The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 66 - Jason - My Father Slaps Us

"Um, was that a joke, or a threat, or –"

"No," Zeus said, "I mean it quite literally. I could slap your ship back to Camp Half-Blood, but the force involved..."

Over by the ruined giant throne, the grungy god in the mechanic's uniform shook his head. "My boy Leo built a good ship, but it won't sustain that kind of stress. It would break apart as soon as it arrived, maybe sooner."

Leo straightened his tool belt. "The Argo II can make it. It only has to stay in one piece long enough to get us back home. Once there, we can abandon ship."

"Dangerous," warned Hephaestus. "Perhaps fatal."

The goddess Nike twirled a laurel wreath on her finger. "Victory is always dangerous. And it often requires sacrifice. Leo Valdez and I have discussed this." She stared pointedly at Leo.

I didn't like that at all. I remembered Asclepius's grim expression when the doctor had examined Leo. Oh, my. Oh, I see... I knew what we had to do to defeat Gaia. I knew the risks. 

Piper will have the physician's cure, I told myself. She'll keep us both covered.

"Leo," Annabeth said, "what is Nike talking about?"

Leo waved off the question. "The usual. Victory. Sacrifice. Blah, blah, blah. Doesn't matter. We can do this, guys. We have to do this."

A feeling of dread settled over me. Zeus was correct about one thing: the worst was yet to come.

When the choice comes, Notus the South Wind had told me, storm or fire, do not despair.

I made the choice. "Leo's right. All aboard for one last trip."

Alexandra smiled. "Perhaps we shall meet at the Camp."

I smiled back at her.

The last I saw of my dad, Zeus was a hundred feet tall, holding the Argo II by its prow. He boomed, "HOLD ON!"

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

If I hadn't been strapped to the mast with one of Leo's twenty-point safety harnesses, I would have disintegrated. 

The sky turned black. The ship rattled and creaked. The deck cracked like thin ice under my legs and, with a sonic boom, the Argo II hurtled out of the clouds.

"Jason!" Leo shouted. "Hurry!"

Leo was lashed to the control console, desperately trying to right the ship as we spiralled 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 I staggered towards the hold, using the winds to keep myself anchored.

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!"

For once, Leo's tone was deadly serious.

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

Buford the table saved us. He clattered across the deck with his holographic Hedge blaring, "LET'S GO! MOVE IT! CUT THAT OUT!"

Then his tabletop split into helicopter blades and Buford buzzed away.