"Holy schist," Percy muttered. "Jeez, Jason, how much do you weigh?"
Jason was still unconscious, but Percy had managed to expel the water from his lungs. Now, he was left dragging Jason back to their motel room.
"There better at least be pizza left over."
He managed to get his cousin back. He dropped him on his bed, then dribbled a little nectar into his mouth.
Jason started to cough, rolling onto his side. He blinked. "Ouch."
"Bro, you okay?" Percy asked, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box left on the dresser.
"Just sore." He sat up. "Are you okay?"
"I'm completely fine. The lack of pizza was getting to me, but that's all taken care of now." He waved his slice of pizza at Jason.
Jason laughed. "Alright. I'm going to sleep. Thanks again, you know, for not letting me drown."
"Dude, I could say thanks, too. Those nymphs were pretty vicious."
Jason yawned. "Yeah. Anyway, I'll see you in the morning." And with that he turned onto his side and was quiet.
Percy sat, watching TV, until the pizza was gone.
<><><><><><><><><><>
The sun had been up for two hours by the time they were on the road again. Percy sat back, his feet up on the dashboard, munching on a candy bar.
"Dude," he said loudly to be heard over the music. "I kind of feel bad about last night."
Jason turned down the music. "What about it?" he asked.
"That nymph, Clyte. I promised her I would help her clean the lake."
"We can come back. We'll just need a better plan so what did happen doesn't happen again."
Percy fiddled with the map in his hands. "I feel like I broke that promise though."
Jason paused before answering. "Not everyone can be helped."
Percy didn't say anything else. He took another bite of his candy.
"How much longer until we're there?" Percy asked through a mouthful.
"I'm not sure. Check the map."
Percy pulled the paper from the glove compartment and unfolded it. "Eh, not bad. We've probably got just a couple more hours until we're there."
Jason waved a triumphant fist. "Rad."
Hardly two hours later, according to the map they were nearly on top of the pink circle. "We're close," Percy stated.
Before them was a dirt road that led up the side of a mountain. Jason followed it until there was an enclosed gate. A sign read: CLOSED FOR THE SEASON.
"Looks like we gotta start walking from here," Jason said.
"We didn't bring any jackets," Percy realized. "We're gonna freeze."
"We'll just have to be fast. I can fly us up there if you're cool with it."
Percy eyed Jason. "But we don't tell the others about it."
Jason laughed. "Trust me, I wasn't planning to."
They stepped out of the Jeep and a cold breeze hit them. Jason let Percy jump onto his back, who then hooked his legs around Jason's waist. The temperature dropped increasingly as they soared up.
Finally, they reached an edge where a three-story resort stood. Percy hopped off of Jason and they walked up to it.
The doors were locked, so Percy peered into the windows. "Looks like no one's around."
Suddenly, the ski lift started moving on their left. With a surprised expression, Jason said, "Looks like there might be someone."
"Yeah. And they want us to go skiing."
Jason knit his eyebrows. "I've never been skiing before."
"Join the club," Percy said. "I'm more of a snowboarder."
Together, they stepped forward and hopped onto one of the chairs. They were lifted nearly to the top of the mountain, but were left at a trail. They jumped off, then followed it.
"Bro, someone definitely has to be here," Jason decided. "But who would it be?"
Percy shrugged. "Hephaestus?"
Jason shook his head and sighed. "He wouldn't hang around after already catching Aphrodite and Ares in the act."
"So, what? Think he hired somebody?"
Jason snorted. "I wouldn't say 'hired'. Since when do the gods do anything in exchange, right?"
"Example A: Aphrodite," Percy laughed. "She did threaten us into doing this, after all."
Jason rolled his eyes. "I can't believe she would--"
He never got the chance to finish. A roar echoed across the mountain. It was so loud that the snow that coated the limbs of the surrounding pine trees trickled to the ground. Percy could have sworn he felt the ground tremble a little.
He and Jason locked eyes. "What the Hades was that?" Jason asked.
Percy shook his head. He uncapped Riptide while Jason flipped his coin, which elongated into his spear.
Another roar pierced the air, and the two turned. In the distance, rising above the trees was something big. The sun glinted off the monster's metallic skin.
Percy's heart sank.
"That thing is huge," Jason said, sounding almost breathless. "Can we beat that?"
"I fought one before," Percy admitted. "But we didn't exactly win."
"What do you mean?"
"It's an automaton. Nico's sister, Bianca, died saving us from one. It's one of Hephaestus's inventions, but this one might not be a defect like the last one was. For all I know, this one could be twice as bad. Maybe worse than that."
"How did Bianca stop it?"
"She climbed inside a maintenance hole and shut it down, but the thing fell into power lines and she was electrocuted."
"Okay, so I'll find a way inside and shut him down. That way if it falls into power lines, I won't be killed like you might."
Percy nodded. He didn't like this plan, but he knew it was all they had. Maybe he could come up with something better after getting a good look at it.
More booming steps approached them. Percy hadn't been so nervous about fighting a monster in a long time. He didn't want what happened to Bianca to happen again.
"See you soon," Jason winked just before flying toward the monster.
Percy could finally see it in all it's might. This thing towered at least five stories tall, it's bronze body almost impossible to look directly at with the sun beaming off of it. It moved quickly for something of its size, and Percy knew that would only make it harder to beat.
As if trying to swat away a fly, it swung it's hand through the air and almost hit Jason. He dodged, then summoned lightening and sent it right into the automaton's eye. The lightening harmlessly bounced off of it, and Jason hardly had time to avoid another backhand.
Percy had to do something before Jason got hurt. There was no open water around, so using his powers was out of the question. This was usually when Annabeth really came in handy.
What would Annabeth do? She would probably find a weakness first, Percy figured. Lightening definitely wasn't one. Maybe they'd have enough time to climb inside and shut it down if they could somehow get it on the ground...
Percy needed to trip it, but how? The thing was massive and would probably only break whatever they used.
Jason was swinging his sword at the thing now, but that simply deflected off the monster's skin with a small twang! The guy was starting to look a little baffled.
"Jason!" Percy shouted up at him. "We need to find a way to knock it over!"
The blond demigod didn't show any sign he'd heard Percy. He continued to pester the automaton until finally it caught him by surprise and clamped its mouth down over him like a Venus fly trap.
Percy's heart sunk. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he had to move fast to save his cousin.
"Percy, what is that thing?"
He couldn't help but jump. Nico Di Angelo had snuck right up on him, and this wasn't the first time. Standing behind the son of Hades was Will Solace, a son of Apollo.
Percy was relieved to see them nonetheless. "Nico, how did you find us?"
"I tried to IM you, but you looked like you were in trouble. We shadow traveled here."
"Hi, Percy," Will said sheepishly beside his boyfriend (though Nico still hasn't officially admitted that).
"Where's Jason?" Nico asked.
"Guys, that's an automaton," Percy explained quickly. "It just swallowed Jason."
"An automaton?" Nico asked. "Like the thing that killed Bianca?"
Percy nodded. "There has to be some way to shut it down and get Jason out."
The monster let out another deafening roar before turning to the three.
"We have to make it immobile," Will said.
"I'm on it," Nico declared.
He stepped forward with a look of determination. Percy could've sworn there was the hint of a smirk on his face. He held out his hands, palm down, and the earth began to shake. A crack appeared through the snow and the ground shifted apart as the line stretched toward the automaton.
The monster sank into the earth and yelled in outrage. His legs were stuck.
"Nico," Will said with a smile. "Nice job!"
The monster then held out its own hand and flames shot from it right at the three. They jumped out of the way, but not unscathed.
Nico cried out as a flame licked his ankle. Will ran to his side, but the monster wasn't done yet. Percy had to draw its attention away from his friends.
He chucked Riptide at its head and it clanged off without a dent. His sword landed somewhere in the woods, and he hoped it would reappear in his pocket before he needed it.
"Hey! Big and ugly!" he yelled at it. It turned to him. His plan was working, but what now? He had to improvise.
An idea came into his head. It was a bad one, but hopefully it would keep its attention in him.
"What's a robots favorite type of music?" he asked the monster. It didn't respond, but instead sat completely still, maybe waiting for an answer. "Heavy metal!"
Percy couldn't help laughing at the joke his friend Grover had once told him. But he wasn't done just yet.
"Why was the robot so angry?" he asked. "Because someone kept pushing his buttons!"
Will and Nico were out of the way by now, but he could still see them from where he was. Nico was smiling but shaking his head at Percy while Will was laughing as he worked on Nico's ankle.
"What can you find under a robot?" he asked again, and still the robot did nothing. "A ro-bottom!"
Then something strange happened. The light in the automaton's eyes faded and it tipped forward. The ground shook as it collapsed.
Percy was a little stunned. He looked over at his friends, and they looked just as confused. Will shrugged, "Killer puns?"
There was a sound like cracking and a latch being clicked, and Jason appeared from a hatch on the monster's back. "Okay, I'm dizzy," the son of Jupiter laughed.
"Jason," Percy smiled and ran up to him. "Dude, I thought that was the end of you."
Jason jumped down and almost fell over, but Percy straightened him. "I'm not going to die that easily. Though that was kind of a rough ride," he said.
"How'd you stop it?"
"I started flipping switches," he shrugged. "Anything red, really."
Percy laughed. "That's good logic," he said sarcastically.
"Got us out alive though."
Nico and Will were walking toward them. Nico limped a bit and Will had an arm wrapped around his waist. "Jason, glad to see you're alive," Nico said.
"What are you guys doing here?"
Before Nico could answer there was a rumbling in the distance. It turned on every alarm in Percy's mind.
"Uh oh," Will said. "I really hope that's not an avalanche."
The sound grew louder as they stood frozen.
"Solace," Percy said. "You spoke too soon."