Under The Sea (Chapter 28)

Quote: "Life is like the ocean. Unpredictable. "

It was still early morning as I traveled to see my father Poseiden. Atlantis was a large underwater city, one that is filled with deep-sea creatures. There are mermen, mermaids, who are basically normal citizens, as well as some other types of sentient life forms.

My dad's palace resided in the center, but some portions were still in construction from the Titan War. Triton and Amphirite both live with dad, so they might still hate me. I don't know what their deal is.

I also wanted to ask Dad a question, he said he was loyal to Mom, but who was Jack's parents? He must have either 1. Mistook him for his son, or 2. Was disloyal.

Knowing most gods, it was option number 2, but knowing Poseiden, it could be both.

I flashed outside the city, underwater. There was a wall suurounding the whole city, made of blue stone. Mermen guards garrisoned the area, to prevent Oceanus coming back.

"Halt! State your business! " a merman shouted from atop of the wall.

I lifted my head so the guard could see my face and he paled instantly.

"S-sorry m'lord. You may enter the gates." He said nervously as the walls opened briefly and I walked past him.

"Don't worry, and just call me Percy." I replied.

The merman was shy, and nodded at my response.

I walked through the city, the houses were like houses on the surface. Most houses were colored green or blue, with the occasional brown or red. Sidewalks,  street lamps, even seaweed replaced the grass. It really was like a city. Many citizens stared at me as they swam past the son of Poseiden, savior of blah blah blah.

I walked on the ocean floor to my dad's palace, which was a large, blue castle with chisled stone to make patterns. Imagine a medieval castle, but blue.

The guards had the same exact reaction as the other guard, and quickly let me through with the occasional "m'lord".

My dad sat on is throne in the throne room, where there were 3 seats for him, Triton,  and Amphirite.  Dad's throne was blue and gold, with a trident on the side. Amphirite's was a lighter blue with rubies, and Triton's was a small, green gemmed one with a tiny crown on top.

Dad was on his throne, and when he saw me, he instantly got up and greeted me. Amphirite was on her throne, she looked at me with disgust, and Triton sat on his throne, giving me a similar look.

"Percy! My boy! What brings you to Atlantis?" He said happily. We had grown much closer after Doomsday, and the once broken bond was repaired.

"Hey dad, I came to visit you and Tyson for a while. I finished my job with the Hunters, so I was free for a while." I replied.

My dad gave a chuckle. "I see. My son has gained the trust of the Hunters and Artemis! Well, you are free to roam around the city and Tyson is in the Royal Forge in the back of the palace." He said with pride. Poseiden was now normal, after he was quite depressed for a while when I was exiled, now he was as jolly as Santa.

"Thanks Dad, how are the repairs going?" I asked.

"Unfortunately,  it will still take several decades to rebuild the rooms, and thats not even counting the game room, so its a work in process. The cyclops work extremely fast, but struggle to carve the designs with their, uh, large hands." He replied.

"Y'know, Hepheastus owes me a favor for a job I did for him, I could get him to finish the repairs by next month." I said

"Really? That sounds wonderful!" Poseiden exclaimed as I threw a drachma into an underwater fountain that was somehow spewing water underwater. Magic!

I Iris-messaged Hepheastus and an image formed of him hammering on a piece of metal, but when he saw us, he stopped and waved.

"Hello Perseus. Do you need anything?" He asked, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Yeah, remember my Dad's palace that is repairing? Could you help with the construction?" I asked.

He scratched his beard. Usually, gods don't do favors for other gods unless they are in debt or close friends like Apollo and Hermes. Hepheastus wasn't very close with Poseiden, but they did not hate each other. At least I don't think so.

"Well, I do owe you a lot for the hammer, and it is working fine, makes my work so much easier. I will send some of my best automatons to Atlantis to work on the palace. I am certain they will finish in under a month." He said and snapped his fingers.

Inside the throne room, a large group of automatons, all equipped with underwater tools marched to where I would assume the construction area. Poseiden, Amphirite, and Triton all jumped when they suddenly appeared.

"I hope my debt has been paid." Hepheastus states as he starts working again.

"Yes you have, thank you." I replied. He nodded and the Iris message disappeared.

Poseiden was dumbfounded as the repairs would go exponentially faster, saving hundreds of years of time and patience.

Triton was beyond mad. But what did you expect?

Poseiden thanked me for the repairs, and the time saved. So I asked him what I have been meaning to ask him for a long time.

"Dad, who is Jack's mother?" I asked. Upon hearing his name, Amphirite and Triton scoffed in disgust.

"Ugh, that brat?" Amphirite said in disgust, with more venom than she used against me.

"That fool. He spent a month here, and all he did was boast and lie. He claimed he was better than me, and we dueled.  That coward cheated and used Empousa venom on his spear." Triton said bitterly.

"Wait, you both hate him too?" I asked Amphirite and Triton, who nodded in response.

"Great! I hate him as well." I exclaimed. Amphirite had a look of approval, like we all could finally agree on something. Triton had an idential look as well.

Poseiden thought for a moment. "Well, I don't actually remember who the mother was. I am pretty sure it was a mortal I met shortly after Sally, but I had Jack long before Sally died." He sighed.

"I don't actually remember much about her, but I remember her having pitch black eyes that caught my attention. She had onyx black eyes, I am certain." He responded.

"Alright, just curious, so I will visit Tyson in the Forges now." I said as I started walking out of the Throne room. I waved to my dad, who waved back, but Amphirite and Triton had an emotionless face, like they couldn't figure out a puzzle, or they were constipated. One of the two.

I made my way past a sign that said "ROYAL FORGES" and I went inside and saw cyclops working. Probably dozens of cyclops all working on different things. To explain, Cyclops are actually very odd creatures. Some are dumb as rocks, some are smart as Daedalus. All of them are bulky, basically a one-eyed giant.

Soon, I found Tyson working alongside some other cyclops. Tyson was actually quite smaller than your average Cyclops, but since he is my brother and is a son of Poseiden, he has that boost of strength I get from being underwater.

He still doesn't know about anything that happened before Doomsday. He doesn't know about the betrayals, Annabeth, Jack, Order, Chaos, etc. He does know that I saved the world and I got all these new powers though. If I told him the truth, it would only hurt him.

He was as tall as me, when I was at my natural height, but for a cyclops, wasn't very tall. He was not as bulky as the others, but I bet he was as strong as 5 of them together. 

"Brother!" He exclaimed, snapping me out of my thoughts as he ran up to me in a bone-crushing hug. I had a feeling if I wasn't invulnerable, I would be a pancake by now.

"Hey Tyson, how are you?" I smiled at my brother. I still remember during my quest in the Sea Of Monsters, when he was shunned by camp, but now he was extremely respected.  While he is not the smartest cyclops on earth, he is probably the kindest.

"Good, good. How are you and Annabeth?" He asked warmly.

I stiffened, but he didn't notice at all. "We, uh, aren't together anymore." I said sadly.

Tyson frowned sadly, as if he heard that his dog died. "That's sad. Maybe some peanut butter will cheer you up!" He exclaimed as he brought out two humongous jars of peanut butter.

I chuckled as we left the forge to hang out, catch up on stuff. Peanut butter tasted pretty odd underwater, but It wasn't awful or anything. Tyson had a giant spoon the size of my fist to scoop up large piles of peanut butter, and shoveled it down.

I ate mine not as vigorously,  but I enjoyed spending time with my brother. Rarely do I get chances like this, no danger at all.

Apparently Tyson had been doing great over the years. He finished many projects and was known as one of the best at forging. He even worked with Hepheastus for a project, something about water-proof automatons or some thing.

He had gotten much more inteligent over the years, not Daedalus smart, but he definitely wasn't stupid at all.

While walking through the city, people stared in awe as two sons of Poseiden were walking together. It was a rare sight to see.

When it became late afternoon, I had to go. I had said goodbye to Tyson, who squished me in a hug. If only he knew the truth, about my past. The happy cyclops he is wouldn't be able to handle it. He still doesn't know what happened,  and I want it to stay that way.

Atlantis was a beautiful place, one that I would have to revisit at a later date, maybe learn more. I am immortal, may as well learn everything I can.

I was exiting Atlantis by walking out of the walls, when I felt a presence.  A powerful one. I hesitated to grab my sword, maybe it was Chaos. The mermen guards in the walls saw me pause.

"My lord! Are you alright?" One shouted.

I turned to him. "Yeah! I just have a fee-" I was interrupted as I felt the water around me suddenly get colder. The water was trying to encase me in ice. I used my powers to cancel out the ice, but whatever was freezing the water must have been stronger than I was, since the water froze at a slightly slower pace.

The mermen saw me struggling and I heard him shout. "Someone call Lord Poseiden!" He signaled a nearby garrison and swam to the palace, I think.

"Hello Perseus Jackson." A voice said. It was a deep, old voice. He spat my name like poison. A body appeared in the water next to me. It was a man, probably in his late fifties, wearing worn out clothes and had several white hairs. While his appearance was not very intimidating,  his aura was blue and strong, and his eyes were dark blue.

"W-who are you?" I said as I struggled to break free from the ice that was growing from my legs, slowly encasing me. I began to panic, this guy was really powerful.

"I am-" he started but was interrupted by another voice.

"PONTUS!" That was Poseiden's voice. He sounded really angry. He emerged from thin...water? He saw me being frozen and had a worried expression, but soon changed it to a furious one to my captor.

"Ah, I see the time is quite late, I must be going now, Sea God." He said casually.

Poseiden summoned his Trident and summoned a high pressurized beam of water at Pontus, who I knew was the primordial of the sea.

Pontus merely swiped his hand and the beam of water struck backwards at Poseiden, whose eyes widened as he was shot back into the walls, smashing them as he flew into his own city.

"Now that that is over, we must go now." He said as he summoned a whirlpool out of nothing and jumped in. At this point, I was completely frozen, and I couldn't talk. I don't think this was normal ice, as I was still fully conscious,  but I couldn't feel anything. I could still see what was happening though. Normal ice doesn't affect me nearly as much, but this was like ice times a hundred.

We were teleported to a cavern, a deep sea cave. One that has been most likely a hideout.

The ice around my body began to melt, and I was shivering with cold, as if I jumped into a pool, only to go into a freezer afterwards. My skin was white as snow, and my lips were purple. I felt my sight blur for a moment as I was heating up slowly. When the ice was fully melted, I gasped for air, but I felt something collide with the back of my head like an sledge hammer made of celestial bronze. I blacked out instantly.

I woke up with a banging headache, I groaned as I got up. As I got up, I realized that I couldn't move. My sight cleared and I saw that I was strapped to a wall in the cavern. Pontus was reading a newspaper, but got up when I awoke. I couldn't flash away since this is Pontus' s territory, similar to how Artemis couldn't flash away from Atlas at Mt.Orthys. I was chained to a rock wall, but these chains were definitely enchanted to be unbreakable, because normally I would break them like clay.

"Perseus Jackson, do you know why you are here?" He asked bitterly. I don't know what I did to him, I don't even think I ever saw him before.

"No." I said.

"You are the son of that sea god. Do you know how many people know the name Pontus rather than Poseiden? Exactly! None! Look around you! I used to flourish in the sea, now I am reduced to this...this hobble. I waited centuries for Oceanus or Poseiden to fade, and I have conserved my strength to take them out forever." He said in a proud tone.

"You have already taken care of Oceanus for me, I must thank you for that, and now all I have to do is take out your father. I planned to eliminate Oceanus first, but since yout took care of him, my plan had to be revised, taking several more months. " he finished.

I thought about it, it was a decent plan. But why was he telling me his whole plan? Isn't that what all villains do before getting defeated?

"So why am I here? You said you were after Poseiden, not me. And why are you telling me your whole plan?" I asked.

He grinned, like an evil scientist. "Because, sea scum, I want to break Poseiden. Once he loses hope on finding you, he will weaken, allowing me to step right into my rightful place! As for telling you my plan, that is because you will not live to tell your father about it." He ended it darkly.

I inwardly gulped. This was a primordial for Zeus's sake! This would be like fighting Gaea alone! Hours ago I was enjoying time with my brother, the next I am kidnapped by some primoridal. Who has that type of luck? Of course, I do.

"I must now go and reclaim my throne, let me tell you, you will be here for a very long time. I will leave you to my ally here." He said and gestured to a figure walking from the shadows.

This person was a female,  judging by her figure. As she stepped into the light, she had pale skin. She wore white clothing, and I mean a LOT of white clothing. She was wearing white high heels that look like she would fall any second, a white skirt that went high above the knees.

She was also wearing a sleeve-less white shirt and was about 16-19 years old judging by her physique. All of her white clothes had a tint of blue. She smiled as she walked in, not a good smile either. She was a about the same size as a normal teenager, but was shorter than me and Pontus. She wore blue lipstick, the same color as the ocean. She had white hair, but it was tied up like a bun, and it wasn't like Pontus's white hair because he was old. Her hair was silky like snow, you could tell it was like soft as yarn from the looks of it.

As I took in her details, she looked like someone Piper and Leo told me they ran into when we were fighting Gaea. I was surprised that I was looking at Khione, Goddess of Ice and Snow.

Third Person POV

Poseiden paced back and forth in his throne room. He was extremely nervous, he just watched his son get kidnapped by one of his enemies. While Percy was very powerful, Pontus was on another level compared to the both of them. The only reason Poseiden and Oceanus were able to have their domains is because back then, Pontus was weak, but he has saved all his power over the millenia and decided to use it now, when the gods were at their weakest.

At this point, Poseiden was chewing his nails off, which was an odd sight to see, but soon he flashed to Olympus and called a meeting.

All the Olympians appeared on their thrones.

"Brother, why have you called us here?" Zeus asked. The gods listened in, since Poseiden rarely called meetings.

"My son Perseus has been kidnapped by Pontus." He said sadly. To his surprise, some gods were actually relieved, and some were extremely alarmed.

"So? One less problem we have on our hands." Dionysus said. He was glared at by several gods.

Poseiden burst in anger. "You fool. Do you know what this means?"

Athena's eyes widened and Poseiden noticed. "You know what will come soon. Pontus was able to capture Perseus, meaning he could easily have gotten one of us as well. The Primordials are rising, and at the moment, we are like ants to them." He boomed.

Silence rang in the council room as the gods realized they could easily all be dethroned. The Primordials were powerful,  but were even more restricted by the ancient laws than the gods.

Zeus scratched his chin. "Well, this is a new development. Athena, what do you suggest is the best for our survival?"

Athena pondered for a moment. "The Primordials have grown in power, but I highly doubt most will rise. None of the female primordials will fight, since they leave that to the men. Gaea has already fallen, so she will not appear any time soon. That only leaves a few primordials left, but ones such as Eros and Ouranos don't really care about ruling Olympus. Pontus may actually be the only primordial who wants the throne of Atlantis, but I will need more time to study." She announced.

Zeus hammered his fist on his throne. "That settles it. We will be on high alert for any power surges in our domains, if one of us are threatened, send a message to the rest of us and we will assist." He boomed, ending the council.

Poseiden stayed in the council room, a sad expression on his face. Some gods such as Apollo, Artemis, Hepheastus, Hestia stayed behind as well.

All of them knew Percy, he would pull through eventually. Hestia was most aware of this fact.

"Don't worry Poseiden. He is strong, he will survive." Hestia comforted her brother. The other gods nodded in agreement.

"You are right Hestia, he has been through worse. I am sure he will make it." Poseiden said, reassuring himself. Once he was considered alright,  the other gods flashed out.

Poseiden flashed back to Atlantis and sat on his throne, waiting for his son's return.  He felt like a horrible father,  Percy had done so much for him, saved him, forgave him after he had disowned him. And now, when he was in need, Poseiden can't do anything to help.

Poseiden sighed, but brightened as he thought of something to give to his son. A gift. He flashed himself to the cyclops forge and requested a new project....