It was a shock when it happened.

Everything was calm in the ship. Marlene and Sirius were cuddling in the latter's room, Emmeline was polishing her bow, Alice, Dorcas and Frank were at the guard above and Remus was in the living area, sipping hot chocolate. James and Lily were Gods-know-where.

The whole ship took a sharp left turn in the air and forced all three demigods to clutch the thing nearest to them.

"What the fuck?" Alice shrieked as her hair rippled around her, almost violently.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Dorcas growled in frustation as she felt strong winds fly around them.

"What's happening?" James had arrived, his sword gleaming in the dark while Lily ran after him. Immediately, they had to dive under the silver, metallic lid which acted as a cover for the broad steps leading under the ship towards the cabins and the control room.

A burst of hot summer wind made everyone gasp.

Dorcas somehow managed to dive under the metallic lid and raced down the stairs, dodging a puzzled, but alarmed, Remus as she ran inside the control room, her hands working furiously on the keys. The ship was going down, into Hudson Bay, but something was stopping it from happening. Dorcas growled out her anger and frustation.

Above her, James, Frank, Lily and Alice were grasping onto pillars or railings or metallic lids for dear life. The winds that blew past them were hot and wild, not at all normal. (Especially considering the rain yesterday night.)

The wind shifted and formed the shape of at least fifteen transclucent men with silky black wings and rippling ebony hair.

"Oh fucking hell," Lily swore, her hand clenching her sword hard.

"Demigods," the most regal looking guy of the group, with a thin circlet made of hibiscus leaves and crystals shaped in the form of raindrops on his head, said slowly. He radiated heat strongly, as if he had just came out of a furnace.

"You've caused Lord Ouranos trouble," he started slowly. "And Lord Aeolus himself has sent me to...ah, teach you a lesson. I am Lord Notus, the summer wind, the destroyer of crops and the bringer of thunderstorms in late summer and early autumn."

"No wonder Mother hated you!" Frank shouted angrily. "She was totally right to do that!"

"Let me guess," Notus huffed, unimpressed. "A son of Demeter. She's a foolish goddess, in her Greek form and Roman form. Crops are not everything!"

"You-" Frank let out a series of nasty Greek words which made everyone stare at him in shock, even Notus seemed to be frozen. (Isn't this weird? A summer guy, frozen. He and Boreales really hate each other.)

"Boy," an anemoi hissed, "you are getting yourself into trouble! No one curses Lord Notus!"

"They'll learn their lesson soon enough," Notus promised, a devilish glint in his oynx eyes. He raised his hands, and hot winds started to form around the demigods in a sort of sand storm.

Lily coughed, gasping for breath. The misty winds were thick and she waved her hands blindly until one finally connected with James's hand he squeezed hers reassuringly. He was here, they were together and they would make it, like they always did.

"STAND BACK!" Marlene's voice came from the direction of the stairs. "I said, stand back."

Against their will, the anemoi and Notus found themselves gliding backwards.

"Charmspeak can't work on us!" an anemoi hissed.

"Oh yes, it can," Marlene snapped. She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated. "Stand back, stand back, stand back. Let the storm die. Let the storm die!"

Instantly, Notus had to raise his arms. The storm was dimming around James, Lily, Frank and Alice. Finally, the last remains of dust dissolved into the air and left all four of them to cough and splutter.

"LEAVE!" Marlene commanded, putting all her power and will into her voice. Notus and his army of anemoi found themselves retreating (totally against their will, but a badass was commanding them, what could they do?).

"Lord Aeolus will screw us," an anemoi muttered as he was forced to dissolve into mist. With a light splashing of waves, the Sotíras hit the ground, along with Marlene cursing as the sharp rays of the sun hit them. Noon in Hudson Bay, this was everyone's dream, right?

"You guys okay?" Emmeline came running up the stairs, followed by Dorcas, who immediately handled her wheel.

"Kinda," Alice sneezed.

Sirius and Remus came up behind the girls, carrying ambrosia and nectar along with their swords. They force-fed their friends and, after making sure no one would die anytime soon, stood at the side of the ship, looking at the sky.

"Shit, how did Aeolus know our fucking location?" James said, rubbing his throat dramatically.

"Eh, probably Ouranos's watching us," Dorcas muttered angrily. "If we travel like this, he can see our every move. The sky is everywhere, even if the ground's not there. What the fuck is Zeus doing?"

"Probably chasing mortal women," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm right here, you know," James said with a frown.

"No offence, pet, but it's true," Emmeline told him.

"But we can't go completely underwater, right?" Lily pointed out. "Either the sky or the sea. And even on the sea, the sky is everywhere."

"Man, I prefer Gaia now!" Sirius groaned. Everyone shot him weird looks. "I'm not serious, in a way, yes but-"

"You know what?" Frank said. "Leave it. You'll keep on babbling for centuries and I'm in no mood for that shit, thank you very much."

Sirius grumbled something about rude plant boys and went back to climbing the ladder on one of the pillars leading towards a small booth, from where he could stare at the whole sea around them.

"Enough action, peeps. We gotta do work now." Emmeline gestured towards the dust surrounding the ship. With a simple, small flick of his hand, James let the winds swipe off the dust.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

*Aurora explains herself: I know that you guys think Marlene is "out-of-character" here but we have to understand that this fandom has given us two types of Marlene McKinnons: badass and sassy AND cute and smart. This time, I'll show a broken girl with a dark past, a girl who has a lot of power in her, but is too broken to show it. Her backstory affects THIS tale, and I hope you understand. So, let us now wrap up this super-long, vague (kinda) and really, really weird author's note. Take care and stay safe.

Love,
~Aurora♡