Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or the Heroes of Olympus.
Chapter one:
Icarus' POV
It was just as my captor entered the cave, that it happened. I felt the water shift while the force of an unknown power, and suddenly, she was yanked back into the open through the mouth of the cave. She screamed and hissed, clawing at the water, and then she was gone, out of my sight. But she was still within hearing distance. I heard her screams and snarls, and then, dead silence.
It was quiet for what seemed like ages, and then a saw a dark shape enter the cave. It looked...human? But that's not possible! A mortal could never survive down here! But it most definitely wasn't a god, there was no light surrounding it's figure. Maybe... But it couldn't be... could it? A demigod child of Poseidon.
The figure moved into the light of the cave. It was a man, maybe nineteen years old (only a year older than my frozen age), with sun-tanned skin, raven hair with an odd streak of gray, and vibrant sea green eyes. He gaped when he saw me, chained to the wall as I was. He rushed forward and a sword that I hadn't noticed before appeared in his hand, cutting swiftly through the water and striking the chains. I looked back, it was working, the first chain was broken. I watched in wonder as he moved on to the second chain, and then the third and the fourth. And then I was free.
I reached up and grabbed the gag from my mouth, tugging it away. I grinned at the man, a silent thank you in my eyes. He smiled back and grabbed onto my wrist. I was suddenly dry, though I was still embodied in water, and then I noticed bubbles starting to gather around me. They formed a giant bubble around me and I breathe in the welcome air, not used to the amazing coolness that water could never quite achieve. And then I was dragged to the mouth of the cave and we were outside, open water surrounding us.
There were a few mermen waiting outside, my limp captor held between two of them. With a nod from the man dragging me, they turned tail and darted off in a direction that was entirely unknown to me.
The man dragged me straight up, and with a burst of speed, we were at the surface, nothing around but water for what looked like miles and miles. The bubble that had formed around me popped. I took a deep breathe of the sea air, the grin had not left my face yet.
The man met my eyes, and spoke in a language I had no knowledge of. I watched as a realization formed in his eyes. Again, he opened his mouth to speak, and this time, I understood the words of the Greek language, "Are you able to speak?"
I paused. Can I still speak? I had not spoken for centuries, only screamed. I slowly opened my mouth, "Yes, I can speak." My voice was scratchy from misuse and barely recognizable as my own.
He grinned, "My name's Percy, and I know someone who can help you with learning English." At my confused look, he explained, "English, it's the first language I was speaking in. You're gonna need to learn it eventually." I nodded to show I understood. His grip tightened on my wrist, "I need you to stay calm, I'm going to call a friend of mine that will take us to a place for demigods, okay?" I nodded again. He brought a hand to his mouth and whistled loudly. He held up a hand, signaling for me to wait, and then he looked up at the sky.
I followed his gaze, but I couldn't find anything. Then I saw it, a black speck on the horizon, slowly growing bigger and bigger. It quickly became the form of a black pegasus. When it was nearly overhead, Percy wrapped an arm around my waist, and a wave shot us into the air. On the way down, the pegasus flew under Percy and caught him. Percy pulled me on behind him.
I laughed, but it died quickly. This whole thing started when I fell from the sky. I looked down in panic. I gripped Percy's shoulders tightly, not caring what he might think. The water rushed past in a blur of blues and greens. I felt the same freedom as before, but now it was clouded by fear, the fear of falling.