A/N: Hello to everyone out there! I hope you enjoy my version of Mark of Athena. Please review when you've finished reading. And as quick as possible so I know what to fix/change. Thanks!:)
Chapter 5:
Jason shot into the air towards Charybdis with Hazel in his arms. She was holding on tight and gripping her dagger. He dropped onto Charybdis' head and he and Hazel rolled different ways. Frank imaged himself being a hawk. He felt feathers start to cover his body, he began to shrink a little, he could feel his nose grow tiny, and his mouth grow long and thin, his vision sharpened and suddenly he was walking on claws. Annabeth and Piper hopped on and he soared off.
Charybdis was already screeching with pain as Jason and Hazel went around stabbing the monster in a dozen different places. He dropped Annabeth off, while Piper stayed on his back. She was going to try to charm speak Charybdis. But the giant spoke first, having spotted her.
"I know who you are, little demigod, and my master has prepared me for you. You cannot charm speak," she snarled.
"Just listen to me, please. Just let us—" the giant threw her hands up and water rushed at her and Frank. Her eyes went wide with fear, sure that it envelop her and she might drown, but at the last minute, it turned aside. Realization hit her, and Piper shot a grateful glance in Percy's direction. He seemed to be concentrating really hard on something, and speaking to Thalia and Leo. Suddenly she heard someone shouting her name.
"Frank! Piper!" it was Hazel, she was clinging to Charybdis for dear life. The monster flung her off her arm and Frank flew as fast as he could to catch her.
As she passed the ship, she heard Leo shout something, "Get Jason and Annabeth and tell them to come back." She nodded, and when she grabbed Hazel, she pulled her up behind her and ordered Frank to go by Jason and Annabeth.
Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. The monster was writhing around, golden ichor, flowing down its arms, but it was quickly healing and constantly trying to fling Jason and Annabeth off. Finally they were near enough to shout to Jason.
"Jason, grab Annabeth and bring her back to the ship!" Piper shouted. Jason nodded. Frank soared back to the ship, and minutes later Jason appeared. They were all breathing heavily. Percy stared at the monster, who glared angrily back.
"You want to defeat me? Come and get me then," Percy taunted Charybdis, who bellowed in response. A wave rose and Percy jumped on it, speeding past the monster who tried to grab at him. Percy ducked and slashed at the monster, a mischievous grin on his face.
"No!" Annabeth cried, but Thalia held her back.
"Percy knows what he's doing, Annabeth. He just bought us enough time to get out of here. Leo! Get us, in the sky, now!" Thalia shouted. He nodded and started fiddling with the controls.
The rest of them were all anxiously watching Percy, who was starting to get tired. Constantly having to adjust the wave to catch him, dodge the monster, fight, and attack with water was tiring him out. He was almost to shore. But he let that distract him. Charybdis let out a roar and swatted Percy. He was thrown through the air and landed on soft sand. He forced himself to get up and uncapped Riptide. The monster waded up to him. Bingo. Just what he'd wanted. Now Charybdis couldn't heal, but unfortunately he couldn't either. It didn't matter. Percy saw the ship rising in the air, resisting the tug of the vortex, until it was clear. Now Percy had to get out of here. He hadn't really planned that. He fought, dodged, sliced, and maimed the monster until he was golden with ichor. Charybdis collapsed in the sand, moaning.
Now Percy had to get out. He ran and a wave caught up with him, bringing him higher and higher to the ship. Finally, he reached the deck. They all cheered.
"Percy, you scared me. Now get back on this ship before that monster decides she wants to eat you again," Annabeth said. She smiled.
Percy felt something ripple through the wave he was on and knew something was wrong instantly. His eyes went wide and he jumped off his wave, toward the boat, but it was too late. He'd felt the water stirring below him and known too late it was Charybdis.
A new wave shot between him and the boat and carried him back to the shore where he slammed into Charybdis, who grabbed Percy and held him in her hand.
"Hmmm, yes, Gaea will be very pleased with me," she mumbled happily. Percy struggled in the monster's grip, but it was no use. He urged the water to rush up, and it slipped between him and Charybdis' fingers and he slipped out.
"Oh, no you don't!" Charybdis bellowed, snatching at him again and she barely missed. When he turned around, though, more water rushed at him like a stampede of angry bulls. She had him in her grasp once more, and she did not look happy.
"Bad, Percy," she said in a low, threatening voice. This was the first time he thought no one could save him no matter what; especially when the monster slammed his head against a tree. Blackness started clouding his vision and the last words he heard were, "There, that should keep him out for a while." Then he blacked out.
Thalia knew Percy's plan was going wrong when he was yanked down by a wave of water. They all did. They watched hopefully when Percy escaped, but then the monster had him again.
"I'm going to go get him," she heard Jason say, and before any of them could say anything, he flew off. Please be okay, both of you, Thalia thought desperately to herself. The monster had some serious muscle, the fact that she was a monster, and when she hit Percy on the head, it looked really painful. His limp head had snapped back after the impact and he was out cold.
Annabeth whimpered beside her, Hazel held Frank's hand tightly, and Piper was biting her nails. Suddenly, lightning struck the monster, which dropped Percy. Even from way up in the sky, she could see Percy was bleeding, so it must be really bad. Leo came running.
"What happened?" he asked. He leaned over the rail and saw for himself. He let out a low whistle. She could see the monster staggering to its feet, and Jason was picking Percy up and frantically waving his hands. Thalia understood.
"Leo, get this ship moving now! Jason can catch up, but we don't watch Charybdis catching up. Get us moving!" she commanded. He nodded his head and rushed back, and soon they were floating through the air. She and her friends anxiously looked behind them. Jason was flying, catching up. Charybdis was bellowing at the top of her hideous lungs. But they had won.
Soon Jason was landing on the deck, and man did Percy look bad. He was paler than anyone she'd seen in her life, and his head was bleeding a lot. On top of that, he already had a bruise forming around the injury. Piper knelt next to him, followed by the rest of us. Annabeth looked bad; she was trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. Hazel ran to get bandages and water. When she came back, she dipped a wash cloth in the water. Annabeth grabbed the water bowl and poured it on Percy. His cut started healing instantly, and his eyes fluttered open, but the bruise remained. It looked bad; it covered almost half his forehead and swept close to his eye. He moaned and tried to get up.
"Stay down," Jason commanded Percy.
"My head really hurts. How long was I out?" Percy asked, gently resting his hand on the side of his head.
"Not too long, but she did hit you really hard. What do you remember?" Annabeth looked relieved; they all did. She was smiling, and so was Thalia.
"Just her grabbing me for the second time, than I blacked out," he said. He winced, and then sat up. Jason stood cautiously beside him.
"Let's move him to the infirmary," Piper said, "he can heal there." Everyone nodded in agreement. Jason grabbed one of Percy's arms, and Annabeth grabbed the other. Percy swayed, but didn't fall.
"I've got it, it's ok, guys. I only need one person," Percy said. He was standing, but he looked a little dizzy.
"I'll go," Annabeth said. Leo smirked. Piper and Hazel smiled.
"I'll go, too, just to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid and to make sure he doesn't convince Annabeth to let him do anything stupid," Thalia exclaimed, smiling at the frown on Percy's face. Together, the two girls helped him get to the infirmary. He sat down on the bed and took a deep breath. There was a glass of water sitting next to him and he drank it.
"That was stupid, Seaweed Brain. I don't even know why I let you do it. All your plans fail," Thalia said disapprovingly, shaking her head.
"Not all of them do. In a matter of fact, this one didn't. We got away," Percy smiled. Annabeth and Thalia groaned. They were speeding through the air, but Leo lowered them back down to the sea when they were plenty far away. They continued to sail on, on to the noon sun, on to more doom, and on to save the world and defeat Gaea.