Percy resolved to never drink soda again.

As he worked to free the sea turtle from the plastic o-rings she was caught in, he knew that was a lie, but he was seriously pissed. Gritting his teeth, he managed to finally break the ring with his hands, and the turtle did a happy sort of somersault then bowed her head to Percy in respect.

Thank you, son of the sea god, she said.

He nodded back. This had become a pretty regular occurrence–nearly every time he came to Long Island, it seemed that hippocampi would stop him and beg him to help a poor sea creature in need. Unlike the naiads and most nereids, who were keeping their distance from him since the incident, sea animals seemed not to have gotten the memo that he was bad news. Sometimes it was as easy as freeing them from garbage or nets, but sometimes it was more challenging, like needing to clean them of toxic sludge. Percy had come to learn that there were vast pits of garbage littering the ocean floor around both Long Island and Manhattan, and time and water pressure had turned that garbage into a sort of dangerous, disgusting sludge that polluted the waters. He had promised Calli that he would figure out a way to clean the islands of that filth, but the more he uncovered, the more he understood her reaction. If it were going to be easy, it would have been done long ago.

It was a typical outing for him these days. He visited Anastasia once he was supposed to be in bed, they got into a pointless fight, he saved a sea animal, and he drilled combat sequences in his room until he passed out from exhaustion. His day routine was no more fun: barely manage to drag himself out of bed, doze off through classes, get yelled at by teachers, struggle with homework at the kitchen table while his mom chatted away and cooked dinner. He was stuck in the worst kind of limbo, desperate for something, anything to change, but as he went through the motions the next day, he knew it was a vain hope.

His mom was in the middle of telling him the latest news from the classes she was taking when she suddenly paused. "Percy? Are you okay?" she asked.

He looked up from the table and dropped his hands from his temples in surprise. "Uh, yeah. What do you mean?"

She held her spatula up in mid-air, her face screwed in an expression of worry. After a beat, she said, "You haven't been yourself lately. Is something going on?"

Percy tried to wrack his brain to figure out what had spurred this. He hadn't really been paying much attention to what she was saying, admittedly. "Uh, no," he said, "nothing's going on. I'm just stressed about school."

She came over and sat across from him at the table. "Just school?" she gently prodded.

Crap. She was always good at reading him. He tried to think of something safe to blame his bad mood on. "I haven't really heard from my friends in a while," he said. "It's just…"

"Hard?" she offered.

"Lonely."

She reached out and patted his hand. "Oh, honey, I get it. You know, I bet Annabeth feels the same way."

She had a knowing look in her eye, and Percy blushed in spite of himself. "I'm not just talking about her."

"Well, sure."

"And she doesn't feel the same way," he muttered. "She has Thalia with her."

His mom gave him an encouraging smile. "Well, that's not the same, is it? Thalia is great, but she's no substitute for you."

Percy felt a heaviness settle on his chest. He had been trying to deflect by bringing up his friends, but he had unwittingly stumbled onto something that genuinely troubled him. She squeezed his hand and rubbed her thumb against it, and he decided not to pull away yet.

"You and Annabeth have a special connection," she said. "Her friendship with Thalia is different. Just because she's spending more time with her doesn't mean she's replacing you. You could never be replaced."

He was starting to feel embarrassed. "Thanks, Mom," he muttered, pulling his hand away.

"Give them a little grace," she said. "They haven't seen each other in years. They've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, "I know."

She tapped her fingers on the table thoughtfully. "Have you tried emailing her? Making plans?"

"Oh, you have no idea," he exploded. She had hit a nerve. "She won't respond to me. Even if she's busy, just a courtesy response would be nice. It's not like I have nothing going on, but I still make time."

Nodding, she said, "Well, maybe you could send her an IM."

"I'm not going to call her when she can't even be bothered to answer my emails," he snapped, scowling.

She gave him a small, sympathetic smile. "Well, give it time. She'll come around." She got up and checked on the marinara sauce on the stove, slowly stirring. "How about Grover? Or Tyson? Have you talked to them lately?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, debating what to say. Finally, he said, "Tyson IMed me on my birthday."

"Oh, that's sweet! That reminds me, Chiron IMed me after your birthday, too."

Percy drew back. "Um, what? Why?"

"Just to check on you," his mom said flippantly, waving her hand. "He cares about you, you know. He knows you had a lot to adjust to this summer."

"Oh." Percy swallowed nervously, his mind racing.

"So," his mom prodded, "you got to speak to Tyson?"

"Oh, yeah," Percy stammered. "He's, uh, doing well. Things are good for him down there. With Dad."

She beamed. "I'm so glad to hear that."

He knew better, but he couldn't help himself from asking, "About Dad…when you met him, when you two were together, did he know? That you got pregnant?"

She paused for a moment. "Yes, he did."

"Did he say anything?"

He wasn't sure if she got what he meant, but he also wasn't sure how to put it. She took her time responding, tasting the marinara and taking the spaghetti off the stove to drain it.

"He was happy, but also very concerned," she said finally, as if she were choosing her words very carefully. "I'm not going to lie to you, Percy, he knew he had broken an oath, and that worried him. He cared about you, even before you were born, and he knew that by doing what he did, he had set you up for a very hard life."

Percy balled his fists under the table. No kidding. The Fates themselves were incensed by his actions. "But he did it anyway," he said.

She looked at him, troubled. "Well, he was in love," she said. "Not to toot my own horn, but love can make people do crazy things."

"Sorry," he said. He didn't want to make his mom feel bad, but her words didn't make him feel any better. All it seemed to prove was that his dad had been selfish. Poseidon had known that being with Sally Jackson was against the rules, and that having a kid with her would essentially damn that child to hardship and pain, but he had done what he wanted anyway.

"You'll understand one day, Percy," she said softly. "Love can blind people. It can make life so much harder. But it's also so worth it." She mixed the spaghetti into the sauce. "I believe that."

If even fake love can derail a person's life so much, he mused, then I don't think I want to know how bad real love would be.

After dinner it was time for their nightly ritual: watching trashy reality television and eating blue cookies. Percy didn't really care for the shows, but he loved making fun of sloppy New Jerseyans with his mom. While she set it up, he slipped off to the computer to check his emails. Once he logged in, his heart skipped a beat. One unread email from Annabeth Chase! Heart pounding, he clicked it.

Hey, Seaweed Brain!

Long time, no see. Sorry for the radio silence :p between robotics club and tutoring Thalia, things have been hectic. We've got a big Halloween bash coming up at our school in a couple weeks, and everyone brings people. If you're not busy, you should come. It's no big deal, just a chill hangout thing. Just let me know or whatever.

Later,

Your favorite friend

A huge grin spread across Percy's face. She wanted him to spend Halloween with her, and suddenly, life seemed brighter. He raced across the apartment to his mom.

"Hey, mom!" he said, breathless. "Can I go to a Halloween party with Annabeth?"

~.

"So, is it like a date, or what?" Anastasia asked.

"It's–it's not a date," he stammered. "I mean, I don't think it is." In truth, he hadn't considered that she had been asking him out.

She shrugged. "If she was asking you out, then I think it was a pretty shitty job. I mean, 'if you're not busy,' 'hangout thing,' 'let me know or whatever.' Not her finest work."

He flicked a cashew at her from the bag of trail mix she was eating. "It's not a date, stupid."

"I'll say."

He didn't want to put up with her teasing about this, but it was always when he was most fed up that she pressed the hardest.

"Do you want it to be a date?" she asked.

He glared at her. "I'm not talking about this with you."

"I'm just saying, it seems like you're feeling strongly–"

"Just drop it!" he growled. "I am not taking girl advice from my fake girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, as your fake girlfriend, may I just remind you that all of Olympus thinks you're in love with me. Maybe keep that in mind when you talk to other girls."

He crossed his arms and stared into one of the cave's pools. The water was deep blue and placid. "Got it. Don't worry. I don't think it matters anyway."

She cocked her head. "She's…into someone else? That older guy?"

Sometimes–no, almost always, having her in his head was such a pain.

"I don't know," he said, frustrated. "It doesn't matter. Just drop it."

She held up her hands. "Whatever. Just as long as you don't go blowing our cover."

"I won't," he griped.

She slipped into one of the pools, transforming into her mermaid-tailed form and leaning back against the shore. "You know," she said, "I've had my fair share of heartbreak." Percy wanted to argue that he didn't know why that was relevant, but he didn't want to open the door for her to call him out, so he bit his tongue.

"My dad cursed me to never be loved," she continued, ignoring his thoughts. "But I can't help it. I love love. I was raised by the Sirens."

Dubiously, he shook his head and followed her into the water, floating on the surface on his back. "Uh, do those two things connect? Do the Sirens…love?"

"Yes," she snapped, "but I meant more that I saw how deeply the people they lured loved, how hopeful they were, and I wanted that. I think that's so pure."

"Well, it ended up being their doom," he deadpanned.

She sighed. "It usually is, no matter what the circumstances, I think. I had crushes on people in Russia and people I met when I traveled across the sea to find you. Mermen. Water guardians. They never felt the same way."

"Can't you make people love you with your singing?" he suggested.

She scoffed. "Perhaps, but I don't want it that way. I want it to be real." She began picking at her nails. "There was this one guy. Thaddeus."

Percy saw the merman in her mind's eye. He looked teenage, beefy, and barrel-chested. A real Chad-type.

"He met me while I was disguised as a mermaid I had met once, and he was instantly taken with me. He led me through a dangerous monster-filled trench. I thought that maybe…" She trailed off. "Well, I thought I could entice him to stay with me through the whole journey. He seemed very into me, especially when he kissed me."

Something about the thought of Anastasia kissing people while disguised as someone else made him feel queasy. It seemed violating. This guy had put his hands on her, but it was someone else's body.

"Don't judge me," she spat. "It didn't go that far. People do desperate things for love."

"Yeah, my mom was just telling me that," he said.

"But it didn't matter in the end," she said bitterly. "He was in love with someone else the whole time. I was just a distraction. Just what was available."

He willed himself back to the shore and sat up. "That's not what's happening with me and Annabeth," he said, then hastily added, "Nothing's happening with me and her."

"If you say so, dog," she said skeptically.

He huffed in frustration. "Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Are you ever going to stop calling me 'princess'? I have a name, you know."

"So do I."

They glared at each other, neither willing to be the first to back down. Finally, Percy broke it off and stood up.

"Well, it's late. Bye."

"Jackson…" she began, trailing off. He lingered. "Do you ever think that we made a mistake by–"

"No," he cut her off. "I don't. I can't."

She chewed on her lower lip. "I just think…what if that wasn't the right confession of love? It doesn't feel like things are right. I don't know."

He shook his head, his face hard. "I didn't go through all that for nothing. No way."

"I didn't say that, I just mean–"

"No, princess. No second-guessing ourselves."

She sighed in frustration. "Whatever. You never listen to me."

"Yep." He turned around and stalked off before his anger could cause him to start another of their fights.

Percy thought about Annabeth the whole way home, right up to the point he got in bed. He was looking forward to putting this whole Anastasia business out of his head for at least one night and having some fun. After everything he was going through, he thought he deserved at least one fun night.

His dreams had other ideas, however. He found himself back on Luke's cruise ship, the Princess Andromeda, facing a golden sarcophagus.

"Percy, Percy, Percy," Kronos tutted, his voice projecting into Percy's brain like knives scraping across metal. "Just when I thought I had you figured out, you've found a way to surprise me."

Percy's stomach dropped. How much did the titan lord know? He hadn't thought word would spread this far.

"Surely, you didn't think the girl's father would keep it a secret from me," he continued, his voice seeping from the sarcophagus and stabbing Percy's brain. The demigod blanched.

"He might be trapped in ice again for now," Luke said, emerging from the shadows and strolling up beside the titan's tomb, "but that won't hold him for long."

"His return, like mine, is inevitable," Kronos hissed.

Percy's head was spinning. Word of his supposed treachery had reached the titans. What were they going to think? What were they going to do? He thought about speaking, but his jaw felt stiff, as if frozen.

"Don't bother," the lord of time said. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. I know all you wanted was to help this girl." Luke smirked, causing Percy's blood to boil. "How very callous of them, to punish you for having a pure heart. But they detest my kind, and they don't trust any of our offspring, even though they themselves are our descendants."

"Hypocrites," Luke muttered.

Percy looked from Luke, to the sarcophagus, to Luke again.

"You resisted our message in the past," Kronos continued, "but perhaps you had just not had adequate time to experience the corruption of the gods firsthand. They loved you when you were their champion, but all it took was one misstep to reveal their true nature."

"You now bear a permanent reminder of that nature," Luke said, nodding toward Percy's chest.

"Doesn't it seem unjust?" Kronos prodded. "And after all that, they still expect you to serve them blindly."

Luke grinned darkly. "You can't be blind anymore, Jackson. Your eyes are open now."

Percy tried to shake his head, but it was as if time was thick as syrup around him, slowing his actions. The more he struggled, the harder it became to move.

"Open your eyes, young half-blood," Kronos urged. "Open them now!"

Percy jerked awake in bed, bolting straight up. He clutched his head and struggled to catch his breath. He was drenched in cold sweat and trembling, eyes wide, shaken to his core by what he had heard.

They know, he thought to himself over and over again.

Unable to stand his thoughts and too wary of sleep, he got up and drilled sequences with his sword until his mind was blank and his limbs were screaming and the dawn's first rays began to caress his walls. Rest was too dangerous to trust.