Percy was never a morning person, but Blackjack always had a way of changing that.
"Boss! Boss! Wake up, dude!"
He opened his eyes with a groan, blinking against the weak morning light that streamed through the windows of Poseidon's Cabin.
"Blackjack… what time is it?"
"Time to save another sea creature, boss!"
Sighing, Percy got up. A quick rescue mission later—this time involving a baby turtle tangled in a bunch of fishing nets—he followed Blackjack to the stables to grab some hay.
And that's when he saw her.
Silena Beauregard was there, near the pegasi, but… different.
Always impeccable, always radiant—she was a daughter of Aphrodite, of course she was. But now… now she looked like a ghost of herself.
Her hair was a mess, her clothes thrown on without much care, dark circles under her eyes so deep that even Nico di Angelo would be impressed.
Percy frowned, about to call out to her. But then, something stopped him.
Silena was looking around, tense. As if she was about to do something she knew she shouldn't.
Percy instinctively ducked behind a pile of hay, watching as she took hurried steps toward one of the pegasi—a white steed with a golden mane that he recognized by sight, but whose name he could never remember.
She ran her hand along the horse's face, whispering something he couldn't hear. The pegasus whinnied softly, as if hesitant, but Silena quickly climbed into the saddle and gave a light tap with her heels.
Percy held his breath.
The pegasus rose in a graceful leap, beating its wings and soaring into the sky.
She was running away.
Percy froze for a second, watching Silena disappear into the sky.
It didn't make sense.
Silena Beauregard wasn't the type to sneak out of Camp. She loved Camp. So why, before sunrise, did she look like she was running away?
The worst part was that Percy knew something had been wrong for a while.
Silena had always been one of the most cheerful and kind people at Camp, but in the last few months, she had changed. The sparkle in her eyes was gone, her smile seemed forced, and she avoided spending too much time around others.
And, as far as he could remember, it all started after Ikki left.
They were friends. Close friends. Silena had always been one of the few people Ikki seemed to truly open up to. Only, shortly before he left, the two of them had a fight.
No one knew exactly what about. They only knew that, after that, Silena seemed… shattered.
And now, out of nowhere, she was flying off in the middle of the night?
Percy bit his lip. This wasn't good.
He looked at Blackjack, who was still chewing hay nonchalantly.
"Up for a night flight, partner?"
The pegasus lifted his head, excited. "Always, boss!"
Percy climbed onto his back, and in an instant they were airborne, following Silena at a distance.
She flew with determination, without hesitation. As if she already knew exactly where she was going.
Percy just hoped it wasn't somewhere he couldn't reach her.
Percy was already impatient.
They had been flying for almost an hour, and the ocean below stretched in all directions, dark and endless. He wondered if Silena even knew where she was going—until something appeared on the horizon.
A ship.
And not just any ship.
"Oh, no…" Percy murmured.
He knew that ship. He knew every detail of the Princess Andromeda, Luke's headquarters and Kronos's army.
And Silena was going straight for it.
Percy's stomach churned. This wasn't just some escape.
"Blackjack, faster!"
The pegasus whinnied and shot forward, cutting through the wind like a bullet. In seconds, Percy got close enough to call out:
"Silena!"
She startled in the air, as if only then realizing she wasn't alone. She turned her head and, for a moment, Percy saw surprise on her face. But it didn't last.
Her gaze became empty again.
Dead.
"Percy…" she murmured.
"What are you doing?" he shouted against the wind. "Do you have any idea where you're going?"
Silena didn't answer immediately. Her eyes seemed lost, but her expression… was that of someone who had already made a decision.
"Go back, Percy…" she said, her voice emotionless.
"What? No way! You're going straight to Luke's ship!"
She bit her lip, hesitating. For a second, Percy thought he had managed to make her stop.
Then, with an almost relieved sigh, she looked at him and said:
"I have to make Ikki forgive me."
Percy's heart froze.
"What? What are you talking about?"
But Silena wasn't listening anymore.
She pulled the pegasus's reins and dove.
Straight down.
Too fast.
Directly onto the deck of the Princess Andromeda.
"NO!" Percy screamed.
Blood pounded in his ears. This wasn't an escape.
Silena was throwing herself into the lion's den.
And, by the looks of it, she didn't care if she would come back.
Silena landed on the deck of the Princess Andromeda with a soft impact, but her knees almost buckled as they touched the damp wood.
The smell of sea air mixed with the stench of monsters made her want to vomit. The place was crowded—dracaenae, Laestrygonians, telekhines—Kronos's army was there, and she was surrounded.
Perfect.
The monsters turned to her, snarling and preparing to attack, but before they could move,
"You don't have to fight for Luke." Her voice was soft, but laced with power.
The monsters hesitated.
She took a step forward, her hair fluttering in the night wind.
"He doesn't care about you. He just wants to use you… like he used me."
Doubt began to spread among the creatures. The dracaenae exchanged suspicious glances. The Laestrygonians clenched their fists, uncertain.
Silena didn't want to do this.
Gods, she felt dirty using Ikki's blessing this way, she wasn't worthy, wasn't worthy, wasn't worthy…
But it didn't matter anymore.
She drew on all the power of charm, not just as a daughter of Aphrodite.
"Kill yourselves."
The silence was terrifying.
And then, chaos.
Monsters attacked monsters. Dracaenae plunged spears into Laestrygonians, telekhines tore each other apart with sharp claws. The deck of the Princess Andromeda transformed into a bloody battlefield in a matter of seconds.
"Bravo."
The clapping was soft, rhythmic, and froze Silena in place.
She knew that sound.
Slowly, she raised her eyes.
Luke Castellan was standing at the top of a staircase, looking at her with a satisfied smile.
"I never doubted you, Silena," he said. "You really know how to make an entrance…"
Luke descended the steps slowly, each step echoing across the deck covered in blood and fallen bodies.
"You know, I expected a little more of a challenge, Silena." He smirked. "But you fell right into my trap."
Silena stood where she was, motionless. Her heart was pounding, but her face showed nothing.
Luke tilted his head, assessing her.
"Seriously, you came straight here?" He laughed, incredulous. "That's kind of sad."
Silena didn't answer.
Luke sighed dramatically.
"Well, if it's any consolation… you're not here by chance. I wanted you to come."
He spread his arms, indicating the chaos around them.
"All that information you got about my ship? It was planted. You were led exactly where I wanted you."
His blue eyes, which once seemed full of dreams, were now cold, dark. There was something in the way he watched her—calm, predatory, full of murderous intent.
But Silena remained there. Still.
No reaction.
For a brief moment, a shadow of doubt crossed Luke's face.
"…You already knew."
It wasn't a question.
He studied Silena more carefully, as if finally realizing that the vibrant, lively girl he knew was no longer there.
And then, Luke smiled.
"Gods. You're really broken, aren't you?"
He chuckled, a low laugh full of contempt.
"You really are a failure, Silena."
She didn't even blink.
"You betrayed the person you loved most like that…?" Luke continued. "And now you're here, alone, without any real plan, throwing yourself right into the lion's den?"
He made an exaggerated grimace.
"Don't tell me you came so desperately for revenge?"
Silena remained silent.
Luke grinned.
"Oh, I get it. It wasn't revenge."
He took another step closer, leaning slightly to look into her empty eyes.
"You just want to die, don't you?"
Silena finally moved.
Her fist clenched at her side, her shoulders stiffened, and when she looked up at Luke, there was no longer emptiness there.
There was something deeper. Something darker.
"Shut up."
Her voice was low, firm. Emotionless, but charged with something cold, lethal.
Luke raised his eyebrows, surprised for a moment. Then he smiled.
"Ah, so you still have some life in you."
Silena ignored him.
"You're right about one thing." She tilted her head, looking at him like he was a piece of trash. "I was naive. I was stupid enough to believe you."
Luke opened his mouth to say something, but Silena didn't give him time.
"But make no mistake, Luke." She took a step forward. "I knew it was a trap. I came anyway."
Luke's smile faltered slightly.
"And do you know why?"
Silena pulled the dagger from her belt.
"Because I wanted this chance."
Her eyes flashed with contained fury.
"Even if I die trying…" She pointed the blade at him. "I will kill you."
Silena tightened her fingers around the hilt of the dagger, feeling her breath catch.
"I will kill you for what you did to Ikki."
Luke blinked, and then he laughed.
A laugh of pure mockery, as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
"Oh, Silena." He shook his head, his eyes flashing with a menacing gold. "This isn't going to redeem your sins. You know that, right?"
Silena didn't flinch.
"It won't," she admitted, her voice cold. "But I want to try."
Luke smiled.
"Then try."
Silena lunged.
She felt the charm spread through her body, the power she always used to manipulate others. But when she tried to cast it on Luke—nothing.
His smile widened.
"Oh, you really thought that would work?"
Before Silena could react, he snapped his fingers.
The deck shuddered.
From the shadows, giant scorpions emerged; black as night, with sharp claws and arched tails, dripping venom.
Silena recoiled, trying to prepare to fight, but there were too many.
The creatures advanced.
She gritted her teeth, raising her dagger—
And then, in a blur of blue and silver, something fell from the sky.
BOOM!
The deck trembled again, but this time from the impact of the water explosion.
Before the scorpions could attack, a celestial bronze blade sliced through the air.
In a matter of seconds, the monsters were reduced to dust.
Silena blinked, gasping for air.
In the midst of the destruction, holding Riptide, stood Percy Jackson.
Luke frowned.
He didn't seem angry.
Just… surprised.
Percy twirled his sword, setting it aside, and shot Luke a deadly look. His gaze then went to Silena.
His jaw tightened, and he clenched his fists.
She was really stupid.
Coming here alone? Throwing herself headlong into a trap? By Hades, what was she thinking? But now wasn't the time for lectures. He couldn't let this opportunity slip away.
But before he could say anything, Luke interrupted him, as if considering something.
"Ah, Percy. Always at the right moment to ruin my plans..."
Percy let out a sigh, adjusting his grip on Riptide.
"It's not intentional," he replied. "I mean, sometimes it is. But, most of the time, I'm just cursed with a terrible sense of timing...."
Beside him, Silena remained rigid as a statue, her gaze divided between relief and frustration.
Luke clicked his tongue, disappointed.
"Do you really want to do this here, Jackson?" He gestured to the deck. "Because, frankly, I've already foreseen this fight. And the ending isn't good for you..."
Percy twirled the sword in his fingers, keeping his eyes fixed on him.
"Funny..." He said through gritted teeth. "Because I've also foreseen this fight...."
Luke raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah.." Percy confirmed. "And guess what? The ending isn't good for you either..."
Luke sighed theatrically.
"Why do you always have to be so dramatic?"
Percy shrugged.
"Why do you always have to be a generic cartoon villain?"
Luke rolled his eyes.
"Right. So let's get this over with."
And without waiting for an answer, he attacked.
Luke's blade sliced through the air in a golden blur. Percy barely managed to raise Riptide in time. The impact was so brutal that his arms tingled, and he was thrown backward, sliding across the deck.
He stabbed the sword into the ground to steady himself and looked at Luke, his heart pounding.
That wasn't normal.
Luke had always been an incredible swordsman, perhaps the best Percy had ever faced, with the exception of Ikki, who was a complete aberration. But now… now it was something beyond that.
His blows weren't just fast. They were perfect. Flawless. Without hesitation. As if he had spent countless lifetimes mastering the art of the sword.
And the strength?
That wasn't the blow of a demigod.
It was something more.
Something greater.
"What's wrong, Jackson?" Luke smiled, spinning his blade with absurd ease. "Did you expect me to stay the same boy you met?"
Percy gritted his teeth.
He lunged forward.
Riptide sliced through the air in a shining arc. Luke deflected it with a minimal, almost lazy movement. Percy attacked again, a quick, brutal blow aimed at his ribs.
Luke spun his sword and parried the attack with such force that Percy felt the bones in his arm vibrate.
And then, Luke counterattacked.
A side cut, Percy barely managed to deflect it. A thrust, he ducked just in time. A sequence of blows so fast that it looked like a golden blur.
Percy tried to block, but each impact was like being hit by a freight train.
The deck of the Princess Andromeda trembled with the intensity of the fight. Planks splintered. Structures collapsed. The wind roared around them.
And Percy was… losing.
He attacked with everything he had, but Luke saw every move before he even made it. Every blow from Percy was blocked, every dodge was predicted.
Luke completely dominated him.
And then, in an instant, Percy realized.
It was as if he had fought this battle hundreds of times before. As if he knew exactly what Percy would do, even before he thought of it.
That… that was impossible.
Luke kicked his chest, and Percy was thrown back, hitting one of the masts with enough force to make the entire ship shudder.
He fell to his knees, gasping for air.
Riptide slipped from his fingers.
Luke approached, raising his sword.
"I warned you…" he said, his voice almost… disappointed.
Before he could approach or do anything, Percy quickly punched him in the face, catching him off guard and sending him sliding across the deck. He got up, the cuts and bruises disappearing as if they had never existed. The dried blood that covered his skin was washed away by the moisture that emerged from him, as if an entire ocean were within his body.
Luke, who received the punch that didn't cause any kind of damage, frowned. "Interesting."
Percy rolled his shoulders, feeling the energy pulsing in every cell. He understood now: he was a walking ocean due to the unique ability he received from Ikki...
"You seem confused, Luke." Percy smiled. "Did you expect me to crumble? You know, I thought you were smarter. You may have improved and gotten stronger, but that doesn't mean I haven't either..."
He flexed his fingers, feeling the overwhelming force of the compressed water within him.
And then, he stomped.
It wasn't just a blow.
It was as if the sea itself had plummeted from the sky.
The Princess Andromeda groaned in agony. Planks cracked, beams splintered, the entire hull gave way under the crushing weight that Percy imposed on himself. He wasn't just water now—he was the ocean floor, the crushing pressure of the depths transformed into pure power.
The impact was devastating. The ship split in half. Water exploded through the cracks, engulfing everything like the ravenous mouths of the sea.
"BLACKJACK!" Percy yelled to the sky. "GET SILENA AND GET OUT OF HERE!"
A whinny answered, and the pegasus swooped down among the wreckage, rescuing the daughter of Aphrodite before it was too late.
Luke, in turn, just watched.
He didn't seem surprised. Nor worried.
As the ship sank around him, he just looked at Percy and smiled, as if everything was happening exactly as he wanted.
The waves roared around the wreckage, swallowing the ship as it sank into pieces.
Percy, however, did not fall with it.
He had learned a lot in the last five months. What Ikki gave him wasn't just power; it was a new way of understanding water. He wasn't limited to the ocean or rivers. There was water everywhere. In the humidity of the air. In the clouds. In the sky itself, so light that he could float with a bit of his mental control; in layman's terms, he made his body like water and manipulated it through his powers.
The sea and the wreckage of the ship receded below him as he hovered in the air, as if he were underwater without having to swim.
He smiled.
But then, he noticed something strange.
Luke was also floating.
Percy frowned. "Oh, come on."
Luke laughed. "Surprised, Jackson?"
"Actually, yes." Percy crossed his arms, studying his enemy. "I know you can't do this. You're not a son of Poseidon, much less a walking ocean like me."
Luke just smirked.
That's when Percy noticed.
The boots.
Worn leather boots, with small wings gently flapping in the air.
The shock hit him all at once.
"Wait a minute..." Percy widened his eyes. "Are those Ikki's boots?! The same ones that fell into Tartarus when we went to the Underworld?"
Luke tilted his head. "Well, they weren't Ikki's to begin with, they were Hermes'."
"You came prepared in case I sank the ship?" Percy said, looking at Luke with narrowed eyes.
"Do you really think I was worried about this ship, Jackson?" Luke gestured to the wreckage below, where the Princess Andromeda was being swallowed by the sea. "Please. Hiding this old tin can from your father's perception was a pain in the ass."
Percy blinked. "Wait... What?"
Luke shrugged, casually floating in the air as if lying on a cloud. "All that energy spent on magic, illusions, favors to minor gods... All to keep Poseidon distracted. If I'd known you were going to sink it for me, I would've let you do it sooner."
Percy felt a shiver run down his spine.
"So, you didn't care at all?"
Luke shook his head, sighing as if explaining something obvious to a child.
"Jackson, all of this..." He spread his arms, indicating the wreckage, the stormy sky, the boiling sea itself below them. "Is exactly according to Kronos's plans."
Before Percy could ask what he meant, the ocean below split.
The water parted as if being cut in half, revealing a vast expanse of liquid darkness and a presence that made Percy's stomach drop.
A huge figure emerged.
It was Oceanus, his father's rival, it could only be him, as it was exactly as described in the myths and yet even more terrifying.
His body was composed of pure water, but so dense and compact that it took the form of a muscular colossus, his skin oscillating between the blue of the deep ocean and the gold of ancient corals. His beard extended like a cascade of furious tides, interwoven with seaweed and shining corals. His eyes were endless waves, swirling like whirlpools that sucked in all the light around them. And on his head, a crown of aquatic spirals undulated, resembling the destructive force of sea storms.
He floated beside Luke, his presence so overwhelming that Percy felt the pressure around him increase violently. The air itself seemed thicker. The sea roared below.
"Really, it will be satisfying to see Poseidon's face after I kill his son..." Oceanus's voice sounded like thousands of tides breaking against cliffs, drowning out all other sounds.
Finishing his sentence, Oceanus attacked first.
A colossal arm made of water rose and plummeted down on Percy with the force of a tsunami.
Percy managed to raise Riptide at the last moment, summoning all his oceanic strength to reinforce his defense.
But it wasn't enough.
The wave crashed down on him like a mountain of crushing pressure.
Percy felt bones crack. His body was thrown back, spinning like a stone being hurled by the current. He tried to steady himself, but another blow came—a punch that exploded against his chest as if the entire ocean had hit him at the same time.
He coughed up blood.
The water boiled around him. His body screamed in pain.
But he couldn't fall now.
Yelling, he shot forward, altering his weight to something impossible to measure.
He plunged Riptide into Oceanus's shoulder.
The Titan roared, his form momentarily wavering, water separating into chaotic twists around the wound.
Percy took advantage of the moment. He spun in the air, creating a cutting vortex around him, striking Oceanus repeatedly with swift and brutal thrusts.
Oceanus moved too fast for something so colossal.
One of his arms rose like a serpent and struck Percy with a brutal slap, throwing him against the clouds.
The sky spun. Percy felt his ribs crack.
He barely managed to stabilize himself before Oceanus engulfed him in a current of deep sea, swirling around him like a crushing whirlpool.
Percy tried to breathe, but there was no air; he had never experienced such a thing as a son of Poseidon. The pressure increased. His body screamed for oxygen.
He was drowning.
Percy felt the water closing in around him as if he were being sucked into a black hole.
The pressure was absurd. His chest burned, his bones felt like they were about to shatter. Oceanus was trying to crush him alive.
He had faced a lot already—Cyclopes, furious gods, even the invincible Ikki in training. But this? This was like fighting against the ocean itself.
And the worst part? He was losing.
"Okay, okay..." Percy thought, feeling his lungs burn. "Maybe challenging a Titan of the sea wasn't the best idea."
The whirlpool around him tightened even more. He felt his vision blurring.
"Great... Death by oceanic crushing. That's all I needed..."
But then, something sparked in his mind.
He was also the sea.
Oceanus might be ancient, powerful, and made of water, but Percy was a son of Poseidon. And, more than that…
He was a ridiculously stubborn kid.
He closed his eyes and stopped resisting.
Instead of fighting the flow, he became the flow.
His body dissolved into the surrounding water, becoming part of the ocean and escaping the Titan's deadly grip.
Oceanus hesitated for a moment, but it was enough.
Percy re-formed behind him, forcing all his energy into his fist. He condensed the force of the ocean currents into a single punch; he was sure it was the limit of what he could do with his current power.
And then, he struck.
The impact blasted Oceanus forward like a wave breaking against the rocks. The Titan roared, turning to face him, but Percy was already moving.
"I don't know if you've noticed," Percy panted, readying his sword, "but trying to drown me isn't a very good strategy."
He shot forward like a torpedo, slashing Oceanus with Riptide. The blade shimmered as it struck the Titan, tearing through his watery structure.
Oceanus snarled, and, in a blink of an eye, multiple arms of the sea rose around him, each as big as an ocean liner.
Percy cursed mentally.
"Of course. Because fighting one Titan alone wasn't enough, right?"
The arms descended upon him like liquid hammers, each one carrying the force of a thousand raging tides.
Percy dodged the first. Sliced through the second. But the third—
BAM!
The blow hit him squarely in the stomach and sent him flying backward.
He doubled over in pain. The blow felt like it had broken half his ribs. He tried to breathe, but all he managed was to spit out a mouthful of blood.
But, as he fell, he had a stupid idea.
And, usually, stupid ideas were the ones that worked.
With a grunt of pain, he tossed Riptide upward and spread his arms.
At his command, the entire ocean began to rise.
Every drop of water around him responded to his call. The sea itself twisted, forming a colossal wave, not to attack Oceanus, but to engulf him...
Oceanus realized too late.
Before he could react, Percy pulled him into the water that formed him, forcing the currents to collapse around him like a liquid prison every time he tried to pass through them.
The Titan's structure wavered. His eyes flashed with fury.
"INSOLENT!"
He tried to expand again, but Percy clenched his fist, concentrating every drop of his power.
"Stay there for a bit, will ya?" Percy gasped, his energy drained. "I need to... ugh... breathe."
Oceanus roared within the watery prison, but, for now, he was trapped.
Percy floated in the air, panting, every inch of his body screaming in pain.
And then, he heard Luke clapping.
"I admit..." Luke said, smiling. "That was impressive."
Percy snorted, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"Great. 'Cause I'm not impressed."
After saying that, he was about to think of something to deal with his current horrible situation, when something happened. He widened his eyes as he saw Silena taking off a white beanie and becoming visible? Since when did she have this magic item? He couldn't wonder too much about it, as she appeared right behind Luke, floating, and stabbed him in the back. She was also wearing some kind of winged sneakers, which was why she was able to fly too...
Well, what happened next was too fast to understand.
It was too confusing to understand...
Silena felt the impact before she realized what had happened.
For an instant, time seemed to stop.
Luke's golden blade was embedded in her chest, piercing her armor as if it were paper. Shock washed over her face when she realized that her own dagger… had simply bounced off.
How? She should have hit him. She had taken Luke by surprise.
Luke turned to her, his eyes wide, his expression blank… as if even he hadn't understood what he had just done.
But Silena felt no pain. Nothing.
Instead, a strange sensation of warmth began to envelop her body.
And then, it began.
They say that, before you die, your best memories flash before your eyes.
For Silena, all those memories were of Ikki.
Time rewound to when they first met.
The first time she saw him, still trying to understand how someone could be so impossibly beautiful. His mysterious manner, his sharp gaze, that smile that seemed to know more than it should.
The memory shifted.
She saw herself on the porch of the Big House, laughing as Ikki, with his infinite patience, tried to teach her something. Maybe magic. Maybe just the way he saw the world. She didn't remember the exact words, but she remembered the feeling of being safe beside him.
Another flash.
The two of them sitting by the lake, the moon's reflection dancing on the water. The moment when, for an instant, the world seemed to stop, and she felt she could lose herself forever in those golden eyes.
Then, there was a dance—was it real? Or just a dream? She was twirling, laughing, feeling Ikki's light touch on her hand. He wasn't a bad dancer. Not at all.
Time moved forward again.
The day she finally realized…
How much she loved him.
And, more than that…
How much she wished he knew.
The memories kept flashing. But there was no pain.
No memories of betrayal, guilt, or regret.
Only the happy moments.
Only him.
Silena blinked, returning to the present.
Her gaze fell to the sword still embedded in her chest. There was blood, but no pain.
She looked up at Luke.
Shock was still etched on his face. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Silena just smiled.
Her body weakened, and, as she fell, all she managed to whisper was a name.
"Ikki…"