"There issss ssssomething dangeroussss in the air," Martha hissed as we reached the shore of the creek once more.
I blinked, I didn't sense anything-
My fingers went up to touch my necklace.
Oh.
Oh.
I was still wearing it. I'd… forgotten about it's purpose. It blocked out sensations, blocked me from being overwhelmed… but also blocked me from sensing anything.
I was on a quest, I needed all my senses, not just my normal ones.
"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked as I moved my hands up.
I carefully unhooked the link in my necklace, pulling it off.
Exhaustion surged as a maelstrom of sensations surged over me. The ground swayed, or maybe that was me. The wind maybe?
For just a moment I could feel everything.
The water lapping at my skin, cool and pleasant, yet with clumps of mud dashing through hit. The crinkling book pages under my fingers, ink filled, worn from years of wear. Olive oil on my tongue, delicate with the tint of unfamiliar herbs. The heady scent of metal, radiating heat and warming my face, yet with a touch of salt rubbing against me. Tickling feathers dancing over smooth scales coating my arms like a shield. Lightning crackling distantly, the faint tinge of wine, rubbing salt and shifting sands. The warmth of the sun like a cleansing mist, the steadiness of the Earth.
My head spun as everything swept over me. My eyes prickled.
And just above those scaled a heavy layer, weighing like danger on my mind as an acid burn filled my nose and mouth, chasing away the warm metal and herb filled olive oil.
My ears rang as Annabeth grabbed my arm with parchment clad fingers, Tyson stepping forward in an updraft of heat.
"Percy?" A voice asked through the ringing, I could taste the word on my tongue, drenched in herb tinged olive oil.
And with a gasp of (breathless, endless, cloud filled) air the sensations cleared like the morning mist.
I was swaying, my head filled with cotton.
I could still feel the scales, tickling feathers brushing over me, acid burning my throat, but the rest was dull, faint, practically non-existent. Like someone had taken all the world and carved it into me, only to cover the marks.
I drew a shaky breath in, letting the (moisture filled, mud smelling) air fill my lungs.
At least until I focused and picked up faint traces nudging my senses.
"Percy?" Annabeth asked (again, I realized, and yet I felt odd not tasting the olive oil coated words).
"Sorry," I whispered, leaning against her. "I- I forgot-"
I forgot, forgot, forgot.
Forgot how the world sparked with power and energy.
Forgot how sensations roiled over my skin like swirling currents.
Forgot how I could drown in them if I wasn't careful.
Martha hissed, "Be careful. Annabeth move him to the water."
I shook my head, world a blur of there and not, here and gone, flitting lights and colors and sounds. I could stare at it forever. I couldn't look at it for another second. To much. Not enough. Overwhelming. Underwhelming. I needed- needed- needed something. Something more? Something less? Something that I couldn't name.
I needed it to stop.
But if I stopped it we wouldn't have the aid.
I needed to handle it.
I needed to be free of it.
I needed-
"Here," Annabeth muttered, tugging me to the water with her eyes furrowed. I let her guide me into the creek, our shoes soaking through.
I could stop them from getting wet, but I wanted to feel the water right then.
Wanted to stop feeling everything and only feel one thing. Wanted to feel everything in the world until no one thing could be felt.
The water struck me like a physical blow and I staggered once more.
Annabeth held me up as my sight cleared, the light dancing over the creek and shining green through the trees.
I breathed.
My arms were coated in thick scales (invisible to all but me and my senses). There were feathers brushing over my sides. Acid burned my nose and mouth.
But I could breathe.
"Martha is right," I croaked as I steadied. "We need to get out of here. Something dangerous is coming."
Annabeth studied me with a frown, shifting her weight to better support me.
"What do we need to do?" she asked softly.
I clung to the support for a moment longer, just breathing. The world would be there again when I stood.
I took one last breath, letting the sensations flow over me, then straightened.
"We need to get closer to the bay, so I can call for Belle."
I stepped back out of the creek, my shoes dripping. I thought about drying them, but I was tired. I didn't know how I was going to call Belle and figure out how to get Annabeth and myself there too.
"You need two whistles for that?" Annabeth asked as she quickly moved to walk beside me, Tyson on my other side.
They both seemed concerned that I'd fall over. That was a valid concern.
My steps dragged, I barely had the energy to lift my feet. I just wanted sleep.
"This one," I yawned and held up the whistle with a smaller scale hanging from it, "is Appa's, my Hippocampi. Belle is Triton's, he gave me her whistle too."
"Triton- never mind," Annabeth shook her head while Martha let out a hissing laugh. "But why can't you call Appa too?"
I stumbled over a branch, the acid in my throat burning all the more. I blinked tears out of my eyes as Annabeth helped me steady.
"Appa is too young to carry us like that, he's still a baby hippocampus. But Belle should be able to carry Tyson just fine."
Annabeth frowned, "Wait, what about you and me?"
"Uhhh," I tripped and Tyson caught me. "I hadn't figured that out yet."
Martha hissed, "Tysssson and I sssshall go on Belle. Perccccy, you sssshall carry Annabeth."
"Woah, hold on," Annabeth waved her hand. "How is he gonna carry me that far? I mean even if he were in full health that'd be ridiculous, but he's exhausted right now."
"I can probably do it," I muttered. "The water will give me energy."
"But that's- that's one-hundred-and-thirty-eight nautical miles away! And you look ready to pass out."
"Yeah, hence the breaks."
Annabeth stared at me for a long moment.
"I don't think this is a good idea."
"We don't have much of a choicccce," Martha hissed regretfully.
A cracking noise echoed through the woods and Annabeth flinched.
"Let's speed up," she muttered, shooting a look behind her.
The ground squelched with every step, mosquitos flitting around us. There seemed to be less than earlier, perhaps Annabeth's prayer did help. Glittering webs dripped from trees, spiders swooping at us as we passed.
Annabeth's breath would catch, Tyson would wave his hands, and Martha would shoot up to snap them up. Not a single spider touched us.
Annabeth steadied me as we walked under reaching branches, trees waving in the breeze, water bubbling, whispering, rushing through the creek.
I breathed carefully, the air filled with acid, and tried to focus on something else.
Another sensation, something that soothed instead of burned.
The warmth of heated metal on my face, a faint comfort wafting off of Tyson. The barest taste of olive oil on my tongue when Annabeth hooked my arm around hers to steady me, nearly lost under the acid. Smooth scales curling under the heavy weight above them.
Annabeth breathed hard, sweat coating her arms and soaking her shirt. My own was equally damp. We nearly fell again as we reached the water's edge.
Ahead the water grew deep and wide, the bay stretched out ahead filled with boats. I admired the view for a moment, though my head was throbbing from the heat and everything that was.
Martha hissed, rising on my arm.
"Call Belle, and then get ssssome water. You are dehydrated."
I nodded and stepped forward, away from Annabeth's support.
The water lapped at my feet as I stepped in, energy curling through me and taking the edge off my exhaustion.
It wasn't enough, but it would do.
I took a deep breath, basking in the cool water curling around my legs, but stopped before I went any deeper. I could sense the abrupt drop ahead, the water deepening between one step and the next. I didn't need to be in the deep water for this, just next to it.
I closed my eyes, drawing on the lesson I got from Triton.
It was easy to remember, the memory treasured like all the times I spent with Triton. I opened my eyes and took a breath, calling for the song.
I blew into the whistle.
There was no audible sound, nothing to be heard by me or any other present, and yet the waters rippled and the tone of it echoed through me.
I could almost trace the way it swept through the waves, tone high and pure, until it was out of range.
I tucked the whistle into my pocket and stepped back onto land, drooping as the strength the ocean offered me faded.
"It'll probably take a few minutes," I said.
Annabeth nodded, holding out a water bottle for me. Tyson was swinging a bag onto his shoulders again.
I accepted it, taking a sip from the already open bottle. I wished I could've sat down, but the ground was muddy and probably filled with bugs.
I eyed a snake that slithered past.
"So, uh, we still have awhile to go… how fast can we get there?"
I frowned, draining my water bottle quickly.
"I… fully rested I'm faster than most people but… I'm tired and will be carrying you…"
"You'll alssso be able to get the sssea to aid you," Martha reminded me. "Though you will need thosssse breaks. We sssshall take breaksss often to enssssure you do not tire too much more. And will take time to let you sleep."
I nodded, relaxing.
"It'll be a long swim," I added, turning back to Annabeth. "Both with the breaks, and it getting late into the night, and only having one Hippocampi… if we had another we could move much faster but-"
"But you can only call one," she murmured.
I nodded.
"Well, hopefully it goes well-"
A splash heralded a familiar nicker.
We turned to the water, rainbow glints flashing in my eyes as a tail flashed in the water.
Belle had arrived.
"Wow," Annabeth muttered. "She's beautiful."
"Pretty," Tyson gasped. "A rainbow."
I beamed at their expressions. Belle really was a lovely Hippocampi.
Her scales where a dusty white that slowly brightened to a shimmery rainbow as they reached her tail. Her back fin was brilliant colored, like a rainbow was placed directly on it. The hooves were glistening silver, catching the light and shining like liquid moonlight. The sleek fins on her front legs were a rainbow matching her back fin. Down her neck she had a thick mane, much like land horses. It drifted through the water in a haze of silvery white, glittering like it was dusted with glitter.
All in all, she was gorgeous.
"Hey, Belle," I murmured.
She knickered.
"Prince, foal, hello."
"Talking horsie," Tyson whispered.
Annabeth blinked, "Talking?"
"Tyson, Annabeth, this is Belle. Belle, this is my little brother, Tyson, and my friend Annabeth," I paused as Martha shifted on my arm. "And of course, this is Martha. She's supervising our quest."
Belle flicked her tail, water splashing.
"Quest? Foal too young? Why?"
"It's an important quest," I said. "To save the camp."
Belle looked inclined to keep speaking, but a crashing noise behind us put an end to talk for the moment.
"Alright," Martha hissed. "Time to go. Percccy, take Annabeth."
I passed Martha to Tyson, who let her wind around his arm, then nodded to Annabeth.
"Let me transform first."
"Wha-"
This time I didn't wade in, I jumped straight into the deep end.
Bubbles danced around me, only growing in number as I tugged on my charm.
In a surge of long familiar bubbles and curling currents my legs disappeared. I breathed in the water, drawing strength from it.
With a quick flick of my tails, much less tired than my legs were, I breached the surface of the water.
"Holy Hestia!" Annabeth screeched. "Since when do you have a tail!?"
I blinked up at her in confusion. Did she not know about my tail?
"Uh… since I was nine? Ten? Maybe eleven… it's been a bit?"
"Wha-" she stared. "What the fuck."
Martha hissed out a laugh as Tyson got on Belle.
"You coming?" I asked, holding out a hand.
Annabeth stared at the water for a moment before her gaze hardened.
"Yeah, I'm coming."
She just reached my hand when the trees shook. I wrapped an arm around her, flicking back, as the threat we'd been escaping came into view.
A hydra.
Of course.
What else would it be?
"Let's go," Annabeth squeaked.
I nodded quickly, in full agreement.
"Hang on," I muttered.
She held on tight as I wrapped the water around her, forming an air bubble the opposite of the way I formed water bubbles for Carl and Hippolyta when playing with them.
We dove underwater as the Hydra roared it's challenge to the heavens.
Poor Hydra.
Annabeth hanging onto me actually made it harder to swim then I'd expected. My tails struggled to move right without hitting her too.
It made it hard to maneuver towards the Bay. It was a mess of fishing lines, nets, boats, and trash. I had to dive deep and tug Annabeth around several dangerous. She tried to stay as still as possible to make it easier, but it was a tough swim.
Just getting to the Bay proper took a while, and we paused to breath when we reached the exit of the offshoot. The bay ahead had many more ships than the offshoot had, and I dreaded the swim.
"You good?" I asked Annabeth.
She nodded, "Yeah, you're a fast swimmer."
I flicked my tails, "I have a bit of an advantage."
I wanted to curl up on the ground and sleep, just rest for a while, but I didn't think I'd get that chance. I took a deep breath and headed out.
Belle kept pace with me easily. She could be going much, much faster than me if she were allowed to, but since she needed to stick with me we were held to my speed.
"Would it be faster if you let me swim beside you and just pulled me along?"
I paused, drifting to the side of a fishing line.
"It might," I decided. "Do you wanna try?"
She nodded, pulling away so she could take my hand.
I flicked my tails again, starting slower than usual and speeding up. It was much easier. I still had to be careful not to hit her with my tails and had to make sure to take into account her drag on my right side, but it was still easier than carrying her.
Despite the speed boost, the swim was slower than I liked. We had to go through the entire bay, and my senses told me it was fifteen miles, we'd only gotten through three miles so far.
Despite the exhaustion and the long swim, it was nice to be in mer-form again. I love being able to swim with my tails. I could go so much faster than as a human. I wondered if there was some science to it, there probably was. If I spoke to Lagi he'd probably know.
It was probably in one of the medical books I hadn't bothered to read.
I pursed my lips, shoving the twist in my stomach away.
There were more important things right now.
"Wow," Annabeth whispered as we went under the first bridge.
I followed her gaze, finding several jellyfish drifting past. I carefully guided us out of their reach, letting Annabeth admire them.
"They look… ethereal."
"They're really pretty," I agreed. "You should keep an eye out for- ah, look there."
I pointed to a form gliding through the water.
"A sea turtle!" Annabeth gasped.
"They like jellyfish."
She watched, eyes wide and all but sparkling, as the sea turtle aimed for the jellyfish and snapped one up.
"Over there are some crabs," I said, pointing down to the ground.
She squinted, "I can't see them. You have better eye sight than me."
I guided us lower, but Annabeth winced, rubbing her ears.
"I think you can handle pressure better than me too."
I faltered, "I think we're about fifteen feet underwater… how deep can the average human go?"
"Uh… I don't know…"
"Martha!" I called. "How deep can the average person go!"
Belle swam closer, letting Martha perk up.
"I believe it'sss about twenty feet at mossst. Thossse trained can go much deeper though."
"Okay… so I just need to make it less pressure?"
Martha hissed in agreement.
"How do you do that?" Annabeth asked.
I focused on the water around her. I'd only really been keeping the bubble around her face, it was the easiest to do, but I could move the water, so it was a full bubble around her head.
"There!"
"Oh, yeah that does feel better."
Annabeth rolled her shoulders, raising a hand in front of the bubble to look at it.
"So, wanna see the crabs?"
She perked up, letting me tug her deeper once more.
"Woah," she muttered. "There are so many."
"Those are Ninap Eotem," I said, pointing at the crabs. "And those are Pauru Eotem."
"What do those names mean?" she asked, leaning as close as she dared.
I faltered, "Oh right… those are blue crabs and those are shield crabs."
"Wow," she murmured. "What are jellyfish and sea turtles called?"
"A sea turtle would be a Wasare Temati for a direct translation, but they're called Wa'mati. A jellyfish is a Hamima."
"That's really interesting," she said, letting me guide her up to keep traveling. "Do you know all the names of things in Halmaheran?"
I shook my head, "No, but I know a lot of them. Triton would only speak to me in Halmaheran for a while, to make sure I learned it. It came naturally but I still had to practice."
She nodded thoughtfully, "What are some other words?"
"Well…" I paused to think. "What kinds of words do you wanna learn?"
"Hmm," she hummed to herself as she thought over it. "What about words related to the ocean? Like the water I mean. Are there different words?"
I perked up, "Oh tons of them. Like ta… okay so let's start with the basics. Ocean is moare and sea is wasare."
"Moe-ah-rey and Wah-sah-rey?"
"Yep! And then water is pavu."
I tugged us around a big boat and under two fishing lines.
"That's cool. So those are the three words for it?"
"Nope!" I grinned as she made a confused sound. "There are lots of words just for the type of water or effects on the water."
"Like what?"
I swam us down a bit, ducking down beneath a net and catching up with Belle under another boat.
"Well, underwater is iratan."
"Ee-rey-tan?"
"Ee-rah-tan."
"Okay, got that."
We swam past a few sharks.
"Then there's manurovu which is… uh… I guess the closest translation would be like… sunlight through the water?"
"Can you use it in a sentence?"
"In halmaharen?" I wondered as I tugged her past a nasty bit of trash.
She snorted, "Just the one word."
I hummed, tugging her over a school of fish. "The manurovu is being blocked by the boats."
She squeezed my hand, "That works. Okay, then what else?"
"There's tetotepa, which is like… the way rain hits the water? It doesn't have an exact translation."
"Tey-toe-tey-pah," she muttered. "That's a pretty word."
I nodded, guiding her in a zig zag around some fishing lines.
"There are several words connected to storms and the sea. Teverte, wamuvere, warovere, wativere-"
"Those last three sound similar?" she interrupted as we paused to let a ship pass in front of us.
"Uh… I think they all come partly from wasare."
"What's that mean again?"
"Sea."
"Ah, so then… what do those words mean?"
"Teverte is like… knowing a storm is coming. The other three are the sea before, during, and after a storm."
She drifted next to me as we reached the other bridge.
"We've reached the ocean proper," I murmured.
"How would you say that in Halmaheran?"
I laughed, "Why the sudden interest?"
She glanced at me, expression guarded, "It just… is part of your life. It feels right to learn some of the language you speak."
I softened, offering her a smile. That was… very sweet of her.
"I'd be delighted to teach you. And as for how you'd say that… Tav tal yame turo ert moare armiri."
"That sounds nice. I recognize moare, what's 'we've'?"
"Tav tal would be we've, well, we have. Contractions don't work quite the same. I could also say tav'tal or tav'al but tav tal is the more proper form."
She let me tug her along, going into the actual ocean, far enough to not be caught by the waves closer to shore.
"So… what's the difference between tav tal and tav tal?"
"Tav'tal," I corrected. "You need to run the words together more, so they sound like one word."
"Tav-tal?"
"Tav'tal."
"Tav tal?"
"Tav'tal."
"Tav'tel?"
"Tav'tal."
"Tav'tal?"
"Yeah!" I flashed her a grin. "Just like that."
She brightened, "That's hard, not like in English. I'll have to get better at it."
I laughed and flicked my tails harder. Now that I didn't have to maneuver so much it was easier to speed up.
"I'm sure you'll get it soon."
"So what other water words are there?"
"Uh… let's see… I told you the ones for the sea and storms?"
"Yeah."
"Um… did I tell you motura?"
"What's that word?" she wondered, gasping and whispering "Dolphin" as we passed a pod.
"Dolphin is marame," I said with a grin. "But motura is like… when lightning hits the ocean surface."
"Cool," she mumbled, her wrist twisting in my grip.
I glanced back and saw her peering after the dolphins. I smiled, she seemed happier now than earlier.
I yawned, my arm aching a bit. The water would keep me healed, but even it couldn't fully counter the exhaustion clinging to me.
Belle drifted closer and I saw Martha perk up.
"We'll ssstop sssson. There sssshould be a good placcce on land near here."
"Sounds good," I called back.
"Sorry," Annabeth said. "You're tired, we probably should've rested earlier."
I waved my hand quickly, though I really was tired. The conversation with her had distracted me, but now I was more aware of my tail feeling heavy, my arms dragging, and my eyes stinging with the need to close.
"It's okay, we'll rest soon. Wanna finish up with the water first?"
"Sure, there can't be that many more words, right?"
I hummed, "Well… depends… do you wanna get into the words for currents?"
There was a beat of silence.
"How many words for a current can there be?"
"Uh…" I paused to count mentally.
Strong, weak, slow, fast, unnatural, natural, warm, cold, narrow, wide, the current… were there any others?
"Twelve?" I said hesitantly. "I think."
She made a strangled noise, "Twelve? Why do you need that many words for current?"
"Lots of things!"
I heard her huff, "Okay, not doing the words for current. What are the other words though?"
"Uh… just three I can think of off the top of my head."
"Oh?" she wondered as I followed Belle closer to shore.
"Mhm. Piviua, puhipata, and mairoi."
"What do those mean?"
"Uh…" I was beginning to realize that giving her accurate translations for words that didn't really have a proper translation was hard. "Toxic water is piviua… water with oil spill? I think is roughly it? Is puhipata. Then mairoi is clean water."
"Huh… cool," she muttered. "There really are a lot of water related words."
"Yeah!" I flicked close to land, nearly reaching it. Belle had paused and let Tyson off. "And that's not even including words like tide, wave, or lake or anything."
"Fascinating," she declared. "I've never had too much of an interest in languages but that's cool."
I grinned. This trip was turning out to be a lot of fun.
"Well, anything else I should know while we rest?"
"Oh, there's loads more words."
We swam for hours. Oh we had lots of breaks, and every now and then a shark agreed to help swim Annabeth to give me some rest from swimming for the both of us, but it was still exhausting. It was well past dark before Martha declared we should sleep.
"We'll probably make it in time," she hissed.
"We've covered a lot of distance," I yawned. My head was drooping, and I was barely holding Annabeth's air bubble in place.
If this had done anything it made me good at making and holding an air bubble in place.
She swam to the surface, stumbling onto shore and dropping in the shallow water.
"Yesss," Martha agreed. "If we get up early then we sssshall make it to the port by nine-isssh."
"And we need to be there by-"
"Noon," Annabeth yawned. "That's what the note said."
"If you get there early then you may be able to leave early and ressst on the ride."
"Right," Annabeth muttered, her eyes closing.
"You sssshould not sssleep on the beach," Martha chided. "Take sssshelter in the treesss."
I changed into human form again and stumbled out of the water, Tyson and Annabeth just as tired. We'd been up hours, it was nearly pitch black as we ambled to the tree line.
Very thankfully we found a clearing with soft mosses. I didn't think so much could grow like that so close to salt water, but maybe there was a clearing nearby.
I was too tired to think about it anyways.
Between the three of us we tugged out the blanket from the med kit and a small blanket that each bag had mixed in with the toiletries and settled down to sleep.
I barely remembered to dry us off before we settled down, grumbling at the frizz my braids had developed as I laid down. I didn't have the energy for anything else tonight.
I drifted off immediately. For once I had no dreams.
I woke to Martha's tongue in my ear.
She let out hissy laughter as I yelped and scrambled up.
"Good morning," she hissed.
Annabeth was awake and rubbing her own ear next to me.
A mental glance at the tides nearby gave me a rough idea of the time.
"It's not even second tide," I groaned.
"Much to do," Martha cooed. "Time to get up and eat."
I grumbled as I pushed up, accepting the food from the lunchbox we got on our last quest.
Sandwiches for breakfast, how nice. The fruit was good though, strawberries and kiwi's. And having fresh water in it, even if the water bottle only refilled a little bit at a time, was also helpful.
With breakfast done, Martha ushered us back to the ocean. Why was the sun already up? Gross.
Belle knickered a greeting when we reached the shore.
"Hi rainbow!" Tyson called.
I stifled a grin as I reminded him, "Her name is Belle."
"We ssshould only be about two hoursss out," Martha said. "Ssso let'ssss hurry and be done with it ssso we can ressst."
Rest sounded lovely.
"So, uh, does the sea go by a different type of time?"
I shot a glance back at Annabeth, "huh?"
"You said it's not even second tide earlier."
"Oh… yeah uh… well you know there's two high tides a day?"
"Roughly," she agreed.
"Well in the sea we have it marked into four parts, high, low, high, low. Most can kinda just… sense it. So yeah… this morning's first tide was… early?"
I paused to check the tide then.
"It'll be second tide in about twenty minutes I'd say. In the ocean we go by the tides for time. I think it's… hmm 18th of Verumav right now? I don't have a sea calendar with me… it's around the eighteenth."
"Verumav?"
"It's the sixth month of the sea calendar."
"Ooh, what are the months names?"
I mentally ran through them real quick to make sure I knew them while I swam past some interesting protrusions in the ground.
"Pontimav, Thalamav, Wasumav, Okeamav, Poseimav, Verumav, Tematimav, Kalmav, Mairomav, Retamav, Amramav, Pohumav, Hopumav."
"Wait… one, two… six, seven… that's thirteen months?"
"Yep!"
"The sea calendar has thirteen months then?"
I nodded, though she couldn't see my expression.
"The last month of the year is basically a festival month. Every month before that is twenty-eight mana long- sorry, days long, four mavuho- ta- weeks. That one has seventeen days. The last three are big deals."
I tugged Annabeth around some more jellyfish. Ooh, stingray. Then back down lower so the waves wouldn't push at us.
"That's really cool! I wish I'd known about that. What about the days of the week?"
"Manisima, Ponisima, Parupma, Tatovma, Veroma, Oatima, Himnema," I recited promptly.
"You really do know it well," she murmured. "That sounds really interesting."
"It took awhile to memorize them all," I laughed. "Kept mixing up Ponisima and Parupma."
"I can imagine," Annabeth laughed. "It took me years to figure out how to spell Wednesday, sometimes I still need to double check."
"Ugh, I feel that. I'm so glad Halmaheran has it's own alphabet that's a thousand times easier to read."
"Oh, that sounds lovely- ooh, what animal is that?"
I smiled and resumed tour guide for Annabeth.
I dried us off with a flick of my wrist, then turned to Belle.
"Havua rao ert haumu," I murmured.
Belle knickered.
"Helped Prince, Stay Safe, Tell Prince, Do Well."
"I will, havu."
Belle's tail flicked up, a spray of water flashing rainbows as she dove under water.
A shimmery rainbow streaked from the harbor, until she was out of sight.
"Guess we need to wait for our ride," I said turning to them.
"I believe I've found it," Martha hissed.
Me and Annabeth followed her gaze to see our ride.
"And hurry up with the stocking up supplies!" shouted a familiar voice from the deck. "We've got a lot of water to travel through."
There, standing on an old fashioned steam boat, was Clarisse.
Triton POV
"Belle," I called as she flipped to a stop in front of me. "Where were you?"
"Little Prince, Foal, On Quest, Need Aid."
"What- do you mean Persi is on a quest?" I hissed. "AGAIN!?"
Belle nodded, impressions of Percy, pride, skill, determination, protection.
"What hirir areto dared to send sa'tan marai soha tatu on a quest?"
"Camp, Protect, Help, Important."
I let out a slow breath and turned to one of the three apprentice messengers standing there.
"You," I snapped, pointing at the young mermaid.
She straightened, "Yes, Triton-re'aia?"
"Go and inform Antonio-oro that his team is needed again. It seems Persi is in need of some help."