Percy felt the familiar pull in her stomach as she guided the ships forward. She sent a quiet prayer to her father, thanking him for safe passage as they pursued their course for Troy. 

The scent of saltwater drowned her senses as she entered her father's domain. For the first time since being thrown back in time, Percy felt completely at peace. 

What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea. 

It felt like hugging her mother when she returned to New York after being expelled from another school. It felt like coming home after the war. It felt like eating blue cookies on the beach with her father and Triton. It felt like stepping back into camp half-blood after a quest. 

It was the sense of utter and complete relief. 

She could feel the boat gliding through the water and the pull of changing tides. The men cheered as their boats shot forward without the assistance of wind. She could sense her father's presence just below the surface of the glistening sea-green water. 

She knew the peace wouldn't last, eventually, Achilles would be through with his duties and come to find her, dragging poor Patroculus along with him. 

Achilles has been annoyingly clingy since Percy arrived. He would ask her endless questions that she would return with silence. She thought maybe she was wrong with her first interpretation of Achilles, he wasn't like Jason at all. No his blonde curls and inquisitive nature reminded her of another demi-god... Annabeth Chase. 

It hurt to see the similarities: the snarky remarks, the questions, the clever responses, the genius battle strategies. 

Give him a Yankees cap and Percy might actually break down crying again. 

The homesick feeling in her chest was a constant agonizing reminder of what was taken from her. She knew there was nowhere she could go, nowhere she could run. Percy was trapped in an impossible situation. The fates themselves were against her pulling her along like a puppet on a string. 

Annabeth.

Grover.

Nico.

Will.

Tyson.

Estelle.

Mom. 

The Stolls. 

Clarisse. 

Hazel. 

Frank. 

Leo. 

Reyna. 

Piper. 

A thousand faces flashed in her mind as she looked across the crowded ships. She would sometimes catch a glimpse of someone who looked too much like someone she lost and her heart would stop for a moment. 

She had lost so much...

She didn't want to be friendly with Achilles or Patroculus. She didn't want to greet any of the kings who raised their banners for a war she didn't want to involve herself in. She didn't want to get close again. 

Loyalty was her fatal flaw, getting close to people meant she would devote her entire soul to them until they were forcefully taken from her. And clearly, the fates had no qualm about carving that loyalty out of her and turning it on her like a sharpened bone ripped from her own flesh. 

Please. She begged the fates. Please don't curse me to know them. Don't curse me to love them. Don't curse me to lose them again... I won't survive it.

 Her only solace is that she would one day reunite with her friends and family in Elysium. She could only ever see them again in death. That is the only way Percy would truly win the fates' games. 

The sun kisses her skin, coating her golden flesh in glorious light as she sinks deeper into the darkness of her own thoughts. She contemplated taking the fast track to Hades just to spite the fates... just for a moment of peace-

"You seem far away, Princess." A deep voice shook her from her grievous thoughts. 

Percy flinched and reached for riptide like a well-established reflex. Her sharp gaze flicked to the dark eyes of Patroclus as he studied her. 

"You...You can speak." Percy gasped. 

She knew he could. She had heard him whispering intimately to his lover, Achilles. But never before had the strapping man spoken directly to her. His voice was quiet and deep, with a light masculine rasp that made her think he might burst into a spontaneous jazz song. 

"Forgive me, princess. I did not mean to offend you with my silence... I just had no idea what to say to someone such as yourself." The man admitted bashfully, taking a seat next to her at the bow of the ship. 

"Such as myself?" Percy asked, confusion replacing the momentary despair. 

Patroclus looked at her for a moment as if trying to understand her. It was the same look in his dark eyes that always followed her when they were in the other's company. He would analyze her, picking her apart to try and figure her out. There wasn't much to figure out, Percy thought. 

Apart from her parentage and legendary bad luck, Percy didn't think there was anything particularly special about herself. 

"You don't even realize it, do you? The effect you have on people... Very few are mistaken for gods. Very few women would stand before an army of bloody-thirsty Greeks and draw their blades for someone they did not know... You are... intimidating." Patroclus offered the explanation but he didn't seem satisfied with the word.  Intimidating was not the right word to describe Percy. 

She exuded divinity in a way only the Olympians might challenge. 

She held a certain power, yet her humble disposition was offputting. Even the great Achilles stood out amongst ordinary men, but he was aware of the effect he had on people. Patroclus loved Achilles with all his heart, but even he could acknowledge that the golden-haired prince was an arrogant prat at times. 

It was odd to see Achilles interact with one deemed superior to him. Patroclus had watched his lover trip over himself to try and gain the approval and friendship of the sea princess. His ordinarily self-assured words came out jumbled and hyperactive, like a child trying to gain the favor of their elder sibling. In all honesty, Patroclus found it entertaining. 

He could also admit that he grew slightly jealous when the men on the ships whispered how the great hero Achilles was in love with the warrior Princess Percy. Percy seemed to have no interest in Achilles, but the whispers still planted a venomous seed in his heart. 

Because, while agonizing, Patroclus would have understood if Achilles loved her. 

She was a beauty unlike any other, with black wavy hair and haunting sea-green eyes. The sunlight seemed to follow her when she walked, making her glow, unlike the other mortals. She was kind and brave, she was a warrior and a daughter of the sea god. 

If anyone was worthy of his beloved Achilles, the mortal goddess beside him would make sense. He could only pray that Aphrodite has mercy on him and keep Percy's affections for the mighty Achilles at bay. 

"I've been told that I have my father's untamable rage... I can be a real sea-weed brain at times... but I didn't mean to frighten anyone." Percy divulged quietly, turning her attention back to the open sea. 

"It seems I offended you once more...My most sincere apologies, princess." Patroclus sighed, cursing himself for his own social ineptitude with women. 

"I'm not offended. I get it... We'll reach Troy by tomorrow afternoon." Percy smiled, though her eyes seemed as restless as her soul. 

"Tomorrow? We've only just set sail. We have many weeks yet." Patroclus responded, evidently forgetting who was leading their voyage. 

"Perks of being the daughter of the sea god. When we reach the shores I will leave you all. I have no strength to fight another war on behalf of the gods." Percy tried to sound casual but it was clear that the man wasn't accepting it. 

"Leave us? Have you no mind for glory? You will look like a coward should you run from this fight. You are a child of an Olympian."

"I have enough glory to last me a thousand years. I am not a coward, I am tired of fighting. I have no doubt that Melelaus can reunite with his lady love without my interference." Percy allowed herself to fall back resting in the sun's warmth. 

"Don't be simple-minded, Princess, there is a bigger picture at stake. This war isn't about Helen... King Menelaus is not challenging the whole of Troy in the name of love as the ballads paint it. She is his wife and he likes her well enough. She is the most beautiful woman in the world, but that is not where her value lies. She was the princess of Sparta, to have Helen's hand is to have the allegiance of Ares' chosen people the Spartans. They do not fight for love they fight for power, princess." Percy looked at Patroculus as her grew more impassioned the more he talked. 

"What would you have me do? Tear down the walls of Troy, shake the earth, and raise the tides until the Trojans drown in their own greed? I have enough blood on my hands, I don't mettle with the gods anymore. Let the fates weave their tapestries but my string will not be entangled with it." Percy spat, that ever-present wrath peeking through. 

"You could end this war in a moment, save thousands of Achean men-"

"By slaughtering every Trojan civilian!" Percy sat back up, her eyes glowing with righteous wrath. The seas began to stir angrily making the ships sway. 

"Achilles would be saved! He wouldn't have to die. You too could be given glory above all acheans! The fates have brought you to us for a reason, Percy! Your name would be known forever, you could live eternally in the hearts of men!" 

"Fuck the fates! I DON'T WANT TO BE IMMORTAL!" All at once the ocean quieted as Percy's voice echoed over the silent sea. 

It was the single fundamental truth she had been fighting for since she reached sixteen against all odds. No one would understand, no one could relate to the utter terror of fighting for all of eternity. She wanted peace, she wanted her family and friends. She fought for a world where innocent kids, she never got to be, live on as kids. She wanted camp half-blood to be safe, homely, and peaceful. 

She never wanted a child to feel the warm blood on their hands, not from a fallen comrade, not drawn from their enemies, not flowing from their own body.

She did not want to live so long that she forgot what it felt like to be mortal. Percy Jackson refused to be a god. 

She could feel the eyes of every Achean on her as she cursed the fates.

Achilles turned from his place by the captain, making his way towards his lover and the mysterious Percy. "Is all well?" He asked, looking to Patroculus for confirmation that he was all right. As much as Achilles was fascinated by Percy, it would be unwise for any man not to fear her, if only a bit. 

Anyone who mastered the domain of their godly parent with such immense power as Poseidon must be approached with the same awe-inspired caution as one would the god themselves. Percy was as much a threat to mortals as any Olympian would be. 

"It's okay... Princess Percy and I were just... becoming better acquainted." Patroclus spoke slowly and carefully, moving closer to the Achilles' side in case Percy snapped. 

Percy seemed to notice the fear on everyone's faces as they looked upon her like a vengeful deity. 

Horror swirled in the bottom of her stomach as she recognized that look. It was the same look Annabeth had given her in Tartarus when she choked the goddess of poison and misery. It was the same look she herself had made when she faced Luke/ Kronos for the first time. 

It was the look of recognition, that someone was more of a threat than you thought. 

She knew that look well. 

"I-I..." When Percy failed to find the words, she simply said "We'll reach Troy by tomorrow..." And walked away to once more drown in her own thoughts.