Percy Jackson's Sister

One Sided Conversation, As Always

          I took the boat as slow as I could without completely stopping. The eerie feeling of silence was even worse when you were completely alone in cursed waters.

       I leaned over the edge of the boat and a stupid idea came into my head. But I was alone and no one would judge.

     "Dad?" I asked, directing my voice towards the sea. It came out louder than I expected and I felt weird talking to nothing.

     "It's me," I continued, immediately feeling dumb.

     "Well, of course, you can see it's me. That is if you're even paying attention, which isn't probable considering you've been absent all of my life and I'm probably just talking to myself."

     When I saw no sign of an answer, I walked away from the edge. After a few steps, I felt vibrations on the boat. I quickly ran back to the edge, scanning the waters for a sign of my father.

    Instead, I saw Percy in a bubble with Annabeth who looked like she had just finished crying. The vibrations had come from Percy knocking on the boat.

    I sighed, both in relief and in disappointment. I was relieved Percy and Annabeth were alive and mostly okay. I just couldn't shake that longing feeling of wanting Poseidon to notice me.

     I flicked my hand and a rope ladder shot out towards Percy and Annabeth. They made their way onto the boat.

    I reached up to take out my earplugs but Annabeth signaled for me not to. Percy and I had to keep them on until it was completely safe. We picked up speed, sailing as far away from the sirens as possible.

-

After a while, Annabeth mouthed safe. Percy and I took the candle wax out of our ears.

The sound was comforting, the waves on the ocean and wind in our sails. I threw the candle wax behind me and heard it hit the deck.

"You okay?" Percy asked Annabeth. It was clear she wasn't, but Percy clearly couldn't find a better way to ask what was wrong.

Annabeth hadn't realized how strong the temptation to swim towards the sirens would be. Her eyes were sad, filled with something I was familiar with. Longing.

"I saw the way you rebuilt Manhattan," Percy admitted. "And Luke and your parents."

"You saw that?" Annabeth blushed.

I guess since Percy couldn't hear the Sirens, he was shown what Annabeth was hearing and seeing. He seemed troubled by it.

Annabeth was shivering. Percy and I weren't affected by the cold water, Annabeth was.

I walked a blanket over to her. "What Luke told you back on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch... that really got to you, huh?" I asked, taking a seat next to her.

I couldn't blame her, Luke had gotten to me too.

"My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris."

Percy blinked. "That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No, Seaweed Brain. That's hummus. Hubris is worse."

"What could be worse than hummus?" I asked.

"Hubris means deadly pride. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else...even the gods."

"You feel that way?" Percy asked.

She looked down. "Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework."

"I'm listening." Percy sat up straighter.

"I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did," Annabeth continued. "That's why the fire is still burning. That's why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?"

"Um... no." Percy shook his head. "Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare."

"No doubt in that," I muttered. Percy stuck his tongue out at me.

"Then you're lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw."

"What is?"

"I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it ... well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing."

A new curiosity filled me. I wanted my fatal flaw to be revealed to me. I had many flaws that I could point out myself but I didn't consider any of them fatal. I slightly regretted not joining Annabeth in listening to the Sirens.

"Was it worth it?" I asked Annabeth. "Do you feel... wiser?"

She gazed into the distance. "I'm not sure. But we have to save the camp. If we don't stop Luke..."

Silence fell upon us again. We all understood how dangerous Luke's plans were. The golden crate he had on the boat wasn't a good sign either. Annabeth and Percy refused to tell me what was in it. Or who.

Suddenly, Annabeth threw off her blanket and stood up, her eyes wide. "Guys."

We both turned to where she was looking.

An island in the shape of a saddle, green meadows and white beaches scattered across.

30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west.

We had reached the island of the Golden Fleece.