(A/N Hey all! It's been a while! The piece is not abandoned, I promise. I'm hoping to get into a good pattern during the summer. Being real for a moment I have I think two main arcs left of this story. I could insert a third arc, but I don't really have ideas for that yet...and the ideas I could have aren't particularly appealing to me.

Annnyway! Here is what I have for you now. I hope you enjoy!

As always, I own absolutely nothing!)

Piper

It was interesting viewing the web. Piper's time was divided between wandering the Wild offering aid where she could, and studying her mother's web.

Red strings danced and tangled, and grew and shortened, and came and went. She could only see the tapestry when she accompanied her mother in her palace on Olympus, which was fine with her. The few she saw normally were more than enough.

"What are you watching today, daughter?"

"Do the strings change? Like their thickness, or thread count, or whatever?" They'd talked about the gold twined into strings that connected two immortals, but right now she was watching a different set of soulmates who had just adopted a little boy.

"In a sense, sure. It's really just an illusion. As soulmates grow closer or are more in sync the strings appear to be more dense or even glowing. It doesn't affect anything and will return to normal once they return to their normal interactions… or establish a new normal between them."

"Cool."

She continued watching Frank and Hazel tie knots around the baby they were fussing over. They had just passed over the roles of praetor to a younger set of leaders in the Legion and decided now was a good time to fulfill their dream of starting a family.

A sad tale to most, a woman was giving birth during the fires in New Rome. Her baby survived. She didn't. It was horrible, and Piper mourned for this woman she would never know, along with the countless others that had died, but the baby would be well loved.

They'd named him Chase.

An amusing pattern her friends were creating. Annabeth naming her daughter for her fallen friend's surname and then Frank and Hazel doing the same. At least Griff had a name of his own.

The Valdez toddler loved checking on and fetching things for the baby. The five of them lived together nicely, splitting the families between floors of the house. There was a spare bedroom for if Piper ever decided to stay, but she never did.

A part of her wanted to, but another part didn't feel she belonged. She loved her friends, they were her family, but she couldn't devote herself to a single place - a single purpose.

Sighing, she rubbed her eyes and found the gold twined string among the tapestry again. Everytime she found it, it nearly made her cross eyed. What was it with immortals splitting their consciousness so much?! But she could usually focus her own mind and either find where the majority of their selves resided or which instances were closest to one another.

She and her mother had yet to find a way to rid Artemis of her ring. Piper also wanted to confront Percy about Aphrodite's vow before judgment was passed. The clock was ticking, but there was no way of knowing how much time was left.

Giving up for the moment, Piper slouched over to the bed and threw herself down dramatically.

"Ugh!"

"That bad?" her mother asked.

"No progress. It's been years, and I can't think of a single way to steal from a goddess! Well, at least not right off her hand."

Wiggling a little, Piper got comfortable on the plush bed. It was so nice, she felt like she could sleep for all eternity on-

She bolted upright.

"Do gods sleep?"

"What, dear?"

"Your bed? Do you sleep?"

"Well, beds are for more than-"

"Ugh! Nope! Please only answer the question I asked. Ugh." She shuddered. Love goddess or not, thinking about parents like that was very high on her list of things not to picture.

"Well, of course we sleep…kind of. It's more like a trance. We can continue to devote some of our energy to separate consciousnesses, but we need to regularly… recenter ourselves. Otherwise we become a sort of sleep deprived."

"'A sort of?'"

"While you would have hallucinations and such we would lose control over some of our abilities. The temper swings would be the same though."

"So… Do you know when Artemis sleeps?"

.

Artemis

Sometimes simply observing is difficult.

Grace is growing wonderfully in her underwater home. She asks questions upon questions, trains in every manner of combat, and has nearly endless resources to craft to her heart's desire.

Percy always notices when she's watching. He never confronts her or stops her. But he knows.

Just like she notices when he is watching Estelle. He doesn't touch her with his presence. Never oversteps into the Hunt's camp. But she knows.

Laying back on her furs she stretched out through the camp instead of sleeping. Estelle is training with Reyna in swordplay. Ironically, no matter how many years she puts towards the sword, she cannot best it. Daggers, spears, and her bow she wields elegantly; she is even proficient with a mace! But her brother's weapon will never suit her own hands. Her tiny never-aging preteen frame didn't help the matter.

Sighing, she called Thalia to her. Her lieutenant will be the best one to advise her on her plan.

"Yes, Mi'Lady?" she asked, entering the tent.

"I have… an assignment for Estelle."

"Oh?"

"I'm…sending her…to New Rome?"

"Is that so?" Thalia spoke slowly, obviously confused by Artemis' indecision.

"I wish to send her into her brother's path," she stated with a huff.

"This is about Percy?"

Artemis nodded and found herself unable to meet Thalia's eye. This encounter was much too much like her time after the trap in Greece.

"I know where Estelle's loyalties lie. I also know she is hurting by shutting herself off from her brother. You are able to walk the line between Hunter and demigod, even as my lieutenant. I wish to allow her the same."

"I'm sure both she and Percy will appreciate that… This wouldn't have anything to do with Grace, right?"

Artemis grumbled. Really, was she that transparent?

"No. I am not doing this because of Grace. I will admit, however, that the situation with Grace has pushed me to act on what I had been considering for some time."

Thalia barely hid a scoff and chuckle and Artemis grumbled some more, accidentally shifting into a petulant seven year frame. Grunting in disgust, she corrected herself and glared at Thalia's shaking figure. It wasn't that funny.

"Alright, I have the perfect assignment for Estelle. And it can come from me instead of you. And she might even run into Grace."

"I'm finding your optimism and coincidence concerning."

"Y'know Jason's…anniversary is coming up…" Thalia shifted uncomfortably and Artemis' heart broke for her as she nodded. "Well, I was gonna ask the Argo II crew to do something. I don't know what, but just… a distraction. Especially after losing Annabeth…" She took a steadying breath. "Anyway, Calypso and Frank and Hazel will need a babysitter. Percy could always just split and do it, but I know he likes to make an effort to get Grace around people more regular than in his home. I mean, she's frequently at both camps, and has even met Lupa because Percy is nuts. But that's besides the point. I was thinking the four of them can hang out while the rest of us try to honor Jason. And Leo. And Annabeth."

Her voice caught on Annabeth's name and Artemis couldn't help but envelope the girl in a hug. So much death had already been in her young lieutenant's life, and so much more was coming.

"If you have any request for your memorial, do not hesitate to ask me."

"Thank you, Mi'Lady."

.

Piper

This plan was…really dumb. But she didn't have a much better one. She wasn't all that afraid that the goddess would kill her on purpose, but she was about to invade the personal space of the maiden huntress and groggy startled people might zap and ask questions later when someone unexpected is in their bedroom…or tent.

Aphrodite couldn't approach, this was like a quest. But she could drop Piper on Artemis' doorstep just in time to hear that Thalia was planning a memorial for the fallen members of the Argo II.

She'd been doing so good at staying distracted. Don't think about Jason. Focus on what Leo left behind. She had yet to process Annabeth's loss, just trying to keep moving until she felt she could work through the grief. But here she was, no armor between her bleeding heart and fallen friends.

It was really embarrassing when the goddess and lieutenant of the Hunt came out to find her huddled and sobbing on the ground.