Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes Of Olympus, or Trials Of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

On with the thirteenth chapter.

13. Our Halloween Party Gets Crashed

Percy

"Good! Again, Percy!"

I struck Triton again, mimicking his earlier Atlantic style movement. We were locked in a spar on the beach, the waves next to us matching out ferocity. At times it was calm, soft, normal. Other times it was thunderous, fast, and intense.

Like the Atlantic style. It's a mix of reserved combat, and aggressive combat.

So how did I end up here? After the desert, Triton and I began to spar, for hours on end, I received a super-long swordfighting lesson. He stopped giving me mysterious innuendos and tests, and started teaching me how to utilize the techniques in a real fight situation.

He called me a prodigy, a natural. Catching on so quick that he had no choice but to bring our dad and show him my progress.

So he did.

Yeah, the cat's out of the bag. After much arguing and protesting on my part, it still meant nothing. Triton summoned dad and simply told him to "watch." No explanation, only demonstration.

So I went along with it. Whatever. It's on Triton if dad gets mad at him for going behind his back.

Another series of slashes and clangs, Triton and I danced around on the sand. A couple of times, I could feel my aura awakening more and more, hints of his own aura hitting mine, I was able to gauge it, feel it whenever he made a movement.

Finally, he backed up with his right foot and pulled the Bident to him, trying to create some distance between he and myself. I'd seen it many times before. This was my chance.

Locking my eyes to his chest, I gripped Riptide tight, focusing on the way my hand held on to the hilt, my grip, my connection to the sea. The energy inside of me swirled faster, it warmed my bloodstream, raised up to the pores of my skin. I saw hints of green energy seeping from it. This all happened in the matter of a split second. Feeling invigorated, I lunged forward and stabbed with Riptide.

By the time it reached Triton's chest, the entirety of the blade had been surrounded by my own sea green aura. I stopped it inches away from my half-brother, catching him in his position.

He stopped with his hands in the air, smirking. "Nice one." He looked over to our dad, "What did you think, father?"

Poseidon stood at the edge of the water, donning a white and green toga, his arms crossed. He didn't look better than before, like I'd hoped. I figured he would've healed a little by this point, but no, he still had a withered body, wrinkly skin, white hair, and generally looked like an old sailor. Not a sea god.

His eyes were dubious, but he nodded at me. "Impressive. Very impressive, Percy. Being able to control your aura in a matter of days, no less imbuing it in your weapon…I'm blown away by the progression."

Triton and I untensed and stood straight, looking at him with anticipation. Was he actually going along with this?

Then he frowned, "It's interesting, though. I remember telling you not to involve him in this. Yet here he is displaying our style and using his aura, almost like he's been trained…"

I never imagined confusing a god with a guilty teenager. But that's pretty much what Triton looked like. He shrunk under Dad's expression and scratched his neck, "Well, it's sort of a long story. But what does it matter? No harm has come to him, he's gotten stronger, he can help us!"

Dad was about to retort, but I caught him first, "It's true, dad. I've never felt this powerful before. Even with the Curse of Achilles. I want to help you guys rescue your men, and Amphitrite! I can do it!"

He glared at Triton, "You told him?"

"Yes, I told him. You know it's true. How else did all of our forces go missing?"

"They died!"

"You know that's not true. Over half of our forces were captured. Can't you see what Oceanus is trying to do? He's trying to take everything from you! The reason you're withering, is because he's taking the ocean's aura, your aura from you! He captured our men because he wants to convert them!"

"Even if it is true, Percy is not getting involved! I want to know how this happened immediately!"

I knew he was just trying to protect me, but I couldn't help the twinge of annoyance that trickled up my throat. I wanted to voice my disdain, but I figured it best to keep my mouth shut.

Triton sighed, "I sought him out, okay. I did. He was driving to Virginia to propose to his girlfri-"

I cleared my throat loudly, "Uh, we don't need to talk about that!"

Dad raised an eyebrow, "What did you just say? Proposing to his girlfriend? Percy, you didn't tell me-"

"It's because I'm not!" I shouted desperately, glaring at Triton. Thanks a lot, merboy. "I'm not proposing to anybody!"

"Why don't you want him to know?" Triton asked, "She's just a mortal, right? Why should it matter?"

I cringed. Oh crap.

At that, dad gave me a stern look, "No. She's a daughter of Athena, Triton."

"What?!" Triton said, like dad just told him that The Little Mermaid wasn't based on a true story. "You never told me that!"

"You didn't ask." I retorted, "And besides, what does it matter?"

He looked like he wanted to say something smart, but he bit his lip. "I suppose it doesn't."

"It doesn't." Dad added, "Athena and I have had our issues, but the rivalry has been over for years now. We had a meaningful conversation after working together against Typhon."

I wasn't about to burst the bubble, but that doesn't sound like Athena. I'm pretty sure the "meaningful conversation" was her telling him to keep his son away from her daughter.

"That doesn't matter." Triton said, "Daughter of Athena or not, whatever. Will you allow Percy to fight with us?"

Dad kept his sight on me. It didn't matter if he looked three times his normal age, he was still intimidating, especially when he'd caught me in the act.

"Leave us, Triton. I need to talk to Percy alone."

"But-"

"Go. We'll discuss the other matter later."

Triton slumped and looked at me sympathetically. Oh well, it was probably going to come out sooner anyway. No hard feelings, bro.

With a flash of light and a small shockwave, he disappeared. Leaving me alone with an angry god.

I stood there awkwardly, giving a little shrug. "So...catch any good fish lately?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to propose to Annabeth?"

Right to the point then. Alright, fine.

I slumped. "I was just going to ask her parents' permission. That's all."

He looked a little hurt, "And you weren't going to ask mine?"

I turned to him quickly, "No, dad it's not like that at all. I was going to ask you and Athena both, but…well, the opportunity was kind of slim, and I was scared you would say no."

"What would give you that idea, Percy?"

"Well, you may say the rivalry is over, but I know that you and Athena aren't exactly friends. I wasn't sure how you'd take me marrying Annabeth, given the fact that you barely tolerated it when I told you we were dating."

"I was-" He started, raising his voice to retort. But then some thought must've come to his mind, and he lowered his tone. "Wrong. I was wrong about her. Annabeth is a brave girl, very wise, like her mother." His sea green eyes sparkled, "I can't think of a better daughter in law."

"Wait…does that mean that you're okay with it?"

He nodded, "Yes." Before I could explode with excitement, he raised a finger, "But don't jump the gun yet, my boy. How does Sally feel about this?"

I rasberried, "Pfft, she'll be over the moon. You know her. She's been rooting on our marriage for years."

"And you haven't asked Athena."

I slumped at that. Yeah, that was going to be the most difficult thing, ever, honestly. "No."

"I would look into that. She's the one to be wary of in this situation. But nether the less, you have my approval. I'm happy for you, son."

My eyes probably twinkled at him, like a little kid. I didn't care, in his eyes I probably still was a little kid.

"Thanks."

"But I don't appreciate you disobeying my request and training with Triton. What were you thinking, Percy?"

This again. "He came to me. I had no choice but to at least talk to him!"

"You could have said no."

My annoyance on this topic was reaching it's limit. I'd been a little angry with my dad before, yeah, back in the good old days when I blamed him for all my misfortunes. I had been happy not ten seconds ago when we were talking about the proposal, and now it's back to annoyed. It's like a rollercoaster with him.

I kept my face level and my tone even. Not wanting to be disrespectful, but at the same time standing my ground.

"Maybe I didn't want to say no, Dad. Ever thought of that? I literally told you underwater that I wanted to help! I wanted to be involved in this war, so that there won't be anymore of this level! If I don't step in, we'll never rescue your men, or Amphitrite!"

"That is nothing but a rumor." He grumbled, "Oceanus is bluffing."

"I don't think so. I think he's telling the truth, and you're just trying to protect me."

"Of course I'm trying to protect you! I'm your father!"

"I'm not a little kid anymore!" I shouted, at the near top of my lungs. It took him by surprise, as my voice rang out across the beach. Dad stood there like a deer in headlights. I raised my chin up and let all of my frustrations out.

"You don't have to protect me! I've been fighting for years, against monsters, against titans, you name it! I can do this! You know I can! You need all the help you can get to beat this guy, and you're going to refuse someone that's practically begging to help?!"

He didn't say anything, he just stared at me. Shocked.

I huffed and walked away. "Forget it. If you want me there or not, it doesn't matter. I'm coming, and that's that. I'm not sitting on the sidelines this time."

He didn't try to stop me; he didn't call out to me. He just stood there.

I walked away.

I decided to drive to my mom's apartment to check on Annabeth.

A long story, but Triton helped me get my Prius back. A lot of teleportation here, a lot of arguing there, and you get the gist. My car's fine.

Going straight on the highway, I kept thinking about what I said to my dad. Thinking of better words I should've used, better ways I could've put it.

But one thing I knew for sure, was I stood my ground on that. I believed that I could help, and I was going to. I'm tired of him trying to keep me from this, and I told him just that.

It made me think…can I do that with Camp? Should I?

It's no secret that I've been thinking about that too. I worried if they were okay, if things were running smoothly, or heck, if they were doing a lot better off without us.

I hoped that wasn't true.

I flipflopped on asking Annabeth if she wanted to go back to Camp and try to talk things out with everyone, with Nico especially. Pros and cons came to me, but ultimately, I decided we should. Believe it or not, what Mr. D said was the deal sealer. Which is a huge shock, considering my history with him, I never thought I'd take any of his words to heart.

But when he said that anyone in that position is going to be disagreed with, and that they need to move on from that…it got to me. He was right. Of course the camp is going to disagree with some of the things that Annabeth and I do, it's just natural. Everything can't be perfect. The only reason we hadn't gotten any backlash so far, is because we all had a simple goal, and a common one for an entire year. Rebuild Camp.

It brought us together, all of us. New people came, and as we progressed, so did the Camp itself. It was amazing.

I wanted to go back. I wanted to try again.

I pulled in the parking lot of our building. Walking to the door, I felt a sense of nervousness creeping in. What would Annabeth say? Oh, and what would my mom say? I still have to tell her about the proposal. Should I tell her here?

No time to think, I'd already knocked. Footsteps could be heard coming my way, the knob turned, and the door opened.

"Percy!"

Lo and behold, it was my little sister Estelle. Her face lit up when she saw me and she immediately dove in for a leg hug.

I caught her before she could latch on, picking her up and holding her in one arm. "Hey, Stelle! What's been going on?"

Let me tell you something about my sister. She's adorable. I don't use that word a lot, I know, but I can't think of another way to describe her. She looks just like me, green eyes and dark hair, her face has baby fat still on it, but she's walking now, and growing like a weed. Seems like almost yesterday that she was an infant, but she's really growing up.

"Hey, honey. Didn't know you were dropping by." It was my mom, washing dishes in the kitchen. She smiled at me as I came in and I returned it. My mom was just as amazing as Estelle. If you don't know just how much, then you really need to dig deep and take a trip back to the beginning. She's done too many things for me to even put into words.

"Yeah, I just figured I'd check in, see how my girl is doing."

"Good!" Estelle said, pointing to herself.

I chuckled, "Well, I actually meant Annabeth. But you too, Stelle."

"Beth?" She said, and pointed towards the living room, thrusting her finger in the direction of blonde hair and an orange t-shirt.

"Annabeth?"

"In here!" She waved, with something that looked like a crayon.

I set Estelle to the floor and walked over to the counter. "Where's Paul?"

"Oh, he had to run some errands." Mom said, "But he'll be back soon. I can watch Estelle if you want to talk to Annabeth."

I nodded, and leaned in a little. Mom momentarily stopped scrubbing the bowl she had and gave me full attention.

"How's she doing?"

She pursed her lips and looked at Annabeth. "I don't know, Percy. She wouldn't really talk about it, but I can tell she's upset. You should talk to her about it."

"I'm going to, thanks mom."

She smiled warmly, and looked down in surprise at Estelle, who was trying to grab onto a drawer that she shouldn't be touching. The one that holds the knives and forks.

"Estelle, no! Oh I knew we should've kept the babyproofing around the apartment…"

I just chuckled and walked towards the living room, Annabeth's figure getting closer and closer. Either she hadn't noticed me yet, or she had, and she just didn't say anything. Either way, I was going to take advantage of it.

Suavely, I jumped over the top of the couch and landed on my rear, hitting the soft cushion perfectly and leaning over towards her. "What's my wise girl up to?"

She didn't flinch or react to my sudden jumping stunt. Yep, she knew I was here alright. "Nothing much. Just helping Estelle with her coloring book."

I smirked. She had a legion of crayons neatly laid out in front of her on the glass table, the images in the coloring book themselves looked like they'd been professionally colored, nothing going outside of the lines, not even in the slightest. Estelle hadn't even touched it.

"Looks like you're doing all the work."

The corners of her mouth upturned slightly, and she finally leaned back to look at me, setting the orange crayon on the table. "Okay…I might have gotten a little bored. Don't you dare make fun of me."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

We fell into a comfortable silence, just drinking each other in. She had already rested her head against the soft couch cushion, looking directly at me with those intense, yet beautiful gray eyes. I'd never get used to them, they were mesmerizing in a way that made my heart go berserk.

"So, how was your little trip? Anything fun happen?"

I sighed, "Yeah. Triton found me, told me that he didn't care what dad said. He wants me to help fight Oceanus."

"Wait, he went behind Poseidon's back?"

"Yeah."

"And he didn't get atomized?"

"Nah, just a slap on the wrist. But the thing is, I agree with Triton. I want to help; I want to restore the sea with dad."

She gave me a concerned look, "Are you sure, Percy? I mean, it sounds like Oceanus is a lot stronger than before. Do you really want to get involved in something like this?"

"You didn't see him Annabeth. My dad…he's dying. His skin is withered, his hair is white, he looks a lot older than he should. It's because Oceanus is taking his strength."

I went on to tell her about everything, other than the proposal of course. For a few minutes straight, I rambled and absentmindedly talked about what had happened the past couple of days. The training with Triton, my awakening aura, the theory that Oceanus has kidnapped my dad's wife and soldiers, all of it. And she didn't even blink, she listened the whole time, intently.

By the time I was done, I was thirsty and panting. I doubted I even took a breath throughout the entire explanation.

Annabeth handed me her glass of water, I grabbed it thankfully and took a big gulp.

"Alright…that was a lot, I'll admit." She cocked her head, "Your last two days have been a lot more eventful than mine, that's for sure." She got serious, and put her hand on top of mine. "I'm going to be honest with you, Percy."

I set the glass on the table. "Hit me with it."

"I don't disagree with you. I think you should help them defeat Oceanus."

I…wasn't expecting that. My mouth opened without my knowledge, and I sort of gawked at her. "Wait, what?"

"The threat he poses against not only the ocean, but the world, is catastrophic. If he's truly absorbing energy from marine life, then he's killing them. Within a few weeks, maybe even less time, he could kill all the fish in the ocean, all the plants, everything. The ripple effect…it would be apocalyptic."

It wasn't until Annabeth said it that the weight of the situation truly weighed on me. I hadn't even though about that. "How bad are we talking?"

"The ecosystem would cease to exist. Not to mention people. Billions of mortals would die."

I glared at the ground. It made sense, of course it did. Mortals needed to ocean just as much as I did. It was a part of their life, both directly and indirectly. Oceanus was trying to destroy it for his own gain.

"I'm not going to let that happen. Ever."

"I'm glad you're going to help. But I just want you to be careful. If he's gained enough energy to thwart both Poseidon and Triton…then he's nigh unstoppable now."

"I know. I'm going to take this seriously. We won't lose."

She nodded, knowing that I meant those words. I did. Before, he was just a titan trying to hurt my dad, but now he's a titan trying to hurt everybody. That includes my mom, Annabeth, and everyone I care about. I wouldn't let it happen.

My nervousness had faded away completely. I didn't even waver when I spoke to Annabeth next.

"Listen, I've been thinking about this camp situation, and…I think we should go back."

That took her by surprise more than the Oceanus thing. "What?"

I squeezed her hand, "Just hear me out. I know what we said about stepping down, and how it was the right thing to do…but I'm not so sure. If anything else, we should at least see if they're doing okay. We don't have to show up and demand our positions back or anything like that. I'm just saying we…stop by for a while. That's all."

She looked a little hesitant, but at the same time, I could tell she missed Camp. That place was her true home, she'd grown up there, lived there for years, longer than she did at her parents' house even.

"I don't know-"

"It wouldn't be for long. Trust me on this." I urged, "Don't you at least want to make sure everyone's alright?"

Her eyes stayed glued to the table, her eyebrows furrowed. For a minute, the fine-tuned gears in her head clanged and worked together. She always does this, she thinks ahead and makes premeditated contingencies. In case something goes wrong.

Finally, she sighed. "O-Okay. Let's go. But not for too long."

I smiled and stood up, "You have my word."

Together we walked to the door. I opened it for her and looked back at the kitchen. Mom had gone in the other room to do something with Estelle. Maybe change a diaper or something. The thought had just hit me as I reached the hallway. I needed to tell her about the proposal.

Keeping a straight face, I told Annabeth "Go ahead, I'm gonna say bye to Mom and Stelle."

"Okay." I tossed her the keys so she could go ahead and start it up. The moment she closed the door I turned and called out for my mom.

"Mom, get in here!"

I cringed at my urgent tone, knowing full well it sounded like I was hurt, and you know when mom's think their children are hurt, they're going to come running.

She did. Thundering footsteps burst down the hallway, Mom appeared at the corner of the wall, eyes wide.

"What is it?! Are you okay?!"

I couldn't help but laugh a little, "Yeah. Sorry about that, mom. Probably didn't have to yell so loud."

She took a deep breath and put her hand to her chest. "Don't scare me like that, Percy. I thought you had slipped on the floor, or gotten kidnapped in the hallway."

"Kidnapped in the hallway?"

"We don't know everyone in this building, Percy."

I snorted, "It's nothing like that. I just wanted to tell you something."

"Oh. Well go ahead, then."

I ducked my head, feeling my heartbeat accelerate to a faster-than-steady pace. "It's…kinda important. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but wasn't sure if the time was right. Now…I know for sure."

"What is it?" She asked, growing a little concerned. "Should I be worried?"

"No, not at all. I'm going to…well, I'm going to ask Annabeth to marry me."

Mom's gaze turned into a trance like stare. Her mouth took an O shape, and she just looked forward. The world could've been falling apart around her, and she wouldn't have noticed.

"A-are you serious? Y-you're going to-"

"Yep. I'm going to ask her." I said, "I know it may seem kinda crazy, but I-"

"Are you kidding me?!" Mom boomed excitedly, "It's not crazy at all! Oh, I'm so happy this is finally happening!"

She ran over and squeezed me in a tight hug. Let me tell you, I may be a demigod, but a hug from Sally Jackson was enough to nearly break my ribs.

She pulled her head away, but kept her arms around me. She looked me up and down, tears in her eyes. "I can't believe my baby boy is going to get married! Oh, I'm so proud of you."

"Ah, it's not that big of a deal." I groaned, "I haven't even asked Athena for permission yet, I don't have a ring, I don't-"

"Oh, it's okay, Percy, it's okay!" She waved her hand vigorously, "I'm sure you'll figure it out. Oh I'm just so happy! You're going to look so cute in a tuxedo! Annabeth in a white dress! Oh the ceremony is going to be so magical!"

I gently broke from her grip, "Slow down, mom, slow down. We're still a long way from that."

She clasped her hands and put them to her chin, "I'm sorry…I'm just so happy that you've decided to do this. Annabeth is going to be over the moon."

"I hope so. I'm pretty excited."

Yeah, pretty excited. I wasn't about to walk down my path of insecurities. But you know what, for you guys, let's dabble.

Picture a road in a cosmic surrounding. I'm walking on the road, looking around at all the figures next to me. There's an image of me on one knee, I'd just proposed to Annabeth, but her reaction…not good. She said no.

There's another one. It's our wedding day, everything's perfect. All of our friends are there, we're at our dream location, the works. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Ouranos comes from the sky and shoots a lightning bolt at us. Fire erupts everywhere, people are dead, chaos is raging all around, the world is crumbling, and he stands at the top, a sea of blood rushing over his knees, he holds his spear high, laughing maniacally. Soon enough he'll take over Olympus, destroy the gods, and-

Sorry, I got carried away.

But that's not even the biggest of my worries, surprisingly. It should be, but it's not. No, the thing that stands at the end of the road, the biggest image has brown hair, a cold gaze, gray eyes, and a godly aura radiating from her. The goddess of wisdom says no, so it's final. All of my hopes are crushed with one word.

Annabeth must've been getting uncomfortable, because I heard the muffled honk of my Prius through the door. I saw it as a great chance to go ahead and get out of here. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I finally told my mom, and I'm elated to see her so happy about the news. But that road…man, it was scary to think about. I couldn't dwell on it. I needed to think about Camp.

"Well, guess I'd better get going. Annabeth and I are going to go back to Camp."

"O-Okay, honey. Drive safe."

As I exited the apartment, I heard her squeal in excitement once more. The sound should've brought a smile to my face, but it didn't. I'd told her, and she'd tell Paul when he got home. They know, Dad knows, Annabeth's dad knows. But Athena doesn't. That's the worrying part.

This went from something that I was looking forward to, to something I dread really fast. That's not good. But given the track record, it's very possible that Athena will refuse. And it's not like I can just marry Annabeth anyway, because she'll know, and I do not want to make an enemy out of her. She'd figure out the best way to get back at me. She is the goddess of strategy after all.

But then, there's that shred, that tiny inkling of hope that she values Annabeth's happiness over her own opinions of me. Besides, we've been together for years at this point, and I've tried my best to treat Annabeth well, go over the top to make sure she's comfortable. Athena's opinion of me should've at least improved by now.

I scratched my arm. Ah, here we go again. Recently, every time I get stressed out, I start itching. Usually on my arms and face. I can't explain it, but whenever I get overwhelmed, it feels like a bunch of mosquitoes are having a field day on my body.

I got in the car and turned the key, starting up the engine. I scratched my arm again, frustrated this time.

"You alright?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Turning out of the parking lot, it was routine from there on out. I calmed down and took a few deep breaths, without Annabeth noticing hopefully. We fell into casual conversation, talking about school, our friends, all that jazz. Every now and then there would be silence, but it was comfortable silence. No need to search for words or fill in the blanks. Didn't have to with her.

Then of course, things got weird.

About halfway to Camp, just before entering the countryside that led to it, we always have to cross this small bridge over the river. It's nothing special to look at, it's just a bridge with four lanes on it, two for each direction of traffic. New York Rivers are nasty, so if you want to look at it from your car window, you'd be wasting time. It's basically a flowing sludgefest.

Coming up to it, I saw a huge jumble of cars, not in a straight line, but jagged and all messed up. It looked like multiple people had come to an abrupt stop, swerving, and skidding on brakes. A bunch of drivers were honking their horns and trying their best to reverse and turn around.

Turn around? This side's a one way. You can't.

"What's going on?" Annabeth said, leaning her head up to get a better look.

"Don't know…" It was really weird. Usually there's no traffic in this part of the city, it being one of many outskirts. Why was there suddenly a traffic jam?

"Annabeth." I said, "Hold on to the steering wheel for a second, I'm gonna roll the window down and try to get a better look."

She nodded and grabbed onto the wheel with one hand. She's honestly a better driver than me, so I trusted her. Besides, if I fell out I'd probably be okay. Probably…

I pushed the button and the glass pane slid down, revealing cold wind and the unmuffled sounds of screaming mortals and horns honking together. Okay, screaming mortals I didn't hear. That was a bad sign.

I leaned up and forced my upper body to emerge from the car. Looking out, I saw what the fuss was. It was a big fuss.

In the middle of the bridge, a giant monster was wreaking havoc. It looked exactly like that crab I fought on the Princess Andromeda a few years ago. The height of a bus and the width of a bulldozer, it was huge, and it's claws were even bigger. They swiped and bashed cars by the dozen, throwing them off the bridge and into the water. Mortals were killed and cut in half; I could tell by the blood caked on it's pinchers. It had already taken out half the jam. People had forgotten about getting out with their vehicles, they were running for their lives now. Hordes of them came running by my car screaming and running as fast as they could.

I stared in shock. This wasn't the same crab. No, the other one was solid red, and had a wider, broader shell. This one was a dark blue, it's shell rounder and dome-like, protecting it's soft body in an almost encompassing armor.

I tightened my lips, looking grimly at Annabeth, "It's a monster, Annabeth. We need to get these people out of here and stop it."

She didn't even question. She got out of the car and looked for herself. Her eyes widened when she saw the enormous crustacean.

"Oh gods…"

"Annabeth, I'm gonna try and distract it. You work on getting these people out of here." I quickly caught myself and added, "Just a suggestion." I didn't want it to seem like I was ordering her around.

But she didn't take it that way. "Okay. I'll try and direct the oncoming traffic away from here." I nodded, and pulled out Riptide from my pocket, uncapping the ballpoint pen. It elongated into my trusty celestial bronze sword, shining in the sunlight.

"Be careful." She said, "I'm serious."

I gave her my trademark smirk, "I got this."

With that, I pulled myself up to the roof of my car, and I came up with a quick, but probably reckless plan.

Oh who am I kidding, all of my plans are reckless. This one was no different.

I began to do parkour with the cars, not even mapping or planning out the jumps I should take, the distance I would need to make each leap, I just did it. Pure instinct. Story of my life.

It worked though, with each grunt, I jumped one footed on a car, then the next, playing the weirdest game of hopscotch ever. I got closer to Crabby each time. Thankfully most of the mortals had cleared out by now, all of them figuring out there was danger ahead, they were running the other direction. I looked back to make sure Annabeth was alright. She was stopping oncoming traffic and giving them the signal to wait up, all the meanwhile motioning for the civilians coming her way to keep it moving.

Crabby made another swipe with his blue claw, smashing a Toyota to bits and slamming it against the side of the bridge. The bridge itself looked pretty banged up too, with cracks and chipped marks everywhere. If this continued, the whole thing could collapse.

I jumped to the last car, or at least the car I felt safe to yell at the ugly monster.

"Hey!" I shouted, waving Riptide in the air.

That caught it's attention. It's long, creepy looking antennas for eyes turned to me. It's mouth started to foam, like it knew that I was a tastier kind of meat. Demigod meat. Are crabs even predators? I'm no biology major, so excuse me if that sounded stupid, but I've never seen a crab look at something the way this one was looking at me right now.

It thought one thing. Lunch.

"Looks like it's just you and me now!" I said, taunting. "Wait…are you hungry?"

It gave a hissing growl, saying Yes! Are you going to jump in my mouth?

I was kind of surprised. I understood it. Yes, it actually asked me that, and I heard it. Weird. I could talk to sea creatures, but I wasn't sure about monsters like these. Guess with my new training and understanding of the sea, it expanded my water-lingual abilities.

"Nah, I'm not jumping into your mouth. What, you think I'm stupid?"

Yes. It spoke.

"Why are you attacking these people? Who sent you?"

It didn't say anything that time, it must've finally realized that I wasn't going to willingly let it eat me. It hissed again and grabbed a car next to it, locking it's pinchers on the roof and picking it up. It's arm reared back and threw the two-ton car straight at me with surprising speed.

My eyes widened, "Woah!" I barely jumped in time to avoid it. The car hurdled next to my body and went over the bridge, splashing in the water not ten seconds later. I hit the roof of another car and rolled on it, hanging on to the groove in the windshield to keep myself from dangling off.

Grunting, I pulled myself up and managed to hold on to Riptide. "Hey! What was that for?!"

It thrust it's pinchers in frustration at the car I stood on. I tensed up and realized it was time to stop playing games. I was ready this time. I jumped up in time and let it smash the car beneath me, but I wasn't going anywhere.

I let gravity do it's thing and I landed on the crab's claws. When I did, I immediately started running towards it's face in an upwards climb. Aiming for the spot between it's eyes, I charged.

It swung it's available claw at me, trying to swat me off. I remembered what happened the last time I tried to hit it's armored skin. Nothing, that's what. The only vulnerable part of the crab from the Princess Andromeda, was it's belly, or the spot between it's eyes. The brain.

I found enough room to roll under it's swipe attempt, barely missing it. Quickly, I came up and jumped, stabbing Riptide down on it's brain.

The point of the blade hit the spot I was aiming for perfectly, the only problem…it didn't do damage.

It clanged on its armored skin. Armored, on the brain. I was wrong.

Crabby hissed, and it almost sounded like laughter. I felt it grab me by the claws and wrap it's tight grip around my torso. My ribs threatened to break from it's monstrous strength. This thing was far more dangerous than that crab on the cruise ship. This was something else entirely. Stronger and more durable.

I felt my stomach do a somersault when it threw me to the concrete, wind rushed in my ears and I could even hear the impact coming. I braced myself, but it was no use.

With a loud thud and crack, I hit the pavement, hard. I smacked around and tumbled until my side stopped on the side of the bridge. I immediately felt searing pain all over, the taste of iron in my mouth, throbbing in my shoulder. It might have been broken.

"Percy!" I heard, the voice getting closer as it said my name. Annabeth.

I felt her hand on me in seconds, pulling me up and looking at me with concern.

"Percy! Percy, are you okay?!" She asked, trying her best not to shake me.

I groaned, "Crab…strong. Too…strong."

The crab didn't let up. It threw another car, high tossing it in our direction. It threatened to rain down on us and crush us under it's weight. I couldn't hardly move, let alone move Annabeth out of the way.

But instead, she was the one that saved me. Wrapping her arm around my waist, she yanked me out and we fell five feet away, the car hit right where we sat, metal clanging and windows shattering. I felt some glass hit my face.

"Th-thanks…" I croaked. Shouldn't have underestimated her, she was more qualified to face this thing that me. Of course she'd save my butt.

"Don't mention it." She said, pulling me to a sitting position. "Found any weaknesses?"

"Maybe it's belly. I just aimed for the brain, but it seems to have some kind of armor, even on it's head. This monster's different. It belongs to someone else."

Someone else…

Oh no. The dots connected together in my head, sea monster, river, New York. Who's the baddie on the ocean floor right now? Who else would send this monster?

"Oceanus." I growled; my pain momentarily being replaced with hatred. Of course it was him. Who else has control over these things, other than my father? Crabby didn't wander off on his own, and he wasn't a "free-agent" monster like the Minotaur or the Nemean Lion. He was working for someone.

"You think he sent this?"

"No other explanation." I said, and looked up. "WATCH OUT!"

The crab, instead of using it's claws, decided to lean it's head forward and open it's disgusting mouth. It hissed loudly and sprayed foam everywhere. Annabeth pulled me aside and the gooey substance sprayed all over the bridges' edge. Almost instantly, it began to melt it away, eroding the concrete like it was nothing. Rubble fell into the water, parts of it even disappeared entirely.

"It's acid…" Annabeth said, "Just what is this thing?"

I gritted my teeth and stood up. "It's about to be dead, that's what. Annabeth, I've got a plan."

"You've got a plan?" She said, eyebrow raised.

"I know you're the planner in this relationship, but I actually think I have a good one this time."

We dodged another acid foam session and sidestepped to the left. The crab was at it's boiling point. It was angry now.

Annabeth threw caution to the wind, "Alright, go ahead! What's the plan?"

"You slide under it and try to go for it's belly. If it works, good, but if it doesn't…it'll offer up a good distraction."

"What do you mean? Distraction for what?"

I clenched Riptide, "I'm going to use my aura."

"Percy, are you sure that's smart? You just learned how to awaken it. You think you can control it?"

"It's worth a shot. Nothing else seems to be winning here. Let's try it."

She hesitated, but another swipe of the crab's claws and realizing we were kind of out of options, she nodded feverously.

"Okay, I'm going in!"

I got ready. As Annabeth pulled out the small celestial bronze knife from her pocket, I began to concentrate.

I let all of my distractions float away in my head, the worries of the world went away, even the sounds of the crab and the cars and the screaming mortals, gone.

I focused instead on my place. The place I go to when I want to awaken this power. Call it a happy place if you want to, because it sure is.

I'm on a beach, listening to the waves beat softly against the shore. It's low tide, the sun is out, seagulls cawing. I've just married Annabeth, she's by my side. Everything is perfect.

My pores opened, my skin began to tingle and I felt my bloodstream quicken it's pace. I smirked. It was working.

Invigorating energy flowed in me, my aura burst through and I felt a burst of awesome adrenaline rush out. I felt the auras of the mortals behind me, running frantically, I felt a stronger sense in Annabeth, and an even stronger one in the crab. It's hard to describe what it feels like, but imagine a snake, and how it feels heat, or even thermal vision. It's like I can just…sense another being's life force, like it brushes up against my consciousness and I can literally feel their heart beating in my hands.

A sea green glow surrounded me now, full and bright with power, it seeped into Riptide and encompassed it as well. I felt so alive, my shoulder wound was completely healed, I was stronger in an instant.

The tables had turned.

"Sorry Crabby, but this is it for you. Do it, Annabeth!"

She nodded at the signal, and ran at the crab. It hissed angrily and smashed it's claws in the ground, hitting the spot just behind Annabeth. She took her chance and slid under the creature's belly, reaching up with all her flexibility and stabbing it square in the soft spot.

It howled and writhed in pain. It worked. Annabeth had perfectly hit the two-foot circumference of the armor's weakness. The entire of the knife's blade went directly in Crabby's skin.

My turn.

Enraged, Crabby grabbed the biggest vehicle he could find, a big pickup truck. Stretching it's claws to it's limit, it grabbed the large vehicle and picked it up, pitching it at me with impossible speed.

Or…impossible speed to a mortal. For me, the moment I narrowed my eyes, time slowed down. The truck moved at a snail's pace, and I saw it coming at me without trouble. I wasn't even afraid, I wasn't even wary of the danger it presented, because it presented none. Even if it hit me, I wouldn't get hurt. The confidence that came with this new ability, this new aura…it was unreal.

I opened my eyes a little, and time sped up to it's normal speed. Thrusting out my hand, I focused energy into my palm. The middle of the truck's hood made contact, and burst in an instant.

That's right. I never thought I'd be able to say that. As soon as it hit my skin, it exploded into a million pieces. Tires flew, parts clanged everywhere, and a huge chunk of it just disintegrated.

The crab seemed surprised, but it didn't give up. It reached for another car.

But this time it wouldn't throw it. I didn't give it the chance. I jumped off the ground and used my lower strength to push. I flew up at Crabby, creating a shockwave behind me and a crater in the bridge. Putting Riptide at my side, I timed my strike just right.

With a hard swing of my arm, I slashed the crab right in it's midsection. My momentum led me forward, and I finally landed on the pavement on one knee, Riptide still outstretched in my after swing.

The crab gargled and choked on it's own foam behind me. I stood up and looked back, seeing that my strike had quite the effect on it, more so than I expected. A green line now glowed on it's stomach, like a little rope of energy marking where I had cut. A few seconds passed, and the top half of the crab's body slid off from the bottom half, hitting the side of the bridge and falling in the air.

Just before it reached the water, it faded into dust. Same with the lower half, it's pointed legs started to fall to the road, but before they could, they were gone.

It was over.

I calmed my energy and released my tension. The sea green aura faded, and Riptide returned to it's normal color, all of the power I held went away at the snap of a finger.

Looking at all of the chaos, It was no wonder the entire bridge didn't crumble. Standing there, I simply took in the catastrophe around me. Cars were piled up for a mile, hundreds of honking horns and angry civilians, shouting and raising their fists out their windows. A few people were even fighting, thinking that the person in front of them stopped for no reason.

As for the road itself, there were multiple cracks, craters, and scars in the concrete. All of those thrown cars had nearly destroyed it. It was a miracle that it had held up during all that punishment.

I spotted Annabeth on the ground, shielding her face.

I ran over to her and saw that she was still covered in monster dust. Oh that's gross, I've been there, and let me tell you, the stuff may not look horrible, but it doesn't smell very good.

She wiped it off and took my hand. I pulled her up.

"That was incredible, Percy." She said, wide eyed. "I…I'm sorry I doubted you. That was seriously impressive."

It wasn't often that Annabeth said things like that. I should've reveled in it and savored the moment, but sirens in the distance ruined it.

"Cops. Probably Paramedics too." Annabeth said, "We should get out of here."

"Right." I said, looking past the destruction and spotting my Prius still sitting there, blocked by a legion of other vehicles.

"Ah, but what about the Prius? If I lose that thing again mom's gonna kill me!"

She groaned, "We'll get it later! We've got to get out of here, come on." She grabbed my hand and dragged me away, me grumbling about how something bad always happens to my car.

Despite our victory, I got the sense that this wasn't over. I took a long look over the bridge as we walked off of it and made our covert escape. Oceanus…I know you're behind this.

And I've got the sinking feeling that the crab monster…was just the first of many attacks.

Before you ask, no we did not walk all the way to Camp.

We did the sensible thing. We hitchhiked.

Annabeth thought that was a bad idea at first, because who knows what's out there at this point. Your neighborhood taxi driver could be a monster in disguise (which actually has happened to us before) but we really didn't have much of a choice.

Luckily this guy in a truck was nice enough or dumb enough to stop. No offense to the guy, but most people don't pick up hitchhikers for good reason, that's a one-way ticket to getting robbed or stabbed around this city.

But we weren't looking to stab anybody, and he wasn't either. We had a mutual understanding.

We hopped in the bed of his truck, and he drove on. Giving him directions before he started driving. On the way I kept a look out for anything else coming from the woods or the sky. If something could attack in the middle of the city, then it most definitely could attack in the middle of nowhere. Oceanus didn't seem like the bloodthirsty type, no, he had a motive, and I already knew that. But why send that crab? Does he know about me?

The guy came up on the path leading to Camp. Annabeth knocked on the back window and motioned for him to stop, earning an eyebrow raise from the guy.

He slowed to a stop, and we jumped out.

"Thanks, man!" I called.

"Hey, you sure this is the place? There's nothing back there!"

"We're positive!" Annabeth said, forcing a smile. "Thanks!"

The man just shrugged and drove off, leaving Annabeth and I waiting for him to cross the curve. When he left sight, we jogged towards Camp, both making the same assumption. Had Oceanus sent monsters here too?

Swerving along the path, dodging tree branches, we booked it until we saw that familiar white roof. The Big House.

Please be okay, please be okay. I thought desperately. This place had already been destroyed once…and I don't think we can stand another rebuild.

But running up on the hill overlooking Camp, Annabeth and I saw that nothing had happened. Everything was normal. Campers were walking about, the cabins looked fine, Big house was intact, and even Mr. D was here, sitting on the front porch.

We…were wrong.

"There doing just fine without us…" Annabeth said, a little disappointed. I could tell by the way her face fell, that she half expected campers to be fighting in the volleyball pit, general chaos raging all around so that we could stop it and know that they really needed us.

Turns out, they don't.

I wasn't about to say it, but I was glad. They could survive without us, of course they could. Some of them, especially Ares kids could be a little rough and hard to deal with, but at the end of the day, we're a group, and besides, a bunch of the counselors are adults themselves.

Still though, I found myself putting a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, it's alright. Let's just be glad that it hasn't been attacked."

"Should we go down there?"

She almost seemed nervous when asking that question. Nervous about entering her own home. It didn't sound right.

"Of course we should." I said firmly, "Just because we aren't in charge doesn't mean this isn't our home too." I motioned with my head and started walking down the hill, "Come on."

We slowly walked down the steep hill leading to the edge of Camp. In front of us stood the Big House, then next to that, the array of cabins. Campers continued their various activities, looking normal as ever.

That is, until we got in their line of sight.

Annabeth and I stopped in front of the Big House's steps, and caught the attention of every nearby camper. They turned and stopped what they were doing, staring at us.

I gulped, Annabeth tensed up, ready to argue. The campers sort of looked at each other and a couple of them whispered, but nothing was outright said.

I scanned the crowd, unsure of what to do. Should we go in the Big house, or would that be pushing it? Go to our old cabins, or would that be too awkward? I was trying to come up with a half decent solution, when I heard a familiar voice, and saw black hair come up from the crowd.

"Hey…Percy, Annabeth." Nico said, emerging from the staring group. "What are you doing here?"

Just as quickly, before we could even say anything, Aiden popped up from the side, most likely just coming from the lake. I could tell he had been sweating. Most likely paddling a canoe or something.

"They're where they belong, Nico." He said in a rather challenging tone. "What, are they not allowed to even step foot here anymore?"

Nico tightened his lips and looked at the ground, "I never said that. And I'm not in charge either."

Aiden threw his hands up, "Oh yeah, I forgot that no one is! Mr. D's not, you're not, so who the hell's in charge, Nico?!"

Nico didn't say anything. The guy looked like he used to whenever we did anything or went on a quest- like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Yeah, that's right, don't say anything!" Aiden shouted, "None of you say a damn word! That'll fix things!" He snorted in disgust and threw a dismissive hand at the crowd. They shrunk under his words and started to disband, talking amongst themselves. Even Nico got uncomfortable and decided to walk off.

Aiden came over to us, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Boy, am I glad you guys are back. This place has been a real shit show."

"What happened?" Annabeth asked.

"Pfft, nothing too crazy. It's just been a damn mess, that's all. Nobody gives announcements, so kids have no idea what's available to do for the day, or where they're supposed to go. Nobody handles important assignments or makes schedules for guard duty, patrol, satyr recruiting, or anything! Mr. D's just sitting on his ass, and everyone's been running around like a headless chicken for two days!" He clutched his hands to his chest pleadingly, "Please tell me you guys are gonna be directors again."

Annabeth and I exchanged a look. So they weren't doing all that great. I didn't take joy in it whatsoever. I wanted to organize this place, make it work perfectly, but more than that, I felt anger at Mr. D. Why didn't he step up here?

I glared at him on the porch, he just kept looking at some magazine he was reading. I'd talk to him later.

"We're not…sure, Aiden." Annabeth said, "We just came by to check in and see what was going on."

"Yeah man, we're not trying to intrude. When we stepped down, we stepped down."

Aiden groaned, "No! You guys don't get it! People want you to come back!"

I reared my head back, "They do?"

"Hell yeah! Dude, I've been chatting around camp, and like, the entire freaking place has been talking about how stupid they were acting when they ganged up on you. They really regret it guys, I'm being serious."

"And Nico?"

Aiden's face darkened at that, "Nico's Nico, what do you expect. Not gonna budge."

I could tell something had been going on between the two, it was obvious. Whether we were the cause of it, I didn't know. But if that was true…then I felt guilty.

Annabeth shook her head, "We'll just have to see, Aiden. I'm going to go say hi to Malcolm." Malcolm was her half-brother, and counselor of the Athena cabin. "I'll be back, Percy."

She jogged off to her cabin, a bunch of campers trying to hide their stares as she ran by. I caught them.

Once she left earshot, I turned to Aiden. "Alright man, what's been going on between you and Nico?"

Aiden hesitated, but sighed soon after. "We got into an argument. I said some things, he said some things…and we broke up."

"Oh…I'm sorry dude." Now I felt horrible. "It wasn't over us stepping down, was it?"

"Nah. Well…yeah, partly. But I don't know, things have just been rough lately, and it's more of a little break than a full on break up. We just need some time apart."

That didn't sugarcoat it at all. "I understand." I looked around and took a closer look, trying to rack my brain and figure out what day it even was.

"Hey Aiden, what's today?"

"Friday. Why?"

Wow, already Friday. "Well, the Halloween Party was supposed to be tomorrow. Is everybody still going to do that, or…" I took a look around, peering my head up and noting the lack of decorations.

Aiden shrugged, "Nah. We all kind of forgot about it when you guys left, and with their no one to give directions or lead us, and Mr. D unwilling, we just sort of cancelled it."

That…really sucked. No, that sucked even more than sucking. We'd been planning that Halloween party for weeks! SO much time and effort went into it, the entire Camp was looking forward to it, and now it's just canceled?

No.

"We're having it tonight."

Aiden looked at me incredulously, "Wait, what? Tonight? How?"

I winked at him, "A little bit of leading."

He still wasn't catching on. I decided not to explain it to him, but to show him. I walked over to the dining area and stood on one of the tables, cupping my hands over my mouth.

"Everyone, listen up!"

My voice was loud enough to gain the attention of just about everyone. They all turned and looked up at me, a few of them not in the group before were surprised to see me, they whispered to each other and pointed.

"I know all of you weren't expecting to see me today, and never again as a leader of this camp. I assure you; I've still stepped down! But I just wanted to see if you all were still interested in having the Halloween Party. We could have it tonight instead of tomorrow."

There were a few smiles and excited chatter, people nodding their heads, but many still uncertain.

"Let me be clear, if you guys don't want to, we don't have to. I just figured how long we spent planning it, ordering the materials, decorations, and everything in between, that it'd be a huge waste not to have it!" I shrugged, "You guys in?!"

At that, there was a collective shout, and even a few fist pumps. Okay, now we're getting somewhere.

I smiled, "Alright! Well, to get this thing going, we're gonna have to make this place look the part! So I need a few people on decorations, a few people on moving the tables around, setting stuff aside, a few people on…" I went on to explain what we'd have to do if we still wanted this party. To be honest, as soon as I started mentioning work, I figured everyone would groan and be off board. But surprisingly, they listened intently and nodded to everything I said. Heck, I just kept going.

"If we do all of that, then we should be set. Once we get done then we can get started!"

More cheers and fist pumps. I had to admit, I was getting pretty excited myself about this. Everyone moved to work, and I stood there, smiling like an idiot, and looking at the crowd.

I took a right and my eyes fell on Annabeth, standing there smirking.

"So, we're having the party after all, then?"

I hopped down and walked over to her, shrugging, "Yeah, kind of an impulsive decision. But we planned so hard, I just hated to see all of it go to waste."

She shook her head, "I agree. After staying up all those nights trying to get this thing sorted out, you better believe I want a party too."

Everyone started taking out the decorations we had gotten, talking about where to put them, conversing with each other. It was a blast. My mood was awesome, until I spotted Mr. D, still on the porch.

I frowned, "I'll be right back."

Walking past Annabeth, I didn't give her time to notice who I was talking about. I wanted to speak to the lazy god alone.

I stormed right up to him and put my hands on my hips, "This where you've been sitting for the past two days?"

He flipped a page in the magazine. It was something about wine from Olympus. Figures.

"Oh, me? No, I've been doing a little bit of this, a little bit of that. The usual."

His smirk was getting on my nerves, I could feel my anger boiling to the point where my skin got hot.

"I can't believe you'd just let this place get the way it did. Aiden said there was no leadership, no direction, nothing. I know you don't exactly like this place, but jeez man, at least keep it from falling apart!"

This time he sighed, closed the magazine, and stood up.

"I didn't have to, Johnson. The only thing I had to do, was sit here and wait for you to come back and take charge." He gestured to the working camp, already setting up the party much quicker than I expected. They were all working together, not arguing, but trying to figure out solutions to problems they could solve. It was an incredible sight from the porch. It was small, sure, but it really felt like the good old days, when the Camp would come together.

Mr. D patted me on the shoulder, "Glad you took my advice." He walked off, strutting, and sipping his wine.

I was left biting my own tongue and shaking my head, speechless.

After a couple of hours, we got it all put together.

It was actually impressive, and should be considered a feat, honestly. The amount of sheer teamwork that went into this, unreal.

I helped Campers put up the decorations and move the tables out of the way. Annabeth guided and told them what to do, reminding them of the layout and the way it should all look, giving them reference. I worked up a bit of a sweat, but it was probably one of the best days I've had in the past few months.

The only bummer was Nico. I hadn't seen him since we returned. Not in his cabin, not in the Big House, not in the arena, and not in any other part of Camp. I asked around, but no one else had seen him. I started to ask Aiden, but I thought better of it. The two were clearly fighting, and probably didn't want to hear the other's name right now.

Either way, I tried not to let it distract me. By the end of the day, at sunset, Annabeth and I took a step back and looked at what all of us had done.

It was awesome.

The place looked spooky, for lack of a better word. We had put up orange and black banners, cobwebs, fake ghosts, zombies, vampires, witches with cauldrons emitting steam, smoke machines, creepy lights, and the entire works. It was like a freaking monster mash out here, everything looked Halloween, even the normal camp buildings. We had thrown a bunch of stuff on them too to make them fit the theme.

In the dining hall, we cleared out all of the tables and put up a disco ball on the ceiling, multiple neon lights on the floor, and a large DJ's table to the side. Forming the perfect makeshift dance floor.

Annabeth breathed, "Worth it."

"Totally." I said, nodding with pride.

"Did someone call a DJ?"

We turned to the voice and saw that lo and behold, it was Grover. My best and honestly first friend, ever. We'd made the mistake of hiring him as our DJ. Hear me out, Grover hasn't always had the best taste in music, but lately he's gotten better. Besides, we've already given him a list of things not to play, including the reed pipes.

His outfit though? Extra.

Of course he'd gone over the top. It might've looked cool on someone…I don't know, professional? But on Grover, it didn't. He'd thrown on this backwards ball cap and golden chains around his neck, followed by a tracksuit, a big designer coat, and Jordans over his hooves. Basically, he looked like a wannabe rapper.

I couldn't help but smile and hug him, "Good to see you, G-Man."

He reached over and hugged Annabeth too, who was dumbfounded by the clothing choice. "Why the outfit Grover? We told you to be casual."

He stepped back and popped his collar, "Ah you know me, I'm chill everywhere I go."

I wanted to throw up, but I couldn't. I'd missed him too much. He goes off on these trips, him being a lord of the wild and all, he's basically a nature god. He has to make sure everything is safe, talk to spirits, keep conflicts from happening, all that jazz.

"The outfit's lame, man." I said bluntly, "But…I missed you. Thanks for showing up."

He smiled, "You know I wouldn't miss it, Percy. It's been so long!" He made his signature goat noise, "The camp looks amazing!"

I was about to start a conversation with him and ask how the nature trip had been going, but Aiden ran up with leaves in his hair, panting and putting his hands on his knees.

"H-hate to interrupt but…Ares…kids…fighting over…skeleton."

That was all he needed to say. Ares kids fighting. That's never a good thing. Getting in the middle of that is like getting in the middle of two bulls locking horns.

Annabeth sighed, "I'll handle it. Come on, Aiden." They jogged off, leaving me alone with Grover.

"Well, I'm gonna go and see if I can figure out that table over there." Grover said, pointing to the DJ's table.

"Wait, you don't know how to use it?"

"I'll figure it out! See ya soon, Percy!" He trotted off to the dining hall. So scratch that, now I'm alone.

I sighed, and thought again about Nico. I figured he was still mad, but he could at least put our differences aside and come enjoy the party.

Idiot, put yourself in his shoes. I understood why he was mad at us, and…I honestly don't know what to think, or even say. Am I supposed to feel bad for helping Levi escape? Because I sure helped. It's such a complicated situation…I can't really wrap my head around it. He has every right to hate Levi, yes, but at the end of the day, it was Harper's choice. The guy's trying to right his wrongs, and if Nico killed him…he'd never get a chance to prove himself.

But then again, Nico didn't see Levi's memories, he didn't hear the sincerity in his voice when he talked to us.

Complicated situation.

If he wanted to be left alone, then that's fine. I'm gonna go and have fun for once.

When it got dark outside, the party was in full blast.

I'd never seen such a thing at Camp. Our closest match to something like this would be our singalongs by the campfire, and while those are fun, it doesn't come close to this.

First off, Grover actually picked out some good songs. Modern stuff, keeping it upbeat and the whole thing alive. He really did his homework on that nature trip, I guess.

The whole place looked like a dance club or something, lights swirling around and the music volume high. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, laughing, dancing, and stuffing their faces with the refreshments the harpies made. It was almost unrecognizable, especially since this was the same place that struggled just to rebuild, to get back on it's feet. In those times, the same faces were depressed, but now their full of joy. You can't describe a better feeling.

We were maybe an hour in. I had gotten some monster punch (not made from actual monsters) and danced around a little bit, cracked some jokes, this and that. I kept it low key on the dancing though, because trust me, if I really get into the groove, it'll look like an epileptic monkey.

However I kept missing one person. Annabeth.

A couple of times I spotted her walking around frantically trying to make sure everything was in order. If a light even flickered the wrong way, she was on it. Every time I tried to get her eyes locked with mine, urge her to ease up, but she never saw me.

I stood there, in the middle of the strobing dance floor, surrounded by couples or groups of people, having fun. Annabeth was on the side, chatting with Grover, smiling, and holding a red cup of that good monster stuff. Again, not from an actual monster, it's like berry or something, I promise.

In that moment, I drank her in. I'd done it before, but right now, seeing her talk to Grover, I saw a series of flashbacks. The three of us as kids, so small, so confused, but brave. We tried to put on that front that we knew what we were doing, or well, they did. I never did, I always admitted that I had no idea what was going on.

But still, seeing that she's not that kid anymore, that annoying girl that always nags me about every little thing…it really makes me understand just how far we've come. When I first met her, I never knew I would grow to love her this much.

On instinct, from the heart or the head, I'm not sure, I walked over to her.

She spotted me and smiled, "Hey, Percy. Having fun?"

"I will be in a minute." I said, turning to Grover. "Throw on a slow song for me, man."

Grover gave a sly smirk, his eyes darted between the two of us. "Oh, I got you, Percy."

Even in the series of flashing lights, I could see Annabeth's visible surprise and her flushing face. "Uh, Percy…what are you-"

I held out my hand, palm up. "I was thinking we got interrupted at Westover Hall, and…I think I owe you a dance."

It took her a second to remember, and when she did…her expression was priceless. Her eyes became glassy, and she gave the warmest smile I'd seen her give in a long time. I could feel the love radiating from her at my little callback.

She nodded, and placed her hand in mine. "All right, Seaweed Brain."

I laughed, and pulled her onto the floor. Grover switched the beat, and the upbeat, loud song morphed into something much slower. A soothing beat, a gentle voice, the lights stopped flashing, instead remaining a dark blue. Couples all grabbed each other and placed hands properly, embracing, and swaying side to side, like one person.

We stopped near the middle, and I smirked. "Shall we?"

She tried to hold her laugh in, "We shall."

I carefully put my hands on her waist, she in turn, gently wrapped her arms around my neck. We were locked in, and I never wanted to let go. Gazing into those gray eyes, inhaling her scent with every breath…man, I could do this forever.

"You look beautiful."

She smiled and averted her gaze to my chest, then back up to my eyes, giving me a once over. "Not so bad yourself."

"Alright fine, you don't have to say I'm hot. I already know it."

She lightly slapped my back, "Don't get cocky."

For a minute we stayed in sync with everybody else, swaying side to side, turning slowly. The song filled my ears as ambience, but it was simply that, ambience. I only focused on her voice, because that's all I wanted to hear.

"Remember that night?" She asked, "Gods, that feels so long ago."

I knew she was referring to my callback on Olympus, when we danced together. Right after the confrontation with Atlas and the meeting where we decided to keep Bessie in the palace. Bessie was a half cow half fish by the way, and at one point the key to the world's fate. We'll not get into that though, it's ancient history.

"Yeah." I responded, a near mutter. "I do. That quest was insane."

Her smile fell a little, and she bit her lip, "Yeah…nuts."

I instantly cringed. That wasn't really a quest for her, it was more of trying to stay alive and hold up the sky kind of thing. She had been captured.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."

"Oh no, it's fine. All in the past now."

But it wasn't. Something kept gnawing at me, like I needed to say something, or get it off my chest.

"I think that was when I realized I had feelings for you."

She raised her eyebrows, "Really? Why then?"

"I don't know…I just, at that time I guess I only thought of you as a good friend. But then…when you were taken away from me, I truly realized what you meant to me. I've never really told you this, but…"

She looked on with anticipation, her eyes now like a doe's, gazing into mine with an intense, yet gentle precision. Her hands tightened around my neck ever so slightly, boosting my resolve in continuing.

"But I thought I was going to lose my mind, Annabeth. Without you, I felt so alone. I mean yeah, I had Grover, Thalia, and the hunters. But…it just wasn't the same. It felt like a part of me was missing. I was willing to do anything to get you back, and when I finally did…I think that's when it really hit me."

Annabeth brought her hands up to the back of my head and pulled me closer. When we touched foreheads, she kept me there.

"That's not going to happen again. Okay, Percy? I'm not going anywhere."

I half smiled, "I know, and neither am I. You're stuck with me."

"I can't think of a more perfect situation, Seaweed Brain."

I grinned, and moved my head to the side, resting my chin on her shoulder. The dance became far more intimate, but I didn't care. We'd been through too much, and sometimes just making sure that she was actually here, the feeling of her in my arms and this close…it comforts me.

We fell into the dance once again, I could feel every nerve calming down, even slowing too a near stop. I was at peace for a few seconds…until I smelled something odd.

I sniffed once, then twice, and looked down at the floor.

Below us, sat a trail of slime. Green goo in a straight line going in between people, starting at the DJ's table, and going off into the distance. I couldn't tell what had caused it, whatever it was had already left the area.

Nobody else had spotted it yet, maybe I could find out what it was and get rid of it before anything happened.

Reluctantly, I pulled away from Annabeth. "I'll be right back."

She tried to pull me back in, "What's wrong?"

I didn't want to lie, or at least full-on lie. I decided to bend the truth a little, as if that's not the same thing, but oh well. "I need to find Nico. I just thought about it, I haven't seen him the whole dance. You think he's okay?"

A look of disappointment flashed on her face before she looked off towards the direction of the beach, "I don't know, I haven't seen him either. Maybe…yeah, you're right, you should go check."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. He might be in danger…who knows. You're right to want to find him."

I could tell she didn't fully mean that, but I let it go past me. I couldn't dwell on it, or tell her the truth. Then she would worry, and then everyone else would worry, and the party would be ruined. I didn't want that to happen. All of these kids deserved a break.

Leaving the dance floor, the slow song became distant and muffled in the background, being replaced by the sound of leaves dangling in the wind, crickets in the bushes, waves crashing in the distance. Nothing unusual…but where did that trail go?

I looked around for a bit, then decided it was pointless. Even with the moonlight, it wasn't enough. I decided to test out my new abilities.

With the sea so nearby, it wasn't hard to access my aura. I did what Triton told me, I concentrated on the energy around me, letting it take over instead of focusing on my own. The connection with nature is the key. You've got to let go of interpersonal connection, and focus on elemental connection…or something like that. He used a lot of big words.

Either way, It didn't take long before I locked on to something weird. I couldn't recognize it, but it was a faint trail of energy leading to the ocean.

I followed the feeling and found myself walking down the path that led to the beach. There was slime on the ground alright, as the green goo thickened and got more abundant, I didn't even have to use sensing to see where this was going. It had either come from the water, or escaped in the water. Maybe both.

I passed the trees and came out into the opening, where all the dunes sat. I was surprised to see the trail make a left, and even more surprised to see that it ended where Nico was sitting.

Nico sat, legs bent before him and arms resting on his knees, staring at the ocean. His Stygian Iron sword sat on the sand by his side, and I could make out another thing at his opposite hip, it looked like…a giant dead insect.

I cleared my throat, "Nico?"

He looked over for a moment, then turned away again, his voice monotone. "Hey."

I walked over slowly, and peered over to the thing that lay next to him. It sure looked like an insect, but it was wet with water, so I knew it had to have come from the sea.

It looked like a fat centipede, much wider and larger, about the size of a basketball. It was gray, and appeared to have long antennas, along with a bunch of spiky, thin legs. It kind of creeped me out to be honest, I'd never seen a bug that big.

I reared my head back, "What the heck is that thing?"

Nico broke his gaze and looked at the insect. I took a moment to glance at his sword, and found that at the tip, it was caked in some kind of yellow juicy substance. The insects fluids, probably.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it looks exactly like a Trilobite." He said, "Which is weird, because they're extinct."

Trilo-what? Ah, whatever. I don't know biology, like I've said before. Monster gone, all good. I do understand that.

"Oh…okay. So that's what you were doing?"

He shrugged, "I guess. I saw it near the party, just wandering around and making a weird trail behind it, so I went to pick it up, but it attacked me. I had to put it down."

"Oh…right." I said, a little nervous, and kind of shocked. So Nico was around the entire time, and he actually helped potentially save us?

I sat down next to him, but not too close, afraid that it might make him angry being in such close proximity. But he didn't care.

"Parties aren't really my thing. That's why I wasn't up there."

"Gotcha." I nodded, feeling a little relieved. I figured he was mad at me, and that's why he didn't show up. "I just threw it because we planned so long for it, and those kids deserve a little something to get their mind off of-"

"Percy, it's fine." He said, interrupting. "It's a good thing you're doing. I have no problem with it. It's just not my area of enjoyment."

"Yeah, I know."

We stayed silent for a moment. It didn't feel awkward, because I knew we needed to clear the air. Believe me, I've been in enough of those situations to know that when it happens, sometimes you need silence to gather your words. It helps clear your head and put together a decent way of saying your part.

He broke it first, "I've had some time to think over the last couple of days, and I just want to say…I'm sorry for the way I acted towards you and Annabeth. The camp feels the same way. We- no I got so angry when I saw Levi again, that I just snapped on you two, and Matt, and everyone. I acted like a fool."

I looked at him sympathetically, "You're not a fool. You were angry, and you had a right to be angry. He killed Will. I can't imagine the kind of pain you went through. I mean…if someone killed Annabeth, yeah, I'd hate them forever too, and I'd probably never sleep until I killed them."

"But still, it consumes you. The feeling of revenge, the feeling of hatred. It's…tiring, Percy. It's a heavy burden to bear. At first, I was angry with Harper for releasing him instead of killing him, but then I realized…she's the biggest victim in all of this. That's her brother, and she does remember a time when he was different. She wants to get that back, even if it seems hopeless, and I was blind to that. I didn't care about her emotions because I was so focused on mine."

I didn't know what to say. Nico rarely talks about his emotions, even back then, he never did. Hearing him open up about his feelings towards all of this, it was refreshing. Really refreshing.

He continued, "I'll never forgive him. What he did…it can't be undone, and I'll always hold resentment for that. But I am sorry I lashed out on you. You were just trying to do the right thing, and I shouldn't have brought up that whole you're not fit to be leader crap. You are. Both you and Annabeth deserve to lead this camp more than anyone. When you two were away, everything fell apart, and it was only for two days."

"So…we can come back?" I asked hesitantly.

He snorted, "It was never up to me, you know that. If you guys want to, and can forgive us for the things we said…then we'd be happy to have you guys back."

I wanted to reassure him that we held no resentment, or even hug him. But I figured that would be going too far. I still smiled and gave him a comforting look.

"Don't beat yourself up man. You're a good person that had a horrible hand dealt to them. I don't blame you for anything, Nico. We may have had our differences, and still do sometimes, but you'll always be one of my closest friends."

He turned to me and gave one of his rare smiles. "Thanks. That means a lot, Percy. Really."

"Anytime. Oh, and by the way, you gotta fix things with Aiden man."

At that, his smile fell, and he sighed, "Aiden."

I knew I shouldn't have brought it up, but in a way, I kind of had too. Both of them weren't going to make the first move, so it took a little middleman action to bring them back together. I could tell Aiden missed him, and probably regretted whatever argument they'd gotten into.

"We never should've let it get out of hand." He said, "It was such a stupid argument too."

"Just talk to him." I reassured, "That's the key to everything, talking and listening. I'm sure if you guys just sit down and have a good conversation, you can rebuild your relationship."

He raised an eyebrow, "That's actually…pretty good advice, Percy. When did you become smart?"

The subtle burn was enough to make me chuckle, "I have my moments."

I leaned back on my hands, deciding not to stay too much longer. Annabeth was waiting for me after all, and even though it was short, I had a pretty good talk with Nico. Just about everything for the night was solved.

"Yeah, Aiden's a good guy. You two are-"

"PERCY, WATCH OUT!"

My face hadn't even shifted from contentment to shock when the object hit me. Immediate pain surged through my shoulder and my entire body started burning. It felt as if I was melting on the spot.

My eyes widened and I yelled out in pain. Looking over to the source, I saw a long staff of metal jutting out of my shoulder. The material was shiny and silver, thin like a spear. It had gone about halfway through.

"GAGHH!" I screamed, another wave of pain hit and I fell over on my back, I reached up to grab the spear, buy my hands were trembling so bad I couldn't even control it.

Nico hopped up and grabbed his sword, facing the beach.

"Who's out there?!" He shouted, "Who the hell did that?!"

A flash of brilliant light shot out from the direction of the shore and hit Nico square in the chest. I had no view of the intruder, only Nico's upper half recoiling with the blast and getting thrown backwards several feet. I heard bushes crack and trees break as he flew through them.

"N-Nico…" I growled, the pain now nigh unbearable. It seeped into my bloodstream and stung all over, like fire in my nerves, millions of fire ants on my body. It only got worse with each passing second.

My ears rang, every background noise, including the wind and the waves were gone. I only heard the sound of clanking metal in a rhythm. Footsteps of armor coming towards me slowly.

Finally, a face appeared above me, taking Nico's previous spot. It glowered down at me, cold and dead eyed. I was starting to fade between a conscious and unconscious state, but I could make out short gray hair, a trimmed beard of equal color, shining teal eyes, which I thought a rather odd color for someone's eye to be. He wore a hulking suit of silver armor, jutting out in jagged points at his shoulder and covering his entire body.

"Percy Jackson. Nice to finally meet you." He said, his voice almost polite and suave, like a charismatic businessman. "Nothing personal, but I'm going to destroy this place."

He grabbed the hilt of the spear and yanked it out of my shoulder in one motion. The pain amplified ten-fold and I screamed out loudly at the top of my lungs, nothing held back. It had to be him, this had to be Oceanus. Who else could it be? His power was immense, I could tell even without feeling his aura. The way he snuck up on us, the spear throw, his voice, and casualty. It was clear.

"Y-you won't. I won't let…you."

He leaned down and reached in my pocket, digging in there until he found Riptide. How did he know about that? We'd never even met before. Did he-

I connected the dots, and all of it made sense now.

He had captured my dad's men. I've met them before, and they knew about Riptide, they knew about it being a pen. He'd interrogated them, asking about me.

He sent that insect to scout out how many people there were, leaving behind a trail of not slime, but aura, so he would know the way.

This guy was even more dangerous than I thought. He's smart, along with being strong.

He threw Riptide down the beach, out of sight. "By the time you reawaken, I'm afraid everything will be gone. But by all means, try your best."

Oceanus walked off, leaving me in a puddle of my blood.

Suddenly my priorities shifted so drastically, going from enjoying the party and dancing with Annabeth to saving her from death. He would surely kill everyone in sight if he got the chance. I couldn't let that happen. Whether it was his intention or not, he came here from something bad. Heck, he probably could've killed me right then with the spear.

Using what little energy I had left, I heaved myself forward and started crawling to the water. I could heal myself up a bit there and hope for the best. At least I'd be able to stand and put up a decent fight. With all of those campers unprepared, without armor and weapons…yeah, this wasn't good. It almost makes me wonder if he knew about this, watched us from a distance or something.

It doesn't matter how he got here. He's here, and I need to act.

My shoulder throbbed and bled, making my arm nigh unmovable, I had to use my good one to drab me foot by foot, closer to the water. I grunted in pain with each pull, tears threatened to escape my eyes. This definitely made it to the top five of my times I almost died list.

Finally, I reached the waves. A good thing too, because I couldn't go anymore, my energy had been depleted. I slammed my hand down and stretched my arm as far as it would go. I felt the tiniest bit of water hit my fingertips, and that was enough to do it.

It gave me enough energy to get up and throw myself in the water. Hitting it face first, I immediately felt reinvigorated, the wound on my shoulder started to close up, the bleeding stopped, the throbbing pulsed with a smaller amount of pressure. I was back in the fight.

I pushed myself up and stood, reaching for Riptide in my pocket, I didn't feel it there. Oceanus had thrown it somewhere down the beach. Not a big problem, since Riptide always returns to me, even if it's been thrown miles away, one of its abilities is to always come back. But even that had a cooldown period. It took a few minutes for it to take effect.

I didn't have a few minutes. I cursed under my breath and decided to power up. Using my bare fists would do for now until I got it back. With the power of the sea still connected fresh with me, the vast body of water behind me, I released my aura and felt the strength overtake me. Sea green aura burst from my skin and surrounded it in an outline. My senses became greater, my strength amplified, my speed, my endurance, my durability, all off the charts. I felt incredible.

I exhaled, "No one attacks my Camp and gets away with it. Not again."

I felt Oceanus's aura. It was big, not going to lie, bigger than mine, but I wouldn't back down just because I was at a disadvantage. Shoot, just about all of my battles had been that way.

All around me though, I felt other auras emerging from the ocean. I looked around and saw a legion of the same crabs as earlier, these maybe a little smaller, crowding the beach and charging camp.

Each was about the size of the one before, all of them scuttled thunderously up the sand, their pinchers out in front of them, ready to kill.

No you don't.

I simply yelled, my aura burst from me and surge in a twenty-foot radius, blowing back the crabs on their shells, literally toppling them over. There were more than I thought. With them on their backs I got a better view of the rest of the beach, and to my horror…there were crabs as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of them.

Fine.

I could see everything clearly now, with a simple fist clench, I knew I held enough power to end this little nuisance here and nip it in the bud. I jumped at the first one and punched it square in it's belly, splattering it into dust on impact. I wanted to stare at my hand in awe after that, but I resisted the urge and kept going. If I could focus solely on Oceanus, I might have a chance.

Darting around to the downed crabs, I hit all of them in the same spot, not one of them resisted or had the strength to survive. They all exploded in a golden array of monster debris.

Turning to my right, all of them walked in a straight line. I took the chance to wipe out as many as I could. Bending down, I looked like one of those track runners right before the starting pistol. In my head, I shouted GO! And used the sand as a launchpad.

It happened in the blink of an eye. First, I left the ground instantly and created a huge shockwave where my foot stood. I hit the first crab in it's side, bashing my shoulder into it. Either my aura was so powerful, or the strength was too much, that it literally burned through the monsters. I dove right through them and melted their bodies. Hundreds upon hundreds of them became nothing at my impact. I corkscrewed through nearly all of the army by the time I was done. When I reached the end, I saw nothing but empty beach ahead. I slammed my heels into the sand and stopped myself, going for another pass.

But then it hit me…they can handle these things. It's Oceanus I need to worry about, he's the problem. He could be going after Annabeth.

That was enough for me to get dead serious again. I locked on to his aura and willed myself to reappear there. Using all of my leg strength, I did so, and ran right up to him. I found him with his silver spear hefted in the air, to my utter disbelief…holding two campers on it like a shish kebab.

He'd stabbed them through the chest and held them over his head, blood fell from their mouths and the drops landed on his face. I could literally see him just staring at them as the blood dripped on his skin. What kind of freak is he?

"You…monster." Was all I said, it came out as a growl. Thankfully, the damage hadn't been worse. Camp was still mostly intact, but the crabs that I didn't kill had made their way up here, the party had been ruined, and campers were now running around grabbing gear and barking orders, desperately trying to shift into battle mode to fend the monsters off.

But still. Two campers. Two dead. That's two more than I can tolerate.

Oceanus turned around and eyed me, his brow raising a little at the aura. "So you have awakened your true abilities. That's a shame. I wanted to end your life quicker, that way you suffer no more than necessary."

Just as he said that, he flicked the spear and threw off the two campers, throwing them right next to him and causing them to flop on the ground, dead.

I glared at him, pure hatred flowing through me. This guy was no better than Ouranos, than Atlas, all of those guys. Anyone that plays the fake honor act deserves none. Killing innocents is over the edge, too much. If he wanted me, then he should have kept that between us.

But the thing that got to me, especially now that I've seen him up close…he looks like a normal dude. Only a couple of inches taller than me, short gray hair and a trimmed beard, an athletic, muscular build, but nothing outrageous or overly huge. Tan skin, a few wrinkles, covered in the smell of the sea…he kind of looked like he could be dad's older brother. More so than Zeus even.

But there was something behind that façade, behind those seemingly passive eyes. There was a sinister resolve to do absolutely whatever it takes to achieve what he wants. Maybe he doesn't enjoy it or take pleasure in it, but he holds no bones about doing it, doesn't give it a second thought. He thinks oh well, that's just the way it is, so I'll do it.

"Do you know who I am?"

He nodded, "You're Poseidon's child. Percy Jackson. I've known about you for a long time."

"Why are you doing this? Why now? Are you working for Ouranos?"

He didn't break his eyes away from mine, and vice versa. I just had to have faith in everybody else that they could handle those monsters, because for now, Oceanus had stopped because he was talking to me. I wanted to actually find out his reasoning, but at the same time, I also wanted to stall him.

It worked, because he answered instead of just attacking me. "No, I don't work for him. Despite the common trend of my brethren doing so, I don't share that action. I'm doing this for my own personal agenda. Your father doesn't deserve his position and the power he has over the sea, so I plan to take it back."

"Doesn't deserve it?" I said, nearly shouting. "Doesn't deserve it?! Are you kidding me?!"

He just stared at me; his face unchanged.

"He loves the sea! He'd do anything he could to protect it! And what have you done? Huh?! You've gone and destroyed most of it, just so you could take away my dad's power!"

At that, his eye twitched a little and his lips tightened. I was getting some emotion out now. "I did what I had to do. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made." He clenched the spear, "Like now. You are innocent, Percy, but you are a potential threat. I must get rid of you if I want my old power back."

Okay, stalling time is over. Now I have to fight him. I tauntingly wiggled my fingers, "Alright then, show me what you got old man."

He ran forward and held the spear in the air, aiming it down on me. I silently prayed that Riptide would be in my pocket when I reached for it. I pleaded and pleaded, then felt…

And it was there.

Feeling a great deal of relief, I pulled the pen out and uncapped it, revealing Riptide in all it's glory. It elongated along with my aura, expanding, and covering it up protectively. Just as it became full, I held it over my head and blocked Oceanus's spear. The two weapons clanged together and created a massive shockwave, our struggle surging wind and shaking trees.

His strength was nearly unstoppable and abundant in just about every way. I strained and pushed with all my worth just to hold him back. I held his pressure for a few seconds, then felt a force against my chest.

I flew back, and would've all the way to the beach if I hadn't caught myself on a tree branch. It was forceful, but no pain followed. I didn't feel that much effort behind it on his end, it was like a starting jab, just loosening up. I could see why Triton and a weakened Poseidon couldn't handle him; he had a chunk of my dad's power on top of his own. If that's not scary, then I don't know what is.

Oceanus started to walk towards me again, when I saw cracks form in the ground, quickly approaching his feet. Next thing I knew, black, shadowy tendrils erupted from the dirt and several of them hit him in the armor.

Nico stood thirty feet away, breathing hard and holding his hand out. The tendrils had bounced harmlessly off Oceanus's armor. The titan himself looked at Nico, unimpressed.

"Percy, run!" He shouted, but didn't get to say anything else. Oceanus shot a blast of brilliant…teal light in his direction. It took me a moment to register the color, but as it traveled in the air towards my friend, I made out teal. A unique color for an aura.

Nico held up his sword to block the blast, but even then, it was too powerful to withstand. The sword flew sideways and disappeared in the woods. Nico himself got thrown in the explosion and ragdolled in the air, falling limp on the ground.

"NICO!" I yelled, knowing that he was out. That's not good, that's so not good.

From the opposite end of the forest, I saw something that nearly made my heart sink. It was Aiden, staring at Nico's limp body.

I saw him mouth Nico's name, too far away for his voice to reach my ears. His lip quivered, he looked on the verge of tears.

Nico wasn't dead…he couldn't be.

But Aiden thought he was. The son of Nemesis turned to Oceanus, enraged and filled with a rare kind of fury.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

He roared and ran at the titan with blind rage, holding his sword up and sprinting like his life depended on it.

"Aiden, wait!" I tried, but he was bent on going after Oceanus. He held up the spear, ready to impale Aiden, but there was no way I would let it get that far.

I ran up behind him simultaneously, Oceanus turned and swiped the spear towards my head, I parried with Riptide and used my blade to hold down his own. Pushing down on the shaft, I trapped his weapon in the ground, giving Aiden a chance to strike.

"Now!" I shouted, and Aiden understood. He jumped and swung his sword right at Oceanus's face.

But the titan clearly didn't need a weapon to be a threat. He tensed up and widened his eyes. Leaning his neck up, he did something that took me completely off guard. He caught the blade in his mouth, clamped down on it, and bit it into pieces.

The metal shattered and fell everywhere. Aiden looked at the response with baffled eyes, his mouth parted in fear now. Oceanus yanked the spear from my grip and pushed on me with the hilt, forcing me to stumble back.

Quickly, he grabbed Aiden by the leg and slammed him in the ground, slinging his body over his head and simply throwing him in the dirt, Aiden immediately went unconscious, blood flew from his nose and mouth.

Before he could slam him again and probably kill him, I jumped forward, throwing technique and skill out the window, I dove up and held Riptide out in front of me with both hands, hoping that it would at least knick him.

But it did more than that. Riptide caught his forearm and stabbed deep within, opening up a gash and tearing multiple veins. Oceanus grunted in pain and dropped Aiden on his back. The son of nemesis wasn't dead, but he was hurt bad. I could feel his aura clinging to life, barely beating. Barely is acceptable, but nothing at all isn't. He could be saved, I told myself. He'll be fine.

I landed on my feet and pulled Riptide from his arm, standing in a basic position, ready for his next move. He looked at his arm with mild amusement.

"Not bad. But how many more of your friends are you willing to sacrifice just to land a hit on me?"

I gritted my teeth at the comment, and lunged forward to stab Riptide again.

This time, Oceanus was focused and ready. He parried my stab like I was an amateur, I tried several more attacks, only for him to dodge or parry.

Finally, with an effortful shout, he closed the distance and stuck the tip of the spear at my wrist, a swift move and spin later, and he disarmed Riptide from me, my trusty sword spun in the air until it stabbed a tree and stayed.

I was now unarmed again.

"It's over now." Oceanus said.

I shook my head, "It's never over." Raising my hands up, I felt the air around me, all of the water in it, the molecules, the unseen mist, naked to the mortal eye. I could control all of it to my will, I had no bounds now, not with this power.

With a powerful thrust, I shoved my hands forward. The air suddenly thickened, and like a magic trick, water appeared from nowhere and flung itself at Oceanus in a mighty wave. The titan's eyes went wide, he stabbed the spear's hilt in the ground to protect himself. My water split in two at his defense, going on opposite sides and not even touching him. But I wasn't done yet. Do you remember me saying I was done?

I rebounded and caught the water in my grasp, pulling my hands to me and pushing to the side, I controlled the water like it was a part of me, like every move, even a muscle twitch would cause an immediate reaction. The crazy thing is now…that's true. With this form, there's no delay, no wait time. It moves when I move, period.

The water spiraled and crashed into his side, throwing him off balance. I moved the same way, only opposite this time, causing the water to switch sides and crash into his other shoulder, the one that held the spear.

Oceanus stumbled and grunted in frustration. If I could just get him to be still, then maybe I could deliver another blow, something else to wound him, lower the gap a little.

Circling my hands in a swirling motion, the water bended to my will and surrounded Oceanus, trapping him in a blue dome. He struggled, I could feel the pressure as I walked closer, I strained and put all of my effort into holding him. My plan was to keep him until I could grab Riptide back from my pocket, then I would go for another blow.

But Oceanus was getting angry. Inside the water dome, his neutral expression turned angry. His face curled up and his eyes widened. I heard a muffled shout, and felt his aura spike all the way up to it's max.

BOOM!

The water dome exploded, and I felt all of my grip fade. The energy was so strong, I was blown back to the ground, my ears ringing and my vision practically white.

A few seconds passed, I raised my head and felt a boot against my chest. Oceanus stood above me; his face contorted in anger. He dripped water and ichor, holding his spear at his side, I could sense his want to get rid of me, as fast as possible.

"This ends now." He said, "In the end, only I can truly control the ocean. Not you and your father."

Just as he raised the spear, he looked away from me, and towards the water, like he sensed something.

I felt it too. There was something coming, something dangerous. Like the calm before the storm, like the fog before a battle. It was a lingering feeling of immense anger…a god's anger.

Oceanus glared at the water, "Poseidon…"

"Percy!" I heard in the distance.

When I saw Annabeth at the edge of the woods, looking at me with concern, I wanted to tell her run as far away as she could. She had been fighting the crabs, her knife unsheathed and covered in monster dust. She must've seen me fighting Oceanus.

I didn't want to bring attention to her, but I couldn't help it. Every fiber in my being screamed at me, and eventually it came out of my mouth. "ANNABETH, RUN!"

She didn't. She just looked on in confusion, fear, and then anger. Anger at him.

Oceanus turned and noticed her. For a moment, he just stared, but then…he nodded.

"A perfect fuel for the fire." He said, and took his boot off my chest.

Everything that happened next happened so fast. I couldn't even process it at first. I didn't think, I only knew that he had noticed her, and now he was walking towards her.

Annabeth gripped her knife tight and braced herself. But it was too late.

I got up and ran after him, "NO! ANNABETH!"

I prepared to use all I had, reaching for Riptide, I found it in my pocket. I would use water, I would use an earthquake, I would use my own blood to attack him if it meant keeping her safe.

Oceanus' aura showed for the first time, a dark, enormous teal that radiated with power. He reappeared in front of Annabeth and grabbed her.

"NO!" I shouted and swung Riptide at him, visualizing the blade cutting right through his armor and into his black hole of a heart.

But the split second before it reached him, he disappeared, along with Annabeth, in a flash of light.

I fell on my knees, the momentum carrying me all the way to the ground.

I turned around and saw the same teal light in the water, going farther and farther away, lower into the depths. He had taken her…

He had taken her from me.

"Annabeth…" I said, reaching out, even though I knew it was no use. Just as quickly as the battle had begun, raged, and blared in my head, it ended. The sea calmed down, the wind slowed to a still, the sounds of swords and war cries faded. But my blood still pumped, faster and faster, her name screamed in my head, along with his. Anger and adrenaline combined, I got up and glared in the direction he went.

"You started this fight, Oceanus. And now I'm going to finish it."

Clearing the shore and diving in the water, I swam after the soon-to-be-dead titan.

(000)

How about that? Oceanus makes his appearance, and he's raised the stakes. The final battles are coming soon.

Stay tuned.

Until Next Time.