I wasn't entirely sure how I survived rushing through the rest of the swamp—avoiding all the tar pits and any other monsters—but when I came back to myself, I realized I'd entered a new part of Tartarus. Purple… grass? Hairs? Something fibrous that came up to about my knees grew over rolling hills for as far as I could see… which wasn't far due to the lack of light.

For several minutes, I put my hands on my knees, then eventually fell to all fours as I focused on calming my breaths while still keeping an eye out for monsters around me. I saw nothing.

Which was why the voice startled me.

"Well, this is interesting."

I may or may not have let out a very manly shriek as I bolted to my feet and held Riptide in front of me, thankful I hadn't put the sword away yet.

"Who's there!?"

Then, to my confusion and unease, the purple grass a couple of feet in front of me seemed to come together, coalescing into a vaguely humanoid blob.

"You're from the surface world!" the being said excitedly, sounding delighted. "I couldn't tell because I couldn't smell you, but now I'm sure!"

I backed away a little. "Uh, yeah… And you are…?"

The figure waved its… arm? Hand? Appendage dismissively. "You wouldn't know of me. I've never bothered going to the surface world. I doubt you could even pronounce my name."

Wait… a new monster? Oh, great. I tried not to panic, keeping hold of the emotions showing on my face with an iron will.

"Oh. Well… um, hi?"

"Hello," the being said brightly, even though they didn't have any facial features, just a sort of blank mask. I had no idea how they spoke. "What's your name?"

"Perseus Jackson, son of Sally Jackson and Poseidon," I said instantly and then blinked. That… had just slipped out? Why? How?

"Oh, Poseidon! How interesting! I'm the…" they paused, "daughter, I suppose, of Tartarus."

I blinked. "Just Tartarus?" I ventured warily.

"Yes! I'm sort of a piece of him, I guess."

Oh… and Tartarus was a Primordial, like Ouranos? Which meant…

"You're like Aphrodite?" I asked.

Even though I still couldn't see any facial expression, I could tell I'd said the wrong thing. Again.

"I suppose," the being said coolly.

"Um… no offense meant?" I said cautiously. No point in purposefully riling up the likely very powerful being before me… like I probably would have as a teen (I winced when I realized, just then, that I'd already turned twenty one). Annabeth would be so proud of me for my restraint.

"Hmm," the being replied.

"Look, I… have to go—"

"Where did you just come from?"

"Damasen's hut." I blinked again, bringing a hand up to my mouth. I'd just blurted that out too, as if my mouth had no input from my brain… and not in the normal sense either.

"And tell me," the being approached me, feeling more menacing than she had before, "why you were so scared."

"I used my power on blood and manipulated it like water."

Yeah, that was it. The being was manipulating me somehow and making me say things. Screw that. I leaned back and put one hand over my mouth. Then I turned to run, but my feet were caught fast. I couldn't move them. The stalks of purple grass had all bent over my shoes and intertwined. And then, before my eyes, they surged and rose up surrounding me. Before I could so much as twitch, I suddenly found myself suspended in the air, arms bound with the purple grass… and, now that I could see them a little better and could pay attention, each piece looked like they had little suckers on them.

Wonderful.

They worked together to keep me in place and even forced my hand open. Riptide fell from my grasp and I grit my teeth as it thumped down below, then vanished under the purple waves.

"Why is that a bad thing?" the being asked, sounding genuinely curious. "To manipulate blood."

I bit my tongue, focused on not opening my mouth, on not saying anything, but I could only resist for a couple of seconds before my lips parted of their own volition.

"That's what monsters do."

"Oh? But you aren't a monster, right?"

A hesitation before I was forced to answer. "Right."

The being paused and then leaned closer. "Oh, you aren't being entirely honest with yourself, are you." She didn't say it as a question. "And there was so much fear in that… are you afraid of becoming a monster, Perseus?"

I tried—so hard—to keep my mouth closed, but still found myself saying, "Yes."

A cruel laugh sounded around me.

"You're still not being honest with yourself. What are you hiding, Perseus?"

If she wanted any more words from me, she'd have to pry them… from my… cold… dead… throat.

Unfortunately, I found the words slipping out yet again, despite my efforts. "I'm… afraid I… already… am… one."

"There, now. That wasn't so hard."

Yes! Yes it was! How could she just… I… "What did you do?" I asked angrily.

"Oh, there's a strong one. You're just chock full of them, aren't you?" Chock full of what? The being reached out and patted me on the side of my face mockingly, then drew even closer. "If all mortals feel like you do, then perhaps I would like the surface world more than I thought."

"Feel?" I asked, trying to keep my panic under control. I couldn't back away.

"Why, yes. Most monsters seem to focus on and feed off of the purely physical. Rather short-sighted of them when there is so much more to get from those you feed off of."

I renewed my struggling, but no matter how hard I pulled, I couldn't break free of the grass prison. It felt more like iron chains… with suckers. I decided I didn't want to think about that anymore and forcefully turned my thoughts to what I had on me that could help me get out of this.

Riptide… which had likely returned to my pocket and was probably rather useless right now. The anti-smell necklace. My clothes—that I'd stolen off of one of the more human monsters that had come after me (after I'd washed them thoroughly). They weren't anything special. Except for my now nonexistent water armor that I, for some reason, didn't have now (had I lost that when I'd panicked?) and the Nemian Lion coat that I'd left with my stuff because it was too hot to fight in, even with my water armor.

I should have just dealt with that.

Sometimes I really was a seaweed brain.

Maybe I'd gotten too arrogant. I hadn't come across a major fight I didn't at least stand a good chance at winning for a while now. But I knew there were bigger, badder monsters out there. Apparently ones the world didn't even know about. That didn't even count the Titans or the giants.

"Oh…" the being finally said, looking both surprised and disappointed. "Apparently I can't eat you. Father says not to."

Wait, she was in contact with Tartarus?! My panic spiked, and I began hyperventilating. I had to force myself to consciously control my breaths.

"But I can feed off of this… thankfully. It really tastes so good…" She sounded enthralled or… something.

Calm! I needed to calm down. What would Annabeth do?

Honestly, just thinking about her calmed me a lot. I took a large breath, held it (despite it still hurting my lungs a little) and then let it out again. My girlfriend would continue to think the whole situation through. So that's what I'd do.

"Oh, you change so quickly! And there's such a variety of emotions. Why is that?"

"I'm part human," I replied, mouth once again operating without my say so.

"So humans—mortals,"—she didn't say that with disdain, more curiosity, although I didn't think that was much better considering—"feel like this? Perhaps Hyperion had a point about you all then…"

I wasn't sure I wanted to know what Hyperion truly thought about humans and demigods. Probably something along the lines of how they were too tasty/easy to take advantage of/easy to manipulate for their own good or something. (Did giants eat humans? They were technically monsters, right? I'd have to ask Annabeth.)

Cursing my ADHD again, I forced myself to focus back on my current situation. At least I knew I wasn't going to die… but that really didn't give me the most confidence. I didn't want to stay stuck like this forever.

Oh! I had my seashell necklace on! I'd have to concentrate, but I wasn't in the middle of a fight like before (no, don't think about that now) and could probably summon what I needed. But I still needed to distract this… being, just in case. The last thing I needed was for her to take my necklace.

She really needed a name, too. I couldn't keep calling her 'the being'.

"Hey, Jane," I said.

She cut the rest of what I'd been about to say off, much like I expected. "Jane?"

"Well, I need something to call you." And that happened to be the first name that popped into my head. So sue me.

"My name is—" and she proceeded to say something in a language that both sounded and felt old—ancient. It seemed to tug at something inside of me… I didn't like it.

"Yeah, I can't say that," I said. "You said as much yourself. So Jane."

She seemed more annoyed than angry at that. "Whatever you wish. You should think about something else; something that makes you feel again."

"How are you making me talk?" I asked, then I focused on my seashell.

Jane didn't have the facial features to smile, but I could sense it nonetheless. "One of my abilities is to draw truth out of those I feed on." Oh, gross. Yet another thing I did not want to think about—her actually eating my emotions or the energy they gave off or whatever. Unfortunately, she didn't give me much of a choice. "There are some workarounds, of course, as you have to at least have an inkling of the truth to say it, but it always does so much to bring out more of what someone feels.

"Speaking of," she came close again before I could say anything, "Father wants me to ask, do you hate the gods?"

My eyes widened. "Yes." No, I couldn't let Tartarus know that! "Some of them!" I amended. Okay, so I could add things on more easily… that was something to consider.

"Oh, they threw you down here! A mortal! An innocent mortal! Because it was prophesied you would overthrow them…" she cackled. My jaw clenched and I looked away, trying to stamp down the dark emotions her words brought up and focused on my seashell.

Jane went on. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen! I remember when they insisted they didn't care for power, they simply wanted a chance to live! That was the reason they gave for overthrowing their parents! And the reason their parents gave for overthrowing theirs."

I froze.

The… the gods what? I'd never thought of it like that before. I'd always thought the gods didn't know how the demigods felt, using them as they did. I'd just accepted it as an inevitable, if awful, fact. But… their entire motivation for getting where they were now…

They did know.

Maybe they'd forgotten after so long… but… was that an excuse?

"Oh," Jane said, sounding delighted, "such betrayal… such hatred. You really do despise them, don't you?"

"Yes," I grit out, hating how true that was.

"You want them overthrown."

"Yes." It felt like thorns coming out of my mouth, each word stinging.

"If you had the power to do it, would you?"

I opened my mouth… then paused. "I… I don't know."

That seemed to surprise Jane. "Oh? Do you not want power?"

"Not for that."

More surprise. "What do you want power for then?"

"To protect the people I love." Like my mom… and Annabeth.

She paused for several seconds and seemed to contemplate that. "What a pure feeling. Quite lovely. I don't think I've ever tasted it before."

Why did it feel so disgusting to hear her say that?

And… really sad.

"So why do you side with those you hate so?" she asked after a moment.

"Because they're the best option."

"You don't want them deposed?"

I tried to force my mouth closed, but to no avail. "I do."

"Delightful! So why not make them go away? You can, you know, according to the prophecy. And father speaks so highly of your potential."

"I don't want to end up like them."

That… actually surprised me about as much as it surprised her.

"Explain," she said slowly.

I didn't fight the impulse this time. "They started out like me. That's why I hate them. They know what it's like to be hunted down and used for something they couldn't control—their own birth—and they hated it too. They fought back against their parents. According to you, their parents did the same against their parents. If I overthrow them… couldn't I just end up like them eventually?" By the end of my little speech, I hadn't felt that pull to tell the truth anymore, but I'd wanted to finish the thought, more for me than her.

Jane watched me for several seconds.

"Are you?"

I blinked. "Am I what?"

"Like them?"

Oh. "I'm… more like my father than I'd like to admit. I hate rules and restraints and hold a lot more power than a lot of people think but… in the end the sea is life and life comes from the sea. It's raw and powerful, but it's so much more than that too."

"You truly belong to the ocean," Jane said, tipping the blob that was her head to one side curiously. "You long for it so much."

"Yeah," I said quietly, "I do."

I remembered my and my mother's trips to Monntauk, the smell of the salt in the air, the sound of the water hitting the shore, the push and pull of the waves as they came in and out with the tides. I remembered my father's palace, wishing I could have stayed longer when I'd been there—wishing there hadn't been a war… for more reasons than one—and loving everything about what I saw, feeling the currents around me and knowing that while those I'd met there may not care for me, they loved the sea as much as I did. There was a sense of belonging there that I hadn't felt anywhere else… different than Camp Half-Blood.

Then I blinked and was sadly back in Tartarus. Right, I shouldn't get sidetracked like that. We'd been talking about my parents.

"I'm just as much my mom's child, though," I said tightly. I hoped I had my mother's sense of love, devotion, and loyalty. Also, her ability to keep promises.

"How is it that you have so many emotions I've never felt before?" the being asked.

My expression dried out. "Never felt love before, have you?"

She blinked. "No."

It was my turn to be surprised. I'd realized before, but… "Oh."

"That's what that was? Love?"

"Uh… yeah."

"Which emotion?"

Okay, this was getting weird. She hadn't put her enthrallment (or whatever it was) on those questions. So… she trusted me to just tell the truth? Well… it wasn't like I'd be giving her anything new.

"Um… all of them, I guess. Or a lot of them?"

She balked. "You say so many different emotions are love?"

I shrugged as best I could, still hanging there, feeling a little more helpless than before (which was saying something).

"I mean… the Ancient Greeks had a bunch of different words for love, but I get them mixed up. It's just that I love the sea, but that's different than how I love my dad, and how I love my friends, and how I love my mom… and how I love Annabeth."

"Annabeth?"

"My girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?"

Yikes… how was I supposed to describe that? Just how old was this being? She suddenly seemed far more sheltered and naive than before.

"The… one I want to be with? I think Tartarus and Gaea are married, so that should be similar? I suppose… if evil. Before that, Gaea and Ouranus were married, weren't they?"

"Oh! That is what you mean? Very well. Why is she not here with you?"

That sent a pang of pain through my heart and I winced. "The last time we were here, she was. Now… she's trying to get me out again."

"Is she a god?"

I snorted. "No. She's a demigod, like me."

"Then how will she get you out?"

I couldn't help the smile that came to my lips. "She'll find a way."

More silence from the other being.

"Can you let me go now?" I asked.

"I want you to stay with me. You're tasty."

I felt my mouth tighten. I'd thought we'd had a rapport going! "I have to go."

"Why?"

There was that truth pull. "Because I want to talk to Annabeth again."

"But she's not here."

"I have a way."

A pause. "Oh."

"It's also kind of creepy that you're eating my emotions."

"Why?"

"They're personal. Would you want some monster to come along and eat your tentacle-grass?" That really gave a whole new, very unwanted perspective on how I was being held.

"I'd simply eat anyone that did that."

Oh. Right.

"Father wants me to ask one more question," she said. I braced myself. "If you had no other choice, would you overthrow the gods?"

I blinked, feeling the urge to answer, but not really knowing how. I tried to say, 'no' and couldn't. Instead, I could only get out a question of my own. "What do you mean, no other choice?"

She didn't answer for several seconds.

"Is there any scenario in which you would strive to fulfill that prophecy?"

My mouth opened of its own accord but… nothing came out.

"Well?" she pressed.

"I don't know."

And that scared me.

Deeply.

Could I overthrow the gods? My father? I'd seen too many prophecies to not realize that if I was the one the prophecy was about, I would, whether I wanted to or not.

Was I… fighting my fate as much as Zeus was by throwing me down here? I didn't even know what the prophecy said, exactly, so I couldn't say, but… it could be. I couldn't deny that anymore.

"Hmm. Father's gone."

That brought me back. I hoped my shaking was from being held in this position and not… revelations.

"Right. Could you—"

"That means he won't stop me."

Oh, that did not sound good. "What?"

"I like you. You should stay with me."

"I told you I can't." I began to reach out for my seashell again. On Earth, I could just summon water instantly from them. Here, it took far too long.

"Father won't stop me. He said if you want to leave, you will have to do it yourself." The cruel amusement was back. So much for talking it through.

I closed my eyes and willed the water to come faster. (I hated that she'd distracted me from pulling it before.)

She grew larger, towering over me, hands reaching out for me. "So you will stay here and show me more of what you can feel."

Come on… I thought. The grass of her hands closed around me. I could finally move again, but the light vanished. I was caught inside the grass as it surrounded me, hampering my movements and my breathing.

And then, finally, after what seemed like forever, water burst from my necklace. With a harsh yell, I pulled harder, and pushed the water out again, as fast as I could. I pushed with everything I had.

Jane shouted in her ancient language, but the light returned. I fell as she reeled back, obviously more surprised than anything. I drew Riptide and began to slash at the grass around me, as much as I could while still pulling on all that seawater. A large puddle began to form at my feet. Still I pulled.

"You will stay with me!" she shrieked, reaching for me again. Swinging my sword wasn't doing anything. The half-cut stalks of… whatever it was were still controlled by her. "You are mine, now!"

The grass I stepped on would not stop trying to capture my feet, making dodging and guarding far more difficult, so I froze the water. It was slick, but would be less of a hindrance, especially while I continued to pull seawater to the fight.

To my relief, it worked. The reeds underneath me couldn't rise to encapsulate me or hold my feet in place or… anything really.

My pause to look down almost cost me, but I managed to dodge another swipe of her arms. Then I concentrated on all the water there in the field and pushed it towards her mass. She yelled something I couldn't understand, but it sounded confused. I tried to make sure she was coated in seawater, as densely as I could make it. She lunged for me.

"You think this will stop me!?"

Then I closed my fists and the temperature dropped. (I was very glad I'd worked on that.) Her arm froze, along with the rest of her, stopping feet from my face.

"W...what is this?!"

My gut was beginning to ache again. I hadn't pulled that much water through one focal point at once before. But I couldn't stop now.

"Ice. That's also on the surface," I said, finally cutting off the water and forming a ball about the size of both of my fists into a flat surface. Then I hopped onto it, knelt down, and willed it away. It took off.

"NOOOO!" she shrieked behind me. More of the grass surged. I flew higher. "You are mine!"

ation, but I just willed myself onward. I could see the swamp beginning not too far away and shot in that direction, doing my best to swoop around the mounds of tentacle-grass that rose to grasp me.

I didn't stop until I was well over the swamp. It had been a while since I'd had to dodge an attack, so I looked back. I could see the purple field in the distance, but it looked just like that: a field. Nothing more.

At that point, I let out a sigh of relief and allowed my icelevator (name still pending) to slow a little before turning in the general direction of the ice pillar I'd left marking where I'd hidden my things… all frozen solid, of course. I… really wanted to get there and find a place to sleep and… just forget today had happened at all.

(Not that I ever would. I wasn't that lucky.)

And I had the unfortunate feeling that Tartarus wouldn't forget it either.

xXx

AN: Yes, I can see Percy naming an ancient primordial that we've never even heard of before 'Jane'. It's Percy, LOL.

Thanks to SmolAvidReader, Berix, Asterius Daemon, and Quathis for their help! :D

Title of next chapter: Of Dreams and Manipulation

Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)