A/N So I finally managed to get this chapter out. I am very sorry that it took that long, I was busy doing everything else but writing. The characters do not belong to me, they belong to Rick Riordan.

Chapter 9

The impact on the water was so hard that Thalia could feel the bones in der body breaking, the next thing she felt was the cold. It was so horrible, so overpowering she couldn't move or think. For a few seconds she let her body sink deeper into the dark sea, completely overwhelmed. As a daughter of Zeus, she had always tried to stay clear of Poseidon's domain. Even when she was just a little kid, her mother had kept her away from public swimming pools. She knew how to swim, there had been that one time on the road when they had fought some sort of wolfish monster and she had been knocked into a river. She would have drowned if Luke hadn't rescued her. After that he had taught her the basics but after her resurrection she never really had to use that ability again. This sensation, this feeling of the water pulling and pushing, of the salt burning in her wounds and eyes, of the pressure building up with every foot she sank, it was completely new to her. It was weirdly soothing and terrifying at the same time, like a part of her just wanted to give in and let herself drown in the darkness engulfing her. She could die like this, if she was lucky Hades bunch of judges would deem her accomplishments during the second Titan war as more important than her failure as Artemis lieutenant and would let her pass on to Elysium. She could wait there for her friends, for her brother.

But than again she was a daughter of Zeus and she would never go down without a fight. Instead she tried to focus on what Luke had taught her years ago about swimming, the way to move her legs to propel herself towards the surface as quick as possible. It seemed like an eternity but finally she shot out of the water, gasping for air, only to feel the horrible burn of the moonlight on her face. The shock of it made her go under again. She kept struggling but no matter how hard she tried, she could not bear it to stay above the surface to get anything more but a few shallow breaths of air.

Thalia knew she had to act, in between her injuries, her lack of oxygen and the waves slowly pushing her towards the rocky cliffs, she was doomed to die one way or the other. She pushed for the surface on more time, drawing in as much air as she could and then let herself drift under. It took her all her will power to focus her mind enough to form a decent prayer to Poseidon, including a reminder of the fact that she and the sea god's favourite son were close friends. After she was done, she opened her eyes. She lifted her eyes towards the cruel shimmer of moonlight and used her arms to keep herself from floating up. It was enough she decided, she would have to rely on Poseidon's mercy and hope that his love for his halfblood son and his wish to keep the momentary peace at Olympus would outweigh his wish to piss Zeus off. For a couple of moments nothing happened and Thalia wondered if she might have placed the wrong bet but then suddenly she felt a gentle touch against her head and heard the soft whisper of a woman's voice: "Sleep now, daughter of the sky. Your plea for asylum has been heard. Let me help you."

It was the last thing Thalia was able to sense before she gave into her exhaustion.

She wasn't really sure how long she had remained unconscious but when she wasn't in the rough, cold water by the cliffs but inside some sort of room. She was still underwater but now she was able to breath and the pressure didn't appear to affect her anymore and when she looked at her body, floating above some sort of seaweed bed, it appeared to be covered in a thin layer of air.

Thalia tried to make sense of her surroundings: The room was not very big and furnished in a very strange way, the walls and ceiling appeared to be made of solid rock, decorated with artwork depicting the deeds of ancient Greek heroes and the gods of Olympus. Most of the art depicted the sun chariot which made her think of Apollo. Her heart seemed to twist in her chest.

The floor was covered with a layer of oyster shells, there was the bed made of interwoven seaweed, an ancient Greek shield that had been made into a table and instead of lamps there were dozens glowing bulbs just floating around. There were no windows and only a hole in the ceiling for a door.

Thalia was wary, on the bright side she was still alive, on the down side this meant that she was most likely indebted to Poseidon of all gods. She wasn't really sure what he could possibly need her for but the task would probably be unpleasant and dangerous. Not to mention that she might have to take up permanent residence in his kingdom, so the price could very well be a lifetime of servitude. And she would have to accept whatever fate he offered her, it was horrible enough to be on Artemis' bad side, she really didn't need to add Poseidon to her enemies.

For some time she was so lost in her musings about gods and their demanding, cruel ways that she didn't realize that she wasn't alone anymore. A sea snake had slithered into the room, for some time it kept its distance, just calmly observing her but then suddenly it came closer and started to circle her. Thalia tried not to panic, if they had wanted her dead, she would be so already, she thought. The snake stopped for moment, hovering in front of her, then it turned around returning toward the opening in the ceiling. It looked back at her, beckoning with its small head, Thalia followed hesitantly behind.

The snake led her through a great variety of corridors, some appeared to have no ceiling, only the open sea overhead, others were small tunnels which Thalia had to squeeze through, some were well lit, others so dark that she could hardly make out the snake anymore. Sometimes the water felt warm, sometimes cold as ice and at no point the encountered anything that looked like a person, instead everywhere she looked there were fish of every possible variety. It seemed that she had been swimming for hours when the snake finally led her into some sort of underwater garden. There were corals and colourful seaweeds and among all this there were two mermaids awaiting her.

The older of the two had long dark hair, with little green horns poking out of it and was looking at the halfblood girl out of cold, steely eyes. She was wearing a blouse of golden silk and her the scales on her tail were crimson. The younger one was slightly smaller, her dark hair cut very short, her beautiful face filled with a deep sadness that turned the slightest bit hopeful as she laid eyes upon Thalia. She was wearing a black tank top and her scales were a dull grey. Next to the two mermaids hovered a giant sea horse that announced in a squeaky voice: "Thalia Grace, daughter of the powerful Zeus, lover of Apollo, you stand in front of Amphitrite, Queen of the Seven Seas, goddess of fish, seals and springs, daughter of Nereus and Doris and wife to the mighty Poseidon!"

Thalia hastily attempted to bow which proved very difficult under water, she had put too much drive into it and spun into a graceless roll forwards. The goddess gave a sharp laugh, but the younger mermaid looked sympathetic.

"Don't be cruel mother, she is clearly out of her element being a child of the sky and all that. And don't forget that we are the ones who need a favour of her."

"After everything we did, it wouldn't be a favour, it would be her duty.", queen Amphitrite sneered.

"Don't listen to her.", the younger one smiled sadly at Thalia, "Mother has a great dislike for demigods, please do not take it personally."

The daughter of Zeus returned the smile cautiously. "Of course not, and I agree with your mother, it was most kind of you to rescue me. It was you, wasn't it? I think I recognize your voice."

"I did rescue you from drowning, yes. But for my own selfish reasons. I am Rhodes, you know, daughter of the mighty Poseidon and Amphitrite, eponym of the island of Rhodes, wife of the faded Helios and fiancée of the god Apollo."

For a moment Thalia didn't really comprehend what Rhodes just had said. It couldn't be true, could it? Had the sun god really played her for a fool? The thought made her feel lightheaded, she had went against her vows, had taken a curse because she had loved him, and he had been engaged to another woman? It took her moment to gather herself and find her voice again.

"So what do you want with me? Do you want me to stay away from him? If that's it you don't have to worry, I am hardly in any position to pursue him now, am I?"

Queen Amphitrite smiled tauntingly at her: "If that was what we wanted, we could have just let you drown. Much less hassle."

"Mother!", Rhode looked furious, "This is not what I want at all! You see, I loved Helios, even though my father had arranged the marriage. He was lovely and kind and I birthed him seven wonderful sons. But he didn't take well to the change of time and he grew weaker. His place as god of the sun was usurped by Apollo, with the approval of Zeus who was glad to see one of his sons instead of one of my father's allies in this place of power. This caused my beloved husband to fade. I started to hate Apollo for what he had done to him, to us. I wanted to see him punished and over the centuries my need for revenge only grew. So shortly before the second Giant's war, I conspired with Nemesis and my mother and came up with just the right plan."

"My mother convinced my father to make a new alliance with his brother by marrying me to Apollo, while Nemesis manipulated Hera into helping our pan further. Under Nemesis' influence she convinced Zeus to punish his son by turning him into a mortal. The plan was for me to marry him just after Zeus lifted his punishment, when he would still be weak. Then I would have chained him up, and thrown him into Tartarus."

"But that was years ago.", Thalia realized, "Why are you still engaged?"

"As you might know, you lover encountered my husband during his trials", Rhodes answered, "He was bitter and resentful as first, but in the end he put aside his grudge and made peace with Apollo. My Helios was always so happy and wouldn't have liked the bitter goddess that I had become. So I asked my father to postpone the wedding. To us gods a couple of years are nothing but now Hera is getting restless, she demands that we make our vows in twenty days from now. But I just cannot do it. I don't want another man, I just want to fade myself and be reunited with by beloved Helios in Chaos. But father demands that I go through with the marriage. He even put guards around my palace to keep me from fleeing."

"Percy always described him to be so kind.", Thalia mused, "Maybe if you tell him how unhappy you…", she didn't get to finish the sentence.

"Percy, Percy.", the princess hissed, "Perfect Percy, father's favourite, of course he would say so. Well as it happens I am father's least favourite child. And he keeps rubbing it in how great all my siblings are, how Percy saved Olympus twice and is now trying to save our kingdom from the mortals, how Triton is always so reliable, how Tyson is such a talented blacksmith, how…", she drew in a big breath, "Ever since Helios faded I haven't accomplished anything and now if father sets aside this marriage pact it could mean another falling out between him and Zeus."

"I understand that.", Thalia agreed, "but I don't know how I would be able to help."

"Oh, but you are the only one who can help. You see, for a couple of weeks now Apollo has been begging Zeus to set him free of the engagement, so he can marry you instead."

Thalia's heart made a leap, so hadn't led her on. But she still didn't understand.

"My mother had her spies watching you and when she heard that you were getting closer to the cliffs, I went for a swim with a couple of my mother's most loyal men instead of my father's guards and rescued you. My mother distracted my father until you were hidden from view, as far as everyone at Olympus know you drowned. Hades knows the truth obviously and might be aware of my scheming but he won't intervene. He has always been the outsider and the fights between his brothers usually benefit him in some way."

Amphitrite finally took pity on Thalia: "You will take my daughters place during the wedding ceremony. You are about the same height, similar hair cuts, under a veil no one will know the difference. They will only realize it after it is too late. Poseidon will be furious of course but I will manage to placate him. Apollo will be delighted to be reunited with you, Zeus will be glad to see you alive as well and will not be to angry, we will only have to deal with Hera's and Artemis' fury."

That seemed plenty to deal with to Thalia but still she knew that this was her chance to have it all.

She gave the goddesses a cool smile: "Let's do it then."

Took me long enough to upload this. The next chapter will come soon. And by soon I mean in less than a month, maybe even sooner.