The Old Jackson Twins Book 2

Chapter Twelve

The Space Princess wasn't a large ship by any means. With a tiny galley, two bunks, a small living space, and a hygiene corner, not even a medbay, it was perhaps the smallest ship in the galaxy. But to Luxia, it was home.

At least, it was for a while.

Luxia had heard of the destruction of Asgard years ago. She'd also heard of how rich Asgard was. The logical side of her knew Surtur likely destroyed any sort of money or something she could sell for money, but also, what if there were remnants of the kingdom floating in space.

Remnants that could make her very, very rich.

But instead of gold or jewels or paintings, she found the goddess of death.

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With just the push of a button, Hela sent the unfortunate alien girl out into space, where she died instantly. That taken care of, she took stock of supplies. Oxygen, water, food... by Odin, this ship was tiny.

But if she rationed all her supplies well, it could take her to Earth.

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"The next flight for California leaves from the closest airport, has a two hour layover at JFK, and then lands in San Francisco."

"When does it take off?"

"Tomorrow at six."

"We can get there by six," Reyna said thoughtfully. "Aria and I will just stop at JFK and leave from there, and you two can take the connecting flight to California."

"I see a flaw in your plan," said Percy. "How do we get to the airport?"

"You don't need to," said a voice from the door of the tent.

"Seriously, even just a warning would be nice," Reyna groaned as Tony Stark and Peter Parker walked in.

"We're flying back to New York tomorrow," Tony continued. "We can get a plane to take you to California from there. I've got three private ones."

Aria grabbed Reyna's arm and pulled her outside without warning. "Do we even want to go back to America?"

"What?"

Aria grabbed a stick and drew a rough sketch of Europe in the mud. "We're here." She made a little dot on the coast of Norway. "We don't have to go back to America. Athens alone is totally monster-infested. Our services are just as useful in Europe as they are in America. Possibly more useful here, since America is where almost all trained half-bloods are. We hike back to the closest town, trade in dollars for euros, and start over in Europe. Plus, we'd be able to lend a hand in tracking down European half-bloods."

"How long have you been thinking about this?"

"Just a day or so."

Reyna stared at the muddy map for a moment. Aria wished she knew what she was thinking. "You know Europe is really different from America, right? Different cultures, different cities. There's not as much free open space here."

"I know. But doesn't it sound like a whole new adventure? I mean, this is where all the old myths took place. This is where Hercules went on his quests, where that one ram guy-"

"Chrysomallos."

"Yeah, that guy, where he was slain and the Golden Fleece was created, where Odysseus made his way home after the Trojan War. This is where it all started." Aria took both of Reyna's hands. "Don't you want to see it?"

"Europe has always been forbidden territory for the legion."

Aria's heart sank.

"Luckily, I'm not part of the legion anymore."

"So you want to stay?"

Reyna squeezed Aria's hands, smiled, and nodded. "Let's do it."

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"You're what?"

"We're staying in Europe," Aria repeated.

Percy caught his breath. "Are you serious?"

"Well, we thought maybe we could keep Mrs. O'Leary with us for shadowtravel-"

"That's not the point. Europe is an entirely different continent. And don't you remember what happened the last time we left America?"

Aria winced. "Yeah, I do."

"But Europe needs our help," Reyna added. "There's so many monsters here, and so few half-bloods trained enough to kill them. Plus, Europe is where it all started. Rome, Athens, Sparta, the original Olympus... they're all here. We both want to see them."

Percy struggled to find the right words for a second. "Aria, when you said you weren't going to college, I didn't exactly picture Europe as your destination."

"Neither did I, but here we are."

"It sounds fun," Annabeth said wistfully. "I sort of wish I could come with. Although I think I'd just keep you from going to Rome or Athens."

There was a silent moment while they all thought about what happened there.

"I think you should do it," Annabeth finished.

Peter and Tony were watching like this was a football game.

Percy hesitated, then agreed. "Yeah. Do it. This is, like, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Reyna turned to Tony. "So the two of us don't need a ride after all. Thanks for the offer, though."

Tony shrugged. "Well, we take off at nine A.M. tomorrow morning. You have until then to change your mind."

Peter waved, and then the two of them left, leaving the four half-bloods alone.

"So when are you gonna tell Mom?" Percy asked quietly.

"Oh, gods. I have no idea. I don't even know what I'll tell her."

"So I guess we're free from the Avengers' next big problem," Annabeth said with a smile.

"Yeah, we are." Reyna processed that for a moment. "We're free."

"It's not like this is some crazy fanfiction or whatever," Aria joked. "This is real life. We can actually just leave the problems to other people."

Remember when Turtle thought he could leave beating Darkstalker to the Dragonets of Destiny?