★ 。＼｜／。★

𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖎𝖙𝖗𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖚𝖝:
EVERYTHING ALWAYS
SEEMS TO GO WRONG

★ 。／｜＼。★

THE ROMANS DEFINITELY knew how to eat. It made Belle mad at herself, since she didn't have an appetite whatsoever. She wished she did, but that cold feeling she felt earlier was making her paranoid.

Couches and low tables had been carted into the forum. The Romans lounged at them in groups of ten or twenty, chatting and laughing with each other. Wind spirits — Aurae — swirled overhead, bringing endless platters of pizza, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked cookies. Purple ghosts — Lares — in togas and Legionnaire armor were drifting through the crowd. Satyrs — no, Fauns — were trotting from table to table, begging for food and spare change. Mrs. O'Leary and the war elephant were frolicking with each other in the nearby fields while children played tag around the many statues of Terminus that lined the city limits.

Belle was getting a headache just looking around it. The scene seemed so familiar to Camp Half-Blood, yet so completely different. All she wanted to do was run off with Percy so they could be alone together. That was what she had wished for ever since he disappeared. But they couldn't. Not right now. If this quest was going to succeed, they needed the assistance of the Romans. That meant they had to get to know them and build some goodwill.

Reyna and some of her officers (which included the blond kid Octavian Belle didn't like, who was back from burning a fresh teddy bear to the Gods) sat with Belle, Annabeth, Leo, Piper, and Jason. Percy was there as well with his two friends, Frank and Hazel. Many food platters were settling on the table, and Belle was watching them do so with her chin placed in the palm of her hand.

She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder, and she straightened up, meeting the green eyes of Percy. "Hmm?"

"You okay?" Percy questioned, concern in his tone.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Belle replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe you."

"Percy," Belle stated. "Seriously. I'm all right."

"Okay, whatever you say." Percy paused for a moment. "Hey, later, I want to show you around New Rome. Just the two of us. This place is incredible. You'll love it."

Belle's heart fluttered. Of course she wanted to spend time with Percy, but she couldn't help but let a bit of confusion seep into her mind. Percy was talking to enthusiastically about this place. Surely he didn't like it better than Camp Half-Blood, their home where their relationship had grown. It certainly didn't help that Percy had an SPQR like Jason did. That was another difference between the Greeks and Romans: Camp Half-Blood gave Demigods beads for each year of training, and Camp Jupiter burned lines into Demigods' flesh.

She pushed down her thoughts and gave him a small smile. "Sure, Percy. I'd like that."

His fingers nervously hovered over hers. "I also, uh, had this idea. Well, I've been thinking—"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by Reyna calling a toast to friendship. After introductions were made, both the Romans and the crew from Camp Half-Blood began to exchange stories. Jason explained how he had arrived at Camp Half-Blood with no memories and his quest with Piper and Leo to rescue Hera (or Juno, she was equally infuriating in both forms) from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.

"Impossible!" Octavian cut in. "That's our most sacred place. If the Giants had imprisoned a Goddess there—"

"They would've destroyed her," Piper finished. "And blamed it on the Greeks, and started a war between the Camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish."

Octavian opened his mouth to protest, but no sound came out. Belle bit back a smile. She really loved Piper's charmspeak. However, she couldn't help but notice Reyna looking back and forth between Jason and Piper with furrowed eyebrows, as if she just saw that the two of them were a couple.

"So, that's how we found out about the Earth Goddess Gaea," Jason continued. "She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters from Tartarus and raising the Giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House: he said he was retreating to the ancient lands — Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea and destroying the Gods by . . . what did he call it? Pulling up their roots."

Percy gave a thoughtful nod. "Gaea's been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with queen Dirt Face."

He recounted his side of the story. Percy talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories. The only thing he did remember was a girl with blue eyes named Belle, who he had affectionately called Beauty.

As soon as she heard that, Belle had to will herself not to burst into tears right then and there. Percy then told them how he had traveled to Alaska with Frank and Hazel. The three of them had defeated the Giant Alcyoneus, freed the death God Thanatos, and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of Camp Jupiter to hold back an attack by the Giants' army.

Jason whistled appreciatively once Percy had finished. "No wonder they made you Praetor."

Octavian snorted, probably deeming this as his victory. "Which means we now have three Praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!"

"On the bright side, both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian," Percy countered. "So we can both tell you to shut up."

Octavian turned as purple as a Camp Jupiter t-shirt. Jason and Percy shared a fist bump. Even Reyna managed a smile, although her eyes were stormy.

"We'll have to figure out the extra Praetor problem later," Reyna announced. "Right now we have more serious issues to deal with."

"I'll step aside for Jason," Percy voiced. "It's no biggie."

"No biggie?" Octavian choked out. "The Praetorship of Rome is no biggie?"

Percy, ignoring Octavian, turned to Jason. "You're Thalia Grace's brother, huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike."

"Yeah, I noticed," Jason responded. "Anyway, thanks for helping my Camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job."

"Back at you."

Belle, even though she hated to interrupt this bromance the two were sharing, cleared her throat. "Reyna's right, we have some serious things to discuss. I suggest we talk about the Great Prophecy first. It sounds like the Romans are also aware of it?"

Reyna nodded. "We call it the Prophecy of Eight. Octavian, you have it committed to memory?"

"Of course," Octavian answered. "But, Reyna—"

"Recite it, please. In English, not Latin."

Octavian sighed. "Eight Half-Bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"

"An oath to keep with a final breath," Annabeth spoke. "And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

Everyone turned to look at the blonde. Well, except for Leo, who had made a pinwheel out of aluminum foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into passing Aurae. Belle frowned, concern growing for Annabeth.

Percy's friend, Frank, sat forwards and stared at Annabeth in fascination. "Is it true you're a child of Min— I mean, Athena?"

"Yes," Annabeth replied, a defensive tone to her voice. "Why is that such a surprise?"

Octavian scoffed. "If you're truly a child of the wisdom Goddess—"

"Enough," Reyna interrupted. "Annabeth is what she says. She's here in peace."

Octavian looked suspiciously at Belle. "And your Godly parent?"

"Demeter," Belle answered. "Goddess of the harvest."

"I know who—"

"Octavian," Reyna snapped. "Belle is here in peace, as well. Besides . . ." she gave Belle a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken very highly of you."

Belle blinked. Reyna's tone was hard to decipher. But when she saw Percy suddenly become interested in his cheeseburger, she understood. Her face immediately burned red. Oh Gods, it all made sense now. Reyna had made a move on Percy, but he had turned her down for Belle. That explained the slight bitterness, or maybe even envy, in her words. At that moment, Belle forgave everything stupid Percy had ever done. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and press multiple kisses to his cheek, but she willed herself to not do that.

"Oh," Belle stated. "Um, thank you. Well, some of the words are making sense now. Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. That obviously means the Greeks and Romans. In order to find those doors, we have to combine forces."

Hazel, Percy's friend with the cavalry helmet and long curly hair, picked up something that was next to her plate. It looked suspiciously like a large ruby, but before Belle could get a better look, Hazel put it in the pocket of her denim shirt.

"My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors," Hazel announced.

"Wait," Annabeth cut in. "Nico di Angelo? He's your brother?"

Hazel nodded, almost as if this answer was obvious. Belle blinked. Many more questions entered her head.

Annabeth had seemingly let the matter go for now. "Okay. You were saying?"

"He disappeared." Hazel shuffled nervously in her seat. "I'm afraid . . . I'm not sure, but I think something's happened to him."

"We'll look for him," Percy promised. "We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome — like, the original Rome. That's on the way to Greece, right?"

"Wait, you're telling me Thanatos, the death God, told you that?" Belle asked.

She tried to understand that concept. Belle had met many Gods, including Hades, but that story about freeing the incarnation of death itself really creeped her out.

Percy took a bite of his cheeseburger. "Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they'll just keep coming back."

Piper nervously twisted the eagle feather in her hair. "Like water leaking through a dam."

"Yeah." A smile stretched across Percy's face. "We've got a dam hole."

"What?"

"Nothing. Inside joke. The point is we'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the Giants and making sure they stay defeated."

Reyna took an apple from a passing fruit tray and studied the dark red surface of it in her hand. "You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands — and the Mare Nostrum — are dangerous?"

"Mary who?" Leo questioned.

"Mare Nostrum," Jason elaborated. "Our Sea. It's what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean."

Reyna nodded in agreement. "The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the Gods. It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and Giants . . . and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for Demigods here in America, there it would be ten times worse."

"You said Alaska would be bad," Percy argued. "We survived that."

Reyna shook her head, digging her fingernails into the apple so that little crescent shapes were made. "Percy, traveling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It's been off limits to Roman Demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there."

Leo grinned over the top of his makeshift pinwheel. "Then we're good! Because we're all crazy, right? Besides, the Argo II is a top of the line warship. She'll get us through."

"We'll have to hurry," Jason added. "I don't know exactly what the Giants are planning, but Gaea is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams, appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the Giants before they can wake her up fully."

Belle remembered all of the dreams she had in the past six months. Demigod dreams were never good, but these ones were worse than normal.

"Eight Half-Bloods must answer the call," Annabeth recited. "It needs to be a mix from both our Camps. Belle, Jason, Piper, Leo, and me. That's five."

"And me," Percy agreed. "Along with Hazel and Frank. That's eight."

Octavian shot to his feet. "What? We're just supposed to accept that? Without a vote in the Senate? Without a proper debate? Without—"

"Percy!" a familiar voice called.

Belle looked to see Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary bounding over to them. Sitting on the Hellhound's back was the skinniest Harpy Belle had ever seen in her entire life. It was a sickly-looking girl with stringy red hair, a sackcloth dress, and red-feathered wings. Belle didn't know where the Harpy had come from, but just the sight of Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary made her feel better. Both of them were technically monsters, but since Tyson was Percy's brother and Mrs. O'Leary was Percy's dog, she held a soft spot for both of them.

Tyson stopped by their couch and wrung his hands together nervously, his one big brown eye full of concern. "Ella is scared."

"N-N-No more boats," the Harpy muttered, apparently named Ella, while picking furiously at her feathers. "Titanic, Lusitania, Pax . . . boats are not for Harpies."

Leo squinted and looked to Hazel, who was sitting next to her. "Did that chicken girl just compare my ship to the Titanic?"

"She's not a chicken," Hazel replied, not meeting Leo's eyes whatsoever. "Ella's a Harpy. She's just a little . . . high-strung."

"Ella is pretty," Tyson voiced. "And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship."

"No ships," Ella repeated. She then looked straight at Annabeth, making the blonde grip onto Belle's elbow nervously. "Bad luck. There she is. Wisdom's daughter walks alone—"

"Ella!" Frank cut in, suddenly standing up. "Maybe it's not the best time—"

"The Mark of Athena burns through Rome," Ella continued, covering her ears and raising her voice. "Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands gold and pale, won through pain from a woven jail."

The entire room went silent. Everyone stared at the Harpy in shock. Belle looked over at Annabeth in concern. Wisdom's daughter walks alone. There was only one daughter of wisdom here, and of course that was Annabeth. This Prophecy concerned her.

Of course Belle knew about the Mark of Athena. In fact, she was there when that whole situation with Athena on the train happened. And here Ella was, completely spewing out a whole other Prophecy to go on top of their huge one.

All around them, the sounds of the feast continued, yet it sounded distant to the small group on the couches. Percy was the first one to recover, standing up and taking Tyson's arm in his hand.

"I know!" Percy exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. "How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O'Leary—"

"Hold on," Octavian interrupted, gripping one of his teddy bears with shaking hands and his eyes fixed on Ella. "What was that she said? It sounded like—"

"Ella reads a lot," Frank blurted out. "We found her at a library."

"Yes!" Hazel agreed. "Probably just something she read in a book."

"Books," Ella muttered. "Ella likes books."

Now that Ella had said what she needed to, she seemed way more relaxed before. She sat with her legs crossed on Mrs. O'Leary's back and preened her wings. Belle looked over to Percy curiously. Obviously, he was hiding something about this Harpy. He sent her a look back that said please help me.

"That was a Prophecy," Octavian insisted. "It sounded like a Prophecy."

No one answered him. Belle, however, had a very good sense of when Percy was on the verge of getting in trouble. This time was one of them.

"Are Harpies different on the Roman side?" Belle finally asked, breaking the silence. "The ones we have are only intelligent enough to clean our Cabins and cook lunches. Are yours smart enough to foretell the future?"

Her words had the effect she intended them to. Some Roman officers laughed nervously in agreement. Others stared at Ella before looking to Octavian and letting out chuckles. The idea of a Harpy giving out Prophecies was just as ridiculous to the Romans as it was to the Greeks.

"I, uh . . ." Octavian trailed off, dropping his teddy bear. "No, but—"

"Ella's probably just reciting lines from a book like Hazel said," Belle continued. "Besides, there's an actual Prophecy we still have to worry about. Tyson, why don't you have Mrs. O'Leary shadow travel you and Ella somewhere for a while? Would Ella be all right with that?"

"Large dogs are good," Ella responded. "Old Yeller, 1957, screenplay by Fred Gipson and William Tunberg."

Percy smiled. "Great! We'll Iris-message you guys when we're done and catch up with you later."

The Romans looked at Reyna to wait for her ruling. Belle patted Annabeth's arm, making her drop her hand from her elbow. Reyna studied Ella for a second.

"Fine," Reyna said at last. "Go."

"Yay!" Tyson yelled.

Being the sweetheart he was, he went around the couches and gave everybody a big hug — including Octavian, who didn't look happy about it whatsoever. He then climbed on Mrs. O'Leary's back with Ella. Mrs. O'Leary bounded out of the forum, dove straight into a shadow on the Senate House wall, and disappeared.

Reyna set down her uneaten apple. "Well, Octavian is right about one thing. We must gain the Senate's approval before we let any of our Legionnaires go on a quest — especially one as dangerous as you're suggesting."

"This whole thing smells of treachery," Octavian mumbled. "That trireme is not a ship of peace!"

"Come aboard, man," Leo suggested. "I'll give you a tour. You can steer the boat, and if you're really good I'll give you a little paper captain's hat to wear."

"How dare you—"

"It's a good idea," Reyna interjected. "Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We'll convene a Senate meeting in one hour."

"But . . ." Octavian stopped. Apparently he could tell from Reyna's expression that he wouldn't get anywhere by arguing with her. "Fine."

Leo got up. However, when he turned to Belle and Annabeth, his smile changed completely. It happened so quickly that Belle thought she was seeing things. But she could've sworn that somebody else had just stood in Leo's place with a cold smile and a cruel light in his eyes. Then she blinked, and Leo was back to having his usual impish grin.

"Back soon," Leo promised. "This is gonna be epic."

"Annabeth," Belle whispered.

She nodded. "I saw it too. Something's wrong."

A chill shivered down Belle's spine. She watched as Leo and Octavian headed for the rope ladder. For a moment she thought about calling them back, but neither her or Annabeth would be able to explain what they saw.

The wind spirits then began clearing the plates away.

"Uh, Reyna," Jason began. "If you don't mind, I'd like to show Piper around before the Senate meeting. She's never seen New Rome."

Reyna's expression turned as hard as stone. Belle sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. How oblivious could he be? Reyna liked him a lot, and asking her to show his new girlfriend around her city was like rubbing salt into a wound.

"Of course," Reyna responded coldly.

Percy slipped his hand into Belle's and laced their fingers together, making her look up at him. "Yeah, me, too. I'd like to show Belle and Annabeth—"

"No," Reyna snapped.

Percy knit his eyebrows together. "Sorry?"

"You may take Belle, but I'd like a few words with Annabeth. Alone. If you don't mind, my fellow Praetor."

Reyna's tone made it very clear she wasn't asking for permission. Annabeth and Belle locked eyes. Belle could tell that Annabeth was reluctant to be alone and unarmed with Reyna, but she knew that the last thing the Praetor would do was hurt Annabeth. She gave Annabeth a small nod with a reassuring smile.

Annabeth exhaled and looked to Reyna. "All right."

Reyna rose from her couch. "Come, daughter of Athena. Walk with me."

The two of them left the forum. Belle stared after them for a while, thoughts swirling throughout her mind. What could Reyna possibly want to talk to Annabeth alone about? This situation, Ella saying Annabeth's Prophecy, and the weird sensation she kept having . . . something about all of this was making Belle uneasy."

"Hey." Percy tugged on her hand a little, making her snap out of her trance and look up at him. "What's going on inside that pretty little head of yours?"

"Oh, um, it's nothing," Belle reassured him, her cheeks dusting a slight shade of pink from the compliment.

Percy nodded slowly. "So . . . that tour?"

Belle smiled. "I would love got you to show me around New Rome. Maybe if we find Jason along the way I can yell at him for being stupid."

She allowed Percy to lead her out of the forum. He took her into the city, where he showed her all of the buildings and such. Percy explained that retired members of the Legion could stay here and raise families. New Rome even had their own university for people to study at. And the part Belle was most excited about was the gardens (naturally.) She got to look around at all of the beautiful plants while Percy rattled off he thought of her every time he saw a red rose. Even after being apart for months, they talked like they had never been separated.

"This place really is amazing," Belle admitted, looking around at it in awe as they walked down the main street again. "No wonder people want to stay here."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to about earlier," Percy began nervously. "Beauty, in New Rome—"

Suddenly, the world shook. Belle whipped head around to see the Argo II blast a crater right in the forum. She gasped, a hand reaching her mouth in shock as she watched the Argo II waste no time in firing a spear wreathed with Greek Fire into the Senate House. A crowd of scrambled Demigods came out of nowhere and formed around them in the city.

"What's going on?" Percy asked urgently.

"I don't know," Belle responded. She gripped her boyfriend's hand tighter. "Percy, we gotta go. Come on!"

They ran straight into the crowd. Thank the Gods that no weapons were allowed in the city, because all of them would've been dead already. The Roman Demigods were throwing plates, food, and rocks at the Argo II, which was completely pointless because most of it just fell back into the crowd.

Belle had finally found Jason, but he was surrounded by a mob of angry Romans with Piper. Piper's charmspeak was useless against the yelling crowd and Jason's forehead was bleeding. Jason kept pleading with them that he was on their side, but his orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt certainly wasn't helping with that cause.

Belle spotted armed Legionnaires hurrying towards the forum along with two artillery crews setting up catapults outside the Pomerian Line to fire at the Argo II. She cursed in Ancient Greek under her breath. They had to stop this, and fast.

"Percy!" Hazel called, rushing up to them with Frank by her side. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," he replied. "It just came out of nowhere."

The angry crowd still raged around them from their place at the fountain. Hundreds of Lares were drifting through the forum, passing through the bodies of Demigods and incoherently wailing. The Fauns had also taken advantage of the chaos and were now stealing food.

Suddenly, the crowd must have noticed they were stopped, and began to jump at them. Percy stepped into the fountain and began to repel the Romans away from them with blasts of water. Meanwhile, Belle searched the crowd anxiously for Annabeth. Where was she?

As if on cue, Annabeth appeared in the crowd just as another explosion rocked the forum. Belle looked to see that one of the Roman catapults had fired. The Argo II groaned and tilted sideways with flames licking its bronze-plated hull. And none other than Octavian as climbing down the rope ladder, his robes steaming and his face black with soot.

"Annabeth!" Belle called.

The blonde rushed up to her. "Belle, what—?"

"I don't know!"

"I'll tell you what!" Octavian's voice cried, now at the bottom of the ladder. "The Greeks have fired on us! Your boy Leo has trained his weapons on Rome!"

Annabeth shook her head in disbelief. "You're lying. Leo would never—"

"I was just there! I saw it with my own eyes!"

Just to make matters worse, the Argo II returned fire. The Legionnaires in the field were forced to scatter as one of their catapults blasted into splinters.

"You see? Romans, kill the invaders!"

Belle considered the situation. There was no possible way or amount of time for anyone to figure out the truth of what was going on. The group from Camp Half-Blood was outnumbered by the Romans a hundred to one. Even if Octavian had managed to stage this entire thing (Belle wouldn't be surprised if he did), they would never be able to convince the Romans of that before they were overrun and killed.

"We've got to get out of here," Belle announced to Percy and Annabeth. "Now."

Percy nodded grimly in agreement. "Hazel, Frank, you've got to make a choice. Are you coming?"

Hazel looked utterly terrified, but she donned her cavalry helmet. "Of course we are. But you'll never make it to the ship unless we buy you some time."

"How?" Annabeth questioned.

She whistled. A blur of beige instantly shot across the forum, and a very majestic horse materialized next to the fountain. Belle blinked in shock as the mob scattered after the horse reared and whinnied. Hazel climbed onto the horse's back like she was born to ride and unsheathed her golden Roman cavalry sword from the saddle.

"Send me an Iris message when you're safely away, and we'll rendezvous," Hazel told them. "Arion, ride!"

The horse took off. It zipped through the crowd with incredible speed, pushing the Romans back and causing mass panic. Belle felt her heart rate slow down just the slightest bit. She was just starting to think they could make it out of here alive when she heard Jason shouting from halfway across the forum.

"Romans!" Jason cried. "Please!"

Both him and Piper were being attacked with plates and stones. Jason attempted to shield Piper, but a brick caught him above the eye. He crumped to the ground and the crowd surged forwards.

"Get back!" Piper screamed with everything she had inside of her.

Her charmspeak rolled over the mob. They all hesitated, but Belle was smart enough to know the effect wouldn't last. Neither her, Percy, Annabeth, or Frank could reach them in time to help.

"Frank, it's up to you," Percy voiced. "Can you help them?"

Belle couldn't see how Frank could do that by himself against the large crowd, but he swallowed nervously.

"Oh, Gods," Frank murmured. "Okay, sure. Just get up the ropes. Now."

Percy, Belle, and Annabeth lunged for the ladder. Octavian was still clinging to the bottom and yelling at the crowd. Percy yanked him off and threw him into the mob. Together, the three of them began to climb as fully armed Legionnaires flooded into the forum. Arrows flew dangerously close to Belle's head. Her and Annabeth were almost knocked off the ladder from an explosion.

When they were about halfway up, a roar echoed through the forum. Belle glanced down, yet she couldn't believe her eyes. A full-sized dragon was charging through the forum, making the Romans scream and scatter. This dragon was way scarier than Festus' head on the Argo II. It had rough gray skin and leathery bat wings. Arrows and rocks bounced harmlessly off its hide as it stumbled over to Piper and Jason. It picked them up with its front claws and launched into the air.

"No way," Belle uttered, not even being able to put the thought into words. "Don't tell me that's . . ."

"That's Frank," Percy confirmed from above her. "Let's just say he has a few special talents."

"Understatement," Annabeth responded. "Keep climbing!"

They would have never made it up the ladder without Frank turning into a dragon or Hazel distracting the archers with her horse, but they finally climbed past a row of broken aerial oars and onto the deck. The rigging was on fire, the foresail was ripped down the middle, and the ship listed badly to starboard. Coach Hedge was nowhere to be found, but Leo stood admissions while calmly reloading the ballista. Belle's stomach twisted in horror and her eyes widened.

"Leo, oh my Gods!" Belle screamed. "What are you doing? Stop!"

"Destroy them . . ." Leo faced her. His eyes were glazed and he moved like a robot. "Destroy them all."

He turned back to the ballista, but Percy lunged forwards and tackled him. Leo's head hit the deck so hard he passed out. His eyes rolled up so that only the whites showed. Frank the gray dragon then soared into view. He circled the ship once and landed on the bow, letting go of Jason and Piper, who both collapsed.

"Go!" Percy shouted. "Get us out of here!"

With a shock, Belle realized he was talking to her and Annabeth. Belle grabbed Annabeth's elbow and ran to the helm. She made the mistake of looking over the rail. Armed Legionnaires were closing ranks and the forum while preparing flaming arrows. Hazel spurred her horse, and the two of them raced out of the city with a large mob chasing after them. More catapults were being wheeled into range. Statues of Terminus were glowing purple all along the Pomerian Line, almost as if they were building up energy for some kind of attack.

Belle looked at the controls. Leo had made them so complicated that she didn't even know where to begin. However, there was one person who had a better understanding of how to work it.

"You know this ship better than I do," Belle said to Annabeth. "Your call."

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Here we go."

She grabbed the aviation throttle and yanked it straight back. The ship groaned, the bow tilted upwards at a horrifying angle, and the mooring lines snapped. And, with that, the Argo II shot into the clouds.

—  [  ♡  ]  —

I hope y'all know I'm making belle and jason be bffs bc I love belle and I love jason

gifs by 1-800-SIMPINGFORSEB !