P.E.R.C.Y. J.A.C.K.S.O.N.
When she met him, Piper couldn't help but compare Percy Jackson to her boyfriend. Of course, she preferred Jason; there was a certain air of wild delinquency to Percy that made her uneasy. She could see why Annabeth liked him though. Percy kept Annabeth mellow while Annabeth helped Percy focus. As the daughter of the love goddess, Piper knew the two were perfect for each other.
Then there were Percy's powers. He told the rest of the Seven how while they'd been building the Argo, Hera had sent him to a mysterious sea somewhere off the coast of Japan in order for him to get stronger.
Piper wouldn't fully understand what that meant until she witnessed Jason and Percy face off in a wheat field in Topeka, Kansas.
"Stop it!" she cried, attempting in vain to get the eidolons to leave her boyfriend and friend's bodies, "Leave them alone!"
Percy's head jerked in her direction. His pale face cracked into an evil grin made all-the-more terrifying by Percy's shark-like teeth, "Piper McLean," he said in a deep, hollow voice, "You must choose who will die with you."
"If you don't," the eidolon possessing Jason creaked, "Perseus Jackson will make the choice for you."
Instinctively, Piper wanted to protest, to defend her boyfriend's fighting capabilities. Jason was not weak; he was the son of Jupiter. Jason was the most powerful demigod Piper knew. Besides, they were in a field in the middle of nowhere in Kansas. What could Percy possibly do without the ocean?
Yet, Piper had never actually seen Percy fight before. The fight in the forum didn't count; Piper had had enough problems of her own without needing to watch Percy fight. She knew that Percy was one of the strongest demigods at Camp Half-Blood, but she had yet to see for herself what that really meant.
"Too late," the eidolon in Percy's body said gleefully, "Now, Jason Grace dies."
A rushing sound accompanied all of the wheat in a five-mile radius shriveling and dying as Percy stretched his hands in the air. Tempest, Jason's mount, whinnied nervously, but the eidolon controlling Jason held its ground, raising Jason's sword in the air. Piper's ears popped uncomfortably at the drop in air pressure as lightning crackled to life across the sky.
But Percy had had longer to prepare than Jason had. Piper watched in reluctant fascination as an enormous, churning mass of water grew ever larger above their heads.
"It's the crops," Piper murmured in realization as another wheat plant next to her head shriveled and died, "He's pulling water from the crops."
"One last chance, Piper McLean," said the eidolon in Percy's body as it made Percy form the water into hundreds of giant spikes, hovering in midair, "Choose, or Perseus Jackson chooses for you."
"Go to Hades!" Piper shouted, "And leave them alone!"
Percy chucked his spikes at Jason as Piper sprinted in the opposite direction in a vain attempt at ducking for cover. Miraculously missing Jason, the spikes lost their form the second they hit the ground, sending water in all directions. Percy's water hit Piper like a tidal wave, blasting her and an endless field of crops flat into the ground.
But what eidolonized-Percy hadn't counted on was Jason's lighting. At the same moment that Percy threw his water spikes, Jason called forth the heavens, charging the water around Percy with electricity. Piper looked up, expecting to find Percy fried to a crisp, but the lightning didn't seem to affect him the way it should have. The eidolon in Percy grinned, delighted at this turn of events.
"That was unexpected," he rasped, "I've never possessed a haki user before."
"Haki…?" Piper was far too terrified to be confused at this. Water was an excellent conductor; Percy should, by all rights, have been dead. So why wasn't he?
The eidolon tossed Percy's sword aside. "Such power. Perhaps I'll keep this one for myself," it said as Percy flexed his fingers.
"That wasn't the plan," Jason's eidolon said in a deep, wounded voice, "Gaea will not be pleased."
"I don't care," Percy's eidolon said smugly, "With this power, I can keep Gaea away easily."
It dropped Percy into a martial arts stance, "I can certainly kill you."
"We shall see," growled the other eidolon.
Piper watched in horrified fascination as Jason dismounted Tempest and stalked towards Percy like a wolf sizing up its prey. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Blackjack creeping up behind Percy. She wanted to scream at Blackjack to fly away because she finally understood what the eidolon meant; Percy was dangerous. Piper shuddered to think of the eidolon wielding that kind of power.
Jason rose his sword above his head and brought it down at Percy's skull, only for Percy to roll expertly out of the way.
"Fishman Karate," the eidolon in Percy says in a mocking tone, "Karakusagawara Seiken."
Piper watched in horror as Percy punched at the air and Jason went flying ten, fifty, one hundred feet through the air, hitting the dirt with a deafening boom! several heart-wrenching seconds later.
Piper broke into a sprint, hoping, foolishly so, to put herself between the eidolon and her boyfriend.
"Mom!" she gasped, still running as fast as her feet would carry her while the eidolon stalked towards Jason, "I'm not strong enough! Please, lend me your power! I can't lose Jason!"
Piper took a running leap and planted herself in front of Percy, "LEAVE PERCY JACKSON AND NEVER RETURN!" she roared.
Aphrodite must have heard her desperate prayer, for at that moment, a dark shadow seeped from Percy's body, disappearing into the clear, Kansas air.
Percy stumbled, "Whoah…Piper? Where'd Mr. D go?"
"There's no time for that!" Piper said urgently, sprinting towards where she'd seen Jason land, "We need to get Jason back to the ship!"
Whatever fogginess Percy may have had after being possessed, he seemed to banish it at once when he and Piper found Jason, smoking and unconscious, at the bottom of a crater.
"Oh, Jason," Piper whimpered, sliding down into the crater to retrieve her boyfriend.
"You're right," said Percy, "We need to get him back to the ship. Blackjack, can you give us a hand?"
Percy's dark, beautiful pegasus whinnied in what Piper hoped was consent.
"He says he can take all three of us," Percy translated effortlessly. Somewhere in the less hysterical part of her mind, Piper had to wonder about the usefulness of being able to talk to horses. Percy could pull water out of thin air, make himself lightning-proof and send powerful demigods like Jason flying with his bare fists; talking to horses felt more like a parlor trick than a power.
Blackjack touched down on the deck of the Argo in a circle of concerned demigods, all with their own questions, but Percy had already taken Jason in his arms and dashed towards the galley.
"I need Piper and Annabeth," he barked over his shoulder, "The rest of you, stay out of the infirmary for the next two hours."
"Come on," said Annabeth, grabbing Piper by the wrist and jogging after Percy.
"I don't understand," said Piper as she and Annabeth caught up with Percy at the door to the infirmary, "What's he doing to Jason?"
"Saving his life," said Annabeth, "Now are you going to help him, or not?"
In record time, Percy had stripped Jason of his tattered shirt and laid him out on the cot nearest the door.
"Annabeth," Percy said urgently.
"Right," Annabeth read Percy's mind effortlessly, filling up a dish with water and bringing it to Percy.
"Piper," said Percy.
"Huh?" Piper said stupidly, "What's going on?"
"That's not important right now," said Percy, "I'm assuming I'm the one that did this to Jason, right?"
Piper nodded numbly.
"I need you to tell me exactly what I did to him," said Percy, "I can feel guilty about it later when he's safe."
So Piper told him, in as exact detail as possible, how Percy had thrashed Jason's butt while barely trying. Gods, Leo would never let Jason live this down, if he found out.
"Sounds like a few broken ribs," said Percy, "and maybe some head trauma."
Piper watched as Percy waved a hand over the bowl of water, guiding it gently out of its bowl to hum at attention at Percy's hands. Percy took a deep breath and brought his hands to Jason's temples. When he opened his eyes again, they were glowing with the same brilliant, neon blue light pulsing through the water at Jason's head.
Piper gulped, "…he's healing him?"
"Yes," Annabeth said in a low voice, "He explained it to me once. Percy's guiding water through pathways of energy in Jason's body. Water is a source of life; it's meant to heal."
"You said being in water heals Percy…" said Piper, "Is it like that?"
"Exactly," said Annabeth, studying Percy with an academic interest, "He's inverting his power to use it on others."
"Incredible," Piper breathed, "Can he hear us?"
"That, I don't know," Annabeth admitted, "The glowing eyes are definitely new. Maybe they're a sign he's in a trance?"
"No, I can still hear you," Percy said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "I need a lot of concentration with head injuries, so if you don't mind..?"
The girls wisely shut up, choosing to sit and watch Percy work. For half an hour, Piper didn't dare move a muscle, else she break Percy's concentration. She had a million questions that her inquisitive nature needed answered, like how did Percy learn how to heal? How long had he been practicing it? Why did head injuries need more concentration?
But those would all have to wait. Piper could see the color gradually returning to Jason's face. The bruises littering his torso seemed to be fading as well. Whatever Percy was doing, it was working.
After half an hour, the glow finally faded from Percy's eyes, leaving them sea green and harrowed once more. With a wave of his hands, Percy returned the water to the small, plastic bowl at his side, and sagged in his seat.
"He's stable now," Percy declared, "He should wake up on his own within the next hour."
Finally, Piper let herself breathe a sigh of relief.
"Way to go, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said proudly, "Now, are you alright?"
Percy stood and stretched, working out the many kinks in his back, "Fine, I think. My pride is a different story, though."
"W-why?" said Piper, her voice still hoarse with relief, "You kicked Jason's butt without getting a scratch on you. You even…"
Piper's voice trailed off, unwilling to voice aloud what she was thinking.
"He looked like he was holding back?" Annabeth guessed.
Piper nodded wordlessly.
Percy stared at the ceiling, looking as if he wished it would spit him into the air, never to be seen again.
"I'm sorry, Piper," he said in a small voice, "I'm sorry that I hurt Jason and I'm sorry that I scared you."
"You don't have anything to apologize for-," Annabeth started hotly.
Piper held out a hand to stop her. "Annabeth's right," she said kindly, never taking her eyes off Percy, "It wasn't your fault, what happened to Jason. Something old and evil took your power and used it for itself. And yeah, it scared me a little," she added, frowning at the waves of despair rolling off Percy, "But that doesn't change how I, or Annabeth, or any of the others feel about you, Percy. You're our friend; we know you'd never intentionally hurt us. And unintentionally?"
Piper fixes him with a ruthful smile, "I think the six of us combined are enough to take you on, mysterious Japanese training or not."
Percy's eyes took on a sad, far-away look and he muttered something under his breath in Japanese.
"What was that?" Annabeth asked gently. Percy had been teaching her Japanese in their spare time, but Annabeth still didn't quite have a tight grasp on the language.
"It's nothing," Percy forced a smile, "Just remembering a friend."
A groan from the bed in between them drove the room to silence. A frown creased Jason's ice blonde eyebrows as he groaned again.
"Jason?" Piper tried softly, "You awake?"
"Uh, maybe?" Jason groaned a third time, forcing his bright, blue eyes to blink sleepily at his girlfriend hovering anxiously by his head, "Weren't we in Kansas? What happened?"
"Eidolons," said Percy, "They possessed you and me. Made us fight to the death to see who'd get to play 'human sacrifice of the day'."
Jason brought a shaking hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Ugh, I'm really starting to hate those things."
He looked hopefully at Percy, "Please tell me I'm wrong and you sitting over my hospital bed doesn't mean that you kicked my ass?"
"Technically you were both possessed," Annabeth felt the need to point out, "And once Percy's eidolon took yours out, Piper forced the remaining eidolon to leave."
Piper's face cracked into a triumphant grin, "So technically I won, right?"
"I'm sorry I hurt you, Jason," Percy said in a low voice.
Jason scoffed, "Hurt my pride is more like it. We should spar for real some time, see who's really stronger."
Piper wanted to smack Jason upside his newly healed head for being such an idiot. Percy offered him a weak smile, as if he were merely humoring Jason because everyone on the Argo II now knew exactly who would win in a fight. The eidolons had seen to that.
"You're on."