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          Iana Hwang wanted to abandon ship. Now don't get her wrong, the Argo II was certainly a sight to behold. Even after walking through the ship about a dozen times, she still couldn't get the reality in her head. But the thing is, at the first light of dawn, she knew something had gone wrong.

Stepping into the ship felt... off. Like there was something just taunting her. It couldn't be a nymph, because she would have thrown them overboard ages ago. It couldn't be her own spirits, they only answer to her. Whatever the being was felt sinister and cold, a small cackle echoing through the walls as they reached her ears only.

But Iana couldn't waste her time considering her 'gut feeling' when Jason Grace was knocked out in the med bay.

She knew that, as a witch, every single spell and potion was accessible to her. But that didn't mean the process of making a healing brew would be a breeze to her. During her time at camp, she hadn't tinkered much with the arts of alchemy, it was more of a Marco and Julie thing.

But she was glad for what little lessons she took from them, because after feeding Jason the healing brew (dashed with nectar and ambrosia, of course) the color was slowly starting to return to his face.

She would never admit it to him, but seeing her friend (practically brother, now) getting hit by a brick of all things had been amusing to her for 0.5 seconds before her heart dropped to her stomach.

A knock was heard at the door and Iana waved her hand from afar, letting a trail of dark red smoke pull it open.

"Hi, ma chérie." Piper's voice greets her.

"Hey, Pipes." Iana smiled before noticing another figure beside her. "Arabella, right?"

The dark haired girl nodded, mustering up a small smile. "Yeah,"

"Take a seat over there," Iana flicked her finger so the chair pulled out from the edge of the room and set it beside the bed. "I'm sure you're worried."

She noticed the slight blush that took over the girl's face. Arabella took a seat and the smile she'd been wearing dropped to a frown. "How is he?"

Iana pursed her lips, glancing at the table of herbs and mixtures before looking back at Jason's sleeping figure. With a sigh, she said, "I've given him a healing brew mixed with nectar and ambrosia so he should be okay. I'm no child of Apollo so all we can do now is wait."

In the corner of her eye, she saw a blonde head of hair peeking from the doorway. "Hey, Beth." Iana smiled.

Annabeth reciprocated her gesture. "Hi, Iana. How's he doing?"

"The cut's healing fine but he'll probably wake up with a concussion."

Annabeth paused before nodding and continuing down the hallway. Iana cleaned up the mess of herbs and potions, wiping the small table before organizing everything back into its drawers. While doing so, Piper had given her a kiss on the cheek and told her she would rest at her cabin. Iana wanted to make small talk with Arabella (that's a lie, she needed to be her friend ASAP), but the girl appeared to be fixed on either Jason or her right arm.

Iana gave the table one last sweep with her magic. "I'm gonna go check on Leo. It's okay if I leave you with him, right?"

Arabella blinked, as if taken out of a daze. She gave her a small smile before nodding. "Yeah, totally."

"You shouldn't worry that much. He's got a thick skull." Iana reassured her before closing the door.

She started walking through the halls before she stopped in her tracks, scanning the walls around her. She knew something was here. She was good at recognizing spirits and such, her powers pick up on their trails easily. But this one had her stumped. She didn't know what this spirit was, or how many there even were.

Iana shook her head, pushing those thoughts back.

Leo immediately sat up. "EJ, is Jason—"

"He's fine, just unconscious." The girl answered before he could finish. "What happened, back there?"

"I didn't mean to do it, I swear. It was like something was telling me to do it, like I wasn't fully aware of what I was about to do. You've gotta believe me." Leo's eyes were filled with guilt, his voice almost pleading, as if he was scared she wouldn't believe him.

Iana sighed, pursing her lips. "For the record, I don't think you would ever do something like that."

His head perked up. "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, I've known you for a year now. Safe to say I know how my best friend acts." Iana let a small smile loose. "Even though you're a little stupid at times."

"Dude!"

She shrugged him off, glancing around the walls again. "Besides, there is something lurking in the walls."

"Something's lurking in the walls?" the boy beside Leo finally quips.

She took in his tall figure, noticing although his build was tough, neither his face or voice quite suited the image. He looked slightly odd with his toga and hoodie that definitely didn't pair well together, a bow and arrow from the ship's armory slung over his shoulder.

Holding out her hand and offering a smile, she introduced herself. "Iana Hwang, daughter of Hecate. You'd know her as Trivia. I have a knack for sensing spirits and ghosts. I just can't seem to put my finger on this one, though."

The boys eyes were wide before he quickly collected himself, shaking her hand for two seconds before dropping it. "Frank Zhang,"

"You're the one that shapeshifted into that dragon, right?"

"Um, yeah." He nodded, seemingly flustered.

Iana's eyes gleamed with interest, crossing her arms against her chest. "What kind of magic is that?"

"Oh, it's sort of a family gift." Frank explained, scratching the back of his neck. "I only found out about it recently."

Iana would have asked more about his gift if she hadn't heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Annabeth's familiar head of blonde climbed up, with Percy following behind her.

Percy's gaze fell onto Leo and gave him a hard look. "Annabeth says you did fire the ballista?"

"Man, I—I don't understand how it happened. I'm so sorry—"

"Sorry?" Percy growled.

"Hey, back it up." Iana stepped forward, her tone firm. "We can figure that out later."

Annabeth put a hand on her boyfriend's chest. "She's right. For now, we have to regroup and make a plan. What's the situation with the ship?"

Leo told Annabeth about the damage and the supplies they needed. He was bemoaning the shortage of Celestial bronze when Festus began to whir and squeak.

"Perfect." Leo sighed with relief.

"What's perfect?" Annabeth said. "I could use some perfect about now."

Leo managed a smile. "Everything we need in one place. Frank, why don't you turn into a bird or something? Fly down and tell your girlfriend to meet us at the Great Salt Lake in Utah."

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

Iana was sitting beside Piper in the mess hall when Leo and Hazel finally arrived. It was easy to convince her girlfriend to quit fussing over her blade whenever it started showing her glimpses of the future. Much like how it was easy for Piper to drag her away from her thoughts whenever they tipped in the realm of madness.

The group had been sitting dejectedly around the table, letting the silence fill the air. Besides, much of the lounge room made Iana feel a bit homesick.

Percy was staring longingly at a sunset view of Half-Blood Hill, where the Golden Fleece glittered in the branches of the tall pine tree. "So we've landed," Percy said. "What now?"

Frank plucked on his bowstring. "Figure out the prophecy? I mean... that was a prophecy Ella spoke, right? From the Sibylline Books?"

"The what?" Leo asked.

Frank explained how their harpy friend was freakishly good at memorizing books. At some point in the past, she'd inhaled a collection of ancient prophecies that had supposedly been destroyed around the fall of Rome.

"That's why you didn't tell the Romans," Leo guessed. "You didn't want them to get hold of her."

Percy kept staring at the image of Half-Blood Hill. "Ella's sensitive. She was a captive when we found her. I just didn't want..." He made a fist. "It doesn't matter now. I sent Tyson an Iris-message, told him to take Ella to Camp Half-Blood. They'll be safe there."

Annabeth laced her fingers. "Let me think about the prophecy—but right now we have more immediate problems. We have to get this ship fixed. Leo, what do we need?"

"The easiest thing is tar." Leo was glad to change the subject. "We can get that in the city, at a roofing-supply store or someplace like that. Also, Celestial bronze and lime. According to Festus, we can find both of those on an island in the lake, just west of here."

"We'll have to hurry," Hazel warned. "If I know Octavian, he's searching for us with his auguries. The Romans will send a strike force after us. It's a matter of honor."

Leo felt everyone's eyes on him. "Guys... I don't know what happened. Honestly, I—"

Annabeth raised her hand. "We've been talking. We agree it couldn't have been you, Leo. That cold feeling you mentioned... I felt it too."

"There's some sort of spirit on this ship." Iana explained. She kept her gaze fixed on her shadow friend that decided to stand on a particular corner of the room. "Usually I'm good at telling them apart from each other but this one has a far more powerful magic wrapped around it. It must have been some sort of magic, either Octavian or Gaea or one of her minions. But until we understand what happened—"

Frank grunted. "How can we be sure it won't happen again?"

"I'm fine now," Leo insisted, but Iana could tell he wasn't sure. "Maybe we should use the buddy system. Nobody goes anywhere alone. We can leave Arabella and Coach Hedge on board with Jason. Send one team into town to get tar. Another team can go after the bronze and the lime."

"Split up?" Percy said. "That sounds like a really bad idea."

"But it'll be quicker," Piper put in. "Plus, a much smaller group would be safer. There's a reason a quest is usually limited to three or four demigods, right?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, as if reappraising Piper's merits. "You're right. The same reason we needed the Argo II... outside camp, nine demigods in one place will attract way too much monstrous attention. The ship is designed to conceal and protect us. We should be safe enough on board; but if we go on expeditions, we shouldn't travel in groups larger than three. No sense alerting more of Gaea's minions than we have to."

Percy still didn't look happy about it, but he took Annabeth's hand. "As long as you're my buddy, I'm good."

Hazel smiled. "Oh, that's easy. Frank, you were amazing, turning into a dragon! Could you do it again to fly Annabeth and Percy into town for the tar?"

Frank opened his mouth like he wanted to protest. "I... I suppose. But what about you?"

"I'll ride Arion with Iana and Sa—Leo, here." She fidgeted with her sword hilt. "We'll get the bronze and the lime. We can all meet back here by dark."

Frank scowled. It was obvious that he didn't like the idea of Leo going off with Hazel. Iana supposed he was still weary of Leo.

"Leo," said Annabeth, "if we get the supplies, how long will it take to fix the ship?"

"With luck, just a few hours."

"Fine," she decided. "We'll meet you back here as soon as possible, but stay safe. We could use some good luck. That doesn't mean we'll get it."

💌 AUTHOR'S NOTE!

I got a long weekend this week so I hope I'll be able to write some pre-written chapters for folklore!!