012

11.9K 458 533
                                    


012




IVY WAS SOAKING to the bone. for a second, she thought she had just splashed in the ocean, but her eyes shot open when she felt solid wood underneath her.

hovering over her, was a salty-haired percy with the biggest grin she had seen on his face.

"how–" she started.

percy didn't let her finish her question. he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, she returned the gesture happily. ivy buried her face on his chest, she had been scared to death while falling even if apollo probably calculated her fall to be close to her friends. she put aside the twisting of her insides while on his arms.

ivy reluctantly pulled away from the hug. "where's annabeth? are you okay? is–"

hurried footsteps interrupted her rapid questioning, annabeth appeared from below deck with a gorgeous sleeveless silk dress and had smeared make up on her face. the blonde gasped, running toward her full speed and tackled ivy in a hug.

"you bitch!" annabeth said, the two friends were still wrapped in a hug on the floor. "gave us a heart attack and a half, do you know how difficult it is taking care of percy without you? he got turned into a guinea pig!"

"i didn't meant to!" percy argued.

the brunette untangled herself away from her best friend to see if she was serious. annabeth had no hint of being joking, and percy was red to the roots of his hair. she tried not to, really, but ivy bursted out laughing. only percy would manage something so absurd as turning into a rodent.

"don't worry, perce," ivy reassured him when she noticed him clearly burying himself in insecurities. "i'm sure you made an adorable guinea pig."

if possible, percy turned even more red, but now his lips turned up into a smile. "yeah... um, thanks."

annabeth snickered from beside her. ivy decided to ignore her.

"and tyson?" ivy asked hesitantly, not seeing their big friend aboard.

percy and annabeth shared a sad look, before explaining how everything went down for them since the explosion. the rowboat, both tyson and ivy missing, getting to circe's island. ivy explained her side of the story, apollo's weird but not new behaviour, her ancestors from her father's side having diluted godly blood and the thing about a supposed gift. they tried to make sense of it, but none of them could come up with a sensible answer.

after that, they sailed through the night. ivy offered to keep lookout, since she was well rested unlike her two friends. but they refused to leave her, although annabeth waved the white flag after a few hours of rocking back and forth. the blonde went below to lie in a hammock.

ivy and percy watched the horizon. more than once they spotted monsters. a plume of water as tall as a skyscraper spewed into the moonlight. a row of green spines slithered across the waves – something maybe thirty meters long, reptilian. she didn't really want to know.

once the brunette saw nereids, the glowing lady spirits of the sea. after pointing them out to percy he tried to wave at them, but they disappeared into the depths, they didn't know if they saw them or not.

sometime after midnight, annabeth came up on deck. they were just passing a smoking volcano island. the sea bubbled and steamed around the shore.

"one of the forges of hephaestus," annabeth said. "where he makes his metal monsters."

OH, CHÉRIE!¹     percy jacksonWhere stories live. Discover now