Mera kept fighting around looking at all the sailors around her, Galen noticed this quickly, "lads we are making her uncomfortable. Let's step aside for now, let Percy deal with her for now."
The crew nodded and quickly went off their own separate ways. Percy stayed with Galen just behind him, "take care of her Percy, she looks like she might faint at any moment."
Percy nodded, "I will, by the way how long do you think it will take to reach Nassau?"
The man looked at the the sun, "well according to the sun it might take us an hour or so to get there."
Percy looked surprised, "really?"
"No you idiot! Who the fuck can tell locations based on the position of the sun? What do I look like a god of navigation? I'll have to check the maps you made to give you a real answer. Though I'm surprised you can't sense where we are."
Percy frowned, "I can, but I can only tell that we are somewhere past the coast of South Carolina but before Miami. Maybe my connection with the sea isn't good enough to give an exact location."
Galen nodded, "yeah it's okay for now. I'll get this done, you talk to the girl."
Percy nodded and when Galen left he turned to Mera, "feeling better?"
"Much, I am still not used to humans," Mera said with a frown, "Kelly though..... she loved humans. She wanted to see one in the future....she won't ever get the chance now."
Percy wanted to speak up and reassure her again that it wasn't her fault but now something changed, there wasn't' fear or guilt, only anger.
"Did it suffer?" Mera asked with rage pouring out of her in waves.
"Yeah...yeah it did."
Mera growled, "It deserves eternal torment." Percy didn't say anything, he simply nodded along. "It all began back in atlantis," Mera's voice took on a gentle tone as she began her story, "I...I wanted to go out into the world and explore. I was being foolish now that I think about it. My father had just punished me and I wanted to spite him so I gathered my friends and simply left. We traveled far and for a while it was good. Then that thing got to us."
Her voice had changed now, it was back to fear, "it tortured us for hours, it felt like days. It broke us mentally, destroyed every piece of magic we could use and threw it back at us. Every water spell we had was useless. It then pierced us with it's fangs over and over again. Kelly died screaming. She killed herself just to get away from the pain. It didn't like that. To use her as an example it ate her whole. Then it hurt us all one by one. It skewered the one who refused to bow with the spikes on it's tail while eating those who died in the process. The only reason I am alive was because it wanted to lure my father....only you came instead."
Mera looked at the demigod, "how did you defeat it?"
Percy snapped his fingers forming an ice ball in his hand, "ice. That thing could control water, but it couldn't control ice. I mainly used every light spell I had, I had a light canon which burnt a hole through his head after which me and the rest of the crew tossed crude oil on the bastard lighting him up."
"Did he scream?"
"Yes, he did."
"Good." There was something sadistic in Mera's tone, but that was understandable. Percy wasn't one to judge; if that thing had done something to the people he cared for he would have probably disobeyed Clotho and tried to use the crystal of Kefka to bring the monster back just to torture it forever.
"So what now?" Percy asked, "we are on a quest, I'm a demigod from camp half-blood and right now I'm heading on a very dangerous mission. If you want you can come with me and stay on the boat, or I can I don't know call you a sea taxi or something? Is that even a thing?"
Mera smiled, "there is no such thing as a sea taxi Percy. But... you are right. I do wish to go home. My friends had family, they all deserve to know what truly happened to their children."
Percy nodded, "I'll call my dad and tell him to send someone to pick you up."
Mera nodded, "thank you Percy."
The demigod walked away leaving the mermaid alone, she looked like she needed some time alone. He summoned a huge mist causing a rainbow to form inside it when the sunlight passed through. Percy took out one drachma and tossed it into the rainbow calling up his dad after saying the prayer to Iris.
Soon the image cleared up to reveal the form of his father who looked like he was sitting on a big throne underwater. "Percy?" Poseidon asked as a smile bloomed on his face, "what a surprise! It's been a year hasn't it son? So what's the occasion? Or is this a simple hello?"
Percy smiled, his dad sounded so much like him, or was that the other way around? "I actually called to ask you a favor dad."
"Shoot."
"Do you know a mermaid named Mera?"
Poseidon looked startled, "why yes, yes I do. She's my granddaughter, Triton's daughter. She recently went missing and no one knows where she or the rest of her friends are."
Percy nodded, "well I found her, only her. Some kind of sea monster lured them all outside and then tortured them. It seemed the monster was trying to call Triton out for a fight but I heard it first and I ran over as quickly as I could." Percy had carefully worded his words. He had said lured so that Mera wouldn't be blamed for wanting to leave the city, it wasn't much but anything would help in taking the guilt off the poor girl's shoulders.
"You found her?!" Poseidon asked in surprise. He then turned off screen, "Triton we found your daughter!"
Suddenly the rainbow shifted again as a green skinned man appeared. His eyes were green like Percy and Poseidon but his facial structure was more feminine. While Percy looked more Greek with his tanned skin and strong jaw triton had a very sharp face that reminded Percy of a shark. The man had black hair like Poseidon but it was tied back in a pony tail.
"You have found my daughter?!" Triton yelled into the Iris message, "where is she?!"
"She's safe aboard the Ascension."
"The Ascension?! Odysseus' ship? That scoundrel has probably already defiled her!" Triton turned off screen "father you must do something about this!"
The image changed again showing Poseidon, the sea god looked tired, "is she safe Percy?"
The demigod nodded, "I'm keeping her safe but I still have my quest to complete. I'm heading towards Nassau now and it might get dangerous. Can you come and pick her up? She has been through hell and back dad, I think she really needs her family."
Crash!
Percy jumped a little hearing the sound of a door being broken coming from Poseidon's side of the message. Poseidon sighed, "I just got that door fixed. Anyway Percy Triton is coming to get Mera. By his speed I'm, sure he'll be there in no time."
Percy nodded, "thanks dad. Oh and by the way do you know where we are? I can't exactly tell our location, but I think we are close."
Position blinked, "really? You can consciously use your connection with the sea now? That's amazing Percy! We need to celebrate when you get back! Not many, if at all, can do such a thing. Worry not Perce, you are just two hours away from your destination, you should arrive there soon enough."
Percy smiled, "thanks dad."
The sea god nodded and smiled back, "oh and by the way you never did tell me who kidnapped Mera and the others. Was it Oceanus?"
Percy shook his head, "no, it was Janai'ngo."
Poseidon blinked, his face slowly drained of all colour and then, "WHAT?! You faced a Great Old One and didn't tell me?!"
"Ah sorry dad got to go, super emergency!" Percy said waving his hand in front of the rainbow.
"Get back here Perseus Jackson! Your mother and I are going to have a word about your recklessness!"
"Sorry what was that?! I couldn't hear you!" Percy yelled out as the Iris message quickly disappeared. Percy sighed in relief." Whew.... Dodged that one." He walked back towards Mera's ice tank just as Zeff walked over with a plate of fried seaweed.
"Here, for the mermaid," the cook gave Percy the plate.
"Thanks Zeff, I'll make sure she gets them," Percy nodded and walked to the tank. Mera looked better now, less distraught and more calmed down. She looked at Percy and smiled, "breakfast is served."
Mera licked her lips looking at the seaweed, "that looks delicious Percy." Percy smiled and jumped into the tank splashing water everywhere.
"Here you go," Percy said giving the plate to Mera who quickly dug into the meal like it was going to be her last. Percy was beyond astonished, "boy you sure can eat."
"Food has never tasted this good before," Mera commented as she swallowed the seaweed whole quickly eating the rest. "Percy could you please reform some ice around my tank?" Mera asked pointing to a hole in her tank which was slowly enlarging by the moment.
"Oh, right sorry, forgot about that," Percy said as he froze the whole up before reinforcing the entire tank, "there, it should last for about a few more hours now."
"How can you control ice so easily?" Mera asked, "I do not know anyone in Atlantis who can do such a thing."
Percy shrugged, "it's a gift."
Percy smiled and let the girl eat as slowly they began to talk more about Mera's life in Atlantis. Percy didn't really know anything about the city, even though he technically was the prince of said city, and every thing Mera said about it amazed him.
'Maybe I should visit some time,' Percy told himself. Mera's eyes sparkled when she described her childhood home, Percy could tell that talking about it took her mind off her friends so he didn't feel like interrupting.
It seemed that Mera was a scholar above all else and that she loved books, something most people teased her about by calling her a daughter of Athena.
She also knew a variety of spells, she showed Percy one where she hardened a handful of water into a sphere. When Percy touched it it felt like a solid mass, like a piece of rock, it seemed Mera was good at Water transformation, something Percy, while good at, didn't really learn to develop so well.
Percy could harden the surface of water to walk on, but Mera could harden the water around the entire boat and lift it out of the sea. Maybe Percy should think about grinding his water control skills.
Mera was also skilled in potion making, something Percy didn't even know was a thing. But apparently everyone in Atlantis was crazy about potions and loved Mera's ability to make a cure for nearly any disease. It seemed one of the reasons Mera and the others were so far out was because they were looking for a particular herb that was very rare to find.
Soon however two hours passed by quickly as the man in the crow's nest called out, "land ho!"
Percy got out of Mera's tank and looked ahead and there it was, Nassau. The boat was far away but when Percy activated his 8.0 Eyesight perk he could clearly see the dock filled with cruise ships and tourist attractions along the streets.
"We are almost there lad," Galen said walking up to Percy, "do you know where exactly we need to go?"
"Wait, I think I got a map from Hermes," Percy said opening his inventory. He had stored everything Hermes had given him inside his inventory and this was the first time he actually looked at them. There was the can of glue and multivitamins along with spare clothes and....is that a pirate costume?
Percy smiled at Hermes antics and quickly took out the map he got in the bag. It showed Nassau and there was a big red dot along the west of the island on something called, 'Albany Golf course.'
"How did you do that?" Galen asked, "you just pulled it out of thin air!"
Percy raised an eyebrow, "you didn't know? It's a gift from dad, long story. Anyway, we need to enter through here," Percy said pointing at the beach closest to the golf course, South Ocean beach.
"Hmm, how about here," Galen pointed to a small inland of water called Albany Marina,"it looks like a great place to dock the ship."
"I don't know, it looks like a place mortals use a lot for their boats. Can we blend in?" Percy asked.
"We'll manage," Galen said turning to his men, "alright lads we are going to the southern region of the island, turn west and go around!" He then turned to Percy and pointed at the map, "can I have this?"
Percy nodded, "yeah sure." Galen walked away and Percy turned to Mera, only this time Mera wasn't alone as Marc and William were there talking to the mermaid. She smiled and laughed at something the Frenchman said, they looked like they were getting along well. Percy smiled, she was getting used to humans.
Seeing Mera being kept company Percy decided it was time to change, after all he had been wearing the same clothes for over two days. It was a good thing Annabeth wasn't here otherwise she would have thrown him into the ocean.
Percy walked into the sailors' quarters and quickly took off his jacket and set it aside. He opened up his inventory and looked for clothes to wear. There were the ones Hermes gave him but they all looked...silly. Percy didn't really know what the god was thinking, but one thing was for sure, he didn't have any sense of style, but then again neither did Percy. But even Percy knew that a pair of bright neon green pants weren't cool.
The demigod sighed and looked through the inventory until something stuck out to him; it was the pirate costume Hermes had packed for him. Percy grinned, Hermes may have meant for it to be a gag gift but Percy liked it.
The demigod took off his shirt and pants and quickly put on a new set of boxers. He then took the pirate costume out of his inventory and put his old clothes inside. He quickly changed and formed an ice mirror in front of him to see how he looked.
He now wore a white shirt with blue highlights underneath a leather vest that hugged Percy's chest tightly. He had leather bracers on each arm with a red sash tied around his hip serving as a belt. His pants were blue and baggy with leather boots at the bottom tying all the excess cloth together and a gun holster at the side of his hip for a fake toy gun. He had his armband of Cerberus tucked underneath his right bracer and a red bandanna tied around his head completing the pirate look.
Percy was impressed, it wasn't really that cheesy, heck it was halfway decent. He chucked the toy gun to the side and took out Yew's Breath from his inventory. He still hadn't returned it to Odysseus, not that he could, so for now it served as his primary weapon. He cut a hole in the bottom of the holster and slided the blade in. It was a loose fit, but he would manage.
Percy put on his leather jacket over his new costume and surprisingly he could pull it off. 'Hm, maybe I do have a sense of fashion.'
Ping!
'You have got to be kidding me.'
You have gained a new skill!
