safe || leo valdez x oc

fifty-four: zupiter

ARUNA

~•♡•~

the demigods awoke to the sound of a nearby ship's horn. aruna gasped as she shot up, mattress marks on her arm. her hair was parted aggressively to the side like a 2002 celebrity, drool pooling at the corner of her mouth. next to her, the blankets were tossed aside, and leo's body was missing.

the ship horn blew again, and aruna prepared for attack. with her heart racing, and her foot still asleep from some sort of lost circulation, she busted out of leo's cabin and ran upstairs, her swords in hand.

"oh, hey-" frank screamed as aruna heaved one of her swords up. before it slammed down, aruna stopped herself, though frank had been startled so terribly, his scream was cut off by his own transformation into a viper, which fell to the floor like a coil of rope.

"fra-" aruna's throat was dry, and she broke into a cough. the morning sun was stinging her eyes and frank turned back into a human. awkwardly, he patted aruna's back, managing to clear her throat. he pulled away as aruna sat up straight.

she looked around at all of the hastily assembled demigods. frank's vancouver olympics shirt was inside out. percy wore pajama pants, no shirt, and a bronze breastplate, which was an interesting fashion statement. hazel's hair, similarly to aruna's, was all blown to one side like she'd walked through a cyclone, and somehow, leo had managed to set himself on fire. his arms were smoking and his shirt had been reduced to charred tatters.

aruna looked down at herself. she wore a pair of khaki chargo pants with no belt, and quickly pulled them up before anybody saw anything. her shirt was twisted all the way to the side, so the naruto logo was on her side instead.

she squinted as she looked about a hundred yards to port, but she could see the shape of a massive cruise ship. tourists waved at them from fifteen or sixteen rows of balconies. none of them looked surprised to see an ancient greek trireme. maybe the mist made it look like a fishing boat, or perhaps the cruisers thought the argo II was a tourist attraction.

the cruise ship blew it's horn, and the argo II had a shaking fit.

coach hedge plugged his ears. "do they have to be so loud?"

"they're just saying hi." frank speculated.

"WHAT?" hedge yelled back. aruna flicked her swords back into bracelets, and pulled up her pants as she waddled to the edge, standing next to jason. the ship edged past them, heading out to sea. the tourists kept waving. if they found it strange that the argo II was populated with half-asleep kids in armor and pajamas and a man with goat legs, they didn't let it on.

"bye!" leo waved, raising his smoking hand.

"can i man the ballista?" hedge asked.

"nope." leo said through a forced smile.

hazel rubbed her eyes and looked across the glittering green water. aruna yawned, and popped her back quickly.

"you look like you slept good." jason snorted.

"i don't... remember going to sleep..." aruna said in confusion as she gently touched the back of her neck.

hazel frowned. "where are- oh. wow."

aruna followed her gaze, and her eyes widened. without the ship blocking the view, she saw a mountain jutting from the sea less than half a mile to the north. the grand canyon was nothing compared to the sheer size of this thing. a blinding white, jagged peak seemed to touch the tips of the sky. on one side, the limestone cliffs were almost completely sheer, dropping into the sea over a thousand feet below. on the other side, the mountain sloped in tiers, covered in green forest, so that the whole thing reminded aruna of a colossal sphinx, worn down over millenia, with a massive white head and chest, and a green cloak over it's back.