Lust. Not lust in the vulgar sense. Not lust for power. Lust for hurt. For pain. She knows she isn’t the only one to see it. How Percy… changed after Jason’s death. But she feels like only she cares. Thaila says ‘it’s time for him to get on with his life’. Grover says ‘he’s always dark after a death.’ But the Percy she knew didn’t bash the skulls of bad mortal parents. Didn’t train as if his life depended on it (even though it sometimes did). He was kind. Scary, but gentle. She lost her mother to lust for things. Bitterness over Hades giving Marie this cursed child. She won’t lose another family member to pain and empty wishes. She won’t feel blood filling her lungs as oil did. Won’t feel the sharp blade of Riptide in place of the Earth son’s gemstone ‘flesh’. She won’t. She can’t. She will no longer suffer. And neither will her brother.