Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Story: The Ocean's Son
Chapter 6: Betrayal
Off the Northern Coast of Micronesia
Percy's POV
"Hand over the skull Perseus" A voice said in my head, a voice that sounded familiar.
I turned, and came face to face with my half-brother Triton, the Prince of Atlantis and heir to the throne.
"Triton?" I asked in disbelief. My brother just smiled at me maliciously.
"Hand over the skull little brother." Triton demanded as he aimed his trident toward me.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked.
"Why do you care if Artemis or Athena live, they are our father's enemies?" Triton asked in return.
"They need our help, Oceanus wants to raise his brother, we cannot allow that." I said. Triton fired his trident searing a whole in the side of the sub just to the right of my head.
"Oceanus promised me Atlantis, if I give him the skull, and finish you off brother." Triton said.
"Your a fool, he'll kill you the first chance he gets." I spat. Triton fired the trident again this time searing a whole in the sub to the left of my head.
"That was your last warning brother, hand over the skull now." Triton ordered. I tossed the box toward my brother, and charged at him at the same time. Unfortunately, he knew what I was doing, he fired the trident, it hit a cable on the wall; two large torpedoes rolled from the wall, and landed on my back pinning me to the floor. "I'm sorry brother, I would ask you to join us, but my grandfather doesn't care for you, so alas, I will leave you to your fate." Triton swam out of the submarine at incredible speed, suddenly the submarine began to shake, and then I remembered. The u-boat was perched on the side of an undersea cliff, if I didn't get out of here I would crash with the sub at the bottom of the canyon. I could feel the sub moving, I knew Triton was blasting the sub with his trident.
I was trapped under the torpedoes, I could move my arms, but my legs were pinned under the torpedoes. I tried to push myself up, but the torpedoes were too heavy. I couldn't think of another way out of here. I tried to move one more time, I felt something slide out of my shirt. I looked down to see the celestial bronze pendant with the sea green pearl set in the middle. I found this particular trinket when we excavated a dig near the island of Thera near Greece. I looked at the pendant closely, suddenly it started to glow, then the sub began to shift again. The submarine began to tumble, I could feel it roll over the side of he cliff, I held onto the pendant, and prayed to the gods. I saw a sea green glow envelope me, and I felt strange like my body was dissolving.
Third Person's POV
Triton exited the u-boat, he swam to a safe distance, he aimed his trident, and fired toward the sub. He kept firing toward the sub, the u-boat moved closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, Triton felt the water move around him, he turned to see the submersible heading toward him, he turned and fired at the small sub. The blast hit the sub head on, the small submersible lost control, and headed for the bottom The little sub hit the sea floor hard. Triton turned one last time toward the u-boat, and fired. The sub began to roll over the edge. Triton grinned proudly as he swam off into the ocean depths.
Annabeth's POV
We watched as Percy swam into the u-boat, he kept in touch with us through his text messenger. After ten minutes without hearing from him, I sent a text asking for his status. He never returned the text.
"I have a bad feeling about this Thals." I said.
"What can we do, we can't breathe under water, besides we're too deep, we'd be crushed like a tin can?" Thalia said. I knew she was right.
"Maybe we can pilot the sub closer." I said hopefully. I moved the submersible closer to the u-boat at a slow pace. Suddenly, a figure swam out of the wreck, the person's lower body consisted of two fish tails, and the upper body was that of a man. He carried a box under one arm, and a trident in the other. He looked familiar, then I remembered Percy's description of his half-brother Triton. This person was Triton, Percy's brother. I moved the sub closer to him, but before we could close the gap between us, Triton fired his trident. The blast struck the submersible head on. Our control panel began shooting sparks into the air of our compartment. The control panel and heads up display went blank. I could feel the sub heading for the sea floor. Thalia and I put our hands in front of our faces as the sub hit the sea floor. I removed my hands from my face to see the red emergency lights illuminating the interior of the submersible.
"Thals, are you ok?" I asked. Thalia groaned lightly.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but who in Hades was that?" Thalia asked.
"Unfortunately, I think it was Triton, Percy and Ian's half-brother." I said. Thalia's eyes widened in surprise.
"Why?" Thalia asked.
"I have no idea, we need to call Ian, and see what's happening." I said. I grabbed the radio controls, a red light was flashing, I sighed in relief since that meant the battery backup was working.
"Ian, come in." I said. I waited a moment. "Ian come in." The radio crackled and chirped for a few minutes.
"Ian here, Thalia and Annabeth are you two ok?" Ian asked nervously.
"Yes, but the sub is stuck on the sea floor, Percy is still in the u-boat." I said.
"Oh gods, the sub just rolled over the edge of the cliff." Ian said. My heart went into my throat.
"What?" I yelled.
"I'm sor..ry I..I saw the su..sub go over, Triton fired his trident. I..I can't believe he..he's go..gone." Ian stuttered as the realization sunk in. I couldn't feel sorry for him as suddenly I felt the walls close in on me. I looked at Thalia, she had tears running down her cheeks, then I realized I was crying too. Ian must have finally pulled himself together. "Hold on, Tyson and I'll get you out of there." I just sat back in my seat with my head in my hands. Suddenly, the sub began to move on its own, but the engines weren't working.
"What in Hades is going on?" Thalia yelled. I felt some of the ballast escape, and the sub floated to about thirty feet off the sea floor. I heard a noise coming from the air lock. Thalia and I unbuckled ourselves, and ran to the back. Thalia aimed with her bow, and I held my dagger in my hands. The green light came on in the air lock, the door slid open, and standing in front of us was none other than Persy Jackson.
"Are you two ok?" He asked, Thalia and I just stared at him in shock, until our legs seemed to move on their own. We engulfed the surprised son of Poseidon in a bear hug. "I guess that's a yes." We pulled away, and just stared at him.
"How did you get out of the sub?" I asked. Thalia looked as shocked and as curious as me. Percy's brow furrowed as if he was trying to remember.
"I don't really remember. Triton attacked me and took the skull. A few torpedoes crushed me to the floor of the sub, and then I felt it roll over, then everything went dark, and when I opened my eyes I was floating out in the ocean. I saw the mini-sub on the sea floor, so I came to find you." Percy said, I could tell that he really couldn't remember how he got free.
"Someone's looking out for you kelp head." Thalia said.
"I think you're right Thals, I just wish I knew who that someone was." Percy said.
Suddenly, the mini-sub began to shake. We ran to the control room to see a robotic arm from the Trident grab the sub, and pull it back into the larger submarine.
"I guess Ian and Tyson are on the ball as usual." Percy said. The hatch to the sub opened, Thalia and I climbed out with Percy behind us. We saw Tyson and Ian waiting for us. When they saw Percy they ran toward him, and tried to hug the life out of him.
"Ea..sy gu...ys can...can't bre..athe." Percy said. Ian and Tyson both had tears in their eyes as they let go of their older brother. "I'm fine, I'm glad to see you too."
"I can't believe big brother Triton tried to kill you." Tyson said, he was clearly still in denial.
"Ty, I'm afraid he is working for his grandfather, Oceanus." I said. We all just looked at Percy in shock.
"Why?" Ian asked.
"He thinks Oceanus will let him rule Atlantis when he overthrows our father." I said.
"Is he a moron?" I asked. Ian gave Annabeth a wry smile, it made Thalia's cheeks turn red.
"He's definitely not the smartest of the sons of Poseidon." I said. Ian began to laugh.
"You can say that again." Ian quipped.
"I don't see how saying that again would help anything." Tyson said. We all rolled our eyes as Ian put a hand on Tyson's shoulder.
"Its alright big guy, its just an expression." Ian said. Tyson nodded in understanding.
"Ty, I need you and Jake to fix the mini-sub, you never know when we might need it again." Percy said. Tyson nodded, and climbed up the ladder to the bridge. "I don't know about you two ladies, but I need a nap."
"You're going to sleep, Triton has the skull?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes, and we know exactly where he's going." Percy said.
"Mount Erebus." Thalia, Ian and I said at the same time.
"I'm glad we're all on the same page. Ian set a course for Ross Island, Antarctica best possible speed." Percy ordered.
"Yes sir." Ian said as he climbed the ladder to the bridge.
"After you ladies." Percy said with a hand gesture. Thalia and I climbed the ladder to the bridge. Percy joined us a moment later. "Ian, I'll be in my quarters if you need something." Ian nodded in understanding. Thalia stayed on the bridge with Ian as I followed Percy. Percy turned around as we left the bridge, and stared at me curiously. "Do you need something?"
"Can we talk for a few minutes?" I asked. Percy nodded, and motioned for me to follow him. We reached his quarters. He opened the door, the light automatically came on. Percy's quarters were unlike mine or Thalia's. The walls were paneled in wood that looked like the planks of an old sailing ship. He had a bed that folded out of the wall. A small desk was built into the far wall with a steel chair next to it. A small sofa and lounge chair was on the other side of the room. There was a door to a closet and one to the bathroom across from the desk. The walls had many photos and schematics. I looked at some of them closely. There were several magazine covers from Discover, National Geographic and Scientific American with Percy on the covers doing something with the ocean; from swimming with sharks, to exploring under the ice caps, to excavating an ancient underwater shipwreck. Percy laid down on his sofa, he motioned for me to sit in the lounge chair. I sat down on the chair, it was very comfortable.
"What would you like to talk about?" Percy asked.
"Memories" I said. Percy sighed.
"I told you, I don't remember what happened on the u-boat after I blacked out." Percy said.
"Not that memory, the memories of us." I said sheepishly. Percy's eyes widened, he ran his hand through his hair nervously.
"I I told you, I I don't re..remember, those things you said that we did, I don..don't remember them." Percy said stuttering on some words nervously.
"You don't remember anything when we dated? Have there been that many other women in your life?" I asked starting to get annoyed. Percy lowered his gaze, and shook his head.
"I barely remember when we dated, I just remember we were very close friends, that all. I don't remember those moments you told me. Regarding other women, I haven't really had the time to date anyone else." Percy said. Now it was my turn for my eyes to grow wide with surprise. Percy never dated after he left camp. Then I remembered what Ian had said, Percy was a workaholic, he never made time for a personal life. "I've never made love..." My face turned red, but then I remembered our time together.
"What do you mean you never made love? We made love on your eighteenth birthday Percy, how could you forget? Our first time was together." I said angrily. Percy sat up immediately on the sofa, the look of surprise and shock seemed so real that I couldn't help, but look at him curiously. "You really don't remember?"
"No, I don't remember any of that, I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you." Percy said as he held his head in his hands. Someone really took his memories, but these were selective memories. They were memories of important things that Percy and I did as a couple. Then the realization hit me, this could only be done by a god who hated Percy and I as a couple, my mom. My mother was behind this, she screwed up my life because she hated the fact that I was dating a son of Poseidon, damn her. Now we are on a quest to save her ass, and I find out that she really is the reason Percy broke up with me.
"Percy, I hate to say this, but only the gods could take away selective memories like this, and I'm afraid that I know who took your memories." I said. Percy raised his head to look at me.
"Who?" Percy asked.
"My mother." I said. The realization finally hit him, his face turned red, and his sea green eyes became dark like rough seas.
"Why?" He asked.
"She never liked us as a couple, she wanted to break us up." I said. Percy reached forward and grabbed my hand gently, I felt electricity shoot up my arm at his touch.
"I'm sorry that this happened. We'll find your mother and Artemis, then we'll make her fix things, the way they should have been." Percy said. My heart soared at those words, but then I remembered Percy's current life, and all the important things he'd done so far.
"I don't know if I should be selfish, you've done so much good for the oceans, what happens to that work if those memories return?" I asked. Percy stood up, and he pulled me up with him.
"My love of the ocean will always be there. I will not forsake my duty, but I have always felt like somethings been missing in my life. That's why I pour myself into my work, not because of responsibility, but because I don't want to dwell on that feeling of loss and absence. I think those memories, and more importantly, you are what's been missing in my life." I felt myself leaning forward, and I could tell Percy was too. We moved slowly until our lips touched, I pushed forward, and kissed him gently. Percy returned the kiss gently as well. The kiss was soft and sweet, like our first kiss in Camp Half-blood the night the second titan war ended. We separated after a few seconds, we both had smiles on our faces.
"I better let you get your rest." I said quickly as I left his quarters. I walked to my quarters, and entered. I laid down on my bed, and touched my lips with my right hand remembering the kiss. I forgot how warm and soft his lips were. I couldn't help, but smile at the memory, but the anger returned. I was so mad at my mother for her interference, I felt like leaving her to her fate with Oceanus, but I couldn't, I had to save her and Artemis, but that didn't mean the goddess of wisdom wouldn't get an earful from her daughter, a very pissed off daughter of Athena.
AN: So Triton is the traitor, and now Annabeth realized that her mother was behind the memory loss, but did she act alone? Our heroes are on their way to Antarctica to face off against Oceanus, and his allies; can they stop them from killing the two goddesses, and resurrecting the titan lord? Stay tuned to future chapters.