In which Percy is not impressed by her newest sibling.
Replies:
Undeath9087: I cannot comment on the when as spoilers, but yeah they would be lol.
Guest: I don't disagree, and it's hard rewriting it and trying to figure out where to change stuff and how lol. But the belt was, I believe, Hippolyta's belt, possibly given by one of the gods I'd guess? It's the one Hercules had to steal for one of his labors.
Percy was very, very pissed off.
She wasn't sure exactly what it was below the waves causing the story that was making the Argo II rock from side to side like a seasaw, but she did not appreciate it.
Even she wasn't able to calm the storm the way she usually could, which meant that whatever it was was probably something or someone rather powerful and that rarely boded well for her.
The others were all struggling too, Luke was with Leo- trying to help him by the controls- they'd both strapped themselves to the console to stop themselves from getting washed away.
Piper, Thalia and Annabeth were trying to save the rigging- Thalia had tried to help Percy fight the storm but it hadn't done much good, and Annabeth and Piper needed her help more than Percy did.
Frank meanwhile had turned into a gorilla. He was swinging upside down off the starboard rail, using his massive strength and his flexible feet to hang on while he untangled some broken oars.
Leo wanted to try and get them airborne. Percy wasn't sure how much that would help, but it would probably be at least a little bit better.
The problem was that Percy didn't think they'd manage to take off.
She had planted herself by the centre mast and she was doing everything she could- every time the ship tilted she'd push the water in the other direction to stabilize the hull.
She summoned giant fists of water from the ocean to slam into the larger waves before they reached the deck. But there was only so much she could do. She wasn't even able to focus enough to keep herself dry, but at least she was getting a bit of a boost from the spray of the water hitting her. It wasn't much but it would help. Though Percy wasn't sure for how long it would keep helping.
And eventually she wouldn't be able to keep this up.
What she needed was to go down there and deal with whatever was causing this personally. But going down alone probably wasn't a good idea.
Luckily for her Jason chose that moment to stagger to her side, grabbing her shoulder- and she gave him a short little nod. "There's something down there!" She had to yell the words- she couldn't even hear her own voice over the crashing of the waves and the roar of the wind- she had to hope he could hear her. Or at least figure out roughly what she was saying, "We need to go and stop it!" she pointed towards the side of the ship.
Jason stared at her, clearly saying something- but the words were whisked away into the storm. Percy pulled a face, pointing to her ear and shaking her head before she pressed her hands together and made a diving motion before tapping Jackson on the chest.
After all he was probably her best option for back up down there- the others all had other tasks and Jason had a lot of experience.
Jason seemed to get the message, though he did try and yell something back to her- but he was nodding so Percy could take that as a yes.
She gave a small shrug, letting him know that she couldn't hear what he was saying. And then she was sprinting towards the starboard rail and she pushed another massive wave away from the ship as she jumped overboard.
She reveled in the feeling of being swallowed up by the water, even in the midst of the storm. She couldn't help but smile to herself as she pushed herself deeper, and below the surface it was calmer, at least for her. Percy wasn't sure how it would be for Jason. And maybe she should have waited, she wasn't sure how he'd actually get down, but it was too late now.
In any case she swam down, deeper and deeper until she reached a ledge which jutted over an even deeper abyss- which was saying something because they were very deep.
And she watched curiously as a shaft of green light swept through the darkness like a spotlight before it disappeared. And she could sense it. The source of the storm was definitely down there.
After what felt like forever but was probably no more than five minutes or so Jason arrived-and Percy had to stop herself from laughing. It was a strange sight- he was surrounded by a sort of tornado, the air whirling around him, almost forming a coocoon.
It seemed that Jason had his own way of travelling Underwater. She should probably take note of that for the future. "Hey."
"What's going on?" Jason's voice sounded slightly distant, but it was still audible. And she pointed down into the void- the light kept coming back, so she didn't have to wait long, maybe three seconds and the shaft of green light was sweeping through the darkness once more.
"Something's down there." she declared, "Stirring up the storm." she eyed Jason's tornado, "Do you think you can hold your new look together if we go down deeper? I might be able to handle it alone but I'd rather have back up."
"I don't even known how I'm doing it now." Jason snorted,
"I-" Percy paused, "Cannot judge because I've been there, done that before. But hey, we can pull this off Superman."
That made Jason laugh and he mock glared, "Shut up Jackson."
"Your sister might be a Jackson some day you know-"
"Don't remind me." Jason shook his head.
"C'mon." Percy gave a wry smile. "Let's go see what's down there shall we?"
Then Percy was diving deeper, it got darker and darker, not that it bothered Percy. And she glanced at Jason as she swum down, checking on him from time to time as she followed the searchlight whenever it shot upward.
And then the darkness lessened. Soft white luminous patches, like schools of jellyfish, floated before them as they approached the seafloor, and Percy could recognie glowing fields of algae, which surrounded the ruins of a palace. . Silt swirled through empty courtyards with abalone floors. Barnacle-covered Greek columns marched into the gloom. In the centre of the complex rose a citadel larger than Grand Central Station, its walls encrusted with pearls, its domed golden roof cracked open like an egg.
And it looked so familiar that it made Percy's chest feel tight. Though it wasn't until Jason spoke that she realised why.
"Is this Atlantis?"
And Percy blinked- because yes, yes that was what it reminded her of. Her father's palace. And it made her uneasy because, well, it was a ruin.
"No, no it's not. And for the record the only Atlantis is my dads kingdom." Percy said quickly. "Not the story of a kingdom sinking. But this does remind me of Atlantis." as she said that they floated through the broken dome and into the shadows, "It feels wrong though. Seeing it like this-" and then the green spotlight flashed directly below them and Percy yelped, covering her eyes.
She could hear Jason hitting the marble floor, but she couldn't see for a good few seconds.
And when she could Percy came face to face with the one who had to be responsible for the storm.
She was at least twenty-foot tall, clad in a flowing green dress, cinched at the waist with a belt of abalone shells. Her skin was as luminous white as the fields of algae. Her hair swayed and glowed like jellyfish tendrils.
Her face was beautiful but unearthly – her eyes too bright, her features too delicate, her smile too cold, as if she'd been studying human smiles and hadn't quite mastered the art.
Her hands rested on a disc of polished green metal about six feet in diameter, sitting on a bronze tripod, which she turned like a steering wheel.
A shaft of green light shot upward, churning the water, shaking the walls of the old palace. Shards from the domed ceiling broke and tumbled down in slow motion.
"You're making the storm," Jason said.
"Indeed I am." The woman's voice was melodic – yet it had a strange resonance, as if it extended past the human range of hearing. It seemed to make Jason feel uncomfortable for some reason.
"Okay, I'll bite," Percy said, crossing her arms and quirking an eyebrow at her. "Who are you, and what do you want?"
The woman turned towards her. "Why, I am your sister, Persephone Jackson. And I wanted to meet you before you die."
And Percy blinked at that, once, twice then three times.
Jason was the first to respond. "Uh, Percy do you know this individual?"
And Percy tilted her head, her eyes narrowing as she looked the woman up and down slowly. "I've met a lot of my siblings on my dads side." she said the words slowly, "I don't think I've heard of you but these days I lose track. Are you a nice one like Triton and Tyson or are you more like Antaeus?"
The pale lady raked her fingernails against the metal disc, making a screeching sound like a tortured whale. "No one knows me," she sighed. "Why would I assume my own sisterwould recognize me? I am Kymopoleia!"
"In my defence-" Percy raised her hands, "I have been through a heck of a lot. Honestly you cannot blame me for struggling to remember because dad has not always been good at keeping it in his pants and there are a lot of us sea spawn running around-"
"Percy-" Jason looked at her like she was crazy, "Seriously?"
"What, it's true!" Percy gave an innocent grin, "You can't be mad if it's true. Anyway Kym, sis, can I call you Kym, if you want me to know who you are you should tell me more-"
"She means that respectfully." Jason looked like he wanted to slap Percy upside her head, which honestly, fair.
"You." The goddess turned her full attention to Jason, pointing at him, "Jason Grace, son of Jupiter."
"Yeah. I'm a friend of Percy's."
Kym's narrowed. "So it's true … these times make for strange friends and unexpected enemies. The Romans never worshipped me. To them, I was a nameless fear – a sign of Neptune's greatest wrath. They never worshipped Kymopoleia, the goddess of violent sea storms!"
She spun her disc. Another beam of green light flashed upward, churning the water and making the ruins rumble.
"Uh, yeah," Percy said. "The Romans aren't big on navies. They had, like, one rowboat. Which I refused to use. Speaking of violent storms, you're doing a first-rate job upstairs."
"Thank you," said Kym.
"Thing is, our ship is caught in it, and it's kind of being ripped apart. I'm sure you didn't mean to –"
Oh, yes, I did."
"You did." Percy grimaced. "Well … that sucks. I don't suppose you'd cut it out, then, if we asked nicely?"
"No," the goddess agreed. "Even now, the ship is close to sinking. I'm rather amazed it's held together this long. Excellent workmanship."
"What do you want?" Percy asked, swimming closer to her half sister. "What is it going to take for you to stop being a bitch?"
"Hah!" Kym laughed. "Oh yes you're definitely one of our brood. Tell me you two. Do you know where you are?"
"You mean the ruins?" Jason frowned, "An ancient palace?"
"Indeed, the original palace of my father, Poseidon."
"That makes sense." Percy nodded, "It looks like his newer one in the Atlantic."
"I wouldn't know." Kym's voice was angry "I am never unvited to see my parents. Unlike you I am not welcome there. I can only wander the ruins of their old domains. They find my presence … disruptive."
She spun her wheel again. The entire back wall of the building collapsed, sending a cloud of silt and algae through the chamber.
"Disruptive?" Jason said. "You?"
"My father does not welcome me in his court," Kym said. "He restricts my powers. This storm above? I haven't had this much fun in ages, yet it is only a small taste of what I can do!" her eyes settled on Percy. "He even married me off- and yet there you are sister. His favorite daughter- favorite child." and oh, oh for fuck sake. There was no way that this goddess was jealous of her was there? Except yes, yes she knew better than that.
"You're fucking jealous of me!"
