𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄
𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒚
❛ her heart was as pure as
the smile she gave ❜
𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐀 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐘, 𝕬urora Stark was no coward. Throughout her short time in life which consisted of a roller coaster of twelve chaotic consecutive years, not once was she branded a coward. On the contrary, she was anything but — as every step she took was dangerous. Those shadows that plagued her life were consistent of making her nightmares.
And yet she smiled, proving to be anything but a coward.
Now, with that being said, her practically screeching the daylights off of Percy did nothing to ease her. The rushing of wind fanned her chestnut brown hair around her, no doubt covering Percy's face. The wind no doubt, also carried her yells ( it wasn't that hard since the young girl had a good set of lungs on her ) the whole time.
Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of her vision. As they grew closer towards the river, Percy turned them around so he was the one falling first, and then:
FLAAA-BOOOOOOM!
A whiteout of bubbles.
They sank through the murk, as soon as they made contact with the water, Aurora passed out. Whether it was from the landing or merely from exhaustion . . . Percy had no clue, but he grew worried.
As if it were on pure instinct he reached out, to pull her to the surface only to freeze in shock at what he saw.
Aurora, despite looking incredibly pale, floated along side of him. Her brown hair stuck to her face, and when he went to check if she was still breathing he noticed the air bubble around her. If he so much as moved an inch away, it would follow him.
Percy did not know what to think. He was currently breathing underwater. He stood up, thigh-deep in mud. His legs felt shaky. His hands trembled. He should've been dead, hell they both should have been dead. The fact that they weren't seemed like . . . well, a miracle.
He imagined a woman's voice, a voice that sounded a bit like his mother: Percy, what do you say?
"Um . . . thanks." Underwater, He sounded like he did on recordings, like a much older kid. "Thank you . . . Father."
No response.
While Percy was figuring out his business underwater, Aurora was once again by the cliff. Every time the younger girl appeared on the cliff it seemed to be midnight. Not once has she seen the beautiful sun glare down at the cliff and the cave. However, she wasn't complaining.
Aurora sighed and sat down in her usual spot on top of the grass. The pretty purple flowers surrounding her small body, yet she still inhaled it's sweet scent as it brought her comfort.
She had no idea how, but the sweet hypnotic smell the purple iris's emitted was a twitch familiar to her . . . and yet, she'd never seen them at all before.
"Hello?" Aurora called out. The beautiful stars above her twinkled with energy, as if they were happy to see her again.
"Hello, child," The creature suddenly paused its eyes blinked as they observed her. "Are you alright?"
Aurora knew whatever bond she was forming with the so called creature before her was only temporary. And she knew that informing him of everything going on in her life would only burden him, but she knew she was beginning to grow on the creature and unfortunately for her, he was beginning to grow on her as well.
And if he was keeping his word, she might as well keep hers too.
So, the young girl filled the creature in on everything that was going on. Everything from her father, to her mother, to Chiron's proclamation of her beginning, and to even the trouble she was undergoing with the quest. Everything spewed out of her before she could stop, but it finally felt good telling another soul her troubles.
Sure, she had Silena, Annabeth, and her siblings but at times she felt like a burden to them. Despite knowing they didn't see it in that way.
The creature stared at her for a moment before glancing at the purple flower in her hand, "Well, the centaur was correct on one part"
Aurora raised her eyebrows, "Which is?"
"This is only the beginning for you, little dove. Much more is yet to come"
Aurora sighed and threw herself back so she was laying on the grass around her. Her eyes reflected the beautiful night sky, with the moon shining down on her providing her comfort in a land where the answer to her question tormented her.
"That's what I was afraid of," she sighed. With a gentle hand she reached out to the sky as if it held all of her answers. "How do you prepare for something you have no idea about?"
The eyes lowered, as if the creature too wanted to lay its head down, "In my long life, I've learned that no one can prepare themselves for what destiny has already etched in the stars," they glanced at the sky. "All they can do is lay and wait for the inevitable."
Aurora pursed her glossy lips and shook her head, "I can't accept that," she sighed. "Everyone has choices that inevitably have consequences, that lead them towards different paths in their lives because of the choices they made throughout their life. Not because of destiny."
"You have seen the fates with your own eyes, and you still do not believe?"
Aurora shrugged. The sky looked bright and hopeful, "It might be my scientific side talking, but destiny is a concept I have a hard time believing," she suddenly leaned up on her elbows so she could see him. "Out of curiosity, Am I the first person to ever arrive here?"
"Yes"
Aurora nodded to herself, "So, what is your story exactly?"
The creature abruptly closed its eyes, "That's a story for another time, darling dove. Be careful on your journey to the Underworld. Those with ill intention are closer than you expect."
"Wait! Nate—"
Before she could question his words, she awoke.
"Aurora! Wake up!" Hands viciously shook her awake.
Aurora awoke and locked eyes with Percy's ocean eyes. Her mind still on the cliff and with Nathaniel, the creature with so much mystery shrouded around him it was beginning to irritate the young girl. However, when she took a look at her surroundings her mind shot back to the present. She was still in St. Louis by the Arch. Her mind then wandered towards the last time she saw Percy with poison running through his system.
"Oh for Aphrodite's sake! Percy, Are you alright?!" The young girl shot up and placed her hands on his shoulders and searched his body for any injuries.
"Aurora," Percy spoke taking a hold of her hands, gently "I'm fine, the water healed me"
Aurora grinned and thought deeply, "Another one of my hypothesis proven correct!" She went to look at his calf. "Tell me, ocean eyes, was it painful being healed? Is it only when you're in salt water? Or regular water? What about Fiji?"
Percy pulled her up by her hands, "What? I don't know, I'll give you the science stuff later."
"It's biology, actually."
"Biology, right!" He tugged her away from the body of water. "We have to go."
A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded Aurora of Times Square on New Year's Eve, one of the many traditions she held with her father.
At the sight of so many people, Aurora tugged Percy close to her and hurried her head in his shoulder. Her hoodie had flew off on their way down, and she did not want to risk the paparazzi finding her. It would just cause problems that none of the group members had time to deal with.
Percy didn't mind, already catching onto what the girl was trying to do. So he wrapped a hand over her shoulder and pulled her closer.
A little girl said, "Mama! That boy and girl walked out of the river."
"That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.
"But they're dry!"
"That's nice, dear."
Aurora nudged Percy, "How did you keep me dry?"
"I don't think it was me."
A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of two people falling from the Arch."
Percy tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.
" . . . an adolescent boy," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy and girl going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities . . ."
Aurora backed away pulling Percy with her, trying to keep her head down, "Can you see them?"
Percy looked around the best he could without revealing his face too much. He shook his head, "No"
"I should've stayed on the ground, right?" Aurora jokingly smiled at the boy trying to release the tension.
A smile broke out onto Percy's face, "Everything would've been so much better if you stayed on the ground."
"Perrr-cy! Rory!" A familiar voices cried out.
They turned and got tackled by Grover's bear hug—or goat hug. He said, "We thought you guys went to Hades the hard way!"
Annabeth stood behind him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see them. She pulled her best friend into a tight hug "We can't leave you both alone for five minutes! What happened?"
"I sort of fell."
Aurora raised her pointer finger, "He pulled me down with him. I didn't have time to argue on our way down."
"Aurora, it was either that or get incinerated."
Behind them, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. Aurora and Percy recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck.
She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua—"
"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."
"I'm not crazy! This boy and his girlfriend jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw the pair with their arms wrapped around each other. "There they are! That's the boy and the girl!"
Aurora's eyes widen in panic before quickly separating from Percy and turning quickly, pulling Annabeth and Grover after her. They disappeared into the crowd.
"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
Percy told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, Percy's high-dive act with Aurora, and the underwater lady's message.
"I didn't hear the river spirit," Aurora stated.
"You were out cold Aurora."
"Good point."
"Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."
Before Annabeth could respond, the group of four passed another reporter doing a newsbreak, and Percy and Aurora almost froze in their tracks when he said, "Percy Jackson and Aurora Stark. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the pair who may have caused this explosion fit the description of a young couple wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And they are believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson, and the infamous Aurora Stark. Billionaire Tony Stark has yet to comment on the matter, and we couldn't understand why the billionaire princess, as to what some people refer to her as, would associate herself with such a dangerous boy"
Aurora knew now that there was no way her father didn't know about her quest. She was on too many headlines for her to continue to be optimistic.
They ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.
"First things first," Perch told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"
Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. They got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind them.
Ocean eyes by Billie Eilish reminds me so much of Percy and Aurora and what I want them to become. What songs do you guys think fits well with them? Or between Grover, Annabeth, and Aurora?
What do you guys think about Nathaniel? And what do you think would be his role in Auroras life?
I cannot wait to hear what you guys think!
❛ allure me. ❜ ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚ ╱
❪ the prodigy, 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 book. ❫
༢ ͎۪۫ ༊ ❛ ©CELESTIALAPHRODITE 2023. ❜ ¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ ｡𖤐
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