Percy POV

When Leo and I showed up, We were blinded by the outrageous amount of light emitting from the giant gates in front of me. We turned and saw Nico appear from a nearby tree shadow and Silvertips, Mr. King-of-the-World, Sophie, Dex, Keefe, and Biana appeared from what seemed like pure light.

"This place is brighter than my flames!" Leo exclaimed excitedly, leaning towards Snob as if sharing a big secret, "and my flames are the brightest!"

"Sorry about him." I start softly, "he's the most ADHD out of all of us."

"It's fine," Sophie says with a small smile, "as long as he knows how to keep himself under control."

"Oh, we do that for him." Nico points out.

"Cool, okay. Uhhhh, Fitz" Sophie turns to look at the snobby boy, "Let's go into Everglen, we'll eat, give them a check up with Elwin, and tomorrow we'll go to the council. Sound good?"

"Sure, Soph." He replies.

I think for a second about disappearing to avoid the doctor, but my body is still very exhausted from him, and the vapor traveling. That was the last thought that ran through my head before I heard,

"Time to play, Perseus, time to play."

Before everything went black.

(A/N I wanted to end it here, but you guys, gals and non- binary pals deserve more for the long wait.)

Nico POV

After I contributed to the conversation, I noticed Percy start to sway slightly, before his eyes glassed over and he fell to the floor. I jumped forward, catching him before he landed, worried for the boy who had become my brother.

Third POV

"Oh!" Sophie exclaimed in surprise. "Is this another one of those weird dream thingies?"

"Yeah," Nico replied breathlessly as Nico noticed small injuries showing up on Percy's prone form. "Yeah it is. Uh, he's gonna need a doctor."

"Yeah," Tam said, "We gathered that."

"Guess food will have to wait," Keefe said sadly.

"C'mon Keefe, you know Percy's well being is more important than food," Sophie said exasperated. "Let's get him inside."

Leo grabbed Percy's feet while Nico hooked his elbows under his arms and noticed splotches of blood appearing on his shirt.

"Guys! We got a guy bleeding out over hear, can we get him to a doctor?" Leo exclaimed worriedly.

"Yeah," Fitz said as he let the demigods in, "This is mine and Biana's house."

"I'll contact the doctor for you," said mostly silent Dex.

"Thanks man," Nico said tiredly, as the crew walked through the gates and to the front doors, " You got somewhere we can put him?"

"Yeah," Biana spoke up, "Follow me."

Leo and Nico followed her with Percy through winding and twisting hallways, exchanging glances between each other in concern for their brother.

"Don't worry," Sophie spoke up from beside Nico, "Elwin's the best doctor in all of the lost cities."

"Thanks," Leo said tightly.

The group continued through the halls till they reached a main gathering area with two adults conversing inside. Nico immediately passed Percy to Leo, who threw Water Boy over his shoulder in a fireman's carry easily, and drew his weapon.

"Woah, woah! Calm down! Those are just my parents." Said Fitz from a few feet behind Nico and Leo, garnering the attention of the two adults.

They turned to face the group, a woman and man of great beauty, and looking as though they are way to young to have children the ages of Biana and Fitz. They were both startled by the sight before them.

And a sight the crew must be, a group of seven elves whom they already knew, leading a group of three teens, one with a long black sword in his hand, and a small one carrying the third over his shoulder.

"Oh my!" Exclaimed the woman, Della. She turned to her husband, "Alden, go help them," Alden followed her gaze and found himself staring at the sixteen year old boy in the hands of a fifteen year old covered in blood and occasionally twitching.

Alden rushed forward in an attempt to grab Percy but Leo turned and ran behind Nico who turned his blade on Alden.

"Mom, Dad," Biana started, "these are the three unregistered elves in the forbidden cities the council sent us to retrieve."

"Yeah," Fitz picked up where she left off, "although they aren't elves, they're demigods, half god half mortal."

"Their abilities come from one of the Greek gods the humans used to believe in," Sophie continued.

"Yeah, and they just finished fighting in a war with the earth, whose husband was literal hell and decided to torture Percy, the one who's unconscious" Tam resumed.

Della gasped in distress and Alden's face grew more worrisome.

"The one holding Percy is Leo, and the other is Nico." Linh continued after her brother.

Nico put his sword away as he realized the adults were not a threat.

"He's still being tortured in his sleep," Nico added quietly.

The silence of the moment was interrupted by a loud scream wracking its way through Percy's throat. Filled with pain and suffering, it shocked everyone into action.

"Follow me to the guest rooms," Alden said urgently.

"Dex!" Sophie turned to look at her long time friend, "Is Elwin here yet?"

"Yeah!" Dex exclaimed as the large group ran through the halls. "He's making his way to the guest rooms now."

Nico and Leo, who had been silent most of the time, exchanged another glance, this time of worry. One of Percy's episodes had never lasted that long, and the injuries were getting worse, soaking Leo in Percy's blood as well.

They reached the guest rooms and Leo, though wary to put Percy down, knew that he had no choice. He laid Percy gently on the bed, and held down his legs as Nico held down his arms.

"What! What are you doing!" Keefe exclaimed, "Aren't you hurting him?"

"No," Nico grunted out, "We're stopping him from hitting himself." Nico eventually got a good enough grip to command the shadows to restrain his friend instead.

"What?" Della exclaimed softly, "you're a shade as well?"

"No," Leo answered for him, "our abilities come from our parents. His father is Hades, Lord of the Underworld, so he has the ability to control shadows, the earth, the dead, bones, ghosts and other creepy stuff. Nico is also Ghost King, and heir to the Underworld. My father is Hephaestus, the god of fire and building stuff, so I am very good at building stuff and I can control fire, a gift Hephaestus's kids rarely get. Percy's dad is Poseidon, Lord if the Seas, so he can talk to all water animals, control water, and create earthquakes. He's also the Prince of the Seas."

Nico continued to concentrate on the task at hand while continuing Leo's story, "After fighting a war against our grandfather and Leo's great grandfather, Kronos, the Lord of Time. and his army, we had to fight in another war against the earth itself, Gaea whose our great grandmother and Leo's great great grandmother. While on a quest, I fell into Tartarus, Hell, also the embodiment of Gaea's husband. I found a way out. Later, Percy and his girlfriend fell in. They were captured by Tartarus and his monster army and were tortured. His girlfriend, my sister, our cousin, and another two of our friends died in that war."

By the end, Nico had captured all of their attention with his scarily quiet voice.

"How old are you?" Della asked tentatively, afraid of the answer.

"Fifteen," replied Leo.

"Fourteen," Nico said, "I was twelve in the first war."

"Percy's seventeen," Leo continued.

Everyone went silent as they realized the implications of those statements. Their thoughtful silence broken only by the sounds of Percy's whimpers was ended as Elwin rushes into the room with his travel kit and Bullhorn not far behind.

"That's Bullhorn, my pet," He said breathlessly. "So, what'd I miss?"

Hope you liked the chapter! Gonna try and keep a regular update schedule. Love you! Bye guys, gals, and non-binary pals. 'Till next time!

- Estelle