Searching For Each Other [Book 2] (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Ella the Harpy

Jason's P.O.V ((There's gunna be a lot of these, sorry))
Hazel was next to speak up, which surprised me, she seemed quite quiet.
'My brother, Nico and a daughter of Neptune accidentally went looking for the doors,' She said.
'Wait,' Annabeth said. 'Nico di Angelo? He's your brother? And Alex is with him?'
Hazel nodded. 'He took his girlfriend with him, it was part of a quest. Something about a land where there's no sun.'
Okay, now I had loads of questions, and it looked like Annabeth did too. This the same quest group I was in and I'd left them! Oh My Gods, there looking for the doors, I should be with them!
Piper must have seen the look on my face as she grabbed my hand to try and calm me down.
'Okay. You were saying?' Annabeth asked.
'He came and said he'd found her and then disappeared.' Hazel started to look worried. 'I'm afraid ... I'm not sure, but I think something might have happened to them.'
'Wait I have a half sister?' Percy asked clueless, we all ignored him knowing that this would come up again.
'No.' I mumbled under my breath. 'Nononononono.'
Pipers grip tightened, Leo glanced over at me and Annabeth gave me a sad smile.
'We'll look for them,' Percy promised as I raised my head. 'We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome - like, the original Rome. That's on the way to Greece right?'
'Thanatos told you this?' Annabeth asked, 'The death god?'
Percy took a bite of his burger. 'Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus like they use to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open they'll just keep coming back.'
Piper twisted the feather in her hair, 'Like water leaking through a dam,' she suggested.
'Yeah.' Percy smiled. 'We've got a dam hole.'
'What?' Piper asked.
I got that, me and Alex had a joke like that too, and Nico had been the one to start it.
Maybe he got it off Percy?
I sniggered and Piper shot me a look.
'Nothing,' he said, 'Inside joke. The point is we'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they stay dead.'
'You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands - and the Mare Nostrum - are dangerous?' Reyna said.
'Mary who?' Leo asked, finally he was paying attention!
'Mare Nostrum,' I explained, 'Our Sea. Its what Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean.'
Reyna nodded. 'The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods. It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants ... and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America, there would be ten times worse.
'You said Alaska would be bad,' Percy reminded her, 'We survived that.'
Reyna shook her head. 'Percy, travelling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. Its been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there.'
'Then we're good!' Leo said grinning over the top of the pinwheel. 'Because we're all crazy, right?' Besides the Argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. She'll get us through.'
'We'll have to hurry,' I added. 'I don't know exactly what the giants are planning, but Gaia is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams, appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the giants before they can wake her up fully.'
'Seven half bloods shall answer the call,' Annabeth said, 'It needs to be a mix from both camps. Jason, Piper, Leo and me. That's four.'
'And me,' Percy stated, 'along with Hazel and Frank that's Seven.'
'What?' Octavian shot to his feet, for the love of the gods! 'We're just supposed to accept that? Without a vote in the senate? Without a proper debate? Withou -'
'Percy!' The Cyclops called bounding towards us, with a Hellhound.
On the Hellhounds back sat a Harpy- the skinniest one I'd ever seen, sickly looking with string red hair, a sackcloth dress and red-feathered wings.
Where did that Harpy come from?
And why was the Cyclops wearing a S.P.Q.R banner as a bib?
He looked safer them some Cyclopses that I'd met but I was still weary.
He stopped by our couch and wrung his meaty hands, his eye full of concern n
'Ella is scared,' he said.
'N-n-no more boats,' she muttered, picking at her feathers, 'Titanic, Lusitania, Pax ... boats are not for harpies. '
Leo squinted at Hazel, who was next to him.
'Did that chicken girl just compare my boat to the Titanic?'
'She's not a chicken.' Hazel glanced away, as if Leo made her nervous. 'Ella's a harpy. She's just a little ... high strung.'
'Ella is pretty,' the cyclops said, 'And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship.'
'No ships,' Ella repeated, looking at Annabeth. 'Bad luck. There she is. Wisdoms daughter walks alone-'
'Ella!' Frank stood suddenly. 'Maybe it's not the best time-'
'The mark of Athena burns through Rome,' Ella continued, cupping her hands over her ears and raising her voice. 'Twins snuff our the sea angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants band stands gold and play, Won through pain from a woven jail.'
Everyone stared at Ella.
I glanced at Annabeth, she looks nervous.
The feast continued around us, but it seemed more distant.
Percy reacted first, recovering and taking hold of the cyclops' arm.
'I know!' he said with fake enthusiasm. 'How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O'Leary -'
'Hold on.' Octavian gripped one of his teddy bears, strangling it with shaking hands, his eyes fixed on Ella. 'What was that she said? It sounded like-'
'Ella reads a lot,' Frank blurted out. 'We found her in a Library.'
'Yes!' Hazel stated, 'Probably something she read in a book.'
'Books,' Ella said happily, 'Ella like books.'
Now she was done Ella seemed more relaxed. She sat cross-legged on Mrs. O'Leary's back, preening her wings.
Annabeth and I glanced at Percy curiously.
He, Frank and Hazel were hiding something, and just as obviously Ella had recited a prophecy, involving Annabeth.
Percy glanced at Annabeth, sending her a silent message.
'It was a prophecy,' Octavian insisted. 'It sounded like a prophecy.'
No one answered.
Percy was on the verge of big trouble if we didn't do so,etching fast, but I could tell the cogs were spinning in Annabeth's head.
She laughed forcefully.
'Really Octavian? Maybe hapries are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?'
As soon as she spoke the Roman officers laughed nervously, sizing up Ella, looking at Octavian and the snorting at the idea of a chicken lady issuing a prophecy.
It was as ridiculous to Romans as it was Greeks.
Thank the gods for Annabeth and her fast thinking.