The Silver Ring (PJO)

Chapter 11

"So?" I prompted. "Are you going to tell me?"

"It all started a few days ago," Dad said. His body was tense, as though I wouldn't like what he was going to say. "When I learned about the stupid girl . . . Hey, I'm kind of sounding like Artemis except hating a girl," Poseidon mused thoughtfully, getting distracted from the subject, except the distraction was himself. He caught himself. "What? Oh . . . er . . . Where was I?" He looked at me in confusion.

I sighed in exasperation, but couldn't help smiling. "You didn't even finish your first sentence, Dad."

"Oh, right. Sorry," Dad said, not sounding sorry at all. There was a twinkle in his eye, as though he had done that purposefully to make me smile. "Athena came up to me after the daily meeting and informed me about her daughter's impudent behavior, and apologized profusely about her daughter. I figured it must've taken her a long time to swallow her pride—which ought to be a few cities wide—and admit a flaw in her favorite daughter, who I hope gets her comeuppance—whether it be from me or not.

"The whole rest of the day, I tried to decide whether or not to tell you. Before I could actual decide, Zeus came into Atlantis without my permission, scaring all my people half to death. He then stormed into my throne room, and started vociferating about me stealing his favorite teddy bear—"

A snort escaped me. "Seriously?"

"Well, not exactly," Dad admitted. "It was something about me forgetting to tell the Elder Cyclopes about making his blasted firecracker better. Besides, did I thank you for freeing them and persuading them to stay in Atlantis?"

"Yes, Dad," I groaned. It was one the hardest quests I had ever done, but I accepted only because my Dad had asked me. "You gave me a personal tour of Atlantis. Fifteen times."

"What else am I supposed to do? I helped you train, spent more time with you—which was admittedly more of a gift to me than to you—showing the Crown Prince around was important for morale and—"

"Wait a minute. I'm the crown prince?"

"Maybe?"

"Dad, I told you how I feel about getting titles. Plus, Triton's going to be out to kill me now."

"Oh no, nothing like that," Dad assured me. "In fact, Triton forced me to give you that position. He didn't get demoted: I crowned him King of Atlantis, but I'm still technically their king, since I'm their god. By the way, Triton's eager to see you. Perhaps you could meet him later in the week."

"Oh. Okay. But I'm not going to start acting like I'm the prince. And I expect no responsibilities of ruling the kingdom for all of eternity."

"Of course, my boy!" Dad said. "Before, the people unofficially looked to you as prince. But now, it's official!"

"Why couldn't they look up to Triton?" I whined, acting like a kid whose Dad said no to getting ice cream.

"They do. But I didn't see Triton defeating Kronos or—"

"Dad, stop," I groaned. I felt my ears turn red in embarrassment. "It was all Luke."

"Trying to complement you is a frivolous endeavor," Dad muttered. "Point is, some people know what's true, and act appropriately."

"What did you want to tell me again?" I asked, not even bothering to reply.

"I forgot." When I gave him an exasperated look, Dad said, "I'm pretty sure it's your fault."

"How is it mine?!"

"Remember when you were questioning your father's decision to make you crown prince?"

"Okay, then that's where we left off," I said, smirking triumphantly. 

"Fine, fine," Dad said, putting his hands up. "I had a brilliant idea that killed two birds with one stone: a marriage!"

The cool sea breeze died, as though even Aeolus was gobsmacked.

"Dad," I said slowly. "You thought a marriage between me and a daughter of Zeus would rectify your relationship with Zeus?!"

"Yes?" Dad said, the word coming out more like a question than an affirmation.

The winds picked up again, as though they wanted to whisk Poseidon away someplace far, far, away so he could rethink his situation.

"And what was the second reason?" I asked, my voice growing angrier.

"Um . . . that it might . . . help you . . . recover?" Dad squeaked out.

The scene would have been funny to a passerby: The great god Poseidon scared of his son, which came as rarely as a pink elephant. But since I wasn't a random passerby, I didn't think it was funny.

"How on earth would a marriage fix your relationship with your brother? At least you should've married Triton! Zeus doesn't like me!"

"Actually, Zeus thinks of you very highly. And Hades . . ." Dad trailed off, as though he didn't want tot say the last part.

"This was for Hades too? He hates me!"

"That's not true! You gave him back his throne. Face it, Percy, both of my brothers like you, but they don't like to show it. Plus, my relationship with them already has increased in a couple of days!"

"How did you get Hades into this? Unless . . ." I trailed off, growing worried and appalled. "Please don't tell me I'm married to two people: A daughter of Hades and Zeus."

"Nothing like that!" Dad exclaimed growing horrified himself. "I married you to a daughter of Zeus who Hades also likes and who will support you."

Another abysmal thought crossed my mind. "It's not Thalia right? Because I—"

"No, no, no!" Dad exclaimed again. "I know you see her as a sister, I wouldn't do that to you. It's somebody else who you don't think as a friend."

"How will they support me then if they don't like me? Is it—"

Dad interrupted me by waving his arms wildly. He kind of looked like an out-of-control puppet. "I'm not telling you anything else, and I'm definitely not letting you finish your thought. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

I hadn't noticed that it had turned dark, since I was very engaged in the conversation. It occurred to me that I had missed lunch and dinner, but I could hear the demigods singing at the campfire. "Good night, Dad."

With that, Dad muttered, "I highly doubt I can sleep now," and disappeared into fine mist.

I turned around, going towards the magical bonfire. I had a suspicion to whom I was married to, but I needed to ask someone.

But my plan didn't go as smooth as I thought it would.

A/N-Hope you're enjoying the story. Feel free to leave any suggestions or corrections, and have a good day!