I came to 15 feet under the surface of the Mississippi River. My eyes instantly went to the palm of my right hand where a slight throbbing was. A white line was all that was left of the deep gash Echidna had given me. Percy sat next to me, looking around the river bottom with wide eyes. In his hand, he held a lighter. A slimy piece of paper was floating away.
"Hey, Nina," Percy said. His voice sounded strange in the water, like it was being played back through an answering machine.
Percy and I stood up, thigh-deep in mud.
"Thanks, Dad," Percy said. I repeated the sentiment.
Percy looked lost in thought. I thought I knew where his thoughts were going. An untrained Water Mage should have died from the fall. As it was, softening the blow of the water had taken all of my energy. Our father had helped us in some way. But why? Did he need us? Was that it? Or could he actually care?
The water swirled around us. Overhead, a boat was passing by. Percy was staring into the gloom of the murky water. I could just barely make out the glint of what I assumed was his sword. I felt my stomach sink. The bow Artemis had given me. I had dropped it. It was gone now.
"Take the sword, Percy. Your father believes in you."
Percy and I looked around, searching for what had spoken. A few feet in the distance, a beautiful woman with dark hair and a pearly white dress floated in the water, her long hair swirling around her.
"Mom?" Percy asked.
"No, child, only a messenger, though your mother's fate is not as hopeless as you believe." The woman looked genuinely sympathetic. "Go to the beach in Santa Monica. It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please Percy, Nina, I can't stay long. The river here is to foul for my presence. I cannot stay, brave ones. You must go to Santa Monica! And, Nina, Percy, do not trust the gifts..."
The woman disappeared.
What gifts? I wondered. Percy looked as confused as I was.
When we got on shore, every emergency vehicle in the area was at the Arch. We had just blown up a National Monument. If Percy and I weren't in serious trouble before, we are now. It didn't take long for Annabeth and Grover to spot us and tackle us in a huge hug. Just a little bit away, a news reporter was talking about Percy and me falling from the Arch. Gods, we needed to leave right then and there. Somehow, we all managed to make it to the Amtrak station just in time to catch our train.
As soon as we were safely in Denver, we made our way to a do-it-yourself car wash. We all fished in our pockets for 75 cents, and Annabeth started up the hose, handing Grover the hose. Grover angled the hose just right for a rainbow to appear.
Annabeth began speaking, "O goddess, accept our offering. Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested. A blonde boy appeared on the screen. The boy was familiar, but I couldn't quite place him.
"Luke!" Percy shouted.
Luke turned, raising his sword but dropped it quickly, grinning when he saw who we were.
"Percy, Annabeth," he said excitedly. "Hey, Nina." I smiled slightly; Percy and Annabeth were both grinning like loons. "Thank the gods! Are you okay? Wait, where's Grover?" Grover stuck his hand in front of the mist to show he was there and Luke laughed again.
"Where's Chiron?" I asked.
"He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers."
Luke told us about what was going on at camp. A fight was breaking out, different cabins supporting either Poseidon or Zeus. Percy did his best to explain what was happening on our end, and Luke gave his opinion. It was only a few minutes before the water started to shut off. We said hasty good byes.
With the Iris Message out of the way, Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and I decided we wanted some food. We all made our way to the nearest diner. I wasn't entirely sure how much food the charm Apollo gave me for Christmas could produce, and I really didn't want to find out right now. I would test that when we were all safe back home.
When we were all seated, the first thing our waitress did was ask us if we had any money. I guess we did look a little like ragamuffins. Annabeth was quickly thinking about what to say when this buff guy shoved his way into the seat with Grover and me, pushing Grover against the wall and squashing me in between the satyr and the man. The waitress asked us again if we had any money. The biker guy told her it was on him. I scrunched a little closer to Grover. One thing I learned from being in Medusa's lair; don't accept food from strangers.
The man leaned forward on the table, looking across at Percy. At least, I think he was. It was hard to tell with his dark sunglasses. A mean smirk crossed the man's face.
"So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?" the man said to my brother. He turned to me. "And Apollo's little witch-toy, hm?"
I could feel the blush riding up my cheeks. Grover wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into his side. Percy was glaring heatedly at the man along with Annabeth.
"What's it to you?" Percy asked.
"Percy," Annabeth hissed. "This is-"
The man interrupted her. "S'okay. I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?" The man lifted his sunglasses. He didn't have eyes. An angry, red flame filled his empty eye sockets.
"You're Clarisse's dad," Percy said. "Ares, god of war."
Ares grinned. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."
"She was asking for it," Percy retorted. I cringed. That was so not something you should say to a god.
Ares took it in good nature, though, claiming he didn't fight his kids battles. He had a proposition for us. By this time, the waitress had come back with our food. Ares offered us a ride west in exchange for us going to a waterpark to fetch his shield. He apparently left it their on some date. We figured it was best to do the favor.
So there we were in Waterland, an abandoned waterpark. We may have stolen some merchandise. We needed some clean clothes. After we had all changed in the changing room provided in the Waterland Gift Shop, we made our way over to the Tunnel of Love ride. Real classy date there. If I ever had a boyfriend who took me here, I think I might kill them.
Percy and Annabeth went down to retrieve the shield from the bottom of the empty pool. At the bottom they picked up the scarf of Aphrodite. Percy grabbed the shield. Wires shot out from the sides of the pool and connected them over the top. A trap. Spiders crawled out of old pipes by the dozens, storming the boat. Annabeth screamed her head off. A daughter of Athena, of course she'd be afraid of spiders.
Video cameras popped out of everywhere. A countdown started. I could see Percy focusing, concentrating on the water somewhere in the pipes, most likely. Water burst from the pipes, and the boat Percy and Annabeth were in started moving towards the tunnel entrance. Grover and I shared a look before running to the other side.
We arrived just in time to see Percy and Annabeth coming out of the tunnel. They were poised to jump. They managed to scale the fence, but they kept getting higher and higher. Oh gods.
"Maia!" I heard Grover shout.
I didn't look over. I was morbidly fascinated with watching my brother and Annabeth fall to their deaths. Suddenly, Grover had flown into my line of vision. He grabbed Percy and Annabeth by the collars of their shirts, and flew them to safety. I watched with bated breath the entire time.
As soon as Percy was on the ground, I hugged him with all of my might. Percy hugged me back. When I pulled away, I lightly smacked Percy on the shoulder, not enough to hurt.
"Don't ever do that again," I snapped at him. "I was so worried."
"I don't think I'll really have a choice," Percy said.
I sighed because I knew it was true.
When we got back to the diner, the war god was waiting for us in the parking lot. "Well, well. You didn't get yourself killed."
Percy nearly growled at Ares. It took both Grover and me to hold him back.
"You knew it was a trap," Percy accused.
Ares grinned wickedly and said, "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV. 'Pollo couldn't stop staring at you."
The last sentence was directed at me. I shuddered. There was so much malice behind that last sentence.
Percy shoved the shield at Ares. "You're a jerk." Annabeth, Grover, and I all sucked in our breath. Ares just smirked and pointed us to a truck, a zoo truck.
"That's your ride there. It'll take you straight to L.A. with one stop in Vegas. I glared at Ares before flipping around and storming over to the van. He has such a, what did Ron always say? Oh yeah, a bloody wanker. I could feel his stare on me and just knew that he was smirking at me and I wondered why. I also wondered what he meant about Apollo staring at me while we were on TV. When the others joined me, we all got on the van.