LUCKY | PJO [p. jackson]

04

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When they washed up on the shore of Los Angeles Bay, Percy quickly realised Enid wasn't breathing. The city was in ruins from Hades' fury: fires were burning for miles, the Coast Guard was racing to answer hundreds of distress calls... but it all seemed unimportant in the face of the redhead's pale skin and still chest. Percy hadn't known what the consequences of bringing Enid with them would be, he'd just hoped the loophole was big enough for the pearl to carry her to safety. And it had... almost. It seemed as if the rest was up to him now.

Percy rushed over to Enid and immediately began to pump his hands on her chest, praying to every god he knew of that her heart would start beating. He'd felt so helpless being unable to save his mother, to have to leave behind what mattered to him most, so he'd been determined to save Enid instead. Hades had promised terrible suffering for her just for helping him, which he couldn't let happen. His mother might be suffering at this very moment because of him... but he couldn't be a hero for her. So he'd be a hero for Enid. Come on, breathe. Please breathe.

Annabeth and Grover had joined him, running over as soon as they'd noticed Percy's frantic attempts at CPR. Grover fluttered around anxiously, trying to offer advice on how to revive the redhead: tilt her head back to clear an airway, steady, rhythmic beats on her chest — but Annabeth was silent.

"Annabeth, help me!" Percy pleaded. "We can't let her die."

Annabeth bit her lip, "She's already dead, Percy... You can't just bring someone back from the Underworld."

"I got her this far, didn't I?" Percy argued desperately. Annabeth still didn't move to help. "I told her to trust me..."

"Annabeth, we have to wake her up. She'll be trapped in-between worlds if we don't," Grover pointed out. His over-anxious hovering made more sense now. "Enid's not in the Underworld and she's not alive either. We can't leave her like that. Not when she helped us."

For a moment, Annabeth still didn't move. Percy's heart sank. What have I done? Then the blonde cursed and shoved him out of the way. She took over compressions and ordered him to start breathing for their patient. Percy did as he was told, but there was no change.

"I think there's something blocking her airway," Grover muttered. He looked at the two demigods. "Do we know how she died?"

No one knew. Percy's mind was racing through every way someone could suffocate — then he sensed it. Water. Focusing hard, he visualised the water in her lungs, willing it to move, imagining it draining out, and —

Enid spluttered and coughed, her throat raw as she heaved up water. The three teenagers jumped away from her, the redhead jerking as she tried to roll onto her front to force the water out better. Soon she was crouched over, welcoming the air into her lungs and gasping for the breaths she hadn't been able to take in centuries. Her heart was racing, the blood pounding in her ears, and Enid had to place a hand over her chest to check the rhythm was real.

"I'm alive?" Enid croaked, her voice hoarse and full of disbelief. The redhead glanced at her saviours, all of whom were staring at her in shock, as if they couldn't believe they'd actually brought her back to the land of the living. Enid couldn't believe it either.

Then Percy grinned, "Welcome back!"

Enid took a moment, processed those words, then smiled wide. I'm alive! Then she noticed the damage to the city: smoke, fire, screams — the wrath of Hades. What if he comes for me? Her smile dropped. She didn't want to think about that... Annabeth followed Enid's wide-eyed gaze to the city in flames, reminded of all they had discovered in the depths of the Underworld, and she shook her head.