SWEET SORROWS│p. jackson

[ 26. ]

ACT II
𝓼𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝓼𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓸𝔀𝓼

ALABASTER stared at the scenery in front of him, arms resting on the railing. Clouds were closely surrounding them, making it seem like the ship was flying straight through a tunnel of fluff. Now that he was actually standing on the ship, he was proud to say he knew the guy that built it.

Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete.

The only problem was: It wasn't the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbors.

On the stern quarterdeck, the boss himself rushed around like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would've been satisfied with a pilot's wheel or a tiller. Leo had also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. It definitely looked like a lot of shit a person shouldn't be meddling with if they didn't know any better.

"You ready for this, Al?"

Annabeth had appeared beside him, gray eyes stormier than usual. He glanced at her. "I'm, like, 95% sure we'll fail."

A small smile broke through her face and she turned back to the clouds with a chuckle. "Your optimism is appreciated."

"Of course."

Annabeth fell silent. Alabaster didn't know how to feel about the blonde. Their relationship had always been kinda rocky...considering she had been close friends with Andie when the whole 'being banned from camp' thing was going on. Neither knew where they stood on each other's radars, but he appreciated her staying civil while they tried to save the world together.

Annabeth reached a hand outside the railing, trailing her fingertips along the misty clouds. "When I was little i'd always pictured these would feel like cotton candy,"

Alabaster watched her pull her hand away and rest it back onto the railing. "How about now?"

The girl shrugged with a playful smile. "A little."

A whistle made the two look up to see Leo looking down at them, his controller dangling from his left hand. "You guys seen Jason? We're almost to the camp and I need him to stand at the front and work his 'suave-blonde-hero-boy' magic!"

" 'suave-blonde-hero-boy'" Alabaster snickered.

"We'll get him, Leo!" Annabeth called back with a salute.

They turned away from the railings, and began to walk towards the front of the boat.

"We should probably get Andie and Piper up here too," Annabeth muttered, making Alabaster recall his bratty little sister. "They should be done with that gift by now, right?"

"Why don't you two see for yourselves?" A happy voice blurted from behind them.

The pair yelped, turning around to see Piper, Jason and Andromeda emerge from the lower deck. Swinging from Andromeda's arms was the project the two girls had been working so hard on for the past month.