One Shots feat. PJO, Irondad, and More!

Climbing Wall

Short headcanon I had.

"All for Piper, raise your hand."

A few hands shot up, but they were nothing compared to the grand majority that had predicted  Percy as their champion. The tanned teen grinned maniacally, shrugging at Aphrodite's daughters look of offense. "Looks like I've got the popular vote."

"Oh, shut it, Jackson. You know you're going down."

He squinted up at the wall. The afternoon sun beat down harshly, but a consistent gentle breeze made the heat comfortable. "Mm. Debatable. I've been climbing this thing since I was twelve. Plus, ya know, the lava- I blew up a volcano once before, so I'd say I'm pretty much an expert."

Piper winced with a hiss. The afternoon wind swirled wisps of brown hair around her face. "So what you're saying is that it's going to be extra embarrassing when I kick your ass."

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Come on, put your money where your mouth is. Piper, come here and get on belay."

Percy went to Will, who clapped him on the shoulder before wishing him good luck.

Piper and Percy prepped themselves at their respective starting positions, glaring jokingly at each other. The other campers began the countdown with flair.

"Should I give you a head start? You know, to make it fair?" the son of Poseidon taunted over the chanting of seven and six.

"Shut it, fish stick."

Three, two, one... GO!

Percy scrambled up the wall like a bullet from a gun, dodging lava and falling rocks like a pro as he raced for the top. Piper wasn't bad herself; she launched herself towards a higher hold with an impressive show of strength, springing upwards.

The crowd below him cheered as the two climbed higher. They were virtually neck to neck, save for Percy's height advantage. He beamed, jumping for a natural crevice in some old dried lava. His fingers dug into a deep hold when the wall began to shake violently. All was well until the smooth rubber of his old sneaker soles slipped off the plastic ledge he'd been standing on- he was well due for a new pair. Had been, for a month or so.  The momentum ripped his other hand off the wall with a vengeance, leaving him dangling from the small hold he had by his fingertips. His face drained of color as the memory of straining above Tartarus in much the same way slammed into him full force.

Irrational panic filled his lungs. He felt as if someone had thrown a sack over his head; his vision went blurry as his ears rang thickly. In blind survival he moved to get a firmer grip, but just as he tried the wall shuddered again. His fingers slipped.

"Holy shit!" Nico yelled as Percy's momentum ripped Will off the ground. The dark haired demigod yelped when his knee collided with some hold before the rope went taut. Will cursed as he tried to untangle himself from the ropes that suspended him off the ground while his boyfriend tried desperately to yank him back down to solid ground.

"Nico, shut it off," Will urged, gesturing towards the control panel that controlled the harder elements of the wall. His boyfriend immediately obeyed as an older camper grabbed the back of Will's harness to drag him back down. Meanwhile, Percy had managed to glue himself  to the wall, holding on as though his life depended on it.

Piper looked down from where she hung in her harness, confused. She'd made it to the top unscathed in the seconds it'd taken for everyone to comprehend what was happening. "What's going on?" she called down.

Clarisse grunted as she picked up the slack in Piper's line, jutting her chin up towards the son of Poseidon, who had curled himself as close to the wall as he could get in desperation. His face was tucked into his bicep, only a quaking head of dark hair visible at the top of the wall.