Chapter Three

Triton led her out of the palace and onto a side street. It was made of cobblestone, long tread thin by the hooves of horses. At one time, this street had probably been a part of the original Olympus. The buildings here were older and looked more used, unlike the gleaming temples of the gods. Percy had a feeling this was where the satyrs and naiads lived. At the end of the street, there was a smaller path, made of sandstone that led into a beautiful garden. An arched light brown trellis loomed above them, growing a poisonous red flowered plant.
"This is one of Demeter's many gardens. Nobody will be here this early in the morning." He paused as they walked further into the garden, the soft sandstone path turning to dark, healthy looking green grass.

"Okay." She raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue, but he continued on in silence. The short bushes that first lined the path turned into towering plants that flowered upon beautifully carved trellises.

"I want you to tell me of your time in Tartarus." The words were rushed, and a sharp intake of breath let him know that the subject was uncomfortable and Percy wished for it to be off-limits.

"No." she replied sternly, yes turning steely. Triton grumbled under his breath for a moment before turning to face her.

"Persephone, if I'm too be like a brother to you, I need to know this!" putting his emphasis on need. His eyes darkened, and the waves inside them thrashed around, as if telling her not to mess with him.

"You know, sometimes it's better to be ignorant." Percy muttered, walking ahead of her brother. Her eyes were dark and had the same, don't mess with me look as Triton's did.

"Yeah, well not me. I'm going to be the perfect older brother and I'm forcing you to tell me." He chased after her.

"Forcing me huh? And how will you do that? Torture me?" Percy replied, glaring at her brother as she stopped and faced away from him. They were now deep into the garden and had come out of the tunnel of trellises to a beautiful sea green lake that matched their eyes perfectly.

"Percy," his voice was gentler now, and he pulled his sister towards him, forcing her to face him. "Did they torture you?" she couldn't meet his eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it." She was breathing faster now and she was trying to back away from him.

"It's alright." He pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head. Percy began to cry, at first it was just tears, but then it began to come faster until she was gasping for breath.

"My little sister." He whispered, rubbing her back and staring out at the water. A soft breeze blew through the trees, creating waves upon the water.

Several minutes later, when Percy's crying had reduced to sniffles, she pulled away and looked down, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I'm not usually like this." She seemed a little upset about not being blew to hold herself together.

"After everything you've been through, I think you deserve to be able to let your emotions flow." He said, squeezing her shoulder and giving her a smile. Percy smiled back and whipped her eyes quickly.

"Your mom's probably looking for you." She said, turning to head back up the trail. Triton followed.

"She'll be looking for you too, you know." He said, shaking his head at her obliviousness. Obviously his mom had acted differently than normal this morning. When Percy frowned at him, confused, he laughed.

"She's really sorry. I hope you can forgive her treatment of you like you could mine." He smiled softly. Percy walked on for a few moments before looking at him and giving him a small smile back.

"I think I'd like that." She whispered, looking up at the sky, as if remembering something. On the way back to the temples, Percy noticed more flowers than she had before. They were of all different colors, and the grass they walked on shown in different shades of green. Where they stepped, the grass would light up for a moment before fading.

"The grass reacts to our powers. Since our father commands water, the grass is rejuvenated by our presence." Triton answered the question she wanted to answer.

"Interesting," she paused, glancing up at the sun for a moment. "I have a question."

"Yeah?" Triton replied.

"Why is our father known as the moderator?"

"He controls the water, earth, and sky." Triton replied, demonstrating by causing a small earthquake, circling wind around them, and twirling water to make it look like a miniature tornado.

"Why isn't he king then?" Percy asked, and Triton glanced up at the sky quickly before turning to her.

"Zeus is king for a reason." He replied darkly, glaring at the garden entrance that loomed closer and closer by the second.

"Okay," she paused for a second before grinning at him "Want to race?" she didn't give him time to reply and took off. His laughter followed her and he soon caught up with her, matching her stride for stride. People moved quickly out of their way as theory raced through the streets, the sun at their backs as they chased each other, pushing one another to try and get a lead over the other. Percy was ahead before they reached the stairs, but her brother had climbed them more often and raced ahead of her. A growl of frustration followed him as she sped up, maxing out her speed as she chased him up the steps. Taking a deep breath, she launched herself at him, using the accuracy she had earned in battle. Her jump came in slow motion to her, and she stretched her arms out, reaching around his throat and wrapping them around his neck. An oomph told her that she had knocked the breath out of him and she let go quickly as he slowed down.

"Not fair!" he wheezed, falling against the wall as they entered the huge palace. Leaning against the wall across from him, she heaved a sigh as she tried to catch her breath.

"A friend of mine taught me that all is in what you believe. I believe that was fair." After she said this, she stood up, ignoring his glare and wandered towards the doorway that seemed to lead towards the kitchen.

"That friend of yours was smart, who was it?" he asked, following her. His green eyes now shown with curiosity, but hers darkened slightly.

"He was lost when he chose his side of the war." She whispered. Triton left it at that, but he was still curious.

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I know Percy was out of character in these last two chapters, but I think that she deserves it after all she's been through. Also, you may think she's not mourning her mother and stepfather's death; she is. People mourn in different ways and I'll show that later on.