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queenjunothegreat · 3 days ago

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Would someone PLEASE tell me why I can't do links properly? I hate these fugly little hyperlinks (•̤̀ ‸ •̤́๑)

AAAAAALLLLRIGHTY!!!!! I am BACK with a CHONKER of a fic for you all! Idk if any of you remember me rambling about a DnD fic last month, but it is FINALLY here!!! 18 days late for @lost-trio-week but that is NOT the point! The POINT is that I have almost 20K of silly fantasy Lost Trio content for you! Piper has magic and a lyre! Jason has a sword and anger issues! Leo has a dragon and an even shorter stature than ever seen before! It's gonna be great, so come on down!

With all that out of the way, please allow me to introduce my Lost Trio Week submission for Day Three: The Secrets of Skyhorne Harbor

ᴬˡˢᵒ ᴵ ᴰᴼ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᶜʰᵃʳᵃᶜᵗᵉʳ ˢʰᵉᵉᵗˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ʰᵒᵐᵉᵇʳᵉʷ ˢᵗᵘᶠᶠ ᶦᶠ ᵃⁿʸᵒⁿᵉ ʷᵃⁿᵗˢ ᵗʰᵉᵐ

He also knew that after two days at said inn, he’d racked up quite a bill. Considering he had two silver pieces in his pocket, he knew he needed to get a job. He was in the middle of pondering his situation when two people joined him at his table. One of them was a half-Elf and the other a Halfling. They both wore matching grins that Jason knew spelt trouble, and they looked over him with an obviously appreciative gleam in their eyes. Jason scowled at them. “I don’t have anything to offer you, so if you want to beg or con, find someone else.” “We’re not here to ask you for money or anything like that,” the Elf assured him, her smile never wavering. “In fact,” the Halfling continued, dumping out his coin purse on the table, “we’ll pay off your tab, if you agree to hear us out.” *** When Jason wakes up alone in the woods with no memory other than his name and a mission to get to a mysterious place called the Wolf House, he knows he's in over his head. Similarly, when Piper and Leo are given a quest to prove their worth to the Adventurers Guild, they're in over their heads. Maybe, just maybe, they can help each other out. Lost Trio Week 2024 - Day Three: DnD

Since waking up cold and alone in the middle of the woods, Jason had been gathering up a list of everything he knew. He knew his name was Jason Grace, he was tall, and he had short, rough-shorn blond hair. He knew he carried a greatsword made of solid gold, and he knew, instinctively, how to use it. He knew he had a tattoo on his forearm of an eagle and twelve perfectly spaced bars spanning nearly from his wrist to his elbow. He knew that he’d been abandoned in the woods with nothing but his equipment, the memory of his name, and a mission to go somewhere called the Wolf House. He knew that it took nearly two weeks to walk from wherever it was that he’d been dropped off to the first real sign of civilization, and he knew that the bustling town of Coast Haven had a charming inn with polite staff and good food.

“Your lunch, sir,” the barkeeper said, setting down a plate of bread and meat before him.

He gave her a smile and a respectful nod. “Thank you, ma’am.”

He also knew that after two days at said inn, he’d racked up quite a bill. Considering he had two silver pieces in his pocket, he knew he needed to get a job.

He was in the middle of pondering his situation when two people joined him at his table. One of them was a half-Elf – her features too soft and round to be an Elf but too long and ethereal to be human – with short, choppy hair, and big brown eyes streaked with gold. Her companion was a Halfling, though he was the tallest Halfling Jason had ever seen, with curly black hair and fingers that twitched even faster than his gaze darted around the room. They both wore matching grins that Jason knew spelt trouble, and they looked over him with an obviously appreciative gleam in their eyes. Jason scowled at them. “I don’t have anything to offer you, so if you want to beg or con, find someone else.”

“We’re not here to ask you for money or anything like that,” the Elf assured him, her smile never wavering.

“In fact,” the Halfling continued, dumping out his coin purse on the table, “we’ll pay off your tab, if you agree to hear us out.”

The money on the table wasn’t exactly impressive, a single gold piece, a few silvers, and a handful of coppers, but it would probably cover the expenses Jason had accrued. His gaze flicked up to his table companions. He figured there wouldn’t be any harm in listening to them, at least. “Go on.”

“Okay, so, I’m Piper, and this is Leo,” the Elf explained, gesturing at herself and the Halfling. “We’re trying to join the adventurers’ guild here.”

“But to do that, Annabeth says we need to have completed at least one quest to prove that we can handle ourselves, or whatever,” Leo continued.

Jason nodded along. “Makes sense.” The expression on Piper and Leo’s faces indicated that they thoroughly disagreed with this claim, which is exactly the stance Jason assumed people who had never done any adventuring would take.

“Anyway,” Piper said, “so I was talking to Annabeth, and she said that there was a minor-league quest she could assign to us as a sort of test-run. Only problem is that Leo and I are kinda lacking in the muscle department.”

“Which is where you come in, big guy!” Leo beamed at him. “You’re, what? A Paladin? You look like a Paladin. You’d be perfect for the job.”

Jason shrugged. “I dunno.”

The other two squinted at him. “Don’t know what?” Leo asked.

“The Paladin thing,” Jason explained. “I don’t know if I am a Paladin.”

“Oh.” Leo exchanged a glance with Piper and they looked even more confused. “How do you just not know that?”

“I don’t know much of anything,” Jason said flatly. “I know my name, I know my mission, and I know that I’d like to be left alone. Now, I’ve heard your story, either pay or scram.”

“What’s your mission?” Piper asked pleasantly.

“I have to get to a place called the Wolf House,” Jason said before the thought had even finished registering in his mind. He frowned in shock at how easily the words had come forth, but Piper just continued to give him that same warm, welcoming smile.

“Yeah? Where’s that? I’ve never heard of it before.”

“It’s– I don’t know–” Jason shook his head and felt his brain go a little fuzzy. “I… just– I don’t know where it is.”

“Hey, no sweat, man,” Leo said with a wide grin. “Hey, maybe this is a good thing for all of us!”

Jason blinked at him. “How?”

“Well,” he said, playfully drawing out the word. “We need muscle, you’ve got muscle. You need information, we can help you get information!”

“I thought she said she’d never heard of the Wolf House,” Jason accused, scowling suspiciously. “Are you saying you have information?”

“Well, no, but–” Leo stammered.

Fortunately for him, Piper cut back in. “Well, we don’t have the information, but the Adventurers’ Guild? They definitely would.”

Jason was less than impressed. “So, you want me to go on a potentially dangerous quest with a half-Elf and a Halfling–”

“I’m actually only half Halfling,” Leo corrected. Jason ignored him.

“–who seemingly have never been past their own front doors, in order to join a guild on the off chance that they might be able to point me in the right direction?” Jason asked, arching his eyebrow.

“It won’t be that dangerous,” Piper assured him. “Annabeth specifically said this one was pretty easy.”

“And if we do complete this quest and get you two into the guild? What then?” Jason pressed. “You two can’t handle an easy quest. What are you gonna do when things actually get dangerous?”

“You let us worry about that, big guy,” Leo said. “We’ve made it this far on our own, we can figure it out from here. We just need your help getting through the front door.”

Jason snorted. “Thanks, but no thanks. You two have a great pitch, but you’ll have to find someone else to buy what you’re selling. Now, I heard you out, so pay the bill, or scram.”

Piper and Leo's faces pulled into identical puckered scowls, and they exchanged a glance before turning back to Jason. Piper smiled at him. “Speaking of the bill, did we mention there's a reward of 500 gold pieces?”

*-*-*

With Jason’s hesitant and begrudging acquiescence, Leo and Piper were far more forthcoming with their information and assistance. To start things off, Piper had waved over the barkeeper again and casually fished several gold pieces out of her coin purse with an order to keep the rest to cover whatever Jason wanted while Leo began their explanation. According to him, Annabeth Chase was the head of the local Adventurers Guild along with someone named Percy Jackson, and they were the ones who decided who did and didn’t get to join their little club. Jason got the feeling that even beyond his missing memories, he'd never met either of them, but their names rang with a sort of familiarity that Jason knew he'd heard of them before. It had apparently taken a while, but Piper had eventually developed some kind of rapport with Annabeth, which was how they'd gotten their membership assignment.

The quest in mind was, genuinely, a simple one. Over the past few months, several ships – trading, military, and passenger – had all gone missing near a harbor. Said harbor was also home to the Zhang family, who were long-time allies and confidantes of the Adventurers Guild, and the current occupant, Frank, hadn't answered any of Annabeth’s recent correspondence. Between the quickly-stacking rewards offered by merchants and nobles begging The Guild to make the waters safe again and Annabeth’s own mounting concern, she'd decided that someone needed to go check on things in the area. So, she'd arranged for Piper and Leo to sail with Percy to go investigate the area, confirm it was safe, and get any status updates Frank had to offer. With any luck, there wouldn’t even be any fighting. Jason asked why they needed him, in that case, and Leo flatly informed him that it was always better to be an embarrassed worrywart than a dead, unprepared idiot. Jason figured he couldn’t really argue with that.

With the basic details all hammered out, Piper and Leo had scurried upstairs to their own room to gather up their supplies while Jason took advantage of his paid off tab to scarf down another plate of bread and cheese, and the three were off to the docks to meet up with Captain Jackson.

The Riptide wasn’t exactly hard to spot. It wasn’t the fanciest ship, nor the biggest, but Jason had a feeling that there weren’t a lot of ships on the waters anywhere that had brilliant cerulean sails. Standing on the dock beside the vessel was an orc, rocking back and forth from his heels to his toes, scanning the crowd. When his big brown eyes fell on Jason, he beamed and waved at them. “Hello! You’re heroes, yes?”

“Uh, yeah, we sure are, bud,” Leo said, craning his neck back to look up at him. “You Captain Jackson?”

The orc shook his head, his smile never wavering. “No, I am Tyson! Percy is my brother.”

“Oh, uh, cool,” Piper said hesitantly. “Do you think you could, um, get him for us?”

“No need! I’m here!” Jason turned around to see a water Genasi with light blue skin hauling himself out of the water. Once he was back on his feet he shook his head like a dog, but his hair continued to float around him like he was still underwater. He stuck out his hand for Jason to shake and gave him a grin, and Jason couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were the exact same blue-green of the harbor he’d just climbed out of. “Captain Perseus Jackson, at your service. And who are you, exactly? I’m not trying to be rude, but you don’t exactly look like Beth’s descriptions of Piper or Leo.”

“Jason Grace,” he said flatly. He took Percy’s hand and squeezed probably a little harder than he really needed to. Percy visibly winced in pain, but didn’t say anything. “I’m new.”

Percy arched his eyebrow at Piper. “Didn’t Beth give you two this quest to see if you’ve got what it takes to join the Guild? Doesn’t your pet behemoth kind of throw off the scales?”

“We’re just bringing him as backup,” Piper assured him. “The actual questing will be done by us. Promise.”

Percy didn’t look fully convinced, but he shrugged anyway. “Whatever. It’s your prize pool you’re splitting.” He turned to Tyson and gave him a much fonder smile than the one he’d offered Jason. “Hey, man, you mind heading up and getting us ready to sail? We’ll be up in just a sec.”

“I will get us ready to sail!” Tyson agreed before he trotted up the gangplank.

When he was gone, Percy looked them all over with a critical eye. “So, you guys know what you signed up for, right?”

“The details are a little fuzzy,” Leo admitted. “We’d love a good de-fuzzing, if you don’t mind.”

Percy nodded, like that was the answer he’d been expecting. “Well, to be fair, the details we have are a little fuzzy. That’s kinda the whole deal with recon missions. What we do know is that nobody’s willing to sail anywhere near Skyhorne Harbor because ships have been going missing left, right and center. Few survivors claim that it’s sea monsters. The most recent ship, sailed by Captain Ramírez-Arellano, called the Sippyco–”

“It’s pronounced Scipio,” Jason corrected. Piper and Leo both narrowed their eyes suspiciously at him, but Jason refused to meet their gazes.

Percy arched his eyebrows, but shrugged. “Okay, sure. Whatever you want to call it, she and her crew went missing in that area a week ago.”

“Annabeth also mentioned something about a lighthouse,” Piper supplied.

“That would be Frank Zhang,” Percu confirmed. “He and his family have some sort of ties to the land, and they’ve been allied with this town’s Guild for generations. Think they might have even helped found the town. Now Frank and his partner Hazel Lavesque are the ones in charge over there. What’s got us concerned is that Frank hasn’t responded to any of our calls for two months now. It’s not unheard of for him to need a break from people and just take a sabbatical in the woods, but Hazel’s also MIA, and this has gone on long enough that Beth’s concerned about it, and I am, too.”

“Then why aren’t you the one going to check on him?” Jason asked flatly. “If he’s an important ally, shouldn’t his safety be your top priority?”

One of Percy’s eyebrows twitched, but his expression never faltered. “Why do you think I’m the one taking you? My crew and I just came back to port a week ago. We were going to head that way, regardless, Beth just asked me to play chaperone.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Leo grumbled.

Percy shrugged again, and Jason wondered how many times he could do that before he became terminally casual. “I call it like I see it. Beth said we’ve got a Halfling–”

“Half-Halfling.”

“Artificer, a half-Elf Bard and a–” He looked Jason up and down. “What are you, exactly?”

“Human,” Jason told him. “Leo thinks I’m a Paladin. I don’t really know how to be a Paladin, though.”

Percy looked like he wanted to question what he meant by that, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. “Hate to break it to you guys, but you’re not exactly the stuff of legend.”

Before any protests could be raised, a sharp woman’s voice rang out over the crowded dock. “There he is, boys! Get him!”

Jason grit his teeth and turned on the approaching group, lips pulled back in a snarl. Ma Gasket and her sons, Torque and Sump, had somehow managed to become a thorn in Jason’s side in the short time since Jason had woken up. They’d recognized him from their first meeting, which led Jason to think he’d crossed paths with the troupe of Bugbears pre-amnesia, but he, obviously, couldn’t be sure. Since then, they’d not stopped their constant pursuit of Jason, and this was his third time coming across them in the past week. “You three, again?”

“You know these guys?” Leo hissed quietly. “They don’t look like good news.”

“They’re not,” Jason confirmed with a scowl. “And we’ve… met.”

“You’ll give us what we’re owed, and you’ll give it now!” Ma Gasket demanded, hands on her hips. She sneered up at the Riptide behind him. “That there boat’ll do nicely towards settling your debt.”

“Think again if you’re even considering putting your hands on my ship,” Percy growled any and all traces of his earlier charm and ease vanishing in a second.

Before anyone could speak, Piper stepped forward, arms outstretched in a welcoming gesture and a wide, winning smile on her face. “Please, ma’am. Why don’t we all just talk about this?” she said beguilingly, and Jason could feel the way her words danced with magic. “Why don’t you just put your weapons down and we can come to an agreement?”

Torque and Sump immediately did as she suggested, but Ma snarled. “No! You idiots, she’s charming you! Can’t you feel it? Get her!”

With more speed than Jason would have thought possible, Torque whipped out a hand and wrapped it around Piper’s throat and lifted her off the ground. She scrabbled desperately at his wrist, eyes wide in terror. Torque seemed pleased with this reaction, because he bared his teeth in a sinister grin and lifted her even higher off the dock.

“Hey! Hey, no!” Leo shouted, his voice pitching sharply in the middle of his words. “What the hell! Let her go!”

Torque just tightened his grip on Piper’s throat, making her face turn a shade darker. Jason felt a loud, rumbling growl form in the depth of his throat, and he saw a familiar red tint start to seep in from the edges of his vision. “Put. Her. Down.,” he warned, each word harsh and clipped. Torque sneered at him, and Jason felt the last thread of his control snap.

In less than a breath, Jason had crossed the distance to Torque’s side, drawing his sword as he went, and slashing down across the Bugbear’s arm in a powerful swing. Immediately, Torque tilted his head back, howling in pain, as he dropped Piper, and she scrambled away, coughing and spluttering as she went.

“Get him!” Ma ordered.

Sump did as he was told, slashing at Jason with his scimitar, but Jason hardly felt the blow glance off his armor. When he tried to stab at Jason with his dagger, Jason ripped it from his hand with a snarl.

“My turn!” Percy called, and soon he and Jason were back to back, Percy’s bronze short sword gleaming in the afternoon sun. Torque lifted his sword to attack, but Percy parried, then slashed across his chest, and kicked him back a few feet for good measure. He grinned, all wild and bared teeth. “Now, that wasn’t very polite, was it, big fella?”

Before Torque could reply, a glowing bolt of magical light sprouted from his chest, and Jason glanced over his shoulder to see Leo had a crossbow leveled at the group, another bolt of magic already loaded and waiting for its shot. Beside him, Piper opened her mouth and let out a soft, melodious note. Her magic wove through the air for a moment before Torque stiffened, and a phantasmal wreath of thorny vines wrapped around his head and covered his eyes.

“What-what did you do to my boy!” Ma Gasket demanded, her eyes wide in horror. “You stop that nasty witchcraft, girl!”

Sump took a step towards Piper, but Jason cut him off, nearly removing the end of his nose in the process. Sump raised his scimitar to attack in kind, but Torque leapt in front of Jason and took a vicious swing at his brother.

Percy looked confused for a moment before he dove into the scuffle as well. He danced around Sump, sinking his sword into the back of his thigh before ducking out of reach, leaving his opponent to lunge forward after him. With that opening, Jason struck and Piper’s voice rang through the air once again.

Sump’s eyes crossed and he clapped his hands over his ears, looking around him in terror. “M-Ma? What’s that noise? Ma!”

“Sump?” Ma called, her own voice strained. “Boy, you listen to me, not her!” Instead, Sump wailed in fear and fled, Torque following close behind, eyes still shrouded in magic. Ma stared after them for a moment in shock before she turned back, baring her teeth at Jason. “You haven’t seen the last of us, boy,” she spat before she turned and chased after them.

With the threat gone, Jason heaved a deep sigh of relief and sheathed his sword. He laced his fingers and lifted them up above his head, luxuriating in the stretch, before he felt three sets of eyes resting heavily on his back. He turned to see Piper, Leo and Percy, all staring at him in varying levels of shock. He frowned. “What?”

“Do you, um, do that often?” Piper asked, somewhat hesitantly.

Jason’s frown deepened. “Do what?”

“‘Do what?’” Leo scoffed mockingly. “Uh, maybe the whole feral animal schtick you just did?”

“Oh.” Jason thought about that and shrugged. “Yeah, that’s usually what happens when I get in a fight.”

Percy let out a laugh then, a full-body head tilted back and clutching at his stomach laugh. “Great news: You do not have to worry about knowing how to be a Paladin.”

Jason scowled at him. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I need to know that?”

Percy grinned at him, and Jason thought he looked more than a little like a shark. “Because you, Jason Grace, are one hundred percent a Barbarian.”

*-*-*

Once Piper and Leo had finished gawking at Jason, Percy had shown them to their accommodations on the Riptide. Considering the size of the ship, Jason had figured they’d be assigned a few spare hammocks crammed into the corner of the bunk area, but they’d actually been offered a decently-sized office where they were allowed to store their belongings and rest. Jason got the feeling that the length of the trip was the only reason they had been granted such luxury. If they were expected to be on the boat any longer than the two days they were scheduled, they likely wouldn’t have had nearly as nice a time. Fortunately for them, their destination was only about six hours away, so if they camped on land, they wouldn’t even need to spend the night aboard the ship.

Not that Jason had spent all that much time in their room, unlike Piper and Leo, who looked like they were considering jumping on the bed. Jason had learned quickly that he didn’t particularly enjoy sailing, and being below decks only exacerbated the problem, so he was up on the top deck, leaning against the railing and staring out over the horizon and the low-hanging sun. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Percy had said. He’d been dubbed a Barbarian with such absolute finality that it almost startled him. He wanted to protest, but at the same time, it felt right in a way that Leo’s assumption of Paladin hadn’t. He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t know how to be a Paladin, but he knew how to be a Barbarian. He was more than familiar with the fury and anger that simmered in his chest. It was always there, ready to strike, but never rearing its ugly head until Jason reached for it, like a dog called to heel. Even now, safe as he was, he felt a sort of primal awareness prickling its claws across the back of his neck. He’d ignored the feeling before, not thinking anything too remarkable of it, but now he couldn’t help but notice it. It was odd to think that not everyone had this same instinct that Jason felt was as much a part of himself as his own hand.

His ruminations were interrupted when Piper popped up next to him, and Leo hopped up to sit on the rail at his other side. Jason felt a brief flash of concern when Leo swayed dangerously with the rocking of the boat, but soon he had his ankles hooked around the posts, locking him securely in place.

“Hello,” Jason said pleasantly.

“When were you gonna tell us you were a Barbarian, huh?” Leo demanded playfully. “You just let me wander around calling you a Paladin and looking like an idiot. Not cool man.”

Jason hiked up a brow at him. “If that was a joke, it wasn’t a very funny one.”

“That’s the thing about Leo,” Piper chimed in. “His jokes are only ever kind of funny, and only half the time.”

Jason snorted while Leo shouted about abuse and betrayal. Jason shook his head. “So, what do you two want? I don’t have a tab for you to bribe me with this time.”

Piper and Leo exchanged a glance before Piper spoke again. “We were just checking on you.”

“Yeah, dude,” Leo agreed. “I mean, with the whole amnesia thing and then, BOOM, a stranger is telling you what class you are. That’s kind of a lot.”

“Yeah, imagine doing something like that. I mean, what kind of person just waltzes up to a stranger and decides that they’re a Paladin?” Jason scoffed, making Leo blow a raspberry at him. Then he shrugged. “I’m fine, I think. It doesn’t exactly change anything for me. Might change something for you two, though.”

Piper and Leo looked at one another like they were both checking to make sure they were still speaking Common. “Why would that change anything for us?” Piper asked, cocking her head to the side.

Jason furrowed his brow. “You two were looking for a Paladin, right? You heard what Percy said. I am not a Paladin.”

Leo shrugged leaning back over the side of the rail in a way that made Jason’s palms twitch with the urge to just grab him and put him on his feet, still and safe on the deck. “You’re still a big dude with a bigger sword who’s willing to bash heads if the need arises,” he pointed out. “‘S far as I’m concerned nothing’s changed. What do you think, Pipes? You still on board with Mr. Wolfy McRage Fist?”

“Yeah, I’m still on board,” Piper grinned.

“The name will need some workshopping,” Jason said dryly. “Let’s just stick with Jason for now.” Leo booed loudly and finally tipped over the side of the rail, hanging upside down over the edge of the boat. The sight freaked Jason out more than a little bit, but Piper didn’t even seem remotely concerned about her friend’s antics, so Jason figured he shouldn’t be, either. He cast a curious look over at Piper. “So, why do you two want to join the Adventurers Guild so bad anyway? Normally, people start adventuring and then get recruited for a guild. You two are kind of doing things backwards.”

Piper cut her gaze away from him and began fiddling with the ring she wore on a chain around her neck. “I just– wanted to get out there, you know? See what I can. There’s a whole lot of world, and only one Piper. Seems a shame to stay in one place your whole life.”

Jason got the sneaking suspicion that she was leaving a lot out of her story, but Leo cut in before Jason could press for details. “Boooorrrriiiinnnng,” he groaned obnoxiously, and Jason would have pointed out how obvious of a distraction tactic it was if not for the fact that Piper looked relieved beyond words to have the attention off of her.

“Yeah?” Jason challenged. “What’s your story, then?”

“Plucky orphan obviously,” Leo scoffed. He grunted slightly then righted himself on the railing, then held out his hands like a showman. “Look at me! I practically scream ‘raised on the streets and forced to rely on his brains from a young age.’”

Jason very much wanted to laugh at the display, but just fondly rolled his eyes instead. “Alright. Well, what about the Guild? How does that factor into everything?”

“Job security,” Piper said simply. “Speaking from experience, the gig economy isn’t exactly sustainable long-term, and it’s really hard to get into. At least with the Guild we’d have a fairly steady stream of quests and rewards available to us.”

“Plus it gives us start-up cash,” Leo added. “It’s no use trying to leave town without some liquid capital. That’s how you wind up in an inn with two pieces of silver and a tab you can’t pay, so you sign yourself up for a quest with the first wackadoodles who approach you.”

Jason frowned at him. “How did you know I only had two silver pieces?” Leo just gave him a wide, toothy grin and held up his hand, two silver coins pinched between his first two fingers. Jason’s hand immediately flew to his coin purse where his two measly silver pieces were still waiting for him, safe and secure, while Leo cackled. Jason scowled at him, but the expression lacked any real heat, doused by amusement. “You’re a menace.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that, and if it’s the last I will have thoroughly failed in my life’s goal,” Leo chirped, cheerfully kicking his feet.

Jason rolled his eyes again, but before he could say something smart back, he felt that prickling at the base of his skull and his whole body tensed. “Brace yourselves!” he ordered at the top of his voice to anyone who could hear him. He fisted his hand in the front of Leo’s shirt and yanked him off the railing just as something rammed into the side of the ship, sending it careening hard to the side.

There were scattered screams and shouts as the handful of crewmembers aboard the Riptide scrambled into position, Percy swearing up a storm as he stood at the helm, furiously trying to get them back on course. Jason’s gaze immediately found Piper and Leo before he did anything else. Piper looked a bit dizzy and was clinging to the railing and Leo looked like he was still coming to terms with how close he’d been to tumbling into the sea, but they were both alive and that was Jason’s only criteria at the moment. He turned back to Percy and barked, “What the hell was that, Jackson?”

“That,” Percy grit out, straining against the wheel, “was our sea monster.”

As if on cue, the water churned and boiled right next to the boat, and from it erupted a giant sea serpent. It was at least seventy feet tall, appeared to be made entirely out of water, and the places where its eyes should be was a pair of glowing orbs of white magic. It tipped its head back and let out a loud, shrieking cry before diving back below the surface of the water.

“What should we do, Captain?” one of the sailors cried.

Percy visibly grit his teeth and glanced around. “Everyone to your stations! We need to get into that harbor! She’s not gonna take too many more hits like that! You three!” His gaze fell on Piper, Jason, and Leo. “Get that thing away from my ship!”

The monster emerged again and Jason gripped his sword, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit useless, unsure of how he could even get close to this thing, let alone hit do any real damage.

Leo, apparently, didn’t have that problem. “Cover me!” he ordered, shoving his hands into the satchel on his belt and withdrawing some kind of bronze contraption, which he placed on the ground, and immediately started working on.

Piper had also leapt into action and produced her lyre and plucked a quick, jaunty tune on the strings. In response, thunder rolled and a bolt of lightning fell out of the sky right in between the monster’s eyes. It let out another grating shriek in response, and set its gaze on the ship. Two spindly arms with giant clawed feet emerged from its sides and it raised both fists to slam them on the deck. One hit Piper, and she let out a startled yelp of pain as she was flung away. The other hit Jason, but he was able to hold his ground against the attack.

“Piper!” Leo screamed, staring at her crumpled form in horror. Then he turned his furious gaze on Jason, eyes blazing. “Now would be a really good time for the feral animal schtick, man!”

Jason blinked in shock for a moment before his eyes settled on where the monster’s claws were still curled over the edge of the railing. He thought about Piper, lying prone behind him, and he lifted his sword with a snarling war cry and brought it down on the beast’s foot.

Your anger courses hot through your veins, my pup, a quiet voice said in the back of his mind. It can be your greatest strength if you choose to wield it properly. If not, it will be your undoing.

The ship rocked with an explosion as two cannonballs slammed into the serpent. While it was still reeling Leo finally stepped back from his project, revealing a bronze automaton dragon about the size of a dog, which matched the sea serpents wailing with a roar of its own, flapping its little wings menacingly at a foe a hundred times its size. it dropped its jaw and a wave of force slammed into the sea serpent.

“Yes! Get ‘im, Festus!” Leo crowed, pulling out his crossbow. He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered under his breath “Please, please, please don’t blow up,” before firing. Whatever he did must have worked, because as the magic bolt flew through the air, it suddenly became wreathed in flames before finding its mark.

The monster reared back to attack again, this time sweeping its claws across the deck in an attempt to grab anything it could. Jason snarled and whipped out a hand to grab Leo by the collar of his shirt and send him stumbling just out of range. This, unfortunately, left Jason wide open, and he was slammed with a massing paw made of water. He choked as his lungs flooded for a moment before gripping his sword and slashing his way free. He collapsed on one knee, coughing up water when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

He looked up to see Piper crouched before him, her eyes scanning Jason’s face for any sign that he was injured. Jason was distantly relieved to see that she seemed okay, all things considered. “Jason, are you hurt?” she asked sharply, snapping her fingers to get his attention.

Jason didn’t respond. Words were a little hard when he got like this, but he did shove himself to his feet and bared his teeth at her in what he hoped looked at least a little like a smile. As he did, the boat rocked with another volley of cannon fire, and Leo appeared next to them, crossbow at the ready. He let loose another shot before turning to Piper, his face puckered in concern. “You good?” At her confirmation, he gave a short, decisive nod. “We’re almost to the docks. We’ve just gotta hold off this guy a little more. Any ideas?”

Piper whispered some choice words under her breath and the beast shrieked. It had backed away from the boat, looking like it was ready to ram it and Jason growled. He couldn’t do anything from here. He just needed a way to get closer–

A sharp whistle from the captain cut off his train of thought, and Jason whipped his head around to see a solid black pegasus rocketing towards the boat. He gave Piper and Leo a feral grin. “Idea.”

Leo and Piper both looked at him in confusion. “What’s the idea?” Piper asked.

Instead of answering, Jason just grinned wider, then turned and took a running leap off the boat, while Piper and Leo shrieked behind him.

For a moment as Jason fell through the air, he realized that maybe this was a really dumb decision. He had no way of knowing for sure that the pegasus would be where he thought it would be. Hell, he didn’t even know if it was friendly. He just knew he had to do something, and this was his best (or at least first) idea.

He landed hard on the pegasus’s back earning himself a sharp whinny of protest, but together they soared through the air towards the monster, which had its eerie white eyes trained on Jason. It swiped at him with its claws, but the pegasus was too fast, darting between its arms to climb higher and higher into the sky, right above the sea monster’s head. Jason watched it carefully, one hand holding on to his sword and the other tangled in the pegasus’s mane. Then, when he was in exactly the right position–

He let go.

The wind whipped past him as he gathered speed on his fall, both hands wrapped around the hilt of his sword to deal one final blow. The beast shrieked at him, mouth opened like it was going to swallow him straight out of the air, but it was too late. Jason thrust his sword deep in the monster’s head, and with one last howl, it melted back into water.

Jason was once again free falling before he was scooped up by the pegasus mid-air. As they flew back towards the ship, Jason felt the last of his rage melt away, and he slumped forward in relieved exhaustion.

*-*-*

Jason hadn’t exactly expected his act of heroism to be rewarded with being fussed at, but that was exactly what was waiting for him when he returned to the Riptide.

Piper and Leo had not been impressed with his little stunt. Well, that wasn’t quite true. Leo had admitted it was “the coolest shit I’ve seen in a hot minute,” and Piper had begrudgingly agreed, but neither of them were happy about it. Jason had been told under no uncertain terms that he was not to do anything like that again because they weren’t interested in having a dead Barbarian on their hands, but Jason couldn’t find it in himself to really be all that sorry. The monster was dead and the three of them were alive and well, which meant that he’d won, which meant he’d done a good job and therefore no one should criticize him.

The Riptide had limped its way to the dock, and the crew went ashore so that Percy could fully assess the damages. Based on his reaction, the diagnosis was less than favorable.

“You three are going to have to go it alone from here,” Percy said, scowling at the ship. “I’ve got a minimal crew, so it’s going to be all hands on deck if we want to finish repairs and get out of here in the morning.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for us to help out here, then?” Leo suggested, already elbow-deep in his toolbelt and rummaging around. “I may not be a seasoned seafarer like you, but I know how to use a hammer and this isn’t the first boat I’ve worked on.”

Percy’s face went stony and serious. “No. If the rumors about the sea monsters are true, then Frank and Hazel’s disappearance just got a lot more serious. Someone needs to check on them immediately.”

With that, Percy had sent them on their way. He’d been kind enough to let them catch their breath and gather some supplies, but they were climbing the steep, slippery staircase that switchbacked across the sheer cliff face forty feet up before Jason was really ready.

At the top, they found a crumbling stone wall, about ten feet high, and Leo turned to Jason with a smug grin. “Pipes and I have got this. Watch.”

Without another word, Piper laced her fingers together and Leo used that as a springboard to launch himself up to the top of the wall where he scrabbled at the stone for only a moment before he got a solid hold, and he stayed where he was hanging. Jason thought for a second that maybe he was stuck before Piper sprang up, grabbing a hold of his hips and proceeding to climb up Leo’s back like he was a rope hanging there just for her. When she was situated, she reached down and hauled Leo up to sit next to her, and they beamed down at Jason in obvious pride.

“Ta-da!” they sing-songed in unison.

Jason arched his eyebrows at them and gave them a nod. “Impressive. My turn.”

Jason took a few steps back, and Piper and Leo scrambled to get out of his way, but he instead walked up to the nearby gate and pushed it open with a low, sad creeeaaaaaak. He stepped through and grinned up at Piper and Leo from the other side. “Ta-da.”

Leo puffed out his cheeks in a scowl then said in a dumb voice, “Oooh, look at me! I’m Jason Grace! I’m soo smart and I do sensible things like walk through gates and divebomb sea monsters.”

Jason let out a short, huffing laugh while Piper and Leo scrambled back down the wall. “I figure one of us should try it out occasionally,” he said innocently.

“Yeah, yeah,” Leo scoffed, flapping his hands around as dismissively as possible. “You know, you–”

“Hey, guys?” Piper interrupted. Jason glanced over, her tone already putting him on alert. She was standing over by the gate, investigating it with her eyebrows pinched in concern. “This gate’s broken.”

Jason frowned, and he and Leo stepped over to investigate as well. “That’s to be expected, right?” he said slowly. “I mean, the wall is in pretty poor condition, too, so it makes sense that the gate would be broken.”

Piper was already shaking her head. “No. Look, the wood’s still in really good condition. This gate’s way too new to just be worn out.”

“Besides, this isn’t just regular wear and tear,” Leo added. “If you look here, you can see that it was actually torn off its hinges, based on the shear lines. Someone wanted in here, and they weren’t worried with being polite about it.”

“Can you tell when it happened?” Jason asked.

Leo winced and shook his head. “Not really. I mean, it doesn’t look like it happened this morning or anything, but it could have been years ago and this Frank guy just never bothered to replace his gate. There’s no real way to know one way or the other.”

Jason had a hard time believing that Frank had just left his home in such obvious disrepair when he’d taken the effort to replace the gate in the first place. “Whether it happened last week or last year, let’s take this as a sign to be on guard,” he said decisively. “Remember, we’re here because Annabeth thinks something might have happened to Frank. We’ve already been proven wrong about the lack of sea monsters, let’s not assume he’s safe.”

Piper and Leo both nodded in agreement, and silently fell into step behind him as he led the way to the lighthouse. It was made of the same dark gray stone that covered the coast, but the years spent up high on the bluff, battered day and night by salty sea wind, had worn the stone down until it was smooth and gleamed softly in the moonlight like polished gems. The door to the place was nearly identical to the gate, but instead of barely hanging on, it was barricaded and boarded up with crates and smashed barrels.

“I’m guessing we should not try the doorbell,” Leo winced.

Jason shook his head and looked around for another way inside before narrowing his eyes. There was a window, about twenty feet up with a narrow ledge that wouldn’t be nearly big enough for Jason, but would at least somewhat comfortably fit a half-Halfling. He gestured at the window and raised an eyebrow at Leo and Piper. “Think you guys can do your little trick again?”

Piper studied it for a moment before she shook her head. “No way. That’s way higher than our record. I wouldn’t be able to boost him all the way up there.”

“I could try it,” Jason suggested before looking over at Leo. “If you’re good with it, that is.”

Leo looked visibly doubtful for a moment before he shrugged. “What the hell? Let’s give it a shot.”

Jason got himself into position and after a moment of psyching himself up, Leo ran towards him, put one foot in Jason’s laced fingers and jumped straight up the wall. Jason wasn’t really sure just how much strength to put behind his assist (he had a newfound appreciation for the amount of practice Piper and Leo must have put into their act to make it look so effortless) but whatever he did was obviously wrong. Leo just barely made it up to the window ledge, but he could only scrabble at it for a moment before he fell to the ground with a thump and a wheeze.

“Leo! Are you okay?” Piper yelped, rushing over to his side.

Jason suddenly felt that same familiar awareness prick at his senses again and he crowded Piper and Leo behind him, eyes scanning around for any potential threats.

“Jason?” Leo asked, and Jason could just hear the furrow of his brow. “What–”

“Quiet,” he hissed. Immediately, Piper and Leo went silent, and Jason listened as hard as he could, but there was nothing. Still, he felt a creeping sense of unease. “Something’s nearby,” he said flatly. “I don’t know where, but it’s here and it could be dangerous.”

Piper and Leo looked at one another, then back at Jason. “Okay,” Piper said. “Let’s just focus on getting in the lighthouse. We should probably at least look inside, so we need to get up to that window.”

“The usual high-jump didn’t work,” Leo said unnecessarily, rubbing at his jaw. Then he paused and took a step back. He held up a thumb to Jason, then Piper, then the window. He grinned, a little maniacal. “But I think I’ve got another idea.”

Jason involuntarily gulped. “I don’t think I liked the way you said that.”

“Nobody liked it except him,” Piper confirmed with a sigh like she’d already resigned herself to whatever idea it was.

Jason soon discovered that he was right to not like the way Leo said that. Really, he had the simplest job of the three of them: Hold heavy things. The only problem was that the heavy things in question were Piper and Leo. Leo had told him to just stand beneath the window while Piper climbed up to stand on his shoulders, and Leo climbed up to stand on hers. Really and truly, it wasn’t hard. Piper and Leo’s combined weight wasn’t even close to his maximum lifting capacity, and they were both more than nimble enough to climb their make-shift person ladder. The problem came when Leo got into position and let out a quiet string of swear words.

“Leo?” Jason grunted out. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t reach,” Leo admitted. “I must have miscalculated or something, because I need, like, one more foot.”

Jason considered that for a moment. The smart, sensible, thing to do would be to let Piper and Leo climb back down and they’d find a new way in. But they’d already wasted so much time, and they needed to find Frank so they could get back on the Riptide and head back to Coast Haven, and, well. He had an idea.

A potentially really bad idea.

“Leo, brace yourself against the wall. Piper, hang onto his feet as tight as you can,” Jason ordered. He waited a moment for them to do as he said before he continued. “Okay, Piper, now I’m gonna put my hands on my shoulders, and I want you to step in them.”

“Oh, gods above, you’re insane,” Piper choked out, but she still did what she was told, and Jason got as good of a grip on Piper’s feet as possible.

“Okay, you two. Hold very still.” Jason sucked in a deep breath and started slowly lifting Piper up above his head. He distantly heard Leo swearing again in a squeaky little voice, but he couldn’t focus on that. He turned his attention inward, at the blazing fury that resided in his chest. He didn’t fully embrace it, but he harnessed that heat, letting out a low, rumbling growl as he held Piper steady above him.

Jason wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but soon there was the quiet click of a window being opened and his load was significantly lighter. Then, a rope was tossed down to them, and Piper climbed up after Leo. Jason followed shortly after, and soon all three of them were inside the lighthouse, huddled together on the winding stairs leading up to the lantern room.

“Let’s go see who’s on the bottom floor,” Leo whispered, and Piper and Jason both nodded in agreement.

Together, the three of them crept down the stairs and peered out into the main floor. At one point, the room was probably very regal-looking, with the fine furniture and paintings on the wall, but the newest residents had more than made a mess of things. The floor was crowded with destroyed chairs and shredded cushions and more of the smashed crates and barrels from outside and everything was visibly grimy except for one thing. Above the fireplace was a gold insignia: a pair of crossed spears over a bear’s head with a roaring wave in the background. Somehow, it was still spotless, shined to a mirror-like finish, as if the filth around it couldn’t touch it.

Sitting in the middle of it all was a group of six Eelfolk, all baring their teeth at one another as they dined at one of the only undamaged tables in the room. As Jason watched, one of them reached a little too close to his companion and those razor sharp teeth sank into flesh without remorse. He let out a shrill cry of pain and ripped his hand back, reaching for his knife before the largest one of the group slammed his fists on the table. “Enough of your squabbling!” he shouted. There was an outraged protest of, He bit me! but it went ignored. “We still have to get our hands on that damned lighthouse keeper! It’s the only way!”

“We’ve tried everything, boss,” another one of the Eelfolk complained. “He’s hidden himself up in the lantern room and we’ve no hope of getting him out!”

“Well, then you’d best find a way!”

The table erupted into another argument, and Jason, Piper and Leo crept up to the next floor.

“Well, we know why Frank hasn’t been answering his messages, at least,” Piper said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “I wonder how long they’ve had him trapped up here. I mean, if he’s been in here two months is he even still…?”

“He’s definitely not dead,” Jason said firmly. “If he was, they wouldn’t have any trouble getting to him. But that leads to the next question. Why are they trying to get him? What do they want? Who even are these guys?”

“I know who they are,” Leo supplied. “It’s Nantan and his crew. They’ve got a base over near Coast Haven, and they like to stir up trouble in town every now and then. But they never do anything super serious. Usually just theft and stuff like that. They tried attacking the boats that docked there, but Annabeth and the Guild put a stop to that real quick.”

“So, what’s he doing out here?” Piper asked. “Does he have anything to do with the sea monster?”

Jason furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before his eyes drifted back over to the stairs, which led even higher up to the lantern room. “Well, I don’t have any of the answers, but I think I know who might.”

*-*-*

The three of them silently climbed the stairs, only pausing occasionally for Leo to check the path for any kind of traps. It seemed as though Nantan and his crew were either really bad at setting traps, or they just refrained from doing so entirely (Jason got the feeling it was the latter, seeing as some of the Eelfolk probably would have fallen victim to the traps themselves) because they made it up to the top floor without any trouble. There, they came face-to face with a heavy iron door, which had the same crest from the mantle etched there front and center.

Without thinking, Jason grabbed hold of the doorknob and tried to shoulder it open, but the thing refused to budge. Suddenly, the door got blisteringly hot and Jason leapt away with a shout of pain.

“Dude, you good?” Leo demanded, checking Jason over for any obvious injuries.

Fortunately, Jason’s hide cloak had shielded him from any serious damage, but he still scowled at the innocent-looking door. “I’m fine. Good news, Frank’s still alive and well in there.”

“And you’ll stay out, if you know what’s good for you!” a voice shouted from the other side of the door. “I’m not letting you in, so you can just turn around and go back the way you came!”

Piper stepped forward then, her usual smile in place, even if Frank couldn’t see her. “Frank Zhang, isn’t it? Please, sir, we’re only trying to help. You see, Annabeth sent–”

“Cut it with the magic,” Frank snapped. “If you think I’m falling for your tricks that easily, you’ve got another thing coming!”

Piper scowled at the door, clearly offended at the dismissal, before she turned on Jason. The gold streaks in her brown eyes glowed for a second as she wrapped her fingers around Jason’s wrist. “Kick the door in,” she ordered, her tone hard and leaving no room for argument.

Jason felt a new wealth of energy go rushing through his veins, seemingly centered on where Piper had her hand on him. He assessed his target for a moment – the door itself looked to be a solid, sturdy metal, but the doorjamb was wood that looked like it had seen better days. Perfect. He took in a deep, steadying breath, planted his left foot, and kicked as hard as he could.

The door swung open with a loud BANG! as it crashed against the stone wall inside. Jason winced and quickly ushered Piper and Leo into the room before slamming the door shut. He didn’t want to be standing around in the hall when the Eelfolk came to investigate. Unfortunately, the doorjamb was still pretty splintered from Jason’s bombastic entrance, and he cursed. “Leo, can you mend this door?”

Leo paled for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah, I, uh, yeah. I got this.” Instead of pulling out his tools, he placed his hands on the doorjamb and they began to glow; beneath his fingers the wood started knitting itself back together, much to Jason’s surprise. Then, the slightest smell of smoke filled the air and Leo ripped his hands away from the door, leaving behind two sets of scorched fingerprints.

“You… guys aren’t Eelfolk.”

Jason finally turned to face Frank, and then tilted his head back so that he could actually look him in the face. Frank was a stone Goliath, his skin a rich gray color, with deep cracks and crevices going down his strong arms like miniature canyons and ravines. In these cracks, brilliantly polished gemstones and expertly smithed golden baubles were set, making him glint and glitter like some sort of magical mineshaft. His tone was hesitant and curious, but he kept his features hard and his bow drawn and ready to fire. “Who are you three?”

“Well, Pipes was trying to tell you that earlier,” Leo chided. “We were sent by Annabeth to see if you’re alive and well. That’s all we wanted. You’re alive, even if you’re not doing super hot right now, so we’ve gotten all we need to know. Now, we can just go ahead and get out of your hair, if you don’t mind.”

“Wait, no!” Frank said, almost desperately. His gaze flickered over their faces, looking for any sign that they were lying. “I– You were sent by Annabeth? Really?”

“Yeah,” Piper confirmed. “She said she’d lost contact with you a couple months ago, so she sent us over here with Percy to check on you.”

“Percy’s here?” Frank asked eagerly.

Leo gave a little non-committal hand gesture. “Yes, and no. Yes, he’s here in the harbor, but he’s stuck down at the docks repairing the ship after a sea monster attacked.”

Frank sighed heavily and lowered himself to the ground, hands clutched tight in his hair. “This is all my fault. I can’t believe I let this happen.”

“What exactly happened?” Piper asked gently. “Frank, do you have any idea what’s going on?”

Frank sighed and looked morosely out a near-by window. “Skyhorne Harbor has always been protected by a Zhang. It’s a sacred family duty that gets passed down the bloodline. My mom did it before me and her mom before her, back almost too many generations to count.”

“Why does it need protecting?”

Frank chewed his bottom lip for a moment like he wasn’t really sure if he should say what he was thinking, before he spoke, “There’s a magic item that we stand guard over. It’s this big, stone basin used for controlling water elementals – that’s the thing that attacked you, by the way, not a sea monster.” Leo muttered something along the lines of it was a monster, it came from the sea, but Piper elbowed him into submission so Frank continued. “We’ve always used it to help damaged ships get to port, but two months ago, we were attacked.”

“By Nantan?” Jason suggested.

“I– No.” Frank shook his head. “The guy in charge wasn’t Nantan. I never got a good look at him, but I’ve heard him giving orders, and he’s definitely not an Eelfolk like the rest of them.”

Jason hummed thoughtfully. So, Nantan was answering to someone else? That would explain why the group’s MO seemed so radically different from what Leo had described. “So, what’s with this magic basin? Why does he have you trapped? Do you have it hidden up here or something?”

“No, it’s impossible to move,” Frank said. “It’s down in an underwater cavern, and it’s fixed to a pedestal. They’ve been sending some of their men down there, but it… can take a lot out of you, if you’re not properly attuned to it. It can be dangerous, even if you are attuned. You can die if the force of the elemental overpowers you, and I think that might be what’s happening.”

“You think that’s where they are now?” Leo asked. “Just waiting around for another chance to have a go at controlling the giant water snake?”

“Probably,” Frank shrugged.

“How many times a day can they summon it?” Jason asked. “And do they ever leave any ships intact?”

“They can summon it twice. You can do more if you’re attuned, but two is the most they can manage,” Frank reported. “As for surviving ships, usually they sink them, but last week they brought one boat into one of the hidden grottos near the summoning basin. I think they’re forcing the crew into trying to control the elemental to keep from losing any more of their men.”

Piper looked nearly sick at the thought. “That’s awful!”

“That’s not all,” Frank said, his face falling. “They also got my– They got Hazel. She’s a Wizard, so they thought she would have better luck with the summoning, but she’s no more attuned to it than they are. It’s a family thing, she can’t possibly ever control it fully. At this point, I don’t even know if she’s still– If she–”

Jason cut off Frank’s stammering by placing a gentle hand on his elbow. “She’s alright,” he said firmly. “We’ll save her.”

Frank looked at him with something like wonder in his eyes. “We will?”

“Of course we will,” Jason swore. He turned to Leo and Piper and gave them a serious look. “This is going to be dangerous,” he said, making sure to look both of them in the eye. “More dangerous than anything we’ve done so far. If you two want to go back to the Riptide and tell Percy what’s going on, I wouldn’t blame you.”

Piper and Leo shared a look, had one of their silent conversations, and turned back to Jason with those same matching grins. “Are you kidding?” Piper scoffed. “Of course we’re going. You can’t get rid of us that easily.”

Jason felt his mouth curving up to match theirs, but he still had to double check. “You sure? Like I said, it’s going to be dangerous.”

“Pft, danger is, like, our collective middle name,” Leo dismissed. “We loooove danger.”

Jason turned back to Frank, his smile back in full force and feeling more sure of himself than he had since waking up in the woods. “Alright, Frank. Let’s go save the day.”

*-*-*

With their fates sealed, Frank quickly and quietly led them back down to the bottom floor, which allegedly held the secret to their way out of here. Nantan and his crew were still eating and shouting at one another, so they were able to slip past, unseen into a nearby larder.

“It’s down through here,” Frank said quietly, shifting some of the furniture around. “Jason, can you help me move this?”

Jason nodded then glanced at Piper and Leo. “Keep watch. Tell us if you see anyone coming.”

Piper and Leo did equally horrible jobs at saluting him (Leo did it with his left hand) but Jason figured it was in his best interest to correct their form later. Instead, he crouched down on the other side of a massive, solid oak cabinet from Frank, and together they shifted it a few feet to the side, revealing a large, metal trapdoor.

“This was put here when the lighthouse was built as a kind of emergency exit,” Frank explained as he started the climb down. “I’ve been careful to not mention it, so none of the bandits should know about it.” Jason waved Piper and Leo over to follow him down, and Jason took up the last spot, taking care to close the trapdoor once he was inside.

“If this was here the whole time, why’d you stay trapped?” Piper asked.

“We tried to escape, once,” Frank sighed. “It was about a week after the attack. Hazel and I tried to sneak down here to go get help from the Guild, but they caught us. That’s when Hazel was captured. I couldn’t– I couldn’t just leave her, you know? I wasn’t helping her much, but at least if I was in the lighthouse, I was a source of distraction. I just have to hope it was enough.”

Jason couldn’t really fault his logic. It wasn’t the best plan he’d ever heard, but he understood that sometimes thinking clearly was difficult when it came time to protect the people you care about.

At the bottom of the ladder was a cavern, but not the underwater one Frank had told them about. This one was much smaller, and Jason could see the stars glittering in the sky just beyond the mouth of the cave. The stone walls gleamed, and the whole cave floor was covered in a layer of water – only a few inches deep around the edges, but Jason could see where the ledge cut off sharply and opened up to much deeper water only a few feet away.

“Do not fall in there,” Frank warned, rifling through a nearby chest. “There’s hunter sharks in those waters, and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of those teeth.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Jason muttered, scowling over the water after checking to make sure that his party members were tucked safely between him and the wall.

“Here, take these,” Frank said, passing out three dusty bottles full of a cloudy sea-green liquid. “It’s a potion of water breathing.”

Jason took one of the bottles and sniffed it suspiciously. It smelled of sea air, and while it seemed thin the little jellyfish-shaped bubbles inside rose to the top sluggishly. Jason figured it probably wasn’t a great idea to drink mysterious potions from borderline strangers, but Frank was a friend of Percy and Annabeth’s and he hadn’t set off any of Jason’s danger senses, so he tossed his head back and drained the bottle in three long gulps. After waiting a moment to see if Jason was going to collapse, Piper and Leo did the same.

“I… don’t feel any different,” Piper said, looking down at her hands as if that would solve her mystery. Jason couldn’t help but agree. “Did they work?”

“One way to find out!” Leo chirped, ducking under Jason’s still outstretched arm. He knelt at the side of the deep water, stuck his head beneath the surface and took in a big, visible breath before lifting his head. “Mine works!”

Jason grabbed him by the back of the shirt, and yanked him back to safety before any sharks decided to attack him. “Great. Let’s keep moving, Frank.”

Frank agreed, and led them out of the cave into a small, secluded cove with tall shearfaced cliffs surrounding it. Along one wall was a still intact, but heavily damaged sailing ship, not entirely unlike the Riptide, which Frank pointed to. “That’s the ship I saw them hauling in last week.”

“Should we go check it out?” Piper asked. “We could maybe see if any of the crew is still aboard, or find some clues.”

“We could, but we’d have to swim,” Frank warned. “We’ll have to swim through the cove either way, though, so I suppose it doesn’t really matter.”

“What about the sharks?” Jason demanded.

“They don’t like open water like that; the currents are too much for them,” Frank said. “They generally stick to caves and caverns because they’re still and easier to navigate.”

Piper frowned out at the ship. “Well, if there’s even a chance that there’s someone on that boat, we have to go check, right? I mean, they could be hurt and need our help. Frank, do you have any healing magic?” Frank nodded, and Piper put her hands on her hips, mind clearly made up. “Then we’re going to that ship.”

“We’ll have to be careful,” Frank warned. “Like I said, the currents are rough. If you don’t follow the right path, you could get seriously hurt.”

Jason glanced over to Leo to get his opinion, but unsurprisingly, he and Piper were on the exact same page, so Jason bowed his head. “Alright then, Frank. Lead the way.”

Frank led them to the mouth of the cave to another drop off area, and gracefully dove into the water. As he arced through the air, his gray skin lost all of its deep cracks and crevices, instead turning soft and smooth as his body morphed into that of a dolphin’s just before cutting into the water.

Piper and Leo both gaped at Frank’s little dolphin face as he bobbed in place just beyond the drop off. “Some kind of warning for that would have been nice,” Leo said.

Jason snorted and stepped forward. “Come on. Let’s go,” he said before he dove into the water after Frank. Fortunately, it seemed that the water breathing potion Frank had given them also served to keep them from getting wet. Jason was particularly grateful for this, as he hadn’t exactly been looking forward to swimming and then walking around in soaked half-mail armor and he doubted Piper and Leo would have fared much better. He heard two splashes behind him, and they made their way across the cove. Jason made sure to keep a sharp eye out for any hunter sharks that wanted to investigate a little too close, but Frank’s word held good, and he led them easily through the water, moving with the unseen currents in some places, and deftly avoiding them in others.

When they finally surfaced next to the ship, Jason placed his palm flat on the light, nut-brown wood and felt a sharp pang of longing deep in his heart. “This is it,” he said around the sudden lump that had formed in the back of his throat. “This is– This is the Scipio.” Piper and Leo glanced at one another before they turned their matching looks of concern on him. Before they could speak, he shook his head. “Let’s just go. We need to figure out what happened here. Frank, we’ll go up, you stay down here, just in case.”

Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed hold of the rope ladder hanging off the side and started climbing. The top deck of the Scipio was a disaster zone. Crates of fine wines and exotic fruits had been scattered about and destroyed, and carelessly shredded bolts of delicate lace and once-plush velvet were left abandoned in heaps of rags. Even the great central mast had been snapped and what few sails remained were tattered and torn. The ship hadn’t just been attacked, it had been ransacked, desecrated, even. He pictured Nantan’s face, his yellow eyes and sharp, wicked smile. It would be easy to make him pay for what he did here. Jason could just put his hands on either side of his head and squeeze until–

He felt a gentle hand on his forearm and he looked down to see Piper looking at him, brows knit so tightly together that they almost touched. “Are you okay?”

Jason sucked in a deep lungful of air – he hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath – and gave a full-body shake like a dog. “Yeah, I’m– I’m fine. I just got lost in thought for a second there.”

Piper looked like she was going to say something else, but at that exact moment Leo stiffened like he’d been Petrified before he whirled around on them, finger pressed to his lips. “Shh!”

Immediately, Piper and Jason both fell completely silent, not even daring to breathe as Leo crept around. He kept his head cocked to the side like a dog listening for a call, and his footsteps were so light that he almost seemed to float across the deck. He paused next to a barrel, studied it for a moment, then shoved it over before Jason could even blink.

From the barrel a small figure came tumbling out. Jason immediately stepped forward, hand on the hilt of his sword before he got a good look at them. It was a Dwarf, and a young one by the looks of him, considering his lack of a beard. With his tight black curls and dark complexion, he could have been a carbon copy of Leo, assuming Leo was about a foot shorter and half again as stout.

“Don’t hurt me!” the Dwarfling squeaked, scrambling behind the upturned barrel. “I don’t have anything!”

Leo winced and crouched down, but made sure to keep the barrel between him and the Dwarfling. “Hey, man, I’m sorry. I promise we won’t hurt you. I just thought you were part of Nantan’s crew.”

The Dwarfling peeked around the barrel, his big brown eyes fixed on Leo. “N-Nantan? He’s the eel guy, right?”

“One and only. We’re trying to hunt him down and kick his ass,” Leo grinned. He offered a handshake. “Name’s Leo Valdez.”

The Dwarfling slowly came out of hiding, caution and hesitance clear in the way his shoulder hiked up around his ears, but his eyes still sparkled with interest as he looked at Leo and carefully shook his hand. “I– I’m Harley.”

“Nice to meet ya, Harley,” Leo said, his energy never faltering in the slightest. He gestured over his shoulder and added, “These are my friends, Piper McLean and Jason Grace. Say ‘hi’ guys.” Jason and Piper dutifully waved and said hello.

Harley waved at them for a moment before he turned back to Leo. “Are you really gonna beat Nantan?”

“That’s the plan,” Leo said, “Though, if you don’t mind me asking, how’d you wind up on this ship, anyway?”

Harley’s eyes immediately brimmed with tears and he scrubbed at his cheeks. “I was hiding from my sister, Nyssa,” he said miserably. “She said I was too young to go adventuring, and I wanted to prove her wrong. I didn’t think the boat would actually leave.”

“A stowaway, huh?” Leo laughed. “I was a stowaway once. That’s how I wound up in Coast Haven.”

“Really?”

“Yup,” Leo said, cheerfully popping the ‘P.’ He was fully sitting down now, legs stretched out in front of him as he slouched against the barrel. He shoved his hands in his toolbelt and retrieved a little wind-up contraption that he began fiddling with, and Harley scooched even closer, staring at the complicated bits of copper in wonder. “Awful experience, really. Zero out of ten; would not recommend. Yours go any better?”

“Uh-uh,” Harley said, shaking his head. “It started off fine, but then we got attacked by a big, scary monster, and it dragged us in here. Captain Ramírez-Arellano found me then, and she told me to hide and not come out, no matter what. That’s when the eel guys attacked the ship.”

“Yeah?” Leo prodded. “Can you tell me about these eel guys?”

“There was,” Harley cut himself off as he started counting on his fingers. “Ten of them, I think. They captured the Captain and the crew and took them away. The guy in charge of them said something about a cave.”

“The guy in charge?” Leo asked, arching his eyebrows. “You think that was Nantan?”

Harley shook his head. “Nuh-uh. This guy wasn’t a eel-man. I didn’t get a good look at him, but he had a big scar on his face, and he was blond and tall.” He shifted closer to Leo’s side and pointed an accusatory finger at Jason. “Like him.”

“Aw, don’t worry about Jason, he’s cool,” Leo promised. “He may look scary, but he’s just a big old puppy dog underneath.”

Jason wanted to protest the comparison, but he figured that wouldn’t do them any good in getting information out of Harley, so he just huffed and puffed his cheeks out in what was definitely not a pout. Beside him, Piper snickered quietly, so he reached over and pinched her on the side.

“So, have you noticed anything weird since the eel guys attacked?” Leo asked.

Harley considered that for a moment. “The monster comes out of the cave twice a day,” he reported. “It makes a big wave and spins the boat around like a little toy.”

“You ever been inside the caves?”

“Uh-uh. I haven’t been off the boat at all.”

“Well, alright then,” Leo said, clapping his hands with a sort of finality. “Harley, I want you to stay on this boat and stay hidden for me, alright? We’re gonna go check out this cave, see if we can rescue Captain Ramírez-Arellano, and maybe kick Nantan and this blonde dude’s butt. Then we’re gonna come get you, take you back to our ship, and get you back where you belong with this Nyssa person. Sound like a plan to you?”

“Yeah!” Harley grinned, then his face fell. “Do you think Nyssa’s gonna be mad at me? Will she even want me to come home?”

“Course she will,” Leo scoffed. “That’s the thing about sisters. Even when you run away and act like a jerk, they still get all sappy and cry about how glad they are to see you when you come home.” He shot Piper a wink when he said the last bit, and she rolled her eyes, but made no effort to hide her smile.

“After this, I’m never running away from home ever again,” Harley swore.

“That’s a good idea,” Leo agreed, nodding sagely. Then, he put the little wind-up contraption in Harley’s hands. “Here, you may find a use for this thing. If you wind it up and put it in your palm, it will spin around and point you towards home. Might come in handy if you ever wind up going on a real adventure.”

“Wow,” Harley breathed, cradling the device like a sacred artifact. “Thank you.”

“You’re gonna have to warm it up first though, okay?” Leo advised. “Hold it close to your chest and think about home as hard as you can. It’s gonna take a while, but eventually you’ll hear a little click, and you’ll know it’s ready. Can you do that?”

“Okay!” Harley agreed eagerly. He cupped his hands close to his heart and squeezed his eyes shut in concentration.

Leo gave Harley one last smile and ruffled his hair before he hopped to his feet. He looked at Piper and Jason with a determined set to his jaw. “Come on guys. We’ve got a Captain to save and an eel guy’s ass to kick.”

*-*-*

Once they made it to the entrance of the cave, Frank turned back into a Goliath and continued leading the way, the precious metals and gems embedded in his skin sparkling like stars in the flickering light of torches. “The Summoning Cavern is at the heart of the system,” he explained. “It’s a really easy to follow path, but there’s a lot of smaller caves that branch off the main route.”

“AKA, lots of places for Nantan and Mr. Tall Blond and Evil to stash away his hostages,” Leo supplied. Frank nodded.

“Then we’ve got to check those places first, right?” Piper said. “I mean, we did just promise to try and save Captain Ramírez-Arellano.”

Part of Jason wanted to disagree. The proper course of action would be to go straight to the Summoning Cavern, secure the basin, and defeat whoever was waiting down there for them. That was their mission, and some deep-seated, steadfast part of his brain wanted to insist that the mission always came first. But he just couldn’t. Ever since setting eyes on the Scipio, Jason’s mind had been fixated on her Captain. Ramírez-Arellano. He knew that name, even if he didn’t know what it meant. He had to see her, if only to ask her if she knew who he was.

Frank looked hesitant, likely more fixated on the idea of getting to Hazel than anything else, but he agreed. “If they’re keeping the crew to summon the elemental, they’re gonna want to keep them close by,” he said, turning down one of the narrower branching hallways. “There’s one cave that actually opens up into the Summoning Cavern, so they’ll probably go for that one.”

The cave Frank led them to was small, but the ceiling was vaulted up high, and there were stalagmites scattered around the room, each one big enough for even Frank to take cover behind. At the other end of the room was a large, ornate wooden door with the golden crest of the bear and spears emblazoned across it. Along another wall was a table, where two Eelfolk were sitting together playing cards, and between them and the door were a dozen people, chained to the wall in groups of four. They were all battered and bruised, and some of them were hanging limp in their bonds, but Jason only had eyes for one of them. She was chained up in the middle of the group, and while she looked as exhausted as the rest of them, she still held her chin up high with pride, her long dark hair in an uncharacteristically messy plait down one of her shoulders.

“That’s her,” Jason whispered hoarsely. “That’s Reyna.”

Frank gave him a funny look. “Do you… know the Captain or something?”

“I-I dunno,” Jason admitted, tripping over his words.

“What do you mean you–”

“It’s a really long, super complicated story,” Piper interrupted. “Well, actually, the part we know isn’t long or complicated, but we don’t really have time to get into it now.”

“Yeah, we’ve gotta rescue these guys,” Leo added. “Hey, Zhang, do you see Hazel anywhere down there?”

Frank shook his head. “No. Hazel’s a Gnome, so they wouldn’t be able to tie her up with these guys. She would have to be tied up separately or she could be…”

“In the Summoning Cavern?” Piper supplied.

Or dead, Jason added mentally, but he figured that wouldn’t exactly be helpful at the moment. “Look, we need to get the crew free, and make sure they’re okay, but we have to do that without letting those guys get into the Summoning Chamber, otherwise we’re going to be swarmed. Any ideas?”

“To be honest?” Leo shrugged. “I think our best bet is just bashing their heads in before they get a chance to try and leave.”

Jason felt a grin curl up his lips and he reached for his sword. “I think I like that plan.”

Before he could get too far though, Leo put a hand on his forearm. “Hold up, man. Let Pipes at them first.”

Piper looked startled for only a moment, then she grinned. “Like in Wildcliff?”

Leo’s eyes were brighter than any fire Jason had ever seen. “Just like in Wildcliff.”

“Okay.” She took a deep breath, then looked at Jason and Frank. “So, I’m gonna go out there and distract them. You two sneak around and cut off their exit, okay?”

“You got it,” Jason said without hesitation. He raised an eyebrow at Leo. “And what about you?”

“I’m gonna activate Festus,” Leo said. “Then we’re gonna take pot shots.”

Jason nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Frank, with me.”

Together Jason and Frank ducked behind a nearby stalagmite while Piper pulled out her lyre, took in another deep breath, and stepped out from cover, her melodious voice bouncing off the walls and making the air vibrate with magic. For one split second, Jason was mesmerized by the music before he roughly shook his head and dragged Frank towards their next hiding spot.

The Eelfolk at the table weren’t quite so lucky in snapping out of it, and just watched Piper approach with slack jawed amazement. She was almost halfway across the room when one of them cleared his throat and called out, “H-Halt! What are you doing here?”

“Hmm?” Piper hummed curiously. She stopped singing, but her deft fingers never stopped plucking and strumming away at her instrument. “Oh, I’m the Bard you hired. I’m afraid I got a little turned around, but I was ever so fortunate to run across you two gentlemen.”

“I– You’re in the wrong place, lady!” the second Eelfolk said gruffly. “We didn’t hire no Bard!”

“You didn’t?” Piper asked, her voice soft and plaintive. “Aren’t you part of Nantan’s crew? He was very insistent I come. You won’t send me away, will you? I worked so hard to get here.”

“No… we won’t send you away,” the first Eelfolk said. He was starting to sway in time to the music, which was leagues better than his partner, who was simply drooling on himself.

“That’s wonderful!” Piper cooed. “Thank you so much!”

“But-but I do have to check with the boss,” he stammered. He shakily got to his feet and started towards the door, but he never took his eyes off Piper. “It’s just protocol, you know?”

“Oh, I completely understand,” Piper said sweetly. Her eyes flicked up to meet Jason’s as he got into position, and he grinned. “But first–” her fingers suddenly stilled on her instrument and her eyes went wild– “I’d like to introduce you to my crew. Jason, say ‘hi.’”

The Eelfolk whipped around, finding himself face to face with Jason, who smiled politely. “Hi. Sorry, but I don’t sing.” He reared back and brought his sword down across the Eelfolk’s chestplate, sending him stumbling away. He hissed loudly at them, and tried to lunge forward, but Frank deftly stepped in and pushed him to the side with his quarterstaff.

“You won’t get away with this!” he shrieked. “Dral! Get them!”

Unfortunately, his partner was still gaping at Piper, who just smiled widely at him and started strumming her lyre again, humming a jaunty tune. As she did, Dral stiffened for a moment, then went slack like a puppet before he slowly lifted his head, eyes completely glazed over. He got to his feet, each movement jerky and bouncing along to the tune of Piper’s melody.

“Wh-What did you do?” the first Eelfolk spat bristling at Piper. “I’ll get you for this!” He dove for Piper, but before he could get anywhere close to her, there was a magic crossbow bolt sticking out of the middle of his chest, followed by a shrieking metallic roar that sent him hurtling towards a nearby wall, where he laid in a crumpled heap. Jason looked over to see Leo standing at the mouth of the cave, crossbow leveled and ready to be fired again, while Festus reared up on his back feet flapping his wings in victory.

With that settled, Piper turned to Dral, who hadn’t moved a muscle from where she’d left him standing. “Dral?” she sang. He grunted to show he understood, and she smiled. “I want you to do something for me. I want you to walk out of this cave, then keep on walking. Once you get to the water, I want you to dive in and swim aaalll the way back to Coast Haven, then knock on the front door of the Guildhall and ask to speak to Annabeth. Tell her what you and Nantan have been up to here, and answer any questions she asks you. Would you please do that for me?”

“Okay,” he slurred before walking forward. He didn’t care that there was a table and chair in front of him, he just walked. Leo kept his crossbow trained on him, and Festus made a low growling sound as he walked by, but within just a few seconds he was gone.

Frank looked hesitantly at Piper. “Is he… really gonna make it all the way to Coast Haven?”

Piper shrugged. “Theoretically. Depends on how good at swimming Eelfolk are. I assumed they’d be pretty good at it.”

Jason fondly shook his head before he turned to the hostages, only to be met with a dark, stern gaze. Reyna had been watching him, and he got the feeling she’d had her eyes on him the whole fight. He gulped heavily and released her from her bonds. “Reyna.”

She rubbed at her sore wrists and just continued to study him for a moment before she finally said, “It seems as if you have me at a disadvantage. You know me, but I’m quite certain we’ve never met.”

“I know you in name only, Captain,” Jason admitted. “I woke up with amnesia a week ago, and I’m afraid I’ve only just started putting the pieces together. I recognized you, though, and I was kind of hoping you could point me in the right direction.”

“I’m not sure how much help I can really be,” Reyna admitted. “Like I said, I have no memory of you.”

Jason nodded in understanding, though he had to hide his disappointment. He hadn’t really expected Reyna to know him, but he’d been hopeful. “What about the Wolf House? Do you know anything about that?”

Reyna paused and narrowed her eyes at him. “Why do you ask?”

“Because getting there is my mission,” Jason told her. “When I woke up, I only knew two things: my name and that I needed to get to a place called the Wolf House.”

Reyna looked him over before her eyes settled on his sword for some reason. “I have… heard of the Wolf House. If you can secure safety for me and my crew, I will tell you all I can.”

Jason dipped his head. Something told him that this was the best he was going to get out of Reyna, and he was only getting that because she was exhausted and grateful. “Thank you, Captain.”

“Well, now what?” Leo asked loudly.

Reyna turned to him, arching an eyebrow. “I would suggest stopping the summoning ritual happening next door.”

“They’re summoning an elemental?” Frank demanded. “Do they– Is Hazel with them?”

“Yes,” Reyna said grimly. She gave Frank a hard stare. “It’s her second time summoning today, and she was exhausted before.”

“If that’s the case, we have to go now!” Frank said urgently. “She can’t– It could kill her!”

“We’re going to save her, but we need a plan. If we just go in there guns blazing, who knows how many people could die,” Piper said. She turned to Reyna. “Captain, would you be able to help us?”

Reyna grimaced and shook her head. “I can’t. Even if I weren’t injured myself, my crew is, and they need my help. Just like you can’t abandon Hazel, I can’t abandon my crew.”

“Understood,” Piper said with nothing but a simple nod. “We just left your ship. Harley’s aboard and safe, but the ship’s in rough shape. You might be able to limp back to Coast Haven, if you know what you’re doing, though.”

Reyna gave her a wry smile. “I certainly like to think I know what I’m doing.”

“Have you been in the Summoning Cavern?” Leo asked. “I know you said you can’t fight, but any clue about what we can expect going in there would be a huge help.”

Reyna nodded, and she looked almost impressed that Leo thought to ask. “Very well. Let me tell you everything I know.”

*-*-*

According to Reyna’s information, sneaking into the Summoning Cavern was impossible, full stop, which Frank agreed with. Between the two of them, they were able to map out the whole room, including all the places where Nantan and his crew liked to hunker down for cover and where the summoning basin was.

“If they forced Hazel to start the summoning ritual, she’s not going to be able to stop on her own,” Frank warned. “Someone is going to have to get to her and break her concentration, otherwise the elemental will come, and I don’t think anyone wants that.”

Obviously, Piper was going to be the one to break Hazel from the spell, and even more obviously, Leo would be hot on her heels, providing backup. That left Jason and Frank to take care of Nantan and however many lackeys he had with him. The numbers didn’t look great on paper, but there was a sort of bestial fury flickering in Frank’s dark eyes as he discussed the people who had his partner captured that more than bolstered Jason’s confidence. They could do this.

“Ready?” Jason asked one last time. Everyone nodded at him, and Festus creaked loudly where he was tucked under Jason’s arm, so he turned his attention back to the door. He took a deep breath, then kicked the door open, charging in with a war cry, his party members following close behind him. As soon as the doors were thrown open Festus shrieked, and breathed a massive cone of fire that fully engulfed two of the Eelfolk closest to the door, and sent the third scrambling away.

Frank wasted no time, barreling past Jason in the form of a massive brown bear and attacking the two Eelfolk closest to him. Jason charged the third, slashing at the back of his legs, which sent him stumbling to his knees.

There was a note then, that rang through the cavern, and all of their enemies were outlined in brilliant magenta fire, letting Jason actually see who he was facing. There were a couple Eelfolk shrieking in an alcove nearby and another two with javelins not too far in front of him, but Jason’s gaze fell on one in particular. It was Nantan, and he was standing over by the basin where a Gnome with a cloud of hair like spun gold was chanting, eyes glowing white with magic. Nantan’s gaze met Jason’s and he dropped his jaw and let out a screech, which Jason matched with a snarl of his own.

Without thinking, Jason started sprinting towards Nantan, leaving Frank to finish with the Eelfolk he’d attacked. He brought his sword down, but Nantan sidestepped him, hissing out a mocking laugh. He snapped at Jason, only for Jason to duck his razor sharp fangs and shove him aside.

“You have no idea what you’re up against,” Nantan taunted, his yellow eyes glowing in the gloom. “Even if you wish to stop me here, you’ve no hope of defeating the one I serve. And the one who he serves? You’d be better served hiding away in the woods and praying to your gods that you’re never found, little hero.”

Part of Jason knew that he needed to question Nantan, to find out what he knew and who his leader was, but he didn’t care. This was the one who attacked the Scipio and tortured her Captain and crew. This was the one who had held Frank hostage in his own home for months and had tormented Hazel. This was the one who had terrorized the seas and left Harley scared and alone on a wrecked ship. So, no, Jason didn’t really care what he had to say. Once Nantan was spitting out his own teeth, someone who was better with words could question him. If he survived, that is.

He slashed at Nantan again, this time landing a good hit across his chest that sliced his leather armor open. Two spears came whistling past his ears, but Nantan snarled at his crew, “No! Leave this one to me!”

Before anyone could say anything, another song filled the air, and everyone turned to see Piper standing across the basin from Hazel, furiously plucking at her lyre strings, while Leo shook her by the shoulders. For a moment, Jason was worried nothing would happen, but then there was a blinding flash of light, like lightning had struck within the cavern, and Hazel was left there swaying dangerously in place, but her eyes clear from any magic.

“No!” Nantan howled, then he turned on Jason, eyes bright with fury. “You! You’ll pay for this!” He dove at Jason, raking his claws down Jason’s side.

There was another roar from Frank, and Jason looked up to see that the bear had several spears piercing his hide, and he looked exhausted. Jason was tempted to rush to his aid, but a sharp whistle from Leo cut through the air, and suddenly Festus was at Frank’s side, letting out another cone of fire that sent both of the Eelfolk closest to him scrambling away, weapons abandoned. Festus glowed with a brilliant gold light and Frank let out a deep, threatening growl at the Eelfolk surrounding him.

“Frank?” a weak, wobbly voice said, and now Jason looked over to see that Leo had one of Hazel’s arms thrown over his shoulder. Frank roared and started barreling towards her, which seemed to finally snap Hazel out of her spell, seeing as she started running towards him as well. She was moving faster than Jason thought was physically possible, each one of her strides nearly half again as long as Jason’s and moving twice as quick. Then, when she was closer, she leapt through the air with practiced ease and landed securely on Frank’s back. He reared up on his hind legs with a new sense of purpose and let out the loudest roar Jason had ever heard from him before they turned as one and resumed their attack.

Jason grinned viciously at Nantan, who was starting to look more than a little worse for the wear. Jason took another slash at him, and he staggered back, breathing heavily. He whipped his head around to see the chaos that surrounded them. Frank and Hazel were fighting two of the remaining Eelfolk, their attacks a flurry of teeth and claws and flashing magic, while Piper and Leo had the third cornered, firing crossbow bolts and tormenting him with Piper’s music.

“Yield,” Jason snarled, the words only just managing to claw their way past his bared teeth. Nantan hissed back at him, once again attacking Jason with his claws, which Jason responded to with an attack of his own. This one hit Nantan right in the chest, and he toppled over backwards. Jason immediately stepped forward, one heavy boot planted on either side of Nantan’s chest, and his sword poised and ready to strike him dead. “Yield. Now.”

Nantan held his gaze for several seconds, hatred on every last one of his features before he tilted his head back and let out a warbling cry of surrender. Around them, any of the remaining Eelfolk threw down their weapons and fell to the ground, heads bowed in submission.

There was a moment of silence that hung tense in the cavern before Leo’s voice shattered it into a thousand pieces. “Did we… win?”

Jason’s fury snapped at that exact moment, and he felt all the tension drain from his body as he chuckled, “Yeah, Leo, I think we won.”

*-*-*

Getting Nantan and his crew back to the Riptide was a fairly simple matter. Percy had intercepted Dral on his way back to Coast Haven, and after some prodding and no small amount of lying, he’d been tricked into believing that one of the women aboard the ship was, in fact, Annabeth, and Dral had been more than happy to show Percy the way to the Summoning Cavern where Nantan and his crew were tied up, waiting to be loaded up safe and sound in the Riptide’s brig for transport to Coast Haven.

Percy had been more than impressed with the report Dral had given him, and as such had informed Piper and Leo that Annabeth wanted to speak with them directly. Jason had been asked to join in, but he begged off the invitation, his sights instead set on the other Captain.

Reyna had her steady gaze on him, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth as he approached her. He dipped his head respectfully. “Captain Ramírez-Arellano.”

“You know, you never introduced yourself to me,” she pointed out. “I’d quite like to thank the man that saved me and my crew.”

“Jason Grace, ma’am,” he said. “And I couldn’t have done it without my companions, Piper McLean and Leo Valdez, as well as the lighthouse keeper, Frank Zhang, and his companion, Hazel Lavesque.”

“Then I will be certain to thank them as well.” She gave him a curious look. “Now, I believe you had some questions for me.”

“Just one,” Jason agreed. “Where is the Wolf House?”

“That I can’t tell you. The location is constantly changing. I only know that it lies in the land of the setting sun,” Reyna admitted. Then she glanced at Jason’s sword again. “May I see your forearm?”

Jason did as she asked, and pulled back his sleeve to reveal the tattoo that spanned the entirety of his forearm. Reyna sucked in a sharp breath and his eyebrows shot up. “Does this symbol mean anything to you?”

“It does.” She rolled up her own sleeve to reveal a similar tattoo, only hers had a sword and a torch where his had an eagle, and she had fewer bars. “That tattoo, along with your golden sword, marks you as a member of the Lost Legion.”

“The Lost Legion,” Jason muttered. Somehow the words felt familiar on his tongue. “What is the Lost Legion?”

“It’s forbidden to speak of it,” Reyna said, her tone turning a little frustrated, though Jason got the feeling that her ire was likely directed at herself more than him. “We are warriors, champions of the gods. That symbol shows that you belong to Lord Jupiter. The Wolf House is where we begin our journey.”

“So, am I being called to start that journey over?” Jason asked, furrowing his brow.

Reyna just shrugged. “I don’t know. We have… little communication with the gods, I’m afraid. I don’t know their plans any more than I know which direction the wind will blow.”

Jason sighed. Somehow, all of the information Reyna had given him left him only with more questions. Who was Jupiter? Was he the one who took Jason’s memories? Why was Jason being sent to the Wolf House? Still he gave Reyna a smile and offered her a handshake. “Thank you.”

She shook his hand, but her eyes flicked up to meet his as she chewed on the inside of her lip. “There’s something else. I can’t say for certain if it has anything to do with your memories, but two weeks ago, I woke up and felt as if something had changed. There was something missing, though I couldn’t say what it was, and no one had any ideas either.”

Jason nodded. “If I figure out who’s been messing with my memories, I’ll be sure to ask about yours as well.”

“Thank you,” she said genuinely. “It looks like I’m not quite through asking for your assistance yet, but I will gladly offer mine. Should you, or any of your companions, need assistance on the seas, know that the Scipio is indebted to you. Now, I believe your friends are calling you.”

Jason glanced over his shoulder to see Piper and Leo frantically gesturing him over. He waved at them before giving Reyna one final nod. “See you around, Reyna.”

“See you around, Jason,” she smiled back at him.

Jason quickly trotted over to Piper, Leo, and Percy, who were crowded around a shimmering vision made of mist. It looked like a window, and there was a woman on the other side with sharp gray eyes and blonde hair braided tightly and pulled back away from her face. “Annabeth Chase, I assume.”

“The one and only,” she grinned at him. “From what Percy says, the three of you did an excellent job taking care of business out there. I must say, I was skeptical at first, but you three certainly rose to the occassion.”

“We just did what anyone would do,” Jason said a little sheepishly.

Annabeth arched her eyebrows at him, but didn’t press the matter. “So, you caught the guy behind it all? Nantan? I’ve got to say I’m a little surprised. He’s never really struck me as that kind of threat.”

“He wasn’t the mastermind,” Piper corrected. “He was working for someone.”

“Who?”

“No idea,” Leo said with a shrug. “Only one person other than Nantan set eyes on him, and it was this Dwarf kid named Harley. Said he was blond and tall. Big scar across his face.”

At the description Percy and Annabeth both visibly stiffened, and Jason narrowed his eyes. “Sound familiar?”

“He’s an old… adversary,” Annabeth said, her tone clipped. “Luke Castellan. He ran the Adventurers Guild before me and Percy. He’s…”

“He’s bad news is what he is,” Percy growled. “I thought he was dead, Beth.”

“I did, too.” Annabeth pursed her lips. “If he’s not and he’s pulling stunts like this, things could be getting a lot more complicated.”

“A lot more dangerous, too,” Percy agreed. He glanced up at Piper, Leo and Jason. “We definitely wouldn’t say no to some obviously capable help.”

“What happened to us not being the stuff of legend?” Leo snarked.

Percy shrugged. “You weren’t then. You still aren’t yet, but you could be.” He grinned at them, his eyes sparkling. “One way to find out.”

“We’ll have to think about it,” Piper said. Jason, Percy and Annabeth looked at her, clearly surprised, and she scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. “We… learned some really important stuff on this quest. We’ve got to discuss it and make sure that the Guild is the right choice for all of us.”

Annabeth nodded, and she looked almost pleased at Piper’s answer. “Alright then. You guys talk it out, and let me know your decision when you get back to Coast Haven. You’re due a reward.”

“Bonus, too, if you found Harley,” Percy pointed out. “Nyssa put in a reward for anyone who could get him home the other day, remember?”

“That’s true,” Annabeth agreed. “Looks like the three of you are shaping up to be quite the group of heroes.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Piper said, bowing her head. “We’ll report back when we get to Coast Haven.”

“Sounds good. See you guys when you get here.” Then Annabeth waved her hand and the mist image disappeared into a softly shimmering rainbow.

“Alright, I’m gonna go check in with Captain Ramírez-Arellano and make sure we’re both ready to sail,” Percy said. “In the meantime, there’s a couple other people who want to thank you.”

He trotted off and Frank, now back in his Goliath form took his place. Hazel was perched up on his shoulder, looking very tired, but no worse for wear. “Hi, guys,” she smiled, giving them a wave.

They greeted her and waved back, and Frank cleared his throat. “We, uh, we wanted to give these to you. As a symbol of our thanks.” He handed each one of them a shiny gold coin. One side was stamped with that same crest Jason had seen all over the island, and the other had something written in Giant that Jason couldn’t read. “They’re, um, Mariners Coins,” Frank explained. “If you show them to any friendly sailor, it will let them know that you’ve earned our trust. It’s also got the Zhang family oath on the other side, so if you come across any Goliath or Giant communities, it will work the same, assuming they’re friendly with the Zhang family. Which most are.”

“I also enchanted them,” Hazel added. “If you put them in your hand and say our names, it will call us.”

“Neat!” Leo said, analyzing his coin. “Any idea what the range is on them?”

“Sorry, but no,” Hazel chuckled. “Right now, Percy and Annabeth are the only ones who have them, so we’ve only ever been called from as far as Coast Haven.”

“Well, we can see about investigating that for you,” Leo said. He pocketed the coin with a grin. “We’ll be sure to keep track of where we are when we call you up. Which will be often. Annoyingly often.”

Frank looked a bit grumpy at that, but Hazel just laughed, so he let a little smile play at the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, well, thanks you guys. A lot. Things would have been real bad without your help.”

“We’re glad we were here,” Piper said. “And if you guys ever need us, you can give us a call, too.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Hazel promised. Then she tugged on Frank’s earlobe and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Come on. We’ve gotta get up to the lighthouse. They made a real mess of things up there, and we’ve gotta sort it out.” Frank nodded, and the two of them left, leaving Jason, Piper, and Leo with one final wave.

And then they were alone.

“So, where are we headed, big guy?” Leo asked. Jason cocked his head to the side and gave him a curious look, and Leo arched his eyebrows. “We saw you talking to Captain Ramírez-Arellano. She was gonna tell you about this Wolf House, right?”

“She did,” Jason said slowly,

“Well, where is it?” Piper demanded. “I mean, I’m not saying that we’re gonna leave tomorrow or anything, but it’d be nice to have a plan.”

Jason blinked. “Are you… saying you want to come with me?”

“Duh,” Leo scoffed.

“We told you before, you can’t get rid of us that easily,” Piper reminded him. “We’re a team now. If you’ve got a quest to get yourself to the Wolf House, we’ve got a quest to get you to the Wolf House.”

“I– But-but what about the Guild?” Jason stammered. “That was the whole reason you went on this quest in the first place.”

Leo shrugged. “Plan’s change. Priorities shift. You know how it is.”

“You’d… really do that?” Jason asked quietly. “You’d just give up on this thing you’ve been working for? For me?”

“Call us sappy and sentimental, but there’s a lot we’d do for you, Jason,” Piper grinned, her voice pitching like she was teasing him.

“Yeah,” Leo agreed. “I dunno what it is, but something brought the three of us together. We’re not ditching you any time soon, dude.”

Jason squeezed his eyes shut and took in a few deep breaths before he finally looked at them both and grinned wide enough to make his cheeks hurt. “Yeah. Alright. A team then. The three of us.” Piper and Leo grinned up at him, eyes sparkling like a child given a shiny new toy, and it took all of Jason’s self control to not pick them up and squeeze them tight to his chest.

“So, anyway, back to the original question,” Leo said. “Where are we headed?”

“The only clue Reyna could give me was west,” Jason admitted. “She told me about this Lost Legion that I’m apparently a part of, but she doesn’t have any more details she can give me.”

“Well,” Piper said slowly, drawing out the word as she thought. “I suppose we could always go back to the original plan? Join the Guild, see if we can get any leads that way?”

“It’s got more direction than just walking west and hoping for a miracle,” Leo agreed. “What do you think, Jace?”

“I think it’s the closest thing to a plan any of us are going to come up with,” he admitted, and Piper and Leo both laughed. “So, Adventurers Guild, then?”

“Adventurers Guild,” Piper and Leo confirmed in perfect unison before running off to go tell Percy their decision.

Jason smiled then, a soft, private smile meant only for himself. He didn’t know what the future held. He didn’t know what he was meant to do or even who he really was. All he knew was that he was headed off into the unknown with two people he’d known for a day, and somehow trusted with his life. He knew that they’d face whatever came next together as an unshakable team.

And he figured that was good enough.

#my writing #lost trio #pjo fanfic #dnd

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