§Ron§

First of all, I was extremely proud at my capability to keep silent, because in my head I was screaming a lot of things Hermione would not approve of had I said them aloud. Who did these people think they were? They threw the words "mortal" and "monsters" around casually, as if they were some brave invincible heroes. After Leo left though, we all sort of stood around awkwardly. I decided to do some sleuthing (partially because I desperately needed practice, and I was also really bored). Grover's shoes were at a really weird angle- like he put them on in a rush. Annabeth had finally put away her dagger, and I immediately relaxed. Maybe they were on our side, but something was weird about them. Whatever. I'd leave the rest of the sleuthing to Hermione.

Ginny tried to break the ice with some small talk. "Hi. I'm Ginny. Um, so, what's your favorite food?" Wow. Impressive.

Everyone stared at her.

"Grover, you go first," said Annabeth, poking him in the shoulder. I heard her whisper, "Your favorite mortal food, Goat-boy."

He looked uncomfortable. "Uh… pizza. Everyone likes pizza, right?" He glanced at us, and Ginny nodded reassuringly.

Luckily, that Leo boy came back. "Well don't just stand there! It takes more than one person to power a ship."

And so until sundown we each worked to get us to wherever we were going. Leo split us up so I was stuck with Grover. He probably didn't want to give us much time to plan together. To do what, I have no idea.

"Hi." Said Grover nervously. We were on flood duty, which basically meant hold buckets your hand, and start throwing clouds back out of the boat if it started to "flood". I glanced over at the others. Percy and Harry were supervising, and talking amiably amongst themselves, Annabeth and Hermione were taking turns looking through an ancient looking telescope, looking for our destination and glaring at each other loathingly every now and then, and Leo was "steering" which meant flirting with Ginny. God, I wanted to kill that guy. Only my best friend can do that. Coach Hedge and Jason were nowhere to be seen.

"Er… Hello." I said, keeping a close eye on Leo, and resisting the strong urge to pull out my wand and blast him to pieces. "So, why are you going to New York? And wouldn't it be easier to take a plane?"

Grover paused for a moment before saying, "Leo insisted we take the ship, so he can show off. We're heading to the Empire State building. Sightseeing, you know…"

I wasn't convinced by his answer. We continued on for another half hour in silence. I had hated Leo since he first spoke to us, and now I had all the more reason to despise him- his ship didn't flood. At least that would have given us something to do. Eventually Leo called us for a break, but afterwards we never got back to work. Harry, Hermione, Ginny and I hung out in one of the empty cabins, where we found a spare deck of cards. Ginny figured out how to charm them so we could play Exploding Snap while we whined about how miserable we were on this mission.

§Annabeth§

As soon as those mortals were out of sight I grabbed Percy. "What were you thinking!" I yelled, "They obviously don't know where they're going, as soon as we get to New York they're going to follow us! We may as well give the mortal world a print-out map of how to get to Mount Olympus!"

"Those girls are pretty hot…" Leo said, as if that settled the matter.

"Not as hot as you." Said Grover. They both rolled over laughing, Grover kicking his furry hooves in the air. Once that redhead boy he had to work with had left, he had shaken off his feet and ran around the deck, singing, "I'm freeee!". Honestly.

"Oh my gods, guys, can't you take anything seriously?!" I shouted.

"I don't know, Annabeth. It wasn't just a coincidence that they apari-thingymagigyed on to our ship…" Said Percy, the sane one.

"Who cares about what a stupid mortal man with a royal-sounding name told them! It's not like he's not an oracle!"

"But Annabeth, how can we be sure they're mortals? What about that thing they did with their sticks?" Grover paused, and even in my rage I could swear I saw him drooling when he said the word "sticks". "Not to mention how they somehow appeared on a ship in the middle of the sky?"

I frowned. "That makes them even worse. For all we know, they could be monsters. We have to figure out who they are, and until then we have to be very, very, cautious."

"Oh, come on. They have pretty girls. Pretty girls are never evil," Leo said. I glared at him, not even wanting to remind him of all the monsters he had fallen for with their disguises. He kept talking anyway.

"Besides, what happened to 'innocent before guilty'? Not like I'm a son of Astraea or anything. No offense, but I'd hate that. I mean, I'd not even be able to snitch from the cookie jar, those half-bloods have such discipline. Man, I'm never gonna be a lawyer," Leo babbled. Now he was going to go on forever unless we shut him up.

"I think what Annabeth is trying to say, Leo," Percy gave him a look, "Is that, for lack of a better phrase, she'd rather be safe than sorry. I agree. Although, whoever they may be, they would probably be less likely to attack if we are friendly."

Normally I wouldn't let Percy get the last say, but I left it this time. I don't know why. One thing was for sure- the boys could go on becoming besties with our strange guests, but I wasn't going to be fooled that easily.

§Ginny§

The whole time, Hermione was extremely quiet. I thought back to how composed she was on the deck, and how she knew those weird flight attendants. I looked at Harry and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. "Okay, Hermione, spill it. You know something about what happened to us."

She sighed. "Okay...Well, you might not remember this, but in our sixth year I was really interested in Greek mythology, and studied it in my spare time. In one of the books, I found something odd written in the margins: 'Discuss with Demeter- Olympus, New York'. I found that a bit odd, obviously, so I looked into this. I found a few articles about it from some old Quibblers, but I didn't believe them. I guess these last hours have proven me wrong. You see, it turns out wizards aren't the only magical race out there. That crazy woman on the plane, and I'm guessing some of the people on this ship, since they obviously aren't wizards yet they can make a ship fly, are something called demigods. They're the children of a Greek god and a mortal, a regular person. Yes, they are real, Ron, and stop making that ridiculous face. For example, take how Leo was able to fix the ship? That's because he's the son of Hephaestus, the god of fire and blacksmiths. Each demigod has special powers or skills they inherited from their parents. And, to explain that note I found, I learned that over time, the gods have moved with civilization, and now all the magical sites that were in Greece are in the United States. According to calculations, Mount Olympus, the home of the Greek Gods, currently rests above the Empire State Building."

We all gaped at her. Ron spoke first. "Okay, so let's say this is all true. That still doesn't explain why they attacked us on the plane, and what those flight attendants turned into."

"Your last question is easiest. If the Greek Gods are real, it is safe to guess all those creatures from the myths exist, too. Those stewardesses were actually Mormon and Lamia, ancient Greek monsters. As for the other part, I don't know for sure why they attacked us, but I don't think it was a coincidence it happened as we were about to search for Lord Malum."

"You mean they work for Lord Malum?" I asked, unsuccessfully trying to keep my voice level and calm.

"Yes, my guess is that he knows about the half bloods, and has recruited both them and several wizards to do his bidding. This means he will be practically twice as powerful, and twice as hard to defeat. Of course, we can play that game, too."

"Are you saying that we have to work with those crazy teenagers? No way. Saving the world is our thing," Ron said selfishly.

"I think it's a great idea, Hermione," Harry said, trying to stop the fight before it started, "I'll ask Percy tomorrow. For now, we need all the sleep we can get."

And that's why I love my boyfriend.

§Leo§

After our so-called meeting we went to the mess hall to eat. Tonight, the meal was on me. Literally on me. It was just our luck that the magical food service was malfunctioning, and I was too lazy to fix it, so back to our good old friend, Leo's magical tool belt. I decided to grill some hot dogs and hamburgers (and tofu dogs, of course) by lighting up the stove in the kitchen, and then asking Annabeth to do the cooking. That was a major mistake. She started grumbling about feminist rights and how just because she was a girl she was expected to do all the cooking and sewing and stereotypical girl stuff. She wasn't assured when I told her the only reason I was trusting her with the food was because I had to go help the ladies- sorry- monster ladies, according to Annabeth.

I ran down the hall with cabins on either side, checking each one for our guests. I found them in the last one and declared, "Dinner is served. Or almost served. So, I will lead you to the mess hall. By the way, that means the cafeteria."

They stared at me. I was used to that- sometimes it took a while for people to become accustomed to my awesomeness. But then I realized how warm my ears felt. I was angry at myself for being bashful, and then I remembered what happens when I have strong emotions. I put my hand up to my ear. Sure enough, tingling flames were there. Uh oh. I quickly urged myself to put it out and pretended like nothing had happened, even though it had. "Right this way, ladies and gentlemen, it's Leo Time!" I guided them to one of the tables. Now the others were coming out of Annabeth's cabin. I grabbed Percy.

"Dude, tiny accident, like, I was on fire. In front of the mortal-monsters. Please don't tell anyone else, because I do not want to be attacked by owls again. Do you think that they noticed? What should I do? Do you think the Mist might have worked on them?"