I DO NOT own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ The Heroes of Olympus, they belong to Rick Riordan. This is kind of what I think the Mark of Athena will be like. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to review, favorite, and subscribe! UPDATE It's been a while since I worked on this, so everybody might want to give it another read! I re-read it, and was totally unhappy with it, so it's undergone some literary surgery.
As the warship neared Camp Jupiter, Annabeth paced the length of the cabin/ headquarters. A table was set in the middle of the large room with chairs all around it, but none of the others attempted sit still. Piper fidgeted next to Jason, who was staring out the porthole. Leo would've been bouncing off the walls in such a confined space, but he was up top steering the ship. Clarisse was fingering Maimer, her electric spear, like she was going to skewer somebody with it any second. Will Solace was oiling his bow and checking his first aid kit, making sure it was stocked with plenty of ambrosia and nectar. Other cabin leaders occupied the room, but no one spoke, not even Conner and Travis Stoll, who for once were dead serious.
Suddenly, Lacy, from the Aphrodite cabin, burst into the room. She had been posted as lookout and messenger for Leo. "We've spotted them! Demigods are all over the hill, all wearing purple shirts!" she cried.
Annabeth wasted no time in running up onto the deck. She bolted over to one of the telescopes mounted at the side of the ship and peered through it, heart thumping. She strained her eyes to see one demigod in particular, but their faces were still blurry.
A hand clapped on to her shoulder, and Annabeth turned to see Clarisse, her eyes soft. "Don't worry. That punk of yours is going to be fine."
Annabeth nodded, too scared to speak. She had waited for eight horrible months to see Percy again, and now she wasn't sure. What if he found another girlfriend? What if he didn't remember her? What if…
Annabeth shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then went over to Leo, who was steering the ship carefully to avoid crashing. "Leo, how much longer until we land?"
Leo shook his head. "It's more of a matter of where we're gonna land. I don't think we'd make a good impression if we squashed a bunch of campers," he replied.
In that moment, a large bird swooped up (yes up, they were flying through the sky) and landed on the deck not two feet away from Annabeth. A note was tied to the bird's foot, and it impatiently waggled its ankle. Annabeth untied it from the bird and read it aloud to Leo. "Follow the elephant."
"What in the name of Zeus are they talking about? What elephant?" Leo exclaimed. He was tired and stressed, Annabeth could tell.
She pointed to the bottom of the hill, where a large grey blob was standing. Annabeth supposed this was the said elephant. "There! Follow it!"
Grumbling, Leo steered the ship over the elephant as it galloped (do elephants gallop?) through the buildings, leading to the biggest piece of land available, what Annabeth guessed was the Forum. The elephant waving his trunk, as if signaling to the Greeks, and politely moved out of the way.
"Hold on tight!" Leo yelled. The campers, who had all assembled on the deck grabbed onto the railing as Leo went into a steep dive. Festus's head, which had been repaired and attached to the prow of the flying warship, snorted triumphant flames as the belly of the ship bounced on to the ground. Ropes were thrown over the side of the ship, and Annabeth was one of the first off. Her palms were sweating and her heart pounded erratically. The Roman campers were now pooling into the fields. On the back of a pegasus was a girl, about sixteen or seventeen, draped in purple and gold. She approached warily on horseback before sliding off and coming to greet Annabeth, who stood at the head of the enormous crowd of Greek demigods. Two dogs, one pure gold and the other pure silver, flanked the girl.
Reaching out to shake Annabeth's hand, the girl smiled, her eyes scanning over Annabeth coldly. "I am Reyna. Welcome to Camp Jupiter."