Chapter 11

NATALI NICOLE PAK'S POV

"NO!" I screamed. I scrambled to the edge of the volcano. I watched her bright green irises fade away. "No, no! Jolina!" My dark eyes rained. The sun was no longer shining. "No!" I turned around. There was nobody left except Mrs. Yang, her face engulfed with tears. Cynthia was nowhere to be seen. I faintly remembered seeing her disappear with Jonathan, that bloody bastard, before I saw Jolina's black tresses following her into the flaming hole. Am I cursed? Cursed to be alone forever?It's always the same. Whenever I get something good in my life, something I value disappears. Like my mother. Or Jolina and Cynthia.

"Why?" I demanded to the sky. "Why?" I screamed. Not even a roll of thunder. I heard a sniffle. Mrs. Yang was shaking, her face engulfed with tears. Jolina, I promised to return your mother to you, and your family. I keep my promises.

"Mrs. Yang," I said, taking in a breath. "We need to go. Like... your daughter said, your sons are at home."

That seemed to shake her out of her state. "My sons! A-are they okay?"

I didn't want to tell her. All I wanted to do was reply cheerfully that they were peachy keen. "Uh, about that... Jake... He's..."

She burst into tears again. "Jake? No, no, no!"

"B-but, but, Nathan and Kevin are still alive!"

"Still alive? I thought you meant Jake was sick! Oh my god!" she moaned.

I held the grieving mother for a good half hour before I said,"We should go."

She nodded, her voice sore and hoarse. I handed her Cynthia's pair of winged shoes, and we descended.

At the airport, I went to get us some food. Our flight was at 1:30, and we should get to New York at approximately 3. The only reason we could pay for the tickets was because Mrs. Yang still had her credit card on her, seeing as Jonathan wasn't a mugger.

Before I went to get the food, I stopped at the restroom. I collapsed on the toilet seat, and I dropped my head into my hands.

Breathe in, breathe out.

CYNTHIA ALEXIS TANG'S POV

I just wanted to cry. My hands were cradling my head with my eyes squeezed shut. That jackass!

I cracked open my eyes. I was sitting in a dark alley. "Get off!" He threw my off his back. I recalled what had occured. I tackled him right before he Shadowtraveled, taking me with him...

"Where are we?" I demanded.

An evil smirk spread across his face. "See ya!"

My anger flared as I remembered seeing that stupid smirk right before he ditched me. I was now trapped in London with no money, food, or water. I had searched for hours in the damn city for a familiar face, but no one. Ugh, Nat would do better here.

Tears sprang to my eyes as I revisited my last memory of Nat and Lina. I watched Jolina step towards the volcano before darkness over took my eyes.

I lifted my head as I heard the bench creak. Brushing my blonde hair away from my face, I took a closer look at the person next to me. My gray eyes widened as I realized who he was.

"Nico?"

JOLINA YANG'S POV

Where the hell am I? There was absolutely no light. I sighed. Bubbles flew out of my mouth. What the...? A glowing fish swam by. No freaking way... I looked up. If this is what I think it is, its going to take years to swim up to the surface.

After an hour or two of swimming, my arms and legs were exhausted. Help? A fish? Or shark, maybe? Dolphin?

I felt something nudge my back. Dolphin! Yes!

I rode it until my head broke surface. I knew it was too tired to take me to shore, so I let it swim away.

Then, I realized where I was. Stranded in the middle of the ocean. Actually, I was two things. I was also screwed.

I though about my choices. Another dolphin? Maybe. Swim? Er... No. Stay here until I die? Rather not.

Blackjack? But, Percy doesn't let anybody else ride him...I just met Percy; I don't need to give a bad impression.

Wait. I'm stranded in the middle of the ocean, and I'm worrying about this stuff?

I whistled a tune. "BLACKJACK! BLACKJACK!" God, I hope Percy won't get angry. But then again, he's not like that. Probably.

Nothing. And what's worst is that I didn't remember any more Pegasi names. I whistled again. "BLACKJACK!" I continued to scream and whistle for fifteen minutes until my voice started to die.

Not even a dolphin came to help. I couldn't see any sight of land, so no swimming. I am going to die.

But, why didn't I die when I jumped into the volcano? I ended up in the ocean, so I suppose it had something to do with Poseidon. I tried to come up with reasons, but everytime I came up with a new one, it was stupider than the last.

I floated on the water with my eyes snapped shut. Then, I gasped. My shoes!I still had my winged Converse!

But when I looked at my feet, all I saw were regular shoes.

"AHH!" I screamed. A string of profanities followed. I stopped mid-word by the sound of wing beats.

You rang?

I could've cried. "B-but, I thought Percy doesn't let others ride you?"

So, you didn't want to be saved?

"N-no, no! I do, but..."

Boss'll understand.

I quickly mounted him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "To Camp Half-Blood!"

No duh. Dude, you're dripping on my coat!

After an hour or so, I spotted a speck of land...

About another hour later, I saw the golden gate.

I entered with Blackjack clomping behind me. I heard Natali tell everybody that I sacrificed myself. Cynthia was standing next to a guy I didn't recognize.

My hand went directly to my neck to finger my necklace. It was a habit I formed when I was bored or nervous. But, then I remembered Cynthia made my necklace explode. I looked down. There was a black string with only one bead. A green trident was painted on it. This is getting weirder by the second.

Only Cynthia and Natali were crying for me, but at least the rest had their solemn faces.

How am I supposed to do this? 'Hey everybody! Guess what? I'm actually alive! Yay!'?

"Erm..."

Say something! Blackjack nudged me.

I threw a thought at him. What am I supposed to say?

Fine! I will! He reared and neighed loudly.

Everyone turned as I yelled,"Blackjack! Don't!" They all ogled at me. "Er... Hi?"

A/N: There's the ending everybody! I've decided not to put an epilogue, UNLESS I have a good idea for it. But that's it.

Now, if you enjoy Harry Potter as well, you can read my story, Seventh Year Again! Yes, people, shameless advertising.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this story. I really enjoyed writing it. I want to thank my best friend, Jennifer, for helping my with my ideas. And I also wanted to thank my beta, Skywriter5! :D

But thank you for reading this story. And thank you for reviewing.

~ Joanne