Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 43

Piper and Percy broke the water's surface first, their respective partners limp in their arms as the water swirled faster, seeming to be drained from the room.

Piper clung to him. She yelled his name, shook him, and slapped his face. She barely noticed when all the water had drained away and left them on the damp floor.

From the other side of the room, she heard Cressida start coughing as Percy forced the water out of her lungs, this time with a kiss.

"Jason!" Piper screamed as Cressida continued coughing, waving Percy towards the distraught girl.

"Piper," Percy said, "I can help." He knelt next to her and touched Jason's forehead. Water gushed from Jason's mouth. His eyes flew open, and a clap of thunder threw Percy and Piper backward. Even Cressida was knocked off her feet from where she started to get up.

"Sorry," Jason coughed as Percy crawled over to Cressida who was still coughing as he rubbed her back. "Didn't mean to-"

Piper tackled him with a hug. She would have kissed him, but she didn't want to suffocate him.

Percy grinned as Cressida's head rested in the crook of his elbow and his hand dug around his pocket. "In case you're wondering, that was clean water in your lungs. I could make it come out with no problem."

"Thanks, man," Jason said as he and Piper got up. "And thanks for that strength boost, Cressida," he continued as Percy pulled out a very familiar vial of gold liquid.

She coughed again. "My lungs are burning."

"That's her way of saying you're welcome," Percy translated as he spat the cork out of his mouth.

"No, it's my way of saying my lungs are burning," she retorted, and he just smiled down at her, her clothes sticking to her skin and her hair plastered to her face.

"Drink this and I think you'll be fine," he said as he tipped it down her throat, looking back to Piper and Jason who seemed confused as to where he got it from. "I've known her for almost five years. I've learned to come prepared," he explained. "Cress has a knack for trying to be a hero."

"I am a hero, Jackass," she said, and he just kissed her temple lovingly before helping her sit up and eventually get to her feet. Only they would take insults as loving declarations.

"But I think Piper's the real hero. She saved us all," Jason added.

Yes, she did, a voice echoed through the chamber. The niches glowed. Nine figures appeared, but they were no longer withered creatures. They were young, beautiful nymphs in shimmering blue gowns, their glossy black curls pinned up with silver and gold brooches. Their eyes were gentle shades of blue and green. Eight of the nymphs dissolved into vapour and floated upward. Only the centre nymph remained.

"Hagno?" Piper asked.

The nymph smiled. "Yes, my dear. I didn't think such selflessness existed in mortals...especially in demigods. No offence."

"How could we take offence? You just tried to drown us and suck out our lives, and sacrifice my girlfriend to a Dirt goddess," Percy said sarcastically, said girlfriend not even bothering to scold him for it because if he hadn't said it, she would've.

Hagno winced. "Sorry about that. I was not myself. But you have reminded me of the sun and the rain and the streams in the meadows. Cressida, Percy and Jason, thanks to you, I remembered the sea and the sky. I am cleansed. But mostly, thanks to Piper. She shared something even better than clear running water." Hagno turned to her. "You have a good nature, Piper. And I'm a nature spirit. I know what I'm talking about."

Hagno pointed to the other side of the room. The stairs to the surface reappeared. Directly underneath, a circular opening shimmered into existence, like a sewer pipe, just big enough to crawl through. Piper suspected this was how the water had drained out.

"You may return to the surface," Hagno said. "Or, if you insist, you may follow the waterway to the giants. But choose quickly, because both doors will fade soon after I am gone. That pipe connects to the old aqueduct line, which feeds both this nymphaeum and the hypogeum that the giants call home."

"Ugh." Percy pressed on his temples. "Please, no more complicated words."

"Oh, home is not a complicated word." Hagno sounded completely sincere. "I suspect you know this," she said and Piper watched Percy's eyes dart to Cressida involuntarily and Cressida's lips turned up in a slow smile as if she knew his eyes were on her. Home.

Hagno continued speaking. "I thought it was, but now you have unbound us from this place. My sisters have gone to seek new homes...a mountain stream, perhaps, or a lake in a meadow. I will follow them. I cannot wait to see the forests and grasslands again, and the clear running water."

"Uh," Percy said nervously, "things have changed up above in the last few thousand years."

"Nonsense," Hagno said. "How bad could it be? Pan would not allow nature to become tainted. I can't wait to see him, in fact."

Percy opened his mouth to say something, but Cressida covered it with her hand. "I'm sure you'll find what you're searching for," she said simply before scowling at Percy as she wiped the hand he licked onto his already wet shirt.

"Good luck, Hagno," Piper said. "And thank you."

The nymph smiled one last time and vaporized.

Briefly, the nymphaeum glowed with a softer light, like a full moon. Piper smelled exotic spices and blooming roses. She heard distant music and happy voices talking and laughing. She guessed she was hearing hundreds of years of parties and celebrations that had been held at this shrine in ancient times, as if the memories had been freed along with the spirits. "What is that?" Jason asked nervously.

Piper slipped her hand into his. "The ghosts are dancing. Come on. We'd better go meet the giants."

And as they started heading towards the pipe, Cressida behind them, they heard Percy say, "Oh, does that mean I get a good luck kiss? It's tradition, right?"

Cressida let out a laugh that sounded like the music that used to play at the parties that were held there, parties that her father would've loved no doubt.

"You already fought Polybotes," she replied. "And we're about to fight the giants born to oppose my father. If anyone gets a good luck kiss, it should be me."

"Ok."

And he grabbed her arm and he pulled her back to him, their lips joining together as her back arched a little.

"Alright," Piper chuckled as she pulled them apart, Jason averting his eyes from the sight because it wasn't exactly a short and sweet kiss. "That's enough. We're still on a deadline remember?"

Both of them were flushed, though Percy a bit more than Cressida as they grinned at each other before linking hands and walking towards their presumed deaths.