the great wave | percy jackson

𝑥𝑖 - asphodel

Piper was just gearing up to tell them something juicy when a clang sounded from below, metal against metal, the noise echoing throughout the warehouse ominously. At the same time, her and Jason drew their swords, the boy standing up to peer over the railing. "Leo?" he called.

No answer.

He crouched next to the girls. "I don't like this."

"He could be in trouble," Piper said. "Go check."

"No," Ash said immediately. "There's something wrong. Jase, a lot of people have died around here from... well, it doesn't matter what from. The point is, it's dangerous."

"Even more reason to check on Leo," Jason insisted. "I'll be fine. You stay here and protect Piper."

The brunette in her arms drew her dagger Katoptris and tried to look confident. She almost managed it. "It's me who'll be doing the protecting. Anyone gets close, I'll skewer them."

Both Jason and Ash smiled, although the quip only seemed to make the boy more hesitant to go. "I'll leave you with the packs. If I'm not back in five minutes–"

"Panic?" Piper suggested.

"That's the spirit," Ash cheered quietly.

Jason managed a smile. "Glad you're back. The makeup and the dress were a lot more intimidating than the dagger."

"Get going, Sparky, before I skewer you."

"Sparky?" Jason asked, feigning offense, and Ash snickered behind a hand. Jeez, flirt much?

Soon Jason had disappeared into the dark, and it was just the two girls. Ash was idly humming to herself, head empty as usual, when something in the warehouse went bang! She was immediately on alert, swiftly but gently lowering Piper to the ground where the girl painstakingly sat up. Ash sheathed her sword in favor of drawing Frostbite from the gold bangle on her right wrist; nocking a Stygian ice arrow, she hissed at Piper to have more ambrosia as her eyes scanned the gloom.

The sound of quick breathing almost made Ash turn her head, but she knew Piper was in no danger of dying. At least not from the godly food, not yet. Then two more sounds came: Katoptris ripping through a layer of duct tape, and heavy steps on the stairs.

Now that didn't sound like Jason, even if she accounted for him carrying Leo's scrawny ass. Every one of her senses was on high alert as she slowly drew her bow, pointing it at the end of the catwalk. "Jason?" She called out cautiously.

"Yeah," he said from the darkness. "On my way up."

Aw, hell nah. Not today, Cyclops. Ash loosed the arrow as a warning shot to test her theory, but apparently her aim was just too good because a yelp cut through the tension. A startlingly real, familiar yelp positively filled with agony, and Ash gasped loudly, dropping her weapon in shock, automatically running forward.

"Oh gods, Jase! I'm so–"

She ran headlong into something very tall, very hard, and very much not Jason, causing her to stagger back. Ash didn't even have to look up to recognize the grave mistake she'd made.

"Ah shi–"

₪₪₪

When Ash woke up, her face was about an inch away from a certain handsome blonde's. She may or may not have spit directly into that face as she sputtered and struggled to move, finding herself bound head to toe in... chains??? What in Hades' name was going on? She did not like this, no, not one bit, and she flailed around in a desperate attempt to free herself before making yet another grave mistake. Tipping alarmingly to the side, Ash rolled, and now Jason was crushing her, ugh, what did this guy eat before coming to camp? Oh gods, she couldn't breathe. Was this really how she died? She was starting to develop a serious fear of getting asphyxiated by blonde, blue-eyed boys. It'd only happened once before, with Luke (well, Kronos in Luke's body), but that was already like five times too many.