.

Part one. Chapter eleven.

Fucking sea monsters

.

Aris was the first to move towards the deck, much too angry and annoyed and hurt to just stand there. She needed to hit something. Luckily for Piper, others came out of their rooms, curious and anxious before Jason did. So it didn't look like she had been caught eavesdropping. Aris didn't even know if she planned on telling him. She wasn't sure he'd believe her for one. And for another, while she realised Jason intentions hadn't been to hurt her (they never were), he had. She wasn't sure she had anything to say to him at the moment.

"What's going— Gah! Shrimpzilla !" Percy yelled as he caught himself on her shoulders when they both stumbled onto the deck.

"I knew he jinxed it !" The daughter of Venus growled, shooting Leo a short glare before focusing on the ugly sea monster again.

At least, it wasn't the Trojean sea monster. Aris didn't know if that was good or bad. The Trojean sea monster they knew how to fight. Aris had no clue how do deal with this bitch.

Frank ran to Hazel's side. She was clutching the rigging, looking dazed, but she gestured that she was all right.

The monster rammed the ship again. The hull groaned. Annabeth, Piper, and Jason tumbled to starboard and almost rolled overboard. If they had, the daughter of Venus would have only mourned one of those losses.

"How did it get so close ?" Annabeth shouted, pulling herself up on one of the rail shields.

"I don't know !" Hedge snarled. He seemed to be searching for something.

"I'm stupid !" Leo scolded himself. "Stupid, stupid !"

"At least, you're self aware !" Aris commented.

"Aris..." Jason warned. She shot him a look. He only sent a tired one back.

"I forgot the sonar !" Leo yelled in annoyance, completely ignoring the pair.

The ship tilted farther to starboard. Either the monster was trying to give them a hug, or it was about to capsize them.

"Sonar ?" Hedge demanded. "Pan's pipes, Valdez ! Maybe if you hadn't been staring into Hazel's eyes, holding hands for so long—"

Aris blinked as her and Percy shared a surprised look. She hadn't seen that coming. It was strange though. Sure, Leo looked like Hazel's kind-of-ex but she had never given any indication that she was into the son of Hephaestus. Not in that way.

"What ?" Frank yelped.

"It wasn't like that !" Hazel protested.

"It doesn't matter !" Piper, the last person one should go to for relationship advice, said. "Jason, can you call some lightning ?"

"He almost fucking died summoning lightning and you want to make him do it again ?" Aris couldn't help but scold.

"You have a better idea ?" Piper snapped.

"Yeah ! Don't make your boyfriend kill himself !"

"At least let him try !"

Aris rolled her eyes but let it go. It didn't matter that he looked absolutely exhausted. Piper apparently got whatever she wanted.

Jason struggled to his feet. "I—" He only managed to shake his head.

That didn't make the daughter of Aphrodite happy. She was even unhappier when Aris moved to Jason's side and threw his arm over her shoulder. "You do this for all the guys you hate ?" He joked as they struggled to stay upright.

"Your pathetic state is just making me feel pity that even I can't ignore," Aris countered.

"I'll take it," he mumbled.

"Percy !" Annabeth said. "Can you talk to that thing ? Do you know what it is ?"

The son of the sea god shook his head, clearly mystified. "Maybe it's just curious about the ship. Maybe—"

The monster's tendrils lashed across the deck so fast, you couldn't even think to say, Look out!

One slammed Percy in the chest and sent him crashing down the steps. Another wrapped around Piper's legs and dragged her, screaming, toward the rail. Dozens more tendrils curled around the masts, encircling the crossbows and ripping down the rigging.

"Nose-hair attack !" Hedge snatched up his bat and leaped into action ; but his hits just bounced harmlessly off the tendrils.

"I have to help her."

"Of course you do," Aris sighed, letting him go.

If Jason wanted to mull over what her response meant, he decided to do it later. Instead, he drew his sword. He tried to free Piper, but he was clearly still weak. His gold blade cut through the tendrils with no problem, but faster than he could sever them, more took their place.

"Great, it's a hydra variant," Aris muttered.

Annabeth chuckled next to her as she drew her dagger. "All in a day's work."

"You said it, sister," the daughter of Venus scoffed as she pulled out her own blade.

They shared a look and ran through the forest of tentacles together, dodging and stabbing at whatever target she could find. Frank pulled out his bow. He fired over the side at the creature's body, lodging arrows in the chinks of its shell ; but that only seemed to annoy the monster. It bellowed, and rocked the ship. The mast creaked like it might snap off.

Aris was just doing her best to defend the ship. She could hear Leo yelling, probably trying to figure out a solution. For their sake, she hoped he did fast. The young woman wasn't sure how long they could hold it back.

The monster pushed against the Argo II. The deck lurched to forty-five degrees. Despite everyone's efforts, the tentacles were just too numerous to fight. They seemed able to elongate as much as they wanted. Soon they'd have the Argo II completely entangled. Percy hadn't appeared from below. The others were fighting for their lives against nose hair.

"Frank !" Leo called. Aris glanced over. Her brain was hyper aware of Frank. She had become wired to always see how he was when he was mentioned. "Buy us some time ! Can you turn into a shark or something ?"

Frank glanced over, scowling ; and in that moment a tentacle slammed into the big guy, knocking him overboard.

"Frank !" Aris yelled in horror. She went to go where he had fallen but a pair of arms stopped her. "No, let me go ! I have—"

"Aris he'll find a way back. The last thing he would want is you getting hurt," Jason told her as he held her to him.

Aris shot him a glare. But she also knew he was right. So she shoved him off and turned all her attention to the monster. Her attacks came with a renewed rage as she slashed through its tentacles. But there were just too many.

So many that one had managed to grab Leo and Hazel and seemed to be jiggling them like a baby with a shiny new rattle. Leo, Aris could care less about. But Hazel was there. Dear sweet innocent and adorable Hazel. Hazel who was struggling against the monster's grip with all her might, her arms pinned.

Aris didn't know how to help as her friend rose ten feet, twenty feet, thirty feet above the monster. They were in a losing battle. Despite their yelling and slashing at the monster's nose hairs, there was no way they were winning this without some sort of miracle. This thing was just too strong. On his end, Coach Hedge struggling to keep the ship from capsizing.

Then, the monster suddenly raised its maw, bellowing in pain. Aris wasn't sure what had happened but Leo seemed to throw something down its throat that made it dropped him and Hazel.

Aris cried out in surprise, shielding herself from the muffled explosion and green flash of light inside the giant pink lampshade of the monster's body. When she turned back, the monster was sinking away. And there was no sign of Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang or Leo Valdez.

Pari Speaks !

Wow this is such a tiny and sucky chapter. I am so sorry guys. But I was going to do one thing and I decided not to do it and that means you are left with this.

Sorry. Hopefully the next chapter will be better and won't take as much time. I'm sorry.

And I hope you did enjoy this little scrap.

.