Chapter 17 Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
The sun shone high above the island of Wadelisle. A bird flew across the sky. The waves rolled gently along the beach.
Those were Nico's first signs that something was wrong.
It was perfect. Too perfect. Every step of their journey so far had involved something trying to kill them, eat them, or take over the world. Why would this be any different?
Nico kicked at the sand as he looked around. Frank appeared to be distracted by a crab. Hazel, meanwhile, was searching frantically around every rock, even the ones far too small for a lyre to hide behind.
It felt pointless. The lyre clearly wasn't on this beach. It was probably time to move further down the island's coast.
Nico was just so, so tired of this quest. He was worn out, physically and emotionally. He was tired of near death experiences, and of drama with people who turned out to not be who they said they were. He was tired of not having access to his abilities like normal. All he wanted was to go back to camp and see Will. They could go to the movies or something, then spend wayyy too much time at Mcdonald's, and then play Mario Kart until they both passed out from pure exhaustion.
Was that too much to ask?
At least he wasn't alone. He and his friends were in this together.
He waved for Hazel and Frank to follow him, "Guys, I don't think there's anything here. We need to keep looking."
Hazel agreed and stood up, brushing sand off of her legs. Frank seemed disappointed to leave his new crab friend behind, but he forced himself to follow the two siblings.
Nico took a single step forward before he noticed the birds in the sky. They all seemed to be flying away from the island. Then a parrot flew by. Nico turned toward the forest. His powers were severely dulled, but he still found a faint sense of fear coming from within the trees.
Coming from his friends.
Something was wrong.
"What is it?" Hazel asked.
"I think the others are in trouble," Nico said.
Hazel immediately grabbed Nico's wrist and bolted into the greenery, "Then let's go! We can find that stupid lyre later!"
The three demigods traversed through the world of green: pushing bushes out of the way, jumping over branches, and doing their best to not step on any tropical predators.
Unfortunately, their trek ended shortly as Nico slammed into something very large and strong. He fell to the ground and looked up, dazed.
Two cyclopes looked at him, then at Frank and Hazel.
"This them?" One asked.
"Definitely. Bring them to Triton," The other said.
Before he could react, the first cyclops grabbed Nico in one hand and slung him over his shoulder before doing the same to Hazel. The other one grabbed Frank. Nico tried to squirm but the cyclops kept a firm grasp on him. He wanted more than anything to unleash his powers; there had to be at least a couple skeletons on this old island, and they could go to town on these two meatheads. Unfortunately, even focusing his absolute hardest, the most he could do was sense the same faint pulse from Jason, Leo, Annabeth and Piper. They'd probably run into the cyclopes too.
But Triton? Why was he here too?
Then it dawned on Nico. Percy had been sent to steal the lyre for Poseidon. He'd failed, and now the megalomaniac was using other methods to get what he wanted.
It didn't matter. None of it had. All of Percy's sacrifices had been useless. Now he was gods knew where, and the rest of the crew of the Argo II was about to be killed by Poseidon's underlings.
Nico silently prayed to any gods listening that they would find a way out of this, because it suddenly became extremely obvious they weren't going to be able to on their own.
Oooooooooooooooooo
"You have a key?" Percy asked Tyson quietly, trying his hardest not to draw the attention of any other inmates.
Tyson nodded, then frowned, then shook his head, "It's not with me now, but I can go get it from the office at the front."
"Okay," Percy said, then lowered his voice even more, "And you're sure you want to do this? I don't want to put you in any danger."
"Of course!" Tyson smiled, "Anything for my brother!"
Percy's heart warmed at that small remark. Tyson had a way of making people feel better, no matter how serious the situation was.
Tyson left to get the key. While waiting, Percy continued to pace back and forth in his cell.
He needed a plan. He couldn't just charge into another fight with Triton, considering how well the last one had gone. Plus, this time he had a whole squad of the strongest cyclopes in Atlantis on his side. This wasn't going to be an easy fight.
Assuming he could even get to Wadelisle in time, of course. Percy was a fast swimmer, yes, but he wasn't really sure how far away he was from the island. By the time he got there, Triton could already be back to Poseidon. A hippocampus would definitely come in handy at a point like this, but Percy was pretty sure they were all held under Poseidon's strict control.
Whatever. He and Tyson could figure out how to get to Wadelisle once they got out. What would he even do once he made it to the fight? Triton had overpowered him so easily before. His friends would be there, and they all seemed to be very competent fighters, but their powers were pretty much useless.
Okay, so Percy knew what he didn't have. That wouldn't help him much, so he decided to go over what he did have.
Himself, obviously.
Tyson.
The clothes he'd been wearing when he'd abandoned the Argo ll (He still had the same Hawaiian shirt on that he'd grabbed that morning, and his shorts would reappear once he stepped foot on land).
…And that was pretty much it. Wow. Not a lot to go on.
Suddenly, Percy had an idea.
Triton had beaten him almost instantly in the ring he'd made earlier. However, there was one key detail to that fight Percy had overlooked.
It had been in the water.
Percy was only half-siren, and Triton a full-on sea god. A minor one, true, but still, the balance was way off. Percy would never stand a chance in a physical fight that unfair.
But he had something Triton didn't.
A connection to land.
Percy shared a lot of the same abilities as Triton, but there were a few differences. Triton's range was much narrower, but more powerful. If it came to anything dealing with water, the ocean, or waves, Triton would win in a landslide (waterslide? whatever).
But Percy, while maybe being weaker than Triton in those areas, possessed skills that his half-brother didn't. The common person upon hearing the name Poseidon immediately would think "god of the sea" and while that wasn't wrong, it was only the partial truth. Poseidon was the ruler over other things.
Such as…the god of earthquakes.
Percy hadn't practiced with the whole "earth-shaking" thing nearly as much as his other powers, but it was better than nothing.
Maybe he could find a way to exploit it. If he could keep Triton away from the water…
At that moment, Tyson returned.
"Got it!" He said, and immediately began unlocking the door. Percy heard a faint click! and the door eased open.
Percy slipped out, "Thanks, big guy."
"Wait!" Tyson threw his hands up.
Percy frowned, "What?"
Tyson held up a dark piece of fabric that Percy had only now noticed, "You need a disguise. Otherwise security footage will catch us."
Right. That made sense. It wouldn't do him good to escape his cell, only to be caught moments later because he was seen on tape. Percy still didn't completely get how video worked under water, but in a world of gods and mythical creatures, you just got used to weird stuff like that.
He took the fabric; a cloak of some sort. He wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure that the few specially skilled siren soldiers in Poseidon's military (see also: assassins) would wear these to keep their identities hidden. Percy put it on and draped the hood over his head, "I owe you for this."
"No." Tyson said, "This is just what family does."
Percy smiled, but he couldn't help mentally adding to Tyson's statement, This is something family should do. Percy knew that if the situation was reversed, he would've done the same thing for Tyson. However, a certain other sibling (cough cough…Triton…what?) didn't exactly believe in favors. And then there was the whole thing with his dad…
If anything, his friends had been far more of a family than his biological one ever had.
Percy wished there was any way he could get that back. Gods, if he hadn't ruined it, he could've even brought Tyson along eventually; gotten him out of the hellhole that was Atlantis and given him the life he deserved.
Percy pushed the thoughts away. No point dwelling on it now.
As the two began making their way through the hallway, Percy couldn't help but steal a couple of glances toward the other cells. A few other prisoners looked at the two of them, but said nothing. To them, it was probably just another transport or something. And if any of them had figured it out, they weren't going to say anything. Better one person escaped then nobody.
They reached the exit. Tyson held a hand out in front of Percy, forcing him to stop. He silently pointed ahead to the left and right; a cyclops guard stood on the stone pathway out of the prison on either side, looking very bored.
Percy nodded and pulled his hood up farther. Apparently not all of the other cyclopes had traveled off with Triton.
The two continued on, acting like nothing unusual was going on. Percy couldn't see much other than the stone path due to the hood, but he did notice when they passed through the entrance and into the sunlit water.
They were out in the open. No going back now. If Percy recalled correctly, this little path would continue on for another hundred feet or so, before dropping off into open ocean. The prison was miles from Atlantis, or any other underwater civilization, really. If they could get past the two guards' line of sight, they'd be in the clear.
Percy felt his heart rate increase. He could feel the eyes of the two guards watching him and Tyson, as if they knew something was wrong.
"Who are you?" One eventually said.
Percy stopped dead. Tyson paused next to him and turned around. Percy did so as well, making sure his hood showed no part of his face.
"Just an exchange of duties," Tyson said confidently.
Percy could tell that whichever cyclops they were talking to wasn't convinced, "I don't remember any of their kind entering this facility recently."
Percy cringed at that. He'd forgotten that the special assassins Poseidon hired often got a bad reputation from their duties, and as such most other species, even many other sirens, didn't really care for them. That would make him stand out. Not exactly the vibe he was going for.
"Came in the other entrance," Percy said immediately.
This time Percy assumed the other cyclops was speaking, because the voice didn't match, "There's only one entrance to this prison."
Uh-oh.
"It's a secret entrance," Percy said, trying to recover, "Only a select few know about it. Top-level security stuff."
Neither cyclops said anything. This was going rather poorly.
"State your names," Cyclops 1, as Percy was dubbing him, said.
"Tyson," Tyson said.
Shit. Percy didn't know any of the secret service guards by name. These guys, imbeciles though they probably were, would at least have a general idea of the list. As far as Percy knew, there were only about two dozen of them.
Well, they'd tried to do this peacefully. Percy drew his hood back and sent a forceful wave toward Cyclops 1, knocking him back into the dense rock wall of the prison, stunning him. Tyson, thank the gods, took the hint and grabbed a big chunk of loose rock from the ground (where had he found that?) and threw it at Cyclops 2, stunning him as well.
"That won't hold for long," Percy said. Even as he said it, Cyclops 1 seemed to have recovered and appeared to be getting ready to call in for help with his radio. Percy wasn't sure how that technology worked underwater either, but this wasn't the time to find out.
Tyson and Percy bolted, Percy grabbing Tyson's hand and practically dragging him through the water. Cyclopes were strong and able to survive underwater perfectly fine, but they were not fast swimmers. Percy just hoped he was able to compensate for it.
Neither of the two looked back until the prison was completely invisible, lost to the depths of the ocean. Only then did Percy slow down to take a breath.
"You think we lost them?" Tyson asked.
"For now. But not for long." Percy said, panting. Swimming at full speed while also carrying another person was apparently incredibly draining.
Tyson then made an odd clicking noise.
Percy frowned, "What are you doing?"
"Calling for Rainbow," Tyson said.
Rainbow. Percy tried to recall who that was. The name sounded familiar, but-
Suddenly a sparkly figure appeared in the distance. Percy squinted, trying to interpret what was flying at him through the water. It grew bigger and bigger, until eventually coming to a halt in front of Percy.
"You've met Rainbow before, right?" Tyson said, gently stroking the hippocampus's neck.
Realization dawned on Percy. Rainbow was the hippocampus Tyson had found in the wild years before. Poseidon had tried to force Tyson to hand over the creature to him, but Tyson had refused. Rainbow was a little too wild to be held in captivity anyway.
"She's agreed to take you to Wadelisle," Tyson explained. Percy hadn't realized the two had been communicating. Hippocampi were basically horses, and since Percy could speak to horses, (he found out during a really freaky moment on a fourth grade field trip) he'd always been able to talk with "fishponies" as Tyson called them, too, so he was surprised to find they'd found a way to communicate without Percy being able to interpret.
Whatever. That was a topic for another day.
"Hurry!" Tyson said urgently, "Get on!"
Percy climbed on Rainbow's back. He then looked at Tyson, who remained where he was, treading water. Something wasn't right.
"Are you getting on?" Percy asked. Wasn't Tyson coming too? Had Percy ever asked? Had he just assumed that?
She'll take YOU to Wadelisle. You, as in one. Percy suddenly had a very vivid vision of what might happen if Tyson stayed here. He would be reported in assisting a prison break. Poseidon was already looking for an excuse to get rid of the guy, and this would be more than enough.
"Tyson," Percy continued after Tyson didn't say anything, "You should come too. We're gonna need all the help we can get to beat Triton. Besides, it's probably not the best for you to hang around here."
But then Percy saw the determined look in Tyson's eyes. His heart sank.
"Big brother," Tyson said, "I'm needed here."
Percy shook his head, "No. They'll be fine without you."
Tyson took Percy's hand, "I need to stay here to see this through. To help you. I can misdirect dad and the others, hopefully distract them long enough so you can get to Wadelisle. Otherwise, they'd be on our tail in minutes."
Percy fought back tears, "Tyson…you know what the penalty for treason is. Dad went easy on me because I'm…well," Percy didn't want to say he was the favorite in front of Tyson, but Tyson nodded, clearly understanding, "He's not gonna do the same for you."
"I know," Tyson said, "But I have to. For you. For your friends. For Annabeth." He winked as he said the last one, which coming from a cyclops looked like a normal blink, but Percy could tell the difference.
Percy smiled, not caring that the tears were now falling from his face. Tyson had never even met any of these people, yet he was willing to give everything for them.
"I've always known I wasn't meant for much," Tyson said, "But maybe, this way, I can contribute to something greater." He paused, "You're gonna change the world for the better, brother, and if I can play a tiny part in that, then that's all I could ever ask for."
Percy reached over and wrapped his arms around Tyson, "I love you, Big Guy."
"I love you too, Percy," Tyson said as he embraced Percy back.
Percy wanted to stay like that forever, but he knew he didn't have much time, so he let go.
"Go save the world, big brother," Tyson gave him a thumbs up, "I'll be cheering you on from here."
Percy nodded. He took a deep breath, trying to speak without getting choked up.
"I'm coming back for you, Tyson," He said, meaning every word, "I'm gonna go stop Triton, then I'm coming right back here." Percy wasn't sure where he was going to go once this ordeal was over, given that Atlantis would be off limits and there was no way in Hades his friends would want him back, but it sure would be better if he was able to venture into the unknown with someone by his side, "Just hang on until then."
Tyson nodded, "Okay." Then he waved for Percy to get going, "You have to go."
Percy took another deep breath. As Rainbow zoomed off toward Wadelisle, he took one last look back at Tyson, who waved at him.
This wouldn't be the last time Percy saw Tyson. He was going to make sure of it.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooo
Annabeth stared down Triton, dagger in her hand. They had not gotten this far just to die now.
If they lost here, then everything Pietro…Percy…had done would be in vain. He'd started this fight; it was time for them to end it.
"Your confidence is inspiring, really," Triton said, grinning wickedly.
Annabeth lunged. Unfortunately, she didn't get very far. Triton raised a hand and one of his cyclops bodyguards restrained her immediately. They then did the same to Jason, Piper, and Leo. Triton took the lyre out of Leo's hands and gave it to a cyclops.
"Take good care of that, now," Triton said. The cyclops saluted and held the lyre tighter, "We'll take it back to Father as soon as we're done here."
Come on, Annabeth thought as she struggled against the cyclops's grip, there has to be a way out of this.
Could she signal for help somehow? Frank, Nico, and Hazel were out there somewhere. Maybe they could do something.
But what? It wasn't like they had their powers either. The whole crew of the Argo II were nothing more than sitting ducks for power-hungry monsters like Triton and Poseidon.
As if the Fates were confirming her fears, two more cyclopes came stomping out of the woods and into the clearing, carrying three struggling figures dwarfed by the monsters' size.
"These the ones, boss?" Said the cyclops on the right as it set Hazel and Nico down, holding them hostage the same way Annabeth and the others were being held. The one next to him did likewise with Frank.
"I believe so," Triton told them. He then turned to the captured demigods, "And I presume this is your entire team? Excluding my traitorous brother, of course," He sighed, "I never liked him anyway. His current position seems appropriate, I'd say."
Annabeth's heart skipped a beat. Did Triton know where Percy was?
"Hopefully when he's let out of prison he'll have had a change of heart," Triton continued, "Of course, by then the new world will be completed, and he won't have much choice in the matter," Triton dismissed the topic, though Annabeth longed to hear more. Percy was alive? But locked up somewhere?
"But enough about that," Triton said, "You don't have anyone else here, do you? No sudden saviors that could ruin everything?" Triton must have taken the group's silence as a "yes" as he then said, "Excellent."
At that moment, Frank disappeared.
Triton frowned, "Where did he go?"
A brief moment of chaos as the small army searched the clearing for the now missing Frank gave Annabeth hope. If Frank could escape, maybe he could get help. Despite how standoffish the gods often were, if they knew their world was in danger, maybe they'd be inclined to offer a hand
Her hopes were crushed a second later. What was probably the largest cyclops in the group picked up what looked like a crab. The crab then transformed back into Frank, who appeared extremely out of breath. With his powers muted as they were, even a simple change like that would've taken everything out of him. Annabeth wanted to thank him for trying, but it felt futile.
"Now, now, where were we?" Triton said, "Ah, yes, killing you all and taking over the world," He laughed, "How could I forget?"
Annabeth refused to believe Triton. It couldn't be over. There had to be something. There was always something.
But alas, this time there wasn't.
Suddenly, the ground shook. Annabeth winced, wondering what sort of terror Triton had planned for all of them. However, when she looked at him, the god seemed just as confused as her. So did her friends. And all of the cyclopes.
What in Hera's name?
"Hey clam-face!" A voice called from the woods. A very familiar voice. Annabeth strained her neck trying to look at where it was coming from. It couldn't be…
Could it?
Pietro Mendoza, or rather, Percy Jackson, strode out of the forest, wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, a pair of flip flops, and one of the most smug expressions Annabeth had ever seen.
He grinned at Triton, "Miss me?"