JASON

"Hey, where's Blackjack?"

Wasn't that the question of the day. The pegasus had been missing since that morning, having snuck off before anyone was awake and the other pegasi were making no effort to help the demigods in finding him.

From their nickering Jason didn't need Percy's ability to speak to them to know they knew where Blackjack was.

Frank and Nico had neglected to see the pegasus' departure while on guard duty, although both argued that the fact that he was so dark would've made it difficult for any of them to notice.

They'd split up to search the island, but Blackjack was no where to be found.

Nothing else could make it any worst, or so Jason would liked to have believed, but he wasn't exactly filled with optimism when he saw Annabeth and Leo approaching the rest of the group that afternoon, their faces serious and both looking more than a little sleepless.

It was obvious to everyone what had happened.

Annabeth and Leo had had a dream.

Jason didn't know about the others, but he hadn't had even a fraction of a dream last night. He felt rested enough, but it was as though something were missing, that underlying knowledge that there had been some activity. Even a dream forgotten always left some residual memory.

The two sat down, no one saying a word. Leo looked to Annabeth to start. She took a deep breath and began to recount their story.

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Annabeth stood close to Percy, her hand gripped tightly in his, unwilling to let go. He was tense and straight faced. She could tell he was trying desperately to stay calm.

She became aware of Leo's presence to her left, his heavy jacket brushing her arm as he looked around.

It was too dark to see much of anything. A few pinpricks of light glinted above, but there was no way for Annabeth to tell if they were stars or some kind of reflection on a ceiling overhead.

Leo made a little gasping sound and took a step forward. Annabeth followed his gaze and was shocked to find the broken body of a giant bronze dragon lying a few hundred feet away. Festus' many plates were cold, glinting dully in the minuscule amount of light that permeated the air. He was submerged in a tiny pool of water and had salt deposits along his back and head from where the sea foam already dried out.

Leo looked like he wanted to go farther, reaching out slightly with his hand, but he froze.

The earth had begun to shake, the water vibrate, and the voice of Oceanus boomed through the chamber.

"Cease your foolish game, children of the gods," it seemed to whisper. "You will find no fortune in it, only destruction. Join us, it is your only salvation. Join us, or die."

"Yeah, cause that's likely," Percy said. "You won't be getting any more recruits today. Least of all out of us."

"Son of Poseidon," the voice cooed. "You most of all should be leading the charge! Join us. You shall surpass even the victories of your father. Together, we shall accomplish more than he ever was able. His power is limited, young demigod. But yours is great. Allow us to help you, but first you must help us."

"Again. No thanks. I'm pretty okay with being sub-Poseidon level. Normal demigod is working just fine for me."

"Do you not wish to surpass his ability with your own? Do not deny your desires to prove him wrong, Perseus Jackson. You resent the sea god's view of you, of your friends. He holds high standards for you yet does not believe you capable of fulfilling them; he calls you his favorite but you know this is an invalid claim. So much has happened and yet he still does not ask you about it - so much you want to tell him but are not given the chance."

Percy had dropped Annabeth's hand without her realizing it. "Shut up!" he yelled at the darkness. "You don't know anything about me!"

"But you do not deny what I say," the voice echoed. Percy was breathing hard with agitation and Annabeth couldn't help but notice that small pools of water had begun to form around his feet. She reached for his hand again.

"Percy," she whispered. "This is what he wants. He's trying to make you angry."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Percy spat through gritted teeth. "If you're so high and mighty why don't you come out here yourself and face us then?" He had pulled Riptide from his pocket and the blade glowed brightly in the darkness, his knuckles white against the hilt in the ominous light.

"As you wish," the voice said softly, almost the malicious purr of a lion.

And the water began to rise.

It was gradual at first. Annabeth didn't even notice it until the sea was soaking through her sneakers and chilling her straight to the skin. Leo yelped and hopped away, knocking into her, making them both stagger.

"Uh - " he said uncertainly. "What now?"

"Just hang on," Annabeth said, scouring the cavern as best she could in the dim light for any escape options. There were none, at least none that she could see. "Percy? Any thoughts?"

But Percy wasn't paying attention. He was staring at the center of the cave. Where the stone had been completely dry just seconds before was now being engulfed by the incoming tide, the salt water glinting wickedly in the dark half-light. If only that were the worst part however, for rising out of the murk was the clear figure of a man, massively tall and cloaked in a fine, grey chiton, monstrously twisted horns emerging from the top of his scull.

His eyes flashed despite the dark, black and abyssal like the deepest depths of the ocean.

The water once more receded around the demigods, remaining briefly around the spot where the titan was. As the water slowly drained from around the merman, the great tail could be seen, blue and gold glittering vividly and it transformed, almost without Annabeth seeing it, into two very human legs. His dark green hair stuck up at odd angles around the horns, but unfortunately this didn't detract any from his terrifying nature.

"Oceanus," Annabeth whispered. He was even more horrible in person, his stormy blue-grey skin and towering height seeming to close in on her and drag her being down like the current even from this distance.

Something moved on his arm, separate from his physical being.

A snake, Annabeth realized. The green scaled serpent hissed, revealing its dangerously sharp fangs, the spiked frills surrounding its head extending and flexing towards them threateningly.

"Well, son of Poseidon? How do I compare to your trifling father?"

Percy raised Riptide and made to move towards Oceanus. Annabeth caught his other arm just in time and held him fast. "Percy," she said forcefully. Gods, if only she could charmspeak. It certainly couldn't hurt the situation. "Percy, you can't. Think this through. We have to be smart about this. He's trying to get you to attack him. This is what he wants. Don't listen to him."

She willed him to put the sword down. Just put the sword down, Seaweed Brain. Percy's arm began to drop. He retained his expression of utter hatred, but at least she'd talked him down.

The next step was to get him to keep his mouth shut.

"Where's Koios, then?" he said.

Annabeth made a mental note to slap him if they ever got out of this.

"Right here, demigod." The icy eyed titan strolled out of the shadows and across the stony floor as casually as someone would walking through a park on a summer's day. His armor blended in with the pitch blackness of the space, the brilliance of the diamond and his hair exaggerated in comparison. His sword hung nefariously at his side. He raised his hands in a sign of surrender. "Don't you want to try and kill me?" he mocked, staring pointedly at Percy with a malevolent grin.

That was it. Percy had had it.

Before Annabeth could grab hold of him again, he charged, Riptide raised high as he ran headlong at Koios.

Koios, titan of farsight, who promptly sidestepped Percy's skillfully wielded blade and knocked him to the side like a rag doll.

"Percy!" Annabeth and Leo shouted in unison.

He fell, just barely bracing himself against the hard, frozen rock. Percy moved to gain purchase on the wet ground and reached for his sword, all as Koios approached him and kicked Riptide into the water.

"Brother." Koios bowed dramatically and flourished his hands towards the still struggling Percy. Oceanus stepped forward, towering over the son of Poseidon. The water began to rise once more, the salty dark creating a plane separating Annabeth and Leo from Percy. There was no way they would reach him. Leo raised his arm and sent a lone fireball hurtling towards the titan in a desperate attempt to distract him, but a wave splashed up and extinguished it almost as soon as it left his fingertips.

The ocean titan's arm extended - the serpent bound arm - and the malicious beast bent back its head to strike.