𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐒 ! [percy jackson]¹

C H A P T E R ⟶ S I X

S T A R   W A R S

C H A P T E R   S I X

( mission: charleston )

⟶⭑🌣⭑⟵

          AURORA WAS TRYING to cheer Hazel up, regaling her with Jason's greatest Air Head moments, when Frank stumbled down the hall and burst into her cabin.

"Where's Leo?" he gasped. "Take off! Take off!"

Both girls shot to their feet. 

"Where's Percy?" Aurora demanded. "And the goat?"

Frank grabbed his knees, trying to breathe. His clothes were stiff and damp, like they'd been washed in pure starch. "On deck. They're fine. We're being followed!"

Aurora groaned. "Of course we are." She pushed past him and took the stairs three at a time, Hazel right behind her and Frank trailing, still gasping for air. Percy and Hedge lay on the deck, looking exhausted. Hedge was missing his shoes. He grinned at the sky, muttering, "Awesome. Awesome." Percy was covered with nicks and scratches, like he'd jumped through a window. He didn't say anything, but he grasped Aurora's hand weakly, as if to say, Be right with you, as soon as the world stops spinning. 

Leo, Piper, Jason, Annabeth, and Sarah, who'd been eating in the mess hall, came rushing up the stairs.

"What? What?" Leo cried, holding a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich. "Can't a guy even take a lunch break? What's wrong?"

"Followed!" Frank yelled again.

"Followed by what?" Jason asked.

"I don't know!" Frank panted. "Whales? Sea monsters? Maybe Kate and Porky!"

Aurora met Annabeth's gaze and saw that the blonde was struggling with keeping herself from strangling Frank. If Aurora didn't know Frank for as long as she had, she would be in the same boat as Annabeth.

"That makes absolutely no sense!" Annabeth steamed. "Leo, you'd better get us out of here."

Leo put his sandwich between his teeth, pirate style, and ran for the helm.

Soon the Argo II was rising into the sky. Annabeth manned the aft crossbow. Considering she wasn't shooting at anything, nothing was following them. No whales or otherwise, but Percy, Frank, and Hedge didn't start to recover until the Atlanta skyline was a hazy smudge in the distance.

"Charleston," Percy said, hobbling around the deck like an old man. He still sounded pretty shaken up. "Set course for Charleston."

"Charleston?" Aurora froze at the name, her eyes meeting Jason. They couldn't mean Charleston Charleston? Right? "What exactly did you find in Atlanta?"