the great wave | percy jackson

𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑣 - jason

"NO, I'M JASON!" he heard Ash yell and would have told her to shut up if they weren't already both charging Enceladus. In his peripherals he saw Piper rushing to her father and Leo dashing for a tree harvester, also screaming something about being Jason. Thankfully, the Earthborn didn't seem to take Ash's claim seriously, maybe because she was short, and Asian, and female, but unfortunately this meant they went for Leo and Mr. McLean instead.

But he didn't have any more time to worry about that, because Enceladus was swinging that spear of his everywhere, and it was taking every ounce of Jason's skill to dodge that and the fire breath. Ash was already in the air, so he was stuck here on the ground, somehow managing to hold him off with his own puny lance while the girl sank arrow after arrow into his face, Enceladus preventing her from getting closer with a huge batting hand.

His instincts took over as the giant's spear missed him by a millimeter and he rolled, coming up behind the giant and striking in the crook of his knee. So far that was only the second hit he'd managed to get in, and the golden gash he'd opened on Enceladus' ankle was already healing.

In the background Jason could hear the revs of engines and large explosions that he hoped were in their favor. He was getting pelted in the face with tiny pebbles, and his eyes were starting to sting from all the smoke, skin starting to burn from the oven-hot temperatures, but he kept raging, until he heard an Earthborn roar: "Friend of Yay-son dies!" and his head turned automatically to see Leo burst into flame.

The distraction prevented him from doing anything more than block the giant's next strike–a big mistake. Don't fight force with force, a voice chided him–the wolf Lupa. He managed to deflect the spear, but it grazed his shoulder, and his entire arm went numb.

He backed up, trying to delay, to keep the giant's attention fixed on him while his friends dealt with the Earthborn and rescued Piper's dad. Thankfully Ash had his back, herding Enceladus with volley after volley of arrows as he retreated, trying to lure the giant to the edge of the clearing. But Enceladus could sense his weariness, and it seemed those arrows were no more than toothpicks to him as he bared his fangs in a savage grin.

"The mighty Jason Grace," he taunted. "Yes, we know about you, son of Jupiter. The one who led the assault on Mount Othrys. The one who single-handedly slew the Titan Krios and toppled the black throne."

Jason's mind reeled. He had no idea what Enceladus was talking about, although the names made his skin tingle, as if his body remembered the pain his mind didn't.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. He realized his mistake when Ash screamed.

Enceladus breathed fire and Jason moved too slowly, the ground clinging to his feet. The blast missed him, but heat blistered his back. He slammed into the ground, blinded from ash and cinders, choking as he struggled to breathe, and felt a swift disturbance before him, something sharp and deadly cutting through the smoky air.

Jason scrambled back, but he didn't need to. Someone was there to take the hit for him, and suddenly Ash was crashing back onto him, body limp and head lolling, as the point of Enceladus' spear cleaved the ground between his feet. If it hadn't been for her he might have lost a leg; he was stammering his thanks as he dragged her back before realizing she couldn't hear him. Suddenly he also realized that her angelic face was completely covered in blood, it was getting all over him, actually, and when Jason saw the deep gash that ran across the corner of her left eye, just barely avoiding blindness, and broke open the bridge of her nose, something inside him snapped. His fault.

He managed to stand, summoning every last bit of energy within him, hoping for at least one good blast of lightning. In this condition, the effort might kill him, and he didn't even know if the electricity would affect the giant anyway.