The Moon and the Stars || Heroes of Olympus

Chapter 31

Camp Jupiter was fast approaching and I was not at all prepared for what awaited us below.

I paced the deck of our flying warship, the Argo II, tugging at the sleeves of my jacket. I'd spent most of the morning worrying over what I was going to wear to meet with the Romans, and more importantly, to me at least, my father. Eventually I settled on my pastel block-coloured jacket over a cream coloured tank top and denim shorts.

Even before I'd started worrying about what the day would bring, it had been a tense trip. After Ash hadn't appeared when we left, I was left with a sense of unease settling in the base of my stomach, and the rest of the crew wasn't much better off. It wasn't the only strange thing that had happened - nature spirits had been seeing faces in the earth and there had been a strange double sunrise on the spring equinox.

After worrying endlessly over every other small detail, I was worrying about what exactly I was going to say. I already had my introduction speech planned, but what are you supposed to say to your father who abandoned you as a baby and you met in your dreams once? Hi, doesn't quite cut it.

The warship descended through the clouds but I couldn't stop second guessing myself. What if this goes badly? What if the Romans panic and attack us on sight?

The Argo II was not the friendliest looking ship. Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows on either side, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae in the middle of the ship that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete .... well, it wasn't the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbours.

We had tried to give the Romans a heads-up. Leo sent one of his inventions - a holographic scroll - to alert our friends inside the camp. Hopefully the message had gotten through. The original plan was to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull - WASSUP? with a smiley face - but Annabeth vetoed the idea, which was probably for the best.

The clouds broke around our hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below us. I moved to the edge and clung to the rail and glanced below, feeling the tingle of my powers beneath the surface.

The rest of the crew took their places.

Leo rushed around the deck like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would've been satisfied with a pilot's wheel or a tiller. Leo had also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He had spent countless hours poring over diagrams and mock ups of the controls before he settled on this masterpiece.

Piper paced back and forth between the main mast and the ballistae, practicing her lines.

"Lower your weapons," she murmured. "We just want to talk."

Her charmspeak was so powerful, the words flowed over me, filling me with the desire to drop my sword and have a nice long chat.

Today Piper was dressed in tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top with pink Hello Kitty designs. Her choppy brown hair was braided down the right side.

Then there was Piper's boyfriend - Jason. He stood at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, where the Romans could easily spot him. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his golden sword. Otherwise he looked calm for a guy who was making himself a target. Over his jeans and orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he'd donned a toga and a purple cloak - symbols of his old rank as praetor. With his wind-ruffled blond hair and his icy blue eyes, he looked ruggedly handsome and in control - just like a son of Jupiter should. He'd grown up at Camp Jupiter, so hopefully his familiar face would make the Romans hesitant to blow the ship out of the sky.