The Sea's Daughter: The Lightning Thief.
Chapter 10: Brothers and Sisters.
Triton was aware of his two half siblings, it was common knowledge that his father had sired two demigod children in the span of five years over a decade before. He had learned of Melinda years before, when she was still just a young teenager.
He hadn't told anyone, at least not until he saw a point to mention him already being aware of her for about four years now. His father had been shocked, and it was clear to Triton his father had thought he'd be more upset.
Truth was, Melinda Potter had intrigued him. It wasn't like she could be a threat to him, he was a god and being princess of the sea was different than being Prince, like he was.
Triton would admit he'd been more upset when word spread about Perseus Jackson.
The fact of the matter was, Triton had never had a demigod sister before, but he'd had more than a few demigod brothers. He'd never liked any of them, despite the fact his father never seemed to play favorites.
He could see how much his father had taken to caring about Perseus. His first demigod child in at least fifty, it not more – he honestly didn't keep track – years.
A child that was probably the prophecy child – from what he'd seen when he'd taken the time to look in on his sister, and he would admit only to himself he had, she'd already won one war and great prophecy about herself – and would grow up to be a great hero.
In his mind that could be a threat to his position as heir, but another part of his brain told him that was ridiculous.
Once the heir to the throne was set it couldn't changed, and even if his father coronated Melinda and Percy as Princess and Prince of the Sea (and he had a feeling he would one day) it wouldn't matter in the long run.
Only a god or goddess could be the heir to the throne, and he was the oldest, and Melinda and Percy were both demigods. He was curious about both though, having seen Melinda once before – though not in person – he was more curious about Perseus.
He needed to know if his new half-brother was like the other heroes or if he was worth trying to be civil with.
"They approached," he heard a Nereid say to a seahorse as he swam pass, and was drawn from his thoughts. "We must go to meet them."
Looking over at the Nereid he saw a beautiful woman, long silky black hair and eyes a shimmering kaleidoscope of gold, green, violet and blue. He'd seen this Nereid before, she was one of the most highly praised in his father's court.
"Nerissa," he said, startling the Nereid as she climbed onto her sea horse.
"Prince Triton," Nerissa gasped, eyes wide. "What can I do for you?"
"You could tell me where you are leaving to in such a rush?" he asked, politely but leaving no room for her to not see the command in his words.
Nerissa seemed to be at a lost for words and then she sighed.
"King Poseidon, he has intrusted me to go and meet his son and daughter in Santa Monica. I am to give them the pearls for their quest."
she said this like she was ashamed and at first Triton was upset with his father, and maybe a bit jealous of the attention he payed to them. But then an idea came to him.
"Allow me to escort you then, Lady Nerissa," he said, smiling at her shocked look.
"Are you certain?"
He nodded.
"Positive." Triton then motioned for her to go on ahead. "Ladies first."
He was sure he saw the Nereid flush a little before she signaled the sea horse to begin their journey. Triton swam behind her at first and then pulled up to beside her.
It was only minutes later they came to a stop at the edge of a chasm, miles from the beach or pier of Santa Monica. He could easily see that his two demigod siblings had already arrived, and a mako shark was swimming away.
Melinda was easy to spot, she was looking around and trying to get the tiara on her head to disappear. He smirked a little, amused by the curses she muttered under breath in Latin and Ancient Greek at its refusal to return to the sea horse hair clip form, and stay that way.
"Of all the days I decide to clip my bangs back with this and I go into the ocean, brilliant," she grumbled, finally giving up.
Perseus himself was laughing at her, smiling widely.
While Melinda had grown up to be a beautiful young adult, something Triton had no problem denying, sister or not. It wasn't like it truly mattered, gods didn't have DNA in the mortal sense of the word. Relations like that were never even a second thought amongst the gods and goddesses.
Percy himself looked a bit like himself, he supposed, with black hair that was on the messy side, tanned skin and defined features.
His eyes were the exact same shade as their father's sea green, only a little different from Melinda's eyes seeing as they lacked the emerald green that her eyes had.
Above all Perseus Jackson was what he imagined his father looked like at that age.
"Hello," Triton said, looking from Perseus who had stopped laughing to stare at the new arrivals, to Melinda.
Melinda had gasped upon seeing him, her eyes wide.
"Triton?" she asked.
xXx
Melinda was surprised to see Triton with the Nereid – and she could just tell this was a Nereid, seeing as she'd met them before.
He didn't look any different from when she'd last seen him in the looking glass her grams had given her before her third year.
Though his eyes were more of a mix between ocean blue and sea green compared to the last time she saw him and his hair wasn't near as long. It was short and styled in a almost gravity defying manner. Though she doubted it was on purpose.
Unfortunately she'd lost the mirror during the war. She hadn't had time to draw Abyss and turn to block the spell sent at her, so she'd pulled out the mirror from the inside pocket of her hoodie and blocked the spell with that.
The mirror had shattered, but not before making the spell ricochet off the enchanted glass and back at the caster. It had been a dark gutting curse, so the results of it hitting the caster hadn't been pretty, but she'd been glad it hadn't hit her.
So the loss of one of her favorite possessions was worth it in the end. This had all happened during the battle of Malfoy Manor as she, Hermione and Ron had taken to calling it.
"Melinda, I see you've finally made it here," he said and then turned to Percy with a slight frown and curious emotion in his eyes. "Perseus."
"Uh, it's Percy...actually, sir?" Percy said, though it came out more like an unsure question.
Melinda smiled and swam closer to her brother – Percy that is.
"Percy, this is Triton," Melinda said, and she hoped their immortal brother would be at least civil. "He's our half-brother. A god, though I don't know what he is god of."
She said the last part, biting her lip in embarrassment at not knowing something like that.
Triton didn't seem angry, though the Nereid was looking like she couldn't believe what was going on.
"Not many do at first mention," Triton said with a snort. "I am the god of the Navy, and the Messenger god of the Sea."
"But...I don't understand. Why are you here?" Percy asked, blinking.
Melinda hoped Triton didn't take that the wrong way, she'd be more then annoyed if she had to stop the two brothers from fighting.
Triton did give Percy a cold look but seemed to let it go after a second and looked to the Nereid who had remained silent for the most part.
"I decided to escort Nerissa to give you our fathers...gifts," he said.
Nerissa, the Nereid, nodded and with one more look at Triton she came forward on the large sea horse and began to speak.
"I am glad you have both made it safely," she said, and then looked at Melinda. "It is an honor to meet you, Melinda. The Nereids have heard great stories of your victories in Hecate's wizarding world. You are the first daughter of Poseidon we have met."
Melinda blinked in surprise.
"The first? Haven't there been any before me?" she asked.
"Father is not known for having daughters," Triton said swimming closer to the three of them. "It surprised me when I found out about you. Not so much with Perseus."
He gave Percy a look as if he was still deciding whether he was worth the time to be civil too, or get to know at all. Melinda sensed a growing sibling rivalry between the two, seeing as Percy was slowly beginning to give Triton a confused, sort of glare.
Wonderful, she thought with a mental eye roll. And it was just her luck she was born in the middle of those two. She'd heard from Ron that the middle child was usually the mediator. Usually, anyways.
"Right, " Melinda said. "So, why are we here? I'm afraid I wasn't here when Percy plunged to his death."
Triton snorted, and Percy flinched a little at the reminder.
Percy turned to Nerissa, and asked, "You're the woman who spoke to me in the Mississippi River, aren't you?"
"Yes, child. I am a Nereid, a spirit of the sea. It was not easy to appear so far upriver, but the naiads, my freshwater cousins, helped sustain my life force. They honor Lord Poseidon, though they do not serve in his court."
"But you do, serve in our father's court, I mean?" Melinda asked and Nerissa nodded.
"It has been many years since a child of the Sea God has been born. We have watched you both with great interest. Both of you have great destinies in front of you, should you live to adulthood."
Melinda wasn't sure whether to be offended that the Nereid didn't consider her having reached adulthood despite being eighteen in a month, or to just take it at face value.
Nerissa was probably thousands of years older then her, probably. To her, she was a child.
Then there was what she'd said about destinies. As far as Melinda was concerned she'd fulfilled her destiny when she won the war and completed the prophecy which had nearly ruined her life. She didn't like the idea that there was more.
"You're father sent me here to give you his gifts," Nerissa said. "Going to the Underworld is dangerous, even with Melinda by your side, young Prince."
Melinda wasn't phased by her calling Percy a prince, though Percy nearly jumped out of his skin and his jaw dropped along with his eyes becoming as large as full moons.
She snuck a glance at Triton and while his jaw had set tighter he didn't seem that upset. Like he expected it all along. She supposed he probably did.
"Wow, wait, rewind," Percy said, shaking his head. "Prince?"
"You are the son of the Sea King, boy," Triton said, rolling his eyes. "Did you expect to be anything less?"
"Children of the big Three are royalty in their own right," Nerissa began explaining, wanting to avoid a confrontation between the two brothers.
Melinda sent the Nereid a silent thank you.
"Lord Zeus is King of Olympus, of all the gods. Lord Hades is King of the Underworld, and of course your own father, Lord Poseidon, is King of the Sea," she finished.
"I guess that explains the sort of cliché tiara on Lin's head," Percy mused and Melinda sighed heavily, glaring teasingly at Percy.
She'd nearly forgotten that thing was still there. She'd tried making it return to hair clip form, but it seemed the sea wouldn't allow it to stay in that form. Either her father was messing with it, or the sea was just in a moody mood.
"I'll remember that," she muttered, and Percy chuckled.
Nerissa smiled at the two kindly, almost proudly.
"You're father is proud of you both, he was concerned that you two would still be at odds," she said.
Melinda snorted, of course her father had been watching. He had probably been concerned after hearing about her blow up at camp.
She was pretty sure Mr. D would just run to Olympus after to spread the tale of how the daughter of Poseidon had raged at the old Centaur without any mind that a god was in the room.
That she even had the nerve to glare at him like he was equally to blame.
She wouldn't be surprised at all that he'd seen the reaction Percy had to finding out she'd lied to him about knowing who his father was before he was claimed. And the talk they'd had on the drive to L.A.
Not to mention it was the day of the Summer Solstice, he was bound to be busy, in case they failed.
"If our father is so interested in us, why isn't he here?"
Percy's words shook her from her thoughts and she turned to look at him sharply, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Triton had been oddly quiet, and didn't look anything more then curious at Percy's outburst. She couldn't be sure though, she could read mortals pretty well but she was sure the gods had their ways when it came to hiding their emotions.
"Percy," she mumbled, concern and a bit of reprimanding in her voice.
"Do not judge the Lord of the Sea too harshly, young one," Nerissa said "He stands at the brink of an unwanted war. He has much to occupy his time. Besides, he is forbidden to help you directly. The gods may not show such favoritism."
"Even to their own children?" Percy asked.
"Especially to them. The gods can work by indirect influence only. That is why I give you a gift, the only help your father can give without breaking these ancient laws."
She held out her hand. Three white pearls flashed in her palm.
"You journey to Hades' realm," she said gravely. "Few mortals have ever done this and survived: Orpheus, who had great music skill; Hercules, who had great strength; Houdini, who could escape even the depths of Tartarus. Do you have these talents?"
"No," Percy said, looking down with furrowed brow.
"Than take these gifts, and use them wisely," she said, dismounting her sea horse and gliding over to tip the pearls into Percy's open hand.
"They will help you escape. Simply step on them when the time is right and think of where you wish to go, and remember young prince. What belongs to the sea shall always return to the sea."
"Thank you," Melinda said, smiling at Nerissa and then over at Triton.
Triton stared at her for a moment and then returned a small smile and nod of acknowledgment.
"Only three?" Percy asked, looking up. "But, there are four of us. Me, Annabeth, Grover, and Melinda."
Melinda could tell he wanted to add his mother to that list but didn't want to sound greedy or unappreciative.
"Melinda does not require a pearl to leave the Underworld," Triton said, and Nerissa nodded.
"The Princess has many skills, but those skills have taken her over seven years to acquire. She has told you much about her past, but you still have much to learn of your sisters victories and the respect we of the Ocean give her. Even those on land," Nerissa said.
Percy frowned, looking up at his sister in question.
Melinda sighed.
"I promise you on the river Styx, Percy, when this is over I will tell you everything you could possibly want to know. But right now, we have to focus on stopping this war before it starts."
Triton frowned.
"You should be careful of what you promise by the Styx, Melinda," he said, and then looked from her to Percy. "Especially with such a small thing as answers to questions he should know you'll answer when the time is right."
Percy looked down like a scolded child and Melinda sighed.
"I'll keep that in mind," she said. "We should go now, it's getting late. We only have thirteen hours til midnight."
Triton nodded and Nerissa got back onto her sea horse.
"Good luck, children of Poseidon," Nerissa said before she was gone, Triton following behind her after two nods of farewell at them.
Melinda sighed.
"I'm sorry, about you promising on the Styx. I didn't mean for you to do that, I trust that you would have told me," Percy said, looking at her with wide eyes.
She smiled.
"It's just a silly promise on the Styx," she said.
"I thought promising something on the Styx was something big," he said.
Melinda frowned.
"It is, and if I don't tell you the truth it would end badly for me, but I already planed to tell you everything else after the quest. When we had more time. So to me it's just a silly promise...one that is simple to fulfill."
Percy nodded and Melinda laughed softly.
"Race you back to the beach," she said and then darted off, swimming back the way they came.
She laughed when she heard Percy calling out behind her in surprise and soon after she heard him close behind her.
