"Hey guys, what's say we go for a swim?" I asked. "Why not?" Cleo said. Rikki just shrugged, and Emma nodded with a simple "Sure." We headed towards the dock, looking around cautiously. We dove after a few moments, after determining there was no one around, and I paused for a few seconds, enjoying the tingly feeling I always felt when I transformed. We immediately swam out to the deep water of the ocean, taking our time to admire the beautiful fish and colorful coral. We swam slowly, and I noticed something glinting on the ocean floor, half buried in sand. I swam over to it, reaching out my hand. I grabbed the object and swept my free hand over the smooth surface, clearing of all the sand to reveal the most beautiful shell I've ever seen.
It was a large spiral shell, with all the colors of the rainbow coiling down the sides, almost like a snake. The vibrant shades of blue, purple, red, green, yellow, pink, and orange shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight that filtered down from the surface. Oh. My. Gosh. I'll bet Will would love this. I thought to myself. I quickly swam over to Cleo, who was settled near a small reef, closely observing the multicolored fish, smiling every time one was daring enough to dart in and out of her hair, which floated freely in the current. I tapped her shoulder to get her attention, then held up the shell. Her eyes widened, and she mouthed Woah! I nodded in agreement with her, then pointed upwards so we could talk, and get some air.
I gestured to Rikki, then laid a hand on chest, then nodded towards Emma and then pointed to Cleo, indicating who we should gather. She nodded, then swam off to get Emma, while I went over to Rikki. I laid my hand on her shoulder, and she turned, startled, as her attention had been completely focused on a mako shark that was swishing around a few meters away. I gestured up, and she obliged. As we surfaced, Rikki asked "What's so important?" I held up the shell, and her mouth dropped. "Oh, wow." She exclaimed, reaching out to rub her hand across the smooth surface. "I know. I'm gonna give it to Will. He loves this kind of stuff." I said, twirling it around in my hand slowly so we could observe it.
"Hey guys. What's that?" Emma asked, raising a hand to point at something that seemed to be heading straight towards us. "A boat?" Cleo guessed, but Rikki shook her head. "No. Too fast." She stated. It was getting closer and closer to us at an incredible speed. "Whatever it is, it kinda looks like a giant-" Emma started "SNAKE!" I yelled, finishing her statement. The thing was now towering above us, at least forty feet above our heads, glaring down at us. It looked just like a boa constrictor, it's beady black eyes glaring down at us from the side of its ugly head. It was a gruesome greenish orange, with the occasional patch of inky black. It hissed, and we were overwhelmed with the awful stench of rotting fish. "SWIM FOR IT!" Rikki yelled.
We all dove, swimming our fastest, which is like 175 kilometers per hour. The thing followed us, and it kept snapping it's jaws, trying to eat us. We swam a long distance, and we only came up for air every seventeen minutes or so. We ran (or swam), from that thing for hours on end, and our muscles began to ache. I slowed down, it was too much. I saw a strip of land maybe twenty miles off when I surfaced, so we headed in that direction. Emma grabbed my hand, dragging me along, but she was tiring fast, we all were.I told myself we would make it, but I highly doubted it. We were all exhausted, and our fins ached, begging for a break. I slowed down even more, as did the other girls, our exhaustion taking control over our bodies. The giant snake-like creature moved in closer, narrowing its eyes in delight, but suddenly stopped, staring wide eyed at the piece of land we were near.
It screeched in what I'm pretty sure was terror, and turned and swam off quickly, completely forgetting us. We dragged ourselves onto the sand of the beach, flopping down on our backs, our tails still visible. At the moment, we didn't care who saw us, as long as we got to rest. After about five minutes, Rikki sat up and steam dried us, and we all winced a bit at the sting, even though we were perfectly used to it. Rikki shakily stood up, and looked around, when her gaze zeroed in on something.
"Look. There're some buildings. Let's go see if we can find someone to help us. Maybe tell us where we are." She suggested. I thought it sounded like a reasonable idea, so I agreed with a nod. I pushed myself up, wobbling a bit on my stiff and sore legs. I took one step, and pain erupted in my left leg "Owww." I moaned, clutching my thigh. "Are you ok?" Cleo asked worriedly, still on the ground. "Yeah, my legs are just a little sore." I took another step and almost lost my footing, but thankfully Rikki was there to grab my arm and steady me. "Ok, a lot soar." I admitted. Emma and Cleo rose from their sitting positions on the ground, only to fall over again as their legs gave way. "Ouch. That's gonna leave a bruise." Emma muttered irritably, rubbing her elbow, which was already turning a dark purplish black. "Are you guys ok? Can you walk?" I asked. "Yeah. I'm fine." Cleo said. I slowly stepped over to her, my eyes glued to my feet to ensure I wouldn't trip, and held out my hand to my friend. She accepted, and I pulled her up, and this time, I only teetered a little bit on my feet. "Let's go." Rikki said, hauling Emma to her feet.
"Are you sure we're ready to walk? I mean, we've just swam for miles, don't you think we should rest a bit?" I asked. "No, Bella, I don't think we should rest. We should find out where we are. I don't recognize this place, do you?" Rikki asked. I found it hard to argue, she had a point. I didn't know where we were, and those buildings didn't seem at all familiar. We slowly made our way towards the cluster of buildings, gripping each others shoulders to ensure that we kept our balance. We were about fifty feet away from the small beach when we heard the familiar sound of footsteps. "W-who's there?" I asked nervously. Suddenly, a boy appeared in front of us, like literally appeared, as in we didn't see him walk up to us, the air just seemed to create him, and he became visible. He held a sharp, real sword in his hand, the blade made of midnight black metal. "Who are you?" he asked holding the blade out in front of him, pointing it at us. We each passed out, falling backwards from partial shock, exhaustion, and fear of being skewered.
-LINEBREAK-
(Nico's POV)
"Well, that was unexpected." I muttered to myself, peering down at the fallen girls. I knelt beside one of the three blonds, laying my hand on her forehead. As my fingers came in contact with her skin, a warm feeling shot through me. My skin tingled as it rested on her forehead, enjoying the warmth that emanated off of her skin. I looked them over to make sure none of them were hurt, which, thank the gods, they weren't. I noticed a bruise on one of the other blonds elbow, but otherwise they looked ok. I shadow traveled away, back to the infirmary, where I knew some of the Apollo kids would be. I walked right in, and sure enough there were two children of Apollo, Will Solace and Hailey Sokar. "Hey, guys there are four girls passed out not too far from the cabins. Definitely half-bloods, but I can't shadow travel them all back. I'll probably pass out for a week if I do. I can probably bring two of them, but that's it. They look about seventeen each. I need your help!" I said quickly.
"Well let's go!" Hailey said. "Yeah if they're hurt, we'd better hurry!" Will agreed. He said. "Thanks guys." I said and ran out. I shadow traveled away to the girls, praying to my dad that he hadn't brought their souls to the underworld yet. I reached them, and immediately I knelt by the blond haired girl I'd touched earlier. Only now did I realize how truly gorgeous she was. Delicate, flawless face, silky golden blond hair that complimented her smooth, soft skin perfectly. Her lips were thin yet full, and possessed a pale but bold pinkish tint. Her eyelashes were a deep golden brown, framing her eyes perfectly. Her skin was deeply tanned, looking great with her long hair and lashes. As I picked her up, I found she was surprisingly light weight, considering her estimated age of seventeen. She seemed to weigh only ninety five pounds at the most, even though she had a healthy figure. Her fingers were long and elegant, her nails painted with a clearish pink polish that matched her lips. I was pretty sure she was a daughter of Aphrodite, given her drop dead good looks.
I shadow traveled away to the infirmary, cradling the girl in my arms. Chiron was in there, tending to the wounded, not noticing me yet. "Hey, Chiron." I said. He turned around, looking rather startled. When he saw it was just me, he said "Oh good, Nico. Will and Hailey told me about the girls, I'm guessing this is one of them?" He said as his eyes drifted to the girl I was carrying, "Do you know who she is?" he asked, a puzzled look on his face. I shrugged and said "I don't know. They were walking towards the cabin area when I found them, and then I appeared in front of them, and then they passed out. That's all I know." I explained.
"Put her over here." He said, gesturing to an empty bed. "You said 'they'. Was there anyone else with her?" he asked as I laid her down. "Yeah. There were three others. Two blonds and a brunette." I answered. I looked at the girl again, still awestruck with her beauty. I noticed something strange, though. There were some paperclips on the desk next to her bed, and they were rattling around. Suddenly, they flew off the desk, straight towards something on the girls neck: a crystal necklace. "Wow! That's a strong magnetic pull." Chiron exclaimed. The girl stirred, and slowly sat up, looking confused. She noticed us, and started talking "Where am I? What is this place? What's going on? Where are my friends?" in a strong accent that made her barely understandable, Australian, maybe.
"Woah, what's with the accent?" I asked. "Me? You're the one with the accent!" she exclaimed. Chiron gave her a confused look "Anyway, as to where you are, the infirmary. Camp Half-Blood." Chiron said. "Camp what? Where?" she asked. "What's your name?" I asked. "Bella." She answered after a moment. "What are your names?" she asked curiously. "I'm Nico, son of Hades." I said. "And I am Chiron." Our teacher introduced himself. "Who?" she asked, confusion creeping into her voice. I opened his mouth to explain, but she cut me off. "I don't care. Where are my friends?" she asked again. "Two blonds? And a brunette?" I asked. "Yep. That's them. Cleo, Rikki, and Emma. Where are they?" "Um, that way. Towards the cabins." I said.
"I have to go." She said, rising off the bed. "Wait!" I said, holding out my arms. "Get outta my way." She said angrily, pushing past me. "Wow. She's got some attitude." I said. "We should go after her." Chiron suggested after a moment. "Oh, that reminds me! I'm supposed to be getting one of the others. Bye!" I said and ran out, disappearing into the shadows as I moved.