Seeking Happiness

Red light flooded the tiny sub as the alarms wailed louder and louder. I reached for Nico and pulled him to me. If it was the last thing I did I would get the two of us home. We are so close now, I know I can do it. I pulled him to me and whispered in his ear, "Whatever you do stay close to me."

Beckendorf was rifling around in some trunk in the back of the sub. HIs back to me, now was my chance to take him out... but did I really want to take it. Suddenly I saw a young boy in the forges of camp half blood. I saw him by my side on that boat, I remember the agony his death brought upon our camp. He's been maddened by love, haven't I been in his shoes before? The only difference being I would never leave him here to an eternity of loneliness. If he didn't need me to make it out he would have left without me, he would have left years ago.

I was going to let this go because it didn't matter how I was getting home, the fact remained that I was going home and I did owe him for that. So for now we are on the same team. Beckendorf finally found what he was looking for and ran back to me and Nico. He stretched his hand out to us to reveal three small pills. "These pills will slow our heart rate down just slightly. It will decrease our need for oxygen. Im hoping it will give us enough time to make it to the other side." The wailing sirens kept growing louder, almost as if they were yelling for us to get out already.

I took mine and handed the other to Nico, he looked a bit pale, well paler than usual. I felt bad, he must be remembering all that time that he had survived on nothing but those pomegranate seeds. I gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze as he took the pill in his hand. We all walked to the door of the sub. Beckendorf swallowed his pill and Nico and I followed his example. He looked to us as he put his hand on the door. I took a deep breath, possibly my last. I really hoped I could do this... what am I thinking Im Percy fucking Jackson... I WILL get home to my family. I have defeated Kronos, I have defeated Tartarus, I have defeated Gaea! I can definitely freaking swim! If theres anything I can do its freaking swim! I nodded to him and he slammed his hand on the big red button that said do not touch and the door flew open.

We were ripped from the sub and flung in all different directions. After I summersaulted for a bit I looked around for Nico. He was doggy paddling towards me. I made a mental note to teach him how to properly swim as soon as we made it back to camp. I threw out a little bubble of air that he met with gasping breaths. "Took the breath right out of me. Thought I was going to drown. Where is Beckendorf?"

"Here. Full of water, but I'm here." He was just a few feet above me. As they got closer to me the smaller I made the bubble, hopefully I could conserve some air.

"Alright I can't exactly see that well. but it looks like the bottom of the wall is only about two or three hundred yards down. But then after that there is about a mile swim up. I need to warn you now. The worst thing you can do right now is panic. Panicking will use up your air supply along with make you sink. Just keep calm okay." They nodded in agreement before I plunged into the deep. It was maddening how slow I had to swim for Nico to keep up so eventually I tore off my shirt and ripped it apart into a makeshift rope. I tied one end around my waist and the other around his. I could see his slight blush, but right now was not the time for talking. I pushed on, the closer we got the less I could see, the bottom was incredibly dark.

I hadn't exactly been doing any cardio the last couple months, so while it felt more than great to be back in the water again, I couldn't help but notice was I was in awful shape. I was happy for the camouflage of darkness, that way the others couldn't see my heaving chest. Eventually my feet hit solid ground. At the bottom of the wall there were several holes to allow water the pass between the two sides. It was sonly big enough for one of us t fit at a time, I turned to the others. "Nico, you go first, then me, then Beckendorf."

Beckendorf sighed, "I had no idea swimming was so hard. My arms ache. I feel like a.. well a jellyfish." I did my best to hide my smile. I may be out of shape but at least I wasn't sore... yet. Nico squeezed his was through the hole. I did my best to keep him in the bubble. If he got out of my little bubble of protection he would immediately be crushed by the pressure. It was very nerve wracking to have that much responsibility. I followed him slowly,the wall was really thick, several yards. I could hear Beckendorf behind me slowly inching his way through. Moments later I came out to the other side. At this point my lungs burned from exertion, almost as if the oxygen they were using was mine. I started to feel dizzy and numb. "We need to get to the surface as soon as possible. I don't know how much longer I can do this!"

We started our accent up to our freedom. This last stretch was going to be the hardest, and the most imperative. If I could just get them up to a safe distance I would start letting them swim on their own for a bit. I would allow them intervals of air, followed by them holding their breath. I needed a break before I passed out. I could feel my energy draining from me fast. My vision was starting to blur. I needed to get just a little bit further before I pushed them out on their own.

After about 30 minutes I would say we were probably about three hundred feet from the surface. Only a hundred more feet and it would be somewhat safe to let them go. I could tell I was getting weak when Nico's doggy paddle was almost going as fast as I was. The rope was now irrelevant so I cut it off. I only had a few minutes left before I blacked out. The only warning I could manage was "Hold your breath."

With that the bubble retracted like a rubber band that had been stretched too far. It stung when it came back to me. With one last push I sent a huge current to sky rocket them to the top. I could see their legs dangling as they sucked in their first gasp of fresh underworld air. My vision was blacking out around the edges. How ironic I'm the son of a sea god, yet here I am... dying in the water...

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