Hi guys! Sorry it took so long to update, but I sort of got the flu, had to complete two assignments and move countries in the space of like, two weeks. And I'm so tired because I left home 37 hours ago and we've just arrived at my grand parents house so... yeah. Hope you enjoy...

Percy liked watching ships, they had always been an object of mystery to him. He wasn't supposed to go to close to them, and if they were navy ships, he'd always been under strict instructions to dive down deep and swim until he couldn't see it anymore. But his curiosity got the better of him and he often ventured much closer than he should have.

There was a large boat cutting through the water, there was were bright orange lights and Percy could hear music coming from the deck, and someone singing. This pretty much sealed his fate. Percy loved music, it was something about the human world that had no substitute underwater, merfolk could hear music, and they had instruments and such, but they never sung, because Mermaids mostly spoke through telepathy. And so, Percy had always jumped at the chance to listen to humans sing. Sometimes he liked to slip away and listen to concerts that Athena organised on the beach.

Percy swam over to the ship and leapt up nearly three meters above the surface of the water to grab some rope that hung down. He hug there for a moment, waiting to see if anyone heart the splash. No one came to see if someone had fallen overboard . Good, he was too far away from the crown for anyone to notice the splash, but near enough that he could hear the beautiful singing.

He peeked over the side, and saw that he was a little further back along from the deck, he was just on the edge of the writhing torches' light.

A girl stood on a podium, with a violin resting in the crook of her neck and her bow sliding over the strings like fingers over silk. a man stood behind her with a flute, and another was sitting at a piano. Percy liked them, they were very good. The girl finished the song with a flourish of her bow, a bowed to her audience. The deck erupted in applause. She turned to consult with her musicians and they launched into another song.

He closed his eyes and just let the sound drift in and out of his head and down through his bones. Goosebumps rose on his arms and shoulders, it seemed like her silky voice sent sparks of electricity jumping across his skin and raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

Percy would have stayed there for hours, he might have been spotted and he wouldn't have noticed, if it wasn't for a sudden breeze that made Percy notice that there was a very familiar air spirit floating around her head.

Percy stared at Jason, and decided that the best course of action would be to speak to him telepathically.

Jason, he sent in a soft whisper. Jason frowned and looked for the source of the voice in his head. Percy waved a bit, it took a moment for his cousin to spot him, but when he did, he floated right to him.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered.

"Same as you, Watching the show," Percy whispered back. "But I'm not eyeing up the singer,"

Jason flushed a bit pink. Which was quite an achievement considering he was made of air.

"I am not," he mumbled.

"Don't lie to me, I can tell when you've got a bit of a crush, and I don't blame you, pretty musicians seem to be your weakness." Percy took another look at the singer. She had dark skin, and choppy brown hair that hung loose around her shoulders.

"Okay, so maybe I have a little crush, but listen to her sing," he sighed, a little bit dreamily.

"She is good." Percy admitted.

"It's like listening to a siren, but without the creepy flesh eating thing."

"Uh huh, and how exactly are you planning to win her heart when you have no physical body?" Jason bit his lip.

"I'm working on it," he muttered.

"Working on it, huh? She's that beautiful to you?"

"Yeah, she's great."

"What's her name?"

"Piper."

It was almost dark when Percy returned home. He hoped that his father wouldn't be to annoyed, it wasn't like he was actually needed. As the fifteenth child of Poseidon, and a illegitimate one at that, his royal duties were few and far between.

Navigating his way through his palace, he swims through the corridors, careful not to knock over any of the ornaments that decorate the walls around him. The corridor walls were all covered in seashells, gemstones and a collection of oddities from shipwrecks. There's half a porcelain mask inlaid in the stone, there's a green ribbon that swayed in the water's current, a silver necklace, inlaid with sapphires and emeralds. Percy ran his fingers over the wall touching the pieces of the human world that e was never allowed to visit.

He made his way to the dining room, the double doors were outlined with a complete set of silver knives, forks and spoons. It was beautiful, Percy always thought. Between each utensil was a sapphire, the doors themselves were a mosaic, depicting the sun setting on the ocean on the Summer Solstice, when all of the merpeople rose up and watched the setting sun to celebrate the end of their year.

Percy pushed open the door, he could tell that he was last to arrive, everyone else was sitting around the table on their couches, laying on the soft beds, stuffed with seaweed and covered in green moss.

"At last! I'm starving!" Theses cried happily, Percy settled on his couch and waited for the food to arrive.

The kitchen doors open and hundreds of tiny fish swam out from the many holes in the wall, picked up large wooden bowls, and dropped them onto everybody's lap. The tiny fish vanished for a moment before returning and dumping tiny bits of multicoloured seaweed onto their plates. Once all of the fish disappeared back into their honeycomb-like home.

Percy picked up a piece of green seaweed and popped it into his mouth. Everyone else had begun eating, and a lively chatter started up. Triton and Theses we trying to out-brag each other, Triton claimed that he could fend off a hundred sharks all at once, Theses fired back that he could take of a hundred killer whales. Poseidon told them that if they dared kill that many sea creatures while trying to outdo each other he would disinherit both of them.

Percy laughed along with the rest of his family, and kept on eating. He wondered about what Jason would be doing right now. He was always complaining about how board he was, sitting up in a castle in the clouds, watching the humans scuttling around, going about their business. Percy didn't see how that could be boring, he found the idea fascinating, but then, humans always had amazed him. When he was young, he'd never actually been with many humans other than his mother. Or any, actually.

"Percy, what did you do today?" Poseidon frowned at him, like he already knows what he's been doing.

"I sat on the rocks near the cliff, talked to Jason, watched the bay," he shrugged. "What I do most days." he didn't say anything about the ship and listening to the music, his father wouldn't like that one bit..

"Well if you'd do your duty and help out around here instead of spending you days staring at humans," Percy glowered at his brother.

"Why? Can't you do anything without me, Triton?"

"I wouldn't need you to-"

"Quiet!" his father ordered. Everyone fell silent.

"No more arguing. Triton, stop teasing your brother, Percy, it would be nice if you could focus your energy a little closer to home." Percy bit back a response, his father did not like to be argued with in front of his family.

"Yes sir."

Percy finished his seaweed, and returned his attention to the fish that swam over the open roof of the castle 's dining room. They gathered around, looking for a glimpse of their king.

Percy liked this room. It, like the rest of the castle, was filled with oddities from all over the world. A seal skin was spread out across a wall, various plants and vines climbed the walls and twisted around artefacts and souvenirs. There was picture of a seal-tailed mermaid near the ceiling, and in her hands she carried precious gems that spilled out of her hands, the painting gave way to real life, and the painted stones were replaced by real ones as they trailed down the wall. On one side, huge arched windows were decorated with old stained glass windows, none of the coloured glass remained, but the outlines did, and Percy thought that they were beautiful.

From this angle, he could see the setting sun through the waves, just a tiny glimmer of light among the never ending expanse of blue and green.

That night, as Percy wandered around the dark hallways of the castle, with only a ball of Greek fire for light, he stared at the walls in admiration. He liked that he still had a connection to the human part of himself, he trailed his fingers along the grey stone and felt a craving for bright fiery reds and yellows and oranges, He missed going to see the sunrise, he rarely did it anymore, his father always wanted home. Sunrise was the only time he actually needed Percy's help

"Percy, what are you doing out? You'll be tired in the morning," Percy turned to see his father swimming towards, him, frowning.

"I was just thinking."

"What about?"

"My mother," Poseidon grimaced and looked around, just to check that Lady Amphitrite wasn't within hearing range.

"You still with to go and see her?"

"Well duh."

"Percy, don't be difficult,"

"I'm not being difficult! You're the one who's being difficult!"

"Percy..." his father looked a little exasperated after all, this conversation was a regular occurrence.

"Dad, I'm not a child, I can take care of myself."

"I know that Percy," Poseidon sighed "It's not safe, Percy, not for you,"

"Why not? I'm half human, I can just use my legs, no one will know..."

"Your mother will, and the humans believe that you're dead, you can't just return the shoreland,"

'So what, I'm just supposed to stay here for the rest of my life, sit in the castle, talk to fish and swim around? Dad, I can't do anything, I'm illegitimate, my siblings are going to go to go and be ambassadors, they're going to become heroes and fight at the pacific front and kill sea monsters and I'm going to stay here and do nothing because I'm not allowed to become a hero, and I can't have kids and I can't get married because what sort of person wants anything to do with a illegitimate half human who can never have children!"

"Percy," he stared at him with green eyes that mirrored his own. "Living with humans won't change that."

"It might,"

"It might get you killed."

"Better than whiling away my life down here," he muttered. Poseidon put his hand on Percy's shoulder.

"You may be half human, but you're forgetting, you're also half merman. You belong here," he paused and added, a little reluctantly, "and on the shoreland too."

"Well, maybe I should be allowed to at least visit the shorelands," he muttered.

"It's too dangerous, Percy, I just want to keep you safe,"

"Mhmmm," he sounded unconvinced.

"Perhaps you should return to bed, sleep, and we'll talk about it in the morning."

As Poseidon swam away, Percy scoffed to himself.

"Tomorrow morning? Pfft, more like in a year," Percy turned and drifted down the hallway. It was a stormy night, and Percy could see the dim flashes of lightening from above. A ship cuts through the water above his head, a tiny speck of black against the grey. He smiles slightly. he loved watching storms from below the ocean. When he was little his sister, Atlanta, used to take him up closer to the surface and she would poke he head above the water and enjoy the crashing waves and the thunder. He'd always wanted to have a go, but his Dad had always expressly forbidden him from doing anything off the sort.

Percy glanced back the way that his father had swam, and looked back up at the sky, there was a small smile on his lips. Well, what his father didn't know, he couldn't ground him for.

I think that I'll have the chapter finished by next week, so I should post soon.