the great wave | percy jackson

𝑣𝑖 - piper

If it weren't for Ash, Piper would have died. While she was frozen in shock, the other girl tackled her out of the way as Percy and Jason came barreling towards each other. They rolled to the edge of the road and looked back, dazed and horrified. The boys were sparring, blades clanging against one another as sparks flew. The first exchange took only a second; they were fighting so fast, the gold and bronze of their swords blurred together. As the horses balked and whinnied, Ash rose to her feet.

She raised her arms, and the two boys abruptly froze. They gritted their teeth, straining, swords shaking against one another in a crossed position. She noticed that Ash was shaking as well.

"It's some kind of spirit. They're feeding on Percy and Jason's strength," Ash bit out, sweat beginning to run down her temple. "I can't control them well. Use your charmspeak, Pipes."

Piper got up shakily.

"Stop fighting," she said, but the command ended up working against them. For a second, Ash lowered her arms. While Jason heeded Piper's words, Percy didn't and slammed Riptide into the son of Jupiter's chest. Thank the gods, he turned his sword--maybe on purpose, maybe accidentally, maybe because of Ash--so Jason was only hit with the flat of the blade. It was still enough to knock him clean off his mount.

Blackjack cantered off to the side while Tempest reared in confusion. The storm horse dashed away and dissipated into the sunflowers. Ash turned her attention on Jason, trying to keep him down as Percy struggled to turn his pegasus around.

"Percy!" Piper called. "Jason's your friend. Drop your weapon!"

Percy's sword arm dipped, but in that moment, Jason roared, throwing off Ash's hold and sending her stumbling into Piper. A bolt of lightning arced off the tip of his sword where it pointed at Percy, blasting him to the ground. Blackjack whinnied and retreated behind the cornstalks as Jason struggled to his feet. Percy was flat on his back, clothes smoking.

For a horrible moment, Piper couldn't find her tongue. Gaea's voice filled her head instead: You must choose one. Why not let Jason kill him?

"STOP!" She heard Ash yell desperately.

Jason paused, his sword six inches from Percy's face, and turned towards them. "I cannot stop. One must die."

Something about that voice... it wasn't Gaea's, that was for sure, nor Jason's. It spoke haltingly, with a slight accent, like English wasn't its first language. Ash's eyes narrowed, scanning Jason's body.

"Eidolon," she decided in distaste.

"Eidolons...?" Piper's mind raced. She'd studied all sorts of mythical stuff at Camp Half-Blood, but had never heard of that before.

"Possessing spirits from the Underworld," Ash explained, then turned her attention back to Jason. "Begone."

Jason's mouth twisted into a gruesome smile. "Good try, Thanatos spawn. But you are not strong enough for us, not in these bodies. We will live again."

"I said," Ash's brow furrowed in concentration as she stepped forwards. "Begone."

Jason swayed for a moment, eyes flickering between blue and gold. Piper thought Ash had done it until Percy made his move, having recovered more than they thought he had. He swept out his leg and knocked Jason clean off his feet. The blonde's head hit the concrete with a sickening thud.

"Stop it!" Piper screamed, but there was no charmspeak in her voice, just sheer desperation.

She could see Percy struggling against Ash's will, very slowly raising Riptide over Jason's chest. It trembled there, hovering right above his heart. Piper and Ash exchanged desperate looks; Ash's face was strained with effort, scar bunching and shortening as her nose twisted. Piper was tempted to go at Percy with her dagger as his sword gained an inch on Jason. But she knew that probably not even the two of them together could take him in all-out combat, especially hopped up on eidolon juice. So she forced herself to focus.