Speckles. Not the everyday name for your average marlin, but maybe that was because Speckles wasn't your average fish. His story began way back, when he squealed on Theseus and Ariadne, and he dumped her on a beach as a result. Oops. He didn't mean that. At all.
So of course, Speckles reported to Lord Poseidon every time the turtles began their yearly migration, namely because the Lord of the Sea liked to remind him to please, please, be less of a gossip. Not that it worked, mind you. Nope, Speckles got picked up by Aphrodite for her new reality show, Hero or Zero?, which made its appearance every Thursday at 4pm Olympian time on Hephaestus TV. It was fun, zooming around the-gods-know-where, spying on all the children his viewers had sired. The only downside was the camera that he had to keep strapped to his right flipper. Not that he was complaining or anything. Being paid to spread juicy stuff like this? Speckles the marlin was living the life.
So of course, Speckles was not happy when he had to take a break from stalking, er, shooting, the demigods at Half-Blood Hill. Never mind the fact that the waters were always cold, and that a campers were always splashing around in it. Speckles did know, however, that there were three things a marlin had to do in life: Die, pay taxes, and never, ever, offend Lord Poseidon, especially if you're a fish. It was hard to work for Aphrodite, especially because ratings for the show kept on dropping thanks to a lack interesting demigods to follow around with a camera.
If a fish could sigh, Speckles would have as he headed for the P-man's palace in Nassau, swimming as fast as he could through the Sea of Monsters. Well, technically he was supposed to swim around, but a paparazzo must always know how to save time. Plus, he'd run into Apollo, who told him something like this:
Little marlin swims
He carries a camera
To the Sea of Monsters.
Ahem, haiku-ness aside, Speckles decided, sure, why not? Maybe he'd catch another one of those marooned princesses being rescued by a hero, or something. Or maybe not. Something like that hadn't happened since Perseus and Andromeda.
Speaking of Perseus…
Of course, Speckles recognized him immediately. His producers had made him study mug-shots of all two hundred forty-seven half-bloods, with one more on the way thanks to a crazy night out partying on Hermes' side. Black hair that should have been cut weeks ago; big, greenish-blue eyes; straight, Grecian nose; and tan that seemed to be his skin tone by default. Oh, and the fact that he was floating around under the sea in a giant air bubble.
Yes! Finally! Aphrondite had wanted to do a special about the young hero, hoping it'd boost the ratings, but so far, Percy Jackson had proved elusive. If Speckles could reach his camera, he would have given it a hug and a kiss. He inched closer, making sure the tape was rolling.
Ooooh! Was that a girl he was with?! And he was cuddled up with her too! This was great, no, not great, epic. All he needed was a side shot of the blonde, and he could have Hermes Google her up. He swam around the bubble, or as he preferred to think, the Son of the Sea God's little romantic rendezvous spot. Promotion! Promotion! Speckles practically sang to himself, thinking over all the possibilities.
"Scram!" Percy glared at him with intense, sea green eyes.
Speckles gulped. No way was he risking his fins over a video. Nope, he was scramming.
Or at least getting out of his line of fire.
He gleefully followed the two, keeping his camera steady. Oooh! A boat! This was great. A boating date! That was so Sea God, and so cute!
Then he remembered. Audience with Poseidon. Right. Reluctantly, Speckles turned around, and swam off to the Bahamas.
And after that, the TV studio.
And then, the world.
A/N: Man, this is fun. Percy's gonna be pissed, and so's everyone else. I'll be back with more chapters….sooner or later. I've got another fanfic for Narnia to finish….