My leg bounced, my fingers thrummed on my wooden desk, I bit my lip as I watched the clock slowly tick towards 2:30.

I always looked forward to the end of school, but today I was beyond excited. I tuned out my teacher's talking, and began packing up my bag. I had given school my all, doing my best to avoid trouble, mortal and divine.

Not only was this the last day of school before Spring Break, but I'd be packing for an oversea vacation to Grand Cayman with my mom and Paul. A big deal to me, considering that I've only left the state for life endangering quests.

You might be wondering how we got the ability to take a tropical vacation. It started when my father, Poseidon, gifted my mother three tickets for a 10 night cruise to the Cayman island; a major shocker for all three of us.
It was nearing the end of the first semester of Goode, meaning break was approaching. My Mom and I were confused as to why the god gave us those tickets, and it was clear as day that Paul, my mothers boyfriend and my soon-to-be-stepdad, was suspicious, and a little bit jealous, of Mom's mysterious ex popping up and giving them a free trip to Grand Cayman. But we weren't going to look a prize horse in the mouth, and Paul obviously wasn't going to tell us not to go on a week long vacation to the Bahamas.

Under normal circumstances, I would've told my Mom and Paul to head on without me. But I was feeling pretty lucky. I hadn't had to deal with any monsters since that fiasco with Ethan and the Titan Iapetus. And regardless, not many monsters would be dumb enough to challenge a son of Poseidon in the middle of the sea.

I grinned as the bell rang, snatching up my backpack at breakneck speeds. I bounced on my heels as my teacher said some parting words before dismissing us, completely tuning out what he was saying, and leapt out of class as soon as the door was opened.

I zoomed down the hallways, dodging and weaving through hordes of equally excited kids. I ran through the exit doors of the school, waving at Rachel as I passed by her, before meeting with Paul next to his Prius.

Paul looked at me with a smile on his face, before pulling his car keys out of his pocket.

"You wanna drive us home, Perce?"

My grin grew so wide it threatened to split my face.

When we got home, we were greeted by tupperware filled with leftovers placed on the counter, and stacks of bags spread haphazardly around the living room.

My mother was folding beach towels and swimsuits, before looking up at us.

She smiled and shared a brief kiss with Paul, before sending me up to my room to get packing.

When everything was packed, we all exited the house. Hailing a taxi to the docks where our cruise was awaiting.

We were dropped off by the docks with our bags, the shoreside place being filled with boats of all different kinds, from tour ships to jet skis. But anyone with two functioning eyes could tell which boat was ours.

It was a dark navy motor yacht with a large trident emblem on the side. The ship stood out from all the rest, despite not being exceptionally large. The green trident and navy coloration practically glowing in the sunlight. I ran into it as quick as I could, and we wasted no time setting up and taking off.

The way there was awesome, I never knew how nice it felt to rest on a boat without the threat of monsters snapping me up.
The water empowered me, all the hunger and bleariness I felt disappeared, and was replaced by a wonderful feeling of safety as though the sea itself was my home.

The trip didn't take too long, the fact the boat was practically gliding along the water due to the currents being suppressed by my will, and the sheer quality of the ship, made sure of that.

I spent my time conversing with the local dolphins pods, swimming alongside schools of fish, and surfing on waves alongside the boat whenever Paul wasn't looking.

At some point along the trip, the dark blue open ocean was swapped for the sea-green hue of coastal waters.

The sun was setting, causing the waves to glitter. A variety of tropical sea snakes swam alongside me, coming out of their hidey holes to greet me. I felt that we were close to our destination, and swam after my ride, leaving some very excited sea snakes behind.

I lunged onto the boat with a water spout, and saw Grand Cayman's seven mile beach in the distance. My heart swelled in anticipation. I looked over to my Mom and Paul, and saw them discussing something in hushed tones on the deck of the ship.

My gaze wandered back into the water, and I spotted dozens of humanoid silhouettes in the sea, their features hidden by the sunset, making them seem like a group of snorkeling mortals. Only, when I looked a bit closer, I noticed their pale blue skin and flowing light hair.. sea nymphs. I immediately noticed there was something off with the nature spirits. The usual carefree appearance that graced their elfish features was replaced with a tired, worn look. Instead of flirtatious giggles, batting of eyebrows, and calling out, the spirits appeared shocked and thankful, as if I had just defeated a great evil with just my presence.

Then I noticed the way the water felt. It was odd, as if something was holding it back. It was like a snake rearing back to strike, like a fault line building up for an earthquake. I experimentally extended my will, and with a slight tug of my gut the water shifted, several tentacles of water extended towards me. I frowned, the water obeyed my commands as it should, but it felt different.

"Percy!" My mother called out to me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I winced as dozens of gallons of water fell onto the deck as I lost concentration.

I looked up, and realized that we had made it to the docks. I stashed my observations into the back of my head and ran into the ship to grab my stuff as my Mom went to wake up Paul, before exiting the ship and stepping onto the dock alongside my mother and her boyfriend.

We made our way to the roadside and hailed a taxi, eager to reach the resort without delay.

Stepping into the hotel lobby, my senses were immediately heightened by the presence of a radiating figure behind the front desk—a nature spirit, a powerful one at that. Clad in professional attire, she wore a simple white name tag bearing the name 'Thesi'.

She was different from the nymphs I spotted from the ship, her skin was a bright sea-blue, which heavily contrasted with her hazel brown hair and striking sea-green eyes. I shared a glance with my Mom, who noticed too. Paul, however, was none the wiser of the receptionist's mystical nature, and walked right up to the front desk.

"Hello!", he greeted with a warm smile. "I've got some rooms booked for myself and my girlfriend, and her son."

Thesi reciprocated his smile, extending a gracious welcome as she handed him a keycard and a map of the resort. Yet, her attention lingered on me throughout the interaction, her gaze far too reminiscent of Persephone's penetrating stare. Only when my mother and Paul concluded their inquiries did the woman return to her seat, her luminous sea-green eyes never once leaving mine as I stepped into the awaiting elevator.

A/N

For all 10 of my loyal followers, yes, I did re-write the chapters. I figured it's better to fix everything early on than to leave my shoddy writing up.

This story is set after The Sword of Hades, and before The Last Olympian. Meaning Paul isn't married to Sally, he doesn't know Percy is a demigod, and Percy doesn't know the full great prophecy.