Chapter One-

Movement was not possible. Not without excruciating pain shooting through her body. This was the first thing she noticed. The second was that she couldn't remember where she was, a fire crackled somewhere to her right and low voices talked outside the room she was in. She didn't recognize them. The memories did come, but slowly, and in the form of dreams. They were gentler, a way to escape the pain in her body.

Xxx

"Persephone." The voice broke through the haze that Kronos had created around her brain. "Percy." The word hissed into her ear and a hand covered her mouth as she began to scream, trying to jump to her feet. Whoever it was held her down with one hand, forcing her to open her eyes. "Be quiet." He nodded to her before lifting his hand from her face. "Follow me." His voice was less than a whisper, but in the silence around her, she could still hear it. Triton and Theseus still slept peacefully in their beds, snoring softly.

"What do you need?" she growled as soon as they were outside the cabin. "And how'd you get in?" her voice was escalating quickly and Achilles smirked at her, but didn't answer. They wandered about a mile down the beach, to a sheer cliff that overlooked the ocean and was almost eyelevel with the moon.

"Dionysus wanted me to give this to you." He handed her a small backpack that was filled with something heavy.

"You dragged me out here to give me a backpack?" she hissed, getting angry that Achilles had woken her up for this.

"No, I dragged you out here so you could tell me why Dionysus is giving you a godly drink." He stated, leaning against the cliff edge and watching her closely.

"Wait, what?" she ripped the bag open and pulled a small water bottle that was filled with a light teal liquid. "What's this?" she questioned. Achilles shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm no exactly sure, but each of the gods has their own color. Hades is Black, Apollo's is gold, Artemis is silver, Poseidon is green, and Triton's is a royal blue, to name a few."

"So mine is technically a mix of Triton and Poseidon's?" she questioned. Achilles nodded slowly before pausing to wait for her to answer his question. "If I tell you this, you can't tell anyone."

"Okay." He waited for her to continue, watching her with now curious eyes. Percy looked away from him, making sure nobody else was listening.

"My blood is turning to ichor." Achilles coughed as she said this, clearly not expecting that.

"Well, that's interesting." He muttered, crossing his arms and staring at the ground for a moment.

"Isn't it?" Persephone questioned, sitting down on the edge of the cliff, letting her feet swing in the open air. Soon after, Achilles sat next to her and sighed softly. "Make sure they accept immortality, okay?" she questioned after a few moments.

"Of course." He motioned towards the sea and said "but you can't expect your father not to be angry at you for keeping this a secret."

"I'm not planning on surviving this quest." She stated. Achilles glared at her and when she looked at him, she saw that he was angry.

"How can you say that?" he growled angrily. Persephone shuddered at the thought of him attacking her, but knew it'd never happen.

"I'm fighting a losing battle and honestly the gods need to learn how to lose someone close to them. They distance themselves so much. At first, they'll distance even more, but as long as you and the other guide them, it'll be alright."

` "You know Luke won't survive you dying." He growled, pulling on her shoulder so she was turned towards him. Percy's eyes where sad as she looked into his.
"He has to try. He doesn't know how hard it was for me." She whispered. Achilles froze and stared at her for a second.

"How long have you been in love with him?" he questioned quietly. Percy sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms.

"Honestly, probably since the moment I met him. He was the first tot really welcome me to camp and when I was claimed, a lot of demigods turned away from me, thinking I was dangerous, Luke didn't. When he betrayed camp, it was like a personally betrayal to me. I grew really close to Anthony after that, but we didn't start dating until after Luke died. I hid my feelings really well, so well that for a while, I thought I was in love with Anthony. I realized though, after I saw him kissing that girl, that he was only a friend. His betrayal to me didn't hurt me, it was more that I was angry with myself for not seeing the person he was. That's why I went to Luke, Nico had told me that he was torturing himself and I thought that he could us a friend." She paused to breath and Achilles stared at her.

"You know, after you left that first day, Theseus asked Luke if there was anything going on between you two. Luke said that he didn't deserve you."

"I don't deserve Luke." Persephone replied, looking back at Achilles. He was smiling at her.

"Trust me, you deserve each other." He hugged her as he said this, and she hugged him back. Although Theseus was her brother, sometimes she felt as close to Achilles as she did him.

"Please keep him sane." She whispered. Achilles chuckled dryly and Percy drew back to send a questioning look at him.

"I think he'll be the one keeping us sane." He whispered. Standing up and holding out a hand to her. The moon had sunk and the sun was now beginning to rise. Sending pink and orange streaks across the darkness.