Happy New Year, guys! Back to school tomorrow, which sucks, but that's not for another seventeen hours, so I'm enjoying it.

It was still raining. The sunshine of their island paradise was impeded by the overcast clouds in the sky. The crystal blue waves were in turmoil, constantly foaming and crashing against the beach.

"Ryker."

The boy turned away, pressing his temple against the glass.

"Ryker, come on."

The voice was in his ear now. There was a hand on his shoulder and a plate of food placed on his lap.

"Ryker, you need to eat."

The voice was annoying. But caring. Like a mosquito. That wants a hug.

"Ryker. If you do not pick up that plate and start eating, I will feed you. Like. A. Baby."

There was a legitimate threat in those words. If Ryker hated anything more than small spaces it was humiliation. At the moment, though, he could run through town naked and he wouldn't bat an eye.

Without moving the rest of his body, he allowed his hand to brush against a fork and knock it to the ground.

"Ryker, I get it," Milli said exasperatedly, "You're in pain. You think it's your fault. But would she have wanted you to starve yourself? Would she have wanted you to stop being yourself without her?"

Ryker didn't respond.

"And how much do you think it hurts Ally that you're ignoring her when she needs you the most? You're not the only one who lost a mother that day. She was a mother to all of us. And how much do you think its been hurting my father that his best friend died? How hard do you think it's been for your father now that his true love is gone?"

Her voice softened, and she continued quietly, "And how much do you think its hurting me that you can't even bear to talk, to walk, to smile?"

"You're my best friend. I just need to know that you'll be okay. Someday. But if you won't eat now, there will be no someday."

Ryker was being selfish. He knew that. He knew exactly how much this loss had hit the entire island. And he didn't particularly care.

"I'm going to the kitchen to get a new fork," Milli sighed, "I would say you'd better be here when I get back, but, you know, not walking."

Ryker banged his head against the window as soon as Milli disappeared.

He didn't know why he refused to do those things. Maybe because he lacked the will. But he thought it was because of the guilt. Why should he be allowed to do these things when his mother no longer could?

Ryker banged his head against the window again, this time with a loud groan that was scratchy due to his unused voice.

When Milli reappeared with a new fork, Ryker steeled himself and sat away from the window, reaching out for it. He couldn't bring himself to attempt a smile, but his small movement was more than enough for the girl.

She slung her arms around him, now unable to see him blush, and whispered. "Thank you."

Ryker finished his food as Milli strode away and leaned back against the window. Baby steps, he told himself.

Baby steps.

________________

In a matter of hours Milli had him walking. In the next couple of days, she had him talking. She couldn't get him to smile, but their was definitely some improvement. When she nudged him as they were walking she could see his eyes brighten. When she cracked a joke she could see his face twitch.

Milli had always loved Ryker's smile. It had a boyish charm that seemed to radiate mischief. His face looked so carefree and his eyes crinkled at the corners. It had been a long time since she had seen it.

But she was not giving up on that boy.

Especially now that he needed her the most.

________________

"Ryker," Milli's father called, "I need to talk to you."

The boy frowned as Milli's father pulled him away from the window. He had not smiled since his mother had died, two weeks ago, mind you, and had no intentions of smiling any time soon.

Even though that's what his mother would have wanted.

He was a ten year-old boy alone in the world with only a broken father and an also grieving best friend and sister.

Ryker furrowed his eyebrows at Mr. Evanston. "What is it?" He asked rather rudely. Milli's father allowed a grim smile to surface on his face.

"I must carry out your mother's wishes. She made me swear an oath that if anything ever happened to her, I would tell you everything."

The boy cocked an eyebrow, "Everything about what?"

Mr. Evanston took a deep breath and began the tale, his eyes pleading with Ryker to refrain from interrupting. "Your mother and father have raised you with stories of the gods. I would swear on the life of my daughter that those stories are mostly true. While a mortal spin has been placed on many of the ancient deeds of heroes and monsters, what happened thousands upon thousands of years ago, is a reality."

Ryker wanted desperately to call him a liar. And also to chew him out for using such sophisticated language on a fifth grader. The myths were false. It wasn't fair to try and turn his world inside out after it had been spun upside down. But Johnny Evanston was one of his mother's closest friends, and he would not kid so soon after her death.

What was said next surprised him even more than the proclamation of the reality of the gods. "Not only that," Mr. Evanston continued, "But they were children of the gods. As are you. As is Milli."

He couldn't help himself that time. "Milli never mentioned anything like that to me," Ryker told him, slightly stung.

Mr. Evanston shook his head. "She didn't know. And I must beg of you not to tell her."

Ryker's eyes narrowed in an emotion somewhere between confusion and hurt. "You expect me to keep a secret like this away from her? Oh, the missing mother you've been wondering about your entire life? I know exactly where she is! She's a goddess! Are you kidding me?"

"When demigods realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger," Mr. Evanston said sternly, "Your parents were lucky to have had only one monster a month raising you with Milli, and a couple of monsters per week when Ally came along. You were young, but you were not weak."

He shook his head, clearing it. "Anyway. Your mother was the daughter of victory, your father the son of luck. The Greek gods Nike and Tyche, respectively. I am a clear sighted mortal. Demigods, the children of the gods, live their whole lives in fear of being smited by a god their parent had wronged or one day facing a monster they simply could not best."

"You are the son of Poseidon, one of the most powerful Olympians. The god of the sea. A demigod with your strength would attract monsters from miles away, so your father used the majority of his strength to send you to Hawaii, one of the lands beyond the gods. An island, because there is no danger to children of Poseidon from the sea. He trusted you into the care of Kyle and Kaitlyn because he knew that they would raise you like a son and protect you as if you were the source of their life."

He trailed off, silently allowing Ryker to bombard him with the questions he knew he had. "Who is Ally?" Ryker asked first, "You said she drew more monsters here?"

"She changed the course of your parents' destiny," Mr. Evanston admitted, "The Child of Zeus, if I'm not mistaken. When you were taken in, your parents were told by the Fates that by the time you turned twelve, both of them will have passed. Your father first, and then your mother. Now I am unsure what will become of your father."

The man shook his head, his salt and pepper swinging around. "He's had a lot of loss in his life. His mother was a goddess, so she was never around. His father was a gambler, and he was always in and out of jail until he eventually died. But in all of the years I have known him, I've never seen him like this."

Ryker shook his head. "My parents... They aren't really my parents?"

"They only aren't your parents in the sense that they did not give birth to you," Mr. Evanston said softly, "In every other way, in that they raised you, taught you, and loved you, they were as true as any parents could have been."

"And my father. My real father. He sent me to one of the only places in the entire world where he couldn't protect me so that he could protect me? That makes sense to you?"

Mr. Evanston looked him in the eye. "You misunderstand. Gods are not allowed contact with their children. The King of the Gods, Zeus, limits their time, and the Ancient Laws say they cannot interfere. You are the son of Poseidon. And there is no danger to you from the sea. This was the best way to protect you."

"Is my birth mother's still out there? And she let me be taken away?"

"As I said, this was the best way to protect you. She knew that. And she only knew you for a couple of days, but she loved you enough to give you up."

The man's story did have a certain sense of truth, but it did nothing but plunge the boy deeper into sadness. His parents knew that taking him in could very well mean their death, but they did it anyway. They didn't know him, weren't helped by his real parents, and yet they were willing to die for the life of a child.

Ryker bit his lip. "Why are you telling me this and not my father?"

Mr. Evanston's eyes became sadder than they already were. "Your mother thought he would have been long gone by the time she died. And even if he wasn't, she knew your father would blame himself, blame you. She knew that he would be shattered and lack the sanity to explain everything you would need to know. So she turned to me."

He only bit his lip harder, muttering, "And why don't you blame me? I blame me."

Another mirthless smile surfaced on Mr. Evanston's face. "Well, I didn't draw the attention of Athena for being irrational, did I?"

________________

Ryker was back at his window. He had claimed it. When he was there, no one would bother him. No one except Milli, of course, but that was only to be expected. She was the only one who could even get close to him these days.

"Do you ever wonder," Ryker started when Milli took a seat next to him, "What our lives would have been like if my mother hadn't died that day? If I hadn't run off to help her?"

"I know exactly what we would be doing now," Milli responded softly, "She would be baking a cake for Ally's birthday next week, and-" Milli paused to take a look at the clock, "And it's only three, so we would probably be at the beach."

No one actually knew Ally's birthday, but they always celebrated the day she was found in the woods. It was unfair to her that there would be no celebration, but no one was really in the mood for a party.

"Yeah,' Ryker muttered, looking down at his folded hands, "Yeah, I don't think I'm going to the beach any time soon."

Ryker didn't look up until he saw a smaller hand land atop his own. "You'll get out there," Milli whispered, "And when you do, you can finally teach me how to surf."

Ryker let out a burst of breath that somehow resembled a chuckle. "Great," he remarked drily, "Something to look forward to."

"Ryker."

That voice wasn't Milli's. It was too deep, to gravelly for that.

Ryker twisted his head to the kitchen entrance, and his father - No, not his father, but Ryker wasn't quite sure what to call him at this point - was standing there, armor strapped to his chest that looked too metallic to be fake and his hair cut for the first time in a month.

"Uh," Ryker stuttered, still confused with what he should be addressed by, "Yeah?"

"Grab your armor and your sword. Be outside in five minutes."

The tone of his voice intimidated the boy, and it shone in his green eyes that he wasn't entirely sure he would enjoy what was waiting for him. "Yes... sir."

Ryker couldn't have known how much he would regret saying yes.