「025. that's one sexy fucking warship 」

CHERRY WAS definitely still a bit freaked out about the whole gaea possessing her. she had come to explain to them all after they got transported back that sometimes out of nerves she'd just start growing plants (but it had only recently become that severe) and then- somehow gaea had managed to actually just possess her. and the way khione had said awake... it just triggered gaea into basically kicking cherry out of the control zone. don't get her wrong- she still had nightmares- and she couldn't look at the bruises around barbie's neck without feeling immense guilt. but she had forced herself to move onwards from that.

coming back from the quest had been a little strange. and she finally realised how weird it must have been for barbie the first time she'd went on a quest. it really was weird. she felt different. perhaps stronger? and weaker at the same time? was there some sort of class she could take on how to cope with finishing a quest. she'd matured- if she even could in such a short amount of time. she was able to show a bit more anger here and there- which surprised her siblings. sometimes she'd express her sadness- and that was still taking a lot of getting used to.

but as leo led them to the limestone cliff in the forest, she felt no sense of worry. he turned to the group and smiled nervously- like a little boy showing his parents his science project at a fair.

"here we go," he spoke, willing his hand to catch on fire. his cabinmates gasped.

"leo!" nyssa cried, her hand entwined with drew tanaka's, "you're a fire user!"

"yeah, thanks," he said, "i know."

she snorted.

jake mason, who was out of his body cast but still on crutches, said, "holy hephaestus. that means—it's so rare that—"

the massive stone door swung open, and everyone's mouth dropped. leo's flaming hand seemed insignificant now. she gasped at what she saw. she turned to look at her former quest-mates, and saw their shocked expressions too.

"welcome to bunker nine," he said, as confidently as he could. "c'mon in."

the group was silent as they toured the facility. everything was just as leo had left it—giant machines, worktables, old maps and schematics. only one thing had changed. festus's head was sitting on the central table, still battered and scorched from his final crash in omaha. leo went over to it and stroked the dragon's forehead. "i'm sorry, festus. but i won't forget you. "

jason put a hand on leo's shoulder. "hephaestus brought it here for you?"

leo nodded.

"but you can't repair him," jason guessed.

"no way," leo said. "but the head is going to be reused. festus will be going with us."

piper came over and frowned. "what do you mean?"

before leo could answer, nyssa cried out, "guys, look at this!" she was standing at one of the worktables, flipping through a sketchbook—diagrams for hundreds of different machines and weapons.

"i've never seen anything like these," nyssa said. "there are more amazing ideas here than in daedalus's workshop. it would take a century just to prototype them all."

"how are you seemingly a nerd and a jock at the same time?" mused drew, acting like a total softy (which cherry didn't necessarily mind. it was better than her staring at your clothes in disgust).

"who built this place?" jake mason said. "and why?"

chiron stayed silent, but cherry watched as leo focused on the wall map.it showed camp half-blood with a line of triremes in the sound, catapults mounted in the hills around the valley, and spots marked for traps, trenches, and ambush sites. "it's a wartime command center," he said. "the camp was attacked once, wasn't it?"

"in the titan war?" piper asked.

"that map looks far too old to be from the titan war," barbie spoke, squinting slightly as she read, "does that say 1864?"

they all turned to chiron. the centaur's tail swished fretfully. "this camp has been attacked many times," he admitted. "that map is from the last civil war."

"civil war ..." piper said. "you mean the american civil war, like a hundred and fifty years ago?"

"yes and no," chiron said. "the two conflicts—mortal and demigod—mirrored each other, as they usually do in western history. look at any civil war or revolution from the fall of rome onward, and it marks a time when demigods also fought one another. but that civil war was particularly horrible. for american mortals, it is still their bloodiest conflict of all time —worse than their casualties in the two world wars. for demigods, it was equally devastating. even back then, this valley was camp half-blood. there was a horrible battle in these woods lasting for days, with terrible losses on both sides."

"both sides," leo said. "you mean the camp split apart?"

"no," jason spoke up. "he means two different groups. camp half-blood was one side in the war."

"oh here's this again," mumbled barbie, massaging her temple, "keep it short- grace."

"wouldn't want you to have another crisis," added jason with a teasing smile. to which barbie glared at him, muttering something along the lines of white boy.

leo wasn't sure he wanted an answer, but he asked, "who was the other?"

chiron glanced up at the tattered bunker 9 banner, as if remembering the day it was raised. "the answer is dangerous," he warned. "it is something i swore upon the river styx never to speak of. after the american civil war, the gods were so horrified by the toll it took on their children, that they swore it would never happen again. the two groups were separated. the gods bent all their will, wove the mist as tightly as they could, to make sure the enemies never remembered each other, never met on their quests, so that bloodshed could be avoided. this map is from the final dark days of 1864, the last time the two groups fought."

he took a breath, "we've had several close calls since then. the nineteen sixties were particularly dicey. but we've managed to avoid another civil war—at least so far. just as leo guessed, this bunker was a command center for the hephaestus cabin. in the last century, it has been reopened a few times, usually as a hiding place in times of great unrest. but coming here is dangerous. it stirs old memories, awakens the old feuds. even when the titans threatened last year, i did not think it worth the risk to use this place."

leo frowned slightly, before adding brightly, "hey, look, this place found me. it was meant to happen. it's a good thing."

"i hope you're right," chiron said.

"i am!" leo pulled the old drawing out of his pocket and spread it on the table for everyone to see. "there," he said proudly. "aeolus returned that to me. i drew it when iwas five. that's my destiny."

nyssa frowned. "leo, it's a crayon drawing of a boat."

"you definitely weren't a child artist," grumbled drew.

"look." he pointed at the largest schematic on the bulletin board—the blueprint showing a greek trireme. slowly, his cabinmates' eyes widened as they compared the two designs. the number of masts and oars, even the decorations on the shields and sails were exactly the same as on leo's drawing.

"that's impossible," nyssa said. "that blueprint has to be a century old at least."

"'prophecy—unclear—flight,'" jake mason read from the notes on the blueprint. "it's a diagram for a flying ship. look, that's the landing gear. and weaponry—holy hephaestus: rotating ballista, mounted crossbows, celestial bronze plating. that thing would be one sexy and spankin' hot war machine. was it ever made?"

"did you just call a flying boat 'sexy'?" barbie spoke, staring at jake, slightly horrified, "what the fuck is wrong with your siblings,leo?"

"a lot of things. anyways- it hasn't been built. not yet," leo said. "look at the masthead."

there was no doubt—the figure at the front of the ship was the head of a dragon.a very particular dragon. "festus," piper said.

everyone turned and looked at the dragon's head sitting on the table. "he's meant to be our masthead," leo said. "our good luck charm, our eyes at sea. i'm supposed to build this ship. i'm gonna call it the argo ii. and guys, i'll need your help."

"the argo ii." piper smiled. "after jason's ship."

"simp," whispered barbie, before yelping as drew elbowed her.

jason looked a little uncomfortable, but he nodded. "leo's right. that ship is just what we need for our journey."

"what journey?" nyssa said. "you just got back!"

piper ran her fingers over the old crayon drawing. "we've got to confront porphyrion, the giant king. he said he would destroy the gods at their roots."

"indeed," chiron said. "much of rachel's great prophecy is still a mystery to me, but one thing is clear. you three —jason, piper, barbie, cherry and leo—are among the nine demigods who must take on that quest. you must confront the giants in their homeland, where they are strongest. you must stop them before they can wake gaea fully, before they destroy mount olympus."

"um ..." nyssa shifted. "you don't mean manhattan, do you?"

"no," leo said. "the original mount olympus. we have to sail to greece."

it took just a few moments for that to settle in. and then, the other hephaestus campers started asking questions all at once. who were the other four demigods? how long would it take to build the boat? why didn't everyone get to go to greece?

"heroes!" chiron struck his hoof on the floor. "all the details are not clear yet, but leo is correct. he will need your help to build the argo ii. it is perhaps the greatest project cabin nine has even undertaken, even greater than the bronze dragon."

"it'll take a year at least," nyssa guessed. "do we have that much time?"

"you have six months at most," chiron said. "you should sail by summer solstice, when the gods' power is strongest. besides, we evidently cannot trust the wind gods, and the summer winds are the least powerful and easiest to navigate. you dare not sail any later, or you may be too late to stop the giants. you must avoid ground travel, using only air and sea, so this vehicle is perfect. jason being the son of the sky god ..."

cherry glanced, looking barbie who's facial expression changed for a few moments. they went from happy- probably because barbie had guessed it was about percy. then, they turned sad, as if remembered he was missing.

jake mason turned to leo. "well, one thing's for sure. you are now senior counselor. this is the biggest honor the cabin has ever had.anyone object?"

nobody did. all his cabinmates smiled at him.

"it's official, then," jake said. "you're the man."

"well," he said at last, "if you guys elect me leader, you must be even crazier than i am. so let's build a sexy and spankin' hot war machine!"

cherry had never properly been to a council meeting. but she was requested to. and it was nothing like she'd imagined. for one thing, it was in the big house rec room, around a ping-pong table, and one of the satyrs was serving nachos and sodas. somebody had brought seymour the leopard head in from the living room and hung him on the wall. every once in a while, a counselor would toss him a snausage. jason looked around the room and tried to remember everyone's name. thankfully, barbie and leo sat on either side of her. with jason and piper a few seats down. leo and piper looked nervous, just as nervous as she was. it was their first meeting as senior councillors.

clarisse, leader of the ares cabin, had her boots on the table, but nobody seemed to care. clovis from hypnos cabin was snoring in the corner while butch from iris cabin was seeing how many pencils he could fit in clovis's nostrils. travis stoll from hermes was holding a lighter under a ping-pong ball to see if it would burn, and will solace from apollo was absently wrapping and unwrapping an ace bandage around his wrist. the counselor from hecate cabin, lou ellen something was playing "got-your-nose" with miranda which caused cherry to giggle, except that lou ellen really had magically disconnected miranda's nose, and miranda was trying to get it back.

on a sour note, kenji ito was also here. her argument was still fresh in her mind as she looked at kenji- who hadn't looked at her once. sensing the awkward air between the both. even if gaea perhaps might've influenced her angry and harsh words- she technically didn't regret them. they were the truth. he'd killed her. that couldn't exactly be forgiven easily.

rachel dare, the oracle, sat next to chiron at the head of the table. she was wearing her clarion academy school uniform dress, which seemed a bit odd, but she smiled at them all. annabeth didn't look so relaxed. she wore armor over her camp clothes, with her knife at her side and her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"let's come to order," chiron said. "lou ellen, please give miranda her nose back. travis, if you'd kindly extinguish the flaming ping-pong ball, and butch, i think twenty pencils is really too many for any human nostril. thank you. now, as you can see, jason, piper, barbie, cherry and leo have returned successfully... more or less. some of you have heard parts of their story, but i will let them fill you in."

everyone looked at jason. he cleared his throat and began the story. the rest of them chimed in from time to time, filling in the details he forgot. it only took a few minutes, but it seemed like longer with everyone watching him. the silence was heavy, and for so many adhd demigods to sit still listening for that long, cherry knew the story must have sounded pretty wild. he ended with hera's visit right before the meeting.

"so hera was here," annabeth said. "talking to you."

jason nodded. "look, i'm not saying i trust her—"

"that's smart," annabeth said, she turned to barbie, "did she do anything to you?"

"threatened to turn me into a weasel. called me a brat,"shrugged barbie, "the usual."

"—but she isn't making this up about another group of demigods. that's where i came from."

"romans." clarisse tossed seymour a snausage. "you expect us to believe there's another camp with demigods, but they follow the roman forms of the gods. and we've never even heard of them."

piper sat forward. "the gods have kept the two groups apart, because every time they see each other, they try to kill each other."

"i can respect that," clarisse said.

"can we talk about the bigger elephant in the room?" travis interrupted, "cherry got possessed. i feel like that sorta needs to be addressed. cherry?"

"uh..." cherry began, gulping nervously, "chiron was right.um- before the quest, when jason first arrived. he told me not to use my powers. i may have... disobeyed that rule. it was stupid really- but when i used my power.... it was because i was nervous; i was growing daisies from my fingers out of nerves. but gaea somehow managed to just- take control of my mind. think..." she hesitated, not sure if she should say what she was about to say, "think luke but... i, um, came back. and i didn't mean to strangle barbie! i- i hope you all know that."

"gaea was messing with her mind," barbie spoke, "i don't think cherry has to be blamed for that, does she?"

"yeah," nodded leo, and cherry smiled as he defended her, "dirtface was making her all," he pointed to his head and made circular motions, "coo-coo."

"but back to this roman thing," clarisse said, adding, "no offence cherry- but i think it's clear you haven't done anything wrong. but... why haven't we ever run across each other on quests?"

"oh, yes," chiron said sadly. "you have, many times. it's always a tragedy, and always the gods do their best to wipe clean the memories of those involved. the rivalry goes all the way back to the trojan war, clarisse. the greeks invaded troy and burned it to the ground. the trojan hero aeneas escaped, and eventually made his way to italy, where he founded the race that would someday become rome. the romans grew more and more powerful, worshipping the same gods but under different names, and with slightly different personalities."

"more warlike," jason said. "more united. more about expansion, conquest, and discipline."

"yuck," travis put in. several of the others looked equally uncomfortable, though clarisse shrugged like it sounded okay to her.

annabeth twirled her knife on the table. "and the romans hated the greeks. they took revenge when they conquered the greek isles, and made them part of the roman empire."

"not exactly hated them," jason said. "the romans admired greek culture, and were a little jealous. in return, the greeks thought the romans were barbarians, but they respected their military power. so during roman times, demigods started to divide—either greek or roman."

"and it's been that way ever since," annabeth guessed. "but this is crazy. chiron, where were the romans during the titan war? didn't they want to help?"

chiron tugged at his beard. "they did help, annabeth. while you and percy were leading the battle to save manhattan, who do think conquered mount othrys, the titans' base in california?"

"hold on," travis said. "you said mount othrys just crumbled when we beat kronos."

"no," jason said. "it didn't just fall. we destroyed their palace. i defeated the titan krios myself."

barbie's eyes widened and there was muttering all around as she spoke, "holy shit dude."

annabeth's eyes were as stormy as a ventus. jason could almost see her thoughts moving, putting the pieces together. "the bay area. we demigods were always told to stay away from it because mount othrys was there. but that wasn't the only reason, was it? the roman camp—it's got to be somewhere near san francisco. i bet it was put there to keep watch on the titans' territory. where is it?"

chiron shifted in his wheelchair. "i cannot say. honestly, even i have never been trusted with that information. my counterpart, lupa, is not exactly the sharing type. jason's memory, too, has been burned away."

"the camp's heavily veiled with magic," jason said. "and heavily guarded. we could search for years and never find it."

rachel dare laced her fingers. of all the people in the room, only she didn't seem nervous about the conversation. "but you'll try, won't you? you'll build leo's boat, the argo ii. and before you make for greece, you'll sail for the roman camp. you'll need their help to confront the giants."

"bad plan," clarisse warned. "if those romans see a warship coming, they'll assume we're attacking."

"they're gonna punt us," leo explained simply.

"punt, is that a word?" wondered barbie.

"it means kicking," annabeth added offhandedly.

barbie grinned, "that might just be my new favourite word."

"right..." jason began, before looking to clarisse, "you're probably right," jason agreed. "but we have to try. i was sent here to learn about camp half-blood, to try to convince you the two camps don't have to be enemies. a peace offering."

"hmm," rachel said. "because hera is convinced we need both camps to win the war with the giants. seven heroes of olympus—some greek, some roman."

annabeth nodded. "your great prophecy—what's the last line?"

"and foes bear arms to the doors of death."

"gaea has opened the doors of death," annabeth said. "she's letting out the worst villains of the underworld to fight us. medea, midas—there'll be more, i'm sure. maybe the line means that the roman and greek demigods will unite, and find the doors, and close them."

"or it could mean they fight each other at the doors of death," clarisse pointed out. "it doesn't say we'll cooperate."

there was silence as the campers let that happy thought sink in. "i'm going," annabeth said. "jason, when you get this ship built, let me go with you."

"i was hoping you'd offer," jason said. "you of all people —we'll need you."

"and i am obviously going. regardless of if i went on the quest we did or not," barbie spoke, a sense of urgency in her voice.

"wait." leo frowned. "what do you mean regardless of the quest?"

"because of the circumstances," jason explained,"an exchange goes two ways, when i got here, my memory was wiped. i didn't know who i was or where i belonged. fortunately, you guys took me in and i found a new home. i know you're not my enemy. the roman camp—they're not so friendly. you prove your worth quickly, or you don't survive. they may not be so nice to him, and if they learn where he comes from, he's going to be in serious trouble."

"him?" leo said. "who are you talking about?"

"my boyfriend," barbie said grimly. "he disappeared around the same time jason appeared. if jason came to camp half-blood—"

"exactly," jason agreed. "percy jackson is at the other camp, and he probably doesn't even remember who he is."

rosie speaks!

um. okay. so this is a thing.
i've finished ?? act one ?? and
my brain suddenly remembered
how much of a simp i was for percy
and just went : OH HONEY. YOU
GOT A BIG STORM COMING.

like i— is it too late to just delete
my life thanks. anyways i'm impulsive
and have no self control so if you
see me posting more than no you
dont that never happened.

el oh el ly all !!

theories and thoughts ??

word count: 3,845 words