Spoilers possible!

[teamme]

 Hey, hey mun. One word of advice from the big Leo himself:

Chill.

I know how the ending looked, and I know we still have a year to wait before we know what happens but it's all going to be fine- as long as we don't trust my luck anyway. I paid the price, but I'm going to get them back now.

..Oh, and kudos for finally making this account. Took you a while, couldn't handle the Leo?

Comments

[yearrounder]

Glad to know mine's not the only one freaking out.

[teamme]

[His 'all is good' smile flatters a bit because seeing Annabeth makes it all even more real- but whaaaatever he's got this.]

And they aren't even the ones dealing with all this, right? Muns. Crazier than Romans.

[yearrounder]

Oh, yeah. The Underworld is even better than around here.

[teamme]

You sure know how to give a guy hope.

[He's suddenly reminded why Annabeth was the 'scary blond girl' for a while in his head.]

Munny treating you badly?

[yearrounder]

OH, no, not at all. I totally volunteered to live in the Underworld by myself all on my own.

[teamme]

Waaaaitaminute- [He had assumed she was talking about the fall into Tartarus, but...]

You mean your mun sent you there?

[yearrounder]

Yep. It's been more than a year.

[teamme]

Huh. [Sorry wouldn't begin to cover it.]

I- hope you're doing ok in there?

[yearrounder]

Not really, no.

[teamme]

I- well, you have survived worse?

[Ending in a question because he's so not sure.]

[yearrounder]

I...guess? I mean the being alone part I've done before but the whole destroying worlds thing, not so much.

[oceancurrents]

Modest as always.

Besides, Annabeth and I can take care of ourselves. We'll all be back together before you know it.

[teamme]

Is too late to make you swear that on the River Styx?

[oceancurrents]

I don't think it'd have the same effect here.

[teamme]

A guy has to try. [Innocent shrug]

Gotta admit though, it takes guts to do what you did.

[oceancurrents]

I'm full of 'em.

Besides, I couldn't let her go alone.

[teamme]

Between you and me, if I had a girl like that I'd so jump into Tartarus to get her back as well.

[But he doesn't because 7th wheel oops.]

[oceancurrents]

I don't doubt it.

But it's a good thing you're still with them-- someone's gotta keep the ship flying. And you'll have to tell twice as many bad jokes with me off in Tartarus. Think you can handle it?

[teamme]

[A big, big grin at that. Percy, if you weren't dating he could kiss you. And if you weren't a boy. And if you were a girl who paid him no attention-

actually he probably would never kiss you but it's the thought that counts. He's very cool in his book right now and Annabeth and him are made for each other, he's sure.]

I so can handle it. Here, a sea one for you: What did the fisherman say to the card magician?

[oceancurrents]

No idea. What did he say?

[teamme]

Pick a cod, any cod!

[and suddenly crickets...]

Yeah, okay, they need a little work still.

[oceancurrents]

Yeah, just a little.

[jupiterson]

[ Here is a concerned face. ]

Leo, it wasn't your fault. You can't keep blaming yourself.

[teamme]

I'll stop blaming myself when I see they are alright with my own eyes.

[He opened the fortune cookie. Nemesis made him pay the price. No one will convince him otherwise. But as always, a bright smile covers it all.]

But hey- we've got an awesome line up, and now we've got Mr Gothic Zombie King with us. We're going to find those doors, Munny is just worrying over nothing.

[jupiterson]

Percy's one of the strongest fighters I've ever met, Leo. And Annabeth got through Arachne's whole tunnel system by herself. If anyone can get through this, they can.

[ Jason is so much less sure of this than he sounds. Nico barely survived that trip, and he's the son of Hades. If it almost sent him insane, what hope do the others have? But he can't let anyone else know he's thinking that way. That won't help anyone. ]

We just have to make sure we're there to meet them on the other side. We have an army to get through.

They'll be okay, Leo. We'll do our part and trust them to do theirs.

[teamme]

[He knows what Jason is doing, how he's trying to hide his own fear and insecurity so the others can actually feel there's a glimpse of hope. He might not even do it consciously- but Leo still appreciates it.

This is the reason why they all lean into Jason as the leader, why they all trust him. Leo wouldn't know what to do if he was in his situation- unless they were all machines instead.]

Yeah. We'll all be okay- maybe if we repeat long enough we'll all start buying it.

[jupiterson]

[ Leo's got Jason pegged exactly. He doesn't care about being afraid himself, that doesn't matter. He has a responsibility to his friends. That's what matters. They've saved his life multiple times - especially Leo and Piper. He can't let them down, and he can't let them doubt themselves. They're better than they think. ]

Come on, man. We've done what we had to so far. We got the Giants' Bane. And you got the tech you wanted from Archimedes' lab. It isn't all bad. We can make something good out of it, and we'll be there for Percy and Annabeth. I know we will.

[teamme]

[If only Leo was any better at making him feel better about himself. Jason was also better than what he thought, but seeing Hazel and Frank he kind of guessed being this determined to get better and never be good enough on your eyes must be a Roman thing.]

I guess we're like, half-way done? They better make us some statues when we're done with this. And Buford gets a statue too.

[jupiterson]

[ That's likely. Failure isn't exactly an option for Romans.

Then again, Leo's really good at beating himself up too. Maybe it's a demigod thing.

Jason can't help smiling though. ]

Buford the table? I'm pretty sure he can already hold his own as a statue, man. Unless someone polishes him with Windex.

[teamme]

[Indignant sound at that suggestion! But it's clear Leo's just joking.]

Buford is a hero! You can't just make him hold his own statue forever- he has feelings! He's in love!

[jupiterson]

[ Trying to keep a straight face. Which he's usually pretty great at! Except when he's around Leo. ]

Yeah, in love with a robo-sphere. Maybe they can do it together, you know. The statue of Table and Ball. There'll be legends told about them.

[teamme]

[Only Jason would roll with it, this is why you're his best bro man.]

Is that Homer guy available? They could totes star in the Iliad 2.

[jupiterson]

Absolutely. There aren't enough epic tales about hero tables. We're doing them a disservice, man.

[teamme]

Don't worry, after this I'll make sure everyone knows the tale of how Buford saved our lives.

Maybe he'll have to do that again, us going to open the Gates and all. I hope he'll be able to save us...

[jupiterson]

[ Smiling slightly. ]

I think defeating the armies of Gaea might be a little much to ask of Buford.

Maybe he can give Coach Hedge a ride, as his noble steed. They'd be a match made in Olympus.

[waterproofed]

My mun's weirdly chill about the whole thing. Maybe because I'm comfortably set in the last book.

oh God didn't see this tag SO SORRY

[teamme]

[BIG SHRUG] If she was going to put me somewhere, have to decide a canon point? I'd understand it.

But I'm just here for the hell of it so why worry so much? We're all going to be fine in the end. We're heroes!

[...Not that heroes usually end well, but.]

no worries, I tag all the PJ&O peeps ;)

[waterproofed]

That's just what muns do, man. They worry about stuff.

[teamme]

You'd think they were the ones facing the end of the world and not us.

[waterproofed]

They sure act that way if one of us dies.

[teamme]

Dude, don't jinx us!

[waterproofed]

[well they are based on Greek myths, so the chances are disturbingly high]

Sorry.