Searching: Book 3 (PJO/HoO FanFic)

6. The Quests Have Begun!

With that, I took a deep breath and jumped in the water. It seems as if the shrimp was waiting for me because as soon as I was in the water, I was attacked. The shrimp thing grabbed one of my legs and moved me around in the water. The sudden jerk nearly made me drop my sword, but I made sure to hold on tight. The motion was making my head spin, but I finally got a chance to kick the shrimp in the chest. It let out a horrific screech and threw me upwards. Sadly, the boat was above us, so my back hit the bottom of the boat roughly. I heard Percy and Annabeth screech as the boat rocked back and forth.

I was slowly running out of air, so I tried moving around the boat to break free to the surface. I must've forgotten about the tight grip on my leg because as soon as I tried to escape, pain flared up my leg. I accidentally opened my mouth and cried out in agony. I quickly closed my mouth and swung my sword. The behemoth roared. I quickly broke to the surface and took a deep breath, coughing out the water in my lungs.

"You alright, Luke?" Percy asked in concern.

I grinned through the pain,"Never been better." I took another deep breath and ducked back under. The sea creature looked at me in fiery rage.

Uh oh...

The creature charged at me. Although my movements were slow, they still saved me. I swam to the right and away from the being. I took its disorientation as an advantage and managed to stab it in the neck. The creature howled making me wince at the harsh sound. Its sound slowly faded out to nothingness. Slowly, I pulled my sword out and swam to the surface.

I swam to the boat and with help from the others, I climbed aboard. I was shivering uncontrollably once I was on, so quickly, I put on my clothes. I winced in pain while I put my pants on.

"What's wrong? Where'd it hurt you?" Percy asked worriedly.

I groaned and rolled up my jeans. I nearly passed out once I saw the wound. My left leg was extremely bloody with blood still flowing quickly, yet just under my knee was the actual wound. It was black and purple around the edges and it seemed to dig right in, and the wound wrapped around my leg.

I looked up to avoid looking at it,"Ambrosia..." I muttered. I heard movement and before I knew it, Annabeth's face came into view.

"Here." She said. I grabbed it quickly and put it in my mouth. I sighed in relief as the pain subdued,"You should get some rest, Luke. I'll take the rest of the watch."

I didn't bother arguing, so I just nodded. Just after I closed my eyes, I slipped into darkness.

...

J A S O N

I slowly made my way to the Aphrodite cabin. I didn't want to leave her, but it was for the best. I couldn't just sit around and do nothing for the rest of time. It was going to drive me nuts and after what I found out...well let's just say I needed some fresh air. My head was spinning just from thinking about. How was it possible? Did Galen know? Is that why he hurt Thalia?

All these questions floated around my head as I arrived at the Aphrodite cabin. I cleared my head and knocked on the door. Drew opened the door and smiled,"Jason! What a surprise! What are you doing here?"

I smiled awkwardly,"Hey, Drew. Is Piper in there?"

She rolled her eyes, but turned around and yelled in the cabin,"Piper!"

She arrived in the doorway in less then a second. She grinned up at me once she saw me,"Hey, Jace." She walked out and closed the door behind her,"What's up?"

I put my arms around her waist and smiled at her,"Just came to say goodbye to my gorgeous girlfriend."

She frowned,"Goodbye?"

I sighed,"Yeah, I've gotta head out and find a cure for Thalia, but I couldn't leave without seeing you one more time."

She smiled and put her hands around my neck,"Well then, good luck. Come back in one piece, yeah?"

I laughed,"Of course, Pipes." I said, giving her a kiss.

"Jason!" I broke away from Piper and glared at Michael,"Percy's number one rule! No. PDA. Now, come on!" I shook my head, and smiled apologetically at Piper before parting from her and chasing after Michael.

Once I got close enough, I asked the question,"So, how exactly are we gonna get there?" I looked at them all,"We don't necessarily have Percy's teleportation powers anymore, so..."

Zoë looked at me like I'm stupid or something,"Are you serious?" I raised an eyebrow,"Have you forgotten that I teleport to anyplace I've been with my watch as well? Ability from Chaos?"

I crossed my arms,"And have you been to Mount Elbert."

"No..." She dragged, speaking slowly as if I was a 5 year old,"But I've been to Colorado."

"How?"

She threw her hands up in frustration,"Because I was a hunter before you dimwit!"

Suddenly, it clicked in my brain,"Oh." I said, smiling sheepishly,"Sorry." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly.

She rolled her eyes and looked at the infirmary,"Hopefully this works."

"Now that we're actually doing it, it doesn't seem as exciting." Michael admitted,"I don't know, but taking things from Chaos doesn't seem right. He's trying-"

"Yet you were the one to snap at him." Zoë pointed out.

He winced,"I know." He muttered,"But you know me! I do that with everyone when I'm frustrated!"

"Look," I said,"We risked our butts trying to grab these files, might as well do it, yeah?"

"It's not too late to turn back?" Michael said meekly.

"How about this," I said,"You stay here and cover for us. If someone asks where we are, come up with a good excuse, ok?"

He visibly relaxed a bit and nodded,"Sure. I can do that." He gave us a mock salut and ran back down the hill.

I looked back at my two companions,"Three is always better for a quest, am I right?" They didn't smile. I sighed and looked down, while Zoë turned away as well and clicked a few buttons on her watch. Soon, a portal appeared in front of her.

"After you two." She said, motioning towards the swirling abyss.

I hesitantly walked towards it and walked through. Although I've been through her portals plenty of times, they still made me weary, but every time it worked, so I shouldn't be worried. I stepped into Colorado and groaned. I should've known. They're hunters! Of course we're gonna end up in the middle of the woods!

"Oops." Zoë said sheepishly,"Forgot about that..."

I rolled my eyes,"Well, which direction to do go in?"

Zoë shrugged, but Bianca immediately pointed behind me,"That way." We both looked at her,"I don't know, just a gut feeling."

Zoë nodded,"Good. That way it is. You guys ready?" We nodded, and began our long road trip to the mountains.