While Percy was still comatose, I spoke with Calypso like we were old friends, the two of us swapping stories as we waited for the son of Poseidon to wake up. And luckily for me, I could still keep track of time on Ogygia even though this place technically didn't exist on any map.

Apparently, I was out for eighteen hours, thirty-eight minutes, and forty-four seconds, which, according to Calypso, was the fastest that anyone's ever regained consciousness after landing on her island. It made me wonder the state that her other visitors had been in when they had arrived.

Currently, I was with Calypso in her garden, tending to the myriad of magical plants as Percy snored on the beach. I could hear him mumbling while he slept, occasionally calling out for Annabeth, Grover, or Tyson. One time, he even called out for his mom.

I'd stopped weed pulling, frowning as I watched Percy writhe in the sand. He wasn't in any pain, as far as I could tell, but I had no idea what was going on inside his mind. Honestly, it was a miracle he hadn't died from the sudden geyser he created from the earth. And to think that he had done this by himself last time? It blew my mind at how powerful he was.

"You care for him?" Calypso asked, failing to hide the jealousy in her voice. She aggressively shoved her shovel into the dirt.

"Of course," I answered, jolting back to reality. "In a little brother sort of way. We're practically family, him and I."

"Oh, I see." The jealousy had faded from her voice. She paused for a moment, tossing her braid back over her shoulder and out of her way. Calypso could've passed off for a Demeter kid from how much she loved her garden, not to mention that her plants seemed to thrive by simply being in her presence. "Is that how you ended up here, then? Protecting him?"

"Basically." I told her of what had happened inside of Mount St. Helens. Calypso stilled, pursing her lips together as she watched Percy, who'd finally stilled while he rested. "Now, we're here."

"Which shouldn't be possible. I do not mean to offend you, but a girl has never landed on my island before. It is strange, to say the least."

I shrugged, setting down the weeds I'd pulled off to the side, where magical servants whisked them away to gods-knows-where. "It wasn't my intention to be there when the volcano erupted," I said, brushing some dirt off my knees and hands. "But Hephaestus sent me to help, so I did."

Calypso went silent, tending to her moonlace as she mulled over the information I'd gave her.

I stood up and washed off the rest of the dirt from my hands in the fountain. Calypso's garden was truly a sight to behold, something I knew Rebecca and Jade would've been overjoyed to see.

Crystals hung from the ceiling of the cave, refracting the sunlight in a way that made the whole place shimmer like sequins. Little stone statues surrounded the gold fountain in the middle of the garden (Calypso assured me these statues didn't come from Aunty Em). Most of her plants were magical, like the moonlace that shone silver in the dark, or her hyacinths that changed color depending on how much sunlight reached their petals.

"I'm going to check on Percy," I said, untying my hair tie from the end of my braid. There were still pieces of hardened lava and a ton of sand in my hair, so after checking on Percy, I'd go for a swim. Not like I could go that far, anyways.

I summoned my bag as I sat down next to Percy, running a hand through his matted hair. His burns had gotten significantly better from Calypso's treatment of nectar and salt water therapy, which was dragging him into the ocean until his skin wasn't redder than Apollo's sacred cows.

Despite the fact that it was easily eighty-five degrees, he was shivering, a cold sweat breaking out across his face. I reached into my bag and pulled out a fluffy blanket that Leah had shoved in there one day after the four of us had gone to watch a movie in the park. Of course, Pete and Joe wanted to go watch a movie in the park in the freaking winter, so Leah and I brought the blanket to keep us warm as well as prevent our friends from turning into popsicles. I then draped the blanket over Percy, watching as he slowly ceased shivering.

I placed a hand against his forehead, biting my bottom lip when I instantly recognized that Percy had a slight fever. I knew it wasn't from illness – he'd been perfectly healthy beforehand – and that it probably had to do with the overuse of his powers. Still, having a fever in this state was never a good thing.

I would've forced an ibuprofen down his throat, but Calypso took a seat beside him and began to sing in Ancient Greek. Her voice was as beautiful as if she were a Muse, but her song was full of sadness and longing, kind of like Adele. No offense towards Adele or anything, but personally, I thought her songs were too depressing for my liking.

Anyhow, Calypso's singing seemed to help Percy. The few remaining blisters that had been on his neck started to fade. His fever broke by the time Calypso finished.

"Go, relax," Calypso told me, an invisible servant depositing a bronze spoon and cup full of nectar into her hands. "I shall care for him while you wash up."

"Thank you," I replied, putting my bag away.

I then stripped down to my undergarments and waded into the water, floating aimlessly on my back as I finally had a chance to catch my breath for the first time in a couple months. Once I got tired of doing nothing, I quickly ran my fingers through my knotted hair, plucking out the hardened lava and sand to the best of my ability. Not that salt water was the best for thick, curly hair, but I work with what I have.

Of course the moment I'm caught off guard, I heard Calypso exclaim, "He's waking!"

I ran out of the water and hastily threw my clothes back on, uncaring about the fact that they were now completely soaked. I'd dry them later.

Calypso retracted the spoon from Percy's mouth and set the cup down beside her, her eyes lit up with anticipation as she waited for Percy to finally wake up. I tossed my damp hair over my shoulders so that the water wouldn't drip directly onto Percy's face. Though, maybe the salt water would've helped.

Oh well.

He'll be fine.

Percy groaned as he finally opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times as he stared up at the sky. Then, he tried to sit up.

Tried being the key word in the sentence, because in reality, all he'd managed to do was slightly push himself upwards using the palm of his hands. He hadn't had the strength to lift his head off the sand.

"Stay still," Calypso chided. "You're too weak to rise."

While Calypso set a damp cloth across Percy's forehead, I spoon-fed him some more nectar, hoping to return some of the color to his face. Well, his own tan, I mean, not pink from the burns he'd sustained. Speaking of which, Calypso began singing again, further healing Percy's burns.

"Who?" he croaked, his voice hoarse from smoke inhalation and lack of use.

"Shhh, brave one," Calypso said. "Rest and heal. No harm will come to you here. I am Calypso."

Then in a moment of amazing heroism, Percy promptly passed out again, his eyes rolling back into his head.

Calypso winced and turned to me. "Tell me again, what exactly did he do that landed you both on my island?"

"He caused Mount St. Helens to erupt," I said while feeding the last of the nectar to Percy. Although ambrosia and nectar could cause a demigod to incinerate if they ate too much, Percy was so weak that I'm pretty sure I could've shoved twenty ambrosia squares down his throat, and he'd still be fine.

"Mount St. Helens? I have never heard of such a volcano."

"Right," I deadpanned. "Well, it's the modern-day Mount Etna, as in you-know-who is still trapped under there."

Calypso scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Do you mean Ty-?"

"Don't speak his name! Names have power, and the last thing we need is for that thing to wake up sooner rather than later."

"Yes, I remember that beast well. He almost destroyed the Olympians, too, had it not been for Hermes's speed and Zeus's reckless behavior."

Thunder boomed across the clear blue sky, causing me to roll my eyes. "Bad enough your wife sent us here!" I shouted upwards, Calypso staring at me like I'd grown a second head. "I think she's earned the right to speak freely about you! Drama king."

"Do you have a death wish?" Calypso seethed, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me far away from Percy, like she was afraid I was going to get him killed by being impertinent. "Lord Zeus does not take these offences lightly, Andy."

"Oh, I know." I lit a hand on fire and began drying my sopping wet clothes. "But Zeus and I are on good terms. See, we both make fun of each other, like old-time friends. God knows I would've been long dead by now for some of the things I've said."

"But Lord Zeus doesn't have female friends, especially not mortals. Not unless he's cheating on Lady Hera again."

"I'm an exception," I shrugged.

Calypso crossed her arms over her chest, clearly waiting for an explanation. I mean, it's not like she'd get off this island for another two years, so I told her everything regarding my childhood, including my parentage.

When she learned that my father was Kronos, she winced sympathetically, as she had practically grown up in Mount Othrys since her father, Atlas, was Kronos's second in command. She also told me of the part she played in the war against the Olympians, which wasn't as bad as Zeus had made it out to be.

I'd asked Zeus a couple years ago about Titans like Leto, Rhea, Maia, and Calypso, to which he claimed them all to be security threats and used that as justification for locking them up. It didn't make any sense to me as the first three had supported the gods against the Titans, and all Calypso did was send messages to nature spirits to leave Othrys and Olympus before the fighting began.

While sending the nature spirits away meant fewer fighters for the gods to try to recruit, at least fewer lives would be lost. And nature spirits, unlike gods, couldn't regenerate in Tartarus and eventually return to the mortal world. They'd be reincarnated into some plant, and that'd be the end.

With that in mind, eternal banishment seemed cruel for trying to help out nature spirits. But Zeus, always the paranoid one, had sent Calypso to Ogygia because she supported her father and the Titans. He'd even banished Rhea, his own mother, and Leto and Maia, the mothers of Apollo, Artemis, and Hermes merely because they were Titans.

Although the Olympians were better rulers than the Titans, I didn't agree with much of their decisions regarding the well-being of anything other than Olympian gods. For Christ's sake, they didn't even acknowledge the majority of the minor gods that allowed for life to function, let alone their own children, which would be the reason this war was such a close call in the first place.

"I've got to say," Calypso said, gracefully taking a seat on one side of the picnic table she had inside of her cave. "You're unlike any other demititan I've ever met. You're kind and not bloodthirsty like some of my other relatives."

I sighed internally. "I prefer the term demigod, but thank you. I know children of the Titans don't have the best rep, but I'm hoping to change that." I started to smile. "Plus, I think it's kind of ironic that I support the gods seeing that my father wants nothing more than to slice them up into a million pieces."

"Oh, he's going to flip all right," Calypso agreed. One of her invisible servants set two plates onto the table; another brought us goblets full of wine. After we sacrificed a portion of our dinner to the gods, we began to eat.

You know, for being on an island in the middle of nowhere, the food wasn't half bad. The servants had brought smoked salmon on a bed of white rice with a side of fried plantains. It reminded me of the stories Rosalinda used to tell about the seafood restaurant that her parents used to own, bringing a sad smile to my face.

Of all my friends I'd had back at the orphanage, only Leah showed up in this world. And so had Holly, but just like her counterpart in my world, this one was cruel and unforgiving, especially as a daughter of Ares. It didn't help matters that she had disappeared from camp the same day as Kyle, giving me the impression that she had sided with him against the gods.

Still, I missed gardening with Rebecca and Jade. I missed watching Jesse throw her boomerang in the backyard, aiming for pillows she'd set up in trees, which would give Mrs. Stetson a heart attack. I missed the excitement that came along with Taco Tuesday, the sound of girls trying to run each other over as they fought to take their seats in the dining room.

Most of all, I missed Mrs. Stetson. While Salina may have adopted me, Mrs. Stetson was the closest thing I ever had to a mother in both of my lives. She'd been the one that taught me to read, the one that encouraged me to try out for volleyball, the one who had told me that I shouldn't care what other people thought about me as long as I was doing the right thing.

But I knew I was giving that life up the moment I allowed for Salina to train me. I was a demigod now, tasked with such a Herculean task it was a miracle that I hadn't quit years ago.

"Everything okay?" Calypso asked, jarring me back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I took the goblet and downed the wine in one large gulp, like I'd just gotten a round of shots. While I may not drink often, I know when I need alcohol to relax, this being one of those times.

"That action says otherwise." Calypso then took a small sip of her wine to prove her point.

"One, I haven't had any form of alcohol since New Years', which was over six months ago. Two, I just took a depressing trip down memory lane," I said, watching as Calypso blushed in embarrassment. She then waved her hand, and an invisible servant refilled my goblet with more wine.

I only managed a few more sips before setting the goblet aside, already feeling a little light headed. The downside to not drinking as much as Pete and Joe? I was such a lightweight that a goblet of wine, which was smaller than the average wine glass, was enough to have me slightly tipsy.

"So," Calypso said, folding her hands into her lap as her servants whisked away our plates. Blessedly, one of them brought a pitcher of water and two glasses. "Tell me about the outside world. How have things changed since Odysseus has visited?"

In all honesty, it was kind of fun telling Calypso about how much everything had changed since her banishment. I swear, I've never seen someone so terrified at the sight of an iPhone before. She actually screamed when I pulled out my headphones, thinking that they were some type of magical whip disguised as white wires.

Needless to say, once I showed her how my phone worked, I didn't get it back until she'd drained the battery. Luckily, I'd had a portable charger in my bag, but I didn't dare tell Calypso that or she'd drain that battery, too.

I also used this time to teach Calypso about how the English language had changed. While she may not have been speaking in thy's and thou's like Zoe, I knew if I called something "sick" or mentioned modern day stuff like Starbucks and movie theaters, Calypso wouldn't understand.

This went on for a couple hours until I felt myself starting to lose my voice from overuse. Calypso decided that that would be a good time to end her lesson on English for the day, pulling out a clean white t-shirt and some gray drawstring pants from a wooden drawer.

"Will you help me change Percy?" she asked, gesturing to the clothes in her hand then towards the comatose son of Poseidon.

"Sure, just don't destroy the jacket. That's mine."

"Why is he wearing your jacket?" Calypso asked as we walked onto the beach.

"It's fireproof," I explained. "It prevented the lava from burning his chest."

"Smart girl." Calypso unzipped my jacket, and together the two of us maneuvered Percy's arms out of the fabric. "His father's blood would protect him for a little, but not enough to stave off the effects of lava."

"Exactly why I gave it to him," I said, tying the sleeves into a knot around my waist.

Calypso and I then decided that I'd be the one to put on Percy's pants while she tried to put on his shirt. She told me that normally she'd do it by herself, but seeing that I knew Percy longer, she felt more comfortable if I did it.

Let's just say I got Percy undressed and dressed in under two minutes, already used to this kind of thing. You'd be surprised the amount of unconscious campers that get brought into the infirmary, and per Chiron's request, the Apollo kids have to get them into a standard hospital-issue gown. I'd gotten a lot of practice of dressing unconscious kids, to say the least.

Once Percy was out of his burned clothing, I scooped him up into my arms, Calypso having told me that she had prepared a bed for him earlier in the day.

The beds were inside of Calypso's cave, each bed having its own area inside of a different colored geode. If someone wanted privacy, they could pull the white curtain that was bunched up, closing them off from the rest of the cave.

I set Percy onto the freshly made bed, the white sheets and feather pillows appearing extremely soft. After tucking him in, Calypso drew the curtains shut, giving Percy his privacy should he wake up while the two of us slept.

"Do you wish to sleep?" Calypso asked me. "I prepared another bed for you as well."

"What are you going to do?" I asked, placing a hand on my hip.

Don't get me wrong, Calypso had given me no reason to distrust her, but I knew she was more than met the eye. While she'd been wronged by the gods, she was fiercely protective of those she cared about, including Percy. Even though I told her that he was like my younger brother, I couldn't help but fear that she wanted to stab me while I slept just to make sure that Percy was hers.

And though I'd like to bring up how that'd be considered pedophilia seeing that Percy was only fourteen and I was twenty-two, I realized that Calypso was literally over three-thousand years old, Percy had considered dating her, and Leo would end up dating her.

Okay, that's enough thinking about godly relationships for tonight.

"I'm going to weave for a bit," Calypso said at last. "It's very relaxing. Do you know how to weave, Andy?"

"I do, but I'm not the best," I laughed, showing her the numerous scars on my hands I'd earned from slamming the shuttle onto my fingers. "I think I'll just go to bed, if that's all right with you."

"Of course. The bed in the purple geode has been made up for you."

I smiled gratefully at the daughter of Atlas. "Thank you for your generosity, Calypso."

She waved me off. "Get some sleep. I have a feeling the two of us are going to have much to explain when Percy wakes up."

I dreamt of Kronos that night, of his soul restlessly stirring inside of that damned golden sarcophagus while Kyle paced back and forth, his hand twitching on Backbiter's hilt as he glanced nervously at the sarcophagus.

Kyle no longer looked like the corpse that he appeared to be when Thalia had pushed him off the cliff at Mount Tam last December, almost glowing with health. I guess that's what happens when you bathe in the River Styx.

Anyhow, Kyle was muttering something in Ancient Greek, but he was too quiet for me to make sense of anything. Then, the doors to the mostly rebuilt throne room flew open, revealing Kelli the empousa and Holly, just as I'd suspected.

"He's almost ready," Kyle said nervously, finally ceasing in his pacing to glare at the sarcophagus.

"Aw, are you getting cold feet, master?" Kelli cooed, twirling a finger in Kyle's messy hair.

"Back off, vamp," Holly hissed, pushing Kelli aside and wrapping an arm around Kyle's waist. Kelli didn't seemed all that miffed at being pushed away, smirking evilly at the sight of the two demigods holding each other. "He's my boyfriend."

"Not for long," Kelli trilled, earning a freezing glare from Holly.

"Shut up!"

"There's no use in fighting her," Kyle sighed, pulling Holly closer to him. "She's right, you know. We're so close to bringing Kronos back to life! The gods will finally fall, and we'll get to recreate the world in our image. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

Holly visibly gulped before resting her head on Kyle's shoulder, so unlike the fierce daughter of Ares I'd known her to be before she left camp. "It is. I just didn't know I'd have to lose you to do that."

Kyle rolled his eyes, clearly having had this argument before. "You're not going to lose me."

"Oh, so am I supposed to kiss you and hug you and do other couple-y stuff when Kronos inhabits your body?" Holly straightened and began glaring at Kyle. "He'd sooner shove me into Tartarus. Don't get me wrong, I pledged my life to Kronos, and I will serve him as he needs me. I just wish he had picked someone else."

"There is no one else," Kyle said miserably. "And my body has already been prepared. I am ready to host the Titan Lord. All that's missing is one more half-blood, and he shall be restored."

"Perhaps not," Kelli said, widening her smirk so that her fangs were visible to both demigods. Holly snarled like she wanted nothing more than to decapitate the empousa, but Kyle's arm around her waist kept her grounded next to him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his knuckles white around Backbiter's hilt as he looked to Kelli.

"I mean, there is another way for Kronos to come back without your body, duh!"

Holly managed to escape Kyle's grasp, and within seconds, she had Kelli pinned to the floor, a dagger hovering right over her jugular. "Tell us, demon, or I will kill you right where you lay!"

"Holly, please." Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No, Kyle, I won't lose you to Kronos if there's another way!" Holly dug the edge of her dagger into Kelli's throat, causing for a thin red line to appear on the empousa's perfect skin. Kelli hissed back in anger, not pleased at the feeling of Celestial bronze cutting into her. "Tell us! I won't ask again!"

Kelli began to laugh like a stereotypical cheerleader, which only furthered in angering Holly even more. The daughter of Ares drew her dagger back and slashed it across Kelli's cheek, leaving a gash that ran the length of her cheekbone. Kelli laughed even harder.

"Gods, Kelli, stop being so dramatic," Kyle said in exasperation, not even blinking as he bent down and pulled Holly away from the empousa with inhuman-like strength. "Just tell Holly what she wants to know before she kills you."

"You'd really have me killed, master?"

"You've outlived your usefulness, so yes. I'd gladly let Holly kill you."

Kelli pouted. "Neither one of you have any team spirit. And as to your answer, well, that's easy!" Kelli whirled around, giving a full smile that revealed her razor-like fangs, stopping when she was staring directly at me. I felt my blood go cold.

No, she couldn't be serious.

"You just need her!" Kelli exclaimed, pointing at me. "I smell Kronos in her blood. She would serve Kronos's needs just as well as you, master."

Kyle squinted, trying to see who Kelli was referring to. This caused for Kelli to sigh impatiently before waving a hand over me, causing Kyle and Holly to stumble back in shock, almost bumping into the golden sarcophagus.

"Andy?!" the both of them shrieked.

"The witch is a better vessel than Kyle?" Holly shouted, her face redder than a firetruck.

"That's impossible! Unless…" Kyle quickly blanched, spinning on his heel to face me. "You," he gasped, pointing a finger at me. "You're the one Kronos has shown me in my dreams, his missing child! Andromeda Collins is the daughter of Kronos!"

"Uh, Morpheus?" I asked out loud, watching as they couldn't hear me. "Could you please get me out of here?"

Anything for the princess, I heard Morpheus respond, causing me to shudder in disgust. Please tell me that Kronos hadn't gone spreading word about me among the monsters and gods that followed him. But seeing that Morpheus was aware of my status, I doubted that.

The next thing I knew, I jolted out of bed, breathing heavily as the full ramifications of my dream rested on my shoulders like I was back underneath the sky.

Kyle wanted to capture me to be Kronos's vessel.

Dear gods, we have a major problem.