CHAPTER SEVEN:
HEAVY IN YOUR ARMS
(trigger warnings: mentions of death and sexual references / no smut!)

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JASON'S LIPS WERE LIKE liquid fire as they dipped down her neck, searing through her skin until Annais swore they reached  bone. Her whole skeleton seemed to shudder at every touch, the softest breath falling from her lips in a whisper of his name. Jason, he covered her mouth with his as he grinned, grazing his hands beneath her shirt where he reached up for her heart, and then--

The ship lurched forward suddenly, swaying from side-to-side at the impact. Annais let out a curse as she drew back, lips as red as the blush on her cheeks. Jason's eyes narrowed, brows furrowing into a scowl of annoyance. He spared one last despairing look down at her body beneath his before lifting himself up to pull back on his shirt.

"Every time," he grumbled as Annais straightened her hair and followed him to the door. "I can never get you alone for more than five minutes. Something always has to go wrong."

"Next time," she said, to which he just scoffed in doubt.

At the top of the stairs, they found the others in a state of chaos. Festus was breathing fire in alarm, leaving Gleeson to dodge around the flames in disarray. Hazel and Frank were a mess of limbs on the floor, having fallen over each other when the ship was first attacked. Nearby, Piper was at the quarterdeck shooting food from the cornucopia she'd won from Hercules while Hea attempted to swing around to the other side of the railing where… a huge turtle was chomping down on one of the oars.

"Gah!" Leo yelled in horror. "It's eating the oars!"

"Go," Annais ushered Jason in the other direction while rushing over to Piper and Hea. Mel met her halfway, movements sluggish from sleep but her eyes were alert as she plucked a dagger from her hastily thrown on boots. The laces were still untied, leaving Annais to hoist her up by her armpits as she tripped over them. "What's happening? What is this thing?"

Logically, she knew what she was seeing, but the nerves between her eyes and brain had to be misfiring… surely. This turtle-like creature was the size of a miniature island, rivers of seawater trickling down the grooves of its black and brown shell. Golden eyes the size of car tyres -- no, bigger than that -- glared at them through the early morning night. It bared its teeth, which were the size of butcher knives, at them.

This was what had interrupted her makeout session with her boyfriend.

A… freaking turtle on steroids?

"Oars won't retract," Leo warned suddenly, the various buttons on his control system flashing red. "Get it away!"

"Styx, it's huge."

"Port! Go Port!"

"Leo, get me closer! I've almost got it."

The last was Hea, who was clambering along the railing like a spider, her feet hanging over the edge above the dark green shadows of the sea. She was trying to get close enough with a spear to run it through. Annais' stomach lurched at the sight of her. She drew her sword in preparation but quickly changed her mind, hanging back when Leo completely ignored Hea's protests, frantically pressing a bunch of buttons that did nothing but throw them around.

"No, no, no!" he yelled, punching the air as the jacked-up-turtle bit down on yet another oar, every movement seeming almost deliberate as it first eyed Leo, then Hea closing the gap between them. He swam along; onto the next oar. Leo looked ready to hurtle himself into the ocean and never resurface. "Dang slimy-shelled son of a mother! Stop that!"

Of course, the turtle didn't listen, and the ship swung with its next bite. Gleeson appeared then, his baseball cap scorched by Festus' fire-breath but the satyr seemed unharmed otherwise. Charging past Hea, he catapulted himself onto the turtle's back, saved from falling horns-first into the ocean by one hoof hovering on the edge of the boat.

"Take that! And that!"

Over and over, he smacked the monster on its shell with his bat, eventually just banging some kind of erratic tune that Hea rolled her eyes at. It was her turn to attack this time, slicing at the turtle but missing as Gleeson moved to crack her spear down the middle with his bat.

"Gleeson," she screamed, going red in the face as she was forced to accept Piper's helping hand back over the railing. With no weapon, the turtle bared its teeth in what could've been a grin, accepting its victory. "I almost had him, you buffoon!"

As Gleeson rounded on her, demanding 'who are you calling a buffoon?' Jason flew into action from the stern and landed on the creature's head. His golden sword met its mark, only much to Annais' surprise, it did not cut through skin. The blade threatened to bend from the force, slipping sideways and almost throwing Jason off balance. Even with Frank running over to aid him, bow and arrow in hand, no close-range weapons seemed to harm this monstrous thing. Annais didn't even want to try, now waiting anxiously with some of the others.

She could pick and choose her battles, and this one she was sure she would lose.

"How did it get so close?" Hazel demanded over the hissing sound of Festus breathing more fire.

Leo threw his hands up in dismay. “Must be that shell," he guessed; otherwise, he was clueless. "Guess it’s invisible to sonar. It’s a freaking stealth turtle!”

“Can the ship fly?” Piper asked him, beginning to eye up the extent of the damage. Her expression was grim, pink lips pursed into a thin line.

"With half our oars broken off?" Leo scoffed, punching some more buttons and spinning his Archimedes sphere with rough hands. "I’ll have to try something else."

"Like what?" Annais countered, but she was left unanswered as Nico suddenly shouted from above them. Immediately, her eyes searched him out, fearing the worst of what she'd find. Her brother's bent limbs. Unseeing eyes wide and glassy, the fading moon reflected in their obsidian depths. One last panicked cry lingering in the air. But Nico was relatively unharmed, just a bit ruffled and unsteady on his feet as he pointed to something half a mile to the East.

"There," she heard him say. "Can you get us to those straits?"

Annais turned to Leo expectantly. "Yeah, yeah," his face brightened all of a sudden, having found some kind of solution in the narrow stretch of water that would only just fit a ship of their size. The turtle would have no chance. "Jason, get away from that thing's head! I have an idea!"

Jason didn't need to be told twice, throwing himself over the railing and backing up beside Annais the second Leo Valdez said to him I have an idea. The only smart choice, with Leo's track record. Now they were just waiting on Gleeson, who took Jason's retreat as him surrendering and now thought he had to take the turtle on himself. He'd ducked into a defensive crouch, screaming insults at the monster while spinning his bat in a circle.

"Coach, come on," Jason called.

"No, I got this," the satyr insisted, to which Annais rolled her eyes.

Huffing to himself, Jason marched back over to the railing and hurled him backwards. Gleeson immediately began to struggle, screaming 'we've been betrayed!' as if Jason had decided to join the turtle's side. Hea couldn't help but let out a snort at the sight, oblivious to the incredulous glances sent her way. Leo was still trying to guide the ship away when Jason suddenly let out a shout.

"Coach," his voice took on an abnormally whiny twinge.

"What?" Hedge frowned defensively. "I was softening him up!"

He didn't fight now, and Jason sulked his way back to Annais' side as the turtle head-butted the hull. The ground trembled beneath her feet, and Jason righted Annais with his hands on her waist, shouting for Leo to get them out of there.

"Just another minute," he replied. He winced when they heard a cracking sound, like the keel had splintered from the force of the turtle's collison.

"What happened?" Annais asked Jason, whose jaw was clenched as he eyed Gleeson hiding on the other side of the group beside Piper.

"He made me drop my sword overboard," he said, glowering when Annais let out a surprised laugh. "It's not funny."

"Oh, my poor baby," she patted his cheek.

Rolling his eyes, he had no chance to retort as the turtle reared back to charge again and Piper suddenly ran for the railing. "Go away!" she commanded, her words were harsh but honey-edged, and the turtle turned from the ship and dipped its head under water.

Hea let out a celebratory shout, but her reaction came too soon. A moment later, she rushed to grab Piper as her feet swung from beneath her, the turtle having come right back to ram them even harder. There was anger behind every strike now, as if it knew Piper had tried to charmspeak it.

"Nevermind," Hea sighed.

Leo, pushing Mel behind him, suddenly let out a shout, "Fire in the shell!" echoing down the strait. Annais had just enough time to slam down onto the deck before fire blasted through the air in a hot wave. The others would've been burnt to a crisp had they not copied Annais, struggling to keep in one place as the flames roared, the turtle screeching as its charred shell dipped beneath the water. The force of the fire urged the Argo II forward, the boat bumping over rocky waves, forcing Mel to rush to the rail and release the contents of her stomach once the fire let up.

"Leo," she cried when she could catch a breath. Leo sighed before beginning to make his way over to her, the picture of a concerned boyfriend. But Mel urged him back. "No, it's gaining on us!"

Annais scanned the horizon and groaned when she realised Mel was right. The turtle was bellowing out of fury now, tearing through the waves like a miniature speed boat. It would be on them in mere seconds if Leo didn't think of something, and Annais feared it wouldn't hold back this time, scorched from Leo's fire and looking for revenge.

"A distraction," Leo said, more to himself than to the rest of them. His hands flew over the console to no avail. "We'll never make it unless we get a distraction!"

But Annais could think of nothing. There was nowhere to go but the straits that were too far away, no way to fly except Jason, who couldn't possibly lift an entire ship, son of Zeus or not. The only solution she could think of in the chaos of the moment was Percy.

And that certainly wasn't possible.

Hazel stepped in front of her then, pale-faced but determined. Annais had no time to react before Arion streaked through the sky like a fallen star, landing on the deck in all his blazing glory. Hazel was quick to climb on his back, only pausing to scan the others for someone to back her up.

"Piper, I could use that charmspeak of yours."

Piper sighed. "Once upon a time, I used to like turtles," she said but accepted Hazel's hand up.  "Not anymore!"

Annais wished Hazel had thought to summon Arion sooner. The turtle was no match for the horse's speed, and the sight of Arion seemed to both confuse and scare him. He completely forgot about the Argo II, trying and failing to chase Hazel and Piper's zipping figures, whining as Hazel sliced her sword and Piper befuddled him with waves of charmspeak. Annais watched Leo attentively. He laughed in glee and led the boat into the straits. For a second at least, they were safe again.

"Thank the Gods," Mel let out a sigh and dropped down to sit on the deck. "I thought for sure we were done for." Leo frowned at her then, as if he was put off by her lack of faith in him. Mel smiled sheepishly. "Sorry…"

"I'm not," Hea said, beaming at Hazel and Piper as Arion deposited them back on deck. "Genius, ladies! Your mum would be so proud, Pipes. I'm proud."

Piper frowned. "Thank you?"

A bit of Hea's smile dimmed. "Oh, Hades no. Does this make me your step-mum?"

Annais regarded her sister somewhat fondly but mainly disgusted at the thought. "You only just realised you're dating your friend's mum? And your other friend's dad?"

"Leo is not my friend," Hea said instinctively. All the while, she and Piper shared an awkward look. "Let's never speak of this again?"

"Agreed," Piper looked ready to puke.

They were safely harboured in the straits now, the rocky cliffs blocking out the heat of the rapidly rising sun. Behind them, the turtle had stopped, swimming back and forth to block them in but knowing it had no chance to follow them. Gleeson was laughing and pointing at it over the railing, which made the turtle bellow ruefully.

Piper approached Leo with a confused grin tinged with tentative elation. “Leo, since when do we have jet propulsion?”

“Aw, you know…” Leo shrugged in a weak attempt at bashfulness. “Just a little something I whipped up in my spare time." He winked at Mel then; despite her rolling eyes, she ducked her head with soft pink cheeks. "Wish I could give you more than a few seconds of burn, but at least it got us out of there.”

“And roasted the turtle’s head,” Jason fist-bumped him. “So what now?”

“Kill it,” Coach shouted unhelpfully. “You even have to ask, Grace? We got enough distance. We got ballistae. Lock and load, demigods!”

Jason glared, folding his arms over his chest in a clear sign of leadership. “Coach, first of all, you made me lose my sword.”

"And my spear," Hea hissed as she slunk past Gleeson to keep a watch on the turtle. She had Mel's dagger in her hand, borrowed until she had enough time to grab her sword from below deck.

"Well, I didn't ask for an evac," Gleeson refused to justify Hea with a response, instead scowling at an unwavering Jason.

“Second, I don’t think the ballistae will do any good. That shell is like Nemean Lion skin. Its head isn’t any softer.”

“So we chuck one right down its throat,” Gleeson shrugged, mimicking the boom of a cannon with his hands. “Like you guys did with that shrimp monster thing in the Atlantic. Light it up from the inside.”

Much to Annais' surprise, it was Frank, his face serious, who agreed with Gleeson. “Might work." Jason gaped at him but Frank continued insistently. "But then you’ve got a five-million-kilo turtle carcass blocking the entrance to the straits. If we can’t fly with the oars broken, how do we get the ship out?”

“You wait and fix the oars!” Coach said in a 'duh' tone. Leo huffed at the suggestion from where he was pacing up and down the deck to assess the extent of the damage. “Or just sail the other direction, you big galoot.”

Frank frowned. “What’s a galoot?”

"Nice insult," Hea conceded with a gleam in her eye. "You're a galoot, Gleeson."

"Hey!"

“Guys!” Nico called down from the mast. “About sailing the other direction? I don’t think that’s going to work.”

He pointed past the prow, Annais following his line of sight. As the rocky cliffs stripped back, they revealed that their so-called strait ended in a narrow V shape, no way to turn back or to continue ahead.

"We’re not in a strait," Jason said. "We’re at a dead end."

“This is a trap,” Hazel pointed out, but no one but the Min girls seemed to give it a second thought.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Leo said, but Hea was already sprinting down the stairs for her sword, shoving Mel's dagger back into her hands as she went. “Worse that happens, we make repairs. Might take overnight, but I can get the ship flying again.”

Annais shook her head in protest. "This doesn't feel right," she mumbled, but only Jason and Mel heard her. Mel was quick to agree, Jason frowning warily at the both of them. He eyed the stairs that Hea had disappeared down.

"Well, at least the turtle can't get us," Piper shrugged, tempting fate as she said, "We’re safe here."

The words had barely left her mouth when an arrow whizzed through the air. It landed mere inches from her face, embedded into the wooden mast. Piper gaped at it as the rest of them scattered for cover. Hea came back just in time to tackle her aside, but no other attack followed.

From where Jason had thrown his arms over her head, protective as ever, Annais stared up at the sky in bewilderment. Their assailant blended into the horizon at first, but then she saw him.

"There," she pointed at the top of the cliffs. The sun peaked just in time, lighting one single man up in glinting bronze armour. "I think he's alone."

"Who the heck is he?" Leo stared at the arrow in disbelief. "Why is he firing at us?"

"He knows you're on board," Hea smiled snidely.

"Guys?" Piper parted from Hea's side to observe the smouldering arrow. "There’s a note."

Hazel joined her, ignoring Leo's wary protests as she wrenched the piece of paper off the arrow shaft. "First line," she read through gritted teeth. All of a sudden, her face went grim. "Stand and deliver."

"What does that mean?" Gleeson scoffed, eyeing Hea and Annais, who were conversing knowingly through one silent stare. "We are standing! And if that guy is expecting a pizza delivery, forget it!"

"Not that kind of delivery, Gleeson," grumbled Annais. She just wanted to go back to kissing Jason already.

"There's more," Hazel muttered. "This is a robbery. Send two of your party to the top of the cliff with all your valuables. No more than two. Leave the magic horse. No flying. No tricks. Just climb.”

“Climb what?” Piper frowned.

Clambering down the mast, Nico pointed towards the cliffs. “There.”

Carved into the rocky hillside was a set of narrow steps winding their way to where the shooter waited, a glimmering statue standing guard over the cove. Annais turned to Jason, seeing the stubborn glint in his eyes. He already knew he would be one of the two.

"I do mean all your valuables," Hazel continued. "Otherwise my turtle and I will destroy you. You have five minutes."

"Aha!" cried Hea. "So they're working together. Sneaky bastards."

"Use the catapults!" Gleeson shouted, practically spitting in Hazel's face with each word.

"P.S," Hazel finished, tearing the note in two. "Don’t even think about using your catapults."

"Curse it!" Gleeson whined and stomped his hoof. "This guy is good."

"Is the note signed?" Nico asked, but Hazel shook her head.

For a moment, there was silence. It brimmed with tension, thrumming like a live wire between them. Annais shook her head at Jason, feeling uneasy. He avoided her gaze, stubborn to the brink of foolishness at the worst of times.

"That’s not a good trajectory," Leo muttered, once again to himself more than the rest of them. "Even if I could arm the catapult before that guy pincushioned us with arrows, I don’t think I could make the shot. That’s hundreds of feet, almost straight up."

"Yeah," Frank huffed, discarding his bow in frustration. "My bow is useless too. He’s got a huge advantage, being above us like that. I couldn’t reach him."

"And, um--" Piper anxiously waved around the arrow that had fallen out of the mast with the note. "I have a feeling he’s a good shot. I don’t think he meant to hit me. But if he did…"

"I’ll go," Hazel said. She hadn't taken her eyes off the cliffs, not even when Hea and Annais began to protest, the rest of them just staring at her.

Frank stepped towards her beseechingly. "Hazel--"

"No, just listen," she insisted, waving a hand at him. "This robber wants valuables. I can go up there, summon gold, jewels, whatever he wants."

Annais hated to say it, but she saw her point. It was a good reason; it didn't mean she had to like it.

"If we pay him off, you think he’ll actually let us go?" Leo asked.

"We don’t have much choice," Nico mumbled. His expression was similar to Annais', distrustful but resigned. "Between that guy and the turtle…"

"We have nowhere to go," Annais finished.

Her words hung in the air, sharp and unforgiving. Slowly, Jason raised his hand, drawing their attention to him. Annais' whole body tensed, mind racing to the same end they were already facing.

"I’ll go too," Jason declared. "The letter says two people. I’ll take Hazel up there and watch her back. Besides, I don’t like the look of those steps. If Hazel falls, I can use the winds to keep us both from coming down the hard way."

Arion immediately whinnied in protest. Hazel patted his head, smiling forcefully. "I have to, Arion," she said, casting her siblings the same look as she did. "Jason… yes. I think you’re right. It’s the best plan."

"Only wish I had my sword," Jason glared at Gleeson. "It’s back there at the bottom of the sea, and we don’t have Percy to retrieve it."

Annais' eyes lifted to his own at the familiar thought. He smiled then, like everything was fine. She wished her heart would unclench, that her stomach would stop twisting nauseously. No shadows, she reminded herself, gaze tracing his figure in what could've been a provocative look had she not seemed momentarily deathly afraid.

Hazel stretched out her arm then, blinking once at the water's surface. She didn't hesitate. In an instant, a familiar gold blade cut through the waves, landing safely in Hazel's hand. She handed it to Jason, shrugging at his wide-mouthed stare.

"Here."

"How… that was, like, half a mile!”

"I’ve been practicing."

"Once again," Hea beamed. "Genius!"

As Hazel bid goodbye to Frank, Jason leant down to part from Annais with a soft, lingering kiss on the lips. She held his face for a second, scanning his features for that dreaded grey mist. Nothing.

"Take this--" Shyly, she pressed her ring from her finger to his. Jason smiled, adorably confused. "That way, you have to come back. I'm not giving you this. I'm lending it to you."

"Yes, ma'am," he kissed her again, dutifully ignoring Hea's dramatic wretching as she passed them. "Love you."

Annais hesitated. Again. His smile didn't falter for a second. Into the hollow of his mouth, she whispered, "I have a really bad feeling, Jason. Something's not right. Please, just--"

"I know," he mumbled, light-heartedly pinching her cheeks before dotting them with kisses. Annais' heart sang. She almost forgot what she was thinking. "I'll be so safe."

Now, that snapped her out of her daze. "Don't you make fun of me," she huffed. "Hypocrite."

"Jason," Hazel called out before he could reply. "Let's go."

And so Annais settled down to watch him, gaze firmly locked on the slowly fading figures of her boyfriend and sister. Too soon, they were dots on the horizon, insignificant in this cove, forgotten in the space of the world. The ship waited, useless. Leo began to plan solutions for the damage. Hea and Gleeson buried the hatchet as Gleeson reappeared from his cabin with one of his own clubs to offer her. Mel sat beside Annais, arm-in-arm, repaying the favour as she spoke mindlessly to fill the echoes of silence.

"And then--"

Two ear-ringing bangs ripped through the air without remorse, one after the other. Annais ducked just in time. Behind her, Frank screeched as one bullet tore through the floorboards between his feet. Annais didn't see where the other landed. She was looking at Jason and Hazel worriedly, but they were still standing opposite the shooter.

"You okay, Frank?" Nico asked, patting him on the shoulder.

Frank nodded. "He didn't want to shoot me."

Another warning.

They watched and waited. Soon, Jason and Hazel separated from the figure. They stood a few feet away, conversing while he watched them closely. Annais wished she could hear them. Time lulled. Seconds felt like hours, but Jason and Hazel eventually returned to the shooter, Jason kneeling at his feet. Annais shifted uneasily. He was so close to the edge… all it would take is one mighty shove…

Perhaps she thought it into existence. At that moment, Annais' heart stopped beating only to implode as the shooter kicked Jason hard in the chest. He scrambled for safe footing, then tumbled backwards over the edge. At the bottom, the turtle rose up and swallowed him in one brutal bite.

He was gone.

Ripped from her life just like that.

The world went quiet.

When Annais came to, someone was screaming. Her. Mel had caught her when she collapsed, arms looping around her middle and stopping her knees from smacking against the deck. Annais was dead weight, wet eyes locked on the horizon where Jason had fallen, fallen like Ezra, too far out of Annais' reach. Her chest was burning, heart caught in the relentless flames. She cried so hard, she could no longer breathe.

I only just got you back.

Vaguely, she recalled Hea's stern face. She was a picture of ice cold fury as she took one look at her sister then marched to the ballistae. Leo made no move to stop her, watching in the thick of his own pain as she lined the shot up then hesitated. Hazel was still up there.

Annais didn't see this, though. She wailed, the only thing she could do. Jason's face sought her in the darkness. I love you. No shadows.

She never said it back.

It was Hazel's turn to kneel as the shooter held his pistol to her forehead. Frank cried out, rushing for the ballistae himself. But he was too late. The man kicked, Hazel fell--

And she landed on grass.

Annais didn't notice the scene change, but somehow she'd been duped. Jason was high above them in the sky, shrouded by the mist, waiting for the right moment to strike the shooter down. As the man let out a scream of fury, he was body-slammed over the edge and eaten by his own companion. The turtle none the wiser to the fact the Mist had tricked it too. It sank below the water and didn't resurface.

Annais was quiet when Jason and Hazel returned. She watched the others berate them then just as quickly celebrate their successful deceit. Leo was left to repair the boat without interruption. Annais couldn't stomach it anymore.

Snapping her bedroom door shut behind her, she was not surprised to find it open a mere second later. She swung around and slammed her fists into his chest. "Get out." He didn't. "I'll kick you off the side of this ship, Jason. Don't test me."

Jason's smile was nervous. He caught her fists in his palms and stroked a thumb across her knuckles. "I thought you'd be happy to see me."

Annais froze. She couldn't control the tears that spilled over, Jason's face falling as she looked at him, torn heart splattered on her sleeve. "I am," she cried, and sunk into his arms when he moved towards her. His heart hammered beneath her ear. She clutched his back with trembling fists, suddenly afraid to let him go. "I don't know how I'd live if you died."

"I know," he kissed her head, encouraged when she didn't lash out at him for it. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to upset you, really."

She understood why he and Hazel did it, but the irrational part of her wished she could scrub the image of his body falling from her eyes. She'd never be able to forget it now.

When Annais didn't speak, he pushed her jaw up and kissed her, hoping to convey every adoring thing in his heart. Annais would always cherish that sound now, the erratic beat, knowing it was her head on his chest, her he loved, for every waking moment and beyond.

"I love you," the words spilled over.

She wasn't scared. Couldn't be. Her fear had fallen when Jason did. It was trapped at the bottom of the ocean now, this tangible thing rotten to the core. For a moment, she'd believed he would never know, but Annais wasn't prepared to risk it again.

"You'd probably be better off if I didn't, but I love you, Jason," she said, his hold tight on her jaw, eyes bright. Their bodies were close now, not enough air to consume between them, and he smiled, so irrevocably happy.

"I love you, too," he whispered. The first time they ever said it back to her.

Annais would remember the following moments in vivid detail, but they were only hers and Jason's alone to share. Lips leaving bruises on soft skin, the chiselled planes of her lover's firm chest as he hovered above her on her bed, hands holding hips, clothes strewn across the floor. This was trust in its rawest form. Annais could never say I love you enough as she bared herself to him. Jason relished every word, the two the closest they could ever be.

One body. One heart.

For as long as life and the fates would allow them.