Chapter I: Jason

Watching the setting sun had been my favorite part of the day ever since I was nine years old. Back then, I'd been so busy training and doing what was needed for Camp Jupiter that nothing mattered but living up to my father's name and the title given to me. Failure was not an option. Father would not allow it. That was the mantra knotted so tightly in my head.

Then one day for a brief moment, I wiped the sweat off my brow and looked up.

At the time, the sun illuminated in yellow streaks, passing about the sky and turning blue into orange. It glowed, hitting the clouds that shadowed the earth and always—always, I knew—if you looked close enough, you could see the purple painted at the edges, where the blue of the sky was making its final change.

That probably should have been our first hint, I joked. Where purple met orange.

When I first learned Jupiter was my father, I would think: when the sky was at peace, Jupiter was at peace too.

That was my thought of now, as I sat at the edge of the ship. My feet dangled, too short to touch the top of Festus's head. The gladius Hera presented me was sheathed and looped against my jeans.

Below the Argo II, stratus clouds stretched over the earth. Occasionally aurae—wind spirits—would giggle and wave. Some flushed with gray as I waved back, then scurried off, leaving a trail of water vapor in their wake. Stars blanketed the sky, becoming clearer as oranges, purples, and blues melted away.

I could watch for hours, just dangling my bare feet at the edge of the Argo II and making out constellations. The air pressure made my ears tingle in a good way, despite the others, and the wind danced on the back of my neck.

Leo made it easy to stare off into the sky. He'd designated me the bunk with one of the only windows so I could wake up and see the sky first thing. My duty, according to Annabeth and the others, was to stay where I was now and act as a peacemaker to any "Airborne Spirits" that happened upon us.

"You ready for dinner?" Just then, the sound of Piper's voice tingled in my ears, overshadowing any of the other sounds that whistled in the sky. It cut through me immediately—caused me to remember where I was.

"Hey." Standing to my feet, I would have fallen over had Piper not caught me. I grimaced—sure, sitting here with my feet dangling at the edge of the ship all day was amazing. But at the same time, I spent the past twelve hours dangling my feet in the troposphere, and my legs apparently forgot they had bones.

I'm a demigod of the wind. Not really your typical airbender with a flying bison.

Fortunately Piper pulled me back—like the string on the end of a toy airplane, which kept it from flying too far away. She placed a hand over my torso, the other on my bicep, and waited for me to regain the feeling in my feet. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Okay. Now I felt embarrassed. I was supposed to be child of the Lord of the Sky and I looked like an idiot. Luckily the moment I looked up into her eyes, Piper only grinned, and I forgot everything except my name.

Piper was beautiful. Under layers of choppy hair, she had a smile that could light up the night sky and eyes that shimmered like stars. As Apollo dragged away the last of his chariot, the last speckles of light bounced off her flawless face and evaporated. I could see her just fine—the metal of the ship glowed like a giant nightlight.

Unbeknownst to me, Piper still had a hand placed on my bicep. I hadn't noticed until she moved it a little—then I did the instinctive thing and jerked away. Oops.

At that gesture, she now looked surprised—a little hurt even. Crap, I hadn't meant to do that—

But instead of apologizing and awkwardly holding my arm out again, I forced a smile, creating just the tiniest bit of space between us. I was blushing—pleased she wanted to touch me and mortified I'd ruined such a perfectly good moment.

Maybe if I saved the evening with a joke. Let it be said now that I suck at joking.

"I think a wind spirit may have gone through my head," I mused. Rubbing the side of my head, I pressed a palm against my ear and made a face.

Fortunately, this relieved Piper of the look of concern and hurt from when I pulled away. She smiled a little too, relaxed for the both of us. "Should I be worried?"

"Only if I start talking like Coach Hedge." To that, we both laughed.

Instantly every stupid thought that ran through my mind went away. If you…haven't figured it out by now, then I guess I should tell you. I liked Piper. A lot, actually. I could stand where I was for ages, staring at her beneath the stars and knowing everything was perfect.

Now, I…I wanted nothing more than to take her by the hand and kiss her.

Yeah. Some son of the Lord of the Sky. As the thought passed through my head, I couldn't help but get queasy. Harpies with the wingspan of a plane were knotting the inside of my stomach.

Eventually the laughter died down. We shared a look, twin smiles pressed against our lips and eyes glued together like popsicle sticks at Arts & Crafts.

Piper took a step back, ducking under the light of the boat. She rubbed one of her braids, something cute she did whenever she wanted to say something and couldn't. A sheepish smile spread across her face. "We should get Leo."

"He's not making dinner tonight?"

She shook her head. "Hazel is. Which means…"

"Leo is glued to the Steering Wheel either navigating us across the Atlantic or playing Super Smash Bros.," I finished for her. Amusement fell in my tone. "You think he'll be dressed this time?"

"Guess we'll find out."

xxx

If you've ever seen Leo tinker with things, then you would understand why Piper and I were proud of him when he remembered to wear pants. Or a clean shirt—something that was clean for maybe ten minutes before he got doused in oil. Again.

He stood on a platform where the controls were a keyboard monitor, aviation controls from a jet, a dubstep soundboard, and matching wiimotes. From the looks of it, he managed to keep his shirt and jeans clean from the afternoon.

Everyone thought Leo was crazy for the design of the steering wheel. Piper and I knew it was just Leo being Leo.

As we dropped by to pick him up, we found out I was half-right: Leo was playing videogames with the wiimotes (and somehow still maintaining control over the ship), only with Percy was also at his side.

Along the way, Piper had grasped my hand, a shy smile on her face as we talked. Blushing, I hadn't protested. Now, I couldn't help but squeeze it with unease, a frown across my lips.

It wasn't that I didn't like Percy Jackson. Stepping on board with Hazel and her new boyfriend Frank in tow, with waves and salutes goodbye from the Twelfth Legion, Percy made it clear that he was very likeable. But I hated seeing how easily he'd replaced me in my group of friends. In my home, my life.

The sentiment was shared, I'm sure—when we first met, Percy did a quick look over of me; some sort of emotion trickling in his demeanor, then said nothing. I'd done the same thing—we usually held our tongues around each other. Like I'd be doing right now. Leo was one friend I preferred to keep at my side.

Speaking of which, Leo made a noise, then jerked his shoulder into Percy's. "You've got the ball, you've got the ball!"

"Dude, you gotta suck me—no, not him—" Percy made a face, his fingers flying fast over the game console. "Don't suck him, suck me! I've got cooler moves!"

Leo hollered, frustration in his voice making his voice jump an octave. "Pikachu keeps getting in the way—" He shouted a few Spanish curses, then the wiimote rumbled in his fingers as Kirby died.

"I got your back, bro!"

"Avenge meeee!"

Head ping-ponging between the two of them, Piper and I exchanged looks. I couldn't tell whether I should laugh or just roll my eyes. Piper decided to do the last one. She smiled a little, hand squeezing mine back like I'd done it on purpose.

On the bright side, the game finally ended when Pikachu and Mario were thrown off Yoshi's Island. Both Percy and Leo whooped, high-fived, and burst into a fit of giggles. The last one wasn't an exaggeration—both of them giggled like little girls when they won the game.

"I told the Stoll brothers you and I could win against them." Leo smirked and jutted his chest out.

There was a look in Percy's eyes, affectionate and a little nervous as the name passed through him. Since the Stoll Brothers were the head councilors of the Hermes Cabin at Camp Halfblood, I assume he'd spoken to them a lot. Suddenly he grinned, matching Leo's stance. "Yeah. Only person you've gotta fear with this game is Annabeth."

"Oh—yeah. She got mad whenever I installed it. Thought I'd do the mortal thing or something by texting and driving." Leo snickered.

"No. She kicks ass as Zelda."

"Really? She looks like she hasn't had an inkling of fun since—" Leo stopped talking when Percy raised an eyebrow. Instead, he gave one of his goofy smiles to the Son of Poseidon and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I mean…yeah."

"Oh, she's strict," Percy agreed, like he didn't care if Leo went on. "But she whooped my butt the first time I forced her to play it with me. Haven't been able to win against her since."

Of course that would be the one thing to catch Leo's attention. He loved videogames. "Seriously?"

"Definitely."

At that moment, Piper cleared her throat to get their attention. She moved her hand away from mine and arched an eyebrow. Leo and Percy blinked.

"You know we're missing dinner right now," she said slowly, "right?"

They looked at each other again.

"Oh," Leo said. "Yeah, I'm pretty hungry now. He patted his stomach and grinned. "Let's get some grub."

After Leo switched the boat to autopilot, he hopped off the platform and began a conversation with Piper. Percy followed his lead, much steadier as my friends started the walk toward the dining hall. He looked at me thoughtfully, green eyes narrowed to my form.

An awkward smile fumbled across his lips and he waved half-heartedly. "Hey."

"Hey," I said back. It hung in the air, and for the umpteenth time, he and I scrutinized each other. Percy was about a year older with dark hair and sea green eyes—I suppose that was only natural. We were about the same height, roughly the same build. That was where the similarities ended.

Suddenly his demeanor changed, and he stared at me oddly, lips contorted into a crooked smile. I had the urge to ask, but then I found myself the last of the bunch to lead the room.

We walked behind Piper and Leo in silence, hearing the twitchy son of Hephaestus babble about the mechanics of Super Smash Bros. and wondering if he could make a demigod version—Super Smash Demigods. Piper only smiled and nodded, adding suggestions when she could.

Somehow, the conversation got back to me.

"Of course, Jason would be just like Pikachu. He'd shock people and call down thunder to kill people." Leo grinned and turned an eye to me.

"Lightning," I corrected, then frowned when Percy said the exact same thing. On the other hand, it made me a little happy when Leo managed to throw me into the conversation.

Which…didn't last long. Leo turned around completely, his eyes skipping over me in favor of Percy. He gestured to Percy with an eager grin. "You'd be in it too. Duh."

Percy grinned. "Could I talk to horses?"

A look of disbelief crossed Leo's face and he gawked. "You have the powers to start earthquakes. You can call upon water, start mini-hurricanes, and all you wanna do is talk to horses?"

"They're entertaining."

"Whatever, dude."

That was when they were wrapped in their own little world again. I placed myself next to Piper as we edged closer to the kitchen, a wary look across my face. She didn't notice my lack of enthusiasm—instead smiling and distancing us a little from the pair. Somehow, the conversation turned a corner on blue foods.

"I'm glad he's found a friend." She looked over our shoulders with approval.

It only made my stomach twist. "I wouldn't really call it friendship. They're both Greek demigods, it's…only natural to see each other as allies."

Piper stopped walking. An uneasy look passed across her face, like she wanted to say something. I stopped too, eyes narrowing. A look of doubt radiated across her demeanor, and I wondered if I'd said something wrong. "You okay?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing."

It wasn't like Piper not to speak her mind. Not unless something bad was happening. Taking the chance, I reached over for her hand. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She seemed a little better now that I held her hand. A tiny smile spread across her lips. "Really."

Luckily for me, Leo cut us off before I could make another unknown mistake: "Hey, Love Birds. Are we going to dinner or not?"

Now, before you shrug that off, you have to understand Leo thought it was his greatest nickname ever. He called us that once, back at Camp Halfblood when Chiron advised I take sword-fighting classes to learn the Greek way (even though I protested.) It was awkward, giving up what I already knew. Piper surprisingly got it right away, making her even more admirable to her brothers and sisters. In the middle of helping me solidify a stance, Leo rolled his eyes because Piper was supposed to help him, too. He was already grumpy, being away from his ship.

He called us dorky Love Birds. Then busted out laughing. Love, for the Child of Aphrodite. Birds, because it was an animal in the sky. Since then, the name just stuck, like Bragelina, Makorra, or—Gods forbid, Percabeth. Ananbeth actually called us Love Birds once by accident.

I didn't really mind. I'm pretty sure Piper didn't, either. We weren't a couple. Yet.

Anyway, I snorted. "If you really want to."

"Oh," Leo patted his stomach again—each sound almost spelled out, F-O-O-D. "I'm ready."

Having dinner aboard the Argo II was completely different from eating at Camp Halfblood and Camp Jupiter. For one, you weren't divided by cabin or cohorts. It'd be pretty dumb to do, considering there was only the seven of us. In some cruel twist of fate, Percy and I would still be sitting next to each other based on the latter design.

The table, like everything else aboard the ship, was made by Leo and the rest of the cabin. It was long enough to fit us seven, about as big as one of the tables in the Mess House. Hazel and Frank stood in the kitchen, obviously preparing food for seven. Hazel waltzed around the kitchen, humming some kind of tune from the 40's, and Frank…mostly, he stood there. I think he was afraid of knocking something over.

Immediately, Percy broke away from our little group to kiss Annabeth on the cheek, who sat at the end with Daedalus's laptop on surface. She studied it, unfazed, then looked to her boyfriend with a smile and kissed him fully on the mouth.

Usually that's how it was. From the moment they saw each other again, Percy and Annabeth had been joined at the hip. As we reached New Rome and they caught sight of each other, Percy picked her up from the ground into a bear hug and kissed her. It was the first time I'd seen Annabeth truly smile since I knew her.

Now those smiles happened all the time. She'd whack Percy whenever he said something stupid. He got whacked a lot.

"I hope you guys like gumbo." Hazel blushed bashfully as she turned around, the pot still simmering in her hands. We all helped prepare the table; getting forks, spoons, and plates to set down, then to enjoy the feast. Percy sat next to Annabeth and Hazel sat next to Frank. I had myself squished between both Leo and Piper.

"It looks delicious." Leo licked his lips and grinned. We took turns scraping food into the bronze brazier, offering food to the gods, then began our dinner.

It was probably an odd sight: seven demigods who were all teenagers sitting at the kitchen table like a big happy family. There were still plenty things that needed to be done. We'd been in the air for about three days, going over the plan and exchanging information between Camp Jupiter and Camp Halfblood. We needed to hurry to Rome, then to Greece as soon as possible. Things still needed to be built. Battle plans still needed to be made.

However, Hazel was the one who suggested we all sat down for at least dinner the first night. Although the air could be tense (especially between Percy, Annabeth, and the rest of us), there was a common theme that ran through our little group: none of us really had a family dinner.

Yeah, it could be argued. Camp Jupiter was my home, and now, so was Camp Halfblood. But Leo's mother had died when he was eight—he'd been orphaned. Piper's dad was always away for some big movie—she would normally eat with a maid or something. Frank quietly admitted he didn't really have a family anymore, and Hazel's family wasn't even from our century. I'd been taken away from my mother and sister when I was two, by Lupa. Astonishingly, Annabeth and Percy both admitted to having families, but the idea of being able to sit down and have a quiet meal seemed foreign to them, too.

It helped strengthen trust between us. After Percy reappeared, Annabeth studied me less, like she finally decided I wasn't going to slaughter Camp Halfblood. I'd known Hazel a few weeks before Hera had exchanged Percy and me, but I'd liked her. A lot, like a sister. Frank was nice, too—he was good for her.

"It's vegetarian," Hazel reassured. Her eyes fell over to Piper and she smiled sweetly.

Piper smiled back. I had a feeling she would have eaten it regardless—they got along pretty well. All the girls did.

"We should cross the rest of the sea over night." Leo stuffed a spoonful of gumbo in his mouth and hummed—a sure sign that it was delicious. "Then, we'll have to land somewhere and restock on food. I can't be the only one that thinks it's been too quiet."

We all nodded sympathetically. The ADHD in all of us made us antsy. While it'd be ideal to make it to Greece safely, the longer it took for a monster to attack us, the stronger they were.

"Extra supplies would be for the best." Annabeth took a sip of her gumbo, then looked to Leo skeptically. "I don't like it."

"Really?" Percy's eyebrows furrowed together. "I think it tastes fantastic." Hazel blushed.

"No, Seaweed Brain." Whack.

"Ow!"

"Leo's right. I don't want to seek out trouble, but we may have to." Annabeth suddenly looked to me, eyes narrowing, and I knew she wanted me to say something.

"We're going across the globe on a giant, floating ship," Percy intercepted. He rubbed the forming bruise on his arm where Annabeth hit him and set down his spoon. Green teased his complexion and he wrinkled his nose. "Flight's really not my thing. Maybe it's running interference or something."

That made me frown. "If that's the case, Jupiter is probably giving us cover so that monsters can't spot us."

"Maybe." Something twinkled in his eyes and immediately he shook his head. "No, I doubt it. They're not allowed to interfere in our quests. Not directly. Besides, we've been in his territory for days—I'm sure he's at the edge of his seat waiting for a chance to shoot me down. Or have an annie-whatever throw me off the ship." Percy squinted. "Do I need to point out the irony me being thrown off a ship? I feel like I do."

Annabeth decided on ignoring the last comment. She stroked her chin.

It was Frank who tore through the conversation last. "Uh, maybe we're all just used to fighting evil scary things that could kill us? It's weird, but I vote we don't jinx it."

There was a unanimous agreement.

"He's right. Nothing to ruin my beautiful ship." Leo split into a grin and held out his empty plate. "I suggest seconds! Then desert! Whatever that is!"

"There should still be some cookies and cream left in the fridge," Piper suggested. "Unless you ate it all."

"I could probably make some. Just gotta ask the belt for some rock salts." His eyes twinkled at the thought and grinned. Immediately, he looked at me, a challenge written in fiery orbs. "Well, Grace? Up for helping? Can't let the ladies do all the work."

There was something else in that look, too. I guess he could tell I was bothered by Percy—again. On the other hand, it'd been too long since I got to do something with my friend. My best friend.

So I did the sensible thing—grinned—and dug my spoon into the gumbo. "You're on."

"Here, here!"

"Here, here!" shouted the rest of us.

It was ridiculous, but no one wanted less from Leo. He'd always been the excitable kid with the personality of a firecracker. Being on the warship after building it amongst his siblings, I don't think I'd ever seen him happier. He bounced around the place as though he was captain (and he might as well be—Percy had more experience with ships, but it was my father's domain. Right now there was a vacant spot on leader, with Annabeth being a fill-in) and was having the time of his life.

It's what his mother would have wanted.

Leo and I were both far from touchy-feely kind of people—it wasn't very Roman. For Leo, he told Piper and I about running away from orphanages, foster homes, and crazy old ladies at least six times in his life. Being at Camp Halfblood and working on the warship, I'm sure he couldn't have felt any more comfortable in his skin. (I'm also pretty sure when we jerked around the clouds on the trip to Camp Jupiter, it was because he'd gotten misty-eyed and admired his work. Don't tell him I said that.)

So later, when the others evacuated the room into the home theatre (something Leo insisted on building), he and I stood in the kitchenette passing around a gallon of milk, vanilla extract, and a handful of baggies. I was in the middle of a growth spurt, leaning a few inches over his head.

He studied the ice cream mixture cheerfully, humming some pop song under his breath that sounded suspiciously like Lady Gaga.

"So," Leo said finally, pulling baggies from his tool belt left and right, "you okay?"

A serene smile stretched across his face and for an instant, he stopped brisk fingers and leaned over the counter. I took it as my cue to stir the mixture, then bit the inside of my mouth. Before I said anything, Leo babbled on.

"Don't say it's nothing, by the way. I know you by now, Jason Grace." The son of Hephaestus smirked, a challenge in his eyes. "Ever hear the phrase: liar, liar, pants on fire?"

It was the same as the Love Birds thing. Once he figured out how he could use that phrase, Leo made an effort to slip it into a conversation. I'm pretty sure the Athena Cabin was ready to wring his neck.

The mixture fell coldly into the baggies and I plopped them into the rock salt and ice for Leo to work his magic. We took turns watching each other, and I leaned against the kitchenette counter with a frown. There were countless things that were bothering me. Over half of them, I didn't trust even myself to let cross my mind.

The handful that was left, I'd have a hard time telling anybody—even Leo, and I trusted him more than anyone. Even more than Piper.

Then, plucking the three most bothersome things I could speak of, it still wasn't enough. My concern about this quest and suspicion that I'd have to lead it would be a general question. I'm sure if I said anything, Leo would think I was being absurd. That I was getting a big head. Then, there was also the fact Percy and Leo hanging out so much irked me. Leo would look at me like I'd grown another head.

So really, even if Leo called me out on how I was feeling, I wasn't up to having a conversation right now.

"You still worried about Piper?"

Well, that was that. But…I could feel my ears turn pink. Like I said, I wasn't a touchy-feely kind of person.

"Dude." Leo reached for the baggies and massaged the rock salt and ice. A chuckle sung quietly from the back of his throat and he ducked his head. "I hope you realize that everyone and their dog knows you two are gonna get together. The betting pool gets larger every day; trust me. I keep in touch with the Stoll Brothers."

"Right," I said, but my ears only burned brighter. We weren't…that obvious, were we? I liked Piper, I really did. Every time I tried to tell her, the words just got stuck in the back of my throat—the reasons why I wouldn't ask her came flying in and out of my head like someone hired my own personal skywriter, and in the end I'd feel like someone kicked me in the gut.

"So? You like her. She likes you. If I had it that easy I'd jump on the person in a heartbeat." Still not looking me in the eye, Leo tossed around the bag of homemade ice cream and I silently wondered if it was a good idea for the kid who could summon fire to be making our desert. He was silent, then lifted his gaze to meet mine.

A frown had twisted across Leo's lips and his eyebrows touched.

"I know," I said. For a lack of a better excuse, I said it again. "I…I know, but…"

Scratch what I said about Leo earlier. Sometimes you get so scared even telling your best friend was terrifying. If…if I were a little more like Percy, I'd have no problem puking my guts out. Literally and figuratively.

"Whatever Piper and I had—" My face turned a dark shade of scarlet. "—we put it aside in the past eight months. I needed to learn the Greek way—I needed to trust it. Then…going back to Camp Jupiter…seeing Reyna may have confused her a little. Me, too. Now, we're…I think we're trying to make it work, but…I may have said something that put her off." And that something, I wasn't even sure what it was.

Regardless, Leo paused, looking every bit offended for Piper.

"I didn't call her fat or ugly. Or insult her father."

"Oh. Okay." He proceeded with pounding the bag with his fist. BANG BANG BANG. "Well, get some nerve, Grace. I'll tell you right now—Beauty Queen is just waiting for you to make the first move. If you wait too long, someone's gonna steal her."

"Like who?"

Instantly he looked up, the lights of the kitchen bouncing off his skin. Fire flickered in his eyes, amusement arching his eyebrows, and he narrowed his gaze to me as though there was a secret I didn't know. "You'd be surprised."

Oh. I wanted to ask more, but there was this numbing feeling on the back of my neck that told me it was a deadend subject. Before any doubt could hammer in my brain, I reminded myself we'd be on this boat for a while. Somewhere between now and getting to Greece, I was going to tell Piper how I felt. That was a promise.

Silence passed between us. Leo rattled the bag, and I had a bad habit of getting lost in my head. As he reached for seven bowls to pour the ice cream in, I decided to confess another one of my thoughts.

"I don't like it when you hang out with Percy." It left my mouth before I could regret it, quiet and kind of strained. From the way Leo suddenly dropped the baggies, I assume he'd heard me. His hand spasmed and he looked up, the shock on his face. I shifted between both my feet. Where…do I go from here?

"Um. What." Was his reply.

"It…" Gods, this was hard. "I'm guessing you like him better than me." Before I could finish that comment, Leo held out a hand to cut me off. I couldn't see his face on the other side.

He took in a deep breath, chest expanding before slowly—slowly, he exhaled. "Let me say something to you, okay, Grace?"

I blinked. "Okay."

"You. You. I…" Leo made a face and made a gesture with his hands meaning something like, 'This is totally not happening.' "I will always like you better than Percy. Got it?"

The demeanor on his face reminded me of when I'd accidentally insulted his 'ability to annoy.' His words were steady, barely any mirth in his tone. I think Leo was a little mortified.

Nodding slowly, I helped him pick up the baggies that'd dropped on the floor. "Got it."

"Good. Now go give the ice cream to the others. Sit next to your future girlfriend." His voice was still tight, maybe even flustered. Gods, I hope I hadn't embarrassed him that much.

Concern fluttered in my chest. "Leo?"

"I'll…try to take your feelings into account the next time I hang out with Percy. Or, don't hang out with Percy." Brown eyes narrowed to me reluctantly and Leo made one of his other goofy faces. "Okay?"

That sounded good. I nodded, feeling self-conscious after putting him on the spot, then smiled. "Alright."

"Good. Now go before she falls asleep!" Leo nudged me in the arm, still refusing to look me in the eye.

"Alright. Alright." Grabbing four bowls of ice cream, I made my way out of the dining room and stumbled through the hall.

Later, I realized if I'd been paying more attention, I would have seen the great Leo Valdez blushing as I left.

xxx

The rest of the night went smoothly. Annabeth and Leo were right: being in the air so long tended to make someone edgy. We watched the first three Harry Potter movies and started on the Hunger Games before some of us were falling asleep and called it a night. Frank agreed to take first watch, though I think he wanted to do some animal watching on the crow's nest. Stacked against his bed in our quarters were thick books about a thousand different types of animals.

Despite him wanting to take first watch, it didn't make anyone else less antsy. Leo returned to navigating the ship, discussing with Annabeth a safe route to Greece. She had a theory that leaving America was like going to Alaska: the gods may be unable to help us. Hazel went to the stables to tend to Tempest, Arion, and the others.

It was still too early to go to bed. Every bone in my body tingled, begging to be put to the test. I'd gone too long without fighting something. So, I grabbed my gladius from the end of my mattress (an irresponsible place to leave it, I know) and sauntered to the training room, anxious to annihilate some training dummies.

What I saw caught me off guard.

Percy had already claimed the room to himself in the center of a training mat with a collection of dummies dangling from the ceiling. He was drenched in sweat, like he'd been there for hours (had he slipped away from the movies without us noticing?) and was no amateur when it came to the sword.

He moved like a graecus—er, I mean, a Greek. But it was nothing like the sword training classes Camp Halfblood offered—it was a typhoon raging out on the Pacific Ocean. He darted, tumbled, rolled, and sliced the heads of the dummies as though they were really enemies. Annabeth mentioned he was the best swordsman at camp, even pitted against the Athena and Ares Cabin, but…I didn't believe her until now.

When he was done with the three dummies in front of him, he wiped the sweat off his brow and set three more in their place.

I stood there for what seemed like ages. I could watch for hours—anyone that was good with a sword, I'd always had instant respect for.

There was nothing I wanted more than to challenge him to a duel. To spar with someone that could hold his own in a fight—and the more that I thought about it, fending off against a child of the Big Three and exchanging battle tactics, the more my body tingled with electricity.

At the same time, the thought deflated in my head. It frosted over, and I bit the inside of my mouth.

This was Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon. The Leader of Camp Halfblood and currently a praetor to the Twelfth Legion of Rome. He was supposed to be on my team, or I was supposed to be on his.

The thought of fighting him had been more exciting than fighting alongside him.

Shoving that thought aside, I pushed the gladius against my belt, shut the doors and forced myself to my quarters. Whatever Leo and Annabeth had discussed, they must have been done, because Leo was curled up in his bed, fast asleep and snoring beneath a blanket with a cartoon dinosaur pattern.

Leo lifted his head groggily when the door shut behind me and rubbed his eye. "Jay…?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, man."

That night, I forced myself to sleep and locked the thoughts I'd had of Percy away. If I could postpone swallowing my pride and having to work together with the Son of Poseidon, then I would.

It was three in the morning when the prow exploded.

xxx

The entire ship rumbled and trembled like we were still on the ground and surviving through an earthquake. I fell off my bed, sucked out of my dream before I could recognize I was dreaming and hit my head on the floor board. Leo had a worse fall: he had the top bunk in our quarters, and toppled right onto me.

"WHOA!"

"OOF!" I wheezed, pain rippling through my stomach as my best friend crashed head-first into my stomach. His head smashed into my nose so hard I'm sure it broke, and he stood to his feet.

"Sorry, bro." Leo pulled me to my feet and I muttered a, 'no problem' under my breath.

"What happened…?" Percy's voice was the third to fill the room. From the looks of it, he'd fallen off the bed too, an ugly bruise forming on his forehead. He pulled himself to his feet by the wood, looking green in the face as he wrinkled his nose.

The door burst open and Annabeth's panicked face appeared at the entrance. "The ship's under attack! Anemoi Thuellai are attacking! Harpies, too!" She muttered a curse in Ancient Greek and hastily bolted to the other quarters where the girls were asleep.

That sobered all three of us immediately. I grabbed my gladius the same moment Percy reached for the pen beneath his pillow and uncapped it. Anuklusmos—Riptide—expanded to its full length, faintly bringing me back to finding him in the training room.

All three of us, joined by the girls, dashed onto the top of the Argo II and found the damage was worse than we could imagine. Hazel screamed, Piper gasped. Annabeth's face paled to a pasty white and we all stared above in horror.

Anemoi Thuellai—the Storm Spirits—howled at the prowl of the ship. There were three of them, all cackling harshly in the wind and screeching with laughter. One of them, the biggest, soared ninety feet above air and skyrocketed. His target: us.

"HIT THE DECK!" I screamed. Apparently I was the only one to see him move. Instantly the others snapped out of their stupor and darted in opposite directions. Still, the biggest Venti's impact caused a ripple that sent me flying into the ship. I hit my head again, this time hearing something crack in my neck.

Above us, a large eagle crowed urgently, and we realized Frank was watching over us. He grabbed one of the smaller venti with a talon and dragged him across the sky.

Another venti spliced through the air and cut my cheek before I could see it coming. It cackled in my face, clawed at my shoulder, and I willed it away with the wind. From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Piper and Annabeth both fending off a harpy, and Leo throwing a hammer through the biggest venti. It targeted him.

I swiped the gladius in the direction of the girls, and a gust of wind followed my lead. "Scram!"

The harpy was temporarily subdued, pushed away from both of them. We regrouped just as Percy fended off a second harpy, a look of disgust on his face. Leo—he was literally steaming. Fuming, with smoke coming from his hair like a chimney.

"My ship," he snapped, anger radiating in his voice. "All the magical flying ships that are in the air and these bastards dare to wreck my ship!"

"We're falling out of the sky," I said immediately. Without the full shape of the Argo II, we were going to crash land in the ocean. "We need—"

"Frank is having trouble up there. We need to get up there and help him fend off the harpies and the annie…whatever those things are." Percy cut me off, hands fisted around Riptide. He looked to the sky, jaw tight and face green, and then to all of us. "Leo, you need to get to the steering wheel, now. If we can't fly, we need to land the ship as safely as possible. If…I can get to Blackjack, then maybe I could lure them away."

"That's a dangerous plan," Annabeth snapped. Despite the scowl on her face, the fear could be seen in her eyes under the moonlight. "Even then, their goal is to bring us down. Percy, I'm not going to lose you again."

It sounded more like an order than a claim, but we all knew where she was coming from.

"We don't have a choice!" Percy's voice was strained—it cracked a little, and he looked conflicted beneath the moonlight too.

"Yes," I said, "we do. You're not the only one with a flying horse, Jackson. Hazel and I can help. Frank, too. If the four of us are gone, we can lead them away from the ship as Leo tries to fix it." Both Greek demigods looked to me reluctantly, like going with a semi-less-dangerous plan was a crazy idea.

Finally, Percy nodded, a grimness appearing in the shadows of his face. He turned around, quickly swept Annabeth into a kiss, and looked to her seriously. "You and Piper hold the fort up here. Charmspeak them, use the cannons. Don't do anything dangerous unless you have to—got it?"

"Shouldn't I be telling you that?"

"Only if I get a goodbye kiss."

"When you come back."

"Naturally." Percy agreed, and without another word, he bolted for the ship's stables, Riptide in hand. Stunned, Hazel and I looked at each other and broke off into a run.

Percy's actions now made his training session with the dummies look like a mother doting on her children. He jutted aside a third harpy that dared lunge at us, piercing his sword into her gut violently and barely looking, then continued running. The harpy burst into dust and nearly blinded Hazel and I as we ran. Another harpy came after us—Hazel and I took turns fending off against it.

"He's relentless." Impulsive, too. I was telling Hazel this with amazement when Percy did the nonsensical thing and jumped through the stable window instead of bursting through the door.

Hazel nodded, a grin on her face despite the danger her boyfriend was in. "You, him, and my brother, Nico. You three have to be the most powerful demigods I'd ever met."

When she put it that way, I couldn't help but feel intimidated by the thought.

Tempest was happy to see me. I settled onto his back just as Percy climbed onto Blackjack and Hazel nestled on Arion—two horses/stallions that had to be a part of the oddest bunch I'd ever met. When Arion and Tempest neighed, Percy wrinkled his nose and patted Blackjack sympathetically on the head.

"C'mon," he ushered. "And don't call me boss!"

Grimacing with distaste, I almost said something until Hazel burst into a fit of ill-timed giggles. She looked to me mirthfully, then followed Percy's lead as his pegasus flapped its wings and raised into the air. Arion followed, and my ears popped as he pounded the wind with his hooves, faster than even Blackjack was flying. That left me and Tempest, who boomed in the air as a storm cloud, lightning crackling in his snout.

The fight looked better when we rejoined. Annabeth's hands worked like magic over the cannons, and she shot celestial-bronze coated bombs at the spirits. Piper managed to charmspeak a harpy into sleeping before knocking it off the ship. Frank smashed his beak into a second venti, which disappeared on collision.

Yet it was clear as day: we were falling out of the air, jerking and tumbling as Leo presumably tried to take control of the ship.

It left the three of us with was the biggest venti, the one that now looked the size of a cumulonimbus cloud.

Percy dove into the air, then spiraled toward it. "Hey, UGLY!" With Riptide in his hand, he made a deep cut in one of the venti's legs. "You been putting on some weight lately? Your stratus is jiggling!"

I gawked. Apparently he was assuming the biggest venti was a girl.

Worst of all, Percy was right. The girl-venti shrieked like a pterodactyl, lightning crackling in her mouth as she lunged for Percy. Percy was too fast, immediately jolting west toward the ocean.

Blackjack and Arion neighed, like they decided they were going to insult the girl-venti too. With a disturbing burst of power she shrieked and yelled with frustration, then went after all of us, Frank hot on our trail.

We were half a mile away from the ship within seconds. Blackjack led the charge west, closer to the ocean. Columns of water shot from beneath us, and the third one made the girl-venti fall backward. I dove with Tempest and slashed through her thigh.

She screeched again—so deafening I knew I wouldn't be hearing anything for at least a week. Her hand curled into a fist, and Hazel made a deathly sound. She and Arion had somehow gotten coiled between her fingers.

"No!" Hazel shouted. Frank flew above, pecking and stabbing at the storm spirit's knuckles. The girl-venti's fist crackled—she was summoning lightning.

Percy and I acted fast. We didn't like each other, but there was no way we were going back to the Argo II with Hazel's dead body in tow. Percy dove to jut his sword in the storm spirit's stomach, and I maneuvered Tempest as fast as I could. With the right force, I managed to knock Hazel out of the girl-venti's fist before she got electrocuted. In doing so, Tempest and I were stuck in the venti's hold.

"Absorb it!" I hissed.

Tempest neighed in agreement, and instantly we were both shot with four-hundred kilowatts of pure, concentrated energy. It would have killed Hazel.

Being a storm spirit himself, Tempest had no problem, and me—the first jolt was like being submerged in water and more aware of my surroundings. I held up my gladius and managed to absorb part of the electricity.

Below, my teammates hadn't let me down. Because the girl-venti was busy with me, Percy managed to sneak above her and stab Riptide in her clavicle. Arion, too, bulleted into the girl-venti's stomach, and she doubled over, choking on some stratus clouds just as eagle-Frank clawed the top of her head with his talons.

I delivered the final blow, redirecting the electricity and striking her down.

Girl-venti keeled over, fierce eyes dilating before she disappeared into nothing more than dust over the ocean.

Percy, Hazel, and I remained mounted on our horses, staring at the aftermath and trying to process what we'd just done. We were panting hard, the thought of fighting something so strong that wasn't a god still numbing our minds.

Finally, Hazel looked up to both Percy and I, a smile brimming on her face. "We make a great team."

Frank perched on her shoulder and squawked in agreement. His eyes looked between Percy and I, beak almost…smiling? Could birds do that?

Still catching my breath, I found myself eye-to-eye with the Son of Poseidon, who did another cross-examination of me. His hair was coated in sweat, pajama bottoms gnarled and slashed by harpies, and his t-shirt was in tatters. I bet I didn't look any better—especially coated with the fresh smell of lightning.

"Nice insult." Without hesitation, I found myself grinning.

"Nice tackle." He sniggered.

We high-fived, which sprouted a quiet sigh of relief from Hazel. Percy and I both knew the tension between us had a horrible effect on the team.

There was no time to be wasted as we soared back to the Argo II.

Before we landed on the surface—not even within a quarter mile of range, the front of the Argo II exploded again. Something had fallen out. A venti? A harpy? No—

Hurdling thirty kilometers from the troposphere straight into the sea was Leo.

xxx

Author's Note:

I've been going back and forth hesitation to post this because of Mark of Athena coming out soon. Finally, I decided I'll just post it, and it's going to be a very different take about how the chosen seven travel to Greece. :D I can confirm for you now that neither Ella nor Coach Hedge are on the boat—there may not be a chance to mention them. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It'll be an alternating POV story between Leo and Jason. It's definitely exciting, haha.