I took a shaky step in.

My breathing sounded shallow. The room felt cold, the furniture might've looked nice if they weren't covered in dust. The windows were dirty and the walls were covered in cobwebs. Dust settled the floor, which rose with every step I took inside the apartment. Old photo's hung on the wall, the pictures all in black and white.

Katie came up next to me. She waved her hand in front of her nose. "Ugh...what's that smell? It smells like rotten, salty fish mixed with seaweed."

A ringing noise filled my head. I grunted in pain, placing a hand on my forehead. A voice spoke in my mind. It said: Turn left.

I looked to my left. There was another door, which must've led to the bedroom.

"Are we even close?" Katie looked at me, frowning in confusion.

I slowly walked over to the bedroom door and turned the door handle. The wooden frame creaked open and I peeked inside.

On the bed, looking like he was asleep was...

"DAD!" I shouted as I rushed to his side. I grabbed one of his hands, which was ice cold. "Oh god, what did they do to you?!"

He looked terrible – even more when he talked to me in the vision. His raven black hair had grown longer and had taken on a shade of grey. His skin was milky white. His beard had grown back and he looked frailer than ever. His eyes were shut tightly, like he was in pain. On his bedside was his trident. A spider web covered the three prongs and the shaft was covered in dark dust. Poseidon wore a plain white shirt and dirty jeans, which was covered in holes.

Katie cautiously came up to the other side of the bed. She placed a hand on my father's head, which had a white scar stretched across it. She nodded grimly.

"He's definitely in a state of sleep paralysis," she confirmed. She looked at the Sea God in deep thought. "I'm amazed that he's lasted over a year."

She removed her bag from her back and started rummaging through the contents. She brought out several boxes of food and medicine, including bandages. "We've got to get some food into his system. I've got some ambrosia with me, but we need a lot more than what I've got right now."

She looked at me. "Build a fire. We need to get some heat in this place – it feels like the inside of a freezer in here."

She threw me a box of matches and I went out of the room.

I ran around the flat, tearing off pieces of wood from the wooden chairs, smashing the battered bedroom doors, and dragging a large metal pot into the centre of the living room. I had no stones to place around the pot so I improvised and used the unused cutlery, stacking pieces of wood on top of the pot. I gathered several wads of old newspapers and threw them onto the pile of wood. Taking out three matches, I lit them alight, all at once, and placed them on the pile of wood. Instantly, the amount of wood and paper sparked with white hot flames.

As the fire built, I looked back at Katie and my father. Katie was spoon feeding Poseidon purple nectar, the drink of the gods. She placed the spoon down and took out a syringe. She placed the needle into my father's skin and drew out golden liquid from his bloodstream.

Ichor – the golden blood of immortals.

She looked at me. "Just checking if his blood is healthy or not." She looked back at the vile and shook her head after examining it. "It's not looking good. But I have managed to get some food into his system. He should be on the mend in a couple of hours."

I nodded, sighing in relief. "Thanks, Katie."

We both carried Poseidon into the living room, so he was close to the fire. Katie placed a musty torn blanket over one of the couches and carefully placed the Stormbringer on top. I folded his arms across his chest and took a step back, looking at how worn out my father was.

Katie rubbed her sweaty hands on the sleeves of her shirt. She nodded her head. "We just need to look after him."

I sank to the floor, feeling the warmth of the fire ebb away the coldness. I took out my sword and laid it on the floor. I held Poseidon's trident in my hands. I placed the head of the weapon into the roaring flames, incinerating the cobwebs, and cleaning the shaft of all the dust. I brought out a bottle of water and poured it over the steaming metal, which made a hissing sound like a riled rattle snake.

I held onto the trident, like I was afraid someone was going to snatch it off me. I remembered using the three pronged spear numerous times when Poseidon was training me. He'd let me practice with it, and he let me borrow it when we went out fishing in the nearest local river or pond. When I held it, I could feel the weapon humming with energy, its power making me think of crashing waves and storms.

Katie sat down next to me, eyeing the trident. "How can you be holding his weapon of power like it's yours? Isn't it against the law of the gods?"

I shook my head. "He lets me use it most times, regardless of the Olympian law."

Katie sighed, the corners of her mouth stretched into a smile. "You still know when to surprise me, Marcus."

"I thought you would be more surprised when you heard what my dad's alias name was," I muttered.

Katie laughed. "Mr. Delphine...Ha! I've never heard such a stupid surname in my entire life."

She glanced at the sleeping sea god, who was starting to gain some of his colour back. Whatever was in that nectar, it seemed to be doing the trick – he was gaining some of his weight back, and was breathing more easily. Though he still looked very weak to my eyes, I kept it quiet. I didn't want Katie thinking that she didn't help at all.

I laid the trident across my lap. "I can't believe we found him. I thought it would've been impossible. I sure proved myself wrong."

I fell backwards onto my back, relaxing my tensed muscles. The coldness of the room vanished in that instant, replaced by the warmth of the fire. Outside, the sky started to darken as the stars came out.

The crescent moon rose into the sky, the luminescent light shining, like the beams of a battleships search light.

"You always seem nervous around other demigods apart from your sister," Katie said. "You seem especially nervous around me. Can I ask why?"

I looked at her, feeling surprised at her question. I had the terrible thought that she trapped me in a conversation that I knew I would hate. "What makes you think I'm nervous around other demigods?"

"When you first came to the school," Katie muttered. "You and your sister refused to sit with the rest of us. You always sat at the back, where no one notices you at all. Whenever Jake and I came over, you always seemed...scared. Like you were afraid we were going to say something awful."

I sat up, sighing through my nose and stroking my hair. "We knew we were going to get banished, so we kept our distance. Plus, I'm always nervous around new people."

"But still, why were you nervous around me and Jake? We weren't that bad."

"Well, for starters, Chloe was more nervous around Jake than I was because she had a crush on him. When I was near you..." I stopped talking, afraid of the next words.

By the looks of it, Katie knew what I was about to say because her eyes widened and she blushed. "Oh."

I nodded my head. At this point, I was seriously in trouble because I was really not good at explaining.

"I knew it wouldn't work, because I thought no one would approve of it."

I scratched the back of my neck. "I was even more afraid that you'd react like this. So..."

I fell on my back again. "Sorry."

Katie stared at me for a moment. Then she shook her head. "You don't need to apologise, Marcus. If anything, I should be the one saying sorry."

I frowned. "Why?"

"When you and your sister left, I never stop thinking about you, at all. I thought what the students and Chiron did was selfish and unfair."

"Jake said something similar about that on our way to the school," I muttered. "I didn't believe him at first. But now I'm getting second thoughts about it." I looked at Demeter's daughter. "Thanks for sticking up for us."

Before Katie could reply, there was a loud knocking at the front door.

I slowly picked up Poseidon's trident. Katie took her two daggers out and got up. We crept up to the door, and I was about to flung the door open when–

"Marcus!" a girl's voice harshly shouted. "Open the door!"

It was Chloe. Sighing, I reached the door handle and opened the door. Immediately, a pair of arms was wrapped around my neck. Chloe buried her face into my neck, shaking like she ran a hundred miles. Then Jake came up behind her, looking as tired as he sound. His face was red and sweaty.

Chloe looked at me, her eyes bloodshot. "Thank the gods," she gasped. "The Whirlwind's almost caught us if it weren't for Jake. He caused the winds to catch them off balance, helping us get away from them. I'm starting to like him more now."

She glanced behind me and her eyes went teary. "Is that dad?"

I looked at Poseidon, who was still sleeping. It was like he was in a coma – which he was.

"Katie and I found him in one of the rooms. When we were near the building, I sensed his presence and we ended up here."

"Sensed his presence?" Jake frowned. "Do mean you felt his aura of power?"

"Exactly," I agreed. "Though my ears rang like hell."

Chloe sprinted up to the sleeping god and knelt beside him. She gently stroked his overgrown hair. Tears ran down her cheeks as she gazed at our godly father.

Katie sat cross legged at the fire, bringing out several boxes of food. "Glad we're all together. Now, does anyone want anything to eat?"