Thank you everyone for the well wishes last chapter, I really appreciate it! I am still sick but I have been to the doctor again so hopefully I'll recover soon 3 I do hope you enjoy this next book! I'm super happy with it.

Come yell at me on my tumblr: Percabeth4Life
Come chat with me on discord: h-t-t-p-s : / discord . gg / 3tGNJhu

OO OO OO OO

Triton lounged with me in the river, lazily curling his fingers to guide the trash into a pile for me to remove.

I was glad to be home, glad to be in my river. It was filled with trash but I would clean it again and it would be mine.

"We're looking into it," Triton said finally, answering my question. "How Thalia returned… currently just about everyone is baffled by it. We've even received reports that some of Kronos' forces are investigating. None of us saw it coming…"

I flicked my fingers in acknowledgement, rolling over in the water to send a wave curling around trash and piling it together.

"I can't say I'm disappointed," Triton said. "As wary as I am of another child of Zeus on the field, I am glad that you are no longer the prophecy child. I- I would prefer someone else be at risk."

I wasn't sure if I preferred that, but I was glad that I no longer had the weight of the world on my shoulders. It was terrifying to imagine being the one to save or destroy the world, I didn't envy Thalia for her fate.

"Of course, the how is still a mystery. She wasn't technically dead, simply transformed. But the increased strength of the barrier came from her life force, from her sacrifice. The fact that it remained even when she didn't… It's very strange."

"Maybe it's because the Golden Fleece is there?"

"No, no," Triton said, twisting to watch me gather the trash, "that wouldn't heal her."

"Not for healing," I clarified quickly. "But for how the barrier stays as strong. The Fleece is a very valuable artifact isn't it? Maybe it's like… an offering in place of her life?"

Triton mused over that as I sent the trash onto the bank.

"That's possible. It is a powerful symbol…" he shook his head. "We'll figure it out, but right now the important thing to note is that Thalia is alive and well."

I nodded, remembering Annabeth's tears of joy, her clinging to Thalia, Thalia's confusion but relief at seeing Annabeth.

Thalia was alive and Annabeth was with her again.

OO OO OO OO

Shopping for the school year was fun these days. It didn't used to be, not when we had to carefully check prices and determine what I needed most and what I didn't need. I still enjoyed it of course, it just… was more careful planning and less getting to pick my favorites.

Now I got to pick my favorites!

I got to pick out Avatar: The Last Airbender binders and get lots of pencils and pretty highlighters and mom even let me get some hair stuff.

She was happy to help me figure out what I needed for my hair, going off of what I learned at camp. I'd have to ask for more info later, and there was maybe some sea stuff I'd need, but overall it was fun!

Mom even braided my hair and told me stories about her childhood, it was fun!

The Lotus Card was the best thing ever and I was so so glad I'd taken it.

Mom even helped me label my notebooks and organize my books and got me audio books for them too. And a new set of headphones to listen to them with.

I even got some new clothes and tennis shoes, mom said I'd grown a bit and needed them.

OO OO OO OO

Zoey, Nikola, and I met for lunch at Zoey's house, her parents were out running errands, so we had the place to ourselves.

"Okay, so explanation time," Zoey declared, having finished supplying us all with hot chocolate. "What happened with the- the things that attacked. And the snake. And the blood-"

I took a deep breath.

"It's a long story but uh… the short answer is-" I licked my lips "-I'm a demigod."

Both stared at me.

"I- my Metua- dad, my dad is Poseidon. I uh… I learned that I had powers when I was eight or nine I think. Then later I met Triton, who's my brother. He taught me a lot and once I learned about the Gods and that I was… probably the kid of one, he taught me even more."

Nikola opened his mouth then closed it. Zoey was staring at the table with wide eyes.

I chewed my lip, "I went to a camp for demigods when I was twelve, it's where I learned who my dad was."

"You're a demigod," Zoey said.

"What the fuck," Nikola whispered.

"La…. Yeah."

"You have powers?" Zoey asked.

I nodded.

"Show us?"

Zoey framed it as a question, but it sounded more like a demand. Which was fair, I wasn't sure if I would've believed someone just saying that.

Dutifully I flicked my fingers and lifted the hot chocolate out of all of our cups, twisting it into spirals then stars then waves of hot chocolate that twisted into little twisters until all of our cups were full again.

"What the fuck," Nikola whispered again.

"So uh- the ones that attacked the school were terrors- or uh- monsters a lot call them. They were laistrygonians."

"Why were they attacking you?" Zoey asked, leaning forward with wide eyes.

"What," Nikola whispered.

"Terrors- they often eat demigods. So they attack us a lot for food."

"Is Tyson a demigod?" Zoey asked.

I flinched, closing my eyes.

They didn't know.

"Tyson-" I cleared my throat "-Tyson is… wasn't one, no. He-" I took a deep breath and a sip of my hot chocolate "-he was a kyklopes. Another child of Poseidon and… he- he died."

Nikola's eyes widened, and Zoey gasped.

"What?" Zoey squeaked. "What happened!?"

"We went on a quest to save the camp for demigods and Tyson- he… he died during it."

My fingers curled around the watch on my wrist. The watch Tyson made me.

"No," Zoey gasped. "Oh no- I'm so sorry- I-"

She looked ready to cry and Nikola looked shell-shocked.

I swallowed, "We had a funeral for him, sorry that you- that you couldn't come."

Zoey swallowed, "It's- I'm glad he got one. I'm so sorry."

I swung my feet, clutching the hot chocolate. I didn't really want to think too much about Tyson being dead. I'd accepted it, I understood it, but I didn't want to linger on it. He was gone and I wouldn't see him again. I didn't need… I didn't need to think about it over and over.

I would remember him, but I didn't want to remember him being dead.

"But ta- yeah. That's um… that's it."

"What about- Kai and Klara and Acantha? They were fighting too. Are they demigods?"

"Oh," I shook my head. "No they're- they were guards Triton sent. He was worried about me after someone tried to kill me at the end of last summer."

"What," Nikola spluttered.

I waved my hand, "It's okay, I'm fine."

"Triton, the God, sent guards," she said wide eyed. "Wait have you met other Gods?"

My lips twitched up, "Yeah. Lord Dionysos is the head of the camp I go to. And I fought Ares once."

"What the fuck," Nikola whispered.

"I might be able to introduce you to Triton," I added. "I mean, if you pray the Gods are still present in their own way of course. But like- I can introduce you to like… his physical form. I dunno if you've prayed to him before, if you do he might recognize you but-"

"Introduce me to-"

Zoey fell out of her chair.

Nikola glanced down at her fallen form then looked back at me.

"What the fuck."

OO OO OO OO

I didn't have a big party in the ocean this year, though I did still have to make an appearance. It was a bit fun, I got to see my merfriends.

Elei insisted we train together more often, I was quick to agree. I needed to get better at fighting with the war coming. Rosa wanted to learn how to fight a bit too so joined in on our planning.

Samoa had been all but vibrating off to the side while Elei and Rosa talked with me and the moment they were done all but tackled me.

"I got the apprenticeship!"

It took me a moment to remember, Samoa hadn't spoken of the apprenticeship she wanted again since my last birthday. She didn't want to say anything about it until who got it was confirmed.

It clicked then exactly what that meant.

"You got the apprenticeship with Tuluvas-fu'vak!?"

I hugged her tight as she squealed in delight.

"I did! I did! I got the confirmation just the other mahur and I'm just- I'm- I'm just so so excited- I didn't think I would but toi spoke with us the other day, me and Avl I mean- and another person but I don't know them as well—and basically interviewed us. I don't know why I was picked over Avl but- but I did it!"

I beamed and hugged her again.

"That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!"

"Congratulations," Fetu chimed in, swimming over. "That's a great accomplishment."

"A really great one," Lagi agreed. "You'll have to work hard but it will absolutely be worth it."

"Oh wow, that's gonna be hard," Masina said. "But hey, if you ever need places to practice I know some currents in need of a little bit of purification."

Samoa beamed as the others chimed in, congratulating her and offering any support she needed. Rosa offered her a hug like I did and Elei tapped their tails together.

There weren't any others present this year, except for family of course. Metua said that he wanted it to just be something I could enjoy without having to put on airs or anything. I did kinda wish that Kai and Klara and Acantha had been invited, but I didn't think Metua knew that I was close with the guards Triton put on me.

That was probably something I needed to talk about, but another day.

Presents were offered up of course, since presents were a thing for birthdays. I still wasn't quite over that, presents were so nice. I know Triton sent them presents for me during the summer and I did my best to remember during the year, but I wasn't the best at it (Triton always had a backup present for me to give them though, he was great like that). I'd never really had to until Triton.

Samoa's was first, and I found it very funny how Hippolyta settled on my shoulder to peer down at the wrapping paper as soon as I reached for the presents.

She loved shiny things, spoiled little octopus.

Samoa's present was a set of interesting shapes that I turned over curiously for a moment.

"They're for Hippolyta. I know you mentioned before that she didn't get to play as much on land cause her tank doesn't have a bunch of variety so… I got some stuff she can play with."

Oh! That was so great. I offered Samoa a bright smile.

"That's great, I'll definitely put them in her tank later."

"And you can like- switch them out so she can play with different ones, so it doesn't get boring."

"Good idea!"

I let Hippolyta claim the wrapping seaweed (as she tended to) before plucking up the next gift, labeled from Lagi and Fetu both.

They got me a nice set of medical poultices. Things that would numb pain, stuff to draw out poison, stuff for specific types of injuries, purifying salves for polluted waters, a few common antidotes- it was a lovely and very good set.

Ugh, I would need to learn how to use it all. Maybe Annabeth- well she was probably busy. Maybe Leilani would learn with me. It was more fun when I was learning it with someone, and these would be helpful.

Masina gave me a set of spiral toys (one of which I gave to Hippolyta who delighted in twisting it all around). They were kinda like… fidgets? And you could practice fine control with them. Apparently, their parents had them get some because they weren't very good at fine control in their current work, and they thought I'd enjoy playing with them cause I was good at fine control.

Rosa got me a guide to rare, endangered, and extinct sea creatures. That looked interesting, I'd definitely enjoy reading it. It even had pictures! Maybe Hippolyta would like to poke at it, she enjoyed the picture books.

Elei's present was actually tickets to the Riaptel Av Iyaniv. It was a series of events, competitions, and tournaments with all kinds of booths. I'd heard about it from Elei, she was normally there because her parents competed.

I'd never been, though I was curious about it. Triton didn't like it and hadn't attended in a long time, no one asked him to attend either. I thought that was a bit odd cause I'd received invitations last year and I knew Metua and the rest of the family did too.

But not Triton.

Regardless, that would be fun. I was definitely looking forward to that.

"Ugh," Khrysaôr muttered. "I should've thought of that."

Amphitrite-nai got me a portrait painted of me, with Hippolyta curled in my hair. Hippolyta looked comfy and I was smiling, a hand reached up to let one of her tentacles curl around it. I smiled and bit back a laugh when Hippolyta on my shoulder reached out a tentacle to poke at the tentacle on the painting.

"It's you," I said.

She considered it for a long moment in that way she did. She rarely used words but I could get a feel despite that.

She promptly climbed up to my head and settled in my hair again.

Kymopoleia dropped a present in my hands before I could get distracted by Lyta being adorable.

"Open mine now, it's taking too long."

I bit back a laugh and opened the present to find a set of… tokens?

"They're tokens for various divine chains around the world," she explained. "You always end up in interesting places during your quests, so if that happens again you have the tokens! They can be used for a service or support in different places. Of course, different coins have different uses so you'll need to learn that… but I thought it might be helpful!"

I perked up, that could be helpful for sure.

"And if not helpful, you can always spend them on fun stuff."

And there was that too.

I beamed, "Thanks!"

I grabbed another, from Herophile. Inside were two plushies and I gasped in delight.

"Appa! Momo!"

"Isn't Appa your Hippocampi?" Masina asked in confusion.

"I named my Hippocampi after Appa," I chirped, holding up the stuffed version of Appa.

"What is that," asked Lagi, leaning forward.

"A stuffed animal!"

I hugged the stuffed animal tightly.

"Thanks, Herophile!"

"You're welcome," she beamed.

I tried to move faster through the presents, cause I did want to spend more time with my friends even though I had to at least thank everyone for the presents first.

Rhodos got me a set of earrings, with a variety of sun and moon designs and Benthesikyme got me matching hair pieces. The two of them seemed to like group gifts.

Triton's was next and as usual it was great.

He got me a new charm for my bracelet, this one was a turtle. He informed me it would summon the armor keyed to it (which I would still have to do, but Triton assured me he'd teach me how) to me. But it wasn't immediate, so I wouldn't just get my armor no matter where I was. It would take longer the further from my armor I was.

Was definitely gonna be helpful, I was always forgetting to grab my armor.

I opened the one from Metua next and had to pause because it seemed… like slightly off water?

"Pick it up," Metua suggested, a gleam in His eyes.

I did as he said and realized it kinda moved like… fabric?

"It is a cloak made of ocean currents," Metua said, seeming a bit proud. "It will allow you the comfort of the ocean while on land."

Okay, that was kinda cool. I wondered how it would look on land… I'd have to try it out sometime.

"Thanks!"

I carefully folded and wrapped it again, cause it was practically invisible in the water, then reached for the next one.

This one was from Okeanos-ari and Tethys-ran. It was… rather similar to Metua's?

I picked up the bundle of misty light, that reminded me of the vents in the deep sea. It was also a cloak, I realized quickly, but different in material.

Triton looked amused, "I see they matched again."

Metua was scowling, but I just thought they were cool. I'd have to thank Okeanos-ari and Tethys-ran sometime.

Khrysaôr was all but vibrating as he skipped over.

"Mine now!"

I opened his present, unable to resist holding back a grin. I had a feeling it would be something I wasn't allowed to keep again, but would probably be kinda funny.

I blinked at the… harpoon gun?

"There's something else there too," Khrysaor chirped, nudging the paper.

I pulled out… a jar of something. Probably alcohol.

"What is that," asked Triton in a very polite 'die' tone.

"Moonshine! I made it myself, though I'm not certain it's the best. But it was one of my first attempts and I just had to share it with my darling little brother."

He hooked his arm over my shoulders, grinning at Triton who looked about ready to toss him out of the ocean.

"I don't think my mom wants me drinking moonshine," I said, hiding a smile.

"What's moonshine?" Fetu asked with a frown. "I mean, it has moon in the name so it's probably fine, right?"

Khrysaôr's grin was positively shark-like. "Yeah, Triton, it's got moon in the name!"

"It's alcohol, and no he may not have it."

"What about the harpoon-gun?" Khrysaôr whined. "I picked it out just for him from the one's I stole!"

"… is he going to get arrested on land for having stolen property?"

Khrysaôr and Triton fell into a long debate over me keeping or not keeping the harpoon-gun.

I was just glad that they seemed to be getting along at least a little.

OO OO OO OO

Fetu led me off after the party, bringing me to the lovely coral gardens. He had a pouch in his hands that he was twisting near frantically.

"I wasn't sure entirely how to ask," he started. "I mean, you are more than welcome to refuse this gift but… I did want to ask."

I blinked at him, wide eyed and curious.

"You got me another present?"

He nodded, stiff and formal.

"Yes, but it is- well, it's personal so-" he took a deep breath and held out the pouch to me "-well, just here."

I accepted the pouch and opened it curiously. My eyes widened as I got a glimpse of what was inside.

"This is-"

"You can refuse," Fetu rushed to assure me again. "But well, I would like to officially begin courting you."

I knew I was blushing, my cheeks were probably stained green from my blush. But- he wanted to court me? I didn't-

Oh Gods had he been flirting with me all those times-

Oh nooooo- I was so oblivious-

An absolute disaster, how could I not notice-

The bracelet was lovely, of course it was Fetu had retrieved it. I didn't know if he'd retrieved the scales himself, they were nearly the same shade of blue as my velaru around my neck. They had a dusting of something glittery on top of them, delicate and soft, just barely catching the light.

I swallowed and twisted the bracelet, admiring the workmership. It was beautiful.

"I understand if you wish to deny me," Fetu said softly. "I simply wanted-"

"Yes," I said quickly. "Wait no- I mean, I accept the courtship."

I knew I was absolutely green in the face, but Fetu was all blue and looked so very delighted so I didn't feel too embarrassed.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I do-" I slipped the bracelet on "-thank you."

He reached out and took my hand, admiring the bracelet on my wrist, the opposite wrist from the one where Triton's charm bracelet rested. This was the first time someone not family had given me a bracelet.

"It looks good on you," he murmured. "Nearly as lovely as you, minha pérola."

I decided I rather liked birthday's after that.

OO OO OO OO

My party on land was pretty different from the one in the ocean. For one, it had birthday cake. For another, it didn't have someone asking to court me.

My mom made the cake herself. It was blue inside, obviously, with the symbols of the elements in Avatar decorating the top.

Zoey, Nikola, and I watched movies and ate my moms amazing cooking and ate birthday cake and just generally had a good time.

When they were gone I opened the presents from them (an official Avatar the Last Airbender cook book and a some Avatar the Last Airbender Posters) then the gift my mom got me (an Appa backpack!).

Then I got to sit with my mom on the couch and curl up against her and listen to her tell me about the book she was plotting and about her classes and about her work and it was nice.

OO OO OO OO

The new school year started off easy. We got introduced to all of our teachers, got our assigned seating, and Nikola and Zoey slowly relaxed after the reveal of me being a demigod.

Though Nikola still looked somewhat faint if we talked about it too much.

Zoey used the opportunity to badger me about anything and everything about the Gods, which I suddenly felt woefully uninformed on. I knew a decent amount, but I did not know Zeus' favorite food or if Apollo liked her poetry.

It took some time to assure her that her relationship with them wouldn't be the same as mine, and even if I could ask them to their face I still probably wouldn't get a full answer.

Nikola had chimed in, finally breaking out of his wide-eyed stare.

"The Gods contain multitudes, They have many aspects. Just because Percy knows one doesn't mean he knows all."

I nodded quickly in agreement with Nikola.

"Your relationship is yours, I only know Them through my relationship with Them."

Zoey got more comfortable after that.

What did catch my eye about the new school year was that my guards had returned. I wondered at it, if they were planning on guarding me again this year.

OO OO OO OO

Zoey and Nikola were still as much fun to hang out with as ever. We still went to skate parks together and compared notes on our religions and planned holidays together. We still got snacks and hung out at the library and giggled over Zoey's drawings. We still found comfy napping spots and talked about life.

Things slowly returned to normal, just now… there was a gap.

Last year there was also Tyson, who showed us cool spots he found and who we taught new things to. Tyson, who people were usually wary of but was a sweetheart and always pointed out the pretty sights or offered us flowers or little toys he'd find or make.

Nikola and Zoey definitely felt his absence. Sometimes we talked about him, talked about what he did with us. I did, over time, tell them more about his time at camp and his death.

I eventually told them he made my watch, they thought it was beautiful.

I'd missed them, I was glad to spend time with them. It was safe with them, normal even. They were mortal but still worshipped the Gods (or well, Zoey worshipped the Greek Gods and Nikola the Norse Gods).

But it was comfortable, especially now that I could be honest about my demigod experiences.

Zoey found them all fascinating, she always a dozen new questions for every answer I gave. Nikola always just seemed a bit awed, a bit overwhelmed, a bit lost.

But neither held it against me or didn't believe me. They both listened and believed me and supported me- they were curious or shocked but not… not jealous or suspicious.

I was able to introduce them properly to Annabeth via IM, she was staying at camp this year (because she didn't want to see her dad, because she was in charge of the temple build, because Thalia was there, and she wasn't leaving Thalia again-).

To absolutely no ones surprise, Zoey had a few dozen questions.

Thalia... was present.

OO OO OO OO

Euphemia was back with the new school year. She had a whole new set of lessons for me too.

I'd decided I didn't want to do the studies on medical stuff anymore so naturally this year she declared we'd be focusing less on history and more on biology and science in the ocean.

Which meant I got to learn all about the biology of different mer and sea creatures. And learn to identify safe plants and dangerous plants. And learn how to make basic poultices, tools, and supplies for any given emergency. And of course learn how metalworking, cooking, and other various crafts worked underwater so I wouldn't confuse it with the land stuff.

More of our lessons would be in the ocean this year, rather than on land. A lot of what I needed to learn needed experience apparently. But for now she was going to be focusing on what could be learned while on land (aka: biology ugh).

This was absolutely unfair.

OO OO OO OO

I did spend some time in the ocean, mostly with Triton and Herophile and Kymopoleia but a fair bit with Fetu as well. Rhodos was busy with work more often than not, and Benthesikyme usually preferred deeper water. Both did still spend time with me, telling me stories and sometimes just sitting with me while I studied. But Triton, Herophile, and Kymopoleia were the ones I had fun with.

Triton was familiar of course, he mostly taught me and brought me places and let me shadow him sometimes when he worked. I could talk to him about anything and he always had advice to offer or a shoulder to lean on. He helped me take care of Lyta and Appa

Herophile didn't have any really "official" duties anymore, not since people stopped really visiting her as an Oracle. That meant she was almost always free to just hang out with me. She loved playing games and doing puzzles. I was still trying to figure out the puzzle toy with a prize she got me for my birthday.

Kymopoleia enjoyed taking me out (much to Triton's frustration). She usually brought Herophile with, but sometimes it was just the two of us. She brought me to plays, to markets, to spas, to parties. It was fun, it was always interesting. I got to meet the people, got to experience things with them, got to see the culture first hand.

One time, Okeanos and Tethys were visiting, discussing some details about the war with Metani from what I understood. They didn't like to talk about it too much in front of me, said I was a child and shouldn't have to worry about it anymore than I was forced to.

But while they were there I asked them why they sent the sea serpents.

"We spent a long time debating," Okeanos-ari said slowly. "We made our choice of which side of the war we would stand with after long discussion, but interfering is… something we've not done before."

I nodded, that was a well-known fact. The fact that Okeanos had actually picked and supported a side was major. It was unprecedented.

"We waited until the camp made their decision," Tethys-ran said. "When you were given the choice to surrender. We wanted to know your decision before we acted. But once you decided… well, that was that."

"We weren't going to let you- any of you that is- die," Okeanos-ari continued. "That Luke had already tried to kill you you once, I wasn't going to risk it happening again. But had you surrendered… we would've allowed it to happen."

I considered His words. They made sense, if we had surrendered then the war would've been practically over in one move.

It was rather scary to think of how one decision could decide our Fate.

OO OO OO OO

Zoey, Nikola, and I wanted to spend time with my guards again. They were guards but… they were still our friends.

So, we had a sleepover, at Nikola's house. He had the comfiest bedroom.

It was a bit awkward at the start, the guards were a bit hesitant with me knowing about them and then Zoey and Nikola revealing they knew too, but we slowly grew comfortable.

We played card games and turned on TV (Legend of Korra wasn't as good as the original ATLA, but it was still fun to watch, and had cool waterbending moves). We talked about school and teachers and tests and our plans for the year coming up.

We talked about family too.

Nikola was annoyed with one of his cousins who was being a pain and might end up staying with them for a bit.

Zoey was arguing with her parents over reading more "educational" books and less fantasy.

Klara had a younger sister who really looked up to her but was upset that Klara was away. Klara had gotten into some fights with her before coming on land.

Acantha was an only child and her parents were insanely proud of her, but she felt a bit stressed trying to live up to their expectations.

Kai was the youngest of four and was trying to outdo his siblings' records, all of them were pretty studious.

I didn't have much to complain about, my step-dad was dead, and my immediate Godly family was pretty good overall. Plus, I wasn't sure I was supposed to talk about any complaints I had with my Godly family with the guards. They were subjects of my Metua, if I complained it could reflect badly on Him.

So, I didn't complain about family at all, but I did complain a bit about how I missed Annabeth. She was spending a lot of time with Thalia and we'd barely IMed since I left camp. We were already a few weeks into the school year, last year we IMed at least twice a week.

I was a bit jealous of Thalia.

But the sleepover itself was fun, we all supported each other and agreed that all complaints were so entirely valid.

Kai even had fun gossip from school!

OO OO OO OO

I didn't really spend much time with Khrysaôr on our own, Triton didn't like Khrysaôr taking me off and Kymopoleia usually came along if Khrysaôr was doing anything. But this time Khrysaôr picked me up from school with a grin on his face, neither of them anywhere nearby.

My fingers ran over my choker, the scaled one that blocked my senses from being overly sensitive, as Khrysaôr led the way to the river.

"This is gonna be fun," he assured me. "You got a pirate ship, right?"

I perked up, "Yeah, or well, I had one. I don't know where it is now, we had to ditch it."

Khrysaôr waved his hand, "I had my people pick it up, don't worry. I'm gonna teach you how to sail it. Properly."

I lit up, "Really!?"

He grinned, that sharp vicious one that usually meant that Triton was going to appear out of nowhere to shriek at Khrysaôr again.

"Yep! You definitely need to learn to sail. You're a child of Poseidon, sailing is a necessity. Mind you a ship that size usually needs more people, and I'll teach you with a crew first, so you know what needs to be done. But you'll be able to control the ship itself with a bit of practice."

Oh, that was going to be so much fun.

OO OO OO OO

It had been so much fun, though Triton did appear after a few hours to shriek at Khrysaôr for kidnapping me. I didn't mind, Khrysaôr made sure I was okay. We got to sail around for hours in the ocean!

He said he'd teach me how to fight aboard a ship another time, since you had to adjust to the rocking of the ship and stuff.

"One day I'll teach you how to really move on a ship, no matter the state of the ocean. It's so much fun."

Triton brought me home shortly after, Khrysaôr needling him as we left.

OO OO OO OO

Triton POV

I sighed as I sat next to Psamathe. She'd decided to strike up a friendship with me recently, though I suspected it wasn't of her own desire.

Metu thought he was so clever.

"I thought you were supposed to remove the guards from duty," Psamathe said as we relaxed.

I schooled my expression into something mildly curious, "Oh, I did. They no longer have to guard Persi, no official quest and all."

"Yet they're still there."

I hummed, "Oh, I think they just liked the land. Must've decided to keep hanging out there."

"You're not subtle," she warned. "You might feel clever, playing at technicalities, but everyone knows they're technicalities. If you cross the Fates-"

"It's fine," I assured her, not saying that I would cross the Fates for my brother. "They're just spending time together, being friends."

She sighed, "Triton, I know you care. But you know that the ban is not on us being around our children for no reason."

I studied the stars, I didn't actually know overly much about it. I knew the basics, but I didn't know much of why they were in place. I'd never cared, or thought it mattered. Persi wasn't my child, he was my brother. So, what did it matter?

"You do know why, don't you?"

I shrugged, "So we don't break Fate and possibly bring ruin to the world?"

She was silent for a long moment.

"Keeping us from being willing to break Fate because of our attachment is one reason," she said softly. "But the primary reason… you know that this law as it is now is fairly recent over all, yes?"

I nodded, it was maybe two thousand years old, if that.

"Helios and Selene were said to have had demigod children, roughly the same age. They were very close, just as Selene and Helios are. They died, together. During- I cannot recall the war but one of the ones the mortals held in Europe. Selene and Helios didn't… they didn't take it well."

I listened carefully, trying to imagine Persi dying.

I didn't think I'd take that well either.

"They did their duties still for a time, but there was a noticeable lack of effort. The sun was dimmer, the moon was slow to rise and slow to fall. It was… it was a rough time. That was when Artemis and Apollon stepped up, as they had sometimes before, to help. Helios and Selene… they simply faded away, fell asleep. Eos likely knows where they are but- but they're sleeping, somewhere, sleeping away the grief."

She turned to face me then, gaze intense.

"We love our children, we do. But we cannot-" she swallowed hard. "We cannot allow ourselves to love them too much, to grow too attached. When we lose them… when we lose them the whole world feels our grief. The world cannot take that."

I swallowed, staring at the moon above.

"The world needs us," she said softly. "It's why we rarely stay with mortals for too terribly long. It's why when we feel grief we have our immortal family to hold us and remind us of what we still have."

"He's-" I took a deep breath "-I love him. He's my little brother, how can I not adore him? If he died-"

I didn't want to think about that. I rather imagined I would not handle it well at all.

"This is why," she said softly. "You're too close, you love too deeply. We all felt your grief when Pallas died, the sea still hasn't recovered, and it's been thousands of years."

My jaw clenched at that, grief aching in my chest at the reminder.

"You can hardly expect me to stop caring now," I whispered. "He's my brother."

"I know," Psamathe murmured. "You love him dearly. But at the very least you can pull back a little, protect yourself and the ocean from your grief. Because you will grieve in the end. He is mortal."

He didn't have to stay mortal though.

I didn't think I could handle grieving for Persi.

OO OO OO OO

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review, they feed my soul.

What did you think of the new start? Percy's relationship with his friends? Him and Fetu? Anything you're excited for this book?

Halmaheran
mahur=tidal day
Riaptel Av Iyaniv=Ring of Allies
Metua=Father

Suffixes
fu'vak=master purifier mage

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