Today Alex wore a baggy pink hoodie with the ASL hand signs spelling the letters in pink and green stitching, and loose black sweats. She was barefoot. Every other toenail was painted silver. It was Sunday morning somewhere as she came in making the most casual clothing in the world still somehow look like it was hand-selected with care with her green hair in a loose tail at the base of her neck sipping and blowing on a cup of coffee.
As she flopped in to her seat beside Magnus, he saw she'd done the same to her fingernails, every other one was glittering silver.
He tried to turn back and keep talking to Jason like he knew he'd been doing a whole five seconds ago...and couldn't remember what on earth they'd been talking about.
His hearing tuned in and out badly as Alex proceeded to inform everyone who entered her pronouns for the day, trying to swallow around the fact she hadn't felt the need to inform him and what that could mean.
Thalia had to manhandle Percy into the room, hands on his shoulders. He was still rubbing the heel of his hand into his eye like he couldn't believe somebody had the audacity to get him moving. They weren't sure how she managed it, and the look on her face screamed she really didn't think any of them were worth it. Yet she still picked up the book without protest, so that had to count for something.
Nico and Will came in last, Nico holding onto Will's wrist and muttering a string of curses about, "staying up to late," and, "all your fault," which did not erase either of them infusing the room with a sense of serenity for how much they were snickering as they carried platters of breakfast food for everybody which they passed out, Will even having a cup of coffee in one hand the whole time doing it. When they sat back on the couch, they were closer together than ever, just one shadow on the wall. It was a minor miracle Will's syrup covered pancakes didn't splash over Nico's crepe.
This was not going to be a pleasant day though. Nobody believed for a second Kronos was going to manage a full frontal assault on the camp without a single casualty. The best they could hope for was that someone, somehow found a way to close the entrance to the Labyrinth in camp before it got that far, but it was a long shot.
Thalia started reading with a regalness to her voice. The weight of what she was telling not lost on her for the lives gone, but also the spark of excitement in a battle pulling her in.
"I always knew Grover would find a way to put those pipes of his to good use," Percy snickered in surprise, only sorry Grover wasn't here to demand if he meant his singing voice or his reed pipes and the answer was definitely both.
"Does Grover outrank Percy on the battlefield and cause a stampede of campers?" Alex asked in excitement.
"Or he finds a way to collect The Wild together and sends barn animals at the enemy, maybe all the monsters of the forest," Magnus said in trepidation.
"As long as it's not a stampede to the enchilada diner, then you'd lose valuable warriors right before the battle," Jason chuckled.
"Sorry for the delayed question," Magnus interrupted, leaving Percy already wound up in exasperation how much he'd have to deal with before they even got to the fight. "But um, did it ever say why Pan was down there? Like, a satyr tried to give the message he'd passed on, and then, what? He went down into the labyrinth to fade, and couldn't because nobody believed that first guy? Or was he so weak he really did fall in? Not sure I follow that part."
"You are way over thinking that one Magnus," Percy shrugged. "Why do the gods do anything, show up anywhere they want? We have no more clue why Pan was down there than why Aphrodite decided to show up in the desert to make me hold a mirror."
"Uhhu," Magnus sighed in defeat, figuring as much before he even asked.
"That's where you popped out?" Jason asked in surprise. "I would have thought it would change, or she'd at least point out the path of how to get to camp so you guys could try to somehow close it from the inside."
"After everything Clarisse tried to get that thing to close, we weren't going to waste time playing whack-a-mole on maybes," Percy shook his head.
There really was something so magical about the mundane, Magnus nodded along. What was once the peak of human engineering was now walked past without a second thought. A god fading from existence because his domain had long vanished was generally accepted two thousand years ago and not even going to be a blip on most of those campers' radar. Every few pages of this still got to him sometimes like he was waiting for the camera crew to pop out, but he now had seven backpacks of nonperishable food to take back with him and counting while Percy started flicking french fries at Jason without a care where they landed as they were magically swept away.
Alex sighed with envy. First the hippocampi, now this, everybody got to ride the awesome creatures before her!
"Continuing the tradition every girl I've met has been a horse girl," Percy chuckled, as even Thalia couldn't keep the glee out of her voice and she wouldn't ride them unless it was a life or death situation.
"That's because you haven't been around the stables when it's cleaning times for other cabins," Will snorted, plenty of his sisters weren't fond of the smell no matter which animal it came from.
Alex suppressed her own amusement Percy would think twice about mocking her love of these majestic animals if he ever found out she was related to horses too. Her mom had given birth to an eight-legged one.
"Is white the standard color, or is that coincidence?" Jason asked, his hazy mind trying to supply one of them being brown for some reason.
"The majority of the ones we find are white, though they can come in all colors," Will shrugged. "They're also usually male for some reason. We're not really sure why at all."
Jason looked extremely concerned why nobody had ever done any sort of study to find out details about this, but it also really wasn't the point right now. Besides, even he wasn't so sure he could keep Percy's attention long enough to ask the pegasi any questions, let alone if they'd know the answers to their own biology.
"Thalia set the book down in her lap to do air quotes and everything. "Lucky," she was watching him with concern if his head was about to explode, again. "Do you have a good explanation for that choice of words?"
"I'm still alive?" He shrugged. He didn't have a better answer, nor care to play games right now. There was a nasty feeling deep in the pit of his stomach that he knew wasn't going to go away with silly comments. It was a miracle he'd gotten any sleep at all with how long it had been there.
"And here I thought he'd bonded with Annabeth," Alex chuckled. "I bet she'd be devastated right now to know it was just Blackjack giving orders of who goes with whom."
"Why do you remember which pegasus carried who?" Percy looked at her like she was nuts. He'd been there and he couldn't have recalled if Thalia had been on which horse.
"Pays to pay attention Perce, maybe someday you'll remember that," she smirked. "You never know what could be important."
Percy still clearly thought she was just nuts, but he didn't retort, which was the only sign they were going to get to keep going.
"Tyson must be in heaven right now," Will grinned. "Finally getting to ride the flying ponies, and one who already likes Annabeth no less."
"He was clapping his hands and bouncing in excitement so much he was going to give Guido a nervous tick," Percy nodded.
Percy's hands fluttered across his lap nervously. He wished he could have offered to ride with her, maybe he could hide her under his jacket to get her into camp. It didn't seem right, leaving her behind after she'd done so much for them and he'd nearly gotten her killed multiple times now.
""Yeah, the girl that's been around them longer than anybody is trying to remember which side she's supposed to hop on," Jason almost managed to say with a straight face.
"""Surely the real highlight was pretending to be asleep so you and Annabeth could talk," Magnus offered.
"Yes, Rachel will never shut up about that one time we almost died in an earthquake after a dirt nap," Percy sighed. Why did all of his friends keep almost dying? Maybe Rachel was right and he did need a normal day, just to live for one moment in his whole life to not be afraid when it would end.
""Rachel's the best person right now," Jason snorted. "If you'd asked anybody else that, they still would have evaded you and you wouldn't have found out until you dreamed about it next summer or something!"
"I couldn't have blamed her if she didn't, we're all entitled to a private life," but Percy looked rather pleased all the same she'd had enough certainty in their friendship to answer that. He'd gained her trust enough to know she wouldn't be treated differently.
"""Like, rich enough to name drop daddy bucks and get a chauffeur his worship," Will's mind boggled at a mortal having that kind of power usually only a god possessed. He certainly wouldn't drop everything and go running errands just because somebody could sing a song really well.
""Thalia made a little humming noise of agreement. Her dad was the worst example of a god in her eyes, she loathed being judged by what he did. Rachel shouldn't blame herself for what her parents did, she wasn't complicit in the slightest for his crimes, something she still had to remind herself of all the time.
""Then who can we blame for that?" Percy muttered. He really didn't blame Rachel. Maybe it was Grover's empathy link driving the emotion harder than usual, but he felt resentiment to his own mortal parts right now for getting just a glimpse of something he'd never get any closer to than that cavern.
"Change itself, time marches on," Thalia said in agreement. Artemis would have wept had she been there.
""Nico considered that's how one could solve world piece right there. If no one in camp ever judged him for what his dad did, he'd have a happy normal life like any of them. There would be no sorting of cabins, no isolation . . .
"There was a very small part of Percy that was trying to pipe up and tell him what Annabeth and Rachel wanted from him. It sounded suspiciously like Grover's voice calling him an idiot while his thoughts drifted to Juniper.
But to say the words out loud felt like slamming a door shut, which his mom had always discouraged him from doing. Honestly, he just wanted both Rachel and Annabeth in his life without having to choose some stupid meaning behind it.
""""""And you now have the financial backing to do it," Jason snorted. "Now you'll be unstoppable!"
"Yeah, let's see how that goes," Percy's smile was almost maudlin. He couldn't remember the battle to come, but he knew he hadn't saved everyone in camp just by a go get'um attitude.
"Where she probably went to the airport and commandeered a private jet next to take her wherever she wanted," Magnus muttered.
Alex shook her head slowly, her smile fond but distant. Magnus clearly had no idea how easy it was to let go of wealth when you hated every penny.
Nico sighed, though he'd never needed confirmation. He'd guessed that's what the problem was.
"You and Tyson are way to much alike," Alex told him cheerfully.
That would have been an insult anywhere else, but Nico knew how much Alex liked Tyson, the cyclops that could build anything and was the champion of at least half of Percy's successes and loved horses that didn't like him back, not Tyson the monster.
"Yeah, maybe we'll start an anti-horse club or something," Nico's smile was more half-hearted indulgence.
"Robot pegasi," Magnus nodded along with consideration. "Tyson would love to build them for all the kids that are allergic or have some other issue with being around them. Sounds like a great plan."
Except for kids who hated automatons just as much, Will frowned but kept that to himself as Nico gave a half-hearted laugh at the thought.
"If Blackjack starts a revolt, I claim Sweden in the war," Percy snorted.
Percy looked around in bemusement at the ensuing laughter, giving his arm a theatrical sniff. "I swear I bathe! I don't know what he's on about!"
"We probably do smell pretty strange and foul to them," Thalia nodded though. "Between our clothes and our skin being covered in all sorts of things and maybe even vaguely predator like to them but they aren't quite sure what to call all of that so we're just weird."
"It's a good thing you didn't smell like a fresh summer field, or those flesh eating horses would have eaten you, calcified seashell or not," Jason smirked.
"So that means they would have let Nico clean out their stall without batting an eye," Percy rolled his own.
"Pass, I wouldn't have made a deal to save your butts," Nico scoffed. He probably could have just made the shadows dissipate all that dung and only would have passed out, like, once from the effort of it all, but like Hades would he go around admitting that.
Percy gave him an exaggerated, tragic face and even clutched at his camp shirt while Thalia loudly read on around them or they'd be here for years.
""It had seemed to be the obvious response to give when Percy Jackson had said that to him, rather than running into his arms and hugging him. Nico fiddled with his ring in surprise he didn't feel any sort of resurgence of that feeling now.
"Percy's face twisted like a wet rag as a million wrung-out emotions came pouring out for that. He thought Nico had a crush on him...did he have one on Annabeth too?! Or, wait, was Nico faking his reluctance and he did want to come back, or was Annabeth just that amazing she could get through to someone who didn't even like her, or-
Thalia was snapping her fingers under his nose to get his attention as he shook his head and realized he had been stirring up the ocean already. To much pent up frustration from incoherent dreams that tried to be memories last night, to much frustration at constantly wondering things he'd already lived through once, and way to much concern over a kid who was sitting right there watching him with those dark brown eyes that grew calmer by the day. Percy still half expected Nico to smack him with the broad side of that sword if he asked out loud.
Nico muttered something to Will, who made a gesture like, 'that's all you.'
"I saw why you liked Annabeth right then," Nico grudgingly answered. It wasn't against his will or anything, he just didn't like explaining his old thought process to himself, let alone out loud. Percy was about to experience a really harsh blow in memory of his camp though, and he felt the need to offer him something before all that. "Her tone was, very persuasive. Kind, but no room for argument, like, kind of reminded me a little of, well, Bianca, I guess."
Percy had never got the same feeling thinking of Annabeth, but he nodded his head in thanks Nico answered that bizarre moment.
"She's clearly a Nico whisperer," Jason chuckled.
"Patent pending," Thalia snorted.
Jason couldn't help a sigh of relief they didn't just waltz into camp with everybody's eyes only on the Labyrinth entrance. Then he felt guilty for that relief, of course they knew to watch their backs in case of some other possible entry. He really had to stop underestimating them.
"Not exactly the welcome party I still feel like I deserve," Percy sighed.
"We had a cake ready," Will said innocently, "but we forgot about it in the oven and nearly set the kitchen on fire during the battle."
"The worst crime those monsters could do to camp," Percy nodded tragically, his stomach in actual painful knots like he'd just downed fifty floats in a row with his lack of knowledge of what actually happened.
"Was he more surprised that I'm still alive or just trying to even remember who I was?" Nico rolled his eyes.
"Well, since he didn't throw Annabeth a party when she came back alive, Chiron probably figured it would be rude to even acknowledge you," Alex snorted.
"""I thought you said Selina for a moment and I was very confused why she cared so much," Jason said crosseyed.
"I'm sure she's always been very invested in everything that goes around camp, gets the best gossip that way," Magnus snorted, while Will and Thalia tried their hardest not to look guiltily at each other their jokes hit a little to close to home on that one.
""Is that really relevant right this second," Thalia didn't try hard to suppress a scowl. "His home is under attack too."
"Chiron made a big stink about giving Grover more time," Percy pushed invisible glasses up the bridge of his nose mockingly and put on a poor impression of the old goats voice, "he probably wanted to be there to rub it into Chiron."
"And it won't go very well for Mr. Oats for Brains," Thalia agreed viciously.
A description never yet given to him, that went over none of their heads. Thalia sounded so proud, like she was going to hoist Grover up onto a podium any moment and know he could deliver such depressing news with the grace it was needed.
""Several people sighed. Nobody was truly surprised this would be a common reaction and would likely cause a bit of panic in these circles, but it was never fun to hear of something they knew to be the truth and called nuts for it. They'd all lived their whole lives with that feeling.
"""That's a bit of a harsh insult to throw around willy-nilly," Alex smirked. "Percy, yes, no contest, to many burning buildings. Annabeth reads so much you could make a case for her and those books, but Tyson's the child of a nature spirit so he's exempt, but Nico hasn't actively done any harm to the circle of life yet."
"Yet," Nico echoed miserably. He often sucked the life out of every plant and bug and occasionally even animals if he used his powers to much and instinctively preserved his own over natures. He'd found himself in many a circle of death via his own doing.
"You're still exempt, there's no nature without death," Alex shrugged.
"My dad creates ocean life, don't I get exempt?" Percy looked a little pouty. He was pretty sure you could get oxygen from seaweed and everything.
"Start putting out your own fires pyro," Alex waved him off, obviously not cutting him any slack, which made Percy clutch his heart in betrayal. Percy decided maybe he should pretend to be less well ajusted or something...on the other hand, that sounded like way to much effort.
""Alex pretended to do a very dramatic mike drop for that awesome shutdown and Percy was very sorry Grover wasn't here to see it after the cutting look he'd been giving Silenus.
"That about sums Chiron up pretty well," Magnus muttered.
"Imagine if you always did put that much effort into capture the flag though," Jason was getting second hand adrenaline just from hearing of all these war efforts as he watched Percy start twitching in his seat. "I bet you would have found even greater ways to capitalize on all this, drills are run so the expected is mundane and to find ways to make it all run smoother."
"I've finally figured it out," Percy told him with a straight face. "You grew up inside of a book, and this is your first interaction with actual people."
Jason sighed and flipped him off while Thalia's laugh sounded oddly mechanical next to Percy.
Percy tried to smile through the growing tension in the room. It was a sight to see for sure, his entire camp pulling together in one unified front...but his mind flashed back to school field trips where all his classmates cheered about going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art just for a day out of desks. Mr. Brunner had sat at the front with such a bright, friendly smile like he was looking forward to it just as much, and yet Percy now wondered if it was just for seeing kids blissfully yelling about a trip where they all had a sure chance of coming back alive.
Thalia let out a regretful sigh of agreement. They'd been to far away to make it back in time to help, but slightly less important, her heart went out to Chiron needing to admit that to someone. Percy was seen as a leader around there just as much as their trainer. It didn't make it fair to Percy to have his momentary bubble of hope popped, but it was a reality they both needed to understand going in to make the best plans.
"Given that it's a stupid ass decision, they seem to elect to ignore it all the time," Alex rolled her eyes painfully hard.
"Man, you try taking it up with Zeus," Percy sighed.
"Woman, I gladly would if you'd pass me that keycard up the elevator," Alex grinned a mischievous smile that already seemed to be planning a heist.
Percy laughed and the others felt a swooping sensation of dread at what chaos those two would get up to when let out of here.
"I do wish they all had to follow some universal guidebook," Jason agreed with a sigh.
"They all break the rules anyways, or the cosmos would lose free will or some shit," Nico shrugged.
"Are those our only options?" Will frowned, but he was always looking for some kind of middle answer.
"The only ones I've heard," Nico felt a little bad for phrasing it that way and clearly crushing just a smidge of Will's never ending positivity, but he wasn't changing his thoughts just for that.
Percy had watched Grover brush away her tears gently, kissing her cheek and then running his fingers through her amber hair and holding her as she tried to weep softly. His mind had flashed back to Annabeth sobbing in that Laybrnth while he'd stood by and did nothing. He knew he didn't have the nerve to do anything like that to comfort her, but he also kind of hated himself in that moment if that's what she'd needed and he couldn't give her.
He wasn't even sure if Annabeth moved on from this by the time the battle had started, if she'd gone into that tent to go over plans with her siblings still fighting off grief or anger or any number of things he couldn't guess at. If she'd gotten hurt in this fight because he was a useless friend he didn't know what he'd do- "sorry!" He'd caught himself doing it this time as the water began churning violently around them.
"No harm no foul," Thalia sighed as she adjusted her jacket, "just let me know if you want me to stop or you need a breather."
Percy nodded his agreement while staring holes into his shoes. 'He didn't need to draw his pen, Annabeth was alive,' the old mantra began chanting through his head again already.
""One man army huh?" Jason said fondly, a little nostalgically, like he might have some experience with that. It sounded that way to Percy's ears, though Jason didn't seem aware of it.
"Historically not," Percy shook his head. He had won plenty of fights on his own, but not to that extent...and yet his brain kept fizzling right on the edge of pain. This was not the only fight he'd been in, and something of this was making his skin tingle like he'd taken another dip in lava. It was so hard to concentrate on the here and now so he didn't agitate his memories and still make himself be disconnected enough he didn't lung into battle against the seaweed beanbags; he had no clue how he'd made it this far!
""That's not something you're expected to get over in twenty-four hours Percy," Magnus nodded. "That's not something I expect you to get over in twenty-four years."
"I'd like it if the guy could do his one job and put a time stamp on that then," Percy huffed.
"Percy's breath came out painfully sharp, gusting around the room to share the chilly blast. He knew the answer to that now... somewhere in his head.
""Percy felt like there were ants crawling over his skin, biting and swarming as he shivered hard enough to cause physical rivulets like zip ribbons all around him. Like his body was trying to scream the answer at him, but he'd never been very good at listening.
"'He didn't seem very restricted puppeting Luke around,' Thalia shivered in disgust, even though she knew this to be the key to their victory. He was still in there somewhere, and that just made this all the worse to hear of every word. Was he sleeping? Screaming in agony every second Kronos invaded him?
"""Well that's, useful," Magnus blinked spastically at this random bit of information.
"Thankfully it's not a trait we all share with our godly parent," Percy said in relief. For all he knew, he might have a sense of his dad every time someone turned on a faucet.
"Oh, shit," Thalia busted out laughing in surprise like she was the one who'd been called out.
"When did he..." Nico looked a tad more confused, though mostly bemused too at this turn of events. Chiron had known when he'd come in on pegasus with the others and hadn't turned him away?
"I have no idea," Percy said with a crazy grin. It didn't bother him in the slightest he didn't seem able to get anything past Chiron, it was just kind of cool.
"Saved by the bell," Alex muttered. Trust was not easily given, and while Chiron seemed like a nice idiot, he wasn't someone she'd go out of her way to share her history with right now. If he'd known about Nico all along he should have said something, made some effort like the very old adult he was that someone was out looking for Nico or any of the countless kids missing. He and Daeadlus seemed such polar opposites and yet equally idiotic on this stance of just watching and waiting to long until it would do no good.
And yet Chiron was also responsible for hundreds of kids, and she couldn't even fully blame him for keeping his distance from them all in a purely scholarly manner. How many kids had to die before you grew desensitized to it? A number that Percy very likely was going to get a glimpse of after this battle.
Thalia had been in plenty of battles, the worst of which had been where a freaking statue fell on her and she was forced to sit there and wait. Not knowing what was happening, who had lived. She couldn't do anything but lay there and glare at that marble of her most hated goddess. She never expected that feeling to come back quite like this as she glowered at the book forcing her to sit on the sidelines and just describe this coming mayhem.
"You don't say," Nico said with a massive eye roll. "Here I thought this whole time we were listening to your vivid imagination."
"And then I woke up and it was all a dream," Thalia loudly played along without looking up from the book. "I was back in my little rundown apartment and my mom had never heard of Grover-"
"Don't you be reusing my jokes," Alex scoffed while Percy laughed half-heartedly. "Get your own!"
"Like you're the first one to claim that in the history of ever," Nico challenged.
Percy cleared his throat awkwardly to cut off whatever loquacious response Alex would have given. He really wasn't in the mood in the middle of a fight for bickering.
"Well, nobody can say they didn't do anything useful," Percy frowned. "They were target practice."
Jason hissed at him to shut it next. A shield formation was always a great start because it tested what the pawns would do. The fact that this was starting with brute strength was a bad thing, it meant they planned more tricks up their sleeve later in the fight.
"Magnus's lips motorboated in frustration. He would hope this camp could take down the first wave before the second even hit, it's what they apparently trained for, team work and mayhem to confuse their opponents. They had only started and things weren't going according to plan. He knew Annabeth and her siblings would account for this, they had plans all the way down to zz to get through this...he hoped.
Percy's hands twitched like he was possessed. He knew she could handle herself, she wasn't the one who needed his help, but he could sure use hers right now. Her voice muttering what she had planned for them, her sharp gray eyes studying everyone here and their reactions, her warmth next to his the reminder he so needed this was all in his head no matter what his aching feet longed to throw him into.
The collective laughter around the room really didn't match the tone right, especially because Will's was the loudest of all. He looked on the verge of tears any moment seconds ago, because he hadn't seen nearly everything. He hadn't wanted to hear in vivid detail the monsters that killed so many, let alone what Percy had witnessed.
He hadn't seen this either, and the brief levity gave him a chance to breathe in and out again normally.
"Please tell me you put a bow on her head to help her stand out," Alex grinned an even wilder smile than usual, the eye of the storm among a chaos only described.
"When would we have done that Alex?" Percy asked in exasperation. Nobody had given him another whistle to summon her.
Alex's face clouded with momentary disappointment, she'd been automatically imagining the awesome dog in the trenches to help.
"We wouldn't have needed to anyways. If it was smaller than her it was an enemy," Will said with a sad smile. "If it was bigger than her, we were all screwed by the pooch. Beckendorf made her one anyways though, just in case. Bright pink ass collar with spikes on it."
"Lovely," Alex brightened considerably at once.
"Is that some kind of nature versus nature thing?" Magnus asked. Not that animals had shown any particular favor towards satyrs, but he couldn't help but still think of them as one group in his mind with the fur and all.
Nobody really answered. Maybe they'd just smelled like the best food. Maybe they'd just sensed them as the easiest target.
Percy shifted his weight, a stance that would have him leaping into battle the only response.
"Percy might have understood Chiron's tactics, he was glad he'd waited for just this reason to do the most good. It still didn't stop the guilt that had pounded in his every step as he'd waged through battle, wondering with every swing of his blade and every splatter of blood he ran through if he could have helped more.
Will shivered at the horrible detail he hadn't really wanted. He didn't know where Pollux was, if he'd witnessed his own brother's death. He couldn't ask...but a part of him wanted to know if it was better than having witnessed the act. There probably was no good answer, seeing it and knowing you couldn't have done anything, or always left wondering if you could.
The twins had spent the whole week prior being just as skittish and worried as some of the younger kids, Connor had told him once they'd kept hoping their dad would show up to fix all this and so they'd been trying to slack off on the war prepping until Chiron convinced them to help.
Will was ashamed to admit he didn't know what had changed their mind about helping in the battle. Had they been talked into doing it by someone they admired, did Percy's return instill in them the same sense it had in everyone that they'd have to fight for their home no matter their own reason?
Maybe it was as simple as the fact that Dinoysus' had once been a conquering God of more gumption than playing card games on diet coke, and they'd been trying to make him proud.
Magnus went a little crosseyed in confusion. Weren't there monsters in there all the time? What was stopping them from over running the camp? The immediate threat was the onsurge of monsters, but the camp had always been vulnerable to that kind of attack.
Perhaps it was just because these snake women were intelligent? As far as he'd heard none of the other monsters had that kind of reasoning. It was all he could come up with, and he wasn't going to interrupt his friends looking so miserable and upset with pointless questions of what spots in particular of their home they were defending.
If he had an actual home to defend, he'd probably start with the bathroom, but that was just him.
"How close have you come to testing the limits of that thing?" Alex asked, her mind boggling at implications of stabbing gods and maybe putting that thing on a motor and just plowing through this whole army weed-whacker style.
"Not very," he admitted, thumbing the black leather grip. "I can't exactly go to the nearest smithy if it starts chipping or gets over loaded, I haven't wanted to push it to far yet."
Alex's eyes burned with hunger for the story of how Nico got that sword in the first place again, but now certainly wasn't the time.
"Nico smiled for himself that he didn't straighten up in his seat like an idiotic child that he and Percy were on the same page. His already tested and proven battle reflexes were finally being put to use other than saving his own skin, that's what he was happy to be remembering for once.
Alex's mouth was open in a silent scream, but her eyes were to alight with joy like she was at her favorite concert for Nico to be to concerned. "I have, so many questions," she finally managed to gasp.
"I'd only managed to summon one at a time before and have them do menial tasks," Nico offered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly all the same even if he had no problems answering. "This was a step up, I um, hope it did some good." He'd passed out without seeing the epic end to the battle to know.
Nico tried hard not to flinch at that. He knew Percy's true fight was for the entire camp.
Yet in his memory, he'd done what he'd been convinced he couldn't. Used his powers for good for Percy's home, and then woken up to him being there, holding him, helping him. His crush had been undeniable from the moment that nectar had tasted like salty-sweet taffy.
It was different, it was better to hear the whole picture like this. It made the rejection of Percy's non-feelings more grounded every time it happened.
Slowly, carefully, Will let his long fingers brush at Nico's shoulder, completely non-obvious considering where his hand had been hovering most of the time. Nico exhaled and looked at him with amusement, so Will let his arm fall to rest across the plain of his shoulders, which felt more natural every time he did it. Nico didn't know where he'd been in this fight, probably right on the front lines running around pulling people out of the fire while more fighters had just taken their place. Nico wasn't sure where he might fall into the dynamic at camp in the future, but it was a reassurance he wasn't used to feeling that whichever it might be he'd have someone there with him.
"The brutality of that shocked Percy as his hand spasmed with delay from the act. The cry of that monster as it went up in flames, the smell of burnt fur lingering in the air as it had crumbled to ash before his eyes. He'd always loathed animal abusers, they were as low as Gabe, throwing trash and beating whatever stray they saw in alleyways Percy would always get in trouble for trying to step in and stop.
It wasn't the same, he tried to assure himself, this was a demon that would have eaten everyone in his camp.
The thought didn't comfort him to much as he tried to let his attention go to the next problem without lingering on some little black haired punk of a kid with angry green eyes running into an alleyway, screaming at him for trying to light that cat's tail on fire...
Percy's frantic mind was screaming at him to do something with such pressure, he didn't realize he was getting to his feet until Thalia yanked him back into his seat without looking up. The water was still pulling dangerously about the room, everyone else looked seconds away from grabbing their shoes and socks for safety so they wouldn't get caught in the draft he was causing.
Percy would have jumped onto that fire and rolled on it if he thought that would have helped the situation, Magnus shook his head in admiration at the look of frantic energy that just overcame him. The water tugged more powerfully around their clothes, their chairs were starting to quiver in place ready for launch, but Percy was breathing deep and long, chewing on his pen cap so hard odds were in their favor they weren't going to be flung into a wall to soon.
"Did giving the monsters a bath scare some of them away?" Nico asked.
"I wish there were some fire giants around, two for one," Alex nodded.
"Only you would be wishing for more monsters right now," Thalia grumbled.
""Literally," Jason shook his head. Percy was turning the tide of battle wherever he went and then just jumping right into the next fray. It was inspiring, and it really made him wonder what he wasn't capable of.
"I will never look at that tree the same way again," Will assured with a tiny eep noise at the end.
"As you shouldn't," Magnus nodded seriously. Vengeful spirit trees, he probably liked the sound of that to much.
"Clarisse trying to sing?" Nico asked without hope.
"Man are you lucky you slept through this next part," Percy shivered, his head pounding with stress about what that she-demone was going to do to his camp.
"Passed out," Will corrected with a sigh, wondering if he should start carrying a bottle of nectar on him already that had Nico's initials inscribed or something.
"What on earth do you think the trophy she'd leave behind would be?" Alex asked intensely.
"I don't think any hero's ever managed it to ask," Jason said with a look of concentration in place of what Percy was going to do to achieve this.
"Percy began puffing up his chest with pride, the beginnings of bragging on the tip of his tongue that in a few year's time Tyson would be running those underwater forges-
But Thalia had only paused for a moment with a proud smile before she'd continued and knocked the wind out of all their sails. Tyson was owed his revenge on this creature, but if that wasn't in the cards, what chance did Percy have if luck still wasn't as easy to bottle as those Greek flames?
Had there been any kids in there? Magnus was to horrified to ask, to scared to wonder at Annabeth's nonreaction to some silver tarps, to terrified what his own reaction would be. Relief it wasn't her? A little less sorrow and a little less surprised because it was just another in a long list of kids already?
"""""Those would have been cool famous last words," Jason smiled.
"And yours is probably going to be, wow," Percy rolled his eyes. He did not like thinking about Annabeth's last words in the slightest.
"I was joking about playing with ambidextrous people earlier," Magnus groaned.
"This has nothing to do with jacks," Percy responded, "and you shouldn't exclude people Magnus."
"I'm going to throw something at you with both hands," he huffed.
"Where's Clarisse with a cannon when you need her?" Thalia groaned.
"Probably boxing with a Dracena somewhere nearby," Percy groaned along, causing Will to flinch he had no clue how close to true that was.
"Percy was smiling of all things as his life was in peril while looking around this room. He was still working his jaw in an agitated pattern not to scream and cause a massive wave of destruction not knowing how Annabeth made it through this, but there was a comfort of knowing backup would have come if it could. Those kids at Camp were barely trained more than him, yet even Magnus looked ready to throw his beanbag in this primordial monster's face instead of at Percy like he'd just threatened in a bid to help. Even if nobody managed to lend a hand, it was the assurance of knowing they would that was helping to ease the tension slightly.
"Will clenched so tight in his skin it hurt, and yet he couldn't exhale. Gods had he had nightmares about this. He'd seen this snake woman from a distance and pissed himself, screaming and scaring Connor while he was trying to tend his concussion.
Nico was rubbing his lip thoughtfully as he shifted his weight closer to Will without thinking. She was one of those rare, only-ever-heard-of cards they'd supposedly only printed one of and was lost to time. He'd only read depictions of her online, now he'd missed his chance to see her in person and how Percy had taken her down.
Yet all that was on his mind right now was patting Will's knee and muttering distractedly about a good shedding spell he'd make sure was in Will's deck that would erase poison damage. He didn't know how else to help, but it seemed to do the trick. He didn't run out of the room screaming at any rate.
Percy didn't mean to hold his breath. He didn't mean to have the water receding towards him like the eye of the most massive storm to torment the earth. 'Annabeth's alive, she's alive!' The old chant began screaming in his head again, but how in the gods name she'd gotten out of this one he was terrified to guess. Unless he'd chopped Annabeth in half and Deadelus made her a robot body, he couldn't see a way out of this-
"How much would it offend that old pig friend of yours if I tracked him down and made all the bacon from him for this good girl," Alex asked.
"I mean, Grover doesn't really need any more blessings from the wild, so maybe only normal vegetarian levels rather than godly offended," Percy shrugged like he'd know the difference anyways.
""Yes, yes she is," Percy agreed fondly. He didn't even care if Kronos himself had somehow joined the fight and was saying that for an entirely different reason. He owed her all the belly scratches and ear scratches and butt scratches she wanted for saving Annabeth's hide. Oh, and his.
""Finally!" Percy whooped, nearly bouncing out of his seat in excitement. "We get the cool reinforcements!"
"A hellhound, a robot, and a hundred hands walk onto a battlefield," Alex chuckled. "You've got to give me a minute to come up with a punchline to that one."
"I'm not waiting around for that, but do let us know," Thalia chuckled.
""The best boom in the history of that camp," Will savord every echoing crash in the trees, the smell of acid that had vanished on the breeze, the new pile of boulders no kid would have to fall into.
"Coolest, trophy, ever!" Jason was practically salivating at the chance to make a plaque and shrine this thing. He'd probably trade his sight for x-ray vision in a few moments.
"Not exactly the highlight of my day, but it was up there," Percy nodded. There was still a tinge of sadness coupled with adrenaline in him that made him sound more lackluster.
Thalia read that through gritted teeth. Her frustration she wasn't there was evident in her every word, her every gesture of twisting the book this way and that in front of her face as if trying to shift her position into a fight.
"Percy reached up and touched his ears to make sure they weren't bleeding. That little guinea pig in him had awoken with a vengeance, had heard that noise as its own.
And yet pride in what his best friend had done was all he overwhelmingly felt, then and now as the chaos of their side had trumped the monster's own.
There was a poignant moment of silence where everybody kept expecting everybody else to break in and say something. Percy to be whooping with joy? Grover certainly had caused a stampede with another unknown satyr power apparently.
It was those last five words though that took away any jubilation or laughter that might have been had for another day won.
""Did we finally find it? The thing to win every battle?" Percy asked with honest interest. "It's got nothing to do with me, it's anybody threatening to put that centaur back in his wheelchair. Grover went nuts, Annabeth was willing to go on a mission with Tyson to save his job. I think we've cracked the code guys!"
"You will not be breaking Chiron's legs next time you want out of chores Percy," Thalia rolled her eyes.
"Dang it Thalia, let me have a win!" He huffed.
"Alex couldn't help a very muffled snort of laughter she almost covered with a sneeze though. It really wasn't funny...it had just made her laugh.
"""You could at least offer him a hug," Magnus tried to say without a smirk.
"I'm surprised Annabeth hadn't tackled him the rest of the way to the ground to do so," Percy agreed.
"Would your magic god food work on him since he is the son of a Titan?" Magnus asked.
"Ah, but you answered your own question," Will shook his head. "Children of the Titans are different than children of the gods. I'm not sure it would have worked on Zoe or Calypso because it was made after their existence. I'm not positive of that, but I know Chiron refused to eat any. Said the other campers needed it more, but I suspect he thought it would be a waste on him."
"Psst," Alex said without the least hint of subtlety in a clear attempt to change that dower subject. "How do you x-ray a horse?"
"A very large, mobile machine, sends the images to a computer from what I understand," Will said, fascination bright in his eyes. Argus had taken him by bus, and they had no clue what the vet had seen through the Mist. Will hadn't even known about any of it until long after it was done while he helped prepare the shroud for Lee.
""Can she explain it to me?" Jason asked, raising his hand hopefully.
Thalia tugged his arm back down with an eye roll. He knew full well Percy would never get such an explanation right after it happened, it would probably break the cosmos.
Percy startled, and then looked over at him with a guilty apology on his tongue like he was sorry Nico wasn't his first thought every second of every page.
Nico gave him a casual shrug. He expected nothing else from Percy at this point. He was only ever on his mind when he was in danger, and he wasn't going to start throwing himself in the way of oncoming traffic just to keep his attention, so it didn't seem like much of an issue to him anymore.
"Can you..." Thalia paused, not sure how to ask.
"Literally suck the life out of living things? Yeah," Nico nodded, swallowing his nerves.
"Yeah, no, that doesn't surprise me," Thalia shrugged. It seemed perfectly in line with his dad's domain. "Why do you use a sword if you can just do that though?"
"It's not a skill I go around showing off," Nic's voice was getting a little stiff with this continuing, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable explaining himself. "It takes concentration to pull off that kind of energy and a lot of focus, that was the first time I did it, and it came from panic. My sword is just an easy extension of it."
Thalia nodded in understanding. She could always summon lightning without a weapon in hand, but it was easier with a conduit to focus on. Percy seemed unique in not needing one then.
Magnus was leaning very far back into his seat and Percy was giving him one of those strange, patented, is this guy serious looks. He'd definitely spooked some of them, but Nico didn't see it as any more dangerous or unnatural than what Percy could do. Thalia hadn't even begun to test the limit of her powers of what she might be able to pull off.
There wasn't judgment in the slightly awkward silence though, and that felt like the important thing to him.
Nico couldn't help but blush in surprise though, his eyes betraying his gratitude Percy immediately smiled at. Percy hadn't flinched, freaked out about touching the dead kid, hadn't even hesitated to see if he was okay even if he was freaked out by his powers. Percy was still a hero in all the ways that mattered.
Will's wrist went limp, whatever tension had been left keeping his arm there falling off to instead rest fully on Nico's shoulder and curling there. A soft, protective gesture he didn't even seem aware of as he shifted his weight around and continued frowning at the book and holding Nico just that little closer.
Nico hadn't known his brother, he hadn't known any of the kids who died that day really. If this was the only comfort he could give Will for this memory than he was happy to be here for it no matter how embarrassing it now was looking back.
"That had been a scary feeling, Nico's heart rattled in his chest now at the memory. The vague feeling of knowing them and unsure why, the way his mind had been clouded with exhaustion and their clothes had been so strange. He'd forgotten them, for a split second of consciousness. The thought had made him angry without being able to put a pin in why for months after this.
"""Is that old myth true too?" Magnus asked with exhaustion. "That dog's mouths are cleaner than toilets thing?"
"Definitely not," Will crinkled his nose up at the idea of offering a dogs bacteria infested tongue to an open wound. "Their saliva creates a kind of film on their wounds to help them, but it does us no good. She's just a sweet baby girl who wants to help." He finished in the same cooing tone as if hearing of a toddler trying to hold a stethoscope.
"So we did have a hundred pens available," Percy sighed in relief.
"And where's my signed t-shirt Percy?" Thalia sniffed. "I haven't gotten a single souvenir from any of your adventures!"
"Do you want to go to Waterland together Thalia?" Percy grinned. "I'm not sure you'd like the outcome any more than Annabeth."
"I like my chances," her grin was full of zeal. She'd still love to go there and not be gawked by anyone in what she wore, just hang out with friends for a day like only the privileged could manage.
""""I think you should win a Best Big Brother award just for that," Jason grinned.
Percy blushed just a bit and shrugged, "for stating the obvious? Gods, I'd get all kinds of awards for once if that's the case."
"Magnus looked a little confused why Percy was demanding this of Daedalus, he'd had more than one horrific thought about that place being under no one's control, but Thalia got it. Percy always had a tendency to blurt out what was on his mind, he probably thought of Deadauls as an expert who would have some solution he'd just been withholding until now.
"I'm imagining Kronos being at least a bit weary if Grover can just yell at them to get out though," Alex offered, regardless of the results, it was just funny to say.
"You're right," Percy nodded seriously, "but then we'd have to put up a guard around Grover twenty-four-seven and it might cause some strain with Juniper. I think whatever this guy has planned might be better in the long run."
"A sacrifice Daedalus more than owes," Jason murmured with a hollow voice. What he'd done was wrong, no one should cheat death. The consequences were beyond mortal comprehension. His skin tingled unpleasantly at the thought, and he swallowed whatever feeling that was trying to bubble up.
""Who needs homeless Santa when you've got the people in Percy's life whipping out gifts once a year," Alex said. She had long wanted to meet Annabeth, Magnus's cousin, the genius girl whose plans everyone had such instant faith in. Now here was yet another reason, just to get her own peek at whatever this was going to be!
"Magnus couldn't begin to comprehend how much that must be worth to her. It often made him uncomfortable, how much 'stuff' she had. Her cap, her knife, two or three homes, now a laptop with more knowledge packed into it than possibly the internet itself. Her life was so different from his in every possible way he felt like an alien in comparison right now. Maybe he was crazy for sticking around in here with the vague hope she'd want something to do with him when she had all she'd ever wanted.
""Hard to be too brilliant when you're afraid," Will sounded plenty sympathetic to his cause. Daedalus had done some horrible things, yes, but nobody could claim to have lived a perfect life. His had just been longer than most, his mistakes had amounted to more years, but whatever his punishment; Will hoped he didn't suffer some eternal pain for the good he'd done too. It had to be some kind of balance.
He glanced at Nico, unsure if he knew the answer, but secure that he could ask and Nico might even be happy to find out for him.
""You would not be the first person I think to give PSA advice, and yet here we are," Thalia struggled to give him a good smile for that one. He knew as well as she did self-sacrifice, but that didn't make it easy to see others using it.
"One of those awareness weeks in school I always somehow managed to miss and yet never needed," Percy agreed, his stomach squeezing painfully at what he might be about to remember.
"""Nico didn't appreciate being tested, having his morals questioned, having everyone look to him first when death was the subject. Yet, this was entirely his fault. He had, even for the briefest time, the intention to murder someone. Just because he hadn't gone through with it didn't entirely absolve him...but who was he to go to for absolution? His dad? Ha!
Deadelus seemed to have forgiven him, in the way he spoke to Nico. He'd done a lot of unquestionable good with his powers this day. Enough he hoped his mother and sister would still be able to be happy with him to balance out what had started this path.
""Those words had pierced something in Percy at the time he'd been to involved with everything else to deal with, but he felt them full force now as he saw Nico still studying his boots and taking deep breaths, probably still trying to not cry over there. Percy's mom had died and he'd gone to hell and back to rescue her. If he could have done the same for Bianca without having to sacrifice somebody else he would.
There were Greek stories about such a thing, he knew that somewhere in his mind. Lovers were usually the point of those, but who says one couldn't do that for family?
Nico must have looked into those though. If there were any way to bring her back without hurting someone, he was sure Nico had looked into those first, and Percy wasn't going to presume to suggest otherwise.
Nico grumbled and scoffed and didn't really appreciate the compliment right now. It was wise to be forced into making the decision to be alone rather than murdering someone? That was a more obvious choice, not wise.
Will whistled gently beside him, saying, "wow, I can't imagine the smartest guy who possibly ever lived calling me wise. For doing something even he avoided."
"Mmm, I guess," Nico sighed. It sounded slightly better when put like that, and he found himself smiling Will had such a unique talent of putting a good spin on anything.
Percy's mind made some pretty large glitches trying to process walking her down the street and how many garbage bags Deadulus went through picking up after her...which was cut off very loudly by Alex exclaiming, "You got to keep her!"
"I, guess so," Percy found himself smiling despite what a horrible idea it sounded like the moment he thought it. He had always wanted a dog.
"She needs hugs!" Magnus couldn't bring himself to have a trace of mocking in that. He probably would have done it himself as much as the idea of her had grown on him, him!
"Do you need a hug Magnus?" Alex asked him, without enough sarcasm in her voice to make his blood pressure skyrocket as he just looked at her blankly.
Mercifully, Thalia wasn't sitting around waiting for all of them to get their tongues untied.
"You have a dragon at your camp, and your first thought is to take her home?" Alex derailed at once like nothing had happened. "I bet they're going to love playing together across the strawberry fields!"
"Good point," Percy said fairly. He'd been way to worried about her knocking down a city bus chasing a stray cat to think past that.
"The words had just come naturally to mind, though it was a ritual he'd never performed before this. Nico had felt the power of it flow through him, a tug in his gut, a source he'd always felt connected to. He'd never questioned Percy's descriptions of using his own abilities, the innateness of learning to walk and talk came just as naturally as discovering what you were capable of given the right circumstances.
He hadn't left a 'trophy' behind, Jason realized. He might have vanished like a monster, but his soul was destined for more than Tartarus. He would not try to sneak past for rebirth. He was merely a very, very intelligent mortal man who had finally learned his lesson.
Nico winced at the lack of a sharp noise in his ears from that. In some dull area of his mind he'd been surprised. There had been no other lost souls in the Labyrinth, Kronos must have allocated all of his forces into doing this or had them elsewhere. No other lost kids had stumbled in there and died because of his act, and now, none ever would again. He really wanted to believe something he'd done with his powers had done more good than harm, for once.
"Thalia closed the book with a sense of finality, even though there was obviously a few more pages left. She looked from it to Nico with a guilty sense of finally knowing just a bit more about him. He had only ever been another half-blood kid to her, nobody on her radar really before they were trapped in the underworld, and then it was just a quest to survive. She'd never taken the time to get to know him, a decision that had mostly been out of her hands up until now between everything else going on in her own life.
She'd never had the same sense of loneliness he'd felt, she'd always had Jason, then Luke, and now Annabeth in her life when she needed them most. Yet Nico had been the one to find her brother after all this time, and she'd known virtually nothing about Nico except his sister's name. Maybe if she had taken the time to get to know him like she had Percy she could have even been kept in the loop.
It was something she could at least make an attempt to correct as she smiled at him and offered the book like she had plenty of times before, but asked first, "you okay to keep going?"
"Mmm, I suppose," Nico sounded far from enthusiastic. It definitely felt like a curse that the next chapter would be filled to the brim with lists of names of all the kids Will used to know that he'd be the one reading about, of course.
To skip or ask to be passed over felt like going backwards though. Everybody read over uncomfortable stuff and he didn't want to be the exception.
Still, he thanked Thalia as he took the book from her and flipped to the next chapter, and only then felt Will squeeze his arm where his hand had still been resting, never pulled away. He probably wasn't the best judge to know otherwise, but it felt supportive, and kind, as he read of the next miserable experience.