𝔸ℕ𝔻ℝ𝕆𝕄𝔼𝔻𝔸 ℕ𝕀ℂ𝕋𝕆𝕄𝕐ℕ has always felt out of place. Her past wasn't the same as others' pasts, her name wasn't the same as others' names. But the most striking difference was that Andromeda was half god. She never asked to be a demigod, she...
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"six"
ANDROMEDA COUNTED AS SHE FELL. She had always come to the conclusion that it would take about six seconds to fall from the top to the bottom. She wanted to learn one more thing before she died.
One.
She could feel Percy's hot breath in her ear.
Two.
Percy's arms tightened around her.
Three.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Four.
"I'm so sorry," Percy whispered in her ear.
Five.
"It's okay," she whispered back.
Six.
And then she held her breath.
She was surrounded by white bubbles. She suddenly felt better and worse at the same time. She could no longer feel the boiling poison in her veins, but she couldn't breathe. And she couldn't swim.
She flailed her arms around, hoping to get above water for at least a second, but she was knee-deep in mud, and she was stuck. She panicked. She screamed. She had somehow lost Percy when they hit the water. She was quickly running out of air. Her lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen. She couldn't breathe. All she could think about was the fact that she couldn't breathe, and she couldn't move.
And everything went black.
***
PERCY WAS BUSY TALKING TO HIS NEW UNDERWATER FRIEND. He had found his sword, stuck in the mud. Now a strange woman was telling him that it was his father's will that he go to Santa Monica. He though he quest would be straightforward. But it had been anything but that.
I cannot stay, brave one, the voice sounded again, You must go to Santa Monica. And Percy, do not trust the gifts . . .
"Gifts?" Percy asked, "What gifts? Wait!"
He knew that woman was some form of his mom. Her calming voice, her beauty. She had slipped away yet again.
He made his way over to Riptide and put the cap on it, once again thanking his father. He was wary of what was going on above the water. The Chimera could still be waiting for him. Those innocents could be dead. He was determined to handle whatever it was well. He trudged out of the lake, completely dry.
"Mama," a little girl said, "A boy just walked out of the river!"
