Nothing is mine.

Percy meets a little girl who can foresee things; she's called Lisa al Gaib xD

Upon the Path of Cedar

Percy drifted through the drizzle sweeping in off the sea, meandering along the small road from the lighthouse through gentle green grass slopes and small ponds toward the largest little lake and its swathe of lily pads.

A child dreaming of sunshine. He covered his eyes with his hand, squinting through the rain. No sensible child of Apollo would be out in this, surely? Percy paused by the edge of the small lake. But maybe an upset demi-god might come here when it is sunny to get away from high school. Actually, anyone might come here to get away from high school, anywhere is better than there.

A nymph poked her head from beneath the lily pads, a white flower in her dark brown hair and a ball mask of thick dark silt covering her eyes and nose. 'Are you all alone?' she whispered, rising from the lake. 'Come to the bridge. Come to me.'

Percy skirted the shore through the long grass and strode over the narrow wooden bridge to the middle of the lake.

The nymph held out her arms, water pouring off her gown off near-black pondweed. 'Where are your parents? Have they left you behind? It's okay—' she offered Percy a gentle smile '—I will take care of you. Just wriggle through those bars and jump into my arms.'

And drown? A soft swell of anger drew back into a towering wall of water somewhere within Percy and he vaulted over the top of the bridge's rail onto the surface of the dark waters.

The surface of the lake trembled and froze still as glass beneath his feet.

The nymph recoiled. 'My lord,' she pleaded, sinking to her knees. 'It's not what you think, I only wished for you to touch my waters and keep me company.'

Percy fixed her with a flat stare.

'It's our nature,' she begged. 'Deep waters are dangerous. Children left to wander alone are beguiled by the beauty of dark waters and come to my embrace. Please, my lord. What am I, if not myself?'

'Have any children drowned here?' he demanded.

'No. Not for many many years.' Her shoulders slumped and she pointed one slim pale hand at the huge orange safety ring. 'They always throw that horrible thing when anyone falls in.'

Percy's anger evaporated. 'Don't try to tempt them in.'

'They cannot see me, my lord,' she muttered. 'They filled my lake with dirt to make these squalid gardens and call me alewife. As if I would deign to be the wife of any drunk mortal. You are the first to see me in a very long time.'

He stepped forward and brushed the silt from around her deep green eyes with his thumb. 'What's your name?'

'Ganna,' she mumbled, staring at her feet as colour rose on her cheeks. 'It will just come back, my lord. It always does. They severed me from my sisters and covered us all in mud. It's just me all by myself here now.'

Percy sat down on the water and swept the Mist over the pond, drawing it over the waters and the shores like a thick grey fog rolling in off the sea. 'Not today,' he said. 'I'll come keep you company for a day or two.'

Ganna's green eyes widened. 'You will?' She flushed bright pink. 'Thank you, my lord.'

'Percy.' He swung his rucksack off his shoulder. 'Can I leave this with you? It's got my very fetching fish tent in it and a few other things, but I need to look for a child dreaming of sunshine on a path of cedar, which probably means following Cedar Point Road through this park a ways until something tries to kill me.'

She bobbed her head. 'Of course, my lord.'

'Percy—' he sighed '—nevermind, you nymphs never call me by my name anyways.'

'You're too big to be such a small, simple name,' Ganna whispered. 'So much blue, like you could sweep me off my feet and I'd just melt away into you and disappear forever.'

'I'm just me,' Percy said. 'And I wouldn't want to wash anyone away like that.'

'It wouldn't be so bad,' Ganna mumbled. 'Being part of all your blue. Maybe I wouldn't feel so lonely floating around within your waves.'

Little ripples of pity tugged at Percy's heart. 'I've hidden your lake with the Mist, Ganna, and I'll be back in a little while. I don't know if I can help with how things are, but if I can, I will.'

'Thank you, my lord.' She flashed him a shy smile. 'I'm sorry, for trying to tempt you in. I just wanted someone to be here with me, it's been so long since I saw my sisters…'

'I'll be here with you,' he promised. 'But I can't stay for long. I'll have to leave.'

Leaving girls behind, just like Aphrodite said. Percy's heart sank, dwindling down into the cold dark depths of the bottomless black sea. But I can't stay. I can't fall. This is just how it is. Right, Zoë?

Ganna clutched his bag to her chest, sitting cross-legged on the surface among the lily pads as she watched him go with soft green eyes.

He cupped the slim line of Anaklusmos in his pocket and trudged across the lake and up the bank onto the road. The drizzle blew across the park; its cool spray spotted Percy's face as he followed the slim ribbon of tarmac through the green toward the distant park gates.

Still no children, dreaming or doing anything. Maybe I'm just in completely the wrong place.

The drizzle lightened, fading away, and the sun burst through the clouds, soaking Percy in faint warmth.

'Hey there!' A man in a bright red coat and designer jeans waved at him from a bench beside the road. 'You're looking a little lost. I might know something useful if you tell me what you're looking for.'

Percy wandered over. 'Cedars.' He pointed at the road sign by the gates. 'So really, you'd think I'd be in the right spot.'

The man laughed, throwing his head back in a flash of bright teeth; his light brown eyes caught the sun, turning gold as honey in the light. 'There are two cedar roads around here. A lot of people looking for the school come to this one by mistake.' He pointed a small white guitar pick at the gate. 'You might want Cedar Street. Follow Northwest Road, then Old Northwest Road, and that road turns into Cedar Street around about where the school is.'

Of course it's by the school. If a demi-god is going to get into trouble, it's going to be at school.

'Thanks…' Percy eyed the man. 'How'd you know I was looking for something?'

The man stood up with a wink. 'I always know.' He strolled off along the road with a cheerful wave and a smile.

Apollo. Percy recalled the hiker upon the bench and Zoë's quiet explanation as they ran. It feels like so long ago now. He helped us then, Zoë, and he's helping me now.

Apollo disappeared over the hill toward the lighthouse and Percy stood alone amidst the green, staring up past the grey clouds toward hidden stars.

I wish you were still here, Zoë. You showed me what to do, but it's hard doing it all alone. He gathered his strength. Stand strong. She did it for thousands of years. You're not even sixteen yet.

He swept the Mist over himself and broke into a light jog, passing through the gates and weaving through the people and queueing cars along Northwest Road. It met Old Northwest Road forty cars later at a set of red lights and water-filled roadworks.

Percy skirted the potholes and the stack of orange cones and barriers, leaping onto the sidewalk and running past the houses toward the gleaming windows of the school at the bottom of the hill.

A wilting beech edge and black-painted metal railings fenced the front of the school, running along to the main gate. Students poured out, flooding across the road, and the slow procession of cars rumbled past, each pausing for a few kids to throw themselves in, then roaring off back into the traffic jam.

Mom's going to be doing that in a few years. Percy leant against the railings and watched them go. Properly this time.

The flood dwindled to a trickle and the traffic faded away.

On the far side of the gate, beyond the small handfuls of children drifting out, a small girl with hair as gold as corn sticking out of the red hood of her jumper sat on the road sign, swinging her legs.

Cedar Street. Percy smiled. I think I've found you.

The girl glanced up, her bright blue eyes catching his.

You can see me through the Mist. It's definitely you.

'Hi.' He gave her a wave and wandered across the gates, side-stepping a trio of boys waving their arms about and hissing at their blonde friend. 'I'm Percy, are you okay?' He paused. 'Sorry, I don't want to scare you or anything—'

'Hi…' She returned his wave with a small hand. 'I'm Psylia, which is like Celia, but spelled funny with a P and an S and a Y.'

'You okay?' Percy took a seat on the other end of the sign. 'Not heading home like everyone else?'

'Tired,' Psylia mumbled, stifling a yawn with her hand. 'I can't sleep.'

'I mean, I am not one to talk, but you're meant to do your sleeping at home really.'

'I get bad dreams,' she whispered.

Of course you do. A little swell of sympathy washed through Percy. We all do.

'I have bad dreams too,' he replied. 'Once, I had one about my mom being kidnapped. That one wasn't so bad at the time, because I was pretty sure nobody would do it.'

'What was the worst one?' Psylia hooked a strand of golden hair back over her ear and peered at him with wide blue eyes.

'Oh, that's easy.' Percy mustered a smile to mask his sinking heart. 'I met a very pretty kind girl once; you couldn't not love her. She was so nice, and after I left her, I dreamt of her crying all alone. That one wasn't fun.'

'I dream of drowning, of being swept out to sea and swallowed by the waves, dragged down into the dark and the cold and crushed…' A little shudder swept through her.

'It's quite a long way to the sea from here, you don't have to worry about that.' Percy flashed her a grin. 'And I'm an extremely well qualified lifeguard, so you're quite safe with me.' He glanced around and lowered his voice. 'Has anything… odd, happened here lately?'

'Odd?' Psylia blinked and bobbed her head. 'Miss Spencer is getting married and now every morning we have some weird old man teaching us math instead. And…' Her voice shrank to a whisper. 'And sometimes I dream of little things and if I do them, the dreams come true.'

Makes sense. Apollo is all about oracles and prophecies.

'I promise it happens.' She wrapped her arms around her chest and hugged herself tight. 'I dreamt I'd meet you here by the sign, so every day I'd come sit here after school and here you are.'

'Here I am.' Percy reached out and ruffled her hair, chuckling as she twitched. 'You should be getting home, don't want your mom to worry.'

She squinted at him. 'Do you know things too? How did you know it's just me and mom?'

'I know some things. Not very many things. My friend used to tell me my head was full of kelp.'

'I know lots of things.' Psylia jumped off the sign. 'Bye, Percy!'

Percy waved goodbye and watched her hurry off up the street. 'Well, if past experience is anything to go by, anything dangerous is almost certainly at her high school.'

An old man in tattered jeans and short-sleeved shirt shoved the gates shut with a loud rattle.

I'll sneak in tomorrow using the Mist and keep an eye out for anything with a silly Greek name and a dislike of children.

AN: Follow the linktree for Discord, early access to more of the story, all my other stuff, my original stuff, all the stuff, really.

linktr . ee / mjbradley