Chapter 5: topside
Annabeth's Pov:
I jumped up as the alarm went off, I ran upstairs and noticed I wasn't the only one. When I arrived on deck I heard Nico shout,
"Hard to Port" before Annabeth looked over the sides to see a giant spherical shape coming at them, it took me a slit second to realize what it was before hitting the deck. A giant boulder passed over my head so close I felt the wind coming off it, only for a loud "CRACK" to follow. I turned just in time to see the foremast fall off the side of the ship following the giant chunk of rock. Nico had to jump from the mast in mid-air as not to fall to his death.
"NICO," Leo came running down the from the helm yelling, he crouched next to the son of hades checking to see if he was okay, "I'm Fine Leo" Nico mumbled, I had noticed Nico and Leo growing closer over the past few days, it was very subtle, I wondered if anybody else had noticed it.
"God Dammit that's the third time that I've had to replace that mast this week, do those dudes think they grow on trees." Leo yelled, bringing me out of my daze, I moved closer to the rail looking over more carefully. The clouds parted showing me one of the Numina Montanum as Jason had called them, I had immediately translated it into "Ourae" their Greek name. the mountain gods were children of Gaia, so they obviously didn't like us. Leo grabbed one of his controllers, fashioned from a modified Nintendo Wii stick, and spun it in a circle. On the deck a few feet in front of him and Nico a trap door opened and a giant celestial bronze cannon rose and firing off a few dozen metal spheres. They trailed green fire, a clear sign they were Greek fire, in mid-air they grew helicopter blades, and hurled into the fog.
A moment later a series of loud Bangs echoed across the mountain range, only to be followed the outraged roars of Mountain gods.
"HAHAHAHA how do you like that ya stupid rock gods." Leo said triumphantly. However I knew that a few of Greek firebombs would be able to kill a god, I would only be able annoy them. Just to prove my point another boulder sailed past the port side of the ship,
"Get us out of here" Nico yelled, as Leo sped back to the helm muttering several viable insults about Ourae. He pulled the wheel to the right, the engines hummed, magical rigging lashed itself tight and the ship tacked to port. The Argo II picked up speed retreating north-west, as they had been doing for the last two weeks.
I couldn't relax until we were out of the mountains. As the fog cleared sunlight illuminated the Italian countryside, rolling green hills and golden fields not unlike the landscape of California. I shivered, I never had good memories of my father's house but still I could appreciate the beauty of nature. I was homesick for camp, I was excited to introduce my siblings to Jason, I knew they would like him. After Percy had died, I had felt a weight leave my shoulders, I had been worried about that seaweed brain for months while he was gone, however I had been able to find comfort at camp, I mean I'm definitely not ugly.
I walked over to Leo again to discuss a new route, For the past two days they'd skirted north, hoping to find a safe pass, with no luck. The Numina Montanum were sons of Gaia, Hazel's least favorite goddess. That made them very determined Enemies. The Argo II couldn't fly high enough to avoid their attacks and, even with all its defenses, the ship couldn't make it across the range without being smashed to pieces.
"Earth spirits didn't like children of the underworld, we get under their skin, literally. But I believe that they would be able to sense the ship either way, were carrying the Athena Parthenos. It must be acting like a magical beacon." Nico said. I shivered thinking about the statue, I hadn't heard from my mother recently, and the statue didn't talk so it me feel even more ignored. I had sacrificed so much to get that damn statue,
"Bad news guys, were not going to be able to cross the mountains, without the ship crashing and burning, so what next." Leo said, I guess he had also come to that conclusion. Leo was smart, not as smart as me or Jason, but he was smart. He had designed and build hundred-foot-long flying Trireme, that's has to account for something.
I walked over to the monitor that Leo was studying, his screen glowed a map of Italy. The Apennine Mountains ran down the middle of the boot- shaped country. A green dot for the Argo II blinked on the western side of the range, a few hundred miles north of Rome. Their path should have been simple. But it wasn't, the lives of demigods were never easy.
Leo's Pov: (Didn't see that coming did you)
When Annabeth came over I almost growled, I knew all about Annabeth's coping mechanisms. I first became aware of them at camp,
Flashback:
I had been out for a walk in the woods, it was after the campfire, the same night I had discovered Festus in the woods. I had been thinking about seeing Tia Callida, she had tired to kill me several times and yet why? Why was she here? Did that mean she was a monster? God? I was deep in the woods when I moan off to my right, I had been walking slowly so whoever it was must have not heard me. Crouching down I started to crawl in any direction away from whatever was happening in the clearing in front of me. Then I heard something that made my blood run thin
"OHh YeAh, Annabeth you're so hot," and then a weak reply, I was about to jump out and help Annabeth who I assumed was being raped, only to see something that broke my heart, Annabeth was sitting on top of some buff dude naked except for underwear. Then Annabeth spoke and it made my blood chill.
"God Noah, Don't stop," Annabeth moaned. So much for being loyal to Percy, I guess she doesn't love him as much as I thought,
I turned around and crawled away, slowly as not to alert the couple to my presence.
End of Flashback.
The events of that night had been clouded by the following quest then, building a gigantic war ship, I felt so guilty, I had wanted to tell Percy, but I didn't know how, I mean I had tried several times but to no avail. I had really become fond of Percy in the time I knew him, and I felt extremely accountable for Percy's fall, if I had told him sooner, we would have him and not that lying bitch Annabeth.
Anyways as Annabeth looked over my shoulder, I controlled my anger and tole her that as of right now.
"we have two choices; 'we could go back to America with the Athena Parthenos. Our comrades back home, we might have enough time to drop off the statue and get back here in time to rescue Percy, but there's no way to be sure." I spoke. I noticed the way she frowned when I said HIS name, I know she had given up on him, but Nico had confirmed that he was still alive, he said he could sense it. I know Annabeth wasn't convinced by that though.
I had also heard, her in Jason's room. I remembered that night not so fondly, my best friend betraying one of the people he considered a close companion.
Flashback:
It was very early in the morning, or I guess vey late at night, around four in the morning I got up to go to the engine room, I always had trouble sleeping in my room. The rumble of the engine made it easy for me to sleep, and the cramped space made me feel at home, something about being surrounded by my own creations made it easier to sleep.
Anyways I was trying to be quiet as not to wake anyone. When I passed Jason's room, when I heard a giggle and a moan, the same one id heard on THAT night. I walked over to the door and peaked through the lock hole. Sadly I was right, it seemed that Annabeth and Jason were now sleeping together. I knew when piper found out she would be crushed and that made me mad, very mad.
Flashback end
I had decided not to tell anyone until I had told Percy, he had the right to know first.
Hazels Pov:
I was asleep, dreaming about something strange, I was standing in the middle of a courtyard, ahead of me was a tall marble dome, held by a few thick marble pillars. Four stone archways were positioned around the tholos at equal distances, in the center stood a woman. Mist curled up her and all of a sudden there were five of her, one standing at each gateway and the original still in the middle of the temple. She Was tall about 5'9" with green eyes and black hair that came down to about her shoulders, she had pale face that looked like a marble bust; beautiful and ageless, but cold and scary. Then she spoke,
"Hazel Levesque, I am the Titaness Hecate," she said. "We must converse about how you are to get to Greece."
"Why are you helping us? How can you be I thought the gods having a bit of a schizophrenic episode?"
"we are but you have great potential to magic, enough to merge my two aspects briefly to talk to you, I don't want the god to die, it is true that I didn't choose the right-side last time, but I will not make that mistake again." I figured however Zeus had punished her was bad because she shivered at the memory. Whatever could make a goddess quake in her shoes was not something I ever wanted to know.
"Wait what, I can't use magic, what makes you think that?"
"Hush child, it's not the time to talk about that, we need to discuss you journey to the house of hades, you have several options, however all of them have consequences." She gestured to the four gateways and announced, and she did mist swirled around each of them forming scary visions in each. "I am the goddess of crossroads as well as the Mist. These are your options," In the western doorway, Roman and Greek demigods in full armor fought one another on a hillside.
under a large pine tree. The grass was strewn with the wounded and the dying. Hazel saw herself.
riding Arion, charging through the melee and shouting trying to stop the violence. In the gateway to the east, Hazel saw the Argo II plunging through the sky above the Apennines. Its rigging was in flames. A boulder smashed into the quarterdeck. Another punched through the hull. The ship burst like a rotten pumpkin, and the engine exploded. The images in the northern doorway were even worse. Hazel saw Leo, unconscious or dead falling through the clouds. She saw Frank staggering alone down a dark tunnel, clutching his arm, his shirt soaked in blood. And Hazel saw herself in a vast cavern filled with strands of light like a luminous web. She was struggling to break through while, in the distance, four humanoid figures stood in front of two black-and-silver metal doors.
"Why are all of the options so bad, why?" I said tears forming in my eyes. "I don't want anybody to die."
"All choices have consequences my dear if you want to save as many people as you can I recommend the northern gate it. If you succeed you will suffer the least loss, nut your trials will be very grueling, however you will find friends in places you never expected."
"how? We can't even make it to Greece, the Numina Montanum keep trying to knock us out of the air" I said solemnly.
"there is another way for you and your crew, there is a secret pass here in the north, a place where I hold sway, where Hannibal once crossed when he marched against Rome." The goddess made a wide loop ... to the top of Italy, then east to the sea, then down along the western coast of Greece. "Once through the pass, you would travel north to Bologna and then to Venice. From there, sail the Adriatic to your goal, here: Epirus in Greece." She continued "you could make it but be warned this path is guarded heavily by servants of Gaia, there is a silver lining of sorts though, because it is so far out of your way the Earth Mother will not expect you to take this deadly route."
"Deadly route Huh?" I said sarcasm dripping off my tongue.
"Yes. Go north, Hazel. As you travel, practice summoning the Mist. When you arrive in
Bologna seek out the two dwarfs. They will lead you to a treasure that may help you survive in the House of Hades."
And with that my dream ended and I woke up in a cold sweat.