It's my turn to take watch up on deck out in the continuous waterfall of death pouring from the sky and try to keep from being thrown overboard by massive waves. So I figure I'll make the most of it: I didn't have my swimsuit, but I went out in my boxers, quiver and bow strapped over my shoulder. It's not like I could actually shoot anything in this weather, but just in case. Milo suggested I tie myself to the railing so I can haul myself back on board if I fall, but I think that would just help me drown because I'd drag behind the boat. So I sat on a bench gripping the handrail as tightly as possible, somewhat enjoying the water pelting my skin at a million miles an hour. The waves were crazily high, crashing against the side of the boat like icy hands swatting an annoying bug. Every once in a while I found myself smiling at just how amazing this was. I never really thought of these things as feats of nature, but when it's this close and you don't see the god controlling it, it's even more astounding.

A streak of lightning lit up the black sky long enough for me to spot something flying through the air. Heading straight for the boat. I had to cover my ears at the deafening crack of thunder that followed, but heard quite clearly the sickening smack of something hitting the deck. My heart pounded heavily as I realized what- who it was. All fears of drowning fled my mind as I raced to the motionless body. I slipped on my way there in something thicker than the rain, and sticky sweet with a smell I knew well. My heart stopped altogether as I ignored the new bruises forming on my body and slid my fingers gently under black hair matted with blood to lift his head. Nico's eyes were rolled back into his head, the flesh of his arm was speared on his broken bone, and scary bruise travelled from his temple down his throat.

My head was panicking, thinking about all that watery blood I sat in. My hands did all the work, memorized from repetition. I checked his pulse- slowing, and fast. Probably water in his lungs. I performed mouth-to-mouth without a second thought, trying to beat his heart back to life. Water sputtered from his mouth immediately, but he didn't become conscious. He was losing too much blood too quickly.

My breath shortened as I realized what this meant: I just resuscitated his heart so that it would pump blood, when he's already losing so much. I just made it worse.

I barely noticed Milo calling to me from the doorway as my mind raced. There's no way to help him medically. No binding or wrapping would fix it. I needed a miracle. There's got to be something, right? I'm the freaking son of Apollo, there has to be some sort of gimmick or trick that will instantly make everything better. I jumped at another flash of lightning, roar of thunder. His face looked so deathly pale. Just think. Just think...

"I don't know any Greek hymns," I whispered. Milo put his hand on my shoulder, then gasped when he saw Nico. "I don't know any Greek hymns. I don't know any Greek hymns..." I had no idea what I was saying. Dear God, I'm finally losing it.

Then- I remembered. I remembered something. Will at the training grounds of camp, with a carefree tone and a smile on his face, telling me about instant healing. "You know that kids of Apollo can heal by chanting Greek hymns to him, right?" I racked my brain for anything else he'd said. Did he tell me a hymn? Did I read one somewhere? "I don't know any Greek hymns..." I repeated over and over, caressing Nico's paper-white face. There's so much blood. I just start singing, I have no idea what. All I know is that it's definitely not Greek. I'm whispering it in his ear softly, noticing there's water dripping on his face that isn't rain. I realize it's "Domestic" by Somos. Nothing's in my head but the lyrics and the hope that my dad can hear it when I'm singing so softly.

I winced as I heard the snap of a bone crack back into place, but my breathing calmed. The bruise on his face receded until it disappeared completely, and the blood seemed to draw itself back in to his head. He still remained unconscious. I laughed giddily when I felt his heartbeat return to its normal pulse and smiled up at a frightened-looking and soaked Milo.

Promise... Someone whispered in my head, drowning out the sound of the rain and the waves. All of a sudden, I knew I was supposed to go in the water. I didn't remember anything about a promise, but I knew somehow it involved jumping overboard. Hopefully I wasn't just going crazy. I lifted Nico up unsteadily and handed him to Milo, who wrapped a limp arm around his shoulder. "You go back in!" I shouted through the downpour. "I'm supposed to jump in now!"

Milo looked at me like I was stupid. "You've lost your freaking marbles!" he shouted back, squinting against the water. "You're gonna drown in there! Or end up like one of these guys!" he nodded towards Nico. "You've... You have to come with me!"

I shook my head. "I made a promise, I think. Don't worry, I'll be back!" I smiled reassuringly. And without another moment's thought, I turned and leapt over the railing into the rolling blue hills.

Once in, my chest tightened with the realization of how stupid this was, if there was no promise. What if I'd just made that voice up? But immediately the waves calmed, the rain stopped, and the clouds parted to reveal a smiling sun. I didn't get to enjoy it long, though, because I was dragged down, down, down, to the floor of the ocean. When I didn't feel my lungs caving in from the pressure, I noticed I was encased in an air bubble protecting me from the water around me. I tensed as sharks eyed me hungrily, but my bubble cascaded past them until it reached a small, dilapidating stone building covered in tendrils of seaweed and lit by slow-moving eels slithering between columns. It was not very large, but there were plenty of rooms. I was lost by the time my bubble stopped- then again, I couldn't have paid much attention anyways because I was on the verge of a panic attack from being so far under water. I felt hyperventilation taking hold, and had to breathe deeply and slowly and curl into the fetal position to calm myself down. The water isn't touching you. You aren't drowning. Nico's fine. Everyone on the boat is fine. You're fine-

"Well well well." I risked opening one eye to see who the resounding voice had come from. Across the large room, a godly-tall woman stood in a deep blue dress and long, flowing blue hair attached to a milky-blue face. Her eyes were stormy green, her fingernails changed colours like the rising and sinking of waves, and pearls dripped from her neck and wrists. "You've kept your promise. I like that in a hero. It's rare that you find honourable men these days." She sighed wistfully and rolled her eyes.

I suddenly felt very aware that this "man" was curled in a ball and still only in his boxers. I couldn't help but shake at when my bubble moved towards her. "I... I, um..." I stuttered through my sentence as she peered at me curiously. Right now, I was about as big as her outstretched hand in which my bubble rested. "I don't... I don't actually remember a promise... But I heard you calling, so... so I came..."

She smiled with a slight tinge of amused malice, pointy teeth visible behind blue lips. "That's what's even more amazing!" she exclaimed. I winced at her loud voice. She must have seen, because she began to shrink until she was my size. We both floated to the floor, where she walked up to me with bare feet. "You don't even remember, but you came anyways. That's a new level of honour! Well, I'll remind you."

She reached through the bubble without popping it (thank heavens) and touched her thumb to my head. Instantly I was removed from my body and instead was in a temple, watching myself kneel before a huge conch, bowing in respect. "I'm afraid of you. I want you to remember me..."

Then I'm back to staring in her eyes. She grins and removes her hand. Kymopoleia.

"Yep," she said cheerfully. Dang, I'd have to be careful what I thought about from now on. "You sure do."

"...Ok, now what?" I fidgeted in my bubble, watching an eel slide by a little too close for comfort. "Are my friends ok?"

"They're already at the island. I took them just to get your attention. But I never intended to kill them." She smiled again, that slightly evil glint in her eye edging out just beneath the mask of gentleness. It kinda reminded me of Milo. "I just want to hang out with someone for a while. It gets so terribly lonely down here. Father never comes to visit, and I only have the sea animals to keep me company. I thought a hero would be good for a change. All the other gods and goddesses get heroes all the time, but I've never had anyone. Just let me indulge for a while, ok?" She sighed and sat on a stone table, waving her hand to move my bubble in front of her.

I sat cross-legged on the floor, hoping the bubble would hold against the rough stone. "You know..." I don't think this would make her mad. "You're storms are pretty terrifying, to say the least. But... you yourself are really nice."

She stared at me wide-eyed for a moment, a little shocked. I gulped. I guess that wasn't the right thing to say. Just as I prepared myself for the slow death of drowning and for her to go full-scale goddess-anger on me, her blue face tinged a deeper shade and she smiled with her razor-sharp teeth at me. "I've never, in all my years, had someone compliment me like that." She giggled to herself, all malice gone and replaced with genuine happiness. "It feels kind of... wonderful."

Throughout the next hour or so- I had no idea how long I was down there- as she had me braid her hair and paint her fingernails and spoke to me about the goings-on of her underwater realm, I came to realize that Kymopoleia was just a girl who missed out on growing up. She was lonely and angry and sad all the time because she couldn't make friends. She had to be the angry one, the stern one, the goddess of storms, all day every day. No one ever expected anything else of her. But while she talked to me, she seemed to grow younger. Soon she looked my age, bubbly and happy and friendly. She reminded me of Mandy, and then I felt quite homesick.

She seemed to sense it, or just got tired of me. She sighed and examined her now mauve fingernails, patting her fishtail braid happily. "This has been refreshing. I suppose now is a good time to return you to your boat. They've already reached the island, and I've delayed you enough."

I couldn't believe the words that came out of my mouth next. Even as I panicked when I accidentally pushed a finger or toe through the safety of the bubble, I asked, "Could I come visit sometime? Or you come visit me at the camp?"

She blushed again, but nodded in reply. "Hardly anyone has stood in my presence and lived to tell the tale, and yet you want to return?" She laughed. I thought how beautiful she looked with her real smile, the water rough around her and tugging her hair gently in its flow. I thought how everyone should see her like this, and she could be both feared as she wanted and adored, befriended. She must have heard me think it, because she smiled even wider at me.

Suddenly she was in my personal bubble- literally- and her thin fingers held my cheek. "I know your heart isn't mine to take," she whispered, her face only centimeters from mine. "But I've never been kissed before. And you're the only one I'd want to kiss me."

So I did. It was quite cold, but also... warm somehow. It was prolonged and gentle, sincere and chaste. We pulled apart moments later and her eyes fluttered open. She revealed her pointy-toothed grin and stepped out of the bubble, waving her hand up. As my bubble floated quickly to the surface, she called out to me, "Tell Calypso I say hello!" I waved and smiled back, feeling rather glad that I'd made a promise in the first place.

Next thing I know, I'm flying. I laugh at the sensation, not noticing exactly where I was flying to. I just hoped that my shorts stayed on. Then I'm groaning in agony as I smash into the familiar deck of our small boat and the breath is knocked out of me. Without looking I can tell a rib has been broken, straight through my skin too. It hurts to breathe...

"Oh my gods!" I wince against the sunlight to see Calypso's disgusted and terrified face hovering over me. "You're alive! And hurt! What do I do? Can you hear me? Oh my gods..."

I nod, trying to stop from wriggling in pain. "Can you get some bandages and ambrosia?" I whisper in a scratchy voice. She raced back down the stairs. "And Kymopoleia says hello."

I took this time to press my hands firmly against the protruding bone, steeling myself for the following pain. Then I pushed with all my might and whined as bone scraped against bone, skin ripped, and blood drained from the wound. But I could breathe normally again. I started seeing black spots, and hoped Calypso would know what to do if I blacked out and couldn't tell her.

Luckily she came back in time to feed me some ambrosia. I grimaced at the ashy taste, but padded some bandages over the wound and wrapped them closed. "Everyone else went ahead, like five minutes ago," she explained as she helped me stand. Now I could see the boat was docked at a small wharf leading to an island. "I volunteered to wait for you. We're going to follow when you get a little better. I thought... We thought..."

I shook my head, holding my side as she supported me back to the lower deck. "She's actually pretty awesome. We had a good time hanging out."

Her jaw dropped. "Well you've been 'hanging out' with the storm goddess for about eight hours! I can't believe you didn't get yourself killed by then... By the way what are those black dots all over your back?"

I turned my head as far back as I could to look at them. Sure enough I caught a glimpse of black low on my spine. I frowned, a piece of information tugging at the back of my brain. "I can't really remember. Maybe I wrote it down in the book." I laughed a little manically, probably due to blood loss. She gave me a worried look, setting me down on the bed. Still giggling, I slid a hand through my damp hair and sighed heavily, causing my chest to ache. "I've lost a bit of blood, I guess."

She shook her head in a motherly-disapproving way with a smile on her face and shoved some more ambrosia in my mouth. "You are one strange young man."