Chapter Sixteen

Percy

"You told her the truth!" Artemis jammed her finger into Percy's chest, "that can be used to reveal Atlantis!"

"But she won't," Percy replied, taking her hand into his own and moving it away. "I know Annabeth almost as well as I know myself. She'll keep the information to herself because one, I asked her to, and two, we had a heart to heart about me not telling her the truth, and she at least understands my reasons, even if she doesn't agree with them. I can't expect you to understand, but I hope that you at least trust me."

"I do trust you, it's her that I don't trust!" Artemis sighed, "Percy, she's looking into Atlantis along with her father, the same one who exposed you to the world."

"I'm very well aware what her father did, Artemis, and I sure as hell don't need you to remind me of that," he snapped back. She flinched back in surprise, and he let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten upset."

"No, it was…fair, I suppose," his friend admitted, "my comment was unwarranted."

"But your concerns aren't," he conceded, "I made a big decision without asking you or Chiron your opinions. Whatever blowback occurs will land on me."

"If you say so," she didn't sound convinced, but let him be.

The rest of their swim back to the cave was quiet, not even idle chatter amongst themselves, and Percy began the think that maybe there was something else at play here than just his decision to confirm Atlantis' existence to Annabeth. Artemis was rarely one to let any fights between them linger, but here she was, isolating herself. Something had changed over the past three weeks, and he wasn't entirely sure what it was. It had started just after the pier incident, he knew that at least. Chiron greeted them when the returned, but while Percy returned the greeting, Artemis nodded in acknowledgement and made her way to her room.

"Is she upset with you?" Chiron frowned.

"I thought so at first, but I think there's something else," he shrugged, "if she wants to tell us, she will. But…do you know if she's received any communication from Atlantis or her family?"

"That would mean I was spying on all incoming transmissions, Percy," Chiron said, but at his prolonged stare, sighed, "one call from Olympus, a few hours before you left for this task."

"Thank you," he said, "and stop observing the calls."

"Triton ordered me—"

"Stop," Percy repeated, "Triton can talk with me if he wants to know what's going on here."

"Percy, he's still king."

"And I'm still not allowed to go home because of both the publicity I now have and because I found the Trident!" he exclaimed, "so I have a little more leeway than most, Chiron!"

Chiron's eyes widened fractionally, and his gaze went over Percy's shoulder. It didn't take a genius to figure out why.

"You've been banished?" Artemis spun him around, jamming a finger in his chest, "and you never told me?"

"I wasn't banished," he moved her hand, "I was told that due to the political tensions, it was 'advisable that Prince Perseus remain away from the Seven Kingdoms for some time' so I stayed away."

"You said you wanted to stay!"

"Look, Artemis, I'm really not in the frame of mind to get into an argument with you, especially because you seem to have an issue with me at the moment," Percy raised his hands, "I'm going to go for a swim."

"No, you're not," she grabbed his arm, "I don't have an issue with you!"

"Then why are you on such a short fuse with me?" He demanded, "why is it every time you look at me you can't decide between anger and something else?"

"I'm going to walk away now," Chiron offered.

"No, you're not!" Both he and Artemis yelled, and the advisor froze in place.

"I don't have an issue with you," Artemis repeated, "and maybe the reason I've been so short with you is because you've been particularly infuriating!"

"Oh, please, this happened in the past three weeks, and I know for a fact I haven't done anything to provoke this from you!" He threw his hands up in the air, "so either be honest with me or be honest with yourself!"

"You want honesty then?" She shot back.

"I want to leave." Chiron informed them.

"Stay!" Both voices were turned on him again for a moment.

"Yes, I want honesty!"

"Then the honest truth is that Triton made an offer for my hand again, and my father accepted!" Artemis told him. Percy went still, and Chiron recoiled in surprise.

"What?"

"You were wondering what was bothering me? That's it! I'm going to marry Triton. I found out earlier today, but I was told it was a possibility a few weeks ago."

Percy slowly removed Artemis grip on his arm, and she didn't stop him.

"I'm going for a swim," he said again, walking off the edge of the stone into the water. He sunk to the bottom and made his way out of the flooded tunnel and found himself in the open ocean. His eyes scanned from east to west before he made a decision.

XXX

He knew he would end up in Atlantis. It took him hours, but in the end, there was no other place he could have—or would have—gone. What was either an honour guard or an arresting force of fifty Royal Guardsmen began swimming towards him.

"Prince Perseus," the lead guard greeted him, "we weren't told you were returning to the city."

"It was a spontaneous decision," he replied easily, "is my brother busy?"

"The King is meeting with his council," the guard said, "but we were instructed to take you to him if you asked."

"Consider this me asking, then," Percy began swimming past him, "let's go."

He got a lot of looks as he swam past, and there were more whispers than he cared for once the trident on his back was sighted. People began kneeling as he swam past, which he also didn't care for. He knew it was protocol, but it had seemed to be one most Atlanteans didn't care about until he had a magical artefact with him. It became a little better once he entered the palace, but even then, the courtiers were just as awed by the weapon.

"Prince Perseus," Acheran greeted him with a smile outside the council chambers, "the king has missed your advice. I'm sure he will be delighted to see you again."

"We'll see how long that lasts," he muttered under his breath, before looking the guard captain in the eyes, "am I allowed to enter?"

"You may."

The doors were pushed open, and Triton looked genuinely happy to see Percy.

"Brother!" He greeted warmly, "you've been from home for too long. What brought you back?"

"I—" Percy cut himself off. He had probably come to start a fight, but he couldn't, not with Triton. Not with his brother, who had taken him in when he had nothing. "I just needed to see the city again," he said instead, "and to see my family. It has been too long."

"We'll have a feast tonight! Will Artemis and Chiron be joining us?" There was an eagerness there, and Percy's blood went cold as he felt his anger start back up again.

"I didn't really tell them where I was going," he said carefully, "honestly, I wasn't really intending to come here at all. It just …happened."

"Shall I reach out to them?"

"That's not necessary," Amphitrite swept into the room, "my son, I think it for the best that this simply be a family affair tonight. Allow Perseus some distance from his companions, it's been some time since he was without them."

"Ah. Right. Of course." Triton looked abashed, "I know Rhode will be more than happy to have you back—she's missed you something fierce."

"I've missed her as well," he muttered softly.

"Perseus," Amphitrite spoke up after a moment, "may I see the Trident?"

Percy had completely forgotten he had it on him, and pulled it from his back, holding it out towards the Queen-Mother. She stared at it in awe for several moments before a hand reached out towards it, just barely hovering over the metal.

The moment her hand made contact with the shaft, however, she hissed and snapped her hand back, droplets of blood mingling in with the water as a small cut opened along her palm. Percy stared at the trident in surprise. The shaft wasn't sharp in any way or form, so it shouldn't have…couldn't have cut her.

"How odd," she murmured, "perhaps the magic in it ties it to the blood of Atlan."

"May I?" Triton stepped forward next. Percy nodded, and Triton did the same as his mother. The result was the same. Droplets of blood were swept away in the natural currents, vanishing as quickly as they appeared. "Interesting. Could it be that the magic limits the Trident solely to you, Percy?"

"No clue," he shrugged, returning the weapon to its place on his back, "I'm not that much of an expert in magical fields, and I think it's probably for the best that we don't allow Atlantis' sorcerers to play with the Trident, considering legend states it was them doing exactly that which led to the city sinking in the first place."

"Well said," Amphitrite nodded, "the evening meal is at the same time it always is. Do you need anything before then?"

"No, I think I'm just going to go do some sparring," Percy answered, "it's been a while since I had anyone other than Artemis or Chiron to train with."

"Yes, that would be the case, wouldn't it," Amphitrite took on a thoughtful look, but it vanished quickly, leaving Percy confounded as to why it had appeared in the first place. "I will accompany you to the gymnasium."

"That's really not necessary, mother," Triton grinned, "he hasn't been gone that long."

"Perhaps I simply wish to talk to my step-son, young man," Amphitrite chided. Triton blinked in surprise before flushing. Percy didn't share his embarrassment. The Queen-Mother had something planned. "Come, Perseus."

He kicked forward, following Amphitrite through several doors before she started talking to him. Triton was right about one thing—he hadn't been gone long enough not to notice that they were taking the longest possible route to the gym.

"You've found out about Triton and Artemis, I presume?"

"That's quite the presumption," Percy replied, but his lack of shock to her statement would be taken as an answer, "yes, she told me."

"I imagine that came as quite a shock to you," Amphitrite said, "I can also imagine having feelings for her didn't help."

Percy spun so he was facing, a retort forming on his lips, but Amphitrite raised a hand stopping him in his tracks.

"There are times where your similarities to Poseidon make you easy to read," she told him, "this is one of them. Your father had the same expression on his face when he returned from his time with your mother, and as you did when you arrived. For what it's worth, Perseus…I'm sorry. I know the life of a royal isn't easy, and for you to come into it so late…"

"It's life," Percy said blankly, "and I'm used to not liking what I hear. I'll get over it. Are we done here, because I really don't want to discuss my non-existent love life with my…step-mother."

"Believe it or not, child, but I sympathise with you," Amphitrite grabbed his arm, "I know what it's like to both be the other person and know that there's nothing you can do. Your father and I…had our difficulties at first, but we worked through it. We found our own form of love. You, unfortunately, will not get that chance."

"I'm well aware of that, thank you," he replied testily, prying her arm off, "and I wouldn't have tried anything."

"Some people will suggest you start spending more time on the surface, soon enough," his stepmother continued, "ignore them. Do as you wish, because above all else, you are the blood of Orin, a Prince of Atlantis. Do not forget that, Percy."

"You called me Percy," he blinked, "you've never called me Percy."

"Perhaps I misjudged you for too long," Amphitrite sighed, "I saw you as a symbol of my husband's past life, and a threat to my son. I was wrong. I apologise for that."

"I don't blame you," Percy said, "I get it, I do. And I appreciate this talk, but I've really got to hit something."

"Very well, I've distracted you long enough," Amphitrite graced him with a slight smile, "do not spend too long, we can only keep word of your arrival hidden from Rhode for—"

An alarm cut off her words, and immediately, guards leapt into action, appearing from nowhere and closing in around the two of them. Percy fiddled with his gauntlet before he was linked into the guards' channel. It was a mess of voices and panic.

"Shut up!" He snapped, making all chatter stop, "Acheran, report?"

"I'm with the King, your highness," Acheran's voice came back, "all we know are that the defences have been triggered. Once I have him secured I will find out more."

"Stay with him," Percy ordered, "Lysander, what do you know?"

Lysander was the commander of the watch, which meant he was always on duty in the war-room. He answered with no hesitation.

"Our scanners picked up a large floating device directly above Atlantis—above the surface, pardon. It matches none of our records of surface-dwelling ships and it is deploying some form of winged creatures that are making their way to the city. Our outer units are already engaged but reporting casualties."

"Above the water?" Percy murmured to himself, before turning to the guards around him, "take the Queen-Mother to the king, and secure Princess Rhode," he ordered, before getting back on the channel, "I'm assuming command of the defence of the palace. Lock it down, have all weapons pointed upwards, and station guards at the intersections of each hall. Comm me once that's done."

There were a series of acknowledgements, and a slight pause before Acheran confirmed his orders, likely having run them past Triton, but it was done now. Percy was in charge. Amphitrite placed a hand on his arm before she was bustled off and warned him to be safe, before vanishing towards wherever Triton and Rhode were. Percy swam upwards, just getting through the closing roof before it sealed shut and watched as turrets hidden throughout the architecture of the palace emerged, their barrels pointing upwards before shooting off concentrated blasts of hard water. He couldn't make out what they were shooting at individually, but above the city, bearing down on hundreds of thousands of innocent people was what looked like a black cloud. Or maybe a swarm of locusts.

"Your Highness, we have you outside the Palace," Acheran's voice came back, "are you secure?"

"For now," he replied, "more importantly, is my family secure?"

"Yes, your highness. All guard checkpoints have been established, and the Royal family, sans you, are in the safe-room."

"Good, then you're in command of the palace," Percy told him, hearing a stuttered breath on the channel that didn't sound like any of the guards, "coordinate the city's defence from where you are, I'm going to stall this force."

"How?" That was Triton, "brother, I've seen the sensors scans, there has to be thousands of them!"

"Luckily for us, there's a lot more life in the sea than out of it," Percy told him, "I'll hold them off long enough for a proper defence to be mounted. See you after."

Percy muted the channel and kicked upwards, sending out a wide pulse to the creatures of the sea. There was more sea life than whatever was coming down, but that didn't mean they'd be easy to bring together. Sharks would come first, drawn to the blood—if these things even bled—but he needed bigger guns, so he needed time for them to arrive.

He heard a staticky hiss and his earpiece was back on.

"What are you doing?" Artemis demanded. Ah. This was awkward, "Atlantis is under attack and you didn't even reach out to us?"

"What do you expect to do from the Pacific Ocean?" He shot back, "I can swim here faster than you can, and that still took me three hours. If you pushed your ship as fast as possible, it'd still take you four. There's nothing you can do, so if you'd do me the courtesy of—ow! Neptune's balls!"

His own rant was cut off by three bodies slamming into him, claws raking over his armoured chest, tearing several of the scales off. He did a barrel roll, using the trident's butt to tear open one of the creatures attacking him, before impaling another on it. The third wasn't so lucky for a clean death. He reached over and punched it in the face once, twice, three times and four before it started floating limply upward.

He slowly became aware of several different voices calling him name in his ear, but he was getting fed up with all the sound, so he pressed a button and the earpiece floated out, before he crushed it in his hand. He had more important things to deal with. Like killing these annoying one-eyed flying demon things that were attacking his home. The Trident practically purred with energy, and he pointed it upwards as he attacked again.

XXXXXXXXX

Amphitrite

"Percy? Percy!" Triton was getting panicked, "why is his signal gone?"

"It was a manual release," a technician said, "it seems he intentionally disconnected. And…er, it sounded like it was being crushed."

"Too much at once," Acheran guessed, "Princess Artemis and Lord Chiron joining the conversation along with you and I may have frustrated him, your highness."

"He'll be fine, my son," Amphitrite assured him, "Percy is a fighter."

"By the old gods," someone swore, "your highnesses! Look!"

She glanced over to a new screen, which showed something that Amphitrite had only seen in footage, and never underwater.

Lightning was arcing upwards in the water, crashing into the swarm of whatever was attacking them. The sensors could just barely make out the orange-and-green origin that was Percy, Trident extended upwards, and the lightning emerging from the Trident.

"By the old gods indeed," she murmured, "is it making a difference?"

"Alone? No, it's only killed a few hundred, from what we can see, but…there's a pod of whales corralling the creatures towards a school of sharks, and I can see swordfish doing their best to kill these things."

"Send aide," Triton ordered at once, "my brother will not fight alone."

"The navy is mobilising," Acheran reported, "Shipmaster Iaxis reports that they'll be engaging in five minutes. I also took the liberty of having a second communication bead sent to the prince. I've received some news he will want to hear."

It took nearly twenty-five more minutes for communications to be re-established with Percy, but when it was, he sounded frustrated more than anything else.

"Yes?" He snapped, "the stragglers are running away, and I'd like to chase them."

"Your Highness," Acheran began respectfully, "I thought you'd want to know that Atlantis isn't the only place being attacked. We've received reports that the surface city of…Washington is also being attacked. I believe that is the capital of the nation you were born in?"

There was a long moment of silence, no sound filling the channel between Percy and everyone else.

"Secure the city," he said softly, "I'm going to the surface. Don't follow me."

"Percy—" That was Artemis again, and Amphitrite wondered if she truly didn't know what the boy felt for her.

"Stop," one word, uttered with such conviction that even those in the room with them stopped whatever it was they were doing. Even Rhode, who was aware that something terrible and exciting was happening, had stopped swimming back and forth. "Just…stop. I'll handle this on my own."

MMXX

And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust…

Another chapter completed, and we're starting to move into what's essentially the mid-point of this story. Essentially. My plan initially was for this to just be one massive, 100-something chapter story, but I'll probably break it into 'books' for peace of mind.

It was probably much more noticeable in this chapter than the others, but Percy really doesn't like people touching him. There's a reason for that, but it won't come up for a while. I'll let y'all give me your opinions on the chapter, so leave a review or send me a PM.

Cheers, CombatTombat