Disclaimer: Not mine.

Mourner: Oh, really? I didn't notice that. 9/11 was horrible and still impacts many people around the globe, even after 12 years. Prayers.

donavinspike17: Oh, thank you so much! That's really nice. Happy Birthday! (::) (::) [birthday cookies]

And, gods! We're nearly at a 100 favourites! Woohoo! 100 different people all like my story, not including all you wonderful guests! (Oh, gods, more than a hundred people... Excuse me while I puke in that random bucket over there.)

Piper

Gwen swung the blade. Leo fell backwards behind a large box filled with antique china plates, saving him from decapitation. Piper grabbed the lid off the box and used it as a shield for when Gwen struck toward her.

The blade tore the plastic neatly in two.

Her shield now useless, Piper dropped the two halves of the lid and scurried back. The sword missed her by inches, striking the side of the plane instead.

Leo reached into the box and pulled out a plate. "Would it matter?" he asked Piper, mimicking slamming it on the ground.

"Don't care," she replied.

So he stood and hurled the plate right at Gwen, and Piper noticed steam coming off of it. She thrust her blade right through the plate, shattering it into a million tiny pieces. But the force drew her back a step. Piper took initiative and threw a plate of her own. It fell to the right, not even close to her target.

Gwen dodged around another plate, letting it smash into pieces on the wall behind her. She stepped forward and lashed a kick out at the box, sending it flying into Leo and Piper. Some of the plates chipped. Most of them broke.

Leo went to the left, Piper to the right. Splitting up was a tactic they had been taught at CHB. If it was two against one, make them fight one while the other had some time to rest and maybe have some tea.

Gwen realized what they were doing as well. She went for the weaker one, which was a mistake on the Greeks' part because the continuation of the lesson always said make sure they fight the stronger of the two.

Piper barely had time to shout out as the blade came down on to her. She ducked underneath it and stumbled out of range. But (typically) she tripped ober her own feet in her haste and fell backwards. Blindly she reached out for the nearest thing—her missed china plate—and slammed it in Gwen's face.

The plate shattered, and time seemed to freeze.

Gwen dropped her sword, letting it clang loudly on the plane floor, using both hands to hold her face. Piper instantly felt awful.

"Gods, I'm so sorry," she said as Leo ran over and snatched the sword off the ground, holding it at Gwen's chest not so steadily.

Gwen lowered her arms slightly, revealing a bleeding lip and a jagged cut across her cheek. Her nose seemed to be broken. "That hurt," she said slowly.

"Well, in our defence you attacked us first," Leo pointed out.

In one swift motion Gwen kicked towards her sword, using her shin guards to knock it out of the way. She dived off in its direction and scooped it up from the ground, aiming the tip at a surprised Piper and Leo.

"That really hurt," she said again.

BAM! The door behind her swung open and caught her unawares, tripping her forward. As she stumbled, Leo smashed one last plate down on her head.

"Don't regret that," he announced as Gwen fell, unconscious.

Percy, Annabeth, and the others appeared at the doorway. "Piper, you're needed to calm down the mortals," Annabeth announced. She nodded and followed her out of the room. Percy helped Leo drag Gwen out into the main area of the plane.

Once the mortals were taken care of, the Greeks met up in the common lounge. "We still have one problem, and a new one just arose," Annabeth announced. "The gryphons are still flying outside, and the Romans will be expecting their little group to return."

"Well, there isn't anything we can do about the last one," said Frank.

"Or maybe we can," said Piper. "When Gwen was attacking us, she said that she only intended to slow us down. Maybe we can change course, and they'll think that the Romans are leading us somewhere else."

"It's an idea," Annabeth admitted. "But we have no choice but to continue with our plan to lead the gryphons away, though. Did you get the valuables?"

Leo and Piper nodded.

"Alright. Fine. But how do we do that?" Frank asked.

Annabeth seemed to hesitate. "We need someone to stick their head out the window and throw the gems away," she announced.

Percy raised his hand. "I call not being that person," he said.

"You're serious?" Leo asked. "Like… serious? I'm no physics techie, but I'm smart enough to know that if you do that, you get sucked out of the plane and never seen again."

Annabeth nodded. "That's our problem," she said. "It can't be done. The Romans must have used magic to get in, because it's physically impossible to open an airplane door mid-flight, because of pressure and whatever. We could do it, but we don't have magic on us right now."

Piper sighed. "Would have been nice to know this before I went through all the trouble of collecting the valuables," she muttered.

"We're going to have to lose them somehow else," Annabeth announced. She looked around in defeat. "Any ideas?"

No one spoke up, except for Hazel.

"I might be able to do something," she announced. "We're flying over New Mexico, right? There's lots of gold over here. Just get the plane closer to the ground."

"But gold in the ground," Piper told her. "That won't help us."

"Just trust me," Hazel said, looking her in the eye.

"…Fine," decided Annabeth. "Piper, tell the pilot the change of plans."

Yeah, it wasn't until AFTER I did my research that I discovered opening the door on a commercial airplane is impossible.

Now, children, this is why you do your homework BEFORE the test and not after.

-o-O-o-

ALSO I HAVE SOME NEWS THAT IS SO BIG IT HAD TO BE SECTIONED OFF FROM THE REST OF THE AUTHOR'S NOTE! AND IT'S WONDERFUL NEWS SO BE PREPARED FOR HAPPINESS!

I'm not going to be updating as often from now on.

"WHAT?" you say. "HOW ON EARTH IS THIS GOOD NEWS BOOKWORM [censored censored censored]!?"

Well, I'm starting a new story for HoO, which I'm sure you guys will love because it is AMAZING. It's called Dumb Ways To Die, and guess what it's about! Dumb Ways to Die. You know that song? The story's basically one oneshot per dumb way to die. You guys'll love it because I'm updating one chapter per day, every day until HoH comes out.

That's how perfect I timed this.

-o-O-o-

Review! Please? Whoever does gets a cookie! (::) (::)