Chapter Text
The wind was soft, the sky was blue, and the waves giggled with Percy.
Sally Jackson sat on the beach, her sundress fluttering, feet bare and toes dug into warm sand. Percy sat a few feet away with a tiny plastic shovel, digging a crooked moat around a seashell castle.
“I makin’ it strong,” he said proudly. “No waves knock it over.”
“You’re doing a great job, sweetheart,” she said.
“‘Cause I da castle guy!”
He turned and beamed at her, hair sticking up in damp curls, cheeks kissed red by the sun.
She smiled and reached for the bag beside her. Nestled between a folded towel and a crushed juice box was a short bronze knife in a plain leather sheath.
Poseidon had left it three years ago—right after Percy was born. In case you ever need it. Trust your instincts.
She didn’t question it. She never had.
The waves shifted.
Percy blinked and turned toward the water. “That wave’s real big.”
Sally stood quickly.
Then she heard it. A clicking, rattling sound—like shells grinding underfoot.
Something small but twisted burst from the foam, seaweed draped across its hunched back. Its skin was scaly and slimy, it's limbs too long for its squat body. Rust-colored claws dragged furrows in the sand, and its eyes glowed a sickly green.
It hissed—too loud for something so small—and lunged forward on all fours.
A Sea-Kallikantzaros. She had read about them in greek mythology.
Not powerful. But deadly.
And drawn to divine blood.
Sally grabbed Percy and shoved him behind her. “Don’t move.”
The monster shrieked and charged.
She pulled the celestial bronze knife from the bag. It felt heavier than she remembered. But her grip was steady.
When the creature leapt, she met it midair and slashed.
A flash of bronze. A hiss. A burst of golden dust.
It was gone.
But not before one jagged claw caught her ribs.
She gasped and dropped to her knees.
“Mommy?”
Percy crawled to her side, dragging his knees through the sand, eyes wide and scared. “Mommy, you okay?”
Her hand was pressed to her side, red blooming through her shirt like a flower. She tried to sit up—but her body didn’t listen.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. “Just a little hurt.”
Percy frowned. “You fell down…”
“I know, baby.”
“You should get up. You gotta get up.”
Sally reached out and cupped his cheek, brushing his tear-streaked face with trembling fingers.
Her touch was still warm.
“You're okay now,” Percy said softly. “The monster’s gone. I saw it go poof.”
Sally’s smile was shaky, but full of love. “Because you were so brave.”
Percy didn’t understand why she was crying.
He wiped at her face clumsily. “Don’t be sad, Mommy. It’s over.”
Her breathing hitched. “Percy... you listen to me, okay?”
He nodded, wide-eyed.
“You are the most wonderful thing I’ve ever done,” she whispered. “You are my little sea star. My whole world.”
He leaned closer, confused and clinging. “But… I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re here,” she said, voice thin. “That’s everything.”
Percy blinked. “We can go home now. I’ll hold your hand, real careful.”
Her hand slipped from his cheek.
“Mommy?”
He nudged her arm. “Mommy?”
Nothing.
The rise and fall of her chest had stopped.
Her eyes were closed.
The sound of the ocean faded under the pounding of his heart.
“Mommy?” he whispered again, smaller now. “Why you not talking?”
The sky seemed to still.
He lay beside her, trembling, his little hand curled in hers.
“…Mommy?”
Then the world broke open.
The ocean shifted.
Percy stared at her, then shook her arm.
The tears came fast. Big and hot and messy.
He screamed.
And the sea screamed back.
Lightning cracked. The sky blackened. The waves rose, raging.
Sand spun. Wind howled. A hurricane bloomed from nothing—because it didn’t come from nature.
It came from him.
Poseidon felt it.
A divine storm. One that didn’t belong.
Not Kym's. Not Zeus’s.
Something... new.
He rode the currents, fury building, until he reached the eye of the storm.
What he found made his immortal heart go still.
At the center was a boy. Tiny. Glowing faintly with divine light. Curled against the still form of Sally Jackson.
He didn’t look up until Poseidon stepped closer.
When he did, his voice broke with something raw and too old for three years.
“…Daddy?”
Poseidon froze. His little boy. How did he know who he was?
Percy touched his face. His hand was small and trembling.
“Mommy said you were lost at sea,” he whispered.
A tear slipped down his cheek.
“You founded now?”