When he was younger, Gohan had had a bad habit of losing control of his anger, letting it explode from him in incredible bursts of strength and power. That had been both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness, one that had saved his life on numerous occasions against his father's greatest enemies. His father had seen the power Gohan's anger had given him and helped him unlock his true power, saving their world and defeating Cell. And even here, that anger had saved this world too, when he had lost his memory. But, he knew how dangerous that anger was, especially if he let it get out of control.

Since then, Gohan had spent much of his free time meditating, trying to focus and control his power. He would spend hours on the beach, hovering over the sand as he looked out at the ocean, concentrating and focusing. Unfortunately, that was proving much harder to do at the moment, especially with what happened to Annabeth. He hated that Zoe had been able to hit him in just the wrong place to get a reaction out of him. Not to mention another realization that he was struggling to deal with: it was almost two years since he had arrived here, and was still no closer to finding a way back home. He thought about his friends. His mom. Gohan had no idea how much time had passed back home. Were they trying to figure a way to bring him back? Was his mom okay? IT seemed like he was losing everyone he cared about these days.

Gohan concentrated, trying to focus the raging anger inside him. He wasn't sure how long he floated there, looking out at the water. Finally, he heard someone walk up.

"Hey." It was Percy.

"Hey."

"Thanks for sticking up for me in there." Percy sounded bitter. Gohan sighed as he opened his eyes and floated to the ground, before looking at his best friend.

"And what good would that have done? More screaming and arguing? I had a feeling Zoe wasn't going to let any boys on the mission. She wasn't going to budge."

"Didn't stop you from calling her out on Bianca."

"That was a stupid decision that I chose to point out."

"Well, you fought way worse things when you were just starting out, and you didn't have much training."

"I still had more than her. And I was scared, I'm not gonna deny that. If I was that terrified with six months of intense training, what's going to happen to someone like Bianca?"

"I did okay on our first quest, if I recall."

"Two things. One, that prophecy didn't mention half the group dying during the quest. Second, I seem to recall I saved your butt a few times."

"No, you didn't." Gohan playfully punched him, causing Percy to yelp.

"By the way, you missed dinner. Which shocked a whole lot of people." Gohan instantly wailed in despair.

"I forgot!" Percy deadpanned. At that moment, Chiron and Grover came looking for them.

"Percy, I'm so sorry!" Grover babbled. "I didn't know they'd—that you'd—Honest!"

He started to sniffle, and Percy figured if he didn't cheer him up he'd start bawling or chewing up the grass. He tends to eat household objects whenever he gets upset.

"It's okay," Percy lied. "Really. It's fine."

Grover's lower lip trembled. "I wasn't even thinking... I was so focused on helping Artemis. But I promise, I'll look everywhere for Annabeth. If I can find her, I will."

"I'm sure you will." Gohan spoke calmly.

"I-I know you'd be a big help, Gohan. B-but that girl already got you once! And you nearly turned me into a goatcake! Zoe has a point! She gets you again, you'd kill us all!" Gohan bristled, clearly offended.

"Grover," Chiron said, "perhaps you'd let me have a word with the boys?" "Sure," he sniffled. Chiron waited,

"Oh," Grover said. "You mean alone. Sure, Chiron." He looked at me miserably. "See? Nobody needs a goat."

He trotted away, blowing his nose on his sleeve.

Chiron sighed and knelt on his horse legs. "I don't pretend to understand prophecies."

"Yeah," Gohan said. "Well, maybe that's because they don't make any sense and they're self-fufilling."

Chiron gazed at the ocean.. "Thalia would not have been my first choice to go on this quest. She's too impetuous. She acts without thinking. She is too sure of herself."

"You know this is a trap, right? Artemis is just the bait. Luke and his partner are using her to draw them in." Chiron sighed.

"I suspect so, yes. That is another reason why I would prefer not to send you all together."

"Would you have chosen me?" Percy asked

"Frankly, no," he said. "You and Thalia are much alike."

"Thanks a lot."

He smiled. "The difference is that you are less sure of yourself than Thalia. That could be good or bad. But one thing I can say: both of you together would be a dangerous thing."

"And me?" Gohan asked. Chiron sighed.

"You? Quite honestly, Gohan, I have not had a pupil with such raw power and talent since Hercules and Achilles. But, you suffer many of their weaknesses as well. As you probably know, their mistakes ultimately resulted in their deaths. I would prefer to help you return to your world alive, not in a shroud." Gohan pressed his lips together.

"I can take care of myself, I don't need coddling."

"I'm well aware. However, Zoe was right in her concerns. You were manipulated once. We can't have it happening again."

"We could handle it." "The way you handled it at the creek tonight?" Percy didn't answer. He'd nailed him.

"It was my plan, MY choices." Gohan protested. Chiron nodded.

"Yes, it was. I will admit I was impressed. Especially since we finally won against the Hunters. But I hope you also learned about the difficulties of being a leader. How your choices have consequences, both good and bad. Sometimes, the price of victory is too high a cost. Remember, there's a difference between winning a battle and winning a war." Both boys were silent at that.

"Perhaps it is for the best," Chiron mused. "You can go home to your mother for the holidays, Percy. And perhaps she would be willing to allow Gohan to stay with you as well. If we need either of you, we can call."

"Yeah," Percy said. "Maybe."

"You two should return to the cabin before the harpies come out."

Percy pulled Riptide out of his pocket and balanced it on his hand. It didn't seem that he'd be using it for anything but writing Christmas cards.

When he saw the pen, Chiron grimaced. "It's no wonder Zoe doesn't want you along, I suppose. Not while you're carrying that particular weapon."

"Speaking of Zoe hating things, something you forget to mention?" Chiron gave Gohan a questioning look.

"Her hatred of Otherworlders? From the way she talks, it sounds like she had a bad experience with one. Have Otherworlders been here before?" Chiron was silent.

"That… is not my story to tell ."

Gohan wanted to ask him about that, but then he pulled a golden drachma from his saddlebag and tossed it to Percy. "Call your mother, Percy. Let her know you're coming home in the morning. And, ah, for what it's worth... I almost volunteered for this quest myself."

"You can do that?"

"Yes, Gohan, I can. I would have gone, if not for the last line."

"One shall perish by a parent's hand. Yeah."

"A line I'm completely safe from." Gohan rolled his eyes.

They didn't need to ask. Chiron's dad was Kronos, the evil Titan Lord himself. The line would make perfect sense if Chiron went on the quest. Kronos didn't care for anyone, including his own children.

"Chiron," Percy said. "You know what this Titan's curse is, don't you?"

His face darkened. He made a claw over his heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture for warding off evil. "Let us hope the prophecy does not mean what I think. Now, good night, Percy. And your time will come. I'm convinced of that. There's no need to rush." What alarmed Gohan was the look in his eyes. Chiron trotted off, leaving the boys along. Percy sighed as he trudged towards his cabin, Gohan behind him.

"Why do adults always think hiding the truth is a good idea? Why can't Chiron just be straight with us?"

"Because he thinks he's protecting us. Even if it is misguided." Gohan answered as they reached the cabin. Just then, Gohan's stomach grumbled.

"Dang. I'm gonna try and sneak a nighttime snack." Percy chuckled at that.

"Good luck with that. Mr. D is already pissed with you, no reason to make it worse."

"I'll bring you back some ribs." Gohan laughed as he walked off into the night, leave ng Percy alone.

Gohan whistled as he jogged down from the cabin towards the Big House. He missed sensu beans. Those did a good job of keeping his stomach full. However, he couldn't shake the frustration and anger he was feeling. So much so, he didn't hear when someone called his name out.

"Gohan!" Gohan yelped when someone tapped his shoulder and whirled in confusion to see Katie Gardner, bundled up in a coat. Gohan was a little surprised, to say the least.

"Ummm… hi, Katie. What's up?"

"Well… I heard you missed dinner, so…" To Gohan's shock, she pulled out a rack of ribs.

"They're a little cold, but…" Gohan didn't even wait, taking the plate and wolfing the ribs down.

"Mmmmm! Thanks."

"You're… welcome." She answered awkwardly as she watched Gohan wipe his face with a napkin.

"Do you always have a napkin in your pocket?"

"You never know when you need to eat." Then, a curious expression came over his face.

"Pardon me for asking, but why are you out here?" A nervous expression came over Katie's face.

"What do you mean? I just wanted to bring you food."

"At night? With the harpies out? Even though we really haven't interacted that much?" Katie shuffled nervously on her feet. Finally, she just blurted it out.

"Okay, fine. I don't want to go on this blasted quest!" Gohan blinked in surprise. Though, a smart part of him was cheering. He had a funny feeling that this was coming, especially given the way Katie had acted at the meeting.

"It's not that I'm a coward. I'm not. I train and fight like everyone else, and I've been doing it for years. I've fought my fair share of monsters. But, I basically got forced into this quest because I'm a girl. And that pisses me off."

"I can imagine."

"Yeah. What pisses me off even more than that is that I might die because Zoe Nightshade is an asshole feminist who refuses to acknowledge that boys can be just as good as she is. Even better, like you. We wouldn't have won today if it hadn't been for your plan."

"Come on-"

"Seriously!" Katie pressed, her eyes blazing.

"You saw what happened! Percy and Thalia almost tore each other to pieces. The Hunters would have made mincemeat out of us if not for your quick thinking." Gohan smiled.

"Thanks."

"We didn't say it back there at the meeting in front of Chiron and Zoe, but we all agreed you should be the third camper on this quest. Not me." Gohan's face blushed with embarrassment.

"Plus, you should be the one to save Annabeth." That made Gohan's face flush even more red.

"Ummm… I don't know wha-"

"Oh, save it. The way you two act is so silly that it's adorable. Bit of advice, Gohan. There's a reason we live the way we do. If you feel a certain way, you should say it before it's too late." Gohan wasn't sure his face could turn redder than it already was. People seemed to keep telling him that. But, Gohan decided to change the subject.

"So, you don't want to do it. How are you gonna tell Zoe that you're out?" Katie smirked.

"That's your plan. And I know you have one. I saw the look on your face earlier. That's why you didn't say anything, because you'd already made up your mind."

"Am I that predictable?"

"Yes. Now spill it." Gohan smiled.

"You might not like it."

Percy stood at the saltwater spring, rubbing Chiron's coin in his hand and trying to figure out what to say to his mom. He really wasn't in the mood to have one more adult tell him that doing nothing was the greatest thing he could do, but he figured his mom deserved an update.

Finally, he took a deep breath and threw in the coin. "O goddess, accept my offering."

The mist shimmered. The light from the bathroom was just enough to make a faint rainbow.

"Show me Sally Jackson," he said. "Upper East Side, Manhattan."

And there in the mist was a scene Percy did not expect. His mom was sitting at their kitchen table with some... guy. They were laughing hysterically. There was a big stack of textbooks between them. The man was thirty-something, with longish salt-and-pepper hair and a brown jacket over a black T-shirt. He looked like an actor—like a guy who might play an undercover cop on television.

Percy was too stunned to say anything, and fortunately, his mom and the guy were too busy laughing to notice my Iris-message.

The guy said, "Sally, you're a riot. You want some more wine?" "Ah, I shouldn't. You go ahead if you want." "Actually, I'd better use your bathroom. May I?" "Down the hall," she said, trying not to laugh.

The actor dude smiled and got up and left.

"Mom!" Percy said.

She jumped so hard she almost knocked her textbooks off the table. Finally she focused on him. "Percy! Oh, honey! Is everything okay?"

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

She blinked. "Homework." Then she seemed to understand the look on his face. "Oh, honey, that's just Paul—um, Mr. Blofis. He's in my writing seminar."

"Mr. Blowfish?"

"Blofis. He'll be back in a minute, Percy. Tell me what's wrong."

She always knew when something was wrong.

"Things…kinda went off the rails a bit." Percy told her about what had happened at Westover. The other stuff too, but mostly it boiled down to Annabeth and Gohan.

His mother's eyes teared up. He could tell she was trying hard to keep it together for his sake. "Oh, Percy... "

"Yeah."

"How is he doing? I can't imagine how he must feel right now, being forced to do those horrible things." Percy knew his mother was talking about Gohan. She hadn't said it, but ever since she had first met him, Percy's mom had taken a motherly interest in Gohan, almost like taking in a stray. Percy thought part of it was due to her motherly instinct, another due to her feeling she owned Gohan a debt for saving Percy's life. Though, what had surprised Percy the most was how fast she accepted Gohan's story and took him in anyway.

"He's doing as well as he can, but he's not really listening to me. He's brooding more than Jon Snow." That got a dry laugh out of his mother, who was much a fan of the show as he was.

"I can imagine. That poor boy, he must be so worried about her." Percy pressed his lips together at Annabeth's mention.

"So, they tell me there's nothing I can do. I guess I'll be coming home. And they want Gohan to come with me. So, you might want to wrap some chains around the refrigerator."

She turned her pencil around in her fingers. "Percy, as much as I want you to come home"—she sighed like she was mad at herself—"as much as I want you to be safe, I want you to understand something. And I want you to tell Gohan this. You need to do whatever you think you have to."

Percy stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you really, deep down, believe that you have to help save her? Do you think it's the right thing to do? Because I know one thing about you, Percy. Your heart is always in the right place. Listen to it."

"You're... you're telling me to go?"

Percy's mother pursed her lips. "I'm telling you that... you're getting too old for me to tell you what to do. I'm telling you that I'll support you, even if what you decide to do is dangerous. I can't believe I'm saying this."

"Mom—"

The toilet flushed down the hall in their apartment.

"I don't have much time," his mom said. "Percy, whatever you decide, I love you. And I know you'll both do what's best for Annabeth. And I may not be Gohan's mother, but I'm sure that she would be saying the same things to him if she were here now."

"How can you be sure?"

"Well… because we're mothers. We worry about our children, and we raise them the best we can. But… we have to let them do what they think is right, and support them the best we can. We can't coddle them forever, no matter how terrified we are. And I know Annabeth would do the same for both of you."

And with that, his mother waved her hand over the mist, and the connection dissolved, leaving him with one final image of her his mother's friend, Mr. Blowfish, smiling down at her.