LATER THAT NIGHT (OR, REALLY, THAT MORNING) DAWN SOUGHT OUT JASON. After brief introductions to the crew - who all were extremely confused as to who Dawn was and what she was doing on the pirate ship - most everyone had gone to bed. They had filled Chrysaor's ship with Diet Coke and sunk it as a tribute to Mr. D (or Dionysus), - which Dawn didn't understand - leaving 6 million dollars worth of diamonds and valuables on board - which Dawn really didn't understand. Either way, watching it go down, she had felt sort of a sad regret. It had been her home for the last six months, and even though it was horrible towards the end, the beginning wasn't at all bad and she had regretted seeing it sink beneath the waves of the Mediterranean. She wondered where Chrysaor and the dolphin-crew ended up, but found herself not dwelling on it too much. She was sure they'd work it out - Chrysaor was a son of Poseidon and the dolphin-men were, well, dolphins. They'd be okay, Dawn reassured himself.

The demigods had crashed shortly after. Dawn didn't blame them. It was only a few hours before daybreak, and they all looked exhausted. Dawn had the strange urge to give them all a hug and a glass of hot milk and tuck them in for bed. The ship was empty, at least, save for the blonde - Jason - sitting up on the rigging on lookout duty. Dawn had offered to keep watch instead, but she got the impression that the crew didn't trust her that much just yet. Sure, she knew Percy and Annabeth, but to the others, she was just some distant relation of Percy's that had randomly appeared on an enemy ship. It was fair for them to be wary, she reasoned. Percy had gone to his cabin only after checking that she'd be okay, telling her that she'd be fine to sleep in Jason's cabin since he was out on lookout for the night anyway.

"It's right next to mine, too." He had reassured her "You can't get lost." Then he had gone to bed too - she didn't blame him, he looked thoroughly exhausted, and something like guilt or regret was playing in his eyes - and she was the only one left.

Instead of going straight to bed, she decided to explore. There were two levels to the ship - the Argo II, she'd been told it was called - and she was thoroughly impressed. The bottom level had a sickbay, an armoury, stables, and a terrifying looking engine room that huffed steam and red hot fire as she passed it. The upper level was all the cabins, lined down the hall with a comfortable looking mess hall at the end. She thought the mess hall might be her favourite place on the ship; there were inviting looking seats, an open plan kitchen, a table for strategizing, and enchanted screens that showed Camp Half-Blood in what she assumed was real-time footage. She watched them wistfully. Whoever had designed this place must really loved Camp, she thought, watching the strawberries on the screen sway peacefully in the breeze.

She finally made her way up to the top deck, where the blonde boy - where Jason - was still sitting up on the rigging. He was facing away from here, watching as the Argo II flew above the clouds, his purple shirt and blonde hair rippling in the breeze. Dawn shivered a little in the cold wind as she approached Jason, her dress flying uncontrollably around her. Dawn wasn't sure if it was her footsteps or her teeth chattering that alerted him to her presence, but he turned around as she got closer. She smiled at him, and he softly smiled back. He couldn't've been too much older than her - maybe 17 at the very oldest - but he looked worn, like he'd already lived a hundred lifetimes. His electric blue eyes felt like they were looking through her, scanning her for clues.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked after she'd sat down next to him. He exhaled through his nose a little in what might've been a laugh, and shook his head.

"You're welcome to use my cabin if you want some sleep tonight." He said gently, but it was Dawn's turn to shake her head in answer. She looked out into the open expanse in front of her, the wind pushing her hair away from her face and biting into her soul. She felt like laughing. She felt free and alive and she felt like this was the best feeling in the world.

"I don't think I could sleep if I wanted to." She grinned at him, and whooped into the wind. It drowned her out, so she whooped louder, letting it carry her shout into the night. "I feel like I'm in that movie, Titanic. You know, where Leonardo di Caprio is standing on the mast and he goes 'I'm the king of the world!'. That's how I feel right now."

Jason smiled at her, but it was weary. She frowned, settling into a comfortable position next to him.

"I never saw that movie," he admitted and Dawn pretended to be shocked.

"The scandal! Once you see young Leo, you never go back." She shook her head in mock outcry, putting a hand on her heart. Jason laughed again, that little exhale-sigh thing. She had the sudden urge to give him a hug, so she did. Dawn was always a touchy person. Once she'd got to Camp, it had taken her a while to learn that humans weren't as touchy as merpeople (it was thanks to a very frustrated Aries kid that she eventually did learn), so she toned it down a little. Even then, she was still touchier than most, preferring to show signs of physical affection to let people know she was there. "Don't worry, young Leo will still be there even if you can't watch the movie for a while."

"Thanks for the reassurance." Jason said dryly. She followed his gaze into the blackness of the early morning.

"Tell me about the others," she said suddenly, laughing a little at the thought of a gossip session with sensible-seeming Jason. "The others on the ship." And maybe Jason wasn't as sensible looking as she dubbed him for, because he got a mischievous sparkle in his eyes and Dawn clapped her hands together.

"Jason, Jason, Jason! Maybe there is hope for you yet!"

"Well, uh, I'm Jason. Obviously. Last winter I woke up on this bus, with Pipes and Leo and we ended up making our way to Camp Half-Blood. I was originally from Camp Jupiter-"

"Woah!" Dawn interrupted. "What's Camp Jupiter?"

Jason muddled through the rest of the story with many - many - interruptions by Dawn. It wasn't her fault! She'd been out for so long, she didn't even know how much she had missed.

"And we realised that Gaea was behind it all-" Jason explained, and Dawn winced.

"Wait a second. Gaea? Gaea, Gaea, Gaea. Sorry, Jason, the name really isn't ringing any bells!" She looked at him hopefully to fill in the gaps. "I probably should be more up to scratch on my Greek - and Roman, now, I guess - mythology, but I've just never found the time to sit down and remember everyone's names, you know?

Jason laughed softly. "It's okay. Gaea is the mother of the titans." He sobered up a little. "And the giants. She's been sleeping for centuries, but we think she's waking up. She's the goddess of the Earth."

"Wait, I thought she was like..." Dawn tried to search for the words. "Not..evil? Like I thought she would've been the more happy, frolicking, mother-earth, cartoon animal type?"

Jason grimaced. "Unfortunately not."

"So, just to clarify, we're not talking about the nice, hugs-all-round type of mother earth?" Dawn asked hopefully, half-wishing that Jason would just jump at her and say 'Surprise! Pranked! Mother Earth isn't evil, you silly thing!'. Unfortunately, Dawn had no such luck.

"Unfortunately not." He said darkly. "Most people on this boat have had their own run-ins with Gaea, and none of them have been exactly pleasant."

"I thought she was asleep?"

"Not asleep enough." Jason sighed. "She can appear in different physical forms even though she is still, technically, asleep. Leo once saw her in sludge when we were on our quest."

"Hmmm." Dawn thought for a second. Something about an evil face in the earth sounded very familiar. She snapped her fingers. "Chrysaor!"

Jason looked blank.

"The evil guy from today! My uncle! He kidnapped me ages ago, but he didn't really seem all that evil until a few months ago - there was a woman's face in the sand! I kept on hearing a voice! It all makes sense now!" Dawn exclaimed with the satisfaction of a detective who just solved a particularly good mystery. Jason looked serious, but the corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. She grinned at him.

"C'mon, now. I've heard all your stories so now tell me about the people!" Dawn pestered, poking his shoulder playfully. "Gossip session with Jason and Dawn, surely. Surely!"

Jason smiled at her politely, but Dawn got the vibe that he was a little uncomfortable. She internally winced and cursed her years under the water that had made her completely useless at interpreting surface people's social cues. She couldn't just go around acting like she was everyone's best friend! "Or, I might go down now, anyway. It's getting late" She over-the-top yawned and then frowned. "Or early? Depends on how you look at it, I guess."

She made to leave, untangled herself from the mess of rigging and began climbing down with a little teasing salute to Jason, but he stopped her first, a teasing sparkle in his eyes.

"You know, I'm not really a gossiper. Just wasn't raised that way, I guess. But if Piper or Leo are up, I can safely say that you'll be in for a bit of fun." The corner of his mouth twitched again, that same hint of mischief that made Dawn think that Jason wasn't just the straight-laced goody-two-shoes he projected to the outside world. "Leo's probably in the engine room, and Pipes's cabin is second on the right sight opposite Percy's. You can't miss it."

Dawn winked at him with another little salute, and made her way out of the cold night and into the warm below deck.