Falling twenty stories into the water was frightening, but that wasn't why Percy was paralyzed with fear.
Over his twelve years in the mythological world, Percy had fallen into the water many times. In fact, he was so experienced at the art of falling (and failing too, if he spelled the word wrong as he does) that he considered himself a master at it. It wasn't his nonexistent pride that allowed him to say this; it was what being a son of Poseidon entailed. Hypothetically, he could fall from any height, and still, the water would catch him safely without a single broken bone or bruise.
He didn't know if that would work out now since his powers were taken away.
But that still wasn't why his body was stiff and unrelenting to his commands.
In the past few years, Percy hadn't fallen into the water from extreme heights for two reasons:
Firstly, it wasn't on his bucket list. It wasn't an experience he enjoyed, and just because he had special powers, he could still get hurt if he acted recklessly.
And secondly, it involved falling.
Something he had bad experiences with.
Percy closed his eyes as he fell, the air whooshing past him so fast it felt like he was splitting the molecules in half. With a shudder, he suppressed the memories that always came back up no matter how much he tried hiding them.
Zeus can't harm me, he reminded himself. His domain over the sky is only applicable on Earth.
Time seemed to slow down and stretch as Percy forced himself to obsess over that idea, to feel the fear of the result of him being wrong.
Because he needed to distract himself.
Distract himself from how similar the feeling of falling was in the evil hole in the Underworld. In that dark, dreary hole whose floor littered with tiny, glass shards that poked and dug deep into one's soles seemed to pulsate in synchrony with one's breaths, where one needed to drink fire and burn their lungs to survive the horrid, poisonous haze.
Blisters.
Rivers.
Blood.
Curses.
Where the monsters roamed freely.
The place where even immortals feared.
Where one couldn't leave sane.
Percy's breath quickened as his vision darkened—and it wasn't because he was passing out. No.
He wouldn't go back there. He wasn't there. He was freely falling through the air, about to fall into the water . . .
The liquid turned dark blue as he plunged through it, drowning all of his memories and slowly turning them into ice.
Except one . . .
No! Percy cried out helplessly in horror as his vision slowly lit up in a whirl of red, purple, and blonde. Please.
Laughter deafened out the sounds of the world. Welcome back, Perseus, Tartarus said cruelly. It's great to have you back.
His consciousness was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the deep, dark depths of his mind, where a dark, thick fog emanated around it and trapped him inside of its grasp.
He was at the mercy of anything his mind could throw at him.
And then . . .
It's not real, Percy. This is all an illusion.
He was starting to look up to that beautiful, gorgeous voice as his guardian angel, his saving grace—anything except his supposed enemy. Help, Percy whispered. I need help.
You'll always have my help, my love, Void said gently. Just ask for it.
The black fog dissipated into a white light that cradled and protected him, carrying him out of that deep, dark, and drab chasm, the one he always seemed to get lost in and never find his way out of until it spits him out, beaten and bruised and broken, back into the unrelenting and harsh slice of reality that no one looked forward to.
Except him.
He found himself staring at the sky from under the deep, clear ocean. All kinds of colorful fishes and sharks and whales swam around him, almost protectively, as he sat on the seabed surrounded by seashells and plants and rocks while he gathered what remained of his shattered resolve.
Most of the sea animals' transmissions were similar to the worried What's wrong, milord?
It was only now he realized he had been crying.
But there would've been more tears if a particular person had been there.
Thanks, he transmitted tentatively around him, wondering if she was still there, watching over him. I . . . wouldn't know what to do if you weren't here.
He then felt a bit more energy pouring into his reserves, as though it was her silent acknowledgment.
His train of thought was interrupted by three objects splashing into the water, encouraging all the sea animals surrounding him to flee in all directions. Given one of them was wearing a black cloak, it was probably his friends and not some bold Void soldiers who thought recklessly jumping after an enemy was a great idea.
Given that they were dozens of miles far from shore, the three weren't faring too well with what the sea offered to strangers. They were getting tossed around by ten-foot waves, pulled under by hidden, less powerful currents, and at the last second before they blacked out, a gyre of water yanked them out onto the surface, gasping, racked with pain and shivers as the cold wind numbed their limbs.
Overall, not a very good experience.
Percy sighed; his period of rest was over—although, he wasn't sure if it was long enough to be even considered a period. He floated up effortlessly and grasped the forearms of a bedraggled Rosaline, desperate Psi, and tired Adriana, treading water so whenever a wave hit them, they would glide over it.
"Finally!" Psi gasped. "What took you so long?"
He considered letting Psi drown.
Thankfully, Rosaline took charge. "It's only been a few seconds since we've jumped," she reminded Psi between a deep, long breath of fresh air, making sure air went to all the parts of her body. "You'd be dead if not for Percy." She subconsciously snuggled closer to Percy, taking advantage of his body heat to keep warm.
Psi looked away. "He could've been a little bit faster," he muttered.
"Where's Leon?" Adriana asked worriedly looking around as Percy started to slowly swim to shore, dragging his group behind him. They weren't that fast, moving only slightly quicker than a hyperactive sloth.
"I'm afraid he wasn't on our side," Percy told her.
Instead of being sad, Adriana looked accepting of the news. "I was surprised he stayed this long," she admitted. "He was always very pro-Void and anti-Chaos."
"Well, it sounds like he'll be happy."
And cared for, Percy silently added, hoping that when he reached the shore with his exhausted team, there would be no monsters to fight.