Falling Through Portals

Floating Around

Chapter 75

The fall was short and sweet, but that only made their fall into the cold water worse.

When the portal opened, they looked down to see the water and Lorem let out a scream.

The impact was like someone had simultaneously slapping every inch of visible skin. Her body slammed against him in the water. Percy used the currents to separate them a little bit. It gave Percy flash backs to falling into the Mississippi River from the Saint Louis Arch. He was thankfully protected from the water touching his skin, but somehow he still felt chilled to the bone.

Lorem submerged next to him and began wildly thrashing. Percy's brow knit. What was she doing?

Then it hit him. She was sinking. Lorem was clawing the water.

Lorem couldn't swim.

The thought was so absurd that he could hardly process it. She was like a minor goddess in the way she commanded every situation and yet she couldn't even swim?

Percy used all of his strength to pull them together through the water. As soon as she was in reach, he grasped her hand. Feeding her oxygen that was in the water, while supporting them with the currents, Lorem gasped.

"Breathe," he said in her mind. Lorem coughed up some of the water that she had swallowed and clung to Percy.

Her white hair looked tinged green in the water. Percy could tell it was salt water that they were in, but when his mind began to feed him specifics about where they were in the ocean, everything felt garbled, which made sense since they were in a different world.

Lorem took a shaky breath.

"What the heck," she said into his mind even though her lips moved, she frowned as she realized that the words were not out loud. Percy couldn't help but chuckle.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded.

"Why did we land in the ocean?" she asked, almost to herself as she looked to the right and left. He knew without looking that there was nothing except fish for a few miles.

"You must have been seriously distracted," Percy said with a snort of laughter, "I cannot wait for Militum to land in this cold water," Grinned and mimicked his voice, "Oh no, not my perfect hair."

Lorem laughed.

"Are you not freezing?" Percy asked. She shook her head.

"No, I don't really feel it," she said, "But I am glad I am not wearing a dress."

Percy was glad too, for his own sake and also because Percy would have probably ripped Militum's eyes out. She was wearing black pants and some white sweater.

After a moment of silence he realized that this was the first time they had been properly alone for a long time. She seemed to understand that too.

"How did the stone settle in?" he asked. Lorem looked at him and her eyes sparkled brightly, he realized that they were glowing.

"Beautifully," she admitted with a smile, "thank you." she began to say something and then thought better of it. Percy didn't push her.

"I appreciated the note from Magnus," he said, "as long as I hold it, it shouldn't be damaged by the water."

"That's good," she admitted, "Are you alright? I never really talked to you after what happened . . ."

Percy thought about those horrible days locked in Militum's cage and grimaced.

"He is a few words that my mom wouldn't like me saying out loud," he admitted. Lorem smiled. "I am okay though, I have gone through worse to be honest."