Nemesism

6)

I WATCHED NIGHT SO JASON can take watch in the morning. I probably slept for only three hours until I heard people yelling around. I immediately thought the worse and walked out not caring that I was shirtless.

    I saw Jason falling from the sky. Piper yelled wake up which got him up.

    When Jason woke up we explained that we hadn't seen him falling from the sky until the last second. There was no time for Frank to turn into an eagle and catch him; no time to formulate a rescue plan.

    Only Piper's quick thinking and charmspeak had saved his life. She'd yelled WAKE UP! with so much force. I immediately was awake as well. I felt like I could run for days. With a millisecond to spare, Jason summoned the winds and avoided becoming a floating patch of demigod grease on the surface of the Adriatic.

    Back on board, Jason had pulled Leo aside and suggested a course correction. Fortunately, Leo trusted him enough not to ask why.

    "Weird vacation spot." Leo grinned. "But, hey, you're the boss!"

    Now, we were all in the mess hall. Jason and I haven't talked about what happened with me, and I didn't want to say anything about it either.

    While we ate lunch, Jason reported on his midair vision. His friends were quiet long enough for Coach Hedge to finish a peanut butter and banana sandwich, along with the ceramic plate.

    The ship creaked as it sailed through the Adriatic, its remaining oars still out of alignment from the giant turtle attack. Every once in a while Festus the figurehead creaked and squeaked through the speakers, reporting the autopilot status in that weird machine language that only Leo could understand.

    "A note from Annabeth." Piper shook her head in amazement. "I don't see how that's possible, but if it is—"

    "She's alive," Leo said. "Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce."

    Frank frowned. "What does that mean?"

    Leo wiped the chip crumbs off his face. "It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry."

    I smiled and kissed the side of Leo's head. I wrapped my arm around Leo's waist as I ate an apple.

    Frank slid over a jar of salsa. "I can't believe Reyna would try to find us. It's taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She'll be stripped of her praetorship."

    "If she lives," Hazel said. "It was hard enough for us to make it this far with eight demigods and a warship."

    "And me." Coach Hedge belched. "Don't forget, cupcake, you got the satyr advantage."

    We all stared at Jason. He was playing with his food and was not contributing to the conversation. He had a frown on his face as he didn't listen to a single thing.

    "Jason?" Leo asked. "Argo II to Jason. Come in."

    "Yeah, sorry." He touched the groove that Sciron the bandit had cut in his hair. "Crossing the Atlantic is a hard journey, no doubt. But I'd never bet against Reyna. If anyone can make it, she will."

    My heart clenched. Jason was the leader once again. Annabeth was the leader, Jason finally had a break, but now here he was again, the leader. I wonder if he ever would want to be leader again.

    "Well, I'd love to see Reyna again," Piper said. "But how is she supposed to find us?"

    Frank raised his hand. "Can't you just send her an Iris-message?"

    "They're not working very well," Coach Hedge put in. "Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could kick that rainbow goddess...."

    He faltered. His face turned bright red.