Supernatural ~ Percy Jackson

XI

PERCY POV

I'd love to tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, that I came to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.

The truth? My only thought was: Aaaaggghhhhh!

The river raced toward me at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from my lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision.

And then: Flaaa-boooom!

A whiteout of bubbles. I sank through the murk, sure that I was about to end up embedded in a hundred feet of mud and lost forever.

But my impact with the water hadn't hurt. I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage—beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags— swirled up all around me.

At that point, I realized a few things: first, I had not been flattened into a pancake. I had not been barbecued. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in my veins anymore. I was alive, which was good.

Second realization: I wasn't wet. I mean, I could feel the coolness of the water. I could see where the fire on my clothes had been quenched. But when I touched my own shirt, it felt perfectly dry.

Third realization: where is Margaret? My mind went into a panic. Was she hurt, was she dead, but most of all where was she?

I started swimming around, looking under logs or old sunken boats. No Margaret anywhere.

When my eyes met her body, I ran.

Could you run in water? Well, I just did.

She was unconscious and laying there. Her face and body were slightly red, I guessed because of the fall.

When I picked her up a bubble enclosed us. Her clothes and hair became dry, but she looked dead.

"No, no, no, Margaret, please wake up!" I shook her violently. Nothing.

My body started trembling with adrenaline, "Margaret, I need you, please!"

I picked her up in the mud. My legs felt shaky. My hands trembled. I should've been dead. The fact that I wasn't seemed like...well, a miracle. But Margaret had been my miracle this whole trip: saving me almost every time. It didn't seem fair this was happening. I was totally defenseless.

Every second that passed, Margaret seemed to glow lightly. Not just any glow but a golden one. What was happening?

Suddenly, the glow turned so bright that I could not see anymore. I closed my eyes but when the glowing stopped, my arms felt lighter.

I opened my eyes and Margaret was no longer with me.

The thought she had died began swirling around me. If she died, it was my fault. I hadn't protected her well enough. She was dead and I hadn't apologized for being a jerk this week. She had been just trying to save me.