Rescue (boyxboy) (Percy Jackson fanfiction)

Rescue (boyxboy)

RESCUE

WARNING: BOYXBOY!!!

I would have happily never set foot in the Atlantic Ocean if I had the choice. I'd heard about the dangerous riptides just off the North Cornwall coast, and I barely ever swam since I always got a sick feeling from the water.

"Will you fucking get in the water already?" a frustrated voice demanded. I raised an eyebrow, gulping as I stared at the pale blue tides gently lapping at my feet. My eyes then gazed at the angry currents farther away and returned to look at the dark-haired teenager impatiently standing behind me.

My half-sister's boyfriend, Frank Zhang, wasn't too keen a surfer, but he was definitely athletic and determined to convert me into an athlete. For some odd reason, he thought I would be an excellent swimmer and convinced me to go surfing with him on the vacation they held every year with their friends.

The first morning of our visit, I zipped into an awkwardly tight wet suit and marched to the water's edge with a surfboard. I was barely even taught the basics of surfing! How am I supposed to... you know, go out there and actually balance on the constantly shifting liquid?

Hazel stood supportive behind her boyfriend, grinning. "Come on, Nico. Don't be a wimp. Even Rachel could do this," she laughed, pouting. I growled and turned back to the water, once again hesitating before laying down on the thin board and paddling out into the Atlantic Ocean with my arms. Stopping midway to the waves rolling across the ocean, I nervously stood up, holding my quivering arms out just as the tides hit me.

Almost falling off at the strange, cold, pushing sensation, I managed to keep my balance. Taking a deep breath, listening to Hazel, Frank, and their friends cheering, I readied myself for the next wave.

"Woo! You can do it, Nico!" Annabeth Chase shouted, cupping her mouth. I grinned and rode out the wave until another came along and another after that. As my third tide passed, I started getting hopeful when I knelt on my hands and knees. Maybe Frank's right, and I have a natural talent for surfing.

Suddenly, I felt the water shift differently, and the current became stronger than I became accustomed to. Frowning, I ignored a moment of sudden panic that rose in me. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that panic was also a warning. Danger! Danger! Danger! my mind uselessly shouted.

"Woo!" I whooped, accidentally jumping on the surfboard like an idiot. I gasped as I plunged into the waves, realizing my mistake only when I was out of my depth. Screams were heard from the shore where Hazel and her friends were waiting for me, and they started to fade. The surf dragged at my legs, hauling me down. My mouth tightly clamped shut as I drifted, rocks hidden below the surface grazing my knees and elbows as I tried to fight my way back to the beach.

It was almost like something had awoken inside of me, something that had never been there. I was now struggling with all my strength to escape the harsh clutches of the suffocating water. Thankfully, my brain hadn't floated out of my head yet, and I still kept my mouth shut.

Without warning, a great, grey wave sucked me towards it and then broke across me like a sack of gravel, bouncing me along the seabed. Desperate for air, I accidentally opened my mouth and churned around until I couldn't tell up from down. Choking on the liquid quickly filling my mouth, I managed to fight my way to the surface as the current seemed to relax.

My mouth sucked in oxygen just before the next big wave broke over my head and pushed me back under. Each time I surfaced, the process repeated itself until I found myself exhausted and winded. I swallowed water, tried not to breathe it in, waved frantically at the anxious, seemingly motionless group on the shore. I couldn't tell what was going on, and I couldn't see or hear. All my senses were gone besides one single instinct that caused me to keep clutching for dear life, and even that one was fading.