Starhunter18: Thanks so much! You've kept me going for months, I swear!

Recap-Summary: Ajax has messed up quite a lot of our heroes' lives. Luckily, some of the heroes are immortals and once they get their s**t together, watch out world!

"... nothing like the New York skyline of course!"

Harry blinked and awoke from his midday nap. He was at Frost in Gretna Green with Sally and Kimmy keeping him company. While Sally was off to take a shower, he and his littlest sister had dozed after lunch. But someone's insistent voice roused his consciousness barely twenty minutes later.

"But I ain't alone in this lovely place!" the voice continued topping her monologue with a high-pitched perky tone. She gave an extra squeal and giggled.

Harry found the camera end of a phone being pushed into his face. He blinked and backed up on the couch.

Rachel's face appeared right in front of him, her expression manic and her eyes glowing green. "This is my baby brother, Harry! Don't mind his hair, folks! It's not because he slept weird or got struck by lightning last week, it naturally sticks up like that!"

Bloody what?

"Say 'hi', Harry!" she chirped.

He stared, bewildered. "Hi?"

She rolled her eyes and tapped the screen, moving away from him. "We're not completely sure what the point of him is, but we'll figure it out soon. Ooh! And this here's my baby sister!"

Kimmy was in her rocker, eyes blinking slowly, looking just as sleepy and befuddled as Harry felt. Rachel knelt on the floor beside the infant and turned the phone to face them.

"Kimmy is the most adorable baby on the planet," she declared. "I tell nothing but the truth."

The infant was gnawing on her knuckles, having dropped her pacifier, but she didn't seem distressed. Harry sat up, his head clearer now. His ears were still ringing, but he got most of what Rachel was saying.

He also got that she wasn't really Rachel right now. The spirit of Delphi was completely in charge.

And she was live streaming to a muggle and mortal audience.

"Closing out with a future fact for you. The queen's gonna die in 2015."

Harry's jaw dropped. Say what?

The spirit cocked her head and planted a kiss on Kimmy's head. The baby gurgled happily as she continued, "On the low chance that the climate crisis does not kill us in this decade, Lizzie might live up to 2022. Ya never know! Stay tuned for my daily future updates, babes!"

She tapped on her phone and lowered it, aiming a sharp grin at Harry. The spirit stood up, moving Rachel's body so well, it could have been Rachel herself. But the loose hair forming a halo around her head and shoulders was a clear sign that this was not his sister. Rachel rarely left her strong curls free like that.

And of course, the glowing green eyes were a dead giveaway.

Confusion bled away, giving rise to wariness and hot anger. Keeping his healing body in mind, he carefully leaned down to unclasp the rocker's seat belt around Kimmy and lift the baby into his arms, moving away from the spirit.

She watched him, smiling unwavering.

"What're you doing?" Harry asked her in a level voice.

"Now you have a question for me?" the spirit asked, languidly stepping around the couch. Harry matched her stride, backing away slowly.

"The last time, you had nothing to ask," she said, raising her eyebrows. "All heroes ask me for the way, for their futures and destinies. You came up to my attic and ignored me."

Her voice devolved into a hiss and he heard a thousand snakes hissing in tandem all around them. Harry froze.

The spirit was enraged. She was talking about his unwitting insult years ago when a fourteen-going-on-fifteen-year-old Harry Potter had flipped a coin and lost it in the attic of the Big House.

And she'd reeled him in and asked him a question instead.

Rachel's face relaxed. The spirit smiled again and said, "Remember my query?"

Kimmy's body shook in excitement. Like any three-month-old infant, she didn't have much control over her emotions or muscles. She kept moving in small jerks, chin occasionally resting on his shoulder as she hiccuped and drooled over his t-shirt. She gave Harry the levity he needed to inhale deeply and stand his ground.

"You asked me a question," he recalled. "Because I didn't ask you one?"

The spirit shrugged. It was such a human reaction that Harry gawked.

"I made an educated guess," she said, her voice growing relaxed. "Heroes come to me because they do not know as much as I do. Their questions prove that. You did not ask me anything, so I assumed you knew more than I did."

Harry held back a scoff. "That's a terrible assumption."

She made a face. "It isn't terrible if you know the answer. Where is she?"

"Who?"

"You know who I'm talking about."

"I don't!" he blurted. "I didn't know then and I don't know now."

"Pandora," the spirit threw at him.

Harry was truly stumped now. Of all the things…

"I don't know where she is!"

The spirit crinkled her nose. Rachel didn't really do that when she was confused or annoyed, so it helped Harry stay on track.

"I am asking… well, the world is asking about her."

Harry frowned. "We know her. She's the first mortal woman. She was sent as a gift by the gods to punish the mortals. She opened that box."

"It's a pithos," The spirit shook her head. "The world knows that!"

"Then what—"

"Pandora was sentenced to the netherworld to spend eternity in punishment," the spirit warned, eyes glowing brighter. "Her husband lives with her in one of the many torture centers in the middle of Tartarus. Epimetheus is a minor god… or a Titan, depending on your myths. But Pandora had a mortal soul."

Harry swallowed. "What does that have to do with anything? That was thousands of years ago."

The spirit turned away for a moment. "Her soul escaped confinement in March 1945, Common Era. She's been reborn into her second life."

He nodded, not really taking in what she was saying. A second later, it hit him.

"Wait, Pandora's alive?"

"Pandora's dead! But her soul is back in the mortal realm," the spirit of Delphi announced. She stepped forwards, this time coming within an arm's distance from him. "Where is she?"

Harry stared. "I… I don't know. I don't know where or who she is!"

"No living creature knows who she is," the spirit dismissed. "That is a futile question. I ask for her whereabouts."

"How many times do I have to say it?!" Harry finally snapped. "I don't know where Pandora's soul is!"

The baby whined, sensing the ire in his stance. Harry tried to calm down, bouncing Kimmy in his arms. She turned her watery eyes on him and he grimaced, backing away towards the fireplace.

"I need to go," he told the spirit. "I can't help you."

She eyed him carelessly. "Don't fret, Harry. You're still of use."

He hated the way she said his name. As though he was a mere means to an end, dispensable. "I really don't think—"

"31st of October, 2001," she said and Harry stilled. "No. 3, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, East Britain. You, Percy, and Sally Jackson were killed in a home invasion."

Harry couldn't breathe for a moment.

The spirit continued, "Sally woke up first. The patron had her taken away to a different site for full head reconstruction under the moonlight. You woke up next in the basement."

How could she know?

"Somehow, you found Percy and yourself in the forest," the spirit whispered, walking towards him. "The trees and the bracelet healed you and you waited for Percy, watching him heal. Waited till dawn."

Harry couldn't move. The memories came to the forefront, playing exactly as she described. Waking up to a freezing cold basement just to hack out all the water in his lungs. Seeing something move in the darkness. Someone wiped the tears from his face like a mother would.

He blinked and the next time that came to his mind was watching the trees overhead stretch out their branches and roots to fix him. Same for Percy, submerged in the deep river, who was worse off. It had been Harry's first time seeing a jagged piece of bone plunge out of the skin and there had been loads of that. He'd seen the bones shift back into the body, watched the muscles reknit, and saw the skin grow back over everything.

Percy had woken up to the sun glinting through the trees with no recollection of the previous night and not a mark on his five-year-old body.

The spirit of Delphi looked concerned for Harry.

"How long did it take for the river to wash all the blood away?" she asked quietly.

Harry's throat was dry. His tongue felt useless, but he opened his mouth and croaked, "Two hours."

She nodded. "You never told Sally."

He shook his head.

"And you'll never tell Percy."

He didn't move.

The spirit gave a sad smile. "He's going to find out soon though."

Harry stared. Eyes burning bright, she leaned in and whispered, "You left a loose end in the basement."

He recoiled with a jerk. Kimmy flinched from the movement and began to cry, an ear-splitting shriek of terror.

The fireplace burst into green flames and Percy emerged from the hearth. Covered in soot, he ran a hand over his face, he took one look at the scene. Without hesitation, he strode forwards to place himself between Harry's tense frame and Rachel's unalive body.

The spirit took a step back, face going sour. "How was your brother's disposition, Percy?"

The demigod narrowed his eyes. "Deposition."

"That's not what you were hoping for," she winked.

Harry took the moment to try and calm himself. Kimmy's tiny body shook with the force of her sobs and he rubbed a hand down her back.

Percy glared at the spirit.

"What's with the videos?" he asked. "You were basically announcing to the world that there's something up with you."

She shrugged. Again, it looked so odd. "Rachel had those accounts. I thought they'd be a fun way to warn the mortals. Snapchat is easy with quick and short videos. I should try Instagram too, there's less messaging there. TikTok can wait. Facebook is gonna be old hat in a few years, and Twitter's gonna be bought up by the biggest twit!"

"Warn the mortals?" Percy asked, surprised.

"Yes!" she said, exasperated. "The apocalypse is set for 2015. Most intelligent life will die out by then."

Percy and Harry paused. "What?"

"The Feast of Spes," the spirit sighed like this was news everyone should already know. "I can say no more."

"Spes?" Percy asked, eyebrows scrunching up. "That's a word?"

"What's going on?"

All three of them moved away and looked up. Sally was halfway down the stairs fresh from her shower, her damp hair bundled up in a towel over her head.

The spirit nodded. "There. I'm sure you have something important to tell her, Percy. Harry and I can continue our discussion."

Sally frowned, reaching the last step. "What is it, Pepe?"

Percy winced. Harry backed away murmuring, "I'll be in the kitchen."

"I'll follow—" the spirit said, but Percy cut her off.

"You'll go back to camp," he told her. "I don't know how you used the floo but this is dangerous! You can't just walk around in Rachel's body!"

The spirit stared him down. Rachel's 5'6" frame and glowing green eyes were no joke, but compared to Percy's 5'11" build and burning blue eyes…

Actually, no. They were both insanely powered up now.

Harry held his breath. It was that blue energy emerging from Percy's skin and swirling in thin tendrils around his body like satin ribbons. It made his veins stand out under his skin and his eyes had a fiery bright blue to them.

"Percy!" Sally whispered, aghast. "What… what are you doing?"

Even the spirit stood back, interested. Percy quickly shut his eyes and screwed up his entire face in concentration.

"Hold on," he said through his teeth. Sally and Harry shared a worried look.

But the blue receded, its glow fading. Percy let out a breath he'd been holding. Sally stepped forwards, hands out to carefully take Percy's face and inspect every part of it.

"Are you hurt?" she demanded. "What was that light? What kind of magic is that?"

"Mom, now's not the time for that," Percy pleaded. "There's something you need to know."

She swallowed, clearly interpreting his low tone correctly. She turned to Rachel's body and said, "Will you please go back to camp?"

The spirit looked surprised. "How polite. Perhaps I will then."

It was odd that she was willing to go against Percy but accepted Sally's request. Maybe it was because Sally had posed it as a question and the spirit seemed to like those.

She turned to Harry and said, "We'll catch up later, bro."

"Not your bro," Harry said, without caution.

She merely smiled at him before heading for the fireplace. As though she'd done it a hundred times, the spirit extended Rachel's arm to grab a handful of floo powder from the flower pot on the mantle. She stepped inside the hearth and shot them all a smile. She dropped the powder and announced, "Camp Half-Blood!"

Green flames swallowed all of her except for her intense eyes. Even after she'd disappeared, Harry had the striking impression that she was still watching them.

Kimmy was struggling in his arms, trying to throw herself out of them. Sally took her with a resigned expression before directing her attention to Percy.

Nothing could have prepared them for what Percy had to tell.

Jason exhaled.

"Say that again," Annabeth ordered.

"Your mother," Jason repeated. "Told one of the sea gods. Percy was there as well."

"This can't be happening again!"

"The Master Bolt is not on Olympus."

"Then Zeus would have taken it with him," Thalia blurted. Jason shook his head, wishing he was wrong. But he knew for a fact he wasn't.

"Both Jupiter and Juno are not in attendance," he stressed. "Lady Minerva confirmed this. You said it yourself that they've been silent on your emails!"

Reyna weighed in, "We should check with the Olympians. On an official stance, if they announce that the king and queen are indeed missing, we'll know."

"Maybe they went on vacation," Clarisse muttered.

"If they did, they'd have gone on their own," Thalia pointed out. "I'm not saying that Zeus and Hera can't stand each other. But they really can't."

Annabeth shook her head. "We just got done with the Titanomachy. This can't be happening right on the tail."

"We let down our guard," Bianca sighed. "We've been so focused on both camps that we didn't keep an eye on any other threats."

"Our threat is the Earth Goddess!" Octavian protested. "How can we look out for the gods while being vigilant about primordial armies?"

He had a point. Jason watched the borders of the large rainbow window that showed them a room with a ping-pong table. All of Camp Half-Blood's counsellors gathered around the table, except for Percy. It was a casual setting, far too normal to be considered a war room. Unlike the Greeks, the Senate building's war room was a lavish hall with an oval table in the middle. Its purple felt-top was excellent at testing the attention of ADHD-ridden kids. Jason ran a finger over the surface, watching the tiny hairs flatten in its path.

He wished Percy was here. Jason was usually the one to calm rising tempers in desperate situations and he hated it. Percy always seemed natural at de-escalating situations. Granted, no one was yelling yet, but that could change anytime.

"I agree with Reyna," Octavian piped up. "We should wait for the Olympians to confirm something's wrong."

"Or," Nico said, eyes narrowing. "We get on top of this right away. "We can ask the Delphi spirit—"

"Excuse me, I'm right here," Octavian protested.

"Fine," Clarisse remarked. "What should we do, Augur? Another quest?"

Jason winced. Beside him, the centurions were doing their best to muffle their groans.

"Obviously!" Octavian groused, rising to his feet. "I call a quest!"

Clarisse gawked, "I was kidding!"

"I'm not. This will be a search with three heroes!"

"You need to send the application to the Senate," Jason warned him. "They won't take it too kindly if you call for another quest without their approval back-to-back. Not to mention, you have to find suitable heroes who received an indication that there's trouble brewing. Who can you nominate at such short notice?"

Octavian's smirk was so quick Jason almost missed it. "I'm so glad you asked, Praetor Grace. Since you were at Olympus when Lady Minerva and Lord Triton revealed the news, you can be part of the quest."

Jason should have seen this coming. As it were, every muscle in his body tensed.

Thalia stood up, eyes blazing. "Hey, wait now! At this camp, we expect heroes to volunteer for quests. Nobody should get shoehorned into this!"

Octavian glared. "This is not Camp Half-Blood, daughter of Zeus. That's not how we run things."

Jason snapped, "I'll take two Greeks."

Everyone fell quiet. Reyna stared wide-eyed. Octavian's head snapped towards him, stunned. "Wait."

"That new camper, Valdez," Jason pointed out. "He received the dream about the anvil falling within minutes from Olympus when it's supposed to be nine days. That's how we knew something was off."

"He's new, Jason," Nyssa griped. "Leo's barely had any training!"

"Ask him," Jason said, leaving no room for doubt. He was reaching his limit with Octavian's path of destruction. For years, the Augur had wanted to call a quest for Romans to go out and succeed at something great. All the previous quests were announced by the Senate. Jason needed Greek influence to subvert this.

Nyssa didn't look happy. She whispered something to Annabeth, whose silver eyes never left Jason's face.

"And the third hero?" Clarisse barked.

"Let's compromise!" Octavian posted. "A Roman!"

"A compromise would be neither Roman nor Greek," Dakota sighed.

Jason nodded towards the rainbow window. "I trust them. Let two Greek heroes volunteer for this. No one should be persuaded. If we don't get two, I'll take a Roman."

"Oh, you'd settle for a Roman," Octavian muttered. "I see where your priorities lie, Praetor."

Don't electrocute him. Don't blast him.

Jason exhaled.

Annabeth reached Cabin 6, eyes practically inches away from her laptop. She'd sent Hera the missive hours ago, but the stuck-up queen hadn't responded yet. All the statues she'd asked for were ready for her inspection and she wasn't responding! If the Romans were right, then Zealous Zeus and Hair-Brained Hera were really missing.

The culprits behind this could literally be anyone on the planet, starting from their fellow Olympians to the oldest monsters in Tartarus.

"Annabeth?"

"What?!" she barked.

Malcolm stared wide-eyed, standing at the door of their cabin. "Um… you're just in time for dinner. We're about to leave."

"Yeah, that's good," she nodded shortly. Zara, one of the littler Athena kids sniffled and Annabeth restrained herself with great difficulty.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap," she whispered. "You rugrats go on. I gotta finish typing this up for Zeus. I'll be up in a minute."

Annabeth plugged in her laptop to the nearest Smartboard and dragged the emails to the larger screen. It was barely a relief to her sore screen-strained eyes, but she needed to finish this. Zeus had not said anything about his throne upgrade that he'd asked for in the week following the battle. That had been the first thing Annabeth had actually finished. She'd sent the designs to him four days ago, right before she'd left for the quest.

"Annabeth, you gotta eat with us."

Her inbox was empty.

Well, not really, there were hundreds of unread messages from different people, spirits, and gods, but none from Zeus.

"We haven't really seen you in days."

What was more important to Zeus than his throne? He'd proved that when Ajax had 'attacked' his seat of power and the throne's defense mechanism activated.

"This isn't healthy, come on."

Well, there was his Master Bolt, but Jason had been adamant—

The Smartboard went offline. Annabeth flinched, her heart leaping to her throat. She searched the cabin wildly, disoriented. Malcolm had shut her laptop.

"Whatever it is, it can wait!" he said, his eyes flashing.

Annabeth jumped to her feet and the others cowered behind Malcolm.

"Zeus's throne can't wait!" she snapped at him. "Hera's stupid statues, as much as it pains me to say, can't wait!"

"You finished your part on the throne a week ago," Malcolm argued. "And the statues around the main hall are done! So it's fine for now. Come to dinner, Annabeth."

"No, I need to find Lord Ganymede—"

"I'll call Percy," Malcolm threatened.

Annabeth shook her head. "You think I'm afraid of Percy?"

"You remember the last time we had to get him?"

She pressed her lips together. That had been humiliating. Some weeks ago, Annabeth had forgone lunch and was preparing to pull an all-nighter when Percy burst in, tickled her until she let go of the laptop, and hoisted her into a fireman's hold. Campers were snickering when he'd deposited her at the Athena table at dinner time.

She did not doubt that he'd repeat the stunt. This was why she usually spent the busier nights at Olympus. Athena's library had a diwan that was great to snooze in.

"Fine," she relented, letting her body go slack. Malcolm wasn't so easily fooled. He stepped aside and said, "After you."

They stared each other down till the youngest, eight-year-old Isadora, began to tremble. Annabeth swallowed the sour taste in her mouth. "Alright, I'm going."

She walked out of the cabin, keenly aware that everyone was going to point and whisper at her. Annabeth decided to take the long way to the mess hall, cutting through the forest line.

Managing to lose Malcolm's sight for a few minutes, Annabeth darted through the trees and nearly ran headlong into Grover's back.

"Baaha!" he bleated, stumbling. "Annabeth!"

"Grov, ow!" Annabeth winced when one of her braids tugged on his horns. He helped her get untangled.

"Why are you hiding behind the trees?" she groaned.

"Shh!" Grover slapped a hand over her face. He nodded towards Cabin 2.

Annabeth frowned. The door to Hera's cabin was open by inches. The demigoddess started. She'd never seen the cabin in use. Of course, there would never be a half-blood child of the queen. Her very existence would never allow for it. No child would be allowed in Maybe Jason could check it out, seeing as how the queen apparently favoured him, but other than him…

"Rachel wandered in just a minute ago!" Grover whispered, frantically.

Annabeth sucked in a breath. But Rachel wasn't Rachel. Her body was puppetted by the spirit of Delphi and Apollo wouldn't let anyone lock her up. So the spirit roamed about as free as a bird.

"Why would the spirit want to go there of all places?" Annabeth hissed.

Their cover behind the trees wasn't the best but nobody saw them spying on Cabin 2. Annabeth couldn't see inside the cabin, the door wasn't open wide enough for that.

"It's the creepiest thing ever," Grover shook his head. "I miss Rachel."

Annabeth grimaced. It was hard to accept that Rachel had died. Not gone, though. Everyone knew she'd wake up soon. Seeing Harry's track record was enough proof. But until she actually woke up and dispelled the spirit away, Annabeth wouldn't hold her breath.

"Yeah, I miss her too," she agreed, leaning her temple against the rough tree bark. "She was up in Olympus helping me out. If she'd been in camp, she'd have been safe."

Grover turned to her. "It's not your fault, Beth."

Annabeth swallowed. She hadn't said it because Percy had already given her the speech. But deep down, she couldn't shake the guilt off. Rachel wouldn't blame her, but when she realised her dear familiar, Bolt, was truly gone, would they still be friends?

"Why'd she go into Hera's cabin?" Annabeth asked, not wanting to sink into the truth.

Grover dropped his shoulders. "No clue. I just saw her go in there now. We should tell Chiron."

"Tell Chiron what?" a third voice said and Grover and Annabeth jumped. Grover shrieked and Annabeth had her knife out so fast that the newbie screamed and backed away.

"Piper!" Annabeth gasped. "Don't do that!"

"My heart stopped!" Grover gasped. "I didn't even hear you!"

Piper was still staring at Annabeth's knife in fear and awe. "Sorry! I should have made some noise."

"Yeah!" Grover was patting his chest, reassuring his heart. "You demigods are gonna kill me one day!"

Annabeth punched him. "That's not funny! If anyone's gonna kill us, it'll be Percy with one of his stupid stunts."

"Ha! Not likely. Percy just asked me to cut our telepath bond."

Annabeth paused. Say what?

Piper observed Grover. "Are you a… fawn?"

"Bahahaa! Satyr! I'm Greek! We're all Greek!"

"Oh. Hazel called Coach Hedge a fawn, so I assumed."

"Grover!" Annabeth barked, startling him and Piper. "You cut the bond with Percy?"

"I—I haven't yet. We're gonna do it tomorrow," Grover said, suddenly nervous. "Um, didn't he tell you?"

"Does it look like he told me?"

"Nope."

"You have a bond?" Piper asked, mesmerised. "Like… like that tiger with Rachel? Is that why he wants you to remove it?"

Annabeth recoiled. Oh.

Grover was apologetic. "You were there, weren't you? Yeah, Percy's been torn up about it. He thinks if anything happens to him, I'll die."

"And unlike him," Annabeth realised. "You won't resurrect."

Piper did a double-take. "I'm sorry, resurrect?"

Annabeth waved a hand. "Percy and Rachel are immortals. Harry too. They'll wake up if they get killed. Rachel's also the oracle, so while she's dead, the spirit of Delphi is roaming about. That's why everyone's avoiding her."

Piper reeled.

"Annabeth," Grover reminded her. "She's new, take it easy."

"They—they can—they…" Piper stammered. "They can just… come back? People can do that?"

"No!" Annabeth held back a hysterical laugh. "It's just those three. And Cassandra, Iphigenia, and Ajax."

Piper went pale. "The… the guy who—"

"Who shot me, yeah."

"Beth…"

"Sorry."

They fell silent. Piper was trying to calm herself, absorbing the information slowly. Malcolm was right, Annabeth had been so out of touch with the others that she'd completely forgotten how to interact with newbies.

"Hey, you haven't been claimed yet, right?" she asked.

Piper shook her head, her brown eyes growing sad. "Adam mentioned something about burning my food to get my mom to notice me."

"We can help with that," Annabeth said. "The gods vowed to claim kids thirteen and older."

Grover patted Piper's shoulder. "I'll get some satyrs to pray as well. I think you're the only demigod left in the Hermes cabin who's not claimed. She ought to notice you."

Piper managed a smile and the trio left the trees to head for the mess hall. Annabeth took one last look at cabin 2.

Rachel's body had walked out. The spirit closed the cabin door behind her and headed in the opposite direction, back to her cave on the hill. She moved with purpose.

With a bunch of demigods and satyrs sacrificing a portion of their food into the fire for Piper, the flames rose high, burning bright pink.

Piper's clothes turned into a techno-punk faux-leather jacket over a traditional chiton, pinned by a beautiful brooch in the shape of a snake. The air around her glowed a warm pink and the hologram of a dove appeared above her head.

"All hail, Piper McLean," Chiron announced as everyone stood up from their tables to bow to the stunned demigod, no longer unclaimed. "Daughter of Aphrodite!"

For a moment, Piper's eyes flashed the colours of the sea and sky, in that iridescent way of a fantastical chameleon. Nobody doubted her.