Part II

Triton just sighed and leaned his forehead against mine. "There's no use fighting it."

I groaned. Then I looked over and saw my window and grinned. "Well?"

He chuckled, and we both climbed out of the room. The water hit us, and I was about to change forms when Triton stopped me. "Wait. Could you teach me how to swim with feet?"

I blinked and then grinned. "It's actually quite simple. You just need to move your feet up and down like a propeller of sorts."

We worked a few hours on his swimming until he had gotten it completely right. I chuckled and then we both shifted to tails. With a laugh, I shot towards the surface, slicing through the skin of the water and flipping into an arch and shooting back down into the into the sea. Triton was jumping with me.

I was laughing and smiling and about to shoot upward for another jump when I stopped moving. I wriggled and pulled, but my tail was caught in an abandoned net that was snagged in the coral. I tried to work my tail out of it, but it was stuck fast. The net wouldn't come loose of the reef.

I was half above the surface and half under. I sighed and was about to work on the knots that were around me when I heard the distinct sound of a motor boat. I looked at the net and horror swept through me. I hadn't even noticed that the net had been connected to a bell, which was jangling loudly across the water.

Nausea swept through me. I pulled and yanked and jerked but the net would let loose. The boat was coming closer.

I ducked under the water. "TRITON! TRITON! Help me!" I wasn't thinking straight. I hated being caught. Panic was making my head fuzzy.

No answer. I looked around and saw the boat. It had two men in it. I was about to shift my tail to legs when they came closer to me. Even though I would be naked, I still had to hide the Mers from the mortals.

It was too late. One of the men stood up in shock and shouted in a language that wasn't English or Spanish.

I freaked. They had seen my tail! They reached over and pulled the net closer to them. They didn't try to cut me loose.

The man's eyes widened as he took in the fact that I really did have a tail. He said something to his friend. I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened.

The man grinned and tried to haul me into the boat, tangling up the net around me even more. The net was tightening around me, restricting my movements.

I shouted and squirmed. I yanked and pulled away, but the other man grabbed my hair. Hissing, I tried to pull the man out of the boat. He gave a shout and let go.

I shot into the water and didn't come back up. I could barely move through the water. "Percy!" Triton grabbed me and kept me from sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

"Triton, where are we right now?" Panic was creeping into my voice.

"In Indonesia. Why?"*

I shook my head. "There are two mortals above the surface. They saw my tail. They were trying to drag me into the boat." I yanked frantically at the nets. Triton pushed my hands away and started to cut the nets with his knife.

"They were probably fishermen. No one will believe them. We should just get out of here." Triton looked up and gave a shout. He pushed me away and narrowly avoided getting impaled by a fishing harpoon. It was pulled back up by the rope connected to it.

I struggled with the rest of nets. Grunting, I was finally getting free when another harpoon sliced through the water and speared my tail. I let out a strangled scream. My blood spread through the water.

Triton snarled and cut the rope that was pulling me up to the surface. He glared at the shape of the white motor boat and swam at it at full speed.

"Triton?!"

He raised his hands and rammed the boat, cracking the side. He turned and shot down and then flipped around and started gaining speed as he swam towards the boat again. The next ram made a good sized crack in the side.

I shouted and tried to swim to him, but pain lanced through my entire body. I groaned and started sinking to the sandy bottom. I smelled blood and realized that I was losing too much.

Then I saw the water begin to be filled with gold. Ichor!

I tugged the harpoon out with another scream and then jerkily swam towards my brother, not truly registering the pain now. "Triton?!"

He was struggling with both men. One had a shot gun and was blasting away at him. Triton was bleeding in multiple places from bullets.

I saw red. With a scream, I ignored the pain and raced at the boat. Adrenaline was pumping through my system. I thrusted myself out of the water and grabbed the man with the shot gun. I pulled him out of the sinking boat and into the water. He struggled but gradually grew limp in my grasp.

I suddenly realized…he was dead.

I stared as his body sank slowly to the sandy bottom. I stared.

He probably had a wife. Maybe a child.

He was fishing for a living. Trying to make money for his family no doubt.

He was just a mortal in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And I…

I killed him.

Okay, wow…Percy is beginning his journey.

Anyway, I used the country of Indonesia in this scene because there have been past events of animal trafficking in Indonesia. I did not mention this country to criticize, belittle, or insult any citizens from Indonesia.

I have been there. It's a beautiful collection of islands with very friendly people. The culture is rich and the environment is exotic.

Ink…