¹Pocket Full of Posies, p. jackson

xiv. A Godly Showdown

chapter fourteen
❛ a godly showdown ❜

━━━━━ AS SHE CLUNG to the buoy, Josephine spotted Coast Guard boat after Coast Guard boat rocketing across the water, steering straight for the sandy shores of Los Angeles. She, Percy, Grover, and Annabeth clung to the buoy as Percy tried to wave down any attention from another boat zooming by. One of the boat drivers seemed to have seen something from the corner of his vision, glancing over — his eyes widened as he spotted four kids clinging onto one buoy. He quickly turned the boat in their direction, ignoring his confused coworkers, and aimed the boat directly at them. The water pushed them up and down as the weight of the boat gliding through the water shifted the weight of the surface. Once the others on the boat spotted the four questers, they started working — grabbing towels, water bottles, and life jackets. Another was grabbing a discarded ladder from the bottom of the boat, getting ready to sling it over the side.

        As they sailed over, Percy quickly slipped off his shoes, giving them to Grover to wear. Josephine realized — it was better for Percy to be barefoot than for the mortals on that boat to see Grover's goat hooves. The buoy rocked up and down as the boat slid in front of the four. Josephine tightened her grip on the material as a worker tossed a ladder over the side of the boat. Annabeth was the first to paddle over, quickly followed by Josephine — two Coast Guards grabbed Annabeth by the arm, helping her climb up the slick wall of the boat. Once she was up, they reached down and pulled Josephine out of the water by her upper arms. She could hardly focus on the sudden pain from her shoulders as another Coast Guard quickly unfolded a towel and wrapped it around the girl's shoulders.

        Back in the water, Percy was helping Grover paddle over; they first pulled Grover onto the boat, wrapping a towel around his shoulders the way they had for Annabeth and Josephine. By the time they pulled Percy onto the boat, barefoot and soaking wet (which wouldn't be so shocking if he wasn't the son of Poseidon), the Coast Guards were all glancing at each other in confusion — however, they couldn't question the four for any details on how they got out in the middle of the Los Angeles Bay with street clothes on and not bathing suits (and on where Percy's shoes had gone to — or any of their parents). Josephine could hear all sorts of chatter over the driver's radio — their radios were jammed with distress calls, and every Coast Guard on duty was called out, and they were even calling in those who were supposed to be off today. It was like the whole city of Los Angeles had one, wide sweep of panic.

        They ended up dropping the four questers off at the Santa Monica pier, advising them to keep the towels embroidered with the Coast Guard's emblem and the water bottles that read I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD! A few of them on the boat did look over their shoulders with questioning glances as they sped off to answer more distress calls filtering through their radio. The four stood on the pier for a moment, their dripping clothes making uneven circles around their feet — even Percy, who was supposed to be waterproof. Josephine got the sudden déjà vu of being soaked with plumbing water, with her clothes sticking to her skin uncomfortably and her hair clinging to her back in one large lump.

        They glanced at each other before making their trek to the Santa Monica pier, stumbling their way down to the beach. From the sand, Josephine could see it all — the city of Los Angeles burning against a beautiful sunrise (if it was even possible to ignore all the sirens wailing, people screaming, and smoke curling into the air). Part of her felt as if she had just crawled back from the dead — which she had ... in a way. Her heart was heavy in her chest, a horrible mix of confusion, guilt, and questions to make an already muddy mind even muddier. She held onto so much confusion and questions, but her guilt was nearly insurmountable. Percy had to choose between saving his mother or his friends (and the world), and he had chosen his friends ...