A Different Tail

Chapter 4

*A few days after chapter 3*

Something was wrong today, Annabeth could sense it. There was an anxious buzz around camp, one that had not been there this morning. She spotted a group of older campers hurrying somewhere and decided to follow them.

Quickly she realized their destination, the beach. Though still over 50 feet away, she could see Chiron standing in front of a group of people, looking over the water. What if they found Percy? Annabeth thought frantically. The idea terrified her.

As she approached Chiron, she attempted to slow her rapid breathing. Annabeth froze in her tracks when he started speaking to the demigods in front of him. "Set up nets 80 feet out from each dock. The nereids will help you secure the bottom to the ocean floor," Chiron ordered. "Keep an eye out for the creature, it's about the size of a human with a dark blue tail."

No no no. That description was a little too close to Percy for her liking. If he was still in the bay, she had to find him before the rest of camp.

Annabeth took off running to the opposite end of the beach, hoping she could get to Percy without anyone else seeing. When she was far enough away that she was certain no one would hear, she waded into the ocean and called out his name.

It took a couple minutes, but his figure appeared in the shallow water, soon followed by his beautiful face. The edges of Percy's mouth turned up into a smile at the sight of her.

"Hi, Annie," he said with that voice that made her stomach churn with butterflies and her head spin. Annabeth hastily gathered her wits and crouched in the waves, quietly saying, "You need to leave. Someone saw you, and now they're setting up nets to trap you in the bay."

His facial expression quickly changed from one of happiness to fear. He suddenly looked a lot more like the scared merboy she first met caught under the dock. She wanted to comfort him, to tell him that he'd be ok, but she knew there was no time for that.

"Go, Percy. Before it's too late." He looked at her with those soulful eyes for a moment, then dipped under the surface and darted away.

Annabeth let out a sigh of relief as she watched his tail propel him through the water and to safety. If any harm had come to him because of her... well, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself for that. She turned and was about to join the group making their way towards her when heard a splash.

Whipping around, she saw Percy back beside her. "There's nets, all around. I can't get past," he said, his tail anxiously stirring in the water behind him. Annabeth stood there for a moment, attempting to think of some way around the problem. She was a daughter of Athena after all, strategizing was her thing.

Then it hit her. Camp had a lake. Not gigantic, but surely big enough to hide a merman. "Can you do freshwater?" she asked, keeping an eye on the band of campers now drawing closer to their location.

"Yes, but the seaweed there tastes horrible compared to the ocean's," he replied.

Annabeth laughed, saying "I don't think seaweed is your biggest issue right now, seaweed brain." Getting Percy to the lake would be difficult, but it wasn't more than 200 feet and with all of Annabeth's training, she could do that.

"I'm going to have to carry you. Grab onto my shoulders," she said, lowering her body so he could reach. He seemed hesitant, but a yell was heard from nearby on the beach and he grabbed on.

She had accurately guessed how heavy he would be, but she hadn't accounted for Percy's tail in her mind. As she reached the sand, it became apparent that his tail would be dragging on the ground the entire time, slowing them down.

Annabeth's mind was spinning, looking for a solution. She found it. One of the camp's canoes was left on the beach nearby. She hustled towards it and dropped Percy into the seat.

"I didn't know boats work on land," he said sheepishly.

"They don't," Annabeth responded, out of breath from the work. "But they're easier to move."

She picked up the front of the canoe and began to pull. It ran against the sand much smoother than a tail, as she had hoped.

After what seemed like hours, the shore of the lake approached. Annabeth turned towards Percy to help him into the water, but he was too distracted to notice.

His eyes were wide as he looked around at the camp. It hadn't occurred to her that he may have never seen a building before, but here he was, staring in amazement at the row of cabins to their right.

"Percy," she uttered with a wheezing sound. Carrying to canoe so far had really taken it out of her. "We need to get you into the lake." He was still distracted by their surroundings. Now his focus was on the tree line to their left, where a volleyball court was nestled into the edge of the forest.

Annabeth knew they didn't have long before someone happened to see them and alert the entire camp to Percy's location, so she grabbed his midsection and lifted. She heard some nasty scraping sounds, following by whining from Percy. But a few seconds later they were in the water and she let go.