Cary leapt off of Arion as soon as she could. She left hazel and Leo behind and pushed past Leon to get to Jason's cabin. As soon as she opened the door, Jason woke up.
"Hey," he croaked.
Piper was so startled she dropped her knife. "You're awake!"
"Don't sound so surprised." Jason touched his bandaged head and frowned. "What... what happened? I remember the explosions, and—"
"Oh my gods!" Cary threw her arms around Jason, tears leaking from her eyes.
"You remember who I am?" Piper asked.
Jason tried to laugh, but it turned into a painful wince. "Last I checked, you were my awesome best friend Piper. Unless something has changed since I was out?"
Piper helped him sit up and gave him some nectar to sip while she brought him up to speed. She was just explaining Leo's plan to fix the ship when Leo and Hazel stumbled to a stop in the doorway, carrying a large sheet of hammered bronze between them.
"Gods of Olympus." Piper stared at Leo. "What happened to you?"
His hair was greased back. He had welding goggles on his forehead, a lipstick mark on his cheek, tattoos all over his arms, and a T-shirt that read HOT STUFF, BAD BOY, and TEAM LEO.
"Long story," he said. "Others back?"
"Not yet," Piper said.
Leo cursed. Then he noticed Jason sitting up, and his face brightened. "Hey, man! Glad you're better. I'll be in the engine room."
He ran off with the sheet of bronze, leaving Hazel in the doorway.
Piper raised an eyebrow at her. "Team Leo?"
"We met Narcissus," Hazel said, which didn't really explain much.
"Also Nemesis, the revenge goddess," Cary tacked on, arms still around Jason. She was too relieved to care.
Jason sighed. "I miss all the fun."
On the deck above, something went THUMP, as if a heavy creature had landed.
Annabeth and Percy came running down the hall. Percy was toting a steaming five-gallon plastic bucket that smelled horrible. Annabeth had a patch of black sticky stuff in her hair. Percy's shirt was covered in it.
"Roofing tar?" Piper guessed.
Frank stumbled up behind them, which made the hallway pretty jam-packed with demigods. Frank had a big smear of the black sludge down his face.
"Ran into some tar monsters," Annabeth said. "Hey, Jason, glad you're awake. Hazel, Cary, where's Leo?"
Hazel pointed down. "Engine room."
Suddenly the entire ship listed to port. The demigods stumbled. Percy almost spilled his bucket of tar.
"Uh, what was that?" he demanded.
"Oh..." Hazel and Cary looked embarrassed. "We may have angered the nymphs who live in this lake."
Cary winced. "Like... all of them."
"Great." Percy handed the bucket of tar to Frank and Annabeth. "You guys help Leo. I'll hold off the water spirits as long as I can."
"On it!" Frank promised.
The three of them ran off, leaving Hazel at the cabin door. The ship listed again, and Hazel hugged her stomach like she was going to be sick.
"I'll just..." She swallowed, pointed weakly down the passageway, and ran off.
YOU ARE READING
Death's Touch | Jason Grace
Fanfiction[ON HOLD] Cary meant pure. Was that what she was? It didn't seem like it. Her own father said to always wear her bracelet unless she wanted to kill something. Well, she supposed that he just wanted to protect her. She didn't think she was pure...
