Poseidon shifted in his throne, an uneasy look on his face. Something was wrong. The currents were off. It felt as though something was...throwing off the balance, the carefully made and crafted balance between predator and prey, peace and war, life and death. 

Poseidon frowned. There hadn't been a war in more than a millennium, and he was proud to say so. He had ruled over The Waters since his father, Cronus, had finished preparing him, leaving it in his hands. It was very unlikely if something were to happen. The Waters had were naturally calming. Even now, he felt his uneasy slipping away slowly as his fin fluttered. 

But, restless, he swam off his thrown, his tail flapping back and forth, agitated. 

He attempted to sooth himself by looking over his kingdom, his Palace, but the many blues and greens that reflected the many shades of his tail did nothing to calm his jumping nerves for once. He sighed, and rubbed his face, scratching the black scales that littered his flesh absentmindedly. 

Again, a feeling washed over him, as though a cold bout of The Waters had washed over him, without any warning at all. His eyes, all colors of the sea, flashed fearfully. He hadn't felt like this since...he shuddered, and shook his head. Something was wrong. Something upset the balance. Something was causing pandemonium. He could feel it. It was causing unnatural vibrations in the sea. 

"Father?" A younger male voice spoke out, making Poseidon's head snap up. His son, Perseus watched him carefully, his eyes reflecting the mood of the sea, his black tail flicking back and forth nervously, and hair floating about his face. Poseidon smiled tensely, though it did nothing reassure his son. 

No doubt his son, his heir, had felt the disturbance as well. Poseidon sighed, looking at the translucent glass with old eyes. He looked back at his son, face worried. "I do not know, son. I fear the worst. I haven't felt a disturbance such as this since I was little younger than you, but at the time my father was still teaching me, so I took my ruling not long after. I just hope tradition wont repeat itself," he said, tail flapping rapidly. 

Perseus frowned, eyes troubled and face concerned. "I'm sure it wont, father. Most likely a hatchet fish was chewing on a shark corpse. You know how they never understood the laws against a lesser being such as itself feeding off such a large threat," Perseus said reassuringly, though the excuse didn't sound correct, or even possible to his own ears. 

Poseidon, though, seemed to ignore it. He was tired. Many of the smaller fishes had been complaining, not to mention the yearly festival coming up, celebrating the ruling of himself. "Yes, yes, most likely." He sighed. "Why don't you go over the plans for a celebration." He said, wearily swimming back to his chair. 

"Yes, father," Perseus said, nodding and quickly swimming out of the grand front room of Poseidon's Palace. Poseidon watched till he could no longer see the purple scales littering his sons back, and slumped in his chair. 

Meanwhile, Perseus swam quickly through the halls, his hair getting pulled away from his face. He swam til he came to his own quarters, where he had been resting with his childhood friends til be felt the shift in The Waters. 

He swam through the archway, batting seaweed out of his face. Hunter looked up from what he was doing, black hair floating around his face. His green eyes showed concern upon seeing Perseus. 

"What happened, Percy?" He asked, making Ash snap his head up, silver hair slapping him in the face, having not noticed Percy's arrival. 

"Somethings...wrong. Upset the balance." Percy murmured, shaking his head. 

They both frowned, sharing a glance, eyebrows furrowing. "Like what?" Ash asked quietly, voice concerned.

"I...don't know. It feels...it feels like death. But there aren't any reports as such. Father would have told me. It's...a disturbance. I don't know how to explain it." Percy sighed, flopping onto his bed, somehow managing to do it gracefully, making Hunter glare. He was the youngest, and the clumsy one of the group. He would never be able to pull that off.

"Any ideas?" Hunter asked, flopping awkwardly on the huge bed to get more comfortable, black scales of his arms and back glinting as he moved to his stomach.

"Honestly? No. I've never felt anything like this." Percy said, sighing.

Ash scratched at a scale on his shoulder thoughtfully, the silver scale almost impossible to see with how pale he was. Though, most Mer-People were pale. None dared to go up to where the light from The Great Perl touched The Waters. Where the Mer-People lived was a dark place, most the light being from passing Anglerfish and the rooted Tunicate. It made the people with darker scales look menacing. You couldn't even see the dark purple scales littering the black tail, whereas the black scales littering his fathers multiple green tail were easily spotted. 

"Any ideas in that big brain of yours, Ash?" Hunter asked, fluttering his eyelashes.

"No. I have no idea," He confessed, looking just as unsettled as Percy felt.

"Well...maybe it's nothing," Percy said after a moment of tense silence. "we should get going. Father wanted us to look over some things for the celebration in a few days," Percy announced, quickly getting up and floating near the door. Hunter flailed slightly, struggling to get up easily, green tail flapping while Ash snorted at him.  

"You're going to end up walking into a wall one of these days, knocking yourself out," Percy mused, rolling his eyes. Hunter huffed. 

"You mean again?" Ash broke in, a small smile on his lips. 

"Whatever, squidholes." Hunter said, face red.

"Don't even try, shark fucker." Percy snorted, swimming easily out of the seaweed. The two followed behind him, Hunter looking mildly surprised he didn't get tangled in them. Again.

~~~

The Palace was full of Mer-People, the majority of the population having arrived for the parting. Bright and dark colors flashed against the glass of the Palace, the intricate angles and tilts giving off the most light, with the strategically positioned Anglerfish. 

Percy smiled at the multitude of Mer-Persons from his place next to his fathers thrown. Though, the smile was strained. He glanced at his father, watching as his old face reflected Percy's feelings before going neutral. The feeling of unease had been growing, making the king and prince of The Waters agitated, and restless the past few days. 

But, the celebrations were already almost over, and there had been no sign of disturbance thus far. Father and heir were starting to relax. Slowly, but still. 

That was when a quake shook the sand beds, rock walls and coral mazes. The Anglerfish cut off the lights, as suddenly as the quake. It was dead silent for two moments after the shake, before a piercing scream ripped through the air, chilling the blood of everyone in the room.