Miserable, cold, and chained to the floor, Percy wondered how this situation had gotten so out of control.

His father's court had exploded in arguing when he dropped his love bombshell while Poseidon himself sat back and watched it happen. Percy had managed to wing his way through constructing a narrative on the fly–they met, it was love at first sight, he accompanied her to see her mother so she could get closure, he promised her that their love would break her curse and she would be free from her parents, blah blah blah. Both luckily and frustratingly, they didn't ask too many questions about specifics, about how they had met or why her father had cursed her. In fact, they pretty quickly devolved into lobbing petty accusations at each other about their own ex-lovers. When Money told the pirate he called Cannonball that this was "just like Calliope all over again," Percy was pretty sure both Cannonball and Otto were going to throw hands (and hooks). The two youngest governors didn't contribute much, mostly laughing and making faces at each other when their older brothers made snide remarks. Percy found himself feeling grounded by their presence, as if they were the only normal ones there.

In fact, they helped him escape that chamber alive. Triton, grabbing his father's wrist, had protested, "This changes nothing, my lord-even if he claims she has no love for her father, which I remain skeptical of. If he has been seduced by her, then he could have been persuaded to spy on us for her father's gain. This is all a trick."

"Aw, it's not a trick," Kook–Azaes?–said. "Look at him. He's been a mess this whole time. He's not plotting anything."

Prep nodded in agreement. "He's not a criminal mastermind, dude, he's just a lovestruck kid."

"You remember what your first love was like, don't you, Triton?" Kook prodded with a cheeky grin. "That daughter of the general who betrayed Dad? If I recall correctly, you were so nervous to tell him that you could hardly speak."

Prep added, "And he was so mad at you about it, he made you carve the Mariana Trench by hand."

Poseidon stroked his beard thoughtfully, and Percy came to realize that when he did that, he was deciding something.

"My lord," Amphitrite said in a low voice, "he may not be plotting against you–right now–but he has technically committed treason as it is defined by our laws." She folded her arms. "Any offspring of your enemies who have not pledged their loyalty to you are considered enemies as well, and loyalty to this boy himself is no substitute. He consorted with her. And what's more, he waited to tell you until he could hide it no longer."

"Yes, he is a traitor!" Triton sneered. "And a danger to us. I propose he face the ultimate penalty." Percy felt all the blood drain from his face.

Atlas drew in a sharp breath. "Now, that may be extreme," he cautioned.

"War is nigh," Triton countered. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"I would not be as quick to call us desperate," Atlas said in a tone that might be what passed as teasing for him.

Kook threw up his hands. "Oh, come on," he said, rolling his eyes at Triton. "He didn't do anything that bad. We're killing people for falling in love now? We've never done that."

Triton glared at him. "For treason, Kook. Treason."

Kook fixed his brother with an incredulous look. "This is, like, the lowest form of treason."

"Non-conspiratorial treason," Melo agreed. "Treason by technicality only, if you will."

"The highest penalty for that be the traitor's mark," Cannonball said. "That be not enough for ye?"

Atlas folded his hands, pointing his pointer fingers together in a sort of steeple and resting his chin on them. "Even the traitor's mark is a punishment some would consider extreme. I am having trouble understanding why you would want to go further."

Amphitrite glanced at Triton behind Poseidon's head. "The traitor's mark is a punishment for citizens of this kingdom. It is calibrated for people who live here under the sea. I think if you consider it, logistically, it would be impractical to perform on a demigod who lives primarily on land, among mortals."

"Yes," Triton said, latching onto the queen's words, "and I think the fact that he is a demigod justifies a stronger punishment. He is more powerful, more dangerous than any merman. He could join the Great River, or any of the titans, at any moment and deal a devastating blow to our cause." He looked around at his brothers, who grew quiet. "And the fact that he has fallen in love with one of them bodes poorly. We've all seen heroes fall before; we know what lies down this tragic path. Why wait until he has already had the chance to devastate us?"

Fairy took a loud slurp of his daiquiri. "Honestly, I hadn't considered the fact that he's a demigod. That makes it all look really bad."

"The other Olympians will have a field day with this, don't you reckon, Eli?" Tor said.

"Oh, they'll be clamorin' to string him up, brother," the other fisherman agreed.

Poseidon's eyes flashed. "No," he said firmly. "This is my problem, my issue to decide. It does not concern them."

Amphitrite touched his arm delicately. "Oh, I agree, my lord," she purred. "But they will probably try to argue that they should get a say because this boy is a well-known…hero of Olympus." She sounded as if she were pained to say that word in reference to Percy. "It's just terrible PR."

Melo seemed lost in thought. "Her Highness raises an interesting point. The other Olympians may feel the same way Triton does, that it is only a matter of time before Perseus joins the titans' side. They could then argue that they should get a say in the matter, and they may wish to cut their losses now."

Poseidon summoned his trident to his hand in a flash of light and glowered. "I will not have my brother and his lot going over my head," he growled. "This is my issue. My son is a citizen of my kingdom, honorarily, and he committed a crime in my domain, with someone who is only my enemy. They have no say in the matter. They cannot take it upon themselves to kill the boy."

Amphitrite blinked. "You…surely, you do not intend to stick out your neck to defend this boy's life among them."

"I am not defending his life," he spat. "I am defending my sovereignty. I alone have the final say in his punishment. I will not determine his penalty based upon what would appease Olympus." Poseidon set his jaw defiantly, and although Percy had clenched every muscle in his body up until then, he began to feel them loosen. His father was even more angry at the thought that the other gods would try to tell him what to do than he was at Percy for technically committing treason–a law that Percy, quite frankly, found ridiculously broad. Just the notion that the other gods would try to force Poseidon to kill his son was, seemingly, going to be the thing that made Poseidon decide to spare him.

In the end, spite is the most powerful motivator of all.

"Can't you just give him, like, a slap on the wrist or something?" Kook asked, leaning back in his throne. "He's a first-time offender, for crying out loud. And he's scared out of his skin."

"Yeah, just ban him from ever seeing that girl again," Prep added, a caveat that Percy could honestly get on board with. "Make him do community service and call it a day."

Atlas shook his head. "I fear that if you let him off with too slight a punishment, the other gods will see it as a weakness and will push back. The lighter the penalty, the more likely they will be to try to intervene."

Triton banged the end of his trident on the floor in frustration. "Then execute him, like I said!"

"There's got to be a middle ground," Money scoffed.

Fairy tilted his head down to glance at his twin over his sunglasses. "Yeah, how did we ping pong from one extreme to the other?"

"The traitor's mark be the ideal solution," Otto suggested.

Fairy stirred his drink. "Oh, yeah. Why did we move on from that, again?"

Melo tapped his chin. "It's logistically…difficult."

"How d'ya figure?" Eli said. "You just stick 'im, and then you're done."

"Well, no," Atlas said, perturbed. "The mark is imbued with magic. It comes with a curse, and the curse is, like the queen said, calibrated for those who live in the sea."

Tor held his hands up. "Well, what if we just re-cally-brate it?"

Atlas paused, then looked up at his father. Poseidon seemed to mull it over for a minute, and Percy stole a look at the one brother who had shown him any kindness in this chamber–Kook. The buff boy was exchanging looks with his twin, as if having a silent conversation, when he noticed Percy looking at him. He grinned again, wryly, but this time it was more restrained. Percy could tell the older boy felt sorry for him. He tried to ask with his eyes what this traitor's mark entailed, but Kook dropped his gaze and picked at something on the armrest of his throne.

Poseidon banged the end of his trident on the floor and cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him expectantly. "I have made my decision," he declared. "Perseus Jackson, you have been found guilty of non-conspiratorial treason, and for this crime, you will be subject to the traitor's mark and its curse. We will adjust the parameters of the accompanying curse to fit your, er, lifestyle. So says the king!"

"Hear, hear!" the other members of the council called out. Triton looked disappointed, but not by a lot. In a moment, the dolphins who had escorted Percy there were back by his side. Poseidon snapped, and chains formed around Percy's wrists and ankles.

"Take him away to await his punishment," he commanded.

So, there he was. Chained to the shell-studded floor of a dark chamber with no discernable doors or windows and no decorations whatsoever. There was a small bed of kelp about the size of a cot in the corner and a constantly flushing hole in the floor against the other wall that he guessed served as a commode. His chains were just barely long enough to allow him access to the full perimeter of the chamber. This room felt much more like a prison cell.

Mulling over what had just transpired, he realized he had been too shocked in the council chamber to really process everything that had gone on. He was now a convicted traitor in his father's eyes. A criminal. And he didn't even think he had done anything wrong.

How could it be wrong to help a person who was in trouble? Forget that, how could it be wrong to simply fall in love with someone? He had been lying about that, of course, but he found it ludicrous that someone could be called a traitor just for falling for the wrong person. That was the kind of paranoia that he expected from people as unhinged as Luke or as twisted as Kronos, but not the gods. Not his own father.

If he was being honest with himself, he was angry right now. He knew that he and his dad didn't really know each other, but some part of him thought his father would have a soft spot for him just by virtue of Percy being his son. But no, Poseidon had only seemed to care about Percy to the extent his actions affected Poseidon's image to the other Olympians. He hadn't even been willing to hear Percy out; Percy didn't get to say most of the things he wanted to say. He hadn't gotten a chance to tell his dad about the stirrings, or pollution, or what Oceanus had said about Kronos, or how vulnerable Oceanus seemed right now. Styx, he hadn't even gotten a chance to tell his dad what Oceanus was planning to unleash on mortals if he somehow prevailed. There was so much more he had to say, stuff that he thought might have proven his loyalty, but he had been shushed and silenced. All they cared about was the fact he had been seen with the wrong girl.

Oh, crap, he thought,I forgot about Anastasia.He reached out to her with his mind and felt that same tingle in the back of his brain.

Hey, princess, are you still there?

He was met with silence. His heart began to pound, but he shook his head. Maybe he was just doing it wrong, or not concentrating hard enough. He closed his eyes and pictured her and tried again.

Princess! Your haughtiness! Outranker-of-nereids! Hello-o!

He waited in troubled silence, then sighed.Hello?

After a moment, he heard her voice in his head saying,What?She sounded disoriented.

His head snapped up.Princess! You're alive!

Oh. I was asleep,she said.

He chuckled soundlessly.Good. I was about to say, if you died and I went to all this trouble for nothing–

Oh, how sweet, she said, dripping in sarcasm.I was trying to fit in some sleep before my father returns again. You woke me up.

Sorry, he said,but I think you need to know what happened. I figured out part of the prophecy.

What part?she asked eagerly.

The admission of love, he replied.It is you and me, after all. My father's council wanted to kill me. They thought I betrayed him. The only thing that saved me was claiming that the reason you and I were sneaking around in the first place is that we fell in love, and true love is the only way to break your curse or whatever.

Even though he couldn't see her, he could practically swear he could feel her frown.I am cursed to never be loved, she said.That makes no sense.

Well, my father doesn't know that, he retorted.

I cannot tell my father the same story; he will see right through it.

He shrugged, tugging against the chains.Maybe we found a loophole. Maybe we lifted your curse somehow. Maybe his powers don't work on me, just like your Siren powers don't. I don't know, princess.

She was quiet for a second.I guess I have no choice but to figure it out, she said curtly.We should have the same story.

I saw you in his court in a dream, he said.I know he thinks you're lying about conspiring with me. Maybe telling him we're in love is the only explanation he'll buy.

Yeah, she said,maybe.

He knotted his forehead.Maybe…maybe that's how we get them to make peace too. If they think their kids are in love. Like the end ofRomeo and Julietor something.

I do not know who those people are.

No, it's a story. I think we have to keep pretending to be in love for–well, I guess for a long time.

She was silent for a minute.Maybe Iwouldrather die, honestly.

He rolled his eyes.I'm just saying, this is our best bet.

No, I know, she said haughtily.Fine. It is worth a shot.

Cool.He looked around the floor.Well, he said,sorry for waking you up. I'll, uh, leave you alone now.

Wait, she said.Did your father let you go?

I'm in a prison cell right now, he said.I'm supposed to get something called the traitor's mark. Then I think they'll let me go.

Oh, she said.Hm. What is that?

I honestly have no idea.

Well, she said nonchalantly,I hope it is not as bad as what my father is doing to me.

Her words chilled him.Look, princess, I'm going to come rescue you if he doesn't let you go. I'll get you out, we'll figure something out. You and I got into this mess together, and I…I'm going to help until the end. I swear.

Okay, Jackson, she said simply, and he resolved with a sigh not to bother her anymore.

The next few hours of waiting were torture. He tried pacing the room, but it was difficult in chains. He got desperate enough to use the toilet hole. He floated around, willing the water to carry him up to the ceiling and sitting upside down for a while. At one point, a slot in the wall slid open, and a tray of food was pushed in. Almost instantly, the slot closed again before he could see anyone on the other side. He picked at the food, apprehensive of the vegetables that looked like seaweed. Finally, he grew tired, and the light from the pearl on the ceiling grew dim. He surmised it was probably nighttime. He wondered how people at the bottom of the sea kept track of things like night and day, but he was too tired to care. He flopped down on the kelp cot and waited for sleep to overtake him.

When it did, he saw intermittent scenes of pain and instruments of torture. Anastasia, chained to the floor. An underwater furnace of broiling lava. Electric currents sizzling his spine. A Cyclops holding a rod into flames. He shook his head, trying to speak, but he could not. Finally, he found himself back in Oceanus's court, hiding behind one of the pillars. He peeked out and saw Anastasia gagged and in chains. Her father and Tethys, the woman from before, were lounging in their respective seats. With a wave of his hand, Oceanus dismissed everyone, and the crawfish and mermen filed out, leaving only the three of them and Percy.

Leisurely, Oceanus stood and crossed the floor to his daughter. "So," he said, his voice more menacing than before, "you are ready to talk."

Reaching for her, he removed her gag, and she gasped. She looked up at him through pained eyes. No, not just pained–angry. She was looking at her father now the way she looked at her mother in the Sea of Monsters, bitterly and full of resentment.

"Yes, lord," she said, full of sincerity, and in a flash her gaze was innocent and hopeful rather than angry and scornful. Percy blinked in surprise.

Oceanus turned his back and strolled toward his dais. "Tell me, then, what you are plotting with the boy."

Taking a deep breath, she clasped her bound hands together and said, "I did not want to tell you because I was afraid you would not approve. Father, I have fallen in love."

He paused a moment, then continued and laid down on the dais. "Have you," he said, and Percy couldn't tell if it was a question or not.

She nodded earnestly. "Yes, my lord, and the most beautiful part is that he loves me too. When I resolved to come see you again, the curse you laid on me was lifted. He has saved me from the nightmare you would have me live." Her eyes glittered as she spoke, her voice laden with hope. If Percy didn't know any better, he would almost have believed her act.

Oceanus exchanged a look with his wife. She glared at Anastasia through narrow eyes. Nodding slowly, Oceanus said, "So, now that you have fallen in love with the boy, you once again wish to dissuade me from reclaiming my territory from his father."

"Please, my lord," she said, folding her tail underneath her and dropping down in what seemed to be her version of kneeling. "We wish to be free to be together. Do not make an enemy out of his father, I beseech you. Let me return to him and leave your domain forever."

Oceanus held out his hand, and his giant snake slithered up his arm and flicked its forked tongue against his ear, as if whispering. His eyes flashed angrily.

"You have brought him here," he said, his voice booming through the chamber. "You do not want peace–you have let this boy persuade you to serve his cause!"

"No!" she exclaimed, holding up her hands. "I would never! We only want to be together, I swear. I would never serve his father!"

"How dare you," he seethed, sitting up. Percy heard a hiss above him and saw a large snake slither out of the pool in the ceiling and curl down the pillar toward him. He reached for his pocket, and the snake lunged, impossibly fast, and clamped its jaws around the collar of his shirt. He was dragged into the chamber beside Anastasia.

Oceanus stood and stared at Percy, his piercing blue eyes cutting through the young demigod like shards of ice. Panic began to set in; how could he be sensed in a dream? Percy's feet turned numb, and he saw that ice had once again encased them.

"You fools," he said. "You think that love will save you, that it will sway me. But all it demonstrates is your selfishness." He stroked his snake's head and looked up at the ceiling. "You care not for the suffering of the inhabitants of the sea. You only care for your own comfort, your own happiness. If you truly had altruistic intentions, then you would want justice for those creatures. And peace will not bring justice."

He brought his gaze back down to his daughter. "I see now that you are beyond convincing. I will never bring you to my side. For that, you must be punished."

Tethys twitched. "End her, my lord," she urged.

Oceanus shook his head. "She is a stupid girl, blinded by her emotions. Death would teach her nothing." He took a deep breath, seeming to barely keep his rage at bay. "You can forget all your naïve plans to spend your life with this boy. I banish you to live among mortals, to witness their arrogance, their decadence, their waste firsthand. I want you to see exactly why they must be made to suffer. And if you dare try to leave, I will ensure that every deity, every last titan and god, will make it their mission to hunt you down and destroy you."

Tethys stood. "Exile is too merciful for her treachery," she hissed. "Her disrespect. You may not be willing to kill her, but I think she can learn much even in death."

Anastasia desperately looked at Percy, then at her father. Oceanus raised an eyebrow but did not intervene. Raising her arms, Tethys declared, "Because you desire so strongly to be with this boy, I will grant your wish. You may not get to see him in this life, but when you die, I curse you to endure the punishment for your insolence together. The two of you will spend eternity shackled together in the Fields of Torment, where you can enjoy each other's petty love for the rest of time." Tilting his head, Oceanus considered her curse, then nodded. A boom like roaring water rushed through the chamber.

Percy and Anastasia looked at each other. Her eyes were filled with dread, and he felt the same. This punishment didn't seem right, it didn't seem fair. It didn't seem possible. How could this woman dictate how the two of them spent their afterlives?

The boom continued, and then it was drowned out by the sound of women shrieking. Oceanus's eyes grew wide. Percy looked to Anastasia, whose face grew white. He wished he could read her mind in this moment.

Suddenly, a bubble of air formed in between the two children and the two titans, and it grew and grew. Three old hags appeared within it, and with a chill, Percy recognized them as the women he had seen cut a string a little over a year ago. The three Fates.

They had their backs turned to him, but it was clearly them. Their silver hair was pulled back into white bandanas, and they stood in a row, arms linked, staring down the titan of the sea.

Oceanus looked white as a sheet. "The Moirai," he whispered.

"The future is not yours to grasp," the one on the far left said, her voice brittle and ancient.

"Your power ends at the last gasp," said the one in the middle.

"Your display of force is without source," said the third.

Together, they continued, "If we are coarse, then feel our rasp."

Oceanus gulped. Percy had no idea he could look so rattled. Glancing at Anastasia, he could tell she didn't either.

"Hallowed Moirai," he began, "I was merely doling out punishment for my daughter, a power entirely within my right. I am the doorway to death, and as such, I have authority that can extend even in–"

"You have overplayed your hand!" the first one began again, cutting him off.

"You encroach the Lord of Death's command."

"Your brazen stance in arrogance has forced we three to take a stand."

The two old ladies on either end raised their outside arms, and thunder boomed, something Percy had thought impossible underwater. The room seemed to grow darker and even colder. Percy shivered and, looking down, noticed frost starting to form on his arms. Backing away, Oceanus pleaded with them, but they would not budge. His wife ran to his side. Shadows like tendrils of darkness dripped from the ceiling and wrapped around the two titans, who seemed to melt at their touch. The shadows dragged their essences up to the glittery pool above them, and then the darkness faded. The temperature went back to normal. All was silent, save for Percy and Anastasia's heavy breathing.

The three Fates turned to look at the two children and relinked arms, their leathery faces betraying no emotion. Percy was startled to notice that their eyes were like empty voids. They wore nametags on their cotton dresses, and Percy struggled through his dyslexia to make out the names; from left to right, it seemed likeChotlo,Aporots, andLehcsais. Anastasia looked at him, and she seemed as terrified as he felt. He somehow got the feeling that they were going to be punished, too. At this point, it didn't really seem like immortal beings needed a good reason to punish somebody, a thought that brought to the surface all the bitterness he had been fostering.

On an impulse, Anastasia grabbed his hand. He didn't have any emotional energy left over to be uncomfortable. He just hoped that, maybe, seeing them like this would make the Fates more sympathetic.

"Please, spare us," Anastasia whimpered.

The Fate on the far left tilted her head and spoke. "Two children who should never be pay for their fathers' lechery and now must march toward obsequy." Unlinking her arm from the middle Fate, she held out her hands, and a spool of electric blue yarn appeared within them. Percy felt suddenly untethered, as if he were weightless, the room starting to spin around him.

The Fate on the far right reached for the end of the yarn and slowly pulled, uttering, "So, to their will we acquiesce but offer a means of egress if their missteps you will redress."

The Fate in the middle held out her hand, and a pair of jagged scissors appeared within them. Anastasia yelped softly. "Keep your word to prove your worth. Reach sixteen above the earth. Dissolve the bond which bans your birth." As she spoke, she looked from Percy to Anastasia to Percy again.

Then, as the middle Fate opened her scissors, all three said in unison, "By that day's end she must meet death, in hero's hearth take her last breath, and grant her soul the peace of Lethe." And with that, she snipped the string.

Crying out, Anastasia fell to the floor, dropping his hand and clutching at her chest. Percy could not move; he felt completely frozen, as if moving would cause him to be damned to eternal torment all over again.

The leftmost Fate respooled the yarn, and the three linked arms once again, looking at Anastasia. As one, they concluded, "Make right these wrongs and be reborn, a life without your parents' scorn; fail, and together ever mourn."

In an instant, shadows manifested around the three hags and completely obscured them. The bubble shrank, and with a loud pop, it vanished. Anastasia and Percy were alone.

He stared at the empty chamber in disbelief. The Fates, the arbiters of destiny and death, had basically told them that they both should not exist, that their lives were damned because of their fathers' transgressions. He was worth nothing, a mere mistake. And it had been even worse for Anastasia.

He looked down and saw that his feet were free, and, turning to Anastasia, he noticed that her chains had disappeared.

"Oh," he said gruffly, his throat constricted, "they freed you."

She turned up to face him, and she looked about a thousand years older, her eyes full of sorrow. "No. They did not."

The water in the chamber whirled around her, raising her off the ground. Percy reached for her but was forced backward by the blast of the vortex. The water carried her up, up, until she disappeared through the ceiling. Staggering backward, he began breathing heavily, his heart pounding. What had happened to her? Where did she go?

Thrashing, he awoke in his kelp cot, the Fates' shrieking ringing in his ears.

Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door.