Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Triton sighed loudly. 

How had he, crown prince, messenger of the seas, been reduced to the babysitting duties of picking up his child brother. 

And he was a child, not even 17 yet. 

Incredible that he’d fought two wars, and more incredible that he’d fought two wars and was still going to miss his own birthday celebrations if someone, Triton, didn’t collect him. 

So collecting him from the demigod camp it was. 

Three days early too, just to make sure nothing went wrong. 

Well no, with Perseus something always went wrong, the three days were to make sure they could fix it in time for the celebrations. 

As much as he insisted this was a hassle, he was rather intrigued by this camp. He did not care much for demigods, but they had saved Olympus and in turn Atlantis just over a year ago and again only a month ago. 

It was intriguing. 

Perseus’ insistence that he continue to spend time there was also intriguing. 

They must have some merit. 

He arrived on the beach within the camp boarders without issue. He was being watched, but he did not see his watcher, and they did not bother him. 

He was expected after all. 

The Poseidon cabin was backed onto a saltwater lake formed by a river that stemmed from the sea, and he followed the path next to it to his brother’s cabin. 

He stood outside and waited, watching campers run about, people playing basketball in the space between other cabins, some working in the fields, sitting outside their cabins and sharpening weapons in the sun. 

He supposed he could understand why his brother enjoyed the place, even if it was above water. 

Eventually, Perseus jogged over to him, smiling like he wasn’t late. 

“I thought I said 5pm.” 

He followed Perseus into the cabin. 

“Yeah, sorry, we got three new campers, someone restarted the feud between the Ares and Apollo cabins and the Stoll's worked out how to set off glitter bombs remotely, it’s been a busy day.” 

He had not been in the ‘Poseidon’ cabin before. It was clear which bed belonged to his brother, between the crumpled bedding and the array of photographs and souvenirs. 

Was that a minitour horn? 

“I see.” 

“Do you?” 

“No, but you should hurry, it will not do for you to be late to your own birthday party.” 

Perseus glared at him. 

“Celebration of the end of the war, keep my birthday out of it, please.” 

He did not see why his brother felt so strongly about the subject but let it drop. Father would not be deterred anyway. He could leave the arguing to them. 

“Are you ready to leave?” 

“Yes, I already said goodbye to everyone, let’s go.” 

The journey to the sea was peaceful, the children did not interrupt them as they walked, but he did notice the daughter of Athena who had stolen his brother’s heart was standing on the beach, waiting. 

She did not interfere, but she did watch them go with a smile. 

Triton rather enjoyed the swim from Camp Half-Blood to Olympus. It took much longer than simply transporting himself there, but Perseus disliked people transporting him and insisted he would prefer a swim. Would prefer to enjoy the scenery and the feeling of the currents and the view of Atlantis in the distance as they approached. 

Atlantis glowing like a gem surrounded by walls and defences and beyond that, fields of crops and farms and the loyal citizens of Atlantis. The towers of the Palace in the centre were a beacon of safety; and they were home. 

He had grown so used to transporting himself everywhere he’d forgotten to let himself enjoy such things. 

The scenery and the view were magnificent, and he was glad he’d started to admire it again. 

He paused, realising Perseus was lagging behind. 

Probably admiring some natural feature or talking to a chatty shark. 

Except when he turned, Perseus was frozen, holding his head. 

“Perseus?” 

“I’m ok, I just got dizzy.” 

He swam to his brother’s side just in time to see Perseus’ eyes roll up into the back of his head. 

Perseus sank like a stone. 

Triton dropped after him, catching him in his arms. 

His brother did not respond at all, totally limp in the water. 

A wave of dizziness washed over him, and he almost dropped his brother at the force of it. 

This wasn’t right. They were so close to Atlantis, just on the other side of the ridge that opened onto the valley the city was settled in. They were so close, but out of view of guards or patrols or anyone. 

This was not natural. 

They were under attack. 

With a deep breath Triton fortified himself and secured his grip on his brother, then pictured the palace. 

Instead of the wash of bubbles that would transport them to safety, he was crippled by another wave of dizziness.  

His stability crumbled, sending him veering sideways into a basalt column, knocking Perseus from his arms. Perseus dropped to the seafloor 30ft below, and Triton sank after him, unable to swim straight. 

This was a targeted attack, and he could not get away, he could barely tell up from down. 

Drawing his weapon was futile, he would be no use in a fight, but he did so anyway. If nothing else, it would help him stay upright. 

He lost the battle to stay upright, but before his eyes fell closed someone stepped over him, kicking his trident away and crunching along the basalt to tower over Perseus. 

There was nothing he could do. 

. 

Triton took a shuddering breath of air. 

Air, not water. 

He took a second breath and immediately became brutally aware of the burn in his shoulders. 

Forcing his eyes open, he took in his situation.  

A cave, large and dry. He was in the centre of it, the tips of his tails barely scraping on the ground. His shoulders burned because he was hanging by his arms, both of which were wrapped in thick golden chains attached to the roof of the cave. 

He tried tugging, but neither the chains nor the rocks budged. He could thrash, but not much more than that. 

The golden chains were designed to hold a god.  

The ambush, the chains, this was no spur of the moment attack. It had been planned and planned well. 

He took a deep calming breath and looked back to the cave. It had lanterns on the walls, casting a soft golden light, and there was a dark tunnel out of the cave directly ahead of him.  

His captor was not here. 

Perseus was not here. 

He pulled on the chains again, even though he knew they would not budge. He had to find his brother. 

Perseus was mortal, he was frail and fragile despite all he’d done. It was Triton’s job as an immortal and an older sibling to protect him. 

A wonderous job he had done so far. 

He did not know how long he hung alone in the darkness, but it was long enough to know how much danger he was in. He could not die, at least not easily, but he could be imprisoned. It could be centuries before he was found, longer. Mother and father would be worrying, his siblings would be worrying. 

He hoped Perseus had been left where he lay, to be found by a patrol or to wake and swim to Atlantis. 

A cynical part of him knew it was unlikely his captor would have left Perseus alive, but there was no tug in his gut like the Oceans were writhing in the grief he knew would follow his brother’s body being found.  

He was certain Perseus was still alive. 

This was confirmed as their captor emerged from the shadows, dragging his brother behind him. 

Perseus looked mostly uninjured, but he had a black eye and looked grieved. 

Something weighed on his shoulders that hadn’t been there days before. 

Days? He did not know. 

Perseus was thrown against one of the cavern walls, and their captor did something, but at first, he could not see what. 

Until Perseus tried to stand, and the collar around his throat and chain from it to the wall glowed gold, keeping him down. 

Seated again, they vanished from his view. 

He doubted very much that their weight vanished from Perseus’ neck. 

He turned his attention to their captor instead. 

He did not know who she was, but he knew she was of the sea. A nereid, like his mother, dressed in dark flowing robes. 

“I have to thank you, Prince Triton, you were an excellent hostage, excellent leverage.” 

“Who are you?” 

“My name, nephew, is Ione. It saddens me that you do not remember me, but alas you were so young the last time I visited. My dear sister reigns Queen of the Seas, history has all but forgotten me. I am done with it. Oceanis was supposed to destroy Atlantis, Gaia was supposed to end the reign of the Olympians, of Poseidon ‘King’ of the seas. The grief would have dealt such a blow to my good for nothing sister and I could have taken the power over the seas that all nereids deserve. Instead, they failed, but now you two will be the key to my revenge.” 

He had known some believed the seas should be controlled by nymphs and nereids acting as they pleased, no cities and no royal family, but it was an incredibly uncommon belief, and to go to such lengths... 

And to target his mother. 

He wondered if there was more behind why she and mother had not seen each other in so long, if perhaps this way of thinking was not new.

But then, why take Perseus if the aim was to attack mother? She loved him dearly, but he was hardly the expected target. Perhaps because he was seen as weak, or because this was supposed to have been his celebration, or simply because he had been instrumental in stopping the events that had foiled her plans before.

None of those left a good feeling in his chest.

“Perseus has done his part for now; I shall return soon. Enjoy your stay.” 

She vanished back into the darkness of the tunnel, and they were left alone. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Are you injured?” 

“Not badly. I'll be fine, had way worse.” 

That was not relieving. 

“Perseus, what did she want from you.” 

“She sent me to Atlantis. She gave me a bomb...” 

Chapter Text

Poseidon swam back and forth in his office.   

Perseus and Triton should have been back over a day ago, and while he didn’t put it past Percy to try and skip the event, Triton was usually above that. It was not impossible that he’d been convinced on a short adventure, but on a timescale like this, it was out of character.  

Something was wrong, he could feel it.  

“My Lord.”  

The guard bowed deeply, before rising.  

He did not pay attention to who they were, only what was in their hands.  

Triton’s trident.  

It had been found alone just outside the city limits, stabbed into the rock with Percy’s camp beads hanging from the handle.  

Something was wrong, and two of his sons were missing, t wo of his children were in danger.

This was not his sons skiving off to bond.

This was an act of war!

.  

Triton felt his face twist.

“A bomb?”  

“To plant in the palace. For the day of the celebration. I...”  

“You should not have planted it. No matter what she threatened to do to me.”  

“I don’t know exactly what she did, but nobody could see or hear me, it was like I was a ghost, I mean it. I couldn’t touch anything except what I already had on me.” something haunted crossed over his brother’s eyes, “I tried to leave some clues, but I couldn’t tell anyone I was there. But it’s a holiday, the celebrations are in the squares, the palace might get damaged, but I don’t think anyone will be hurt. I really hope not.”     

Triton understood, even if he disliked it. His brother was young, sentimental, and used to friends who could die all too easily. Too used to his friends dying all too easily.  

And it sounded as though he had not been left with many options.  

Triton could see and hear him, and he seemed tangible enough, but it may only have been Ione who could undo whatever spell it was she had done in the first place.  

Unless she hadn’t and they were both in this state... he hoped not.  

He needed to find them a way out, their best chance was if one of them were unchained, but he did not know if either of them would be again.  

Would they be fed?  

He could last centuries, mortals could only last a few days or weeks.  

The idea rooted itself in his mind deeply, catching in his throat in a way he truly hadn’t expected.  

Of watching Perseus slowly fall to his mortality unable to do anything to stop it, of...  

He'd sworn he wouldn’t get attached to mortals again for this exact reason and yet, and yet until only a few seconds ago he had not regretted a second of it.  

“You know, when I said I didn’t want to go to the party, this isn’t what I meant.”  

Triton almost choked at the change in topic.  

Almost.  

Perseus was not looking at him, instead attempting to fiddle with the lock at his throat.  

“I do not understand why you do not wish to go? It is an honour, and you deserve the adulations.”  

“I wanted to spend my anniversary with Annabeth, she deserves a nice date. I can’t exactly bring her to the gala, can I?”  

“You could have your anniversary celebration on another day.” If you must celebrate at all.  

“It’s not as special.”  

“An anniversary is surely second to the end of a war that nearly destroyed everything.”  

"Two things that happened to me that day. The defeat of Kronos and the saving of the western world, and Annabeth and I finally declaring our love. One of those things was a turning point in my life, for the first time I had the feeling like my entire future was laid out before me, for the first time I actually felt like I had a future, and the other one was punting good old grandpa back into a hole. So no, it’s not second, not to me.”  

Triton let it drop for now.  

He could not see how Perseus could have a future with this girl, a child of Athena. Not when she had the same hubris, the same drive that would eventually get Perseus killed just as it had...  

He could not say this to Perseus, not here in this cave, not when the boy clearly felt so strongly.  

“Why were the cabins fighting?”  

Perseus’s eyes snapped up to him in confusion.  

“The Ares and Apollo cabins, you said they were fighting. What caused it? A good feud is always entertaining. And we have time.”  

“Ok, do you know what Uno is?”  

“The number one?”  

“I’ll take that as a no.”  

He let Perseus regale him with the tale, explaining a mortal card game that sounded somehow both simple and complex, but by the time the rules had been clarified he understood fully how an argument might break out. Combined with past history between the two groups, he could see how it had quickly devolved.  

He would scorn the idea of the demigods coming to blows over a card game, if not for the fact that he knew the Gods were not above the same thing. Rhode would not let him forget the game of Cribbage that had sunk the Spanish Armada after all.  

With nothing else to do in the cell they spoke for a while, and it occurred to Triton that he did not simply speak to his brother often enough. They talked of important things, sparred, poked fun, but they did not bond. He never asked about his mortal schooling or childhood shenanigans, yet there were abundant tales to tell. In return, he had tails of his own childhood and life, stories not of battle but of the time Kym stole his conch for an entire week in an attempt to make him take a break.  

Gods do not need sleep, but humans do, and try as he might, Triton could see the exhaustion taking over his brother.  

“Sleep Perseus, there’s no point fighting it. You'll need your strength.”  

Mortal heroes did not typically like to admit weakness, but Perseus was not a typical mortal, and Triton realised he had forgotten something in his statement.  

“I will keep watch, Perseus, I can see the entrance and it is the only one. I will wake you if she returns.”  

Mere minutes later, Perseus was asleep.  

Chapter Text

If there had been other things to pay attention to in the cave, he might have missed the way his brother’s face started pulling and twisting in his sleep, the way he clenched his fists and shook.  

A nightmare.  

A silent one, he did not make a sound as he twisted and flinched in his sleep.  

Triton did not know how to feel about this discovery.  

He had assumed if Perseus had nightmares he’d scream, he had assumed his brother’s nightmares would be known to him.  

Had he been having nightmares silently in Atlantis, with everyone oblivious to it.  

Why had he not asked for support.  

It could have been due to this place, but he knew humans did not have nightmares silently without reason.  

Humans who cried, screamed or had nightmares without a single sound, did so because they had not been safe to make that sound.  

That was not something he was comfortable with.  

He was not comfortable with the idea of Perseus having been so unsafe in sleep. He knew of war and battles, he knew of many of his brother's quests and adventures, but he could not think of a time where Perseus would have been unsafe to make sound in sleep.  

This reaction was ingrained young, and he was not sure he wanted to learn why.  

After an agonising amount of time, Perseus’ eyes snapped open with nothing more than a sharp breath, before he focused in on where he was. Panic and recognition as he settled back into the present.  

There were tears in his eyes.  

Oh Perseus.  

Oh child.  

“I think we are going to miss the gala, what a shame.”  

Triton was not stupid enough to think that this wasn’t an attempt to avoid talking about the nightmare, but he went with it. He would not push.  

“You do not sound sincere.”  

“I don’t know, I think I'd pick the gala over this, maybe.”  

Triton couldn’t help but smile a little, though the joke was concerning.   

“I suppose this counts as a valid excuse to miss it. Though I still cannot work out why you dislike galas so much, they can be quite entertaining.”  

He was a crown prince and a god but that didn’t mean he didn’t spend balls and galas playing who’s sleeping with whom alongside his siblings. He imagined Perseus would enjoy the games.  

“I don’t have a problem with the gala.”  

“No? You seem to have been trying to find any excuse not to attend.”  

“I didn't want to come to this one. Specifically, this one.”  

“I do not understand why not. You planned on celebrating the end of the war with your camp. You had no issue with the idea of celebrating it there. Why is Atlantis so different?”  

“Because at camp I don’t have to pretend like I'm not falling apart!”  

Triton's stomach dropped. Perseus seemed shocked to have admitted it.  

“What?”  

“It’s nothing. I just don’t want to go.”  

“Perseus, you don’t need to lie to me. Feigning strength helps no one. And none would expect a child to be strong all the time.”  

A thousand emotions seemed to cross the mortal’s face before settling into something halfway between exhausted and defeated.  

“I don’t... everyone at camp went through it all too young, none of us are ok, I mean we’re ok, but we’ve all been through it, we can bond over the nights we can’t sleep, the people we lost way too soon, the nightmares and the flashbacks and they’ve been getting so much worse as the anniversary approaches and outside of camp everyone expects me to be fine. Everyone expects me to be able to smile and talk about it and be fine and I’m not and someone's going to push me and I'm going to snap. I can't do it.”  

Oh.   

“Why have you not told someone?”  

“And be seen as weak. I'm not weak. I don’t need people’s pity.”  

Oh Perseus.  

“You would not be seen as weak. You are a child, you were a child when you were forced into battles you should have been shielded from, you do not have to pretend that you are fine with it. You are right that many of Atlantis’ nobility would expect smiles and stories, but no honourable warrior would expect you to have come through that you have without it effecting you. I am so sorry that no one has told you otherwise.”  

“Everyone is so quick to call me a hero and celebrate that I won two wars, that I've succeeded on like, seven quests, it doesn’t even seem to register that to do that I had to fight in two wars, that I had to take those seven quests. I've nearly died so many times it barely even registers anymore. We only got back from Greece three weeks ago and I’ve been catching up on all the schoolwork the last quest caused me to miss and I just... I just want to stop, I just want to forget about it for a while, you know. I want to be a normal teen with a girlfriend and not be the hero, just for a little while.”  

“I understand. I'm sorry I contributed to that pressure; I truly did not realise.”  

“It’s ok, I didn’t tell you.”  

“So, you get nightmares often, it’s not just a consequence of this place?”  

Perseus looked as though he was considering the best response, considering lying, before he whispered a reply.  

“I... I haven’t slept a full night in a long time. If it’s not demigod dreams then it's war or losing someone or Tartarus or... something, it’s always something.”  

Tartarus, when had he been in that damnable hellhole. How had he survived it. Why had nobody told him. Even father feared that place...  

He could ponder this in fury later, demand answers from Father, Perseus needed him now.  

“Do you see anyone about it?”  

“No, I can’t talk to a mortal and the therapists at camp were...”  

“Were also in the battle.”  

“Yeah.”  

“We’ll get you an Atlantean therapist, they’ll have to be vetted, education, experience, knowledge of the human world. We can provide them for the other campers too, if we plan it correctly. You are all too young to have been though such trauma, there will be volunteers, but the vetting practice and mortal cultural barriers will need to be considered before we allow them near you all.”  

He trailed off, considering the logistics of the situation.  

Perseus looked away, pulling a face.  

Was he really... shamed by his trauma?   

“Perseus, many warriors in Atlantis see therapists, battle leaves a toll on even the strongest, it leaves scars we see and scars we cannot. I have many times before.”  

“I didn’t realise it was an option.”  

“I did not realise it had not already been offered to you all.”  

They sat in silence for a while after that.  

Perseus stretched his arms and legs and tugged at the chain and cuff around his neck.  

He tried to ignore the way his scales were beginning to itch.  

“Perseus, there is one thing I do not understand. Your aversion was not to celebrating the end of the war, it was to celebrating your birthday?”  

“Everyone wants my birthday to be a joyous day, but all I can think about are the friends I lost on that day, and the ones leading up to it. I don’t want any claim to that date, not anymore. There's just too much associated with it now, too much grief, too much pain. It's not a day of celebration. At least not personal celebration. The end of the war was a good thing, it was the end of the suffering, the end of the deaths, but nobody thought I'd live past that day, and too many of my friends didn’t. I just...”  

“I understand. I am sorry that it was not considered, it should have been. I will speak to father, once we are free of this place. You do not have to come.”  

“Really?”  

“I will sort it all out. I am certain mother and father will understand, as will our siblings, and most of the warriors. There may be a few nobles who fail to do so, but as the mortals say, screw them.”  

Perseus choked on a laugh.  

It was true that some would be put out at the idea of the honoured guest of the celebration failing to show, especially those who’d wished to curry favour with the new young prince.  

He did not care a bit.  

Many of his warriors had requested to celebrate with their regiments, he had been invited by some of his warriors to join them, although they had known he would need to refuse. If Perseus wished to spend the anniversary of the end of the war with the people he had fought alongside, celebrating the memories of those who had not come out of that battle, then so be it.  

Of course all of that implied that they would be able to escape this place.  

Escape their chains and make it back to Atlantis.  

He still had no plan, not when his arms were bound so tightly, so tightly the chains had started to cut into his skin.  

Small beads of ichor were running down the chains and dripping onto the cavern floor.  

Only a few, so far.  

He hoped his brother would not notice, but he was sure that he had.  

His brother seemed to be perceptive like that, although he seemed to be focusing on fiddling with the cuff around his neck instead.  

Instead of thinking of the chains, he considered the situation as a whole.  

If Ione was telling the truth, and he believed she was, then she was aiming to strike at the heart of Atlantis. Aiming to wound mother and destroy father, and she planned on using them to do it.  

But what exactly was her plan?  

She'd cursed Perseus and sent him to plant a bomb within the castle, an attack to strike fear on the day of the celebrations and lain by none other than the hero who had saved them a year before. But Perseus was right, the odds of it harming people where he’d placed it were slim, it likely would not do much damage to an immortal either, so what was the point. To discredit Perseus, it would not work, the people would understand he was under duress.  

Their kidnapping was the more effective strategy. With his princes, his children, on the line, father would be backed into a corner.  

Perhaps an attack on the palace, specifically the royal wing, would be used to remind Atlantis what she could do to the royal family.  

And what of her goals, her aims against the oceans?  

The Nereids tended to be allies of Atlantis, most of them held positions of power, nobility or court or something, and they were respected for their duties. None that he had known of had turned against them in the last wars and sided with Gaia or Kronos or Oceanis. They did not want the power she wanted for them; they did not want the destruction she would bring.  

He had no memory of her, but he could see aspects of mother in her face, and Ione was a name he had heard before. Truthfully, he had believed his aunt Ione dead, though nobody had ever said so explicitly. Several of his mother’s sisters had passed, some before he was born and some since.  

She claimed he had been young the last time she had visited. He was certain ‘visited’ was not the word his parents would choose if they were to describe their last meeting.  

She wanted power, she wanted to be Queen, and she was willing to overthrow his parents to get it.  

She was willing to attack Atlantis, to take them.  

He had the terrible feeling that this was why she had been cast out in the first place.  

“I wonder how long we’ve been gone. I don’t feel that hungry or thirsty yet, but I also know your lot can screw with that.”  

He ignored the slight against non-mortals. He supposed if anyone had the right to say such things it was his brother.  

“How long had it been when she sent you to Atlantis?”  

“Only a few hours, I think. I heard a few people muttering that we were late, but nobody was worried. I couldn’t find anything with the date on it though, except my calendar which was still on November last year and not much help.”  

Perseus huffed a laugh, and Triton tried to avoid shaking his head.  

He also tried to avoid thinking about the fact that Perseus’ room was as it had been before he’d been kidnapped and forced on a quest to Greece. They had left everything as it was, waiting for his return. They hadn’t expected it to take as long as it had.  

“It has likely only been a day or so more since then. You did not sleep for long.”  

With how deep in oceans Atlantis was, things like day and night did not exist in the same way, but most of Atlantis’ citizens needed sleep almost as much as mortals, and it was pertinent for he and the other immortals to know if it was day or night where on the surface.  

He was so used to just knowing what time and day it was, but the audacity of these golden chains knew no bounds, and even that information was lost to him.  

But mortals typically slept for less than 12 hours, and with nightmares Perseus must have slept for less than that.  

It could not be more than a day that they had been captives.  

Certainly, no more than two...  

“What are you trying to do?”  

“Pick the lock, why?”  

“You know how to pick locks?”  

Perseus narrowed his eyes at him.  

“...No?”  

“These chains are enchanted; they likely cannot be tampered with.”  

“But on the other hand, they might not be enchanted against something as mundane and mortal as a paperclip.”  

“Is it working?”  

“No but it gives me something to do.”  

He understood. Children of the sea struggled with confinement, he was certain Perseus was feeling the same itching under his skin, the same bubbling pressure that came with being restrained, building and building.  

Thousands of years and he still did not know how to manage that feeling.  

Chapter Text

“No.”  

It was everything Amphitrite had in her not to crush the ransom note in her hands.   

“My love?”  

“It’s Ione, she took them. She took Triton and Perseus!”  

Ione, her once beloved older sister.  

Amphitrite had not so much as thought of her sister in years.   

Peaceful moments were hand to come by, so Amphitrite cherished every one she got.   

Peace was something she had earned.   

Only a few weeks ago she had brought her first child into the world, her beloved Triton. One day he would be a brave leader, a courageous prince, perhaps an older brother, but for now, he was a squirming happy little mer-boy, playing in his aunties arms.  

Her husband was leant against a wall to her side, pretending the scroll in his hand wasn’t at all work related . As if he could fool her. Ha.  

She had been advised to rest for the first few weeks, to look after herself and recover. She wasn’t sure she still needed to, she felt more than recovered enough to take on most of her duties and look after her son, but Poseidon, her beloved worrywart, was insisting she followed the healer's advice. Even if it meant he was taking on her duties as well as his own, taxing his strength and monopolising his time.  

Her sister Ione had offered to lend a hand.  

She'd never been so glad. Having a child had not been as simple as her little mer jumping out of her hair or some such nonsense. No, she’d done it the hard way, and her body was taking its time to recover.  

It was not as if she was totally bedridden, nor as though she could not work from her bed or desk.  

Despite her husband's worry, she had managed the journey from bed to reclining chair with ease. She was growing stronger every day, as was the precious bundle in her sister’s arms.  

“Love, if it’s important just...”  

“No, I promised I would find time to spend with the two of you, it can wait half an hour.”  

“Then put it away and eat something, I know you skipped breakfast, Doria told me.”  

He pressed a kiss to her forehead and grabbed something from the table.  

She wasn’t sure what, she was mostly focusing on her little guppy giggling and playing and trying to swim.  

The sea around them turned cold.  

Poseidon fell to his knees, gasping like he couldn’t breathe, and she shot upwards, only to have a wave of dizziness pull her back into the chair.  

“Io, give me Triton and go get help. Io.”  

“When there were rumours the sea king was looking for a bride, I was so excited, I thought it was my time to become sea queen. I was prepared to become queen for all of us, but he chose you instead.”  

Her husband fell forwards to the floor, rasping even more evident. The world spun, she couldn’t bring herself upright, but Ione stood unaffected before her, holding Triton oh so gently.  

“Ione, what?”  

“And then you gave him an heir, you destroyed any chance I had.”  

“Ione, please, get help.”  

“Help, no sister, if I am to become the queen the oceans truly deserve, if I am to get the crown I deserve, both your husband and this whelp need to be out of the picture.”  

If it had been anyone else, it would have dawned on her much sooner what was happening. One of Ione’s many gifts was seasickness, and she was using it.  

She was attacking them.  

She was betraying them. Betraying her.  

And she had her precious child in her arms, the perfect shield.  

Ione knew she and Poseidon were both talented enough warriors to fight even afflicted with dizziness, or whatever she had done to Amphitrite’s husband, and skilled enough to land a blow, on an arm or her legs if not her heart or throat.  

But not if it put their son at risk.  

“The crown will be mine, Amphi, you can rule by my side or die with them.”  

She could see three of her sister, dancing in her swaying vision, and she could see the distress dawning on her baby’s face as Ione held too tight, as she drew a...  

Amphitrite's rage exploded, and the ocean reacted to the scream of it’s queen.  

Ione was flung backwards into the wall; ichor clouding the water around her head. Triton was ripped from her arms and pulled into Amphitrite’s own.   

The dagger Ione had pulled from her belt sunk harmlessly to the floor.  

With her sister’s focus broken, the dizziness cleared, and Amphitrite flung out an arm, her daggers impaling the wall where Ione had crashed into it.  

Her sister had already moved, fleeing out of the window.  

For less than a second, the boiling in her ichor demanded she pursue.   

A little fin kicked her hip, a chubby hand grabbed at her hair, and a perfect face smiled up at her and the rage to destroy what had dared to threaten her child felt all consuming.  

Poseidon's weak rasping breaths cut through it all.  

She screamed for the guards and healers as she dove to his side, nauseated by the pallor of his face and the blue to his lips, the haze over his eyes.  

She remembered little after that. Informing them that Ione had been their attacker, the healers crowding her husband, and a sudden blinding pain in her stomach.  

She awoke in the healing halls, her husband’s bed next to hers, and Triton in her arms.  

Ione had vanished, the single ichor trail they had found had ended with one of Amphitrite’s own knives and Ione’s pendant.  

They had assumed Ione dead.  

They had assumed in the protection of her family and her kingdom, Amphitrite had struck true, and they had assumed that there would be no way back for Ione.  

They had assumed too much.  

Ione had not hesitated in her plan to usurp her husband once, no hesitation to hurt her family.  

Now Ione had two of her children.  

"Ione?”  

She handed the letter over to her husband, her desire for the crown written out in full, along with the lengths she’d be willing to go through to get it.  

A crack ripped up one of the walls, an anticyclone gathered in the Bering Sea.  

“Where might she be? Amphitrite, where might she have them?”  

“I don’t know, I've barely thought of my sister since she, oh let me remember, betrayed the kingdom, my family and my trust.”  

“You knew her once. She's your sister.”  

“No, she’s a power mad Seawitch who’s goals include enslaving the seas and running our kingdom into the ground. And my children are in her hands!”  

“Our children, Amphitrite!”  

He swam forwards and clasped her hands in his.  

“I know this burns your soul as it does mine, but we have to use anything we can to find them. You reject her now, but you did know her once, and anything that might help us bring them home...”  

She pressed her forehead into her husbands and took a deep breath. Then another.  

He was right.  

“Well, she’s not in the kingdom limits, that we know, banishments are binding, and most regions followed Atlantis’ lead. She has to be in open ocean, between kingdoms, likely close to Atlantis. We need to draw together a map and start searching.”  

.  

Perseus flipped the pen between his fingers a few times before Triton actually registered it.  

“You have had Anaklusmos on you this whole time?"  

“Please, please explain to me what a sword is going to do to help right now.”  

“I... uhh, yeah ok, that’s fair.”  

“It came back to me a while ago. Always does.”  

“Probably better to keep it hidden until the time is right.”  

He didn’t want to know whether Perseus was even capable of fighting after several days without food and water.  

“Magic swords, ha, if I could go back and explain this to baby me, ah, better than anything I could have imagined or wanted.”  

“You really had no idea about any of this before your first quest?”  

“None, I mean in hindsight there were signs, but I had no idea.”  

“But you wanted to be a hero?”  

“Oh no! I wanted to be normal. I wouldn’t trade the life I've lived or the people I've met for anything, but damn, some days... normal kids don’t get kidnapped trying to see their dads you know. I'm never going to escape this.”  

“Probably not.”  

“I could move to Alaska, would at least keep the quests away. Or make it very annoying and inconvenient for anyone trying to get me on quests, either one would be fine.”  

“No!”  

“No it wouldn’t stop the quests or no don’t move to Alaska?”  

“Both. But do not go to Alaska, we cannot protect you there.”  

“Because you can protect me here?”  

If they weren’t chained in some godsforsaken cave he might have been offended.  

Unfortunately, he really could see his brother’s point. Atlantis had been helpless when he had been kidnapped by Hera, they had been oblivious when he had fought the war against the Titans, and he had failed to protect them from this ambush.   

What reason did Perseus have to believe he was any safer with them than on his own in Alaska?  

“I thought you and the Athena girl were making plans?”  

“Annabeth, yeah. Whatever we do next, we’re doing together. I'm sure Alaska has a college with a good architecture program though.”  

That had not quite been his point. In fact, that was the last thing he wanted.  

Perseus alone and beyond their help with one of Athena’s children.  

He could not let history repeat itself, he could not be too late again.  

Ichor on his hands and pained wheezes and worthless apologies and the healers where were the healers...  

“Of course I have to graduate high school first, and you know, get out of this cave."  

“Yes,” he pulled himself together, “staying here would probably hinder your plans a little.”  

“Annabeth would be very annoyed if I vanished off the face of the earth a second time.”  

“I would too, if not for the fact that I'm here with you this time. When we get free, you will need to lead the way?”  

“Why?”  

“She sent you from this place once.”  

“She turned me into water for the journey, or something I don’t know, it felt terrible. I only remember what I did within city limits, and I was a ghost for most of that.”  

Perseus shuddered, and he wondered how unpleasant the experience had been to cause such a reaction. He had reacted similarly the last time he had mentioned it.  

“That is inconvenient.”  

There was a small click, and the chain dropped from Perseus’ neck.  

“Hehe, thank you Stolls.”  

“You... you just?”  

“Give me a second for my legs to wake up and I'll do yours. It's easier when you can see what you’re doing.”  

“A paperclip. You opened enchanted godly chains with a paperclip.”  

“I knew a guy who broke into a high security building with a ballpoint pen, like a regular pen, you’ve be amazed what people overlook.”  

Something popped as Perseus stood, and he had to cling to the cave wall for a second before taking the few steps over to Triton.  

He didn’t know how long they’d been here, but it was long enough that dehydration was taking an effect.   

“What the hell kind of mess of chains is this?”  

“You may not be able to undo it as easily.”  

“You want me to leave you t-posing for all eternity or do you want to help.”  

“I am serious. These are designed to hold a god. You should escape and get help, before she notices you’re free.”  

“I’m not leaving you here.”  

“If you cannot break the chains you may have to.”  

“The chains are threaded through loops attached to the cuffs on your wrists then wrapped around your arms a bunch, I can do the wrists but I don’t know if there will be enough slack to untangle you, they’re pretty tight.”  

Neither of them had yet addressed the biggest issue.  

With his tails, he was just over 8ft tall, and his arms were out above his head.   

Perseus was only about 6ft tall.  

There was no way for his brother to reach his wrists.  

“Perseus.”  

“Let me think.”  

“Percy. You have to leave.”  

“What do we have here? An escape attempt, how interesting.”  

Chapter Text

Perseus spun to face her, guard up, but she made no move to grab him.  

“You should bow to me boy. After all, soon I will be queen.”  

“You should know I have issues with authority.”  

Something struck her right in the eye and Triton was baffled to realise it was a paperclip.  

A whole paperclip, not the twisted one his brother had used to free himself.  

“I will deliver your broken body to Atlantis myself, you insolent...”  

Another paperclip bounced off her forehead.  

His brother was clearly delirious with dehydration.  

And he was going to die.  

There was nothing he could do.  

Anaklusmos appeared in his brother’s hand, glowing faintly.  

Perseus’s face was hardened with anger.  

Several streams of water flew towards Perseus, who batted them aside and charged forwards, only to stumble and fall clutching his head.  

“You can’t fight me child. I am a daughter of the Ancient Oceans, you cannot face me.”  

He yanked at his chains harder than before, desperate to be able to do something, anything, as she stalked towards his brother.  

Spiderweb cracks snaked out from where his chains attached to the ceiling. Where the streams of water had been redirected.  

Ignoring the way the chains bit into his skin he pulled harder.  

He had to get free.  

She was cupping Percy’s face now, tilting it up by his chin.  

“I wasn’t planning on sending your broken body back to Atlantis until tomorrow, but you had to be a pest, didn’t you.”  

The cracks widened, but he couldn’t get free, he couldn’t...  

Percy sliced upwards with Anaklusmos, and the motion broke her spell.  

Ichor and seawater dripped to the floor where the sword made contact, their aunt screamed with pain and rage.  

He struggled utterly helpless as his brother dodged attacks and landed several strikes. Unfortunately, his brother was forced backwards, until he was practically against Triton’s tail.  

In an ideal world he’d bring his brother behind him and strike true.  

Anaklusmos went flying from Percy’s hands, and her hand clasped around his throat, lifting him from the ground.  

Choked sounds escaped his brother as he clawed at the hands around his throat, his thrashing legs kicked into air, catching against his tail and her legs with minimal effect.  

The kicks slowed, the gasping quietened, and Triton felt the force of a thousand hurricanes restrained by the chains alone. His fangs were bared, he’d rip out her throat if she was foolish enough to come even a step closer.  

“Don’t worry, Triton dear, he won’t die just yet. I'll let them find him alive, after all, it’ll be all the more tragic if the bomb goes off so soon after the poor prince is found barely alive, so soon after getting him back. His presence is all it needs to break the spirit of Atlantis.”  

He had wondered why the palace. He'd assumed it symbolic.  

But she was right, if Perseus was found wounded, he’d be brought home, and his care would come to him. For security reasons he’d stay in the royal wing, in his own bed, and the healers would come to them. Mother and Father would stay close to him, Tyson would rush to him, Kym and Rhode would rush to him, and they’d all be vulnerable to the attack.  

She was evil.  

She didn’t just want power, she wanted to tear their family apart to do it, she wanted to...  

Ione choked, and stumbled back, releasing her hold on Percy.  

He collapsed into a crumpled heap in front of Triton, each rasping ragged breath was a stab to Triton’s chest.  

His brother's fist was clenched.  

“How are you doing this?”  

“You think... I crawled my way through hell... without learning... a few things!”  

She twitched like she was trying to move, like she couldn’t move. He had no idea how Perseus was managing it, especially barely conscious as he was, but he wasn’t going to question it now.  

The entire cave trembled, and Triton finally, finally, yanked his chains free of the cavern ceiling.  

He almost screamed as his weight shifted onto one arm, wrenching his shoulders and dragging his already itching tail across the cavern floor.  

He didn’t scream, he whipped the chains forwards instead, the lump of rock attached to golden chains going flying over his brother’s head towards his aunt.  

It didn’t have the power or aim he would have liked, but the crack of her arm was satisfying.  

In the corner of his eye, Perseus slumped limp, fist going lax.  

Ione relaxed with him, rolling her shoulders and smiling.  

“Well, that was a cute attempt from you both, but it’s time to deal with my sister and brother in law.”  

She stalked towards Percy, and he lashed out with the chain again, his power screaming to be released from the chains.  

She batted it aside and turned her glare on him.  

Immediately his stomach turned, his vision blurred, it felt like someone had stuffed sponges in his head. the cavern was spinning and he couldn’t shake it off, he couldn’t pull himself together, he couldn’t even keep himself sitting upright.  

Despite all of this, he could see the swirling bubbling glow.  

She was going to take Percy and leave him here.  

She was going to strike the heart of Atlantis.  

The cavern shook again, much more violently, there was a whistling sound, a cry, a figure in the entranceway...  

Father.  

They'd been found, they’d been found.  

Atlantis had found them.  

He pressed his eyes together against the fuzz, and when he opened them again father was knelt besides Perseus, worry painted on his face, and it was mother who stood against Ione.  

It had been a long time since she had reminded people why she was Queen of the Ocean, and what that entailed.  

Even in this enclosed space, power swirled around her, and no move Ione made could match her.  

It was a sight to behold, Ione leant against the wall, bleeding seawater and ichor, powers failing and fear growing as she looked upon his mother, surrounded by a whirlwind of water, hair whipping in wind generated by her own power, glowing with trident in hand.  

His mother outmatched her sister in every way.  

The fight was over in mere seconds, far faster than he could process.  

And then she was before him, cupping his face and asking him to respond, easing the fuzziness with nothing but a touch.  

“Perseus?”  

“Your father has him, he’s alive, he’ll be ok. I need to know if you’re ok?”  

“I am... well enough.”  

She began untwisting the chains around his arms, wincing at the deep wounds and dripping ichor equally wrapped around his arms and across his shoulders, before moving onto the left cuff.  

Behind her, father and Percy vanished.  

“Wait!”  

“They’ve just gone back to Atlantis, to get your brother medical help, he’ll be fine.”  

It wouldn't be fine.

“It’s a trap. Ione planted a bomb in his room, it’s a trap.”  

Her fingers crunched through the metal around his right wrist, and his power flooded back to him, free once more.  

He did not bother to take one last look around this dismal cave, they were dissolving into bubbles and light before he’d finished his sentence.  

Perseus’ room was bright, marble walls and teal accents, open plan and well lit, the lights of the city out the windows and balcony, curtains still pulled open. A messy desk, a wardrobe with the door open and his crown hanging off of said open door, pictures of his friends and family everywhere.  

The healer was beside the bed, Perseus had been laid on top of the covers, father by his side, but where was the bomb.  

He felt it before he saw it, the flash of light, the wall of bubbles ripping out.  

Had they been unaware, it would have been catastrophic.  

They were not unaware.  

The water hardened solid between them and it, and the force reflected backwards.  

The wall behind it shattered outwards, spraying marble and brick out into the open sea.  

He lowered his hands, mother doing the same almost in tandem beside him, as father reacted in horror and the healer continued to shield Perseus with his own body.  

“What was that!”  

“One last gift from our aunt.”  

.  

Triton examined the scars on his arms. They were faint, but still visible, despite the healers best efforts.  

They were almost pretty, the way they spiralled around. They reminded him of the kelp fronds his friend Captain Noami had wrapping around her left arm, just without the blades or pnematocysts.  

The healers had fussed for longer than he’d have liked, but their focus had been his brother. Simple exposure to seawater had removed the bruising from his throat along with his battle wounds, and a little ambrosia had done the rest. Percy had slept for a day, but once he’d awoken, he’d been fine. Despite the healers' best efforts, he too hard light scars where his cuffs had been, an unfortunate result of the enchanted chains.  

Insisting he’d worried his mother enough already, he’d run off to the surface only a few hours after he’d awoken, and then ditched his guards and run to camp a few hours after.  

Triton didn’t mind.  

If ditching his bodyguards to spend time with his friends was how he wished to spend his 17 th birthday, then so be it.  

“We have postponed the celebrations until your brother is well enough to return. The people understand.”  

Mother and Father were a little more annoyed by his absconding the second he had the chance.  

“I believe we should remove Perseus from the guest list.”  

“You said you were getting on better.”  

His mother’s tone was more disappointed than he had expected.  

“We are, and we talked. He does not wish to come. I think we should respect that.”  

“Why wouldn’t he want to come?”  

“He is struggling with what he has been through, as should be expected in a warrior any age, let alone as young as he. He is worried about the large social gathering with the focus on the battles, that they will expect tales of heroics he is not yet ready to speak of. To that point, I think we need to find trauma specialists for him and the other children.”  

“They haven’t been seeing anyone?”  

“There is no one.”  

“It’s been a year and they’ve had no support. And the second war only a month ago...”  

“I believe they have leant upon one another, that is the gist of what he has said. It is why they planned to spend the anniversary together, because they had all been there together.”  

“We will have to fix that.”  

“Indeed we will.”