As Pallas swims through the front doors, she notes how little the place has changed. She can see the echoes of her childhood here, darting through the halls with Athena, wild laughter as she plays with her father. It's bittersweet, tainted by the shell of her father that she has seen since waking up as Nadia.

He used to be so full of laughter, the perfect embodiment of the playful side of the sea. But now, he's the sea just before a storm. Cold, ready to turn from calm to rough in the blink of an eye. He's broken, because of what happened to her. She can't blame him for his grief, but he wasn't supposed to cling to it this long.

With a light twist of her hand, Pallas pulls salt from the seawater to form a thin chain that stretches out to form a path. The thread of salt twists through the palace, and somehow Pallas doesn't encounter a single person. It could be a coincidence, but she came in through the front entrance, she should have seen someone.

Pallas frowns. If this is because of her father's moping- She spots movement up ahead, two people with spears in hand. The guards notice her at almost the same time she sees them, and they make their way over to her. She can see one of them tighten his grip on his spear, yet his tail remains still beyond the movements necessary for swimming. Too calm, he's holding his nerves back. She smiles at them as they approach, trying to put them at ease.

"Good day, gentlemen."

"What is your business here, half-blood?"

"I'm here to speak to Prince Triton, of course."

"Miss, we can't just-"

Pallas sighs. "I'm quite aware of your duties, gentlemen. Now, a week ago Lord Poseidon was here, was he not?" The two guards nod nervously. "I was here with him, and spent some time in the infirmary. I have some information that would please Prince Triton greatly, and so I must speak with him."

"We can pass your message to him, Miss."

She shakes her head. "This matter is perhaps a tad too sensitive to not discuss it directly. However, if it would help, you are free to escort me to Prince Triton. I only ask that you do not intrude on our conversation. Is that agreeable to you?"

The guards hesitate before one finally nods. "Those terms appear adequate."

"Wonderful. Shall we? He's this way."

The two guards seem mildly shocked at her guide of salt, but the two say nothing as they move to flank her on either side. The salt doesn't lead them much farther, stopping at a garden. Pallas sighs. Of course he would be at this garden, this always was where both of them came to brood. She glances over at her two companions.

"Wait here, please."

The guards take up post beside the entrance to the garden, leaving Pallas free to roam in the enclosed space. The carefully cultivated corals fill the space with color that wouldn't have been found this deep if not for the artificial sunlight illuminating the space. They form arches and sculptures, some of them so delicate that they would snap under the machinations of the sea outside the garden walls.

She twists over one sculpture, one that was always her favorite since she was a child. It is formed into the shape of a barrel wave, just barely large enough for her to swim into if desired. She used to hide inside it with Athena when either of them were having a bad day. Just past the barrel wave, there is a new coral sculpture.

She doesn't know why she's surprised, there logically would have been some changes here in the past couple centuries. It seems to be another wave, but she's looking at it from the back. She moves to swim around to the front so she can see it in its entirety, only for her eyes to widen. She was not expecting what she is seeing now. It is a wave, one that breaks around an object at the center. A spear. Her spear, from that fatal final fight.

"Well, this is either depressing or heartwarming. I'm not sure which."

There is a sound of surprise from the base of the wave, where the ends wrap around. Pallas shifts to the sight so she can see into the gap, not at all surprised to find her father sitting there. She grimaces, disappointment and heartbreak swirling in her heart.

"I take it back. This is definitely leaning towards depressing."

Triton pushes himself upright, a storm in his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Keeping you from brooding, apparently." Pallas narrows her eyes at him. "By Zeus, what do you think you're doing?"

He blinks in shock. "You can't talk to me like that."

"Oh I can't, can I? Says the one who has spent the past several centuries - I don't actually know how many - just ripping himself to pieces out of grief?!"

"You don't understand-"

"I don't give a damn if you think I don't understand or not. Right now, we are going to get you to stop this toxic behavior for once and for all." Triton opens his mouth in protest, but she just shuts him down. "No. No rationalizing. What you are going to do is tell me what you thought you would accomplish by gripping to- to her memory. Do you actually think she would want this?"

Triton slumps back against the coral wave, placing his head in his hands. "You're not listening. I know that she wouldn't. I couldn't let go, but I am trying. What you said made me try."

With a careful look, Pallas moves to sit on the opposite side of the wave, watching him carefully. "How is that going for you?"

Triton stares at his hands. "I can accept her fate, I can forgive Athena for her part as much as I may not wish to, but it feels like if I try to heal entirely that she'll be gone entirely."

"Nothing is ever gone for good."

"If she was coming back, she would have done so by now."

"Perhaps she wasn't ready."

"Well, I'll never know which of the two it is."

Pallas just raises an eyebrow at him and begins to hum, the melody traveling through the water. It curls around them both, familiar as breathing. She watches him, waiting for the music to click in his mind. It doesn't take long at all before his head snaps up, only a few bars.

"What-"

Pallas gives him a wobbly smile, blinking away the tears that have begun to well up in her eyes. "It's me."

"Pallas?"

She nods, and Triton launches himself toward her. She squeaks in protest as he pulls her into a hug, but she doesn't resist. She can feel him weeping into her hair, but she doesn't care as she hugs him back just as hard. After several minutes, he pulls back slightly to cup her face, staring at her like she'll disappear if he even blinks.

"How? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I don't know how I was reborn and able to keep all my memories. I didn't even get them all back until this morning. They kind of had to be unlocked, actually."

Her father hesitates before speaking, a flash of fear crossing his face as if he already knows what the answer will be. "With what?"

She worms her hand out and pulls salt from the water, coaxing them into the form of her last memory. She doesn't play more than a few seconds of it, not keen on reliving her own death again.

"I had to see it all the way through. I was trying over and over again, but I would always be forced to stop before the end." She snorts. "Looking back now though, it does make sense on why the mirror shocked me so much."

"What?"

Pallas shrugs. "I almost had a panic attack because I saw my reflection and it didn't look like me. At all. I actually think I decided my face made me look like I couldn't even hold a spear, let alone use one." She pats at her hair. "I still need to figure out how to make myself curly again too. Straight hair is so weird. I don't know how Thene does it." When her father stiffens at the mention of Athena, Pallas glares at him. "I told you not to blame her."

"And I told you that I forgave her! But do you have to-"

"Don't you dare finish that thought," she hisses. "She deserves to know just as much as you. You know how close we are- were-" She huffs. "I don't know the terminology anymore."

"Allow me to at least go with you?"

Pallas gives him the side-eye. "Fine, but no interfering. And for my sake, please don't bicker with Percy."

"What's Perseus going to be doing there?"

"I am staying with him and Annabeth, Father." Triton grumbles but says nothing further. Taking his silence for acquiescence, Pallas points at the sculpture. "I still think that you brooding here makes this entire thing depressing. A brooding sculpture in our brooding garden."

"Hush, Pallas."

"Do you mind if I take my spear back?"

He freezes in shock. "You want-" He coughs. "You would pick up your spear again?"

"I would. If nothing else, I need a weapon. No weapon ever worked as well as my spear."

"Then of course you can take your spear back."

With a smile, Pallas plucks the weapon from the grasp of the coral wave, the cold metal thrumming at her touch.

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What do you think of the garden? What about Pallas yelling at Triton? What's going to happen when she sees Athena again? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out