(A/N: Ok, hello!

First I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, and everyone who is still reading :)

Second, I would like to please ask, if you review and have negative things to say about the story, I am 100% fine. Just please, tell me what you don't like, or what is missing. I will try to fix it as best I can.

Third, about the story. I know a lot of people love Annabeth (I'm guilty as well) but please put up with her (almost) absence for the next chapter or so. She will come back, I pinky promise on my tombstone, but I need to set up the plot line with Percy first. I don't feel like switching POV would benefit the story at the moment... Trust me ;) But because I know you miss her, I'll give you an extra long chapter today, with a dash of Percabeth, and try to get to her part faster.

Also, to anonymous reviewer YOU ARE AWESOME (thanks by the way) I wasn't planning on going in to depth on how the relationships began between Tyson, Grover, and Percy. I included them for a few reasons: I missed them terribly in MOA, and wanted to revisit them. I just love Tyson (how can you not?) and wanted to give the readers some familiar characters. And finally, can you not see the (somewhat) parallel between Tyson and Flounder and Grover and Sebastian? I don't know, I thought it was clever.

Authors note almost over, thanks again to anyone who's sticking with this story, and PLEASE REVIEW :)

AUTHOR OUT)

The dream started as most of Percy's did, with blank space. If he was lucky, this is when he would get a visit from his mother. If he wasn't, well, lets just say Percy often woke from nightmares drenched in sweat and muttering thing about monsters.

Unfortunately, this dream took a turn for the worse.

In a few minutes, Percy was battling a horde of monsters. Some had giant green tentacles, others had 20 eyes, and one suspiciously resembled his stepmother. No matter how many times he killed them, they just kept coming back.

Then, as if by magic, everything in the dream froze. Percy realized he could still move although the monsters couldn't, and he looked around.

He saw the same symbol he had seen before meeting the human: some sort of round, flying fish surrounded in a pink haze.

Then he heard the voice. It was definitely female, and spoke again as if all around him. "Silly boy. I know of your past, and your future. You have a long journey ahead of you, might as well give you a sweet dream."

A sound like a bubble popping echoed in his ear, and the entire scene changed. The smell of lime and some sweet scent he couldn't recognize surrounded his senses. He inhaled, and sighed with pleasure. He was alone again, but in the middle of the ocean.

Then, far away in the water he saw a figure.

He thought it was his Mom. He swam as quick as he could, but his tail wouldn't respond. The closer he inched, the farther the figure drifted.

He called out to her, and she turned. He gasped. It wasn't his Mom at all, but the blonde girl he saw on the beach. She smiled, and swam towards him. Somehow she could breathe underwater now.

She reached him, and caressed his face with the back of her hand. She tried to talk, but bubbles rolled from her lips. He shushed her. He gazed into her stormy eyes. She was annoyed she couldn't communicate. He laughed.

Then because it was a dream, and what could he lose, he kissed her.

Her lips were soft and steady, and felt warm. She smelled like lavender and he pulled her in closer. He reached behind her back, and his hand traced her outline.

She broke away their connection at the lips, but kept her nose touching his. She reached her hands up over his shoulders. She tried to say something again, but only bubbles.

Boy, was she cute when she was agitated.

Percy began to move in for another kiss. He was interrupted however, by a loud sound behind his back. He turned to see what it was, and upon seeing nothing, returned his attention to the girl.

But she had disappeared. He searched all around, but saw only sea water. That's when he heard the noise again, and the dream ended.

Percy woke with a start.

The same loud sound from his dream was sounding off right outside his room.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and sat up.

He was about to get out of bed when he realized the noise was only Gwyneth yelling through the door.

He looked at the clock. It read 11:45 AM.

Percy groaned. He approximated he had slept about five hours. Slumping back in bed, he put the pillow over his face to drown out the sounds of his angry stepmother.

No good.

Her high pitch squeals were escalating. Percy couldn't tell what she was saying, and didn't want to know, but he doubted she would go away soon.

He sighed as he left the safety of his bed. He swam towards the door, and opened quickly.

It startled the exasperated mermaid, and she flinched. Then her eyes narrowed, and she started her lecture all over. Percy had learned it was bet to not interrupt if he wanted it to be over quickly.

He didn't really listen to her. Percy was more concentrated on remembering his dream. Those stormy eyes...

Then he realized it had been his step mother who had woken him up. He glanced at he occasionally, and caught things like, "Ditching school! Again!" and "Do you even comprehend how worried the kingdom has been?" and "My boys would never..."

He tried to avoid her glare. One point, about mid lecture, her hairdo seemed to come undone and fall in her face. She didn't notice, but with her red hair-clip Percy thought she resembled a strawberry sundae with whipped cream and a cherry on top. He snickered, and she snapped, "What in all the ocean is so funny? You think this is funny? Well, boy, let's see what your father has to say about this." she smirked.

She grabbed Percy by the ear, to which he protested, "Hey!" and dragged him off to the throne room.

Poseidon was sitting on his thrown, looking rather unamused.

"Look what I have hear." Gwyneth said as she gestured to me with both hands. Poseidon sighed. "I see my son." he said in a flat tone.

"Well... yes." she had expected a bigger reaction. "But he is back without even a hello! If you ask me, that's not royal at all. Practically screaming to be disowned. Why, my boys always let me know where they are, and-"

Poseidon interrupted her. "Where are your boys?"

She looked stunned. "Why... why they are in their room, of course, doing their school work." she said, although even she was unconvinced.

"Mm hmm. Why don't you go make sure?" Poseidon asked.

"Of course." Gwyneth said. She hurried out of the room to escape further embarrassment.

Poseidon turned all of his attention towards Percy. "Son."

"Dad."

"I think it's time we went for a walk." Percy was a small bit excited for a chance to talk alone to his father, but this was overshadowed by the anxiety.

Poseidon glided down off is thrown, and swam close to Percy. He gestured for Percy to follow him as he left the throne room through the main palace entrance.

"Delphin, if I'm not back in an hour start preparations with the Octopi."

"Yes, sir," the dolphin that Percy had seem talking to Poseidon answered.

Percy struggled to keep up with his father. They swam aimlessly near the ocean floor, silently for a good period of time.

After ten minutes, Poseidon spoke. He said, "Where were you yesterday?"

Percy tried not to lie. "I got lost."

"And...?"

Percy contemplated telling the whole truth. He didn't think there was anything to lose, so he said, "And I met a human."

Poseidon's posture stiffened.

Percy thought this would be the perfect opportunity to ask, "Dad, what can you tell me about humans?"

Poseidon was silent for a moment, the uttered in a soft tone, "Percy, have I ever told you about how your Mother died?"

Percy flinched. "She's not dead. She's missing." he defended, yet his words lacked conviction. Poseidon put his arm around Percy's shoulder. "Percy, I know it's hard to accept. We have to move on. She would have wanted us not to dwell on the past."

Percy held in a sniffle. It turned into something that sounded like a cross between a hiccup, and a sneeze.

"As I was saying, Son, when you were a young boy, your Mother disappeared. We did everything in our power to find her, with no success. I was devastated. The kingdom was in disarray for months after her she left, and has never fully recovered."

He paused, unsure if to go on. He scratched his neck and sighed. "What I never told anyone is that I received ransom letters."

Percy froze. He had never heard this before. Why hadn't his Dad paid any price, done anything to get his Mom back?

"What- who took her?" Percy managed to stammer.

"It was a human king. I received multiple letters asking for something too great to turn over. I had to ignore them. They stopped coming, and I assumed she has been killed. I would give anything for her to be back now, ruling the kingdom with me. But she's gone."

The possibilities were floating in front of his eyes. His mother may still be alive!

"What do they want for her? I'll find it Dad, we can make it work."

Poseidon's eyes looked grim. "Percy, they wanted something your mother would have never aloud them to have."

"Is it hard to find? I'll do anything Dad, just tell me how." Percy was telling the truth.

"It would have been relatively simple to do. But what they wanted was far too precious to even consider." Poseidon's lips were drawn in a taught line.

"What could be that important?" Percy yelled, exasperated and furious at his father.

"You."

Percy's rage subsided. He unclenched his fists as the guilt sunk in. He was the reason his mother was missing. It was his fault.

"But... why me?" Percy was at a loss.

"I don't know, son. I was mad the entire race for the longest time. I swore off all of our trade connections, and banned any talk of humans in my kingdom. Recently, with the help of Gwyneth, I have learned to move on. In fact, I may resume trading soon... But that is why you and other youths have never have never heard of them. I'm sorry your first interaction went without knowledge."

Percy was angry at his Father again. He had looked so stupid when he didn't know what legs were. That embarrassment could have been avoided if Poseidon had been more honest with his son.

He was scowling again.

Poseidon looked embarrassed. He tried to compensate for keeping the truth from Percy by saying, "You can read about them if you want. I have a section of books in my private library I can loan you."

Great. thought Percy. Reading.

His Dad was trying though, and had so far ignored the fact that he skipped school, so Percy said, "Great, Dad. Thanks." and attempted a smile.

Poseidon looked relieved, and said, "Excellent! Right when we get home, I'll have Octavius bring them to your room."

Percy groaned. "Better not. My room looks like a jelly doughnut exploded. I'm sleeping in the guest room. You know, the one next to the east entrance."

Poseidon nodded. "I'll send someone to clean your room later today."

They were almost back to the palace gates.

"One more thing." Poseidon said. "Skip one more day of school, and I'm grounding you for the rest of your young life."

So close.

Percy slumped back to the guest room. He was extremely ready for some sleep.

He flung himself on to the bed. Unfortunately, his Dad's servant had already delivered the books. He smacked his noggin on a rather thick edition titled "Humans and you: What Makes a Boat Float".

"Ow." he muttered.

He shoved all the books off his bed, and on to the floor and climbed under the covers. He shut his eyes, and tried to sleep, but thoughts of his Mom were chewing at his brain. He sighed. He knew sleep wasn't going to come.

Giving in, he reached to the floor and grabbed what looked like the smallest book. It was titled "Above Sea Level Appliances: How and Why". It didn't look very helpful, but Percy wanted to learn everything he could abut his Mom. He was convinced that he could find her, and bring her home. Maybe he could even get rid of Gwyneth in the process...

But to be honest there was more appealing about humans than just finding his mother. Percy also wanted to find the blonde girl from the beach. He hoped she was alright... maybe he shouldn't have left her alone. He sighed. What use was torturing himself now?

He opened the book to chapter one, and began reading about the operation of a stove. He was confused, but kept forging ahead.

This was going to be a long day.

Percy had fallen asleep with a book on his cheek. His dreams had, thankfully, been uneventful. However, he had woken up, again, to the sounds of something at his door. This time however, it was someone knocking.

He took the book off his face, and put it on the nightstand. He had made it all the way through "Above Sea Level Appliances: How and Why" and was halfway through "The History of Europe: 1200- 1600s" before nodding off.

He stretched his arms and went to answer the door. He yawned as he opened it slowly, and said, "Hey Chester." It was one of his father's servants, a rather silent walrus named Chester. He was a big guy, but had a big heart and Percy didn't mind him. He handed Percy a note.

It read:

Dear Percy,

Come to the throne room as soon as convenient. I have great news.

Cordially,

Poseidon

PS Drop Chester by the kitchen on the way here

Percy was still not fully awake yet, but he realized he had slept most of the day. The water was already dark outside. "Do you mind waiting here a few minutes?" Percy asked.

The walrus shrugged, and Percy said "Super." and ducked back in to his room. He tore off his pajama shirt, leaving his chest bare as normal, and combed through his hair with his fingers in front of the mirror.

He opened the door again, and asked, "How do I look?"

The walrus emitted a sound that resembled laughter and Percy smiled. "That bad? Oh well. C'mon, I'm supposed to drop you off at the kitchen."

Percy let Chester lead the way as they traveled down the hallway.

They got to the kitchen quickly, and Percy stopped in for a few minutes to eat a bowl of spaghetti and sea-stars. It was cold, but that was how he liked it. When finished, he waved to Chester and the rest of the kitchen staff, and headed towards the throne room.

He had a bad feeling as soon as he saw Chiron conversing with his Father. At least Gwyneth wasn't here.

"But sir, tomorrow? Why must things be so rushed? The boy is not ready." Chiron uttered.

"I think he will do fine. It's a perfect fit, you must agree. Couldn't have come at a better time! And it will ease tensions among our people, Chiron. We can build a stronger nation. Ah, Percy." he said, as Percy shuffled in to the room.

"We've found you a bride."

Percy hid his disappointment. He had been hoping for enough time in between his engagement to find out more about the human girl...

"That's good news."

"It's wonderful. In fact, our discussion earlier inspired my idea. I reached some of my old friends on land about trade relations. You are to marry the daughter of Duke William Dare III in one year and one month from yesterday. It's all settled. You will go to land tomorrow, to their home. You will learn the ways of a human living among them." Poseidon smiled, but Percy looked flustered. It was all too much information. He was going to marry a human? Some reaction deep in his gut silently hoped it was the blonde girl from the beach, however improbable.

His mind was whirling, thinking 50 things at once. He blurted the first question that popped into his head. "How do I walk on land without legs?"

Poseidon laughed deeper than Percy had heard in a long time, and said, "I said ALL taken care of son. I have, in store for such circumstances, a rare potion. I received it many years ago as a gift at a party. You take it, and grow legs. Simple as that."

"Sir." Chiron interrupted. "Might you remind the boy that the potion makes a permanent change?"

Poseidon mumbled. "Oh, yes. Well, you won't ever be able to get your tail back. Other side effects are virtually unknown. But Percy, you will bring together two species to a time of peace. Don't you want that?"

Percy nodded. He didn't want to give up his life, but he felt a duty to his home and his Father.

"Good. As we were saying, you leave tomorrow. Spend tonight saying goodbye to your friends, and packing your things. An escort to the surface will be ready at noon."

Percy was white. He still could not comprehend that he was leaving the only place he had ever known, and that he was getting married.

He slowly swam out of the thrown room. His first instinct was to visit his friends. What were they going to say?

He swam in to the city. Maneuvering the streets on autopilot, he first went to Tyson's house. It was covered in a black shiny rock, and had a little potted plant out front that Percy knew Tyson had grown from a seed. He knocked on the door, and after waiting ten minutes he realized no one was home. He wasn't even going to get to say goodbye to the big guy, after all they had been through.

He swam dejectedly to Grover's shack on the outskirts of town. It had a seaweed roof, and walls mad of rocks smashed together that gave it a haphazard look. Percy swam in to the house through the window, and found tyson and Grover sitting around the table.

"Percy!" Grover squealed.

"We have been looking for you." Tyson said. "You are ok?"

Percy realized he hadn't talked to his friends since he was dragged off by Chiron the other day, and he felt a wave of guilt. So much had happened, but that was no excuse.

"Mostly." Percy answered. He then began to tell them that he was supposed to get married, but Grover cut him off.

"We already know."

"You do?" Percy asked, shocked. Grover nodded.

"Sea pony came and told us everything. We are going to come with you to the land." Tyson said.

Percy couldn't believe how loyal his friends were being. They hadn't seen him in days, and now they were willing to come with him to never return home?

"You guys know it's a permanent trip, right?"

Grover nodded, again."We thought that, well, without you here Percy it wouldn't be so fun." Tyson agreed.

Percy thought back to a time before he had stood up for Grover. Grover never really went in to detail, but Percy knew that he had definitely changed the goat-man's life. Tyson hadn't had it easy either. He had grown up in the underbelly of the city, and had been beaten up by larger cyclopses until Percy intervened. Now the big guy lived in a house closer to the palace funded by the Percy.

It dawned on Percy that it would actually be better if he had his friends along. He didn't know how he was going to get them on land, or disguise them with Grover's tail and Tyson's one eye, but he could deal with that later. They gave him support he dearly needed, and that was more important.

He smiled. "Alright. I'm in. Meet me tomorrow at the palace gates at 11:30. Pack anything you want to bring, and try to remember you won't be coming back."

Tyson cheered. "Yay for Percy!"

Grover smiled, but still seemed nervous.

"I've got to go pack my own stuff. See you tomorrow." Percy called as he left the house. He had an odd sense of security. He knew things could not be as bad as they seemed as long as his friends were with him.