Princess of the Sea (Fem Percy x YJ)

18

"Kaldur, are you okay?" Megan asked. "You've...been pacing."

Pacing may have been an understatement, though I was not sure of a word in English that would capture it better. There were three in Atlantean, but all of them involved swimming. The one that we used as a metaphor for carving a new ocean trench would probably work best. In truth, I'd have thought a path would have been worn across the floor after three hours. On hour six, I'd stopped thinking about it.

Worry, instead, consumed my mind. What if something has happened to her? What if she is injured? Dead? No, I refused to think that. If something, anything, happens to her while I act as her guard, my life will be forfeit. Everyone in Atlantis is aware of how protective the royal family is over her; even with my position, that wave would crash down upon me.

What other option was there when she's been heir apparent since twelve?'

"I apologize if I am bothering you. I'm simply trying to recall if I have written out my last will and testament." Though, even if I had, because it would have been weird for me to do even as my king's protege, it wouldn't matter. Treason meant all property would be claimed by the crown. 

"Uh, why?" Wally raised an eyebrow. A cookie disappeared from the counter behind Megan.

"We are acting as the princess's official guard detail." I touched the wall and turned. "If anything happens and we are not there to prevent it, we will be charged for that failure. You---You will be fine. You're not Atlantean citizens, but I will face charges of treason; and if I'm lucky, I'll die." Death was the far more merciful option when it came to punishments for that crime. Hard labor near undersea vents is not a job anyone picks because they enjoy it.

Another cookie vanished, but Megan was unaware as she frowned. "That seems--"

"Apologize," Orin said, dragging Percy into the room.

"No."

"Percy."

"I am not going to be treated like a child, Orin." Her hair swayed around her head. "And I'm not apologizing for leaving, and I'm not going to apologize for going to Paul."

"Stop acting like one, and I won't treat you like one. You kicked him, you ran away, and you almost gave him a panic attack." She did, but I did not think it was a good choice to correct him.

"And yet no one's apologized for giving me anxiety."

"Apologize. Now."

Percy scowled. She shouldered past me. "I'm sorry." Her tone made it more than clear that she wasn't.

"Percy." Even if it wasn't aimed at me, the stern tone stole the moisture from my mouth and made me stand straight. Orin placed a placating hand on my shoulder, rubbing an apologetic circle with his thumb.

"You're the one who came and dragged me away from Paul," she snapped. "You know, the only one who's treating me like an actual human being?" She stormed off, pipes in the walls groaning as she passed.

Orin sighed. "Why must she be difficult?" No answer was ever offered up. I didn't have one, and Megan faded into invisibility to avoid answering. Maybe he wasn't expecting an answer, maybe it was rhetorical, and yet it seemed as though he was beseeching Poseidon himself. With a hand, he gestured for me to follow him. As we drew closer to Percy's room, pressure weighed on my shoulders. The walls rattled. Water pipes---I pressed my hand to the wall.

"We may need to redo the plumbing." Even if it was outside of my control, I could feel the dangerous build up of pressure. How long would it take to burst? How strong was she to do this without effort?

I swallowed. Is this how the king would be had he been raised to do magic? The prince was talented, but since Orin was the elder brother, the magic would not have been as potent, even when Orm did hold the crown. 

My thoughts halted when we stopped outside Percy's room. Orin leaned his head against the door, one hand poised on the keypad.

"The only thing her mother ever wanted was for Percy to be safe," he said quietly. His voice was thick and heavy. "She married a man that I should have killed the first time he laid hands on her, and she suffered it to keep Percy safe. She-- She begged me to create a protection order for Percy."

"And that is why you refuse to remove it."

"If anything happens to Percy, Atlantis loses a princess, but I lose my niece and any respect my sister ever had for me. You need-- You need to keep her safe. I'd much rather have her in the palace, but she doesn't want that, so I am relying on you, my son." He gathered himself. "You are free to accompany me, or you can get some cookies before Wally eats them all." The door slid open. I hesitated, but lingered in the doorway.

If she tried to avoid him, it would probably be best to stop her.

The bed was a mess, blankets strewn everywhere, and Percy laid curled with her head under a pillow. Her hands clutched at the pillowcase, knuckles white. "Go away."

"Percy---"

"Leave. Me. Alone. Just fucking leave me alone!"  she cried. Orin pulled the pillow away. Percy shoved away, sat on the far side of the bed, and glared with tear-filled eyes. Red splotched her face. "You haven't let me have a single choice since Mom died. You got her killed, and you won't even let me do what I want. How--How is that fair?" She sobbed. "All I want is to be normal, and you have to rip that away from me too. Will---Will---" The word kept falling from her lips, the rest of her sentence broken by whimpers and cries and ragged breaths. She flailed her hands in frustration.

"Do you need me to call him?" Orin carefully grabbed her hands and pressed them to her lap. Percy nodded and scrubbed at her eyes. "Not so hard" he cooed. "I'll call him as soon as I can." The bed creaked under his added weight. Hesitant, he lifted a hand to Percy's shoulder; but when she shook her head, he lowered it. 

She sat silent. Simply clenching and unclenching her hands with a blank stare. Orm slipped past me. He sat beside Percy and pulled her against his side, earning a sharp, reproachful glare from Orin; but Percy didn't complain. She leaned into Orm's side and closed her eyes, more at ease than I'd seen her.

It didn't take long to feel like I was intruding, so I slipped away, letting the door shut and leaving them to sit in the silence.

Edited: March 7, 2023

Hello.

Goodbye

See yah