𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

v ━━ i wish i could unrecall how we almost had it all

05. chapter five

━━━━━━━━ ( 💫 ) ━━━━━━━━

( leo's pov )

I THOUGHT LASHING MYSELF with a bungee cord and harness was a good idea until I started getting smacked around like a human paddleball.

It seemed like a pretty good idea when I rigged myself up, but "every time a wave hit I was washed away, then smacked back into my control board. I was trying to get the ship airborne, but that was pretty difficult when I was being launched back and forth.

None of us were having much luck against the storm. A wave the size of a skyscraper crashed over the forward deck, washing the front crossbows and half the port railing out to sea. The sails were ripped to shreds. Lightning flashed all around, hitting the sea like spotlights. Horizontal rain blasted my face. The clouds were so dark it looked like night.

We were doing what we could... which wasn't much.

Piper and Annabeth were trying to save the rigging. Since Sparta they'd become quite a team–able to work together without even talking, which was just as well, since they couldn't have heard each other over the storm.

Frank had turned into a gorilla. He was swinging upside down off the starboard rail, using his massive strength and his flexible feet to hang on while he untangled some broken oars.

Even Festus the figurehead was trying to help. He spewed fire at the rain, though that didn't seem to discourage the storm.

Only Camille and Percy were having any luck. Percy stood by the center mast, his hands extended like he was on a tightrope. Every time the ship tilted, he pushed in the opposite direction and the hull stabilized. Camille summoned giant fists of water from the ocean to slam into the larger waves before they could reach the deck, so it looked like the ocean was hitting itself repeatedly in the face. That confused me because the last I checked, Camille was only able to control fresh water.

With the storm bad as it was, I realized the ship would've already capsized or been smashed to bits if Camille and Percy weren't on the job.

The two of them, both who were able to will themselves to stay dry if they concentrated, obviously had bigger things to worry about because they both had black hair plastered to their faces while their clothes were soaked.

I saw Jason staggering towards the mast. I yelled, "Go down stairs!"

Jason had unexpectedly collapsed after the girls returned from Sparta and had basically been on his deathbed ever since. His sword wound really seemed to be getting the better of him.

Jason waved at me, but ignored what I said and stumbled his way over to Camille and Percy. Neither Camille nor Percy seemed worried in the slightest about Jason being on deck during the storm despite his injuries. The three of them seemed to have a serious conversation—some sort of game plan.

I watched Camille shoo Percy off. Then he ran to the starboard rail, pushed another massive wave away from the ship and jumped overboard.

Camille said something to Jason before he looked over to Piper, giving her a thumbs up. Then Jason summoned a lasso of wind and pulled it in. Jason levitated off the deck, encased in his own miniature tornado. Spinning like a corkscrew, he plunged into the water.

. ݁₊ 💫 ⋆.

After their encounter with Kymopo-what's-her-name, the Argo II limped through the Aegean, too damaged to fly, too slow to outrun monsters. We fought hungry sea serpents about every hour. We attracted schools of curious fish. At one point we got stuck on a rock, and Percy and Jason had to get out and push.