A/N: Hello all, semester finals and hospital visits held me back, but here I am.

Thanks again for all of your support.

Enjoy.

T.I.

Chapter XII

"Tell me again Percy." Mark's eyes scanned his with a look Percy never saw reflected through his teacher's eyes, it was the look of a man who had a part of his soul returned to him, a shining in his eyes that used to be there, now returned and glistened brightly against the harsh fluorescent lights of his teachers office.

Percy, just as Reyna told him in their training session in the gym, truly gave Mark hope. Hope that he could now witness without words, Percy thought Mark was only seconds away from bursting with a large and brilliant smile, ready to throw praise at him at any angle he could.

And Percy was afraid.

No. Forget it for now. He chided at himself. If they really see me as some sort of savior, I can't shatter their hopes so quickly. Percy turned to Reyna, who nodded at him. After his realization at the Gym and his description of the event that apparently was a god giving him divine information for saving the world, she all but dragged him, gym clothes and body still sticky with sweat, straight into Mark's office without even knocking.

Their new teacher was in the middle of reading a small book, glasses glued to his nose that Percy felt completed his academic persona. As he heard the door to his office open with a force that formed a small gust of wind which fluttered the pages of his book to a point far away from where he was initially reading, he gave a small sigh and closed the book, addressing them both.

"Seeing the state of you, I'm guessing the morning session was a success, but I assure you Percy it'll take more than a session to challenge me in sword-fighting. Let Reyna beat you a couple of times before you challenge me." The look on Percy's face must've been hilarious because both he and Reyna started giggling like a couple of old chums.

Just who is he? Percy still didn't get an answer.

"As fun as it'll be to watch, magistre, we're here on a more serious matter." Reyna's tone was determined, a contrast from the earlier giggling, and Mark put his hands, fingers locked and under his chin in a contemplative expression, as he reclined in his chair.

"Okay. What is it then?" Mark asked.

"Percy received a prophecy." Reyna said with a small smile tugging at her face, as if waiting for a response.

Mark's stare darted from her to Percy, staring deep into him, as if trying to look into his soul.

"Impossible, Reyna. I know what we hoped, but no augeri remain, you know that." He started. Reyna's eyed widened a bit, and were starting to go down again, staring at the floor, much to Percy's dismay.

"I know what we talked about, and I have every belief in your mother, but I'm not going to jump up and-"

"But Magistre, Just wait and listen to-" Reyna's gaze was still downcast, her enthusiasm all but gone as she interrupted their teacher.

"It wasn't an auger, Mark." Percy interrupted with a voice he found louder, and rather more hostile than he intended towards his teacher. How did he dare just swipe away Reyna's hope like that? He remembered the look in her eyes when he shared with her the weird event that happened to him on the beach that one night he was sure he was dreaming. He never saw her that hopeful, almost ecstatic with his words.

And Mark just blew it all away with a couple of words that seemed to hurt Reyna more than one of her sword swipes that ended up connecting with his shoulder. And that hurt a lot.

"What do you mean Percy?" His eyes scanned him, never moving from his reclined position in his chair.

"I received a message, a prophecy, directly from a god." Percy tried not to seem too smug as Mark's stare changed from one of contemplative boredom to one of amazement, his eyes widened slightly.

"Impossible, the gods are far too weak to show themselves in the current state, much less give prophecies, what god showed themselves before you Percee? Answer me!" Mark's voice started to climb the scale from a whisper to a shout, demanding to know. Percy felt something from the men, a sort of power, and it was his turn to widen his eyes.

"Alethea, magistre, Alethea erat." He answered in Latin without even noticing.

Mark suddenly stood, as if he snapped, and Percy stepped back, almost afraid of the man. Something changed in his teacher, and whatever it was, he wasn't liking it.

And as soon as it came, that hostile energy and Mark's impetus, it vanished. As if it was never there. Mark slumped in his chair, his face, Percy noticed, seemed older and sadder, almost melancholy, before he returned to himself as he looked at them.

"Tell me what she showed you Percy, and spare no detail. If what you say is true, I am most glad, yet more regretful than ever before." His voice, unlike his appearance, remained older. Wiser. Filled with an intangible emotion at its surface that Percy couldn't decipher.

And so Percy did. He told both Mark and Reyna about that night, about the sea taking him to unfathomable depths yet not drowning him, and the magnificent being that appeared before him from the currents, like an imposing giant, and the words she told him. He tried to remember every little detail, in case it was important, and as they both listened, Percy felt somewhat better, now that he had them. It sounded hard, what he needed to do, and dangerous, if the monstrum that attacked him was any indication of it, and mysterious, like the ocean itself. But Percy thought that with Reyna and Mark there to share his so called 'burden', he would do just fine.

As he finished his story, something else shook him. Mark was nearly crying. A small, almost invisible tear was travelling slowly from his left eye towards his chin. He looked stunned. Percy looked to Reyna, who probably shared Percy's sentiment of the shock in her eyes was any indication.

"Magsitre," Reyna started after a couple of minutes of silence that followed Percy's story.

"Dei immortalis." Mark began, the tear fell to the floor as he looked at them.

"Tell me again Percy." Mark insisted with a hopeful look in his eyes, and Percy didn't have the heart to refuse.

Percy thought about the encounter with Mark throughout the school day. This man seemed off to Percy when he first started learning Latin, but he figured he was just a quirky classicist who enjoyed teaching, and then the entire Roman pantheon landed on his head.

But now he knew he was wrong. Whoever he was, he wasn't telling him the entire truth. And if Percy wanted to trust in him more, he had to know everything he could. He was certain of it now.

He was knocked out of his day dreaming as Reyna's wooden weapon nearly took one of his eyes out. Out of now somewhat trained muscle memory, Percy used his wooden gladius to parry Reyna's spear and try and go on the offensive while she seemed to lose her balance. It was a bluff of course.

As he charged towards her, gladius held high ready to come down and end the duel, he was held in place as the tip of her weapon was aimed gracefully in his way. Had he gone any further with his charging, his windpipe would have probably shattered by now. He held his momentum, sighing in defeat.

"That's fifteen-nil Percy. You usually get at least one draw by this point, are you okay?" Reyna asked between heavy breathing. Percy was now competent enough to make her break a sweat. Whoopee.

"Yeah, Sorry Reyna. I know I asked for your help but I seem to be too distracted at the moment." Percy sat down on the gym floor, sweaty and panting himself. "I'll be better tomorrow. I think we're done for today." Percy said in a somewhat defeated voice. He wanted to get better. He needed to get better if he wanted to survive. He got up and stored the wooden gladius in the closet, wondering once again how nothing was ever taken from there.

He suddenly felt a touch on his shoulder. Startled, he turned to look at Reyna, which was standing very close to him, her hand on his shoulder, a knowing look in her eyes, as if she knew how he was feeling.

"Come on Neptunulus, I think you need something distracting, overthinking can be a real pain." She says, her eyes never leaving his.

"Not as painful as your spear jabs I bet." Percy never expected her response, she was trying to help, and he was thankful.

Reyna gave a small laugh as her lips formed into a small smile. "I didn't even gave you a fully powered one yet, want to give it a shot?" Was she counter joking with him?

"Think I'll pass for now." He responded, laughing and giving a smile of his own.

"Come on. I think I have just the distraction." Her hand left his shoulder, and he still felt her warmth as he saw her gather her things and wait for his by the sliding doors of the gym.

"Where are we going?" He asked, not sure of her intentions.

"And ruin the surprise? You'll see. Come on." Reyna said, opening the gym doors and leaving, looking back at Percy with her eyes telling him to follow.

"That's the pool Reyna." Percy said as they stood near a large building that once held inside the school's pool before it was shut down due to budget. Percy used to come swimming there every day after school when he could, but now it just stood there, dormant and forgotten.

"How very perceptive, Percy." The wordplay didn't go unnoticed.

"Oh so you're the class clown now?" Percy challenged.

"I wouldn't dare take that away from you Percy, you worked so hard for it." The sarcasm in her voice was so thick you could make a sandwich with it.

"Anyway, why are we here? The pool in inactive and the building locked. I know I have fond memories of swimming but if that's your idea of a distraction, consider me distracted. For one second." He really was wondering why she brought him here.

"Shush, Neptunulus, and watch." Reyna pulled a key from her bag, and Percy watched with amazement as she got close to the door, and unlocked it with ease, a metallic click rang for a second.

Another smile showed itself on her lips, and Percy couldn't stop himself and smiled as well.

"You really should smile more, I already told you that." It just came out, he didn't control his words.

Reyna seemed frozen for a second, before turning and entering the building. "Come on," she started. "I think you'll like this."

The first thing that hit him was the smell of chlorine, strong and dominant, but that couldn't be. The pool was empty. Except it wasn't. The half Olympic sized pool was filled to the brim with water, moving gently, and Percy knew Reyna was right. This was definitely a distraction.

"What do you think?" She said as they got further in. Percy approached the edge of the pool and stared longingly. If Reyna hadn't been there he would probably just jump in, clothes and all, and let the water envelope him. He belonged there. He crouched and touched the water with his hand.

"I think it's wonderful, Reyna. How did you manage it?" He asked.

"Mark helped. We needed the pool eventually, so Mark talked to the principle and somehow, don't ask me how, he agreed to let us use it under the pretense of furthering physical education." She summarized.

Pretense? Percy Thought. What did she mean by pretense? What else could one do in a pool? And then he realized. Oh no.

"Reyna?" He started, already apprehensive.

"Yes?" She answered.

"We're not here to exercise are we?" He almost didn't want to ask and keep living in his dreams.

"No, Percy, we're not here to exercise." She nodded her head.

"What are we here for then?" He already knew, he just wanted to hear it.

"To see what you can actually do with water, O, dear Neptunulus." She said innocently, which Percy knew meant his suffering. Maybe a few spear jabs to the face weren't so bad after all.