𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

cannonball

ERITH JAY
THE LAST ERITH SAW OF THE GODS WAS THEM CROWDED AROUND THE SHIP IN THEIR GODLY FORMS WHILE ZEUS, giant again and a hundred feet tall, held the Argo II by its prow. He boomed, HOLD ON!

Then he tossed the ship up and spiked it overhand like a volleyball.

If Erith hadn't been strapped to the mast with Jason, she would have disintegrated. As it was, her stomach tried to stay behind in Greece and all the air was sucked out of her lungs.

The sky turned black. The ship rattled and creaked. The deck cracked like thin ice under Erith's legs, and with a sonic boom, the Argo II hurtled out of the clouds. She was dimly aware of Jason gripping her hand tightly.

Her humanity.

"Jason! Erith!" Leo shouted. "Hurry!"

Together, Jason and her managed to undo the straps on themselves. Leo was lashed to the control console, desperately trying to right the ship as they spiraled downward in free fall. The sails were on fire. Festus creaked in alarm. A catapult peeled away and lifted into the air. Centrifugal force sent the shields flying off the railings like metal Frisbees.

Wider cracks opened in the deck as Jason and Erith staggered toward the hold, still holding hands, Jason using the winds to keep the two of them anchored.

If they couldn't make it to the others...

Then the hatch burst open. Frank and Hazel stumbled through, pulling on the guide rope they'd attached to the mast. Piper, Annabeth, and Percy followed, all of them looking disoriented.

"Go!" Leo yelled. "Go, go, go!" His tone was dead serious.

They'd talked through their evacuation plan, but that slap across the world had made Erith's mind sluggish. Judging from the others' expressions, they weren't in much better shape.

But Erith had faced worse than this. She squeezed Jason's hand and locked eyes with Frank. "Go."

Frank changed form. Instead of a dazed demigod, he was now a dazed gray dragon. Hazel climbed onto his neck. Frank grabbed Percy and Annabeth in his front claws, then spread his wings and soared away.

Jason grabbed Piper by the waist and glanced down. The ground was getting awfully close: a kaleidoscope of sky, earth, sky, earth. Jason wrapped his arms around Erith and she was wedged against Piper.

"Leo, you won't make it!" Jason shouted. "Come with us!"

"No! Get out of here! You know you can't carry three people, Jason!"

"Leo!" Piper tried. "Please―"

"Save your charmspeak, Pipes! I told you, I've got a plan. Now shoo!"

Erith pulled herself out of Jason's arms and cupped Leo's face in her hands. She memorized everything: the stubble on his upper lip, his curly hair whipping in the wind, his thin jaw and mirthful eyes.

When she kissed him, it was like the first time. "I love you," he whispered against her mouth. Three words, just for her.

She ran her thumb over his cheekbone. The ship spun. Then Jason and Piper were pulling her away, into the air.