Percy stood in an empty room.  Columns with beautiful engravings stood on either side, seats beautifully designed with colourful sponges, shells and pearls. The ceiling was very high, with mosaic designs reminding him of his own bunk in camp half blood, which he used to stare at whenever sleep would abandon him. With a jolt he realized that he was Underwater, at his father's throne room in Atlantis.

Standing there felt like standing in Olympus itself, for everything was of the same order, except the throne itself. It was a two seater, unlike Zeus's who had put some good distance between himself and his wife. This just showcased how much power and authority Ampharite held not only in Poseidon's heart, but also on the kingdom.

Suddenly an frail old man appeared on the throne. His skin was wrinkled, clinging to his body as a dry cotton shirt would. His hair was long and messy, accenting his look as a mad man. But there was nothing old in the steely gaze in his eyes or the posture he was supposed to sit. Without a doubt, he knew it was his father. 

"My physical appearance replicates the condition of my palace, my people and my kingdom Percy." he remembered his father telling him before the battle above water started. He immediately rushed to one of the windows. Everything was in ruins. The garden of colourful sponges and kelps he had seen not a month ago was razed to rubble. The columns were scattered here and there. It seemed that the throne room was the only room intact in the entire palace. 

Yet,  when he touched the walls, he could feel a familiar magic spread through it, for it was the magic that flowed in him too, and miraculously, the walls started mending itself, the columns straightened, broken walls became whole again, as though he was watching a movie backwards. 

He turned back to see Poseidon to have closed his eyes and to have begun an ancient Greek chanting with concentration.

"Stop doing that, dear one." said a quite voice from the entrance. A neried stood at the entrance of the hall. She had a pale complexion with dark mocha eyes. Her black hair that came below her waist was tied in a loose plait, the shorter strands fanning her face. She wore a plain dark green tunic made of mosses. The only jewellery she had on her was a circlet of pearls and gold and a pearl necklace. 

She was a beautiful woman, no doubt about it, but she looked dead tired with dull eyes and dark circles lining her eyes. The magic flowing through the walls stopped suddenly. Poseidon sighed, and if Percy was seeing correctly, his father looked twice as old as he did a minute ago. 

What news do you have for me,dear one. I'd rather be left alone at the moment. He said gravely. But Ampharite did not stop at the dias where the ministers usually stood to deliver their message. She walked quietly towards her husband climbing the steps to the dais, her lips pursed. Poseidon frowned at this unusual behavior. "What is wrong, Ampharite?" Poseidon asked urgently, fearing the worse, as he tried to stand up. 

Key word 'tried', for when he tried standing up, his legs buckled and would have fallen face first if Ampharite had not been there to steady him. "I can deal with finding more dead mer-people that the living, I can deal with working without a break for a century if needed, but I'm not going to lose my husband just because he just can't let others do his work for once." she said as she force-fed him a few biscuits of ambrosia. "You needed a large habitable space to make a temporary rehabilitation center. I've given you one." he said casually. "Well, I also need you to stay alive for the next few weeks and regain your godly strength, can you do it for me or is it too much to ask of you? " she snapped angrily. He tried placating her by trying to make her sit beside him. "You know that the state of my kingdom, my palace is where my strength lies. I'm just trying to-"

"Then let a few of the soldiers start with the construction!"

"We have been over this, every minute could be a question of life or death for someone out there. I'm not having any constructions done before every rubble is overturned, every life is saved and those who died are not given funerals.

Ampharite snarled lowly with irritation. "How long will it take you to finally admit that the war isn't really over. The waters haven't rested? Do you really think that by hiding the boy, you can ignore the worse? Our eastern fort has fallen, accept it or not. I don't have to wait for the boy to wake up to come to this conclusion."

The morale of the soldiers is low, so keep it to yourself for now.

You need to gain your godly strength soon if you want to protect those who made it through this war. The usurper, who or whatever it is, will not sit quite for long. You have to stop the second war before it starts."

Ampharite's voice took a gentler tone. "I know who you're worried about, but there is nothing you can do to help if you don't regain your godly strength soon, my lord. We can only pray that they are all alive for now. 

I'm going to be supervising the rehabilitation centers and will not be around for the next three days. You will not be using any of your powers. You will rest and continue giving orders from this throne room alone,  am I clear? " she asked sternly. Poseidon could only nod his head in response. 

Before their conversation could continue, a guard calls out from the entrance. "Lord Delphine, high minister and commander; and Prince Triton, heir to Atlantis seeks his majesty's presence." Both Poseidon and Ampharite straighten up, their face clear of all emotions. Ampharite stands just to the right of the throne. Both of them transform to their underwater form with fishtails. Poseidon's trident appears in his hand. 

Lord Delphine and Triton come forward. Delphine bows deeply unlike Triton, who gave a half bow.

"My lord, we need to cover more area in lesser time if we wish to save the people buried under the ruins. We also need more soldiers to secure the forts."

"Then take all the soldiers present in the castle except for the two at the gates. Send word to every village that since we are still falling short of people, every merchild above the age of fifteen should be make their way to the capital. They can be absorbed into military or medicine based on their skills. Ampharite, I want every handmaiden in the palace to start working in the hospitals and rehabilitation centers so that the soldiers there can help with the rescues. Is that enough Lord Delphine?"

"Absolutely your majesty. Thank you." Delphine said, bowing deeply. 

"I will also take your leave, your majesty." said Ampharite, gracefully swimming out of the throne room, casting frowning look at her husband and son.

"You should call him here father."

"We have been through this talk before son-"

"He has a duty to serve this land, he is your son as much as I am!"

"He is too young-"

"According to the spartan laws followed in your kingdom, he is already a man by legal standards! If it hadn't been for his favor, our nation wouldn't have been in this state!"

" Triton! we were barely keeping up with the war. There was no way we could have won it if the upper battle hadn't concluded, had Typhoon and Kronos not been defeated!"

"The eastern fort had driven it's enemy away. If it wasn't for the Cyclops leaving, the fort wouldn't have been seized by Kronos' forces! If you hadn't abandoned your battle with Oceanus, Atlantis wouldn't have been destroyed to ruins!"

 "Blaming him for our mistakes will not get get us anywhere! He saved Olympus, my actual seat of power! My lifeline! He crossed blades with Kronos not a month ago!"

"So much to protect your favourite son! Your Cyclops son Tyson, who is years younger than him, is here, leading the Cyclopes, after being a part of the battles above. Why is he here then?"

Poseidon looked conflicted at this argument. He sighed, not knowing how to convince his eldest son. Percy had a distinct feeling that Poseidon was struggling to hide something from his heir, but wasn't sure if it was true. Triton took this as a sign of defeat. 

"Send word to him, father. Let us see how much willing is your 'favorite' son to return your favour. You helped him save his world and now he helps you save yours... Let's see if he really lives up to the praises he is being showered with from all the realms."

Poseidon lost his temper this time. His voice boomed across the throne room and electricity cackled from his trident. "So you do accept you need help from a teenager to improve the state of the kingdom you are made the heir of!" he thundered. 

Percy had to grudgingly give credit to Triton this time at least. If he had been in his place, he would have left Atlantis and made it a point to not go near any water body for his entire lifetime. But Triton didn't even flinch. He maintained a poised face as he repeated himself. "Our Nation is in a Critical condition, your majesty. WE NEED EVERY HELPING HAND AVAILABLE." 

The words kept echoing again and again in his head, until Percy woke up from his not-so-peaceful sleep.

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The day passed in a blur with him barely able to keep his attention on his classes. His ADHD was worse than usual as he kept glancing towards the harbour. Thankfully, none of his teachers noticed it.

It was when when he was completing his homework, when he just wasn't able to grasp what Annabeth was patiently trying to reach him for the past ten minutes as he just couldn't concentrate on it, was when he groaned in frustration, covering his face with his hands. 

"There is something I've got to tell you." he admitted, before diving into explaining his dream. The details were already fading in his memory. 

For all her flaws, Annabeth could really listen to you carefully without interrupting you when you are in a real need for it. Percy could almost literally see the gears turning in her brain through her startling eyes. 

She was silent for a while, before concluding, "I still can't believe you had such a vivid vision, seaweed brain. Dreams are more blurred than what you just described you saw. It's likey somebody is intentionally sending you these visions to draw you into the ocean. 

Maybe your father is right. You have been through a tough battle already. Triton is just trying to bait you. For all its worth, I don't believe him at all. He gives me this creepy feeling, I just can't explain it. Maybe he just wants to see what your really capable of, having heard that Poseidon had declared you to be his favourite son, or just wants every helping hand available to reconstruct Atlantis, which is not likely, or maybe he has some ulterior motives of his own. Given your luck, I am really inclined to believe the latter." 

Percy gave it some thought. "But it really doesn't matter in the end, does it? People are dying every minute, help not reaching them on time. The kingdom's eastern fort has fallen, making it vulnerable to further attacks. Poseidon looks as old as he really is, which I'm sure is very very old. If it's some kind of a trap set up by Triton, I could avoid it by disguising myself. No one has to know I'm there there anyway. I can still help."

"But this is your shot at a normal, peaceful life seaweed brain! What about school? What about us? All these years the great prophecy loomed over you, influencing very aspect of your life. You're free of it now! Don't you want a normal life?"

Percy just shook his head in disagreement. Annabeth shot back frustrated. "Di immortals Percy Jackson! What difference can you do alone? If immortal deities can only do so much in a whole month, what can a mortal like you hope to achieve anyway!"

"I don't know, Annabeth! People are dying down there! Does my wish for a normal highschool year even stand against it? I simply can't sit here doing maths homework and kissing you when I did have a hand in bringing Atlantis to the state it is in." Percy lashed out. 

He regretted his words the moment he said them. This was their first full fledge argument since they had started dating. Hurt flashed across Annabeth's pupils like lightning flashes through a stormy day. She soon hid it with cold indifference. 

He was sure that he had blown up whatever chance he had had with Annabeth but he couldn't bring himself to care about it. She was not understanding his feelings of conflict. As though he wanted to let go of this peaceful life! As though he wanted to interrupt their relationship! But he just wasn't able to see any other way to solve this...

Annabeth pressed her lips into a straight line as she asked, as though she already knew the answer, but went ahead and asked anyway. "So what's will you do now, seaweed brain?"

Percy sighed in relief, realising that his wise girl wasn't really that angry with him to not use his nickname. "I love you Wise Girl, and I know you're not really happy with my decision. But I've decided. This isn't about sibling rivalry or something. My father is trying to protect me by not being honest with me. People down there are as important as the civilians here. I did not abandon New York in its time of need, neither do I want to abandon them. I'm already late to join. They may have been losing the battle, but the consequences worsened because I asked them for help. It is high time to repay them back."

Annabeth stiffly nodded, "I'll tell your mom that you'll be out for the weekend for now." Percy leaned in for a goodbye kiss, but Annabeth didn't, pointedly ignoring him. Feeling quite foolish, hurt and as he realized she was still plenty angry with him, Percy stood up," I'll leave now.  Will iris message you whenever I can."  but he didn't wait for her response as he made his way to the front door, slamming it loudly as he made his way towards the beach.

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Hello all, 

Thank you so much for such a wonderful response for the very first chapter! I'm sure you'll like this one much better... Keep voting and commenting (positive or negative)

Love, 

Ava