Gentle waves rolled across the sand. In and out. The water was perfectly clear. Small fish darted around the undertow of the incoming waves. In the distance, birds sang to each other. Dancing tunes filled the air, serenading the beach and its two inhabitants. From the sea, a cool breeze drifted across the beach. On the horizon, the sun began to kiss the sea. Brilliant hues faded into the darkening night sky.

Warm arms wrapped around his torso from behind, and he couldn't help but lean back into them. His own hands sought hers, overlapping them. He savored the moment. Her comforting embrace stole his worries and fears as the two of them watched the orange and purple light fade into black. Stars speckled the sky, winking slowly into existence one after another.

It was perfect.

A perfect day.

It was a perfect dream.

A painful memory.

Perseus Jackson woke in the middle of the night.

There was no particular reason for why. He just woke up, wide awake, as the moonlight filtered through his half-opened blinds. It must have been a full moon with how well he could see the mess of laundry that littered the floor around his bed.

Police sirens sparked to life in the city.

Percy stirred from his bed, thirsty.

One foot in front of the other, he found himself leaving his bedroom and entering his kitchen. He reached for a cup from his top cabinet and brought it under his sink faucet, filling it with water. The water felt lukewarm through the glass. With a simple thought, he felt it condensate, cold spreading from his fingertips and throughout the water. Droplets collected outside the glass as if it had been an iced drink under the summer heat.

He brought the freezing water to his lips while his gaze roamed his apartment.

More moonlight filtered in through his balcony, casting back the darkness of the night to the corners of the room. An empty pizza box remained on the coffee table in front of the TV from the previous night. He would worry about that in the morning.

He knocked back the rest of his water and placed the cup into the sink. He would wash it in the morning as well.

Percy let his gaze resume their journey as they moved to the balcony. His eyes were slowly drawn in by the flower he had out there. Like many nights before this one, he found himself sitting in the singular chair on his balcony. A cool night's sea breeze kissed his skin and pushed his hair askew. Like every other night he had sat here, his eyes were stuck on the glowing petals of the Moonlace flower that blossomed in the dark.

Percy could still feel her arms wrapped around him. Her whispers of promised love echoed in his ears as they watched the sunset. He remembered how the sea breeze whipped their hair around and occluded their vision with her caramel locks. He could still feel her featherlight touch brushing his eyes clear of his own hair that had gone awry like hers. Her amber eyes twinkled like crystals as she moved in closer to him.

Her lips ghosted his for a moment… a single delicate moment before she pushed against him.

For a singular moment, the war faded from his mind.

Gone was the prophecy.

Gone were the expectancy to lead.

Gone were the affairs of mortality.

Life was flawless in that eternal moment.

He would have lived forever in that moment, in her love.

Then the boat came.

His life, his fate, and his reality returned to him in that moment.

And he left behind eternity, trading a flower seed for a promise.

Percy stared at the result of the seed—of the woman he let go. The flower that had come to show from his choice was beautiful. A delicate mixture of platinum and silver hues flowering out in grand bio-luminescent petals as big as his palm. It was an undying plant that was given to him to remind him that even in the darkest of times, there would always be a light to remind him of one of his happiest moments in life.

To remind him of the last time he saw her.

He sat there for some time. His eyes were transfixed on the flower as it slowly retracted its petals inwards away from the rising sun and coming day.

Percy stood from his chair, legs static as they had fallen asleep. He managed to stumble back to his bed and fall face-first into his pillow. He had nowhere to be today, so he could afford to sleep in. It was one of the perks of being an unemployed adult who could manifest riches from the seas and pay for whatever he wanted in life with gold and priceless artifacts that the Spanish had plundered centuries ago.

In no time, he was sound asleep. No dreams came to him this time as he embraced Morpheus' grasp. No memories reminded him of a lover he left behind for the safety of others. His sleep was empty, dark, and quick.

By the time he woke again, Apollo was high in the sky, flying over the world, basking it in his eternal warmth.

Percy lazily strolled his way into his bathroom and did his waking rituals. He grabbed a shirt from his chair of assorted laundry and gave it a quick sniff.

"Good enough," Percy mumbled to himself.

He buttoned up the garish palm leaf shirt and grabbed a hopefully clean pair of shorts before heading to his kitchen for a fresh brew of coffee. Setting out one mug, he started the maker as it kicked to life. He grabbed his sugar from a cabinet and spooned a few scoops into his filling cup. He gave the coffee a quick stir with a twirl of his finger.

He once again turned to his balcony. The sunlight filtered in as he watched the boats on the horizon sail out to sea. Perhaps that should be his next journey, to buy a sailboat and let the winds take him to some distant land. Perhaps, if the gods were ever so kind, he would find his way back to paradise.

He laughed dispassionately to himself.

The gods had been clear on the fact that Ogyia was not a place man found twice, much less intentionally. He would never see her again.

Would he even want to see her again? He could still remember the Arai that carried the curse she had cast. The blind stumbling over blackened glass as he tripped his way to her intangible arms as she called for him, telling him he had a world to save. Of all the curses he had to cut his way through, all the bodily harm he endured that hour, he would never forget trying to stumble into her embrace again as she always appeared just out of arms reach. Her mirage echoed the words he had spoken to her as he chose the raft over love. Her could still hear her saying that he would never forget her. That he would love her even if he were a million miles away.

The nightmare still haunted him at night, sometimes. It made him question himself. Did he genuinely yearn for that perfect day, or was he cursed to be reminded of it?

He didn't know.

He had lived with it long enough to accept it as a part of him, but whether the curse still affected him on some level or not, he knew he still longed for older days—of her love. Perhaps he should have settled in New Rome and tried to find love once more to fill the holes in his heart. Maybe that would have mended his dreams as he curled into the arms of some woman who would tell him things would be okay. Then, they would wrap their arms around each other and confess their love as if it was their last night together.

But he didn't do that.

He couldn't do that.

He had closed his heart to anyone new after the second time he last looked upon his lover's face for the last time.

His heart was fragile despite the iron of his will. His strength and power could only do so much despite the oceans and earth he could move. The part of him that was a god was not enough to be the hero for everyone.

He had accepted that he had to leave Calypso behind for the good of everyone.

He had accepted that it was his choice to save Annabeth from falling with him to Tartarus.

However, he was only mortal in a world of gods and monsters.

And as the man he was, he made his choices. He had surrendered the ability to save them when he chose what he thought was right.

He chose this fate.

Perhaps he could have been sipping tea on a pristine beach right now instead of coffee in a dirty apartment. He could be laughing and holding his woman close as the tide rolled in and out. They would watch as the birds sang to each other, built nests, and fed their young.

Yet, he boarded that dingy wooden raft and sailed to fight.

Perhaps he could be lying in bed still after being too tired from a night of studying. Her princess curls would be in disarray as she pulled them free of her ponytail and then twisted them to and fro in stress over some test she had spent the better part of a week studying for. Perhaps the empty pizza box would have been two empty boxes from her wolfing down her own after forgetting to eat all day between the building designs she spent the day working on in AutoCAD.

Yet, he sent her to her death when he spared her from Tartarus.

Percy took a sip of his coffee.

It was too bitter.

He dropped another scoop of sugar into it.

:P LINEBREAK d:

"Do you not know who I am?" the woman shouted. "My husband is the DA."

Percy just stared down at her with a blank face.

She had been yelling at him for the last few minutes, and he had really stopped caring the moment he heard her nasally voice call out to him.

"You cannot fish here!"

They weren't biting anyway, Percy thought.

"Ma'am, this is public property," the fisherman beside Percy tried to diffuse the situation.

The red-faced woman went back to yelling.

Percy met the older gentleman's annoyed face and gave him a nod of solidarity before he recast his line back into the water. He filtered the middle-aged woman out as he sipped at the beer he had brought with him. He had learned to filter Leo and the Stolls brothers out. He could ignore this lady with ease.

"I'm calling the cops!"

Percy rolled his eyes. A few nearby people laughed as they hid behind their phones, recording the woman. The fisherman to his side looked nervous for a moment before he saw Percy unbothered, and he soon relaxed as well as he sent his line out as well.

"I'm doing it!" she yelled some more, her phone in hand.

Percy reeled his line in, ever so slow and uncaring of the mortal woman.

The frantic of a woman tripping out over nothing was cake compared to pulling obsidian out of your own shin. Plus, the beer went down easier than liquid flames while still providing the same warmth across his veins. Life really was more straightforward in that regard.

He cast his line out again.

"They are going to arrest both of you. I hope you know that. This pier is for city residents only."

He felt a tug on his line. He tugged his rod as he began to reel his catch in.

"Oh god!" the woman cried out. "You are about to kill a fish as well!"

Percy kept fighting his catch. It resisted, straining against his own enhanced strength. Whatever it was, it was bigger than a fish that should be near a pier this close to the shore. It was resisting enough to be a juvenile shark. If that were the case, he would need to either haul it out of the water completely to get his hook free or jump in to pull it out of the fish's maw himself.

He tugged again, earning a moo of all things from the water.

Fish don't moo.

He quickly peaked his head over the railing.

"Bessie?" he spoke to the end of his line.

"Moooooo."

"Oh my god! You caught a manatee!" someone from the pier yelled.

Percy turned and did a headcount of everyone who was watching him. It was at least seven people altogether. He had manipulated large crowds before, but the Mist was never perfect for him.

"Hello, everyone!" he waved at everyone near him. The seven, no eight, people turned to him as he snapped his fingers. A blanket of pressure coalesced over the area as the Mist took hold and clouded their eyes. "Yes, everyone, listen up. You did not see me or what I caught. You are also all hungry for some food and will be leaving the pier for a long dinner right about now."

He watched the fisherman beside him feel his stomach before mumbling about food and walking away with his rod. The girls who were recording earlier tapped at their phones for a moment before setting off for dinner. A couple followed behind them. Lastly, the loud woman stared at him, a frown on her face slowly melting away to a neutral grimace as she strutted away, nose turned to the clouds.

He watched them all leave before placing his fishing rod down on the wooden pier. He double-checked that he was alone before he hurled himself over the edge.

He splashed into the water and surfaced near the Ophiotauraus. The half cow, half sea-serpent, swam to his hand as Percy reached out and stroked his hand down its snout. His hand came to where his hook and line were barely attached to the mouth of the monster. He carefully undid his catch and threw the hook back above him.

"What are you doing out here, boy?" he asked the legendary beast. "Why aren't you on Olympus, huh?"

"Mooooo."

"I really wish I knew what that meant," Percy sighed. Smaller fish began to approach the son of Poseidon. "Oh, now you suckers show up once I put the rod away. I'll remember this."

"Mrrrrr," Bessie started once again. "Merrr."

"I'm sorry Bess. I don't speak cow." Percy continued to pet the beast. "How about you just stay around the coast for a day or so, and I will try and get a hold of my Dad to get you back somewhere safe and secure."

"Moo."

"I'm going to take that as you agreeing."

"Moo."

"Right, well, I don't know what to do for you right now besides calling my Dad. He will get you soon, okay?"

"Moo."

Percy nodded one more time before he jetted upwards. Water carried him like a column rising from the ground as he found his way back onto the empty pier. He bent down, grabbed his fishing rod, and reeled in the slack. Once he secured the line, his eyes returned to the water, wherein Bessie began submerging himself into deeper waters away from the pier.

He reached into his pocket for a drachmae to call his Dad but found himself without.

"Damn," he muttered to himself. He would have to check his apartment for more. He knew he was running low, but he also knew he had at least three of them circulating various pant pockets across his floor. Just not these pants.

"We got a call from a woman about trespassing?" a woman spoke up from behind Percy.

He turned to face two cops who were looking around, confused at the empty pier.

"Couldn't tell ya." Percy shrugged. "Not a soul has been around here for a while now."

"Weird," commented the male officer. "Usually, there are a few men here fishing before sunset. You sure it is just you alone, sir?"

"Nothing's biting, officer. I think if other people were fishing this spot today, they found out before me and didn't share the news."

"So, no one called the cops here?" the woman asked.

Percy shrugged, "Couldn't tell you, ma'am. Maybe a prank caller?"

"Maybe." The woman turned to her partner, who shrugged. "Well, sorry for bothering you. If you do see a frazzled, nasally woman, just point her up the beach. We will also be heading to that pier to see if she was over there."

"Of course, officers." Percy mock saluted. "You take care."

The man raised a hand back an acknowledgment as he and his partner left.

Percy watched them go and pass vendors on their way up the shoreline. He slumped against the wooden railing as he let out a lengthy exhale. He really just wanted a simple day. Instead, he got the cops called on him and had to deal with an escaped dangerous sea monster. It wasn't even things that were challenging. He just didn't want to deal with it all.

Percy slowly made his way away from the pier. He passed a man selling oversized corndogs. A twenty and "keep the change" later, Percy had his toes in the water as he bit into the cornbread.

Waves lapped idly against the sand. In and out. The water wasn't the cleanest. Murk obscured the sand below the surface. He could sense small fish darting about the undertow of the crashing waves, but he couldn't make them out with his eye. In the distance, seagulls begged for food. Annoying caws filled the air as they swooped and dove at unsuspecting victims on the boardwalk behind him. A sea breeze brought forth the odor of fried food and sunscreen.

He felt cold. The numbing warmth of alcohol had been purged from his system when he had jumped into the water earlier. He didn't even realize how much it affected him until it was gone.

He sighed, bored with himself.

The night was still young. He could still go to some club and invite the alcohol back into his blood, the warmth coating his mind like a blanket and numbing his heart. Maybe he could find a girl to chat up for a bit before ghosting her as he moved on to a bar to watch the local football team play.

Yet, in the end, he would return to the same empty apartment. He would sit on the same balcony, looking at the same flower, reminiscing on choices he could never undo.

It was his life.

A flawed life.

It was his flawed life.

It was a lonely reality.

A reality Perseus Jackson woke to every day and every sleepless night.

And it was all of his choosing. This was the culmination of his choices. There were many he would never undo and many he wished he could. Yet, this was how his life was.

Flawed…

He bit into his corndog as the water touched his ankles.

He made his choices. Right and wrong, he made them. He did it all for what he thought would be for the betterment of his friends and loved ones, and many of them turned out that way. But, as he watched the sun slowly drift closer to the horizon, his mind could never not reflect on the choices that didn't work out.

Would Annabeth have lived if they had fallen into Tartarus together?

Would Leo still be alive if Percy could have done more against Gaia?

Would Charles still be alive if Percy had….

He had to cut that train of thought off. It would only make him spiral further.

The sun sets on all of life.

That was what Percy told himself. That mortality was fleeting, and he should cherish that of which he has then that which is gone. It was what led him to his sabbatical of sorts from Olympus and her reign.

His life was fleeting. One day, he would see his last sunrise and sunset. He would one day see his last light and be reunited with all those who had seen their final light.

He was not an undying flower that would preserve through the darkness.

He was only human, after all. He had no interest in immortality or that of living to see the meaning fade from the sun's first and last rays of the day. He did not want to live with his choices forever.

AN: Hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review, follow, and favorite.

Come chat with me on Discord. Link in bio.

Check out my other stories if you like PJO crossovers.

That's about it.

-Manke