Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 27

Percy held his breath until he couldn't stand it. When he finally filled his lungs with water, it felt just like normal breathing. The water pressure didn't bother him. His clothes didn't even get wet. His underwater abilities were as good as ever.

It's just a stupid phobia, he assured himself. I'm not going to drown.

Then he remembered his friends and his girlfriend that couldn't breathe underwater, and that panic and guilt came surging back.

He found Frank first, the boy in the form of a koi fish that was the size of a teenage boy.

And when he then became frantic as he searched for his girlfriend, he wanted to kiss Frank when he finally saw where she was.

Her hair was floating in a halo around her head as she rested on Frank's left dorsal fin, her eyes closed and her arms floating aimlessly above her as Percy swam for her, his phobia out the window and replaced by the complete and utter terror that he'd just lost the love of his life and the best thing that ever happened to him.

The first thing he did was make an air bubble around them as he crashed to the floor, kicking up sand as Cressida's hair fell and her arms dropped. And he tried to control his breathing as Frank hovered by the edge of the bubble, watching worriedly as Percy placed a hand on her forehead and he ordered, demanded and forced every bit of water out of her lungs. He wasn't taking no for an answer. He wasn't letting Phorcys win, and he wasn't letting Cressida leave him.

And she bucked in his arms as the water spilled out of her mouth and she turned over onto her side and coughed it up, Percy rubbing her back as she did, not caring that she was soaking wet.

"You're ok. You're ok. I got you," he said as she took deep breaths.

"That hurt," she groaned as she sat up, pushing her wet hair over her shoulder as she cursed the fact that her hair tie had been washed away.

"I'm sorry. I tried to get to you but I -"

"We can talk about this later," she cut in, her chest still heaving. "I'm ok. I promise, but right now we need to get the hell out of this fish tank. And if you ever take me to an aquarium for a date..."

Percy had to laugh at that. "Alright," he said as he held her face with both hands. "Frank's gone to check for exits, in the meantime, I'm just going to make this air bubble smaller. It's going to fit around your head so you can still swim and move around. But -"

"Water is denser than air. I'm going to move slower. I know," she said with a small smile.

And Percy kissed her, the bubble around them popping as the water came rushing back in and Percy blew air into her lungs before he pulled away, blowing still as the bubble formed around her head.

He held up an ok sign and she nodded before Frank came back, reporting no exits in the tank.

The top was covered with Celestial bronze mesh, like the curtains that roll down over closed storefronts at the mall. Percy tried to cut through with Riptide, but he couldn't make a dent. He tried to smash through the glass wall with his sword hilt—again, no luck. Then he repeated his efforts with several of the weapons lying around the bottom of the tank and managed to break three tridents, a sword, and a speargun.

Cressida's muscles were burning as she had her thyrsus out as she was whacking it in the same spot against the glass and all she'd managed to do was scratch it.

Percy tried controlling the water, but it was clearly in Phorcys' control because the most he managed to do was blow the lid off the plastic treasure chest.

After that, Cressida sort of watched the fight leave his eyes as he lost hope, and she swam over to him and she reached for his hands.

"Hey," she said, glad for the fact that he couldn't actually speak underwater but she could inside her bubble. "We'll find a way. We have been in situations a lot worse than this. We'll be fine."