¹Pocket Full of Posies, p. jackson

vii. Saved by the Cannons

chapter seven
❛ saved by the cannons ❜

━━━━━  FOR ALL ELSE that Posie was afraid of (and there was a multitude of things on that list, such as dreaming and her hands glowing), a fear that many had that she never considered, even just a tiny amount — heights. She had never been afraid of heights; the fear of falling. It just ... never occurred to her, perhaps it was because she was too preoccupied with all her other (extremely rational) fears of glowing green. She never held the fear that she might just tumble to her death — until last summer, that is, in St. Louis. That was a summer that would be impossible to forget, even the River Lethe would give Posie's memories a run for their money. She couldn't exactly blame Percy for the entirety of the situation, but ... he was the one who had been the target for the blast that blow-torched the Arch (even if she had been a part of the duo that Echidna had been specifically targeting, the latter part of the duo who the Mother of Monsters' held a grudge against).

That fall, five hundred feet (according to what Annabeth snapped at her), tumbling into the Mississippi River, had been terrifying then. This fall, plunging from the Princess Andromeda, clinging to the inflatable lifeboat, squeezed between Percy and his Cyclops half-brother, gave the St. Louis Arch (involuntary) dive a run for its money. Even with the comfort of knowing if she clung to Percy and they hit the water, she would be alright — but what about Tyson? Would he know any better? Annabeth would have enough sense to hold onto Percy if the lifeboat came out from underneath them, but does Tyson even have the same abilities as Percy? He's not technically a half-blood; he's a Cyclops. It might be possible that the traits and powers of Poseidon that were inherited differ between half-bloods and Cyclops.

Even still, all that being said, that was the place for conversation. All Posie could do was scream. She found herself screaming bloody murder as she, along with the other three, plunged toward the churning sea below. It was only natural. She was now discovering why so many people feared heights and falling to their deaths — Posie was about to fall to her death, all because of Luke Castellan. (In a roundabout way, at least. If thinking along those lines, it could also be considered Apollo's fault if she went back even further, all for spotting and believing Beau Pascual had some alluring charm to him.)

They were hurtling toward what seemed to be certain death when Percy suddenly screamed, "Flask!" His voice broke through the howling wind, piercing the precious ear drums Posie, causing her to screw up her face in pain.

Annabeth looked at the son of Poseidon sharply, her face contorted with shock and confusion. "What?!" she screamed, rightly thinking that Percy had lost his mind. She, along with the rest of them, was clinging onto the boat straps, her blonde braids flying upwards, looking like a torch.

"Flask!" he screamed again. All he managed to do was irritate Annabeth and confuse Posie even more.

However, Tyson seemingly understood what Percy was saying. He kept one large hand clamped around the straps of the lifeboat, reaching his thick arm over Posie, to Percy's duffel bag — only to take out the magical flask Hermes gave the son of Poseidon. How he did it without losing his grip, Posie had no idea, especially as arrows and javelins kept whistling past them. He held the Flask out in front of Percy, and the black-haired boy ripped it out of Tyson's hands. He sealed his eyes shut, screwing up his face in concentration, almost like he was going about to begin praying to whatever god was listening.

"Hang on!" he advised them.

Posie frowned at the rather foolish advice. Of course they were hanging on already; if they weren't, they would have flown backwards, slamming into the Princess Andromeda. "We are!" she yelled back.