Naturally I ditched Grover as soon as we reached the bus terminal. He had to use the bathroom and I booked it.
Rudeness didn't matter in the face of… everything. I wasn't letting someone I still suspected was plotting my death near my mom.
He could have Gabe though.
I wished Triton was there, he would know what was going on. He said at the start Grover was probably not a threat, but he didn't have the most recent information.
I fingered my bracelet as a taxi stopped for me. Hopefully Triton would contact me soon. I didn't want to spend the whole summer not using my powers.
"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.
OO OO OO OO
Everyone knew how amazing my mom was. Her name was Sally Jackson and she deserved the world.
I didn't really think a whole bunch on her history, on how she met my dad and came to have me, but she'd told me the story.
She didn't really know her parents since they died in a plane crash when she was five, though she still had some keepsakes of theirs. Her uncle, on her dad's side, raised her but they weren't very close. He didn't want a kid, and he also didn't know much about her mom's side of the family so she had to piece her family history together from what little she knew.
She wanted to be a novelist, and spent high school saving up enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. But then her uncle got cancer so she quit school senior year to take care of him.
After he died she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.
Her only good break was meeting my dad, Okeanus. She didn't speak much about him, and I didn't have any memories of him except for my tairo dreams. She always got a bit sad talking about him, I got the feeling she really missed him. She didn't have any pictures either.
Obviously they never got married. Okeanus-ari had Tethys-ran, though they weren't married either because of stuff . I could understand why he wouldn't want to remarry after her though.
Mom would only tell me he was rich and important (as a King would be), so their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey and never came back.
When I was younger I'd wished he'd come back, that he'd sweep my mom away and take care of everything so she didn't have to worry anymore, and didn't have to stay with Gabe . But now that I knew who he was… well I understood why he couldn't.
Okeanus was a King. He was extremely busy and I was hardly his first kid, even if the rest were fully grown and immortal (as far as I knew). It made sense that he couldn't visit, though it still made me sad.
The myths spoke highly of him from what I'd found, and he was nice in our brief meetings.
I still wished I had a dad here though. I wished mom didn't have to marry Smelly Gabe and could just write her book and be happy.
She'd raised me all alone, Gabe didn't count, taking odd jobs and night classes to get her high school diploma. She'd never complained around me, nor gotten mad, not even once. I wasn't an easy kid, though I tried to stay out of trouble for her.
But all that was to say that my mom was amazing and deserved the world.
I was looking forward to seeing her again, I'd missed her through the school year. Unfortunately, I'd have to wait a little longer.
I walked into the apartment to find Smelly Gabe, the useless step-dad that he was, in the living room playing poker with his buddies. Mom was probably still at work.
The television blared ESPN and chips and beer cans were scattered over the carpet.
He didn't even look up from his cards as he spoke around his cigar, "So, you're home."
"Where's my mom?" I asked in lieu of a greeting.
"Working. You got any cash?"
He also didn't bother to give a greeting. We didn't really like each other.
He didn't like me because I was a "troubled kid".
I didn't like him because he was mean, rude to my mom, lazy, gross, and barely worked when mom worked all the time . Supposedly he managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens. Supposedly. I had no idea how he did that, because he'd never gone into work as far as I knew.
All he did was collect paychecks, spend money on cigars that made me nauseous, buy enough beer to drown in, and gamble.
Of course, whenever I was home I was expected to fund his gambling. I'd spent the last few years getting some money from the river to cover that.
The few times I'd refused or hadn't given enough money… well it was a good thing I had natural healing abilities.
I tossed a five at him, not willing to have that fight on my first day back. "I hope you lose."
He sneered as I stalked out, "Your report card came in, brain boy! I wouldn't act so snooty!"
Jerk.
I slammed the door to my room, only to wrinkle my nose. It smelled like cigars and beer.
Gross.
Gabe had decided to use it as his "study" while I was at boarding school and it'd been in the same state when I'd come back for winter break. All the more motivation to never got to another ever again .
I pulled Carl out of my bag and set it (and him) on the desk.
He swam around happily for a moment before noticing the mess. He promptly started grumbling about Gabe.
Honestly the smell was almost worse than the feeling those old ladies gave me. It was definitely worse than my nightmares about Ms. Dodds.
I scratched my arms, mind drawn back to the fight to the fruit stand to the-
"Percy?" My mom called.
She opened the bedroom door and swept away all the tension. She always did that, brightening the room just by entering. It was like she radiated love and care.
Her eyes sparkled and changed in the light, her smile as warm as a quilt. Her curly black hair had a few gray streaks but she didn't seem old at all.
She smiled at me like I was the best thing in the world, none of the bad even registering for her.
"Oh, Percy," She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"
I hugged her back tight, tears pricking my eyes. I missed her.
"And your hair is so long now," she said as she pulled back to study me. "We'll have to cut it later."
I touched my hair, I kinda liked it long.
"And it's still so blue, it looks nice."
I smiled at her, studying her in turn. She was looking good.
Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like all the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She had a bag of free samples in her hand, just like she always did when school finished.
"Sit," she said, tugging me to sit beside her on the bed. I leaned against her as she started questioning me.
We sat together on the edge of the bed as I attached a thing of blueberry sour strings and she ran a hand through my hair, demanding to know everything that had happened to me while I was away for the last few months.
She didn't mention me getting expelled, she didn't even seem to care. But she wanted to know if I was okay.
I laughed and said she was smothering me, but basked in the love and affection she was giving me. I'd missed her so much .
Everything had been so much lately, I just- I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to bring up anything bad, I didn't want to ruin the good moment. I wanted this moment to last forever.
Naturally Gabe promptly interrupted it,"Hey Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"
I clenched my teeth, wishing I could've drowned him. I couldn't even see my mom for the first time in months without him interrupting.
She deserved better than him.
She ignored him though, instead poking me for more answers to her questions.
I kept my last days at Yancy Academy happy, for her sake. I didn't mention any of the tension or fears I had, instead telling her I wasn't at all down about my expulsion and really at least this time they just didn't invite me back instead of kicking me out.
I'd even made a new friend (a liar, a threat, a protector) and I'd done pretty good in Latin and Pre-Algebra. And really, the fights hadn't been that bad.
I put the best spin on the year I possibly could, a bright smile on my face as I talked about the mythology we learned in Latin.
"Even the trip to the museum wasn't that bad -"
"What?" my mom asked with a small frown. "Did something happen at the museum?"
I realized I hadn't mentioned anything about it to her before, and it wasn't something the school had mentioned.
"It- just well-" I couldn't lie, not to her- but I couldn't tell her about Ms. Dodds. "... Nancy pushed Grover and he fell and I lost control of my waterbending a little… it shoved Nancy into the fountain. But no one really seemed to notice."
She pursed her lips, "Well… if no one noticed?"
I nodded, "Yeah."
No one that could do anything at least.
She relaxed at that, "I have a surprise for you. We're going to the beach!"
My eyes widened. "Montauk?"
"Three nights—same cabin."
"When?" I asked, bouncing in my seat.
"As soon as I get changed."
I beamed, this was going to be great! We hadn't been able to go for the last two summers, Gabe said there wasn't enough money. That was dumb, because my grandfather had been close friends with the person that owned the cabin. They gave us a discount because of it.
Gabe appeared in the doorway with a growl, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"
I wanted to punch him, or even better, drown him. But mom caught my eye and I understood the deal she was offering me: Be nice to Gabe for a little bit and then we would leave.
"I was on my way, honey," she smiled at Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."
His eyes narrowed, "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"
I bit my tongue, drawing on every lesson Triton had ever given me to keep myself from snapping. Mom wouldn't let him stop us, she never broke her promises. And she'd probably already paid so it would be pointless. But he'd try to stop us out of spite if I opened my mouth, so I settled for a glare.
"Of course, I'm serious," Mom said evenly, "You won't have to worry about money. And besides," she added, "You won't have to settle for just bean dip. I'm going to make enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."
He softened a bit, bribed by my moms amazing food. "So this money for your trip… it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"
"Yes, honey," she said.
I made a note to buy her something nice with some of my saved up money.
"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."
"We'll be very careful."
Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip… And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."
Maybe if I helped you test how long you could hold your breath underwater, I thought.
But mom's eyes warned me to not make him mad.
I didn't understand why she put up with him, she could do so much better. But I put on my most polite princely face, just like Triton taught me, and turned to him.
"I'm sorry. I'm really terribly sorry for interrupting your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now, don't let us keep you from it."
Gabe's eyes narrowed, probably trying to use his jellyfish brain to look for sarcasm.
"Yeah, whatever." He decided.
He went back to his game.
"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about… everything."
For a moment fear filled her eyes and my breath caught. The fear was the same kind Grover's eyes echoed, someone who knew more, who knew something was coming.
But then she smiled and I could almost believe I'd imagined it.
Almost.
OO OO OO OO
We were ready to leave pretty quickly, I didn't even bother to unpack my bags. I only brought my duffle bag and my backpack. I did add a few more clothes though, from the suitcase that I was leaving behind.
I didn't trust Gabe to not go through my stuff so everything I valued stayed with me.
Gabe took a break from his poker game just long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car, gripping the whole time about losing her cooking—and more importantly, his '78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.
"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."
I rolled my eyes out of his sight. Obviously, I was planning to drive the whole way, I was already twelve, definitely needed practice for my driver's license. I snorted.
I watched him lumber back towards the apartment building, glaring at his back. I hated Gabe, I wished he wasn't anywhere near us. I made the same motion that Grover made before, shoving some of my power into it.
The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stairs as if he'd been shot from a cannon. I hid a smile and got in the Camaro, telling my mom to step on it.
OO OO OO OO
The rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to be considered swimmable by land dwellers.
It was perfect.
We'd been going there forever , since before I was born, even. The cabin was where my mom met my dad. She'd never told me, but I knew that was why the cabin was so special to her.
It was special to me because it was where I'd waterbended for the first time.
I could almost imagine the sea was welcoming me back.
My mom almost seemed to grow younger as we got closer to the sea. Years of worry and work slid off her face and her eyes reflected the ocean, a sharp blue-gray-green. They changed color a lot, but here, at the beach, they never looked more like the ocean.
I thought it was where they were the prettiest.
Sometimes I wondered if she was of the sea in some way. It welcomed her back just as it did me.
We arrived at the cabin at sunset and got to work on the cleaning routine. Opening the cabin windows, shaking out the sheets, sweeping out the spiders.
We walked on the beach after, picking up the odd shell and chatting while feeding blue corn chips to the seagulls.
As it got dark we made a fire and sat and talked on the beach, munching on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work. I made sure to feed Carl a bit but left his tank in the bag for the moment.
As the sun fully set we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows while my mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash.
She told me how her dad was so very handsome, she'd inherited his eyes, and how her mom had eyes the color of coal, with super curly hair that she kept in intricate braids.
She told me about all the books she wanted to write someday. I really wanted to read (listen to) them too. Fantasy books were fun, and mom's sounded fascinating.
Eventually I pulled together the nerve to ask about my dad. I wanted to know what he was like with her . I'd barely talked to Okeanos, I wanted to get to know my Metua.
I idly considered that maybe Okeanus wasn't my Metua, but dismissed that thought quickly. Poseidon was the only other God I could think of that fit but he wasn't a danger to have as a parent, he had loads of kids!
There was no one else that would be a danger for me to have as a parent even in a place for children of the Gods, so it had to be Okeanus.
"He was so kind, Percy," she murmured. "Tall and handsome and powerful, but oh so gentle. You have… well, had," she gave a small laugh as she glanced at my blue hair, "His black hair and his green eyes. Your hair is a bit longer than his though."
She ran a hand through my hair before fishing a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."
I was glad she thought so, but I wondered at that.
I was good at ocean stuff, and if that was all my Metua cared about then he would probably be proud, Triton told me he was. But if he cared about land stuff…
Well I wasn't sure how proud he'd be of me, a dyslexic, hyperactive bo with a C- report card that had just been kicked out of my sixth school in six years.
"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean… when he left?"
Was it that Okeanos didn't recognize me? Baby me wouldn't have looked like teen me.
She watched the flames, "He was only with me for the summer and a little into the fall Percy. Just one short time. Right here at this beach. This cabin."
I blinked, I swore I had a memory of a smile, something…
"But… he knew me as a baby?"
He had to… right?
"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."
I was torn between relief and regret.
He'd never seen me, so of course he didn't recognize me. But he'd also never seen me.
He seemed to recognize my presence regardless, knowing I'd "interacted with something of his". He might've just been recognizing me, but not thinking I would feel like that?
He was obviously very busy, and Triton had mentioned to me before how time passed so quickly for mortals that sometimes he had a hard time remembering to return in a reasonable time period. Maybe Okeanos didn't realize I was so old?
Did the ancient laws that Zeus made apply to a Titan? Was he able to visit me?
I only knew the basics of the laws… I didn't know why they were made either…
If he was able to visit at some point I wanted to be there .
"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked my mom. "To another boarding school?"
She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.
"I don't know, honey," Her voice was heavy. "I think… I think we'll have to do something."
I swallowed, asking in a whisper, "Are you… are you sending me away because you don't want me around?"
My moms eyes widened, tears glistening in the corners. She took my hand and squeezed it tight, "Oh, Percy, no. I–I have to- I don't want you honey. I want you to stay close to me so badly but I- I have to send you away, for your own good."
"But why ? Because I'm not normal? Because of- of my waterbending?"
"Oh, oh Percy. You- you're not normal but that's not- you're my little waterbender, I love that for you. I don't- I don't want to send you away for that. I thought… I thought you'd be safe at Yancy Academy but-"
"Safe from what?"
What was she sending me away from? The terrors would find me no matter where I went but- did my mom know ?
Surely she would've told me- but then I hadn't told her…
Mom stared at me with frown.
"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," she said softly. "Your father said- he said it wouldn't end well in the long run but supported it. They told me that it was a mistake. There was only one other option though–the place your father wanted to send you. I couldn't- I can't stand to do that."
I frowned, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
"My Me- my dad wanted me to go to a… special school?"
"Not a school," She said softly. "A summer camp."
A summer camp. That must've been what Triton told me about, a camp for Half-Bloods.
"I'm sorry, Percy," She said, her voice breaking. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying goodbye to you for good."
I blinked up at her, "For good?"
She stared into the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.
OO OO OO OOI stood on the beach, a storm raging overhead. Waves crashed, wind howled, lightning flashed and thunder boomed with it.
I had been asleep, I was dreaming once more, but I didn't know where I was.
It was the beach, but not Montauk. Somewhere else, with palm trees nearly bent over from the howling winds. I stood untouched on the sand, waves reaching over my head to drag me under yet not touching me.
My gaze was drawn to two beautiful animals on the sand.
A white horse with a coat seemingly untouched by the raging storm, and a golden eagle whose feathers rippled elegantly in the wind yet seemed to fly in cloudless skies.
They were also trying to kill each other.
The eagle was swooping down even as I watched, slashing at the horse's muzzle with it's huge talons. Gold blood splashed the sand, staining the horse's silvery coat.
The horse reared up with a shriek of wind, hooves lashing out and catching the eagle in the wing. Feathers drifted, gold stained gold hitting gray sand.
A low, familiar, chuckle rumbled from beneath the Earth. The chuckle from the pit. Whispers echoed up, urging the animals to fight harder as the eagle swooped for the horses leg, the horse leaping over it.
The ground rumbled, shifting sands curled over me, around me, through me. Leaves tumbled through my hair as salt rubbed my skin and filled my nose, lightning sparked over my fingers, up my arms, on my tongue.
Nothing was there, everything was there. The sky and sea and nature itself buried me.
"STOP IT!" I yelled, my voice snatched away. "Mr. Pit Guy! Stop!"
I tried to run, tried to leap forward. I couldn't move, I couldn't reach them. The sand twined tight, shifting and dancing and keeping me in place. Time slowed.
The voice laughed, crooning softly, "Stand away little Half-Blood. Let them fight, tis their battle, do not interfere."
I reached out as the eagle dove down, I threw myself forward as it's beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes.
I screamed.
I woke up.
There was no peaceful sunlight to wake me from my dream this time. Instead I woke to a clap of thunder shaking the cabin, a storm raging outside.
Lightning crashed, wind howled, waves pounded the dunes. The sea and the sky were at war still, but there were no animals with them.
With the next bone rattling thunderclap, my mom woke.
She shot up, eyes wide, and said "Hurricane".
It was crazy, Long Island never saw hurricanes this early in the summer. And yet as she spoke it I knew she was right.
The ocean was rubbing salt into my skin, rough and course and healing yet r a g i n g . It was like an open wound, gaping wide. Lightning crackled over my skin, tingled over my tongue, frizzed my hair.
The sensations hurt, they overwhelmed me. With every clap of thunder the electricity sparked. With every crashing wave the salt burned.
This was no ordinary storm.
Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry tortured sound that made my already frayed nerves worse.
Then, much closer, another noise, like mallets in the sand. There was a desperate voice—someone yelling, and then pounding on our cabin door.
Bang bang bang
My mom sprang out of the bed, still in her nightgown, undid the lock and threw open the door.
Grover stood framed in the doorway, framed against the raging storm.
But he wasn't quite the Grover I knew… or maybe he was simply now the Grover I'd known was there all year.
"Searching all night," he gasped.
Creepy.
"What were you thinking?"
I blinked, was he speaking to me? What was I thinking about the one who was spying on me ?
My mom turned to me though, eyes wide and afraid. She wasn't scared of Grover, no she seemed un-surprised by his appearance. She was afraid of why he was here .
"Percy!" she shouted over the storm, thunder booming in my ears and shaking my bones and lightning blazing through my veins. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"
What didn't I- I didn't tell her about the terror but that was normal– I– Was I in trouble? I hadn't done anything different than usual! I usually handled this stuff!
" O Zeu kai alloi theoi! " Grover yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"
I didn't- I didn't think it was a problem-
But Grover was standing there, a satyr, as a battle raged between the sea and sky. My mom didn't seem surprised at all .
The power in the air was tangible, and yet I had no idea what was going on.
Was Ms. Dodds not normal? Was the solstice the reason for this?
My mom spoke in a tone she'd never used before: " Percy. Tell me now. "
I swallowed and spoke about Ms.Dodds. I spoke of the change into an Erinyes and her attack. I spoke of the way no one knew of her after.
My mom listened with a deathly pale face, visible in the flashes of lightning that scorched my skin and veins.
She grabbed her purse and tossed me my rain jacket.
"Get in the car, both of you. Go !"
I grabbed my bags and hurried to the car, rain slamming into me like a physical wall as we rushed to the car.
This was not how I wanted my summer to start.