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Triton; the heir to the Atlantean throne and one of the most powerful gods in the sea had been sitting, slumped over in what remained of the once beautiful royal gardens. It was here that he would be receiving the vital news from the greatest of lieutenants and advisors, the god of dolphins, Delphin. Atlantis was just in it's beginning stages of recovering from their war with Oceanus and the work to rebuild the kingdom had not gotten off to a great start as it was slowed considerably by Gaia's slow but steady return. The monsters, some of whom were most regrettably Triton's siblings, would oft delay the progress of the repairs, some of what remained of the seas cohorts having to tend to the problems.
Triton thought about the two wars, they were so close to each other with no real time to gain their bearings before being tossed into an even grander situation. The problems had only complicated with his father now facing an identity crisis of magnitudes even he had not seen before.
Yet Triton knew something had happened his father's tumultuous attitude had basis and the Prince of Atlantis feared whatever could upset his father so explicitly. It was nothing good, he had been quite certain of that since the whole ordeal began several hours ago. Even with his father's mood swings and quite literal personality changes, the seas had been staying relatively stable.
It all began mere hours before.
Triton, in lieu of his father, had to give the command to many cohorts and any minor gods and goddesses he could to try with their full power to keep the ocean from destroying the world. There were murderous storms brewing above the seas; hurricanes which ravaged through the east coast and earthquakes which threatened California's already weak fault line. Triton had to beg (much to his annoyance and humiliation) to his sister Kymopoleia for her to use her power over storms to decimate the several ocean storms drowning thousands of fisherman and trade boats.
When there was finally a reprieve, Triton felt uneasy, as if they were in the eye of his father's most powerful hurricane or as if they were experiencing those short blissful few minutes before a tsunami hit and destroyed everything in its path.
The seas had always been tumultuous, especially in war time, this time however... it was something else entirely. Triton, for all his godly strength, was terrified at the thought of what could have caused his fathers ire in such a way. For even the loss of Athens hadn't ever inspired the great god of the sea to cause this much destruction and chaos.
Delphin approached hesitantly, a grim look on his face, "My Lord."
Triton hung his head, wondering what else could have possibly went wrong, he grievously hoped that he did not jinx a tsunami into existence.
"Yes, Delphin, what has happened now?" Triton asked resignedly, readying himself to have to take care of yet another problem they didn't have the capacity to handle.
"I have received word from a reliable source, one who knows what has happened to cause the seas to rage," Delphin spoke carefully.
"What is exactly this reliable source?" Triton glanced up at the commander.
"Under your father's strict instruction, we have had ichthyocentaurs following young Perseus on his voyage," Delphin began nervously.
Triton didn't breath. He didn't blink. He couldn't even twitch either of his tails nervously. He was frozen in terror at the mere thought that- no, he couldn't be- surely not.
Delphin must have seen something change in Triton's gaze because he winced before continuing, "Triton, it appears as though Perseus was attempting to save the child of Athena from falling into Tartarus-"
Delphin cut himself off immediately, knowing something in what he said was very, very wrong.
Triton still did not move, yet a singular opalescent tear fell from his right eye.
It had always been a joke amongst immortals that civilization had lived for so long that history did tend to repeat itself. Triton had always laughed when it was brought up in the past. Now, however, as he faced Delphin, Triton was brought back to a moment just like this but thousands of years ago. The thought of Pallas, his last daughter. Pallas, so young, always so trusting, and loyal to a fault. Pallas, who Triton would always remember as being covered in blood, dead by Athena's hand.
Percy was like Pallas, Triton had always seen the similarity. In fact, it was the main reason why when he had seen Percy in Atlantis last year, he practically ran away as soon as he could. He couldn't risk himself getting attached.
Percy, dead by a child of Athena. For he had to be, there was no surviving the Pit, especially not mortals.
Kind, trusting, loyal Percy, who was oh so similar to Pallas in almost every way. Percy was not immortal, neither had Pallas been. They were prone to dying- destined even without immortality -and yet their short time was cut even shorter.
And of course, it all led back to Athena. Athena who had taken Pallas' name as a reminder of her loss yet who's analytical mind could never truly feel the grief of losing someone. Athena who moved on and refused to accept why Poseidon and Triton would never forgive her.
"Perseus?" Triton asked, not able to truly form a question but it seemed Delphin knew what he was asking for anyway.
"Yes, my Lord, Perseus fell into Tartarus mere hours ago," Delphin confirmed reluctantly.
To tell the truth, as much as Triton knew about his brother, he never actually got to know his younger brother. For the many years that Triton was aware of the boys existence- he hadn't wanted to.
Then one day, Atlantis had started filling with whispers of the demigod. Great tales of his loyalty and bravery. Sea turtles swearing by his unyielding kindness for always saving them from plastic or nets. Schools of fish who heard gossip from the naiads of Percy's kind actions and friendship.
There was even word from his father directly after the ordeal with the Ophiotaurus. Poseidon had declared proudly how Percy, in his "preciousness" as Poseidon had called it, named the one creature who could kill the gods Bessie and had become her sworn protector.
By the time Triton had seen the demigod last year, Triton had indeed known much about his half-brother. None of it information that he had sought out to know in the first place, but he ended up knowing nonetheless. And without realizing, Triton had come to care about the boy who he subconsciously related to Pallas.
But now, Triton would never be able to know that boy. Perseus was ripped from Triton's clutches before the god got the chance to know his laugh, or his smile, or if his eyebrows also scrunched when he was thinking too hard.
Triton had never said a kind word to the boy and now he was gone- just like Pallas -and the sea prince knew he would regret it for the rest of his existence. Triton wondered whether he should call off the various minor sea gods that continued to battle against Poseidon/Neptune's grief. Let the world drown. Who cares?
"Why?" Triton finally spoke up again, glaring as if Delphin had personally pushed Percy in.
Delphin paused as he seemed to debate his next words, "Why what, Prince Triton?"
"Why would he fall to his death for Athena?" Triton felt his control slipping ever so slightly.
"I believe the girl's name was Annabeth, sire," Delphi added unhelpfully.
"She is of Athena, that is all we need to know. Father should have known better than to have let a child of Athena anywhere near a child of the seas," Triton bit out angrily.
"Triton," Delphin sighed, instantly knowing what the real issue with the god was.
"Athena has taken Percy away just as she did Pallas. Why? Why must she always take away the best of what belongs to the seas?" Triton cried in his anguish, unable to hold the grief back, unable to hold the guilt back.
Delphin hugged Triton then and instantly Triton was brought back to when he was but a young godling, seeking comfort in the commander while his father tended to important matters on Olympus.
"What belongs to the sea, shall always return to the sea, dear Triton," Delphin soothed.
"I do not need my father's mantras right now, Delphin. I need Percy, I- I need Pallas. I rejected Percy. I pushed away the very thought of him in fear of getting attached and he's gone and I'm still just as grievous as I was when Pallas was taken away all those centuries ago." Triton admitted, grief filling him, his voice strained and crackly.
"Triton, you care about the boy. No matter how much you attempted to shun your admiration for your half-brother, you still cared. Grief doesn't work as you want it to. It is its own entity." Delphin sighed.
"I don't know what to do, Delphin," Triton admitted.
"Do as your father would have done. Do what Percy would have wanted. Keep fighting for the seas. Do not give up on this war. Everything will work out, sire," Delphin patted his back before swimming off.
Triton glanced around the garden, ashamed with himself and letting the regret fill his being.
How could everything work out if fate seemed to have a vendetta against him?
He thought of Percy's vibrant green eyes, a spectacle that he had only seen once but all the while it was one he had seen billions of times over the millennia, a mirror image of Poseidon's. He thought of that green disappearing into the darkness as he plummeted out of reach. It was an image that haunted Triton's mind. Had Percy been frightened, knowing that he would die? Did Percy hope against all odds that someone would save him? Did Percy call out to the gods, to their father in his last moments alive? Did Percy mourn his hopes and dreams as he fell to his death?
The thoughts and images flooded Triton's mind and he felt unbelievably sick. No one should have to die in such a way, least of all Perseus Jackson.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the messenger god of the seas, Triton was currently doing a lousy job.
Grief and guilt had eaten his godly form alive, if he had been mortal he surely would have died. Triton didn't see the point in continuing to sustain a world that did not appreciate all they did for them. What was the point in caring for mortals and ensuring that their kind lived on when the only mortals who mattered kept dying?
Now that the fight against Gaea was over he knew his father was due back in Atlantis very soon. He knew he had abandoned his duties, pushing anything he could onto Delphin and ignoring every summons Hermes had given him to spread news between the two realms. Triton didn't care. What was the point?
Triton was expecting to be berated for ignoring his duties but again, he couldn't find it within himself to care. Stupid laws prohibiting interference. Perhaps they could have saved him before he had fallen but even then Zeus in his mighty stupidity forbade it. It boiled Triton's ichor. Tartarus was no way to die and why oh why did it have to be an Athenian brat that caused Triton to lose his little brother?
Triton was currently in the dining room, drowning his sorrows in some of Dionysus' finest grapes when he heard his fathers voice from the corridor. Still, he couldn't bring himself to look up from the table, couldn't give himself enough of a reason to care. He was done playing by rules he never wanted. Godly duties be damned, he may have a duty to the sea but he would fade before anyone forced him to leave the sea again. Mount Olympus could burn into fiery ash and he would smile gingerly from the safety of Atlantis. He was done.
"Thank you, Delphin," Poseidon said from just outside the doorway.
"You're welcome, sire. No one knew of this development, I must say this is a shock to us all," Triton heard Delphin say.
The door to the dining room opened and Triton refused to look up, instead inspecting a pristine grape. Who cared what shocking development had been made. Triton didn't. Triton tried not to let the acidic anger within him rise at his father's easy going tone. How dare he move on from the tragedy of Perseus so quickly.
"Triton. Why is it that you have been neglecting your duties?" Poseidon called to his son, his tone shifted to a tense anger.
"What is the point, father? Let us simply drown the earth and be done with it," Triton said desolately.
"Triton, look at me," Poseidon commanded, his tone turning into one filled with concern.
Triton sighed, dropping the grape haphazardly and turning to his father with a brow raised.
What he saw behind his father nearly sent him backward off of the chair and certainly drained the ichor from his face.
Triton scrambled into an upright position and stormed past his father, grabbing either side of Perseus' face.
Perseus. Alive, breathing, and green eyes shining. Triton couldn't process anything that was happening. All he knew was that Percy was not lost from this world and suddenly the sea seemed so much calmer.
Although Triton was unaware, the demigod was considerably frightened by the fast movement and tried valiantly to get out of Triton's reach. It didn't work of course, Triton's desperation caused his grip to be stronger than any metal of Hephaestus. Percy was a treasure. Innocent and seemingly lost to the world. Yet that couldn't be true as he was in Triton's grasp.
"Triton! Unhand Perseus at once!" Poseidon called in alarm as he didn't understand Triton's motives.
No, Poseidon didn't understand. No one understood. Guilt that had been draining the god of his very essence built up into a sizeable tear that glittered as it streamed down the gods face.
Triton let the tear drip down his cheek as he whispered, "How are you here?"
Percy's wide, terrified green eyes seemed to focus then, "What?"
"You- you died-" Triton choked on the words.
"Oh- Triton," Poseidon seemed to come to an understanding then as sympathy overtook his face.
"I didn't die," Percy said in confusion, his face pinching together. Triton noticed with reverence that the demigods eyebrows did scrunch up just like his own.
"But- he-" Triton turned suddenly to face his father, whilst still holding onto Percy tightly, "I was informed that Perseus had fallen to the Pit."
Percy seemed to go rigid for a moment and Triton held him impossibly tighter. Triton knew that even if the boy had gotten near the pit that meant he had to endure the Underworld which was also no place for any being that belonged to the sea. Whatever his brother had seen or had to fight against to make it back to where he belonged, Triton knew it wouldn't have been easy or left Percy without trauma.
"He survived, Triton," Poseidon said softly as he looked at his favorite sons.
"That's impossible," Triton shook his head in confusion, no mortal ever stood a chance to survive Tartarus let alone escape.
"Perseus has always been one to defeat the odds. He is quite stubborn," Poseidon said, pride seeping into his tone.
"I was told he... and for... I couldn't handle losing another child of the seas to Athena, father," Triton said quietly, his shoulders sagging slightly as if he were ashamed to admit it.
Poseidon's proud smile gave way to sympathy once again, immediately understanding why Triton had taken the information with such difficulty.
"Annabeth is not her mother, Triton," Poseidon said gently.
"What do you have against Annabeth," Percy scowled, his eyes sharply lit up like greek fire.
"Perseus, she let you fall," Triton said aghast, unable to comprehend how the boy seemed to defend the Athenian brat.
"She didn't let me fall, I jumped after her," Percy said hotly. After everything the pair had been through he was not going to start letting anyone speak badly about his girlfriend.
"You did what!?" Triton and Poseidon chorused in horror.
"She wouldn't have even survived the fall if I didn't redirect us to land into the Cocytus! Of course I jumped after her, she wouldn't have survived otherwise." Percy said, his anger letting the traumatic details slip from his mouth.
Poseidon had to brace himself against the grand dining room table and Triton nearly passed out where he stood.
"You fell into the Cocytus?!" Triton had more tears building in his eyes as he thought of his brothers horrifying journey.
"You controlled one of the rivers in the Pit?!" Poseidon said looking like the entirety of his godly life was flashing before his eyes.
Percy bit his cheek, not wanting to think about the actual hell he had been in. Bringing it up in the first place was a mistake made out of his anger. However, now that he saw the terrified look on his father's face he wished he had kept his cool. He wasn't sure if they would let him keep the rest of the details to himself now that he opened the conversation to it.
"That place's rules don't exactly align with what applies up here," Percy said simply, his throat thick as he began to remember the burning dryness and the fire water that he had barely survived on.
Poseidon blinked slowly, "What else has happened that you haven't told me?"
"What has he told you!?" Triton spoke up immediately, desperate for any information.
"Perhaps, Triton, if you had done your duties you would know. A statement had to be given to explain their survival. Percy and Annabeth befriended Damasen and Iapetus, who is surprisingly now known as Bob."
The last time Triton felt so out of his mind was when he attended a party Hermes had thrown back when Olympus was still in Greece.
"Iapetus, the titan of Mortality, goes by Bob and he didn't try to kill them?" Triton questioned as his head spun.
"He lost his memory when I pushed him into the Lethe," Percy said, choked up at the thought of how Bob had helped them, "But I don't know if he survived after we left so he might reform in the Pit as Iapetus again."
Poseidon rubbed his forehead in stress, his child had seriously been through too much.
"The Lethe?" Triton questioned in horror, "What were you doing by that river?"
Percy was too emotionally drained to keep trivial secrets, "Persephone called Nico, Thalia, and I to retrieve Hades' sword that had been stolen, it was a couple years ago."
"A couple-!?" Poseidon began to question before calming himself, "I'm sorry, Percy, that you've had to do so much for us."
"Whatever," Percy sighed as he shrugged his shoulders. He was used to the gods constantly messing with his life in one way or another.
"She should have never called you to the Underworld! Doesn't she know that children of the sea do not do well when far from father's domain?" Triton said in outrage.
Percy frowned, "What are you talking about?"
"In the Underworld you are cut off from accessing the sea! It depletes your strength!" Triton replied immediately, like it was common knowledge.
Percy was beyond confused, in all the time he had been in the Underworld the only time he felt significantly weakened was Tartarus, not the Underworld in general.
"Never mind, Triton. Leave it alone. Percy, what have you not told me, son." Poseidon looked at Triton sternly before turning to Percy with immense sorrow.
"Everything knew we were there. Every monster and titan that were trapped in there wanted to kill us. The air caused blisters everywhere and we were suffocating. We survived by drinking from the Phlegethon." Percy admitted, knowing his father wouldn't let him avoid the question.
"You drank from where?! How are you alive?" Triton felt delirious.
"The Phlegethon heals, Triton," Poseidon informed him thickly.
"We had to close the doors of death, that could only be done from the inside. So we secretly followed a group of empousi until they realized we were there. That's when Bob found us. Hades had him cleaning in the Underworld since he hadn't been a threat while an amnesiac and he jumped in after us when he heard Annabeth and I talk about him. Did you know there is a shrine to Hermes in the Pit?" Percy changed topics suddenly, the reminder of the shrine encapsulating his attention.
"There's a what?" Triton said, trying to keep up with the conversation but failing. He couldn't get past his mortal half brother landing in the Cocytus and then drinking from the Phlegethon.
"I was not aware of that, Percy, although I suppose as the god of travelers, that does make some amount of sense," Poseidon managed to say, pulling himself together for the sake of his son.
"I met Nyx," Percy changed topics again, his mind not able to process his experiences in a congruent way. His time in Tartarus came back like traumatic flashbacks, not chronologically, but rather in scattered images and feelings of panic, thirst, and pain.
"I think I need to sit," Triton said before unsteadily plopping back into the chair he had previously vacated.
"We had been tricked by A-" Percy's voice gave out as he finally broke into heaving sobs.
"Percy, what is it son? What happened?" Poseidon said worriedly, he had been to Tartarus only once before with his brothers and it was very much enough of an experience to last more than his entire godly existence, even though they had not ventured very far in and had not inhabited the hellscape for very long.
"I think there's something wrong with me," Percy managed to choke out past his sobs. In no way did Percy want to explain to his father and half brother what had happened with the primordial.
"Percy, nothing is wrong with you, you were subjected to the worst kind of torment in existence and you miraculously survived. Any side effects you have are only a show of your strength and perseverance," Poseidon consoled immediately.
"Percy, we are gods, if you are worried of our reactions... believe me, we've done worse," Triton said as his mind flashed back to the times of old.
Percy shook his head roughly, "I tortured her, she begged for her life and I couldn't stop... I didn't want to."
Poseidon blinked, truthfully not expecting that but also not bothered by it whatsoever, "Percy, anyone who was down there, besides Damasen and Bob, they aren't good. That place itself is evil, it is not your fault that you momentarily succumbed to it's influence."
Triton did not take the information with as much grace as his father as he tried to think of who Percy could possibly incapacitate for long enough that he was even able to torture the being. Triton thought perhaps it was a weaker monster who tried to attack the pair of teenagers.
"Dad, you don't understand. It wasn't a monster that I tortured, it was a goddess," Percy whispered, his eyes unblinking as tears streamed from his eyes.
Triton reared back in his shock which was most certainly the wrong response as Percy turned away and wrapped his arms around himself defensively. Triton immediately felt immense guilt for his actions but the information was genuinely shocking. In an environment such as Tartarus where a demigod should be extremely weakened, Percy still had enough power to subdue a goddess and have her begging the teen to stop. Triton was stunned.
"A.. a goddess? Who?" Poseidon couldn't help but question as his shock finally took root.
"Akhlys," Percy whispered in shame.
"The goddess of misery?!" Poseidon questioned trying to keep his voice calm but still overwhelmed by the information.
"I think that place... I think it broke me," Percy whispered as he looked down at his now shaky hands.
"No, Perseus-" Poseidon began, only to be cut off by Percy.
"I used her own poison against her as easily as I could the seas," Percy admitted through tears as he expect his father to throw him right back into the Pit with the monsters.
Triton was still reeling, he didn't dare say a word or move an inch. He could tell by Percy's posture that in this state he was like a minnow, ready to dart at any moment.
Poseidon ignored the fact that doing something like that should have been impossible. Instead, he resolved himself to go with what Percy said and blame it on the fact that the rules that apply here do not apply there and then move on from the detail entirely. Poseidon eased himself back into his calmer headspace, this was Percy, he couldn't afford to scare him off after everything that has happened.
"Percy, are you familiar with my monikers?" Poseidon questioned gently.
Percy looked up from his hands as confusion flooded his being, what did that have to do with anything he just said? Still though, the demigod nodded.
"Perhaps then, you know that sometimes individuals refer to me as the father of monsters?" Poseidon questioned.
As Percy's face flashed with horror before crumpling into distress and heartbreak, Poseidon realized he could have worded that a bit better or at least explained why he was bringing that up. Even Triton looked at his father in horror as if he couldn't believe was the sea god was saying.
"No, no. Percy I am not calling you a monster. I am saying that I have fathered beings that have become some of the most dangerous beings to roam this earth and you, Percy Jackson, are nothing like them. You have a demeanor that must come from your mother because throughout the years I have looked at you and wondered how I could father someone so powerful and yet so intrinsically good. If you should believe anyone when they say that you are not broken or even a monster, believe me, Perseus." Poseidon spoke tenderly as he urged his son to believe his words.
"You don't hate me?" Percy whispered as his gaze flickered down again.
"There is very little you could ever do that would ever make me hate you, least of all things would be you using any power you can to survive. You are special, Percy. There has never been a demigod quite like you before and I don't think there will ever be another who can compare." Poseidon finished, looking at his son with love practically seeping out of his millennia old being.
Percy launched himself into his father's arms and Triton waited not a single moment before he joined in on the hug.
Triton let out a breath of relief.
Later, they would discuss how Athena had actually had a large hand in why Percy was in Tartarus. Later, Triton would learn that Annabeth was not like her mother. Later, Triton could worry about how he is ever going to let Percy out of his sight again.
Later. He could worry about anything and everything later. Because now he knew that there was going to be a later in which his brother was alive.
But now, he stood in an embrace with his father and brother. He enjoyed basking in the moment and absorbing every little detail on Percy, from the way he smiled to the way his New York accent was most prominent on his R's.
Triton sent a spare prayer of thanks off to the Fates for not taking Percy away. And then he spared a thought to honor Pallas as he swore to love his brother in the way he never got to love his daughter, for the rest of Percy's long life.