Gone Girl.¹

𝟬𝟬𝟮. out of time

"I was just thinking about what you said. You know, the Big Three weren't supposed to have children," she replied.

"Well, if the rules are made by you, it's easier to disobey them. And if no one's willing to hold you accountable because they're scared of you, then you have nothing to lose." She took a breath. "It shouldn't work that way, but it does."

"He must be very powerful." Calypso looked at her with a knowing look. "I'm just saying. A son of Poseidon? I'm pretty sure no one would want to mess with him."

"All powerful people have enemies, Mar."

"But at least they have a chance to survive," Amaryllis argued. "Us average people? We have been blessed with mediocrity and the life span of twenty years max."

The caramel haired girl nudged her gently. "Don't talk like that."

She sighed. Amaryllis didn't use to be like that - bitter and wallowing over how unfair life was. She used to be optimistic, the kind of person who saw the glass half full. Now she was just fighting the urge to take the glass and throw it in some god's eye. She supposed years of isolation away from everything she ever knew and loved could do that to a person.

"I think I'm going to try and take a nap."

❀

When she woke up, it was dark outside. She had fallen asleep by the beach, which was in no way comfortable and that only proved how much she needed to sleep. She got up and dusted herself off the sand, although her hair were probably still full of it. She didn't realise someone was approaching until she heard him clear his throat.

His dark skin was glowing under the moonlight. He was wearing the clothes that were previously torn up, but now had been fixed, probably by Calypso's servants. He didn't seem like he was in bad shape, until she saw how he limped, trying to get closer.

"You're, uh, Mar, right?" he asked and she was immediately taken aback by the fact that he knew her by nickname.

She nodded, still thinking of how she should approach the situation. When men came to the island, she was always very nice to them, doing the favour to Calypso. But she still wanted to appear tough, as a reminder that if they hurt her sister, she could very easily make them regret their existence.

"I'm Percy," he introduced himself.

"Yes. The guy who fell from a hole in the sky and I almost drowned trying to save." Okay, she was being a bit dramatic, but that was just how she was in general. She couldn't help an amused smile when his face immediately dropped.

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"It's fine, I'm just teasing you. My name is Amaryllis by the way." She extended her hand for a handshake, which seemed to have confused him for some reason.

"Maryllise?"

"You should learn how to say my name, because I don't really like nicknames. It's Amaryllis," she repeated.

Percy's eyes widened a little, as if he realised something very important and she looked at him curiously. "I know you!"

"That's impossible," she chuckled. "We've never met before."

"Your last name is Kalomiri or... something like that, right?"

Her heart dropped. No one had called her by her last name for so long, it almost seemed like it didn't belong to her anymore. "How the hell do you know my name?" She instinctively took some small steps back, almost tripping over herself. For a moment she wondered whether the boy in front of her was a god and that was some sort of cruel test.