This happens the day that Lester/Apollo arrives at Camp Half-Blood

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I glanced at my wife, Sally Jackson-Blofis. She had wanted to keep her maiden name to prove that women could defend themselves, and I was perfectly fine with it. What I was not fine with, is the fact that she wasn't even that bothered by the fact that Percy has been gone for almost a year.

First, Annabeth and Sally had cried together over Percy at least once a week when he was missing, but once my stepson was found, Sally didn't seem all that worried. Every so often she would pray to who knows what, considering that Sally wasn't religious. But she would pray, for Percy's safety, for Gaea to fall back into slumber, whatever that meant.

It had been years, and I've never questioned why Sally never was mad that Percy was gone for long periods of time, only sad and worried. I couldn't take it anywhere, this was something I had to know.

'Sally.' I called, the brunette turned back towards me, her belly partially showing. She walked over to be with caution, sitting down at the sofa, I sat down in the love seat beside her. 'Yes Paul, what do you need?' She asked, a wide smile on her face. It never ceased to amaze me how my wife was able to keep a genuine smile on her face after the pregnancy and everything.

I sighed, giving my wife a glance that told her I was being serious. The smile immediately darkened slightly. 'Sally, I really need to know: Why aren't you ever mad at Percy for leaving home so often, and each time so long?'

At my question, Sally chuckled lightly, glancing up at an old image of Percy, taken when he was little. 'Well Paul, that's something only Percy can answer, I don't have the right.'

I was ready to protest, when the front door flung open, it was storming, so cold wind entered the home, I sputtered in confusion, eyes widening when I saw who had entered. Perseus Jackson. And leaning against the doorway, was a shorter kid with black hair swept to one side and dark eyes that held pain, wisdom, and secrets.

Sally jumped up, embracing Percy immediately. 'Oh thank the gods you're alright.' The brunette muttered, and Percy chuckled, sending me a mock salute, a troublemaker grin on his face. Only this time, it seemed force. There was a brokenness in Percy's eyes that I never noticed before, was it always there?

After a few minutes of embracing Percy, Sally gave the short boy a hug too, and thankfully, Percy's friend closed the door. The boy seemed to visibly tense under the embrace, and he gently patted Sally's back, as if not sure what to do with his hands.

'Gods almighty, your mum sure is friendly Percy. I haven't even really talked to her yet.' The boy said to Percy. I could hear a Italian accent in his voice, not heavy, but definitely noticeable. At that moment, the boy glanced at me.

'Hello there, I'm Nico di Angelo, Percy's friend from camp. And I'm assuming you're Paul Blofis, nice to meet you.' Nico said, though there was no friendly expression on his face. I offered a small grin, Nico was very polite, though it seemed to me he'd built up walls around his mind and heart, which made me suspect he's been through some things, some things that were not meant to be said.

Percy and Sally exchanged eye contact, and I cleared my throat. 'Sally, may I ask. . ?' I questioned, and she nodded, Percy raised an eyebrow, before sitting down. While Nico leaned against the wall, fingering a skull ring on his long and pale finger, seeming to be deep in thought.

I turned to Percy, and Sally did the same. 'Percy dear, Paul would like to know what you actually do, on these small. . .Expeditions around the world. And where you were these many months.' Sally said, and Percy stood up, moving to where Nico was. The two seemed to have a conversation. At the end, Nico spoke up.

'Just tell him, Percy. The kid deserves the truth.'

I raised an eyebrow, did the fifteen year old just call me a kid? I was older than him! Percy sat back down, letting out a nervous chuckle. 'Well, this will be a long story, so I'll tell you the facts.' Percy said, before offering me his hand, which I took in a shake.

'Hello there Paul. I'm Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, Greek god of the Sea.' I stared at the boy, who raised an eyebrow. He pointed to the jug of water on the table, tilting his head. The water then spilled out of the jug upwards, and swirled to create a mini hurricane before falling back in the jug.

My mouth was agape as Percy continued on. 'At the age of twelve, I found out my identity as a demigod. Zeus, King of the gods and the unofficial god of drama, accused me of stealing his Master Bolt. And so I had to retrieve it, long story short, a lot of people were different from what I thought.' Percy said quickly.

'Thirteen, I went to the Sea Of Monsters, also known as the Bermuda Triangle, to save my best friend Grover Underwood, who was a satyr. Fourteen, I was going to bring back Nico and-' Percy paused, glancing at Nico, who had tensed at his words.

'I was going to bring back Nico and his sister Bianca from Westover High, short version: Annabeth was held captive and I had to save her. And I unfortunately had to hold up the sky too. Unfortunately, Bianca died when she came with us on the mission, and Nico had fled camp for that reason.'

I glanced at Nico, who was fingering his ring, pretending to have not heard anything.

'Fifteen, ventured through the labyrinth that Daedalus created, found Nico and Kronos there. Rachel threw a brush at him, Nico got rid of King Minos, and became the new ghost king.' I frowned, who was Nico di Angelo?

'Sixteen, had to fight the Titan of Time, Kronos, in Manhattan outside Mount Olympus, also known as the Empire State Building. You were there. We were all going to die, but then Nico came to the rescue with his father, they helped us out a lot. And we lived with many casualties.' Percy hesitated.

'One of those being Luke Castellan, a son of Hermes who went rogue before dying a hero.' Nico said, not at all bothered, but something told me he was, but had grown use to hiding his emotions.

Percy ignored him. 'Hera, queen of the gods, then decided to throw me into California with a fresh memory wipe. I swapped places with my friend Jason Grace. He was at Camp Half-Blood, and I was at Camp Jupiter, a refuge for Roman demigods.' Percy took a breath.

'Went on a trip to retrieve a gold eagle, met up with four other demigods, including Jason and Annabeth, for our quest. Long story short: Annabeth, Nico, and I all went down to Tartarus before coming back up to fight Gaea, primordial personification of the Earth.'

I looked at Percy, he's been through so much. 'Wait-You went through literal hell with Annabeth?' I asked in disbelieve, and Percy sighed.

'Everyone think Annabeth and I are brave for going Tartarus. But we went down there because Annabeth fell in and I went down with her with her. We accidentally fell in. It wasn't planned. Nico however, he voluntarily went down to help us complete a prophecy that he could choose to be a part of. And on top of that, being a child of Uncle H meant he could see everything for what they were down there, Annabeth and I were slightly masked from the truth.'

I glanced at Nico, the boy was staring blankly into space. 'So. . .Who are you?' I asked, and Percy grinned, pulling Nico down onto the sofa beside him by the wrist. He mouthed full titles at Nico, who in turn pressed his finger to Percy's forearm for a few seconds with what seemed to be a smile on his face, leaving my stepson, the apparent son of Poseidon, gasping for air.

Nico turned to me, eyes dark, he seemed too wise for his age. It made me uneasy. 'Well then. . .' Nico mused, before running a hand through his hair absent-mindedly .

'I'm Nico di Angelo, son and ambassador of Hades, participant in two Great Prophecies, lone survivor of Tartarus, first demigod to travel between Camp Jupiter and Half-Blood, and transporter of the Athena Parthenos.'

My mouth fell open, I didn't know much about what those meant, but from what I did, that were some impressive titles for a fifteen year old. That was when I remembered. 'Also, Nico, why did you call me a kid earlier? I mean, I'm older than you.' I said, and the ghost of a smile played on Nico's lips. 'Well, not technically.' Percy mused, fingering the beaded necklace around his neck, and that's when I noticed the tattoo on his arm, it seemed to be burnt into his skin. The tattoo was of the letters SPQR with a trident underneath and one line.

'Well I am technically around eighty three now, so there's that.' I raised an eyebrow, eyes wide. Nico di Angelo was eighty three years old? Nico sighed, realising he had to explain.

'When I was younger, my sister Bianca and I were put into an. . .enchanted place. It's called the Lotus Hotel and Casino, time kind of slows down in there. My sister and I went in around 1939, and stayed for around seventy years or so.'

I leaned back against the sofa, my eyes wide, I was swimming in thoughts. Nico went back to the front door, his eyes widening, breath caught. Percy noticed, and narrowed his eyes, looking concerned. 'Nico? What's wrong?' He asked, voice gentle. The son of Hades turned around, hauling Percy up to his feet with ease despite being half my stepson's size.

Someone knocked at the door, and at that exact moment, Nico stepped back into the shadows, glancing at Percy before he opened the door. He was able to say a warning before fading away.

'It's Apollo.'