Triton saw the angel's eyes widen when he saw the trap around his tail.

He couldn't help but flinch.

He knew what these traps were. A way for gods to trap merfolk so that they could have them. A trap that left them completely powerless, that drained their strength. Even sitting up right now was torture for him. Every part of him wanted to lie down. To give up.

He had heard of the traps, but he had never seen one. Not before it was activated or once it was wrapped around a tail. He had only seen one of them after it had been removed. So he had no idea what he was swimming past until he had accidentally brushed against it.

Another bad thing. They could only be removed by a god, but not the one that was trapped. Poseidon had made sure that Triton, Kymopoleia and Anteros knew how these traps would work. He also knew how to disable it and that made it so much worse. He could see all the parts that needed to be undone. He couldn't do a damn thing. As soon as he would try to escape a shock would overcome him that would only get worse the more he tried.

He was utterly and completely powerless, at the mercy of the angel.

The angel was looking at the trap with wide eyes.

Triton moved back further from the angel. Ignoring the drowsiness and tempted him.

He couldn't give up.

He wouldn't give up.

Imagine the sea after hearing the news. If Triton being called a slur was enough to finally set them on the war path, just imagine what would happen if that happened.

No.

It could not happen.

"Tri, how did that happen?" the angel repeated looking up to meet Triton's eyes. Triton looked back at him and shifted back at the anger in his eyes.

Triton couldn't move back anymore. The rod was pulled tight. The tiredness weighing down on him.

No, Triton thought, I can't fall asleep.

However his body insisted on fighting against him. Dragging him down. All his functions shutting down. He couldn't feel his tails other than the tight suffocating feeling of the trap. Cruelly taunting him with the simple way to unlatch it.

He had no way out.

There was no way another god would be able to get there to save him. At least not a god that would want to save him.

Anteros.

Kymopoleia.

His father.

Tartarus, even Eros would help him out and he had only met the love god a handful of times.

He was alone. Defenseless.

There was no way out.

The angel's eyes widened as if hearing Triton's inner struggle.

"Tri," he said softly, reaching out to put an arm around him.

Triton turned his face to the side. Not bringing himself to look at the angel. All feeling of his body was quickly fading away. "Just get it over with," the god of the tides said hoarsely.

"What do you think I'm going to do?" the angel said. Sounding utterly confused.

Triton didn't look over at him. If this was a trick, he would not fall for it.

The angel's hand hovered just above his arm.

Triton closed his eyes. The sea which he had grown to love was just out of reach. Triton felt like he was slowly going insane just looking out at the happy waves. All the inhabitants of the sea going on with their lives, completely unaware of Triton above them.

The angel gasped.

Triton had turned his head to see what was wrong before he could stop himself.

The angel had moved back from him. Gaping at him with thinly veiled horror.

"Hypnos' fish pjamas," he said under his breath before his gaze shifted and his was examining the trap. "Do you know how to get it off?"

Triton nodded after a slight moment of hesitation.

"I'm guessing that you cannot take it off yourself?"

Triton nodded again.

"Can I touch you? Oh Morpheus' foot fetish no that came out wrong. Is it alright if I come closer? To remove the trap-bracket thing?" the angel said quickly.

Triton nodded and tried to shift himself closer so that he could curl his tail closer to himself. A small silver of hope blooming within him.

A hope that was quickly broken apart by a bright flash. A flash that signalled that a god had arrived.

Triton flinched back at the light, unused to the gods preferred way of teleportation.

"Get away from my mermaid," said the gruff voice of the god that had materialised before them.

Did that walker just call me a mermaid? Rude!

The angel ignored the god and just watched Triton as the sea god pointed to the first part of the trap that needed to be unlatched.

The angel started working on unraveling that particular spot first.

The other god grew angry and lifted the angel up by his neck.

"Didn't you hear me boy? I said get away from my mermaid, he's mine," said the god, pushing his face up close to the angel's.

The angel stayed calm, "I am not to sure about him being yours."

"Oh yeah? Well he's in my trap, that makes him mine."

"Nope."

The god roared and tried to throw the angel to the side. Surprisingly the angel simply turned into smoke. Making the god fall straight through him. The god fell face first onto the rock.

"You know, if I were you, I wouldn't just challenge any random person you met. It could be a bad idea, especially if they knew things about you that the other gods do not," the angel said, looking down at the other god. "For example they could know about what you did to the daughter of Poseidon. Hmm what was her name, Jane was it?"

Triton looked up at the angel with tired eyes. He knew the demigod that he was talking about. His father's lastest affair, his mother hadn't minded. They had an agreement, both of them could be with others as long as they told each other. No secrets. Jane wasn't a secret. Triton had met her twice before she disappeared, never found again. Not even a body. That was 15 years ago.

"How do you know about that?" the god growled.

"I know a lot of things, Hercales."

Triton tried to move back towards the water when the angel revealed the other gods identity. He had heard of Hercales, never actually seen him in person but apparently he was exactly like his father, Zeus.

Using his name had become a joke of sorts when one gets hurt.

Right now Triton did not understand the joke.

The god was terrifying. He was tall, muscular and scowling so fiercely that Triton expected lightning to strike.

"Who are you and how dare you threaten me?" Hercales thundered.

The angel smirked, fully in control of what was happening. Triton only just realised what the angel of death could know about everyone. He spoke with all of those that had died, surely they would talk about those that still live. Speaking of the way they died.

"Oh you wouldn't know me, I wouldn't expect you to. We met a long time ago, when you still possessed a mortal soul," the angel said calmly, still wearing the smirk that made him look sinister.

"I'm not scared of you boy, now get out of the way and I'll take my merman," Hercales said, anger seeping into his voice already burning within his eyes.

"Thats the thing, you should be scared of me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm the one that talks to the dead before they reach the underworld."

"What are you some sort of transport for them? Do they get on your back and ride you like a horse?" Hercales laughed as if he had just heard the greatest joke ever told. Unaware that he was the greatest joke that had ever been made.

"I think you know the answer to that," the angel replied, not phased in the slightest by the other gods taunts. "After all I took you to the underworld when you died."

Hercales scoffed, "The only one that I was in contact with after I died was the god of death."

The angel just watched the son of Zeus, staying silent.

Triton could feel the tiredness ebbing away at his will to stay awake. His arm fell out from underneath him.

The attention of both the gods was immediately turned to him.

"Get out of my way," Hercales repeated.

"No."

Hercales tried to charge forward but was held back by chains of black smoke.

Triton felt a strong arm go undermeath him and gently rest him against their chest. Triton's head fell to the shoulder just as there was the sickening sound of metal cutting through metal. Another arm went under his tails while his world turned black.

* * *

Thanatos felt like panicking when he saw Tri pass out.

If he panicked that would not be good. He wouldn't be of any help to Tri and Hercales would be able to break free from the chains.

Thanatos double checked that Tri's eyes were closed. Then he flashed away, knowing that his wings would still be too wet to fly.

Thanatos pictured another cluster of rocks in the sea that he knew about. The ones he had met Tri on.

When he appeared there he lowered the merman down. Noticing how peaceful he looked, his features angelic.

He quickly thought about who might know how to get these chains off. Thanatos only knew how to get them off if they were trapping a being with legs. The one wrapped around Tri's tail was far more complex.

He could think of two people who would know how to get it off a merman. Two that would help him out.

One of them he really couldn't be bothered dealing with right now. Knowing him (or maybe her today) they would try to set Thanatos up with the merman that rested in his arms.

The other would probaby complain the whole time.

Not much or a choice. Eros or Hades.

Thanatos decided to go for Hades. He would have to know with Poseidon being his brother.

"Hades get your pale ass up here or I will tell Cerbie that you called him a lazy bru-" Thanatos started, going for the best way to summon a god. Insults and blackmail.

The shadows quickly wrapped up to form the King of the Underworld. "Alright alright, I'm here. Now someone better be dying or this better be funny," he said with a frown. A frown that only deepened when he saw Tri sleeping against Thanatos, a trap around one tail. "Thanatos what did you do?"

"Nothing I swear!" said Thanatos instantly going to defend himself.

"Then why did you call me here?"

"Do you know how to get that off?" Thanatos pointed at the trap.

"Firstly, you're an idiot. Secondly, yes I do."

Hades knelt down at the other side of the merman and began working on removing the trap. Occasionally sending Thanatos looks, his eyes darting to the merman.

Thanatos had hoped that when he summoned Hades that there would be no questions asked. Apparently he was very very wrong because the Lord of the Dead would question him until the skeletal cows came home.

And to be honest, Thanatos would do it again if it meant that Tri (or any merfolk) would be safe from any god that wanted to use those traps.