A/N: This chapter and the next have been rewritten. The reason it in my Chapter 3 Author's Note.

Over the Appalachian Mountains-Present Day

Percy breathed in the crisp mountain air. Ordinarily, flying was off-limits to the son of Poseidon, but the Argo II was an exception. He'd spent the past two months in New Rome, with Annabeth. After the Giant War, the two of them had decided that the demigod city was the perfect place to live. They didn't need to worry about monsters, concealing themselves from humans, and-most important to Annabeth-it would be a safe place to raise children. Percy had been a bit caught off guard with that statement, but he warmed to the idea right away. Everything had gone fantastically with their relocation, and now they were visiting Camp Half-Blood to see their old friends. Jason and Piper had also come along, leaving the camp in Reyna's care. What could go wrong?

Somewhere in the Caribbean-Two weeks ago Zane dipped his paddle into the turquoise waters and pushed. This was his preferred way of getting around the small archipelago he inhabited. One of the mermaids had brought him the paddle board as a gift, and he thanked her almost every day for it. It was an ancient Polynesian form of recreation, similar to surfing. Unlike surfing however, it used a wider board, and the paddler stood with his feet perpendicular to the board, rather than parallel. And then of course, there was the paddle. It was just slightly taller than Zane's six-foot-one body, and was remarkably lightweight. The sport had been revived in Hawaii just a few years ago, and the craze had swept all the way to Zane's island.

Zane braced the paddle against his board and hopped up from his knees to his feet. He continued paddling along, looking down at the colorful fish darting in and out of some of the many coral reefs in the archipelago. It was a beauty that, despite fifteen years on the island, he never grew tired of. He was about halfway to the next island, when the heat of the sun became more noticeable on his back. Zane often made his trips without a shirt, instead wearing a pair of board shorts. He was well tanned, but he still was cautious about over exposure, lest he get skin cancer. He wasn't one to test just how far the healing powers of ambrosia go.

Zane turned his torso and glanced up at the noonday sun. It was hard to believe that he was actually glancing at a god, pulling his chariot across the sky, but he believed nonetheless. After all, his father was one of them. His father. Zane huffed out a breath. The god who had sired him never came by the island. He had left Zane to be raised by the naiads.

"I guess that's why they call me Forgotten," he said to the fish, who zipped around excitedly at his communication. He was just twenty feet offshore, so he hopped into the water. It wasn't warm, but at the same time, it was just barely cold. Zane didn't really care, he'd grown up swimming in this temperature, and it wasn't something he thought too much about. Zane set his paddle on the board and started to leisurely push it in to shore. He was in no rush; the islands had no clock but the sun.

Something set off in the back of his head. His demigod senses alarming him to some kind of danger, he spun around, looking in the water for some kind of monster. His father had promised him that the islands were protected from monsters, but Zane wasn't too trusting of everything his father said. The fish were swimming around casually, and Zane knew they would have scattered if there were a shark. It was a bit shallow for sharks, but predators would do anything for a good meal. Something caught his eye. It was not a monster, or even a shark. Just a sea snake.

Zane hopped back onto his paddle board and began going in at a rapid pace. The snake would leave him alone once he got to land. It didn't take long, and Zane was pulling his board up onto the shore in less than a minute. He stood at the water's edge, seeing if he could spot the red and black scales of the poisonous creature. He didn't see anything, so he took a step back, intending to chill on this island for a couple hours before heading out again. There was a small splash, and Zane was frozen as the snake leapt from the water, mouth open, flying straight for his chest.

Zane reflexively tried to escape the snake's flight path. He had spent his whole life sparring against the mermen, and as a result, his body was hardwired to avoid a threat. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, his body stepped back, rather than to the side. The snake latched onto his stomach, pumping its venom in Zane's bloodstream. His brain shut off reasonable thought, instead switching into survival mode. There were no calculations or anticipations, just a demigod who saw a threat. His hand shot up, closing into a fist around the snake's body, just below the head. He ripped the snake free, and threw it as far out as he could.

Zane didn't wait to see where the snake splashed down. He fell to his knees, poison coursing through his veins. Any doubt that had been a normal creature was gone. He could feel the venom eating away at his life. Yet he did not fear death. Zane did not know fear.