Goodnight Moon ↣ P. Jackson + A. Chase

1.05

Wind blew, swirling around her hair and kicking at her hair. The smell of smoke was heavy in the air, curling up in puffs of and swirls that tangled grey into the green, casting the scene into a one-sided battle won.

With a bow clutched in one hand, she shifts her weight forward until her toes peeked over the edge of grey metal and she was close enough to jump down to join them as they were brought aboard.

Annabeth was a sight to behold as she stepped foot on deck, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail with her signature Yankees cap pulled to the side. She was in shorts and a camp t-shirt, the string of her beaded necklace peeking out from the top of her collar. Her expression was tested into one of grim pleasure, as though she wasn't sure to be happy to see them or unhappy that they were nearly shot at by Clarisse.

Percy, on the other hand, was still the hot mess that he always was. Hair in a constant state of disarray, the teenage boy looked like he had been through a fight, had been dragged and fought tooth and nail to stand where he was now, ready to fight again. It was a good look on him, one of strength and powerful waves poorly held at bay within in shell of boy not human not god.

The one with them was tall with bushy, curly hair and a wide grin that she found herself copying. It was odd for two demigods to be travelling with a cyclops, but here he was in the burning orange of a camp t-shirt keeping close to Percy and Annabeth's sides as he cowered from the zombie and ghost crew.

She drops to sit on the metal, keeping one leg propped up and bent, knee tucked close to her chest, and the other drop to hang over the side. She kicked in small circles.

"Kassandra, what are you doing here?" Percy asks, surprise clear in his tone as he moves closer to her.

She leans forward, bending at the waist until she was as far down as she could go. "Clarisse invited me. Picked me up over near Maryland."

"Picked you up?" he repeats just as Annabeth asks, "What were you doing in Maryland?"

"I was in Maryland to meet up with Clarisse. I took a cab straight down after we got into contact," she tells them honestly. "What are you guys doing here? I was told this Tantalus guy was a nasty piece of work."

Percy scowls. "You've got that right," he mutters.

It's then that Clarisse comes over, commanding their attention once more, and Kassandra falls back to her self-designated post of sitting up top under the guise of keeping watch. There wouldn't be much for her to keep watch of with the sun setting but she could revel in the joy that she felt at watching it go, watching it sink from her sights with the glow of red and gold on the horizon.

Lady Artemis' moon would be rising in its stead, would be filling the night with nothing but peace and tranquillity of pale silver and greying white glow. She would feel the chill against flushed skin, would feel the cool winds as they intended.

In the meantime, she took her flute back to her lips, praying a quiet greeting to Artemis, before she went on to play whatever came to mind -- a flowing tune haunting and slow that swelled and fell into the night. It fell free from her as she let herself relax, unwind before she grabbed something to eat and ran off to rest for the night.

She had been at watch all day, giving Clarisse the time to relax while she could. Kassandra was always much more alert during the day and whether that was because she was Apollo's daughter or if just the fact that he was the god of the sun that followed her every movement with its bright, burning gaze, kept her on edge the entire. Regardless, it was best for her to sleep when they were coming upon the entrance to the sea of monsters instead of when they were to try sailing through it.