Chapter 4

"It's been a week!" Athena shouts. "How do you still have no idea who is behind this? Or anyway to pause it or something!?"

"Watch it," Hades growls. "I have no control over this and I have been doing my best to keep souls in. Though I have been focusing on those in the Fields of Punishment, unless you would like the world's worst dictators to return?"

Athena sighs. "I'm going g to speak with Apollo. He must have seen something useful by now."

Hades nods and Athena leaves in flash. Hades shakes his head staring at the floor before he speaks.

"You three know what it is don't you?"

The Fates walk into view and Hades turns to face them. None say a word but Atropos calmly cuts a thread before the three Fates exit the room.

~~~~

"We're just sitting here! I can't take it!" Annabeth shouts.

"Take what?" Percy asks.

"Something big is going on. And I'm sitting here preparing for the next class I have to teach."

"They need to be taught in order to fight."

Nico nods. "From what I heard most of the Retuned aren't to keen to fighting whatever this thing is. It brought them back after all."

Piper rolls her eyes. "Not like my cabin really fights in the first place.

"I'm fighting," Luke comments. "Kinda have to if I don't want them to think I'm still a bad guy."

"There's nothing to fight right now," Thalia reminds him.

Luke shrugs. The six sit near the lake as they relax having nothing better to do.

The relaxation is cut short as an IM appears.

"Nico!" Hazel shouts.

Nico looks over to the IM to see Hazel and Frank standing there. "You left two days ago. Is there already a problem?"

"There has to be a problem for me to call you?"

"No- well- uh-"

"Jackson. I need you here," comments another voice from behind Hazel.

"Why?" Percy groans as Reyna comes into view.

"Then why did you call me?" Nico asks.

"He's going to need some method of getting here," Reyna says.

"I have to babysit a guy in his twenties. Plus no shadow traveling 'doctors orders'," Nico mimics.

Reyna raises an eyebrow but doesn't question.

"What's the problem?" Percy asks.

Though his question is answered by shouting in the background. "Why in Pluto's name would you let the Graceus scum live!"

Nico and Percy lock eyes.

Nico shrugs. "I'm sure one trip wouldn't hurt."

~~~~

"I get to kill him first," Jason says.

"Nope. I called it," Percy argues.

"I did," Nico states.

The three glare at each other.

"I've known him the longest," Jason says.

"You had plenty of opportunities then. He killed my Centurion," Percy says.

"She came back to life."

"Octavian will probably come back again if you do kill him," Frank comments.

"As technically the oldest, I call dibs on killing him first," Nico interjects.

"I'm physically the oldest," Percy argues.

"They're not listening at all are they?" Frank asks. Hazel places a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you expect?" Reyna sighs. "Also I shall kill him first. He turned my legion against me. Any objections can be taken up with my dogs."

The boys fall silent.

~~~~

Percy was highly satisfied. Octavian had been beaten. Yelled at. A tomato came out of no where and hit him. And the look on his face when he was stripped of all titles was absolutely priceless. Now he was lower than a probatio. Though needing somewhere to put him, he had been assigned to the job of cleaning the bathhouses.

Percy flopped back down on his bunk in his cabin. While satisfied, he was also tired. As if helping run the camp wasn't hard enough, without random dead people showing up. And now he had spent all day trying to control Octavian.

Bored, he uses his powers and creates an Iris Message to call his mom (only remembering the fact of time zones as it began to connect).

To his surprise his mom was still awake. As Sally shimmers into view Percy can see, her hair is messy while confusion and fear is evident in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Percy asks immediately.

"Percy!" Sally whisper shouts. "Oh thank gods. I-I don't know how but he's back!"

"Who?" Percy asks confused. "Paul?"

"No. No," Sally says shaking her head quickly. "He's on a business trip. It's- It's-"

"Sally!" A voice shouts. "I where's my bean dip!"

~~~~

Dun. Dun. Dun.

Yup he's back.

Other people shall come back don't worry.

Who else do you want to come back?

See ya creeps!

-Jaz