silent weapons
chapter one

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

    HE was over the boulders. 

    Sure, he was very hungry, but the boulders were a bit too much for him to handle. Especially when they didn't know when to stop. It was the third attack, now, and Sam was completely over almost eating boulders. They were not a good appetiser. 

    "Hard to port!" Nico yelled from the foremast of the flying ship.

    Sam didn't even know what hard to port meant, but he had a feeling it wasn't too good. Also, why was he standing up on the foremast? Did he want to get hit by a flying boulder? Of course, Sam had plenty of questions, always have. Back at the helm, Leo yanked the wheel. The Argo II veered left, its aerial oars slashing through the clouds live rows of knives.

    Sam made the mistake of looking over the rail. A dark spherical shape hurtled towards him. Another boulder━Sam yelped and hit the deck. THe huge rock passed so close overheard it parted his hair. He heard a loud crack! And the foremast collapsed━sails, spars and Nico all crashing to the deck. 

    He had that coming, to be honest.

    The boulder, roughly the size of a pickup truck, tumbled off into the fog like it had important business elsewhere.

    "Nico!" Hazel scrambled over to her brother as Leo brought the ship level. 

    Sam groaned as he got to his feet, watching Annabeth rush over, too. He pursed his lips. After her best friend fell into ... well, the big, endless hole, Annabeth wasn't the same. She found it hard to come up with ideas, stressed to the point her undereyes were dark with bags and her hair more of a mess than usual. She looked the same as when Percy first went missing. 

    "I'm fine," Nico muttered, kicking folds of canvas off his legs. 

     "You fell from a mast, but, yeah, you're fine," grumbled Sam, doubling checking whether the pugio was still at his side. 

     Nico had picked it up when Fiona had dropped it as she had been dragged into ... well, yeah. Sam doesn't know why he decided it would be a good idea to give it to him, but he held it close. Fiona had been━Sam doesn't really know. A friend? An older sister? A mentor? He just knew how he felt, and how his whole body sagged not knowing how she was going. Was she even alive? All he had was her dagger, and he kept it close. 

    He made his way over, not having to look at Nico to know he rolled his eyes. Sam believed he hated him. Thought him too cheery, which━wasn't exactly a lie. But after being a stowaway, and going through so much trouble for him; someone Sam didn't even know, he thought he'd recieve a little more gratitude. 

    Sam came up next to Annabeth, and she checked whether he was okay. His older sister had taken him under his wing as soon as he arrived at Camp, mainly because she had heard from the satyr that had found Sam what had happened to him. She had run away from her family too, under different circumstances, of course, but it made her protective. 

    They looked over the bow. he clouds parted just long enough to reveal the top of the mountain below them: a spearhead of black rock jutting from mossy green slopes. Standing at the summit was a mountain god━one of the ourae (or numina montanum, in latin, as Jason had called them). 

     The group of them have faced many the past few days. Like the others, this one wore a simple tunic over skin as rough and dark as basalt. He was about twenty feet tall and extremely muscular, with a flowing white beard, scraggly hair and a wild look in his eyes. He bellowed something. Sam didn't understand it, but he wasn't stupid, he knew it wasn't a welcome. With his bare hands, he prised another chunk of rock from his mountain and began shaping it into a ball.

    The scene disappeared into the fog but when the mountain god bellowed again and the other ourae answered in the distance, Leo threw his head back, letting out a loud complain to the gods above.

    "Stupid rock gods!" he yelled from the helm. "That's the third time I've had to replace that mast! You think they grow on trees?!"

    Nico frowned. "Masts are from trees."

   "That's not the point!" Leo snatched up one of his controls, and spun it in a circle. A Celestial bronze cannon rose through an open trapdoor in the deck. Sam had just enough time to cover his ears before it discharged into the sky, spraying a dozen metal spheres that trailed green fire. The shperes grew spikes in midair, like helicopter blades, and hurtled away into the fog. 

    (Sam really wanted to ask Leo how they worked again).

    A moment later, a series of explosions cracked across the mountains, followed by the outraged roars of mountain gods.

    "HA!" yelled Leo defiantly, but Sam knew━in judging from their past encounters━they had only annoyed the mountain gods, at the very most. 

    Another boulder whistled through the air off to their starboard side.

    Sam gestured widly to Leo, running up to him. "Get us out of here! Go! Go!"

    Leo muttered some not-so-nice things about ourae, but he turned the wheel and the engine hummed. Magical rigging lashed itself tight, and the ship tracked to port. The Argo II picked up speed, retreating north-west, as they'd been doing for the past two days. 

    Sam sighed, rubbing his hands tiredly over his face. As one of the two children of Athena, he felt pressured to always come up with a plan. And now that Annabeth was going through her own turmoil and self-blame over what happened, Sam found himself stepping up. It was a strange new position, one he wasn't used to, and didn't think he could actually handle. He wasn't a leader, he couldn't even fight well (he wasn't even supposed to be on this quest!) and yet his shoulders sagged down with the weight of his plan not working. They had to pass through this mountain pass to reach the House of Hades, and if they backed around, they would have a longer trip, or if they touched ground, Gaea will be there to make their life Hell. 

    He gripped the pugio in his hands, holding the hilt tight and tracing the patterns. Fiona told him that whoever wielded this weapon was supposed to get victory, but Sam had a feeling it was just a montra she had told herself, to keep her head high. He tried to make himself believe it, but so far, their victories were little to none. It was a nice thing, though, that her mother had told her. Sam's mother wasn't around, too busy stuck in her crazed revenge and his father ... well, the last thing he told him wasn't the best thing to hear from a parent. 

    Did he even care how Sam was? Whether he was still alive? Did he know he was a demigod?

    (He wouldn't care, Sam scolded himself, you may as well be dead to him. And that's good! He never gave you what he should have anyway). 

    He took another deep breath, trying to push all of his worries down. He didn't think anyone was watching him put his head in his arms against the bow as they left the mountains, and so he could just have this moment to compose himself. Sam wasn't a sad person━at least, he didn't like being one. He liked to be his best self, be as comfortable as he could when he knew deep down he wasn't. He didn't like everyone seeing him this way, and so he wouldn't let them.

    When the fog dispatched, he was back to his cheery self, putting a grin on his face and rejoining everyone. "That wasn't the best ..."

    Nico glared at him, picking away at splinters in his arms, setting them on the fallen canvas. "You think?"

    Sam resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, you know, you wouldn't be so grumpy if you listened to me and stayed on the ground. But, nope! Nico di Angelo is grumpy for the rest of the day because he was too stubborn!"

     He didn't get a smile at all out of the Son of Hades. Nico's glower got worst, and he didn't say anything. Sam did roll his eyes then. Man, how much work was it to just see some emotion other than dark, sad and sadder? 

     Leo had a similar air to Sam, punching buttons on the ship console and muttering sarcastically, "Well, that was sucktastic! Should I wake up the others?"

    Sam was tempted to say yes, but the other crew members had taken the night shift and had earned their rest. Annabeth sighed and shook her head. She rubbed at her eyes, looking like she wanted to have a sleep, too. "They need rest," she said. "We'll have to figure out another way on our own."

    "Huh," Leo scowled at his monitor. In his tattered work shirt and grease-splattered jeans, he looked like he'd just lost a wrestling match with a locomotive. Ever since Percy and Fiona had fallen into Tartarus, Leo had been working non-stop; angrier and even more driven than usual. He wasn't the only one, that was for sure, Sam himself was finding it harder and harder to be cheerful, to smile and crack a joke. 

    "Another way," he glanced back at Annabeth, annoyed. "Do you see one?"

    She wasn't in the mood for his jokes, and scowled back. Sam crossed his arms, nudging her foot to keep her calm. She didn't say anything. Everyone expected her to lead them, and she did, but she was on the edge, Sam could tell. 

    On his monitor glowed a map of Italy. The Apennine Mountains ran down the middle of the boot-shaped country. A green dot for the Argo II blinked on the western side of the range, a few hundred miles north of Rome. Their path should have been simple. They needed get to Epirus in Greece and find the old temple called the House of Hades. To reach this, all they had to do was go straight east━but of course, it was never that easy. 

    "It's our fault," Hazel said. "Nico's and mine. The numina can sense us."

    Sam wanted to say that this wasn't the first time they've had two Underworld kids on the ship, but Hazel was just trying to give some ground to something intangible. His eyes flickered over to Hazel's half-brother anyway. Since they rescued him from the giants, he'd started to regain his strength, but he was still painfully thin. Sam wanted to just give the guy a Happy Meal or something, they were full of fat and calories. His black shirt and jeans hung off his skeletal frame. Long dark hair framed his sunken eyes. He had an olive complexion, but it didn't look healthy and rich, but instead a sickly, greenish white like the colour of tree sap. Sam remembered when he first saw him in his dream, stuck in that stupid bronze jar. He looked better than he had then, but he still looked like a ghost with his life-source dragged out as far as it dared. 

    In human years, he was barely fourteen; Sam's age. But that wasn't really the truth. Sam knew he was a demigod from another era, even before he was told it, he could tell━he radiated old energy; melancholoy that came from knowing he didn't belong in the modern world. He was really a ghost, floating where he felt out of place, like he had come back to his house only to realise that his family didn't live there, and everything had changed; strangers were in a life he used to live. 

     Sam wondered whether Nico was actually handsome if he wasn't so sick-looking. 

     It was stupid, of course. But it was the first thought he always had━would his eyes light up if he ever just smiled for once in his life?

     Nico gripped the hilt of his Stygian iron sword. "Earth spirits don't like children of the Underworld. That's true. We get under their skin━literally. But I think the numina could sense this ship anyway. We're carrying the Athena Parthenos. That thing is like a magical beacon."

     Sam thought he felt Annabeth shiver beside him, but she hid it well. They were quite similar in that way. He wondered whether she thought it should have been her that fell, not Percy and Fiona. She had gotten herself in that situation, she had fought Arachne, she would have fallen down if they hadn't cut her free of the silk. Survivor's guilt. And the worst thing about it, was that no matter how much Sam wanted to help her, she wouldn't tell them anything. She would look like their mother; stone-cold, sharp features and a gaze that felt like it might burn you to ash. 

    Leo traced his finger down the map of Italy. "So, crossing the mountains is out. Thing is they go a long way in either direction."

    "We could go by sea," Hazel suggested. "Sail around the southern tip of Italy."

    Annabeth shook her head. "It's too much of a trip, and we're time sensitive. Besides, we don't have ..." her voice caught on Percy's name. 

    She didn't have to say it, but it still hung around them like an impending storm. 

    Hazel took a deep breath. "What about continuing north?" she quickly tried to move on. "There has to be a break in the mountains, or something."

    Leo fiddled with the bronze Archimedes sphere that he'd installed on the console━his newest and most deadliest toy. It soon grew a camera lense and projected a three dimensional image of the Apennine Mountains above the console.

     "Man, does this feel like Star Wars," muttered Sam, gazing at the projection. 

     "I dunno," Leo examined the hologram. "I don't see any good passes to the north. But I like that idea better than backtracking south. I'm done with Rome."

     No one disagreed. Rome had not been a good experience.

    "Whatever we do," said Nico, "we have to hurry. Every day that Fiona and Percy are in Tartarus..."

    He didn't need to finish. They had to hope Fiona and Percy could survive long enough to find the Tartarus side of the Doors of Death. No, they will, Sam reminded himself. Fiona was as stubborn as an ox, this was a competition, and she was going to make sure her and Percy win. 

     Nico scowled at the Italian countryside below them. "Maybe we should wake the others. This decision affects us all."

     "No," Annabeth snapped before she could stop herself. "We can find a solution."

     Sam had a feeling not knowing what to do was effecting her pride. She was supposed to be the 'smartest of the eight, the one with the answers'. She had recovered the Athena Parthenos single-handedly after all, and her friends were in Tartarus because of it. Sam just wished he could remind her she was still human. But if he reminded her, then he also had to remind himself. 

     Sam had to make Percy and Fiona proud of her. He had to finally take some initiative. "We need some creative thinking," he stated. "Another way to cross those mountains, or a way to hide ourselves from the mountain gods."

    Nico sighed. "If I was on my own, I could shadow-travel. But that won't work for an entire ship. And, honestly, I'm not sure I have the strength to even transport myself any more."

    "You're really creepy," Sam told him. Nico scowled. "You know that? You can travel through the shadows. Did you ever just━I don't know━appeared out of nowhere and scared the living hell out of someone━?"

     "Sam, shut up."

     "Got it."

     "I could maybe rig some kind of camouflage," said Leo, "like a smoke screen to hide us in the clouds." He didn't sound enthusiastic.

      Hazel sighed and glanced over the edge of the ship. Sam pursed his lips and turned to Annabeth. She gritted her teeth, and before he could stop her, she stormed down the stairs. He watched her go sadly, not sure how to help her, at all...

      Hazel suddenly gasped. "Arion."

     "What?" Nico asked.

     And Sam was met with hope. "No way!"

     Leo let out a happy whoop as a dust cloud on the horizon drew closer. "It's her hors, man! You missed that whole part. We haven't seen him since Kansas!"

     Hazel laughed. Sam grinned━the first time in what felt like ages. About a mile to the north, the small dot circled a hill and stopped at the summit. He was difficult to make out, but when the horse reared and whinnied, the sound carried all the way to the Argo II.

    "We have to meet him," said Hazel. "He's here to help."

     "Yeah, okay," Leo scratched his head. "But━uh━we talked about not landing the ship on the ground anymore, remember? You know, with Gaea wanting to destroy us and all."

    "Just get me close, and I'll use the rope ladder," said Hazel. "I think Arion wants to tell me something."

     Sam felt hope to get them out of here. He gazed at the dot at the summit, and prayed to all the gods that listened for Percy and Fiona to be okay. 

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

    a/n: FIRST CHAPTER IS HERE!!!!!!!!! SAM IS JUST ... I love him, okay? 

    i'm going to admit, annabeth might be slightly ooc in this first part, just because i'm trying to fit her in chapters where she's originally not there. it's gonna be hard, but i'll try my best. i just think annabeth would have some serious survivor's guilt over percy and fiona falling. especially over percy, her best friend who she had just spent months worrying over and searching for. she just got her best friend back, and now he was gone again.