I do not own PJO/HOO.

…..

Abyssopelagic ~ similar to, or pertaining to the depths of the sea

…

Unsurprisingly, my first thought was 'I'm related to a mermaid'?

Triton approached us with an air of superiority, as if we didn't already know that, and he needed us to. His lips were curved in an arrogant grin, which I saw straight through his welcoming façade.

"So this is the one I've been hearing all about?" The deity said in a condescending tone, "The lost son of my brother and that deplorable daughter of Athena."

That was the first thing that tipped me off to the possibility that Triton was probably not the biggest fan of my family.

"Excuse me?" I asked, only sounding somewhat offended, "My name is Luke."

"I don't care what you're called," The merman replied, waving his hand dismissively. "You're nothing more than a needless biproduct of a blasphemous union." Triton approached me as he spoke, his words piercing me like venom. "As if I couldn't already despise my brother more, he then had to go and fall for a daughter of that particular goddess. As if all the centuries and millennia of work that the rest of Poseidon's kids had put into maintaining the rivalry mattered not."

Triton's voice raised to a rather frightening volume, before thankfully settling back down. "So I'm sure you can understand my feelings when I say," The towering figure leaned down towards me, and snarled, "I don't care what your name is."

I gulped, and watched as he straightened up, smirking down at me as if I were one of his fish-tailed minions.

"Why are we here?" Erica demanded. I was surprised at how she was able to speak so boldly after watching Triton's intimidating show. "Why did you kidnap us?"

The merman, my uncle of all people, turned his head only slightly towards her. "If you're wondering whether I intend to harm you, I can assure you the answer is no."

"Couldn't you have just sent us an invite then?" Carolyn asked, "Instead of knocking us out, and throwing us in this cell."

"Perhaps," Triton rubbed his chin as if wondering, "But I decided that this was a better welcome for my nephew." He gave me an egotistical wink, before donning a more serious countenance. "Anyways, I do have a reason for bringing you all here."

"And what is that?" Erica asked in a sharp tone.

"Don't get snippy with me, daughter of Hermes. Unless you want to find a particular seer on your own."

All four of us shifted uncomfortably in our spots, and gave each other nervous glances. Triton, upon seeing this, smiled to himself.

"That's what I thought. Are you really so surprised that I would wish to help you though?"

"Could you blame us if we were?" Erica replied.

He shrugged, before waving his hand in the air. An odd-looking piece of paper appeared in his hand, and he handed it to me. I took it hesitantly, only taking a second to study it. I could feel the others looking over my shoulder.

It was a brochure of some sort, with random ads for several spots around Seattle. The most forefront, and most prominent ad, however, was for the Seattle Hotel.

"You'll find your seer there," Triton remarked. "You'll know him when you see him."

I held the brochure tightly in my hand, and looked up at my most loving family member. "Why are you helping us?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You said so yourself," I replied, "You despise my father and my mother. You despise me. Why would you want to help us find them? What's your motive?" Triton didn't respond for a bit, so I asked again. "What do you get out of this?"

"Ah," He remarked, his lips curving up ever so slightly, "That is the question." The merman began pacing, or swimming, back and forth in front of us, his arms crossed over his chest. "Believe me when I say, I'm not doing this because I care about anyone connected with my brother. I've heard the prophecy that was given a couple weeks ago, and it caught my interest, especially the last line."

My eyes narrowed. "For the son of Poseidon's final stand," I repeated breathlessly.

"Exactly," Triton said, "Do you know how long I've been waiting for this day to come?"

"For what to come?" I asked accusingly, "A prophecy of death for your own brother?"

"When you say it like that, it sounds a lot worse than it really is."

"Except it really is that bad. How could you wish such a thing- "

"Bah,"Triton exclaimed, "You mortals and your whole 'family is the most important thing' morals. Trust me, you'd be surprised to know just who all you're related to. It's funny… I figured you of all people, nephew, would care less about their downfall."

"I-I… I don't" I stammered, trying to find a response, but a conflict arose within me. My identities were at war once more.

Triton gave me a dubious smirk. "Ah, I see what's going on. Interesting." He then continued his pacing (swimming?) "I had to watch as this runt of a boy called Percy Jackson, who came from a worthless mortal woman with no true dignity, became my father's most beloved child. All because he defeated a few titans and giants, as if no one else had ever done that!"

Erica cleared her throat. "Well, he also- "

"I don't care!" Triton bellowed, causing the cell to rumble. "All I care about now, is making sure you all get to Alaska."

"Why though?" Alek asked.

I already knew the answer. "Because- the last line of the prophecy. He knows my father will die if we do."

"And he will also die if you don't!" Triton added on cheerfully, "Which makes this situation just cheeky."

"You're a despicable person," Carolyn said, pointing a condemning finger at him.

"Actually," Triton waved his arm in the air, and bubbles began to swirl around us, lifting us off the ground, "I'm not a person. I'm a god."

Our vision became filled with nothing but bubbles, until it all went black.

…..

We all woke up on the beach, just a few feet away from the surf. Surprisingly, our clothes were dry. I had half-expected my uncle to screw us over one last time by leaving us with soggy underwear.

"What now?" Erica asked.

"I think there's a question we all need to consider," Alek said, making all of us turn towards him. "What if Triton's right?"

"About the prophecy? We can't trust him, Alek."

"But it makes sense. How else could you see that line turning out?"

"I don't know, but we've got to try… right, Luke?"

I didn't respond. My thoughts were jumbled. there was no clarity whatsoever, and despite my best efforts, I couldn't shake the feeling that Triton, as awful as he may be, had a point.

Why did I care what became of them? At the beginning of this quest, I could have easily answered that question, and said 'I didn't.' Now, I couldn't even think those words without some sort of struggle. And it wasn't the struggle between my identities so much as it between my actual regard for them.

Then, there was the fact that I had still had questions- many questions, and there was only one way to get them.

I nodded my head. "She's right. If we don't go, they die anyways."

Alek reluctantly nodded as well. "So what's the move then?"

I looked down at the brochure still in my hand. The name 'Hotel Seattle' stuck out more than any other. The slogan underneath it, however, was odd to say the least.

"Best breakfast in town?" Carolyn said out loud, as she too looked at the brochure. "Weird slogan for a hotel."

"Yeah," I replied, shaking my head in disbelief, "Especially for one that doesn't exist anymore." I started walking away from the beach, leaving the others staring after me with blank faces.

"How on earth do you know that?"

I glanced back at her with a small smirk. "Did you forget whose kid I was?" I continued walking, while the others worked to catch up.

….

"So this was Hotel Seattle?" Erica asked.

"Once upon a time, yeah." I said. "The brochure is from the 1950s."

"Hmm, can't say this is an improvement."

We all stared silently at the bland parking garage that stood where the famed hotel once did. There was nothing spectacular about it at all, unsurprisingly. Just a boring old parking garage.

"Okay, I'll ask again," Alek sounded a bit annoyed, "What now?"

"Search the parking garage?" Erica suggested.

We decided to follow her suggestion, and all four of us split up, each taking a corner stairwell, and agreeing to meet at the top.

"Anything?" I asked, as I approached Alek, who was the first to get to the top. He shook his head, without saying anything else.

"I found nothing," Erica announced as she joined us.

"Same," Carolyn said. While the rest of us were breathing heavily from walking up several flights of stairs, she looked as if she hadn't even started warming up. Her dark brown hair was back in a simple ponytail, and her cheeks weren't even flushed.

"I won't even bother to ask a third time," Alek said between deep gulps of air.

"Maybe Triton sent us on a wild goose chase," Erica reasoned. "Maybe that whole speech of his was just a hoax."

I was conflicted on whether I wanted what she said to be true or not. However bad Triton's speech about despising basically my entire family was, every bit of it seemed genuine. We were just missing something.

A smell suddenly caught my attention, piquing my interest. One word came to my mind. Pancakes. I casually walked over to the edge of the garage, and looked out for the source of that delicious smell.

Scanning the block, my eyes soon locked on a small, somewhat indistinct, but beautiful neon sign.

Leon's Diner

What caught my attention next, was the familiar slogan underneath it. Best breakfast in town!

I glanced down at the brochure still in my hand, and studied the slogan that I had originally assumed to be about the hotel. Upon further inspection however, I saw that it was actually referring to a little ad hidden in the corner of the brochure featuring a younger, but still similar looking restaurant.

"Guys," I said in a cheerful tone, "I figured it out."

…..

"Honestly, this worked out for the best," Carolyn practically skipped to the door of the restaurant, "I'm starving."

"Agreed," I said, following closely behind her. "What I would give right now for some- "

"Pancakes."

"Waffles."

We both said at the same time, before turning and glaring at each other in disbelief.

"I should've known you'd be a basic bro," Carolyn teased, as we stepped inside the restaurant.

The smell of bacon and eggs filled my nostrils, but it didn't distract from the argument at hand. "And I should have known you'd prefer the more annoying and high maintenance cousin of pancakes."

"Excuse me, waffles literally have pockets to hold your syrup. And as a girl, I'm obviously going to prefer anything that comes with pockets, whether it's clothes or food."

"Pockets? Oh, you mean those deformities that make waffles impossible to cut?"

Carolyn reached for the knife Erica had loaned her. "I can cut them just as easy as I can cut you- "

"Guys," Erica shouted, "Can we focus?" For some reason, after Carolyn and I stopped arguing, Erica shot me knowing smirk, before turning serious again. "Now where would a seer be hiding in a place like this?"

Turns out, he wasn't hiding at all. When we saw the fat old man sitting in a corner booth, his table literally covered in stacks of both pancakes and waffles, as well as an assortment of other breakfast food, we knew we had found him. Plus, there was the fact that he was casually waving us over.

"About time," He said, shoving a piece of bacon into his mouth. "I was starting to wonder if you kids would ever find me."

I took a moment to analyze him. Short by the looks of it, fat, a full grey beard, bald head, with an odd sense of intelligence and mysteriousness about him. Sounded like a seer to me.

"Tiresias?" I asked, to which the old man replied.

"Who else would it be?"

The four of us all gave each other blank stares. Shrugging my shoulders, I took the lead, and sat down at the table, followed soon by everyone else.

"You kids look hungry," Tiresias remarked, "Please, help yourselves."

He didn't need to tell us twice. Within seconds, our plates were full, as we gorged ourselves on the delicious food. Carolyn and I constantly cat each other semi-hostile, but amused glances, as we ate our preferred choices.

No one said a word for a solid ten minutes. We were all too busy eating. It wasn't until Erica, who finished her plate first, wiped the syrup of her mouth, and remarked, "Aphrodite said you could help us."

Tiresias nodded, placing his fork down on his plate, and wiped his mouth with his napkin. "I think you'll find I can be of great assistance to all of you."

"All of us?" I repeated, my mouth full of eggs.

"Yes," He confirmed, "All of you. But let's start with the easier things." He caught us all by surprise, when he turned to face Carolyn. "You, my dear, are the key to finding what you all seek on this quest."

She didn't reply.

"Can you explain what you mean?" I asked, having since swallowed my food. "Is it something to do with her curse?"

"It has to be," Erica interrupted, "The prophecy- the curse blows through the godless land."

"Yes," Tiresias replied, "But you all already knew that of course."

"But how does it work?" I questioned.

"Oh, I'm afraid I can't tell you all that." His words felt like anvil in my chest.

"What? I thought you were supposed to help us?"

"I am," The man chuckled, "But even if I did know how it would work, I couldn't tell you."

I wanted to flip the table at this point. "So then why are we here?"

Tiresias remained calm, as he used his fork to fiddle with the eggs still on his plate. "Because each one of you, whether you see it or not, need to get something out of this quest." He then started by pointing at Erica. "You, my dear, have a hole in your heart that needs filling." He then turned to Alek, "And you son, have something you need to let go of."

He was very cryptic, which I guess I should have expected from a seer. How foolish of me to think it would be so simple.

"And you," He had returned his attention to Carolyn, "Have a curse you need to get rid of after this quest is complete, correct?"

The brunette girl nodded her head.

"And finally," I felt Tiresias' eyes fall on me, "You don't know what you need yet, but I do."

I raised my eyebrows in suspicion, as the seer reached down in the seat beside him, and produced an odd-looking vial, filled with dark liquid. "What is that?"

The old man clicked his tongue. "Perhaps its better if I don't tell you."

"Why?"

I watched as he held the vial out towards me.

"Drink it."

"Excuse me?"

"Trust me, Luke."

I stared at him for what seemed like an eternity, debating whether or not I should do as he says. Glancing around the table, I saw all the others looking onwards with mixed expressions. Erica looked scared, Alek appeared to be nervous, and Carolyn looked unsure of what to think.

I started to wonder what I could possibly need that the old seer might have been referring to. In my mind, I needed a lot of things. Stability, some sense of belonging, a future? And yet, there was apparently something that I didn't know of.

So yeah, turns out I hate not knowing things. I hesitantly grabbed the vial from the seer's hand, and with one last glance at my companions, I popped the lid, and downed the liquid in one foul gulp.

It tasted like someone had seasoned gasoline with vinegar and cayenne pepper. I wretched and doubled over, as the burning sensation filled my chest, and then my stomach.

"Luke!" Carolyn screamed as she reached towards me, only to be stopped by Tiresias.

"He's fine, just give him a moment."

It took more than a moment, a couple dozen at least, before I stopped feeling like I wanted to die, and then a couple dozen more before I could even begin to fathom the word 'fine' again.

"What on earth?" I gasped, "Was that?"

"Gorgon's blood," Tiresias said nonchalantly, ignoring my gaping mouth and wide eyes. "Before too long, you'll start to get your memories back."

I didn't say anything. My brain was too busy processing what he had just said. My memories? Back? Which memories? Will I get my worst one back? Do I want to get my worst one back?

Tiresias seemed content to let my thoughts stew, so I watched as he addressed the others, starting with Erica.

"I'm afraid I don't have any special concoction to help you dear, but I will say this." He gave her a rather encouraging look. "You have an important decision to make. Don't be afraid of the choices."

Without giving her a chance to reply, leaving her somewhat shellshocked, Tiresias then looked at Alek. His encouraging countenance became more of a pitying one. "You have been through a lot, my boy. The past has left you scarred. But hear me, when I say this… you can find healing, and the ones who will help you find it, are the ones you least expect."

Alek, who normally did a pretty good job of not giving away his feelings through expressions, looked straight up stunned and confused. Of course, Tiresias was not going to explain anything further, as he had already moved on to Carolyn.

"And you, my dear," He gave her a thoughtful smile, "You are the key to this quest's success, and this quest's success is the key to helping you get rid of your curse. Be ready for anything, and forget any expectations you have."

More ominous words, more cryptic messages all around. Shoutout to seers for making everyone feel more confused than enlightened.

"Well then," Tiresias rubbed his enlarged belly, "That was a very enjoyable meal, don't you all think?"

None of us responded.

"Then I think you all better get going then," He said cheerfully, "Your rides are almost here."

"Our rides?" I asked, perking up a little bit.

"Oh yes, if you'll all just head back to the top of the parking garage. Luke, I think your grandfather sent you some help."

…..

I had never ridden a Pegasus before, and I didn't think they came with an instruction manual.

"They're beautiful," Carolyn exclaimed, as we watched two of the winged creatures make their descent towards us.

When they landed, Erica was the first to approach, and she did so with confidence, but also reverence, greeting the pegasi with a calm and friendly demeanor. They both sniffed her hand, and upon deciding she was friendly, proceeded to nuzzle her.

"You guys, ready?" Erica asked.

Pretty soon, we were all mounted up. Alek and Erica both sitting on a large white Pegasus, that seemed to be the more energetic one, while Carolyn took her spot behind me on the slightly smaller brown Pegasus.

Without prompting, the two pegasi took to the air, while we held on for dear life.