The Mark Of Athena

-A Lovely Helping Of Big And Ugly

{It's dangerous to go alone, take Jason.}

Chapter XIII - Jason

THE ATMOSPHERE ON THE SHIP WAS TENSE. WE WERE CLOSE TO the shore of France, and Percy told us we were moving at around 30 knots, (I don't know how he knew this but Annabeth later informed me that he has perfect bearings at sea.) so we should arrive soon and we should be ready.

I sat at the prow of th ship, polishing Ivilis. It was gleaming already, but it gave me something to do, and my friends were doing the same. Leo was playing with scrap, Hazel and Frank were checking their weapons, Piper was polishing Katropis, Annabeth was reading and Percy was practising sword fighting techniques. I was quite interested to see Percy fight, I had never seen Percy in a fight properly, the sea serpent battle was over so fast.

We all looked up as Leo put down his pile of scrap and ran into the cockpit. He checked some controls. There was a crackle of static as his voice came on the mic.

"We're landing in less than a minute, battle stations everyone"" he said, grinning. It was obvious that Leo loved the attention.

I stood up as the ship slid onto the beach with a crunch. The gravel slid around the massive masthead as Leo made sure that the Argo wouldn't be pulled out to sea by the tide.

"This is Argo II Sealines, thank you for choosing us, please keep all hads and feet inside the vessel until it has come to a complete stop." said Leo, turning off the intercom. Percy took a running leap off the side of the boat and into the water. He beckoned them down and I flew down while Leo extended the gangway, muttering "Show offs."

I could sense the giants presence and Piper looked pale. Percy seemed to sense it too. I watched as he walked out onto the beach. "Hey! BIG AND UGLY!" he called. We didn't have to wait long.

Within minutes there was a sound like an avalanche of gravel as the Bane of Aphrodite walked around the corner. She was the most hideous thing I've ever seen in my life. She was huge, and lumpen, with huge swellings that distorted her body shape into a twisted mess. Her face was uneven, with crooked teeth and mismatched features, and her skin was a pale, sickly grey with a spongy consistency. She didn't have any hair.

She advanced down the beach towards us but I met Percy's gaze and we didnt wait. We brought the fight to her. I struck her with lightning and Percy rose into a hurricane, slashing riptide. Golden ichor flowed. Piper, Annabth and Hazel darted around her legs, slashing and stabbing while she was preoccupied with Percy and me.

Without warning, and extra large, extra ugly hand swung round and swatted Percy out of the air. He crashed into the gravel with a crack and started to get up but then he shuddered and sunk back to his knees.

"No... No its all my fault! You can't die!" he cried. I was shocked, she was controlling his mind. I was wary of her now, and I stayed back towards Frank, who was firing volley after volley at the giant. He gave up and became an elephant, storming her.

Annabeth had run over to Percy and he was standing up shakily. He couldn't walk at all, and Annabeth couldn't lift him. With a start I saw that Percy's leg was twisted at a painful angle, broken. It would need serious medical attention. I kept myself occupied with the giant, but i still noticed Percy shooing Annabeth back into the fight. They began to force big ugly backwards, into the sea, and her feet kept sticking in the soaking sand. Suddenly, huge columns of water twisted into ropes using out of the water. They smashed into the giant, knocking her over into the water. They dragged her down as the demigods attacked.

At first I thought it was Neptune, but then out of the corner of my eye i saw Percy, leaning all of his weight against the Argo, with his hands waving. He looked tired, and he was shaking. It was Percy controlling the water and I smiled. Trust Percy not to sit out on a fight.

Now just left the problem of a god. He looked at his friends. They were tired, even with Percy helping, and they were starting to slow down slightly. He looked around, and noticed that Percy was looking out at the ocean, muttering something. There was a wave, bu it wasn't Percy. It wasn't Poseidon either. It was a young, buff looking guy, controlling the water. Percy grimaced. "Tyrion. Thanks for coming."

Tyrion smirked nastily. "Anything to help my little bro." he said, his voice loaded with sarcasm. He walked over to the giant and stabbed her.

There was a signing noise as she disintegrated into the wind, Tyrion dived back into the surf and disappeared, while I scattered her remains. Annabeth and the rest of the group ran over to Percy,who had passed out. He looked bad, be was pale and barely breathing. It must have taken a lot of exertion to send a message to Triton. The rest of us weren't so great either, Piper had a cut along her arm and Annabeth was shaking.

I finished what I was doing and ran over, lifting Percy. The guy was light and I took him to the infirmary easily, laying him on a bed. I started to fetch some ambrosia but Annabeth was already giving Hume some. She gave me a look and I walked out, leaving the two alone as the sun set.

{Decided to put a splash of heroic Jason... Hope you enjoyed :)}