The Triton Jackson Chronicles: God of Madness

I Drop A River

The river fell. Literally.

I sighed. "Dad, I'm just not as good at this stuff as you are."

I sat on the stone bench behind me and looked up at my father.

"Aw, come on, T. You're not even trying!" He exclaimed. I shook my head.

He raised his hand and the river rose, streams of water spiraling into the air, forming a giant orb. There were fish swimming within, frantically trying to get away as they were lifted inside the orb.

'My Lord!' They yelled in horror. Okay, so they didn't exactly yell. Children of Poseidon (or grandchildren, in my case) can understand and talk to aquatic creatures (and horses) telepathically. Yelling fish? That's just weird.

"Don't worry, guys. I'll put you down now." My father responded coolly. He slowly lowered his arm and the river followed, until it filled the basin once again.

'Thank you, Lord Perseus!' They cried in hysterical relief.

Perseus Jackson. My father. Although he prefers to go by 'Percy', he's still the same man who put an end to Kronos and helped defeat the Titans twenty five years ago. Uncle Tyson told me all about he and dad's adventures, like the time they faced off against the Cyclops Polyphemus and the time they traveled through Daedalus's Labyrinth. I looked at my dad. He stood there, wearing a red flannel shirt and khaki shorts. He still had his jet black hair from his youth, but his beard was stricken with grey hairs. His green eyes were shining a bright emerald in the June sunlight. At forty-two years old, he was still pretty muscular. He looked like he ran marathons for a living. Well, I guess that's to be expected when he's always running for his life, somehow.

"Easy as pie." He said, proudly.

I snorted. "For you. Dad, you're a son of Poseidon. The son of Poseidon. You're literally one of the strongest demigods in the world. Lifting this river is nothing to you. I can barely do any of this stuff. I can't even breathe underwater." I stated.

There was some frustration in those words. I, Triton Milo Jackson, the son of the almighty Percy Jackson, am a failure at this whole water manipulation stuff. That's why we were out here. In Munich... In a forest. By a river. Dad thought that it would be some good practice for me if we'd gone somewhere quiet to practice control over my powers, but it's like I hardly have any. I mean, sure, I can talk to fish and horses, but they hardly respect me. My dad can breathe underwater, but I can't. In the water, I can hold my breath for about an hour. I've asked dad about creating hurricanes and earthquakes and all that, but he just tells me that we should stick to the basics for now. I guess that was code for "You suck. No earthquakes for you." I was a pretty good swimmer, however. I was a fast and precise swimmer, but that's as far as the sea god in me goes. It didn't help that I hadn't gained any of mom's abilities either. I mean, I was a pretty good liar, but that's as far as my inherited wisdom goes. I'm not some brainiac. I suck in school, and with ADHD and dyslexia being a side effect of being a demigod (or demi-demigod), I especially sucked in school.

"Hey, T?"

I looked up. My dad had his hands in his pockets and was standing awkwardly. He had this weird smirk on his face.

I squinted suspiciously. "Yes?"

He broke into a wide, boyish grin. "Serenity's coming over for dinner."

My heart dropped and I jumped up. "WHAT?!!!!!"

He laughed. "Yeah, didn't Annabeth tell you? Jason, Piper, and Serenity are all coming over for dinner and they'll be staying for a couple days. So is Grover's family."

"No! She didn't tell me!"

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

My hands went numb.
Serenity.

She was Jason and Piper Grace's daughter, and even though she was almost something of a cousin to me, I had a huge crush on her. She was the same age as me, although a few months older.

My dad continued to guffaw.

"When?! When are they coming?!" I shouted.

Dad stopped laughing, but his face was twisted and I could tell he was forcing on a straight face. "Twenty minutes." He snorted.

My eyes went wide and my father fell over, overwhelmed with laughter.