"A bad time?" I repeated as a sarcastic grin formed on my face, "Of course not! Never for you, dear cousin. Tell me, Luke, what is it you're up to now? Pushing old ladies into the street? Putting cats in a tree? Pushing little kids into a locker? Stealing candy from a baby?"

Despite his serious expression, Luke's lips twitched. A small sigh escaped his lips as he said, "None of the above, I'm afraid. I ran out of old ladies to push into the street last week. The last one got her head chopped off by a gorgon."

"Here's to hoping some grandmas amble into your Titan lair, provided they can get past your Hydras and hellhound guard dogs," I crossed my fingers and showed him. The fake smile on my face died down, "Now, as much as I love making jokes about how you're the devil incarnate- and trust me, it's a lot- the last time I saw you, you slashed my throat with a sword and left me in a ditch, so forgive me if I don't feel like walking through my whole standup routine right now. Let's cut to the chase. What do you want?"

"Straight to the point, huh? Zeus knows I must've pissed you off, then, you normally sling like five more jokes, and then I have to be the stern one," Luke muttered. He leaned against Backbiter, his sword, and gestured around him. "I'll keep it short and sweet: I'm in the area, and I need to meet up. I've got some important stuff to talk about, and well, let's just say that IMs aren't as secure as they used to be. Especially for guys like us."

"You must've taken a few more hits to the head than I thought," I snapped scathingly. My nails dug into the worn wood of my desk, "You come to camp, poison our borders, try to kill me- and, what, you think I'm just going to meet you at a bar for a few shots? Fuck off, Luke."

A shadow passed over his face. Back when I first got to camp, half of the girls I talked to told me at one point or another how good-looking they thought Luke was, but now, he looked weary, angry, and not at all handsome. His blond hair was gray in the dim light of the room. The scar on his face looked deeper than usual. I couldn't be sure if it was my imagination or not, but his eyes flickered red for a moment.

"I understand your caution," he eventually said, his expression unchanging. He exhaled slowly through his nose, "My hands, as I mentioned before, are a bit tied at the moment. You just have to trust—"

I laughed, reveling in the darkening of Luke's expression. Winding up the guy was just too much fun, "Trust you? Trust? You? I'm supposed to take the word of a guy who betrayed his friends and tried to kill his family? I don't have to tell you how insane that sounds. I'd be better off trusting one of my basketball buddies to fight the Titans."

"Fine, I get it," Luke sighed, rubbing his temples. To his credit, the guy really did look kind of desperate. He looked like he was one more bad conversation away from putting a Craigslist request in for a friend who was good with swords, "Do the words divine consultant mean anything to you?"

My blood froze for a second. We just stared at each other, and the only noise in the room was the slow blub-blub blubof the fountain in the back of my cabin. Keeping my voice level, I asked, "What did you say?"

"Divine consultant," He repeated, his eyes glittering with emotion. His eyes red flashed again- this time, I was sure I caught it, "Of course, they do. I can see it all over your face. Now, if you know what one of those is, then I think you'll understand me a bit better now- I need to see you face to face."

I know I shouldn't have let something so small sway me, but in case you forgot, [Divine Consultant] was the title I got after basically telling my uncle Hades the gods would have to go through me to get to the other demigods.

The fact that Luke knew about it, well…best case, it meant he was somehow involved with the whole situation. Worst case, it meant he'd found out my darkest secret. Either way, I needed to learn more about the situation before deciding whether he was a liability or not.

I shot him an annoyed look and grabbed my jacket off the table, "Fine. If any of your little friends are there, I won't hesitate to put every single one of you in a body bag and mail you straight back to the Titans- I'll even throw in a map if they want to get revenge. Where are you?"

"Splendid," Luke's face broke out in a grin, "Come to the training arena. Love what you've done with the place, by the way- the drachma a month smoothie bar? Yes, please."

"The- what? You're in camp? How the hell did you sneak into the wards?"

"You have your secrets, I have mine," Luke winked. "See you soon, Percy."

I got to the arena and was hit with a wave of nostalgia.

As much as I hated to admit it, Luke fit in as if he'd never left in the first place. His gym bag was plopped at the edge of the stage. My [Mana Detection] confirmed that he was working solo, whaling on battle dummies.

He was slashing the dummies' heads right off, stabbing through their straw-stuffed guts, and swiping their dismembered sack torsos into the distance.

His old, orange counselor's shirt- probably how he snuck in- was dripping with sweat. His expression was so intense, it was as if he was afraid the dummies were going to magically come to life and fight back.

Actually, scratch that- I don't know what Medea's done with them. For all I know, they might actually start fighting back soon and get even.

I watched, cautiously, as he disemboweled the whole row of dummies, hacking off limbs and reducing them to a pile of straw and armor.

Even though I hated to admit it, the guy was an incredible fighter. Despite leveling up my swordsmanship so much, I still didn't know which one of us would win a pure swordfight. The way he moved with his sword was so fluid and effortless, he might as well have come out of the womb with it in hand.

Finally, he saw me and stopped mid-swing. His muscles were shining with sweat, "Percy. You came."

"Against my better judgment," I said coolly, crossing my arms, "What's so important you had to drag me out here?"

"Long story," he panted, raising Backbiter. He pointed the tip of the sword at me, and then back to the arena, "You up for a spar while I tell it?"

"You're lucky I've been meaning to try this out," I palmed Jason's coin- a circle of gold the size of a half-dollar, but thicker and more uneven. Stamped on one side was a picture of a battle-ax. On the other was some guy's face wreathed in laurels. Julius Caesar, if my memory served me correctly.

I flipped the coin in the air like I'd seen Jason do a thousand times. I caught it in my palm and thanked my lucky stars I got the sword form on the first try. The ridged grip was worn and faded, and the whole thing was gold—hilt, handle, and blade.

"New weapon?" Luke commented as I stepped into the ring with him. He twirled Backbiter in his hand expectantly.

"Something like that," I replied as I led off with a simple jab that Luke batted away. I deflected his slash into the dirt a second later, "Now get talking."

"Testy. Well, fine. The story starts back when the Big Three made their whole pact to not have kids, and your uncle, H, decided to curse the oracle. Basically, the spirit wasn't allowed to leave the body of the current one, and well, eventually she died. That's why the one at camp is a mummy, instead of a living person," Jason's sword was lighter than mine. Sparks flew as Backbiter blurred through the air, into my waiting parry. "It was like that for a while. People tried to host the spirit in an effort to help the poor soul rest, but nope- each person who tried hosting it went batshit crazy, like, two seconds into it. I still haven't gotten the right reasoning for this, but my part starts when my mom decided she was up to the task of hosting it."

"Why her?" I grunted as he pressed back, his strength matching mine. "What made her think it would work out for her?"

"I don't know," Luke sighed. A brief look of pain crossed his features, "It doesn't matter. The Oracle didn't hold, and instead, it showed her something that broke her mind."

We stopped sparring for a second, and he slashed his sword through the space between us. It rippled the air, showing me an image of an old woman. She looked like someone who enjoyed sticking her fingers in electrical sockets. Her white hair stuck out in tufts all over her head. Her pink housedress was covered in scorch marks and smears of ash. When she smiled, her face looked unnaturally stretched, and the high-voltage light in her eyes made me wonder if she was blind.

"Growing up with her was…difficult," Luke muttered, staring at the image with an unreadable expression before waving it away. "Her eyes would glow green if you can believe it. She'd start shaking my shoulders and screaming horrible things about my fate. I dealt with it for fourteen years before I left."

"That's when you left and ran into Thalia and Annabeth," I guessed, gritting my teeth as I was forced to dodge one of Luke's slashes. He was much faster than last year, which was surprising to me- I'd just come off a summer of training with my godly brother, and Luke was still hard to keep track of. "Annabeth was second. Thalia came first?"

"You're right," Luke nodded. Beads of sweat formed on his brow, "I was only on my own for a week or two, in total. I found Thalia in a dragon's cave outside Charleston after she had followed her dad's sacred goat, Amaltheia, there. We decided to stick together for a while, and then, well, a while turned into a year or two. Back then, I'd been so pissed off at everything, so eager to prove myself that, well, I just wanted to get stronger and stronger. Thalia's magical goat seemed to have an endless supply of magical places we could go to and fight monsters in, so naturally, neither of us argued too much when it directed us to an old mansion- we'd done that kind of thing a thousand times. While we were there, though, we met this dude named Halcyon Green- a demigod son of Apollo, who had been imprisoned inside the mansion after being cursed by the gods."

"A demigod inside of a mansion? Gee, Luke, it kind of sounds like your very own, special version of Beauty and the Beast!" I ducked under a swing and zigzagged Ilvis, clipping Luke's wrist. "You're losing your touch, there, cuzzo."

"You still haven't learned the art of patience, Perce," Luke said, with a grin that seemed to hide something. His voice sounded…different, somehow, "A kiss wouldn't have saved Hal, I'm afraid. You see, he became unable to speak after he saved a girl's life as a child. Hal was one of the rare demigods born with the ability to see into the future, a gift from Apollo. So, when he looked at one of his classmates and saw that she was fated to die, he intervened and saved her life. But that act of bravery was enough to incur the wrath of the gods. As part of his curse, he was forced to lure other demigods to be devoured by the three leucrotae at sunset. I won't go into the nitty-gritty details, but by the end of the night, he made the ultimate sacrifice to get us out of there. Before he did, he gave me his diary and knife, and made me promise to learn from his mistakes."

"To not trust the gods," I assumed, to which Luke nodded. "Or was it to try not to change fate?"

"A little bit of both, I'm sure," Luke sighed. "He made some cryptic comments about my supposed dark future but wouldn't elaborate. Eventually, we found Annabeth, and we decided to stop by my house for some supplies. My mom made Thalia and Annabeth help her make some cookies, and in the meantime, my dad appeared to me, trying to talk to me in the living room."

My eyes widened. I wasn't aware Hermes had ever gone to visit Luke, "He did? What did he have to say?"

"I don't remember the specifics, honestly," Luke chuckled, a little out of breath, "I cussed him out for a while, and basically called him the worst dad ever. In turn, he told me he loved me, and that my fate was immutable but that didn't mean it had to be preordained."

"Immutable, but not preordained," I repeated slowly. My fingers tightened around my sword as if flexing my fingers around the hilt would help me better absorb the information. "What does that mean?"

"It means that the future is kind of like a river with some docks here and there. It flows freely, but there are certain things you can't change," Luke explained patiently. "Take this as an example. Let's say your fate is to fall and break your leg. Just because the event- your fall- is set in stone, the way you get there isn't. You might be sledding when the accident happens. You could be in battle, or trip down the escalator at a mall. The destination is final, but the path isn't."

"So, what did you do?"

"What do you think?" Luke gave me a crooked smile. "I was too angry to listen. I told him I didn't believe him, and he vanished. When I went back to the kitchen, Annabeth and Thalia were waiting for me, cookies in hand. We left a bit after, and I think you know the rest."

I could feel bruises forming on my arms and shoulders from the flat of Luke's blade, "So, where does the divine consultant part of it come in?"

"My quest," Luke reminded me, sweat rolling down his face. His smile wavered, "I saw a lot out there in the world, Percy. It changed the way I saw things; some of that bitterness, the hatred I had for my dad, began to ebb away. That didn't stop you-know-who from whispering in my ear on the way back, though."

"Grandpa K," I amended, frowning as Luke laughed. "Dude, it's a way better thing to say than you-know-who. He's not Voldemort."

"Nicknames aside- he told me how the gods' precious 'Western civilization' was a disease, and how it would end up killing the world if left unchecked. He told me that the only way to stop it was to burn it to the ground and start over with something more honest, something safer for demigods…and I believed him. At first."

"Your fate," I realized. "The thing everyone saw but couldn't tell you about- was it that you'd betray everyone and turn to Kronos?"

"Yes," Luke's face darkened. "The fate everyone warned me about. The fate everyone tried to save me from. It was destined to happen…but the how of it- heh, well, I took that into my own hands."

Backbiter nicked my finger, and I growled in pain. "What made you change your mind?"

"His first task," Luke's voice tightened with effort as I switched up my style, rotating away from my [Moon's Dance] stance into an Atlantean stance. "I thought it was insane to ask a demigod, a seventeen-year-old demigod, at that, to steal a god's symbol of power. It made me seriously doubt how much he cared about demigods. So, instead, I ratted him out to Zeus, who in turn made me the first divine consultant."

"You're a double agent," I realized, panting. "I don't get it, though. If he knew everything about the bolt, why was I dragged into that mess?"

"Well, it's not like we could throw away what Zeus called 'a supreme advantage' away. First and foremost, we hoped to use the situation to draw out any potential traitors on the council and suitably punish them- check and check with Ares," Luke chuckled dryly. "Secondly, I still needed to build some cred with the Titans. I had to play along, pretend like I was still a demigod trying to overthrow the gods. I couldn't let them suspect a thing, and I needed to find a way to help you. I couldn't let you face the same fate I did, especially since I was partly responsible for bringing you into all of this."

"Partly responsible?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You see, I'd known about you for a while by that point. Zeus and I- we wanted to make sure you weren't a flight risk," Luke explained. "The second Chiron left the camp to make a house call, I made sure to tell Annabeth about the prophecy- I tried to plant the seed in her head that the child of the Big Three would be the one to defeat our grandfather. I knew she would find a way to bring you to me once you were at camp, and I needed you to be on our side if we were ever going to win this war."

"Why now?" I questioned. "Why did you come back and tell me all of this now? Surely, you could've told me all of this last summer. Or sent a letter or something. The fact that you're here now...you're in trouble, aren't you?"

"Not just me. We're in trouble. Something's brewing," Luke's mouth pressed into a thin line. "The Titans are reforming their base in the West. Monsters are pouring in, dangerous and ancient ones that haven't been spotted around these parts in a long time. Demigods- adult ones- are starting to flock to his cause. I may need to be extracted soon, and I can't do it alone."

I cocked my head to the side, "Extracted? I thought the plan was for you to host him?"

"Not anymore," Luke shook his head, "I've come into another set of…powers, we'll say. Powers that are way too valuable to throw away. Z and I agree, I'm better off coming back to the camp and fighting alongside the gods, but we're holding off."

"Why are you holding off?"

"I'm not sure," Luke hesitated. He gave me a wary look, "We think he might have…plans for the demigods."

"Plans?" I repeated. "What kind of plans?"

"Nothing concrete yet," Luke grunted. "But it can't be good. I want to stay for as long as I can to be absolutely sure."

"That power you mentioned," I settled on. "What is it?"

"Oh, you haven't noticed?" Luke's face twisted into a smirk. "I guess you aren't as perceptive as I thought. We haven't been speaking in English for the last ten minutes."

"σταθερά τι—" I faltered, before staring at Luke. Suddenly, it all clicked into place. His reflexes, the power behind his hits- it was all on par with mine. The flashing of his eyes, too, "The tongue of old times. You have the echoes of a Titan inside of you, too?"

"Two, actually," Luke grinned. "Our little friends in the Garden of Hesperides. Thanks for the help on that, by the way. You left them for dead. Iapetus was a husk by the time you two were done."

"How?" I couldn't help but wonder. Eri said our process was extremely new and untested, not to mention painful. He thought I'd die if wasn't underwater. The fact that Luke somehow underwent the same thing, twice...

"Does it matter?" Luke slashed the dirt angrily. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his sword, "Sorry, that was snappy…I just…I think it's best if we don't get into the details. It wasn't pleasant."

"It's alright, man, sorry for bringing up some bad stuff for you. But…wait. If you have the echoes of two titans inside of you, how in the hell are you still scared of gramps?" I sputtered. "How strong is he?"

"He's already stronger than me," Luke said seriously. "That's why I'm here now. If we work together, we'll be able to hinder his rise. As it stands now, Percy, we're valuable assets to both the Titans and the gods. It also means that we're targets for both sides if things go sideways. That's why we need to be extra careful, and why I need your help. So, what do you say?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "Swear that you aren't lying, first."

"I swear on the river Styx that everything that I've mentioned, to the best of my knowledge, is truthful," Luke said instantly. Thunder boomed overhead, and he stood there, just looking at me. "See?"

"Yeah," I muttered under my breath. "I get it."

I'd been through a lot, and seen things that I never thought possible. But this...this was something else entirely.

I was surprised that Luke would seek me out, and trust me enough to ask for my help. And if what he's saying was true, the power that we gained could be the key to stopping Kronos in the long run.

"This is a lot to take in," I exhaled, leaning on Ilvis for support, "Luke, you say you have the powers of two Titans and yet you still need my help. I'm not sure what to make of that. On one hand, I don't want to be a pawn in any war between the Titans and the gods- more than I already am, anyway. But on the other hand, I can't ignore the potential danger that this poses to the demigods."

Besides, I thought to myself, Was I powerful enough to face this on my own? Could I be the hero this time, without any help? I mean, I'd faced monsters, gods, Titans, and even death itself, but this was different. In my grand plan, I'd never actually considered how I could beat Kronos... and this time, the stakes were even higher.

Win or die. Kill Kronos or let Olympus be destroyed.

"I understand," Luke drew a circle in the dirt with his sword. "Just know that two heads are always better than one. Our combined strength might just be enough here."

"Maybe," I agreed. "Fine. Count me in, for now."

"Sounds good," Luke nodded as he sheathed Backbiter. "Keep up with your training, and I'll be in touch with some information. For now, I'll encode all of our correspondences in a standard Caeser cipher. Take care, Percy."

On the way out of the training arena, my vision was instantly assaulted by a familiar glow of purple.

I don't know if I've ever gone in-depth about how creepy it is when immortals pop up out of nowhere, but I'll try to paint the picture now. Before, when my [Mana Detection] skill had just been unlocked, it was more like a flash of light, or a passing beam of color.

Now, especially since I got [Hera's Blessing] and gained the ability to feel ambient divine energy, it was much more.

Every single time an immortal- a true immortal, mind you, not a fake one like me or Luke- steps into the frame, it's kind of like… a veil is lifted from my eyes.

It's like how, in the early morning, your walls and ceiling all blend together. Or, how, when you load into a really graphics-dense area in a videogame, everything looks kind of blurry and unrendered.

When a god enters my vision, The Game basically tears away all the important details from my vision- miscellaneous things like posters and windows and stuff- to reveal the skeletal structure of reality beneath.

It's like seeing a beautiful painting suddenly turn into an anatomical diagram, with every muscle and bone laid bare for me to see. It's both fascinating and unnerving, like catching a glimpse of something forbidden and taboo. Something I shouldn't be seeing.

I also feel like it's The Game's way of telling me: Heads up, pal. You've got company.

I paused for a moment as it moved closer, dimming, as the interface recognized that the entity meant me no harm, "Aunt Hera."

As all immortals tended to, she looked a little different than the last time I'd seen her. I couldn't exactly put my finger on it, but she looked…nicer than she had last time.

Her face was still composed of strong features, like a prominent jawline and high cheekbones, but this time, her stately beauty was softened by warm eyes that seemed to glow in the dark.

Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun, with a few tendrils framing her face, and she wore a professional yet approachable outfit, consisting of a tailored blazer in a soft pastel hue that complemented her warm complexion, and a delicate silk blouse with a hint of lace peeking out from the collar.

Honestly, it was like someone took the Hera I remembered in my head, modernized her, made her twice as beautiful, and plopped her in the Camp Half-Blood training arena.

"Percy," Hera gave me a small smile, and I felt a strange sense of comfort wash over me, kind of like I was coming home to a place I couldn't quite remember leaving in the first place. She spoke in a calm and measured voice, with a hint of an accent I couldn't really place, "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, my lady," I replied quickly, before realizing how weird it must look that I was walking out of the training arena in normal clothes. I pocketed Ilvis, "Just thought I'd get some swings in."

"At this hour…alone?" Hera shot me an amused look, and I felt myself stand up straighter. "I do not claim to understand the musings of teenage boys, but even then, this is peculiar, no?"

"I'm a peculiar guy," I said with an uneasy laugh that somehow made Hera dissolve into a fit of giggles. I tried to steer the conversation back to her, "What can I do for you, Lady Hera?"

It wasn't that Hera was warm or overly friendly; in fact, she had an air of formality that made me feel a bit self-conscious. Not self-conscious in a major way, but in lot of little ways- like, was I wearing the right cologne? Did my hair look off?

There was something about her that felt safe and reassuring like she knew exactly what to say and how to say it.

It made my danger sense go off a little for some reason.

"Nothing much, Percy. I just wanted to come and check on you," Hera replied easily, stepping closer. "I heard of your exploits from my husband."

"Oh. Awesome," Almost as if on cue, one of the tremors from [Zeus' Vitriol] strained through my body. My eye twitching, I continued, "I heard from Jason that he wasn't too happy about, uh, my summer."

"My husband is a bitter man," was all Hera said in response to my statement. "Have you seen how well Jason has progressed?"

"Yeah, actually, he looks huge now!" I exclaimed as the two of us walked out of the arena. "I didn't expect him to grow so fast."

"Well, I've had a hand in that," Hera admitted with a smile. "Not that I've revealed myself to Jason quite yet. It still feels…premature."

The moon was out now, and it hung high in the night sky, bathing the stone pathway in front of us in a silvery glow, "Premature how?"

"I suppose…I don't know how to reconnect with him. I don't know how to explain to him why I wasn't there for him all those years," Hera replied quietly, "He was given to me- or supposed to be given to me, rather- and I was unable to protect him. Even if he doesn't know that, I do, and well, I don't know how to make it up to him."

"Forgive me if this seems out of line, my lady, but no one- most of all Jason- would expect you to," I said, "Sure, I mean, we could argue all night about how at fault everyone is, and how Jason's childhood sucked, but there isn't anything you can do about that. Well, unless you can go back in time. Can you go back in time?"

"No, Percy. I cannot travel back in time."

"Exactly. So that means that what's done is done, and worrying about it now won't change anything," I continued, "My two cents? I think the first step is just reaching out to him. Letting him know that you're here, that you're ready to listen, all that good stuff. He's mellowed out a lot this summer."

"Perhaps," Hera replied, her voice barely above a whisper as she looked at my face weirdly, "Would you like to come to dinner with me? I expect, as we spoke about earlier, there is a lot I don't understand about demigods and the way you perceive things. You could shed some light on the matter."

"Ah," I said awkwardly. "I'd be delighted, but I've already made plans to meet with my mother and Jason for dinner. On the other hand, you could join us, if you'd like."

"Of course," She replied smoothly, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder, "Where to?"

My mom and Jason went shopping at a Men's Wearhouse in East Hampton- ten minutes or so down the road from our house. It was part of a larger shopping plaza, which coincidentally had Cheesecake Factory- Jason's favorite restaurant.

"Coincidentally" as in I had zero doubt in my mind that he knowingly chose to get his suit here, so he'd have an excuse to duck in for dinner.

Hera and I walked into the restaurant, and she immediately made a passing comment about the brown, tiled floors.

Her eyes glowed purple for a moment, and the brown slowly melted into gleaming white marble floors and walls. My eyes flicked to the towering ceilings which were adorned with elegant crystal chandeliers that sparkled and shone in the warm glow of the dining room.

The dining area was filled with plush velvet chairs and booths, each one carefully arranged to create an intimate and comfortable dining experience. Each table was meticulously set with crisp white linens, sparkling crystal glassware, and polished silverware. The waitstaff glided between the tables with effortless grace, their movements perfectly choreographed to ensure that every diner received the highest level of service.

The waiters themselves seemed to have been affected by whatever Hera did. Each one was impeccably dressed in a black suit, crisp white shirt, and perfectly polished shoes. They moved with quiet confidence, their faces serene and composed as they took orders and served dishes.

Definitely not what I expected from a place usually staffed by teenagers. There were entirely too many people here who looked like they had their lives together.

"Oh, honey," My mom wrapped me in a hug before I could get a word out. After squeezing me tightly for somewhere in the ballpark of two whole minutes, she pulled away and held me at an arm's length.

She hadn't changed too much. The most notable thing to me was how at peace she looked- when we lived with Smelly Gabe, her face had been perpetually marred by worry and discomfort, and her shoulders were always tense—being in that relationship aged her.

Now, though? She was always smiling, always relaxed. I felt a nice, cozy burst of happiness every time I got to see how, after sacrificing so much of her life for me, she was finally able to do what she wanted.

"You need to cut your hair," Sally shook her head good-naturedly, grabbing and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "It's bad enough that bad man put you in a coma for weeks, but ruining my baby's beautiful black hair? He's lucky you took care of him."

"He's never coming back," I grinned, feeling the flare of power through my veins, "But if he does, I'll be sure to let you have first pick, mom."

"Good," She patted my cheek. Her mouth opened to say something else, when she noticed Hera standing behind me, "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Sally Jackson, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms…"

"Hera," Hera replied brightly, shaking my mom's proffered hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Jackson. You've raised a wonderful son, and the bond you two share is incredibly strong."

By this point, my mom was used to immortals popping in and out. She practically lived with Hestia, Aphrodite presumably still stopped by to talk to her from time to time, and she'd hung out with my uncle Hades in a group setting here and there. Seeing Hera might've turned any other mortal into a blubbering mess, but my mom? Psh. Nothing.

Well, not nothing. The only indication that my mom fully registered what Hera said was the slight waver as she said, "Thank you so much for the compliment! Please, sit."

"Thank you," Hera said pleasantly. She gave Jason a smile which he didn't automatically return, "Hello, Jason."

"My lady," Jason replied robotically. As Jason gave Hera a neutral look, my mom stared at me from across the table and gave me an uneasy look that said: fix this!

"Well, if it isn't my favorite airhead," I gave Jason a fist bump as I settled into the seat next to him. "Did you find your suit?"

"Yep," He placed a Men's Wearhouse bag on the table. There was a brief flutter of air, and the bag shifted in front of me, "It took forever though. Auntie had me try on, like, fifty different colors."

"Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa," My mom interjected, shaking her head, "Don't try to play this off as my fault, honey. You were the one who said you wanted it to be perfect for your date, okay? Look, Percy, he even brought me a little piece of fabric with the color of her dress—"

"Oh, this is too much," I gasped as I reached into the bag and found the fabric my mom was talking about, "I leave for three months and suddenly you grow your hair out, go out and get a girlfriend, and start caring about matching clothes? Listen, if you want, I can leave for a year next time, and you might just turn into the captain of the basketball team."

"Just round it off and make it an even two," Jason replied with a chuckle as I looked at his suit- navy blue with a yellow tie, "Provided you come back for a spar every once in a while. We haven't gone all out since last year."

"Dude, the last time we went all out, half the Hudson collapsed," I reminded him, taking some bread off the table and putting it on my plate. I spun the butter knife on my fingers and pointed it at him, "Besides, I'm feeling good now. My dad's a way better trainer than yours."

Thunder rumbled overhead, so loud and intense it caused the lights to flicker and the room to shake. I turned to Hera, "No offense."

"None was taken by me," Hera sighed, looking warily at the ceiling. She turned her gaze to Jason, "Well, who is the lucky lady?"

"Oh," Jason's face pinked. He got this dreamy, faraway look in his eyes- the kind of look I never expected to see in the eyes of a guy who once claimed swords were easier to be around than girls, "She's this girl in our grade named Amy."

"Right," I tried to wrack my brain for an Amy. Unlike every other school I'd been to, Midtown High had accepted me and given me an environment to thrive. The people were nice, the material was understandable and most of all, they had all kinds of cool clubs you could join after school. That, mixed with the fact that I was on the basketball team meant that I knew almost everyone in our grade, so there was no doubt in my mind I could put two and two together and identify the girl that somehow broke past Jason's barriers. "Wait, Cheerleader Amy?"

"Yeah," Jason's tone was colored with surprise. He almost dropped his fork, "You know her?"

"Not really," I admitted. "I met her through Liz, at a party. I honestly don't remember too much about her, 'cause like two hours after that, I got attacked by Bessie again."

"Ah," Jason said around a mouthful of bread, "She's really nice. Do you remember that club I was telling you about?"

"UNICEF?"

"Yeah," Jason replied, "We were on the same project team for saving an endangered sapsucker. I thought she was nice, so I took your advice and tried to be a bit more relaxed with her. Eventually, even though I needed Thalia's help to prepare, I asked her out, and things kind of snowballed from there."

"Look at you," I thumped his arm. "Now you get to be the one with a girlfriend, and I get to be the one training all the time. I'm glad you told me, though, 'cause Thalia wasn't budging unless I got her some chocolate. I could've been three dollars in the hole by now."

"You don't have any prospects right now, honey?" My mom asked me as she sipped her drink, "Surely there's someone you'd want to bring to the Fall Ball."

"Nope," I replied, even though Thalia's face flashed in my mind for a second. I wondered if she'd even want to go to some dumb high school dance, let alone go with me, "No one at all. Just me and my sword. Well, swords, now."

"Nonsense," Hera spoke up as she leafed through the menu. She smiled at me warmly, "You're a handsome young man, and I'm aware of dozens of minor goddesses in the market for a boyfriend. Tell me, though…what is this Fall Ball you speak of?"

"The Fall Ball is this dance at our school," Jason took the initiative in the conversation, something that seemed to make Hera happy. "It's Midtown High tradition to have it on the night of Halloween."

"What makes that day so special?" Hera wondered. "From my understanding, that is also the day of Samhain, correct? As we moved west from Greece, that day was used by pagan cultures as a religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer."

"Well, now, it's Halloween," Sally said. "If I remember correctly- I actually took a Celtic history course this past semester- people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts as well. That's where the basis of what we do now comes from. Really, it's just a fun way for little children to dress up and get candy now."

"How interesting," Hera commented. "So…you dress up in formal attire with your child and go with them to get candy?"

"Erm, no, generally you don't dress up, your child does, and it isn't formal gear, per se," My mom pursed her lips. "It can be if that's their costume, but usually, it's whatever they want. I remember when Percy was little, he used to love his Indiana Jones costume. He wore it four years in a row."

"But does that not reflect back on you?" Hera wondered, genuinely curious. "If your son goes out dressed like…whoever you mentioned, and say, one of your friends sees him, would they not be concerned that you weren't with him?"

"Well," My mom bit her lip for a second, "I suppose you're right."

"You know, my sister Hestia constantly speaks of your refreshing mindset and solid advice- please, speak without any limitations," Hera said a moment later. "Really, I mean it. I was telling Percy this earlier, but unlike my husband, or some of the other members of the council, I don't have any children. I can't so easily understand the mortal world, or why mortals do what they do."

"Alright," My mom looked uneasy for a second, before relenting, "For starters, even when it comes to something as simple as Halloween, the biggest distinction to make is that it isn't about you at all- it's about your kid. Even if it wasn't, for whatever reason, I'd still let Percy do what he wanted- you see, I'm a firm believer in the idea that providing a safe and nurturing environment for children is the most important thing anyone can do as a parent. And, I mean, that extends beyond just telling children exactly what to do."

She gave me a nostalgic smile from across the table, "When Percy was growing up, for example, some of my friends thought I was too lenient with him, that I let him get away with too much. But, you know, I always told them the same thing: he's my kid- I know my kid. I always knew somewhere, deep down, Percy could make his own decisions, and that he would learn best by making mistakes and learning from them."

"And now he has," Hera muttered quietly, glancing toward me. "But then, how do you deal with them making bad decisions, over and over again? Or, not listening to you?"

My mom nodded, "It can be tough, I won't lie. But I think it's important to remember that children are going to make mistakes. That's just a part of growing up. What's important is how we react to those mistakes. Instead of punishing them or scolding them harshly, I've always found that it's more effective to have a conversation with them. Try to understand why they made the decision they did and help them see how they could have made a better choice."

She leaned forward, her expression earnest, "But, at the same time, there need to be consequences for bad behavior. It's important to set boundaries and have clear expectations for your children. If they don't follow those expectations, then they need to face the consequences. But it's important that those consequences are fair and consistent."

Hera nodded, "I see what you mean. It's about finding a balance between providing a safe and nurturing environment and teaching them to be responsible for their actions. To tell you the truth, Ms. Jackson, you make it seem quite easy, but I speak from experience when I say it isn't always like that."

"No, it's not," My mom agreed. "I can't even imagine how difficult it must be for you at times. But I promise you, it's worth it. Watching your child grow and thrive, knowing that you've had a part in that- there's nothing quite like it. And, though you didn't ask, I don't think it's ever too late to try, either."

Hera smiled, "Thank you for your advice, it's been…very helpful to say the least. I think I have a lot to learn about being a parent, but I'm willing to try the mortal way for a while."

My mom smiled back, "You'll do great, Hera. Just remember, it's all about balance."

AN: Another chapter down! I know at least a few of you called this twist coming a while back, so here you are! For those of you that didn't- no worries, and just know I have a lot of crazy stuff planned with it.

Also, we just had our first interlude in a while. In case you aren't familiar with it or you forgot, those are my way of introducing other POVs to the story. There's also always foreshadowing in them, so feel free to read into them as much or as little as you'd like. The only one who fully knows the meaning behind all of them is The Prophesied, though, so don't feel too discouraged if you don't. Another way I like to think about it is like a narrator in a play; that's my way of trying to tell you guys, the audience, what's about to happen.

We're also moving closer to the scene I had in mind before I even started writing this story. To tell you the truth, if you want a BIG BIG BIG hint, go back to Chapter 27 and reread Percy's interaction with Amy. You might learn a thing or two, wink-wink.

Check out my HP fic too! Playing Hogwarts Legacy finally convinced me to pull the trigger on it. Proud Huff over here.

Onto reviews:

ENDDRAGON369: Not gonna lie, I do actually have plans to bring Candypier back later in the story. Not sure if the second half of your statement will come to fruition or not, but never say never!

Sulaiman: Sorry, but I don't agree with your idea that I'm "nerfing" Percy. I don't think I'm nerfing him in the slightest! He's already significantly stronger than he was at this point in canon, and he's only going to continue getting stronger. I just don't see the utility in making him broken to the point where the plot suffers because of it.

Zarathos 11: Thalia is indeed the next pairing. And, of course, you may or may not be right about the second part! Also, I don't think the Game expected him to win against Zeus, but I don't think it's too unreasonable to have had him survive long enough for the Game to consider it a win if that makes sense.

Tyufvfv: Very, very interesting theory. Obviously, I'm not going to tell you if it's close or not, but I think you're looking deep enough into it. That's the ideal amount of symbolism I want the readers to look into. If you are looking for more evidence either way, I'd reread Chapter 39. LOTS of foreshadowing there.

Dragon Bone Z: Thanks for the review as always. I don't know exactly how to have other people's POVs in, except for the little interludes I do. I just feel like the story is so Percy-centric, and everything is so from his POV that it would be difficult. That said, I have some plans for another POV, but she's not in the story yet.

Siblings Grimm: This is an excellent criticism, thank you! I think I underestimated how much people like that aspect of it, to be honest. I'm going to make a note of it, though, so everyone can feel a bit more immersed next time around. Thanks for the heads up!