The Golden Fleece

It's been so long since I've seen 20+ Reviews I almost teared up. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. Let's keep that trend up. Pretty please.

This chapter entails Percy's fight with Luke, Luke's powers, and the aftermath. This will also be the last chapter of this story for a while as we reach the stopping point to turn back to getting back to Chaos War. You'll be getting a lot of Sea Devil followed by Transcendence here pretty soon.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or Dishonored

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Percy was tried to make this quick.

The second hand ticked by once: Percy linked a few of the monsters behind Luke with Domino, and then tried to link Luke, only to find that the power was somehow blocked. Percy chalked it up to some ability the son of Hermes had.

The second hand completed one more tick: Percy tried Possession, aiming to literally get into Luke's head. Whether Luke could kick him out of his mind or not was irrelevant, because being Possessed and then being unpossessed left one disoriented enough that a killing blow could be struck. Like with Domino, Luke's ability blocked Possession.

The second hand ticked a third time. From the perspective of everyone here, Percy and Luke had just been standing there for the past three seconds.

Percy went with his most basic combo. Time stopped as he went into spirit form with Foresight. He moved forward to set a Displacement marker, and was going to keep moving up to summon Doppelgangers, but the most terrifying thing happened as far as Percy was concerned. He moved in spirit form, and Luke followed him.

"I see you, Percy!"

Luke lunged—time was supposed to be stopped and Luke lunged! Everyone else was frozen in time, stopped completely, but Luke moved! No one ever moved when Percy was using Foresight!—and drove his sword through Percy's spirit form. It was the strangest, most foreign feeling he'd ever experienced. It didn't hurt, didn't feel cold or hot, but it just felt…weird.

And it sent his spirit back into his body.

There were sharp gasps from everyone, because as far as they saw, one second Luke was standing there, and the next blink of an eye he was standing here, in a completely different pose.

Percy growled. So Luke could block Domino and Possession, and he maintained freedom of movement whenever Foresight was active, on top of being able to see Percy's spirit form. Percy chalked the latter up to time-related powers that Luke got based on the fact that he was Kronos's bitch, which implied there were other time-based powers as well.

Since Percy got the impression Luke wasn't one to just brag about his powers, he decided the only way to learn about what they were was to spring them and figure them out. So, a full-frontal assault. But not a stupid one.

Percy dropped a handful of nails by his foot, each marked with Swap, and then Displaced a few feet behind Luke. He nearly got his head taken off because Luke's sword was already in motion, going in a sweeping arc that was aimed perfectly for Percy's neck. He raised a tonfa and hissed at the power behind the blow.

Strong enough he had to take a step to keep his balance.

'So that's how hard a demigod can hit,' Percy thought to himself.

Much more powerful than any guardsman or Overseer.

Luke didn't let up. With his shield arm held back, he let loose a deadly frenzy of sword strikes. Slashes, swings, and jabs, all coming faster than the crossbows that Sally had shot at her son for training. Percy's tonfas whirled and spun, deflecting and parrying everything Luke threw at him. Sparks flew around the two with such intensity that many equated it to cutting metal.

All the sparks that were released when the saw struck whatever was being cut, and the shower of sparks erupted.

This was kind of like that.

Percy noted the whole time that Luke's mark was glowing, indicating he was using his mana for something. If Percy had to guess, based on how slightly heavier he currently felt, Luke was slowing down time around them to make Percy feel sluggish, or he was speeding up his own time, making himself move faster. Or both.

Probably both.

Percy put some oomph into one of his arm movements, knocking Luke off-balance, and the son of Hermes suddenly shot away. Not as in teleported with the likes of Blink or Displacement, but as in he suddenly channeled Sonic the Hedgehog and went running, blur of colors and everything.

Immunity to Domino and Possession, time dilation powers, and now speed.

Percy summoned the full compliment of Doppelgangers, twelve of them, and then used Fog Caller. A blanket of fog instantly washed over the ship, so thick that one's hand couldn't be seen if held a foot away from their face. Then that fog was blasted away by a massively strong gust of outward wind, Luke at the epicenter.

Wind Blast, Percy recognized.

Okay, that was at least something he was familiar with.

Waste of mana, though.

Percy sent his Doppelgangers in for the attack. Luke's eyes became narrow and focused, and his Mark glowed that sickly gold color, then the whole world became bathed in a similar shade. Percy's eyes widened as he recognized Stop Time, because everything stopped. His Doppelgangers stopped mid-motion, the cheering of the demigods and monsters also stopped, the washing of the waves against the boat and the boat itself stopped, as did the breeze.

But Luke didn't stop.

And neither did Percy.

Percy discovered that he was immune to the effects of another Voidwalker's Stop Time, just as Daud was immune to Corvo's, and Emily to Aunt Delilah's. That was convenient.

Luke toasted the Doppelgangers, running from one to the next, stabbing them once to dispel them in clouds of mist that froze in place. Percy came up with a quick plan to kill Luke, and so while the son of Hermes was busy killing things that weren't even alive or moving, Percy slipped away.

Luke finished his massacre of the twelve Doppelgangers and ended Stop Time.

A little smirk graced his face when he flicked his sword, deflecting a wristbow bolt fired from above. The bolt vanished from sight, Percy taking its place. Luke had the expression of someone who expected this. Percy summoned a Doppelganger behind Luke and stabbed with his tonfas in a lunge.

When Luke moved his sword, Percy transposed with his Doppelganger, getting behind Luke, and the points of his tonfas collided with Luke's shield and went scraping up due to the curvature. Luke pushed, sending Percy backwards, but he caught himself and flipped. He initiated Swap, and was really confused when he didn't end up where he thought he'd end up.

He'd dropped a nail when he lunged, going with a distraction of bolt, followed by Doppelganger for the possibility of a cheap shot, and then finally a nail for Swap if the Doppelganger failed, which would've put him and his Doppelganger together to attack Luke at the same time. But he'd Swapped with the nail he dropped and it wasn't where he dropped it. And the Doppelganger was gone.

Luke had attacked with his sword and blocked with his shield at the same time.

"Saw the nail," Luke said. "Kicked it away."

"You're able to look into the future," Percy surmised. "You know what's going to happen before it'll happen, and so you're preemptively prepared."

"Sure you're not just predictable?"

"You probably have a lot of mana," Percy continued, "being a demigod. But you only have so much. You've been keeping yourself protected from affect-type powers, while also using your premonition power, your speed power, and time dilation. There's also the Wind Blast and Stop Time that you used. You're putting on a good show, but you're running out of mana."

"Nope," Luke chirped. "I've got gallons to spare…or however you measure this stuff. I've got a lot left."

"No, you don't."

A bolt of lightning shot from Percy's hand. Luke already had his shield raised, and was knocked flat on his back several feet away from impact. No time for rest, however, or even pained groaning, because he had to roll away as Percy Displaced right next to him, tonfas coming down and going through the deck of the Princess Andromeda.

Luke got to his feet and raised his shield again, this time blocking a projectile fired from Percy's wristbow. This one, however, was not purely a tiny metal spear, but incendiary in nature. His shield saved him from the fire, but the heat still washed over Luke, drying his skin and heating the air to the point that his next breath actually hurt. Not only that, but he had to toss his shield, the chemicals in the bolt slathered all over the surface, leaving the defensive item to burn.

It wouldn't melt, being Celestial bronze, but that didn't mean Luke was okay with open flames a few feet from his face.

Luke thrust his hand and ignored the feeling that he was a Jedi (or a Sith, really) as he unleashed another Wind Blast at Percy, who tanked it by lowering his shoulder. Luke raised his sword and the spectacle from minutes ago repeated, though this time Percy was on the offensive.

Sparks flew everywhere as the magic metals clanged and banged against one another, leaving so many half-bloods and monsters green with envy that they weren't near that powerful. Of course, Luke was still burning through his mana, using Dilation to make himself faster and make Percy slower, but even with that, he was still finding himself coming close to too many calls.

Percy was fast. And very strong.

Of course, he was, though. He'd started training in combat about the same time he trained to use the toilet. He knew swords and punches and kicks, anatomy, strategy. Sally had her son on the diet of a professional athlete, with a much more intense training regimen because he could handle it. His demigod body and engraved whalebone skeleton afforded him great physical prowess.

You took a natural affinity for battle, added magic bones, and trained every single day to kill, and you got what Percy B. Copperspoon was without Void powers.

So where canon Percy struggled against Luke who had seven years of training on him, on top of a bigger, stronger body, you had Voidwalking Percy who would have totally annihilated Luke if not for the fact that Luke had his own powers of the Void. As it was, when Percy struck Luke's sword with both of his own in an across-the-body arc, and Backbiter went skidding across the deck, Luke activated his speed ability, which he had simply dubbed to be Speed, combining mana and his natural demigod powers as the son of Hermes, and shot over to pick his sword back up.

"And you can only use that in bursts of froward movement," Percy observed. "It's like a derivative of Blink."

Luke kept the scowl from his face at the fact that Percy had figured out another of his powers. See, ignorance was key right here. Kind of like how Jiraiya could've defeated Pain if he knew what all of their respective powers were, Luke's strength was the unknowns of his new powers, powers that Percy was figuring out.

Yes, Luke had a power that he was constantly using, a power that he called Block, which simply blocked other Voidwalker's from affecting him, but only powers like Domino and Possession. Block didn't work on things like Lightning Blast.

Yes, he had Wind Blast, which was pretty simple.

Percy figured out Speed easily enough, that Luke could go shooting across surfaces in a straight line in accordance to his vision.

And, obviously, time powers. Stop Time, Relative Time, and Premonition. Stop Time did exactly what it sounded like it did, Relative Time was how Luke was able to make himself faster and others slower, kind of putting him and them into their own instances of time, and Premonition allowed him to look into the future and see what was coming…but only by five seconds. And he had to be completely still to initiate the ability.

Percy not knowing those two factors was the key to victory here.

With sword in hand and Percy standing over there, Luke activated Premonition, seeing the next five seconds of the future. He was deeply disturbed to see Percy just standing there. The ability ran its course, and true to what he'd seen, Percy just stood there for five seconds.

Then six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Te-

Percy turned around and extended his hand towards the monsters and demigods. A pool of shadow seemed to erupt under them, and then out of those shadows, trees. Twisted, gnarled, black trees that pulsed with red sprang forth, wrapping around all withing reach, squeezing them like the tentacles of an octopus. There was screaming and flailing, the breaking of fiber glass and deck as the tress burst through the structure of the ship, eliciting more screaming from below.

Luke stared as his army was ensnared, and when they called for him to help, he sprang into action, mind assaulted with old memories of when he, Thalia, and little Annie were on the run and they encountered muggers and monsters alike. Percy was the monsters from those memories, and all those screaming half-bloods were Annabeth. Irrational and perhaps unsensible, yes, but Luke was rather traumatized.

Because he just rushed into action, he didn't think properly. He could've just used Stop Time to halt the actions of the trees, and then resume his duel with Percy, but that thought did not cross his mind. Instead, he used Speed, shooting forward with breathtaking speed, and chopped through nothing but air.

He heard a sound next to him and just swung on reflex. He sword went through empty air yet again, but blinding pain erupted from his right shin as a nail fired from Percy's voltaic gun went straight into the bone and into the muscle attached to the back. Luke went down, hissing and groaning.

Percy's brought his tonfas up, ready to stab them down into Luke's chest.

Annabeth screamed, "NOOO!"

And then the deck erupted with even more chaos as a heard of centaurs came barreling out of literally nowhere.

Percy was left blinking rapidly as the half-horse-half-men monsters stormed the deck firing paintball guns and water guns at everyone and everything. They had weird hats, t-shirts depicting what Percy assumed were sports teams, and were yelling, whooping, and hollering as if at an event and not on a cruise ship filled with monsters.

"Chiron!" Percy heard Annabeth and Grover cry out.

The fact that the two knew who this particular centaur was, was the only thing that saved his life, because he had stooped low to scoop up Percy, and went galloping to scoop up the former two, putting all three on his back.

"Party Ponies! Away!" Chiron yelled.

Percy almost fell off the centaur's back when he heard that one.

And then the heard was running not necessarily over the water towards the shore, but more like they were running through distance. The world and its colors seemed to bend and warp around them as Chiron galloped, the Party Ponies in tow. In seconds, they'd gone from waters outside of Florida, to Long Island, on the other side of Montauk, to the shores of Camp Half-Blood.

Percy's blood pressure spiked. A tonfa was out, the point pressed into Chiron's neck. The centaur froze.

"Take us to the Gates home," Percy ground out. "My brother and sister come first."

Instead of arguing, Chiron went galloping away again, bending time and space again to reach the Gates home in less than six seconds.

Without waiting for anyone or anything, Percy yanked the Golden Fleece from Annabeth's hands and used Displacement to get to the front door, which he broke off its hinges, completely terrifying Dr. B and Wendy, but once they saw it was him, and saw what was in his hand, their jaws dropped and their eyes widened.

Percy marched across the house, already preparing for a warpath if this didn't work. He went to Tea's room first since she was sicker than Bell, and found her as he had last seen her: in bed with half a dozen machines hooked up to her, helping her breathe, helping her to have food in her stomach, helping her heart do its job, etc. It smelled better in here this time, the sour stench of urine now gone.

Percy unfolded the Fleece and settled it over Tea like a blanket. The Fleece instantly glowed and thrummed with energy, golden sparkles dancing about. Then the sparkles flickered out and the glow faded, the Fleece going "dormant" again. Percy stared at his sister, Dr. B and Wendy at the door, watching from the small distance. After so many seconds of nothing happening, Tea not moving and her machines not yielding any different information, Wendy hung her head and started sobbing.

That's when Galatea bolted upright with a sharp gasp and wide eyes, startling everyone there.

Her eyes were wild and unfocused, but she zeroed in on Percy and started yanking everything from her. The mask, the IV in her arm, the electrode patches—all of it was ripped away without a care. Dr. B came rushing to stop that, but Tea was on a mission. Without even really thinking about it, she shoved her doctor away, actually sending her to the floor, and swung herself out of bed.

She marched right up to Percy, expression hard and determined, and Percy actually took a step back.

Tea got to him and flung her arms around him, burying her head into the crook of his neck. She was just a little bit taller than he was.

"Thank you," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "I'm so happy I get to finally meet you."

"Y-Yeah…um, yeah," Percy said, voice cracking. He hugged his sister back. "Happy to finally meet you too."

Tea pulled back, eyes glistening with tears. "Let's go save Bell. Then we're getting ice cream. Mom, we're going to get ice cream in a few minutes!"

Wendy could just barely function right now. "Y-You got i-it. I'll go g-get dressed."

Dr. B had to help her hobble off to do just that on account of Wendy's sobs of pure joy.

Bell was napping with a fever when the siblings came in, shivering and sweating under his thick cocoon of covers, but when the Fleece was settled over him and its magic worked, his body settled and his eyes popped open. He saw his sister and went flying out of bed to tackle her in a hug, but Tea withstood him and yanked Percy in for a threefold group hug.

Annabeth and Grover came around the corner of the hall to Bell's bedroom, and soon they were hugging as well, making Percy start to feel awkward with all the tears and total strangers around him. Just to make things worse, Wendy and Dr. B came in and joined the crying fest.

Once the tears were spent, they did make to load up in the van and go get ice cream, Percy handing the Fleece to Chiron to take to Camp Half-Blood, only the centaur was perturbed.

"Your presence has been requested on Olympus," he said to Percy.

"We're going to get ice cream," Percy said. "And then I'll go to Olympus. With my ice cream."

"Uh…that is not how that works, unfortunately," Chiron said hesitantly. "Lord Zeus is, ah…very busy today."

"He's the king of the gods of the country that founded democracy. He can rework his schedule."

A bolt of lightning came down from a cloudless sky and blew up some poor person's vehicle on the opposite side of the street, the thunderclap rattling the all the windows on the block, setting off every car alarm too.

"…we can get ice cream in a little bit," Wendy decided. "Percy, please go see your uncle."

He tone was clipped and tight, extremely unamused with the god of the sky.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Chiron took him to the Empire State Building, gave him instructions on what to do, and then went galloping to Camp Half-Blood to save the place with the Fleece. Percy intimated the doorkeeper enough to get the magic key, went up the elevator, and really couldn't be bothered to take in the sights of the home of the gods, because he was severely annoyed and quite honestly, pissed off.

Zeus cursed his siblings with sickness until death, and then had the balls to demand his presence after he saved their lives, right as they were about to go and share their first family experience together, over ice cream no less? Oh, no. Percy was not happy.

The growing storm cloud in the skies above the floating mountain reflected that well enough.

Percy marched across the grounds until he got to the big doors of the throne room, and threw them open with one push. Despite their size and weight, they banged against the walls. The whole council was attendance.

Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus, and Hermes. Percy assumed that was Hestia poking the fires of the hearth in the middle of the huge cathedral-esque throne room.

"Hello, Percy," the child-like goddess said with a smile.

Percy beamed at her, "Hi!" then his face dropped back into its scowl as he marched to Zeus's throne. "What?"

Zeus's nostrils flared. "You will watch your tone before I smite you where you stand."

"And you will apologize for being a belligerent jackass to my brother and sister."

The jaws of the gods dropped, and even Zeus was too stunned to call the lightning.

Percy stared his uncle down, unwavering and unflinching.

"Yes, brother," Poseidon finally said. "You will apologize for being a belligerent jackass to my children."

Zeus shot his brother a stormy look, while Ares leaned over to Apollo.

"Kid's got spirit."

"Yeah, he does."

Aphrodite leaned over to Artemis. "Not thinking of making a maiden out of this boy, are you?"

"The thought has crossed my mind. Along with his sister."

"Absolutely not," the love goddess insisted.

"ENOUGH!" Zeus finally bellowed. He turned his stormy eyes to Percy, but before he could unleash his tirade, Athena spoke.

"Perhaps…instead of levying threats and hurtling insults…we state the reason for this audience…so that our intentions may be known, yes?"

Percy crossed his arms expectantly.

Zeus growled, but Poseidon cleared his throat.

"Yes, brother, why are we here?"

Zeus looked like he was swallowing an entire orchard of lemons. With strained calm, he spoke.

"Welcome home, Perseus Breanna Copperspoon. Poseidon has informed this council of the circumstances of your birth. This council offers our congratulations on a successfully completed quest, and our thanks in securing the training grounds and safe haven of our children. At Poseidon's request—and against my superior judgement—this council will also not inquire—"

"You misspoke the world interrogate," Poseidon said.

Zeus shot him another look, but suddenly the flames of the hearth jumped a bit. Zeus exhaled then directed his attention back to Percy.

"We will leave your unknown powers to you. However, and you can thank your father for this one, as I would have destroyed you on the spot, you will be watched and monitored. You are a danger, one that cannot be left alone for the enemy to tempt, or entrap, or capture and then brainwash into being an enemy of Olympus."

"Who needs the enemy to do that when I have allies like you?" Percy challenged. "You're afraid of me."

"Zeus is not afraid of anyone!" the king snarled.

"Uh-huh, sure. Anyway. You're afraid of me. You don't know what I can do or what my intentions are, but you're already leaning towards being against you, and for good reason. You tried to kill my siblings. Bit of a stretch to think anyone in my position would be jumping at the chance to save anyone here, or did you think I didn't know about the prophecy?"

An uncomfortable chill settled in the throne room.

"Yeah, I know about it, and if the king of the castle feels he needs to protect his throne by killing off the candidates, then maybe a new king is needed."

Zeus took immediate exception to that. His Master Bolt was in his hand, and Poseidon's trident was in his. The other gods tensed and got ready to bolt, but then the flames of the hearth erupted and scorched the ceiling, turning up the temperature and creating a strong need for sunglasses.

The roaring flames simmered down, the blinding light fading, revealing Hestia as a giant of a woman, standing at twenty feet tall. Her eyes were fire pits, but her expression and tone were calm.

"Do not make me go get Mother."

Zeus turned the color of milk at the mention of Rhea.

"I told you before that your plan was cruel and unjust. Athena and Hera also counseled against it, and you will never know what I had to do to convince Poseidon to not blast poor Thalia's tree to smithereens," Hestia continued. "My nephew here is in the right for being livid with you-"

"Yeah, what she said."

"And is also ahead right now, and shouldn't push his luck," Hestia said pointedly.

Percy at least pursed his lips.

"As I was saying, Percy is right for being angry with you, and raises a good point. Perhaps, instead of killing the children that may be destined to save us or destroy us, you give them good to save us. A good start would be to sincerely apologize for the curse levied against Galatea and Bellerophon."

"I knew it," Percy muttered in respect to Bell's full name.

Now Zeus looked like he was swallowing every lemon on the planet. Poseidon was levying a hard stare at his brother, Hera was looking at him from the corner of her eye, as was Demeter, while Zeus's many children had found some other thing to look at, meaning Zeus had no support and all the pressure.

"My actions regarding Poseidon's children were…hasty…and, in the future, I will consider better…consideration…" Zeus cleared his throat and sat up straight in his throne.

"My judgement is sound! Perseus Breanna Copperspoon, welcome home. Do not give me reason to suspect treachery from you. This meeting is adjourned!"

Zeus pounded his fist, thunder resounding as he vanished in a burst of lightning.

Hera, Demeter, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, and Dionysus all instantly vanished as well. Hermes eyes Percy, expression unreadable, before he also left. Aphrodite winked at Percy before she took her leave. Like Hermes, Athena gave Percy her own look, though hers was one of clear calculation; she looked at Percy and was already making plans. Percy stuck his tongue out at her.

Athena recoiled, then stuck out her own tongue in response and left the throne room.

Percy turned his head again and saw a pair of silver eyes barely three feet away.

"I suppose you won't consider becoming a girl and accepting a place among my maidens?" Artemis asked with an amount of hope in her voice.

"…if I ever think about, you'll be the first to know."

"There's a chance," Artemis said under her breath, silver eyes sparkling.

Then she vanished too, leaving Percy to wonder what the hell was wrong with that goddess.

"Don't mind her," the last god in the throne room said. "Artemis has been on this weird stint for the past two hundred years of offering to turn boys into girls and then accepting them into her Hunt. If I recall correctly, out of the dozens of boys she's given that offer to, only five have accepted in two centuries."

"Uh, good for them, I guess."

Percy stared up at his father, Poseidon having shrank down to six feet and change, Percy standing at midway through five feet at almost-thirteen. Poseidon smiled, unsure and hesitant. Percy's face broke into a huge grin.

"Daddy!"

Any pretenses of cool and professional were thrown way out the window as Percy fully let out the small child in him that wanted more than anything to meet his daddy. Percy ran and jumped, arms and legs wrapping around his godly father, Poseidon's own arms coming around to support his son.

"Well, hi."

"Hi~!" Percy grinned. "Mom says hi too."

A fond smile crossed Poseidon's face, then his expression became one of confusion. "She says hi, or said hi?"

"Says."

Percy leaned back in his father's arms, exposing his chest. His Heart glowed through his clothes as it beat.

"The Outsider said Mom couldn't come with me in person—some kind cross-world law or whatever—and so he turned her into my Heart, so now Mom is always with me."

Poseidon stared, hundreds of memories of the woman he loved flying through his mind. "We're gonna have to look into doing something about that."

"Huh?"

"I'd rather Sally be here and walking around in person than being stuck in my son's chest."

"Oh! Me too."

Poseidon recalled his request that Sally raise their son with love, not just as a living weapon to kill others. He didn't need to ask if Sally had done that; his son's beaming smile and sparkling eyes told him all he needed to know.

"Let's go get ice cream! That's what we were going to do before whatever this was."

Poseidon's smile became sad. "Unfortunately, I cannot. There are godly laws that prohibit so much interaction between the gods and their children. We have pushed Zeus a lot today, and he will not take kindly to me going out for ice cream with my children. His patience wears thinner even now as we continue talking."

Percy pouted just like Tea and Bell did. Just like Triton did, even. And Kymopoleia…and Rhodes. Come to think of it, Poseidon noticed how all of his kids pouted in the exact same way. He couldn't ever recall pouting like that, and none of his nieces or nephews did either. Maybe it was him?

Hestia poked her flames, smiling.

"So?" Percy asked. "He can, like, bring back Thalia or something, and take her out for ice cream."

Poseidon smiled. "It doesn't work that way. Some laws are actually enforced around here."

"Stupid laws."

"I agree. But by following them, we gods are allowed precious moments like this."

There was suddenly a distant, low rumble of thunder.

Poseidon sighed. "Our time is up. Tell your brother and sister, and their mother, I said hi. And tell Dr. Brittany that my gratitude to her is infinite."

"I will."

"Thank you."

"Daddy?"

"Yes, son?"

"I'm glad you're like how Mom told me you were."

"I…I'm glad I am, too."

"I love you, Daddy."

"And I love you, Percy. So much."

Poseidon teleported his son away in a bunch of bubbles.

His shoulder slumped as a very heavy sigh escaped him.

"One of these days," he said. "One of these days, it's going to be different."

Hestia nodded. "One of these days."

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The six people sitting in the living room jumped when suddenly a bunch of bubbles appeared out of nowhere and gathered together in a big blob in the middle of the room. The bubbles all popped, leaving the lingering scent of the sea, revealing Percy, happily smiling and just a little teary-eyed.

"Daddy says hi." And then he did a total one-eighty in attitude. "Let's go get some ice cream!"

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And here's where we stop for a while.

Luke's powers:

Block

Premonition

Speed

Wind Blast

Stop Time

Relativity

Premonition

Hope you enjoyed the fight between Percy and Luke. If you're wondering how Percy's water travel was interrupted, and why Percy didn't just capsize the ship with his water powers, the answer is A) in PJO canon, shadow travel can be interrupted as seen in BoO, when Hylla yanked Nico, Reyna, and Hedge to Puerto Rico—magic traveling can be altered with other magic—and B) the Princess Andromeda is protected by the Titans, namely Oceanus.

A head's up: I'm going to finish RSD, but I'm also going to do something different.

Reading Alleviate has Inspired me to write a whole new novel. So, where I'm fighting to get this other one I've written published, I'm going to start on another one! XP

However, unlike last time, where I went on hiatus for months and practically lost over half my fanbase—or they died of covid, who knows—I'll be splitting my time. A chapter of RSD and eventually ACT, while also working on chapters of this new novel, so expect updates to be a bit slower.

And chapters to be a bit smaller, too, to counteract Delays with this new schedule.

So, this story is on hold now, RSD is up next, and after a chapter of that, work on new novel begins, and after I reach a stopping point there, it's back to RSD, and then back and forth until the novel is finished.

And somewhere in all of that is college starting back up August 31, 2021, with work remaining a constant factor.

Lots of stuff happening.

But don't let any of that stop you from Faving, Following, and Reviewing!