sky blue ● jason grace

not

It seemed like only a few seconds had passed before Piper woke to the breakfast bell.

"Yo, Piper!" Leo knocked on her door. "We're landing!"

"Landing?" She sat up groggily.

Leo opened her door and poked his head in. He had his hand over his eyes, which would've been a nice gesture if he hadn't been peeking through his fingers. "You decent?"

"Leo!"

"Sorry." He grinned. "Hey, nice Power Ranger jammies."

"They are not Power Rangers!"

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, we're setting down a few miles outside Topeka, as requested. And, um..." He glanced out in the passageway, then leaned inside again. "Thanks for not hating me, about blowing up the Romans yesterday."

Piper rubbed her eyes. The feast in New Rome had been only yesterday? "That's okay, Leo. You weren't in control of yourself."

"Yeah, but still...you didn't have to stick up for me."

"Are you kidding? You're my best friend. Of course I'll stick up for you."

Leo gave her a crooked smile. "Thanks."

From above, Coach Hedge yelled, "Thar she blows! Kansas, ahoy!"

"Holy Hephaestus," Leo muttered. "He really needs to work on his shipspeak. I'd better get above deck."

By the time Piper had showered, changed, and grabbed a bagel from the mess hall, she could hear the ship's landing gear extending. She climbed on deck and joined the others as the Argo II settled in the middle of a field of sunflowers.

Percy was the first to notice her. He smiled in greeting, which for some reason surprised Piper. He was wearing faded jeans and a fresh orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, as if he'd never been away from the Greek side. The new clothes had probably helped his mood—and of course the fact that he was standing at the rail with his arm around Annabeth.

They weren't the only couple tugging at Piper's heart strings. Jason was listening to something that Daria was saying with a soft smile on his face. Maybe it was Aphrodite messing with her, but Jason was glowing in the sunlight, as if Zeus himself was saying, yeah, she's the one. Piper figured it was unlikely, from what she'd heard from Annabeth, the King of the Gods wasn't much of a romantic.

"So!" Annabeth plucked the bagel out of Piper's hand and took a bite, they had a running joke about stealing each other's breakfast. "Here we are. What's the plan?"

"I want to check out the highway," Piper said. "Find the sign that says Topeka 32."

Leo spun his Wii controller in a circle, and the sails lowered themselves. "We shouldn't be far," he said. "Festus and I calculated the landing as best we could. What do you expect to find at the mile marker?"

Piper explained what she'd seen in the knife—the man in purple with a goblet.

"Purple shirt?" Daria asked. "Vines on his hat? Sounds like Bacchus."

"Dionysus," Percy muttered. "If we came all the way to Kansas to see Mr. D—"

"Bacchus isn't so bad," Jason said. "I don't like his followers much...."

Piper shuddered. Jason, Leo, and she had had an encounter with the maenads a few months ago and almost gotten torn to pieces.

"But the god himself is okay," Jason continued. "Daria and I did him a favor once up in the wine country."

"Yeah well," Daria looked like she wanted to throttle the God. "Speak for yourself."

Percy looked appalled. "Whatever, man. Maybe he's better on the Roman side. But why would he be hanging around in Kansas? Didn't Zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?"