The Aftermath

“No. No no. No no no.”

“Percy, we’ll find her. We won’t lose her—”

“Again? Jason, we already lost her once. Now, we’ve lost her twice. Is the third time the charm? We’re chasing a god!”

“When has that ever stopped you before?”

“It hasn’t. He’s a puny minor god and I could probably kill him without a weapon, but he can move anywhere he wants whenever he wants to. It’s going to take time to find her again, Jason, time she doesn’t have. Gods know what…”

Percy’s cracked voice trailed off. Jason realized he had never seen Percy so distraught before. Never at Camp, and never on the Argo II. He realized how much a part of Percy Annabeth was, and how if Percy lost her, it would be like ripping half his body apart. He realized exactly what Percy was thinking about, and how sick it made him to relive all that had happened in the past day.

Jason made eye contact with Piper, and Piper tilted her head slightly.

The alternative option? Piper’s eyes asked. Piper knew she could inspire Percy with her words, but she also knew if charmspeak mixed with emotion in the wrong proportions, bad things would happen. Catastrophic things.

Jason steeled his jaw and nodded. Desperate times.

“Percy.” Piper’s voice was stern, and so dripping with charmspeak and influence that Jason thought she might have been talking to him.

Percy’s head turned slowly to look at Piper’s face. His back was still slumped over dejectedly, Riptide in one hand and a trident in the other. Jason still had no idea where it had come from, it had just appeared in Percy’s hands and Percy ran towards Grand Central. They had sprinted all the way from Piper’s apartment but none of them were winded.

“Look at me, Percy.” Piper almost snapped. Percy’s shoulders straightened considerably, and he looked directly into her multi-colored irises.

“Annabeth is not getting away from you.” Piper murmured, her voice emanating power. “She is in danger right now and the only way you can stop her from getting more hurt is by finding her. We will find her.”

“I will…find her.” Percy murmured, completely under Piper’s magic. He was standing straight now, his knuckles white as he gripped the trident. Riptide was capped and in his pocket, it’s blue cap sticking out of Percy’s jeans. Jason realized how much like his father Percy looked, standing and staring at Piper as she kept encouraging him.

“Good. Percy, you ready to go?” Piper asked, her voice normal and not as eerily laced with charmspeak.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Percy's voice was less shaky now, more sure-footed.

"That's more like it." Jason said cheerfully.

“I’m going to kill him.” Percy muttered, gripping the trident even harder. His eyes were glowing green, like emeralds. Jason felt the sudden instinct to look away, as ifPercy were going to reveal his divine form. But that was impossible. “I’m going to rip his godly intestines out and drop them in the Phlegethon.”

Something in Percy's voice had sounded different, too, as if he were in another body talking from far, far away and his voice was being channeled his mouth. His words almost echoed as he spoke them.

Piper quickly made eye contact with Jason and Jason saw she looked about as scared as he felt. Percy made eye contact with them, his eyes still glowing.

“Her coral necklace. I…I gave it to her when we started dating. It’s from the sea, just like I am. I think—I think I can call to it.”

Piper stopped inching away from Percy, which Jason didn’t realize he had been doing as well, and took a deep breath.

“Do you think that’ll work?”

“It’s worth a try.” Jason encouraged, stepping forward and resting a hand on Percy’s shoulder.
Percy knelt, leaning against the barrel of the trident. He murmured a few words in Ancient Greek.

“Dad, please.” He ended his prayer. “Please let me find her.”

Then, Percy squeezed his eyes shut, and a wave of energy washed from Percy into Jason’s hand, then his arm, then his entire body. Piper inhaled sharply, feeling whatever signal Percy was sending out hit her in the chest. It felt like a wave, first the tug on the bottom, as it gathered its energy, and then the crash.

“She’s home.” Percy opened his eyes. “She’s at my mom’s house.”

Notes

It's been far too long. Far, far too long. I'm not saying I'm back, I'm just saying. Too long.

--Grafon