I'm back! And I have to say, wow you guys! Thanks for giving so many Follows, Favs and Reviews to both this story and Owlion12! I really apprechiate it!
Some shout-outs before we get started! Sweet Cats wanted more of Percy puking, and it made it in in a very... interesting fashion, I suppose! Thank you, as always, icecream401, for your help with the Cards Against Humanity/Immortality section to keep this chapter interesting! Also, Communist Monopoly is actually a really fun game, but do not play it if you get easily offended! If you have any questions about the rules, PM me and I'd be happy to explain, but it's best played with three or more people!
I guess I should "clam it" and let you all get to reading! Thank you so much for supporting Owlion12, and remember to review if you have anything you want your demigods to do in later chapters! The ideas box is always open! Oh, and as a final note to those who read this, this chapter does not ship Percy and Rhode together. Just thought I'd point that out now before things get awkward!
DISLCAIMER
Another disclaimer? Poo... Poseidon uses luminescent jelly fish to light his palace. I'm sure Rick just made it glow in the dark... or something...
Rhode sat on a rug in what could be called the family room of Poseidon's palace, surrounded by colorful fish who were resting on her back or giving her little fish kisses, trying to cheer her up. The goddess was seated on her legs, her head buried in the back of a manatee that sat patiently beside her, being there for her as she cried. It was night now in the palace; the whole room dark save for the large florescent jelly fish that floated all around her on the roof and near the ground, casting a magical glow on the seafloor walls and making Rhode glow. She was holding a ring tightly in her clenched fist, squeezing it so hard that it felt like to would break into her skin as she tried to squeeze off the pain in her heart and stomach. Rhode hadn't eaten since that morning when Triton had called her out, though it didn't seem as though time had moved since that morning either.
Amphitrite stood with the door open ajar, watching her daughter with a worried look on her face as the flowers in Rhode's hair dropped down and fell off one by one. Poseidon pulled his wife into his arms when she turned away from the door.
"I've never seen her like this…" she managed, pulling back tears of her own. "Rhode only cried a little before… Not even when Helios left, she barely shed a tear the whole time, saying she needed to be strong when she needed strength the most…"
"It must be from what Triton said." Poseidon added. "We haven't spoken about Helios since the week we mourned him, unless Rhode brought him up or you asked a question about the way he helped her do various chores."
"And this is the part of her she hid for all that time… After all those centuries of holding it in, she's really missed him, even today." They watched her in silence. "Should we go in and try talking to her?" Poseidon shook his head.
"I think, now, she just needs to let it all out before she'll be ready to talk. We'll take her to bed later tonight." He led his wife down the hall, feeling very damp under all the pressure the seafloor had to bring.
Rhode wasn't a scream crier, so Percy almost didn't notice her as he walked past the family room on his way to the kitchen, his appetite finally resurfacing. The noticed the golden lights inside the room and peeked in briefly, almost continuing to walk until he noticed Rhode's turquoise hair among the mountain of fish that had swarmed around her. He pushed open the door and stepped inside, not saying a thing as he picked up on the soft sound of her crying. The fish that covered her like a shield floated away as he approached his hand to her back, kneeling on the rug beside her.
"Hey." She gasped and scooted away quickly when his hand touched her dress. Her shoulders sagged when she saw it was only him.
"Percy… You scared me…" she managed between breaths, her crying clogging up her nostrils. Rhode crawled back to her original position and watched as the manatee took liking to Percy, nuzzling its nose into his chest affectionately.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were so zoned out." He replied, pushing the manatee away from him softly. Rhode wouldn't meet his eyes, despite being seated before him. Her own eyes were puffy and red, like she had been applying too much pressure on them for too long, and her cheeks were flustered, tears running down them and vanishing into the water as they dripped off her chin. "Do you want to talk?" Percy asked, reclining against the side of the manatee.
"Is that what mortals do when they're upset?" Rhode asked. Percy nodded.
"Yeah. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I… I don't know…" she sniffled, wiping her eyes.
"This is about what Triton said to you at breakfast, right? About… about Helios." Rhode only nodded and hugged her arms around her shoulders, burying her head in her knees.
"Triton… Is such an idiot… I… I didn't get a chance to say goodbye… Helios…" she managed, softly, her shoulders shaking and her breathing heavy, her voice shaking and swelling the way it had at breakfast, only this time, she spoke much softer, clearer. "He faded because he wasn't worshiped enough… and he began to stay away from me… and he always looked like he had been crying… and I wanted to help him, but…" Rhode began crying at full volume and moved her hands to her head, gripping the top of her hair and her hands shook. "I should have been there!" she yelled. "He promised me he'd be there for me and that we'd make it through together, but… Why wasn't I there for him?!" Percy put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.
"Hey, don't blame yourself. If you don't want to feel anger, the last person you should feel it towards is yourself."
"But if I'd been there, I could have helped him! I could have told him I wasn't going to leave him!" Faster than Percy could process it, Rhode was crying into his chest and his arms were around her.
"It's not your fault he faded." Percy began, hoping Annabeth wouldn't freak out if she found out her was hugging his half-sister. "How do you think Helios would feel is he saw you crying like this? I'd be torn apart if I saw my girlfriend crying over me if I died, in fact, I know first-hand what it feels like; it's something anyone would call worse than fading. If he really loved you, he would have chosen to fade over seeing you hurt like this, and if you really love him, you would be strong and keep going. It's okay to be sad, but not for all this time! Helios probably stayed away because he didn't want to see you hurt over the way he was fading, and I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do, but he really cared about you! I know I sound like a jerk when I say this, but you've got to move on, Rhode. You need to stop crying and start living again!" Rhode fell silent, looking up at him with swollen eyes as she moved away off his chest.
"What do you mean by moving on?" she asked, slowly, her gaze falling quickly to her lap as she sniffled. "No one has ever told me that before…"
"What? Why?"
"Because no one has ever seen me like this…" Rhode almost whispered. Her hands moved quickly to her eyes and she tried to wipe her tears, but was futile as more kept coming out. "I guess that makes two of us… I was the first person to thank you… and you were the first to see me cry…" The ring she held in her hand fell to her lap as she rubbed her face. Percy picked it up and examined it. It was gold with an ancient Greek styled patterns carved in the side, but as he moved it around in his hand, the pattern shifted to a light turquoise and glowed in the light of the jellyfish that lit the room around them.
"Helios gave me that ring when we got married." Rhode explained, taking it carefully from his palm and sliding it on her ring finger. "I don't wear it on my finger much anymore… one day, I almost lost it. Helios and my parents and I searched for it all day… I'd dropped it while I was outside… and Helios found it inside an anemone. I was so upset that I ran and hid for a while… but he found me, just like he had found the ring. He told me… that I couldn't cry now that I had it back and that everyone makes mistake… he wasn't mad, either, just glad I could be happy… and told me that there are always second chances to fix out mistakes… if you believe in them… and he got me a chain to put the ring on so I wouldn't lose it again…" A dozen of little glowing jellyfish floated between them, lighting a small smile on Rhode's face as she looked at her ring. "Maybe… that's the same as moving on…"
"It means… you don't dwell in the past, but you don't forget it, either." Percy replied, putting his hands on her shoulders so their eyes met. "It's okay to cry, but someday you'll run out of tears, even if you live in the middle of the sea, and when that day comes, you have to be happy, because others need you; Poseidon, Amphitrite, Triton, me and yourself; we all need you, Rhode. You make us happy, and we want to make you happy, too… Just like Helios said, there are always second chances if you believe in them."
"Really..?" Rhode asked, her eyes wide.
"Really." Percy almost laughed at how behind Rhode was on clichés like this. "This morning, I wasn't feeling well, but when you thanked me and talked to me, I felt happier. So when Triton spoke out against you after you defended me, I knew I had to help you. It's something we should expect people to do. I-"
"Rhode?" Percy spun around and faced the door he had come through, where Poseidon and Amphitrite were looking in on them. Rhode's eyes grew wide as her eyes retreated into her lap.
"Oh, Rhode…" Amphitrite ran into the room and knelt on the floor beside her daughter and pulled her into her arms. "Everything's going to be alright… We'll go get Triton so he can apologize and then we can talk-"
"Mother… Percy and I… we talked…" Rhode replied, adjusting her head so it fit against her mother's shoulder. "And… I think… I think maybe I'm better now."
"Come, the floor is no place to cry, Rho." Poseidon said, taking his daughter's hand and smiling as he helped her to the couch, seating her in between himself and Amphitrite. He put his arm around her shoulder. "Take all the time you need to cry; we'll be right here."
"Thank you… Thank you all…" Rhode sniffled as Poseidon wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Come on!" he exclaimed, lifting his head to the ceiling. "Which one of you sea dwellers is relieving themselves on my cute daughter's face, huh? You want a piece of this?! No one pisses on my little girl and gets away with it!" Rhode giggled and blinked away her tears.
"Father…" she chuckled, as though she was embarrassed to laugh.
"What's this?" Poseidon bellowed, raising his trident into the air. "She's enjoying it, is she? I will find the creature that taught my daughter this arsenal of pee jokes and blast him to pieces!" He raised his trident and blasted gallons of little bubbles into the air, pretending to be engaged in battle. Rhode laughed as he made the bubbles blast in his face. "Oh, so you won't stop laughing, then?" he laughed, pointing his trident down on top of her head. "Then I have no choice but to punish you with bubble torture until you stop!"
"Father!" Rhode laughed at full volume as she was sprayed with bubbles and tried to block them with her hands.
"Poseidon!" Amphitrite laughed, trying to shield herself from them with no success. Poseidon chuckled as he withdrew his trident and the bubbles died down, sitting back on the couch.
"Percy, when you're feeling better, I'll teach you that little trick." He said, putting his arm around his shoulder in a fatherly way, a twinkle in his eye. "It works wonders on the ladies."
"Poseidon!" Amphitrite exclaimed, but before she could continue, Rhode stood up and placed herself in front of Percy, bubbles still sticking to her hair.
"Hey, Percy..? You're right… Helios wouldn't want me to cry over him, and he'd want me to be happy." She began, smiling softly. Something told Percy that even if she moved on, she would still be a shy goddess of the sea. "I remember… one day… when we just married, he told me we could take things as slowly as I wanted… because he said he'd die if he did anything to hurt me so he could keep me safe… And I'm crying because he hurt me, and he's really gone… or because I hurt myself… But he's not dead as long as I remember him and smile when I think of him. Helios never wanted me to cry because of him, and so I won't. I'll… I'll make us both happy!"
"Excuse me?!" Everyone turned to the door, where Triton stood in awe at the scene with a stupid look on his face. He was holding a large, thin box in his hands that he was trying not to drop to the floor when he heard what he thought was his sister marrying into the Jackson line. "What are you doing to my baby sister, huh?!" he yelled, dropping the game on the back of a friendly pufferfish. "What's all this about making him happy, huh, Rhode? You can't seriously be stupid enough to want to sleep with his type, are you? You've really fallen since Helios died, you know that? Picking out mortals for pleasure-"
"Triton." Percy stood from the couch and faced his brother at the door. Triton glared at him so sharply Percy thought his eyes might break in half. "Lay off, alright? Rhode's been through a lot more than you know."
"Oh, really?" Triton scoffed. "And does she know the pain of being bested by a mere mortal in the eyes of my own father? Whatever she still feels for that show-off Helios is a waste of her time, crying over someone who faded and never looked at her before he died-"
"At least you've still got a chance to get what you lost back." Percy snapped, his stomach churning. Please, don't throw up now. That was the last thing he needed now that he was finally feeling better, but the ball on anger in his gut didn't help calm matters much. "And so far, you aren't doing a very good job. If you want to protect your little sister that much, the least you can do is try for her sake." Triton looked ready to punch him all the way to Hawaii, which might not be very far considering how Percy had no idea where Poseidon's palace even was. Rhode joined them, her hands shaking as she held the sides of her dress for support.
"And, Triton," she managed, somehow looking him in the eye without crying. Triton fixed his glare at her, though it carried more of a warning and threat. "I wouldn't do anything to Percy. I'm already married to Helios." Triton's glare became more intense as he tried to frighten his sister away, which worked swiftly, sending Rhode running back to the arms of her mother.
"I think that is quite enough of your fighting for now." Poseidon said, stepping between Percy and Triton. "Really, Triton, I'm struggling to understand why you take all of this mess out on Percy instead of me. If you used your head, you should have been able to tell that this is my fault." Triton's mouth remained shut, embarrassed, as Poseidon led Percy back to the couch.
"Well, what should we do now..?" Amphitrite asked, rubbing Rhode's back for support. "It's been a while since we had this many people all together, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, Triton, why'd you come in here?" Percy asked. "And what was in that box?" Triton seemed to regain his arrogance and sense of self as he remembered his intentions for that evening.
"Oh, this?" he asked, taking the box from the back of the pufferfish who was collapsing under its weight. "Well, I thought about what Rhode said, and she has a point. It's a lot more fun to beat the crap out of someone when neither of you has the advantage from the start." He set the box on the coffee table and opened it. Inside, there was a board, dice, a bunch of little cards held together by elastics and bags full of different color sea dollars.
"And… you intend to prove you're the better son of Poseidon by playing me in a board game?" Percy asked. "That's not equal ground; that's pure luck of what you role." Triton shook his head, smirking menacingly.
"Not the way history did it." he said, flipping open the board; Monopoly. Percy's least favorite game. "Basically, we're all going to be communists until one of us goes bankrupt!"
"Oh, are we playing Communist Monopoly?" Poseidon asked, seating himself forward on the couch. Percy furrowed his brow. Were the deities of the sea all old members of the SSR?
"Poseidon, I'm going to destroy you for buying that sea lion before I did in the last game!" Amphitrite exclaimed, helping her husband set up the game. "Rhode, get some extra chairs so we can all sit in a circle around the table!" Rhode nodded.
"So… how do you play Communist Monopoly?" Percy asked.
"It's quite simple." Amphitrite began. "Whenever someone loses money, like buys a propriety or has to pay rent for another's, everyone pays the same amount to the bank and we put it in Free Parking! The only time you independently get money is when you draw a card or land on Free Parking, and when you pass Go, we all get 200 Sea Dollars. Oh, and this game is fish themed, so try and keep up."
"I would leave if I were you, Percy…" Rhode began, bringing chairs and hugging a jellyfish as she sat down. "My parents… get a little crazy during board games…"
"Clam it, Rhode!" Triton exclaimed, throwing a bag full of Sea Dollars at her. "You're playing, too! It only works well with a lot of people! The game ends when someone cannot pay what is asked of them! We'll see who the better son of Poseidon is based on who has the most money to survive the brutality of Communism!" Percy wished Annabeth was here. He was certain that Communism did not work at all like Triton was describing, and if she was here, she would have shut him up and pointed out every little flaw imaginable. Percy could only point out a couple, like how the game was still luck based, it wouldn't prove anything unless it was just the two of them playing and it would be over in a matter of turns, and caught himself off guard thinking like Annabeth. He still needed to I.M her, sooner rather than later to avoid another reaction like that after his disappearance. Gods, he didn't want her on his bad side while a plague was inches away from sweeping the camp.
On the table in front of him, the game had begun, though he really didn't have the energy to play, his head still feeling a little off from the several naps he had taken. His stomach growled, wanting the snack he had left his room for and wound up playing Monopoly. He dozed off a little in his seat and didn't wake until he found himself resting against Poseidon's arm as he sat him back up in his seat The next thing he remembered was a cup of nectar being held to his mouth, followed immediately by his stomach jumping out of his, his body lunging forward, Triton raising the board of the game, Poseidon shielding his wife, Rhode defending herself with her favorite big jellyfish and Poseidon's servant Delphin, who he hadn't noticed enter the room, being sprayed with whatever grew from the medication he had taken earlier. Percy fell back in his chair, coughing up the puke that had decided to stick to his throat and float off politely into the water.
"My Lord," Delphin began, addressing Poseidon from the side as he wiped the Percy off his face. "I would advise Gravol and ginger ale for Master Jackson." He was in a human-like form, if you counted the dolphin fin that stuck out from the stop of his head, the same color as his blue hair, wearing a dark blue suit jacket with long tails.
"Will do." Poseidon replied, handing Delphin the tray he had brought their drinks on when called. Percy was still in a daze, staring at the chunk of sausage that had survived since breakfast stuck to the game board. He laughed a little inside imagining Annabeth's reaction when he told her he had thrown up all over Communism.
"Master Jackson."
"Yeah?" he replied, dazed.
"I hope you at least feel more cleared up by now." Percy looked up at Delphin, who was snapping his fingers for a vacuum sting ray.
"I guess I do. Sorry for that." Delphin made something that looked like a smile, but was probably just his body trying to keep him from ripping Percy apart with his dolphin teeth like a salmon.
"No worries; if it has helped out guest feel more… himself, I am honored to help. I have been Lord Poseidon's servant and substitute baby-sitter for… roughly 3000 years. I have seen worse from the spontaneous bowel disasters of Lord Triton when he discovered shrimp and stubborn digestion of Lady Rhode during her nursing. All in a day's work, I suppose."
"I still feel bad about… you know… vomiting on you." Percy replied as Delphin swept rather elegantly from the room despite being dripping with vomit. Triton obliterated the Monopoly board, sending the fresh scent of burning vomit into the water and inspiring him to craft a new perfume.
"Well, thanks for ruining our game, Purse-Man." He grumbled. "Anyone have a better way to prove I'm the better son without beating him up? My arms are still tired from destroying sea monsters, but I could still kill Percy if my arms were cut off-"
"Now, Triton, sea monsters are our friends. Until they ruin your garden." Amphitrite said. "Rho, honey, do you have any ideas?"
"We could play… Cards Against Immortality…" she said, softly, as if terrified of suggesting it.
"Is that, like, Card Against Humanity, but with Greek Gods?" Poseidon narrowed his eyes and nodded mischievously.
"You should have seen it. Last time, Amphitrite had the best match with The blind date was going horribly until we discovered our shared interest in: Mother Rhea breast feeding baby Zeus in front of five thousand nymphs, though I thought my I am Zeus, god of: Zeus' sexual appetites was pretty good." He laughed. "Triton, what was yours that you won with Horrifying laser hair removal accidents?"
"Every Christmas, Hephaestus gets drunk and tells the story of:" Triton replied, bursting out laughing.
"Umm… I liked the one I had last time…" Rhode said, trying to hide her laughter so she would be polite to however she was about to offend. "It was… I am Hades, Greek god of: Demeter's bras."
"So, Percy, would you like to play?" Amphitrite asked. "It's a lot easier on the mind and good for the soul than repeating the horrible acts of Communism!"
"But… aren't you a little… I dunno… Lady Amphitrite, you don't seem like the type who would let me, let alone your own children, play a game like this." Amphitrite smiled sweetly at him.
"Oh, honey, it's after 10, and since you kids stay up too late for Poseidon and I to have any fun, we'd better just play it anyway."
Percy regretted his decision, sending him to bed with thoughts of During the birth of Ares, the only thing on Hera's mind was: Peeing a little bit.
And another chapter has come to an end!
I want to say that it has been a lot of fun and challenging to write Rhode, and writing her development bits made me cry, but I'm quite emotional! Let me know in the reviews what you thought! If you guys want to see anymore of anyone, too, let me know! I really don't want Percy's section to finish because I'm going to miss the Poseidon family, but after them we get the Royal Pains of Olympus, so it'll be interesting none the less!
Anywho... Two more Percy chapters, and here's the next preview!
"What are you doing in my bed?"
"Your what..?"
"My bed, you idiot! Seriously? Don't you know who I am?"
"Percy, I was wondering if you wanted to... Mother! Mother! Kymopoleia's home!"
