A/N: I would like to thank horsesandpercabeth for being kind enough to offer their time in order to edit my work. She has edited chapter 55, and has offered to edited my future chapters. We have decided not to go back and edit the previous 54 chapters due to the shire volume of work.

Chapter 56: Year Four: Challenge of Words and Knowledge P3

… Gentle enough to soothe the skin,

Light enough to caress the sky,

Hard enough to crack rocks.

This riddle was harder, but not enough to slow Aileen down for long. There were very few things which could be both gentle on the skin and hard enough to crack rocks. If it wasn't for the lines, 'three lives have I' and 'light enough to caress the sky', she would think wind. But the element which has three stages of life was water; water is light enough to touch the sky when evaporating, soothes skin when passed over in a gentle tickle, and erodes rock and sand across the globe.

"Water," Aileen informed the door. She stepped into the new room to find herself facing a wall of water from floor to ceiling, with various water creatures waiting for her to step into the water.

Snorting at the ridiculousness of this task, Aileen pulled out the potion she had created from her bag and downed it in one before stepping into the water. Since it had been verified by the Potion's Committee over the Winter Holidays, she was legally allowed to use the potion as she saw fit, and because she had made the potion it wouldn't be against the rules for her to use it.

Not a single one of the different water creatures made an attempt to stop her passage through the water. Over the last year, as she spent more time around Triton and Poseidon and in the lake water, the creatures of the deep had started giving her a wider birth – none of them challenging her passage through the water because they recognised her as one of their own.

When she brought this observation up to Triton during their last training session, he'd explained that she had been accepted as a Princess of the Sea; only those who were loyal to Oceanus would dare to try and harm or challenge her. Once the creatures got used to her new power, they would – like the Mer-people – start reaching out to her in order to communicate. Perhaps, they would even ask her to solve a problem that they might be having; it would be expected of her to do what she could to help any beings of the water who ask for her assistance.

Aileen had been surprised at this acknowledgment and power that she was being given within her father's domain. She was just a demi-god, and of all the tales she had been told of her half-siblings, none of them had ever been given the same amount of authority. Nor had they interacted with their godly family as often as she did.

Triton even admitted that he wasn't happy with the fact that Poseidon had another son – Percy. When Aileen had mentioned him, thinking that Triton was already aware of his existence, Triton had completely shut down. It took him nearly thirty minutes before he opened up to admit why he was so angry. He viewed half-blood sons of Poseidon as a threat, because if they ever managed to earn godhood, like Hercules had, they would be able to claim a piece of their father's domain – perhaps even something that currently came under Triton's purview. Of the sons that Poseidon had fathered, none of them had ascended like the children of Zeus had, but that was because they had chosen to live a mortal life or had died before their reward. But there was always that threat lingering over Triton every time Poseidon had a son.

As a daughter, she did not present the same threat that those sons did, which was why Triton had been so accepting of her right from the beginning.

Stepping out of the water on the other side, Aileen refocused her attention.

Causing wounds, yet I cleanse.
History dies in my rinsing.
Life or scars are my blessing.
Remove one of my triad,
and I cannot exist.

Edited: 04/03/2021

Words: 700

A/N: This is my shortest chapter ever, but I had made the decision to separate each of the chapters by the riddle of the door to the next room and I have decided to stick with that decision. However, because this chapter is so short, there is a good chance that the next chapter will be finished and posted earlier.