A/N: I own nothing but plot. Enjoy!
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When Annabeth woke up, it was early morning and she was already floating in a small vessel that bobbed up and down in the waves. She coughed and pushed herself up, shaking off the last bits of paralysis.
As far as she could see, the dark blue sea stretched everywhere she looked. Not even a hint of the land where she came from was seen on the skyline, and what could be seen on the horizons were gathering clouds.
There was nothing else on the boat. It seemed the archon was intent on having her die out in the seas, unless the gods took pity on her.
Annabeth clutched her chiton.
"Oh, thank the gods!"
Tucked inside the folds was the fig she had not eaten from yesterday, and the dagger she had secretly stolen from the archon's waist when she had lunged at him. Fortunately, they had not decided to search her body. Unfortunately, she did not know where to go from here and how she was to survive this.
Aside from the poisoned broth she had unknowingly consumed late morning yesterday, Annabeth estimated she hadn't eaten anything since. She hurriedly ate the fig, grateful for the juice to at least wet her parched throat.
But what else to do in her predicament? Annabeth thought back to what her adoptive father had told her and the scrolls she read about the geography of the lands.
Pegai was an island village. Surrounding it were a few other islands, with several smaller ones further out to sea. If she was fortunate enough to come to one, she had a slim if grim chance of survival.
There was a light wind that was boosting the vessel along. She could be wrong, but it felt like the wind was getting stronger, perhaps due to a growing storm judging by the clouds that were rolling in behind her.
Floating alongside the vessel were some debris. Annabeth carefully leaned over and plucked what she could reach from the water. It was some pieces of driftwood tangled in seaweed. But Annabeth didn't dare eat the raw seaweed without some means to clean it. But the driftwood pieces themselves...
"That's it!"
Annabeth looked down at her chiton. Here in the open sea, the chiton offered some protection from the elements. The sun was not as harsh as it could be due to the clouds.
She took the dagger and began to cut off a large section of the chiton. No one else was here in the sea anyway, so it mattered not who saw her half-naked. And if they did see, well, that would at least mean she was being rescued.
A little while later, Annabeth had managed to wrangle some sort of sail and mast out of the piece of linen and driftwood. Catching the growing wind, the little boat picked up speed.
Annabeth glanced nervously at the growing clouds behind her.
"Come on, just a little faster..."
Despite the increasing speed, the storm seemed to catch up faster to the bobbing boat.
She sent a silent prayer to the gods in her mind, hoping that the sea gods would listen to her plea. She had lived a life trying to be a good person, even saving the village from a monster. Why was it her who was fated to be sent here? No good deed goes unpunished, indeed.
Annabeth cursed the archon, hoping that the amphisbaena would have many friends that would come back to Pegai. She regretted that she couldn't at least see the face of the archon when he discovered his beloved dagger was gone. He had always kept this dagger with him for as long as she remembered.
The boat sailed on for what seemed like ages. Her stomach growled but there was nothing she could do. Large waves began to form, bobbing the boat up and down. Perhaps it was fortunate that Annabeth did not have much in her stomach for she soon grew seasick.
Suddenly, the boat crashed against some sort of invisible barrier. throwing Annabeth backwards. Annabeth clutched at the sides of the boat, fearful that she was going to tip over. The waves were still pushing the boat in a forward direction, but the boat was staying in place.
Annabeth stretched her hand forward and felt some sort of resistance. Even the waves did not pass through freely. On the other side of the barrier was smooth ocean, with light ripples instead of the quaking waves on her side of the stormy ocean. To her, this clearly must was some sort of magical boundary to keep intruders out. But there was nothing but the tumultuous sea beyond the boundary that she could see.
How long did this boundary go for? Annabeth took a broken plank that she had picked up and tried to row against the barrier, hoping to either find an opening or go around. The waves continued to crash against the boat, making it hard for her to move around.
"My oar!"
A particularly large wave swamped over the boat, and Annabeth lost grip of the plank. The sky decided to pour down at that moment.
Annabeth scowled at the sky. Were the gods so determined to have her die?
Thinking her situation was unbelievable, Annabeth couldn't help but laugh. Perhaps, she was going crazy. At least, her death would be somewhat spectacular, dying while being sent as a bride to the gods.
She wiped away the rain from her face just in time to feel her boat begin to float backwards. Annabeth whirled around, spotting a whirlpool beginning to form.
"No, this cannot be happening."
To her horror, the whirlpool grew bigger, drawing in the boat. If it were not for the waves crashing against the boat, the vessel would have long drifted in. Annabeth quickly adjusted the makeshift mast, trying to maximize the wind's strength as much as possible to get away from the whirlpool. The boat shuddered as it slammed against the barrier. Sea water began damping Annabeth's feet as cracks appeared in the boat floor.
But the swirling mass of sea only grew bigger. As if angry that the boat was managing to stay away, the churning waters rushed up.
Frustrated, Annabeth slammed on the invisible barrier that was between death and freedom. Suddenly, the barrier vanished as though it had never been there. Simultaneously, the makeshift mast collapsed. Annabeth made a split-second decision.
She abandoned the boat and threw herself into the side of the sea where the barrier had been blocking her. The ocean was shockingly cold, freezing her senses. Annabeth's face stung as one rough wave knocked over her, knocking the breath out of her lungs. Then her body sank towards the sea floor.
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Percy thought that when he became a god, at least he would lose the ability to dream. That was not so. Sometimes, the dreams were even more vivid than they were when he was but a mere demigod.
He was running towards the monsters instead of away, fury coursing through his veins. They had taken everything from him.
Everything. His home. The people he loved.
Even if he was a demigod, even if the monsters hated him, then go for him, not his family.
Percy screamed in rage as water burst from the ground, immediately flooding the horde of water serpents. Being freshwater creatures, the serpents could not stand the salinity of the seawater and thrashed in panic as the water assaulted their senses.
Percy ran through them, slashing his sword at any monster that dared to bite at him. He was heading towards the center of the mass of serpents where they guarded a central figure. A large vortex of swirling water was above the figure, the source of the serpents that had hunted the townspeople. Now and then, a serpent would slip through the portal and join the army of serpents against Percy.
But Percy was too in rage to care. One serpent bit his arm, but the water healed Percy as soon as Percy ended the serpent with a stab of his sword. Soon, the ground was littered with nothing but the corpses of snakes.
Percy stepped forward.
"How could you?" He demanded the figure.
"I'm sorry, Percy. I had to." Two tears fell down, mixing with the sea water that was now rising to the level of their knees.
"Had to?" He spat out. "You knocked me out, took the blade of souls..."
"I had no choice!" The agitated voice faltered. "You know how this has to end. Only one of us can live."
Percy's grip on his sword tightened.
The portal of water above them grew larger. New species and larger serpents fell. This time they were sea serpents, brightly colored and larger than the freshwater serpents, signifying their venomous status.
"It's too late now!" The figure cried out.
"Arrghhhh!"
Something roared from within the vortex as if attempting to escape.
Percy opened his eyes to a roof made out of sea reef and coral and glittering with pearls. Outside his room, a Nereid attendant was humming a lullaby as she cleaned the palace.
Every so often that damn dream would arise. Even if he didn't want to sleep, gods still needed rest.
Percy often ran over the choices that he could have made that day over and over again. But what could he do? He was a sea god, not a god of time to turn back to the past. No matter how he was tormented in his dreams, the path he took only led to this current present.
Percy found himself drifting from his bedroom in his underwater palace to a small shrine. Mementos from when he was still a demigod were kept here, protected by a layer of magic that stopped the objects from deteriorating all these years.
A simple shell necklace worn by his younger sister that he had made for her on her fifth birthday. A pair of sandals that his mother had woven from river reeds for him. Small items that reminded him of a life that was stolen. These were both comforting and sorrowful.
Percy reached all the way behind the shrine and unraveled the scroll. Inside the scroll was a painting of a young woman with caramel colored hair. Even if he hadn't had this painting, he would still remember every bit of her. In some lighting, the hair shone red. In other, the hair shone like golden brown threads. A rare beauty born of the seas.
Why did he keep the scroll? Percy wasn't even sure of this himself. What emotions he had towards the woman in the picture had dulled over the years.
"Being mired in the past will only bring you much pain," his father had once told him. "Slowly, your soul will be eaten away by the negativity and pain. We cannot do much about the past, but you have your whole future ahead of you, Perseus. I wish you to be free from this pain you've surrounded yourself."
Sometimes, Percy preferred feeling pain. Being an immortal meant that time felt slow and dull at times.
"Go, my son," Poseidon had waved him off. "I know your heart is not here in the sea."
Percy put away the scroll. Perhaps one day, he would be able to throw it away.
It was time to return to the surface. He didn't like spending his time underwater if he didn't have to, preferring to wander the lands close to the seas. If Hades would not let him in the Underworld, then he scoured the lands for any hint of reincarnated souls.
"My lord! My lord!" A Nereid attendant floated in.
Percy frowned. "Who dares to enter?" He never let anyone in the shrine.
Ione, the Nereid, twisted her hands nervously. "My lord, it is an emergency. A human woman has entered the palace!"
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A/N: This is the most emo I've ever written Percy lol.
Happy Holidays! Parts of the world are experiencing an insane amount of snow or other weather changes, so I hope everyone stays safe and healthy. See you all next chapter!