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Long-Awaited Reunion

Zoe's POV

Even after living for more than three thousand years, an exploding statue was not something Zoe was ever prepared for.

She'd paced the deck of their flying warship, the Argo II, checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. She confirmed that the white "We come in peace" flag was flying from the mast. She reviewed the plan Annabeth made with the rest of the crew—and the backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan.

Most importantly, she pulled aside their war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge, and encouraged him to take the morning off in his cabin and watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships. The last thing they needed as they flew a magical Greek trireme into a potentially hostile Roman camp was a middle-aged satyr in gym clothes waving a club and screaming off the top of his lungs, asking for a fight.

Everything seemed to be in order. Even that mysterious chill she'd been feeling since the ship launched had dissipated, at least for now.

The warship descended through the clouds, but Zoe couldn't stop second-guessing herself. What if this was a bad idea? What if the Romans panicked and attacked them on sight?

The Argo II definitely did not look friendly. 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...well, it wasn't the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbors.

Annabeth had asked Leo to send one of his special inventions—a holographic scroll—to alert their friends inside the camp, which Theo took over because he didn't like how Leo made it sound like they were invading. Hopefully, the message had gotten through. Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull—WASSUP? with a smiley face—but Theo smacked him in the back of the head, telling him that the Romans might not appreciate Leo's sense of humor.

Too late to turn back now.

The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them.

Zoe gripped one of the bronze shields that lined the starboard rail.

Her six crewmates took their places.

Near the front of the ship, her brother figure Theo stood with his hands on his hips, while his girlfriend Annabeth stood next to him while resting her head on his left shoulder. Theo had the silver Hunter of Artemis jacket that Zoe gave him two years ago after he escaped the Labyrinth after being trapped there for two weeks, and he had a white New York Red Bulls jersey under it. Theo also wore a pair of jeans and his signature silver-grey Adidas running shoes given to him by his grandfather Hermes. Theo was equipped with his twin bracers (one of them had a back digital watch), his silver bow on his back, his arrow quiver on the left side of his hip, and his sword on the right side. Around his neck was a silver arrowhead attached to a bronze chain, which he had ever since he was sent forward three thousand years to 1993 when he was only two months old after the murder of his biological father, Alexios of Athens, son of Hermes.

Annabeth was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of blue canvas shoes. He had her dagger attached to the holster on her hips. Annabeth had managed to convince Theo to allow her to come aboard the ship, which he reluctantly agreed to. For about three months, Theo had tried to convince Annabeth to change her mind about going with him in any way he could, because he believed that the trip to Greece would be dangerous, but he gave up once he realized that she was coming whether he liked it or not.