"Finally!" Sciron cried. "That was much longer than two minutes!"
"Sorry it was a big decision," Jason said.
"Yeah," I muttered, "uh which foot."
I prayed that Hazel could pull this off. She had her hand resting on her jacket pocket, surely thinking of the firewood she carried that held Frank's lifeline. Hell, right about now she was carrying the whole crew's lives in her hands. But despite our... rocky relationship, I trusted her with my life.
Even if I didn't like it, I had no choice.
Jason stepped forward, his hands open in surrender. "I'll go first, Sciron. I'll wash your left foot, and the girls will share your other foot."
I felt like throwing up a little in my mouth at Jason's phrasing.
"Excellent choice!" Sciron wriggled his hairy, corpse-like toes. "I may have stepped on something with that foot. It felt a little squishy inside my boot. But I'm sure you'll clean it properly."
Jason's ears reddened. From the tension in his neck, I could tell that he was tempted to drop the charade and attack—one quick slash with his Imperial Gold blade. I'd be there in an instant to back him up. But deep down I knew that if we tried fighting, we would fail.
"Sciron," Hazel broke in, "do you have water? Soap? How are we supposed to wash—"
"Like this!" Sciron spun his left flintlock. Suddenly it became a squirt bottle with a rag. He tossed it to Jason.
My eyes widened. I hadn't expected him to just hand over one of his weapons. That would surely make our plan even easier to execute, but I couldn't let that show on my face. I forced a defeated expression.
Jason squinted at the label. "You want me to wash your feet with glass cleaner?"
"Of course not!" Sciron knit his eyebrows. "It says multi-surface cleanser. My feet definitely qualify as multi-surface. Besides, it's antibacterial. I need that. Believe me, water won't do the trick on these babies."
Sciron wiggled his toes, and more zombie café odor wafted across the cliffs. My stomach bubbled, and I wondered absently if my nose hairs were burning off.
Jason gagged. "Oh, gods, no…"
Sciron shrugged. "You can always choose what's in my other hand." He hefted his right flintlock.
"He'll do it," Hazel said firmly.
Jason glared at her, but Hazel won the staring contest.
"Fine," he muttered.
"Excellent! Now…" Sciron hopped to the nearest chunk of limestone that was the right size for a footstool. He faced the water and planted his foot, so he looked like some explorer who'd just claimed a new country. "I'll watch the horizon while you scrub my bunions. It'll be much more enjoyable."
"Yeah," Jason said. "I bet."
Jason knelt in front of the bandit, at the edge of the cliff, where he was an easy target. One kick, and he'd topple over.
Hazel and I concentrated on our respective tasks, although mine was surely easier than having to manipulate the Mist. Casually, I put my hands behind my back so that Sciron wouldn't notice my intense finger movements.
While he stood there heroically, I focused on dismantling the Celestial Bronze weaponry he had, starting with his bow and arrows. The rancid smell of his feet made it difficult to isolate the scent of Celestial Bronze, but I grit my teeth and pushed through it. First, I made flowing movements with my hands and urged the shiny bronze bullet points to melt down the shaft of the arrow. Before long, I managed to turn his weapons from dangerous arrows to useless, bronze coated sticks.
Jason squirted the cleaning fluid. His eyes watered. He wiped Sciron's big toe with his rag and turned aside to gag. I could barely watch. When the kick happened, I almost missed it.
Sciron slammed his foot into Jason's chest. Jason tumbled backward over the edge, his arms flailing, screaming as he fell. When he was about to hit the water, the turtle rose up and swallowed him in one bite, then sank below the surface.
It's not real. It's not real. It's not real.
Alarm bells sounded on the Argo II. Our friends scrambled on deck, manning the catapults. I heard Piper wailing all the way from the ship. It was all so disturbing that I almost lost my focus. I forced my mind to ignore its instincts to attack, kill him, make him pay.
Remember the plan.
Hazel and I screamed in outrage. "What did you do?"
"Oh, dear…" Sciron sounded sad, but I got the impression he was hiding a grin under his bandana. "That was an accident, I assure you."
"Our friends will kill you now!" Hazel cried.
"They can try," Sciron said. "But in the meantime, I think you two have time to wash my other foot! Believe me, my dears. My turtle is full now. He doesn't want you too. You'll be quite safe, unless you refuse."
He leveled the flintlock pistol at my head.
I hesitated, letting him see my anguish. I couldn't agree too easily, or he wouldn't think we were beaten.
"Don't kick us," Hazel said, half-sobbing.
His eyes twinkled. This was exactly what he expected. The daughter of Pluto was broken, and the two of us were completely helpless. Sciron, the son of Poseidon, had won again.
I could hardly believe this guy had the same father as Percy Jackson. Then I remembered that Poseidon had a changeable personality, like the sea. Maybe his children reflected that. Percy was a child of Poseidon's better nature—powerful, but gentle and helpful, the kind of sea that sped ships safely to distant lands. Sciron was a child of Poseidon's other side—the kind of sea that battered relentlessly at the coastline until it crumbled away, or carried the innocents from shore and let them drown, or smashed ships and killed entire crews without mercy.
I snatched up the spray bottle Jason had dropped, kneeling at his feet with Hazel.
"Sciron," she growled, "your feet are the least disgusting thing about you."
His green eyes hardened. "Just clean."
I took a deep breath through my mouth, trying to ignore the smell. Hazel shuffled to one side, forcing Sciron to adjust his stance, and I followed her lead. I had no idea if her Mist manipulation was working— I had to trust her.
"Just get on with it!" Sciron said.
Hazel and I exchanged a look. It worked! We'd managed to turn Sciron one hundred and eighty degrees, but he still saw the water in front of him, the rolling countryside at his back.
We started to clean.
I had done plenty of ugly work before. I'd cleaned the bathrooms at St. Mary's with just a toothbrush plenty of times as a form of punishment before the nuns realized that it didn't stop my bad behavior. After that, they'd just paddle me until my butt was red and purple with bruises.
This is nothing, I told myself. But it was hard not to retch when I looked at Sciron's toes.
When the kick came, Hazel flew backward, but she didn't go far. She landed on her butt in the grass a few yards away.
Sciron stared at her. "But…"
In his state of confusion, I struck. I willed the flintlock to fly from his hands and into my own, wasting no time in taking a knee and aiming the gun between his emerald green eyes.
I smirked. "Reach for the sky."
Suddenly the world shifted. The illusion melted, leaving Sciron completely bewildered. The sea was at his back. He'd only succeeded in kicking Hazel away from the ledge.
He reached for his bow. "How—"
"Stand and deliver," Hazel told him.
Jason swooped out of the sky, right over our heads, and body-slammed the bandit over the cliff.
Sciron screamed as he fell, firing his bow wildly, but for once hitting nothing. I got to my feet. I reached the cliff's edge in time to see the turtle lunge and snap Sciron out of the air.
"We actually pulled it off," I breathed in utter disbelief, satisfied with watching Sciron meet his demise in such an ironic fashion.
Jason grinned. "Hazel, that was amazing. Seriously…Hazel? Hey, Hazel?"
Hazel collapsed to her knees, suddenly dizzy. I caught her in my arms before she could fall to the ground. Distantly, I could hear our friends cheering from the ship below, but I didn't feel like celebrating at the moment.
"Hazel? Hazel, stay with me!" I looked to Jason. "What's wrong with her?"
"I- I don't know! Let's get her back to the ship."
I nodded and handed the limp girl over to him. "You fly her down, I'll meet you guys at the bottom."
"No way, I'll come back for you." He flew off with Hazel in his arms, leaving no room for argument. I guess that's why he's the de facto leader.
I searched the grass until I found the magic spray bottle and spun it just like Sciron had done. To my delight, it transformed back into the Celestial Bronze flintlock just like its twin in my other hand. The pair glowed with a bright intensely, almost like recognizing their new owners. When the light subsided, the weapons had adopted a smaller and sleeker look, more like twin pistols. An excited grin spread on my face as I holstered the weapons. I hadn't expected loot when I left the ship, but I definitely wasn't going to turn it down.
Jason landed on the cliff a moment later. When he saw the Celestial Bronze pistols at my hip, he raised a brow and nodded in approval. He scooped me up easily, and we flew down towards the Argo.
LEO'S POV
Jason landed on the Argo II with Hazel in his arms, and the crew swarmed around him instantly. I still wasn't quite used to Frank's new body, but he looked like a tearful baby the moment he saw his unconscious girlfriend.
"What happened?" The son of Mars demanded as he took Hazel into his arms, cradling her small form gently.
"I'm not entirely sure," Jason admitted. "I think controlling the Mist wiped her energy, and she passed out."
"I'm gonna take her to medbay just in case," Frank said and made his way belowdecks.
Piper threw herself at Jason, sobbing profusely. "I thought you were dead! I- I thought..."
"Shh, Pipes," Jason patted her hair reassuringly. "I'm fine, I promise."
"Where's Peri?" I asked, every second going by felt like an eternity. "Is she okay?"
Jason nodded, managing to pry himself from a snot nosed Piper. "She's fine. She wanted me to drop Hazel off first. I'll be right back."
And just like the blonde Superman that he was, Jason took off into the air towards the cliff side. A moment later, his silhouette could be seen flying back down to the deck. As he got closer, I saw that he was carrying Peri in his arms bridal style.
For some reason, that ticked me off.
But jealousy aside, I was relieved to see that she was unharmed. She grinned brightly, hopping out of Jason's arms when he was still a foot off the ground.
"Guys, check it out!" Peri exclaimed, taking a pair of Celestial Bronze pistols from her hips and twirling them wildly like some sort of Western outlaw.
BANG!
The entire crew must've jumped when one of the pistols went off accidentally, and now there was another hole in my beautiful ship.
"Dang it girl," I snatched the pistols from her hands despite her protests, shoving them into my tool belt where they could do no harm. "You'll get these back when I say so!"
"Aw, come on—"
"Nope!" I grinned. "Captain's orders."
Everyone but Peri laughed— even Piper stopped sniffling to smile broadly which made me happy. No matter how much Gaea and her minions tried to break us, we would face it all together with a smile.
"Ohh come on, Leo!" Peri whined once more.
"Nope," I said calmly.
"Pleaseeee!"
"No."
"Just five minutes—"
"If you ask me again, then you're never getting those pistols back."
She groaned loudly and flopped over one of the work tables dramatically. It had been a few hours since the three of them returned from facing the Turtle Bandit as I liked to call him, and Peri hasn't once stopped asking me to return her guns. I explained to her that they were too dangerous to play around with on the ship, but she was relentless.
"But you said after we fixed the oars you'd give them back," she whined.
I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I didn't say that. You said that."
"Don't get hung up on semantics—"
"Can you even spell semantics?"
"Wow, we're gonna go there?"
I laughed just as Festus chimed that it was dinner time. "Okay, tell you what. If you can get through dinner without saying a word, then I'll let you have your pistols back. Deal?"
She sat up quickly. "Deal! Yes, I can't wait to shoot—"
"Ah ah ah," I waggled my finger at her. "No talking, starting now."
She nodded vigorously and mimed zipping her lips shut.
"Perfect!" I grinned and held my hand out. "After you."
Peri touched her heart and curtsied before skipping towards the door, surely happy that she was getting her way. But what she didn't see was my devilish grin. Because there was no way that she was getting through this dinner without making a sound. Hell, if I have my way she'll be screaming at that table.
Eager to begin my plan, I hurry out of the engine room and head up the stairs to the deck. The night sky twinkled with stars, and puffy clouds lazily chased after the bright light of the moon. The rest of the crew was settling into the dining hall, and I took a seat on Peri's left at one end of the large dining table.
Thanks to today's victory, everyone was in relatively high spirits, and the energy was lighter than it's been in a while. Hazel had recovered from medbay, and sat beside Frank with a cheery smile. With all the laughter and excitement, it truly was the perfect storm. No pun intended. The golden platter before me summoned a few soft tacos, and then it was time to execute Operation: Silent Storm.
"Leo! Buddy!" Jason ruffled my hair in that annoying yet endearing way he sometimes did. "You fixed the ship and got us back on track in no time. Great job, man."
"Thanks, man, but I really can't take all the credit." I grinned. "I couldn't have done it without the help of our friendly neighborhood Omega-Blood here."
Peri looked up from her plate of... jeez, I never know what that girl is eating. She opened her mouth to speak, but clamped it shut when she noticed my smug impression. I can't believe she almost broke that quickly! Instead of speaking, she smiled politely at Jason.
"Aw come on, Peri, don't be shy," I encouraged. "Tell us all about how you did it. Please, spare no details."
Peri shot me a death glare that could rival a herd of katoblepones.
"Uh, don't worry about it," Jason said, turning his attention back to his plate of lasagna.
I snickered as Peri stuck her tongue out at me. She popped another strange dough ball thing into her mouth. It smelled like seafood, but I couldn't tell what kind.
"What's that?" I asked innocently.
Hey, I was genuinely curious! But Peri saw through my act, and refused to answer me. Underneath the table, I reached over and squeezed her upper thighs so tightly that she squealed. Her cheeks adopted a soft rosy glow in embarrassment as a few heads turned her direction in response.
"Oh, I know that dish!" Hazel said from across the table. "I remember seeing street vendors in Little Tokyo selling those when we were there for a quest a year or so ago. Do you remember Frank?"
"Oh yea!" Frank smiled fondly at the memory. "What was it called... takoyaki! Octopus balls!"
Peri nodded vigorously in agreement until I squeezed her thigh again.
"So you're telling me," Piper began skeptically, "that octopi have balls."
The dining hall erupted in raucous laughter, and Peri had to cover her mouth to hold back her own violent giggle fit. I was definitely going to have to step it up if I was going to succeed in winning this little wager. Amidst the laughter and numerous people trying to correct a very confused Piper, I slowly moved my hand up Peri's thigh. It really was a shame that she was wearing denim shorts instead of a skirt today, but I wasn't discouraged. Her body stiffened when my hands met her zipper, and she turned to me with wide eyes.
"Just say the word, and I'll stop," I said quietly with a pitiless grin. "Any word at all. Of course that means the deal is off..."
Peri scowled before stubbornly turning back to her plate of octopus balls. What? Did she think she could just ignore me?! Ha! Fat chance. I yawned and casually looked around to make sure that nobody was paying attention to either of us. When I determined the coast was clear, my hand carefully unzipped her shorts. My fingers fumbled over the button that kept her pants clasped together, and I couldn't tell if it was because I was using only one hand or if I was that anxious to be doing such a thing around so many other people. Maybe I was crossing the line, maybe I shouldn't be doing this at all, maybe—
Peri grabbed the cloth napkin by her platter and draped it over her lap before discreetly unbuttoning her shorts. She then spread her legs a bit wider under the table and gave me an expectant look, arching her brow.
I licked the inside of my cheek. "Damn, just like that?"
The blonde smirked and shrugged, picking at the food on her plate with an even darker blush forming on her cheeks. Well if that wasn't a green light, I've got no clue what is.
I slipped my hand into her shorts, and we both sighed in unison when I felt the wet spot on her panties. I pretended not to hear the soft moan she uttered, too preoccupied with the feel of wet lace on my fingertips. When I hooked her panties to the side and touched her directly, I thought I might lose it right then and there. It was like dipping my fingers in a pot of honey. Wet, warm, and sticky.
For a moment, I completely forgot about my master plan and just got lost in exploring her dripping center. My middle finger pressed deeper and deeper until Peri gasped sharply, and her pillowy walls fluttered and squeezed around my finger tightly.
When I glanced over, I saw her falling apart in the most delicious way. Peri was biting down on her clenched fist and trying to hide her face behind her bangs, but I could just barely hear her soft panting above the mess of noise in the dining hall. Slowly and deliberately, I pumped my finger in and out of her tight entrance until her legs would shake and her breath caught.
But Peri's heavy breathing would grow into full on moans, so I kept having to stop to keep her quiet. As much as I'd love to finish her off and hear her groan out my name again, it was way too risky with everyone around. When I slipped my finger out from her slippery walls for the third time, she slammed her fist on the table and growled in frustration.
"Whoa!" Hazel flinched along with a few others, sprinkling powdered sugar from her beignet all over the place.
"What's the matter, Storm?" Coach Hedge boomed from the far end of the table, eagerly picking up his baseball bat. "Is it a monster? A beastie? Somethin' to kill?!"
Peri stammered for a response with a reddened face, and I couldn't hold back my laughter at her embarrassment.
"She's just upset she lost our little bet," I said with a shit-eating smirk.
"Curses!" Peri let her head fall to the table with a thud. "I'll never get my guns back."
The others laughed at her misfortune while I just smiled and licked my finger clean of her juices with a satisfied sigh. She tasted just as good as I'd imagined, and seeing her shy smile as she watched me savor her more than any other sweet treat was the ultimate reward. By the look in her eyes, I could tell that the night was just beginning.