The Heroes of Olympus - The Mark of Athena

by JustAnotherQuietBookNerd

(Starts partway through The Mark of Athena, before the aquarium, battery, etc.) On board the Argo II, a storm hits and ruins the ship, but not to the point where Leo will give up. Piper sees that Percy has been hiding a secret, Frank and Hazel know they need to get to Nico before it's too late, but they don't have a way to get to Rome in order to save their friend, and Hazel's...

Hazel

The Argo II rocked against the choppy water, which threatened to overturn the ship with the help of the harsh winds, buffeting the sails. Hazel clung to the railing, trying to see through the stormy mess that obscured her vision, water splashing over the side of the boat and making the deck slippery.

A figure- Jason?- shouted and slid across the deck's floor as the ship listed dangerously to port, and Hazel tightened her grip on the slippery rail. The person was gone, sliding down to the other end of the ship before Hazel could grab them. She didn't know what had caused the sudden rocky waters, or what was possibly attacking them, but she could tell one thing.

They were sinking.

"Leo!" Hazel shouted to the helm, where Festus creaked and groaned, occasionally spraying fire that turned to gray clouds of steam against the raging ocean. Where was Percy, and why wasn't he calming the water? Maybe he was trying to, or maybe something had happened so that he couldn't. Hazel hoped the former.

Hazel tried to remain on her feet as shouts echoed around her, some on the Argo and others from in the water, or on a craft. A scream was drowned in the thunder that boomed overhead. Hazel's soaking wet hair fell into her eyes, but she didn't see the point in trying to let go of the rail, not when she could tumble into the icy waters below. Hand over hand and step by step, Hazel made her way to where Leo stood, shaking a controller and punching an array of buttons.

Stumbling as the ship tilted, again, Hazel's eyes widened as the Argo went up on a massive curl of the sea, like a hill in the ground. She could see down over a hundred feet into the churning black swirl of water that they were headed for, dark except for the foam on top and what was lit by lightning.

In front of them, a colossal wave reached above her and Leo, stretching to the storm clouds above. As the ship rocked to the bottom of the wave they'd been on, the one in front of them seemed to grow ever larger. It was over a hundred feet high, swelling to a massive size before the tip began to crest, coming straight for their ship. Hazel grabbed Leo's shoulder, screaming over the waves to be heard, pointing to the wave, as if there was a way he'd missed it.

Leo understood, but didn't seem to know what to do. The look in his eyes as he made eye contact was pure panic. Hazel held onto the dashboard, hoping that somehow something would work to keep the ship in one piece, instead of a spread of driftwood across the sea. She hoped that her friends were somewhere on the ship, safely, where they could hold on.

The wave was an inky stain against the grey- black clouds, lit by flashes of lightning that pierced the sky. Before she closed her eyes, clenching Leo's arm with both her hands, Hazel sent a prayer to whatever gods were watching.

Keep them alive.