Hello, people!

I am here! Today! Yay!

Piper

Leo's fingers caught flame lightly, small tendrils of smoke curling upwards. Gwen grinned, the penny finally having dropped.

"Oh, I get it," she said. "But I wouldn't recommend that if I were you. This whole plane could spontaneously catch on fire and plummet, killing all of you along with the three innocent mortals, while we get away on our gryphons safely. And technically our missions requirements will be fulfilled. You'll just be helping us."

Leo made no move to back down, but Piper placed the back of her hand on his chest. "Leo," she warned quietly. Scowling, he brushed his hands onto his shirt to douse the flames.

Piper took a threatening step forward. "What is it you want?" she demanded forcefully. "Kill, kidnap, or slow down?"

Gwen shrugged. "I dunno. They never really specified. Although Octavian would have wanted the first or second, I think the praetors will want the third. So that's what I'm doing."

"Wait," Leo interrupted, a thought occurring. "You support Jason and Reyna?"

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "What is it you're trying?" she asked him, though she couldn't help but be a little surprised.

Leo raised his hands slightly as if to prove his surrender. "Nothing!" he reassured her. "Reyna and Jason are actually with us."

Gwen stared at him hard for a few moments, then sighed and lowered her weapon. "Either you're the best liar I've ever encountered, or you're telling the truth," she said. "When Octavian announced a siege, I was technically on his side. Everyone was. We thought he was so…" She searched for the right word. "…Right, and Jason and Reyna were wrong for doubting him."

"And?" Piper prodded.

"And… well, I eventually realized that the praetors were the right ones, and so did a few others, but Octavian still held majority," she continued.

"So we're on the same side!" Leo exclaimed, clapping his hands together once. "This is great news! So here's the plan; you go back to the warship and tell them that you killed us all sneaky-like, and the mortals never noticed so they kept going to New York, and we arrive and in the nick of time we save the day real awesome-like, and—"

Gwen sighed sadly. "I'm afraid that won't be happening," she told them quietly, as if she were almost sorry.

Piper felt her heart sink. "Why?" she asked.

She winced, then continued. "I've got orders. And I have no choice but to obey them."

And with that she attacked.

Frank

"Been flying for long?" Frank asked the pilot.

"Fifteen years," he announced proudly. "Why?"

Frank shrugged. "Just wondering," he admitted honestly.

Something crashed in the room behind them.

The attendant rose from her seat. "Maybe I should go check on things," she decided.

"No!" Frank blurted out quickly. She stared at him. "I mean… you can't go in there."

The attendant shrugged. "Why not?" she asked.

"Because…" Frank tried to think up an imaginable lie. "Because you could get hurt," he replied truthfully.

The attendant laughed a bit. "Why would I get hurt?" she asked as if it were a crazy notion.

"Because Percy and… Leo could be having an arm-wrestle," he said, and nodded solemnly. The sudden mental image of Percy pinning Leo's wimpy arm to the table while Leo pleaded to be released popped into his head, and he had to bite his tongue hard to stop from laughing. "They are very serious about their arm-wrestles."

She nodded doubtfully, then said almost shyly, "I've been meaning to ask… does Percy have a girlfriend?"

"Uh…" Frank remembered the blonde girl, and how she was always around him. "Yeah, I think so," he decided. "Sorry."

The attendant's face fell. "Oh, okay," she said. "That's all right. I was just wondering—"

"Yeah, okay," interrupted Frank, saving her from saying any more.

Another loud crash followed by a shout.

The attendant tried to look past Frank's large frame to the curtain splitting the two rooms. "Are you sure they're okay in there?" she asked. "It sounds awfully violent—"

Someone swore.

"Nothing, probably," Frank said hurriedly. Why had Hazel left him here to dry like this? She knew he was a terrible actor. "Why don't you sit—"

He was interrupted when the missing fifth Roman walked into the room casually, obviously not expecting more than three mortals. The attendant saw his sword and armour and obviously saw something much different; possibly a knife or a gun. She shrieked loudly, which caused for the co-pilot to swivel his head around and catch sight of him too.

"Terrorist!" she shrieked, scrambling back. "Please! Don't kill me! I just applied for college and haven't lived long enough to die!"

The Roman stared at her for a moment before resting his eyes on the demigod. And he laughed. "Frank Zhang," he said slowly. "I'm actually surprised to find you here. Who knew you had enough stupid ambition to side with the Greeks?"

Frank pulled out his sword, and the attendant shrieked, obviously seeing it as another gun. The pilot kept his eyes on the controls and remained unnaturally calm—probably seeing absolutely nothing because of the Mist—but the co-pilot stared open-mouthed in shock, unmoving.

The Roman laughed again, then gasped sarcastically. "Pulling a weapon on a full league member of Rome, are you now, Zhang?" he asked. "That'll earn you another six months on probatio. But, of course, when I'm done with you, there won't be enough left to declare it to."

Frank knew he was going to get himself killed. Sword play was never his thing, and the airplane was so tightly compressed together there was no way he could knock an arrow and fire it before his friend here sliced his head from his shoulders.

Turns out he didn't need to fight at all. Because guess who rushed into the room at the particular moment? Riptide slammed into the side of the Roman's head and he collapsed like a doll.

"Thanks, man," Frank told Percy.

"No problem," he replied, capping Riptide and stowing it away.

The attendant chose that moment to scream. "Who are you people!?" she shrieked, her hands to her face. "Why do you all have weapons!? Who were those guys who almost attacked us!? Are there more!? Are they the bad guys, or are you the bad guys!?"

"Them," Percy told her quickly.

She screamed again. "That's exactly what a bad guy would say!" she yelled.

"Uh…" said the co-pilot, still too shocked to say anything more.

"So would the good guys, which are us," said Annabeth, choosing that moment to make her appearance. She bore more scratches and bruises than Percy, and a fairly nasty one on her arm trickled blood dangerously. She made her way over to the attendant and sat her down in her seat while she whimpered. "Probably just some evil terrorists. Imagine how awesome this'll sound like on your Facebook page."

"Uh…" continued the co-pilot.

The attendant shrieked. "You people are insane!" she shouted. "Get me off of this plane! Get me off, get me off!" Frank noticed her tears of frustration, confusion and fear for the first time.

Annabeth turned to her boyfriend. "We need charmspeak to calm her down," she told him. "Get Piper."

Percy nodded and ran out.

"What is charmspeak?" the attendant yelled. "Is it a drug? Will it kill me? Are you going to kill me?" She had gotten past the shrieks and was now hyperventilating.

"Don't worry, you're just in shock," Annabeth reassured her. "Piper will be here any second and you'll feel much better—"

Percy ran back in. "Oh good," said Annabeth, then he was missing the person he had gone for. "Where's Piper?"

He winced. "Yeah, we may have a problem with that," he said.

Frank's face fell, as did Annabeth's. "Oh no," she muttered.

Uh oh? Uh oh!

Anyway, Leo and Piper's fight with Gwen will be in the next chapter instead of this one. Our action-craved readers are disappointed.

(PS: Who has seen What Does the Fox Say on YouTube? New Gangnam Style over here, everybody!)