The deck of the Argo II creaked beneath your boots. Salt wind tugged at your hair. The sky stretched wide and indifferent above the ship, as if it hadn’t noticed that someone who was supposed to be dead was walking its planks again.

You shouldn’t be here. You knew that. You remembered the dark. The stillness. The weightless quiet that came after everything stopped.

And then Nico. His hand in yours. His jaw clenched with effort. The cold, ripping pull as he dragged you back across a boundary no one was meant to cross.

You were crucial to the plan. That was what they’d said. The strongest demigod to ever live. They needed your power. They just didn’t trust the person attached to it. You could feel it every time someone’s conversation dipped when you stepped into a room. Every time weapons shifted slightly when you walked past. Every time someone stood a little too far away from you on deck.

You didn’t blame them. You had died in battle. You had lost control before that. You had been powerful enough to scare even Olympus. Now you were back. And no one quite knew what that meant.

You were leaning against the rail when you heard it. Not loud. Not meant for you. “…I’m just saying, what if bringing them back was a mistake?” A pause. “They’re dangerous.”

The word hung in the air like smoke. You didn’t move. Didn’t turn. You didn’t need to look to know who had said it. The fear in their voice was familiar. It was the same fear you’d seen reflected in gods’ eyes once.

Dangerous. You watched the ocean instead. It didn’t recoil from you. Didn’t whisper. It just rolled on endlessly, unconcerned.

Behind you, someone shifted uncomfortably. “They’re on our side,” another voice said, softer, probably Nico.

“For now.” Another scoffs.

That one hurt more. Your hand tightened slightly on the railing. The metal groaned faintly under your grip before you consciously forced yourself to relax. You had come back for them. For the plan. For the world that didn’t quite want you anymore. You didn’t turn around. You didn’t defend yourself. You just stood there, the strongest demigod to ever live, staring out at the horizon like you were trying to remember how to belong to it.