act two , chapter ten
mysterious girl
ARIANA WOULD LOVE to say she had some deep revelation on her way down, that she came to terms with her own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.
The truth? Her only thought was: Aaaaggghhhhh. Also murdering Percy was floating in the back of her mind.
The river raced toward her at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from her lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of her vision. She could feel Percy holding on to her, as she was gripping on to him.
And then: Flaaa-boooom!
A whiteout of bubbles. She sank through the murk, sure that she was about to end up embedded in a hundred feet of mud and lost forever.
But the impact with the water hadn't hurt. She felt the water slowly swallow her. She was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through her fingers. She settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A catfish the size of Hagrid lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage—beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags—swirled up all around her.
At that point, she realized a few things: first, she had not been flattened into a pancake. She had not been barbecued. She was alive, which was good.
Second realisation : she was alone. She looked through the murkiness of the water, and couldn't make out the boy who fell in with her. All she had was the rubbish.
Then she figured out she couldn't breathe.
A wave of panic shot through her as she realized she could not get any air into her lungs. With the remaining strength she had, she pushed through the water and swam towards the surface. Her head broke the water as she inhaled a breath of air.
She desperately swam towards the surface, dragging her injured leg behind her. She managed to pull herself out of the water.
A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded her of Times Square on New Year's Eve.
A little girl said, "Mama! That girl walked out of the river."
"That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.
"But she's hurt!"
"That's nice, dear."
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 someone falling from the Arch."
Survivors. Ariana felt a surge of relief. Maybe the park ranger and that family made it out safely. She hoped Annabeth and Grover were okay.
And Percy.
Oh gods, where was Percy?
She tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.
"... an adolescent boy and girl," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show two adolescent teens, a boy and a 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 ..."
Ariana backed away, trying to keep my head down. She had to go a long way around the police perimeter. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere. She snuck to the edge of an alley, leaning heavily on the wall, gasping in pain as she felt the poison flowing closer to her heart.
She'd almost lost hope of ever finding Percy, Annabeth and Grover when a familiar voice bleated, "Perrr-cy!"
She turned and saw Percy getting tackled by Grover's bear hug—or goat hug. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"
Annabeth stood behind him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see him. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"
"I sort of fell."
"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"
He shook his head, "We have bigger problems. Where's Ari?"
Annabeth paled, "She's not with you?"
Ariana wanted to yell that she was there, just a few metres away, but her voice had stopped working, and she has collapsed on the ground. Her leg was burning, and it was all she could think about. Huge black spots danced in and out of her vision as her hearing became a high pitched ringing. Her whole body was fire.
Until she felt someone pour a light drink down her throat. She gasped as she felt the pain recede. She looked up to find a girl leaning over her. She had dark, curly hair and dark skin, with a light smile on her face. "There you go. Its okay, just breathe. I've got you."
Ariana breathed heavily, looking up at her, "Thank you."
The girl smiled. "No problem. Couldn't let the only other demi-witch die, now could I?"
Ariana frowned in confusion, but before she could say anything, the girl smiled, stuffing a piece of paper into her hand. "Call me if you need anything."
She disappeared back into the crowd.
Ariana stood to follow her, but a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. Ariana 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 jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw the witch. "There she is! That's the girl!"
Ariana turned quickly and hurried down towards Percy, Annabeth and Grover. "Hey."
They whirled around, and Ariana was crushed in a hug from Annabeth. "Where did you go?"
Ariana sighed, "Somewhere, down an alley and back over here."
Annabeth just rolled her eyes and sighed, before she let go of her. Percy threw an arm around her. "Glad I didn't, you know, kill you or something. It probably would've sucked."
Ariana pushed his arm away. "One day, we will laugh about how you almost drowned me in the Mississippi. Today is not that day."
"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
Together, Ariana and Percy told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, Percy's high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message.
"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, they passed another reporter doing a news break, and Ariana almost froze in her tracks when he said, "Percy Jackson and Andromeda Black. 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. While the girl, is the daughter of the renowned killer Sirius Black who recently escaped prison. Could this murder and his daughter be corrupting this young man? This boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson and Andromeda Black."
They ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley. Ariana swore under her breath. She could feel everyone's gaze on her.
"First things first," she 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.
Ariana looked at Annabeth. "That's the last time I ever go sightseeing with you."
Annabeth huffed. "It was not the Arch's fault it was hijacked be a killer chihuahua, alright? For the record, it is a beautiful peace of architecture. Pity you and loser boy blew it up."
The brunette laughed. "Loser boy? That's a new low."
"Eh, he nearly got you killed. Its deserved."
"For the record," Percy interjected, "I did cushion your fall with water. Without me, you would've been smashed like a pancake."
Ariana glared at him. "If you weren't there, I wouldn't have jumped of the side of the freaking Arch!"
Percy stared at her, "Alright, fair. But what would've you have done?"
"Probably created some vines off the side of the building so we could safely lower ourselves to the ground without being smashed like a pancake. Or like strangle the dog with vines."
"She got you there man," said Grover from his corner. "But all three of you shush, I want to sleep."
"Then cover your ears," Annabeth retored.
"You know full well I have very sensitive ears, so I need total silence." He replied, still not opening his eyes.
Ariana rolled her eyes. "There is a baby crying like 6 seats away-"
Grover shushed her. "Sleep Ari. Sleep."
For once, Ariana listened to the goat. She curled up in the corner seat, leaning her head on the window, and slept. She banished the thought of quests, mysterious girls with magic potions and annoying boys from her brain.
She hoped she would have no dreams.
Oh, how she was wrong.
SKY SPEAKS
welp im alive #yay!
moving on, who is the mysterious girl?? how does she know ari is a
witch and a demi-god?? will she reappear??
also the ariana and percy content in this chapter >>
my babies were so cute !! stan them till i die
Also yes i had to include that little bonding
moment at the end !! ariana destroyed as
always.
also mini cliff hanger ig?
see you next time !!