Percy and Nico were in one of the courtyards, sitting on the wall and watching Will and Dean Thomas compete in a breakdance battle, which sounds far less entertaining than it actually was. Especially since Leo had gotten involved and was spewing fire from his feet in a cyclone as he spun on his head.

Today had been mostly uneventful. Umbridge was being cautious, the blood quills still locked away, and making do with giving students carpal tunnel instead of cutting them open.

Percy had ordered his guardians to pull back, give her some breathing room, hoping for an excuse.

Thalia still hadn't returned from the Agora, going on three days which was understandable. She hadn't seen the Hunters in over a year.

Artemis had actually been in discussions with Percy and Annabeth but mostly Annabeth about traveling with them.

Which would be pretty cool and very helpful when they had to go to Alagasiea in a few worlds.

Annabeth wanted to hammer out details before they even tried to bring them through.

Percy had met with his mom and, much to her displeasure but understanding, asked her to stay in her world.

"It's not safe. We have more and more dangerous places to go and I don't want you getting hurt."

Sally had agreed but wanted to help anyway. She ended up running the Guardian Agora stall and sales were up.

Next to him, Nico tensed.

"Neeks?" Percy asked, checking over his cousin.

"Something is wrong." He said with a thousand yard stare. "The flow has been forcibly reversed. I need to go."

He jumped off the ledge, presumably to fade into the shadows and go wherever it was he needed to go but Percy grabbed his shoulder.

"Can I come with? You're not allowed to interact directly with mortals. I am. You might need help."

Nico sighed, glancing at Will, who usually helped when schist like this happened, and Percy, who was significantly less likely to get himself hurt in the world he had to travel to.

"Alright. But follow my lead. I don't have a small army to fix any messes."

"Technically I have five armies. The Guard, the Greeks, the Romans, Annabeth, and Clarisse." Percy said as they faded into the shadows.

Shadow travel was both smoother since it was the best way for Death to Travel, and worse, because a change in dimensions was far trickier then a jump to Mcdonalds.

The came out in a forest, their attention immediently caught by what sounded like cheering.

"Returning from the dead sounds like something to celebrate." Percy said, glancing at Nico.

He had known that as the incarnation of death, Nico took on the form the majority of people around him perceived death, and thus him, as.

Nico was tall, wearing flowing white robes. His skin was emancipated and decayed, looking like he was dead himself. His face was cruel, his features reminding Percy of the Oni masks the Shinto demigods sold in the Agora. He held a tanto, his scythe in world, between his teeth, while prayer beads were wrapped around his wrist, malicious looking markings running up and down his arm.

"Let's go." Nico said, his voice sounding the same but maybe that was how Percy expected it to be.

Percy threw his hood up and turned invisible, keeping to the trees just in case as Nico glided along like a cheater.

Soon they could see the people cheering, tossing a teenager with blonde hair in an orange jumpsuit up and down.

A great wall was in the distance, encircling a town that was more rubble than town at the moment. The cliffside had five faces over looking said rubble, each as different as the last.

"Im guessing savior of the town." Percy said, pointing at the smoke.

"Agreed. But that doesn't explain how pretty much everyone here was dead earlier."

"Watch more or go check it out?" Percy asked. "You're quest leader."

Nico thought about it. "The blonde would probably know. Can you question him?"

"Sure." Percy said. "But I think it might be easier to talk to the one in the mask." He pointed to a person who was standing back, older than the boy, and presumably letting him have his moment.

"I'll talk with him later. Let's watch for now." Percy said. "See whose in charge, if we can use them, whose injured."

Nico glanced at him, his oni face not giving as much away as his more human one. "You are far more manipulative then me."

Percy sighed. "I've dealt with over fifty eternal teenagers with weapons and dozens of immortals over the past 75 years. If you want anything done, you get creative." He shot Nico a smirk. "Annabeth is far better at it. She taught me the basics."

They sat in the tree, watching as the mortals started repairs and set up tents.

The silver haired man vanished into a tent, followed by the blond.

Percy transformed into a cat, all black fur and glittering green eyes, jumping from the tree and landing with ease.

A layer of Mist wrapped around him, making both civilians and shinobi, as the strong one's with greater life energy wearing the metal headbands were called, either ignore or see nothing strange about the cat.

Percy plodded into the tent the silver-haired man and blonde had gone into.

Laying on a futon was a very elderly woman, her life energy exceedingly low but obviously very strong.

A brown haired woman was tending to her, the emotional attachment obvious. A daughter or apprentice.

"How is she?"

"She's used up much of her chakra. I don't know if she'll ever wake."

Percy slipped out of the tent. This was private. Maybe he would heal that lady before he left.

His sensitive cat ears picked up someone singing and he veered that way. Where there was music, there was a crowd, and where there was a crowd, there was gossip. He would talk to the silver haired shinobi later. For now, he had other things to do.
----------
"So he was using a perfect henge?" Kakashi asked, watching the black haired green eyed boy from behind a window.

The T&I underground detention cells, one of the only government buildings to survive the attack, were now used to hold a teenaged boy who was trained, but not as shinobi.

"A perfect cat. Low chakra, perfect weight. An Inuzuka said he even smelled like cat."

"How did you catch him?"

"Cats don't dance."

Kakashi raised a single brow just as the kid yelled "It was catchy!"

Both Ibiki and Kakashi startled, drawing weapons. He had somehow heard them through three-inch glass from a soundproof room.

"Why did you call me?" Kakashi asked as the kid went back to reading his book. It was sea green with a picture of a kid in an orange shirt standing in the ocean with a raiton engulfing his hand. 

"Until you got here the only thing he would say was nonsensical ramblings-"

"They were Vines! Vine is not dead!"

"And that he wanted to talk to you. Says he needs to ask you something."

The kid was locked down pretty tightly, leather and metal restraints trying down his entire forearms and legs, the chair bolted to the floor chains attached to his neck. Chakra suppressing seals had been applied liberally. His fingers were free, letting him hold the book, although with difficulty.

And yet he somehow exhued an air that he could leave at anytime.

"I'll talk to him."  Kakashi said.

"Excellent." The boy said grinning.

"For the love of God will someone come fix the privacy seals!" Ibiki yelled and the kid laughed.

Kakashi went straight in, pulling up a chair and strattling it. "I heard you want to talk to me."

"I did." The kid said. "Im Percy."

"Kakashi, although you already knew that."

Percy grinned, not even trying to deny it.

"So I hear you can turn into a pretty convincing cat."

"I can turn into a lot of things." Percy admitted. "I prefer this form though but nothing is quite like the head rush you get in a few hundred foot dive or the feeling of hundred of tons of water bearing down you or the impossible foot rests your hooves find as you scale a practically vertical cliff."

"Can't say I've ever experienced any of those." Kakashi said. "I personally enjoy running with my ninkin."

"Ninkin?"

"My tracking dogs."

"Oh. The Kynigoi have hunting wolves but the Kidemonas don't. We don't really need them."

"Kidemonas?"

Percy grinned. "My family. Over fifty strong and just like me."

"Just like you, huh?"

"Yeah." Percy grinned, terrifuingly similar to Anko's just before she messed with someone's head. "It's a scary world put there. Best for us Kami to travel in groups."

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Thanks to everyone who spread last chapter's message. Here's your prize. Please stop PMing me about it.