The next morning, everyone was... well, acted fine. No one mentioned Nico's hoodie on the hot day, Jason's bloodied and scabbed fists or the way Frank pushed his food around on his plate. No one mentioned the bags under Annabeth's eyes, nor the scars along her arms. No one mentioned Piper's inability to laugh, nor Hazel's silence. 

That breakfast was peaceful- until someone appeared in the dining pavilion out of thin air. All the older campers immediately jumped up, drawing their weapons, but the figure held their casual pose, seemingly unfazed. "Stand down."

An aura of charmspeak washed over them, making them hesitate, weapons lowering a few inches, but the people that were a part of the Giant War lifted them back up as soon as they lowered.

"Who are you?" Chiron asked, standing and motioning for the campers to move away. "What is your purpose here?"

"I have no ill intent," the figure spoke, their voice holding such authority Annabeth wondered if it was a god in disguise.

The figure... They didn't really have features. They did, but if you tried to focus on anything, it would shift, changing changing. Everything was constantly changing- their eyes, hair, nose, lips, skin tone, almost looking like a glitch, flickering below the surface.

"Your camp is in danger. War criminals have escaped and are targeting this camp, for reasons unknown. I am here to help."

Chiron stomped one of his hooves when panic broke out of the crowds. "Everyone please return to your cabins for the moment. Cabin heads, stay here."

Several minutes later, the leaders of each cabin were standing by Chiron, the figure remaining eerily still the entire time. Jason, Will, Clarisse, Thalia, Travis, Piper, Annabeth, Katie, Leo, Nico, as cabin heads, remained, but as part of the seven, Hazel and Frank stayed as well.

"What makes you think we're being targeted?" Annabeth spoke up, unable to keep herself from asking the question that had been pressuring her for quite a while. "How do you know they've broken out? Where have they broken out from?"

The person grimaced, avoiding looking at her, instead staring straight ahead- very soldier-like. "They've escaped from Kenós- The Void."

The campers looked confused, but Chiron paled, his voice lowering into a pained whisper. "How can you be sure?"

"Direct reports from the dimension, sir."

"Void?"

"Yes, sir. They are very communicative- they like having their prisoners. They want them back as much as we want them gone."

"Has there been a prophecy?"

"No- The prophecy only works for this dimension's fate. External forces are not controlled by the Fates."

Chiron cursed. "Who sent you? How do we know we can trust you? Who do you work for?"

"My name is Solus. I was sent by a higher-up. You don't- you simply have to accept that without my help, this mortal plane is doomed."

"Chiron-"

"Shush," Chiron hushed Annabeth, looking extremely concerned, clearly focused. She looked taken aback but stayed quiet. 

"What do you need?" he asked after several minutes of silence.

"The leaders of the giant war. Their expertise is required to complete the mission."

"Mission?"

"Yes, sir. We need to go to the Void."

Chiron's face set in a hard line. "That is a suicide mission. I'm not sending my kids off to certain death."

"With all due respect, sir, you've never been to the Void. It's not nearly as bad as you think- as long as you're not a prisoner."

"What is going on?" Jason finally demanded. Chiron sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What's the Void? Why us? Why are we being targeted? Who escaped?"

"The Void is the Alcatraz of the Primordial plane. The worst people, creatures, immortals- They're sent there instead of Tartarus. It's also where the faded cultures and immortals go, though not for the prison aspect. It's run by Void- the Jailer, and conveniently the Jail House as well. As for who escaped..." The figure winced slightly. "Several beings escaped. The primary issue is Uranus, as well as an Egyptian deity Nut."

Annabeth paled. "The two Universes."

The figure nodded curtly. "And they've brought a dozen lesser evils with them."

Now everyone looked panicked. 

"Why us?" Nico spoke up, looking up at the figure.

"You've been through this before. You're the best soldiers this world has to offer."

Silence. 

"We're the best chance the world has got?" Leo suddenly spoke, letting out a bitter laugh. "Then this world is fucked. The only person who knew how to assemble us as a team is fucking dead and we're all fucking wrecks. Look at us, for fucks sake! I can't go an hour without a mental breakdown. Frank throws up every three minutes, Nico's going to end up killing himself before he's 25, Annabeth- fuck, I don't even know what's wrong with Annabeth, Hazel doesn't talk, Jason can't control his stupid fucking temper, Piper- I don't know what's wrong with Piper either- Jesus Christ we're fucked!" Leo clutched his hair, tugging at it, letting out a crazed laugh. "We're all fucked! Oh my god! Everyone's going to die!"

"Hey!" Jason shoved Leo by the shoulder, scowling. "No need to say all that! The fuck is wrong with you?"

"Oh I'm sorry, did you have any objections?" Leo threw his hands in the air, gesturing around at the group of them. "Look at us! We murdered one person, now we're going to murder the entire fucking universe because of it!"

"We didn't murder him!" Annabeth snapped, pressing her hands over her ears. "Shut up!"

"Okay miss I'm going to invade on someone's privacy!" Jason shouted, whirling on Annabeth now. "We all fucked up, but really?!"

Leo was muttering under his breath, pacing and clutching his hair, smoke curling up from his body. 

"I was worried for him! Besides, you agreed!"

"This is not the time to bring this up for the first time in seven years! We didn't talk about it then, we're not starting now!" Piper spoke this time, glaring at Jason and Annabeth. "Both of you cut it out!"

Thunder sounded as Jason grit his teeth. Annabeth had her hands pressed over her ears. Leo was on fire, shaking his head and muttering frantically under his breath. Nico was pulling his sleeves even further down his hands, the shadows flickering uneasily around him. Frank looked sick to his stomach, Hazel was staring off into space, Piper was trying to stop Jason from getting even more pissed off.

"Leo was right," the figure spoke, their voice powerful enough to draw everyone's attention as their appearance flickered rather aggressively. "You guys are fucking wrecks. What happened to you?" The flickering seized. Everyone sent dead silent as Percy stood before them, looking distraught. "Are you fucking serious? I leave and everyone goes fucking batshit? Pull yourselves the fuck together because we have a world to save. We leave tomorrow. Pack for a three year trip, and make sure to find your fucking minds before we leave."

Percy cursed, shaking his head. "No, that wasn't right."

-

Thunder sounded as Jason grit his teeth. Annabeth had her hands pressed over her ears. Leo was on fire, shaking his head and muttering frantically under his breath. Nico was pulling his sleeves even further down his hands, the shadows flickering uneasily around him. Frank looked sick to his stomach, Hazel was staring off into space, Piper was trying to stop Jason from getting even more pissed off.

"Enough!" the figure shouted. "Grace, calm down. Your anger is helping no one. Valdez, count to thirty-five. If you mess up, start over. Zhang, close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Smell the air, focus on the freshness. Mclean, you can't fix everything, let other people fix themselves. Chase, stop blocking it out and accept what's happening. You can't deny everything forever. Once you all do that, pack up to leave. We'll be gone for three months minimum, eight years tops."

As the figure stormed away, Chiron smiled, despite himself. 

Thank god their hero was back in their time of need.