Where You Go ― Jason Grace

xii. ophelia almost drowns (again)

PERCY AND OPHELIA lunged with their swords. Frank hurled his backpack at the sea god's head. But it was all for nothing—Phorcys simply vanished into thin air.

The god's voice reverberated through the aquarium's sound system. "Yes, good! Fighting is good! You see, Mother never trusted me with big assignments, but she did agree that I could keep anything I caught. You three will make an excellent exhibit—the only demigod spawn of Poseidon in captivity, and the Lupus Interfectorum to boot! 'Demigod terrors'—yes, I like that! We already have a sponsorship lined up with Bargain Mart. You can fight each other every day at eleven AM and one PM, with an evening show at seven PM."

"You're crazy!" Frank yelled.

"Don't sell yourself short!" Phorcys said. "You'll be our biggest draw!"

Frank ran for the exit, only to slam into a glass wall. Percy ran the other way and found it blocked as well. Their tunnel had become a bubble.

Oh, fuck.

"We won't cooperate, Phorcys!" Percy shouted.

"Oh, I'm optimistic," the sea god's voice boomed. "If you won't fight each other at first, no problem! I can send in fresh sea monsters every day. After you get used to the food here, you'll be properly sedated and will follow directions. Believe me, you'll come to love your new home."

Over their heads, the glass dome cracked and began to leak.

"I'm the son of Poseidon!" Percy yelled. "You can't imprison me in water. This is where I'm strongest."

Phorcys's laugh seemed to come from all around them. "What a coincidence! It's also where I'm strongest. This tank is specially designed to contain demigods. Now, have fun, you three. I'll see you at feeding time!"

The glass dome shattered, and the water crashed in.

❖

Unfortunately, this wasn't Ophelia's first near-death experience in water. 

On her first day at Camp Half-Blood, after a chariot crash into the canoe lake, the naiads had tried to drag down to her watery death. She remembered the feeling of water flooding her lungs, the panic seeping into her with every passing second, just before Jason and Annabeth saved her and she made it back to the surface.

But neither Jason nor Annabeth were there with her now, and Ophelia felt that same panic set in as she held her breath.

She looked around, trying not to move much so she could conserve her oxygen, but it was a losing battle. She couldn't see Frank anywhere, and Percy looked like he was in the middle of a panic attack, holding his breath as well despite the fact that she was almost positive he could breathe underwater.

It can't end like this, Ophelia thought desperately. We haven't even made it out of the U.S. for fuck's sake!

She closed her eyes as her lungs felt like they were about to burst out of her rib cage. When it finally became too much to hold her breath, she gasped harshly, steeling herself for the feeling of water filling her lungs. Instead, all she breathed in was air. She opened her eyes to see a bubble of air around her head. 

Someone grabbed her arm, and she looked to the side to see Percy next to her, looking a little calmer than before, but he still looked freaked out. He looked at her intently for a moment, then seemed to realize something and shot her a questioning look accompanied by a thumbs-up. 

Ophelia got the gist: You okay?

Ophelia mirrored his thumbs-up with a grimace.

Percy pointed up, and Ophelia looked to see a giant koi above them. She looked back at Percy as he mouthed, Frank. Stuck.