Father was back.

Father was back and Semelē was glowing with mageia as if she would attack him if he got too close.

Once Mother had gotten word to Father of what happened, he raced down to their home to see it for himself. Not that it was too easy as Semelē refused to let go of the diádēma once it had been returned to her. She had placed it onto her head and actually hissed at him when he tried to remove it.

She had backed herself into a corner.

Kymopoleia and Tritôn blocked one exit while Benthesikymê and Rhodê blocked the other but— but Perseús knew his sister better than anyone else. She was not the one trapped within the room, and if they tried to get any closer, she would prove it so.

She was always the more craftier of the two.

Their parents switched tactics, calling for all of their seers to come to the palace that very minute. But–Perseús already knew how that was going to end.

He could see it after all.

Even when Makar slipped through the window behind her, he kept quiet watching as his sister lashed out. Hands coming up to block his attacks, pushing him away and pulling him in as they fought. Semelē always looked as if she were choreographing an alluring dance as she fought.

Perseús took hold of Makar as her next strike sent him flying into his embrace. His hands clamped down like steel onto the elder's arms, and Semelē fell into a parade rest content in knowing that he would not allow for another attack.

He stared at her as she turned away from their family. He understood it well as he pushed Makar away from him to walk closer to her. She tensed and relaxed in the same breath, eyes drawn to the agora below them.

The diádēma looked beautiful atop her head; elegant and graceful as if it always meant to be there.

Tritôn had paled when he first saw it, air stolen away from his lungs. The crown of Thalassa brought back dark memories for the House of Poseidôn.

Perseús looked at their Family, frantic as they tried to figure out what this meant. So many of their seers fled into the palace whether their skill was grand or just a mere fledgling. Grandfather Nêreus. Aunt Thetis. Lord Prôteus. The Graiai. Lady Eidothea. Lady Eurybiê.

Twas doing them no good. No matter the methods... no matter the numerous attempts... none could see the twins any longer.

Their threads upon the great tapestry drew shadows, hidden away from nearly all that tried to lay glances on them.

Nearly.

Perseús could see them, weaving around the two like nooses, teasing the edges of their mind. What was the mortal saying? Ah, " just enough rope to hang themselves ". He couldn't see it all, but he saw more than the others. There was pain. There was betrayal. Monsters — and he knew it didn't mean the beasts that scoured the land from Tartara. There was heartache and pain. His sister's eyes flashed with murderous intent as she fought another enchantress. Blood coated his own face as he squeezed and squeezed and squeezed. Those little campers from both ends of the States. Death – something that was supposed to be impossible for such undying beings; faded, yes? But Death? Twas not something he had thought but sheared threads trailed around.

And in the end, the natural state of the universe gazed upon them once more and it was pure Khaeos.

The thing that stood out the most— the truth of it all that was dragged to the front foaming at the mouth was that — was that Perseús was a god.

And gods were selfish and petty beings. So while the others were scrambling trying to delay a prophecy that had been in the making for over millennia — longer than the current "Great Prophecy" — Perseús moved to stand at his sister's side overlooking the agora and keeping mum on everything else.

Neither said nothing, but they knew that they were on the same wavelength.

Her form shimmered until she was at just the right height to lay her head against his shoulder, and he laid his own atop of her eyes.

If any were to look onto them and gaze about their faces, they would be able to see the way their pupils shifted until they were both a pretty teal. His sister's mageia brushed over their forms, body doubles being left their places as they immediately turned into the same waves that they controlled.

It wouldn't last long, but it gave them enough time for her to spirit them away back into their quarters. They split up at the fork. She went left and he went right and in the end, they met in the middle, grabbing whatever weapons that they may need.

A small part of them knew that they should wait. It wasn't the right time for them to be doing this. The House of Poseidôn could ill afford to look divided at a moment like this. It would be seen as dereliction of duty in times of war.

But they were the children of the sea and it came before everything else.

When they stepped out of their rooms, they were already dressed for battle. Her blond tresses woven into a braid so long and thin that it could be its own rope; instead of her fins, she had legs laced with the heaviest boots that the kyklops could forge for pharmakis of her stature. Her forearms were decorated with bangles that she used to siphon mageia when her own was exhausted. Her waist was decorated with strips of kelp and algae and the jewels that lay within the sea bed.

"Where shall we begin, brother," she asked, eyes running over the plethora of elixirs that she had at hand. Their Family didn't know how far they were willing to go to protect them. It was their destiny after all for a prophecy that they should have never known about until their 197 lunar cycle. It was their fault mostly, ensuring that when people looked at them then the thoughts that followed were only accompanied by the images of children who gazed about the world in a naive light.

If they only knew that they were as jaded as the plebeians that lingered in the grottos of the poleis.

Her "toy box" was more of a weapon shed than anything and he was sure that it would have been something that terrified even Alusru from the malevolent intent that lingered within.

"I was always fond of pearls," Perseús stated casually.

Semelē hummed. "I could go for a few oysters myself."

"No," he murmured. She raised a brow. "Tell me sister, have you ever seen a dove cry?"

She paused, looking upwards at him. "I know many men have shed tears in war."

"And yet the sun shines on them again," he countered. She scowled, turning her gaze onto him fully. "I thought you cut swine out of your diet."

"It's better than geese."

"The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you," she sneered.

"I did not know you were jewish, sister," he teased. Semelē rolled her eyes and huffed. "How do you even know that's where we should begin?"

"It calls for me," he admitted, turning to look out their window. Guards were pouring into the roads and he knew that their doubles had been discovered. Even now, he could feel faint traces of Father's power pouring into the sea searching for them. He had no doubt that his sister was keeping them cloaked, bouncing their signal off different locations until they could move quicker. "It wants me."

"We have no time left," she murmured, moving closer. "I cannot hold them off for long. Are you sure this is where we are to go?"

"No, but tis a start," he replied, reaching out for the threads around him. They turned when they sensed someone entering the room.

"I'm coming with you," Atkis told them.

The twins tilted their heads. "How did you know to look here," Perseús asked. The elder god raised a brow, eyes soft and fond as he gazed upon them. "I've always known that you two were more than what you appeared before the court. I figured you needed time to 'suit up'. Grandfather has sent guards to every location that you're signaling them to. Seven of them pinged in the palace. I chose this one."

"Huh," Semelē hummed. "I would have figured Makar would have tried to find us."

"Tis his ego you bruised," Atkis pointed out. "He has been loudly complaining and contemplating for the last hour until the duplicates disappeared that you had been holding back in your spars."

She smirked lightly. "I learned nearly all that I know from him." He did sneak her away to a few of those fight rings.

"I am coming with you," the elder repeated. "She is my sister."

"You think that will help you," Perseús snorted.

"Tis better than nothing," he replied. "You will have to pass through yia yia's enemy to get to her."

Semelē scowled, "I'd rip that bitch to shreds before she could do anything."

"I can grant us easy passage," Atkis said. "My sister will listen to me before she listens to you."

"And her husband? Twas Father that kept his Father from him for tens of years."

Atkis sniffed. "I never approved of any that tried for their hands."

His sister rolls her eyes, no doubt remembering every instance where he and Tritôn sabotage her dates. (He personally would never get over the trauma of preparing to disrupt a date only to witness his sister deflowering one of her handmaidens.)

Perseús turned to his sister, not surprised to find that she was already looking at him. As one they turned back to Atkis, nodding their head sharply.

"Come along," Semelē said, waving her hand and casting their supplies off to a pocket dimension.. "I know of a secret passageway."


The secret passageway was apparently under her bed which said everything about her.

At least the question of how she kept escaping the palace the few times she was grounded was answered. (He doubted there was anything that could top the moment that she had been grounded while they went to some celebration on Olympos only to see her, intoxicated and Hermês carrying her on his back.)

There was a labyrinth underneath their palace. Father would have a fit if he knew and yet, it felt nothing like the one that Pasiphaë and Ariadnê controlled that was filled with malicious intent. The paths winded around each other in spirals and loops and it took the fourth time that they passed under the garden of Benthesikymê for the fifth time that he realized that she was trying to make sure that they got confused down there so that she could continue using it undisturbed after this.

Thirty minutes into their escape, the kingdom alarms sounded through the night and yet no one came after them. Not even Kerkaphos who had shown her the maze. (Perseús could hear the underlying words that basically confirmed what most of them knew; Kerkaphos was the one to take her virginity – a fact that neither publicly denied or confirmed.)

It took a few more turns where they ventured to the surface land and Semelē cast mist over them so that they could assume the looks of Eleionomae before they returned back to the maze. And after what seemed like hours – and it probably was considering he could see a few octoman and tritoni beginning to spread out... except these were not their Father's men. These were Phorkys. Phanes, what were they thinking? The sea was at war ... the kingdoms were probably salivating at a chance to get their hands on them.

Merda, he was going to kill Semelē if she got them locked in another one of his shows. It had taken Father weeks of negotiating for their freedom, only for it to end when Semelē panicked so badly the moment he had a bad reaction to the drug they had given the two of them. She had damaged her fins terribly, but once she drew out the drug, well... now half of Phorkys' territory officially belonged to Perseús' first born child in a bid to keep her from tearing into him and sending on the first chute to Tartara.

She was protective like that.

It wasn't too long later that she had them assume the images of Limnads as they appeared before the current entrance to the Sea of Monsters. This was definitely not Aeaea.

Atkis moved in front of them, towards a hidden pathway off to the side. They managed to avoid Khárybdis and Skúlla, even though he knew that his sister was itching to fight the latter. Atkis instead pulled out a frankly terrifying amount of keys. Perseús was sure that the key ring was wide enough to fit around his thighs and he had very beautiful thighs — the dryads upon Mount Olympos were always commenting on his "swimmer's body".

(He joined Mother and his aunts for their biweekly pilates class. He received a beautiful body and all the best gossip.)

He finally found the key, a cute little smiling sun key and just twisted it into the air as if he were unlocking a door. Perseús should really stop being surprised by everything that mageia could do, but it was always his favorite thing to watch from the moment his sister started training and using it to enhance her powers of the storm.

(A part of him wondered about the codependency the two of them shared for each other, but it wasn't causing them any harm so he waved the thought away.)

"Atkis," he questioned as the doorway opened. It looked to be some kind of resort. Suadela, Harmonia, and Angelia were getting seaweed wraps.

Semelē hummed, gazing moving about. "I had heard that she runs a spa resort now. Didn't think it was true but Aeaea is where she resides with her Husband and family, but this is just business."

"Tis true," Atkis stated, as he led them around like he spent most of his time there. Semelē waved a hand and their disguises fell off. The handmaidens around them didn't even startle at the change in appearances; instead they bowed whenever one of them caught sight of Atkis.

Dialect switching to thalassini glossa, Perseús smirked, "Tis a wonder air not fills your head for they bend to the knee no matter where you strut."

Semelē laughed as Atkis threw him a disgruntled look. "I am a Prince of the Hailoi there and here, I am the brother to the Ruler of the Isle. I garner no more respect than what I deserve."

"And of the restaurants that you have established all across Elláda and Rhode Island and spreading throughout the Thirteen American Colonies," he continued to tease. "I believe Mother was reading the article that Estia published on the chains. PHILONÁMATOS. A taste of Authentic Elláda Culture that informs customers of the cultural aspects to the different foods of all regions while not being overbearing."

"Did you see the entry in the New York Times," Semelē asked. "Apparently, all of the Heliadai – well those of our sister's line – showed up at their Manhattan location dressed to the nines in 'modern greek clothing'. They are being called the New Heliadai since they used Rhodian as their surname and claim Ródos as their place of birth. Something that Lindos enjoys greatly for the island does share his name. Though, I swear when I visited the month before, the people were not all wearing chanel. Electryone promised to find me a similar outfit the next time she wants to make a people's appearance."

Atkis hummed, leading them through winding pathways to the building near the top. "It has never occurred to me how we will introduce you two if you were to do public appearances. Neither of you prefer a mature form, but I refused to call you both my aunt and uncle in front of the press in the bodies of teenagers or worse, children."

"Friends of the family," Perseús suggested. "Tis not like any of them have ever met Father. And besides all of that, I believe Kamiros has gotten it situated that the family comes from old money. Was it not he that forged the paperwork that stated you descended from a noble family that lived back in 3rd century BC after the death of Alexandros of Macedon. It will be little work to do the same for us."

"What will be our front work, brother," Semelē asked. "I for one am not interested in customer service."

Perseús hummed. "Well, we can be archaeologists. We can do it all, especially maritime archaeology. Things that we throw away back to the waves we can instead claim to have found and set them on display."

"Ah," Semelē drawled. "I see it now. Saliria Archaeology. Professional firm of archaeological and historical consultants specializing in cultural resource management for private and government clients, both domestically and internationally."

"Exactly," he stated firmly. She and Atkis snorted as they approached what looked to be a classroom. Perseús felt his mouth go dry as he looked to who could only be Kirkê for she, like all of those in Hêlios' line bore eyes that glowed as brightly as the sun.

She was beautiful there was no other way to describe her. A quick look at his sister showed that she was drooling.

She had long, glossy brown hair that he knew was probably not how it looked in her true form, but for the same of the mortal bodies. It's what she chose — he also knew that she could change it because he remembered the moment when Semelē decided that she no longer wanted to be blonde and change her hair a bright bold highlighter orange at the snap of her fingers — there were pearls and diamonds woven into her hair. The form she took had her hair framing her cute heart shaped face with striking makeup that made the gold shine of her eyes stand out even more. She had very long, lithe legs covered by knee high socks and a very short black pleated skirt that Semelē was trying to peek under and a tight white button up shirt that showed over a tantalizing amount of cleavage and Perseus had to turn away.

She tended to turn men into swine and they came to her for help, not to be the next little piggies at the market.

"Makar," Kirkê suddenly calls out as she dismissed her students. "I told you before that I care not how fun it is to tease Pasiphaë, but I will not be reversing another spell. If you have a tentacle for a penis again, then you will be stuck with it until she deems otherwise."

The trio paused at those words before Semelē snorted and then dissolved into cackles. Perseús and Atkis followed right behind her. Oh, he could not wait to see Makar again!

The goddess spun around, eyes widening at the sight of them. "Oh, well this is awkward." She walked over and he couldn't help but to note the sensual way her hips moved as she dress closer. He hurriedly turned his eyes looking towards Semelē who didn't bother to hide away her appreciative gaze. "Hello, bother. Tis been too long since you've came to visit me."

"I was here just this past weekend, sister," Atkis replied, wrapping her into a firm hug. He brushed some of her hair from her face when they pulled away. "Though, unfortunately, I am not here for pleasure."

"Oh," she murmured. "Atkis, you were never one to need my service. In fact, I think I've helped all of our siblings thrice instead of you at all."

"I have my own ways to get what I want, sister," he pointed out. "And was I not the one to introduce you to Kryshaor to get out the debt that I owed him?"

"I would have done that for free." Kirkê waved her hand. "Now tell me, what brings you here especially with the elusive twins of Poseidôn that he lets not out of his sight?"

"We've come for information, mi'lady," Perseús said. "What can you tell us of The Wanderer?"