"Poseidon called you a queen," I told her. "He said he hadn't met a woman like you in a thousand years." -The Lightning Thief, pg 352.
Sally Jackson collapsed in a heap at her kitchen table. Three year old Percy had developed a fear of the dark and he kept her up until all hours of the night, singing rhymes and assuring him that there were no monsters out to get him.
Mothers often made that promise to their children. She was one of the few that lied. There would be monsters out to get Percy- monsters she couldn't protect him from. Monsters that would blast through his bed rather than hide under it.
As if sensing her thoughts, a man who was dressed like a fisherman walked into the room. She didn't need to ask how he got in.
"Hello Sally," he said, sitting opposite her. She nodded tiredly.
"Hello, Poseidon."
"You look tired," he observed, noticing the bags under her eyes. She smiled, as if she didn't mind the late nights with her son.
"Percy is afraid of the dark."
"He'll overcome that. The ocean is a dark place. He'll learn to love it."
Sally pursed her lips as though the idea was not at all comforting.
"Every night I tell him the monsters can't get him. That I'll protect him. What happens when I can't do that anymore?"
"You knew he would be in danger."
"Yes, but how much? How much danger?"
Poseidon reached across the table and took her hand. "You were enough. Enough to make me break my oath."
Her eyes, the first thing he had noticed about her, were haunted. "But at what expense? Will my punishment be losing my son?"
"I sincerely hope not, Sally."
"What if it is?" Her voice cracked. "If I lose Percy-"
She couldn't even finish the thought. Poseidon gripped her hand tighter, turning the tips of her fingers white.
"Come with me. I'll build you a castle. You and Percy can live there and be safe."
Sally smiled sadly. She put her free hand over their intertwined fingers and gently pried his hand away.
"I can give you the world, Sally," he said. She glanced at Percy's bedroom.
"You already have. You've given me Percy. He's all I need."
Try saying 'Sally Smiled Sadly' five times fast.