JASON

Somewhere along the line, the ground decided to give up on them. Apparently, it didn't think they were worth it and seemed to sink away like an angry babysitter.

Part of Jason considered apologizing to Gaea for all the trouble they'd caused her, but he didn't think that was worth it either. In fact, she'd probably just make them sink faster.

Festus had toppled Jupiter knew how long ago and Jason hadn't been able to do anything about it. The only good part - and it wasn't a very large part - was that some of the telkhines went with him. Not as in they just fell in and didn't come out again, but for whatever reason they followed his heavy body into the water on purpose. But the great dragon did not resurface and even the glint of his bronze was lost beneath the waves.

He cringed to think how they would tell Leo.

He also cringed at the cold seeping through his shoes.

Hazel had disappeared into the frenzy with Eugene and Frank was stumbling around the rubble with his bow around his shoulder. His draconian form had been figured out by the telkhines and he'd since given up on chasing them around the boulders with all his bulk. Now, he was running out of arrows and was clearly trying to save those he did have left.

Nico was kneeling down a little ways away from Jason, apparently deep in concentration until he shot back up from his crouch with a scowl.

"There's nothing here!" he shouted, angrily stamping his foot. "There's only water!"

The son of Hades was dangerously close to the edge of the rapidly diminishing shore and Jason was more than a little certain he didn't know it. Jason hopped over the sinking sand and hooked a hand on Nico's jacket, yanking him back.

"What's - "

"I can't do anything!" Nico spat, tugging his arm free from Jason's grasp. "There's no ground for anything to rise from, so I can't summon anything."

Jason hadn't even thought about Nico's ability - not until now and it would certainly be an improvement to their situation. Somehow though he didn't see the problem Nico was.

"Do they need ground?" he said hesitantly, not wanting to upset the already fuming boy.

"What do you mean, 'do they need ground'? Of course they'd need ground, they have to rise - that's what rise means. As in, out of the ground."

"Or out of the sea."

Nico looked at him like he'd snapped. "What?"

"Or out of the sea. I'd think rising from the water would be just the same - they'd just have to, I don't know, swim instead of crawl. There have to be loads of people who've died, well, wherever we are. It is the ocean, after all."

"Huh." Nico looked like he'd been slapped. "Hadn't thought of that."

"Well, think about it now," Jason said as he turned away and realized more monsters had come crawling up out of the rocks looking not unlike an army of the undead themselves.

He'd have rather they had one such army of their own however to counter with, not simply five teenagers and assorted mythological creatures. He'd just have to leave Nico on that one. For now, Jason had regrouping telkhines to deal with.

He spun to face them, Imperial gold burning in front of him as he prepared for battle.

But the monsters had stopped.

They were staring blank, cold expressions, but not at the demigods. Their glassy black eyes flitted unfocused out to an invisible sea, listening intently to the slow rumble that flowed from somewhere deep beneath them.

The water was vibrating, kicking up the already choppy waves and just barely shaking the earth. Just enough to be noticeable. Just enough to be a problem.

Frank yelled somewhere in the distance. His voice seemed far away, incoherent. Jason didn't like it. That shouldn't be right. The island wasn't big. They couldn't be very far away, could they? But before he could think the telkhines were scattering. Some ran towards him and he raised the gladius to defend himself, only to be pushed aside and out of the fleeing monsters' ways. They dove headlong into the sea, their grey flippers trailing behind them in a puff of sea-spray and a timid splash. Within seconds, Jason and Nico were alone and it was as if the telkhines hadn't been there at all.

He looked at Nico, hoping to see a cohort of pirates or something surrounding him, but he just met his gaze and shook his head.

"That's not me," he whispered.

The vibrating grew to a trembling, to an all-out shaking and finally, when Jason though his teeth were about to shatter, the ground cracked sending he and Nico tumbling on different sides of the divide.

Water splashed up from the crevasse and seeped around them, electric storm clouds huddling in on all sides over head and swirling in time with the sea.

The wind whipped up suddenly and Jason heard Nico shout, his words drowned out in the unbelievable fury of an unknown force.

The gale pushed against him and he lost his feet, pitching forward onto sharp rocks and frigid stone. It was all he could do not to be knocked into the tumult.

He tried yelling. Where were the others? Everything had been swallowed up including his voice and his cries were lost on the wind and the waves.

He was alone.

If only he could calm this storm, he'd be able to get his bearings. If only just a little peace could ease up this wind…He focused all his energy on reversing the direction of the onslaught and slowly, how agonizingly slowly, he felt something give. Soon he was standing in the center of a Jason-inspired mini-eye of the storm, breathing hard and not daring to be too pleased at his success.

A little ways away, he could make out a dark and tiny figure, kneeling on a miniature slab of rock. He thought he could make out Nico's dark hair, but couldn't be sure.

He tried squinting in the opposite direction and found two other mini islands floating by themselves, clearer to him than the other. In the blurry distance something massive loomed up out of the murk and crashed down. Someone yelled.

And the figure further away from him jumped.

He didn't know who it was and wasn't given time to find out. Another stronger gust broke his concentration and blew him around against the sea. His head slammed to the ground, ringing like cracking thunder through his ears and his eyes went dark behind a swirling blue streaked wall.