Dang guys, it's been a while! I really am sorry. I've had a bit of a rough time with, well, life. I never planned to abandon this story though, I just needed the time to upload it! I hope its a satisfying end to the story : )

Percy's conscious drifted somewhere at the edge of Morpheus' realm, so that the colors of sunrise entered his dreams in a soft wash of color. The sun warmed him as it rose, and by instinct he lazily reached for his reptile friend-

He was gone.

Percy sat up in shock. Just a few minutes ago, it seemed, the turtle was right next to him. Percy squinted in the sunlight, looking about as he rolled to his feet. There!

"Hey, come back!" Percy called to the small round shape getting closer and closer to the northern shore.

The turtle paused, but didn't indicate any intention to return to Percy's little campsite. The boy ran –badly, no one would mistake him for Hermes' child, but quickly enough to meet the turtle before the creature made to return to the ocean. "Why are you leaving?"

The turtle's eyes turned sad, Percy would also say there was longing mixed in with the melancholy.

"Can't you stay?"

The turtle's gaze left Percy for the vast ocean, and Percy's heart clenched when he understood. "There're people out there who need you, don't they?"

No response, but Percy almost thought the turtle's shoulders had slumped.

"Can they wait? Just a little bit- an hour!- please-" an affectionate nudge quieted Percy, but did nothing to convince him that this was goodbye. It hurt, to be abandoned this way.

"Please," he whispered again, "I don't want to be left behind. At least let me come part of the way with you."

The turtle lifted his head, the sorrow gone from his face, and for a moment Percy worried that his friend would indicate that no, Percy could not come. Percy followed him slowly into the water.

With a twinkle in his eye, the turtle swam in a large circle around Percy and then dove beneath the surface of the waves. Percy followed happily and without a care in the world, although he had no idea where they were heading.

They swam deep and toward the south. Percy dragged his fingers on the ocean floor and spotted a small school of fish up above. "Much better!" he exclaimed, delighted to see the oceanic world alive and happy again. The fish had no idea what they had done to please the sea prince, but they joyfully called out, "Our Great royalty! We are not worthy! We are not worthy!"

Percy chuckled at their antics and gave them a little wave before he went back to following the turtle. He was winding around a coral reef ablaze with color and activity. His jaw dropped as he saw the variety of marine life living in this little paradise. Every jewel colored plant reached toward his own outstretched hand, and Percy almost laughed when he realized he was more or less shaking hands with them. The fish jabbered and giggled, speaking over one and other and calling out to each other for no real reason at all. Percy grinned at everything he saw and settled down next to a seat shaped coral formation.

It was only after he sat down that he remembered that he was supposed to be following the turtle. Shoot. Percy turned from left to right and tried to guess where his friend had gone, but he was surrounded by coral and activity and saw no trace of the reptile.

*Bonk*

Percy raised his hand in protest and tilted his head back to he could glare at the friend that had bumped him from behind. "Ow," Percy rubbed his head in an exaggerated fashion as a few passing fish tittered and chuckled. "That's not nice. My dad is king of the ocean, you know." The turtle swam away in elegant loops, showing off with flourishes.

Percy laughed heartily but refused to return the challenge, preferring instead to lie on the ocean floor gazing up at the waves above.

After some time, the turtle rejoined Percy and rested next to him with his head on Percy's shoulder. Percy closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of being underwater and the joy of being close to a friend.

Percy's shoulder felt cold when the turtle's head left it. He opened his eyes reluctantly, knowing that his friend was leaving for certain this time. The turtle was edging away with a slightly guilty look in his eye. He gazed back at the boy, begging him to understand…

"It's ok," Percy told him softly, "I get it. You have people you need to protect, and so do I."

The turtle lowered his head.

"And I know you'll keep protecting me, as much as you can. You always have."

The turtle prodded Percy's back as best he could as Percy was still lying down, but Percy got the message anyway. "And I'll try to avoid anymore training injuries. Promise."

Satisfied, the turtle let the side of his face touch Percy's face for a moment, and then began to swim away.

Percy closed his eyes again, content (for now at least) to feel and hear the life of the sea around him.

Percy breathed in deeply, taking in the familiar smell of his bedroom. Against his will his heart sank; he was home. Surely, there was some way to see the turtle again. Percy opened his eyes and was disappointed to see that his room was unchanged from the day he left it. A mess, but, as he insisted to his mother, an organized mess.

Speaking of his mother…. He could smell Sally's baking from the other side of the apartment. Percy swung his feet out of bed- and almost stepped on a small rock.

No, not a rock, he realized as he picked it up. Coral. Tied on to a thin rawhide string was a little piece of rough coral, in the shape of a turtle carrying a trident.

.

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And that ladies and gentlemen, is the end!

And this here:

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is my very pathetic attempt at making a trident. If anyone can figure out how to make a better one, feel free to share! : D thank you guys for sticking with me! Hope you liked it!

I'm going to answer a few questions I'm guessing someone will ask- Yes, Poseidon is the turtle and yes, Percy figured it out in the past 24 hours of this story (although he was kind of catching on a little earlier). Also, that first scene when Percy asked the turtle not to leave? That is meant to be reminiscent of when Poseidon left Percy as a baby.