𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐒 | percy jackson

the sea

Thunder rumbled, splitting through the sky. It was hidden under the darkness, motioning over the waves. Droplets rivered down the car windows, barely noticeable against the black background. Percy, silent, stepped out of the car. The crunch of sand under his trainers told Ciarda they were on a beach. 

She grabbed the handle of the car and gently shoved the door open. Immediately, cool rain hit her arms. The smell of the air was fresh and exhilarating. Zeus's deep grumble continued, but no lightning followed. "Wait, Percy? Annabeth? You guys are my best friends," Grover followed Annabeth out of the car toward where Percy stood. "Little weird that I forgot a lot more stuff than you guys did." Ciarda hadn't moved since exiting the car. The wet sand underneath her feet was spongey. It moved with the weight of her steps, accustoming to her power. 

A sliver of a true smile split her face. The rose on her cheeks from the heat of the Lotus had disappeared, leaving her with years of sunburn instead. Her freckles blended with the water that trickled down her face like bloody rivulets. Her smile was white against the darkness, purifying her genuine affection. She loved this weather. 

"We weren't alone," Annabeth explained in rhetoric to Grover's statement, "It's easy to forget what's important when you're alone." Thunder rumbled through the sea air, oscillating the muscles in the demigods' bodies. Ciarda finally walked toward them, her coat protecting her clothes from another demise. Cold wind whipped at Percy's clothes, but nobody said anything as they looked out to sea. 

"I think I gotta go meet my Dad now." 

"We'll be here when you get back," Grover reassured Percy, whose hair was curling under the rain. "What do I say to him?" Percy hesitated, ignoring the water collecting by his jaw. He looked to Grover and Annabeth, who just stared. They had no idea what it was like to talk to their parents. Realising, he glanced at Ciarda. 

Her eyes echoed the horror of what could happen. The way her father had made her feel, barring the near-death experience he'd made her undergo, was something she couldn't wish upon anyone. Abandoned, was the first word that came to mind. Furious. Disappointed, perhaps. Ciarda had only known rage growing up. To always attack first, and keep your barriers up. The children of Ares were a pack of vicious wolves that had been wound up so tight they were bound to explode. Ciarda couldn't tell if her experience with Ares was her explosion, or if it was going to make it so much worse when she finally did. And that fact, right there, terrified her. 

"You'll know," Was all she could whisper to Percy, her words barely caught in his ears before they drowned in the caving waves. White seafoam somersaulted along the sand, landing near her trainers before taking off again. Percy's eyes didn't remove themselves from her face. They took everything about her in. 

The fragment of amber that struck the centre of her eye, only caught in particular angles, which differed from the endless black iris. It struck him, like whip to horse. She was exactly that - a flame of defiance amongst the darkness of Greek mythology. Their world had treated her so wrong. 

His thoughts were cut when she moved, raising her hand and pointing to the sea. "Daddy's calling," She grinned. How the Hell could she be so unbothered, by all that had happened to her? Percy felt like shrinking into the shadows, curling up in a ball and never speaking again, and only half as bad things had occurred to him. 

His gaze flickered to her hands, the knuckles still bruised with bright hues of plum and chartreuse, each speckle a reflection of the bangs she'd forced against the steel doors at The Arch. Percy could never understand her, and maybe he shouldn't even try. 

But as he walked into the water, cold salty liquid raking up his ankles, the memory of what Chiron had said to him, on his first day, resonated in his skull. Throughout their quest, Ciarda had never stopped protecting them. She had picked herself up from the ground time and time again to get them to where they needed to be. After everything the Gods had done to her, she still refused the answer of war. Maybe, deep down, she wasn't so bad. Maybe, deep down, she was the most selfless person he knew. 

Maybe, deep down, he would go to the Underworld and back to be considered her friend. 

...

The murky water greened under the moonlight. Seaweed tickled Percy's feet and the salt stung his eyes. He continued swimming further ashore, trusting in his father every time he took a breath under the surface. 

When he paused, taking a break from the burning in his arms, an ethereal whistle rang out. It was like the dog whistle his Mum used to own. In the deepness of the sea, Percy squinted. A light became stronger as it rushed toward him. Then, out of the plantation, the same creature appeared. She had thick hair that floated magically in the water. A ring of urchins was stuck on her head. The light came from her pulsating heart, visible behind her transparent skin. 

"I'm sorry. He waited as long as he could. The summer solstice passed earlier this evening. Zeus' deadline has elapsed. Your father has gone to marshal his forces and prepare for war. He asked that I relay a message."

Percy felt like his heart was going to pump out his chest. His pulse ran in his ears. How could they be out of time? How was he going to tell the others that they had failed? Bubbles flew to the surface from his nose. 

"This is not your fault. You were brave. You were strong. You made your father proud. Now, it is time for you to return back to Camp." 

The silence of water hung between them 

"No." Percy broke it. 

"I'm going to see this through," He told her, the wistful chords of a flute humming as if part of the creature in front of him. "You are released from your quest," She told him. "I don't care. This is too important. The war is only the beginning of Hades's plan. Something else is coming; something worse." Percy's vision of the girl faded in and out as the shine of the moon refracted into the sea. He watched her carefully. "My father doesn't know about this does he?" The woman didn't say anything. 

"I have to stop him. I have to keep going. If you can help, then you must help," Percy stated firmly. The lady stared at him in acknowledgement. "So willful, just like him. There is so much of him in you. We all see it," She swam toward him, the glow of her heart radiating warmth onto Percy's face. 

"What belongs to the sea can always return," She grabbed Percy's hand and placed five shimmering pearls in his hand. The neried looked around, as though what she was doing was wrong, "Each of these will provide you a safe passage back from the Underworld."

Percy looked down before returning his vision to the sea creature in front of him. "There are five of them?" He queried in confusion. 

"Go save the world, then go save your mother."