As Jason approached the doors to see the Hesperides with his friend, the eerie thought of them not making it out in time was lingering around his brain. Ladon was dangerous. Many didn't survive to tell the story. Percy winning that time was a combination of luck and skill. Jason... Jason didn't know what to think.
"We've got this," he finally said as they entered.
Ladon was a towering figure with his gleaming scales and piercing purple eyes. The Hesperides stood there, as if they were waiting for him.
"Heroes." They glared. "What do you want? A golden apple?"
"Please," Jason begged. "Our friend is sick and he needs two golden apples for the cure."
"And who is this... friend, you say?"
"P-Perseus Jackson," Leo stuttered.
"Ah..." a Hesperide stroked her chin. "He's rather hot--"
"Sh!" Her sister slapped her in the arm, glaring. "A hero who has fought Ladon before is now laying sick in a bed. Are you sure you want to take that risk?"
"He means the world to us!" Piper exclaimed. "At least let us try."
"You aren't afraid of death, I see..."
"No. We want to try. We don't care what happens as long as he gets the apple."
The Hesperides nodded, motioning for them to step forward. His stomach was coiling and uncoiling as he stared at the large dragon. He wasn't even ready when the tail simply knocked him to the side. It wasn't a duel. There was no referee to call the starts of the battles and the ends.
"JASON!" Piper yelled.
"Pipes, go!" he shouted, getting up off the floor.
"LEO!" Piper grunted. "Try and hit as many heads as you can! You're immune to fire!"
"Got it!" Leo yelped as the tail slammed the ground next to him.
"Watch out, Piper!" he yelled as a jet of fire burst out of Ladon's mouth towards his girlfriend.
Leo was banging his hammer down on the first head. It looked very disoriented, its purple eyes going cross-eyed. Unfortunately for Leo, the other heads noticed and he was blasted back into the golden apple tree.
"LEO!" Jason screamed his best friend's name and dashed forward. Chopping off the disoriented head, he distracted Ladon so that Leo could recover.
He lopped off another head, striking pain through the dragon. If Jason hadn't been able to fly up, he would've been toasted to a crisp because jets of fire burst out from Ladon's heads.
"WHOA!" he yelled, feeling the heat tinge his hairs on his arms and legs. "Piper! You've got it!"
Piper was already sprinting for Ladon's heads, chopping several off before the tail grabbed her and tossed her high up in the air. Jason luckily caught her, landing her back onto the floor.
"Thanks, Sparky..." she panted. "We're never gonna get all 100!"
"Don't say that!" Jason roared. "DON'T! WE'RE GONNA GET THOSE APPLES AND GET THAT CURSE OUT OF MY BEST FRIEND!"
He raced back into battle, deciding the best way to isolate Ladon was to cut off his way of moving. His feet and wings.
"GET HIS WINGS!" Piper yelled to Leo, who had taken out his gun. Shooting it into Ladon's side, he distracted the large dragon while Jason sawed a leg off.
Thrown off balance, Ladon sent Jason flying before he crashed into the wall, a brick falling on his head.
"OW!" he yelled, feeling slightly dizzy. Black spots danced in front of his eyes.
"Jason!" Piper cried before sawing at the bone of a wing.
"Pipes!" Leo yelled, hitting the dragon before Ladon could kill her.
Using his hammer, he broke Ladon's wing, resulting in an ear-splitting screech of pain. Piper chopped another head off, Leo bonking each to distract the dragon. Unfortunately, the dragon wasn't very dumb either. It blasted Piper with fire as she flew backwards, hitting the floor motionless.
"PIPER!" Jason's voice was so full of anguish that he even began to cry. "PIPER!" he yelled again, hoping his girlfriend would wake up.
But she didn't stir. She didn't give him a sign that she was okay.
"GO JASON!" Leo yelled, rushing to Piper's side. "GO! I'LL TAKE CARE OF HER!"
Jason reluctantly followed his commands, rushing straight to Ladon. Avoiding the claws from Ladon's claws, he sliced at Ladon's heads before realizing there were only a few left. Looking back to check on Piper, he realized his mistake too late.
"JASON!" Leo screamed, jumping in front of him as Ladon's claws struck down.
They gashed Leo in the leg, sending Leo sprawling on the floor, pain shining in his brown eyes.
"LEO, NO!" Jason shouted. "NO! NO!"
"GO!" Leo choked. "Go..."
Jason obeyed. Fueled by his rage, he relentlessly hacked at the heads, sending them flying away. He didn't even realize he was down to the last one before his whole body was bruised up, scrapes, cuts, and burns littering his body.
"Don't!" a Hesperide called. "It won't hurt you. Get your friends and the two apples you requested. We will help."
Jason, in shock, simply took two apples off the tree and collapsed onto his knees next to Piper and Leo. One Hesperide grabbed Piper while the other grabbed Leo, carrying them out.
"A-Are they dead?" Jason whimpered, fearing the answer they'd give.
"No," they said, much to Jason's relief. "But they are dying. If you carry godly nectar, you must treat Leo first. His poison will spread."
"Shit..." Jason muttered, rolling his best friend over.
Taking out the flask of nectar, he began to squeeze the poison out as fast as he could.
"OW!" Leo wailed. "OUCH!"
"I'm sorry..." Jason whispered, dumping the nectar onto Leo's wounds.
"AH!" Leo screamed. "AHHH! No... No, man... I... I won't..."
Leo stopped moving.
"NO! NOOO!" Jason screamed, shaking his best friend. "COME ON, VALDEZ! NO! Y-YOU CAN'T!"
Yelling out in grief, electricity burst from his fingers over his dead best friends and filled the sky with blue light. A yellow glow appeared and a boy was seen through his haze of blue. Blue was mixed with gold and Jason, fried from his powers, fell to the floor. He wasn't sure if he was seeing things as he passed out, but he was sure he could see Piper and Leo crouching over him.
Probably the signs of him dying.