*bows* So I know that I said two weeks, but you see, my body desperately needed to prove that my health could indeed get worse, so I had 3 illnesses and four injuries all at once. On the bright side, I'm on the mend for all of them now. Modern medicine really is so helpful.

Hope you enjoy! This one is a bit short as it's sorta a build up to what's coming soon. Next chapter is gonna be super fun 3

Come yell at me on my tumblr: Percabeth4Life
Come chat with me on discord: h-t-t-p-s : / discord . gg / 3tGNJhu

OO OO OO OO

We had another sleepover, I'd decided sleepovers were really fun.

This time we played never have I ever, which I'd never played before. Though we played it with soda instead of alcohol. It was kinda hard to come up with stuff sometimes.

Other things the others totally cheated on.

"Never have I ever been on a quest," Zoey chirped.

Everyone but Zoey and Nikola drank, shooting her dirty looks.

"Never have I ever… eaten raw fish," Nikola drawled.

Everyone drank that time, including Zoey which made Nikola blink at her.

"What, you've heard of sushi surely?"

"Oh yeah!"

"Never have I ever been the child of a God," Klara threw in.

"Oh, come on," I whined as I was the only one to drink, "that one has got to be cheating."

"Never have I ever been the center of a fight between two deities on who was going to be my parent," Kai said proudly.

I glared and drank.

"Wait, wait, wait," Zoey said. "What."

Nikola got that look of 'what the fuck' again.

"Not important," I said quickly. "Never have I ever been sent on a quest by Triton to protect his little brother."

The three scowled and drank.

"Never have I ever… had a fish tail."

"All of us refused to drink.

"Oh, come on, you're merpeople! You have fish tails!"

"I'm so insulted," Kai sniffed.

"They're not fish tails! They're entirely different!"

Zoey looked doubtful.

Kai launched into a biology lecture.

Zoey nodded solemnly at the end of it and said, "Fish tails."

"Never have I ever pulled an all nighter."

Everyone but Nikola drank, much to his smug delight.

"Never have I ever… started an official courtship," Klara said smugly, eyeing my wrist where Fetu's bracelet sat.

I flushed and drank.

"Wait!" Zoey shrieked. "What!?"

"La… a friend of mine asked me out-" I paused, uncertain as to what I was supposed to call Kai. "I guess boyfriend? Um… yeah. So we're… together."

Zoey shrieked and hugged me, "Oh my stars, congrats!"

"Good for you," Nikola said, a fond little smile curling his lips.

I ducked my head, twisting my charm bracelet. I'd never had a boyfriend before. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do with it all.

"What's he like?" Zoey demanded.

"He's- he's got a pretty tail," I offered. "And he's really good at Siren's Song. His uh- his parents are both pretty powerful too. He's a twin, and has really bright yellow-goldish hair, it's pretty."

"Oooh," Zoey cooed. "That's so cool! What's Siren's Song?"

I couldn't help but laugh, relaxing at her familiar questions. I explained Siren's Song, then answered the follow up questions on more sea magics, then nudged her back to the game, Kai's turn was up.

"Never have I ever pointed a spear at a teacher because they announced a pop quiz," Kai said, eyeing Klara.

"That was one time!" Klara whined as she drank.

And thus, the game continued.

OO OO OO OO

Fetu invited me on a date with him for the first official one and I had no idea what to do.

Of course, I knew the basic rules of the courtship, and I knew he was inviting someone to come with so I invited Herophile to join me. Then I got worried because what if he didn't want me to have a Goddess with? Was this okay? Was that too much? Was I supposed to invite another mer? But we had the same friends and I wasn't sure if it was proper to invite one.

I had no idea what to do about it.

"Okay, here, let me do your hair," Kymopoleia said, making me sit. "It's fine, don't worry about it. Fetu is gonna love it and Herophile is gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun. You've got a cute boyfriend, it's gonna be great."

I was still so so nervous. I didn't know if I was supposed to act different if we were dating, or maybe was supposed to bring something? You brought flowers on land, was there an equivalent in the sea?

"Stop freaking out," Kymopoleia chided. "This is gonna be fine, you were friends first. Just be yourself."

Myself was freaking out. Dating made no sense.

"This is fine," I said, letting Kymopoleia swish around me, adjusting my hair and arm bands.

"Okay! All set for your date! Herophile, you ready?"

"I am! Are you—five words, prepared-"

"Ready?"

"Yeah!"

Herophile gleefully tugged my hand, guiding me through the hallway and towards the exit. I was doomed.

OO OO OO OO

Okay so the date actually went well. Once I got over my nerves it was fun, I enjoyed spending time with Fetu and Herophile and got to meet one of Fetu's friends (Haru).

The play was very cool, the special effects emphasized with magic as they told the story of how Susanoo got his wife. The battle scenes were amazingly choreographed, and Fetu whispered extra information to me about the tale and told me what was changed to fit in the ocean better.

It was nice, and Fetu got me a comb like the one in the play that Susanoo turned his future wife into.

OO OO OO OO

Classes continued to go well, though it was definitely different without Tyson. Matt was still around, still a jerk, but he was also still scared of the mer guards (which… made sense in hindsight). So, he mostly left us alone.

Portuguese class was still a struggle for me, but Fetu was always happy to help me with my homework so I was getting better. Slowly but steadily.

"Did you do yesterday's homework?" Zoey asked, flopping into the seat next to me.

Nikola groaned, not lifting his head from the table.

"Yeah," I said, politely ignoring his suffering. "The translation was hard but Fetu helped me—"

"Ooh," Zoey said, grin curling over her lips. "How is Fetu?"

I flushed, "He's good, mostly focusing on his studies at the moment. Both of his parents are- are being called upon to help prepare for the war."

I lowered my voice for the last bit, not wanting to draw attention to it.

She nodded, "I hope they stay safe."

"They're both strong, I'm sure they'll be okay."

"Still, it must be scary."

I couldn't disagree with that. The sea was not officially at war yet, but tensions were high with people choosing sides on levels never before seen. The fact that Okeanos-ari picked a side in this war had shaken a lot of mer. If the Neutral God had picked a side, what did it mean for shelter and safety?

No one was really sure how the cards would fall, even without taking into consideration other pantheons getting involved. The Greek pantheon had enough sea deities to do damage on its own.

"It'll be okay," I assured, as best I could. "Everyone is getting prepared."

"Hmm, yeah…" she dug out her homework with a frown. "Well, do you think we could meet Fetu sometime?"

I considered it for a moment, "Maybe? I'll have to ask. Maybe over winter break we could all go to the beach? It's easier to meet them there."

Nikola's head rose, "Yes."

Zoey beamed, "Perfect! We'll do that then."

"Do what?" Kai asked as he slid into their seat.

"Just making vacation plans," Nikola yawned.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Kai wondered.

"Ugh."

Zoey and I shared grins as the teacher drew everyone's attention.

OO OO OO OO

Drew and Lacy had dragged me off to the mall for a "late birthday present". We mostly wandered around and looked in stores with cool stuff.

We didn't actually buy all that much, though Drew didn't even let me pull out my wallet (mom had given me the Lotus card to use while out with my friends). They bought whatever food we got, and then insisted on buying me some books and a few Avatar posters as birthday presents.

I wasn't sure why the Aphrodite cabin was so big on not letting me spend money, but they did it to each other and everyone else too from what I could tell so I didn't mind too much.

And we tried on outfits and judged each other's looks very dramatically so it was fun.

OO OO OO OO

Euphemia had charts spread out around my room, letting me study the dozens of different merpeople on them. All of them were different in some way.

"The different pantheons all have different merpeople. You've studied up some on the most common type of merperson in the local waters, though there is a fair bit of diversity. What do you notice is different from say, this one?"

She pointed to a chart with a merperson that had spines down their back.

"Most mers in these waters don't have spines on their backs?"

"Very good. And what about this one?"

She pointed to one that had a tail that seemed more like a shark than a fish.

"The tail is more shark-like? But I've seen several like that!"

"The shark-like tail has become more common in recent years, but it is still not nearly as common as the traditional fish tail. Do you also see how it affects the other parts of the body?"

I nodded, studying it. The shark tail had the gills more on the tail itself, rather than at the ribs and neck like most mer (even ones without the fish tail) had.

"It's little details like that that healers must know when healing various mer."

"I don't think I'm gonna be a healer," I said sheepishly. "I'm not very good at biology."

She inclined her head in understanding, "be that as it may, you should still come to understand the basic differences between different merpeople. Previously we have focused on rulership, right now we are focusing on biology, and later we shall focus on culture and language."

I nodded, settling in comfortably as she continued her lecture.

"Now, what will likely be most relevant to you is the difference between Greek and Roman merpeople."

"Greek vs Roman? I didn't think either spoke much of merpeople."

"They don't, but the Greeks and the Romans view the sea very differently, and the merpeople of the two different pantheons are influenced by it. You will find that appearance wise there is not much of a difference. But there is a difference in behavior."

I tugged my notebook closer, confused.

"Is that biological?"

"It's in their nature, which for beings of the wild is effectively the same as it being biological. A rabbit acts as a rabbit because it is born one, and because it is raised one. It can act different if it is raised different, but it will still have the instincts of a rabbit. A mer is a mer because it is born one and because it is raised one. But a Greek mer is different from a Roman mer."

"What's different between them?"

"For the Greeks, the ocean is both protection and threat. The ocean is kind and cruel, and the mer born of the Greek pantheon reflect that. Poseidon-ore is kind and cruel alike, capable of calming the waves or whipping them into fierce storms."

"The Romans don't like the ocean," I remembered.

"They did eventually learn to sail," she agreed. "But it cost them many lives, and sailing has never been their strong suit. So yes, they don't like the ocean. The ocean is dangerous, wild and uncontrolled. And the mer born of the Roman pantheon are more wild, more inclined to be dangerous, than the mer of the Greek pantheon."

I nodded, scribbling down notes carefully.

It was interesting, that ones instincts and nature were considered biology. I didn't know if human biology worked that way, though I had heard about nature vs nurture? Maybe there was something like that?

"Now then, let us discuss the Egyptian mer."

OO OO OO OO

Herophile hummed happily as she let Hippolyta curl her tentacles over her hands. I smiled, laying on my bed with my math homework in front of me.

Herophile liked to come visit, since she wasn't really active in any war preparation. So I got to see her the most of my Godly siblings at the moment. I missed Triton a bit, but he'd assured me that he would be bringing me to Riaptel Av Iyaniv with Elei.

"Have you ever been to the Riaptel Av Iyaniv?" I asked her curiously.

She nodded, "Yeah! It's a lot of- three letters-"

"Fun?"

"Mhm! It's a lot of fun, with a bunch of important mer… means joining in?"

"Helping?"

She shook her head.

"Participating?"

"Yes! Lots of important mer come and participate! From- lots of places."

That sounded really cool.

"I know there's Hippocampi races, and some exhibition matches."

"And game tournaments! And- a type of contest- with a best-"

"Competitions?"

"Yes! With plants, and magic, and all kinds of things!"

I grinned, that sounded fun. I was super excited to see it all.

"It's a shame that I can't bring any of my land friends," I said, thinking of Annabeth. She'd love it, she always loved learning more about the ocean.

"Who would you- six letters, encourage to-"

"Invite?"

"Yes, who would you invite?"

"Hmm, Annabeth would be my first pick. She's been really busy with Thalia lately, so we haven't spent as much time together. But maybe Leilani, or Drew, if Annabeth was busy."

Drew was probably my best friend at camp, other than Annabeth and Leilani.

"That would be nice, maybe another time?"

I nodded, maybe another time. It would be nice to spend time with Elei and Triton anyways.

OO OO OO OO

I flopped into a chair with book on curse breaking in my hands (specifically focusing on how to undo curses on oneself, the weave style, without exhausting oneself). Zoey was drawing on her sketchpad. Nikola was playing a handheld game, muttering insults to whatever opponent he was facing in it.

It was nice, just spending time with each other. I didn't get to do it nearly as often as I liked to. It was peaceful, comfortable. Just us doing our own things, together.

"Stupid obnoxious little- die already!"

I bit back a laugh as Nikola shook his game, glaring at his enemy. Zoey didn't bother to hold it back, giggling as she pulled out her colored pencils.

"Oh, shut it, Zoey."

OO OO OO OO

Drew was always happy to spend time with me, even with Annabeth busy I still had friends. Drew was also always happy to drag Lacy, and sometimes Rachel, along with her.

Rachel and her still bickered constantly, but Lacy always seemed to find them "cute" so I figured it wasn't malicious or anything.

An interesting fact, to me at least, was that Rachel definitely saw something when she looked at Acantha, who'd joined me today.

She kept looking over at Acantha with narrow eyes, staring at her legs in particular.

"See something?" Drew asked her after the tenth time.

Rachel quickly shook her head, "Nope, nothing at all. Sorry, just tired."

Acantha quirked an eyebrow at me but I just shrugged.

Weird.

OO OO OO OO

Kymopoleia's expression as I figured out how to make a storm about the size of my head was one of pure delight.

The storm was still shaky, rumbling lightly with clouds whisping away before I managed to straighten it up again, but it was a storm.

"This is great! Now we just need to get you to learn how to make one big enough to cover all of you in rain and then we can move onto making it have thunder and lightning!"

That sounded like it would be hard, but Kymopoleia looked excited and well- she had taught me to do this much. I was sure that with a bit of practice I could learn how to mix in lightning and thunder… after the storm was actually capable of staying in place.

OO OO OO OO

Khrysaôr's POV

"It's a shame Perseus can't bring any land friends," Herophile chirped as I directed the sailors of my ship to finish cleaning up the remnants of our last battle.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head towards my sister.

"To the Riaptel Av Iyaniv," she said. "He doesn't get to- to- four letters, display-"

"Show?"

"Yes! He doesn't get to show them the sea very much, but they show him the land."

I hummed, I didn't particularly care too much. He lived in both worlds, like me, but tended to prefer the undersea, unlike me. I quite liked my balance of ships.

"I know he misses that one girl, Annabeth? I don't remember her… but he misses her. Shame she can't come."

I paused, my fingers stilling on the astrolabe.

"Annabeth?"

"Yeah, his- five letters-"

"Friend," I said, a slow smile curling over my lips. "And you're right, that really is a shame. Say, are you planning to go this year?"

"Hmm, oh, no? Are you?"

"Well I wasn't, but wouldn't it be nice to give Perseus a little surprise? I could bring his friend down and surprise him there!"

She lit up, "Oh! That would be so fun! You can have my ticket for it!"

I graciously thanked her, allowing her to chatter on about how nice that was and how much Perseus would appreciate it while doing my best to hide my glee.

Triton was going to be furious.

OO OO OO OO

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review, they feed my soul.

What do you think of his time on land? What about his lessons? What is Khrysaôr up to?

Halmaheran
Riaptel Av Iyaniv=Ring of Allies

Suffixes
ari=old king
ore=current king

Terminology
Susanoo=Japanese God of sea and storms

Come yell at me on my tumblr: Percabeth4Life
Come chat with me on discord: h-t-t-p-s : / discord . gg / 3tGNJhu