Though he still wasn't sure about taking time away, Montauk turned out to be exactly what Percy needed for his frayed nerves. The sights, the sounds, even the smell of the familiar beach made it easy to relax. Mom put their music on while the three of them cleaned out the cabinets, swept away dead spiders, and washed the dusty dishes. Foggy made a valiant attempt to chop firewood and nearly gashed his leg open, so Percy took over and cut enough for the two nights they'd be staying.
They finished setting up just in time to get ready for dinner. Percy sat in the sand and leaned on his mom, and Foggy sat in a camp chair only a little away. Foggy's brow was furrowed with concentration, like he'd never roasted a hot dog over a fire before.
"What was Dad like when you knew him?" Percy asked, shoulder pressing into her thigh. Sally's answers had expanded since Percy had learned about his heritage, but really, he would have kept asking anyway.
Sally smiled. Her eyes still brightened near the sea.
"He was the most affectionate man I'd ever met," she told Percy. "And when he paid attention to me, he could make me feel like I was the only person in the world. I was a young woman then, and all I'd ever wanted was someone to love." She tapped the tip of his nose, eyes warm. "Sometimes I think he knew that, and that's why he gave me you."
Percy gave her a goofy, pleased grin, feeling lighter and more carefree than he had in months. "Did he ever take you under the sea?"
"Whenever I wanted," Sally said, scratching his neck gently. "I loved it. It's so beautiful down there, and I've never forgotten it." She smiled, eyes sparkling. "He wanted to have the fish perform for us, but I loved the natural ocean too much."
Percy laughed, turning his head to watch the sun set over the sea. "It's amazing," he agreed wistfully. "Would you want to see it again?"
Sally hesitated, and Percy turned his head to look up at her. Her smile matched the light of the setting sun. "Maybe just once," she said. "In the morning, once it's light out."
Percy grinned, twirling his skewer to flip the hot dog over. "Sure," he said. "I've never been to the sea floor out here."
"What does it look like underwater?" Foggy asked. Percy started, and Foggy met his eyes and smiled sheepishly. After a moment, Percy smiled back.
"I don't think I could describe it," he admitted, thinking of the flashing fish and tangles of ocean flora. "Do you want to come with us?"
Foggy's expression brightened with excitement. "I wouldn't want to, you know, get in the way of your time," he said. "But if you're fine with it? It'd be fantastic."
Percy looked up at Sally, and Sally beamed at Foggy and nodded.
"Of course," she said. "You're going to love it."
They took their hot dogs off the fire soon after that, and passed around mustard and relish to add on. Conversation lulled while they ate, and Percy finished first, giving him time to ask more questions.
"You and Dad talked about me, right?" he asked, leaning back again to look at her hopefully. "Before he left?"
Sally finished her bite before she answered, looking just as content as Percy felt. "More than you could know," she said. "He talked about how brave and strong and kind you would be, how much my son and his. He was worried about you, of course, but he always had faith that you would pull through. And he told me about Camp Half-Blood, of course – I'd never heard of it before that. I just knew about demigods."
"What did he tell you about it?"
That was a new question, so Sally pondered it for a minute. "He said that it would help you grow into a hero," she said. "Let's see... he told me a little about Chiron, and said that he trusted no one else to look after his children. He talked about some of the things you'd learn there, sword-fighting and Ancient Greek and chariot racing."
Percy grinned. "And canoeing, arts and crafts, bribery..."
Sally laughed, reaching down to ruffle his hair. "That was when he warned me about the monsters," she continued. "The magical boundary wouldn't be established until years after this, but Camp Half-Blood has always had ways of keeping its children safe from monsters. He told me to take you there when I could no longer keep you safe. And when I asked how long you would need to spend there, he... admitted that you might never leave, because Camp Half-Blood was where you belonged."
Percy tried to imagine that – if, instead of marrying Gabe, Sally had brought him to camp when he was four or five years old. Would he have come back, if she'd left him there at such a young age?
"Peggy Carter said that everyone who survives leaves eventually," he told her, realizing that he'd neglected to bring it up before. "Beckendorf's even going to college next year, and Silena's gonna do beauty school. Peggy said lots of half-bloods go out and do their own thing."
Sally kissed the top of his head, pulled back, and smiled at him, sad and pained.
"I'm glad," she said. "I believe that you have a bright future ahead of you, Percy. But that thought..." She closed her eyes. "To have given you to Chiron when you were four years old, and not known you for the last decade... the very idea breaks my heart."
"Even after everything?"
"Even after everything," she reassured him. "I had second thoughts, sometimes, but I never stopped wanting to keep you with me."
"Four?" Foggy asked quietly, drawing their attention to him again. His brow was furrowed deeply, looking at both of them with undisguised concern.
Sally ran her fingers through Percy's hair, no longer smiling when he looked up at her. "We were living out of my car because monsters kept finding our apartment, and I couldn't keep a lease," she said. "Four monsters in three months... I had to make a choice."
"I don't remember that," Percy said, except he kind of did. He remembered sprawling on top of her, sleeping in a back seat. He always figured it had been a car trip or something.
"It was like magic," Sally said softly. "We moved in with Gabe, and monsters stopped knocking on the door. Even at school, incidents went from once a month to once or twice a year."
"Out of the fire and into the frying pan," Foggy said. Sally nodded.
"There was never any question which was better," she said. "And every time I thought about handing my baby over to Chiron, I couldn't do it. What would Percy think, if I gave him away so easily?"
Gods, what would he have thought? He decided not to tell her. If his mom had left him that young, surrounded by the unclaimed and unwanted children of the gods, he might not have ever forgiven her.
Sally shook herself and ran her fingers through his hair again. "I'm sorry, sweetie, this is supposed to be a lighthearted trip."
He squirmed, setting his cheek on her thigh. "It's okay. I like hearing what you were thinking." He turned his head toward Foggy. "It's hard to imagine that Matt never had to deal with any of this. Did he move around a lot?"
Foggy shook his head. "Nope. Moved as little as possible, actually – being blind means he has to memorize all the crossroads and buildings and stuff. But why would it be so different for him?"
"Parentage," Sally said simply. "Matt is a son of Nemesis, a minor goddess. Percy's father is one of the three sons of Kronos."
"It took three tutors to get me through my lit requirements in undergrad," Foggy said, making both of them laugh.
"He's very old and very powerful," Sally said. "Kronos, after all, was born from the earth itself, one of the oldest of all divine beings."
Foggy wrinkled his nose. "Would that make Percy... the great-grandson of the literal Earth?"
Both of them laughed. After a moment, Foggy did too.
"Yeah, I guess," Percy agreed. He'd take his mom's word for it; he hadn't really studied his lineage that closely. Or at all. "But yeah, parentage makes a really big difference for us. I mean, our powers come from our parents, so it makes sense, right?" He resettled, comfortable and relaxed. "How did you and Matt meet, anyway?"
Foggy was happy to tell the story over roasting marshmallows.
Percy was the first one awake the next morning, with Sally close behind. They made a tall stack of blue pancakes before Sally went to wake Foggy, who tottered out of the shared bedroom, rubbing his face and yawning. They settled at the table, where they could see the sea through the window, and dug in.
"We need to take Annabeth here soon," Percy said, cutting up the pancakes with his fork. "Maybe after summer session, if..." He trailed off.
"Absolutely," Sally agreed without hesitation. "It's long overdue, if I'm honest." She smiled, and it crinkled the corners of her eyes. "I know we always treasured our time alone together here, but... it's wonderful to have people to bring, too."
Percy smiled, too. "Things are better now," he said.
Foggy yawned loudly.
Since Percy and Sally had made breakfast, Foggy cleaned up, leaving the two of them to change into swim clothes. They went out to the beach to wait for him, and Percy stuck his feet in the wet sand and smiled. Sally sat beside him, and they played tic-tac-toe until he came out.
"So how do we do this?" Foggy asked, in swim shorts and an oversized tee. "Do we grow gills?"
Percy laughed and shook his head. "Air bubble," he said, standing up. He held out his hands, and Sally grabbed his right hand while Foggy grabbed his left. Something about it made him ridiculously happy. "I can't help you breathe water like I can, so this is the next best thing."
Sally smiled broadly. "Whenever you're ready, sweetheart."
Percy smiled back, and then pulled both of them into the ocean. After a few minutes of wading straight out, their heads went under, and Percy formed a large bubble within seconds.
"Oh," Foggy breathed.
Sally's hand gripped Percy's, and when he looked up, her eyes were sparkling as she took in the vast sea floor – the ripples of light, schools of fish, a few sharks and a whale or two in the distance.
"Beautiful," she said softly, turning her head to follow a whale's progress into the distance. With her free hand, she reached out, fingers slipping out of the air bubble. A few fish came to nibble on her fingertips, and she actually giggled. "I forgot how lively it is down here."
"It's amazing," Percy agreed enthusiastically. He propelled them toward, bringing them a few feet deeper and into even livelier waters, just where their toes could find the colorful sea flora. Foggy kicked at it and laughed in surprise as kelp tangled around his foot.
"I'm not even wet," Foggy said with wonder. Percy smiled.
"That, I can do," he said.
"Sea turtles!" Sally exclaimed, pointing.
Percy lit up. The sea turtles were only just beginning to arrive for the warm months, but they were some of his favorites to talk to. He tugged on Foggy's hand, distracting him from the crab he'd found and was shuffling away from, and kicked them over to the small family passing through.
"You're early," he said, and laughed when the two younger turtles came and stuck their heads into the air bubble, snapping in excitement. He leaned against his mom so he could keep contact while he released her hand, pushing the baby turtles gently back into the water.
Fishing nets abound in our foraging grounds, the mother turtle said. Better to be here, son of the sea.
Percy winced in sympathy. "There should be a little less waste this year," he said, thinking of Tony's push toward city cleanup. "Talk to the hippocampi if you really need help. They know how to contact me."
I know, son of the sea. You are good to us.
The turtle stayed still while Sally reached out to stroke her shell with clear admiration, and then swept her children under her fin and ushered them along. Both of them waved as they left.
"Sea turtles," Sally sighed, looking contented and pleased.
"That's incredible," Foggy agreed. "What did they say?"
"There's a lot of fishing nets in their foraging grounds, so they decided to move on early," Percy explained. "I don't blame them. Dropped fishing nets are a huge hazard for fish. Stupid lazy fishermen."
"I guess you'd know all about that, huh?" Foggy said ruefully. Percy nodded.
"I met the Ophiotaurus because he got caught in a net," he said. "Poor Bessie. They get hippocampi sometimes too." He turned his head, wanting to move away from the depressing subject. "Hey, whale!"
They spent over an hour flitting around the sea floor, talking to and sometimes petting the various wildlife - the whale even let them ride on her back for a little while. Foggy begged off when both Sally and Percy wanted to play with the sharks, so Percy let him off at the beach and he went inside to make lunch. When they finally came back, Foggy was sitting on a beach towel with a large Tupperware of sandwiches, fully clothed again.
A car drove down the road while they were eating, which was so unusual that it made Percy tense. His heart skipped a beat when it stopped by their cabin.
Someone got out.
"Rachel?" he asked aloud, surprised. Outside of the quest in the labyrinth, they mostly just interacted during charity functions.
Sally turned to look, and Foggy looked over his shoulder. Rachel said something to the driver, who pulled a respectful distance away from the cabin and then parked. That done, Rachel turned toward them and headed over, carrying something in her arms. A book – no, her sketchbook. Percy recognized it now.
"You're really hard to find, you know that?" Rachel said to him, annoyed. Percy tilted his head. "I had to call Annabeth."
"Um, why?" Percy asked, bemused.
Rachel ignored him and looked around, taking in the beach and the cabins. Then she looked at Foggy and Sally. "I need to borrow Percy for a minute."
Sally gave Percy a concerned look, but Percy shrugged, getting to his feet. "Sure. We can talk by the cabin if you want. What's up?"
Again, Rachel didn't answer. She got to her feet, and both of them walked up to the cabin porch, where they sat down. She opened her sketchbook, and something about the image inside caught Percy's attention immediately.
"Tell me what you think of these," Rachel said, and started flipping through her sketchbook.
The first image was of a child – Percy thought it was Luke, maybe eight or nine years old. The next was a scythe charm. Then a bloody knife, clearly Annabeth's. Then Percy, snarling at something off the side of the page, in what looked like Central Park. As he continued to remain silent, Rachel started tapping her foot.
"Well?" she demanded.
"...I don't know," he admitted, shifting to see a little better. "They feel..."
"They feel important, right?" Rachel said. "But I can't figure out why."
Percy nodded, studying the pictures. "I dunno," he repeated, looking up to meet her eyes again. "I mean..." He flipped back. "That's Luke. And that's Annabeth's knife. But why you saw them..." He shrugged. "Sorry."
Rachel sighed, staring down at the sketches. "I've been having dreams," she said. "That's not normal, is it? Does your mom have dreams like this?"
"Not that she's told me," Percy said, "but I haven't asked. You want to go talk to her?"
"...Yeah," Rachel decided.
Sally was already looking at them, worried and shifty, but she relaxed when they came over. Percy smiled, trying to reassure her, and sat on the towel with a gesture inviting Rachel to join them. She did, wrinkling her nose as sand crept into her shoes.
"Hey, Mom?" Percy said. "Do you ever have weird dreams?"
Sally furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"
Percy wasn't sure. He looked at Rachel, who looked away.
"...Dreams about things you shouldn't know," she said reluctantly. "Things that are real."
Foggy's brow furrowed too, and he glanced at Sally. Sally hesitated, which made Percy sit up.
"Very rarely," Sally said at last, fiddling with the corner of the towel. "I... dreamed about Percy the entire time I was pregnant with him." She glanced at Percy, who hid a smile, and she smiled back briefly. "Other than that- only twice. About a month before I met Gabriel, and around a week before I had to rush Percy to camp."
Foggy stared at her. Rachel shifted again, looking down at her sketchbook.
"I'm not sure what it all means," she said, thumbing the page. "It's just... strange."
Percy nodded. "I'll talk to some people about it," he reassured her, figuring she was more rattled than she was letting on. She had followed him all the way to Montauk, after all. "It's not nothing. Clearsighted mortals see things even demigods don't, remember?"
Rachel snorted, relaxing visibly. "Like I could ever forget."
She looked relieved. Percy didn't mention that either.
Rachel left not long after that – something about a function her father was forcing her to attend. Percy stared at the waves crashing further out in the sea, thinking. Sally reached down to squeeze his hand.
"Percy?" she prompted softly. Percy brow was pinched together, and he barely noticed.
"Annabeth's knife," he murmured. Not Riptide, or Kronos' scythe, or even Backbiter. "Why would she dream about Annabeth's knife?"
It had been bloodied in an odd way, too – like she'd tried to stab someone, but only about half an inch of the tip had sunk in. That wasn't like her. And for Rachel to dream about it, and Percy to recognize it...
"Hey." Sally pressed her thumb to Percy's forehead, smoothing it out. He blinked and looked at her. "All of that can wait until Monday. You need room to breathe. Everything is going to be okay. Do you want to go and pick a board game to bring out here?"
Percy took a deep breath, and then nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "I'll be right back."
