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Even before she had fallen through a window, Annabeth Chase was having a bad day.The worst part was, today had started out good. She had woken up to the rising sun and the sound of the sea outside her window rested and relaxed for once, and she had received an A on her History of Architecture test, the highest in the class. She had left the lecture hall smug and craving a coffee as her reward. When she had gotten to her favorite cafe, a hole-in-the-wall place with questionable management but delicious products, the line was practically non-existent. Yes, this day was set to be extraordinary.Until she bumped into Percy Jackson. Literally.Rather irrationally, she blamed him for everything that went wrong that day. Her ruined shirt, her shitty results for her coursework that came in the next lesson, and the aforementioned falling-through-a-window. He was, in truth, only directly responsible for one of those things.She thanked Britney the Barista, picked up her black coffee, and turned right into a hard chest. The hot liquid spilled on her white shirt and her bare forearms, and she hissed in pain. “Shit! Watch where you’re going, why don’t you?”“Oh my god, I am so sorry.” The voice was deep — male. She looked up to glare at a man with curly blond hair and blue-green eyes. The freckles on his face shifted as his eyes widened. “I — uh — I can make it up to you — ”“You can make it up to me by stepping out of my personal space.” It was kind of funny to watch him stutter and clumsily back away, even if the effect was lessened by his seemingly genuine remorse.“Here — use these — ” napkins were thrust into her hand, though it was too little, too late — the coffee had seeped into her shirt and stubbornly clung onto the threads. “I’ll get you another one, okay?”“I think I can do that myself.” She was probably being cattier than was warranted, but today was meant to be good. How could this one boy come and ruin it all in less than a minute?His brows furrowed together in slight annoyance. “Look, I’m sorry I ran into you, but I’m just trying to help out. No need to rip my head off.”“If you didn’t want me to rip your head off, maybe you should have looked where you were going.”“You also ran into me!”“God, I can’t deal with this right now. All I wanted was a coffee and now I’ll have to walk around like this — ”“Huh, I wonder what I could do about that — ”“Don’t take that tone with me — ”“Um, excuse me?” They both turned at the exasperated voice. A girl with sleek black hair stared them both down. “You’re holding up the line.”Annabeth, embarrassed, turned away, only to see the man do the same. “Bye,” she muttered angrily, stalking out with one more coffee stain and without the coffee she had come in for.The day just went downhill after that. Even without her bad coursework grade, she couldn’t ignore the odd, judgmental looks she got from other students as she passed. They already thought she wasn’t meant to be here; they were all probably so happy to see the nepo-baby get what they thought she deserved. She nearly broke down in tears when she discovered that one of her earrings had fallen off at some point during the day — she had been walking around with just one for hours, and nobody said a thing.Curse that blond fucker, she bitterly thought as she stomped to the bus stop. God, Piper will laugh her out of the library — even though it’ll get her kicked out along with her.Piper McLean was probably Annabeth’s best (read: only) friend in the area. They both took Ancient Greek and Roman Studies as an elective — Annabeth because of the amazing architecture from civilizations past, Piper because none of the other electives interested her. She was kind and supportive except when she wasn’t, which is when she became the sole object of Annabeth’s hatred.Today felt like one of those sole-object-of-her-hatred days, because, true to form, Piper began to giggle as soon as Annabeth sauntered up to their shared table. “What happened to you?”“I might as well just leave right now, I guess.”“No! No, I’m sorry Annabeth. Seriously, what happened?”Annabeth rolled her eyes and sat down, trying to conceal her smile. “Some jerk ran into me at the cafe today. I spilled my coffee all over myself and he argued with me.”Piper paused. “Wait. The only people who go to that cafe are uni students, since it’s cheaper than Starbucks and we’re all broke. So… did you recognize him? Feel anything when you gazed into his eyes?”Another thing about Piper: she had the inexplicable and random urge to play matchmaker. “Ew. Trust me, that prick was not my type. I don’t like to date assholes.”“Mhm. Could you just describe him for me?”“Seriously?” Piper’s dead stare told her all she needed to know. “Fine. He’s kinda tall, curly blond hair, blue eyes…”“You noticed his eye color? And you remembered his eye color?”“Shut up! Uh, and he was wearing a dark blue shirt.”“That sounds like Percy Jackson.”“Who?”Piper looked at her incredulously. “Um, he sits behind us in Greek and Roman? Yawns obnoxiously loud? Hangs out with that guy who smells like a goat? Have you actually never noticed him?”Honestly, Annabeth rarely noticed anyone. It had become so ingrained in her mind that nobody liked her, she just didn’t give anyone the time of day — not to mention she wasn’t in the habit of turning around during lectures. “No. Look, we’re in a library for a reason, can we actually get some studying done?”Piper laughed quietly. “Alright, Annabeth.” Annabeth resolutely ignored her friend’s snickers, burying her nose in her textbook. Unlike a lot of others, Annabeth actually enjoyed doing schoolwork and learning new things. Despite Piper’s insistence that she should get out more and go to parties, Annabeth, one, found them to be extremely unappealing, and two, doubted she’d be let in anyway, even with Piper — and Piper was the daughter of a famous actor. If that didn’t highlight how disliked Annabeth was around here, nothing did.Luckily, she made up what social life she lacked in academic achievement. She was well on her way to graduating with honors, and she already had an internship at one of the best architectural firms in the country. She didn’t need friends or romance when she had stability. No matter what Piper said.No matter how lonely she felt.Annabeth had just turned to Piper, intent on asking her a question about the Romans (no matter how hard she tried, she could never understand them) when loud bangs echoed through the room, breaking her concentration. Gunshots. People gasped and screamed — Annabeth grabbed Piper’s arm and dragged her under the table, hugging the other girl close to her chest.“Shit, shit, shit,” Piper was saying on repeat, hiding her head in her hands. “What’s — what’s happening?”“I don’t know,” Annabeth confessed, and she hated to be ignorant. Peering around other tables and people, she tried to catch a glimpse of the gunman — gunmen, she realized, when she saw at least four pairs of heavy boots striding along the carpeted floor.“Everyone!” One of them shouted. “I won’t hurt you if you cooperate. I want Piper McLean, and if I don’t get her in the next ten minutes, you’ll be saying your final prayers!”Unbidden, a tiny whimper escaped from Annabeth’s mouth. All those things she’d thought before — she didn’t mean them, Piper meant the world to her. Ever since Piper had caught her crying in the bathroom and sat down next to her instead of laughing and walking away, she had been Annabeth’s rock. Even when Piper was at her most annoying, Annabeth never wanted her to disappear.They must have come to try and collect ransom money — everyone knew that Tristan McLean was loaded; it was only a matter of time before someone came after Piper.The people nearest Piper and Annabeth turned their way with wide eyes, clearing hoping she’d sacrifice herself to save them all. God, Annabeth had never hated people more than in that moment — how dare they assume that their life is more valuable than Piper’s? Annabeth was the only person who actively protested, digging her nails into Piper’s arm so deeply it must’ve hurt, and hissed at her to stay put.Tears in her eyes, she turned to Annabeth. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and jerked her arm away. Ignoring Annabeth’s heartbroken expression, she turned away and stood up, revealing herself to the gunmen.Immediately, she had a gun trained on her. “You’re Piper McLean?”“Yes.”“C’mere!” Piper shook with what must have been fear, but she made her way over to them. She gasped as the man gripped her hair, and the others surrounded her, leaving her with no escape.“Here’s what’s gonna happen, okay? We’re taking Piper here, and anyone trying to be a hero will end up with a hole in their chest! And you,” he turned to Piper, leaning in close, “will come quietly, or I’ll let a round loose.”Annabeth watched as Piper nodded slowly, and somehow, it snapped something in her. She couldn’t sit by and watch Piper get hauled off to be killed. Saying a quick prayer to anyone who would listen, she dashed out from underneath the table, tripping one man before they even realized she had approached.Like Piper, Annabeth had some connections of her own. She was the daughter of Athena Chase — extremely wealthy, extremely intelligent, and an extreme bitch. Annabeth and Athena had an understanding where Athena would pay her daughter’s university tuition and Annabeth would play at ‘Happy Families’ at whatever gala or charity ball her mother wanted her to. Other than that, they tried to stay out of each other’s way. That wasn’t to say that all Annabeth had learned was what cutlery to use when — as a child, she had done martial arts and archery, so she was far from incompetent. Probably more competent than anyone here, in this situation.She punched the second gunman just as they began to turn around. He went down groaning as blood spurted from his broken nose. The last man sank to the ground as Annabeth kicked him in the balls, and she stamped on his face for good measure, knocking him out.“You — ” The man gripping Piper started forward, but stopped. For a split second, Annabeth though he was simply to cowardly to try and fight him, until she saw Piper’s wide, warning eyes.The first man. She had knocked him down, but she hadn’t finished him off. Rookie mistake.Arms wrapped around her throat before she could react. All rational thought left her head, only leaving her panic. God, she had to throw him off!They struggled — she pushed him off her, only for him to pull her back. He slammed her into the window, practically braining her and leaving a spider-web crack with bits of blood in the crevices. Her vision was getting blurrier by the second, and she knew she didn’t have much time.She did not do all this just for Piper to get killed anyway.She flung herself forward as hard as she could, shouldering the man’s weight for only a second before he came crashing to the ground. But her fuzzy brain overestimated her own strength, and when she came back up, she lost her balance and tripped over her own feet, sending her straight into the cracked window.It couldn’t support her weight a second time, and she only got a glimpse of Piper’s horrified face as she tumbled through the glass and to the street below. “Annabeth!”Her stomach felt like it was flying out of her chest, but she couldn’t find it in her to be scared for her life, not when she hadn’t managed to save Piper.She had failed. This was her punishment. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable impact, pain and then nothingness…But it never came. She landed in someone’s arms. And… was that the sound of water? Peering up, Annabeth found herself face-to-face with glowing green eyes. She knew she must be staring, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away.“Uh…”“Are you okay, miss?” His voice short-circuited her brain, making her unable to formulate a coherent response. Speak, dammit!“I — uh, I’m — fine, fine.”“I’m glad.” He started to descend with her still in his arms, and the slosh of water reminded her to look down.He was standing on a pillar of water.The water slowly retreated back to the ocean as they moved, only leaving the street slightly damp when he set her down on the ground. She barely even reacted, just stared at him with wide eyes.“I — I’m dreaming, right?”The man laughed, his blond hair blowing in the slight breeze. “I don’t think so, unless we both are. And, well, everyone else will have to be dreaming too.”Everyone else…? Annabeth looked around her, and saw a crowd of faces that looked just as shocked as she did. Some people had their phones out and recording, the flash blinding her.Annabeth was curious at heart, and was always ready to argue, but nothing had rendered her speechless like this before. There were so many questions and statements swirling around her head that she could barely think coherent thoughts at all. Only one thing came out of the maelstrom unscathed. “Piper — she’s still in there!”The man’s eyes only widened slightly; they glowed again as he summoned control of the ocean water once more. He lifted himself back up to the broken window, moving out of Annabeth’s line of sight. He reappeared mere minutes later, a shaking Piper safe in his grasp.“I think you should take her to a hospital,” he said as he set Piper down next to her. He was right; she couldn’t even hold herself up without Annabeth’s support. “And get yourself checked out, too — you’ve got a pretty nasty cut on your forehead.”Annabeth touched her head, unsurprised when her hand came away bloody. But as the mysterious man began to leave on his water pillar, she couldn’t help but blurt out one final question. “Wait — who are you?”He paused, smiled down at her.“Call me the Son of Poseidon.”In a swirl of salty-smelling water, he was gone.