The Gift of the Lethe

Music in the Abyss

Down in the abyssal zone, Percy can feel the pressure beginning to bear down on him. But now that he knows what he could gain, his resolve is stronger than the instinctual desire to return to the shallower depths his body is built for. The music is louder here, thrumming in his ears with such force that he hasn't been able to sleep for the past two days. He grimaces. Annabeth would murder him if he told her that.

Well, she would right after she lectured him on how important sleep is for the proper functioning of the human body. Percy shakes his head and focuses on the music, trying to pinpoint its location. The only problem is, now that the music is louder, it is actually harder to tell where it is coming from. He can't quite make out the direction it is loudest in now. It's just guesswork. But . . . could that mean he's close?

After a moment's debate, Percy directs Rainbow forward, choosing the direction that will lead him further down.  Despite his attempts at staying focused on the music, he can't help but drift into his thoughts. It isn't his fault, it's so boring down in the Abyss. Nothing but silt and maybe a creature or two. Not like the vibrant waters near the surface. Just the same sight hour after hour. It's just so boring.

Don't take it the wrong way, he's beyond glad that he's only encountered two easily dispatched telkhines, but couldn't there be something exciting down here? It doesn't have to be monsters, but he needs something to do beyond just sitting on Rainbow's back and listening. He squints at something ahead of them, nestled in a dip of the seafloor.

The darkness down here is hard to see through, the only way he can is with Raibow's bioluminescence - he wasn't expecting that - and his own eyesight that seems to adapt to the abyssalpelagic environment. But from what he can see, is that a brine pool? He's seen them in nature documentaries, but he wasn't expecting to actually find one. Percy directs Rainbow to a few feet from the edge of the mussel bed surrounding the pool.

He slides off of Rainbow's back and swims closer, making sure to keep an eye on the hippocampus. He doesn't want to lose him in the darkness. The mussels are packed quite densely, he doesn't think he would be able to fit Riptide between them. In either of its forms. He inches forward, glancing at his toes to make sure he is high enough above the mussel-ringed pool. Sure, he has pretty good neutral buoyancy, but he wants to check.

The pool may be pretty, the liquid filling it cloudy and ethereal. But he knows what these pools are made of, and he doesn't want to know what toxic shock from that change in salinity feels like. Sure, he might survive entering a brine pool, but does he really want to know what could happen? A little ways ahead of him, Percy catches the sight of an eel dipping into the brine pool.

It lingers there for a second before it begins to spasm, just barely managing to pull itself out of the pool. The eel twists above the pool, curving around invisible obstacles in its path. Just as it curves around one, the brine pool clears just slightly to reveal the edges of a rock. Percy is about to dismiss it when Annabeth's voice rings in his ears. 'That isn't a rock, Seaweed Brain! Rocks don't have such sharp, straight edges.'

Percy swims closer to the 'rock', carefully using his powers to pull the brine away from it. As the dense liquid pulls away, it reveals the shape of a massive crystal. It is glowing faintly, just dim enough that it was concealed by the brine. Percy frowns at it. If this is what he's been searching for, how to get it out? Percy looks back toward Rainbow and whistles, calling him over. Rainbow is a bit apprehensive, but he swims over. Percy strokes his nose.

"Don't worry. The brine won't hurt you. I just need you to help me push this out."

Rainbow stares at him. Are you serious?

"Sorry bud, but yes."

Rainbow snorts but dips down, using his snout to help Percy push the crystal out of the bottom of the pool. Once out, Percy releases his grip on the brine with a gasp, letting it all come flooding back in. He looks down at the crystal now that it's free from the gloom. It's slightly opaque, enough so that he can't see through it, but there is a shadow within. He can't quite make out its features, but he can figure out enough that he knows it's what his father was hoping for. It only takes him a moment to send out a call to his father as he had promised.

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Percy found Nadia! Yay!

What condition do you think she'll be in? Will she have changed in any way? What's going to happen when they get her out? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out