Chapter Four
Leo and Nyssa were up there and they were bending over a map. They had slightly nervous looks on their faces, which probably meant we were going to be arriving at Camp Jupiter at any time. I walked up behind them silently, looking at the map. I was right. Probably ten minutes until we landed. Which meant...
I dashed outside, papers flying off the table in the breeze I made. I flew into the air and looked at the ground below the ship. It was covered in demigods, and was that ... Wow. They even had the Lares out in case they had to defend the camp. What made me laugh was the partly destroyed camp.
Apparently, all repair efforts had halted when they saw the giant flying Greek warship hovering over them. Then I saw the archers arrows were all trained on me, the unexpectedly flying demigod in the air. I yelped and let myself plummet to the deck, catching myself just as the deck was in my face, literally. I sighed and sat up. Jason was nearby and was looking at me like I was crazy. Looks like Lord Apollo was going to be right for once.
" Umm, why did you just plummet from the sky like you were set on fire by Leo?" Jason asked as I got to my feet.
" Maybe because your friends down there have at least fifty archers with anything flying in their sights." I grumbled while pulling my hair back and piling it onto my head.
I looked over the railing and saw that the Argo II was close enough to the ground to let me make out individual faces in the sea of half bloods below.
There was a tall lightly tanned guy with black hair like mine and sea green eyes. He was flanked by two other demigods. They, like the rest looked nervous, but the guy looked apprehensive and almost excited. Percy.
I started, then looked frantically for Annabeth over my shoulder.
" Annabeth, you've GOT to see this." I yelled and Annabeth ran over to the railing and looked over. She looked nervous, but also a little relieved. Almost like she was glad for the challenge. I smiled, so was I.
" Annabeth, I saw Percy down there." Annabeth's eyes widened as she scanned the crowd of Romans. Her face broke into a huge smile as she spotted him. I grinned as we landed on the marble paved road.
I made a split second decision, without thinking of course. I grabbed a startled Annabeth and jumped over the side of the ship towards where I had last seen Percy.
Considering all the things I've seen in life, Percy's reaction to finally seeing Annabeth took the cake for being totally unromantic yet slightly heartwarming. I mean, Annabeth tackling Percy in front of a heavily armed enemy wasn't what I expected. The kiss and hugs that followed were more predictable.
The whole landing went fine, or so they tell me. But I wasn't around to witness it because I was too busy trying to unite Annabeth with her boyfriend, and I really wanted to meet my brother.
Well, except I didn't tell him yet. I thought as I walked to the roman version of a meeting house.
It was a big marble pavilion with a gaping hole in the roof. As Chiron and I stepped inside, I saw that despite the roof, the whole place was an example of roman architecture. The marble columns practically screamed prestige, glory, honor yada yada yada. Good in theory, but boring to talk about. Lares, Greeks, and Romans filled the great space. I noticed Jason talking to a girl with black hair and a purple T-shirt and cape. Piper was looking on with dread. I smiled, the drama these days.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a pasty faced, rail thin teen that had jeans covered in... animal stuffing? Creepy. I thought as I took a seat like everyone else.
After the formalities, which I dutifully ignored, I tuned back in to what the girl with the black hair was saying.
" You say that you Greeks are here to help us fight Gaea, but who's to say you can help us at all?" she said. I didn't blame her, considering she could be saying much worse things about us. I was startled. I was grouping myself with these Greek demigods. Unsettled, I listened to what Annabeth said to that comment.
" Well, I would like to think that both sides are equally matched, and we can work together to bring the gods together to defeat Gaea and the giants."
The pale kid smirked and spoke
" Evenly matched? Not even. We outnumber you any day. It wouldn't be a challenge at all to beat you in battle." He DIDN'T just say that. I couldn't restrain myself from rising to speak.
" Then you wouldn't mind if we challenged you all to war games tonight, would you?" The kid, Octavian I think, opened his mouth to fire a retort.
" The region wouldn't shame itself to fight Greeks." Octavian said smugly. I smiled sweetly.
" Of course, of course. You wouldn't want to lose again, would you?" I restrained myself from laughing. Octavian had totally set himself up for that.
Grumbles of discontent and amusement arose from the crowd.
" Oh, and what if we win?" Octavian said. He looked red in the face but the underlying embarrassment fuelled my retort.
" Alright. If you win, we leave the prophecy to you Romans. If we win however," I grinned " You have to agree to cooperate with us and tell me personally that I am right and you are wrong." I played out the terms.
A chorus of shouts all urging to agree oppressed Octavian until he nodded. Then I added the last bombshell.
" Oh, and we get Percy. You can have Jason back." With that, I rose and strode out of the room, leaving the raucous noise levels behind me.
*. *. *.
The camp was enormous, like most roman things. The bathhouse and armory called out to me, but instead I went to where the area for the games was. It was massive with large battlements and siege towers placed strategically all over the place. The place where the legions eagle would be defended was atop a hill that overlooked the whole field. It was set up perfectly for my plan. And this one was sure to go accordingly.
I hadn't anticipated the rather large upset I caused for the camp half bloods. I heard quite a bit of complaining from a girl named Clarisse. Something about being outnumbered. Well, I had a solution for that.
" Alright alright already. Do you guys think I brought us into this without having a plan?" I said. A chorus of "Yeahs" and "Maybes" filled the air. Ahh, the unbelieving I thought to myself.
" Of course I didn't. We are all the best Greek demigods in existence. We have an awesome warship at our disposal. And," I paused dramatically" We have an ingenious plan made by yours truly. Now, who won the Trojan war?" Percy, who was catching on, said
" The Greeks, obviously." I grinned at him and continued.
" And don't forget the Titan war. Now, are there any questions?" I asked, looking at the group of now ready Greek warriors. I saw Annabeth smile and mock raise her hand.
" Yes Annabeth?" I humored her.
" Yeah. What's the plan then?" She asked. I felt my face grow serious.
" I'll be happy to tell you all as soon as I tell Percy something important."
*. *. *.
I'd like to think that Percy took the news of me being his sister quietly, but alas. His shouting "What in Hades?" kind of ruined the illusion. I looked at his disbelieving face, watching him take in out nearly identical eyes. I smiled when I saw the recognition dawning on his face. Thankfully, the others had left us alone for the moment.
" So, you're my sister?" Percy said haltingly. I grinned and nodded.
" Don't worry. I'm not really overbearing. Well, maybe a little." I conceded. Percy cracked a smile and spoke again.
" So, what does this plan of yours involve?" He said, trying not to sound curious and epically failing.
" Well, you'll just have to hear it along with everybody else." I said as I strode away towards the Argo II to lay out my super awesome plan. At least, I thought, it's super awesome to me.
I walked into the bridge of the Argo II. A sight of nervous, arguing demigods didn't raise my confidence in the slightest, but I steeled myself to speak.
" Listen up! I know you are worried about their numbers, the weapons, and the training. Who wouldn't?" I paused and looked at the now even more dejected faces around me. Clarisse glared at me. If looks could kill...
" But none of that matters. Listen, Percy knows their style of fighting. He'll tell you what to expect. They have no idea how we fight. They've only seen Percy. So what we need is a strategy that they totally wouldn't expect to be faced with."
I could see that they were starting to see my genius, and Clarisse even stopped glaring. I let a small smile come over my face for that victory alone.
" Now this is what we need to do. We have to spread our forces carefully. So we need a contingent of our forces taking the front lines. They'll have the heaviest fighting, led by Clarisse while the other contingent will come from behind to clear the exit ramp. As for Percy and I, we will be entering by the sky." I said while everyone processed the plan. Annabeth looked doubtful.
" And you don't think the Romans won't see you zipping over their heads?" I grinned wider and replied:
" Au contraire. Piper knows what would keep us out of sight."She of all people would see the cunning of it. Piper smiled and spoke up
" You guys are going to use water to mirror the sky to make look like nothing is there, aren't you?" I smiled and nodded at her.
Then Chiron finally put in his two cents.
" Well planned Miss Aura. I'll be looking forward to seeing how it plays out on the battlefield." I grinned and nodded. Everything would be determined on the battlefield. I watched the crowd of demigods, who were now choosing weapons and talking about where they were going to be positioned.
My smile slipped off my face when I noticed how they didn't need me anymore. I sighed and walked towards my cabin.
I opened the door and laid on my bunk. I turned onto my side and closed my eyes.
They were going to need me later, and I would need all the energy possible. I thought just as I drifted off to sleep.
*. *. *.