Chapter 1:

*The battle at CHB was raging on. The Greeks and the Romans (Nico/Reyna/Hedge as well) are trying to hold Gaia off until the seven can make it back*

— Third person —

AUGUST

On the way back to Camp Half Blood from the Acropolis in Greece, the crew had to make another pit stop to repair the Argo II. The battle at the acropolis had sent flames into the sky and all around, where the Argo was resting; the Greek media had brushed it off as a nearby dormant volcano's eruption. But now, the ship was damaged in a sense near destruction; even Leo didn't really know how to repair such a mess - not that he would admit it.

They could only travel about 50 kilometers each time before the Argo's only remaining engine broke down in a huff of exhaustion. Each time it broke down, Leo would repair it in a day or two. Still, there was no way they'd make it back across the ocean in that state.

On the third day of their third pitstop, Leo was adamant on repairing the Argo once again, and then setting off once more. However, Piper was indignant this time on not getting on that ship again without it being properly fixed.

— Piper —

"No, Leo! It's the like the 5th time you've said that", I cried. "You're gonna' think that you fixed it, and then we're gonna go another few hours and it'll break down! Again."

"I promise!", he pleaded. "I'll fix it for real this time!"

"Yeah well, do you know what's wrong?" Jason asked. I didn't recall him coming with me to argue with Leo, so I guessed I'd been screaming pretty loudly and had made a scene.

"Well, not exactly… but-"

"Well then we've gotta find another way, Leo. This isn't working", I said calmly. I kind of felt bad for screaming at him for so long. Still, I was glad that I had gotten the last word, because Leo didn't argue with me after that.

Me, Jason, and Leo went to the others and called a Mess Hall meeting. I found it kind of stupid since we were on land anyways, but Percy insisted that we kept our traditions. I sat down next to Annabeth who was having a heated discussion with Hazel about being "done" with stereotypes. Sweet Hazel. She was nodding along with her calm and understanding face, despite having heard this rant over a thousand times before.

"Everyone, listen up! As we all know, our ship has been having major problems and we can't possibly fly across the ocean in this mess. We're going to drown if we do." I ignored the smug remark coming for Percy. It was something along the lines of "Well, you guys are". Still, I knew that even if we did drown, Percy would figure out a way to save Annabeth. "So, what do we do?", I asked, bringing an end to my short-lived speech.

"Easy", Percy scoffed. "Just buy plane tickets."

"Yeah, well, we don't have the money for that. Also, even if we did, and if we did reach the US again, where are we going to put the Argo?", Annabeth refuted. "We can't just leave it here."

"Jeez, Annie. It was just a suggestion."

"Yeah, one which wasn't going to work out very well for you anyways", she argued, referencing to Percy's bad luck when in air.

"Then why don't we just IM Chiron and ask him to send us pegasi?", Jason asked.

"Hey, hey, hey", Percy interrupted. "Making them travel half the Earth is going to exhaust them so much! Don't you have a heart?"

"Fine, then what do we do?", Jason asked.

Annabeth sighed. "Look, I don't know. But I'm gonna go call Chiron and ask him about what we should do. But for right now you guys, stay around here and try not to get lost as we come up with a solution", she ordered.

— Annabeth —

I was planning on telling Leo to stop trying to give temporary fixes to the Argo, because I knew that it would keep on breaking down if we didn't fix it permanently. Piper beat me to it, and I was kind of glad because it broke my heart to see Leo so bummed. Still, I knew that it was necessary, especially because I really wanted to get back home.

I threw a drachma into the temporary fountain and attempted to IM Chiron. Apparently the line was busy the first time, but it worked the second time. I was a little pissed that I had to give another drachma. I then waited until a hologram of Chiron's face appeared in the fountain.

"Hey, Annabeth. When are you guys coming?", he asked, looking very stressed. "We're trying to hold her off", he began, his face cringing when the should of a loud explosion came through. "Her army we can handle, but since she controls the ground… it's too much."

I cringed with guilt. "I'm sorry Chiron. We'll be there as soon as we can get there."

"Don't worry, Annabeth. I have faith in you. But what is taking you guys so long to come here?", he asked.

"Right", I said with tension. "Well, the Argo is broken. We can't travel over the Atlantic in these conditions. What do we do? Percy is indignant on not making Pegasi fly us back."

Chiron smiled fondly, remembering Percy and is large heart for equestrians. "Well, the boy has got a point there. I also doubt you guys have enough money or the paperwork needed to get on a plane." I shook my head, followed by an understanding nod from him. "I would have tried to reason with the gods to get you guys back here, but strangely enough, we've lost all connection with them. In fact, where exactly are you?"

"According to Leo and his self-made GPS, we're somewhere in the suburbs of the UK", I responded.

"Hmmm…Oh wait!", he said with surprise. "I know some people in that area who can help you guys fix the ship."

"Cool", said Leo, coming into the room. "So are they like, your old students?"

Chiron winced and said hesitantly, "No, not exactly. You'll understand when you find them."

I frowned. I didn't like the idea of going and asking for help to fix a flying ship from strangers. "Where will we find this friend of yours?"

Chiron chuckled. "Oh, there are many of them", he said, putting emphasis on the word 'many'. "Just try to find your way to the city and look around. Be careful and observant, and I have no doubt that you will find them in no time. But when you do find them, remember to hurry up because we really need your help here."

I was quite confused and didn't know why Chiron couldn't help us himself. "Chiron, why can't you help us?"

He sighed. "I knew you'd ask, but my dear, you've got to understand. We are very busy here at the moment while trying to repair everything and cut our losses while fighting Gaia at the same time."

I nodded in understanding and then gave Chiron a steady nod of the head. "We'll go find these people and handle everything", I said, putting on a fake facade of confidence. Truth was, I'd learnt and mastered the fake look of confidence quite a while ago. It turned out to be very helpful when telling parents that 'No, I wasn't homeless' back when I had ran away from home.

— Leo —

Truth be told, I had enough with people like Chiron telling me to do things and go on big quests but not giving me any guidelines. Yes, I was independent, but I would have appreciated to have just a little more info, you know? Maybe like a who or even what I'm looking for, or where we're gonna find them. Also, my promise to Calypso was always in my mind, just hanging around and creating a dark void inside of me - I didn't want break another promise. Not that I told anyone except for Hazel about it.

Annabeth and I decided to call another Mess Hall meeting to tell the crew our plan. Frank had his arm around Hazel, protectively. Piper was once again complaining about why our meeting had to be inside the ship if we could have held it on the grassy fields outside. I told her to suck it up and listen.

"Hey guys! I'm back! Bet you missed me and all, but we don't got time for your praise. According to Chiron, we gotta go to the city - or at least somewhere people actually live - and then look for suspicious people who may help me fix the ship", I said, summing up me and Annie's conversation with the old centaur.

Everyone looked back to Annabeth for conformation as if I wasn't as much of a reliable source as she was. Humph. "Yeah, pretty much", she shrugged. "We are going to have to go on foot though to reach the city."

"Nooo… not really", I said. "The ship can also travel on land with its wheels. I installed them as a back-up option which we never really had to use. But hopefully they're not broken as well."

"Well guys, you heard Leo. We've got to get moving", said Jason. "Quickly", he added, the tension in his eyes quite apparent.