Jason, Chapter 25
Jason hurriedly stuffed his few possessions into his duffel bag, T-shirts, jeans, toiletries, etc. He zipped it closed, and tossed it onto the covert where Thalia slept. The hunters had arrived a few days ago, and Thalia had decided she would sleep in the Zeus cabin while Jason was there. At the moment she was probably at archery practice with the other hunters.
Leo had announced that the Argo II was leaving tomorrow… yesterday. And Jason had completely forgotten. Every one else had been all packed, and most were dropping off their luggage at the moment. When Leo had approached Jason, saying something about not wanting him to wait in a long line, Jason's had to run off to his cabin immediately.
Almost ripping the zipper off while closing his duffel bag, Jason wrestled furiously with it, not noticing Thalia sauntering in behind him.
"Aw… Someone looks like they could use a little help," she teased. He slumped onto his bag, and threw up his hands in surrender.
"Be my guest!" Jason invited her. Thalia rolled her eyes, and pulled the bag opening closer together, before easily zipping it up.
"I did most of the work," Jason mumbled as Thalia laughed at his embarrassed expression.
"Well let's get going, little bro!"
Jason followed her as she marched out of cabin 1, and led the way to where the ship was docked.
"Jason!" Leo greeted enthusiastically, opening his arms wide. "You have finally decided to join us. Luckily for you, the line has cleareed out. You will be in room 23 with Percy. Thalia dear, how are you?" Jason climbed aboard and headed to his room, before he had to witness his sister giving his friend yet another beating.
He lugged his baggage down the stairs, and then turned to find a vast hallway in front of him. 50 doors on both walls, each housing 2. Jason trudged past them, his eyes lingering slightly on doors with voices coming from inside them. When he finally came to room 23, he flexed his wrist, and turned the doorknob.
The sight that greeted him was welcoming. There were 2 full sized beds with cotton sheets, a flat screen T.V. hanging on the center of the wall he beds faced, two ebony wood nighttables positioned next to the beds with small lamps ontop of them, and the walls were a creamy white.
Jason tossed his luggage onto the vacant bed. Percy's stuff was layed out on the one closer to the window, so Jason got the one next to the door. Thank goodness. Jason had never been fond of the ocean, and being forced to look at it was not something he wanted to do.
The son of Jupiter quickly peeked inside the small room in their cabin, and found a small bathroom. He found a toilet, sink, and a small shower. Of course. Just like in all the other rooms. A horn sounded from the other end of camp, and Jason sprinted out of his room, wanting to get to lunch.
"Jason!" Leo yelled, grabbing onto his arm. "How do you like the ship so far?"
"It's awesome!" Jasoj exclaimed, truthfully. Although it was hard to tell, Leo's smile got the smallest bit wider. The 2 friends laughed at each other's corny jokes as they headed to the dining pavilion. Jason was grateful for the free seating, because as soon as he sat down, Leo, Dakota, Bobby, Reyna, and Piper joined him.
To Jason's surprise, Piper and Reyna were getting along fabulously. Dakota and Bobby were being their crazy ADHD selves, which Leo was delighted about.
"Finally some people understand me!" he shouted enthusiastically. So they all told jokes, exchanged stories, and just laughed. It was probably Jason's favorite lunch yet. Not to mention the barbeque was amazing. Eventually, once the long lunch began to come to an end at about 3:00 pm, Leo stood up, somehow pulling a blow horn out of his tool belt.
"Attention demigods and descendants of demigods!" he shouted, and the whole dining pavilion fell silent.
"Legacies!" an angry legacy screamed back at Leo.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever! The Argo II will be leaving for Rome at 4:30, which is in roughly an hour and a half. If you are not on time, you will be left behind. Which means everyone will look at you in a shameful manner, thinking that you are a coward, who chose not to help with the fight against Gaea! So, be there!"
The son of Hephaestus then promptly saluted the half bloods, before leaping off the table. The majority of the Hephaestus kids followed his to the ship, as they were preparing it for take off. (If that's what you say when a ship leaves…)
"I can't believe we're actually leaving!" Piper exclaimed, tugging lightly at her braids. "After like what, 7 months? So nerve-racking!"
"I'll be sad to see you all leave!" Reyna sighed, and Piper gave her a short hug.
"We'll be back before you know it," she reassured the daughter of Bellona. "Well, best go see that Leo's not gone boncos again. Bye, Rey!" The two girls hugged each other tightly, before Piper jogged in the direction of the ship.
"Nice girl," Reyna commented. "Much different than most Venus girls." She then turned to Jason, and hugged him.
"I'll miss you, Jason," she mumbled into his shoulder. Jason sighed sadly, not wanting to leave his close friend behind.
"Me too, Rey, me too." Eventually Reyna pulled away.
"Time for you to leave." He nodded sadly, before jogging in the direction Piper had gone. He turned and waved, one last time.
"Jason, nice of you to join us!" Brandon, one Leo's half brothers grinned as he climbed up the ramp.
"Well, didn't want to be a 'coward.'" Brandon chuckled at Jason's remark, before motioning him onward. Jason went to go stand next to Piper, Annabeth, and Percy, who were to the side of some giant map thing. After a few minutes Leo came out of the control room.
"Attention all passengers!" he called through his blow horn, and the crowd became quiet. "Attendance has determined all of us are present. So, we will be getting started."
"Any of the fine children of Hephaestus or Vulcan you see before you will be of assistance to you, in the first hour of the start of our journey. They will show you around the ship, and other things. But for now let's start with the basic lay out of the ship."
"The top deck is where we all are right now. That room," Leo pointed to the control room, "IS the control room. Please do not touch the controls; the ship will explode if you do. On the deck below are all the rooms. Below that we have the pool, cafeteria, and the lounge. The cafeteria will only be open during he hours of 7-9, 12-2, and 5-8. Please do not take any food. We only have a certain amount before we run out. On the next deck we have a meeting room. And finally the engines. Authorized personas only! And I'm looking at you, Stolls. If something goes wrong there… well, it won't be good. Any questions?" No one's hand went up, and Leo smiled, satisfactorily.
"Wait!" a shrieking voice called from the ground, where all of the others were gathered. Everyone looked down to find Octavian, waving a shredded teddy bear over his head. A small daughter of Apollo ran after him bawling.
"He killed Toby!" she sobbed, and one of her older sisters hugged the crying 8-year-old, sending an angry glare in Octavian's direction. A few people snickered at the blonde boy, and turned their attention to other things.
"Any questions?" Leo repeated, through his blowhorn, and was, once again, interrupted, which really seemed to know the son of Hephaestus.
"Wait! I found a prophecy!" Octavian had shouted. A few people gasped.
"Well, what does it say?" Chiron questioned the auger. He was about to read it aloud, when Rachel came forward, spewing green smoke. Some of the Romans gaped, having never seen it before. But Percy never would have expected what happened next.
Octavian's eyes turned gold, and his voice too, seemed to be multiplied like Rachel's. In synch they chanted:
"Wisdom's daughter walks alone,
Mark of Athena burns though Rome.
He who wields water shall put out the fire,
But first help from the man of stars he shall require.
Jason was shocked. The beginning was what Ella had recited. He saw Percy share a worried glance with Hazel and Frank. What if someone had overheard Ella, who was now saying behind, out of their protection? It might have passed off as some nonsense she usually recited, but they would realize that it really wasn't nonsense.
But no one had seemed to notice. Everyone started murmuring among one another, pointing secretively, and trying to seem like they understood the prophecy, which completely baffled them.
"SILENCE!" Leo bellowed though his bullhorn, shutting everyone up.
"Now, does anyone have any questions? Good. We have a two day journey ahead of us, before we reach Rome." Everyone descended to their rooms, other places on board, returned to their assigned positions for takeoff (the blacksmith god's children), or milled around deck.
"Jason," he heard Hazel hiss. "Percy's gone to talk to Tyson, and Annabeth to Chiron about keeping Ella safe, just in case someone recognized the prophecy from her rants. Please tell Leo to wait a few moments." Jason nodded, and rushed to the command room, where Leo was beginning to turn the engine on. A few of his siblings were assisting him.
"Leo!" Jason called, and beckoned him over.
"Yes?" Leo demanded, clearly annoyed. Yet his friend still walked over.
"Please wait to start the ship. Percy and Annabeth have gone to Chiron and Tyson to explain about he whole Ella situation. After the prophecy..." Jason trailed off, waving hi hands frantically. Leo seemed to understand, and whispered an "ok," before returning to the controls.
Having accomplished his job, the son of Jupiter eased himself into the unoccupied deck chair next to Piper. She turned to him, her mouth in a thin line.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
"I really hope nothing goes wrong," Piper pleaded, looking up at the sky. "But knowing our luck…" she made a cutting motion across her neck. Jason shrugged, not knowing what to say.
"I jus hope it's not some big massacre," he stated, and she bobbed her head.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard Festus Airlines!" Leo's voice boomed over the speakers, and a few Romans snickered. "We are leaving now, so make sure your tray tables are stowed, and you're seatbacks are in an upright position. We hope you enjoy your trip!"