Blessings from Khaos

|Kulang Ang Araw Ko Kung Wala Ka|

With Percy at his side, that meant that he got Lea also and he had the support of Jason even if the boy was "missing"; Octavian had a lot of friends, most of them bought but the others... the ones that really mattered to him approached like sunflowers reaching for Sol.

Still, Magnus nodded his head and turned to leave as the weaponry did not react well to magicka.

Nico shrugged. "She got mad when the gods took over. She took a new husband—Tartarus, the spirit of the abyss—and gave birth to a race of giants. They tried to destroy Mount Olympus, but the gods finally beat them. At least...the first time."

"The first time?" Percy repeated.

Nico glanced at Medea, and she sighed, turning to Percy. "The last four years have been hell. Saturn tried to make a comeback by starting the Second Titan War. The Legion stormed Mount Othrys, across the bay on Mount Tamalpais, where he was planning to rebuild his castle. We took out thousands of monsters and hundreds of the demigods and mortals that he employed under him. Jason took on his brother Megamedes himself, beat him in hand to hand combat actually and toppled Saturn's black throne. The gods took care of Saturn themselves, but now..."

"Now it looks like the Titans' defeat stirred up Gaea," Nico jumped in. "She's starting to wake. I've heard reports of giants being reborn. If they mean to challenge the gods again, they'll probably start by destroying the demigods..."

"You've told Reyna this?" Percy asked.

"Of course." Nico's jaw tensed. "The Romans don't trust me. That's why I was hoping she'd listen to you. Children of Pluto...well, no offense, but they think we're even worse than children of Neptune. We're bad luck."

"Which is bullshit," Medea stated, "Like they're doing nothing but pissing off the god who rules over the dead and the underworld and can very much bypass the three judges and fuck their afterlife up!"

A small smile flitted across Nico's face. "But look, Percy, the giants aren't the worst problem. Even ... even Gaea isn't the worst problem. The thing you noticed about the gorgons, how they wouldn't die, that's our biggest worry. Death isn't—"

Before he could finish, a shout came from down the hill. Magnus jogged toward them, wearing his jeans, purple camp shirt, and denim jacket. His hands were covered with grease from cleaning weapons.

He reached the shrine. "Hey, Nico..."

"Magnus." Nico smiled. He seemed to find Magnus amusing, maybe because Magnus was one of the only ones at camp who wasn't uneasy around the child of Ploutō. Then again, Cerēs was over the mysteries.

"Reyna sent me to get Percy," Magnus said. "Did Octavian accept you?"

"Yeah," Percy said with a small blush on his cheeks. "He slaughtered my panda."

"He...Oh. The augury? Yeah, teddy bears must have nightmares about that guy. But you're in! We need to get you cleaned up before evening muster."

"You're right," Medea said. "We'd better—"

"Magnus," Nico interrupted, "why don't you take Percy down? Medea and I will be along soon."

"That's—that's a good idea," she sighed. "Go ahead, guys. We'll catch up."

Percy looked at Nico one more time, as though he was still trying to place a memory. "I'd like to talk with you some more. I can't shake the feeling—"

"Sure," Nico agreed. "Later. I'll be staying overnight."

"You will?" Medea blurted. The campers were going to love that—the so-called son of Neptūnus and the son of Ploutō arriving on the same day. Now all they needed was some black cats and broken mirrors.