ᴄᴀᴠᴇ ᴄᴀɴᴇᴍ: ᴘᴀʀᴛ ɪɪ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

ɪᴠ | ᴡʜᴏ ᴘᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴍᴇᴛᴀᴘʜᴏʀ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ?

Percy was never an early riser in high school. Weekends spent sleeping in until noon and then playing video games in bed were undoubtedly the best.

And when his mom forgot to wake him up for school... Well, those days were awesome. He'd insist he was only missing a study hall, and then they'd forget that study hall only lasts forty minutes or so, and then they'd forget that the subway line was down, and suddenly, they'd had a special mother-son kind of day.

Nowadays, he wishes his mom could remember something—anything, really—even just the day of the week.

That's why he's an early riser now. Sure, it doesn't feel like much of a choice; if he didn't wake up at six in the morning to teach biology classes every day he wouldn't be able to afford doctors' appointments for his mother, or Will as a caretaker, or his therapist Cletus.

And that's also why he woke up at six in the morning to then wake up Annabeth, who was spread starfish-style on the mattress—the one they were supposed to share—even though it almost earned him a punch in the face.

She had just rolled over and said, "Hooters doesn't open until eleven, and I don't usually work until the evening anyway, so..."

So that explains the aforementioned almost punch.

Now he wishes he could go back in time and tell Percy From This Morning that getting Annabeth out of bed would be the least of his problems.

His current problem is chasing her down on a ferry that could easily be confused with a cruise ship. On the bright side, if there happens to be a bar, he'll know where the New Rome credit card is.

Where are you? he texts for the third time. The read receipts aren't even coming up. What if something awful happened? His ex-girlfriend could be kidnapped or incapacitated or worse.

This was not supposed to happen. This was a good idea that was going to get him to the Netherlands for a reasonable fee after the plane... Well, he's not exactly sure where the plane ended up, but they can't use it anymore. Besides, Percy would rather take a ferry; it's in his father's domain, after all.

Now, why the Netherlands? Between the windmills and tulips, there's something suspicious going on. Well, according to the news, anyway. Something's been eating up those pretty tulips and shaking the foundations of those windmills. Mortals will try to come up with an excuse for any Greek disturbances in their world, but even this one is unexplainable.

Needless to say, Percy was a little more than wary of this lead at first. However, with the handy-dandy internet and this little thing called social media, he was able to find out that yes, nobody had come up with a reasonable explanation for the havoc. He also saw some mildly depressing pictures of tulips without their pink buds, as if the flowers had simply been chomped away.

Well, he doesn't know for a fact that those were even pink tulips, as Annabeth so kindly pointed out before completely disappearing.

He opens a closet, only to find janitorial supplies. Then he opens the next closet, which is filled with bright orange lifejackets that topple off the overfilled shelves and onto the floor. "Shoot," he says, bending down to pick them up.

There has to be a better way to go about this, he thinks to himself as he steps back into the maze of parked cars. It would be nice if he had his car here. Gods, he misses his car. Driving is the one thing that doesn't make him feel tied down and-

Something hits Percy in the head, but instead of crying out himself, the impact is accompanied by a baby's cries.

At his feet lies a purple pacifier. That's it! The passengers are up on the balcony watching the water on their way to the Netherlands. He can use the high ground to his advantage and search for Annabeth that way.