The skull charm on my wrist turned crimson red from overuse. I'd had to pry the small piece of silver from my skin with the tip of a dagger, leaving its shape burned into my flesh.

When Hades had given me this charm to help ground me to the physical world, I knew he'd never intended for me to use my powers at the magnitude that I'd recently used them. Between making those hourglass bracelets, my fight with Apollo, and my healing session with Will, I'd burned through a considerable amount of the charm's power.

Again, I found myself cursing Zeus and the Fates for making me a goddess. While this would've taken significantly longer to accomplish as a demigod, at least I didn't have to worry about turning into smoke.

It looked like I'd have to take Hera's advice sooner rather than later.

Damn.

In any case, my burns responded well to the square of ambrosia I absentmindedly chewed on while helping Cameron organize the new shipment of equipment that had arrived an hour ago. With the incoming threat of Camp Jupiter, Chiron had ordered tons of medical supplies as well as materials for the Hephaestus, Hermes, and Hecate cabins.

Will hadn't woken up despite all the healings I'd given him over the course of the past twelve hours. According to Cameron, I'd pretty much fixed all the physical wounds, even managing to rid Will of many of the scars inflicted by Tartarus. We both knew that Will would awaken when his mind was ready.

That didn't make me any less impatient.

I was tempted to accelerate time on him like I'd done for Paul two years prior but stopped when the still slightly warm to the touch skull charm bounced against my wrist. I needed to conserve my powers of time more than any of the others.

Time was such a finicky domain that it made me want to scream ninety percent of the time. Yeah, I know, the irony wasn't lost on me. Unlike my siblings' powers, there is nothing physical about time. I can't pull time out of the air like I can water, wind, or lightning. I can't yank time from the ground like I can plants or shadows. Time is the fourth dimension and warping it to my whims is exhausting due to the fact that I have to become its conduit to push it back or forward as needed.

Even manipulating a few seconds takes an enormous amount of power. That doesn't take into account split moments of life-or-death actions or the number of people I have to affect. For example, the time spell I did at the Wolf House last December depleted me something awful. Not even shadow-traveling from New York to China ten times there and back could make me as exhausted as that moment did.

Long story short, I needed to keep the time powers on the down low unless absolutely necessary.

After finishing with Cameron, I found Chiron and Malcolm at the Big House. There, we talked strategy until lunch. True to form, I gave my brother a notebook with all the traditional battle formations of the legion and highlighted demigods and legacies that could prove the biggest threat.

Of course, I had Octavian listed as number one.

Maybe it was the result of having my abdomen sliced open so many times, but I found it hard to stomach more than a few bites of the chicken alfredo the nymphs served for lunch. I sat alone at the Poseidon table, pushing around my pasta with my fork until Clarisse, Chris, Grover, and Rachel joined me.

"So, whose neck am I wringing first?" asked Clarisse before taking a forkful of pasta.

"Octavian Bentley," I growled. I relaxed my grip on my fork before the dinner with Hades incident repeated itself. "He's a legacy of Apollo and the world's biggest pain in the ass."

"Sounds about right. Of course, it would be Apollo spawn."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let's just say Clarisse has had some beef with some Apollo kids before," I said, thinking of Michael Yew.

"Not just Apollo kids," Grover laughed.

"How could we forget about Percy's initiation?" Chris added, playfully nudging Clarisse's side.

"Or Travis's, Connor's, Katie's, Cecil's, Jake's, Lou Ellen's-" Grover counted on his fingers.

"Yeah, yeah," Clarisse interrupted, ears bright red. "We don't do that anymore."

We all laughed at the lost look on Rachel's face, not having a clue as to what we were talking about.

We still managed to discuss more serious matters without completely losing the levity of the beginning of our conversation. Dark days were coming, and we all knew how important something as simple as a few laughs and good jokes could be for morale. The fight with Kronos hadn't been a walk in the park, and neither would the one against Gaea. Something told me that it'd take more than Leo, Festus, and the Physician's Cure this time around.

Rachel and I swapped notes about the spirit of Delphi, and she gave me some good advice to minimize the pain. Since she'd accepted the spirit under the supervision of Apollo and with the proper oaths, speaking prophecies were only a mild discomfort to her. Seeing that I had no say in the matter, any prophecies I spoke felt like my innards were being torn apart while simultaneously burning in Greek fire.

"It's best not to fight it," Rachel said. "It hurts more if you try to resist."

"Prophecies ruin everything," Clarisse said.

The others murmured assent.

Eventually, we all had to go our separate ways. I swung by the infirmary a final time to see if, miraculously, Will's condition had changed in the course of six hours. Cameron let me perform the stimulus tests, and to our relief, Will reacted perfectly to all of them.

I gave Cameron a drachma and left him with the order to IM me the moment Will stirred.

"Yes, my lady."

"My lady?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "You're a goddess, right? I mean, unless you're cosplaying as Athena or Enyo, you look like one, Andy."

A quick glance at my clothes showed me that I had yet to switch out of my formal goddess attire. No wonder so many of the younger campers gave me a wide berth or wary glances.

"Cam, you never have to refer to me as my lady. We've known each other longer than I've been a goddess. I'm just Andy to you."

He nodded. "Okay. Well, Andy, I'll call you when he wakes up."

"Thank you."

My next stop was the pegasi stables, where I found Star playing with a blue carrot ball hanging from the ceiling. She batted it with her muzzle toward Guido, who hit it back as if they were playing tetherball without the pole.

Mistress! she exclaimed. Having turned away to look at me, the carrot ball smacked her on the side of her face. She huffed in irritation. Guido, what was that for?

My bad! I didn't see the girl boss walk in! Guido said, discretely trying to inch towards the far wall of his stable. From the looks of it, he knew firsthand what happened when Star got mad.

"You know, you can call me Andy. That's my name."

Nope!

Never, Mistress!

"I don't understand why you pegasi are so stubborn about this," I said, shaking my head. While getting Star's saddle, I stopped in front of Blackjack's stable and found it empty. "Where's Blackjack?"

The boss called him, Guido explained.

It sounded important, Star added. I've never seen him fly out of here so fast. He said something about Kansas. Don't know why the boss is in Kansas, but that's none of our business.

"Glad to see that not everything gets shared in this stable. Seriously, you guys are worse than Aphrodite's handmaidens in terms of spreading gossip."

We resent the accusation, Porkpie neighed, making his presence known. How else are we supposed to keep ourselves entertained outside of riding lessons? We only have one toy, and those two always hog it!

Not true! Guido said.

Don't lie to my Mistress, Star warned.

I opened Star's stable door to begin saddling her. "Don't drag me into this drama. Porkpie, I'll get you and Blackjack a carrot ball, too. Honestly, I'll probably get enough for all the pegasi. I can also try to talk to Chiron about letting you guys out for stuff other than lessons."

I have the best Mistress! I have the best Mistress! Star sang, earning a groan from the male pegasi.

"Don't brag, Star. It's not nice." After finishing with the saddle, I motioned for Star to get some water before we got going. "Plus, I think Guido and Porkpie have every chance to have a great human friend to help, should they choose to do so."

I sure hope so, sighed Guido. At least I could leave these stables more often.

"Again, I'll work on that, but we have more urgent matters, so you might have to wait a bit longer, my friend."

So long as it's before I die, we'll be fine, girl boss.

"Andy."

Girl boss! the three pegasi cheered.

"Why do I even bother?"

You love us!

Great conversationalists, pegasi.

I moved Porkpie into Star's stable so that he could play with Guido while Star was with me. I made sure to give each pegasi some apples, for which they thanked me profusely, and mounted Star. Once we took to the skies, we headed north toward Westport, Connecticut.

I had one last loose end to tie up there.

Despite my busy lifestyle of constantly running around for the gods, I made it a point to check in on May Castellan every so often. She hadn't asked to be cursed by Hades or for Luke to run away from her. It only seemed fair for someone to come and treat her with human decency from time to time.

Luke and I visited May soon after the Titan War. He figured he owed her an apology after running away fourteen years ago.

To our amazement, when we arrived at her house, all the mythological plushies had vanished. It became clear that someone had swept the front porch and tended to the weeds which had invaded the garden. Purple coneflowers and bluets grew in flower boxes under the front-facing windows. Only one wind chime hung near the front door rather than hundreds of them. Someone had given the colonial house a fresh coat of white paint, breathing life back into the once dated exterior.

The front door had flung open. May rushed out to meet us. I say "meet," but the older woman tackled Luke into a fierce hug, sending the pair sprawling into the freshly cut grass. She peppered her son's face with thousands of kisses, causing him to laugh and say, "Mom, that tickles!"

"My precious baby boy," she said, hugging him tightly to her chest.

Tears gleamed in both their eyes at the reunion. I'm not ashamed to admit that I got a bit misty-eyed myself.

Apparently, when the curse on the Oracle of Delphi lifted, it undid the damage wreaked on May's mind. Her grass green eyes no longer held any fracture lines, the irises whole once more. Her clothes were free of any flour or melted chocolate stains. Red Kool-Aid powder no longer stained her fingertips.

She was, in every sense of the word, completely healed.

Luke had been ecstatic.

His joy quadrupled when we saw that the inside of his childhood home had received a similar treatment as the exterior. Only one mirror remained visible on the first floor, right by the door so that one could give a final look at his reflection before leaving the house. The plushies of Medusa and the hydra, along with all the others, were unceremoniously tossed in large, black garbage bags with a sticky note reading GOODWILL stuck to their sides.

Not even the experts on HGTV could do as good a job as May Castellan.

When she told us to stay for lunch, we were relieved to see that she had made spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. For dessert, she pulled out an honest-to-God tiramisu from the fridge. She made anything but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, and Kool-Aid.

"I'm so glad to see you're doing better, Ms. Castellan," I said, taking a sip of the cappuccino she'd made me. It seemed like she took to cooking after regaining her sanity. "You've gotta give me that tiramisu recipe. I'll die without it."

She laughed, tossing her long, blonde hair over her shoulder. It was nice to see her hair down rather than in a messy bun atop her head. "Please, I'm May to you, Andy. After everything you've done for my son, it's the least I can do."

Luke blushed. He tried to hide behind his coffee mug, whining, "Mom, you're embarrassing me."

"I've got over twenty years of embarrassment to make up for," she huffed. "So buckle in, Luke, Andy gets to know everything from here on out."

"Good gods." Luke slunk down in his chair like a child.

"Cheers to that," I laughed as we clinked our mugs together.

Of course, then came the barrage of questions about our relationship: How did you meet? How long have you been dating? How soon can I expect grandchildren?

Luke choked on his coffee. I nearly snorted mine out of my nose.

May laughed as we both stammered out various explanations, our faces matching shades of cherry tomato red. For someone whose mind hadn't been in the right place for roughly twenty-two years, she sure remembered how to tease us without too much of a problem.

After that initial visit, Luke and I tried to visit his mom at least once a month. We'd made good on that promise until his abduction by Gaea and Tartarus.

I hadn't seen her since then.

My stomach churned violently as Star landed on May Castellan's front lawn. I wanted to upchuck my meager lunch into the rose bushes she'd planted since I'd last been here. Maybe I should call Mrs. O'Leary to sit on me so I don't have a reason to go in.

Star, sensing my nervousness, did her best to comfort me. She wrapped a wing around me and pulled me to her side, giving me a hug the only way she knew how.

I'll be right here when you're done, Mistress, Star promised.

I nodded my thanks and made the too-short trip down her walkway and onto the front porch. Sweat pooled in my palms and dripped down my back. My teeth chattered despite the sweltering heat. It took all my resolve to ring the doorbell.

It took less than ten seconds for May to open the door.

"Andy, dear, it's good to see you!" She widely smiled and enveloped me in a hug, the way she always greeted me. She then looked behind me, as if trying to find Luke. I guess she initially brushed his absence as him parking the car or something (not that we ever drove to Westport thanks to my many forms of travel), and waved me in. "You two have abandoned me for six months. I want to hear everything you've been up to since December!"

I winced. Right, we'd swung by the first week of December to celebrate Christmas since the winter solstice usually meant bad things for demigods. Luke had given his mother a necklace with a gold caduceus pendant, indicating that he'd made up with Hermes the previous summer. I'd given her tons of baking supplies for the new pastry business she planned on launching in town. Hermes had asked me to give her a pair of diamond earrings, which she cherished along with our other gifts.

We'd celebrated Christmas dinner three weeks in advance, playing silly games and listening to Christmas carols before ending the night with peppermint hot chocolate and watching cheesy Christmas movies in the living room. Then, by Luke's request, we watched the Disney version of Hercules, which the three of us tore apart due to its inaccuracy.

That had been one of the nicest Christmas' I'd had, and I've spent five on Olympus. Goes to show that bigger is not always better (cough, Zeus, cough).

We walked into the kitchen, which had become May's favorite room in her house. She'd renovated it to give herself more space, better baking equipment, and new cabinetry while adding an amazing island with a quartz countertop opposite her new stove and oven.

A large bag of flour stood next to an electrical mixer. Bowls with different colored frosting sat next to empty piping bags, waiting to be filled. A container of eggs and a bag of chocolate chips were also out. The scent of vanilla and cinnamon wafted from the oven.

Without missing a beat, May grabbed a spatula, a piping bag, and the bowl of blue frosting and began scooping it in.

"So, what's new with you two?" May asked.

The sight of the gold caduceus around her throat felt like a knife to the stomach. That had been the first Christmas present Luke had given her in fourteen years; it would be the last.

"May, I have to tell you something," I said, my voice tight.

"You're getting married?" she asked hopefully.

A watery laugh escaped my lips. I clenched my fists and dug my nails into my palms. "I think you should sit down for this."

She gasped and stopped working. Realization set in.

"Oh, you're pregnant!" She set aside her stuff and came to give me a hug. "No wonder Luke isn't here. You don't want him to know, do you? It's okay to be pregnant out of wedlock if that's what you're afraid of. I did it and got a wonderful son in turn. I'm sure Luke will be overjoyed at the news!"

I couldn't help it anymore. I internally cursed myself as a few traitorous tears made their way down my face.

"I'm not pregnant, May, and I'm not engaged to your son. He's…he's…"

True realization set in this time around. Her grip slackened around my shoulders. She took a tentative step back and nearly crumpled to the ground. She rested all her weight against the island, devastation filling her features.

"No," May said, shaking her head. "No, no, he can't be... You changed his fate, Andy. I know that. He didn't join that horrible Titan. He received a different fate. Please, Andy, he can't be dead."

Unsure of what else to say, I hugged May as fiercely as she hugged Luke the day of our first visit. She went ragdoll limp against me. Her body uncontrollably shaking as she sobbed, clutching my clothes, begging me to tell her something other than the truth.

When she regained enough of her composure, she took out the cake she'd been making from the oven and set it to the side to cool. We then made our way to the living room, taking our usual spots on the large L-shaped couch.

"I want to know everything, Andy," May said coldly. "What happened these past six months?"

Of course, I told her everything. She was Luke's mother. If our other friends knew the whole truth, she deserved to know it too.

I faltered as I neared my battle with Luke and Menoetius. God, how would she react when I told her that it was my blade that ended her son's life? If I was lucky, she'd kick me out of her house and scream at me to never come back. Or, maybe she'd stab me as revenge. Either option felt fair given the circumstances.

I told her about the mind control and our fight. I told her about my fateful swing, severing Luke's carotid artery, and my powers failing me as I tried to stop him from bleeding out. I told her his last words to me and how I'd left a drachma over his eye for payment when my brother's shadows brought his body to the Underworld.

I didn't dare breathe a word about his missing soul. Instead, I said that Luke had made it to Elysium, which was exactly what would happen when I got his soul back, or the three judges of the Underworld would have to fight me to Tartarus and back.

I lamely finished with an "I'm so, so sorry, May."

Silence filled the space between us.

She fingered the gold caduceus, feeling the tiny scales carved into the twin snakes curved around the staff. Her eyes shut. Her lips moved in silent prayer as she fully grasped the caduceus in her fist. Eventually, I made out her plea to Hermes – whether it was asking for his help or cursing him, though, I didn't know.

Whatever the case, a few moments later, a large box appeared in the middle of the living room with a pop! I walked to the box, noticing the blue sticky note hastily slapped over the packaging tape.

It read: For May.

Despite the lack of signature, I'd been around the Olympians enough to recognize their handwriting. Hermes had been listening after all.

"Open it," said May.

I set the sticky note aside and made quick work of the thick, brown tape. Opening the box's flaps revealed all of Luke's belongings from camp. I'd been meaning to get around to packing up his things but hadn't had a chance to do so.

I pulled out stacks of clothing, baggies of ambrosia, and his few personal belongings. Being a Hermes kid and all, I couldn't fault him for keeping any trinkets to a minimum. I found his diary, a green leatherbound notebook that had definitely seen some things judging from the warped cover and yellow-tinted pages. As for his beaded Camp Half-Blood necklace, that had been on him when he died. I hadn't grabbed it at the time, and Hades hadn't given it to me. My best guess said it had something to do with his missing soul. I'm sure May would appreciate having his necklace, but that was up to him whether he wanted to keep it like that.

I also found two daggers, a pair of winged shoes in pretty good condition in their box, and…

With shaking hands, I grabbed the sword that Luke had wielded since that first week that we crossed the border into Camp Half-Blood. It felt unbalanced in my grip, the tip slightly heavier than what I was accustomed to but felt confident in my ability to use it should I need to wield it. I wonder if Luke felt weird holding my sword in Tartarus. But, hey, a weapon's a weapon, and you make do with what you have, especially in a situation like that.

I reverently set the sword down. That's when I noticed May's watchful gaze, taking note of how I handled Luke's stuff.

"What would you like me to do with this?" I asked.

"Take the things that will be of use to you. The ambrosia, the daggers, the shoes, and the sword. I'll take care of his clothes and anything else."

I held up the diary. "What about this?"

"I'll hold onto that." May got to her feet and took the diary from my hands. She gently caressed its well-worn worn cover. "This way, if you want to read it, you have to come back to visit me."

I managed a weak chuckle. "You're one smart woman. I'd come to visit you anyway, May, with or without the diary."

"Can't be too sure with you godly folk," she joked sadly. "One day, you're here singing to Mariah Carey, and the next…"

She aged twenty years in a single second. She had lost so much time with Luke thanks to my brother's dumb curse on the Oracle, and right when she had gotten him back, she permanently lost him. That spark of joy I'd so often seen in her eyes had been extinguished.

Right as silence fell upon us again, an idea formed in my mind. How didn't I think of this before?

"May, there's a way you can see Luke again-"

"Alive?"

I grimaced and shook my head. "No, that I can't change, unfortunately. I can give you a chance to see him through my eyes, though, through my memories. Is that something you'd be interested in?"

She was by my side in a flash. "What do I need to do?"

"Hang on tight."

I pressed my index and middle fingers to my temple, summoning a small orb aglow in soft pink lighting. I threw the orb in front of me, and a wooden door materialized in place. Making sure May's hand was tightly interwoven with mine, we walked through the door and vanished into my memories.

A wave of nostalgia flooded me as we walked into Monocle Motors, Assembly Plant 37. How I wish things were as easy as they had been back then, before I knew my parentage, before I became Olympus's newest plaything.

We journeyed through ten years' worth of memories. I let May see anything she wanted to see as many times as she wanted to see it. She was particularly fond of moments when Luke got to act his age. She laughed at Luke's inability to keep his balance the day I took him and Cleo ice skating. Her eyes shone with pride as she saw how Luke easily stepped into a leadership position when it came to training the younger campers, teaching them how to wield their weapons as extensions of themselves. She enjoyed watching our sparring matches, cheering for Luke despite these matches having been decided years ago. She gave me a knowing smile when the memory of Will mentioning our ages for the Fourth of July fireworks resurfaced. She got to bear witness to our first kiss, our dates, our late night strolls through the forest, and other intimate moments.

I held fast to the memories once I recognized the day of his kidnapping. But one pleading look from May made me release my holds, and the happy memories quickly shifted to moments of torment as I pounded my fists against invisible walls, trying to reach a chained Will and Luke in the depths of Tartarus. She watched my plights through Hell to save my boys and how I did everything in my power to bring them back to the mortal realm.

As the scene transformed into that cursed sewer, I looked away, the sound of metal against metal filling my ears. A sharp gasp of breath let me know that May had seen the injury leading to Luke's death. I heard my wrecked voice, begging Luke to hold on as he told me he loved me a final time with his last breaths.

We left my memories with the sight of my sobbing into a corpse behind us.

May's living room materialized around us until we were seated on the couch again. My vision slightly swam from not having used this particular ability for ages, but I was glad to see that the usual vertigo sensation hadn't reared its ugly head. Nice to know that some parts of Hades' charm were still intact.

May clutched to my hand like a lifeline. Her knuckles had gone whiter than freshly fallen snow. Her eyes were rimmed red. Tear marks lined her cheeks, leaving her face red and splotchy.

"Thank you," she whispered, giving my hand a squeeze. "Thank you for taking care of him when I couldn't."

"Of course, May."