The drive over is refreshing, to say the least. Taking a long route and belting Taylor Swift is always therapeutic for Will, so he's not surprised when he feels better about both the Nico thing and the Annabeth thing. He'll just play it by ear. Just because his roomie tends to overthink things when she's sober doesn't mean he has to.

You know what else is therapeutic? Cleaning out the car.

You know what's not in the car for once? Annabeth's trash. She's not a total hog, but she usually lets the wrappers and soda bottles gather up over time. She always offers to clean it out herself when Will announces that he's going to clean the car, but he always refuses. He doesn't mind.

But when did she go and clean that out? And why is Will emotional about this? It's just a Happy Meal box and some candy and soda from the six-hour trip over here.

He parallel parks the car between a bike rack and the catering van.

"Oh, hell yeah," he says. That's a useful skill he's got.

He opens the trunk, where all four pieces of the cake are neatly arranged. 

"Will! Let me help you!"

Piper McLean!

Will squints to make sure it's really her.

It's Piper McLean!

"Hey, Piper," Will says.

Piper takes the base of the cake from the trunk. "C'mon! I'll show you where we're putting this!"

She leads Will back into the banquet hall, where Leo and Nico are... consoling Frank in the middle of the light-up disco floor?

Nico leaves the group to greet them. "Thanks for bringing the cake over. Can I help?"

Will starts. "Well, there's only two pieces left, but I guess you can close the-"

"Oh thank the gods. Let's go." Nico grabs Will's hand and practically drags him outside.

"Nico, what's going on with Frank?" Piper asks.

"Uh, subs?" Nico straightens his perfect purple tie with his perfect hands.

Piper crosses her arms. "I'll send you back in there with tissues if you don't tell us."

"I mean it! Something happened with the catering. They just dropped off like sixty of those five-dollar foot-long sandwiches!"

"Oh my gods, not more subs!" Will shouts.

Nico and Piper take the rest of the cake out of the SUV.

Will grabs the bag with the cake topper and closes the trunk via remote control. He slides open the door to the banquet hall and announces to the others, "The cake is here!"

"C'mon, Frank," says Leo. "Let's go put the cake together so Will can get seated. That sounds fun, doesn't it?"

Frank grunts as he gets to his feet. "I should probably say hi to Thalia and everyone else that just got here."

"That's the spirit!" says Leo.

Piper envelopes Will and Nico in a hug. "It's been real, guys. The moment of truth's coming up, so I should probably go check on Hazel. She's alone with Rachel."

"Yikes," says Will. "You might wanna do that."

Piper waves and then disappears into the bathroom.

"I hope it's okay if I put you by Percy's mom. You're probably one of the only people she knows here," Nico says. He leads Will down the aisle and towards a row of chairs.

Will can scarcely see Sally Jackson behind her son. Nico's right: Percy is a little obsessive. He's currently uncapping a bottle of water for her. He'll probably drink some of it too just to make sure it isn't poison.

Annabeth stands a distance behind them. She gives Will a little wave, pops a pill, and washes it down with some water. That's his roomie.

"Percy," says Nico. "Frank needs us."

"Already?" Percy asks, scratching his head.

Nico's expression is grave. "Yeah. It's about subs."

Percy nods. "C'mon, Annabeth." He takes off running back towards the banquet hall.

Annabeth shrugs and gathers her dress up in her fist, taking off after him.

Sally Jackson looks up at Will expectantly.

"Uh, hi..." Will smiles sheepishly. He takes a seat in the folding chair next to her. What's he supposed to say? He obviously doesn't mind being put next to her, but good gods, they haven't spoken in years! She might not even remember who he is!

"Hi, Will. How are things?" she asks. Little lines form in the corners of her eyes when she smiles, and Will can't help but smile back.

"I'm great, ma'am. How are you? It's been a while."

She laughs. "Oh, honey, you can just call me Sally."

"Oh, sure," says Will.

Sally faces forwards, and he follows suit. It is beautiful. How sweet of Frank to decorate with his friends. It's going to be a beautiful wedding. What a rare occasion for demigods! It's a miracle that their friends are here for it.

Well, most of their friends. There's a picture of Jason up on an easel, and Thalia Grace is pacing around on the altar crumbling and straightening out a piece of notebook paper. Her black pantsuit and her nervous energy cast a cloud over the otherwise joyful setting.

It doesn't feel like a wedding. A knot forms in Will's stomach. These people are really about to see an encore of Jason's funeral.

"Are you nervous?" Sally asks. She still stares at the altar.

Will wipes his clammy palms on his pants. "What do you mean?" he asks.

"Percy wasn't so sure about bringing me here when we talked this morning. He thinks something could go wrong. I just told him he's paranoid, but I suppose I just wanted to see if any of the other demigods felt that way."

Will ponders this. He has been sensing some energy from Annabeth lately, but he just thought that was all provoked by her seeing Percy again. "No, I'm not nervous. I'm sure it's just Percy's way of caring for you."

"He doesn't need to take care of me all the time," Sally says. "Sure, I'm not as young as I used to be, but he's missing out on his life because of me."

"Oh." Will isn't really sure what the right thing to say here is.

Sally wipes her eye. "It just breaks my heart. I know about the job he turned down. It would have been wonderful for him..."

Thwap!

"Ow!" Will rubs the back of his neck and turns around to find the offending object.

Baby Jason giggles from atop Calypso's lap.

"Oh, Will, I am so so sorry about that! He really got his dad's spunk and I have no idea how to control it," Calypso says.

Will picks the toy train off the ground and hands it back to Jason. "There you go, kid. It's alright, Calypso. I'm sure it's just that age; you know what they say."

Calypso raises an eyebrow. "What do they say?"

Oh, gods. Will forgot he's talking to someone who's more than just a few centuries old. "Well, you know..." How exactly do you explain 'terrible twos?'

Everyone covers their ears when a screeching sound comes from the microphone at the front of the room.

"Oh, shit," Thalia says from the podium. "I mean, shoot. Oh... shoot."

Sally turns to Will once again. "Piper sure has changed."

"Oh, that's Thalia Grace. She's the one who was a tree." Will tries to correct her gently. "Piper's in the banquet hall with the other bridesmaids. She's helping to calm Hazel down."

"That's nice of her," says Sally. "She's good with people."

"She is," Will confirms.

Sally reaches under her seat.

"Would you like some help reaching your purse?" Will offers.

She sits back in her seat again. "Would you mind? That's so kind of you, Will."

Will retrieves her purse and hands it to her. He lets her hold it on her lap and fumble with the zipper on her own. Even though she's having some trouble, Will resists the urge to do it himself because he knows how important independence might be to her.

"Cookie?" Sally asks.

"Aw, yeah! Thanks!" Will takes the blue chocolate chip cookie and devours it. It's heavenly. He could eat these cookies for the rest of his life and not even worry about his health.

They stop speaking when Jason begins to cry.

Calypso frantically bounces him up and down on her lap. "Oh, c'mon, Jay! I thought you'd at least make it through this part!"

Thalia taps the microphone. "Is this thing on?" It screeches again. "Oh, evidently it is. Cool."

Oh boy. Time for Thalia's eulogy. Or is it just a speech since this isn't technically a funeral?

"So, uh," she squints at her piece of notebook paper. "Congratulations to Frank and Hazel. What they're doing here is a big accomplishment, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity to celebrate their love and to... uh, see all of my old friends again."

She clears her throat. "I was invited to speak today about someone who unfortunately did not get the same privilege as us, and that is my baby brother, Jason. Jason was a hero, and this morning I would like to speak to some of his accomplishments and also share some of my favorite memories of him. Shoutout to Leo."

Calypso groans from behind.

"Woo!" Leo shouts from somewhere in the back.

"Leo, when did you even do this?" Thalia asks. "You know what, it's whatever."

She takes a deep breath and sets down her notebook paper.

"Well, I had this whole speech written out about how Jason was a hero and how he would have been so happy for Frank and Hazel today, but maybe, if it's okay with you guys, I might go a little off-script..." Thalia removes the microphone from its stand on the podium and sits on the edge of the altar.

Baby Jason stops crying.

"I never really wanted to rain on Frank and Hazel's parade with the sad Jason stuff, and I don't think Jason would have wanted that either. He was such a romantic guy; If he was here, he'd probably be crying by now, and Hazel hasn't even walked down the aisle yet."

A couple of people chuckle at Thalia's remark.

She continues, more comfortably this time. "Jason loved each and every one of us so much. I'm sure he would be absolutely touched by this beautiful garden you all built in his memory, but it's important to remember that Jason was one of those people who looked towards the future. He wouldn't want you to spend the rest of your lives being sad because he could never have the same experiences; he'd want you to live in the moment. Hell, collect those experiences like Nico collects MythoMagic cards! Go get married if that's your thing. Have a kid like Leo and Calypso! Go to Europe, go bungee jumping, do the thing where they put you in the cage underwater and there's sharks-"

"Shark cage diving?" Percy supplies from somewhere in the back.

"I'm still talking, Kelp Head!" Thalia says. "Uh, anyway, what I'm saying is that Jason would want us all to enjoy the rest of our lives. We shouldn't be sad because so many people we love are gone; we should be living in their memory and doing everything we possibly can because that could have been any of us with a spear through our chest!"

Thalia bites her lip. "Sorry, that was dark."

She stands up and puts the microphone back on the podium. Then she takes her seat in the second row. She's the only one in the entire row; Will guesses that the wedding party's going to sit over there and it'll be less awkward.

Nobody claps. Everyone's a little bit awestruck by Thalia's lecture.

Suddenly, Jason giggles and throws his train again.

As Will reaches behind him to pick it up, the baby begins to clap his hands together.

Not wanting to be rude, Will joins in. So do Sally and Calypso, and a wave of applause ripples throughout the venue.

End of Part VI