A/N: Wowza! Blown away by the number of reviews, favorites, and follows! You guys totally made my day and gave me a sound kick in the behind to get this next chapter out! You all rock and I love you dearly! *hands cookies* Enjoy!

Also, for the sake of the story, Sally died beside the ocean. As I have told a couple of reviewers, I could not think of another place close enough to the ocean where Poseidon would have been able to get there quickly for Percy. Also, I really don't know enough about the sheer power of the master bolt or about Poseidon's powers against it. As such I don't know if he could actually save a mortal when she's sitting in water seeing as water is such a good conductor of electricity. Plot hole, I know.

Anyway, it's mostly just a plot device, people. Percy needed to be by the ocean, so I stuck him by the ocean. Just roll with it. ;)

Disclaimer: I, no matter how much I may wish it, am in no way Rick Riordan. I also, no matter how much I may wish it, do not hold his genius in creating these characters. Only he does. Sadly.

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Chapter Two
Bastard Child

Poseidon had quickly become so furious he could barely see straight. He materialized just outside his palace doors and swept inside with a purpose, his sleeping baby son held protectively against his chest. Servants, mermen, dolphins, and other sea creatures bolted at the sight of him. It had been centuries since they had seen that particular expression on his face, but all knew to get out of the way or risk being blasted by his trident.

He was seething. How dare Zeus attack his lover and child! How dare he take Percy's mother from him! How dare he actually have the NERVE to blast her when she was right at the edge of HIS DOMAIN! As if he had ever sent anything after any of Zeus or Hades' children, and considering he had an entire sea of monsters at his disposal that was saying something.

Gritting his teeth, he stormed into the throne room.

"Out," he barked, power rolling off his voice. It appeared they were in the middle of a council meeting, but no matter. All but Amphitrite scattered, not wishing to face his wrath. His wife, on the other hand, had been used to his mood swings for centuries now and merely raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by his rarely displayed temper.

Poseidon may have been known as one of the more laid-back of the Olympians, but his emotions mirrored the ocean, and an angry God of the Sea was a force to be reckoned with.

Amphitrite stood and swept her dark hair over her shoulder, staring down at him with an expressionless face.

"My wife, I bring grave news," he said gruffly. As he neared her he unconsciously lifted his free hand to cup the back of Percy's head as if to protect him from Amphitrite's wrath.

"What is that?" she demanded coolly, trying to get a good look at whatever was cradled so tenderly in his hands, braced against his broad chest. Her husband's hands were so large, all she could see were two tiny, delicate feet, peeking out from under the edge of his palm.

"This is not a that, it is a he," Poseidon said quietly, forcing himself to move his hand down to Percy's back, giving his wife the first glimpse of the baby.

Amphitrite's lips thinned. It was a child, she noted — a human-looking child. He had smooth white skin that reminded her of marble, a shock of dark hair that looked as if it were as soft as velvet, and puckered pink lips. She could not deny the child was lovely, and as she watched, the baby shifted and murmured in his sleep, snuggling into Poseidon's warmth and sticking his thumb in his mouth.

"Who is this he?" she asked, though she already knew the answer. She had suspected it for months.

"His name is Perseus Jackson," her husband admitted, "and he is my son."

Taking a sharp step back, Amphitrite gave him a cold look. "And so you, too, have broken your oath on the Styx," she said accusingly, trying to hide the pain that was surging through her chest. Poseidon's expression tightened, and for the first time, she noted the warring fury and grief that raged within him. Her eyes turned to the child, blazing with anger.

Poseidon moved backwards, anger snapping in his eyes now. He turned his body slightly, putting his shoulder between her and the baby. This shocked her more than anything, that he was willing to shield the infant with his own body. "This child is my son," he reminded her coldly, "and his mother was just killed by Zeus. His scent is strong enough that he will be hunted all his life. He will stay here. It is the only place I can keep him safe."

"No," she said fiercely, baring her teeth. "I will not let this — this — this bastard — "

If anything, his gaze grew even angrier. "You, who have never harmed an innocent creature, would hate this baby purely because it was I who broke an oath and hurt you?" he thundered. "By Hades, Amphitrite, it is not Percy's fault he was born! If you are to be angry with anyone, be angry with me. Not him. He does not deserve it."

Over the centuries, Amphitrite had grown accustomed to the grief and pain of knowing her husband was unfaithful. She was not Hera, however. There was no open hatred, no desire to kill or harm those children who were half her husband's. No matter how hard she tried, she could never bring herself to do so, for each time she looked at them — the demigods especially — she saw Poseidon in each of them.

"I will not raise your bastard," she said coolly, pointedly not looking at the baby sleeping so innocently in her husband's grasp. It has been so long since you have been around one so young, her conscious pestered her. He is innocent… look at his sweet little face.

"Amphitrite, if I take him to the surface, Zeus will kill him the moment my back is turned," Poseidon said softly, suddenly not looking at her. The pain etched on his face hurt her more than she cared to admit, for she knew he grieved the loss of his lover greatly. Eyes raging with emotion fixed on the baby sleeping in his embrace, his gaze softening as Percy slumbered on, so innocent and naïve to the fact that his mother had just been violently wrenched from him forever. "I — I could not bear to lose him, as well."

Her resolve was deteriorating quickly. She could sense the seas raging with his emotions, the sudden storms pounding the coast lines, the ships endangered by the force of his wrath. And he was furious, more furious than he had ever been in all the centuries she had stood by his side.

Poseidon had never treated his demigod children as the rest of his family did. Always, he loved them fiercely and did everything in his power to help them, to guide them. It was not in his nature to be cold and indifferent to his children, as those such as Ares and Zeus were. And so she knew he would never let this child return to the surface world until he was old enough to defend himself, for his death would mean the death of part of his heart.

And she loved her husband, had loved him through all the long centuries that blended into millennia. She had loved him even when he strayed, because always he came back to her and their children.

Pleadingly, Poseidon said, "Look at him, Amphitrite." He shifted Percy slightly, turning him partially towards her, giving her a full view of the slumbering infant.

Amphitrite bit her lip, gazing down into his small face. Taking a deep breath to steady her resolve, she stepped closer to him and held out her hands.

"May I hold him?" she asked softly, treating her husband to a soft smile.

When those broad shoulders slumped in relief, Amphitrite had to bite her lip to still the tears that wanted to fall. Hands that were always so tender with her gently set the sleeping infant in her arms, and for the first time she got a good look at him up close.

"He looks like you," she noted softly, tracing a finger down his velvet cheek, marveling at the long, dark eyelashes swept against his alabaster cheeks.

Poseidon said nothing, struggling to control the anger and grief within him. He was surprised when Amphitrite reached up and cupped the back of his neck in her hand, pulling his head down to her shoulder. With a suddenness that surprised him, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, squeezing his eyes tightly shut as he remembered Sally, so still and lifeless on the shore.

Amphitrite felt her own tears building as she gently stroked her hand through his hair. He was silent, but kept his forehead resting on the top of her shoulder. She suddenly realized how cruel Zeus had been, to hurt her husband in such a way, to hurt Hades in such a way. Had Persephone tried to comfort him, as she tried to comfort Poseidon? She doubted it.

Her gaze rested on the beautiful little boy cradled in her right arm, and she felt a fury akin to her husband's building in her chest.

Her husband had been right — she could not bring herself to hate something so small, so innocent, so helpless to defend itself. It infuriated her that Zeus had tried to kill such a helpless creature, had torn from him forever the mother who had carried him, birthed him, and loved him with all her being. What if it had been Poseidon killed, and Triton abandoned? The mere thought made her balk in mixed fury and terror, and she suddenly understood at least a little bit where he was coming from.

"I am so sorry," she whispered in her husband's ear. "I am angry with you, my lord, but in time I may forgive you."

"I can ask for no less, wife," he said tightly, finally releasing her and stepping back. Lifting a hand, he stroked his fingers over the top of the baby's head, staring down at him. When he met her gaze once more, his eyes were still raging with barely controlled emotion but were noticeably calmed as only she could calm him. "My wife, I must venture to Hades' realm. There are words I wish to have with him."

Worry surged through her. "It is dangerous to go into his realm, my lord," she reminded him. "Your powers will be greatly diminished there."

Poseidon smiled bitterly. "For once, my wife, he and I have something in common," he said gravely. "There is something I wish to ask of him, and to do so I must go to his realm. Can I trust you to look after Percy until I return?"

"Of course, my lord," Amphitrite said softly, dropping her gaze to the floor. She did not look up when his lips pressed to her forehead, did not raise her eyes until she sensed that he was gone.

"By the Gods, what a mess," she murmured, sinking back down onto her throne with her husband's bastard in her arms. She wanted to hate him, oh how she wanted to hate he and Poseidon both, but she could not.

Just then, Perseus — Percy, Poseidon had called him — began to stir. The small baby made a sleepy sound of confusion and slowly blinked his eyes open, staring up at her with the exact shade of her husband's eyes. There was such innocence in his gaze that the last of her resolve crumbled.

For one long moment he stared up at her, before he broke into a huge toothless grin and stuck his arms up in the air with a happy squeal, kicking his little feet against the water. On instinct she slipped her index finger into his palm and he grasped it tightly, pulling it to his mouth and gnawing on it with vigor.

"Oh, Hades," she breathed, staring down at the infant in her arms as an answering smile stretched across her own face, for in that one simple moment he had stolen her heart just as Triton had the moment he was born.

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E/N: *squeeeeeeee* Baby Percy is seriously so freaking cute to write. Prepare yourself for some adorable baby Percy moments in the coming chapters! I am having WAY too much fun with this!

UP NEXT: An extremely angry Poseidon travels to the Underworld to ask a favor of his brother, Hades. Insults fly. Floods are threatened. Agreements are reached . . . kinda.

Please review! ;D