A/N: So, I totally reread Sea of Monsters for a third time for this chapter

Also, totally off topic, butttt who is watching the new Young Justice? Duddddeeeee. I've been waiting for years for that haha.

I got so hyped I got back into reading D.C. Comics. I just got the One Year Later arc(yeah, yeah, I'm so behind that they rebooted the universe twice blah I know bleh :p) Bruce is a good dad. Also, poor poor abused Tim.

Update: Damian showed up, he is an utter little shit, and I reiterate, poor Tim. Also, Circe showed up and stole Wonder Woman's powers before putting Wonder Woman's love interest in bondage. Mental with a capital M.

Published: 1/12/2018

Warnings: None

Return of Thalia Grace III

The Sea of Monsters definitely lived up to its name.

So did Faris.

"Aye, matey. Back on my own homeworld, I was the Pirate King. Well. Eventually, after saving the world and what have yee."

Pirate King Faris was not just a title, it seemed. Percy was personally confused as to why she was called King instead of Queen, but regardless, Faris was…

Scary.

"She… She just tore through an ancient sea monster that has been terrorizing the entrance to the Sea of Monsters for generations." Grover spoke, sounding shocked.

Percy could not blame him.

Faris was running about, dagger in hand, moving swiftly as she cut again and again. The massive devouring maw that was Charybdis was struggling to consume its foe. Said foe being a tiny dagger wielding pirate unafraid to get her hands dirty.

And, indeed, Faris was darting back and forth, two quick for the Sea Monster to take her, dagger ripping into it with far more force than what should be physically possible.

"Pretty lady-man-lady is strong." Tyson said dreamily.

Percy spluttered. Noooo, no, no. He was not going to deal with a brother entering puberty on this trip and gaining his first(possibly?) crush. Nope. Wasn't that a parents job? A parent with really shitty sock puppets that made Percy shudder whenever he put socks on in general every morning?

Percy had great relish burning those abominations when his mother wasn't looking. They deserved a fiery, fiery death, a death which Percy was all too willing to deliver.

Wait. Tyson's dad was Poseidon. Gods only knew who the mother was.

Which meant…

Percy twitched.

Ah hell. Hm. There was no way he was sacrificing his new baby bro to his mother, that's for sure. Still. Despite the gravity of the situation, Percy could not help but turn and shoot the Sea a deadpanned look.

Then, Poseidon, just to be an asshole, apparently, made several gallons of water rise up, form a giant hand, and waved at him. Percy twitched. Dad was such a bitch.

Regardless, with Faris leading the charge, they did manage to make it into the Sea of Monsters with their vessel surprisingly intact. True, they didn't get to do much, but meh. They'd made it.

Then, Faris landed back on the deck and crumbled like a stack of cards and all hell broke loose.

Hours later, Annabeth sighed, taking a step back and wiping sweat from her brow. They had Faris under bed rest while Percy was running around keeping the ship working properly and occasionally shouting out orders to pull this rope or to do that thing.

"Our fearless leader is down for the count." Annabeth declared.

Apparently, monster bodily fluids could be quiet detrimental to one's health. Especially a monster like Charybdis, that devoured and devoured and never once seemed to pause. Gods knows what sorts of diseases where in there, and Faris had gotten a good bath full of the stuff.

"Her fever is finally going down." Grover added, which, all and all, was good news.

Nico's hand hovered above Faris' head.

"She'll make it. I think. Hard to tell with her, to be honest. Where'd she go anyways if she dies?" Nico asked with a head tilt. The others blanched at that. Nico waved his arms rapidly at them. "No, no, not like that! It's just… She's a literal alien. I don't think our afterlife would apply to her." Nico pointed out.

The others considered this before a voice interrupted them.

"Guys!" Jason burst into the room. "Land ho!"

The land, as it turned out, was apparently a small island that houses a spa, of all things.

A spa and a crazy sorceress that was intent on turning most of their crew into guinea pigs. Circe seemed to have an odd fondness for Satyrs, so Grover was safe, and Tyson had actually stayed behind which was an utter relief as far as Percy was concerned.

("I stay with pretty man-woman-lady." Tyson said, gazing down at Faris with hearts in his eyes.

Which, of course, led to Annabeth confronting Percy, demanding he give his little brother The Talk as soon as possible, which really wasn't fair since Percy was thirteen and what kind of thirteen year old has to give their brother The Talk?)

Percy, Jason, and Nico though? Oh no, Circe had all three of them wrapped around her little fingers like the evil, evil lady that she was. Well. Mostly wrapped. Percy was pretty wrapped, much to his chagrin. So was Nico. Jason, surprisingly, was not.

"Men are pigs! I used to turn them into real pigs before deciding this was so much better! And, as a bonus, so many classrooms get a new pet!" Circe beamed at her own genius.

Percy shuddered his new furry cheeks. What a twisted woman… So evil and vile and-

"You do realize I didn't actually drink the potion yet, right?"

Percy turned.

Jason alone hadn't drunk the potion. Beside Percy, Nico had also given in to Circe's twisted charms, but Jason had taken one sniff of the drink and blanched, apparently not having liked the smell.

Percy hadn't either, but Circe's promptings had been too much.

Circe blinked at the boy.

"Oh, my dear. You should have taken the potion."

Jason responded to this with a blast of wind.

Jason dashed out of the way of Circe's spell work. The Sorceress stood still, blasting arcs of shimmering red at him that, frankly, Jason was not going to go anywhere near. Anywhere it touched down was eaten away, disintegrated before his very eyes.

"Is the sword in your hands not heavy? Do you not want to simply lay down, relax, and let go, for just a moment?" Circe's sweet voice drawled out, honey like and sweet.

And damned if Jason didn't want to do exactly what she was saying. His eyes even started dropping a little, to his annoyance. Great. Just great. Could this get any worse?

"Circe? I wanted to check on- what is going on here!"

Okay, Jason had jinxed himself there as Circe spun, letting loose a blast towards a rather dressed up Annabeth. So dressed up, in fact, that if he hadn't been in a life or death situation, Jason might have gaped a little at her(and been smacked for it by Percy later because Percy was that annoying).

Annabeth looked utterly gorgeous. For a moment, Jason actually confused her with Aphrodite herself, which was something he definitely would not repeat in the presence of the goddess. He liked his existence, thank you very much.

Circe spun and let out a blast towards Annabeth. Considering she'd been ranting about recruiting Annabeth earlier and how they'd keep Grover as their pet, this wasn't a very effective join the darkside sales pitch, but Circe didn't seem to have gotten that particular memo.

Annabeth tossed herself to the ground, already in a roll. Her movement was hampered, however, by the dress they'd stuffed her in. A glint of light flashed and Annabeth's dagger ripped through the side of said dress before she leapt up, aiming for the Sorceress.

Circe lifted an arm to oppose her, a red barrier appearing before her. Annabeth's knife stabbed right into it, much to the Sorceress' surprise. Annabeth herself hissed, pushing forward as Circe struggled to maintain her defense.

Which, really, left her helpless to Jason sneaking up behind her and wacking her in the head with the butt of his hilt. Circe collapses to the ground while Annabeth nearly overshot.

The two teenagers looked at each other before looking down at the fallen witch.

Annabeth fidgeted a bit.

"Okay. I know we've killed monsters and people like her before, but… It's different when they're unconscious." Annabeth admitted.

Jason considered this.

"We should at least gag her." he said, remembering that melodic voice. Sparks shot out of Circe's fingertips, searching the floor a bit. The two stared. "And tie her up."

Well, that had turned out rather well. Sure, Percy and Nico were currently little furry rodents, but they'd taken out Circe so all they would have to do is go back to the ship and get the hell out of dodge.

What could go wrong?

Jason really, really needed to learn not to ask those kinds of questions.

"Mistress? Mistress, are you alright?" a voice called before one of the guards walked right in, and wow. Annabeth looked great, but this other girl… Clad in battle armor, a speak at her side, bronze tanned skin, her hair tied into a ponytail draped over her shoulders, she was… Hot. Really, really hot and Jason should really get his mind back and in the game and he totally blamed Circe for his lapse in judgement.

The three stared at each other for several seconds. Then, of course, the girl had to call the alarm. Ah, lovely, lovely.

Reyna wasn't even sure when she and her sister had arrived at Circe's island. Like many mythical places, time worked strange here. It might have been a day. It might have been a decade. Hell, Blackbeard and his crew arrived after Reyna has so she was convinced there was some sort of time warp somewhere out there affecting these seas.

Reyna didn't have any much affinity for magic. It just wasn't her. It wasn't her sister much either, but a home was a home.

A home that was currently under attack by its latest visitors.

The blond boy locked blades with her. Behind him, the girl, Annabeth, was weaving in between spells rather well, deflecting a few off the surface of her dagger which honestly should not have been as surprising as it was.

The boy glared at her.

"Look. We just want to take our friends and go. Don't make this too difficult."

Reyna arched an eyebrow as she disengaged, taking a step back.

"You are surrounded on all sides. You have no chance of victory. No chance of escape. Just what do you hope to barter with?"

In response, the boy turned, duh a strange looking vial from his pocket, and flung it straight at the guinea pig cage. The small container shattered in a mass array of sparks and glitter. Within seconds, Reyna realized what the boy had done, and her jaw dropped in horror.

Two boys scrambled away from the mess of pirates, free for the first time in centuries from Circe's grip. Pirates so cruel and vile that Circe had kept them imprisoned here rather than send them off, as they were far too dangerous to let out of her sights.

And, this boy had just released them all with a well placed potion.

"Guys, move!"

As pandemonium rang about, pirates running to and forth, attacking Reyna's rather small amount of guards(Circe trained witches, not soldiers. Only a few here even knew how to wield a sword, and the others weren't having much luck with their magic), Jason Grace and his cohorts fled, leaving chaos behind in their wake.

Reyna growled.

She would never forgive, and she would never forget. She'd make sure Jason Grace paid with his life.

"Are these really necessary?" Annabeth grumbled.

"Aye." Faris assured, tightening the ribbon into Annabeth's hair. At least, as a girl, it looked normal on her. Percy and Jason were still grumbling about theirs while Nico apparently gave no fucks and proudly wore his own like a checker. "I was a fool fer not thinking of this earlier." Faris tsked. "It would have avoided that mess with Circe."

Grover poked at his own ribbon adorned on his arm.

"These will really keep us from being enchanted?" He asked, skepticism evident.

"Aye." Faris nodded. "They're woven with powerful protection magics. They won't stop yee from getting harmed, but they will prevent enchantments from taking a hold of yee."

Unfortunately, even the ribbons weren't a full scale failsafe, which is exactly how Percy ended up holding a sobbing Annabeth in an underwater bubble after she'd attempted desperately to reach the sirens.

Percy wasn't sure why, considering the Siren's singing hadn't even affected him, but he assumed it had something to do with being the son of the Sea God, because, let's face it, most things in his life could be traced back to that one fact.

"I- I- I was so stupid! I wanted to hear- I wanted to see, so I- I-" annabeth was muttering into his shoulder.

Percy felt a bit of dread creep into his stomach. Pulling back slightly, he locked into Annabeth's red, puffy eyes. It was weird seeming someone like Annabeth like this, someone who was normally so strong and composed but instead currently looking so utterly broken.

"Annabeth… What did you do?"

Annabeth let out a choked laugh before her hand rose to the ribbon in her hair, drawing it out and presenting it to Percy.

He could instantly see what was wrong. The ribbons prevented them from being enchanted, but the magic that fueled them was delicate. Very delicate. Delicate enough that several stabs with the tip of the knife across its surface was enough to destabilize the magic within it to the point of disuse,

"You broke it."

Annabeth nodded, not bothering to deny it.

"I wanted- no, I needed, to hear them. I needed to see. I needed to learn."

"But… Why?" Percy asked, because he genuinely couldn't wrap his mind around someone as smart as Annabeth willing exposing herself to mind altering magics and risking their entire mission. It didn't make any sense at all.

Annabeth looked away.

"The sirens. They dig into your mind, they find the deepest parts of you, your strongest desires, and they use them to ensnare you." Annabeth explained. "That's how they get you. They make you think that's what your swimming to. They make the whole world melt away until it's all you can think about."

Percy had been shocked before, but now he was starting to feel angry. From what Annabeth was describing, there was no way she'd just assume she could listen in and not be enchanted. She knew and she'd done it anyways and she'd put herself at risk and Percy honestly wasn't sure what part of it all pissed him off the most.

Before he could voice any of this, however, Annabeth continued.

"I… Kinda hoped damaging the ribbon would just make it less effective." Annabeth admitted, holding said object in her palm. "I didn't think it would lose all it's power."

"You didn't ask." Percy knew he sounded petty, but he just couldn't help it.

Annabeth flinched and started to pull back. Ah hell. Percy shouldn't have opened his big mouth. Percy pulled her right back, a startled gasp escaping her lips.

"Hey, its okay. I've got you. I'm here, and I'm not letting go, even if I am a bit mad at you." Percy told her.

Annabeth choked a bit again.

"I'm not letting go. I'm here. I'll always be here."

And, he meant it.

Luckily, when they got back, not many questions were asked. Annabeth's tear stricken face along with Percy's pointed glare seemed enough deterrent for that.

Faris had Polyphemus pinned face down, arm held and twisted back as she crouched over him.

"I won't kill yee- children present- but we are taking that Fleece." Faris informed the Cyclops.

"Mean human lady is strong! Mean human lady is stronger than Polyphemus, but not stronger than Polyphemus' father!" The cyclops cried out. Faris froze. Surely Poseidon wouldn't- "DADDY! DADDY, HELP!"

Water rose from around the island, twisting itself into a funnel that went straight at her. Faris made sure to get in a good stomp, breaking the cyclop's arm before leaping up. Faris twisted in mid air as the water reached for her, snapping and trying to bisect her.

Honestly. If all it took for Poseidon to act was one of his kids crying out for help, then she really, really needed to talk to him about his parenting methods concerning Tyson. And Percy, but mostly Tyson.

Faris landed back on ground, raising a hand and letting loose an ice spell, freezing the water in place with pure frost.

"Why does he have killer sheep?"

"Sheepies are good and kind. Sheepies! This way, Sheepies!"

"At least we have Tyson."

Ah. Well. It did sound like the kids had that aspect handled pretty well so far.

"Ha!" Polyphemus rose, victorious. "Nobody thought they could defeat Polyphemus, but Polyphemus cannot be felled! Not with daddy at my side!"

"I've no interest in felling yee." Faris denied. "I-"

"Wha- DADDY, NOBODY LIVES! Nobody is not dead! DAAADDDDYYY!"

The ice shattered as the water lurched for her again. Ah hell. After hearing that, Faris was half convinced Poseidon was only doing this to spare his ears from the incoherent screeching. Still. Faris was giving the god an earful the next time she saw him for this one.

She concluded that she was right when the water stopped slashing at her the second Polyphemus became distracted. Deciding it best to retreat, Faris backed off. Normally, she'd at least try a sleep spell, but, honestly, Cyclopes were pretty magic resistant, period, and Polethemus had been around for a while so she wouldn't be surprised if he could shrug it off. No. It was best to just take the kids and go.

They'd already secured their primary objective, after all.

The Princess Andromeda was waiting for them the second they left the Sea of Monsters. Within seconds, they were besieged, Luke had somehow managed to appear on their deck and was currently engaged in a back and forth duel with Faris, and, most frightening of all, he was actually giving her a run for her money.

Luke power as a Demigod wasn't as blatant as most. He was a child of Hermès. He couldn't control plants or the weather or fling fire at his enemies. He could, however, vanish back and forth short distances, making him damn near impossible to catch. What he lacked in raw power, he made up for with tools and tricks.

Faris moves her head rapidly to the side as an arrow went barreling past her. Strapped on Luke's arm was some sort of wrist launcher, and it apparently was not just for show.

"We're taking the Fleece. We need it more. We will, of course, return it when we're finished." Luke told her.

Faris narrowed her eyes.

"Yee won't be taking anyth-"

"LUKE, YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER ASSHOLE!"

Apparently, teleportation abilities did not function when you're being tackled by an angry close to tears son of Poseidon, because Luke had no defense. The young man went down as the younger boy started to smack him.

"You. Are. The. Worst. ANd. You. How. Could. You. I- I'M SO MAD, DAMNIT LUKE!"

Luke snarled, hand reaching up to grip Percy by the throat before twisting them around. Percy's back smashed into the wood as Luke loomed above him.

"You don't know anything, Jackson! You don't understand a damn thing! You're just a pathetic whimpering little child-"

Faris didn't hear the rest. She was to busy being besieged by monsters left and right, and prayed that whatever Luke had become, he still cared enough about his former friends not to kill them.

The hand around his throat tightened. Percy wasn't sure what hurt more. The pressure those fingers where inserting on him, the knee that was dug into his sternum, or the fact that it was Luke doing it. The older demigod's expression looked downright feral, wild and angry.

"You don't know anything, Jackson!" Luke spat, "You don't understand a damn thing! You're just a pathetic whimpering little child who doesn't see the world for what it truly is! The gods don't care about us! To us, we are a means to an end, an endless supply of child soldiers that die again and again!" Luke was ranting now.

Percy could see Luke's point. Honestly. He could.

The point was made practically null when compared to the fact that Luke's big idea to defeat the gods was to side with the Titans, because yes, that was a brilliant idea, let's trade an oppressive regime for an even more oppressive regime and make everything 1984, thank you.

"GET OFF MY BROTHER!"

A dracanne came flying at them, smashing into Luke and knocking him right off. Luke tossed her off with a snare, rising to his feet as Tyson came right at him. Luke slid a leg back, lifting Backbiter up, ready to attack. Ready to kill.

"I never liked Cyclopes." Luke said in mock peasantry. "I'm going to enjoy butchering you."

NO.

No matter how much Percy didn't want to fight Luke, he wasn't about to stand still while Luke murdered his brother.

Percy rose only to have a hand land on his shoulder. Turning, he looked into Jason's eyes.

"Let's give them a storm."

Storm? Oh! Wait! Duh. A storm. Yeah. Percy could manage that.

One second, Luke had been about ready to cut into the cyclops' stomach and rip out its entails all over the ship. The next, a gust of wind shamshed right into him and sent him overboard.

He was not the only one.

With a sharp twist, Luke managed to reioritent himself to the Andromeda, but only barely. True, he was getting better at that, but teleportation always took more effort when doing it in midair.

The second he landed, he took stock of the situation. Lip drawing back in annoyance, Luke realized exactly what this was.

A team up.

The Sky and The Sea, working in tandem. At the rate Percy and Jason were going, there was no way they'd be able to keep it up long, but they wouldn't have to, would they?

Water, wind, lighting, a mini hurricane of all things blasting about in all directions and keeping the enemy ship shielded. Then, of all things, a whirlpool appeared before the Andromeda, sucking it in. Nowhere near large enough to actually sink the vessel, but enough to-

And yes, there it was. The enemy ship turned, impossibly fast as it zoomed away, water tearing in its wake.

"That turned out brilliant, I believe." A familiar voice spoke.

Luke turned, sword arching out. He held the tip of the blade at her throat, eyes narrowing as he took a step.

Bianca Di Angelo didn't even bat an eyelash. Instead, she looked down at Backbiter, almost in fascination really before her eyes rose up again, locking on his.

"Luke… You moron. I'm not here to fight, although after that trick you just pulled, I should." the younger girl informed him.

Luke narrowed his eyes.

"Then what, exactly, do you want?"

She smiled at him and Luke could not help but gulp. He… Did not have a good feeling about this. Not a good feeling at all.

Faris had departed the second she'd dropped them back at New York. Now, all that was left was to take the fleece to Thalia's tree, but…

"This is exactly what Kronos would want us to do." Annabeth reminded Percy, playing Devil's Advocate.

"Then the Titan Lord is a moron." Nico told her plainly her. "No matter what he thinks, Thalia would never serve him."

Annabeth bristled.

"It's not about any of us serving him, and you know it!" She snapped. "They don't call him the Crooked Lord because Zeus broke his nose one too many time! He's old, he's ancient, he's manipulative, and he's patient. He won't make us do anything, just trick us until he gets the result he wants."

Annabeth… Had a point, really.

Truly, she did.

But… Thalia. Thalia, stuck in that tree. Thalia, able to awake only briefly and not even entirely. Thalia, imprisoned. Thalia, suffering again and again. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe it would blow up in their face. Maybe Kronos would use it against them.

But, it was Thalia, plain and simple.

There was no other way this would turn out.

Hours later, when at last it was done and Thalia's form, solid and real, slipped out of the tree and onto the hill, hugs and tears were exchanged. Which was exactly how Chiron found them, really, becasue teenagers have absolutely no sense of subtly.

Despite the gravity of the situation, it didn't take Chrion long to realize that while relieved and happy, no one looked truly surprised by the turn of events. After realizing that, he only had one thing to say, really, having long ago resigned himself to the insanity of dealing with young heroes.

"Explain."

That… Was a ridiculously long story, so they proceeded to do just that.