Poseidon stood in the heart of the darkness, reflecting on the words the titan had just said. You know why you are willing to go so far for this mortal woman. Were they true? Did he really know why he was willing to go so far for Sally? Reflecting on his own existence which stretched back for endless millennia and would stretch forward for millennia more, he was forced by his own conscience to come to one staggering conclusion; he loved Sally Jackson.

"At least you aren't all stupid, Child," Oceanus' voice emanated from all around. Poseidon started.

"Now you can read my mind?" the question cam out much sharper than he had expected. Being the Sea god, he was not accustomed to being so out of control of any situation. Only Zeus – and at times Athena – dared oppose him outright in any venture. The rest of them just had to tread carefully lest they spark up the Sea god's famous temper. But all Oceanus did was chuckle.

"I was master of the ocean tides long before you, Child. The flow of the sea around you is, or rather was, very calm." Poseidon had to smile.

"Getting back to my predicament, old man, what do you think I should do?"

"I have no answers, Child. Should you choose to let the child die, that will be your choice. Should you choose to keep the mortal, that will be your choice. Should you choose to make the journey to my prison, that too, will be your choice."

Poseidon frowned. "You sound like these modern day, mortal, wise men; a lot of vague talk and no true answers whatsoever."

"I see some things have not changed over the millennia," remarked Oceanus. Poseidon remained quiet. Thoughts were whirling through his head. Sally was an amazing woman. She was independent, strong, gentle and loving. She was caring, always thoughtful of others and tried to help when she could. The gods naturally thought of such behaviour as mortals' weakness. But Sally was different. She was no one's fool. The very fact that she had not challenged him was evidence that she did not regret their meeting and had a strong hope that he would come through for her and their baby. Their baby. Such words had not struck home to his heart ever.

"I see you have come to your decision."

"Do you know what that decision is?" asked Poseidon asked.

"No, but there is an air of decisiveness about you that I have never felt before so I can make an educated guess." With that, the presence of the sea, Oceanus and the darkness lifted and Poseidon once again found himself standing in front of a regular looking doorway.

Sally watched the Nereids playing with Percy. She couldn't help but smiling. He was a handful already, despite the fact that he was only a few days old. He kept grabbing the Nereids' hair. At first they had been scandalized by such un-courtly behaviour, but he had grown on them. Poseidon had disappeared after their audience with him and they saw now fit reason to treat these mortals with any respect. In fact, Maria had nearly fed them both to a mako shark that had swum along into the chamber, but Sally had displayed her rare fighting skills. Even now, three days later, Maria still bore the scars and half-healed wounds. But for all that, Maria didn't look like she could be any happier. Little Percy was riding a dolphin and chasing all the Nereids in a game of tag. Sally shook her head. Now this was a scene she had never imagined possible. She could barely believe that they were actually underwater, breathing oxygen.

A silence started gathering throughout the entire palace. It was a magical silence. It started at the very bottom and most ancient parts of the palace, then slowly ascended to the chamber where Sally was. The Nereids felt something, probably the same thing Sally felt – and what Percy felt for he had stopped laughing and was very quiet – and lined up on both sides of the entrance. Poseidon came through the entrance, except he wasn't the Poseidon that had left. He was wearing his toga and held his trident in his right hand. He looked at the Nereids as he advanced to his throne, and the effect of the whole moment was nearly ruined when he gave a small, twitching smile at Maria's broken nose. But it was gone after a second and Poseidon continued to his throne. When he stood before it, he turned round and stretched a hand toward the dolphin bearing Percy, who came to him at once. Sally's heart fluttered. Did this mean what she thought it meant?

Poseidon turned and looked at Sally square in the eye. Yes, she thought, it does mean what I think it means. Our baby will live!

Sally drifted over to Poseidon.

"We shall cover up your absences, my lord," said Maria. Poseidon gave a nod. With a small wave of his trident, Poseidon, Sally, the little dolphin and Percy disappeared in a puff of sea-green smoke.

Percy felt the first hint of sunlight on his face and willed his heart to beat faster and his mind to enter consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked at the heavy green foliage that surrounded him. He could see streaks of the orange morning sun through it. It looked like it was going to be a clear day, maybe a little windy, but that's all. He slowly rose to a sitting position, careful not to let himself unbalance and tip off the tree branch. He had been sleeping in the forest, or more accurately, at the edge of the forest, ever since his first night at camp. It was natural, he remembered, for the Hermes cabin to take in any undetermined kids, but the cabin had looked full and also he wanted some peace and quiet. He had found that living with Matsuda, Al-Sahib and Aracnan had brought out and conditioned a part of his life that he had never knew existed; a wanderer.

Being back among people, even half-bloods, had turned him instantly wary and guarded. He was always formal with the other campers, not wanting to make bad blood between them or have to resort to any kind of violence. His return had created a buzz and everyone was impressed with the improvements he had done with himself. Of course, that did not mean they acknowledged the fact that he was better than most of them, if not all. In their puny little minds they still thought of that nine year old boy who had no talents whatsoever but for his competent mind. A sneer briefly flashed on his face which he instantly suppressed. Control your emotions, Matsuda had always instructed. Only when your mind is clear can you achieve what was normally beyond you.

Percy sighed and stood up, one hand on the trunk for support. Last night had been some Ares kid's birthday and the older Hermes kids had snuck in some alcohol. Even though he had tried to keep the drinking to a minimum – not drinking would have only made him a target from those Ares bullies – but as the night wore on he had started swigging can shot after shot of scotch until 1 a.m. before he finally marched himself into the forest and into the foliage of this tree. He hadn't had the strength to keep going deeper and to the ancient tree he usually slept in. It had a big hollow high up and was the perfect place. No one would find him there.

With another sigh he jumped down the tree from branch to branch until he landed silently on the soft ground. He made his way to a tributary of the river that ran through camp. He stripped and sank gratefully into the cold water. He took a gulp of air and sank to the bottom of the river. He grabbed an underwater root to prevent himself from being carried away by the current and let his mind go blank.

He didn't know how long he had spent underwater – he had always been able to hold his breath for a long time – but after a while he began to hear the singing. Again. That's another reason why he preferred the forest to camp cabins. Ever since his first night he had heard unearthly singing coming from the forest. At first he had thought that it was the Dryads, but as the days wore on, he realized that it wasn't the wood nymphs singing. There were jut too few voices for it to be wood nymphs singing; Dryads always loved singing in big groups. And neither was it the satyrs; satyrs would not be this deep in the forest in such numbers. The dryads would get the wrong idea and a fight could brew up. No, this was something different.

Percy opened his eyes underwater and looked downstream. His heart nearly stopped. An inch from his face was another face, staring at him in amusement. The face was glowing soft blue and held an ethereal beauty. It seemed familiar somehow. A hand reached out and touched his face. He instantly dried up. He couldn't understand what exactly as going on. The buoyant effect of the water disappeared and suddenly it was as if he was on dry land. Slowly he stood up and faced the creature. It gave a peal of laughter at his wariness and swam a little way downstream. He watched as several others joined it. They were female, he noted. Female river spirits. That made them Naiads, didn't it? The Naiads started singing the song that had haunted him for two weeks now. It was a beautiful song, not of words, but of pure unearthly voices. It brought tears to his eyes, which were instantly washed by the current.

The current. The river. The cold water. Those thoughts hit him, and the thought that he was underwater suddenly hit him like a pile driver. He suddenly felt the coldness of the water, the wetness of it. He felt the current grab at him again, it seemed, with greater force. He felt his lungs crying out for air. With powerful, if erratic strokes, he swam for the surface and took a deep, satisfying gulp of air. He looked downstream and noticed a head poking out of the river. The face's amused expression had gone and it was serious.

You felt the power of your heritage, but you aren't ready yet to embrace it. The smiling face came back, and with a wave of the hand, the Naiad dived back into the river.

Percy sat in the fudoza position, waiting for his students. Part of his responsibilities as a camp member was to teach any subject he was good at. When Matsuda and Al-Sahib had come with him, they had informed Chiron of all the things he was capable of. Now as part of his re-introduction into camp, he got to know the other campers by helping in lessons. There was nothing whatsoever to suggest that he was better than any other campers in any particular subject since he hadn't been graded yet, but this was the best Chiron could come up with on short notice.

Percy looked at the sun and sighed. They were late. Shaking his head slightly, he stood up and went to the weapons rack. He checked each and every weapon for kinks and made sure they were all in good working order. He checked the balance of each weapon – which was perfect – and the keenness of any that had blades – which was also good. He went back to his perch and sat in the fudoza position. He checked the sun. His students were fifteen minutes late.

Suddenly loud shouts came from down the avenue and after a few seconds, Percy saw his students, a bunch of rowdy Ares kids wearing leather padding on their head, chest, back, arms and legs. They were coming from the palaestrae, from wrestling practice. Percy resisted a sigh. This was going to be difficult.

"What's next?" asked one.

"Weapons lesson."

"Great, just what we need. More fun!" A howl of laughter greeted this remark. Percy took the time they were all distracted with each other to size them all up and gauge just far he had to go to make his point with hard headed Ares kids. After a second, he tweaked the lesson plan a little the allowed himself a smile; the Ares kids were not going to push him around.

"And here's the teacher," declared the loud mouth Ares kid, much to the amusement of everyone else. Percy did not even twitch. He looked levelly at the Ares kid, named John, and gave a slight, contemptuous smile.

"Shut up, John, and sit down, all of you. You are already late as it is and I don't want anymore of my lesson going to waste."

"Woo! Hear the big man speak." Percy moved faster than any of the kids could see, and he was younger than them all. He appeared in front of John, ho immediately tried to hide his fear and disable his opponent. But Percy merely moved out of the way of the clumsy move and gave a gentle pinch of an artery in the neck. John went down like a sack of potatoes.

"As I was saying," Percy said, continuing like nothing had happened, "you are late. I don't want to hear any excuses. Drop down and give me a hundred. Now." Gasps from the Ares kids were his answer. Percy turned toward them and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have anything wrong with that … Justin?" he said, turning on one the bigger and better kids.

"Yeah," answered Justin. "I do. Where do you get off giving us all punishments?"

"I am the teacher of this lesson, so it's perfectly within my right to give punishments. You were fifteen minutes late. It only takes three minutes to get from the palaestrae to here. Since there is no plausible explanation for you being late, you have to be punished. Discipline, Justin, is required if you are to become a competent warrior. I thought you would understand that most of all after you dismal performance two and a half years ago with the sloth-demons." Justin turned red.

"We were trying to rescue you, you ungrateful bastard!"

"And yet my mother ended up saving your life, and all because you didn't follow Luke's orders and came screaming like a dervish into a group of monsters."

"How dare you?" screamed a girl. "Justin is one of the best Ares warriors!"

"Which should tell you something, shouldn't it, my dear. You cannot expect to capture the flag in two weeks time with the way you are going." Justin lost control. He attacked. Big mistake. Percy was expecting it. After all, he had been goading Justin into it from the beginning. Percy simply vanished from sight an instant before Justin's punch should have landed on his stomach. Anyone who had been watching properly would have seen Percy somersaulting above Justin and coming back to land onto the tall guy's shoulders. He stood there a moment, waiting for Justin to become aware of his presence, then he fell forward – and clamping Justin's head between his feet – he twisted in the air and sent Justin flying into a marble pillar. The youth did not move.

"Right," said Percy, again as if nothing had happened, "I'm still waiting for those hundred push-ups." No one argued.

Ten minutes later, after Percy had thoroughly gone through most of the cabin's knowledge of weapons – a few of the cabin mates were missing – he told everyone to get a sword, a fencing epee in particular. None of them liked that idea much.

"Isn't this supposed to be a joint lesson?" muttered one. "Cabins teaching each other with one proper teacher?"

"Did you say something, Jim?" asked Percy mildly. Jim did not say another word.

"Right," continued Percy, "it seems clear to me that while you are all good swordsmen and swordswomen, you are all missing out on the finer applications of swordsmanship."

"What?" asked the same girl who had defended Justin. Percy shook his head.

"Which one of you is the best swordsperson?" he asked. Heads swiveled around, each person not daring to say they were the best but also looking for anyone who could be better. Someone mentioned it being such a pity that Clarisse wasn't there, then finally Jim stood up.

"I'm as good as you're gonna get for the meanwhile," he said with a grin. Percy sized up Jim, then took his own fencing foil.

"Kill me, if you can," he said. That took everyone by surprise.

"What?" asked Jim.

"The only way you could possibly defeat me is if you attacked to kill. Now, kill me, if you can." Jim looked him straight in the eye, then shrugged. He attacked.

It was evening. The camp air was still. Tonight was Capture The Flag night. And because Mr. D was feeling especially moody, he had said there were no rules. Play at your own peril. And because of recent events, Chiron had agreed. Each camper had to get tougher. Even normal lessons had been advanced. Tonight, they were not playing in cabins, but in four man teams. Of course, if you won, the victory would be for the cabin, but now you had to fight your own cabin mates as well to be the team that got the flag to the safe-ground, which was a small island Mr. D had created in the middle Lake Blódhren, which was deep in the forest where the more dangerous creatures dwelt.

Percy silently came back to his team's base from his reccé of the surrounding terrain. The base was an underground cavity located at the base of an old tree west of the forest. Percy had spotted the small entrance – an ordinary hole any animal could dig up – and could not resist deepening and widening the cavern beneath so that three people could fit inside comfortably. He had made sure not to be followed back to the hideout and now jumped into the hole and landed silently on the ground beneath.

"All clear," he reported to his team mates. They tried to hold back their surprise. When Percy had left, he had ordered them to be on high alert in case they were discovered. He had just dropped in on them and they were none the wiser.

"Then let's get some shut eye. We move at midnight. We've got four hours so I don't want any of us falling asleep while others get the jump on us, ok?" This came from Casey, the oldest one of the group, and although he wasn't the group leader, Percy let him take command for this one time. Capturing the flag was important to all his team mates. Aside from a god claming a child, the flag was one of the few ways a camper could be determined. The cabin held the essence of each other the twelve Olympians and the other gods. During competitions such as these, the flag was an embodiment of the gods and when a camper touched it, the symbol of the camper's god-parent appeared on the flag. For these three, Percy knew, this was their one long shot at being finally determined. Personally, Percy couldn't care less what happened; he wanted nothing to do with his god-father, whoever that was.

Percy looked carefully at his three team mates. Casey, tall, lean, with slightly dark features, which gave him a dangerous look. His chosen weapon was a bo, a six foot long stick, thick, made from elm. Simon, also tall, but slightly fat, which suited his fighting style very well because he was a taijutsu type whose style depended heavily on his weight. And finally Jackie, a short but fiery character. She always had something to say about something, a disease every vertically challenged person seemed to suffer from. Yes, he could see the need to be determined and become accepted by the others burning fiercely in their eyes.

"Yes," agreed Percy, "let's sleep."

Percy looked at the moon. It was around two in the morning. Already they had managed to disable ten of the thirty-six teams, and Percy was sure he wasn't the only one who had come up with such a strategy. All in all, he thought it safe to say that twenty teams were down for the count. That still left sixteen unaccounted for, but this near daybreak, he had gone to the next stage of his plan; to lay in wait at the edge of the lake and wait for the team that brought the flag and snatch it from them. Again, he was sure that he wasn't the only one who had though of this – in fact, four of the teams his team had taken out were the ones they had found hiding near the edge of the lake. So to make sure that they were not found out, he had taken a map of the layout before the beginning of the tournament and found the best spot to hide. Not only was it well hidden, it was right near the edge of the lake and so anyone who wanted to make for the little island would be heard instantly.

Percy's ears' twitched. He'd heard something. He signaled to everyone to keep low and be alert. A minute later, he saw Annabeth, Sam and … Luke? He swore. He had forgotten – no rules. What was wrong with joining teams and gaining glory for both Athena and Hermes cabin? He gave the sign to approach the enemy. Tonight, he and his team of outsiders would walk away with the Flag.