So, unless I'm secretly Rick Riordan (which I highly doubt, but is still possible), I don't own any of the characters from PJATO.
Hey guys! So to make up for all of the days that I haven't uploaded, I made an especially long chapter. Enjoy :)
As the weeks passed and the oncoming war came closer, tensions in the camp became more and more strained. Percy left a couple of days after the 4th of July: he just wanted to spend some time at his house with his mom. Which I totally understood: I mean, I would too, if I was him.
The problem was that, with him gone, I was expected to take his place. And those are pretty big shoes to fill. I took up all of his chores, taught all of his sword fighting lessons, and took his guard shift as well as my own. Basically, it sucked.
Conor and I found less and less time together. He had his responsibilities, and I had mine, and they never seemed to coincide. The only time I was ever alone with him was during the free time, and even that was rare.
At the same time, though, I was kind of relieved. The nightmares came back, and I knew that if somebody like Conor would look closer, they would see something wrong. So I stayed away from him, from Annabeth, even Silena. And instead I became immersed in this bubble.
When the Stolls relieved me of duty at 11, I was exhausted. I stumbled to the cabin and jumped right into bed without even changing into my pajamas, and fell into a deep and uneasy sleep.
I was in the middle of a vast plain that I didn't recognize. Soot was everywhere, showering the area in a thin layer of black. Ash still hung in the air, creating a dark shadow around everything. In the distance, there was a huge mountain. Lava ominously poured out of the volcano and oozed everywhere.
"Arielle Waters," a voice rumbled evilly. Chills ran down my spine. I knew it came from somewhere in the volcano. "You have finally found refuge. I advise that you enjoy it while you still can. Because soon, all that you know will change." I wanted to scream, to ask the voice who in the hades he thought he was. The voice chuckled. "You are weak. An unworthy opponent. But nevertheless, a threat. Shall I give you a peek of what's to come?" My vision became distorted: then I saw him. Conor. He was staring at me from a ten foot distance, his face oddly innocent. A gash went all down his leg, cutting it right down to the bone. He mouthed words that I couldn't interpret, and then he fell. I didn't realize I was screaming until the voice brought me back to the plain. "See how quickly your spirits can be crushed, child?" The deep voice rumbled in a sickening laugh, and I felt ashes get into my eyes and throat, choking me and causing me to go blind. And all the while, the volcano's voice creepily laughed.
I woke up screaming, and I found I still couldn't breathe. I collapsed to the ground, curling up in fetal position. What's worse is that I couldn't say it was just a nightmare. Because demigods don't get nightmares: they get weird premonitions. And this is what was going to happen to Conor. I knew it. I looked at the clock: 4:00. Even Conor wouldn't be up this early. After quickly changing into a new tank top and jean shorts, I ran out of the cabin without even putting on sneakers.
I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I was doing something right as soon as I felt the cool water between my toes. I dove headfirst into the water and swam.
When I resurfaced, I couldn't recognize anything around me. However, I knew from instinct that I was just off the coast of South Carolina. I was wondering why I teleported here before I heard the steady beating of a motor. I turned to my right and saw a huge ship.
It was one of those yachts that you see in the harbor. Those absolutely giant ones that belong to multibillionaires and costs more than the frickin hope diamond. There were people everywhere, and an ominous haze settled around it. But I could still see the familiar inscription The SS Cassiopeia on the hull.
Swimming closer to it, I realized why I recognized it: the ship was one of Kronos'. Last time, at the counsel meeting, we went over all of the known ships and locations of Kronos' army. The SS Cassiopeia was 2nd largest only to the Princess Andromeda, and not by a whole lot.
I cautiously swam to the side of the boat, making sure that nobody noticed me. I looked at my shirt: thankfully, I changed into a tank top instead of my camp half blood t-shirt, so that I could blend easily with all of the other traitor demigods. I cautiously willed the water to let me onto a small corner of the ship, where thankfully I couldn't be spotted. I ducked even further into the darkness when I heard the slithering of a snake on the floor.
"Will we arrive ssssssoon?" A female voice whispered, exaggerating the s. I almost wanted to gag as I saw what had to be two of the ugliest women I have ever seen. They wore regular shirts, but their face was contorted to a snake like appearance. And I know that they say that it's about the personality and not the looks, but something's telling me that their personalities weren't much prettier.
"Yessssss," the other one crooned. "I heard that we'll be at Long Island by nightfall. Thosssse demigods won't susssssspect a thing." Wait- Long Island? Then it hit me: the ship was going to invade camp.
A sense of protectiveness surged over me: I had to stop them. There was no way that they were going to go and hurt anybody I care about.
The dracaenae slithered away on their disgusting snake legs and I could almost hear the gears whirring in my head. What was I going to do? I checked my pockets only to find a bit of lint in them. My bracelet, however, still shone on my wrist, which gave me a lot of comfort. If I could face a Cyclops with this sword and survive, than I could annihilate this ship and live to go back to camp. A voice nagged in the back of my head, telling me that the only reason that I didn't die last time was because Conor and Percy and Annabeth rescued me, but I quickly ignored the thought and walked out of the darkness.
The ship, I discovered, was even larger than I expected it to be. On the deck, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters and demigods. They all were practicing something: what looked like sending projectile venom at camp half blood dummies, or stabbing the same dummies with wickedly sharp blades. I swallowed loudly and took a deep breath, glad that I was too lazy to find a clean camp shirt.
"Hey!" I heard a voice say behind me. I whirled around, jumping slightly. A girl not much older than me glared at me. She seemed like a classic cheerleader stereotype, with her straight blonde hair and glossy lips. But that didn't fool me: I could see that her legs were weird: one was hairy like she didn't shave for 1000 years, and the other was a shiny bronze color. "You demigods are in charge of the Engine room, right?" I could only nod. "Well, why did I go down there to find that it was completely empty! What if something happened, and the whole ship sank?" I could only stare at her. She rolled her eyes and looked at her nails. "Just go and take watch, demigod, before I set the hellhounds on you." She stared pointedly at a large group of black dogs sleeping in the corner. One of them gave a menacing growl in their sleep.
"Yes, of course," I said, and ran past her and down the closest flight of stairs. To my right, I noticed that there was a huge window from which you could see the water. I turned to the left instead, walking down the hallway while plotting my destruction of the ship. This was almost too perfect: the Engine room was the best place to destroy the ship. The only source of light came from jars of greek fire. I passed the doors, reading every single one of them until I found it. Creaking the door open, I found that the girl was right: the engine room was completely vulnerable. I walked around, trying to take everything in. The sound of the machines were deafening, and I noticed that there was a definite increase in temperature in here. I took out my sword, ready to take on anyone who came down here. How could I sink the ship without going down with it? I walked up to the main machine. It was a nasty thing, with a gazillion buttons. Beckendorf, the head counselor of Hephaestus cabin, would know what to do. He would be so much more useful right now than me. I was about to try my luck by pressing ten buttons when a creak by the door almost gave me a heart attack.
A boy walked in, maybe a little younger than me. His brown eyes were already hard, and I could tell he's been through a lot.
"Hey, I don't recognize you," he frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm new," I lied. "One of the empousai told me to come down here."
"But I thought that there wasn't any new demigods?" He said it like a question.
"Well, I am," I responded nervously. "Come on, I don't want someone to come downstairs and think we're plotting to sink the ship or anything." Nice going, Arielle. I walked past him, about to get out of the door, when he stopped me. I immediately hit him on the head with my sword, and he crumbled to the ground without even making a noise. Maybe I shouldn't have hit so hard, I thought to myself. Oh well. I went down the hallway, thinking of what I should do instead of my failed attempt at breaking the engine. Then it hit me. I took out my sword and smashed the closest jar of greek fire on the walls. I automatically heard an alarm sound through the ship. I frantically sprinted down the hall, cracking open all of the jars I could reach. I heard voices sound around me, but I ignored them. I eventually reached the vast window of glass.
"Stop!" a voice behind me said. I whirled around to see the girl who told me to come downstairs. She wasn't alone: a large crowd of monsters and demigods alike joined her. "Who are you?" She sneered.
"Whoa, I'm sinking your ship and you don't even know who I am? I'm offended," I said. I saw with satisfaction that the greek fire was beginning to burn through the walls of the hallway, quickly burning everything. I felt the pressure of the water on the window nearby: the sea was calling. "You don't need to know my name, demon," I spat. "Just know that you're going to lose this war. Have fun in Tartarus." I pressed my fingers to the window and it shattered into a million pieces under the pressure of the water. I ignored the lacerations that I knew I would get and automatically thought of home: of the hill with Peleus sleeping as he guarded the fleece, of the spot where the campfires burned bright as we sang crazy songs. And I was sent back to Camp Half Blood.
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