And Persephone... Well, she was merely—although powerful—a minor goddess. A wife. That was her preordained duty. She couldn't be sleeping around, like her husband was. She couldn't be disloyal, like her husband was.

Persephone was told to kill her child. Zeus demanded that the newborn should die, and although the rest of the gods disagreed, what Zeus said was what was to happen. And it would've happened, if not for Artemis. Artemis fought for Aurora's life, imposing justice for the goddess of flowers and her daughter. Together, the two goddesses casted protection over her, and Artemis continued to support Aurora as she grew older.

(Aurora didn't know Zeus had sentenced her life to death at just a couple days old. If she did... well, despite how unwise it would be to have the King of Olympus against you, Aurora would fight him until he actually killed her.)

However, life was not easy for the daughter and her mother. Because of how wrong it was for Aurora to simply be born, Persephone told her daughter, as soon as she was old enough to know what words meant, that she had to be the perfect kid, the perfect hero, the perfect demigod, because they were all risking themselves for her to live. They were sacrificing their blessing and protection. It had to be worth it.

She had to be worth it.

"You don't have to tell me—" Percy started, his words low and hushed and gentle. He was being so kind for someone like Aurora, for someone who was having a battle in her mind. It was painful, how undeserving she was.

"No." Aurora insisted, her voice coming off harsh and snappy. But she grabbed Percy's hand, squeezing it hard to let him know that, although her tone betrayed the actuality of her sentiment, that she wanted him to know her. If it was what he wanted, she would tell him. Because they were friends—for some reason—and Aurora needed a friend like him. "I trust you, okay? You're my friend."

She missed how much that made the boy grin by looking away, and Percy looked down to smother his stupidly huge beam. But when Aurora began to talk, it instantly faded away.

"The thing is," Aurora's voice broke, her chin trembling against her will. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip as she felt an unbearable knot in her throat. Gods, she was pathetic. Who broke down within three words?

So, to recollect herself, Aurora took a deep breath and continued, squeezing Percy's hand harder to ground herself. There was a reason why she was so inclined to physical touch. "I'm not perfect. That's the big thing. My 'fatal flaw,' as Annabeth calls it. But it's not just that. I'm not perfect enough—I'll never be perfect enough—but I'm also not good enough. I'm just not exceptional at anything, I'm not great. I'm not smart, like Annie. I'm not the hero, or powerful, like you. I'm mediocre, at best. And it's not just that I'm upset about being bad at things, because I can accept that. But I'm letting everyone down. I'm failing everyone because I'm not perfect. And I just wish I was."

"Ro..." Percy sighed, his thumb hovering above her wrist bone, as if contemplating on brushing against her skin. He lowered it, deciding against the action so the hesitation had been missed by Aurora. "I wish you could see what I see. You are—"

Aurora cut him off with a loud scoff, a haughty laugh that carried disbelief. "Stop, Perce. Save it. Even if you don't see my imperfections—which you do, don't fucking lie to me—everyone else does. Because everyone wants me to be perfect. I can't not be perfect when they expect me to be that. I can't let people down. I have to prove myself. I have to be perfect. You know that, you know I was never supposed to be alive. But I am. We are. Doesn't that mean something to you?"

She leaned closer to him, so their noses were almost touching, her hazel eyes desperately searching Percy's. If there was anyone who could understand her ludicrous thought process, it would be him. It had to be him, because if he didn't get her, who would? Who could?

"Like, you have to work a thousand times harder to prove yourself to the gods, because you're here and alive. And you have to prove that you're worth everything they've done to keep you here and alive? I mean, it has to be worth it, because my dad left because of that. I can't just die knowing that I drove him away."

She swallowed, wincing at what she had just uttered as Percy held her hand, his skin warm against her own cold flesh. But, though she wasn't planning on continuing, the comfort that his hand's embrace extended unto her warmed her up once more, and she let out a dry chuckle of ridiculed, messy laughter.

"I've actually had a panic attack before. You know, the humiliating breakdown I had last year? When I was five. I remember it, kinda. It was when my dad left me. And my dad... I made him leave." Her voice broke. "Maybe if I was better... I have to be perfect to make up for it. Maybe he'll come back. Do I want him back? Not really. But it's nice to think someone would be there for me—or that I even have the option to leave—if I ever wanted to go back home."

"Ro?" Percy asked, peering into her clouded gaze. They both did not realize how close they had become, how Percy's face was so close to hers that he could count every freckle on her nose, how Aurora's face was so close to his that she could see the divet of his dimple on his right cheek. "What happened?"

Aurora narrowed her eyes. "Are you pressing me?"

"You wouldn't be telling me this if you didn't want me to press you," Percy responded calmly with reason. Aurora shrugged her left shoulder to confirm that belief with begrudge. He tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, as if to send her a boastful, See? "I know you."

Aurora held his competing gaze for a second before conceding. She let out a huff of hot air, seeming to deflate as she recalled memories she had carefully tucked into a dusty old safe stored on the top shelf in the basement of her mind.

"When I was little, I loved my dad. I like to believe that he loved me too. But when I was five, that was when my mom really started to communicate with me. She was trying to be a mom, a parent who's there for her child. She has so few kids anyway, and she didn't want to be a deadbeat. But life forced her to be, because that's when all the monsters started coming. 'Cause, you know, Hades. I love my stepdad. Anyways, then, well... a mortal doesn't exactly react well to three literal devils showing up at their house, right? My dad got freaked out, and just... ran away. It was finally too much for him. He didn't care about the toddler he had wailing in his living room. He just packed up as many of his things as he could in the time that the Furies were breathing fire into his bedroom, left me with a hundred dollar bill that I didn't even know what to do with, and left for the nearest airport. I have no idea where he is now. I was taken to camp that night, and I've been there ever since."

Aurora hadn't realized it, but it was a disconcerting experience, realizing that someone now held the key to that safe, to her innermost vulnerabilities that she had spent so long attempting to smother. However, the sea green gaze staring into hers hadn't become clouded with pity, and the weight of his new knowledge did not press down into her as a constant reminder of the fragility of the walls she had spent so long meticulously constructing. No. Percy's consciousness of Aurora's secrets somehow felt like a weight, not taken off her chest, but instead bore with someone else: a helping hand, sharing the weight of the world on their shoulders.

"So, yeah," Aurora continued, her throat tight and dry. She tore her eyes away from Percy's, suddenly feeling raw and uncomfortable in her own skin. "Artemis found me. My mom sent her to take me to Camp Half Blood. She escorted me there and gave me my ring Oleander, a gift curated by her and my mom. That's why it's a bow and a sword. In turn, all they wanted was perfection."

"Ro. Aurora."

"You don't understand, Perce. I'm supposed to be perfect. Who am I if not that? I'll die, do you know that? I'll disappoint everyone. I'm supposed to be perfect. My mom said. The gods said. I'm a soldier, I'm a fighter. I'm the perfect demigod forbidden child. But what if I'm not?" Aurora rolled her eyes, despite the tears pooling into her gaze. You're not, her brain nagged at her. You're not. The one thing they wanted from you, and you can't do that.

"My dad left. My mom sacrificed everything: her marriage, her reputation, her relationships with all the other gods. Fuck, Hades told me they go to therapy, Percy. I would be laughing if it wasn't so fucking sad. Artemis stuck out for me when she didn't have to. All they asked from me was to be perfect—what an easy thing to do, right? But I should be able to. I should be able to be perfect, and I'm not.

"And the worst part was: it's not that I'm just some demigod who's okay, just shy of being good. No. Everyone thinks I'm some weak bitch. Even you did when we first met. I'm the best swordsman in the last century, and no one thinks I'm powerful anymore! Not after they found out the truth, anyway. I'm some stupid flower kid now, now that everyone knows who my mom is. It's like everyone at camp forgot I beat their asses and fucking teach them how to sword fight. I mean, now I'm just purposeless, puny, and impotent, and everyone seems to know that. Circe did. Monsters do. Everyone does. I mean, even Luke, for some reason, and I've beaten him. I go unnoticed, I fade into the fucking background because I'm just so... It's just..." Aurora took a deep breath, her chest shuddering involuntarily as she looked away, unable to face the inevitable pitiful reaction of the son of Poseidon. "How the hell am I supposed to be perfect if everyone thinks I'm awful?"

Percy let out a laugh in disbelief, surprising himself and Aurora. However, it didn't sound unkind. Simply just... stunned. He didn't look at Aurora like she was irrational, which was what she had feared, or like he felt bad for her, which he most likely did. He just looked incredulous, as if he wanted to change her mind personally. "Ro, do you know how many people are terrified of you? Do you know how amazing you are? The fucking Furies have nightmares about you. Hades sure does. You make the King of the Underworld insecure. You're... what you did to Circe was incredible. Fucking insane. And you did it in a dress. Anyone who underestimates you, or ignores you... well, first of all, they're way more stupid than I am. And whatever, let them. Who cares what they think?"

Aurora raised her hand with a blatant scoff, attempting at some sort of comic relief for Percy, who seemed to be shocked at this revelation, at the fact that she cared so much. As much as she tried to hide the fact, she would always value what others thought of her, even if they were monsters attempting to slaughter her and eat her alive. Maybe it was pride, maybe it was her dumb fatal flaw, but how was it that Aurora could slip away from monsters' attentions so easily, so quickly? Something had to be wrong with her.

The brunette boy shook his head violently, grabbing her arm and pulling it down, so now both of her hands were encompassed by Percy's own. "It's their funeral, anyway. Literally. Think about how brutally you've murdered people because they underestimate you. Take Crusty, for example. It's your weapon, Ro. Look, I'm really sorry that people are so dumb they can't see you for who you are, you don't deserve that. You deserve to be celebrated, for everyone to bow down and shout, 'Aurora fucking Miller, everybody!' But if they don't pay you attention, then they deserve to die in your brutal, nasty ways—don't look at me like that. I know you like it." Aurora shook her head, a light snort breezing through her nostrils in response as she dragged her index finger under her lower lashes. Percy was being too kind, it was sort of unreal.

"And don't think for a second that I thought you were weak. No. I was scared for my life that you would actually kill me. Deadass, sword through my sternum. I mean, to this day, I've never been more terrified than when you were mad at me, and I've fought Ares himself. I just was so desperate to know you, I just, you know, bothered you and shit. For your attention." The tan skin on Percy's cheeks flushed a soft reddish hue, the type of color painted across sunsets, and Aurora wondered if he thought of his words as a revelation of sorts. See, but Aurora knew he wanted her attention from the start. She had hated that, and she had hated him, and she—still—wondered why anyone in the world would ever actually want her attention, but she knew the fact nonetheless.

"Well, you have my attention now, Shark Boy." Aurora replied drily, her upper lip curling slightly into a weak smile. She shook her head, her chest heaving up and down as she took a steadying breath. She could only maintain her casualty for so long, before her true emotions started to weigh down on and crumple her heart like a brick to the head; she never stood a chance.

"The thing that drives me crazy is, I know everything I need to know. I know my fatal flaw, I know why I have my fatal flaw. So why can't I just... why can't I figure it out?" She confessed, her voice hushed.

Her inquiry was quite possibly one of the most terrifying asks of her entire life, one of the questions she buried deep inside her head in fear of it never being solved. Aurora liked to believe that if it was never asked, she would never know if there was an answer or not, and if it was the one she would want to hear.

However, Aurora didn't know if the answer Percy gave was what she needed to hear, or what she was terrified of. His words were like a blow to her gut, a smack to her face, but what he said also enveloped Aurora like an embrace, a warm juxtaposition of the icy stance she had given herself—her back rigid, her mouth falling to rest in a straight line, the only hint of humanity being her hand in Percy's.

"Because no one is perfect, Ro." Percy said slowly, emphasizing each word as his eyes never strayed from Aurora's face, as if guaranteeing that she would understand. "Hate to break it to you, but perfection doesn't exist. It's impossible, and I know you know that, and I'm sorry I can't do anything to help. I'm sorry that I can't do anything but reaffirm things you think are lies. But they're not. They're not lies. I would never lie to you. So you have trust me when I say: perfection is a myth. It's unachievable, and it's made to be unachievable."

Aurora stared at Percy, almost frozen in awe, and she let out a breathy laugh at his suddenly wise words. "Did Athena bless you or something?"

"Nah," Percy joined her laughter, finally bringing his fingers to move from simply just grasping Aurora's, his thumb to softly skid across the skin below her knuckle. It was a slow brush, unnoticeable and unnoticed by the girl, but Percy knew. "I just believe in you."

Aurora's head snapped up, the words a shock to her own ears. They were unexpected, after that conversation, but what was even more unexpected was how honest he sounded. His words were full of clarity, and his eyes never diverted from her gaze. He said it with full solemnity and unwavering support.

Aurora's heart skipped a beat, her chest constricting inwards, and she felt a buzz below her stomach. She then realized, she had never had a truer friend than Percy. More than her own sister Gracie, more than Connor, more than even Annabeth, Percy Jackson was the greatest friend she had. And she had almost let him slip through her fingers.

"For what it's worth," Percy added, "you're pretty damn close. I don't think anyone is closer to being perfect than you. You're incredible, Ro. You're flawless. Everyone who underestimated you has been proven wrong in the most badass ways—including myself, which was super embarrassing—because you're the most powerful demigod I've ever seen. I've never seen you lose a fight. But the thing is: you don't have to be perfect. You don't. Not with me, at least. Or Annabeth, or Grover, or Gracie, or anyone. You can just be yourself, and that's more than enough."

Aurora was speechless. She couldn't say anything. She had no idea what to say. So she did the only thing she truly knew how to. She did what words could not express. Aurora hugged him.

Well, more like attacked him. Aurora hadn't been accounting for how close in proximity the two had gotten, or that they were both sitting on the ground, or really anything to do with reality. All she was thinking about was the fact that Percy cared. More than anyone else had ever.

Aurora wrapped her arms around Percy's neck, her face landing in the crevice between his shoulder and head. Percy's breath hitched, her force almost knocking him backwards so that they would both be laying on the floor, but luckily for them, his left arm shot backwards to save themselves. It propped him upright, and once they were steady, Percy wrapped both his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

It was unlike any hug they'd had before, and they didn't realize how long they'd been wrapped against each other until Aurora could count to eighty-seven of Percy's heartbeats and Percy memorized the scent Aurora had spritzed behind her ears. Her face lay in the nape of his neck, and Percy's fingers curled around the smooth, silky fabric of her dress—which Aurora really needed to get out of. His fingers brushed against her long hair, subconsciously playing with the ends of her wavy locks.

It wasn't until there was a loud splash outside of their ship that they broke apart, turning to each other in alarm.

"Oh my gods, was that Annabeth?"

Now Percy had two girls in the Sea of Monsters. Like, in the Sea of Monsters. He had amazing luck.

"I guess it's time to save Annabeth," Percy shouted as he hurled himself after Aurora, letting the waves settle around him. His muscles relaxed, the water providing the comfort that Aurora's body leaving his own had left behind. "Never thought I'd say that."

But, Annabeth had figured it out.

"Hubris." The blonde concluded once Aurora and Percy wrestled her away from the Sirens' island. How the girl had broken free of her ropes, managed to swim all the way to the island, and proceed to punch and thrash in the two demigods' grips was unbeknownst to the daughter of Persephone, but underestimating Annabeth was a whole different story.

Aurora helped Annabeth onto the upper deck, throwing a blanket around the daughter of Athena's shoulders.

"Hubris?" Aurora repeated, her arms wrapped around Annabeth's middle, her chin resting on the taller girl's shoulder.

Annabeth nodded numbly. "My fatal flaw. What the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris."

Percy blinked. "That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?"

Annabeth rolled her gray eyes. "No, Seaweed Brain. That's