Chapter 6: Still in the Woods
Poseidon cut through the water at full-tilt, commanding his forces from above and sending bullets of high-speed water at his enemies. From his high vantage point, Poseidon saw perfectly when the quartet of greek fire bombs landed on the east wing of his palace, where his rooms and Percy's nursery was located. He hoped his wife and son were safe from the bombing.
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Amphitrite closed her eyes and clutched the infant she had so recently vowed to protect to her chest in hopes of shielding him from the worst of the damage caused by the falling ceiling. She internally scoffed at the irony of it. She felt something slam against her back, toppling her to the ground but she didn't seem to be injured. Perhaps it was the adrenalin. The sound of falling debris was deafening. Amphitrite felt certain her time on earth was coming to a close. Closing her eyes tighter in hopes of preventing emminent death, her thoughts moved from regret towards her recent treatment to her husband to the fond memories she had with him and their son to the child squirming in her arms now. This brought her back to the present.
Where was the pain? At this point Amphitrite felt it necessary to open her eyes, despite her fears that she would open them and find herself in the realm of Hades. The view that greeted her newly open eyes made her blink several times to fully understand. The three of them were completely surrounded by debris yet none of it touched them. The noise had stopped, leaving a dreadful, ceaseless ringing in her ears. The deafening silence made Amphitrite remember the baby she was holding, who ought to be wailing his little heart out. Instead she found his face scrunched into an expression of concentration.
Zeus, please don't let the kid be relieving himself at a time like this. Then she realized- Percy was responsible for their survival! What else could have manipulated the water to create a protective bubble around them? The realization drove white hot spikes of shame into Amphitrites heart. She had been contemplating letting the child die and here he was saving her. Most likely it wasn't Amphitrite he was trying to save, and most likely it wasn't even a conscious decision, just a child acting out of instinct. Regardless, Amphitrite felt as if she would never be able to forgive herself. She vowed to get this child out of this mess if it was the last thing she did.
The first step would be to get themselves out of the wreckage and she would need the general's help with this. "Timoleon, rise. We need to remove ourselves from this mess" With difficulty, considering the very small bubble of safety Percy had created, Timoleon turned to face the Queen and the ever tiring Percy.
"How did this happen? How are we still alive?" Timoleon questioned, fear evident in his eyes, though he was obviously trying to put on a brave face for his queen's sake.
"It was the boy. Percy. He saved us. He has powers greater than I anticipated. But he is quickly tiring; we must remove ourselves from the debris before it collapses around us."
"Sounds good to me, my Lady." Timoleon responded before reaching up beyond the bubble of safety and attempting to lift part of a wall. Amphitrite gently laid Percy onto the ground and helped Timoleon push until the wall was moved. This continued until a tunnel going up towards the top of the wreckage was made.
"You go first, your majesty. I'll hand the prince to you once you reach the top and then I'll follow you." Amphitrite was stumped at hearing the term prince used for someone who was not her son, but rather than call that to attention she simply said, "Not your majesty. It's not necessary. Now, help me up." Timoleon linked his fingers together to form a step and pushed up to give Amphitrite a boost, allowing her to swim to the top quickly. Once at the top of the newly made tunnel, Amphitrite laid on her stomach and reached down to take Percy. Timoleon followed.
They looked around, trying to get their bearings. They saw that the entire palace had not collapsed, just this wing, and only the top two floors fell onto the floors below. All Amphitrite could think was how long this all would take to clean up. And just when they were about to start the construction of the game room.
"Queen?" Timoleon questioned, snapping Amphitrite out of her lull. "Sorry," She replied. "Let's go that way, towards the window. We can swim down from there and get out to the streets." Timoleon nodded his understanding.
As quietly as possible, though this was not very quiet at all, given that the entire floor was covered with broken decorative shells and other very crunchable debris, the trio made their way across the wrecked floor. They went from one large pile of wreckage to another, peeking out from the side to ensure their clear passing. Thus far the going had been free of cyclopes or other tormentors. Of course their streak of luck could not continue.
Right before Amphitrite was about to rush out to run to the next pile of debris, Timoleon pulled her back so swiftly that gravity nearly yanked Percy from her arms. "What is it?" Amphitrite demanded angrily.
"Shhh!" Timoleon beckoned in front of them towards a pair of cyclopes who looked like they were patrolling the ruins. The trio sank back against their shelter and listened to the footsteps of their enemies.
"-won't be happy. He had hoped to get some leverage over the 'king of the ocean'" The cyclopes' mocking tone indicated very clearly that he thought the current king of the ocean, Poseidon, was undeserving of his title. "There's still more wreckage to look through. No one has reported seeing any of the royal family leave, so someone must still be here. Imagine how generous the boss would be if we find them! We'll be rewarded greatly- perhaps even given our freedom!"
Amphitrite and Timoleon locked eyes- they were right to be careful, the cyclopes were looking to take hostages belonging to the royal family. Timoleon continued to keep watch, peeking his head around their cover every couple of minutes to check if the cyclopes had left yet but to no avail. In fact, it seemed as if they were trying to wait out anyone who was hiding in the wreckage. If anyone else climbed out, unknowing of the waiting cyclopes they would be unable to evade capture.
"This is getting ridiculous. Even if we manage to get by without them seeing us, we'd make too much noise. There's no way we're getting out of here without a diversion." Timoleon stated, and the determined set of his eyes told Amphitrite exactly what he kind of diversion he was planning.
"I am not allowing you to use yourself as a diversion. There is no way I am allowing you to sacrifice yourself when there are other ways of going about this. Let's just throw something and run."
"That sounds like a much better plan. I support it wholeheartedly." Timoleon replied, eagerly seeking a piece of debris that would take his place as diversion. "Will this do?" He asked while holding a stone the size of a fist.
"It's perfect. I suggest you throw it, you are certainly stronger than I." And so he did. The stone sailed through the water hitting a pile of debris around 50 feet from them. Wooden planks tumbled down creating more than enough noise to catch the attention of the cyclopes.
"You go check it out, I'm comfortable here." One of the cyclopes stated, much to the chagrin of Amphitrite and Timoleon. Before the two could contemplate how to make both cyclopses move, Percy woke up. And of course, upon waking, Percy found that this was a suitable time to start crying. What started off as a small whimper quickly escalated into deafening wails, a sound that was so thunderous it seemed as though it could carry over the entire city of Atlantis.
"Find that baby!" Demanded the previously seated cyclopes. He and his partner ran towards the trio, a sight that made Percy cry impossibly louder.
The trio had no choice but to run away from the cyclopes. This sadly happens to also mean they were running away from the window that had been their escape plan. No time to think about that now. Just run. And run Amphitrite did, unknowing that Timoleon was no longer beside her.
"Where do we go?" Amphitrite demanded after running into the wall on the other side of the floor that was, unfortunately, windowless. After receiving no response Amphitrite finally realized that Timoleon was intent on bringing his first plan to completion. Scanning the space she had just run she spotted the general battling both cyclops, somehow holding his own. "Go!" he managed to shout. While Amphitrite did not think of herself as someone who would allow someone else to die for her, she found herself running toward the open window, Percy in hand, without thinking twice. Upon reaching the window, Amphitrite turned back in time to see Timoleon decapitate one of
While Amphitrite did not think of herself as someone who would allow someone else to die for her, she found herself running toward the open window, Percy in tow, without thinking twice. Upon reaching the window, Amphitrite turned back in time to see Timoleon decapitate one of the cyclopses. She cheered in victory, leading to the distraction of the general. He turned violently waving for Amphitrite to go on. With his head momentarily turned, the remaining cyclops took the advantage and swung his club skull-crushingly fast towards Timoleon's head. His only option was to fall to his back, allowing the club to sail over his head. With Timoleon down there was no way he could win this fight. Unable to watch, Amphitrite launched herself from the window.
Do you think Percy would get pruney being perpetually underwater or do you think it's in his powers to not be pruney?
Please leave ideas of what you want to see in this story and what you think of this chapter in the reviews! I have some plans but if yall have any ideas for baby Percy you'd like me to write I'd love to hear them! PS the more reviews I get the more motivated I am to update weekly (which is a stretch but still something i hope to accomplish)!
~annades49800