Thank you to those guys who reviewed. I wasn't sure if the comment about anaklusmos14 was a compliment, or that it was saying it was a bit of a copy. My ego eventually made me accept it as a compliment anyway. While it may seem similar at the moment, I'm trying to set up the story so that it becomes a lot more complicated and interesting later on. Also I'm sorry about the formating issues in the last chapter, hopefully this workd out better.

I forgot to put a disclaimer on last time, sorry about that, but I have no ownership of any published books, whatsoever.

Hope you enjoy this new chapter.

Pouring some of the water from his flask into a bowl, Perseus quickly spread the water through the air to create the mist needed for an Iris message. Grabbing a drachma from the pouch by his bedroll, he quickly threw it into the mist. "Iris, O' goddess, please accept this, my offering, and show me Poseidon." He just hoped that Iris would be in a good mood. She'd been a bit stroppy since someone, no names Cough Hermes Cough had decided to make here call herself, and had consequentially given her a migraine for the past month. Yeah, not something you want to do to the only other messenger god, or in this case, goddess. According to Poseidon, Hermes hadn't been able to have a break for a fortnight before the headache wore off.

Fortunately, it seemed he had caught her at a good point, and the mist began to blur and shift, before shakily forming the image of his father, or rather the backside of his father. Literally. "Thank you for nothing, you useless goddess." He muttered, before saying louder, "That was image that will have me going to Mnemosyne for a memory wipe." Perseus could have sworn he heard a tinkling laugh as the Iris message flickered before forming again, this time in front of Poseidon, and thankfully a meter further away.

The man in the image clearly spent a lot of time in the sun, and most of it laughing, if his face was anything to go by. It was weather beaten, a rough finish from the wind, but laugh lines were clearly visible, permanently carved into their place, all of this was coloured a healthy tan, a tan that Perseus was grateful to have inherited. The man was muscular, but like Perseus he was slim, lithe and whip-like, it gave them both an air of, determination or possibly sharpness. Poseidon was dressed comfortably, never having been one for formalities, in a loose button up shirt and sailors trousers. There were a few things that made it obvious he wasn't a normal father. One was the glowing trident he was using as a hat stand. The other, slightly more obvious one, being the two-tailed merman standing next to him. Perseus wasn't overly surprised to find Triton hanging out with his father, after all, they were supposed to be brothers, it did, however, make the atmosphere a bit more hostile. Realising they still hadn't noticed the giant misty portal floating in mid-air… er…. Water, Perseus decided to try grab their attention.

"Father… Hello? Is this thing working? Iris are you messing with me? FATHER!" Perseus eventually resorted to yelling, which finally alerted them to his image.

"Perseus my boy," Poseidon called, breaking out into a wide grin, "How are you, what can I do for you? Finally decided to get a girlfriend?" Perseus sighed,

"Every time Father, I'm to busy helping my Brother and you demanding Olympians to get a girlfriend. What's more I have yet to find a girl even remotely interesting! So no I have not decided to get a girlfriend." Poseidon simply smirked at his son.

"One day, Perseus, one day. Anyway, what can I do for you, surface dweller?"

"Well I was hoping you could do your whole teleportation thing and get me to Atlantis. I still leave myself way to dehydrated when I try the whole 'Hydrotaxidia' power… which always leaves me with a huge headache."

"You are going to have to practise that, there's not always going to be a god handy when you need to get somewhere in a rush." Poseidon stated, adamant that his son learnt to control his powers.

"Come on Father, I just took down most of the Anglo-Saxon army for Zeus' sake."

"No, you need to learn to do it yourself." Argh, Perseus wanted to scream. He hated that stupid method of traveling, you had to keep track of all the water molecules in your body, or they'd simply disappear, leaving you with way less water than was healthy.

"Ok, ok, fine I'll try getting to Atlantis your way, but if I get a headache from this, I'm staying until it wears off." At this, Triton immediately began to panic, almost stretching an arm out to grab Poseidon's shoulder, before thinking better of it. Swiping a hand through the message, Perseus grabbed the book, and began to get ready for the uncomfortable way of traveling.

"Okay, all the water molecules stay with me. Keep them together." Drawing the moisture form the air, Perseus forced himself into the atmosphere, before trying to recreate the image of the Atlantean throne room and recreate himself inside that image.

Suddenly he was solid again, standing in front of Poseidon and Amphitrite.

"Hey what do you know, I think I did it." Perseus exclaimed before frowning, "Nope, not quite." He then, of course, fainted to the floor of the palace, his father lunging forward to catch him before he hit the ground. It didn't quite work. Perseus smacked into the ground, and Poseidon tripped over the body, kicking him in the side before regaining his balance.

"Take him to his rooms," glancing down Poseidon noticed the thickset book,

"Oh and put this on the stand next to him."

When Perseus eventually woke up, he was surprised, and grateful that he didn't have a headache. After that, he opened his eyes to realise that the soft, cushioning feeling underneath him was a mattress, which was completely clear, and disorienting to say the least. His surprise must have shown because a small, light chuckle broke out form his left. Turning quickly, Perseus jolted backwards, surprised at quite how close the sea nymph was.

"WOAH! Um… does the personal space idea exist down here, because if so, well, you're invading it." The Nymph continued staring at him, a small frown appearing as she responded,

"Your different. Half of you fits, the other half does not." Perseus blinked,

"Well, yeah. I'm a half-blood son of the sea-god and a surface dweller, I would assume half of me would be different."

"No, its more than that, its as if half of you is… wrong somehow."

"Wow, it gets better, just love getting told that I'm a mistake."

"Argh, no, it's more that half of you isn't Greek." Perseus looked at the Nereid confusedly, "What…" he started, but before he could finish, the Nereid suddenly swam out of the room, disappearing into the corridor. Perseus pushed the though to the side as Poseidon walked into the room.

"Morning Father." His father gave him a quick look,

"Always so formal Perseus, you do realise that the modern term 'Dad' also applies to me, not just Father." Perseus smiled,

"I wasn't sure how you would react, being a god. I though it might be pushing my luck a bit far, and Olympus knows Tyche has it in for me."

"I still don't know how you managed that. One day she's all, Perseus this, Perseus that, then the next she's taking as many opportunities as possible to turn the odds against you."

"I told you, she tried to kiss me!"

"That doesn't explain anything." Perseus gaped at his 'dad',

"I didn't want to be kissed, so I ran."

"Yes but I think she was insulted by the fact that you went so far as to jump off Olympus."

"I tripped."

"Into a perfect swan dive."

"I'm naturally athletic!"

Poseidon gave up. There was clearly no way that this conversation was going anywhere.

"So did you ask Artemis?' Perseus queried, still smirking about his win.

"Pardon?" Poseidon turned to Perseus, confusion written clear as day.

"Did you ask Artemis what I needed to do for her to teach me archery?"

"Oh yes, she wants you to kill python and bring her the spoils of war. But why Artemis, why not Apollo?"

"Because last time I tried to learn medicine from Apollo, he dragged me to a Bar and now he's mad at me."

"Why's he mad if he dragged you to the bar."

"Well he subjected me to a saga on his 'Awesomeness'"

"And?"

"I asked him if he was teaching me about torture." Poseidon stared at Perseus for as second before, beginning to laugh. And laugh. And keep laughing. The sea god actually summoned his trident so that he had something to lean on. Gasping for breath, Poseidon pulled out a rolled up slip of paper.

"Instr… ha…instructions." He managed to get out before continuing to catch his breath. Untying the roll of paper, Perseus began to read.

Perseus.

Your father has brought it to my attention that you wish for me to train you in archery. Understand that this is not something I accept lightly, being as disliking of males as I am, however I will agree to train you, with some conditions, but only if you should manage to complete the task I set you.

Whether or not it has reached your attention I do not know, but the great serpent, Python, reformed not long ago. It is believed that it has taken refuge on the slopes of Ardennes. Kill the beast and bring me the spoils.

Artemis

By the time Perseus finished reading, Poseidon finally managed to stop laughing, and was staring at his son curiously. Perseus glanced up with a quick smile.

"Well at least she's told me where I'm going, Ardennes."

"That's a positive, but you're still going to be facing Python. It took a god to defeat him last time." Perseus glanced up at his dad, surprised to hear the normally calm god sounding concerned.

"I'll be fine, you've taught me well. Besides, last time it was Apollo, all he would have had to do was try recite some poetry and it would be begging for death." Poseidon cracked a smile at that,

"I'm sure you'll do well, just don't do anything stupid."

"When do I ever? On second thoughts, don't answer that, I'm just going to grab some spears from the Armoury and then I'll be off." Perseus smiled as an idea popped into his head, "Do you think you could get Blackjack to head over to France? It would make reaching Ardennes a lot easier." Poseidon nodded, before pulling an exceedingly surprised Perseus into a hug.

"Don't die." He said seriously, eventually releasing Perseus from the embrace.

"Yeah, it wasn't on my to-do list either."

"Perseus…"

"Ok, ok, I promise I won't die. I'll be back before you know it." And with that, Perseus turned and walked out of the room.

Wincing from the new headache, Perseus glanced around at the beach he had appeared in. White sand swept up to a green bank, littered with trees, and one random black rock. Wait not a rock, a horse. Were those wings?… "BLACKJACK!" Perseus suddenly yelled out. Startled out his slumber, the black Pegasus stumbled hurriedly onto his hooves, tossing his head before realising who it was.

"Hey Lord, its about time you arrived. I've been waiting here for hours." He whinnied

"Sorry about that, and how many times have I told you not to call me Lord."

"More times than you've given me apples, that I know." Taking out one such apple from his pack, Perseus tossed it to the snarky horse.

"Anyway, I've got to get to Ardennes quickly, think you can manage that?"

"Lord have you seen my wings? There isn't a Pegasus alive that could get you there faster. Except for me old dad, but he doesn't count, what with him basically being a god." Perseus smiled, even if everything changed, two things would remain constant- one being Blackjack's vanity, and the other being Blackjacks annoying tendency to give him a title. Hopping onto the back of the Pegasus, Perseus fiddled with his gear to make sure he was comfortable. When he managed to find a good spot, he nudged Blackjack in the side, and immediately Blackjack started galloping forward, beating his wings faster and faster to get off the ground.

"You know, Ardennes is quite nice place this time of year, and there's this mare there that I have not seen for years. I remember one time we…"

"Blackjack, I don't want to hear about your "conquests", I swear, you're as bad as Apollo."

"Sorry lord." The Pegasus sniggered. "Though it's no surprise that you haven't got yourself a lady friend when you refuse to take tips from the maestro."

"Your time in Italy was clearly to long." Perseus grunted.

"Lord, we were both there for a year."

"Yes but I didn't come back with a whole list of new vices, and a tendency to use random Italian words." Underneath him, Black jack whinnied loudly, laughing at what he called Perseus's "Prudish" mind-set.

"Just get me to Ardennes will you?"

"What ever you say lord." Blackjack laughed.

As they came out of the clouds around Ardennes, traces of the enormous snake were clear to see, especially from the back of a Pegasus. Trees had been pushed to the side, leaving a twisting trail up the mountain, randomly spotted with smoking patches of earth where globules of Acid had fallen from the serpents' fangs. Flying overhead, the pair followed the trail, dropping slightly closer to the trees. The tracks lead to small cavern opening, and after Blackjack landed Perseus was able to study it more closely. Barely the height of a man, but of larger width, the sides of the entrance had been scraped away, and old scales could be seen on either side. Perseus turned quickly to Blackjack.

"Thanks for the help my friend, I'll handle this from here." Blackjack looked slightly nervous, or as nervous as a horse can look,

"You sure lord, because I can wait out here if you want, you know to give you a bit of warning?" Perseus smiled at that,

"No, I need you to tell my father that I've found the beasts lair. He needs to know where to come if I don't get in touch."

"Ok, I'll tell him, just… be careful alright, I can't persuade other humans to give me apples- most of them don't speak horse." Perseus nodded, a grim smile forming on his face as he stepped into the cave.

The inside wasn't much bigger than the entrance, and seemed to be a tunnel, the serpent had clearly expanded much of the tunnel, as the walls became rounder, and fine dust particles could be seen in the dim light. Strangely, as Perseus went further and further into the mountain, with the rough walls scraping harshly at his clothes and skin and a dank musty smell filling his nose, the tunnel seemed to be getting brighter. It wasn't his eyes adjusting; no it was that the end of the tunnel seemed to open up into some sort of cavern. As soon as Perseus entered the cathedral-like cave, it became obvious what was casting the light. Inside the Mountain was a river of molten rock, flowing from what appeared to be one of Hephaestus' old forges. The god of smiths used a combination of magic and mechanics to make sure his forges burnt perpetually, however many of them he never used, instead letting the out to some of the more skilled Cyclopes. It looked like that was what had happened here, the large skeletons in the corner of the room making it seem more likely. The forge itself was simple, the anvil and equipment swept into a corner and pillars running along the sides of the chamber to hold the roof. In one corner was a broken, worn down bed, which sat near a table and a kitchen. The burning forge dominated the centre of the smithy.

As he looked around the forge, Perseus quickly spotted several things that trouble him. Firstly, the snake wasn't in the cavern at the moment, which while useful in that it meant he could prepare to ambush the monster, it meant that it was at that point somewhere in the French countryside, and was more than likely hunting for its food, by which he meant people. The second thing he noticed was that the forge hadn't been disturbed for a day at least, which meant the snake was more than likely on its way back now. The third, and most important, thing that he noticed was the blonde girl tied to one of the pillars.

Perseus quickly ran forwards to help, whipping one of his knives out from his belt he quickly began to slice the bindings away, before he caught the girls' eye. Grey eyes. But that was not what made him pause. No, what made him pause was the warning in them, it forced him to recognise a few truths that would make life more difficult. The first was that snakes by their very nature do not have arms, and as such, tying a girl to a pillar was not an exceedingly feasible action for a snake.

This then led to the second point. Someone else must have tied the girl to the pillar, and given that he had not spotted anyone moving away from the snakes den as he moved towards it, it was highly likely that the person who tied the girl here was still in the forge.

This would explain the third point, which was that at that very point the most uncomfortable point of them all. The annoying prickling feeling on the back of his neck, was not, in fact, his own sixth sense warning him of imminent danger, but the point of a sword. Which, it had to be said, was doing a pretty good job of warning him as well.

Bit of a filler chapter here, Just trying to establish some of the relationships Perseus has with other characters in the story. It does not mean that all the characters in this chapter will be main features. Again I just want to say, reviews would really be appreciated, especially relating to my writing style, which I am trying to improve.