"Percy!"

The voice pierced his sleep and the time-traveler groaned. Percy didn't feel less rested than when he'd gone to sleep, but it was a near thing. He noted that the waves rocked back and forth a little aggressively, but nothing their new boat shouldn't have been able to handle. He also noted that Grover's bed was now empty. He pushed himself onto his knees and tried to force his muddled mind to make more sense of his surroundings.

Boat. Single room and small bathroom. Two beds… just like he'd thought.

"Percy!" the voice came again. Luke's. Sea of Monsters. Still a demigod. In the past. Right.

"Yeah?" he croaked, but it didn't seem like anyone heard him. Annoyed, he climbed out of bed and had just made it to the base of the small, metal staircase when Luke appeared at the top.

"Per—oh, there you are."

"What's going on?"

"Annabeth says we're coming up on the island of the Sirens."

That woke Percy up. "What?!" He went to take a step and hurry up the stairs, but his still sleep-muddled body didn't process quickly enough. His foot caught on a step, and he found himself with his cheek to the grate of the old stairs. Luke didn't seem to know how to process that.

Percy grumbled as he forced himself to his feet again and scrambled up the stairs.

"How does she even know?" he asked. Wait, how had she known the first time too?

"Demigod dream."

"Oh," he said. That made a lot of sense. A little outside her mother's domain, but it was a quest she was on, and something that interested her to boot.

"She wants to listen to their voices!" Luke growled as he walked towards the back of the ship. "Help me talk her out of this insanity!"

"I couldn't once. What makes you think I can do it again?" It was a fair question.

Luke froze, then turned to Percy, incredulous. "You let her do that?"

The time-traveler snorted. "There is no 'let' involved with Annabeth Chase. She does what she wants. The best we can do is help her make it safer."

"So I came on this quest… in your dream too?" Annabeth asked, suddenly appearing behind Luke. "I thought so."

It took him a minute to realize she meant the future and not the weird Kronos dream he'd had. "I didn't tell you so?" Percy asked, quickly grasping her code.

"No."

"Oh. Sorry." He sighed. "I may want to tell you exactly what happened in my dream from beginning to end."

Her expression went from interested to unimpressed. "Yes. You should."

"There are still some things I can't tell you," he muttered, glancing at Luke who looked on grimly.

Annabeth huffed. "Fine. Whatever. But I already have some wax ear plugs for each of us. I've given Grover his."

Percy's eyebrows rose. "Where did you find wax on this ship?" Hadn't she found it on the pirate ship before? He hadn't realized his memory was that bad at the moment. Or maybe back then? Or both?

Focus.

"Annabeth, this is too dangerous!" Luke insisted, ignoring Percy's question.

The younger blond glared up at her pseudo-brother defiantly. "Not if you tie me up!"

"Tie you… Annabeth, listen to yourself!"

"Actually," Percy said, "it could work if you and Grover watched her while I steered the boat."

"What?!" Luke rounded on him so fast, Percy could only back away with his hands in the air. "You think this is okay?!"

Percy opened his mouth to tell him 'Of course, not.' He was just used to finding solutions to problems presented. However, before any sound came out of his mouth, that sense of the weave of the universe passed through him and he saw one road where Annabeth didn't know her fatal flaw and died within the next year. On the other one, she did know, and lived.

No matter how painful, he knew which one he chose.

"She has to know," he said firmly.

Silence met his words. Percy frowned when he realized everyone else was staring at him. But… why?

"What the Hades was that?" Luke growled.

Percy blinked. "What?"

"Your eyes," Annabeth said, pointing to her own. "They glowed… strangely."

"Strangely…?" he asked slowly.

"I don't know! They glowed but were dark too! Not even green but, like black or something."

"Black. My eyes… glowed black?" A zing of fear shot through him. That had never happened before, even as a god. Not to his knowledge. And the description defied explanation, but he knew it was possible. He'd seen the like before, but only with access to divine powers. And he had no idea what to do with that information.

"It didn't look black," Luke muttered. "Not exactly."

Percy opened his mouth, but cut himself off and took a deep breath. Later. He could figure that all out (and freak out) later. (He was saying that a lot lately….)

"Look, she needs to know her fatal flaw." He knew that as much as he knew anything these days.

"My flaw?" Annabeth asked. "That's what it tells me?"

"You could tell her!" Luke said, practically ignoring Annabeth's question too. She scowled.

"I could," Percy replied. "But I don't think she'd like that." He glanced at the daughter of Athena, who nodded firmly. He looked back at Luke. "There's a difference between knowing," he tapped his temple, "and knowing," he tapped his chest. "And I think she needs the latter." Annabeth looked thoughtful.

"Aarg!" Luke threw his hands in the air. "Fine! But I'm the one who's gonna make sure this tub is going. You're going to watch her in case she gets out!" With that, he stormed past Annabeth and around the front of the boat. Percy didn't argue, even though he didn't think that would be the best idea, mainly because he knew that was the older demigod trying to retain some control over everything. Which was fair, and something Percy could give him. Besides, his idea would still work, and they'd have someone paying more attention directly to the potential storm.

"Okay, so tie me up," Annabeth said, already holding out rope and drawing Percy's attention. Ignoring any adult thoughts regarding that, he just nodded and marched to the front of the ship where they found some viewing seats. Grover was already there, looking nervous, and he helped Percy tie Annabeth down, albeit reluctantly. The time-traveler even remembered to check her boot and remove the dagger there, one pointed eyebrow raised. She just blinked at him, then narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, the waves were getting choppier. Honestly, Percy was a little surprised the storm hadn't really come on them already. They must be skirting the outside of it. If they were lucky, the bulk of it would pass right by.

He paused, then mentally groaned. He just had to jinx it. Even if he didn't say it aloud.

Then Percy stuck the wax balls in his own ears, shivering at the sensation. He never had cared for the feeling of things in his ears and having something stopping sound altogether put him on edge. Hoping Luke had done the same, he stood by Annabeth, watching her carefully while keeping an eye on the clouds and the waves.

Despite the wind, the fog around the island seemed eerily unaffected; probably a Mist thing. He wasn't going to strain himself more and reach out to see. Rain had started to sprinkle down, but he doubted that would affect the sound of the Sirens. Despite the waves rocking more or less everything, debris still seemed drawn to the island, knocking around like it was all loosely anchored

Percy remembered how much he'd hated this the first time. It would be harder now, he thought. And yes, the moment Annabeth heard the Sirens, her heart rate sped up and she started pleading. He could read her lips.

"Let me go! Let me go, Percy! Please! Grover?! Luke! LUKE! You promised, Luke! You promised! Let me go! Please, let me go! I'll do anything!"

Every word felt like a punch to Percy's stomach, but he set his teeth and watched her. Tears started running down her face, and Percy felt sick, but he didn't let himself move a muscle. The utter agony her face showed as she realized no one was going to release her finally made him turn away. He wanted to throw up.

Come on, he told himself, demigod up.

Taking several deep breaths, he looked back only to see her half-way out of the ropes. Somehow, she'd been able to escape them, slipping out of something too loose! How?! He knew he'd tied it correctly! But… Grover had tied her hands. It hadn't even occurred to him that Grover would tie it too loose! He was Annabeth's friend and didn't want to hurt her… not that Percy did but—

"NO!" he yelled, rushing forward. Annabeth looked up, eyes unfocused, as he reached towards her, and her jaw set in determination as she struck out at him with her free leg and foot. He hadn't been expecting that, and she caught his knee. He felt it crack and cried out in pain, collapsing to the floor. He took a moment to assess the damage—definitely hairline fractures and some torn tendons, great—before looking up at Annabeth, ready to jump after her anyway, but it seemed that she realized he would get in her way no matter what. Despite the glazed look in her eye, her smarts still carried her and her hand jabbed towards his ear. He tried to move away from her, but she was already moving and reached him first.

Her hand somehow found the wax, even in the rain that had begun to fall, and scraped it out. Percy turned his head away, but it was too late. Everything faded to the most haunting song he'd ever heard. It resonated in his soul, bringing… peace. He'd never understood how music could bring peace to someone's soul, but this….

And then a world materialized around him. Sky-scrapers made of living trees and vines, obviously grown that way purposefully somehow. Ahead of him, he saw Annabeth and Grover talking together, working on a new building.

Someone tugged on his hand and he looked down to see Estelle, green eyes sparkling up at him as she grinned, probably about ten-years-old. Percy grinned right back at the sight of her. And then, two other girls about the same age came up behind her… his girls. One had a head of Annabeth's curls with his eyes, the other his own dark hair and her gray eyes.

"Cora," he said. "Silena." His voice didn't actually come out, but he didn't mind. The girls seemed to hear what he was saying anyway and they giggled. Then his mother and Paul came up behind them holding a case of blue cookies.

He went to step forward, towards them, but a pair of tanned arms snaked around his stomach and turned back to see Annabeth and Grover had come over. His wife's chin rested on his shoulder as she hugged him closer. He relaxed into her. Somehow he knew he wasn't a god. He never would be. Olympus was no more, and they would finally get their happy ending, grow old together, then die and go to Elysium.

He turned fully towards her, and his breath caught in his throat when he saw every person he had ever remotely cared about in an enlarged pavilion in Camp Half-Blood over her shoulder. Everyone from the Argo II, all of his campers, even his Father with Amphitrite talking cordially with Athena and Hestia in the background. Triton stood next to the other two gods nodding approvingly while Kymopolia and Rhodes seemed to gossip and giggle beside them, no longer bound by ridiculous rules because of Olympus and Zeus.

Tears came to his eyes. It was just so… perfect. Nothing could possibly be better than what he saw before himself just then. Everyone he had ever cared for, everyone he had ever loved, right there… And then it all froze.

He frowned.

How interesting.

A voice—or several, he wasn't entirely sure because they all sounded the same—flooded through Percy's world, around him, above him, below him, inside him, somehow… and even though he liked the voices, he wasn't sure he liked that. Still, the sounds soothed him, so he let it slide.

We don't normally do this, one voice said, drawing his attention. Haunting and ethereal, it sent shivers of both worry and pleasure down his spine. His frown deepened.

But you… you are strange. Another voice (that still sounded exactly the same) finished the sentence. He wasn't sure how he knew that.

Something stirred in the back of his mind, but he pushed it away. This… this was too good.

This is worth the energy it is taking to speak to you before our voices are lost to you. Seconds there, minutes or hours here. Wait… what?

You know so many things… about today, tomorrow, yesterday… yet another voice said.

Your comrades, your enemies… yourself.

Your main fatal flaw. There is truly little we can show you… except your secondary flaws.

Percy frowned. His secondary flaws? Why should he care about flaws? He just wanted to be with his wife and family. Besides, he didn't have a secondary flaw, let alone multiple.

And yet… part of him wanted to ask these enchanting voices.

"What…" he started, practically wheezing out the words, "do you… mean?"

The mesmerizing sounds shook in laughter and giggles, tinkling through the air as if the world was their instrument. Apollo could learn a thing or two from them. Not that Percy would tell him that. He didn't have a death wish… well, not like that.

Do you truly not know?! Several voices asked at once, making Percy jump.

"I… was told… gods… don't have… fatal flaws." Why was it so hard to talk?

You are not a god, one of them sang, teasing.

Yet, another said. Percy jumped that time, because no, he wasn't going to ascend! He was going to be here… with Annabeth and his family and… and they were all frozen, still. That wasn't right… was it? No, he was pretty sure it wasn't.

And yet, you brought so much of your divinity with you! More cackling, and… it wasn't sounding nearly so pleasant anymore. But nothing had changed…

His head hurt.

We see it all!

Your Loyalty!

Your Fear!

Your Wrath!

Three flaws! One for each century!

Mocking… and more cackling. They were hurting him… and enjoying it. Clouds started to roll in overhead.

You fear so much! They shouted. Was it just one voice, or all at once? He wasn't sure anymore. You fear other mortals, you fear yourself, you fear your power, you fear the future, you fear the past… so much fear.

Percy felt his chest clench, but ignored it. Fear? As his fatal flaw? Mr. Recklessness incarnate? That didn't sound right. Sure, he got scared every now and then, but everyone was afraid at some point.

But do their fears drive them so? The voice(s?) asked. He wanted to answer it, but he didn't know how other people felt about their own fears. How could he know? Sure, he'd been able to sense demigod's emotions, and those with a fatal flaw of fear always had a distinctly intense edge to them. He didn't have that…

Did he?

Tell me, son of the future, something zinged through him and he stiffened but still couldn't bring himself to really talk. If the Crooked One offered you your deepest desire—a way for you to die and move on, a way for you to be with your loved ones, would you accept?

Percy opened his mouth to reply that of course he wouldn't, but… if he could make Kronos vow, on Chaos' name, that he wouldn't kill humans, that he wouldn't kill demigods or destroy the camps; if the Titan could offer all of that and Percy's mortality back…

He didn't know. Di immortales, he didn't know!

His mouth went dry. And suddenly he realized he did fear the future. That didn't mean he couldn't face it, but it terrified him. It always had. He'd… he'd known, but he'd pushed that back because he had no other choice, but the idea of an eternity, especially on his own… He felt weak, knees giving out on him. The enchanting voices laughed, cruel and yet still desirable. It didn't make sense.

And your wrath! Yet another cackled. You want to see Olympus destroyed!

Razed!

Obliterated!

Percy's breathing quickened. How did they know that?!

Always waiting for a better option.

But how long will your patience last?

How long do you think your Loyalty will outweigh your Wrath?

"Stop it," he said through gritted teeth. He had a temper. He'd always known he had one. He'd worked on it. It was just another reason why he didn't let his destructive side out often.

Although, when he did…

No, he didn't like to think about that. And now wasn't a good time.

Perseus! Perseus! Perseus the Destroyer!

He clamped his hands over his ears, but it didn't help. The voices continued to cackle and laugh cruelly. It was beginning to hurt. He pushed his hands against his ears harder. He wasn't just a destroyer! He refused to be! He would never—

And then, silence. Water surged around him and he blinked, disoriented. He was in water? The Ocean? What? Why? He'd just been in New York—a very green New York. That… that hadn't been real, had it?

Was that why his heart hurt so much? As if someone had ripped it out and torn it in half in front of his eyes. A sob built in his throat and he had to let it out. Putting his hands around his stomach, he curled in on himself and screamed into the water. A wave shot out from around him as he released his scream—utter despair vocalized.

And then… something above him entered the water. No, someone. What? He… he was in the Sea of Monsters. Right. The….

The Sirens.

Di Immortales. It couldn't have taken more than a couple of seconds for him and Annabeth to jump over the edge of the boat, even if Grover had gotten in their way.

Which meant that the person above him was Annabeth.

She couldn't breathe and was struggling back to the surface and…

No.

Desperately reaching out with the water, he forced it to take Annabeth deeper. She struggled and thrashed, eyes wide in terror until she reached him and he formed a bubble around them. She hunched in on herself, coughing violently. He had to make the bubble bigger, but after a couple of seconds, she calmed down.

She remained silent for several seconds, only heaving great breaths in their bubble while Percy tried to metaphorically put himself back together. He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to.

And he'd been tempted to hear the Sirens the first time?

He knew he still had tears running down his own face when Annabeth broke down, sobbing. He winced at the utter heartbreak she portrayed. He'd sympathized before. Now he empathized and wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing. The Sirens had scraped him raw and left him to rot.

And yet, Annabeth needed him.

"Hey," he said, his voice harsh and croaking. She shook her head furiously.

"Hey," he said again, this time softer, as he put a hand on her shoulder. He didn't know what to expect from that, but her head shooting up so fast she may have given herself whiplash as those gray, red-rimmed eyes full of tears fixed on him, looking ready to tear into him wasn't it. He backed away, arms in the air by his face, placating.

"Did you see mine?!"

Percy blinked. "What?"

"Did you see what the Sirens showed me?!"

He shook his head, but she narrowed her eyes.

"In either lifetime!"

His breath hitched. This was what he hadn't wanted to see (what he feared a voice in his head hissed), Annabeth so angry at him. At least only sea gods should be able to hear them. No one else would dare come into his father's realm, no matter where that sea was and how wild it felt.

Unable to lie to her, he slowly nodded. Terror crossed her face for just a moment before it was replaced by that ever present anger.

"Well, I saw yours, too!"

Percy felt himself pale. He'd figured, but hearing it from her…. What had she seen? Did she know…

"What was I to you?! In the future!" she demanded before he could say anything.

The time-traveler winced, thankful they were under the water and alone for this conversation.

That thought passed through his mind distantly as he focused on those ever familiar gray eyes.

"I…" he started, but didn't know how to keep going, so his mouth just sort of kept moving up and down without any sound coming out.

Perseus! Perseus! Perseus the Destroyer! The Siren's words echoed through his head.

"You destroy everything you touch," he remembered the Zeus from the future saying. Percy had very much wanted to prove him right for once.

He didn't want to hurt Annabeth though. Not any Annabeth. If he told her, it would hurt her… but if he didn't…

"Tell me!" she insisted. "I deserve to know!"

She wasn't wrong. And yet… he felt his mouth dry out. He hadn't wanted to tell her—hadn't wanted to put any kinds of expectations on her. She was twelve. He knew that. He'd been doing his best to act and think accordingly.

And yet…

Annabeth did not back down. "You've been dodging questions this entire time! But you can't keep this from me," she insisted, the tears in her eyes just making her anger more palpable, but also highlighting a sort of desperation. She needed to know this… and by not telling her, he would hurt her more than if he did. That made the choice for him.

Closing his eyes and taking his own deep breath, he spoke quietly. "My wife."

Silence.

Your Fear! He couldn't hear the Sirens, but their words wouldn't leave his head.

He forced himself to look up, not knowing what to expect. The utter incredulity and horror he saw there was another punch to the gut and simultaneous stab to the heart. He winced, drawing in on himself.

"Is that really so disgusting to you?" he asked softly, almost immediately regretting the question and mentally kicking himself for voicing something he really didn't think he wanted an answer to. No… he wasn't sure he could handle the answer.

Your Wrath!

"I…" she said, but it seemed to be her turn to not be able to say anything. For a moment, it felt as if he couldn't breathe. This is a child, a twelve-year-old, he kept telling himself. She's not my wife or girlfriend, and I need to be patient. Like I would be with any other child at camp.

Except this wasn't any other child. Even if it wasn't his wife, it was still Annabeth.

"Please, get us away from here," she finally said, looking down. "Us and the boat."

Unable to swallow the lump in his throat, Percy just nodded and reached out, pushing himself, Annabeth, and the boat far away from the island as he could.

People often thought of sirens as creatures of the sea. They weren't. They never had been. If anything, the sky or the underworld had more claim on them. They were Persephone's servants before Hades kidnapped her, sent out to look for her by Demeter and driven mad when they couldn't find her. He used to feel a little bad for them, trapped on an island, luring people to their deaths. Especially in the myths where they were somehow creatures of the sea (though those had come much later).

Now, he found almost all of that sympathy completely gone.

If he never saw that place again, it would be too soon.

And if he did see it…

Perseus the Destroyer!

He wasn't sure the island—or anything on it—would survive.

xXx

Once he deemed they'd gotten far enough away, he got them back onto the ship, both soaking wet for once as they stumbled onto the deck. He hadn't had the presence of mind to prevent that, and the water coating his skin helped anyway.

"Annabeth!" Luke shrieked, rushing forward.

"Percy!" Grover yelled, hot on the older demigod's heels.

Both of them slammed into Percy and Annabeth about the same time, which wasn't helped by the 30-foot waves now rocking their relatively small boat. That storm had decided to turn towards them after all, it seemed. All of them ended up sprawled on the deck or against the lip of the boat.

Percy sensed a massive wave heading towards them. "Get inside!" he yelled over the storm. "Hurry!"

There wasn't a lot of room, but they would have to make do until the storm blew over. He could still keep them relatively safe, but he couldn't do much without tearing at that divine wound even more than he already had. He could still keep control over the water under the boat, for the most part, but much more than that would be pushing it with what he'd already done. "I'll get the deck secured!"

Besides, it would give him time away from a very quiet Annabeth who was now clinging to Luke like her life depended on it.

"Baa-ah-ah!" Grover bleated. "Percy—!"

"I'll be fine," he assured. "I can breathe under water. No one else here can! Get below! Hurry!"

The satyr didn't look happy, and Luke looked somewhere between furious and utterly confused, but they both nodded and made their way to the door leading below, Luke dragging Annabeth in his wake. Percy, meanwhile, hurried to the small room that barely passed for a bridge, and made sure everything was turned off and locked down—he didn't need the boat's own momentum fighting him if he had to keep controlling the sea around them. The sail had already been secured earlier, thankfully, so that was all he really needed to do.

Then he made his own way to the door leading below, locking the door behind him.

Once in the relative quiet, he sighed, leaning his head against the door. The Siren's words still echoed through his head, and it was getting harder to resist.

Not a god… yet.

Your Loyalty!

Your Fear!

Your Wrath!

Perseus the Destroyer!

He grit his teeth. This… was not good.

"Percy?" Grover called.

"Yeah?" he managed to get out.

"What did you do to her?!" An enraged Luke asked, appearing at the bottom of the stairs and looking murderous. Thankfully, Percy was too tired to care.

"What do you mean, what did I do?" He rubbed a hand down the side of his face. "What about the Sirens?"

"They're not named 'Percy'," Luke practically growled. "All she could say was, 'I can't… Percy'."

"Not now, Luke," he said, gritting his teeth. He seriously considered jumping overboard and traveling with the boat from below. Then maybe he could figure everything out. He'd appreciated the quiet that had accompanied his return to demigodhood, but he really missed the sheer processing ability gods tended to have.

"Then when?!" Luke growled.

"No," Annabeth's voice said quietly. Percy looked past Luke to see her holding a jar… Hestia's jar. Except nothing glowed inside it, and the bottom was covered with what looked like coal dust.

She… she'd used their last barrier!

He grit his teeth—his probably far-too-sharp teeth—and snarled. "You'd better be careful. Both of you. Because I'm not holding anything back. If you want your explanations, fine. Let me explain everything."

xXx

AN: Gotta admit, this is one of my favorite chapters. :3

Thank you so much for reading! And, as always, a special thanks to my beta readers, discord helpers, and tier 3 and 4 readers: Berix, The Shadow Slayer, Quathis, Harlequin, Speedster, Snow, Starlightluv, Squirps, and The Chronomancer! Also, all of my discord peeps and my readers here! Thank you! (If I've missed anyone, PLEASE let me know!

Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)

Lastly, I've started a youtube channel mainly for writing tips and tricks, though maybe some artwork as well. If you're interested, here's the linke!

youtu. be /1UwqJiL7NmE?si=lgRaG5_jvmBBdD8c (no spaces)