tartarus and back ⇩

33. pretty much useless

"Annabeth looks so beautiful." Percy said as he handed the spyglass back to Leo.

I nearly laughed. "Of course you'd think that, shark boy."

Percy looked down at me, failing to hide the worry in his expression. I was standing right next to him, our arms touching slightly. I hadn't been away from Percy or Annabeth since we got back, and I could tell they were concerned. I simply couldn't, though. I panicked when they weren't by my side.

I ignored him and continued to watch Annabeth, Jason, and Piper climb. To the side, Leo was cracking jokes about Jason being old and Hazel's brie's were furrowed in concentration from keeping the most up. Frank stood by her side, laughing nervously at Leo's jokes while keeping an eye on his girlfriend.

The others disappeared from view, and then Percy started worrying."What if Annabeth gets hurt?"

"Then she'll have Jason and Piper to back her up. Annabeth's a strong one. You know, when she was ten-"

"Somethings wrong." Hazel announced. "Jason's mist, it stopped."

We all stood and watched the cliff nervously. I reached out and grabbed Percy's hand tightly, hoping nothing bad was happening to our friends. Or possibly even worse, nothing was coming down to get us.

Suddenly, Leo called out. "The light! It's morse code."

"Well what's it say?" I asked.

Leo was silent for a moment, focusing on a light somewhere. His facial expression changed. "Oh no. Jason's been hurt. Frank, can you fly up there?"

I watched in fascination as Frank shifted into a giant eagle in the blink of an eye. I didn't think I would ever get over how cool that was.

⇩

I sat awkwardly at the table. Last night I had my first crazy spell since Tartarus, and I freaked everyone out. Annabeth told me I was laughing like a manic and banging on the walls, asking for a party. I had passed out eventually, but everyone was wary of me now. I was proud of myself- it had been a while since my last attack.

I was the only one to notice Leo- the others were busy.

Percy was eating a huge stack of blue pancakes while Annabeth chided him for pouring on too much syrup.

"You're drowning them!" she complained.

"Hey, I'm a Poseidon kid," he said. "I can't drown. And neither can my pancakes."

To their left, Frank and Hazel used their cereal bowls to flatten out a map of Greece. They looked over it, their heads close together. Every once in a while Frank's hand would cover Hazel's, just sweet and natural like they were an old married couple, and Hazel didn't even look flustered, which was real progress for a girl from the 1940s. It was a shock when I found out she wasn't born in this generation.

At the head of the table, Jason sat uncomfortably with his T-shirt rolled up to his ribcage as Piper changed his bandages.

"Hold still," she said. "I know it hurts."

"It's just cold," he said. There was pain in his voice, though. The entrance wound on his back was an ugly shade of purple and it steamed. Probably not a good sign.

"What's up, guys?" Leo strolled into the mess hall. "Aw, yes to brownies!"

He grabbed the last one, and I frowned. I hadn't noticed them before.

The intercom crackled. Buford's Mini-Hedge yelled over the speakers, "PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

Everyone jumped. Hazel ended up five feet away from Frank. Percy spilled syrup in his orange juice. Jason awkwardly wriggled back into his T-shirt, and Frank turned into a bulldog. I stood up and had my sword in my hand, my eyes wide. I thought I was going to be attacked.