Prince of Riptide

until you're announced

Percy couldn't sleep. So naturally, he left the cabin and sprinted off to the beach, careful not to alert the harpies. The sea always calmed his nerves—or maybe it was just the simple act of making shapes in the water. He itched to dive deep into the waves toward Atlantis but knew it wasn't wise.

Poseidon was evident in his instructions of staying in dry land and, unfortunately, he was still the Lord of the Sea and Percy a mortal. He had to do as he was told.

So he opted to look up at the night sky filled with stars. They were one of the most beautiful things about the sky.

Stars.

It mesmerized Percy so much that he asked Annabeth to teach him the constellations, and now he could name most of them. Sagittarius, Herakles, Corona Borealis, all of them dotting the sky accordingly as if the gods themselves had made them—which they had.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" somebody said.

Percy jumped in surprise.

It was a man. He was slim and fit, and he had probably been running, which was something mortals liked to do for some reason. Percy thought it was tiring, but everyone insisted it was good exercise.

At that moment, he didn't find it strange for someone to stumble into camp, so when the man asked to sit down next to Percy, he obliged.

"Ah, yes. Peace and—"

Something in the man's pocket rang. He sighed and pulled out a little square thing. Percy recognized it as a phone, but what was stranger were the two serpents writhing around it.

Maybe it was a mortal thing.

The man cursed and excused himself. He put the phone in his ear and said, "Hello?"

After a quick discussion, he put the phone away. "Sorry. The overnight express business is just booming. Now, as I was saying—"

"You have snakes on your phone," Percy observed. "It is a phone, right?"

"What? Oh, they don't bite. Say hello, George and Martha."

Hello.

Hi. Do you have rats?

Percy was starting to think that maybe this man wasn't so mortal. "Um..."

"Ignore George," said the man. "Now. Peace and quiet. Yes, quite right. I haven't had any of that since the industrial revolution. Do you have a favorite constellation, Percy?"

The man knew his name, another sign he wasn't just a regular mortal. But Percy decided to play along. "I like Herakles."

"Why?"

"Because he had shitty luck. Worse than mine. Makes me feel better."

The man chuckled. "Not because he was strong and famous?"

Percy wrinkled his nose. "No."

"You're an interesting young man. And so, what now?"

He knew what the man meant: what of the fleece?

Percy opened and closed his mouth. "Who are you, exactly?"

"Haven't you guessed by now, a smart boy like you?"

Show him! Martha pleaded. I haven't been full-size for months.

Don't listen to her! George said. She just wants to show off!

The man held the phone close and asked for the original form. Immediately, the little box transformed into a wooden staff. George and Martha, now full-sized green snakes, coiled together around the middle. It was a caduceus, the symbol of Cabin Eleven.