little bird - Percy Jackson

chapter fifteen

Wren Kelley was not fond of the glass tunnel being the only thing holding back the fifty-thousand-gallons of water that surrounded them. The tank seemed to taunt her with every breath she took, warning her not to breathe too hard or the glass would shatter and release the water to drown her.

Everything about following after Phorcys screamed promising danger, and even Percy and his 'stick with me' assurances seemed to be on edge.

"Beautiful exhibit, isn't it?"

Trying to push aside her queasiness, Wren peered around the exhibit. A life-sized plastic cottage, fake kelp, a treasure chest, and a while assortment of weapons. Still, the emptiness of the tank was completely unnerving.

Where was the monster?

"What do you keep in here?" Frank questioned, "Giant killer goldfish?"

"Oh, that would be good!" Phorcys clapped his hands together, "But no, Frank Zhang, descendant of Poseidon. This tank is not for goldfish."

Descendant of Poseidon. Not Son of Ares.

The alarms ringing in the back of Wren's mind would but fire engines to shame.

"How do you know Frank's last name? How do you know he's descended from Poseidon?" Percy demanded.

"Well... it was probably in the descriptions Gaea provided. You know, for the bounty - Percy Jackson."

Oh gee, however could I have predicted this. What a surprise. I am truly, insurmountably, shocked.

In an instant Percy was holding riptide, "Don't double-cross me, Phorcys. You promised me answers."

"After the VIP treatment, yes, I promised to tell you everything you need to know. The thing is, however, you don't really need to know anything." Phorcys gave them a wicked grin, "You see, even if you made it to Rome, which is quite unlikely, you'd never defeat my giant brothers without a god fighting at your side. And what god would help you? So I have a better plan. You're not leaving. You're VIPs - Very Important Prisoners."

Wren kissed her teeth, "That's not as cool of a play on words as you think it is."

After sending them to Atlanta without a functional warning about the obnoxious god they were going to face, Wren wasn't sure that Bacchus would be a formidable assistant as taking the giant twins down.

Frank chucked his backpack, Percy lunged, and Wren whipped out the dagger that she had strapped along the side of her belt, but it was to no use. Phorcys disappeared into thin air, his voice echoing through the amphitheater, "Yes, good! Fighting is good! You see, Mother never trusted me with the big assignments, but she did agree that I could keep anything I caught - for the most part, at least. But the two of you will make an excellent exhibit! The only two demigod spawn of Poseidon in Captivity. 'Demigod Terrors' - yes, I like that! We already have sponsorship lined up with Bargain Mart. You can fight each other every day at eleven AM and one PM, with an evening show at seven PM." There was an audible sigh through the theater, "As for you, Wren Kelley, daughter of Demeter, my mother did make me swear to hand you over so that you could die and bleed and raise her, and what not - so unfortunately you won't be able to remain a permanent part of my exhibit."

Wren couldn't even shoot back one of her typical remarks because she, admittedly, had not the slightest clue of what to do. The tunnel surrounding them had turned into a three-person-sized bubble that was melting like an ice cube in warm water. Fifty-thousand-gallons of water was about to come crashing down on them and Wren wasn't exactly fond of the whole drowning concept.