RIPTIDE - Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus, Pirate AU fanfic

57 | The Sinking Island

A crack that almost bursts your eardrums and a rumbling before the boom. The bolt that struck the island was massive and the aftershock was detrimental.

Everyone not yet on the ground was thrown from their feet and sent sprawling into the sand.

The island was tilting, the sand that covered it slipping into the sea.

The blade, having been covered in sweat slipped from Leo's fingers and was about to be taken by the wavelike sand. "Revocatus!!" Leo yells and Percy dives for it, barely gripping the end of the hilt before it slips from his hand and becomes buried in the earth. The island continues to move.

Octavian is latched onto a nearby tree, "The island! I think it's sinking!"

Percy glances to Piper who struggles to lift Jason from the shifting sand, her darting eyes filled with panic. Frank has a hold of Annabeth, one arm around her waist and the other gripping Hazel's hand. Nico however, is unable to move, buried up to his neck.

"No!" Nico's voice is pained and hoarse. He tries to move beneath the sand but can't. His eyes are bloodshot, darting frantically for some sign of release. He locks eyes with Percy. "Please."

Percy lifts a hand from the trembling tree beneath him. It's the only thing keeping him alive. He reaches towards Nico but draws back his hand. Leo is yelling, his voice caught in the rushing. The island is vertical now, trees laying on their side. Leo is hanging over the abyss, legs kicking at air.

Leo's fingers search for traction against the tree limb, his arms have started to shake from exhaustion. He unlatches the belt from his waist, letting the pistol and its holster fall into the abyss beneath him. It doesn't help.

"Leo!" Octavian yells across the widening chasm, but his voice is lost to the captain. Leo's hearing fades with his vision, it feels like a dream, the soft hand of death caressing his cheek.

He's here and then he's gone, vanishing within the Earth.

It happens again. Frank's hold on Annabeth slips and her body follows the avalanche of sand, ramming into Hazel on the way down. Hazel loses Frank's hand. She's gone. They're both gone.

This is the moment Percy realizes everyone is going to die. The images of death haunt his mind as the tree begins to crack under his weight. He's paralyzed. His mind goes numb as the trees start to pass. He closes his eyes just before he hits the surface of the water.

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Nico is choking on sand, water filling his lungs. He retches in the water, his body convulsing. The muscles in his arms stiffen and he curls into the fetal position.

His knuckles turn white and his breath bubbles in the water. The pain increases in his chest, his lungs that were once filled with life giving oxygen now turning into a vacuum, sucking in the coarse salt water.

His eyes start to roll as his body loses is buoyancy, slowly starting to sink. The crashing of the island continues to cascade into the ocean, the curls of sand sweeping his feet and the rushing of waves sending him deeper into the abyss.

Black liquid seeps from the pores of his skin, the spirit of the tyrannical murderer releases its grip, unclenching the claws that had dug into his heart.

Nico is alone now. His soul is free, but he has stopped breathing.

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Percy wakes in the water, he must have lost consciousness during the fall. Oh how lovely it is to be back in the water. He glances at his feet, or tail that is. The mist has now fully lost its power, Percy's body is reverting back to it's original form.

The crashing of land into sea.

His eyes dart upward. Overhead the rocky bottom of the once floating island has split down the middle and is steadily sinking. If he doesn't move fast he will be crushed under its weight.

Half a second later his fishtail flashes, it's rainbow scales splitting through the water like soft afternoon clouds.

He speeds through the open ocean, dodging rubble as it crashes above his head. The movement has stirred the ocean floor, swirling sand clouds his vision.

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Jason cannot feel the arms that wrap around his body, he is dead and cannot feel anything.

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Piper sputters, rolling herself over to cough up the remaining saltwater from her lungs. She doesn't know how she got here, only that she is alive.

Slowly she sits up, rubbing her eyes in hopes of them focusing. About ten feet away is Leo, his soaked body lying in the warm sand. Beside him is Percy, his bright green eyes and pointed teeth enough of a distraction that Piper looks over what he is doing. And then she notices.

His hands are drawn up delicately, his fingers stiff and claw like. He moves fluidly as if drawing thread from a woven cloth. Piper watches as a ribbon of water lifts from Leo's lips and the man begins to cough.

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Frank and Hazel are awake. Hazel is grabbing Percy's shoulders. "The blade gets smaller with every use." She says.

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Percy holds the blade in his hand, he used it on Octavian, for the man did not wake when he cleared his lungs. But now he kneels over Jason and Annabeth. The blade is less than an inch now. Nico's body never washed ashore.

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No one fights him when he chooses Annabeth, Frank only bows his head.