Percy Jackson, the embodiment of hope.

Chapter 54: A talk with the son of Poseidon. (Confrontation.)

He watched both of them with his arms crossed, a smile on his face.

They traded blows, blocking and attacking in a rhythm he could only describe as godly. One was his daughter through blood, and the other, his daughter through time and training. They would continue to spar until they wore each other out, he knew. Their spears wouldn't even touch the other.

Then... the unthinkable happened. The clouds parted, and his daughter hesitated, having seen the Aegis through them. The other drove her spear forward, expecting her sister in all but blood to block.

But she didn't. The spear sunk deep into her gut, and she started to die. Her sister shrieked and pulled the spear out at the same time the man ran forward with a panicked yell. Her body fell to the ground, only being caught by her father, who stumbled and fell onto his knees. He held her as she died in his arms. Nymphs might not age, but they could still be killed.

The spear clattered to the ground as the wielder saw her sister die in their father's arms. Tears leaked from her eyes, and she looked up at the parted clouds, staring at Aegis. The sky rumbled, a clear call that her time on the surface was done. She felt a stab of betrayal, one that would stay with her forever and keep her relationship with her blood father strained forever.

She looked back down at the man cradling her sister, her adoptive father, and whispered her apologies. She faded away, as gods do, leaving the man alone. When he finally looked up, prepared to tell her that it wasn't her fault, she was gone.

For the next few days, he was lost in grief, unable to do much other than visit the grave he had made for his daughter, and sit in one spot. She was dead, and his adoptive daughter would probably never interact with him again. He had gotten the note from Hermes. She was an Olympian now, and a quite busy one at that.

Then he got the summons from Poseidon. After reading it, he simply grabbed his trident and left. He thought he would return to mourn enough to keep it in repair.

He was wrong.
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Percy was happy. His visit to his godly family had been amazing. He had gathered sea monsters with Kym, he had played Uno with Rhode multiple times, he had played a lot of monopoly with Poseidon and Amphitrite, and he had reunited with Tyson, who had grown quite a bit.

And Triton... well, Triton had mainly avoided him, barely making eye contact the days the Percy was there. The only time he even sparingly interacted was at dinner, and that was just to ask for salt. (Percy couldn't tell if that was him being sarcastic or not.)

But now... it was time to leave. Percy had a job to do, campers to train, teammates to greet, and more personality splits to (hopefully) not let happen. He floated slowly through the city streets, trying to enjoy his last few hours in his father's kingdom.

But as he reached the gates to leave, he was stopped by an anxious merman. "Sir, you -"

"Just Percy, please," Percy said.

The merman nodded. "O-of course. Percy, sir, this exit is blocked."

Percy craned his head around the merman to look at the gate. "Why?"

The merman swished his tail. "It- private reasons."

Percy nodded. "Is there another exit?"

The merman chewed his lip. "No. All the others are also blocked off, except for, well..."

He pointed to a mountain, just barely inside the city gates, but on the other side of town. "That's the only working exit that you can use."

Percy nodded and thanked the man, starting his journey. Soon enough, he made it to the bottom of the mountain. The path up was just a simple slope with seagrass covering the ground. He climbed and climbed, eventually seeing the sparse rays of sunlight through the surface of the water. Then he reached the top.

It was a complete stop, the mountain top ending in a cliff that split straight down. But that wasn't what got Percy's attention. Sitting on the edge of the cliff staring at the drop-off of the mainland in the distance, was Triton. Percy walked forward until he was maybe fifteen steps away from his brother.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Triton beat him. "I'm surprised you returned, especially after what happened last time."

"Last time was an accident," Percy said.

Triton nodded. "I know. But you left the kingdom in disarray. Amphitrite wanted to keep you here forever as her own, Kymopelia still wanted revenge against father, and the citizens adored you, only for you to leave. It was chaos. And I..."

"I know," Percy said quietly. "But let me guess. You hated me and wished I had never come to the palace?"

Triton laughed. "No. While I did wish you had never come to the castle, I didn't hate you. If I'm being honest... I was jealous."

"What?" Percy said, dumbfounded. "My family had just died, and everyone either wanted me dead or couldn't help me."

Triton nodded. "I know. But you had freedom. You could leave the camp, explore Earth, and be free of your restrictions. And eventually, you did leave. You left, and I... stayed."

"But what's wrong with staying here?" Percy asked. "You have a loving family, a job, good food, what else could their be that you desire?"

Triton sighed. "I used to have daughters, you know."

Percy stopped talking, letting his brother speak. "One of them was mine by blood, and the other was... well, nowadays you would call her adopted. I loved them with everything I had. We lived on the surface, and we hunted sparred and laughed together like a family should."

"What happened?" Percy asked softly.

"Zeus," Triton said simply. "My daughters were sparring, and then Zeus... well, either he was scared for his blood daughter, or he decided to finish her training early. But either way, he parted the clouds and showed my blood daughter the Aegis, causing her to hesitate during her sparring match."

Triton moved his hand onto his trident, which was resting next to him on the ground.

"A spear went through her stomach, and she died in my arms. And before I could try and comfort my other daughter, Zeus called her to Olympus forever."

"Who... who were these daughters?" Percy asked, already knowing the answer.

"Pallas and Athena."

"I see," Percy said sadly. "What happened after?"

Triton's shoulders drooped. "I couldn't do much but sit in one place. Then, the father called me back into the ocean for the job I'm still doing, and I... haven't left since."

He stared into the deep abyss, apparently not wishing to speak anymore.

Which, of course, is when Percy asked the million dollar question. "Triton, why were the other exits blocked off?"

Triton slowly rose, still floating in the water and looking into the abyss. "I have a custom, one that I do with every demigod child of Poseidon I meet."

Percy took a step back. "And what's that?"

"I fight them. If they win, they take over my position. If I win... well, I would have gotten a fight," Triton said.

Percy shook his head. "Triton, please. You don't have to -"

"Yes. I do," Triton said.

He turned around and opened his hand, letting his trident fly into it. He hung his head slightly low so Percy couldn't see his eyes and swished his tail behind him.

"Come, show me this 'son of Chaos' I've heard so much about," he said as he burst toward Percy. "I want a challenge before I go back to the city!"