Hope you enjoy the chapter!
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I opened my eyes to water.
It was clean, strikingly so. My awareness slowly spread and I realized that I was in a bubble of clean.
The water around it was filthy, filled with trash and pollution.
I blinked slowly.
Where-
A figure moved in front of me.
They looked like Tethys-ran, but their tail was different, darker. And they felt... more soothing.
They smiled and pulled away, a medicine pouch in hand.
My body still burned, but it was fading. The pain aching and throbbing but not something that made me feel shattered.
The figure vanished.
I stared around in confusion, slowly sitting up.
Where?
My hand hit something in the mud beside me and I turned to find my knife in the mud beside me.
It must've fallen from my hand when I fell.
I scooped it up and slipped it back into its sheath.
The knife hadn't been any help. Those enemies were too large, too deadly. The Khimaira was far more dangerous than the Minotaur (which was saying something cause the Minotaur was hugely dangerous). Ekhidna was even worse.
The only way she'd been killed was in her sleep.
I hadn't stood a chance.
My leg was still throbbing, drawing my attention.
I looked down, afraid of what I might see.
There was a treated seaweed wrap around my leg. I could just see the edges of an ointment spread above where the seaweed went.
My leg was throbbing, but it wasn't as bad as before.
I relaxed. It seemed like the figure from before was here to heal me. Did Tethys-ran send them?
I shifted and winced as my leg flashed with pain. I should probably stay in the water until it felt better... a lot better.
They must've been sent by Tethys-ran. It would explain why my bubble of purity felt like her, curling currents and cleanliness.
She heard me.
She saved me.
Or well, she sent someone to save me.
She made the bubble of purity and sent a healer and...
She listened to me.
"Havu," I whispered to the water. "Havua."
There was no answer but I knew she must've heard.
She heard my prayer after all.
I stared out at the water and my gaze was drawn to the curled vine peaking through the mud.
I bent and gently tugged out the curl of vine, a single trumpet flower still on it.
I must've pulled it down with me when I fell.
I smiled, this little vine probably saved my life. I slipped it into my pocket.
I carefully moved my leg again, the pain was fading. The burning was still there, faint but present, but it was fading.
I waited.
The river around me was still filthy, but any trash that drifted into my bubble of purity was cleansed.
Fump-fump-fump . A riverboat's paddlewheel churned above me, swirling the silt around.
I straightened as through the swirling silt I noticed another presence.
A new sensation brushed over me, too faint to identify.
Stand tall Persi-aia, rav rik otomai, your Metua believes in you.
I looked out, the drifting figure was almost invisible in the silt and seemed to be constantly shifting. The words seemed to come from everywhere, rippling through the water like a dolphin sonar.
"Where are you?" I called.
I felt her presence strengthen before I saw her clearly, a ghostly woman in the filthy water, away from my bubble of purity. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were a striking sea green; the only thing visible in color.
I swallowed, her face, her hair, it all... it all resembled my mom.
It was like she was my mom's clone, except the eyes, they didn't change like my mom's.
Hello child, I am Dynamene, Nereid of the sea's power. I bear a message from your Father.
"What is the message, Dynamene-paru?" Why did He have a message for me? He'd never spoken to me before...
Go to the beach in Santa Monica. It is your Father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, Persi-aia, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence.
I swallowed, why did my dad want me there?
"Havu rao tahouk sa'ta ert papaira." I said, thanking her for passing along the message. My fingers automatically twisted into a motion of thanks.
She reached out and despite the distance I felt a current brushing my cheek as her presence started to fade.
You... go... Santa Monica! And, Persi... not trust... gifts.
I frowned, gifts?
But she faded, her presence gone.
"What gifts?" I muttered.
She brought a message all the way from my Metua. This was the first time He'd acknowledged me other than the claiming.
I wasn't sure how I felt about it.
I moved my leg again, finding the pain only a faint twinge. The burning faded from my senses entirely.
My leg would probably not be fully recovered for a while still, but I should be good enough to function.
It's time for me to go ashore.
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I came ashore near a set of steps that led out of the water.
I saw the chaos above only a few steps out of the water.
Everything was drenched.
There were puddles all over, all the buildings were dripping water, and there were emergency vehicles all over.
There was mud, trash, and all kinds of things that were normally in rivers (not that most should be mind you) all over. And some fish.
The fact that the river was still filthy with so much dumped on the shore was rather concerning.
I looked around, taking in the scene.
There were quite a few people getting wrapped in shock blankets, and more getting bandaged up.
Firefighters were parked all around the base of the arch and there were news helicopters above it. Reporters were swarming the ground.
What... what happened.
I remembered falling. I shouldn't have ended up in the river with that fall, the arch was too far from the river. Yet someone I did .
I tried to remember what happened, but it was all black.
Did I do that? Did Tethys-ran?
...
The remains of destruction reminded me of what I'd seen in Avatar, when Katara rode a wave across the crystal caverns.
Was this like that? Did I cause a wave? Did someone else?
Ugh, I couldn't remember anything other than pain. I had no idea how I reached the water but it was a good thing I did.
I slipped up the rest of the stairs and snuck around the people. I realized belatedly that my (Grover's) hat fell off at some point and made sure to keep my head down.
As I slipped behind a cameraman I heard the news lady talking.
"It's been noted that it's probably not a terrorist attack, but it's still very early in the investigation. As you can see, the damage is very serious. There's a strange growth of some kind of flowering vine all over the arch and it's still growing."
Oops.
"On top of that, there was a freak tsunami from the river. There's also been some reports of someone falling from the Arch, but they were lost in the chaos of the wave arriving."
So that was what happened...
I slipped back into the crowd and tried to focus on the faint taste of berries that signaled Grover's presence. Where was it...
"... an adolescent boy," a different reporter was saying as I snuck by. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy against what appears to be a... rabid moose?"
She faltered.
"There was also an old lady wielding a flame-thrower. We're still not certain how all of that got to the observation deck, but combined they somehow set off a freak explosion. The rabid moose and old lady went missing during the tsunami so please keep an eye out, citizens. We aren't sure where the water on the deck came from but some are theorizing it's from the tsunami. The vines are currently being considered a wild gardening accident."
A wild gardening accident? Land-dwellers were strange. But at least the Khimaira looked like a rabid moose, so I didn't look completely nuts up there.
"The moose should not have been on the Arch!" declared another news reporter.
"We're well past that," dismissed his partner.
I ducked my head and went back to searching for Grover.
There was a faint taste of berries and then-
"Perrrr-cy!" Grover bleated, tackling me.
I breathed in the scent of freshly cut grass and relaxed.
They were safe, I was safe, we were all alive. We also needed to leave.
"We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"
"Wouldn't it technically be the easy way?"
Annabeth huffed, standing behind Grover and trying to hide her relief, "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened? What's on your leg?"
I shook my head, "Not here, I'll tell you on the train, we need to get out of here.
"Gangway!" A cop shouted, parting the crowd. A couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher, the mom of the little boy from the observation deck.
She was babbling, "And then the chihuahua, cause it was a chihuahua, it wasn't anymore, and it turned into a fire breathing moose, and it set everything on fire and- and-"
"Okay ma'am," the paramedic soothed. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."
"I'm not crazy! The boy got kicked out the hole by the moose, and all the vines, the crazy lady was laughing and-" She saw me. "There he is! That's the boy!"
I yanked Annabeth and Grover away, ducking my head again.
I never had a problem with my blue hair before, but I was beginning to think it made me too recognizable.
Just a little mind you.
"What's going on?" Annabeth hissed. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
I shook my head, "To the train first. I'll tell you everything once we get away."
They both reluctantly nodded as we passed another reporter.
"Perseus Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who was fighting the rabid moose and may have had a hand in the explosion, and freak gardening incident, fits the description of a missing person who is wanted for questioning both for his and his mother's disappearances, and for a serious incident in New Jersey with a bus three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Perseus Jackson."
We ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.
"First things first," I said. "We've got to get out of town."
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We made it back to the Amtrak, with a bag of "Monster Donuts" from a store near the station (and the place smelled acidic, but the others didn't notice and since nothing bad happened and the donuts didn't have any sensations I ignored it).
Annabeth also stopped in a store on the way and bought a silk scarf. It was a plain black, with a constellation pattern on it.
We settled into our seats and Annabeth turned to me. "We need to hide your hair."
I nodded, it was too obvious. I loved it, but I couldn't risk people recognizing me. As it was it was a miracle no one had yet.
Annabeth leaned over to cover my hair with the scarf.
"I'm gonna do this like I do my basic veils," she said.
She laid it on top of my head then crossed the ends at the base of my scalp. Then she tied it and twisted it.
"You'll have to do this yourself some time so pay attention," she added.
She pinned it as a bun at the base of my scalp, using my (apparently magic) coral hair pin from Triton.
She nodded, "It covers your hair just fine. Just don't let it slip, people will be looking for your hair. There's also another style you can do with just one pin, but there's way more for two or more pins."
"Havu- er, thanks."
"So, are you going to tell us what happened now?"
I took a deep breath, then started talking.
I told them how the chihuahua turned into a Chimera. Then how Echidna revealed her identity and told me she was sent by Zeus to kill me. I explained how I got bit when I was trying to fight both of them and then how I used the seed gift from the Demeter cabin.
I then had to explain what the gift was and why I got it and how it worked since I forgot to tell them about the gifts. It was a good thing I'd grabbed those seeds, they were the least dangerous of the three.
I told them how I fell and must've called water to catch me (or it was Tethys-ran, but I didn't say that or how she sent someone to heal me). I finished by telling them about the nereid that appeared, sending me to Santa Monica at my Metuano command.
"Wow, we've gotta get to Santa Monica," Grover said. "We can't ignore a summons from your dad."
I nodded reluctantly. I didn't know if I wanted to do as my Metua said, but it could be important. Plus Triton would want me to.
We nibbled on the donuts and settled down to wait for our final stop.
It was probably a good thing that we didn't get tickets for the whole route, at this rate that would end in us getting found.
I looked out the window as the train started moving and watched as the St. Louis skyline that glittered with emergency lights faded behind us.
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Triton POV
I hadn't been this angry since... since Pallas- Pallas died.
Mevu stopped me from going to Persi, from healing him. She banned me from leaving the palace even.
I'd been lectured for letting my loyalty get the best of me and reminded of my duty to my subjects. Going to Persi now would incite war.
Metu wasn't happy with the situation either, not once he realized that Persi was dying (which he'd noticed a few minutes after me).
Persi was dying and I was kept away from him.
I didn't know how he recovered, but I was relieved. I'd need to update the pin and his matching charm to give me more detailed information on his health. I'd need to get him something to counter venom as well.
Mevu forced me to sit though, reminding me of the war and assuring me that he was healing already.
I knew that he was healing but I didn't know how . Mevu said she didn't send anyone and yet- and yet-
And yet he almost died and I was here .
I was here and he could've died.
I could've lost him.
I couldn't- I could lose my brother.
He was so young, so small. I had so much left to teach him, so much to do-
Mevu stopped me from reaching him, from ensuring his safety. She stopped me from making sure he knew I was there for him.
He was alone and dying and she stopped me from going to him.
I was furious.
I was afraid for him
Wasn't the whole point to prove to the sea that he was an Aipri of Atlantis? And yet she stopped me.
I was swimming in circles.
My brother was clearly in danger more than I'd dared to imagine.
I couldn't let this continue on, except Mevu wouldn't let me leave.
I scowled, there were paths out but my disappearance would be noted. Even only sending a piece of myself to Persi would catch their attention.
I didn't have time for this.
I needed some way to keep him safe from afar, even with others stopping me from helping him. He was a child, skilled but young. Children weren't supposed to be doing these quests.
Why would the land send him off like this?
Camp Tetomoa of Atlantis, Camp Poihonu of Okeanus' trench, even Camp Papuore of Duberdicus' kingdom wouldn't let anyone take quests until at least sixteen. Camp Poihonu didn't allow it until seventeen!
Why did the Camp Half-Blood let a twelve-year-old do it!?
I paused.
The sea camps... maybe...
Maybe I could assign a quest.
Hmm...
That was an idea.
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Tethys POV
"Ta tal omasar, Mevani."
I flicked around, smiling at my motuvo, Galene, "How is he?"
She smiled and settled on one of the tepatehe.
"I reached him in time, but it was very close. The purity you put around him gave him the time I needed to reach him and allowed me to stay in the water without too much trouble. It was so gross."
"Good, will he heal fully?"
That was my greatest worry, the gagmure ophi was long extinct... except in the Khimaira's tail.
Galene was one of the few that still knew how to treat it, but it wasn't uncommon to have to amputate the limb bitten.
"He should. He is a strong child and his own healing skills, at least in regards to self-healing, are rather strong. He might want to consider healing lessons at some point, though he seems inclined towards purifying magic from what I could sense."
I nodded, "Okeanus did tell me that he's already able to feel the presence of power and magic around him."
She blinked, "Strange, he's young for that."
I hummed, "So he will be okay?"
"Not to worry Mevani," she pulled up and flicked to my side, kissing my cheek. "My future tonton is just fine."
I smiled, ' Please' he'd prayed, calling for me .
"Good."
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Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review, they feed my soul.
Persi is being used instead of Percy because in Halmaheran there is no Letter 'C'. So for those in the sea they refer to him as Persi. There is also no letter 'J' so Percy Jackson will become Persi Yakson.
Oh yeah, and since there was some confusion, I should clarify. The Titans have two (main) spellings used for their names. The proper phonetic spelling, and the late period Roman spelling. I'm using the K versions (phonetic spelling), so Kronos (vs. Cronus), Koios (vs. Coeus), and Krios (vs. Crius). Just so everyone knows.
What did you think of him healing? What did you think of the mist? How do you think the meeting with Ares (next chapter) will go?
Thanks again for reading <3
Halmaheran
Persi=Percy
Havu=Thank you
Havua=Thank you a lot
rav rik otomai=Do not despair
Metua=Father
Havu rao tahouk sa'ta ert papaira=Thank you for giving me the message
Metuano=Father's
Metu=Dad
Mevu=Mom
Aipri=Prince
Mevani=Grandmother
Tonton=Uncle
Suffixes
ran=old queen
aia=prince
paru=messenger
Terminology
Khimaira=phonetic spelling of Chimera
Ekhidna=phonetic spelling of Echidna
Camp Tetomoa=The undersea camp of Atlantis for training
Camp Poihonu=The undersea camp of Okeanus' territory for training
Camp Papuore=The undersea camp of Duberdicus' kingdom for training
Duberdicus=The God of fountains, lakes, and oceans in Lusitanian mythology (which has very little info unfortunately)
gagmure ophi=snake I made up after many hours of research
Veiling is a tradition in Ancient Greece for women, magic users, and healers (primarily but not exclusively). It has different purposes for the different people but the main purpose is keeping out miasma, which naturally gathers around everyone but especially women. More feminine men may also wear it, or just because they want to, and more masculine women might not (Athena is markedly never shown wearing a veil while Apollo markedly is shown wearing a veil).
For magic users the purpose is more to protect them from outside influences, the veil shields them. For healers, again miasma. They're healing people so being covered in miasma is bad. There are also ways of cleansing miasma which would be done before conversing with the Gods so that you wouldn't bring uncleanliness before Them.