anti hero - percy jackson ²

xvi. float

"we had fun, huh?"

After sending Annabeth off on a deadly quest, she wasn't exactly in the mood to sit at the riverfront and eat a panini, while the waiter silently judged her for being American.

So instead, she ran back to the ship to let everyone know what had happened.

Well...she tried to run. But between her curse, exhaustion, and the unfamiliar city, she ended up just walking at a slightly faster pace than usual.

She interrupted Jason and Piper having a romantic picnic in the park, but seeing as it was Piper, she didn't exactly care.

They must've known that something was wrong, as a few minutes later, they were gathered on the deck, as Cassandra explained everything that happened at the River Tiber.

"So Annabeth was kidnapped on a motor scooter" Piper summed up, "by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn."

"Well, not kidnapped, per say" Cassandra said. "But I have a bad feeling..." She took a deep breath, trying not to explode. "Anyway, she's gone. I know that I shouldn't have let her go, but—"

"You did the right thing" Percy assured, squeezing her hand. "Annabeth needs to do this by herself. She's going to be okay."

"Besides" Piper cut in, "Annabeth is tough and smart. She'll be fine."

Their words did nothing to calm that sense of dread in her gut. "I guess you're right. But...Tiberinus said we had less time to rescue Nico than we thought. Hazel, Frank, and Valdez still aren't back yet?"

Piper checked the time on the helm control. "It's two in the afternoon. We said three o'clock for a rendezvous."

"At the latest" Jason said.

Cassandra pointed at Piper's dagger. "Tiberinus said that your dagger could help us find Nico's location."

Piper bit her lip. "I've tried. The dagger doesn't always show what I want to see. In fact, it hardly ever does."

"Please" The blonde said quietly. "Just try again."

She didn't need to use any charmspeak. The fact that she was even asking Piper for anything said enough. It said that she was desperate.

"Fine" Piper sighed, and drew her dagger.

"While you're at it" said Coach Hedge, "see if you can get the latest baseball scores. Italians don't cover baseball worth beans."

"Shh." Piper studied the bronze blade. The light shimmer, and a loft apartment filled with Romans appeared. A dozen of them stood around a dining table as Octavian talked and pointed to a big map. Reyna paced next to the windows, gazing down at Central Park.

"That's not good" Jason muttered. "They've already set up a forward base in Manhattan."

"And that map shows Long Island" Percy said.

"They're scouting the territory" Jason guessed. "Discussing invasion routes."

Piper concentrated harder. Light rippled across the blades. Cassandra could see ruins—a few crumbling walls, a single column, a stone floor covered with moss and dead vines—all clustered on a grassy hillside dotted with pine trees.

"I was just there" Cassandra said. "It's in the old Forum."

The view zoomed in. On one side of the stone floor, a set of stairs had been excavated, leading down to a modern gate with a padlock. The blade's image zoomed straight through the doorway, down a spiral stairwell, and into a dark cylindrical chamber like the inside of a grain silo.