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(::) (::) for rrfanman and Thalia Bolt, who got it correctly: 'Poop Pile' is actually Zeus' Fist!

This is back to the Argo crew, who are currently fighting a monster. Time: currently about noon or so on the third day in Leo's 3-5 days.

Disclaimer: no, I do not own HoO.

Chapter XXI Jason

Jason started awake from his dream-conversation with Artemis to hear shrieking and yells of surprise. He instantly jumped out of bed and snatched up his sword. Jason felt a little dazed, though, as if the goddess was inside his head or something.

Delphi, a voice whispered inside his head. Go to Delphi.

Was it Artemis, trying to tell him something? Jason wasn't sure. He dismissed the voice, not knowing what it meant. He would discuss it later, after whatever-it-was that was attacking the ship was driven off.

The Argo II lurched wildly and there was a yell Jason recognised as Leo's. "Oh for gods sake!" yelled Leo. "These bees are crazy!"

Bees?

Jason rushed out and up onto the deck – to be confronted by the bizarre scene.

Leo was wrestling with the wheel, spinning it back and forth as he ducked and wove.

Piper was slashing away with Katoptris.

Coach Hedge was wielding his club, smashing away.

Nico, Hazel and Frank fought in a cluster, slashing and stabbing.

The weird thing? They were fighting… nothing! At least, nothing Jason could see. Did all his friends just go mad? Or did he just go mad? This was the weird scene.

"Jason!" yelled Piper. "Do something! Get rid of those bees!"

Leo grunted as he continued fighting with the wheel.

"Do what?" Jason called back. "I can't see anything!"

"You can't see those bees?" shouted Coach Hedge. "Piper! Watch it!"

His girlfriend turned too late and yelped as nothing – something – sliced away part of her jacket, leaving a rather nasty green bump on her shoulder.

That focused it for Jason. His eyesight blurred and refocused – to see seven giant bees hovering in the air, their stings pointed like wasps, and dive-bomb themselves at his friends.

One of the bees spotted him and dived towards him. He ducked and slashed like his friends were doing, at the bee. It buzzed away angrily, then dived again.

Jason ducked again, trying a stab at the bee, barely missing the end of its sting. For the first time, he saw the sting properly.

It was at least as long as his palm, maybe longer. There were needle-sharp hairs coating every bit of it. And, worst of all, Jason saw an alien greenish liquid on it. It was at least poison, maybe worse. And he could guess: it was deadly.

The creature shot towards him again, and he slashed: a brutal, non-refined slash. It had absolutely no finesse to it. But, for some weird reason, it hit the bee, drawing a long score across its body. Long, but unfortunately for Jason, it was shallow, and all it did was make the bee angrier. By a lot.

The bee tucked in its wings and surged towards him. He ducked and sidestepped, but the edge of its left wing grazed him. Jason realised its wings were tough, as tough as leather, and it hurt when it hit.

The giant bee came back, buzzing angrily. Jason managed to get a cut on the bee's body, next to the slash he had already made. He wasn't sure what these were, monsters certainly, but also certainly Gaia's. He also wasn't sure how many scratches it would need to get defeated.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hazel pick up a scratch. Jason heard a hiss of wind and ducked reflexively, just as the bee swooped over his head.

One bee for each of us, his mind thought. Definitely Gaia. But why now?

This is going on too long. I need to end this, fast. How?

As the bee came in for his next shot, Jason did an all-or-nothing move.

Jason summoned the winds and rose until he was the same height as the bee, his sword in front of him, a second before the bee would have smacked into him and probably have sent him over the side of the ship. Instead, the monster's head impaled itself on his Imperial Gold sword.

There was a sickening crack! and Jason winced slightly as the beast's skull shattered. The giant bee dropped from the air, dragging his sword with it. Jason couldn't tug his sword free from that huge weight, so he dropped with it.

The giant bee fell onto the deck, disintegrating even as it fell. Jason retrieved his sword and looked around, wondering how his friends were doing.

Piper seemed to be holding her own against her giant bee, and Nico, Frank and Hazel were doing OK, with one bee down and two to go. Coach Hedge was alright as well.

Jason glanced at Leo and saw that Leo was not alright. Leo was trying to steer the ship and fight the bee, and that proved to be a difficult job. Leo had picked up a number of scratches, although the bee was black all over.

Jason ran to help Leo, scratching Leo's bee as he ran. "Focus on the steering, man!" yelled Jason. "I'll deal with your bee!"

Leo nodded, frantically spinning the wheel. Jason could hardly guess how many kilometres they were off-course. Probably a lot.

Jason got an opening as the bee buzzed past his head again. He stabbed his sword straight up, into the body of the monster. It instantly turned to powder and disintegrated.

"How badly are we off course?" Jason asked Leo.

"Very badly," Leo answered, turning the wheel. "We're about one, two hundred kilometres from Athens, and that is way off course. We might be set back a few hours or so by this. Go help Piper!"

Piper was at that minute stabbing at the bee. Jason ran to help and within seconds the bee was gone.

They looked around. Nico was dispatching the last of the bees in his group even as Jason watched, and Coach brought his club down with an almighty SMASH on the bees head. They were all gone.

After they'd treated themselves with nectar and ambrosia for their wounds, they gathered in the dining hall, waiting for Leo who'd gone to set the ship back on course.

When he came back, he looked grim. "We are pretty badly off course, about one hundred kilometres away from Athens, which is about as far as we can get in Greece away from the House of Hades. I'm going to blame the storm and the bees. In any case," said Leo, taking out the holographic map, "we'll be set back by four, five hours. Right now, we are here."

He pointed at a spot not far away from Athens on the map and then pointed to Epirus. "It's the reason Gaia sent the bees right then. To steer us off course. I'm sure it was Gaia. Aren't bees her sacred animal or something?"

Piper nodded. "The bee, the serpent and the pig are all her sacred animals. I think there might be more but I can't remember them."

"So," continued Leo. "We need to set course for the north-west. Epirus is here. We are here." He sighed. "If we make it by noon on day five, I'll consider that a miracle. Everything would still be on course. Although, now I think about it, we probably don't need three days at the Doors…"

Jason glanced at the map again. Delphi. That was what the voice he was almost certain was Artemis' had told him. And he remembered that Delphi was an oracle – wasn't that what Rachel had said? She was the host of the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi or something?

"Where's Delphi?" Jason asked Leo.

Leo shrugged. "It's here somewhere," he said, pointing at a spot that was along their way to Epirus.

It was along their way. That meant they wouldn't have to deter. Just one or two hours lost at the place. And why would they need to go there? Of course, that was what Artemis' voice had said. They probably should go there.

Taking a deep breath, Jason said, "Leo? We need to go to Delphi."

Everyone stared at him. "Why?" asked Nico.

Jason started explaining his dreams to them. "Well, I dreamt…"

What did you think of the bee attack? There'll probably be a prophecy soon, either next chapter or the one after that. Please review! And how do you think I should do the Delphi thing?

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