Percy Jackson Short Stories

Bufords great encounter with dishwater

"You're sorry?!" Percy growls, towering above him.

Six hours after meeting him, and seventeen minutes after blowing up his camp, Leo comes to the conclusion that he might be a little scared of the Great and Powerful Percy Jackson.

-x-

The shrieks from the lake nymphs are audible all the way down in the engine room. Leo can hear Percy shouting back and the shrieks go from angry to hysterical. Something huge that has to be a tidal wave crashes into the ship. Leo is swept off his feet by the impact, almost losing an eye to his own screwdriver. The Argo II vibrates to her core and then sways sideways to an alarmingly steep angle.

Holding on to the nearest pipe he could grab, he tries hammering the Celestial Bronze in place with his free hand. The angle is impractical, he can barely see a thing, and now the ship is tilting so much he's dangling more by his arm than standing on his feet.

"Please, please, please, please!" he chants in rhythm with his hits. A last frantic slam in what's hopefully the right place, and then- "Yes!" Sweet, merciful sound of a starting engine. The lights go back on, he can feel the point of gravity normalizing as the ship tilts back. Annabeth must be doing something right in the control room because finally they are moving and ascending, gently, slowly-

- too slowly.

There's nothing else he can do engine-wise so he rushes to deck to see if he can help, and immediately has to dodge a jet of water, which crashes into the mast with the force of a water cannon.

The sight around him is complete chaos. Nymphs are trying to get on board, riding wave after wave, blasting streams left and right. Frank is an eagle diving and clawing wherever he can, Jason and Piper are holding their ground, but it's Percy who is saving their skins right now. Towering high above the lake's surface, he's at the crown of a massive hurricane. He's chosen a position behind the nymphs and is plucking them from the railing one by one, throwing them back into the lake. At the same time he's countering their blasts with a hundred water jets of his own.

For a moment Leo is convinced he's looking at Poseidon himself.

Finally the ship is out of the Nymphs' reach. Percy launches himself on board with a last push from his dissolving hurricane, breaks his fall with a neat roll and is back on his feet. He disperses the last Nymphs clinging on the railing, and then looks around the empty deck. Seeing Leo, the scowl is back on his face.

"What in Hades' name did you do to get them this mad?"

Leo is seriously distracted by the fact that despite everything on deck being drenched to the bone, this guy seems to be completely dry. "Um, well, it's kind of a long story. We stole this piece of celestial bronze, but not from them, but there was this dude using it as a mirror, and..."

"Okay, save it for later. Everybody alright?" He doesn't wait for an answer but stalks towards the stairs, probably to check on Annabeth.

Up until now Leo had been pretty satisfied about his stunt with Narcissus, and fixing the engine in less than three minutes. But somehow the son of Poseidon makes him feels tiny.

Again.

He wipes the smudged ink, tar and sweat from his arms, and starts dragging his aching body through an inspection tour of the ship's exterior.

Leo has heard the stories about how Percy Jackson can command ships by sheer willpower alone. He didn't really believe them, until now. For the first time, he's starting to understand why everybody always trembles in awe when the term 'child of the Big Three' comes up. Jason might be the son of Zeus, but he's also Leo's best friend. And crazy as it sounds, Leo's actually gotten used to the lightning and wind powers after all their adventures together.