A/N: ok, before this chapter starts I'm just going to remind you that I am not going to write down every little scene if I don't plan on making changes to it. So scenes like Frank coming to Annabeth for help with the Chinese handcuffs and her argument with Athena still happen, just not on screen. That being said, this will jump right into the events at Charleston following page 226 onwards. So, enjoy.
Annabeth
That night, Annabeth slept without nightmares, which just made her uneasy when she woke up- like the calm before a storm.
Leo docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the sea wall. Along the shore was a historical district with tall mansions, palm trees, and wrought-iron fences. Antique cannons pointed at the water.
By the time Annabeth camp up on deck, Jason, Frank, and Leo had already left for the museum. According to Coach Hedge, they'd promised to be back by sunset. Piper and Hazel were ready to go, but Yahan and Kazehana were both talking with Tobias. That worked out fine, since Annabeth wanted to talk to Percy before they left anyways. The black-haired demigod was leaning on the starboard railing, gazing out over the bay.
Annabeth took his hand. "What are you going to do while we're gone?"
"Jump into the harbor," he said casually, like another kid might say, I'm going to get a snack. "I want to try communicating with the local Nereids. Maybe they can give me some advice about how to free those captives in Atlanta. Besides, I think the sea might be good for me. Being in that aquarium made me feel...unclean."
His hair was dark and tangled like normal, but Annabeth still remembered when he had had a streak of gray on one side. They both had, after (unwillingly) taking turns to hold the sky when they were fourteen. Now, while he had been missing over the past year, the gray streaks had finally disappeared from them both. That made Annabeth a little sad and worried. She felt like she had lost a symbolic bond with Percy.
Annabeth kissed him. "Good luck, Seaweed Brain. Just come back to me, okay?"
"I will," he promised. "You do the same."
Annabeth tried to push away her growing unease. She looked just in time to see Tobias give a kiss to Kazehana, then give one to Yahan. She knew they were together and they seemed happy, but she still failed to understand how that was possible.
She pushed aside her disbelief like she had with her unease and turned towards Piper and Hazel. "Ok girls. Let's find the ghost of the Battery."
Afterward, Annabeth wished she had jumped into the harbor with Percy. She even would've preferred a museum full of ghosts.
Not that she minded hanging out with the girls. Hazel and Piper were both demigods and good friends, while Kazehana and Yahan were both friendly and polite. At first they had a pretty good time walking along the Battery. According to the signs, the seaside park was called White Point Gardens. The ocean breeze swept away the muggy heat of the summer afternoon, and it was pleasantly cool under the palmetto trees. The road was with old Civil War cannons and bronze statues, which made Annabeth shudder. They made her think of New York City during the Titan War, which had been crawling with automatons when she had used Daedalus's command sequence twenty-three. It made her wonder how many statues around the country were secretly automatons, waiting to be activated.
Charleston Harbor glittered in the sun, while to the north and south, strips of land stretched out like arms to enclose the bay. Sitting in the mouth of the harbor, about a mile out, was a island with a stone fort. Annabeth had a vague memory of that fort being important during the Civil War, but she didn't much about it.
Mostly she just breathed in the sea air and thought about Percy. Gods forbid she ever had to break up with him, because she' denser be able to visit the sea again without remembering her broken heart. So she was relieved when they turned away from the sea wall and explored the inland side of the island.
The park wasn't crowded, but Annabeth imagined that most of the locals had gone on summer vacation or were holed up inside taking a siesta. They strolled along South Battery Street, which was lined with four-story Colonial mansions. The brick walls were blanketed with ivy and the facades had soaring white colons like Roman temples. The front gates were bursting with rose bushes, honeysuckle, and flowering bougainvillea.
"It's beautiful here," Yahan commented while looking around. "Very quite and old fashioned. It feels like you could spend forever just walking around."
Annabeth had to agree. You could just barely hear the sea for a nice background noise, and the flowers made a explosion of colors. With so few people around, you could almost believe that you were alone.
She didn't know how she felt about Kazehana and Yahan. Still didn't actually. Both were stunningly gorgeous, but they didn't act like the other pretty girls Annabeth knew. Instead of being arrogant, mean and shallow, they were friendly, outgoing, and she had a feeling there was more depth to them then she had seen. That wasn't even adding in the fact that Yahan had shadow travel powers and a dagger she could probably use very well. Kazehana had wind powers like Tobias, but hers seemed more power oriented rather than variety. Either way, they were things she didn't understand, and for being a daughter of wisdom, that felt like a splinter was digging under her skin. One she couldn't get out until she understood.
Tobias was an even bigger mystery. He had power over air she had never seen from anyone except a god, yet he wasn't a demigod. He was a mortal with something else in him, according the coach. He was apparently skilled with a sword if he could've taken both Jason and Percy when they possessed, and was incredibly durable when wearing those black jeans and wolf head shirt since he had taken a lightning bolt to the chest with no ill effects. His wrist gauntlet or whatever it was was nothing but a conundrum. His sword was not Celestial bronze of Imperial gold. It was just driving her nuts.
She was so deep in thought she might've done what Yahan had said and kept walking forever around the park if Piper hadn't grabbed her arm.
"There." She pointed across the harbor. A hundred yards out, a shimmering white figure floated on the water. Annabeth's first thoughts were it might be a buoy or a small boat reflecting the sunlight, but it was definitely glowing and it was moving more smoothly than a boat, making a straight line towards them.
"The ghost," she said.
"That's not a ghost," Hazel said. "No kind of spirit glows that brightly."
Annabeth took her word for it. She couldn't imagine being Hazel, dying a such a young age and coming back from the Underworld, knowing more about the dead then the living.
Kazehana shivered like she had gotten chilled. "Whatever it is, I can feel power pouring off it. A lot of power."
As if in a trance, Piper walked across the street toward the edge of the sea wall, barely missing a horse drawn carriage.
"Piper!" Annabeth called.
"We better follow her," Hazel said.
By the time the others had caught up to Piper, the ghostly apparition was only a few yards away. Piper was glaring at it like the sight offended her.
"It is her." She grumbled.
Annabeth squinted at the ghost, but it blazed too brightly to make out details. The apparition floated up the sea wall and stopped in front of them, the glow fading when it did.
Annabeth gasped. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful and strangely familiar. Her face was hard to describe, since her features seemed to shift from one glamorous movie star to the next. Her eyes sparkled playfully- sometimes green, blue, amber, or purple. Her hair changed from long, straight blond to dark chocolate curls.
Annabeth felt her jealousy rise instantly. She'd always wished she had dark hair, since she felt no one ever took her seriously as a blond. She had to work twice as hard to get recognition as a strategist, architect, senior counselor, anything that had to do with brains
The woman was dressed like a Southern belle, just like Jason had described. Her gown was a low cut bodice of pink silk and a three tiered hoop skirt with white scalloped lace. She wore tall white gloves and held a feathered pink-and-white fan to her chest.
Everything about her seemed calculated to make Annabeth feel inadequate: the easy grace with which she wore her dress, the perfect yet understated make up, and the way she radiated feminine charm no man could possibly resist.
Annabeth then realized her jealousy was irrational. The woman was making her feel this way. She recognized this woman now, even though her face changed by the second, becoming more and more beautiful.
"Aphrodite," she said.
"Venus?" Hazel asked in amazement.
"Mom," Piper said with no enthusiasm.
"Girls!" The goddess spread her arms like she wanted a group hug. Nobody obliged. Instead, Hazel backed into a palmetto tree while Yahan and Kazehana were looking at the woman with interest and a hint of confusion.
"I'm so glad you're here," Aphrodite said. "War is coming. Bloodshed is inevitable. So there's only one thing to do."
"And that is?" Yahan asked while her hand unconsciously lifted to her dagger hilt.
The goddess looked at her in just as much interest that they were looking at her with. "Why, have tea and chat, obviously. Come with me!"
Aphrodite knew how to do tea.
She led them to the central pavilion in the garden, which held a white pillared gazebo. A table was set up with silverware, china cups, and of course a steaming pot of tea. The far grenade from it changed just as easily as Aphrodite's appearance, sometimes cinnamon, jasmine, or mint. There were platters of scones, cookies, muffins, fresh butter and jam- all of which, Annabeth figured, were incredibly fattening, unless you were the immortal goddess of love.
Aphrodite sat- or held court- in a wicker peacock chair, pouring tea and serving cakes without get a speck on her clothes, her posture always perfect, her smile always dazzling.
Annabeth hated her more and more with every passing second.
"Oh, my sweet girls," the goddess said. "I do love Charleston! The weddings I've attended in this gazebo, they bring tears to my eyes. The elegant balls in the day of the Old South, so lovely. Many of these mansions still have statues of me in their gardens, though they called me Venus."
"So you're really the goddess of love?" Yahan asked while munching on a sugar cookie. She didn't seem the least bit uncomfortable, which made Annabeth a bit jealous. The girl was talking with an immortal, all powerful goddess like she was a interesting person she had always wanted to meet. Apparently unaware of how eccentric gods were, even before the schizophrenic act had started.
That old saying was true. Ignorance was bliss.
"Yes I am," the goddess replied. "I didn't catch your name..."
"Yahan. This is Kazehana." She gestured at the dark haired woman, who was sipping tea calmly.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you both. I have to say, I've wanted to meet you ever since I sensed you arrived. I've found you both to be quite fascinating, you and that handsome young man that you came with."
"You mean Tobias." Kazehana set her cup down and meet the goddess's eye.
"Um, not to be rude, but I have a question," Annabeth spoke up, interrupting the disturbingly friendly talk. "Which are you, Venus or Aphrodite?"
The way the goddess' sees sparkled mischievously made Annabeth think she should've just kept her mouth shut. "Annabeth Chase, you've grown into quite a beautiful young woman. You really need to do something with your hair though. And Hazel Levesque, your clothes-"
"My clothes?" Hazel looked down at her rumpled denim, no self-consciously, but baffled, like she couldn't imagine what was wrong with them.
"Mother!" Piper said. "You're embarrassing me."
"Well I don't see why. Just because you don't appreciate my fashion tips, Piper, doesn't mean the others won't. I can do a quick makeover for Annabeth and Hazel, maybe silk gowns like mine-"
"Mother!"
"Fine," Aphrodite sighed. "To answer your question, Annabeth, I am both Aphrodite and Venus. Unlike many of my fellow Olympians, I changed hardly at all from one age to the other. In fact, I like to think I haven't aged at bit!" Her fingers fluttered appreciatively. "Love is Love, after all, whether you're Greek or Roman. This civil war won't affect me as much as it will the others."
Wonderful, Annabeth thought. Her own mother, the most levelheaded Olympian, was reduced to a raving, viscous, scatterbrain in a subway station, while the only ones not affected by the Greek-Roman schism seemed to be Aphrodite, Nemesis, and Dionysus. Love, revenge, wine. Very helpful.
" 'Love is love.' Very philosophical," Kazehana seemed to think out loud while taking a scone. "Very true too."
Aphrodite beamed. "I'm glad to see someone appreciates my views. I must say, I've rarely felt a love like the kind you two," she waved at Kazehana and Yahan. "Share with this Tobias."
Both girls smiled wistfully.
"We'd do anything for him," Yahan said honestly while taking a sip of tea. "And he'd do anything for us."
Annabeth heard the absolute conviction in her voice. She felt a bit of envy stir in her chest. They both seemed absolutely sure they did and would love Tobias forever, and from the sound of it, it was the same for him. It did make her wonder what they had gone through though. That kind of love was never easy to achieve, since it demanded that the involved parties know everything there was to know about their significant other.
Aphrodite looked like she wanted to swoon. "Such a pure love. It's very touching, and those bonds you share with him. Binding, yet not restrictive. It's freeing."
"Yep." Yahan smirked. "Plus it has some other applications."
Annabeth did not want to know what Yahan meant by that, and the smirks on both her and Kazehana's faces just increased that feeling.
"We're not at war yet Aphrodite."
"Oh Annabeth," Aphrodite folded her fan. "Such optimism, yet you have have heart ending days ahead of you. Of course war is coming. Love and war go together. They are the peaks of human emotion! Evil and good, beautiful and ugliness."
"I doubt it," Kazehana broke in, drawing everyone's attention to her. She and Yahan were both frowning now. "The ugliest emotion is sadism and not caring what happens to reach your own goals. But what do you mean 'heart ending days'?"
The goddess giggled slightly. "Well, Annabeth can give you some idea. I once promised to make her love life interesting. And didn't I?"
Annabeth almost snapped the handle off her teacup. For years, her heart had been torn. First there was Luke Castellan, her first crush, who had only seen her as a little sister; then he'd turned evil and decided he liked her- right before he died. Next came Percy, who was infuriating but sweet, yet he seemed to be falling for another girl named Rachel, and then he almost died, several times. Finally Annabeth had gotten Percy to himself, only to vanish for six months and lose his memory.
"Interesting," Annabeth said. "is a mild way of putting it."
"Well, I can't take credit for all your troubles," the goddess said. "But I do love twists and turns in a love story. Oh, all of you are such excellent storys- I mean girls. You do me proud."
"If you love twists and turns, you should've seen what life was like when we first met Tobias and what happened along the way," Yahan snorted. "Once he nearly destroyed an entire city bridge when Kazehana was almost killed."
That brought the conversation to another grinding halt as everyone looked at Kazehana. Now she seemed to be a million miles away while her right hand went to the back of her neck and rubbed it.
"Interesting doesn't even begin to describe what happened there," Kazehana said softly. She then sighed. "Still, despite what happened, we ended up becoming closer than before. Learned more about each other." Seemingly done with her moment of introspection, the woman looked up at Aphrodite. "Is there a reason you're spending your days in Charleston?"
"Hhmm? Oh, you mean besides the tea? I often come here. I love the view, the food, the atmosphere- you can just smell the romance and heartbreak in the air, can't you? Centuries of it." She pointed to a nearby mansion. "Do you see that rooftop balcony? We had a party there the night the American Civil War began. The shelling of Fort Sumter."
"That's it." Annabeth remembered. "The island in the harbor. That's where the first fighting of the Civil War happened there, when the Confederates shelled the Union troops and took the fort."
"Oh, such a party!" Aphrodite said. "A string quartet, and all the men in their elegant new officers uniforms. You should've seen the woman's dresses, they were so lovely! I danced with Ares- or was he Mars? I'm afraid I was a bit giddy. And the beautiful bursts of light across the harbor, the roar of the cannons giving the men an excuse to put their arms around their frightened sweethearts!"
Annabeth's tea was cold. She hadn't eaten anything, but she felt like she wanted to throw up. "You're talking about the beginning of the bloodiest war in U.S. history. Over six hundred thousand people died. More Americans that in World War One and World War Two combined."
"And the refreshments!" Aphrodite continued. "Ah, they were divine. General Beauregard himself made an appearance. He was such a scoundrel. He was on his second wife then, but you should have seen the way he looked at Lisbeth Cooper-"
"Mother!" Piper tossed her scone to the pigeons.
"Yes, sorry," the goddess said. "To make the story short, I'm here to help you, girls. I doubt you'll be seeing much of Hera, your little quest has hardly made her welcome in the throne room. And the other gods are rather indisposed,as you know, torn between their Greek and Roman sides. Some more then others." Aphrodite fixed her gaze on Annabeth. "I suppose you've told your friends about your falling-out with your mother?"
Heat rose to Annabeth's cheeks while everyone else looked at her curiously.
"Falling-out?" Hazel asked.
"An argument," Annabeth answered. "It's nothing."
"Nothing! Well, I don't know about that. Athena was the most Greek goddess of all, the patron of Athens. When the Romans took over...oh, they adopted Athena after a fashion. She became Minerva, the goddess of crafts and cleverness. But the Romans had other war gods who were more to their taste, more reliably Roman. Like Bellona."
"Reyna's mother," Piper muttered.
"Yes, indeed," the goddess agreed. "I had a lovely talk with Renya a while back, right here in the park. The Romans also had Mars, and then later Mithras- mind you, he wasn't ever properly Greek or Roman, but the legionaries were crazy about his cult."
"What was he if not Greek or Roman?" Yahan asked.
"Persian. I always found him crass and terribly nouveau dieu personally. At any rate, the Romans quite sidelined poor Athena and took away most of her military importance. The Greeks never forgave the Romans for that. Neither did Athena."
Annabeth's ears buzzed.
"The Mark of Athena," she said. "It leads to a statue doesn't it? It leads to...to the statue."
Aphrodite smiled. "You are clever, like your mother. Understand, though, you siblings, the children of Athena, have been searching for centuries. None have succeeded in recovering the statue. Not only that, but they have been keeping the feud with the Romans alive. Every civil war, all this heartache and bloodshed, has been orchestrated largely by Athena's children."
That's..." Annabeth wanted to say impossible, but she also remembered Athena's bitter words in Grand Central Station, the burning hatred in her eyes.
"Romantic?" Aphrodite offered.
"Terrible, is the word I think she's looking for." Kazehana spoke up, frowning slightly for the first time.
Annabeth took a breath, trying to clear the fog from her mind. "The Mark of Athena, how does it work? Is it a series of clues, or a trail set by Athena-?"
"Hhmm," Aphrodite looked politely bored. "I couldn't say. I don't believe Athena created the Mark consciously. If she knew where her statue was, she'd simply tell you where to find it. No, I'd guess the Mark is more like a spiritual trail of breadcrumbs, a connection between the statue and children of the goddess. That statue wants to be found,you see, but it can only be freed by the most worthy."
"And for thousands of years, no one has managed." Annabeth said.
"What statue are you two talking about?" Yahan asked, looking between the two.
The goddess laughed. "Oh, I'm sure Annabeth can fill you in. At any rate, the clue you need is close: a map of sorts, left by the children of Athena in 1861, which will start you on your path once you reach Rome. But as you said, Annabeth Chase, no one has ever succeeded in following the Mark of Athena to its end, for there you must face your worst fear- the worst fear of all children of Athena. And even if you do survive, how will you use your reward? For peace or war?"
Annabeth was glad the table cloth hide her legs, because they were trembling. "This map, where is it?"
Both Yahan and Kazehana both took a sharp breath and then looked towards the sky.
"We have company." Yahan pointed up.
Circling overhead were two large eagles. Higher up, descending rapidly, was a flying chariot being pulled by pegasi. Apparently Leo's diversion with Buford the flying table hadn't worked, at least not for long.
Aphrodite spread butter on her muffin like she had all the time in the world. "Oh, the map is in Fort Sumter of course. "She pointed her butter knife towards the island across the harbor. "It looks like the Romans have arrived to cut you off, so is hurry back to the ship if I were you. Would you like some tea cakes to go?"
They didn't quite make it back to the ship. Halfway across the dock, three giant eagles descended in front of them and deposited a Roman commando in purple and denim with glittering gold armor, sword, and shield. The eagles flew away and the Roman in the center, who was scrawnier than the others, raised his visor.
"Surrender to Rome!" Octavian shrieked.
Hazel drew her cavalry sword and grumbled, "Fat chance, Octavian."
"That's Octavian?" Yahan said in disbelief. "I've seen more dangerous guinea pigs."
Annabeth cursed under her breath. By himself, the skinny augur wouldn't bother her, but the two other guys looked like seasoned warriors. A lot bigger and stronger then Annabeth wanted to deal with, especially since Yahan, Piper, and herself only had daggers.
Piper raised her hands in a placating gesture. "Octavian, what happened at camp was a setup. We can explain."
"Can't hear you!" Octavian yelled. "WaX in our ears! Standard procedure when battling evil sirens. Now, throw down your weapons and turn around slowly so I can bind your hands."
"Let me skewer him," Hazel muttered. "Please."
The ship was only fifty feet away, but Annabeth saw no sign of Coach Hedge or Tobias on deck. Coach Hedge was probably watching his stupid martial arts programs in his cabins. Jason's group was due back until sunset, and Percy would be underwater, unaware of the invasion. If she could get onboard, then she could use the ballistae; but there was no way to get around these three Romans.
She was running out of time. The eagles circled overhead, crying out to alert their brethren. Annabeth couldn't see the flying chariot anymore, but she assumed it was close by. She had to figure out something before more Romans arrived.
Before she could think of a plan she noticed movement behind the Romans. A quick look showed that Tobias was dressed up in his black shirt and jeans, his sword on his hip and was moving quickly yet quietly towards them with a calmly angry face. Octavian and his goons were too focused on them to notice his approach, but it they turned around...
"Excuse me?" Yahan lifted her hand. "We don't know these three, me and my friend just got lost and were asking for directions. So can we just go?"
Octavian looked disgusted when he looked at her. "More Greeks and their tricks. Well, it won't work this time, you..."
Tobias stopped right behind Octavian and tapped him twice on the shoulder, making him stop mid shout and turn.
"Excuse me." Tobias said brightly before delivering a hard and fast jab directly to his face. The Roman stumbled back with blood rapidly moving to make a blacken the skin around his right eye. Tobias then spun on heel and kicked him into the bay easily.
"Holy crap, that was satisfying," Tobias said as the demigod splashed into the bay while he wiped his hands clean. He then looked at the Romans who were left, both several inches taller then him and maybe a few pounds heavier. "So, next?"
Both demigods charged with their swords at the ready. Tobias sidestepped the first stab at his gut and grabbed the offending wrist, pulling on it and spinning to cause the attacker to lose his balance and be thrown into the bay. He then ducked under a slash at his head while turning, delivering a punch to the stomach area as he did. The Roman gasped as his armor caved in like tin foil, hitting him in the solar plexus and forcing the air from his lungs. Tobias then proceeded to kick him into the bay after his two friends. The entire confrontation took ten seconds.
"So, what'd I miss?" He asked the girls while walking towards them, looking politely confused. Or rather, he tried to. The smile on his face ruined the effect.
"I love you!" Yahan laughed while throwing her arms around him. The moment was interrupted when there was a splash and the sound of two feet hitting the deck. Annabeth saw Percy standing on the deck, completely dry. He looked at the group, then at Octavian and his guards, who were splashing and sputtering in the water.
"Uh...did I miss something?" He asked.
"Not much. Romans are here, Octavian tried to capture our friends, I took offense to that and gave him a black eye before throwing him and his two friends into the bay." Tobias explained quickly.
"Oh, is that all?" Percy asked in a deadpan.
"Get me out of here! I'll kill you!" Octavian yelled in the water.
"Tempting!" Tobias shouted back.
"What?" Octavian yelled. He was holding onto one of his guards, who seemed to be having trouble keeping them both afloat.
"Nothing!" Tobias flicked his thumb at him and Octavian's head snapped back for some reason, his helmet making a ping! "Let's go."
Hazel frowned. "We can't let them drown can we?"
"They won't." Percy promised. "I've got the water circulating around their feet, as soon as we're out of range, I'll spit them ashore."
Piper grinned. "Nice."
They climbed aboard the Argo II, and Annabeth ran to the helm. "Piper, get below. Use the sink in the gallery for an Iris-message and warn Jason to get back here, now!"
Piper nodded and raced off.
"Hazel, go find Coach Hedge and tell him to get his furry hindquarters on deck!"
"Right!"
"And Percy, you and I need to get this ship to Fort Sumter."
"Kazehana and I can help." Tobias offered. His girlfriend nodded.
"Fine, fine, fine, just go!"
Percy ran to the mast, Annabeth to the helm, Tobias and Kazehana to the front. Annabeth's hands flew across the controls, hoping she knew enough to operate them.
Annabeth had seen Percy control full-sized sailing ships with nothing but his willpower. This time, he didn't disappoint. Ropes flew on their own, releasing the dock ties and weighing anchors. The sails unfurled and caught the wind. Meanwhile, Annabeth fired the engine. The engines extended with a sound like machine gun fire, and the Argo II turned from the dock heading towards the island in the distance.
The three eagles circled overhead, but they had made no attempt to land on the ship, probably because Festus blew fire at them whenever they got close. More eagles were flying in formation toward Fort Sumter, at least a dozen. If each of them carried a Roman demigod...that was a lot of enemies.
"Now!" Tobias and Kazehana both slammed their hands into the deck and the wind suddenly pick up, blowing violently towards the island and pushing the ship along faster. The wind also forced the eagles to back off since they couldn't fly effectively in the air currents.
Coach Hedge came pounding up the stairs with Hazel at his hooves.
"Where are they?" He demanded. "Who do I kill?"
"No killing!" Annabeth ordered. "Just defend the ship!"
"But they interrupted a Chuck Norris movie!"
Piper emerged from below, her hair dancing in the violent winds. "Got a message through to Jason!" She yelled over them. "Kind of fuzzy, but he's already on his way! He should be-oh! There!"
Soaring over the city, heading in their direction, was a giant bald eagle, unlike the golden Roman birds.
"Frank!" Hazel said.
Leo was hanging from the eagles feet, and even from the ship and over the wind, Annabeth could hear him screaming and cursing. Behind them flew Jason, riding the wind.
"Never seen Jason fly before," Percy grumbled. "He looks like a blond Superman."
"Eeh, Tobias is faster." Yahan shrugged.
"This isn't the time!" Piper scolded them both. "Look, they're in trouble!"
Sure enough, the Roman flying chariot had descended from a cloud and was diving straight toward them. Jason and Frank veered out of the way, pulling up to avoid getting trampled by the pegasi. The charioteers fired their bows, arrows whistling past Leo's feet, which led to more screaming and cursing. Jason and Frank were both forced to overshoot the Argo II, both riding the air currents blowing them along, and fly towards Fort Sumter.
"I'll get them!" Yelled Coach Hedge.
He spun the port ballista. Before Annabeth could yell, "Don't be stupid!" Hedge fired. A flaming spear rocketed toward the chariot, the wind only making the flames burn hotter and brighter.
It exploded above the heads of the pegasi, growing them into a panic. Unfortunately, it also signed Frank's wings and sent him spiraling out of control. Leo slipped from his grasp. The chariot shot toward Fort Sumter, slamming into Jason.
Annabeth watched in horror a Jason- obviously dazed and in pain- lunged for Leo, caught him, then struggled to gain altitude. He only managed to slow their galled before they disappeared behind the ramparts of the fort. Frank tumbled after them. Then the chariot dropped somewhere inside and hit with a bone-shattering CRACK! One broken wheel spun into the air.
"Coach!" Piper screamed.
"What?" Hedge demanded. "That was just a warning shot!"
Annabeth gunned the engine while the wind picked up even more. The hull shuddered as they picked up speed, the docks of the island only a hundred yards away now. But a dozen more eagles were soaring overhead, each carrying a Roman demigod in her claws.
The Argo II's would be outnumbered three to one.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "We're going to come in hard. I need you to control the water so we don't smash into the docks. Once we're there, you're going to have to hold off the attackers. The rest of you help him guard the ship."
"But-Jason!" Piper said.
"Frank and Leo!" Hazel added.
"I'll find them," Annabeth promised while Tobias and Kazehana stopped blowing the winds, causing them to slow down. "I've got to figure out where the map is. And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who can do that."
"The fort is crawling with Romans," Percy warned. "You'll have to fight your way through, find our friends, assuming they're okay, find this map, and get everyone back alive. All on your own?"
"No she won't," Yahan spoke up, drawing attention. "I can go with her and teleport them back to the ship. But it's going to take at least two, maybe three trips to get them all."
Her face was determined. "I can look after myself, and I'm fast."
Annabeth made a snap decision. "Fine, but be fast."
She kissed Percy. "And whatever you guys do, don't let them take this ship!"
A/N: Well, time to wrap it up. But this chapter was fun to write, what with the girls meeting Aphrodite and Tobias punching Octavian in the face (that was oh so satisfying to write considering what an ass he is.) but next chapter will be even more fun, what with Annabeth doing what she does, plus I've got two big surprises for you. First one is kinda shock-and-awe, second one's aftermath is going to be hilarious. Till then, review, favorite, and tune in next time!
