Percy's POV
"Sorry." I said to the girl.

She didn't respond, but I knew she was staring at me from under her hoodie. I could of swore that the color of her eyes were gold. She then kept on walking with the other guy.

I just stood there before I went back to my search for Nereus. I turned a corner and the alley led towards the end of the pier.

There I saw a really really old homeless fat guy sleeping against the wall. He wore a dirty bathrobe and dirty fuzzy slippers. His beard which I guess what was once white was a yellow color. He reminded me of Santa Claus...if Santa had a disgusting twin brother. And his smell? Once I got closer to him, I froze. He smelled bad but like ocean bad. This guy is Nereus all right.

I tried not to gag as I sat down near him to make it look as if I'm tired, which wasn't too hard to do since I was really was tired. In the corner of my eye, Nereus opened his eye. I felt Santa Claus staring at me but I didn't look.

"Stupid school. Stupid parents." I mumbled loud enough for him to hear so it would avoid any suspicion. It worked. He went back to sleep.

So I did what I had to do. I jumped Santa Claus.

"Ahhhh!" He yelled.

I was supposed to grab him, but he grabbed me instead as if he never really was asleep in the first place. And man, did he had a freakin grip.

"Help me!" He yelled out to no one in particular as he squeezed me to death.

I heard a homeless guy yelled out that it was a crime. But I didn't care. We rolled straight down the pier. My head slammed into a post making me loosen my grip and Nereus made his escape. I quickly regained my senses and tackled Nereus from behind. My arms locked around his chest. His smell was awful that I wanted to puke but I still held on.

"I don't got money!" Nereus cried out, making a scene.

"I don't want money. I'm a half-blood and I need information!" I said as he kept on struggling against my grip.

"Twice in one day! Why do you heroes always pick on me?" He asked.

"Because you know everything!" I retorted.

He only growled in response as he tried to shake me off his back. He kept thrashing around making it impossible for me to keep my feet on the ground. But I was determined to get answers, so I made my grip tighter. I noticed how we were at the edge of the pier. An idea came to mind.

"Oh no." I said in a fake distress. "Not the water. Anything but water!"

And just as I planned, Nereus yelled in triumph and jumped off the pier and into the San Francisco Bay. As soon as we dived into the ocean, I felt myself getting stronger. This surprised Nereus, but it still didn't stop him from making more attempts to escape. He started to change form until I was holding onto a sleek black seal.

I still held onto him. He kept changing forms. First the seal, then a huge killer whale (giving some tourists a good show), then a slippery eel. I was tying the eel Nereus into a knot. He saw what I was doing, and then changed back to his human form.

"Why won't you drown?" He asked, clearly frustrated as he tried to hit me with his fists.

"Poseidon's son." I answered.

"Curse that upstart. I was here first." He complained.

Finally he collapsed on the edge of the boat dock. Nereus was gasping for much needed air while I was feeling great. But I couldn't tell him that. I wanted Nereus to think he put up a good fight. I saw my friends running up to us.

"You got him!" Zoe said.

"Oh wonderful, an audience for my humiliation! First I get beat up by a daughter of Apollo and now this?"

That brought my attention. So did the others.

"Daughter of Apollo?" I asked him. "Did she have (H/C) (H/L) hair with pretty (E/C) eyes?"

"You got the hair color right, but not the eye color." Nereus said as wringed the water out from his bathrobe. "Is that your question? If it is, then that means I can go."

"No, you may not." Zoe said as she grabbed the collar of his bathrobe, restraining him from leaving.

"(Y/N) was here. She has to be close. Very close." I said with hope in my voice.

"And if she is, then I'm sure you will find her, but right now we have to ask about the monster." Zoe said.

Unfortunately, she has a point. We have to find Artemis, the monster, and (Y/N). And we can't ask for all of them in one question. If Annabeth was here, she would be screaming at me to ask about the monster. Zoe would want me to ask about Artemis.

But deep down, I wanted to ask about (Y/N). I needed to know if she was nearby. If she was alright. I imagined her standing right beside me. I knew she would want me to save Olympus...

I sighed before I asked my question.

"Where is this so called terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods? The same one that Artemis was hunting for."

Nereus looked at me as if he was trying to see if I was serious before he started laughing.

"Two of the same questions asked in one day! Haha this is priceless! And to think if you were here earlier, you could've met your (Y/N). Her name is (Y/N), right?"

I glared at him but still nodded.

"(Y/N) Solace sure is a tough girl. She almost slit my throat with that dagger of hers. I had to turn into a snake to get away from her and that Luke guy." Nereus said.

I quickly realized something. The two figures. They had to be (Y/N) and Luke. I mentally facepalmed. I'm such an idiot. She was was right there, and I didn't notice it was her. But did she noticed me? Is that why she flinched? Why didn't she say anything?

Zoe noticed each of our worried faces. Nereus is messing with our heads.

"Quit messing around Nereus." Zoe ordered. "Answer the question."

"Ok fine," Nereus looked at me. "He's right there." He said, pointing towards the water at my feet.

I looked at where he was pointing but saw nothing.

"Where?" I asked.

"One question per capture and I answered your question!"

With that being said, Nereus got out of Zoe's grip, turned into a goldfish, and dived into the sea.

"You tricked me!" I yelled at him. But it was no use, he was long gone now.

"Wait a minute." Thalia said. "What is that?"

She pointed where Nereus pointed at earlier. I didn't see at first, but this time I did. I heard it too. It was my friend the cow serpent, Bessie.

"MOOOOOO!" Bessie mooed loudly.

She swam to the docks and nudged my shoe, giving the sad brown eyes.

"Ah, Bessie, not now." I said.

"MOOOOOO!" She mooed again.

"He says his name isn't Bessie." Grover said.

"Wait," I said. "You understand her-I mean him?"

Grover nodded.

"Yeah. He's speaking in a very old form of animal speech. He says that his name is the Ophiotaurus."

"The Ophio-what?"

"It means serpent bull in Greek." Thalia explained. "But what's it doing here?"

"Mooooooo!"

"He's saying that Percy is his protector. He's running from the bad people. He says that they are close." Grover translated.

'How did he get all that info from a single mooooo?'

"Wait, you know this cow?" Zoe asked me.

We didn't have too much time, so I told them the short version of my story on how I met Bessie.

"And why didn't you tell us before?" Thalia said, frustrated.

"It slipped my mind..." I said slowly. With all these things that happened on this quest, it just happened so fast.

"I am a fool." Zoe said. "I know this story!"

"What story?" I asked her.

Zoe explained the story about the Ophiotaurus that her father (she sounded nervous when she mentioned her father) told her thousands of years ago. She was certain that Bessie is the monster that we are looking for.

(Y/N)'s POV
Once we got back to the Princess Andromeda, I quickly went to my room, slamming the door behind me. I cleaned myself up, but I couldn't stop thinking about Percy.

He looked at me. I looked at him. I couldn't get those beautiful sea green eyes out of my head. Oh gods, his eyes, his jet black hair, his cute face, his-.

"Stop it." I told myself. "He's nothing but an enemy to me."

I sat down on my bed. My eyes wondered around my room, until they stopped at the mirror that was in front of me. I walked towards the full length mirror. I moved the stray pieces of my (H/C) out of my face. The streak of gray in my (H/C) hair was still there, proving that I held the sky and survived. My golden eyes stared back at me. Then I noticed at a leather necklace with these beads that had these weird tiny pictures.

It felt so comfortable that I had no idea I was wearing it, the same can be said for the locket. I untied the necklace and looked closely at each bead, but one caught my attention. The color of the bead was black and had a picture of a turquoise trident. It was right next to another bead that had a picture of a pine tree and what looks like the Golden Fleece was hanging from it.

Just like before, my mind started flashing these images. But they kept going faster and faster until they spinning inside my head. I closed my eyes tightly.

3rd POV~~Flashbacks~~
A seven year old girl with (H/C) (H/L) hair and (E/C) eyes was running along with a boy a bit older than her but he had blonde hair with sky blue eyes. The boy was holding on to the girl's hand, urging her to run faster. They bumped into so many adults, who were yelling at them to slow down. To mortals, all they see is two minor troublemaking kids running from a barking-mad Chihuahua.

"Come on (Y/N)! Run faster!" The boy yelled.

"I am running faster, Will!" A younger version of (Y/N) yelled.

~~~

Will and (Y/N) were now in a forest. They were leaning against a huge tree, watching the sunset. It was a routine that they did with their Mom. They ate some Pop tarts with some bottled water. Not a good dinner, but it was better than nothing.

After the sun descended under the horizon, it started to get cold, so Will grabbed a blanket from his backpack and wrapped it around his little sister. (Y/N) looked at her brother with concern in her (E/C) eyes.

"Aren't you cold?" She asked.

Will gave her a small smile.

"Don't worry about me, sis."

(Y/N) pouted. How can she not worry over him? Will is the only family member she had left; she couldn't bare to lose him too. So (Y/N) unwrapped the blanket and placed it so that the both of them can share a blanket. (Y/N) soon fell asleep on her brother's shoulder, but Will was still awake. Sure he was tired, but he had to ensure (Y/N)'s safety. Will looked up at the sky. The stars twinkled ever so beautiful as the moon shined its silver light upon them.

"Mom...I-I really miss you. We both do. A lot. But don't worry, I'm keeping my promise." Will whispered before he closed his eyes.

~

Will and (Y/N) traveled more. They saw new places, new people, and new monsters. They were use to it by now. But what they didn't expect was to find more people that were like them. There were 3 of them. Two girls and one boy.

"Hey, my name is Thalia. That guy over there is Luke, and this is Annabeth." A girl with spiky black hair introduced.

Will just stared at them with caution, motioning his little sister (Y/N) to get behind him. They've been on the run for weeks. But little (Y/N) smiled at them.

"My name is Will Solace. And this is my sister (Y/N)." Will said.

(Y/N) grinned a smile.

"Hi!"

Thalia and Luke smiled at them. Annabeth was happy to finally have someone her age to talk too.

~~~

"NOO! THALIA!" (Y/N) yelled as Thalia charged at the monsters that were chasing them.

(Y/N) ran after her friend but was held back by her brother. Luke and Grover held Annabeth back, who had the same intentions as (Y/N). (Y/N) looked at her brother with her teary (E/C) eyes. Thalia was like a sister to her. (Y/N) lost her mom. She couldn't lose her friend too.

"We have to help her! She's our friend!" She yelled.

But it was too late...

This was the start of a new chapter for them as they entered their new home in Camp Half-Blood.

~~~

"You will be staying in the Hermes Cabin for the meantime until you get claimed." The centaur, Chiron, said to (Y/N), Will, Annabeth, and Luke.

They were in front of the Big House, where a small crowd of other curious demigods were staring at the new campers.

"Claimed?" Luke asked.

"It means that your godly parent will claim you as their child."

"How long will it take until we're claimed?" Annabeth asked.

"That is up to the-"

A bright golden light was seen from above Will's and (Y/N)'s heads. The siblings looked above and they could see a lyre. Once the light died down, Will and (Y/N) looked at each other before looking at Chiron.

"All hail, Will and (Y/N) Solace, son and daughter of Apollo, the god of the sun, music, prophecy, medicine, poetry, and archery!" Chiron announced.

~~~

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" (Y/N) yelled at Annabeth.

"That's not fair! You got a head start!" Annabeth yelled.

This only made (Y/N) laugh. They raced to the top of Half-Blood Hill, where Thalia's pine tree was at.

"Hi Thalia." (Y/N) said as her and Annabeth approached the pine tree.

The girls would talk for hours to Thalia about their days in Camp Half-Blood(of course Thalia didn't respond but that didn't mean she wasn't listening).

"We took down an Ares camper today." Annabeth said to Thalia. "He called us weak little kids, so we showed him how 'weak' we were."

"He'll be in the infirmary for two weeks! He looks like a mummy with all those bandages." (Y/N) giggled.

There was a moment of silence. The sunset cast long shadows of the girls' figures. The girls are now a few years older, but they would always make time to visit their friend. Never forgetting her sacrifice she made for them.

~~~

"Hey guys. Percy, I would like you to meet my dear sister, (Y/N). (Y/N) this is Percy, the new camper." Will introduced.

(Y/N) smiled at Percy as she held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Percy."

"You too." Percy said as they shook hands.

~~~

"Hey." (Y/N) said.

"Hey (Y/N)." Percy replied.

Percy noticed how red (Y/N)'s wrist were.

"What happened to your wrist?" He asked.

"Oh that poor lady she...had a tight grip."

"Hey check this out." Percy said as he cupped some water from the pool and used it to heal (Y/N)'s wrist.

"Cool. Very cool." (Y/N) said once her wrist was healed.

Percy got out of the pool and (Y/N) handed him a towel.

"So tell me, what's your Dad like?" He asked.

~~~

(Y/N) go wi-"

(Y/N) quickly kissed Percy cutting him off but he still kissed back. She pulled away first.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain."

Percy smiled at her.

"I will."

~~~

"Quit staring at (Y/N) and start dancing with her!" Thalia yelled at Percy.

This made Percy and (Y/N) blush at her comment.

"Wanna dance with me?" Percy asked as he offered his hand to (Y/N).

"Yes." (Y/N) agreed as she placed her hand in his.

~~End of Flashbacks~~
(Y/N)'s POV
I opened my eyes. I was still standing in front of the full length. I truly felt that I was physically in those memories, but it turns out that I just stood here for about ten minutes.

The necklace was still in my hand. The necklace from my...home. Camp Half-Blood.

I put the bead necklace back on. This is another connection to my past. Another clue...

I grabbed the piece of paper that had names that I could remember from my past...the past that I can remember.

Thalia-girl that I cared for like a sister
Grover-satyr friend
Annabeth-friend
Will-brother
Percy-enemy/former friend/???

Percy was confusing to me. In my mind, he's an enemy that has to die as soon as possible. But a feeling inside me, said otherwise. The feeling made me feel funny...but a good kind of funny, I guess you can say. What is this feeling?

I thought about those memories that I just seen. How I met him. How I kissed him. How I danced with him. If he is my enemy, then why did I do all those things with him. Did I used to date him? Did I actually loved him? Does he still love me?

I shook those questions out of my head, especially the last one. He doesn't love me, and I don't love him.

I don't love him. I don't love him. I don't love him. I don't love him.

I kept repeating myself that sentence over and over again, trying to convince myself that I didn't love him. It...sort of worked...until the image of me kissing him came back to my mind.

'Even when he's not here, Percy Jackson still causes me these problems...'

~Timeskip(cuz I'm lazy)to when Dr.Thorn was defeated~
Percy's POV
"Well," Mr.D said in the mist as he closed the refrigerator. "That was fun."

I just stared at him through the mist.

"How could you...H-H did you-"

"Such gratitude. Not even a thank you." He looked at Thalia. "I hope you learned your lesson, girl. It isn't easy to resist power, is it?"

Thalia blushed as if she were ashamed.

"Mr.D...y-you saved us." Grover said in amazement.

"Don't make me regret it, satyr. Now get going, Percy Jackson. I've bought you a few hours at most." Mr.D said.

"The Ophiotaurus. Can you get it to Camp?" I asked him.

"I do not transport livestock. That's your problem, not mine."

"But where do we go?"

The god looked at Zoe.

"Oh, I think the huntress knows. You must enter at sunset today, you know, or all is lost. Now good bye. My pizza is waiting."

"Mr.D." I said.

He raised his eyebrow.

"You called me by my right name. You called me Percy Jackson." I said.

"I most certainly did not, Peter Johnson. Now off with you!" He said before he waved his hand making the mist image disappear, ending the Iris Message.

I looked at Zoe.

"What did he mean by, 'You know where to go'?"

Zoe paled a little. She looked at the distance and pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate. A single mountain could be seen above the cloud/fog layer.

"The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."

~

We jogged as fast as we could towards the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was farther than we realized. The sun was slowly descending in the horizon. Zoe explained how important we need to enter the garden before sunset. If we miss our chance in entering, we would have to wait the next day, but tomorrow is the winter solstice-meaning the Olympian Council would be over. We need to free Artemis tonight. (Y/N) too.

Thalia suggested that we need a car but there was a problem. Bessie. Luckily, Grover came up with an idea. Since the Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, we could try to transport him, along with Grover, to Camp Half-Blood and Chiron could help us get Bessie to Olympus. All we needed was a little help from my Dad.

So I concentrated on the ocean waves, the smell of the ocean, and the sound of the tide.

"Dad," I said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover to Camp Half-Blood. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice. Something big." Thalia said.

I thought for a second when an idea came to me. I took off my coat.

"Are you sure, Percy? That lion skin...that's really useful. Hercules used it!" Grover exclaimed.

Right when Grover said his name that's when I realized it was him. The hero that Zoe helped. The hero that ruined her life. The hero that got Zoe kicked out of her own family. The hero that took all the credit. And it was the same hero I had admired all my life. The hero was Hercules.

I glanced at Zoe. She was watching me carefully. She wanted to see what I would do next.

Zoe's POV
When his name was mentioned, I felt the same pain I felt before in my past. Because of him, my family threw me away like an outcast. I was and still am  grateful when Artemis let me join the Hunt.

I hated how many heroes wanted to be like him-a lying cheating no good.... man. For over two thousand years, I thought that's how all men were like. Greedy, irresponsible, lying, cheating, disrespectful, untrustworthy...I could list more words but that would be a long list.

When I met Percy I thought he was just like the rest of them. I learned that he was courting with (Y/N), but I knew that he would just end up breaking her heart, just like the rest of them.

However when I saw the both of them, fighting together against the manticore, I could see the teamwork they had. The trust they have in each other. And when (Y/N) sacrificed herself for the safety of the di Angelos', Percy truly looked...broken. And when he became a part of our quest, he was determined to find (Y/N) and Artemis.

That is when I started thinking. Maybe Percy is different. He cares about his friends. He even cares about me. Me of all people! I was rude to him ever since we met.

So as I watched him with the lion skin coat, he did something I wasn't expecting.

"If I'm going to survive," Percy said, "it won't be because I've got a lion skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."

And with that he threw the coat into the bay. The coat turned back into a golden lion skin. It started to dissolve into sunlight on the water. Then the sea breeze picked up.

Grover jumped into the water as the Ophiotaurus swam next to him. They started to sink underwater towards their destination.

Percy's POV
As Grover and Bessie went underwater, I was hoping that my Dad's protection considered breathing, especially for Grover's case.

"Well that is one problem taken care of." Zoe said.

(A/N):Ever felt like you wanted to stay in bed forever and never have to worry about anything. Stress free? Yeah that's me right now. Anyways hope you liked this chapter. Again I don't know when I'll update. Hopefully soon. Alright see ya my awesome readers👋🏼👋🏼