The campers who had been awakened by the storm slowly returned to their cabins and began to get ready. They had been awoken in the early hours of the morning, earlier than they would have planned, but still too late to try going back to sleep.
Soon, all the ships were packed with supplies and demigods, and they were ready to go.
The Argo II led the fleet of sorts, and pulled out of the harbor first.
Just as they expected, they hadn't sailed far when a huge stream of water shot up and onto their deck, carrying Percy with it.
He seemed to be in a better mood than he was in before, the scowl and confusion in his eyes gone, replaced by the almost childlike happiness that took over him whenever he went into the water.
"Feeling better?", Annabeth asked, smiling as she saw her boyfriend's better spirits.
"Yeah", he crossed the deck and pulled her in for a kiss before walking up to the helm to speak with Leo.
"Hey, Leo, how long do you think— Oh. Sorry, Lord Hephaestus".
Percy walked to the control room of the ship to ask Leo how long the trip would be, but when he got there he was only greeted by both his friend and his father who were underneath the control board on their backs looking at something.
Leo seemed to be explaining something to his father, but when Percy walked in he wiggled out.
His face was smeared with grease, and his father came up behind him and put out the fire that had lit on his shirt.
"Whoops".
"What's up?".
"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to come by to ask how long it would be until we arrived, but you're busy, so I can come by later".
Hephaestus was standing a little ways away, eyeing Percy curiously like he was a new piece of machinery, and it made him slightly uncomfortable.
"No, no, no. That's okay", he turned around to the control board and started typing on a few things.
"Normally, we would get there in about four days, but your father said that he had some tricks up his sleeve to get us there faster, and I'm not completely sure what he was going to do".
"Okay, thanks", he was about to go leave and find his father to see if he could help somehow, but Leo looked at him like he wanted to say more, so he stayed and looked at him expectantly.
"You good now?", he finally asked after his father cleared his throat uncomfortably behind him.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just a nightmare, you know?".
Leo wanted to say that he understood, that he did 'know'. But he didn't. Talking to people wasn't his forte to begin with. Talking to people who had gone through so much like Percy had? Forget it.
"Percy, that wasn't just some usual nightmare", he started, not sure how to, but sure that he had to talk to him somehow.
The shadow of a grin that had been hovering around Percy's face since he had gotten out of the ocean began to fade. Replaced by a guarded look, and then just one of simple exhaustion.
He rubbed his face and said, "Yeah, I know".
"Apollo said that you were being mentally tortured? Mentally tortured by who, Percy? What's going on?".
Leo was on a roll now, and suddenly spit out all of the questions that had been hovering around in his brain for the past week.
Percy's sea green eyes looked up to study Leo for a few beats, making eye contact and refusing to let go before he seemed to decide that he could trust him.
"Moros. Primordial god of doom and destiny. I pissed him off", Percy shrugged his shoulders and tried to play the whole thing off as more casual than it was. But Leo and his father could see right through him.
The god of the forge sighed, having to just accept that the boy had what could only be described as a talent for making all powerful beings angry.
"How did you manage that?", Leo asked, not even really surprised.
"He made me angry".
"Oh", Leo visibly paled, but Hephaestus didn't really get it.
"What do you mean, lad?". Percy looked up, surprised. He didn't expect the god to actually talk to him.
Percy's eyes grew stormy like he was reliving the memory, and his grin went from genuine to menacing.
"When Percy gets angry, he could kill people", Leo explained to his father, remembering the last time that had happened.
"But that's not possible. Moros is immortal you couldn't have killed him", the god insisted, still not seeing how the skinny boy in front of him could have ever hoped to take on a primordial.
"He was going to kill Annabeth. I had to".
The god raised his eyebrows. He knew that he loved the girl, but this was an entire different level. And looking into his eyes now, lit up with just a fraction of the anger that they must have once been, he had no doubt that he would take on the whole of Olympus for her.
He would have to bring it up to the council. Avoiding that kind of anger from the boy had to be prioritized.
"So… What do you think your dad's going to be doing to help speed up the journey?", Leo asked.
It was a good idea, Percy's eyes immediately cleared of the reminiscent anger that they had from the memory and cleared as he thought of the ocean.
"I don't know. I'm going to go check. See you guys later!".
The boy's sudden mood swing somehow managed to freak Hephaestus out even more, and he just stared after the demigod. He thought he had him all figured out, guess not.
Man, human interaction is difficult.
Before he could walk out the door, Percy turned back to Leo, "Oh, and Leo? Whatever you guys are doing… Try not to blow up the engine… again".
He grinned as Hephaestus looked down at his son, shocked.
"Again?".
Percy chuckled as Leo weakly tried to explain to his father what had happened the first time while still glaring after Percy.
"Well, you see…".
Percy laughed to himself again as he continued on, walking out of earshot.
He made his way towards the front of the Argo II where the best view of the water was. He knew that's where his father would be if anywhere.
The sea god was standing right on the far edge of the ship, as close to the water as he could get without falling off.
Percy walked over and leaned on the rail next to his father, not saying anything but joining him in looking out at the water in his thoughts.
"So… Do you feel better now?", his father asked.
His gaze didn't leave the glittering water, so he didn't see the grin on his son's face drop slightly.
"Yes. The water is always able to clear my head".
Poseidon nodded and turned to his son with a smile.
He had never been the best at having meaningful conversations with his children, and this was no exception. He knew he had to make sure that he was okay, but he didn't have a clue as to how.
"Good, good. Do you want to help guide the fleet across the Atlantic?".
Percy looked relieved at the topic change and nodded his head, a grin taking back over his face.
"There are still a few tricks of the sea I haven't taught you yet", the sea god's eyes sparkled mischievously, and he held out an arm in front of him.
The two spent the rest of the day together on the front of the boat, alternating between using the currents to speed across the ocean and having his father teach Percy new tricks with his powers.
"Now concentrate on the water in the air, Percy", his father was schooling him, while the hero himself had his eyes closed in concentration.
Suddenly, he disappeared in a puff of sea spray, and reappeared right over the side of the boat in front of them.
Percy just had time to register Leo and his father's surprised faces through the window before he fell down into the water below.
When he came up, his father had used the currents to move the boat so that it were far out of reach.
He huffed, and summoned a wave to chase after the retreating boat.
When he finally caught up, he made his wave completely wash over the boat, glaring at his laughing father as he landed on solid deck again.
The god of the sea wiped a few stray tears from his eyes before turning to his son who was still playfully glaring at him.
"Really?", he asked sarcastically.
This caused Poseidon to chuckle again before putting a hand on his son's shoulder and steering him towards the galley.
"Come on. We've been summoned to a meeting".
"But I still haven't mastered vapour travel yet!", Percy protested. He hated giving up on something before he had completely mastered it.
Poseidon turned to him with laughter but also understanding in his eyes. "Don't worry. We'll come back to it later".
Percy grumbled under his breath, but allowed his father to steer him towards the galley and the others.
POV: Leo
(Earlier that afternoon)
Leo turned away from the window where he had just seen Percy appear out of thin air and then fall into the ocean and shook his head.
"I don't think I'll ever understand that boy", his father grumbled beside him.
They turned back to join the others who had gathered at the table.
"What is this about Hephaestus?", Zeus asked his son. His voice sounded annoyed, but it also held a note of genuine curiosity. The forge god never voluntarily spoke to anybody if he could help it.
The god and his son sat down before he answered.
"I am concerned about Perseus Jackson".
The gods stopped talking to one another and looked towards the door nervously. Thankfully, Percy and his father were still nowhere to be seen. But that didn't stop his girlfriend from glaring at the god.
"What about him?", she snapped.
The god visibly paled as the daughter of Athena gave him her best death glare.
Athena herself, though, nodded her head.
"I agree".
"Mother!".
"The boy is very powerful, and very dangerous".
"Percy is not dangerous! He's our friend!", Annabeth persisted.
Her mother's eyes flashed at her daughter's foolishness, "That is precisely the problem. He is loyal, too loyal. He may very well destroy all of Olympus just to protect those he loves. It is a very immediate concern".
"Concern?! His loyalty is what makes him such an amazing hero!", she argued back.
Surprisingly, Hephaestus was the one to stop the argument before it could escalate further.
"Stop! That is not what I was referring to".
Both mother and daughter turned to the god in confusion.
"What do you mean?".
"I was referring to his nightmare last night, or rather, torture".
Everybody looked from Apollo to Dionysus, expecting some sort of further explanation from either of them.
Dionysus sighed, "I suppose it would be my job to help the brat, then".
Annabeth sent him another withering glare, and he flinched subconsciously before continuing.
"From what I was able to tell when I helped him earlier, someone was sending him visions and not letting him awaken from them".
There was some murmuring among the gods.
"Who could do that?", Piper asked, looking around at the worried faces of the gods.
Dionysus' face darkened, "Moros".
"Who?".
The group was silent again as they all looked at Dionysus and waited for him to explain.
"Primordial god of doom and destiny. I've had quite a few run ins with him. He likes to drive people insane by showing them visions of their fate. Then, of course, they come to me".
Annabeth's face blanched. "Fate? As in, it will happen no matter what you do?".
"Well, yes and no. Why?", Dionysus narrowed his eyes at Annabeth, whose face seemed to be getting paler and paler.
"Percy said he saw a vision of me being sacrificed to Gaea. My throat being slit. Will that definitely happen?".
Annabeth swallowed hard, and Dionysus was surprised to see her mother with a look of alarm on her face.
"Well… no, not necessarily. There are some choices that have to be made that have the potential to change someone's fate", Dionysus pondered the idea for a while, but eventually shrugged it off.
He must have been spending too much time with Athena if he was actually starting to think about things like that.
"Why would Moros attack Percy? What does he have against him?", Jason asked, bringing everybody's attention back to the present.
"I don't know".
"I do".
Everybody turned to look at Hephaestus, surprised. The forge god never spoke this much in meetings. Ever.
Leo nodded his head next to him solemnly, remembering the little confession that he had gotten out of Percy earlier that afternoon.
Before he could explain, though, a huge force that the crew recognised as a wave hit the side of the ship.
The seven rolled their eyes.
"He's almost as dramatic as Zeus".
"Hey!".
Before Zeus could go on a rant the two missing crew members walked in.
Poseidon had laughter in his eyes, and Percy mockingly shoved him as they walked through the door.
As soon as they saw everybody staring at them, though, they sobered up.
Poseidon walked over and sat down in his place between Zeus and Hades, but Percy stayed standing.
"What's going on?".
There had been a feeling in the air when his father and he walked into the room, like they had been talking about him. And now they all stared at him expectantly, as if they all expected him to burst into flames any second.
It irritated him.
"What is it?! Why are you all staring at me?".
His stiffer tone made some of the demigods flinch, and he immediately felt bad.
Finally, Zeus spoke up.
"We were just discussing your nightmares. Dionysus here has determined that somebody is torturing you with images of fate".
They expected him to look fearful or scared, or something. But not calm, borderline bored.
"Let me guess. It's Moros. That guy was always just an overgrown child".
Some of the gods visibly flinched and looked around as if they expected him to jump out of the shadows, the demigods just stared at him with their mouths open in shock.
Percy wasn't even scared that a primordial god was angry at him. What happened down there?
Slowly recovering from their shock, Dionysus nodded his head and looked at Percy with a weird expression, as if he was trying to determine whether or not Percy had gone insane.
"What have you done that a primordial god has made it his personal business to torture you?", Zeus asked, narrowing his eyes at the boy suspiciously.
Percy's gaze grew sharp, and his eyes took on that darker green colour that they did when he was evaluating a threat.
He met each of their eyes individually, making the gods and demigods on edge before sighing and leaning against the wall.
It was a strange turn of events, and Percy's mood swing took them all off guard.
His façade was back, and he looked as casual as if he were just having a normal conversation as he leaned against the wall.
"You all know I have the blessing of Nyx", he started, and all of the gods immediately perked up. They had been curious about how he had managed the feat ever since it was revealed.
"Well, this is how it happened".
"I had been trekking through some sort of canyon for a while now, every once and a while taking shelter in the odd cave. I had no idea how long I had been walking, no idea how long I had been in Tartarus in general. Time is different down there, you guys told me I had only been down there for two weeks, but for me it felt like years".
The others shuddered, but said nothing, completely drawn in by the story.
"I got this scar on my back after being hunted by a pack of hellhounds. I barely escaped with my life, and was in too much pain to move for a very long time. The next time I drifted back into consciousness, I woke up and he was there, standing over me. He scared me half to death".
He chuckled darkly, but nobody laughed with him. This was not in any way funny.
"He told me that his mother wanted to see me and then just walked away, saying something about how it was my fate to follow him. Of course, I did follow him. The monsters seemed to be scared of him, and ran away when he walked past, I figured that if I could just hang around him for a little while I'd be safe".
Athena raised her eyebrow at the sea spawn in front of her.
That's actually not a bad plan.
"He led us across the large field that I never would have gotten across on my own, and I was about to split, but he lead us right into Nyx's palace. The gates were closed behind me and something was making me want to stay, just stay forever. Looking back on it now I suspect that it was actually someone manipulating my emotions".
Percy shrugged his shoulders, but the others just stared at him in shock and horror.
"Nyx came out of her palace, and I kneeled down. She seemed to like it when I did that. Also when I called her, 'my lady'".
Hermes and Aphrodite nodded at him in understanding.
"Bribery".
"Flattery".
They glared at each other and Percy continued, now almost completely overtaken by the memory.
"She had sensed me come into her territory and wanted to know why I was there. I told her that I had come to close the doors of death, but she didn't believe me. She was going to kill me, but I told her that she couldn't because I was part of the prophecy to stop Gaea from rising. She didn't know about that and was angry. She asked me if I was part of a prophecy why was I in Tartarus".
Annabeth looked down dejectedly, and, noticing this, Percy shot her a reassuring smile before continuing.
"Moros went on this whole rant about how Annabeth was supposed to be the one to fall in. That it was her fate to die in Tartarus and that I had messed it all up. He sounded just like a whining little kid and I started flat out laughing at him".
Percy grinned remembering how Moros' face had looked when he was complaining to Lady Nyx about him. It was actually genuinely funny.
The others once again cast him wary looks, and Dionysus again examined his mind for any sort of insanity.
Percy's laughing cut off as he felt Dionysus' intrusion and turned to him with a glare.
"Get out of my head".
His voice was cold and sharp, and the glare he sent along with it was plenty scary for Mr. D's liking.
He withdrew, and the other gods stared at him in shock. Dionysus never let anybody insult him like that.
With a final glare in the god of wine's direction, he sat back and closed his eyes, continuing on with his oral story.
"Obviously he got angry with me for laughing. Although I did manage to get Nyx to stop thinking about killing me because now she was just curious. She asked me what I was laughing about, and I told her that I was laughing about how weak her son was".
Poseidon groaned and put his head in his hands, eliciting a small smile from Percy.
"Relax, dad. I'm here aren't I".
"Anyway, he didn't really like that. He came at me, and I thought he was going to attack at first but he didn't. Instead he just put a hand on my forehead".
Percy stopped, catching his breath and swallowing down the lump that had appeared in his throat as he remembered those visions.
"He showed me visions- horrible visions", he involuntarily shuddered before the laid back façade came back on and his face shifted from a pained grimace to complete indifference.
"He said that they were of Annabeth's fate. It was the crew, sailing on the Argo II and you guys were alone without back up. Then you were attacked. And then I saw all the crew captured in a cage in the House of Hades, and then I saw Annabeth captured by herself with those group of cyclopes, and then I saw Annabeth's throat slit, and her blood spilled on some sort of sacrificial altar".
Percy's fists clenched and his eyes glowed with power as emotions rolled through him at the memory.
"Uh, Percy? Calm down, bud", Leo said nervously.
Percy looked up and met the group's eyes and they all started in surprise.
Percy's eyes were glowing a dark green, the irises seeming to swirl and crash like violent waves on the beach.
"Percy? What's happening? What are you doing?", Hazel asked, fear in her voice.
He shook himself out of the rage induced haze and looked around the room.
Everybody was looking at him, startled, all except for Poseidon, who was concentrating on calming down the waves that had appeared outside in response to Percy's emotions.
"Sorry".
The glow died from his eyes and he shook his head in confusion.
Everybody was still staring at him, mouths agape.
"What's wrong?".
"Your-your eyes. They were… glowing!", Piper said, looking at him carefully.
"Eidolons?".
Jason's eyes immediately narrowed and he looked at Percy with a different perspective.
But Poseidon raised his hand and shook his head, effectively cutting off any conversation.
"No. No eidolons", he stared at Percy as if evaluating him. "Percy is just more powerful than I initially thought".
His neutral face of concentration was replaced by a grin.
"We can have fun with this". His eyes took on a maniacal glint, and the other gods leaned away from him nervously.
"Yes… well… I think we're good for now", Zeus said, awkwardly patting his brother on the back. "Continue, Perseus, what you have told us so far still does not explain why he would be so angry at you".
"Right… sorry. Anyway, after I came out of the visions, I got really angry and attacked Moros with Riptide. I got a few nice sized cuts in and then he was on the ground beneath my feet and he was just laughing at me, taunting me. I couldn't take it anymore and I snapped. Something happened, and I'm not sure what. But his golden ichor seemed to flow like water, and I could sense the water that was in it, so I called on it, just like I do with water".
Everyone stared at him in shock, especially the gods, thinking that it was just not possible that ichor could be controlled.
"Some-something in here broke", he said, gesturing to himself. "Something deep inside. He began bleeding faster, and I saw the light draining from his eyes as his ichor pooled around him".
Percy flexed his fists, as if missing the pure power that he had felt when he had been controlling the ichor.
"I killed him", he said quietly, and the gods just stared at him in horror.
"He was going to kill Annabeth, I had to. I had to!", he said. He pushed off the wall and his façade broke.
His face was distorted into some sort of distraught, grief-filled grimace. And both his hands went through his hair restlessly.
Talking about his time down there in such detail was too much for him.
Poseidon watched in shock and horrible helplessness as his son continued with the story of how he had survived and done the unspeakable.
"He would have faded completely, but Nyx stopped me, said that she'd seen enough and that I could live. She wanted me to join her ranks in Tartarus, but I said no. She said that if I wouldn't join her ranks than the least she could do was give me her blessing. That's how I got this", he said, offhandedly gesturing to the tattoo that they all knew was there.
Percy seemed to calm down, then. His breathing came slower and deeper, and the easygoing expression came back over his face.
It was just a mask, though. His emotions boiled around inside of him like molten rock underneath a volcano before it blows.
He looked around the room, his eyes the only real window into what he was feeling.
"So… yeah. She gave me her blessing, I got to the doors through the Mansion of Night, and I escaped and kicked some monster butt".
He smiled one of his signature grins. "I guess he's just angry that I bested him".
Emotionally exhausted, he collapsed into the chair at the end of the table while everybody continued to stare at him.
"So...?", everybody was still staring at him in shock and silence, and it was getting a little bit awkward.
"Well... that would make somebody angry...", Annabeth said, trying to break the silence.
Percy offered her a grateful smile, and she returned it.
As he went to turn back and face the rest of the table, though, he blinked and a bolt of black lightening seemed the go through his brain.
"Weak young hero".
The voice of Moros in his mind was accompanied by dark laughter, and he tensed up.
"Sorry... um, I have to go— the water. Annabeth".
He looked at her pleadingly, hoping that she would understand.
The whisper in the back of his mind got louder, and he looked at her with panic in his eyes.
"Don't worry. Go!", she said, pushing him towards the door.
He ran out the door, and soon there was a large splash followed by silence.
"Where is he going? We're not done speaking yet", Zeus asked, glaring after him.
She turned her death glare on the god, her words sharp as she dared him with her tone to do anything more.
"I think we are".
"Yeah. You just made Percy describe in great detail one of his most painful memories. He's going to need some time", Piper spoke up from next to her, reaching over and grabbing Annabeth's hand in hers.
All the demigods stood up and began moving towards the door together.
Zeus looked flustered. Nobody but his two annoying brothers had ever talked to him like that before, and he couldn't exactly blast the demigods with lightening to make them shut up like he could his brothers, so he didn't know what to do.
"Well—How long will he be gone?", Zeus finally asked.
They just shrugged.
"We don't know. Most days he comes back within a few hours. But he really seemed shaken up. He'll definitely be back by tomorrow".
"Tomorrow! He needs to be back before then. We'll be entering the old sea soon. It's too dangerous for him to be swimming out there by himself when that happens", Poseidon said, a flash of worry crossing his face.
For the first time Annabeth seemed to see the gods' point, and her face changed.
"I'll go find him. He might listen to me".
With that. The seven demigods walked out of the galley, leaving a group of stunned gods behind.