ᑎᗴᗷᑌᒪᗩᗴ ➪ 𝙿.𝙹 + 𝙿.𝚂. + 𝙰.𝙲. [𝟸]

𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧; 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗦

𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧, a deep chill began to curl up Percy's spine. It hadn't even been this bad when he'd gotten possessed in Kansas, but as Piper explained, Percy's skin broke out in goosebumps, and he knew she was right. 

Finally Hazel exhaled. "Piper is right."

"How can you be sure?" Annabeth asked.

"I've met eidolons," Hazel said. "In the Underworld, when I was. . .you know."

Dead. It seemed news had spread fast, because no one looked confused. 

"So. . ." Frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp. "You think these things are lurking on the ship, or — "

"Possibly lurking inside some of us," Piper said. "We don't know."

Jason clenched his fist. "If that's true — "

"It is," Percy said, with horrifying certainty. The cold hardened in the back of his throat, like he'd just tried to swallow an ice cube. Couldn't Jason feel it? His eyes had gone gold, too. 

The room was silent. 

"We have to take steps," Piper said eventually. "I think I can do this."

"Do what?" Jason asked.

"Just listen, okay?" Piper took a deep breath. "Everybody listen."

Piper met their eyes, one person at a time. "Eidolons," she said, using her charmspeak, "raise your hands."

There was tense silence. Leo laughed nervously. "Did you really think that was going to—?"

And Percy's consciousness dissolved into ice-water. 

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗬 𝗪𝗢𝗞𝗘 𝗨𝗣 feeling lighter and warmer than he had in a long time. His face was also covered in pizza sauce, but Polaris just handed him a napkin and buried herself in his arms, so he didn't mind too much. Annabeth stood behind them, head tilted down onto Percy's shoulder. 

She breathed out. And breathed back in. 

They were alive. No more gold. 

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗬 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 outside of Jason's cabin door again, except this time he wasn't even eavesdropping. Polaris wasn't inside, and the door wasn't cracked. He didn't know yet, if he was planning on knocking on the wooden door. He didn't know if he was there to check on Jason, or interrogate him. 

He'd figure that out later. 

Jason responded to his knock immediately, issuing a "Come in!" that sounded a lot like those times Percy was sent to the principal in school--like this was Jason's office, and Jason was about to expel him, again.

Percy opened the door anyway. 

"Hey, Grace," he said, shooting the son of Zeus--Jupiter?--a crooked grin. "How's your head?"

Jason smiled back. "Less freezing cold. You?"

"Empty," Percy joked. He took a small step into Jason's cabin. It was essentially the same as Percy's, but Jason's wasn't as decorated. He had a light blue comforter, pulled taut at the corners of his bed, with one flat pillow at the far side. On the walls were a couple wooden frames, shifting in a rotation of pictures of Jason, Piper, Leo, and a couple other campers Percy recognized. Thalia showed up a couple of times.