Katie sure knew how to cook.

She served us fried salty sausage and bread, with a plastic cup of orange juice to wash the food down. I sat next to my unconscious father, eating silently while everyone else sat around the fire. A few times they were laughing, as if they were sharing a funny joke. And a couple of times, Katie glanced at me with concern in her eyes.

Jake suddenly got up, since Katie and Chloe were talking to each other, and walked over to me. He grabbed me by the shirt sleeve.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked.

I nodded. I got up and followed him into the kitchen, where several pieces of wood lay on the floor. The surfaces were dirty with dampness and the windows were cracked beyond repair.

Jake placed his hands on his hips. "Is there something going on between you and Katie?"

I was stunned by his question. Has Katie talked to him? "Uh...no, there isn't."

"There isn't," Jake repeated raising his eyebrow, obviously not convinced with my answer. "Then why is it that whenever you two look at each other, Katie gives you that look like you two are dating?"

I felt like a mouse trapped in a cage. "Uh...it's none of your business?"

Jake shook his head. "It is my business because closest Katie is one of my friends. What's going on?"

Tell him, my son.

I almost turned my head to look at my father.

That voice was obviously his, speaking to me in his head. I still didn't know how he could've gained enough energy to create this link between us, but I was grateful for it.

Don't be afraid to tell your cousin the truth, he thought to me.

I looked at Jake. Poseidon was right – I shouldn't keep secrets from my family, especially if it was your cousin.

"I might've told her that I have a crush on her," I explained to Zeus's son.

Jake's jaw dropped open. "What?"

I stroked my hair nervously.

"It started when we first met, okay? And when she said that you two stood up for me and my sister, she also explained that she couldn't stop thinking about me."

Jake shook his head in surprise, like he couldn't believe what I said. "Jeez – that must've taken some serious guts to tell the truth. And Chloe knew about this?"

"She's my sister, who can read my thoughts and speaks telepathically with me," I muttered. "It's impossible to keep anything away from her." Then I smiled, chuckling quietly. "Oh, but wait until you hear what Chloe has to say about you."

Jake frowned. "What do you mean?"

I looked behind me to see if we were being watched. Katie and Chloe were still gossiping at the fire. Then I looked back at Jake.

"She also has a crush on you," I whispered.

Jake's eyes nearly bulged out of his skulls in shock. "What...She has a...That's not–" He couldn't say a complete sentence. "Does Katie know about this?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "but she's keeping quiet about it."

"Oh, thank you god," Jake gasped in relief.

I laughed. "It looks like you and I have the same problems, then. Okay, how about this – we both keep this between us and never speak a word of this; until we think we're ready?"

Jake numbly nodded. "As long as you stop being so distant around us. You might be the son of Poseidon and the heir to the Hurricane Throne, but you are still a member of this group."

I groaned at that statement. "O' Riley, you know how I am around a group of people. I have autism; I'm always shy of a large group of people."

That part about me being autistic was true – I was diagnosed with ASD (autistic spectrum disorder), which causes me to be slightly unsocial with other people.

Jake just shrugged. "So? Look at me – I have ADHD, so that makes me different from everyone else. All you've got is a problem with your social skills."

"I hope you're going somewhere with this," I muttered. "What's your point? You better make it a good one."

"I have a lot of friends back at Chiron's school," Jake said. "Every demigod has their problems. ADHD – your natural battlefield skills. Dyslexia – you can understand several languages at once. Your Autism...now that is the one thing that demigods wish they have."

"Why?" I frowned.

"Because you understand dangerous situations more perfectly than anyone else," Jake answered. "You keep your distance to survey everything, so you can get an advantage point. Every child of the Big Three has that. Okay, maybe I don't but you do. And I'm betting your sister has that as well. That makes you smarter than everyone. Maybe even smarter than the children of Athena."

I thought about that. Keep my distance to survey everything...I do gain an advantage point when I check everything out from a distance – the number of people, the location, practically everything that might be a threat to me or anyone else like me. The way I see it, it makes total sense – back at Cyclone City, during one of the gladiator tournaments, I did a quick survey of my opponents and managed to kill them in their weak spots.

On some level, Jake was right. Maybe I am underestimating myself a bit too much. I silently agreed with him.

We both walked back into the living room, just as Katie announced we should get some sleep.

Jake and Chloe got the bedroom. Jake slept on the quilt, which lay on the floor, while my sister slept on the mattress, snoring quietly. So far, it looked as if Jake had kept his promise and hasn't told Chloe about what we talked about.

Katie slept on the chair in the living room with me. Her long hair covered parts of her face. The more I looked at her, the more I felt like she wasn't exactly sleeping.

She was probably thinking about what I admitted to her.

I brought out my diary. Almost three months I had this now. Most people would just buy a diary and would put no use to it. This time, a diary would be put to full use. I unclipped the pen from the diaries latch and started writing on a new page:

November 13th 2012

Entry No.74

I found Poseidon. I've finally found him, after so long a year.

Okay, he might look as if he hasn't had anything to eat for weeks, but he's still in one piece. Katie and I found him in an abandoned building. Of all the places to find him, it had to be somewhere close to water.

For so long, I thought I'd never find him. But now I have. All I need to do now is make sure Proculus doesn't get his hands on him. But I am so scared that I'll fail to do so, because I've seen Proculus in action and I know he's gonna be tough.

Katie...gods, I shouldn't have told her that I had a crush on her. I have the unnerving thought that I scared her off. But she cornered me, so I had no choice but to tell her how I truly felt. I just hope she doesn't think less of me.

Jake on the other hand...jeez, when Chloe finds out that I told the son of Zeus about her crush on him, she is going to freak! But, when you think about it, it's gonna be funny!

I best go get some sleep.

This is Marcus Dimascio, son of Poseidon and Sarah Dimascio.

Diary Entry No.74

"Had enough of writing?"

My head snapped upwards to look at Katie, who was still sitting in the armchair.

She brushed her hair off her face, which looked more serene than ever. Her eyes sparkled.

I hadn't realised that my hand felt cramped from writing.

I placed the pen down with my diary. "I've kept this diary for so long, I'm getting cramps in my hand. But at the same time, I still keep writing in it."

Katie frowned. "Why do you still keep it, if you're tired of writing?"

"Don't want to forget," I answered in a simple tone.

"Why don't you want to forget?" Demeter's daughter asked.

I thought for a moment. Then I passed her the diary, which she held like it would suddenly explode. She looked at the worn out leather of the diary, feeling the fabric with her hand. She looked at me for permission, so I nodded and she opened the book.

"It's not just diary entries in there," I explained. "It's got notes about certain topics that I got from Maximus or I just overheard some of the conversations I gained from the guards, who always argued outside the cell doors. I just wrote them down, trying to figure them out."

Katie read a lot of pages, but when I was talking she looked at me to listen. She almost acted like a little kid learning in a history class, while I taught her about all the different subjects. Not a good sign.

Katie flipped through one of the pages and stopped dead, squinting at the page like she couldn't see it properly. "This entry doesn't make any sense."

"What entry is that?" I asked in bewilderment.

Katie looked up at me. "Entry number fifty–six, October 28th. This is what you've put down: 'Proculus and his men have placed me into an experimental room, without my sister. As soon as they had me chained up on the surgical bed, they dosed me with something and I blacked out. When I woke up, feeling more drained than usual; Maximus was at my side, filling me in on what had happened. They said that they had enhanced my eyesight and my telepathy that I have with my sister. Maximus explained that they were needed for the final test, whatever that means. What in Hades name are they doing to us?'"

Katie closed the diary and placed it on her lap. "What were they doing to you?"

I just shrugged. "I don't know. I just had the impression that Proculus was only doing that to us, just so we could suffer from it. But all the while, after every test they did to us - and that was when we were both knocked out for them, let me remind you - we were left more tired and sapped of our energy than before."

Katie glanced at Poseidon, who slept silently. Her eyes widened. "The storm ritual."

I looked at my godly father and then back to Katie. "What about it?"

Katie held up my diary. "You said that your senses were enhanced for the final test. The storm ritual must be the final trial. And Jake explained that only the two strongest children of one of the storm gods can wake the sleeping immortal up. I'm starting to think that Proculus was trying to make you stronger for the ritual – the final test. Maybe the storm ritual is the final test, because it means that you won't be of anymore usage to Proculus."

I thought about it. In some fraction of truth, Katie was right. The Cyclone Prince was building my strength up, despite it being forced and really brutal. I didn't see the point about that, because I was already strong before Proculus abducted Chloe and me, and burnt our home down to the ground. However, he still wanted to kill us after it was all over, so I was grateful that I was out...if only for a short while.

Katie got from her seat and walked over to me. She knelt down on her knees to look at me. "I can tell you hate Proculus more and more. I can see it in your eyes."

"What do you mean by that?" I demanded.

"Your eyes are glowing, like they're on fire. Like, they're filled with Greek fire."

I felt my face blushing. "Yeah, I've...been told that."

Katie laughed.

There was a long silence, where I could hear Chloe's snoring from the other room.

Katie broke the silence. "I've been thinking about what you said earlier."

My stomach might've twisted at that comment. I continued to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"When you admitted you had feelings for me. I knew that must've been a tough thing to say. And I've...think I might've made my mind about it."

My heart was racing. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods...

"I think...it would be great," Katie said.

My face felt hot. "What?"

Katie got to her feet and kissed me on the cheek. "You heard me. I would be honoured to be your girlfriend."

Way to go, Marcus, a girl's voice spoke in my mind. Way to go.

Chloe always joked about Katie falling in love with me for months. But now I'm starting to think that she wasn't making fun of me this time.

I officially had a girlfriend from that point on.