❝In a fight, they're lethal. Around each other, they melt❞
"I'm fine." I said, trying to hide the frown and tears that threatened to spill.
Percy looked at me once.
"I'm not going anywhere, unless you tell me what's wrong," he declared and I would h...
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UNTIL I MET THE EXPLODING STATUE, I thought I was prepared for anything.
I'd paced the deck of their flying warship, the Argo II, checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. I confirmed that the white "We come in peace" flag was flying from the mast. Annnabeth reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew—and the backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan
Most important, I pulled aside our 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 yelling "Die!"
Everything seemed to be in order. Even that mysterious chill I'd been feeling since the ship launched had dissipated, at least for now.
The warship descended through the clouds, but I couldn't stop second-guessing myself. What if this was a bad idea? What if the Romans panicked and attacked us 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 our age old enemies. .
Annabeth had tried to give the Romans a heads-up. She'd asked Leo to send one of his special inventions—a holographic scroll—to alert their friends inside the camp, which I had accidentally interrupted. 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 I vetoed the idea. It sounded passive aggressive, something I would do to Demeter or when crashing Olympus, not going to make amends. I didn't want them getting the wrong idea.
Too late to turn back now.
The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them. Annabeth gripped one of the bronze shields that lined the starboard rail and I floated next to her.
Our three crewmates took their places.
On the stern quarterdeck, Leo 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. He could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast. Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD.
Piper paced back and forth between the mainmast and the ballistae, practicing her lines.
"Lower your weapons," she murmured. "We just want to talk."
