Percy's about to do something crazy. Granted, he's done some considerably crazy things before, but it's been a while.

Every rational bone in his body is saying, No! Don't trust Annabeth when she tells you her one-night-stand is going to be in Europe! She's crazy!

But he doesn't have enough rational bones in his body to be entirely convinced.

Percy wipes some black goo from his last good dress shirt.

Leo tugs on his suspenders and follows the pathway with his eyes. Somewhere during the fight, he lost his black velvet fedora, and he's got serious hat hair.

"Percy, you better be looking for it!" Leo shouts.

"I am!" Percy says. "I just don't see how it would have gotten all the way over here. I thought the monster attacked from that way." He points towards the banquet hall, where the rest of their friends are waiting for them to return from damage control.

"Poor mini-golf course," says Leo as they pass the ceramic alligator. It doesn't even look like an alligator anymore; the face melted off in the fire. "So many memories."

"You were blackout drunk the whole time. Do you even remember it?" Percy asks.

"All the important stuff. I won the Slush Puppie and Nico pulled Annabeth out of the windmill and then Piper threw a bocce ball at me!" Leo puts his hands on his hips, proud of his recollection.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare sits along a stone wall, looking over a small koi pond surrounded by charred turf. She twirls a half-melted plastic flamingo in her hand.

"You go ahead and tell the others we got rid of it," says Percy. "I've gotta talk to Rachel about something."

"Careful. You're finally on somewhat good terms with Annabeth," Leo warns.

Percy walks over to Rachel uneasily, memories of the turmoil from just a few hours ago flashing through his head.

"Hey, Percy," says Rachel. She pats on the stone, inviting Percy to join her.

Percy takes a seat. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. I just feel kind of weird about not being able to predict this whole thing. Do you think there's something wrong with the Oracles again?" she asks.

He lowers his head, not sure of what the answer to that question is. He still doesn't completely understand the prophecy, but he supposes that might be because he hasn't really gotten to touch base with Annabeth. Once they got back to the venue, they parted ways so Will could tend to her wounds and so Percy could make sure his mom wasn't too shaken.

Everyone's fine; he's thankful that they haven't lost another friend today, and that nobody's hurt too badly.

"Percy?"

Oh, that's right. He'd lied to Rachel about that prophecy, and now she's feeling guilty about the whole thing.

"Listen, I gotta tell you something."

Rachel takes her eyes off the koi pond and looks at Percy, although he still can't bring himself to face her.

"Well?" she asks. "I have a feeling I'm not gonna like this, but go on and get it over with."

Percy pulls the crumbled-up Dunkin' Donuts napkin from his breast pocket. Somehow, it isn't singed. "When we spoke the other day-"

"You don't mean to tell me that I gave you a prophecy as soon as we all landed and you never told anyone about it?"

Percy smiles sheepishly. "Well, I told Annabeth. And Thalia, eventually."

Rachel smacks her palm against her forehead. "Alright. Catch me up 'cause I'm sure there's more to this."

He laughs and then fills her in. It's like a massive weight is being lifted from his shoulders when he tells her about the monsters and Pothos and everything that's been bothering him for the past few days.

Rachel throws her head back and laughs.

"Rachel?" Percy asks.

She clutches her diaphragm. "I'm sorry for laughing, but Percy, this is hilarious. The prophecy was all Taylor Swift lyrics and you didn't think this wedding would turn into a romantic comedy?"

Percy joins in on the laughing. "I guess you're right, but Hazel and Frank are the only ones living in that movie unless you count Leo and Calypso."

"She's pregnant by the way," Rachel says.

"Hazel?"

"No, Calypso," says Rachel.

"Do I wanna-"

"Reyna's been telling me everything about everyone. Why do people trust her with sensitive information?"

Percy shrugs. "I guess secrets can't stay secret forever."

"Hold this." Rachel passes the flamingo to Percy. She shuts her eyes and squishes her face together.

"Nope. Nothing. Sorry," she says. "Come and see me with Annabeth before you guys go to Europe. How broad is that? Like, what part of Europe? And I mean-"

"Will do. Thanks, Rachel," Percy says. He stands back up and sets the plastic flamingo down next to his friend. "Are you coming back?"

"I'll catch up."

***

Frank's hovering outside the banquet hall.

"Hey, man," says Percy. "Everything good?"

"Well, things are a little weird," says Frank. "I mean, I did get blackout drunk and fight a monster- that wasn't a real monster, I guess- all in one week. So yeah, I kind of need some time to process."

"Mind if I join you?" Percy asks. Maybe he's stalling. He knows very well what he's going inside to do, and he's not entirely looking forward to doing it. What if things don't go his way?

But if he doesn't extend the olive branch now, things are bound to go off the rails again.

"What's on your mind, anyway?" Frank asks. "I'd expect you to be leaping for joy. Everyone's talking about how you came back for the wedding with Annabeth. Alone."

"Okay," says Percy. "Nothing happened. We're just..."

"Partners?" Frank supplies.

Percy shrugs. "Partners."

Inside, Percy can see Will and Nico, arms around each other. So it looks like they're back together after all. This is good.

Percy's never felt inclined to trust anybody but himself with his mom, but for the greater good, he'll trust Will Solace.

"So," says Percy. "What's next?"

Frank finishes off a glass of water. "I don't know. I don't think Hazel wants to take the honeymoon that the legion's paying for. So I guess we'll settle down, have a couple of kids? We're gonna play it by ear."

"I like that," Percy says. "I wish I was better at that."

"You could be."

"What do you mean?" Percy asks.

"Listen, I heard you're taking a trip, and I've got two tickets to paradise." Frank flashes two plane tickets for good measure.

"Are you sure?" Percy asks.

Frank nods. "Someone has to use them."

"Will they get me to Europe and back?"

"They'll get you and one lucky partner all around Europe and back and then some." Frank puts the tickets in Percy's pocket. Before disappearing inside the banquet hall, he adds, "If not, they'll get you and your mom back to New York."