The Tail

We Rescue Him, Finally.

This chapter may contain very sad, disturbing images that may scare younger children or fainthearted readers. I suggest that you read the less disturbing description of Percy. I will put a notice so that you will know. Also, this whole chapter will be in the mermaids point of view.

Bella's POV

I woke up to see the swinging lantern of Annabeth's cabin. Emma stood over me.

"Wake up, Bella. It's time to go." I nodded and got up, getting dressed. My other friends had already left, leaving me and Emma behind. I pulled on my shirt and turned to leave. My eyes landed on a picture of my boyfriend, Will. I picked it up, tears brimming in my eyes. I had left so hastily that I only managed to send him a text message and I hadn't contacted him since. Emma placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, Bella. You'll see him again soon. Remember, we've got the best heroes of the age with us. And the sea god." I nodded thankfully. I took her hand and led her outside toward the deck. The rest of them were already there, gathered around two people. I recognized one as Nico, the son of Hades. The other was a girl, fifteen or so with shoulder length black hair. She had electric blue eyes and wore punk like clothes. Annabeth had her in a tight hug and was sobbing steadily into her shoulder. We went to join the group around them.

Thalia seemed to be comforting Annabeth who was still crying. "Shh. Annie, it's fine. Let's just go and rescue Perce and then after we can beat him up together for being such a Seaweed Brain, k?" After we had calmed Annabeth down, and after we introduced ourselves to Thalia, daughter of Zeus, we turned toward the island looming out of the fog. It was saddle shaped, with a rope bridge hanging from one end of a cliff to another. As we neared it, I felt a wave of dark energy roll over me and I shivered. Leo docked the ship in a quiet cove.

"All, right. As you all know, we're here to rescue P-Percy. I know we can do this so let's go." Annabeth disembarked the ship and we followed, weapons in hand. Poseidon brought up the rear, trident raised. We trekked toward the rock face where a large boulder blocked the entrance from the cave. Fifty meters away from the rock, Poseidon slammed into something invisible. We turned to look back at him. He was running a hand through his tired, lined face. Ever since Percy had disappeared, he had slowly aged until he looked like he was in his seventies. His black hair hung limply and was graying at the roots. He looked surprised and kept trying come through toward us.

"I can't get through!" He growled angrily. Annabeth came back toward him and whispered something in Greek. They seemed to be arguing about something. After a moment of two, Annabeth walked back toward us. Poseidon sat down heavily on a nearby rock, leaning on his trident for support. We continued to walk to the cave entrance. We stood in front of the rock and Hazel stepped forward. Concentrating, she held her hands out. A good sized hole appeared. Hazel dropped her hands tiredly.

"Good job." I placed a hand on her shoulder. She glanced gratefully at me, golden eyes flashing. She followed Frank and crawled through the hole. I glanced at my best friends, Emma, Cleo, and Rikki. I crawled through the hole, towards darkness, and Percy.

Rikki's POV

I followed Bella through the hole, wincing slightly as I grazed my palms on the rough surface. I dropped down into the cavern floor and brushed the dirt and grime off. I retied my pony tail as the others crawled through. After we all stood in silence, Hazel closed her eyes and cloaked us in mist. When I looked again we were hideous monsters. I had a sleek seal like body with a dog like head and human hands. I could see that the others were the same as I was.

"Let's go." Annabeth led us toward the right tunnel which led us into more darkness, determination glinting in those grey eyes of hers. As we walked, we passed a couple of other monsters but they didn't spare us a glance. They hurried away, eyes darting behind us. Soon, we could hear echoing screams of pain. The twelve of us glanced worriedly at each other and jogged swiftly toward the sound. I know, I know. Usually, you wouldn't run straight toward the sounds of pain and obvious torture. But these are demigods we're talking about. Of course they'll run straight towards trouble.