This Cold Year ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase²

―iv. afraid of the dark

DYING IN A SEASTORM WHILE dating a son of the sea god was an irony Naomi did not appreciate. 

The Argo II was tilting so violently Naomi could barely stay upright, and the vicious wind cutting through her poor rain jacket wasn't making balancing any easier. 

Naomi barely managed to hold her breath in time to not breathe in any of the skyscraper-sized wave that crashed over the forward deck. 

And there went the front crossbows, half the port, and Naomi's respect for her hopefully future father-in-law—swept right out to sea. 

The sails were ripped to shreds. Lightning flashed all around, hitting the sea like spotlights. Horizontal rain blasted Naomi's face. The clouds were so dark Naomi was having unwelcome flashbacks. 

The crew was doing what they could... which wasn't much. 

Leo had lashed himself to the console with a bungee cord harness, which might've seemed like a good idea when he rigged it up, but every time a wave hit he was washed away, then smacked back into his control board like a human paddleball. 

Piper and Annabeth were trying to save the rigging. Since Sparta, they'd become quite the team—able to work together without even talking, which was just as well, since they couldn't have heard each other over the storm. 

Naomi and Frank (in gorilla form, naturally) were trying to untangle some of the broken oars and get the ship in the air. Naomi had four years of Camp Half-Blood's rock-climbing lessons to thank for her grip strength. 

Even Festus the figurehead was trying to help. He spewed fire at the rain, though that didn't seem to discourage the storm. 

Percy was the only one having any luck, which was to be expected, Naomi supposed. He stood by the center mast, his hands extended like he was on a tightrope. Every time the ship tilted, he pushed in the opposite direction and the hull stabilized. He summoned giant fists of water from the ocean to slam into the larger waves before they could reach the deck, so it looked like the ocean was hitting itself repeatedly.

With the storm this bad, Percy was the only reason they hadn't capsized or been smashed to bits already. 

Naomi growled in utter frustration as the rocking ship yanked one of the oar pieces out of her reach. "Oh, come on!" She made another grab for the stupid rope, this close to damning Percy's dad to the darkest pits of the Underworld. Maybe some brotherly bonding with Hades would do the god some good. 

That is, if Poseidon and Hades could reconcile after the dressing vs. stuffing debate, which would be... quite the feat.

She shook wet strands of hair out of her face. "I get now why that one emperor declared war on the ocean!" she screamed over the raging war. 

She hoped the ocean heard her, but she wasn't optimistic. 

Finally managing to snag one of the broken oar pieces, Naomi struggled to disentangle it from the ropes one-handed. As she blew another piece of hair out of her vision, she spotted a head of blond hair that was definitely supposed to be plastered on a sickbay pillow at the center mast, talking to Percy. 

Naomi watched as Percy ran to the starboard rail, pushed another massive wave away from the ship, and jumped overboard. 

And then, because apparently all the head trauma had finally taken its toll, Jason Grace followed him down.