I DO NOT OWN THE PJO/HoO SERIES!!! ALL RIGHTS GO TO RICK RIORDAN!!!

Chapter 3

As Celeste explored her new bedroom, a knock came at her door.

She opened it quickly, expecting to see her father, but instead saw a girl.

The girl had pale green skin with long dark green hair. Scales coated her skin in small clumps and she had bright blue eyes. Her fingers were webbed and when she smiled at Celeste, she had sharp pointy teeth.

Below the girl's waist was a long shimmering fish
tail. Her nails were long, sharp, and tinted green and she wore a seaweed blouse that flowed to her hips.

She had a belt wrapped around where her scales met her skin; the belt held a dagger and a long sword.

Celeste's eyes widened as she studied the girl.

"Hi, I'm Nora." The mergirl said, her pointy teeth showing in her happy grin. "It's nice to meet you. We don't get many visitors, especially not little girls."

Celeste smiled, forgetting all about the girl's strange appearance.

"I'm Celeste. I just turned four." Celeste said proudly.

"Aw! That's so cute!" Nora clasped her hands together and sighed. "I'm 16. Your dad told me to take care of you. I think we'll be good friends, what do you think?"

Celeste nodded.

"Brilliant! Now, let's get you out of those mortal clothes and into something decent. Then...we can go to dinner." Nora said with a smile. The smile reminded Celeste of the pictures of mermaids in her story books.

They lured sailors to death with their beauty and their voice. Sirens is what Celeste remembered.

And Nora really was beautiful. Despite the green skin and the webbed fingers, she was really pretty.

Celeste immediately felt envious.

Nora's hand grabbing her arm jerked Celeste out of her thoughts. The mermaid dragged her down the hall and into a small room.

Nora grabbed a blue dress made a material Celeste had never seen. It seemed to glow in the light and was very stylish.

"This is the only thing in your size, I'm afraid. But don't worry, you'll look beautiful." Nora said.

Celeste took the dress and got behind a curtain made of silk.

When she came out, Nora gasped. "Celeste, you look beautiful!"

Celeste smiled. She twirled so the dress flowed at her ankles. It fit her perfectly.

Nora screeched with glee and took Celeste's shoulder. She quickly did her hair.

Celeste could feel wisps of her black hair being tied, braided, and pinned in all spots.

Finally, Nora brought out a mirror and Celeste's eyes widened.

Her hair was tied back in a bun with a small strand of hair looped around her ear and drifting down her shoulder.

A sand dollar was woven into the side of her hair and the black strands were studded with diamonds.

"Wow, Nora, this is amazing." Celeste said.

Nora smiled and hugged Celeste. "Now, what would you like to do before dinner?" Nora asked.

Celeste leaned forward. "Can we go exploring?"

Nora smirked. "Absolutely! We can look at the coral caves, the seaweed gardens, the schools of fish, the mermen." She nudged Celeste while raising her eyebrows at the mention of the guys. Celeste laughed.

"That sounds like so much fun!" Celeste said.

Nora grinned and dragged Celeste outside of the palace. They swam gleefully and Celeste was surprised at herself for taking all of this Greek gods thing in so quickly. She hadn't even questioned it that much, like it was just a part of her.

Sighing, she decided to enjoy herself and swam after Nora.

Celeste didn't and never did notice the constant darkness that loomed over.

•••

"Where have you been, brother?" Zeus, The Lord of the skies, boomed.

Poseidon sighed in annoyance. "I told you, I've been busy. Nothing to worry about, I assure you."

Poseidon wasn't planning on telling the other gods about Celeste. He sensed something dark inside of her, something off.

Of course, it could only be a hunch. However, her powers had come extremely early and extremely powerful.

As his daughter, he expected her to have power, but never this much. He had never seen her use her power before, but he was pretty sure if she could flood the whole Jackson residence at four years old, she was probably on the brink of extreme power.

He guessed her power would probably increase as she aged, but he didn't know why she was so much more powerful than her brother, Percy.

It was just unexplainable and he knew he couldn't reveal her until he knew she wasn't a threat to the Olympians.

Even if he was a god with several children, Celeste and Percy felt different, as if he cared about them a little too much.

They both had potential, but he wanted neither of them to die. Eventually, they would become heroes, that he knew, but if they died, he didn't want it done by the gods hands.

Celeste and Percy were special.

He just didn't know what it was yet.

Sighing, he tuned back into the lecture Zeus was giving.

Then a thought struck him.

Kayla.

He had had that small liking to the goddess Night 4 years ago and now Kayla was alive and no word about her since.

Maybe she had something to do with this...but no. It was impossible. Celeste and Kayla didn't even know each other.

"Poseidon, so how are things in the ocean?" Zeus asked.

Poseidon looked up, tired as he faced the other Olympian gods.

"Never better."

•••

"Ok, you see that over there? That's a bottlenosed dolphin. They're really cute. Come on, I'll introduce you." Nora said in that really fast and excited voice of hers.

Celeste nodded with excitement and swam after Nora.

The dolphin spotted them and chittered happily.

With a jolt, Celeste realized she could understand the dolphin.

"Hi human! Wait, no, demigod! Daughter of the sea god! Oh mistress, please, let me do anything for you! Name's Flipper! Nora here is a good friend of mine!" The dolphin, Flipper said squeakily.

Celeste blinked.

"Celeste, what's wrong?" Nora asked. "You're pale."

"What? No, I'm ok. Nice to meet you Flipper." Celeste said shakily.

First she found out she could breathe underwater, and now she could understand dolphins.

Totally normal.

Flipper flicked his fins at Celeste's dress and said, "Wow, you look beautiful, mistress. Where are you from?"

Celeste blushed. "Um, just call me Celeste, not mistress. I'm from New York, Long Island to be exact. And, um, thank you. I've never been complimented by a dolphin before."

Flipper squeaked and swam in a circle. She slipped under Celeste, and the demigod girl gasped as she found herself sitting on top of the dolphin.

Her skin was sleek and soft, and her dorsal fin jutted out for Celeste to grab onto.

Nora smiled. "Just be careful Celeste. I'm responsible for you."

Celeste felt giddy. She leaned forward, her small frame tiny in comparison to the full-grown dolphin.

"Hold on." Flipper said.

Celeste grabbed Flipper's dorsal fin and screamed in a rush of emotions as the dolphin shot upwards.

Nora became a minuscule dot as they went higher and higher, towards the surface.

The dolphin swam at incredible speeds and Celeste cheered, throwing her hands up like it was a roller coaster.

"Woohoo!" Celeste called.

Flipper jumped into the air, and Celeste immediately held back on.

Her grasp slipped and she fell back into the water. She expected the long fall to kill her, but she slipped through the water easily and began to laugh.

Nora had finally caught up to them and looked only slightly worried. Her expression immediately changed to relieved as she saw Celeste laughing.

Celeste splashed Nora. "Have some fun!"

Nora raised an eyebrow. "Honey, fun is my middle name!"

Celeste stuck her tongue out and grabbed onto Flipper as he brought her back down under the water.

Later, after they had did more stuff like explore caves, look at fish (which talked as well), and met some mermen (who were surprisingly good looking for fish dudes), the two girls swam back towards the palace and chatted about their lives.

"Wait, I still can't believe you're only four! You're so mature!" Nora said through laughter.

Celeste rolled her eyes. "It's another one of those weird things about me I guess."

Nora's smiled faltered. She placed her hand on Celeste's shoulder. "Hey, you're not weird to me. If anyone should be weird, it should be me. I mean, compared to you, I must be a freak."

Celeste blinked, taking in Nora's words. Then she smiled. "Nora, when I first met you, I thought you were a model. You're beautiful. Don't let anyone tell you different."

Nora smiled. "Thanks Celeste. Wow, I'm getting life advice from a four year old."

Celeste burst out laughing.

They continued to talk until Nora asked a question that made Celeste stiffen. "So, do you got any siblings? And not half-siblings, since I'm sure Poseidon has other children, but actual siblings. Same mother and father."

"Um...I have a...a brother." Celeste muttered.

Nora's voice softened. "I'm guessing it's a sore subject."

Celeste shook her head. "No, it's fine. It's just...I had to leave him. All by himself. I love him, he's a great brother, but I feel empty without him, like someone's taken a part of me. His name's Percy, by the way."

Nora smiled sympathetically. "Hey, it's alright. I had a brother too. He fought in a war though and died. I miss him all the time, but he still loved on on my heart. I know you'll see your brother again, Celeste. He's out there somewhere and you'll find him. I know you will." Nora said.

Celeste smiled. "Thanks. And I'm sorry."

"About Jacob? Oh, don't worry about it, it was a long time ago." Nora said with a slight things of sadness in her voice. Her voice perked up as she spoke again. "Anyways, let's get you to dinner, I'm sure it's starting soon."

"Have we really been gone that long?" Celeste asked.

Nora laughed. "Come on Seaweed Brain, let's go."

As Nora swam in front of her, Celeste pondered the nickname.

"Seaweed Brain? Cute. Maybe next time I see Percy I'll mention it to him." Celeste thought with a smile as she swam back into the castle and closed the door behind her.