cymophobia | percy jackson

castaways we are castaways, ahoy

Now, let's get this straight, Percy Jackson would follow his girlfriend to hell and back, quite literally, because he already had, several times in fact. However, everytime he chased her into the dark or some kind of danger or just something stupid in general, at least he'd always known where he was going.

Not this time. On the last weekend before he went back to school for senior year, Percy's girlfriend Ash, daughter of Thanatos, had ordered him to meet her outside his building at 5:57 pm exactly and pack an overnight bag. Oh, and wear a swimsuit. "For what?" he'd asked, but she'd just giggled and given him a kiss. He should have known not to be distracted by her dastardly cute ways because now he was worried they might be taking another trip to one of the Underworld's rivers. It seemed like recently Erebus was determined to give him the VIP tour...

So there he was, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, standing outside his new apartment complex in East Harlem (his mom and Paul had recently started the process of moving in together) with a backpack slung over his shoulders. It was 6:03, but he wasn't worried yet. Ash could always be counted on to be at least 5 minutes late to wherever she needed to be, even though she could travel at the speed of light.

At 6:05 on the dot, Percy grinned as he heard an "Oh, pardon me, sir!" from somewhere nearby and the distinct sound of short legs speed-walking away from someone. And then the sound of short legs realizing they were going the wrong direction and turning right back around. A "Hello again, ma'am!" before the love of his life wandered out of an alleyway looking as she usually did: breathtakingly gorgeous, cheerful, and a little lost.

He was just raising his hand with a smile on his face when she spotted him. "Fish Face!" she said in utter delight and Percy couldn't help but laugh as she ran up to him and giddily threw her arms around his chest, burying her face into his T-shirt with a huge goofy grin.

"You saw me yesterday, Angel," he said, chuckling as he looked down at the girl glomped onto him, his hands smoothing down her hair and back, adoration shining clearly through his blue-green eyes as she gazed back up at him with equal feeling. She was wearing all blue, which made Percy's insides feel a little gooey–boxing shorts that showed off her toned, tanned legs, a longsleeve button-down shirt, and for some odd reason, a pair of sunglasses atop her head, even though the sun had already disappeared behind the skyscrapers.

"Sixteen hours too long," she grinned back, and it was like he could no longer control his body as he swooped forward to give her a kiss, the two of them laughing together and staggering a little as his arms locked around the small of her back and swept her up into them. For a couple minutes, they forgot what they'd even met up for just saying hello, until Ash pulled away with a gasp and frantically checked her wrist as if she'd ever worn a watch in her entire life.

"We're going to be late for our lunch reservations!" she said, and Percy just had time to get out a 'what' before he was being sucked into darkness and spit out into burning sunlight.

"Ugh, I thought I told you to warn..." the black-haired boy trailed off as he took in their surroundings.

They'd landed on a shaded deck, atop stairs leading down to a gorgeous tropical beach. It was virtually deserted, just a few others there, including a couple with two little kids, and the waiter in the loud Hawaiian shirt Ash was now talking to in positively awful French. But Percy wasn't paying much attention to that, enraptured by the striking clear blue water of the bay lapping against the white sand in front of them, lush green hills looming further in the distance, the pleasantly hot air heavy with humidity. Wherever they were, it was clearly tropical, and clearly high noon. He felt a hand clasp onto his and turned to a beaming Ash in awe, not sure which was the better view: her radiant smile, or the scenery around them.