Tempting the Fates

Chapter 36

The Ocean is a Pretty Big Place

Annabeth

How many bad days could someone have in a row? Honestly, there had to be a world record for how many times Annabeth could find herself in mortal danger. True, it'd be a pretty difficult bar to achieve given any of her demigod predecessors (and, hey, maybe some of her companions) but as the ground receded further and further from her feet, she wasn't so sure how far off she might be from snagging it for herself.

At some point she must have passed out because when her eyes opened she was flying through wisps of clouds and there was a near constant pressure followed by popping in her ears. "Great," she muttered but her single world was swallowed by the roar of the wind. Her brain, hardwired for combat and responding a multitude of threats simultaneously, clocked how thankful it was that her mother and Zeus were as close as any of the gods and goddesses could be on any given day. She could think of a few demigods that probably would have found themselves blasted from the sky by a spare lightning bolt. Being barbecued however many thousand of feet up wouldn't have helped her very bad day any.

So how did she get blown so high up (whilst simultaneously plummeting back towards the earth— or, really, the ocean, because it felt like it was sea on all sides)? Well. That was a funny story… and by funny story, it was more like a really perplexing question. Annabeth wasn't sure of the answer herself, not entirely.

It wasn't like Piper had pushed her in front of a freaky enraged minor goddess whom Annabeth didn't know from her elbow. And it wasn't like she had thrown the daughter of Athena over the side of the Argos II herself. But when it came to the child of Aphrodite? There were different kind of pushing. Namely the kind that used words woven so intoxicatingly into commands, anyone, even someone clever enough to know that it's happening, can't stop it.

But she needed to back her oxygen deprived brain up a little bit, because her thoughts aren't linear and it's getting a little confusing. She had been on the Argos II and at some point she must have fallen asleep— it wasn't a luxury so much as a necessity and she must have been bone tired because the demigod didn't remember falling asleep. What she remembered was waking up with her senses on overdrive and the nearly translucent hairs on her arm standing on end, then the hair at the nape of her neck as well. It sent a chill through her and she might have sworn that she saw her own breath despite how insufferably hot and humid it had been only a moment before. It made her stomach sink and her thoughts had immediately flown to the sceptre; it was important enough to be needed, it was important enough to draw monsters and attention. Throwing herself from the bunk, Annabeth had thrown herself from her bunk and run the short distance to Hazel's room and knocked again and again. No answer.

"Be asleep, be asleep," muttering under her breath, she opened the door and found the bed empty. No Hazel. But also no sceptre.

Another quick check found Piper missing as well. And that's when the temperature had dropped again and when the daughter of Athena exhaled her breath turned to ice. No. This wasn't some leftover side effect of waking too quickly. Something was very wrong. From there, everything had happened in a fraction of second. The stairs were taken a few at a time, Annabeth shouted for Hazel but had no response. On the deck of the Argos II she found some of her other companions less the one she was specifically looking for… and plus three on the creepy minor god and goddess front.

Her skin was pale like snow itself, and her eyes were like coffee spilt across it, marring the otherwise perfectly porcelain surface. There was nothing warm about her. She heard the high pitched shriek for the rest to come out from hiding— her voice scratched like ice down the back of her neck and then? Then she was heaving herself in front of the goddess without time to put together who she might be, or who the hockey jersey wearing goons beside her were, and then there had been an explosion of wind so fierce and cold that she's gone flying. The last thing she remember before it happened hadn't been the chilling voice of the goddess, but rather Piper's demanding shout (she wasn't even consciously aware of what the girl has asked of her) and the fact that her body had launched itself directly in front of Leo and Jason.

The turquoise of the sea shone below her so very far away she wasn't sure if she imagined white caps or if the parts of a demigod's brain responsible for acuity in battle also sharped her focus so precisely she could see unimaginable distances. Her stomach clenched. She might have known how to swim and the ocean might remind her of Percy (and it broke a little imagining him before it steeled her resolve once more) but this? There was no amount of ambrosia and nectar that could her after basic physics met biology and every one of her bones broke with the force of her landing.

No time for pity, Wise Girl. Her internal voice mimicked Percy's. You've got one shot before you're fish food, extra flat and meaty. What are you going to do?

Closing her eyes, she shuts out the world for just a moment and lets her mind think. What can she do? The idea hits her as quickly as the snow queen's dreadful blast had. Every part of her is shivering, not just from the heightened adrenaline and endorphins, but because it is freezing this high up and she'd been blown to all hell. Lifting her hands to her mouth she blows as hard as she can hoping the warmth of her breath will thaw her icy digits and restore some sensation. It's clumsy work, and time she honestly doesn't have, but eventually they pry free the pendant she had added to her camp necklace. Amongst the yearly camp beads, directly in the centre, was a mirrored locket. Round, not the traditional heart shaped. The clasp is sturdy but simple though she hasn't opened it since the first time she's closed it. Inside it housed a simple sand dollar.

Good thinking, Wise Girl.

Annabeth is grateful for it. Ever since the first war, Percy had insisted that she have at least one to hand at all times. The first he had given her; she had spent it shortly after he had gone missing to call in favours with any of the sea creatures in the harbour off of camp to be on the look out and bring back any word of the missing son of Poseidon. They had come up with nothing. Shortly after, she had replaced it. Just in case. Because she should always have one. Their godly parents might be less than fond of one another but the creatures of the sea responded to the currency, she was assured, and generally without question of who presented it.

It's part of the answer, Annabeth, but what is the question? How are you going to use it?

No matter what she attempts to trade the currency for, it will not stop her from smashing into the waves at a velocity that will equate the landing surface to cement. So the first problem is slowing my fall… and then the second problem is dealing with where I've landed… in the middle of who-knows-what-ocean. Without any idea how long she had been out or how fast she was travelling (see also: hurtling) it was impossible or her to do anything more than guess where the goddess' blast had hurled her. With nothing on her, not even a backpack, and little more to grasp beyond the sand dollar than the wisps of clouds she was falling through her only plan of attack was to beg a favour of her grandfather.

"Lord Zeus… I know you haven't been feeling well but… it's Annabeth. Your favourite daughters child… so hopefully that makes me your favoured granddaughter. If you could help with the whole plummeting to my death situation, it'd be a lot easier for me to help fulfil the prophecy of the seven. Pretty please. And I'll owe you a favour." The last part, she added begrudgingly. "And mom, if you're in any condition, I could really use you or your dad's help about now. I'll take it from there."

There's no great crack of thunder and no lightning bolt arching across the sky. It was a wish and a prayer really, nothing she should have counted on and with the rate at which the ocean was rushing to meet her? It would only be a few more minutes before it was lights out for the last time. Even if she threw the sand dollar as hard and as best she could, even if she screamed and wished for Rainbow to come, the hippocampus wouldn't be able to save her from gravity. Annabeth was never one to envy others but what she honestly wouldn't given for some a gift from her godly mother that might have been useful in this situation instead of the intelligence to envisage exactly how she was going to die.

"Screeeeeeeeaaaa!" the sound sent the hairs on her neck standing on end shocking her out of her thoughts.

There, above her, glided a massive eagle, its eyes focused on her. The talons opened and for half a second she is dumbfounded before letting out a whoop. Massive birds of prey — ones that are large enough to carry even petite demigods— are not of the mortal variety. She thanks Zeus and her mother fervently as the eagle glides impossibly towards the water and deposits her with a gentle splash into the water having slowed her fall in a impossible way. When she breaches the surface again, she waves her free hand as the eagle disappears from sight sending her thanks along with it.

"That's one problem, Chase." She mutters to herself. With the sand dollar still in hand, she closes her eyes and asks for Rainbow. The flattened sea urchin floats away from her hand, buoyant due to the salt of the sea, for a few moments before it's snatched by some unseen thing beneath the water. Annabeth doesn't question when the waves break and the rainbow scaled hippocampus appears, jumping from the water in a magnificent backflip before landing with a splash ten feet to her right. Shaking its head, its mane sends rivulets of rainbow droplets of sea water, sparkling like diamonds in the sun, and of course splashing the demigod in the face. It's as welcome a greeting as any.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you, Rainbow."

Annabeth closes the distance between them with a few breast strokes before climbing atop the sea monster's back. He blows bubbles in the water and whinnies something that she interprets as a question. Unlike her kelp headed boyfriend, however, she doesn't understand so she hazard's a guess.

"Percy is on a mission just like I'm supposed to be. But, well, something happened. And now I'm here in the middle of the ocean."

The hippocampus responds with a few more bubbles and a braying sort of sound which she has no idea how to interpret and zero context with which to apply it. Fingers course through the beast's wet main. Her hair probably doesn't look much different, just as messy, albeit blonder.

"I don't know where my friends are Rainbow. I don't even know where I am. I was passed out for a little while. I was hoping that you might be able to help me. Maybe you could take me to land? I'm sure I can figure it out from there." More bubbles are blow in response followed by movement so Annabeth curls her fingers into the waves of Rainbow's mane and holds on tight.

It takes some time— hours by her estimation with the way the sun travels across the sky. Its high overhead, hot if not for the breeze over the sea and the constant splashing of water on her face, but powerful all the same. She'll be sunburnt, she's sure, by the time her feet are on solid ground again. And then she sees it, so small at first, it could be a mirage. But it grows larger, comes into focus, begins to develop features beyond being the only pale coloured dot in a landscape that is otherwise turquoise.

"An island!" She squeals to Rainbow in delight. It's the best thing that's happened to her all day, and honestly, that's saying a lot. It's not mainland— that would be too much to hope for— but islands are better than being stranded at sea. Islands have boats. Boats can be stolen or stowed away on. Boats can get her back to mainland and back to her friends, she's sure of it.