SIGMA | THE END OF AN ERA

TA DA! Thank you for supporting this story, thank you for waiting, thank you for reviewing. I'm pretty proud of this chapter (which is angled more towards wholesome than actually probable but who cares), even though I'm a little sad that Riss and Jason's story is ending but I hope you enjoy it. There's a little reference to Trials of Apollo regarding Jason so I hope you're not as horrified as I was.

Jason Grace is fifteen when he meets the love of his life.

Riss Jackson is whip-smart and tough as nails; vicious when she needs to be because she's so dam protective of her family. She's scarred and scared and so dam beautiful. She whirls into his life like a hurricane from the first moment they wake up together on that bus, wrapped around each other. He's scared too (of her, of himself, of what he's forgotten) but she has a faith in him he doesn't quite understand; later, he'll find out that she just had a good feeling about him – ridiculous but he's grateful. It's on the quest where Riss is doing crazy, stupid, amazing things that he pauses, looks at her – really looks at her – and thinks one thing: wow. He knows it's cruel of him – he has Piper, doesn't he? – but when Riss look at him, he sees the future in her eyes...not that he knows that strictly at the time. Demigods aren't known for their long lifespans, or even for good judgment, and how does Jason even know what love is? He doesn't love Piper, he knows that even if it makes him feel guilty, and he can't remember the love of a parent, so this overwhelming warmth in his chest that sometimes feels like something's collapsing his ribcage is more worrying than anything. It takes a while for him to realize he's in love with Riss. He's fifteen, dumb and most definitely broke; Riss is sixteen, too kind and has a father that would flood the world to make her happy (of course, provided she didn't do it first). They're tied together by daddy issues, an ability to swing a sword and, holy mother of Hades, Riss Jackson is definitely the best thing that's happened to him, even if he can't remember the rest. His heart almost stops when she says I adore you because it's I would say I love you but I'm really not sure what romantic love feels like, it's I care for you and trust you and, for us, that means more than love ever will; he says it back every chance he can, hugs her all the tighter to his chest when she reaches for him, fiddles with her hair when she sleeps so that she knows he's still there and not a dream (like he sometimes worries she is). Jason kisses her when she's happy, angry, sad, tired because he can never get enough of the smile she sends his way when he does, how she forgets about whatever was weighing her down, even for just a moment, and just delights in him being there with her.

Jason Grace is almost sixteen when he's sure he loves her.

It's on the Argo II, heading to the Roman camp, when they're lying on their bed together, talking about their future that Jason knows: he knows that he loves her and that, if he has his way, she'll be Mrs Nerissa Jackson-Grace the second they're able to be. He's never put much stock into the future – demigod, short lifespan, and he's got no memories of his past, we know – but he knows that it's Riss. Just Riss. His future is Riss. Just Riss and whatever she brings into it. (He's never thought about children, they've always been too young for that, but if a baby with Riss' hair and his eyes was to make an appearance in a few years...well, he most certainly not be opposed, regardless of their lifestyle.) For a second, after they meet Reyna, Jason worries that Riss will hate him. It's clear to all of them that Reyna still cares for him – he likely cared too, once, because even though he remembers his old life well enough, the feelings didn't really transfer over – and the disappointment in the co-leader of the Roman camp is almost palpable in the air when Jason had wiped his girlfriend's tears away after her reunion with Percy. The tension is something they can almost taste when Jason requests to show Riss around; he's sure Reyna hated that she didn't have a reason to say no. (Riss beams and, although it pains her to turn her back on Percy, even for a moment, she does because she trusts Jason.) Jason's showing Riss the sights, delighted that she loves the concept as much as he's always loved it, when it breezes through him: fear. Riss is quiet, happy but in the muted way Jason hates; it's without hesitation that he spins her into an alcove, kisses her breathless and says I love you. I'm not leaving. Her eyes go wide, fingers dart up to grasp Jason's hair and whispers you mean it? He nods, kisses her again, harder this time like he can imprint I love you into her lips, I mean it, I promise into her mind. They're walking on air. And then it all goes to shit. Like it usually does. (But they're still together and that's enough.)

Jason Grace is too young when he realizes he'll never really love again.

It's a cliché, that he'll never love anyone as much as he love his Nerissa Jackson. She's dead, gold dust on the breeze, and he rages at the sky – he tells his father quite a few things that could get him smited, promises his soul to Hades' mercy to just have her back, begs Poseidon to do something – anything, pleasepleaseplease – because how is he supposed to function without her? Even if the crew think he's being overdramatic – even though he doubts they'd ever think that, they knew how much Jason loved Riss even before he did – they don't say anything, all grieving in their own way. Piper, Jason's sure, can feel the despair radiating off him, especially now as her love-based powers are growing stronger, and she pales now and can't stay in the same room as him for very long. Leo is silent, staying in his workshop and working one of the numerous blueprints Riss had drawn up with him when things had been calmer, building everything in her honor and setting furniture alight. Hazel and Frank float around, trying to not let their grief show because they felt they didn't have a right to mourn, they'd barely known Riss and how is it fair that they're still together and Riss and Jason aren't? Percy quickly tells them to stop being idiots and presses something into their hands; later, Jason will find out that Frank was gifted Riss' bow and arrows, Hazel having gotten a brooch Riss had been gifted from a goddess at one point that she had used as a tether to control her powers. Annabeth is never seen without Riss' camp necklace, Piper always wears Riss' leather jacket, and Percy is often found training on the deck, swinging Nauticus around a little less gracefully than he does Riptide. Jason wears Riss' ring, which magically resized to fit his finger (and no one makes a comment when they realize that sometimes it migrates to the fourth finger of his left hand – he's young and heartbroken); Jason spends his long, restless nights spinning it around his finger before exhaustion claims him and he finally falls asleep in Riss' bed – their bed, in their room, one piece of his soul missing. They float like ghosts, only really coming out of their stupor when there's a threat, fighting with fury and passion to protect even if the cause seems dim at this point. Because that's what she would have wanted.

Jason Grace is sixteen when he joins the love of his life.

Caligula is stronger than expected – that dead bastard. Really, most of it is a blur but Jason feels the burn, feels the ache. He's dying, it's painful; he can hear Piper screaming and he wonders for a moment if Edgarton Day and Boarding School was the worst decision he ever made. Piper had suggested school, something to take your mind off things, Jason, and he had gone because what else did he have? Riss was gone. Percy and Annabeth were being their usual honeymoon-romantic selves, grieving but together. He'd already redesigned Camp Jupiter to include more shrines. He'd pinched some of Riss' things from her cabin, slept wrapped in her blankets when he could. What else does he have now? And although he isn't in love with Piper, he does love her, loves her enough to know that he has to protect her, protect everyone he can; besides, he's damaged goods: losing Riss has broken something in him, which garners even pitying stares from Zeus. And Piper has so much to live for. So he fights, prepares to die, and then there's nothing. Nothing until he wakes up in a lobby. The man in the Italian suit greets him – is nicer than expected, nicer than Riss joked he was; Charon is an acquired taste – and he asks his name. Jason Grace, Jason says, and the man, Charon, says Tartarus in the way that everyone knows generally means holy effing shit, we're in trouble now. Jason's not entirely sure if that's an indication of where he's heading or Charon is just swearing. He gets on the barge anyway. Because what else does he have now? And then, when Charon calls for someone called Pacalis (had there always been a god named Pacalis?) and Jason almost bursts into tears because it's Riss. Of course, it's Riss – with a hunky blond on her arm – but it's her all the same. Their reunion is not what he imagined; the man protects Riss, holds her, and has she moved on already?, before Riss' tears are slowing and they're all standing in Hades' throne room. The God of the Underworld is not happy, Jan but it's fine, because he's cradling Riss the same way as the blond was to protect. Jason swallows down the jealousy because Riss is all that matters, even if it hurts. Haltingly, they explain what Riss is now, what she agreed too; Riss cries and Jason wants to hug her more than anything.

Eventually, he gets to and it's the most glorious feeling.

Riss goes limp against him, clutches back with the same desperation and for the first time in eighteen months, Jason feels whole. He missed her, he missed her so much and, if he has his way, he's never going to let her go again. I love you he tells her, ignoring Luke's mock-gagging, and Riss says I love you too back, immediately. She tells him I wanted to see you so, so badly but it's too early, you should have had so much more time. Jason kisses her (instead of telling her I lost you too early, I got too much time without you and it was horrible). They make it to the Isles of the Blest with little fanfare and fall into Riss' bed (their bed) together, holding tight to each other like they always did, as if they thought one of them would lose the other in their sleep. Jason sighs before he's asleep, exhausted from not sleeping properly since she died, always reaching out for her warmth in the night and only finding cold sheets. It was worse at school, where the beds were so small he couldn't even trick himself into believing that she was on the other side and his nightmares of her death flared up worse than ever (his roommate thought he had PTSD or something and maybe he did). Riss was asleep almost immediately too, for the same reason as Jason, and if Luke snuck in to check on them during the night, he most definitely didn't make an IM call to show Persephone how adorable they were together. Jason's sixteen (and dead) when he's reunited with the one person who matters the most and, even though his hatred for Zeus wasn't fully fledged, his bitterness for his father would sit there for a long time; the heartbreak he felt would continue to reappear, even though it wouldn't fester now, and it was a good thing he had the rest of eternity with Riss to make up for the eighteen months without her. Time with Riss is precious and Jason will do whatever it takes to stay.

Jason Grace would have been twenty-five if he was alive.

Happily married and entering his own sort of godhood, which is less godhood and more super demigodhood that's a gift from Hades and Persephone, Jason has never felt so at peace. True, he misses his friends and sister but he's met so many wonderful people – and he'll see them again, eventually, even if it's a long, long way away from now. That's okay, he can wait. Besides, he has Riss, who's flourished into Pacalis with the grace and elegance her mother always exhibited. (Before, Jason sometimes caught Riss staring at the children in the Beckendorf Home for Lost Souls, saddened that she had missed all of Sally Jackson-Blofis' pregnancy and would never see any of Estelle Venice Blofis' milestones – named for Sally's mother and William Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice' that had a character named Nerissa. Really, Sally had to make do with what they had, given that Percy had already dibbed his twin's name for his future children. Annabeth had choked.) But that was before, before Artemis had blessed them for taking such good care of her Hunters. Now, Riss is pregnant, only a few months of having their own bundle of joy, made possible from the stubbornness of a goddess and Riss' not-quite-dead state (and does it really have to make sense, taking a gift where it's given without question is always best). Jason's filled with the fear of parenthood that does nothing to dampen his joy, which is only heightened by Riss' newfound ability to communicate with the land of the living. Percy almost has a heart attack (I am too young for this shit, Nerissa!) and Annabeth, carrying their son Neris Jackson, runs into the room only to almost drop her child at the sight of her pregnant best friend and her pretty-much-brother-in-law standing in her living room and looking very not dead and the same age as them by force of will and unexplainable magical powers. There are tears and promises of future visits before they repeat the process another dozen times with the rest of their most dearly loved ones. Thalia punches Jason in the gut before hugging him and demanding to be godmother, which is strange, given that she looks younger than Jason does now; Frank and Hazel spontaneously turn into a dolphin and erupt the ground with gold, respectively, frightening their menagerie of pets to no end; Piper is frozen mid-take, much to the director's dismay, and shouts something about never wanting to be an actress in the first place before she had almost tackles them both in a hug (she screeches over Riss' belly later); Leo covers them both in grease before he's calling desperately for Calypso to make sure he isn't dreaming (and to put Buford the Table out after an accidental surprise-induced fire); Sally and Paul are overjoyed, showing Riss and Jason every photo they've ever taken of Estelle as she sits on Jason's lap and has a 'conversation' with the Jackson-Grace baby in Riss' stomach. The most comical interaction is when Tyson freaks out, Triton faints and Poseidon destroys a whole wing of his castle because he does a happy dance while holding his trident (Amphitrite calls him an idiot). All in all, the Jackson-Grace couple have the most wonderful day of their deaths, have gone to see everyone who has ever mattered, which has definitely made up for the first courtesy call to see Zeus on Olympus. (Truly, that was worth it too: the doorman almost crapped himself when Riss told him to get out of her way because she's a mostly-dead, pregnant goddess who's starting to get hungry.)

Jason lays his head over Riss' belly after they return to their small manor in the Underworld, which now doubles as both their house and the Beckendorf home so they were never without love or laughter or the patters of little feet.

"Our baby is going to be so loved, Neri," Jason hums, fingers drifting over the large swell. "Can't believe we got bullied into having fifteen godparents. Luke is going to teach our kid how to steal and pick locks, which is going to be fun. And that's not even counting Apollo – he really needs to quit feeling guilty over me dying, for gods' sake."

"Jokes on us, my love," Riss teases. "Artemis asked for his help: we're having twins."

Jason blinks. Once, twice, thrice. Of course, he knew that twins was a genetic predisposition from the mother – Riss was a twin, Sally's mother and aunt were twins, after all – so it was more likely that they would have twins anyway but with Apollo's meddling, it's more than guaranteed. The son of Jupiter grumbles something about meddling gods before he presses a kiss to his wife's stomach and then reaches up to kiss her lips, tells her I love all three of you more than anything else in the universe and that's never going to change. They've had quite the run: thrown into regular death matches, died too early and then attained godhood in the Underworld. But, gods, their kids were going to be absolutely adored, a perfect mix of the two of them, and they were happy and healthy. Life – death, really? – is good and neither Riss nor Jason had expected that their lives were ever going to be so fulfilling, never expected Jason's sacrifice to be enough to stem the flow of new demigod children and to ensure Percy's promise was actually upheld, never expected Zeus and Hera's regret at forcing Riss into being Pacalis and ripping Jason's heart to shreds would be enough for them to break their interference promise. Now, every god and goddess have contributed to protection for every demigod child on the planet, practically putting demigod deaths to a stop as a whole; now, the only demigods Riss presided over in the Underworld were ones of old age and accidental, mortal deaths that gods usually interfered with anyway. The Seven have managed to retire and start their own families and careers; they were safe and loved, all that Riss had ever wanted for them.

And, well, they all lived happily ever after.

XXXXX

UNEDITED

Please review, let me know what you think about the conclusion to Mediterranean!

~ Raven