Percy was never a fan of sitting around and waiting.

He really wasn't a fan of it when he was forced to sit and wait for Jason, Annabeth, and Piper to return from whatever the Hades they were doing.

Zoe had offered to go as well, or simply take the place of one of the girls, but Hazel shot that idea down immediately. Something about spirits being able to sense those they had known in their previous lives, and Zoe had met a lot of people over the ages. Better safe than sorry.

The rest of the crew were mostly doing their own thing - Frank and Nico had gone inland to find a place to buy some more supplies - something Hermes was incredibly helpful with, giving them a bag chock full of Euros and Drachmas and telling them to go wild. It was a good thing too, since the higher number of people on the boat was starting to strain their resources.

Hermes was leaning against the railing of the Argo II, busy doing something on his phone. His tongue was stuck out in concentration as he rapidly tapped the screen over and over. Based on what he knew about Hermes and his attitude, it wouldn't shock him in the slightest if he was just playing video games. He had wanted to fish, and had invited Leo to join him, but Percy had put a stop to that immediately - even if they promised that they would only be doing catch-and-release, he still wouldn't let them try it.

The school of fish that had been following the Argo II ever since he had returned would probably fight to get pulled onto the hooks to see him, after all - it probably wouldn't be very fun for anyone involved.

Leo had his spyglass out, snickering like an idiot as he watched Jason struggle to climb up the mountainside in his old-man form. He was technically just acting as their lookout, but he was having way too much fun for it to be just a normal job.

He tried to ignore the worried glances the son of Hephaestus was occasionally sending him when he thought no one was looking. Leo was many things, but stealthy was not one of them.

Hazel and Zoe were talking in hushed tones on the opposite side of the ship, each of the girl's eyes occasionally flitting over to where the three men were spaced about. It was nice to see Zoe making friends, and Hazel was an amazing person, but he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy for whatever reason.

Percy sighed silently, shutting his eyes as he slumped against the railing. His eyes had been burning all morning - a consequence of several sleepless nights. Every time he closed his eyes he'd been assaulted by a variety of visions, some real and some false. Memories of his time in Tartarus, of Bob and Damasen sacrificing themselves for him, of the House of Night and what had occurred within its walls. Of Gaea waking and destroying Camp Half-Blood and New York, taunting him for his failures. Worst of all was when he watched himself, and what he had become - or rather, what he could become. He felt like his mind was slowly being unwound, laying his brain bare to the horrors that existed in the darkness.

So yeah. Suffice to say he wasn't able to get much sleep.

At least he'd been able to busy himself with the night watch instead of focusing on his demons. Things had picked up the further down the Ionian Sea they sailed, and most nights had at least one monster attack. Those poor bastards had no clue what they were in for when they were facing down an agitated Percy. He almost felt bad for them.

Sometimes he wasn't alone. Piper of all people had taken her fair share of shifts on guard with him (or simply decided that she'd hang around whenever he showed up red-eyed and jittery), and there were many nights when Hermes had been up and about, busying himself doing whatever gods did to pass the eternity.

And, of course, he and Zoe had spent a lot of time staring up at the stars together. He was getting pretty good at figuring out the constellations - he could even tell the difference between Ursa Minor and Ursa Major at this point.

Percy yawned. If only Morpheus would lay off his back.

He cracked one bleary eye open. The salty sea breeze felt good, almost addictively so, loosening the tenseness in his muscles and the knots in his gut. He took a deep breath and relaxed ever so slightly, closing his eyes again as he rested his forehead on the wooden railing. It'd suck if he got a splinter, but he could ignore that worry for now.

While his eyes may have been strained and tired, his other senses were still as sharp as can be. If he couldn't busy himself in other ways, he might as well train inconspicuously.

Percy focused on the feeling of his blood in his body, and stretched out that sense all around him. He felt Leo and Hazel's blood (ignoring the way it called for him to control it - he would never do something like that to his friends), as well as the ichor that flowed through Hermes's godly veins and the weird mix of both that was contained within Zoe's body. It was really strange to sense that, and it felt incredibly unnatural, but it seemed like Zoe really was slowly reforming into a Titan. The ichor was slowly eating away at her blood, but Percy knew the transformation wouldn't be complete unless he returned Anaklusmos to her.

He tried to ignore all of them for now, reaching his focus out even further. He could feel Coach Hedge now, the satyr resting in his room below deck as he liked to do in the morning. Percy's face scrunched up in tense concentration as he reached even further, slowly pulling his 'liquid-sense' in a wider and wider range. He began to crawl up the mountain in front of them in his mind, slowly feeling around for Piper, Jason, and Annabeth until –

"Percy?" Hazel asked, putting a soft hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

If anybody asked later, he'd fervently deny that he jumped in fright, nearly throwing himself off the Argo II in surprise at being snuck up on so easily - especially since Hazel wasn't even trying to sneak up on him. He gasped as he immediately lost focus, and the boat rocked slightly as the waters churned unexpectedly for a few moments.

Leo frowned as he nearly lost his footing, giving the sea the stink-eye until it calmed. Hermes looked up from his phone as well, but was far more observant than Leo, sparing Percy a glance in confusion before returning to whatever he had been doing.

"Percy?" Hazel repeated.

"I–I'm alright," he breathed out after a second's wait, "You just surprised me."

He ignored the fact that she was likely talking about the fact that he had been bent over against the railing, breath labored like he had run a marathon. Hazel was smart enough to know he was avoiding the question, but also polite and meek enough to not press him on it.

She pursed her lips. For a second Percy thought she was going to call him out, but she mercifully shook her head and sat down on the deck, patting the space next to her and looking at him expectantly.

Percy plopped down next to her with a huff, brushing his fingers against the beams of wood that held the railing up behind him.

"You're not exactly subtle, you know," Hazel said quietly.

He tensed. "What are you talking about?"

It came out harsher than he meant to.

Hazel winced.

He felt like a total prick.

"Sorry," he said immediately.

"It–" Hazel hesitated, trying to find the right thing to say. "It's okay. I know you've been going through a lot. I can't imagine what it was like, uh, there, but I know it couldn't have been good."

Percy frowned, eyes darkening. "Yeah."

Hazel tentatively placed her hand on his arm. "It's okay to ask for help."

"I don't need help," Percy grunted, "I'm fine."

"Percy–"

"Seriously." He left no room for argument. "I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me."

Hazel was silent for a moment. He had a feeling she knew he was just saying it to get her off his back.

"Would you look down on me if I asked for help? Think I was less than I am because of it?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He was quiet. He knew what she was doing. Still, he had to answer. "Of course not."

Hazel sighed. "So what makes you think it'd be any different if it was you asking for help and not me?"

Percy kept his mouth shut. There were a few things he felt like he could say, but he chose not to delve into that particular dumpster-fire. He didn't know how Hazel would react if he started mouthing off again.

She frowned. "I know it's hard," she murmured, "But we're here for you. We care about you."

His eyes burned, and not just from the lack of sleep. "I know."

She turned her head away from him for a moment, looking over towards where Zoe, Hermes, and Leo were gathered.

"I've got to make sure that Leo is still doing his job," she finished, "And that Zoe doesn't try to throw him overboard."

Percy cracked a small smile at that one.

"Will you be okay here?" Hazel asked.

Percy sighed through his nose. "Yeah."

Hazel stood up and dusted her pants off. She turned back towards him before she walked off. "Please," she said to him, "Just remember that we're here for you."

Riptide buzzed in his pocket in agreement. He almost forgot that his sword was still as powerful as it was in the pit, and just as aware.

He nodded. He could never say no to Hazel. "I will."

She smiled at him sadly, before she couldn't bear to look at him anymore and turned to join the rest of the group.

Percy didn't blame her; he wasn't exactly easy on the eyes these days.

He palmed Riptide through his shorts pockets. His blade hadn't calmed in the slightest, and was starting to thrum with power once again.

In fact, Riptide was starting to heat up - to an uncomfortable degree. It felt like the pen was going to burn a hole through his shorts. Percy was almost tempted to leave it and hope the sword just stopped, but he reached for it like an idiot anyways.

The moment he touched the pen he regretted it.

A lot.

"Fuck!"

Heads turned as he shouted, but he was in no position to acknowledge them. Percy could barely feel anything aside from himself and Riptide in that moment.

The only thing he could compare the feelings he was experiencing right now to was when he had sat in his father's throne on Olympus right before the final battle with Kronos. Being bathed in the Styx was a close second.

Power. Power like he had never felt before.

Actually, power might not have been the right word. Energy seemed more apt.

Whatever it was, Riptide was a conduit for it. It flowed through him freely, the power uncaring for his mortal body's limitations. It felt like it was tearing him to pieces, but was pulling him back together just as quickly. It was like he was being put through a woodchipper and then being put back together like a jigsaw puzzle at the exact same time.

Someone was in his face and trying to talk to him, but all Percy could do was groan. At least, he thought it might have been a groan. It might have been a scream. White-hot pain ran through him and he nearly passed out, but he was way too wired at this point.

After several more agonizing moments, it finally stopped. Riptide stilled in his grip and Percy collapsed onto his back, limbs twitching erratically. Little silver-green arcs of light danced around his body.

"Percy!"

He wheezed as he tried to pick his head up, before his bleary eyes met those of Hermes, who was standing over him protectively. Zoe was kneeling right next to him, gently coaxing him up to a sitting position. Leo and Hazel stood further back, but worry was clearly etched on their faces.

"Percy, look at me," Hermes instructed, causing Percy's eyes to snap back towards the god, "Good. Can you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up?"

Percy tried to narrow his eyes. Was he seeing double? "...Four?"

Hermes sighed in relief. "Yep. Now what just happened?" He asked, tone lighter, "You gave us quite the fright, kiddo!"

His eyes traveled down towards his right hand, where Riptide was still held tightly. Little indentations in his skin were left from where he had been holding the pen, the metal having dug into his skin. "I don't know. Riptide started heating up in my pocket and I moved to grab it, and all of a sudden that happened."

Zoe's eyes widened. "Doth thou feel okay?"

Percy shrugged. "Whatever that was sucked, but I feel fine now."

In fact, he felt pretty damn good. His exhaustion was practically nonexistent, the aches and chronic pain he'd accumulated over the past few weeks nowhere to be found. He felt good as new, if a little raw.

Hermes and Zoe shared a concerned look, and Hermes reached his hand out to Percy after a second. "May I?"

Percy handed him the pen. It was still humming along, although the weapon was much, much less active now. Hermes held it cautiously, looking for that unseen power that Riptide seemed to hold. He narrowed his eyes at it and frowned, before turning back towards the former Hunter.

"Can you feel that too?" He asked. "This was your symbol, right?"

Zoe nodded. "Titanic energy."

Percy blinked. "What does that mean?"

Hermes pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly irritated by something. "I don't even know if I can explain this - especially without knowing how the hell this is going on."

That last bit was directed more towards Zoe than anything, but he didn't press it after he saw how Zoe hesitated.

The god ran a hand through his hair. "Look. You know how gods have that whole 'godly energy' thing, right?" At Percy's confused nod, he continued. "Yeah, well Titans have that same thing. For some reason, your sword is completely doused in that stuff, and it transferred a metric fuckton of it into your body."

"Is…" Percy paused. "Is that a bad thing?"

Hermes gave him a once-over. "Not in this case. If it keeps on happening it'll definitely cause some problems, but you're made of tough enough stuff to deal with it this time around."

"Are you sure you feel okay?" Hazel asked. "I mean, whatever that was can't just be walked off, right?"

Hermes hummed. "Nah. Whatever his sword was doing it wasn't aiming to harm him - it's like if he chugged a gallon of nectar. Obviously not good for a mortal to be doing, but it didn't do anything harmful. In fact, most of it seemed to be used up by his body in a positive way. There's only a few traces of the stuff still floating around in there."

Leo looked at the pen in awe. "So Riptide is like a battery that can shoot Percy full of juice?"

"That—" The god paused. "Is actually pretty darn accurate. The only question is where Riptide is getting the energy from. Its status as a symbol should be long over."

"What do you mean by symbol?" Hazel asked.

Percy subtly shot Zoe a look as Hermes briefly explained the whole 'Symbol of Power' thing to the two demigods. She just shrugged - a sign that she knew no better than he did.

His best guess was that Riptide had, as Zoe had told him once in Tartarus, begun regaining its former power just like she was, and was nearly back to normal. Even now he could feel its power flowing just beneath the surface, waiting to be harnessed once more. This was just its way of giving Percy a helping hand.

What a weird situation he found himself in. Then again, was this really weirder than any other part of his life?

Not really.

Percy stood up, waving off Zoe's concern (although it was sweet that she cared that much about him), and stretched his arms out, swinging them out to the side. He really did feel great, even his–

Something was wrong.

He reached out once more with his blood sense (he really needed a better name for that), feeling around them for any and all possible intruders.

"Do you feel that?" He asked Hermes quickly, who tensed up at the question while Percy continued to search. Nothing was wrong in their immediate vicinity, but as he continued to expand his range he realized that whatever it was, it was coming from atop the cliff. Someone, one of Annabeth, Piper, or Jason was up there, signaling for them. Pulling himself a little further, he found the other two - and the unmistakable feeling of ichor.

"Someone's up there with them," he said suddenly, taking everybody by surprise, "An immortal."

Hermes nodded. His face was hard as wings grew from his shoes and he shot up the cliff, with Leo already turning back to follow the god's path. His eyes widened as he looked through the telescope.

"Annabeth is up there," he announced, "She's saying something in morse code… 'SOS'."

Hazel gasped. Percy could barely make out Hermes as he flew, the Olympian little more than a blur as he flew into battle, Caduceus in hand. He disappeared over the cliff, barely slowing to hear Annabeth's frantic shouts as she chased after him.

Percy, Leo, Hazel, and Zoe were forced to wait with bated breath. Percy briefly entertained the idea of running up the cliff himself and joining Hermes and the others, but forced himself to wait back and think rationally about this - a decision that vindicated itself moments later as Hermes reappeared on the dock, a barely conscious Jason in his arms.

Leo rushed forward, but Hazel held him back. The son of Jupiter's side was steaming, and he was groaning in pain as a wound bubbled painfully beneath his ribcage.

"What happened?!" Hazel cried, looking at Jason in horror.

Hermes grimaced. "Imperial Gold stab wound. Not great."

"Can you heal him?" Leo pleaded.

"No." Hermes shook his head. "Imperial Gold burns away at the soul. Jason will have to fight this battle on his own."

"Is there anything we can do?" Percy tried.

Hermes hesitated. "Stay here. I'll do what I can to make it easier for him."

The god disappeared as he rushed downstairs. From the sound of things, a miniature whirlwind was tearing things up below deck, with Hermes rushing around and doing… something. It only took a few moments for him to reappear, only to immediately turn and rush back up the hill, before returning with Annabeth and Piper in his arms.

They both looked rather queasy as Hermes dragged them around at terminal velocity. Percy didn't blame them - it didn't exactly scream 'fun' to him either.

"Who was up there with you?" Percy questioned.

Annabeth had a sour look on her face at the reminder. "Juno."

Ah. Percy couldn't say he was thrilled with the news either.

"Where's Jason?!" Piper practically sobbed.

Hermes gave the girl a look full of pity. "Resting. He needs as much energy as he can to fight the injury."

The mood was somber. No one really knew what to say.

"Did you guys learn anything up there?" Hazel whispered after what felt like forever.

Annabeth nodded softly. "Yeah."

"What?" Leo asked.

She gave the group a forlorn look. "The Giants have captured Nike."

—

A/N: Another chapter done and dusted! This one took a while to finish compared to the others, especially relative to its length, but in the time between chapters I think I've ironed out where I want the story to go from here finally! It's more a setup chapter I guess, but the next few should definitely be action packed!

So what do you think? Enjoy it? Not at all? Most mediocre chapter so far? Let me know in the comments!

Hope you enjoyed! See you next time!