the great wave | percy jackson

𝑥𝑥𝑖 - perseus

Later on, Percy would pretend not to remember what happened. He must have blacked out, had a moment, been possessed by an eidolon, something along those lines. Sorry. In reality Percy recalled every second of what happened after the explosion in vivid detail, and had been completely in control of his faculties to boot. Truth be told, he'd just simply lost his mind.

At first the only things in his head were ringing and dust–thick, choking clouds of dust laden with the jarring vibrations of weapons-grade incendiaries. Everything happened so quickly, even though every second of that battle felt like a lifetime–fighting Otis, hearing those spirits roar and feeling his heart drop straight to the floor, trying desperately to get to Ash only for her to find him instead, tackling him out of the way of Ephialtes' fist while getting herself caught in the process. So yeah, that was his fault.

That was the second thing in his head. Ash. He didn't connect the dots for a second–where was she? She was with Ephialtes, that's where, and...

And the Argo II had just blown him sky-high.

Before his thoughts were halfway cogent Percy was vaulting out of the ditch they'd used as cover and sprinting towards the mound of burning debris in the middle of the arena. He might have even used Jason's head as leverage to do it. The Argo was coming in for another pass, seeking a clear spot to land, but he ignored his crewmates' concerned yells and ducked right under the bilge when their paths crossed, narrowly avoiding decapitation.

Percy Jackson had a pretty one-track mind, you see, so right now he was running, and nothing except his destination would stop him.

There. A disgusting, gargantuan, well-seared foot attached to an equally overcooked leg. His shoes lost traction as the sand beneath him turned to a layer of cloudy glass, parts of it cracking under his feet as he slipped and slid around the incapacitated giant. Percy gunned straight for the right arm and meaty hand still loosely clenched in a fist at the end of it.

"Ash!" he yelled, nearly tripping over himself thrice approaching the wrist. "Ash!"

He scrabbled onto Ephialtes' arm–about double the size of his girlfriend itself–and started pulling desperately on the log-sized fingers, even though it was pretty clear she wasn't anywhere near. Snarling with frustration at the way Ephialtes kept trying to grab him despite being by all rights defeated, he leapt back onto the forearm and promptly slashed his opponent's tendons at the elbow.

Ephialtes let out a terrible roar, entire arm going slack, but Percy was yelling above him. "WHERE IS SHE? WHAT'D YOU DO WITH HER?"

"Filthy mortal," the giant groaned, head lolling sideways. His hair was mostly singed off, acid yellow eyes unfocused, yet his bleary gaze remained full of malice as it trained on the young hero. "The Earth will reclaim your bones..."

It was at that moment Percy realized, in the back of his mind, that he might have gone too far. Vaguely he heard the Argo landing somewhere behind him, Coach whooping like a madgoat and the rapid-fire communications of Leo, Frank, and Hazel with Jason, so at least they were alive. But that was it for the outside world, because as previously said, he was gone, and he wasn't coming back until he had Ash with him. A somewhat hysterical laugh tore through his lips and Percy lunged forward to grab the broken-off spear handle lying across Ephialtes' chest.

"I'm not sure you heard me," he said, voice laden with what only sounded like amusement. The boy planted one foot firmly on the giant's shoulder and the other on his collar.

"Where. Is. Ash?" With that, he drove the jagged wooden end directly into Ephialtes' rotator cuff.

The rumble of the giant's scream nearly threw him to the ground but he managed to keep his balance, throwing all his body weight into shoving the pole as deep as possible. He heard some surprised yelling from behind him but didn't pay any mind, focused on the murderous but now tearful gaze of the immortal below. He could use those tears, he thought, if Ephialtes didn't give him the right answer soon.