Heroes of Olympus (The Throne of Stone)

Chapter 18 Shark's Aren't So Bad

Chapter 18

Sharks Aren’t So Bad

Percy

I pressed down hard on the gas pedal and the car lurched forward. My head almost connected with the steering wheel. The back of my head bounced off the back of the driver’s seat. Annabeth. Annabeth where are you? Annabeth. My brain chanted.

“HEY MY CAR!!!!!!” Some New Yorker yelled at me. I will return it to him later. Or more specifically as soon as I found my girlfriend. I wondered what she was doing and if she was okay. I couldn’t live with myself if I was too late. I prayed to my father that he was having a good day. If not….

“THEIF!!!! THIEF!!!!!” A man in a business suit tried to caught up but failed miserably. He fell flat on his face. I watched him in my rearview mirror as he struggled. Eventually I gave up watching him and paid attention to where I was driving. I hoped the dude didn’t call the police. I would not want Annabeth to have and bail me out. That would suck. I remember throwing a rock at the guy with a note attached that said “Only borrowing this. I will return it to you as soon as possible. Please don’t call the police. It’s an emergency.”  But I honestly don’t know if he would have called the police or not. If I were in his shoes I might have called the police, it was a nice car after all. I couldn’t have written anymore because the rock wasn’t very big after all. I hoped he took the time to read it. Annabeth. Only her name scrambled through my already scattered head.

The seaside grew bluer on my horizon. I realized that I was completely off road. I had to drive to the cliff. I would have to jump before the police caught me. I would have to leave the car because otherwise I would get in even bigger trouble for both stealing and destroying a perfectly good car. The engine rumbled beneath the floorboards. I was pushing 120 miles an hour. Holy Apollo’s cattle!

The blue of the ocean grew on the horizon and I skidded out of teh way to avoid being run over by a semi truck. No biggie. I almost die all of the time. I jammed on the brakes as I reached a cliff overlooking the sea. I really had not planned this out well. A police car pulled up besides the Mazda and I jumped out of the car. Looks like I’m gonna be a fugitive again.

“STOP!!!!” The police man yelled. Poor dude might be scarred for life.

“Bye!” I waved as I jumped over the side of the cliff into the never ending blue.

Thank the gods I am a son of Poseidon! Otherwise I’m certain I would be a blob at the both of the cliff clinging to the surface. That would be gross. Okay, what about Annabeth? It suddenly occurs to me that I have no idea where she is and how to get her back. That might be a small problem.

My lord! We are not worthy!!! A small group of fish compliment me. I really have gotten used to the praise. Apparently if you are a son of the sea god you automatically earn a lot of rep. I practically walk the red carpet down here! You would think that I was Robert Pattinson and all of the creatures down here were Bella Swan.

Hey do you guys know where Annabeth is? I think at them.

Who? Nevermind. At least I tried. They were pretty small fish, their brains must not be that big. However, I have learned that even the really big fish can have really small brains.It may not be their fault though, Poseidon may not have liked to tell everyone that there was a helpless girl trapped in his palace on his intention. That would not be good for the paparazzi. News flash: Poseidon the cold blooded killer! Yep, ‘dats my dad.  

Another school of fish swam by but they were a lot bigger than the fish I recently thought to. They were green and very scaly. Very…...fish like….

Hey! Do you know where Annabeth Chase is?

Annabeth who?

Chase. I thought at them.

Why do you ask? A extremely large fish presented itself and stood out more than the others. It swam closer to me blowing bubbles everywhere.

She’s been…..taken,...

By whom can I ask?

Um…...my dad. I felt, for some reason, ashamed of my dad, and I didn’t feel exactly-comfortable, talking about it. There was an awkward silence, the only sound was the bubbles escaping my mouth as I exhaled.

THE GREAT LORD HAS KIDNAPPED PERSEUS JACKSON’S GILL-FRIEND??????

Um….-

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS! I MUST TELL-

NO!!! I mean, please don’t tell anyone. My dad feels horrible about it. He just feels that it was the right thing to do when it wasn’t.  So…..

But-

Please? I felt that it was my responsibility to make my dad look like he wasn’t an ignorant child. Unfortunately that wasn’t exactly easy.

I suppose my lord. Why do you come to me?

I thought that the best way to make my way across the ocean floor was to ask a fish. You know what I mean?

Most definitely my lord. However I don’t believe I can do much for you.

Why is that? I thought-

Bubbles. Plankton. Yummy. I’m so hungry- Oh my goodness. I am so sorry my lord. I haven’t eaten today and it is interfering with my eccentric personality.

Okay then...but why can’t you help me?

Well….I can’t kelp you because I don’t any-fin about the location of Miss Annabeth Chase. Please excuse my fish puns. It’s the way I tend to talk. Speaking to you like an educated fish is really hard work. His fish lips looked even more pouty than before.

Exactly how old are you? He seemed like a child though he was able to talk like...an adult.

Oh sir, I’m 2. 2-years-old, sir. This little piece of information was fairly unimportant. I do not know the equivalent for human years compared to fish years….wasn’t it like 10-1? I have no clue.

Isn’t there anyway-anyway at all that you could help me? I was desperate.

Well I do know a certain friend of mine could possibly know the location. He lives about 3 miles in that direction. He pointed to his right with his fins.  Keep about 70 feet off-shore and then then when you see the boulders...you’re there. You really can’t miss it.

Oh thank you so much. I willed the water to propel me forward. Only three miles couldn’t take very long at this speed. Thank the gods for helpful fish friends!

Once you got past the cliffs you really weren’t very far from the shore. I can tell when I’m pretty close to the shore because the water turn lighter blue and the sea bottom turns sharper with coral. Suddenly, I saw the boulders. They looked kind of menacing. Big looming rocks, who knows what’s in there? I swam closer, there was a small hole in the middle, maybe big enough for someone to squeeze through. But I had no intention on getting in, after all it was kind of creepy looking in there.

Use me Percy Jackson. My blood is now your’s. Use it. Go away creepy goddess! I looked through the hole, it was really dark in there.

Percy Jackson? I’ve heard about you. Not creepy goddess, fish? My lord, please, I’m a shark. And I know what you’re looking for.