THE FIRST ARC: The Calm

Am I a troubled kid? Yeah, you could say that.
Percy Jackson

CHAPTER ONE
Atlantis

I

Percy I

Percy Jackson frowned.

He was eating his breakfast, a bowl of cereal, along with a glass of orange juice. His room, a large room in the Grand Palace, had blue walls with depictions of marine life and the seafloor and were decorated with some seashells and coral reefs Percy himself had picked and hung around the room. His favorite, a coral reef with a shiny white pearl in it, was next to a picture frame of his mother and him grinning to the camera, taken last summer when he and she had gone to Montauk for vacation.

Percy's room was dry, thanks to a magical door his father had granted to him that prevented water from flooding into his room, which would kind of ruin everything. The room was on the second floor. In fact, it had initially been a guest room when Percy had settled in here seven years ago.

Why you might ask?

Well, it's a long story.

Fourteen years ago, Percy 'Perseus' Jackson was born to Poseidon and Sally Jackson, and right from the start, things had gone wrong, for Percy's mere existence was a crime. Just forty-five years before his birth, when World War Two had ended, after the wrath of children of Hades had nearly brought Europe and Asia to its knees. Only a combined joint effort between Zeus and Poseidon's children had stopped the world from almost obliterating itself. The bloody berserk and carnage were too much, and so The Big Three had sworn to the river Styx to never stir such powerful children with mortal women anymore. But during all of 1989, Poseidon had met and fallen in love with Sally Jackson, and despite it being illegal to do so, had a child with her. His mom, Gods he missed her, considered him to be the best son a mother could ask for and believed he was destined for great things.

Percy's lovely uncle Hades didn't think he was, though. Instead, deciding to terrorize Percy and his mother by sending monster after monster before Percy could even utter words, let alone walk or defend himself. Only his mom (to whom Poseidon had so thoughtfully had sent a small celestial bronze knife) had been able to protect him, putting her life on the line every time.

As the monster attacks grew more violent and unbearable, as Hades was adamant at having Percy killed, there was no choice but for Poseidon to take Percy under his own protection. Just when he was seven years old, so that his mother could live, not having to fall into life-or-death situations every week with him. Percy didn't want to leave. Leaving his mother behind all alone was the last thing in life he ever wanted to do, but there was no choice. He worried a lot for her safety, but monsters had no reason to invade the Jackson household now that he was gone.

So here he was now, for seven years. He would get to see his mother from time to time, thankfully. Poseidon would allow him to leave Atlantis during the summer and for two weeks during December. But for the rest of the year, he had to stay low at Atlantis, where he would train, spend time exploring the seafloor and the marine life, help out his father and half-brother Triton slay some sea monsters. Not that they really needed him, but Poseidon thought it was a good sport and letting Percy learn experience was important.

Percy and his dad always had a good relationship, but for years, after his arrival, Percy had been disliked by Triton, his half-brother God of the Navy and God Messenger of the sea. Second-in-command of his father's underwater empire and heir (How you can be an heir to an immortal being, he had no idea, but alas) but they had come along now. They would train sword-fighting together and even chit-chat here and there when Triton wasn't busy. However, Amphitrite, Percy's stepmother, was still cold as ice. For a while, she had acted as if Percy did not exist, but not because she was jealous or spiteful. She simply just did not care for him. The only moment the four had together was when Poseidon had once taken Percy, Triton, and Amphitrite to watch some Mermen gladiators kill a massive lobster monster in an arena, your usual family-friendly gathering. While that was all nice and entertaining, that was about the only thing the four had done together.

If Percy was going to be honest, he was rather bored at Atlantis. While exploring the oceans was nice and dueling with Triton got his blood pumping, there wasn't really much to do, and doing the same things over and over time is bound to get boring no matter what you do.

He got up from his desk, glancing outside from his only window. Outside, mermen soldiers, or well, the Imperial Elite Guard of the Grand Palace was swim-marching. They were the best of the best, handpicked by Triton himself. They had to serve ten years in the regular Atlantis Navy and be a well-established and decorated soldier. Their loyalty was to Poseidon and Amphitrite's throne, and they would only live to protect it all costs for the rest of their lives. Their relatives would receive bonuses and a large drachma check every month in return for this great service.

The soldiers swam forward, dressed in gladiator helmets with a blue fur arched over-top, celestial bronze chestplates strapped on their torsos. Some had sea-green tails curved upwards, while others were blue, a few coral reds and, even a couple of ink-black or purple ones were to be seen. Their fins were V-shaped and had overall fish scale skin that was a bit leathery on their lower bodies. The soldiers were armed with celestial bronze swords, spears, and their commanders, whose helmets furs were sea-green, were carrying golden tridents. The squadrons of mermen soldiers marched forward, or well, swam ahead since they were under the ocean, protecting the Atlantis' Grand Palace.

"Brother." A voice called out from behind. Percy turned around.

"Brother," Percy greeted Triton. He stood there, unamused. Today was Tuesday, their ordinary day when they would go to train at Camp Fish-Blood.

Triton had a flashy green tail, the exact same color as seaweed. It was curved up significantly as if the more curved a merman's tail were, the more prestigious it was. Above his waist, he was naked. Triton had complete green skin, the same color as his tail. A sandy yellow coral necklace hung on his neck, with a milky white pearl embedded right in the middle of it. The chain keeping the necklace around his neck was decorated with fish baits, tiny glowing pearls, and laced with seaweed. He held his iconic seashell in his left hand.

Percy grabbed his bag, which had extra spare clothes, two water bottles, (Despite being a Son of Poseidon, Percy could not drink salty water, go figure. His father said that was only doable by merpeople), and his usual celestial bronze chest plate and helmet.

He put on his bag. "Well, let's go."

The duo exited the Palace and began to swim towards Camp Fish-Blood, the main training camp for Mer-Heroes. The best recruits here would be chosen as heroes to protect Atlantis, and the rest would serve as ordinary soldiers.

As they got closer, the large size of Camp Fish-Blood came into view. It was the size of an entire town, embedded on the seafloor. The outskirts of the camp were covered in the usual seafloor features. Coral reefs, small underwater hydrothermal vents spewing jets of hot water upwards, generating lots of bubbles that spread around, lush sea-green algae, kelp, and seaweed that just kept going, covering the floor like the grass on the earth. Some hippocampuses ate the seaweed and algae, avoiding the kelp. Underneath them, small crabs were to be seen wandering around for prey on the seafloor, while small fish, octopuses, stingrays, dolphins, and large sharks swam all around them. It was a relaxing sight, and Percy felt right at home. The town itself had Greek-style buildings, walls made of white quartz that had decorations of pearls, starfish, nacres and seashells, even small anchors and ship wheels. A few Cyclopes were constructing some new cabins. Some were repairing pavements made of sea stone that connected the buildings, while training arenas were filled with mermen and mermaids who were training with swords, spears, and tridents on the dummies or dueling each other.

A merman pulverized the dummy with his trident, hitting it right on the chest. Meanwhile, a mermaid spun around and stabbed it right through the gut with a spear. Nearby them, a merman and a mermaid dueled with swords. Their swords clanking could even be heard from this distance.

Some fellow campers swim next to them, each stopping and bowing in respect at the sight of Triton, and they arrived at the camp pretty quickly anyway. Sons of Poseidon could swim really fast.

They landed at the middle of the camp, where two Ichthyocentaurs stood, their backs turned to them.

"Ah, sir." Triton greeted in respect, bowing to his old mentors once he turned around. "Bythos, Aphros. Percy and I are here to just duel at the arena."

Aphros and Bythos were both ichthyocentaurs. Which had a fishtail, two horse hooves, and a human upper body. Both were very fit, six-packs, muscular arms, they packed the whole package.

Aphros had a blue skin color that reminded Percy of the alien creatures in the movie Avatar, but his huge blue-black afro ruined the image. Meanwhile, Bythos was completely sea-green, just like Triton. However, his tail was rainbow-colored, which was a rare sight. Aphros was a considerable lot bigger than Bythos. However, while Bythos was the combat trainer, Aphros was the music and poetry teacher.

The two ichthyocentaurs nodded. Bythos looked at Percy. "I suppose you will need a sword again?" He asked, and Percy nodded. Bythos gestured for him to wait there. He was about to go to the armory building, which was half-inside the seafloor. The entrance was only from the top. However, Triton stopped him, raising a hand.

"Get him a trident for this duel. Enough with the swords. He should use a real weapon this time." With that, Bythos nodded and swam to the armory.

Triton faced Percy. "We should get you a sword that you will own yourself, already. But for this duel, I want you to use a trident, see how skilled you are with it."

"Okay," Percy said simply.

Bythos swam out of the armory entrance, holding a golden trident. "Here you go, demigod." Bythos threw the trident at him, and Percy snatched it mid-water.
It was utterly golden, with its usual three-pointed spears. Percy swung it horizontally in his hand left and right, trying to see if it felt right in his hand.

Triton raised his hand, and a white-blue trident flew into his hand out of nowhere. Its base, where all three spears connected, had a milky white pearl, and it looked ancient, but there wasn't much wear visible on it.

"Well, brother. Let's see if you are any good with that trident." He said as they stepped towards the arena after Percy dressed up in his combat armor, while all Triton had to do was just snap his fingers, and his gladiator armor formed into existence on him.

II

Percy II

"Well," Triton said as they both started to circle each other, eyes locked at the other's face. "All sons of Poseidon should know how to use a trident. Let's first see how well you can fight with it before anything." Triton held the trident with both hands, its spears staring directly at Percy's chest. Percy also held the trident in both hands, but it felt unbalanced in his hands. "Three… Two… One!"

With that, Triton lunged forward, ready to slam Percy's chest with his trident. Percy threw himself to the side, avoiding Triton's charge, the water practically showing no resistance to him. Triton landed just where Percy had been, missing him by an inch.

Since he was longer than Percy, who was just around five foot ten inches, while Triton was a good six foot five inches, Triton thrust the spear forward, Percy barely being able to block the swing with his own trident as both made a large CLANK! noise just in front of his chest.

"You are rusty, Perseus," Triton said as both tridents parried, and Percy struggled to keep Triton's trident in bay with his own, and Triton suddenly swung his own trident upwards, nearly lifting Percy along with it. Percy barely was able to pull back his trident in time and jump backward as Triton slammed the trident downwards, which would've hit him right on the head with its hilt and knock him out cold.

"Oh, come on," Percy gasped, "it's the first time I'm using it." He choked out, barely evading the trident that Triton threw right in his face like a javelin as it flew an inch far from his face.

Triton opened his palm, and the trident turned one hundred and eighty degrees and flew right back at his hand. "It should come naturally to you to use it, Perseus." With that, he began to jab towards Percy, while Percy kept just enough distance to keep himself from being impaled.

Triton took a giant step forward, ready to strike again, but it was Percy this time who thrust his trident forwards this time, catching Triton off guard. Just as it was about to hit his chestplate, he slammed his own trident at Percy's, knocking it to the ground, off from his hands.

"You are using the trident as if it's a sword, Perseus," Triton said as they stopped, letting Percy grab his own trident. "You need to use it more like how you would use a spear and a javelin. Quick jabs or fast charges. Or you can throw the trident to impale your enemy." Just as he said those words, he threw the trident superfast, throwing Percy to the ground as all the breath was knocked off his lungs, the trident striking his chest.

"Ow," Percy groaned. The trident had penetrated his chestplate, but he felt no pain or blood. "What the—"

"My trident won't hurt you unless I want it to do so," Triton explained, letting the trident fly back into his hands.

"Right. And if I hit you?"

"I'm an immortal, Perseus."

They began to circle again, Triton holding the trident with one hand raised above his head, while Percy kept his at chest level in both hands. They kept spinning, but Percy couldn't attack, as Triton would instantly impale him the moment he would lunge forwards. His trident was locked to Percy's chest, tracking him with deadly accuracy.

"And how am I supposed to attack you now without getting pulverized?"

Triton narrowed his eyes at that. "Well, it's a good thing you won't meet any monsters outside with a trident." He lowered his trident. "Clearly, you need to train more. You can't defeat me."

Percy lowered his as well. "I'm more of a swordsman, Triton."

"Nonsense, it is in your veins to know how to use a trident, Perseus. Now, let me teach you the basics again. First of all, remember what I said. You must use a trident like it is both a spear, you must charge directly at your enemy when he least expects it, or jab at him from a distance. Our tridents are longer than swords, brother. It allows us to dominate the inferior enemy in a duel. Second of all, you must know how to throw it like a javelin. Watch."

Triton raised the trident above his head, aiming towards a dummy in the distance. "First, let your gut try to determine how much you must raise the trident. Let your reflexes guide you, and—" he threw the trident, slamming the dummy down with a bullseye hit. "And that is that. Here, come and try it. Hit the dummy next to the one I hit."

Percy came right next to Triton, rising his trident above his head just like him, and narrowed his eyes at the dummy. He allowed his hand to adjust his aim naturally, and as if a flare ignited in his gut, right at that moment, he threw the trident, slamming the other dummy just like Triton did.

"Good, good. You are learning. You must also know how to do this in close quarters, to slam it right in your enemy's face when they least expect it." He swam quickly towards both dummies, each with a trident impaled on its chest as it laid on the ground. He pulled out both of them, threw Percy's golden trident at him, and came back with his own trident in one hand, dummy in the other.

"Watch, brother," Triton said, setting the dummy up. Then he stood in front of the dummy. "Now imagine that this dummy has a sword and is attacking me. He is lunging forward, trying to stab me with the sword. Just before he would jump to lunge, when he is the most exposed as he cannot move in any other direction," Triton slammed the trident downwards on its head, splitting it apart. "You attack."

"Oo-o-kay," Percy said, "what about that hilt tactic you tried to use against me?"

"Ah, watch—" Triton began but was interrupted when someone came next to us.

"Perseus Jackson, Triton." The Nereid bowed when she said the latter's name, "Poseidon has sent me to inform you to return to the Palace. He wants to see you both now, at the Grand Palace."

"Alright," Triton said, snapping his fingers, and his armor set disappeared, rendering him once again naked. "Undress your armor, and let's head out."

III

Percy III

"I wonder why he has called us," Triton said as they both waited outside the throne room.

"I don't know," Percy said. "Sounds important though, he sent a Nereid to inform us."

"Mhm," Triton muttered in agreement.

There was a sound of a trident hitting the floor as if calling whoever was waiting outside in. "The Lord will see you now." the Imperial Guard that had been waiting in front of us said, his shiny yellow eyes darting to the door.

Percy and Triton walked in after the guard opened the doors, and soldiers inside that were lined up in rows bowed their heads in respect.

"You can leave us now," Amphitrite said, and the soldiers' march swam out of the room. Percy looked at her.

Amphitrite, as always, looked beautiful. Her black hair, which was decorated with shiny pearls and silk. A tiara rested on her head, with the most lustrous and most beautiful sea crystal in it that Percy had ever seen. She had mocha-dark eyes that made him feel soft, and she had a faint smile on her lips. A white gown that was just as decorated was on her, and she looked absolutely stunning. Poseidon, meanwhile, only had a blue toga on, he looked in his mid-forties, and his usual black hair, neatly trimmed black beard, and total sea-green eyes, just like Percy's.

"Sir," Percy bowed. Amphitrite rolled her eyes, obviously not liking the presence of him. Triton stood next to Percy. Both were tired from their dueling as they still breathed in and out from their noses quickly, bubbles rising from their nostrils. "You requested our presence, father?"

"Indeed, Percy. I sense that now that you are old enough, having learned to use all weapons that a son of mine should know, you can defend yourself very easily. It is time for you to move on."

Percy gulped, as much as Poseidon tried to avoid the tone that would just mean, Ah, you are old enough now, Percy. Now get the hades out of my Palace. He felt small underneath his presence. Was he being kicked out? Had Amphitrite finally convinced him?

Poseidon seemed to have sensed this and raised a hand. "Oh, no. I do not mean for you to leave, as in forever, Percy. I actually intend to take you with me to Olympus this Winter Solstice, which is tomorrow, and meet a specific camp activities director there. Quite frankly, Percy, the amount you can train in Camp Fish-Blood is quite limited since it was designed for mer-peoples. However, there is a camp in Long Island, named Camp Half-Blood, for demigods just like you. I am aware that Zeus has invited the head counselors from the camp along with Chiron to Olympus for a visit, and I would like you to meet him and talk to him. If you wish, you can stay at that camp for the upcoming summer."

"I— I am honored that you want to take me to Olympus, father." Percy said, "As for uh, Camp Half-Blood… I do not know. I instead could, and prefer, to return to spend my summer with my mother. But if you insist, I can go."

"You should talk to Chiron when we arrive tomorrow. After that, you can make your decision, of course."

"I—I will. Thank you, father." Percy bowed, and Poseidon nodded.

"And I suppose, Poseidon, and you, Perseus Jackson," Amphitrite cut into the conversation, "that claiming him as your son to Zeus after fourteen years is just going to go unnoticed?"

"I have already talked to him, my love. Since the last Summer Solstice, he already has been suspicious about an existence of a demigod child of mine for some time. I informed him, he is aware of Percy. He did break the oath earlier, so he was in no position to judge me. There should be no problem."

Amphitrite rolled her eyes, muttering typical Zeus… Can't even keep it in his pants for a century. Then she remembered Poseidon's other brother.

"And Hades?"

"Well, I suppose he wouldn't dare to touch my son at Olympus now. Besides, his damned monsters cannot get into Camp Half-Blood anyway. Some kind of pine tree magic defense." He scratched his beard at that, looking quite confused, and Percy felt confused too.

Amphitrite locked eyes with Percy. "Well, I suppose you will be leaving to Olympus tomorrow, and you can't go there wearing that," she indicated to his clothes, which just consisted of a green t-shirt with a trident sign on it, and blue navy khaki shorts. "We will need you to look more… formal, I suppose?" Her head turned to Poseidon, but he shook his head.

"Bah," Poseidon rejected. "Percy can go dressed however he wants. It is only the ones like Zeus and Athena," his voice was full of distaste when he spoke of the Goddess of Wisdom, as if talking about rotten eggs, "who dress seriously anyway."

"And how do you dress to your meetings, my dear?" Amphitrite asked.

"Eh? Ah," he raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and Amphitrite blinked her eyes twice to see if she saw him right.

Poseidon, who had just been wearing nothing but a blue toga, was now wearing a yellow cap hat that read 'Neptune's LUCKY Fishing Hat' a blue Hawaii t-shirt, and the very same blue khaki shorts Percy was wearing, along with sandy sandals. He looked younger, now in his thirties.

Triton held back a laugh at the informal sight of his father that he and Percy had seen a million times, as Amphitrite blushed.

"Di immortales, Poseidon…" She trailed off, her palm rubbing her forehead in embarrassment. Poseidon winked to Percy, who was also holding back a laugh.

"Well now," Poseidon snapped his fingers again and turned back to his blue toga, "you should go get some rest, Percy. Triton," Poseidon rose up from his throne and walked towards them, patting Percy at his shoulder then walking towards Triton. "We should speak privately, my son." And just like that, both of them disappeared, bubbles rising up from where they were just standing, each illuminated with sonoluminescence, leaving only Percy and Amphitrite in the room.

"Well now, Perseus Jackson, go get some rest, like your father said. Do not embarrass him at Olympus." Her eyes flashed, and Percy nodded.

"Yes, ma'am." Percy bowed in respect and turned around to leave.

"And remember," Amphitrite said just as he was about to leave, and Percy stopped. "Your father may think that it is a good idea to unravel your existence to the world, even though I believe you are better off staying here with us."

Percy didn't know what to say. He wasn't even sure if he heard Amphitrite right.

"Uh, thank you, ma'am. I hope it won't cause much trouble."

Amphitrite said nothing and indicated him to go on. "Go get some rest."

Percy dreamed vividly that night.

He found himself in the middle of a classroom, taking a test all on his own. Nobody to overwatch him, nobody else who was taking the test. There was a shadow of something massive standing behind him, it had a hood on, but he couldn't for some reason turn his head around. It was as if his neck was being held in place by an invisible force that demanded him to only stare at the paper.

When Percy glanced at the paper, there were questions all written in Ancient Greek. At first, they made no sense to him, as his dyslexia began acting up and made the letters dance on his paper. But then, as if an off switch was hit in his brain, the paper suddenly became clearly readable. On the paper laid questions, such as Rulers of the laws of the universe, who are they? And Who were the many ones who existed before the Titans, during the four and a half billion-year rule during the Primordial reign that was lost to time? And Please try to list all sorts of things that may go wrong at the Winter Solstice. The weirder questions consisted of What is the purpose of life? What is your purpose? Is cereal soup?

Okay, he made the last one up, but the rest were actually written on the paper. He didn't understand why he was taking a test asking these kinds of questions. Percy glanced at the clock. The hour hand was resting above seven o clock, the minute hand above the hour hand, while the second hand rested above the number two. He frowned.

"The clock," the being behind him spoke, "answers some of the questions you have on your paper. Wake up, Perseus Jackson, The Lord of Time sends his regards…"

Suddenly the classroom dissolved, and Percy found himself in a dark room, which was so dark at first, he thought he was in a void. He heard heavy breathing, the sounds of something being smashed, and the sound of something heavy moving around, searching for something or someone. He felt himself trembling, and at the sound of a sudden scream, his blood went cold. The sound of the scream felt familiar, and by now, his entire body was shivering in total fear.

"No matter what you do," the voice started to speak again, "Remember, Perseus Jackson, that those destined to hurt, are going to be hurt regardless of what you might do, or not do. Those destined to die, will die regardless of what you might do, or not do. In great loss, you will find great purpose. It is your destiny. For now, you must awaken and open your eyes to the real world, for your destiny awaits, regardless of what you might do, or not do."

Just like that, he felt the entity behind him disappear, and he woke up with a violent jolt, gasping for air, clutching his sheets as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

A/N

And so it begins!

Honestly I have no idea what to write into the A/Ns as this story is finished, so here I am going to make some comments about writing these characters.

In my opinion, Percy, after Annabeth, is the hardest character to write in the fandom. His character is misunderstood a lot. Percy is sassy, yes, but not so much as some people make him out to be. He is strong, but a twelve year old defeating the mother of all monsters? Power balances shouldn't be funky. He is smart as well, I am shocked at how much people treat Percy as if he suffers from a learning disorder or something while writing about him sometimes. He is rather practical, and definitely not stupid. He is not immature, as many people think, we never actually see him act immature in the series, in fact I would say Annabeth is more immature than Percy sometimes. Percy never loses control over his feelings, see how he reacts to Annabeth and Luke in the series, meanwhile Annabeth completely loses her temper at the sight of Rachel. Though this is because Annabeth doesnt know how to react to strong emotions since it isn't her forte. Anyways, I think that's enough for now. Maybe one day I should publish the Character Theory I wrote about them, that I keep as a private guide to help me write the characters.

I swear, the amount of time I had to re-check if I spelled the word "ichthyocentaur" correctly is so ridiculous, I wonder what the guy who made up this word was thinking.