Who Am I?

Chapter 10

*Poseidon's POV*

Sam and I rushed over to the palace as fast as we could. Danny, limp in my arms, was still unconscious and except for breathing heavily, he never moved. Growing worried, I swam even faster until I reached the main entrance. I didn't even bother with the usual hassles of dealing with the guards; There was no time for that. I pushed right through them despite their attempts to stop me.

"Sire?"

"Y-Your majesty? Where are you going? What's going on?"

"This is no time for stupid questions!" I replied in an annoyed, impatient tone. "Move! Get out of the way!"

A couple of guards were nearly knocked over as I came through the entrance and down the main hallway. Needless to say, their state of being wasn't important to me at the time. All that mattered was getting to the healers' room as soon as I possibly could. Sam followed close behind me, never taking her eyes off of Danny as we proceeded down the massive hallway.

To say that the palace was 'huge' was ironically a huge understatement. The entire area was massive, and if you didn't know where you were at or where you were headed as well as those EXACT locations, you could easily be lost in the labyrinth of the halls for weeks. Luckily for the current situation, the room where we needed to go was straight down from the main lobby. Within a few minutes, we arrived, and already, the room was filled with medics and other healers.

"Poseidon, we're all ready to tend to the injured soul. Is this him?"

"Yes, this is the one," I replied as I laid Danny's lifeless body on the soft bed in the middle of the room.

"Be extremely gentle with him. He's hurt bad."

"Pardon me, Your Majesty, but what happened to him?"

"He was burned by one of the guards at the north gate. The wounds are still fresh, though. That's why you need to use extreme caution while treating him."

The healers nodded and bowed in respect.

"We will be gentle with this one, Your Majesty."

I bowed in return, giving one last glance at the white-haired teen. I cupped his cheek and brushed the hair out of his face. My hand slid from his face down to his chest, which rose up and down slowly with great effort. Instead of a heart beat, I heard a soft vibration coming from his weakened core. It startled me at first when I realized he didn't have a pulse. I took note of his ghostly aura and appearance, and I could see the puzzle pieces of this mystery starting to come together. The very thought of what I believed was happening frightened and relieved me at the same time. This paradoxical proposition was rattling my brain, and I could do nothing to relieve it.

"Everything will be all right," I murmured softly to him.

"I won't ever let anything bad happen to you ever again. I promise..."

"And once Danny is healed and awakens," I thought. "And perhaps after we speak, things will start making more sense. I hope..."

~~~~~Line Break~~~~~

*A stormy, August night, unknown location, Date: 8-10-1994*

(A/N Danny is two months old at this point)

*3rd Person POV*

"Danny? Danny?! DANNY!"

Thunder rumbled loudly in the dreary, bleak firmament. Massive grey clouds began to accumulate and form even larger, nebulous masses. There wasn't a speck of sunlight to be seen for miles. The familiar sound of a pulsating bass drum returned, but it wasn't from the raging thunderstorm this time. It came from the nervous, apprehensive beating heart of the God of the Sea. His oceans, ravaged by the winds and raging currents, would not obey him. At his side was a young girl with short brown hair and amethyst eyes. Desperately trying to hold onto Poseidon's arm, she stayed as close as she could with a tiny bundle of shredded blankets hanging limply in her free hand.

"DANNY!"

They looked every way, in every direction, but perpetual darkness masked everything in their path. Even in his own domain, Poseidon was lost and confused. He couldn't tell which way was up and which way was down let alone where Danny was. But one thing was certain-there was a voice calling to him, demanding him.

"BROTHER! YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED WHEN I PASSED THE LAW! BUT AS USUAL, YOU DEFY ME DESPITE THE FACT THAT I WILL ALWAYS WIN AND YOU WILL ALWAYS LOSE. THIS WAS YOUR DECISION AND NOW YOU MUST SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES."

Lightning flashed for a brief second, then continued to strike the oceans with authoritative strength and power. The titanic ocean waves crashed and broke apart as the merciless beams of light tore threw them without hesitation. Poseidon flinched as if he were struck by the lightning himself. Being tied to the ocean, he felt everything that the oceans felt. And right now, he felt pain and sorrow.

"I WARNED YOU, POSEIDON! TWICE, I'VE WARNED YOU! AND YET, YOU HADN'T LISTENED. BUT I WILL FURTHER REMIND YOU THAT THE GODS SHOW NO MERCY. NOT EVEN TO FAMILY. AND ESPECIALLY NOT THAT HALFBREED SCUM."

Poseidon grew angry and began to glow with an aura brighter than a thousand suns.

"DON'T EVER SPEAK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

The ever so powerful winds swirled around Poseidon's exposed head after he finally broke the surface. The brown-haired girl was still right behind him, tense and afraid.

"WHERE IS HE, ZEUS? WHERE HAVE YOU SENT HIM?! TELL ME!"

Tauntingly, lighting darted to Poseidon's right and left as if to insult and intimidate him. But Poseidon showed no sign of being the slightest bit afraid. He continued to glare up angrily at the arrogant thunderheads swirling up above him.

"GONE, BROTHER. AND I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'LL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN. THE BRAT PROBABLY WON'T EVEN SURVIVE THE STORM ANYWAY. GET OVER IT."

"ZEUS!"

An abrupt silence filled the battlefield. The thunder and lighting ceased and the ocean settled down, but an unholy rain was pouring down hard.

"ZEUS! ZEUS! ANSWER ME, BROTHER!"

But Zeus did not respond. The rain continued pouring more heavily and forcefully with the weight of Poseidon's sadness. The brown-haired girl was now crying as she buried her head in Poseidon's chest. The torn blankets slipped out of her loose grasp, desolate and forlorn.

Poseidon called out once more to the ocean as loud as he possibly could.

"DANNY!"

And again, there was no response. Even if the two month old could speak loud enough, the rain would only cover his soft, gentle voice.

Miles away on a shore off the European coast, a little boy was in the water clinging to the remains of a severed tree branch. Every second was a battle against death as he desperately hung onto the limp piece of floating drift wood.

"Mama! Mama!" he cried as loud as he could.

The waves dragged him up onto the sandy shore, which caused rocks to lodge themselves into the boy's soft skin. He began to cry and weep as his skin tore open and blood started leaking out.

"Mama!"

When the child realized his mother wasn't coming, he crawled over to an open entrance made out of a sturdy rock structure. Dressed only in a raggedy red and white shirt and some blue shorts, the little boy shivered and desperately tried to get warm. He lied down on the sandy floor of the cove, relieved to discover that it was soft and comfortable. Meanwhile, the storm had started up again with powerful winds blowing the rain diagonally at high speed. Protected from the rain, the boy tried to ignore it, but he could not ignore the sounds of booming thunder and flashing light. All he could do was close his eyes and hope that it would all be over soon.

(A/N since Danny is not HUMAN, he is bigger and smarter than a normal 2 month old would be. I know I'll get lots of comments asking me 'oh how did Danny survive at 2 months without any help from anyone?' Well, as a 2 month old, Danny has the size, endurance, and brain capacity of a 3 or 4 year old. His growth fluctuates as he becomes older, but by about 15 or 16, he's fully matured in regards to height and size.)

~~~~~Line Break~~~~~

*Danny's POV*

Delirious and confused, I awakened and sat up with a jolt. I didn't scream, but I felt a weird sensation throughout my whole body. It was like having a shot of Novocain injected in my brain. My head felt fuzzy. I couldn't even begin to process what I was just dreaming about. Light-headed and confused, I fell backwards onto the bed and blacked out.

~A few hours later~

*Poseidon's POV*

I reentered the healing room and saw that Danny was still unconscious. Sam swam past me and rushed over to Danny's side. She curled up on the bed next to him and cuddled in his chest.

"Be gentle, Sam. Remember, his injuries are quite extensive." a healer advised.

"I will." assured Sam.

The healer swam over to both of us.

"We've treated him to the best of our abilities. His burns are starting to heal, but the discoloration and scarring of his skin will probably not go away. They'll lighten up a bit, but he'll have traces and patterns of the burns forever. Danny's tail fin was the only thing to be completely destroyed. So much so that it will never grow back."

"But without his fin, he'll be incapable of swimming. Isn't there anything you can do?" I asked desperately.

"We went ahead and started attaching a prosthetic fin because of that problem. Once it is in sync with his nerves, he will be able to use that in order to move."

"All right…so what's the current situation?"

"Medics are finishing up the attachment of the prosthetic. Once that's done, Danny will just need a lot of rest. After he gets some sleep, he'll be just fine."

I nodded my head.

"Thank you. "

The medic bowed in respect and left the room. As soon as they were gone, I looked over at Danny's weakened form lying helpless and vulnerable in the middle of the bed. Sam had her arms and tail coiled around him closely and protectively. She reminded me of a mother bear warding off competitors and thieves away from her stash of honey. (A/N: LOL XDDD). In other words, I knew that nothing in this world would get her to move. I wasn't going to bother to even ATTEMPT doing something so inane. With Danny all wrapped up in a cocoon of blankets and Sam's body, the two of them slept soundly side by side.

~~~~~Line Break~~~~~

*A few more hours later*

*Danny's POV*

I awoke once more and found myself sitting in the same bed inside the same room. As I opened my dreary eyes, my surroundings were nothing more than a blur. My eyes gradually regained their focus, but it took some time before I could grasp everything that was going on and everything that had already happened. I felt something touching me, but as I looked over my shoulder, I saw that it was just Sam. I smiled softly at her and hugged her softly with my free arm. The other arm, which was still in pain from being attacked by the guard at the gate, could not be willed to move without causing irritating nerve impulses of pain to shoot up through my finger tips.

"Danny…?"

"Huh?"

Startled, I looked in the direction of where I heard someone call my name. I saw a man with black hair and blue eyes in the doorway. In his right hand, he was holding the same type of weapon that the guard from before had. The only difference was that this guy's weapon was much bigger, longer, and therefore, probably a lot more deadly. I flinched in fear at the sight of it and turned away.

"Are you all right, son?"

"Uhh…"

The black-haired man must have noticed how tense and afraid I was, for he leaned his weapon against one of the walls.

"Forgive me if I startled you in any way. I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted to make sure that you were all right."

Feeling relieved that he no longer had that forked object aimed at my head, I turned back to face him.

"I'm uh…I'm okay. I'm just a little sore and tired. I'll be fine after I rest for a while."

The man nodded and smiled.

"All right. Just take it easy and don't strain yourself. Again, I'm sorry for the rash actions of my guards. More than a few of them don't even know how to wield the most basic of tridents properly. It's quite sad, really. Not to mention the fact that everyone that tries to come into Atlantis is interrogated and, on rare occasions, zapped."

My eyes widened, and I blankly stared at him blinking slowly.

"So that thing is a trident?" I asked as I pointed at the gold weapon still leaning against the wall.

"Damn, those things are dangerous!"

"Indeed, they are. It seems as if any idiot can get their hand on one around here with little effort."

"Seems like you need to change your policies. They don't seem to be working out." I replied sarcastically.

The man nodded.

"Agreed. Though, at this point, it is of no matter. I personally made sure that the guard who injured you was…erm…'fired'."

"Fired?"

"Yes. He won't be gatekeeping any longer. You won't have to worry about being zapped again."

I sighed softly and sat up. Sam groaned softly, but she continued to stay peacefully asleep, despite the disturbance. As I lifted myself up, Sam released my arm, but she was still cuddled up to me. I smiled and covered her up with the blanket so that she would stay warm.

"So this girl…Her name is Sam, right?"

I nodded.

"Yes."

"And she is your…girlfriend, correct?"

I blushed slightly, but I nodded again.

"Y-yes…Yes she is."

The man smiled.

"Well, I'm glad that you two have found each other, and I hope that you both treat each other well."

I looked over at Sam protectively then back at him.

"Of course. We would never mistreat one another. That just wouldn't happen."

There was a period of silence. Neither one of us said a word for a few minutes. To be honest, I didn't know exactly what to say. Here I was talking about the most intimate relationship I've ever had to this guy, and I didn't even know his name. An awkward tension quickly filled the room. In order to relieve it, I continued the conversation as best as I could.

"Um, if I may ask, w-who are you?"

"I am the king of this beautiful city and the God of the Sea. You may, however, call me Poseidon."

"P-Poseidon?"

Poseidon nodded.

"That is correct."

"Wow…I had no idea…"

"No idea what?"

"I had no idea that the Greek Gods were real."

Poseidon chuckled.

"Oh, we're real all right. There's no doubt about that. But then again, I don't blame you for your ignorance. After all, we keep ourselves hidden from mortals. Most of the time we're usually looking after our domain."

"That makes sense. No wonder everything I've learned about you from the second-hand knowledge of the humans is slightly inaccurate. After all, according to them, you and the rest of the Gods are nothing but myths."

"Indeed. For the sake of security and secrecy, we keep ourselves away from the humans and never allow any mortal to discover any more information about us than what they already know."

Poseidon picked up his trident and headed for the door.

"I have some errands I need to run, but I'll be back in a few hours to check on you. In the meantime, you should lie down and rest."

I reclined backwards until I felt my head touch the pillow.

"All right, I'll um…see you later."

Poseidon nodded once more and left, closing the door behind him. As I lied there motionless, I slowly began to process what had just happened.

"So…after I was blasted, Poseidon must have brought me here," I thought.

"He seems to know a lot about Atlantis and mer-people, so maybe he could help me. His extensive knowledge may be the key I need. It wouldn't hurt to find out everything that this guy knows. Perhaps the wisdom I could gain from him might start piecing this jigsaw puzzle of a mess together."

I felt the locket around my neck and held it in the palm of my hand.

"I'll show him this once he returns. Then maybe…just maybe…I can solve this life long mystery once and for all."