Daughter of Wine

Callida

Everything is going to plan until we meet the exploding statue. We're all above deck, anxious to reach our destination. Annabeth is pacing the deck, double checking the weaponry to make sure it's locked down, double checking our white "We come in peace" flag is flying high.

I convinced Coach Hedge to stay in his cabin and watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships. Out of everyone on the ship, he listens to me the most, and the last thing we need is a satyr in gym clothes waving a club and telling the Romans to "Die!"

Piper is pacing back and forth between the mainmast and the ballistae, practicing her lines. "Lower your weapons." She mutters. "We just want to talk."

Jason is standing at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, where the Romans can easily spot him. His knuckles are white on the hilt of his golden sword. Over his jeans and orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he's donned a toga and purple cloak, symbols of his old rank as praetor. We're hoping seeing him will make the Romans hesitant to blow the ship out of the sky.

I'm with Leo at the helm, helping him check gauges and wrestle levers. Most helmsmen would have been satisfied with a pilot's wheel or tiller, but Leo has installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He can turn the ship by pulling on a throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise sails by shaking his Wii controller really fast. I'm pretty ADHD, but it took Leo weeks to teach me the controls. Even by demigod standards, he's pretty extreme.

The clouds break around the hull, revealing the golden and green carpet of the Oakland Hills below us. Annabeth grips one of the bronze shields that line the starboard rail.

"You got this?" I ask Leo, who nods and gives me a thumbs up.

I walk over to Annabeth and lean against the starboard rail. "We'd sound so cool with some ACDC blasting right now." I try.

She rolls her eyes but smiles. "I'm not sure if the Romans have a sense of humor."

"Yeah, but Wassup is friendly, even if you're a stick in the mud."

She looks me up and down. "Nice shoes."

I look down. I chose not to wear my camp shirt today. I figured that if things go sour, I don't want to be wearing a big orange sign labeling me Greek. Instead, I chose a leopard-print silk cami, which ends in a V shape at my bellybutton, with black cargo pants and the shoes my dad gave me. Leopard print, matching the shirt. "They were a gift from my dad."

She smiles to herself. "They're cool." She looks back out at the landscape. She looks incredibly uneasy.

"Everything is going to be fine." I try and ease her nerves by sounding confident, but on the inside I'm terrified. We have no idea how the Romans are going to react. I'm hoping that Percy is able to convince them not to shoot on sight, but I don't even know if he got our message. There are so many variables, there's no way we could even try to plan for everything. But we've sure tried.

I'm excited to see Percy again. I've missed my friend. I can't even begin to imagine how Annabeth feels. She hasn't seen him in something like eight months. She's been desperate to get here, where we are now, but she doesn't look as excited as I thought she'd be. She looks absolutely terrified.

In the valley below, horns sound. The Romans have spotted us.

I thought I knew what to expect. Jason had described Camp Jupiter to us in great detail. Still, I can't believe my eyes. Ringed by the Oakland Hills, the valley is at least twice the size of Camp Half-Blood. A small river snakes around one side and culrs toward the center like a capital letter G, emptying into a sparkling blue lake. Directly below the ship, nestled at the edge of the lake, the city of New Rome gleams in the sunlight.