Here is the next chapter!
So, the loophole will be no more since I wouldn't be able to keep up. Now, you are NOT allowed to review twice in one chapter to get another chapter.
The deal is still going on though so if you want another chapter, you know what to do.
Enjoy the chapter.
Mal was starting to worry.
After she had finished breakfast, Mal headed toward Fireworks Beach where she thought Uma would be. When she arrived, Mal found a pair of Uma's favorite leather heals—that she paid Evie a fortune to fix—with her leather jacket folded neatly over the top by the shoreline. Footprints in the sand showed that Uma did decide to go exploring, which is fine since she could breathe underwater.
But that was over two hours ago.
Since she couldn't go check on Uma herself, Mal went to get Percy. Since he was the Son of Poseidon, he would be best to check up on Uma since he could also breathe underwater and speak to the fishes to help find her.
However, he was a little preoccupied at the moment.
When Mal arrived at the Pegasus stables, only Jason was around. As Mal came closer, she noticed that Jason was getting the next Pegasus ready.
"Jason?" Mal greeted, who turned to look at her. "Have you seen Percy?"
"He took his Pegasus, Blackjack, on a flight around the city," Jason answered. "He said something about getting Blackjack donuts and visiting his mom. He probably won't be back for another half hour. Why? Do you need something?"
Mal sighed. "Not unless you can go underwater for long periods of time." Jason remained silent, so she explained, "I'm worried about Uma. I've waited for her for two hours at the beach, but she has yet to reemerge. I know she's fine because she can breathe underwater, but I'm still worried that something might have happened."
"And you can't check on her because . . ."
"I can't swim," she revealed. "We lived on an island with a barrier around it before we started to attend our boarding school in Auradon. Almost everyone on the Isle can't swim, except for a couple exceptions like Uma."
"Why can she breathe underwater?"
Mal hesitated. "It's not my right to say," she insisted. "I assure you, she is not the daughter of Poseidon or whatever you call him. Her father died during a war. She gets the 'ability' from her mother."
"Well I can check on her," Jason offered. "While we were traveling during the last war, I found out I can grab wind from the air and encase it around me so I can breathe underwater."
Mal perked up. "Really?" She motioned to the Pegasus. "Don't you have to stay here?"
"He's the last one," Jason reassured. "Someone will be back in the next couple minutes, so I'll leave him tied up out here for them to take care of."
So, the two traveled to the beach, where Uma has yet to reappear. Mal stayed on the shore while Jason slowly made his way underwater while trying to keep his wind barricade up. Once he was finally submerged in ten feet of water, Jason saw something he could only describe as beautiful.
Sitting at the bottom of the ocean was a depressed Uma, who had her knees to her chest and her head resting on them, so she couldn't see Jason at the moment. Her long teal, white, and black hair—Jason has been wondering about that—floated freely around her in an angelic way. The skin on her arm had a shimmery pattern of circles all along it, taking Jason a moment to realize that those circles were actually scales.
When her hair moved away from her neck, Jason figured out how Uma was able to breathe underwater.
She has gills.
"Uma!" Jason shouted to get her attention.
Uma flung her head up so fast that it was a wonder on how she hadn't gotten whiplash.
"Jason?" Uma moved a hand to cover her neck as she quickly stood to her feet. "What are you doing here?"
"Mal wanted me to check on you." Jason informed as he moved so he was in front of her. "You do realize you've been down here for two hours, right?"
Uma gasped as her eyes became wide. "It felt like minutes," she claimed. She adjusted the hand on her neck. "Mal must have been so worried. . ."
"You don't have to cover them up," Jason insisted. "I'm not going to judge you for it."
"But everyone at camp will," Uma snapped. With a sigh, she apologized, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't take my anger out on you."
"Mal told us what happened." Jason tilted his head as he said, "Something about a crush?"
Uma sighed this time in exasperation. "It's hard to explain."
"I have time," Jason promised.
Thinking it over, Uma began, "Well, to start off, I'm a captain of a pirate ship, the one that I won when my 'crush's' father held a race. I made a deal with my crush that if I won, I get to be captain and he has to be my first mate. Since he was my first mate, he pledged his loyalty to me. He would actually get jealous when another male would talk to me. He would call me his 'Uma Darling'."
"Ohhh." Jason nodded in understanding. "So, what happened to make him change?"
"We started to attend our boarding school." Uma continued. "I thought it would be the best time for us to be together, but he had other plans as he was flirting with so many girls on the first day that I was gone. Our friend, my second mate, confronted him about it and now they are in a fight."
"And the first mate claimed you never asked him out," Jason finished.
Uma nodded as she wiped away a stray tear. "I thought being down here would help me keep my mind off him, but I was wrong."
Suddenly, an idea came to Jason's mind. "I think I know what could help," Jason claimed. "How would you feel about going on Pegasus ride with me?"
"Wouldn't your girlfriend get jealous?" Uma wondered.
"Piper's actually not my girlfriend anymore," Jason corrected. "She broke up with me a couple days after the war ended because she believed her mother forced us together. Our friends don't know about it yet, but we plan on telling them soon."
Jason held out his hand. "What do you say?"
Uma stared at his outstretched hand. It wouldn't be the worst thing she could do at this camp.
Especially if it meant being closer to her almost-new-crush.
Cliffhanger! You know what to do!
