A/N: I do not own PJO

PERCY

The water glowed around his father's palace, shimmering an odd shade of lime green. Mermen and Mermaids glided the perimeter, with Cyclops patrolling the entrance. Two burly guards stood tall at the doors of the palace, hefting clubs and spears with points made of a see through crystal.

He walked—or was it swam?—up to the first, and the guard looked him over before lowering his spear and gesturing for the other to do the same. A couple of mermaids glanced over and waved, and he hesitantly waved back. They giggled and sunk back into the coral.

"Perseus," The first guard said. "Welcome. My Lady Amphitrite is expecting you." He wasn't sure what to make of that—when he had received the invitation, he was unsure of who had sent it. Now, to find out that it was the woman who probably hated him most; well, it didn't make him very excited for the visit.

The guard stifled a laugh at his expense, instead turning it into a cough, but Percy heard. The other shrugged apologetically for his comrade, but they both looked amused at his reluctance. Both stood aside, allowing him entrance to the palace.

"Relax," The second chided him. "Amphitrite has sworn not to…err…harm you in any way. On the River Styx." He supposed that helped—knowing that he wasn't walking to his death was easier than not knowing anything at all. But still he shrugged, wary of his father's wife.

"Will Triton be there?" He internally groaned at the guard's nod, having met his half brother before under less pleasant circumstances. "Okay," He said aloud. "Just two people who probably want me squished to a grease spot. No biggie." The guard openly snickered this time, clapping him on the back.

"Go on," He said, and the doors opened. Percy walked in.

Majestic wasn't the word for the palace. Majestic was high ceilings with trophies and luxurious decorations, but this looked more like a hotel. It bore a slightly unsettling resemblance to the Lotus Hotel and Casino, and suddenly he understood why it had taken so long to build a game room.

The room itself was the size of the dining hall at camp half blood added to the one at Camp Jupiter plus the throne room on Olympus. It's walls were loaded with the newest video games, from Mine craft to even the oldest versions of Pac man. There were only three figures running around and playing, though, and he recognized them as some of the younger Cyclops.

Disco lights flashed above him as he weaved around the various game consoles littering the area, looking for the door on the other side. His legs were sore by the time he left, and that was saying something—he had wandered through Tartarus, and hardly anything made his legs sore anymore.

Except wandering through a giant game room that took ten thousand years to build…he finally reached the other end, his legs feeling like wobbly pieces of jello. The throne room was large, and spacious, but not in the overwhelming way. The walls were lined with pearls from the ocean, glittering in the light.

Amphitrite stood in the middle, her tail swishing back and forth. Her black hair was swept upwards in a regal hairdo, cascading down her shoulders.

"So. You have finally come." Eyes glittering with displeasure, she took a seat in the throne next to his father's. Triton was already seated in his, eyeing him with distrust. His tail flicked from side to side as he scrutinized Percy for…what? Weapons? Bombs?

He broke the silence. "So, brother," He said 'brother' as though it was the worst word possible, and Percy wondered bitterly why he was called here if all the people hated him. "How's it going in the mortal world?" Percy bristled at the poorly concealed insult.

"It's okay. Better than it was before." He spoke mildly, but anyone who knew him could easily uncover the annoyance hidden just inches beneath the surface. As it turned out, Triton didn't know him—the prince of the sea glowered at his 'lack of response.'

"Triton," Amphitrite cut in. "Why don't you tell Perseus here what I called him here for?" Triton scowled, crossing his arms and leaning back stubbornly.

"Why me?" He complained, uncharacteristically. Amphitrite glared at him, and he shuddered for a second. "Okay, okay!" Percy swore his father's wife was bipolar—she beamed at her son the next second. "Father wanted to see if you could…" he paused to grimace, as if the words tasted like firewater. "Take me to the mortal world."

"Take you?" Percy asked incredulously. He could almost see what a disaster it would be—"Good morning America—a teenager with a trident and a fish tail has just blown up the entire Borough of Manhattan, turning fourteen thousand innocent civilians into unsuspecting goldfish! Stay tuned for more!"

"As if I'd want to go," Triton sneered, tossing a glare at him for good measure. It was almost like he could read his thoughts, the one of the reporter standing in the midst of ten thousand American goldfish flopping around. "Father says I should 'learn' about the mortals and how they live life."

Percy found it hard to imagine Triton, in an apartment building, cooking or cleaning and going grocery shopping. As a mortal, he was used to it, but he knew from experience—note to self: Do not invite Poseidon to live with you for a month—that immortals tended to be used to conjuring things out of thin air.

"I'm…not sure you'd work well there." He balanced on the tightrope, wobbling slightly with every withering glance Amphitrite and Triton sent his way. "Mortals do things a lot differently." Amphitrite scoffed, glancing at Triton from the corner of a luminescent green eye.

"Yes, and it would be good for him to learn." Her voice was cool, cold even. She watched him with eyes like furies—sharp and piercing, almost like she was clawing him mentally, or dreaming of raking her eyes down his face like sharp knives.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Okay, bad question. Very bad question. As if he needed more to show how stupid and 'Seaweed Brained' he really was… Of course Amphitrite hated him. He was the result of her husband falling for a mortal and having an affair, and Triton was loyal enough to his mother that he hated Percy as well.

"I don't hate you." Amphitrite's eyes were blazing, daring him to contradict. He blinked.

"Could've fooled me."

The goddess narrowed her eyes. "Okay, maybe I do dislike you," She admitted. He was suddenly struck with the urge to say 'that's an understatement.' "But I don't hate you. You were the result of Poseidon's unfaithful habits, yes. But I am not Hera. I do not blame you for his mistake."

Triton scowled at his mother, as if that alone could stop her from telling him. "Mother!" he protested. "he's a half-blood!" Amphitrite turned to her son, raising her eyebrows in a 'shut up' motion. He snapped his mouth shut, still glaring.

"Also," her voice held a tint of amusement now, a shading on the edge; barely visible, but there all the same. "Someone—" She gestured not-so-discreetly at Triton, "Was jealous." Triton immediately whacked his mother on the shoulder, his turquoise eyes glowing with anger.

"I was not!" He sulked like a four year old, his tail swishing in indignation. Percy eyed him and his mother warily, not quite ready to believe Amphitrite so easily. His stepmother—oh, it was so weird to call her that—smirked at him, the closest to a smile she'd ever given him/

"So what do you call 'But even the naiads like him!'?" She poked fun at Triton, who flushed under her knowing gaze. "Surely not insulting…"

"Shut up!" The heir of the seas snapped, slamming his hands down on his throne. The sea colored marble made a cracking sound, and part of the armrest fell off. Amphitrite turned to Percy, an amused smile on her face. He swallowed—maybe they could get along after all."

"That's the third time Triton's cracked his throne," Amphitrite remarked, much to Triton's annoyance. Percy stifled a laugh as his armrest cracked again. "The first time it was the seat, from slamming his trident into it—"

"Mother!"

Amphitrite stopped, her eyes still glimmering with amusement. "Okay, okay. I'll stop." She stared at Percy for a long time. "The point is, Perseus… I don't hate you. But it's hard looking at the evidence that your husband isn't faithful." Her expression softened slightly. "But you aren't that bad. Antaeus…now that one I really hated."

Percy vaguely remembered teeth in a wave pattern, and skulls dancing on a wall. Agreeing with the Queen of the seas, he pushed the memory away. "Yes," He agreed. "But he worshipped Poseidon the most of all, right?" Dancing skulls flashed into his mind again.

Triton seemed to have finally gotten over his embarrassment. "Right," Triton answered. "To the point of insanity. Now, I hope you don't mind, but we're getting extremely off topic right now."

Percy remembered with a start they were supposed to be talking about taking Triton into the mortal world. "Oh, yeah. You could just follow me home, but..." He glanced at Triton's tail. "Can you change into a human?" His half brother rolled his eyes, staring at him as if he had dropped from the stomach of a hydra or something.

"Of course," He said, like it should be obvious. "But then again, you've never been good at seeing the obvious." Before Percy could retort, Amphitrite cut in again, possibly saving him from being blasted to bits. Immortals tended to feel the urge to do so.

"Okay." She handed Triton a slip of paper. "So Triton will follow you home, and Percy—"he realized it was the first time she called him something other than Perseus. "Good luck with him," She said. "I heard he can be quite a handful." She handed him a pearl, much like the one he used to leave the underworld.

As they crushed the orbs, the last thing he heard was Triton's indignant, "Hey!" before a bubble encased him, and his hearing shut off.

Maybe his extended family wasn't so bad after all.

A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday-this chapter was harder than i thought. I didn't think i did too well on it, but...okay. Tell me what you thought, the good, bad, and the ugly. I will do Hecate next, and then Athena.

And to the Invisible Pretender-thanks for the inspirations, and did this meet your standards/expectations?

~Johanna