Hey, long time no see! 2019 was kind of a hectic year for me. I know I say that a lot, but you know, life can get crazy and messy. It throws curve balls at you that you never expect to face. You've just got to persist. I've also been worried about how this chapter has turned out, but I feel guilty that it's taken me so long to give you all the update you deserve. Almost exactly a year to be precise.

As always, I am not the brilliant creator of the Percy Jackson series, it belongs to Uncle Rick.

Percy stared out as their bus passed by countless buildings and cars. Slowly the meticulously upkept scenery gave way to a more outdated urban area. The paint on the buildings was faded and the road beneath the bus was not as smooth as it had been in the thick of Las Vegas. Occasionally an extra-large pothole would throw all the passengers around. Then it'd be followed by a round of curses and "Watch the road".

He was surprised that his friends didn't wake up with all the noise going on around them.

He was reminded of his last field trip at Yancy. The one where he had pushed Nancy Bobofits into the fountain. It was his last year in a boarding school. His mom couldn't afford to send him anywhere else. Nor did any other boarding school want a kid as 'disturbed' as him. As far as Gabe had been concerned, Percy was going to drop out and get a job at sixteen to pay for his poker nights.

"You're such a freak, Jackson." Nancy's annoying voice echoed in his ears. "That's why you won't have any real friends. Grover is only friends with you because no one better wants him either."

Percy did his best to push memories of Yancy Academy from his mind. It was just another school full of people who saw him as a burden. Nothing he should waste his time dwelling on. Now, he had plenty of people who seemed to care about him. To suddenly have so many friends was a bit overwhelming for the teen at times. Especially when one kept falling asleep on him.

Annabeth was leaning heavily against him, her hand fisting in the fabric of his shirt. She seemed to be having a nightmare. The girl wasn't saying anything, just soundlessly mouthing words. He knew she was dreaming about spiders. That was the only thing he was sure of. The only word he recognized among the noiseless babble. Percy wasn't sure how to comfort her. He pushed some fallen strands of hair from her face. Her nose scrunched up and then she relaxed.

"At least one of us should get a dreamless sleep." He muttered. Annabeth gave a snort of agreement as her hand loosened its grip on him.

Feeling bored, Percy looked out the window of the bus again. They were getting close to the coast. Even without seeing beaches come into sight, somehow Percy just felt it in his bones. Why hadn't he ever realized how much he loved being by the ocean? How being near the water made him feel? Between the gaps in buildings he could see waves rolling in, surfers riding them or gliding out of the tunnels of water.

It all made him feel, almost like he was going home.

Percy was relieved when the bus driver finally called out their stop. Annabeth had spent a solid ten minutes drooling on his shoulder. His shirt was getting very damp. He nudged her awake and tapped Grover's shin with his foot. Both leapt to their feet immediately. Piper, who had been leaning on Grover, didn't have a chance to brace herself as Grover stood. She ended up face planting into the plastic bus chair.

"Sorry, Piper." Grover stammered as she sat up. "It's our stop."

The girl gave a huff as she rubbed her smarting face, "It's fine, I shouldn't have fallen asleep. Luckily Percy was awake enough for all of us."

Considering what they could be up against, he wasn't so sure that it was. How would the teen be able to trap a god? On top of that, Nereus wouldn't be eager to help the son of Poseidon. The very god who took claim over his throne. It probably would add insult to injury that the teen would be asking him for help. Percy tried not to think about it too much as the four of them shimmied through the crowded aisle and off the bus.

The area they found themselves in wasn't as glamorous, or fancy, as the bustling city that the premier had been held in. Many on the street looked like they hadn't had a decent meal or a shower in years. The rest were probably people who worked in the area trying to commute without spending money. Percy watched as some of the people huddled on the ground would extend their hands hopefully. Most went unfilled. It made Percy feel sick and guilty, but he couldn't do anything for them.

It's not to say his last experience with a homeless person didn't make him leery.

"Hopefully this guy you're looking for won't be too hard to find." Piper sighed as she eyed their surroundings.

She'd flinch when some people passing by would give her an extra intrigued look and mutter her name. It appears that magical veil that made her invisible without her dad wasn't always reliable. It didn't help that she was still in her party dress and bedazzled jacket. Percy could tell there were a few people hanging around, taking pictures of the four of them.

"Yeah. We should be able to take it from here, Piper." Percy told her softly. "You should probably go home. I'm sure your dad is worried about you."

"But I..." she gripped onto his jacket as if she thought he'd run away from her. He knew she didn't want to leave, she had so many unanswered questions. He had so many things he needed to tell her. However, Nereus might try to start a fight or worse. Percy didn't want to put her in any more danger than he already has.

Percy gave her a slight smile, "Thank you, for getting us here. We wouldn't have found this place so quickly without you."

Piper still looked a bit put off as she let him go and crossed her arms with a huff. The son of Poseidon looked over his shoulder to his friends. Neither one of them looked like they wanted to be the one to play the bad guy. He didn't either, but Piper was probably better off at home. At least until this was all solved.

"I will explain things to you, once we've finished doing what we need to."

"You mean losing that model creep?" She questioned.

"Among other things, yeah."

Piper's eyes shimmered and her frown deepened. She grabbed the front of his jacket again and tugged him down, so they were eye-level, "Okay, but I expect to hear from you when this is all over. Got it."

The girl reached into her purse and pulled out a small wad of cash. With all the twenties he was seeing, there had to be nearly three hundred bucks. Before Percy could protest, she stuffed it into his pocket and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Annabeth gave a groan as a few people took pictures of them. What better way to make a quick buck than a celebrity's child showing PDA?

"Grover will wait with you for the next bus." Annabeth volunteered their goat before dragging Percy away. Piper could hardly call out a goodbye as the two of them were absorbed into the crowd.

….

Percy felt Annabeth was becoming less and less helpful as their quest went on. Okay, that's kind of a lie, but her attitude since the limo lot was becoming annoying. Seriously, what was making her so cranky? Maybe being close to her family. They had an argument before she told him to go off on his own and keep an eye out for weird things. He was pretty sure it was because she was upset about something.

The teen couldn't hope to understand what was going on in the girl's mind, but he wished that his mom was around to explain it to him. She had been a teen girl at one point. Percy tried to imagine the advice she'd give him. Be nice to others, Percy. She often told him whenever he called from boarding school, especially when he'd call her from Yancy Academy. He didn't say anything about being bullied, but somehow his mom always knew when he was upset, even when she was only hearing his voice over the phone. She was the best mom.

After a while of weaving through people trying to get deeper into the thralls of the crowd, Percy began to get the eerie feeling he was being watched. The hair on his arms began to rise. He stopped dead in his tracks, he felt like an idiot for doing so, but he couldn't keep himself from searching around. Drifters and volunteers bumped into him, forcing Percy to move along. The teen tried his best to fight the riptide of people that seemed to be pulling him against his will.

Percy tried to elbow his way out of the mass. He struggled and fought until finally he managed to squeeze between two homeless men shuffling towards the dock. The son of Poseidon breathed a sigh of relief, he wasn't going to drown in the crowd. His relief was short lived. The feeling that he was being watched came back in full force, he became nauseous. Percy tried his best not to gag as he searched for the prying eyes watching him.

His gaze rested upon a trio of elderly women. They sat in old wicker rocking chairs, gently swaying forward and backward as they eyed him. Surprisingly, the crowd seemed to be giving the women a wide berth as they passed. The three of them were knitting a giant pair of pants. The legs were long enough that he could turn them into sleeping bags. Or simply trap someone in a cotton cocoon of death. Percy wanted to look away from them. He knew he should look away, but he just...couldn't.

A fateful bump from behind pushed Percy nearer to the women. His knees felt weak and his mouth felt like it was full of chalk. They smelled like earth and freshly trimmed grass. It would have been a pleasant smell, if it weren't for the sunken grey eyes that watched him faithfully. Percy wished he was dealing with Annabeth's moodiness instead.

"Young man, would you help us cut this string?" The chubby woman in the middle asked. A single thread of yarn laid in her wrinkled hands.

Percy found it odd that he hadn't seen her lips move. Normally, Percy would help her out. It wouldn't be a big deal to cut some yarn, but, he had a sickly feeling that he wasn't being asked to cut a normal length of string. These weren't normal old ladies; he'd say they were even scarier than the Grey sisters. And these three still had all their limbs accounted for, knobby joints, leather skin, and all. They even had two eyes a peace, but he preferred the removeable one the Grey sisters fumbled with over the six piercing eyes of the knitting women.

The three chuckled as he hesitated. It was as if they thought he was a cute little kid or something, the middle woman held out a rusty pair of scissors to him. He didn't want to touch them, Percy tried to step back, but his hand wandered forward on its own. He felt like a puppet whose strings were being pulled. He couldn't stop himself from grabbing them.

"Destiny can be a scary thing, can't it child?" The woman asked, her voice began to sound distant. "We can fight it; kick and scream, but we are never truly able to escape what fate has bequiffed us."

He could hear a voice screaming in the back of his head to run away. To go anywhere to escape the pull of those scissors. All three of them seemed to grow serious as the teen's fingers nearly brushed them. He needed to stop himself.

"Percy!" Annabeth's voice seemed to break through whatever hold the women had on him. He didn't know how she knew he needed help, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the three women. Her grip was strong enough to hurt. "I should have never left you alone."

The women did not look at all shocked by Annabeth's sudden appearance. Percy watched as the one in the middle took the scissors and slowly snipped the yarn. Somehow, despite the noise around him, the distance he and Annabeth had already created between them and the women, Percy could hear the scissors making the cut. Annabeth tried to warn him not to watch, but it was too late. He stumbled a bit as he tried to keep pace with the blond. Percy blinked once and the three women disappeared. He hadn't been seeing things, right?

"Them cutting the string was a bad thing, wasn't it?" His mouth felt numb as he spoke. As if he had been swishing lidocaine for hours.

The daughter of Athena tightened her grip on his hand. "You watched them?"

"What does it mean?"

Annabeth was silent for a moment, she dragged him through the crowd, closer to the dock. He could just tell they were getting closer to the ocean. Maybe it was the pull in his gut, or the smell of salt in the air.

"Did you ever watch Hercules growing up?" She asked him, worry creasing her face. "Do you remember the three old ladies that'd cut string and then someone died?"

Percy swallowed hard as the implications of what he witnessed hit him. Who was going to die? Him? His stomach did its fifth summersault at that thought. He knew who was waiting for him to arrive in the underworld. A dull throbbing burned the back of his hands, right where the snakes bit him in his dream.

"Percy, the Fates aren't an open book." Annabeth tried to reassure him, but he could hear the waver in her voice. She didn't fully believe herself either. "We don't know what they see."

"The oracle said I'd have to pay a price." He reminded her. They finally reached the docks, there were a few boats tethered and bobbing calmly in the water. Percy wondered if somehow Poseidon was watching him. Did he know about the fates? "What if I have to die? What if that's the price?"

The girl yanked her hand from his, her cheeks looked red as she turned to him. "You aren't going to die, Seaweed brain. Prophecies are never straight forward, neither are the fates. We are going to get the Underworld reopened and we are going to help your mom."

He tried to say more, but she simply started dragging him once more to a small building next to the water. The building looked like it had once been well cared for. A faded mural of sun and a rainbow could be seen on the side of it. It looked to be where the homeless people were given food. Percy could see many people filing in and out. Many eagerly slurping hot coffee and scarfing down food on their trays.

One of them was Nereus.

"Can you sense anything?" Annabeth questioned. They looked over the crowd of homeless people shuffling listlessly as they went about their business. Percy wasn't sure what Annabeth meant by him 'sensing' something. She saw the look on his face and explained herself. "You are linked with the ocean, so is Nereus. In a way you both are linked with one another."

"Ya, lost me." Percy told her. He focused on the people on the dock, he couldn't sense anything. Or at least he didn't think he did.

"Let's get closer."

They walked further into the crowd; the smell of the food coming from the building grew stronger the closer they got to it. He was beginning to think the only thing he was going to sense was the impending annoyance of time wasted. But then, as they got closer to the end of the dock, Percy could feel the hair on his arms stand up. A strong smell of rotten fish began to overwhelm him.

"Do you smell that?" He asked Annabeth as he pinched his nose. She followed suit, looking like she was about to puke.

"Could it just be dead fish under the dock?"

Percy swallowed hard and peaked over the edge of the dock. He didn't see any fish above or below the surface of the water. Only garbage that some careless person had tossed into the ocean. Before he could say anything, an orange tentacle shot out and wrapped around his ankle. Annabeth yelped and desperately grasped his arm. It was no use. Both were dragged off the dock and into the ocean.

…..

Percy wasn't sure what had a hold of them, he'd say a kraken, but he was pretty sure a kraken would be bigger. He knew it wasn't a normal octopus. They had better things to do than drag a couple of teens off a dock. He could feel Annabeth desperately grasping his shirt, she was practically pulling it off him. Her legs flailed beneath her as she tried to take them both to the surface. She was making a valiant effort to save him, but she could drown if she didn't get back to the surface soon.

Unfortunately, they were being pulled down so far that the sunlight was starting to fade. Percy would occasionally hear gasps of fish as they flew by. It had to be a bit strange to see two humans sinking at breakneck speeds in the ocean. Some of the fish also started diving after them, Percy saw a few try to grasp at their clothing while others swam around them in a frenzy. Many panicked voices filled his ears.

The prince! Save the Prince!

Unhand him.

Hold on, son of Poseidon.

Percy struggled to shake the appendage from his leg. He could feel the suction cups clinging tightly to his skin. It was no use to try and free himself. Annabeth made a gurgling noise next to him, her face was becoming red from the effort to hold her breath. She needs air, he thought with a pit growing in his stomach. She could die if she didn't get some soon.

That is if the pressure of the ocean didn't get her first.

As if hearing his thoughts, a swarm of bubbles collected around Annabeth's head. They formed one large air pocket that seemed to be collecting and releasing air like a scuba mask. She let in a greedy breath and tightened her hold on him.

"Your sword." Annabeth wheezed. "Use your sword to cut yourself free."

Percy was grateful for the ability to remain dry, even when sinking in the ocean. It made things a bit easier for him. He grabbed Riptide from his pocket. When he uncapped it, the bronze blade illuminated the greenish water around them. Some of the fish retreated in fear while the others continued their fruitless efforts to help him.

Watch out! He warned the remaining fish before he made the cut.

Riptide had no trouble slicing through the rubbery tentacle. Finally, their decent came to a stop. Golden blood filled the ocean around them. A pained, almost human-like squeal escaped the monster as its dark body retreated farther into the ocean's shadows. Hopefully it got the message and left them alone.

"Thank gods." The daughter of Athena sighed. Her fingers were gripping his arm so tightly he thought she was going to leave an indent. "We need to get out of the water."

Percy couldn't agree more. Once again, he felt a pull in his gut, the water began pushing him and Annabeth to the surface. They had to go slow, to make sure Annabeth's body adjusted to the change in pressure as they went. She warned him several times when he started going too fast.

"Why did that thing grab you?" Annabeth wondered aloud. They were taking five minutes to let her decompress.

Percy shrugged. "Maybe it was revenge for its brothers being turned into calamari."

"Be serious, Seaweed brain." She chided as she anxiously looked to the darkening deps. Worried that the creature would come back and take him again. "I don't want anyone to die on my first quest."

"Noted."

The two once again rebegan their assent. Percy hoped that it wouldn't be too much longer before they made it to the surface. The fish didn't seem to mind their slow rise to the world above. Percy tried not to lose focus as they swam closely to his side. He could even feel them shimmy their way between his fingers. It was weird how similar they behaved to a cat or dog. Despite all the distractions around him, Percy still felt alert to his surroundings.

Was it because of the adrenaline or something else?

"We should keep going. We're getting close to the surface; I don't think I should be in danger of the bends anymore." Annabeth told him

He agreed, even though he was not seeing a slimy limb from the octopus that had grabbed him, Percy couldn't shake the feeling that they were still being watched. With a silent order, the water once again began to push the two teens towards the surface and towards the nearest beach. Just as the shore was coming into sight Percy heard a high pitch cry. Somehow Percy knew it was an Orca before the black and white mass hit them.

If Percy ever wondered what being hit by a truck felt like, he was sure that being hit by an eight-ton animal was far worse. The water did its best to shield the two from the brunt of the impact, but the hit was still enough to make Percy's feel like a crushed pop can. The two of them were blasted out of the water. Percy took the brunt of the impact, the two of them tumbled through the sand like rag dolls.

Percy wasn't sure if he had blacked out for a moment or if their tumble through the sand wasn't as long as he thought it would be. Both teens wheezed and gasped as they tried to remember what breathing felt like. Percy clutched tightly to clumps of sand and threw them towards the ocean. What was with all the random sea creatures attacking him?

"I thought the sea creatures were supposed to love you." Annabeth grunted as she tried to sit up.

Me too, Percy thought, too breathless to speak. The bright blinding light from the sun made his disorientation even more painful. He could hardly bring himself to move, not even when he heard feet marching through the sand towards them. Maybe someone was recording and was going to post their impromptu flight onto Youtube.

"Most do." A voice agreed. "I would apologize for the theatrics, but I am one of the few sea creatures who couldn't care less that he is the son of Poseidon."

Percy's clouded eyes rolled up to a bearded man who stood over them. He looked like Santa, if Santa had been homeless for years. The man's ratty, beaten bath robe, smelled of rotten fish. The shirt and sweatpants beneath it looked so stained that it would be impossible to tell which color they had been originally meant to be.

Pain rippled through the teen's body when the man gave him a nudge with his toe. "Come on now, I didn't hit you that hard."

"Who-…?"

"Is that anyway to talk to your grandfather? Though you are my son in law's bastard, so maybe it'd be best if you'd refer to me by my actual name." Percy grimaced as the man squatted down next to him. The teen could make out every sunspot, every wrinkle, every crooked yellow tooth on the man's face. The rotting smell coming from him hit Percy full force. "I'm Nereus."