DAYLIGHT ↬ leo valdez x reader

21. THE BLUE

I left on the note of turning back and seeing them stand closely together awkwardly. I didn't know why but I think I understood what Frank was feeling when we left them up there. I had to shake it off, but even then as we walked down the stairs to the sick bay the thought was still in the back of my mind.

Something was definitely up.
Percy and Jason had to lie down. I made them regularly drink water because staying hydrated was the most important thing for them to do. The commotion on the deck ruined the idea of a swift recovery. We ran (or stumbled) up the stairs and our eyes raced to see what was happening. Percy, despite being tired, came to a conclusion before the rest of us.
"What's going— Gah! Shrimpzilla!"

Frank ran to Hazel's side. She was clutching the rigging but she gestured that she was all right. The monster rammed the ship again. The hull groaned.
Annabeth, Piper, and Jason tumbled to starboard. Unfortunately Piper slammed into me and we all almost went overboard.
"How did it get so close?" Annabeth shouted, pulling herself up on one of the rail shields. Jason and Piper helped each other up whilst I just grabbed onto the side of the ship and tried to hang on.
"I don't know!" Hedge snarled.
"I'm stupid!" I heard Leo scold to himself. "Stupid, stupid! I forgot the sonar!" The ship tilted farther to starboard, making me lean almost off the entire deck. When we regulated again I drunkenly walked towards where we started.

"Sonar?" Hedge demanded. "Pan's pipes, Valdez! Maybe if you hadn't been staring into Hazel's eyes, holding hands for so long—"
"What?" Frank yelped as I bumped into Percy.
"It wasn't like that!" Hazel protested.
"It doesn't matter!" Piper said. "Jason, can you call some lightning?"
Jason struggled to his feet. "I—" He only managed to shake his head.

"He isn't rested enough!" I shouted.
"Percy!" Annabeth said. "Can you talk to that thing? Do you know what it is?" The son of the sea god shook his head, clearly mystified.
"Maybe it's just curious about the ship. Maybe—" The monster's tendrils lashed across the deck and one slammed Percy in the chest and sent him crashing down the steps, barely avoiding me. Another wrapped around Piper's legs and dragged her, screaming, toward the rail. Dozens more tendrils curled around the masts, encircling the crossbows and ripping down the rigging.

"Nose-hair attack!" Hedge snatched up his bat and leaped into action; but his hits just bounced harmlessly off the tendrils. Jason drew his sword. He tried to free Piper, but he was still weak. His gold blade cut through the tendrils with no problem, but faster than he could sever them, more took their place. Annabeth unsheathed her dagger. She ran through the forest of tentacles, dodging and stabbing at whatever target she could find. Frank pulled out his bow. He fired over the side at the creature's body, lodging arrows in the chinks of its shell; but that only seemed to annoy the monster. Everyone had their weapons to fight but I had to stand helplessly in the doorway, hearing Percy's groans of pain from a few meters behind me.

The mast creaked like it might snap off.
"Y/N!" Leo yelled. "That box! Open it!"
I hesitated, staring around at my feet then saw the box he meant.
"Open it!" Leo yelled again. "Coach, take the wheel! Turn us toward the monster, or we'll capsize." Hedge danced through the tentacles with his nimble goat hooves, smashing away with gusto. He bounded toward the helm and took the controls.

"Hope you got a plan!" he shouted.
"A bad one." Leo raced toward the mast. The monster pushed against the Argo II. The deck lurched to forty-five degrees. Despite everyone's efforts, the tentacles were just too numerous to fight. They seemed able to elongate as much as they wanted. Soon they'd have the Argo II completely entangled.
"Frank!" Leo called as he ran toward me. "Buy us some time! Can you turn into a shark or something?"
Frank glanced over, scowling; and in that moment a tentacle slammed into the big guy, knocking him overboard. Hazel screamed, running to the edge. As she leaned over to find Frank, her balance was lost and she dived right after him.