2020 a/n: I’ve been sitting on this fic since Bring On The Monsters. But now I can finally... release the... *checks smudged writing on Luke’s hand* Karen.
2023 Edit: I’m finishing this series this year, I swear. It’s been a couple years since I’ve touched it, but going back to the ~source material~ I realized this could absolutely replace the crab thing they fight so this has been edited. JUST A REMINDER, I started this series prior to even the ANNOUNCEMENT that there would be a PJO show, let alone the casting. For continuity's sake, I will be sticking with the book descriptions, but just know that I adore the show casting and love every single actor on the show!
read the others!: Masterlist
“What in Hades name is that?” Piper asked incredulously as something emerged from the water, rocking the boat.
Luke and Percy had stumbled back up to the deck from the Med Bay, with an exhausted Jason at their heels. They looked at each other with wide eyes.
Luke looked back over the rail. “Isn’t it a Norse thing?”
“I didn’t even realize it was a real thing, I thought it was made up for the movie,” Percy pointed out.
“My gods,” Luke glanced at Percy for a moment before returning his gaze once more to the giant squid attacking a large whale. “I didn’t even consider Norse Mythos being real.”
“Well I mean,” Percy thought about it, ignoring their other friend's sudden objection to the monster. “If Roman and Greek mythology can coexist, I don’t see why Norse should be an issue.”
“Okay, so that’s a Kraken then.” He paused, really studying it. “Still think we can tag team that thing?”
“Oh yeah, totally,” Percy nodded. “Your speed and agility with my force and literal control of the ocean? We could have that thing dusted in no time.”
“Alright then,” Luke nodded, glancing around the ship. “Let’s get this figured out then.”
Leo was shouting orders that were lost on half the crew. At one point, Frank had stopped and turned to glare at Leo, which resulted in one of the tentacles catching him in the chest and throwing him overboard.
“Frank!” Percy shouted, his eyes wide.
“Percy, can’t you talk to it? See what it wants!” Annabeth ran over carefully, trying not to slip as water slowly flooded the deck.
Luckily, it seemed like the water was coming from the tentacles themselves, not the ship sinking, so they were fine.
Luke and Percy glanced at each other, jumping into action. Luke drew his blades, and Percy uncapped Riptide.
“So are we thinking battle plan three or seven?” Luke questioned, looking back at Percy.
“I’m pretty sure plan five will get the job done.” Percy shrugged.
“Plan five?” Luke raised his eyebrow, dodging and slicing at a tentacle that came at him. “I dunno man, it’s risky.”
“So is being a demigod.” Percy reminded him.
Luke couldn’t argue with that point.
Given that the Kraken wasn’t facing them head on, plan five was not holding up very well. The squid had Percy in its grasp in no time, and was reaching for Luke who barely dove out of the way.
“It’s not happy!” Percy shouted at Luke.
“I can see that, thank you Percy!” Luke yelled back, diving out of the way once more.
Percy turned Riptide and stabbed the tentacle, which promptly dropped him onto the deck. Percy groaned but got up quickly, drawing in power from the sea water that coated the wood.
“I have a plan!” Leo shouted. “Hazel, open that box!”
“The box you specifically have labeled as ‘Do Not Open’?” Hazel yelled back, staring at Leo like he was crazy.
“That’s the one!” Leo confirmed.
Luke glanced over and stopped dead in his tracks. He could see the familiar green glow from here, and for a moment he was back on another ship, fighting a different monster, frozen in his steps.
“Luke! Watch out!” Annabeth cried out, pulling Luke from his Greek Fire nightmare long enough to hit the deck before the Kraken could get ahold of him.
Jason flew down and helped Luke up quickly. “You and Percy thought you could tag team this?” He yelled over the rushing wind and aggressive waves.
“Ideally!” Luke answered, slicing at another tentacle. “We didn’t think we would actually come across one!”
Leo and Hazel were snatched by two more tentacles, and in a matter of moments they were gone, and the Kraken was dusted in a flash of green.
No one moved. No one spoke. Three of their friends were overboard.
Percy hopped over the edge of the ship to scour the ocean floor without a second thought. Luke helped Annabeth and Piper up, and checked what he could on the ship. Once again, he was brutally reminded that the Princess Andromeda was different then the Argo II, but he felt more useful than just standing around. He watched Jason fly up and put out any fires on the masts.
It was clear he was exhausted though, and it wasn’t long before he was losing air and coming back to the deck. Percy came back up for only a bite of ambrosia and a sip of nectar before he was throwing himself over the edge again to do another sweep.
Luke concentrated on the ship. It didn’t seem to be in danger of sinking anymore, which Luke called a win, but it was clear they needed some major repairs. He was no son of Hephestus, they wouldn’t be able to do anything without Leo. Sailing would be okay, but no one even considered making the suggestion they leave without the others.
“What was that back there?” Annabeth demanded.
“What?” Luke looked up from where he was retying some of the knots.
“Those plans you and Percy were shouting out, since when do you have plans?” She put her hands on her hips.
Luke turned back to the rope, his hands still. “Percy was doing math homework one day, and I- well, I’d never seen the stuff he was doing so he was trying to explain it to me and we came to the conclusion that the angles and stuff would work well for some set strategies.” He explained.
“You and Percy created set strategies?” Annabeth said incredulously. “And what was that about the Kraken?”
“It’s kind of like an inside joke. We watched this movie that had the Kraken in it and then a few days later, I dealt with this really awful woman at the shop and Percy called her a ‘Karen’ and I thought he meant ‘Kraken’ and…” He trailed off, feeling stupid as he recalled the story. “It doesn’t matter.” He said dismissively. “Look, I should finish checking the ship before Leo gets back,” He finished tying the knot.
“When did all this happen?” She followed him.
“I mean, I lived with them for almost five months before I came to find Percy.” He said, shifting uncomfortably under her gaze. “Sally was nice enough to get me a job so I could help out, and she offered to enroll me in night classes or something. I never ended up going, I don’t think it would be very helpful for me, but I dunno.” He crouched down to refasten a few of the weapons that got knocked out of place. “Percy said I should try building a life outside the Gods. He said it would be good for me.” Luke grunted as he finished quickly, moving onto the lower sails.
“How come neither of you told me any of this?” Annabeth demanded. “I could’ve helped with the strategies at least!”
Luke sighed and closed his eyes. “We didn’t think we would ever use them, they were hypotheticals that Percy used to teach me math.” He asked finally. “This isn’t fair, Annabeth, you can’t be mad at me for not telling you mundane things when you were the one who established that you didn’t want to know anything about what I was doing until recently.” He told her. “You had a good reason, I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t talk to me either.” He added. “Can we talk about this later?”
Annabeth sighed before turning on her heel and walking away, meeting up with Piper to send a message back to camp.
“I can’t find them,” Percy said, swaying on his feet.
“It’s okay Perc, take a break,” Luke motioned for him to sit. “They’ll come up eventually.”
Percy threw himself onto the deck beside where Luke was working. They sat in silence for a while, Jason joining them when he couldn’t bear to stay in the air any longer.
“What do I tell Nico?” Percy whispered.
Luke frowned and looked over to where Percy had his gaze on the sky.
“How do I tell him I lost his sister? Again?” He rubbed his eyes.
“Let’s worry about getting him back first,” Luke suggested. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
There was a shout and a splash that caused all three of them to shoot up and run towards the side of the ship, where Piper had jumped over to join the three missing demigods. In an instant, despite their exhaustion, Jason and Percy joined them to get the four of them back onto the ship.
He hoped they wouldn’t lose anyone like this again.
