Paul wiped his feet on the doormat, hunting through his pockets to find the right key. Eventually his fingers clasped around the gold spare to Sally's apartment, and he unlocked the door. She'd always told him he was welcome, to come in without knocking.

"Sally? It's Paul; are you home?" he announced. When no answer replied, he took off his shoes and traipsed into the kitchen to get a beer. She'd be home from work any minute.

Then Percy's voice came out of his bedroom: "Aw, crap! Mom, can you get me some duct tape?"

Paul hesitated, wondering if he should reply. Sally wasn't here – maybe Percy would be fine without it.

"Perce, it's just Paul. Your mom's still at work," Paul called back, returning the beer to the refrigerator temporarily.

"Oh. Hey, Paul. I'll be out in a second. Can you find me some duct tape really quickly?" Percy returned.

"Sure, where do you guys keep it?"

"Second drawer to the left of the sink," Percy replied, his voice slightly muffled through the bedroom door.

Left of the sink, second drawer down... Paul hummed to himself as he opened the drawer, only to be greeted by six rolls of silver duct tape, a packet of what resembled lemon squares, and a few gold coins he didn't recognize. He snatched up one of the duct tape rolls, closed the drawer, and padded down the hall to Percy's room. The door opened a few inches.

"Thanks. You can just pass it through the door; I'll be out of here in a second," Percy said, his disembodied hand reaching through the crack in the door. Paul handed him the duct tape. "Thanks, Paul." A minute later: "Okay, you can come on in now."

Paul opened the door to find Percy's room in normal shape, albeit messy. The only difference was a gaping hole in the plaster of the wall, covered hastily by duct tape. "Percy! What did you do to your wall?"

"Uh, it was an accident-" Percy began, rubbing the back of his neck uneasily, but Paul already had his phone out and was dialing Sally's number. She picked up on the second ring.

"Sally, maybe you ought to come home early," Paul began.

"What? What's wrong? Is Percy there? Is he okay?"

"Mom, I'm fine-" Percy started, reaching for the phone.

"He put a hole in his bedroom wall. I don't know what happened, but-" Paul was interrupted as Percy snatched the phone out of his hand.

"Uh huh. Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. No, camp's fine. Yes, there is a hole in my wall. No. NO! C'mon, Mom, did you really... Okay, so it was just an accident. Look, I was testing out this new Greek fire trap Beckendorf sent, and... I promise I'll fix it, okay? Paul? Oh, I think he's freaking out, but..." Percy glanced at his mom's fiancee uncertainly. "Are you sure? Now? Can I wait until you're home? Okay. Yeah, fine. See you soon, Mom." Percy hung up and handed the cell phone back to Paul. "Sorry, Paul. She gets a little... Well, anyway, she'll be home in a few minutes. In the interim, what can I do for you?"

"The... The wall... There's a hole. I- I don't get it," Paul stuttered.

"C'mon, let's put this duct tape back," Percy suggested, dragging the still confused Paul out of his bedroom. "Mom and I need to talk to you, okay?"

In a few minutes, Sally joined them in the apartment. For a second or two, Paul forgot about the topic at hand and just rejoiced in seeing his fiancee. Coming home from work, sometimes she looked half her age, with sparkling eyes and a welcoming smile.

Today, the smile was only half-hearted, though.

"Paul, there's something Percy and I have needed to tell you for a long time," she said, reaching across the kitchen table to clasp his hands in hers.

"You don't have a criminal record or something like that, do you?" Paul asked.

"No. Nothing illegal," Sally reassured her.

"Mostly," Percy corrected, receiving a glare from Sally for this comment.

"Okay, then what's wrong?"

"If you want... If you want to be part of our family, you have to know about Percy's dad."

"What about him?" Paul asked, the smile melting off his face at the memory. Even after Sally had reassured him she harbored no feelings for this "Poseidon" dude, Paul sometimes felt possessive of his fiancee.

Sally looked at Percy. "It's in your hands, Percy."

Percy sighed. "Okay, Paul. So you know the Greek myths you teach in your English class, right?"

"Sure. Like Theseus, and Zeus, and Medusa and-"

"Poseidon," Percy finished with a grimace. "Be careful with names, Paul. Okay, anyway, like those. This is going to sound crazy to you, but... But they're all real."

Paul wanted to laugh, but then he caught the look on Sally's face. This was no joke. "What do you mean? The Greek gods aren't real."

A thunderclap sounded somewhere in the distance, making both Percy and Sally jump.

"Yes, they are. Paul, Percy is very serious here."

"They're immortal. They've survived for eons, moving with the heart of Western Civilization."

"You mean to say... You mean to say that the gods are still alive, somewhere. I didn't know you guys were religious, nonetheless polytheistic."

"Paul. We're dead serious here. Olympus is right over there." Percy gestured out the window, towards the Empire State Building.

Paul took a moment to think about this. Maybe it wasn't illegal, but this was serious stuff. "Okay. For argument's sake, let's say I believe you. What does this have to do with us?"

"You know how in the old myths, the gods and goddesses always went around having affairs with mortals? And those kids would be really powerful. Like Theseus, and Hercules, and Perseus."

"Perseus," Paul repeated. "Sally, you don't mean to say..."

"Yes, Paul. Percy's dad is Poseidon."

"The guy at your birthday party. That wasn't some random dude named Poseidon, was it?"

Percy shook his head. "You're one of the few lucky mortals who got to meet the god of the sea."

No... That couldn't have been... He deflated, putting his head in his hands. This was so much to take in. "Percy, if the gods are real..."

"Not just the gods, Paul. Everything. The Greek myths, the monsters, everything."

"So, like, there's an Underworld. And Odysseus was real, and Athena and Poseidon really did fight over Athens, and..."

"Yeah. Like all of that."

"You're half-god. Sally, please tell me your son is joking."

Sally shook her head wordlessly. There was nothing to say – it had to be the truth.

"This is – this is..." He struggled to find a word. "Cool, I guess. I believe you guys. But it means everything I've been teaching - ancient history, Greek mythology – there's some truth to it. It means..."

"It's cool sometimes," Percy sighed. "Listen, Paul, it's not all fun and games."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember what I said? The monsters are real too. And Kronos is real, very real. The titans are real, and they're rising again."

Percy explained about the upcoming war, maybe in too much detail. It was so much to take in.

"So you've gone your entire life fighting these... monsters? And training at this Camp Half-Blood."

"Since I was twelve."

Paul shook his head. He always knew Sally was amazing, but to raise a half-god (demigod, he corrected himself) must have required so much effort. "And now you have to save the world. All because your dad is Poseidon, right?"

"Well, that's not the only reason, but yes. In a year."

"One year. I don't... I don't know if I can believe this, but... I guess I have to."

"You can see why we waited so long to tell you, can't you?" Sally asked, her eyes softening.

"Yes. It would probably have scared me away if you'd told me six months ago. But I'm part of your family now. Families stick through the hard stuff."

"Like the apocalypse, and the titan lord of time taking over the world, and the discovery of the Greek gods, and-"

"Yeah, like that stuff," interrupted Sally with a smile. "Listen, Paul, why don't you stay a couple hours? Percy could probably use help fixing up that hole in his wall, and I'm sure you still have questions."

"Mhm..." Paul thought. "So, Sally, tell me more about this Poseidon bloke..."