Hey y'all. I have a little request of those that have time. I'm deciding what to do with TKC and MCGA. Right now TKC is closer on the time line, so I'm deciding details, like if it should be included at all. I would like include at least part of the canon books, but if I was including it I would probably do all of it and rewrite it like ATLOP, with Percy and Annabeth getting a starring appearance. Otherwise it would be a pain to clarify what changed and what stayed the same. Anyways, I have a little survey that would be a huge help for you to fill out!

h.t.t.p.s. : / / forms. gle / CG2zxtye3t2zhV9u5

Anyways, you should thank Hatima for the chapter being posted today as she bribed me with cookie recipes. The next chapter will likely be posted not this Monday, but the next one. There are only two more book chapters, and my bonus scene + maybe answering questions after this 3. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about how I research, worldbuild, etc. Or anything about the story itself!

Come yell at me on my tumblr: Percabeth4Life
Come chat with me on discord: h-t-t-p-s : / discord . gg / 3tGNJhu

OO OO OO OO

Getting away from the island ended up being more of a chore than it had any right to be.

First, we needed to reach the boat, which required getting around the island to the back without the Kyklopes noticing us. Acantha (Akantha?) ended up raising a bubble of water around us, since I was far too tired to do so myself.

Then Grover remembered that his woolly mammoth was supposed to be grazing in one of the fields, sent there by Polyphemus because it needed food. Apparently, the woolly mammoth was not a dream.

Annabeth and Clarisse looked just as lost as me, but all the same we guided the pirate ship around the island until Grover found his… woolly mammoth.

Thankfully the boat was strong enough to hold it, it only weighed about 400 pounds since it was just a baby woolly mammoth. But getting it on the boat was a pain.

It sat in the place of honor at the front of the boat, Grover carefully looking it (him we learned) over.

"So, uh…" Clarisse glanced at Annabeth and I but we just shrugged. "How'd you get a woolly mammoth?"

"Lord Pan guided me to him!" Grover said, brightening. "It's really a great honor, I'm not sure how to care for him fully but I'll learn. I'll need to start checking coast lines more—"

"Does…" Annabeth squinted. "Does he have a name?"

Grover nodded, "His name is Momo!"

I blinked, was that like… an ironic thing? A joke over Momo in Avatar being so small—

"Like Aangs Flying Bison!"

"What."

Grover blinked at me, bright smile on his face in direct contrast to my flat tone. "I named him off of Avatar, Momo is the Flying Bison's name."

Annabeth giggled, eyes flicking to me.

"I thought its name was Appa?" Klara interrupted.

Clarisse snorted as Grover's face reddened.

"Uh… no I'm—I'm pretty sure that—"

He looked at me and I just shook my head, staring as judgementally as I could sitting with Annabeth on the deck.

"Oh… oops?"

"I'm disowning you as a friend."

"Oh come on-"

"Disowned."

Grover pouted at me.

Once the woolly mammoth was handled we were on our way, the island slowly fading to a blur in the distance. I wondered if Polyphemus realized we'd survived. I wondered if he was the norm for Kyklopes.

I wondered if Tyson could've convinced him otherwise, had he been there.

"We made it," Annabeth murmured, relaxing against the boat.

She was right, we did make it.

We had the fleece.

We were alive.

We'd done it.

All we had to do was sail out of the Wasare av Tetek and we'd be home free.

I breathed in the salt air and slowly relaxed, the tension uncoiling. My lungs still ached, my breath was still unsteady, but I was recovering. The inhaler helped a lot.

The tightness in my chest wasn't just from the Siren's Song, but I was content to pretend it was.

"So, uh… who are you guys," Clarisse asked.

I turned to the others, pulling my gaze from the island in the distance to my friends in front of me.

The oldest one had bandaged Annabeth up and treated her injuries and checked on me. He was familiar from picking Klara up before. Klara, Kai, and Acantha (Akantha?) were hovering nearby.

"I apologize," the older guy said. "We should have introduced ourselves. I am Antonio Rotrikez te Luna, the leader of this team for the duration of our quest."

"'Pleasure," Clarisse said, squinting.

"This—" Antonio motioned to Klara "—Is Zhtanova, our weapons expert."

"Hello," Annabeth offered.

"And this—" he motioned to Kai "—is Kai Māhoe, our intelligence expert."

Clarisse had crossed her arms.

"And finally—" he motioned to Akantha "—this is Akantha Vallas, our primary magic specialist."

Akantha nodded to everyone.

"Uhuh," Clarisse paused to study them. "That's nice and all, but why are you here?"

"We are here to ensure Persi-aia returns home safely."

"I'm sorry," she said. "Poseidon sent guards to protect Percy on this quest?"

"No, no," Kai said quickly, and Clarisse relaxed. "Triton-re'aia sent us."

Clarisse took a deep breath.

Annabeth winced, opening her own mouth.

"Wait—" I said before either could speak, Clarisse's eye was twitching dangerously "—can we uh… cover a few things? Like the fact that you guys were guarding me during the school year?"

They all nodded.

Clarisse looked rather murderous and Annabeth pursed her lips.

"… why?"

"Triton-re'aia ordered it," Klara explained.

I nodded slowly while Clarisse waved her hand.

"What the fuck," she snapped.

"I uh… I knew he could be a bit overprotective but…"

"There is conflict rising in the sea," Antonio explained. "Triton-re'aia does not wish for you to be harmed to get to Himself or to Poseidon-re'ore. Part of why we were sent was because the nature of your quest has a high chance of intersecting with the conflict rising in the Ocean."

"Plus, you're in Okeanus-arino territory and since He's probably siding against Poseidon-re'ore—"

"What." Clarisse said.

"Oh uh, the Ocean Gods kinda have territories," I said, turning to her. "So, the Wasare av Tetek is part of Okeanus-arino territory. Each God rules Their own territory absolutely, though They still have dominion over other parts of the ocean, the ruler of that territory has final say in everything."

Clarisse considered that for a moment, "I guess that makes sense… But what does that have to do with you having a personal guard team?"

I shrugged, the tension in the air getting to me.

"Persi-aia is a Prince of the Sea!" Akantha said, indignant. "Okeanus-ari has already tried to steal him from Poseidon-re'ore before, we cannot risk him succeeding because no one was there to guard Persi-aia."

"Sorry, just one sec," Clarisse turned to me. "Okeanus did fucking what?"

I flushed, "Er… He uh…"

"Okeanus-ari tried to claim Persi-aia as His own son," Antonio said calmly. "He failed."

Clarisse's hands twitched. I wondered if I should've been moving to a safe distance.

"Okay, so the fucking Titan of the Ocean tried to… forcibly adopt Prissy—"

"Persi-aia," Kai corrected.

"—And Prissy's Godly brother apparently sends guards to stalk him—"

"We are guarding him!" Akantha said, askance.

"—And to help him on a quest- is that even allowed?"

"You don't know anything," Klara snapped. "We were picked specifically for this—"

"Sorry, but Prissy didn't even know you were guarding him."

"We were to be discreet!"

I wasn't sure who to side with on this. Clarisse was right that I didn't know about them, I probably needed to talk to Triton about that. I was also fairly certain that this… wasn't allowed.

Clearly Triton cared, and I felt happy about that… but like… it seemed a bit… much?

I glanced at Annabeth, who was frowning herself. And Grover, who looked confused and a bit wary. And then Clarisse, who was angry and… jealous?

I remembered what Annabeth had said to me, when I failed to heal Thalia's tree.

You don't understand what it's like

No other camper had guards to keep them safe, and I didn't know of any previous siblings of mine having guards. Yeah, they often had a tutor, but… not guards.

And Metua didn't even send these, it was Triton. Was Triton allowed to? None of the other campers had a Triton to send guards for them too.

It made me feel bad.

I didn't want to feel bad about someone caring for me, someone protecting me, but no other camper had that. Or… well they didn't have someone who would send guards to protect them. They didn't have someone willing, or more able, to step in and protect them.

None of them had proper direction on learning their powers either.

I did.

I couldn't be upset with them for being upset that they didn't have this, I would've been upset too, I imagined at least.

But I did have this. And I… didn't know how to feel about it.

But I did know that it upset the others.

I swallowed my nervousness and pulled myself together, pushing up to stand, "Excuse me—"

Everyone turned to face me, and I held back a wince.

"I… I do appreciate you coming and helping, we likely would've died without your help."

The guards straightened, Klara beaming.

"But… Clarisse is right… I didn't know about your guarding me and—"

"Triton-re'aia told us—we weren't supposed to tell you—it's just… we really were—are—your friends—"

Antonio placed a hand on her shoulder, silencing her. "I apologize, you do have a right to know when there are guards following you. We were following our orders, but we can bring this up with Triton-re'aia, if you wish?"

Klara looked rather miserable at the prospect, and Kai looked about ready to cry. Akantha was wringing her hands, expression pinched.

"It's… it's fine," I said slowly. "I can talk to Triton about it."

"You can talk to Triton," Clarisse muttered. "Just casually."

My stomach got all twisty and I bit my lip.

Annabeth sighed, interrupting. "Okay, well… obviously this is something that needs to be handled in… in the sea. But thank you for helping us get away from Polyphemus."

The guards nodded, all eyeing her warily.

"Of course," Akantha said stiffly. "Tis our job, daughter of Athena. We take our duties seriously."

I winced at Annabeth's confused look at the cold response. The sea… didn't like Athena… and Annabeth didn't know about all of that.

"So, uh—" I threw around for something to distract them from Annabeth "—how was your trip here?"

OO OO OO OO

It was nearly a full day later when Akantha came up to me. She'd taken over directing the boat, letting me rest after all the power I'd been expending on the quest. The others were helping Antonio clear the deck and clean the boat.

"Persi-aia," Akantha said.

"Yeah?"

"I… I apologize for interrupting you," she nodded to Clarisse who was reviewing our expected arrival time with me. "But I thought that you would like to have this."

She held out her hands, a cloth bag with a small golden stain sitting there.

I tilted my head in confusion.

"I… well… I'm sorry, Persi-aia," she looked away. "I—well you should… here."

My stomach twisted and I swallowed hard as I took the bag. She seemed near tears holding it, what was it?

The bag was an oilskin I realized, and I opened it to find… a watch? And a piece of paper, also stained gold.

Stained gold like the blood from Polyphemus.

I didn't think of Tyson, not until I read the note.

Dear Percy,

I did want to finish your gift before the quest. I did not do so. I am sorry. I hope that you like it. Press the button for it to be cool.

Love,

Tyson

Your Brother

The paper was wet, little droplets landing on it like rain. I hadn't realized it had started raining—oh… that was me. My eyes were burning and—and—and Tyson—

I choked on a sob, clutching the note tightly. My chest ached.

Tyson—

He'd—

He'd made something for me and—

He wasn't—

He couldn't give it—

He was—he was gone.

"Percy?"

I wiped my eyes, blinking up at a blurry Annabeth. More tears wet my cheeks.

"Percy," she crouched in front of me, one hand holding her ribs. "What's the matter?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I swallowed, holding out the note. Tyson did this—he made this for me. He made me something and—and he was—

"Oh, Percy," Annabeth whispered. She sat next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

I couldn't stop the sob that broke out. "Tyson—he—"

"I know," she whispered. "I know. I'm sorry."

Annabeth hugged me tight as I cried, whispering comfort to me. I didn't pull his gift out of the bag.

I couldn't.

I couldn't pull his gift out as if—as if it were the only thing left.

I wasn't ready to accept he could be (was) dead.

I didn't know what the others said, only that Annabeth sent them away. I just curled up against her and clutched the oilskin bag and cried.

OO OO OO OO

We reached land several days later. I couldn't begin to tell you what we'd done the last few days, I spent the time in a haze. The others had given me space, though Annabeth checked on me often. The guards hadn't seemed to know what to say or do either, they'd known Tyson too.

And he was gone.

I wanted to believe him alive, I wanted to turn around and see him smiling at me, but I knew—I knew better. He was gone.

And he wasn't human, he didn't have a soul.

He wouldn't be in the afterlife.

He was just… gone.

I stared at the docks we had reached, though how Antonio got us permission to dock I wasn't sure. The boat would probably just sit here until someone realized it was there.

I sent a prayer to Khrysaôr about the pirate ship. I didn't really have a use for it, but I figured he could figure something out. Maybe he'd keep it, Triton had called him a pirate a few times.

We got off the boat, double checking we all had everything. My bag felt heavier with the weight of Tyson's gift. I hadn't removed it from the pouch yet, I wasn't sure I ever would.

Grover led his woolly mammoth off the boat and stood awkwardly beside us. I wasn't sure what the mortals saw instead of an extinct species, but they didn't seem bothered.

"Miami Beach," Clarisse said, taking a deep breath as she stepped off the boat. "Now we just have to get all the way to camp."

"Can we just take the boat?" Annabeth wondered. "I'm not sure why we're getting off."

"No," Martha hissed, rising up on my shoulder. "It issss too ssssslow. I will provide Clarisssssse with a plane ticket. Sssshe may hurry to camp."

"What about the others?" Clarisse asked, frowning.

I dug out some money for her, "We can take a train or something."

Martha bobbed her head, "Yessss, I will get them ticketssss on a train."

Clarisse frowned, but accepted the money. "You all better be right behind me, if you don't show up by the day after the solstice I'll be telling everyone you died."

Annabeth snorted, "We'll get to camp, don't worry."

"And avoid any trouble," Clarisse insisted. "This is my quest, you're all making it back safely."

The words were like a blow to my chest and I had to close my eyes at the pain. We weren't all making it back safely.

Clarisse muttered a sorry and I opened my eyes to her rubbing her arm, Annabeth glaring.

"Just… get back to camp, kay?"

I nodded, "Kay."

Martha nodded to the road where a cab was waiting, "Time to go."

Clarisse got into the taxi, bag clutched in her hand and tickets to a plane deposited by Martha into the other. We waved as the taxi pulled away, taking Clarisse to the airport.

"Well," I said after a long minute of watching the taxi disappear into the crowded streets. "We did it."

"Yeah," Annabeth murmured. "We did."

Annabeth's fingers brushed my arm, a concerned look on her face. I swallowed, "I'm fine."

"It's okay to not be okay," she said. "It's… been a lot."

I rubbed my face, exhaustion clinging to me with the vines of the woolly mammoth. "I know… I just… I just want to go home."

"Well, we sssshall be taking a train sssssoon."

Martha coiled tighter around my arm, like offering a hug.

"Yeah, we'll be home soon."

A throat cleared behind us and we turned to face the guards, and Grover standing next to his woolly mammoth.

"Right, you guys," Annabeth said. "I guess you're headed back to the sea? Since the quest is over and all?"

The guards faltered, clearly not expecting that. "Well…"

I plastered a smile on my face, "We just have to travel back to camp, and Martha is handling that."

"I am," Martha hissed in agreement.

"So, we don't really need a guard anymore," Annabeth finished.

Antonio frowned, and Klara sent her a glare, but I nodded.

"I suppose you are correct," Antonio said. "You are able to handle travel across land far easier than we can. We shall report back to Triton-re'aia."

He flicked his fingers into a motion of respect that made me blink, surprised to receive it from one older than me. Klara, Akantha, and Kai all followed suit.

"Opu ert opepav eretamu sa'opu y opu Hermesono hurmu iem sa'opuno orpioe."

"Opu meye'v tel hamapep y wasahu," I responded to Antonio without thinking.

The addition of Hermes in his blessing was abnormal, but we were traveling over land, so it made sense.

And with that they turned to leave, Akantha waving and Kai offering a nod as they turned to follow Antonio to the ocean.

"Well… that was awkward," Grover said.

I huffed, "Extremely… but at least it's handled?"

"Yeah, now we should probably grab our own taxi to the train station."

"We have a few hourssss until the train leavessss," Martha assured us. "It issss only nine right now, the train leavessss around eleven."

"Maybe we can grab some breakfast?" Grover asked, perking up. "The magic lunchbox is great but after a bit… it's uh…"

"Repetitive?" I asked, a grin curling over my lips.

"Yeah," Annabeth laughed. "The same thing for over a week for every meal gets a bit bland."

I nodded, "I wouldn't mind getting food. You still have your card so—"

"Percy!?"

I jerked around to face the voice and gaped.

Standing ahead of us, half on the sidewalk half on the beach, was a figure with brown hair pulled into a ponytail wearing a blue and black ruffled swimsuit.

Zoey gaped right back at me.

"What are you doing in Florida," she asked finally.

I opened my mouth and closed it again. "Ta…"

She stepped onto the sidewalk, her eyes narrowing. "And I have questions for you! What were those things at school—is that blood are you bleeding!?"

She scrambled forward, her hands hovering over my shirt, which was in fact bloodstained. I was pretty sure that was from some of the cuts from our climb on the mountain. It wasn't bad though—

Maybe I was growing numb to this.

"Er, who are you?" Annabeth interrupted.

Zoey looked away from me and squinted at Annabeth for a moment. Her hands hovered over my shirt before dropping. "Hang on, you're the girl who showed up at school and killed that one… thing!"

Annabeth blinked, "Wait—"

Zoey spun back to me, "Explain! What were those? Who is she? Why are you here? Why did they attack you? Why is there blood on your clothes? Why are—"

"Woah," I waved my hands. "I can't—I can't answer all of those could you—"

"Sorry," she said quickly. "I just—What's going on? Percy—"

Annabeth's fingers curled over my wrist, a comforting presence. Grover hovered next to us, wringing his hands.

"Is that a snake?" Zoey asked, staring at Martha curled around my arm.

"Sssshe is mortal," Martha noted. "Though gifted."

Zoey rubbed her head, squinting at the snake. Her gaze landed on Grover's woolly mammoth when she looked away and she stared.

"That is either a very big dog or…" she scowled. "Or… something."

"Can we…" I didn't know exactly what to ask there. Could we tell her about the Gods? She worshipped Them, she definitely knew They were real and around us, but like—to tell her I was the kid of one was a whole 'nother matter.

"You may ssssay whatever you wisssssh. There are no lawssss about revealing onesssself to a mortal."

That was… good to know.

Annabeth sighed, "It's… a long story. And it's not really for a public space."

"We can meet up before school starts back up?" I offered. "I'll explain to you—"

"And Nikolai," she added. "Nikolai wants to know too."

I nodded quickly, "And Nikolai."

She considered me for a long moment, "You promise you'll explain?"

"Yeah," I glanced at Annabeth who shrugged, and Grover who nodded. "I promise."

"Well… that's alright then. I guess. Why are you in Florida though?"

"Er…"

"It's um…"

Grover rolled his eyes as we floundered, "They were picking me up."

"Had to crash his wedding," I added.

Zoey blinked at us as Annabeth snorted, covering her mouth to stop from laughing. Grover elbowed me.

"We've gotta go, though," I said. "Grabbing food before taking the train back to New York—"

"Oh! Do you know where you want to eat? I know loads of places, I've been here for ages at this point, we're staying with my grandma."

Annabeth hesitated, glancing at me but I shrugged.

"I suppose that would be nice. We were just gonna find someplace nearby."

"There's this lovely café, over on Giralda Avenue, that has the best French toast. My mom likes their egg benedict though."

Zoey pulled out her phone as she rambled about the café, which was apparently only a short walk from where we were.

"Sorry just gotta text my mom and tell her I'm taking you to the café…"

"It's fine," I assured her, following along.

Annabeth and Grover trailed after us, Grover looking slightly overwhelmed.

"Anyways," Zoey asked, tucking her phone away. "How's your summer been so far?"

OO OO OO OO

Brunch with Zoey was nice, though filled with dodging landmines. We couldn't really explain most of our summer, at least not until I sat her down and explained I was a demigod.

Zoey was happy to fill in the silence, rambling away about the beach, the pool at her grandma's house (she mentioned a lot of places here had pools), the many cafés she'd been to, the local shops, and their brief stop at Disney World up in Orlando.

She spent a bit talking about a water park (at Disney World?), and the lazy river (which sounded fun), and the snow cones they had. Then talked about the world trip thing at Disney (Epcot I thought she said?) where she had tried to convince her parents to buy a sword in the Japan section (apparently that was "too expensive" and "a weapon").

Zoey was gonna be so jealous when she learned I had three weapons on me right now.

All in all, Zoey excelled at filling the air with chatter and preventing any awkward silences.

I hadn't realized how much I missed her, her and Nikolai, but I did. They had become good friends and I really did want to tell them what was going on.

It helped that Annabeth slowly relaxed with Zoey too. She asked her questions about Disney World, and asked her if she'd ever been to Universal (she hadn't).

Annabeth wanted to go to Universal someday, so did Zoey. But Zoey's parents preferred Disney World, probably because her grandma preferred it and paid for their tickets every time they came down.

Grover joined in the conversation to ask if she'd been to any parks and I nibbled on my food with a smile.

It was a fun breakfast, and I was glad they all got along. I'd have to have a long talk with Zoey and Nikola before the next school year.

I hoped they would understand.

OO OO OO OO

We made it back to the train station with more than enough time to get on our train, and with Martha's guidance got tickets for a sleeper cabin. She instructed us on how to get access to food and what to do when we arrived, then uncoiled from my arm to curl on the bd.

"It isssss now time we part," she declared.

Annabeth straightened and I made a confused noise.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You ssssimply need to sssstay on the train and you will arrive ssssafely. I no longer need to ssssupervissse you."

Annabeth and I shared a look. Grover looked on in confusion.

"Oh…"

"Thank you," Annabeth said. "You've… we wouldn't have made it without you."

I nodded quickly, "Seriously, thank you for all the help and uh the guidance you gave us."

Martha preened as Grover chimed in his own thanks.

"I wasn't here for most of it, but you definitely helped get Momo on the train," he said. "Thank you."

Yeah how she got Momo on the train I would never understand. But Momo had a train car all to himself.

"It wassss my pleasssure to aid you on your quesssst. Thank you for taking the quesssst."

I hesitantly reached out to stroke her scales, "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Your help was invaluable," Annabeth agreed. "We'll… we'll set out an offering for you and Lord Hermes… can you receive offerings?"

Martha hissed a laugh, "I can, we ssssimply ssshare with Hermessss."

I made a note to make sure to specify something nice for Martha later in an offering.

"I wissssh you a sssssafe resssst of your journey," she hissed. "Farewell."

"Bye," I whispered.

"Take care," Annabeth added.

"Thanks again!" Grover called.

And with that, Martha coiled tighter and tighter until she vanished into her coils, leaving the bed empty.

OO OO OO OO

Grover was asleep on the top bunk when Annabeth finally spoke.

"I wish my mom could send guards."

I tilted my head at her, curious.

"I mean, I know your dad didn't send them… and honestly I'm a bit worried that Triton will get in trouble for it, but… it just… it's such a clear display that he cares."

I nodded, "Yeah… I—I understand what you mean. It… it's both upsetting and nice. He… he's possibly breaking the rules to keep me safe… I've never heard of a God doing it either though. You don't think he'll get in trouble, do you?"

"It… depends…"

We sat quietly for a long minute.

"I think it may be against the laws," she murmured. "In which case He may get in trouble."

I fingered my bracelet, frowning. "Triton should know the laws though, right? He… wouldn't do something that would get him in trouble."

And yet I couldn't imagine none of the Gods sending guards if there wasn't a law preventing it. Surely they would, just from what Leilani had told me I knew that her mom had tried to help. If she could do more, wouldn't she?

"He… He's never had a demigod child, to my knowledge," Annabeth said slowly. "And the only Godly child He had was Pallas, who died. So… He might not know the laws and even if He does…"

She eyed me for a moment, but I just blinked at her.

"Well, He might not care about them."

I frowned, "But if he gets in trouble—"

"Maybe he thinks he won't? Plenty of Gods aid Their children, in small ways. My Mom guided me to safe people when I ran away, and I know Thalia's Dad sent her aid in the form of a goat."

"A goat?" I asked, baffled.

She giggled, "Yeah, the goat that helped raise Him. She told me some stories about it. She found the shield that she used in a place the goat guided her to."

"Wow," I murmured. "That's cool."

"It is. But that just… it's my point. He might not know, or just doesn't care, about the laws. Giving you aid is one thing, sending an actual team of guards is another."

I stared at the bed sheets, fingering a loose thread.

Triton was a good brother, and he cared a lot. I knew that, I'd seen that. But he… he wouldn't really put himself at risk for me, would he?

"I'm sure it's fine," Annabeth said after a moment. "Poseidon wouldn't allow Triton to be at risk, at the least."

I nodded, "That's true. It's probably fine."

But the thought niggled at me.

OO OO OO OO

I dreamed of the Princess Andromeda.

Alabaster was arranging his spell cards, a few blank ones in front of him ready to be prepared. Two had boats on them, one I recognized as a shield card.

"You won't need those," said a voice, familiar though I didn't know their name.

"Well, maybe not," Alabaster murmured, dipping his brush into blue ink as he began painting sigils in place. "But I would prefer to be safe rather than sorry. Are they ready, Ethan?"

"Yeah," Ethan said, stepping into view. "Things are all set. Phoibe has confirmed that our path is clear, and our… ocean aid has given us their word."

"That's good," Alabaster said. "Lord Kronos is counting on us to get this done for him. We'll strike a blow against the Gods and retrieve what Lord Kronos needs all in one fell swoop."

Ethan grinned, "We may win the war tomorrow."

Alabaster smiled, the blue ink revealing a sigil that swirled into an elegant sea serpent. "That's the goal."

OO OO OO OO

We returned to camp quickly after reaching New York. Annabeth had her magic card and paid the taxi to bring us all the way to Long Island, and then we simply walked up the hill.

It was late in the afternoon on the Solstice when we reached the top of the hill, and we could see the preparations for the dinner being made.

The hill guard was still there, sitting by the tree. Even before I saw the Fleece, I knew it was there. The barriers were different, draped in soft wool that rubbed electric.

"You guys made it," the guard, an Apollo cabin kid that I didn't know the name of, said.

"Yeah, we made it back, Bina," Annabeth said. "How's Thalia's tree doing?"

"It's already looking a bit better… I think. I'm not really a plant expert but the Demeter kids have been watching the tree closely."

"That's good," Annabeth murmured. "Guess all we can do is wait."

"You can join the others," Bina added. "Dinner will be soon."

"We actually have something to do before dinner, but thanks!"

I blinked as Annabeth led the way down, sharing a confused look with Grover and his woolly mammoth (our taxi driver was told to go extra slow so Momo could follow along without any difficulty, he got paid triple so didn't complain).

"What do we have to do?" I asked. "Talk to Lord D?"

"Well yeah," she said. "We should actually probably have him with us when we fix Carl."

I stopped.

"Fix Carl?" Grover wondered.

Carl.

He had been cursed by Kirke.

We had the cure to Kirke's spell now.

We could free Carl from the curse.

"Annabeth," I said.

"Yeah?"

"You're a genius."

She straightened, a pleased smile curling over her lips. "Well, yes. Thank you."

"Wait, Carl—Carl was cursed," Grover said. "You mean we can free him?"

Annabeth nodded. "He was cursed by Kirke, we have a cure to it…"

I stiffened at the sly smile creeping over her expression.

"We should go see Lord D right no—"

"I should've taken a picture of cat Percy—"

"Don't wanna delay!"

"Cat Percy?"

"He was soooo cu-"

"Let's go, Lord D will want to see us immediately—"

"Oh Hades he got turned into—"

"It was the cutest thing—"

"Percy!"

I jolted as a figure slammed into me, arms wrapping around me.

"You're back!"

I grinned as Leilani stepped back, checking me over.

"Hey, Leilani. How's camp?"

She smiled brilliantly, "It's better now that my cabin mates are back. Where's Tyson?"

My grin dropped like an anchor. Annabeth looked away.

"Percy?"

"He—" I couldn't. I couldn't say it. I couldn't—

"No," she whispered, eyes widening.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth whispered.

Leilani swallowed, looking down.

"Oh."

There was a long moment of silence, broken only by her sniffles as she wiped at her face. I felt almost numb, unable to cry anymore.

Tyson was dead.

I had to admit that.

He…

He was gone.

For good.

"So uh… this might be—this might be bad timing," Grover hesitating, clearly able to read the room with his empathy powers. "But who's Tyson?"

"Tyson was Percy's brother," Annabeth said softly. "He was a Kyklopes."

Grover recoiled at the word Kyklopes, "A—"

Annabeth leaned over a whispered something to him and he bit back whatever it was he had to say. "Oh… I—I'm sorry for your loss."

I didn't have anything to say to that.

"Why don't we go talk to Mr. D," Annabeth said softly.

I rubbed my arms, woolen sparks crackling over me, and nodded.

"And maybe you should put your necklace back on," she added with forced cheer. "The barrier bothers you, right?"

I blinked, oh yeah, my necklace.

"Right, thanks."

I dug around the duffle to pull it out, Grover watching in confusion.

"What's the necklace?"

"It's magic, it like… dulls all the sensations I feel with Godly things."

"Oh, nice. That was really bothering you before, so I'm glad you figured something out!"

I nodded, "Me too."

"So… what are you doing now?" Leilani asked.

"We're going to go speak to Lord D, and then we're gonna free Carl from his curse."

OO OO OO OO

Lord D was positively delighted to supervise breaking Carl's curse. That may have had something to do with the fact that Minos and Tantalus looked ready to murder each other and Lord D was sitting between them.

Poor Lord D had apparently been playing peace keeper with the two of them, and He did not like playing peace keeper.

And so, we were soon tucked back into the Poseidon cabin, sitting in front of Hippolyta's tank.

Hippolyta was not in the tank mind you, she'd demanded to be scooped up in her water bubble immediately and was now curled on my shoulder, smugly staring at Carl.

At least she hadn't eaten him while I was gone.

"Okay," Annabeth said. "We should probably have a water bubble for Carl too. We don't want him to change back in the tank and break it or drown."

"Probably a good idea," Lord D agreed, sipping his Diet Coke and watching us.

At Annabeth's behest I controlled the water to scoop Carl up, who was eyeing us suspiciously for all this.

"Do you actually think you can undo the curse? Cause Mr. D can't just cure me, it's against section 32a.15s. of the Mortal Interference policy."

"The what?" I asked, settling the ball of water in the air in front of us.

"Immortal or Amortal interference is strictly prohibited when involving a curse, spell, or enchantment laid on a Mortal or Amortal by an Immortal or Amortal unless the one who placed the curse, spell, or enchantment has given them leave to interfere."

"That's a rule?"

"Yeah, section 32a.15s. of the Mortal Interference policy!"

I made a note to read up on this policy.

"Well, we have a cure for you, it worked on the curse Kirke put on me—"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO TO ANY SPAS—"

Lord D snorted when I was cut off by Carl's rage infused rant.

"Okay," Annabeth said eyeing the goldfish that Grover was staring wide eyed at. "I don't speak goldfish, and even I can tell he's mad. What's the matter?"

I sighed, "He told me not to visit a spa—"

"AND WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"…Visited a spa…"

Lord D snickered as Carl went right back to his rant.

"Well, Carl, do you want to be cured?"

Carl paused, "Of course I want to be cured! Are you sure you're an Athena child? Obviously I want to be cured, would you want to be a goldfish?"

"She can't understand you."

"I know that!"

I put my hands up as he griped.

"He says he would like to be human again," I said. "I think he's still mad about the spa—"

"Of course I'm still mad!"

"Er… sorry."

"Then you just need to eat this," Annabeth declared, holding out one of the vitamins.

"What."

"It really works," I assured Carl quickly. "Just try it."

Carl looked dubious, but when Annabeth stuck the vitamin in the water he swam over and started nibbling on it.

"Oh, that does feel—"

I stepped back quickly, as did Annabeth, as Carl's form shifted.

Between one breath and the next he grew. Going from goldfish to person in a rapid growth, scales merging and paling to a lightly tanned tone, hair growing messy and golden blonde. Clothes seemed to blossom over him, torn and ragged but familiar.

An orange camp shirt and a pair of jeans.

And around his neck a beaded necklace formed.

"Oh," Lord D said, recognition in his gaze. "Carl."

His eyes opened to show a sharp stormy gray, very similar to Annabeth's own eyes.

"You're an Athena kid!" Annabeth said in surprise.

"You're obviously one, with such a genius observation," Carl said with an eye roll.

It was nice to see he was as snarky as a human as he was as a fish.

"You know," Lord D mused. "I expected you to be older, if you were alive. Like… in your twenties."

He looked maybe fifteen, so that was weird. Magic messing with aging?

"Wait, why were you cursed by Kirke?" Annabeth asked. "Why were you in the sea of monsters?

"Oh, you'll find out one day," he said, slowly stretching. "Wow, it's nice to be able to do that!"

Annabeth made a frustrated noise.

"It was a private quest for Athena," Lord D said with a dismissive wave. "He can't tell you without permission."

Annabeth frowned, glancing at Carl who was peering around the room curiously.

"Colors are so different when you're a goldfish, did you know that? It's so weird seeing like a human again. Percy do you see like this all the time?"

I shrugged, not quite sure what he meant by that.

"Well, this is nice and all, doesn't seem to have many side effects. We like minimal side effects."

"The air is so weird, I'm used to breathing water—hey Percy is it weird to breathe air for you too?"

"Er… it's normal?"

"Huh… Hey I was wondering, what's it like—"

"Are you pulling a Dylan?"

Carl blinked at her, "A what?"

"Using the person in front of you who knows things as the subject of your experiments."

"Oooh," Carl nodded. "Yes."

"Please don't—" I jumped, cut off as the door slammed open.

"Mr. D!"

Mr. D turned to them, "Yes? What's the rush—" His gaze grew serious.

The camper gasped, clutching the door frame. "Approaching the camp in the ocean, there are warships."

OO OO OO OO

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review, they feed my soul!

What do you think about the guards? Clarisse's reaction? What about Carl? Or the ending ;)?

Halmaheran
Wasare av Tetek=Sea of Terrors
Metua=Father
Meye'v ert opepav eretamu sa'opu y meye'v Hermes hurmu iem sa'opuno orpioe=May the currents guide you and may Hermes fly at your back
Opu meye'v tal hamapepav y wasahuv= May you have fast current and calm waves
Ta=equivalent of "Um" or "Uh"

Suffix
re'aia=High Prince
re'ore=High Sea King
arino=Old King's
aia=Prince

Terminology
Antonio Rotrikez te Luna=Antonio Rodriguez de Luna (Halmaheran is missing some letters and thus it is spelled and pronounced a bit different)
Giralda Avenue does have a popular cafe, with good reviews for their French Toast and Egg Benedict. It is in Miami as mentioned here.
Sigils=symbols meant to channel magic, use varies by magic user
Phoibe=Titan Goddess of Prophetic sight, amongst other things
Amortal=Being that is not fully immortal, yet cannot die of aging. Nymphs, Naiads, and the Hunters of Artemis would be examples.

Now since I've put so much work into the timeline I'm also adding it here! So you all have an overview of what happened when!
Timeline
School year ends: May 8
JUNE 8
Chariot Race: Morning
Percy and Annabeth leave for quest: 11pm
JUNE 9
Arrives at Virginia Beach: 10am
JUNE 10
Arrives at North Carolina Port: 9:10 am
Meets up with Clarisse: 9:30 am
JUNE 13
Arrives at Sea of Monsters Entrance: 12pm
Escapes from Medusa's Island: 6:40pm
JUNE 14
Arrives at Kirke's Island: 7:33pm
Leaves Kirke's Island: 9:42pm
JUNE 15
Passes the Sirens: 9:15 am
JUNE 16
Clarisse arrives at Kyklopes island: 9 am
Percabeth Arrives at Kyklopes Island: 9:30am
Reaches Mountain Top: 11am
Leave Island: 5:20 pm
JUNE 20
Arrives in Miami: 9 am
Clarisse arrives at camp: 4pm
JUNE 21
Percabeth arrives at camp: 7 pm
Yes I did actually calculate distance and travel time, did way too much math.

Hey y'all. I have a little request of those that have time. I'm deciding what to do with TKC and MCGA. Right now TKC is closer on the time line, so I'm deciding details, like if it should be included at all. I would like include at least part of the canon books, but if I was including it I would probably do all of it and rewrite it like ATLOP, with Percy and Annabeth getting a starring appearance. Otherwise it would be a pain to clarify what changed and what stayed the same. Anyways, I have a little survey that would be a huge help for you to fill out!

h.t.t.p.s. : / / forms. gle / CG2zxtye3t2zhV9u5

Come yell at me on my tumblr: Percabeth4Life
Come chat with me on discord: h-t-t-p-s : / discord . gg / 3tGNJhu