The Veiled Legacy | PJO - Book Two

twelve

APOLLO AND ARTEMIS

Instantly, Ariana's day got better. The whole crew sat on deck, without a storm or a monster attack to worry about for the first time in days, and ate ice cream.

Well, except for Frank, who was lactose intolerant. He got an apple.

Ariana stood behind the lot of them, they seemed so contempt, so happy for once.

She was grinning from ear to ear. "I hope you've left me some ice cream."

Hazel screamed upon hearing her voice, making Ariana grin even more. The rest of the members stood up, snapping their necks to see her.

"Ariana!" Exclaimed Hazel, wrapping her hands around the girls neck.

Ariana gladly hugged her back, eager to see her sister once more. Though her quest may not have been the worst one, it still took a lot out of Ariana.

It exhausted her mentally, though perhaps not physically.

Hazel cupped Ariana's face in her hands. "Are you okay?"

Ariana managed a nod. "Never better."

Hazel pulled her back into a hug once more and when she finally let her go, Percy wasted no time in rugby tackling her to the ground.

Annabeth soon joined in on the hug.

"NOTHING!" Annabeth shouted with tears in her eyes, when they pulled away from the hug and stood up from the ground. "You've been gone for bloody ages! You didn't give us a SINGLE SIGN THAT YOU WERE ALIVE!"

"I'm glad to see you too, Annie." Ariana chuckled, pulling her best friend in for another hug.

Leo was staring at the girl in shock, Ariana found it quite amusing to say the least. Piper was smirking, as she nudged him.

"Where'd you get the necklace?" Jason said, pointing to her necklace she had gotten from her mother.

"Good point." Percy placed his hands on his hips. "You didn't have that when you left, who gave it to you?"

"Did you get a boyfriend?" Frank immediately blurted out, jumping to conclusions.

For the first time for days, maybe even weeks, Ariana gave out a meaningful laugh. "No, nothing like that. My mother gave it to me."

Annabeth gave her an odd look. "Your mother?"

"I'll explain everything." The girl promised. "Just let me sit down first."

The eight demigods sat down in a circle on the deck.

The day was hot and windy. The sea glittered with chop, but Leo had fixed the stabilizers well enough that Hazel didn't look too seasick.

Curving off to their starboard side was the town of Mykonos - a collection of white stucco buildings with blue roofs, blue windows and blue doors.

Ariana began telling them her quest - right from the beginning. How it was a rod she had to retrieve, her visit to Elysium (she nearly cried retelling that part), her meeting with Hypnos, the cave.

Absolutely everything. Ariana left no turn left untouched.

By the end of it, tbe group had a mixture of reactions. For the most part, Frank and Leo remained quiet, taking everything in.

Though, everyone else had a lot to say about the situation.

"You saw Silena?" Annabeth asked in a quiet voice.

Percy, however, was raging. "They had a fucking rod that could've been used to let us out of Tartarus in a much safer EASIER way?"

"At least she didn't die." Jason pointed out.