Act I Chapter XXXV: Percy is Really Bad at Keeping Secrets

As Percy's eyes drifted open, he felt relaxed. At peace. His body was weightless like he was floating on air. Percy took a deep breath. Motion caught his attention, and he saw a fish swimming by his head. A frown touched his face.

Past the fish, he saw something else floating. Something that almost looked like a human. They had blonde hair.

Annabeth!

"Annabeth!" Percy gasped. His eyes widened, and he quickly looked around. They weren't floating on air. Instead, they were in the water. Percy blinked a few more times as it all slowly came back to him. They had been at Alcatraz, and there had been a monster.

And the poison.

Percy looked down at his shirt and saw the cut from where the sword had nicked him. His hand moved to feel his stomach, and he didn't feel the cut. There was a dull ache in his back, but it wasn't the agony that he had been in earlier.

Percy didn't understand it, but he didn't have time to. He slowly tested his arms and legs, and when nothing hurt, he turned in the water and started to swim toward Annabeth. Percy swam as quickly as he could, and he cut through the water like a blade.

His lungs started to hurt, and he forced himself to breathe in the water. He instantly relaxed as it was like breathing air. It never occurred to him how useful those lessons from Lupa would be. Without them, he would be nothing more than a panicked mess.

It didn't take long to make it to Annabeth's side, and he came to a stop. Her eyes were closed, and Percy hoped she hadn't breathed in water. Percy gently scooped Annabeth up and started to swim towards the surface. His head broke the surface, and he let out a sigh of relief.

Percy heard Annabeth gasp, and she instantly started coughing out water. He kept her above the waves as she had her fir. The water they had fallen in was peaceful. A look around showed that no one was on the shoreline watching them. His eyes widened as he saw how far away from the window they were. Not to mention the fall itself being a few stories.

They were lucky enough to avoid the rocks that surrounded the island, but they needed to find their way back to the shore. First, he had to make sure Annabeth was okay. Percy hoped that he had taken the brunt of the fall, especially since the water almost seemed like it had healed him.

Annabeth coughed out more water, and her eyes snapped open. Her gaze shot around before focusing on Percy, and her eyes widened.

"Hey," Percy greeted nervously.

"Percy," Annabeth choked out with a raspy voice. She started to cough once again.

"Can you swim?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded. Percy slowly let go of her, and Annabeth started to swim towards the shoreline of rocks. Percy followed right behind her, ready to help her if she needed it. His adrenaline was still pumping, and he was ready to run back into the building and fight the monster.

As they made it to the shoreline, Percy carefully climbed onto the rocks. Annabeth followed right behind him. Percy slipped a few times, and other than a rock hitting him in a rather unfortunate place, he managed to make his way up without much difficultly. Annabeth followed right behind him and seemed to have the same struggles as well.

They made it up the rocks, and Percy took a moment to check the small cuts and bruises on his hands and knees. His gaze moved to Annabeth. She was staring at him.

"Are you okay?" Percy questioned.

"No," Annabeth answered. "But you are."

"I am," Percy confirmed. Annabeth's gaze stared at him and moved down slightly. Percy looked down and saw she was staring at the cut in his shirt. Annabeth slowly stood and walked around Percy, focusing on his back.

"She cut you," Annabeth stated. "I watched her stab you in the back, but there's no wound."

Oh crap.

How was he going to explain this?

Percy didn't have an excuse, so he just stared ahead, unsure of what to say. The problem was that Annabeth was smart. She would figure this out if Percy didn't tell her, but he didn't know if he should. Lupa told him that his secret was his to keep or share, but he needed to find out who his friends and enemies were.

Percy trusted his friends, though. He didn't think... no. He knew that none of them would betray him. It was a gut feeling he had, and he always tried to trust his gut. At the same time, his mother told him not to tell anyone.

Not to mention that whole prophecy that mentioned a child of the Big Three would destroy the gods.

And the fact that Percy wasn't even supposed to be alive because of that.

When his mother first told him that he was the son of a god, the revelation was almost too much to process. Then, she threw all this other information on top of it. Percy didn't really have time to process it at the moment, and he was so busy training and getting used to his new life that he shoved it to the back of his mind.

Now that Percy had the chance to state his parentage out loud, everything was starting to hit him at once. His mother stated that Poseidon was the one who suggested the Big Three no longer have any kids. And that the Big Three also just go ahead and kill the kids that were alive at the time.

But, why would Poseidon go back on that idea and have Percy? Was the sea god just wanting to get the end of the world over with? Or, did he think Percy would be able to save it? Poseidon could have also been so far gone that he just didn't realize what he was doing.

What if his mother was wrong? Percy remembered Annabeth telling him about the Olympians. She said that Zeus was the one who brought up the idea of a vow. So, who was right? Then again, did it matter?

"Percy," Annabeth began. Percy slowly met her eyes. "Are you..."

"Poseidon is my father," Percy confessed. Annabeth stared at him as her eyes slowly widened. She looked back at the water before focusing on Percy. "My mother knew, and she told me before I met you guys. She told me not to tell anyone else."

"Because of the prophecy?" Annabeth guessed. Percy wordlessly nodded. "The one where you would destroy or save Olympus?"

"No pressure," Percy choked out a nervous laugh.

"That's why you wanted to get on this quest…" Annabeth realized.

"To have a safe place for demigods," Percy added. He looked down at his dry shoes. "I just want to save the world, Annabeth. I don't want to destroy it. Please, you can't tell anyone. I don't want to put a target on you or the others."

Annabeth studied him for a moment. Then, she grabbed his arm, "Percy, I won't tell anyone. I swear on the River Styx that I'll keep your secret.."

Thunder rumbled in the sky, and Percy felt himself relaxing, "Thank you."

"Does anyone else know besides your mother?" Annabeth asked as she slowly stood. Percy followed her lead.

"Well, my step-father learned when I did. And, Lupa already knew. Somehow," Percy began. Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "She was training me how to control my powers over water."

"And the water expunged the poison from your system and healed your wounds," Annabeth theorized.

"I think. I haven't tried it before now," Percy admitted. Annabeth instantly frowned. "What?"

"You didn't know that the water would save your life when you took that attack for me?"

"...No…"

"Oh my gods, Percy! You could have died!"

"But, I didn't."

"But, you could have!"

"I could have," Percy agreed. "But since I didn't, that is what we should focus on."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "You're such a Seaweed Brain."

"Seaweed Brain?" Percy repeated.

"Because your head is full of seaweed. You need to think before you act," Annabeth reprimanded. Percy shook his head and couldn't help a smile breaking out on his face. "I'm serious."

"Alright, Wise Girl," Percy retorted. Annabeth gave him a look. "Hey, you're wise and a daughter of Athena, so I think it fits."

Annabeth shook her head and winced. Her hand slowly moved to her back. Percy frowned, "Are you okay?"

"It was a rough landing in the water," Annabeth admitted. "For some of us at least. Did you ever find the bust?"

"Oh!" Percy yelped as he turned his head to look back at the water. "I, um, did not. I kind of forgot about it when I saw you. Should I go look?"

"I'll help," Annabeth offered.

"You're hurt," Percy declined. "I'll be right back."

Percy walked towards the water and carefully started to make his way down the rocks. When he was close enough, he dove head first into the water. Percy slowly swam down and looked through the clear water to try and find the statue. He scanned around to try and find it.

It felt like a weight had been lifted as he told Annabeth his secret. He did trust her, and sooner or later, he would tell Luke and Reyna his secret as well. Percy's head shot back up towards the surface of the water, focusing on the hole in the wall. He hoped that both of them were okay.

Percy forced himself to focus as he looked back down. He swam further into the water. The water pressure didn't bother him, and he had no issues almost gliding through the substance. As he made it down to the bottom, he saw the bust resting in some sand.

Percy swam down towards the bust and grabbed it. He lifted it and winced at how heavy it was. Percy wrapped his arms around it like he was hugging it, and he kicked his legs to swim up. His mind moved to an idea, and he tried to focus on the water beneath him.

His eyes closed as he tried to think of the water like a coiled spring. Then, he opened his eyes and willed the water to propel him upward. He shot up at an alarming rate, much faster than he expected. A yelp left him as he broke the surface of the water and shot ten feet in the air. The bust slipped out of his hands, and both crashed back into the water.

Percy quickly swam down to grab the bust again, and he swam back up to the surface. His face was a bright red as he saw that Annabeth was watching him. Percy swam towards the rocks, and Annabeth slowly walked down to meet him. She helped him out of the water, and together, they carried the bust up the rocks.

"Was that your first time trying that?" Annabeth asked as they set the bust down. Her hand instantly moved to her back. Percy reached into his pockets and dug out a bag of ambrosia. Annabeth took it, and she visibly relaxed.

"It was," Percy answered with a shrug. Annabeth had a smile on her face, and it looked like she was trying to hide her laugh.

"Percy! Annabeth!"

Percy turned around and saw Luke running towards them. He scrambled to a stop in front of them and looked them over for injuries, "Are you two hurt? Percy, the poison!"

"I took care of it," Annabeth lied.

"She's a good doctor," Percy said with a small smile.

"Only had to use one square of ambrosia," Annabeth added as she grabbed the bag from Percy. "Wait. Reyna. Is she okay?"

"Yes," Luke said after a moment of hesitation. "Well, mostly."

"Mostly?" Percy repeated. Luke nodded. "Did you destroy Kampê?"

"No," Luke replied. "She disappeared into a hole in the wall."

"What?!" Annabeth asked incredulously. Luke held up his hands.

"I know," Luke resigned. "Let's just find Reyna and get out of here. I'd rather not be around if Kampê finds her way out of wherever we threw her."