| The Rising Moon: The Awakening of a Demi-Goddess |

█▓▒­░⡷⠂ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴅᴠᴇɴᴛᴜʀᴇ ʜᴀꜱɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇɢᴀɴ ʏᴇᴛ⠐⢾░▒▓█

 eccedentesiast

(n.) someone who hides pain behind a smile

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Uneasiness fluttered in Celeste's chest. After what had just happened, was she really fit to be on a mission? They were al now on the Argo III, Leo working on making the ship start. Is he stupid? We're on land, her mind scoffed. Bitterness grew in her chest for the son of Hephaestus, after what he had tried to do in the dining hall.

It also turned out that some other people from a roman camp, Camp Jupiter, had also came along to their quest. Apparently they were were also chosen by the gods. Frank, a timid Canadian Chinese, and Hazel, a girl who was Nico's half sister. Celeste wanted to know them more, but after what had just happened with her powers, she stuck to staying away from them.

Right now she was sitting next to Nico, and he was taking about his favorite card game, Mythomagic cards. They were on the top floor of the boat, sitting on the comfy sofa that had been nailed to the ground, and for some reason it made her somewhat happy to see something he was so excited about.

"Apollo has 30+ health, and 2000 defense points, but Ares had blood range and infinite health for the first 3 rounds," He stated, showing her each card. She ogled them, fascinated. "What about- WOAH!"

The ship suddenly lurched right, and she slid onto Nico, grasping him for support. It lurched once more, and she tightened her grip on him. She shut her eyes.

Gods we're all going to die I knew this was stupid- all because Valdez tried to use a boat on land, she was clutching onto Nico when he suddenly spoke.

"You can open your eyes now," He told her. Confusion washed over her. Wha? She saw the sky- no- they were in the sky. The ship was flying. She let out a shaky breath of amazement.

"The- the ship. It's flying. In the sky," She whispered in shock. Nico let out a small laugh and looked up at the sky as well.

"Yep, although I'm a bit worried since we're leaving our lives the hands of Leo," He chuckled. She smiled at him, but her stomach still churned a bit. She looked over the railing and saw all the land below them and paled.

Oh gods, she was used to seeing land from far above when climbing trees and buildings in New York, but being this far high with no support- it scared the living Hades out of her. Nico seemed to notice this.

"You alright?" He whispered to her. His breath was warm on her neck, with made her flinch a bit. She let out a small nod before looking at the cards, and pointed at Hades.

"Hades does.. 4000 attack?" She asked, trying to direct the conversation away from her fear. Nico looked at her for a moment before grinning.

"Actually, it can do 5000 if your opponent attacks first," He told her. The both continued rambling about the game, trying to find loopholes and small details, when Percy walked into the both of them. The way his eyes widened made it seem as if there was something out of the ordinary, which confused Celeste.

"Oh, sorry to ruin your.. ah.. date," His eyes fell at Celeste's arms, which were still wrapped around Nico tightly. The sight of heights made her feel sick, and he never asked her to move, so...

Percy gave a small wink to Nico before whistling off on the deck and chatted with Jason as if nothing happened. Celeste's face burned, and she pushed herself of Nico realizing how childish she was acting. She mumbled a quick sorry, before looking at the view for support. Wrong choice. It just sickened her more, and she stood up, holding her head.

"I'm going to go below deck," She whispered to Nico, her head feeling nauseas. He gave her a small nod, his pale face, red, and she stumbled below deck. She felt so.. airsick I guess? Leaning against a wall, she closed her eyes.

"It's just a boat. In the air. Flying. Controlled by Leo Valdez," She muttered to herself, making the situation not any better.

"Aw, do you hate me that much?" Leo's voice made her jump, and she stared at him wide eyed.

"The- the ship! You're not steering it!" She gasped he laughed at her, which made her scowl right back at him.

"Yep, the power of autopilot. Ever heard of it?" He grinned at her, and she gave him a bitter glare.

"What, still sour that I exposed you and your boyfriend?" He laughed. Her face turned beet red as her chest welled with anger.

"He's not my boyfriend!" She yelled at him. He rolled his eyes at her, as if playing along with her 'lies'.

"Right, yeah, and I totally didn't see you two cuddling and geeking over some card game together," He added. Her face burned with embarrassment. She didn't like Nico! Right?

"Sh-shut up," She ship lurched, and she felt herself stumble. Her air sickness was intoxicating, and she felt sick. Leo looked at her for a moment, worried.

"You-"

"I'm fine!" She snapped, pushing her sickness away. There was no way she was going to pass out on this quest. She didn't want to seem useless or weak at all. Leo gave her an uncertain glance.

"Okay.. but if you throw up, do it over the railing. I don't want my ship to be damaged," he told her. This comment made her roll her eyes, but she obliged and went to her cabin.

It was a small room, with one twin bed neatly tucked in, along with a desk with drawers, a circular window, and blue curtains.

She pulled out her backpack and unpacked, neatly placing everything in their spots when she saw the bows Artemis had gifted her.

Holy Hera, I completely forgot about this, she felt the material, which was lightweight but she somehow knew it could pack a large amount of damage. It would be a bit of a pain to carry it the whole time with her, though. Out of curiosity, she pressed a small engraving that had 'πιέζω' on it. To her surprise, the bow, arrows, and satchel started to glow a silver light and merged together, making her gasp.

Oh no! I broke it, didn't I? She saw the silver blob slowly shrink and it turned into a small silver arrow, the size of a charm. Did that just? She reached out for it, and it turned back to the original size. Oh my gods. She touched the charm, and it went back to its original size. What the? Once again she pressed the engraving, which she now recognized as 'compress' in Ancient Greek, it it turned into a charm. I wonder if...

She held up the charm to her moon chocker, and it rippled, then sunk into the necklace as if it were a portable backpack. When she reached in and pulled it out, the arrow charm was perfectly fine, and turned to normal just like before.

Artemis is officially my favorite god, she thought, and sent a quick thanks to her kindness towards the klutzy girl. She shrunk back the bow and enclosed it in her choker, stepping out of her cabin with a gleeful look. Everyone seemed to be above deck, so she just searched the halls until she found them all seated around a table talking about their mission. She silently pulled out a chair and sat down, her mind drifting to all of her questions which she had never answered...