𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

golden boys and quick swords

ERITH JAY
ERITH WAS ON duty with Percy and Jason.

Not that she had to be. In fact, everyone else was sleeping, except for Hedge, who was annoyed about a pegasus stomping his enchiladas.

Well, tough luck, Erith thought as she brushed pegasus dust from her hair. The poor animal had gotten the worse end of the deal.

Percy turned to cut a monster out of the sky. There was a certain melancholy in his eyes that Erith had noticed for awhile.

Jason, on the other hand, looked so alert Erith was afraid he'd set the ship on fire with a lightning strike. His blue eyes darted through the night sky, taking note of any moment. 

Which was fair. Since they'd traveled into the ancient lands, the difference in monster attacks had been almost instant. Several times an hour, something attacked the ship.

Erith had taken daytime duty thus far, because her powers were concentrated around the sun. But honestly, she was out here right now just because she wanted to spend some time with Jason and Percy, no matter how tired the day's events had left her.

Finally around midnight, after the ninth or tenth aerial attack, Jason turned to Erith and Percy. Erith had a bag of chips in her hand, and the two of them were taking turns shoving chips in their mouths between attacks. Erith's sword leaned against the wood of the deck.

"How about you two get some sleep?" Jason suggested, catching a chip that Erith had tossed at him. "I'll keep blasting stuff out of the sky for as long as I can. Then we can go by sea for awhile, and Percy can take point. Besides, Rith, gods know we're gonna need you in the morning."

Erith sighed heavily, rolling up the bag of chips. "You're not wrong." She handed Percy the bag. "Put those back. I'll meet you in the dining hall."

Percy nodded. His eyes were clouded as he picked up Riptide, turned it back into a pen, and then walked away.

Erith grabbed her own sword and gingerly transformed it back into an earring. She looked at Jason. "You gonna be okay?"

He nodded. "I've got this. Don't worry."

"Worry? Me?" Erith's lips split into a smile. "Never."

Jason rolled his eyes, then clapped his hands. Erith turned and saw something tumble from the sky, disintegrating into ash. 

"See?" Jason said. "I've got it handled."

"Okay, okay. See you in the morning?"

"Yeah. I'll stay up till then."

Erith smiled at him and squeezed his wrist, then went to meet Percy in the dining hall.

―

PERCY'S ARMS WERE crossed. He looked at her expectantly as she entered. "You're late."

"Sorry," Erith said. "Didn't know I had a curfew."

Percy smiled and linked his hand with hers as she approached. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something. If that's alright."

"Sure," Erith told him. "Your cabin?"