Moving into my dorm was rather fun.
Since my roommate hadn't arrived yet, I got to pick my side of the room. I grabbed the one by the window, looking down on the courtyard with a fountain.
I made my bed, it was a different size than my one from home so mom had bought new bedding for it. We'd found a pretty blue one on sale. My clothes, school, old ones from home, and new ones from Triton, went in my dresser. My rainbow stone and star globe went on the table by the bed. All my school books and books from Triton went on the small bookshelf, along with my other assorted trinkets.
And of course Carl the Goldfish's fish tank got set up and placed on the back of the desk.
I didn't quite understand why Carl the Goldfish wanted that name, but… he liked it?
After all of that I pulled out my collection of Avatar dvds from the bottom of my bag, along with the candy from my mom. I hummed as I set the Avatar dvds in their place of honor on the bookshelf, and tucked the candy away in a drawer.
I'd heard there was a sequel of Avatar coming out and I was very excited. I hoped Katara was in it.
I sat on my bed, looking around my side of the room. It seemed fine, there wasn't anything missing .
Except Triton.
Or my friends.
Or my mom.
I hated boarding school already.
I wanted to be home.
Carl swam in a circle and told me to do something other than sulking.
I huffed, debating for a moment. Everyone was moving in still, so I couldn't really explore campus. Classes didn't start for a few days still…
I needed something to do just in my room-
Oh! I could practice my ocarina.
I hopped up and grabbed it off my bookshelf, along with my music book, then plopped back on my bed to practice.
I left my book shut for the moment, I would just start with warm up tunes. I really liked playing the ocarina, the music was really nice and the ocarina itself was a lovely blue, and shaped like a shell. The dense coral it was made out of was really nice to run my fingers over. Fun texture.
I started with the warm up tunes, getting back into the groove. I had these mostly memorized, just a sequence of notes that let me practice the tune jumps.
Once I finished the basic ones I flipped my book open to the actual songs, landing on Hova Himne. It was the simplest tune in the book, nice and simple but pleasant.
This was one I knew from memory, I'd practiced it dozens of times, so I didn't look at the page.. My goal was to know all the songs from memory, to really show how good I was at it. Triton promised that if I got good enough by the Winter Solstice then he'd give me the next book on the Siren's Song.
I started playing Hova Himne, the light tune trailing through the room. It twined like river currents, twisting and turning and dancing through the air. Short, sweet, and a bit playful.
I finished it with a high note that slowly faded out, then began the next song.
This one was a lot heavier, slower, each note weighing on you. It was a song for grieving, for remembering those lost. It thrummed through my chest, deep currents moving slow and steady through the air.
It ended with a flowing sequence of notes climbing downward, to the deep water graves of the sea.
The first two were the only ones I could do from memory, the others I needed to open my book for. I flipped the book to the next song, Orauro Opep.
The song started low, a warbling soft tune that slowly rose like a rising current. It made me perk up, the notes welling up and speeding up in turn, surging up and whirling through the air as a current swept through air and water- and then I missed a note and the jarring error made me wince and stop.
I took a moment to play just that section, a surge of the current, twisting through the wa- okay that note was hard. I played it again, the current turning sharply and carrying you along- oops- okay so I needed to… with that note…
I was running through the section once more, carefully twisting through it, notes rising and rushing faster as they twisted through the current, welling up and up and-
The door opened and my fingers fumbled, a discordant note coming out.
I looked up, blinking at the boy standing in the doorway. He had pasty skin, reddish brown hair, was wearing a rainbow t-shirt, and was using arm crutches.
Um, hi?" he said after a moment.
I nodded, letting my Ocarina drop to hang from the cord around my neck.
"Hi, are you my roommate?"
"Yeah! Or well-" the boy glanced at the paper in his hands, "You are… Percy, right? Hang on let me check the room number- this is- okay yeah, I think your my roommate."
I flashed him a bright smile, standing to offer help setting up his side if he needed it, "I'm Percy Jackson, what's your name?
"I'm Grover, nice to meet you!"
OO OO OO OO
I helped Grover set up his side of the room, mainly carrying the heavier things for him.
It was a nice area. He had some books, mostly school books and a few mythology books. He had some plants he set up carefully, and of course his general school supplies. It was a lot more… green and earthy than my side, which had a more ocean theme with lots of sparkly bits. But it was nice.
Grover kept giving Carl odd looks though, which would be fair if Grover could understand him as Carl had been keeping up a running commentary of Grover's stuff the whole time. Saying things like "what boring plants, get some with color" or "there should be more books, a lot more books, way way more books" or "his side doesn't even have sparklies, where's the glitter and gold" or even "he doesn't even have a knife ".
He also demanded to be fed as we finished with Grover's side of the room, so naturally I fed him. It couldn't be fun being trapped as a fish, so I tried to make it comfortable for him.
Grover blinked slowly, eyes on me with the fish food.
It was almost like he understood Carl demanding food haha.
…
I squinted.
Was he-
…
Nope not dealing with that today.
I grabbed my ocarina and music book and told Grover I was going out to play.
OO OO OO OO
Grover was nice, but not like creepy nice like previous mythological beings- but of course I wasn't thinking about Grover being one nope.
Not right now.
He came with me to explore the campus, though he seemed uncomfortable walking so much.
His arm crutches were decorated with stickers, but despite them he still had a limp. I wasn't sure how much crutches were supposed to help, so maybe that was normal? But it still couldn't have been fun to walk all around the campus like we were.
In the ocean La'akea, a mer I'd met through Rosa, was born with a numb tail and struggled to swim. She had a support shark that helped her a lot, kinda like a wheelchair, but she also learned how to use the currents to help her move. It made her pretty quick when she had the energy to use the currents, but that sort of thing wasn't possible on land.
I tried to go at a pace that Grover seemed comfortable with, and paused for breaks regularly.
In the process we found the elevators, and then all our classrooms. We found the nearby bathrooms quickly after, and the water fountains along the way. After we were pretty sure we could find all of our classes, we headed to the library.
I loved the library.
Well, not the English parts (which was most of the library). But the original Greek a few libraries kept? Or the one in the ocean Triton took me too (and let me check out some books)? Those were great.
This library kept a few original Greek, but had a lot more Latin. Probably for the Latin class.
Greek wasn't Halmaheran, wasn't a language that felt like I was born to speak it, but it was way easier than English for me and Triton insisted that I learn it as well.
They didn't have any audio books though, which was annoying.
Grover and I ended up spending the rest of the day in the library.
Grover drifted off to look at the gardening books, and I was squinting at the books in Greek to see which ones I hadn't read yet.
There were only three books in Ancient Greek. The Iliad and the Odyssey were unsurprising, if there was gonna be any book in Ancient Greek here, it would be those. But there was also Medea, the play.
That was pretty cool, I hadn't read that one yet.
I checked it out then left with Grover. It was too late to explore outside, the sun already going down, so we decided to just grab dinner.
OO OO OO OO
The next day came and we took to exploring the campus grounds.
There was a large area around the building, with a few flower patches, trees, and fountains. The fountains were pretty, with the water sparkling in the light as it arced up and splashed back down.
While we were out we saw a lot of students, and I took care to introduce myself to them.
I tried to follow Triton's lessons on how to speak to people and "marketing" and the kids here seemed to appreciate the manners.
Though several eyed my blue hair. I didn't get why, several others had colored hair too.
I quickly found that people didn't think very highly of Grover though.
Between his tie-dye shirt, loose jeans, his crutches, and his mild stutter… People side eyed him at best.
And were outright rude at worst.
"I know he's crippled," one griped. "But does he really need to dress like a hobo?"
I resisted the urge to glare and led Grover to a different spot.
Honestly, did they have no manners? No respect? No understanding of disabilities? Or peoples' right to wear whatever they want?
Just because he didn't wear nice clothes like most of the students didn't mean that they got to insult him.
It made me scowl, they'd probably treat me the same way if I was wearing my normal clothes rather than the ones Triton got me.
I didn't think I wanted to be friends with them.
Triton would kick their butts if he heard them saying that stuff, or looking down on people who didn't dress fancy. But he'd also lecture me if I lost my temper on the first day.
"I can't believe the school let in a student like… him," said a student, coming up beside me to eye Grover looking at a tree. "Seems like they don't really care about their appearances… or maybe he's a charity case, haha."
I smiled at the boy, all teeth.
"You would be an expert in the need to keep up appearances, wouldn't you?"
I walked over to Grover quickly, feeling the glare on the back of my head.
"You didn't have to do that," Grover murmured. "But thanks man."
I huffed, crossing my arms, "He was rude. You didn't do anything to make them act like that. Just because you wear a fun shirt and have crutches doesn't excuse what they're saying and doing."
Grover grinned, "Thanks."
OO OO OO OO
Unfortunately since I was at a school, we had this thing called classes. It was very annoying.
I was at least a bit ahead in math thanks to Triton, except for mistakes translating Halmaheran to dumb Arabic numerals it was fine. The teacher side eyed my Halmaheran writing though.
Geography sucked though. I didn't know why I had to place so many countries. Like- it wasn't like I'd be visiting them… probably. The land world was annoying.
Latin was kinda fun, but the different declensions were frustrating. And it didn't work like English either, the declensions kinda… filled in for some English words? Like you didn't have to use "de stella" for "of" when saying like… "of the star" you could just use the genitive case, so "stellae".
It was weird.
But I kinda understood it. The letters still swirled but the words… made sense.
The grammar sucked though.
Even more than English grammar, which my English class took great delight in reminding me of.
English class, the bane of my existence.
But on the bright side, there was an art class! I was gonna give the things I made to Triton or mom.
Oh yeah, and there was science. It was dumb though.
OO OO OO OO
Carl was seventy percent sure that Grover could understand him, so I had to be careful not to reveal that I was also able to understand him.
Though that song may have been sung already.
OO OO OO OO
So the school had clubs, which like- my old school(s) had them, but I never signed up for them. I was spending most of my time waterbending and training with Triton so didn't really have time.
But since I could really… do that now… I decided to try out a club or two.
Triton would probably encourage it too, it was a good way to meet more people and learn new skills.
… I missed being able to waterbend though.
Looking over the clubs, I decided against swimming quickly. If Grover was a mythological being, then that would give me away real quick.
So that left the others and… Model UN looked interesting. That would probably be something Triton would approve of too, since I'd be able to practice debates and wording and all that stuff needed to behave properly in the ocean.
There was also a music club. It… 'allows the use of any instrument', which was cool. I'd be able to practice my ocarina!
I hummed happily while grabbing the forms for those classes. I'd get to practice my ocarina and do some fancy talking, Triton would definitely be happy.
"What are you going to do Grover?" I asked as I filled out the sheets to join the clubs.
"Uh, I'm not sure, what about you?"
I grinned, "Model UN and music club!"
"Oh, those sound good, maybe I'll join them too?"
"Do you know an instrument? Or are you going to learn one in the club?"
"Er… I play the reed pipes?"
"Oh cool!" I bounced on my toes, "I've never heard someone play the reed pipes before, do they sound nice? Are they hard to play? What songs do you know?"
"Uh- they're nice, I'm not that good yet, they're kinda hard to play and it took some practice, but I know a few calming songs now."
"That's cool, let's go sign up!"
Grover quickly filled out the forms himself, then we got into the line to turn them in.
I stood next to Grover, bouncing on my heels, as we waited. I had to shoot a few sharp smiles (copied from Triton's I will end you smile) to the less than polite school members to make them leave Grover alone.
He wasn't very popular, people definitely didn't think much of how he dressed, or his disability.
I knew I'd get similar treatment if I wore anything but the clothes Triton got me, they were the nicest clothes I owned. I sometimes felt like a fraud wearing them, but they were gifts from Triton and I was going to enjoy that dang it.
I stepped forward pointedly to stop someone from trying to cut us, smiling sharply when he turned to glare.
"Whatever," he grumbled, pushing past us and kicking Grover's crutch on the way.
I carefully kept my (now strained) smile in place as I checked on Grover.
"I'm fine," Grover muttered.
"He's a jerk," I chirped back, eyes narrowing on another student snickering with a friend and eyeing us.
OO OO OO OO
The first meeting of Model UN was pretty boring. I was hoping to jump right into debates but we just introduced ourselves and talked about what the club would be doing this year.
The first meeting of the music club was a lot more fun though.
We got to pick our instrument for the year, or show off our instrument if we had it. Then everyone that already knew how to play go to demonstrate a brief song.
I played the first song I learned, Hova Himne. It was soothing.
Grover played the reed pipes and I did my absolute best to not cringe at the sound of it. I didn't think that was how they were supposed to sound, but I didn't know enough about reed pipes to say.
Maybe he could use… just a little more practice though… just a little.
OO OO OO OO
The Latin teacher… disappeared?
He was there the first week, and was nice enough and teaching us declensions and all and now he was just gone and we had a new teacher.
No one else seemed to notice?
His name was Mr. Brunner and he used a wheelchair.
It felt… weird. Buzzing over my skin and warm.
That was not an ordinary wheelchair.
OO OO OO OO
I finally got a chance to call Triton a few weeks into the semester when Grover was grabbing a book from the library.
I pulled out my Rainbow Stone, waiting just a few seconds for the Rainbow to unfurl, a shining sheet of colorful light, then flipped a drachma into the rainbow.
"Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering and show me Triton, wherever he is."
I beamed when Triton appeared. That was always so cool.
He was in his room it looked like, I recognized it from previous Iris Calls.
"Hello, Persi," Triton said, offering me a smile when he saw me.
"Triton! How are you?"
I relaxed as Triton confirmed he was doing well and asked after me. Slowly we traded stories, him mentioning some of the work they were doing for the oil spills and I talking about school.
He was pleased that I joined Model UN and music club, informing me those were good choices and would help me a lot.
I was worried by his mention of various Gods not being happy about Poseidon-ore allowing the oil drilling to continue despite the spills, though Triton grumbled about it being a mortal action and thus they could only interfere so much.
Triton also told me about how the Uomiet Puyix (or Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill as it was known on land) was still not cleaned up, but things were steadily improving.
I'd seen a fair bit about it on the news before moving to this boarding school. People from all over were coming to help clean up and save the animals. It was really bad.
I didn't know what was being done about the cause of it though, the talk about that got boring quickly.
I told Triton about my classes then, and about Grover.
I told him my suspicions about Grover not being human, and what Carl had said about him. Carl also reminded me of the suspicious teacher, Mr. Brunner, so I told Triton about him too.
Triton nodded slowly, lips pursed and brows furrowed.
"I- I believe I know what Grover is. He shouldn't be a danger to you, but…" Triton shook his head. "Keep an eye out, and if I'm right he is likely empathic, so try to keep your emotions in check around him. It… It's better safe than sorry."
I nodded and promised to be careful, wondering what mythological beings were empathic.
OO OO OO OO
There was a robbery near the school during Latin class, so all the students were locked in our classrooms.
It was less because there was a robbery, and more because the robber had a gun, which was kinda scary.
Mr. Brunner covered the classroom door window with a black screen and had some students move the big desk in front of the door. Then wedged some of his old shields in the way for good measure.
I didn't know if they'd help at all, but it did make us feel safer.
Mr. Brunner told us stories of the rise of Rome until the announcement came that it was safe to go out, his voice soft and ancient as he spoke of the events as if he were there.
It was scary, hopefully nothing like that happened again.
I really wanted this year to be calmer.
OO OO OO OO
The fire alarm got set off and the whole school had to evacuate.
From the rumors I heard while standing out in the rain, some computer in the library overheated; then promptly blew up. That promptly set off the fire alarm and also probably damaged the table.
No one looked happy about standing in the rain getting soaked while we waited for the fire department to clear everything.
I didn't mind though, I was practicing one of Katara's tricks and making a rain umbrella! I didn't practice it often enough, cause it was kinda hard to catch all the individual drops and guide them around me or hold them above me.
But I was finally managing!
It was small, just above me, and my feet were still getting soaked, but it kept the water off my head and upper body.
"Shame the losers made it out," muttered the familiar voice of Nancy.
I glanced over to see her sending Grover and me a mocking grin and smiled brightly back.
If the rain above her became just a little colder, a little harder, a little bit more like sleet rather than rain… well that was just a coincidence. I had nothing to do with it, Triton was always saying I needed to be more careful with my powers.
OO OO OO OO
Music club was going great. I was quickly improving with my ocarina, now having the first six songs in my book mastered. I was working on three more as well, since my teacher wanted me to alternate practicing between them.
It was a lot of fun to play a song alongside others, and I was learning a lot faster with a teacher helping me.
I hoped to master the book's songs before the end of the year, though I wasn't sure how possible that was.
Grover was slowly improving too, which I thought was great. His reed pipes no longer sounded like a dying owl, and more like proper music.
I'd heard some students making fun of his reed pipe playing, but they'd stopped doing it so much now that he'd gotten better. I was glad, I could only tell them off so many times.
We were still learning! It wasn't Grover's fault he wasn't immediately good. When I started with the ocarina it sounded bad too. Instruments take time to learn, and they were rude to insult him over it.
And they're just rude in general.
OO OO OO OO
Model UN ended up being a lot of fun after the first meeting.
We did a bunch of practice debates, and went over the facts of "cases" and stuff.
Grover ended up having very strong opinions on the environmental prompts, and the teacher helped him get better at focusing his ideas and balancing them with what others needed too. His reform ideas were delightful.
I did quite a few debates too, and the times I went up against Grover on environmental issues were always fun, whether he be for or against the issue in question.
The time we were discussing oil rigs was really interesting. I was against Grover and ended up channeling everything I knew about the pollution and the risks of oil rigs… and started arguing for more in the ocean.
The teacher said I was good at debating, which I figured was a lot like being good at arguing. I wasn't exactly happy that my points were so well done, I don't want more oil rigs… but hey at least I was good at this.
I did enjoy when things got switched around and I could point out the many many issues with oil drilling, harmful fishing techniques, dumping wastes in the ocean, and the effects of ocean mining.
It was also funny to watch Grover keep slipping and agreeing with the ones against pollution before remembering he was supposed to be supporting the stuff that caused the pollution.
OO OO OO OO
I opened my eyes to darkness.
Darkness stretched out all around me, water rippling with shadows. I tried to see something, anything, through the inky darkness but the shadows drowned all light.
As if responding to my search, red light flickered to life nearby, my eyes drawn to oozing magma that hardened as quickly as it formed. But the light had cut the shadows away, and despite the dark I could now see.
It was darker than night around me, but teeth filled stars lit up the water like a very hungry night sky.
A river raged beneath me, an underwater river. Rocks and silt tumbled over each other in a surge that would sweep the unsuspecting away. I'd heard of them of course, Triton taught me to avoid them and how to note signs of a possible one forming.
It was fast, it was sharp, it was deadly.
I floated up, staring at the twinkling lights urging me to come closer, just a bit, admire the light and the face behind it.
I spun in a circle, wondering at the thick darkness around me, until my eyes landed on a spot of brilliant light.
A moonbeam cut through the shadows more effectively than the stars ever could, bringing a soft light that was nearly blinding. A massive structure rose above it, carved into the walls of a cliff (a trench ). A palace.
That was not Poseidon's palace.
The light moved closer to me, a mini moon held in the hands of a mermaid who shone herself.
She was glowing, like Triton, but her light was so much brighter. A luminescent blue tail with shimmering silver frills flowed like a rippling dress as she moved towards me.
Her mouth opened, light banishing the shadows that clung to me.
I woke up.
OO OO OO OO
A criminal had been spotted on the school grounds by a student. Or well, someone fitting the description of a criminal. They'd mentioned the suspicious figure to a teacher who recognized the description so… the school was evacuated so the police searched the grounds.
On the bright side we got to go on a field trip to the aquarium despite that.
On the down side we got to go on a field trip to the aquarium I was expelled at before.
Hopefully the guide wouldn't remember me… or maybe they didn't even work there anymore.
Hopefully.
Grover and I ended up separated from the group while looking at some fish. It was fun though, I got to talk to the fish and they were delighted to talk with me too.
I made sure to compliment them, they were very pretty after all. I told them how sparkly their scales were, and how smooth their swimming was, and what good taste they had in coral homes.
I'd missed talking to fish (real fish). And while Grover laughed at my actions, it wasn't a mean laugh.
I was glad he was my friend, I'd only ever had Triton before.
Hopefully Grover didn't turn out to be a bad mythical creature.
OO OO OO OO
My classes were… going.
Math was alright, though I didn't like the teacher. English was gonna kill me though. I couldn't read the books the essay were for, since they were in English and they didn't have audio books I could find for them.
And I had to write it all in Halmaheran to get anything right, otherwise I messed it up a lot, so I had to write everything twice when I translated it.
I felt like the school was supposed to help me with this, but I didn't know how to ask or what to ask and I didn't know enough about the laws to know if I even could ask.
I needed to fix that.
I made a note of it.
OO OO OO OO
Despite the suspicious teacher, Latin was kinda fun. We read a lot of Roman myths while translating. Plus it let me keep Triton informed on what was up with the teacher.
Today we had a test, which went okay. I was great with the words, but the grammar was painful. I was pretty sure that I lost half my points on grammar alone.
I could do it… but I didn't understand when you were supposed to use some endings or do specific word order.
Plus that one Orgetorix piece was so confusing. Like- Orgetorix persuaded Casticus the Sequanian to occupy the throne for his (this is Casticus by the way) state because his (still Casticus I was pretty sure) father held it before. He also persuades Dumnorix the Haedian, brother of Diviciaus (whose identity came from the uh- antecedent of qui, and wasn't actually part of the snippet we were translating) who was obtaining rule in his (Dumnorix I thought) state to try the same thing (taking Casticus' dad's throne). And then he gives his (Orgetorix) own daughter in marriage to him (Dumnorix this time). And he said that he himself would obtain the control of his state.
I was lost.
OO OO OO OO
The darkness stretched around me once more, though more stars glittered. Shining moonbeams decorated the palace now, making the harsh lines soften and shine silver.
It wasn't anything like Poseidon's palace, or well, not from what I'd seen.
Despite the soft light smoothing the harsh edges, it was still clear that this palace was… rawer. The rough edges left in place while still clearly being a palace.
It was dark beneath the soft light, carved out of the side of the trench and drenched in Shadows. It was also massive, with arching windows shining with red light.
I remembered what Triton said about the deep sea. Red was the first color to be absorbed by the water, so most beings in the deep water couldn't see red, making it invisible to them. Mers usually could see it, but for the various sea creatures down here? The castle would be invisible.
A star detached from the darkness and swam past, needle like teeth flashed as the Hadal lantern fish swam past, making my breath catch.
I'd read about them, in one of the books Triton gave me. They were only… only found in the Hadal zone of the ocean. Hadal lantern fish never drifted higher.
And… I had a feeling I was deep in the Hadal zone. I couldn't name how I knew, but the water seemed to echo with immense pressure despite my intangibility.
The Hadal zone had very few species, only a handful of normal fish and species, the rest were mer or magical and mythical creatures.
I didn't particularly want to remain outside, where any such being could find me.
I slowly moved towards the palace, my gaze sweeping the water. This palace probably had guards, or something-
My breath caught at the yellow eye staring at me.
It was- it was massive. I had to look up to see the pupil alone. It locked on me, yellow, vicious and sharp.
The eye belonged to a massive body, one whose body disappeared into the dark but whose eye shone in the dark.
I swallowed hard and flicked my fingers into a motion of respect, uncertain what it would do.
The eye held me in place for a long moment, the water rippling as the body shifted.
And then it slipped shut, the water stilling once more.
I let out a breath, relieved that it had allowed me passage. I had no chance against a Wa'tepo-re.
I slowly drifted closer to the door, hesitating in front of the massive structure. The light illuminated symbols on the door, shining silver and bronze against hard stone.
I touched one, flinching when the door opened.
With a steadying breath, I pushed in.
I woke up.
OO OO OO OO
I was pretty sure someone in charge of the universe hated me, because how else would some kid get their hands on a cursed item.
And they brought it to school.
I didn't know what it was or where it was but I knew there was something cursed.
The air was colder, and there was an itch in certain parts of the school, and Carl whined about a curse.
The cursed item wasn't there before Thanksgiving break, so I assumed someone got it as a gift. Or maybe for Black Friday?
Everyone else was just talking about how the school had a ghost now.
Carl thought it was funny after he got over his whining. He seemed to think Grover's tension with the cursed item was entertaining, which might be because he was trying to catch Grover out for being mythological.
I wasn't too worried, while the feeling of… whatever was annoying, I was slowly narrowing it down so I'd find it soon enough.
OO OO OO OO
It took me three weeks to find the cursed item.
The little cursed book. An old looking one.
I spent another week studying my book on curse breaking, Intoh Tukalek rao Hamatuki'v, that Triton gave me. It explained how to uncurse the book, which was really helpful.
Thankfully the curse was pretty basic, and weakened with age. It was a simply layered curse, with the layers having frayed without any upkeep.
I managed to remove it. But I didn't know what to do with it, so I just shoved it onto my bookshelf.
The students were disappointed their ghost was gone.
OO OO OO OO
A pit yawned before me. Deeper than any hole I'd ever seen, deeper than even the deepest trenches in the oceans. I leaned forward, staring down over the edge.
A burning sensation danced along my senses, wisps of cold and hot tingling over me. Trickling sands shifted over my skin.
"How interesting," a voice mused, drifting up like leaves in the breeze. "So faint, and yet… 'tis there. I thought I'd sensed- and 'tis slowly getting clearer…"
I frowned, leaning over the pit once more to try and find the voice. "Hello?"
There was a beat of silence. And then-
"Hello, little Half-Blood," crooned the voice, sweeping up in a rush of hot air that made me sway away from the pit.
"Who are you?" I called.
"You may wish to step back, little Half-Blood. Such a fall would not be fun."
The pit gaped wider, burning cold coiling over my arms and tugging me.
I stepped back.
"You didn't answer my question."
There was a soft chuckle, rustling through the air. "I am-"
I woke up.
OO OO OO OO
Field day was so exciting! My old schools never really had a fun field day, but the students here said that it was usually lots of fun. So I had high hopes. And they ended up being mostly fulfilled.
I was doing the tug-of-war, the water sponge, and one of the running events.
I won the water sponge race by a landslide, and my team for tug-of-war came in second overall. I didn't even get in the top ten for running, but did alright. I had a lot of stamina from all my swimming and running from the river to my apartment.
I didn't come in last though, which was the important thing.
I was a bit sad that Grover couldn't participate in much, but he did come in fourth in the hula-hoop competition.
It would've been perfect if the field hadn't caught fire afterwards.
I had no idea how that happened.
OO OO OO OO
I ran my finger down the page while humming, spread out on my bed. I was reading one of the more advanced books on Purification, Ert Afelo av Vapaloa . It was about the different methods of purification that could be used to bring peace and comfort to a person or area.
The chapter I was on at the moment was talking about how to infuse an item with energy to lessen the pollution in an area, cleansing it of toxins and the like. It was focused on water of course, so I'd have to practice it in water before figuring out how to use it on land.
Carl found it interesting, he wanted a magic stone for his tank.
I was beginning to wonder if Carl even wanted to be turned human again, he seemed to… like being a fish.
It was weird.
OO OO OO OO
Grover and I were teamed up for a speech in Model UN and we worked really hard on our speech.
We had to argue for environmental reform, with a focus on ocean pollution. Thankfully, I knew a lot about ocean pollution, particularly in regards to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (the one from two years ago that Triton was still dealing with).
Grover was really well informed on the effects of pollution and the laws surrounding them, and I knew how the ocean worked and the effects of oil drilling.
Plus, Triton was happy to answer my questions for more info!
We were gonna kill this presentation.
OO OO OO OO
I glared through the darkness at the trench walls in front of me.
The palace shone with soft red moonlight from the ponisi once more, beautiful and dark and sharp and gentle.
Was I going to wake up again the moment I drew close to it?
I wanted to actually enter the palace this time. I wanted to see what was inside.
I glanced around, watching the stars of the fish moving around. None of them seemed to notice me, and the Wa'tepo from last time wasn't here, or was hidden. Nothing was entering the palace either.
Well, there was no point in just floating there.
I slowly drifted towards the palace once more. The water didn't even ripple around me as I drew near the doors.
I pushed my hand against the door, rough but glittering with silver and bronze in the red moonlight.
The door swung open.
I drifted in, eyes wide.
The interior was stunning . The walls arced up in natural formations, but shaped into incredible designs. Intricately woven tapestries decorated the arcways, hanging from them and depicting images I didn't know.
The walls were covered in Ancient Writings, humming with power right down to my bones. All the carvings were inlaid with… was that Platinum? Was that Abyssal Platinum ?
Amazing.
I drifted over to a mosaic, formed of countless colored stones and tinted red (but it looked right like that) by the light.
It depicted a crystal cave, a figure of bronze in the center, eyes closed, with… crab claws for horns?
"Well, hello," said a voice.
I whipped around, gaze falling on a glowing merman.
His hair was deep blue, darker than his turquoise tails but matching the glowing fins flowing around him. It reminded me of my tail, but his was greener and had a smattering of blue over it. And it wasn't quite as flowy as mine, his frill only went part way down his tails.
His sharp green eyes were studying me.
"'Tis not often we get Half-Bloods down here," he mused, gaze thoughtful. "What is your name, child?"
I drifted up a bit, feeling like I knew this man but uncertain how. Had I seen a picture of him in one of Triton's books? But I was apparently intruding in his home so-
"I'm P-"
I woke up.
OO OO OO OO
I was really annoyed with the school year.
Normally I only had like- one or two big things that ended in my expulsion. There'd maybe be a few small things, but usually just… two big things that were maybe not my fault but I was near.
But no, this year didn't want to follow the trend.
Did I anger a God of school? Who would that be? Apollo? Athena? Koios? Metis? Someone else?
Point being, this was a wreck of a school year. Even if my grades were doing alright.
We were reading a book in English class, and since it was set in a boarding school one of our assignments was to talk to someone who had the same job as a character in the book and get them to answer some questions.
Several teachers, and the Principal, set aside time for students to talk to them and I picked the Principal. So of course I was the one talking to him when he had a heart attack .
I had no idea what to do- I didn't know where his phone was and there was no land line so I tried to use my magic, tried to use the water to help, but I've never had a healing lesson and don't know how to heal someone and-
It didn't do anything, I didn't think, but I managed to get a teacher and the ambulance came.
I had to explain the symptoms to the emergency responders, then was given a cookie and the rest of the day off.
But all that goes to say, this semester was being ridiculous. Wouldn't surprise me if the school had a pandemic or something next.
OO OO OO OO
The school had a pandemic.
Or maybe it was an epidemic. I didn't know the difference between them.
Maybe I jinxed it, maybe the universe hated me. Whatever it was, it was a pain.
Everyone in the school had the flu… or well, nearly everyone. A handful of students (including myself) didn't have it, along with Mr. Brunner and the English teacher.
On the brightside, everyone was quarantining so I didn't have to attend classes for a few days.
On the downside, everyone was quarantining so I was stuck inside with Grover.
I liked Grover plenty, he was a great friend and all. We hung out a bunch and talked about environmental stuff, and I kept the bullies off his back… but I couldn't call Triton with Grover there.
Or practice my waterbending. Or my purification magic.
I was wary of even reading the books too openly with him.
So I was very bored.
The flu pandemic just couldn't end quickly enough.
OO OO OO OO
The pit opened before me, a scar in the ground too deep to see. The darkness seemed to reach for me, seemed to devour me. Cold and hot tingled over my body.
Shifting sands spilled over me, dusting my skin in an invisible presence.
"Welcome back, little Half-Blood," whispered the voice, rustling through the air to reach me.
"My name is Percy, not little Half-Blood," I corrected.
The air hummed with the voice, vibrating the ground and my bones. I thought it was a guy, maybe, the whispers and rustles and echoes made it hard to tell.
Plus it just wasn't very… gendery. Or maybe it was very gendery, I didn't know.
"Of course, little Percy."
The voice echoed with amusement, the shadows twining with laughter.
It was definitely doing that to annoy me.
"How are you doing, child? Your school year going well?"
I frowned, "How do you know I'm in school?"
"I know many things."
That was annoying.
The voice wasn't alone this time, or maybe it was and was speaking softer, but other sounds echoed up. Words about mortals, and presences, and fading. I didn't understand it, I couldn't pick the words out.
I shook my head, trying to brush the rustling leaves and seeping sunlight out of my head.
"I'm not supposed to give personal information to strangers."
"Ah, but I know your name," the voice cooed, wings fluttering. "Thus we aren't strangers."
I peered at the inky darkness with a scowl. "I don't know your name though."
A chuckle rumbled up, gold dancing across my vision in time with it. I could've sworn others laughed beneath it, but perhaps that was the rustling leaves and swaying grasses.
Sensations I could feel, could almost hear, but weren't there.
"As you say, little Percy," the voice whispered along my spine. "I am-"
I woke up.
OO OO OO OO
I was very annoyed about missing the equinox with Triton, but I'd still see him at the Winter Solstice, so needed to do his present.
I'd gathered some pearls over the summer with Samoa and Rosa (pearl gathering was hard, but fun) so I had decided to make Triton something with them.
Thus, I was working on an armband for Triton.
Armbands were signals of rank in the sea. Or for partnerships, or friendships. A special type of band was used for marriage I remembered, but giving a band was also just a way of acknowledging a strong bond with another.
I'd gotten my hands on a book on the different kinds of bands and their purposes from Fetu, so I knew vaguely what fit for a present. All the pieces had different meanings, from the pearls to the metals to the colors.
I didn't know all the meanings in the sea, but I could mix what I did know with land stuff too.
Color theory and all that.
I'd seen Triton's own bands enough to know what could match with them, though I didn't have any of my own (I was of land, not just the sea, no reason for them… it was fine). They were gold, with a trident crossed with a conch shell on each. Wave designs curled over them, cradling little pearls on the outside and almost mimicking a rolled scroll in places.
They were intricate, elegant, and painstakingly personalized to be perfect for Triton.
I couldn't hope to match the quality, but… I could still make something that sorta matched. Maybe it was a bit rude, Triton wasn't actually family, and this was the kind of gift you gave to family. And he was a God on top of that, so like- maybe I wasn't supposed to give him something showing I view him as family…
But he was like an older brother to me. If he didn't like it I could just pretend I misunderstood the meaning or something.
I didn't have actual gold, but that was fine. I got a type of aluminum for the metal and I knew some color runes. They didn't do much other than change the color of something, but it would make the metal look kinda like gold.
Though I had to do way too much research to figure out what kind of aluminum would work, thankfully my teacher was happy to help. She mentioned a bunch of numbers and class-i-fi-cations of aluminum that I didn't understand, then gave me some strips of metal from one of the types (type… five?). She said it had magnesium in it instead of copper.
I spent a while practicing making the right shape with some of the spare metal, then carving runes into the pieces. I tried it when they were flat, but bending the metal messed up the runes so I had to wait until after bending it to do it.
I only had like- a dozen runes I knew how to do without a stencil. If you messed up at all then it would ruin the flow of the magic and- that was bad.
Like boom explosion destruction bad.
I spent a while making sure the runes were "buffed" out of the metal strips just to be safe.
There was a reason people didn't mess around with ivuisav.
I shaped the metal carefully, with a little rise in one spot that curled like a wave. Then smoothed out the front and back and softened the edges so it wouldn't cut into his skin.
Adding the pearls was the last step.
The order of them was important, along with the colors. I was using the pearls that ranged from pale white all the way to deep blue. It was like a- uh… a thing… color fade thing… Gradient! It was like a gradient, dark to light to dark again.
I thought it looked pretty.
And then I remembered that I had other friends to give stuff too, like my mer friends, and Grover.
I got Grover a wood carving of a tree (Triton laughed when I said that, something about making something in the image of the thing it once was). By 'got' of course I mean I made it, it was easier than the little details I had to do for some of Triton's gifts.
Crafts were fun.
My mer friends all got pearl and shell hair pins. I did my best to infuse them with purifying energy like my book said to.
I was getting good at it by practicing with stones in Carl's tank (I was getting him some fancy fish food).
I hoped they liked them. We didn't know each other super well yet, but they were… they were some of my first friends.
Next time I'd get them something more personal.
OO OO OO OO
Soft red light filled the hall, stone walls rising high above me with soft tapestries swaying in the light current present.
I blinked slowly, taking in the ancient writing and glittering pearls.
I was back in the undersea palace.
The ocean outside was lit with a red glow, and beyond that flitted small pinpricks of light. There wasn't much else to see in the dark water.
Well, at least I didn't need to get inside this time. It was getting annoying to wake up right at an interesting part.
I slowly swam through the hall, fascinated by the decorations.
The walls shone with glittering pearls, red was dominant but other shades danced across the walls too. Waves of deep blue, pools of shining white, fish of reds and pinks. The tapestries were beautiful, depicting stories I'd read, and many I hadn't.
The floor was patterned with an intricate mosaic that extended down the entire hall, made of shimmering stones with different shells pressed in as well. It seemed to be depicting a storm holding out a hand to a tree.
"I see you've returned."
I jumped, floating slowly down even as I whipped around once more. The merman from before drifted before me.
I took in his appearance again, the light of his tails drawing my eye before a silvery movement on his shoulders drew my gaze to the snake draped there. My gaze caught on his arms, where his bands rested.
Wait- The top ones were-
A snake curled through the waves, silver and platinum twisting in an elegant fashion to emphasize the snake in a way that made it seem like he had live snakes on His arms.
A glimmer of pearls shone for the eyes.
That was-
I blinked slowly, then did my absolute best to act like I totally saw those last time yes.
I twisted my hand, flicking two fingers down and tucking my thumb against my pointer finger.
That was-
He was-
I was at-
"I've been wondering what child was slipping through my palace's boundaries. What is the purpose of your visit?"
I swallowed hard and smiled, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I-" how did one explain they literally just went to sleep "-I fell asleep and woke here."
The Merman hummed, "Dream swimming… Hioipihaiho is a fairly common skill but to manage it into my palace…"
I shifted, the water coiling over me. I hadn't intended to enter His palace this time, but that didn't necessarily matter. I still entered it several times in my dreams when I'd woken outside of it. It was possible He'd be angry.
"I'm sorry for intruding," I said earnestly, trying to convey how much I really didn't mean to. "It wasn't my intention."
He considered me for a long moment, "I sense… remnants of my power on you. You have interacted with something of mine."
I blinked, confused by his comment. Something tugged at my chest, the waters rippling around me.
"What is your name, child?" He asked abruptly, a hand reaching out.
"I'm-" I faltered, the currents yanking at me with a shrill ringing. "I'm Perc-"
I woke up.
OO OO OO OO
I was delighted that winter break had arrived. I missed my mom so much, I was so happy to see her again.
We ignored Gabe's comments and I hugged my mom tight, leaning into her hug. We made cookies and I told her about school so far (leaving out the suspicious teacher and roommate). We had candy (and koshari) for dinner, then sat in my room and talked for hours.
It was so nice to be home again.
And I was gonna get to see Triton again! I missed him loads . I had so much to talk to him about, the Iris Messages just weren't enough.
And maybe I'd get to see my friends. I wanted to ask Rosa about Dream swimming, xey would be the one to know.
Though I hoped she wouldn't ask about what I saw, I didn't know how to explain that I saw my Metua.
I hadn't expected to see Okeanus in a dream. But I was- I was super excited. He didn't recognize me, but He did feel His power on me, maybe that was just mine but like- His cause I inherited it?
Regardless, I hoped I'd see Him again. Maybe He could answer some questions- or would that be bothering Him- I hoped I didn't bother Him-
Did He mind me being there? Would He be angry to find out I was just appearing? What would He do?
I focused on the candy again.
That was a problem for future me.
OO OO OO OO
Triton and I met up on the solstice to trade gifts as usual. I was a bundle of nerves this time, clutching the wrapped armbands tight before carefully giving them to him.
His eyes got really wide when he opened them and he ducked his head for just a moment, maybe studying them closer?
He thanked me after, and seemed happy? I thought maybe he liked it?
Triton in turn gave me a knife.
It was made of Abyssal Platinum, which was only found in the Abyssal Zone of the ocean, really really deep water. It was a valuable metal, and Okeanus' kingdom's most coveted and expensive export.
It was an excellent metal for war, particularly in the sea due to its properties, and was far more valuable than my partially Celestial Bronze trident.
It was a small dagger, but well balanced. The hilt was coated in sea serpent scales and wrapped in Kraken leather.
It was beautiful, it was shiny, it was deadly.
I loved it.
OO OO OO OO
I traded gifts with my mer-friends after Triton, having given Grover his gift before I left school.
Samoa gave me a conch shell that played sounds of the sea, to let me bring the sea with me when my "Katara-fu'oro" brought me on land for lessons like I claimed she did.
Elei got me a chest plate, well… not a plate. I wasn't sure what it was called, but it was flexible. The armor was made of interlocking sea serpent scales, from a lesser Sea Serpent I was pretty sure. They were too small to be of a greater Wa'tepo.
It was really pretty, sparkly and strong. I would treasure it for sure.
Rosa couldn't make it, but she did send along a pouch of some high quality fish food and very tasty snacks.
Masina got me a small stone meant to calm storm waters if tossed into the storm. It wouldn't do much for anything worse than a small rainstorm, but it was still very cool.
Fetu gave me a rare book on Siren's Song from his parents library, and a promise to help me practice when I was ready. He gave me the sweetest smile and I flushed a bit as I thanked him.
Lagi got me a healing kit, a starter one. It was pretty thorough though! It had all the basics for everything along with simple instructions. It would definitely help me work on my healing!
I made a note of it.
It was really fun seeing them again, I'd missed them more than I realized.
It was so strange to have friends that I missed other than Triton. I looked forward to seeing them, and I didn't want to leave now that I could see them again.
So of course that would be when the Ocean raged.
OO OO OO OO
Triton swept me back to shore in the fastest current I'd ever swum in. He ordered me to go home and stay there until Triton knew what was going on, then he was gone.
A seagull followed me back, so I assumed it was watching over me, but the storm was raging fiercely and I couldn't help but fear it.
It wasn't like the normal storms I'd been in, it was… angry.
I waited at home, hoping for information before I went back to school.
The days passed slowly, with storms raging on and off all week. It was like the sea and sky were at war-
Seven full days passed before a bird tapped on my window.
Seven full days passed before a message was delivered to me.
Seven full days passed before I learned Poseidon-ore was being accused of theft.
Seven full days passed before I learned the sea could go to war.
OO OO OO OO
I returned to Yancey Academy with the letter in my mind. The instructions clear.
Do not act different.
Do not investigate.
Do not leave the school.
I went to school and wasn't sick with worry.
I went to school and didn't watch my Rainbow Stone.
I went to school and sat calmly in my seat.
Everything was okay, everything would be fine.
The new teacher for math was named Ms. Dodds and itched and burned.
Everything was fine.
There was nothing wrong at all.