The Mark of Athena,Heroes of Olympus, Book 3

Annabeth XIII


Annabeth stared at Camp Jupiter over the edge of the boat. She wondered if she would ever see it again. If she did, she didn't know if it would be a good thing or a bad thing.

Annabeth turned when San Francisco was out of sight. She walked to the middle of the boat and opened the hatch that lead directly down to her room. She dangled her legs in the middle of the hole and let go of the edge. Annabeth bent her knees as she fell.

There was another way onto the top of the boat, but it was from the Great Room. It was obvious that Leo had put the ship on auto-pilot, on a straight course to Rome. Annabeth didn't really want to look at Leo, after all he'd done that morning.

What? That's how I get out of my boat! You don't 'cause you're a loser!

Oh, the idiocaty.

Annabeth lay back on her bed, finally feeling the effects of her sleepless night. Annabeth shifted, trying to get into a comfortable position, when the mattress fell right through the frame. Annabeth sighed. She was too tired to be mad at Leo. She turned over on her side, trying to stay awake. She needed to figure out if they were going to the actual city, or if they were landing somewhere in the Roman Empire.

However, waves of fatigue washed over her, and she was lulled to sleep by the subtle hum of the Argo II.

When Annabeth awoke, Piper was standing over her.

"You realize your bed broke, right?" Piper asked.

"What time is it?" asked Annabeth.

"About one o'clock."

"I slept for five hours?"

"Yeah... pretty much." Annabeth groaned. She hadn't meant to sleep that long.

"Oh, you're not the only one! Percy's asleep, too!" Piper chirped, obviously trying to get Annabeth back into a good mood. Annabeth had heard many times she was unpleasant when she was in a bad mood, and unlike Percy, Piper wasn't afraid to tell Annabeth that.

"C'mon. You've got to be starving," Piper said. Annabeth nodded. What she would do for a lunch at Camp Half-Blood.

Nothing, Leo's a pretty good cook... Annabeth let herself think. She inwardly scolded herself. She felt like a stubborn two year old, but Leo had a lot of hidden abilities that he didn't even discover until after he was a demigod. She didn't want Leo to somehow come up with a mind-reading ability and then be able to hold it over her head that she was a bit impressed with him. For a boy who spent the better part of his life on the run, he was pretty talented.

"I'm coming," Annabeth grumbled. Stupid Leo and his fire and cooking and jokes and all the stuff that Annabeth couldn't do worth a crap.

"Hey, Piper. 'Sup, Brainiac?"

"'Sup, Repair Boy?" Annabeth retorted. She heard a loud bark.

"Gods, Frank!" yelled Percy. The dog chortled, its laughs becoming deeper and more human like.

"That was dog for, 'Lunch is ready, zombie!'" laughed Frank. Annabeth laughed when Percy walked out of his room, his hair a mess.

"Uh, Percy? How many rats nested in your hair?" asked Annabeth through uncontrollable laughter.

"You don't look much better." Annabeth stared at him with a grudging smirk.

"Cranky!" muttered Leo, taking a pizza out of the oven.

"You realize that once we get to Rome that's all most of us will be eating?" asked Percy.

"Yup! Might as well get used to it! Plus, I just felt like making pizza. Me and my mom..." Leo trailed off. Percy opened his mouth to say something, but Piper shook her head. Leo nodded. "Yeah, anyway. Don't worry, Piper. Just cheese. Although we're all sacrificing for you."

"Crud, that looks good," Frank said with a scowl. "Oh, who cares. If my face swells up, no one will notice."

Hazel and Percy laughed, but Jason, Piper, Annabeth and Leo just stared.

"Yeah, I'm lactose intolerant, but I've got my meds if I need it. That looks awesome."

"That could kill you," Piper said.

"Yeah, so can fire." Leo scowled. Percy's eyes widened.

"Leo? Can I... um... talk you somewhere else?" Percy said nervously. Leo shrugged and followed him.

"No sense waiting for them," Hazel said. She smiled. "Let's eat."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm really hungry," Jason said.

"You're always hungry," Piper retorted. Jason laughed but looked away quickly.

Leo looked just about as nervous as Percy had. "Hey, you started without us!"

"Yeah... we were hungry." Annabeth grinned. Percy laughed.

"Fine by me. As long as I get some."

"That's what she said!" teased Leo.

Everyone at the table except Hazel groaned. She looked confused.

"You set yourself up for that one," laughed Leo. Percy gave him a death stare, which basically consisted of a smirk that kept getting bigger and bigger as Percy laughed villainously.

"Boo!" he screamed, jumping into Leo's face.

"Whoa!" Leo fell over. Leo glared at Percy, but he didn't seem to realize he was now a blazing ball of fire.

"Calm down, Leo!" Piper shouted. Leo took a deep breath and the blaze died down.

The floor wasn't hurt. Leo had designed it to be fire resistant in case that happened.

But damage was still done. Frank had shut his eyes and seemed to be looking at anything but Leo.

"Oh... that's why we needed that conversation," Leo said in a small voice.