A figure moved silently along the sand of the beach. It was hard to see, but he could just make out the dark hull of the ship he was heading for.
He knew sneaking aboard was risky, but he was confident in his abilities.
He could hear faint movement on the ship as he came near enough to see the two guards.
The teen almost chuckled. Only two guards? This would be too easy.
Waving his hand, he made a set of stairs appear and ascended them silently. Manipulating the mist around him, he strode right past one of the guards, a young man with multi-colored eyes.
The boy made a face at the sight of the son of Aphrodite. He didn't like the goddess.
The other guard, a girl with choppy hair that had braids twisted into it, turned sharply, her eyes searching the ship.
He froze for a moment, wondering if she had seen him. He was confident in his abilities, but this girl didn't quite seem normal.
Her multi-colored eyes slid over him, but she opened her mouth to speak.
He moved quickly, tossing a small Mist-ball over the railing. It made a splashing noise as it hit the water.
The daughter of Aphrodite whirled, her hand going to her dagger.
He glided past her, mentally congratulating himself on his success so far.
Finding the door to the belowdecks area, he layered on the mist so the guards would neither see nor hear the door opening.
Slipping into the even darker inside of the ship, he let the mist around him drop, keeping the stuff swirling around his ankles and covering his footsteps there.
He slipped quietly down the hall, looking for the right door.
Hearing snoring coming from behind one, he pushed it open. The oiled hinges made no sound.
A man's figure lay on the cot in the corner. He couldn't tell if it was his intended target, so he ventured farther into the room.
The man rolled over with a grunt. The intruder froze, squinting in the darkness.
When it became apparent that the man hadn't woken up, he crept forward to see who it even was.
Black hair and tanned skin.
The boy scowled. This was not his target.
He slunk out of the room, continuing down the hall to try and find the one he wanted.
There was another door on his left, and he pushed it open to peer inside.
Two girls lay in the cots. There was a third bed that was empty, he assumed it was the girl on deck's bed.
Continuing down the hall, he checked the next room.
Three boys. A quick inspection of the room told him that none of these teens were his target.
As he backed out of the room, he heard a door open behind him. Panicking, he threw up a shield and turned as slowly as humanly possible.
A skinny, tanned boy with wildly curly brown hair that was sticking up at all angles stood in the hallway. He stretched and yawned widely before walking right for the invisible intruder.
The teen stepped out of the way as descreetly as possible, making sure that the sound of his boots was muffled by the other boy's shuffling feet.
Once the sleepy boy had disappeared around the curving hallway, the boy continued on, making a beeline for the final room.
Pushing the door open, he grinned as he saw that the only person in the room was the one he was after.
Turning to the door, he pushed it shut and conjured out of mist two wedge shaped pieces of wood. He shoved them under the door to keep the meeting private.
He waved away the mist at his feet and his boots made quiet clunking sounds as he approached the man's cot.
He was only feet away when the electric blue eyes shot open.
The intruder surged forward, pulling the man to his feet and shoving him against the wall with surprising strength. A dagger materialized in his hand and he pressed it against the blond boy's throat.
"Make a sound and I kill you right now."
Fear flashed through the boy's eyes and he nodded nervously.
"You wouldn't remember me, you were too busy killing and burning my family." The teen with the dagger spoke quietly. "But you're going to pay for it."
"How?" The boy croaked.
"Well, Jason Grace, you're going to do what I want. You're going to kill Thalia. And then I'm going to kill you."
Jason began to squirm, trying to get away, but his attacker pressed the knife harder to his throat.
"I'll never work for you, especially against Thalia." Jason hissed.
The boy chuckled. "Oh, I think otherwise." He waved his hand in front of Jason's face.
The blond boy's head dropped to his chest as the intruder stepped back. "Look at me." He ordered.
When Jason's head came up again, his eyes flashed green before returning to a clouded over blue.
The intruder chuckled. "Still think you'll never work for me? Let's go."
Jason marched ahead of him as he covered the two of them with mist. They passed the boy who had left the room earlier, and the intruder sent a small amount of mist back so that he wouldn't notice that his roommate wasn't there.
When they reached the deck, the boy took a deep breath of the clean night air.
"Alright, Grace, let's get going." He muttered.
The wind picked up and the boy grabbed onto Jason's shoulder, being dragged along with him.
On deck, the daughter of Aphrodite turned at the noise of the wind.
"Jason? Who's there?"
She received no answer.
[A/N flying away flying away]