𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄, heroes of olympus²

i. annabeth meets an exploding statue and some scary romans

     Piper paces back and forth between the mainmast and the ballistae, practicing her lines.

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

     Her charm-speak is so powerful, the words flow over Annabeth, filling her with the desire to drop her dagger and have a nice long chat.

     For a child of Aphrodite, Piper tries hard to play down her beauty. Today she is dressed in tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top with pink Hello Kitty designs. (Maybe as a joke, Annabeth has never been sure with Piper). Her choppy brown hair is braided down the right side.

     Then there is Jason Grace. He stands at the bow on the raised crossbow platform where the Romans can easily spot him. His knuckles are white on the hilt of his sword. Otherwise, he looks calm for a guy who's making himself a target. Over his jeans and Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he wears a toga and a purple cloak━symbols of his old rank as praetor. With his wind-ruffled hair and icy blue eyes, he looks ruggedly handsome and in control━just like a son of Jupiter should. He's grown up at Camp Jupiter, so hopefully, his familiar face would make the Romans hesitate to blow up the ship.

     Annabeth tries to hide it, but she still doesn't completely trust the guy. He acts too perfect━always following the rules, always doing the honorable thing. He even looks too perfect. In a way, it reminds her of someone else...

     Ajax Luz.

     She hasn't seen him since Christmas Eve━six long months ago. She isn't sure where he's been or even if he's alive, but Ajax had left a message for her. His best friend, Aurelia Aetos ━ a daughter of Nike Annabeth doesn't know very well ━ had given her an envelope on April Fool's Day.

     "Alright, so surprise," she had said. "Remember Ajax Luz, right? Well..." She had taken a deep breath, seeing Annabeth's face at the name. "He told me━before he left━to give━believe it or not━you this letter on April first. He wants you to know it's not an April Fool's prank, either."

     Annabeth slips the pictures out of her pocket. She's kept it with the picture of her half-sister (are they half-sisters? She isn't sure) Regina Maximus. She's studied both of them daily basis. For a while, she had kept picking up new details about Regina━details Ajax had drawn, apparently, accurately. She was sure it was accurate ever since she got the picture of Percy.

     Well, not his entire face. She unfolds the picture and looks at it again. It's two pictures on one sheet of paper━the top picture of Percy's eyelids shut. She knows him because she's looked at him a million times. He has the small scar on his eyebrow, the long eyelashes she's always been jealous of, and, in the second picture, the same look in his eyes━full of quiet power, like a storm ready to erupt. The second picture is with his eyes opened. The picture is so detailed, the first time Annabeth looked at it, it brought her chills. She knows the message Ajax had been conveying to her━Percy is awake.

     Percy... who is somewhere below them right now.

     Oh, gods. Oh, fuck. Panic wells up inside of her. She forces it down. She can't afford to get overwhelmed. Not now.

     I'm a child of Athena, she tells herself. I have to stick to my plan and not get distracted.

     She feels it again━that familiar shiver. She turns, but no one is there.