A r G o

Chapter two: Not exactly friendly

"What?!" A sudden pulse of shock raced through Leo's body, and he stared at the girl, who was staring intently at the scrawl upon her wrist. Blinking her copper-gold eyes, the girl held her wrist out for the son of Hephaestus to study. Forcing the words into the correct order, Leo gasped. Just as the girl had said, the italic writing spelled out on single, shock-inducing word.

Argo

"You look confused." Stated the so-called Argo, rocking backwards and forwards on the heel of her metal shoes, causing a clinking sound to resonate around the engine room.

"No kidding." Leo grumbled, staring at the ground. Suddenly a theory began to form in his mind, and his eyes widened as he murmured to himself.

"No… That would be impossible…" He trailed away as the sound of metal sounded, and Argo came closer, head tipped to one side inquisitively.

"What would be impossible?" She asked innocently, tapping out a pattern on the bronze plating of her skirt. Leo shook his head, but Argo folded her arms and looked at him, annoyed.

"It's obviously something!" Leo didn't answer, so she reached to her side and flicked out the pistol, weighing it between her hands. The son of Hephaestus took one look at the gun, and sighed.

"Fine. It's just, this ship is named the Argo II, and your name is Argo. The ship is made of Celestial bronze, which your dress is plated with, and your helmet looks exactly like the dragon masthead. I-I-I think that you may be the Argo II, but as a human." Argo's eyes widened in surprise, but then she let out a loud snort.

"That's ridiculous." She commented, and Leo felt a spark of annoyance flare inside of him, causing his hands to smoke; irritated.

"It's a bit too much of a coincidence, don't you think?" he countered, but Argo gave him a disdainful look, and flipped her gun back into its pouch.

"I think your lying." Leo was fast losing patience with the copper-haired girl, and marched over to her. Grasping her wrist, he shuddered for a second at how cold it felt.

Just like metal… His brain told him. He shook away the thought, and walked forwards, pulling a complaining Argo after him.

"Come on. I'll show you that I'm telling the truth." Leo spoke without looking back, then let out a gasp of pain as Argo slammed her metal-coated foot into his shin. Recoiling from the girl, he shot her an angry look, the sneer on her face infuriating him. Studying her as she glared at him, he had to admit that she was pretty, smooth waves of copper-brown hair falling down her back, the slight dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose, the determined look on her face.

Shut up, brain! He snapped to himself, jerking his gaze away from Argo, who gave him a smirking grin.

"You were staring." She pointed out, arms folded. Leo looked away, slightly embarrassed, but covered it up.

"You have soot on your face." He stated, and not giving her time to reply, he made his way towards the stairs, gesturing for Argo to follow him.

"Come on. We don't have all night." Grumbling to herself, the girl stalked forwards, the Festus hat slipping slightly so that the 'eyes' caught the light and gleamed ruby. Bronze shoes clicking on the stairs, the golden-eyed girl trudged after Leo, constantly muttering mutinous words under her breath. The son of Hephaestus could have sworn he heard her debating whether to shoot him or not, and walked slightly faster. As they emerged above deck, Argo lost her threatening demeanour, and gazed around in wonder, taking in the size of the bunker, marvelling at the lights glinting on the scale-like weave of her dress, taking in the ship in front of her.

"T-t-this is me… I believe you…" She whispered breathlessly, fingers drumming out a pattern on her skirt again. Leo focused in on the sound, and his eyes widened.

Short tap, Long tap

Short tap, Long tap, Short tap

Long tap, Long tap, Short tap

Long tap, Long tap, Long tap

She was using Morse code. Leo strained to translate, and shock frazzled through him again.

A R G O. A R G O. A R G O.

Over and over again, she tapped out the sequence, until she realised that Leo was watching. Shooting him a scorning look, she forced her fingers to be still, and gazed towards the end of the ship, where Festus sat. Hand rising to touch her helmet, she walked cautiously up to the metal dragon, who swung his head around. Leo flinched as Festus opened its mouth, afraid that he would blast Argo, but instead he let out a long, crooning noise, eyes blazing with recognition. Extending her hand, Argo moved towards Festus, attempting to place a hand upon his head in greeting.

He'll burn her! Leo opened his mouth to shout a warning to the girl.

"Argo, he's-" He was cut off as the golden-eyed girl rested her hand upon the Celestial bronze creature's muzzle, showing no signs of pain.

"He's what?" Leo couldn't reply. Astonishment shuddered through him, and he ran over to the place where the girl stood, snatching her hand away from the dragon's head and studying it closely.

Nothing.

Where there should have been burns from the heat emanating from the bronze creature, there was only normal flesh, still unnaturally cold. Pulling her hand away, Argo shot Leo a hateful glare, anger intensifying her eyes to a shade of vivid, pure gold.

"Get off me!" she shouted, before turning her attention back to Festus, who clicked happily to Argo in Morse code, the two engaged in deep, silent conversation.

"I hate to disrupt your little bonding session, but I really need to get you to Chiron." Spat Leo, forcing as much venom into his voice as possible. Eyes narrowed angrily, Argo tapped a swift goodbye to Festus, who let out a sad creak.

Bronze girl is nice though! Festus complained in a series of crestfallen clicks and squeaks. A surge of jealousy swept through Leo, and he glared at Argo, then turned around, arms folded, feeling smoke curl angrily from his hair. Argo skipped ahead to join him, smirking.

"Jealous that Festus likes me better than you?" She teased, earning a Death-glare from the son of Hephaestus. Shrugging it off, the copper-haired girl followed Leo out of the bunker, but shied away from the entrance as she saw the rain lashing down outside.

"Scared of the rain?" he taunted, as Argo stood nervously in the protection of the rocks, staring at the ground.

"N-no…" she stammered nervously.

"I-it makes my hat rusty." Leo snorted, walked forwards, seized the girl's wrist and tugged her out into the rain. Instantly, her hands flew above her head in an attempt to shield her hat from the water streaking down from the sky.

"What's so special about this hat anyway?" Leo queried, leaning forwards and plucking the dragon helmet from her head. Panic flared in the girl's eyes, and she staggered violently to one side, slipping in the mud, crashing into a tree. Throwing herself back to her feet, she made a lunge towards Leo, grasping at the hat with her hands but sailing past it, missing by almost thirty centimetres. Off balance, she slipped again and crashed to the ground, lashing out blindly, choking sounds emitting from her throat. Startled, Leo forced the Hat back towards her, and she slammed it back onto her head, eyes wild as she staggered back to her feet, a murderous look on her face.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" she shrieked, tossing her hair over her shoulder, eyes burning intense gold, a smear of mud wiped on one cheek. Leo backed away, holding his hands up in surrender, genuinely afraid of the wild-eyed girl. She didn't seem to be calming down, and took a menacing step forwards. Leo's eyes widened again as he noticed something through the rain.

Smoke.

Smoke was curling from Argo's body, twisting into the air, flickering from her arms and hands, heat radiating from her. She placed her hand angrily up against a tree to push past it, then let out a gasp of horror as a hissing sound came from the wood. Snatching her hand away, Leo could see the blackened, smoking scorch marks her touch had left, burnt deep into the wood. Argo's eyes were now fearful, wide and frightened as she stared down at her hands, which were now glowing faintly, smoking lightly.

"What's happening?!" she demanded to Leo, who dropped his position of surrender and outstretched a hand, touching Argo's hand lightly. Even through his usual inability to feel heat, even he felt uncomfortable touching the intense fiery warmth of the golden-eyed girl's arm. Argo pulled her arm back, muscles tense with fear, but Leo only smirked, studying her, admittedly impressed.

"It looks like you have a set of powers of your own."

A/N: How was this chapter? Not my best, I admit, but it was fun to write! I've decided how this story will go now, so no more suggestions! Review; they are very much appreciated!

Storm signing out!