𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

Poseidon's Fishy Palace

"No, idiot."

My eyes refocused. I was looking at a horrible creature—a misshapen face, curly brown hair, one brown eye, one icy blue eye. 

"Grayson?" 

My roommate broke into a toothy grin. "Yay! Your brain works!"

I wasn't so sure. My body felt weightless and cold. My voice sounded wrong. I could hear Grayson, but it was more like I was hearing vibrations inside my skull, not regular sounds. 

I sat up, and a gossamer sheet floated away. I was on a bed made of silky woven kelp, in a room panelled with abalone shells. Glowing pearls the size of basketballs floated around the ceiling, providing light. I was underwater. 

Now, dating the son of Poseidon and all, I was used to this. I was no stranger to breathing underwater with a bubble of air. But it was still a bit of a shock when a hammer headshark drifted through the bedroom window, regarded me, and then swam calmly out the opposite side of the room. 

"Where—" 

"Daddy's palace," Tyson said as he and Percy entered the room.

"Y/n," Percy breathed out, swimming over to me. "I'm so glad you woke up. I was worried the air bubble wouldn't work."

I hugged him. "I'm fine, Seaweed Brain."

Suddenly, I went limp in pain.  My head hurt. My shirt was still speckled with burn marks from the explosion, and my arm and leg wounds ached more than ever. I felt like I'd been trampled by a Laistrygonian soccer team in cleats.

"Y/n/n." Percy caught me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded warily. "Mhm. How long—"

"We found you last night," Tyson said, "sinking through the water." 

"The Princess Andromeda?"

"Went ka-boom," Tyson confirmed.

"Beckendorf was on board," Grayson panicked. "Did you find . . ." 

Tyson's face darkened. "No sign of him. I am sorry, Gray." 

I stared out the window into the deep blue water. Beckendorf was supposed to go to college in the fall. He had a girlfriend, lots of friends, and his whole life ahead of him. He couldn't be gone. Maybe he'd made it off the ship as I had. Perhaps he'd jumped over the side . . . and what? He couldn't have survived a hundred-foot fall into the water. He couldn't have put enough distance between himself and the explosion.

I knew in my gut he was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to take out the Princess Andromeda, and I had abandoned him. 

I thought about my dream: the Titans discussing the explosion as if it didn't matter, my mother warning me that I would never beat Kronos without following controlling my powers—a dangerous idea I'd been avoiding for more than a year. 

A distant blast shook the room. Green light blazed outside, turning the entire sea as bright as noon. 

"What was that?" Percy asked. 

Tyson looked worried. "Daddy will explain. Come, he is blowing up monsters."

"Oh, goody," I said sarcastically.

The palace might have been the most fantastic place I'd ever seen if it hadn't been in the process of getting destroyed. We swam to the end of a long hallway and shot upward on a geyser. As we rose over the rooftops, I caught my breath—well, if you can catch your breath underwater. 

The palace was as big as the city on Mount Olympus, with wide courtyards, gardens, and columned pavilions. The gardens were sculpted with coral colonies and glowing sea plants. Twenty or thirty buildings were made of abalone, white but gleaming with rainbow colours. Fish and octopuses darted in and out of the windows. The paths were lined with glowing pearls like Christmas lights.