Chapter Seven

Percy

"I yield!" Captain Acheran called out, and Percy stopped his blow an inch from his face, just before it landed. It had taken him some time to adjust to movement underwater, but his control, like everything else, had gotten better with time. "Whoever decided that you and Lady Artemis should train together should be punished, my prince. You've quickly become one of our best fighters."

"Experience counts for more than any skill, Acheran, you know this," Percy told him, holding his hand out for the guard commander. "And you still have a vast amount more experience than I do."

"Not for much longer, if you continue training as hard as you do," Acheran laughed, as he took Percy's hand, "but there's great honour in losing to one of the royal family. Are you off to the archives now, my prince?"

"Not this time," Percy grinned, "Rhode has decided that I'm to be her escort in the city, along with Artemis. And afterwards I'm to join the King for his meeting with the Council."

"I don't envy you that, Percy," Acheran said, "good luck."

"I'll need it, I think," he muttered, before swimming out towards his room in the palace. Rather than the moderately sized guest room he had been given at first, Percy was now roomed in a massive chamber fit for royalty, which he supposed he really was. The Atlanteans didn't really seem to care that he wasn't born from Poseidon's marriage. He was a Prince of the Realm, and that was good enough for them.

He changed from the sparring clothes he had been wearing into the orange-and-green scale-mail that he had been wearing for years now. He had put on more muscle since entering Atlantis, and he was pretty sure that he weighed about a hundred fifty-pounds more than when he was last on the surface, but it was just his muscles adapting to the pressure, and he hadn't actually increased much in size. By the Atlantean weighing standards, he was just over twenty-four and a half stones, which by Chiron's estimates was about three hundred and forty-five pounds. That made him one big boy, something his mom had always told him he would end up being. The brief thought didn't make him as sad as it would've before.

Several of the guards bowed their heads as he passed, others flashed him a smile. Several more didn't react to him—those were Amphitrite's handpicked guards, and they mimicked their mistress by treating him respectfully, but coolly, often keeping their distance, not talking to him unless they absolutely had to. He was as nice to them as he was to anyone else, but it was kind of annoying that they treated him so distantly. He hadn't done anything wrong.

Rhode and Artemis practically ambushed him as he left his room, his younger sister flinging herself towards him after he closed the door.

"Percy, Percy, Percy, guess what!" She exclaimed, floating upside down above him. Artemis watched with an amused expression on her face, though Percy didn't fail to notice that there were a few more guards than usual with them.

"Rhode, Rhode, Rhode, what?" He replied, flashing her a smile, as he grabbed her and tilted her back to the proper orientation.

She was six years old now, and easily the most excitable person in the palace. Born just a few months before their father died, Rhode only knew that Poseidon Thalassa had looked like her older half-brother, and that he would have loved her fiercely. She knew more, of course, the official things about him that they all knew, but it had been left to Triton and Amphitrite to tell her about the man their father had been, rather than the king.

"We're going to the markets today!" She told him, beginning to float upwards again. Percy grabbed her again and pulled her down.

"Are we now?" He said, "you know we can only go there if you don't float away. The surface dwellers would get you then."

Rhode gasped, and pulled herself close to him.

"You wouldn't let that happen, would you?" She asked him with wide eyes, "the surface people are mean."

"You know I wouldn't let it happen," he ruffled her hair, "but you have to stick close to me, okay?"

"Okay!" She chirped, before grabbing his hand and pulling him along, "come on! We need to get to the markets soon!"

"You heard the Princess," he said to Artemis and the guards, "we have a marketplace to get to."

The swim to the marketplace was fairly uneventful, with Rhode chatting away about all the things she had done, or the things she wanted to buy at the marketplace. Percy wasn't entirely sure she knew what was even in the marketplace, but he wasn't going to tell her otherwise. The guards fanned out around them in a circle, except for Artemis, who swam on the other side of Rhode, occasionally throwing in her own opinion on the things the little girl bought up.

The market was busy as usual, but there was a moment of awed silence when they realised that members of the Royal Family were present. Then it was business as usual, for the most part. Some people continued watching them, eyes wide as Percy let Rhode lead him through the stalls. She stopped to look at everything, and Percy knew that she would be in love with it by the end of the day.

"Percy, look!" Rhode said, pointing at a tiara made of polished Gaia stone, "we have to get that!"

"It's a bit too big for you, guppy," he said, "but you'll grow into it one day."

"No, not for me," Rhode told him like it was obvious, "for Artemis!"

"What?" The Princess of Olympia choked out. Percy held a laugh in.

"It'd look so good on you!" Rhode insisted, before turning back to Percy, "please, please, please, can we get it for Artemis?"

She was looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes, and it was the damnedest thing he could do to try and reject her.

"Alright," he let out a deep breath, "but this is the only thing we're getting, okay?"

"Oh. Okay," she said, a little downtrodden, but Percy wasn't going to buy her everything she wanted. She was six, after all. "But you'll get it?"

"I'll get it right now, if you want me to," he told her, "or do you want to look around more first?"

"Let's get it! We need to give it to Artemis!"

Percy gave her another smile before swimming over to the stall. The shopkeeper didn't seem to know whether to bow to him or not, so Percy just smiled at her and pointed at the tiara.

"How much for that?" He asked.

"It's normally fifty crowns," she told him, "but…you can have it for free."

"No, I really can't," he said, as a guard handed him a bag with money in it, he pulled two large gold coins from it, placing them on the stall top. "Why would you give me it for free?"

"My son," she explained as she placed the tiara in a small box before handing it over to him, "he was trapped in his school after an earthquake two years ago. I was so worried for him, and that he'd be trapped in there for hours before they could get him out, but you…you lifted the tower holding him in. He was out less than an hour after he was trapped. I… thought I could thank you by giving this to you for free."

"I did what was right," Percy said, as he felt his face flush, "I'm glad he got back to you so quickly. Thank you for the tiara."

"Thank you," the shopkeeper replied with a shy smile, before handing him a slip. He glanced at it quickly, before turning to return to Rhode and Artemis. The latter was watching him closely, a slight frown on her face.

"Did you get it?" Rhode asked, "and why did that lady's face turn red? What did you say to her?"

"It's not important," he told her, but Rhode pouted at him, "alright, fine, a couple years ago, just after I arrived here, there was an earthquake. You were young, so you might not remember. A school's entrance was covered by a fallen tower, and it would have taken hours to get them out, so I…lifted the tower, letting the kids out. Her son was one of them. She was thanking me for it."

"Was she now?" Artemis asked, glancing back towards the woman. "And the slip she gave you?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, "I didn't look at it."

"May I?" Artemis asked, and Percy handed it over without question. She looked at the slip before looking back at him with an incredulous look. "You didn't read this?"

"No? Why?"

"You're oblivious," Artemis laughed, and handed it back to him, "it's her address."

"What? Oh. Oh okay. That's…new." He felt another blush on his face, "oh, right, here's the tiara."

He held the box out for Artemis, who took it gingerly. Rhode beamed up at her, and the princess took the tiara out of the box, placing it on her head. Percy had to admit, his sister had been right—it looked stunning on Artemis, matching beautifully with her green suit, and emphasising her silver eyes.

"You're so pretty!" Rhode exclaimed, "Percy, don't you agree?"

"I do," he said, "she looks very pretty."

This time, the blush took Artemis' face, and she glanced away from him.

"My prince," one of the guards swam close, "the King requests your presence. I am to escort you back to the palace."

"What of Rhode?"

"The king made no mention of the princess," the guard said, "but your presence is urgently required."

"I'll stay with her," Artemis told him, "and I'll make sure she gets into no trouble."

"Thank you," he smiled at her, "oh, and Artemis?"

She glanced at him, curiosity brimming in her eyes.

"The tiara does make you look pretty."

XXX

Triton didn't spend any time with formalities once Percy arrived. The council was assembled, and Acheran stood nearby in full battle armour, the highly advanced set designed for war, not the almost archaic armour the guard commander normally wore.

"We have an issue," Triton told him, "our sensors have picked up a surface-dwelling vehicle approaching the edge of our territory. Scans indicate that it is a science craft, designed to take footage of the seabed. If they get any closer…"

"They risk finding Atlantis," Percy nodded, "you want a non-violent solution."

"I do, but my advisors have given me nothing short of destroying the craft." Triton said, "I was hoping you may have an idea?"

Percy was silent for a moment. Several different scenarios ran through his mind, but there was only one that ended well for Atlantis.

"There's something I can do," he said carefully, "but I'll have to leave the city for some time. It could be days. It could be months. It could even be years."

"Why?"

"As far as the surface dwellers are concerned," Percy said, "I'm the only one of my kind, maybe with another in the form of Chiron. They might think him to be my father, or something like that. If I purposefully get caught by the submarine, I'll be able to lead them away. I'm far more interesting that whatever they think they'll find on the surface."

"Are you sure, brother?" Triton placed a hand on his shoulder, "you don't have to do this."

"It's really the only thing I can think of, Triton," Percy sighed, "I don't want any deaths that I could have prevented on my conscience. I owe it to you and to the city to keep them away. So I'll do exactly that."

"May the currents guide you to safety, brother," Triton told him, "neither I, not Atlantis, will forget that you've done this for us. The ship is to the south."

Percy just gave him a tight smile, before swimming out of the palace and upwards, letting him orient himself. Once he knew he was heading southwards, he took off, a stream of foam and bubbles forming in his wake as he kicked his legs hard. He slowed himself down once he was far from the city, and stayed stock still, simply listening. His hearing had always been acute, but that was because he was designed for living under the water, where sound travelled far easier.

It didn't take long to pick up the sound of a propeller cutting through the ocean, pushing a decent sized vessel along, judging by the volume of the noise. He swam slowly towards it, and after twenty minutes, found it. It was, as he guessed, a decently big submersible. The name Nautilus was stamped on the side, as well as Solace Industries beneath that. Percy knew of them—big company from Detroit, fingers in pretty much every pie. He swam to the front, which had a large, thick glass dome, and simply floated in front of it. Within minutes, men and women were behind it, staring at him in surprise. One of them waved at him. Percy just folded his arms in response. Then he began swimming slowly past them, back the way they had come. A glance over his shoulder showed that the vessel was turning to follow him, and he let out a little sigh of relief.

Now he just had to lead them away.

MMXIX

So we meet Percy's half-sister, Rhode, and see some interaction between Percy and Artemis, before Percy leaves to draw the surface dwellers away from Atlantis. This is the sort of 'beginning' of Percy's superhero arc. Because he's away, he's going to run into situations he's not really prepared for. As always, leave a review and/or send me a PM!

Cheers, CombatTombat