The Forbidden Daughter | PJO Book One

nine

THEY ARENT DEAD (YET)

If they made it out alive after jumping off, Ariana was going to murder Perseus Jackson. They were plummeting towards the river extremely fast.

Ariana shut her eyes right, preparing for the impact of the water.

And then: Flaaa-boooom!

A whiteout of bubbles. She sank through the murk, sure that she was about to end up embedded in fifty metres of mud and lost forever.

A water bubble settles around Ariana's head almost straight away. Still, she held her breath until she absolutely had to.

"I can breathe." She said. "Oh that's good."

She looked at Percy. He wasn't wet, and he could breathe without the air bubble.

He looked at the garbage floating by and snatched an old cigarette lighter. He flicked the lighter. It sparked. A tiny flame appeared, right there at the bottom of the Mississippi.

Ariana's eyes widened. "Son of a Sea God must have its perks."

"You think?" Percy smiled. Then he grabbed a soggy hamburger wrapper out of the current and immediately the paper turned dry.

He lit it with no problem. As soon as he let it go, the flames sputtered out. The wrapper turned back into a slimy rag. Weird.

The girls eyes furrowed. "Do you still believe in science? Do you still think the gods are myths to explain how the seasons change?"

"No." He laughed. "I think I believe they exist now."

"Underwater is pretty cool." Ariana commented. "I've never been in the sea before. Never learnt how to swim either."

"You don't know how to swim?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Nobody ever taught me."

"I'll teach you if we make it out alive."

Ariana smiled at him. "Thanks."

Fump-fump-fump.

A riverboat's paddlewheel churned above the pair, swirling the silt around.

There, not two metres in front of them, was both of their swords, its gleaming bronze hilt sticking up in the mud.

Without hesitation, Ariana reached out to grab hers. Percy did the same.

"Percy if I ever see your father in person remind me to thank him." She said, practically hugging her weapon.

"Yeah..."

Then a woman's voice again. "Percy, take the sword. Your father believes in you."

Her words seemed to come from everywhere, rippling through the water like dolphin sonar. Ariana looked around.

"Uh Percy?" She asked. "Why does your fathers domain have talking women coming from nowhere."

"Where are you?" He called aloud.

Then, through the gloom, Ariana saw her - woman the colour of the water, a ghost in the current, floating just above the sword.

She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like Percy's .

A lump formed in my throat. He said, "Mom?"

"That's your mother?" Ariana asked, her mouth dropped to the floor.

"No, child, only a messenger, though your mother's fate is not as hopeless as you believe. Go to the beach in Santa Monica."

"What?"