𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒──𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

[ II. green ocean ]

Zehra woke up in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The first thing she noticed was how green the water looked. She always thought that the ocean was supposed to be blue, but the one she was in was a spectacular shade of sea green. She absolutely loved it. Green was Zehra's favorite color; it was as if the water had changed the color of its hide just for her.

The second thing Zehra noticed was the pair of lean arms supporting her body above the water. It took her exactly three seconds to freak out. "What the hell!"

Zehra flailed her arms and rolled off of the person's arms and into the ice-cold water. She kicked her feet and resurfaced, inhaling in deep, sputtering breaths. She turned her head only to come face to face with Percy Jackson. He threaded water calmly, waiting for the girl to regain a notion of her surroundings.

Zehra blew a strand of wet hair out from in front of her nose. "Where are we? I don't remember anything after we jumped off the ship," Zehra stammered. "What happened?"

Percy stared into Zehra's face for what felt like hours as if he was judging whether or not he should answer all of Zehra's questions. Finally, he began speaking, "We jumped off the ship and I put you in an air bubble so you wouldn't die. So, by the way, you're welcome for that, Sparky."

Zehra opened her mouth to retort but Percy sharply cut her off.

"And then I think we both blacked out because when I woke up again, we were still underwater and I saw my dad. Long story short, he told me to go back to camp. You were still passed out so I just pulled you up with me until you decided to wake up and go all crazy." Percy paused, glancing at the sea behind Zehra. "And now we're about two minutes away from shore so if you would come back here, we can get to camp and go our separate ways."

Percy reached out to grab Zehra's arm but she swatted it away almost instantly. Only one question lingered in her mind. "Charlie?" She whispered.

Percy grit his teeth, looking everywhere but the girl in front of him. "He didn't make it."

Zehra's body went limp. Charlie. Smart, kind, funny Charlie. He was gone. Just like that. Zehra squeezed her eyes shut as tight as they would go to keep any stray tears from falling out. Oh. Poor Silena.

She silently stretched her arm out and Percy grabbed onto it tightly. The water drifted them to the shore at lightning speed and Zehra turned to the side, taking in the clench in Percy's jaw and the fear that lined his eyes. Something in her propelled her hand forward to touch his cheek, to do anything that would take away that pain he was so desperately torn apart by. But at the last minute, Zehra snapped her hand back.

"We can't," she murmured.

Percy didn't turn to look at her. "Can't what?"

"We can't go our separate ways at camp." Zehra had to fight to keep her voice from shaking. "Don't you get it? This is it. The war's starting, and we have to fight like hell if we're going to win. That means sticking together—whatever it takes."

Neither of them said another word until they walked out of the ocean. Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin was on lookout that afternoon and when he spotted Zehra and Percy, he got so excited he fell out of his tree. Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp and ran to greet the pair.

Connor had a crooked smile that matched his crooked sense of humor. He had curly brown hair and was a little shorter than his brother, Travis, which is the only way Zehra can tell them apart. They are both so unlike her old enemy Luke it's hard to believe they're all sons of Hermes.

"Percy! Zehra!" he yelled. "What happened? Where's Beckendorf?"

Then he saw their expressions, and his smile melted. "Oh, no. Poor Silena. Holy Zeus, when she finds out . . ."