A/N: Hope this makes up for taking a long time on the last update. I'll try and keep the updates coming faster, but I can't make any promises. I didn't have the time to review any errors, so do let me know if any are bothersome. Thank you all for reading and reviewing!

Warning: Centaur smut, dickhead Ares, and no real action. Oops. Hopefully it is still entertaining. Oh, and uh...just kidding about that first one.

Disclaimer: PJatO does not belong to me. It's all Rick's.

Daddy Dearest

"So, I'm thinking that you dweebs decided you wanted all of the glory," Clarisse remarked spitefully as they weaved their way around the gunnery deck.

"You should probably stop thinking, then," the daughter of Zeus replied.

The daughter of Ares had insisted on giving them a tour of the steamship, which was turning out to be even more boring than Thalia predicted beforehand. She didn't know what half of the things were, and Tyson was pressed so close to her that they were inches away from being Siamese twins. He was scared, and being between the two demigods made him calmer.

Clarisse didn't bother responding to her, continuing to lead them to dinner. Thalia's stomach growled, but thankfully the sound of the ship masked it. She had recently stuffed her face with donuts, but she was freaking starved.

They were seated at a small table, covered by a white linen sheet. Fine, but old, china silverware and plates cluttered the surface. Thalia dug into the ham and cheese sandwich immediately, paying no mind to the look of anger the daughter of Ares had never stopped sending her.

"Tantalus expelled you morons for eternity," Clarisse announced. She did not sound smug or satisfied, which instantly caught Thalia's attention. The daughter of Ares sounded almost upset by the news she revealed. "Mr. D took his side and swore to kill you all if you dared to show up to camp again."

"You don't sound too enthused about that," Thalia noted aloud, secretly testing the waters between them. Like her, Clarisse had an incredibly short temper. Even though the daughter of Zeus was certainly no coward, she wasn't about to piss the girl off and prompt her to throw them overboard.

Clarisse shrugged, taking a long swig of her Dr. Pepper. "Olympus needs all of the fighters it can get right now…and you and Princess Percy are too valuable to risk losing. Tantalus is, by all means, an ignorant jerk."

"You didn't seem to mind his hatefulness whenever he praised you," Percy remarked sarcastically. The daughter of Ares glared at him spitefully, and Thalia was surprised that his smirk didn't falter. "Tantalus the one that provided you with this ship?"

"Of course not, Barnacle Turd," Clarisse snapped, still angry about his previous comment. Thalia resisted the urge to snort at her lame, yet strangely effective insult. "The spirits on the losing side of any war are in debt to Ares. It's sort of their…uh, curse for being defeated."

"War reparations?" Thalia questioned, swiping a handful of Percy's chips when he looked away.

"Kind of," Clarisse grunted, taking the last bite of her sandwich. "They have no other choice but to serve Ares eternally, or until he decides they have paid enough. I prayed to my father for naval transport, and here it is. They'll do anything I want them to."

It sounded like she was trying to rub it in their face—as if she had one-upped them. Clarisse was implying that her father cared more for her than Zeus or Poseidon cared for either of them. It grated on Thalia's nerves, but she bit her tongue hard, silently holding herself back from mouthing off.

"We think Luke is going for the Golden Fleece," the son of Poseidon quickly changed the subject. "Had a spy in camp—we don't know who—and he found out the coordinates."

Clarisse scoffed. "Well, I'll blow him out of the bloody water, then!"

Before Percy could argue against her, two sets of footsteps echoed through the hall. Thalia's ears perked up immediately, and she curiously turned her head to the doorway of the captain's quarters. Two figures entered the room slowly, talking quietly with one another. They were all flesh and solid clothes, unlike the ghouls of the ship.

"Annabeth!" Tyson called out gleefully, and the daughter of Athena appeared as if she had just been shot.

Her gray eyes took in everything in the room quickly, and soon she was sprinting towards Percy and Thalia. The two children of the Big Three stood and hugged her individually, waving to Silena Beauregard. The two demigoddesses took a seat at the cramped table, ignoring the agitated grunt of Clarisse.

"Oh, don't bother with Claire Bear," Silena said, smiling as the daughter of Ares seethed. "She's just angry because she doesn't like you three, and she and Annabeth have been bickering this whole time."

Annabeth released a large breath of air. "That reminds me…" Before Thalia could ask her what she meant, a hard palm struck her cheek. It nearly sent her flying out of her chair. Percy started to laugh before the daughter of Athena slapped him across the face as well. "What in the world were you two thinking? Chiron made me promise to protect you, and you jerks just sneak out?"

Thalia rubbed her sore cheek, frowning at her blonde friend. "You don't get it. We had to leave."

Clarisse stood from the table quickly. "You didn't have to do shit, Daughter of Zeus!" she yelled, incidentally knocking over her can of Dr. Pepper. Soda drizzled onto the floor, and Silena wrinkled her nose at the sight. "All you losers had to do was stay at camp, but no, you just had to sweep in and steal all the freaking glory. This is my fucking quest. It's my time to shine now. I'll be damned if I'm about to let a couple of punks ruin it for me!"

"Clarisse," the daughter of Aphrodite spoke softly, tugging on the taller girl's forearm. "Sit down. Don't get so riled up. Hear them out first."

"Fine!" Angered, the child of Ares sat down. "What are you waiting for? Out with it, then."

Thalia ran a hand through her short, now extremely curly and messy hair. "We were instructed by a god to go and find the Fleece. I don't know why." Clarisse remained silent, appearing as if she weren't listening to a word the brunette was saying. "We didn't come to steal anything from you. Percy and I don't give a shit about glory. We want to find and help Grover, and we want to get the Golden Fleece. With Luke seeking it now—"

"Luke?" Annabeth cut in. "What do you mean?"

"As we told Clarisse before," Percy said, "Luke had a spy at camp. He found out the coordinates. He knows all about the quest."

Thalia was seemingly the only one that noticed Silena fidget. She narrowed her eyes at the girl, watching as the dove's eyes shifted between the table and the wall.

The daughter of Athena sighed heavily. "Great. That's absolutely wonderful. How did you find out?"

"Eros sent us on the quest. He told us that we could hitch a ride on this boat, and he pointed it out to us. We snuck on the ship, and spent the night there." Thalia scratched the back of her neck—a sheepish habit of hers. "We only realized the next morning that it was Luke's ship. He has it stocked full of monsters and weird brainwashed mortals."

Silena gulped. "That's…that's bad. Oh gods, that's bad."

Clarisse eyed the daughter of Aphrodite with something akin to concern, and it threw Thalia for a loop. The rough demigoddess had never behaved that way in front of anyone. Maybe they had bonded during their journey?

Annabeth nodded, her mouth thinning as she tensely pressed her lips together. "Bad is right, Silena. We need to combine forces or something. Even if Luke manages to have a few tricks up his sleeve, we can't go wrong with teaming up. We'll have an advantage."

The daughter of Ares shook her head violently. "No," she said. "Scratch that—hell no. They aren't part of my quest."

"Tantalus is only setting us up to fail, Clarisse," Annabeth argued. "I've never met Eros, but a god doesn't just send heroes on a quest for no good reason. Percy, Thalia, and…Tyson are all meant to go with us."

"I don't need Lightning Brat," Clarisse pointed to Thalia, causing the dark-haired demigoddess to huff indignantly, "and I don't need Nemo." She pointed to Percy, but he simply ignored the jibe. "I don't give a shit about what the Oracle said."

"What the Oracle said?" Annabeth perked up. "You hid something from me. I knew it. What part of the prophecy didn't you tell us?"

The daughter of Ares reddened. "Nothing." She took a long swig from a new can of soda. "It's none of your business anyway. We're going to finish this damn quest without the help of the heroes. I can't let them go, but they aren't helping."

Before Annabeth could pry again, Silena sat an arm on the blonde's shoulder. "Leave it alone, Annabeth."

"You can't let us go?" Percy repeated slowly, scoffing. "What are we now? Your prisoners?"

Tyson whimpered. "Prisoners," he agreed shyly. Thalia furrowed her brows, reaching out to pat his forearm. She had never been good with comforting, but it seemed to soothe the young Cyclops.

Clarisse snickered, propping her boots on the fresh linen-covered table and crossing them. "You're my guests. For now. Captain, take them below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don't mind their manners, feel free to demonstrate to them how we deal with enemy spies."

The hammocks were highly uncomfortable, and Thalia was unable to fall asleep to the sound of Percy snoring. The ship moved far too dangerously for her liking, and she had a feeling that she would throw up her dinner if she tried to stand up. The only thing keeping her slight nausea at bay was the strangely soothing noises coming from Tyson's hammock.

Curiously, she gazed across the narrow space to see the young Cyclops tinkering with metal of some sort. His mighty hands worked around the pieces faster than she had ever thought possible, and she wasn't able to decipher what he was doing. Finally, she convinced herself to outright ask him. His head turned to her in surprise when he heard her quietly spoken question, and his big brown eye blinked slowly.

"I make things," he replied, almost cautiously.

"So, is that like…therapy for you or something?" she asked, trying to start a conversation. She hoped talking would help calm her anxiety and sea-sickness.

His hands fumbled with the metal, nearly dropping it. He remained silent, seemingly not hearing her inquiry. She sighed, turning her gaze to the ceiling above. You know you're uninteresting when I Cyclops is giving you the cold shoulder, she mused to herself.

Then, she heard his voice again, surprisingly quiet but unsurprisingly childish: "I know that you do not like me and I am sorry."

Thalia arched a brow, glancing over at him to see that he was still tinkering with his metal contraption. "I don't mind you," she supplied, but it sounded like a lie even to her own ears.

"No," the Cyclops assured, not meeting her gaze. "It is okay. Used to it."

The daughter of Zeus bit down on the inside of her cheek, placing her hands beneath her head. Their conversation faded into silence once more, the high sounds of metal clanging against metal the only noise breaking through the tense air. Eventually, it became too much for her. She sat up, ignoring the slight tilting of the ship. She hung nearly six feet above the floor in her hammock—they all did—but it wasn't nearly high enough to make her worry.

"You—you like making stuff?" she found herself asking, actually genuinely curious. She knew Cyclops had a resistance to fire, but she had never really known of any who enjoyed making things. Then again, she had never bothered studying about it. She had always been used to simply killing monsters.

Tyson's fingers ceased moving, and his calf brown eye looked to her. "Yes," he answered honestly, innocently. "Love to make things." He started up again, the metal blurring as he worked efficiently. Once again, she had nothing more to say. Shockingly, he broke the silence. "You make things?"

Thalia couldn't help but smile a little. "I'm not a creative person," she responded honestly. "When I was growing up, my mother used to have me change her tires and stuff, but I don't have what it takes to make anything."

"What do you do for fun?" Tyson asked, almost incredulously. "If you do not make things."

"I don't know. I like being outside a lot. I uh, I sing sometimes."

"Sing?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding even though he wasn't looking at her. She didn't even know why she had brought it up. Out of all the things she could have said, she went with singing. "Like, in the shower and stuff. Not dramatically in the rain and definitely not in front of anyone."

His grin was wide, but he attempted to hide it for some reason. "You...make music?'

She shrugged. "I don't make music. I like music. There's a difference, Tyson."

He continued to smile, and eventually he tucked his metal device into his pocket. He got comfortable on his hammock, his weight causing the swinging bed to nearly crash into Percy's. He laughed at the action, but did not try to do it again.

"Why did you save me?"

Thalia didn't even realize she had asked it, but he had apparently heard her. His eyebrow was raised in confusion. She cleared her throat before clarifying, "When the Hydra got the best of me and knocked me down, why…why did you swoop in and fight it?"

"You are my friend," he said, as if it were perfectly normal that a Cyclops saved a demigod. "I will protect you."

She let his answer seek in, staring off at a nearby wall. She was going to say something more, but then her ears registered his loud snoring. She shook her head but smiled a little, before she turned on her side. She wasn't sure why, but she believed him. Her demigod instincts still went slightly crazy around him, but she felt secure enough.

Thalia was sure that she had to be making a mistake—trusting a Cyclops and all—but she couldn't find it in herself to feel such an aversion to him any longer. He was really difficult to hate.

Percy mumbled in his sleep, turning on his side. He mentioned something about a state-of-the-art security system before snoring again. She wasn't sure how long she had relaxed into the hammock, listening to the loudly slumbering boys around her, but it felt like forever. Annabeth rushed into the area with a reddened face, and Thalia's eyes shot to her.

"What's the matter, Annie?" she asked quietly, sitting up and dangling her feet over the edge of the hammock. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," the daughter of Athena said, breathing heavily. "But I won't be soon. We're going to enter the Sea of Monsters."

"So soon?" Thalia asked. Annabeth nodded in reply. "Damn. Are we close to the entrance?"

"We're pretty close, but we still have about two hours," the blonde demigoddess answered tensely. "Clarisse is trying to get there even faster. She's a raging lunatic."

Thalia didn't bother to stifle her quiet laugh. "There's plenty of rage in her," she agreed in a whisper, not wanting to wake either of her companions. "So, this is going to sound extremely stupid, but what exactly should we be expecting?"

Annabeth released an exhausted breath of air. "You've heard the tales of Odysseus. Imagine that—but with less death, hopefully."

"What were we thinking?" Thalia muttered under her breath, but the daughter of Athena had heard.

"What do you mean, Thalia?"

The daughter of Zeus glanced down, watching her boots as they began to swing back and forth. "Annabeth, Percy and I aren't prepared for this. You're the only brains we have. Outside of you, we can't make heads or tails of anything in the demigod world. It took us forever to figure out how to defeat the Hydra, and without Clarisse we would have been killed by the thing."

"You and Percy aren't completely hopeless without me," the blonde disagreed, her eyebrows furrowing together in slight confusion. It was rare for her to be confused by something. Then again, it was rare for the brunette to be unconfident about her abilities. "Between the two of you, I'm sure you can muster up a brain." Thalia rolled her eyes. "Have a little more faith, Thals. And I'm trying to convince Clarisse to allow you three to help us out. I think she's close to caving."

"Clarisse?" Thalia repeated incredulously. "We talking 'bout the same stubborn bitch here, Beth?"

Annabeth snickered, but nodded. "Yes. I believe we have the same one in mind."

"She's getting tired of you nagging her all the time?" the daughter of Zeus asked, smirking. "That's the only way she would ever back down."

Annabeth scoffed. "Oh, shut up," she said, reaching up to swat at Thalia's foot. "You're so mean."

Thalia frowned innocently. "Am not."

"Are too."

"Whatever," the brunette drawled out, stretching her arms above her head. "I haven't slept yet. I might as well try and pitch in a little around here. Is there anything you have for me to do?"

"Aren't you getting seasick?"

"That doesn't matter," the taller girl brushed off. "I'm only getting nauseous from being down in this hellhole. The hammock keeps fucking swinging every two seconds. It's driving me nuts."

Annabeth nodded understandingly. "I know what you mean. Follow me, and you can hang with Silena and I. Clarisse is busy right now, so don't worry about her ordering you back here or anything."

"I don't have to take orders from anyone, especially not from her."

"She would find a way to force you."

Thalia ignored her, hefting her duffel bag over a shoulder. "So…what's Clarisse doing anyway? Bothering the captain or something?"

"Or something," Annabeth said quietly.

The daughter of Zeus followed the blonde girl through the ship without another word, figuring that it had been none of her business. The two of them walked upstairs, and they eventually found themselves on the spar deck. Silena was awaiting them peacefully, narrowing her eyes at the sun above. Thalia thought she resembled a Barbie doll in Greek armor—one without the obvious breast implants.

"Thalia," Silena greeted her quietly, turning around to face her briefly. She flashed a small smile, and the brunette couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was. Daughters of Aphrodite weren't known for their bad looks, after all. "How was your sleep?"

"Nonexistent," the daughter of Zeus replied. "And yours?"

"I didn't sleep much," the dove admitted, and her tone suggested that the small talk would end soon. "Are you ready?"

"For?"

"Uh, the Sea of Monsters," the child of Aphrodite responded, amused. There was something incredibly sad about her expression, though Thalia couldn't tell what. "Have you forgotten already?"

"No," the brunette said with a laugh. "Annabeth here kindly reminded me of that."

"You're welcome, by the way," the mentioned demigoddess added in jovially. "Thalia wants to make herself useful, Silena. Can you think of anything for her to do?"

The daughter of Aphrodite clapped her hands together with fake enthusiasm. "We could do with some entertainment around here. We should make her dance around."

The punk demigoddess' cheeks flushed red, and Annabeth jumped on the opportunity to tease her. "Aw, we made her blush." Thalia glared at her, and the blonde laughed. "Relax, Thalia, we're just joking with you. Lighten up."

Thalia stifled a laugh. "That's hilarious coming from you." The blonde ignored her, choosing to stare off in the direction they were headed. When she turned back to make eye contact with Thalia, her gray eyes were wide with alarm. "What?" the brunette asked.

"Is it time?" Silena asked, scowling. She had never seen the girl scowl before, and it looked strangely out-of-place. Annabeth nodded, gulping visibly. "I'll…I'll get Clarisse."

"No!" the daughter of Athena argued immediately, causing the two other girls to eye her warily. "Don't get Clarisse. She's…a little busy right now. Inform the captain. He'll pass the message onto her."

"What the hell happened to two hours?" Thalia questioned loudly.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "I told you that Clarisse was trying to get there sooner."

"Great," the daughter of Zeus mumbled. "I better go get Percy."

Before the other girl could say anything, Thalia rushed back downstairs and to the berth deck. She shook Tyson's hammock lightly, not wanting to frighten him. When his big brown eye blinked at her with confusion, she said, "Get up, buddy. Go upstairs and find Annabeth. We're heading into the Sea of Monsters."

The Cyclops got up immediately, surprising her. "Hurry!" he informed her urgently, obviously not wanting her to be left behind. She nodded to him, watching as he made his way to the others.

Thalia turned to Percy's hammock, barely having to reach up in order to shake his hammock. He stirred slightly, but didn't wake. Becoming frustrated, she shook him harder. When all he did was mumble, she angrily gave the next shove a little more power. The hammock flipped over, causing the son of Poseidon to land face-first on the deck below.

She tried hard not to laugh, knowing it would only upset the boy more. He groaned in pain, peering up at her in bewilderment.

"What was that for?" he grumbled. She opened her mouth to answer, but alarm bells suddenly rang around the ship, answering his question for her. "And where is Tyson?"

"All hands on deck!" the captain's voice yelled. "Find Lady Clarisse! Where is that girl?"

Percy scrambled to his feet, stuffing the belongings he had left into a sailor's canvas knapsack. His duffel bag had been torn beyond repair. He swiped her bag from her and before she could protest, he transferred its contents into his knapsack. He strung it over his shoulder, throwing the yellow duffel bag to the ground.

"It will be easier to carry our things this way," he supplied. "Now, what's going on?"

"We're approaching the entrance to the Sea of Monsters."

The two rushed up the stairs, but something suddenly made Percy stop in his tracks. She spun around to face him curiously, seeing his cheeks redden and his nose begin to flare. He looked pissed off to say the least, and it was really bothering her. Then, she felt it. Anger surged through her veins, encouraging her to march to Clarisse and knock her lights out. She was unreasonably upset, and she recognized the feeling.

Percy and Thalia crept to the edge of the ventilation gate and peered down into the boiler deck. What they saw made the daughter of Zeus grit her teeth. Clarisse was speaking to a shimmering image, seemingly produced from the smoke of the boilers. Ares stood in all his biker-wannabe glory, a knife strapped to the belt of his leather pants. He appeared even meaner than ever, his brutish features further roughened by the smoky air.

"I don't want excuses, little girl!" he growled.

"Yes, father," Clarisse mumbled in reply, and Thalia thought it sounded far too subservient to be the daughter of the God of War.

"You don't want to see me mad, do you?"

"No, father."

"No, father," Ares mimicked her shamelessly. "You're pathetic. I should have let one of my sons take this quest."

Thalia narrowed her eyes into icy blue slits, clenching her fists. He was such a sexist asshole. Who talked to their own daughter like that? In her eyes, it was better to be ignored by an Olympian parent than bullied by one. Why did Clarisse act so proud to be that hog's daughter?

"I'll succeed!" Clarisse promised, her voice weak and trembling. "I'll make you proud?"

Thalia felt a sharp pang in her chest. Wasn't that what all of them wanted?

"You'd better," he replied angrily. "You asked me for this quest, girl. If you let that slime ball Jackson steal it from you—"

Slime ball? Oh, c'mon, he was a god. Couldn't he come up with better insults than that? He had plenty of time to think about it.

"But the Oracle said—"

"I don't care what it said!" Ares shouted, his figure shimmering as a result. "You will succeed. And if you don't…" He raised his fist threateningly, causing his daughter of flinch.

Thalia nearly growled at the move. Clarisse wasn't her friend, but no one should ever be treated like that. She didn't care who Ares thought he was.

"Do we understand each other?" the god prattled on, sneering at his own kid.

Percy pulled the brunette away from the ventilation grate, and they ascended the steps together, heading in the direction of the spar deck.