━━━━HURRICANE!
❝ it's all we know,
the hurricane. ❞
( the mark of athena & the house of hades )
( l. valdez x fem!oc )
( p. mclean x male!oc )
( heroes of o...
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━chapter one, ❝annabeth meets an exploding statue and some scary romans!❞ 『A N N A B E T H』
☆
━━━Until she meets the exploding the statue, Annabeth Chase had thought she was prepared for anything.
She paces the deck of their flying warship, the Argo II, checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they are locked down. She confirms the white "we come in peace" flag is flying from the mast. She reviews the plan with the rest of the crew━and the backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan.
More importantly, she pulls aside their war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge, and encourages him to take the morning off in his cabin and watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships. The last thing they need as they fly a deadly Greek trireme into a (potentially) hostile Roman camp is a five-foot-tall, middle-aged satyr swinging a club and yelling, "Die!"
Everything seems to be in order. Even that mysterious chill she has been feeling since the ship launched has dissipated (at least for now).
The warship descends through the clouds, but Annabeth can't stop second-guessing herself. What if this is a bad idea? What if the Romans panic and attack them on sight?
The Argo II definitely does not look friendly. Two hundred feet long with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows fire and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts... well, it isn't the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with neighbors.
Annabeth had tried to give the Romans a heads-up. She had asked Leo to send one of his special inventions━a holographic scroll━to alert their friends inside the camp. Hopefully, the message got through. Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull━WASSUP? with a friendly smiley face━but Annabeth said no. She isn't sure if it's the Romans' sense of humor.
Too late to turn back now.
The clouds break around the hill, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them. Annabeth grips one of the bronze shields that line the starboard rail. Her three crewmates take their places.
On the stern quarterdeck, Leo rushes around like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would've been fine with just a pilot's wheel or a tiller. Leo has also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He can turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album or raise sails by shaking his Wii controls really fast. (Even by demigod standards, Leo is seriously ADHD).
