Storm Rising

Chapter 28

Percy's POV

"Since you had previously lost your connection to water," Hydros continued. "We'll need to rebuild that connection."

"How will we do that?" I asked, swinging my dangling legs.

"Good question. There is water all around us."

"Like the moisture in the air?"

"No," Hydros said. "There are these threads or strands of water that connect everything. In order to have complete control over your water powers, you must be able to sense these threads and then later move them."

"How do I find the threads?"

"Concentrate on the air around you," He instructs. I stare hard at the air around me, but see no threads. "No, Percy, you can't look for the threads. You must feel them. Try closing your eyes."

I oblige. "Feel your connection to the sea and the water. Let that guide you, not your eyes," Stretching out my senses, I begin to feel something near me. In my mind, an image flashing, a huge network of blue threads crisscrosses the Void.

"I can see the threads!" I cry out. Feeling the threads around Hydros' face twitch, I can tell he is smiling.

"Good. Now I want you to try to sense where things are through the water strands."

Concentrating on the threads, I begin to sense what is around me. There is a thirty foot tall oak tree forty feet to our left and the sea is twenty to twenty five feet below us. More importantly, I sense Hydros using the threads of water to sense my progress.

"You may open your eyes now," Hydros says. I open them. Everything still looks the same, but I can sense the energy humming through the threads. Hesitantly, I reach out to pull on one of threads. A huge jet of water bursts out of the sea and flies towards us. My eyes widen as it nears me. It stops inches from my face. I can feel the water threads holding back the wave, courtesy of Hydros. He laughs, "Hold up there Percy. You will learn how to use the threads soon. But since you can feel the threads, we can now work on your teleportation skills using your water powers."

For the next two hours, Hydros teaches me how to teleport or vapor travel as he calls it. It's tiring work, causing your body to turn into water droplets and then getting them to reform in the right order some where else. At first, Hydros has me practice teleporting from one stick to another, about five feet apart. It may sound easy, but it is extremely difficult. Soon, I am teleporting thirty feet apart. Then he has me travel through things like trees. The first seven times, I manage to get stuck in the tree. Finally, I can teleport through the tree.

"Good work, Percy," Hydros says. "Now for your final task."

"Are we almost done?" I ask, trying not to complain, but I am exhausted.

"Your final task is to teleport back to your room."

I groan internally as I prepare myself to teleport. Taking a deep breath, I concentrate on moving to my room. Suddenly I find my self in my room. Excited, but fatigued, I collapse onto my bed with a groan.

Bianca pokes her head in my door way. "Are you okay?" She asks.

"No," I say.

She sits down on the bed next to me. "Training was tough for you too?"

"Tell me about it. I had to learn how to teleport through a tree. I got stuck seven times. Seven times!"

Bianca holds her hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her giggles. "Sorry, I shouldn't laugh."

"Nah," I say. "It's okay. Besides, you look cute when you giggle."

She rolls her eyes at me. "Yeah, yeah."