Sneaking carefully through the docks, it was laughingly easy to climb aboard the slumbering ship.

No security cameras, no police officers, nothing to deter thieves other than the threat of slavery and mutilation and the two men on watch on deck.

I crouched on the ramp to the ship, and turned to Deme. "I'm going to throw them overboard, you focus on freeing everyone."

She nodded, and I walked onto the deck.

"Oi, Lady, wrong ship!" One of them told me, laughing.

"I just gotta… I just gotta…" I giggled, immitading a drunken slur. "Hiya boys."

The one that spoke before smirked, looking at his bald friend. "Ha, looks like the fun has come to spend one last night with us."

Baldy wasn't so easily convinced. "What are you doing here? Where's your man?"

I smiled, standing up straight. "Behind you."

They turned just to get grabbed by whips of water, and they were yanked off the ship screaming.

I turned to Deme, hands on my hips. "See? Easy."

"You missed one," She pointed out.

I whirled around just to see a young man dart back under, shouting about being under attack.

"Fucking damn it," I muttered and readied another few gallons of water, floating it above me. "Go and find the slaves, I'll take care of this."

Ten more men appeared, including the one from this afternoon, and they gaped at the sight of the giant wall of water.

I smiled thinly at the captain. "You should have watched where you were going."

They came at me with swords and daggers, and I batted them away with seawater and my own hands. Watching with glee as they paled with disbelief at my calm invulnerability.

One, two, three overboard. Four, five knocked out. Six, seven, eight gone running. Nine injured and bleeding. And where is ten?

"Yield, monster!"

A mocking quip about me not being a monster died on my tongue as I realised who was being held hostage by the captain.

Deme had fear in her eyes as she kept her chin raised high to avoid the blade. The captain held her close to him, yet he still glared at me with a disgusting intensity.

"Put. Her. Down." I growled out, and the ocean reacted, a storm beginning to blow in.

"Not until you yield." He replied a bit shakily. "We have done you no wrong."

"Haven't you?" My teeth were on display, and anyone watching would say I was more lioness than human at that moment. "Every soul you enslave is a wrong."

His grip on his blade was trembling, eyes wide. "What are you?"

"A godling." I said mockingly.

He cried out, hands flying up to cradle the wound at the side of his neck. Deme slipped to my side, the knife she usually kept strapped to her thigh dripping blood.

I didn't care for his dying breaths, I flung him and all his men off the ship.

I turned to Deme, heart pounding. "Are you okay? Are you-?"

"Yeah, Yeah." She nodded, her brown eyes boring into mine. "I'm fine."

I pulled her into a hug, relieved. "Thank gods."

She pulled away, squeezing my hands. "I'll finish freeing everyone below, you get this ship sailing- the dock guards will have noticed the commotion by now."

I smiled and nodded, turning to return all the water to the Sea and to raise the sails.

We did it.

"Freedom is a right to go where one wishes, and love who one wishes. Unfortunately, humanity isn't very free, but we have will. Will and determination for our Free Will."

We left the port behind far quicker than any ship could ever catch us, and I delighted at the shouts of rage and lit lanterns coming from the land we left behind.

Between my powers and the easy breeze of the night, we had sailed 3 hours in ten minutes, and I jumped down from the bow of the ship to go find Deme.

I found her talking to what I'm guessing where the leaders of the newly freed while the others were looking in awe as the oars of the Trireme rowed themselves.

"Deme!" I said happily, "The ship is so friendly and the Sea seems to like her too; we're on an easy course to Aegina where we can claim Sanctuary from Athens."

Aegina is a well-known Sanctuary island in the Aegean, and it has a long standing dislike of Athens. It's currently under the Minoan empire's rule, so we wouldn't have any trouble with them. Many of the freed would find work or a home with them.

"That's good," She smiled at me, relieved. "May I introduce you to those we've just saved?"

"This is Roshana and the eldest of them all," She slipped back into Anatolian to say something to the elder, then turned back to me. "She says that all of them were taken from the coastal village that worked the beachy harbour of Ilium, and that all the elders and most of the men and babes were killed. Half of them aren't even native Trojans, just children of traders that were left behind." She said this part with disgust.

I nodded and gave Roshana a gentle smile, one that usually had grandmothers pinching my cheeks. Roshana wasn't very tall at all, and I stood nearly a foot taller than her. She had inky black hair pulled back into a single braid, and her russet-brown skin was dotted with liver spots. She nodded back to me, and I noted that we'd be needing a translator.

"Ekrem," Deme introduced the next man, who stood two inches taller than me. "Is a Libyan trader and speaks good Greek."

The midnight skinned man smiled at me. "Princess, I am grateful for your rescue. Your father is a great god, and I am sure the stories my people will tell of you will be just."

I blushed at that, but I could see he wasn't being flirty, he truly believed it. "Stories will not be needed, merely the fear in slavers' hearts." He laughed deeply at that.

Deme smiled as she introduced a woman, "This is Shloka, her son and daughter are on board."

Shloka was a beauty, probably in her mid to late thirties, with straight black hair and brown eyes, and an even deeper red-brown skin that was smooth with barely any scars, only calluses. "Thank you," She said stiffly, her Greek obviously rusty.

I held her hands in mine. "Freedom is your right." I don't think she understood me fully, but she smiled.

The last man she introduced had olive skin and kind eyes with a scruffy beard. "Finally, this is Avraham, he is from Ilium and can speak Greek."

I blinked at the name. It's been a long time since I've heard a 'modern' name, and isn't that biblical? "Avraham? Like the story with the son and the God?" I asked.

The man didn't flinch. "Yes, he was the Father of Judaism."

Huh. To be quite honest, I don't know a lot about Judaism other than when Hanukkah is and I don't think Hanukkah is a thing yet, so I just nodded. "Okay. I'm Rhea."

If he was surprised by my handshake, he didn't show it. I smiled.

"So how long have you all been onboard?" I asked.

Ekrem replied, "About two moons turn. They raided the village in the night, no way of escaping; they slaughtered all my guards when they tried to raise the alarm."

I frowned, "And there's only two dozen of you?"

"Half sold," Shloka spoke up. "My Husband in Phthia, with my brother."

My heart sunk. "I'm so sorry."

She patted my hand, "I can find again. My children safe now."

I didn't know how to respond to that. How can she be so optimistic when she's lost everything but her children? I can remember my depressed daze of those first few months on Ithaca, and the relapse I had when I got told that the war has begun.

Ekrem spoke up again. "You said we are going to Aegina; are you planning on getting a new crew there?"

I raised an eyebrow, "You saw me and Deme take over this ship and sail off by ourselves and you're saying I need a crew? The daughter of the Sea god?"

Roshana, not understanding a word we're saying, still huffed in amusement when Ekrem looked sheepish.

"She asked what your plan is," Deme translated.

"To be completely honest, I don't have a plan." I admitted. "Getting you sanctuary in Aegina is my main goal right now, and I know I have to eventually go to Delos, but I have no plan between then."

"Will you help others?" Avraham spoke up. "You freed us all with nary a sweat broken- you can help others too. There's many ships carrying slaves between Athens and Delos, and you have the power of the sea behind you."

I didn't even think about it. "Yes." I promised, "I will."

He smiled and nodded.

I turned my eyes back to the Sea. "Everyone settle in for the night and divide the beds between you, I have a ship to Captain."

"It's never too late to dream. Dreams are a wish the heart makes, but dreams are never too late to be unfulfilled wishes. Wish, Dream, and Achieve."

With everyone asleep, I was free to wander the deck by myself, softly singing songs in English.

"Oh my father often told me when I was just a lass/ That a sailor's life is very hard/ The food is always bad~" I sang, gathering rope into a pile. The slavers were so messy, I'll have to have a day of just cleaning everything.

A soft glow that wasn't from the moon appeared behind me, and I quieted, whirling around to see the annoyed face of Apollo.

"This is not what I meant." He grumbled. "Why did you steal a ship?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, Delos is an island."

He gave me a completely unimpressed look. "So what was it? Hubris? You wanted a ship all for your own that came with slaves- is that it?"

"What?" I hissed, "Absolutely not! How dare you-"

"How dare I?" He bit back, and I had to stop myself from flinching away from his gold-glowing eyes. "How dare you! You could have gotten killed!"

"I have the curse of the Styx, there's no way they could've killed me." I said steadily, though my ire showed plain on my face. "And I couldn't leave all of these innocent people enslaved." I stressed the word, trying to make him see sense.

"They're mortals." He refuted, angrily. "You're mortal! They'll live and die and be utterly inconsequential! You'll die!"

His eyes flashed gold again, and all I could see was Kronos. Kronos, in Luke's body, mocking me for trying because it's all useless and worth nothing at all.

I flinched away, fear flashing on my face as I reached for Riptide.

But then the gold was gone, and it was just Apollo standing there, looking horrified.

"Rhea, I-" He reached for me, but I stepped away from him.

"No." I shook my head. "No. You don't get to come here, yell at me, scare me, and then try to say you didn't mean it. You did. You've broken my trust. Leave."

He looked devastated. "Rhea, please, I'm sorry."

"No!" I yelled. "I may be mortal, I may die and be insignificant, but you do not get to scare me like this. Either come back when you're calm and with a proper apology, or don't come back at all. I thought you respected and trusted me, but I see that wasn't the case. Go."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it.

I closed my eyes, ignoring how a tear slipped down my cheek as I did so.

A soft glow and he was gone.

"Well, that was dramatic." A bland voice comments, and I jump nearly a foot into the air, drawing Riptide out fully.

...And falling into the Sea. Damn it.

Triton looked at me unimpressed. "You are the powerful little sister the entire Sea is talking about?"

I glared at him, pushing my wet hair off my face. "You are the heir to the Sea?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" He scowled.

"Why are you watching my private conversation?" I shot back.

"Private, huh? Does Pater know you're the Archer's mistress?" He drawled.

I spluttered, and suddenly remembered exactly how much Triton and I bickered. Shouldn't have missed him at all. "I am not!"

"Sure looked like it," He pointed out. "He seemed awfully concerned for your welfare, and you were standing very close to him. That looked just like any other dramatic lover's spat."

"Oh? And how are you such an expert on this?" I snarked, drying myself off with my powers.

"Pater and Meter." He said, "Who, by the way, are arguing about you right now."

I paused. "Oh shoot."

"Yes." He plucked a piece of seaweed from my hair. "Meter is angry Pater kept you secret and doesn't believe his excuse that he didn't know about you until two years ago, and Pater is insisting you'll bring the Sea powerful alliances. Which, if you are sleeping with Apollon, would be true- though I'd suggest you hurry up and marry."

"I am not-" I began angrily, then stopped. "Wait, Pater wants to marry me off for alliances?"

"Yes," Triton nodded. "Wars need alliances, and supporting the Achaeans isn't cheap."

I was seething, and then I actually heard what he said. "The Achaeans? Pater told me that the Sea is neutral."

Triton frowned. "What? No, we are not. Why would he say that?"

'Your new 'Papa' is on the opposing side to mine. If you are to follow him into war, I shall be neutral, but do not mistake my mercy, Hyisi.'

Oh that little-!

"A trick," I hissed out from between clenched teeth. "He told me he wanted to support Troy, but would be neutral for me. So I would feel indebted to him." I huffed out an incredulous laugh, "I have no idea why he thought I wouldn't find out."

"You didn't until I told you," My brother said.

I gave him a glare, "And I'm heading towards Ilium. I would have found out anyways."

He sighed, tucking his black hair behind his slightly pointed ear. "You're more headstrong than Pater."

"And you aren't?"

"Unlike you, I take most after my Meter."

I snorted, "I'm diplomatic like my Meter, but I have Pater's temper. Doesn't mix well; I start yelling at gods while still being respectful."

He gave me a flat look. "Oh really? I could never have guessed," He deadpanned, sounding more sarcastic than I thought should be capable.

In a fit of pettiness, I splashed him. His disbelieving face was worth it.

"I can't believe you're my sister."

I smiled sweetly, "I can't believe you're my brother." I dropped the act after a beat. "And I can't believe I'm meeting you."

I wasn't, not really. We've met a million times before, but he hasn't met me, and I haven't met this version of him.

He softened a bit. "What's your name? Pater won't tell me."

"Rhea," I smiled at him. "After our Memeter."

He nodded. "Nice to meet you, aidime."

"Nice to meet you too, aidipa."

He glanced at my ship. "So you stole that old thing?"

I laughed, "I was mostly aiming for the people inside it, but it's not that bad of a ship."

"Sure," He drawled. "Don't come crying for my help when it starts sinking."

"I won't."

I thought for a second, then nodded towards it. "Do you wanna come on board? Deme is probably still awake and she'll have a heart attack if she met you."

A glint of mischiefness appeared in his eyes, like that one time we went hippocampi racing through the palace halls, but he shook his head. "My Naters are going to notice I disappeared soon. I should go."

I nodded, a bit disappointed. "Yes, sorry."

He ran his tongue over one of his fangs, one of his nervous quirks. "I can visit again?"

I grinned softly. "I'd like that."

He nodded. "Aoas, aidime."

"Aoas, aidipa," I replied.

He dived back into the waves, leaving me to climb back aboard by myself.

"Trust is sweet, like wine in a crystal glass. But drop the glass? A crack is created, and wine spills. A crack only gets bigger, so be quick, fill it with gold, and realise that Trust is sweet but spilt it is sour."

"Uh, Rhea?" Deme asked, watching me storm into the Captain's quarters, still slightly damp with kelp on my shoulder.

"Not. A. Damn. Word." I bit back.

Stupid Styx Curse, stupid Apollo, stupid Pater! I'd gotten so angry that instead of gently being dumped back on deck, I had dumped half the Sea with me.

"No, I am going to say words, because you look like you want to commit a murder, and I think we've done enough crimes for one night." Deme replied.

"Apollo!" I shouted at her. "He came to me, angry at me for stealing the ship insisting that I could have died and flashing his godly power everywhere!"

"Okay, and you're mad." She surmised.

"Of course I'm mad! He scared me! I looked at him, and for a second I saw Luke and Kronos! I thought we were becoming friends, but then he tried to enforce his power over me!" I huffed, throwing myself down on a chair and yanking my sandals off.

"That's fair, but did you remember he's a god and used to doing this?"

"Yes! But that doesn't mean it's right. So I told him to get the fuck off my ship until he apologises and learns to respect my choices."

Deme sighed, but helped me with my hair. "At least he didn't kill you."

I resisted the urge to glare at her. "And my Pater isn't getting any sacrifices or prayers until he apologises too."

She paused. "Rhea, we're at Sea."

"I can protect us just fine, but he tried to use me so he's not being acknowledged." I waved her off.

"So, is there a god you aren't mad at tonight?" She asked me.

"Triton," I said. "My brother is annoying, but he told me a lot of important stuff."

"You realise that I have absolutely no idea what you've been up to on deck and I'm just nodding along with no context to your ramblings?"

I blinked. "Oops."

She laughed. "Yeah. Now, let's get the kelp out of your veil and you should nap. Sleep off all that anger."

"I love you," I told her, goofily.

"Love you too, Princess Mood Swings."

I yelped at that, indignant, but then giggled. At least Deme is beside me.

A/N

I'm back with the long-awaited chapter! I'd apologise for my absence and the short chapter, but I have depression and school started again (and I had problems with my subjects, *sigh*) so I'm not sorry. So! Fun chapter where I introduce conflicts in the relationships, but don't worry, everything will be worked out healthily between them. Eventually.

So, not a lot of fun history facts for you guys here but I still have a few. Apollo is the patron god of sailors (and he's not scared of water what the fuck Rick?). Poseidon did, in fact, fight on the Greek's side then go neutral/help the Trojans like midway through the war. Slaver ships weren't uncommon, but absolutely disgusting, and because of the political climate of the time, often filled with Anatolian, Persian, and Jewish slaves. Yes, Aegina was a sanctuary island that didn't like the Athenians, and preferred their Creten/Minoan and Mycenaean roots, and to the point that they resisted the Doric invasion and language/culture for a surprisingly long time.

Lore/Translations:
Pater= father
Meter= mother
Memeter= grandmother
Aidipa= brother
Aidime= sister
Aoas=goodbye