Ariana's Trials

Part 25

Percy's POV

I thought I was scary when I got mad—Ariana's on a whole different level.

"She's going to become a Primordial if she consumes Oceanus?" Zeus squeaks "But the sea already has a Primordial-Pontus"

"Dad, have you ever watched "The Little Mermaid"?" I ask

"Yeah," He looks confused "What about it?"

"Ariel and Ariana have something in common. They are stuck underwater when they want to go on land. So they explored the sea. Did you ever consider that Ariana might have found Pontus stuck in the mud somewhere, and talked with him?" I sit up

"That couldn't happen. She never left for longer than-Five days. And she can travel fast" Poseidon's face sinks

"And maybe he was sick of living, of being stuck where he is, so he offered her a chance to replace him. She must have turned him down in hopes of going on land. And she did, but it was underwhelming. So she's taking him up on that deal. She's been talking about how she can't use her power due to the influx of power, and the emotions she can't control anymore due to us turning down the throne. When Triton could rule with her, she got half the workload" I add

"So all the work I do to maintain my realm has fallen to her, thousands of years of work on her already overburdened shoulders" Poseidon hangs his head

"Why are we hiding?" Alex asks "Can't we just like, kill her?"

"NO! She's essential in the health of my realm, and she is attached to it. The only way we can kill her is to kill all the life in the ocean, which will kill me too" Poseidon says "And she's gone crazy"

"We need to find a way to contain her-" Annabeth says

"Why are you hiding, Perseus? I gave up three years of my life for you" She floats by the car "You have a debt to pay"

"Thye only way we're going to able to snap her out of this is by either surrendering me or finding a way to get Jack here-Hey wait, can't Jack snap her out of it?" Percy says

"It could work, but it relies on him helping her with the weight of the tasks, which means he has to be either an heir-" Poseidon starts

"Or her husband" I finish "And Jack can't even touch water, because he's a winter spirit completely reliant on the immortality Artemis gave him. If he breaks the terms with Artemis, he dies"

"This is quite the predicament-" The car raises above our heads

"Found you" Ariana whispers, then tries to grab Percy

"Wow senior, who's the chick?" Jack flies up from the pendant form he was in

"MY MURDEROUS FUTURE COUSIN-IN-LAW!" Magnus runs from the dropped limo like the rest of us

"Dang. Want me to kill her?" he asks

"FOOLISH SUMBRANDAR, I CANNOT BE KILLED BY A BLADE!" She screams

"Wait a minute. That wasn't Ariana's voice. It was deeper and sounded more like Kronos's" I say

"The scars on her arm. Oceanus carved them. Maybe they have a magical purpose, like channelling himself through her" Percy adds

"That's the smartest thing you said all day!" I cover my neck with my hands and dodge a pane of shattering glass.

"Nothing she did worked, though," I said "And Magnus's healing did nothing too"

"Apollo. We haven't tried the actual god of medicine" Percy says, and he rolls next to me beneath a car and kisses me "Can you try and escape to contact him?"

"PERSEUS! YOUR SISTER WILL BE YOUR UNDOING"

"Yep, that's Oceanus. Do you think he's mad we killed his partner in crime?" Percy whispers

"Probably" I whisper back "How are we going to calm her down enough to let Apollo figure out what's happening with the scars?"

"STOP HIDING, PERSEUS. OR SHOULD I KILL YOUR FRIENDS?" Ariana lifts a squirming Alex and Magnus, Jack is trapped beneath her foot.

"Hey, will you let me meet your sword after?" Jack wriggles from beneath her foot "She's hawt"

"JACK! WE'RE FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES AND YOU WANT TO ARRANGE A DATE WITH A SWORD!" Magnus shouts