Water flowed through the portholes. The taste of the sea did not energize Casey like it did for her father or brother. She knew how to swim, but she couldn't breath under water. She couldn't control the waves that were pulling her under.
Rose and Kat scrambled onto the deck, but Casey didn't follow. Her brother's sword gleamed in the sunlight as it sunk to the floor of the over-flowed ship. Despite her friends' cried and pleas, she dove in after it. As the boat sunk, the cabin Casey was in was running out of air. She could no longer go through the windows due to the pressure of the water filling the room. She swam quickly to the top and gulped in one last breath before water surrounded her completely. It stung to open her eyes. She could barely see past the irritation, but it was too dark anyway. She pounded at the sides of the boat but it did nothing to aid in her escape. The ship finally broke apart when it hit the sand. Casey swam through the broken hull and kicked up towards the surface.
It was hard to hear underwater, but the sound of a growl was unmistakable. With Jase's sword tight in her hand, Casey turned around. The threat was a pair of brightly glowing yellow eyes. It was some kind of aquatic monster that Casey couldn't see enough of to recognize. It lurked in the dark of a cave. Taloned tentacles lurched forward, wrapping around Casey's ankle. The hooked leg stung as it scraped across her skin and pulled her further into the deep. Casey closed her eyes and prayed. She prayed to her grandfather, god of the water. She prayed to her father. Son of the seas. She prayed to her dead brother, desperately searching for a way and a will to live. If she died now, she would go to the afterlife. If Jase was really dead, and if his soul escaped the confines of Tartarus, then she would be able to see him again. But that was a lot of ifs. And her family had gone through enough. Casey knew her parents wouldn't be able to handle the death of another child. Somebody had to look after Adora. Somebody had to teach Oscar about the hero his big brother was.
Suddenly, the water churned at her feet. At first, Casey thought it was her. But she had no tug, no feeling. She didn't feel any weaker or any stronger at the water's display. Besides, she knew she didn't have any powers of Poseidon. The sand twisted up and joined the water to create a hurricane. Casey's stomach lurched at the sight. It took Jase two years to perfect those hurricanes. He could do them in his sleep; it was his signature move. If she were above the water, tears would have been visible. But she was underwater, so it just stung her eyes instead.
The hurricane didn't touch Casey. The speed of the water was sharp enough to cut through the tentacles attached to Casey's feet. It was more dangerous than the hurricanes Jase used to make. The monster bellowed in pain. It was cut off by the hurricane. As Casey swam towards the surface, she could hear the monster gurgling as if it were choking.
Before she could pass out, Casey thanked her grandfather. And just in case, she thanked her brother too. Just before darkness overcame her, Casey swore she could hear someone screaming in her head.
When Casey came to, she was half-buried in the sand. The sand had clumped around her head as the blood from her new wound dried. She hadn't even realized that she'd gotten hurt. Judging by how far the wind had piled the sand utop her, Casey assumed she'd washed on shore about half an hour earlier. She couldn't see Kat or Rose anywhere, and she couldn't hear them either. Slowly, she pushed herself upwards. Her head was pounding. Her arms were still intact and neither of her legs were missing, so Casey decided she'd probably be fine. The only impairing pain came from her skull.
The boat had sunk with her, so there were no landmarks to help Casey decipher where she was, or where the others were. From behind her came a short invertebrate chirp. The squirrel's angry beady eyes glared down at her from a branch halfway up the tree.
"You!" Casey yelled, pointing accusingly at the small mammal as if it were the one to cause her head injury. Thinking about it, she thought the head injury was probably the reason she was screaming at a squirrel. Her throat burned from the near-drowning incident, but yelling the the critter seemed absolutely necessary. Before she could do it again, the squirrel let out a long chattering sonority and took off into the trees.
Casey jumped up to run after it, but fell straight onto her face at least two times before regaining her bearings. Her head was still reeling. Her vision was spiraling but she somehow managed to stumble after the furry creature. Branches slapped her cheeks. Roots reached out for her ankles and caused her to lose her footing again. Casey didn't even know where she was going. The squirrel had disappeared as soon as Casey had stood up, or maybe that's just because there were still black dots swimming through her vision. She wanted to slice the trees down the center, but soon realized that she was no longer holding her brother's sword, or her own. The defeating regret didn't slow her down. The anger pursing through her veins actually caused more endorphins to rush into her brain and make her run faster. She was frustrated, which was more than normal for Casey. At the moment, she was mad at the trader for taking her brother's sword and trying to steal it, she was angry at herself for going after it. And she was pissed off at her brother for jumping into Tartarus and losing it in the first place! None of this would have happened if Jase had just let it go, and let Charlie Valdez fall alone. Then only one of them would be dead. Before Casey could think of more people that she was mad at, she broke free of the forest and into a clearing.
Kat and Rose were on the other side of the clearing, dripping wet but otherwise unhurt. Kat was waving her arms wildly and Rose had her eyes clamped tight as if attempting to use utilize their empathy link.
Casey sighed in relief at the sight of her two friends. Her parents would have been way too angry if she got herself lost in the middle of nowhere on Mill Rock Island.
"Ok, so we finished the quest? It's barely been four hours! Think there are more pirates out there for us to track down? I don't want to head back to Camp just yet."
Kat flailed around, jumping in surprise. Rose screeched, "Holy Hermes cows, where have you been?!"
"Got attacked by a sea monster, washed up on shore, and got buried by the sand. But your little asshole squirrel buddy showed up and irritated me and now I'm here," Casey explained short temperedly. Rose sprang forward and gave Casey a hug. Casey awkwardly returned the gesture. She wasn't big on physical contact.
"Don't worry me like that," Rose urged. Casey shrugged, the Jackson sign of agreement.
"And to answer your question," Kat butted in, "there's probably more pirates out there, but we won't run into any unless we plan on doing some heavy traveling."
Casey couldn't decide if this was good news or bad news. Of course, it was nice that the threat was neutralized. But that also meant they had to go back to Camp. Casey was not ready to go back to Camp.
"How about we got out for ice cream before heading back home?" Kat suggested wryly. Kat was very Roman. For her to suggest something against the rules was a big deal.
Casey smiled, a real smile. "That sounds great."
AU-Do you guys think I should start uploading twice a week instead of once a week? Also, the next few chapters are probably going to be mostly outside POV so I can catch it up to what's happening to the boys down under. Thanks!
