Shadows and The Sea - The Darkling

Dad & Explanations

Percy's POV

I took Riptide off of my hip and placed it gently on the vanity in front of me. Reaching into my charmed bag, I grabbed one of the drachmas, walked over to the double doors of the room, and poked my head out. The hall was dimly lit and the only people were a pair of guards walking their routine patrol.

Leaning back into the room, I closed and locked my door before hastily making my way to the adjoining bathroom in the back of my room. Once I was inside, I drew a small stream of water out of my crossbody water pouch and sprayed it through a beam of moonlight that was shining through the window. The seven colors appeared where the mist and light intersected and I knew it worked.

I took a deep breath and held the golden coin up, "Oh Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Poseidon, god of the seas." I tossed the coin into the rainbow. The coin disappeared and a glowing image of my father appeared in its place. He was at home, in Atlantis, in his war room. He looked tired.

"Dad," I gently called out to him.

His head snapped up at my voice and he quickly made his way over to the floating image. As he got closer I could see the weariness in his eyes and the wrinkles on his face became deeper.

"Percy. Sea star, how are you? Are you alright?" he asked me anxiously.

"Calm down, dad. I'm fine. But you don't look so good."

"Oh don't worry about me. I want to know how you're doing. How are your friends? What have you been up to?" he asked with a smile that seemed not all that bright.

Oh, dad. Now I see where the aversion to self-care comes from.

"I'm good, dad. My friends are doing okay but my friend Alina learned that she can summon sunlight. We were both taken to a palace in the capital to learn how to control our powers. They think I'm a Tidemaker but I may have slipped up a little," I told him.

His worried expression only grew deeper at the last part, "What slip up?"

I winced, "I may or may not have caused an earthquake and my eyes glowed. People's eyes don't glow here, dad. Not to mention Mrs. O'Leary made an appearance."

"As long as you stay safe. You're my daughter, no one stands a chance against you should they try and mess with you."

I chuckled at his faith in me, "Thanks dad."

We were quiet for a few seconds before my dad spoke up again. He must have noticed the look of deep thought on my face.

"What is it, sea star?" he asked gently.

I let out a sigh, "There's a man here who I have a weird connection with. He controls shadows and whenever we touch, it feels like I've been dunked in ice water but it feels right and warm at the same time. Not to mention he was sucked into one of my flashbacks and was able to pull me out of it. At first I thought it was because of Hades' mark that the shadows were drawn to but it's more the man than his powers that are causing the reactions. I just...don't really know what's going on."

My dad closed his eyes and brought a hand up to rub the tension away in his brows. "Sea star, I think you should talk to your Aunt Aphrodite. She'll be able to explain what the connection between you and the man is better than I ever could. But please stay safe. There's something brewing on this side that could possibly be connected to what's going on with your friend."

Alina?

I furrowed my brows in confusion and tilted my head to the side, "How could Alina's power reach home? What's going on?"

Dad tiredly shook his head, "I don't know. There's been odd solar flares that Apollo said he's not responsible for. Death Valley and other hot spots on earth have been experiencing higher temperatures and other places have had odd spikes in sun intensity. Normally this would not be a cause for alarm but it's happening too rapidly for global warming and Apollo seems on edge with what's going on."