Chapter 30 - A New Revelation
published: Wednesday, 14 August 2019

Frank swiped his paw at a warrior, bounding forward with his massive jaw outstretched. The best part about being a lion was the sheer power that was in his rippling muscles. The worst part was that even when he was human, he still remembered ripping his enemies apart.

It was one of the reasons why he'd started to seriously consider joining Piper in vegetarianism.

Just as Frank prepared to shred the warrior to pieces, the cavern started to shake rapidly. The rumbling took Frank by surprise, knocking him off his feet. He transformed back into a human mid-roll before stumbling to his feet.

The warrior he'd been fighting continued to approach him in a battle stance. Frank was starting to agree with Annabeth's theory that they were actually mortals turned superhuman by Pontus and Tartarus. They didn't seem to have the same problems maintaining balance in the earthquake.

"What's going on?" Frank shouted over the commotion as he and Jason found themselves fighting unstably back-to-back. He nocked an arrow and shot an invictus through the shell, allowing Leo to quickly vaporise the water spirit inside. 

Jason was fighting with one hand gripping his spatha and one hand calling on lighting to aid him. "No idea," he yelled back. "With our luck, probably more monsters."

Sure enough, a large crack started to grow in one of the rock walls, as if some exterior force was pushing the boulders apart. Webs of cracks grew from there, causing Frank and Jason to exchange wary looks.

Frank's magical bow and quiver shimmered and vanished, as according to his wishes. He stretched his limbs as he readied himself to morph again.

As it turned out, it was a shaft of light that was separating the wall into two, shoving them into an open gateway. Frank overheard snatches of Jason's chain of swears under his breath.

To Frank's utter incredulity and disbelief, none other than Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase burst out of the crack. His jaw dropped and his mind whirled with sheer astonishment.

"Absolute legends!" Leo whooped.

Even Hazel had nearly dropped her sword in awe.

But the monsters didn't pause for a nice friendly reunion. Really impolite, in Frank's opinion. He told himself it was because they weren't Canadian.

When Percy and Annabeth sprang into action, Frank exhaled with a low chuckle.

It seemed that they had completely fallen back into step with each other's fighting styles after Tartarus, because they fought like the most deadly duo Frank had ever seen.

As Percy slashed through the ranks, Annabeth covered him took on warriors. They spun, back-to-back, like they had fought together for decades — which they basically had.

Frank shook himself to his senses and leapt in to aid them. His shift into a large bear mid-air resulted in him squashing two warriors flat when he landed.

He had long since reconciled between fighting as a human and as an animal. After lashing out at a warrior with strong strikes, Frank would turn back into a human and take down a few invicta with his arrows. The next transformation could be a snake, which was good for stealth or surprise attacks, or a dragon, which was better if he wanted an overview of the battlefield.

Frank swooped into be air in his dragon form, blowing fire on the monsters and dispelling a few invicta to the depths of Tartarus. At one point, he and Leo worked together to create a nice, smoked monster barbecue.

He caught sight of Percy clenching his fist, simultaneously combining five water spirits and leaving five empty shells.

But the monsters just kept coming.

Annabeth seemed to catch on fairly quickly, considering she'd only joined the battle a few minutes ago. "There are too many, we'll never get them all!"

"Exit!" Jason hollered, trying to point at the labyrinth that they'd come in by while he hurtled through the air and smashed into a few invicta.

Leo was the first through the labyrinth, holding out fire to light their path along the way. Hazel raced after him to control the direction of the tunnel.

Frank rushed after them, Jason at his side.

Annabeth was the last one through, keeping the monsters at bay as they hurried through the labyrinth. Percy was just behind Jason, flooding the cavern with a swirling whirlpool that captured warriors and invicta alike.

"Since when can you just create water out of nothing?" Jason demanded.

Percy shot Annabeth a smug look, receiving a scoff in return.

"Long story," he assured his friend. "Tell you on the ship."

When Frank burst into the Stefanos Crater, he couldn't care less about the screaming mortals and the people they'd probably scared out of their wits.

He wasn't quite sure what they saw through the Mist, but it definitely wasn't the most pleasant sight.

"The Argo II is miles away!" he yelled. "What are we going to do?"

Even though most of the monsters had been trapped in Percy's whirlpool, there were still a ton of hem chasing them on foot.

The deafening roar of a conch horn answered Frank almost immediately. A smile spread from ear to ear as Frank shot a few more monsters down.

The entrance to labyrinth was staring to close again, trappings the rest of the monsters underground. The ones that had come through raced after Annabeth, even as she parried strikes and kicked them away.

As ridiculous as it seemed, the Argo II was hovering overhead, the rope ladder unrolling as it descended.

"I love you so much, Pipes," Jason shouted with a maddening grin, even thought she probably couldn't hear him.

Frank didn't have time to wonder how in the world Piper had known to come to their rescue. His bow vanished moments before he transformed into a dragon and nabbed Percy and Annabeth in his claws, hauling them to he bottom of the rope ladder.

Jason was already hurtling up through the air and would probably be the first one to reach the deck. Frank transformed mid-air and landed with his hands curled around the rungs as he slammed into the rope just a few metres above Leo.

Annabeth clung to the rope for dear life as Frank's impact sent a sharp ripple through it. She was using one hand to scale the rope ladder, the other waving her dagger around like a lunatic.

"Duck!" came a warning shout from above.

Pressing herself as close to the ladder as possible, Annabeth felt the heat waves brushing past her hair as a fireball launched down and sent any warriors at her feet sprawling into a heap.

"Go! Go!" Annabeth shouted impatiently to Percy, who was slightly pale from maintaining the whirlpool earlier. "Just think; It's like the camp climbing wall!"

Percy sent her an incredulous look. "Believe me, if I thought lava was going to be pouring down on me any second, I'd be going a lot slower!"

"Just climb!" Annabeth yelled between laughs. She couldn't help remembering Percy's multiple mishaps with the climbing wall back at camp. The number of close calls he and Grover had had with the lava.

The warriors were scampering up the rope ladder like it was no big deal, and even Leo's fireballs weren't much of a deterrent.

Annabeth wasn't given any warning before Jason slammed into the whole column of warriors and invicta, kicking most of them off and dangerously shaking the ladder. There was a shriek from above as Hazel lost her footing and nearly fell off.

"Keep going!" Jason ordered. "I'll hold them off!"

The climbing pace greatly increased once they didn't have to worry about the monsters. Annabeth felt her arms start to ache as she glanced up desperately. Frank and Leo has already disappeared onto the deck, and Hazel was close behind.

She tried her best not to look down. A fear of heights had never been a problem, but when she knew the terminal velocity she'd reach and the time it would take for her to become a pancake in the middle of a crater, falling was a big concern.

Percy swing his leg over the side of the ship before he grabbed Annabeth's hand and yanked her on board. She collapsed onto the floor beside him with tired breaths and gasps.

Jason flew up in front of them, landing on the ship with a slight wobble. "Leo, why aren't we moving?" he demanded.

"Something's wrong!" Leo yelled back.

Annabeth struggled to her knees, then to her feet. That's when she realised that Piper was curled up in a ball on the ground, screaming bloody murder and panting breathlessly.

"It's not over," Percy warned, gesturing to the warriors who were about to make it over the edge.

Hazel rushed to Piper's side. "Oh my gods, she's in labour," Hazel shouted. "Get her to the infirmary! Go! Go!"

Jason seemed to stagger backwards with a choked gasp. "She's—what?!"

"Help me!" Hazel called desperately, and Frank quickly grabbed Piper's other arm. Together, they helped Piper down the stairs.

"I'm gonna—I'm gonna be a dad?" Jason voiced in astonishment.

"What the hell?" Annabeth shrieked. "Did you just—Piper's in labour? Piper's pregnant?"

Percy slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh my gods, I forgot to tell you!"

"What?" Annabeth cried.

"She was only three months along when I was here," Percy protested. He turned to Jason in shock. "We were gone for six months?"

"No, four weeks," Leo interrupted. "Long story. Tell you later."

"Oh my gods, Piper's having a baby?" Annabeth felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach. She shook herself out of it. "Forget it, we'll deal with this later. Jason, get down — help her," she ordered. "Leo, get to the wheel and turn us away."

Leo cheered as he raced to the wheel. "Captain Annabeth's back!"

"Go by water!" she added. "Percy's our biggest resource and it's all we've got."

She spun around when she caught a glimpse of Percy leaping into action. There were two warriors at the edge of the ship that he easily knocked overboard.

With an enormous creak, the Argo II started to turn, albeit slowly, but surely.

A blood-curdling scream echoed up the stairwell. It was Piper.

Annabeth saw Leo shoot a worried glance down the stairs. "Go, go," she insisted, drawing her dagger. "We've got this under control."

Leo shot her a thumbs-up sign before he lumbered down the stairs, tripping over his own feet.

"Can you steer?" Annabeth yelled over the whipping wind. "Do your mizzenmast thing!"

Percy grinned. "I can't believe you still remember the exact word!" 

Annabeth ignored him. "Bigger problems right now!" she reminded.

She rushed up and stabbed an invictus before slashing at its knees. One shove to the chest and it toppled overboard with the rest. "Percy!"

He had backed to the steering wheel but seemed to understand what she meant, because he tossed Riptide into the air. Annabeth caught it and promptly started to slash at the warriors boarding their boat.

Two weapons gave her a better attack as she swiped at them, stabbing one and then duelling the other.

"Woah!" The ship lurched forward, sending Annabeth stumbling to the edge. The two warriors tumbled over the railing and was lost in the clouds.

She glanced over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Percy standing at the centre of the ship with his arms raised and his eyes closed.

The sails unfurled themselves and the ladder rolled back up. The boat was tipping downwards and was headed straight for the harbour. Annabeth braced herself against the railing as they smashed into the water, sending gigantic waves into the air on all sides of the ship.

She ignored the sting of the saltwater against her wounds as she engaged in fight with a couple of invicta. Without anyone with firepower, Annabeth relied on splitting the shells apart and leaving the water spirits to leak out.

After successfully cracking two of them open, Annabeth suddenly found herself lifted into the air by three others, each grabbing a limb. She swatted at them with her knife, but it was no use.

Think! Her gut screamed at her. Annabeth's gaze snapped to her one free limb — her left foot. Struggling to find footing against one of the invicta, Annabeth gritted her teeth and bent her knees as she flipped herself in a somersault using the tension in her free leg.

Wrenching herself free of the invicta, she sliced one of them in half with Riptide and cut another one down at its knees. As she turned back to face them, Annabeth threw Riptide back to Percy, who caught it in a running start and leaped overboard.

Annabeth felt her heart jump into her throat as Percy disappeared past the railing, but she relaxed once she saw him surfing on a wave, peeling monsters off the side of their boat with ropes of water.

"Come on," Annabeth muttered to herself as she stepped back to avoid one of the warriors' swords. She parried the blade and side-stepped, allowing her to hack at the neck. The warrior crumpled to the deck before bursting into dust.

Percy barrelled straight into her as he used the water of fling himself back onto the ship, causing them to collapse to the ground, him on top of her.

"Aw, what did you eat?" Annabeth groaned as Percy rolled over with a pant.

"Shut up," he muttered, but here was a joking sparkle in his eyes.

Only later did Annabeth realise that she'd made a joke about eating without thinking about it.

There were three warriors and two invicta left on the ship, and the Argo II was jetting ahead at full speed, hopefully towards somewhere safe until they could redirect to Thalassa's prison.

Annabeth judo-flipped one of the warriors over her shoulder — a signature move she hadn't used in such a long time — before she stabbed him and shoved him off the boat. She stepped into a fight with the other one until she managed to trip him up and dispel him too.

Her eyes scanned the area for the last warrior until she honed in on him; beside the mast of the main sail.

Alarm bells were going off in rapid succession in her head. She realised his plan in a split second.

Annabeth raced to the warrior, drawing her dagger back and throwing it with two fingers. But she was too late, and the knife struck the warrior through the head a mere moment after his sword had sliced cleanly through the mast.

Annabeth stares in horror as the wooden column, probably about two feet thick and who knew how high, seemed to shake in the air. Then the fall became obvious, the mast cutting through the air as it hurtled down towards Percy.

Percy was pre-occupied with the five invicta and didn't have time to dodge. By the time he would have dispelled them and turned around, the mast would've fallen on him.

"No!" Annabeth screamer, reaching her hand out as if to shove him out of the way, but she was halfway across the deck.

And then, like some sort of earth-stopping miracle, the mast creaked to a stop, hovering in mid-air.

Annabeth couldn't believe what she was seeing — it defied the laws of everything she'd ever known. Somehow, she was controlling the mast, making it stop before it landed.

Percy crushed the last two water spirits before he spun around, his jaw dropping at the image that greeted him. The shock evident in his features had immobilised him completely.

A bead of perspiration rolled down Annabeth's forehead. "Percy!" she gasped in warning, her arm trembling with the effort. Fatigue had started to overwhelm her body.

Fortunately, he ducked out of the way just as she released the mast, allowing it to hit the deck with a soft thud and roll over.

Annabeth felt the world around her flicker between black and colour moments before her knees gave out and she crumpled to the ground like a piece of paper.

She struggled to sit up, Percy kneeling in front of her with worry and traces of disbelief in his eyes.

He swallowed. "Did you just..."

There was an agonising yell that came from belowdeck, snapping Annabeth to her senses. She shook the exhaustion out of her head and looked up at Percy.

"Later," they agreed in unison.

They raced down to the infirmary, Annabeth stumbling over steps and Percy catching her as they went.

Annabeth swung round the door frame and into the room to see Piper sitting on a hospital bed, her back against the wall and Jason at her side.

Her hair was in its usual braids, but a few pieces of hair had come out and were plastered to Piper's face in perspiration. Her knees were up and a blanket covered her from the ease down, with only Hazel there to see what was surely a gruesome sight.

"Isn't labour supposed to take ages?" Percy demanded.

The death glare that Piper shot him rivalled Annabeth's. It was withering and sharp enough to kill. "You don't say?" she growled, letting out a whimper right after. "Oh, Jason, I hate you for doing this to me!" she yelled, shaking as the labour pins rolled through her.

Leo was on her other side, muttering words of encouragement, though his face was just as ashen and pale as Jason's. Frank stood behind him awkwardly, here for moral support.

"She's been having contractions since we left," Hazel explained. "That's already about three hours. And I think the baby's coming even faster because Piper's a daughter of Aphrodite."

Piper let out another scream, her breaths coming out in short and sharp spurts. "Screw you, Mum!" she shouted.

"I think you need to push now, Piper," Hazel urged. "You're dilated 10 centimetres. That's when the birth is supposed to happen."

Piper squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw.

She exhaled with a gasp. "I can't! I can't do it!" she cried, tears running down her face and mixing with the sheen of sweat.

Annabeth knelt down beside Jason. "Pipes," she said softly. "Look, I know this is hard. And what you're doing is both incredible and so, so brave. You have all our support, and I promise you're gonna get through this."

"Easy for you to say," Piper whimpered, her eyelids dropping tiredly. But she sent Annabeth an appreciative look.

Annabeth quickly ushered everyone else out of the room and shut the door so it was just Piper, Jason and Hazel in the room.

Jason kisses Piper on the forehead. "Hey, Pipes, you can do this. Look at me." When she looked up weakly, he squeezed her hand comfortingly. "You can do this."

Among the raw pain in her eyes flashed a doubt.

"I'm here," Jason reminded her. "I'm right here, okay? The whole way. But this one is all up to you, and you're already doing so amazingly."

Piper could barely throw a glance at him. Her body was aching, ready to shut down and sleep for two days straight. She couldn't even think through the pain — everything is a blur.

Somewhere in the haze of agony she could hear Jason's soothing voice. She didn't really comprehend what he was saying, but his voice calmed her and it comforted her knowing she wasn't alone in this.

"You're the strongest person I've ever met," Jason whispered. "I know you can do this."

Piper wasn't quite aware of what happened next, but she knew that her entire body seized as she tried to push. She couldn't feel anything different happening through the pain, but she could hear Hazel's triumphant voice breaking through the fog.

A croak of relief escaped Piper's lips as she thanked the gods that it was working. Her fingers dug into Jason's hand so hard she hoped she hadn't broken any of his bones.

I can do this, Piper told herself giddily. Come on, come on.

She let out a hoarse yell before a soft crying filled the room. Her body collapsed into the bed, teetering on the verge of unconscious. But she fought the waves of exhaustion; Piper wanted to see the son she had gone through so much pain for.

A tear rolled down her cheek as her vision jarred back into reality. The pain had faded now, and the aches were starting to become throbs.

"They can..." Piper couldn't muster the energy to continue her sentence, but she gestured to the door.

Hazel seemed to get the message, because the rest of their friends flooded in with anticipation.

Piper gently angled her gaze to Jason, who was holding a small bundle of blankets in his arms. Swaddled in the cloth was a crying baby boy, smaller and more fragile than Piper had ever expected.

Jason was rocking him back and forth as his cries started to falter.

"Can I you b-bring him c-closer?" Piper panted, her voice barely above a whisper.

Jason obliged as he placed Jasper in her arms, wrapping his own arm around her shoulders and using his other han to support their son.

Piper smiled weakly when she saw the small tufts of blonde hair covering Jasper's head. His eyes were closed as he recovered from his raw cries.

"He's just like you," Piper whispered. She didn't want to admit that she was disappointed, but she had been hoping for a little bit of her Cherokee heritage to live on in him.

Jason leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. "I love you," he mumbled against her lips. "You are amazing."

Piper sighed. "I know." She laughed quietly at her own words, which only made her more tired.

Jason cautiously reached a hand into the blanket. "Hey, Jasper," he said gently. "Welcome to our world. It's not that great but we're trying to save it."

Piper laughed again, and she smiled when Jasper grabbed onto Jason's index finger and wouldn't let go.

And then he opened his eyes.

Piper couldn't help that her smile grew even wider. Jasper had her eyes; flickering different colours depending on the light.

"Why am I crying?" Piper sniffled. "I don't know why I'm crying."

One of their friends laughed. Annabeth, maybe? "Hormones, Pipes." Yeah, it was Annabeth.

Piper was starting to regain some of her energy. Probably insufficient to last her the whole hour, but it would do. She craned her neck to look at her friends. "You're back," she said with a smile.

Annabeth returned the smile. "Yep, against all odds." Piper noticed the close proximity between Percy and Annabeth, and in the back of her mind, she wondered what had happened in Tartarus.

She didn't understand why both of them were so incredibly stupid. Just seeing the way they looked at each other and Piper knew they were in love. It didn't take a daughter of Aphrodite or a genius to notice.

"I think his godfather should be next to hold him," Jason said finally. Piper offered the bundle of blankets up, looking expectantly at Leo.

Leo approached them tentatively. "You really sure? No take backsies."

Piper chuckled. "Yes, Leo. You can't change our minds."

Jasper was transferred from Piper's arms to Jason, and then to Leo, who cradled him like he was the most breakable thing on the planet.

"I'm gonna teach you how to build everything," Leo whispered. "And how to annoy your parents. I need to impart my wisdom to someone."

Hazel was next to hold Jasper.

"You're an awesome midwife," Piper promised her. "Those were some cool skills."

Hazel's eyes crinkled into a smile as she gave Jasper a small hug. "Back in my first life, they expected girls to know everything about childbirth." She shrugged. "Never thought it'd come in handy."

She passed Jasper to Frank it's as Annabeth sat down suddenly in a chair by the door. 

"You okay?" Piper asked in concern.

Annabeth laughed. "You just gave birth and you're asking me if I'm okay?" Piper didn't miss that she and Percy exchanged glances.

Percy carried Jasper over to her. "This is your Auntie Annabeth," he introduced him, chuckling as Jasper grappled for his hand.  

"You're carrying him so well," Frank said in surprise.

Percy shrugged, not taking his eyes off Jasper. "My mum gave birth to my younger sister two months before I was...taken." He averted his gaze to his feet.

Piper realised that Estelle was probably 5 years old by now. Percy had missed out on her childhood.

"She's wonderful," Annabeth said, breaking the silence.

Percy glanced up at her in surprise as he placed Jasper safely in her arms.

"She likes the Little Mermaid," she informed him.

When Jasper was back in Jason's arms, Piper kissed her son on the forehead. "Those were your auntie Annabeth and uncle Percy. It's complicated between them."

Jason chuckled, brushing some of Jasper's hair back. "You should also know that they're completely, and utterly blind."