Hey guys this includes part of chapter 1 for the Mark of Athena. I do not own anything, if I did, I would be Rick Riordan, and I'm not... sooo. favorite and review!
No one was prepared for the demigods reactions. Piper yelped and hugged Jason tighter. Hazel stifled a scream and clung to Frank for dear life, that is, until he burst into a weasel and shoved his head into his paws. Jason glared at the book with such intensity, the gods were afraid it would get hit by lightning. Nico no longer looked pitiful he looked downright murderous. If looks could kill, that book would've been in the deepest pits of Hades at this point. Leo burst into whitehot flames and slowly backed away from the book. Hermes, being on the receiving end of these looks, put the book on the floor and backed away slowly with his hands in the air.
"Woah guys. Calm down, it's just a book." said Hermes. "Just lets see what its all about." The demigods, one by one began to calm down, and once Leo extinguished himself, Hermes slowly approached the book again. "I don't see what the big deal is," he murmured as he picked it up, "it's just a book. Okay, so there's only one chapter?" he flipped through the 500+ blank pages of the book and a note fell out. "Oh, it says here that as the demigods tell their story, more chapters will show up."
"So should we begin by reading the first chapter?" asked Artemis, "Or let the demigods start?"
"I think we should read, and then answer any questions you may have about the book." said Frank quietly, "I mean, it makes more sense like that."
"Alrighty then," said a smiling Apollo, "Who wants to start?"
"I will." Said Hestia in her corner of the room. She then waved her hand and conjured a few seats and snacks for the demigods, before getting the book and returning back to where she was seated. "Alright, Annabeth I"
"Where is Annabeth?" asked Athena carefully, noticing for the first time that her daughter was no where to be found. The demigods all saddened and depressed again.
"We'll tell you after this chapter." said Leo to Athena.
Until she met the exploding statue, Annabeth thought she was prepared for anything.
"Huh?" asked Ares, "That sounds AWESOME."
She'd paced the deck of the Argo II, checking and double checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. She confirmed the white "We come in peace" flag was flying from the mast.
"Puny humanoids we come in peace." said Apollo in an alien voice. Artemis sighed and slapped him upside the head. He just stuck his tongue out at her and motioned for Hestia to continue reading.
She reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew and the backup plan and the backup plan for the backup plan.
Most important, she pulled aside their war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge
"Oh Gleeson..." sighed Dionysus.
and encouraged him to take the morning off in his cabin watching reruns of mixed martial arts championships. The last thing they needed as they flew a magical Greek Trireme into a potentially hostile Roman Camp was a middle-aged Satyr in gym clothes waving a club and yelling, "DIE! "
Everyone managed a smile and Apollo asked, "Do you ever need one?"
Everything seemed to be in order. Even that mysterious chill that she'd been feeling since the ship launched seemed to have dissipated, at least for now.
"What cold chill?" Athena asked narrowing her eyes.
The warship descended from the clouds, but Annabeth couldn't stop second guessing herself. What if this was a bad idea? What if the Romans panicked, and attacked on sight?
"Well, its not far from what actually happened." muttered Piper and Leo looked down at his feet.
"You know that's not what she meant." Hazel said reassuringly to Leo. He just attempted to smile at her in return.
The Argo II definitely did not look friendly. Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, flaming metal dragon for a masthead, and two rotating ballistae mid-ship that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete... Well, it wasn't the most appropriate ride for a meet and greet with the neighbors.
Hephaestus attempted a grin, that came out as a grimace. "Nice work on the ship mi boy." Leo looked startled, but returned the smile none the less.
Annabeth had tried to give the Romans a heads up. She asked Leo to send one of his special inventions, a holographic scroll, to alert their friends inside the camp.
Hopefully the message had gotten through.
"It did." said Hazel softly, remembering when she, Frank and.. Percy saw the message. Oh gods Percy... and Annabeth. I hope they're okay... She looked up at Poseidon and all she saw was Percy, and she teared up and looked away. Poseidon caught this and was confused. He didn't do anything to this girl in the future did he?
Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull -WASSUP? with a smiley face-
Apollo and Hermes high fived. "DO IT!" they both shouted.
but Annabeth had vetoed the idea.
Apollo grumbled. "Party pooper." All of the demigods glared at him briefly. Annabeth was a wonderful person.
She wasn't sure the Romans had a sense of humor.
Frank grumbled. He had a sense of humor, thank you very much.
Too late to turn back now.
The clouds broke around the hull, revealing the gold and green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them. Annabeth gripped one of the bronze shields that lined the side of the starboard railing.
Her three crewmates took their places.
On the stern quarterdeck Leo rushed around like a madman,
Leo chuckled softly to himself. He loved his ship.
checking his gauges and wrestling levers.
Most townsmen would have been satisfied with a pilot's wheel, or a rudder. Leo had installed a keyboard, a monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard and motion control sensors from a Nintendo Wii.
Hephaestus looked thoughtful. "Sounds interesting, kid, gotta give you that much."
He could turn the ship by pulling the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or, he could raise the sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast.
"Hmm. Demigods have ADHD? Nahhh, don't believe it for a second." said Hermes sarcastically.
Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD.
All the gods chuckled at this and Leo grinned. "And proud of it!"
Piper paced back and forth between the main masts and the ballistae practising her lines.
"Lower your weapons," She murmured, "We just want to talk."
Piper blushed.
Her charmspeak was so powerful the words flowed over Annabeth, filling her with the desire to drop her dagger and have a nice, long chat.
Aphrodite looked at her daughter proudly. "Good job Piper. Annabeth's a strong minded person."
All of the demigods looked saddened by this statement. She would need to be, where she currently was. Hestia, noticing the tense atmosphere began to read again.
For a child of Aphrodite, Piper tried really hard to play down her beauty. Today she was wearing tattered jeans, torn sneakers and a white tank top with pink hello kitty designs.
Maybe a joke, though Annabeth could never be sure with Piper.
Piper smiled softly to herself. It was a joke, a stupid one, but a joke none the less.
Her choppy brown hair was pleated down one side with an eagle's feather, and then, there was Piper's boyfriend, Jason.
Aphrodite squealed, and everyone held their ears. "It's just soo... CUTE!" Piper blushed again and Jason pulled her in closer and kissed the top of her head.
He stood at the bow, on a raised crossbow platform, where the Romans could easily spot him. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his sword. Otherwise, he looked calm for a guy who was making himself a target.
"We would never shoot at Jason." said Hazel with a fiery determination in her eyes.
Over his jeans and his orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, he donned a toga, and a purple cloak, the symbols of his old rank as Praetor.
Zeus frowned. "Old rank? Who took your spot?" All the demigods sobered up again.
"Percy Jackson did, father." Jason said with a sad look in his eyes. Poseidon looked proud and went to congratulate his son before he realized that Percy wasn't there.
"Hey where is Percy?" he asked. All of the demigods froze up again.
"We'll explain everything after this chapter." Nico said quietly. Poseidon tensed, where was Percy? Was he okay? Safe?
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.
Jason smiled at this description and Piper became slightly jealous at this description. Jason rolled his eyes at her and kissed the tip of her nose.
He'd grown up at Camp Jupiter, so hopefully his familiar face would make the Romans hesitate to blow them out of the sky.
Annabeth tried to hide it, but she didn't completely trust that guy.
Jason frowned. Annabeth didn't trust him? He felt, well saddened by this.
He acted… too perfect. Always following the rules, always doing the honorable thing. He even looked too perfect.
Piper growled slightly.
In the back of her mind, she had this snagging thought. What if this was a trick, and he betrays us?
Jason gaped open mouthed at the book, looking very offended.
What if we sail into Camp Jupiter and he says, "Hey Romans, check out these prisoners, and this cool ship I brought you!"
Jason stood up abruptly, "I WOULD NEVER!"
"She was just being careful, Jason." murmured Hazel, "she was going over every possibility in her head, like a daughter of Athena should." Jason, being satisfied with this answer, sat back down, rather sheepishly.
Annabeth didn't think that would happen, still, she couldn't look at him without getting a bitter taste in her mouth.
Jason frowned again. What was this, pick on Jason day?
Everyone laughed at the look on his face.
He'd been part of Hera's forced exchange program between the two camps.
"Oh." realization dawned on his face. "She's just okay, I get it."
All of the demigods were clued in now, leaving the gods in the dark again.
"Well that clears absolutely nothing up." said Hades frowning.
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS." screamed Ares, "WHERE IS THE WAR? THE VIOLENCE? THE WEAPONS?"
Frank looked revolted. "That's your dad." Hazel said while giggling at the look of disgust on Frank's face.
Without warning, Hera had plucked up Percy Jackson, Annabeth's boyfriend, wiped his memory and sent him to the Roman camp. In exchange, the Greeks got Jason.
"No need to sound bitter there Annabeth." Jason said, then realized his mistake, Annabeth wasn't there. The demigods all looked depressed again. Athena looked ready to explode. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HER DAUGHTER? WHERE IS SHE?
That wasn't Jason's fault, but every time Annabeth saw him, she remembered how much she missed Percy.
Tears began to run down Piper's face as she thought about the last time she saw Annabeth and Percy. She didn't even know they were gone until Nico had made it up to the ship and told them. Percy and Annabeth better be okay.
Percy, who might be below them right now. Oh gods, panic welled up inside her, she forced it down, she couldn't afford to get overwhelmed now.
Now Hazel joined in in Piper's cry fest. The gods exchanged another look. Something bad happened to them. was what they were interpreting.
'I'm a child of Athena,' She told herself, 'I have to stick to my plan, and not get distracted.'
'That's right.' thought Athena. smiling at her daughter's thoughts.
And then she felt it again. That familiar shiver, as if a psychotic snowman had crept up behind her and was breathing down her neck. She turned, but of course, no one was there.
"oooooh evil snowmen, THE WORLD IS ENDING!" shouted Apollo suddenly. Dionysus jumped about a foot in the air.
"WILL YOU CALM DOWN?" He screamed back at the god of the sun.
It must be her nerves.
"It wasn't." Leo, Piper, Jason, Hazel and Frank said. Athena was becoming more and more paranoid. WHERE IS ANNABETH. she wanted to scream, but she couldn't, she could control herself, she was a goddess.
Even in a world of gods and monsters, Annabeth couldn't believe a new warship would be haunted.
"Well believe it." Leo muttered.
The Argo II was well protected. The Celestial Bronze shields along the rail were enchanted to ward off monsters, and their onboard satyr, Coach Hedge, would have sniffed out any intruders.
Annabeth wished she could pray to her mother for guidance, but that wasn't possible now.
Everyone glanced at Athena, and she frowned. Why can't she pray to me? and, WHERE IS SHE?
Not after last month, when she'd had that horrible encounter with her mom, and gotten the worst present of her life...
Athena tensed. She didn't remember an encounter with Annabeth. But wait, the book title, The Mark of Athena. Did I really? DID I GIVE HER THAT? oh gods...
The cold pressed closer.
Athena growled. WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?
She thought she heard a faint voice in the wind, like laughter. Every muscle in her body tensed. Something was about to go terribly wrong.
"She couldn't have been more right." All of the demigods mumbled and the gods grew tense. They knew that something bad had happened in Camp Jupiter, but they didn't know the extent of the damage. Athena was ready to explode.
She almost ordered Leo to reverse course. Then, in the valley below, horns sounded.
The Romans had spotted them.
"DUN DUN DU-" began Apollo, only to be interrupted by a furious, worried Athena.
"WHERE IS ANNABETH!? I DON'T CARE IF THE CHAPTER ISN'T OVER. TELL. ME. NOW." Athena said dangerously calm, her gray eyes blazing ferociously.
ANNNND Thats the end for this chapter, hope you liked it! review and tell me what you think.