"Um…" Piper stared blankly at the caduceus. "Did that snake just talk?"

"It's telepathy, dear," Martha explained, "Excuse my husband George, he lets his stomach do most of the talking for him."

"Hey, don't blame me, Martha!" George snapped, "It's breakfast time! I haven't even had my early-morning rat yet!" He turned his head towards Percy. "Hi Percy. Do you have rats for us? You haven't had them the last few times. Maybe a guinea pig?"

Martha hissed in their heads. "Hush! These demigods have been very busy saving the world. They have more important things to do than bring you food!"

Frank turned towards Percy in confusion. "You've met them before?"

Percy nodded. "We've, uh," he paused, unwilling to disclose anything about Luke or the last Great Prophecy, "Had a few run-ins with each other."

Hermes shook his caduceus, causing George and Martha to briefly flail around in a panic. "Behave, you two. At least try and make a good first impression, yeah?" He turned back towards the group of demigods, satyr, and former Hunter. "Sorry about them, they like to speak what's on their minds."

Hazel and Leo eyed the caduceus in awe, completely enthralled by the talking snakes. "That's so cool!" Leo breathed out, "Can they actually eat?"

"Yes!" George responded enthusiastically, "So what's on the menu?"

Hermes rolled his eyes, but his cocky smirk never left his face. "You heard the man! Or snake, I guess. But whatever. Let's eat!"

He didn't wait for anyone to respond, confidently walking right past Piper and Hedge to enter the lower deck. Everyone watching him disappear below them in a stupor, before Leo blurted out something about how the god might mess with his creation, hurrying after.

The rest of the group slowly shuffled behind, with Nico grumbling something about his sleep schedule to Hazel, who patted him on the back sympathetically.

Percy and Zoe were the last ones left on the deck. "Meet you there?" He asked, eyeing his current attire with distaste, "I need to go change."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Thou look fine. Half of them are in their pajamas as well, it makes no difference what thou wear."

He opened his mouth to protest - but she wouldn't hear it. Zoe dragged him down to the mess hall where the rest of their friends awaited, with Percy a sputtering mess all the while.

–

They arrived just in time to watch George polish off a rat that had been summoned with one of the enchanted plates from Camp Half-Blood - something that looked to have disgusted most of those present. Percy himself was a little woozy at the sight, but only because he really wasn't looking forward to having to use that plate ever again.

"Oh yeah!" George groaned happily, "That hit the spot!"

Martha looked at her husband in disbelief. "That was your third one! You're going to be sick, dear!"

"I don't care! It was worth it!"

"They really are married, huh?" Leo muttered.

Hermes watched his snakes go after each other with a bemused expression. He snapped his fingers and the caduceus transformed back into an iPhone (which he jammed into his pocket to keep their bickering down), before the plate that George and Martha had pigged out on disappeared and was replaced with a fresh one.

"What domain allows you to clean plates?" Piper asked, an eyebrow raised disbelievingly at how casual the god was acting.

Hermes shrugged. "None. It's just simple magic." At their continued stares, he rolled his eyes. "Well, okay, not simple, but for a god it's quite easy, let alone an Olympian."

He whispered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Steak and Eggs', and sure enough the plate he summoned immediately provided. He threw his hands out casually and a fork and knife appeared in his grip, digging in excitedly.

Hermes whistled. "Oh, yeah," he groaned, "This is the stuff! Stop staring at me and get some food for yourselves, kiddos! Don't you know it's rude to watch someone eat?"

Percy rolled his eyes, but it seemed to shock the rest of the group out of their stupor. Coach Hedge didn't stop staring in awe, but Percy had a feeling that was just because he was looking at the being who fathered Pan, god of the satyrs. He couldn't help the pang in his chest as he thought about the now-faded god. Pan was one of the best of them.

At least based on what Grover had told him. He didn't get to know the god very well himself, but in their brief conversation in New Mexico he seemed like a good guy.

He pulled out a plate of his own, sighing in contentment when a pile of blue belgian waffles appeared - completely caked in syrup.

Zoe looked at his plate in disgust. "That does not look appetizing in the slightest."

"What?" Percy asked, "I like blue food! Sue me."

She just rolled her eyes, a fond smile on her face as a small pile of fruits appeared on her plate.

"So!" Hermes began again, briefly looking up from his steak to speak while sprinkling hot sauce onto his meal, "What're the sleeping accommodations like?"

Everyone that wasn't Zoe or Hermes looked at each other awkwardly.

"Uh…" Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "We kinda only have eight rooms. It's called the Prophecy of the Seven, afterall, not the Prophecy of the Eight, the satyr, the Titan, and the Olympian."

Leo looked at Zoe. "Speaking of which, where did you sleep last night? I know Nico and Hazel have been bunking together because they're siblings or whatever, but what about you?"

Zoe looked at him like he was stupid. "I was on watch duty."

"Yeah, but you weren't on it all night, were you?" He countered, before waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Perhaps you were… spending the night with a certain son of P–"

Hermes cut him off, realizing that Zoe was starting to reach for a cleaver. "Nah, she was on the deck when I first showed up."

He had an amused look on his face as he recalled the way he had found Percy and Zoe together, but smartly said nothing to compromise them.

Frank blushed. "Sorry about that, then," he muttered, "I can't imagine staying up all night with nothing to do is very fun. Someone should have come up to take their turn, but I guess we forgot about it."

"It is fine." Zoe said simply.

"He's right, though," Annabeth said after a moment, "We kind of do need to switch up the sleeping arrangements. It's not like we can just throw Zoe in the stables and have Hermes sleep in here."

Zoe looked affronted. "I have slept in much worse conditions than hay, I can assure thee," she said defensively, "I would not complain about such arrangements."

"Yeah," Hermes agreed, letting out a relaxed sigh as the chair he was sitting in went into masseuse-mode, "This is doing wonders for my back. I could get used to this!"

Percy shook his head. "You aren't sleeping in the stables." He turned to Hermes, where tabasco sauce was beginning to leak off his plate. "And you should stop pouring hot sauce onto those eggs."

The god rolled his eyes. "Mortal food is so bland!" He whined, before the hot sauce was replaced by a bottle of ketchup, "This is the only way I can get a real kick from it!"

Percy gagged, and he wasn't the only one. On the other side of the table, Piper turned a new shade of green.

"So where are they gonna sleep?" Hedge asked gruffly. "I ain't sharing a room with none of ya, so forget about it!"

"No one was asking you too…" Nico muttered.

He clearly didn't mean for it to be heard, but the kid must have forgotten that satyrs have great hearing. Hedge glared at him, none too happy about the comment. Nico just ignored it, sipping quietly on his coffee.

Hazel raised her hand timidly. "Zoe can stay in my room," she offered.

That got some reactions, mostly from people looking at Hazel in surprise (or in Percy's case, appreciation). She was too good for them.

"You sure?" Jason asked. "Then where would Nico go?"

Percy shrugged. "He could bunk with me."

Nico spat out his drink.

All over Frank.

"Hey!" Frank complained, now soaked in the steamy beverage, "What was that for?!"

Nico was too busy choking to respond.

Percy willed Frank dry with barely a thought, the son of Mars shooting him a grateful look while Hazel began to pat Nico on the back as he coughed up a lung. He waved him off - he didn't need to be thanked for fixing something that he had sort of caused, after all.

Hermes was howling with laughter as Nico turned shades of red Percy didn't even know existed. He blushed furiously, and it only got worse as everyone continued to stare at him in various levels of confusion.

Or amusement.

"I-I'm g-good," Nico wheezed, "J-just something going down the w-wrong pipe."

He awkwardly cleared his throat.

"So is that a no on rooming with Percy?" Leo asked, trying to muffle his snickers.

Nico just nodded mutely, eyes trained on his lap. Percy frowned - was something wrong with him? He knew he and Nico weren't exactly on the best of terms, or even friends at this point, but was he really that bad?

Yes. You're a monster. A freak. He hates you. You killed his sister. He knows what you are.

He tried not to flinch too obviously at his thoughts. He had a sinking feeling he wasn't being very subtle.

"Would you rather stay in my room?" Jason asked cautiously, "Or do you just want to stick with Hazel and find somewhere else for Zoe to stay."

"It's fine," Nico mumbled, "I'll stay in Jason's room."

Ouch. So it was Percy that was the problem. But he knew that already, didn't he? He'd had almost eighteen years to find that out for himself. It was always his fault.

Hermes hummed, side-eyeing Percy as he began to make his way through a second full plate of food - this time, it was an egg and cheese sandwich with a side of sausages. "Well, I guess that just leaves little old me! Anybody itching to dorm with an Olympian?"

Silence.

Hermes rolled his eyes. "Come on!" He whined, "I'm not that bad! I won't even be in there most of the time, gods don't need that much sleep. Come on Ocean Man, back me up here!"

It took Percy a second to realize that he was, in fact, 'Ocean Man'. He snorted at the name once he realized - it was pretty lame, but he'd take it over Seaweed Brain or Kelp Head any day of the week.

Besides, it was a pretty good song.

He shrugged when he realized it was a serious request. "Hermes is better than most of the Olympians."

Zoe wrinkled her nose. "Not Lady Artemis."

"Or my dad!" Leo sang.

"Or Athena," Annabeth added, which caused Hermes to scoff.

"Kid," he began, tone much harsher than it had been earlier, "If you knew about half the shit your mother was up to, you'd be thinking twice about those words."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, but Hermes just threw a middle finger up towards the ceiling. Annabeth looked confused and opened her mouth to ask for some context, but Hazel beat her to it.

"Is it normal to know the Olympians well enough for you to be making judgments of their character?" She asked Percy.

"Nope!" Hermes answered for him. "I can't tell you the last time a demigod got so up-close-and-personal with each of us! It's probably for the best that it doesn't happen too often, considering the kind of grudges that he's earned himself!"

"Don't forget the time they voted on whether or not to kill me," Percy added drily, "That wasn't exactly a stellar endorsement from you guys."

Hermes shrugged, but there was a frown on his face. "Not our best moment," he admitted, "But hey! I voted to keep you alive, didn't I? And it all worked out in the end!"

"They voted to kill you?" Jason asked, sounding horrified. "When was that?"

Percy sighed. "Three years ago. It's in the past now, I guess."

"Who voted to kill you?" Leo asked, morbidly interested in the conversation.

"Annabeth's mom, Frank's dad, and Mr. D," he listed off. "I'm sure Zeus and Hera weren't exactly thrilled to push to keep me alive, though."

Hazel sucked in a breath. "That's horrible."

He just shrugged. "There's a reason I'm not exactly fond of most gods."

"I mean," Piper tried to reason, "They're better than the Giants though, right?"

She sounded so lost. Percy couldn't blame her.

"Yeah," he agreed, "And the Titans. Which is why I'm still fighting all these wars for them."

"And we're happy you are!" Hermes added, "You're very good at it - and doing small errands for us!"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Glad you guys find me useful enough to let me live."

For now. Who knew what they were going to do to him when they realized what he had become in Tartarus.

"Anyways," Hermes continued, "Who am I staying with? Leo, Frank, who's up for it?"

Neither of them looked particularly thrilled. Percy sighed again.

"Whatever," he grumbled, "Hermes can stay in my room."

Frank let out a sigh of relief.

"Woohoo!" Hermes whooped, throwing one fist in the air raucously as he continued to chow down, "Sleepover!"

Percy stared at him incredulously. "You are enjoying this way too much."

The god merely shrugged. "What can I say, god of hospitality! It's always nice to be welcomed in so easily."

Zoe hummed, eyes roaming around the room. "Does this vessel have an armory?" She inquired, "I lost my knives while fighting in the pit."

Percy tensed at the reminder. Of Akhlys's insane look as she plucked Zoe's knife from her skull and tossed it into Chaos, of her screams as he boiled her in her own poison.

He shuddered as he remembered that ability.

"It does!" Leo said happily, before slouching over, "But we, uh, don't exactly have many spare weapons. We're kind of running dry on some supplies."

Hermes snapped his fingers (using the hand that wasn't holding his breakfast sandwich). A beautiful pair of curved knives, almost akin to snake fangs, clattered down in front of Zoe. They glowed a faint silver silver, with dark wooden handles and engravings carved painstakingly into the bronze.

"Those to your liking?" He asked, smirking as he eyed his handiwork. "I think they came out pretty good."

Zoe nodded silently, staring at the blades in awe. She grasped them gently and placed them on her belt, where they were unsurprisingly a perfect fit. "Thou hast my sincerest gratitudes, Lord Hermes."

He waved her off. "Don't worry about it! It is kind of why I'm here, after all!" He paused briefly, as though mulling an idea over in his head. "But if you really wanna thank me, maybe next time you see Artemis you can tell her to stop letting the Hunt try and turn me into a pincushion everytime I make a delivery to them."

Zoe rolled her eyes, but nodded nonetheless. The mood dipped slightly at the reminder that she wasn't in the Hunt anymore, but she was in too high of spirits for it to ruin her morning. "I shall see what I can do."

"Great!"

"I don't suppose you happen to have a weapon that'll kill Gaea on you," Piper said sarcastically.

Hermes shook his head. "Nope! And if I did, I'd keep it for myself! No need to let the kids do something you can get done yourself!"

If only the other gods had shared that sentiment during the last war. A lot of those 'kids' Hermes was talking about would still be alive.

Hazel sighed. "I guess we do have to go to Ithaca then."

Hermes raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"There's something going on there," she explained hastily now that the god's attention was on her, "One of the biggest gatherings of evil spirits I've ever felt."

Piper nodded. "Katoptris has been showing me visions of some ancient ruins in Ithaca, too. We're pretty sure it's –"

"Odysseus's palace," Hermes interrupted, "Yeah, sounds about right. It's just about the only thing of note on that island, even if it is a wonderful vacation getaway. Hope you guys have fun with that!"

Annabeth made a face. "Aren't you here because you're supposed to help us?"

The god shrugged. "Yep, but not a lot I can do against a bunch of spirits! If you've got a divine problem, I'm your guy. Monster attack? Got your back! Mental break? Not much I can do, but I'll try! Ghosts? I think you've got two children of the dead for that one."

Annabeth sighed, but remained silent. She knew better than just about anyone how difficult it was to win an argument with a god.

"Welp." Leo sighed, sitting up and leaving his dirty plate unattended - which got him a dirty look from Piper - and heading to who knows where. "I guess I'll get us started for Ithaca."

"Hey!" Piper shouted, already chasing after him, "You can't weasel your way out of cleaning your dishes again!"

Jason was quick to follow, mumbling something about making sure Piper didn't strangle Leo, and soon enough Frank and Hazel were chasing after them to keep the peace.

Annabeth sighed again as she looked around the table. "I'll go make sure they don't break anything."

At some point during the commotion Hedge had also slipped away, leaving just Percy, Hermes, Zoe, and Nico sitting at the table. Hermes snickered as he looked between the two male demigods, and it wasn't long before Nico slipped into a shadow to avoid the god's amused stare.

Zoe hummed. "I suppose I shall follow them as well, to better acquaint myself with Hazel and prepare to share a room with her. 'Twas very nice of her to offer, I must thank her."

"Have fun," Percy offered, "Please don't castrate Leo."

She chuckled. "I suppose that would be an inconvenience for thee, but I make no promises."

Zoe dipped her head to Hermes respectfully and exited the room, leaving just himself and the god.

"So," Hermes said, clearly entertained, "You've got quite the friends, huh?"

He just nodded. "Yeah."

"I like most of them." The god decided.

"Most of them?" Percy raised an eyebrow.

Hermes shrugged nonchalantly. "You know how I feel about Chase. And I'm really not a fan of how Hera wiped half of all of your memories to make this whole thing work."

"Did we have any other options?" He shot back incredulously.

The god's shoulders slumped. "No," he admitted grumpily, "I guess not. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though."

"Trust me," he said drily, "Losing my memory and eight months of my life wasn't exactly a walk in the park."

Hermes sighed. "I know, kid." He looked at Percy with sad eyes, and suddenly he was struck by the feeling that the god knew something that he didn't. "You don't deserve what we've done to you."

He had a sinking feeling that Hermes wasn't just talking about Hera.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked cautiously.

The god shook his head. "Sorry Perce," he said, sounding truly remorseful, "But I can't tell you. After the war's over, I'll take you out for drinks with Apollo and we'll have a nice long chat about life. Maybe even find you a nice mortal girl to spend the night with. We could even get old Heph in on the fun! Hades knows he needs to get out more."

He made a face. "I don't drink. And even if I did, I'm seventeen. And I definitely don't sleep with women I don't know."

Hermes shrugged. "Then we'll go out to an arcade that serves food or something and find you a nice and sweet young lass to spend the rest of your days with."

Percy couldn't help but snort at Hermes words, even if they weren't meant in jest. "Sure."

"What?" Hermes asked, "Not in the mood for a video games? Not a fan of mortal girls?"

He gave Percy a knowing look. "Or perhaps you already have your sights set on a certain Titaness? I gave her those knives as a favor to you, you know - I don't give out gifts like that lightly!"

"Yeah, right," he scoffed, "We're just friends."

"I dunno," Hermes teased, "I've known that chick for a long time, and I've never seen her so comfortable around a man before! Not even Aphrodite could–"

"Stop." Percy's glare cut straight through, and Hermes wisely slammed his mouth shut. "A lot happened in– down there. I would give my life for her, and she would do the same for me, but that doesn't mean she likes me like that."

He looked down at his lap bitterly. "And I don't even want a girlfriend. If Annabeth didn't love me, how the fuck could anyone else?"

What a way to kill the mood. Percy had gotten pretty good at that recently.

"Losing your first love is hard," Hermes said quietly, "I'm not going to pretend that what you had wasn't special - it was, but it'll get easier as time goes on."

"She was more than my first love." He sniffled. "I hate Aphrodite."

Hermes patted him on the shoulder. "I know. But you and I both know that there's a lot of people who care about you. You shouldn't think that you're unloved just because Annabeth made the biggest mistake of her life. What about your mother? Uncle P wouldn't shut up about her when I asked, you know. What about your dad? What about everyone on this boat?"

Percy didn't say anything. He wondered if Hermes would be saying the same things if he knew what he had done in Tartarus.

What he could do to him.

Hermes sighed. "I know I don't have all the answers, and I don't know everything that's happened to you. But if you need me, I'm here for you. We all are."

Something that vaguely sounded like George and Martha voicing their agreement rang up from his pocket. Percy just nodded silently.

The god disappeared, clearly sensing that their conversation was over.

Percy was alone.

–

Bodies littered the floor of the cavern he found himself in. Blood smeared the entire floor, so much so that it made the gray stone take on a reddish-brown hue. He tried not to gag at the smell of rotten flesh, his stomach churning as he took in the room around him.

Most of the bodies were female. They all wore silver.

Many of them were naked.

He tried to ignore looking at those ones.

The cavern was massive but largely empty, with nothing but the cold and the darkness to keep him company. It stretched on for what seemed like miles.

"Oh?" A voice rumbled in the distance. "An intruder? Who… I see."

The ground shook beneath him. "Hello, Percy Jackson."

Percy tried to move, to say something, but his body betrayed him. He couldn't even blink as the earth continued to quake.

"The Earth Mother's rise is inevitable. You and your friends will fail." The voice taunted. "You and everyone you know will perish fighting for a fruitless cause."

They laughed. The quaking got louder. The cavern began to rumble uneasily, and stalactites began to fall from the ceiling.

A pair of orange eyes beamed down at him from the darkness. They glinted, and Percy had the feeling that whatever was staring at him was incredibly unnatural.

"But you may try. I look forward to seeing you in Athens and spilling your blood to raise Gaea. Assuming you live that long, at any rate."

A stalactite shook dangerously from straight above him. If he didn't move he'd be split through the skull.

"Farewell, brother."

The stalactite fell.

He couldn't even scream.

–

Percy shot forward in his bed, limbs shaky and drenched in sweat.

It was just a dream. But it felt so real.

Hermes snored along without a care in the world on the floor nearby. Percy would have offered the bed to just about anybody else, but gods had the rest of eternity to sleep in the most comfortable conditions they could think of. Hermes could put up with two weeks of mild discomfort in exchange for Percy saving the world.

Again.

He tiptoed over the god's unconscious body, briefly waving at George and Martha (who were hissing worriedly at him from their position against the wall) as he stepped out of the room. He sighed as he leant against the now closed door, knowing full well that he wasn't going to be getting any more sleep after that vision.

Somehow, amongst all the other glimpses of death and horror, that was the worst one he'd had all night.

Percy rubbed his eyes. Being a demigod really sucked.

He wondered how Camp Half-Blood was doing. Maybe the Romans had changed their tune and destroyed it at Octavian's behest.

What a pleasant thought.

He'd been having more of those than usual lately.

Percy began to wander his way to the 'kitchen'. If he wasn't going to get any sleep, might as well have something to eat. The plates weren't perfect, but they were surprisingly close when he asked for his mom's blue cookies - the ones they brought him were almost as good as hers. They made him feel a little better about everything, but then he remembered that he hadn't seen her for almost a year and he got sad again.

He was halfway through his fourth cookie before he realized he wasn't alone.

Percy and Leo stared at each other dumbly. "Hi," he muttered.

Leo smirked, but it had a twinge of some emotion he couldn't place. "Hey."

"You on duty?" Percy asked.

"Yeah." Leo nodded. "Got kinda hungry after roasting a few Stymphalian birds. Did I wake you up? They wouldn't shut up."

Percy tensed at the reminder of his nightmares. "No."

"Bad dreams then?" Leo tried.

He nodded silently.

The son of Hephaestus yawned. "I feel ya. Can't get away from this shit even in our sleep, huh?"

He went back to his bowl of ramen, likely topped off with loads of pepper, hot sauce, and spices Percy had never heard of. That kid always seemed to enjoy burning his tongue off.

"Guess not." He shrugged. "It doesn't get any easier with time, if that makes it better."

Leo rolled his eyes. "How would that make it better?"

Percy didn't have an answer for him. He just shrugged lamely and watched as Leo continued to eat. The demigod sniffed like he was holding back a sneeze. It didn't surprise him - with that much pepper, it was a miracle he wasn't constantly a sniveling mess.

"I– ah, sorry–" Leo huffed, trying to keep himself from sneezing all over himself. "You– Ah-choo!"

Something stirred within him as Leo sneezed, and as twin streaks of fire erupted from Leo's nostrils towards him Percy moved.

He threw his arm out instinctively, but he didn't have to. His throat felt like he had just chugged a two-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper.

The fire reached halfway across the table before it froze underneath his command.

Leo and Percy stared at each other, both as frozen as the flames that hung suspended in the air between them.

"What the fuck." Leo said, his voice high and nasally as a result of his nostrils being plugged by fire.

It snapped Percy out of his daze and he quickly tried to release the fire from his control - keyword being tried. He had never done this before, after all.

He threw his arm around frantically, pupils shrinking in panic as he realized that didn't work. He tried thinking about ice, the ocean, snow, anything cold, and somehow that did the trick. The fire disappeared into nothingness.

Leo and Percy stared at each other.

"Um." Leo looked lost for words. "Since when can you control fire?"

There was an accusatory tone in his question, and Percy dimly realized what that other emotion Leo had been looking at him with earlier.

Fear.

"You're afraid of me." He didn't phrase it as a question.

Leo flinched. It looked like he hit the nail on the head.

"N-no!" Leo squeaked, eyes darting around everywhere to avoid his gaze. "That's not it at all!"

Percy felt like his insides were being twisted into a spring. His gut felt tight, and his breath started to quicken. One of the people he was supposed to be friends with, one who he had been tasked to journey to fight the world itself with, was scared of him. "I– you–"

He felt like he was choking. He collapsed back into his seat, trying to put as much space between himself and Leo as possible.

"Dude, calm down!" Leo whisper-shouted, panic leaving his face as he realized Percy was in a world of his own. "Percy!"

He gripped his shoulder. For a brief moment Percy reached towards Riptide, hand instinctively twitching to his pocket, but then he remembered where he was and who he was with.

It didn't make him feel much better.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked, voice tinged with worry.

Percy didn't answer. He pushed him away, already moving to the door.

"Dude!" Leo cried, "Hold on! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry?" Percy whirled around on him, making the son of Hephaestus freeze once again. "Don't apologize. I'm the monster here."

Leo ignored him. "I'm not afraid of you!" He insisted, "You just, um, surprised me!"

Percy rolled his eyes, trying to mask the hurt in them with irritation. "No matter what everyone else thinks, I'm not that stupid. Don't lie to me."

"I–I'm serious!" Leo tried again, "I'm not afraid of you, okay? You did surprise me. You intimidate me, sure, but that's not your fault! When I first got to camp all people would do is talk about your feats and how amazing you were, and you cut a really powerful figure and with what everyone else said you just kinda seemed larger than life and you're really tough and then you went to fucking Tartarus and came back alive and now you can apparently control fire and–"

Percy cut him off with a single shaky hand. "Breathe."

Leo sucked in a breath of fresh air, face red from talking so long without pausing for oxygen. He looked down at his feet in shame. "I'm sorry."

He looked so small in that moment. Percy felt like no matter what he said, it wouldn't be the right thing. He had zero clue how he was supposed to react.

"It's fine," he found himself mumbling, "I'm going to bed."

He turned to leave, but Leo gripped his arm. "No," he protested, "It's not. I shouldn't have reacted like that, even if I was surprised. You're my friend, and it wasn't right. I'm sorry."

Percy deflated. He knew Leo was being honest.

"It's fine," he repeated, actually telling the truth this time, "I forgive you."

Leo sagged in relief. "Thanks. I mean it."

They were both quiet for a moment. Leo went back to his seat but never took his eyes off Percy, and after some brief hesitation Percy did as well.

"So," Leo asked, a lot calmer the second time around, "Pyrokinesis?"

Percy clenched his jaw. "I guess. That was the first time I've ever done it. I didn't even know I could do it."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Really? How do you just, like, randomly become able to control fire?"

Percy hesitated. "I–"

"There might be some other benefits - maybe you can control fire, maybe you can flirt with my sisters without being smote, but you'll just have to figure those out for yourself!"

"Fuck," Percy whispered, "I know."

"You do?" Leo perked up. "What's your secret?"

He felt conflicted. Leo kind of deserved to know, didn't he? They were on a journey to save the world together, and they couldn't afford any more distrust. But he really didn't want to talk about Tartarus.

"Hey," Leo called, seeing the troubled look on his face, "You don't have to talk about it if it's related to, you know…"

A small smile wormed its way onto his face at Leo's concern. He settled on a decision.

"It's a long story," he admitted, "There were a lot of things down there that wanted to kill us - to kill me. One of the few beings that didn't took a liking to me, the river Phlegethon and its god, and he gave me his blessing. It let me control the river easier and not die when I fell in once, but he also told me that he'd never made a mortal his champion, and so he didn't know the full extent of his blessing."

He looked down at his hands. "I guess this is one of those extents."

Leo looked at him in awe. "You just keep getting stronger and stronger, huh?"

Percy laughed bitterly. "Everything comes with a price, and I'm sure you'll find that out soon enough." He thought about all his dead comrades, all the people he'd failed. About his never-ending nightmares, and about how his poor mother didn't know if her only child was still alive or not.

He thought about how alone he truly was. About what sort of a demon he had become.

"Whatever my powers cost, it wasn't worth it. I'd give anything to just be a normal mortal again."

Leo frowned, but he could see the gears turning in his head.

"Don't tell the others about this, okay?" Percy asked.

"What?" Leo blinked in surprise. "But wouldn't it be better for them to know about–"

Percy shook his head. "No. If it comes down to it, I won't hesitate to use it, but I shouldn't have to. I can't summon fire like I can water, and I can't control it nearly as easily either if what just happened is any indicator. There's almost no scenario where I need to use this, and it's better if the rest don't have another reason to worry around me. If this was how you reacted to it, how would Jason? Frank? The gods?"

Leo grimaced as he remembered the discussion of how the gods had voted on whether or not to kill him. "But–"

"Please," Percy insisted, eyes full of desperation..

His fellow demigod sighed. "Okay."

Percy let out a sigh of relief, sinking into his chair. "Thanks, Leo."

He waved him off. "Don't worry about it. But," Leo paused, "We're here for you, dude. Nobody is going to think less of you or anything for asking for help. I'm here if you want to talk."

Percy smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Thanks. Do you want me to take over watch for the night?"

He didn't stick around for long enough to wait for a response, leaving Leo to his own devices as he hurried to escape into the darkness.

It wasn't a great option, but anything was better than the nightmares.

–

A/N: Okay, now I mean it when I say chapters are going to be coming out slower. I have a plan for BoO now, but I still need to actually read the story lmao (As well as the rest of the HoO series lol). This is either the precursor chapter to BoO, or the epilogue chapter to HoH, whichever works.

But what did you think? Let me know in the reviews! Not much else to say, hope you enjoyed! See you next time!