I'm not sure what brought me back to reality first: the stark realization that I was underwater and was breathing or the enormous catfish that was just sitting in front of my face when my eyes opened.
I blinked a couple of times, suddenly awake.
What in the—
My hair floated in front of my face as I looked around, hovering a bit as I pushed myself off the sunken car I had settled on. The catfish was very quick to swim off, avoiding me like the plague. Maybe that was my aunt in fish form.
I wrinkled my nose and raised my brows simultaneously at the sight around me and my current situation.
The water was disgusting, first of all, if any of you are wondering what the Mississippi looks like.
And two, the water wasn't wet.
Don't come at me. That is the only way to describe it.
It was cool, but it wasn't wet.
Also, I didn't feel sick anymore from the poison, or more accurately, I did not feel like my head was going to explode and that I was going to die.
As I stared around me, breathing underwater, completely dry, and no longer dying, a panicked thought hit me, Where is Percy?
"Percy?!" I shouted, my voice sounding weird in my ears.
It echoed across the water, and soon the warbling noise of squelching mud came from my right.
I turned my head, and a relieved gasp filled the space between us.
Percy, alive and alright, was coming right for me, struggling a little through the gross mud of the river.
I moved towards him and wrapped him in a tight hug as he buried his face into my hair and whispered, "I thought you were dead..."
I buried my face deeper into his shoulder, breathing shakily, "I almost was...but you saved us..."
A sigh made his body sag in the water, his arms still around me, when a gentle green and blue light fell over us.
Percy moved away, and a small gasp fell from his lips, "Oh my gods..."
Lifting my eyes upwards, I spy a glowing emblem above my head.
Recalling Percy's story, I realized what had happened.
I had been claimed.
And I guess Annabeth would get a gold star for her intuitiveness because above my head was a glowing blue and green trident.
Poseidon, god of the sea, was my dad.
I let my eyes drop back to Percy, who was looking at me with an unreadable expression on his tanned face, and I tried to joke, "I guess Annabeth was right."
There was a moment of silence before Percy again wrapped me in a hug, even tighter than before.
This one was different, though, I wasn't sure why, but it was.
I stiffened a little, unsure how to process the change of the purpose of the hug when Percy said in a small voice, "I've always wanted a sibling..."
A small cry fell from my lips as I again embraced Percy tightly in a hug.
That was what was different.
This wasn't a hug between friends.
This was a hug between family.
Between siblings.
Percy, Sally, what do you say?
The voice made me jump and look around, confused, "Who was that?"
No answer.
Percy cleared his throat, his voice sounding funny still, "Um ... thanks. Thank you...Father." He looked at me, his green eyes glimmering, "For everything."
I gave him a warm smile, our connection strengthening with every second.
He nudged me, gesturing to the water, and I blushed, "Oh, yeah...Thanks...Father..." When I wasn't smited for not being on top of thanking the god of the sea, I sighed, looking up as a paddleboat passed over us and asked, "Should we find your sword and go find Grover and Annabeth?"
"I already solved one of those things..."
I looked at him, "Huh?"
He pointed, and the faint glow from his celestial bronze (some special metal that most demigod weapons are made from) blade caught my eye.
"Oh, well, there ya go!"
Percy, take the sword. Your father believes in you. Both of you, The voice murmured through the water again.
I once more peered around me, trying to spot the source as I called, "Where are you?"
I yelped in surprise as a woman with billowing hair and sea green eyes appeared in front of us.
"Mom?" Percy asked, his voice thick with emotion.
No, children, only a messenger, though your mother's fate is not as hopeless as you believe, Percy. Go to the beach in Santa Monica.
"What?"
It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, children, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence.
I could feel Percy's distress beside me, so I stammered, "But...Who-how did you—"
The woman turned her eyes to me and something flickered in them, hesitancy maybe?
She moved to me, a hand reached out and I felt a current wash over my cheek, almost like a motherly caress as she said, You, Sally Elway, need to stay close to your brother. And your father has told me to tell you that the ring only needs a flick to be activated. I stared at her in confusion as she looked between us, looking forlorn, I cannot stay, brave ones. You must go to Santa Monica! And, please, do not trust the gifts...
Her voice vanished, leaving us alone at the bottom of the Mississippi.
"Gifts?" Percy shouted, "What gifts? Wait!"
Nothing.
The image of the woman faded back into the murkiness of the river.
Percy stared at her empty spot for a long few moments before he went to grab Riptide, his sword, and cap it before slipping the now ballpoint pen back into his pocket.
He turned to me, lifting a brow, "What ring was she talking about?"
I blushed again and pulled the chain from around my neck, shocked it had not been pulled off or broken in the fall.
I slipped the ring from the necklace, tucking the chain into my pocket before staring at the ring in confusion.
"A flick to be activated..." I repeated to myself. "What does that mean?"
I shrugged, carefully flicking it, and blinked in shock as a sword identical to Percy's, appeared in my hands.
The double-edged sword glowed in the dark waters, lighting the space around us up like a flashlight. My hand was wrapped around the leather grip as my palm felt the studs digging into my skin on the hilt. The only difference that my sword had compared to Percy's was the single deep green jewel in the center of the trident engraving.
We both stared at it in bewilderment and wonder.
"You had that with you the whole time?" Percy asked me, looking at the weapon in awe. He gave me a disbelieving raised brow, "Our father gave us twin swords without us knowing?"
"I...I guess?" I giggled. I turned the hilt in my hand, feeling as if it were made for me, and read the Ancient Greek inscription, "Αντίρευμα...Undertow." I smirked at it, running my thumb over the trident engraving on the cross handle of the shortsword. When I looked back at the engraving of the name, though, I furrowed my brows, "It changed..." The language had changed, but...I could still read it, "Trahere." I flinched when the whole sword heated slightly in my hands and flickered from bronze to gold. "The sword!"
"Huh?" Percy questioned, moving to my side, inspecting the weapon. "It looks normal to me."
I stared at him as if he were blind, before moving my gaze back to the sword, and my eyes widened.
It once more said, Αντίρευμα in ancient Greek and glowed its familiar bronze hue.
I blew hard from my lips, "Oh well...I guess I am just tired."
"Or you're just crazy."
I shoved Percy's shoulder, "You're the one who jumped off the Gateway Arch!"
"You're the one who jumped with me!"
We erupted in laughter before I flicked Undertow's hilt, and it shrunk to the same ring it had been since I was little.
I slipped the ring onto my right ring finger and found that it now fits perfectly.
"Magic is so weird..." I said to my newfound brother, staring down at the jewelry.
"He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, "Welcome to being a demigod!"
We snickered childishly before I sighed, looking up again at the color-changing water, assuming that the sun was going down, "I guess we should head back, right?"
Percy grimaced, "The police are going to be everywhere."
I pinched my lips before I shrugged, "We'll figure it out, but first, we need to find Grover and Annabeth."
At their names, Percy snapped to attention and nodded, "Yeah...Let's go. We don't have much time left before the solstice."
Once more, we looked at the water around us before whispering, "Thank you, Father..."
As we swam, I was now aware of just how connected to the water I felt.
I had always loved swimming when I was little, and the trips to the beach had always been my favorite thing. The more I think about it, the more and more I realize just how easy the signs were in pointing out that I was Poseidon's kid. I remember seeing faces in the water of the ocean and my bathtub water. They were smiling women, all giggling and watching me with interest, every once in a while splashing me with water and making me laugh.
They must have been Naiads or Nereids or something.
Not only did these occurrences happen, but as we swam to the surface, I laughed, recalling other accidents that happened when I was younger having to do with water.
But the one that made me giggle and Percy look at me weirdly was the memory of the time my aunt made me so upset that without warning, the sink exploded all over her and her stupid dinner guests.
It made sense why it would explode without anything being wrong with it now.
Our heads broke the water's surface, and I spied a floating McDonald's not too far away. But my ears perked up to the sounds of police helicopters, emergency vehicle sirens blaring, and enormous shouting crowds that were coming from about a block away.
Percy and I glanced at one another before we hurried ashore, still not a drop of water on us, and started our trek to the spot where people were gathered.
"Mama! That boy and girl walked out of the river!" A young voice shouted from behind us, making us spin.
"That's nice, dear," Her mother replied, too busy watching the commotion.
"But they're dry!"
"That's nice, dear."
Percy grabbed my hand and pulled me with him to the crowd just in time to hear a news lady say into a microphone, "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 someone falling from the Arch."
My stomach jumped at the word Survivors.
The family and ranger must have gotten out.
Percy and I shared a glance, before pushing further into the crowd, catching another reporter say, "... an adolescent boy and girl. Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show two teenagers 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 ..."
I leaned over to Percy, "Keep your head down, but act like nothing is the matter. No one will give you a second glance. Stay close to an adult too."
He gave me an odd look at my words, "What do you—"
His voice was cut off when I hurried away from him, melding into the crowd.
I kept Percy in my line of sight but stayed far away from him so that we did not draw much attention.
It was about twenty minutes of searching when I finally snuck back up on my brother.
I grabbed his shoulder gently, and he jumped, spinning on me, his sea-green eyes wide, "Where the heck did you go?"
Sighing, I replied, "Keeping a low profile and trying to find Annabeth and Grov—"
"PERCY!" A voice bleated from behind us. "SALLY!"
We barely had enough time to turn when we were both almost strangled by hugs.
Annabeth's arms cut off my wind supply as Grover exclaimed in a rush, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"
"We can't leave you alone for five minutes!" Annabeth pulled away from me, looking upset but relieved. "What happened?!"
Percy and I looked at one another sheepishly as he said, "We sort of fell..."
Annabeth's eyes almost popped from her head as her voice became shrill, "Guys! Six hundred and thirty feet?"
I shrugged as a cop shouted, "Gangway!"
I peered over my shoulder, and my eyes landed on the little boy's mother from the observation deck, rambling, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua—"
"Okay, ma'am," The paramedic who was pushing the gurney the woman was on was reassuring. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."
"I'm not crazy! This boy and girl jumped out of the hole, and the monster disappeared!" Her wild eyes shot over, and they landed on Percy and me. Her eyes widened even more, "There they are! That's them!"
"Time to go!" I exclaimed, grabbing Annabeth's wrist as Percy grabbed Grover's.
"What's going on?" Annabeth cried, letting me drag her through the crowd. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?!"
Percy quickly told the story about Enchilada (I am aware that's not her name, leave me alone) and her Chimera-son, our plunge off the Arch, and the Naiad's message.
"Whoa," Grover breathed in shock. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."
"Yeah, we really don't wanna upset our dad..." Percy muttered, a tad of thankfulness and remorse mixing into his words.
"Wait!" Annabeth shrieked a little bit. Her eyes were enormous as she looked at me, "Our dad? Does that mean—"
She never finished because as we nearly reached the end of the crowd, the voice of a reporter made all of us stumble as he said, "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. We also have suspicions that the young lady accompanying him may be a girl by the name of Sally Elway, a teenager who was reported missing by her neighbors around the same time of the bus accident and also by her boarding school, Yancy Academy. And to add to this news, the two are believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson and Sally Elway."
We very quickly skidded into an alley as Percy announced, "First things first, we've got to get out of town!"
As we ran again to make it to the Amtrak train, Annabeth wheezed a little bit, "But wait!"
"What?!" Percy snapped a little bit. "We don't have time for any more sightseeing, Annabeth!"
"No, shut up, Seaweed Brain!" She shot back at him. "I was going to ask about what you said about the river!" She nodded at us two. "You said Our dad, did Sally get claimed?!"
Percy and I shared a smile, dimples popping from our cheeks, both for him and just the right for me.
We were the siblings of Poseidon. We were the children of the sea.
And of course, now we were the most wanted kids in America at the moment. Who knew a demigod's life could get so crazy in a matter of three days?!
I looked at Annabeth with a smirk and gasped, "I'll buy you a gold star sticker later!"
She fist-pumped the air, "I knew it!"
"Oh, right, like you know everything!" Percy taunted her.
"I know more than you!"
"And I know more than both of you combined, now shut it and run!" Grover shut them both up.
I laughed loudly, the sound filling the space around us, and I could almost sense the tension lessening a little as I did.
"I love my life!" I cheered into the air.
Oh, if only I had kept my trap shut, maybe the Fates would have left us alone...