Chapter 12

"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye"

H. Jackson Brown Jr

Jason was nervous. At the time of the Senate, he felt compelled to speak up to allow the Quest to be approved, but now actually facing it, he was beginning to doubt himself. What if he messed up? What if he did something wrong and he caused his quest mates to be injured?

"Hey you ready?" came a voice from behind him. Jason turned around to see Reyna at the doors.

"Yeah, I'm just checking I've got everything," Jason replied. The Senate had provided them with 150 dollars of mortal money, a canteen of nectar for each of them and some ambrosia in a box. They offered to give some Denarii, but Percy refused, saying he already was given a good start up from Lupa and a large allowance from Salacia so he had enough to cover them all. Jason hadn't seen much of Percy since the meeting, chalking it up to the fact that Percy was doing his research on the plant that they needed to locate. They were also given a boat by the legion, owing to the fact that they needed to travel by sea to find the Castalian Spring it'd be floating somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

"You seem tense?" Reyna noted as she observed the son of Jupiter.
"Really? I didn't realise," Jason grumbled to himself as he closed his travel bag.

"Hey, you're going to be fine," Reyna said as Jason turned to look to her.
"I know that. But I don't want to lead you all down the wrong path, putting us in a situation we can't get out of," Jason replied as he shouldered his bag.
"You won't," Reyna said, "Because, even though you're leading the quest, we're still alongside you. And in case you forget, we're your friends, and you'll always do what you can to protect us. It's in your nature," she said and she walked out while Jason took a moment to process her words.

"Getting ready to leave?" Julia's voice cut through his musings,
"Yes," he grinned to her.

"It's natural to feel nervous on a quest. But trust in your instincts and listen to your friends and you'll do well," Julia said with a warm smile.

"What was your first quest like?" Jason asked as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, it was tough. We had to take down a battalion of monsters that were bringing terror near the posts of the city. I was asked to lead 7 other people and have them taken down. It started off well, till we encountered a group of hellhounds. We had to retreat with 2 of our people injured while we called for backup and later, they were all disbanded," Julia told him.

"There'll be more time for memory lane later. I suggest you get ready to leave. Just a tip, keep an eye on your cousin," Julia said as Jason looked at her questioningly.
"He seems a bit distracted since yesterday, which will not serve him well should you encounter resistance which undoubtedly you will," Julia told him as he nodded. He gave her a brief hug and set off for the camp borders.

Jason met Reyna and Percy who were engaged in a conversation as they awaited him.

"Where's Leila?" He asked
"She'll be here in a moment. Centurion Smith wanted a quick word with her before we leave," Percy responded as Jason studied his cousin. He seemed to be fine, an aura of confidence surrounding him, but his eyes looked tired and filled with something heavy.

Guess he was still thinking about his mother. Or he was up late researching on the plant.

"What's our first plan?" Reyna asked Jason but it was Percy who answered.
"I read up as much as I could on the Castalian Spring. The original one is in Greece as Lupa said, but that would take far too long to get to. Our closest bet is the one that'd be located in the Western Civilisation boundaries. But it hasn't been located because the magic that surrounds it from the power of Pythia is far too strong to be located by normal means,"

"So how do you propose we find it?" Jason asked as a small grin appeared on Percy's face.

"I borrowed a few books from Lupa to read up and I realised that the only way to find it is magic. Any other means of finding it would take time that we don't have so we're going to have to cheat a little bit," Percy explained

"Well, the best magic to use here would be Atlantean magic. For that we would need a specific tool. One of the pearls of Neptune. Generally, they are used to bring someone back to the sea, but if tinkered with properly, it can be used to create a rift in the Mist through the ocean and lead us to the lost island," Percy continued as Leila jogged over to join them.

"You've really spent a lot of time thinking on about this?" Jason said in a slightly impressed tone as Percy shrugged.

"Well, the quest was my idea, so I wanted to make sure that we at least have a lead. I think between me and Leila, we can figure out the location of the island," Percy replied.

"Surely it's not going to be that easy?" Reyna asked, her eyebrows scrunched slightly.

"Nope. But I'll explain the rest when we get moving. And a word of warning, expect resistance to hit us when we begin," Percy said.

"You really think Saturn would know of our quest?" Leila asked

"He has eyes everywhere knowing him. His powers go beyond anything we would've ever encountered. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already sent scouts to keep tabs on us and try to sabotage us," Percy said as they all began walking towards the Camp borders.

As they reached the entrance of Camp Jupiter, they were met with a group of other people there as well.

"What's going on?" Reyna asked as Michael came forward from the group.
"You all ready for your quest?" He asked them all as they nodded.
"What's going on here?" Jason asked
"Eagles have spotted a group of monsters on the coast line again. They seem to be preparing to attack at some point so a squad of the First and Third Cohort have been asked to go deal with them and have the Second Cohort on standby for backup in case we need it," Michael explained as someone from the group called for him.

"Well best of luck to you lot," Michael said as he jogged back to his Cohort.

"Looks like you were right. Saturn is already beginning to send some of his minions," Reyna said as they approached Terminus.

"Well, well. What have we here? Ah, quest members. You again?" Terminus looked at Percy. "You've barely begun here, and on another quest already?"

"What can I say? Guess you gods just love sending me right into danger," Percy shot back. He could imagine Terminus raising his imaginary eyebrow.

"Well, aren't you in a grumpy mood. Well come on then. Perseus Jackson, son of Neptune, now legionnaire of the Fifth Cohort, well done. Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona, legionnaire of the First Cohort, very good. Leila Chloronilas, daughter of Ceres, legionnaire of the Fourth Cohort and lastly, ahh yes. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, now secondary junior centurion of the Fifth Cohort and Quest Leader. Well, this seems to be in order. You all may go. I assume you all know the way, right?" Terminus asked as they all muttered their assent and left the borders. Percy looked back and saw the borders disappear from view as they walked a few feet away.

Well at least that was still working. Or else, it'd be quite hard to explain to mortals why there was a magical camp filled with Ancient Roman buildings and weapons in the middle of their city.

"I'm assuming you know where we're going to get out boat?" Leila asked the group as Jason nodded.

"We're going to the official San Francisco bay, which is 2 hours away, but there should be a boat there, bought recently by the legion for us to use," Jason said as they began their journey.

As said, it took them 2 hours to get to the San Francisco bay. They didn't encounter any resistance on the way there, Jason and Percy talking about football while Reyna and Leila had their own conversation about different weapons.

Percy smiled as they reached the Bay. He could smell the salty sea air, the power of his father's domain filling him up as he looked out on the sea. Jason pointed to a boat on the far end, which has S.P.Q.R. engraved on it. It was a fairly nice boat with a lot of space and resting quarters underneath and a few supplies in the hall.

"Anyone know how to navigate a boat?" Reyna asked as Percy let out a genuine smile which hadn't been seen in a few days. He took off his bag, putting it on the seat near him and closed his eyes, and concentrated. The boat immediately responded to his thoughts, almost as though it was an extension of him. He pointed at the cleaning supplies and they immediately began cleaning the boat by themselves, flying across the deck by themselves, polishing it within a few minutes. Percy pointed his finger at the rope tied to the boat and it untied itself from the dock. He pointed his palm at the main hull of the boat and raised his arm slightly. There was slight vibration from underneath their feet as the boat stirred to life and Percy willed it to turn North. Within 5 minutes, they were off the dock and speeding across the ocean.

"Handy power," Leila noted as they all went downstairs to store their bags. They returned to the deck afterwards.

"So, what's our plan of action?" Reyna asked as they sat around a table.
"Like I explained earlier," Percy started, "The first thing we need to do is find one of the pearls of Neptune. They are embodiments of the sea and the ocean and with a little bit of magic, we can find our way through to the Spring."

"What else do we need?" Leila asked

"We need something that can channel divine magic. Having Terminus weave the Silphium into the boundaries won't be enough. To ensure that it remains stable, we need an artefact that can control and channel divine magic and to ensure that the plant can restabilise the magical boundaries," Percy replied as they listened in silence.

"Where are we going to find something like that? Most artefacts of that magnitude are either kept on Olympus, or haven't been found since the fall of Rome," Leila asked.

"There's one. There were rumours about it by the Amazons, but I did some digging-"
"You mean you snuck out of camp?" Jason asked with a grin as Percy shot him a glare.

"Yes, I did. And there's something that we can use. The Lapis Manalis," Percy said as there was a heavy stunned silence.

"Are you-" Jason began but Percy cut him off.
"I had my doubts in the beginning. But the aura of the stone, the power that it gives off, it seems to fit the description. Believe me, if I doubted for one moment that it may not have been the stone, I wouldn't have suggested it. But we don't exactly have a supply of magical items that are as powerful as what we need it for. We don't have a choice."

"But isn't the stone kept at the entrance of the Underworld?" Reyna asked but Jason shook his head.

"From what Lupa taught me, there's two stones, right?" Jason said looking at Percy as he nodded, motioning for him to go on. "One of them is at the entrance to the Underworld. The other one was generally used by the pontifices for ceremonial purposes. The alleged rumour was that it had the power to create rain, hence why people used it as offerings to Jupiter. But like many other Ancient Roman pieces, it was lost during the Fall."

"Well, you got the gist of it. There are indeed 2 stones. The second stone is the one that we need. But while its main power was to create rain, that's not all it could be used for. Most magical items' true power couldn't be revealed because the legion back then didn't understand the difference between mortal magic and divine magic. If used properly by a powerful half-blood, controlling the circulation of rain grants you access to the winds and in essence, the flow of the sky itself. If put in the hands of someone like me or Jason, it could very well enhance our powers tenfold, but it also causes more exhaustion. But it takes a lot of concentration to understand how to use it," Percy took a deep breath before continuing.

"We can use the power of the stone to our advantage. It can prove useful for the quest and also the upcoming war,"

"Where did you locate it to?" Reyna asked.

"Seattle," Percy replied as their eyes grew wide.
"Percy, we don't have that kind of time," Leila said in a worried voice but Percy cut her off.

"Do you seriously think I didn't consider all of these factors?" Percy said with a small grin on his face. "I took everything into account before we began this quest. The pearls of Neptune can guide us into the Spring and we can tunnel it to Seattle from there. Yes, it may drain my energy a lot and I may not be able to fight once we reach Seattle, but we can deal with that once we cross that bridge. As for finding the plant, we have the one person who specialises in them. You, Leila. Honing your powers when we reach the Spring, you can easily locate it with a bit of focus and concentration, cutting down the time immensely. As for getting back to Camp Jupiter back in time, well we have a son of Neptune and Jupiter. We're on a boat and we have access to winged creatures. I can increase our speed tenfold on the way back just by snapping my fingers. If there's any problems we encounter, Jason and I can call on Blackjack and Tempest and we can lift into the sky where Jason is at his strongest. No-one would be able to challenge him there. If we encounter resistance when locating the Lapis Menalis, we have a daughter of Bellona who can dispose of them for us at a moment's notice. Believe me, I know this quest seems far-fetched, but I've tried to cut it down as much as I can for all of our sakes," Percy finished as they all fell into silence.

"That's...quite the planning you have done. Sorry for doubting you," Reyna said as Percy shook his head.
"No, trust me, I know it is quite the wild strategy and has too many variables that we haven't considered. But I'm confident between the four of us, we can do it," Percy replied.

They discussed a few other parts of the quest before Reyna and Leila went downstairs to rest for a bit.

"What's up with you? You're quieter than usual?" Percy asked with a raised eyebrow. "Generally, I'm the brooding one..." He added as an afterthought.

"I'm just wondering whether I'm fit to be the quest leader on this. I mean, you've pretty much planned this entire quest for us, thought of all the things that we could encounter and came up with the entire mapping for us," Jason told him and Percy sighed as he looked up to the sky as though thinking 'what am I going to do with this guy'

"Jason, the only reason I did this way to repay you for volunteering to be quest leader. This quest wasn't your idea, but you still took the burden of being the official quest leader in front of the Senate. I just wanted to make things easier for you by at least making sure that my crazy idea at least had some chance of success so it wouldn't look bad on you. Don't forget that I started this entire scheme. If something were to happen, you'd be held accountable, so I just tried taking things off your plate a bit. Believe me, the moment we land, you're in charge of how we go on forward and you're leading our direction. I just laid out the map, you're the one who's going to pilot us. And I have enough faith in you to know that you'll get us through this," Percy told him as he nodded, still slightly tensed but not as worried.

"Go get some rest, we'll need you at your full strength later on. I'll keep watch for now," Percy said as he walked out towards the railings, looking out at the sea.

Jason sighed as he got onto his mattress. He knew that all of them meant well but he couldn't shake off that small worry in his mind. Being the son of Jupiter, people always expected him to make the right decisions, always expecting him to be the perfect role model to look up to, always expected to have the right answers whenever needed. But people never saw the toll it took on him. He didn't always have the answers and it worried him that if he made the wrong step, the legion would look down on him. And even more than that, he didn't want his decisions to affect his friends.

Reyna walked up towards the main deck as she saw Percy just looking out towards the sky.

"You alright?" he asked, his back still turned on her.
"Was a bit hungry, came to see if there was anything to eat?" Reyna asked
"Navigation room, there's a small pantry with snacks in there. Help yourself to some," Percy replied.

"You should get some rest as well. You haven't had much sleep since the Senate Meeting," Reyna said. She expected Percy to argue but instead he just nodded.

"I've put it on automatic steering to the last known location of the pearl. Wake me up once the boat stops," Percy said as he walked down towards his room.

Reyna took in the smell of the sea breeze as they sped across the water. She didn't mind sea travel, it felt calming for her. Just the gentle vibrations of the hull and the small sounds of the water lapping as they sailed helped calm her mind. It had been a while since she felt calm. Her mind began to drift towards her past. Life back in Puerto Rico before her father went deranged. Listening to the sounds of the Coquí frogs and the smell of the Magnolia and citrus trees; her and Hylla walking down the Calle San Jose, counting the number of cats and making up stories for each one. Simpler times back then.

30 mins went by fairly quickly as Reyna kept watch. The sun was starting to go down slowly as the evening sky burned across the horizon.

Then Reyna noticed something. In the distance was a black spec speeding towards them. At first Reyna thought it was just a bird but as it got closer, she could see it was no bird at all.

Suddenly there was a bang of lightning that just narrowly missed her but blasted her back nonetheless. She let out a yelp in surprise as she looked back up. Another flash of lightning came barrelling towards her but this time she reacted quickly, dodging through it and bringing out her gladius.

"These guys again? I thought I had dealt with them already" groaned Jason who had run up after hearing the commotion. Without another word, he shot towards the sky as the Venti began closing in on him. Reyna wasn't sure how she could help him and she had her own problems arising.

From the sky dropped 2 dracanae and a black antelope-like creature, growling at her with an insane expression on its face.

"A giant crab? Where in Tartarus did that even come from?" came Percy's shocked voice as he and Leila rushed upwards.

"You know Percy, that's an excellent question that we can discuss once we're not being threatened by them, how's that for a suggestion," Leila grunted as she and Reyna engaged the dracanae. The crab locked eyes with the son of Neptune and pounced on him.

Percy let out a grunt of pain as the creature slammed his crabby hand into his chest. Had he not been a half-blood, he'd have suffered far worse injuries at that very moment. Percy took out Shadow Crown and thrust his hand forward. The ocean water flew onto the boat and Percy swiped his hands downwards, causing the water to spill all over the deck of the boat. He immediately crouched downwards and slid across to underneath the crab's stomach and thrust his dagger upwards. The crab let out a screech of pain as it dissolved.

But Percy's fight was far from over. A few of the Venti decided to join in on the fun and 2 of them grabbed Percy.

"Let go off me," Percy growled as he thrashed around, trying to fight them but to no avail. They kept dodging through his attacks leaving behind a harsh gust of wind. An unfamiliar rage began coursing through Percy as he failed to land a proper hit on them.

"WILL YOU JUST DIE!" roared Percy with anger that he wasn't sure where it was coming from, he just felt rage building inside him. He blindly swung his blade to no avail as the Wind Spirits suddenly bucked under his legs. The next thing he knew, he was being carried up towards the sky by two out-of-control Venti.

Jason side-stepped as a Ventus charged him and at the last second grabbed it by the neck. It roared in anger and tried thrashing him around in an attempt of disengaging Jason off, but Jason held on with all his strength. He took out his gladius and stabbed it, finally dissolving after their intense battle.

He was completely worn out with no energy left after having faced an entire army of them, slowly floating back down towards the boat. He could see Leila and Reyna easily taking care of the dracanae; Reyna launching a roundhouse kick against her opponent before grabbing her dagger from her waist and slashing downwards and stabbing her in the knee. Leila jumped on the railing and dashed to the left to avoid her opponent landing a swipe against her before lunging at her waist, toppling both of them down. In a blink of an eye, she pulled out her gladius and jabbed it downwards, leaving nothing but monster dust on the floor.

"WILL YOU JUST DIE!" roared a voice to his right startling Jason as he looked to his right, seeing Percy being carried off by two Venti. Jason tried summoning the winds but he was completely drained from his strenuous battle earlier on, his face coated with sweat as he tried steadying himself, grabbing onto the railings.

"Jason, go help him!" Reyna's frantic voice came but his vision was swimming.
"I- I can't" Jason said in a pained voice, "I can't even see straight!" he said in frustration. All of a sudden, he felt something burning hot flow through his skin, his vision cleared instantly and he felt a rush of energy fill his body.

"What...What is-"
"GO! Save him, I'll explain later, just GO!" Reyna cut him off. Jason shot upwards into the sky quickly, his gladius in his hand.

"Hey! Don't forget about me! I want to fight as well!" Jason shouted to the Venti. He weaved past the first spirit, shooting left with his gladius pointed outwards, catching the Ventus by surprise and killing it. Jason looked down on the other one who was holding Percy. He could already feel the energy boost wearing off and he shot downwards, barging into the wind spirit with all his strength. He grabbed Percy's gladius out of his hand and held both blades in an X formation as he cleaved the Ventus's head. He tossed Percy's gladius in his left hand as he grabbed Percy with his right arm.

"Stop struggling. I'm losing energy to keep up afloat," Jason said in a pained voice as he tried to angle their descent towards the boat.

"Percy, when I say so, I need you to raise a wave of water" Jason said
"What!"
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes, but-"
"Just do as I say. Trust me, I won't let anything happen."
"What about our weapons?"
"Don't worry about them, I'll get them back to us"

Jason used the last of his strength to direct the winds downwards near enough to the boat. He knew he wouldn't be able to directly bring them onto the boat, not with him having to support Percy, but if he could get them close enough, Percy could summon a wave to take them back on board.

Jason slowly began bringing them down. Once or twice, he tumbled a bit, but managed to regain their level of altitude.

"Come on," he thought, "Almost ther-"

Percy slipped through his fingers and Jason lunged quickly, catching him in time as they neared the boat.

"Now Percy!" Jason told him as he threw both of their swords onto the boat, using the last gust of wind to bring it down. A large wave of water rose instantly and seamlessly, catching both of them in soft, calm wave, the gentle sound of the ripple streaking in the background as they landed back onto the deck.

Immediately, both boys fell onto the ground, too exhausted to say anything as Reyna rushed to give Percy some nectar while Leila helped Jason onto the chair, giving him some water to drink.

"Thanks man," panted Percy as Reyna trickled a few more drops of nectar down his throat.

"Anytime," Jason replied with a tired grin.

"Percy, what happened there? I've never seen you lose your cool like that and go losing your head into so much rage?" Leila asked as they gained their bearings.

Percy frowned as he recalled the last few minutes. He wasn't sure why he had felt so much anger. He was attempting to take down some of the storm spirits and they kept dodging his attacks, but he had never lost his emotions like that because he couldn't land a proper hit. But something inside him, like a volcano in his chest that he didn't know about, had just erupted in him as his frustration grew.

"I'm... not really sure?" Percy said in a confused voice. "I've never exactly felt like this, and I can't recall why I just got so angry but it was like, something inside of me just burst out as I was duelling. But I don't know why I was angry?"

Reyna frowned as she listened to Percy. It was most unlike him to lose his head in a battle, she'd seen him fight first hand when they defended Camp Jupiter just mere days ago. So, perhaps this was something that happened subtly over time and was surfacing now. But Percy hadn't exactly had any other encounters that caused him to go into so much rage. He had the battle earlier, before that was War Games and before that was training and...

Reyna's eyes grew wide. Of course, it all made sense now...

"Menoetius..." she breathed out.
"What?" Leila asked. Reyna turned to look at Percy.
"Your battle with the titan, Menoetius. He was the titan of anger and rage. And after he lost..." she said looking at Percy to continue, who thought for a moment before letting lose a few curses in Latin.

"Of course. I should've seen it," he said quietly. "After he lost against Salacia, he didn't just leave easily,"

"You may have defeated me for now son of the sea, but watch yourself. One day, when you least expect it, your anger shall be your downfall. And I shall be there personally to kill you. I will draw the blade and vanquish you," Percy recalled the words that the minor Titan had said to him.

"With those words, he left a curse on me. By the looks of it, whenever I get frustrated, controlling my anger and temper will be a big issue for me, because all the rage that I've kept deep inside of me, will be released as part of his curse," Percy said. "Oh, this is going to be a problem..."

"I'm assuming you mean the Senate?" Jason guessed as Percy nodded. "Some of the people in the Senate don't like you, and with you having problems of keeping yourself in check won't be a good look on your current image."

"Is there anything you can do?" Leila asked, addressing the obvious question. Percy shrugged.
"At the moment, not much. I'm assuming the only way to free myself completely from this curse is to defeat the damn Titan. Which means I don't have to wait for too long. Knowing immortals, his pride is already wounded that I managed to outsmart him and sooner or later, he'll want to go for a rematch. Until then, the only thing I can do is try to weather this the best I can and learn to control my emotions," Percy said

"You think you'd be able to fight off a titan's curse. I mean, I know he's a minor Titan, but he's still a Titan," Leila questioned.

"Lupa always said, nothing is stronger than the mind of a warrior. It is his ultimate weapon. It'll be hard, I don't deny it, but with time and dedication and learning to lessen my anger to the lowest point possible, I think I can slowly gain a grip on them. But that's something I'll have to work on," Percy sighed

"Yeah, the last thing we need in a battle against monsters is you to lose your head," Jason said.

Percy closed his eyes, stretching out his senses across the ocean.
"We're not too far from the pearl that we need. I'd estimate another 5 to 7 minutes if I take this boat at full speed. Then I'd need to go down and retrieve it," Percy said. He snapped his fingers and the boat roared to life, continuing its journey. He pointed his finger at the cleaning supplies and they began sweeping the deck, cleaning off the monster dust.

"There may probably be resistance that you encounter when retrieving the pearl," Reyna said as they looked out towards the ocean.

"Why do you think so?" Percy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, these monsters didn't come from nowhere. I mean, a group of Venti, dracanae, and a giant crab? That's not exactly a common group of monsters. They were obviously ordered by someone, that being the crooked one, to fight against us. Venti to counter Jason, him being the son of Jupiter. A crab to counter you, the son of Neptune. And 2 dracanae-foot soldiers, to try and wipe out me and Leila. It's pretty obvious that the crooked one knows that we're out on this mission. And like you said, he has eyes everywhere, he suspects some part of your plan, hence why he sent them to either try and capture us, or to delay us so he can send more scouts to bait you for the pearl. With any luck, considering this quest was issued at the very last minute, he couldn't send for a large warband, but I'll bet you anything, he'll have sent something that would be able to fend us off and have a good chance of fighting both of you," Reyna said looking at Jason and Percy. Jason looked at Percy, trying to gauge what his cousin was thinking.

"Well, he's played the smart ends in this case. Only a child of the sea would be able to go down and retrieve the pearl, considering how deep down it is. So, that makes you three useless here. He'd have sent a sea monster that he knows would be able to counter me and he sent scouts earlier. They weren't meant to capture us," Percy said, "they were meant to weaken us. The fight with the Venti would mean that Jason would not be able to provide me with any help at all and he knows that neither you nor Leila can help me out. So, using his older brother, he would've sent something to try and capture me, or even just dispose of me," Percy said.

The boat suddenly stopped. They were in the middle of the ocean with nothing around for miles. The sky had darkened into night, Percy's favourite time. It reminded him of his childhood with Lupa, wolves preferred to hunt at night and Lupa took him on hunts at this time.

Percy glanced down. Sure enough, he could feel the power of the pearl down there. He couldn't detect any threatening life sources, but that wasn't any comfort. Titan magic was based on far more powerful bases and it could very well be hiding the beast from his sight.

"We've arrived at the location of the pearl. It's down there, I can feel it," Percy told them.

"Percy, you shouldn't go alone," Jason said as he tried to get up but Percy stopped him.
"Jason buddy, you're in no state to help. If I took you down there with me and there's a sea monster waiting down there, I'd more likely have to focus on keeping you alive, rather than battling the monster," Percy told him firmly.

"Percy, you can't fight whatever is down there by yourself," Leila said.
"I don't have a choice Leila. What support can you offer me? Neither you, nor Reyna can breathe underwater and manoeuvrer fast enough to dodge the attacks. Don't you see, this was his plan all along. The Titan King knew the odds we were playing at and twisted them in his favour. Now, it's up to me to try and prove him that it takes more than a sea monster to take me down. Hopefully, being in the ocean may give me an advantage," Percy said, ending the conversation. He picked up his gladius from the table, retracting it back into his ring. He rushed into his quarters and put on his vambraces and breastplate, then walked back out.

"Good luck Percy," Reyna said
"Show them what the son of Neptune can do," Leila said with a smile. He looked at all three of his friends, flashed them a grin and waved and then jumped right into the depths of the ocean.

Author's Note: Well it has been a while huh. Sorry about the long wait but things got difficult in the New Year and I needed to take care of family, hence I couldn't write for a bit. And if you follow my other story/you are in my discord, you'd know I sort of broke my hand so typing this with one hand wasn't an easy experience XD. Anyways, well the quest has begun, both Percy and Jason are being tested to their limits now. And soon enough, so will Reyna and Leila. Don't really have much else to say, it's been a while so not too many questions have popped up at the moment.

As usual, thanks to Yesse2362, Royal Instictz, AWESOME1356, EllaBSinging, HellRaiderS, RageSage, LoneWolf229, JoJo Jesus and SL4263 for reviewing, like I always say, every review motivates me to write more, so if anyone could just take 15 seconds to review, it means a great deal to me and I am very thankful for it.

EllaBSinging: It was a memory as Thalia turned into a tree before the chapter was set and Jason was just viewing it.
JoJo Jesus: Yeah I learnt about Demeter/Ceres limited Atmokinesis and I thought it'd be an interesting concept to incorporate into the story as Leila grows in this version of the story.

SL4263: THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU ARE A DAMN SAVIOUR! I've been going crazy trying to look for that specific story and you have come through so seriously thank you so so much, I can finally be at peace again. You are a legend.

Well like I said earlier, don't have much else to say so that's pretty much it for now.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter

Discord Server: VUMM3Sb

That's all from me for now

SpiritsOfTheWorld