Jason clutched the hand rail so tightly, his knuckles were white. He took deep breathes, trying to steady himself. It felt as if someone had grabbed a giant spoon and started stirring around his intestines. He was going to puke any second.
Him, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Coach Hedge were on their way to Epirus, Greece. Apparently, that's where one entrance to the Doors of Death were located, and they weren't wasting any time. They needed to make sure they got there before Percy and Annabeth reached the other side of the door through Tartarus. Percy and Annabeth. Jason's insides started to churn again, and he started to suspect it was something more than the sea making him sick.
"You okay?" He turned around to see Nico DiAngelo standing in the middle of the deck of the Argo II, his eyebrows raised in concern. Jason had been so preoccupied with the events that had taken place over the last couple of hours, he had totally forgotten about the guy.
Jason nodded unconvincingly. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."
Nico took a hesitant step foward, obviously not convinced he was okay. Up until then, Jason hadn't been able to get a good look at the kid, and it wasn't until then that he realized how much he had been through. His skin was pale white, stretched tightly around his bones, making him look old and worn out. There were bags under his eyes, and he kept slouching, barely able to keep himself upright. Guess that's what escaping from Tartarus and being on the brink of death for three days does to you.
Suddenly, Jason felt like a cry baby, whining over his sea-sickness after what Nico had just encountered. He held his hand out before Nico could get any closer.
"I'm fine, really. Go rest, you need it more than any of us."
He nodded, the appreciation clear in his eyes.
"Thanks," he said, and walked off to his cabin. Well, not really cabin. After Hazel had helped restore some energy into him, they had offered that he stay in Percy's room. He did, at least for a little while, until it eventually became unbearable. A couple of hours later, they found him passed out in the horse stalls, laying on a pile of hay.
All of a sudden, a wave lapped against the side of the ship, making Jason stumble and lose his grip on the railing. He clasped back onto it before he could fall over and vomitted over the side. He turned his head away, not wanting to see it splash into the water. It burned his throat, making it sore, and he struggled to swallow.
A pair of hands wrapped around Jason's waist, and he flinched, his ADHD instincts kicking in.
"Umm, Jason, you alright?" Piper. He sighed, relieved. If there was anyone he wanted to be with right now, it was her.
"Yeah, I'm fi-," he started to say, then stopped. She raised her eyebrows, and Jason knew lying to her wouldn't do him any good. She already knew he wasn't doing well. He shook his head.
"Okay, I'm not fine, but I will be. There are people in much worse situations than us."
Piper frowned, and he knew she was thinking the same thing he was. He shook his head, trying to change the subject.
"How are you doing? Okay?"
"Yeah, I guess I'm doing as good as I can, in our situtation."
She stopped talking, and Jason went to say something, and realized... He didn't have anything to say. Ever since they had landed at Camp Jupiter, him and Piper hadn't really spent any time together. Suddenly, Jason felt extremely guilty.
"Piper, I'm sorry."
She looked up at him, her mouth gaped open in amazement.
"Jason, you don't really blame yourself for wh-,"
"No! No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about... I'm sorry about us."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, ever since we started this quest, I haven't really been there for you. I mean, we haven't even spent any time together."
She smiled weakly. "Jason, you don't have to apologize. We're all really caught up in the whole saving the world thing."
He shook his head, slipping her hands out from around his waist and holding them in his own.
"No, Piper, I'm serious. I-,"
Before he could finish, Leo came bursting onto the deck, sweating and panting.
"Guys... we... have... a problem," he managed to say between breathes.
Without waiting for a response, he took off, Jason and Piper on his heels.
(Line break)
Jason laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. It turned out that the "big emergency" Leo had interrupted them for was a couple of dolphins swimming around. Apparently, they got too close and made Festus nervous, thus leading to Leo running to get them, and Coach Hedge running around screaming "Die!"
This whole event ended in Coach Hedge grumpily sending everyone to bed early. They all knew he was in a bad mood since he wasn't able to hit any monsters over the head with his baseball bat.
So, after saying goodbye to Piper, Jason had skulked to his room, unable to fall asleep. Could anyone on board? Even though no one wanted to admit it, it was highly unlikely Percy and Annabeth survived the fall to Tartarus. Even if they did, they could be dead any minute.
He rolled over, slamming his face into his pillow, frustrated. Everything was a mess. Percy and Annabeth, gone - the Argo II so banged it Jason felt as if they were going to sink any minute, although Leo kept insisting that "Archimedes blueprints were going to change everything!" - him and Piper as distanced from each other as ever - and then there was the whole Hazel, Frank, and Leo thing. Jason didn't know exactlywhat was going on with them. All he knew was that they were a time bomb of teenage hormones, and he wanted to stay as far away from that drama as possible.
Jason rolled onto his back, sighing. He thought briefly about going to see Piper... No. He remembered how Coach Hedge had reacted when Percy and Annabeth snuck out at night. No, it wasn't worth it.
So instead, he rolled over and closed his eyes. And, after pushing all his thoughts into the back of his mind, he was finally able to drift off to sleep.
Thanks for reading! I tried to make this one a little longer than the first chapter. My guess is they will gradually get longer as the story goes along as I get more comfortable with it.
Any feedback, good or bad is greatly appreciated. Like I said before, I'm new around here and, for the most part, have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Anyways, I'll update as soon as I can!