center. A mosaic on the floor showed an exact map of the palace grounds and the

surrounding ocean, but the mosaic moved.

 

Colored stone tiles representing different armies and sea monsters shifted

around as the forces changed position. Buildings that collapsed in real life

also collapsed in the picture.

 

Standing around the mosaic, grimly studying the battle, was a strange assortment

of warriors, but none of them looked like my dad. I was searching for a big guy

with a good tan and a black beard, wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.

 

There was nobody like that. One guy was a merman with two fish tails instead of

one. His skin was green, his armor studded with pearls. His black hair was tied

in a ponytail, and he looked young — though it's hard to tell with non-humans.

They could be a thousand years old or three. Standing next to him was an old man

with a bushy white beard and gray hair. His battle armor seemed to weigh him

down. He had green eyes and smile wrinkles around his eyes, but he wasn't

smiling now. He was studying the map and leaning on a large metal staff. To his

right stood a beautiful woman in green armor with flowing black hair and strange

little horns like crab claws. And there was a dolphin — just a regular dolphin,

but it was staring at the map intently.

 

"Delphin," the old man said. "Send Palaemon and his legion of sharks to the

western front. We have to neutralize those leviathans."