The Mark of Athena

A/N: Hi everyone Disclaimer (Do I have to say this every chapter?): I don't own PJATO or HoO (As much as I wish I did, I don't). On with the story! P.S: I'm almost to 9,000 hits total! You guys and girls are awesome, thanks!

PIPER:

When the Argo II landed, I was feeling even worse.

I guess it was probably because I would have to climb down a ladder of stairs, and in my condition, that would most likely be (almost) fatal. I watched as an overly excited Percy jumped over the edge of the ship and started climbing, with Annabeth right next to him.

I sighed and waited until Jason came up and smiled at me.

"Carry me down please?" I asked

"Sure." He said. He hugged me and we soared over the edge of the ship and we descended slowly toward the ground.

We landed softly and then Chiron bounded over, and Apollo was with him. Wait, what? I thought Zeus had forbidden them to interact with their children but…Oh well.

Some random Aphrodite girl part of me was thinking: hmm…. Apollo is HOT! Then the other part of me, the part that loves Jason was like: Piper, he's a five thousand year old god and you already have a boyfriend. I sighed aloud and Jason was glaring at me, he knew what I was thinking… I mean, who wouldn't?

Apollo cleared his throat.

"Piper McLean?" he asked me.

I nodded yes.

"Daughter of Aphrodite?" the god asked me.

"Yes, Lord Apollo. Now, if you wouldn't mind terribly, I really need to be healed – I mean, I'm dying." I said.

He smiled at me, his perfectly white teeth glistening in the sunlight (that was slowly turning into a sunset).

"That's all I need to know." Said Apollo. He smiled at me again, and I closed my eyes and blacked out.

When I came around again, I was in the infirmary, and Jason was snoring softly beside my bed on a chair. Aw, I thought. He's stayed with me all this time?

Chiron came in, which startled me, and answered my silent question.

"He hasn't moved from this spot since you fainted a day ago. He wouldn't even go to eat. Not as much as I tried to convince him, he wouldn't leave your side." said Chiron.

"Apollo healed me, right?" I asked weakly.

Chiron nodded.

"But I thought Zeus ordered the other gods not visit their children…" I mused.

"Zeus allowed him to visit you because that is his domain of power— healing. Also, because you were dying and you are one of the Seven – again, he couldn't allow that to happen."
I exhaled with relief, silently thanking my mother and Zeus.

I sighed, wishing that Jason would wake up and go eat something, and I didn't want him to starve.

Then, his eyes fluttered open and he grinned at me, glad I was alive. We stared at each other for a moment until Jason's eyes darted to Chiron. Chiron cleared his throat and left the infirmary, I giggled. Jason held my hand and gave it a squeeze then he began to stroke my hair. I was about to talk, but Jason leaned in and kissed me, I slid my hand behind his neck and sat up. We pulled apart for breath; I sighed and got up "I should go to my cabin." I said "I'll walk you there." Jason said smiling.

We were half away there when Jason let go of my hand and said "I have to go, I'll see you at the party." He said I smiled and nodded. I watched him jog away to his cabin, and then I saw Annabeth waving at me. Annabeth walked near the Aphrodite cabin, but not too close to it, and came bounding over.

"What happened?" I asked Annabeth, looking and feeling horrified.

I mean, Annabeth looking desperate is a really rare sight so this most likely has to do with Percy. Of course it is. I thought.

"Well we were looking up at the stars and stuff, and I was thinking about the summer that I had to hold up the sky. And so I kissed him, and he said we should sleep by the sea, and I said no since my Mom would kill me if I broke the rules,"

I nodded again.

"And I don't know what to do! I mean, like most of me wanted to just stay there with him, but the other, the Athena wisdom part, wanted to run away from him since i had a huge headache," Annabeth blurted all this out. I could tell she was just about to explode because of all her raging feelings.

"Wow. You had me worried there for a second." I laughed and Annabeth managed to smile weakly.

"Well... I guess you should talk to him. You know, tell him you won't break the rules." I advised her. Obviously Annabeth loves Percy too much for her own good sometimes, but risking his safety (since Athena would probably kill him) just so they could sleep out by the sea and stars.

She ran off to find Percy and I walked to my cabin, hoping we would get to Rome before anything (nearly) disastrous happens.

PERCY:

My first thought as the demons spoke was: the empousa's said that too, and that did not end well.

I glanced at Annabeth, who was frozen in shock, and she met my eyes and I knew we needed a plan.

The only problem: what the hell is our plan going to be?

When Annabeth screamed, I knew we were going for an old fashioned plan.

Piper, Jason, Leo, Hazel and Frank burst into the open where we were and immediately sprang into action.

Piper took her dagger out, Leo started to conjure fire, Jason started to summon winds to knock the demons unconscious, Hazel raised a whole bunch of precious stones, and Annabeth took out her Invisibility cap and put it on. What about me? Well, I stuck with Riptide and I thought inside 'Hey Ocean? I need water PRONTO!'

Five thousand gallons of salt water surged up from Long Island Sound, giving me a burst of strength. I was about to charge into the demons ranks when I saw a griffin pull Jason up into the sky and another griffin pulled Annabeth up. They soared over the night sky, higher than even Jason could go.

My heart stopped. Annabeth and Jason had been kidnapped by Gaea.