The Olympians' Quest

Chapter 5 ~ The Voice of The Sea

3rd pers. POV
* 2 hours later*
Everyone met up in the throne room once again to share the information (or lack thereof) they found.

"Well?" asked Zeus, "tell me there is a way to get our symbols back. I'm growing tired of this place and I need my lighting bolt."

The occupants of the room shared looks between each other. So far, there seemed to be no new facts.
However Athena spoke up: "I did find something, Father, though it is... concerning."

The king of the gods frowned.
"I'm sure it's not so bad Athena, but what is it you found."

Ever the level headed one, Athena straightened to relay her news.
"It appears that the longer we go without our symbols of power, the more our own powers and magic will drain. The process would continue until we become mortals, then the possibility of our death is highly plausible."

The gods all paled.

Sure, Zeus and Hades had their symbols stolen all those years ago, but it wasn't for long and they were returned within a couple weeks time. Clearly not long enough for them to show a loss in power. Poseidon looked at his son. Seeing his look, Percy spoke up before the question was asked.
"No. According to the cyclops there's no way for us to track the objects without being near them. Were we close to them, we could evidently sense the power they hold, but other than that, there's no way to track them."

Looks of worry and mild panic were shared between the deities. Wanting to avoid a full panic mode (*cough Zeus *cough), Percy spoke again: "I can guarantee you that Triton's not the thief, nor is he involved in any way. Whoever we're looking for, I know I don't know them."
"We should return to the surface. Set up camp nearby and we can think of some places to start looking", said Artemis.
Zeus nodded. "Very well. Let us return."

Once they reached the outside, Percy stopped.
"Son?"
"What is that?", the demigod asked.
"What is what?"
"That glow. Just over there. It wasn't there when we got here."

Without waiting for a response, Percy swam over to a large sand dune where the glow originated. As it turned out, the source was a shell. A seashell. A beautiful one at that.

It was pure white; the kind you put to your ear to hear the sounds of the ocean. The bumps on the shell looked like light blue jewels, the very things that seemed to emit the strange glow. It was large, larger than usual, and being the curious person he is, Percy picked it up. He was aware of several presences moving behind him to see the strange object.

"That's a white Atlantic moonshell." Said Poseidon, "they're very rare, mainly because they've been hunted for hundreds of years."

"Hunted? Why?" Asked Percy.

"They were said to hold great advice. But the advice given, it was like the shell knew a part of the future and in order to help you, the shell would direct you."

"Do you think it could help us?" Asked Apollo.

"I'm not sure, honestly. I've personally never seen or heard one of these shells in action."

While the gods talked, contemplating how to make the object work, Percy took matters into his own hands. He stared at the shell intensely and asked it a question in his head, wondering if it could hear him like sea creatures could.

Where do you lead us? Where must we go next?

Suddenly, a voice could be heard throughout the water, echoing almost. It was angelic. It sounded almost like a siren's voice, only it was pleasing to hear instead of mind controlling.

"Should you wish to succeed... find the sister of the Sea..."

"What was that? Was it the shell? It sounded like a siren." Said Hermes.

" I just asked it a question; directions for where we should go next." Said Percy.

Now that the shell had spoken, the glow died down and it disappeared in a flurry of sparkly blue dust.

"Find the sister of the sea..." muttered Athena, "I don't understand." She frowned.

"Wow, Athena! You finally met your match, huh?" Asked Apollo, as he, Hermes and Ares snickered at the clueless Athena.

Said goddess glared.

"What I was trying to say is that it doesn't add up. The Sea means Poseidon, right?" Said sea god nodded. "Then how come we're looking for his sister. That could mean Demeter, Hestia or Hera, yet neither are here nor are they involved in this quest. Besides, how could they possibly help us?"
The wisdom goddess started muttering to herself as she tried to figure things out, while the other gods and goddesses wondered if they missed something in the brief message.
While the gods were busy with their thoughts, Percy was panicking about his. He looked neutral on the outside, but on the inside he was lost.

Athena repeated herself again out loud. " the Sea means Poseidon—", but she was cut off by another voice.
"No"

The immortals turned to the demigod.

"No?" Asked Athena, "what do you mean no?"

Percy shook his head.
"The shell said: find the sister of the Sea. Sister—singular word. It did not ask that we find one of the seas sisters but rather a single sister of a single person."

The others stared at him. Athena narrowed her eyes.
"Then who do you propose the message refers to?"

"Well it said the Sea. So anyone who is technically born from "the sea" would qualify. In other words, any of Dad's children could count. Or in this case, one in particular."

Again, the others simply stared at him, but the explanation made sense.

"And this one in particular, who might this be?"

Percy sighed.

"Me"

A/N Ohhh...a secret sister, huh? 😁  Any ideas on what she's like?
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