Cleo's POV

I sighed as I pushed off from my seat in the moon pool with a powerful thrust of my tail. I sometimes sit here and think, but I didn't want to think about the upcoming full moon. It was only in two days! None of us had a house to sleep over in either. We'll just have to ask Lewis again, or maybe rent out Rikki's Cafe.
But, anyway, I come by Mako Island every morning to have an early exercise, as well as practice my powers. I can't say I'm getting any better, but my magic is something fun to do.
As a kid, I had always dreamed of being something special, and now I am. I giggled quietly to myself as I swam over to my favorite coral reef. I know some of the dolphins there, and the marine animals were all quite friendly.
I saw the tail of one of the dolphins, and I tried to catch up with her. Laughing lightly, I tapped on her tail, only for her to ignore me and keep swimming. I frowned and kept pace with the pod, wondering what could cause these dolphins to ignore me. Did I offend them somehow? Can dolphin's even /get/ offended?
Suddenly, I could hear music and a voice. I furrowed my eyebrows further, wondering. How could someone be singing underwater? And how could there even be music either?
The words soon became clearer, and I figured out that it was 'Under the Sea' from The Little Mermaid. I giggled quietly at the irony, but I only released a tiny portion of my breath.
The dolphins and I soon rounded a bend, and I saw a singing human sitting on the ocean floor. My eyes widened and I tried to pull myself back behind the coral, but he had already seen me. His eyes narrowed and he looked at me with suspicion. I was taken aback a little. Shouldn't he be dying? Or at least shocked to see a mermaid?
'Why are you here, Miss? Atlantis is very far from here.' My eyes widened and I frantically looked around before narrowing my eyes at the boy, he smirked.
'Yes, I am the one who spoke. Can you not speak underwater?' He looked curious now, and I nodded slowly. I pointed to the surface and he nodded his head, smiling at all of the fish gathered, he waved a hand and must have told them to leave, for they all scattered. I hope he was polite.
I swam to the surface, careful to not get to close to the human looking being in front of me. I took a deep breath as I breeched, my hair plastered around my head. He surfaced and looked exactly as he would have if he were on land.
"How are you not wet? Who are you? What are you? Why can you speak in my mind? Atlantis is real?"
The boy chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "You must not be from my Parthenon. What is your name, miss?"
I looked at him suspiciously, but decided to trust him with that bit of information. "I'm Cleo Sertori, what is your name?"
He looked confused for a second, but he gave me his name a moment later. "My name is Percy Jackson. You're not fully mermaid, are you?"
I faked an affronted look and denied, "Of course I am! I wouldn't want to be some puny human who pollutes the oceans!"
Percy looked me up and down with critical green eyes, and I started to get nervous. What if he saw through my lie?
"Nope, you're half human. It makes sense too. How'd you become part mermaid?" I stared at him in shock. He was actually smart... odd, he didn't look it.
"Promise you won't tell anyone?" Percy laughed, and my face burned red with embarrassment.
"Tell someone? I have my own secrets to keep you know," he confessed with a wink.
That reminded me. "What are you anyway?"
Percy looked at me critically again before he replied, "I'm sorry. If I told you, I'd just be signing your death warrant."
My face paled and I treaded backwards a little. He was obviously very dangerous.
"Oh no, you're fine," he reassured. "It's just that if you knew, it would change quite a few things and your life would never be the same again. Although, I can see that it isn't normal already." He smirked at me jokingly and I felt a small smile tug on my lips. I looked away from his face, only to see his watch, and notice the time. I felt my eyes widen as I treaded back, farther away. "Oh no! I have to go! My parents don't know about this, and they think I'm still in bed!"
Percy laughed and I glared at him, he put his hands up in surrender and I wondered how he was staying afloat. "Hey, hey! Cool your jets," he said. "I can get you out of here really quick if you want. I'd just need you to tell me where your stuff is."
I raised an eyebrow at him in questioning.
"I have my ways," he responded shrewdly. "Come one, you can trust me, right?"
I narrowed my eyes at his happy demeanor, but nodded slowly anyway. He smiled brighter and bowed theatrically, holding out his hand to me. I gently took it and he tightened his grip. "Location?"
I gazed suspiciously at him, but mentally shrugged my shoulders, I didn't really have anything to lose. "Gold Coast, near Rikki's Cafe."
Percy looked confused for a few minutes, but then his face cleared and he smiled. "Easy," he proclaimed. "It should only take a minute or two. Hold on tight." I was about to protest, but Percy pulled me underwater and we shot off. Now, I can swim easily at one hundred knots, but Percy was going far faster than that. I'd say roughly a hundred fifty knots. We were moving so fast, I could only see bubbles and our hands locked together.
Just as he said, about two minutes later, Percy was walking out of the water, myself, tail and all, held in his arms bridal style. I gaped at his strength; my tail weighed a ton.
"H-how?!"
He smirked down at me. "I have my secrets. Now, you dry off to become human again, correct?"
I nodded mutely, suddenly realizing we were standing on a beach. I twisted around, waiting for the shouts and sounds of cameras flashing and pushing crowds, only, nothing. I opened my unknowingly closed eyes, and I saw people just walking past us, maybe throwing a smile our way, but that was it.
I looked up at Percy, thoroughly confused. "Secrets,"  he chirped.
I rolled my eyes, but Percy set me down, and I felt my tail disappear.
"What-"
Percy tsked. "Secrets."
I groaned and stood up. "Whatever. Thank you, Percy. I really have to go now, see you later!"
I grabbed my stuff from off the sandy ground and hightailed it out of there, looking back for a quick second, only to see the mysterious and frustrating stranger slink back beneath the surf. The girls were never going to believe this.