AN: Hey guys, here with chapter 23. Not much to say except thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites, keep it up and I will keep bringing the chapters :). Anyways enjoy the chapter, kind of short, could be called a filler. Chapter 24 is going to be long, I promise. Until next time, pce.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 23

Thalia slept for the whole day, only waking up to the sound of the conch horn that signaled dinner.

She sat up, swaying slightly, still drunk from her slumber. She rubbed her eyes, taking in the room around her. When she had first arrived here, it had been brightly lit, lights from the ceiling illuminating the entire area. However now, the only light source was the small dimly lit lamp beside her bed, providing the smallest visual around her.

Once she gained her bearings, her mind recalled everything that had occurred. She took in a sharp breath, "I'm really alive."

Her mind wondered the topic for a moment longer before a voice broke her attention.

"Yes, you are." A voice she recognized said from the blaring darkness in front of her.

She was about to ask who, when the lights in the room came to life, chasing away the shadows to their hidden corners.

The darkness faded away to reveal the speaker, his light green eyes boring into her. She didn't understand why but they seemed to be filled with gentleness, gentleness towards her.

"Ace…" She said recalling his name from their prior encounter.

His lips twitched, revealing the ever so slight smile. He walked up to her bed and took a seat on the stool beside it.

Thalia tensed, not knowing this alien or what his intentions were.

"Relax," his smile more visible now, "I am just here to talk."

"About what?" She asked, still cautious.

"Your friend Luke." He replied, studying her reaction.

She narrowed her eyes at him. He had brought this up before, but hadn't gotten the chance to tell her.

"What about Luke?"

"I am a straight forward person," he sighed, "so I am not going to beat around the bush. The big prophecy, it's in play already, and your friend is the harbinger of the destruction it foretells."

Thalia's eyes shot open when she realized the meaning behind his words, her mind running through thoughts at a million miles a minute, before they settled on one. "You're lying." She glared at the boy in front of her.

"I am only telling you this is because Chiron, or your friend Annabeth, might make it seem like there is hope for him when they tell you of this." He said, his voice losing all sense of emotion.

"Shut up." Thalia growled. "Why would Luke ever betray the gods?"

"How do you think you are alive?" He asked, throwing her off her anger.

"What are you getting at?" She asked, her glare still evident.

"He poisoned your tree," he said as she inhaled sharply, "Percy, Clarisse and Annabeth managed to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Sea of Monsters, which saved your tree, bringing you back to life in the process."

Her glare slowly ebbed away to a look of surprise, and a hint of hurt. Luke was like her brother, and if he did what Ace claimed, then…

"But why?" She whispered.

"He was angey. He felt neglected by his father, and then when they made him repeat one of Hercules' quests, which he failed, he became even more estranged." Ace explained, giving her a comforting smile. "Also the fact that you got turned into a tree instead of being salvaged had something to do it too, slightly."

"Well, I am fine now." She said, already knowing the answer to the question she was going to ask. "Can't we just talk to him? He might be willing to come back."

"You can try, that's the only way you will understand that he's too far gone." Ace sighed.

"Let's go out and search for him. I know I can talk some sense into him, he always listened to me." She said swinging her legs off of the bed.

She heard Ace let out a small laugh. "What?"

"You can't leave camp right now." He chuckled. She was about to retort but he beat her to it. "You will have your chance, sooner or later. But for now stick with Percy, train together. You might able to find out that you two have a lot in common."

She studied the boy in front of her. She tried to decipher every word he spoke; his every moment. But she was quite surprised when she came up blank, she always believed that she could see through people, even if it was just a little bit, however the boy in front of her was like a locked chest, whose keys were nowhere in sight.

Her mind circled around his words, thinking about the boy he mentioned; Percy Jackson. She couldn't believe that Poseidon had broken the oath as well. Who's the prophecy about? The back of her consciousness wondered.

"You want me to train with him?" She asked after a while. "I could kill him you know, big three kids never got along."

The sound of his amused chuckle entered her ears, confusing her ever so slightly. "If he is killed by you, then that is his fate. But I think you will be quite surprised to find that his skills are more than adequate."

"Adequate in your eyes isn't the same in mine." She smirked.

"You're right," he relied softly, her smirk widening only for a moment before disappearing completely, "what's satisfactory in my eyes can be considered mastery to others."

Her smirk was replaced with a frown. This was the second time he had insinuated that he was a better fighter than her, and her pride wouldn't allow her to sit idly about it.

She opened her mouth to speak, but, once again, he beat her to it. "I don't mean to insult you, I know you are very proficient with your spear and shield."

She didn't know how to respond to his somewhat of an indirect apology.

She sighed. "Alright, I will try to get along with him."

"I am telling you to get to know him for both of yours sake you know."

She arched her brows at him, slightly interested.

"You just came back to life, aside from Annabeth, everyone is wary of you. That's almost the same for him. Aside from me, Grover and Tals, he doesn't have people here that he can call a friend, but considering we aren't year-rounder's, and Grover has his search, he's always by himself." He explained.

She looked at him confused. The only reason campers were year-rounder's were due to them having issues with their mortal parent.

"Why is he here all year then? What happened to his mom?" She asked before she could reel in her thoughts. She too had mortal parent issues, and she hoped that she wasn't intruding on his private matters.

"I made him leave his mom and stay in camp, it's safer for both of them this way." He replied stoically. "All he does these days is train and take mortals school classes with Chiron."

"You told him to leave his mom behind, and he just agreed?" Thalia asked, surprised at how obedient Percy was towards Ace.

"Like I said, it's safer for them, and Percy was willing to do anything to make sure his mom stayed safe." He replied with a sad smile that she didn't understand.

Her mind wandered to her mortal parent. I wonder how she's doing.

"She's fine you know." Ace said after a beat of silence.

She looked at him confused. "Percy's mom?"

He looked at her for a moment before he shook his head slightly, his next words shocking her greatly. "Yours." He breathed.

"Y-you..." she stuttered, "You know my mom?" Not even Annabeth or Luke had had the chance to meet her mortal parent.

"After finding out about you and your situation couple years ago, I researched everything. I then went to see your mom, wondering how she was doing, and to see what kind of woman would catch Zeus' eyes." He chuckled at his own lie, Thalia listening intently.

"She had been in a car accident," her heart clenched, "drunk driving."

"She wasn't in the best of conditions, but I made sure she got out of the hospital okay." She could feel her face getting wet, realizing that she was crying. "The people at Camp had informed her that Grover had found you, and was going to bring you back to camp, but no one told her that you got turned into a tree. She was living her life thinking you were safe within camp."

A sob escaped her lips and she brought up her hands to cover it. "D-did you…did you tell her anything?" She whispered, her voice sounding broken.

"No," he said handing her a towel from the table beside her bed, "I thought it was best she didn't know, no need to make her worry."

She wiped her face of the salty waters, absorbing in everything.

They sat in the comfort of the silence, Thalia not understanding anything about the boy in front of her. Her mind was a jumbled mess with all of the questions she had, but she focused on one that she needed to understand.

She took in a deep breath, calming her voice and nerves. "Why?" She asked, she had given up deciphering the boy and just gave him a pleading look to be honest.

"Why what?" He asked, giving her an innocent smile.

"Why are you helping me? You don't even know me." She said sternly.

There was moment of silence before she heard him chuckle. "I don't what you want me to say." He said, much to her disappointment; she didn't what she was expecting him to say but she knew that answer wasn't it. "But you could say that I didn't want what happened to me happening to you."

Her eyes widened at his meek smile. "What do you mean?" She asked. But she already knew the answer, and she thought herself stupid for asking the question.

"When my mother died for my sake, I took it upon myself to make sure no one else would have to face that again." His eyebrows sank, replacing his smile.

She wanted to find out more, but his expression had silenced the young demigoddess. However, she couldn't believe what he had just said. Due to his mom dying, he makes sure no other demigods experience that. She was baffled, more because she knew she couldn't do that, no, she knew she wouldn't be able to do that.

At his next words, she wondered if the boy in front of her could read minds, or if she was just easy to read. "Don't get the wrong idea, I don't do this for everyone. I am not that nice."

This brought up her previous question once again. "So why me? We had no prior interactions." She asked.

"You could say because of your situation. Once you came back to life, you would have felt guilty knowing that your mother died after you ran away." He explained, which confused her even more.

"You knew that I was going to come back to life?" She asked frozen in her seat.

This conversation between them was like a roller-coaster ride for her, with twists and turns at every word.

"I was planning on getting you out of the tree. The fleece was one of my methods, but I didn't need to anything in the end." He gave her a warm smile, his frown regarding the previous topic long gone. "Looks like fate itself wanted you alive as well."

"Ace…" she started, but he cut her off, his smile growing wider.

"No need for thanks. At the end of the day, we are family after all. We have to stick together to survive in this gods forsaken world they brought us into."

"Right," she could feel the smile on her face, "well thanks anyway."

They returned to silence once again.

"Well let's going," he said after a while, standing up and extending to her a hand as she raised a brow at him, "it's dinner time."

She took his hand and steadied herself on her feet, all the while the smile plastered on her face.

"You know, your friend must've been lying, you're quite nice." She said as they left the medical building.

"Of course she was lying, I am awesome. Plus she loves me, she just doesn't want to admit it." Ace smirked as they made their way towards the Mess Hall.

The campers that were walking beside them stole firm glances at the duo, something which they were both indifferent to.

Ace and Thalia walked into the Mess Hall, making light conversation, as all eyes turned on them.

Thalia stopped her stride, staring back at the dozens of eyes that dug into her.

Ace noticed that she wasn't beside him anymore and turned back to look at her. She wasn't worried about what the campers thought, but there was a hint of apprehension on her face.

"Come on Sparky, Chiron is waiting," he pulled her hand, a smile gracing her lips, "besides, small fish never bite the bait that's bigger than them, all they can do is stare."

Her mouth released an unintentional giggle at his joke.

"How do you feel my dear?" Chiron asked with a warm smile as they approached the head table.

She stared at the trainer of heroes, actually getting a good look at him for the first time. His brown hair mopped on his head, reaching below his ears. His thick brown beard that would've covered his entire face, side his nose and eyes, was trimmed short. His brown eyes stared at her, almost disbelievingly, as if she wasn't standing in front of him. He was sitting on a wheelchair that she knew hid the rest of him, the most important part.

"I am fine Chiron, kind of hungry." She replied softly, her voice no longer horse like it had been previous to her slumber.

"That's good, well it is dinner time so eat as much as you like." Chiron said. He turned his eyes to the man beside him as she followed his gaze. The pudgy man that looked like a cherub with violet eyes stared at her intently, something which was unnerved her. She felt as if he could see right through her, something which she didn't like.

"Mr. D," Chiron said once he realized the man beside him wasn't saying anything. The man finally shifted his gaze away from her and sighed.

"Yes, well welcome to the camp Miss Galia. I hope you will do your best to keep out of trouble." Mr. D said, his voice thick with indifference.

Her eyebrows eyes shot up, not understanding what the man beside her was talking about. "Who…" she started but was cut off by the boy beside her.

"That's Dionysus, our local drunkard. His hobbies include, but are not limited to, being lazy, and taking extra care to disrespect everyone he meets." Ace exclaimed with a smirk.

Thalia's eyes widened as she stared at the immortal in front of her before her eyes spread even further, in shock, at Ace's words.

She nervously glanced between the god and her new acquaintance, worried for his sake. But nothing happened, all Dionysus did was just frown at Ace, while he continued to smirk.

"One of these days brat, I will make you go insane." Mr. D growled as Ace's smirk only grew.

"Heh," Ace snorted, "can't make an insane person go more insane, but you're welcome to try."

"Ace," Chiron sighed, as if he was used to the enmity between the god and the mortal, "please take your seat, it's time to start dinner." He turned to Thalia and smiled, "my dear," he gestured to the empty table that she knew belonged to her cabin.

Even though she didn't actually arrive within camp, she had already heard how things worked from Grover, who brought it upon himself to explain everything to them in detail during their journey.

"Are you allowed to talk to him like that?" Thalia asked as they made their way towards the table.

"No, but who cares, am I right?" He laughed, making her worry even more for the boy's sake. He was too forward with his words, and it could lead to a lot of trouble.

He noticed her concerned stare, "Don't worry. I know my limits. Go sit down and eat." He walked over to the girl she had seen before, Talitha, or Tals as she said, and sat down.

She sighed and walked towards the empty table, noticing Percy glance at her as she walked by.

"You feeling better now?" He gave her a smile, but his eyes betrayed him. His deep sea green eyes told the uncertainty he felt about how he should interact with the daughter of Zeus, and she was sure her eyes did the same.

"Yea, I'm fine now." She replied awkwardly.

They looked at each other for a little longer before they shifted their gazes, and she walked away to her table.

XXXXXXXX

"Don't shy away," the blond haired boy instructed, "meet the blow head on. Let your opponents know that there stands a mountain behind every single one of your strikes."

"How am I supposed to do that if the opponent is stronger than me?" The black haired boy groaned, parrying another sword strike from his comrade.

"Then become stronger than them," the blond haired boy growled, "there is no excuses available to you on the battlefield. All it comes down is the fact that whether you are powerful, or you aren't. Remember Perce that in a fight, nothing else exists, all that matters is you and your opponents."

Ace and Percy were currently sword practicing, Tals, Thalia and Annabeth watching from the side.

"Hmm," Thalia hummed, studying the swordplay in front of her, "he is pretty good."

"Of course," Tals smiled, "There's no one in camp that can beat Percy."

"I was talking about Ace." Thalia replied.

Thalia noticed Tals smile widen from the corner of her eyes, but she didn't say anything.

"Alright, that's it for now." Ace said dropping his sword to his side.

Percy was out of breath and looked like he had run a mile, while Ace was calm as ever, only the little breaths of sweat indicating that he'd been active.

"Are you even human?" Percy groaned, slowly regaining his composure.

"A human with a lot of skills and stamina." Ace laughed as the duo walked towards the group of girls.

"So," Ace said looking at Thalia, "what do you think?"

"About what?" Thalia replied.

"Think you can take him in a fight?" Ace smiled grabbing Percy's shoulder.

Percy looked at her expectantly, waiting for her answer. She could see his eyes were hopeful, but she wasn't sure of what.

She looked back at Ace, his eyes only holding mirth and amusement. "I think I can manage." She said turning back to Percy with a smirk.

She was expecting him to be arrogant and refute her, but all she saw was a exciting grin.

"I'm really glad to hear that," Percy exclaimed, increasing her confusion, "I'll finally have someone I can train with."

Only then did she realize that he had no arrogance towards people we challenged him, his love for combat driving him to take everything head on. She then realized that in that sense, Percy and Ace were a lot similar.

"Don't be rude Percy," Tals said, "I heard Annabeth can give you a run for your money."

Percy's expression turned sombre as he glanced at the daughter of Athena with an apologetic smile. "Ah sorry Annabeth, I didn't mean anything…" He was cut off by said girl.

"It's okay Percy, I know I can't give you a real challenge." She smiled. "Plus I use a dagger while you use a sword, I can maneuver better and dodge your attacks. That's the only reason I am able to fight you."

Percy accepted her reply with only a slight smile. "We getting in spear practice in too?" He turned back to look at Ace.

"No," he shook his head, "We were planning to head out."

"Oh." Percy said, his gaze suddenly looking dejected. He had forgotten that summer was almost over and his two friends were going to leave for a year again.

Ace smirked at his friend. "Want to come stay at my place for a week?"

Percy's eyes shot open as he turned to look at his friend. "Hells yeah I do." Percy almost shouted.

"Let's go talk to Chiron." Ace started for the exist of the Arena.

"You guys can come too," Tals said looking at the two girls, "this might be a good chance for Thalia to get a look at the outside world." Talitha felt weird calling someone else her name, even if that person was her.

"That would be great, hopefully Chiron lets us go." Thalia exclaimed.

"Where do you guys live?" Annabeth asked as they trio followed Ace and Percy to the Big House.

"Manhattan." Tals replied.

"You guys own an apartment or something?" She asked with her brow raised. She was very interested at how two underaged demigods managed to live in Manhattan.

"Well not really an apartment," Tals replied, "you'll see."

This only served to increase Annabeth's interest even more.

"Who do you guys live with?" She continued on with her inquiries.

"Just us, and a couple of friends." Annabeth opened her mouth again, but Tals beat her to it. "No more questions, just wait and you will see."

Annabeth closed her mouth promptly as her ears turned slightly red.

Tals and Thalia laughed as they walked into the Big House.

XXXXXXXXX

"You live here?" Percy exclaimed staring up at one of the tallest buildings in Tribeca, Manhattan.

"Yea, Why?" Ace replied. "I know it's nothing special, but I decorated the inside really nicely."

"Ace, did you forget to mention that you were rich?" Percy asked incredulously. He didn't know much about housing, but he was sure that a months rent in this place would cover his mom's apartment for multiple months.

"I didn't think it mattered." Ace replied giving Percy a curious glance.

Percy felt his face heat up a little, "it doesn't. But I mean dude, like this place is like super duper expensive."

"Really? When I bought it, it didn't cost that much."

Annabeth let out a nervous laugh. "You make it sound like you own the building."

Ace turned to her with a blank look.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"He does." Tals said laughing at their expressions. Even she was surprised when he said he wanted to by the entire building.

They all stared wide eyed at the lime green eyed boy.

"My boy, how did you acquire such finances?" Chiron asked giving Ace a nervous glance. He had tagged along with the small group to make sure they stayed out of trouble. With two kids of the big three together, he thought they would end up in a mess one or another.

"I took gold and jewels from the Underworld, and then sold it off to the mortals. After I bought this place and renovated it, I invested the rest of the money into stocks." Ace said with a shrug as everyone, side Tals, stared at him in horror.

"You what?" Thalia almost shouted.

"I took gold from Hades…"

"And he didn't try to kill you?" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Heh," he chuckled, "we have a mutual understanding."

"How much worth of gold did you take?" Chiron asked warily. This was the first time he had heard of someone taking something from Hades and living to tell the tale.

"Something in the tenth digits." He murmured, their jaws dropping below their necks.

The group was silent, the only noise present was the buzz of the city around them.

"How much did you spend on the building?" Percy asked after a long while.

"Couple of millions," Ace sighed, "look guys, I'm filthy rich. Can we get over that?"

"How do we get over a 14 year old billionaire?" Thalia gaped.

"Yea, how do you handle the money with the mortals? You're underage." Annabeth stated.

"I have someone who takes care of that, she's great." Ace smirked. He turned to look at Percy.

"Who?" Percy asked.

"You'll see, come on." Ace said and walked towards the door that lead inside the building.

"Mr. Everhart," the doorman said with a smile, "would you like to enter or no?"

"Bernard." Ace turned to the group with a smile, "is a son of Janus." They stared at the doorman with looks of surprise. He was a middle aged man with average height, brown eyes, and brown hair that leaked out from under his uniform hat. "But he isn't that good when it comes to presenting choices, are you Bernard?"

"I try." Bernard laughed.

"This place is crawling with demigods who grew up and are finding it hard to integrate into society. He gave them a job and a place to stay." Tals explained.

"Wow, you really do care after all." Percy muttered, earning a smile from everyone present.

"Shut it Sheep Boy." Ace smirked. "Plus I needed people to run this place, and it's better to have demigods than mortals, less to explain when something out of the ordinary happens"

"Thank you my boy. Thank you for taking care of them." Chiron said.

Ace shrugged and walked inside the building.

"I thought this was a residence building." Annabeth said as they walked through the grandiose lobby. There were dozens of paintings that hung on the walls, antics that were depicting battles or beautiful sceneries. Most of the paintings were Greek Mythology related.

"It was, before I reorganized it." Ace said heading towards the concierge desk.

"What is it now?" Percy asked looking at the beautiful artwork.

"First five floors are the restaurants. Then floor six to ten are the casino floors. Following that are floors eleven to twenty, which are the hotel and apartment sections; hundred suits each floor. Floor twenty-one is the open gym, twenty-two is the weight gym. Floor twenty-three and twenty-four are the Showers, hot tubs and steam rooms. And twenty-five to thirty are mine personally." Ace explained as they listened with shock.

"Dude…." was all Percy managed to say.

"Feel free to use whatever you want. I'll let the secretary know that you are on the guest list, access to everything for free." Tals smirked.

"I think I am going to like it here." Thalia laughed.

"What's on the last six floors?" Annabeth asked.

"The Library, two floors of living area for us and the workers, the Arena, the armory" Tals stole a glance at Ace, "and his Office, in that order"

"Library?" Annabeth's eyes shot open. She was looking forward to seeing what kind of collection Ace had acquired.

"Office?" Thalia asked.

"We call it his office, but no one knows what's on the last floor. We don't have access to it." Tals lied. She couldn't tell them what was truly on the last floor.

Everyone turned to Ace with a raised eyebrow.

"Can…" Annabeth started but was cut off.

"Absolutely off limits." Ace said promptly, his voice saying the matter wasn't up for discussion.

No one said anything else as they came up to the desk clerk.

"Mr. Everhart." The blonde haired woman behind the desk smiled.

"Natalie, how is everything going?"

"Everything is fine sir, except we had a small disturbance, but it was nothing the guards couldn't take care of." Natalie replied. If the girl in her late twenties was bothered by calling a boy half her age sir, she didn't let on.

"Occasionally we have monster attacks, but sons of Ares as security guards takes care of the problem." Tals explained smiling.

"Are you a Half-Blood too my dear?" Chiron inquired.

"Yes Chiron," Natalie smiled, "I was a camper more than a decade ago. My name is Natalie Cartman I am a daughter of Hecate."

"Ah Miss Cartman, yes I remember you dear. I apologize that you weren't recognized by your heritage at Camp and had to be settled in the Hermes cabin." Chiron said sadly.

"It's was no biggie, I only came in the summer anyways." Natalia waved off the topic.

"How did you find out that you were a daughter of Hecate?" Annabeth asked.

"My mother told me in a dream, most minor gods just tell their kids who they are directly in a dream or vision, instead of claiming them."

"Why?" Percy asked.

"For Minor gods, there's no point in publicly claiming their children. Unless you are a child of an Olympian, no one cares." Ace stated, his voice laced with bitterness and annoyance.

"Are you a child of a minor god?" Annabeth ask, remembering that Ace wasn't claimed.

"Who knows, no one ever claimed me, publicly or personally." Ace shrugged. "Anyways, keep up the good work Natalie."

Ace headed away from the desk and started for the elevator when Natalia called out from behind.

"Mrs. Jackson was looking for you." Percy's ears perked up at that.

""Sally's not going to be happy knowing that you're calling her Mrs. Jackson behind her back." Tals smirked.

"Oh hush up Tals." Natalie laughed.

"My mom was here?" Percy asked as his brows shot up.

"So you're Percy Jackson, I've heard a lot of about you." Natalia said turning to look at Percy.

"From who?" Percy questioned.

"Your mom of course," Natalia said, "we talk all the time."

"How do you know my mom?" Percy asked looking surprised.

Natalie looked confused at his question. She glanced at Ace before speaking. "I know her because she lives here, right on floor twenty-six."

"She does?" Percy turned to Ace, shocked.

"Surprise…" Ace chuckled.

"What's my mom doing living here? How?" Percy asked hurriedly.

"Relax Percy, I just talked her into coming to live here after your first quest. I told her it would be safer. She was hesitant at first but she eventually gave in." Ace explained as Percy stared at him, baffled.

"Ace…" Percy started but stopped. He didn't know what to say. A friend he encountered by chance had changed his life entirely, and gave him almost everything he has now. His safety with his training, and now his mom's safety.

"You don't have to say anything. Plus she wouldn't allow me to let her live here for free." Ace smirked.

Percy chuckled knowing how his mother's personality. "Does she pay rent or something?"

"Don't be an idiot. I let her live here and pay for her college, and in exchange she's my connection to the mortal world." Ace said. "At first it was some mortal accountant I controlled using the mist, but she takes care of it for me now."

"She's even going to college now." Percy exclaimed. He was becoming teary eyed at the fact that his mother was able to live her dream, instead of worrying about him.

"NYU Percy, top of her class in everything." Natalie called out behind him.

"Ace I don't how to thank you…" Percy said but Ace cut him off.

"Don't be an idiot. There's no need for thanks between friends who are like brothers." Ace smiled.

Percy chuckled. "You're right."

Ace turned to look at Thalia, noticing that she was staring at him intently, no doubt wondering how the boy in front of her made these things happen.

"I tried to bring yours too," he muttered as Thalia and Chiron went stiff, "but she wouldn't agree."

"You know Beryl Grace?" Chiron asked, his voice low as a whisper.

"Yea," Ace replied, "I thought we established that I know everything Chiron."

The old teacher let out a small smile at those words, he was really starting to believe it.

"Who is Beryl Grace?" Annabeth asked looking at Thalia and Chiron.

"Thalia's mother." Chiron sighed, as Annabeth looked surprised.

"Why…" Thalia whispered, trying to reign in her emotions, "why didn't she want to come?"

"Honestly, I don't know. She never gave me a reason, just kept saying no." Ace sighed. "But don't worry. I will go see her again, I am sure she will eventually cave in just like Sally."

Thalia stared, still unable to understand the boy in front of her. "Thanks Ace, thanks for everything." She said after a moment.

"No need for thanks, we're all friends here," Ace smiled, "now let's go."

He headed to the elevators with them on his heels.