Percy watched, horrified, as the ship began to sink. His friends on board would have no way of stopping or even slowing the yacht going down. If they didn't drown, they'd be at the mercy of Cetus. Percy knew it was only a matter of time before Nico and Blackjack got back with Medusa's head, but being able to kill Cetus wouldn't matter if Percy couldn't stop his friends from drowning.

He had to distract the beast, keep it away from his friends while he thought up a way to stop the boat going down. A thought occurred to him after his lengthy conversation with Blackjack earlier. He had always been able to talk to pegasi. He'd been able to communicate with hippocampi easily. He could even read the primal emotions of most fish. He'd managed to save the world by talking with Bessie the ophiotaurus a few years back. So what if he tried….

After barely extending his conscious towards Cetus, he felt the raw size of the monster's mind engulf his own. It was all he could do to keep anger and ferocity at bay. But these thoughts weren't like talking with Blackjack. They were more like fish, more undefined. Percy could understand the beast's emotions, but he doubted he`d be able to converse with the monster, or calm it down. An idea sprung into his mind. "Don't fight the current," he thought. "Ride it."

He looked straight at the beast as it rose from the water. In his head, he projected as many insults as he could manage. "Hey, Cetus! Yea, you, with the stubby arms!" The beast roared in his direction. He certainly had it's attention now. "Yea, what are you, cousins with the t-rex? Bet you`d have a tough time... opening jars!" Ok, definitely not my best work. But he really didn't think it mattered - either Cetus had some serious insecurity about those arms, or Percy's tone was enough to drive the monster crazy. He decided to test his theory.

"Eh buddy! I really like the colour of those scales! They bring out your eyes!" Percy received an even larger roar in response. At least he had an answer to that question. Another thought popped into his head, an old movie Annabeth had made Percy watch recently, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It initially just seemed like one of those awful flicks that had been made while dinosaurs roamed the earth, but it turned out to be really funny. Aloud this time, Percy called:

"Hey Cetus! I fart in your general direction!~ With this, he turned and pointed his rear end towards the monster. Before the monster could recover from it`s shock, Percy continued. ~Your mother was...was a hamster! And….and your father smelled like old berries!~ In the background, Percy could see the demigods aboard the Princess Andromeda watching with pure and utter confusion on their faces. It was if their ship wasn't even sinking. Hopefully it was because he had misquoted the movie, which he was pretty sure he had.

Cetus had seemed to recover from his confusion. Percy could sense a different feeling flowing across the monster's consciousness. It was not rage. It was simply cold, black anger. It had probably never been so thoroughly disrespected before. As it began to dip between the waves, it's figure cast a shadow over the waves of the water. A large, dark figure emerged, almost appearing from the shadows themselves. Percy thankfully managed to recognize what was occurring in time to summon a huge wave between the monster and the ship, to stop anyone on board from seeing what was about to happen.

Nico pulled the head from a small bag and, with eyes closed, pointed it in the general direction (hah) of Cetus' face. Percy was able to look freely at the whole scene, as Medusa's eyes were pointed away from him. Cetus froze, then his eyes turned a lifeless grey colour. The stone spread from Cetus' eyes to the rest of it's head, then down it's neck, and finally reached the parts of the monster submerged beneath the water. After a few moments, it's figure quickly sank.

"Really, Jackson? You went with the Monty Python reference?" Thalia's disapproval was clear as he handed Aegis back to her. He simply smirked and gave a shrug.

"Seemed pretty appropriate for trying to make someone mad. But hey, don't thank me or anything. I just came to save your butt." Percy's response earned him a very cold look.

"You did not rescue me, Jackson. I don't need -"

"Whatever Thalia. You were totally fine on your own. Blah, blah, I've heard it before." He couldn't help being a bit angry with Thalia. Sure, she was proud. She didn't want to seem dependent on anyone, and Percy was well-aware that she could take care of herself. But everyone needed help sometimes. Even a daughter of Zeus.

After the ship had went down, Percy had kept everyone afloat on a large piece of the ship which had cracked off, while Blackjack flew the demigods back to the shore, two at a time. It was a lengthy, cold process, but everyone made it out. Everyone, that is, except for one of the Hunters. Her name was Jennifer, one of the new Canadian recruits. When Cetus smashed into the hull, she was in the engine room. It had thrown her into the opposite wall, headfirst. That was probably why Thalia was being so unreasonable, but Percy was frustrated that she was taking her anger and focusing it on him.

As he walked away from the scene, Thalia muttered something that Percy almost couldn't hear. "It's always you," she said. Percy spun around to face her. She was grieving, and he was trying to be patient, but he did not like that comment.

"What did you say?" he said sharply. "Are you blaming me for what happened today?" Thalia regarded him with another cold look, her blue eyes the mirror image of her father's, strong, mysterious, dangerous, and very quick to anger.

"Everytime I'm with you," she said, "something happens. Something awful. I'm starting to think it might not be a coincidence."

Percy couldn't believe his ears, he was starting to lose his temper. "What the hell are you talking about? I tried my best today Thalia. I was distracting the monster. How is it my fault, what happened? How is any of this my fault?"

"All I know Percy, is that everytime we see each other, someone gets hurt. At Westover Hall, Annabeth went missing because you got cocky." Percy started to interrupt, but Thalia drove on. Her voice grew louder, more hoarse. "Or in the desert, when we lost Bianca because you let her go into that robot." Her voice was raising in volume now. "OR ON OLYMPUS, WITH LUKE. BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T BEAT KRONOS. Every time, someone close to me, someone I care about, in danger because of your failings Percy. Tears started to form in her eyes. "Now, Jen is dead because you couldn't keep a lid on Cetus today."

Percy was numb. He couldn't feel most of his body. He had always done well by his friends. Every time one of them was in danger, he would do whatever it took to help them. Athena had told him once it was his fatal flaw. Apparently that was all a farce. He saw all of his failings clearly now. He hung his head. He felt like he was back in Tartarus, when Calypso's curse had felt like it ripped through his insides. It seemed that tears didn't fall into Poseidon's sphere, because Percy couldn't stop them from flowing. He looked up at Thalia, feeling weak beyond measure.

"Ok," he muttered. "You're right...those things were all my fault. I failed, Bianca died. I failed, Zoe died. I failed, Jen died. I get it. I'm not welcome." He started to walk away. The sun was low in the sky, it would begin setting soon. As he walked, Blackjack quietly joined him, sensing how he felt through their mental connection. Percy mounted his horse and took off, heading back towards Camp Half-Blood. He heard Tyson and Nico calling out to him in confusion, but he didn't turn back. He buried his head in Blackjack's mane, feeling worse than he had in a long time.