Summer school is over (after exams on Monday, that is) and so, I am finally on my way to Camp Half Blood...

In my sudden anger, I left the beach. I didn't go far - I didn't know how much salve I had - but I walked far enough away that I couldn't see my friends any more. Wet and fuming, I sat down on the dirt far enough away from a cottage that I didn't feel uncomfortable. Every once and a while, a group of two or three myrmekes would walk by, and begrudgingly I'd stare at them - just because I could - and I wanted to scream.

You try to reason with my brother's people, my headache grew, ever-persistent since I started talking smack about the almighty Zeus. Worse, you try to reason with my brother's people by HUMILIATING YOUR FATHER AND YOURSELF? Are you surprised your blatant acts did not work? You have failed your quest, your name, your FATHER.

I closed my eyes, but I couldn't control my anger. I guess I got that from him. "If it's that easy to humiliate you, then I guess that's your fault."

I can do a lot worse than a headache, as if to illustrate his point, my eyes got blurry and I felt like I was about to pass out - light headed, nauseous, and then suddenly there was a searing pain in the palm of my hand, like lightning had hit it and lit it on fire. I hadn't realized I was screaming until I found myself lying on the dirt, Johnny above me, screaming my name.

As quick as it had come, the nauseousness and headache disappeared, but my hand was still searing hot.

"Y/N! Holy Apollo what happened? You left and I couldn't find you and then Aegina said -- then you screamed! Y/N, Y/N please tell me you can hear me! Oh gods, maybe I should've called Diana..."

I took in his blond hair. The small hint of horns peaking out from the shaggy curls. The wisp of a goatee ironically growing on his chin. Johnny, my best friend, was a different person from the day of the volleyball game. Nervous because he smelled a monster, but called it nachos so I could live my less-than-perfect lie for a little while longer. At camp I got mad at him for sitting at a table with his friends; friends he hadn't seen in a long time because he'd been babysitting me. He was so selfless and I was so selfish - even in the stupid ant cave, when I was wallowing in my own fear of tight spaces when he was afraid of being underground, and he was helping me.

But Johnny wasn't the scared little ball of nerves I knew at Dorriane Middle School. Johnny was more confident than ever, stronger, ready for a fight, ready to constantly protect me. He watched me with eyes as wild as his heart. Johnny would be leaving to find more demigods in schools that started earlier in the year or at summer schools and I wouldn't have him to myself anymore.

He always put me first, in everything he did. And I was here arguing with my deadbeat dad. I looked at my right hand, the pain had subsided but there was a null pulsing on my palm where it had stuck. Near my wrist, under my thumb, was the greek zeta symbol. The letter Z. Trying my best to ignore the mockery, I stood up on my own beside a very frantic Johnny. He always put me first. It was my turn, and I'd have to start by going back to the water nymph. No was not an acceptable answer.

"Are you okay," Johnny asked me again, blue eyes searching mine for an answer. "Please, Y/N, talk to me. I can clearly see something's wrong. All those things you said about Zeus - what's that about?"

"Johnny," I said, smiling softly at him. "You're amazing." he blushed, but his look of conviction wasn't wavering. I couldn't lie to him. "But we need to talk about this later."

He wasn't happy with my answer as he followed me back to the dock where I'd dropped my bag before storming off. I walked right past it as I made my way to Agra's side, pushing past Diana to get a clear audience with Aegina, who was looking at me rather playfully like her splashing me with a wave was her playing a game.

"I don't care that you're part of 'Poseidon's Posse',"

Diana's jaw dropped, she grabbed my arm. "Y/N, what are you doing," she hissed. I shook her off.

"If you don't help us-"

"Y/N," Johnny warned, bleating. Aegina fixed me with a look of shock.

"If you don't help us," I continued, "Tomorrow Prometheus is going to open the Pithos and the world is going to be re-introduced to some of our favourite plages and evil traits."

"Y/N, seriously," Johnny tried.

"The world is going to end. You're our only chance to get to Russia, can you not put your loyalty to the stupid god of water aside for just one freaking mo-"

"Y/N!" Agra said sternly, successfully stopping me. "She said yes. She's taking you to Russia. But not if you keep insulting her or Poseidon."

I recoiled. The zeta symbol on my right palm pulsed like Zeus was mocking me for being stupid. Another mistake. I couldn't get one thing right anymore. What was I even on this quest for if the reason we kept screwing up was always my fault.

"...What?" I asked softly.

"I was trying to tell you," Johnny said, "And I didn't know you were storming back here to do this...I mean,"

"Y/N," Diana said, with the same expression she had when Johnny had kicked our bags from the chariot. "You walked away. She said she'd take us, she just needed to do something first to make herself feel better for going against Poseidon like this - drenching Zeus' kid seemed fitting. She's going to get us there by tomorrow morning - it's not ideal, but it's better than nothing and we really can't afford to ruin this chance too. Okay?"

I turned to Aegina, who'd crossed her arms. "Thank you." I cursed under my breath, but I couldn't think of anything more to say.

That's all Aegina needed. She nodded at me, and smiled. I was shocked, but managed to smile back. She started clacking in her water tongue.

"Step back," Agra translated for me. "She's going to bring up the boat."

~

I admit I was a bit nervous when I saw the water materializing into the shape of a rowboat a few feet from the dock. The lump in my throat disappeared when the water pulled away like a curtain, revealing the red and white painted wood of a real, solid boat.

We grabbed our bags, and tossed them in. Diana was the first across the water after saying bye to Agra, giving another unexpected curtsey to the princess before giving a second one to Aegina, her burgundy hair dipping in front of her face like a waterfall. She looked strange without that medallion around her bronze neck.

Johnny followed after her, and I dreaded knowing that on the trip I'd have to sit next to him - smelly, wet, blond goat hair rubbing against my ankle in the small boat. He thanked Agra and Aegina before hoping in beside Diana.

I looked at the water, crisp, clean, cold. I was already wet, but I was scared to step in. Even with Aegina being a dryad, even with her saying she wouldn't drown me, Poseidon could easily overrule her. He could easily pull me underwater and make me part of the ocean floor somewhere near Australia.

I got out of the ant farm with Johnny and Diana, I told myself. I could sit in a boat for a bit.

Agra stopped me before I could step off the dock and wade over to the quest saver.She brought my attention to the white bag she'd slung over her shoulder back at the castle.

"Oh," I felt my face grow hot. "I didn't realize - I mean I just assumed you'd be - I didn't know you would be joining us."

Agra smiled, and shook her head. "No, hero, I am not accompanying you your quest. It's a peace offering,"

"We're not at war," I pointed out. "Not fighting, nothing."

"It's more of a thank you," she proposed, sticking her hand into the white bag. She pulled out a small, purple velvet pouch, christened with a black string with two black beads hanging off the ends. The beads shimmer in the light, and I somehow recognized the material.

"Are those-"

"Carved from magic blocks of rock? Yes. The bag will not open until your quest is complete. Something to look forward to." I smiled at her. Looking at the beads I remembered the Hecate cabin, the specially cursed blocks of magic stone that, if fallen, could turn anyone within a mile radius into a tree.

"Agra, you really didn't have to get anything. It's not like I had a choice to do this quest or not. It's literally life or death."

She shrugged. Aegina made some bubbly sounds out by the boat. "Just a minute," Agra promised, and turned back to me. "No, it was not your choice. But you do have hope, and that is important. And know, that I have hope in you. I know you much dislike water, but you will be okay. And you will save the world."

"Thank you, Agra. Thank you so much." I turned to go, pouch in hand, but she stopped me again.

"May I ask you something?" To my nod, she continued. "Why do you call me Agra?"

"Oh. Because I can't pronounce your name, I guess."

She furrowed her brows, and crossed her arms. Both amused and confused, she said, "It is not hard - your companion, Diana, does it."

"Yes, but she's a kid of Athena. She's all smart and good at pronouncing Greek names. I mean, I'm from this century - you're like a billion years old, no offence. All the names in your family are long, complicated, and start with 'A', what do you expect me to do?"

"I pronounce your name correctly."

"My name is easy. It's just Y/N, sweet and simple."

"Your name is modern, I am a billion years old, it is hard for me. But I do not give you a nickname."

I put my hands up in defeat. "Okay, I surrender. How do you pronounce it?"

"Agraulus - Ah-gr-ah-l-us."

I smiled. "Well then, thank you for everything, Agraulus. I mean it. See you when I save the world."

"You will indeed." Agraulus smiled.

I took a deep breath and took a step into the water.

~

"Aegina said to get some sleep, Y/N," Diana translated for me, electing herself my interpreter because I still couldn't understand the dryad's words. "She also called you Zeus scum, but she is warming up to you."

"I can tell," I replied meekly. I kicked Johnny over to Diana's bench, there were three in the boat sort of like the canoe I was in at camp, but we were using one to house our bags, the middle one, so there was less of a chance of them accidentally falling into the water.

"Johnny and I can catch some rest in a few, we'll move the bags or something, or Johnny will take this seat and I can sit with the bags and keep Aegina company." Aegina clacked happily from her spot in front of the boat. She was using her powers to pull us along the waves, her head sticking above the water in front of the bow so I couldn't see her but I could hear her. "But especially after you flying and getting so exhausted..."

"But after the night we've had, we all need to get some rest. If we're fighting Prometheus tomorrow..."

That was the wrong thing for me to say. I kicked my feet up and curled up on the bench as best as I could in the limited space, resting my head on my arm and closing my eyes. The treat of Prometheus hanging over me, having it become suddenly so real, and so soon... I managed to fall asleep because I'd been awake all night, but it was hardly rewarding.

I'd had this dream before.

My eyes were open, but I couldn't see anything. I waved my hand in front of my face, but I couldn't see that either. I reached out to try and feel anything, furniture, a wall, but still my hands came up empty. Disoriented and unable to tell if I was standing or lying down, all I could hear was the blood running in the veins past my ears.

Again, like I had the first time, I started to cry. I was going insane. It felt more real this time, more actual. Insanity crept though my chest until I couldn't breathe.

Faint whispers grew louder around me. More figments of my imagination encouraging the inevitable fate of my crumbling mind. They taunted me, and I heard a girl scream, calling for someone whose name started with E. A man joined her screaming, like a terrible harmony, and I could imagine him writhing around in agony. The imaginary voices around me move on to taunting him, egging on the pain.

I felt depressed as the voices continued. Angry. Lonely. Sick.

"You won't make it..."

"Not enough time..."

"Your quest is doomed..."

I woke up forgetting where I was, screaming "No!" at the top of my lungs. Not embarrassing enough, I took a step forward, and fell over the side of the boat into the cold water below. That sobered me up quickly.

I started flailing. Unlike off the dock, the water here was too deep for me to stand up. I knew how to swim, but with the weight of the dream; the feelings of fear and insanity still lingering, the absolute terror of knowing that in the water I was fair game for Poseidon or any of his minions that weren't as friendly as Aegina... Next thing I knew, I was pulled by the current back into the boat, wet and heaving for air. Johnny, so like him, was at my side in an instant, going through his best friend checklist to make sure I was okay.

"It's okay, you're okay, it's alright, take a deep breath..." He shook my shoulders, making sure I was listening.

"I'm okay," I told him, after getting over my embarrassment and shock. "Thanks, Aegina, for rescuing me," I called. My hand pulsed, the zeta symbol burning softly. Zeus' indication that I'd done something stupid. I closed my hand into a fist and pushed it out of my mind.

Johnny sat me beside him, not caring in the slightest that I was drenched again. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into a side hug. "What happened, Y/N?" he asked softly.

"It was just a nightmare, Johnny. I don't even know what it was about."

He looked away, but didn't press the matter. "You don't have to tell me about the nightmare, but back in Attica you promised you'd talk to me about all the stuff you'd said about Zeus, everything that happened surrounding you walking away..." In his voice I could hear a note of worry. He didn't know if now was the right time to bring that up. But he was right, I had promised him.

I looked over at Diana wistfully. She'd been woken up by my assault on the ocean, but was now comfortably using a backpack as her pillow and returning to her soft sleeping. I couldn't tell if she was actually asleep yet, or if she was listening in on what I had to say on the matter.

"Johnny, look. I didn't ask for my whole world to be turned upside down. I was perfectly okay with failing school  - as long as I didn't get kicked out this time - and going home to my mom and the person I always thought was my dad. And when I finally find out who my father really is - an immortal god in the sky - he refuses to claim me until I prove that I'm worthy. Before that volleyball game...He showed no sign he ever existed, no sign that remotely told me he cared that I existed too." I paused, trying to read my friend's face.

"When I went and found a place alone after Aegina drenched me, I was sure because Zeus was my dad she wouldn't take us to Prometheus. I was so angry, and to make matters worse, Zeus was angry with me, too, for saying all those things about him. Funny, now there's no headache accompanying my words, only the pulsing in my hand. Speaking of, because I guess I'm too much like him and we argued, he branded me." I showed him my palm, and he ran a finger over it looking absolutely mortified at the letter burned into my skin, slightly puffy against the rest of my palm. "The Greek letter Z, just to mock me with. And every time I do something stupid, there it is, pulsing and reminding me of my father's growing resentment up on Olympus as again and again I mess up.

"And simply because I'm his daughter, Poseidon hates me and threatened to kill me back at camp. I'm supposed to be better than Hercules and save the world. I'm only thirteen, Johnny. And I've never done this before. I'm unqualified. If you and Diana just had a better leader on this quest maybe everything would have been okay, and you wouldn't have so many set backs, and the quest would be over and the world would be saved and you wouldn't just be getting to Russia in the morning of your deadline date."

"Hey," Johnny stopped me. "Don't you say that. Don't you dare, ever, say that. Without you, how would we ever have gotten over the wall in the Underworld to get the chain from Bia - without which we wouldn't have a plan and Hades wouldn't give us his chariot. Speaking of, without you, I could never have outsmarted that crazy ghost to leave the woods, and Hades never would have owed us a favor in the first place. How would we have gotten on that train in time if you didn't trick the motel dude for crying out loud! You're on this quest for a reason, you must be, because I have so many more examples of how we couldn't get by on this quest without you. Being a child of Zeus doesn't define you, it just gives you really cool powers." We shared a small laugh.

"There's one power you have that Zeus could never have given you, though. Hope. Throughout the entire quest, you've been the one to pick things up and keep us going again. The motel guy. Hades. Even when we lost hope for a bit in the myremekes nest, you were so strong. You're your own person, who cares who your father is? I certainly don't, Zeuspleasedonotkillme," he said quickly. More and more I was laughing at the quick whips he added, the humorous asides. There he was,  my best friend, making me laugh and forget about all my problems.

"Johnny,"

"Yes, Y/N,"

"Do you really have to leave me soon? Going to look for other demigods?"

He gave me a sad smile, and looked out to the open water. "Try and get some more sleep, Y/N, you look exhausted."