'What's a Pac-Man?'

Corey had changed her shirt after the truck started moving, it was dark blue like Percy's. She turned from the cage she was hiding behind, seeing the trio leaning against the container. "You three need sleep" Corey told them, placing the backpack by their feet. "Not tired" Annabeth told her, looking away as she yawned. Corey rolled her eyes.

"Hush now, my darlings, close your eyes and sleep" Corey began to sing softly, her voice a little raspy. Grover seemed to relax visibly, leaning against the container with his head. "Waltzing the waves, diving the deep" Corey walked over to them, sitting between Percy and Grover. "Siren song? Really" Annabeth yawned. Corey took her hand and helped her to lay down her head on her lap. "Stars are shining bright, the wind is on the rise" Corey continued as Percy's head fell on her shoulder. "Whispering words of long lost lullabies" Corey ruffled her hand Percy's curls.

"Don't stop" He muttered, his eyes shut as Grover's soft snores filled the silence. Corey smiled at him, kissing his curls softly, "Oh, won't you come with me? Where the moon is made of gold" Corey picked up, feeling Grover's horns tangle in her hair. "And in the morning sun, we'll be sailing" Annabeth's nose brushed on Corey's knees as her back faced the young woman. "Oh, won't you come with me? Where the ocean meets the sky. And as the clouds roll by we'll sing the song of the sea" Corey finished her song, feeling all three kids sleeping on her body.

Annabeth had curled up on her thighs, her hands resting on Corey's calves, Grover was leaning between Corey and the container wall. Percy had curled into her side, subconsciously hugging her torso. Corey yawned, a warmth spreading inside her as her eyes closed. "G'Night kids" She mumbled as sleep took over.

~Ψ~

Corey stood on the shore of Canoe Lake, she was wearing her usual camp attire and her hair was dark brown. She was swaying with the waves as the wind howled in her ears.

A shadow floated on the water, eyes staring at her. "Follow me" The voice was deep and scratchy. Corey tried to move forward but felt her body freeze, something pulling her back. "Don't" Another voice called out. This one was softer, it was like a wave of security washed over her. "Follow me young girl and find her...find your daughter" The deeper voice was more compelling, almost pulling her foot in front of her.

Corey didn't even realise she was knee deep in the water before a wave of water struck the shadow figure. "No...not yet" The warm voice spoke softly. Corey felt her body relax as she sunk down in the lake, her eyes heavy as the sky seemed to disappear. "Now you'll be safe...safe until it's time"

Corey woke up with a little jump, her body feeling more tired than usual. She took a breath before standing up and looking around. Grover was talking with the animals, listening to them intensively. "You're up" Annabeth smiled at Corey. "What time is it? Corey asked her, looking around for Percy. "Not too sure" Annabeth shrugged as she messed with some sort of crystal.

Percy was still sleeping next to Corey, his head now in her lap. Corey smiled softly as he drooled on her knees but she didn't care. "What are you trying to do?" Corey asked as her fingers combed through Percy's hair. It had been sometime since any of them showered, Corey was almost certain her hair was glued to her head as her fingers gently twisted the greasy blonde curls.

"After was Grover told us, I want to let Chiron know. There's just hardly any sun in this thing" Annabeth huffed. Corey looked around, seeing something in the ceiling. "Grover!" She called out to him, feeling Percy stir in his sleep as she did. "Sorry Sea Pup" She whispered softly.

Grover and Annabeth shared a look, "What?" Corey asked them. "Nothing...just" Grover tried to come up with a lie. "You really care about him...it's only been a few days" Annabeth spoke up, rolling her eyes at Grover. Corey smiled at her, "Do you know that wherever there is a flood the water always returns to the sea. It is my fathers will. The sea is an extension of who I am...of who Percy is. We are drawn to each other in a bond no one else could ever understand" Corey explained to them, her eyes trained on Percy as he flinched in his sleep.

Annabeth and Grover only nodded, it had been so long since Poseidon had children who had met that it was strange to see how they would act around each other. Corey pointed to the ceiling, "Grover can you fly up there and open the hatch? We might get enough light to send an Iris Message" Corey told him.

Percy began to stir more, his eyes fluttering open. He hummed as he lifted his head off of Corey's lap. "Rise and shine Sea Pup" Corey smiled as Percy sat up next to her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..." Percy felt bad that he had drooled all over Corey's knees. "It's fine Sea Pup, how'd you sleep?" Corey ask him with a soft smile.

Percy was still amazed by her. Corey seemed to face everything that was thrown at her and still remained hopeful. Even after the Chimera and House of Mirrors, Corey smiled like nothing had happened. "Fine, just dreams" He shrugged off, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Corey bumped his shoulder, "Me too" Corey whispered before Annabeth beckoned Percy over.

Corey thought to her dream, if you could even call it that. It felt too familiar to be a dream, the water was strange. Even though Corey wouldn't admit this out loud, she's never been in water before the Arch. Shocking. A daughter of Poseidon has never been in water. Sure she'll have showers to keep herself clean, but in her seventeen years of living (obviously not including her seventy year slumber) Corey had never entered her father's domain willingly.

But the voice, the warm one that even the thought of it made her calm. She wondered who it was? The way she sunk to the bottom of the lake made her wonder if maybe it wasn't a dream but a memory of what had happened. "Seashell?". Corey turned to Percy and Annabeth, still a little dazed. She hummed in response. "Grover's plan?" Annabeth questioned her.

Corey smacked her lips, "Plan? For what?" She asked them.

~Ψ~

"Why did I let this happen?" Corey face palmed as the animals ran wild in the middle of a road in Vegas. Grover had an enthusiastic smile on his face while Annabeth, Corey and Percy seemed more concerned. "This seems dangerous" Percy told Grover as cars honked loudly while the animals ran loose. "Oh. They'll be totally fine. I gave them a Satyr's blessing, so they'll be able to reach the wilderness safely" Grover shrugged off with a smile on his face. "I meant for the people" Percy corrected him.

Grover's smile dropped as people panicked around them. "Oh...Them. Well, I mean, I'm sure they'll...Yeah, I don't know. But the animals are all set" Grover told them. Corey shook her head at him, "Don't worry sweetie" She told him. "Okay, come on, before the cops show up" Annabeth spoke up as they heard a police siren blaring in distance. "So, how do we know which hotel is the Lotus?" Percy asked as Annabeth turned around. "I'm guessing the one with the giant lotus blossom on it" Annabeth smirked as she looked directly at the hotel.

Percy shook his head, smiling at Annabeth "You were like two seconds ahead of me. Seriously" He told her. They all began walking towards the hotel, Percy still talking to Annabeth. "Sometimes, it might be okay to just let the easy ones go" He suggested to her, "Can we agree to just try it, maybe?"

The first thing Corey did when they walked into the hotel was cover her ears. Whatever music was playing immediately made her want to run back outside. Why was it so loud? She closed her eyes as a blinding light hit her face. "Gods! How do people function in this place!" Corey winced. Annabeth quickly opened the bag on Percy's back, searching it for a moment before closing it up.

She gently took Corey's hands off her ears and pushed something in slowly. "Better?" Annabeth asked her. Corey felt her headache wash away as she pressed her fingers to whatever Annabeth put in her ear. "Earplugs" Annabeth told her, almost reading her mind. Corey smiled at her gratefully. "This place is-" "Freaky" Percy gasped at the hotel. "Overwhelming" Corey finished as the lights still bothered her.

"I know we're supposed to be saving the world, but would it be unprofessional if we just hung out here for a bit? Play a bit of Pac-Man to kill the time" Percy asked out loud as he tried to walk away. "What's a Pac-Man?" Corey asked him, furrowing her eyebrows. Annabeth caught him gently, stopping him in his tracks. "We find Hermes, we get him to hook us up with a ride to Los Angeles and a plan to get into the Underworld, and we are out of here ten seconds later" Annabeth's tone had changed as she looked at Percy with daggers. "I was kidding" Percy reassured her, seeing a glimpse of worry.

"Wait, hang on" Grover told him as Percy tried to walk away. "What?" Percy asked him. "Your mom told you all the stories. Did she read you the Odyssey?" Grover asked Percy. "The graphic novel" Percy shrugged, earning looks from Grover and Annabeth. "It counts" Percy defended. "What's a graphic novel?" Corey asked them, confused to why it sounded wrong. "Its a story put told through very precise artwork" Annabeth told her.

Grover sighed, "Odysseus lands on a beach. There's these guys who've forgotten where they came from, forgot everything that was important to them, and they got that way because they ate–" Grover explained to him, "The lotus flowers" Percy finished, everything setting in as he did. "If we go in there and then forget everything, that would be bad on a number of levels" Grover added. Corey bit her lip at the realisation, forget everything that matters didn't sound so bad to her. A chance to forget the horrors she's faced, the people she lost. The people she gained. Corey looks at Percy first before looking at Grover and Annabeth too. No, she thought. Her past wasn't worth forgetting if she lost them too.

"But if Hermes is in there, though, then what choice do we have? What do you think, Wise Girl?" Percy looked at Annabeth, seeing as she was the one with a plan. "Just don't eat anything" Annabeth told them, mainly looking at Grover.

"Wait, why were you looking at me when you said that?" Grover asked them as everyone headed to the escalator.

~Ψ~

As the group walked around the first floor, everything was so colourful and bright. "This place is a lot bigger than it looked from the outside" Grover commented at the many tables that surrounded them. "He could be anywhere" Grover added. "Well he is a god. They can be in as many places as they want" Corey piped up over the loud sounds of the slot machines.

"Let's split up" Annabeth suggested. "I thought we didn't do that anymore" Percy furrowed his eyebrows, looking at his sister from the corner of his eye as she looked at all the tv screens in awe. "Also, you guys have seen him before, but I haven't" Percy added, nudging Corey gently. "Yeah we've crossed paths" She answered with a faraway voice, still entrapped by everything that was foreign to her. "So I'm not gonna be much help alone" Percy told them, seeing that this plan was slightly flawed.

Annabeth thought for a moment before looking at Everyone. "Grover you go check that side of the floor" Annabeth pointed to her right, "Corey you check that side" She then pointed behind her, "And I'll take Percy this way" She pointed to her left. "One way or the other, we meet back in the lobby in 20 minutes" Annabeth told them. Corey nodded before looking at Percy. She smiled softly as if nothing was wrong and they had all the time in the world.

"Stay safe Sea Pup, don't add Hermes to a list of Gods who hate you" She told him, kissing his forehead softly. Percy rolled his eyes playfully at her, "No promises" He told her. Corey shook her head at him, pinching his arms softly. "You keep him in line Annabeth" Corey told her, a look shared between the pair. Annabeth nodded before Corey gave her a short hug along with Grover.

"Be safe" She told them before walking in the direction Annabeth told her too.

~Ψ~

Corey had never been on the Gods good side. She had a few in her corner, like Apollo who blessed her with Siren Song. She felt her head pound at the flashing lights. She could smell all the different types of food as they engulfed her senses. She even smelled sweet perfume. Almost like...

"Well, you took your time"

That voice. It was like honey and venom in Corey's ears. She turned to see a woman who was slightly taller than her. She looked like Emily only older and with the lack of snakes in her hair. Corey immediately glared at the woman. "Aphrodite" She growled, feeling the ground beneath her shake.

Aphrodite tutted at Corey. "Now, now Cordelia, we can't have that" Aphrodite's voice was calm and serene, filled with a hint of excitement. Corey growled at her, balling her fists. Aphrodite laughed at her anger, patting down a seat. "Come sit, we have much to discuss" The goddess smiled, sitting on the seat across from the one she offered.

Corey sat across from her, unnerved by her appearance. Everyone says that Aphrodite mirrors the looks of people's desires. Last time Corey saw the goddess, she looked like Helena, the last daughter of Zeus when Corey was in camp. It made Corey sick when she first met the goddess, having someone who looked like a person you loved...no cared about cursing you to a fate worse than death.

Aphrodite took a glass of champagne, offering one to Corey. "No thanks, besides even though it's been seventy years I'm still underage" Corey turned her nose at the drink. Aphrodite shrugged as she sipped her glass. "How have you been? It's been fair too long" Aphrodite smiled sweetly at her. "Cut the crap. Ares said if I got your scarf you'd lift my curse" Corey slammed her fist on the table, her voice sharp. Aphrodite only smiled at her.

"Yes, but I need to ask. Who do you see when I look at you?" Aphrodite asked her, resetting her chin on the back of her hands as her arms supported her. "What? Corey looked at her confused. "Who do I look like when you look at me? Do I still look like Helena?" Aphrodite asked her with more persistence.

"You...you don't look like Helena" Corey managed to say, feeling her stomach drop. "Then who has caught your eye now, little one? It's okay in this century if it's not a boy...you're allowed to love who you want" Aphrodite's voice changed, making Corey seem more relaxed. "Emily...you look like Emily" Corey whispered enough for the goddess to hear.

Aphrodite placed her hand on Corey's shoulder, lifting her head up with her chin. A soft lilac glow shined from her eyes as Corey felt a wave wash over her. "There...the curse is lifted. You have a long road ahead of you. Remember, you were the first, but you are not the last" Aphrodite told her, kissing her forehead.

"What? What do you mean?" Corey asked her, confused by the goddesses words. Aphrodite smiled at her. "Your dreams are the key to what you've lost...you were the first Cordelia" She told her before disappearing into the crowd.

Corey felt more angry than before. "What the fuck!" Corey shouted at that top of her lungs. She stuffed her hands in her pocket, kicking the floor. "I better go and find...find.." Corey looked around her surroundings. "Find? What was I supposed to..." The sound of music caught Corey's attention. Her eyes lit up as she watched a group of people walk out of a room that had a mic inside.

"Interesting"