Annabeth

When I woke out of my unconsciousness, I noticed that the pair of arms weren't around me anymore. I opened my eyes, but instantly regretted it.

Blackness is what I saw, and then saltwater poured onto my eyeballs. I squeezed them shut, as tight as a I could, trying to get all that salt away.

I realized that my lungs were screaming for air. Stupidly, I obeyed their commands and opened my mouth for air, succeeding in getting a mouthful of water.

Choking, I tried to swim up, except that I didn't know where "up" was. My ears hurt from being so deep in the water, and I moved my jaw around, trying to pop them. My lack of oxygen was making me weak, and I started seeing yellow dots on the inner of my eyelids.

I kept coughing, unable to get the saltwater out of my lungs.

So I survive the fall, only to come right back to the edge of Hades palace, and maybe enter, by drowning. Great.

Right as I was going to pass out, still choking, and maybe crying, but I couldn't tell, a hand closed around my arm. It yanked me towards wherever it was coming from, but I didn't resist. It didn't matter what happened, I was going to die anyways.

The arm brought me into what seemed like a cooler spot of water. It kept pulling me, until I was leaning against something hard.

I couldn't help it. I had to at least try to take a breath, even though I knew that I would get water. But I couldn't resist the pounding message my lungs were sending to my brain. I took a deep breath.

Wait. I took a deep breath?

My head shot up, and eyes flew open as I panted and gasped, trying to catch my breath. I was looking straight into Percy's worried emerald eyes.

He was looking at me frantically, "Are you okay? You didn't get hurt? You're fine? Annabeth! Answer me! Are you okay?!"

I wasn't able to speak at the moment, cause I was still catching up on my oxygen, so I just nodded.

Percy relaxed a little bit, but he still looked concerned. His hands were on both my arms, and he looked straight into my gray eyes.

I finally got enough breath to get a sentence out of my mouth. "How did I… not die… from the fall?" I asked haltingly, still panting.

"Well, I jumped off, caught up to you, then flipped us around, so I took the impact. It didn't hurt me, cause I'm a son of Poseidon. And I willed the water to soften up a bit, so the impact wouldn't hurt you either," Percy explained.

I stared at him, "Thank you Percy. You've saved my life at least twice now."

Percy shrugged, "Hey, we're friends. And friends help each other without expecting gratitude, right?"

I smiled a bit, touched by his care and devotion towards his friends. "Yes, but I'm still thanking you."

Percy grinned, "Whatever. You sure you're okay?"

I nodded again. Then I looked around. We were in what seemed to be a giant bead of air.

"Are we in a bubble?" I asked.

Percy bobbed his head. "I just commanded all the little bubbles around us to come together to form one big one."

Our feet were standing on the bottom of the bubble, and it was tall enough for the ceiling to be about a foot over our heads. I could barely see, for it was really dark. We were obviously pretty deep, or else the sun would make the inside of the bubble bright. It was light enough for me to Percy clearly and a little bit outside the bubble, though.

I gazed outside the bubble, and watched as a school of striped fish swam past us. A turtle wasn't far behind, and it looked lazily at us, then floated slowly away.

"I need to go scout around, and see where I should take us up. I'll be right back, okay? The bubble won't pop." Percy said.

I was reluctant to let him leave, cause it was kind of creepy down here, but he need to see where we should go, so I said, "Alright. But don't take too long."

Percy grinned at me, then he made a hole in the side of the bubble and stepped out. He quickly patched the hole, after he had taken out all the water that had leaked in. Then he waved at me, and started swimming off.

He told me once that he could breath underwater, and it had to be true, cause there was no way he would be able to swim for this long and not breathe.

I sat down on the floor of the air sphere and waited for him to come back. My throat was parched, but there was no clear water that I could drink from.

I looked out of the bubble, observing fish glide by, and the occasion turtle or once, I saw an small octopus. It was fascinating, but at the same time scary.

Scary cause when they were about five feet away, it was too dark for me to see, and it looked like the creatures had just vanished. I also could not see what was coming towards me. Once I thought I saw a large and long dark shape just out of the range of light, but it was gone soon, and it left me wondering if my eyes were just playing tricks on me.

What added to the spookiness was that it was silent.

No noise whatsoever. I couldn't hear a single thing. I tried to stay calm. I'd almost prefer fighting the drakon to this.

I decided to turn around, cause I didn't know if there was anything behind me, and I probably should check.

What I saw almost gave me a heart attack. I yelped and jumped back, fumbling for my dagger.

A ten foot long shark sat there, just on the outside edge of the bubble, staring at me. It's razor sharp teeth were white against the rest of the water. The minuscule light that was down here in the depths of the sea made the eyes of the beast glint evilly.

I pointed my dagger at it, breathing even more heavily than before, if that was possible. My other palm was flat against the side of the giant bubble. I sat there for about twenty seconds, before the shark jerked, making me flinch. Then it swam off into the darkness.

I gulped, watching it leave. I was rattled from the incident. It didn't help that I couldn't see it from here, so I had no idea if it was going to come charging back in and break the bubble.

Percy said the bubble won't pop, but did he know that a huge shark might come tearing at it?

I watched the spot where the shark had disappeared for a little while longer, then turned around quickly, bringing my dagger with me. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw nothing behind me. I turned in a full circle, but the shark wasn't to be found.

Neither was anything else.

My heart slowly crawled into my throat as I realized that there had never been a time where there wasn't at least one school of fish swimming past me. I slowly rotated, looking for a sign of life.

Nothing.

Something must've scared them all away, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the shark, because that had been gone for a little while, so I'm sure the fish would've come back by now. But there was nothing around me.

My heart was beating so fast and loud that I was sure the people in the Teleporting Twin's fortress would be able to hear it. I waited for something to happen, but nothing did.

That was, at least, until I saw the single dark shape at the edge of my vision. My knuckles turned white as I clenched my dagger as hard as I could, trying to stop my hands from trembling. I wouldn't normally be this scared, but this was the ocean. The master of the ocean was Poseidon, and everybody knew that Athena was the direct rival of Poseidon.

So what would happen if a daughter of Athena was found in the ocean, alone? I don't Poseidon's followers would be that nice. I was a perfectly open person in a field of enemies. I was just waiting for one to strike.

The dark structure didn't come any closer, so I couldn't tell what it was. It looked like a human figure, cause it was taller, not horizontal like a fish or shark.

Then I saw another dark shape at the edge of my peripheral vision. My eyes shot towards it, and the two forms I had spotted almost looked identical. Then I saw another. And another.

I whirled around to find the shady figures circling me. Even if I could get out of this bubble, and even if I could swim towards the surface in time to not drown, I would have nowhere to go. I was surrounded. There were at least twenty of them.

Then they started advancing. I twisted and pivoted, trying to figure out where I should point my blade.

When they were close enough for me to see what they were, I gasped.

They were mermen.

But they weren't how you might've imagined them. I always thought of mermen and mermaids as being peaceful people, with beautiful flippers and handsome appearances.

These were quite the opposite.

All of them had the upper body of a man, but they had grotesque looks. Every single one of them had long hair that floated in the water. Their hair was black and were in long, really thick fibers. It was like the hair was knotted into extended strands.

Their eyes were a dark green, and from what I could see, they had no pupils. It was just all green. It made them look even creepier, and the teeth didn't help.

The sharp, pointy teeth were constantly being bared. They looked like they had taken shark teeth, filed them down to be human sized, then stuck them into their gums.

Their tails were long and graceful, and were also a dark green, matching their eyes. They weren't decorated at all, just plain dark green scales. But the actual fins at the bottom looked thin and deadly. I wouldn't doubt that they were incredible sharp, and could slice through a lot of things. Including me.

The tannish gray skin color of the merman made them look sickly and abnormal. Their fingernails were long, and looked disgustingly freaky. Each merman had a spear in their right hand. The spearhead looked to be made out of a shark tooth, but a really big one. The shaft was plain wood, but they must be enchanted or something, or else the salt in the ocean would have eroded the wood away already.

They got closer and closer. Close enough that some had to drop out of the ring of mermen and swim behind, for the circlet was getting too small.

Finally, they stopped moving. I would be able to touch them if I could stretch my arm out of the bubble. At the moment, I stood directly in the middle of the bubble, holding my knife protectively out in front of me.

The mermen didn't do anything after that, just bared their teeth, and stared at me with wide eyes. My breathing didn't slow down, nor did my heartbeat.

I knew I had to do something, but I don't think attacking one of them would turn out very well, so I decided that I would try the Athena way. Talking.

"What-" I stopped. My voice was super shaky. I had to get myself together. I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath. I can't show any weakness. I've got to be strong. I opened my gray eyes, and imagined them dark and dangerous, like an approaching thunderstorm. I made my voice calm, low, and as menacing as possible.

"What do you want, merman?"

I got no reaction for a minute, then a merman, apparently the lead one, spoke to me. It was in a different language, one that I have never heard. It sounded like a dolphin chittering mixed with a whale's call mashed together with the sound of a wave hitting the shore. He didn't speak for very long, and when he stopped, he looked at me, as if waiting for a reply.

I raised an eyebrow, "Sorry, but I don't speak… that. Whatever it is."

The lead one stared at me like I was one of Apollo's dumb red cows, then he said a deep and guttural voice that was muffled by the water, "I should've known that a mere mortal couldn't speak the language of the merpeople. Mortals are still stupid, as they have been for the past hundreds of years."

My other eyebrow rose as well, "Excuse me? I would watch who you are calling stupid. And I'm a demigod, not a mortal."

The merman narrowed his eyes, "You are no daughter of Poseidon, I know that. How is it possible that you have made this sphere of air?"

I thought quickly, wondering if I should tell them about Percy.

I came to a decision, "None of your business. I just need to get to the surface. Get me there, and I will leave you be."

The merman sneered, his pointy teeth visible in the darkness, "And tell me, what makes you think that we mermen will help you?"

I glared at him. "If you want me to stay, by all means, don't help me. I might have fun annoying you until the end of your days," I said sardonically.

All of the mermen chuckled, and the lead one uttered, "Foolish girl. Are you ignorant enough to not know that merpeople are immortal? Unless we are killed in battle, we will live forever. Did you skip your child school time?"

I clenched my fists, forcing myself to stay calm. I hated it when people called me dumb, as this merman was basically doing. I am a daughter of Athena, who is wisdom herself. I inherited some of that wisdom, as did all my siblings, therefore when someone calls us dumb or stupid, we don't take it easily. It may seem proud, but being proud comes in the Athena package that she hands down to her children.

"I am not ignorant, but people who live on land don't exactly have knowledge of what is going on in the depths of the sea." I replied, struggling to not put anger into my words.

The merman smiled. He looked like a shark opening it's mouth to consume something.

He said, "Oh, what you say can be what you think, but sometimes people have to accept that they are rather foolish beings who don't have a touch of wisdom."

That's it. I didn't shout, but the vexation and bite in my voice made it just as loud, "I wouldn't call a daughter of Athena foolish if I were you. Athena is practically wisdom herself. Maybe you could take a few lessons from her, but I don't think you are capable of being smart."

Too late, I realized my mistake. Some daughter of Athena.

As soon as I said the name of my mother, the mermen bared their teeth more, hissed, and started yelling insults towards Athena and her children, but the rest of what they said I didn't get, for they started to speak in their own language.

Soon everything was a ruckus, and the lead merman had to shout loudly to get everyone to calm down. When he finally managed to make every mermen silent again, he turned to me. This time, his amusement he had had before-hand was replaced with a cold fury.

"You were wrong to mention that witch's name down here, little girl. She, nor any of her children, are welcomed here. We will give you the privilege of throwing you into the dungeons. Then your trial will be held with Lord Poseidon himself, and then you will be executed. At least you will get to live a few more days in comfort- albeit the few moments of torture." He said coldly.

I glared at him, and ignoring my fear, I put my head up right to the edge of the bubble. My face was mere inches away from his, which was right outside.

I stayed cool-headed, and replied scathingly, "Oh, you wish, merman. But the stupid ways of your brain won't be able to hold a daughter of Athena. Any child of Athena could escape from right under your big noses and you smelly creatures would be running around looking for them. A week later. When you finally would realize."

I know. That probably wasn't the best way to approach the situation, but I didn't care at the moment.

The merman just glowered at me, then he barked a command in his language, and twenty spears flew down and aimed themselves at me.

The lead curled his lip, his dark green eyes hostile, "Such boldness coming from a daughter of Athena in the middle of an ocean, helpless, with spears trained on her."

I copied his sneer, and said smugly, "Oh, I don't think a few puny spears will frighten me, merman. After all, you did just call me bold. I'm not afraid."

He smiled amusedly, though his eyes were still furious, and stated, "We will see about that in due time. You will follow us. If not, you will know how 'puny' these spears are. And you will experience it firsthand."

Scowling, I prepared to answer negatively. But then the mermen started swimming in a direction, and two came up behind me and started to push the bubble. I was powerless. I was too deep to be able to swim back up with just one breath, and I didn't even know how to get out of this bubble, so I had to stay in it for the time being. But I couldn't resist the pushes of the mermen. I just stood with my arms crossed, looking unfazed, while I was pushed along.

The mermen were still in a circle around me, except for the two propelling the air pocket. The lead mermen smiled smugly at me, then swam ahead, taking the front position.

This is a disaster, I thought. How long have I been down here? We need to get to Mount Olympus.

I tried to calm my panicking.

Hurry, Percy.