Okay, so when I started this, I didn't know it was going to end up being so fracketing long. I have a few things to say before you start the story thought. First off, with the way I sort of changed Percy's background, I thought he would have a different dynamic with the other gods, more familiar, you know. And secondly, I'm seriously sorry for how weirdly suggestive Leo is at times. I don't know what the increase in age of the characters did for me, but I feel like this is how he would be. Plus, pirates. Hope you enjoy this.
Disclaimer: I do not own nothing from Heroes of Olympus.
X is for Xerophobia
Percy stared up through the depths of the ocean, watching in the darkness as the flames of lanterns from the lone ship were snuffed out one by one. The ship was tossed to and fro, angry waves jumping over the sides, attempting to wash the crew overboard into his father's territory. What was a ship doing all the way out here anyway? There was nothing but fish and monsters for miles, and of course, his father's court.
The longer he watched though, the more the ship called to him, beckoning for him to join it on the surface.
For as long as he could remember, his father had warned him against breaking the water. He'd been told countless times of what would happen. He'd been told that he'd drown in the gases above. He'd been told how, if he dried out, he'd crumble into sand like Ariel had dissolved into sea foam hundreds of years ago.
A cry came from above, loud enough to travel through the meters of ocean between them. "Jason!" a woman cried. A body was washed into the raging sea. The echo of his crash washed over him, pressing against Percy's eardrums.
Percy watched, waiting for the strange being to begin moving, to start struggling for the surface, but he remained motionless. His body was limp, ripped at by competing currents, tossed about by growing waves.
'He's going to die!' Percy thought, his body moving before he'd even decided to save the man. He cut through the rage of the sea like a bullet, bending the currents and calming the waters, creating a bubble of calm for the two of them.
Catching the man's wrist, he dragged him into his space. The man was handsome, soft looking blond hair covering his head and a scar close to the corner of his mouth.
Percy felt a blush rising across his neck. Then he remembered that these creatures with their ineffective fins weren't engineered to breath beneath the water. "Oh gods!" he cried, rushing for the surface. How long had he been there regarding the man? Too long, that's how long.
He stopped just beneath the surface, pushing the man above. Percy remained beneath him, watching as a rope sailed over the side of the vessel, wrapping around him and pulling taught.
Though it had been a female's voice he'd heard, a boy with fair skin and black hair plastered to his forehead by the storm leaned the furthest over the railing, calling frantically for the man. As they pulled him up the side of the ship, the boy grabbed hold of the man's vest, dragging him aboard with fear in his dark eyes.
No, not fear. Terror. He was terrified for the man's life.
Frowning, Percy watched as the vessel rocked dangerously, a wave from its portside tipping it precariously on its starboard side. With his father's voice in his ear telling him never to interfere with mortal happenings, Percy calmed the sea around the vessel. Though the storm still raged, the crew and their ship were no longer in danger of capsizing.
The strange, mechanical clicks and whirs of hydraulics that Percy had only had the pleasure of hearing a few times disrupted the waters.
Percy paused, confusion settling over him. Why would there be… Fear replaced his confusion. Acting automatically, he wheeled back from the vessel, turning to bolt right into the retracting net of rope threaded with Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold.
Struggling, he only managed to tangle himself in the net. He cursed viciously in Greek, damning his father's guards for restricting him from taking Riptide out with him. 'Someone might get stabbed again. A demigod should learn to fight without weapons anyways. It might save your life one day,' he mocked childishly as he was lifted into the underbelly of the ship and into a tank filled with salt water fresh from the still raging ocean.
With a heavy sigh, Percy settled in the tangled mess on the bottom of the tank. He glanced around him, taking in the others things that had been caught.
Fish of various colors and shapes and variety darted frantically around the tank, panic in their beady little eyes. An octopus sporting brilliant red spots climbed the wall of the tank amiably. Clams littered the bottom among various crabs and oysters and empty seashells. A few creatures and harmless monsters scuttled around.
The only thing larger than him occupying the tank was a frantic hippocampi struggling in the net. White flashed around her eyes, frothy sea foam dissolving as it drifted from her lips. Percy winced at her shrieking whinnying that translated into more shrieking.
"Hey, calm down there, girl," Percy whispered soothingly to her, brushing fingers through her billowing mane, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of this net. You're going to be fine."
Pushing his arms through the net, Percy made fast work of unknotting what the hippocampi had managed to tie together. "There you go, girl. How's that?"
Tossing her mane and releasing a more confident whinny, she surged away from the bottom of the tank.
Blinking slowly, Percy sighed. What was he supposed to do while he waited for the crew to find him? From across the tank, the hippocampi nudged a piece of water softened coal towards him. He grinned at her.
…..
When Percy finally heard the voices and light footsteps headed towards him, he had played several games of tic-tac-toe and hangman with the hippocampi, had learned that zebra fish are bastards, and was drawing a mustache on a hideous rendition of one of his more hated enemies in his father's court. His hands were covered in coal, and he was almost positive he'd smudged it across at least one of his cheeks and nose.
"If my ship got damaged as badly as it did and we didn't catch anything worth selling, I'm going to flood your cabin, Captain," a young male voice grouched, moving closer. He had to shout to be heard over the roar of the engines.
"Stop bitching, Leo, we had to have caught something," a female voice holding as much authority as his father said, "You're ship is going to be fine. Didn't you see how the waters calmed without warning?"
"And something brought Jason back above water," another male voice, the one he'd hear coming from the dark boy's mouth, said, exhaustion in every word, "If we did catch something, I don't think it means us harm."
"You're just being optimistic because your boyfriend didn't drown," the first male shot at him teasingly.
"Ex-boyfriend," the boy pointed out, "And just because he hasn't drowned yet doesn't mean that second-hand drowning is ruled out."
"You're just a bucket of sunshine, aren't you?"
"You're the one who called me optimistic."
"Oh, he bites. You know how I like that." There was a suggestive lilt to the male's tone that Percy would rather not think about.
A sharp sigh cut the pair off. "Okay, you two, enough with the sexual tension. We've got work to do."
The pair huffed, but said no more as a door was opened. A light switch was clicked, but nothing happened. When fire flared at the entrance, shedding light over the tank, Percy realized that he hadn't noticed it was dark. His eyes rebelled, pain lancing through his skull. He clamped his eyes shut, turning them away from the harsh flicker.
The woman's voice hummed. "Not a great hull, but it could be worse. The Camp will buy the hippocampi off of us, and the monsters will catch a nice price from the right buyers. Not much use for the fish though."
"Food. I could make fish sticks," the first male suggested.
The fish scattered in indignation.
There were three sharp inhales. "Did we pick up a dead body?" the woman asked, disgust coloring her tone.
"I don't sense a spirit," the dark boy said.
"Leo, can you get it on deck without catching anything else in the net?" the woman asked.
"Not a problem. Give me two minutes." The fire was extinguished.
Finally, Percy opened his eyes, watching a figure distorted by the water bumble about the tank. After a few moments, he was lifted above.
…..
Percy was almost positive he was having a panic attack, though he'd never had the pleasure of experiencing one before. His muscles trembled and his lungs struggled to find the means to sustain him. He was drowning just like his father had told him he would. He struggled feebly against the net, eyes wide and aching from the brightness of the unimpeded sun beating heat down on him. Already, he could feel his skin dying, only serving to terrorize him more.
"Please, please, please don't let me dry," he whispered through his gasps, staring at the dark boy looking down at him, head cocked to the side.
At the boy's -or more rightly now that Percy saw him closer up- teenager's sides was a group of seven though he knew better than to believe that was the whole crew. They stared down at him, perplexed.
Percy was still hyperventilating, feeling his panic rise as he felt himself drying. Sand and salt trickled off of him. He was watching himself disintegrate. "Please don't let me dry out," he whispered again, staring at the blond and the dark teen imploringly.
A girl with cinnamon hair and gold eyes gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Jumping and turning on a heel, she dashed down the steps. She wore a dress that looked like it belonged on a marionette, but suited her just fine. It was the colors of precious gems.
'Where is she going?' Percy thought frantically, following her retreat as readily as her crewmates.
"Hazel, what-" a large male with close cropped black hair and clothes that looked to just barely fit him started to ask when suddenly they were all being showered in cool sea water.
It tasted of home. Percy gasped, his lungs finally opening and allowing him to breathe the strange air. How did these beings survive on such a thin, insubstantial substance? "Oh, thank the gods," he said, running his hands over his blue scales and skin where he could reach to spread the water.
"Hazel, what the heck? I just got dry from last night!" a teen with the first voice Percy had heard below deck cried, dripping water. He wore baggy pants smeared with oil and other mechanical fluids, and an open shirt that had probably been white at one time. A tool belt was slung around his waist, fingerless clothes covering his hands.
Hazel tromped her way back up the stairs, dragging the hose behind her. "What? He was drying out. That can't be good for him. He's a merman, not a dog," she pointed out, hooking the hose on the railing so he was provided with a constant mist. "You can dry in two seconds."
"But the rest of us can't," a woman with red-brown skin and braided brown hair sighed, flipping her bangs out of her eyes. She wore leather and cloth shorts with a leather vest over a thin tank top. Loose fitting boots only reached her ankles.
A woman wearing a brimmed cover, a blue harpy feather tucked at the side, and blonde hair spilling over her shoulders watched the commotion with stormy eyes. She wore tight pants and leather boots that ended at her knees, and a leather corset fitted snugly to her body over a cream shirt that dipped low with sleeves that ended just passed her elbows. A dagger hung at her hip, much like each of the others had their swords, over a blue gypsy scarf hung with gold drachma, but she wore her body with the authoritative air that the others did not.
As the hour grew long and only banter was to be had, more crewmembers crawled their way above deck, watching from the first deck with curious eyes. The woman with her cover narrowed her eyes at the awakening crew, displeasure curling across her lips. "What do you think we could get for him, Reyna?" she finally asked another woman with a black braid trailing over her shoulder and the garb of a Roman warrior.
"I think it would be unwise to sell him, in my opinion, Annabeth. He may catch a fair price as a toy for a noble or councilman with a dirty fetish or attraction, but…" The women exchanged a knowing, rather disgusted look.
"We can't very well throw him back. We're hundreds of miles from where we caught him. He'll just get caught again out here," Annabeth snapped, irritation mixed with her words, "And we can't turn back either."
Percy twisted and shifted uncomfortably. His hips were beginning to ache –holding himself up off the deck in such an odd position, similar to a 'V' because the net weighed down his chest, was a bitch- and though the water had moistened them, the ropes of the net chaffed against his arms and waist. Wincing, he pushed at the rope.
Suddenly, Jason in a loose shirt and snug pants, the blond he'd saved, was crouched beside him, motioning to the dark boy dressed all in black behind him. "Nico, help me with this."
The teen stepped forward, avoiding looking Percy or Jason in the face, and instead, focusing his eyes on the rub marks appearing on his skin. He muttered a curse under his breath, moving to the other side. He began pulling at the ropes, looking for where it had become knotted.
"Whoa, what are you doing?" Leo cried, stepping back from the trio.
"Untying him," Nico told him disdainfully.
"Why? What if it attacks us? Remember what happened the last time we caught a nymph?"
The crew flinched at the reminder. Piper sighed. "Really, Leo, 'it'?" she asked, deciding to ignore the rest of his words.
"Hey, I don't know its gender. I'm not going to call it something it doesn't want to be called," Leo defended.
Percy cleared his throat, drawing all eyes towards him. "'He', I'm a guy. My name is Percy Jackson," he told them, pushing a little more on the ropes, "I'm not going to attack you, my dad's guards don't like me carrying my sword, but even if I could, I wouldn't. And I'm not a nymph." He scowled, thinking of his own encounters with a few choice nymphs over the years. Not pleasant, that's all he had to say.
"Why don't they let you carry your sword? That seems rather cavalier," Jason asked, glancing up from his slowly progressing work. His hair was plastered to his forehead and his clothes clung to his skin with sea water.
The heat of embarrassment burned up his neck, but he pressed it back. "There's a lot of people in my dad's court who don't like the fact that I live amongst them. Some of them try things, and the last time, the fight got a little out of hand. No one died, but those guys are still in the hospital so…" He shrugged as best he could.
"Sounds like our Captain," Piper grinned, looking to Annabeth who smiled sweetly back.
"I think it sounds like all of the girls," the guy with close cropped black hair commented.
With a wide smile, Hazel kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Frank."
Ignoring her crew, Annabeth looked over Percy. "I've seen my fair share of mermaids and mermen before, and you look an awful lot like us to be a merman," she observed.
The heat crawled across Percy's cheekbones, breaking from his control. "That's because my mom was human," he snapped defensively, "She got seriously hurt after I was born. Monster attack. That's when Dad took me so we'd both be safe."
Annabeth regarded him with narrowed eyes, the eyes of her crew slipping between the two. "Who is your father?"
"Poseidon."
Realization dawned on the faces of the onlookers, but Annabeth's expression only became that much more piercing. Nico's eyes narrowed just the slightest as he and Jason finally threw the net open. "Find a tank to fill with water. Leave him on the bridge. He'll be out of the way up here. We'll have to release him back to his home territory when we circle back around to it," she ordered, turning on a heel and marching down the stairs to the first deck.
With a considering look thrown over her shoulder, Piper followed after the woman. Once she'd caught up, they slipped possessive arms around each other's waists.
Standing and slicking back his bangs from his eyes, Jason smiled down at Percy, extending a hand. "We haven't been properly introduced," he started, "I'm Jason Grace and he's Nico di Angelo. He doesn't talk a lot, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like you. It's nice to meet you, and I hope you have a great time aboard The Lost Hero. Well, it was supposed to be the Argo II, but monsters can't apparently tell the difference between new and old so we had to change it so we wouldn't have to rebuild the ship every day."
Percy laughed, taking Jason's outstretched hand.
…..
Nico stood beside Percy's tank, leaning against the railing on his forearms to watch the fading light of the sun. They were silent, Percy lounging on the sand Leo had specially engineered to radiate continuous warmth, watching the stars begin their appearance across the sky.
This had been their normal routine for the past few days Percy had been aboard The Lost Hero. Nico would appear sometime close to sunset, and together, they would watch the sun burn the sky until the moon took her place in the charred remains. As silent as he'd been when he'd appeared, Nico would leave just as silently.
It had occurred to Percy that if Jason was the day with his golden hair and warm smile and easy conversation, then Nico was the night with his scarce grin and Stygian iron sword and pitch hair.
The sun had disappeared, the moon lighting the deck. Nico remained leaning against the railing, motionless as a statue.
"Something wrong?" Percy asked, turning on his stomach to press against the side of the glass without poking his head above the water. After his first time being on dry decks, he wasn't looking to experience them again anytime soon.
"No," Nico replied, looking over him. His eyes ran over Percy for a short second before returning to the horizon. "I don't think I ever thanked you for saving Jason. If he had died, I don't…" He trailed off, resting his face in his palms.
Apprehension slithered into Percy's chest, making him unsteady. "How do you know I…"
Nico sighed. "Who else would it have been? None of us. Only a god or son of Poseidon could have managed to calm the ocean so effectively, but had no effect on the sky. And the gods have no love for demigods or mortals."
Percy could hardly disagree there. In his nineteen years with his father, he'd never seen his father intercede to save the life of any creature above the surface. Blowing out a stream of bubbles in a sigh, he let himself float in the middle of his tank. "Right…" After a long stretch of silence where he waited for Nico to leave, he asked, "What is Jason to you?"
Nico kept his eyes focused on the horizon, but pain flickered across his features. "Ex-partner, ex-boyfriend, ex-lover. Jason is anything that starts with an 'ex' to me."
"That's not all," Percy correcting, getting the distinct feeling that he'd been spending a little too much time with Aphrodite, "You still have feelings for him." Yep, he'd definitely been spending too much time around his aunt.
"And he still has feelings for Piper. Obviously, nothing can be done about either of those situations," Nico snapped defensively, cheeks flushing deep burgundy in the light of the moon.
Percy was unperturbed. "What's keeping the two of you from being together? Gods, I really do sound like Aunt Aphrodite."
Eyebrows pulled together and eyes narrowed, Nico finally turned to face the tank. "It's because I'm a child of Hades. Anything remotely close to happiness is rarely had for us, no matter how hard we try to grasp it."
"That doesn't mean you still shouldn't try- Wait! You're a demigod too? Why don't you look like me? I thought that all demigods would look like me, that I just hadn't met any yet," Percy said, running his hands over his tail to grab his fins like he was a child again.
"The question is, Percy, why don't you look more like us? Every single person on this ship is a demigod save for Rachel. Every single one of us is descended from one god or goddess or another. We all look similar, except for you. Why is that?"
"I've always looked like this as far back as I can remember."
"But were you born that way?"
Before Percy could reply, Nico disappeared, fading into the shadows.
…..
Jason appeared beside Percy's tank, startling him from a long nap of sunbathing. He grinned down at the merman widely. "Hey, Jackson, how was your day of guarding the ship with Clarisse?"
"Boring and a little insulting," Percy intoned, pressing himself close to the glass so he wouldn't have to strain to be heard. Only if they had ears for the water, then communicating would be that much easier.
"That's too bad, but I stole something from a Greek merchant ship that you might be very interested in."
"Is it food?" Percy asked like a true teenager, mouth watering at the mere thought. Where Nico always knew what to bring him for meals, Jason always brought the best snacks from their raids.
Grinning, Jason shook his head. "No, something even better." Releasing a whistle that was high and piercing, they only had to wait a few moments before a shadow from above fell over them. Not ten feet from his tank, an onyx pegasus landed, flipping his mane.
Percy nearly shot himself from his tank, catapulting himself so that his upper half leaned over the edge and he had to use Jason to hold himself up. "Holy Hades, that's a pegasus! I've never met one before! I've only ever talked with hippocampi! Hey, dude, my name is Percy Jackson."
The pegasus replied in kind, dancing in place on the bridge.
"This is so cool. It's nice to meet you, Blackjack," he whispered in awe, stretching out a dripping hand to run it along the pegasus' nose.
"Do you want to ride him?" Jason asked.
Percy's throat immediately clamped shut, his heart fluttering helplessly, his fingers stilling. "I-I-I can't. I'll d-dry out," he stuttered. 'I'll die.'
"You should be fine if Blackjack just flies you around the ship a few times, right? It's cold enough that it should take you a while to dry," Jason reasoned, worry and apology creasing his brow.
Percy shook his head. "I can only ride sidesaddle. I'd fall off of him."
"What if I came with you?"
Staring at Blackjack, longing riding right alongside his terror, he bit his lip and nodded.
…..
"Holy trident!" Percy cried, clinging to Blackjack's mane and Jason's arms around him. He nearly bounced himself right off of the pegasus' back.
The Lost Hero was like a toy far beneath them as they circled high above. Only the bluest of ocean stretched to the horizon in all directions. The sun arched impossibly high above them.
"This is amazing!" Percy crowed, jerking his head around to Jason.
Jason's smile spread to his eyes. "Is this how it feels to swim? To see the deepest parts of the ocean?"
Without so much as an ounce of hesitation, Percy replied, "Yes!" His excitement turned to ice in his veins as he felt the first trickle of sand and salt fall off the tips of his fingers. His eyes darted down to his hands, his breath freezing in his lungs. "Jason, can we go back to the ship now?" Cupping his hands together, inexplicably trusting Jason to keep him on Blackjack's back, he tried to stem the slowly growing flow of sand.
"Is something wrong?" Jason asked, concern coloring his words even as he guided Blackjack back onto the bridge, startling Leo so much that he nearly fell off the railing he'd been standing on.
"No, I just need to get back in the water," Percy lied, hoping his voice didn't give away the fear to trickled through his veins like an IV drip.
Slipping from Blackjack's back, Jason pulled Percy in against his chest, carrying him over to his tank. Leo cocked his head to the side, watching curiously as the water engulfed Percy, returning his breath to him. "Thanks for the ride, Grace. Maybe we can do it again sometime."
A smile pulled up the corners of Jason's mouth, but this time, could only stretch its fingers for his eyes. "Anytime. Maybe one day you'll show me the ocean."
In his wake, Percy cradled his regenerating fingers against his chest, hiding them from Leo's view.
…..
"Hey, Leo, what's going on?" Percy asked, poking his head over the edge of his tank, gesturing towards where the crew was leading out all of the pegasi from below deck, including Blackjack.
Leo threw Percy a grin in greeting before returning his eyes to the controls. "Patrols. We're headed into a seriously dangerous area, so we need all the warning we can get."
Fervently, Percy wished he could help someway. Maybe he could do sea patrols… Annabeth would never allow that. She'd allowed him in the ocean only once over the past weeks, and that had only been because the others hadn't been able to complete the negotiation.
"It's too bad Captain won't let you in the water. We could really use the extra hands and eyes right now," Leo muttered, drumming his fingers along the edge of his controls, fingers blazing. Though the flames skittered up his arm, reaching for his sleeves, he seemed oblivious, more concerned with Calypso down on the deck.
Percy strategically sank back down into his tank. "Hey, Valdez, you're on fire again."
"Huh? What?" Leo glanced down at himself and cursed in a mixture of Spanish and Greek, rushing to put himself out. "Sorry about that, Percy, I didn't mean to freak you out."
After one incident while Hazel and Nico had decided –well, more like Hazel had decided and then dragged Nico into it- to clean his tank and Leo had decided to juggle flaming balls of cloth, Percy had learned to keep a healthy distance between the younger demigod and his person. To say the least, being aboard The Lost Hero had been quite an adventure. A terrifying adventure, but an adventure nonetheless.
"It's fine," Percy replied, popping above the water again, watching the riders hoist themselves onto their pegasi. Reyna was in the crowd along with Annabeth who leaned down to kiss Piper fervently, and Hazel soothing Frank from atop Arion, Calypso behind her looking at Leo. He'd had the not so much pleasure of conversing with that horse. He was not looking to do it again anytime soon. His eyes were drawn to Blackjack where Jason was lifting Nico into his saddle and pulling himself up behind him. "Jason and Nico are going?"
There must have been something in his voice because Leo glanced over at him. "Yeah, we need their eyes and Jason's a fantastic fighter in the air. Don't worry, they're two of our best fighters. They'll be fine."
Percy didn't say anything, eyes trained on the pair readying themselves for a battle that was possibly right below them. Worry and concern clouded his mind, only made thicker by the horrible feeling he had growing in the pit of his stomach.
The group scattered. The riders were mounted up, weapons at the ready. Annabeth's blonde hair shone like gold, spilling over her shoulders and down her torso, her cover left safely in Piper's hands. Beside her, Jason's hair was doing something very similar, only brightened by Nico's dark locks.
"On three!" Annabeth shouted, voice full of power. "One! Two! Three!" As one, the pegasi and Arion shot towards the side and into the rapidly clouding sky.
…..
The serpent came without warning, launched from the water, snapping at the pegasi flying overhead. As the serpent fell, a wall of water crashed over the starboard side of the ship, knocking over Percy's tank.
"Scatter!" Annabeth cried, circling around the spot the serpent had disappeared.
"Annabeth!" Percy shouted, hauling himself onto the railing just as the serpent launched into the sky once more, snapping at Blackjack's large wings.
Blackjack spiraled out of the sky, crashing into the ocean with Nico and Jason still on his back. A stream of blood trailed after them.
"Percy, save them!" Annabeth shouted, diving towards the ocean only to veer away from a wall of water and another sea monster. "Dammit!"
Percy needed no more encouragement. He dove from the railing, slicing through the water with clasped hands and shooting towards Blackjack's thrashing body.
Blood plumed in the water, thick and crimson. Blackjack's eyes were ringed with white, his hooves slashing wildly through the water, one wing limp, the other flapping uselessly. Despite his terror, when he told Percy to get the others, that he could make it to the surface, Percy believed him.
With a helpful push of current from Percy, Blackjack made painful progress towards the surface.
"Jason! Nico!" Percy shouted, searching with frantic eyes for the pair. His eyes caught on a flash of golden hair.
Jason had his arm wrapped tightly around Nico's waist. His eyes were closed, swimming in a vague direction towards the surface. Nico was limp.
Percy's heart beat to a stop. "Jason! Nico!"
Eyes flying wide, Jason found him in the water. He gestured towards his chest, then to Nico, his chest once more, and then the surface.
A roar rippled through the water. Percy winced as he slipped an arm around Jason's waist. Turning towards the serpent shooting towards them, he crushed it in a vice of water without thinking. Another roar echoed from its throat, this time sounding more like a scream.
Before it could cry again, Percy crushed the creature with more pressure than that at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Blood spooled through the water as the pressure was released, leaving only a flat skin in the serpent's place.
Careful fingers pressed to Percy's chest, drawing his eyes back to the pair he held. Jason looked at him with unfocussed eyes. His face was a color he was almost positive it shouldn't have been.
"Jason," Percy said, horror dancing across his mind, "Hold on! We'll be on the surface in just a moment!"
Just like he had promised, Percy sped them towards the surface, and with a burst of water beneath them, flung them onto the deck of The Lost Hero. Jason hit the deck coughing and sputtering. Nico lay still between them, chest stagnant. Some of the others had already dragged Blackjack onto the deck.
"Nico!" Percy shouted, leaning over his static body. "What's the matter with him?"
"Most people can't breathe with large amounts of water in their lungs. He's not like you, Percy," Hazel told him through a sob as hooves and feet started landing on the deck.
When Percy looked up at the others with fear in his eyes, he only saw resignation on their faces. "How did you save Jason? We can do that for Nico too! Isn't that why we have Apollo's sons and daughters aboard? They can do something. We have to save him!"
"Jason coughed up the water on his own," Calypso whispered, hand pressed over her trembling lips.
"We can save him from the serpent's venom, but not the drowning," Will Solace told him.
"He's gone, Seaweed Brain. We have to fortify the ship and gather the monster carcasses," Annabeth whispered, her face blank, but her voice showing an array of emotions.
Anger lanced through Percy. He turned his eyes back to Nico, unable to resist the words that trembled through his mind, 'Dad, help me, please. Tell me how to save him.' There was a moment of silence, then the ocean crashed over them again and Percy knew. He knew exactly what to do.
As the others wiped water and other kinds of moisture from their eyes, and the pegasi shook out their coats, Percy leaned over the teen. Placing a hand on his chest, he felt the water filling his lungs. He pressed his mouth over Nico's, and inhaled deeply.
Water rushed into his mouth and lungs, life sustaining where before it had been death bringing. Once the water had left his body, he breathed the crew's thin air into Nico's lungs, once, twice, three times.
There was a moment of stillness where the only sound was of Percy pushing breath into Nico's lungs, then all at once, Nico inhaled sharply, coughing uncontrollably. Stunned gasps and then raucous cheers rose into the slowly clearing sky.
…..
Percy lay on his stomach, reaching his arm down to the water over the side of the ship, creating spirals and shapes and whirlpools in the surface. The hose stood over him, spraying a steady shower of seawater. He sung gently, quietly he thought, to himself.
A body thumped down beside him, thin arms dropping down beside his. Glancing up, Piper grinned at him. She wore her usual shorts and a bikini top, flaunting the new hickeys that dotted her stomach and neck. For someone so careful, she was no prude. "You're being watched," she chirped, "By the way, if you had an ass, it'd be a nice one."
Heat rose up Percy's neck and to the tips of his ears, voice stuttering to a stop as he caught Jason and Nico's eyes over his shoulder. They weren't the only ones staring, and suddenly, Percy felt a giant wave of self-consciousness crash over him.
"We're almost back to where we caught you. We've come full circle. It's been an awesome few months. What are you going to do when we get there?" she asked.
"I don't know. Go home to Dad's court, I guess," he told her without conviction, eyes never leaving the pair.
Piper followed his eyes, and grinned wider. "You like them, don't you?" she asked.
"Who are you, your mother?" he asked without malice, face just this side of flushed.
"No, that'd be a scary prospect, wouldn't it? Now, my question."
"Of course I like them. I like everyone on the ship, except the Ares and Mars demigods. Well, I like Frank."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it. I mean the kind of 'like' that means they give you butterflies."
"What about the kind where they're your whole world?" His eyes shot wide, and he stared at Piper. He had definitely not meant to say that.
Piper stared at him with nearly sparkling eyes. "Well, I can tell you they feel a similar sort of way. Don't let that go to waste."
Percy's face fell. "I don't belong above water. I nearly die every time we clean my tank. I'm not a prisoner, but I can't do as I need or want here. I belong in the ocean."
"Are you so sure about that?"
Before he could answer, sweet, rolling song floated to them from all around the ship. The crew had come to a stop, listening to the sweet music. Dazed looks glazed over many of the boy's eyes and a good handful of their girls as well. Slowly, those dazed demigods stepped towards the railing.
"What's going on?" Piper whispered, watching the strange behavior with worried eyes. Her eyes tightened, and she pressed the heel of her hand to her eye, a headache blooming into existence.
Percy looked grim. "Sirens," he said as he pulled himself onto the railing just in time to keep Jason from throwing himself overboard. He let out a cry as if it physically pained him to be away from the women in the water. "Can you stop them from going overboard?"
Piper shook her head. "I don't think I can make my charmspeak loud enough to overpower the sirens."
"Can you charmspeak the sirens?"
Piper's eyes widened. "I've never tried. I… I don't know."
"Try," Percy told her, whipping his head around to the still moving crew, "Nico, grab Annabeth! Reyna, can you help?"
She was curled on the deck, clutching her head against the song splitting her skull apart. "No! If I move, I'll go-" She cut off abruptly as her body relaxed, conceding to the song.
"Leo?" Piper called.
Leo dropped down beside her, eyes twitching, fingers curled in something close to agony. "At your service. I can get Bufford on rounding up the crew, those who are trying to drown themselves that is."
"Yes!"
Leo tore away, calling to his machines and creations, sending them on their missions.
The crew stilled on the deck, staring down into the water with wondering eyes. The song had dissipated to a low hum, loud enough to keep them entranced, but not to lure them over the side.
Snapping out of her trance, Reyna reeled away from the railing. The siren hissed her disdain at being denied her meal.
"Percy, hurry up! I don't think my charmspeak is going to last very long!" Piper whispered, holding her head between her hands.
"Son of Poseidon," a siren hissed from below, stretching her fingers up to him, "Come to us. You belong in the sea. Leave these mortals to us and return to your father."
Percy glanced at her. "No. Is that why you're here? Because Dad sent you and promised you this crew as payment?"
"Yes, son of Poseidon. He fought with Lady Aphrodite for hours over it. Just come home, and we will take care of the mortals," the siren implored, smiling with sharp teeth.
"No! You go home! You will not harm this vessel or its occupants and crew, nor will you prey on them again. Leave! Go back to court! You will not convince me to return," Percy snarled.
The siren hissed, long, low and guttural, but just as Percy had told them, they turned back to the ocean's depths. "Your father will hear of this, demigod," she snarled before following her sisters.
"Dad wouldn't send sirens to get me, and he wouldn't just sell a ship of demigods to sirens to get me back either," he muttered under his breath.
The crew fell from their trances, glancing around in confusion. "Why are we tied together?" Jason asked as Percy slid back to his soaked portion of deck to regenerate. Lately, he'd been disintegrating faster and faster, even if he was still wet. It was like a spell slowly breaking down.
"Sirens," the handful who hadn't been entranced explained.
…..
"Percy."
Percy's eyes jerked up from where he'd been watching Nico and Jason sleep, backs pressed against the railing. After a little prodding, he'd found that Nico had come because he'd argued with Leo, another one of his many exes. Jason had come in search of said son of Hades. The three of them, though admittedly mainly Jason and Percy, had talked until the pair had nodded off. Now, he stared up at his father, who looked very much like a demigod himself, through the clear water of his tank.
"You're a prisoner to these mortals, and you still refuse to come home. You risk death every day. For what?" Poseidon asked, staring at his son in confusion.
"I like them. They're my friends and they're nice to me. They treat me better than those in your court ever did," Percy snapped sharply.
"They keep you in a tank," Poseidon pointed out as if that outweighed everything else, "Like some common angel fish to be ogled when they wish. You disintegrate faster every day. At this rate, you'll surely die. You don't belong on the surface. You can still come home."
Anger at his father for exploiting his fear warmed his blood, tightening his resolve. "Well, I sure as hell don't belong there. I never have. I have more in common with these demigods than I ever had with your court."
Poseidon sighed, running a hand through his hair and glancing at the two sleeping teens by the tank and Percy's fierce expression. "The only reason I wanted you to come home was for your own safety and the safety of your friends. I don't want to take you from this, but there is talk among the court that there are those who whether you return or not wish to see you and this ship dead. I cannot safeguard you here. There are strict rules against gods interfering with mortals and demigods."
Biting his lip and looking at the pair beside him, he nodded. "It's fine, Dad. Thanks anyway. I'll figure something out."
Poseidon nodded, walking to the railing and standing atop it. "Oh, and Percy, you shouldn't be so scared of your fear. You belong on this vessel more than you know." Then he was gone, dropping out of sight into the cradle of his territory.
…..
'If I'm not here, they'll have no reason to attack,' Percy thought just as the sun was cresting the horizon, lighting the sky on fire, 'They want me gone. I'll be gone.'
His father's words invaded his mind again, as they had over and over again over the night. Though his plan was crazy, insane really, and multiple people would beat the hell out of him if they stopped him, he felt as if this was the only way. It was the only thing that made sense to him and seemed to go with his father's words.
Decided, Percy took a deep breath and lifted himself from his tank. As quietly as he could, he lowered himself to the deck. He leaned against his tank, already feeling his body turn to sand and salt. The little granules cascaded down him, bouncing away across the deck with soft clatters.
His pulse raced, breath hard to come by. Everyone always said to face your fears, but that was easier said than done. Percy had to fight against the urge to climb back into the water.
It was unfavorably and unreasonably hot for the morning hour, but Percy had to thank the sky for that. It would make his plan easier and faster if he didn't have a fight the others to remain dry. Once they realized what he was doing, they would surely try to stop him. He couldn't have that.
Already, the tips of his fingers and fins and fringe of his hair had given way to sand, sand that flashed in the morning light with memories and color. If he stared hard enough, he could see his life experiences passing in the small piles, each granule holding its own moment.
Chest tight with the terror he was holding back, he let the song he remembered, the only thing he remembered from his mother, slip passed his lips.
Percy's tail and arms were already half gone by the time the crew began to stir. The sun, large and scorching, rose ever higher into the effervescently blue sky.
Nico was the first to realize what was happening. Sand had piled around his feet, trickling off of Percy in ever rushing streams. He bounded to his feet, staring at Percy in horror. "Percy, what are you doing?!" he shouted, waking Jason and Drawing the attention of the slowly growing group of the crew on the deck. He reached for Percy's tank water, but Percy moved the water out of his reach, as if it were running away from his hands. "Stop it! I'm not going to let you die!"
Without looking, Percy could feel the others scrambling for hoses. He clogged them easily enough. "You can't stop this. This is the only way to keep all of you safe."
"You're insane," Nico snarled.
Jason shook his head. "There's always another way. Let us help you find it. Please."
"I'm almost gone already. It'll be fine."
"Percy," Piper whispered, but all he saw was Nico's furious gaze piercing through him and Jason's twitching fingers.
'It will be fine,' he wanted to tell them, but then again, he had no idea what waited for him.
…..
Percy gasped, pushing himself up so that he was on hands and knees in a mound of sand and salt. The mixture fell from his body, adding itself to the piles around him. "Oh fuck," he coughed, sure that his lungs were going to eject themselves from his chest. "I'm dying."
Laughter filled the silence around him. A fist or maybe a boot or maybe a knee slammed into his side as another body fell onto his shoulders. "I hate you!" Jason laughed, hanging on him, "I'm going to drown you!" He dragged his face up, stealing his lips for a very unchaste kiss.
"You can't drown a merman," Percy snapped through a gasp, breaking from the kiss, even as he grinned widely and Nico swooped in for his own kiss.
"I know you haven't seen yourself, but you'd think it would be hard to miss. You don't look very fish-like to me anymore," Piper said, grinning widely at the three of them.
"No, what he's looking is very naked," Annabeth muttered, rolling her eyes, "Leo or Will or Frank, someone go get him clothes, dammit! I don't want to be looking at his junk all day!"
"But there are some of us who just might like to," Leo put in.
"Holy mother of Zues, Leo, for the last time, you are dating Calypso! Stop sexually harassing people!" Annabeth shouted, "Go get him some clothes!"
"Do they have to fit?"
"YES!" the part of the crew standing around the trio shouted in unison.
With raised hands and a grin, Leo turned to go find a set of clothes.
Smiling, Percy sat back against his tank with a huff. "Do my new legs mean that I'm part of the crew?"
Annabeth threw her hands into the air. "For the love of- Why are all men so stupid?" she growled in utter annoyance, turning her back on the group. Piper followed after her with a satisfied grin.
"Percy, you already were part of the crew," Hazel told him as Leo ran up with Calypso at his side carrying piles of clothing.
…..
"Papa, Babbo, why does Dad always jump in the water when he doesn't need to?" Caterina, a small black haired three-year-old sporting sea foam green eyes asked, watching as Percy swam beneath the water without surfacing.
"Your father was very afraid of becoming dry at one time in his life," Jason explained, holding her in his arms, "Some habits and fears are harder to break than others."
"Why?"
"Because he was a merman and was scared he'd crumble into sand if he dried," Nico explained, "Which he did, but he didn't die."
Caterina's eyes grew wide with amazement. "A merman? Really?"
Jason had to laugh. Of course that's what she'd pick out of that. "Really."
"Can I be a mermaid too?" she asked with those imploring green eyes that the pair had never been able to resist even in her father, their lover.
Nico kissed her cheek, making her giggle fiercely. "I don't know. Maybe you can ask Dad if he'll teach you how to be one. Then you can teach the twins how to be mermaids," he told her, glancing at the blonde, stormy-eyed twins belonging to Annabeth and Piper as they spared with Hazel and Frank's her little boy. Even Leo and Calypso's triplets were out on the deck that day. "Maybe, you can teach everyone."
"Everyone?"
"Of course!" Jason told her.
Scrambling from his arms, she threw herself over the railing, diving into the water. Coming up beside Percy, she screamed, "Teach me how to be a mermaid, Dad!"
What? Random, probably unnecessary kissing that I didn't have written in when I first typed this up? I don't know what you're talking about. Well, that was more fun than I thought it was going to be, and a lot longer too. I hope you all liked it. Comments and reviews are very much appreciated. Oh, and Happy late New Year!