while Percy was dead, his soul was in no condition to see visitors. He had been forbidden from visiting the person who had played such an important role in his life.

He had struggled for a while after Percy's death, with even Will struggling to break down Nico's walls and get him to open up. His visits to Sally and Paul had helped a lot. He had started regularly visiting them about 6 months after Percy had passed, coming around for dinner to check in and make sure they were alright. At first, he felt like a burden, but Sally soon made it clear how much she appreciated having a reminder of her son and his legacy around her. When Sally had asked him to be her daughter's godfather he had been taken aback but knew he couldn't possibly refuse the offer. He might not have been able to protect Percy, but he could protect his sister.

He realised Persephone hadn't called out a position in a couple of minutes and looked up to find the goddess looking back at him, a sad smile across her face. She didn't say anything, but the smile was comforting enough. She might not know exactly how he felt, but she knew he was hurting, and as much as she had hated Nico in the beginning, she had come to see him as part of her family. She reached out with her hand and grasped Nicos.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently.

Nico didn't answer for a second, instead, he took the time to take a deep breath and collect his thoughts. "Of course," he replied, his face breaking out into a smile, "Just planning how I'm going to pull off the greatest comeback in Battleship history."

Persephone narrowed her eyes. She wasn't thrilled that Nico still wasn't willing to talk about his feelings around her, but she respected his decision and was happy that he had at least shook off whatever negative thoughts had temporarily gripped him.

"You stand no chance di Angelo."

Thalia

The evening breeze tugged on the corners of her parka as the daughter of Zeus made her way past the seemingly endless lines of gravestones. She kept her eyes peeled for any signs of monsters in her periphery, but despite being in a cemetery she felt an air of calm, an air of safety. She didn't know whether she had Hades or her father to thank for that, but nevertheless, she pushed on further until she came up to the marble gravestone at the end of the row.

It stood out amongst the hundreds of stone memorials that surrounded it, it seemed to glow with an energy that the others lacked. Whereas the others were dilapidated and crumbling with the inevitability of time and erosion, this gravestone looked freshly polished, as though every spec of dirt on it had been magically removed. That wouldn't be too far-fetched, considering the fact that Thalia had a sneaking suspicion Zeus had blessed the grave of his son to be preserved as a memory of his legacy.

Thalia knelt down next to it with a bundle of flowers in her right hand. As she placed them into the vase in front of the gravestone they immediately sprang into full bloom, adding a small window of light in an otherwise dark and gloomy setting. "Thanks, Dad," Thalia whispered, and she felt a breeze blow through her hair, almost like an arm around her shoulder, and she knew her father was with her. He had never been the most caring of parents, although what else could she expect from the king of the gods, but Jason's death had brought the two of them closer. They shared a common loss, a common pain.

Thalia tried to stop the tears from rolling down her face, but just as they had a hundred times before they broke free and she soon found herself sobbing at the gravestone of her brother. She reached up and touched the necklace that adorned her neck. It was her camp necklace, but alongside the regular beads were two more. One was blue, with a lightning bolt, and the other was green with a trident, representing the two people who had meant so much to her but had nonetheless been snatched away. She had always expected to outlive them, being a hunter after all, but she hadn't thought she would lose them so soon.

She knelt by the gravestone for a few minutes, reminiscing over those that she had lost. She then rose and took one last look at the gravestone before turning and making her way back to the entrance. They might be gone, but she would never forget them, she swore to herself as the moonlight illuminated her path.

Baffin Bay, Arctic Circle

The old fisherman whistled as he navigated his small boat through the icy waters and towards the enormous glacier that towered in front of him. The sea was unusually calm, and the wind unnaturally quiet. The fisherman knew why that was, of course, it was almost time. He had waited a long time, and traveled a long way, to be in this exact spot at this exact moment, but despite everything, he was still a few seconds too early.

The old man stroked his beard as he gazed up at the glacier, before pulling out a pocket watch and staring at it intently. "No, no," he muttered to himself, seemingly satisfied with his findings, "I'm just in time."

As if on cue the front side of the glacier gave an almighty shake, as a sheet of ice as large as a cruise ship broke off and collapsed into the ocean. A massive wave looked set to completely capsize the fisherman, and send the old man to the depths, but instead, the boat simply rode the wave and settled back peacefully as though nothing had occurred. The old man smiled and quickly positioned his boat next to one of the smaller chunks that had broken off. Through the ice, the outline of a person could be seen.

"Time to wake up from your nap my boy," the old man mused as he raised a long staff and rapped it against the ice. Despite the seemingly light hit, cracks exploded across the ice and began to break off, further revealing the figure of a man who couldn't have been older than 20. Years encased in the ice had given his skin an unnatural paleness, but as it was revealed to the fresh air colour returned, and suddenly he no longer looked like a zombie, but rather a sleeping teenager. The fisherman rapped his staff once more, this time against the boy's chest. When nothing happened the fisherman frowned, rapping again with more force.

This time the blow had the desired effect. The boy shot bolt upright and his eyes snapped open, revealing pale blue eyes that reflected his icy surroundings. Frantic breathing soon calmed as the boy took in his surroundings. He looked around in confusion before turning back to the fisherman, questions buzzing behind his eyes.

The fisherman simply offered his hand to the boy, and helped him off of the ice and onto the boat, offering him a satchel of water and some seaweed. The boy took the satchel, gulping down the lot within moments, but eyed the seaweed with confusion. "A snack," the old man told him with a grin, before turning back and beginning to steer the boat back away from the glacier. The boy still looked confused, it was clear that the old man's very kind offer of seaweed was not being fully appreciated by him.

"Where am I? What happened? Do I know you?" the boy asked, clearly beginning to panic as memories of what had happened before he went unconscious returned.

"Relax my boy," the fisherman replied, "I'll explain everything if you give me time."