"It's okay, dude, really. It's all going to be okay."

Percy awkwardly patted Tyson's shoulder as the large boy continued blubbering into his hands, but none of his words seemed to make a difference. Sighing, he looked around the room, taking it all in. It was a small, air-filled chamber at the bottom of his father's dungeon with a furnace of lava churning in the corner and a rack of tools that looked like instruments of torture. There was one table in the center of the room with a branding iron resting on it, a few uncomfortable chairs, and a lantern of fire hanging from the ceiling. There was some sort of magic barrier over the doorway that kept the water out and the air in. Two other Cyclopes were posted inside the room by the door, and Percy knew that the outside of the door was guarded by two dolphins. His chains had been removed, so, naturally, security was increased.

Miserably, Tyson looked up from his hands, his upper lip dripping in snot. "I don't want to hurt my big brother," he whimpered, wiping his hand under his nose and sniffing. Percy rubbed his shoulder.

"There, there," he said, trying to muster a comforting voice. "It's okay, buddy."

Tyson's lip quivered, and he looked woefully at the iron sitting on the table. "Don't know if I can do it, Percy…"

Percy reached for the tool, then hesitated. "Can I…"

Sniffling again, Tyson nodded, and Percy gingerly picked it up. The two dolphins outside the door chittered tersely.

"I just want to look at it," he said, their unblinking eyes trained on him. He looked down at the branding iron in his hand. At the end of the long rod was a steel trident, about as big as his hand. He turned it toward himself and lined it up against his chest. His skin felt so thin there–what if it burned clean through to his bone? He didn't really know anything about branding.

He set it back down and turned his focus back to Tyson, who had seemed to compose himself somewhat. The big guy wiped the tears from his eye.

"Promise you won't be mad at me?" he asked, his voice shaky.

"Of course, Tyson," Percy said. "Why would I be mad at you? It's not your fault."

Tyson sniffled. "Okay, but promise."

"I–I promise." Percy was trying to be patient with his brother, but he was getting really frustrated. He was shaken by everything he had witnessed in the past few days, and he just wanted this whole ordeal to be over with, and he was getting really annoyed at having to be the one to comfort the person who was going to mete out his punishment. He was the one getting branded, damn it. Who was going to comfort him?

Hearing a splashing sound, Percy turned to see Kook stroll in through the airlocked barrier. The dolphins and Cyclopes dipped their heads to him as he passed by, hoisting himself up to sit on the edge of the table. He had changed into a Ron Jon shirt, board shorts, and a zip-up hoodie. Percy found himself a little relieved to see him; he seemed kind and casual, as if nothing were ever that serious when he was around. As someone who had been described as kind of intense in the past, Percy wished he had this kind of energy.

Kook grinned at Percy, and Percy realized he had been sort of smiling. Straightening up, he opened his mouth to speak, then, thinking better of it, knelt instead. Kook chuckled amiably.

"It's okay, get up," he said, and even though he was laughing at Percy, Percy couldn't help but relax a little.

Standing, Percy subtly nudged Tyson, trying to signal to the other boy to get it together. Tyson straightened up.

"Sorry, Lord Azaes," he said, his voice shaky. "I will give him the mark soon. Just needed a minute."

Kook waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, it's not like it matters to me if you take your time." He looked between Tyson and Percy. "You two know each other?"

Tyson's lower lip trembled, so Percy decided he'd take the reins. "Yes. Um, sir?"

Kook laughed again. "Please, 'sir' is my father. Call me Your Majesty."

Unsure, Percy dared to laugh a little. Kook watched him, as if amused, then shook his head. "You need to lighten up, dude."

Percy blinked. "Um, sorry," he said awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, Tyson and I know each other. He's my brother. We're good friends."

Kook did a double take. "Oh. That's…interesting."

Percy didn't know what he meant by that, but he had too many other questions on his mind to probe. As if sensing that, Kook folded his legs under him so that he was sitting criss-crossed on the table and said, "I volunteered to stop by and give you the low-down on your punishment. And I figured you'd have a bunch of questions, too. I'll give you the spiel, and then you can ask me whatever you want, okay?"

Eagerly, Percy nodded.

The low-down was this: Percy would be branded with the traitor's mark, a trident, across his chest. The trident would then be imbued with a magical curse, which would require that it be visible at all times Percy was in the sea.

"So, I have to basically be shirtless any time I'm underwater?"

Kook shrugged. "Yeah, the horror, right? Well, actually, just in saltwater. It only applies to water my–our–father rules." Kook waved his hand flippantly. "And, of course, you'll be banned from Atlantis after this."

Percy blinked. That part stung a bit.

However, there was a complication: Percy lived on land.

Percy furrowed his brow, confused. "So, what? They're worried it's not a good enough punishment, like it won't affect my day-to-day life enough?"

Kook tilted his head, searching for words. "No, not quite. Well, maybe a little. But the Olympians are more concerned about what their children are going to think."

Percy started. "The Olympians? What?"

"Oh, right!" Kook said, as if remembering something. "No one's told you that. Lord Poseidon went up to an emergency meeting on Mount Olympus early this morning. He's still there now–apparently, there's a spirited debate going on." Percy felt his stomach flip. "Don't freak out, they haven't decided to kill you or anything. Yet. They're just worried that, since you're one of the head heroes or something, if word of this gets out to all your little half-blood friends it'll be bad for morale."

Percy felt somewhat offended. "What?"

Kook shrugged. "Yeah, something about not wanting to worry people if you're going to be the next Luke."

Percy's blood boiled. "I am nothing like Luke," he protested.

Kook blinked. "Okay. Who's Luke?"

Percy wasn't expecting that–his brother's question took the wind right out of his sails. Then, watching his face, he realized that Kook had only mentioned that part hoping that Percy would explain the context.

Well, he owed him that much. "He's…he's a demigod who betrayed us to join the titans," he said. "He's kind of their head guy."

"Ah," Kook said, nodding. "Did he also fall in love with one of them?" Percy recoiled from his brother's teasing. Kook held up his hands in mock surrender. "Too soon?" he joked.

Percy took a breath, trying to brush off his brother's mockery. He liked this guy, he just wasn't in a great mood. But this boy was treating him with more compassion than anyone else, it seemed, so he wanted to get on his good side. "No, it's fine," he said, forcing a chuckle. "I think he's more in love with revenge than anything."

"Revenge?" Kook said. "I hope you're not going to look for revenge after this is over."

Percy held up his hands frantically. "No, no way! I'm not stupid enough to try to seek revenge on a god." Hastily, he added, "Much less my own father."

Kook snorted. "Good." He looked toward the door, then back to Percy, his expression a little more serious now. "He's actually a good guy. Dad. He's not as bad as he might seem."

Percy nodded slightly, feeling vulnerable now. "I know," he said.

"And he actually does like you. Trust me, I can tell."

Percy's face hardened. A few days ago, he would have killed to hear that, but now it felt hollow, empty. "Okay."

Kook searched Percy's eyes, then abruptly clapped his hands once. "Okay!" he said. "So, the Olympians. They're still nailing down the specifics, but they seem to really want to keep this whole scandal under wraps. From their half-blood children, that is–obviously, it can't be a secret under the sea. Or on Olympus, I guess." Kook waved his hand in a circular motion. "But anyway, they're probably going to make Dad add another layer to the curse so that this whole thing remains a secret up there. And you're probably, definitely, going to have to swear some oaths of secrecy." He waited for Percy to respond, but Percy didn't know what to say. That essentially gave him no information. "I wish I had more to tell you, but that's where we're at right now." Kook drummed his hands on the table. "So, do you have any questions for me?"

Just about a million. Percy floundered, searching for a place to begin.

"So, um, who are you exactly?" he said, and Kook raised an eyebrow, as if Percy had asked the dumbest question imaginable. "Like, all of you. The governors of Atlantis."

Kook shook his head in surprise. "We're…the governors of Atlantis."

"No, like, I know," Percy said, embarrassed, "but what does that mean? I thought Atlantis was, I don't know, a myth. And why are there ten people in charge? Isn't…Dad in charge?"

Kook nodded. "Okay, okay. Well, like pretty much everything in Greek legend, Atlantis is not actually a myth. It's also not a city–that's a common misconception. It's huge, like a continent, and it spans almost the entire Atlantic Ocean. It was named after my oldest brother, Atlas."

"Oh," Percy said, "the one with the crown."

"Exactly. Dad had five sets of twins by one mortal woman, and he split Atlantis into ten regions governed by the ten of us. When Atlantis sank to the bottom of the ocean, we went with it, and it became part of Dad's kingdom."

"You're demigods!" Percy exclaimed. "Like me!"

Kook laughed. "Well, we were. When Atlantis sank, Dad had his brother grant all of us immortal godhood to continue to govern our territories and serve as his council."

Percy slowly nodded. "Okay, I see. So, which part are we in now?"

"Now, we're in Dad's palace," Kook said, "which is smack dab in the center of the ten regions. If we were going to be attacked, then our enemies would have to get past the rest of us to get to Dad. So, I wouldn't panic just yet if your girlfriend's dad goes off the rails."

Percy continued nodding, taking it all in. He had never had siblings before he met Tyson, and even adjusting to having him as a brother hadn't been so smooth. Now, he apparently had lots of brothers, even aside from the Cyclopes. He wanted to get to know this world more, to be a part of it. He wished he hadn't stumbled upon it under such dismal circumstances.

"What about the guy at Dad's right hand?" Percy asked. "Triton?"

Kook looked worriedly toward the door. "Uh, maybe don't say his name, little dude." Kook crossed his arms. "Try-Hard's a wet blanket. He's a full god, Dad's firstborn by his wife. She was the one on his other side."

"Yeah, yeah," Percy said.

"Don't take his attitude too personally," he said. "He's not super fond of any of us. Neither is she."

Percy shrugged. He guessed it was to be expected that Poseidon's wife wouldn't be a big fan of any of his kids by other women. That part, he understood. But he was a bit put off by how aggressively Triton had argued for his death, and the guy didn't even know Percy. But at least this brother seemed to be somewhat on his side.

"So," Percy said cheekily, "do you guys have nicknames for everybody?"

Kook laughed again. "Oh, you bet. Try-Hard is obvious. Atlas, we sometimes call Encyclopedia, but not to his face. He's kind of serious. His twin Eumelus is Melo. The two of them are sort of the responsible ones, you could say."

Percy cracked a smile. "I could tell."

"The yacht club twins are Fairy and Money, short for Ampheres and Evaemon."

Percy snorted. "Well, of course," he said sarcastically. Some of these felt like stretches.

"And then there's Mneseus and Autochthon," Kook continued, "the ones that look like pirates."

"Cannonball and Otto, right?"

Kook snapped. "Right! And then there's Elasippus and Mestor–Eli and Tor. They're, you know, simple folk."

"Again, I could tell."

"And, of course, me and Prep bring up the rear," he said with a wink. "Azaes and Diaprepes. We're the cool ones, obviously."

Percy didn't say it out loud, but he could tell that, too. For a moment, it didn't seem so miserable that his dad was disappointed in him and embarrassed of him and all that stuff. It was just nice to feel something, some sort of camaraderie forming with a brother that he actually might have a lot in common with.

Kook stirred, looking like he was about to get off the table. Percy felt his stomach lurch. He realized he probably wouldn't get a chance to say to his father all the things he wanted to warn him about, so this might be his only chance to pass along a message.

"Well, I should get going," Kook said. "When it's–"

"Wait," Percy blurted, cutting him off. "About Oceanus, there's something urg–"

Kook shushed him, waving his arms. "Don't say his name! Are you crazy?"

"Sorry–"

"Listen, kid," Kook said, the mirth leaving his face, "I'm not supposed to get involved or listen to your appeals or anything like that. What Dad says, goes. I'm just giving you an update on your punishment." He reached inside his drawstring hoodie and pulled out a conch shell. "When it's done, blow on this, and Try-Hard will come to administer the curse. I've got to go."

Percy internally winced. He felt like he had blown his chance at friendship with this guy.

Kook walked toward the exit, then lingered in the doorway, his hand on the frame. "I like you, Percy," he said. "You remind me a bit of me. Shame you won't be allowed back here." And then he was gone.