"Totally gross." He grumbles, relieved to see golden dust fluttering in the wind. It was different than whatever had been thrown in his face earlier. A frown settles on his features as he caps his sword after one more double-check. "I was literally just trying to go home, but gods, no, that's too difficult," he hisses under his breath, throwing his hands up in the air, glaring at the white clouds just sitting in the sky.

He sighed heavily before pocketing Riptide, finding the familiar motion comforting at least. He swore the universe laughed in his face about these things, or at the very least Zeus; it seemed like a Zeus-type of thing, honestly.

He grumbled under his breath, shoving both his hands in his pockets, making his way back to his apartment. His mom was making cookies, which was something he wouldn't miss for the world. It would be nice to stop by; he hadn't seen her or Paul for a while, not with school and monsters being such a pain.

The warm and fuzzy feeling of going home slowly faded when he started stumbling a bit more, his shoes seeming looser. Then the tripping over his pants began, and it wasn't an 'oh, clumsy me' situation. "What- come on." He grumbled, looking down, noticing his jean cuffs dragging on the ground... they... really shouldn't be doing that. These had been his best jeans, having survived multiple attacks. His shirt felt bigger too. Much too big. He takes a sharp breath in, looking up again. Eyeing the building and other people to gauge if.. "There's no way that I'm..shrinking?" Shrinking what did he even do to- the monster. "It's minty fresh and shrinks people?" The idea brought a near-hysterical laugh out of him.

Wait- if he was getting smaller than he really needed to get home. Like, as soon as possible. He swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the pounding in his chest as he picked up the pace. It was wrong. It felt so wrong, nothing like the warm feeling that came with the godly shrinking. Fences seemed taller, people too. He wasn't going to make it. Thanks to the mist, no one seemed concerned either- fuck, there were a lot of people, and there seemed to be no sorta slowing down with this shrinking.

He wasn't going to make it, so he ducked into an alleyway, his chest heaving. This wasn't good. This was the opposite of good. When did his breathing get so heavy? Why was he so freaked out about this? He got shrunk all the time by gods; well, they got big, but still-

He was not going to be tiny and nude. He had suffered through a lot, but this crossed the line in so many ways. It felt wrong too. The shrinking was much different than any other time the gods would make him small. It wasn't the warm feeling of completion but... an empty, cold feeling that left him disoriented. "I need help- I need." He trails off, swallowing hard. Would they come right away, though? His dad might be busy, same with Hermes or Apollo, but-

"Triton! I really, really need some help right now." He manages to choke out, hating how his voice cracked. He had survived literal hell, wars and battles, and yet this was the thing that was frreaking him out? He leaned against the wall, feeling nauseous, violently nauseous, trying to focus on the rough texture of bricks on his back. Which didn't last long; his were practically swimming around him now, pooling around him like an awkward tent. Thankfully, a bright light signified that his brother had arrived. A puzzeled looked settling on the too-perfect features of the god as he looked around.

"Triton, down here." Unease prickled under his skin when the gods' gaze fell to him. He hated being this small. He really did.

"Percy? How on- who did this?" Triton's voice was louder than usual, then again, that made a lot of sense considering how small he was. Didn't stop it from sucking majorly.

"I don't know a monster like threw dust at me; it tasted awful and minty, and all of a sudden I'm shrinking." Man, sitting in a cavern of clothes was unsettling. He grimaced, looking away, pulling the fabric more around him. At least when he was small, when his godly family did this, he felt..safer, protected in a sense. "So a little help?"

The warmth of divine energy settled around him, his nerves soothing at the comfort. His clothing adjusted to his height in an instant, which was the only good thing. "Uh...Triton? Also, the height thing."

"I'm trying." The reply nearly made Percy want to throw up. What did 'trying' mean, as in couldn't fix this?

"It's..odd you shouldn't be stuck at this size," Triton says, a frown settling on his features. That wasn't... exactly giving Percy any positive thoughts. He shivers, the adrenaline itching under his skin like dry sand.

"Cool, great, it's odd. Just fix it." He pleads, tapping his fingers against his legs. Being this small was... well, not great. It was wrong. It felt so wrong. He had somewhat gotten used to being small around his godly family, but this- this felt like being underground, like being in the sky- an unseen threat ready to sink its claws into-

He flinched, taking a deep breath in, trying to will his heart to stop beating so hard. "I don't think I can." Triton finally answered, Percy, trying his hardest not to stumble backwards when his half-brother knelt next to him. This was all so wrong. He had never been frightened of his brother before, not even when the god would make him a tad smaller.

"Why not? What do you mean by you can't?" He demanded, clenching his fists.

"Whatever you've killed, I cannot undo what it has done to you." At least Triton was speaking softly, probably from having seen his previous reaction. His voice still rumbling like the rolling waves on the shore. Just like whenever they shed their more mortal forms in the ocean. He felt like... a speck.

Though the hands encircling him were comforting. Familiar even. He can't help but lean into the touch, grasping onto a finger, curling into the familiar pulsing feeling of divine energy. "Any other ideas? Maybe Dad knows?" He grumbles, nearly going limp as Triton maneuvers him more into his hand, cradling him like a pearl or some fragile piece of glass. Triton rarely handled him like he would break at any moment, carefully sure, but never like a sneeze could kill him. Then again, a sneeze probably would kill him now.

His stomach swoops as he's lifted higher, the awful sensation of flying rolling over him.

"Perhaps... though...are you... certain you want to travel to Atlantis like... this?"

Godly travel already sucked, and the idea had a shiver travel up his spine. "I mean. What other choice do we have? I'm not going to stay stuck bite-sized." He grumbled, crossing his arms. It already sucked whenever he was smaller, but 2 inches was really pushing his sanity. The wrongness of his height only added to his nerves.

A silence washed over them both, Triton bringing him to his chest. While the sea gods typically weren't warm in a traditional sense, Percy found himself leaning closer. He needed to feel that pulse of divine energy that always seemed to ebb at his panic.

The familiar rhythm of Triton's heartbeat gradually gave Percy something to focus on. It was strange how easily the sound cut through everything else, more so because he knew his breath deliberately made the heartbeat happen. Gods didn’t typically have heartbeats, or breathing, or much of anything going on. The distant noise of the city, the uncomfortable awareness of his tiny size, even the frantic thoughts chasing themselves around his head seemed to dull beneath that steady, impossible pulse.

The god shifted his hold slightly, making sure Percy was supported securely against him before looking down. His expression had softened considerably, the usual regal distance gone from his features.

"You're frightened."

Percy gave him a flat look. "Yeah, no kidding." He scoffed, his hand gripping the fabric of the ‘human’ clothes Triton had donned. He was doing everything he could to keep himself together. He really was. He'd dealt with worse. He had faced monsters, armies, Titans, Tartarus itself. He had stood on battlefields with entire armies depending on him.

Being two inches tall shouldn't have been what broke him.

But it was.

His surroundings were too enormous. His clothes had already been magically adjusted, but that didn't change the fact that the ground was a vast expanse beneath him, that every movement Triton made felt enormous, that a gust of air from an open doorway could nearly knock him over.

“May…I suggested a small solution?” The herald of the sea asked after a moment of silence. Percy had a feeling he knew exactly what his half-brother was asking. Of course the sea god would suggest it.

“You can, but I have a feeling I am outright going to refuse it,” Percy grumbled. Triton's fingers curled around him enough to create a protective barrier.

His face got that stupid look, the one where his brows pinched and his eyes narrowed like he was thinking because, of course, he was. Probably some solution- well, not a major one, just a place to put him for now. He paused, his gaze dropping to Triton’s middle, the god’s gaze following his.

“I assume you know what I am going to offer then,” Triton says dryly, a hint og amusement on his face.

Percy snorts, looking away, his cheeks warming. “Yeah, and I’m going to refuse, weirdo.” He grumbles, ignoring how the chill of the wind seemed to cut through him. Yes, his dad and Triton were typically cold too, but wind cold and sea cold were very different things.

But the idea of somewhere quiet, familiar, and protected was beginning to sound less like an embarrassing solution and more like exactly what he needed.

He groaned, rubbing his face after more silence had passed between them. "Fine."

"Fine?" Triton repeated, tilting his head, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Don't make me say it twice." Percy pointed a tiny finger at him, eyes narrowed as he stared up at his brother. He swore the Fates liked to just laugh at him, constantly.

"I merely wanted to be certain." The god said with false innocence, his smile only widening. Great smug half-brother shenanigans.

"But I'm only agreeing because this is objectively a terrible situation." He let out a hiss in defiance as Triton lifted his hand upwards. The familiar feeling of his organs flipping at the movement was oddly comforting.  He associated it less with falling now and more with being snatched up by gods ready to swallow him down into whatever they called ‘stomachs’

"Of course, dearest brother,” Triton murmurs, Percy hating how he relaxed as he was brought to the god’s face, his mouth opening in preparation. The scent of saltwater washed over him. The space, like their father’s, glowed a light blue color.

"And if you tell anyone I willingly agreed to this, I will deny everything." He snaps, putting his hands on the god’s lower lip. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Willingly. Normally, he would only agree to this when he was exhausted and needed refuge from the nightmares.

He snorted at the thought, hauling himself up over his half-brother’s lip, grimacing as the god’s tongue was there waiting, creating a barrier over his bottom teeth- well, fangs; Triton always seemed dramatic with his teeth.

It was oddly nice knowing that even when he was tiny, and probably very annoying, his half-brother still cared about him. Better than being some bastard he didn't care about. The ‘saliva’ pooled around him instantly, though it was more like seawater than anything. It always made the whole process easier, depending on the god biology which they changed at any given time. For example, he saw a fish happily swimming what looked like underneath him. Triton always had the weird habit of being sorta see-through like a jellyfish, where he looked completely solid on the outside but would show off the fact he was of the sea. Hence the fact that he could see sea creatures swimming through what the god had constructed as a body.

“You’re like a weird reef.” He mutters, pulling himself more onto the tongue, just taking a moment to lie there. He peers back out to the massive world he had no desire to interact with right now. It was always so weird to see the world through framed fangs. Really, it was like a monster movie, but he didn’t feel any fear, just... a normalcy. It was becoming normal to him, much to his annoyance.

He took a sharp breath in and scooted forward more, turning his gaze to the back of the god’s throat. It wasn’t really like a human's, more like a tunnel or what someone who had poorly described how swallowing works.

“Okay... well, bottom's up I guess.” He mumbles, stretching his arms above his head and sliding forward, Triton helping by tilting his head back at the same time. Gravity took over, and he slipped downwards. It went too fast for him to really take in his surroundings, like getting streamlined into a current.

He landed with a plop into the space, water gently sloshing around him.

“I assumed you would still like to breathe air.” Triton mused, his voice rumbling around him like a storm at sea. Percy rolled his eyes, though he really did appreciate it. Triton always seemed to be thinking about him even in small ways.

“I mean, yeah, it’s pretty great.” He said, stretching a bit, getting used to the feeling of being inside yet again. The outside world couldn't tower over him here. He couldn't accidentally trip over clothing that was suddenly several times his size. There weren't footsteps echoing nearby or enormous corridors surrounding him.

Triton's divine presence surrounded the space like the distant rhythm of the ocean, slowly changing like it always did. Gods appeared human; they weren’t these forms were just that, forms. Percy sat comfortably against what felt like a really firm bubble, letting his body sink slightly into it, watching clear water ripple gently around coral formations. Soft blue light shimmered across its surface, shifting with the faintest movements. Tiny currents curled lazily around the edges, carrying the distant sound of waves, moving with each movement Triton made.

“Father may be nearby; I will ask him about your… affliction.” The god murmured, though really Percy couldn’t care less at the moment. The fear of being tiny wasn’t a big concern when he was in here.