Andromeda! Where are you?' the girl turned around at the sound of her father calling her. The girl wasn't by any means the most beautiful person in the world, but her face indicated that there was a presence of potential beauty. She had large brown doe eyes, looking at the world in cluelessness, like a lost child who just dropped a vase, her lips were chapped, like dry wood ready to be lit up and her skin was a deep earthy shade, her hair curly and wavy, caressing her shoulders like a waterfall.

'Coming!' she stepped off the bedpallet to, and the floor made a recognizeable and dreading squeak. Andromeda's father hasn't moisturised the floor in months, and it already was slightly breaking, little cracks in the floor, like crawling snakes started appearing a month ago. But Andromeda never commented about it. Her father and herself didn't really care much for the cracks in the floor nor for the decaying state of the house.There were much more urgent matter to worry about.

She walked to the other room and there her father sat next to Hestia's hearth that was cackling with fire.'What is it, papa?' she said kneeling next to her father. He had roses and feathers in his hand. 'I don't know what to do, I've been praying to Ares and Enyo, even Phobos and Deimos but your brother still hasn't returned from the war.'

He sighed. 'I heard Cassandra talking on the market that she was going to try and pray to Aphrodite.'

The girl frowned. 'Aphrodite, how so? Her domains are love and beauty, are they not?' her father nodded. 'They are, but the Spartans apparently also pray for her for war and sea fare.' Andromeda frowned. 'Really?' he nodded and sighed again. His eyebags were as visible as ever. 'Of course, I know that they are our enemies, but you can't deny their glory in war and battle. Maybe it's because they pray to the dove lady? That's what I thought.' Andromeda nodded.

'Of course, we can try' she grabbed a candle from the shelf. 'I get why she maybe has control over the sea, considering she was born there, Anadyomene doesn't come from nowhere, her lady ship Andyomene is a part of her, but why war?

'Her father tilted his shoulders up. I don't know, maybe Ares gave her some?' it was a really illogical explanation, but the daughter went with it. She placed the beeswax candle near the hearth. 'I don't know, but we can try, I lost all hope.' Andromeda sighed. 'If that is what brings him home.'

Andromeda got on her feet and grabbed the feathers that were in her father's hands and lit them on fire with the candle. They burned and the smell of sacrifise filled the room. Her hands went to a prayer motion.

'Oh Hestia, goddess of the hearth, home, family and hope. We thank thee for the hearth and for the home. May hope be with us. Today we pray to Aphrodite, thy aunt and half-sister. Thank thee!'

Andromeda then proceeded to grab the flowers and let them up to, tossing them into the fire.'Oh Aphrodite! Goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, sea fare and war, lady of the doves. Oh, thy majesty is beyond compare, thy beauty kills innocent souls, thy voice is sweeter than honey. Oh, Golden goddess, bringer of victory, she who turns to love, mother of desire, accept our offering! My father's son, my brother is at war, please, we beg thee to let us reunite! Maybe, only thou will know how much he holds dear to my heart. Have mercy on ours and his souls, let him be with his family! Thank thee.'

Andromeda wasn't cynical and she thought that there was no more terryfiying destroyer than false hope, but she let herself hope as she saw the roses rise up in flame. Her brother would come to his family. Theodore Alexandrides of Athens would come to his family, or his family would have come home to him.

'Never knew you liked Mariah Carey.'

4 years old Percy looked at his mother. 'Who?'

'Mariah Carey, you're singing "Fantasy", she made the song.'

'Really?'

His mother nodded 'Yeah, you like it?'

'Yes.'

He began humming the song and handed his mom another piece of clothing, she folded it on the couch and began humming with him.

Oh, when you walk by every night

Talkin' sweet and lookin' fine

The boy sang the first two lines from the chorus and his mom stopped with the folding. His voice didn't sound like a 4-year-old boy. It didn't sound like a boy. It didn't even come from him, she felt like his voice was coming from all the corners of the room, like a stereo speaker in a cinema.

The voice was smooth and heavenly, like angels singing, a perfect church choir. It was the most beautiful thing in the world. Like warm honey was being poured over her heart, slowly, tantalizing her soul.

"If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with thesweetness of their song."

~Odyssey

Poseidon…

She looks at her child who was just happily humming a song. And then her gaze flickered to the doorway where Gabe was. He was standing there, his eyes completely white, no iris or pupil in sight, his mouth wide open. His gaze, if there was one, was looking right at Percy.

The Siren's song…

'Dear, I love your singing, but don't you think you should safe your beautiful voice for something else?'

He looked at her, his chubby hands handing him a cloth.

'You think it's pwetty?' she smiles at him.

'Of course, it is, just this kind of voice should be heard in theaters, and open flower fields, not in our apartment. How about I take you tomorrow to Montauk, there we can sing together!'

He smiles and nods.

Percy liked camp half-blood. It was welcoming and fun (though he did have problems with the safety measures around here)(and liability issues, seriously who thought this was a good idea? Can someone please make a responsible god the god of safety measures in demigod camps?).

Castor and Pollux were sweet to him, Luke from the Hermes cabin was quite welcoming, Katie Gardner and Miranda Gardiner from the Demeter cabin spend a lot of times hanging out with Castor and Pollux, thus with Percy. Lou Ellen was an unclaimed demigod was really good friends with Castor and also happened to take a liking in Percy. Akemi let Percy borrow his skincare last week. (Percy tried it, it worked but he was too lazy to continue, sue him)

Drew Tanaka from the Aphrodite cabin adored Castor's and Percy's eyeliner always complaining about how they should teach her, she was apparently really bad at eyeliner. Though she helped Castor with his lipstick (Percy tried too, but soon backed off because he didn't like the feeling on his lips).

Annabeth from the Athena cabin teaches him ancient Greek, which Percy found a lot easier than English, but not as easy as Luhanya.

Luhanya was the most common used language under the sea. And Percy had even a better knack for it than ancient Greek. It just simply made sense on how it worked. He didn't know why, but sometimes he knew the translation of words even before he learned it.

Luhanya was interesting. And the sea culture in general was comlelling.

'So, in the sea we have multiple republics-'Percy interrupted Rhodes.

'Republics? I thought Poseidon was king?' she tilled up her shoulders.

'He is, but it's only formal, he isn't actually a king, gave up the title in the 18thcentury, along with the whole royal family, but the merpeople were so thankful, that the title remained. See it as the royal family of the UK, but with less riches.' She spoke. 'Though he has some political power: his place in the Olympian council, his place in the 13 republic council as ambassador of Atlantis, and his place in the ROC.'

'What is the ROC?'

'Religions of the Oceans Council, filled with gods from multiple Pantheons, though they're not always present. Papa always complains about how Ran always forgets her duties because of her net.'

'Wait- Ran, in like the Norse Goddess?'

'Yes. Does it surprise you? If the Greek Pantheon exist, why shouldn't other Pantheons?'

Percy thought about it and nodded. 'It makes sense.' He wanted to know more about the republics. 'What are the republics?'

'Well, we have Huheir, the republic that was first the kingdom of Thalassa, but she decided to leave it alone, not long ago, only in the beginning of the 20thcentury. The republic lives off the Alaska current. The mer that live there are hidden and proud. Their republic is off limits to most of the gods and they take huge pride in that. Alaska is not very densly populated and the belivers in Thalassa are thin.

Oleis is the most ancient of monarchies, now democratic, but it was a huge ancient kingdom in the past. The oldest to exist, started around the same time as Norte Chico, they were their main trade alliances.'

'Isn't Norte Chico on land?'

'It is, but the Mer just disguised themselves. The trade made Oleis one of the richest kingdoms for 3000 years. Then they fell with the upcoming of Christianity, do not know why. The kingdom came in debt with Atlantis and Huheir. It was a horrible time, half of the population died because of hunger and war with Huheir.'

'They have war under the sea?'

'Of course,' she looked at him, 'they can be like mortals; prideful, untrustworthy, and greedy, but they have other things about them that are better than normal mortals. They are fair and just. We never had any meaningless wars because of territory, beacuse we have enough territory for everyone.' Rhodes picked up a seashell from the beach and tossed it into the water.

'Then near Chile we have Ashkerah, the kingdom started as soon as Oleis fell. It was an attempt to make something like the ancient Oleis, but I guess it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, it didn't work. The rich took over and even started pillaging the different cities. Now Ashkerah is better, but let us just say that I am not jealous of anyone who is born there. Though they do live off the Peru current, which makes their winters fun. It's a tourist destination.

Further more, living off the, what you know, the Great Gulf Stream is the republic Klaramenstra. It's the newest of all. The west was for the first time not in Europe, a lot of mer decided to move with Olympus, and so was Klaramenstra created. It's a good place to live, they have good foods, and their economy is thriving, but well, maybe I am biased, but they are really plain. There is a lack of real culture for me. But it's okay.

Then making use of the Brazil current is the Tu'umnaz civilization. They started off badly, living so intensely near land, but they managed to make one of the most successful republics. They Mer there are ambitious and mostly people have good paying jobs, though for me it's too hot there, I feel like I am boiling alive every time I am in Tu'umnaz.

Then Faifa. The civilization that lives off the South Equatorial current. They are an old one, have a lot of traditions, festivities, rituals, and ancient buildings. They are also filled with loads of sunny markets, and they have amazing lakes and seas.

Atlantis was found by our father, right now it has the biggest "per capita" of all off them, so yeah, your father' old kingdom is wealthy. It's a tourist destination; the temples, the food, the music, the architecture, all reasons to visit Atlantis. Also, the first republic to legalize drugs.', Rhodes smiled as if recalling past memories.

'Drugs?'

'Oh yeah, we have a lot of black market in the sea, but nothing compares to the drug market when it wasn't legalized.' As if again, recalling happy memories she smiled and murmured something about "I need a break and get high".

'Well, then we have Sahesta, the coldest of the republics. They are also the only one who partially live off land. It is mostly known to the appearance of the inhabitants; Sahestians have wings, for some reasons. I think it was something about being cursed, but I am not sure.

Then we have Holod, found by the Slavic and Norse gods, don't now much about them. They are relatively new. Though the beautiful mix of architecture between the Rus and Norse is amazing, you should visit it, it's wonderful!

Then there is Moiterna. The republic of luxury and pleasure. Its patron is Aphrodite, and she never forgets to make sure that everyone knows it. Fashion, entertainment, night clubs, gold, oh, lots of gold, cinema's jewelry, all found there. Mer who live both on land as under the sea say that Moiterna is the Paris of the sea, do not know what that is. It's in France, right?' Percy nodded.

'Then also a really old one; Durenai. Durenai is the most…interestingone. I am sorry but they are odd. They have these rituals that involve massive suicide, at least… well they had those. Once, Durenai was one of the most richest and successful kingdoms, but it got occupied by Holod during the Holodian war, and a lot of paper works, temples, and tradition got lost. Right now, they are trying to recover everything, but they've been independent from Holod for only one century; not enough to form an identity.

Then Zageliaeia is the city that is located in the Mariana Trench. The habitants are really closed off and do not like when people interrupt their regime. It was a whole thing to get them into the ROC. They are mostly known for their obsession over gold. While Moiterna wears jewelry, Zageliaeia makes it. Almost all the people there, work as miners in the industry. The rich ones are wealthy, the poor ones have almost no money. The social hierarchy there is enormous.

And the last one is the republic of Omakez. They live in the Dead Sea, mostly selling their huge amounts of salt to other places. Also, they are really good in silver tattoos.'

'Silver tattoos?'

'Basically, instead of ink they use silver and then inject it deep in the skin. Hurts like a b- hurts a lot, but it's worth it.'

Rhodes grabbed her hair and put it aside, revealing her neck. On the neck was a silver tattoo of an island; Percy reasoned that it was Rhodes.

Percy didn't want it but blurted out anyway.

'Wow, can I have one?'

She smiled, 'Sure little one, but first let's get ready for our magic lessons'.