A/N: Here's the next installment… thank you to those of you who were patient! Baby Drew is beautiful and healthy, and my family is COMPLETELY over the moon. Seriously on cloud nine, he is the cutest little thing I have ever seen and I've got a gazillion cousins so that is saying something. Thank you to everyone who offered congrats, I passed them along to Drew's parents and they were so touched!

And now, on to Percy!

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan's, not mine.

/

Chapter Eleven
Rhode: Part II

Utter silence reigned in the hall of Poseidon's court. Half the eyes were fixed on Percy, the other half on the royal family, wondering how this mini-soap opera was going to unfold.

"Papa?" Percy whispered, his voice like a gunshot in the sudden silence had come over the speakers. His tone was worried as he looked between his father's furious expression and the cold indifference on Rhode's.

"Papa?" he repeated when Poseidon did not answer him. "Papa, what is a half-breed?"

"It does not matter, Percy," Triton said, getting to his feet to glare down his nose at his sister. "By the Gods, Rhode, not another word. Now is hardly the time for such a discussion."

"What needs discussing?" Rhode sneered, her cold eyes fixing again on Percy. It angered her when Triton took a step forward and moved slightly over so that he partially blocked the bastard from her view. "I cannot believe that you of all people, mother, are allowing a half-breed bastard to sit on a throne of Atlantis!"

"Rhode," Poseidon thundered, lunging to his feet. "That is enough out of you. Be silent."

"What's a bastard?" Percy whispered.

"Out," Poseidon thundered at the court, who hastened to obey him. The doors swung shut a moment later, sealing the royal family into the room. He swung his furious sea green eyes to his daughter and said, "One more word, Rhode —one— and you will regret it severely."

The threat was enough to get Rhode to shut her mouth and glare between her parents.

"Triton," Amphitrite said calmly, "will you please take your brother and get him ready for bed?"

"But mama!" Percy protested in dismay, looking out the windows, "my bed time is not for another hour at least!"

His protests were cut off when Triton picked him up under the arms and lifted him off the platform, keeping one hand on Percy's shoulder as he steered his brother from the room. They were halfway to their rooms when the little boy broke the silence.

"Triton, what's a bastard?" he whispered fearfully, stepping closer so that his side brushed against Triton's as they walked.

"It does not matter, Percy," Triton told him quietly as they reached his room. "Rhode is a cruel and self-centered sea cow, and everyone knows it. Do not listen to what she says. Her opinion does not matter. Mother and father love you, and I love you, and that is all that matters."

"You love me?" repeated Percy in an awed whisper, ducking his head shyly and braving a glance at his older brother's brooding expression as Triton hauled the doors to his room open. "I thought I was just annoying to you most of the time."

"You are not annoying. Well, some of the time you are, but s am I," Triton sighed, lifting Percy onto the trunk at the end of his bed and helped him out of his tunic. "I should tell you more, but I am hardly a person who excels with feelings. Just remember you are my little brother and I would die for you without a thought."

"No dying," he protested, suddenly looking very young as his lip quivered. "Are mother and father angry with me?"

"No." Triton helped him tug off his boots, tossing them over beside the wardrobe. "They are angry with Rhode. By Olympus, Percy, you could set the palace on fire and they would not get angry with you."

"The palace is underwater," Percy pointed out with a giggle as he pulled on the nightshirt his brother handed him.

"And you are a smart aleck," Triton countered with a grin, pouncing on his brother and tickling him mercilessly. They rolled around on the floor, the child's screeches high-pitched to match his older brother's deeper laugh. "Now come on, into bed," he encouraged, scooping his brother up and dumping him unceremoniously in the middle of his mattress.

"Aww," Percy whined, jutting his lip out. Triton rolled his eyes and flicked it, drawing a grin out of the little boy. He nudged Percy until he lay down on his pillows and pulled the comforter up, tucking it around the boy's form.

"Sleep well, little brother. I will see you in the morning." Triton bent to kiss the top of his brother's head, noting with a soft smile that Percy was already half asleep.

"Night," Percy whispered, rolling over and burrowing into the softness of his bed and pillow. He was asleep before the door swung shut behind Triton.

/

Percy woke up all at once, sitting bolt upright and wondering what had woken him. A parrot fish nudged him on the temple, and he smiled at it. It would seem he had a little visitor this morning.

Son of the sea God, son of the Sea God, the fish was whispering in awe.

"Good morning," he told the fish pleasantly, who swam in a few rapid circles around his head and gave off a sense of happiness. He threw off his covers and scooted to the edge of his bed, making a beeline for his wardrobe and pulling off his nightshirt and socks, quickly dressing himself in normal clothes and skipping out the door. The parrot fish had already swam out the window, pleased he'd gotten to see the son of the Sea God.

A dolphin chirped at him as it swam down the hallway, and he grinned and waved as he broke into a run, headed to the dining room. He would eat breakfast, and then hurry to Triton to ask for help putting his armor on, and then he could do his absolute favorite thing: sword training with his brother. And later this afternoon, father was supposed to help him practice manipulating the currents.

"Mama," he called out as he raced into the dining room, "do you know where my armor is?"

He looked around quickly, but who he had assumed was his mother was in fact Rhode. Percy froze, remembering his brother's words from last night, his expression now wary.

"Oh, you," Rhode sneered, looking down her nose at him. One of the servants frowned at her, not appreciating the attitude towards the young prince, especially because Percy's feelings were obviously hurt.

Percy swallowed and looked around, but this morning he had actually beaten his parents and brother to breakfast for a change. He wished that Triton was here with him; he didn't know Rhode but he knew that for some reason she hated him.

"What part of the surface world do you come from then, spawn?"

"Atlantis," he responded in a confused voice, edging towards the door. "Elith, do you know where my father is?" he asked the servant.

"He was called away last night; there is unusual activity far in the north. He went with one of the merman generals to see if this is an act of Oceanus," Elith told him softly and with a kind smile, trying to urge him with her eyes to ignore the vindictive princess.

"Oh," he said in a small voice. "And mother?"

"She is present at the newest Longfin child's birth celebration for the moment and should return shortly. The child was a boy who was born late last night and he is healthy."

"Bill has a brother?" Percy grinned, momentarily distracted. "Awesome!"

"Indeed," the servant smiled, drifting towards the kitchens. "I will return with your breakfast in a moment, young prince."

Percy wanted to ask her to not leave him alone with his sister, but held his tongue. His uneasiness increased when the servant vanished, and he began to silently pray to his father that Triton would appear any moment.

"So, the half-breed," Rhode said coldly, her lips curling into a cruel smile. "I am surprised you have not run away yet."

He held his silence, his unease increasing to something like fear.

"Well, half-breed, can you speak or not?"

"Stop calling me that," he said. "Triton says it does not matter what I am."

"Oh, but you are a half-breed, and it does matter."

"Not to mother. Not to father. Certainly not to Triton," he countered as he edged closer to the door.

"Oh? And what about the part where you are a bastard?"

Percy frowned. He didn't know what that meant, and it frustrated him.

Rhode scowled and crossed her arms. "How far our line has fallen, allowing a Demigod half-breed brat in Atlantis. I never thought I would see a half-human in the position of power, especially a child who shares no blood with the Queen of Atlantis!"

He faltered just inside the doorway staring at her. "What?" he whispered.

"Did you not know?" Rhode said with false sincerity. "Oh, you poor thing." Her lips curled into a malicious smirk. "You did not even know that Amphitrite is not your mother, how tragic."

"She is!" Percy shouted, the volume catching Rhode off guard. Tears glistened in the boy's eyes. "She is my mother!"

"Not by blood," she taunted. "You belong on the surface world. You are not one of us."

"I am!" he yelled, clenching his small hands into fists.

Rhode laughed, her eyes glittering like a sea snake's. "You are a whelp. You are only here because father's heart would not allow him to abandon you after uncle murdered your mother with his lightning bolt."

Percy faltered, staring at her in horror. "My mother is alive and well," he countered in a shaking voice.

"Your mother is buried on the surface. She is not your mother, you whelp. She is mine, mine and Triton's!"

There was a sharp tug just below Percy's navel. With a yell, his temper exploded. Rhode slammed into the wall and fell, unconscious, but Percy didn't notice. He ran blindly from the room, tears streaming down his face as his breath came in quick gasps. He went straight for his room, questions pounding in his head as he went over what Rhode had told him. Since his mother and father were not there, he needed to talk to someone else, someone who would know.

He dug through his sock drawer, pulling out the old wool socks Aphros had knitted him that didn't fit anymore. The pearl was still there. It glimmered in his palm as Percy sank against the wall and curled his knees up to his chest. Was Rhode right? Was his mother his mother, or was she not? He did not know but he was starting to get afraid that Rhode was telling the truth. Why else would Triton have insisted that it hardly mattered, but not answer his question?

Wiping his tears on his shirt, Percy stared down at the pearl, rubbing his thumb against its shimmering surface. He clenched it in his fist and started when he felt it crush in his grasp. His eyes widened, and before he could even blink, the world around him dissolved.

Percy made a terrified sound as the world around him vanished. When he opened his eyes again, it felt a lot hotter. Shaking, he looked around, noting he was on the bank of a filthy river. The colors were all weird—where was the faint shimmer of light coming through the water, the blue and green tinge to everything, the kelp gardens flowing in the gentle currents? Everything here looked so . . . orange.

Where am I? he thought desperately. This was certainly not home.

He was standing beside dirty water. He backed away from it quickly and jumped nearly a foot when he heard a deep rumbling growl behind him. The little boy spun around and felt more tears start to leak down his face. Some kind of gate was in front of him, and there were two lines of people with signs over them but he couldn't read them because the letters got all scrambled. There were two creepy looking guys guarding the entrance and he could have sworn they were skeletons.

And of course, a gigantic three-headed black dog that seemed to somewhat fade in and out of his vision.

Terror arched through him as he stumbled backwards and away from it. The dog looked just as surprised to see him as he was to see it, but at present he was too scared to realize that. Cerberus sniffed the air, recognized the scent of the angry man who had come to visit once before. The scent was so strong on the boy that it elicited a sharp whine at the memory.

Teeth clacking together and rattling, one of the skeletons moved towards him, a strange device pointed at him.

Percy skittered sideways, avoiding the lines of people, wanting to cry harder when he realized he had just put himself between the skeleton and the dog who was continuing to growl above him. Terrified, he could only watch as the skeleton thing got nearer and he backed up closer and closer to the monster.

When the skeleton reached for him, Percy ducked, spun, and bolted. He couldn't go forward, and he couldn't go sideways, so he went the only way he could go—straight between the dog's legs and through the gate, skidding to a halt a few feet within.

It was hot here, and dry, and there was screaming a fields of endless people roaming aimlessly and a gigantic looking palace in the distance. All of which appeared to be cast in the glow of flames.

A hand on his shoulder made him jerk and scream, twisting away from the skeleton and sprinting towards the palace, tripping on the surface and skinning his knees and elbows when he landed. He could hear the rattling of the thing behind him, could feel his heart pounding so hard that it felt like it was going to burst from his chest. He felt weak, weaker than he ever had before. His head was pounding and he just wanted to go home.

Sobbing, he ran from the skeleton. He ran from the dog. He ran from everything.

There were more skeletons coming, running towards him brandishing all kinds of weapons. He froze, realizing they were coming at him from all sides, and hugged himself because he didn't stand a chance. He didn't have any weapons or amour, and could only watch as they drew closer.

Percy realized suddenly that he was in the Underworld, he had to be. It looked just like the pictures he had learned about. Swallowing, he watched the skeletons get ever nearer. It took him by surprise when they stopped suddenly, their heads tipped back.

Dreading what he was about to see, Percy followed their gaze and barely held back his cry of terror.

/

E/N: EHEHEHEHE CLIFFHANGER…. I AM SATAN HEAR ME ROAR. Not really. Sorry, it's a Tumblr thing. Hope y'all enjoyed it.

Don't worry. Hades will be in the next chapter. Any guesses on what Percy saw that made him so scared?

Expect Pt. III sometime next week at the earliest. I know you guys want me to update this quicker, but I only have 3 weeks plus finals until I am done with this semester and I am currently drowning in final projects and essays. Love you all dearly!

Reviews are always loved!