I Become A Known Fugitive
I'd love to tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, that I to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.
"Who the hell could accept her death?" Leo asks, baffled.
"Pretty much every demigod?" Ariel retorts.
"Fair point, it's a miracle we're even still alive," Thalia says.
"I'm telling you, this girl is completely insane," Ares says, mouth agape, to which Dionysus nods in agreement.
Apollo watches the screen, pale with fear, his thoughts consumed by the possibility that his soulmate might be gravely injured or that the poison might remain in her system. Poseidon, equally anxious, stares at the screen, hoping that he was able to help his daughter in time.
The truth? My only thought was: Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!
"Haha! I was worried that the old Ariel was gone, but I'm relieved to see she's still reacting the way she always does," Chris says, laughing.
The river raced toward me at the speed of a truck. The wind ripped the breath from my lungs. Steeples skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision.
And then: Flaaa-booom!
"What the heck was that?" the demigods shout in unison.
"Well, it seems someone is trying to save his daughter," Zeus says mockingly, looking at Poseidon with a smirk.
"I wouldn't have to save her if you didn't send monsters after her!" Poseidon shouts angrily, his voice echoing with fury as he glares at Zeus.
"Idiots..." mutters Hades, shaking his head in exasperation. Immediately, the three brothers—Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades—begin shouting at each other, their voices rising in a chaotic mix of anger and frustration.
"Enough!" Apollo shouts in frustration. "If you haven't noticed, my soulmate is dying, and I'd like to know if she's okay," he says sternly, while Ariel, smiling faintly, rests her head on his chest.
Zeus and Hades begrudgingly return to their seats, while Poseidon sits in shame, having forgotten that his daughter is dying.
A whiteout of bubbles. I sank through the murk, sure that I was about to end up embedded in s hundred feet of mud and lost forever.
But my impact with the water hadn't hurt.
"At times like this, it's a big blessing that you're Poseidon's daughter," Nico says to Ariel.
"I know," Ariel replies with a grin, causing everyone to look at her with amusement, which makes Apollo glare at them angrily.
I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I setted of the river bottom soundlessy. A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage- beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags- swirled up all around me.
"Mortals no longer respect anything," Poseidon says angrily as he sees a lot of trash in the water.
"Disgusting," Triton says tensely.
At the point, I realized a few things: first, I had not been flattened into a pancake. I had not been barbecued. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in my veins anymore. I was alive, which was good.
"Fortunately," Apollo sighs with relief.
Second realization: I wasn't wet.
"Huh, you mean...?" Hermes asks with a mischievous smile.
