Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 21

While the boys' steeds balked enough for Piper to leap out of the way, Cressida jumped up as she did a twist in the air, her feet hitting Percy in the chest while her hands pushed Jason off his horse. However, her newest trick, was still a work in progress because she hadn't quite gotten the landing as she landed on her side, her feet not quite making it to the ground as the boys landed on their backs.

"Leave!" Cressida shouted to Tempest who crackled with electricity before vanishing, presumably telling her good luck, because she barely had time to recover before the boys were on their feet as they brought their swords down on each other.

Their blades blurred—strike and parry—and the pavement trembled. The first exchange took only a second, but Piper couldn't believe the speed of their sword fighting.

"Stop it!" Piper yelled, her voice affecting Jason but not Percy as he slammed his blade into Jason. Thank the gods, Percy turned his sword—maybe on purpose, maybe accidentally—so the flat of it hit Jason's chest, but the impact was still enough to knock Jason off his feet.

"Piper!" Cressida called as she drew her staff, so she didn't hurt the boys, blocking Percy's strike as he tried to bring his sword down on Jason. "You have to talk them out of it!"

And Percy pushed her off him before he struck again and she met him blow for blow, Piper was amazed that she could keep up with him, then again, she supposed that they'd been training together for years.

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

Percy's sword arm dipped. Piper might have been able to bring him under control, but unfortunately, Jason got to his feet.

Jason roared. A bolt of lightning arced out of the clear blue sky. It ricocheted off his gladius and despite the fact that he was fighting her, Percy's golden eyes widened, and he grabbed Cressida's arms before turning them around as the blast hit him.

Cressida landed on her back, Percy's weight on top of her and for a terrible second, Piper couldn't find her voice.

You must choose one. Why not let Jason kill him?

"No!" she screamed. "Jason, stop!"

And Piper poured everything she could into her voice as she tried to keep Jason away from Percy because Cressida hadn't been hit with lightning as she grabbed Percy's face, her eyes alight with purple fire.

"Give me my boyfriend back," she ordered darkly but Percy seemed to fight her, both magically and physically as he punched her ribs, making her cry out as her concentration broke.

Piper wasn't having much luck either.

Jason turned, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly. "I cannot stop. One must die."

Something about that voice...it wasn't Gaia. It wasn't Jason. Whoever it was spoke haltingly, as if English was its second language.

"Who are you?" Piper demanded.

Jason's mouth twisted in a gruesome smile. "We are the eidolons. We will live again."

"Eidolons...?" Piper's mind raced. She'd studied all sorts of monsters at Camp Half-Blood, but that term wasn't familiar and it's not like Cressida could help explain it to her right now.

"You're— you're some sort of ghost?"

"He must die." Jason turned his attention back to Percy, but Percy had recovered more than either of them realized as he grabbed his sword and went at Jason. He swept out his leg and knocked Jason off his feet.

Jason's head hit the asphalt with a nauseating conk.

Percy raised his sword over Jason's chest.

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

Thank the gods for Cressida who tackled her possessed boyfriend to the ground. Piper guessed that Percy must've at least bruised her ribs because Cressida was trying not to move her left arm as her breaths were short. And Percy hit her again in the same spot as he struggled to his feet.

Piper forced herself to focus. She poured all of her anger into her voice. "Eidolon, stop."

Percy froze.

"Face me," Piper ordered.

The son of the sea god turned. His eyes were gold instead of green, his face pale and cruel, not at all like Percy's. Asides from saving her from the lightning, nothing he'd done was like Percy because as much as they bickered, Percy would never, ever raise a hand to Cressida. Especially since they both had abusive parents growing up.

"You have not chosen," he said. "So this one will die."

"You're a spirit from the Underworld," Piper guessed. "You're possessing Percy Jackson. Is that it?"

Percy sneered. "I will live again in this body. The Earth Mother has promised. I will go where I please, control whom I wish."

A wave of cold washed over Piper. "Leo...that's what happened to Leo. He was being controlled by an eidolon."

The thing in Percy's form laughed without humour. "Too late you realize. You can trust no one."

Jason still wasn't moving. Piper had no help, no way to protect him. Behind Percy, something rustled in the wheat. Piper saw the tip of a black wing, and Percy began to turn toward the sound.

"Ignore it!" she yelped. "Look at me."

Percy obeyed. "You cannot stop me. I will kill Jason Grace."

Blackjack had been hiding in the wheat as he tried to creep up behind Percy, Piper trying to talk to him, but Cressida was not giving up. She groaned as she reached for her boot and pulled out her switchblade but made no move to open it. Instead, while Piper kept Percy's focus on her, Cressida tried to keep her pained sounds to a minimum as she did one of those flips to get her back up on her feet and she slammed the butt of her blade into Percy's skull.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Cressida cried as Percy crumpled onto the pavement next to Jason as she clutched her ribs and Blackjack trotted over, worried for her as he bent his neck down so she could use him as a crutch.

"Oh, gods! Are you ok?!" Piper asked worriedly as she ran over.

"He definitely broke a rib. Ow! Or two," she said as she poked the injured area and Piper reached into Cressida's boot, feeling around for the vial she hoped she always kept on her.

"Have you heard of eidolons before?" Piper asked as she switched to the other foot.

"Yeah," she groaned. "They're like ghosts. They're very old which is why the one inside Percy is fighting me so hard."

"But it worked for a second. Percy took that lightning hit for you," Piper said as her fingers closed around it and she pulled out the cork, handing it to Cressida who downed it.

"Didn't work well enough."

"Cressida, you did more than me. You fought both boys while trying to magically heal one."

"Let's just call it even," Cressida said, still holding her ribs.

"Deal. How are we going to get the eidolons out of them? There's one in Leo too."

"I can force them out, but I'll need your help again."

"You got it."

"But for now. Let's just worry about getting these boys onto Blackjack and back to the ship," Cressida said as the horse nickered like he was ready to serve her.

Piper rushed over to Jason who was breathing but she couldn't imagine that two hits to the head in two days would be good for him.

Percy's head wasn't bleeding but there was a knot forming where Cressida had hit him, the action looking like it pained her, not just physically but emotionally as well.

Blackjack knelt on the ground and together the two girls, mostly Piper since Cressida's ribs were still killing her as they draped the boys over his back. Cressida was covered in sweat and looked to be in real agony as she strained an injury that hadn't healed yet, but she didn't complain before instructing Piper to get on behind Jason as she got on behind Percy, both girls holding the boys as Blackjack took off.