CHAPTER 2

**Still needs some editing**

Thank you for all the polite reviews!

Jane

As I got out of the car, a few kids started jeering at me.

"Hey, Color Face! Hope the paint you use isn't toxic! As if your face isn't already messed up!"

I rolled my eyes, and went over to the school gates, where my friend, Ivy, was waiting for me, wearing her usual bright smile as she saw me, but frowned as those kids started laughing as they passed by. She started storming towards them.

"Hey, wait-"

But she persisted, as usual.

"Hey, kids over there!" she shouted, towering over them. The kids stared back. "You guys better learn what respect is. Oh, and by the way, did you see your own face when insulted my friend's here? Bug off," Ivy tossed her hair, and walked back. The kids silently walked away, mumbling about how annoying she was and how unfair it was the fact that she was taller than most people.

"Uh, I need to cut my hair sometimes. Maybe a trim,"

"Um, you didn't need to do that…" I said.

"Didn't need to do that? It's not like I committed a crime or anything." She smirked. "Besides, it's pretty fun to get into an argument once in a while, when you know you're going to win,"

I opened my mouth as in to say something, but quickly shut it.

"Alright, if you insist."

Ali

The sun shined in my eye as I walked out of my 0th period classroom, causing me to crash into the nearby trash canister. 2nd time today… Glancing up, I saw the clouds and the blue sky, making me breathe a sigh of relief.

My feet led me to Jane and Ivy, who looked like they were having a pleasant conversation. Lucky them, they only have 1st period to go to. I waved to them, and they waved back when they noticed me, inviting me to join their conversation. At once, I realized something was up, inferring from Ivy's victorious smirk and Jane's slightly tilted smile.

"Jane got teased again, wasn't she?" I sighed, then rolled my eyes. "Just go with the flow, Ivy, don't need to make them pee their own pants. Best part is when you turn their joke against them, or better yet, prank 'em."

Ivy let out a light laugh and winked, while Jane chuckled.

Suddenly, the bell blared, one pitch held at a constant note into the air. A faint memory tapped on my conscience, but I brushed it off. We then rushed off to class, the mob of students all moving in unison.

Ivy

Together, us three waited outside of our history class, our classmates chattering about. Jane took off her glasses, and wiped the lenses using the hem of her shirt, bored from waiting for the ever so slow teacher. Ali was reading a thick book. As expected.

"Hey, Jane," I started.

"Yeah?" she said, not looking up from cleaning her lenses.

"Knock knock,"

"Who's there?" Jane replied unconsciously.

"Interrupting cow," Jane rolled her eyes, and let out a sigh. She heard this joke before.

"Interrupting cow-"

BOOM!

BOOM!

There was a huge explosion, and I saw the roof of the school come crashing down. Ali looked up from her book and at the collusion with wide eyes, filled with horror. Jane shoved her glasses back onto her face, looking at it and then pointed at something through the smoke and debris.

"Look!" Jane screamed into my ears. Jeez, Jane. Thanks to you half of my ear is already deaf. But as I followed Jane's finger, my mind went blank. No, it couldn't be. No, it is. There, in the sky, it was hard to miss the bronze dragon. It was the same vessel. The ship from my visions.

Jane

Ivy started talking really fast.

"Do you guys have the same vision? This morning I could swear it was the same ship, oh goodness, you guys saw the same thing right? I'm not going crazy here right? The school just crashed in front of us, and not only that my joke was interrupted by bombs, wait is it bombs?" Ivy finished in one breath. I widened my eyes. That sounded exactly like my visions. I was about to tell her, but first, I did what any person would do. And no, I was not going to take a selfie, considering some people would think that this is a fitting time to take one.

"Hey, calm down," I started.

"HOW CAN I, JANE? How can I even calm down?! The school just fell apart and I think I'm out of my mind!" Ivy screamed back at me, frantic.

Then I did something I have never done, but I did it anyway. I slapped her across the face. She stared at me with wide eyes, strands of hair plastered on her face with a bit of sweat.

"Ah, Jane! Now I know for sure that this is not a dream!" Ivy groaned.

"Ivy, just calm down!"

"Okay, now that we're done with that, what do we do?!" cried Ali. "Some of the teachers are in panic right now!" Ali couldn't have been more accurate. Children screamed and ran around in circles, screaming for their dear lives. Ivy turned around shouted at them.

"Yo, kids! Screaming won't get you anywhere! Hurry up and get to the fire-safe zone, dimwits!" The kids didn't need to be told twice. Ali was continuously staring into the smoke.

"Ali? ALI!" I shouted.

Ali

My eyes widened when I saw that flying ship from my dream. I could only stop and stare, open-mouthed. Dust flew everywhere, and I felt some land on my tongue, giving it a horrible grainy feeling. Jane was shouting my name and I just stood there, mesmerized with the fact that this is all 100% real. I had the strangest desire to step on that golden ship, with the sun glinting off its copper surface. Finally pulling out of my trance, I grabbed Jane along with Ivy and started to run. Jane looked just as shocked as well.

"Wha- ho-why?" Jane stammered behind me. Ivy ran after us, continuously looking over her shoulder to see if the fire had gained on us yet.

We all kept on running until we reached the "safe" zone, panting and sweating. The principal's booming voice shouted over us, directing us like soldiers in a war. Everyone looked like they were peeing their pants, but something made me look at that ship again. The instinct to just abandon everything and go onto that ship was overwhelming. I hesitantly took a step, then another. Soon enough, I was running directly into the fire, the heat scorching my clothes. I didn't care.

"Ali! It's dangerous! Cut it out!" Ivy screamed desperately. I didn't respond. I was too focused to answer.

I ran even faster, all the adrenaline pumping inside of me. Finally, I arrived at the hull of the ship, the soles of my shoes worn out from the hot coals and all the running. However, when I looked up, the ship… wasn't on fire. As if someone was controlling it, taming the fiery beast. Hearing footsteps behind me, I quickly turned back and saw an angry Ivy and a terrified Jane.

"ALICIA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WE COULD HAVE BEEN KIL-" Ivy stopped, staring at something behind me. I turned around. Someone.

Ivy

A copper skinned girl stepped out of the glittering bronze ship, and looked at me, Ali, and Jane with eerie golden eyes. She was shorter me by a few inches, as most people were, and was wearing a gray polo jacket, unzipped to reveal a purple shirt underneath. Her curly hair swept in the dusty breeze as she held out a hand.

"Grab my hand!" the girl shouted over the crackling of burning wood.

"Wait, what?" Jane shouted back, hesitant.

I heard a screech. We all looked at the sky above us. Winged creatures were flying around the dark sky, like one great group of eagles.

"Harpies!" I barely caught the girl's voice. Whatever harpies were, they were darn hideous.

The creature's feathered claw grabbed at poor screaming Jane. Ali let her mouth open in horror. The girl jumped gracefully off the vast ship and slashed at the harpy with a bronze dagger. It disintegrated into gray dust. Another distorted beast swooped down and tried to grab me, but Jane heroically leapt in front of it and hit the harpy with her sketchbook.

Whack!

"Thanks, Jane!" I yelled.

One of Jane's pencils fell onto the ground, and I picked it up and aimed it at the attacking monster. Lunging it with all my strength, the pencil successfully hit the harpy and penetrated into one of its wings. I grimaced as it shrieked a loud cry of anger and pain.

I spotted Ali running towards the ship and fumbled about as she climbed on. I ran after her.

"Jane! Come on!" I shouted after her. The ship is the only safe area there was to go to. I turned back. I saw the harpy lash out at Jane and she fell to the ground with pain. The copper girl ran after her, running and shouting her name.

"JANE! JANE!" I shouted, as I climbed onto the ship. A pale, gloomy boy wearing a leather aviator jacket, black skinny jeans, and a skull ring on his left hand climbed off the ship, and walked solemnly to Jane, and picked her up. Ali was screaming along with me, standing next to me.

"JANE! Don't DIE!" We screamed together. I stopped screaming when I saw Jane.

Blood. Blood ran down her face, and my eyes bulged out. That was a lot of blood. I toppled onto the ground. What will become of us?

ALICIA

"JANE! JANE!" I cried at the unresponding figure of Jane, shaking her shoulders. She was brought to laying on some kind of chair inside the ship, a couple feet from the entrance we had just ran through. Tears came to my eyes. "Will she make it? There's blood everywhere!" I looked at Jane's bloody face and head. It was soaking through her hair.

The girl merely stared at me, then gave a reassuring smile.

"She's in good hands," she replied. "Oh, and the name's Hazel."

I just stared at her, then nodded. "My name's Ali, and this is Jane." I pointed behind me. "The girl that's about to faint is Ivy."

She smiled back, then leapt away, seeming to know exactly what she was doing. Deciding to leave Jane to the professionals to clean her up, I stood up. I was curious about the flying ship, but I decided to talk to Ivy first.

"Relax, Ivy. Jane's gonna be alright,"

"I hope that's true. Why don't you take a look around the ship? I'll look after Jane. See if these people are worth trusting," She shakily walked after Hazel.

I nodded, starting to creep around in the interior of this gorgeous ship. How does this even fly? I thought. Too busy thinking, I bumped into someone, my head knocking against his cheek. I immediately stepped back and murmured a "sorry", hoping that the awkward moment would quickly pass. The boy had wild, curly hair, and looked like an elf from another dimension, about over an inch taller than me. I decided to slip pass by him so I could see the ship on my own… if he let me.

"Whoa, where are you going, ma'am?"

"Umm..." I paused. Dang it, I thought.

He chuckled, a grin spreading over his face. "It's ok. I'm Leo, owner and maker of this amazing flying ship, the Argos II. What do you think of it?" He winked at me.

"Er, well, apart from the crazy fire and everything, I think it's pretty awesome." I stuttered.

"Well, we just had to make that happen to, um, kind of lure you guys out. It might be really hard to grasp. Plus, I kinda went a little overboard on all the fire stuff. But the thing is, we needed to get you three out of the school, but the harpies caught up to us." he said, playing with a nearby spark of flame indifferently.

"So… you are here to tell me that you 'accidentally' destroyed the whole school? While you were at it, why not destroy the whole city?"

He chuckled, amused at my answer.

"That's where The Mist comes in. The Mist covers what mortals see. To them, the harpies probably look like crazy chicken-men." He put up an elfish smile. "Don't take it so seriously."

"Oh… well… would it be ok… if you showed me how the ship works? I've always been kind of interested in mechanics… so… "

Leo looked at me. "Sure, no problem. Just follow me." He started to walk, and I followed. It was time to get some answers.

JANE

I woke up on a soft, comfortable bed in the late afternoon.

What happened?

Well, for one, I know I'm not in my room. Blueprints and diagrams of architecture were plastered all over the walls, and a Yankees cap laid on a desk, cluttered with paper. Nearby, a trash can was filled to the brim with scraps, and there was a photo of a beautiful blonde girl with gray eyes and a boy with messy dark hair and sea-green eyes. Ivy sat next to me.

"Oh, Jane! Thank goodness you're ok!"

I winced at the wound on my eye. I went to touch it, and realized it was covered by a cloth.

"Careful, don't touch that," she warned. I sat on the bed for a while, not really knowing what to do. Then a thought came over my head. What's going to happen to mom? Is she worried about me? Has she even heard about the explosion? I imagined my poor mother clenching her phone, talking into it as she called the authorities while wringing her hair and balling her eyes out. Oh, gods...my nerve-wrecking thoughts were interrupted by the door opening.

"Can I come in?" said a calm voice.

"Sure." I said. Ivy stood up from her seat.

Then the same girl from the photo walked into the room. Her blonde hair was tied up and glistened in the afternoon sun leaking out of the window. She looked like your typical California girl, except with deep, intense stormy gray eyes.

"You're awake." she smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm good...except the fact that I have ever so many questions going through my mind." I answered.

"So do I," Ivy added.

"Oh. Then, to begin with, I'm Annabeth Chase." she took out a hand.

"I'm Jane." I shook her hand.

Annabeth smiled.

"Well, as for where you are, you're on the Argo II, a flying ship."

"A flying ship." I repeated slowly.

"Yes."

"Don't worry Jane, you're not crazy," Ivy added, reassuring.

There was a moment of silence. I then said,

"Why am I here?"

"I should explain that later, along with your other friend."

"Alright…."

Another moment of silence. I tried to stand up, but my head burst with pain and I got back into the bed, forced to stay put, with tears of agony in my eyes.

"You should stay in bed for a while. Your wounds haven't healed yet." Ivy said, worried.

"Okay. Who got me up here? Was it you?"

She shook her head. Annabeth answered.

"Nico carried you up here. I should get your friend here-she's worried sick about you."

Annabeth got up and left the room. I stared at the door she walked out of. I flopped back onto my pillow, thoughts racing in my mind. Why am I here? Where am I going? Why did they rescue only me along with Ali and Ivy? Do I even have a purpose here?

ALI

I followed Leo through the halls of the airship, amazed yet wary. I didn't know if I could trust him yet, but I needed answers, ASAP.

"Hey, Leo?" I asked politely, trying to charm him into spouting some hidden knowledge. "What did you say about the Mist again? And about 'luring' us out? And… the fire? It would be great to know, since I'm kind of confused about all this."

He turned around, then stared at me for some time. "I'm sorry, I don't think I should tell you now." Scratching his head, he gave me a quirky grin. "I don't really get it myself."

"Oh. Sorry for asking." I replied. So much for getting answers, I thought. At least I can get a peek at the inside of this cool ship.

We continued to walk. The inside of the ship had a warm feeling, and we walked past a room full of refrigerators and another room that had giant screens that changed their landscape every now and then. The picture with the massive bonfire intrigued me the most. Leo and I went down a long hallway.

I realized that Leo had led me to the engine room. The smell of oil was everywhere, but it looked like Leo didn't mind. He started to talk about his amazing handiwork, until he was interrupted by a blonde girl with a long, sleek ponytail.

"Aw, come on Annabeth, I was just telling someone about my awesome ship. It is actually the first time someone wanted a tour of this beauty." Leo pouted jokingly in front of her.

She rolled her eyes, then turned to me. "I hope he didn't do anything weird, but your friend Jane woke up."

My eyes widened. I instantly started walking toward the door, until Leo grabbed my shoulder. "Woah there, I'm coming too. I think we need to give you some answers."

Annabeth nodded. "I'll go grab the others."

Leo and I started to walk down the hall, until we arrived at Jane's room. I pushed the door open. "Jane?" I cautiously whispered, in case she was asleep.

"Hmm…" I heard her mumble. I then barged into the room and asked her a million questions.

"Are you ok? Does it hurt? Did you learn anything? Did Annabeth tell you anything?"

"Calm down," Ivy answered. "She's perfectly fine, and we're really confused about all this."

I sighed, then sat on the flouncy bed next to her. Leo did the same.

"This is Leo, the chief engineer on this ship. Leo, this is Jane."

Leo turned to her and grinned. The door then opened, and people trickled in. Annabeth, Hazel, and a dark gloomy boy.

"Time to answer some questions," Annabeth said.