AN: Hello, again! I promised to have this story up by July 4th and so it is. I already have the next seven chapters written up, so hopefully that will give me enough of a buffer that I can update this story more frequently than my others. If you haven't read my story Really? I recommend doing so; this story may contain references to it, as this is the sequel.
R&R, my brethren.
Disclaimer- (Insert witty comment about how I still don't own PJO or any other copyrighted material even though that would be the most awesome thing ever here)
Percy: We Hang from a Bridge
Chapter 1
The sweat dripped down my shaky arms and my hands cramped from hanging on for so long. Annabeth trembled beside me.
We'd been holding onto the underside of this bridge for what felt like forever. It had been the only option of escape from the army gathering on the bridge.
Why didn't we just jump and let my power over water protect us?
Well, that would be a great idea if we were hanging over water. But we weren't.
Nope. We were hanging from the pipes on the underside of a bridge spanning a defunct stretch of railroad tracks a hundred feet below us.
Kezi groaned and readjusted her grip for the thousandth time, her feet swinging below her.
"It would be easier to hang on if you didn't keep moving," Annabeth snapped at her. "It would be easier for all of us if you'd quit moving."
Kezi glared over at Annabeth in response.
"I thought you said your shoulder was fine." I added to Annabeth's comment. Kezi had dislocated her shoulder a couple of years ago when she and Athan, her husband, had helped me to rescue Annabeth.
"It is fine," Kezi hissed. "With normal activities. I don't often hang from bridges."
"Even in that pretty little city of yours?" Annabeth jeered at Kezi.
I guess I should explain that comment or it won't mean anything to you. Kezi is from Pittsburgh, the City of Bridges.
"When we get off this bridge—"
"Both of you shut up." Athan cut Kezi off before she could finish her threat.
The girls had been—well, bitchy towards each other since they had learned that they were rival architects (before that point they had just agreed to coexist). Their bickering had been going on for months now and had gotten steadily worse since we were all thrown into this big thing that was going on.
Now, I know you're going to ask what this 'big thing' is. And I'll be honest with you; I don't know. No one knows, not even the gods (from what we can tell, it has yet to be determined).
A new kid at camp had hinted to Chiron that something big was going to happen. A day later the kid had disappeared.
Our main goal with this little get together was to find out what was happening. We'd been working at it for days without any reward until Annabeth found a slip of paper wedge between a couple of bricks when the person she was following had suddenly disappeared.
The slip lead us to this bridge at eleven o'clock at night. We'd gotten here about fifteen minutes before the set time and had taken up residence crouched next to various steel beams. The group had all dressed in black from head to toe. Annabeth and Kezi had each stuffed their light colored hair into hats. The only visible part of any of us was the white edge around the bottom of Kezi's Converse (which she insisted on wearing even when Annabeth threatened her with a knife).
We were about to abandon the place at midnight when shadowy figures suddenly appeared at either end of the bridge, slowly approaching the middle. The number of people (or monsters, we couldn't tell) escalated quickly until there was no possible way for us to escape except for over the side of the bridge.
We ducked over the side as hastily as possible when we could hear the sound of their forthcoming feet.
From what we could tell, nobody in the army had noticed us, so they didn't try to quiet their procession, or kill us, or anything else that might be construed as bad for us.
Kezi suddenly swung her whole body up towards the bottom of the bridge, hooking her legs deftly through another pipe.
"Would you not?" Athan said exasperatedly as Kezi let go of the pipe in her hands so she was dangling by her knees.
"I'm not gonna fall," Kezi returned, stretching her shoulder and wincing.
Muffled voices grew loud enough for us to understand what they were saying.
"We need to get it done," said the first voice.
A gruff voice answered, "The army needs reinforced. We can't attack—"
Abruptly, Kezi curled up and grabbed hold of the pipe again, then crawled her way closer to the rest of us.
"We need to go," Kezi stage whispered across the remaining distance. "Now."
"What now?" Annabeth growled at her.
"We're being watched." Kezi stated matter-of-factly, still hanging upside down by her hands and knees. "There's definitely something sitting on the top of that pier." She motioned back over (under?) her shoulder.
Annabeth and I squinted though the dark trying to find what Kezi was talking about. Suddenly the noise on the bridge above us stopped. A figure moved exactly where Kezi said it was.
Immediately we all scrambled towards the other end of the bridge. The shadow moved after us.
The top of the bridge remained silent.
Our shadow loomed closer as we neared the end of the bridge. Athan dropped down onto the end pier first, searching before giving the all clear. Annabeth went next with me close behind her.
Quite honestly, I'd forgotten about Kezi.
Metal clanged as her feet slid off a pipe. As Kezi's body swung down, her weight nearly made her lose her grip. Her hat slipped off and tumbled down to the concrete below, setting her orange curls free.
Her feet swung wildly for a moment as she struggled to get a better grip on the pipe in her hands.
The shadow lurked just behind Kezi as she began to progress forward once again.
Athan stood silently beside me as we watched all this unfold. The look on his face plainly stated that if he could reach the pipes, he'd be out there with Kezi.
Could I blame him?
I once fell to Taurtarus, remember?
Kezi swung to the last pipe and used her momentum to jump to the pier. I moved back to give her space to land.
Kezi's left foot slipped on a patch of loose concrete, sending rocks tumbling down the pier.
And scene! Next chapter will be up within a week, I promise!
Happy Independence Day to all you citizens of the United States! Happy 237th Birthday!
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