𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐴𝑔𝑟𝑜 𝐼𝐼
𝙲𝙰𝙼𝙿 𝙷𝙰𝙻𝙵-𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙾𝙳 was in a frenzy.
Everywhere you looked, demigods were running around, shouting orders, carrying packages. Coach Gleeson Hedge swung his baseball bat around, threatening demigods who tried to take it away.
Chiron stood at helm of the Argo II, overseeing all the activities.
The Argo II was a flying Greek trireme with one sail and a few banks of oars. It was 200 feet long with a hull and a flaming dragon head- festus- at the top of the mast. There were two repeating crossbows that can fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete. It had oars that can change into spears and could be retractable and automated. A keyboard monitor and Wii remotes were used to control the ship.
Below deck, there were rooms for each of the cabin crew, a mess hall- styled after Camp Half-Blood with walls that were enchanted to show real-time footage from Camp Half-Blood, and stables for pegasi.
Annabeth, Jason, Piper and Leo said their goodbyes, hugs were exchanged, and they made their way up to the deck.
Lorna, who was already on the deck, walked over to Chiron.
Chiron handed Lorna a pouch made of canvas. It was light and had a rope attached to it. "It's a waterskin. It charmed to automatically fill itself with water."
Lorna tied the rope around her waist. "Any last advice for your favorite pupil?" Lorna asked with a cheeky smile.
Chiron lips turned upwards, but his eyebrows remained stitched together. "For the past 5 years, you've been astounding. You and your brother are the strongest demigods I've ever taught. And these few months without Percy, you've proved what an amazing hero you are. I remember when you first came into camp, and how scared you were for your first quest, and now, here you are." Chiron sighed wistfully. "I'm sorry that this had to happen to you."
"It's not your fault," Lorna reasoned.
"Two prophecies," Chiron said. "Twins of the Big Three, involved in two great prophecies," Chiron shook his head. "The fates must love you two a lot."
"Or maybe we're just the best one they had?" Lorna said, trying to look on the bright side of things.
"I'm sure you are." Chiron said with a sad smile.
"𝙷𝙾𝚆 𝙳𝙾 I use this?" Leo wagged the scroll in front of Lorna's face.
"Let me eat in peace, Leo!" Lorna complained, eating another mouthful of her pasta.
"I want to send them a heads-up, so they don't blast us out of the sky." Leo said.
At the term 'blast us out of the sky,' Annabeth stiffed.
"Just open up the scroll and it'll start recording." Lorna told Leo.
Leo opened up the scroll, facing Lorna, Jason, Piper, and Annabeth- who were eating.
"Hey!" Leo exclaimed. "Greetings from your friends at Camp Half-Blood, et cetera. This is Leo. I'm the..."
He looked off screen and yelled: "What's my title? Am I like admiral, or captain, or-"
Piper yelled back, "Repair boy."
"Very funny, Piper," Leo grumbled. He turned back to the parchment screen. "So yeah, I'm ... ah ... supreme commander of the Argo II."
"No, silly, I'm supreme commander of the Argo II." Lorna said.
"Anyway, we're gonna be sailing toward you in about, I dunno, an hour in this big mother warship. We'd appreciate it if you'd not, like, blowus out of the sky or anything. So okay! If you could tell the Romans that. See you soon. Yours in demigodishness-
"Oh my Gods, Leo," Lorna groaned. "I told you not to say that."
"You aren't the boss of me," Leo said.
"She's the supreme commander of the Argo II," Jason reasoned. "We all have to listen to her."
"You're whipped bro."
Jason and Lorna both flung their pasta at him.
With pasta in his hair, Leo said, "We look forward to seeing you. I promise that no pasta will be thrown at you. Peace out."
𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙰𝙱𝙴𝚃𝙷 𝙿𝙰𝙲𝙴𝙳 the deck of their flying warship, the Argo II, checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. She confirmed that the white "We come in peace" flag was flying from the mast. She reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew- and the backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan.
Lorna knew Annabeth was nervous. Because they were flying a warship into New Rome, if the Romans misunderstood them, they would blast them from the sky and attack them and Annabeth wouldn't be able to see Percy.
And Lorna was like: Chill, Beth. I don't think the Romans are colour blind. They can clearly see the white truce flag we put up.
The warship descended through the clouds. Too late to turn back now. The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them.
Lorna's four crewmates took their places.
On the stern quarterdeck, Leo rushed around like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would've been satisfied with a pilot's wheel or a tiller. Leo had also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast. Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD.
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 was so powerful, the words flowed over Lorna, filling her with the desire to have a nice long chat. For a child of Aphrodite, Piper tried hard to play down her beauty. Today she was 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 with an eagle's feather.
Then there was Jason. He stood at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, where the Romans could easily spot him. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his golden sword. Otherwise he looked calm for a guy who was making himself a target. Over his jeans and orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he'd donned a toga and a purple cloak- symbols of his old rank as praetor. With his wind-ruffled blond hair and his icy blue eyes, he looked ruggedly handsome and in control- just like a son of Jupiter should. He'd grown up at Camp Jupiter, so hopefully his familiar face would make the Romans hesitant to blow the ship out of the sky.
Jason had been part of Hera's forced "exchange program" to introduce the two camps. Hera, 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, Hera had plucked up Percy Jackson, wiped his memory, and sent him to the Roman camp. In exchange, the Greeks had gotten Jason.
And so, for the past 8 months, Jason had been living at Camp Half-Blood, doing activities with Lorna and sitting with Lorna. Not because they were siblings, but because they were children of the Big Three. Since for the past century, the Big Three didn't have a lot of demigod children, children of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades did activities together, ate together etc.
After spending so much time with each other, Lorna and Jason formed a... bond. They're personalities matched; they were constantly shooting snark remarks at each other, having silly conversations. Lorna couldn't remember a single conversation they had where they were both serious.
Additionally, the two exchanged a few kisses here and there. After about 6 months of bickering, Jason suddenly cupped Lorna's face, taking her by surprise. She was even more surprised after Jason placed his lips on hers, stealing her first kiss. When they were alone, they would squabble, and it would often lead to a make out session.
No one knew about it, after all, they weren't official.
Lorna looked down from the spot at the quarter deck. She had thought flying on Festus' back for 3 days would've eliminated her fear of heights, but standing on a flying warship, several hundred feet above the ground was really making her nervous.
Or maybe it was the fact that Percy was somewhere below them right now.
Then, in the valley below, horns sounded. The Romans had spotted them. Lorna thought she knew what to expect. Jason had described Camp Jupiter to her in great detail. Still, she had trouble believing her eyes.
Ringed by the Oakland Hills, the valley was at least twice the size of Camp Half-Blood.
A small river snaked around one side and curled toward the center like a capital letter G, emptying into a sparkling blue lake.
Directly below the ship, nestled at the edge of the lake, the city of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. She recognized landmarks Jason had told her about- the hippodrome, the coliseum, the temples and parks, the neighborhood of Seven Hills with its winding streets, colorful villas, and flowering gardens.
She saw evidence of the Romans' recent battle with an army of monsters. The dome was cracked open on a building she guessed was the Senate House. The forum's broad plaza was pitted with craters. Some fountains and statues were in ruins.
Dozens of kids in togas were streaming out of the Senate House to get a better view of the Argo II. More Romans emerged from the shops and cafés, gawking and pointing as the ship descended.
About half a mile to the west, where the horns were blowing, a Roman fort stood on a hill. It looked just like the illustrations Lorna had seen in military history books- with a defensive trench lined with spikes, high walls, and watchtowers armed with scorpion ballistae. Inside, perfect rows of white barracks lined the main road- the Via Principalis.
A column of demigods emerged from the gates, their armor and spears glinting as they hurried toward the city. In the midst of their ranks was an actual war elephant. Lorna wanted to land the Argo II before those troops arrived, but the ground was still several hundred feet below. She scanned the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Percy.
Then something behind her went BOOM!
The explosion almost knocked her overboard. She whirled and found herself eye to eye with an angry statue.
"Unacceptable!" he shrieked.
Apparently he had exploded into existence, right there on the deck. Sulfurous yellow smoke rolled off his shoulders. Cinders popped around his curly hair. From the waist down, he was nothing but a square marble pedestal. From the waist up, he was a muscular human figure in a carved toga.
"I will not have weapons inside the Pomerian Line!" he announced in a fussy teacher voice. "I certainly will not have Greeks!"
"You don't have to worry," Lorna said. "We're all citizens of America!"
Jason shot Lorna a look that said, Girl, I love you, but I've got this.
"Terminus," he said. "It's me. Jason Grace."
"Oh, I remember you, Jason!" Terminus grumbled. "I thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of Rome!"
"But they're not enemies- "
"That's right," Piper jumped in. "We just want to talk. If we could-"
"Ha!" snapped the statue. "Don't try that charmspeak on me, young lady. And put down that dagger before I slap it out of your hands!"
Piper glanced at her bronze dagger, which she'd apparently forgotten she was holding. "Um...okay. But how would you slap it? You don't have any arms."
"Impertinence!" There was a sharp POP and a flash of yellow. Piper yelped and dropped the dagger, which was now smoking and sparking.
"Lucky for you I've just been through a battle," Terminus announced. "If I were at full strength, I would've blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!"
"Hold up." Leo stepped forward, wagging his Wii controller. "Did you just call my ship a monstrosity? I know you didn't do that."
"Let's all calm down." Annabeth raised her hands to show she had no weapons.
"I take it you're Terminus, the god of boundaries." Annabeth said. "Jason told me you protect the city of New Rome, right? I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of-"
"Oh, I know who you are!" The statue glared at her with its blank white eyes. "A child of Athena, Minerva's Greek form. Scandalous! You Greeks have no sense of decency. We Romans know the proper place for that goddess."
Annabeth clenched her jaw. "What exactly do you mean, that goddess? And what's so scandalous about- "
"Right!" Jason interrupted. "Anyway, Terminus, we're here on a mission of peace. We'd love permission to land so we can- "
"Impossible!" the god squeaked. "Lay down your weapons and surrender! Leave my city immediately!"
"Which is it?" Leo asked. "Surrender, or leave?"
"Both!" Terminus said. "Surrender, then leave. I am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! Do you feel that?"
"Wow." Leo studied Terminus with professional interest. "You're wound up pretty tight. You got any gears in there that need loosening? I could take a look." He exchanged the Wii controller for a screwdriver from his magic tool belt and tapped the statue's pedestal.
"Stop that!" Terminus insisted. Another small explosion made Leo drop his screwdriver. "Weapons are not allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerian Line."
"Isn't that a dog breed?" Lorna asked.
"City limits," Jason translated.
"And this entire ship is a weapon!" Terminus said. "You cannot land!"
Down in the valley, the legion reinforcements were halfway to the city. The crowd in the forum was over a hundred strong now.
Lorna scanned the faces and...oh, gods.
She saw him. He was walking toward the ship with his arms around two other kids like they were best buddies- a stout boy with a black buzz cut, and a girl wearing a Roman cavalry helmet. Percy looked so at ease, so happy. He wore a purple cape just like Jason's- the mark of a praetor.
"Percy," Lorna breathed out. "It's Percy! Annabeth, LOOK!"
Annabeth gazed downwards. "Leo, stop the ship," Annabeth ordered.
"What?"
"You heard me. Keep us right where we are."
"But-"
"Stop the ship, Leo." Lorna said. "I'm the supreme commander of the Argo II and I command you to stop this ship."
"Aye, aye, captain," Leo pulled out his controller and yanked it upward. All ninety oars froze in place. The ship stopped sinking.
"Terminus," Annabeth said, "there's no rule against hovering over New Rome, is there?"
The statue frowned. "Well, no..."
"We can keep the ship aloft," Annabeth said. "We'll use a rope ladder to reach the forum. That way, the ship won't be on Roman soil. Not technically."
The statue seemed to ponder this. Lorna wondered if he was scratching his chin with imaginary hands.
"I like technicalities," he admitted. "Still..."
"All our weapons will stay aboard the ship," Annabeth promised.
"Except for my ring. It will always return back on my finger, no matter what." Lorna raised her hand.
Terminus sneered at her.
"I assume the Romans- even those reinforcements marching toward us- will also have to honor your rules inside the Pomeranian Line if you tell them to?" Lorna said.
"Of course!" Terminus said. "Do I look like I tolerate rule breakers?"
"Uh, guys..." Leo said. "You sure this is a good idea?"
"It'll be fine," Annabeth said. "No one will be armed. We can talk in peace. Terminus will make sure each side obeys the rules."
She looked at the marble statue. "Do we have an agreement?"
Terminus sniffed. "I suppose. For now. You may climb down your ladder to New Rome. Please try not to destroy my town."