Under the Water(Fem. Percy)

Chapter 15

"I do not get paid enough for this," Cyreus mutters under his breath. He trails a few feet behind me, hair flowing in the current. Unlike me, he'd been able to shed all of his ceremonial garb. A shame, because the bracelets did look good on him. Though I wonder what he'd look like with silver--- I bite my lip. Am I really thinking about what would look good on him? One of my hands drifts to my cheek. The makeup has stopped making me want to itch my flesh off. Aphrodite, I decide. This is just like her. And I'll take being a little more concerned with looks for however long than having to do something else for her.

"What?" he asks. I break my stare. He looks healthier with the makeup. Less tired. My stomach twists with the reminder that that's my fault.

"There are worse things to be stuck doing."

"Such as?" The subtle twitch of his lips and the arc of his eyebrow is all I have to go on for it being something lighthearted and not annoyed.

"You ever listen to a bunch of horses talk about wanting to eat you? Three out of ten, would not recommend."

"You are very generous to the flesh eating horses."

"Calling me sea food was a new one." I hold my hands behind my back. Half of the city spills out before us, stretching over the sea bed. The buildings are like towering trees. Dark, scary trees out of a cursed forest, yet somehow even less welcoming. Despite the welcome rush of relief that had surged though me when Dad mentioned me coming here on my own, I doubt anyone would be able to drag me back. "Where should we go?"

"There's a library down the main street. But it would take three of us to turn a single page." Cyreus lifts his chin. "We've seen the market. The theater." An open plain of seafloor with bobbing lanterns. "We could visit the bath-houses, but I doubt you'd be willing to step foot in them." A small laugh bubbles out of his throat. He smothers it, and yet keeps a stupid, cute smile on his face. "Your skirt would blow up in a second." I glare at him; he shakes his head.

"This way," he says. His fingers brush my arm as he leads me down a dim alley. He guides me through the maze-like streets and passages, never too far that he can't reach out and touch me. He stops suddenly. I look at him. His wide pupils are fixated on me. They're as unnerving as they are in the palace. Cast in shadows, with only the reflective pupil to be seen, they make me shudder. Yet he still holds me transfixed.

"Do not go too far away from me. I can see much farther than you, so you won't escape, but you'll get lost. Or hurt." He leans closer, and I swear our noses almost bump. "I'm not afraid to tell your father about you disobeying if it means saving my own skin. He doesn't tolerate mistakes." And then like he hadn't just threatened me, he pulls away. "This is the lower city."

Lower doesn't just refer to how far down it was either, I realize. The buildings are shorter, and so are the Atlanteans. All of them look the same: wispy, lanky beings with long fins and fingers. Every so often an eel slithers through them, its eyes large and glowing. And everything in this section is darker. My hand once again flutters for Riptide. I swear I can see shapes moving in the darkness, in the space between some of the close-pressed buildings.

"Most men live out here," Cyreus says. "It's far easier to have separate areas for them rather than figure out ways to incorporate both the necessary sizes into one build. It's also where you tend to find the most visitors from other city-states." He scratches his cheek. "I find it as equally unnerving as the upper city to be honest."

"Why did Dad even bring me here?"

"The visit's been scheduled for some time, and while his palace is a bit more accepting of things due to its flexible nature, the women here prefer to have Lord Poseidon visit since our city doesn't have the same abilities."