AN: A little note to those wondering why Percy was so respectful to Mr. D and why Mr. D's personality was the way it was: I'm making this Percy a lot more intelligent than he was in canon, something I'm sure you've realized by now, and while he wouldn't give a shit about insulting, say, Athena as he doesn't see her as that big of a threat he can tell that Dionysus could, and would, drive him mad with his power as the legends spoke of if insulted so he treats the god with respect. Mr. D I see as just a man that is tired of being disrespected by campers who don't see 'wine' as a good domain and mock him so he makes them miserable.

Wisdom of the Waters

Chapter 4

-Percy-

Breathing deeply he gazed out onto the ocean, the water calming him as it always had, likely due to the connection to his father, whatever god that may be. After Chiron had helped him settled the dispute the previous day Grover had resumed his tour, showing him the last few areas before taking him to the cabins so he could see where he would be staying, once again running into that girl with the big ego, Annabeth, who was talking to a guy outside the cabin Grover was taking him to.

-Flashback-

"Yo, Luke!" Grover called out as they walked over, both Annabeth and the now named Luke sending a smile at the Satyr before they turned to him, their happy expressions turning into a scowl on the face of the daughter of Athena and a curious look on 'Luke's' face.

"Sup Grover," Luke said with a nod and wave "this guy a new camper?".

"Yeah," Grover said with a grin "he's the strongest one I've ever seen and has survived something more dangerous than any other demigod here.".

"And what would that be?" Luke asked with a raised eyebrow, the older boy clearly trying to hide his intrigue.

"He survived having both Clarisse and Lou baying for his blood, the two thinking he was two timing them, and ended up with them agreeing to both date him until he decides who he wants to date more and possibly end up sharing him." Grover said with a grin.

"Damn!" Luke said, shock clear on the older camper's face "What else have you managed to do?".

"Let's see," he said as he held up his hand to tick things off on his fingers "I bested the minotaur and a fury in single combat, outwitted Chiron, gained the respect of Dionysus, and outsmarted Goldie Locks over here." He finished by jerking a thumb in Annabeth's direction causing her to scowl.

"Don't' say the names!" Luke yelled nervously.

"I'm gonna tell you what I told Goldie Locks," he said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation "it's just a word. It's the meaning of the word that matters, not an arrangement of letters. Do you think that when you call a Fury a Kindly one or refer to the Minotaur as Pasiphae's Son that they are fooled into thinking that you aren't speaking of them? It's a mistake to assume your enemies are ignorant and you are clever.".

"They're just dumb monsters!" Annabeth snarled "They aren't intelligent or clever so no, they wouldn't be able to figure out we aren't speaking of them.".

"And how do you know?" he asked with a raised eyebrow "Have you ever spoken to a monster? Have you ever seen actually proof of your opinion? And how can 'all monsters be dumb' when several were hailed in their legends for their intelligence? Just suck it up, shut of your ego, and admit you were wrong already.".

"I'm not wrong!" she yelled, stamping her foot petulantly before storming off somewhere else.

"Well," he said calmly "she's dramatic." Causing Grover to slap a palm to his face in exasperation.

"Percy," Grover deadpanned "you are the most over the top person I've ever met and you call her dramatic?".

"I just know how to put on a good show and entertain," he said with a shrug "I'm not a self-absorbed drama queen with an inflated sense of one's own importance.".

"Sounds like a budding romance to me." Luke offered with a smirk causing him to scowl in disgust.

"I like women who are strong and self-confident," he said shaking his head "I can't stand girls that ave an overinflated ego and refuse to admit that they're wrong simply because they believe themselves infallible.".

"Besides," Grover added with a smirk "you already have your hands full with Clarisse and Lou.".

"I just realized I haven't introduced myself yet," the guy, Luke, spoke up with a sheepish chuckle "the name's Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, head of cabin eleven along with being camp leader.".

"Percy Jackson," he said as he shook the guy's proffered hand "son of an, as of yet, unknown god, potential boyfriend for Clarisse and Lou, and all around badass.".

"Not gonna put the fury or minotaur in your title?" Luke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Those weaklings?" he asked with a snort "Why would I? I've had better fights with mortals…then again I don't use my powers when sparing against mortals so that might be why.".

"You're insane." Grover sighed.

"Maybe that's why Mr. D and I get along so well," he suggested with a shrug before he heard a conch horn off in the distance "and please tell me that's dinner.".

"Yeah," Luke said with a laugh "it is. Let's get going.".

After gathering the rest of Cabin Eleven they all made their way down to the open air dining pavilion where he was seated at the over-crowded table causing him to sigh, wishing he could use his powers to make a water seat but he knew it would be a waste to reveal them before the game Friday. As they were being given their food he noticed the campers all walk over to a brazier and putting in a portion of their meals, faintly hearing prayers as he realized that they were sacrifices to the gods. Walking over when it was his turn he scraped off a decent portion of his meal and silently offered a prayer of thanks to Dionysus, who he faintly noticed stiffening in his seat, as well as one to his father, asking who the god was and why he had never spoken to him before.

As he walked back to the Hermes table he was sure he felt a faint whisper of something in the back of his mind but pushed it off when it was too faint to discern as he sat down, silently praying to his father that he would try to talk again later.

-End Flashback-

"Father," he prayed softly "if you're there, if you're listening, I want to know…why? Why could you never be there when I was growing up…what stopped you?". To his surprise though the water in front of him began swirling around until a portion rose from the surface of the lake to show a lightning bolt causing him to ask "Zeus? Zeus prevented you?" causing the 'lightning bolt' to turn into a blank head that nodded. Getting an idea of what might have happened he asked "Does he stop all gods from being with their kids?" causing the head to nod again which made him scowl.

Suddenly realizing something he asked "Is this a loophole around his law or are you just ignoring him now?" and the face turned into a floating ring causing him to nod, getting the picture that it was a loophole.

"Why haven't you claimed me yet?" he asked as he sat down on the bank, surprised at how calmly he was able to process this method of 'talking' to his father. In response the water formed the two 'theatre' masks causing him to ask in clarification "Waiting for the most dramatic moment?" which caused the head to return and nod happily while he sighed in amused exasperation.

"One last thing dad before I go," he began as the water turned into a liquid replica of the 'thinker' statue causing him to snort in amusement before continuing "I have a date planned with Lou Ellen tonight and I was planning on taking her on a little picnic on the lake. I was wondering if you could provide a boat and maybe ask Poseidon to not sink us.". In response the 'thinker' nodded and seemed to 'concentrate', although how water could have emotion confused the hell of out him, before a small whistle appeared from the water and floated up into his hand. "Blow this to summon the boat?" he asked and got a nod from the water statue causing him to grin "You're the man…er…god Dad!" he said cheerfully while the statue waved goodbye and collapsed back into the surface of the lake while he went to the kitchens to prepare a picnic dinner for his date tonight.

-Seven forty five that night-

Walking up to the big house he saw Chiron standing on the front porch, the ancient centaur telling him "She's in room 3A." causing him to nod, having learned from Lou that the big house housed the demigods who were born to non-Olympian parents but chose not to stay in the Hermes cabin.

Quickly he made his way up to the designated room and knocked on the door, hearing Lou call out "Give me a moment!' while he nervously shifted from foot to foot, a bouquet of roses in his hand which he got from the Persephone campers who stayed in the Demeter Cabin.

Soon though the door opened and he gaped at what he saw, managing to stammer out "Y-you look beautiful Lou." Causing the daughter of Hecate to blush a brilliant scarlet. His date's dark brown hair was cut down to her shoulders, part of it draping over her face as it came up to the corner of her right eye, they hazel orbs sparkling in the light of the hallway. She was wearing faint pink lip gloss, black skinny jeans, and a blue spaghetti strap tank top. As he took all this in he saw her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear while nervously biting her lip cutely as he shook himself out of his stupor and handed her the bouquet of flowers, making her blush spread further. "Thank you Lou." he said before she could turn to set the flowers inside her room, causing her to turn and look at him in confusion.

"For what?" she asked in perplexion.

"For giving me this night," he said as he brought her hand up and kissed her knuckles "for giving me a chance to, even if only just this once, to have the night to spend with an amazingly beautiful woman like yourself.".

As her blush increased she let out a small 'eep' before running inside her room to set her flowers in a vase before coming back out, her expression making it clear that she was trying to reign in her blush as he smiled at her softly and offered her his hand which she hesitantly took, lacing her fingers with his own as he led her down to the lake before pulling out his whistle and blowing it, causing a decent sized sailboat to rise from the water, completely dry, and rest against the shore, a gangplank ready for them while the picnic basket sat on a table next to some candles, a little gift Aphrodite gave him, according to a letter she left him she wanted to help him on his dates as his romance was entertaining.

"Percy," Lou breathed as he led her on deck, the boat pulling off seamlessly from the shore the moment they were aboard "this is amazing!".

"A little gift form dad and Aphrodite for the evening." he said as he held out her chair and helped her settle in "While dad may want to wait for the most dramatic moment to claim me he does want to do a few things for not being able to help me out over the years so he started by providing us the boat and even getting Poseidon to promise to not do anything to us for being on his domain. Aphrodite finds the situation between us and Clarisse amusing and wants to help out.".

After getting a small smile from Lou he took his own seat and began unpacking the food for them, making small talk with his date and trying to learn more about her throughout the night as she did the same to him. Finally though, as the evening drew to a close, he smiled as the last part of his surprise for her began when soft music began flowing from an orb on the boat and he offered her his hand "May I have this dance Lou?" he asked as she blushed brightly before standing up and taking it.

"I'd like that Percy." She said sincerely as they began to slowly dance across the deck, the furniture moving out of their way as they moved to the music. Just as the slow song came to a close and Lou was pressed up against him he stared into her beautiful hazel eyes that stared back into his own as he slowly leaned forward, faintly noticing her doing the same, before his eyes closed and their lips touched, an explosion of feeling pouring through him at the connection. When they pulled apart they were both lightly gasping from the powerful sensation before the turned to look at the sky when they heard a screaming noise only to see fireworks being shot from the beach into the sky that exploded with color, faintly seeing the outlines of what he thought was Grover and Beckendorf before chuckling and turning back to his date, resuming their kiss once more.