Percy Jackson, the embodiment of hope.

Chapter 68: Percy explains why Gaea is drunk. (Get my man Luke a date!)

Percy clapped his hands, making his Companions turn into their respective armor and instantly teleport onto his body.

"That's it for today!" He announced to the panting demigods.

"Gods above, Hope!" Nico yelled. "That was - ohgodsIneedtocatchmybreath..."

He bent over and took deep breaths, so Will finished his sentence for him. "That was hard! Geez."

Percy nodded. "That was the point."

He flashed purple and disappeared, leaving behind the campers, most of whom had collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.

Will stumbled over to Nico and grabbed his shoulder. "How you doing."

Nico grunted. "I'm going to punch him."

Will laughed. "Good luck. I don't think we can walk to his cabin, let alone -"

Nico melted into shadow, bringing Will with him. They popped out of a corner of the Chaos cabin, freezing at the scene before them.

Gaea was passed out on a couch, Luke was explaining something to Percy, who was clearly unhappy with the information, Nyx was standing aside from the group, worriedly biting her lip, and Leo was kneeling on the ground in front of the passed out Gaea with Calypso at his side. Everyone else stood or sat in various places in the room, staring at Gaea.

Forgetting to slap his boyfriend, Will spoke.

"What happened?"

Percy walked away from Luke and towards the duo. "Ouranus is dead."

"Like, the primordial?" Nico asked, surprised.

Percy nodded. "Yeah. It was probably his death that caused the facility to drop down to camp."

"How does that happen?" Will asked.

Percy shrugged. "We don't know. When he was 'killed' the first time, he was simply sent back to his domain. While it took a lot of work on Chaos's end to get him back, he eventually returned. He even changed his name to symbolize a new beginning. But now... he's just gone. Not sent back to his domain, just gone."

Nyx raised her hand. "Could he have done it himself?"

Percy shook his head. "No. He had no reason to."

"What's she talking about?" Calypso asked, speaking up from Leo's side.

Percy sighed. "A primordial can... to put it bluntly, decide to kill themself. If they make a choice or do an action that kills them completely voluntarily, they can die. Kind of."

"Kind of? What do you mean by kind of?" Nico asked.

"They become their domain permanently. Unlike Ouranus, no amount of reconstruction or work on Chaos's end, even if he worked with Order, would be able to bring this hypothetical primordial's physical form back."

"And you're sure Ouranus didn't do this?" Will asked.

Percy nodded. "It's unlike him to just give up. Especially since there was still a chance for him to be with Gaea. It just wouldn't happen."

"Then what did happen?" Nico asked.

Percy shrugged. "I couldn't say. Octavian said something about Ouranus making something that can kill immortals, but nothing like that should have the ability to hurt primordials. So..."

He shook his head. "I don't know. My best bet is that Erebus put him somewhere, but this entire situation sounds too close to Aether's to let my brain rest."

Nyx gasped and looked at Gaea. "You don't think she'll -"

Percy shook his head. "No. She's been split with Ouranus for a long time now. His 'death' won't have nearly the same impact on her as Aether's did to Hemera."