The water was a rich blue and the ponisi lit it up with a faint glow. Fish were swimming by as Amphitrite and Triton swam into the throne room.
I followed Them. They didn't seem to notice me which was odd as in the other dreams I'd had the immortals could see me.
I blinked at the loud arguing happening in the room they were entering.
What?
"He's my son!"
"Clearly you don't care for him nearly enough if you couldn't keep an eye on him."
"I keep a close eye on him-"
"Then why was he in my kingdom?
"I don't know. We only-"
"It clearly means that I should be the one caring for him-"
"No you shouldn't! He's my son."
I swam in and saw Okeanus and Poseidon fighting.
"Not for long," Okeanus said with a smirk.
Poseidon glared at Okeanus. "This is not up for debate. Triton is my son."
I shook my head as the dream faded away.
I'd heard of the custody battle that Okeanus and Poseidon had over Triton, I hadn't realized they'd fought so much over it.
Of course, there were like a dozen attempts by Okeanus to get custody of Triton…
I shrugged, I was just glad that wasn't happening to me.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
Reading the book on the human body was so boring. How was it important to know where every bone was, what their names were, and what muscles and nerves connected to them?
And why did I need to know where all the veins started and ended? Plus, how the blood pumped and why. And of course, all the internal organs purpose and placement and name.
It was horribly boring, I was only ever able to get through a little at a time.
Annabeth was some help when we IMed. She had some study strategies that she used but it always made it easier for me to work when I could talk with someone else. And since she was always stern about getting the work done it meant we didn't get so distracted.
But when I had to work on my own…
Well, I found medical stuff boring to learn about.
Why couldn't I just wave my hands over the body like Katara did?
I turned back to one of the books on curse removal theory instead. That was an interesting read, and useful.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
Tyson was taking careful notes while me and another girl from our Math class worked on gathering the questions for the poll.
We had to practice graphing analysis. So, we'd be making polls then putting the info into graphs then analyzing them. Our teacher set us up in groups to make it easier to gather all the info.
Tyson was the one noting down what we said, and our other group member was making the graphs. I was in charge of getting the questions and passing the info to Tyson, then passing his charts to our other group member.
I didn't know her name and it was a bit late to ask.
It was a lot of tedious work, but it was nice to work with Tyson since we weren't normally paired up in this class.
"What's the info for uh… question four?"
I took the sheet from Tyson and read off the numbers slowly.
"Wait, forty-two? The numbers are supposed to be out of twenty-four?"
I blinked, reread that, and flushed.
"Er… yeah, it was twenty-four. Sorry, mixed them up."
She sighed, "Double check everything to make sure you didn't mix any others up."
I did so.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
My tail flicked in excitement and I paused to drift back down.
Masina was taking me current surfing!
Kymopoleia told us to try sneaking out too, to get some stealth training in too before the current surfing.
It was fun! We got out of the castle and met up with a few of Masina's camp friends then went to a current to surf.
I had my current board she got me for my birthday and they were now teaching me how to ride it.
It was kinda like the… the… the mini boards on land. Buggy boards! It was like how you got on your stomach and rode the waves to shore on those. You did that with the current boards in the sea, and then used your tails to guide it.
Masina demonstrated a few times, only falling off once. It was really cool!
We were at a gentle current for my first time, just to be safe.
"Okay, so when you ride the current… well I'm not actually sure with two tails but with one tail you have to flick it like when you're drifting."
"Triton taught me how to with two tails," I assured them.
"Right, so you do that. Except you can't bend your body to control the flow too, only your tails. That's the tricky part. You need to stay on one current or the board will catch it and you'll go wild."
I nodded solemnly, my gaze drifting to one of their friends who'd already dived into the current.
It looked so fun.
"Now then!" Masina chirped. "Let's get started!"
They showed me how to hold the board and then motioned for me to dive in.
I took a deep breath and dove.
Then promptly tumbled fin over head and Masina had to spin the currents to catch me and pull me out.
"Oops?" I offered between giggles.
They laughed, "That was a disaster!"
"Can I try again?"
They grinned and motioned again to the current in front of us.
A dozen attempts later that all ended in me tumbling over finally resulted in one where I managed to balance for a minute.
I grinned as the current pulled me along, then moved my tail wrong and tumbled off again.
"Hey that one was better!"
I nodded as I pulled up. "Yeah! I actually balanced for a bit."
"Okay, so do what you did in the beginning and at the start just hold steady with your tails. It's hard cause moving them is way more natural-"
"Yeah cause balance in the water."
"Exactly. But when current surfing you gotta ride the current, so you can't move the tail too much. It's like those moaneliv, with their… uh… what's the word… ert mosai… opu sairali sa'maiv…"
"A wheel?"
"No… it's the thing the wheel moves."
I considered, "A rudder?"
"I think so? So anyways, your tail works like the 'rutter' on moaneliv."
I nodded, "That makes sense. So I need to keep my tails stiffer?"
"Yep!"
I turned back to the current to try again.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
"Where have you been?" Triton cried in a panic as he swept over to me. "I've been searching all over."
I blinked, "Um, I was with Masina-"
"Masina? Why were you with them? Why didn't you tell anyone where you were going-"
"Triton, Triton, Triton," Khrysaôr said as he draped an arm over Triton's shoulders. "Let the kid live."
Triton's eye twitched.
"Yeah," Kymopoleia said. "I knew where he was-"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Triton snapped as he spun on her. "I've been searching for the last hour."
"I thought it was funny," Khrysaôr chirped.
"Yeah," Kymopoleia said. "Also, you need to relax with Perseus. He's a kid yeah, but he was well protected and Benthesikyme agreed to watch him while he was there."
"I didn't know she was there," I mumbled.
Kymopoleia winked at me, "Yeah, we just wanted you to have fun. She stayed out of the way."
Triton took a slow breath and let it out.
"I appreciate your concern but Persi is my brother-"
"He's our brother too," Khrysaôr cooed. "We just want to look out for him."
"You-"
"Okay," Rhodos interrupted. "I understand that you were worried, Triton, and I would've appreciated being informed of Perseus' location as well-"
"But you would've told Triton," Kymopoleia pointed out.
Rhodos leveled a look at her.
"Yes, I would've. No matter your reason you unnecessarily made Triton panic and I'm certain that you didn't tell Perseus that you were going to do that."
They all looked at me and I flicked my tails nervously.
"Um… no…"
Benthesikyme swept in just then.
"Benny," Rhodos said smoothly. "Did you know Khrysaôr and Kym weren't planning on telling Triton where Perseus was?"
She blinked, "I was not aware. I just assumed they'd inform him- I see where I went wrong."
Kymopoleia looked a bit sheepish at that point, but Khrysaôr was still smiling.
Rhodos turned to them.
"Triton has understandable reasons to be worried for Perseus, not even getting into history. While he is perfectly safe, it does not mean we shouldn't exercise caution and be careful. He is a child and the sea can be dangerous."
Kymopoleia flicked her tails with a mulish expression.
"If I'd known that you were doing it to mess with Triton then I wouldn't have agreed to watch Perseus," Benthesikyme chided. "You shouldn't torment him like that, especially not by using Perseus."
I shifted awkwardly. It felt like there was something bigger going on that no one had informed me of.
Khrysaôr waved his hand, "We're just trying to help Triton relax. We wouldn't want the second prince to drive him to early gray hair."
"What are you even going on about?" Triton hissed.
Benthesikyme very slowly pulled me back.
"Nothing," Khrysaôr insisted. "I'm just trying to look out for your health."
Triton bristled, "You said-"
"Enough!" Rhodos snapped. "Khrysaôr stop trying to push Triton's buttons. Triton calm down and stop letting him get to you. You're all upsetting Perseus."
Triton's tail flicked harshly.
"Right," he turned away. "Come along, Persi. You can tell me what you did while you were out."
I let Triton guide me away, sending a worried look over my shoulder to see Rhodos rounding on Khrysaôr.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
"Okay," Klara said as she sat next to us at the mall. "Does anyone want to tell me what's up with the creepy old guys in suits that are asking for our money?"
I blinked, looking over at Salvation Army Santa asking for donations.
"Oh, they're dressed up like Santa."
"Why?" Kai asked, his notebook out once more. "And who's Santa?"
"You don't know Santa-" Zoey shook her head. "Remind us to get you guys some culture. Santa is… he gives presents on Christmas. I think he was a Saint once? Or based off one."
"They're asking for donations," Nikola said with a shrug. "For Salvation Army."
"What's Salvation Army?" Kai asked. "And what's Christmas?"
"Christmas is that holiday for Christians," Klara interrupted. "Remember? Antonio-fu'o- Antonio was talking about it yesterday."
"I was… out yesterday."
"Oh yeah…"
"Salvation Army is a charity group, they're Christian based I think."
"They suck," Nikola drawled. "Either you convert, or you don't get help, and if you're not straight then you also don't get help and they'll actively campaign against you."
"What's straight?" Acantha asked.
"Like… only liking the opposite gender."
"Opposite gender?" She said in confusion. "But… gender isn't- how does that matter- What even is opposite?"
"Like… a girl and a guy?" Nikola said.
"What about someone who's not a girl or a guy?" Kai asked in confusion.
"Oh, don't you know?" Nikola drawled. "According to the government that doesn't exist."
Kai blinked slowly.
"But… I'm sitting right here."
Nikola blinked, "Oh dear… I never asked your pronouns. What are they?"
"He and they," Kai said. "Is that not normal on land?"
"Oh, it definitely exists," Zoey said. "But the government says it doesn't."
"That's so weird."
I nodded, "Yeah. But I think I heard my mom talking about how they took donations that were meant for others too."
Klara gaped, "That's horrible."
"Why are those men working for them then?" Acantha asked as she turned to glare at the Santa guy.
"Like half of them are homeless," Nikola said with a shrug. "They don't have a choice."
"Ugh," Klara said. "The la- America is so bad sometimes."
"Yeah," Zoey said with a sigh. "But on the bright side, we do have cookies."
I laughed, "We haven't bought them yet."
"But they exist, and are there, and they will be in our hand soon therefore-"
I rolled my eyes, "We still need to wait for Tyson."
"Yeah, yeah," she said with a grin. "Though we could also buy him cookies too, and get an extra one for him to make up for not waiting."
"Only if you buy," Nikola said.
"Deal," she cheered.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I shifted uncomfortably as the stylist Giovanni sent finished pinning a shirt.
"I need you to stay still," he chided.
"Sorry."
"What do you think of the sketches I showed you?"
"They're really nice," I said hesitantly. "Are you sure it's okay for you to make clothes like that for me? Clothes are expensive."
"Of course, Giovanni adores buying gifts for his family. This isn't even in the top ten."
I blinked.
"Drew said he bought someone a car once…"
"Oh yes, it was a fairly nice one too. I believe an Audi A8…"
I blinked slowly, "Uh… we don't even own a car and he can just buy them as gifts?"
The stylist laughed, "Do you want a car?"
"No," I said quickly. "I'm just… shocked."
"He doesn't skimp on gifts," said the stylist with a fond smile. "Keeps a good number of people in business."
I nodded, "Yeah… I can see."
"Now then, lets get you into my first design. It'll be a little bit large on you, I over estimated your size."
I sighed as I accepted the shirt.
"Yeah, people don't expect me to be so short but everyone else is just freakishly tall."
He chuckled, "Of course."
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
Herophile tugged me along the cool cave path.
There were all kinds of crystals gleaming in the walls. It was really bright.
"This is the center," she chirped as she flicked to a stop.
I gasped as I drew level with her and was able to view the cave.
We were near the surface and the top of the cave was a massive clear gem that allowed us to see through to the sky.
The cave itself was filled with thousands of crystals with a massive sea-green one in the center that reached almost all the way up to the top. It glittered a thousand shades and almost seemed to radiate power.
"Wow," I breathed.
The cave was alight with color from thousands of crystals reflecting light. I waved my hand and watched the light dance on it.
"It's said to be the- the-" she frowned. "Pumps blood-"
"Heart?"
"Yes! Heart of Pontus. It's a really interesting story."
I stared at the crystal in the center. With the power the cave radiated I could almost believe it was His heart.
"Is that story true?" I asked.
She opened her mouth but faltered, seemingly unwilling to speak. She settled for a shrug and motioned for us to look around.
The crystals were beautiful and I enjoyed having her guide me to the best spots.
It was a fun trip despite the silence that covered the end half. And I was allowed to take a small broken shard of a crystal with me.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I clutched my books and tried to absorb final facts as I waited with Lagi for his healing teacher.
I hadn't studied nearly as hard as I should've, and I didn't know the stuff nearly as well as I'd claimed.
"Are you ready?" Lagi asked with a grin.
I smiled nervously and nodded.
"Ah, good, you're both here."
I straightened and shoved the books into my pouch.
"Now then, let's begin."
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
The healing lesson was a disaster. I didn't know where half the body parts were, I didn't know how to fix half the stuff, and I could at most fix a small scratch.
The healer didn't look very impressed with me, but at least I'd remembered the make up of bones and muscles along with how they functioned in pressure (that part had been interesting).
He told me to study more before returning for another lesson.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I shook my head to get the snow off as we entered the coffee shop.
"It's cold out," Drew said with a huff.
"Well that is when you go ice skating," Lacy's red-head friend pointed out.
Drew rolled her eyes. "Well yes, but it doesn't need to be that cold."
"If you want good ice skating it does," she said firmly.
Lacy shook her head, "Hush for five minutes so we can get hot chocolate."
"You mean coffee?"
"Coffee actually."
Drew and the red-head shared a look.
I rolled my eyes fondly as they jumped into a conversation on the best coffees as I got in line with Lacy.
"Do they do that all the time?" I wondered. They'd been at it since we met up to go ice skating.
Lacy laughed, "Any time they're together they start poking at each other. Rachel is very passive aggressive and snarky, and Drew is alwayssnarky, so they get along like a house on fire."
Right, Rachel was the red-heads name. She was Lacy's friend supposedly, but her and Drew seemed close.
"So, how's your year been going?" Lacy asked as the line slowly moved forward.
"It's been good," I said cheerfully. "I've learned a lot from the tutor Metua sends for me and I've gotten to know Kymopoleia and Herophile a lot."
"That's great!" Lacy said. "I'm really glad your dad takes such good care of you. I'm a bit jealous, but like… it's nice to see someone getting that kind of attention. I wish our mom did something like that."
I nodded, "Yeah, I wish you guys got more attention too."
"Do you have plans for the solstice?" She asked, changing the subject.
"I'm going down to Metuano palace. Khrysaôr implied there was something important going on but um… he likes angering Triton, so I have no idea what it might be."
She blinked, "Do they fight a lot?"
"All the time."
"Wow, that must be frustrating."
"It's more scary? Triton cares for me a lot but he doesn't like Khrysaôr, and Khrysaôr seems to love using me to upset Triton and most the time I don't know he's doing it."
She winced, "Getting between fighting Gods isn't fun at all."
I nodded, "Yeah."
"What can I get you?" The barista asked at the front.
We both straightened and hurried to order our hot chocolates.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
The solstice celebration was a lot of fun.
It wasn't like what I'd been told of the land camp celebration that focused on the sun. I'd been following the land traditions to the best of my ability from home and mom would be finishing the stuff today. In the sea the focus was on the moon and on honoring the chthonic Gods.
Well, I supposed that Drew mentioned that there was a focus on the chthonic Gods at Camp Half-Blood, but only for part of it.
In the sea the chthonic Gods were a major part of it.
We set out offerings, did prayers, and told stories. We set up ponisi in front of bowls that people left gold Aurova in to help pay for passage of those unable to.
Fetu went with me to buy the locks we were using for an offering too. We locked them on an intricate coral fence in one of the temples dedicated to the chthonic deities. We kept the keys with us.
Apparently, it was meant to allow us to unlock our connection to the past if we needed to, but the locks would keep the souls in the underworld where they were safe.
Fetu said the locks would sometimes disappear, others would return each year and unlock the previous years lock to replace it with a new one.
It was nice, felt intimate. Fetu said at home he had a second lock, a smaller one that he used to lock a box filled with memories. Each year he would open it and look through the memories, then lock it again.
I thought that was really sweet. Maybe I'd do that if I had time when I got back to the apartment.
Triton and I ended up doing our normal gifts after I did the stuff with Fetu.
Triton gave me another charm for my bracelet. This one was shaped like an octopus.
"It's enchanted," he said cheerfully. "It'll work on land for Hippolyta, allowing her to have bubbles of cycling water around her gills. Octopi can only go about 20 minutes on land, but only comfortably a few minutes so this will let her move around with you when on land."
I lit up, "That's great! I love it, Triton."
He smiled fondly, "I'm glad."
I nervously handed off my gift.
It was a prayer I'd written for him that was carved into a stone panel. My tutor helped me make it.
Triton av ert moare vavav,
Tamatu av Poseipon y Amphitrite,
Tatu av Persi.
Ta hinru sa'opu tal anan hamuso y wasai pavuv,
Ta hinru fiemo em shomio y waoit ivoni hopuok,
Ta hinru sa'opu mu pahiti y auhefar,
Ta hinru sa'opu mu rovia sa'tan tatu,
Ika sa'opu mu sa'tan.
Triton ran his fingers over the inscribed prayer as I watched nervously.
"Did you make it yourself?" He murmured.
I nodded, "Yeah… do you like it?"
He blinked quickly, "Yes. I- I quite like it. Thank you."
I beamed.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I blinked in confusion as I swam into the throne room with Triton.
It was a strikingly familiar scene, reminding me of a dream I'd had.
Okeanus and Poseidon were arguing.
"Clearly I won this battle-"
"You did no such thing. I got the acknowledgement, I even got it in writing-"
"You're missing two."
"They never reply to anyone that doesn't mean-"
"The deal was all the sea must acknowledge your claim, not 'every ruler but those two must' acknowledge your claim."
I drifted wide eyed as the two bickered.
"Hello, Persi-tou," Tethys said smoothly.
The two kings went silent.
"Um… hi… did we interrupt something?"
"They're just finishing the custody battle," Khrysaôr said.
How was he eating popcorn in the ocean?
I blinked slowly, "Custody… battle?"
"We're deciding if Poseidon or Okeanus gets custody of you," Tethys said.
I tilted my head, "But why wouldn't my Metua have custody of me?"
There was a moment of silence before Okeanus cleared His throat.
"As Poseidon did not raise you properly nor keep you safe as he was obliged too I challenged him for custody. That would mean you would become my child, instead of his."
I frowned and considered it.
"I-" I paused.
Poseidon had protected me or tried to. Yeah, I wasn't given the lessons I should've had and wished I had… Poseidon tried to explain sorta what was going on.
He stayed away because of the prophecy, because of the oath. He didn't want to endanger me.
It kinda backfired...
My hand drifted to my necklace.
The shell just like the one Lara had.
He'd tried to protect her too and it didn't work either.
"I appreciate that you're looking out for me," I said slowly. "I really do. It's… it's really flattering to know you care for me like that when I'm not even your child."
Okeanus shot Poseidon a smug look.
"But-"
I paused again.
Despite everything… Poseidon had tried. And more importantly… Triton was my brother.
No matter anything else I wasn't willing to give that up.
"But I'm happy with my family. Metua might not have been around, and I might not have had tutors or lessons or protection… but he was trying to protect me. And… I did have Triton."
Poseidon straightened with a small smile.
"I really appreciate it, I promise… but… I've just gotten to know Herophile and Kymopoleia. I'm just starting to get to know Khrysaôr and Benthesikyme and Rhodos and Amphitrite-nai. I-"
I bit my lip.
"I'd like to stay with my brother… with my family… sorry."
Okeanus studied me for a long moment.
"Is this truly how you feel?"
I nodded, "It is."
He sighed and shot Poseidon a look.
"It appears you win this round Poseidon."
Poseidon shot me the proudest look I'd ever received, his eyes sparkling brightly.
"Perseus is my son, I've told you time and time again. There isn't anyone else I'd want more as a child."
"Ouch," Khrysaôr muttered.
"Don't get too smug. Maybe I'll just steal all your kids at once."
Poseidon glared as Okeanus smirked.
"Blessed Winter Solstice, Persi-tou."
"Blessed Winter Solstice to you too, Okeanus-ari, Tethys-ran."
They both flicked their fingers in acknowledgement before giving their goodbyes to the rest.
"Aww," Khrysaôr whined. "There weren't any fights."
"Hush," Rhodos said with a smile. "This is a happy moment."
I flushed as Poseidon hugged me.
"Thank you, Perseus."