….
Death Boy was boring to be trapped inside a bronze jar with.
Of course, it wasn't his fault he was boring, Liesel understood that well enough. It was his only way to stay alive, after all. Liesel's strategy in staying alive was completely different than his, however. Somehow, she could breath well enough through the oxygen trapped inside the metal, not to mention the microscopic hole she made on the lid of the jar. Food and water wasn't an issue. The giants let her keep her bag, which was stockpiled with the utilities.
Liesel was just bored now.
She spent most of the time thinking up of insults towards Otis, Ephialtes, and Gaea –most of them being in German, some in English, and very few in Greek and Latin. Most of them were empty threats, though. She knew it would take a miracle for her and the boy next to her to get out of the jar.
Perhaps she would die in a few days from lack of oxygen. It was only a matter of time before the metal ran out of oxygen, plus the air was already pretty hard to breath in, and let's face it: the microscopic hole wasn't that big of help. Or maybe she would stab herself with her Celestial bronze dagger, or cut herself with her Imperial gold yo-yo. Yes, a yo-yo.
Liesel then looked at the midnight blade propped up against the side of the jar with interest. She had seen it hanging by the gothic boy's side when they were being transported to Rome –heck; she'd even seen him use it once when they tried to escape. Liesel had wanted to hold the blade in her hands numerous times. The boy wouldn't know, he was in a death trance, but each time she gained the courage, she stopped when her hand was three inches away. She didn't know what Stygian iron was capable of –the boy had told her that before– and she wasn't really into dying just by touching it, or something of the sort.
And yes, she didn't know the boy's name. Liesel did know he was the son of Hades, after a lot of guesswork and putting pieces together, but telling each other's names didn't seem like a necessity at the time. Escaping was.
So, she often settled for calling him Death boy in her head, as well as son of Hades, and sometimes even saukarl, or Sleeping Beauty on occasions. Not that he'd know. He was asleep. Or in a coma. Or both.
Liesel also often debated on using her dagger to draw on the jar, but that would prove to be completely pointless because a) it would make her dagger dull, and b) she could barely draw something that resembled a stick figure.
Which really only left her to her thoughts. Not that there was much going on up there anyways. Her mind kept trying to focus on something, but then it suddenly goes to something random and she ends up going on a wild goose chase of random thoughts.
Liesel sighed before pulling her greasy blonde hair up into a ponytail, and letting her soil brown eyes scan around the bronze jar for the millionth time. Same son of Hades in a coma, same five pomegranate seeds left in front of him, same black sword beside him, same three marks on the wall of the jar, same light green pack next to her, and same Liesel bored out of her mind.
Yes, life was great for the young German girl.
Dear gods please make some event happen so I won't be bored!Liesel thought, but she heavily doubted the gods would do something like that for her.
She turned out to be wrong.
To say that she was surprised that a black-haired, green-eyed teenaged boy magically walked into the jar that next moment, was an understatement. To say she was so surprised that she wouldn't flinch if the twelve Olympians including Hades suddenly did a musical number right in front of her sounded better.
He stared at her, a look of surprise painted across his face.
Liesel mirrored his face, then blinked.
He blinked.
She blinked. "Uh…hi?"
Liesel mentally slapped herself right after. She shouldn't speak. She was using up enough air in the jar as it is.
The boy blinked again. "Where's Nico?"
Liesel tiled her head in confusion, before her eyes widened in realization. She opened her mouth to reply, but thought better. She motioned to the son of Hades across from her, and then watched as the teen studied him.
"Nico?"
Then he started to fade.
"Wait! Don't go!" Liesel cried out before quickly grabbing her bag and rummaging around in it. She took something out before jumping up and grabbing the boy's hand. She placed the object in his hand –a green gemstone of some sorts. When their eyes met, an understanding came between them. Keep the gem.
"Percy." The boy said before disappearing completely.
Well, my life just became a whole lot more interesting, Liesel thought to herself before putting her back against the bronze jar's wall and slowly sliding back down to a sitting position.
That boy, Percy he said, must have been having a demigod dream, Liesel figured. Perhaps she would wait a few hours before falling asleep to visit him, then they could talk. Maybe she could finally get herself and Death Boy, Nico, out of this godforsaken jar with his help. Well, that is assuming that the stone went with him, and he actually kept the stone.
Liesel scrunched her eyebrows together –something she did when she was in deep thought (and her ADHD wouldn't get in the way, for once.). Percy seemed to know Nico, which was probably an important snippet of information she needed to remember, or count on. If Percy knew Nico, then he would definitely come to save him. She hoped he would hurry, though.
Liesel eyed the pomegranate seeds in front of Nico.
About five days until they would both die. Liesel suspected that the lack of oxygen would start to heavily affect her soon, if not in a few hours or the next day at most.
Unconsciously, Liesel clasped her hands together before closing her eyes, praying to the gods that Percy would make it in time, but who was she to be sure that he could be trusted? She didn't know him, she barely trusted Nico when they were both being transported.
Then she was bored again. Even with a new possible hope given to her, she couldn't expect herself to be thinking about it 24/7. Maybe she could visit wherever Percy was, then talk with him later, or something like that. Her appearing right next to Percy when she fell asleep wasn't guaranteed, after all. Liesel would probably find herself quite a few meters away from him.
Liesel tugged down her black Lululemon leggings, and pulled down the sleeves of her light green cardigan that was unbuttoned over her light blue tank top. She paused on her left arm, before studying her outfit.
I've been wearing this for like a week now, she thought to herself, scrutinizing every dirt and grass stain that now seemed visible. Gods, I feel like a saumensch.
Then Liesel thought back to her plan to visit Percy sooner rather than later. No, perhaps she'd wait a few hours. When he disappeared he could have been switching dreams, rather than waking up. And the imaginary digital watch in her head told her that it definitely wasn't daytime.
Liesel sighed to herself. She had a fun few hours ahead of her.
….
Liesel didn't know how long it had been when she fell asleep, or when she fell asleep exactly, but she found herself somewhere that was definitely not in a bronze jar guarded by two insufferable twin giants who seemed to bicker on every little thing in the world.
The first thing she said when she appeared on the giant boat, however, was not 'Whoa', but instead she screamed, "Holy sweet mama! Fresh air!"
She didn't understand how she was able to breathe the fresh air. It was technically a dream, so she would still be breathing the poisonous jar air, but it was fine with her. Albeit she was a little guilty that Nico wasn't able to breathe the fresh air as well, though.
Then, Liesel actually noticed what was going on. Several teens were running around the deck frantically, as if they were searching for somebody. They called to each other, shaking their heads. None of them noticed Liesel, though, so that was an upside for her.
Being the daughter of a son of Morpheus had its ups.
Liesel decided to explore the ship a little, seeing as nothing much was happening on the upper deck. As she walked down the stairs she crossed paths with a satyr that was yelling more violent phrases than she could ever conjure up in her head in her free time in the jar.
Gods, he needs a god-sized chill pill, Liesel thought, letting her eyes linger the satyr who was swinging his bat around.
After a moment, she just shrugged and continued on her voyage throughout the ship.
Room, room, room, person with a Wii remote, room, room, room, mess hall, room, staircase, rather large person with a slightly scared expression on his face, room, room –wait, what?
Liesel did a double take before switching her gaze to the staircase. Before she could take a first step down the staircase, a blonde girl rushed up with a heavy blush on her face, followed quickly by the black-haired, green-eyed boy she was looking for.
Percy stopped short just as he spotted Liesel in front of him, who gave him a small wave.
"Hiya, there."
"Wha?"
Liesel didn't blame Percy for his reaction –she most likely would've done the same thing if she were in his place. Instead of saying anything about it, Liesel jumped right into things. "Can we talk somewhere?"
Percy slowly nodded before leading Liesel somewhere where there wasn't anyone around. That way Percy wouldn't look like he'd gone insane, talking to thin air.
Once the two finally arrived to, where Liesel guessed, was Percy's room, the teen bombarded her with questions. 'How did you find me? Who are you? Where's Nico? Is he okay? What happened?' And so on.
Liesel held up her hand, telling Percy to be quiet. "First of all, I'm dreaming. You kept the stone, right? That's what led me here –kinda. My dad is –er, was– a son of Morpheus, so I adapted some minimal powers. That stone is zircon, which is my birthstone. I was able to find you in my dream directly because I'm somewhat connected to that stone."
"Okay," Percy nodded. Liesel hoped that he was nodding because he actually understood what she was rambling on about, and not because he didn't want her to go off on a long explanation that would make him more confused. "Is Nico okay?"
"Well, he's the same since you've seen him. He's in a death trance."
Percy narrowed his eyes. "What's a death trance?"
"Eh…it's hard to explain. Maybe someone else on this boat will be able to tell you," Liesel said with a sheepish shrug. "Anyway, yeah he's fine…I guess. Next question?"
Percy paused, as if he wasn't sure if his next question would offend Liesel in anyway. Liesel's eyebrow slowly started to creep up her forehead, and her foot began to tap against the wood impatiently. Liesel Scheulin was not a patient girl.
"Well? Are you going to ask, saukarl?"
That comment, of course, earned Liesel a questioning look, but she waved it off and continued giving Percy a questioning look.
"Uh…what's your name?" Percy finally asked, as if he was trying to keep himself from bombarding her with more questions.
At that question, the corner of Liesel's mouth twitched up. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Liesel Scheulin, and I'm going to be following you like a ninja on your journey from now on."
Review, I guess?
Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan, nor will I ever be (sadly), because Nico would most definitely be in the books more, but I guess he is going to be in House of Hades more…
Ps:
Saukarl – the male form of 'pig' in German
Saumensch – the female form of 'pig' in German
