Another chapter. I guess the amount of chapters, relevant to weeks as they are, gives me an indication of just how fast time is going. These summer holidays vanish like nothing. Still, it means more writing to do, which is always enjoyable, and it takes me ever closer to the actual release of the Mark of Athena, which I cannot wait for. Please do enjoy, and a review would be much appreciated plzkthnxbai
Frank
Frank spread his arms and legs and out as he leapt off the ship, plummeting downwards towards the earth- through the furious grey clouds, rain and fog, he could see a glittering blue surface- the sea- very faintly, but getting closer slowly. Below, he could also see a spinning, chaotically tumbling duo of figures, fists punching, knees striking, wings flapping powerlessly with the weight of another person.
He shifted form, his legs shortnening, arms growing feathers and increasing in width- the huge sea eagle tucked in its wings and hastened its descent towards Jason and the venti.
With his amplified vision, Frank could make out Jason's calm features- even though the guy could apprently fly, Frank wouldn't have felt comfortable tackling the venti and hurtling down to earth without the wings that were tucked around him.
He soon caught up to the pair, headbutting and kicking each other, the venti roaring a stormy bellow of defiance in Jason's face- before Frank could sink his claws into its back, it managed to wind Jason, smashing an eretheral fist into his abs, push itself away, and draw another buzzing, artificial sword. Jason recovered, wheeling around in midair, and used the wind to propel himself like a semi-divine rocket towards his enmy, even as the storm spirit flapped its grey wings and shot towards him, sword raised.
A bolt of lightning flashed from the sky and curled around Jason's fist as if caught in a whirlpool as they collided, the venti's neck snapping as the energy surrounding Jason's hand transferred right into its ghostly head, gold dust already flinging itself downwards; but Jason gave vent to a bellow- and even as Frank finally seized Jason securely around the arms with his claws, he saw the reason for his pain. A charred, smoking hole was in Jason's side. Already the blackened skin was cooling and the smoke was fading, but there was still a livid wound in Jason's side.
A sea eagle's flight was no easy task, even with it's gigantic wingspan-countered by the drenching rain- as Frank and a limp Jason ascended, the clouds remained in place, deciding to stay- however the lightning ceased to flash aroundthe sopping wet Argo II, of which Frank could see the celestial bronze underplating.
Quickly he tired of his uphill struggle, and by the time he finally managed to get above the deck of the Argo II, the other demigods' anxious faces below him, he phased out of his eagle form before he'd landed, sending Jason crumpling to the wooden deck and himself not much better off, utterly exhausted and weak, landing on his feet, staggering and tripping into the wall of the cabin, sliding down onto the ground.
"Frank! Frank!" Jesus, come inside," Hazel said, concerned. Percy rushed over, pulled him upright by his arms, ignoring his soaking clothing- which apparently, was affected by weather to the same extent he was when his shape was changed, and put his arm over his shoulder. "I've got him, Hazel- let's get him into the cabin-" he nodded over to the cabin that didn't have the instruments in -"can you get some ambrosia and nectar? For Jason as well!" he called as she ran out.
Percy aided Frank, walking with him supported into the cabin, until he could swing Frank's arm round and lower him gently onto one of the beanbags. He knelt down next to Frank for a moment, and then Annabeth and Piper crashed in, exposing the floor of the cabin close to the door to the rain outside as they carried Jason in between them.
Lying on the beanbag, Frank saw through his flickering eyes Jason, his dead weight indenting into a beanbag opposite. Then he saw Hazel, who even though she had a bleeding cut along one cheek, her shirt torn, her warm curls lathered to her back, her clothes sopping wet, looked beautiful to Frank. She held one of the many flasks of nectar and cases of ambrosia, and gave the nectar to Piper, who held her hand out for it, turning quickly to Jason, who was now obscured by Annabetha and Piper.
Hazel came over and knelt down next to Percy. Uncapping the container of ambrosia, she held out one of the small squares of the godly food and held it to Frank's mouth. Almost numbly, he leant his head forward slightly and took the square of food.
Frank had never tasted the Greek medicine before, and as he chewed on the soft hunk of matter, he almost choked with emotion. It was Frank's favourite, straight from the kitchen, made by his mother- duck salad. He practically inhaled the rest of the ambrosia, savouring the flavour- it wasn't often he got such a crystal clear reminder of his mother.
As he finished, he became aware of how energetic he was feeling- the medicine had restored his strength, leaving him feeling completely refreshed, his body forgetting his bearing of Jason hundreds of feet upwards.
"You feel alright?" Percy asked. "It's a little unsual the first time round, but it's pretty good in a pinch...anyway, just be careful that you don't eat too much," he warned, standing up, "otherwise the stuff'll burn you up. We might be demigods, but that stuff's for full gods."
"Sure as hell beats unicorn shavings." Frank said cheerfully, standing up. Looking at Hazel, his glee at the wonder medicine faded as he saw her injury. "Hazel, you should have some too." He bent down and gave another square of ambrosia to her.
She apprehensively took some, as if expecting it to turn into a storm spirit, or explode violently. "It's fine," Percy reassured her.
Frank watched as she cautiously took a bite, then wolfed down the rest of the square. He was surprised to see, all of a sudden, a tear leaking from her eye. "Hazel! What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"I'm alright," she said tearfully. "It just reminds me of home. You know, before."
"I'm sorry, Hazel, i should've said something about how it tastes-" he stepped forward, enclosing his arms around her, into which Hazel sank gratefully.
Jason
Jason's eyes prised themselves open intermittently. A stab of agony in his side was the last thing he remembered, and then abrupt flashes of two people carrying him. A glimpse of a cabin, sheltering him from the elements.
He tried to wake, but he could not. It was as if he was enclosed in a coffin- he could not find the space nor the leverage to push through the obstacle obstructing him from surfacing.
Practically delirious, he flitted back and forth between reality and a hazy, unreal world of his own construction, his fevered mind creating images of a screaming Piper, storm spirits with marble white eyes, laughing at him, an image of Leo, a jester's hat atop his head, laughing hysterically at his plight, lightning flashing upwards to impact against the ceiling of Jupiter's temple, that constantly winked in and out of existence.
And then he heard a voice inside his head.
Jason. a mumbled murmur, like a bee's hum.
Who's that? What are you doing in my head?
Don't you know your own mother?
Gaea. Get out of my fucking head.
Oh, don't worry. i'm just here for a little visit. she droned, laughing in that half-aware whisper.
Jason suddenly opened his eyes. Percy was the only one standing over him. Piper, Annabeth, Leo, Frank, and Hazel all had their backs to them, talking in hushed tones.
"Well. Good job, buddy." said Percy.
Jason shifted suspiciously. "Are the venti gone?"
"What, the storm spirits? And quit the Latin, please." he said.
"Why? What difference does it make? You're always spouting that Greek shit around me."
"Hey. watch your mouth- all i was doing was just asking if you could give it a rest for a minute, alright?"
"I don't give a shit! Get the-"
The other five turned around, concerned.
"What's going on?" Piper asked slowly.
"Nothing! All i did was ask the twat how he was, and he fucking snapped!" growled Percy.
Jason started to protest his innocence, but Piper put a firm hand on his chest.
"Just rest, Jason."
The hallucination vanished.
Just rest, Jason.
I'm not buying that shit, Gaea.
Are you sure you want to work with the Greeks? Just you wait until you realise what they have planned for you and your little camp.
Oh really? And why would you be sharing this with me?
I have very important plans for you, Jason Grace. I have observed your sister for a time, and she would be magnificent at my beck and call, but you... well, you on a leash in the future, not to mention the other events you will be central to, would be vital to myself. I want you alive, so that you can come to me.
I don't believe you. Jason's conviction wavered for a second.
Hmmm, Gaea mused.
The presence that had been Gaea withdrew from the back of his mind, and Jason shuddered mentally; he descnded into a blizzard of tortured images once again; Percy thrusting his sword through Hazel's chest, blood spraying as she choked, Annabeth stabbing Piper from behind, stabbing her again and again as she fell to the ground, clutching her wounds in surprise, Leo, setting his hands aflame and holding them to Frank's face, laughing dementedly as Frank screamed; only this time they repeated, Jason watching all three scenes in one space at the same time, unable to tear his vision away from the killings.
Jason sank further down, until he was sinking towards an infinitely black darkness that lay beneath him.
He struggled, thrusting his elbows out to prevent his fall, jamming them against the side of the invisible barriers surrounded by invading darkness, scraping flesh, tensing when he secured a hold with his elbows with all his might. He pushed upwards, he heaved, he threw every ounce of himself at the seal. But it would not budge. He fought, until he could fight no more, being dragged down exponentially. Soon, he was so far from the top he thought he could never resurface.
But then he did, hair ruffled as he zoomed back up to the top, limbs held in tightly, and burst through the container.
He woke to a different world.
Piper
Piper still sat by Jason's bed, faithfully holding his hand. She'd prayed to just about every god she knew, even Ares, although Annabeth had said she'd be better off praying to a leaf, that he would wake well. Even though the nectar had closed up the stab wound in his side, he looked weak, pale, withdrawn. Every now and then he would flinch, and mumble. Piper had tried to lean in closer to hear what he was saying, but every time she did so, his grasp tightened on her hand, anchoring her to the spot.
He'd been in there for nine hours when he finally awoke, and it was far from the reunion, however short the time they had spent apart, she'd hoped for. His eyes snapped open instantly, and she knew something was wrong. The whites of his eyes were devoid of veins, or anything resembling them. The pale blue was still at the centre, but outwards of that? Clear, pure white. His eyes were darting back and forth, searching the room for someone. His hand snatched away from her and his eyes flicked to her, scouring every inch of her. She would have felt embarassed at that kind of scrutiny, save for the fact she was blinking back the tears in her eyes and wiping the ones on her cheek that had been present every second he'd been asleep.
"Piper?" he whispered slowly. Then he leaned forward quicky, grabbed her by the arms. "Where is he?" he whispered feverishly, panicked.
"Jason! What the hell are you doing?" Piper cried. "Where's who?"
"The greeks. Don't trust them- they've got plans, she said, plans plans and we're in danger! A stab in the back!" He laughed brokenly at that last part.
Suddenly he was almost back to normal, apart from the eyes, still bouncing from surface to surface. "Piper, you have to trust me. Don't put all your trust into them, put it in me!" his voice was more composed, more measured. And then it changed again. "Don't trust them. I've seen terrible things, oh yes, more than you know. Something terrible will happen if you don't listen to me. They want to kill me!" he hissed.
Piper leapt away from him. "Jason, what the fuck is going on?" she yelled.
He jumped out of the bed, still pale, but alert. "Who are you shouting for? At? You aren't with them, are you...no, no, no..." laughing, he doubled over, and Piper, tears streaming afresh, stumbled backwards and ran for the door.
Behind her, she heard the scathing sound of metal sliding away from restraints, and the pounding of footsteps- as fast as she could, she sprinted out of the room and up the stairs to the deck.
"Hey!" she heard Leo shout. "What the hell is up with you two?"
She kept on running until she reached the top, bursting out and nearly knocking Annabeth down, who was walking past the entrance to below decks.
"Wow, slow down!" She smiled. "Jason okay then?" She was cut off as the demigod in question charged upstairs and ploughed into her, smashing her to the ground with a crunch.
"Hey!" came another shout from somwhere to Jason's left. She found out who that was when Percy tackled Jason from the side, sending them both rolling. Jason kicked Percy away and scrambled to his feet, holding a pilum. "You!" He screamed manically. "She showed me what you did, what you're going to do!"
Percy uncapped his sword, and the blade expanded to full length. "Jason, what the fuck are you about? I haven't done anything, and i'm not going to-" He was cut off as Jason threw himself at him, snarling like an animal.
Percy
Jason's searpoint whistled past Percy, spinning and coming back around to club him on the back of his head. Percy stumbled, then ducked and slashed at his back, only to find him rolling away. He lunged back at Percy, who dodged and thrust back, then trapped his swordpoint against his leg, pulled Percy towards him, kicking him in the stomach.
What the hell? Percy though incredulously. SInce when did he fight like this?
Jason was fighting without care now, aiming blow after blow, not just with the spearpoint but with the blunt end of the pilum, at Percy, who managed to parry and counter often enough to score one, two, three glancing cuts on Jason's torso. They were only glancing strikes because Percy could never...detach himself from Jason's fury long enough to get a followthrough on the blow- Jason pressed Percy more and more, pushing forward, never even flinching at his injuries, though blood dripped down his chest.
Percy reeled backward, only just managing to keep Jason's spear from reaching him- his blocks came closer to being too late with every impact, until, finally, he was overwhelmed, even as he saw Piper, eyes wide, frozen in place. He tripped over something on the floor, and even as he fell backwards to lie on his back, he realised it had been the prone form of Annabeth, still stunned on the ground.
Jason leapt onto Percy, spear pressing down onto his throat. Percy dropped his sword and placed his hands on the spear, desperately pushing upwards, to no avail. Jason already had a solid grip, and with the added advantage of pressing downwards, working with gravity rather than against it. Percy felt the spear's wooden handle crushing his windpipe, the pressure increasing as Jason's strength and advantages overcame his own. Percy saw shadows clouding the edge of his vision, choking and spluttering.
Even as darkness almost fully set in on him, feeling the blood from Jason's wounds dropping onto his shirt, the pressure eased, and through his brightening vision he saw Jason slump to one side.
Annabeth stood over Jason, knife in hand, hilt still following through from the knockout blow.
"Gods..." Percy croaked. "Thanks."
"So you owe me," she said, pulling him up. "What else is new?"
"What the fuck was wrong with him?" Annabeth said, rubbing her head with a grimace.
"No idea." Percy whispered. He looked past Annabeth to see Piper, still frozen in shock. She didn't move a muscle as Leo came from down below, stopping as he saw Jason's motionless body.
Annabeth turned to follow his gaze. "Oh gods... Piper?" she said cautiously.
"Leo," Percy said quietly, still feeling his raw throat. "Help me get Jason downstairs."
Leo nervously itched around Piper, who was being talked to by Annabeth in low, soothing tones as she approached her to put an arm around her, and bent down to aid percy in lifting Jason up. "Bloody hell, he's a fat bastard," he grumbled as they lugged him towards to door leading to the downstairs areas. "What the hell?" Leo said in surprise as he saw the light slashes across Jason's chest.
"Downstairs."
"Huh?"
"Downstairs!" Percy hissed as loud as he could with his throat predicament.
Jason's legs trailed down the metal steps as they carried him back into the storeroom- the entrace of which was the third of five doors downstairs. This one was at a right angle to the two bedroom doors, which on the far left of the stairs, ten feet away; facing the stairs. They dragged him over, the circular door spinning open.
Dropping Jason none too gently onto the floor, Percy stood, rubbing his throat to look at the storeroom.
There was a forge in the 30 feet square room, at the far end, the magical fire constantly burning. It, the anvil, the other forging equipment and other raw materials were shielded by a circular dome of celestial bronze. Percy had seen the forge last night before sleeping, as well as the stacks of arrows and small amounts of ammunition for the pistols to the right of the forge. There were six fridges in the storage room, each one brimming with food-apparently, they were all securely locked down,as was the food, but Percy had seen enough of Leo to know that that probably wasn't the truth.
"Right. You gonna tell me what the heck was going on or not?" asked Leo.
"He went fucking mental, that's what happened," Percy said, the strength of his voice increasing as his throat recovered. "I saw Piper running out from downstairs, looking terrified, who ran into Annabeth. She was just asking her what was up when Jason comes sprinting out of the door, spear in his hand, and smack her to the ground. So, i got him away from Annabeth right after that. It didn't go too well for me though. Asshole almost choked me to death."
"Yeah, not just that. You seen yourself?" Leo asked, gesturing towards Percy's torso.
Percy looked down, and was almost surprised to see the various bloody slashes in his shirt and the bruises on his arms, for he had felt nothing.
He rested his back on one of the fridges, and slumped down, relaxing his neck to rest his head on the door of the fridge. "Well, i wouldn't be surprised. He was acting like a freaking nut."
"So...Piper's kind of freaking because he was trying to kill you?" Leo said, unsure.
Percy looked at him. "Yeah..."
Leo sighed."Inherited traits," he muttered.
"What?" Percy said quizzically.
"Oh, nothing. What are we gonna do with Jason? Keep him in here?"
"Nah...we'll tie him down in his room. Shut him off from Piper and Annabeth. I'll go in the bed next to him, stay awake, keep and eye on him to see that he doesn't get out."
"Alright." Leo knelt, looking kind of uncomfortable.
"We'll wait down here for a minute. Give Annabeth a bit to talk to Piper, then we'll take him back into his room," said Percy in response to Leo's unasked question. "So," he added after a moment's pause, "You made anything with that forge over there?"
Leo grinned. "No, not yet, actually, but if we ever need more arrows or even plenty more weapons, I'll make them."
"What's it like, being able to just make stuff that quickly? Do you guys just learn really fast, or can you just do it without even thinking?"
"Kind of both," he replied. "We learn all of that quickly, but a fair amount we do without even realising, which is weird but useful. Like one time, I was flying this plane we made over Long Island and I had to keep talking, otherwise i'd start thinking about what i was doing, and be like, I can't be doing this! But recently, i can almost shut off that part of my head that says that. Still, not a patch on what you can do, from what I hear," Leo said.
"Well," Percy said, embarassed, "It's nothing-"
"Can you acually breathe underwater? Can you like, completely control water? Can you, as well, like, pull all the water out of someone's body to kill them?" Leo started gesturing madly with his hands as he warmed up. "Is it also true you can make your own hurricane?"
"Yeah," Percy said, scratching his head.
"That's freakin' badass!"
"Dude," Percy said, trying not to laugh, "keep it down, he'll wake up."
"Yeah. It's kind of weird, sitting next to him while he's bleeding and stuff, keeping guard on him. Also kind of weird that Piper isn't here."
"They're dating, right?" Percy asked.
"Yeah. Beauty Queen and Sparky- well, she calls him that sometimes, but all the same."
"As for, well, the pulling water out of people's bodies, I don't know- that's kind of like, really complex. I don't know if can do that- besides- it isn't usually people we're fighting. Hopefully we won't get any demigods turning over to Gaea, but monsters don't really have any water in them, i wouldn't think. Just bags of blood," he added, laughing.
"So does Annabeth have any idea where we're going yet?" Asked Leo.
Percy hesitated. "She doesn't really have any ideas just yet, but we'll talk, and figure something out. We'll come up with where it is we need to go. By the way, how come you brought up a ton of metals to be put on the Argo? What are they for?"
Leo grinned and tapped the side of his nose. "Need to know, dude. Haha, no- you'll see soon enough; i'm keeping it as a surprise."
Percy smiled and shrugged. " Be interesting to see whatever it is, then. Do you want to go back up and check out how Annabeth's doing with Piper? We shoulder probably figure out where to keep him- I mean, we can't keep him in here; if he's still as crazy as he was before, he'll probably eat all the food and try and get rid of all the ambrosia and nectar in here."
"Yeah, sure- we could strap him down on a bed- there is another room, so he could go in on of those beds," Leo suggested.
He heaved himself up off his haunches and went out through the door. Percy heard him running up the stairs to the deck even as he moved closer to the door, further from Jason, and laid his sword across his lap, hand on the hilt.
Watching him carefully, Percy wandered about Jason's attack on him. There'd obviously been a reason, and it clearly wasn't the fact that Percy had beaten him their sparring practice. What had been wrong with him? It hadn't even seemed like Jason in the slightest, that crazy whirling of the spear, a weird light in his eyes. Percy had never seen the guy lose his cool or anything like that in the time he'd spent around him, so for that self-control to suddenly break like that was strange. Not least of all for Piper, who was probably still up there being comforted by Annabeth.
He wandered how Jason would react when he knew Annabeth had knocked him out. If he was a messed up as he had been before, he'd probably try and kill her. But Percy wasn't going to let that happen. Oh no. Well, now he knew what he was capable of, and he'd be watching him, just to make sure it didn't happen again.
Leo came back through the door, and walking over to Jason, put his hands under his arms. "Annabeth's still talking to Piper in the other room on the top deck- she said to move him into the spare room while she's still up there."
Grabbing Jason's legs, Percy lifted him up. Backing out of the doorway, towards the spare room, the entrance to which was next to his room. "By the way, dude," Percy said as they lugged him through the door after he kicked it open. "It would have been better if Jason hadn't had a nice window to jump out of, you know?"
"We'll just strap him down nice and tight," Leo said, huffing as they hauled Jason's unconscious form onto the bed.
"I'll get some leather then, so we can get the job done and get some rest." Percy said.