Percy slowed down as he came face to face with the sea. A blast of cold breeze associated with the nights wiped away all his emotions, giving him a clear, rational mind. He sat down in the sand, silently watching couples as they took long walks holding hands and as children sat around bonfires roasting marshmallows. It was almost dark by then, the last rays of the sun disappearing behind the horizon. He thought about his earlier conversation with Annabeth. "Was he really doing the right thing?"

'He's just trying to bait you.'

 'You've already done enough. What more can the gods expect of you?'

'What can can a mortal achieve when immortals failed?'

' Isn't this what you've always wanted? A chance at a peaceful life...'

'What about 'us'?'

These phrases revolved in his mind for a long time before he shook his head. He wasn't going to just sit there and keep analysing the consequences of his actions. By experience, he knew that nothing went according to a plan anyway, if you're a demigod. 

He slowly walked into the water, hoping against hope that a 'Do Not Enter' sign would pop up and throw him out of the sea so he could just go home. After standing there for a few minutes, he concluded that his father might be weak enough to not notice his presence in his domain. Making sure no one was watching him, he dived into the water, swimming deep and further away from the shore. 

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"Change back to your normal form sweetheart." his mum cooed. She looked away lot younger and happier. Must have been before she married Gabe. "But I want to be a mer-mer-" said a stubborn four-year-old Percy, pouting cutely . 

"Do you mean to say a merman?" she further prompted. Percy's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Yes, yes." he eagerly nodded. "Just like the princess in fishtails!" he exclaimed.  

Sally sighed, "Good boys don't have a fishtail baby." She pointed out, feeling tired. The sparkle in his eyes suddenly died out. "Does that mean I'm a bad boy mama?" he asked, looking all serious, at the verge of tears. 

 Sally wondered whether Poseidon will be free enough to change his son back into a human. She tried smiling again. "Percy dear, mama cannot have a fishtail, how will she come with you to your palace?" she innocently asked. Percy thought about it for a while. "I'll teach you!" he said, looking quite pleased with himself. "I'll teach you very very much." He further insisted. 

"But there are no blue no blue candies, no blue chocolate chip cookies in the underwater bakeries!" she tried reasoning up with him. Despair was clearly written on Percy's face when he repeated, "No blue cookies?" 

Sally nodded eagerly, "Yes, people with fishtails are no allowed to eat blue cookies." she affirmed. "Then I don't like fishtail people." Percy declared without moment of hesitation. Within moments he was human again. That was probably the last time Sally Jackson allowed Percy to bath in a bathtub until he got to know of his true heritage. 

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This was the foggy memory his entire plan was based upon. Percy wasn't even sure whether incident was real or not, but he  decided it was worth a shot. After swimming for sometime away from the coastline, he decided to test his theory. 

Sitting cross-legged on a soft patch of corals, he imagined is legs morphing into a fishtail, sleek and long, cutting through the water as he swam. He tried imagining one of the mermen he had seen after the explosion on Andromeda, with slightly  webbed hands and greenish skin. 

He felt a shift of energy around him and when he opened his eyes, he realized that wasn't just a dream after all. From the waist below, he had a fishtail! His tail started with a dark blue at the waist, blending into sea green before melting into a pale green at the tip of the tail.

His tail was slightly longer than his legs and it also felt quite awkward swimming with it, feeling as though he was wobbling around with both of his legs glued together, but he soon got a hang of it. He hid his shirt and though reluctantly, his camp necklace, getting rid of the last connections he had with the world above. But he couldn't bring himself to leave without his riptide even though he had no idea of how he would disguise it. 

Using a near-by colony of kelps, he weaved himself a plain and unflattering shawl with which he covered his upper body, just like the workers at Poseidon's did. Without wasting time, he set out to find Atlantis, for he felt completely prepared for whatever he was about to face, or so he thought. 

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It must have been early morning when he  reached a quite neighbourhood of mer-people. A large number of houses had collapsed and the few that remained intact, had a look of abandonment to them. Percy didn't like this one bit. He felt quite tired and hungry. He regretted not having a good dinner before leaving. 

Feeling tired underwater was a new feeling for him, for the water had always rejuvenated him, going as far as healing the most lethal of wounds in a matter of seconds. He had travelled thousands of miles within a few hours without even a decent meal. Of course, the water still aided him, it did sustain him wonderfully,  but it had lost its magic of rejuvenating him. 

He realized that even if somebody did live there, which was unlikely, nobody would be out this early. He decided to relax in the dense patch of moss that was present near the center of the neighborhood. The moss was softer than any bed he had laid down  in before and within minutes, he had fallen fast asleep. 

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"Hey, you all right?" asked a concerned voice as Percy was shook awake. It was a female's voice. His tried rubbing the sleep off his bleary eyes as he regained his bearings. His momentary panic at seeing her with a tail much have shown on his face for another voice answered from behind her. "Easy there lad. Nothing's gonna harm you here." He assured. They immediately set their tridents aside for further reassurance. 

Percy just nodded. Clearing his voice, he asked "Where am I?" "You're at the skerry neighbourhood. Being so close to the capital, this area had been poisoned during the war. We had been searching for  stray survivors in the north and were returning back to the capital when we stopped nearby. We were scouting the area for threats when I spotted you." the girl answered. 

The boy added, "Couldn't you have been just dead? I'm gonna lose my last galleon for betting against you." he whined. Percy was very sure that answering him back wasn't the smartest choice. "Stop being outrageous Den!" the girl chastised the boy before returning her attention back to him. "How did you survive the poison this long?" she further asked. "I didn't. I just came here a few hours ago." Percy immediately replied. "Oh" they said in unison. "We could take you in, I guess. You look like you could use a meal. We can think of what to do with you next."

Percy did not like the sound of it, but the mention of food had sealed the deal. Not trusting himself to speak, he just nodded. "So, what's your name lad?" she asked as they started swimming to the outskirts of the neighborhood. "Caspian" he had blurted out, the first name he could think of that referred to the ocean. She just nodded and moved ahead, leaving him with the cheeky boy. 

"Hey, I'm Deniz, Lieutenant Colonel." the other guy introduced himself. Percy just nodded, not getting much bearings over the hierarchy of military titles. Denis continued, lowering his voice slightly. "And the bossy girl in front of you is Colonel Deep. Not someone with whom you should mess with, even if she's a damn hot-" but the girl interrupted him. "Enough is enough Deniz. I want you to go around and scout the area. Take half the soldiers on duty with you. I want to reach the capital by dawn tomorrow." 

Denis shot Deep a teasing look. "Missing someone, are we now?" he asked, but he didn't give her enough time to react. "Farewell stranger. Hopefully will see you around." he said, flashing Percy his shining white teeth before giving him and Deep a deep bow and swimming away.

Good thing he left that soon, for Deep was seething in anger within seconds, her maroon skin now glowing with a tinge of purple in them. Percy didn't dare test his luck and converse with Deep. He didn't want to lose his one shot at a hearty meal in an unfamiliar place. 

Left with no other choice, he quietly followed Deep as she led him to the biggest tent among the seven. It happened to be a canteen. Food was being cooked in vessels that were twice as big as him. Instructions were being shouted everywhere. People of varying ages moved back and forth, doing their chores. Deep called forth one of the younger girls who were chopping kelps. She immediately fetched them a bowl of kelp soup and a sandwich kind of dish which had wakame paste between thick slices of sea lettuce.

Percy hadn't realize it was already lunch time. Percy dug into his plate as soon as he got it, for he felt ravishingly hungry. He hadn't eaten in a day and had travelled thousands of miles without a break. The different spices used underwater gave the food an unusual flavour. "Slow down, there. You're acting as though you haven't eaten in days. You'll only make yourself sick." Deep warmed him and Percy found himself obliging, not because he wanted to, but because his appetite seemed to have suddenly diminished. A terrible headache was setting in but he just dismissed it as a side-effect of prolonged hunger. 

Deep did not initiate any conversation, for which he was very grateful, but just sat there observing him as he finished his lunch. She then led him to one of the smaller tents. The tent was sparsely furnished with bunker beds in numerous rows. "This is the quarters for all the people we have rescued in the last few weeks. Freshen up and take some rest. There isn't a specific task for you here, but you'll make yourself useful, am I understood?" she questioned him, for which Percy obediently nodded. 

He didn't bother freshening up though. His head ache had only worsened in the last few minutes. He decided taking few minutes of rest would be the best before he did anything. He lost his lost consciousness as soon as his head hit the pillow. 

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