𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑.
tempest and blackjack balked long enough for her piper and to leap out of the way as jason and percy charged each other.
piper rolled to the edge of the road and looked back, dazed and horrified, as the boys crossed swords, gold against bronze.
sparks flew. their blades blurred and the pavement trembled.
the first exchange took only a second, but piper couldn't believe the speed of their sword fighting.
the horses pulled away from each other, tempest thundering in protest, blackjack flapping his wings.
"stop it!" piper yelled.
for a moment, jason heeded her voice.
his golden eyes turned toward her, and percy charged, slamming his blade into jason.
percy turned his sword, so the flat of it hit jason's chest, but the impact was still enough to knock jason off his mount.
"i don't feel so creature right now. what are we supposed to do?" cherry looked over at her.
blackjack cantered away as tempest reared in confusion.
the spirit horse charged into the sunflowers and dissipated into vapor.
percy struggled to turn his pegasus around.
"percy, stop being a fucking cunt!" cherry yelled out, and his arm seemed to fall.
unfortunately, that was at the same time jason got to his feet.
a bolt of lightning arced out of the clear blue sky.
it ricocheted off his gladius and blasted percy off his horse. blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. jason charged at percy, who was now on his back, his clothes smoking from the lightning blast.
for a horrible moment, piper couldn't find her voice.
gaea seemed to be whispering to her: you must choose one. why not let jason kill him?
"no!" she screamed. "jason, stop!"
"percy, you too!" cherry agreed.
both boys froze, jason's sword was six inches from percy's face.
jason turned, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly. "i cannot stop. one must die."
the voice wasn't gaea.
it wasn't jason.
whoever it was spoke haltingly, as if english was its second language.
"who are you?" piper demanded.
jason's mouth twisted in a gruesome smile. "we are the eidolons. we will live again. "
"eidolons..?" piper's mind raced.
"what is that?" cherry frowned.
"you're- you're some sort of ghost?" piper guessed.
"he must die." jason turned his attention back to percy, but percy had recovered more than either of them realized.
he swept out his leg and knocked jason off his feet.
jason's head hit the asphalt with a nauseating conk.
percy rose.
"stop it!" piper screamed again, but there was no charmspeak in her voice.
she was shouting in sheer desperation.
percy raised riptide over jason's chest. panic closed up piper's throat.
she wanted to attack percy with her dagger, but she knew that wouldn't help.
whatever was controlling him had all of percy's skill. there was no way she could beat him in combat. she forced herself to focus.
she poured all of her anger into her voice. "eidolon, stop."
percy froze.
"face me," piper ordered.
the son of the sea god turned. his eyes were gold instead of blue, his face pale and cruel, not at all like percy's.
his eyes flickered to cherry, who stood helplessly.
"you have not chosen, " he said. "so this one will die. "
"you're a spirit from the underworld," piper guessed. "you're possessing percy jackson. is that it?"
"i will live again in this body. the earth mother has promised. i will go where i please, control whom i wish. "
"leo.. that's what happened to leo. he was being controlled by an eidolon."
"too late you realize. you can trust no one."
jason still wasn't moving.
piper had no way to protect him. she eyed cherry, and the red-head followed her gaze.
cherry made her way to jason's side cautiously.
behind percy, something rustled in the wheat.
piper saw the tip of a black wing, and percy began to turn toward the sound.
"ignore it!" she yelped. "look at me."
percy obeyed. "you cannot stop me. i will kill jason grace."
behind him, blackjack emerged from the wheat field, moving with surprising stealth for such a large animal.
"you won't kill him," piper ordered.
but she wasn't looking at percy.
she locked eyes with the pegasus, pouring all her power into her words and hoping blackjack would understand.
"you will knock him out." the charmspeak washed over percy.
he shifted his weight indecisively.
"i.. will knock him out?"
"oh, sorry." piper smiled. "i wasn't talking to you."
blackjack reared and brought his hoof down on percy's head.
percy crumpled to the pavement next to jason.
"jesus!" cherry's eyes widened, as she quickly abandoned jason's side.
"blackjack, you didn't kill him, did you?" piper ssked.
the pegasus snorted.
tempest was nowhere to be seen. the lightning steed had apparently returned to wherever storm spirits live on clear days.
piper checked on jason.
he was breathing steadily, but two knocks on the skull in two days couldn't have been good for him.
then she examined percy's head.
she didn't see any blood.
"we have to get them both back to the ship," piper told cherry and blackjack.
the pegasus bobbed his head in agreement.
he knelt to the ground. cherry sat in front, and helped steady the two boys as piper lifted them onto blackjacks back.
after getting them reasonably secured, piper climbed onto blackjack's back herself, and they took off for the ship.
"sorry i had blackjack knock out your boyfriend." piper apologized.
"sorry he knocked out your boyfriend." cherry frowned.
« ───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ───── »
the others were a little surprised when the girls came back on a pegasus with two unconscious demigods.
while frank and hazel tended to blackjack, annabeth and leo helped get piper, cherry and the two boys to the sickbay.
"at this rate, we're going to run out of ambrosia," coach hedge grumbled as he tended their wounds. "how come i never get invited on these violent trips?"
piper sat at jason's side.
she herself felt fine after a swig of nectar and some water, but she was still worried about the others.
"leo," piper said, "are we ready to sail?"
"yeah, but-" leo started up.
"set course for atlanta. i'll explain later."
"but.. okay."
leo hurried off.
annabeth looked at percy, her expression covered in confusion.
"what hit him?" annabeth questioned.
"blackjack did." cherry explained. "it's kind of funny to think about now."
piper tried to explain while coach hedge applied some healing paste to the boys' heads.
she'd never been impressed with hedge's nursing abilities before, but he must have done something right. either that, or the spirits that possessed the boys had also made them extra resilient.
they both groaned and opened their eyes, and within a few minutes, jason and percy were sitting up in their berths and able to talk in complete sentences.
both had fuzzy memories of what had happened.
"percy, take a shower." cherry criticized as she hugged him.
when piper described their duel on the highway, jason winced.
"knocked out twice in two days," he muttered. "some demigod."
he glanced sheepishly at percy. "sorry, man. i didn't mean to blast you."
percy's shirt was peppered with burn holes.
his hair was even more disheveled than normal.
despite that, he managed a weak laugh.
"not the first time. your big sister got me good once at camp." percy shrugged.
"yeah, but.. i could have killed you." jason spoke.
"or i could have killed you,"
"if there'd been an ocean in kansas, maybe."
"i don't need an ocean-"
cherry tried not to laugh.
"battle it out with rock paper scissors." cherry suggested. "actually don't, percy's a cheater."
"i am not!" percy denied.
"my apologies."
"will you bring me something to eat?"
"really 1950s of you. no."
"please? i'd do it for you."
annabeth told everybody to meet in the mess hall.
they all needed to know about what happened with bacchus.
leo gave the helm to coach hedge again, after making the satyr promise he would not steer them to the nearest military base for fun.
they gathered around the dining table, and piper explained what had happened at topeka 32.
their conversation with bacchus, the trap sprung by gaea, the eidolons that had possessed the boys.
"of course!" hazel slapped the table, which startled frank so much, he dropped his burrito. "that's what happened to leo too."
lso it wasn't my fault." leo exhaled. "i didn't start world war three. i just got possessed by an evil spirit. that's a relief!"
"but the romans don't know that," annabeth said. "and why would they take our word for it?"
"we could contact reyna," jason suggested. "she would believe us."
hearing the way jason said her name, like it was a lifeline to his past, made piper's heart sink.
jason turned to her with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. "you could convince her, pipes. i know you could."
piper felt like all the blood in her body was draining into her feet.
annabeth looked at her sympathetically.
cherry had the same expression.
even hazel winced.
"i could try," she said halfheartedly. "but octavian is the one we have to worry about. in my dagger blade, i saw him taking control of the roman crowd. i'm not sure reyna can stop him."
jason's expression darkened.
piper didn't get any pleasure from bursting his bubble, but the other romans, hazel and frank, nodded in agreement.
"she's right," frank said. "this afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. they were a long way off, but closing fast. octavian is on the warpath."
hazel grimaced. "this is exactly the sort of opportunity octavian has always wanted. he'll try to seize power. if reyna objects, he'll say she's soft on the greeks. as for those eagles.. it's like they could smell us."
"they can," jason said. "roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. this ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely, not from them."
leo drummed his fingers. "great. i should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell like a giant chicken nugget. remind me to invent that, next time."
hazel frowned. "what is a chicken nugget?"
"oh, man..." leo shook his head in amazement.
cherry's eyes were wide
percy would've commented if he wasn't so busy eating.
"i'm so sorry for you. i love chicken nuggets." cherry outstretched a hand. "but only the frozen ones."
"yeah. you probably eat them frozen, too." leo accused.
"shut the fuck up, leo."
"you can't talk like that to bad boy supreme."
"i'm gonna throw you out of this ship. that way i don't have to talk to you."
"woah. no need for all this violence. we can resolve this beef in more peaceful matters."
"like?"
percy suddenly seemed uninterested in his pizza, and like he was about to make a lot of comments.
"leo, can i ask you something?" percy began.
"guys, the point is, we'll have a hard time explaining the truth to the romans. even if they believe us-" annabeth interrupted him, which earned a grateful smile from cherry.
"you're right." jason leaned forward. "we should just keep going. once we're over the atlantic, we'll be safe, at least from the legion."
he sounded so upset.
piper looked unsure of herself, suddenly.
"how can you be sure?" she asked. "why wouldn't they follow us?"
he shook his head. "you heard reyna talking about the ancient lands. they're much too dangerous. roman demigods have been forbidden to go there for generations. even octavian couldn't get around that rule."
frank swallowed a bite of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his mouth. "so, if we go there.."
"we'll be outlaws as well as traitors," jason confirmed. "any roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. but i wouldn't worry about that. if we get across the atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us. they'll assume that we'll die in the mediterranean, the mare nostrum."
percy pointed his pizza slice at jason. "you, sir, are a ray of sunshine."
jason didn't argue.
the other demigods stared at their plates, except for percy, who continued to enjoy his pizza.
"percy, it's not going anywhere, it's okay." cherry stared at his plate.
"that's a lie. you always take my food." percy argued.
"you're a liar! you always take mine. you'll pay for your crimes one day."
"one day. not today."
cherry rolled her eyes, and spun her fork around in her pasta.
she took a bite, and suddenly, the entire room was quiet.
"let's plan ahead," percy suggested, "and make sure we don't die. mr. d- bacchus. ugh, do i have to call him mr. b now? anyway, he mentioned the twins in ella's prophecy. two giants. otis and, uh, something that started with an f?"
"ephialtes," jason said. "twin giants, like piper saw in her blade.."
annabeth ran her finger along the rim of her cup. "i remember a story about twin giants. they tried to reach mount olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains."
frank nearly choked. "well, that's great. giants who can use mountains like building blocks. and you say bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"
"something like that," percy said. "i don't think we should count on his help this time. he wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn't handle."
silence fell around the table.
above deck, coach hedge was singing blow the man down, except he didn't know the lyrics.
cherry laughed, and covered her mouth.
"she wants two of us," piper murmured.
everyone turned to look at her.
piper hated being the center of attention, cherry could tell immediately, with the way the girl sunk into her seat.
"today on the highway," piper said, "gaea told me that she needed the blood of only two demigods. one female, one male. she.. she asked me to choose which boy would die."
jason squeezed her hand. "but neither of us died. you saved us."
"i know. it's just.. why would she want that?" piper thought.
leo whistled softly. "guys, remember at the wolf house? our favorite ice princess, khione? she talked about spilling jason's blood, how it would taint the place for generations. maybe demigod blood has some kind of power."
"oh.." percy set down his third pizza slice.
he leaned back and stared at nothing, as if the horse kick to his head had just now registered.
"do you have a concussion or is it the pizza?" cherry asked, looking over.
"oh, bad," he muttered, grabbing his girlfriends hand dramatically. "bad. bad. you guys remember polybotes?"
lthe giant who invaded camp jupiter," hazel said. "the anti-poseidon you whacked in the head with a terminus statue. yes, i think i remember."
"i had a dream," percy said, "when we were flying to alaska. polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said-he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. he said: 'i want that one chained at my feet, so i can kill him when the time is ripe. his blood shall water the stones of mount olympus and wake earth mother!'"
piper was shaking. "you think the giants would use our blood.. the blood of two of us-"
"i don't know," percy said. "but until we figure it out, i suggest we all try to avoid getting captured."
jason grunted. "that i agree with."
"but how do we figure it out?" hazel asked. "the mark of athena, the twins, ella's prophecy.. how does it all fit together?"
annabeth pressed her hands against the edge of the table. "piper, you told leo to set our course for atlanta."
"right," piper said.
"who did bacchus tell us to seek out?" cherry caught on, trying to think back.
"phorcys," percy told her, before anybody else could.
annabeth looked surprised. "you know him?"
"who is he?" cherry asked.
percy shrugged. "i didn't recognize the name at first. then bacchus mentioned salt water, and it rang a bell. phorcys is an old sea god from before my dad's time. never met him, but supposedly he's a son of gaea. i still don't understand what a sea god would be doing in atlanta."
leo snorted. "what's a wine god doing in kansas? gods are weird. anyway, we should reach atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something else goes wrong."
"don't even say that," annabeth muttered. "it's getting late. we should all get some sleep."
"i agree. bye." cherry stood immediately, abandoning her oasta.
"wait," piper said.
once more, everyone looked at her.
"there's one last thing," she said. "the eidolons- the possessing spirits. they're still here, in this room."
piper couldn't explain how she knew.
"that is horrifying. don't say that." cherry's eyes widened.
finally hazel exhaled. "piper is right."
"how can you be sure?" annabeth asked.
"i've met eidolons," hazel said. "in the underworld, when i was.. you know."
"so.." frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp. "you think these things are lurking on the ship, or-"
cherry wanted to question the haircut, but she chose not to say anything.
not in a judging way, though. she just thought haircuts were unique, and going bald was random.
"possibly lurking inside some of us," piper said.
"we don't know." jason clenched his fist. "if that's true.."
"we have to take steps," piper said. "i think i can do this."
"do what?" percy asked.
"just listen, okay?" piper took a deep breath. "everybody listen."
piper met their eyes, one person at a time.
"eidolons," she said, using her charmspeak, "raise your hands."
there was tense silence.
leo laughed nervously. "did you really think that was going to-"
his voice died.
his face went slack.
he raised his hand.
jason and percy did the same.
their eyes had turned glassy and gold. hazel caught her breath. next to leo, frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back against the wall.
"oh, gods." annabeth looked at piper imploringly. "can you cure them?"
piper wanted to hide under the table, but she had to help jason.
cherry's terrified look didn't make her feel any better.
piper focused on leo, because he was the least intimidating.
"are there more of you on this ship?" she asked.
"no," leo said in a hollow voice. "the earth mother sent three. the strongest, the best. we will live again. "
"not here, you won't," piper growled. "all three of you, listen carefully."
jason and percy turned toward her.
those gold eyes were unnerving, but seeing all three boys like that fueled piper's anger.
"you will leave those bodies," she commanded.
"no, " percy said. "we must live. "
frank fumbled for his bow. "mars almighty, that's creepy! get out of here, spirits! leave our friends alone!"
leo turned toward him. "you cannot command us, child of war. your own life is fragile. your soul could burn at any moment. "
piper wasn't sure what that meant, but frank staggered like he'd been punched in the gut.
he drew an arrow, his hands shaking. "i- i've faced down worse things than you. if you want a fight-"
"frank, don't." hazel rose.
next to her, jason drew his sword.
"stop!" piper ordered, but her voice quavered.
she was rapidly losing faith in her plan.
she'd made the eidolons appear, but what now?
if she couldn't persuade them to leave, any bloodshed would be her fault. in the back of her mind, she could almost hear gaea laughing.
"listen to piper." hazel pointed at jason's sword.
the gold blade seemed to grow heavy in his hand. it clunked to the table and jason sank back into his chair.
percy grunted in a very un-percy-like way. "daughter of pluto, you may control gems and metals. you do not control the dead. "
annabeth reached toward him as if to restrain him, but hazel waved her off.
"listen, eidolons," hazel said sternly, "you do not belong here. i may not command you, but piper does. obey her."
she turned toward piper, her expression clear: try again.
cherry put her hands up in a cheering motion.
piper mustered all her courage.
she looked straight at jason, straight into the eyes of the thing that was controlling him. "you will leave those bodies,"
jason's face tightened. his forehead beaded with sweat. "we- we will leave these bodies."
"you will vow on the river styx never to return to this ship, and never to possess any member of this crew. you will promise on the river styx,"
"we promise on the river styx. "
"you are dead,"
"we are dead, "
"now, leave."
all three boys slumped forward.
percy fell face-first into his pizza.
cherry would've laughed if she wasn't so nervous. she grabbed him immediately, and wiped his face.
piper and hazel caught jason's arms as he slipped out of his chair.
leo wasn't so lucky.
he fell toward frank, who made no attempt to intercept him.
leo hit the floor.
"ow!" he groaned.
"are you all right?" hazel asked.
leo pulled himself up. he had a piece of spaghetti in the shape of a j stuck to his forehead. "did it work?"
"it worked," piper said, feeling pretty sure she was right. "i don't think they'll be back."
jason blinked. "does that mean i can stop getting head injuries now?"
piper laughed, exhaling all her nervousness. "come on, lightning boy. let's get you some fresh air.
the sky began to set.
after everything that had happened that day, all anybody wanted to do was rest.
thankfully, percy and cherry had gotten ready for bed pretty early, and were in cherry's room before coach hedge began yelling up and down the hallway.
percy was wearing a pair of blue pajamas. cherry wore the same ones.
"be honest. how much fun are you having on this trip?"
percy asked, sitting up. "better than the vacations you take in your private jet, right?"
"shut up, you made fun of me for that private jet until you got on it." cherry laughed.
"i would kill to be rich."
"marry rich."
"i plan on it."
"what do you think our wedding is gonna be like?"
"uh.. i don't know. at the beach?"
"yeah, so you can cause a tsunami after our vows. perfect."
"i would never! i would do it at the end of the night. keep it memorable."
"that's the only reason you would remember it? not because it was our wedding night?"
"no! that's not what i meant!"
cherry laughed at the panicked expression he had on his face.
all of the new campers heard tales of percy jackson. of how brave and scary he was.
but, seeing him like this?
he wasn't percy jackson, the hero.
he was just her boyfriend.
percy liked that.
they spent the rest of the night talking until they fell asleep.
cherry wished every day could've been like that.
she wished she could just sit with him. she didn't want to have to worry about being attacked at every possible moment, or have one of her friends get hurt.
she would never know peace.