Son of Chaos

Chapter 60 - Reunion (Edited)

Crystal POV

I was on the Argo II, pacing the deck. On board with me were Leo, Jason, Piper, Dan, Annabeth, and Coach Hedge. Chiron had insisted that Dan come as well because there was always the possibility that he would be one of the Seven, instead of Percy. 

Annabeth had double-checked the ballistae to make sure that they were locked down, and the daughter of Athena confirmed that the white "We come in peace" flag was flying from the mast.

The warship descended through the clouds, but I was wondering if this was a bad idea, because there was still the possibility that the Romans panicked and attacked us on sight. 

The Argo II did not look friendly. Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships 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 neighbors. 

It was too late to turn back now. 

I stood by the demigods while Leo rushed around, checking the gauges and wrestling levers. 

Piper was practicing her charmspeak. 

"Lower your weapons," the daughter of Aphrodite. "We just want to talk." 

I also could charmspeak, but sometimes, mine could be difficult to control, especially if I was nervous, which I was now. 

Piper wore tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top, and her choppy brown hair was braided down the right side with an eagle's feather. 

Next to her stood Piper's boyfriend, Jason. He stood at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, where the Romans could easily spot him. Over his jeans and orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he had donned a toga and a purple cloak, symbols of his old rank as praetor. 

I didn't completely trust the son of Jupiter, though. I didn't trust a lot of people outside of my family. 

When I first met him in this timeline, he reminded me of my boyfriend. 

Percy. 

Just thinking about him gave my thoughts an upgrade, spinning them through my mind. 

I remembered his face, his cruel dark black eyes, and his black hair. His charming smile, and the feeling I got whenever I was with him. 

He was nice, but it was his dark side that I had fallen for. The charming side, the one that could make any girl fall for easily. 

I had a crush on him since we first met, and we became best friends, and one night I finally kissed him. 

He had been part of Hera's forced 'exchange program' to introduce the two camps. Her Most Annoying Majesty, Queen of Olympus, had convinced the other gods that their two sets of children, Roman and Greek, had to combine forces to save the world from the evil goddess Gaea, who was awakening from the earth, and her horrible children the giants. 

Without warning, that accursed goddess had plucked up my boyfriend, wiped his memory, and sent him to Camp Jupiter. In exchange, the Greeks had gotten Jason. None of that was his fault, but every time I saw him, I remembered how much I missed Percy. 

He had been taken from me for more than a year, and I desperately missed him. 

My boyfriend . . . who was somewhere below us right now. 

I felt something was wrong, and I felt a presence as if somebody had crept up behind me and was breathing down my neck. I turned, but no one was there.