sky blue ● jason grace

not

"The gods haven't been very good at following that order," Frank noted. "Besides, if the gods have gone schizophrenic like Hazel said—"

"And Leo said," added Leo.

Frank scowled at him. "Then who knows what's going on with the Olympians? Could be some pretty bad stuff out there."

"Sounds dangerous!" Leo agreed cheerfully. "Well...you guys have fun. I've got to finish repairs on the hull. Coach Hedge is gonna work on the broken crossbows. And, uh, Annabeth—I could really use your help. You're the only other person who even sort of understands engineering."

Annabeth looked apologetically at Percy. "He's right. I should stay and help."

"I'll come back to you." He kissed her on the cheek. "Promise."

They were so easy together, it made Piper's heart ache.

She couldn't help but wonder about trivial things like romance. She knew they were on a quest to the death blah, blah, blah, but Piper was always the type of person to live life to the fullest. First, Jason and Daria had gotten in the way of that. But seeing them now, she had to admit they were meant for each other.

Somehow, that just made everything worse.

"Don't worry Annabeth," Daria announced gleefully. She was drinking what looked like hot chocolate. "Around here, we're used to saving his ass."

Frank slid his bow off his shoulder and propped it against the rail. "I think I should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for Roman eagles."

"Why a crow?" Leo asked. "Man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into a dragon every time? That's the coolest."

Frank's face looked like it was being infused with cranberry juice. "That's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. Because it's hard, and you'd hurt yourself. Turning into a dragon isn't easy."

"Oh." Leo nodded. "I wouldn't know. I don't lift weights."

"Yeah. Well, maybe you should consider it, Mr.—"

Hazel stepped between them.

"I'll help you, Frank," she said, shooting Leo an evil look. "I can summon Arion and scout around below."

"Sure," Frank said, still glaring at Leo. "Yeah, thanks."

Piper wondered what was going on with those three. The boys showing off for Hazel and razzing each other—that she understood. But it almost seemed like Hazel and Leo had a history. So far as she knew, they'd met for the first time just yesterday.

Hazel turned to Percy. "Just be careful when you go out there. Lots of fields, lots of crops. Could be karpoi on the loose."

"Karpoi?" Piper asked.

"Grain spirits," Daria said. "You don't want to meet them."

Piper didn't see how a grain spirit could be so bad, but Daria's tone convinced her not to ask.

"That leaves four of us to check on the mile marker," Percy said. "Me, Dars, Jason, Piper. I'm not psyched about seeing Mr. D again. That guy is a pain. But if you guys are on better terms with him—"

"Yeah," Jason said. "If we find him, I'll talk to him. Piper, it's your vision. You should take the lead."

Piper shivered. She'd seen the four of them drowning in that dark well. Was Kansas where it would happen? That didn't seem right, but she couldn't be sure.

"Of course," she said, trying to sound upbeat. "Let's find the highway."

***

Daria glared at her boyfriend. "Never have I ever stolen Hannibal and attached balloons to his harness to see if he could fly like Dumbo."