Shh... I fixed it don't worry.

Also, let's try to have it so I don't need to kill a character off in order to hear from you guys ;) I loved hearing what you had to say.

-c.c.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)

Damn you Poseidon.

With my eyes open, I could see the water swirl around me in soft blue-grey curls. There were beams of moonlight streaming down through the surface and illuminating the top layer of the lake. I almost stood, nothing under my feet, floating over a huge chasm, my hair swirling in wispy strands around my face. But something was wrong.

I could breathe.

I inhaled water but what filled my lungs was air. I exhaled a defeated sigh. The air left my lips in a flurry of small bubbles.

My drowning experience had gone tragically better than it was supposed to.

Suddenly, the water lit up. It glowed a bright and magnificent aqua blue, and I looked down at my arms. The light was coming from glowing patterns that appeared on my arms and legs. There were ancient greek architectural spirals and designs being etched into my skin as well as small passages that circled around my biceps. I tried to frantically move backwards as the marks were burned onto my skin, but the waters seemed to push me further over the edge of the crevice. The pain was over quickly, but the color and symbols remained. Now I was a walking hieroglyph. Great. Thanks grandpa.

There wasn't much in the water, and for that I was thankful. I was pretty much a neon sign that said "Hey I'm food". But now I needed a plan. So what do I do. I swim.

It did not take long to figure out how to use the currents to my advantage, and I made short time of my trip to the bottom of the lake. The shore was close, so I didn't have to travel far in order to find the sand, but it was definitely dark. Luckily, I had packed a flashlight. Immediately I went in search of something shiny in order to see my reflection. At this point, I would also like to thank the stupidity of humankind for screwing up our water by throwing trash literally everywhere. You are trash. Thank you.

I saw a broken piece of mirror hidden in the sand and unearthed it.

So much for being ugly before.

Look at me now.

The lines made their presence known by growing upwards on my neck and creeping onto my jawline and down from my forehead. My eyes were no longer gray. They burned a bright neon blue color.

Well if I wasn't a freak before, I'd definitely win the prize now.

"Now what?"

I turned around quickly in surprise. Who was there? The voice had a deep and earthy echo to it. I saw no one, and that was not good.

"Oh shit,"

I swiveled back through the water and covered my mouth.

That sounded like Annabeth.

Correction.

I sounded like Annabeth.

That was me. I asked now what? I said oh shit. I was speaking those words out of my mouth and they were audible. I could talk!

"Really?" I asked.

"No way," I said.

"Nico," I began listing people's names. Regarding them with my voice like I always dreamed I could.

"Percy, Piper, Jason, Leo, Will…"

"Will," I said with sadness in my voice. I had almost killed myself, just like he told me not to.

Now what was I going to do.

I had nowhere to go. I could stay in the ocean, but I would be fighting creatures off left and right, not to mention I didn't have any shelter.

Oh wait, that's exactly how my life was before anyway.

I figured there was no other choice but to keep going. Just keep swimming.

So that's what I did. I said a little prayer to Poseidon in my head. I asked for direction and protection. He must know where I was meant to go, so I asked him to guide me along the right path. As soon as I finished, a small wave came up from out of nowhere and lifted my body upward through the sweet and salty waters.

I traveled with the current until there was sunlight piercing the night of the sea. Really, it would have been darker for anyone else seeing how far from the surface I was. But, you know, fish powers. As I swam, I began to see the life that is the ocean. Reefs were littered with brightly colored coral, and the aquatic wildlife was just as beautiful. Surprisingly, nothing attacked me. But I was welcomed with tiny voices squealing hello from every direction. Some smaller fish followed me for a while, accompanying me on my journey. I even encountered some sharks, but they just swam past me. A way off in the distance, I could see a structure, almost palace like, with a small cave-like building off to the side. Suddenly, my current stopped. That was all the help I was getting from Poseidon in that department. I swam over to some large boulders further away from the reef so I could observe my surroundings. Right now, I needed to find a supply of food. I don't know if I could bring myself to eat these fish, but the plant life seemed plentiful. I reached down and grabbed a leaf off of some sea plant and chewed it in my mouth.

I wanted to vomit, but that was okay.

Peering over the boulder, I watched as creatures moved in and out of the palace. There were merpeople, something I read about (and believed in, despite the world), as well as other types of marine-human-hybrid creatures and fish. I saw sparks coming from the cave like structure. That was probably going to be my best bet for finding food. If this was the place I thought it was, I couldn't just go walking in saying, "Hey Poseidon, I'm your granddaughter and you've never met me but what's for dinner." Honestly, I wasn't really allowed to see Poseidon yet. That was part of my mission; don't interact with the gods separately. I wasn't very good at doing my job in the first place, but I needed to follow the rules nonetheless. So I sneakily worked my way down a sandy, underwater hillside, being careful to avoid anyone seeing me. Finally, I reached the entrance of the cave.

I heard loud sounds of metal on metal and the sound of sizzling fire. At this point, I wasn't surprised by much. Fire under water? Yeah, we do that. It sounded a lot like Leo and Hephaestus' cabin working on a big project. Maybe blacksmiths? Underwater blacksmiths, yes.

"Hullo," a voice said cheerily.

That definitely wasn't me this time.

I turned quickly to face a fairly large cyclops covered in ash. He was clearly three feet taller than me and was quite broad. I looked at him in fear.

"Oh! You are blue!" He exclaimed in slow speech with a smile on his face.

Cheery Cyclops. I was greatly confused.

"What are you, blue girl?" he asked me sheepishly.

I began to sign, but then realized I didn't need that anymore.

"I'm a girl," I said calmly.

"No you are not. I know that girls are not blue," He laughed.

"Well, I'm special," I said promptly.

"Haha okay. Who are you, blue girl?"

I shouldn't use my real name.

"I am... Trina?" I said carefully.

"Trina, are you my friend?" the cyclops asked.

I decided to be safe.

"Yes I am," I told him. "Who are you?" I inquired pointing to him.

"I am Tyson, and you are my friend haha," He chortled in a slow and low tone.

"Tyson, where am I?" I asked.

"You are with me, Trina," he said as he began to walk away. "You can come with me. I need more friends, and you are one of them!"

This was definitely strange, but I think I found what I was meant to do. So I followed Tyson the Cyclops into the cave building and looked up to the surface of the water.

Thank you, Poseidon.

Inside the outcropping was a massive pit of fire. Water fire, mind you, but fire nonetheless. The heat was excruciating, but the other cyclops that roamed the space didn't seem to mind. I trailed close behind my monster friend until we got past the lake of molten rock and flame and reached a smaller doorway. Through this door were ginormous bunk beds, the perfect size for a cyclops herd.

"This is my bed," said Tyson, leaping up onto a large, flat mattress. Mattress was the best word for it, but the bunks were made completely of rock.

"You are my friend, so you can stay with me," He said, patting a spot next to him on the rock. In normal circumstances, I would never get in bed with someone I had just met. However, I was currently homeless and wasn't going to let this opportunity slip past me. I swam up to the lip of the rock and sat down next to Tyson.

"Tyson!" yelled a deep and thundering voice, "You have work!"

He looked at me. "Got to go," Tyson jumped off of the bed and turned back towards me. "Don't go nowhere," he said with his hands up.

I put my hands up, imitating him, and nodded. Tyson then stumbled out of the room, leaving me alone on the large slab of rock.

Well, plenty of stuff just happened. Now I had a lot of time to think about it. I twisted my body so I was lying down on the rock mattress. My hair floated all around me and tickled my face. I braided it into a large heavy strand that, for the most part, stayed down in one piece.

It wasn't really that smart of me to think I could actually drown in the ocean. The Poseidon in this world didn't know me yet, but I didn't take into account that my father has water powers and could probably bet on having them too. I had never had them before today, though. It was pretty cool being able to breathe underwater, use the currents, and talk to fish. Heck, being able to talk in general was amazing! That was an accomplishment. Was low-key upset I sounded like Annabeth though. Though not 100% sure, I figured that back home they needed a voice for me when I was underwater and mom had volunteered. At this point, though, her voice was not the best choice. At first, I wanted to talk all of the time, but now, every time I speak it's with Annabeth's voice, and I am reminded of all of the things she'd said to me.

I wondered if she'd say anything when she wakes up.

It should have been mid-morning. Since I didn't always interact with anyone until the afternoon, they might not have noticed yet.

I wondered who would notice first. I knew Nico and Annabeth would know, but I am sure they won't say anything. Nico would know I hadn't died. He would have felt it, so he wouldn't say anything, to protect me. Annabeth won't know I survived, but she hates me, so she won't say anything either.

Honestly, I was really upset I had done this to them. It would have been okay if I had actually died and didn't have to live with this guilt. Luckily, I knew people move on even if it's hard.

I just had to avoid dwelling on it.

But how could I not? These people loved and cared about me. At least, maybe. Who knows? Now that I was (still) alive, I could go back…

No.

I didn't want to go back.

Back to not being able to do anything. Back to Annabeth treating me like a monster. Back to having to sign everything. I would have to save the world again. Now, the only stress on me was hiding from Poseidon.

And I could live with that. I flipped over so I was lying on my belly, propped up on my elbows. I could have a new start here. Make friends, meet people, and not have to worry about anything. This really was the chance I was waiting for my whole life.

Yeah, this could be it. At that moment, Tyson walked back in, followed by about twenty other cyclops much larger than he was. I hadn't realized it, but the work day was done.

"Hey, you did not go nowhere!" Tyson exclaimed, walking over to his bunk. I nodded with a smile and sat up. From behind Tyson, another larger cyclops approached.

"Tyson!" the cyclops addressed in a booming voice, "You know the rules. No pets allowed." The giant creature crossed its arms sternly.

"Trina is not pet!" Tyson replied appalled, "Trina is my friend!"

"No Tyson, no friends."

"She is my only friend!" Tyson yelled with sadness in his voice.

"Hm," the older cyclops contemplated. Finally, it spoke. "Can friend work?" The cyclops turned toward me.

I nodded. Sure, I could work. Anything to stay.

"Well, O.K., friend can stay," the older cyclops grunted before walking away. Tyson looked at me with a large smile. He proceeded to run over and pick me up in a large cyclops sized embrace. It was a little hard to breathe, but the thought was all that mattered.

"Yay Trina stays Trina stays!" Tyson exclaimed. I smiled in relief and hugged the friendly giant. But soon after, a yawn filled the giant's mouth.

"Now time for sleep." He climbed up onto his rock bed and laid down flat on his back. It was only a matter of seconds, before Tyson was fast asleep. I swam up to the bed once again and curled up at the foot of his slab like a cat. It definitely wasn't the bed from back at camp, but it was a lot more comfortable that I thought, and I soon fell asleep as well.

And I did not dream that night.