Here's the next chapter of The Mark of Athena. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Annabeth

After Leo used up almost all of the film in her video camera, declared himself supreme commander of the Argo II, and Piper using her cell phone to ask Millie, the wind spirit that also is Piper's dad's assistant, to deliver the message, Annabeth went out to the main deck to decompress. The air was damp and chilly from the moisture of the clouds and elevation, but Annabeth didn't mind. It felt good against her skin.

She leaned against the railing, staring out at the fluffy white clouds that surrounded the ship. She thought about her dream. Most of it was true, except for the end. She wasn't the one who had forgotten about the day Thalia turned into a tree; Luke was. It was one of the many small signs that Luke had a change of heart for the gods and Camp Half-Blood. Looking back at it, Annabeth hated herself for not doing anything about it. If she had talked to him about it then, maybe she could have saved him. He would still be alive…

Enough, she scolded herself. There's no helping it. He's gone. Life's gone on.

She focused on another haunting topic: how she fixed the ship's engine. It had been such a long time since she had last done it, not since she was seven. She remembered it as clear as day. One of her half-brothers had shattered his mother's precious, expensive vase. She had been so scared that she would be punished for what he did, like she always was, and just willed it to piece itself together so nobody would know what happened. And it did. She put it together in a matter of seconds with simply pure thought. But at the same moment, her stepmom had walked into the room. She screamed at the sight of the pottery shards piecing together by themselves and yelled at Annabeth. Her dad was dragged into the whole mess and, as he always did, he sided with his wife. Annabeth was locked in her room.

That was the night she had first ran away. She slept in dark alleys for a few nights, fending off monsters with the rusty hammer she had stolen from her dad. She lived on free samples from the local grocery store. Then Luke and Thalia had found her…

Stop! She thought. Stop dwelling on the past. Look forward. Forward!

She thought about the dream she had no more than a week before. It had been the first she'd heard from Percy in months! Grover claimed to have a similar dream.

She was so relieved to see him again, even though it was through a dream and he didn't seem to remember her. But he remembered now. That's what Tyson said. He's fine. So are all of the Romans.

Annabeth smiled to herself. She could already see him: his dark hair, Mediterranean skin-tone, those sea-green eyes, everything.

She lost herself in thinking about Percy. She remembered his annoying jokes, playing capture the flag with him at Camp Half-Blood, the blue cola he always drank at dinner.

You're going to have all that back, she told herself. You're going to see him today.

Suddenly, someone shoved something red in her face.

"What?" she exclaimed, stumbling backwards into Piper and Thalia. They caught her before she went tumbling across the deck.

Annabeth steadied herself. She looked down at the red birthday bag she was holding blankly.

"Happy birthday!"

She stared at her two friends, shocked. Her expression must have been good, because they smiled.

"We've been waiting for you to come down to the cabin forever," Piper said. "Thalia got fed up of waiting for you so we came to find you."

"How did you…"

"Know it was your birthday? Thalia told me."

Annabeth glared at Thalia. "Sly."

Thalia shrugged. "You deserve to celebrate your birthday. You're seventeen today, right?"

"Right."

"Then let me apologize for the card beforehand."

Annabeth raised an eye brow at her as Piper grabbed her hand. "Come on, we don't have a lot of time left. Rachel's waiting in the cabin."

When they entered the cabin, Rachel greeted them with a noise maker, blowing it in Annabeth's face. She laughed and swatted it away. Rachel laughed too.

Annabeth looked around the cabin. It was pretty ordinary, with five single beds with dressers pushed against the walls. There was a big porthole opposite the door where sunlight was shining through. One of the dressers had a huge brownie.

She felt her face go red. "You didn't have to do all this."

"Yes, we did," Rachel countered. She held out a box wrapped with gold wrapping paper. "Here, open this. It's from me."

Annabeth reluctantly took it from her. She sat down on one of the beds and gently began to unwrap it.

"You can just tear the paper," Thalia pointed out.

She pretended not to hear her. She pealed the tape away from the paper at one end and carefully slid what was in it out.

It was a book: Advanced Modern Architecture of the Twenty-First Century.

Annabeth couldn't help but smile; she loved the book already. She stood up and hugged Rachel. "Thank you so much!"

Rachel shrugged. "It's no problem. I remembered that you mentioned that you like architecture when we were in the labyrinth, two years back." She grimaced as if she were remembering the nightmare. "Well, you know, it just stuck in my mind, because it was a common interest. A rarity back then."

Annabeth felt a pang of guilt. Until about a year before, she had always picked fights with Rachel because she had liked Percy. She had sensed that Rachel did too and was scared that Percy had mutual feelings for her. Of course, Percy didn't get it. He was clueless.

Then Rachel became the new Oracle, which meant that she couldn't date. After that, they got along just fine, which just confused Percy even more.

She traced the title of the book with her finger. "Thanks," she repeated.

"Open the bag," Piper said. "It's from Thalia and me."

Annabeth did. She pulled out the card and opened it first to see a huge number 2 staring her in the face.

"Umm…"

"I was in a rush. We were tracking a few monsters all at once, so I pretty much ran in and grabbed a random card," Thalia explained.

"Understood. The giraffe on the card is cute anyway."

She put it aside and pulled a stuffed owl out of the bag. It stared at her with big, round yellow eyes.

"That's my gift to you," Thalia said, trying to hide a smile.

Annabeth wedged a finger into its plush beak. "Thanks Thalia. It's really cute."

Piper pointed at the bag. "There's something else in the bag."

Annabeth reached in again and pulled out a mega bag of chocolate candies.

"My dad sent them a few days ago," Piper said. "I arranged it through Millie. She was able to find time to let him go to the store and get it."

Annabeth suddenly felt guilty. She knew how busy her Piper's dad always was. "Piper, thank you so much, but you shouldn't have gone through all that trouble…"

Piper waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. My dad was more than willing to do it. I think he was thrilled when I asked him that."

Annabeth smiled. Piper and her dad didn't talk often, but their relationship was definitely improving. Something Annabeth was envious of.

Rachel walked over to the dresser and brought the brownie on it and brought it over. "It isn't a cake, but I bet it's just as good," she said as she held it out for her. "Make a wish."

Annabeth thought for a moment. Then she unsheathed her knife and sliced the brownie in half as she made her wish.

I wish that today goes perfectly for Percy, me and everyone else.

She sliced the halves in half and took the plate from Rachel. She offered it to Thalia. "Here, take one."

Thalia did. "Thanks Annabeth!"

She offered one to Piper and Rachel then took one for herself. The brownie was delicious; it was probably the best brownie she ever had.

She looked up at Rachel. "Wow, this is delicious. Where'd you get it?"

"Umm…" Rachel's face turned bright red. "I talked to Travis Stoll?"

She gaped at her. "You asked to steal it, didn't you?"

"Yeah…"

"From where?"

"The kitchen."

Annabeth continued to stare at Rachel. Then she smiled. "That's really nice of you, in a mischievous kind of way. Thanks."

Rachel smiled too. "You're welcome."

All of them were just finishing off the brownie when Leo burst into the room.

"We're almost there! You've got to see the view!"

Thalia stood. Her electric blue eyes were flaring. "This is a girl's cabin! Get out!"

Leo ignored her. "It's awesome! Come up before we get to low."

"You crashed a party so we could see California from the clouds?" Piper muttered under her breath.

Leo must have heard that. "Party? You call this a party? You're sitting on a bed eating a brownie!" He looked at Annabeth. "Happy birthday, by the way. Sorry that I crashed your party." He really emphasized that last word.

Annabeth sighed. "It's alright, and thanks."

Leo's gaze fell on Piper. "You might as well come up, beauty queen. You're supposed to get on the Romans' good side."

Rachel set down her napkin. "We're that close?"

"Yep."

Annabeth stood up. "We'll come."

"Cool. Come on." Leo dashed out the door.

The girls followed him up to the main deck where kids were starting to line the rails to get a first glimpse of the famous Roman camp: Camp Jupiter, as Jason had told them.

They found Jason sitting on a bench watching the other campers gawking at the sight of San Francisco. He seemed lost in thought, just as he had a few hours before when Annabeth found him in her secret spot.

Leo slapped him on the back, bringing Jason back to reality. "Hey, man. Wasn't the view awesome?"

"What's up with him and views?" Thalia muttered.

Rachel shrugged. "Who knows?"

Jason looked up at Leo, the shock still in his eyes. "Uh…I didn't look."

Piper slid onto the bench next to him. Annabeth felt a pang of sympathy for her.

It must be hard to see her boyfriend like this, she thought.

"You know, Jason," Piper said. "If you're nervous, don't be. Everything will work out. I promise."

Jason gave her a weak smile. "Thanks Piper. You're awesome."

Thalia walked over to him and held out her hand for her "little" brother. "Come on. Things will work out. You're not alone."

Something passed between them, some brother/sister empathy. Jason seemed to loosen up and took his sister's hand.

They walked to the railing. Annabeth could see why Leo was so excited about it; it was an amazing sight. The hills looked like they were in a beautiful painting, and the city was bustling with activity, somehow making it cheerful.

Then she caught sight of Mount Tam. A lump formed in her throat. She couldn't put her hatred for that place in words. To many bad memories lingered there: those of betrayal, pain, and confusion. Possession of a body, which led to death.

"Don't look at it," Thalia muttered to her. She looked up to see Rachel and Thalia casting her looks of empathy, sympathetic understanding.

She noticed Jason staring intently at the mountain. His eyes were far away, as if he were recovering some memory hidden far away (by Hera).

Leo gently shook his arm. "Hey, bro, stay with us."

Jason blinked. "Right. Sorry."

Thalia bit her lip. She was obviously worried. "Jason, you don't have to stay and watch the view. Maybe you should do something else."

"No, it's fine. I want to stay with you guys."

Rachel muttered something under her breath. The only word Annabeth caught was "shouldn't."

The rolling hills gave way to another town…or was it a city? This confused Annabeth. She knew the bay area well; there shouldn't be a city this close to San Francisco.

As the Argo II sailed closer, she realized that it wasn't an average present-day American city. It was an exact replica of Ancient Rome! Suddenly, Annabeth was in paradise. She couldn't wait to see the Coliseum up close…and the Senate House…and the marketplace.

Why are you thinking about architecture? She scolded herself. They have a city! With people, and families!

Annabeth was just about to open her mouth to speak when Jason let out a strangled gasp. Immediately, everyone looked up from the city to see what was the matter- an instinct that all demigods develop from experiences with monsters.

Jason looked horrible. His face was extremely pale and his eyes were wild, like he had just seen his worst nightmare.

"It- it's horrible!" He drew his sword. "The city- why are we attacking them? Stop!"

He started to climb over the railing, but Rachel and Leo pulled him back. "Are you crazy?" Leo yelped. "We aren't attacking your friends!"

Jason fought. "Let me help them! They're losing!"

Annabeth looked down at the city. There wasn't any battle pursuing below them. Yes, there were a few ruins from the previous day's battle, but the citizens were already working to fix the damages.

"What are you talking about?"

Jason managed to push Leo off him, but Rachel was still clinging to him. "Stop! You're hurting them! The city- you're setting it on fire! Stop it! Let me go!"

Rachel's grip slipped from Jason's arm but, luckily, Thalia was in between Jason and the rail. She put her hands on Jason's shoulders and half pushed/half guided him towards the bench he had sat on before.

Jason fought her. He yelled desperately, drawing attention from the other campers towards him. But Thalia was stronger. She didn't stop until she had her brother pinned down on the bench.

"Jason, listen to me," she said. Her voice quivered. "I don't know what you're seeing, but believe me when I say this: we're not attacking you're friends. We won't let anything hurt them. Calm down."

By this time, Jason was panting hard. He looked at his sister with fear-filled eyes and gave the smallest nod that could be seen to the human eye. Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped down.

Apollo medics from the crowd that had gathered around the bench rushed out to examine Jason. Chiron cantered through. "What's happened?"

Annabeth and Rachel explained as quickly and as best as possible. Chiron's expression was unreadable, but Annabeth saw deep concern in his eyes, mixed in with fear, like they had just confirmed a dark secret.

Jason began to groan. Will Solace stood and shook his head incredulously. "He's fine. It's like he's asleep." He turned toward Thalia. "Just take him to the infirmary. He should come to in a few minutes."

Thalia let out a deep sigh of relief. She had never let go of her brother the whole time. She stood, leaned her brother next to her and guided him away to the infirmary.

"I need to talk to him later about that," Chiron muttered as if to himself.

A thought popped up in Annabeth's head. "I never met with you to talk about –"

Chiron raised his hand. "It doesn't matter. It can wait."

Chiron trotted over to the rail and looked down. Annabeth did the same. They were descending in the forum. She could see kids piling out of the Senate House, and citizens gathering around the area, watching as the mysterious war ship came closer and closer.

Chiron called the order for everyone to get into their assigned positions. Campers scrambled away to their posts.

He put a large hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "We'll see our old friend soon enough, my dear. Patience is the hardest to find when time is little. Come along."

He turned to Piper. "You'll be fine, Miss McLean. Talk to them with confidence. There's nothing you can say that is wrong."

He gestured for Rachel and Leo to come with them and they headed towards the main cabin, each step closer and closer to Percy than Annabeth can believe.