(A/N I finished it! I have been working on this chapter for four weeks now. And I couldn't figure out where the block was coming from and the Mist finally stopped clouding my vision tonight. I needed another perspective and I hadn't made a decision concerning her yet! So, decision has been made [with some help, thank you] and I give you the next chapter!)

"Percy!" a blonde called brightly. Even with the smile on her face and lean figure Carter didn't want to hang around her too long. She looked, or rather felt, dangerous.

"Hey, Annabeth. Guys," he nodded to the kids she'd left. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't we go out and enjoy our fall break?" asked a girl with black hair and clothes and the brightest blue eyes Carter had ever seen.

"Well, yeah," Percy scowled. "I just wasn't expecting to run into you here."

"Sorry, Percy. I told them where you were bringing your cousin." The boy who spoke was barely discernible from an adult, considering his size. His skin tone was much closer to Carter's but he had to be at least 16. The guy looked at Carter and offered a kind smile to contrast his punk companion in the black. "You must be Carter. Percy talks about you and your sister a lot."

"Right. Carter, these are my friends from summer camp. Annabeth, Thalia, Beckendorf, and Selina."

"Nice to meet you," he said politely. It's best to be polite when you're pretty sure everyone in the room can kill you.

The blonde, Annabeth, stepped forward again. "Seaweed Brain told me you're a bit of an academic?" There was a hopeful lilt to her voice.

"Yeah. I could probably answer just about any history question you could throw at me."

"Like...say… Who guards the doors to the Underworld?"

"Well, which underworld? There's the obvious Anubis, who monitors the dead's progress to Osiris' realm. Then, there is Charon and Cerberus who ferry the dead and guard against intruders. There's also Hela, or Hel-"

"Alright, we get it. You're about as bookish as Annabeth," the punk, Thalia cut in, eliciting a glare from Annabeth.

"I mean, an intelligent lifeform is a rare and treasured find when I have to put up with you lot all the time," Annabeth teased.

"Guys, can we just see the exhibits? I actually came here wanting to learn about some sea creatures and catch up with Carter."

"And just what do you have to learn, Seaweed Brain?" Thalia teased again.

Carter got the feeling this group spent most of their time at each other's throats while still being great friends. It was interesting to watch, especially for someone who never spent much time around the same group of people.

Percy, oddly, glanced back and forth between Carter and Thalia before grunting and leading the way into the aquarium.

.

Carter was gone, and Percy was pissed. He heard one 'did you know' out of Annabeth, and then the two were all buddy buddy, discussing the size of each exhibit and the architecture put into housing each habitat as naturally as possible.

It was all interesting, and he wanted to pay attention, but he'd planned to be the one spending time with Carter.

"I'm sorry, Percy," Selina spoke up, breaking him from his brooding as he watched his cousin and best friend practically skip from exhibit to exhibit. "I should have convinced them to stay at Camp."

"No. It's fine," he ground out. "You guys don't get out often, besides school." He jerkily shrugged, realizing how tense he was. He took a breath and felt the water around him. Everything was fine. He had plenty of time to spend with Carter throughout the day. This way he could just enjoy spending some time with friends, too.

"What, aren't we good enough for you?" Thalia bumped into his shoulder and he shoved her back.

"Look, I don't know diddly-squat about your family, but do you ever just want to spend some time with them? I haven't seen Carter in person in, like, three years."

"You're right," she poked him hard in the chest, "you don't know jack about my family."

She glared and Percy regretted bringing it up, but he was just trying to make a point!

Would you like me to kill her, lord?

Percy blinked and looked at the nurse shark that was hovering on the other side of the glass. A few others were gathering as well.

"That's not necessary. Believe it or not, we're friends," he smiled. The shark hesitated and then swam off.

His three companions looked at him funny, while Annabeth and Carter were on the other side of the room, completely oblivious.

"So you talk to fish now?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Shut up, Grace."

He noticed the fish were all schooling around him, but trying to be subtle. Each one would take turns spending a minute as part of the group near him, then circle the tank and rejoin.

"We should… keep moving before your cousin notices something fishy," said Beckendorf

Selina broke up into laughter while Percy and Thalia smirked at his pun.

"What?" he looked between them. "What's funny?"

At that, Percy and Thalia finally broke, too.

.

Watching Percy was fun. Every animal in the place was trying to get his attention, so if she wanted a good look she was in the right spot. Frankly, it was a good thing Annabeth was entertaining Carter, because Percy kept getting distracted by all the creatures of his father's domain speaking to him.

Selina and Beckendorf were treating this like a date, and Annabeth and the famed Carter just kept spouting facts about anything and everything, so that left her with Percy.

Thalia found she was okay with this.

He still had his skateboard under his arm, she wasn't sure why they hadn't taken it from him when he entered. His hair was messy, as usual. And his green eyes popped in the wavering light of the aquariums.

She sighed and looked back at the aquarium.

Don't get attached, she reminded herself. It wouldn't do to get between her best friend and her best friend's best friend.

She found herself approaching him anyway.

"Look," her voice had an unintentional edge to it. "I didn't mean to snap. It's just, well, I left home on purpose and I'd like to leave it at that."

"I know I'm lucky, Thalia. I'm sorry. I mean, I'm sure we could find some adoption papers and Amos would take you in in an instant," he smiled. It was meant to be reassuring, kind. But it just broke her that much more.

Your dad can't bring back Jason, she almost snapped. But the bite left her before the words did and she just tried to smile back at him, wondering if she could ever think of him as a brother.