_Piper McLean_

_The Rock of Gibraltar_

The journey across the Atlantic was horrible. At first, the floorboards were being split apart by the winds. Then, when the sphere was pointed up, we were sinking. I had barely managed to get the sphere pointed over the edge, blasting us over three thousand miles east toward Spain. All that happened in mere seconds. The canister was empty by the time we were wedged between rocks.

I dropped it into the water, turning back to the partially wrecked deck. Jason's frozen body displayed the deck. Being November, in Spain, it was pretty chilly. The ship wasn't defrosting, and I really didn't know how to do it. Was I supposed to put Jason on an oven set for deforestation?

I was kinda hoping that when Khione left, all that she had frosted would melt. Sadly, just as in Frozen, that's not how ice powers worked. For the first hour, maybe two, I tried to hack open the hatch, barely making it through the thick layer of frost. Festus was clicking from his spot at the mast head. It was like he was shaking his head and scolding me for my lack of progress.

"Do you have a better idea?" I shouted. He roared, fire spewing from her unhinged jaw.

"And what if we burn the ship?" He clicked and clacked, and I just pretended that I knew what he was saying.

Like magic, I clicked. Maybe it was Festus talking, his noises finally making sense, but I did it. A stick of wood, lit on fire, put close enough could melt the ice. Like roasting marshmallows. I looked around the deck, getting up and going to the railing. I took the ax I'd been using, swinging it down, into the wood. I lifted, and with another shout brought it back down.

Chopping wood is a lot of fun, guys.

After cutting out some number of wood blocks, I piled them on the deck by the hatch door, on a wet section of the wood. I piled up the dried wood on top of the wet wood. I laid some more, nonspecific, flame resistant material around the firewood, before lighting it on fire. The ice on the deck melted slowly, until I pulled the hatch open. Below deck was frozen, smoke like dried ice streaming through.

The ice froze the flames, leaning the wood steaming. I dropped down into the hole, viewing the frozen deck. On my left was Jason's cabin, on the right Annabeth's. In the hall, frozen in place as if they were running was Sage and Hazel. On the other side, stuck underneath the collapsed ladder was Frank.

I cracked my knuckles, looking back and forth between the two sides. Psionic energy beams wrapped around their frozen bodies, as I envisioned their frost melting away, their bodies filling with warmth. There was a thud, followed by a groan as Hazel and Sage fell on the ground. For the next hour, I hauled them above deck, the floorboards wet and slippery with the melted ice. They were all shivering, their teeth chattering. I had melted Jason as well, putting them in a circle around Festus. He was radiating so much heat that it was enough to reach them.

The sun was already at its lowest point in the sky, orange and pink colors filling the sky, by the time they were again filled with their natural colors. We didn't talk, just listened to the sounds of the water hitting the boat, the dull creaks of Festus's neck as he watched our surroundings, making sure there was no imminent danger. By the time the sky was dark and the moon was high, it was safe to assume that everyone was pretty warm, excluding those with blue fingertips, of course. The silence was ended, when Frank spoke up, his words a stutter at first.

"Pi-Piper, where a-a-a-a-are we?" he asked.

"Wha-what happened?" Hazel added.

"Wha-wha-where's Leo?" Jason asked.

They were all looking at me expectantly. I stood up, going over to the controls. The panels had been severely damaged during our involuntary trip, but despite the glitching, I was able to decipher an iffy location.

"Well kiddies, some crazy ice witch—not you, Sage—came aboard and frozen you all," I explained. "She blasted Leo out of the boat and god knows where, so he wouldn't be a 'problem' anymore. And we are off the coast of Spain, some famous rock or something."

"The Rock of Gibraltar," Sage said.

"How'd we get to Spain!" Jason exclaimed.

"The snow lady left her icy-wind bomb here. It was supposed to destroy the ship, but I stopped it," I explained. A plank of wood across deck fell over, breaking through the floorboards and crashing below deck.

"Well, sorta stopped it." I said sheepishly.

"But—"

"Alright you guys," I said, stopping Jason. "Let's get some rest, we all know we need it. Well regroup in the morning, and since I'm like, the only one able, I'll keep night-watch with my buddy Festus over here. Ain't that right?"

In response, Festus let out a blast of flames, illuminating the night sky.

"Everybody bellow deck. Get as many blankets as you can, don't want to lose any limbs to frostbite now." I continued, ushering them into the hatch. "Drink some hot cocoa too. Warm up those bodies, or else you know you'll die. Have a good night!"

They called back variations of good nights, disappearing into their separate cabins. Except for Frank, who's cabin had a hole in the ceiling from the aforementioned plank. He had to sleep in Percy's room, seeing as Leo's room was a mess.

~Sleepless Saviors~

In the morning, I left Festus to keep watch of above deck while I served up breakfast: scrambled eggs and bacon (bleh) with hot chocolate or orange juice, with options of pancakes, waffles, and hash browns. Seeing as it was deep in autumn, it was pretty chilly, so we had the heaters running all night to the best of their ability, seeing that a lot of the boat had been damaged.

"How are we gonna get to this Sea of Monsters place?" Frank asked, picking at his food.

"We've only got a few days before Percy and Annabeth's arrival at the doors, a prediction of course," Sage said. "And we're in Spain."

"And the boat is damaged," Jason added.

"With Leo missing," Hazel said sadly. "Percy and Annabeth are gonna be trapped their forever, aren't they?"

Everyone was quite for a while, thinking about what Hazel said. "We can do this," I stated. "We just need to get back to the states. In one peace."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Jason asked.

I frowned, tapping my finger against the table as I thought about it. We got here from icy winds in less then a day. The only way to get back would be fierce winds, but the ice bomb was empty, gone. I looked up at the table, seeing everyone going back to their food. Jason could control air, which should include winds. But, it could destroy the ship.

I wasn't the brains of the operation. I was most definitely not the brains, but I think I had just formed a plan. When I told the others, however skeptical, they agreed. We set to work, securing planks and loose items to the ground. We locked up the cabins, so that the beds and dressers would fly out of the room and destroy the deck. Well hopefully they wouldn't fly out.

By nightfall, we were ready. Jason and I were tied to the mast, Jason facing the front of the ship and me the back. Sage was at the controls, and Hazel and Frank were strapped in tight next to Festus, away from objects that would fly around and hurt them.

"Ready?" Sage called.

I repeated the question to Jason, who nodded. I gave Sage a thumbs up, then began mentally preparing myself. I thrust my hands downward, psionic energy beams floating through the cracks in the floorboard, pulling the ship together. Suddenly, the whole ship lurched forward, giant winds pushing against us. The waves grew, capsizing the hull as water lapped around. I focused on keeping the ship together, Sage's shouts a mere blur in my head.

I could feel my energy dipping, black spots dancing in and out of my vision. To be quite honest, I had never used so much energy before. I didn't know if we had reached our destination yet, but keeping the ship together was starting to falter. The last thing I remembered was a bronze plate peeling off of Festus, flying back toward me.

A/N: So that last part, if you wanna picture it, think about Age of Ultron: that scene when they were in that city after Wanda found out Ultron's plan and were in that train and she had to stop it. Good? Good. Next chapter will be either Percy or Annabeth's POV, haven't written yet. I actually had this and the next chapter already written, but then my stupid iPad deleted the files and Word doesn't have retrievable files. What're you gonna do.

Read and review!

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo