PERCY COULDN'T WAIT.

he'd tried to, of course— attempting to take a nap, which turned out to be him staring up at his metal ceiling for two hours as his mind solely focused on karina, and how much he wants to just walk across the hall and into her arms. his stomach was tugging at him to just get up and go over there— but annabeth's words rung in his head like an annoying bell, and he knew that he needed to give her space.

so, to pass the time, he went into annabeth's room with a stack of cards and two cups of tea— which he'd never liked before, until karina introduced it to him— and now he's obsessed with it. especially chai tea, because it reminds him of christmas.

percy knew better than to expect a success in any game that they play. playing cards with annabeth was always a losing game, no matter how skilled or strategic you are. she will always win. and percy had learned that many years ago— but, it was the only thing that was able to keep him distracted from slamming down karina's door and letting her cry in his arms, so, he had to deal with it.

he could tell that annabeth would rather be doing anything other than this, but she knew how distraught percy was with having to wait for karina, so she pulled through for him and played uno, go fish, blackjack, and poker, until she finally forced him to go do something better with his life.

it was only midday, and karina still hadn't left her room. percy was beginning to lose his patience, but he forced himself to have at least some self-will, and refrained from going to her.

he swam a few laps around the argo II, talked to a few dolphins about his love-problems, and he even attempted to make a crocheted hat out of seaweed— though, it looked more like a ripped placemat than anything else. so, he decided to leave it at the bottom of the ocean instead.

he tried out a mediation lesson that karina had taught him a few mornings ago, but after he finished the second step, he realized that he'd forgotten everything else, and was stuck in a downward dog position for at least five minutes before frank found him and helped him regain feeling in his legs. he should've known better than to try and do it again— because when karina had taught him it the first time, he was mainly just listening to how attractive her morning voice sounded, and not the actual steps to the meditation method.

after that, karina still hadn't left her room, so him and hazel decided to make dinner for the two of them. even though they had magical plates that would give them any food in the world that they wanted, percy wanted to try and make something for himself.

it ended up being hazel who did most of the cooking after percy put cinnamon in the soup instead of paprika, and added the carrots into the pot without cutting them. so, hazel decided to stick him on the job of making a desert for the team instead. and, of course, he chose to make blue cupcakes.

it seemed easy enough, right?

wrong.

percy, being the dyslexic and adhd demigod dumbass that he is, read that the oven should be put at 650 degrees instead of 350, and five minutes after he put the cupcakes in— he set the whole pan on fire.

percy screamed like an eight year old girl as he slammed the flaming pan of cupcakes down on top of the stove, jumping around in circles as he wrung his hand out— obviously not using gloves to take out the pan.

"percy!" hazel screamed, dropping her latel that she was stirring the soup with to rush across the kitchen to percy, who was trying to put the flames out of his hair with a dirty rag that he used to wipe the cake batter off the table with.

when she looked at what the oven temperature was, she turned to percy with a bewildered look of shock on her face. "it's supposed to be at 350 degrees, percy!"

"i thought the box said to put it at 650 degrees!" percy defended through a shout as he shoved his head under the faucet of the sink, his hair steaming.

"why would it ever say that?" she yelled as she turned the fan above the oven on, trying to put out the fire with a wet towel, the apron that was wrapped around her waist untying in the back from her strained effort to fix percy's mistake. 

after that, everyone decided percy was not allowed in the kitchen anymore.

by nightfall, karina still hadn't left her room, and percy decided that he'd waited long enough, and that if he didn't go into her room himself— she'd never come out to see him.

so, he grabbed a bowl of of the chicken and vegetable soup that hazel made from the team's previous dinner, and a mug of steaming hot chai tea, and he made his way downstairs to her room.

when he reached her door, his stomach churned with nerves. what if she yelled at him? told him to go away and leave her alone? what if she physically kicked him out?

he couldn't think like that. he had to help her when she needed him most.

so, shaking the negative thoughts from his head, he balanced the mug of tea in the same arm that he was holding the soup in, and delicately knocked on her door.

"rina?" percy called softly, pressing his face close to the door. "i— i have some dinner for you."

no response.

he sighed, his heart beating rapidly. "uh— i also have some tea? and . . . and i just wanted to make sure you were okay."

still no response.

he knew that he couldn't just turn away and leave her— he wouldn't be able to rest easily until he saw that she was okay. unless she answered now and told him no— then he would leave. he just needed something to let him know that she was in there and okay.

"okay, um, i'm going to come in," he said hesitantly. "please, don't throw a rock at me or anything. i have hot soup in my arms that i really don't want to spill on me."

he slowly opened the door, and to his immense surprise, the first thing he saw when he turned his head was the large from of caelius sitting protectively over karina on her bed— his sharp blue eyes glaring at him.

percy jumped back in shock, biting back a yelp in surprise— and slight fear. that tiger still scared him ever since he tried to kill him after the war games in camp jupiter.

the soup wobbled in his arms when he stumbled back, and he just barely saved it from falling. he quickly set it down on karina's bedside table, and straightened up, looking at caelius nervously.

"uh . . . " percy struggled to speak. "hi, caelius."

caelius growled, and percy involuntarily let out a squeak of fear at the sight of his sharp taber teeth drawing.

he stepped back a step. "o-o-kay," he said with a nervous laugh. "um, i promise i am not here to hurt karina, nor am i here to hurt you. i— i just wanted to check up on her and make sure she was okay."

caelius expression didn't change, but his head seemed to tilt to the side quizzically, as if he were studying percy like a new chew toy.

"caelius," karina whispered from behind him, sitting up from her spot on the bed. "it's okay. he's not going to hurt me."

percy's shoulders visibly relaxed at the sight of karina. "rina . . . "

she turned to him, and his heart skipped a beat— but not in the good way.

her eyes were rimmed red from crying, and her face was splotchy with dried tears that mixed in with the fresh cuts from early that day in the chamber— making her skin look as if she had walked through a broken window. her hair was a mess— pulled back into a lose ponytail, except most of the hair had fallen out and was framing her face, some flyaways sticking to her tear-stained cheeks. she was wearing one his old graphic t-shirts, the material almost slipping off her shoulders. she looked like she'd just walked through a hurricane— but to percy she just looked like karina. just a little . . . lost.

"oh, karina," percy mumbled, walking closer to sit on the bed, the only thing separating him from his girlfriend being caelius, who was staring at him threateningly. one wrong move from him and percy was caelius's next chew toy.

"caelius, move over," karina said softly, her voice cracking with each syllable, and she patted his head comfortingly as the tiger gave percy one last warning look before moving to the end of the bed, beginning to clean his paws.

percy scooted closer to her, and to his surprise, karina didn't move away. instead, she stayed still as he placed her body against his— letting her head rest against his beating chest as he ran a hand through her hair.

she didn't hug him back, or make any move to turn away. all she did was lean against him, her head going limp against his slightly erratic heart, her eyes closing tiredly as she was completely swarmed in percy's loving embrace. he wrapped his arms around her as comfortingly as he could be, noticing the slight tremble to her body as she was flushed against him. he only held her tighter at the feeling.

they didn't say anything for a while— just sitting in the calming and loving embrace of each other. both of them felt different kinds of relief— percy, feeling relief from the fact that he can finally ease his mind that karina was okay. karina, from the fact that she finally had someone to lean on, and to let herself go limp in his arms— and completely let lose.

"rina?" percy mumbled quietly, drawing a finger through her hair softly, tucking it behind her ear so that he could see her face pressed up against his chest. looking down at her from his position, she looked more than adorable with the right side of her face smushed against his shirt, and her soft, comforting lips pressed against him as well.

"hm?" she hummed quietly, her position not moving.

percy stayed quiet for a moment before he spoke again. "i know that it's going to be hard to talk about," he began slowly. "but . . . whatever happened down in that chamber, you can talk to me about it. i . . . i won't judge you, o—or even say anything. i'll just listen if you want me to. but, just know . . . i'll always be here for you. always. and you can tell me anything."

karina was silent for a while, but she didn't move or tense in the position she was in against percy's chest, so that gave him the confirmation that he hadn't said the wrong thing, or made the mistake of bringing up those particular past events.

"i . . . " she swallowed, finally speaking up. "i can't think about it without my mind scaring itself. i— i will tell you, percy. i promise. but . . . not right now. i— i can't even talk about it without crying."

she let out a quiet laugh at the last part, but it was weak, and definitely forced. he knew that she was trying her best to reassure him that she was okay— but it was hard to believe her when her face was tear stained and her body still continued to tremble slightly in his arms— hours after the events happened.

he smiled down at her, placing a small kiss to her hair before sitting back again. "take all the time in the world you need, rina. i'll always be here waiting."

he felt her lips curl into a small smile against his chest, and she leaned further into his embrace, deeply inhaling the sweet smell of the sea that radiated off of him.

they remained in comfortable silence for while, the only sound being the occasional mewl from caelius, who continued to clean his paws and fur by himself.

"i'm sorry," percy finally said, breaking the silence.  his voice was deep with earnest emotion. "i'm sorry for everything i did. overstepping my boundaries the night you fell, getting into that fight with jason . . . fighting over you . . . "

he had leaned back against the wall behind her bed, still sitting upright, and now karina was laying across his body, her legs bent across his body while her head was still laying on his chest.

she didn't say anything for a moment, his words slowly going through her brain.

"i know," she replied softly. "and that's why i forgive you."

percy tried his best to hide his surprise, but hearing those words come out of karina's mouth made him do a double take.

"r—really?" he asked, his tone going against his calm demeanor. he sounded genuinely surprised.

she nodded against his chest, her eyes still closed. "i don't like holding grudges against the people i love."

percy pulled her closer to him at those words, placing a long kiss to forehead as she readjusted herself in his arms, so now she was sitting upright, her legs still bent across his.

she placed a hand against his cheek, and his sea green eyes stared into her red rimmed green and gold ones— still glassy with previous tears.

"just because i forgave you doesn't mean i'm not still upset about it," she said, her voice quiet and smooth, like silk.

percy nodded, looking up at her as if she were the most important thing in the world. "i know," he said. "i would be confused if you weren't upset about it."

she gave him a sad smile, but her expression looked broken, like a butterfly that lost its wings. "i never want you to do something like that again, percy. not now, not ever. even when i'm gone."

at her last words, percy's face turned confused. "i . . . when you're gone? karina, that's not going to be for a while, okay? we're going to survive this."

karina's face turned even sadder, and her eyes seemed to well up with fresh tears— but they didn't fall. "yeah," she agreed with a smile, her voice thick with emotion. "not for a while."

percy stared at her for a long moment, reaching his hand up to wipe away the old tears from under her eyes with his thumb, watching as she closed her eyes, a sad frown still pulling at her lips as she leaned her head against his hand.

"i love you," she whispered to him, opening her eyes to look him directly into his.

he pulled her head in slowly to connect his lips to hers, letting his hand fall to her side of her neck as he softly kissed her.

"i love you more," he whispered back as they pulled away, and she smiled at him.

"impossible," she said softly, and he leaned in the kiss her again, as if it were their last kiss on earth.

but now, they never will know if it will be or not.

KARINA REALIZED IN this moment, that if she wasn't dating a son of poseidon, she'd absolutely hate the ocean.

a wave the size of a skyscraper crashed over the forward deck, washing the front crossbows and half the port railing out to sea. the sails were ripped to shreds. lightning flashed all around, hitting the sea like spotlights. horizontal rain blasted karina's face. the clouds were so dark she honestly couldn't tell if it was day or night.

the crew was doing what they could . . . which wasn't much.

leo had lashed himself to the consol with a bungee cord harness. that might have seemed like a good idea when he rigged it up, but every time a wave hit he was washed away, then smacked back into his control board like a human paddleball.

piper, karina, and annabeth were trying to save the rigging. since sparta, they'd become quite a team— able to work together without even talking, which was just as well, since they couldn't have hard each other over the storm.

frank had turned into a gorilla. he was swinging upside down off the starboard rail, using his massive strength and his flexible feet to hang on while he untangled some broken oars. the crew was trying to get the ship airborne, but even if they managed to take off, karina wasn't sure the sky would be any safer.

even festus the figurehead was trying to help. he spewed fire at the rain, though that didn't seem to discourage the storm.

only percy was having much luck. he stood by the center mast, his hands extended like he was on a tightrope. every time the ship tilted, he pushed in the opposite direction and the hull stabilized. he summoned giant fists of water from the ocean to slam into the larger waves before they could reach the deck, so it looked like the ocean was hitting itself repeatedly in the face.

with the storm as bad as it is, karina knew the ship would've already capsized or been smashed to bits if percy wasn't on the job.

karina stumbled down from the rigging and over to percy. no words were exchanged, mostly because if they even tried to speak with each other, all they'd see were moving lips.

she tried her best to help stabilize the ship from below them, getting into a similar position as percy, except her arms were tilted downward. she was trying to summon seaweed and thick vines from the ocean floor to wrap around the bottom of the ship to keep it in place.

she bit her lip as the strain of holding together an entire ship fell hard against her muscles, but she continued to push, because she could tell that the boat was slightly more stable now than it was before.

she saw jason staggering toward them, and when he made it to percy's side he grabbed his shoulder.

it seemed like they'd made up at some point, because percy nodded like 'sup. he didn't look shocked, or demand that jason go to sickbay— but karina was the opposite.

"jason, get your ass back downstairs now!" she yelled as she held her position with the plants beneath the ship, but all jason saw was her mouth moving silently.

"what?" he called.

"i said, get your stupid ass back down— " karina stopped herself with a groan of frustration when she realized he couldn't hear a single thing she was screaming at him for.

percy could stay dry if he concentrated, but obviously he had bigger things to worry about right now. his dark hair was plastered to his face. his clothes were soaked and ripped. karina hated that in this moment she was thinking about how attractive he looked.

she didn't look much different— her hair soaked and clothes sticking to her skin.

he shouted something in jason's ear, but he could only make out a few words. "THING . . . DOWN . . . STOP IT!"

percy pointed over the side.

"something is causing the storm?" jason asked.

percy grinned and tapped his ears. clearly, he couldn't hear a word. he made a gesture with his hand like diving overboard. then he tapped jason on the chest.

"you want me to go?" jason felt kind of honored. despite their fight, percy seemed to figure that if jason was on deck, he was ready for action, unlike everybody else who had been treating him like a glass vase.

"happy to!" jason shouted. "but i can't breathe underwater!"

percy shrugged. sorry, can't hear you.

then percy gave karina his signature troublemaker smile, before pulling her into a kiss, and ran to starboard rail, pushed another massive wave away from the ship, and jumped overboard.

jason turned to karina, who looked as if she might pop a fuse, and then she turned to him, and began screaming something incoherent to him, and he knew that she was definitely threatening him with some painful plant-related torture if he followed percy.

he flashed her a strained smile and a thumbs up before racing off away from her before she could slap him downstairs.

karina watched as he staggered to the railing and looked up at the storm. she couldn't do anything because she knew that if she moved, the whole ship would sink.

wides raged. clouds churned. jason raised his arm and summoned a lasso of wind. he lassoed a nasty patch of storm cloud and pulled it in. "you're serving me today."

howling in protest, the ventus encircled him. the storm above the ship seemed to lessen just a bit, as if the other venti were thinking oh, crud. that guy means business.

jason levitated off the deck, encased in his own miniature tornado. spinning like a corkscrew, he plunged into the water.

leaving the ship defenseless, percy and jason plunged to the bottom of the sea, and karina couldn't be any more infuriated.

"who do they think they are?" she asked to herself, spitting out a piece of wet hair that had flown into her mouth. she was still standing in the same position as before— only now she was having to use more of her strength to steady the boat. her veins were glowing a faint gold, and her fingertips sparked with gold as well. "thinking they can just leave without warning? those fucking idiots."

she shook her head as she heard leo scream like a small child from below her, and she watched his body being thrown into his center console at the wheel.

"thank the gods for annabeth and piper," karina muttered to herself as she watched leo rub his head, a frown on his face as he yelled something to the storm above him— as if that would scare it away or something.

an hour of the argo II being smashed and punched around in the ocean had passed before jason and percy came back.

karina wouldn't admit how nervous she'd been the whole time they'd been down there. she knew percy thrives in the water— and that he's strongest when he's around it. but, the thought of him and jason being so far down in the water with no idea of where them or anyone else scared her.

when they got back on deck, the storm had begun to calm down, and karina walked over to them— her lips pulled into a scowl.

percy and jason's eyes widened, and they both turned to each other, before they both— in sync— dashed the other way, hastily slipping across the deck, trying to run to the stairs before karina could reach them— pushing and shoving each other as they ran. they both knew what was coming for them— and they wanted to get as far away from karina as they possibly could.

she heard the distinct sounds of percy whisper-shouting, "go, go, go!" to jason as they attempted to run, their feet sliding across the wet deck as they went, both of them running into walls and each other, trying to escape the wrath of karina.

they didn't get very far.

karina, a scowl still present on her face, grabbed both of their ankles by the grip of a rose vine, and dragged them each back across the deck— their faces holding looks of defeat as they got dragged on their backs back to her.

annabeth and piper watched from above, snickering to each other as they watched the boys cower under her hard gaze.

"what the hell was that?" karina demanded, referring to how they just jumped off the boat with no context or reason whatsoever.

the boys instantly shot to their feet, nervous looks on their faces as they smiled innocently.

"we killed a giant?" percy said hesitantly with a smile, trying to resolve the situation.

"and met a goddess named kym," jason added with a thumbs up.

karina blinked, her stare unwavering. "what?"

percy and jason exchanged looks.

"can i explain in my room?" percy asked. "i feel like my legs are about to fall off."

karina still had a scowl, but her eyes were anything but hostile. "fine," she said, and turned to jason. "go change. your clothes look like anything but clothes."

jason looked down. his pants her ripped at the knees, and his shirt sleeve had been torn off. small rips and slashes were scattered across the front of his shirt— looking as if he'd let a five year old made abstract designs with a knife on his shirt.

"oh. right."

karina rolled her eyes. "go."

jason complied and hurried downstairs, secretly grateful to be out of her terrifying confrontation.

she turned to percy. "let's go."

she left him no room to respond, as she was already grabbing his hand, and dragging him down the stairs. he followed behind her like a lost dog, and she was the one dragging him back home.

leo watched the two of them with a crazed expression. "i don't know how those two work, but they do."

annabeth scoffed. "all i'm saying this, i have no idea how percy managed to pull someone like karina."

"the idiot and the idiot's caretaker." leo muttered, and annabeth and piper fell into laughter, watching the couple bustle down the stairs— percy with a pout, and karina with a scowl.

AFTER THEIR encounter with kymopo-what's-her-name, the argo II limped through the aegean, too damaged to fly, too slow to outrun monsters. they fought hungry sea serpents about every hour. they attracted schools of curious fish. at one point they got stuck on a rock, and percy and jason had to get out and push.

the wheezing sound of the engine made leo to the point of tears— and karina almost wanted to give him a hug because of it. over the course of three long days, he finally got the ship more or less back to working order just as they made port at the island of mykonos, which probably meant it was time for them to get bashed to pieces again.

percy and karina were currently ashore to scout around, and as they walked, it almost felt like they were two normal teenagers spending a day trip in town.

percy, who was holding karina's hand with one of his, pointed his finger in front of him. "karina . . . " he said unsurely. "are those— "

"pelicans?" karina asked, squinting her eyes as a tall, skinny bird walked into a consignment shop. nobody around them seemed to be fazed by it— they just kept moving along, not even sparring a glance at the bird. "uh . . . yeah, they are."

"why are their pelicans walking around like people? and why does no one care?" percy asked in complete confusion, shaking his head.

karina shrugged. "town mascots, maybe?"

"do you think they're monsters in disguise?" percy asked, holding her a hand a little tighter as they continued to walk.

karina shook her head. "no, we would've known by now. i think they're just . . . regular old pelicans."

percy's face remained confused. "but why would they just have pelicans walking around town?"

"why do you ask so many questions, percy?" karina asked, giving him an amused smile.

percy shrugged his shoulders, eyeing a pelican as it grabbed a gold bracelet off a random kiosk's table. the person running the stand didn't seem to care, not sparing a glance at the bird as it flew away. "i don't know. it's just weird— maybe new york should have pigeons walk around the city or something."

"they already do," karina said with a raised eyebrow, her smile widening.

percy frowned, and huffed through his nose, dragging karina along as they walked through the stores. "stop contradicting me— i live in new york, not you."

"okay?" karina said through a laugh. "but it's common knowledge that new york has an overwhelming amount of pigeons in the city. you don't have to live there to know that."

percy pressed his finger against her lips, silencing her. "let me feel smart for one second, please."

karina smirked and bit his finger, causing him to retract it with a yelp, shaking his hand.

"ow!" he whined over dramatically, his frown widening as he looked at her with his signature baby-seal eyes.

karina tried to best to look annoyed, but she was failing tremendously as she looked into his eyes.

she sighed, taking his hand. "come on, fish face. we still have more of the town to look at."

they continued to walk, karina getting slightly distracted at some of the stands, looking at the jewelry they sold.

her eyes twinkled as she held up a chain gold necklace— except the chain was designed as small, detailed flowers. they were all specific and had the small details that the real flower would have. the charm in the front of it was a small crescent moon, and attached to it a sun— the rays coming off it in wavy triangular lines, the signature sleeping face of the sun engraved in the middle of it. at the points where the sun and the moon meet, small emeralds were molded into the metal— the velvet green color reflecting in the sun, shining brightly into karina's eyes.

she was speechless. her face was lit up with such a fascinated and lovestruck look— percy couldn't stop staring. the way her eyes lit up as she caught sight of the piece of jewelry, and the way her smile turned as big as the sun above her— stretching across her face and revealing the small dimples she had. the ones that barely ever showed, because nowadays, she never smiled as wide as now.

"this is beautiful," she whispered, her grin staying the same as she gingerly took it into her hands, carefully admiring the necklace.

percy placed his hand on her left shoulder, his head looking over her right at the piece of jewelry, smiling softly. "a beautiful necklace for a beautiful girl," he whispered, his lips tickling her ear, making karina giggle and jump away from him.

"okay, that was cheesy," she said as she pointed an accusatory finger at him, small laughs still escaping her.

he reciprocated the gesture. "that," he said, "was factual information."

she smiled up at him, and went to go place the necklace back down, but percy quickly stopped her, grabbing her wrist.

"why are you putting it back?" he asked.

she turned to him, her eyebrows knitted. "percy, i can't afford this," she said through a laugh. "it's way too much. and, besides, we aren't here to shop. i don't need it."

"but you want it, right?" he asked, slowly placing the necklace back into her hand.

"well, yeah, i guess— " karina began, but percy cut her off.

"enough said," percy replied, and began to dig into his pocket, pulling out a wad of american money, and began counting them by twenties.

karina's face immediately morphed into one of disbelief. "do you just carry around that much money all the time?"

percy tried to hide his smirk, his eyes trained on the money in front of him. "no," he said casually. "this is actually from the bottom of my sock drawer. it's my savings that i started when i was twelve."

once he counted the correct amount of money, he set it down on the table in front of the cashier. "we'll take this necklace, sir."

karina's eyes widened, and she quickly placed her hand over the wad of money before the cashier could take it. "hell no, percy. i'm not letting you buy me this."

he placed his hand on top of her's. "but i want to."

she placed her other hand on top of his. "but i don't want you to. it's way too much money, percy."

he placed his right hand on top of her's. "i don't care about the price. i care about you— and i want you to have the necklace."

karina scowled, realizing she ran out of hands to place on top of his. "this isn't fair. i don't have any money to buy you anything."

percy smiled. "the things i want from you don't cost any money."

karina blinked, and stared blankly at him for moment, not getting what he was saying. but then, her eyes widened, and immediately her neck flared up in heat at what he was suggesting.

"percy," she whisper-yelled, her voice cracking slightly as she cleared her throat. she eyed the cashier nervously to see if he overheard, but he looked less than interested at the conversation they were having. he just looked like he wanted to go home. "my gods, don't say that in public!"

percy shrugged innocently. "what do you mean? i want cuddles."

karina's mouth gaped slightly, and she glared at him. "don't do that to me."

he smirked, his eyes twinkling as he removed karina's hands from over the wad of money. "i'm buying you the necklace."

he slid the money over the table, and the cashier took it without any words, stuffing it in the cash register. he didn't seem to care that the money was american, either. he mumbled a half-hearted, have a good day, before turning away from them again.

karina glared at percy as he smiled triumphantly, grabbing the necklace from the table and standing in front of her, his grin not fading.

"turn around," he said, and she reluctantly complied, sighing as she turned to face the street.

he gently moved her hair to one side, purposely brushing his fingers along the exposed skin of her neck and shoulders— feeling the goosebumps that arose on her skin at the contact. he bit back the smirk he felt on his face, and continued to place the necklace around her collarbone— the gold metal sitting perfectly against them.

once he clasped it on the back of her neck, he spun her back around to face him, smiling proudly as she gave him a harmless glare, seemingly trying to look upset, but she was failing once again.

"you didn't have to do this," she said, but he could tell from her eyes as she looked at the necklace, she was in love.

he smiled and placed his hand under her chin, kissing her softly. "i wanted to rina. trust me, i don't just spend this type of money when i feel like it. i've been saving it for a moment like this— to buy something for someone that i love."

karina, despite her attempt be angry at him, felt her heart melt into mush at his words. she sighed, and shook her head. "i haven't had anyone buy me anything in years," she admitted with a frown. "not even for my birthday. i . . . i guess i'm just not used to it."

percy felt his stomach twist at her confession, and he took her face into his hands, squeezing her cheeks together slightly. "well, get used to it now, rina," he said with a comforting smile. "because now that i know this, i'm going to buy you something everywhere we go."

karina let out a laugh, her upset emotions slowly dissolving into nothing as she felt a comforting warmth spread throughout her body.

"no, you will not, perseus." she said, and percy let out a feigned gasp.

"using my full name?" he asked in mocking shock, and karina nodded.

"yeah," she said. "this is very serious."

he scoffed and began to walk away from her, dragging her along by her wrist. "whatever you say, rina. let's keep going."

after that, they continued on their journey through the town, eventually coming across a little italy section of the town— where there was gelato at every corner.

the couple decided to bring back a pint for the crew, and make their way back to the ship before they started to get nervous. karina hadn't realized how long they'd been gone for until she saw the sun shining directly in the middle of the sky— and they had left just after day break.

once they returned to the ship, the whole crew sat on deck, without a storm or a monster attack to worry about for the first time in days, and ate ice cream. well, except for frank, who was lactose intolerant. he got an apple.

the day was hot and windy. the sea glittered with chop, but leo had fixed the stabilizers well enough that hazel didn't look too seasick.

curving off to their starboard side was the town of mykonos— a collection of white stucco buildings with blue roofs, blue windows, and blue colors.

"we saw these pelicans walking around town," percy reported. "like, just going through the shops, stopping at the bars."

hazel frowned. "monsters in disguise?"

"no," karina said, laughing. "just regular old pelicans. they're the town mascots or something. and there's a 'little italy' section of town. that's why the gelato is so good."

"europe is messed up," leo shook his head. "first we go to rome for spanish steps. then we go to greece for italian ice cream."

but, karina couldn't argue with the gelato. she ate her cherry vanilla gelato and tried to imagine that she and her friends were just chilling on vacation. which made her wish that she'd met her friends in different circumstances. maybe one day, in another life, she could've spent a normal life with her friends. no wars, no monsters, no creepy earth goddesses possessing her. she wished that she was able to live that life before she was . . . gone.

it was july 30. less than forty-eight hours until G-day, when gaea would awaken in all her dirt-faced glory.

the closer the day got, the more scared karina became. gaea's words continued to swirl around her brain. she'd told her in a dream that karina would be used as the ultimate weapon for her grand army when the time came. and, the thought of that terrified her. karina wasn't sure if gaea had been holding back on her this whole time— just waiting until the time came to fully possess her soul, and completely take control of her body. she'd been trying her best to ignore the feeling of the earth goddess inside her ever since she'd left the house of hades, but the closer they got to august 1, the harder it was becoming to fight back.

but, despite her, the strange thing was, the closer the others got to august 1, the more upbeat her friends acted. or maybe upbeat wasn't the right word. they seemed to be pulling together for the final lap— aware that the next two days would make or break them. there was no point moping around when you faced imminent death. then end of the world made gelato taste a lot better.

piper set down her ice cream cup. "so, the island of delos is right across the harbor. artemis and apollo's home turf. who's going?"

"me," leo said immediately.

everybody stared at him.

"what?" leo demanded. "i'm diplomatic and stuff. frank, hazel, and karina volunteered to back me up."

"i did?" karina asked.

"we did?" frank lowered his half-eaten apple. "i mean . . . sure we did."

hazel's gold eyes flashed in the sunlight. "leo, did you have a dream about this or something."

"yes," leo blurted. "well. . . no. not exactly. but . . . you got to trust me on this, guys. i need to talk to apollo and artemis. i've got an idea i need to bounce off them."

annabeth frowned. she looked like she might object, but jason spoke up.

"if leo has an idea," he said, "we need to trust him."

leo looked guilty— for reasons that karina couldn't figure out— but he mustered a smile. "thanks, man."

percy shrugged, wrapping his arm around karina. "okay. but a word of advice: when you see apollo, don't mention haiku."

hazel knit her eyebrows. "why not? isn't he the god of poetry?"

"just trust me."

"got it." leo rose to his feet. "and guys, if they have a souvenir shop on delos, i'm totally bringing you back some apollo and artemis bobbleheads!"

6768 words

blessing you with well deserved percina content before to rest of the book goes to shit🤣