Aquagirl (Fem. Percy x YJ)

64

My fingers wrapped around Riptide as I walked through the dark halls of the Cave. A soft light lit the kitchen and I peered around the door. Father stood there with Mother wrapped in a tight embrace.

"I do not know what to do," she said, her voice making it obvious she was crying. "I don't know what to do."

"I do not know either. If what our king said is true, Kaldur will be executed."

Mother sobbed and Father tightened his grip on her. He kissed her forehead before resting his head against hers. Taking the opportunity, I quietly walked to the fridge. I opened it, and the sound gave away my prescence.

"Percy, what are you doing up?" Father asked. I pulled out a water bottle and opened it. I took a sip. Turning, I found myself running into him; I stumbled backward. He steadied me. "You need to sleep."

I shook my head. I didn't want to. I didn't want to have Kaldur torture me again and again. I didn't want to wake up and find out all of this was a dream.

"Perseus," Father said. I took another step back, expecting him to hit me. He frowned, which only made that expectation worse. "Do you want us to sleep in your room with you, princess? Would that help you sleep?"

I nodded, more from the lingering fear than anything else.

"Do you want a turtleback ride?"

I shook my head and walked towards my room. Despite knowing it was my parents following after me, I found myself wrapping my hand around Riptide once again. Once in my room, I placed the bottle of water on the nightstand and curled up on the floor.

"Percy, how about you sleep on the bed?" Mother said.

I shook my head. "Not supposed to." I mumbled.

"And why not?"

I shook my head again. Next thing I knew, I was placed on my bed. The soft mattress felt foreign, even though I've tried to sleep on it before. Mother laid next to me, and Father laid on my other side.

Father brushed hair away from my face. I pulled away. He sighed before kissing my forehead. "You are safe here. We will not let anyone hurt you. Okay? We will not let anyone harm you. I will not let anyone harm you. You are my daughter, and I will protect you as much as I can."

I wanted to believe him, I really did.

His hands grabbed mine and he drew them up to his gills. "I am not lying to you. I do not wish for harm to come to you, my little princess."

"Please trust us, my child." Mother said. "I do not know what happened, what Kaldur did to you, but you need to believe that we will not harm you." She went silent. "I want you to come home. I want you where we can keep you safe. Your father has given me his word that if you return undersea, he will make sure you will not come to harm."

I frowned. I don't want to be treated like I'm helpless. I can still take care of myself. I'm still capable of fighting back. Though if I fight back, I don't know what that would look like. But at the same time, I wanted that. I wanted to feel safe, to be protected.

"Percy, please." Mother's voice was now a whisper. "I do not want to lose both of my children."

I swallowed. "I- I do not know if I would be able to."

"Why?"

My eyes flicked to my hands, still resting over Father's gills. "Kaldur bound my gills and tossed me into water." I shuddered and involuntarily heaved, as if trying to force water from my lungs. Father rubbed my back, trying to sooth me.

"If it would make you feel safer, we could request an amulet for you. We could tell your friends your hills were damaged as well, they would never need to know the full truth."

"I could make myself an amulet. Besides, I have already told Tula some of the truth."

"And what truth is that?" Father asked.

"That you are not my true father. That my biological father is the reason I was targeted. The rest of the Team knows my true heritage, so I feel as though my friends should know as well."

"Percy, are you sure of that? Earthers do not have any obligation to your father. Your teammates will not act differently because of who he is. Your friends undersea very much would. You are a princess, of whom your father is known to be very possessive of." Mother tapped her fingers against my arm.

"Do you mean protective?"

"Perhaps both fit. You know how he is with things he perceives as belonging to him, you happen to fall under that category. His only demigod child and his youngest daughter. Despite his lack of empathy, and his horrible attempts at comforting you, he very much cares about your well being." She went silent. "He wishes to visit again. He knows you are not in the best shape, so he feels as though checking in on you is his best reassurance. He said he wants to make sure you do not hurt yourself further, even though I have told him that it is not best for you to be around too many people. I do not think he realizes the effect this trauma has had on you."

"When- When is he coming?"

"Tomorrow."

Oh gods, I feel like a horrible person. But I'm done with school, I graduate this year, and I have eight more chapters to go in my actual book

(Just in case you want to read Death's Apprentice it has about 56,000 words right now. The earlier chapters are smaller about 1000-1500 words while the more recent ones are 3000.)

See yah