2. I get what people are saying- a lot of the time this doesn't sound like the characters- but just think about it- how often do the rest of us swear? How often would you have time for cracking jokes when you're, seriously, facing down flesh-eating monsters every other minute- you become, at times, harder, and you have to be completely sure that you actually can before you genuinely relax, let your hair down. Besides that, there's more joking around now- for the first chapter, Annabeth is terrified out of her mind because she wants to see Percy, but she's nervous about how he feels, and Leo's wanting to keep his ship pristine, worrying about the Romans, Piper's thinking about this 'Reyna', and Jason's wandering if the Romans remember him, and just how friendly they're going to be. I think you'd be on edge. On the other hand, i understand your views- this isn't really the same, amazing characters we all know and utterly adore, but it's something different- a new perspective.

Anyway, enough nattering- got a tour of the Argo II here, some laughs (i think), about time, and a leader coming to bear. Enjoy!

Review plzkthnxbai :)

Jason

They'd only spent moments inside, before he greeted Reyna again. "Reyna-"

"Jason! It's been-too long." she said, and once the...almost lack of recognition, as if she was stunned he was here, faded from her face, gave him a hug.

His face turned a little red, and he saw Piper across the room. She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He understood. For now, Jason.

He thanked her silently. I'm yours, anyway, Piper.

"You've changed, Jason. Taller, tanned, a little more Greek, even." She said, a smile tugging at the corner of one mouth.

The door opened, just as he opened his mouth to return the surprisingly playful banter, and Reyna's expression changed, hardened slightly.

So, he though. Softer, slightly. She trusts...him. But she still needs to be a leader.

The two arrivals came in, Annabeth in front of her boyfriend, and smile stretching her lips. Jason could just see from her expression that she was euphoric.

And then she moved further into the room, and Jason got his first look proper at the living Greek legend of Percy Jackson.

He was tall, taller than him, perhaps the tallest in here, but by no means more ripped than Jason. He was light on his feet, a lethal grace that was barely obvious, but nonetheless present, still muscular. Deep black hair and vivid green eyes were his standout features, and a...slim but fairly bold profile marked him out as the one he had seen in Chiron's photo at Camp Half-blood.

He wondered about the tales of heroics Percy had to his name. He must be an incredible warrior, and even then to say nothing of his powers. Jason himself had defeated, crushed the Titan Krios with his bare hands, but Percy...he'd taken on and defeated, single-handedly, the King of the Titans, the Lord of Time itself, Kronos. Still, using my hands evens up the score...okay, it doesn't really, he thought.

"Sorry to keep everyone waiting, guys..." Percy said nervously, embarassed.

"It's fine." Jason was surprised to find the words coming from his own mouth. "No problem." He held out his hand to Percy. "Percy Jackson, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," he said, taking his hand curiously at first, then with a measure of gratefulness. "Jason."

Jason realised there was a silence in the room that was only to be matched by the introduction of two rival gods as everyone watched the two demigods.

"Well," said Reyna unsettled, thought she tried to hide it. "Shall we...begin? There are chairs in the corner there. Let's just get everyone sat down first."

Six demigods reached for chairs, Jason too- he had noticed the purple toga Percy wore, and could only wonder that he had been raised so soon. He was a Roman. He did what was best for Rome, and so did the others here. All of them. If they had seen it fit to raise him on a shield, if they had deemed him worthy of the praetorship, then so did he.

Percy and Reyna sat in chairs already laid out, sitting in the beginnings of a circle, Percy on Reyna's left. Annabeth came to sit on Percy's left, smiling at him, eyes twinkling, and then Piper, then Leo, then Jason, Hazel, who gave Jason a small squeeze on the arm, and then the chinese guy, ending on Reyna's right.

"Very well. Greeks." Reyna hesitated again, coughing, and Percy saved her from an embarassing silence. "Well- how about we get to know each other. It's not like we're all exactly acquainted, so let's start, seeing as the seven are in this room as well."

There was a slight pause at the mention of the Great Prophecy, and then Reyna began.

"I am Reyna, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, daughter of Bellona, goddess of war. I have served at camp jupiter for four years."

"I'm Percy Jackson, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, Hero of Olympus, Son of Poseidon, or Neptune, i guess. I've been at camp Jupiter for just a little under a week, but i was at camp half-blood for 5 years before this."

"I'm Annabeth Chase, Architect of Olympus, Daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom, arts and crafts, and war."

"I'm Piper...McLean..." Jason waited for someone to recognise the family name, pick up the actor her father was, but no-one did. Thankfully. " Daughter of Aphrodite. I can charmspeak."

The question of what that was was left unasked by the Romans, but by Percy's expression, Jason saw he had already guessed her power.

"I'm Leo Valdez- you aren't going to faint again, are you?" - Hazel looked like she would when he spoke to her- "supreme commander of the Argo II, Son of Hephaestus. I can, and this is cool, use fire in a special way..." he higlighted the 'special' with a snap of his fingers, creating a blaze in the middle of his palm. The chinese guy tried to back up real quick, forgetting he was on a chair, topling over backwards, and Hazel leaned away, her hysteria overcome by fear, clutching at a lump in her lower torso underneath her jacket.

"I'm Jason Grace, Fifth Cohort. I've served thirteen years in the Legion, since i was three. I am the Son of Jupiter. I can, and this is...unusual, apprently, fly."

"You couldn't fly when you were here previously, Jason. How come?" asked Hazel.

"I don't know. waking up, not knowing who i was, discovering all my powers in minutes, seconds, i wasn't really thinking about the how part, more the what the heck am i doing here part. I guess i just didn't know. I don't think i ever tried it, either." He replied.

"I'm Hazel Levesque. I am a daughter of Pluto, i've served less than a year at camp Jupiter. I can control precious metals-"

"Wait...you said you're a daughter of Pluto. That's Hades, right?" said Leo, confused. "He's the god of the underworld. Well, what the hell has that got to do with jewllery?"

Piper saved Hazel from replying: "Sherlock, the roman form of Hades, Pluto, has control of riches as well as death. So, if you're born a child of Pluto, you can either have control of percious items, like Hazel, i'm assuming, or-"

"Or death," Hazel said. "Like my brother, Nico."

"Nico! He's here?" said Annabeth incredulously.

"Annabeth, he's been taken...by Gaea," said Percy. "He was looking for the Doors of Death, but she got hold of him and has him prisoner."

"Oh no...how long has he been gone?"

"Since we came back from the quest a day ago."

"Wait," said Annabeth, confused for once. "You mean he was here at the camp beforehand? He knew about this place? How did he find it? Why didn't he tell us-" she demanded.

"Believe me, i'd be asking if the kid was here," Percy grumbled.

Hazel's eyes lowered to the floor at the mention of her brother, and the bulky guy next to her put a comforting hand on her arm. Jason wondered just who this guy was. He couldn't have been here long, but he'd obviously done something to earn Jackson's trust, as well as the legion stripe on his arm. From what Jason could faintly make out on his arm, his smybol was a spear- Mars.

"And i'm Frank Zhang. I'm a son of Mars and, well, I can...change shape."

A silence from the Greeks followed his announcement. Then Leo cracked up, laughing so hard he was wriggling in the chair. Percy was smiling too, though it was more of an expectant smile. "Get the fu-oh...ahahahahaa!" Leo laughed

"They don't belive you, Frank. Demonstrate." suggested Reyna, a mischevious grin slipping onto her face.

Frank stood, pushing his chair backwards...and suddenly, amidst a cloud of white crackling lines of energy which flickered around him, an anteater stood, tongue flickering lazily. The aura of white lightning appeared again, momentarily, fading as Frank reappeared.

Piper gaped, unable to help herself- Jason could not supress the widening of his eyes, and Leo's laughing ceased very, very abruptly.

"Well, yes-" Jason could tell Reyna was trying hard not to laugh "- formalities and joking aside, let's get into the meat of the matter, if you will. Now, we've been assured by our other praetor, Percy, who you all know, that you Greeks come here in peace. You haven't made a move, and Percy has given us more than enough reason to trust him, so i'm going to place the same trust in you three," she said, gesturing at Leo, Piper, and Annabeth. "You're here because apparently the time of the Great Prophecy is upon us- but let me warn you. The Romans here lost their eagle after a man attempted to interpret the Prophecy Of The Seven, even though Percy here has done his absolute best to reassure them, and so will be wary of you, not to mention the deep-buried resentment Romans harbour towards Greeks. They won't be willing to accept you as easily."

"We don't really need that, do we? After all, we're only staying here a little while- and while yeah, happy families is a great idea, we're going to be leaving pretty soon. I mean the only reason we're here is so we get the seven together, right?" said Leo, a little uncomfortably.

"This isn't about just getting the seven together, Leo. " Jason said. "Hera brought us together because Romans and Greeks together, together, will complete the prophecy. Not just because we can simply gather us seven and send us off on a quest. There has to be unity between the Greeks and the Romans, everywhere, not just between the seven."

"Jason's right." Said Annabeth. "It won't work otherwise. Gaea won't just be trying to prevent us from closing the doors of death, and, when it boils down to that final fight, it'll be just us seven against her, but in the meantime, she's going to be attacking everyone who's close to us- friends, people at both camps, and our families. All of us. The only way we can complete our quest and keep them safe is if we work together."

Their was a glum moment of consideration as Annabeth let that sink in.

"Shouldn't we- I don't know-bring our families here or something? To keep them safe?" Percy said nervously.

"No." Said Piper, and Jason started. Surely the last thing she wanted was for her dad to be taken away from her again? "If we bring them here, they be more at risk than they would be at home. Personally, i don't want to put my dad under that kind of pressure, living here. Besides, there's a chance they don't even know who they are or where they live, right?" she said, hopefully.

"How do we know who the seven are?" asked Reyna.

"Most of them are pretty obvious." Percy began. "Frank, Hazel, Piper, Jason, and Leo are all pretty special. There isn't much they can't do. But we need someone who can think for us, make the decisions and know what she's doing. Annabeth's the best person to do that." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

Jason was a little jealous of their bond. Despite the fact that he had a girlfriend, who he liked intesely, and she him, of that he was sure, Percy and Annabeth were so harmonised.

"As well as that, i heard- read a prophecy...somwhere on our quest, and, well, it practically says she's coming along with us."

Jason waited to her this prophecy he'd heard, but Percy didn't seem willing to share.

"So i'm guessing...Reyna, right? Is the one who isn't one of the seven." Asked Leo.

"That's right." She said after a moment's consideration.

"I'm sorry- Leo, supreme commander, whatever- when are we leaving? And... what exactly are we doing? It's not really like the prophecy of the seven is clear about where to go." asked Frank.

Leo looked pleased at the 'supreme commander', less so at the whatever. "The plan is to-"

Jason couldn't help himself. "leo, you've never fucking planned anything in your life-"

"Well, the planning starts now. Or earlier, when i made this brilliant plan up." Leo grinned. "Anyway, we're going to get in not too long a time, so whatever."

"Hold it, Leo." Annabeth glared at him. "Who put you in charge?"

"Well, you know, supreme commander is an important position, but..." Leo's confident grin wavered under the stares of seven others. "What the hell. But it's my ship, all of you. On my ship, you follow my rules."

"Well, except when the leader issues an order, Leo. So, that's kind of bullshit." Jason rolled his eyes.

"So who is going to lead us?" asked Hazel.

"Why don't you put it to a vote? Then we'll see who's best suited to lead."

The vote went round the circle of chairs, and, despite the numerous hands for Percy and Jason, Annabeth was the winner. While Hazel and Frank didn't vote for her, Percy's hand, added to the three others who did, was enough to secure her position.. Reyna never cast a vote, just watched, a finger tapping her jaw as she rested her head in one hand.

"Well...I guess the best thing for us to do right now is to go and take a look at the Argo II. We can get everyone arranged in a sleeping spot, and get all our stuff on board, so we don't have to spend any time preparing." She shifted, settling into a role. Getting used to giving the orders.

Leo

After the seven of them had departed, Reyna had left them, and returned to the headquarters of Camp Jupiter, which she had called the...principalis? Either way, she was glad to be clear of her. Her piercing gaze definitely made him uneasy. It was as if she knew too much about him for him to be entirely comfortable around her- and while of course that couldn't be the case, it certainly felt like it. He was waiting, with Jason, Piper, Annabeth, and Percy, and to be honest...he felt a little embarassed. A little like the odd one out.

Piper had her arms round Jason, and he had his arm over her shoulder. They kept talking in undertones, which at the same time made Leo feel like they were talking about him behind his back and also want to run over there and interrupt. On his left, on the other side of the rope ladder he had one hand on, were Percy and Annabeth, who were in each others' arms, whispering and laughing and making out, though they had the grace to stop pretty quickly. Sometimes.

Of course, Leo really wanted to annoy them- he'd never seen Annabeth so happy, or so mushy over anyone. Well, she was pretty beat up when he wasn't here, he reasoned. The blonde would probably slaughter him if he did anything to interrupt her- she knew how to use her knife, on demigods and monsters, and, well, he didn't fancy getting run through, even if it was after lunch.

As for Percy... he'd heard so much from the other campers, his siblings in Cabin Eight, Annabeth, that he was practically expecting this nine-foot tall, insanely ripped guy to be waiting for them when the came down from the Argo II. But he wasn't anything like that- he was pretty tall, sure, but the guy wasn't any more muscular than Jason, probably less. He did have, though, that aura of...what was it? Confidence? No. he was confident, but he didn't radiate it. Power. That was it. Although he didn't show it, if you looked into the green eyes under the black hair you could see a dangerous half-blood.

He was a nice guy, though.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to annoy him.

As the two they were waiting for began to come into sight through the darknening air, Leo breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, let's not give these timewasters any appreciation, lovebirds- let's get on board!"

As he entered back onto the Argo, he breathed a sigh of relief. Back...home, it felt like. Away from the weird Romans in their own city giving him the stare-down. Still, he was about to be joined by the others, so he'd better put on a good performance if he wanted to get this trip started right. Still, there wasn't any room for him, especially seeing as there were two couples already on the ship. Still, Hazel was kind of cute, he mused. Still she isn't out of my league; and that puts her out of the question.

Annabeth, Percy, Hazel, Piper, Frank and Jason came up through the rope ladder one at a time, until, finally, the seven demigods of the prophecy were settled on board the Argo II.

Two hundred feet long, the Argo had plenty of room for the 30 foot widthways and lengthways cabin placed 50 feet from the rear of the ship. The cabin had a partially glass roof and glass walls, the supports lacing the ceiling solid steel. The small cabin had a series of beanbags in and a plasma TV in, tuned in to Hephaestus TV. twenty-five feet down from that, a smaller cabin, with two swivelling chairs and a series of navigational instruments inside, had been built from reinforced glass and Celestial Bronze supports. Just inside both of these two huts were weapon racks within carbon cases, guns, swords, spears lined up alongside each other. The sides of the ship were braced with rails that went up to just above their waists. All of the huts upstairs had circular doors that spiralled open when you pressed the open button. The stairs to the lower levels was protected by a slanting bronze structure, sealed with a pressure hatch.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. First, we've got two rooms, sorry about the lack of space, we probably could have all had our own if we hadn't spent so much time on making sure it could fly- but anyway, one's got four beds, and the other has three. Well, i don't know about you guys, but i'm thinking boys and girls?"

But Piper had something to say. "Actually, you know, how about Jason, me, Percy and Annabeth in one, and Frank, Hazel, and Leo in the other? That sounds better to me, to be honest." She was obviously supported by Annabeth, standing next to her, who gave her a smile and put a supporting hand on her shoulder, nodding appreciatively. "I agree with Piper, you know. I think that's best." she said.

Leo had never really understood the feeling of annoyance towards others. Now, as his face turned the same colour as betroot, he felt he understood quite perfectly. "How is that fucking fair!" He cried. "I don't even get a say? I want to share a room with guys, not beast boy and Peanut here. Or is it Hazel? Yeah. Come on, guys, please-"

"Leo, actually," Annabeth interrupted, "Didn't you have that room built just for you? You know, the supreme commander's master bedroom? Just for you? The one with the double bed?"

While Leo was under verbal abuse by Piper and Annabeth, Jason and Percy stood petrified. Maybe they think their girlfriends are going to put collars on them or something, Leo thought. "Ladies-" he protested, to no avail.

They just fluttered those long eyelashes and danced away, boyfriends in tow. Frank, Hazel, and Leo just stood there and watched, amazed.

Hazel turned to Leo, almost cautiously. "Don't feel like you have to sleep somewhere else, Leo. Us three can get to know each other better, if you want. Right, Frank?"

Baby-faced Frank nodded, reluctantly.

"Yeah, sure. It'll be f-fun." Leo stuttered out.

"That's great!" Hazel replied happily. "Well, we're going to go and put our stuff into our room, Leo- do you want to...show us the way?" she asked.

Leo, about to run into his master room, bury his head in his pillows and scream and cry for all he was worth, without realising Frank and Hazel were standing in the hallway awkwardly waiting for directions. From him.

"Over there behind-actually, you can just! Follow-Percy...fuuuck." his voice trailed off as the four went below decks to their rooms, now out of sight, only their voices remaining, faintly so.

"Please, Leo?" asked Hazel.

Frank gave her a curious look, like how did he get in your good books?

Leo paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Ah, what the hell, i might just as well." He grinned cheekily at Hazel. "Just to, you know, check everything's going on smoothly down there. Supreme commander; that's a serious responsibility, you know." he added quickly after he got a look from Frank. Don't really want to mess with a guy that big, who can change shape, not to mention. Even putting the fact that his ability to proverbially mess with fire had killed his mother to one side, shapeshifting was something Leo was envious of. Still, he reasoned, at least he can't build something like this. The Argo II was his masterpiece. A thousand years from now, he reckoned, people would be discussing the legendary exploits of the supreme commander Leo Valdez aboard his magnificent ship, the Argo II.

He led them down into the berth of the ship, where the ship opened out into a wide, spacious area. There were doors, trapdoors, and behind the stairs was the cockpit. Well, when you say cockpit...

The only resemblance it bore towards a ship was the glass opening that looked out into the sky, over Camp Jupiter.

Other than that, a projector was mounted on the ceiling, beaming light onto the flattened section of the wall in the middle of the glass section, made of wood. The image was a view of the Argo II, but as if from a hundred metres above it, so that he could see all angles of the ship possible from a 45 degree angled view in the air behind it. An array of glass circular desks with neon lights tracing the curved edge right the way round was in front of the projector. A keyboard was in front of a monitor, the joystick from the Learjet was 'plugged' into the desk, which had power outlets, USB ports, and other integration sockets without having any other outside source of power, his sound board lay on the left of the desks, and a pair of Wii remotes on the right-hand side, anchored into their docking station.

"How did you get the view to be like that?" Frank asked, amazed.

"Oh, boy. You have no idea. Lot of messing around with birds. wires. Piano music and other tortures. And a fake eyeball."

"What? How does that work?" Hazel asked, puzzled.

"Er- it doesn't matter, Hazel," Frank said, touching her arm. "Come on."

Leo didn't get why Frank was so protective of Hazel. Were they dating? It was difficult to tell, but he thought so. I mean, sure, the girl was about two feet tall, but she'd come from Camp Jupiter, right? It's not like she wouldn't be able to use that sword she had.

Leo led them to one of the two doors in the ship that was close to the pilot's hub. He kicked the door open, and ushered the other two inside.

Piper

Annabeth went in first, Percy in tow.

She'd seen Percy Jackson in a photo before- she'd decided he was good-looking then, but he was very much more so in reality. If she wasn't with Jason, and Annabeth wasn't intrisically linked with him, who knows...

But she was with Jason, she reminded herself, and she felt like jumping for joy. He was next to her, an arm around her waist, golden air and pale eyes, scar on the lip- he was hers. He tightened his arm around her waist and gave her a smile, as if he was reading her thoughts. Though she was pretty sure that wasn't the case, she wouldn't have a problem letting him know how she was thinking.

They followed in afterwards. Never mind the fact that Leo was a little over-enthusiastic at times- she was glad for the comfort of the room. The door opened into a spacious room, with a two beds half a metre away from each other, and then the other pair of beds about four metres away, the foot of the beds facing the door. On the left side of the left beds, and on the right side of the right beds, two balconies had been decarated with chairs, a table- everything to make the demigods with the fate of the world in their hands comfortable.

In between both pairs of beds, a table lay, with three draws and a Lava lamp on it. There was a cupboard on both sides of the room, a single bookcase on the far right, and a rack of swords on the far left.

Jason slipped his arm from around Piper's waist. He slung his bag off his back, and let it slide onto the floor by his bed. He slept by the balcony, and while he was always the one to close their balcony door, Piper liked the sound of the wind outside as the ship moved.

He came back over, nervously running a hand through his hair. "That's all the stuff I took from my old house. I didn't really take anything worth much, I guess- strictly only sentimental value. If it's too much next to your stuff, you know, i'll just keep it in my bag."

He put two arms around her waist, slowly, and kissed her. Piper leant up and into him more as he did, looping her arms around his neck. After a moment she took her arms away and pulled away from his lips, placing her arms on his as she drew in an deep breath. "Jason- we'd probably better wait until after- there's, um, things to do." She pulled away from him, unlacing his arms, although the sense of reluctance was present in both of them.

As they walked out, Piper was faintly aware of Percy and Annabeth behind her, but in a moment of worry, her mind was far too busy to consider the two. Despite the fact that she was with Jason, even though that Reyna seemed to hold his affections, though to a lesser extent, and their relationship was very, very good- she couldn't help but let that secret she'd been holding back, imprisoned in the back of her mind, slip forward, scrabbling for purchase in the ledges of her brain. She was worried about that particular problem, more than she should be- but she couldn't let it bother her now. That would've taken priority over most other things normally, but when you're on a quest to defeat Gaea, there isn't much else that's important. As it shuffled forward again, she desperately shoved it aside, right to the back of her mind. Later, she thought to herself. Later.