After pulling herself together, Thalia ran after Percy. She caught up to him by the creek in the woods. He was on his knees in what looked like a meditative pose. Without opening his eyes, he started talking.

"Hey, Thalia. How've you been?"

Thalia was speechless for a moment. His voice was deeper than she remembered. Not quite baritone, but it definitely wasn't as high as she remembered. Her shock quickly turned to anger.

"That's all you have to say?! I see you for the first time in over 200 years and that's what you say? 'How've you been?'" She says the last part in a terrible impression of Percy's voice.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She gasped. The irises were fractured. It was like a pane of glass with a hole in the middle and cracks etching outward like a disease.

His gaze was unblinking, and Thalia found she couldn't hold it for more than a couple of seconds before looking away. She could only imagine what it would be like to be on the receiving end of one of his glares.

He looked away after a moment, gazing around at the water around him. He breathed in through his nose and the water seemed to pull towards him. He exhaled and the water receded.

Thalia watched in fascination as he did this for several minutes. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Meditating. It's something I learned while in the pit. Down there, there isn't much water, so I had to get creative. The rivers of the underworld don't like to be controlled. I found that by doing this, I could hone my control of water better."

Thalia blinked. "Really?"

Percy chuckled. "Not exactly. There was more to it than this, but this definitely helped. It also keeps me from losing control."

Thalia frowned. "Losing control?"

His face darkened. "In every living being, there is water. It is not always a lot, but there is always some. I've only lost control twice. Both times it caused destruction and chaos. I will not let it happen again, not here."

Thalia stared at him, worry etched on her face. She took a step towards him. "Percy…"

Percy waved her off. "Forget it." He stood up. "I'll sleep out here tonight."

"Why?"

"I'm not a huge fan of confined spaces, even ones as large as cabin 3. Besides, you saw the campers' reactions to me after I killed Krios. I'm not who the stories remember."

Thalia frowned but nodded. "Okay, but you let me know if you need anything, okay?"

He nodded. She hesitated a moment before walking off. Percy laid down in the creek, allowing the water to envelop him.

Percy awoke to the sound of the conch hor. It was breakfast time. He got up and started his trek towards the pavilion. He was the last one there. As he approached, conversations hushed. They were undoubtedly talking about him.

He sat at the end of the Poseidon table and didn't say anything. He ate his food in silence. His food wasn't blue. He had outgrown that long ago. All he drank was water.

He finished his food and without saying a word, got up, and left. He arrived back at the creek a short time later. He kneeled down in the water and began meditating. He breathed in and out before beginning.

He felt the familiar tug in his gut, bending the water to his will. The water rose and formed different shapes; riptide, a scythe, an ax, a spear, a drakon, a hellhound, an eye, a helmet, and more.

He continued making shapes until he was startled by a gasp. The water dropped as he turned and stood. Standing by the creek bed was a young girl no more than 11. She looked nervous.

She had green eyes, so much like his own, long, black hair tied in a braid that fell over her shoulder, and a slim frame. He could sense the sea in her.

Percy relaxed his posture. This was not a monster, it was a child. "Hello. Who are you?"

The girl squeaked. "Um… Annabelle," she told him nervously.

He chuckled at her nervousness, which seemed to calm her down a bit. "Hey, Annabelle. I'm Percy. Now, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

She paled a bit. "Um… it was… a d-dare."

Percy made an 'o' with his mouth. "Hermes cabin?" She nodded. "Figured. Well, what was the dare?" He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice.

"T-to, um, talk to you… and, um… see what you were, uh, doing." She stumbled over the words as she tried to get them out. That made him chuckle again.

"So, your dare was to come to talk to me and see what I was doing?" she nodded. "Well, I was just meditating. Something you interrupted. So you can go and tell them that you completed the dare. Oh, and tell them not to send anyone else."

He turned around and went back to meditating. However before he could get back in the zone, he heard Annabelle sneeze. He opened his eyes and turned around. She was still standing by the creek bed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

She avoided his gaze. "I, um, wanted to see more of your, uh, creation thingies." Her voice got smaller and smaller as she spoke.

He blinked. "Um… alright. Just keep quiet, okay?" She nodded, so he went back to meditating. Or he tried, anyway. ADHD is a bitch though. Annabelle could not sit still. She fidgeted, she made small noises, she played with rocks. If he didn't know better, Percy would've thought she was purposely trying to disturb him.

Percy sighed. "Okay, I can see this isn't going to work." He turned to look at her. She looked guilty. "Do you want me to teach you to control it?"

She met his eyes, confused. "Control what?"

He gestured to the water. "The water, the impulses, the power. It's a lot, isn't it sister?"

Her eyes were wide, but she nodded. He waved her over. She tentatively walked over to him, sitting cross-legged in the creek across from him.

"Close your eyes." She complied. "Reach out with your senses. Feel the water, hear it run. Imagine what you want the water to do." A moment of silence. "Now, tell it what you want to do."

She scrunched up her eyes in concentration. "Rise up, please." She whispered. Nothing happened.

"Be more forceful. You are in charge here. You do not ask the water to do something, you tell it." He told her.

Annabelle nodded and spoke with more force. "Rise up." The water responded to her command.

Both of them opened their eyes. Percy nodded in approval. "Well done. Now, go further."

She blinked, then got a mischievous and determined look in her eyes. She glared at the water. "Splash Percy."

Percy chuckled and let it happen. "Funny. You have done well. Now, let's go even further."

They practiced for hours, Percy teaching and Annabelle learning. Percy taught her techniques and skills that would help her in battle, like pulling moisture out of the air and using that if no other water is around.

It was near the end of the day when they stopped. Annabelle was exhausted. Percy noticed. "You can go if you like. We can pick this up tomorrow." she nodded gratefully and trudged back towards camp.

As soon as she was out of earshot, he muttered, "Finally, some peace and quiet." And went back to meditating.