Percy arrived just in time to get into his marching positions. He was to stand beside Sabrina Eldoris. She was a lean mermaid with sandy skin, hazel eyes and dark brown hair and tail. She showed no signs of registering his presence, which was fine with him. They were soon made to march for three whole hours, drilling it inside them that discipline was more important than any disadvantage they would be facing in battle. They were made aware of all the signs that would be used by their future Colonels and Major Generals.

Percy regretted not eating anything since yesterday. He hadn't had the stomach to digest anything this morning. He was late to realise that mer-people only ate twice a day and their next break would be at nine in the evening, only after the combat training.

Bythos came down strolling slowly, after all the other teams had already started practicing. Percy couldn't help but chuckle to himself as Ryan and Zale struggled hard to keep their annoyance in check as they introduced themselves politely to Bythos, gently reminding him of all the relatives they could name and remember the profession they were in.

It must have been a shocker to the two of them when he recognised the 'Eldoris' House name, telling her that her mother had a gift in healing and had been the head healer of the main military until she was killed in the eastern battle, expressing his apology. He further enquired about the reason why she chose to be a soldier, when her family was mostly into medicine. She just mumbled a quick 'I'm just interested in it, sir. "

He just passes over the rest of them, just asking their names. A second glance was all the indication he gave him that he had realised that he was a bastard. Then they were urged into the eastern part of the ground where a long row of mermen dummies stood. A read dot was painted over the forehead, heart and a point on the middle lower portion of the tail, indicating the three fatal points of a mer-person.

"You'll all be learning archery, crossbow and throwing axe today." he informed them. Percy's nightmare come true. He couldn't help but think Apollo was enjoying himself in his sun chariot, wherever he was, getting back at him for the scratch on his golden bird he and Grover had rescued sometime back. Artemis must have helped too, for three archery weapons together couldn't come on their own. He was sure that his luck wasn't that bad, atleast hoped so. 

Bythos instructed them, carefully showing the poses, mistakes and tricks for a good aim. Percy had to admit, he was really good at teaching, especially considering how lethargic he usually seemed at other times. Percy was reminded of his own mentor Chiron at camp Half-blood. 

They all took their positions after that. A dummy and a bow had to be shared between five people. He had been grouped with Jordan, Sabrina, Nori and Aaron. 

It was going to be a long day, he sighed, picking up the bow and arrow. He took aim, tried following all the rules set by Bythos and released the arrow. The arrow missed with a lot of gap. The Water brothers took a special interest in taunting him, Ryan just smiled snidely at him a few times, but he as more focused on competing with Zale, who had been trained in the arts of war since childhood.

Jordan didn't bother with practicing at all, standing at the very back and letting them practice. Percy had half a mind to do the same too, but he didn't want to get into trouble, so he continued humiliating himself repeatedly. Thankfully,  he wasn't the only one this bad at archery,  seeing the number of stray arrows that came their way. Aron was just as bad as him, and he did not look amused to be grouped together with a bastard. The only person who had managed bullseye after bullseye was Sabrina, who hadn't missed a single shot. When Bythos came to inspect them after nearly two hours, Sabrina showed off her skill with grace, hitting each of the targets in the centre. Bythos wholeheartedly praised her. 

Jordan tried next. He hit arrow after arrow at the targets, slicing Sabrina's arrow into half and half at all three points, and then slicing his own arrows in the centre. His performance left Sabrina fuming and everyone else shocked. Bythos was all praise for him, forgetting Sabrina completely. Ryan and Zale were able to hit two of the three targets while the others were able to hit at least one target. He was one of the few people who were able to hit none.

This cycle continued for crossbow and axe throwing too, where Jordan's performance was the best while Ryan, Sabrina and Zale were among the top. The others in his team were at least average, while he was just dreadful.

Percy was downright starving when the training for the day came to an end. The scoreboard had been put up in the cafeteria. Among the two thousand trainees who participated today, Jordan had finished second, beaten by a girl named Cleo. If the fire in his red eyes were anything to go with, he was not pleased by the results. Zale had finished at six hundred something position and Ryan at eight hundred something. Sabrina was within thousand awhile the rest of his teammates had finished withing fifteen hundred. He was placed at thousand nine hundred something, owning to the one crossbow shot which had hit the target of a dummy next to the one he was aiming at. 

He wasn't even allowed to sit alone, as everyone had to sit with their room mates. His roommates were openly giving him a wide breadth now, as though his lack of skills in archery was contagious. Zen and Ryan were trying to get close to Sabrina so that they could partner up for the display that was to take place at the colliseum. The other girls just continued speaking in whispers, not even acknowledging his presence. 

It was when dinner was almost over that the the two brothers lifted their eyes from their food and noticed him. "Loser", they sneered together. "Wouldn't have expected anything more from a bastard anyway." One of them said. Percy tried hard not to let them invoke him. Not because he didn't want to cause trouble, but because he was in his element and the smallest slip up would have him revealed. He had learnt in his short time here that most mer-people were like mortals, without any innate powers. 

After the final course of the meal, Sabrina offered to fill and bring their cups for the toast. When he had tried to take one of the cups, she slapped his hand away, "A bastard doesn't get to choose." she snapped, before handing him his cup. It didn't look any different from the cup he was about to take anyway. A number of people around him heard the exchange and sniggered quietly. Others suddenly grew very interested in their nails, as heat rose to his cheek. Before he could voice out his anger, the toast had begun. 

Bythos, George and Bill stood up at the other end of the cafeteria. "To all the innocent civilians who were taken from us too soon. To all the soldiers and healers who courageously fought for their king, giving up their lives in the process. And finally, to his Majesty, the Supreme Lord of the Oceans, we wish to thank him and his family's efforts to keep the kingdom from succumbing into darkness. To the Gods!" He finally toasted. "To the gods!" Everyone joined him in chorus before gulping down their drinks. 

Percy was still seething due to the  humiliation he had to bear moments ago. Yet, he quietly acknowledged that he liked the way the toast was made here, where soldiers and civilians were thanked before  his father was. People slowly started to shuffle out the cafeteria towards their makeshift dormitories. As soon as the instructors were out, the Water brothers were upon him. Augustus punched him in the jaw suddenly, catching him completely off-guard. "What was that for?" Percy asked angrily. "Just reminding you to know your place. We saw the look you gave Sabrina. You have no right to talk back to us. You are beneath us. Remember it." He warned. 

"I don't need people with brains the size of a peanut to be telling me what I'm supposed to do. That is beneath me too!" He sassily replied back. A ring of spectators slowly gathered around the three of them, booing and howling them to get aggressive. The two brothers turned a lovely shade of red before heading to him head on. They were impulsive, launching at him with their bare arms, not even bothering to take up their weapons. Percy landed a puch or two whenever he could, but most of the time he just evaded them, calling them names. Not even five minutes had passed before the two of them turned green, for different reasons this time. They clutched their  tummies as it made a funny sound. "something in the food didn't sit right with us" one of them mumbled, "This isn't over" they warned him as they hurried out, no doubt but to find the nearest restroom. The crowd roared in laughter as they left. 

Knowing that he wasn't really welcome in the dormitory, especially since he was supposed to stay with the girls, he aimlessly wandered around. He had been dead tired before dinner, but the fight had somehow energized him. He once again found himself on the cliff that overlooked the palace, situated very close to the main entrance. 

"You seem very attached to the view here." spoke a quiet voice behind him. Percy  turned quickly, surprised to Sabrina walking towards him. "None of your goddam business" he quickly retorted. His cheeks burnt as the memory of his humiliation came back to him vividly. "I'm here to apologise. It was not right of me to talk so belittlingly about you."

 "Too late to repent now, the damage has been made." He gruffly answered, watching her face carefully. She really did look sorry, though a bit irritated too. Confusion clouded his features as he made the connection. "Unless...unless you did it on purpose, to save me. You had spiked one of the cups I was about to take, hadn't you?" 

"Glad you caught on soon. I was worried about how to make you believe me." She said, relieved. "I thought I saw you add something to the drinks, but didn't think too much about it. Will those two buffoons be okay?" "Yeah... But what does a buffoon mean? Is that a new slur in trend? She asked, looking genuinely curious. "No, it like someone who does stupid things. Like a Jester in court. Are there jesters in palace now too?" "No, his Majesty never liked one of those. But I think you could still find them in many of the lords' court." She replied.

" Anyway, the effect of those drinks would stay for only an hour or so. I'm sure they would have passed out cold on their beds by now. They may feel a bit drained tomorrow, but they got what was coming for them for treating you so poorly." She waved her hand in a dismissive way. "I brought you some herbs, the punch Augustus gave looks nasty." She said, bringing forward a purplish-green weed. It will reduce the swelling, she added. Percy slowly touched his jaw, only to wince slightly. It wasn't hurting him, maybe because he was underwater, but it did feel swollen. 

Yet, he hesitated. "I don't trust you yet." He said. "I promise on everything I hold dear that I am not lying." "And what would those be?" He asked, still sceptical. "My honour and principles, my family, my pet Zuzu." She replied, sounding sincere before whistling. A small seahorse slowly came into sight from behind a boulder. 

The seahorse's eyes widened in recognition. " Oh my god, oh my god, it is Posiedon's son. It's the prince, it's the prince." Zuzu kept repeating, running around in circles. "Calm down buddy." Sabrina said placatingly, trying to hold him down. "Why isn't she bowing down to you?" Zuzu asked, looking outraged at his master. "Because she doesn't know, and I want it to be that way." he telepathically told the cute yellow seahorse, quietening him down. "I had never seen him warm up to anyone this soon. Seems like you are trustworthy" she said. "Same goes for you too", he said, taking the small weed from her hand and chewing on it slowly.

"The other girls wanted to talk to you too." Sabrina informed him, just as Gilly, Muriel and Nori came into view. Percy became guarded once more. It was Nori who stepped forward to talk first. She was twirling her bushy red hair with her finger. "Caspian, this stigma around bas- I meant children without a house name, has been there for a long time. But it was never this severe. Without having guidence in their early years, most of them turn into thief's, decoits and more. During the war, they grew so much in number and so bold that you wouldn't come across a single person who hadn't dealt with them at least once.

"We're not saying what we did was right." Muriel joined in. "We shouldn't have judged you so harshly, we shouldn't have been so mean from the very beginning, but we just hope you realise what we did and why we did it." 

"Sadly, all the boys in our bunk have an elite background, who live with an air of supremacy around themselves. We can't change what they think of you, but you have been nothing but a gentleman with us." Gilly guiltily admitted.

"Could we all start over" Sabrina spoke at the very end, voicing all thier thoughts together. All the five of them, including Zuzu, looked at him pleadingly. There was no doubting their genuinity here.

Percy sighed internally. Maybe it wasn't the perfect start he had imagined for his friendships underwater, but it was somewhat of a beginning atleast.

Percy took a bow. "Lovely night ladies. I'm Caspian. Nice to meet you." The girls giggled at his antiques, but nonetheless followed his lead. "Lovely night to you too sire. I'm Lady Sabrina of House Eldoris." Sabrina introduced herself first, followed by others. Everyone burst out laughing as soon as the last person to introduce herself, Nori finished.

Just as he had thought, it wasn't the perfect start, but still, it was something.

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A/N:  Hey, guys, it's been a while since I last wrote. Firstly, I would like to thank  all those people who supported this book even after realising it wasn't updating anytime soon.Thank you

Sadly, I'm not sure when the next update will be, but I'll try to make it soon.

Finally, vote and comment guys, what do you think of it?