Adore

Chapter Twelve

I Have a Big Brother!

For a day that had the worst things happen to me in my entire life, that night was pretty much tame. All of us, including me, were wary of spending the night where we just slayed it's sole occupant, so we decided to camp out in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. And, boy, was it used often. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers, making Grover snort angrily when we stumbled across the place.

We didn't take food from Medusa's, with Grover saying that after we ate her food, we were all acting weird and stuff. "So, she puts something in her food for us to, well, follow her voice or something?" I asked, feeling totally awkward. Gods. I just literally gutted my Dad's ex! Well, Luke was the one to gut her, I just cut off her head. Can anybody question why I'm totally freaking out?

Grover was wincing as well, with him reading my emotions. "Basically, yeah."

Ethan had his hand on his chin, thinking. "So that's why I didn't want to leave the food. I was thinking that I'd rather be dead than leave the place."

Luke was grimacing. "Never thought I'd be the one to say this, but, Damsel fish, you have the worst luck in demigod history." I sighed, totally agreeing with him. I think I just actually set the record on how fast a quest could go to Tartarus!

Even though we didn't take any food, we did end up taking blankets from the warehouse for us to lie on. I had suggested that we had better sleep in shifts so that if any monster would by chance happen to find us, we'll be ready. Heck, we didn't even make a campfire so we'll have the element of surprise. And since I suggested it, I volunteered for first shift. Luke and Ethan looked like they wanted to object, but a pointed glare from me had Ethan just sighing and nodding, with him lying down on a blanket, and Luke grimacing.

"Damn it, Perce. You have one heck of scary glare." He said, shaking his head. I just looked pointedly at one of the blankets. Luke raised his hands in a surrender gesture. "I'm going, I'm going. Night, Damsel fish." He lied down with his back towards Grover and me.

Grover was leaning on the trunk of the closest tree, smiling as he watched us, but when he looked up at the sky, his smile disappeared. I looked at him, waiting for him to sleep, but he just kept staring up.

"You can sleep Grove. I'll wake you up when I need to sleep."

He just looked at me and gave a melancholic smile. "You know, Mare, you're one of the more decent humans I've ever met." I raised an eyebrow at that. Where did this suddenly come from? He just smiled and nodded to the trash surrounding us. "I meant this. Humans are slowly but surely clogging up the world. It's a terrible time to be a satyr with this atmosphere. That's why I want to be a searcher. I want to find Pan."

"So, to be able to find Pan, you need the License." I stated.

Grover nodded, returning his eyes upwards. "The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago. A sailor off the coast of Ephesos heard a mysterious voice crying out from the shore, 'Tell them that the great god Pan has died!' When humans heard the news, they believed it. They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he died. In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the earth, exploring all the wildest places, hoping to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep. My father and Uncle Ferdinand were one of those searchers. That's why I want to find him. And I'll be the first one to return alive."

I smiled at him, proud of his conviction. "Don't worry, Hircum. We'll finish this quest and get you your License."

He smiled at me, and closed his eyes. I hummed a lullaby I remember my mother singing to me when I was a child.

"You spotted snakes with double tongue,

Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;

Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong;

Come not near our fairy queen.

Philomel, with melody,

Sing in our sweet lullaby;

Lulla, lulla, lullaby; lulla, lulla, lullaby."

As I finished the song, I heard a voice in my head that I've not heard since Chiron informed me that I needed to take on the quest. 'That was lovely, dear! Where did you learn Titania's Lullaby?'

I started a little, not expecting Lady Aphrodite to talk to me since Zeus probably has Olympus on a lockdown or something. Fortunately, Grover was sound asleep after my little impromptu singing. 'Lady Aphrodite?'

The voice in my head giggled a little. 'Of course, dear! Who else?' I shrugged, feeling sheepish. 'I thought Zeus had f*******n any of you talk to anyone outside of Olympus, my Lady.'

'Yes, well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?' Her voice was underlined with mischief. I nodded, conceding the point. 'So, you haven't answered the question, dear! Who taught you the song?'

'My mother used to sing it to me when I was a kid.' I was pretty proud of the fact that I even remembered the lyrics! Aphrodite laughed lightly in my head. 'Tell her that she's a wonderfully educated woman to have read Shakespeare.'

'Oh, no. My mother never went to college. She didn't have the money. And, I'm guessing, she didn't want Dad to help her with her problems.' Yeah, that's probably the reason. My Mom's pretty stubborn once she set her mind up to something. She said so herself. 'But she wanted to be a writer, so she probably was familiar with Shakespeare.'

'The stubborn part sounds like someone I know.' Aphrodite's voice had a teasing tone to it. I was pretty sure my face was pink. She just laughed inside my head. 'Oh, Percy dear, I want to introduce you to someone.' I raised my eyebrow at that, curious. So, she's told someone that she found the loophole in the Ancient Laws? Moments later, my surprise skyrocketed when I heard a definitely male voice inside my head. 'Hello, Persis.' I was stunned. Who did she tell?

Aphrodite's voice returned a few moments later, and I now felt two distinct presences inside my head. It's a wonder I haven't gone mad already. One was smooth, graceful, definitely Aphrodite. The other one felt bulky, strong-willed, but kind. Who was he? 'Percy dear, meet Hephaestus.' Aphrodite introduced her companion, making me gasp in amazement. 'Hello, Lord Hephaestus.' I felt giddy. Aphrodite was clearly on good terms with Hephaestus! Maybe she listened to me and got back with her husband!

Aphrodite must've sensed my joy because her voice gained a grateful tone to it. 'Percy, it's all thanks to you that my husband and I are on good terms now. If you hadn't put the idea in my mind I would've never thought to reach out to him. So, thank you, dear.'

'No, I only told you what you would've told anyone, Lady Aphrodite.'

'But still, I felt that you should receive something other than what I was already doing for you, dear.' My face was hot, but my smile was so wide my cheeks were starting to hurt. Aphrodite's voice then turned into a whisper. 'Dear, when the time comes, even if you know you can do something about a certain situation, don't. Let Luke handle everything.' EH?

'What my wife is saying is that you'll definitely come across a situation that has both of our signatures on it. When you recognize it, let your paramour handle everything.' Hephaestus' gruff yet sophisticated voice (how he did it I have absolutely no idea) said.

'Okay?' I was totally not getting everything, though the one thing that had sunk in was that the couple was planning something, and it involves Luke and I.

'Just trust us, Percy dear. We won't let anything bad happen. As proof, you can sleep. When you all wake, nothing would have happened to you, not even dreams.' Aphrodite's voice was sweet and melodious, making my eyelids feel heavier as she uttered each word. Though, just when I succumbed to blissful unawareness, I heard Hephaestus' voice reverberate throughout my mind.

'Remember, Persis. Look for my signature.'

I felt someone shaking me, and I opened my eyes to find two clear blue ones looking at me in amusement. "Well, well, the Sleeping Beauty wakes at last!"

I groaned as I sat up, rubbing the sleep off of my eyes. "See, Luke, she didn't need a kiss from her Prince Charming." Ethan said as he rolled his eyes while eating an apple. Luke was pouting, and Grover was chuckling. I looked at Grover and did a double take. I was pretty sure I was still half asleep because I knew that the last time I saw Grover, he didn't have some sort of pink stuffed toy.

"Uh, Hircum? Is that real? Or am I dreaming something weird?"

Grover outright laughed at my statement, then proceeded to pet the pink poodle. "Nope, you're not dreaming, Mare. Meet Gladiola." The poodle barked at me, making Grover laugh harder.

"Err, okay. Hi, Gladiola. What are you doing here?" I said, crawling towards Grover and petting her. The poodle melted at my touch.

"I met Gladiola here awhile ago, and he agreed to go back to his owners so that we could claim the $200 reward that was being offered by his family. He's our ticket towards California." Grover said as Gladiola leaned more to my petting. I felt bad about the part where we'd be the reason he goes back to his family, seeing as Grover referred to Gladiola as he and he was colored pink of all things.

"Can we please go on any other vehicle, other than a bus? I think I've had my fill of those for a long while." Luke said in his best impersonation of a student raising a hand in class. Ethan just bopped him on the head.

Grover just laughed and pointed downhill, toward train tracks I hadn't been able to see last night in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."

So we deposited Gladiola to her family, with the mistress of the house cradling him like he was a stuffed toy, making Grover cringe with Gladiola's every enraged bark. Well, we bid the family goodbye, with extra $200 dollars in our pockets.

Turns out, with $250, we could purchase tickets to Denver for the four of us. So we bought tickets for four, and an hour later, we found ourselves seated and hurtling towards the west. We kept the change in case we need something else.

We spent two days inside the train, idly watching the window as the train went past hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. There weren't any monsters, but it didn't ease my fears, so I always kept one of my hands deep inside my jeans' pocket, always gripping Riptide. Also, it didn't help my case that for the night we spent on the train, I had a bad dream. I mean, really bad.

I dreamt I was standing in front of a gaping pit, with mist churning all around me, making the air seem alive. I looked closer and saw agonized faces, faces I knew that were of the dead. They were tugging at my clothes, pulling me back from the pit, but something had my legs walking forward without my consent. I stopped at the edge, looking down at the pit. I somehow knew it was bottomless, but I felt that something, no, someone was trying to get out. I heard a voice inside the pit, the very same one that had spoken in my dreams my last nights at Camp.

'Ah. Look at the little heroine. So weak, so young, so fragile, yet, perhaps you'll have to do.' The voice felt ancient, more powerful than both Aphrodite and Hephaestus together. 'They have misled you, little girl. Help ME, and I will reward you beyond all you can imagine.' Images of riches, of wealth, of grandeur appeared before me, yet all I could think about was how the heck could I be able to escape from this place!

Cold laughter was my answer. 'Help me rise, little girl! Bring me the Bolt! Help me strike a blow against the treacherous gods!' The spirits were whispering in my ear. 'Wake! Wake!' Yet, even if I tried with all my might, I couldn't move a muscle. A huge, cold, clammy hand took hold of my entire body, pulling me towards the pit, yet at the same time, trying to rise. 'Yes! Yes!'

'No! WAKE!'

I woke, my mouth opened in a silent scream, shaking like a leaf. I was shaking so badly I woke Luke, who was beside me, up from his sleep. He took one good look at me and hugged me to his chest, murmuring softly to me. Well, we both fell asleep in that position. In the morning, though, Ethan woke us up with a gentle shake for me, and a hard bop to the head for Luke.

Well, that, and when someone left a newspaper at the seat across us, Ethan picked it up and promptly gaped at the front page. We all scuttled to look at it and jaw-dropped. On it was a blown-up picture of me holding a blurred silver something, looking at something to the left with a calculating gaze. The caption read:

'A twelve year old girl that had yelled out she found a bomb under her seat, saving the driver and all of the passengers of the bus she was on, is shown here after she alighted from said bus, holding what seems like something one would only find in the movies; a laser ballpen. The bus had exploded nonetheless after she had left with three companions. Just who is this girl? What are their intentions? For those who have information on her, please contact us at the following number: XXX-XXXX'

"By the gods, the Mist made you into a spy or something, sis!" Ethan exclaimed quietly, while I was still gaping at the newspaper. Grover was copying me, while Luke was curled up on his seat, laughing his heart out. We've kept a low profile after that.

Toward the end of our second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Grover and Luke craned their necks to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping bag handle stuck on the city.

"What's so special about that?" I asked them when they returned to their seats.

Luke had sighed while Grover winced a little. "Annabeth wants to become an architect, so all she ever talked about was what architecture fascinated her the most. The Gateway Arch was one of those." Grover explained while Luke looked at little morose. Though, when he looked at me, he seemed to remember our conversation before leaving the camp and would perk up a little, smiling. I just smiled at him reassuringly back.

We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.

"Can we go? So that we can tell Annabeth we've seen it?" Grover was standing up, his smile hopeful as he looked at Ethan and I. We just looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess there's no harm." Ethan said, standing up. I nodded as Luke stood up and offered his hand out to me. I just smiled and took it, even as Ethan scowled at Luke.

The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day as it was, the lines to get in weren't that long. We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. Grover and Luke made a stopover at the snack bar, and bought us candy. The tour guide prattled on and on about interesting facts about the Arch while we snacked on jelly beans and sour tapes, so we were all good all around.

Though, I suddenly felt like something was growling at me, waiting for a chance to strike. I suddenly looked at the others with us, scrutinizing each and everyone. "Hey Hircum."

Grover looked up from rummaging the bag of jelly beans. "Yeah?"

"Do you smell anything weird?"

He took a long sniff and promptly recoiled. "We're underground, Mare. Underground always smell like monsters to us satyrs. That's why we don't do well here." I nodded, though I wasn't thoroughly convinced. The hairs on the back of my neck were still raised, but I didn't say anything. Grover took one good look at me and started to look around cautiously, too. Luke and Ethan heard us and promptly copied us.

Nothing had happened to us, and I almost calmed down, that is, until we got to the elevator. Did I mention that with ADHD, you also get a small case of claustrophobia? Well, I don't know about others, but it was the case with me. I whimpered a little seeing the enclosed space, but Luke took my hand and smiled at me. "Just focus on the people, Damsel fish. I'm here." I smiled at him gratefully.

We got on with a, well, an enormous lady with a rhinestone-collared Chihuahua. I figured that the lady was some sort of big-shot, seeing that the guards weren't saying anything about the Chihuahua when there was a pretty hard not to spot sign at the entrance of the Arch saying "No Pets Allowed." Also, the rhinestone collar helped me a bit, seeing as it sparkled like real diamonds not to be real.

The elevator went in a curve, and my stomach wasn't very happy about that fact. I whimpered, clutching Luke's hand tighter. Gods. I was already tasting the bile at the back of my throat. The lady cut her beady eyes towards us. "Where are your parents?"

"Downstairs. None of them like heights." Ethan hedged, eyeing the lady cautiously. Who wouldn't, when she was wearing a denim dress and a denim hat littered with the same rhinestones as on the dog's collar.

"Oh, the poor, poor darlings." She simpered, showing us coffee-stained teeth. Sheesh. If she was as loaded as her accessories, shouldn't she have her teeth whitened? The Chihuahua growled, looking straight at me. The woman took one look at her pet and shushed him. "Now, now, sonny. Behave."

Grover was looking at the dog with wide eyes. "Is that your name? Sonny?" The dog growled again, and Grover winced. Yeah, the little dog probably had a bite as large as his owner.

At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but if there's anything I like less than a confined space, it's a confined space six hundred feet in the air. I was really nervous about the six hundred feet in the freaking air part. What if my wonderful uncle suddenly just blasted us sky high, never mind the stupid Bolt. I lasted a grand total of five minutes before I completely panicked and steered the other three to the elevator. I loaded them there, but stopped seeing as it already had two other tourists inside. Great, no more room for me.

"Next car, Miss." No, really. Thank you for stating the obvious. I just about refrained from rolling my eyes at the tour guide. Now, don't blame me if I'm snarky. I'm panicking and this is what happens. Would you really blame little old me?

"Wait, Percy. We'll come out. We'll wait with you." Ethan said, already trying to jostle out of the cramped elevator. Luke and Grover were starting to do the same, making the three others inside glare at them.

"Nah. You guys go on ahead. I'll be fine here." I faked a smile that looked transparent to anyone who knew me well, and these guys were some of those guys. They looked worried, and Luke was still jostling the others in the elevator, but just as he was free, the elevator had shut on him. I watched as their car slid down the ramp.

Now, I tried to distract myself from the glaring fact that I just left myself in my uncle's non-existent mercy by looking at the people left there with me. There was a little boy and his parents, a park ranger that was ushering them, and the well, big-boned lady with her Chihuahua. I smiled hesitantly at the lady, making her smile back, her forked tongue flicking out of her mouth.

Wait. Forked tongue?

Oh gods. I hurriedly dug out Riptide, hands ready to uncap it at a single notice, reasoning that if it was just a trick of the light, I could just excuse myself that I always needed to get my hands busy when I'm nervous. Her Chihuahua was, at that point, frothing white foam from his lips, growling at me. The lady tugged a little at the leash. "Not now, sonny. There are still some nice people here with us." But the dog kept on growling and straining against her hand.

"Mommy! There's a doggie in here!" I vaguely registered the voice of the little boy somewhere to my right.

"Well, sonny, if you insist." The lady had sighed, and it was as if there was a switch, the Chihuahua was suddenly growing bigger, his growling growing louder and louder. Pretty soon, he was roaring, and his back was straining against the roof the architecture. Oh, dear Poseidon. The dog's face morphed from that of a cute little Chihuahua to that of a snarling lion, its mane caked heavily with dried blood. The body, legs and hooves looked like that of a goat's, and by the gods, he had a snake, a freaking ten foot long diamondback as his tail. I was pretty sure I was gaping as the Chimera bared it's fangs at me, his mouth still having traces of blood in it. The rhinestone collar expanded with it, and the little dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954.

The lady soon morphed; her skin becoming green and scaly, her teeth elongating, a forked tongue appearing every now and again, and her eyes morphing into slit-like things. Dammit. Doesn't my uncle have any regard to the other people that were still up here with me!? The little boy screaming 'Monster!' His parents were pulling him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster. Gods. I couldn't let them get sucked into my fight with my jerk of an uncle.

The lady noticed my wandering gaze and gave off a hissy laugh. "Oh, now, you're different from the other heroes Lord Zeus let me and my son finish! They only think about themselves! You! You're different!" She laughed even as the Chimera snarled at me, its eyes daring me to move my hand and uncap Riptide. I knew that if I did that, seeing as I was only ten feet away from its jaws, it'll likely eat me up faster than I could swing Riptide. And if I'm gone, then who knows what'll happen to the other people!

If she really was the mother of the Chimera, then I'm all the better off not cracking up a lame joke and saying she's an anteater. I still have my brains working, thank you very much! "Then if I please you so much, Echidna, let these people go. They have nothing to do with our world."

Her eyes looked pleased as she looked at me one more time before nodding. "Very well, Percy Jackson! I shall grant you this one boon, seeing as you will die here and now!" She snapped her scaly fingers together, and the elevator had opened, empty. The park ranger and the family had all packed into the elevator, with the ranger hurriedly gesturing to me as he punched the down button like crazy. I just shook my head and smiled at him sadly. Before the ranger could do anything, the elevator had firmly shut.

Before I could fully turn towards Echidna and the Chimera, I felt, rather than saw the immediate rise in temperature. I had rolled off to the side just in time as the Chimera shot off a column of blue fire at me. "Don't you wait until your opponent has their focus on you!?" I yelled, indignant. My heart was pounding off a mile a minute inside my chest as I looked at the spot where I was. Where I had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges. Uh, will Olympus cover up our fight or something, 'coz I do not want to be accused of being a terrorist.

Echidna cackled. "You speak of us like we are equals! No! We are so much more above you! The gods throw you away, letting you rot at that infernal camp, pretending you do not even exist! We are acknowledged! We are useful! Your kind are only using up space! You have no use!" At her words, I had taken the time to hurriedly back away from the Chimera and uncapping Riptide, letting it grow into its true form. The blade shimmered where the light shone on it.

"That's not true. If we have no use, how come you seek us to prove yourselves?"

Echidna's gleeful face immediately morphed into an enraged one. "You DARE imply that you are much stronger than us!? Chimera, destroy her!" The monster gleefully roared and snapped its jaws towards me, lunging its big head in my direction. I rolled off to the side, slashing at its face. Though, for a monster that big, it moved pretty quickly seeing as it avoided my s***h, barely letting my blade graze it cheek, cutting off some of its hair from its mane. It roared and lunged towards me again. I leapt to the side again, avoiding its jaws. I kept trying to hack at it, trying to catch it when it was lunging forward. We kept on the pattern before I remembered a crucial mistake far too late, seeing as I suddenly felt a searing pain in my right calf. I kept evading the head that I had completely forgotten its snake tail. I tried to plunge my sword on the serpent's head, but it pulled at my calf, its fangs tightening its hold on me, making me scream in pain and drop Riptide. Echidna kicked it away from my reach.

The serpent tail picked me up, its jaws still firmly attached to my leg, and hurled me away. I skidded a few feet before stopping just before the hole on the still steaming hole on the floor. I managed to get to my feet shakily, body suddenly feeling clammy as I distinctly felt the poison rushing through my veins, towards my heart. How many minutes again do I have to live again with a diamondback's poison? 5 minutes? But with the venom from a freaking Chimera of all things, I'd bet I'd be dead in less than 2 minutes tops now.

Echidna was cackling again, her snake-like eyes glinting with victory. "How does it feel, Percy Jackson, to have the gods forsake you? For you to feel useless against us, more worthy beings!" The Chimera stalked towards me slowly, in no hurry to finish me off seeing as I was already dying. I took a step back, but faltered seeing as my foot was at the edge of the hole. One more step would send me hurtling at the Mississippi River at an ungodly speed. Echidna's eyes sparkled as she saw this, too. "Well, Percy Jackson, show me that you believe in your own words! Jump! Prove to me that your father really cares for you!"

Meanwhile, the Chimera's mouth was opened, its throat glowing orange. It was readying for another shot. Echidna gave another cackle. "Foolish mortal! No god would care about you! The poison has reached your heart! " She was right. I felt my heart beats thud slower, like it was pumping sludge instead of blood. I thought about Aphrodite, about our nightly talks. I thought about how she listened to me and made peace with Hephaestus. I thought about her promise, her revelation about my dad. I thought about her warm voice telling me my dad misses me. I thought about the warm feeling I got when she told me that.

"Die, worthless scum!" Echina screeched as the Chimera fired off another breath of flame.

"Father, help me, please." I prayed even as I stepped back, and let myself free-fall, six hundred feet into the air, down to the river below.

(A/N: I thought about cutting off the chapter here, but then I think you're all going to eviscerate me, so I let it continue. This is my reward to all of you for our 200th review! Enjoy! :3)

I heard the whistle of the wind against my ears, the impending splash with the river. I thought that if a person was going to die, he or she would see their lives flash in front of them. The truth is, for me, the only thought in my head was 'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!'

At the last second before impact, I clenched my eyes, waiting for the imminent pain with me being splattered, my organs all over the place, but it never happened. I felt the impact, but there was no pain. I opened my eyes to find that I was sinking still into the murky water, fully intact. I tried not to breathe, seeing as I could drown, but then I felt like hitting my head with a metal pole because Poseidon was my father. I took an experimental breath, and what do you know, I could breathe! I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage-beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags-swirled up all around me. Gods. Now Grover had me fully convinced we needed Pan. This was an abomination to nature!

At this point, I realized that even with this filthy water, I couldn't feel the poison in my veins anymore. The water had cured me. I wasn't dying. The second thing I noticed was that I wasn't wet. No, really. I wasn't wet. I mean, I could feel the water around me, but my skin wasn't wet. I snatched a floating wrapper out of the water, and I looked at it as it instantly dried off. My eyes were wide as I crumpled it, hearing the distinct crinkle of dry wrappers. I snatched a floating cigarette lighter. I flicked it open, and Holy Poseidon, a tiny flame had lit at the bottom of the Mississippi River. I touched the wrapper to the flame, and the flame immediately caught on fire. Though, when I let the wrapper go, the fire immediately went out, and the wrapper looked like a dried prune as it was carried by the current. I let go of the lighter, and watched it float away from me.

I stood up, knee-deep into the garbage and mud. I felt like hitting myself for even hesitating and thinking that my dad didn't care about me. It was obvious that he did, with what he was risking now. I startled, badly, when I heard a male voice echoing in the depths of the water. "Percy, what do you say?" I looked around me, wide-eyed. What the heck? "Percy? What do you say?" The voice once again said.

"Erm. Thanks a lot, Dad. Sorry for doubting you." I said hesitantly, though meaning the words from the bottom of my heart. I felt Riptide return to my jeans pocket. Were Echidna and Chimera gone now? What was going on up there? I heard a chuckle echo through the water. I licked my suddenly dry lips. Was it possible? "Dad?"

In front of me, the water was forming a small cyclone. When it disappeared, I saw a merman with black hair in a ponytail, only, instead of having only one tail like most mermen are fabled to have, he has two. He was wearing armor like the ones described in ancient wars like the Trojan War, but his was littered with pearls. In the dim lighting, his skin was green, but wasn't scaly like Echidna's. His green eyes were glinting with joy as he gazed at me fondly. "No, but close. Hello, Percy. I'm Triton, your Big Brother."