Firespirit: I have everything in this fic written out yes, so eventually I'll get everything out. Will there be a sequel? At this rate, no.

Enjoy…

As they plummeted, Jason saw a vast army of monsters spread across the hills—cynocephali, two-headed men, wild centaurs, ogres and others he couldn't even name—surrounding two tiny islands of demigods. At the crest of Half-Blood Hill, gathered at the feet of the Athena Parthenos, was the main force of Camp Half-Blood along with the First and Fifth Cohorts, rallied around the golden eagle of the legion. The other three Roman cohorts were in a defensive formation several hundred yards away and seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack.

Giant eagles circled Jason, screeching urgently, as if looking for orders.

Frank the grey dragon flew alongside with his passengers.

"Hazel!" Jason yelled. "Those three cohorts are in trouble! If they don't merge with the rest of the demigods—"

"On it!" Hazel said. "Go, Frank!'

Dragon Frank veered to the left with Annabeth in one claw yelling, "Let's get 'em!" and Percy in the other claw screaming, "I hate flying!"

Piper and Jason veered right towards the summit of Half-Blood Hill.

Jason's heart lifted when he saw Nico di Angelo on the front lines with the Greeks, slashing his way through a crowd of two-headed men. A few feet away, Reyna sat astride a new pegasus, her sword drawn. She shouted orders at the legion, and the Romans obeyed without question, as if she'd never been away.

Jason didn't see Octavian anywhere. Good. Neither did he see a colossal earth goddess laying waste to the world. Very good. Perhaps Gaia had risen, taken one look at the modern world and decided to go back to sleep. Jason wished they could be that lucky, but he doubted it.

He and Piper landed on the hill, their swords drawn, and a cheer went up from the Greeks and the Romans.

"About time!" Reyna called. "Glad you could join us!"

With a start, Jason realised she was addressing Piper, not him.

Piper grinned. "We had some giants to kill!"

"Excellent!" Reyna returned the smile. "Help yourself to some barbarians. There's plenty going around."

"Why, thank you!"

The two girls launched into battle side by side.

Nico nodded to Jason as if they'd just seen each other five minutes ago, then went back to turning two-headed men into no-headed corpses. "Good timing. Where's the ship?"

Jason pointed. The Argo II streaked across the sky in a ball of fire, shedding burning chunks of mast, hull and armament. Jason didn't see how even fireproof Leo could survive in that inferno, but he had to hope. He didn't even want to think of Andromeda.

The girl who was physically older yet so, so young. He could recall the look in her eyes when the two practically forced him to leave with Piper. The ill yet acceptance look that told him lengths. He never wanted anyone to have to live through that but…

"Gods," Nico said. "Is everyone okay?"

"Leo and Andy…" Jason's voice broke. "They said they had a plan but-"

The comet disappeared behind the western hills. Jason waited with dread for the sound of an explosion, but he heard nothing over the roar of battle.

Nico met his eyes. "They'll be fine." Jason noted how he used they'll. He acknowledged Andromeda. He accepted that she was there. That filled him with something that felt like happiness, although he wasn't sure why. Was it because Andromeda was his friend now?

"Sure."

"But just in case… For them."

"For Leo," Jason agreed, "and Andy." They charged into the fight.

Jason's anger gave him renewed strength. The Greeks and Romans slowly pushed back the enemies. Wild centaurs toppled. Wolf-headed men howled as they were cut to ashes.

More monsters kept appearing—karpoi grain spirits swirling out of the grass, gryphons diving from the sky, lumpy clay humanoids that made Jason think of evil Play-Doh men.

"They're ghosts with earthen shells!" Nico warned. "Don't let them hit you!"

Obviously Gaia had kept some surprises in reserve.

At one point, Will Solace, the lead camper for Apollo, ran up to Nico and said something in his ear. Over the yelling and clashing of blades, Jason couldn't hear the words.

"Jason, I have to go!" Nico said.

Jason didn't really understand, but he nodded, and Will and Nico dashed off into the fray.

A moment later, a squad of Hermes campers gathered around Jason for no apparent reason.

Connor Stoll grinned. "What's up, Grace?"

"I'm good," Jason said. "You?"

Connor dodged an ogre club and stabbed a grain spirit, which exploded in a cloud of wheat. "Yeah, can't complain. Nice day for it."

Reyna yelled, "Eiaculare flammas!" and a wave of flaming arrows arced over the legion's shield wall, destroying a platoon of ogres. The Roman ranks moved forward, impaling centaurs and trampling wounded ogres under their bronze-tipped boots.

Somewhere downhill, Jason heard Frank Zhang yell in Latin: "Repellere equites!"

A massive herd of centaurs parted in a panic as the legion's other three cohorts ploughed through in perfect formation, their spears bright with monster blood. Frank marched before them. On the left flank, riding Arion, Hazel beamed with pride.

"Ave, Praetor Zhang!" Reyna called.

"Ave, Praetor Ramírez-Arellano!" Frank said. "Let's do this. Legion, CLOSE RANKS!"

A cheer went up among the Romans as the five cohorts melded into one massive killing machine. Frank pointed his sword forward and, from the golden eagle standard, tendrils of lightning swept across the enemy, turning several hundred monsters to toast.

"Legion, cuneum formate!" Reyna yelled. "Advance!"

Another cheer on Jason's right as Percy and Annabeth reunited with the forces of Camp Half-Blood.

"Greeks!" Percy yelled. "Let's, um, fight stuff!"

They yelled like banshees and charged.

Jason grinned. He loved the Greeks. They had no organisation whatsoever, but they made up for it with enthusiasm.

Jason was feeling good about the battle, except for three big questions: Where was Leo? Was Andy hurt? And where was Gaia?

Unfortunately, he got the third answer first.

Under his feet, the earth rippled as if Half-Blood Hill had become a giant water mattress. Demigods fell. Ogres slipped. Centaurs charged face-first into the grass.

AWAKE, a voice boomed all around them.

A hundred yards away, at the crest of the next hill, the grass and soil swirled upward like the point of a massive drill. The column of earth thickened into the twenty-foot-tall figure of a woman—her dress woven from blades of grass, her skin as white as quartz, her hair brown and tangled like tree roots.

"Little fools." Gaia, the Earth Mother, opened her pure green eyes. "The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me."

As she said it, Jason realised why Gaia hadn't appeared until now. The Athena Parthenos had been protecting the demigods, holding back the wrath of the earth, but even Athena's might could only last so long against a primordial goddess.

Fear as palpable as a cold front washed over the demigod army.

"Stand fast!" Piper shouted, her charmspeak clear and loud. "Greeks and Romans, we can fight her together!"

Gaia laughed. She spread her arms and the earth bent towards her—trees tilting, bedrock groaning, soil rippling in waves. Jason rose on the wind, but all around him monsters and demigods alike started to sink into the ground. One of Octavian's onagers capsized and disappeared into the side of the hill.

"The whole earth is my body," Gaia boomed. "How would you fight the goddess of—"

The next moment was the biggest relief Jason ever had. The ground had started rumbling, but no one noticed. As Gaia tried to speak, a burst of fire erupted from the sky. From the direction where Argo II had fallen. Gaia faltered in her speech, moving away but in the next second…

FOOOOMP!

In a flash of bronze, Gaia was swept off the hillside, snarled in the claws of a fifty-ton metal dragon.

Festus, reborn, rose into the sky on gleaming wings, spewing fire from his maw triumphantly. As he ascended, the riders on his back got smaller and more difficult to discern, but Leo's grin was unmistakable.

"Pipes! Jason!" he shouted down. "You coming? The fight is up here!"

Andromeda laughed gleefully as the fire faltered, only to return directed at Gaia. "This is fun!"

As soon as Gaia achieved liftoff, the ground solidified.

Demigods stopped sinking, though many were still buried up to their waists. Sadly, the monsters seemed to be digging themselves out more quickly. They charged the Greek and Roman ranks, taking advantage of the demigods' disorganisation. However, Andromeda didn't allow that to happen. With a yell, she summoned waters from the ocean and sent it hurling at the demigods with insane speed. The water washed away the dirt, freeing the demigods, and also pushed away the monsters in a fiery wall that erupted from the ground, in a circle surrounding the camp. The smaller monsters vapourised, while Andromeda gave the demigods time to recover.

Jason put his arms around Piper's waist. He was about to take off when Percy yelled, "Wait! Frank can fly the rest of us up there! We can all—"

"No, man," Jason said. "They need you here. There's still an army to defeat. Besides, the prophecy—"

"He's right." Frank gripped Percy's arm. "You have to let them do this, Percy. It's like Annabeth's quest in Rome. Or Hazel at the Doors of Death. This part can only be them."

"Then why is Sephie there?" Desperation shone as he tried to free himself from Frank. "She's my sister! I need to help her." Need, not want.

The demigods who were closest to him were temporarily distracted, eyes widening in confusion at his words.

Jason understood his conflict—he would rather die than let Thalia anywhere near Gaia. However, he couldn't let Percy go with them. He wasn't even sure why Andromeda was there in the first place. He reached forward and grasped his bro's hand. "I swear, Percy, I'll keep her safe. But we need you here. Gaia's monsters must be defeated. Trust me. Trust us."

Percy obviously didn't like it, but at that moment a flood of monsters swept over the Greek forces. Annabeth called to him, "Hey! Problem over here!" Percy ran to join her.

Frank and Hazel turned to Jason. They raised their arms in the Roman salute, then ran off to regroup the legion.

Jason and Piper spiralled upward on the wind.

"I've got the cure," Piper murmured like a chant. "It'll be fine. I've got the cure."

Jason realised she'd somehow lost her sword during the battle, but he doubted it would matter. Against Gaia, a sword would do no good. This was about storm and fire… and a third power, Piper's charmspeak, which would hold them together. Last winter, Piper had slowed the power of Gaia at the Wolf House, helping to free Hera from a cage of earth. Now she would have an even bigger job.

As they ascended, Jason gathered the wind and clouds around him. The sky responded with frightening speed. Soon they were in the eye of a maelstrom. Lightning burned his eyes. Thunder made his teeth vibrate.

Directly above them, Festus grappled with the earth goddess. Gaia kept disintegrating, trying to trickle back to the ground, but the winds kept her aloft. Festus sprayed her with flames, which seemed to force her into solid form. Meanwhile, from Festus's back, Leo blasted the goddess with flames of his own and hurled insults. "Potty Sludge! Dirt Face! THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA VALDEZ!"

His whole body was wreathed in fire. Rain hung in the stormy air, but it only sizzled and steamed around him.

Andromeda was somehow standing up, her arms raised above her head, eyes flashing dangerously. For a moment, Jason couldn't see what she was doing, but when Gaia tried to attack them, the attack rebounded, hitting Gaia instead. There was a hurricane surrounding Festus, Andromeda and Leo, just cutting off Gaia. It allowed Festus and Leo's attacks to go through but anything else was redirected at Gaia.

Jason zoomed towards them.

Gaia turned into loose white sand, but Jason summoned a squadron of venti who churned around her, constraining her in a cocoon of wind.

Gaia fought back. When she wasn't disintegrating, she lashed out with shrapnel blasts of stone and soil that Andromeda or Jason easily deflected. Stoking the storm, keeping himself and Piper aloft… Jason had never done anything so difficult. He felt like he was covered in lead weights, trying to swim with only his legs while holding a car over his head. But he had to keep Gaia off the ground.

That was the secret Kym had hinted at when they spoke at the bottom of the ocean.

Long ago, Ouranos the sky god had been tricked down to the earth by Gaia and the Titans. They'd held him on the ground so he couldn't escape and, with his powers weakened from being so far from his home territory, they'd been able to cut him apart.

Now they had to reverse that scenario. They had to keep Gaia away from her source of power—the earth—and weaken her until she could be defeated.

Together they rose. Festus creaked and groaned with the effort, but he continued to gain altitude. Jason still didn't understand how Leo had managed to remake the dragon. Then he recalled all the hours Leo had spent working inside the hull over the last few weeks. Leo must have been planning this all along and building a new body for Festus within the framework of the ship.

He must have known in his gut that the Argo II would eventually fall apart. A ship turning into a dragon… Jason supposed it was no more amazing than the dragon turning into a suitcase back in Quebec.

However it had happened, Jason was elated to see their old friend in action once more.

"YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" Gaia crumbled to sand, only to get blasted by more flames. Her body melted into a lump of glass, shattered, then re-formed again as human. "I AM ETERNAL!"

"Eternally annoying!" Leo yelled, and he urged Festus higher.

"Good one." Andromeda murmured, sending another attack of stones back at Gaia. They hit smack in the middle and disintegrated, raining down to Earth. "A bitch as well."

Jason and Piper rose with them.

"Get me closer," Piper urged. "I need to be next to her."

"Piper, the flames and the shrapnel- Andy can't- if you get too close-"

"I know."

Jason moved in until they were right next to Gaia. The winds encased the goddess, keeping her solid, and Andromeda nodded at Jason, indicating that she was aware of what they were trying to do. Hopefully she approved. Her eyes were solid green, like all nature had been condensed into a few spoonfuls of organic matter.

"FOOLISH CHILDREN!" Her face contorted with miniature earthquakes and mudslides.

"You are so weary," Piper told the goddess, her voice radiating kindness and sympathy. "Aeons of pain and disappointment weigh on you."

"SILENCE!"

The force of Gaia's anger was so great that Jason momentarily lost control of the wind. He would've dropped into free fall, but Festus caught him and Piper in his other huge claw. Andromeda saw this, brows furrowing in concentration. The storm awoke again, going back to it like it never left.

Amazingly, Piper kept her focus. "Millennia of sorrow," she told Gaia. "Your husband, Ouranos, was abusive. Your grandchildren, the gods, overthrew your beloved children, the Titans. Your other children, the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones, were thrown into Tartarus. You are so tired of heartache."

"LIES!" Gaia crumbled into a tornado of soil and grass, but her essence seemed to churn more sluggishly.

If they gained any more altitude, the air would be too thin to breathe. Jason would be too weak to control it. Piper's talk of exhaustion affected him, too, sapping his strength, making his body feel heavy.

When he glanced at Leo and Andromeda, it was clear they were tiring as well. Leo's attacks were slowing down and Andromeda's arms trembled as she kept them raised, beads of sweat on her forehead that glistened. Still, they did their best.

"What you want," Piper continued, "more than victory, more than revenge… you want rest. You are so weary, so incomprehensibly tired of the ungrateful mortals and immortals."

"I—YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME—YOU CANNOT—"

"You want one thing," Piper said soothingly, her voice resonating through Jason's bones. "One word. You want permission to close your eyes and forget your troubles. You—want—SLEEP."

Gaia solidified into human form. Her head lolled, her eyes closed, and she went limp in Festus's claw.

Unfortunately, Jason started to black out, too.

His arms felt like lead. Dark spots danced in his eyes. He heard a shout, not sure whose it was.

"Leo! A- Andy!" Piper gasped for breath. "We only have a few seconds. My charmspeak won't—"

"I know!" Leo looked like he was made of fire. Flames rippled beneath his skin, illuminating his skull. Festus steamed and glowed, his claws burning through Jason's shirt. "I can't contain the fire much longer. We'll vaporise her. Don't worry. But you guys need to leave."

"No!" Jason said. "We have to stay with you. Piper's got the cure. Leo, you can't—"

"Hey." Leo grinned, which was unnerving in the flames, his teeth like molten silver ingots. "I told you I had a plan. When are you going to trust me? And by the way—I love you guys."

Andromeda's sea-green eyes appeared in Jason's vision, her hand brushing against his cheek. His sight cleared a little and he saw her standing in thin air, one hand in his, pushing something into his palm. "Tell my brother I'm sorry," she whispered, sounding like after the Temple. Fragile and vulnerable but also soft with love and regret. "I'm sorry to you as well. I should have never told you about what will be happening. I should have never given you the determination to find a different way. Oh, Jason, if only we had more time." She kissed his forehead gently, carefully. "We hated each other at the start, but I'm glad to have been friends with you before this."

"Be- what- Andy!" She had extracted herself from him, tucking her knees to her chest. She glanced at Leo. "You can still live," she said softly. "Only I have to do this."

"Someone needs to make sure Gaia doesn't regain her powers as you do this." Leo gave her a crooked grin. "Do your thing, Andy."

She nodded. A warm glow flickered alive around her, rapidly growing larger and larger. It was still expanding. Until Jason realised… it wasn't a glow. It was fire. With Andromeda in the middle, as the source to keep it going. The storm dissipated. The clouds around them started swirling, going closer like they were attracted to Andromeda. It was like those things Jason heard about. Firenadoes. He had doubted their existence but this was very real. It swirled around Andromeda like a tornado, growing in speed and size by the second.

"I love you guys" Leo said one more time.

"There is nothing I regret," Andromeda said without looking at them. "Pain and sorrow. Conflict. Anguish. Death. It doesn't matter what we went through together, I don't regret making these memories with you, my friends."

Festus's claw opened, and Jason and Piper fell.

Jason had no strength to stop it. He held onto Piper as she cried their names, and they plummeted earthwards.

Festus became an indistinct ball of fire in the sky—a second sun—growing smaller and hotter. He heard a scream. The sun started to grow bigger, and Jason could see a small figure in the centre of the orb, being consumed by the flames. Festus was also joining in the ball.

Then, in the corner of Jason's eye, a blazing comet streaked upward from the ground with a high-pitched, almost human scream. It was miniscule compared to the nova in the sky, being intercepted and vanishing as soon as it merely touched the sun. Just before Jason blacked out, the comet vapourised, adding to the growing ball.

The explosion turned the entire sky gold. One humongous, large firework that seemed to light up the world brighter than the sun itself. The last thing Jason remembered was clenching his fists, not wanting to lose the last thing of Andromeda.

Nico POV

There wasn't much Nico regretted. Actually, that was a lie—he regretted a lot of things. Blaming Percy, trusting Minos, betraying Percy, lying when in Camp Jupiter to Percy, naively going to Tartarus… the list goes on.

However, this was one thing he knew wasn't about to leave his mind for a long time.

He should have never allowed Octavian to fire the onager.

Yet he stood still, watching as he cut the release wire and disappeared.

The catapult arm sprang upward faster than Nico's eye could follow, launching Octavian along with the ammunition. The augur's scream faded until he was simply part of the fiery comet soaring skyward.

"Goodbye, Octavian," Michael Kahale said.

He glared at Will and Nico one last time, as if daring them to speak. Then he turned his back and trudged away.

Nico could have lived with Octavian's end.

He might even have said good riddance.

But his heart sank as the comet kept gaining altitude. It disappeared into the storm clouds, and the sky exploded in a dome of fire. If anything, it might have not even done anything, yet he felt it. The deaths. Not only Octavian's. Nico fought back his tears. It wasn't the time to mourn.

The next day, not many answers were given.

After the explosion, Piper and Jason—free-falling and unconscious—were plucked out of the sky by giant eagles and brought to safety, but Leo did not reappear. The entire Hephaestus cabin scoured the valley, finding bits and pieces of the Argo II's broken hull, but no sign of Festus the dragon or his master.

Percy had gone pale entirely once Andromeda was nowhere in sight. Another demigod was sent to the infirmary because he was too close to the ocean when Percy's rage escaped. It had almost been impossible to get to him. Physically, he had a haunted look in his eyes, unmoving from where they said they couldn't find her, unresponsive to anything. However, his powers made his rage and grief clear to all. Finally, when Annabeth stepped forward and gave him a hug, did he start to crack.

Nico had never seen Percy break the way he did. His cries and begs for her to come back… everyone heard them and not a single one had dry eyes.

Percy didn't stop. Camp had a protective barrier around to shield them from the weather but beyond the barrier… the rain lasted for 2 whole days.

Annabeth never budged even when he started to scream. She just combed through his hair, murmuring something Nico didn't want to hear.

She, with the help of Hazel and Frank, pale but not as bad as Percy was, managed to get Percy back into his cabin, but the rain continued.

"He'll live." She once told Nico when he stopped to check up on Percy. Her face was blotchy, her eyes tinted red. Her voice was scratchy like she had a sore throat or she cried too much. "Percy's strong, and he…" she stopped because anything else would be a lie. Percy was indeed strong but now? No one was sure.

All the monsters had been destroyed or scattered. Greek and Roman casualties were heavy, but not nearly as bad as they might have been.

Overnight, the satyrs and nymphs disappeared into the woods for a convocation of the Cloven Elders. In the morning, Grover Underwood reappeared to announce that they could not sense the Earth Mother's presence. Nature was more or less back to normal. Apparently, their plan had worked. Gaia had been separated from her source of power, charmed to sleep and then atomized in the combined explosion of Andromeda and Leo's self-made fire storm and Octavian's man-made comet.

An immortal could never die, but now Gaia would be like her husband, Ouranos. The earth would continue to function as normal, just as the sky did, but Gaia was now so dispersed and powerless that she could never again form a consciousness.

At least, that was the hope…

Octavian would be remembered for saving Rome by hurling himself into the sky in a fiery ball of death. But his death didn't matter much. Not when it was Leo and Andromeda who made the true sacrifice. No one knew Andromeda. They just know her as the girl who saved camp and was close to Percy.

The victory celebration at camp was muted, due to grief—not just for Leo, who had been so, so popular at camp, and Andromeda who, in their eyes, was just another lost hero—but also for the many others who had died in battle. Shrouded demigods, both Greek and Roman, were burned at the campfire, and Chiron asked Nico to oversee the burial rites.

Nico agreed immediately. He was grateful for the opportunity to honour the dead. Even the hundreds of spectators didn't bother him.

The hardest part was afterwards, when Nico and the six demigods from the Argo II met on the porch of the Big House. Percy was lost in his thoughts, staring out into the sea. Annabeth was, as always, by his side. They had eye bags under their eyes and the rain still has not faltered. Even the sea was in turmoil. Poseidon had found out and no one was safe in his domain.

Jason hung his head, even his glasses lost in shadow. "We should have been there at the end. We could've helped Leo."

"It's not right," Piper agreed, wiping away her tears. "All that work getting the physician's cure, for nothing."

Hazel broke down crying. "Piper, where's the cure? Bring it out."

Bewildered, Piper reached into her belt pouch. She produced the chamois-cloth package, but when she unfolded the cloth it was empty.

All eyes turned to Hazel. Even Percy flicked his gaze to her for a second.

"How?" Annabeth asked.

Frank put his arm around Hazel. "In Delos, Leo pulled the two of us aside. He pleaded with us to help him."

Through her tears, Hazel explained how she had switched the physician's cure for an illusion—a trick of the Mist—so that Leo could keep the real vial. Frank told them about Leo's plan to destroy a weakened Gaia with one massive fiery explosion. After talking with Nike and Apollo, and the confirmation with Andromeda, Leo had been certain that such an explosion would kill any mortal within a quarter of a mile, so he knew he would have to get far away from everyone.

"He wanted to do it alone," Frank said. "He thought there would be a slim chance that he, a son of Hephaestus, could survive the fire, but if anyone was with him… He said that Hazel and I, being Roman, would understand about sacrifice. But he knew the rest of you would never allow it."

At first the others looked angry, like they wanted to scream and throw things. But, as Frank and Hazel talked, the group's rage seemed to dissipate. It was hard to be mad at Frank and Hazel when they were both crying. Also… the plan sounded exactly like the sneaky, twisted, ridiculously annoying and noble sort of thing Leo Valdez would do.

"And Sephie?" Percy asked, opening his mouth for the first time in two days to talk rather than cry. "Where did she come into the equation?"

Frank and Hazel shared a look, shrugging helplessly. "She was talking with Artemis when we discussed things, but Leo never once checked to see if she was listening or not. I think… she knew. I think she knew what he was trying to do all this time."

Jason choked back a laugh. "So that's what she meant." He let out a brittle laugh, bitter and angry. "Goddammit!" He banged his fist on the rail, making everyone jump. No one had ever seen him so mad… at himself.

"What?" Piper said gently. It wasn't a good idea to get the son of Jupiter angry. Percy may have reacted in grief and sadness at the news but Jason… Nico never realised how close he was to Andromeda. "What's wrong, Jason? What did you realise? You can tell us."

His eyes lifted to meet Percy's. "I didn't know." He said, almost to reassure himself. "Bro, I didn't know. If I knew it was so soon… I would've done something. I would've convinced her there was another way, I would have never allowed her to stay on the Argo II with Leo."

"Andy left with Annabeth, Percy and I." Frank said, confused. "I carried her down. I remember her screaming."

"No." Jason shook his head. "Andy is a master at using the Mist. She knows how to use it. She showed you what you expected to see but she didn't use it on me and Piper. I saw her run back into the ship as I was leaving. I thought she went to get Leo but… all this time…" He rubbed his forehead tiredly. "In Ithaca," he continued, holding Percy's gaze. "When talking to Antinous, we asked what he would do if the Seven ever came knocking on the door. When she mentioned herself, they said she would deal with that problem herself."

He continued to explain everything—how Antinous revealed that Andromeda would kill herself with the blessing of Chaos. How he had asked her about it and she told her so much but withheld the most important factor; that it was going to be sooner than later.

Percy's knees buckled and he grabbed the rail to not fall, a fresh batch of tears falling. "I should've realised something." He whispered. "But she was so convincing. We spent so much time discussing the future, never once did I think she did it to sell the act."

"You never know." Annabeth cooed. "Maybe Romy was being genuine, Percy. Regardless of everything, she is your sister and she loves you. She would have never wanted to see you hurting."

From the corner of his eye, Nico saw Jason fumbling with something, producing a folded piece of paper. "Before they started, she handed me this." He mumbled. "I swear, I haven't read it, but I think you might want to."

Fast as lightning, Percy snatched it from Jason, opening it up and reading eagerly. From Nico's line of view, it was all Ancient Greek but the handwriting… considering who was writing it, he was already impressed as it is.

Finally speaking after a while, Piper let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh. "If they were here right now, I would kill them, one at a time. There was only one Physician's cure! Who took it? One would have had to die and I doubt they would want to drink it and let the other die!"

"Leo took it," Percy said certainly. He glanced up from the little piece of paper, handing it to Annabeth. "Sephie disregarded life. She didn't understand it and she was certain she would never fit in. She would have forced Leo to take it no matter what."

Nico and Hazel exchanged looks. They both knew better, but they said nothing. It wasn't like they could sense anyone.

The next day, the second since the battle, Romans and Greeks worked side by side to clean up the warzone and tend the wounded. Blackjack was recovering nicely from his arrow wound. Guido had decided to adopt Reyna as his human. Reluctantly, Lou Ellen had agreed to turn her new pet piglets back into Romans.

Will Solace hadn't spoken with Nico since the encounter at the onager. The son of Apollo spent most of his time in the infirmary, but whenever Nico saw him running across camp to fetch more medical supplies, or make a house call on some wounded demigod, he felt a strange twinge of melancholy. No doubt Will Solace thought Nico was a monster now, for letting Octavian kill himself.

The Romans bivouacked next to the strawberry fields, where they insisted on building their standard field camp. The Greeks pitched in to help them raise the earthen walls and dig the trenches. Nico had never seen anything stranger or cooler. Dakota shared Kool-Aid with the kids from the Dionysus cabin. The children of Hermes and Mercury laughed and told stories and brazenly stole things from just about everyone. Reyna, Annabeth and Piper were inseparable, roaming the camp as a trio to check on the progress of the repairs. Chiron, escorted by Frank and Hazel, inspected the Roman troops and praised them for their bravery.

By evening, the general mood had improved somewhat. The dining hall pavilion had never been so crowded. The Romans were welcomed like old friends. Coach Hedge roamed among the demigods, beaming and holding his baby boy and saying, "Hey, you want to meet Chuck? This is my boy, Chuck!"

The Aphrodite and Athena girls alike cooed over the feisty little satyr baby, who waved his pudgy fists, kicked his tiny hooves and bleated, "Baaaa! Baaaa!"

Clarisse, who had been named the baby's godmother, trailed behind the coach like a bodyguard and occasionally muttered, "All right, all right. Give the kid some space."

At announcement time, Chiron stepped forward and raised his goblet.

"Out of every tragedy," he said, "comes new strength. Today, we thank the gods for this victory. To the gods!"

The demigods all joined the toast, but their enthusiasm seemed muted. Nico understood the feeling: We saved the gods again, and now we're supposed to thank them?

Then Chiron said, "And to new friends!"

"TO NEW FRIENDS!"

Hundreds of demigod voices echoed across the hills.

At the campfire, everyone kept looking at the stars, as if they expected Leo to come back in some dramatic, last-minute surprise. Maybe he'd swoop in, jump off Festus's back and launch into corny jokes. Maybe Andromeda would show with her charming smile and dry humour, slapping Leo jokingly. It didn't happen.

After a few songs, Reyna and Frank were called to the front. They got a thunderous round of applause from both the Greeks and Romans. Up on Half-Blood Hill, the Athena Parthenos glowed more brightly in moonlight, as if to signal: These kids are all right.

"Tomorrow," Reyna said, "we Romans must return home. We appreciate your hospitality, especially since we almost killed you—"

"You almost got killed," Annabeth corrected.

"Whatever, Chase."

"Oooooohhhhh!" the crowd said as one. Then everybody started laughing and pushing each other around. Even Nico had to smile.

"Anyway," Frank took over, "Reyna and I agree this marks a new era of friendship between the camps."

Reyna clapped him on the back. "That's right. For hundreds of years, the gods tried to separate us to keep us from fighting. But there's a better kind of peace—cooperation."

Piper stood up from the audience. "Are you sure your mom is a war goddess?"

"Yes, McLean," Reyna said. "I still intend to fight a lot of battles. But from now on we fight together!"

That got a big cheer.

Zhang raised his hand for quiet. "You'll all be welcome at Camp Jupiter. We've come to an agreement with Chiron: a free exchange between the camps—weekend visits, training programmes and, of course, emergency aid in times of need—"

"And parties?" asked Dakota.

"Hear, hear!" said Conner Stoll.

Reyna spread her arms. "That goes without saying. We Romans invented parties."

Another big Oooohhhhhhhh!

"So thank you," Reyna concluded. "All of you. We could've chosen hatred and war. Instead we found acceptance and friendship."

Then she did something so unexpected Nico would later think he dreamed it. She walked up to Nico, who was standing to one side in the shadows, as usual. She grabbed his hand and pulled him gently into the firelight.

"We had one home," she said. "Now we have two."

She gave Nico a big hug and the crowd roared with approval. For once, Nico didn't feel like pulling away. He buried his face in Reyna's shoulder and blinked the tears out of his eyes.