A/N: I know it took me forever to post and I know how frustrating that can be from the reader perspective. After all that drama with the threats, I kind of lost my muse for a while. Needless to say she has returned to some degree but I do not know how long she will stick around. Thank you to those of you who have been so kind and supporting of this story, its content, its plot, and its author. I appreciate it a lot, more than words can say. Bless you all.

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns it, not me.

Chapter Thirteen
Rhode: Part IV

Triton scrubbed a hand over his face and fought back the tide of annoyance that was making him struggle over control of his powers. They itched just beneath the surface of his skin as he internally fumed. Percy knew better than to be late, by the Gods, why would he choose to be late now? He was even going to use real swords today because Percy had earned it.

Plus it would take his mind off their sea-cow of a sister. Rhode never had been one for tact and she had not just put her fin in her mouth. Their parents were furious with her and to be honest it kind of amused him. He never had been very fond of her, she was far too obsessed with her reflection like that fool Narcissus.

He was a tad upset that he had missed Poseidon's blow up in the throne room after he had left with his little brother. Poseidon's rants were a sight to behold, and so long as they were not pointed at him, he was more than happy to sit by and observe. If the servant gossip was anything to go by, he had been far from pleased by his daughter's selfish behavior.

"Percy," he barked as he made it to the breakfast room, "of all the days to be late—"

Two paces inside the archway he froze, taking in the scene of an overturned dining table, an angry sister, and a noticeable absence of his parents and little brother. The servants were glaring at Rhode with contempt in their eyes even though they did not dare say a word against her.

His brain had hyper focused on the fact that Percy was not there.

Triton felt something similar to dread start to curl in his gut. Percy had just turned seven and he was such a sensitive kid so eager to please it was entirely unlike him to be late. He was never late, not unless Carthos was holding him over in his lessons or if he was in trouble.

"Where is Percy?" he demanded, looking around the room in rising panic.

"The little whelp attacked me," Rhode sniffed, swiping a hand through her flowing hair and glaring at him. "Why mother puts up with him is beyond me, he is a strange one."

"Rhode," he said in a dangerously calm voice, hands fisting at his sides, "where is he?"

"He ran off." She smirked, her tail swishing idly in the still waters of the room. "I know not where, Triton, so there is hardly any need to get angry at m—where in the name of the Underworld are you going?"

"Elith, where did my brother go?" he demanded of the servant, who was only too eager to answer.

"Towards his rooms, my lord," she said instantly. "He was upset, sire, she mentioned that the queen is not his mother by blood and that she believed he did not belong here. I heard it from the hallway. The sea surged then, sir, like it does when you and your father lose control of your anger. By the time I got in here he was gone and the princess was rubbing her head."

"Thank you," he told the servant, giving his sister his best glare before turning his back on her.

"Where are you going?" Rhode repeated in a confused tone.

Triton ignored her, changing into his normal form, feeling his tails swish the water before he was racing off as fast as he could manage. His father was dealing with a possible threat of Oceanus stirring, but this was Percy and Percy was gone. He had to find his father and warn him. He felt powerless. All he could do was hope that Zeus had not discovered their secret.

Percy, please be okay.

Poseidon had just concluded that Oceanus was not in fact stirring in the deep any more than usual when he sensed his son approaching rapidly from the south.

"Triton," he said mildly as the blur of water took the shape of his eldest son, "what drags you away from your precious training fields at this hour?"

His eyebrows arched up when he realized that Triton was in his green-skinned merman form, a form he had not taken since Percy was an infant because it had frightened the boy. Over the years it had just become habit to appear human as the sea god did, he supposed. It was almost strange to see his son like that again.

"Percy," Triton panted, his flanks heaving. "Something happened, father. He is gone."

His stomach dropped straight to his toes. "Gone?" he choked, panic rising in his throat. "What do you mean, gone!?"

"Not in the palace," his son expanded. "Not on the training grounds, nor anywhere in Atlantis. The dolphins are searching for him as we speak. The servants claim he was upset after Rhode attacked him. She told him that mother was not his mother by blood, that he was a bastard child not fit to sit on a throne, that—"

The sea surged in fury, so strongly that Triton cut off mid-sentence and watched as his father's eyes darkened and his hand tightened around his trident. Delphin chirped beside him and the sound was far from its usual cheerfulness.

"We must find him," Poseidon said, his voice echoing with rage and fear alike.

Triton could do no more than nod and grab his father as they dissolved into bubbles and the hunt for the lost prince began. Poseidon fought to control the sea, to stamp down his anger, but his son was missing and if Zeus found him, everything would come to an end.

They had to find him before Zeus did.

They had to.

Percy's life depended on it.

E/N: Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are appreciated. I love you all dearly. This is not beta'd and I didn't have much time to look it over, so please let me know of any mistakes you find. :)