They're What?!

And Now We Wait

Percy POV

One by one I caught the demigods as they jumped into the lake. Unsurprisingly, the demiwizards didn't appear. They weren't in danger like us. I could see flashes of color above the water, people were dueling up above. I silently prayed to Athena and Hecate to help our friends stay safe.

Once I had everyone under the water, I converged the bubbles I'd caught them in and drifted us all down to the bottom of the lake, in a clear area where the mermaids wouldn't disturb us. We all sat quietly for a few minutes before Piper spoke.

"Now what?"

Silence fell again as we looked at each other. Now what? The students were up against an enormous, terrifying force they wouldn't be able to fight off. And we were apparently fugitives.

"We could wait until they leave.... Then go back up?" Leo suggested. "Y'know, scout around, see what's going on and figure out if we can return to the castle?"

"There's 11 of us." Annabeth pointed out. "It'd be kind of hard to 'scout around' without getting caught. We'd be better off sending up one person to find out what's going on."

"Or, we could wait until one of the demiwizards contacts us." Hazel said quietly. "They're bound to have some information that could help."

"But what if they don't think to tell us once everything's died down?" Jason asked.

"Hermione won't." Annabeth said confidently. "She'll get in touch once everything's safe."

"Until then I guess we wait." I shrugged.

Nico looked around. "This thing isn't gonna collapse on us, is it Perce?"

Thalia looked up sharply, frowning. "It had better not."

"It won't." I promised. "I've been practicing."

And so began the longest wait of our lives.

Nico fell asleep within the first twenty minutes, leaning on Clarisse's shoulder. In any other situation she probably would have pushed him away, but the confined space (I can only make bubbles so big) and the distraction of talking weaponry with Thalia seemed to make having an exhausted teenager drooling on her shoulder more tolerable.

Thalia herself was sparking slightly. It was a nervous habit of hers and Jason's, and I didn't blame them given our current location. She made sure to keep herself far enough away from the others that she wouldn't hurt anyone.

Leo had produced a small checker set from his toolbelt, and he, Piper, and Jason took turns playing each other. This seemed to take Jason's mind off of where he was, as the little sparks that kept racing across his skin slowly fizzled and died down until there were none left.

Hazel and Frank watched the the three playing checkers, holding hands. Hazel seemed fairly okay with being in a domain that wasn't her father's, or maybe she just trusted me to keep us safe.

Annabeth pulled a small sketchbook from her robes (she was the only one who still wore them), and opened the pages to what looked like a design of a temple. Without a word, she went to work, using a small stick of graphite.

Calypso watched out the side of the bubble as fish swam by and weird underwater plants swished. I coaxed some brighter animals a little closer so she could see them and she smiled, following the flashy colors with her eyes.

After a while a couple of curious mermaids swam over. Bored out of my mind, I slipped out of the bubble carefully to talk to them.

They weren't happy with me at first, especially after learning I was the one who filled their home with massive drifts of gold dust after the first battle, but I promised that I'd come clean it up once my friends were safe and they calmed down. After that we talked for a while about the differences between Scottish mermaids and American ones. They were very curious about their cousins.

I felt a tapping on the side of my bubble and turned to see a curious turtle nosing it. Calypso was sitting on the other side, trying to get my attention. "Can I stick my hand through without breaking it?" She asked once she saw me looking.

I nodded. "Go ahead."

She pet the turtle's head gently, smiling, then slowly began to climb out of the bubble entirely.

"Calypso, what-"

"I'm a goddess, remember?" She laughed, stepping fully into the water. "I'll be fine."

"Okay... Just stay nearby, so we can find you if someone gives the all clear."

"I will." She wandered off to a large underwater flower, inspecting its petals curiously.

I turned back to the mermaids as they began to bombard me with questions again.

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"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth called. I looked up from the small school of fish I'd been petting.

"Hermione just IMed us."

"Okay, I'll be right there." I shooed the fish away and propelled myself over to the bubble.

"What'd she say?"

Annabeth looked worried. "It's not good."

[A/N hey look I published at a normal time!
I've decided to stop publishing chapters w/ pictures. It's a hassle to find pics that wattpad doesn't have an issue with]