Ok. I'm going to be brutally honest here. This chapter really sucks.

Nothing much happens except it might make you hungry. I promise that the next chapter will be waaaaayyyy better.

I don't own anything! And a reminder: THIS DOESN'T FOLLOW HoH AT ALL.

Nico

A SUFFOCATION JAR SOUNDED PRETTY GOOD.

It wasn't fun, but it was better than this. I felt like an eighth wheel. The only person that I somewhat had to talk to was Hazel, but she was always with Frank. Everyone had someone on this ship: Jason had Piper, Hazel had Frank, Hedge had T.V., and even Leo had someone: Festus, or that walking table. And now there was Carter and Sadie. I couldn't believe Piper: Oh, you two seem ok! Keep your weapons and sleep on the ship! I knew that I hated Aphrodite kids for some reason.

What were magicians? I had traveled all over the U.S. and even through the Labyrinth, and I had never heard of Egyptian magicians. Apparently, they were dangerous. The Sadie girl had blasted Piper's dagger to pieces by just saying a word. And Carter, he and Leo looked exactly alike- an evil twin, maybe? Whatever the case was, I didn't trust them- or anyone else really for that matter. Percy and Annabeth had been the only people that I trusted, and now they were gone.

I was sitting in the mess hall by myself. It was a big room with a long table in the middle, and an even longer one to the side, like a buffet. Well, it was a buffet. Little silver platters were lined up with covers, ready to serve whatever you wanted. The walls rolled live footage from Camp Half-Blood, which made me a little homesick. The dark, oak wood floors shone with light from the bronze chandelier. All the chairs around the table were super comfy, but to me, mine felt like a bed of nails.

I was getting hungry and decided to go ahead and start without the others. I mean, what were they going to do? Throw me off the ship? I grabbed a plate and headed over to the buffet. I lifted up one of the lids to find two ripe, juicy pomegranates. "Ha, ha," I said to the plate. "Very funny. Now, pizza please?" I closed and opened the lid again to find a slice of sausage pizza: my favorite. I put it on my plate and started to walk back to the table.

I was about halfway back when something caught my eye: a shadow in the corner. Why not just leave now? I could shadow travel back to Camp Half-Blood and help defend against the Romans. But also, what about the others on this ship? I was told that I was a great part of this quest. Yet, I could feel myself getting up to walk towards the shadow. But luckily, I was stopped by Hazel.

"Nico, what are you doing?" she asked. She walked in with Sadie, Leo, and Carter behind her. They were all staring at me, so I just played dumb.

"Um," I started, "I got hungry."

"Whatever. Guys, just get whatever you want. The food never ends," Hazel told Carter and Sadie. She gestured over to the buffet table. "Just grab a plate."

"Awesome!" Carter muttered. Sadie rolled her eyes and picked up a plate. They both went over and picked up the lids. Carter choose buffalo wings, while Sadie had some kind of pasta- I couldn't really tell. Then the plate shimmered, revealing a plate of what looked like badly burnt cookies. She blushed and quickly put the lid back.

Leo had already gotten his food, tacos (of course), and was walking over to the ice chest at the end of the table. "You can also get drinks, you know," he advised. "You usually pull out whatever you want."

Again, Carter was ecstatic. He somewhat skipped over to the box and stuck his hand inside. He came out with a root beer. He smiled at his drink, trotted over to the table, and sat down by Leo. Sadie came next. She reached into the ice chest and pulled out a cup of tea, still steaming. She looked a little embarrassed, but she walked to the table and sat by Hazel.

"Well, thank you all for treating us to this," Sadie said. She nudged her brother with her elbow.

"Um, yeah," Carter said with a mouthful of wings. He had sauce smeared all over his face already. That was pretty bad timing though: Jason, Piper, and Frank all walked in. Carter gave a great first impression. But he did the right thing: he grabbed a napkin and started to wipe off his face.

For a minute, they just stood in the doorway. Then, Frank pushed his way out, and headed for the buffet, stopping once to kiss Hazel on the cheek. He lifted a buffet lid and found two full racks of ribs. That boy could eat! He picked a water bottle out of the ice chest and sat down on the other side of Hazel.

Then, it was Piper's turn. "Guys, this is Jason Grace, son of Jupiter," she announced. She gestured to him like he was a trophy.

"Piper," Jason muttered, "you didn't have to say that." They smiled at each other. I was just hoping that they didn't get all mushy-gushy with each other right in front of us. Thankfully, someone behind me made a coughing sound that zapped them out of their love trance. They both blushed a little and went over to the buffet. Piper chose a fruit salad, and Jason had some slices of pizza. They both pulled a Pepsi out of the ice chest, allowing them to giggle even more. But finally, they both sat down.

Everyone was silent, munching on their food, so I decided to take a chance. I turned towards Carter and Sadie. "Um, if you don't mind me asking this, where the heck did you two come from?"

Well, that sucked. I really hope that you guys will like the future chapters though. Is it just me or does it seem like I'm getting kind of lazy with this story? What do you guys think?

-DaughterOfGaea2399 (P.S. Headcanon: Mr.D hates Jason and Piper because they think Pepsi is better than Diet Coke.)