The long awaited chapter 11.

I made a joke at the end of chapter 10, where I said I'd see you in 3 or 4 years. Well, here I am.

I hope it's good... I realized that one of the reasons this has taken so long is that I don't like the last chapter. I went nuts with Zoe at the end. I didn't think it through, so it makes me cringe when I think about following it up with anything. Uggh. Anyways I also noticed I accidentally left a 'tq' in chapter... 9? I think? Behind the curtain, I type in tq when I need to fact check something, and then I go back and do control f for tq. And I couldn't remember if Castor or Pollux died, so I said Pollux tq, but then forgot to double check. Yeesh.

Okay, diving in now.

Disclaimer: This is not intended to infringe upon the copyright of any existing works.

"What if I just kill you right now?" Percy wondered aloud.

He was underwater, in front of the Ophiotaurus, which was tangled in a fishing net and totally helpless. If he decided to kill it, he would gain the power to overthrow Olympus once he sacrificed the beast's entrails.

They hadn't sacrificed it the first time, and it hadn't exactly gone amazingly. One life for so many more? Just one life?

"No," he decided.

He would save everyone he could. He could keep trying forever. He had the ability to do this perfectly. No one would have to be sacrificed under his watch. Not if he could help it.

Percy easily cut Bessie free from the line and rubbed the cow serpent's head affectionately.

Percy trained his pitiful magic skill in the water right up until he had to leave on the quest. After filling up half a dozen water bottles with sea water, he headed back to camp.

The quest.

He couldn't say he wasn't excited.

The prophecy had said 'suffer' by a parent's hand. Not die. Zoe was safe. Well, alive, at least.

Although someone was going to die at the junkyard-Elfreda, he assumed-he would be able to see how to save Zoe! This was important information.

When the time came to leave, Lily did not want Percy to go, but eventually she knew she couldn't keep him with her.

"Percy no die. No die. No no no no no!"

Percy ruffled her hair and said, "Don't worry. I'm not going to die. Everything will be fine. I'll definitely come back to you, Lily."

He hugged her, and turned to Nancy.

Words didn't really need to be said.

"See you soon, Boba Fett," he said with a smile, before heading down the hill to the waiting van.

The girls were arguing about where to head, and they hadn't even gotten in the van yet.

"I still think we should go straight west," Zoe said uncomfortably. "The prophecy said west."

"But Grover said the Smithsonian, and I trust his tracking spell," Thalia argued. "If he says Artemis went there first, then that's where we go."

"I don't care where we go as long as we start moving. Our Lady is in danger," the huntress that wasn't Zoe or Phoebe, Elfreda, said.

She was a tall, skinny girl with long brown hair and tan skin, and she looked vaguely eastern European.

"I agree with Elfreda," Percy called out once he was in earshot.

The three Huntresses were the three who had not bullied Lily, which was lucky, but made sense, if they were the eldest and most mature huntresses. This did not mean that any of them liked him, however.

Phoebe spat on the ground. "Your input is meaningless, boy."

Percy barely withstood the urge to roll his eyes.

"Then just ignore me. I'm well aware of your feelings towards me and men in general, so there's no need to be uncivil. We'll be shedding blood together after all."

Before Phoebe could argue, Percy tossed Riptide to Zoe, who looked surprised, but caught it with ease, nonetheless. She gave him a strange look, but Percy just shrugged and motioned to the van.

Zoe, anxious to begin, wordlessly got into the driver's seat, and Thalia hopped into the shotgun seat.

Phoebe and Elfreda got in the first row of the van, so Percy sat in the back, and began meditating, though he stopped before his head hurt. He took out Body Odor and polished it, though it was shining like the moon already.

In one short hour, he was bored.

He was unable to keep himself from pointlessly whispering, "Are we there yet?"

Luckily, no one heard him.

He eventually got so bored he resorted to casting Release enough times to got tired, and managed to fall asleep. He hadn't slept that night anyways, too busy practicing underwater, relying on the ocean to keep him awake. It wasn't too hard to fall asleep.

He wasn't asleep for very long, however, before the conversation amongst the other members of the quest woke him.

Well, conversation wasn't quite the right term.

"Will you shut up!?" Thalia shouted.

"No!" Phoebe returned. "He shouldn't be on this quest. It should have been you and the next most powerful, that Clarisse or whoever!"

"You have no idea how useful he will be! Percy is the best of the best, and he's your best shot at rescuing Artemis!"

Elfreda jumped in, "Why do you defend him so? Has he swindled you into feeling affection for him?"

"Give me a break," Thalia heaved. "It was your lieutenant who wanted him here in the first place. Take it up with her."

"She is simply worried for our Lady. She would suffer the company of a man in order to have a greater chance at saving her," Phoebe admitted.

"So why don't you follow her lead?" Thalia questioned.

"UGH!" Phoebe fumed.

"And furthermore-" Thalia began, but was cut off by Percy.

"Don't antagonize them any more, Thalia," Percy said, with his eyes still closed.

"But Percy, they were-"

"Thalia, just take it easy. I really don't care how much shit they pile on me. Lady Artemis is vital to the war. I don't know how she was trapped, but it is paramount she become un-trapped. Doing so is equivalent to saving the lives of all our friends and countless mortals. Putting up with insults is hardly worth making a fuss over, compared to the monsters we will surely face."

Flushed with embarrassment at her childishness, Thalia consented, "Yeah, yeah."

But Phoebe wasn't done riling her up.

"You allow yourself to be ordered around by some male? Pathetic."

Thalia almost lashed out, but thought about what Percy had just said, and realized how pointless the jab was.

"His gender has nothing to do with it," Thalia retorted. "I'll do what he says if it makes sense. Ignoring what he says just because he's a guy would be the height of stupidity."

Unable to help herself, she added, "In other words, you're an idiot."

Phoebe started growling, but Zoe calmed her down, reminding her, "Steady thyself. Focus on the quest, and do not bother me with this noise any longer."

With that, the argument ended, and Percy had to entertain himself by making shapes with a bottle of seawater.

Finally, they made it to DC, heading for the Smithsonian. Percy had no way to sneak off to see the growing of the skeleton men, and since Thorn was dead, they likely wouldn't discuss whatever they had done to trap Artemis. Percy really wondered what had happened, since Annabeth was safely at camp. Likely some traitor had been persuaded to take the sky, forcing Artemis to save her. Though, confirmation would be nice.

"What are we actually doing here, anyways?" Thalia asked.

"I thought you knew," Phoebe accused.

"We shall look for clues," Zoe explained. "Monsters, anything suspicious."

"Like Scooby Doo," Percy said cheerfully. "We should split up! Actually, that's a bad idea. The Smithsonian is huge. If someone was in danger, we wouldn't be able to help them in time."

Zoe thought for a second before nodding her approval.

"We're really going to do what that boy says?" Phoebe asked in disbelief.

"You do what I say," Zoe said, rather coldly. "And I am telling thee to stay together, regardless of that boy's suggestion. Or dost thou suggest we 'split up' and endanger ourselves merely to spite him?"

"I... no," Phoebe conceded.

The group of five walked through the Smithsonian for what felt like hours before a roar alerted them to the presence of the Nemean Lion.

When they found the beast, Percy unintentionally exclaimed, "The Nemean Lion! Of course!"

This was not exactly helpful in surprising the thing, but its roar alone kept anyone from chastising Percy for his untimely exclamation.

He had realized how to save Zoe. All he had to do was give her the pelt. It would protect her from Ladon, and Atlas wouldn't be able to kill her, only hurt her. 'One shall suffer by a parent's hand.'

"How exactly do we kill that?" Thalia asked Percy.

"I have an idea," he admitted, to the doubtful looks of all three huntresses.

Percy took a bottle of seawater and threw it at the lion, which caught the bottle in its mouth, and crushed it, spilling water everywhere, exactly as Percy hoped it would.

What luck!

He urged the water to pry open the Lion's mouth from the inside.

It worked, barely. The Lion's mouth was unbelievably strong, and Percy only managed to get a few inches of clearance. But it was enough for the three ancient huntresses.

They saw their opening and took it, sending a salvo of 8 arrows down the beast's gullet, killing it in record time.

The monster thrashed about for a bit before melting, leaving behind its signature spoil-the invincible pelt of the Nemean Lion.

The first time they had slain the Lion, he hadn't noticed, but now Percy fully witnessed the grimace on Zoe's face when she saw the pelt. It reminded her of Herakles.

"Take it," she said.

So that was why. She didn't want it because of Herakles. Herakles had hurt her thousands of years ago, but it was still fresh in her mind. That was why she had let Percy take it the first time. It wasn't because of his strategy. It had nothing to do with him at all. Percy didn't think of himself as particularly prideful-he'd never really struggled with hubris, after all-but somehow... Somehow it stung, just a little. Every day he realized more and more that the world did not revolve around him, but this hurt just a little worse.

Walking up to the pelt, Percy knelt on the ground, grabbing the hide with his right hand.

"Somehow, I feel like just taking this when I didn't even kill it will make you three think lesser of me," Percy mused aloud. After a brief pause, he shook his head, "No, scratch that. Obviously impossible for your opinions of me to get any worse. What the H, I'll be fighting up front anyways, I'll hold onto it for now."

He took the pelt, which transformed into the same long duster. He still didn't think it looked good on him.

"Now what?" Elfreda asked.

Percy knew mercenaries would be showing up, along with skeleton warriors, but no one else did. What was he supposed to do, now?

He sensed a dozen water signatures moving quickly in sync towards them. Those were the mercs. He couldn't detect the skeletons, but they were probably coming soon.

"Well," Percy started. "There are twelve organic somethings headed this way, and quick. What should we do, Zoe?"

Zoe was about to answer when Phoebe interrupted her.

"Can you not think of anything, boy? Too stupid?" she sneered.

Percy shook his head, "Wasting time. They're nearly on top of us, now. Should we wait for them, Zoe, or do you know where Artemis went from here?"

Zoe closed her eyes. "We wait."

Percy had no weapon for mortals, so he opened a bottle of seawater. He wished he'd remembered about the mercenaries earlier, but he'd never had to fight any, so it was understandable, he told himself.

He didn't want to kill the mortals, but they'd made the bet themselves. They'd wagered their lives they'd win in any fight. They were getting paid for this. It wasn't Percy's fault that they had done something so foolish.

He urged the seawater in one bottle into four small spikes, as sharp as he was able to make. The three huntresses readied their bows, and Thalia readied her spear. She didn't know they were going to fight mortals, so why would she do anything else?

They were in a moderately sized circular room with a lunar lander suspended from the ceiling, and there were only two entrances. Percy and Thalia stood on either side of the door the mercs were headed towards, and the huntresses took up positions along the opposite wall.

Percy was surprised when no skeletons appeared, and only mercs came through the door.

Using the pelt of the Nemean Lion to fend off the bullets, his spikes of water stabbed through the mercenaries with almost horrifying ease, their bones making a sickening crunch whenever they were in the path of his projectiles.

In the end, he killed four, and the Hunters killed the rest. Without an adequate weapon, Thalia could do nothing.

When he saw the dead men, he felt sick to his stomach, but he held it in. He'd had to kill demigods before, when the war escalated, but it only got a little easier every time. These mercenaries were prepared to die, but surely amongst them, there would be people who relied on them. Families would fall apart, and lives might be ruined because of this.

But it was all for the greater good. Right?

"Mortals?" Thalia asked, shaking her head.

Percy felt even more water signatures outside the room and said helpfully, "Hate to bring this up, but speaking of mortals, we're about to get company. And a lot of it."

"Try to keep steady, Zoe!" Percy shouted from halfway through the window of the van.

Zoe was, perhaps understandably, frustrated, but she tried to make an effort: though she still swerved past cars left and right, it was a little less violent.

"Shit, shit shit," Percy cursed repeatedly. "No good."

Thalia tried to calm him down by shouting, "Percy, it's alright, we'll figure something out! Just get down from there!"

Percy's entire upper body was hanging out the shotgun window of the van, eyes glued to the sky, where a black chopper headed straight for them, flying directly over the highway. His hands were outstretched, with almost his entire supply of seawater suspended around him. The only thing keeping him from flying out of the van were his legs pressed desperately against the seat and the ceiling, creating enough pressure to support him.

"If only they weren't right above the highway... If only there were fewer people..." Percy muttered loudly.

Quietly, he added, "If only I were stronger..."

After breathing deeply several times, he shouted, "Zoe, do it now! This is our best shot, so let's make it count!"

If Zoe said anything, Percy couldn't hear it over the wind. The van suddenly slowed way down, and the chopper grew closer and closer.

"Just a little more... come on, little chopper, just a little closer... Got it!"

As he exclaimed, the seawater flew towards the helicopter, which was now close enough to see clearly. The water flew up towards the rotors, and seemed to try to coat the blades.

Immediately, sweat started pouring down Percy's face, and an incredibly strong tug on his gut almost made him loosen his legs. Luckily, he didn't let go.

The blades of the helicopter seemed to slow almost imperceptibly as Percy's face turned red, then blue.

Then suddenly, pure white, like all the blood left simultaneously. The helicopter started losing altitude rapidly, but not so fast the pilot couldn't control the descent. The copter crashed just off the side of the highway, though there was no big explosion.

Percy did it.

A cheer rose up from Thalia before Percy lost consciousness. As his legs stopped applying pressure, he almost instantly flew out of the van, but Zoe caught his leg with one hand and pulled him in. But Percy never saw that part.

Instead, he had a disturbing dream.

Blackness. Nothing but utter darkness. For an eternity, only nothingness.

And then, a single star, just a tiny pinprick. But shining like the midday sun.

A new eternity passes, with just that single star.

But then, just as suddenly as it came, it was gone.

And the darkness was much worse than before.

Eternities after eternities, but the star never returns.

And then even the darkness recedes, leaving behind... emptiness.

When Percy woke up, his eyes were wet and his heart ached like never before. He felt like everything was pointless, like life was a big joke. Like there was a part of his soul missing, and without it, he had no raison d'etre.

But he did, didn't he? He had to save the world from Kronos. Only he could do it. What else could there be? What else could be more important than that?

But no matter what he did, no matter what he thought, water kept leaking from his eyes.

What had brought that dream on? The last thing he remembered, he was taking down the helicopter, and then he was suddenly engulfed in darkness. In fact, he should've fallen right out of the van. He was still in the van now, up front, like before, so obviously, he hadn't fallen out. The only way for that to be was someone pulled him back in.

Which means Zoe had saved him. Something made his heart beat louder, but he wasn't sure what.

But he did know that his eyes stopped leaking. He opened his eyes wide, and took in the darkness. They must have been driving for hours. Zoe must have been driving for hours. She was still awake, but Pheobe, Elfreda, and Thalia were fast asleep.

Percy watched Zoe for a little longer, examining every detail of her face. He couldn't help liking what he saw. It felt a little wrong. She was only 14, and he was 18. But then again, she wasn't actually 14. She was thousands of years old, trapped in a younger body. Just like him. If he kept failing, would the day come where he was older than she?

Zoe blinking the sleep out of her eyes brought Percy back to his senses.

"I can take over for you," Percy suggested in a small voice.

With the slightest glance over to him, Zoe responded almost immediately, in an equally small voice, "No need."

"Really?" Percy asked with a small grin. "You've been driving for ages. I'll bet we haven't stopped for the last twelve hours. You should get some rest."

Almost imperceptibly, Zoe shook her head no.

"I'm a huntress," she started, though her tone was not as cold as usual. "We have been trained to stay awake and alert for as long as it takes."

Percy nodded, but disagreed anyway. "That may be so, but you didn't even notice me wake up."

"I pay no heed to men," Zoe argued, with the same soft voice.

"Really?" Percy asked.

"Really," Zoe confirmed.

"I thought men were your sworn enemies," Percy brought up. "I thought you would pay them the most attention."

Zoe thought for several moments, before answering, "Men are not necessarily the enemies of the Hunt. We swear off relations with men, but that does not make them our foes. Only the ones who deserve to be wiped out are my enemies."

"That makes sense," Percy concurred. "But how do you know which men deserve to be wiped out without paying them heed?"

Exhausted, Zoe said, "Do not play these games with me, Perseus Jackson. I am far too tired."

"All the more reason to take a break," Percy said with a smile. "You can let me drive for just a few hours, no?"

"No," Zoe agreed immediately. "I am alert as ever, so we do not need to slow down to switch drivers."

"But you'll need to switch eventually. Why not now? Do you not trust me?"

Zoe slowly shook her head while keeping her eyes on the road, "That is not why."

"Then why? I'm not looking down on you. You don't need to prove anything to me. I just don't see the reason why," Percy said, almost grumpily.

"If I let thee drive, wilst thy cease thine incessant jabbering?" Zoe said while rubbing her forehead, obviously annoyed.

Percy felt like he'd been punched in the gut. The light in his eyes dimmed slowly before he nodded, "Yeah. Not a word."

Without speaking again, Zoe slowed the van down to a crawl and pulled off the highway and onto the shoulder, before parking. The two teens got out of the vehicle and swapped seats, passing each other by the front.

Since Zoe was a few inches taller than even the strangely tall Percy, he had to adjust the seat and the mirrors before setting off.

"Why are we stopping?" A sleepy voice called out from the back. Phoebe spoke without opening her eyes, "Are we there yet?"

"No," Zoe said helpfully. "Rest more."

"Mmhmm," the huntress mumbled before shifting in her seat. Percy made sure she was done asking questions before he pulled out.

"Just head west," Zoe instructed before leaning her head back.

"Thanks," Percy said, though he knew perfectly well where to go. Next up was Arizona, where they would enter the Junkyard of the Gods. One needed to be lost in the land without rain, after all.

After a few minutes, likely once she was sure Pheobe had returned to sleep, Zoe asked softly, "Where did thee learn to drive, Perseus?"

Percy smiled, before Zoe's words echoed in his head. He knew he was being petty, but he didn't have the best impulse control.

His smile turned bitter, and he said, "It's a long story, Miss Nightshade. I'll spare you the jabbering."

His tone was meant to sound playful, but with the ache in his soul remaining from the dream, what he said had a hidden bite-almost mocking the Huntress. Though that was so, if Zoe felt anything because of his words, her face did not show it.

However, Percy couldn't see, but Zoe twisted her left index finger with her other hand subconsciously when she heard the barely concealed hurt in his voice.

Several more minutes passed in silence before Percy spoke.

"Thanks," he said simply.

Zoe glanced at him in confusion.

"You pulled me back into the van when I passed out. Although I didn't witness it, there's no way I could've gotten back in without your help."

Zoe blinked slowly, like a cat. "You are still useful. I will do anything for my Lady."

If possible, Percy felt even worse than he did before, but what happened next made his heart soar like a little kid getting an extra scoop of ice cream.

For the first time since he woke up, Zoe turned to face Percy.

"I am grateful to thee, Perseus. Thy assistance is greatly appreciated." Percy almost thought he was hallucinating when he saw Zoe give him the tiniest of smiles as she said, "I thank thee, verily."

Heart racing, cheeks blushing, Percy turned away so the man-hating teen could not see. Almost immediately, a gloom spread over his heart.

This is bad. Very bad. This is very, very bad. Very, very, very bad.

Percy Jackson realized that he just maybe had a teeny tiny crush on the lieutenant of the Hunt. A celibate woman several thousand years his senior. He had to crush this thing in its infancy. There was absolutely no future between them, and the only thing his feelings could ever bring was pain.

"Your mistress is vital in defeating the Crooked One. You will do anything for her, and I will do anything to see my grandfather back where he belongs. No matter what it takes."

Everything he said was true, but why did he feel like he was lying? Why did he suddenly want to rearrange his words?

Without her knowledge, Zoe started twisting her finger again.

"This is my fault," Percy stated grimly. "I'll deal with it. Artemis will be saved without me. The prophecy says we prevail. But I will be lost here."

After several days of nonstop driving, the gang of five had reached the Junkyard of the Gods.

"No!" Thalia shouted, as Percy drew his sword. "This isn't your fault, Jackson! I picked it up! Besides, you're more important. I'll distract it, while you guys run!"

Without any Aphrodite appearing to blame his knowledge on, all the advice Percy could offer was to be very careful. To say that he had a strong feeling that no one should pick anything up, or take anything.

Percy swiped his free hand sideways in front of him, "No way. A leader must be held accountable for his subordinate's mistake. You picked it up, but I should have stopped you. I should have made certain you left it behind. Now get in the Jeep and leave with Zoe and the others. That's an order."

Thalia had seen something she desperately wanted. It reminded her of her mom, and her dead brother. Percy told her to put it down, but she didn't listen. She was sick of having to follow his orders. She didn't want to rebel, though. She just wanted to make a point, just to herself. That she still had power. That she could still do anything she wanted. It was her fatal flaw, after all. It isn't called 'fatal' as a joke.

Percy turned to Zoe, leaving Thalia a sobbing mess.

"Zoe, for what it's worth, Herakles was-is-a disgusting pig," Percy said, in a strangely affectionate tone. "I will try to repay his debt as best I can. Take the pelt. It won't be any help to me here, and you will need it to defend yourself. From Ladon, and from the General. Your Lady will be saved, I am sure."

"From Ladon..." Zoe repeated as she caught the Nemean Lion's pelt Percy had thrown over. She gasped, "You cannot mean-"

"It's the only place that makes sense," Percy interrupted. "The one place we would never want to look. The only place you would never want to look."

"Of course..." Zoe muttered unhappily.

He took a step towards the regal huntress.

"One more thing," he said quietly so that only she could hear.

"I know you will not appreciate my saying this, and I really shouldn't be saying it at all, but... thank the gods you aren't going to die. Not this time. I'd forgotten how much I like you."

A stunned Zoe looked on as a subtly smiling Percy turned from her.

"'Til next time," Percy laughed, as he waved with one hand, without looking back.

She couldn't decide how she was supposed to feel about him saying what he had. Nothing he'd said made sense. She would not die this time? She died before? He'd just met her, so how could he forget how much he liked her? And was he flirting? With her? A huntress? What a stupid child. She should strike him-but he was going to sacrifice himself for the good of the quest. And he did give her Anaklusmos. And the Nemean Lion's pelt, as well. And he never actually tried to make a move on her. In fact, almost everything he did had her best interest in mind. He liked her, but he never even gave a hint of it away. He only told her as he went to sacrifice his life for her. In her thousands of years, she had of course heard of men like him, but never seen one. Never really believed they could actually exist.

Was this... how a hero was supposed to act?

She remembered how she felt back then. About Herakles... before he betrayed her. She wasn't supposed to feel this way. Like a dragon was slowly rousing from its millennium slumber. She certainly was not in love with Perseus. But she didn't hate him. She didn't want him to die, and it wasn't so he could help her save Artemis. She might not have loved him, but there was no denying she cared about him. And that was not allowed. Even just the tiniest bit of caring could snowball into forbidden feelings. And the worst part was that she should be happy that he was dying, so he was no longer able to shake her convictions. But she wasn't happy. She even felt guilty for thinking she should be happy. This man had such a profound impact on her, and that. Well, that absolutely wasn't allowed.

"I hate thee, Perseus Jackson," she whispered.

As she watched him walk away, there was a sort of melancholy about him, one that made his words and actions ever more mysterious. It seemed almost like despair, but there was hope, too. She had never felt anything like what she felt from him.

"What a fool. That boy really thinks he can defeat that thing," mocked Phoebe, once they had driven off.

"Shut up!" Thalia stopped sobbing long enough to scream at the bitter Huntress.

"I suppose it is the arrogance of every boy," Elfreda concurred with Phoebe. She continued venomously, "To look good in front of a woman, they would even sacrifice their own lives, while at the same time thinking there is no way they could die. Just imagine what he would ask for if he made it out alive. Imagine what he'd be expecting of us."

Thalia about leapt at the immortal tween, but decided it wasn't worth it just before her fist could meet face, and began to sob again.

Eventually, Zoe spoke, quietly, "I disagree. Perseus knew he went to his death. I have never known a boy to be so selfless. At the least, Perseus Jackson can be considered a man."

"Lieutenant?" asked Phoebe, flabbergasted. "You truly have such a high opinion of that boy-er, man?"

Zoe sighed, "I do. If all males were as he was... perhaps the Hunt would no longer have a place in this world."

That was what she said out loud, but in her heart, she whispered, 'If I had met Perseus in place of Herakles... perhaps I would no longer have a place in the Hunt.'

Percy woke up in his bed at Yancy. He groaned. His head still ached from where Talos merged his skull with the ground, but he wasn't actually injured.

He sighed. He was too weak. If he couldn't even beat Talos on his own, how was he supposed to beat Kronos? He wasn't ready. He needed to train. Everything else was meaningless without sufficient strength. A thought occurred to him.

He quickly tried magic, a simple Release spell.

His right hand got wet.

He wasn't next to dead. He felt fine. Well, maybe not fine. He was exhausted, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the first time. Which meant...

Magic carried over. At least in part...

Magic carried over.

Magic carried over!

If... if magic carried over... shouldn't he focus on that for the next four years? Or even longer. He could just hide at the bottom of the ocean or something. If he just wrote a note, his mom wouldn't worry... That might work.

He scribbled something on a piece of paper before sneaking out of the dorm.

He snuck out of the dorm, and snuck off campus. He started walking towards Oneida Lake, not worrying about anything. The ocean was too far from Yancy, but Oneida was much closer. He was sick of needing to think. He didn't want to have to scheme. He didn't want to hide all the time. He just wanted to train. To get stronger. He needed strength, not schemes.

Because... he'd gotten all the way to the final fight that first time. What did he need to scheme for? He didn't need to scheme to save those who died. If he could beat Talos, Bianca wouldn't die. If he could destroy the Andromeda on his own, Beckendorf wouldn't die. If he could defeat the Titan Army, Lee Fletcher, Pollux, Silena, no one would have to die.

And if he was strong enough to kill Kronos, he was strong enough to do all of that.

He didn't have to go to camp. He only needed to train.

He also needed to get his head straight. Zoe needed to stop plaguing his mind, and he needed to avoid Nancy, too. He was such an impulsive idiot. She's a little kid. He was 18 now. She was 12. It just wasn't okay anymore. And if he failed just a few more times, he'd be 30. And she would still be a 12 year old girl. Then he'd be a hundred, and she would still be twelve. He felt disgusted with himself.

'Zoe would still be a thousand,' a voice in his head reminded him.

'And she would still be a Huntress,' Percy argued back, angrily.

'So what?' his mind put simply.

For a minute, he didn't have a comeback. But then he felt sick to his stomach.

'If I somehow won Zoe's heart, that would mean taking her from her friends. From her home. The only thing that's meant anything to her for the last few millennium. If she actually grew to love me, wouldn't that tear her apart? Am I really so great as to be worth so much suffering?'

'Isn't that her decision to make? Who are you to decide her life for her?'

'Shut up.'

Similar mental conversations took place constantly on the taxi ride to the lake. Once he arrived, he simply dove in.

Percy had never lived underwater before. He soon discovered he didn't need to eat, and his body seemed to absorb all the water he needed from his surroundings. That was good. He hadn't really considered what he'd do if he still needed to eat. He couldn't exactly eat the fish when they could talk to him, could he?

And so, Percy simply trained. He cast Light over and over again until he passed out, and let the water heal him. After he woke up, he would meditate. This time, he didn't do it to the point of making his head hurt. He only did it for a few hours at a time, before casting Light until he passed out, once again.

His days were lonely and boring. No naiads approached him, and it wasn't long before word had gotten around between the fish that his area was not to be disturbed.

Time ceased to have any meaning. He was at a depth of roughly 50 feet, and the light did not penetrate that far, so there was no difference between night and day. It took longer and longer for Light to tire him out, so he began to meditate more. However, his thoughts became too distracting. The loneliness was almost too much to bear.

He wasn't trying to think of Zoe. But he just couldn't stop himself. He didn't understand why she was so entrancing. His thoughts led him to many strange ideas.

He imagined their life together. Growing old together. Staying young forever. If he saved Olympus and was granted immortality, and Zoe absorbed her immortal power from Anaklusmos, they would be a pair of immortal lovers. But was that too selfish? He should make sure the gods did not repeat their mistakes. Maybe magic could extend his life to match Zoe's?

With nothing to do but think, he ended up entertaining many, many thoughts. He knew they were idle fantasies, but in the end, he couldn't help himself but to dream.

He wanted to know Zoe. He knew so little about her. He wanted to know everything, wanted to show her everything.

He wondered if he was a man who abhorred the old and only loved the new. Was that all Zoe was to him? Someone who could always surprise him? What did he see her as?

Day after day, week after week, he did nothing but think. He wondered how the quest would turn out without him. Surely someone would manage to return the bolt and the helm, right? He knew the Solstice must have passed by this point, so maybe the gods were already at war?

No one disturbed him, down here.

He could cast Light nigh continuously by now, and meditating was getting harder and harder after having been alone with his thoughts for so long.

So he decided he would need a new spell. He knew of several, from Liliana, but they were much stronger than Light, so he wanted to be sure he wouldn't die before casting it.

"Launch!" he incanted in the language of magic, with both his arms placed in front of him. A bolt of water shot swiftly from his hands as his mind went black.

He half expected to wake up at Yancy, but he didn't. His training speed improved once again. He even began to experiment with his spell, pronouncing the word differently, to see if he could change the effect. Normally, the spell would simply not activate, and when it did, the changes were unhelpful. However, after several thousand attempts, a change he made had made the water bolt thinner-sharper.

He must have been down there for years. Maybe even decades. He no longer knew. It looked like he wouldn't reset until he died. The gods must have lost the war. Or had they succeeded, without him? He decided that was impossible. Even if he hadn't helped that much, he was still not a hindrance, at the very least.

Finally, the day came when he was no longer able to meditate. His thoughts had become too loud, his longing too ferocious. It was impossible to clear his mind. So he decided he would train his swordsmanship, instead. Judging from the length of his beard, he was probably twenty or thirty, and his body was fit, even if he did not get much physical exercise. He formed a sword of water, the perfect weight for him. He practiced his sword moves, and unsurprisingly, he was rusty. He couldn't move as fast or as skillfully as when he was just fourteen.

In no time, however, he was back in top physical form. He experimented with different ways of training. He made shackles from the water, binding him, slowing him down to the point he could barely move. It was incredibly difficult to control, and he found his demigod abilities were also improving at a rapid rate.

Maybe he was starting to go crazy.

His jet black hair was starting to turn grey. It had once before, when he held up the sky, but that was just one lock. But now it was his beard. He saw his reflection when he opened up a space in the lake and saw in the pool of water, his roots were turning grey. He felt stronger than ever, but he was an old man now.

Hades, an old man.

What was this feeling?

Zoe was much, much older than this.

He could swear he heard her voice.

Telling him things he wanted to hear.

That everything was okay.

Soothing things.

He heard her tell him it was time to go home. Time to see her again.

And he was so tired.

He turned his blade on himself, and did what she said.

So, how was that?

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