NEW RICK RIORDAN BOOK, OUT MAY 7th! That's right, you heard it here (Or perhaps his blog or Twitter?). Riordan is writing a Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover called the Son of Sobek, which will be about forty pages long and comes out this spring. You can go to his blog and find the link to read the exclusive excerpt!

Sorry for Typos/OOCness. Oh, and I am SO happy that the Raven's won the Super Bowl! GO BALTIMORE! GO MARYLAND!

Happy Reading!

Chapter 24

Jason

The entire situation screamed, "CRAZY!" in Jason's head, but they needed Triton's help to get back to Greece, and if that meant Piper had to go surfing against him then… well, there was no other choice.

Jason would've rather just electrocuted the god until he untied Nico and told them the information, but Piper seemed bent on going surfing. She grabbed Hazel and they both ran back to the vacation home to go change and get ready.

Piper said that she had one of her old surf boards in the storage basement of the house, since Triton even offered to get her one. He too seemed excited to have a competition. Jason wondered how long it had been since he'd surfed against another person. Maybe it had been years, or maybe he picked off helpless demigods every weekend.

Jason stood uncomfortably next to Triton, Leo, Frank, and an unconscious Nico. Everyone stared at each other like they were aliens. Leo broke the ice. "So, how's your day been going?"

"Wonderfully," mutter Jason sarcastically. "I bet if Nico were awake, he would agree too."

"Hm, mine would be a lot better if I didn't have to deal with fools," sighed Triton.

"Touche," Frank said quietly, loud enough for only Jason to hear. He cracked a smile. Frank smiled back and coughed. He played with the string on his bow, probably contemplating whether or not he should attack a certain someone. Jason was going to beat him to it.

"You know, you guys to surf instead," Triton pointed out. "It doesn't have to be Aphrodite's brat."

"Don't speak about Piper that way," Jason snarled, brandishing his sword now and aiming it at Triton's throat. Frank aimed an arrow and Leo pulled out a Swiss Army Knife.

He laughed. "Try and use those puny weapons against me. I dare you. And not only will you never get back to Greece, but your friends will die slowly and Piper McLean will drown to death. Now, it's your choice. "

Angrily, Jason shoved the gold sword back in the sheath. Rage welled inside of him at the man. Maybe this was how he felt when people called him Percy. Jason couldn't be sure. But the rage inside of him was blinding, and he was ready to take the man out.

He turned around to go to the house and find one of Piper's father's bathing suits, but Piper and Hazel were walking off of the deck and out of the trees just as he had done so.

Jason had never seen Piper in a bathing suit, but now seeing her, he felt his face turn entirely red. Piper looked almost too good in her one piece black bathing suit and old ratty t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a sloppy braid and she was stalking towards them with a surfboard over her head.

Hazel had changed too. She was wearing new, blue jean shorts and a Billabong beach shirt, probably also Piper's. She carried their spare weapons and bags in her arms. She had a huge smile on her face for some reason, and seeing them both happy, Jason's anger melted away. When he looked at his friends, he could see that their faces were lightening too.

Piper had a beautiful grin, but she was walking with her Don't Mess With Me posture. Something about her body language told Jason that she was definitely ready for this. "So, you ready to lose?" she taunted.

Jason gulped loudly. Everyone probably heard him. But heck, he was nervous for her. "Well, I'll just be in the water then," Triton replied coldly, and he left the group.

"Piper, are you sure about this?" Leo asked, resting his hand on Piper's shoulder. "I mean, you're going against Triton, who has the complete power of the ocean behind him. He's going to throw everything at you."

"I'm expecting the worst," Piper admitted. "But that's all you can do in these situations. I've already put my surfwax on here, so maybe that will help." She sounded like she doubted that. "This is going to end quickly. But, we do have an advantage, in some ways."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Frank.

Hazel was giddy. It was really weird to see her like that. "Because Piper has us," she said. "Triton may be throwing everything he has at Piper, but we can throw everything we have back at him. We have fire power, earth power, air power. All he has are some waves."

"And sharks, and squids, and probably Percy's hurricane abilities," Leo pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. But we're going to have and try to do this, all together as a team. So far, we haven't been united enough. But come on. We're demigods, and we've been through so much in the past few days. Let's do this as a family, and save our friends and get out of here."

They all stuck their hands in, like they were part of a team. And in a way, they were. They cried, "For our friends!" at the same time.

Piper kissed Jason's and Leo's cheeks. She gave Hazel and Frank two big bear hugs. "Well, if this doesn't end up good, then I'm glad that I've had the pleasure in knowing you all." She saluted to them as well.

Jason tried to say something to Piper, to kiss her one last time, but she was already away from them. She put the black surf leash around her ankle and wadded into the water, away from them, and away from Jason.

He watched as she lay down on the surfboard and started to paddle out. She directed the board up when a wave came towards her, and when one was about to break over her head, she sliced under the water like a torpedo and popped out on the other side, covered in salt water.

Somehow, Jason found himself chewing on his finger nail, and hoping that everything would end up fine.

He gazed out past Piper. Way far off shore, Triton was sitting crisscross on his own surfboard. Whereas Piper's was sort of old, and had obviously been used multiple times, his looked brand new. Piper had a white surfboard, which was now stained a little yellow-ish, with blue Roxy logos all over it, his was blue and green like it had been molded straight from the waves that Piper was still trying to maneuver over.

"Get ready, you guys," Hazel told them. "Especially Jason and Frank. You two will help us the most. When they started paddling in, we have to unleash everything on Triton. And Leo, get some flames ready. You never know if we're going to need it."A small flame appeared in his palm and spread to his fingertips.

Jason nodded in agreement. He felt the winds around him pick up a little, and his feet lifted off of the ground. Only an inch or two, but he was floating now. Frank was walking to the shoreline and taking off his shoes. Jason wondered what he was going to turn into.

Finally, Piper reached Triton. Jason couldn't make out what they were saying but, they both turned around and got back down on the boards and started to swim. Triton was using one arm and resting his heading with the other, while Piper was using both hands and struggling to keep up.

"This isn't looking that good," mumbled Leo. Jason nudged him to shut up.

"I wish I could do something," Hazel said longingly. "I don't think anything that I can do will help us in this situation."

All of a sudden, a wave three stories tall erupted from the water. Triton's doing, no doubt. Jason felt his jaw hit the sand as they watched. Even Piper was watching the wave. Jason could make out her horrified expression.

Piper and Triton began to paddle even faster, Triton for the sport, and Piper for dear life.

The wave was drawing the tides back and the two people at the same time. Piper and Triton were slowly being pulled up to near the top of the wave, both of them still paddling. At around the same time, they hopped onto their boards, using their arms to support them, and the wave began to crash.

Jason felt his mind go in slow motion as he watched them both balance themselves on their boards, cutting through the water. They were almost a mile off of the shore, but Jason had a feeling that this ride wasn't going to last that long.

It was time for them to leap into action. Triton was having no trouble at all, as he was still on the board, letting the small currents he was creating keep his board going in a straight line. Piper was zigzagging this way and that, cutting quickly and taking sharp turns to stay on her board.

Frank had already dived into the water, and Jason saw a shark fin appear. He leapt into the air and felt the winds carry him at amazing speed towards his girlfriend. Sadly, he couldn't electrocute Triton. That would result in hurting Piper too.

They were already nearing the shore, and surprisingly, neither of them had wiped out yet. Frank was now nearing Triton. The god looked mildly confused at first, but then laughed.

"Looks like the demigods don't like to play by the rules. That's okay; neither do I."

Water sprayed off of his board as he turned to the other direction. Obviously, it had to go right into Piper's face, and she faltered on her board almost fell into the waves. Jason swooped down and steadied her lightly.

Thankfully, she didn't freak out because of his touch. She allowed herself to be steadied and didn't lose her footing. Since she was moving and turning to so fast, it was hard for Jason to keep up, but he managed.

He took off from her and she and Triton were still going. Jason swooped down, electricity on his fingers, ready to give Triton a shock that would hurt him but wasn't strong enough to hurt Piper.

Unfortunately, Triton had anticipated the move. He struck Jason in the gut when he got close enough and never lost his composure. He crouched down, maybe to get more speed, maybe to dodge him, Jason didn't know. He had no idea how surfing was supposed to work.

Frank bumped into Triton's board. Hard. Triton slammed forward, head first at the water. A gush of water shot out of the sea and acted as a ledge for him. He used to it to adjust himself back on the board.

A thousand bad names to call him rushed through Jason's head. He frowned and floated back into the air. Looking at the shore, he saw Hazel and Leo, cheering for them. He could also see Nico, still tied up and still unconscious.

Behind Jason, there was a loud gasp. Terror leaked into his veins as he realized that the voice was that of Piper. He didn't think and he didn't look. He just trusted his instincts. And somehow, he ended up saving Piper from falling over for the second time.

He kept his arms around Piper as she steadied herself again. Her muscles were completely tensed with fear of falling down. Her feet were almost together, and he was sure they were supposed to be spread out.

"Don't fall down," he yelled in her ear. She nodded slowly and relaxed back into her position. "I believe in you." He let her go and she zipped away.

Time to take out Triton.

Jason slammed into him as hard as he could. Triton cursed like a sailor and tried to stay on the board, but Frank rammed into the board too. Jason wrapped his fingers around Triton's neck and felt lightning course through him and into his enemy.

Triton spasmed and his legs gave out from underneath him as he crashed down into the water. His surfboard flipped up and hit him on the head. Jason heard him scream, and a sheet of icy water (in Hawaii?) hit him in the face. He hurtled through the air yelling. But at the same time, he was happy too. Triton hadn't been such a big, tough god after all. A little lightning and some Frank as a shark had proven that.

He stopped himself from falling about thirty feet in the air. He surveyed the area and what had happened. Triton still hadn't surfaced yet. And Piper was on the beach, surfboard at her side, along with Frank.

Nico was still asleep, but not for long if Triton kept up his promise. They had won, not fair and not square, but it was still a victory.

Jason landed on the beach with a thud, sand and water coating his clothes. Piper leapt on him with a hug. He hugged her back, glad that she was okay. "You're okay," he said, over and over again, running his hands over her hair. "Thank the gods you're okay."

"Thanks to you and Frank I am."

"I didn't even get to do anything," complained Leo, just joking around. They all got into a group hug, laughing and happy. Nico groaned loudly. Maybe he was starting to wake up. That was even better. Jason felt like nothing could stop him. At least, until he heard the impatient noise behind them.

Jason turned around and saw Triton standing by the shoreline. Golden blood was flowing down his neck, next to a giant burn mark that Jason had given him. And he looked angry.

Wow, this chapter seemed a lot longer when I wrote it...

Reviews and ideas are loved! Review Challenge: How old were you when you read your first PJO book? I was in 5th grade!

-BBH