Percy and Jason's Totally Rad Roadtrip

CH.4 - The Great Escape

"Holy schist," Percy muttered. "Jeez, Jason, how much do you weigh?"

Jason was still unconscious, but Percy had managed to expel the water from his lungs. Now, he was left dragging Jason back to their motel room.

"There better at least be pizza left over."

He managed to get his cousin back. He dropped him on his bed, then dribbled a little nectar into his mouth.

Jason started to cough, rolling onto his side. He blinked. "Ouch."

"Bro, you okay?" Percy asked, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box left on the dresser.

"Just sore." He sat up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm completely fine. The lack of pizza was getting to me, but that's all taken care of now." He waved his slice of pizza at Jason.

Jason laughed. "Alright. I'm going to sleep. Thanks again, you know, for not letting me drown."

"Dude, I could say thanks, too. Those nymphs were pretty vicious."

Jason yawned. "Yeah. Anyway, I'll see you in the morning." And with that he turned onto his side and was quiet.

Percy sat, watching TV, until the pizza was gone.

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The sun had been up for two hours by the time they were on the road again. Percy sat back, his feet up on the dashboard, munching on a candy bar.

"Dude," he said loudly to be heard over the music. "I kind of feel bad about last night."

Jason turned down the music. "What about it?" he asked.

"That nymph, Clyte. I promised her I would help her clean the lake."

"We can come back. We'll just need a better plan so what did happen doesn't happen again."

Percy fiddled with the map in his hands. "I feel like I broke that promise though."

Jason paused before answering. "Not everyone can be helped."

Percy didn't say anything else. He took another bite of his candy.

"How much longer until we're there?" Percy asked through a mouthful.

"I'm not sure. Check the map."

Percy pulled the paper from the glove compartment and unfolded it. "Eh, not bad. We've probably got just a couple more hours until we're there."

Jason waved a triumphant fist. "Rad."

Hardly two hours later, according to the map they were nearly on top of the pink circle. "We're close," Percy stated.

Before them was a dirt road that led up the side of a mountain. Jason followed it until there was an enclosed gate. A sign read: CLOSED FOR THE SEASON.

"Looks like we gotta start walking from here," Jason said.

"We didn't bring any jackets," Percy realized. "We're gonna freeze."

"We'll just have to be fast. I can fly us up there if you're cool with it."

Percy eyed Jason. "But we don't tell the others about it."

Jason laughed. "Trust me, I wasn't planning to."

They stepped out of the Jeep and a cold breeze hit them. Jason let Percy jump onto his back, who then hooked his legs around Jason's waist. The temperature dropped increasingly as they soared up.