The next day the trio woke up and made their way back towards camp. They decided to drop Nico off first before returning to the Hunter's campsite.

Nico POV

Camp Half-Blood was too loud. Too bright. Too full of eyes. As he stepped out from the shadows, the familiar scent of pine and the distant crash of waves greeted him. But it didn't calm him—not today. Not when he was walking into a lie. One he had to carry for Percy. For Kaelisia.

Campers greeted him, called his name. Some even clapped him on the back, asking for stories, updates, answers. But the moment he stepped into the dining pavilion, silence fell like a heavy blanket.

Will Solace stood first. "Nico. What happened? Why did the others come back alone?" Clarisse crossed her arms. "Why were you meant to stay behind?"

"Where's Percy?" someone else asked. The question hit him harder than it should have. He saw the faces around him: Will, Clarisse, the Stoll brothers, even a few new campers. So many eyes, so many questions.

Nico swallowed. "I don't know where Percy is. As for your question Clarisse. The Hunters led me to Thalia since she wanted to tell me something privately" His voice barely trembled. Almost convincing.

"What do you mean you don't know where Percy is?" Will asked "I did not find him. But– " Nico replied. "But he's alive. I know that for sure. That's what matters."

A few campers groaned or muttered under their breath. The Son of Hades stood his ground, arms crossed now, not out of anger but to stop his hands from shaking. "I know– " he finally said, before anyone could push further. "Well i know he made a choice" "Percy doesn't just leave, that's not the Percy i knew and learned to respect." Clarisse said, standing now, her tone filled with suspicion. Nico met her gaze, dark eyes burning. "Maybe he finally had to."

And with that, he turned and walked away, his steps heavy with the burden he bore. Every lie he told for Kaelisia—every truth he didn't speak—burned just a little more.

Kaelisia POV

I had never walked this path before, not like this.

The camp of the Hunters of Artemis was quiet this morning. Most of the girls were off training in the deeper woods, leaving only the song of birds and the faint rustle of the wind to fill the space between the trees. I exhaled, adjusting the silver jacket over my shoulders and glancing to my side.

Thalia was walking beside me, arms folded. "You sure about this?" she asked. I nodded. "She deserves the truth. Even if it hurts." Thalia frowned, but didn't argue. "You really think she'll believe you?" "Doesn't matter if she does," I replied. "She's still my mom." The walk to the perimeter felt longer than it should have. Maybe because I was leaving behind the only peace I'd felt in weeks. The hunt had given me purpose, a place, even after everything that happened. But this—this—was different. I needed to see Sally Jackson. I needed her to know who I really was.

When Artemis had granted me time away, she simply said: "Go. Tell her. She deserves that much." No riddles, no cryptic advice. Just the truth. We emerged through the last ring of trees and into the mortal world. Thalia had arranged the meeting—quiet, discreet. It was early enough that Sally would still be home.

As we approached the small apartment complex, the nervousness hit me like a tidal wave. My hands trembled. I had faced monsters, gods, Titans. But this—this was different. This was her.

Thalia knocked.

Footsteps. A familiar sound. The door opened.

Sally stood there, a towel in her hand, wiping away the remnants of breakfast dishes. Her smile faded as she looked between us.

She looked at me.

There was silence. Then—

"Thalia. It's great to see you again after last year. And you brought a friend?" she asked gently, not recognizing me.

She blinked, confused. "Hello Miss Jackson," Thalia said softly, "it's good to see you as well. I've come to tell you something about Percy." "About Percy? What did my son get himself into this time? And why–" she gestured towards me.

"It's a longer story" Thalia sighed. "Well it's best you come inside then. We have some leftover pancakes if you two are hungry" "That would be great Miss Jackson" "And please Thalia stop with Miss Jackson. My name is Sally."

Barely audible I whispered while entering "You're so similar to my real mom" Luckily neither Thalia nor my mother had heard what I whispered. When we sat down Thalia looked at me with a question written across her face. Since we had already established that Thalia was far better at explaining what happened we figured Thalia should explain everything but she wasn't exactly sure what to include.

I looked around until my eyes fell on my mother. "Miss Jackson" I felt extremely weird calling my mother Miss Jackson but if I started calling her mom now it would lead to nothing but confusion. "A couple weeks ago by now Percy had messaged us about a favor he wanted to ask us hunters" I waited slightly before continuing the story.

"He asked Thalia to make a Silver ring leaving Space for a gemstone so he could finally propose to Annabeth. He also had asked us, since we would be at camp half blood during this period, whether or not we'd help him set up the proposal by capturing Annabeth during a capture the flag game and letting him rescue her and propose to her after. Since we're not strictly against marriage and it was a very sweet idea we agreed" Twiddling with my fingers I looked at Thalia who just gave me an encouraging smile I continued "When we arrived at camp. We ran into Annabeth before anyone else while she was running away from the food pavilion crying. When Thalia asked what happened all she managed to say was 'Percy'. Upon hearing this the other Hunters and us thought wrongfully that your Son had betrayed Annabeth and broke her he—" "He would never do something like that!" My mother exclaimed. "Let her finish Sally" Thalia gently calmed her down. "Any— Anyways" I stuttered trying to regain my confidence. "We adjusted our plans for the capture the flag game and proceeded like any normal game. After we had won some of the campers started blaming Percy for their defeat and a few other unfortunate occurrences over the years he was at camp" My voice trembled as I was remembering those events. I looked back at Thalia seemingly begging for help. Thalia cleared her throat and continued for me while I just took a sip of water and stared at the floor. "Ok where were we. Ah yes. Kae here got a tiny bit ahead. After we won the game I was face to face with Percy for the first time since we arrived at camp among with a few other campers that had lead their attacking force. Before we went to celebrate one of the hunters, still under the assumption Percy was like any other treacherous male out there said 'What are you doing Thalia let's go get away from him'. Before I did turn away I looked at Percy since I've known him better than anyone for ages. Him and Nico are basically my brothers at this point. And noticed his face go through a number of emotions. Most notably heartbreak. Since I've known Percy for so long as a brother I always thought that breaking Annabeth's heart wouldn't be something Percy would even dream of. So when I noticed the change of emotion on his face I promised myself I would ask him the next day myself to get a better picture of what happened."

I zoned out while Thalia talked about how Nico came to the hunters camp and they finished the ring I had planned. I zoned back in when Thalia finished her explaining what Artemis told us about my prayers.

"When I was looking at Percy bowing in front of my mistress she called him daughter of chaos and casted a sp—" "Daughter of Chaos?" Sally interrupted "But Percy is my Son. Mine and Poseidon's. And also again SON" Thalia took a sip of water before continuing "Just hang in there. So again Artemis casted a spell which I later found out merely got rid of previous visually altering enchantments. After in Percy place a girl stood. She then explained that Lady Chaos had visited her after she ran off telling her the story of her daughter that was sent to this planet to grow up. And to hide her existence from potential threats she was sent here as a boy. Or rather as the Son of Poseidon and yourself. His— Her actual name is Kaelisia Saphira and you're sitting right in front of her. Sally Jackson meet Kaelisia Saphira the daughter of the void" Thalia finished dramatically.

I looked at her briefly "Even your father has a better sense for dramatic storytelling" She pouted but didn't say anything. I turned to my mother "Hi mom" my voice was nothing more than a whisper. Before I could say anything else my mom had gotten up and wrapped me in a huge hug "Oh my Baby"

I wish I could say I didn't cry but that would be a lie. I was crying and sobbing while she embraced me in her hug. At that moment I didn't care that Thalia was right there next to us, I was just glad my mother understood and was here for me.

3rd person pov:

"Oh Percy I am so sorry about Annabeth" Sally said after Kaelisia explained to her what really happened with Annabeth and her. "Please mom, it's not Percy anymore" "Old habits die—" she got interrupted by the doorbell. "Weird I'm not expecting visitors today" she got up and made her way towards the door. Whilst Kaelisia finally looked at Thalia again who had been quietly sitting and watching the Mother and Daughter Bonding. "Thank you Thals. For everything. If there is ever anything you need—" "I know I know. Just ask and you'll help. It's always been this way Void girl. This goes both ways though. We're sisters after all" Both girls looked up in shock when they heard Sally open the door and say "Oh. Hello Nico. What a surprise. Come in the others are already there."

"Others?" Nico mumbled as he walked through the door and made his way towards the table. "Oh" he exclaimed when he saw the 2 hunters sitting at the table. "Hi Thals, Hi void girl" Both hunters grinned and at the same time "Hi death breath" "Well" Nico started turning to Sally "my visit is fairly pointless in this case. Considering she is here" he pointed at Kaelisia.