Are you sure this is the right place?" A whisper cut through the silent night, belonging to a blonde-haired girl with stormy gray eyes. She glanced at her partner, a few steps ahead of her, looking birdlike with his head cocked and his eyes closed. His sea-green eyes snapped open and looked at her. "I'm sure, Annabeth. This is the place my dad wanted us to go to."
They were paused at the entrance to what looked like a narrow tunnel in the mountain, having hiked up on the night of the full moon, just as Percy's dad, Poseidon, had instructed them to. Just after the Giant War, he'd sent them to Mako Island in Dolphin City, leaving only a cryptic message with instructions and a mysterious note saying that they'd truly 'belong to the sea' after this. They hadn't questioned him – after all, he was an all-powerful god and they really didn't want to get on his bad side, which Percy seemed to have a knack for – and instead here they were now. Annabeth glanced up at the night sky. It was much clearer here than it was in New York City, though nothing could compare to her home, Camp Half-Blood. "The moon's almost up," she hissed to Percy. "We'd better hurry."
He gave a barely perceptible nod, reached back and grasped her hand. The feel of his callused hand in hers was warm and familiar, and she felt herself relaxing a little. During their entire week at Mako Island, they hadn't seen a single monster, which was strange but a relief. They were taking a much-needed vacation after two wars.
Then they were sliding through the tunnel, and landed with a splash in a moonlit pool at the bottom of the volcano. Annabeth looked around in wonder. "It's beautiful," she breathed, a smile stretching over her face. She glanced over at her boyfriend, but he looked strange. His eyes were glazed and his lips were parted, his head turned up to the moon. What was stranger was that he was wet – Percy was a child of the sea, he had the ability to keep himself dry in water. Annabeth suddenly had a foreboding feeling. What was going on?
"Percy," she said nervously. "Percy. What's going on? Why do you look like that?"
He didn't respond. Instead, he grasped her hand tighter and said, "Soon," in an eerie, un-Percy-like voice. A shiver crept down Annabeth's spine, but she didn't argue further. She trusted Percy with her life – even if she wasn't sure if the person in front of her was really Percy anymore.
Just then, the moon rose fully over the cliff that had been blocking it, and a white light clouded Annabeth's vision. She felt a flash of searing pain in her legs and screamed. She could barely make out the silhouette of Percy's body beside her as she fell fully submerged into the water, blinking back tears. But just as quickly as the pain came, it was gone.
"Percy!" she gasped. "Are you okay?..." The words died in her throat as she took in Percy. He was ... changed. He'd always been handsome before, but now his features looked chiseled, almost beautiful, and she felt a sudden surge of desire. She pushed it down. Now is not the time, Annabeth, she scolded herself. Her eyes traveled down his body and she suppressed a gasp. She could have sworn he was wearing a shirt a moment ago. Where'd it go? And his legs ... or rather his lack of them. She was openly staring now. Where his legs should have been was a beautiful fishtail. She couldn't pinpoint what the exact hue was because it kept shifting, but she saw his scales were lined in subtle gold and silver, and the base colour was sea green ... or blue ... or aquamarine ... She blinked, feeling dizzy, and let her eyes travel back up to his face. He was watching her in amusement, his messy black hair flopped over his eyes like always ... and then she noticed it. Her jaw fell open. There, nestled on top of his hair, like it had always been there, was a silver crown with a trident engraved on it. Poseidon's symbol. She gasped. "What happened, Percy?" she asked, voice shaking. He was studying her, his gaze intent, and when his eyes met hers, she felt a sudden rush of love for this boy who had been through everything with her.
