Triton watched the Capture the Flag game from some distance, his keen eyes never straying from his brother for long. Perseus had surprised him during those last few months. The boy had some skill and improved steadily under his guidance. For the first time of his life he actually started to enjoy the company of one of his mortal half siblings.
And that although he had only grudgingly come to train Percy in the first place. Usually he would have cared little about the fate of his father's other sons. But Triton was, like all children of Poseidon, unwaveringly loyal. The only exception was Orion, but Triton would hardly even acknowledge that demigod as a child of the sea. But Triton was loyal... to his mother. And when she asked him to train Perseus for the sake of an ulterior plan, he accepted without much hesitation. He trusted his mother's judgement and until now he had not regretted it. Far from it in fact. It had been a rather enjoyable diversion from his usual duties.
The distinct smell of the sea filled his nostrils, as he watched the fighting. He was no longer alone.
"Father," Triton said respectfully. He felt great disappointment for his father. How could he not after seeing the man betray his mother again and again, but he still owed his father respect. And he would never fail to show it.
"Triton," Poseidon replied, as he stood next to his son. For some moments they stood there silently, watching Percy fight.
Poseidon watched his youngest child with great interest. How often had he wanted to meet the boy, to talk to him, to solve their silent dispute. But he never found the time. The sea had been in turmoil for months. Oceanus had started to cause trouble and that took up most of Poseidon's time. And the few moments he had time to meet Percy, he watched his son, but ultimately decided against going to him. He was content to see his son safe and happy. But what he could not understand, was why his eldest son had decided to spend time with Percy.
"What brings you here, father? Have you come to observe Perseus' progress?"
"You have done a good job in training him. His mastery over water is coming along nicely, though he still has much to learn," Poseidon replied stoically. His relationship with Triton had been even colder than his relationship with Percy for many centuries. For years their relationship was merely cordial and respectful, but nothing like a father and son should treat each other. But in Triton's case he knew that he deserved that treatment.
"He is... a good student. Aphros and Bythos would enjoy teaching him. Though they would most likely beat the misbehavior out of him, that Apollo has taught him." Triton smirked. His own tutors had been far more stern than any of Percy's teachers. He knew that he was far too lenient with him. Maybe he should increase the training hours and stop treating Percy like a demigod... or maybe not. His brother's mortal side was a hindrance. Some training methods Triton had to endure would leave a mortal crippled and scarred for life.
"This is curious."
"What is curious, father?"
"You being here. You never cared for any of your mortal siblings. All of this seems... out of character for you" Poseidon looked at Triton with suspicion.
But the prince of the sea scoffed at his father's evaluation. "Teaching him is my responsibility"
"Really?"
"Yes. I am after all your son and heir." He especially emphasized the word heir, to remind Poseidon of this fact. Triton often felt that his father had long forgotten about his place in the sea. "My brother has become the center of attention. Many gods watch him with growing curiosity. I have to make sure that he does not bring shame to our family."
"So this is all about your reputation. And here I thought you actually cared for one of your siblings. You have never treated any of them like a brother should. Not since Rhode has faded..."
"Don't speak her name. You were not there, when she left us. You were with a mortal that night." Triton looked at his father accusingly. He saw his father shift uncomfortably. It brought him at least some satisfaction to see at least some remorse from his father. "And training Perseus is more than just an honor matter."
The situation was tense between father and son. Poseidon had realized that his relationship with both his sons had become extremely strained. He always thought that Triton would not need a overattentive father, so he stayed away from him and let him do as he pleases. He had not realized that Triton had craved the attention and acknowledgment of his father and so he had subsequently alienated his first-born. And Percy felt abandoned by him, because he always followed the ancient laws, even though some other gods are actively looking for loopholes.
The tenseness would have continued, had it not been for the timely arrival of another god, who could only be described as a child on a sugar rush in comparison to the two sea gods. "Hey ho, Triton." Apollo said, as he appeared next to the other god, an arm around Triton's shoulder in a friendly manner. Then he saw Poseidon. "Oh, and hello uncle, of course."
"Apollo..." Triton said tersely, as he removed Apollo's arm from his shoulder. "What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?"
"Ah, the usual. Came to watch my kids and my champion beat the crap out of their opponents, before I go out for a night of debauchery. Wanna join me?"
"Charming as always, Apollo," Triton said, as he rolled his eyes. "As you can see the game is nearly over. And Perseus' team will win."
"Yeah. Percy and my kids kept the creek safe and secured."
Triton nodded. He, too, was pleased with Percy's performance. "He does well with the backup your children provide. Ariadne and William have been the most useful in that regard. They are good companions for my brother."
"They are my kids, what did you expect. They are..."
"Don't say that word," Triton growled.
"What?" Apollo asked innocently. "Awesome?"
Triton growled in annoyance. "Whatever stuff causes your upbeat attitude, you should not consume it in such quantities."
"Hey" Apollo looked indignant at Triton, but to see the other god actually smirk quickly stopped any further objections. Poseidon meanwhile backed away from the two, watching them silently, his face never betraying any emotion. Apollo and Triton barely even realized that he had left a few moments later to return to Atlantis.
"Is that a balloon?" Apollo asked, as he pointed at something flying over the battlefield.
"No," Triton answered dryly. "It's that insolent son of Athena."
"Percy?"
"Yes"
"Ah, I've never felt prouder of my champion," Apollo said proudly.
Triton sighed. "At least I can blame you for all his behavioral problems. We should go to see Chiron. Lest the old Centaur might punish Percy before I get my turn to issue an even harsher punishment. The battlefield is no place for fooling around. Not like this. He finally has to learn this. We better teach him now, before he learns it the hard way by loosing someone dear to him."
It was in the late evening hours, when Percy was finally done with his arduous punishment. Triton had him clean the forest after the Capture the Flag game. The entire forest. And he had to do it all alone. He had to pick up everything that had been left behind, weapons, armor and trash. It was a mind numbing, boring task. To make it worse the act of cleaning the forest made him really famous among the nymphs. He was sure that this was actually Apollo's secret punishment. As if the Naiads had not been enough, he now had to rile up the wood nymphs as well...
The rest of the campers were already at the campfire, by the time he had finally returned the last weapons to the armory. He couldn't believe that it had taken the entire day to do this. He had other plans for the day, but Triton was insistent. His brother knew that the worst punishment for Percy would be a dreadfully boring task like this.
He had planned to give Nico the gift from his sister today, but he wasn't even sure if Nico was still up at this hour. But then he saw the son of Hades, running around the fire, asking everyone questions. This boy was too curious for his own good. Ever since he had found out that he was the child of a god he had tried to learn everything he could.
Percy quickly ran to his cabin to fetch the Hades figurine for Nico, so he could give it to the boy and get this over with. He had promised Bianca to do it after all. And he would keep his word. So when he had the figurine, he slowly approached the boy.
"Hey, Nico." He called out. When the boy looked towards him, Percy beckoned him over, away from the other demigods. He really did not want to be seen with an action figure of Hades. That would not bode well.
"Hello, Percy." Nico said happily. "How was your day?"
"Boring and yours?"
"It was great. I spent the day learning archery from the Apollo kids. It was so great. I didn't hit the target though, but that boy, Will, said that I will improve with practice. Are you good at archery? I heard that the children of Poseidon are supposedly not very good with the bow, is that true?"
"Nico... Nico, stop. Breath at least once every minute." Percy said, as he tried to put an end to Nico's inquisitive nature. "So... I've heard that you are a fan of this whole Mythomagic stuff..."
"Yep. It's great. You can't believe how happy I was when I found out that all of this stuff is real. And..."
"Yes. Well I've been told about your collection..."
"Really? Who has told you?"
"Your sister." Percy replied before he could stop himself. He had planned to keep Bianca out of this conversation, but Nico's questions already started to cause Percy a skull splitting headache and Bianca's name just slipped out.
"You know Bianca? Do you know where she is? I haven't seen her in so long..."
"Yes, I have met your sister before. And no, I don't know where she is at the moment." No lies, Percy didn't want to lie.
"Oh..." Nico looked disappointed. Percy felt really bad for the boy. Only because of Hades stupid idea that he had to punish a ten year old for not acting like a seasoned warrior. The boy clearly missed his sister, but no one was allowed to tell him where she is and who his father really is. Percy understood now why Bianca wanted to cheer him up somehow, even though she was forbidden to go to him.
"Well, but to get back to the Mythomagic topic. I have this figurine and your sister once told me that you have the entire collection except one. Hades." How ironic. The only one that was missing was his own father...
"Yeah. I never get that one last figurine. It's frustrating."
"Well, today is your big day. I happen to have the one figurine you don't have and I want to give it to you." He pulled the figurine out of his pocket and showed it to the younger boy. The surprise on Nico's face made Percy smile. Bianca was right, this was a good way to cheer him up.
"You are giving it to me?" He asked wide eyed.
Percy nodded. "Yes. It's yours. I'm not really into all of this and only have this figurine because I... found it one day. Here." He gave it to Nico, who smiled widely.
"Thank you, thank you." Nico started bouncing around he had the figurine in his hand. "Now I have all of them, thanks to you."
"You really don't need to thank me... Thank your sister... she told me after all."
"I will. Hopefully she comes back soon."
"Yeah. She is a really nice person. It would be great to meet her again." Percy said truthfully. The girl had definitely gained his respect. Even though she was not supposed to and a god stood in her way, she still cared for her brother. Their sibling relationship was so very different from what he had with Triton. They were siblings, yes, but nowhere as close as Nico and Bianca.
"Will you come to the campfire and join the singing?" Nico finally asked, after he was done with admiring the figurine.
"Ah... no. I think I go to bed. Ariadne will kick my ass should I oversleep again tomorrow morning..."
"Is Ariadne your girlfriend?" Nico asked innocently.
"No... no, Hades no. We are friends, siblings at best... nothing romantic." Percy answered hurriedly. Apollo would do something Percy would regret, should he believe that Percy was trying to get too cozy with one of his girls. The sun-god was extremely overprotective of his daughters and his sister... while he encouraged his son's to go around and 'enjoy' themselves to their fullest. What was the word for that? Ah, yes, double moral standards...
"What is it I hear here? Thinking inappropriately about my daughter, Percy?"
Percy gulped when he turned around and saw Apollo standing behind him, a malicious smirk on his face. "Nothing, Apollo, really."
"Is that so..." He looked critically at Percy, before he looked at the younger boy behind him. "You better get back to your cabin, buddy, curfew is near." Nico left without resistance. Even the curious son of Hades knew that it was unwise to ignore the orders of a god. "Not you, Percy. You stay here."
Percy had tried to leave as well, but Apollo quickly caught him.
"So... nice evening, isn't it?" Percy asked nervously.
"I heard you have started to enjoy your time here. No more longing for action, for monster hunting?"
Percy laughed humorlessly, before he shook his head. "It's dreadfully boring. I have found a few good friends and Triton is keeping me busy whenever he is here, but..."
"But?" Apollo insisted.
"I miss my old life. Running around, hunting monsters..."
"Protecting my darling sister and her Hunters." Apollo added with a grin.
"Yeah, that, too, I guess." Then Percy sighed. "But there is something else... no, never mind, I'm sure it's nothing." He wasn't sure if it would be a wise idea to reveal this whole trial thing to Apollo. Sure, the god would be able to help him out, maybe even point him in the right direction, but the risk that other Olympians might find out about his mysterious mentor was too big.
"Go on." Apollo looked pointedly at Percy, sensing that there was something troubling his champion. "Trouble with Athena's little blighters?"
"No"
"Then what is it. Spill, Percy, I can see that something is troubling you. You know that you can't lie to me."
Percy knew that he just got caught... more or less... it was rare enough to see Apollo this serious, but whenever he acted like this, it was better to do as he says... at least as a demigod.
"I... I had this strange dream last night..."
"What kind of dream? Was it about some beautiful girl you have met?"
"No... I was in a dark corridor, feeling cold, as a strange voice spoke to me..."
Apollo looked alarmed when he heard that. "What kind of voice? What did it say?" He looked intently at Percy, demanding an answer.
"It was a woman, but I haven't seen who it was. Neither did I know the voice. But it said something... about a trial I would have to face."
Apollo looked slightly relieved when he heard that it was a female voice. That at least excluded Kronos. Several gods had heeded the warning about Kronos' rise and looked for proof to convince Zeus. But so far they had only found traces and whispers, nothing that would make Zeus see reason.
"What did it say about the trial, Percy?"
"It was like a prophecy, but... well it was a riddle."
"Tell me." Apollo demanded.
"Your first trial will lead you to sea, where monsters and myths are running free, on the island of deception you will find the key, to set a sister from her torment free, but blood will be shed and lives will be lost, as an oath will be broken despite the cost." Percy recited the riddle word for word. Apollo was the god of prophecy after all, so maybe he could help.
"It was not a prophecy issued by my oracle. But who else would..." Apollo looked miffed at first, before his expression turned to a concerned frown. "This is troubling, Percy. Have you told anyone about this?"
"Not yet..."
"Good. Tell no one. Not even Ariadne." Apollo ordered quickly. "We live in a dangerous time, Percy. People don't just have visions or receive prophecies for no good reason. I have to talk to some of the other gods about this. For whatever reason you had this vision, it has to be something big."
"Wait... you think that this was a real vision?" Percy asked astonished. He was sure that most people would have declared him insane, had he claimed that he had visions of some sort. But Apollo obviously believed it without questioning.
Apollo placed a hand on Percy's shoulder, before he said with utmost confidence. "Percy, my young friend, I've known that you were unlike most other demigods. And the day I barred you from becoming the child of a great prophecy, I knew that the Fates would only bestow an even greater destiny on you."
"The Fates... you mean those old crones?" Percy remembered them well, from when he met them on the train.
"Yeah. You met them before?"
"While I was on the run with Grover. They said that I had defied fate... I'm still not sure how exactly I am supposed to have done that."
Apollo looked concerned for a moment. Then he shook his head. "They must have meant me. I made sure that you are not the child of the Great Prophecy. Maybe they had intended for you to be the one to fulfill that prophecy. Well too bad, you're my champion now and I won't hand you over to those old crones." Apollo said with a confident smirk. "But as I said, I have to talk to the other gods. This is very important, Percy. Continue as normal until I return. And do not tell anyone about this." Before Percy could answer anything, Apollo had already vanished in a blinding light.
Percy looked towards the sky with trepidation. The sun was long gone and the moon stood high at this hour. "I'm so screwed." He said with a sigh. He had made a mistake. He shouldn't have confided in Apollo. Now the gods would find out and they would ask questions. And when the gods ask questions they demand answers or else he would be in deep trouble. Oh this wouldn't end well.
A/N: And that concludes chapter three. Hope you all liked it.
I believe a few words about Poseidon are needed here. Even though it may seem different at the moment, I really don't hate Poseidon. In fact he is one of my favorite gods. But matter of factly I believe that people see him as a far better person than he actually is. Just let me explain my reasoning in a few sentences. Most readers of the PCO books believe that Poseidon is the best example of how gods should treat their children, but they are blinded by the fact that we mostly see him interact with only one of his children, Percy, who is his favorite son at that time. Some would say it easy to have a favorite son, when he has only one living demigod child. But he still has his firstborn son, Triton. Triton is proud of his heritage, yet he feels the need to emphasize that he is Poseidon's heir. Both because he wants to show off in front of Percy, but also because he feels the need to remind his father of this fact, because of the blatant favoritism. There are many more little facts that show that Poseidon is not even nearly as good as people want him to be, but I believe I've said enough for now.
That's all for today. Percy's big adventure will start next chapter...