Book Two: Chapter Seven
In it's prime, Atlantis had consisted of seven 'Trides.' Much like Venice, the city had been built on several islands, but that was where the comparison stopped. The land between the islands had been filled in, but concentric canals were dug in place, the easiest way to get around the city. When the continent sunk during the Calamity, the outermost sections took the most damage. The sixth and seventh were completely destroyed during the flooding and subsequent sinking, leaving only the Fifth Tride in its wake. Then it had the misfortune of collapsing into the trench that Atlantis had slid down to. The people had been mostly forgotten, and as a result, a sort of secondary city developed in the Fifth Tride. Unlike the upper levels, very few of original structures remained after thousands of years. The Temple of the Nereids was an exception. Meticulously maintained, it had been a centre of religion, trade, and society for most of its existence. The fact that Percy even knew about it spoke of its importance.
Easily one of the larger temples he had come across, Percy knew from the moment he saw it that it was going to be a bit more complicated than he had thought. There were dozens of priests, and even if they weren't members of the Red Current, they supported the group. It wouldn't take much for them to rile a crowd into lynching him. He would have to charm the pants off of everyone.
It didn't take long for Percy to be noticed. He stood out, after all. Not just anyone wore fitted scale-mail in the Fifth Tride, and even fewer carried tridents. Within fifteen minutes, there was a crowd formed around him. But they didn't speak. They just studied him. And in turn, Percy studied them. There were more mutations in the crowd than he had ever seen in the rest of Atlantis—some were relatively minor, scales on the arms and necks, while others were…more pronounced. A half man half crab was amongst the more extreme variations. Percy knew the sight of such a person in the upper city would cause a riot, but he didn't understand it. Magic and genetics had played a role, but the man was still Atlantean, wasn't he? There was nothing wrong with him other than how he looked different from most.
"You are the bastard prince." An old man called out from the front of the crowd. "The half-breed."
There was a ripple through the crowd, and they eyed Percy with anticipation, waiting for his reaction.
"So they tell me." He nodded. "Though I prefer Percy. What's your name?"
"…so your guards can kick down my door and take me away? No thank you."
"Do you see any guards?" He motioned around them. "It's just me."
"Why are you here?" The old man pressed. "Your kind has never come down here before. Why now?"
"Men from this district tried to kill me." He explained. "I wanted to know why."
"So you are here to harm us!"
"Did I say that?" Percy asked him. "I said I wanted to know why men wanted to kill me. As you said, I've never been here before. I know very little about the Fifth Tride. If there are problems here, I want to do what I can to fix them."
"We don't need to be fixed!" Someone else called out.
"Of course you don't." Percy agreed. "There's nothing wrong with you. But the people and the place, as intertwined as they are, are two different things. I came here for answers is all. If the honest answer is that there are no problems here, that there are no reasons for people to be upset with me, with my family, then I will search for my answers elsewhere. But if there's even one thing I can fix, one problem I can help resolve, shouldn't I try?"
"Upper-Dwellers have never cared much for this district, Prince Perseus." The crowd parted to reveal several priests, a greybeard in the forefront. "And you yourself have admitted that you would not have come if not for an alleged attack on you by the denizens of this Tride. Why should your word be trusted?"
"Words mean nothing. Actions do. I can say many things. I can make many promises, but it is only those that I fulfil that speak of my character. Ask a favour of me. I will grant it without question."
"You would trade away favours so easily?" The priest tsked. "Very well. Food has been…scarce, in the Tride this season. Our kelp fields have been growing less and less, and our nets bring less food in. They say, however, that you can command sea life. Bring us a bounty of fish, and we may be inclined to believe your intentions."
Percy sent the command out without hesitation. The crowd watched in silence as the first fish arrived. Nothing special, not anything too large or too small. Not enough to feed a person more than once, that was for sure. But it wasn't the only one. Soon, more fish began streaming down. First in pairs, then in trios, and finally in quartets. These groups combined into schools. The schools combined into a horde that blocked out the light from the Lower City. Percy grinned at the priests.
"You may want to get some nets."
He watched with interest as the Fifth Tride worked. There was a harmony between people that was rarely seen. Entire schools of fish were swept up in nets. Amateur water-mages created funnels of hard water to guide the creatures into pens. But with the crowd moved away, the priests were able to Tride him without fear.
"Who did you torture to learn of us?" The elder asked him quietly.
"Mavors was his name. Left me a nice memento." He motioned to his face. "You made a mistake. If they had attacked me on my own, while I was in the ocean, they would have lived. But they threatened someone dear to me, and for that, their lives were forfeit. But I don't think you're with them—you'd have instigated riots long ago if that were the case. You protect them because they protect the temple, don't they? From the crime lords who operate down here?"
"Yes." The priest admitted. "For many years, we suffered thefts and assaults even inside the temple. But seven years ago, the Red Current put a stop to it. All they asked was that we sheltered them in return. But since you know of them…bloodshed will return."
"I have no interest in desecrating your temple." Percy told them. "It may not mean much to you, but I am a man of my word, Priest. If you have problems, I would like to fix them. Would you give me that chance?"
"We cannot betray our guardians."
"I understand. Tell me the names of those who harass you, then. Allow the Royal Guard to deal with them, to make the Fifth Tride safer. Is that acceptable?"
"The guard will never be trusted. Not here." A younger priest shook his head.
"They don't have to be trusted," Percy countered, "they just have to be allowed to do their jobs. The people will listen to you. Remind them that the Royal Guard are regular Atlanteans, just as they are. Their jobs are different, but they are the same. Safety for Atlantis is their only goal."
The priests exchanged glances with each other, a silent conversation that Percy couldn't follow. After a while, they nodded to each other.
"The Red Current are not our enemies." The elder priest said. "Nor is the Royal Family. If you prove true and are able to eliminate the worst of the crimelords from the Fifth, then we will consider asking them to leave. But until there is action, we will not betray their faith in us."
You're a bunch of old fools supporting a radical terrorist group, Percy wanted to say. Instead, he smiled gently.
"I understand, of course." He told them. "They have protected you when no one else would. I hope that in time you, and the others of the Fifth Tride, will see that the Royal Family wants to protect all of its people. Not just those who live in the upper city."
"We shall see, Prince Perseus." The Elder said. Not long after, the last of the fish were caught, and the residents of the Fifth were in an exuberant mood. And almost perfectly timed was the message in Percy's ear.
"This is Lysander, your highness. The compound in the Fourth has been eliminated. All Red Current members have been taken as prisoners." The commander reported. Percy hid his smile and waited. It didn't take long. Within a few minutes, men in red armour began streaming out of the Temple. They were armed with swords and tridents, but none of them carried themselves like Mavors had. Percy would bet that he had been the cell commander. The reformed crowd parted for them, but they didn't flee. Interesting.
"You!" The lead man roared. "You mongrel-blooded filth!"
"I'm sorry?" Percy blinked innocently. "Whatever I've done to offend you, I—"
"Be silent, bastard! We know you organised the raid on our brothers in the Fourth Tride!" The man exclaimed. "Retaliation for our attempt to cleanse Atlantis of your kind!"
"My kind?" Percy asked. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."
"You half-blooded filth, that's what I meant! Mutant bastards like you should be wiped from the pure bloodline of Atlantis!"
Bullseye. The man hadn't considered his audience and had fallen into the rhetoric that had been used to recruit him and likely many others. The crowd began murmuring angrily, and the priests moved away from the Red Current...right towards Percy.
"You're right, of course," Percy said. "I'm not pure Atlantean like those in the upper city. I am half-blooded. But I am still Atlantean! Just because I am not exactly like them doesn't mean I'm not one of them! I am just as Atlantean as you are! Or as he is, or she is!"
He pointed to several of the mutated Atlanteans as he spoke. "We are all Atlantean. I am sorry if I don't match your definition of what it means to be one of our people, but I do not believe in excluding others because they are different! Atlantis is not just a place, it is our people! All of our people!"
The crowd started cheering, and the Red Current member realised what had happened far too late. Someone lobbed a shell at him, and then another came flying from the other direction. His comrades Trided around him, and soon it was a combination of shells, rocks, and verbal abuse being launched at the group. Percy kept a close eye on the terrorists, waiting for the next stumble they'd make. He wasn't waiting long. One of the crowd got a little too close for the liking of the Current, and one of them lashed out with his sword. Too slow, and too late. Percy intercepted the blow with his body, the blade tearing a gash along his arm. Truthfully, he had thought his armour would take the blow, but apparently, it had taken enough of a beating.
The crowd went ballistic. They launched themselves at the Red Current, dozens of them at once. If Percy didn't act fast, they'd kill each other, and the last thing he needed was a bloodbath. He held the Trident aloft, lightning gathering around it. Magical lightning, otherwise everyone would have been electrocuted. He discharged it, the bang resonating far and wide in the confines of the trench, bringing the near-riot to a halt.
"Please, there's no need for bloodshed." He exclaimed, projecting his voice as far as it would go. "Don't lower yourselves to their level! You are better than them! You stand for more than them! Be better!"
"Your highness, we're on our way!"
"Don't you dare, Lysander." Percy hissed under his breath. "Let me handle this."
"But—"
"Listen to my brother, Commander." Triton's voice cut through the feed. "Percy, we need to talk when you get back. Urgently."
"They tried to kill you!" A voice in the crowd cried out. "They were going to kill one of us! After years of saying they were our friends, that they were going to protect us, and they're just as bigoted as the others!"
"But you don't need to be like them." Percy said. "They are criminals, even if they hide it as something else. Let them face trial, and I swear, you will see justice served."
"Prince Perseus speaks true!" The elder priest called out. "We have already seen he is a man of action! Allow these...fiends to be apprehended! Allow justice to prevail!"
The priest gave Percy a slight nod, and he made a show of activating his gantlet.
"Commander Lysander? This is Prince Perseus. I am currently by the Temple of the Nereids in the Fifth Tride. A group of men tried to attack a crowd of civilians. Would you send a unit to apprehend them for trial, please?"
"It will be done, my prince." Lysander responded, and Percy made sure it was broadcast for the crowd.
The elder swam up to Percy, a knowing look on his face.
"You planned this." He said quietly. "It was very clever, your highness. I commend your cunning."
"This way prevents bloodshed." He said. "I wasn't lying about that."
"No, I imagine you wouldn't." The elder nodded. "You are much like your great-grandfather, in that regard."
"Poseidon the fourth?" Percy frowned. "He only reigned for ten years before passing."
"Yes, but he was a lawmaker in that time. Much of the laws we follow today were written by him. They just...never made it down to the Fifth Tride. Perhaps now, with your guidance, they will."
"As I said, I will do what I can." Percy nodded. "May I ask your name, Elder?"
"I am Posidonius." He announced.
"That's...spooky."
"On the contrary." He snickered. "I was named for your great-grandfather. It was quite the honour, in fact."
"Why?"
"Was it an honour, or why was I named for him?"
"Both, I guess."
"My father was Lethos of the Second Tride." Posidonius told him. "Tell me you at least know that name."
"Uh, yeah, he was pretty much the advisor to the Kings of Atlantis for nearly eighty years…I think he even advised my father for the first year of his reign. He lived until he was almost a hundred and twenty. Which makes you around ninety?"
"Yes." He replied. "And now you are wondering what I am doing in the Fifth Tride."
"The question had crossed my mind, yes."
"I came here as a young man, new to the priesthood, because no one else would." Posidonius said. "The entire time I was undergoing my training, the Elder Priest of the Temple of the Nereids begged for help, and he was ignored by the Priesthood. I refused to allow myself to ignore those in need, so I came here. I have been here since. My father, vaunted as he was, disowned me for descending into the Fifth Tride. To him, I had thrown away a potential career as a Priest of Neptune, as a potential advisor to the king, to serve half-breeds. Do you think I regret my decision, even though it cost me my father's love?"
"No." Percy said honestly.
"And do you think you will regret your actions here today, if it costs you your brothers support?" Posidonius asked him. "Because make no mistake, young prince, only fools have tried to help the Fifth Tride before. The Red Current are not the only ones to believe those who live down here are not pure Atlanteans. It is a disease that stretches all the way to the Palace. And despite what you may have lied about to earn support here, I saw the truth in your words. What Atlantean means to you is not the same as it means to the others. So I ask again—will you regret your decision to publicly support the Sea-Changed, even if it costs you your brother's support?"
Percy was silent for a moment, but it wasn't really a question. He thought of his mother, and what she would think of him, and the answer came to him as easily as breathing.
"No."
XXX
When Percy made it back to the Palace, it wasn't just his family waiting for him. Artemis and Apollo stood beside a man who could only be their father—he was powerfully built, with the same blue eyes as his son, and blonde hair that was starting to grey at the temples. Beside him were the two queens, Hestia and Demeter. Where Hestia was small in stature, Demeter was tall. But the former projected a much kinder disposition than the latter, and Percy had a feeling he already knew who he was going to like more, as terrible as it sounded. Percy lowered himself to a knee.
"Your majesties."
"At least he knows his manners." Demeter huffed. "If little else."
"He spoke from the heart, dear Demeter." Hestia countered. "Very few are brave enough to do so."
"But associating with the tainted?" Zeus shook his head. "It is not a good look for any royal."
"They prefer Sea-Changed, your majesty." Percy cut in politely, rising to his feet. "And they are Atlantean, regardless of how they look."
"So you said in your little spiel." Zeus waved dismissively. "Did you mean any of it, boy? Or was it just a ploy for power?"
Percy felt his grip on the Trident tighten. Amphitrite shot him a warning look.
"Highness is the correct way to style me, your majesty." Percy bit out. "Or you may call me by my name, if you wish."
He saw Amphitrite sigh quietly.
"You speak boldly for a bastard."
"Believe me, my birth status has nothing to do with it." He bared his teeth in a feral grin. "Ask your daughter."
"Yes, well, I'm glad everyone has finally met." Triton said. "Percy, would you mind joining me for a swim?"
"That seems like the sort of question that's really a command, so I will gladly join you, your majesty." Percy said, before giving a short bow to the other monarchs. "Lovely to meet you all."
Percy and Triton swam up out of the palace, before setting due east. He knew where they were going the moment they changed direction. The silence between them was only broken by the silent hum of the Guard ship following them at a distance. Far enough to not be intruding, close enough to respond if anything or anyone was stupid enough to try anything. After some twenty minutes, they arrived at a shipwreck. An old whaling ship, it had been sunk by Atlanteans in the mid-nineteenth century. It was a story that every Atlantean learned at a young age, and one that Percy had been told many times in his first days at the palace.
"You remember the story of this ship, of course," Triton said. "So there's no point in rehashing it."
"Am I about to be reprimanded, brother?" Percy asked. "Because it seems like that's where this is going."
"It's certainly going to look that way. And you are going to act that way." Triton said. "Atlantean nobility is notoriously traditional, as you well know. The Royal families even more so. We don't know who it was, but someone filmed the encounter in the Fifth Tride. It was broadcast all across the city. Everyone saw your speech. Everyone heard your words. I'll be dealing with the aftermath for months to come."
"What, because I don't believe in blood purity?" Percy scoffed. "I'm half-Atlantean, Triton! I'm in exactly the same position as the Sea-Changed! Just because I look like you doesn't mean I am one of you! I've known this from the moment I arrived. So have you. Did you really think I wouldn't sympathise with them? Did anyone?"
"I know, Percy!" Triton exclaimed. "I know better than anyone! I've been dealing with whispers and plots from the moment you arrived! Assassins in the dark, Elders and Lords who wanted you executed for not being fully of the sea! I've dealt with deadlocks, political factions, and economic sanctions by my own people so that you could be safe! And for the most part, you were easy to accept. You were quiet, you were obedient. Gaining the Trident gave you a semi-mythical status, and the people were content with you being a name."
"But I had to come back." Percy said dryly. "I had to shatter the image of the golden child. Everyone just forgot that I was a person. But I am one Triton. I'm not going to apologise. The Sea-Changed are as Atlantean as I am, so either you need to tell everyone that I'm not an Atlantean, which will create some questions considering this," he held up the Trident, "or you need to tell them that the Sea-Changed are Atlantean."
"Are you giving me an ultimatum?" Triton asked him quietly.
"I suppose I am." Percy answered. "But it shouldn't have to be one."
"I think it would be best if you returned to the surface immediately." Triton said. No, commanded. "I will deal with the aftermath of this…incident."
"As you command, your majesty." Percy dropped to a knee. "But if you won't help those in the Fifth Tride, I will leave you with this ultimatum—I still have ears in Atlantis. If they are ignored, attacked, or otherwise harmed by inaction, I will return. You will not see me, you will not hear me, but you will see the aftermath. They are Atlanteans. If you won't protect them, I will. Goodbye, your majesty. Long may you reign."
MMXXI
And thus, our mini Atlantis arc comes to an end. Whereas before Percy had cut ties with Artemis, now he's cut them with Triton, which makes returning to Atlantis pretty much impossible. I took the name of 'Trides' for the districts of Atlantis from DC Comics, and the term 'Sea-Changed' for those Atlantean who were mutated to look like sea-life from the comics as well. I've been rereading them recently, so it's fresh on my mind. Now, with ties cut and new characters introduced, we return to the surface. I don't want to give anything away but this coming arc is going to set up one of those dreaded 'recurring' villains that nobody understands why they aren't killed after the second time they do something dastardly.
I have made the decision to keep to my once a week schedule of posting.
As always, leave a review or send me a PM letting me know what you think!
Cheers, CombatTombat.
