𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

shrimpzilla

ERITH JAY
THE SHIP TILTED wildly. Erith rolled out of her cot.

Jason and Percy were on their feet. Frank and Annabeth were already sprinting out of the room, Piper in hot pursuit.

"Erith!" Jason yelled. He extended his hand and she leaped over the cots and took it. "You good?" he asked.

"Nope," she said. A rush of fear hit her hard. What if this was when they would die?

"Me neither," he said.

Together, they ran up.

Erith spotted the monster first. It was an ugly thing the length of the ship, looking like a cross between a giant shrimp and a cockroach, with a pink chitinous shell, a flat crayfish tail, and millipede-type legs undulating hypnotically as the monster scraped against the hull of the Argo II.

Its head was possibly even worse―the slimy pink face of an enormous catfish with glassy dead eyes, a gaping toothless maw, and a forest of tentacles sprouting from each nostril, making a very bushy nose beard.

Erith registered the activity on deck next. Leo was sprinting toward the helm, somehow managing to tactfully keep his footing on the sloping ship. Hedge clung to the helm and yelled at Leo to run faster.

Percy yelled, "What's going―gah! Shrimpzilla!"

Frank ran to Hazel's side. She was clutching the rigging, looking dazed―seasick? Erith had no time to find out as the monster rammed the ship and the hull groaned. Annabeth, Piper, Jason, and Erith tumbled to starboard and almost rolled overboard. Erith's vision went upside down and she swallowed a yelp as she landed on her stab wound.

"Erith!" Jason called. He had somehow managed to get back on his feet, and he extended his hand to her. She was halfway over the side of the ship and she took it gratefully, pulling herself back up and cursing at how weak she felt. Stupid Octavian.

Leo was at the helm now, hands flying furiously. Annabeth was pulling herself up on one of the rail shields and shouting to Leo, "How did it get so close?"

"I don't know!" Hedge snarled. He looked around for his bat, which had rolled across the quarterdeck.

"I'm stupid!" Leo snapped. "Stupid, stupid! I forgot the sonar!"

The ship tilted farther to starboard. Jason and Erith scrambled up the deck holding hands.

"Sonar?" Hedge demanded. "Pan's pipes, Valdez! Maybe if you hadn't been staring into Hazel's eyes, holding hands for so long―"

"What?" Frank yelped.

"Get used to it," Erith called to him as she skidded down the ship and Jason summoned the winds to give her a flying leap.

"It wasn't like that!" Hazel protested.

"It doesn't matter!" Piper said. "Jason, can you call some lightning?"

Jason, who had just fallen and was only somehow staying on the ship thanks to Erith's hands wrapped around his arm, struggled to his feet. "I―" He only managed to shake his head. Summoning the storm earlier had clearly taken too much out of him.