Prince of Riptide

in the deep

Five months later .

.

Atlantis hadn't been the same as the last year before Percy had gone to Camp Half-Blood. It wasn't the good different, either, because he'd heard that there was some sort of "Great Stirring," or whatever court called it. Triton and the other trained warriors would leave the palace and come back the next morning, faces grim.

All Percy was sure of was this: there were more sea monsters than ever before, and it had to do with Kronos.

The courtiers and dignitaries would glance his way, whisper like they always did. He also knew what they were thinking. The Great Prophecy was starting, and Percy felt miserable because he knew it was true. Only this time, there was another piece to play.

Thalia.

Oh, they knew about her, as well. And no one liked it one bit, least of all Poseidon. He didn't want to know what would happen next summer now that Thalia was alive, insufferable as ever.

Percy thought about this as he absentmindedly read the schedule of the day. For the first time in what felt like forever, Triton accompanied him, lounging in one of the giant seashells and making weird-shaped bubbles. It was good that for once he had the day off.

That's when an image appeared out of the water.

An Iris Message.

As Percy watched, the image morphed into Annabeth, which wasn't very surprising. He and Annabeth had been exchanging calls for the last couple of months, though it had been highly frowned upon by the palace.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she said. She had her curly blonde hair up in a messy bun and a large sweater that almost engulfed her. He'd forgotten that it was winter. Being in the sea made him immune to that sort of thing.

What did surprise Percy was that she looked to be in the Big House, and sitting next to her was...

"Oh, look. Doing some of your princely duties, Seaweed Brain?" Thalia smirked, eyeing Percy's surroundings.

He rolled his eyes. "Nobody can call me that except Annabeth."

"Whatever, loser."

That Zeus' bastard? Triton asked in Percy's mind, not glancing up from the giant bubble he was creating.

Unfortunately .

Oh, and I heard a familiar voice. Your girlfriend there, as well?

"She's not my girlfriend!" Percy hissed.

"What was that, Percy?" Annabeth furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Uh...nothing."

Triton grinned at Percy, flicking his eyebrows mockingly. Wait 'till dad hears about this.

Shut up. She's just a friend.

"Anyway, I'm with Triton." Percy popped his brother's bubble with a wave of his hand. "Say hi, Bitch."

Annabeth and Thalia both looked at each other warily. Percy had learned that they had their own language that he'd never be able to understand. He got along fine with Thalia, but he'd be lying if he said that their personalities didn't clash from time to time. Not to mention the unidentified feeling that bubbled in Percy's gut every time he saw Annabeth and Thalia hanging out together like a couple of best friends, as if the daughter of Zeus was never gone. Their secret language was one example of this.

Triton raised an eyebrow and got into the image view. "Hey...Annabelle, right?"

Annabeth played with a stray curl nervously. Percy had told her some things about Triton but had never introduced them. "It's Annabeth."