Chapter 30 - Mermen

Percy hadn't had much time to think over Pricus' warning.

After knocking Octavian into the harbour at Fort Sumter, then summoning a storm to batter the ramparts and then sending the Argo II shooting off into sea, he was too drained to stand. When the deck beneath him started tipping sideways, Annabeth ordered both him and Jason off into the infirmary.

For some reason, Percy wasn't surprised when Kronos slid into the infirmary not long after. The Titan grinned crookedly at Percy and dropped himself down into the chair next to him.

"I thought you were busy with Koios?"

Kronos shrugged. "I can only stomach the company of my brothers for so long. If I spend too long with them they start mocking me." He paused. "I hear you destroyed Fort Sumter."

On the bed across from Percy, Jason raised his head. "We what?"

"Apparently it was quite a show. For mortals, of course."

Percy shut his eyes. Be careful, Percy Jackson. That Titan cannot be trusted. The demigod quirked an eyebrow at his omega. "Talking about Fort Sumter," Percy said. "I met Pricus in the harbour."

Kronos pulled a face. "You did?"

"Yeah," Percy said. "He had some interesting things to say."

"Oh? That's a first."

Percy frowned at the Titan. "That's rude," he chided. He tried to ignore Jason watching the two with interest.

"Pricus has never forgotten that I dropped him into the ocean and let him find his own way," Kronos dismissed.

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Jason asked.

"Hardly the worst I've been to my own creations," Kronos drawled, obviously referring to the gods. "But he was merely an experiment. I was never good at creating and wanted to see if I could make something new."

Percy sighed. "Right," he muttered.

Kronos smiled. "Are you still blindly stumbling around in the dark or do you all have a plan in place now?"

The alpha hummed. "Someone's curious."

"Am I not permitted to keep an eye on my stupid alpha?" Kronos questioned. "Someone has to, lest you get yourself killed."

Percy smirked. "Aw, I didn't know you cared so much." When Kronos merely raised an eyebrow, prompting him to answer his question, Percy rolled his eyes. "Well we're heading to the ancient lands now. Or the Mediterranean, whatever you want to call it."

"It's hardly ancient."

"Maybe not to you," Percy said pointedly. "But most of us weren't born thousands of years ago."

"Millions."

"Whatever."

"And then?"

"Well Nico's still captured so... I guess we find him. Uh... and we'll work it out from there."

Kronos sighed.

"Look, okay, we're going blind. We don't know what's out there. We don't know what the giants are planning or anything like that. But we do know that we've got to find Nico. So that's what we'll do. The rest can be worked out after." Percy watched a flicker of something cross Kronos' eyes. "What?"

The Titan Lord's jaw tightened. He hesitated.

"Kronos?" Percy sat up, focusing his full attention onto Kronos. "What? You look..." sad, "I don't know. Is there anything I should know about?"

"No," Kronos said instantly.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Is there anything that it might be a good idea for me to know about? Even if you don't want to say it?" Kronos' lips twitched. Percy decided that was a good sign. "So?"

Kronos sighed, hunching over slightly. "Gaea's bothering me," he admitted.

Percy stiffened. Across the room, Jason turned his head towards the Titan, completely dropping the pretense of not listening. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" Kronos' expression soured. His knuckles turned white as he fisted his hands. "I'm trying to keep out of it, but she's not giving me much of a choice. The only moments I can find peace without her whispering is with my brothers... or you."

Percy felt his stomach churn. "Whispering?"

Kronos shrugged. "It's rather difficult to get away and become independent when your mother is the literal earth beneath your feet."

Percy reached towards him. "We'll win this," he promised. "She'll stop."

Kronos' smile was hollow. "Of course you will," he said, but it was obvious from his tone that he didn't believe it.

"If she doesn't bother you while you're with me, then maybe you can-" Percy cut himself off when the trireme shuddered as something collided with it. He swore at the interruption. "What the Hades is that?" Percy demanded, staggering to his feet. Jason bolted up too.

"You're under attack," Kronos mused.

Percy whirled around to face him. "Yeah – I could figure that much out myself thanks," he said, stumbling towards the door as the ship shook again.

Jason, whom hadn't stopped other than to give the Titan Lord a sour look for his comment, was out of the door first and running above deck. Percy emerged out a few seconds later, eyes widening in disbelief when he saw the monster attacking their ship. "What's that?" He demanded.

Kronos sauntered up the steps a few seconds later. "Skolopendra," he mused. "Marvellous. I haven't seen him in eons."

"Stop staring and help," Percy snapped as he surged forwards. It didn't make sense that he was jealous of a monster, but Kronos seemed genuinely pleased to see that damned thing.

"I would if I could," Kronos returned, neatly side-stepping a nostril-hair that slammed down onto the deck at his feet. "Unfortunately, the ancient laws prevent me from interfering. Have no fear though," the Titan continued with barely a pause, "I shall cheer from the side-lines."

"Yeah," Percy ground out. "That makes me feel so much better." He took his eyes off the monster briefly to glare at Kronos, and something bludgeoned him in the chest, sending him rolling back down the stairs.

He groaned, gasping for breath. "Damnit," Percy gasped out, unable to get enough air into his lungs. Kronos' face appeared above him, faintly tinged with worry. He groaned, dropping his head back down, only for stars to dance across his eyes. "Ouch." Percy tries to sit up, but the corridor spins. He can hear the sounds of fighting still on-going above. His friends are in danger – he has to help, but Kronos shoves him back down.

"Don't," the Titan said.

"What? Kronos – what are you-" Percy cuts himself off as the ship tilts sideways. He's not sure if that's him or actually the ship.

Percy's vision darkens at the edges.

"Mortals," he hears Kronos sigh, as if at the other end of a long tunnel. "So terribly fragile."

Percy woke up in the infirmary.

He was surprised to see Kronos, arms crossed next to him on the same chair he'd occupied previously. "What happened?" He groaned.

"You were flattened by a nose-hair," Kronos informed him.

"What?"

Kronos smirked. "Careful. You hit your head. Mortals send to get concussions after hits like that."

"Is that why everything's tilting?"

The Titan seemed rather amused. "No. Skolopendra nearly succeeded in destroying the trireme. The ship is actually tilting." Percy rose to his feet. "That's not a good idea."

Percy ignored him. "Is everyone okay?"

Kronos paused. "Three of your demigod friends were thrown overboard. But I wouldn't worry, I'm sure you can find some more demigods to replenish your stock-"

"Kronos."

The Titan paused. "Everyone else is alive."

"Come on," Percy said, snatching hold of the Titan's hand. "We've got to go help."

"You need to stay in bed," Kronos said, expression hard. Pushing him was like shoving a damned statue.

"I can rest later," Percy said firmly. "Right now we need to find... who did you say went overboard?"

"I didn't. And what do you mean by we?"

"Usually, we is used to refer to-"

"That is not what I meant, and you know it."

Percy grinned as he emerged onto the deck. "Wow," he said, smile dropping. "Okay." The deck was a mess.

Annabeth rushed over, pausing only briefly as Kronos emerged up the stairs behind Percy. "Hazel, Frank and Leo went overboard," she said in a rush. "Do you think you can find them?"

Of course, she didn't say that they'd be finding their bodies.

Percy nodded. "Yeah," he said sombrely. "I was going to drag Kronos into a search with me."

Annabeth frowned slightly, an odd emotion crossing her eyes as her gaze shifted to glare at the Titan Lord. "Fine," she said stiffly. "Just find them."

Percy nodded, and then he leapt overboard. Kronos, of course, heaved out a long sigh as if Percy physically pained him, but a few seconds later the winged Titan shot beneath the surface of the sea after the alpha.

"Can you even breathe underwater?" Percy asked.

"Shouldn't you have asked that before we jumped into the sea?" Kronos asked, his voice filtering through the ocean.

Percy shrugged. "Maybe." He floated opposite the Titan Lord, whose legs had melded together seamlessly into a dull golden tail at the waist, the change from the tanned skin of his chest to golden scales gradual. "Now that's interesting."

Kronos sighed. "It's not my preferred form. Perhaps we can get moving - the less time I spend with a tail the better."

Percy smiled. "I don't know," he mused. "I quite like it."

Kronos peered down into the ocean beneath them, past his tail. "Let us hope that my brother is too busy to notice my presence in his domain."

"Didn't Oceanus help your last rebellion?"

"Only because he didn't want Poseidon to forget he existed. Since I fucked his daughter he's been rather short-tempered when he's in my presence."

"His daughter?"

"Chiron."

"Oh," Percy said. Chiron's mother Philyra must have been Oceanus' daughter. The two were slowly descending into the depths. The son of Poseidon couldn't sense anything beneath them that could be his friends, but he didn't let himself worry yet. Then, suddenly, Kronos paused his descent.

Percy frowned. "Kronos?"

"Son of a bitch," Kronos swore.

"Kronos?" Percy repeated with a little more force. "What? I can't sense anything."

"I'd ask you not to refer to our mother as a bitch," a voice said and Percy watched as an odd mix of human, fish and horse swam up to join them. "But all of us know it's useless."

Percy's eyes widened as they were abruptly surrounded by mermen with sharp teeth and furious eyes, spears and tridents aimed at his throat before he could draw Riptide. "Uh hi, I'm-"

"I know who you are, Percy Jackson," the apparent leader of the mermen said, though he didn't take his eyes off Kronos.

Percy shifted to put himself between Kronos and the overly-interested fish-horse, but several of the others moved to stop him with bared teeth.

Kronos was ignoring all other mermen too, keeping his own gaze on that single being.

"Who are you?" Percy demanded. "What do you want?" Horror bubbled up in his stomach. "Do you have our friends?" He demanded.

"I am Bythos," The leader said, finally dragging his eyes away from Kronos, but only briefly. No doubt he was more than aware that Kronos was the greater threat. "We have your friends."

"There are more below us," Kronos said. His golden tail waved gently in the currents, keeping himself away from the spears and tridents encircling him.

"Why can't I sense them?" Percy demanded.

"Undersea politics," Bythos said stiffly. "We tend to try to steer clear of them. We were going to stay away from your senses, but unfortunately you brought scum into the sea with you."

Percy tensed. "Kronos isn't scum," he snapped.

Bythos' smile was cold. Percy had the oddest feeling that he'd seen that smile before, and his brown eyes were startlingly familiar. "And you're suddenly the expert on him, are you?"

Percy's eyes narrowed. He glanced back at the omega, but the Titan was being awfully silent.

"Kronos?" Percy asked.

Kronos' tail twitched. It reminded Percy of the way Chiron's horse end would sometimes skitter nervously. "Bythos, if we could have the demigods then we'll be on our way. I have no wish to intrude."

"You should have considered that thousands of years ago," the being snapped at Kronos, raising his own spear. "Perhaps if you had intruded, mother would never have been killed."

That was unexpected. Percy had the feeling that he'd stumbled into yet another being whom had a personal vendetta with the Titan Lord. "Look," Percy said, returning his attention to the leader of the brigand, "we'll leave once I have my friends back."

"Percy," Kronos said.

"I don't care what your problem is with Kronos, but we're on a time-sensitive quest and we really need to get going. So," Percy continued, reaching out for the water around them and starting to churn it. The currents, previously calm, turned into a frenzy of motion. "Are you going to listen to the son of Poseidon or not?"

"Percy."

"Not now, Kronos."

"You're intruding on private land," Bythos said curtly, strangely unaffected by the churning seas around them. "Camp Fish-Blood is an independent training camp and I will not have undersea politics brought here by a son of Poseidon."

Percy growled. "Where are my friends?"

"Percy."

"Leave."

The alpha bristled and jerked forwards, summoning the sea to his aid as he uncapped Riptide. Percy closed the distance between him and Bythos, only for him to ram headfirst into what seemed to be a solid wall of water. Percy grunted, the sea immediately moving to heal him as a commotion erupted at his back along with a startled and pained yelp from Kronos, and he narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

Bythos' eyes were cold. "I'd have thought that your omega requesting your attention was more important than whom I am."

Percy paused. He glanced back, and his eyes widened. "Hey!" The demigod whirled around to face Bythos. "Let him go," he snapped, panic rising in his voice. He raised Riptide, pressing the point against Bythos' throat, and his eyes grew even wider at the single drop of ichor, before the sea healed the minor injury.

"You come here to our land without warning and threaten us," Bythos said, a ball of water bludgeoning Riptide from Percy's hand and sending the bronze blade spiraling into the depths. "You may be Poseidon's son, but that will not earn you our favour. Not when you come here with him." He gestured sharply towards Kronos. "Had you not attacked me, that wouldn't have happened."

Percy trembled. "Let him go," he repeated, more pleading this time. "It's not his fault, I was the one who lunged at you, he's not-"

"You will both come with me," Bythos said firmly. "And then we will have a civilized discussion, without your threats and blustering, son of Poseidon. They mean nothing to me, and they mean nothing to my brother."

"Kronos?" Percy asked.

Bythos inclined his head. "Don't worry, Percy Jackson. He may be the second worst father to ever exist, but I am not willing to commit patricide."

Percy's jaw dropped. "What?" He asked in bewilderment. "He's your... you're his son?"

Bythos nodded. "Yes. Chiron is my brother. Philyra was my mother, until Rhea murdered her, and then left my brothers and I to die of exposure." His expression softened slightly. "Or, we would have, had Kronos - in a rare act of mercy - not taken my brother Aphros and I to the ocean, and Chiron to Mount Pelian, a mountain which was sacred to nymphs and a place where Rhea wouldn't dare to hunt him down. Of course... Chiron isn't aware that Kronos did this. He had no one to tell him." The son of Kronos raised his voice, now talking to the mermen around them. "Make sure he gets to the city. I would talk with Percy Jackson alone."

Percy immediately jerked forward. "No-"

"You have no authority here," Bythos said firmly. "And certainly not this deep. As I said, you've entered the domains of my brother and I. I am the gods of the depths, Perseus. Do not worry, Kronos will be tended to while we have our discussion."

Percy watched, desperately wanting to follow as Kronos, unable to swim from the celestial bronze net the mermen had managed to tangle around his tail, was dragged deeper into the sea at spear and trident point, ichor clouding the water around him from the deep gash along the base of his throat - evidently, the Titan had been trying to get Percy's attention because one or several of the mermen had already had their weapons at his throat.

The Titan Lord glanced back at Percy, but when a three-pronged trident was jabbed a little too close for comfort, he turned his head away.

"How?" Percy asked, now that they were alone. "How did they manage to do that to him?"

Bythos seemed rather amused. "Oceanus always weakens Kronos whenever he's in the sea. The two have a lingering hatred for each other after Kronos had sex with Oceanus' daughter, my mother. And there's the whole Kronos throwing Ouranos' cock into the ocean to mock Oceanus for not helping with the murder. The two have an unspoken agreement not to enter each other's domains. Of course Oceanus isn't going to want the King of the Titans able to defeat the Master of the Seas, is he? Oceanus is well within his rights to crush Kronos under the weight of the entire ocean where he swims. But enough of that," Bythos said. "Your friends are safe and well. Come, tell me your story while we wait. They have told me theirs, now it is your turn."

January exams are over! So to celebrate I have managed to churn this out over the weekend. CbD is due an update soon too.

So, Bythos and Aphros. Some myths claim they're kids of Poseidon and Amphitrite, but since Rick had them as Kronos' kids (with Philyra, and Chiron's brothers, as some other myths claim) I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea for Kronos to encounter at least one of them. Percy may seem a little OOC here, but I honestly think that's how he'd react to being encircled in Poseidon's domain. Try to get them to back off before going for deadly force, but then Kronos is also there too and Percy's instincts as an alpha would make him move to protect Kronos, even if Kronos doesn't need it. As for Oceanus, when it comes to a force outside Othrys he'll protect Kronos, but when it's just between him and Kronos? And especially if Kronos is in his domain without permission?

Guest: Well you're definitely the closest.

ghostfall: Yeah I love theories! It lets me know that people are interested in what's going on... that and I like knowing how I'm doing with keeping the final plot secret despite hinting at it occasionally so...