CHAPTER 6

Fate Picks the Music, Human Shuts his Cakehole

The Hunting Ground, 5 o'clock in the evening….

Jason picked up his phone and unlocked it. Should I? He thought to himself. I should not.

"Do it, you idiot." His sister Thalia slapped the back of his head.

"What if it's a bad decision?" he asked her, worried.

"Well, it's your dream, if Annabeth wants to have a good time on her own for a while, then so can you, it's not a big deal, Jason. Do it, or I will." Thalia commanded him.

"Alright, I'll book the tickets for France."

Percy Jackson's apartment, New York….

Percy packed the last of his stuff in his bag and sat down on his bed. Tomorrow will be his big day. He took a deep breath and told himself that all will go well. He will prove himself and get his dream job. If he manages to succeed, his mom will be so proud of him. Only thinking of her makes him smile like a five-year-old. He will do this for her.

Annabeth Chase's apartment, Sacramento, California…

Annabeth packed her suitcase for the next day. Her mom sat beside her, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to do this mom, we can barely afford it." Annabeth sighed.

"Your salary can. And I still have the money I saved for your college, which you didn't use because of your full ride, so let's use it now. I owe you atleast this much, love. Besides, you ought to travel alone atleast once before you get married. I went to a village near my home in Greece too, before your father and I got married." Her mom replied, rubbing her back.

Annabeth noticed how much older her mother looked when she was relaxed and not sitting between board members. Her wrinkles seemed more prominent, her hair had become greyer, her dark circles deeper, but what marked the difference between Minerva, the owner of Pallas Architects, who is known for her steely nature, and Athena, Annabeth's mother, an immigrant from Greece, was how her eyes became noticeably fonder and softer when she looked at her daughter.

"Well, I guess I could use a break." Right now, they were just a mother and a daughter, not two women who could now define the word 'compromise' better than most folks.

Piper McLean's apartment, New York City…

Piper sat on her couch waiting for the cab to come and pick her up. She idly checked her Instagram, but her nerves were getting the best of her, she shut her phone and stuffed in her pocket. Piper kept tapping her foot on the floor and couldn't ignore the rush of excitement flooding her mind. She couldn't wait to hop off the plane after landing in France and the very thought of the car ride to Burgundy was filling her with bliss. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, imagining scenes of the beautiful town of Burgundy to calm herself, but it only served in making her feel even more excited. Her phone pinged as if just to interrupt her. She opened the message she has just received. It was from the cab driver who was supposed to pick her up. Piper squealed in delight. Her awesome journey was about to begin.

10 AM the next day, New York City coast…..

Annabeth climbed the platform to the cruise liner. The name of the ship was Princess Andromeda. It was a beautiful white cruise liner, with approximately eight levels and tasteful decoration. A crewman came to her rescue and helped her haul her bags up.

"Thank you so much." Annabeth smiled at the guy.

"You're welcome ma'am." The blond haired man smiled back at her. "Please show me your ticket so that I may check and tell you your room number."

Annabeth handed him her ticket and he checked her details and gave her the directions to her room. A lobby boy took her luggage to the room so that she could explore the boat for a while. Her room was on the fourth level so she could go there after enjoying the summer sun for some time.

An hour later, when Annabeth had explored the entertainment level, the food level, and even that goddamn swimming pool level, she decided to go check her room. The hallway was white with a plush red carpet on the floor. The room's door had a 6 written on it in a stylish font, and the inside was even better than the outside. The room had a basic red, white and brown décor, with a cherry red comforter on the crisp white linens of the bed on her left, and a dark walnut cupboard right beside the door, a small table and a chair of the same colour, on the wall facing the door and a flat screen television on the wall facing the bed, and all walls were a pleasant white. Her luggage sat neatly near the foot of her bed.

Annabeth plopped down on the bed, took off her shoes and sent a message to her mom, Thalia and Jason that she had reached the boat safe and sound. She logged in to the ship's Wi-Fi and scrolled through her emails idly. When her eyes started to droop and the jet lag started catching up with her, she shut off her phone and decided that it was time for a nap.

12 noon, the same day, New York City coast….

Percy strolled in on his Princess Andromeda, the ship he was about to captain. He was already in his uniform, a crisp white shirt, tapered white trousers, shining black shoes and a captain's cap. He received a couple of sighs and dreamy looks from a few lady passengers who looked his way, and a small smirk was now plastered on his face.

He made his way to the main control room to check and cross check all the controls, and when he was satisfied, he decided that the ship was in perfect condition. He started chatting up with his fellow sailors, getting to know a couple of them, and he found that he already had a few favourites. The twins Connor and Travis Stoll were really witty and funny guys. Charles, his second in command was a sensible and cool person, with whom Percy instantly struck a chord. He then met with the ship's doctor, a really warm guy named Will Solace, and his assistant, Bianca Di Angelo. Percy was sort of surprised to find so many friendly and warm people aboard. He decided that it was rather good; at least his journey would be pleasant one.

After a couple of hours of chatting, cross checking, and tending to his duties in general, Percy decided to explore a little bit. He ended up on the swimming pool level, saw the bar and immediately started chatting up the bartenders. The swimming pool level was the top most level, with no ceiling, and glorious sunshine shining all over the place, except the bar, which was under shade. Right opposite from where Percy was standing, a woman climbed up the stairs, her slim, athletic legs carrying her gracefully. She had blonde hair in sort of messy princess curls, but she carried them well. She was wearing an orange sundress and black sunglasses. Those sunglasses were suiting her lightly tanned, high, royal looking cheekbones very well.

Percy soon realized that he was staring. He blushed and quickly averted his gaze from the young woman, but a tad bit too late. The young woman had already caught him staring, which he was unaware of. As he quietly sipped his beer, she came up and stood right next to him. He looked again, just to be sure it was her, and saw that she was already looking at him with steely grey eyes, now uncovered. Percy was transfixed. Her eyes seemed to cut right through him. The young lady cocked an eyebrow at him and proceeded to order something for herself. Percy quickly looked away, suddenly very interested in the label of the beer bottle, embarrassment flooding his mind.

Somewhere to his right, he heard a sigh. He turned to look at who it was, and found the pretty blonde looking right back at him. "You know, it's natural for adolescent males to be attracted to beautiful women. It's okay." She said with a pitiful expression, patted his back and left with a not so discreet roll of her eyes.

Percy was left dumbfounded. Never had any girl owned his ass like that since Piper did in eighth grade. He was twenty five, with a track record for being a good flirt, if not the best one. "Need ice for that burn, brother?" asked one of the bartenders, Katie Gardner.

"Thanks. I'll pass." He murmured into the rim of his beer.

Jason sighed as he let his head hit back on the head rest of his seat. The booking of his tickets has been a close call, and he was lucky find one seat in the Business Class. He did plan to land in Paris, and after that, he didn't know where he'd like to wander to. Everyone seemed okay with his plan, as long as he didn't get himself lost, which wasn't easy, considering internet and GPS. Besides, he's twenty five, a big boy. He can take care of himself.

He closed his eyes and let himself have a moment to breathe. To his right, he heard some commotion. Peaceful moments never last long, do they? He asked himself. He opened his eyes, only to see a girl struggling with placing her luggage properly in the luggage cabin. Jason got up and cleared his throat and said, "May I help you with it, ma'am?"

She turned around and gave him the most beautiful and disarming smile imaginable, and said, "Oh yes please, if you don't mind that is."

"No problem," he said as he proceeded to pick up her rucksack, "Always ready to help beautiful ladies." That flirtation was unexpected. He felt like slapping himself for saying that. The girl he helped, a brunette with kaleidoscopic eyes and he hair messily braided, cocked an eyebrow at that.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"Na, it's okay. I found you cute too, that's why I let you help me. Otherwise, I perfectly capable of doing it myself too." She replied nonchalantly.

Jason was left dumbstruck. Wow. This one's pretty straightforward. He thought to himself. She extended her hand and said, "I'm Piper. You?"

"Jason." He replied while shaking her hand.

A/N: Sorry for the late update. I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you'd like your questions answered, post them in the reviews below. I'll answer them in future chapters.