Chapter 11: Just a Bit of Sibling Rivalry

The crowd of campers in the arena had not been prepared for what they had just witnessed. Clarisse, the massive daughter of Ares that at times served as their combat instructor but most of the time terrorised challengers in the coliseum, was one of the most fearsome fighters they had ever seen. They had witnessed her beat almost every challenger in that arena bar a select few. To see her manhandled the way she was, beaten so suddenly that her strength and prowess in battle was a nonfactor was something that was taking a moment to process. But what was much weirder than all of that was when she ran up and hugged the person who had just beaten her so humiliatingly.

To be fair to the campers, Percy wasn't expecting that either, and he was winded at the force of suddenly being engulfed in the embrace. It lasted for half a second though, and Clarisse quickly pulled away blushing, punching him in the arm as she did so. Percy did his best not to wince but doubted he did a good job of hiding his pain at the blow.

"You're supposed to be dead, loser."

Percy grinned, "You know death never looked good on me."

Clarisse rolled her eyes but matched his grin, "This has got to be at least the third time you've come back from the dead. After you broke Typhon out of prison and then went to hang out with your besties in New Rome."

"That was against my will, to be fair. Actually so was this. I think the gods just hate me." Percy mused.

"Well they keep bringing you back, unfortunately for us." Clarisse talked mean, but there was a soft look in her eyes that Percy wasn't used to, and he realised that she really was happy to see him, even if she didn't say it to him. "I'd ask you if you were gonna go find Owl Head and ride off into the sunset with her, but based on that kid sitting in the stands, probably not."

Percy followed the direction she was looking at and saw a blonde boy sitting next to a fairly attractive brunette girl. Boy and girl were perhaps unfair terms considering that they only looked a couple years younger than him, but there was something about the boy that looked startlingly familiar. It was when their eyes met that he realised what it was, the stormy grey eyes were the same ones he had fallen in love with, the eyes of a war goddess and the eyes of Annabeth. He tried not to vomit but the sense of nausea that passed over him was definitely visceral and Clarisse noticed.

"You good Prissy?"

"Fine," he said quickly, probably too quickly, "Just weird considering how similar they look. Is that one Percy or Jason?"

"Oh that's Percy," Clarisse said, her grin returning, "Now don't get me wrong I've done some weird shit in my life, but naming a kid after my ex? That's peak delusion."

"Tell me about it," Percy muttered, dropping his namesakes gaze and turning back to Clarisse, "So what about you? What is an old fart like you doing still hanging around these kids? Do I gotta call the cops?"

She punched him in the shoulder again, and this one Percy felt like he deserved. "I decided to sign on as a combat instructor. Sometimes you just can't escape your destiny, y'know? I wasn't meant to live a normal life."

Percy resonated with that. Subjected to two great prophecies and now faced with an existential threat. It felt like the world had been waiting for him just to throw all their problems at him to solve. "What happened with you and Chris?" he asked, concerned at how she would react if it hadn't ended positively.

"He lives in the city, he's a counsellor for children with trauma. We have an apartment that we stay at together but I prefer it here. Plus, I have a stronger scent than he does. Makes sense for me to spend some time away now and again, especially when camp is in full swing during the summer."

Percy smiled, it was nice that Clarisse had found something she loved, as well as someone she loved. Plus, based on how she had fought against him in the arena, she was still a phenomenal fighter despite her age, and that would likely serve the campers well when they were training.

"Your eyes," Percy started, walking over to the exit of the arena with her as the campers began to file out, "They glowed red…that's new."

"Yours glowed blue," Clarisse retorted, "Guess we were always made to be rivals. Ten or so years ago I started working here, fighting in the arena after Owl Head finished building it. My dad loved it, and loved watching me fight. Said if I could defeat the ten strongest campers at the time he would make me his champion. Not to flame them or anything, but these campers ain't built like we were, we were the golden generation, these guys haven't had to fight the way we did. There are a few new ones that are pretty scary, but they are relatively new additions. Kicked the other campers asses and so my dad made me his champion."

Percy wasn't thrilled at the news that the campers weren't as strong as they were twenty years ago, but they did seem to have made up for quality with quantity. Walking back out he saw streams of campers dispersing from the arena and heading in their separate directions. He guessed that the legacies likely helped to bolster the numbers.

"What about yours?" Clarisse asked, "And, respectfully, where the fuck have you been?"

"Ice," Percy responded, "Had a glacier dropped on me and my body just used it as a way of getting stronger."

She nodded, "You were immense in there. I've seen my dad fight other gods and that's the closest I've ever seen to what you just did. I couldn't even keep up with where you were, you moved so fast. And those hits…" she squeezed his bicep, "...since when did your scrawny ass put on any muscle?"

Percy knocked her arm away laughing, "I got the Captain America treatment."

"For real, imagine how jacked I would be if that happened to me."

Apollo had made his way through the crowd and was walking over to them, waving.

"Ah," Clarisse mused, "I see you've already had the pleasure of meeting our co-director. Never thought I'd say it, but I miss when it was just Mr. D. At least he stayed out of our business and didn't take that much of an interest in what we did."

"Mr. D is the best director this camp has ever seen, man won two wars for us." Percy joked and Clarisse chuckled.

"Well I'll leave you with him. I have to go explain to the campers that were hedging their bets on me why I lost. It's good to have you back though Prissy, we should spar again sometime."

Percy didn't fully believe that was why she was leaving, he had a feeling the more likely cause was probably the sun god who was in the midst of flirting with one of the campers that he had passed. He couldn't blame her though, he would do the same in her situation.

"For sure. Try not to lose so quickly next time."

Clarisse rolled her eyes but didn't say anything, instead disappearing into the throngs of campers. Percy was about to go over and save the poor girl currently suffering from Apollo's advances when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun around only to come face to face with Annabeth's grey eyes.

He almost called the boy by his mothers name, which would have made the interaction even more awkward, but managed to catch himself before he did. The boy looked at him coldly, running his hand through his blonde hair as he looked Percy up and down. The girl was still there, the pretty brunette one from the stands, and based on how she was clinging to his shoulder he guessed they were together. She didn't appear as interested in him, seemingly rather unimpressed based on the bored look gracing her features.

The boy slowly reached out his hand, offering a handshake, "I guess your Percy, my mom told me you'd be coming. I'm also Percy, Annabeth's eldest son and legacy of the great goddess Athena."

Percy reciprocated the gesture and did his best to make his smile not look forced, "You have your mothers eyes. Nice to meet my namesake. Your mom had nothing but good things to say about you."

"My mom didn't tell you anything about me, just that I was at camp. Lying to me isn't a great way to start off our acquaintance. I know you are mothers ex-boyfriend. Don't entertain any ideas of getting back with her."

Percy did his best not to punch the little shit in the face. He had all of Annabeth's sass and know-it-all attitude without any of the redeeming qualities, and his face looked just enough like Teddys to piss Percy off. He turned to the girl, ignoring the poorly veiled threat Percy had just given him, "And you are?"

The girl frowned at him, "Sophia, daughter of Aphrodite." She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she announced her heritage, and Percy wondered if that was a trait of all daughters of Aphrodites, or just the ones dating douchebags. Percy had already decided that these two were on his post-ice sleep shit list. It currently consisted of Enlil, Hadad, and Apollo, so they were in esteemed company.

As if he could sense he was on Percy's mind, the sun god suddenly appeared beside them. "Hey Perce, you went sicko mode in there. Crazy! I thought of a haiku to celebrate," he cleared his throat and began, "My cousin kicks ass, he learnt all of it from me, he went sicko mode."

It was probably worse than his first one, but Percy managed to force another smile. He was doing that a lot recently.

"Wonderful Lord Apollo," the other Percy said, "Blessed by your presence and your poetry, gifts upon gifts."

Percy could see a kiss-ass from a mile away, but apparently Apollo couldn't since he blushed at the compliment.

"Aw shucks, that's why I'm here. You know I love to spread my gifts to you amazing campers."

Oscillating between dying of cringe or throwing up in his mouth, Percy decided on the blessed third way and grabbed Apollo by the arm, pulling him away from Annabeth's son and his obnoxious girlfriend.

"Sorry to leave so soon. Places to be and people to see," he called back over his shoulder, "Nice to meet you though…other Percy."

Other Percy did not take kindly to the nickname, his eyes narrowing. But he didn't say anything, he and his girlfriend just turned away and melted into the crowd of campers behind them.

"Now now Perce," Apollo was saying, "Why the rush? Did you not see how cute the girl with him was?"

"It doesn't bother you that she's currently dating someone else?"

"If they're in a relationship it's a one versus one, if they're single it's one v everyone. I've stolen away plenty of women in my time."

Percy did his best not to cringe at the sun god, but the more time he spent with him the worse it was. He wasn't quite sure what he had expected of his return to camp. Sparring with Clarisse had been cool, but everything else seemed to suck. The new campers hadn't made the best impression, and Apollo's consistency in grating on his nerves was honestly pretty impressive.

"So what else do you have to show me?" Percy asked, keen to get away from the sun god as quickly as possible.

Apollo frowned and rubbed his chin, "I could take you to your cabin, but I'm pretty sure Uncle P said he wanted you at the beach, so I guess we'll head there next."

Percy did his best to hide his disappointment that Apollo would be accompanying him to his training session, but the more time I spent with him the harder it was getting to fake it. Maybe it had something to do with Apollo being the god of truth. He followed the god silently towards the beach, and perhaps it was just being near his fathers domain, but his mood picked up.

The midday sun hung above them, casting a warm blow across a beach whose shoreline was dotted with umbrellas. Most of them were unoccupied save for one down near the surf. That was where they were headed, and as they got closer Percy could make out three figures. Two were sitting under the umbrellas in what appeared to be sand chairs while the other stood ankle deep in the water away from the other two. One of the seated figures was fishing, lazily casting his line out with the kind of expert precision that only comes from years of practice. It wasn't long before Percy recognised the Hawaiian shirt and familiar fishing hat.

Poseidon glanced up as they approached, lifting sunglasses that he had donned for the occasion. "I see you got my message Apollo, thank you for bringing my son." With a grin he beckoned them to join him."I decided to bring a bit of a surprise with me before your practice session begins. When he heard you were alive he was desperate to see you."

It was only then that Percy realised how much work the mist had been putting in from a distance, because the figure sitting next to Poseidon was no ordinary figure, it towered above them, and the sand chair dwarfed Poseidon's own. They were maybe thirty feet tall all things considered, and when Percy looked up at their face only a single eye stared back at him.

"Brother!" Tyson bellowed, leaping from his chair and rampaging towards them. Apollo quickly skipped out of the path of the cyclops, leaving Percy alone with his massive brother bearing down on him. Almost as if Poseidon could read his mind he waved his hand and Tyson shrunk down to regular size mid sprint. Percy was thankful for this because it meant when Tyson tackled him in a hug he wasn't annihilated where he stood. The force of the hug was still impressive though, and Percy had to fight for breath as Tyson crushed him, pulling him as close as possible.

"I've missed you brother," he exclaimed, releasing him, "When father said you were alive I begged to see you. We've been working overtime in the forges recently, father says we're preparing for war again. I'm glad you're back, you're the strongest hero ever and I'm excited to fight with you again."

Percy couldn't keep the smile off his face, both at how happy he was to see his cyclops brother and at the thought that regardless of anything else Poseidon was preparing his realm for conflict. It meant a lot to see how much faith his dad put into his word alone. There was one thing that confused him though.

"I thought you were at Camp Jupiter with Ella, why are you with dad?" Percy asked.

Poseidon interrupted, "I recalled him. As a general of my armies I needed him front and centre to rally the troops and to prepare them for war. Tyson has developed into a phenomenal fighter and leader in the time you've been gone. He will spearhead the armies of my realm."

Tyson blushed, "Father is too kind, I just like to fight. We haven't had a real fight since the earth lady, I'm ready to fight with my big brothers!"

Big brothers, plural, caught Percy off-guard, but he assumed he meant the other cyclopes. It wasn't until the third figure joined them that Percy understood what he meant. He recognised Triton from when he had entered his fathers palace after the Princess Andromeda exploded. He had the same green skin and black hair tied into a ponytail, the only difference was that he now had legs instead of fish tails. The arrogant expression hadn't changed though, and he looked at Percy as though he was something gross he had just stepped in.

"Hello Lord Triton, it's a pleasure."

"The only pleasure to be had here is putting my fathers favourite child into his place." Triton scowled.

Percy was going to put on a fake smile, and continue the charade since he had gotten to the camp of wanting to be friends with everyone. But it seemed like everyone was determined to be an asshole, so Percy was going to start treating them like one.

"Are we still figuring out how to walk on land?" Percy taunted with a faux smile, "Did you watch the Little Mermaid to practise?"

Triton's scowl deepened, "The only reason I agreed to teach demigod scum like you is because I get the opportunity to beat you to a pulp."

Percy knew that Triton wasn't his biggest fan, after all he was the living embodiment of his father cheating on his mother, but some common courtesy could go a long way, and Percy was determined to teach him some. He had no idea how strong Triton was, but by the same token he wasn't really sure how strong he was. Son of the sea versus son of the sea would be a good way to test his power.

"Alright Percy," Poseidon began, "Head out into the surf with Triton. We want to see you use the power you developed in the ice, so no weapons. And Triton…no killing him."

Percy tried not to be too offended at the lack of faith his dad had in him, but to be fair it was a god going up against a demigod. He trailed after Triton as he walked into thigh deep water. Poseidon waved his hand and the sand swirled to form another chair. He gestured to the seat while looking at Apollo, and the son god joined his uncle and Tyson to watch the sparring session. Percy wasn't thrilled at the thought of Apollo sticking around to watch, especially if it turned out he was completely outmatched and got embarrassed.

He shook those thoughts away. He wasn't going to be embarrassed, he didn't care how strong Triton was, he had faced down stronger and come out victorious. The only concern he had was the lack of weapons. If it meant exclusively using powers then Percy would be at a disadvantage. Triton had spent millenia in the oceans, refining his power. Percy had spent twenty years in an oversized freezer.

Wading out into the water buoyed his confidence though, as he felt the familiar burst of energy that came with entering his fathers domain. The push and pull of the waves relaxed him, and he felt a familiar tug in his gut and they responded to him, growing stronger and weaker as he willed them. Triton just stood watching him, his scowl seemingly permanently affixed to his face.

"Come on Ariel," Percy called, "Gimme all you got."

The look in Triton's eyes made Percy question whether he made the right call challenging the sea god to use ALL his power. He lifted his arms and the sea responded, whirling around him, encasing him in a sphere of churning water with Triton in its centre. With a mere gesture of his hands tentacles of water ripped out of the sides of the sphere, lashing out at the air. The waves that Percy had been calmly controlling a moment before felt as though they had been torn from his grasp, pulling towards Triton and causing Percy to lose his footing. Percy tried to will the waves to calm, but there was no tug in his gut, the sea was no longer his to command. It felt like he was mentally grasping at the open air, there was no connection to the sea, it was like the bluetooth had been turned off. The wind began howling around him, and while Percy did his best to stay on his feet the first of Triton's water tentacles shot towards him.

He dove to the side, but the water was now working against him, and a wave emerged from nowhere to throw him back into the path of the tentacle. Despite being made of water the tentacle hit like a truck, and sent Percy flying. Before he had time to land back down though, the water came to meet him. Another wave slammed into his back, knocking the wind out of him and bringing him to his knees. He had enough time to register that another tentacle was swinging at him from the side, but nowhere near enough time to react, and once again he was sent flying like a ragdoll across the surface of the waves.

He wouldn't be able to fight if he didn't have long enough to think, and that was the strategy that Triton seemed to be employing. As one tentacle hit him, another was already being launched at him. It felt like fighting the Kraken all over again, except this time there was nothing solid for Percy to hit. The only solid thing that Percy could attack was Triton, who was standing a safe distance away protected by both the tentacles and the churning sphere of water. Percy tried to remember what had triggered his power against Clarisse and the attacker on the train, but thinking wasn't the easiest thing to do as he was being battered on all sides.

He had a second of reprieve when Triton decided to stop knocking him from side to side, but the sea god instead brought one tentacle down on his head. The blow knocked him to the ground, and Percy lay dazed in the water, staring up at the sky above. It was a brilliant blue, with a couple of lazy clouds floating across the expanse, the epitome of a warm summer day. A wave was rearing above him, and Percy brought his arms up defensively as it crashed down upon him, but it was a limp reaction at best. The wave smothered him, and held him under the surface, refusing to let him get up from where he was pinned. He tried to breathe through his nose but water rushed up it and suddenly he found himself in a blind panic. He remembered his fear of drowning after almost drowning in earth, and that fear came rushing back as he fought for breath. He was going to die, he was going to die drowning. Ironic, for a son of Poseidon to die that way, but the Fates did love their fair share of irony.

As his oxygen began to deplete Percy felt himself losing consciousness, drifting off into a forced sleep. He knew he was supposed to be fighting, but his head was pounding, and as he closed his eyes and sunk into sleep the pounding in his head subsided. Slowly the light of the sun disappeared but the warmth remained. When he opened his eyes it was no longer the midday sky above him, but instead the night sky. He was floating on the surface of the water. No Triton, no audience, just the quiet peaceful sounds of waves crashing in the distance. A full moon hung above him, shining with a silver brilliance. He felt himself being pulled towards it, and then lightly pushed away from it. He was the tides, and above him was his moon. He was at peace.

He lay floating for a moment, enjoying the ethereal feeling of being one with the elements around him, at the mercy of the moon above. A voice then whispered in his ear, softly calling his name. He turned his head, and his ice blue eyes met silver ones. Artemis smiled at him. She was in the same form she had been in his dream, older, regal and beautiful. She was floating next to him in the water, and with the moonlight shining down on her it seemed to form a halo around her head, making her appear to be an angel. As he turned she reached out and took his hand in hers.

"You promised me Percy," she whispered, "You promised, so you must fight. You must fight your way back to me."

Percy didn't know what promise she was talking about, but there was a sense of desperation in both her eyes and her tone, and Percy felt the feeling of peace slipping away from him.

The pounding was back, and suddenly Artemis was gone. The night sky shattered into daylight as Percy opened his eyes. He was still under water, he still wasn't able to breath, but for the first time in the fight he was able to think. The panic that had gripped him was pushed away. He was a son of the sea, the sea would not be the death of him. Once again anger became his dominant emotion. Triton wasn't just beating him, he was embarrassing him in front of their father. He let out a scream of frustration and for the first time in the course of the fight, the water responded.

It exploded out in all directions from him, and Percy greedily sucked in air, snorting out the water that he had breathed in. He turned to face Triton, and the smug smile that the sea god had been wearing fell away. The look that replaced it was one that Percy had started to see a lot when he got angry, it was fear.

Triton launched another tentacle at him but Percy met it with his hand, and from the point of contact the tentacle began to freeze, ice crisscrossing down the length of the tentacle towards the sphere. When it reached the sphere it began to spread, and so Triton cut off that tentacle and the frozen length of the tentacle crashed into the ocean. Percy had no idea how he did it, but he wasn't going to start questioning it now. He pressed his hands into the water and began to feed his anger, remembering the feeling of humiliation at almost drowning at the hands of Triton. The ocean water began to freeze, with the arc of ice racing across the surface of the water towards Triton. The angrier Percy got the faster the ice spread, and right now it was moving fast.

Right before the ice reached Triton's sphere he summoned a wall of water, but it was merely delaying Percy. The ice spread across the wall, freezing it solid, and pressed on towards the sea god. Triton willed his sphere back and summoned one wave to crash into the incoming ice and the other to crash into Percy. The wave against the ice succeeded in breaking up the ice streaming towards the sphere, but only because Percy was forced to turn his attention to the wave coming behind him. All it took was Percy's hand touching the crest of the wave to turn it to ice, and so he turned his attention back to Triton.

As he did though he felt his legs give way, and he had to catch himself from falling. Beads of sweat trailed down his forehead, and he suddenly realised how much energy that had taken out of him. He was out of breath, and his legs were shaking as he tried to remain on his feet. Triton, while seemingly a little shaken, did not seem to have tired at all. Percy was not going to win this fight the longer it went on, so if he was going to have any shot at winning, he had to gamble it all in one last attack. He took a deep breath and thought of Hadad and how he had trapped him in ice. He thought of the threat of Enlil. Of Annabeth leaving him and of Teddy for taking her away from him. Of the other Percy for his rudeness and of Apollo for being so irritating. Most of all, he thought of the Fates, and their determination to ruin his life. He felt the rage build up in his chest, and a primal scream ripped through him. Whatever meagre control he had had of his powers disappeared and he slammed his fist into the sand beneath the water. Ice exploded from where he connected, the same as it had before, but this time it was insatiable, racing in all directions but most importantly devouring all the water in its path towards Triton.

Stalagmites of ice shot out at various intervals as it hurtled towards Triton, each one larger than the next as the wave of ice built up preparing to engulf the sea god. Triton summoned a wave of his own to crash into it but it was devoured by the ice before it built up any momentum. When the ice reached the sphere it spread across, bringing the swirling water to a standstill. The force of the ices trajectory pushed the sphere into the air, coming to stop maybe 50 feet in the air, completely encased in ice and only being held up by the thick tendril of ice that ultimately could be traced back to the point Percy's fist made contact.

Exhaustion hit Percy almost instantly and he collapsed to his knees. He looked up at the frozen ball in time to see Triton punching his way out before jumping towards the water below. The ice structure held true, but a wave of Triton's arm caused the water to smash into it and caused it to collapse into the water as Triton staggered to his feet. Percy sighed, and felt his body give way underneath him, causing him to fall into the water below. He stared up at the sky again, and remembered the vision he had had in the midst of his drowning.

He had seen Artemis again, and once again she had mentioned the promise he had supposedly made to her. He had felt so at peace there, no stress and no worries, just the moon above him and its goddess beside him. He didn't understand what it meant, but it had saved him, it had given him a window to break out of Triton's water prison. He hadn't been able to win, but then again Triton was a god fighting in his domain. He had given everything he had, and he was excited at the prospect of building on the power he had demonstrated. The ice armour had clearly only scratched the surface of what he was capable of.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a shadow looming over him, and Percy looked in its direction, seeing Triton standing over him. The sea god did something that he was not expecting and offered out his hand, which Percy gladly took. The arrogance was gone from Triton's face, as was the scowl. Percy might have even mistaken the gleam in his eyes for a look of respect. Triton didn't say anything to him, just nodded, but Percy understood. The two made their way back over to the audience on the beach, Triton supporting him when he staggered a couple times on the walk back. When they reached the Olympians Tyson began clapping.

"That was so cool. You're both so strong! I'm so excited to fight with you!"

Percy grinned, but even the effort of smiling felt like a lot. Triton released him and he crashed into the sand, taking a moment to regain his breath. He looked up at his father to see a smile and a gleam in his eyes.

"That was impressive Percy, I did not expect such an effort in your first encounter. Fighting a god in their element, with your own powers taken from you is no small feat, and even in defeat you should be proud of your efforts." he turned to Triton, "Will you return to train him?"

Triton nodded, "I have never seen a demigod of yours with this kind of power. It is both unique and powerful. With time and lots of practice, he might even stand a chance against me."

Percy couldn't tell whether Triton was joking about the last part, but he was excited to train more. He wasn't just going to be able to stand a chance against Triton, he was going to train until he could beat him.

Poseidon nodded, "Then you will return here, at noon each day for the foreseeable future. You will train Percy and prepare him for the threat that approaches. In the meantime, I have a realm to prepare for war. We do not know how much time…"

"Yo Uncle P," Apollo interrupted, "You're preparing for war over this Annunaki stuff? Dad hasn't even mentioned it to the rest of the council."

"The threat is graver than Lord Zeus is willing to admit," Poseidon said, "He has a tendency to underestimate his enemy. But I trust the word of my son and the word of the Primordial Chronos. We have been at peace for a long time, and in peace time we grow vulnerable and lazy."

"But what evidence do we have that they are even coming? How do we know that the stories aren't just stories? And even if they are real didn't the stories say they were locked away? Why would they come back now?" Apollo asked, suddenly bombarding Poseidon with questions.

Poseidon merely raised his hand, silencing the sun god, "I do not have the answers for you nephew. I only have faith in my son. But sometimes…" he turned to look at Percy, pride shimmering in his eyes, "...faith is enough."

With that he stood, beckoning Tyson and Triton to follow. "Train well with Triton, Percy. You are the most powerful demigod I have ever sired, it would be a waste for you to not reach your potential."

With that the three entered the surf and as Tyson waved goodbye they disappeared in a spray of salt water and sea breeze, leaving Percy alone with Apollo. Percy thought about his vision of Artemis again, and wondered how her twin would react if he knew about the dreams and visions. He was most definitely not going to bring it up.

"Well," Apollo began, "While it's always fun watching a demigod get their ass kicked, I've dithered and dallied for too long. It's time for me to go lead Archery class. You want to come?"

For so many reasons no, Percy thought, but before he could speak he saw a figure standing in the treeline, and knew he had someone else to see. "I'll pass, thank you for the offer though Lord Apollo."

Apollo gave him a joking salute before making his way back to the camp. Percy turned back to the figure and couldn't help but marvel at how much he had grown in the time he had been gone. A grown satyr emerged from the shadows of the trees, his mischievous eyes sparkling with a twinkle of ancient wisdom. He stood tall, and there was an undeniable aura of wildness and vitality that surrounded him. From the waist up, he possessed the form of a ruggedly handsome man, with a strong, muscular build and familiar brown eyes. Large, pointed ears protruded from the crown of his head, and a set of gracefully curved horns, resembling those of a majestic ram, spiralled out from his temples. A rustic pan flute, carved with intricate woodland patterns, hung from a strap around his neck. He was a young satyr no longer.

He clopped towards Percy, slowly at first, but picking up speed as he confirmed that it really was Percy sitting in the sand. Percy stood, despite his legs crying out as he did so and smiled at his oldest friend as he approached.

"Hey G-man, those are some awesome horns."