Friends Become Foes

chapter 2

The drive to the Aquarium didn't take long. In fact, I would say that it took less than fifteen minutes. But, who cares. We have arrived and I am more than determined to enjoy myself with my best friend Kyle, who is Asian, and forget about unwanted thoughts...

Anyway, we got out of the car and I straitened my cap and glasses before we went in. We paid for the tour, actually Kyle did, and joined with the other tourists wanting to see all the sea life creatures L.A. had to offer.

Just being in L.A. brings back nauseating memories of the first time I came here...

I shook my head a couple of times and banished those thoughts from my head. I shouldn't be thinking of those things. They mean nothing to me in my current life. I am happy to just be with my big brother. I don't need them. They don't need me. I am no longer their so called savior. I don't need them. They don't need me. I repeatedly said in my head like a death mantra or something.

A few minutes later, our guide came to collect us and introduced herself as ms. Tanya Jones. She looked to be slightly older than us, but not that much maybe a few years older? She had strawberry blond hair that was more red. Sparkling blue eyes caught my own sea green one for a brief moment. She seemed to have recognised me because she gave a small gasp before recomposing herself and gave me a small wink. Which seriously creped me out.  I mean, a middle aged woman who you have never met before, gives you one look in the eye, then has a small burst of recognition before winking at you? It sounds just as messed up as it was.

I sighed and looked away from the... Delusional woman. I have never met her before in my life, and I'll bet my small salary than she has never met me before now.

Kyle stood stiffly beside me as he observed the rosette woman. Which was kind of odd, in a sense that he has never looked at a woman like than before.

"Do you feel it?" He asked. "The sense that something is off about her?" What is he talking about, I thought as we walked into the aquariums tunnel that let you walk through the ocean while allowing you to see all of the sea life. I vaguely heard the fish calling to me. Sea prince. Sea prince. You have returned. Come and join us young prince.

I shook my head to get rid of the tony fish like voices in my head. "Honestly speaking? No I didn't. But now that you mentioned it, yes. I do feel that something about her is off..." I whispered back to him. My back and shoulders tensed, as if expecting a monster to jump out and start eating everything in sight. Subconsciously, my hand made its way into my pocket were I always kept Riptide, my trusty sword which had helped me throughout my years of being a demigod. And just because I was kicked out of camp doesn't mean that I'm not still targeted by other monsters like hell hounds and the occasional Laistrygonian -yup I can now pronounce the word like it was a walk in the park.

I shook my head and sighed for the millionth time. "Well whatever it is, we better keep an eye on her. We don't want this to be another episode like what happened at the mall, now do we?" Kyle asked with a smirk. "That was not my fault!" I said defensively. "Just because you have a better gut feeling than I have... It doesn't mean that you can be smug about it! And you should be thankful that I did have Riptide with me, other wise you would have been cut to the size of confetti! Or worse. You could have been eaten alive and your bones would have been used as tooth pic quite nicely." I said with a straight face, which was very hard for me to do.

Kyle on the other hand, looked as if he was about to pass out from shock. "You have got to be kidding me! Nobody would have the guts to eat this sexy body! Besides, everyone loves me and so do I. Nobody wants me dead!" I laughed really hard at that. "Who is this mysterious 'Nobody'? Maybe we can find him together and take him down! Or is it a woman?" I asked in my best dramatical voice.

Kyle shoved me a bit in a playful way and chuckled. "Don't ever change Percy. Don't," he said and looked away. A small smile creeping up at the corners of his lips.

I smiled to myself and looked out the glass at school of fish that had gathered around, almost as if they were looking for me in the crowd. I sighed and mentally told them to stop looking like that and that it would cause suspicion. They looked just as hesitant in their body language as they were in there thoughts, but reluctantly scattered away, clearly disappointed that they couldn't spend time with me.

"Hey... Are you alright? You have a distant look in your eye. Almost as if you were thinking about painful memories." Kyle turned me around and looked deep into my eyes. Was he trying to get a small glimpse of my soul?

"I'm fine... Or... As fine as could possibly get. Just having a civil conversation with my fishy friends."

Kyle let me go, obviously somewhat satisfied with the answer but still didn't let my gaze go until we were brought back to reality by the suspicious guide. "Alrighty then! We have officially come to the other end of the tunnel! We will provide some snacks and refreshments for all of you while we tack an hour long break! Please be sure that when we leave for the next tunnel you have all your things because myself and the other staff will not be responsible for anything that has been lost. Enjoy!"

With that said, opened the hatch and we walked through. With ms. Tanya's shrill voice that pierced my ear drums, I have regrettably failed to take notice of the fishes warning of her and the way that she looked at me at the end of her annoyingly loud speech about refreshments or something...