Under the Water(Fem. Percy)

Chapter 11

Dad's throne room sits in the middle of the palace, with the rest of it spreading out like the petals of a flower. It's also the easiest place to find. From end to end, it could fit the Big House, if not several of the cabins. The massive throne shimmers with ethereal light, a mirage that's hard to look at for more than a few seconds. Why did he change it, I wonder for a second, before remember the entire palace wasn't the same. It's new, because unlike the city, it didn't escape the destruction. The tips of my toes brush the smooth tiles. There's spaces between them. I tilt my head. Is it going to be a mosaic? With the size of the room, it'd be easy to throw parties in it. A colorful floor will make it pop and make it livelier.

I glance around---empty---and frown, confused. Isn't Dad supposed to be in here most of the time? The throne room's one of the major seats of his power. Gods gravitate to them, they never stay away for long, though having to be located tangentially in the mortal world made it too easy for Hera to be captured. And with Dad being what he is? He probably checks on it more often than the others. 

My footsteps are silent, they should be, and I know that. But each step I take into the sprawling room leaves me with the impression of echoes in an empty museum. My fingers clench around Riptide. It won't do anything. Nothing that Dad can't do without a thought, and that alone is a reminder that my existence is conditional on his mercy. The familiar plastic casing at least offers some false security.

Power cloys the water. It presses on me. Chokes me. I press further. Steps become harder; I gasp after every move. Two steps, or two hundred? I can't tell. Vision swimming, I fall. The water catches me. Dad's unrestrained power burns. My lungs ache.

When I make it to the throne, I stumble. My cheek presses against smooth abalone. Anger. Annoyance. I flinch back at the emotions. They're not mine. I swallow and look up into the swirling vortex.

"Dad?" I have to squint and put my hand on the base of the throne to focus my eyes. Water seems to ripple around him like the way light ripples on the bottom of pools. Sometimes, sometimes, it's very easy to remember he's not human. Glowing eyes, two or four, peer down at me. He reaches down and a large hand rests on my head.

"Oh, Percy." The noise comes from everywhere. It rattles in my head, and I fall back a few steps, hands slammed over my ears. By the time I recover, Dad's in front of me, wholly human. "What do you need?" he asks, matter of fact, as if I'm a council member. I haven't been here for long, but the tone's unmistakable. 

He stares at me. My nerves falter, and I try to swallow again. My mouth's too dry. What-- What if he doesn't think I'm being honest? Anxiety nips at my heels as I take a step, and then a second. His eyes are duller, not inhuman. I can do this. I'm apologizing to my dad, not a god. It shouldn't be hard. His jaw clenches when my hands curl.

He's expecting another argument. Why should he expect anything else? Every conversation, every benign thing he's tried to talk to me about, and I'd throw it back in his face. Now I throw myself at him. His chest is solid and warm, his arms strong and safe.

"I'm sorry." My words are muffled by his shirt. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

He smooths a hand over my back--- I melt into him---He smells like a sea breeze, even underwater. It's calming. How long has it been worked into my memory and subconscious from all those summers spent at the beach? That faint memory of a warm smile has it too. Surrounded by it, I can ignore answers for the moment. So long as I pretend things are fine, I can have things like this. The answers can come later. 

"No, you shouldn't have," he says, disbelieving. I glare up at him, and he laughs. "You have your points, Percy, don't get me wrong, but admitting that you're wrong? That's not one of your strengths, just as it's not one of mine." His warm lips press against my forehead. "Just keep doing better than me." That praise leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Do better than a god? How?