The Beginning of the End (J. Grace)

XX: Midas-wannabe attacks us

Okay, maybe I've had too many fights now. You can return them.

We felt the difference of being in the Mare Nostrum pretty much immediately. Several times an hour, the Argo II would get attacked by whatever took their fancy: a flock of Stymphalian flesh-eating birds torched by Festus. Storm spirits blasted by lightning, courtesy to Lightning Boy. A rouge pegasus stomping on the Coach's enchiladas while he was minding his own business before flying off again, leaving cheesy footprints all over the deck.

During the night, the ship had been rocking wildly while we were getting attacked by wind spirits which Jason fended off. He refused any help, insisting that the rest of us needed sleep, when he did too.

Leo dropped us down to travel by sea about half an hour ago and the shaking ceased. Lightning Boy and Seaweed Brain switched shifts fending off the monsters, and Jason came into my cabin rather than his own to sleep.

"What're you doing here, Lightning Boy?" I asked through a yawn and sat up in bed.

"Everything feels off here. I just... need to make sure you're safe." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck through the din.

"Are you doubting my abilities?" I joked, faking a gasp of hurt and placing my hand over my heart as though wounded.

He shook his head and sighed, coming over to me and shutting the door softly behind him. "Move over, I'm spending the rest of the night here."

I smiled brightly and wiggled over to the other end of my bed so that my back was pressed up against the wall, and Lightning Boy slipped in beside me, his arms around me in an instant like a safety raft in a sea of pain and anguish.

With our foreheads pressed together, I watched soundlessly as his eyelids drooped, then closed with pure exhaustion. His breath fanned across my chin and lips in a calming motion; my hands rested on his chest, feeling his soothing heartbeat through my fingers, and his arms were around me, promising protection from every harm.

And yet I couldn't bring myself to choose sleep when I could spend the rest of the night admiring the gentleness of his face when he wasn't stressing over the fate of the world and my fate.

I ran my fingers through his blonde hair and admired how good it looked a little longer and massy, as appose to the shorter, neat look he had when we had recently met. Gods, when I'd met him. That was a day to remember. I'd just come back from Tokyo where I had been hoping the new entrance to Olympus had been. I had challenged him to a race and took it a little too far, jumping off the cliff, knowing I could run on air, but he didn't know that and went straight after me. Gods, that day he stank.

A laugh bubbled its way up inside of me, but I hold it in, not wanting to wake him up.

But something else did.

The Argo II was thrown backwards with a sudden jolt that threw me out of bed and sprawling on the floor while I heard Lightning Boy slam against the wall.

"Lara, are you okay?" His voice was laced with worry and I managed to find my feet again.

"Yeah," I winced slightly, giving myself away. Gods, my back hurt. "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"

"Alright." He lied as well and struggled to sit upright.

There was a thundering of footsteps above deck which I registered a moment before my cabin door was broken down and a dozen creatures swarmed in. They looked to be part dolphin with snouts that made whistling, popping noises, but they were also part human with hulking frames and a lifetime of fighting on them.