Chapter Three


Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan. I do own all of the OCs, besides Walker. He belongs to Star Holder Commander.


Adrienne's POV

I wake up feeling sick, people's screams in my ears, and the sound of weapons clashing against something metallic. I open my eyes, slightly drowsy, and look around. And then I scream.

I was dangling fifty feet above the Sound's dark blueish-gray water. Wrapped around me was an ice blue tentacle. The scales were sharp and felt like they were scraping off my skin. The suckers were nearly sucking holes into my stomach.

There was no telling what the passengers aboard the ferry were seeing. Obviously it was something terrifying, but it probably wasn't nearly as bad as what I was seeing.

"Addie!" someone screams.

I struggle to look behind me, and I see Jade, Tristan, and James hacking away at this serpent thing. It apparently had me by its tail, because its head was down there. It had a drakon-like head, but with a lot more spikes. There were also tentacles lining its sides, almost like a millipede.

I try wiggling again, to no avail. This thing had me in an iron grip. I wanted to scream and stab this thing and kill it. I didn't want to be stuck up here while the others rescued me. Suddenly, I feel something brush against my fingers. It wasn't slimy like the rest of the serpent, it felt more like wood. I grab at it, and pull it up.

It was my Stygian Iron dagger dad had given me for my ninth birthday. I always carried it with me, even to school because there have been times when a monster would suddenly decide to pop up in one of my classes.

I manage to stab it, but all that did was make its grip even tighter on me. I could barely breathe. I try to think. Obviously stabbing the outer side of the tail wouldn't work, its scales were like the Nemean Lion's coat. An idea pops into my head and I grin.

I wiggle the dagger underneath the tentacle and then push it up into the fleshy suckers. The thing gives a cry of pain, but its grip doesn't loosen much. I slide it over a little and stab it in a different sucker. This time it nearly lets me go all the way.

"One more time." I breathe, sliding the dagger over one more time.

I give one final stab and the thing rears its head back. It falls backwards, and it lets me go. I quickly bite the edge of the dagger - even though dad had told me not to do that - because I didn't have time to put it back in its sheath. I feel the serpent start to fall, so I hop on top of its back and jump as hard as I can toward the ferry deck. I feel myself fall, and my stomach drops like when I ride a roller coaster.

I frantically reach out to grab the siding of the deck. My fingers grip the edge, but not enough to keep me there. I feel myself slipping, and I start sliding down the boat. I claw at the sides in an attempt to catch onto something. A life preserver tied to a rope smacks me in the head, nearly knocking me off of the side of boat. I grab onto it and before I know it, I'm being pulled back up. I tumble onto the deck, banging my head against one of the large pipes.

"Ugh." I moan, clutching my head.

I feel someone's arms wrap around me, nearly suffocating me. "Hades, Adrienne. Don't do that." James says. He was the one suffocating me.

"Can't—breathe," I gasp.

"Oh, sorry," He retracts his arms, then gives me a hand to pull me up.

"What was that thing?" I ask, trying to get my breath back.

Tristan's eyes were hard. "I don't know. Come on, get back in the car. They'll be starting this thing back up again soon." He turns around and heads back to the car.

Jade follows and I turn to look at James. He gives me a confused look then shrugs, starting to go after the other two. I sigh and glance over the side of the boat. There was nothing there anymore, not even any yellow dust coating the top of the water. That was just a little strange, but I push it aside. The water was choppy. All of the dust could have easily been swept away by the waves by now. Whatever that thing had been, it definitely wasn't a Greek monster, at least not one I had ever heard of before.

A/N:

A mystery serpent! You'll learn more about that later on. And what'd you think about Adrienne's stab action while she was trapped? The next few chapters are kinda short, like this one, but I don't really consider them fillers. I might see if I can flesh them out a little more though.

Sorry if I just seemed like a total vortex of gloom last week. It had just been a really long and tough week. I'm much better now, at least today I am. So that's good!

And a few days ago I asked my dad if it was possible to repaint my bike, and he said it was. Soo, he did that for me! I would have helped, but he just seemed so intent on doing it himself, so I didn't interfere. It was cotton candy pink - yech - but now it's a dark teal blue color! It's so pretty! I got it a couple of years ago before the "I despise the color pink" thing kicked in. So it's just been sitting in my basement slowly rusting.

But of course, as soon as it was finished, it decided to get chilly outside again. It's not freezing cold, but it's too cold to ride a bike. So now it's patiently waiting in my dad's tool shop, waiting to be used.

And this weekend we're going to Atlanta - I think I mentioned that last week but oh well - and we're staying at this really fancy hotel. Priceline is fucking awesome. So we're leaving on Thursday and I think the concert my parents are seeing is that night. Then on Friday I think we're going shopping and/or sightseeing. Then Saturday morning we're coming back home.

Then next month we're going to Texas. It's the same ordeal as last time, except this time we're not going to the beach. God I wish we were though. I'm excited to see my cousins and some of my aunts and uncles and my grandmother, but not so much my half-siblings. BUT! My mom and I are going back at the end of July, early August! And we're only seeing her family, we're not going to see my half-siblings. Well, my sister might come up and have lunch with us, but the one that's actually pleasant to be around. Not the one who created the notorious "Hell Week" last year with her two children and creepy as hell husband.

Oh! So the other day I bought Emily's Army's two albums Don't Be a Dick and Lost at 17. They're so good! From Don't Be a Dick, I really like Broadcast This, Burn Apollo, and Loch Lomond. Then from Lost at 17, my absolute favorite is Rain, but I also like Jamie, On the Roof, War, and If Our Music Plays Again. So yea, you should definitely check them out. They're still a relatively new pop-punk band, but they're pretty good.

M/A:

"'This is age of make-believe
Or a reality series
Television, murder city
Dreaming of tomorrow
Am I alive or fantasy?

Give me murder give me loss
Turn the cities into dust man'"

Transistors Gone Wild by The Network.

XOXO,

Mrs-diAngelo25