anti hero - percy jackson ²

i. reunion

"I can't believe you're here."

Cassandra had convinced herself that she was prepared for anything.

Until she met the exploding statue.

Her and Annabeth had been pacing the deck of the Argo II all morning, checking and double-checking (and triple-checking) the ballistae to make sure they were locked down.

She'd confirmed that the white flag was flying from the mast, while Annabeth had pulled aside their war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge, and encouraged him to take the morning off, but watching reruns of mixed martial arts championships in his cabin.

The absolute last thing they needed was for a middle-aged satyr in his gym clothes waving his club around screaming "Die!" while they flew a Greek battleship into Roman territory.

Then the two blondes and the rest of the crew, went over the plan—and the twenty backup plans they'd made.

Everything seemed to be in order. Even the weird chill that Cassandra had been feeling since the ship launch had dissipated. Well, at least for now.

The warship descended through the clouds, but Annabeth seemed really nervous. She looked like how Cassandra felt on the inside.

"It's going to be okay" Cassandra breathed, mostly trying to convince herself. "It'll be fine."

Annabeth bit her lip. "What if the Romans panic at the sight of us?"

"They won't" She said, but she wasn't convinced.

The Argo II didn't look at all friendly. Being a two hundred feet long warship, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive blast so strong they could blast throw concrete... it probably wasn't the best form of travel for meeting a bunch of deadly demigods for the first time.

They'd tried to give them a warning. Cassandra had suggested that Leo send one of his inventions—a holographic scroll—to alert their connections within the camp.

She just prayed it gotten through.

Leo had wanted to paint the words WASSUP? with a large smiley face on the bottom of the hull, but both blondes had vetoed the idea.

Romans weren't exactly known for their amazing sense of humor.

But... too late to turn back now.

The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them.

Annabeth gripped one of the bronze shields that line the starboard rail. Cassandra stood beside her, trying to calm her nerves slightly.

She had bitten the inside of her cheek so hard, she could taste blood, and her fingernails were bitten down the quick.

Their other three crew mates took their places.

On the stern quarterdeck, Leo was rushing around like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. The fact that everything was controlled by a Nintendo Wii controller, did nothing to calm her nerves.

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

"Lower your weapons" She murmured. "We just want to talk."

Her charmspeak must've been strong, because Annabeth seemed to be considering following her orders.

She'd committed to her I-don't-care-about-beauty personality, and 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.