Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or any of the characters
RwennaOlympian: Thanks for the suggestion. I did just that, you'll get a short introduction on Gabe in this chapter, and get to hear more of him later on in the story. I really really hate him. So the second half will be Poseidon' POV just letting us know about his love for little Rhea. Hope you'll like it!
katherine cullen16: Thanks for your vote too! Here your Poseidon POV, more will follow later on, not just about his feelings, but also what is going on in Atlantis with him being kinda different.
Everyone else thank you for the reviews!
Previous chapter:
He shook his head amusedly, ''See you around, little Princess.'' With that he jumped inside his boat and drifted off, soon I could not even see the boat anymore. The only thing proving his presence were the footsteps remaining in the sand, even those were soon erased by the waves. Even dripping wet, and cold I had a wide smile on my face as I silently entered my room and went to bed after drying myself, only pausing to write a little note to my mom that I was tired and went to bed early.
The next day, after a late morning breakfast I went to the ocean again, and this time I didn't even hesitate before going out to swim.
I don't know whether I should have been more surprised when nearly a week later, my father was once again picking me up from one of my little adventures, and if I only went snorkeling every day for the rest of the summer, interwoven with spending time with my mother, in order to see the tender, amused, fond and exasperated face of my father again and again, I certainly never mentioned it to anyone else.
Chapter 4 - The sea's lament
I found it hard to believe that merely a month ago I thought that nothing could destroy my mood, ever.
How naive of me.
Right now I was torn between the remaining feelings of elation (seeing my father so often was like a dream come true) and a nearly all consuming anger. I was usually a rather laid back person, maybe because I no longer wanted to hurry through life. Instead I wanted to enjoy the small things, eating my favorite ice cream with my mother or just watching some movies while falling asleep repeatedly on her lap. Life was good, it was awesome, and then he came into it.
The source of my anger and irritation could be traced to one single thing.
Gabe Ugliano, a man who I wouldn't even touch with a ten foot pole was my mom's new boyfriend.
With a single sentece of: ''Princess, he's going to live with us from now on, please get along okay?'' my life was turned around quicker than I could even comprehend.
I wish I could say that I was merely jealous of how close they were, or that mom seemed to forget my father or me, but that would be a beautiful lie. I would prefer that. Any day.
No, Gabe Ugliano was aptly named. He was tall, fat, and very very ugly. I felt sorry for my mother who would have to be seen with him, more than myself, who would leave for a border school in a month.
I wasn't even mad at my mother for sending me away so soon, I was rather relieved. I would miss my mom, but I did not wish to live together with that thing for a lengthy amount of time. I couldn't even bear the thought of staying that one month at home. I could see that my mom was sad about me leaving but every time I asked her why she let him move in with us, she'd just tell me that one day I would understand.
Joy.
Gabe would always watch me with his small beady eyes, and I would somehow feel violated. I would either spend those days in my room reading, outside running around, or practicing on doing my new hair style.
No, I did not suddenly become vain or one of those girls that would start putting on make-up at five just because their mothers did.
My new obsession with my hair could be traced back to my summer vacation at the ocean.
''Why are you always wearing a simple pony tail?'' the question threw me off guard, I wasn't expecting my father to comment on my hair style of all things.
''What else am I supposed to do with it?'' I asked curiously. That got me the by now familiar slight tilt of the lips, showing he was amused by my question. I just pouted, annoyed that he was being so difficult yet again. I could somehow never predict his behavior, he would be laid back one moment and completely intense the next. It was interesting, how the waves would become shallow when he was relaxed or began churning when he was somehow agitated. He truly was like the sea, no he was the sea. I had come to understand that part of his being.
''Hmmm. Let me show you.'' and with that declaration he moved behind me, sitting down cross-legged on the small boat, hands slowly beginning to comb through my black, long and silky hair. I could feel the warmth of his legs on my lower back, and his fingers moving through my damp hair, getting rid of the little knots that were left over.
I simply closed my eyes, enjoying the simple movement of his fingers pulling on several strands of my hair, slowly beginning to braid a complicated pattern on my right side. It didn't take him long to finish and after telling me to hold the strand he was finished with, he began doing the same thing on my left. Several twirls later he fastened the mixture of braids and normal locks with a single hairpin I was sure was nowhere near us only a moment ago.
I felt him get up from behind me and opened my eyes sleepily, I glared at him when I heard him chuckle at my predicament.
''Time for you to go to back, Rhea.''
Once I was back at the cabin, and after I had sufficiently admired myself in the mirror, I grabbed my camara (a recent birthday present) and took a picture of every single angle of my new hairstyle. It was beautiful and I decided to learn how to do that myself. I reluctantly took the hairpin out in order to hide the evidence of the meeting with my father (my mom usually just wrote during the day, happy that I was out having fun), but before I could do that I got my first look at the hairpin itself.
It was simply breathtaking. With emerald pearls embedded in swirls of silver, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my eyes on. In that moment I couldn't hold back my tears, basking in the happiness of the first gift given to me by my father.
Since that night I began to practice braiding my hair in that manner, often just looking at the beautiful piece of jewelery to remind me that my last summer was real.
I jumped when I heard my new step-father (although I would rather cut off my libs than call him anything resembling father) come into our apartment.
''Brat?'' he called. I rolled my eyes, quickly hid my hairpin and went out of my room.
''Yes, Gabe?'' I answered with a polite smile, just because I absolutely loathed the man didn't mean I would make it any harder on my mother than it already was.
''I'm hungry, get me some food and beer.'' and with that he simply turned around, slumping on the couch. I suddenly had the urge to throw said beer and food at him. Sighing I went into the kitchen, grabbing a beer and heating some left-overs in the microwave. As fast as I could I set it down on the couch table and went back into my room.
As long as I didn't mouth off or rebel he simply ignored me otherwise and I was more than fine with that.
I would be gone in a month and then get back for the summer which I would partly spend at Montauk with my mother. I would never allow Gabe to come close to that place. It was too special for him to sully with his mere presence.
It was funny how I never longed for my summer break so much before, so much that I even wished for my current one to end already. The next summer was firmly in my mind, even as the day of my departure approached.
Sometimes Poseidon wished that Gods were truly almighty being, that they were not, like the mortals governed by laws and rules. Centuries ago it was merely a passing thought, decades ago it was still as fleeting. Nowadays it was always at the forefront of his mind, his thoughts were consumed by the what if's since that day seven years ago when he had entered the apartment fully expecting Sally to have borne him a son and instead being confronted by a daughter. His daughter.
His brain had probably short-cutted for a brief moment, simply not being able to believe that this little being was the answer to that small prayer he's uttered every single day since centuries, no millenia ago.
Please, bless me with a daughter.
But millenia passed, and Poseidon truly started believing that he could not have any daughters. He'd already in his heart given up hope, and then came little Rhea.
With a toothless, but so adorable smile, taking his breath away and reducing him to a simple father. With a start he realized that he'd never felt like this before. Triton was a godly baby and grew up very quickly, he never was as vulnerable as Rhea in that moment. But there was just something more, something that he couldn't explain. It was like an insistent tug, an urge to protect and cherish that little fragile life lying in his arms. The power of the sea was already so strong in her, so very different from his own, and yet perfectly in tune with his own thurning core. In an instant he loved his little baby girl more than anyone else in his entire existence, and wasn't that a scary thought?
It was dangerous, so very dangerous to get attached like that, to love like that, but he simply didn't care.
His daughter with her smile, her instant acceptance of him was unique to him, and before he knew it he had already come again, and again and again.
It was like a drug, her very existence was a miracle.
His miracle.
His alone.
He was so very proud of her obvious intelligence, the signs of awareness he had never seen before in a mortal child. Her overwhelmingly strong connection to his own domain, so strong that even as a baby she would recognize his mood and try to alevate his worries. She was strong, would be beautiful, the first princess of his kingdom.
The Princess of the Sea.
And then came the realization that Zeus or Hades wouldn't care how much he loved her, how much he pleaded. They would try to kill her as soon as they gained the knowledge (Zeus more so than Hades) and she would simply be gone. Because she was mortal, a strong demigod, but nevertheless mortal. He'd known it intellectually but it just hadn't sunk it. The mere idea of Rhea dying caused him pain. At first he had denied it with every fiber of his being, but Poseidon, Earthshaker had never been one for hiding from anything, even the truth. With the acceptance came the agony. Yet, he still visited her, as often as he could, telling his son that he just needed time after swearing on the River of Styx that no, he did not have a lover right now, which was true. He had not seen Sally since that day. He simply went to visit his daughter.
He knew Triton would love her, adore her even, but Gods were selfish and he did not wish to share. He spent the nights talking to her, about things he'd never told anyone, just holding her in his arms, or reading to her some worn-out children's books. He would look forward to those visits, crave them with a fravor that he knew was not healthy and so a year passed.
Until he realized that if he were to continue, she would remember him.
He wanted that so badly, for her to know who he was, but it would be cruel, and once in his long life he would be selfless.
It was also the first time he saw her tears, clear crystals welling up in her eyes and he kissed her forehead a last time and left, leaving nothing behind.
He could feel the sea's pain and longing during the next month, heard her cries even in Atlantis and he was so tempted to just visit her again, but he didn't. She could not have any memories of him, it would make it harder on her.
He pretended not to search out her energy, occupying a part of his very soul to check on her and if he sometimes surrounded her presence with his during her dreams, he convinced himself it was not as much for him as for her.
More years passed, more years in which he did not see her and she did not see him.
Would she hate him, despise him for not visiting her? He dreaded the answer, he did not want her to loathe him but it was better than her being indifferent or simply loving the idea of a father. He wanted her to love him, Poseidon, not the God of the Sea.
He was, he realized, scared - terrified even.
Terrified of losing what he believed was his greatest treasure. His subjects noticed his particular mood, he saw the questioning glances, but he ignored them, same with his wife's screams and rants and general unpleasantness. He did not care what they thought of him, as long as she would never look at him with indifference or hate in her life. He would protect her, till the last breath left her lips, a promise and oath sworn to his very soul.
It was during the summer, that he felt her presence in his sea for the first time, her little feet walking through the shallow water, calling to him from Montauk.
They were at Montauk, his daughter was so close, and he convinced himself that he would only take one look at her, one single glance. He dissolved in the water, using the power over his domain to propel himself forward, only stopping when he was close. He could feel her core, her power unconsciously calling to him, trying to latch onto his own core like a child needing comfort. It warmed his heart that some part of her still remembered him, even if it as merely the part most connected to him.
He was surprised at first when he realized how far away from the beach she was, but then he felt the panic of some smaller fish calling out to him, the same direction where his daughter was heading, and he smiled.
Rhea was apparently kind and open-minded, brave enough to follow a fish due to most likely instinct, and smart enough to trust in them.
He was already proud. Prouder than he had been when other children of his slaughtered monsters or did heroic deeds in his name. Rhea was different.
He couldn't help but follow her, creating a small wooden fisherboat for cover, trying and failing to convince himself that he was just giving her a ride, talk to her a little and then disappear.
He knew it was foolish, dangerous, but like an addict he wanted another dose, so waited on his boat, casually calling out to her spluttering form.
She was perfect though, looking so much like him that it hurt. Her energy was still latched onto his, recognizing his existence immediately. He wished he could do the same with her, take her into his arms and never let go. Comfort and protect her from everything that would ever wish to harm her.
And she remembered - and wasn't that wretched - him and his love and presence, and he had never felt more conflicted in his life. He was happy, knowing that his daughter still wanted him. The same man that had held her during the nights and read to her until she fell back asleep. But he could also see her pain, a longing for what she couldn't properly recall anymore. He couldn't tell her, it was dangerous.
So he played and laughed and used every excuse to be close and if it meant throwing her into the water again and again until he could remember her shrieks of laughter forever, he would do it gladly with an answering smile on his lips.
The next morning he did cry when he heard her voice again and the words that he so desperately wanted, no needed to hear.
''I love you, because I now realize that having those memories is better than not having any at all.''
And when he went to see her again a week later, he wasn't even trying to justify it anymore, nor did he pause when several weeks later he heard that the royal hairpin, an invaluable treasure of Atlantis, went missing.
It was at it's rightful place after all.
A/N So I hope you also enjoyed this chapter. It was merely to slowly introduce Gabe and show you guys Poseidon's feelings. Some of you might think that Poseidon's love for Rhea is kind of unrealistic, but I need him to be like that for the whole plot to work. That's why Rhea is Poseidon's answer to his millenia years long prayers, making him dismiss those pesky Ancient Laws in favor of visiting her.
So next chapter Rhea will arrive at her border school, will she already get into trouble and danger or should the monsters stay away for now?
And what do you guys think about romance? Who should Rhea end up with? It could be anyone from Poseidon to Luke, so just share your opinion on the matter. I'll take everything you guys tell me into consideration. Of course it'll take a while for her to even arrive at camp.
My next update will be during the weekend at the latest.
Look forward to it!
And thank you for the reviews!
Continue please!