A Crown of Golden Leaves: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Capvt XIX: Ad Infintium

Capvt XIX: Ad Infintium

HER lungs had already begun ache, but Annabeth couldn't allow herself to float up the clear water to breathe. Not yet. She had to stay down. She had to break her previous record. She would not be satisfied until she broke her record.

She curled herself into a fetal position, pulled her knees up to her chest and hooked her arm around them. There. Now she should be able to resist the urge to kick or propel herself up. She raised her head and squinted through the water, at the sunlight. She could hear Piper and Thalia's muffled shrieks of laughter and the sound of arms slapping against water.

Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five . . .

She only had to stay down for fifteen more 'beats. She had . . .

Oh, bugger. She thought as she abruptly let go of the air bubble in her mouth. She watched the bubbles of air float up with an almost lazy eye. Her lungs had begun to burn, like they were on fire and she had to get up— 

NO OXYGIN.

The thought seared through her consciousness, like burning fire in the sky. She released herself from the ball and swam to the surface as quickly as she could, gasping when her head broke through the water, and heaved deep gulps of air. It was a queer sensation, being out of breath without her heart pounding underneath her chest. She had gotten used to panting, gasping, and heaving for air after she finished her laps around the training arena.

"You were down there longer this time," Piper commented, swimming over to her side with Thalia right behind her. "Almost too long, actually. How did you get so proficient at holding your breath underwater?"

Since Percy decided to torture me under the façade of teaching me how to fight.

"Practice," she answered instead. She wrung her hair out, ran her fingers to get out any bad tangles, and began to braid the damp locks over her shoulder. "What's on our agenda today?"

She almost missed the startled glances the two women traded with each other; but she managed to look up in time to see them. Annabeth slowly lifted her left eyebrow-the only eyebrow she could raise, she had no idea how Percy did it-and tilted her head to the side.

"Agenda?" said Thalia. "That's an impressive verbum." She grinned cheekily at Annabeth, but Annabeth wasn't particularly impressed by the sudden switch from Greek to Latin. She'd been doing that a lot more lately with Percy, speaking in Latin instead of Greek.

"Have you been listening to Aristotle?" Piper added, her voice soft and gentle, but there was an underlining layer of something that made her want to answer . . . like she had to answer. Annabeth scowled. Was she using that sorcery again? The one that compelled her to talk?

"No, I have not. I'm not allowed an education in Greece, remember?" Instantly Annabeth regretted snapping at Piper when her eyes became bright with tears. It wasn't their fault: it was her father's, and his excuse was mediocre at best. As if not having an education would protect her! If anything, it would make her more vulnerable. "Wait, Piper. I didn't mea-"

"No, don't." Piper cut in. "Don't apologize." She glanced at Thalia, but the other looked away with a small frown on her face. Annabeth frowned, But why would she say something like. . .? "Nico's never been happy about your lack of education. I never really saw his point until recently. It's really not fair that a slave gets an education, while a princess doesn't. It really doesn't make sense on a rational level. And I never questioned it."

Annabeth tried not to stare. Her lack of education was something they never discussed, because there really wasn't anything to say about it. Her father's will was the way. Yes, it was unfair, especially since all of her peers had at least a basic level of education-even Piper and Thalia-but that was the way it was. She had learned to accept it, if grudgingly.