When I was a kid, I would have to draw things in school. We'd be given markers, pens, colored pencils, and all the other artistic tools one gives to a child. Kids, however, are messy. I remember Mom laughing with me as we tried and failed to wash off the permanent marker from my hands.

I rubbed my hands together in the sea, roughly scraping skin on skin til it was pink. It wouldn't wash off.

I had no Mom to laugh at me for getting messy, and I really wasn't in a mood to laugh.

"Percy." A hand reached onto my shoulder. "You need to stop."

I looked back from my seated position, seeing Calypso look at me with a sad smile. Her eyes were warm and caring, looking at me in a mixture of worry and empathy.

"I know." I nearly whispered. "I just—all I can see when I look at my hands…I just see them stained. I see them covered in warm blood. It won't—it won't go away."

Calypso sighed and sat next to me, putting her legs into the ocean while running her hands through the sand. "It never will."

"It won't?" I asked, my voice pained. "Never?"

"Never ever." She took a hand out of the sand, making a pointer with his finger. "It's because you're human."

"But…it hurts so much." My hand latched onto her wrist, like I was trying to hold on for safety. I held on tight for dear life.

Calypso softly exhaled, moving my hand away from her wrist and to her fingers. "It'll dull, maybe. Most days you won't even remember it. And at some point, you'll take a person's life without pain." She squeezed my hand. "But in your dreams? That pain will never go away."

"You could've told me what I was getting into."

"But would you have done it?" She says, asking the obvious.

I shook my head. "Never! I—I hate this…This feeling, it's, it's just never going to leave me…why did you have to do this to me?" My voice cracked.

Calypso rested her head onto my shoulder. "Because I love you."

My face scrunches up in distaste, That wasn't an answer, she knew that. I wanted to know why. Why I had to kill. Why it was necessary.

"I know you don't like that answer, but it's the truth, Percy." Her hand brushed my cheek. "I want you to be happy in your time. And, well—you either have to kill now…or you will kill then."

"Why do I have to kill at all?" I breathed out. "Why does anyone have to die?"

"If only, Perseus, if only." She pulled me into her, putting my head on her shoulder. It was nice. "We just don't live in such a world."

"But we can." I mumble into her shoulder. "We can."

"And how do we do that?"

"We—!" I went silent. I didn't know how.

Have you ever had a door to door evangelist show up at your door? I have. I, faintly, still remember what the guy said. He went for the heavy topics with a six year old, Why do bad things happen to good people. I didn't really like his answer then. I don't like it any better now.

Free will. That's why bad things happen. People do bad things because they have the ability to pick the bad option. If they didn't have the choice, they wouldn't be free. And the thing is, I like having my free will. I like being able to make choices without others forcing me, choosing while having all the options.

I just don't like how other people use their free will. But, the only way to fully remove bad things, to stop murder and warfare, is to make it so people couldn't even make a choice in that direction. I didn't want that to happen. It seemed wrong to remove people's capability to choose.

Small circles were rubbed into my back. "It's going to be alright, Percy." She pulled me deeper into a hug. "I'll always be here to comfort your pain. Never forget that."

I burrowed my face into her shoulder. "Never." I affirmed.

I sat like that for a while, melting into her. I was like a newborn baby with how fragile I felt, like I'd break if I was dropped. Like I needed to be held to not cry and scream.

For a while, I forgot about the blood staining my skin.

For a while, I just felt the cool ocean breeze, the water lapping onto the shore, the sand, her. Just, just her. What have I ever done to deserve her? It all made me feel human. Feel like I wasn't a killer. Feel like I was something more.

Calypso broke the silence. "Percy." She muttered into my ear.

I raise my head a little. "Hm?"

"We need to move, the sun is only getting lower." She stood up, I whined. "And you're not getting any younger."

I snorted. "What, am I suddenly geriatric or something?"

She amusedly shook her head. "Just get up, you oaf."

"No, no." I shook my head. "Help grandpa up. I'm not getting any younger, you know."

"Oh my gods." She laughed. "You're ridiculous."

"No," I shook my head. "I'm senile. Help granddaddy up here. My legs don't work like they used to."

She hooked an arm around me and yanked me violently up. "Happy? I'm not calling you granddaddy, though."

I was incredibly tempted to make a joke about a different familial name she could call me. I held my tongue. "Careful there." I hunch over like I'm eighty. "You could've blown out my back."

Calypso's eyes lit up and she opened her mouth to say something, but she shook her hand and laughed to herself. "Just…c'mon. To the Styx. You know what I mean by you're not getting any younger."

I really wanted to know what joke she was going to make, but I guess we'll never know. "Yes, yes. I'm pushing up the daisies, you don't have to remind a man how old he was."

I was a whopping fifteen years old, something I turned a few weeks ago. We had gotten the Romans to give us a lift to Achaea, Greece. We had a little party on the boat. It was, admittedly, pretty fun. The Romans party way harder than the Greeks.

They let us off near Aegium, which was in the upper part of Achaea. We needed to find a river near some town called Pheneos, which was near the Helmos mountain range. According to Calypso, this river was the River Styx. She wanted me to take a bath in it.

No pressure, I just have to jump in a river that consumes souls. Not terrifying at all. And it wouldn't even make me immortal, so it wasn't even that helpful…well, that's not technically true. It'd make me into an off brand superman, being only mostly invincible.

We were on a pretty strict deadline. I wasn't allowed to age past sixteen for obvious reasons. We'd find a solution to let me age in the future. Most likely.

Nico was not being the child of prophecy. The kid already hated me, so gods only knew what he'd do to screw everyone over just to hurt me. I mean, it was deserved because it was my fault that Bianca was dead, but that didn't mean Nico should be helping the Titans.

Not like it was Nico's fault, it was that ghost, Minos, who was manipulating him. I can't exactly blame someone for being manipulated and having their feelings used for another's gain.

"Percy. Move." Calypso nudged, more like pushed, me forward.

"Yes, yes. Sorry, Dumbledore." I started walking away from the water, even as it called back to me. Water only ranked second in things that loved me. If there was a who loves Percy leaderboard, I think Calypso would be the universal MVP. She was the Michael Phelps of the who loves Percy sport.

"Dumbledore?" She asked, falling in stride with me.

"Some old wizard guy from the future. He likes controlling little kids." I mean, technically true. Annabeth would strangle me for that description, though.

"Hmm…" She seemed to ponder. "I don't recall being an old wizard."

"No issue with the controlling little kids part?" I questioned.

She wacked my arm. "I wasn't aware you were a little kid."

"Nope. I'm a big kid now. I graduated from Toys R' Us years ago."

She laughed. "I have zero clue what that means." She grabbed my hand as we walked.

"Just a store from the future. Nothing important." We did little swings with our hands. "But being controlling of me is ok?"

"Why? You're opposed?"

"Nope." I popped the p. "Just asking." Huh. When were we already in forested mountains? Guess I wasn't paying much attention.

"Alright." She went silent for a minute, watching the nature we walked through. Greece was very different ecologically than Long Island. More mountainy, for one. For two, I don't know, different kinds of plants? I'm not a forest expert, go ask a child of Demeter.

"What are we going to do at the Styx?" I break her out of her silence. "After, you know, I take a swim."

"Egypt, probably." She shrugged. "They have always been heavily focused on death and immortality. If we can get the favor of Isis and, subsequently, Osiris, I wouldn't be too surprised if she gives us a recipe for a way to make you immortal."

"Isis? Like—like the terrorists?" At her blank look, I was clearly wrong.

"No. The goddess of magic. And Osiris is her husband, who also is the god of the dead." She deadpanned.

"Alright, so," We stepped over a large rock. "How do we gain their favor?"

She sucked in one of her cheeks. So, then, not easy. Got it. "Either we do a task for one of them, you become one of their hosts, or we kidnap them."

"I have zero clue what a host is, but you want us to kidnap a god." I look at her like she is crazy. "That'll just make them dislike us!"

"Well…somewhat, yeah. But don't look at me like that! It's a good idea."

I maintained my look. "It's a terrible idea. We'll get smited!"

"No we won't. Egyptian gods are weaker than the Greco-Roman ones. It's why the Greeks have been ruling over the region for the past couple hundred years." She squeezed my hand. "With the Styx's curse, you'll be able to to—"

"Rooooaaaaar" a massive beast screamed in the distance. I swung Calypso behind me. With massive thuds, a lion burst through the trees, toppling them and flinging debris at us.

"You again?" I question, taking a step back. I'd fought this monster before…or I would fight it. The Nemean Lion wasn't an enemy I'd forget so easily.

"Oh, good." Why did she sound happy? "We need its pelt, anyway."

The Nemean lion flung itself at us like a ballistic missile, dust and dirt kicked up in its wake. It neared us, mouth throthing like a rabies-ridden dog.

We dispersed as the lion neared. A massive paw swept towards me, and like a super intense game of dodgeball, I dodged by the skin of my teeth.

"Calypso! Its mouth is its weak point!" I stepped back to avoid arm-long claws, the very edges still managing to scrape my chest. I winced, backing far away from the beast.

The lion lost focus of me, distracted by Calypso as she pushed it with her Jedi powers—I really needed a better name for it.

It spun over and over, tumbling back into the forest and crashing through trees. It flung itself back up with vigor, giving a guttural roar to the air.

With gigantic bump da bump da bump's, it dashed towards Calypso. I didn't even attempt to move towards her, she could handle herself. Heck, she handles herself better than me most of the time.

It neared her, its razor sharp claws swinging at my girlfriend. Throwing her hands up, she batted it away with a blast of force. The lion was relentlessly, slashing over and over, failing each time.

"I know that's its weak point!" She yelled, blasting a furry fist from hitting her. "This should be easy."

Easy? Easy, she says? Calypso is insane! "What!?"

I didn't have much time to think, a blast of force sending the lion in my direction. It looked at Calypso and shook its head. Good, it also realizes how terrifying she is

The lion turned back to me, diving at me with its teeth bared. Why couldn't it attack us when we were near water? I jumped away at the last moment, letting it skate right past me. "Why's it even here, anyways!? Nemea isn't even nearby!"

I leapt away from another slash as Calypso responded. "Nemea is actually pretty close by, just several miles east." Oh, good. My geography sucks. I think I have bigger worries at the moment!

I ducked under a slash as the lion dove at me again. It was getting erratic, wildly striking in rage. It probably hadn't had such dangerous enemies since Heracles. It backed up. Woah, Calypso. I could really use your help here.

"Roar!" The monster shouted, golden maw lashing at me. Time slowed.

Anaklusmons was readied in front of me like a spear, aiming forward. We didn't have arrows, so I'd need to strike its insides with my sword.

It neared, inching towards me. Then, it was like a massive, invisible hand bashed it on the skull. With a massive thud, its head slammed into the ground and bounced off of it. "Thanks, Calypso!"

"Just kill it!" She shouted back. Right, good thought, except the lion was pretty keen on keeping its mouth shut. Then, it started gagging and choking. Its neck compressed inwards. Ever seen when Darth Vader choked people? It was like that but on a lion-scale.

I struck forward, my sword stabbing right into the back of its throat. It screeched in agony, thrashing around as blood flung off of it. I stabbed it again. And again. Within seconds it was dead. It faded into gold dust, a golden cloak on the pile of gilded sand.

"Good job." I complimented, turning to Calypso. She looked incredibly out of breath. "But what can you do with your powers?"

"I can huff move stuff huff with my mind huff." She said, hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Alright, Master Yoda, I can kinda tell that." I sarcastically say. "Please, be more vague."

She huffed. "It's easier for me to huff push and pull huff things than to huff be more precise. That's why huff I don't often huff do it." I walked over to her and picked her up. She didn't struggle. I was less tired than her, anyways.

"I thought you could do magic and stuff?" I adjusted her, holding her like a princess.

"I can do "magic and stuff". I just don't usually need to heal people. I also don't usually enchant people." She flicked my face.

"Could've fooled me." I walk over to the golden cloak. "I feel real enchanted."

"A tree could fool you, Percy." I picked up the Nemean Lion's pelt.

"Okay, ouch. I could outwit a pinetree, you know." I hum. "Other trees, however? You have me there."

"Yes, ave, here is the great hero Perseus, destroyer of lions, conqueror of hearts, fooler of pinetrees. Any other titles I forgot?" She said, giggling.

"No clue, how about I let you keep track of it for me?"

"Relegated to the bard, I see." She mockingly shuddered as I walked. "I'm wounded, Percy. I'd rather you ask me for a different job."

"Like?" I walk through the destroyed forest, going south.

"Nope—" A teasing smile appeared on her lips. "—I'll let you figure that out."

Figure out what? Did she want to be a waitress or something? I wasn't exactly the business-type, so I think it'd be a bit difficult to give people jobs. "You know, is this going to become a pattern?"

"What is?" She asked.

"Me carrying you. I feel like those servants who carry those really big chairs for a king or queen while they sit on it."

"You have a good point." A mischievous look crossed her face. "I'll just let you carry me from now on."

I nod solemnly. "And I suppose I have no choice?"

"Nope. I'm deciding for you."

"Very well then, Queen Calypso." If I wasn't carrying her, I'd do a mocking bow. "I shall be your humble steed."

Her eyes rolled. "It is only proper, of course."

"Indeed." Before the Nemean Lion attacked, what was it we had been doing? "Anyways, what was it we were talking about before? The Egyptian gods?"

"Oh. Right." She went into deep thought. "We could beat Isis, I think."

"You think we can?" That filled me with so much confidence, it was practically overflowing.

"Well, I can't know for sure till we actually fight her. And we aren't really going to be fighting her, only her host."

I ask, "You said that word before. What is a host?"

"Egyptian gods and goddesses, as I said, are not like their Greek neighbors. They aren't able to exist in the material world in their physical form. When they want to interact with the material world, they use a host, or a person, to act through."

"Alright, so, that's cool and all, but won't they just ditch the host when we beat them?"

Calypso shakes her head. "No. Looking for a new host is usually a long experience for gods, and so they tend to avoid letting their host die."

"But you still think we can beat a goddess?" I incredulously asked her.

"I do. You see, you have a benefit that I and she don't have—you're naturally resistant to magic because you are a demigod. You're also a strong demigod, and so, you most likely are incredibly resistant to magic."

Oh gee, that'd have been really helpful when I was a guinea pig. "So we wouldn't lose?"

"Nah," She shook her head. "We'd win. Especially because you'd be completely invincible."

"But," I ask. "The curse of Achilles has a weak spot. She could use that, right."

Calypso grabbed the pelt which was laying in her lap. "What weak spot?"

"Ah."

"Ah." She confirmed.

"You terrify me." I playfully say. "Too clever for your own good."

"Good." She taps my chest. "It means it's working."

"What's working?"

"Exactly." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I have genuinely no clue what you are talking about." I huff as I walk up a particularly steep area. "But, back to task. We ask her for the, what, philosopher's stone. How do we know it's the real thing?"

"Easy. We make her host drink it first." Her eyes narrowed. "It'd be a shame if Isis caused her own host's death, isn't it."

"I guess. And you know how to find them?"

"Well, as you said, I am a wizard." She laughed. "Let me work a little magic and we will find them." She seemed confident.

I switched topics. "How far do you think we are?"

"Hopefully not too far, and anyways, you've walked for more than several hours before."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." I complain.

She looked amused. I'm glad my misery serves a purpose. "It could be worse. We could have gone to Titarisios instead. You'd have to walk way more there."

"I'm a complainer. I complain."

She amusedly shook her head. "Complain in silence, then. I thought you were but a humble servant, and servants do not talk unless spoken to."

I did an obnoxious voice. "My deepest apologies, then. I shan't ever intrude upon the sanctity of your mind."

My arm got wacked. It was worth it.

Hours later, we came upon it. The Arcadian Styx in all its glory. It was black, bubbling, and looked like an oil spill. It ripped through the terrain, dark, charcoal-like glass lining its sides. The water itself looked so thick and heavy, it was basically a travesty to even say water in the same sentence as whatever this fluid was.

So, really, it was not too different from the Hudson River. I wouldn't swim in the Hudson River for a million dollars.

"This is what you want me to swim in?" I ask Calypso, putting her down on the ground. "I'll probably get cancer!"

"You'll be fine…probably."

I gaped at her. "Probably?! I walked all this way and I'll only probably survive?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm kidding. You'll be alright, Percy. Remember, just imagine where you want your mortal point to be, jump in the water, and you'll eventually make it out." She raised her hands in the universal sign of surrender. "But hey, we could walk all the way back now if you're too chicken to do it."

"I'll have you know that I am very comfortable in my ego."

She shrugged. "Sure, sure. It's okay to be scared, but trust me—you will be alright. If Thetis could get this to work for Achilles, you'll be more than fine. I'm much more competent than her. And you are more competent than a literal baby."

Okay, maybe she had a decent point. And, to be honest, invincibility sounded very cool. Like a DC or Marvel superhero. Could I get my own name, like Seaman or something?

"So, then, I just walk into the waters?" I ask, pointing to the aforementioned crime to all liquids ever made.

"Would you rather be pushed in?" She asks me pointedly.

"Nope." I shake my head. "Not really. But, like…it's so disgusting to look at."

"What do you want me to say to that? Boo hoo?"

"Wow. Mean, that really hurts right here." I pointed at my heart.

She shook her head in exasperation. "Percy. Water. Walk."

I saluted. "Eye-eye." Then I walked towards the river. It smelled terrible, like molten slag, decaying plants, rotting food, burning bodies, and a whole load of garbage had a baby that then decided to take a bath in oil. Then, that abomination to creation decided it never wanted to never bathe.

This is sorta what guy's cologne smells like. They'd bottle this stuff and call it something like The Devil's Armpit. There's a reason many guys do not buy cologne targeted towards men. The stuff is nasty. I'd much rather smell like Lancome La Vie Est Belle than whatever this is.

I neared the river's…waters. The crunch of breaking glass under my sandals wasn't a very fun noise. I better not get cut on this stuff because only the gods know what kind of infection I'll get from that river if I have open wounds. As cool as it would be, I don't want a disease named after me.

I stopped, stood at the edge of the oily-liquid, and struck a diver's pose. This really felt like the time some old sage would pop up and warn me about the price for power. I waited. No old sage.

Like Calypso said, I imagined a spot to keep myself tethered to, I don't know, mortality? I focused on the small of my back, picturing a string, a bungee cord connecting me to the world from the small of my back. Then, I crouched, sprung up, and dove head first into the pool of liquid death.

Imagine jumping into a pit of boiling acid. Now multiply that pain times fifty. You still won't be close to understanding what it felt like to swim in the Styx.

I submerged completely, and for the first time in my life, I couldn't breathe underwater. I finally understood the panic of drowning. Every nerve, every fiber of my body screamed in agony. I was dissolving in the water, losing my being. I saw faces—my mom, Grover, Annabeth—they too dissolved, gone as fast as they appeared.

"Live, Percy." My mother asked me. "Come back to me."

"You can do it, Perce!" Grover encouraged me, munching on a can.

"Fight back, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth pleaded.

I was losing the battle, losing the fight. It hurt too much. The pain made me dizzy and my mind ran weak. My hands and feet felt like they were melting into the river, becoming one with it. My soul was being ripped out of my body. I couldn't remember why I was here. I couldn't remember who I was.

Remember the cord, Percy. A voice called out to me. Keep hold of it, keep hold of your lifeline!

I see Calypso now, standing barefoot above me at the canoe lake peer. She was laughing, a hand reaching down to help me up. She wore jeans and a white tee, her hair braided with beautiful pink, blue, and red flowers in it. It was odd to see her here, because I could have sworn that she had never been to camp before.

"C'mon, Percy." She giggled with a radiant smile. "You're not leaving me that easily. Take my hand."

Memories flooded back into my head at a mile a minute, all of them more radiant and lively than before. I reached up and took the hand, Calypso hoisting me up to shore.

I burst out of the river like a dolphin, doing a front flip and then falling face first onto the broken sand. It didn't hurt my skin.

I heard footsteps walking down towards me from the treeline. The voice seemed to be doing their hardest not to break out laughing.

"Are you okay, Percy." Calypso said, small giggles breaking through. "Nice flip you did there."

I groaned. "Thanks, I try."

I pushed myself up and saw my hands. They were a worrying shade of red, like they had been slowly broiled over an open flame. A hand was in my face.

"C'mon, Percy. Take my hand."

Just like before, I did. She pulled me away from the black glass and onto the grass several yards away. My skin had returned to a normal hue.

"So I take it that it worked?" She asked.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the glass didn't cut you up."

I nodded. "Hmm…seems like a fair assessment, then." I then stared at her for a few seconds till she grew red.

"Wha—"

I cut her off. "The small of my back."

She looked confused. "The small of your back?"

"My mortal spot." I elaborated. "I want you to know it. Ergo, I told you."

"You—you don't just tell someone that. I mean, what if—" Her eyes were wide.

"—I don't care."

"You don't care. Right. Yep." She looked flabbergasted, as if I crashed her systems.

"You'd look good in jeans, you know?" I told her.

seemed to have a system reboot, coming back to her senses. "...jeans?"

"Mhm. And a white tee. With all kinds of flowers in your hair, which would be put into braids. We could have a nice little beach house in Montauk."

"Montauk? Tee? Jeans?" She looked confused.

I nodded. "Yeah, and we could have a dog—well, a hellhound. I think Qunitus would be willing to part with Mrs. O'Leary. She'd love you. Blackjack would love you as well."

"I—I'm confused." She said, looking at me as if I said the craziest thing. "I have no clue what half the things you said are."

Oh.

"Uhm, well…" I started to explain. "Jeans are—they're clothes for the lower body. You'd look really pretty in them. You'd look really pretty in anything, though, so it's kind of a mute point." I awkwardly laughed.

"And—and a tee is also a kind of clothing, but for the upper body. Montauk is a beach me and my mom used to always go to, some of my best memories were there…" I weakly broke off my words, feeling embarrassed.

Luckily, Calypso's eyes were like stars. "I'd love to do that. I'd love to. But what brought this on?"

I met her eyes, it was like staring into the cosmos. "When I was in there, in the river. It hurt, like, a whole lot. I almost lost the fight to the river, but I had a—well, I had a vision or something. I was at camp, and I'd fallen into the canoe lake. You stood at the top of the dock, laughing at me with a hand reached down to help me. It made me realize how much I want that to happen, I so badly want for you to be in the future, so badly want for you to meet my friends and family and mom and—and everyone." I breathily stopped.

"So what are you saying, Percy?" She seemed more serious than I had ever seen her before.

"I—I'm saying I love you." My brain feels mushy right now, it was my heart speaking at this point. "I love you so much. Like. I really, really love you."

She laughed. It could have lit up Manhattan. "And you're just realizing that, dummy?"

She pulled me close. Her lips met mine. My brain was mush.