The Sky And The Sea

I'll Hold Your Hand

I gave a small gasp as Leo gulped, "Holy-! Hey Mellie. A little warning next time!"

An enormous circular pit plunged into the heart of the mountain. It was probably half a mile deep, honeycombed with caves. Some of the tunnels probably led straight outside. Others were sealed with a glistening material like wax or glass. For Jason and I, we could probably survive, but for someone like Leo and Piper, that was one very fatal fall.

"Oh my," Mellie gasped. "I'm so sorry." She unclipped a walkie-talkie from somewhere in her robes and spoke into it. "Hello, sets? Is that Nuggets? Hi, Nuggets. Could we get a floor in the main studio, please? Yes, a solid one. Thanks."

A few seconds later, an army of harpies rose from the pit, all carrying squares of various building materials. In no time there was a makeshift floor snaking out over the chasm.

"That can't be safe," Jason muttered.

"Oh, it is," Mellie assured him. "The harpies are very good."

Jason was examining the floor very carefully but I just rolled my eyes, wanting to get a move on. I jumped onto it. Nothing happened and I gave Jason a very pointed look as they joined me on the floor.

Piper reached for Jason's hand. "If I fall, you're catching me."

"Uh, sure." Jason awkwardly let his hand fall.

"You're catching me too,," Leo said, taking very slow steps. "But I ain't holding your hand."

"I'll hold your hand," I shrugged. "But I don't need you to catch me . . . I think." Jason flushed as I reached for his hand. This he took easily, intertwining his fingers with mine.

Mellie led us towards the middle of the chamber, where a loose sphere of flat-panel video screens floated around a kind of control center. A man hovered inside, checking monitors and reading paper airplane messages.

The man paid us no attention as Mellie brought us forward to the control area.

Leo whistled. "I got to get a room like this."

I would have paid more attention if it wasn't for a certain screen. And on this screen was Percy and I when we were fourteen. Percy was battling our half-giant brother, Antaeus. Every time Percy made a slash at him, the earth would heal him.

"Flower?" Jason nudged me. I looked away from the screen and my friends noticed it for the first time.

"Is that Percy?" Piper asked and I nodded.

"And that's Luke," I added, pointing at the top of the screen where the sandy haired boy sat. His scar was still stretched out across his face but he seemed at ease. His skin was practically glowing.

"Where are you?" Leo asked. Piper gasped and Jason tensed.

"Percy!" A voice on that monitor yelled. Annabeth's voice. "He's a son of Gaea! He's a son of-" her voice was muffled. The monitor now showed three girls. Me, Annabeth and Rachel. While Rachel looked fine and unharmed, there was blood dripping down my arms from where Kelli the empousai had scratched me and red stain on my shirt, my hands resting on my abdomen. Annabeth had a gag in her mouth while two dracanae restrained her. Kelli's claws were wrapped around my throat and I looked too terrified to even breathe.

"Oh my gosh." Piper sounded appalled but I took a step back in realization. It was just like in Quebec. My life was on display for half of the monitors on the wall were of me and my family fighting.

"Aim for the fucking mouth!" Percy yelled on the monitor where we were battling the Nemean Lion.

"To the ground!" Rachel was screaming in another. Everyone on the monitor, which consisted of me, Rachel, Annabeth, Percy and Ethan Nakamura, dropped to the floor as a spiked ball flew over our heads then we got right back up and began running again.