Oops! I think you're right, Smileyfaceofevil. But still, Gods can get hurt, right? Wouldn't they just have to live with the pain until it heals? I don't really know; so don't believe anything I say.

Also, I've already started to revise the 1st chapter, so re-read it when the 3rd chapter is up.

This chapter will have more action, for those who think the last one was boring or slow, because I know you aren't alone, Jason Strong.

Oh yeah, does anyone have good ideas for underwater monsters? The books gives almost no ideas. I guess I'm all on my own :D


Chapter 2: Tension In the Council

(This little bit takes place after Percy, Tyson, etc. escape from Kampe/Alcatraz with Briares)

Tyson had a restless sleep. He was still troubled by how Briares simply gave up, but it was his dream that troubled him most…

Everything was dark. There was a sound of scuttling feet underneath him. Directly underneath him. He shivered. He was… moving. Light appeared ahead; faint, ever so faint at first; then it grew larger… and larger… until he burst out of what was obviously a cave. Tyson recognized the place instantly. It was Poseidon's kingdom… but everything was blood red. Even the usually perfect water was tainted. Next to him, where normally Cyclops would be hurrying back and forth, was a grotesque monster with crab-like legs, human torso and arms, and a fish tail. To his horror, Tyson found himself standing on top of one. He was rooted to his spot, completely unable to move. His eyes widened as his captor walked past Poseidon, who was seconds away from being killed. His captor stopped. The one who was threatening the sea god held a spiked leg over his chest, then struck…

Tyson awoke with a terrified yelp. He glanced at Annabeth, then the goat-boy, and then rested his gaze on Percy. No, he wouldn't tell him about the dream. Brother had enough to worry about…


Poseidon took a long breath. The feeling he was having was almost alien to him.

He fiddled with the water around his hands. Making it freeze, then boil up. The mighty and fearless member of the Big Three was nervous.

Geeron tapped his foot impatiently. For Zeus' sake, he was almost murdered! This meeting was now even more important than ever.

Geeron kept staring, annoyed, at the empty chair next to him. He couldn't help to admire the chair itself, though… What he would give to sit there. Solid gold… What it would be like to sit in it, look down at all the lesser people… But it would never happen. Gods are immortal, and why would a god give up his domain? They wouldn't for anything. Prideful Olympians. One day they'd learn…

Probably the shyest in the council, (and the council was not at all shy) Phobe (A/N: as in probe, phobe) preferred to sit the farthest away from the Big Chair, as it was so called. Deep in Poseidon's ancient eyes he found some hardness. Softness, however, was also there, but hardly ever for him.

Phobe was proud to say he can read eyes. Only Poseidon and a handful of mere people thought it wasn't a quirky talent, but the was one thing Phobe wasn't ashamed of.

Right at the moment, however, Phobe wasn't thinking about eyes; he wasn't even thinking of all the things that were out to get him; he was thinking about all the things that were out to get Poseidon…and that just happened to be a lot.

Poseidon decided to show up in flair, so he bypassed the door and swirled to life in front of his chair. After the bubbles cleared, he spoke. "Greetings, Geeron, Phobe, Lavian," and went on to name all of the 12 members of the council, then sat with his trident still in his hand. To his right was Geeron, of course, the ambitious human that said polite words but spoke venomously. Whenever they exchanged a rare glance, Poseidon wondered why he had been elected to the council.

To his left was Lavian, a man (or merman, for that matter) of few words, but he gave sage advice. No, he was not shy, but refused to talk unless he found himself needed. Basically, hardly at all. The other members of the Council gave only forced respect to the thousand-year-old man, so only Poseidon received his wisdom with genuine interest.

There was also the triplets: Alius, Irius, and Onius. They were what you might call a freak of nature. Irius' left hand was fused to Onius' right, and Irius' right was fused to Alius' left. Because of that, Onius and Alius' other hands were free. Irius had a hand sticking right out of the middle of his chest. You could almost call them fish, too. Gills flapped on their human cheeks. Instead of legs, they had a giant merman tail shared by all. The brothers were separate people; but they were kind of stuck together. Despite how identical their appearance was, their personalities were almost atrociously different. Irius, probably because he didn't have a normal arm, was the short-tempered one, and loved to yell. Onius was always quieting him down. Alius was despairingly stupid and always cracked dim-witted jokes during meetings— important ones were his favorites. Technically, Alius wasn't part of the Council; but his brothers couldn't exactly leave him behind. Onius was wise and assertive, and was a good voice of reason during the many arguments.

There were, of course, many more members, but Poseidon didn't even know the names of a few. (A/N: You might learn a bit more about them through the course of the story, but I don't want to bore you with descriptions of over a dozen people. That is, if you aren't bored already. :D)

Geeron rose. Announcing the meetings always gave him a sense of authority. He cleared his throat extra loudly. "This meeting, called on the…" he went on to describe with great authority the time, date, and place of the meeting. All very obvious, but this had to be formal. "The agenda states that we shall be discussing the pollution of lakes this meeting." He spoke an ancient Greek blessing but obviously did'nt mean anything he said. He'd rather all the members dead. He silently cursed, then sat down.

Poseidon, amused rose. "I believe, Geeron, that there has been a murder attempted."

"Yes, we all heard the horn…" Geeron mumbled almost inaudibly.

"The near victim… was me!" Poseidon cheerily grinned at the entirely shocked Council. Somehow, despite his nervousness and worries of an approaching war, he had found humor in the situation. (A/N: I always thought Poseidon was a tiny bit loopy…)

Of course, Alius found some wacky humor in the situation too. "What did the dagger say to the back?" No one, of course, responded. Instead, they stared blankly at him. " 'You're dead meat!' " It was probably his stupidest joke yet. Irius actually slapped him to stop his hysterical laughter.

Poseidon somehow lost his mellow mood for he turned deadly serious all of the sudden. "I believe," he said, and all attention averted back to him, "That Phorcys is back."

Murmurs of disbelief echoed through the small room in which they were meeting in.

Lavian and Onius, however, glanced at each other, and a telepathic message seemed to pass between them. But, of course, they were ignored.

Poseidon tried to get their attention back to no avail. Finally, he had enough. He nodded to Irius, who bellowed, "SHUT UP! Listen to the man of this house. Poseidon wishes to continue. Anyone have a problem with that? No? Good."

Poseidon nodded gratefully to him, who had just sat down. "A monster attacked me. It was easy to kill, but what disturbed me was its resemblance to shape-shifter. I know you all remember him, and probably Ceto, too. I believe it to be a minion of Phorcys ordered to kill me, not a rogue. If my suspicions are correct, N—"

It was then that the ceiling crumbled. Once Poseidon realized this, he made the water underneath the falling chunks dense, stopping them in there tracks. Unfortunately, he was too late to stop a few; they hurled towards unlucky Council members who came to an unpleasant surmise.

Every one still alive plastered themselves to a wall. Horrifyingly enough, the only exit had been blocked. Poseidon released the tension when everybody was safely away.

Dust polluted the water, swirling mercilessly around them.

Alius, for once, was silenced. He was the first to see the eerie shadows slink into the room. They didn't look at all friendly…


Bwahahaha!! A cliffhanger! If you want to find out what those shadows are, review! I won't post the next chappie until then.

I guess there wasn't much action this chapter, but you can guarantee some next chapter. Remember, I'm looking desperately for monsters, so if you have an idea please share it!

I hope you liked my longest chapter I've written! (for both my stories)

If you're happy and you know it, please review! click, click :)

--the big NOBODY!!