Mortal Waters

Chapter 25: Always carry an emergency blow torch- Percy

Chapter 25: Always carry an emergency blow torch.

Percy P.O.V.

Today was the day, we were going to rescue Larisa.

Annabeth and I were leopard-crawling through the Castle of Good Hope's old sewage system with the unaffected group who had captured us. These pipes weren't used by the castle's residents anymore but still stunk of 19th-century fossil poop.

The pipes weren't very large and claustrophobia ate at my insides. My back kept rubbing against the top of the pipe, the only thought running through my head, what if we get stuck?

I had been at the front of our group and had been the first to make it to the end of the long dark tunnel. I shone my torch. "There are rails blocking me from climbing through," I called out to the group behind me. My voice was elongated by the emptiness of the long tunnel.

"Hold on a second," I heard someone's voice call back. I think it was Matt, the big buff guy.

I heard scurrying down the tunnel and eventually, Annabeth pushed forward whatever Matt had sent me. I couldn't bend my arm back to grab the item because of the confined space, so I had to put my body on it and drag it over the floor until I could reach it.

"A blow torch?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Matt called back triumphantly.

"He's been carrying that thing around with him since the war started. Today is the first day we actually need it," said Mean Girls, who I now knew as Jana. I could practically hear her rolling her eyes as she spoke.

"Well, you're very welcome!" Matt's short temper snapped back. I had stopped listening and examined the tool at hand. It was a portable welding torch connected to a small gas tank. I put it to work on the rails in front of me. The flames lit up the tunnel around me. Now I could not only smell the fossilised poop but also see it.

After about fifteen minutes of work, I had broken through. I slid through the remaining tunnel and landed 15 feet below the tunnel at the bottom of a manhole. It was pitch black and I could feel shallow water sloshing at my feet. The stinking smell increased tenfold. The ground felt mushy, I blamed it on moss. I shone my torch at the walls and saw the ladder leading to the surface, as Tannie Leenie had shone us in the plans.

"Ok, you guys can come down, it's safe," I called up to the entrance of the tunnel. After a moment, Annabeth came rolling out of the tunnel, her golden ponytail flailing. She landed crouched on her feet, her arm out to balance herself. Next came Matt, who wasn't nearly as graceful.

"Percy," I heard Annabeth breathe out. She was still crouched in the murky water. I walked over to her, concerned. Maybe the impact of jumping had hurt her ankle again, it had never been the same after she broke it during the Giant War. The water sloshed around me and seeped into my Converse sneakers. I shined my light at where Annabeth was pointing wide-eyed. I took a step back in surprise when I saw what it was.

"Oh, right," Matt said. Jana jumped down the pipe next. "These are the dumping grounds of the Fouries. Anyone who disrespects, angers or annoys them ends up here, along with prisoners' corpses." The mushy floor was in fact not moss, it was bodies. Annabeth would have ended up here.

I swallowed hard and started climbing the ladder to the manhole lid. I stopped when I reached it.

"Tell Tannie Leenie that we're here," I said to Matt, who had a radio. The plan was that Matt, Jana, Annabeth and I would sneak into the fort while Tannie Leenie and a group of unaffected would cause a diversion at the gates. The diversion included an angry mob, big guns and fast running.

Once Matt notified Tannie Leenie, we had ten minutes to get into the castle unnoticed before all hell broke loose. In the chaos of it all, we would find Larisa, grab her and get out through the sewers again.

Annabeth and I had swapped in our weapons of choice for shotguns. All the guns had silencers on. Annabeth carried a steel blade dagger and I still had Riptide for worst case scenarios.

Jana climbed out of the manhole first, she had more experience with the Castle of Good Hope, had Matt said. I heard two muffled shots go off before she fully emerged from the manhole. Once we were all out of the manhole and crouched behind a bush, I spotted the two bodies that had been guarding the entrance of the castle just a few feet from where we had climbed out of the sewers. There was already a pool of blood forming on the pavement around their heads, staining their silver hair.

These are the same people that kept Annabeth captive and abused her, I had to remind myself before I fell into remorse.

"Come on," whispered Jana, motioning with her hand. She led us into the castle. We had intel that Larisa was being kept in the ground floor's recreational quarters or her old room on the second floor. We checked every door Jana wanted us to check, she knew the fort like the back of her hand and never hesitated. Noise had started outside and we had to hide from guards running out to stop Tannie Leenie's diversion, this left the castle empty for us.

Every time we entered a room, my heart clenched in suspense. After four unsuccessful doors, we found the right one. Three armed Grey guards stood beside Larisa and a little Grey girl who I vaguely remembered. They trained their guns at us, Annabeth shot at one of them, hit him in the chest. He fell down and his friend shot back at Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" I called out and jumped to shield her. The bullet hit me in my left thigh and I thumped to the ground. The adrenalin and experience with pain must have kept me going. Annabeth grabbed my arm, muttered something about how stupid I was for jumping in front of a gun and then helped me to my feet. I was leaning most of my weight on Annabeth. What would I have done if that bullet had hit her?

Jana and Matt had already taken out the other two guards. Larisa was standing there bewildered, with the small Grey girl clutching at her legs. Larisa only looked confused for a moment, then her blue eyes hardened and she grabbed the gun of one of the fallen guards. Before any of us had time to react, Larisa had the gun pointing in our direction.

"Hey, hey, Larisa! Put the gun down! What's gotten into you?" asked Matt. This only caused Larisa to shoot at the ground next to his feet.

You must be joking me, I thought.

"Larisa, it's Percy. These are your friends who you forgot," I said pointing at Matt. "We're here to rescue you, we're taking you home."

"Get out of here before I shoot all your asses," Larisa said.

This felt all too familiar.

Hello, I am your period. I am sorry that I am late.