𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 || 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚌𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚗

𝔼𝕚𝕟

Chapter one

(Sorry pals, got caught up in bothering my English teacher... for like a month)

-/:/-/:/-

Until she met the exploding statue, Thea thought she had seen the most interesting of figures.

They had been airborne for some time. The daughter of Hades had opted to get some sleep in her cabin as they flew; secretly afraid that her uncle would throw her out of the air. It wasn't as if sleep gave her much of an escape anyway. Nightmares kept her up, except they were more of memories with a dark twist than they were nightmares.

The horrors of Tartarus took her in its claws every single time she closed her eyes for too long, and then she was plagued with the knowledge that she had gone somewhere after she escaped. She knew that she had not gone straight to camp (no pun intended), but no matter how hard she tried, she still could not remember what had happened.

So, after trying - and failing - to get some sleep, Thea had talked to Marielle. The daughter of Ares hadn't had any solution, but as always, just knowing she was there was enough to calm Thea down. Then Piper had called her up which led to where they were right now.

Annabeth was pacing the deck. How long had she been doing that? Well, Thea didn't even want to ask. She was checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. She'd confirmed that the white 'We come in peace' flag was flying from the mast. She'd reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew - and the backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan. Honestly, Thea lost track the moment she said the word 'plan'.

Then Annabeth had pulled Coach Hedge aside, and probably given him some form of lecture about violence or taking a goddamned break in his cabin or something.

Then, Thea couldn't take it anymore. "Annabeth Chase. If you don't calm the fuck down, I will personally send all your plans to the deepest abyss of the underworld."

The blonde sighed, but stopped with the pacing. "Just-"

"Stop overthinking it. Whatever will happen is a problem we'll deal with when it happens. Calm down."

When she was sure Annabeth would stay still, she could avert her focus back to her other questmates - her... friends?

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. But Thea wouldn't have wanted him any other way.