***NONE OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY BELONG TO ME. THEY BELONG TO RICK RIORDAN AND JONATHAN M. SHIFF
They found their way to the resort and got unpacked.
"We're going to go look at the sites. You guys want to come?" Piper asked Annabeth and Percy.
"Well, I actually wanted to go for a swim to check out the waters around here," Percy said. Annabeth was a little disappointed. She wanted to spend time with Percy but she saw how excited he was about this. Much like how she gets when she talks about architecture. So she didn't say anything to him. She would have gone with Jason and Piper but with one look at Piper, Annabeth could tell she wanted alone time with Jason.
"I think I'll just stay and check out the resort. And there is a museum next door so I might go over there. You guys have fun," Annabeth said.
Percy felt guilty about leaving Annabeth alone. But he knew she could tell how excited he was about being in an ocean he wasn't familiar with. It excited him. So, yes, it is still the Pacific Ocean, which Percy has been in thanks to his time at Camp Jupiter. But a lot can change from across the ocean.
Percy ran down to the beach and saw that it was littered with people. All different kinds of people. If Annabeth was here with him, he would probably start pointing at the people sunbathing and say that they were beached whales and then Annabeth would tell him to stop making fun of people, while secretly laughing herself. Which was what Percy was thinking at the moment. But thinking about her made him more guilty. He almost went back and got her, but he decided against it. He wanted to explore the sea. But he couldn't do it like he wanted to if he constantly had to focus on keeping an air bubble around her. Not that it wouldn't still be fun.
Percy dove into the sea and willed the currents to carry him out farther. The water here was different. Almost like his father's power wasn't there. It was a wonder he could breathe or control it. He got out pretty far when a few dolphins came up to him.
"Lord, a creature is in trouble," said one of the dolphins.
"Come save her, lord, please," said another. Percy nodded and grabbed onto a dolphin. They led him deeper out into the sea and down to the bottom. It was a shipwreck. A fisherman's boat by the looks of it. And sure enough, there was some sort of fish caught in a net. But this wasn't any ordinary fish. Its tail was bigger around than Percy's waist and longer than his legs. He couldn't see the front half of it but Percy knew this had to be a sea monster of some sort. He just hoped it was friendly and he wasn't freeing an enemy. Percy willed the currents to push him to see the front of the sea creature.
He rounded the corner of the boat and saw the last thing he expected to see, a mermaid. But it wasn't like the mermaids at his dad's underwater castle. This was like the fairy tale mermaids. It was a human girl's upper body with a tail instead of her legs. She had dark brown hair and brown eyes. Her eyes widened as if she had never seen a son of Poseiden before. Which was weird. All of the mermaids, or any creature really, that Percy met knew who he was. Percy tried to speak to her but he realized he couldn't talk to her like he does any other sea creature. And she most likely wouldn't understand him if he tried to talk like he did on land. So Percy did what he once did with Annabeth in the Sea of Monsters, he gathered all the air bubbles around him to create an air pocket around their upper bodies. She watched, frightened until the bubbles settled. She looked at him, eyes wide, and said nothing. When he saw her face clearly, Percy realized she looked familiar. But he was sure he'd never met a creature like this before.
"My name is Percy Jackson. I don't want to hurt you. I want to help. The dolphins told me you were in trouble," he said, trying to sound as nice and soothing as he could. Percy was talking to her like he did Bessie when he freed him four years ago. Percy felt like that had been in a different lifetime. He pulled out his sword, Riptide, to cut the rope and her eyes got even wider.
"I swear I won't hurt you. Just don't move." Percy swung Riptide and slashed through the ropes easily. As soon as she was free, the mergirl started to swim away. But she hesitated and came back to the air bubble.
"Thank you," she said in a small voice and darted away. Percy wasn't sure exactly what she was but he knew one thing for sure. She was not Greek.