Hellfire

09: Waves and Thunderbolts

NINE

In Jason's opinion, Percy was probably the dumbest demigod that ever lived. And that was setting aside the fact that no one knew how he was still living, after all the crazy crap he had pulled over the years. Blowing up the North Pole was definitely going to put him on Santa's naughty list, Jason decided.

The explosion was massive. Several chunks of ice as big as Piper's dad's mansion erupted from the ground, knocking Gabriel, Michael, and Kelly aside. Water gushed out from the holes left behind and Jason wasn't prepared for Percy to have one of the spurts of water engulf them. At first, Jason could feel his shirt hardening and his lips numbing as he started to freeze to death because of the icy water.

Then, Percy wrapped them in an air bubble. "Hold on," he wheezed, his face turning a frightening shade of green mixed with puce. "I can take us back, but I might miss the ship. You'll have to swim there."

"Are you okay?" Jason asked, starting to feel worried as Percy's face turned greener and greener.

"I think I'm gonna hurl," Percy said in a strained voice. "But I can make it back to the ship. I hope," he added as the wave they were riding faltered, almost dropping Jason into the icy water of the Atlantic.

"Me, too," Jason said fervently. "Don't do something like that again without warning me," he continued, shooting Percy a look. "I played along, man, but I didn't know you were gonna blow up the North freaking Pole."

Percy waved him off and sat down in their bubble, closing his eyes. "I'm fine," he mumbled. "I just need some rest."

"You look worse than Nico," Jason snapped. "That almost killed you, Percy."

"Chill," Percy whined. "I'm gonna get enough of that from Annabeth. I don't need it from you. Speaking of Annabeth," he added, opening his eyes and giving Jason a hard glare. "Don't tell her. I'll do it myself."

"I don't need to tell her," Jason snorted. "She'll figure it out when it makes the news and when I drag you onto the ship because you're too wiped out to do it yourself."

Percy rubbed his eyes and sighed, mumbling tiredly, "I'm setting us down now. I'll try to be gentle, but-"

He didn't get to finish. The wave around them disappeared, and Jason grabbed Percy's arm as they started to fall, heading right for the icy waters beneath them. Jason could see white glaciers floating in the water, and he didn't have to watch any of the Ice Age movies to know what would happen if he and Percy hit one of them at this speed.

"Percy!" he yelped. "Dude, we're going down!" He shook Percy roughly. "Wake up!"

Percy jerked awake and shot his hands out, pulling up another wave that carried him and Jason away from the glacier. He groaned. "That was close."

"Too close," Jason agreed.

Percy glanced at the ice waters below them. "I can't keep this up for much longer," he said. "There's a whale in the water over there." He jerked his thumb to a glacier a few yards away. "She can take us back."

"We're riding a whale back to the ship?" Jason said doubtfully.

"Technically, you're going to be doing all the riding," Percy informed him. "I'm probably gonna pass out as soon as she catches us."