An hour later they were ready to leave. Gabe had spells layered over him that would, in theory, convince him to walk into traffic in two days exactly after leaving the house spotless. Aaron was beyond excited to cast those particular spells, he would do it over and over again, anything to rid the world of such scum.

As it turned out, the Jacksons' rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.

So Naturally Percy loved the place.

Percy told him that they'd been going there since he was a baby. His mom had been going even longer.

As they got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.

"Ma'am, have you ever been checked for legacy blood?"

Sally froze. "What?"

"Your aura, it's too potent to be all human. I suspect you hold divine blood, it would explain why Percy seems so powerful. Even by the standards of his father's children."

She frowned. "My parents were killed in a plane accident... could that be part of it?"

"If I am right,... maybe."

They got to the beach by Sundown and cleaned. They walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples Sally had brought from work. Rather, they did so after she Percy eagerly explained the whole Blue food thing.

Sally was a great host, asking him all sort of questions about his life, magic and more.

When it got dark, they made a fire. They roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Sally told them stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told them about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.

Eventually, Percy got up the nerve to ask about his father, his and Sally's eyes went all misty.

"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes." She fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."

"Yes, he would." Aaron grabbed Percy's hand. "I know I am, the best student ever."

"How old was I?" Percy asked. "I mean ... when he left?"

She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."

"But... he knew me as a baby."

"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."

Aaron, seeing Percy's angry eyes, sighed. "Percy, remember what I said. Gods cannot raise their kids, I do not agree with their methods, but that is the truth of it."

Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.

Soon they went to bed, all tired from the long, overly exposed day.

A desperately loud thunderclap woke Aaron and Sally up.

She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."

A Distant bellow filled the air, startling Aaron. "I can sense a monster, someone must have found us, through the wards. That would take real power, god power or at least a stronger mage... we need to leave."

Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on their cabin door.

Sally threw open the door.

Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. "Searching all night," he gasped. "Aaron, someone found you, I smell monsters."

Sally paled. "Boys, get to the car. All of you. Go!"

Aaron summoned his staff to his hands. "I am ready, let's go."

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a joy to write.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.