Started With A Dare - A POTHENA STORY ✔

Poseidon Pulls Off A Water God Move

ATHENA'S POV

  We edged closer towards the pool, making sure to avoid anyone (or anything) that looked suspiciously like an attendant at the spa. The closer we edged towards the centre of the resort, the more sinister it felt as if C.C. had already turned me into a pig. Poseidon looked completely unbothered, trying to look cool in his own domain, but I captured slight hints of worry in his green eyes. They shimmered in the sunlight and made it even more obvious that he was trying to hide it.

  It had been hard to convince myself to stay for longer because of the deadly feeling hidden behind the beauty of the tropical island. I was ready to jump into the ocean, drown and never have to solve this problem when I saw the lady herself standing there.

  We were slowly approaching the lifeguard's chair behind the pools that made a perfect spying spot on wherever Circe took her 'other male visitors'. Finding the woman there twirling her hair in her fingers, looking sweet and kind as she spoke, blinking way too much just to add the innocence felt shocking and surprising enough to me. But what almost knocked me out was who the male visitors were.

  Standing there, their expressions filled with greed and hunger for the beauty and power Circe promised them were Tristan and Elijah, the undetermined 13-year-olds from the Hermes cabin.

  And of course, their almighty boss, Wilbur.

  I gently nudged Poseidon, realising that I had done the wrong thing a microsecond after. Wilbur was extremely possibly his son, after all. Judging by how alert he was and how he was never like that, I could tell he wouldn't take the news well even if I warned him beforehand.

  "Wha-WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN HERE?!" Poseidon said in shock. Or maybe said was a little too light for the situation. Forgetting where we were and what position we were in, Poseidon had hollered that out loud for probably everyone on the same island to hear.

  Considering my only option with less than a second as I felt uncountable eyes of attendants ready to come and get us, I grabbed his arm and leapt into the pool behind us.

  I heard the gasps before we reached underwater, and it didn't take me long to know that we were done for. It was quite obvious where we went and I was pretty sure that most of the attendants around us were not deaf.

  Poseidon frowned with panic in his eyes as we shared a frantic look - it wasn't my best idea ever and I knew that. I was just in hopes that Poseidon would maybe suddenly have a burst of godly power from before and by some miracle, we might be able to get away and teleport to another island or something...

  But nothing happened.

  I silently cursed in Ancient Greek, not knowing how the Hades I knew that language and realising how ridiculous it was of me to have the thought. Sure, I had small bursts of wisdom but those could just be the work of luck or something very minor that Zeus decided to leave inside me. But Poseidon...after hearing the history of the two gods from Annabeth, I was convinced that Zeus would not be as kind to him.

  The attendants sashayed over (gods of Olympus I hated their every movement) and covered their mouths in shock as they gazed down at the crystal clear water. They were talking so obnoxiously loud that I could hear them underwater. "Oh, my gods! There is no way this is possible. I swear I heard something plop down there!"

  "They must have some secret camouflage! Oh, how has C.C. not taught us? What sorcery is this?"

  With the drama and noise they were stirring up, I knew it was a matter of time before Circe herself came to see. And according to the stories I've heard about that powerful sorcerer, Poseidon's sudden burst of power didn't stand much of a chance against those laser-sharp eyes of hers.

  Sure enough, the witch soon peered down herself. Poseidon shut his eyes desperately and I could tell he was trying to work whatever magic he had done just now to the max, but I had a feeling that he didn't have enough control over his previous powers to do that.

  "I must say, I am very impressed with that level of sorcery. But from this level I could tell that it was the work of the male, and..." I saw the crippled face of hers shake through the surface. "I must say now, I am quite disappointed in you, lady. Come out of the water now, you shall receive a full body treatment - the both of you. Come on!"

  If I were any normal demigod who just stumbled upon this 'kind and encouraging' woman who went by the name of C.C., I would probably have naively splashed out of the water immediately for the free treatment. But a glance at Poseidon was enough to make me nauseous as I looked back at her - she was no nice lady, she was a witch inside. (I know she was a witch all along, but please, pun not intended.)

  But alas, we had no choice. It would make her even more suspiscious if we stayed inside the water. Besides, I wasn't having much fun holding my breath down there and Poseidon didn't look like his magic was working, either. 'We'll work out something,' I mouthed as subtly as I could, and with the worst expectations we could ever have for a supposedly 'five-star' spa and resort, Poseidon and I climbed out of the water, dripping wet. But we both knew for a fact that we would rather stay like that forever than face what was coming next.

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  Circe had left with Poseidon, naturally to talk him into drinking the magical potion that would turn him into a furry little guinea pig. And I knew that this time I didn't have the special vitamins Hermes gave Percy and Annabeth for their quest here, so I had to stop it. I started forming a plan in my mind.

  Thank the gods that I still have my ability to talk smooth.

(A/N: Yep, I'm late once again. And I guess I should stop bombarding you guys with excuses...writer's block just kept getting at me lately but I realised the best cure was to force myself to write and as you can see above, that certainly turned out well. You could take that as either a compliment to myself or my usual annoyingly heavy sarcasm. Now...I guess I just gotta hope that you're all happy there's a new chapter and not care that much about the time it came out...)