Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Replies:
Weirdhead: :D
Undeath9087: Ultimate prank, 'Hey Percy! You're happy about seeing your baby sister, hah! No sister for you!' Hera is the mega bitch. And yes, Drew is actually helpful at times.
AkitoshTheBold: Drew actually has a personality that isn't just being a mean girl is why. And oh my god yes. Her just popping up out of nowhere and stealing them. She'd pretend she hates kids but she'd secretly be the awesome auntie.
Guest: It's what was needed, Drew knows Percy needs to face it all properly.

Leo did not like being separated from Frank, especially not to be interrogated by a blue fish horse guy- and why did he have to get the biggest guy? He was as bulky as Tyson for Hades sake, with his huge Conan-approved sword was strapped across his back. Even his hair was bigger—a massive globe of blue-black frizz so thick that his lobster-claw horns appeared to be drowning as they tried to swim their way to the surface.

And of course, as usual when he was nervous, Leo resorted to joking around.

"Is that why they named you Aphros?" Leo asked as they glided down the path from the cave. "Because of the Afro?"

Aphros scowled. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Leo said quickly. At least he would never have trouble remembering which fish dude was which. "So what are you guys, exactly?"

"Ichthyocentaurs," Aphros said, like it was a question he was tired of answering.

"Uh, icky what?"

"Fish centaurs. We are the half brothers of Chiron."

"Oh!" Leo brightened up at that, "I know him. I'm from Camp Half-blood. He's one of my trainers."

Aphros narrowed his eyes. "The one called Hazel told us this, but we will determine the truth. Come."

"You do realise that's not comforting right?" Leo raised an eyebrow, pulling a face. Maybe he should mention being Percy's brother? Most sea dwelling people had heard of her from what he knew. But- maybe he should save that for a bit, just until he knew how worried he should be as he followed the fish centaur through a massive forest of kelp, drifting through the rows of it- which were as tall as apartment buildings. The green-and-yellow plants swayed weightlessly, like columns of helium balloons. High above, Leo saw a smudge of white that might have been the sun.

He guessed that meant they'd been down there overnight. Was the Argo II all right? Had it sailed on without them, or were their friends still searching? Though- the idea of Percy leaving without them was not one he could picture.

Leo couldn't even be sure how deep they were. Plants could grow here—so not too deep, right? Still, he knew he couldn't just swim for the surface. He'd heard about people who ascended too quickly and developed nitrogen bubbles in their blood. Leo wanted to avoid carbonated blood. He was sure his sister would mock him for it.

They drifted along for maybe half a mile. Leo was tempted to ask where Aphros was taking him, but the big sword strapped to the centaur's back sort of discouraged conversation.

Finally the kelp forest opened up. Leo gasped. They were standing (swimming, whatever) at the summit of a high underwater hill.

Below them stretched an entire town of Greek-style buildings on the seafloor.

The roofs were tiled with mother-of-pearl. The gardens were filled with coral and sea anemones. Hippocampi grazed in a field of seaweed. A team of Cyclopes was placing the domed roof on a new temple, using a blue whale as a crane. And swimming through the streets, hanging out in the courtyards, practicing combat with tridents and swords in the arena were dozens of mermen and mermaids—honest-to-goodness fish-people. Of course he knew they existed but- well, he'd never seen them before, not in person.

"It's a training camp," Leo realized. He looked at Aphros in awe. "You train heroes, the same way Chiron does?"

Aphros nodded, a glint of pride in his eyes. "We have trained all the famous mer-heroes! Name a mer-hero, and we have trained him or her!"

"Oh, sure," Leo said. "Like…um, the Little Mermaid?"

Aphros frowned. "Who? No! Like Triton, Glaucus, Weissmuller, and Bill!"

"Oh!" Leo grinned, "I've heard of Triton- he's my big sisters brother-"

"The daughter of Poseidon, yes." Aphros nodded slowly, "We have heard great things of her- but we do not train children of Poseidon- Triton was our only exception. Undersea politics are complicated- and we value our independence."

"I'm surprised she hasn't found us-"

"We have powerful magics concealing this place- even from Poseidon's brood- besides, Prince Triton was visiting, I believe he went to inform her that you were safe enough-"

"So you're not gonna kill us?"

"We simply need to ensure that you are not a threat." Aphros informed them, "I am sure you understand. Would you do any less if it was your camp and you found strangers in a similar way to us finding you?" And Leo thought for a second before shrugging.

"I mean, you're probably not wrong." he agreed, "So, I guess you wanna know what happened?"

"Yes." Aphros nodded, "We cannot allow any risks to our trainees."

"Of course not. From the sounds of it you've trained some of the greats."

"Indeed!" Aphros pounded his chest. "I trained Bill myself. A great merman."

"You teach combat, I guess."

Aphros threw up his hands in exasperation. "Why does everyone assume that?"

Leo glanced at the massive sword on the fish-guy's back. "Uh, I don't know."

"I teach music and poetry!" Aphros said. "Life skills! Homemaking! These are important for heroes."

"Absolutely." Leo tried to keep a straight face. "Sewing? Cookie baking?"

"Yes. I'm glad you understand. Perhaps later, if I don't have to kill you, I will share my brownie recipe." Aphros gestured behind him contemptuously. "My brother Bythos—he teaches combat."

Leo paused- should he be offended that the combat trainer was interrogating Frank? Nah. They probably knew he was Percy's brother, that would get him some good faith he was sure.

"So- this is Camp-" Leo paused, "What do you even call it? Camp Fish-Blood?"

Aphros frowned. "I hope that was a joke. This is Camp _." He made a sound that was a series of sonar pings and hisses.

"Silly me," Leo said. "And, you know, I could really go for some of those brownies, just for the record."

"Yes, of course. But first you must tell me your story."

So that was what Leo did- he told Aphros everything- of course Aphros already knew the basics- that Leo was a son of Hephaestus who was the adoptive brother of Percy Jackson- though they hadn't identified him as such until Hazel told them his name.

By the time he was finished he felt exhausted- but he'd left nothing out, and when he was done Aphros nodded slowly- at some point he'd drawn some wicked looking metal spikes from his belt and he'd started knitting of all things- it was a very odd sight. And once
Leo was done he tucked his supplies away once more.

"Very well," Aphros said. "I believe you."

"As simple as that?"

"I am quite good at discerning lies. I hear none from you. Your story also fits with what Hazel Levesque told us. And, well, you are the brother of Poseidon's favored daughter."

"Is Hazel okay?"

"Of course," Aphros said. "She's fine." He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled, which sounded strange underwater—like a dolphin screaming. "My people will bring her here shortly. You must understand…our location is a carefully guarded secret. You and your friends showed up in a warship, pursued by one of Keto's sea monsters. We did not know whose side you were on. We didn't even know that the daughter of Poseidon was aboard the ship."

"Is the ship all right?"

"Damaged," Aphros said, "but not terribly. The skolopendra withdrew after it got a mouthful of fire. Nice touch."

"Thank you. Skolopendra? Never heard of it."

"Consider yourself lucky. They are nasty creatures. Keto must really hate you. At any rate, we rescued you and the other two from the creature's tentacles as it retreated into the deep. Your friends were searching for you; but we obscured their vision. We had to be sure you were not a threat. Otherwise, we would have had to…take measures. Then Prince Triton came and alerted us to the situation- but still we wished to confirm it ourselves. I am sure you can understand."

"Yeah, yeah I get it." Leo shifted slightly, "Does that mean that we can go back to my ship soon?" "Soon," Aphros promised. "I must check with Bythos. When he is done talking with your friend Gank—"

"Frank."

"Frank. When they are done, we will send you back to your ship. And we may have some warnings for you."

"Warnings?"

"Ah." Aphros pointed. Hazel emerged from the kelp forest, escorted by two vicious-looking mermaids, who were baring their fangs and hissing. Leo thought Hazel might be in danger. Then he saw she was completely at ease, grinning and talking with her escorts, and Leo realized that the mermaids were laughing.

"Leo!" Hazel paddled toward him. "Isn't this place amazing?" They were left alone at the ridge, which must have meant Aphros really did trust them. While the centaur and the mermaids went off to fetch Frank, Leo and Hazel floated above the hill and gazed down at the underwater camp.

Hazel told him how the mermaids had warmed up to her right away. Aphros and Bythos had been fascinated by her story, as they had never met a child of Pluto before. On top of that, they had heard many legends about the horse Arion, and they were amazed that Hazel had befriended him.

Hazel had promised to visit again with Arion. The mermaids had written their phone numbers in waterproof ink on Hazel's arm so that she could keep in touch. Leo didn't even want to ask how mermaids got cell-phone coverage in the middle of the Atlantic.
And hey, maybe that should be his next little project, making a phone that could be used underwater- it'd be useful for Percy at the very least.

Once she was done explaining her story Hazel asked about Frank, and Leo gave a small smile, "I'm pretty sure he's fine- he's being questioned now I think but he was there with me when I woke up. And Percy's brother Triton seems to be pretty respected here so everything should be okay I think. Aphros told me that Triton went to talk to her so the others should know we're okay too."

"That's good." Hazel let out a relieved breath. "All things considered it could have been a lot worse. You did really well Leo- quick thinking."

"Yeah." Leo pulled a face, "But I gotta say I would not like to do that again- I'll save the water stuff for Percy from here on out." he
snorted, "She wouldn't have nearly suffocated herself being a dumbass-"

"What?" Hazel blinked, "You nearly suffocated yourself?"

"Oh yeah." Leo laughed, "Decided to test my powers, did not work very well- freaked Frank out"

"Oh-" Hazel winced, her hand moving to press to her jacket pocket, "Of course that makes sense."

"Yeah, we talked about his fear of fire a bit- I think he was gonna tell me more when we got interrupted and taken to our interrogations."

"It's nice- that you're so okay with it." Hazel smiled slightly.

"Of course I am." Leo rolled his eyes almost fondly, "I get it, fear of fire I mean. When I was little I was scared of myself because of my powers. Fire's a dangerous force. Destructive."

"I-" Hazel shifted slightly, "It is. Especially for Frank- listen I hope you don't mind but- I can't really talk about it. It's not my place-"
"Hazel relax." Leo laughed and shook his head. "Frank can tell me if he wants to when he's ready. I am not gonna take it personally."

"You're a good guy." Hazel smiled warmly at him, "Seriously Leo."

"Yeah, well if you'd met me a few years back you'd have thought I was an annoying little shit. Percy helped me figure stuff out."

"She's good at that."

"Damn right she is. I just wish I could help her the same way."

"So do we-" Hazel started to speak but she was interrupted.

"There you are!" Bythos's voice made Leo jump- which made Hazel giggle.

Bythos and Aphros floated over with Frank between them, looking pale but okay. Frank studied Hazel and Leo carefully, as if trying to read what they'd been talking about.

"You are free to go," Bythos said. He opened his saddlebags and returned their confiscated supplies. Leo had never been so glad to fit his tool belt around his waist.

"Tell Percy Jackson not to worry," Aphros said. "We have understood your story about the imprisoned sea creatures in Atlanta. Keto and Phorcys must be stopped. We will send a quest of mer-heroes to defeat them and free their captives. Perhaps Cyrus?"

"Or Bill," Bythos offered.

"Yes! Bill would be perfect," Aphros agreed. "At any rate, we are grateful that Percy brought this to our attention. Be sure to tell her that."

"We will." Leo nodded, "She'll be upset that she missed the chance to meet you guys- she'd have probably asked her for stories about Triton when he was little-"

"Ah, that certainly would have been entertaining." Bythos smiled, "Perhaps some day she can visit us down here. But alas, not today."