(Semi) Silence For The Sea of Monsters

by NUMBER1ANGIRL

Summary:

‘She lets out an audible gasp.

Leo leans towards her. “What’s up, Haze?”

“I think…” Hazel takes a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say next. “I think Percy made another one.”’

or,

The gang wakes up the morning after listening to The Lightning Thief. Hazel, while once again flipping through the fateful cd case, comes across yet another disc made by Percy.

Is listening to it invading his privacy? Yes. Are they still going to? Hell yeah.

Notes:

I’m baaaack!

Trying something new with Frank. Frank’s pronouns until further notice are he/they.

Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 1: My Best Friend Shops For A Wedding Dress

Leo was the last to wake up, sunshine filtering through his eyelids. The others, while conscious, are far from awake. 

 

Jason and Reyna are the most alert, the girl somehow not looking any worse for wear after an all nighter of driving. Frank is up, but his eyes are bleary, and Piper is leaning against a window, still looking mostly asleep.

 

Hazel had her arms wrapped around her knees, cheek pressed against her leg, and curls spilling out of a messy bun she must’ve thrown it into sometime after waking up. 

 

Annabeth and Nico are nowhere to be seen, which startled Leo, until he realized that they were parked in front of a small convenience store. 

 

ABBA songs play from the radio while Reyna, surprisingly, bops her head to the beat. Though, in Leo’s sleep addled state, he couldn’t tell if this was the original group singing or the cast of Mamma Mia.

 

“Where are we?” He asks grumpily, obviously startling Frank. 

 

“Oh my, gods!” Piper says in mock astonishment. Or, possibly, genuine astonishment. “Leo’s awake before noon!”

 

“Where are we?” He repeats, louder. His sour mood was just getting worse the longer he was exposed to sunlight. 

 

Reyna finally answers the boy. “Annabeth made me stop at some store she liked. Her and Nico are bringing back breakfast.”

 

The album had just gotten to Super Trouper (and it was far clearer that this was the cast of Mamma Mia 2, cause Leo knew his Cher), when the passenger door opened. 

 

Annabeth and Nico pile into the car, several bags of food and cup holders in their hands. 

 

“You're back!” Jason exclaims, far too loudly for anybody’s liking. 

 

“Mhm.” Annabeth hums, rummaging through the bags. 

 

“I can’t believe you didn’t wake me up for my order.” Leo grumbles. 

 

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry. I know your order.”

 

“Nobody knows my order!” Leo insists. “I’m too complicated.”

 

“Coffee black, and a chocolate doughnut.” Nico recites, passing the food into the back. 

 

“I am feeling very conflicted.” Leo hums, already chugging his coffee. 

 

See, while afternoon Leo was an adhd elf, morning Leo was a caffeine addicted bitch. You just don’t mess with morning Leo. Well, except for…

 

“Ha!” Leo yells excitedly. “You didn’t get my order right!” He holds up a red container. “What even is this?”

 

“Eggs.” Annabeth answers. “You need the protein.”

 

“What kind of convenience store has eggs?” Piper asks, wrinkling her nose. 

 

Annabeth actually smiles. “Wawa.”

 

Reyna just shrugs at Piper’s inquisitive stare. “I don’t know. She woke up at 5, and made me drive here.”

 

Annabeth nods, still going through the contents of her bags. 

 

“French vanilla cappuccino and two plain bagels with extra veggie cream cheese.”

 

“Gimme!” Piper squeals, leaning forward and grabbing her food. 

 

“Root beer and chicken chili.” Nico hands it off to Hazel.

 

The girl nods in contentment. 

 

Reyna is given her matcha smoothie with whipped cream, and a hash brown. 

 

Frank gets the same drink and a container of brown sugar oatmeal. 

 

Jason gets a water bottle and fruit salad. 

 

Nico drinks a frozen hot chocolate with a plant based chicken park sandwich. When asked about that, he simply replied, “I’m Italian.”

 

Reyna munches on her hash brown, before pulling out the infamous cd case, and disconnecting the aux cord. She is met with the sound of many protests. 

 

“What are you doing?” Leo yells, his mouth filled with chocolate doughnut. 

 

Reyna ignores him for a second, pressing the case into Hazel’s hands, and instructing her, “Find something good.”

 

“Reyna?” Piper asks calmly, giving the girl a questioning look through the rear view mirror. 

 

“Look, it was fine to bring the phone out while you were all sleeping. But now that you’re awake, I will not deal with you all arguing and yelling about what to listen to next.”

 

Frank nods, finding that judgement fair. Piper and Leo, however, do not. 

 

“But why are you handing it to Hazel?” Leo complains loudly. 

 

Reyna shrugs. “I trust her judgement.” She says simply. “ She wouldn’t play rock metal without warning.”

 

Jason’s head hangs. “ One time!”

 

Hazel zones the rest of the conversation out, flipping through the pages of the case. 

 

She skips past Hercules, both the original movie soundtrack and the one remade by the actual people the movie was based off of. 

 

Apollo’s Greatest Lyre Riffs 699-1999 (73 and ½ hours of Great Music)

 

Pass.

 

She pauses for a second when she sees The Lightning Thief . Reyna must have put it back in its proper place when the story had ended and everyone had fallen asleep. 

 

With a great effort, Hazel flips the page, and actually lets out an audible gasp. 

 

Leo, pulled out of his tiff with Reyna by the noise, leans towards her. “What’s up, Haze?”

 

Hazel looks up at him, her fingers delicately circling the disc she had found. A plain, reflective disc that wasn’t necessarily important looking, other than words written in a familiar scrawl in sharpie. 

 

“I think…” Hazel takes a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say next. “I think Percy made another one.”

 

That drew everyone’s attention. 

 

“Holy shit, no way.” Annabeth says, reaching for the case before she can stop herself.

 

Piper leans forward, her cheek pressing into the head of Annabeth’s chair. “What’s it called?”

 

Hazel squints at the words, trying to make them out in their messy handwriting. 

 

“The… Sea of… Monsters?”

 

Jason raises a dubious eyebrow. “The Sea of Monsters?”

 

“The handwriting is hard to read!” Hazel defends herself, when an unexpected guardian comes to her aid. 

 

“No,” Reyna sighs, her grip on the wheel slightly tighter than before. “She’s probably right.”

 

Annabeth nods, her cheeks heating up. “That was the summer after…” her voice trails off. She didn’t need to finish the sentence. They all knew. 

 

A heavy silence settles over the car. 

 

Finally, Frank yells, “Can you just get it over with!”

 

“Huh?” Hazel questions, startled. 

 

“We all know that we’re gonna end up listening to it anyway. Might as well do it now and get it out of the way.”

 

Nico looks amused. “Never thought I’d say this, but I agree with the ‘baby man’.”

 

“Hey!” An indignant protest that gets lost, as Hazel pushes the disc into the radio. 

 

My nightmare started like this.

 

“As all great stories do.” Leo whispers, rubbing his hands together in a way that was to either keep off the chill or out of pure excitement. Seeing as how it was 78 degrees outside, I don’t think it was the latter. 

 

I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night.

 

A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.

 

“Sounds like a fun time.” Piper responds, resting her head on her hand. 

 

“How is that fun?” Frank asks, before wincing. “Right, sarcasm. Sorry.”

 

Florida, I thought. Though I wasn’t sure how I knew that. I’d never been to Florida.

 

“Convenient.” Reyna sighs, a sort of tension settling in her bones. She had this feeling that she knew what, or rather who, was in this.

 

It was the same way that Percy just happened to know that he was dreaming of Florida. 

 

Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life.

 

Piper let out an inhuman squeal. This would concern the group, but seeing as how none of them are technically human, and at least one of them was dead before this, and another was taken hostage by pirates… it didn’t really phase them. 

 

Yeah, I said hooves.

 

Grover is a satyr. From the waist up, he looks like a typical gangly teenager with a peach-fuzz goatee and a bad case of acne. He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without his pants on (which I don’t recommend), you’d never know there was anything un-human about him. Baggy jeans and fake feet hide the fact that he’s got furry hindquarters and hooves.

 

Jason furrows his eyebrows. “We already know this…”

 

“He probably didn’t make this with us listening to both discs in mind.” Leo responds. 

 

“I don’t think he made these with anybody listening, let alone people he hasn’t met yet!” Jason counters. 

 

Nico shrugs. “He’s being realistic. And pessimistic. The best combination of things.”

 

Leo just furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head at the boy. 

 

Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He’d gone on this adventure with me and a girl named Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn’t seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest—a quest no satyr had ever returned from.

 

“‘A girl’.” Annabeth repeats, obviously trying to work out what that ‘meant’.

 

“ Been !” Piper squawks in alarm and/or excitement.

 

Anyway, in my dream, Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The wind bent the palm trees almost to the ground.

 

Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must’ve just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He’d escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from … something.

 

“You obviously already know what ‘something’ is, so please elaborate!” Leo insists, shoveling his Wawa eggs into his mouth. 

 

“How are those?” Frank asks, lightly placing his hand on Leo’s shoulder. That was obviously a mistake, as Lro growls at him for getting too close. 

 

A bone-rattling growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks.

 

“Aww, it’s morning Leo!” Annabeth says in a sickly sweet way. 

 

Piper shushes her. “Be quiet, woman!”

 

Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, Have to get away. Have to warn them!

 

“Poor thing.” Hazel coos, looking sadly at the digital clock ingrained into the radio. 

 

I couldn’t see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing. The ground shook as it got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered. He’d run into a dead-end courtyard full of shops. No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm.

 

“Yes!” Piper yells. “Go in, Grove! It doesn’t matter what it is, just go!”

 

Reyna shakes her head. “Watch it be a butcher shop or something.”

 

 The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE.

 

“Oh, no. That’s much worse.” Leo rolls his eyes, looking distastefully at his now empty and soggy paper cup that had once been filled with eggs. The man was an animal. 

 

Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses.

 

Frank shrugs. “Behind works , but it would be better to go inside .”

 

Annabeth purses her lips together. “You’d be surprised how much better.”

 

The monster’s shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing—a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird sour body odor only monsters have, like a skunk that’s been living off Mexican food.

 

Piper gags, pushing her cappuccino a safe distance away. “I almost forgot how descriptive he can be.”

 

Hazel nods, turning around in sympathy. “And I almost forgot how compulsive you are.”

 

Piper wrinkles her nose. “I’m not compulsive.” She then proceeds to wrinkle her nose three more times.

 

Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster’s shadow passed on.

 

Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.

 

Piper let’s put a sigh of relief, her head slumping to the top of Leo’s head. 

 

Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: “MIIIIINE!”

 

Piper lets out a yelp, startling both Frank and Leo, who bump into each other. Leo’s head into Frank’s neck.

 

Hazel turns to Jason. “I blame your dad.”

 

“Join the club.” Jason answers, before his eyebrows furrow. “Oh, you meant for what happens in the story. 

 

I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed.

 

There was no storm. No monster.

 

Morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom window.

 

“No one cares, what happened to Grover?” Piper asks in indignation, her mouth hanging open. 

 

“Pipes, calm down.” Annabeth instructs.

 

“You calm down!” Piper yells, Leo holding her back from Annabeth’s chair. The three of them  kind of resembled that meme with the cat. 

 

I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass—a humanlike shape. But then there was a knock on my bedroom door—my mom called: “Percy, you’re going to be late”—and the shadow at the window disappeared.

 

Pulled away from the ‘drama’ with one of her best friends, Annabeth stares at the radio. A slight blush forms on her cheeks. 

 

Nico raises an eyebrow at her. “What’s up?”

 

Annabeth just shakes her head, trying to cool her expression. But nothing could wipe away the heat flooding her cheeks. 

 

It must’ve been my imagination. A fifth-story window with a rickety old fire escape … there couldn’t have been anyone out there.

 

Nico looks at the radio, and then at Annabeth. His eyes start to widen. 

 

He catches her eye, raises an eyebrow, and they share a look. Annabeth gives a slight, barely perceptible nod. Nico repeats the action, and they both turn to face the windshield. 

 

“Come on, dear,” my mother called again. “Last day of school. You should be excited! You’ve almost made it.’”

 

“Coming,” I managed.

 

“Valid.” Jason comments. “Seeing as how he just saw his best friend being snatched by a monster, it’s fair that that’s what he says.”

 

Hazel hums. “Well… it’s better than Piper’s doing.”

 

Piper was, in fact, currently inconsolable.

 

I felt under my pillow. My fingers closed reassuringly around the ballpoint pen I always slept with. I brought it out, studied the Ancient Greek writing engraved on the side: Anaklusmos. Riptide.

 

I thought about uncapping it, but something held me back. I hadn’t used Riptide for so long….

 

“Just use it.” Reyna urged. “It never hurts anyone to have a sharp double blade just randomly out.”

 

There’s so much wrong with that sentence that nobody wants to comment. And this is a car full of compulsive, adhd teenagers with no sense of def preservation. 

 

Besides, my mom had made me promise not to use deadly weapons in the apartment after I’d swung a javelin the wrong way and taken out her china cabinet. I put Anaklusmos on my nightstand and dragged myself out of bed.

 

“Wha-“ Leo gapes at the radio. “Why can’t we listen to a fully detailed story about that ?”

 

Everyone shakes their heads at him.

 

Frank puckers his lips. “I’m actually curious about the context of that story too.”

 

“Yes! I got the Canadian vote on my side!” Leo yells. 

 

“That’s not necessary.” Frank sighs.

 

I got dressed as quickly as I could. I tried not to think about my nightmare or monsters or the shadow at my window.

 

Have to get away. Have to warn them!

 

What had Grover meant?

 

“That’s what we all wanna know, Jackson!” Piper yells. 

 

Hazel shakes her head. “Pipes…”

 

“What? He’s not special!”

 

Annabeth finally turns around. “I think you need to cool it with the caffeine before you say something you’ll regret.”

 

Piper scoffs. “You’re not my mother.”

 

“Yes, but I am a woman that loves and cares for and is there for you.”

 

Piper just scoffs again, but she does set her coffee aside, and chug down a water bottle from the bag that Annabeth had sent to the back so that everyone was properly hydrated.

 

I made a three-fingered claw over my heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture Grover had once taught me for warding off evil.

 

The dream couldn’t have been real.

 

“Just keep telling yourself that.” Nico mutters, playing with a curly strand of Hazel’s hair that was slipping from its confines. 

 

Last day of school. My mom was right, I should have been excited. For the first time in my life, I’d almost made it an entire year without getting expelled. No weird accidents. No fights in the classroom. No teachers turning into monsters and trying to kill me with poisoned cafeteria food or exploding homework. Tomorrow, I’d be on my way to my favorite place in the world—Camp Half-Blood.

 

Only one more day to go. Surely even I couldn’t mess that up.

 

The group shared nervous, knowing looks. Most of them had literally no prior knowledge of what was about to happen, but the frustration in Percy’s voice would tip anybody off. 

 

As usual, I didn’t have a clue how wrong I was.

 

My mom made blue waffles and blue eggs for breakfast. She’s funny that way, celebrating special occasions with blue food. I think it’s her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.

 

Reyna giggles . The scary, Roman, daughter of a war goddess Praetor that they all knew and mostly feared, giggled. 

 

“I love Sally. She’s a riot.” 

 

Piper makes an odd face. “She didn’t actually say it.”

 

Reyna, undeterred, replies, “Doesn’t matter, she was obviously thinking it.”

 

I ate at the kitchen table while my mom washed dishes. She was dressed in her work uniform—a starry blue skirt and a red-and-white striped blouse she wore to sell candy at Sweet on America. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

 

The waffles tasted great, but I guess I wasn’t digging in like I usually did. My mom looked over and frowned. “Percy, are you all right?”

 

“Damn,” Annabeth murmurs. “He must really love Grover.”

 

“Why do you say that?” Jason questions. 

 

“If these are the same blue waffles I’ve seen him eat… well, let’s just say there’s just a blur of arms, and then that sucker is gone.”

 

“Yeah … fine.”

 

But she could always tell when something was bothering me. She dried her hands and sat down across from me. “School, or …”

 

“Or.” Frank answers immediately, looking off into the distance with an almost haunted look in his eyes. “The answer is always ‘or’.”

 

Jason turns to Leo. “What is he looking at?”

 

She didn’t need to finish. I knew what she was asking.

 

“I think Grover’s in trouble,” I said, and I told her about my dream.

 

She pursed her lips. We didn’t talk much about the other part of my life. We tried to live as normally as possible, but my mom knew all about Grover.

 

“As she should!” Piper cheers, clapping. “Don’t let your parent’s aversion to mythology get in the way of your Grover!”

 

Leo raises a single eyebrow. “And when will you introduce me to your dad.”

 

Piper blinks, her eyes shifting from side to side. She let’s out a slightly strangled noise. “You’re my Leo, not my Grover.”

 

“I wouldn’t be too worried, dear,” she said. “Grover is a big satyr now. If there were a problem, I’m sure we would’ve heard from … from camp… .” Her shoulders tensed as she said the word camp.

 

“Uh oh.” Nico says, turning his attention away from Hazel’s hair for just a moment to look at the radio.

 

“What is it?” I asked.

 

“Nothing,” she said. “I’ll tell you what. This afternoon we’ll celebrate the end of school. I’ll take you and Tyson to Rockefeller Center—to that skateboard shop you like.”

 

“Percy skateboards?” Leo asks. 

 

Annabeth turns to face him. “What do you know about him?”

 

Leo waves his arms wildly. “His name is Percy, he’s a freaking water bender , and he likes blue food!”

 

Oh, man, that was tempting. We were always struggling with money. Between my mom’s night classes and my private school tuition, we could never afford to do special stuff like shop for a skateboard. But something in her voice bothered me.

 

“Really?” Reyna asks. “Even after selling the corpse of her ex husband to Piper’s dad?”

 

“ Please stop mentioning that.” Piper begs. 

 

Reyna just winks, and sticks her tongue out at Piper in the mirror as everyone else laughs. 

 

“Wait a minute,” I said. “I thought we were packing me up for camp tonight.”

 

She twisted her dishrag. “Ah, dear, about that … I got a message from Chiron last night.”

 

“Uh oh.” Nico repeats. 

 

“Will you say something other than ‘uh oh’?” Hazel pleads.

 

“No.” Nico answers. 

 

Hazel crosses her arms. “I am unsure how to feel about that.”

 

My heart sank. Chiron was the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. He wouldn’t contact us unless something serious was going on. “What did he say?”

 

“He thinks … it might not be safe for you to come to camp just yet. We might have to postpone.”

 

Annabeth lets out a dry laugh. Her eyes looked odd. Darker than normal. Like a cloud hanging above a clear sky. So dark, you just know that a storm is on its way. 

 

“Postpone? Mom, how could it not be safe? I’m a half-blood! It’s like the only safe place on earth for me!”

 

“Usually, dear. But with the problems they’re having—”

 

“What problems?” Leo asks nervously, his usual jittery nature returning in full force. Must’ve been the eggs. 

 

”What problems?”

 

“Aww, you two are having the same thoughts.” Jason teases. 

 

“Not the time, man! What the frick is happening!” 

 

“Percy … I’m very, very sorry. I was hoping to talk to you about it this afternoon. I can’t explain it all now. I’m not even sure Chiron can. Everything happened so suddenly.”

 

My mind was reeling. How could I not go to camp? I wanted to ask a million questions, but just then the kitchen clock chimed the half-hour.

 

Piper groans. “School.”

 

“Right at the good part.” Reyna complains. 

 

My mom looked almost relieved. “Seven-thirty, dear. You should go. Tyson will be waiting.”

 

Leo laughs. “Wait, I just realized that Percy has a friend named Tyson.”

 

Silence. 

 

“Which is funny because he also has a brother named Tyson.”

 

More silence. 

 

“…wait…”

 

“But—”

 

“Percy, we’ll talk this afternoon. Go on to school.”

 

That was the last thing I wanted to do, but my mom had this fragile look in her eyes—a kind of warning, like if I pushed her too hard she’d start to cry. Besides, she was right about my friend Tyson. I had to meet him at the subway station on time or he’d get upset. He was scared of traveling underground alone.

 

Annabeth looks out her window, gently carding her fingers through her lightly tangled curls. 

 

“You’re oddly quiet.” Hazel comments, looking at her friend. “What do you know about this?”

 

Annabeth just bites her lip, but doesn’t answer. Guilt gnaws at her stomach. 

 

I gathered up my stuff, but I stopped in the doorway. “Mom, this problem at camp. Does it…could it have anything to do with my dream about Grover?”

 

“I will kill someone if anything happened to Grover.” Piper says. 

 

Jason leans towards his own window. “Why is she looking at me?”

 

Reyna shrugs good naturedly. “You’ve lived a full life.” Reyna sighs. “At least longer than anyone thought you would.”

 

She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We’ll talk this afternoon, dear. I’ll explain … as much as I can.”

 

Reluctantly, I told her good-bye. I jogged downstairs to catch the Number Two train.

 

“Pass me a chip bag.” Piper orders Frank.

 

Jason and Leo share a bewildered look. “Is she…?” Jason starts to look. 

 

“No.” Leo replies firmly. “Piper only snacks on-“

 

“Pass the hummus.”

 

Both boys gasp. Leo turns his head to the heavens, and whispers. “Dear, sweet, gods. Help us.”

 

“Shut up.” Piper hisses at her dramatic (she can’t really remember why they are her) best friends. 

 

I didn’t know it at the time, but my mom and I would never get to have our afternoon talk.

 

In fact, I wouldn’t be seeing home for a long, long time.

 

Hazel gasps as if this is news to her.

 

“Why are you surprised?” Nico asks her. 

 

“I’m not.” She says through gritted teeth. “I spilled root beer on myself when we hit that pot hole.”

 

As I stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight—a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one.

 

“I don’t know about you guys,” Frank says loudly, smiling at their friends. “But I have a good feeling about this.”

 

Then it rippled and vanished.

Chapter 2: I Play Dodgeball With Cannibals

Notes:

Ok warnings for ball jokes and salty Frank, but this chapter gave me very little to work with, so idek anymore.

“Okay, Percy’s last day of school, let’s do this.” Leo murmurs, bouncing in his seat. 

 

“You have faith that Percy will get through this?” Reyna questions with a pointedly raised eyebrow. 

 

“Nope.” Leo answers, popping the ‘p’. “Just taking notes for when I go back.”

 

My day started normal. Or as normal as it ever gets at Meriwether College Prep.

 

Piper’s head lifts up. “What did he just say?”

 

“‘Or as normal as it ever gets at Meriwether College Prep’.” Frank repeats loudly, enunciating every word slowly. 

 

Piper purses her lips together, and blinks at him.

 

“Oh!” Frank exclaims. “You asked that rhetorically.”

 

See, it’s this “progressive” school in downtown Manhattan, which means we sit on beanbag chairs instead of at desks, and we don’t get grades, and the teachers wear jeans and rock concert T-shirts to work.

 

“Holy shit.” Piper whispers, her mouth hanging open. 

 

Nico turns his head to look at her. “What’s up? You dying or something?”

 

“I went to that school.” She says softly. 

 

Jason raises an eyebrow. “You what?”

 

“I went to that school!”

 

Leo shakes his head. “Why do you always have to be relevant to the story?”

 

That’s all cool with me. I mean, I’m ADHD and dyslexic, like most half-bloods, so I’d never done that great in regular schools even before they kicked me out. The only bad thing about Meriwether was that the teachers always looked on the bright side of things, and the kids weren’t always … well, bright.

 

Piper was nodding emphatically. “Yes! That’s Meriwether!”

 

“You used to live in New York?” Annabeth asks. 

 

“Yeah, I had just gotten kicked out of my first school, was just officially diagnosed with dyslexia and obsessive compulsive disorder, and my dad found this school in Manhattan.” She shudders. “I hated it. They made us wear these terrible uniforms for gym, I kept faking injuries cause I was scared someone was gonna mug me. And i roomed with this bitch .”

 

“That’s BS.” Leo comments, and Piper turns her glare on him. He presses his hands together as if in prayer, and continues, “Before Saint Leo.”

 

“Wouldn’t that be BSL?” Annabeth asks him. 

 

“This is no place for logic, Chase.”

 

Take my first class today: English. The whole middle school had read this book called Lord of the Flies, where all these kids get marooned on an island and go psycho. So for our final exam, our teachers sent us into the break yard to spend an hour with no adult supervision to see what would happen. What happened was a massive wedgie contest between the seventh and eighth graders, two pebble fights, and a full-tackle basketball game. The school bully, Matt Sloan, led most of those activities.

 

Piper winces at that. It seemed that she, too, had been stuck with the ‘best and brightest’ of Meriwether Prep. “Gods, I hated that school. Thankfully I was only there for a year before my dad pulled me out, cause he didn’t think it was safe anymore.”

 

“Why would he think that?” Frank asks curiously. 

 

Piper actually laughs. “Apparently a kid, not in my grade, blew up the gym.”

 

Hazel and Nico share a look. The young girl, places her head into the palms of her hands. 

 

“You wouldn’t have happened to have been in sixth grade, would you?” Hazel asks. 

 

Piper’s eyes widened. Everyone in the car turns to look at the radio. “He’s an artist.” Leo whispers in reverence.

 

Sloan wasn’t big or strong, but he acted like he was. He had eyes like a pit bull, and shaggy black hair, and he always dressed in expensive but sloppy clothes, like he wanted everybody to see how little he cared about his family’s money. One of his front teeth was chipped from the time he’d taken his daddy’s Porsche for a joyride and run into a PLEASE SLOW DOWN FOR CHILDREN sign.

 

“He sounds like a bitch.” Reyna says nonchalantly. 

 

Nico nods. “You’re really starting to get the structure of these interjections.”

 

Anyway, Sloan was giving everybody wedgies until he made the mistake of trying it on my friend Tyson.

 

Tyson was the only homeless kid at Meriwether College Prep. As near as my mom and I could figure, he’d been abandoned by his parents when he was very young, probably because he was so … different. He was six-foot-three and built like the Abominable Snowman, but he cried a lot and was scared of just about everything, including his own reflection. His face was kind of misshapen and brutal-looking. I couldn’t tell you what color his eyes were, because I could never make myself look higher than his crooked teeth. His voice was deep, but he talked funny, like a much younger kid—I guess because he’d never gone to school before coming to Meriwether. He wore tattered jeans, grimy size-twenty sneakers, and a plaid flannel shirt with holes in it. He smelled like a New York City alleyway, because that’s where he lived, in a cardboard refrigerator box off 72nd Street.

 

“Oh my, gods, that’s Tyson!” Jason exclaims. “As in Percy’s cyclops half brother!”

 

Leo stares at his best friend. “Where the fuck were you when I was the only one coming to this realization?!”

 

Meriwether Prep had adopted him as a community service project so all the students could feel good about themselves. Unfortunately, most of them couldn’t stand Tyson. Once they discovered he was a big softie, despite his massive strength and his scary looks, they made themselves feel good by picking on him. I was pretty much his only friend, which meant he was my only friend.

 

“Lonely bitch.” Nico mutters under his breath. 

 

Hazel gives him a stern look. “You or Percy?”

 

Nico seems to have gone hard of hearing, as he doesn’t answer his sister. 

 

My mom had complained to the school a million times that they weren’t doing enough to help him. She’d called social services, but nothing ever seemed to happen. The social workers claimed Tyson didn’t exist. They swore up and down that they’d visited the alley we described and couldn’t find him, though how you miss a giant kid living in a refrigerator box, I don’t know.

 

Annabeth bows her head, pressing her fingers to her temples. “Oh, Percy. Sweet, oblivious Percy.”

 

Frank purses his lips to one side. “I feel like he should’ve been on edge after the demon math teacher.”

 

Anyway, Matt Sloan snuck up behind him and tried to give him a wedgie, and Tyson panicked. He swatted Sloan away a little too hard. Sloan flew fifteen feet and got tangled in the little kids’ tire swing.

 

Leo looks at Piper. “Should we comment?”

 

She shakes her head. “We have no right to speak about someone being tricked by the mist.”

 

The two friends settle back into their seats, oddly quiet. 

 

“You freak!” Sloan yelled. “Why don’t you go back to your cardboard box!”

 

Tyson started sobbing. He sat down on the jungle gym so hard he bent the bar, and buried his head in his hands.

 

Leo scratches the side of his nose. “Anybody have that stress ball?”

 

Hazel tosses the toy into the back seat, immediately being picked up by the boy.

 

“Take it back, Sloan!” I shouted.

 

Sloan just sneered at me. “Why do you even bother, Jackson? You might have friends if you weren’t always sticking up for that freak.”

 

I balled my fists. I hoped my face wasn’t as red as it felt. “He’s not a freak. He’s just…”

 

“Didn’t have to add on to that sentence.” Reyna murmurs. “Could’ve just stopped at the first part.”

 

I tried to think of the right thing to say, but Sloan wasn’t listening. He and his big ugly friends were too busy laughing. I wondered if it were my imagination, or if Sloan had more goons hanging around him than usual. I was used to seeing him with two or three, but today he had like, half a dozen more, and I was pretty sure I’d never seen them before.

 

Annabeth leans forward, pinching her temples. She was murmuring something under her breath.

 

“What was that?” Piper asks, resting her chin on the back of Annabeth’s headrest.

 

Annabeth just shakes her head. “Just trying to remember why I love this dumbass.”

 

“Just wait till PE, Jackson,” Sloan called. “You are so dead.”

 

When first period ended, our English teacher, Mr. de Milo, came outside to inspect the carnage. He pronounced that we’d understood Lord of the Flies perfectly. We all passed his course, and we should never, never grow up to be violent people. Matt Sloan nodded earnestly, then gave me a chip-toothed grin.

 

“Wait a second!” Leo bursts. “I just realized that this was their last day of school!”

 

“What gave it away? You know, other than the several times that Percy said it was his last day of school.” Hazel deadpans.

 

“You know, every day, you become more and more like your brother.”

 

I had to promise to buy Tyson an extra peanut butter sandwich at lunch to get him to stop sobbing.

 

“Aww,” Frank coos, looking like the human equivalent of the pouting emoji. “New hyper fixation alert.”

 

Nico tilts his head. “Why are you so precious?”

 

“I … I am a freak?” he asked me.

 

“No,” I promised, gritting my teeth. “Matt Sloan is the freak.”

 

“True.” Several people say at the same time. 

 

Piper wrinkles her nose. “I still hate Nancy Bobofit more.”

 

Tyson sniffled. “You are a good friend. Miss you next year if … if I can’t …”

 

His voice trembled. I realized he didn’t know if he’d be invited back next year for the community service project. I wondered if the headmaster had even bothered talking to him about it.

 

“That female dog!” Frank yells, crossing their arms over their chest. 

 

“ Why are you like this !” Nico doesn’t scream the words. He just questions very loudly. 

 

“Don’t worry, big guy,” I managed. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

 

Tyson gave me such a grateful look I felt like a big liar. How could I promise a kid like him that anything would be fine?

 

Our next exam was science. Mrs. Tesla told us that we had to mix chemicals until we succeeded in making something explode, Tyson was my lab partner. His hands were way too big for the tiny vials we were supposed to use. He accidentally knocked a tray of chemicals off the counter and made an orange mushroom cloud in the trash can.

 

Leo nods. “That was my point, before Hazel so rudely interrupted me-“

 

“I’m not a morning person!”

 

“This is their last day of school. And yet, they’re still doing schoolwork. Hell, they’re doing exams ! I basically went to prisons for school, and we still got an easy last day.”

 

After Mrs. Tesla evacuated the lab and called the hazardous waste removal squad, she praised Tyson and me for being natural chemists. We were the first ones who’d ever aced her exam in under thirty seconds.

 

“That’s my alma mater.” Piper say’s unenthusiastically, gently waving her fist in the air. 

 

Frank shakes their head. “I wouldn’t say that too loudly.” They advise gently.

 

I was glad the morning went fast, because it kept me from thinking too much about my problems. I couldn’t stand the idea that something might be wrong at camp. Even worse, I couldn’t shake the memory of my bad dream. I had a terrible feeling that Grover was in danger.

 

In social studies, while we were drawing latitude/longitude maps, I opened my notebook and stared at the photo inside—my friend Annabeth on vacation in Washington, D.C. She was wearing jeans and a denim jacket over her orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Her blond hair was pulled back in a bandanna. She was standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial with her arms crossed, looking extremely pleased with herself, like she’d personally designed the place. See, Annabeth wants to be an architect when she grows up, so she’s always visiting famous monuments and stuff. She’s weird that way. She’d e-mailed me the picture after spring break, and every once in a while I’d look at it just to remind myself she was real and Camp Half-Blood hadn’t just been my imagination.

 

Hazel spits out the sip of water she’d just taken. Piper’s eyes had bugged out of her head.

 

“Holy shit, he was whipped .” Piper laughs like a maniac.

 

Annabeth simply glares at the radio. “What does he mean by ‘weird’.”

 

“Can’t you just ever enjoy anything?” Reyna sighs. 

 

“Not before ten.”

 

I wished Annabeth were here. She’d know what to make of my dream. I’d never admit it to her, but she was smarter than me, even if she was annoying sometimes.

 

“Annoying.” Annabeth grumbles, but there was absolutely no mistaking the red blush that was forming on her cheeks. 

 

“You really know how to take a compliment.” Leo mutters. 

 

Jason nods. “About as well as Percy knows how to give them.”

 

I was about to close my notebook when Matt Sloan reached over and ripped the photo out of the rings.

 

“Ooh.” The occupants of the car say in unison, as if they were a reaction track on a Disney channel sitcom. 

 

“Hey!” I protested.

 

Sloan checked out the picture and his eyes got wide. “No way, Jackson. Who is that? She is not your—”

 

“Give it back!” My ears felt hot.

 

“So, what I’m hearing is that young Annabeth was pretty and intimidating, but young Percy got picked on by a kid named Matt ?” Leo asks, his eyebrows going into his hairline.

 

Sloan handed the photo to his ugly buddies, who snickered and started ripping it up to make spit wads. They were new kids who must’ve been visiting, because they were all wearing those stupid HI! MY NAME IS: tags from the admissions office. They must’ve had a weird sense of humor, too, because they’d all filled in strange names like: MARROW SUCKER, SKULL EATER, and JOE BOB. No human beings had names like that.

 

Reyna shudders. “Gods, who would possibly name a child Joe Bob? They must be monsters.”

 

“The kids, or the parents?” Piper asks. 

 

“ Both .”

 

“These guys are moving here next year,” Sloan bragged, like that was supposed to scare me. “I bet they can pay the tuition, too, unlike your stupid friend.”

 

The way that young Percy had hesitated when using the word ‘stupid’, made it obvious that Matt had used a word far worse than that. 

 

“He’s not stupid.” I had to try really, really hard not to punch Sloan in the face.

 

“Punch them, punch them, punch them.” Hazel chants, her arms pumping in the air.

 

Jason raises an eyebrow. “Wow, you really aren’t a morning person.”

 

“You’re such a loser, Jackson. Good thing I’m gonna put you out of your misery next period.”

 

His huge buddies chewed up my photo. I wanted to pulverize them, but I was under strict orders from Chiron never to take my anger out on regular mortals, no matter how obnoxious they were. I had to save my fighting for monsters.

 

Annabeth pinches her temples, slowly breathing in and out.

 

“They were really obvious, weren’t they?” Nico asks her softly.

 

“They looked like the hulk, but slightly less green.” 

 

Still, part of me thought, if Sloan only knew who I really was …

 

The bell rang.

 

As Tyson and I were leaving class, a girl’s voice whispered, “Percy!”

 

“Who would dare ?” Hazel snaps, her yellow eyes glinting like a blade.

 

Nico shakes his head, and reaches in the back for something. “I thought you would need this.”

 

Hazel grabs the Snickers bar the moment her eyes catch sight of the wrapper.

 

I looked around the locker area, but nobody was paying me any attention. Like any girl at Meriwether would ever be caught dead calling my name.

 

“Oh, the simpler times.” Annabeth sighs wistfully.

 

Before I had time to consider whether or not I’d been imagining things, a crowd of kids rushed for the gym, carrying Tyson and me along with them. It was time for PE. Our coach had promised us a free-for-all dodgeball game, and Matt Sloan had promised to kill me.

 

The gym uniform at Meriwether is sky blue shorts and tie-dyed T-shirts. Fortunately, we did most of our athletic stuff inside, so we didn’t have to jog through Tribeca looking like a bunch of boot-camp hippie children.

 

“Oh my gosh, I would've beaten him up if I had seen that.” Leo whispers. “And from what I’m guessing, I probably could’ve taken him back then.”

 

Jason looked skeptically at his friend. “Like, at the age you were back then, or the age you are now?”

 

Leo shrugs. “I’ve basically been the same height since the sixth grade, so it doesn’t really matter.” 

 

I changed as quickly as I could in the locker room because I didn’t want to deal with Sloan. I was about to leave when Tyson called, “Percy?”

 

He hadn’t changed yet. He was standing by the weight room door, clutching his gym clothes.

 

“So relatable.” Piper whispers. “Though, I would either fake an illness, or only change my shirt.” 

 

“Fair.” Nico replies.

 

“Will you … uh …”

 

“Oh. Yeah.” I tried not to sound aggravated about it. “Yeah, sure, man.”

 

“Why does Percy seem to get so annoyed with Tyson?” Jason asks.

 

“Siblings.” Piper, Hazel, and Nico all speak at once. Though, Hazel is speaking in the middle of chewing on her candy bar.

 

Tyson ducked inside the weight room. I stood guard outside the door while he changed. I felt kind of awkward doing this, but he asked me to most days. I think it’s because he’s completely hairy and he’s got weird scars on his back that I’ve never had the courage to ask him about.

 

“Okay, that’s more than I needed to know about Tyson.” Frank says awkwardly. “It’s going to be a little harder to look him in the eye at our Mythomagic meeting next week.”

 

Anyway, I’d learned the hard way that if people teased Tyson while he was dressing out, he’d get upset and start ripping the doors off lockers.

 

“Again, so valid.” Piper whispers. “The more I hear, the more I’m starting to relate to this dude.”

 

When we got into the gym, Coach Nunley was sitting at his little desk reading Sports Illustrated. Nunley was about a million years old, with bifocals and no teeth and a greasy wave of gray hair. He reminded me of the Oracle at Camp Half-Blood—which was a shriveled-up mummy—except Coach Nunley moved a lot less and he never billowed green smoke. Well, at least not that I’d observed.

 

“That's… actually a pretty good metaphor.” Annabeth admits, looking like she was trying really hard not to either laugh or cry.

 

Reyna raises an eyebrow. “How would you know?” She asks suspiciously. 

 

Annabeth doesn’t answer.

 

Matt Sloan said, “Coach, can I be captain?”

 

“Eh?” Coach Nunley looked up from his magazine. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “Mm-hmm.”

 

Sloan grinned and took charge of the picking. He made me the other team’s captain, but it didn’t matter who I picked, because all the jocks and the popular kids moved over to Sloan’s side.

 

So did the big group of visitors.

 

“Wow, Percy really has the odds stacked against him.” Leo murmurs.

 

Frank nods. “Mhm, nothing shows the true meaning of a person’s life, than a game of dodgeball.” It is unclear if they are being sarcastic or not.

 

On my side I had Tyson, Corey Bailer the computer geek, Raj Mandali the calculus whiz, and a half dozen other kids who always got harassed by Sloan and his gang. Normally I would’ve been okay with just Tyson—he was worth half a team all by himself—but the visitors on Sloan’s team were almost as tall and strong-looking as Tyson, and there were six of them.

 

“And there are no alarm bells ringing in his head?” Nico phrases it like a question, but his tone makes it clear that he already knows the answer.

 

Matt Sloan spilled a cage full of balls in the middle of the gym.

 

“Scared,” Tyson mumbled. “Smell funny.”

 

I looked at him. “What smells funny?” Because I didn’t figure he was talking about himself.

 

“That’s a little harsh.” Piper murmurs, crossing her arms over her chest.

 

Jason stares at her. “You said the exact same thing about your sister before we left. To her face.”

 

“Yeah, but this is about Tyson .”

 

“Them.” Tyson pointed at Sloan’s new friends. “Smell funny.”

 

The visitors were cracking their knuckles, eyeing us like it was slaughter time. I couldn’t help wondering where they were from. Someplace where they fed kids raw meat and beat them with sticks.

 

Annabeth wrinkles her nose. “He got the raw meat part right.”

 

“Gross.” Piper whispers, though it is quite unclear if she was reacting to what Percy said, or what Annabeth said.

 

Sloan blew the coach’s whistle and the game began. Sloan’s team ran for the center line. On my side, Raj Mandali yelled something in Urdu, probably “I have to go potty!” and ran for the exit.

 

Corey Bailer tried to crawl behind the wall mat and hide. The rest of my team did their best to cower in fear and not look like targets.

 

“Oh, nerds in gym class.” Leo sighs.

 

“You used to do the same thing in gym.” Piper reminds him. “Hedge used to slap you in the shins.”

 

Leo puts his finger up to his lips in a shushing gesture.

 

“Tyson,” I said. “Let’s g—”

 

A ball slammed into my gut. I sat down hard in the middle of the gym floor. The other team exploded in laughter.

 

Even Leo started laughing. 

 

Frank raises an eyebrow at their friend. 

 

“You can only laugh when it’s happened to you.” He responds, clutching his belly.

 

My eyesight was fuzzy. I felt like I’d just gotten the Heimlich maneuver from a gorilla. I couldn’t believe anybody could throw that hard.

 

Tyson yelled, “Percy, duck!”

 

I rolled as another dodgeball whistled past my ear at the speed of sound.

 

“It probably wasn’t moving at the speed of sound if he was able to roll away.” Jason observes.

 

“You should get into physics with those brains.” Leo deadpans.

 

Whooom!

 

It hit the wall mat, and Corey Bailer yelped.

 

“Hey!” I yelled at Sloan’s team. “You could kill somebody!”

 

The visitor named Joe Bob grinned at me evilly. Somehow, he looked a lot bigger now … even taller than Tyson. His biceps bulged beneath his T-shirt. “I hope so, Perseus Jackson! I hope so!”

 

“Never trust a Joe Bob.” Reyna sighs. “I speak from experience.”

 

“ What experience?” Piper asks. 

 

“Percy’s experience!”

 

The way he said my name sent a chill down my back. Nobody called me Perseus except those who knew my true identity. Friends … and enemies.

 

What had Tyson said? They smell funny.

 

Monsters.

 

“Oh my gosh, shocking.” Nico says in a tone similar to one he would use if he were saying that the sky was blue, or that the gods were terrible parents. 

 

All around Matt Sloan, the visitors were growing in size. They were no longer kids. They were eight-foot-tall giants with wild eyes, pointy teeth, and hairy arms tattooed with snakes and hula women and Valentine hearts.

 

Matt Sloan dropped his ball. “Whoa! You’re not from Detroit! Who …”

 

“What gave that away, Sloan?” Annabeth huffs, her arms folding over her chest. “Dumb Sloan.”

 

“I’m actually sort of living for this ‘reputation era’ of yours.” Hazel admits to her friend. 

 

“Do you even know what that means?”

 

Hazel shakes her head, taking another bite of her candy bar. “Not really, no.”

 

The other kids on his team started screaming and backing toward the exit, but the giant named Marrow Sucker threw a ball with deadly accuracy. It streaked past Raj Mandali just as he was about to leave and hit the door, slamming it shut like magic. Raj and some of the other kids banged on it desperately but it wouldn’t budge.

 

“But…” Leo says slowly. “It wouldn’t… be like magic if he… had already given a reason… for it to close.” He closes his eyes slowly, and pinches the bridge of his nose. 

 

“Dude, we live in a world of monsters and literal magic.” Frank reminds Leo. “Maybe you can cut Percy a bit of slack when it comes to the logical inaccuracies of what he’s saying?”

 

“Let them go!” I yelled at the giants.

 

The one called Joe Bob growled at me. He had a tattoo on his biceps that said : JB luvs Babycakes. “And lose our tasty morsels? No, Son of the Sea God. We Laistrygonians aren’t just playing for your death. We want lunch!”

 

Young Percy had pronounced the word Laistrygonians as Laid-tri-gnians.

 

Reyna was quiet for a beat. “Lai-?”

 

“-strygonians.” Annabeth finishes, nodding. 

 

Reyna nods. “I think that’s my cue to stop driving.”

 

He waved his hand and a new batch of dodgeballs appeared on the center line—but these balls weren’t made of red rubber. They were bronze, the size of cannon balls, perforated like wiffle balls with fire bubbling out the holes. They must’ve been searing hot, but the giants picked them up with their bare hands.

 

“I knew wiffle balls were evil!” Leo yells, his arms wildly moving. 

 

“This car ride is so chaotic.” Frank whispers to themself, taking a look at all of their delirious friends. 

 

“Coach!” I yelled.

 

Nunley looked up sleepily, but if he saw anything abnormal about the dodgeball game, he didn’t let on. That’s the problem with mortals. A magical force called the Mist obscures the true appearance of monsters and gods from their vision, so mortals tend to see only what they can understand. Maybe the coach saw a few eighth graders pounding the younger kids like usual.

 

“What the frick is up with this school?” Jason asks, his mouth slightly agape. 

 

Maybe the other kids saw Matt Sloan’s thugs getting ready to toss Molotov cocktails around. (It wouldn’t have been the first time.) At any rate, I was pretty sure nobody else realized we were dealing with genuine man-eating bloodthirsty monsters.

 

Jason just mouths the words ‘Molotov cocktails’ to himself. “I am so glad I missed out on middle school.” He whispers. 

 

Piper shakes her head. “School starts going down after you finish pre-k, after that, there’s no escaping older kids with Molotov cocktails.”

 

“Why do I know you people?”

 

“Yeah. Mm-hmm,” Coach muttered. “Play nice.”

 

And he went back to his magazine.

 

“Wow…” Leo murmurs. “Why couldn’t Hedge be more like that?”

 

“Why are you more chatty than usual?” Nico groans. 

 

Leo just blinks at the other boy. “I drank 16 oz of black coffee in under ten minutes, you’re lucky I’m not bouncing off the fucking walls right now.”

 

The giant named Skull Eater threw his ball. I dove aside as the fiery bronze comet sailed past my shoulder.

 

“Corey!” I screamed.

 

Tyson pulled him out from behind the exercise mat just as the ball exploded against it, blasting the mat to smoking shreds.

 

“Yay Tyson.” Reyna yawns, moving one hand off the wheel for a second to cover her mouth. 

 

“Ten and two!” Jason yells, moving his head until it was located right behind her shoulder. 

 

“… and, I’m officially pulling over.”

 

“Run!” I told my teammates. “The other exit!”

 

They ran for the locker room, but with another wave of Joe Bob’s hand, that door also slammed shut.

 

“Maybe not the best idea to yell your plan right in front of the magical cannibal eighth graders.” Nico remarks, a sarcastic, yet oddly endearing, smile making its way to his face. 

 

“No one leaves unless you’re out!” Joe Bob roared. “And you’re not out until we eat you!”

 

Frank makes a face. “So then… how do you… leave ?” 

 

He launched his own fireball. My teammates scattered as it blasted a crater in the gym floor.

 

I reached for Riptide, which I always kept in my pocket, but then I realized I was wearing gym shorts. I had no pockets. Riptide was tucked in my jeans inside my gym locker. And the locker room door was sealed. I was completely defenseless.

 

At that exact moment, Reyna decided to sharply turn the vehicle into the parking lot of a nondescript gas station. 

 

The occupants of the car all ended leaning against each other, like the saddest stack of dominos on earth. 

 

“Mmm.” Leo murmurs. “Frank, you smell like chocolate.”

 

“…thanks.”

 

Another fireball came streaking toward me. Tyson pushed me out of the way, but the explosion still blew me head over heels. I found myself sprawled on the gym floor, dazed from smoke, my tie-dyed T-shirt peppered with sizzling holes. Just across the center line, two hungry giants were glaring down at me.

 

“Flesh!” they bellowed. “Hero flesh for lunch!” They both took aim.

 

“You know…” Nico murmurs, his face scrunched up in disgust. “Maybe vegetarianism isn’t the worst thing in the world. I can live off pasta and tomato sauce.”

 

Hazel stares at her brother with her mouth wide open, before taking another bite of her Snickers. 

 

“Percy needs help!” Tyson yelled, and he jumped in front of me just as they threw their balls.

 

The entire group took a collective gasp of breath. A tense atmosphere settled over the car. Before Piper broke it by breaking into a fit of laughter.

 

“Really?” Annabeth asks, unamused.

 

“I’m sorry!” She practically shrieks, tears escaping her eyes. “I can’t help it!”

 

“Tyson!” I screamed, but it was too late.

 

Both balls slammed into him … but no … he’d caught them. Somehow Tyson, who was so clumsy he knocked over lab equipment and broke playground structures on a regular basis, had caught two fiery metal balls speeding toward him at a zillion miles an hour. He sent them hurtling back toward their surprised owners, who screamed, “BAAAAAD!” as the bronze spheres exploded against their chests.

 

Piper’s fit of laughter had re-emerged before Percy had even finished the first sentence. 

 

“I don’t get it.” Frank whispers. “What’s so funny about balls-“

 

Their words were interrupted by Piper once again giggling like a lunatic. “I’m sorry I can’t help it.” She chokes out. 

 

The giants disintegrated in twin columns of flame—a sure sign they were monsters, all right.

 

Monsters don’t die. They just dissipate into smoke and dust, which saves heroes a lot of trouble cleaning up after a fight.

 

“Spoken as someone who never needed to deal with regenerating monsters.” Jason sighs, leaning his head as far back as it could go.

 

“Yeah well, you can’t regenerate, so be careful!” Reyna warns him. 

 

Jason laughs. “I’m not gonna die any time soon.” A silence followed his statement. 

 

“My brothers!” Joe Bob the Cannibal wailed. He flexed his muscles and his Babycakes tattoo rippled. “You will pay for their destruction!”

 

“Tyson!” I said. “Look out!”

 

Another comet hurtled toward us. Tyson just had time to swat it aside. It flew straight over Coach Nunley’s head and landed in the bleachers with a huge KA-BOOM!

 

“His use of sound effects is always very welcome.” Leo hums.

 

Hazel makes a “hmm” sound as gently nods her head. Her face starts pressing into Nico’s shoulder, and he smiles victoriously at the now empty Snickers wrapper in her hand. 

 

“Works every time.”

 

Kids were running around screaming, trying to avoid the sizzling craters in the floor. Others were banging on the door, calling for help. Sloan himself stood petrified in the middle of the court, watching in disbelief as balls of death flew around him.

 

Coach Nunley still wasn’t seeing anything. He tapped his hearing aid like the explosions were giving him interference, but he kept his eyes on his magazine.

 

“He’s gotta be a part of it somehow!” Frank theorizes. “He can’t just be this neglectful!”

 

Leo pats Frank’s arm. “I think we both know that he could, and he is.”

 

Surely the whole school could hear the noise. The headmaster, the police, somebody would come help us.

 

“Victory will be ours!” roared Joe Bob the Cannibal. “We will feast on your bones!”

 

Piper gags at their choice of words. “I’m so glad I don’t eat meat.”

 

“Lucky you.” Nico huffs, gently running a hand through Hazel’s curls. 

 

I wanted to tell him he was taking the dodgeball game way too seriously, but before I could, he hefted another ball. The other three giants followed his lead.

 

“To think of all the things he left unsaid.” Annabeth whispers. It sounded almost horrified, as if she had always assumed the things that Percy had said were inopportune. But what about the things that not even he allowed himself to say. It could fuel nightmares. 

 

I knew we were dead. Tyson couldn’t deflect all those balls at once. His hands had to be seriously burned from blocking the first volley. Without my sword … I had a crazy idea.

 

“Makes sense.” Reyna hums, unbuckling her seatbelt. At some point between all the giggling and chaos, she had apparently parked the car. “I’m gonna go stretch my legs. When I get back, the next driver better be ready.”

 

I ran toward the locker room.

 

“Move!” I told my teammates. “Away from the door.”

 

“ Oh no.” Nico sighs, contentedly listening to the radio, safe in the knowledge that neither he, nor Hazel can be used as drivers. 

 

Explosions behind me. Tyson had batted two of the balls back toward their owners and blasted them to ashes.

 

That left two giants still standing.

 

“So,” Jason prompts. “I could drive, but I really don’t want to. So…”

 

Piper shakes her head. “I refuse to drive with Jason! He’s super neurotic!”

 

“You were driving in two lanes!”

 

“I said I was sorry!”

 

A third ball hurtled straight at me. I forced myself to wait—one Mississippi, two Mississippi—then dove aside as the fiery sphere demolished the locker room door.

 

“You know…” Annabeth sighs. “I could always drive.”

 

The occupants of the car stare at her for a second. Jason leans towards the front. “Nico, you have your permit, don’t you?”

 

Nico pushes Jason’s face away.

 

Now, I figured that the built-up gas in most boys’ locker rooms was enough to cause an explosion, so I wasn’t surprised when the flaming dodgeball ignited a huge WHOOOOOOOM!

 

Nico and Piper chuckle at that, enjoying the peaceful camaraderie that came with not having to drive your chaotic friends around. 

 

The wall blew apart. Locker doors, socks, athletic supporters, and other various nasty personal belongings rained all over the gym.

 

Hazel shudders in her sleep. “Nasty gym.” Nico gently rubs her shoulder in sympathy. 

 

I turned just in time to see Tyson punch Skull Eater in the face. The giant crumpled. But the last giant, Joe Bob, had wisely held on to his own ball, waiting for an opportunity. He threw just as Tyson was turning to face him.

 

Everyone pauses to look at Piper. She is silent, her lips pressed into a thin line, and gently breathing in and through her nose. 

 

“You okay there, Pipes?” Leo asks. 

 

She just shakes her head, evidently not trusting herself enough to open her mouth. 

 

“No!” I yelled.

 

The ball caught Tyson square in the chest. He slid the length of the court and slammed into the back wall, which cracked and partially crumbled on top of him, making a hole right onto Church Street. I didn’t see how Tyson could still be alive, but he only looked dazed. The bronze ball was smoking at his feet. Tyson tried to pick it up, but he fell back, stunned, into a pile of cinder blocks.

 

“Poor Tyson.” Frank pouts at the radio. 

 

“Poor Piper.” Leo adds, bringing her into a bone crushing, comforting hug.

 

“Well!” Joe Bob gloated. “I’m the last one standing! I’ll have enough meat to bring Babycakes a doggie bag!”

 

That was enough to bring everyone back to the moment, remembering that they needed to find a replacement driver before Reyna came back and yelled at them. 

 

He picked up another ball and aimed it at Tyson.

 

“Stop!” I yelled. “It’s me you want!”

 

“Okay, I don’t want to drive.” Jason reminds the others. 

 

“I also don’t want to drive.” Frank says, crossing their arms over their chest. 

 

The giant grinned. “You wish to die first, young hero?”

 

Annabeth groans. “Why don’t you guys just let me drive? I’m pretty sure I’m the only other one here with a license!”

 

“Actually,” Leo interjects. “I have a license.”

 

Frank and Jason share a look, both of their eyebrows raised to their hairlines. 

 

I had to do something. Riptide had to be around here somewhere.

 

“I’m a good driver.” Annabeth huffs, watching as Leo crawls over Piper, to the door. 

 

“No, you’re not.” Nico tells her. “But, Percy still loves you.”

 

Then I spotted my jeans in a smoking heap of clothes right by the giant’s feet. If I could only get there…. I knew it was hopeless, but I charged.

 

The giant laughed. “My lunch approaches.” He raised his arm to throw. I braced myself to die.

 

“Always a smart thing to do.” Piper advises, trying to resettle herself after Leo finally managed to crawl over her. 

 

Suddenly the giant’s body went rigid. His expression changed from gloating to surprise.

 

Right where his belly button should’ve been, his T-shirt ripped open and he grew something like a horn—no, not a horn—the glowing tip of a blade.

 

Frank gasps, jumping up and down with the freedom of someone that no longer had an elf jammed into his side. “Ooh! I wonder what’s happening!” They exclaim loudly. Evidently, the prospect of not having to drive right now cheered them up immensely. 

 

The ball dropped out of his hand. The monster stared down at the knife that had just run him through from behind.

 

He muttered, “Ow,” and burst into a cloud of green flame, which I figured was going to make Babycakes pretty upset.

 

“Poor Babycakes.” Jason hums, leaning his head against his window.

 

“Don’t feel bad for Babycakes.” Nico says wisely. “Just think about why they have that name, and you’ll feel nothing.”

 

That caused everyone to shudder in sync. 

 

Standing in the smoke was my friend Annabeth. Her face was grimy and scratched. She had a ragged backpack slung over her shoulder, her baseball cap tucked in her pocket, a bronze knife in her hand, and a wild look in her storm-gray eyes, like she’d just been chased a thousand miles by ghosts.

 

The driver’s door opens up, and Leo climbs in. He doesn’t seem at all aware of the sudden tension in the car. Or the fact that all eyes had turned to Annabeth. 

 

Instead, he pushed his new chair forward, so that his feet could comfortably reach the pedals. By the time he was settled, Jason had a good foot of leg space. 

 

Matt Sloan, who’d been standing there dumbfounded the whole time, finally came to his senses. He blinked at Annabeth, as if he dimly recognized her from my notebook picture. “That’s the girl … That’s the girl—”

 

Annabeth punched him in the nose and knocked him flat. “And you,” she told him, “lay off my friend.”

 

Piper breaks the tension by cheering emphatically. “You go girl!” She laughs for several long seconds before stopping, and whispering, “I’m so tired.”

 

The gym was in flames. Kids were still running around screaming. I heard sirens wailing and a garbled voice over the intercom. Through the glass windows of the exit doors, I could see the headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, wrestling with the lock, a crowd of teachers piling up behind him.

 

“How long were you there?” Frank asks Annabeth, their face scrunched up as if they were working out a complicated math problem. 

 

Annabeth pointedly ignores their question, just staring out the window. 

 

“Annabeth …” I stammered. “How did you … how long have you …”

 

“Pretty much all morning.” She sheathed her bronze knife. “I’ve been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone.”

 

“The shadow I saw this morning—that was—” My face felt hot. “Oh my gods, you were looking in my bedroom window?”

 

Even Leo, who had been fiddling with the buttons on thedashboard, looks up at that. He looks sideways at Annabeth. “Okay, girl. We see you. And you apparently see everything.”

 

Annabeth ducks her flaming face into the palms of her hands. 

 

Of course, Reyna chooses that exact time to open up passenger door closest to Piper. “What did I miss?”

 

“There’s no time to explain!” she snapped, though she looked a little red-faced herself. “I just didn’t want to—”

 

“Who’s she?” Reyna questions, sliding in to Piper’s former seat, as the other girl moves closer to Frank. 

 

“Annabeth.” Nico says immediately, thought not without regret once he sees the red blush creeping up the blonde’s neck. 

 

“Huh?”

 

“There!” a woman screamed. The doors burst open and the adults came pouring in.

 

“Meet me outside,” Annabeth told me. “And him.” She pointed to Tyson, who was still sitting dazed against the wall. Annabeth gave him a look of distaste that I didn’t quite understand. “You’d better bring him.”

 

“What’s this distaste about?” Frank asks, a new tone of indignation in their voice. “I don’t think he’s looking through Percy’s window!”

 

“Huh?” Reyna repeats. 

 

“Sure, I kill a crazy cannibal and protect my friend, but all anyone can focus on is me looking through his window.” Annabeth huffs, the red tinge of her cheeks starting to recede. 

 

“What the fuck did I miss?” Reyna whisper yells. 

 

“What?”

 

“No time!” she said. “Hurry!”

 

She put on her Yankees baseball cap, which was a magic gift from her mom, and instantly vanished.

 

Frank sighs. “I’m sorry about the window comment. It was out of line.”

 

“No, it’s fine.” Annabeth whispers. “Tyson is your friend-“

 

“You are too.” Frank interjects. Both of their voices were quiet. 

 

“Anywho,” Leo says brightly. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

 

That left me standing alone in the middle of the burning gymnasium when the headmaster came charging in with half the faculty and a couple of police officers.

 

“Percy Jackson?” Mr. Bonsai said. “What … how …”

 

“Don’t ask dude, just don’t ask.” Piper says tiredly. Her previous, chaotic energy was slowly leaving her body, as if she no longer had the will to giggle.

 

Over by the broken wall, Tyson groaned and stood up from the pile of cinder blocks. “Head hurts.”

 

Matt Sloan was coming around, too. He focused on me with a look of terror. “Percy did it, Mr. Bonsai! He set the whole building on fire. Coach Nunley will tell you! He saw it all!”

 

“Oh, Matt.” Jason says. “I’m disappointed but not surprised.”

 

“I’m not even disappointed, I had no faith in this kid.” Nico hums, allowing both Annabeth and Hazel to lean on both of his shoulders. 

 

Coach Nunley had been dutifully reading his magazine, but just my luck—he chose that moment to look up when Sloan said his name. “Eh? Yeah. Mm-hmm.”

 

The other adults turned toward me. I knew they would never believe me, even if I could tell them the truth.

 

I grabbed Riptide out of my ruined jeans, told Tyson, “Come on!” and jumped through the gaping hole in the side of the building.

Notes:

Idk how this ending came out of what I was given, but I am too dysfunctional to change it right now.

I’m done with band (mostly) so I should have some more time to write until the play starts hehe

Anyways this is very ooc, I’m aware, but who isn’t ooc in the morning?

Chapter 3: We Hail The Taxi of Eternal Torment

Notes:

HOLY SHIT I'M BACK!!!
ENJOY!

Everyone had wanted to stay awake to listen to the next chapter. Swear on Sally Jackson’s life. But it was 7 am in the gods damned morning, and as anyone that has gone through high school can tell you, caffeine can only take the body so far. 

 

Only Nico and Jason had remained completely awake along with Leo, and the three were making the most of their time. Without playing the rest of the story, lest they face Piper’s wrath. 

 

Leo had plugged in the aux, and allowed Nico to choose songs from his ‘pre approved songs’ playlist. 

 

The group nap lasted about an hour, when Piper’s eye had slowly lifted at the familiar sound of Taylor Swift, mixed with Leo’s off key singing. Though, this time, he was joined by two seemingly unlikely, but rather obvious partners. 

 

“ You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath !” Leo screams, jumping in his seat, and slamming his hands up and down on the rim of the steering wheel. 

 

“ Sacred prayer and we'd swear to remember it all too well, yeah !” Nico and Jason joined in with Leo, all of their voices mixing in a terrible cacophony of noise.

 

Piper allowed herself to simply stay where she was, and just enjoyed the warmth of her pillow. Which was truly a testament to her comfort, as it was previously thought that it would take a freaking war to take her away from Taylor Swift. 

 

And even then, only just.

 

Then, the volume was turned up a good ten notches, and Piper was forced awake, as her pillow moved . She jumped up, her cheeks heating up. 

 

Apparently, what she had been lying on was not, in fact, a pillow. It had been none other than Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano. 

 

“What the hell?” Reyna hisses, her hands going up to rub at her temples. 

 

A small grunt came from the front seat. “I’m surprised you didn’t wake up when they did their rendition of the Cell Block Tango.”

 

Frank, who had also apparently woken up, looks hurt. “You guys sang Cell Block Tango without me ?”

 

“We sang it without Percy too.” Leo reminds him.

 

Frank sniffs. “I’m telling.”

 

The boys were no longer listening, having returned to their song. “ You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine. And that made me want to die !”

 

Hazel was somehow still sleeping peacefully, despite the fact that Nico was dramatically throwing his hands, incredibly close to her sleeping form.

 

Nico, Jason, and Leo continued on with their performance, ignoring their half asleep friends, glaring at them. 

 

Reyna grabbed a water bottle, and handed another one to Annabeth. Both girls take deep swigs, the water quelling their dry and parched throats. It was, afterall, nearly 80 degrees outside, and the sun had been beating onto them through the windows as they slept. 

 

“ Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it. I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it !” 

 

Hazel woke up in a flailing of limbs. The back of her head bumped into Nico’s chin, causing both siblings to groan in pain. 

 

Leo sighs, turning the volume down a bit. “Since everyone is awake, we might as well go back to listening to the story.” He glares at everyone through the mirror, but it was less intimidating, and more amusing. “As long as we can all behave ourselves.”

 

Everyone nods in response, and Leo shifts the radio back to the voice of young Percy, and pressing play.

 

Annabeth was waiting for us in an alley down Church Street. She pulled Tyson and me off the sidewalk just as a fire truck screamed past, heading for Meriwether Prep.

 

“Oh right, that’s still happening, isn’t it?” Leo asks softly. “It feels like months since we listened to that last chapter.”

 

Piper shrugs. “Must just be you.”

 

“Where’d you find him?” she demanded, pointing at Tyson.

 

Now, under different circumstances, I would’ve been really happy to see her. We’d made our peace last summer, despite the fact that her mom was Athena and didn’t get along with my dad. I’d missed Annabeth probably more than I wanted to admit.

 

Nico shakes his head, gently smiling. “He is such a dork.” 

 

Hazel’s smile was a bit more forced. “What does he mean, ‘under different circumstances’?”

 

“Haze, you’re starting to sound like Annabeth.” Nico says simply, mockingly shaking his head.

 

But I’d just been attacked by cannibal giants, Tyson had saved my life three or four times, and all Annabeth could do was glare at him like he was the problem.

 

“Here we go again.” Jason murmurs, ducking his head, obviously terrified of the possible reawakening of the previous conflict.

 

“He’s my friend,” I told her.

 

“Is he homeless?”

 

“That’s a bit straightforward.” Frank murmurs, looking a bit uncomfortable.

 

Annabeth winces. Even if Tyson and her weren’t currently on good terms, she would still be rather embarrassed about how she had handled this whole thing. As she herself had once been homeless, she wishes that she had been a little more supportive to him.

 

“What does that have to do with anything? He can hear you, you know. Why don’t you ask him?”

 

She looked surprised. “He can talk?”

 

“I talk,” Tyson admitted. “You are pretty.”

 

Reyna’s eyes widened comically. 

 

Her and Piper share a look, before Piper decides to say what everyone was obviously already thinking. “The Poseidon kids have a type.”

 

Annabeth flipped her off.

 

“Ah! Gross!” Annabeth stepped away from him.

 

I couldn’t believe she was being so rude. I examined Tyson’s hands, which I was sure must’ve been badly scorched by the flaming dodge balls, but they looked fine—grimy and scarred, with dirty fingernails the size of potato chips—but they always looked like that. “Tyson,” I said in disbelief. “Your hands aren’t even burned.”

 

“Oh, Percy.” Hazel sighs, one hand resting on her forehead. 

 

“I swear, this is like when they made Ron act all surprised that Hagrid was half giant.” Frank murmurs, shaking his head. 

 

“Hyper fixating on Harry Potter again?” Hazel asks them.

 

“Never stopped.”

 

“Of course not,” Annabeth muttered. “I’m surprised the Laistrygonians had the guts to attack you with him around.”

 

Once more, Percy didn’t quite pronounce the name correctly. He said it better than the last time, but it came out more as ‘lai-try-gone-ans’,

 

Tyson seemed fascinated by Annabeth’s blond hair. He tried to touch it, but she smacked his hand away.

 

“I felt that, though.” Nico sighs, reaching his own hand to Annabeth’s curls. Everyone that knew Nico was well aware of his need to play with hair when he was anxious. Which was pretty much all the time. 

 

“Annabeth,” I said, “what are you talking about? Laistry-what?”

 

Leo nods. “Yeah, I definitely need more of an explanation. I still have a shit ton of questions about Babycakes.”

 

“Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They’re a race of giant cannibals who live in the far north. Odysseus ran into them once, but I’ve never seen them as far south as New York before.”

 

“Yeah, that doesn’t really help all that much.” Leo deadpans, shrugging. “But, I guess it’ll do for now…” 

 

“Shove it, Valdez.” Annabeth rolls her eyes good naturedly.

 

Leo gasps in mock offense. “You kiss Percy with that mouth?”

 

“Laistry—I can’t even say that. What would you call them in English?”

 

She thought about it for a moment. “Canadians,” she decided. “Now come on, we have to get out of here.”

 

“Thanks for starting that.” Frank hums. 

 

“In my defense…” Annabeth says slowly. “No Canadians were supposed to hear that when I originally said it.”

 

“The police’ll be after me.”

 

“What’s new?” Reyna asks.

 

“That’s the least of our problems,” she said. “Have you been having the dreams?”

 

Piper jumps up in her seat. “The Grover dreams?” Whether she was excited or nervous, was unclear.

 

“The dreams … about Grover?”

 

Her face turned pale. “Grover? No, what about Grover?”

 

Hazel shakes her head. “And you call yourself a friend.” She deadpans. 

 

Nico raises an eyebrow at his sister. “I have been an influence on you, haven’t I?”

 

“Whether it is good or not, remains to be seen.” Hazel finishes, giving him a bright smile.

 

I told her my dream. “Why? What were you dreaming about?”

 

Her eyes looked stormy, like her mind was racing a million miles an hour.

 

“Do my eyes really do that?” Annabeth asks, one hand raising to touch her eyelids. 

 

“Yeah.” Piper replies. “They’re actually looking like that right now. It’s pretty. And kind of scary looking. But, mostly pretty.”

 

“Camp,” she said at last. “Big trouble at camp.”

 

“Right…” Leo groans. “That’s still happening.”

 

Reyna shakes her head. “This is way less fun than the demon math teacher.”

 

“My mom was saying the same thing! But what kind of trouble?”

 

“I don’t know exactly. Something’s wrong. We have to get there right away. Monsters have been chasing me all the way from Virginia, trying to stop me. Have you had a lot of attacks?”

 

Piper shakes her head. “Judging by the fact that it took him this long to blow up the gym, I’m gonna guess that that’s a big fat ‘no’.”

 

I shook my head. “None all year … until today.”

 

“None? But how …” Her eyes drifted to Tyson. “Oh.”

 

Frank pats their chest. “That’s my dude!” He bursts out, nodding. “Love him.”

 

Jason nods, far too quiet after pouring his heart out to Taylor Swift. “He’s a good guy.”

 

“What do you mean, ‘oh’?”

 

Tyson raised his hand like he was still in class. “Canadians in the gym called Percy something … Son of the Sea God?”

 

“Oop!” Piper hoots, her hands reaching out to cover her mouth.

 

Hazel starts clapping her hands together excitedly.

 

Annabeth and I exchanged looks.

 

I didn’t know how I could explain, but I figured Tyson deserved the truth after almost getting killed.

 

“Big guy,” I said, “you ever hear those old stories about the Greek gods? Like Zeus, Poseidon, Athena—”

 

Nico worries on his bottom lip. “Yeah… I don’t think that Tyson needs the preliminaries.” 

 

“Yeah… this is just giving me second hand embarrassment.” Leo hums. 

 

“Yes,” Tyson said.

 

“Well … those gods are still alive. They kind of follow Western Civilization around, living in the strongest countries , so like now they’re in the U.S. And sometimes they have kids with mortals. Kids called half-bloods.”

 

“Yes,” Tyson said, like he was still waiting for me to get to the point.

 

“I understand why Percy is confused, but all I can think of is six and a half foot cyclops, Tyson, and Percy trying to explain Greek mythology to him.” Piper whispers, blushing vividly at the embarrassment she was currently feeling as she listened.

 

“At least you weren’t there for it.” Annabeth sighs.

 

At this, Piper’s spine straightens. “What d’you mean? I am standing right there with you! I am the invisible ghost that follows you, that you don’t notice!”

 

“No, actually, that’s me.” Hazel giggles, wiggling her eyebrows amusedly.

 

“Uh, well, Annabeth and I are half-bloods,” I said. “We’re like … heroes-in-training. And whenever monsters pick up our scent, they attack us. That’s what those giants were in the gym. Monsters.”

 

“Yes.”

 

I stared at him. He didn’t seem surprised or confused by what I was telling him, which surprised and confused me. “So … you believe me?”

 

“Remind you of anything?” Hazel says so quietly, that only her brother can hear her. 

 

Nico actually lets out a little snort. “It’s like listening to a mirror.” Then he blinks. “That doesn’t actually make any sense. Just ignore that for now.”

 

Tyson nodded. “But you are … Son of the Sea God?”

 

“Eep!” Piper squeaks. “Now we’re getting somewhere!” 

 

Reyna shakes her head. “Denial is not just a river in Egypt.”

 

“Yeah,” I admitted. “My dad is Poseidon.”

 

Tyson frowned. Now he looked confused. “But then …”

 

“Come on…” Leo idly urges. “Get there quicker… I don’t need anxiety about this damned telenovela storyline along with trying to drive.” 

 

A siren wailed. A police car raced past our alley.

 

“We don’t have time for this,” Annabeth said. “We’ll talk in the taxi.”

 

“Annabeth!” Piper yells in indignation. “You were ruining a moment!” 

 

“I was stopping us from getting arrested!” Annabeth protests.

 

Piper crosses her arms over her chest in mock offense. “Same thing.

 

“A taxi all the way to camp?” I said. “You know how much money—”

 

Frank shrugs. “It’ll work if they kept the endless cash card from the casino.”

 

“That… is actually a fair point.” Nico hums, before grinning wickedly. “You are learning well.”

 

“Trust me.”

 

I hesitated. “What about Tyson?”

 

I imagined escorting my giant friend into Camp Half-Blood. If he freaked out on a regular playground with regular bullies, how would he act at a training camp for demigods? On the other hand, the cops would be looking for us.

 

Jason nods slowly. “... both… equally good points…”

 

Leo rolls his eyes. “Just take the cyclops boy. What’s the worst that could happen?”

 

Silence followed this statement, the rest of the car quite literally waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

“We can’t just leave him,” I decided. “He’ll be in trouble, too.”

 

“Yeah.” Annabeth looked grim. “We definitely need to take him. Now come on.”

 

Hazel waves her hands around. “I know it's several years too late for this suggestion, but I think that Tyson should have been included in the conversation… Just a thought…”

 

I didn’t like the way she said that, as if Tyson were a big disease we needed to get to the hospital, but I followed her down the alley. Together the three of us sneaked through the side streets of downtown while a huge column of smoke billowed up behind us from my school gymnasium.

 

Annabeth winces at the description, her thumb going to her lips in nerves. She didn’t bite it, she just enjoyed the motion, allowing it to calm her. Most people didn’t like reliving their terrible past decisions. 

 

Most people weren’t also hearing them retold from the perspective of their current boyfriend in front of all of their friends. Fun.

 

“Here.” Annabeth stopped us on the corner of Thomas and Trimble. She fished around in her backpack. “I hope I have one left.”

 

She looked even worse than I’d realized at first. Her chin was cut. Twigs and grass were tangled in her ponytail, as if she’d slept several nights in the open. The slashes on the hems of her jeans looked suspiciously like claw marks.

 

Nico’s hands reach out to gently card through Annabeth’s curls. As an act of comfort for him or her, not even I know. 

 

“What are you looking for?” I asked.

 

All around us, sirens wailed. I figured it wouldn’t be long before more cops cruised by, looking for juvenile delinquent gym-bombers. No doubt Matt Sloan had given them a statement by now. He’d probably twisted the story around so that Tyson and I were the bloodthirsty cannibals.

 

Piper wrinkles her nose, and sticks her tongue out at that. “Matt Sloan. Cannibals. Blood. This is not good for my mental stability.”

 

“Found one. Thank the gods.” Annabeth pulled out a gold coin that I recognized as a drachma, the currency of Mount Olympus. It had Zeus’s likeness stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other.

 

“Real subtle.” Jason grumbles, rolling his eyes. 

 

Leo laughs. “Can someone say Narcissus?”

 

“Echo probably could.” Hazel sighs.

 

Leo shakes his head. “Okay, that was below the belt!”

 

“Annabeth,” I said, “New York taxi drivers won’t take that.”

 

”Stêthi,” she shouted in Ancient Greek. “Ô hárma diabolês!”

 

Frank found himself jumping back at the almost possessed way in which Percy yelled the words. They didn’t necessarily understand Greek, and only a little bit of Latin, but it always kind of creeped him out whenever one of their friends started randomly speaking a different language.

 

As usual, the moment she spoke in the language of Olympus, I somehow understood it.

 

She’d said: Stop, Chariot of Damnation!

 

Leo shrugs. “Well, if you insist.” 

 

Jason jumps when Leo mimes moving the car to the side of the road, but Leo just rolls his eyes in response to his friends worrying. 

 

“I’m not actually gonna pull over. Relax.”

 

That didn’t exactly make me feel real excited about whatever her plan was.

 

She threw her coin into the street, but instead of clattering on the asphalt, the drachma sank right through and disappeared.

 

“What the fuck?” Reyna murmurs, her head snapping backwards. “That's… odd.”

 

For a moment, nothing happened.

 

Then, just where the coin had fallen, the asphalt darkened. It melted into a rectangular pool about the size of a parking space—bubbling red liquid like blood. Then a car erupted from the ooze.

 

“No.” Piper disagrees. “ That is odd.” 

 

“It’s just all so weird.” Hazel murmurs, both eyes wide.

 

It was a taxi, all right, but unlike every other taxi in New York, it wasn’t yellow. It was smoky gray. I mean it looked like it was woven out of smoke, like you could walk right through it. There were words printed on the door—something like GYAR SSIRES—but my dyslexia made it hard for me to decipher what it said.

 

“G…gray sisters?” Frank asks, pressing the letters together into his mind in a way that made sense. 

 

Piper’s spine straightens. “The gray sisters?” She asks, her voice high pitched.

 

The passenger window rolled down, and an old woman stuck her head out. She had a mop of grizzled hair covering her eyes, and she spoke in a weird mumbling way, like she’d just had a shot of Novocain. “Passage? Passage?”

 

“I don’t actually know who the gray sisters are…?” Leo states to his friend.

 

Piper makes a retching sound. “You remember the fates from the movie Hercules?” 

 

“Yes…” Leo says slowly.

 

“That’s what they’re like.” She murmurs, already imagining what Percy’s overly descriptive words would come up with.

 

“Three to Camp Half-Blood,” Annabeth said. She opened the cab’s back door and waved at me to get in, like this was all completely normal.

 

“Ach!” the old woman screeched. “We don’t take his kind!”

 

Hazel wrinkles her nose in distaste. “ Rude .” 

 

She pointed a bony finger at Tyson.

 

What was it? Pick-on-Big-and-Ugly-Kids Day?

 

“Kind of a hypocritical statement.” Piper murmurs, rolling her eyes. “Though, I guess it was better than saying out loud.”

 

Jason scrunches up his nose, an awkward look crossing his face. “Is it?”

 

“Extra pay,” Annabeth promised. “Three more drachma on arrival.”

 

“Done!” the woman screamed.

 

Reluctantly I got in the cab. Tyson squeezed in the middle. Annabeth crawled in last.

 

“Some things never change.” Reyna smiles gently, gesturing towards the window that Annabeth was sitting next to.

 

Annabeth shrugs. “I don’t like closed spaces.”

 

The interior was also smoky gray, but it felt solid enough. The seat was cracked and lumpy—no different than most taxis. There was no Plexiglas screen separating us from the old lady driving … Wait a minute. There wasn’t just one old lady. There were three, all crammed in the front seat, each with stringy hair covering her eyes, bony hands, and a charcoal-colored sackcloth dress.

 

“I’d still take it over this.” Nico hums, rubbing his hands over the velvet like texture of the grey seats they were sitting on. At least the places where the material was still covered. Most of it was opened up to reveal white stuffing, and black springs. 

 

The one driving said, “Long Island! Out-of-metro fare bonus! Ha!”

 

She floored the accelerator, and my head slammed against the backrest. A prerecorded voice came on over the speaker: Hi, this is Ganymede, cup-bearer to Zeus, and when I’m out buying wine for the Lord of the Skies, I always buckle up!

 

“Ganymede is a moon. That circles Jupiter.” Leo says, bouncing in his seat. “And Jupiter is Zeus’ Roman counterpart. Fun!” 

 

Hazel puts a hand on his shoulder, and rubs it, an adoring smile displayed on her face.

 

I looked down and found a large black chain instead of a seat belt. I decided I wasn’t that desperate … yet.

 

The cab sped around the corner of West Broadway, and the gray lady sitting in the middle screeched, “Look out! Go left!”

 

“Well, if you’d give me the eye, Tempest, I could see that!” the driver complained.

 

“The eye.” Piper shudders, tugging at the end of her braids. “I hate eyes that are constantly inside a person’s eye.”

 

Wait a minute. Give her the eye?

 

I didn’t have time to ask questions because the driver swerved to avoid an oncoming delivery truck, ran over the curb with a jaw-rattling thump, and flew into the next block.

 

“Sounds pretty on par with New York cab drivers.” Annabeth shrugs.

 

Nico rolls his eyes good naturedly. “I wonder why I live here.”

 

Hazel laughs. “Same.”

 

“Huh?” Nico asks.

 

“Huh?” Hazel repeats, her eyes wide.

 

“Wasp!” the third lady said to the driver. “Give me the girl’s coin! I want to bite it.”

 

“You bit it last time, Anger!” said the driver, whose name must’ve been Wasp. “It’s my turn!”

 

‘ Bite i t?’ Frank mouths, pinching their bottom lip in between their fingers, confusion written plainly on his face.. 

 

“Is not!” yelled the one called Anger.

 

Leo scrunches his nose. “I never thought I would say this, but why can’t they both bite the coin?”

 

“Covid.” Piper replies.

 

The middle one, Tempest, screamed, “Red light!”

 

“Brake!” yelled Anger.

 

Instead, Wasp floored the accelerator and rode up on the curb, screeching around another corner, and knocking over a newspaper box. She left my stomach somewhere back on Broome Street.

 

“This actually explains some of Annabeth’s driving skills.” Jason hisses into Frank’s ear. 

 

Frank leans back. “Shut up, she can most definitely hear us.”

 

“Yup.” Annabeth replies, the coolness of the window leaking into her head, through her temples.

 

“Excuse me,” I said. “But …can you see?”

 

Hazel shakes her head. “Should’ve asked that before you got into the ‘Chariot of Damnation’ .”

 

“No!” screamed Wasp from behind the wheel.

 

“No!” screamed Tempest from the middle.

 

“Of course!” screamed Anger by the shotgun window.

 

Reyna just blinks. “How in the hell has he survived this long?”

 

“ Before or after this ride?” Piper questions.

 

“ During .”

 

I looked at Annabeth. “They’re blind?”

 

“Not completely,” Annabeth said. “They have an eye.”

 

“How reassuring.” Nico deadpans. “And you wonder why we don’t let you drive.”

 

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “You recommend a blind cab driver one time!” 

 

“One eye?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Each?”

 

“No. One eye total.”

 

Leo shakes his head. “This is somehow amusing from an outside perspective, but also horrifying in the fact that this actually happened to not one, but two of our friends.

 

Next to me, Tyson groaned and grabbed the seat. “Not feeling so good.”

 

“Oh, man,” I said, because I’d seen Tyson get carsick on school field trips and it was not something you wanted to be within fifty feet of. “Hang in there, big guy. Anybody got a garbage bag or something?”

 

“If you ever threw up on me, I would kill you.” Hazel tells Nico seriously. 

 

“Diddo.” 

 

The three gray ladies were too busy squabbling to pay me any attention. I looked over at Annabeth, who was hanging on for dear life, and I gave her a why-did-you-do-this-to-me look.

 

“Aw, the why-did-you-do-this-to-me look.” Piper coos. “Usually given to parents, gods, and Annabeth Chase.”

 

“Oh, fuck off.” Annabeth groans. 

 

“Hey,” she said, “Gray Sisters Taxi is the fastest way to camp.”

 

“Then why didn’t you take it from Virginia?”

 

“That’s outside their service area,” she said, like that should be obvious. “They only serve Greater New York and surrounding communities.”

 

“Oh, thank gods!” Reyna gasps, pressing her hand to her heart. She looked more relieved than any of the times that she had miraculously survived.

 

“We’ve had famous people in this cab!” Anger exclaimed. “Jason! You remember him?”

 

Jason shivers. “I know they aren’t talking about me, but it literally feels like somebody just stepped on my theoretical grave.”

 

“Don’t remind me!” Wasp wailed. “And we didn’t have a cab back then, you old bat. That was three thousand years ago!”

 

“Give me the tooth!” Anger tried to grab at Wasp’s mouth, but Wasp swatted her hand away.

 

“The…” Frank actually gags. “ Tooth ? As in… singular…?” Their voice takes on a high pitched quality. 

 

Piper retches once more.

 

“Only if Tempest gives me the eye!”

 

“No!” Tempest screeched. “You had it yesterday!”

 

Hazel scrunches up her nose. “But isn’t Wasp driving?”

 

“But I’m driving, you old hag!”

 

“I don't know how I feel about this.” Hazel squishes her face.

 

“Excuses! Turn! That was your turn!”

 

Wasp swerved hard onto Delancey Street, squishing me between Tyson and the door. She punched the gas and we shot up the Williamsburg Bridge at seventy miles an hour.

 

Annabeth wiggles her shoulders, obviously uncomfortable with the thought of being squished under the 300 pound cyclops. Especially in an already crammed car. 

 

Bleh.

 

The three sisters were fighting for real now, slapping each other as Anger tried to grab at Wasp’s face and Wasp tried to grab at Tempest’s. With their hair flying and their mouths open, screaming at each other, I realized that none of the sisters had any teeth except for Wasp, who had one mossy yellow incisor. Instead of eyes, they just had closed, sunken eyelids, except for Anger, who had one bloodshot green eye that stared at everything hungrily, as if it couldn’t get enough of anything it saw.

 

“And, there it is.” Piper grimaces. She would be impressed with Percy’s word choices, if he didn’t have a tendency to only describe the most gross of events.

 

Finally Anger, who had the advantage of sight, managed to yank the tooth out of her sister Wasp’s mouth. This made Wasp so mad she swerved toward the edge of the Williamsburg Bridge, yelling, “‘Ivit back! ‘Ivit back!”

 

“Okay, which sister has the eye?!” Reyna yells. “He keeps changing it, and I am so confused.”

 

Piper places her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “Calm, babes, calm.”

 

Tyson groaned and clutched his stomach.

 

“Uh, if anybody’s interested,” I said, “we’re going to die!”

 

“Finally, somebody is saying something productive!” Leo screeches, shaking his head in exasperation.

 

“Don’t worry,” Annabeth told me, sounding pretty worried. “The Gray Sisters know what they’re doing. They’re really very wise.”

 

This coming from the daughter of Athena, but I wasn’t exactly reassured. We were skimming along the edge of a bridge a hundred and thirty feet above the East River.

 

“Yeah, I’m never gonna side with you in an argument about driving again.” Nico tells Annabeth, but he says it in a gentle, poking fun kind of way. She just rolls her eyes in exasperated amusement.

 

“Yes, wise!” Anger grinned in the rearview mirror, showing off her newly acquired tooth. “We know things!”

 

“Every street in Manhattan!” Wasp bragged, still hitting her sister. “The capital of Nepal!”

 

“That is impressive.” Reyna hums. 

 

Frank shrugs. “It’s Kathmandu.”

 

“You suck.” Reyna says, though she doesn’t really sound like she believes her words.

 

“The location you seek!” Tempest added.

 

“What location?” Hazel asks, immediately sitting on the edge of her seat.

 

Immediately her sisters pummeled her from either side, screaming, “Be quiet! Be quiet! He didn’t even ask yet!”

 

“What?” I said. “What location? I’m not seeking any—”

 

“Nothing!” Tempest said. “You’re right, boy. It’s nothing!”

 

“What?” Jason squeaks in a rather un-Jason-like way. If that makes sense. “What is it?”

 

“Okay, now I’m invested.” Leo hums, incessantly tapping his fingers against the rim of the wheel.

 

“Tell me.”

 

“No!” they all screamed.

 

“The last time we told, it was horrible!” Tempest said.

 

Annabeth actually giggles at that. 

 

“What is it?” Piper questions, leaning forward. “Planning another one of our deaths by car crash?”

 

Annabeth just shakes her head. “Do you remember the original tale of Perseus?”

 

“Eye tossed in a lake!” Anger agreed.

 

Piper’s eyes widened. “Oh, gods, no.” She whispers, horrified.

 

“Years to find it again!” Wasp moaned. “And speaking of that—give it back!”

 

“No!” yelled Anger.

 

“Eye!” Wasp yelled. “Gimme!”

 

“Great…” Frank groans. “We’re back on this. It’s chaotic moments like this that made me wish I was comfortable with cursing.”

 

She whacked her sister Anger on the back. There was a sickening pop and something flew out of Anger’s face. Anger fumbled for it, trying to catch it, but she only managed to bat it with the back of her hand. The slimy green orb sailed over her shoulder, into the backseat, and straight into my lap.

 

Piper slammed her hands over her ears, eyes squeezed together until stars floated in her vision. “Fuck this.” She hisses.

 

Reyna looks like she wants to comfort Piper, but thinks better of touching her right now.

 

I jumped so hard, my head hit the ceiling and the eyeball rolled away.

 

“I can’t see!” all three sisters yelled.

 

“Not that I didn’t expect it, but this keeps getting worse and worse.” Hazel huffs, wrapping her arms around her chest in a comforting manner.

 

“Give me the eye!” Wasp wailed.

 

“Give her the eye!” Annabeth screamed.

 

“I don’t have it!” I said.

 

“Well, then, get it!” Frank screeches, their fingers digging into their palms until little crescents form in the skin.

 

“There, by your foot,” Annabeth said. “Don’t step on it! Get it!”

 

“I’m not picking that up!”

 

“Good for you, Percy.” Piper whispers, allowing her ears to filter in at least a little bit of noise from the radio. Her breathing was still slightly erratic, but she was looking a bit better.

 

The taxi slammed against the guardrail and skidded along with a horrible grinding noise. The whole car shuddered, billowing gray smoke as if it were about to dissolve from the strain.

 

“Going to be sick!” Tyson warned.

 

“So am I.” Leo grumbles, grimacing until his mouth resembles the shape of an omega.

 

“Annabeth,” I yelled, “let Tyson use your backpack!”

 

“Are you crazy? Get the eye!”

 

Nico disagrees, “It is not worth it.” 

 

Wasp yanked the wheel, and the taxi swerved away from the rail. We hurtled down the bridge toward Brooklyn, going faster than any human taxi. The Gray Sisters screeched and pummeled each other and cried out for their eye.

 

At last I steeled my nerves. I ripped off a chunk of my tie-dyed T-shirt, which was already falling apart from all the burn marks, and used it to pick the eyeball off the floor.

 

Piper’s whole body shudders in revulsion, but she takes deep, slow breaths in an effort to calm her nerves.

 

“Nice boy!” Anger cried, as if she somehow knew I had her missing peeper. “Give it back!”

 

“Not until you explain,” I told her. “What were you talking about, the location I seek?”

 

“Just give her the damned eye.” Hazel hisses. She wasn’t doing as badly as Piper, but who in the Hell is comfortable with thinking about a severed eye?

 

“No time!” Tempest cried. “Accelerating!”

 

I looked out the window. Sure enough, trees and cars and whole neighborhoods were now zipping by in a gray blur. We were already out of Brooklyn, heading through the middle of Long Island.

 

“Percy,” Annabeth warned, “they can’t find our destination without the eye. We’ll just keep accelerating until we break into a million pieces.”

 

“Oh, now you’re worried about acceleration?!” Reyna exclaims, eyes wide.

 

Annabeth shakes her head. “You weren’t there . I still have nightmares about Percy holding that eye.”

 

“First they have to tell me,” I said. “Or I’ll open the window and throw the eye into oncoming traffic.”

 

“No!” the Gray Sisters wailed. “Too dangerous!”

 

“Just. Give. Them. The. Eye!” Frank practically shouts, his eyes bulging in a way that genuinely made the others worried that his own eye was about to pop out of his skull.

 

“I’m rolling down the window.”

 

“Wait!” the Gray Sisters screamed. “30, 31, 75, 12!”

 

They belted it out like a quarterback calling a play.

 

“Freaky.” Leo and Jason murmur at the same time, as if they, too, were like the connected sisters. 

 

They might not be sharing an eye and a tooth, but they already shared french fries . And Leo was stingy with his fries.

 

“What do you mean?” I said. “That makes no sense!”

 

“30, 31, 75, 12!” Anger wailed. “That’s all we can tell you. Now give us the eye! Almost to camp!”

 

“Oh, thank the gods.” Piper hums, swallowing hard.

 

We were off the highway now, zipping through the countryside of northern Long Island. I could see Half-Blood Hill ahead of us, with its giant pine tree at the crest—Thalia’s tree, which contained the life force or a fallen hero.

 

“This story is making me feel worse and worse.” Jason sighs, looking exhausted for the first time all morning. 

 

“Percy!” Annabeth said more urgently. “Give them the eye now!”

 

I decided not to argue. I threw the eye into Wasp’s lap.

 

“ Finally !” The entire car groans, thankful to no longer have to be worried about their friend, and is inability to not almost die.

 

The old lady snatched it up, pushed it into her eye socket like somebody putting in a contact lens, and blinked. “Whoa!”

 

Reyna sticks her tongue out. “Contacts. Gross.”

 

“Agreed.” Piper sighs, high fiving the other girl.

 

She slammed on the brakes. The taxi spun four or five times in a cloud of smoke and squealed to a halt in the middle of the farm road at the base of Half-Blood Hill.

 

Tyson let loose a huge belch. “Better now.”

 

Hazel gave a tightlipped smile. “Wish I could say the same.”

 

“All right,” I told the Gray Sisters. “Now tell me what those numbers mean.”

 

“No time!” Annabeth opened her door. “We have to get out now.”

 

“Why?” The whole car once again echoed. 

 

They might not totally be enjoying the story so far, but they'd be damned to say that they weren’t oddly invested in what was happening next.

 

I was about to ask why, when I looked up at Half-Blood Hill and understood.

 

At the crest of the hill was a group of campers. And they were under attack.

Notes:

yeah, so i'm pretty sure I wrote a majority of these twenty pages today. so, that's fun.
i have mostly been away for so long, because i have gained a terrible hyperfixation on harry potter recently. like, the longest one i've had since i was ten and read the books in the first place.
i actually found the best fanfiction ever, called Kaleidoscopic Grangers, if you're into Harry Potter, i definitely recommend, cause i've been reading it nonstop for like two weeks, and i'm still so invested its insane.
have also considered writing my own hp fanfiction... so, yeah, its been a ride. do not worry, i have not forgotten about this one, which is why i spent the last five hours writing this ToT
anyways, hope you liked it. 'til next time!

Chapter 4: Tyson Plays With Fire

Notes:

Okay, I'm finally back. Please enjoy!

“Shit,” Piper sighs. “Do we not get a single break?” 

 

Hazel gives her a look that clearly says: ‘You know that we do not’.

 

Mythologically speaking, if there’s anything I hate worse than trios of old ladies, it’s bulls.

 

Leo raises a dubious eyebrow. “And yet, he has only faced one of those things, mythologically speaking.”

 

“Twice.” Jason inputs.

 

“He faced the minotaur.” Nico reminds them. 

 

Leo shakes his head. “That doesn’t count.”

 

Last summer, I fought the Minotaur on top of Half-Blood Hill. This time what I saw up there was even worse: two bulls. And not just regular bulls—bronze ones the size of elephants. And even that wasn’t bad enough. Naturally they had to breathe fire, too.

 

“Naturally.” Frank hums.

 

“Awesome.” Leo whispers in awe at the exact same moment.

 

As soon as we exited the taxi, the Gray Sisters peeled out, heading back to New York, where life was safer. They didn’t even wait for their extra three-drachma payment. They just left us on the side of the road, Annabeth with nothing but her backpack and knife, Tyson and me still in our burned-up tie-dyed gym clothes.

 

“Is it weird that I’m cheering on the Gray Sisters in this situation?” Reyna asks. 

 

“A bit, yeah.” Piper answers honestly. “But, their way is smarter than whatever the hell is gonna happen here, so it is understandable.”

 

“Oh, man,” said Annabeth, looking at the battle raging on the hill.

 

What worried me most weren’t the bulls themselves. Or the ten heroes in full battle armor who were getting their bronze-plated booties whooped. What worried me was that the bulls were ranging all over the hill, even around the back side of the pine tree. That shouldn’t have been possible. The camp’s magic boundaries didn’t allow monsters to cross past Thalia’s tree. But the metal bulls were doing it anyway.

 

Jason’s spine straightens. “What?” He asks softly. “That shouldn’t be possible.” He whispers, pretty much just repeating what Percy had just said.

 

Though, really, you can’t blame Jason. It was only yesterday when he had found out that his sister had once been a pine tree, and that her ex best friend was a terrorist that tried committing murder in her name.

 

We should really be thankful that he was still understandable, honestly.

 

One of the heroes shouted, “Border patrol, to me!” A girl’s voice—gruff and familiar.

 

Border patrol? I thought. The camp didn’t have a border patrol.

 

“We don’t have it anymore, either.” Annabeth inserts.

 

“Thank gods for that.” Nico said in a distinctly ‘dramatic gay™’ way. “I would die .”

 

“It’s Clarisse,” Annabeth said. “Come on, we have to help her.”

 

Normally, rushing to Clarisse’s aid would not have been high on my “to do” list. She was one of the biggest bullies at camp. The first time we’d met she tried to introduce my head to a toilet. She was also a daughter of Ares, and I’d had a very serious disagreement with her father last summer, so now the god of war and all his children basically hated my guts.

 

Frank just crosses their arms over his chest. “This seems like such an unneeded cut scene.”

 

Hazel giggles. “Yeah, like, ‘oh, here's some robot bulls, but let me take a moment to remind you of just why I have a mutual dislike of this one girl’.”

 

“That’s the adhd for you.” Leo sighs. “One minute you’re talking all about Percy Jackson and his adventures, the next, you’re hyper fixating on Harry Potter, and writing a series of fanfiction in an attempt to get rid of it.”

 

Still, she was in trouble. Her fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. The grass was burning in huge swathes around the pine tree. One hero screamed and waved his arms as he ran in circles, the horsehair plume on his helmet blazing like a fiery Mohawk.

 

“That is so a hairstyle I would want to try.” Leo says aloud.

 

“No.” Annabeth cut him off immediately.

 

“But it’s not like it would hurt. Me, at least.” 

 

“No.”

 

“But-”

 

“ No .”

 

Clarisse’s own armor was charred. She was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull’s shoulder.

 

Frank pumps his fist into the air. Almost as if silently saying, ‘that’s my sister’.

 

I uncapped my ballpoint pen. It shimmered, growing longer and heavier until I held the bronze sword Anaklusmos in my hands. “Tyson, stay here. I don’t want you taking any more chances.”

 

“No!” Annabeth said. “We need him.”

 

“That’s fair.” Reyna agrees. “Strategically speaking, at least. Tyson would help more than the fiery mohawk guy.”

 

I stared at her. “He’s mortal. He got lucky with the dodge balls but he can’t—”

 

Piper winces, pinching her nose. “Oh, Percy. We all know that Tyche doesn’t work like that.”

 

“Fortuna, but whatever.” Reyna whispers to her, voice laced with humor. Piper smiles softly.

 

“Percy, do you know what those are up there? The Colchis bulls, made by Hephaestus himself. We can’t fight them without Medea’s Sunscreen SPF 50,000. We’ll get burned to a crisp.”

 

Piper makes a sound similar to that of hacking up phlegm. “That bitch.”

 

“Medea’s what?”

 

Annabeth rummaged through her backpack and cursed. “I had a jar of tropical coconut scent sitting on my night-stand at home. Why didn’t I bring it?”

 

“I’m still pissed about that.” Annabeth grumbles.

 

Jason points at the blonde girl. “Now that’s how Fortuna works.”

 

I’d learned a long time ago not to question Annabeth too much. It just made me more confused. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not going to let Tyson get fried.”

 

“Aww,” Hazel coos. She turns to her brother. “Would you stop me from getting burned to a crisp?”

 

Nico shrugs, as if he didn’t really care. “Eh?”

 

“Percy—”

 

“Tyson, stay back.” I raised my sword. “I’m going in.”

 

“That is such a bad idea.” Hazel stresses, pinching her nose. 

 

“Respect.” Leo laughs.

 

Tyson tried to protest, but I was already running up the hill toward Clarisse, who was yelling at her patrol, trying to get them into phalanx formation. It was a good idea. The few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide—and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills.

 

This time, Frank didn’t resist their urges. “That’s my sister!” 

 

“Didn’t you only meet her a year and a half ago?” Jason asks him. 

 

“Didn’t you just find out yesterday that your sister was a tree?”

 

“Touche.” 

 

Unfortunately, Clarisse could only muster six campers. The other four were still running around with their helmets on fire. Annabeth ran toward them, trying to help. She taunted one of the bulls into chasing her, then turned invisible, completely confusing the monster. The other bull charged Clarisse’s line.

 

“Little Annabeth really was that bitch.” Reyna murmurs. Annabeth sends her a wink from the front seat.

 

“Okay moms .” Hazel laughs.

 

I was halfway up the hill—not close enough to help. Clarisse hadn’t even seen me yet.

 

The bull moved deadly fast for something so big. Its metal hide gleamed in the sun. It had fist-sized rubies for eyes, and horns of polished silver. When it opened its hinged mouth, a column of white-hot flame blasted out.

 

“Not to be that guy ,” Leo starts. “But my estranged father built that instead of raising me or paying child support.” It’s hard to tell if he sounded bitter or proud, as Leo really only had one tone. 

 

“Hold the line!” Clarisse ordered her warriors.

 

Whatever else you could say about Clarisse, she was brave. She was a big girl with cruel eyes like her father’s. She looked like she was born to wear Greek battle armor, but I didn’t see how even she could stand against that bull’s charge.

 

“Oh shit.” Hazel murmurs.

 

Unfortunately, at that moment, the other bull lost interest in finding Annabeth. It turned, wheeling around behind Clarisse on her unprotected side.

 

“Oh shit .” She repeats, her eyes turning the size of saucers.

 

“Behind you!” I yelled. “Look out!”

 

I shouldn’t have said anything, because all I did was startle her. Bull Number One crashed into her shield, and the phalanx broke. Clarisse went flying backward and landed in a smoldering patch of grass. The bull charged past her, but not before blasting the other heroes with its fiery breath. Their shields melted right off their arms. They dropped their weapons and ran as Bull Number Two closed in on Clarisse for the kill.

 

“Weaklings.” Reyna huffs under her breath, shaking her head. “They act like a third degree burn is life altering.”

 

“Are you being serious?” Annabeth asks, her eyebrows furrowed. “Not that I’m disagreeing with you either way, I’m just not great with the social cues.”

 

I lunged forward and grabbed Clarisse by the straps of her armor. I dragged her out of the way just as Bull Number Two freight-trained past. I gave it a good swipe with Riptide and cut a huge gash in its flank, but the monster just creaked and groaned and kept on going.

 

It hadn’t touched me, but I could feel the heat of its metal skin. Its body temperature could’ve microwaved a frozen burrito.

 

“Mmm,” Piper says in her best imitation of Homer Simpson. “Burrito.” 

 

“Weird ass vegetarian.” Nico huffs in mock disapproval.

 

“Let me go!” Clarisse pummeled my hand. “Percy, curse you!”

 

I dropped her in a heap next to the pine tree and turned to face the bulls. We were on the inside slope of the hill now, the valley of Camp Half-Blood directly below us—the cabins, the training facilities, the Big House—all of it at risk if these bulls got past us.

 

“How did he drag her?” Piper asks aloud. “I’ve seen photos of both of them around this age, and Clarisse was a foot taller than him, and way more muscular.” She then shoots a look at Annabeth up front. “No offense.”

 

Annabeth shouted orders to the other heroes, telling them to spread out and keep the bulls distracted.

 

Bull Number One ran a wide arc, making its way back toward me. As it passed the middle of the hill, where the invisible boundary line should’ve kept it out, it slowed down a little, as if it were struggling against a strong wind; but then it broke through and kept coming. Bull Number Two turned to face me, fire sputtering from the gash I’d cut in its side. I couldn’t tell if it felt any pain, but its ruby eyes seemed to glare at me like I’d just made things personal.

 

“Does he ever stop enraging mythological bulls?” Jason asks, his face pressed into the side of his seat belt.

 

Annabeth replies, raising a single blonde eyebrow. “I think you’ve known him long enough to guess the answer to that.” 

 

I couldn’t fight both bulls at the same time. I’d have to take down Bull Number Two first, cut its head off before Bull Number One charged back into range. My arms already felt tired. I realized how long it had been since I’d worked out with Riptide, how out of practice I was.

 

“Rookie mistake.” Nico sighs, pinching the fabric of his black jeans in between his fingers. Whether it was anxiety, or just needing something to do, was unclear. Perhaps it was both.

 

I lunged but Bull Number Two blew flames at me. I rolled aside as the air turned to pure heat. All the oxygen was sucked out of my lungs. My foot caught on something—a tree root, maybe—and pain shot up my ankle. Still, I managed to slash with my sword and lop off part of the monster’s snout. It galloped away, wild and disoriented. But before I could feel too good about that, I tried to stand, and my left leg buckled underneath me. My ankle was sprained, maybe broken.

 

“Couldn’t be me.” Jason laughs.

 

“Nope.” Hazel agrees. “By the way, how's your brick?”

 

Jason narrows his eyes. “Good.”

 

Bull Number One charged straight toward me. No way could I crawl out of its path.

 

Annabeth shouted: “Tyson, help him!”

 

“Yes, go Tyson!” Frank squeals, jumping up and down in his seat.

 

Leo giggles under his breath. “Enjoy that, Jace!” 

 

Jason sticks his tongue out in the direction of the rearview mirror. Leo smiles, but pretends that he didn’t see it.

 

Somewhere near, toward the crest of the hill, Tyson wailed, “Can’t—get—through!”

 

“I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!”

 

Thunder shook the hillside. Suddenly Tyson was there, barreling toward me, yelling: “Percy needs help!”

 

“Aww.” Reyna coos, her face resembling that of the pouting emoji. Then she schools her features before anyone else can see. Of course, Piper notices, but neither of them mention it.

 

Before I could tell him no, he dove between me and the bull just as it unleashed a nuclear firestorm.

 

“Tyson!” I yelled.

 

Under other circumstances, this probably would have made the entire car gasp in a mixture of nervousness and surprise. However, even though only one of them had actually lived through the whole thing, the others had quite a good idea at this point of what Tyson was and wasn’t capable of.

 

The blast swirled around him like a red tornado. I could only see the black silhouette of his body. I knew with horrible certainty that my friend had just been turned into a column of ashes.

 

“Do you, though?” Reyna asks, arching one of her dark eyebrows at the radio.

 

But when the fire died, Tyson was still standing there, completely unharmed. Not even his grungy clothes were scorched. The bull must’ve been as surprised as I was, because before it could unleash a second blast, Tyson balled his fists and slammed them into the bull’s face. “BAD COW!”

 

“Go Tyson!” Frank cheers, their arms pumping up and down. “I have way too much energy right now.”

 

His fists made a crater where the bronze bull’s snout used to be. Two small columns of flame shot out of its ears. Tyson hit it again, and the bronze crumpled under his hands like aluminum foil.

 

“Damn.” Hazel murmurs, her eyebrows reaching towards her hairline. 

 

“Would you do that for me?” Nico repeats her question from earlier. 

 

“Eh?” She replies, though the smirk tugging at the corner of her lips gives her away.

 

The bull’s face now looked like a sock puppet pulled inside out.

 

“Down!” Tyson yelled.

 

The bull staggered and fell on its back. Its legs moved feebly in the air, steam coming out of its ruined head in odd places.

 

“I am torn between being impressed by Tyson, and sad for that machine.” Leo admits, his eyebrows pulled together as if he were being pulled into an existential crisis.

 

Annabeth ran over to check on me.

 

My ankle felt like it was filled with acid, but she gave me some Olympian nectar to drink from her canteen, and I immediately started to feel better. There was a burning smell that I later learned was me. The hair on my arms had been completely singed off.

 

“He smelled like burnt popcorn.” Annabeth recalls, an almost wistful look coming into her eyes.

 

Piper squints at her friend. “You’re weird.”

 

“The other bull?” I asked.

 

Annabeth pointed down the hill. Clarisse had taken care of Bad Cow Number Two. She’d impaled it through the back leg with a celestial bronze spear. Now, with its snout half gone and a huge gash in its side, it was trying to run in slow motion, going in circles like some kind of merry-go-round animal.

 

“Go, girl.” Reyna says under breath, nodding, and crossing her arms over her chest in a show of respect.

 

Clarisse pulled off her helmet and marched toward us. A strand of her stringy brown hair was smoldering, but she didn’t seem to notice. “You—ruin—everything!” she yelled at me. “I had it under control!”

 

“Obviously.” Jason hums, his eyes going cloudy. “She doesn’t hate me, right?” 

 

No one in the car meets his eyes. 

 

I was too stunned to answer. Annabeth grumbled, “Good to see you too, Clarisse.”

 

“Argh!” Clarisse screamed. “Don’t ever, EVER try saving me again!”

 

Nico laughs. “I could have told him that. Even before the drakon incident.”

 

“What incident?” Frank asks, his head popping up to look at their friend. 

 

“Clarisse,” Annabeth said, “you’ve got wounded campers.”

 

That sobered her up. Even Clarisse cared about the soldiers under her command.

 

Nico nods. “She was the best commanding officer I’ve ever had. No offense, Annabeth.” 

 

“None taken.” Annabeth replies, looking as if she very much agreed with Nico’s sentiment.

 

“I’ll be back,” she growled, then trudged off to assess the damage.

 

I stared at Tyson. “You didn’t die.”

 

Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed. “I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you.”

 

“Aww, poor thing.” Piper sighs, face filled for remorse at the words that had come from the cyclops’ mouth. 

 

“My fault,” Annabeth said. “I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would’ve died.”

 

“Let him cross the boundary line?’” I asked. “But—”

 

“Uh oh…” Leo whispers, reverence seeping into his voice. “It’s happening…”

 

“Percy,” she said, “have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean … in the face. Ignore the Mist, and really look at him.”

 

A collective intake of breath reverberates around the confined space. This was far more interesting than the possibility of their cyclops friend possibly being disintegrated into a pile of ash.

 

The Mist makes humans see only what their brains can process … I knew it could fool demigods too, but…

 

“I am so excited and scared at the same time.” Piper whispers, her fingers digging into Reyna’s forearm, which she had grabbed in all of the excitement.

 

I looked Tyson in the face. It wasn’t easy. I’d always had trouble looking directly at him, though I’d never quite understood why. I’d thought it was just because he always had peanut butter in his crooked teeth. I forced myself to focus at his big lumpy nose, then a little higher at his eyes.

 

No, not eyes.

 

Jason and Frank simultaneously burst into a round of applause. 

 

“Yes!” Jason yells in a way that is very out of character for him.

 

“Good show, old chap!” Frank says in a terrible british accent.

 

“You guys suck.” Reyna tells them with no malice in her tone.

 

One eye. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.

 

“Poor thing.” Hazel sighs, wrinkling her nose. She, more than anyone, knew what it was like to feel like a disappointment to your older brother.

 

“Tyson,” I stammered. “You’re a …”

 

“Cyclops,” Annabeth offered. “A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn’t get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson’s one of the homeless orphans.”

 

Annabeth winces at the blunt phrasing of her words, and the even more monolog way that Percy was impersonating her. She had always regretted the way she used to treat Tyson. Having it reenacted right before her was not helping at all.

 

“One of the what?”

 

“They’re in almost all the big cities,” Annabeth said distastefully. “They’re … mistakes, Percy.

 

Her head goes into her hands before she can stop herself. She hears some of the others in the car make small scoffing sounds, and Annabeth is positive that one or two of them are sharing looks above the top of her head. 

 

She didn’t exactly blame them.

 

Children of nature spirits and gods … Well, one god in particular, usually … and they don’t always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don’t know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do.”

 

“‘One god in particular’.” Nico repeats, lightly grimacing. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to just get it out of the way right then and there?”

 

Annabeth shakes her head. “No way. He was doing that thing where his eyes get all big, like he had absolutely no idea what is happening, and his mind is racing-” She shudders.

 

“I get it. That look is way too disarming for its own good.” Nico sighs, waving her off.

 

“But the fire. How—”

 

“He’s a Cyclops.” Annabeth paused, as if she were remembering something unpleasant. “They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That’s what I was trying to tell you.”

 

I was completely shocked. How had I never realized what Tyson was?

 

“Oh, Percy, Percy, Percy.” Piper laughs, before freezing. Everyone stares at her, eyes wide. 

 

“What did you-” Reyna starts to ask, but Piper puts her fingers to her lips, fear on her face.

 

But I didn’t have much time to think about it just then. The whole side of the hill was burning.

 

Wounded heroes needed attention. And there were still two banged-up bronze bulls to dispose of, which I didn’t figure would fit in our normal recycling bins.

 

“New project!” Leo yells, finally breaking the thick, awkward tension that had settled over the entire car. “Huge, celestial bronze recycling bins.” 

 

“Recycling bins made of celestial bronze, or for celestial bronze?” Piper questions, obviously glad for the distraction.

 

“ Both .”

 

Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. “Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what’s happened.”

 

“Tantalus?” I asked.

 

“Tantalus?” Frank asks.

 

“Tantalus.” Nico repeats, his face paling in disgust.

 

“The activities director,” Clarisse said impatiently.

 

“Chiron is the activities director. And where’s Argus? He’s head of security. He should be here.”

 

Clarisse made a sour face. “Argus got fired. You two have been gone too long. Things are changing.”

 

“Changing?” Reyna asks, a hint of anger in her voice. “We’re demigods, we’ve had two repeated wars in the last five years, and none of our parents can even die. Nothing ever changes for us.”

 

“But Chiron … He’s trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years. He can’t just be gone. What happened?”

 

”That happened,” Clarisse snapped.

 

She pointed to Thalia’s tree.

 

“Huh?” Jason asks, eyebrows furrowing in either confusion or worry. “What’s going on?” 

 

Annabeth doesn’t answer, her face scrunching up as if she was remembering something unpleasant that she had tried to forget.

 

Every camper knew the story behind the tree. Six years ago, Grover, Annabeth, and two other demigods named Thalia and Luke had come to Camp Half-Blood chased by an army of monsters. When they got cornered on top of this hill, Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, had made her last stand here to give her friends time to reach safety. As she was dying, her father, Zeus, took pity on her and changed her into a pine tree. Her spirit had reinforced the magic borders of the camp, protecting it from monsters. The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy.

 

“Not every camper.” Leo hums. 

 

Piper absentmindedly nods, a tightness in her chest loosening. The last time that she had said Percy’s name, the outcome had been instantaneous. Perhaps it had to be his full name to garner his attention? Or, maybe last time was just a coincidence?

 

But now, its needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.

 

Jason’s spine straightened, his blue eyes going impossible wide. “What… the… Hades…”

 

A sliver of ice ran through my chest. Now I understood why the camp was in danger. The magical borders were failing because Thalia’s tree was dying.

 

Yes, okay, everything was going great. Well, except for the fact that Jason’s tree sister was dying. But, no, they were in the clear. Percy Jackson would not be making an appearance that morning-

 

Someone had poisoned it.

 

And then, Annabeth’s phone rang.

Notes:

So, yeah...

Life has been a mess between me getting covid, and my insufferable Harry Potter hyper fixation. It has been so hard to get my brain to comply with what we need to work on, but I finished the first chapter of my first Harry Potter story, so I thought you guys deserved this ;)

One of the reasons this is taking me so long, is really just because this book is definitely my least favorite. I've either forgotten pretty much everything about this book, or blocked it out, and I am having such a hard time trying to keep the characters invested when I REALLY am not ToT (no offense to anyone who does like this book) but I'm currently looking at the chapter with Tyson's claiming, and I'm already so disappointed and angry.

I'm also starting to add some more subplots to this, that I've been planning on for a while. I've updated the tags, if you don't want to continue reading, I completely get it. All I ask is that if you choose to, just don't announce it in the comments.

I love you all, and I am so happy to update this. Have a great day!

Chapter 5: I Get A New Cabin Mate

Notes:

I’m back! This work was NOT forgotten, just slightly forgotten about in favor of other works.

“What the Hades? Now ?” Jason squeaks, as Hazel quickly jams her finger against the pause button.

 

Annabeth is quick to grab her phone from her jean pocket, and presses the green accept button on the FaceTime request. 

 

“Hey, Wise Girl.” Percy says, very obviously lying down, his eyes half closed in sleep. “Good morning.”

 

A head of curly hair pops up from directly behind Percy. “Hey, Annabeth!” 

 

Annabeth narrows her eyes at the phone. “Are you two spooning?” 

 

“What? We’re sharing a bed to not spread the sickness.” Percy sighs into his pillow. 

 

“What’s your excuse all of the other times you share a bed?” 

 

Grover pouts at the camera. “You’re just jealous that you aren’t a part of our cuddle pile this time.” 

 

“Grover, if you weren’t a decade and a half older than us, I would consider you competition.” Annabeth cracks a small smile. 

 

“And yet you were jealous of Cal-”

 

“Hey, is Hazel there!” Percy says way too loudly, breaking away from Grover. “I have to ask her something.”

 

Hazel grabs the phone, looking nervously at Leo still driving right beside her. “Hey, Perce. What’s up?” 

 

Percy ducks out of view of the camera for a moment, before reappearing, and showing off two different paint swatches to the camera. “Tyson is coming over this weekend to help paint. My mom wanted me to ask you which color you preferred.”

 

Nico whips his head towards his sister, eyebrows raised to his hairline. 

 

Hazel clears her throat awkwardly. “Um… I like the lighter purple.”

 

“Great, I was really worried about that. It was keeping me up at night.” Percy deadpans, throwing down the paint swatches. 

 

Hazel hands the phone back to Annabeth, refusing to make eye contact with anybody else. 

 

“Anyways, Annabeth, we just wanted to say good morning.” Grover says as he sits up to be shoulder to shoulder with Percy. 

 

“You mean before going back to sleep?” Annabeth raises a dubious eyebrow at the two boys.

 

Percy gives her a radiant smile. “You know us so well.”

 

Annabeth rolls her eyes at him. 

 

“Love you, Wise Girl.”

 

“Love you too, Seaweed Brain.”

 

Grover clears his throat. “You know, I’m here too.”

 

“I love you too, Grover.” 

 

“Aw, I love you, Annie.” 

 

“And now I no longer love you.” Annabeth declares, wrinkling her nose. She turns to the other occupants of the car. “Say goodbye to my boyfriend, and his boyfriend.”

 

“Bye, Percy and Grover!” Most people in the car call out. 

 

“I love you, Grover.” Piper whispers, from right behind Nico’s head. 

 

Annabeth quickly hangs up after that. 

 

Nico turns to look at Hazel. “What was that whole paint thing about?”

 

Hazel’s cheeks heat up, her eyes darting side to side. “Uh… Jason’s sister is dying, let's find out about that!” 

 

“Thanks for that, Hazel.” Jason sighs, slumping into Frank’s side.

 

Ever come home and found your room messed up? Like some helpful person (hi, Mom) has tried to “clean” it, and suddenly you can’t find anything? And even if nothing is missing, you get that creepy feeling like somebody’s been looking through your private stuff and dusting everything with lemon furniture polish?

 

“He should be grateful to have Sally Jackson as his mother.” Reyna crosses her arms over her chest.

 

Nico narrows his eyes at his sister. “I don’t know. I think I get what he means…”

 

That’s kind of the way I felt seeing Camp Half-Blood again.

 

On the surface, things didn’t look all that different. The Big House was still there with its blue gabled roof and its wraparound porch. The strawberry fields still baked in the sun. The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley—the amphitheater, the combat arena, the dining pavilion overlooking Long Island Sound. And nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins—a crazy assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different Olympian god.

 

“I still find it weird that there are only twelve cabins.” Leo hums. 

 

“I still find it weird that Hera, goddess of mothers, has a cabin that is basically just a shrine to her, while Hermes' cabin is overflowing with unclaimed kids.” Piper shrugs. 

 

But there was an air of danger now. You could tell something was wrong. Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counselors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest looked sickly, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow, and the fire marks on Half-Blood Hill stood out like ugly scars.

 

Somebody had messed with my favorite place in the world, and I was not … well, a happy camper.

 

Reyna chokes out a laugh, which earns her a glare from her friends. “I’m sorry. I have a weakness for dark dad jokes.”

 

As we made our way to the Big House, I recognized a lot of kids from last summer. Nobody stopped to talk. Nobody said, “Welcome back.” Some did double takes when they saw Tyson, but most just walked grimly past and carried on with their duties—running messages, toting swords to sharpen on the grinding wheels. The camp felt like a military school. And believe me, I know. I’ve been kicked out of a couple.

 

“Where else has he been kicked out of?” Jason asks rhetorically.

 

Annabeth gets her ‘thinking face’ on. “Military schools, private schools, Target, Santa’s Village, the state of Texas--”

 

“I may regret asking this, but Santa’s Village?”

 

“It’s a long story that involves Grover and a pair of reindeer antlers.” Annabeth sighs, shaking her head.

 

None of that mattered to Tyson. He was absolutely fascinated by everything he saw.

 

“Whasthat!” he gasped.

 

“The stables for pegasi,” I said. “The winged horses.”

 

Frank purses his lips. “I would laugh, except that I did the same thing when I showed up at Jupiter.” 

 

Hazel nods. “I remember. I was the one that had to show you around.” She turns her head and gives him a soft smile. “It was cute, though.”

 

Leo wrinkles his nose. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but sometimes you guys make me wanna barf.” 

 

“Whasthat!”

 

“Um … those are the toilets.”

 

Nico starts snacking on a bag of chips. “Perhaps Clarisse should have been the one to show off that particular amenity.” 

 

Jason pointedly raises one blonde eyebrow. “Chiron focusing on English with you?”

 

“So many big words to learn.” Nico sighs.

 

“Whasthat!”

 

“The cabins for the campers. If they don’t know who your Olympian parent is, they put you in the Hermes cabin—that brown one over there—until you’re determined. Then, once they know, they put you in your dad or mom’s group.”

 

Piper bites her lip. “Could you imagine having to add Tyson to that cabin after the way Percy described it last year?” 

 

“Oh, we did that one time.” Annabeth assures her friend. “The little kids played on him like a jungle gym. And then they made a fort over him.”

 

Hazel nods. “We did that over Thanksgiving at Sally’s house, too. He’s an expert fort maker.”

 

He looked at me in awe. “You … have a cabin?”

 

Frank pouts. “Aw. Poor baby, Tyson.” They then give Piper a stern look. “I can say that, because Tyson is technically a baby at this point.”

 

She sticks her tongue out at him in retaliation.

 

“Number three.” I pointed to a low gray building made of sea stone.

 

“You live with friends in the cabin?”

 

Leo snorts. “Not yet, big guy.” 

 

“No. No, just me.” I didn’t feel like explaining. The embarrassing truth: I was the only one who stayed in that cabin because I wasn’t supposed to be alive. The “Big Three” gods—Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades—had made a pact after World War II not to have any more children with mortals. We were more powerful than regular half-bloods. We were too unpredictable. When we got mad we tended to cause problems … like World War II, for instance. The “Big Three” pact had only been broken twice—once when Zeus sired Thalia, once when Poseidon sired me. Neither of us should’ve been born.

 

“That’s a really terrible mindset for a thirteen year old to have.” Reyna sighs. “Trust me, I would know.”

 

Silence envelopes the car, before Nico says very slowly, as one might speak if they are trying to escape a caged animal, “I say we should move on from this awkward topic, to the awkwardness that is tween Percy.” 

 

“Agreed.” Everybody chimes in.

 

Thalia had gotten herself turned into a pine tree when she was twelve. Me … well, I was doing my best not to follow her example. I had nightmares about what Poseidon might turn me into if I were ever on the verge of death— plankton, maybe. Or a floating patch of kelp.

 

“Aw, Kelp Head.” Annabeth says fondly, pressing a hand to her heart. “I really miss him.”

 

Piper groans melodramatically. “You literally talked to him five minutes ago!”

 

When we got to the Big House, we found Chiron in his apartment, listening to his favorite 1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags. I guess I should mention—Chiron is a centaur. From the waist up he looks like a regular middle-aged guy with curly brown hair and a scraggly beard. From the waist down, he’s a white stallion. He can pass for human by compacting his lower half into a magic wheelchair. In fact, he’d passed himself off as my Latin teacher during my sixth-grade year. But most of the time, if the ceilings are high enough, he prefers hanging out in full centaur form.

 

As soon as we saw him, Tyson froze. “Pony!” he cried in total rapture.

 

Hazel, who has a major pet peeve when it comes to people that misidentify horses for ponies,  wrinkles her nose. “Oh, sweetheart.”

 

Chiron turned, looking offended. “I beg your pardon?”

 

“Y’know, I made that mistake one time.” Leo reveals. “He says that he had nothing to do with that horseshoe that hit me in the head, but…”

 

Annabeth ran up and hugged him. “Chiron, what’s happening? You’re not … leaving?” Her voice was shaky. Chiron was like a second father to her.

 

Annabeth spits out a cough that sounds suspiciously like, “First!.”

 

Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kindly smile. “Hello, child. And Percy, my goodness. You’ve grown over the year!”

 

I swallowed. “Clarisse said you were … you were …”

 

“Fired.” Chiron’s eyes glinted with dark humor. “Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he’d created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone.”

 

Jason huffs out a breath of air. “Aren’t gods supposed to be omnipresent? Why can’t they figure out who was actually responsible for poisoning my sister ?”

 

Frank purses their lips. “Let's be real, if the gods were omnipresent, pretty much all of us would have been disintegrated by this point.” 

 

“Besides himself, you mean,” I growled. Just the thought of the camp director, Mr. D, made me angry.

 

“My point.” Frank gestures to the radio.

 

“But this is crazy!” Annabeth cried. “Chiron, you couldn’t have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia’s tree!”

 

“Nevertheless,” Chiron sighed, “some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances.”

 

“What circumstances?” Piper asks, peeking over the head of Nico’s chair, as if the answer would be there if she had a better view. 

 

“What circumstances?” I asked.

 

“We are so on the same wavelength!” Piper cheers, before sending Annabeth a wink. “You better watch out, Chase.”

 

Annabeth lets out a dull laugh. “I know you’re kidding, Pipes, but I will still snap you in half.” 

 

Chiron’s face darkened. He stuffed a Latin-English dictionary into his saddlebag while the Frank Sinatra music oozed from his boom box.

 

Tyson was still staring at Chiron in amazement. He whimpered like he wanted to pat Chiron’s flank but was afraid to come closer. “Pony?”

 

Leo winces, tightly gripping onto the steering wheel. “Dear gods, he’s pushing his luck. How has a horseshoe not hit him in the eye yet?”

 

Chiron sniffed. “My dear young Cyclops! I am a centaur. ”

 

“Chiron,” I said. “What about the tree? What happened?”

 

He shook his head sadly. “The poison used on Thalia’s pine is something from the Underworld, Percy. Some venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the pits of Tartarus.”

 

Annabeth and Nico both convulse in a full body wince. 

 

“Then we know who’s responsible. Kro—”

 

“Do not invoke the titan lord’s name, Percy. Especially not here, not now.”

 

Hazel furrows her eyebrows. “What is this, Harry Potter?”

 

Leo shakes his head. “Don’t you dare compare Chiron to Dumbldore.”

 

Frank announces to the car in a placating manner, “She’s only finished the first one.”

 

“But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus! This has to be his idea. He’d get Luke to do it, that traitor.”

 

“Perhaps,” Chiron said. “But I fear I am being held responsible because I did not prevent it and I cannot cure it. The tree has only a few weeks of life left unless …”

 

Jason runs his fingers through his hair. “Unless what ?”

 

“Unless what?” Annabeth asked.

 

Piper shakes her head, and tuts. “Blondes.” 

 

Reyna bites the inside of her cheek, as Annabeth flips Piper off.

 

“No,” Chiron said. “A foolish thought. The whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp itself is dying. Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago.”

 

“What is it?” I asked. “We’ll go find it!”

 

“Just say it! Stop going all Dumbledore, Chiron!” Leo yells at the radio.

 

Hazel looks around in panic. “What does Dumbledore do?”

 

Chiron closed his saddlebag. He pressed the stop button on his boom box. Then he turned and rested his hand on my shoulder, looking me straight in the eyes. “Percy, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. I told your mother I did not want you to come here at all this summer. It’s much too dangerous. But now that you are here, stay here. Train hard. Learn to fight. But do not leave.”

 

“Oh, he’s going to leave camp, isn’t he?” Frank guesses, his face wrinkled in concern.

 

“Why?” I asked. “I want to do something! I can’t just let the borders fail. The whole camp will be—”

 

“Overrun by monsters,” Chiron said. “Yes, I fear so. But you must not let yourself be baited into hasty action! This could be a trap of the titan lord. Remember last summer! He almost took your life.”

 

“Like that’s stopped him before.” Annabeth drags her hand down her face.

 

It was true, but still, I wanted to help so badly. I also wanted to make Kronos pay. I mean, you’d think the titan lord would’ve learned his lesson eons ago when he was overthrown by the gods. You’d think getting chopped into a million pieces and cast into the darkest part of the Underworld would give him a subtle clue that nobody wanted him around. But no. Because he was immortal, he was still alive down there in Tartarus—suffering in eternal pain, hungering to return and take revenge on Olympus. He couldn’t act on his own, but he was great at twisting the minds of mortals and even gods to do his dirty work.

 

“We all know that immortals never learn.” Nico deadpans, rolling his eyes so far backward that he was probably able to view his  own brain.

 

The poisoning had to be his doing. Who else would be so low as to attack Thalia’s tree, the only thing left of a hero who’d given her life to save her friends?

 

Annabeth was trying hard not to cry. Chiron brushed a tear from her cheek. “Stay with Percy, child,” he told her. “Keep him safe. The prophecy—remember it!”

 

“What prophecy?” Leo asks. 

 

“I—I will.”

 

“And why does Annabeth know the prophecy?” Leo continues.

 

“Um …” I said. “Would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?”

 

“Why do I not remember this at all?” Piper asks to herself, her eyes narrowing as she scans her foggy memory.

 

Nobody answered.

 

“Oh, I wonder what that feels like.” Leo mutters sarcastically, sending glares at the rather quiet front seat. Well, except towards Hazel, who is just as confused as him, but keeps quiet about her confusion.

 

“Right,” I muttered. “Just checking.”

 

“Chiron …” Annabeth said. “You told me the gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from camp—”

 

“Oh, gods, this is getting worse and worse.” Jason groans, his face falling into his palms.

 

“Swear you will do your best to keep Percy from danger,” he insisted. “Swear upon the River Styx.”

 

“That is asking a lot of a thirteen year old.” Reyna mumbles. “I mean, Annabeth is only one person.”

 

“I—I swear it upon the River Styx,” Annabeth said.

 

“It was nice knowing you, Chase.” Piper hums, both her and Reyna leaning forward to give Annabeth pats of condolence on her back.

 

Thunder rumbled outside.

 

“Very well,” Chiron said. He seemed to relax just a little. “Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until then, I go to visit my wild kinsmen in the Everglades. It’s possible they know of some cure for the poisoned tree that I have forgotten. In any event, I will stay in exile until this matter is resolved … one way or another.”

 

Frank wraps their arms around themself. “Why does everything he says sound so ominous? He’s a half white stallion that listens to Frank Sinatra and wears tie-dye shirts that are too small for him.”

 

Annabeth stifled a sob. Chiron patted her shoulder awkwardly. “There, now, child. I must entrust your safety to Mr. D and the new activities director. We must hope … well, perhaps they won’t destroy the camp quite as quickly as I fear.”

 

“Who is this Tantalus guy, anyway?” I demanded. “Where does he get off taking your job?”

 

“And who is named Tantalus, anyways?” Leo asks, pronouncing the name the way that Percy is: Tan-tal-us.

 

Hazel nibbles at her top lip. “I think it’s supposed to be pronounced, tan-tuh-luhs. Like the word, tantalize.”

 

A conch horn blew across the valley. I hadn’t realized how late it was. It was time for the campers to assemble for dinner.

 

“That will be a fun meal.” Reyna says, smiling good naturedly, as if she was waiting for a dramatic reveal on a soap opera to take place.

 

“Go,” Chiron said. “You will meet him at the pavilion. I will contact your mother, Percy, and let her know you’re safe. No doubt she’ll be worried by now. Just remember my warning! You are in grave danger. Do not think for a moment that the titan lord has forgotten you!”

 

With that, he clopped out of the apartment and down the hall, Tyson calling after him, “Pony! Don’t go!”

 

“Aw, Tyson.” Frank coos, while Leo screeches something in a high-pitched voice that a dog would be able to translate as: “THREE!” 

 

I realized I’d forgotten to tell Chiron about my dream of Grover. Now it was too late. The best teacher I’d ever had was gone, maybe for good.

 

“Aw.” Piper sighs. “Wish I could relate to that .”

 

Jason just looks away, his eyes a bit glassy for a reason other than the fact that they’re under lenses. “I miss Lupa.” 

 

Tyson started bawling almost as bad as Annabeth. I tried to tell them that things would be okay, but I didn’t believe it.

 

“I knew it. And I was not bawling.” Annabeth hisses, but the very obvious lump in her throat gave her away.

 

The sun was setting behind the dining pavilion as the campers came up from their cabins.

 

We stood in the shadow of a marble column and watched them file in. Annabeth was still pretty shaken up, but she promised she’d talk to us later. Then she went off to join her siblings from the Athena cabin—a dozen boys and girls with blond hair and gray eyes like hers. Annabeth wasn’t the oldest, but she’d been at camp more summers than just about anybody. You could tell that by looking at her camp necklace—one bead for every summer, and Annabeth had six. No one questioned her right to lead the line.

 

“Cause she broke the thumb of anyone that tried.” Nico mumbles under his breath.

 

“I tried arm wrestling, but everybody thought I was cheating!” 

 

Next came Clarisse, leading the Ares cabin. She had one arm in a sling and a nasty-looking gash on her cheek, but otherwise her encounter with the bronze bulls didn’t seem to have fazed her.

 

Someone had taped a piece of paper to her back that said, YOU MOO, GIRL! But nobody in her cabin was bothering to tell her about it.

 

“In their defense… they probably value their lives.” Leo reasons.

 

“That is my sister.” Frank waggles his finger. “That is an accurate conclusion, but that is still my sister.” 

 

After the Ares kids came the Hephaestus cabin—six guys led by Charles Beckendorf, a big fifteen-year-old African American kid. He had hands the size of catchers’ mitts and a face that was hard and squinty from looking into a blacksmiths forge all day. He was nice enough once you got to know him, but no one ever called him Charlie or Chuck or Charles. Most just called him Beckendorf.

 

Rumor was he could make anything. Give him a chunk of metal and he could create a razor-sharp sword or a robotic warrior or a singing birdbath for your grandmother’s garden. Whatever you wanted.

 

For a second, Leo zones out. He is, of course, still paying attention to the road, but his body has taken control, while his brain has picked up the little details that Percy had mentioned of his late brother. More details than most of his other siblings were willing to say about Beckendorf.

 

The other cabins filed in: Demeter, Apollo, Aphrodite, Dionysus. Naiads came up from the canoe lake. Dryads melted out of the trees. From the meadow came a dozen satyrs, who reminded me painfully of Grover.

 

Piper lets out a long, melancholic sigh. “Grover… How I miss you.”

 

“It has literally been less than an hour.” Hazel tells her friend.

 

I’d always had a soft spot for the satyrs. When they were at camp, they had to do all kinds of odd jobs for Mr. D, the director, but their most important work was out in the real world. They were the camp’s seekers. They went undercover into schools all over the world, looking for potential half-bloods and escorting them back to camp. That’s how I’d met Grover. He had been the first one to recognize I was a demigod.

 

After the satyrs filed in to dinner, the Hermes cabin brought up the rear. They were always the biggest cabin. Last summer, it had been led by Luke, the guy who’d fought with Thalia and Annabeth on top of Half-Blood Hill. For a while, before Poseidon had claimed me, I’d lodged in the Hermes cabin. Luke had befriended me … and then he’d tried to kill me.

 

“Been there.” Leo laughs. 

 

Reyna shakes her head. “We really need to get therapists.”

 

Now the Hermes cabin was led by Travis and Connor Stoll. They weren’t twins, but they looked so much alike it didn’t matter. I could never remember which one was older. They were both tall and skinny, with mops of brown hair that hung in their eyes. They wore orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts untucked over baggy shorts, and they had those elfish features all Hermes’s kids had: upturned eyebrows, sarcastic smiles, a gleam in their eyes whenever they looked at you—like they were about to drop a firecracker down your shirt. I’d always thought it was funny that the god of thieves would have kids with the last name “Stoll,” but the only time I mentioned it to Travis and Connor, they both stared at me blankly like they didn’t get the joke.

 

A bone in Jason’s jaw twitches. “Who was going to tell me that the Stoll brothers weren’t twins?”

 

“We thought you knew.” Piper shrugs. “I mean, didn’t you wonder why Travis went off to college, and Connor didn’t?”

 

“No, Piper. I never wondered that!” 

 

As soon as the last campers had filed in, I led Tyson into the middle of the pavilion.

 

Conversations faltered. Heads turned. “Who invited that? ” somebody at the Apollo table murmured.

 

“That’s not my boyfriend.” Nico snaps immediately.

 

I glared in their direction, but I couldn’t figure out who’d spoken.

 

From the head table a familiar voice drawled, “Well, well, if it isn’t Peter Johnson. My millennium is complete.”

 

“Who is Peter Johnson?” Leo asks, afraid that he had missed something.

 

“Percy.” Hazel tells him. 

 

“Percy what?” Leo furrows his brows.

 

“Percy is Peter Johnson.”

 

Leo’s face falls. “Damn. And here I’ve been, calling him Perce this whole time, when I should have been calling him Pete .”

 

Frank furrows their eyebrows. “I genuinely cannot tell if you’re joking or not.”

 

I gritted my teeth. “Percy Jackson … sir.”

 

Mr. D sipped his Diet Coke. “Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever.”

 

“I wish to one day be as iconic as Mr. D.” Reyna says in reverence. 

 

He was wearing his usual leopard-pattern Hawaiian shirt, walking shorts, and tennis shoes with black socks. With his pudgy belly and his blotchy red face, he looked like a Las Vegas tourist who’d stayed up too late in the casinos. Behind him, a nervous-looking satyr was peeling the skins off grapes and handing them to Mr. D one at a time. 

 

“Do you ever find it weird that Grapes were made from the blood and body of his satyr best friend, and now he eats and drinks them all the time?” Piper asks the group.

 

“Well, now I do.” Hazel whispers, horrified.

 

Mr. D’s real name is Dionysus. The god of wine. Zeus appointed him director of Camp Half-Blood to dry out for a hundred years—a punishment for chasing some off-limits wood nymph.

 

“Y’know…” Leo says thoughtfully. “I’m really starting to get used to these little recaps. With how easily my mind tends to wander, it really keeps me grounded.”

 

“Hmm.” Jason hums. “Maybe that's why Percy does it.” 

 

Next to him, where Chiron usually sat (or stood, in centaur form), was someone I’d never seen before—a pale, horribly thin man in a threadbare orange prisoner’s jumpsuit. The number over his pocket read 0001. He had blue shadows under his eyes, dirty fingernails, and badly cut gray hair, like his last haircut had been done with a weed whacker. He stared at me; his eyes made me nervous. He looked … fractured. Angry and frustrated and hungry all at the same time.

 

“I’m getting Michael Meyer vibes.” Piper shudders. 

 

“Meyer… like the hotdogs?” Hazel asks genuinely.

 

Piper groans. “Okay, after we finish up with Marvel, you and I are doing a horror movie marathon.” 

 

“This boy,” Dionysus told him, “you need to watch. Poseidon’s child, you know.”

 

“Ah!” the prisoner said. “That one.”

 

His tone made it obvious that he and Dionysus had already discussed me at length.

 

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Frank’s question is tinged with innocence. 

 

Leo shakes his head. “You have obviously not been sent to a lot of principal offices.”

 

“I am Tantalus,” the prisoner said, smiling coldly. “On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Perseus Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble.”

 

“Not likely.” The whole car choruses. 

 

“Trouble?” I demanded.

 

Dionysus snapped his fingers. A newspaper appeared on the table—the front page of today’s New York Post, there was my yearbook picture from Meriwether Prep. It was hard for me to make out the headline, but I had a pretty good guess what it said. Something like: Thirteen-Year-Old Lunatic Torches Gymnasium.

 

“Former Kidnapping Victim Caught Running Away From Sight of School Bombing.” Annabeth sighs. The other occupants of the car turn to stare at her. “I may or may not have saved a few newspaper clippings from the past.”

 

“Yes, trouble,” Tantalus said with satisfaction. “You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand.”

 

I was too mad to speak. Like it was my fault the gods had almost gotten into a civil war?

 

“They definitely tried to make it his fault.” Piper recalls. 

 

A satyr inched forward nervously and set a plate of barbecue in front of Tantalus. The new activities director licked his lips. He looked at his empty goblet and said, “Root beer. Barq’s special stock. 1967.”

 

“ Such a specific request.” Reyna hums. “And now I want root beer.”

 

Hazel takes a long swig of her Barq’s root beer. “I know exactly what you mean, babe.”  

 

The glass filled itself with foamy soda. Tantalus stretched out his hand hesitantly, as if he were afraid the goblet was hot.

 

“Go on, then, old fellow,” Dionysus said, a strange sparkle in his eyes. “Perhaps now it will work.”

 

“Work?” Frank questions. 

 

Leo takes a deep breath. “Thank gods I’m not the only one confused.”

 

Tantalus grabbed for the glass, but it scooted away before he could touch it. A few drops of root beer spilled, and Tantalus tried to dab them up with his fingers, but the drops rolled away like quicksilver before he could touch them. He growled and turned toward the plate of barbecue. He picked up a fork and tried to stab a piece of brisket, but the plate skittered down the table and flew off the end, straight into the coals of the brazier.

 

Nico snorts. “Classic dad.”

 

“You would enjoy that.” Annabeth sighs fondly.

 

“Blast!” Tantalus muttered.

 

“Ah, well,” Dionysus said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. “Perhaps a few more days. Believe me, old chap, working at this camp will be torture enough. I’m sure your old curse will fade eventually.”

 

Reyna bursts out cackling. “I have no idea what is going on, but I am living for Mr. D.” 

 

“Eventually,” muttered Tantalus, staring at Dionysus’s Diet Coke. “Do you have any idea how dry one’s throat gets after three thousand years?”

 

“Three what now?” Leo asks, trying to keep his car straight. “This isn’t my adhd right? Percy just hasn’t explained this yet?” 

 

Jason nods. “Nah, dude. I’m just as confused as you are.” 

 

“Thank gods.” 

 

“You’re that spirit from the Fields of Punishment,” I said. “The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over you, but you can’t eat or drink.”

 

Hazel wrinkles her nose. “Now, how in the Pluto were we supposed to guess that?”

 

“You’re an Underworld kid.” Annabeth reminds her. 

 

“A Roman Underworld kid.” Hazel corrects. “I can barely remember the Greek names of the twelve Olympians, let alone all of your weird dead guys.”

 

Tantalus sneered at me. “A real scholar, aren’t you, boy?”

 

“You must’ve done something really horrible when you were alive,” I said, mildly impressed.

 

Piper winces, praying that she wouldn’t have to hear the story of Tantalus at the moment. “Annabeth, control your boyfriend!” 

 

“What makes you think that I can?” Annabeth sighs.

 

“What was it?”

 

Tantalus’s eyes narrowed. Behind him, the satyrs were shaking their heads vigorously, trying to warn me.

 

“The satyrs are so real for this.” Reyna hums, nodding slowly. 

 

Frank sends a look over at their co-Praetor. “I’m not sure that I like Vacation-Reyna very much.”

 

“I’m not sure that I care.”

 

“I’ll be watching you, Percy Jackson,” Tantalus said. “I don’t want any problems at my camp.”

 

”Your camp has problems already … sir.”

 

“Oh, yeah, throw in ‘sir’, that’ll make him like you more.” Leo says sarcastically.

 

Jason shakes his head. “Give him a break, he got kicked out of military school.”

 

“School s .” Annabeth can’t help herself from specifying. 

 

“Oh, go sit down, Johnson,” Dionysus sighed. “I believe that table over there is yours—the one where no one else ever wants to sit.”

 

My face was burning, but I knew better than to talk back. Dionysus was an overgrown brat, but he was an immortal, super powerful overgrown brat. I said, “Come on, Tyson.”

 

“Aren’t they all?” Nico rolls his eyes. 

 

“Oh, no,” Tantalus said. “The monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it.”

 

“ It?” Frank repeats, the venom in his voice never before heard from the gentle giant they all knew.

 

“Him,” I snapped. “His name is Tyson.”

 

Frank takes a calming breath. “And that is why Percy is my best friend.”

 

Hazel wrinkles her nose. “I’m sitting right here.”

 

“Samesies!” Leo lifts one hand from the steering wheel to wave it in the air. 

 

The new activities director raised an eyebrow.

 

“Tyson saved the camp,” I insisted. “He pounded those bronze bulls. Otherwise they would’ve burned down this whole place.”

 

“I feel like I should mention that Clarisse helped.” Reyna shrugs. “Just a reminder.” 

 

“Yes,” Tantalus sighed, “and what a pity that would’ve been.”

 

Piper’s nostrils flare. “This guy makes me want to go to the Fields of Punishment, just to watch him suffer for a few hours.”

 

“Been there, done that. It’s actually quite therapeutic in a way.” Nico reveals.

 

Dionysus snickered.

 

“Leave us,” Tantalus ordered, “while we decide this creature’s fate.”

 

“Nico’s apathy aside, I think we should plan that for our next road trip.” Frank says, while glaring at the radio. 

 

Jason pales. “Can we finish this one, and give me a few weeks away from you guys first , before trapping us in another metal container for who knows how long?” 

 

Tyson looked at me with fear in his one big eye, but I knew I couldn’t disobey a direct order from the camp directors. Not openly, anyway.

 

“I’ll be right over here, big guy,” I promised. “Don’t worry. We’ll find you a good place to sleep tonight.”

 

“Liar.” Annabeth accuses. “That cabin was filthy before Tyson moved in.”

 

Tyson nodded. “I believe you. You are my friend.”

 

“The big guy really knows how to tug at the heartstrings, huh?” Leo asks the car.

 

“I guess.” Frank replies, while discreetly rubbing at the corner of one of their watery eyes.

 

Which made me feel a whole lot guiltier.

 

I trudged over to the Poseidon table and slumped onto the bench. A wood nymph brought me a plate of Olympian olive-and-pepperoni pizza, but I wasn’t hungry. I’d been almost killed twice today. I’d managed to end my school year with a complete disaster. Camp Half-Blood was in serious trouble and Chiron had told me not to do anything about it.

 

“The things this kid puts on his pizza.” Piper shudders. “Pineapple, pepperoni.” Her list apparently ends at those two, because she stops speaking.

 

“Really?” Reyna questions. “No comment on the olives?”

 

Annabeth sends a glare to the other girl. “What about the olives?”

 

I didn’t feel very thankful, but I took my dinner, as was customary, up to the bronze brazier and scraped part of it into the flames.

 

“Poseidon,” I murmured, “accept my offering.”

 

And send me some help while you’re at it, I prayed silently. Please.

 

Hazel snorts. “I have a feeling his dad sent him a little more than help.” 

 

The smoke from the burning pizza changed into something fragrant—the smell of a clean sea breeze with wild-flowers mixed in—but I had no idea if that meant my father was really listening.

 

Annabeth scrunches her face in sympathy. “Oh… he was listening.”

 

I went back to my seat. I didn’t think things could get much worse. But then Tantalus had one of the satyrs blow the conch horn to get our attention for announcements.

 

“Yes, well,” Tantalus said, once the talking had died down. “Another fine meal! Or so I am told.” As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinner plate, as if maybe the food wouldn’t notice what he was doing, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches.

 

The car, which had become the Tantalus Hate Club about as quickly as Piper had become president of the Grover Fan Club, broke out into a smattering of mean hearted chortles at the ghoul’s expense.

 

“And here on my first day of authority,” he continued, “I’d like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat.”

 

Piper gags at his choice of words. “Please for the love of gods, tell me that isn’t what he said.” She begged Annabeth.

 

“It probably wasn’t exactly what he said, but it was pretty close.” 

 

Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some halfhearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him back.

 

“And now some changes!” Tantalus gave the campers a crooked smile. “We are reinstituting the chariot races!”

 

“The what?” All of the campers who showed up after this summer asked. 

 

Murmuring broke out at all the tables—excitement, fear, disbelief.

 

“Now I know,” Tantalus continued, raising his voice, “that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems.”

 

“Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations,” someone at the Apollo table called.

 

“ That’s my boyfriend.” Nico sighs, a mixture of exasperation and fondness laced through his voice.

 

Leo looks around with wide eyes. “Is nobody going to mention the deaths?”

 

“Yes, yes!” Tantalus said. “But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team’s cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?”

 

“But what if two people from different cabins win?” Reyna suddenly jumps to attention, as if some idiot was trying to instate this prize into her camp. “Does that mean that both of those cabins do nothing? Or only the people that won? This is such a stupid idea!” 

 

“There is the Reyna we all know and love.” Frank says fondly. 

 

“Shut up, Zhang.”

 

An explosion of excited conversation—no KP for a whole month? No stable cleaning? Was he serious?

 

Then the last person I expected to object did so.

 

“Tyson?”

 

“Chiron?” 

 

“Poseidon?!”

 

“Maybe not the very last person…” Hazel says slowly.

 

“But, sir!” Clarisse said. She looked nervous, but she stood up to speak from the Ares table.

 

Some of the campers snickered when they saw the YOU MOO, GIRL! sign on her back. “What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots—”

 

“I’m hungry.” Leo says suddenly, which had no connection to what had been happening in Percy’s story. 

 

“We ate breakfast three hours ago.” Annabeth tells him. 

 

“Exactly! Three hours ago!”

 

“Ah, the hero of the day,” Tantalus exclaimed. “Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!”

 

Piper presses her lips together into a thin line. “That’s not exactly how I remember it. I mean she’s a bad bitch, but accuracy is important!”

 

Clarisse blinked, then blushed. “Um, I didn’t—”

 

“And modest, too.” Tantalus grinned. “Not to worry, my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?”

 

“I always find it creepy when older guys call me ‘dear’.” Hazel grimaces, pressing her nose against her fist.

 

“I find it creepy because Clarisse was probably around the age that most girls would be married off to an old guy like Tantalus in Ancient Greece.” Reyna sighs, far too nonchalantly for the shudder that passes through the car.

 

“But the tree—”

 

“And now,” Tantalus said, as several of Clarisse’s cabin mates pulled her back into her seat, “before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here.” Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson.

 

“I have never, nor have I ever thought that I would say this, but I really want to kill that dead guy.” Frank huffs.

 

Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers. A lot of sideways looks at me. I wanted to kill Tantalus.

 

“Same.” Echoes throughout the car after Percy’s admission.

 

“Now, of course,” he said, “Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks. But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I’ve thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes’s cabin, possibly?”

 

“The Fields of Punishment are too good for this bastard.” Hazel grumbles.

 

Nico strokes his chin. “Maybe we can get dad to make the water he stands in acidic.”

 

Hazel gives her brother a sideways look. “Sometimes you scare me.”

 

“I didn’t hear a ‘no’.” 

 

Silence at the Hermes table. Travis and Connor Stoll developed a sudden interest in the tablecloth. I couldn’t blame them. The Hermes cabin was always full to bursting. There was no way they could take in a six-foot-three Cyclops.

 

“Come now,” Tantalus chided. “The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?”

 

“Ooh! Look!” Leo suddenly gasps. “There is a McDonald’s!”

 

Nico perks up, immediately. “McDonald’s, you say?”

 

Suddenly everybody gasped.

 

Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. All I could do was stare in disbelief at the brilliant green light that was about to change my life—a dazzling holographic image that had appeared above Tyson’s head.

 

“I love the fact that Hermes cabin is overflowing with campers, and yet Poseidon has claimed two kids in as many years.” Reyna laughs, as Leo sharply turns the car to the McDonald’s exit. 

 

“I love the fact that the gods always have to make big dramatic reveals, and yet when a Dionysus kid shows up, Mr. D just points at them and says ‘you’re mine’.” Nico replies.

 

With a sickening twist in my stomach, I remembered what Annabeth had said about Cyclopes, They’re the children of nature spirits and gods … Well, one god in particular, usually …

 

“Of course he finds a way to blame me in all of this.” Annabeth sighs.

 

“Y’know, most girls would be touched that their crush immediately thought of them in such a troubling time.” Hazel tells the older girl.

 

“I’m not like most girls.”

 

“But you do admit to having a crush on Percy that summer.”

 

Swirling over Tyson was a glowing green trident—the same symbol that had appeared above me the day Poseidon had claimed me as his son.

 

There was a moment of awed silence.

 

“It was… definitely a silence.” Annabeth says slowly, grabbing her wallet as Leo enters the long McDonald’s drive through. 

 

Being claimed was a rare event. Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. When I’d been claimed by Poseidon last summer, everyone had reverently knelt. But now, they followed Tantalus’s lead, and Tantalus roared with laughter. “Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!”

 

Everybody laughed except Annabeth and a few of my other friends.

 

“Way to go, Annabeth!” Frank cheers, lightly pumping his fist in the air. 

 

Jason furrows his eyebrows. “What are you doing?”

 

“I have no idea.”

 

Tyson didn’t seem to notice. He was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He was too innocent to understand how much they were making fun of him, how cruel people were.

 

“Oh, to be a young and innocent cyclopes.” Leo sighs in reverence. He doesn’t seem to notice nor understand the odd looks that his friends give him.

 

But I got it.

 

I had a new cabin mate. I had a monster for a half-brother.

Notes:

Okay, so I’m sorry it took me so long to get this out. I wrote it during breaks at band camp, and wrote the ending while high on NyQuil so pls don’t judge me.

Until next time <3

Chapter 6: Demon Pigeons Attack

Notes:

I'm back! Not as bad of a wait as last time, so that's something! A LOT happens in this chapter, but it's right before big stuff happens, so I hope I kept it slightly cohesive lol.

Frank wrinkles his nose. “Well, that was a bit harsh.” 

 

Hazel raises an eyebrow. “Is he still your best friend?” 

 

The next few days were torture, just like Tantalus wanted.

 

“Quick, McDonald’s orders!” Leo shouts out to the car. 

 

“Shh!” Piper hisses at him. “Strawberry milkshake and cinnamon roll.” 

 

First there was Tyson moving into the Poseidon cabin, giggling to himself every fifteen seconds and saying, “Percy is my brother?” like he’d just won the lottery.

 

“Did you say that about me?” Both Hazel and Nico ask as they turn to look at each other. Then they nod, shifty eyed, saying at the same time, “Sure…” 

 

“Aw, Tyson,” I’d say. “It’s not that simple.”

 

But there was no explaining it to him. He was in heaven. And me … as much as I liked the big guy, I couldn’t help feeling embarrassed. Ashamed. There, I said it.

 

It helped a bit that young Percy sounded frustrated and guilty. If they listened closely, they could even hear the emotional sound of his hands flapping, which they knew only did when he was frustrated. Or tired. Usually a combination of both.

 

My father, the all-powerful Poseidon, had gotten moony-eyed for some nature spirit, and Tyson had been the result. I mean, I’d read the myths about Cyclops. I even remembered that they were often Poseidon’s children. But I’d never really processed that this made them my … family.

 

Reyna raises a pointed eyebrow. “And yet he’s never found it weird that he’s related to Pegasus?” 

 

“Or that weird guy with all the dolphin friends.” Piper adds.

 

Jason raises a hand. “Weren’t they both kids of Medusa?” 

 

“Yeah, they popped out of her head, after Zeus’ son, Perseus, chopped it off the first time.” Annabeth tells him.

 

“Our family is so messed up.” Nico whispers, shaking his head.

 

Until I had Tyson living with me in the next bunk.

 

And then there were the comments from the other campers. Suddenly, I wasn’t Percy Jackson, the cool guy who’d retrieved Zeus’s lightning bolt last summer. Now I was Percy Jackson, the poor schmuck with the ugly monster for a brother.

 

“He was never a cool guy.” Annabeth reveals. “Kids were mostly just scared that the two of us would form an alliance and kill everyone.” 

 

“That is a fair conclusion.” Nico tells her.

 

“He’s not my real brother!” I protested whenever Tyson wasn’t around. “He’s more like a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family. Like … a half-brother twice removed, or something.”

 

“That’s not a thing.” Frank murmurs, before their eyes go wide. “Is it?” 

 

Piper purses her lips together. “I don’t think so… but if it is, that’s what Drew is to me.”

 

Nobody bought it.

 

I admit—I was angry at my dad. I felt like being his son was now a joke.

 

“Arion the horse is also his brother.” Hazel pipes up. “Along with all the Ceres-- Demeter kids.”

 

Frank nods. “And Tyson is way better tempered than Arion.”

 

“Hey, that’s my horse, you’re talking about!” Hazel says defensively. “It’s true , but that’s still my horse.”

 

Annabeth tried to make me feel better. She suggested we team up for the chariot race to take our minds off our problems. Don’t get me wrong—we both hated Tantalus and we were worried sick about camp—but we didn’t know what to do about it. Until we could come up with some brilliant plan to save Thalia’s tree, we figured we might as well go along with the races. After all, Annabeth’s mom, Athena, had invented the chariot, and my dad had created horses. Together we would own that track.

 

Piper bats her eyes at Annabeth. “You asked him to work together.”

 

“As friends. I don’t like him like that.” Annabeth defends, her cheeks reddening.  

 

“He is literally your boyfriend.” Leo reminds her, hurriedly tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he gets closer to the Drive Thru speaker.

 

Annabeth blinks. “Oh, right. Forgot for a second.” 

 

One morning Annabeth and I were sitting by the canoe lake sketching chariot designs when some jokers from Aphrodite’s cabin walked by and asked me if I needed to borrow some eyeliner for my eye … “Oh sorry, eyes.”

 

Reyna lets out a loud guffaw, which is silenced by a glare from both Piper, and Leo who was now ordering their food. 

 

“Sorry, it’s just that… sometimes I love your siblings.” Reyna giggles, pressing her shoulder closer to Piper’s. 

 

“You’re the only one.” Piper whispers back, though a small smile is forming on her lips. 

 

As they walked away laughing, Annabeth grumbled, “Just ignore them, Percy. It isn’t your fault you have a monster for a brother.”

 

“He’s not my brother!” I snapped. “And he’s not a monster, either!”

 

“Didn’t he just say that he was a monster?” Frank asks, eyebrows furrowed.

 

Annabeth crosses her arms over her chest. “Hypocrite.” Though, her words lack any bite.

 

“It’s different when you say shit about your siblings, and when someone else says shit about your siblings.” Nico tells them like a wise, old sage. Then he turns to Leo and says, “Make sure they remember my extra honey mustard.”

 

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. “Hey, don’t get mad at me! And technically, he is a monster.”

 

“Well you gave him permission to enter the camp.”

 

“Because it was the only way to save your life! I mean … I’m sorry, Percy, I didn’t expect Poseidon to claim him. Cyclopes are the most deceitful, treacherous—”

 

It was starting to get difficult to follow the conversation. Percy was obviously getting frustrated, causing him to talk faster than usual, and to not add many gaps in between his sentences, while his Annabeth voice was starting to blend in with his natural voice. Not to mention that while they were trying to follow the argument, Leo was paying one of the drive thru workers for their food. 

 

“He is not! What have you got against Cyclopes, anyway?

 

Annabeth’s ears turned pink. I got the feeling there was something she wasn’t telling me— something bad.

 

“Ooh!” Leo exclaims, finally turning back to the group. “Something bad? What is it?” 

 

“Don’t you have food to get?” Annabeth asks, raising an eyebrow, a bone in her jaw starting to twitch. 

 

“We’re still waiting in line-”

 

“Food!” 

 

“Just forget it,” she said. “Now, the axle for this chariot—”

 

“You’re treating him like he’s this horrible thing,” I said. “He saved my life.”

 

Annabeth starts rubbing her thumb over the pads of her fingers, wrinkling her nose at the sound of skin on skin, despite the fact that she is causing it. She never liked reliving fights she’d had with any of her friends, most of all Percy, but this was 100 times worse than usual.

 

Gently, Nico runs a finger through her messy curls, causing Annabeth to lean into his touch.

 

Annabeth threw down her pencil and stood. “Then maybe you should design a chariot with him. ”

 

“At least you didn’t stab him with the pencil.” Frank says hopefully, in a poor attempt at trying to comfort Annabeth.

 

Reyna snorts. “Why do you think she put it down?” 

 

Annabeth opens her mouth, as if to protest, before closing it again, simply relaxing against Nico again. 

 

“Maybe I should.”

 

“Fine!”

 

“Fine!”

 

Percy lets out a long groan after he finishes recounting the fight. If you listened closely, you could even hear the sound of his head falling into his open palm.

 

“Is anyone else really confused right now?” Hazel asks, her eyebrows wrinkling. 

 

She stormed off and left me feeling even worse than before.

 

The next couple of days, I tried to keep my mind off my problems.

 

“Good luck with that.” Piper sighs. “I tried to get rid of my problems with sugar and caffeine, but it never worked.”

 

Leo raises an eyebrow, holding up the drink carton that one of the McDonald’s employees handed to him. “So… you don’t want your milkshake?”

 

“I didn’t say that! Gimme!” 

 

Silena Beauregard, one of the nicer girls from Aphrodite’s cabin, gave me my first riding lesson on a pegasus. She explained that there was only one immortal winged horse named Pegasus, who still wandered free somewhere in the skies, but over the eons he’d sired a lot of children, none quite so fast or heroic, but all named after the first and greatest.

 

Annabeth straightens at the name, Silena, her eyes big and glassy looking. 

 

Being the son of the sea god, I never liked going into the air. My dad had this rivalry with Zeus, so I tried to stay out of the lord of the sky’s domain as much as possible. But riding a winged horse felt different. It didn’t make me nearly as nervous as being in an airplane. Maybe that was because my dad had created horses out of sea foam, so the pegasi were sort of … neutral territory.

 

“And your nieces and nephews.” Jason adds under his breath. 

 

“Jupiter boy, you are in no position to talk about family members.” Piper says as Leo inches closer to the first window. “Just look at your sisters, the fates.”

 

“You agreed not to bring that up!” Jason hisses in mock seriousness.

 

Piper shrugs. “Sorry.” Though, she didn’t sound particularly sorry. 

 

Jason can’t help but smile.

 

I could understand their thoughts. I wasn’t surprised when my pegasus went galloping over the treetops or chased a flock of seagulls into a cloud.

 

The problem was that Tyson wanted to ride the “chicken ponies,” too, but the pegasi got skittish whenever he approached. I told them telepathically that Tyson wouldn’t hurt them, but they didn’t seem to believe me. That made Tyson cry.

 

“The pegasi don’t really like me either.” Frank mentions. “Pegasi just hate the concept of body positivity.” 

 

“Which is weird.” Reyna hums. “Because I’ve seen Pegasus, and he could carry Tyson, Ella, and Rachel on his back at once.”

 

The only person at camp who had no problem with Tyson was Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin. The blacksmith god had always worked with Cyclopes in his forges, so Beckendorf took Tyson down to the armory to teach him metalworking. He said he’d have Tyson crafting magic items like a master in no time.

 

“That’s nice of Beckendorf.” Leo comments, as he starts exiting the McDonald’s parking lot.

 

Nico makes a noise of agreement, though his mouth is full of ‘chicken’. “Yeah, Beckendorf was just like that.”

 

Annabeth makes a small sniffling sound, turning to her window and avoiding eye contact with anyone else.

 

After lunch, I worked out in the arena with Apollo’s cabin. Swordplay had always been my strength. People said I was better at it than any camper in the last hundred years, except maybe Luke. People always compared me to Luke.

 

Hazel makes a face of disgust. “Percy is nothing like Luke.” She speaks towards Annabeth’s turned back. “Did people really compare them a lot?”

 

Annabeth shrugs. “Maybe. I don’t know. People… people didn’t really mention Luke around me much that summer.”

 

I thrashed the Apollo guys easily. I should’ve been testing myself against the Ares and Athena cabins, since they had the best sword fighters, but I didn’t get along with Clarisse and her siblings, and after my argument with Annabeth, I just didn’t want to see her.

 

“Ah, nothing like avoiding your problems.” Piper sighs.

 

Jason looks at her. “Is everything alright, Pipes?”

 

She laughs. “Not at all.”

 

I went to archery class, even though I was terrible at it, and it wasn’t the same without Chiron teaching. In arts and crafts, I started a marble bust of Poseidon, but it started looking like Sylvester Stallone, so I ditched it. I scaled the climbing wall in full lava-and-earthquake mode. And in the evenings, I did border patrol. Even though Tantalus had insisted we forget trying to protect the camp, some of the campers had quietly kept it up, working out a schedule during our free times.

 

“You know, now that he mentions it… I could totally see Sylvester Stallone being Percy’s dad.” Leo whispers.

 

Frank thinks about this, tilts his head, then says in such a dead serious voice, “Some things are too cursed to ever put out in the universe, Leo.”

 

I sat at the top of Half-Blood Hill and watched the dryads come and go, singing to the dying pine tree. Satyrs brought their reed pipes and played nature magic songs, and for a while the pine needles seemed to get fuller. The flowers on the hill smelled a little sweeter and the grass looked greener. But as soon as the music stopped, the sickness crept back into the air. The whole hill seemed to be infected, dying from the poison that had sunk into the tree’s roots. The longer I sat there, the angrier I got.

 

Luke had done this. I remembered his sly smile, the dragon-claw scar across his face. He’d pretended to be my friend, and the whole time he’d been Kronos’s number-one servant.

 

“Gay!” Nico chants at the radio, shaking his head.

 

“He’s bi!” Piper snaps, so suddenly and out of the blue, that she causes Frank to turn into a bulldog. 

 

“Okay…” Nico says slowly. “Bi!” He says in the same tone he had shouted ‘gay’.

 

“Thank you.” Piper chirps, reaching over to pet Frank in between their ears.

 

I opened the palm of my hand. The scar Luke had given me last summer was fading, but I could still see it—a white asterisk-shaped wound where his pit scorpion had stung me.

 

I thought about what Luke had told me right before he’d tried to kill me: Good-bye, Percy. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won’t be part of it.

 

“Why would anyone want to be a part of it?” Reyna questions. “People ate their kids, and chopped up their fathers. It fucking sucked!” 

 

At night, I had more dreams of Grover. Sometimes, I just heard snatches of his voice. Once, I heard him say: It’s here. Another time: He likes sheep.

 

I thought about telling Annabeth about my dreams, but I would’ve felt stupid. I mean, He likes sheep? She would’ve thought I was crazy.

 

“No she wouldn't've.” Hazel tries to encourage the recording of thirteen year old Percy.

 

“Yes, I would have.” Annabeth confirms.  

 

“Oh.” Hazel says, disappointedly. “Alright then.”

 

The night before the race, Tyson and I finished our chariot. It was wicked cool. Tyson had made the metal parts in the armory’s forges. I’d sanded the wood and put the carriage together. It was blue and white, with wave designs on the sides and a trident painted on the front. After all that work, it seemed only fair that Tyson would ride shotgun with me, though I knew the horses wouldn’t like it, and Tyson’s extra weight would slow us down.

 

Frank, still in bulldog form, whimpers. 

 

Jason pulls Frank into his lap. “No, I know, you would’ve pulled the carriage, it’s okay.” He soothes.

 

“If you were a pothead, and he was a great dane, I would have the best joke to make.” Piper sighs, shaking her head at the two.

 

Jason and Frank simply tilt their heads at her in confusion.

 

As we were turning in for bed, Tyson said, “You are mad?”

 

I realized I’d been scowling. “Nah. I’m not mad.”

 

“He sounds mad.” Leo says.

 

“Percy always sounds like that.” Nico reminds him.

 

Leo nods. “Yeah, which is why I always think that Percy is mad at me.” He pauses for a moment. “Now, I know that he is only sometimes mad at me.”

 

He lay down in his bunk and was quiet in the dark. His body was way too long for his bed.

 

When he pulled up the covers, his feet stuck out the bottom. “I am a monster.”

 

Frank whimpers again. Piper does as well. Though, you couldn’t quite tell which was which, because they both sounded a bit like a whiny dog. 

 

“Don’t say that.”

 

“It is okay. I will be a good monster. Then you will not have to be mad.”

 

“Aww.” Hazel coos. “Next time I see Tyson, I’m going to give him a big hug. Even if he crushed my ribs last time I did that.”

 

I didn’t know what to say. I stared at the ceiling and felt like I was dying slowly, right along with Thalia’s tree.

 

“Now, that’s a bit overdramatic.” Jason huffs, holding Frank closer to his chest. “And way too soon.”

 

“It’s just… I never had a half-brother before.” I tried to keep my voice from cracking. “It’s really different for me. And I’m worried about the camp. And another friend of mine, Grover … he might be in trouble. I keep feeling like I should be doing something to help, but I don’t know what.”

 

Tyson said nothing.

 

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “It’s not your fault. I’m mad at Poseidon. I feel like he’s trying to embarrass me, like he’s trying to compare us or something, and I don’t understand why.”

 

“Literally the thoughts of every demigod ever .” Piper groans, enunciating every word.

 

I heard a deep rumbling sound. Tyson was snoring.

 

I sighed. “Good night, big guy.”

 

“Good night, Tyson.” The rest of the car echoes. Frank gives a soft yip.

 

And I closed my eyes, too.

 

In my dream, Grover was wearing a wedding dress.

 

Reyna is taking a sip from her Dr. Pepper, but after hearing Percy’s comment, she ends up spilling it down her shirt and coughing. 

 

“What the fuck?” Piper asks, obviously taking the words right out of Reyna’s still-burning throat.

 

It didn’t fit him very well. The gown was too long and the hem was caked with dried mud. The neckline kept falling off his shoulders. A tattered veil covered his face.

 

Leo raises one eyebrow. “Wait… that wasn’t… metaphorical?”

 

“Um… I’m sure he is doing the best he can with what he has…” Piper says slowly, blinking a few times.

 

He was standing in a dank cave, lit only by torches. There was a cot in one corner and an old-fashioned loom in the other, a length of white cloth half woven on the frame. And he was staring right at me, like I was a TV program he’d been waiting for. “Thank the gods!” he yelped. “Can you hear me?”

 

My dream-self was slow to respond. I was still looking around, taking in the stalactite ceiling, the stench of sheep and goats, the growling and grumbling and bleating sounds that seemed to echo from behind a refrigerator-sized boulder, which was blocking the room’s only exit, as if there were a much larger cavern beyond it.

 

Annabeth shudders. 

 

“You alright?” Hazel asks, leaning closer to the older girl.

 

Annabeth shudders again, but doesn’t answer.

 

Nico raises an eyebrow. “I think she fell asleep.”

 

“We literally just woke up.” Hazel points out, but reaches forward to spread her sweatshirt over Annabeth’s shoulders anyway. 

 

“Percy?” Grover said. “Please, I don’t have the strength to project any better. You have to hear me!”

 

“Me when I try to call Leo at school.” Jason mutters. 

 

“I fucking hate your school’s cell service.” Leo grumbles.

 

“I hear you,” I said. “Grover, what’s going on?”

 

From behind the boulder, a monstrous voice yelled, “Honeypie! Are you done yet?”

 

“Honeypie?” Hazel furrows her eyebrows.

 

“It gives me Babycakes flashbacks.” Piper shivers, still not quite over the cannibal giants from a few hours ago.

 

Grover flinched. He called out in falsetto, “Not quite, dearest! A few more days!”

 

Grover’s falsetto voice, for some reason, sounded much more feminine than Percy’s ‘Annabeth’ voice.

 

“Bah! Hasn’t it been two weeks yet?”

 

“N-no, dearest. Just five days. That leaves twelve more to go.”

 

Frank barks. 

 

Hazel nods. “Yeah, I agree with Frank. Math was never my strongest subject, but even I know that that isn’t right.”

 

The monster was silent, maybe trying to do the math. He must’ve been worse at arithmetic than I was, because he said, “All right, but hurry! I want to SEE under that veil, heh-heh-heh.”

 

“Wow.” Leo says, dumbfounded. “Who the frick says ‘arithmetic’.” Jason cringes, when Leo takes his hands off the wheel to make finger quotes.

 

Grover turned back to me. “You have to help me! No time! I’m stuck in this cave. On an island in the sea.”

 

”Where?”

 

“I don’t know exactly! I went to Florida and turned left.”

 

“Grover,” Piper says seriously. “I love you, but those directions make less than no sense.”

 

“What? How did you—”

 

“It’s a trap!” Grover said. “It’s the reason no satyr has ever returned from this quest. He’s a shepherd, Percy! And he has it. Its nature magic is so powerful it smells just like the great god Pan! The satyrs come here thinking they’ve found Pan, and they get trapped and eaten by Polyphemus!”

 

“Is anyone able to follow along with this?” Hazel asks the car. 

 

Leo raises his hand. Everyone turns to stare at him, amazed. Then he laughs, “No, not really, but wouldn’t it be ironic if I did?”

 

“Poly-who?”

 

“The Cyclops!” Grover said, exasperated. “I almost got away. I made it all the way to St. Augustine.”

 

“Cyclops.” Jason repeats. “What a coincidence.” 

 

“But he followed you,” I said, remembering my first dream. “And trapped you in a bridal boutique.”

 

“That’s right,” Grover said. “My first empathy link must’ve worked then. Look, this bridal dress is the only thing keeping me alive. He thinks I smell good, but I told him it was just goat-scented perfume. Thank goodness he can’t see very well. His eye is still half blind from the last time somebody poked it out. But soon he’ll realize what I am. He’s only giving me two weeks to finish the bridal train, and he’s getting impatient!”

 

Piper swallows thickly. “Poked it out?” She whispers faintly, blinking her two, perfectly intact eyes.

 

Haze wrinkles her nose. “You still got that eye thing?”

 

“I will forever blame Rachel Green. I never had a problem before I saw that damned episode of Friends!”  

 

“Wait a minute. This Cyclops thinks you’re—”

 

“Yes!” Grover wailed. “He thinks I’m a lady Cyclops and he wants to marry me!”

 

Nico snorts, long and loud, a giggle escaping his throat. “I can’t believe in 5 years, I have never once heard this part of the story.”

 

Under different circumstances, I might’ve busted out laughing, but Grover’s voice was deadly serious. He was shaking with fear.

 

Piper sends a pointed stare at Nico. “Percy didn’t laugh.”

 

“Percy didn’t know that Grover is alive, and being taken care of by Sally Jackson. He is obviously fine at the moment.”

 

“Probably not mentally.” Hazel adds.

 

“Who is?” 

 

“I’ll come rescue you,” I promised. “Where are you?”

 

“The Sea of Monsters, of course!”

 

“Oh, that explains the title on the cd.” Jason murmurs.

 

“Really?” Reyna asks sarcastically. “We never would have guessed.”

 

“Why do you try to hurt me?” 

 

“The sea of what?”

 

“I told you! I don’t know exactly where! And look, Percy … urn, I’m really sorry about this, but this empathy link … well, I had no choice. Our emotions are connected now. If I die …”

 

“Why is this the first time we’re hearing about this?” Piper asks in alarm. 

 

“I don’t know, Percy was very open about it for those first few years.” Nico shrugs.

 

“Don’t tell me, I’ll die too.”

 

“Oh, well, perhaps not. You might live for years in a vegetative state. But, uh, it would be a lot better if you got me out of here.”

 

“And Grover had the audacity to say that Percy’s plans bite.” Hazel hums.

 

“We probably shouldn’t have left them alone, and taken Annabeth with us.” Jason whispers, eyes wide. 

 

“Honeypie!” the monster bellowed. “Dinnertime! Yummy yummy sheep meat!”

 

“Is it just me, or is Percy using the same voice for the monster that he uses for Tyson?” Reyna asks.

 

Grover whimpered. “I have to go. Hurry!”

 

“Wait! You said ‘it’ was here. What?”

 

But Grover’s voice was already growing fainter. “Sweet dreams. Don’t let me die!”

 

Frank barks, obviously in an attempt to repeat ‘sweet dreams’. 

 

“Don’t let him die.” Piper echoes.

 

“But no pressure.” Hazel adds, with a tightlipped smile.

 

The dream faded and I woke with a start. It was early morning. Tyson was staring down at me, his one big brown eye full of concern.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked.

 

His voice sent a chill down my back, because he sounded almost exactly like the monster I’d heard in my dream.

 

“Nope.” Piper pops the ‘p’. “Definitely not just you, Reyna.”

 

The morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam.

 

Nico gags at the description of the weather. “That sounds like the Fields of Punishment.” 

 

“Maybe it was a special request for Tantalus.” Jason shrugs. Frank nods, his little ears wagging in agreement with Jason’s statement.

 

Millions of birds were roosting in the trees—fat gray-and-white pigeons, except they didn’t coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that reminded me of submarine radar.

 

“I bet they’re demon pigeons.” Leo sighs, stepping on the gas, and staring in his rearview mirror again.

 

The racetrack had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods.

 

Hephaestus’s cabin had used the bronze bulls, which were completely tame since they’d had their heads smashed in, to plow an oval track in a matter of minutes.

 

“That makes sense…” Hazel says, though her tone makes it clear that she doesn’t actually think that that sentence made any sense at all.

 

There were rows of stone steps for the spectators— Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren’t participating. Mr. D didn’t show. He never got up before ten o’clock.

 

“Mood.” Reyna laughs.

 

“You get upset if you don’t wake up before 5.” Nico reminds her.

 

“That doesn’t mean I necessarily like doing so.”

 

“Then why do you wake everyone else up with you?” Jason asks her.

 

“What is with all of these questions?” 

 

Jason shrugs. “I’m pretty sure that only one question was asked.”

 

“Right!” Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate eclair across the judge’s table. “You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!” Tantalus smiled at us like we were all naughty children. “Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s’mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!”

 

Leo shudders. “That is harsh.” 

 

“Change of topic, but is anyone else totally repulsed by Tantalus’ blatant food wastage? Like, stop trying! It will never work!” Nico yells. 

 

“Breath.” Hazel instructs her brother, lightly running her fingers through the hair on the nape of his neck.

 

Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. They had a sweet ride made of bronze and iron—even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. I had no doubt that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than a fully loaded Maserati.

 

“Awesome.” Leo whispers in awe. “I love the way he thinks.”

 

“He’s still in Elysium if you want to talk to him.” Nico says randomly, leaning closer to Hazel.

 

“What?” Jason asks, eyes wide.

 

“What?” Nico repeats, not quite remembering what he had just said.

 

The Ares chariot was bloodred, and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Clarisse climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys.

 

Apollo’s chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Their fighter was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows at the opposing drivers.

 

“That’s what they always say.” Reyna groans. “Next thing you know, you have to fill out incident reports because three campers got shot in the shoulder!” 

 

Frank barks. 

 

Jason scratches Frank’s neck. “I think that Frank is trying to remind you that they said it was an accident.”

 

Hermes’s chariot was green and kind of old-looking, as if it hadn’t been out of the garage in years. It didn’t look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, and I shuddered to think what dirty tricks they’d schemed up.

 

That left two chariots: one driven by Annabeth, and the other by me.

 

Before the race began, I tried to approach Annabeth and tell her about my dream.

 

“Said no teenage guy ever.” Leo hums. 

 

The rest of the car goers wrinkle their noses, but Hazel says, “I don’t get it.”

 

“You don’t need to.” Nico tells her, sending a glare towards Leo.

 

She perked up when I mentioned Grover, but when I told her what he’d said, she seemed to get distant again, suspicious.

 

“You’re trying to distract me,” she decided.

 

“I guess she tried to warn us.” Piper shrugs, looking over at Annabeth’s sleeping form.

 

“What? No I’m not!”

 

“Oh, right! Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp.”

 

“Wait what?” Leo asks. “Did I miss something?” 

 

“I have no idea.” Jason shrugs. “I don’t even think Percy knows what they’re talking about.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“See.” Jason gestures towards the radio. He lightly scratches Frank in between the ears with his other hand.

 

She rolled her eyes. “Go back to your chariot, Percy.”

 

“I’m not making this up. He’s in trouble, Annabeth.”

 

She hesitated. I could tell she was trying to decide whether or not to trust me. Despite our occasional fights, we’d been through a lot together. And I knew she would never want anything bad to happen to Grover.

 

“Who would ever want anything to happen to Grover?” Piper questions, her mouth agape as if she was affronted by the thought.

 

“Heh.” Nico grunts. “Just wait until you meet the council.”

 

“The what now?”

 

“Percy, an empathy link is so hard to do. I mean, it’s more likely you really were dreaming.”

 

“The Oracle,” I said. “We could consult the Oracle.”

 

“Whenever he says that, my mind goes to Rachel.” Reyna admits. 

 

“Sounds gay.” Leo tells her.

 

“As it should.” 

 

Annabeth frowned.

 

Last summer, before my quest, I’d visited the strange spirit that lived in the Big House attic and it had given me a prophecy that came true in ways I’d never expected. The experience had freaked me out for months. Annabeth knew I’d never suggest going back there if I wasn’t completely serious.

 

“And here I thought that getting a prophecy from the completely alive redheaded girl was creepy as shit.” Leo shudders. 

 

Before she could answer, the conch horn sounded.

 

“Charioteers!” Tantalus called. “To your mark!”

 

“We’ll talk later,” Annabeth told me, “after I win.”

 

In her sleep, Annabeth smiles, and raises her arm in victory. 

 

“Now that's some badassery, right there.” Piper comments.

 

As I was walking back to my own chariot, I noticed how many more pigeons were in the trees now—screeching like crazy, making the whole forest rustle. Nobody else seemed to be paying them much attention, but they made me nervous. Their beaks glinted strangely. Their eyes seemed shinier than regular birds.

 

“Half the kids at camp have sensory issues, how is Percy apparently the only person that notices that?” Nico asks. “Just imagining it is annoying me.” 

 

Tyson was having trouble getting our horses under control. I had to talk to them a long time before they would settle down.

 

He’s a monster, lord! they complained to me.

 

“Arion would never.” Hazel pledges, looking over at the glowering puppy dog eyes of Frank.

 

He’s a son of Poseidon, I told them. Just like … well, just like me.

 

“And them. Technically.” Jason can’t resist adding.

 

No! they insisted. Monster! Horse-eater! Not trusted!

 

I’ll give you sugar cubes at the end of the race, I said.

 

“Sugar cubes!” Leo asks, his voice perking up in anticipation. 

 

“You do not need anymore sugar.” Reyna says tiredly.

 

Leo pouts. “Annabeth would say yes.”

 

“You and I both know that that is not true.”

 

Sugar cubes?

 

Very big sugar cubes. And apples. Did I mention the apples?

 

Finally they agreed to let me harness them.

 

“So the same way that you would get horses to pull a cyclops in a chariot, is the same way that we get Leo to do anything.” Jason comments. “Good to know.” 

 

“Please.” Piper laughs. “Like he would ever eat apples.”

 

“Just because its true, doesn’t mean that I can’t hear you!” Leo says loudly from the front seat, moving the car into the right lane. 

 

Now, if you’ve never seen a Greek chariot, it’s built for speed, not safety or comfort. It’s basically a wooden basket, open at the back, mounted on an axle between two wheels. The driver stands up the whole time, and you can feel every bump in the road. The carriage is made of such light wood that if you wipe out making the hairpin turns at either end of the track, you’ll probably tip over and crush both the chariot and yourself. It’s an even better rush than skateboarding.

 

“We get it.” Piper sighs. “We all saw Phineas and Ferb!” 

 

“What the hell is a Ferb?” Hazel asks. “And what does he have to do with the guy that Percy killed?”

 

Jason’s head whips around. “The guy that Percy what ?”  

 

I took the reins and maneuvered the chariot to the starting line. I gave Tyson a ten-foot pole and told him that his job was to push the other chariots away if they got too close, and to deflect anything they might try to throw at us.

 

“No hitting ponies with the stick,” he insisted.

 

“No,” I agreed. “Or people, either, if you can help it. We’re going to run a clean race. Just keep the distractions away and let me concentrate on driving.”

 

“That’s what losers say.” Nico shakes his head. “Which is why, if Hazel and I were in that, we would win.” 

 

“I still wouldn’t hit the horses.” Hazel tells him. “But, yeah. We would have that in the bag.”

 

“We will win.’” He beamed.

 

We are so going to lose, I thought to myself, but I had to try. I wanted to show the others … Well, I wasn’t sure what, exactly. That Tyson wasn’t such a bad guy? That I wasn’t ashamed of being seen with him in public? Maybe that they hadn’t hurt me with all their jokes and name-calling?

 

“Even though they obviously had.” Reyna comments. 

 

“Perception and truth are two different things.” Piper mutters, pressing her face into Reyna’s shoulder.

 

As the chariots lined up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly the campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds. Tantalus didn’t look concerned, but he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise.

 

“Charioteers!” he shouted. “Attend your mark!”

 

Leo wrinkles his nose. “Percy realizes he doesn’t have to yell to make it clear that someone is shouting, right?”

 

Piper tugs at her earlobe. “It doesn’t seem like it.” 

 

He waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life. Hooves thundered against the dirt. The crowd cheered.

 

Almost immediately there was a loud nasty crack! I looked back in time to see the Apollo chariot flip over. The Hermes chariot had rammed into it—maybe by mistake, maybe not. The riders were thrown free, but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track.

 

A bone in Nico’s jaw twitches. “I swear to the gods, if Will was in that chariot… the Stolls better watch their backs.”

 

“Isn’t there a statute of limitations on these sorts of things?” Jason laughs uncomfortably.

 

Hazel shakes her head. “Not for Nico.” 

 

The Hermes team, Travis and Connor Stoll, were laughing at their good luck, but not for long. The Apollo horses crashed into theirs, and the Hermes chariot flipped too, leaving a pile of broken wood and four rearing horses in the dust.

 

Nico laughs at this, his eyes glinting maliciously. 

 

“This is why we’re friends.” Reyna tells him, smiling fondly.

 

Two chariots down in the first twenty feet. I loved this sport.

 

“This is why Greeks scare me.” Jason whispers. 

 

“This is why Romans always lose to Greeks.” Piper says, sending him a wink.

 

I turned my attention back to the front. We were making good time, pulling ahead of Ares, but Annabeth’s chariot was way ahead of us. She was already making her turn around the first post, her javelin man grinning and waving at us, shouting: “See ya!”

 

The Hephaestus chariot was starting to gain on us, too.

 

“Whoo!” Leo cheers, making the car swerve a bit too hard. 

 

“Just because we’re listening to a chariot race, doesn’t mean you can drive like its a chariot race.” Jason says through gritted teeth, holding a whimpering Frank to his chest.

 

Beckendorf pressed a button, and a panel slid open on the side of his chariot.

 

“Sorry, Percy!” he yelled. Three sets of balls and chains shot straight toward our wheels.

 

They would’ve wrecked us completely if Tyson hadn’t whacked them aside with a quick swipe of his pole. He gave the Hephaestus chariot a good shove and sent them skittering sideways while we pulled ahead.

 

Frank barks happily. Obviously trying to cheer Tyson on. 

 

“Nobody asked you, Frank.” Leo fake pouts, though he is a bit too distracted to follow through with the bit, his eyes glancing between his rear view and side view mirrors. 

 

“Nice work, Tyson!” I yelled.

 

“Birds!” he cried.

 

Piper blinks lazily. “Is that a way of saying ‘your welcome’ in Cyclops-ese?” 

 

“Or he could be talking about the pigeons Percy has been talking about for the last three minutes.” Hazel suggests.

 

“ Right… ” Piper whispers. “That’s still happening.” 

 

“What?”

 

We were whipping along so fast it was hard to hear or see anything, but Tyson pointed toward the woods and I saw what he was worried about. The pigeons had risen from the trees. They were spiraling like a huge tornado, heading toward the track.

 

No big deal, I told myself. They’re just pigeons.

 

“They’re never just pigeons!” Jason yells in frustration. “It’s never just a tree, it’s never just a huge kid, and it’s never just a dog! How long does it take for him to realize that!” He takes a deep breath. 

 

“You’ve been holding that in for a while, haven’t you?” Nico asks. 

 

“I’m just going through a lot, right now.” 

 

I tried to concentrate on the race.

 

We made our first turn, the wheels creaking under us, the chariot threatening to tip, but we were now only ten feet behind Annabeth. If I could just get a little closer, Tyson could use his pole….

 

Annabeth’s fighter wasn’t smiling now. He pulled a javelin from his collection and took aim at me. He was about to throw when we heard the screaming.

 

“Pigeons?” Hazel guesses.

 

The pigeons were swarming—thousands of them dive-bombing the spectators in the stands, attacking the other chariots. Beckendorf was mobbed. His fighter tried to bat the birds away but he couldn’t see anything. The chariot veered off course and plowed through the strawberry fields, the mechanical horses steaming.

 

“Pigeons.” Reyna agrees, leaning her head back, her eyes fluttering shut. 

 

In the Ares chariot, Clarisse barked an order to her fighter, who quickly threw a screen of camouflage netting over their basket. The birds swarmed around it, pecking and clawing at the fighter’s hands as he tried to hold up the net, but Clarisse just gritted her teeth and kept driving. Her skeletal horses seemed immune to the distraction. The pigeons pecked uselessly at their empty eye sockets and flew through their rib cages, but the stallions kept right on running.

 

Frank jumps off of Jason’s lap, and back into their seat. One moment, he is a bulldog, and the next, they are in their six foot tall human form. 

 

“That’s my sister!” Frank cheers. 

 

Jason looks glumly at his now empty lap. “Did you really have to stop being the dog?” 

 

The spectators weren’t so lucky. The birds were slashing at any bit of exposed flesh, driving everyone into a panic. Now that the birds were closer, it was clear they weren’t normal pigeons.

 

“Really?” Nico asks sarcastically. “What gave it away?”

 

“Obviously the fact that they were closer.” Leo replies distractedly.

 

Their eyes were beady and evil-looking. Their beaks were made of bronze, and judging from the yelps of the campers, they must’ve been razor sharp.

 

“Stymphalian birds!” Annabeth yelled. She slowed down and pulled her chariot alongside mine. “They’ll strip everyone to bones if we don’t drive them away!”

 

Everyone in the car leans forward at the name of the birds. Percy didn’t seem to know how to pronounce it, and ended up calling them ‘Stimpy birds’. 

 

“Tyson,” I said, “we’re turning around!”

 

“Going the wrong way?” he asked.

 

“Always.” Leo hums, once more moving the car into another lane. 

 

“Always,” I grumbled, but I steered the chariot toward the stands.

 

Piper furrows her eyebrows in confusion. “Really, Leo? Nothing?”

 

“Huh?” He asks dazedly, his gaze focused on the road.

 

Annabeth rode right next to me. She shouted, “Heroes, to arms!” But I wasn’t sure anyone could hear her over the screeching of the birds and the general chaos.

 

“Who is she… talking… to…?” Hazel asks slowly. Everyone else shrugs, equally as confused. 

 

I held my reins in one hand and managed to draw Riptide as a wave of birds dived at my face, their metal beaks snapping. I slashed them out of the air and they exploded into dust and feathers, but there were still millions of them left. One nailed me in the back end and I almost jumped straight out of the chariot.

 

“A million birds flocked around a group of demigods, and nobody was concerned before they started attacking?” Frank asks the group. 

 

“I think he’s using metaphor .” Nico says wisely.

 

“Actually, that would be hyperbole.” Jason corrects.

 

Nico rolls his eyes. “Okay, dork .” 

 

Annabeth wasn’t having much better luck. The closer we got to the stands, the thicker the cloud of birds became.

 

Some of the spectators were trying to fight back. The Athena campers were calling for shields. The archers from Apollo’s cabin brought out their bows and arrows, ready to slay the menace, but with so many campers mixed in with the birds, it wasn’t safe to shoot.

 

Reyna sends a pointed look at Frank. “Hmm, if only somebody had told that to my co-praetor.”

 

“For the last time, I said it was an accident.” Frank whines. 

 

“Too many!” I yelled to Annabeth. “How do you get rid of them?”

 

She stabbed at a pigeon with her knife. “Hercules used noise! Brass bells! He scared them away with the most horrible sound he could—” Her eyes got wide. “Percy … Chiron’s collection!”

 

Piper snorts, so loudly that had she not finished her milkshake ten minutes ago, it surely would have started running down her nose. “This is why I love Annabeth. She’s so real.” 

 

I understood instantly. “You think it’ll work?”

 

She handed her fighter the reins and leaped from her chariot into mine like it was the easiest thing in the world. “To the Big House! It’s our only chance!”

 

Clarisse has just pulled across the finish line, completely unopposed, and seemed to notice for the first time how serious the bird problem was.

 

“Talk about real .” Reyna giggles. Full out giggles. 

 

Piper smiles uneasily. “Okay… it wasn’t that funny, but whatever.” 

 

When she saw us driving away, she yelled, “You’re running? The fight is here, cowards!”

 

“Didn’t she just now notice the fight?” Jason asks in confusion. Then his mouth forms an ‘o’ shape. “Is that why Clarisse doesn’t like me?” 

 

“She doesn’t like most people.” Frank assures him.

 

She drew her sword and charged for the stands.

 

I urged our horses into a gallop. The chariot rumbled through the strawberry fields, across the volleyball pit, and lurched to a halt in front of the Big House. Annabeth and I ran inside, tearing down the hallway to Chiron’s apartment.

 

Leo groans, accelerating the car. “Hey, Annabeth!” He calls, gently. 

 

She barely stirs in her sleep. 

 

His boombox was still on his nightstand. So were his favorite CDs. I grabbed the most repulsive one I could find, Annabeth snatched the boom box, and together we ran back outside.

 

“Annabeth!” 

 

Annabeth gives a small groan. 

 

Down at the track, the chariots were in flames. Wounded campers ran in every direction, with birds shredding their clothes and pulling out their hair, while Tantalus chased breakfast pastries around the stands, every once in a while yelling, “Everything’s under control! Not to worry.’”

 

“At least he has his priorities under control.” Hazel says sarcastically. 

 

We pulled up to the finish line. Annabeth got the boom box ready. I prayed the batteries weren’t dead.

 

Leo, after four different, unsuccessful attempts at waking up Annabeth, looks up to the heavens, and prays, “Gods help me. Annie!” 

 

Annabeth straightens up. “What the hell did you just call me?” She asks with her eyes closed, doing an eerie impression of Gaea. 

 

I pressed PLAY and started up Chiron’s favorite—the All-Time Greatest Hits of Dean Martin.

 

Suddenly the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning in Italian.

 

“I don’t know how, but that feels offensive.” Nico says. “I am officially offended. 

 

The demon pigeons went nuts. They started flying in circles, running into each other like they wanted to bash their own brains out. Then they abandoned the track altogether and flew skyward in a huge dark wave.

 

“Now!” shouted Annabeth. “Archers!”

 

“Yeah, Annabeth,” Leo says slowly, finally remembering why he had woken Annabeth up in the first place. “Not to alarm you or anything, but two fully sized griffons have been chasing us for the past ten miles.” 

 

Annabeth starts leaning against her seatbelt again. “Oh, that’s al-” Suddenly her eyes fly open, and she stares at Leo. “What?!”

 

With clear targets, Apollo’s archers had flawless aim. Most of them could nock five or six arrows at once. Within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze-beaked pigeons, and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon.

 

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Annabeth asks Leo. 

 

“Why am I still focused on Percy’s story, when we have monsters following us?” Hazel asks herself, softly. 

 

The camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn’t pretty. Most of the chariots had been completely destroyed. Almost everyone was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks. The kids from Aphrodite’s cabin were screaming because their hairdos had been ruined and their clothes pooped on.

 

“Okay, pull the car over.” Annabeth orders. “Everyone got a weapon?”

 

“Of course we have weapons.” Reyna answers, reaching for her spear that was poking out from the trunk. “What kind of demigods do you think we are? 

 

“Bravo!” Tantalus said, but he wasn’t looking at me or Annabeth. “We have our first winner!”

 

“Wait!” Piper yells, as Annabeth and Reyna prepare to leave the car. “Can we just wait until the end of this?” 

 

He walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned-looking Clarisse.

 

Then he turned and smiled at me. “And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race.”

 

“I’m just gonna pause it here.” Hazel declares. “Okay, let’s go!”

Notes:

Yeah, so I feel really crappy, because I realized that I started this story last year at the beginning of my junior year, and now I'm a freaking senior, and gosh if you're still here, I envy you.

I hope this was okay, because I am very tired at the moment, and this remains my least favorite book. But, we're at page 119, so based off the Lightning Thief, only about 400 pages to go, lol.

Until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 7: I Accept Gifts From A Stranger

Notes:

Two chapters within two weeks! Who am I?

This was 31 pages long. Enjoy!

“I hate driving.” Piper pouts as she sits in the front seat. 

 

Annabeth brings her knees to her chest, and wraps her arms around her legs. “It was either you or me. And, even you voted for yourself.” 

 

Leo pouts. “Why did I have to stop driving?” 

 

“Because you deserve a break after evading griffons for fifteen minutes.” Annabeth sighs, before turning to face him. “It isn’t a punishment.” 

 

Leo just crosses his arms over his chest, letting his face roll onto Jason’s shoulder. 

 

Piper shrugs. “Well, if I have to drive, I may as well listen to Percy’s prepubescent angst while I do it.”

 

Hazel presses her forehead to Piper’s bicep. “I like having you up front.” 

 

The way Tantalus saw it, the Stymphalian birds had simply been minding their own business in the woods and would not have attacked if Annabeth, Tyson, and I hadn’t disturbed them with our bad chariot driving.

 

“Those were his exact words.” Annabeth tells them. “At least Percy’s pronunciation of Stymphalian is better than I ever heard it.”

 

Jason blinks. “ Better ? What are you measuring that against?” 

 

This was so completely unfair, I told Tantalus to go chase a doughnut, which didn’t help his mood. He sentenced us to kitchen patrol—scrubbing pots and platters all afternoon in the underground kitchen with the cleaning harpies. The harpies washed with lava instead of water, to get that extra-clean sparkle and kill ninety-nine point nine percent of all germs, so Annabeth and I had to wear asbestos gloves and aprons.

 

“That is the saddest thing I have ever had to listen to.” Hazel whispers. “And I was in Asphodel . That whole place is filled with sad people.”

 

Tyson didn’t mind. He plunged his bare hands right in and started scrubbing, but Annabeth and I had to suffer through hours of hot, dangerous work, especially since there were tons of extra plates. Tantalus had ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate Clarisse’s chariot victory—a full-course meal featuring country-fried Stymphalian death-bird.

 

Piper gags. “That is disgusting.” 

 

“Even more disgusting than Percy hanging the Minotaur’s bloody horn in his room?” Frank asks innocently. 

 

Piper shudders. “Thanks for putting that image back in my head.” 

 

The only good thing about our punishment was that it gave Annabeth and me a common enemy and lots of time to talk. After listening to my dream about Grover again, she looked like she might be starting to believe me.

 

Hazel sighs contentedly. “ Finally .”

 

“If he’s really found it,” she murmured, “and if we could retrieve it—”

 

“Hold on,” I said. “You act like this … whatever-it-is Grover found is the only thing in the world that could save the camp. What is it?”

 

“That’s what I want to know.” Leo chimes in. “I mean, assuming we haven’t already learned what it is, and I just wasn’t paying attention.” 

 

“I’ll give you a hint. What do you get when you skin a ram?”

 

Reyna raises one eyebrow. “What kind of shit hint is that?”

 

Nico nods. “Yeah. I mean, I know what the object is, and even I wouldn’t have guessed from that.”

 

“Messy?”

 

She sighed. ” A fleece. The coat of a ram is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool—”

 

“The Golden Fleece. Are you serious?”

 

“Oh!” Leo jumps in his seat. “I actually do know what that is! It’s the sparkly rug that we put in the pine tree!” 

 

Hazel pouts. “Does nobody understand the concept of spoilers anymore?” 

 

Annabeth scrapped a plateful of death-bird bones into the lava. “Percy, remember the Gray Sisters? They said they knew the location of the thing you seek. And they mentioned Jason. Three thousand years ago, they told him how to find the Golden Fleece. You do know the story of Jason and the Argonauts?”

 

“Yes.” Piper says promptly. 

 

“More or less…” Leo wiggles his hand from side to side.

 

“No.” Jason says. “That is a Greek story that I have not read yet. By the way, who decided that naming a Roman demigod after a Greek hero was a good idea?” 

 

“Yeah,” I said. “That old movie with the clay skeletons.”

 

“Okay,” Frank wrinkles their nose. “Even I know that that isn’t right.”

 

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless.”

 

“That's Annabeth-speak for ‘I love you’.” Nico relates to the group. 

 

“Is not!” Annabeth protests.

 

Nico raises a skeptical eyebrow, the corners of his lip curling into a smirk. “So you’re saying you didn’t realize you liked him that summer?” 

 

“No comment.”

 

”What?” I demanded.

 

“Just listen. The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that’s not important.”

 

“That seems like a pretty important detail.” Hazel comments. “At least to Europa.” 

 

“It was probably important to her.”

 

Leo’s leg starts bouncing up and down. “Gods, I love when that happens.” 

 

“Really?” Jason questions. “I think it gets a bit repetitive.” 

 

“The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That’s why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it’s placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution—”

 

“So, the golden ram saved him and brought him to Colchis, and then Cadmus killed it as thanks?” Frank asks, their voice pitching higher. “Why would he do that?”

 

Reyna shrugs. “Probably because he led to the death of Cadmus’ sister.” 

 

Nico nods slowly. “Yup. That’ll really fuck a person up.”

 

“It could cure Thalia’s tree.”

 

Annabeth nodded. “And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood. But Percy, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck.”

 

“But Grover found it,” I said. “He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, Annabeth. We can rescue him and save the camp at the same time. It’s perfect!”

 

“This is why Grover is the best.” Piper declares, taking one hand off the steering wheel and holding it up. “Argue at a wall.” 

 

“Ten and two!” Jason yelps.

 

“I’m fi- oh, shit.” Piper quickly puts her hands back on the wheel as the van starts veering a little too far to the left. “Everything’s alright, don’t worry.” 

 

Annabeth hesitated. “A little too perfect, don’t you think? What if it’s a trap?”

 

I remembered last summer, how Kronos had manipulated our quest. He’d almost fooled us into helping him start a war that would’ve destroyed Western Civilization.

 

“Pfft!” Leo waves it off. “Who hasn’t almost been fooled into destroying Western Civilization? You gotta get over it.” 

 

“Are you okay?” Frank asks him softly. 

 

“Nope!” Leo pops the ‘p’, giving a thumbs up. 

 

“What choice do we have?” I asked. “Are you going to help me rescue Grover or not?”

 

She glanced at Tyson, who’d lost interest in our conversation and was happily making toy boats out of cups and spoons in the lava.

 

“He is precious.” Hazel says, honestly, tugging at one of her stray curls. 

 

“Percy,” she said under her breath, “we’ll have to fight a Cyclops. Polyphemus, the worst of the Cyclopes. And there’s only one place his island could be. The Sea of Monsters.”

 

“Okay, for the last time, what. The. Fuck. Is. That?” Leo bursts out, slapping Jason’s lap with every word. 

 

“Where’s that?”

 

She stared at me like she thought I was playing dumb. “The Sea of Monsters. The same sea Odysseus sailed through, and Jason, and Aeneas, and all the others.”

 

Leo sighs. “Thank you for somewhat answering my question Annabeth, but I think Percy said where not what ?” 

 

Annabeth stares at him blankly. “Are you trying to lecture me on paying attention?” 

 

“Funny how the turn tables, huh?” 

 

“You mean the Mediterranean?”

 

“No. Well, yes … but no.”

 

“No wonder it took you two four years to get together.” Piper sighs dramatically, rolling her eyes at her best friend.

 

“Wait!” Hazel cuts in. “We have to go through three more years of this shit?” 

 

Nico smiles at her, a toothy, shark grin. “Said literally every single camper at one point or another.”

 

“Another straight answer. Thanks.”

 

“Look, Percy, the Sea of Monsters is the sea all heroes sail through on their adventures. It used to be in the Mediterranean, yes. But like everything else, it shifts locations as the West’s center of power shifts.”

 

“Like Mount Olympus being above the Empire State Building,” I said. “And Hades being under Los Angeles.”

 

“That still feels weird and wrong.” Jason shakes his head.

 

Piper laughs. “Obviously, you have never lived in Los Angeles. It makes perfect sense to me.”

 

“Right.”

 

“But a whole sea full of monsters—how could you hide something like that? Wouldn’t the mortals notice weird things happening … like, ships getting eaten and stuff?”

 

“Ooh! Ooh!” Frank starts jumping up and down in their seat. “I know this one! I know this one. I bet its that place, where…” He trails off, eyebrows furrowing. “Shiitake mushrooms! I can’t remember the name.” 

 

“Of course they notice. They don’t understand, but they know something is strange about that part of the ocean. The Sea of Monsters is off the east coast of the U.S. now, just northeast of Florida. The mortals even have a name for it.”

 

“Um…” Frank was scrunching their face up in concentration. 

 

“Come on, Frank, you’ve got it!” Reyna encourages.

 

“It’s on the tip of my tongue!” He yells in frustration. “It… it was in all those Disney Channel shows, and…”

 

“The Bermuda Triangle?”

 

“Dang it!” They hiss.

 

“So close.” Reyna sighs in sympathy. Well, as sympathetic as Reyna can be for people that aren’t Sally Jacksonk, that is.

 

“Exactly.”

 

I let that sink in. I guess it wasn’t stranger than anything else I’d learned since coming to Camp Half-Blood. “Okay … so at least we know where to look.”

 

“It’s still a huge area, Percy. Searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters—”

 

“Hey, I’m the son of the sea god. This is my home turf. How hard can it be?”

 

“Famous last words.” Jason hums, rubbing at the scar above his upper lip. 

 

“Really?” Leo questions. “I never heard that one. Though, my favorite last words were ‘AAAGH’! Gets me every time.”

 

“You are the devil.” Jason says, though his voice is fond.

 

Leo winks. “Well, I am hot like him.”

 

Annabeth knit her eyebrows. “We’ll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He’ll say no.”

 

“Not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody. The whole camp will hear. They’ll pressure him. He won’t be able to refuse.”

 

“Like when you ask your teacher to postpone the test in front of the whole class, and everyone is cheering, and it actually works!” Piper laughs. “I love when that happens.”

 

“That's one of the downsides of being homeschooled by Chiron.” Nico reveals. “One-person chants sound so empty.”

 

“Maybe.” A little bit of hope crept into Annabeth’s voice. “We’d better get these dishes done. Hand me the lava spray gun, will you?”

 

That night at the campfire, Apollo’s cabin led the sing-along. They tried to get everybody’s spirits up, but it wasn’t easy after that afternoon’s bird attack. We all sat around a semicircle of stone steps, singing halfheartedly and watching the bonfire blaze while the Apollo guys strummed their guitars and picked their lyres.

 

“I’m guessing this was before Austin came in with his saxophone?” Frank asks.

 

Annabeth snorts. “Before Austin’s time? Frank, let me put this into perspective. This was before Old-Man Billy’s time.” 

 

Old-Man Billy was an Apollo Kid Legend, who showed up to every bonfire night with an entire one man band set up. Legend has it that Percy dragged him into the canoe lake after Billy upstaged him in a rendition of ‘Under the Sea’. Others say that his mom moved him to Texas, and he didn’t want to commute. 

 

Of course this all happened before the other members of the Seven showed up at camp, so until proven otherwise, Billy was still in that lake.

 

We did all the standard camp numbers: “Down by the Aegean,” “I Am My Own Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandpa,” “This Land is Minos’s Land.” The bonfire was enchanted, so the louder you sang, the higher it rose, changing color and heat with the mood of the crowd. On a good night, I’d seen it twenty feet high, bright purple, and so hot the whole front row’s marshmallows burst into the flames. Tonight, the fire was only five feet high, barely warm, and the flames were the color of lint.

 

“ Really ?” Leo’s voice pitched higher. “Even after the Legend of Tityrus. That one is my favorite.”

 

“It’s just a song about a satyr being skinned alive.” Piper gags. 

 

“You have your opinions, I have mine !”

 

Dionysus left early. After suffering through a few songs, he muttered something about how even pinochle with Chiron had been more exciting than this. Then he gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back toward the Big House.

 

When the last song was over, Tantalus said, “Well, that was lovely!”

 

“He obviously wasn’t listening to ‘Down by the Aegean’.” Reyna shudders. “I still have nightmares.”

 

He came forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick and tried to pluck it off, real casual-like. But before he could touch it, the marshmallow flew off the stick. Tantalus made a wild grab, but the marshmallow committed suicide, diving into the flames.

 

“Um, content warning next time?” Nico asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“Ah.” Piper sighs. “The gen-z-ification of Nico di Angelo. I never thought that I’d live to see this day.”

 

Tantalus turned back toward us, smiling coldly. “Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow’s schedule.”

 

“Sir,” I said.

 

Tantalus’s eye twitched. “Our kitchen boy has something to say?”

 

Nobody laughed. More out of sheer force of will rather than not finding the words, and Percy’s delivery of them hysterical. It was an unspoken agreement, as ancient and powerful as a vow made on the River Styx, that none of them would dare laugh at anything Tantalus had to say.

 

Some of the Ares campers snickered, but I wasn’t going to let anybody embarrass me into silence. I stood and looked at Annabeth. Thank the gods, she stood up with me.

 

“Aw.” Hazel pouts. 

 

“You cannot find the smallest details adorable.” Annabeth tries to tell the younger girl. 

 

“Try and stop me! I lived through the Great Depression, I know how to survive on crumbs!” 

 

I said, “We have an idea to save the camp.”

 

Dead silence, but I could tell I’d gotten everybody’s interest, because the campfire flared bright yellow.

 

“Sometimes, I hate how invasive that fire is.” Jason grumbles.

 

“You can’t really blame the fire when you shout out that a girl is pretty in front of the entire camp.” Leo informs him. 

 

Jason blushes. “Shut up.”

 

“Indeed,” Tantalus said blandly. “Well, if it has anything to do with chariots—”

 

“The Golden Fleece,” I said. “We know where it is.”

 

“ Know is a bit of a strong word, isn’t it?” Reyna asks. “‘Can infer’? Yes. ‘Have a guess’? Absolutely. But know ?” She shakes her head in response to her own question.

 

The flames burned orange. Before Tantalus could stop me, I blurted out my dream about Grover and Polyphemus’s island. Annabeth stepped in and reminded everybody what the Fleece could do. It sounded more convincing coming from her.

 

She would, of course, deny it, but Annabeth’s cheeks definitely grew warmer at the semi-compliment that Percy had given her. Hazel wasn’t the only one that could live off crumbs.

 

“The Fleece can save the camp,” she concluded. “I’m certain of it.”

 

“Nonsense,” said Tantalus. “We don’t need saving.”

 

“Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.” Leo sighs. 

 

“Has someone said that already?” Piper asks him, her brows furrowing. 

 

“Maybe, but it’s too good to stop using.”

 

Everybody stared at him until Tantalus started looking uncomfortable.

 

“Besides,” he added quickly, “the Sea of Monsters? That’s hardly an exact location. You wouldn’t even know where to look.”

 

“Yes, I would,” I said.

 

“He would?” The car echoes. 

 

Annabeth leaned toward me and whispered, “You would?”

 

I nodded, because Annabeth had jogged something in my memory when she reminded me about our taxi drive with the Gray Sisters. At the time, the information they’d given me made no sense. But now …

 

“30, 31, 75, 12,” I said.

 

Leo’s eyes widened. “I knew that that had something to do with this!” 

 

“You did?” Jason asks dubiously.”

 

“Not at all. No idea what he’s talking about.”

 

“Ooo-kay,” Tantalus said. “Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers.”

 

“They’re sailing coordinates,” I said. “Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies.”

 

Percy even sounded awkward as he told the story, as if he had recorded himself saying this in front of the entire camp once more.

 

Even Annabeth looked impressed. “30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He’s right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That’d be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!”

 

“I-” Annabeth rushes to protest. “I-I- was not impressed .”

 

Piper rolls her eyes. “Okay Amy Santiago. Your blushing cheeks would say otherwise.” 

 

Annabeth’s mouth opens agape. “I- Aren’t you supposed to be focusing on the road?”

 

“I am,” Piper replies mildly. “Your cheeks are glowing , Rudolph.” 

 

“Wait just a minute,” Tantalus said.

 

But the campers took up the chant. “We need a quest! We need a quest!”

 

“I appreciate his effort to replicate the chant.” Hazel comments. “It really gives the story a new depth.” 

 

The flames rose higher.

 

“It isn’t necessary!” Tantalus insisted.

 

Nico snorts. “The fact that we are still using the fleece to this day, proves that it was definitely necessary.” 

 

“Fine!” Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. “You brats want me to assign a quest?”

 

“YES!”

 

Percy took a deep breath, obviously having winded himself from trying to match the camper’s shouts. A few members in the car, such as Hazel, Nico, and Frank, were pressing their hands over their ears due to the loud noise. 

 

They should really consider turning the volume down until the campfire scene was over.

 

“Very well,” he agreed. “I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying.”

 

My heart filled with excitement. I wasn’t going to let Tantalus scare me. This was what I needed to do. I was going to save Grover and the camp. Nothing would stop me.

“I have a feeling that Tantalus is going to try.” Frank predicts. 

 

“What gave it away?” Reyna deadpans.

 

“Well, because Percy sounds very dejected when he says that. And usually, when someone says the phrase, ‘nothing would stop me’, there is usually an obstacle that stops them, and, oh! That was a rhetorical question, wasn’t it?”

 

Reyna presses her lips together, reaching forward to pat their shoulder.

 

“I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!” Tantalus announced. “And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious.”

 

Tantalus looked at Annabeth and me as if he wanted to flay us alive. “The champion should be one who has earned the camp’s respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest … Clarisse!”

 

Many things are said at once.

 

“Ooh.” Leo grunts. “That’s awkward.”

 

Piper gags. “Did he have to use the word ‘ flay ’?”

 

“Whoo! That’s my sister!” Frank does a little victory dance in his seat.

 

The fire flickered a thousand different colors. The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering, “CLARISSE! CLARISSE!”

 

Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest swelled with pride. “I accept the quest!”

 

“Wait!” I shouted. “Grover is my friend. The dream came to me.”

 

“That is true.” Hazel speaks up, because this part of the story gives her an uncomfortable feeling of second-hand embarrassment. 

 

“Sit down!” yelled one of the Ares campers. “You had your chance last summer!”

 

“Also true.” Hazel concedes, rocking from side to side, bumping into both Nico and Piper as she does so. 

 

“Just breathe.” Nico instructs, gently running his fingers through her wily curls.

 

“Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!” another said.

 

Clarisse glared at me. “I accept the quest!” she repeated. “I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!”

 

“Good for her.” Jason comments, starting to rock in a way similar to Hazel. Not because he felt uncomfortable, but because she was sitting almost directly in front of him, and he had no choice but to copy her movements.

 

The Ares campers cheered even louder. Annabeth protested, and the other Athena campers joined in. Everybody else started taking sides—shouting and arguing and throwing marshmallows. I thought it was going to turn into a full-fledged s’more war until Tantalus shouted, “Silence, you brats!”

 

“Uh oh.” Piper hums, her eyes flying away from the road for only a moment, to glance at the radio. 

 

His tone stunned even me.

 

“Sit down!” he ordered. “And I will tell you a ghost story.”

 

Reyna shifts uncomfortably. “I think I’ve had enough ghost stories to last a lifetime, thanks.” 

 

I didn’t know what he was up to, but we all moved reluctantly back to our seats. The evil aura radiating from Tantalus was as strong as any monster I’d ever faced.

 

“In a way,” Nico whispers as Hazel presses her forehead into his neck. “Humans have the capability to be more dangerous than any monster.” 

 

“Just look at Luke and Thalia’s tree.” Annabeth replies numbly, wincing after she says it.

 

“Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!” Tantalus put his hand on his chest, and I got the feeling he was talking about himself.

 

Piper’s face pales. “Oh no.” 

 

“Piper, that car is slowing down!” Jason reaches forward so that he is right behind her head. Piper ignores him.

 

“This king,” he said, “was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe—just one little doggie bag, mind you—the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children—just—like— you.”

 

He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, including me.

 

“I don’t think that I like this story.” Leo whispers, moving closer to a similarly scared looking Frank.

 

“Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?” Tantalus asked softly. “Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?”

 

“Holy forking shirtballs.” Leo gasps, grasping at his throat. “Holy motherforking shirtballs.”

 

Frank closes their eyes. “Yeah, no wonder Mr. D hates him so much. I don’t think that a million years would be able to make me forget that.” 

 

“That’s why I’m a vegetarian. No chance of accidentally eating someone’s kids.” Piper sighs. 

 

“I hate that that is not the craziest reasoning that I have heard today.” Nico shakes his head.

 

No one dared answer. The firelight glowed dark blue, reflecting evilly on Tantalus’s crooked face.

 

“Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife,” Tantalus croaked. “They did indeed. But he’d had his moment of satisfaction, hadn’t he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumor has it that the king’s spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so … are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?”

 

Reyna glares at the radio, as if Tantalus’ ugly, gaunt face was plastered there. “I say, when we get to California, we go down to the Underworld, and kill that bastard again.”

 

“Agreed.” The car echoes. 

 

Silence.

 

Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. “The Oracle, my dear. Go on.”

 

She shifted uncomfortably, like even she didn’t want glory at the price of being Tantalus’s pet. “Sir—”

 

“I don’t blame her.” Hazel whispers. “An old, creepy, white guy being oddly obsessed with me. I would’ve run off even before he admitted to cooking his own children.”

 

“Go!” he snarled.

 

She bowed awkwardly and hurried off toward the Big House.

 

“What about you, Percy Jackson?” Tantalus asked. “No comments from our dishwasher?”

 

I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of punishing me again.

 

“I think you know it’s bad when Perseus ‘I Fought The Fucking God of War ’ Jackson doesn’t say shit.” Leo whispers, shaking his head in terror or disgust. Probably a mix of both.

 

“Good,” Tantalus said. “And let me remind everyone— no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries … well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won’t come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well.”

 

Out of nowhere, even though it had almost nothing to do with what Tantalus/Percy had just said, Frank mumbles, “I miss Ella.” 

 

With a wave of Tantalus’s hand, the fire was extinguished, and the campers trailed off toward their cabins in the dark.

 

I couldn’t explain things to Tyson. He knew I was sad. He knew I wanted to go on a trip and Tantalus wouldn’t let me.

 

“You will go anyway?” he asked.

 

“No!” Jason exclaims. “That would be dangerous and stupid!” 

 

Leo looks up at him. “So you really think this whole story is about Percy sitting around, waiting for Clarisse to come back from her quest?” 

 

Jason sighs. “I still stand by my second statement.” 

 

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It would be hard. Very hard.”

 

“I will help.”

 

“No. I—uh, I couldn’t ask you to do that, big guy. Too dangerous.”

 

Nico rolls his eyes. “Mhm. Too dangerous for the fire-proof six foot cyclops, but not for two thirteen years olds and a half goat? Likely story.” 

 

“You’d think that after so many years of being a halfblood, he would eventually get better at coming up with stories and lies.” Reyna replies.  

 

Tyson looked down at the pieces of metal he was assembling in his lap—springs and gears and tiny wires. Beckendorf had given him some tools and spare parts, and now Tyson spent every night tinkering, though I wasn’t sure how his huge hands could handle such delicate little pieces.

 

“What are you building?” I asked.

 

Tyson didn’t answer. Instead he made a whimpering sound in the back of his throat.

 

Piper pouts. “Poor thing.” 

 

“Annabeth doesn’t like Cyclopes. You … don’t want me along?”

 

“Oh, that’s not it,” I said halfheartedly. “Annabeth likes you. Really.”

 

“That is a lie.” Literally everyone in the car yells, even Annabeth, though she looks guilty as she says it. 

 

He had tears in the corners of his eye.

 

I remembered that Grover, like all satyrs, could read human emotions. I wondered if Cyclopes had the same ability.

 

Tyson folded up his tinkering project in an oilcloth. He lay down on his bunk bed and hugged his bundle like a teddy bear. When he turned toward the wall, I could see the weird scars on his back, like somebody had plowed over him with a tractor. I wondered for the millionth time how he’d gotten hurt.

 

“Y’know the more I learn about Tyson, the more I don’t think I’ll be able to look him in the eye the next time I see him.” Leo murmurs. “Like, this is a lot of personal information that I shouldn’t know about.” 

 

“And yet,” Hazel says, “When I brought up that same point when we first started listening to Percy’s stories, you told me to go to hell.”

 

“You are literally the daughter of the god of hell! How is that offensive?”

 

“Daddy always cared for m-me,” he sniffled. “Now … I think he was mean to have a Cyclops boy. I should not have been born.”

 

Annabeth presses her eyes together, letting out a shaky breath. “I should… really call Tyson more.”

 

“He’s… underwater ?” Frank reminds her.

 

“Yeah, they get decent cell reception.” 

 

“Don’t talk that way! Poseidon claimed you, didn’t he? So … he must care about you … a lot….”

 

My voice trailed off as I thought about all those years Tyson had lived on the streets of New York in a cardboard refrigerator box. How could Tyson think that Poseidon had cared for him? What kind of dad let that happen to his kid, even if his kid was a monster?

 

“D’you think we should tell Percy what Ouranos did to his sons, the first set of Cyclops?” Piper questions. 

 

Reyna shakes her head. “I don’t think he’s ready for that conversation, yet.” 

 

“Tyson … camp will be a good home for you. The others will get used to you. I promise.”

 

Tyson sighed. I waited for him to say something. Then I realized he was already asleep.

 

“Tyson is, honestly, such a mood. And, I wish I could be more like him.” Reyna comments. “I mean, falling asleep while having an existential crisis? Teach me your ways!” 

 

“Or, you could just go to therapy like a normal person.” Jason advises her. “You know, to deal with your depression.”

 

“Jason, we’re trying to come up with real solutions to my problems. Not made up crap!” 

 

Jason bites on his bottom lip. “You might also want to look into your anger issues.”

 

I lay back on my bed and tried to close my eyes, but I just couldn’t. I was afraid I might have another dream about Grover. If the empathy link was real … if something happened to Grover … would I ever wake up?

 

Annabeth blinks blankly. “Well, that’s another thing to worry about at night. Thanks, babe.” 

 

The full moon shone through my window. The sound of the surf rumbled in the distance. I could smell the warm scent of the strawberry fields, and hear the laughter of the dryads as they chased owls through the forest. But something felt wrong about the night—the sickness of Thalia’s tree, spreading across the valley.

 

“Y’know what they say about full moons?” Leo asks the car. When nobody replies, he continues, “No, I’m genuinely asking if you guys know what they say about full moons. I never really understood the whole, archetypes and symbols shit.” 

 

Could Clarisse save Half-Blood Hill? I thought the odds were better of me getting a “Best Camper” award from Tantalus.

 

“That’s harsh.” Frank comments. “I mean, she literally led the Greeks into battle, while delivering Coach Hedge’s baby.” 

 

I got out of bed and pulled on some clothes. I grabbed a beach blanket and a six-pack of Coke from under my bunk. The Cokes were against the rules. No outside snacks or drinks were allowed, but if you talked to the right guy in Hermes’s cabin and paid him a few golden drachma, he could smuggle in almost anything from the nearest convenience store.

 

A bone in Hazel’s jaw twitches. “Has he learned nothing about drinking Coke at camp? First the scorpion, now whatever is about to happen next… This is why I stick to root beer.” 

 

Sneaking out after curfew was against the rules, too. If I got caught I’d either get in big trouble or be eaten by the harpies. But I wanted to see the ocean. I always felt better there. My thoughts were clearer. I left the cabin and headed for the beach.

 

I spread my blanket near the surf and popped open a Coke. For some reason sugar and caffeine always calmed down my hyperactive brain. I tried to decide what to do to save the camp, but nothing came to me. I wished Poseidon would talk to me, give me some advice or something.

 

“Don’t we all?” Leo sighs, before his eyes widen. “About our own parents. Obviously, not Poseidon. Though, admittedly, he is a fine looking immortal. I think my list of gods goes, him, then Khione at the top.”

 

“She tried to kill you. Twice.” Piper reminds him.

 

“And Bellatrix Lestrange was a death eater. That doesn’t mean I don’t find them outwardly attractive.”

 

The sky was clear and starry. I was checking out the constellations Annabeth had taught me—Sagittarius, Hercules, Corona Borealis—when somebody said, “Beautiful, aren’t they?”

 

Piper speaks up again. “First off, who the fuck? And second of all, do you notice how he really can’t go more than a few minutes without mentioning you?” She asks Annabeth.

 

The other girl’s cheeks start to heat up, but she still replies with a soft, “Shut up.” 

 

I almost spewed soda.

 

Standing right next to me was a guy in nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon T-shirt. He was slim and fit, with salt-and-pepper hair and a sly smile. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why.

 

“God!” Frank yells, pointing at the radio, though it isn’t an exclamation of surprise. It is an accusation.

 

My first thought was that he must’ve been taking a midnight jog down the beach and strayed inside the camp borders. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Regular mortals couldn’t enter the valley.

 

“Midnight jog? Now he’s just making shit up.” Nico scoffs. “Who chooses to go running ?” 

 

Hazel’s forehead wrinkles when Nico doesn’t continue speaking. “You mean, jogging at midnight?”

 

“No. Just jogging. It’s inhumane.” 

 

But maybe with the tree’s magic weakening he’d managed to slip in. But in the middle of the night?

 

And there was nothing around except farmland and state preserves. Where would this guy have jogged from?

 

“May I join you?” he asked. “I haven’t sat down in ages.”

 

“Say no.” Annabeth urges, her eyes blazing. 

 

“Do you know who that is?” Reyna asks. “Is it a monster?”

 

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “I wish .”

 

Now, I know—a strange guy in the middle of the night. Common sense: I was supposed to run away, yell for help, etc. But the guy acted so calm about the whole thing that I found it hard to be afraid.

 

“Well, at least he realizes that he lacks common sense.” Jason nods. “That’s a step in the right direction, I guess.” 

 

I said, “Uh, sure.”

 

He smiled. “Your hospitality does you credit. Oh, and Coca-Cola! May I?”

 

Frank jumps up in their seat. “Ooh! I think I know who it is?”

 

Piper pouts, having not yet figured it out herself. “Really? Who?”

 

Frank sends a look towards his girlfriend in the front row. “I’d rather not say.”

 

He sat at the other end of the blanket, popped a soda and took a drink. “Ah … that hits the spot. Peace and quiet at—”

 

A cell phone went off in his pocket.

 

“Of course it does. Cell phones always go off. During the movie you’re watching. Right before you take off on the plane. When you’re invading Percy’s privacy. Cell phones suck.” Reyna grumbles.

 

“You own a cell phone.” Hazel reminds her. 

 

“And?” 

 

The jogger sighed. He pulled out his phone and my eyes got big, because it glowed with a bluish light. When he extended the antenna, two creatures began writhing around it—green snakes, no bigger than earthworms.

 

Jason stares blankly. “If- if they’re no bigger than earthworms, then how can he tell that they’re-”

 

“Shh…” Frank soothes him. “Don’t think about it too hard.” 

 

The jogger didn’t seem to notice. He checked his LCD display and cursed. “I’ve got to take this. Just a sec …” Then into the phone: “Hello?”

 

He listened. The mini-snakes writhed up and down the antenna right next to his ear.

 

“Yeah,” the jogger said. “Listen—I know, but… I don’t care if he is chained to a rock with vultures pecking at his liver, if he doesn’t have a tracking number, we can’t locate his package…. A gift to humankind, great… You know how many of those we deliver—Oh, never mind. Listen, just refer him to Eris in customer service. I gotta go.”

 

Leo jumps in his seat. “Oh! The smart board guy! His name would always show up on the smart boards that my schools used.”

 

“Prometheus.” Annabeth hums. “You remember him as ‘the smart board’ guy?”

 

“What can I say? I know technology.” 

 

He hung up. “Sorry. The overnight express business is just booming. Now, as I was saying—”

 

“You have snakes on your phone.”

 

“What? Oh, they don’t bite. Say hello, George and Martha.”

 

“He named his snakes George and Martha.” Piper repeats slowly.

 

“He didn’t name them.” Annabeth tells her. 

 

Hello, George and Martha, a raspy male voice said inside my head.

 

Reyna barks out a laugh. “That’s a good one.” 

 

Piper looks at Reyna through the rearview mirror. “I’d hate to see what you think a bad one is.” 

 

Don’t be sarcastic, said a female voice.

 

Why not? George demanded. I do all the real work.

 

“Literally every half blood ever.” Nico hums. “At least in their minds, because we don’t want to turn into earthworm sized snakes.

 

“Oh, let’s not go into that again!” The jogger slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Now, where were we … Ah, yes. Peace and quiet.”

 

He crossed his ankles and stared up at the stars. “Been a long time since I’ve gotten to relax. Ever since the telegraph—rush, rush, rush. Do you have a favorite constellation, Percy?”

 

“The tele-” Frank starts to say. “Like the invention ?”

 

Hazel looks over at him. “Is there something else called the telegraph?” 

 

Frank shrugs. “I don’t know. I haven’t gone to school in two years.” 

 

I was still kind of wondering about the little green snakes he’d shoved into his jogging shorts, but I said, “Uh, I like Hercules.”

 

Piper rolls her eyes. “Typical.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Well … because he had rotten luck. Even worse than mine. It makes me feel better.”

 

“Okay, that’s not so typical.” Piper concedes. 

 

Annabeth shrugs. “Either way, it’s not his favorite anymore.” 

 

“What is his favorite?” Jason questions.

 

Annabeth presses her lips together. “The Huntress.”

 

The jogger chuckled. “Not because he was strong and famous and all that?”

 

“No.”

 

“Thank the gods for that.” Piper whispers. 

 

Reyna leans forward to whisper to Nico. “Do you get what their beef with Hercules is?”

 

“No idea, and I’m better off not knowing.” 

 

“You’re an interesting young man. And so, what now?”

 

I knew immediately what he was asking. What did I intend to do about the Fleece?

 

Before I could answer, Martha the snake’s muffled voice came from his pocket: I have Demeter on line two.

 

Nico rolls his eyes. “Probably trying to buy some more cereal.” 

 

Hazel nods. “The woman is truly obsessed with grain.” 

 

“Not now,” the jogger said. “Tell her to leave a message.”

 

She’s not going to like that. The last time you put her off, all the flowers in the floral delivery division wilted.

 

“You know what they say; Hades hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Frank comments. 

 

“Who says that?” Leo asks him.

 

Frank shrugs. “I dunno. People. Me. People. I dunno.”

 

“Just tell her I’m in a meeting!” The jogger rolled his eyes. “Sorry again, Percy. You were saying …”

 

“Um … who are you, exactly?”

 

“Haven’t you guessed by now, a smart boy like you?”

 

“Two snakes. Deliveries. Running…” Jason runs through the list, his blue eyes narrowed. Then he raises his finger in a eureka pose, before slowly deflating. “Yeah, no, I’m stumped.” 

 

Show him! Martha pleaded. I haven’t been full-size for months.

 

Annabeth wrinkles her nose. “That sounds wrong out of context.”

 

“This whole thing is out of context.” Nico reminds her. “You can just say that it sounds wrong.” 

 

Don’t listen to her! George said. She just wants to show off!

 

The man took out his phone again. “Original form, please.”

 

The phone glowed a brilliant blue. It stretched into a three-foot-long wooden staff with dove wings sprouting out the top. George and Martha, now full-sized green snakes, coiled together around the middle. It was a caduceus, the symbol of Cabin Eleven.

 

“Cabin eleven… cabin eleven… cabin-- oh!” Leo yelps, starting to hop in his seat. “Hermes!” 

 

My throat tightened. I realized who the jogger reminded me of with his elfish features, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes….

 

“You’re Luke’s father,” I said. “Hermes.”

 

Both Hazel and Annabeth have obvious reactions to the sound of Luke’s name. 

 

Annabeth gives a full body flinch, pulling at the gray curls in her hair. 

 

Hazel wrinkles her nose, sticks out her tongue, and mumbles something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like, “Child murdering bastard.” 

 

The god pursed his lips. He stuck his caduceus in the sand like an umbrella pole. “‘Luke’s father.’ Normally, that’s not the first way people introduce me. God of thieves, yes. God of messengers and travelers, if they wish to be kind.”

 

“They usually don’t wish to be kind.” Nico shares with the group. 

 

God of thieves works, George said.

 

Reyna snorts. “I like George. He’s my type of reptile.”

 

Oh, don’t mind George. Martha flicked her tongue at me. He’s just bitter because Hermes likes me best.

 

He does not!

 

Does too!

 

“Don’t worry, George.” Leo soothes. “True visionaries are never appreciated in their own time.”

 

“Behave, you two,” Hermes warned, “or I’ll turn you back into a cell phone and set you on vibrate! Now, Percy, you still haven’t answered my question. What do you intend to do about the quest?”

 

“I—I don’t have permission to go.”

 

“Yeah…” Piper says slowly. “Something tells me that the whole ‘not having permission’ thing, isn’t a real excuse to Hermes.” 

 

“Well,” Jason shrugs. “He is literally the patron god of criminals.” 

 

“No, indeed. Will that stop you?”

 

“I want to go. I have to save Grover.”

 

“Aw.” Frank pouts. “Sometimes I wish that I could get kidnapped, just so that I can see who cares enough for me.” 

 

Hazel turns her head to look at him, blowing them a kiss. “I got you, babe.” 

 

Hermes smiled. “I knew a boy once … oh, younger than you by far. A mere baby, really.”

 

Here we go again, George said. Always talking about himself 

 

Quiet! Martha snapped. Do you want to get set on vibrate?

 

Jason massages his temple. “Everything about this interaction just feels shady.” 

 

Hermes ignored them. “One night, when this boy’s mother wasn’t watching, he sneaked out of their cave and stole some cattle that belonged to Apollo.”

 

“Did he get blasted to tiny pieces?” I asked.

 

Leo snorts. “Of course that is the first question he asks. I mean, it’s valid. Would totally be something that a god would do, but it’s still funny.” 

 

“Hmm … no. Actually, everything turned out quite well. To make up for his theft, the boy gave Apollo an instrument he’d invented—a lyre. Apollo was so enchanted with the music that he forgot all about being angry.”

 

Piper sticks her tongue out. “So Hermes is who we have to blame for Apollo’s Greatest Lyre Rifts.” 

 

“We haven’t even listened to it.” Annabeth comments. 

 

“It’s mere existence disturbs me.” 

 

“So what’s the moral?”

 

“The moral?” Hermes asked. “Goodness, you act like it’s a fable. It’s a true story. Does truth have a moral?”

 

“The Greeks and my English teacher certainly seemed to think so.” Nico huffs.

 

“Chiron is teaching you one English class.” Reyna reminds him. 

 

“It’s still too much!” Nico grumbles.

 

“Um …”

 

“How about this: stealing is not always bad?”

 

“I don’t think my mom would like that moral.”

 

Reyna presses her hands together, as if in prayer. “Ah, my queen, Sally.” 

 

Rats are delicious, suggested George.

 

What does that have to do with the story? Martha demanded.

 

Nothing, George said. But I’m hungry.

 

“George is my spirit animal.” Leo declares. “Like, this specific snake is my spirit animal.”

 

“I thought you said before that your spirit animal was Chester Cheetah.” Frank says.

 

Leo shrugs. “What can I say? People change.”

 

“I’ve got it,” Hermes said. “Young people don’t always do what they’re told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. How’s that?”

 

“You’re saying I should go anyway,” I said, “even without permission.”

 

Hermes’s eyes twinkled. “Martha, may I have the first package, please?”

 

Hazel bites her bottom lip. “I realize that he has the power to smite me, and all that, but I think that, at this point, I most definitely would have run away already.” 

 

Martha opened her mouth … and kept opening it until it was as wide as my arm. She belched out a stainless steel canister—an old-fashioned lunch box thermos with a black plastic top. The sides of the thermos were enameled with red and yellow Ancient Greek scenes—a hero killing a lion; a hero lifting up Cerberus, the three-headed dog.

 

Piper groans. “Ugh! Not that dick again.” 

 

“That’s Hercules,” I said. “But how—”

 

“Never question a gift,” Hermes chided. “This is a collector’s item from Hercules Busts Heads. The first season.”

 

“The nereid that looks like Sally Jackson said in the last book to not trust the gifts.” Frank recalls. “But Hermes, the father of the guy who gave the bad gifts, just said to never question a gift.” 

 

“Suspicious isn’t it.” Jason agrees, narrowing his eyes.

 

“Hercules Busts Heads?”

 

“Great show.” Hermes sighed. “Back before Hephaestus-TV was all reality programming. Of course, the thermos would be worth much more if I had the whole lunch box—”

 

“Why don’t we ever get to watch Hephaestus TV?” Leo grumbles. “That seems just up my alley. And I bet that Aphrodite alone could put all of the Kardashians to shame.”

 

Or if it hadn’t been in Martha’s mouth, George added.

 

I’ll get you for that. Martha began chasing him around the caduceus.

 

“Wh-” Piper pauses. “You know what? I’m just not going to question it.” 

 

“Wait a minute,” I said. “This is a gift?”

 

“One of two,” Hermes said. “Go on, pick it up.”

 

I almost dropped it because it was freezing cold on one side and burning hot on the other.

 

“Sort of like Reyna.” Piper comments. 

 

Reyna’s head perks up. “Huh?”

 

Piper’s eyes widened. “What?” 

 

The weird thing was, when I turned the thermos, the side facing the ocean— north—was always the cold side….

 

“It’s a compass!” I said.

 

Annabeth gives a soft smile. “That’s… that's an interesting idea…” 

 

Nico shakes his head. “Are you going to act this way every time Percy says something somewhat smart?”

 

Annabeth shrugs. “Maybe.” 

 

Hermes looked surprised. “Very clever. I never thought of that. But its intended use is a bit more dramatic. Uncap it, and you will release the winds from the four corners of the earth to speed you on your way. Not now! And please, when the time comes, only unscrew the lid a tiny bit. The winds are a bit like me—always restless. Should all four escape at once … ah, but I’m sure you’ll be careful. And now my second gift. George?”

 

She’s touching me, George complained as he and Martha slithered around the pole.

 

“I respect a man who respects personal space.” Leo nods. 

 

Jason’s eyebrows furrow. “You are literally sitting in both mine and Frank’s laps.” 

 

“I never said that I respect personal space.”

 

“She’s always touching you,” Hermes said. “You’re intertwined. And if you don’t stop that, you’ll get knotted again!

 

The snakes stopped wrestling.

 

“Is he sure that that is what they’re doing?” Nico asks suspiciously.

 

“What else would they be doing?” Hazel asks innocently.

 

Annabeth reaches over to pat the top of Hazel’s curls with one hand, and lightly pinch Nico with the other.

 

George unhinged his jaw and coughed up a little plastic bottle filled with chewable vitamins.

 

“You’re kidding,” I said. “Are those Minotaur-shaped?”

 

“Gods, it’s still too soon.” Piper shudders.

 

Hermes picked up the bottle and rattled it. “The lemon ones, yes. The grape ones are Furies, I think. Or are they hydras? At any rate, these are potent. Don’t take one unless you really, really need it.”

 

“Why would they make the minotaurs lemon?” Reyna asks, her nostrils flaring. “I would think cherry. Even blueberry. Not lemon.” 

 

“You seem to have some really strong opinions about this.” Frank comments, moving slightly closer to Leo, in fear of Reyna throwing something. 

 

“How will I know if I really, really need it?”

 

“You’ll know, believe me. Nine essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids … oh, everything you need to feel yourself again.”

 

“Is that foreshadowing something?” Nico questions.

 

Annabeth blushes in response, sending a nervous look at the still partially fuming Reyna.

 

He tossed me the bottle.

 

“Um, thanks,” I said. “But Lord Hermes, why are you helping me?”

 

He gave me a melancholy smile. “Perhaps because I hope that you can save many people on this quest, Percy. Not just your friend Grover.”

 

“Oh… he doesn’t mean…” Hazel trails off, not even being able to finish her sentence.”

 

I stared at him. “You don’t mean … Luke?”

 

Jason glowers. “He does mean.” Jason was still quite mad at Luke for, you know, poisoning his older sister. He was ‘unreasonable’ like that.

 

Hermes didn’t answer.

 

“Look,” I said. “Lord Hermes, I mean, thanks and everything, but you might as well take back your gifts. Luke can’t be saved. Even if I could find him … he told me he wanted to tear down Olympus stone by stone. He betrayed everybody he knew. He—he hates you especially.”

 

At this, most of the car can’t help but burst into chuckles. If not because they enjoyed hearing Percy talking badly about Luke, because they enjoyed the fact that he actually told a god that his son hated him. 

 

It's what most demigods dream of, really.

 

Hermes gazed up at the stars. “My dear young cousin, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the eons, it’s that you can’t give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn’t matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don’t appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet—”

 

Piper sticks her tongue out in concentration, wrinkling her nose in the process. “Why do they always have to remind us that we’re related? At the end of the day, it just makes things really awkward.” 

 

“You invented the Internet?”

 

“And, yet, you still can’t pay child support.” Leo sing-songs. 

 

It was my idea, Martha said.

 

Rats are delicious, George said.

 

“I can’t believe that I’m saying this,” Reyna mumbles. “But I found my soulmate, and he is a snake named George.”

 

“Nuh-uh Ramirez-Arellano,” Leo wags his finger at the girl. “I called dibs.” 

 

“It was my idea!” Hermes said. “I mean the Internet, not the rats. But that’s not the point. Percy, do you understand what I’m saying about family?”

 

“I—I’m not sure.”

 

“I’m sure!” Frank exclaims. “That I have no idea what he’s saying.” 

 

“You will someday.” Hermes got up and brushed the sand off his legs. “In the meantime, I must be going.”

 

You have sixty calls to return, Martha said.

 

And one thousand-thirty-eight emails, George added. Not counting the offers for online discount ambrosia.

 

“I have 3,200, that’s not the flex that you think it is.” Leo laughs.

 

Jason shudders. “You have 3,200 unopened emails?”

 

Leo reaches up and pats Jason’s head. “It’s fine. Calm the OCD, babe.

 

“And you, Percy,” Hermes said, “have a shorter deadline than you realize to complete your quest. Your friends should be coming right about … now.”

 

I heard Annabeth’s voice calling my name from the sand dunes. Tyson, too, was shouting from a little bit farther away.

 

“I hope I packed well for you,” Hermes said. “I do have some experience with travel.”

 

“Heh.” Nico deadpans. “Funny.” 

 

He snapped his fingers and three yellow duffel bags appeared at my feet. “Waterproof, of course. If you ask nicely, your father should be able to help you reach the ship.”

 

Annabeth’s eyes suddenly snap shut, and she violently shakes her head. “Ship.” She repeats.

 

“Ship?”

 

Nico’s jaw twitches. “The ship.” 

 

Hermes pointed. Sure enough, a big cruise ship was cutting across Long Island Sound, its white-and-gold lights glowing against the dark water.

 

“What the fuck is up with this ship?” Leo’s voice pitches higher. 

 

“Wait,” I said. “I don’t understand any of this. I haven’t even agreed to go!”

 

“I’d make up your mind in the next five minutes, if I were you,” Hermes advised. “That’s when the harpies will come to eat you. Now, good night, cousin, and dare I say it? May the gods go with you.”

 

Hazel shakes her head. “I hate this so much, for so many different reasons. But I can’t seem to stop listening.” 

 

He opened his hand and the caduceus flew into it.

 

Good luck, Martha told me.

 

Bring me back a rat, George said.

 

“Goodbye, George!” Reyna and Leo chime in together, waving at an invisible snake. 

 

The caduceus changed into a cell phone and Hermes slipped it into his pocket.

 

He jogged off down the beach. Twenty paces away, he shimmered and vanished, leaving me alone with a thermos, a bottle of chewable vitamins, and five minutes to make an impossible decision.

Notes:

Okay, so I really should be writing my history paper but this makes me have less anxiety attacks, so... yeah.

Idk if you've heard, but we have a new pjo book coming out in one year. Maybe this story will finally be finished by then, lol.

Anyways, I hope that you liked this. Until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 8: We Board The Princess Andromeda

Notes:

Yay! I'm back! Enjoy!

“Don't you just love the gods?” Reyna asks sarcastically, rolling her eyes so far back into her head, that she could probably see her own brain.

 

I was staring at the waves when Annabeth and Tyson found me.

 

“What’s going on?” Annabeth asked. “I heard you calling for help!”

 

“Me, too!” Tyson said. “Heard you yell, ‘Bad things are attacking!’”

 

“‘Bad things are attacking’.” Piper muses. “What about you, Annabeth, did you hear ‘bad things are attacking’, too?” 

 

“No, I didn’t.” Annabeth says slowly, narrowing her eyes. 

 

Leo shrugs. “Your loss, then.”

 

“I didn’t call you guys,” I said. “I’m fine.”

 

“Are you sure about that?” Jason asks skeptically, raising one eyebrow.

 

“But then who …” Annabeth noticed the three yellow duffel bags, then the thermos and the bottle of vitamins I was holding. “What—”

 

“Just listen,” I said. “We don’t have much time.”

 

I told them about my conversation with Hermes. By the time I was finished, I could hear screeching in the distance—patrol harpies picking up our scent.

 

“Obviously.” Nico huffs. “I mean the patrol harpies aren’t even that thorough, but it took him nearly 17 minutes to tell us that story.” 

 

“Percy,” Annabeth said, “we have to do the quest.”

 

“We’ll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I’m an expert at getting expelled.”

 

“Who the hell was going to tell me we can get expelled from camp ?” Leo hisses. “I would have been pressing my luck way less!”

 

“And stop making horse jokes around Chiron?” Hazel asks.

 

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”

 

“So? If we fail, there won’t be any camp to come back to.”

 

“I never thought I would see the day where Annabeth Chase was pressuring Percy Jackson into making a reckless and irresponsible decision.” Piper whispers in awe. 

 

“I know.” Jason hisses. “It’s very unnerving.” 

 

“Yeah, but you promised Chiron—”

 

“I promised I’d keep you from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them—”

 

“That’s definitely a… thought process...” Frank hums. 

 

A bone in Annabeth’s jaw twitches. “I was going through a lot.” 

 

“I want to go,” Tyson said.

 

“No!” Annabeth’s voice sounded close to panic. “I mean … Percy, come on. You know that’s impossible.”

 

“Impossible?” Piper asks, eyes narrowed, eyebrows raised. “Really? That was the best you had in you?”

 

Reyna’s lips twitch. “Well, obviously after the acrobatics she performed to justify going on Clarisse’s quest, she probably didn’t have too much energy left.” 

 

“It was after midnight.” Annabeth groans. “Of course I didn’t have any energy left!” 

 

I wondered again why she had such a grudge against Cyclopes. There was something she wasn’t telling me.

 

“I think there is a lot that she isn’t telling you.” Hazel replies. “Up to and including the fact that she has a major crush on you.” 

 

Annabeth throws an empty chip bag at Hazel for that comment, making sure to avoid hitting Nico in the process.

 

She and Tyson both looked at me, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away.

 

The thing was, part of me didn’t want Tyson along. I’d spent the last three days in close quarters with the guy, getting razzed by the other campers and embarrassed a million times a day, constantly reminded that I was related to him. I needed some space.

 

“Understandable.” Hazel and Nico say at the same time, before they both turn their heads to stare at one another.

 

“Oh please.” Piper shakes her head. “All of you have it easy. At least none of your siblings tried spritzing you with hair spray in the middle of the night because, and I quote, ‘your hair was too messy.’”

 

Plus, I didn’t know how much help he’d be, or how I’d keep him safe. Sure, he was strong, but Tyson was a little kid in Cyclops terms, maybe seven or eight years old, mentally. I could see him freaking out and starting to cry while we were trying to sneak past a monster or something. He’d get us all killed.

 

On the other hand, the sound of the harpies was getting closer….

 

“We can’t leave him,” I decided. “Tantalus will punish him for us being gone.”

 

“Oh my, gods. He’s gonna cook Tyson.” Leo whispers in horror.

 

Frank grips Leo in anxiety, his eyes going wide. “Take him with you, Annabeth!” He yells at present day Annabeth, who winces at the loud noise and the thought of her friend being-- well, you know.

 

“Percy,” Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, “we’re going to Polyphemus’s island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k … a C-y-k…” She stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. We could’ve been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops. “You know what I mean!”

 

Annabeth blushes deeply. “It’s hard , okay?” 

 

Jason leans closer to her. “Can you try spelling it out now?” 

 

Annabeth glares at him. “No, but I know how to spell out a different word.” 

 

The finger that Annabeth holds up grants no further comments from Jason. 

 

“Tyson can go,” I insisted, “if he wants to.”

 

Tyson clapped his hands. “Want to!”

 

Annabeth gave me the evil eye, but I guess she could tell I wasn’t going to change my mind.

 

“And that was the last argument Percy ever won.” Reyna says knowingly.

 

Or maybe she just knew we didn’t have time to argue.

 

“It was definitely the second option.” Annabeth reveals.

 

Piper nods. “Makes sense.”

 

“All right,” she said. “How do we get to that ship?”

 

“Hermes said my father would help.”

 

“Well then, Seaweed Brain? What are you waiting for?”

 

Hazel claps excitedly. “She said it!” 

 

“I am so proud of the person you have become.” Leo tells her, one hand pressed over his heart.

 

I’d always had a hard time calling on my father, or praying, or whatever you want to call it, but I stepped into the waves.

 

“Urn, Dad?” I called. “How’s it going?”

 

“Well…” Reyna sighs. “At least one person in that relationship cares enough to ask.” 

 

Frank glances at her. “Sometimes the things you say make me feel sad.” 

 

“That’s because life is sad.” 

 

“That’s true.” Frank nods. 

 

Jason stares between the two of them, his mouth dropped open.

 

“Percy!” Annabeth whispered. “We’re in a hurry!”

 

“We need your help,” I called a little louder. “We need to get to that ship, like, before we get eaten and stuff, so …”

 

At first, nothing happened. Waves crashed against the shore like normal. The harpies sounded like they were right behind the sand dunes. Then, about a hundred yards out to sea, three white lines appeared on the surface. They moved fast toward the shore, like claws ripping through the ocean.

 

“Oh my, gods. Is this a Moana moment?” Leo looks around the car. “I am MOANAAA--”

 

“No.” Annabeth and Reyna tell him at the same time. 

 

As they neared the beach, the surf burst apart and the heads of three white stallions reared out of the waves.

 

Tyson caught his breath. “Fish ponies!”

 

He was right. As the creatures pulled themselves onto the sand, I saw that they were only horses in the front; their back halves were silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tail fins.

 

“Like the animal parts of both centaurs and mermaids combined.” Leo whispers in awe. “I need to come up with a word for this.” 

 

“Hippocampi!” Annabeth said. “They’re beautiful.”

 

Jason raises an eyebrow at Leo. 

 

“No, it's too boring.” Leo tells them. “How about Centamaids!” 

 

The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled Annabeth.

 

“We’ll admire them later,” I said. “Come on!”

 

“There!” a voice screeched behind us. “Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!”

 

Five of them were fluttering over the top of the dunes—plump little hags with pinched faces and talons and feathery wings too small for their bodies. They reminded me of miniature cafeteria ladies who’d been crossbred with dodo birds. They weren’t very fast, thank the gods, but they were vicious if they caught you.

 

Hazel sighs. “Well, on the bright side, at least that means that none of those harpies ever had to meet Phineas.” 

 

“You mean from Phineas and Ferb?” Piper asks, half in a daze.

 

“I still don’t know what that is.” Hazel replies.

 

“Phineas and Ferb is a classic!” Leo groans, his head falling back. 

 

Piper raises an eyebrow. “Well, she would have seen Phineas and Ferb by now, if you had let me show her cartoons before you showed her all 31 movies in the MCU.” 

 

“First of all, I needed everyone to know what an Infinity Gauntlet was before I asked for one for Christmas. Second of all, there are also 8 MCU series, get your facts right, Pipes.” 

 

Jason lets out a long suffering breath. “You just had to talk about Marvel.”

 

“Tyson!” I said. “Grab a duffel bag!”

 

He was still staring at the hippocampi with his mouth hanging open, “Tyson!”

 

“So relatable.” Frank agrees. “I would totally react the same way if I got to see one of those things.” 

 

“They are pretty beautiful and majestic.” Nico mumbles.

 

“What was that?” Reyna raises an amused eyebrow.

 

“I didn’t say anything.” 

 

“Uh?”

 

“Come on!”

 

With Annabeth’s help I got him moving. We gathered the bags and mounted our steeds.

 

“I thought you were afraid of horses.” Hazel comments.

 

Annabeth makes a noise of protest. “I’m not afraid! I am simply… weary when a horse is capable of moving faster than a car, and my boyfriend who can speak to horses is not around.” 

 

Poseidon must’ve known Tyson was one of the passengers, because one hippocampus was much larger than the other two—just right for carrying a Cyclops.

 

“Why is Poseidon one of the most active godly parents?” Reyna asks. “Doesn’t he rule over the whole sea?” 

 

“I know.” Leo agrees. “It really makes you think when your dad has literally nothing better to do, but has still only spoken to me once.” He blinks a few times. “Anyways, which characters in Brooklyn 99 are each of us?” 

 

“Giddyup!” I said. My hippocampus turned and plunged into the waves. Annabeth’s and Tyson’s followed right behind.

 

“He said giddyup.” Jason says slowly. 

 

“Yup.” Annabeth sighs.

 

“Like ironically, or…”

 

Annabeth shakes her head. “I really can’t tell you.” 

 

The harpies cursed at us, wailing for their snacks to come back, but the hippocampi raced over the water at the speed of Jet Skis. The harpies fell behind, and soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a dark smudge. I wondered if I’d ever see the place again. But right then I had other problems.

 

The cruise ship was now looming in front of us—our ride toward Florida and the Sea of Monsters.

 

“Florida has the Sea of Monsters. Los Angeles has the Underworld. San Francisco has Mount Othrys…” Piper trails off. “I wonder what New Jersey has.” 

 

“Medusa. We’ve already covered this during the last story.” Frank replies promptly. 

 

“Shut up, nerd.” Leo mumbles, rubbing his face against Frank’s bicep. 

 

Riding the hippocampus was even easier than riding a pegasus. We zipped along with the wind in our faces, speeding through the waves so smooth and steady I hardly needed to hold on at all.

 

As we got closer to the cruise ship, I realized just how huge it was. I felt as though I were looking up at a building in Manhattan. The white hull was at least ten stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes. The ship’s name was painted just above the bow line in black letters, lit with a spotlight. It took me a few seconds to decipher it:

 

PRINCESS ANDROMEDA 

 

“Like Perseus’ wife.” Piper points out.

 

“What?” Annabeth whips her head around to stare down her friend.

 

Piper stares at Annabeth. “Perseus. The son of Zeus, who your boyfriend, Percy, was named after. He saved Andromeda with the head of Medusa.” 

 

Annabeth clears her throat self consciously. “Right…” 

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine, I just got really confused for a minute!” 

 

Attached to the bow was a huge masthead—a three-story-tall woman wearing a white Greek chiton, sculpted to look as if she were chained to the front of the ship. She was young and beautiful, with flowing black hair, but her expression was one of absolute  terror. Why anybody would want a screaming princess on the front of their vacation ship, I had no idea.

 

I remembered the myth about Andromeda and how she had been chained to a rock by her own parents as a sacrifice to a sea monster. Maybe she’d gotten too many F’s on her report card or something. Anyway, my namesake, Perseus, had saved her just in time and turned the sea monster to stone using the head of Medusa.

 

“Shut up, Piper.” Annabeth hisses.

 

“I didn’t say anything.” Piper replies.

 

“You don’t need to, I already know that you're making some sort of ‘I told you so’ face.” 

 

“Aww,” Piper, who had in fact been making her ‘I told you so’ face, quickly glances at the other girl, before quickly turning back to face the road. “You know me so well.”

 

That Perseus always won. That’s why my mom had named me after him, even though he was a son of Zeus and I was a son of Poseidon. The original Perseus was one of the only heroes in the Greek myths who got a happy ending. The others died—betrayed, mauled, mutilated, poisoned, or cursed by the gods. My mom hoped I would inherit Perseus’s luck. Judging by how my life was going so far, I wasn’t really optimistic.

 

Hazel wrinkles her nose. “Well, considering that pretty much every other son of Poseidon was either a villain, or turned into a villain, or was a ram, I think Sally made a good choice with choosing Perseus.” 

 

“How do we get aboard?” Annabeth shouted over the noise of the waves, but the hippocampi seemed to know what we needed. They skimmed along the starboard side of the ship, riding easily through its huge wake, and pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.

 

“You first,” I told Annabeth.

 

Leo snorts. “Very gentlemanly of him.” 

 

She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and grabbed the bottom rung. Once she’d hoisted herself onto the ladder, her hippocampus whinnied a farewell and dove underwater.

 

“Well, if Annabeth falls, Percy is the only one that can save her…” Jason says slowly. “So yeah, it is…”

 

“Way to go bring logic into my one off jokey comment, Jason .” Leo mumbles, cuddling closer to Frank.

 

Annabeth began to climb. I let her get a few rungs up, then followed her.

 

Finally it was just Tyson in the water. His hippocampus was treating him to 360° aerials and backward ollies, and Tyson was laughing so hysterically, the sound echoed up the side of the ship.

 

“Aww,” Frank coos. “That's so cute. Now I want to be a hippocampus.”

 

Piper blinks. “You mean you want to… ride a hippocampus?”

 

“You heard what I said.” 

 

“Tyson, shhh!” I said. “Come on, big guy!”

 

“Can’t we take Rainbow?” he asked, his smile fading.

 

I stared at him. “Rainbow?”

 

The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name.

 

“Talk about an icon.” Nico deadpans, holding up a peace sign.

 

“Um, we have to go,” I said. “Rainbow… Well, he can’t climb ladders.”

 

Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus’s mane. “I will miss you, Rainbow!”

 

The hippocampus made a neighing sound I could’ve sworn was crying.

 

“Ooo…” Piper stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “That’s so sad.” 

 

“You can’t actually hear him crying.” Reyna tells Piper, a fond smile on her face.

 

Piper raises an eyebrow, searching out Reyna’s face in the rearview mirror. “So you agree that he was crying.” 

 

“Maybe we’ll see him again sometime,” I suggested.

 

“Oh, please!” Tyson said, perking up immediately. “Tomorrow!”

 

I didn’t make any promises, but I finally convinced Tyson to say his farewells and grab hold of the ladder. With a final sad whinny, Rainbow the hippocampus did a back-flip and dove into the sea.

 

“Bye-bye, Rainbow.” Frank waves at the long gone ‘Centamaid’. 

 

The ladder led to a maintenance deck stacked with yellow lifeboats. There was a set of locked double doors, which Annabeth managed to pry open with her knife and a fair amount of cursing in Ancient Greek.

 

I figured we’d have to sneak around, being stowaways and all, but after checking a few corridors and peering over a balcony into a huge central promenade lined with closed shops, I began to realize there was nobody to hide from. I mean, sure it was the middle of the night, but we walked half the length of the boat and met no one. We passed forty or fifty cabin doors and heard no sound behind any of them.

 

“Please, for the love of the gods, tell me that this tipped you off.” Hazel begs Annabeth. “I don’t think I can physically handle another Medusa situation.” 

 

“No… trust me, this is so, so, so much worse.” Annabeth sighs. 

 

“Oh, dear gods.” 

 

“It’s a ghost ship,” I murmured.

 

“No,” Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. “Bad smell.”

 

“Stop looking at me!” Leo yells. 

 

“No one was looking at you.” Hazel tells him.

 

Reyna raises an eyebrow. “Oh, no. I definitely was.”

 

Annabeth frowned. “I don’t smell anything.”

 

“Cyclopes are like satyrs,” I said. “They can smell monsters. Isn’t that right, Tyson?”

 

“Oh, so just because Grover is wearing a wedding dress in some random cave, you replace him with Percy’s cyclops half brother.” Piper shakes her head. “I see how it is.” 

 

“All due respect, Pipes, they definitely need someone to sniff out the monsters in order to survive.” Jason says. “No offense, Annabeth.”

 

Annabeth stares him down. “Offense definitely taken.” 

 

He nodded nervously. Now that we were away from Camp Half-Blood, the Mist had distorted his face again. Unless I concentrated very hard, it seemed that he had two eyes instead of one.

 

“Okay,” Annabeth said. “So what exactly do you smell?”

 

“Something bad,” Tyson answered.

 

“Great,” Annabeth grumbled. “That clears it up.”

 

“I dunno,” Leo hums. “I think ‘something bad’ is all you really need to know in order to just… jump ship.” 

 

We came outside on the swimming pool level. There were rows of empty deck chairs and a bar closed off with a chain curtain. The water in the pool glowed eerily, sloshing back and forth from the motion of the ship.

 

Above us fore and aft were more levels—a climbing wall, a putt-putt golf course, a revolving restaurant, but no sign of life.

 

And yet … I sensed something familiar. Something dangerous. I had the feeling that if I weren’t so tired and burned out on adrenaline from our long night, I might be able to put a name to what was wrong.

 

“Exhaustion. The number one cause of death of people ages 13-22, supernatural or otherwise.” Nico sighs, rubbing at his slightly dark under eyes. 

 

“Please sleep.” Hazel tells him, running a hand through his hair. 

 

Nico shakes her off. “I’m fine. I have caffeine and a deep fear of missing out, so… I’m good for life.” 

 

“Don’t make me call Will.” Jason crosses his arms over his chest.

 

“We need a hiding place,” I said. “Somewhere safe to sleep.”

 

“Sleep,” Annabeth agreed wearily.

 

We explored a few more corridors until we found an empty suite on the ninth level. The door was open, which struck me as weird. There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, an iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a handwritten note that said: Enjoy your cruise!

 

“It struck you as strange, and yet you went inside anyway…” Piper says slowly.

 

“Bitch, you know that my rational thinking turns off after midnight.” Annabeth sighs.

 

Reyna raises an eyebrow. “I thought that was your filter.”

 

“No, that turns off at nine. Do you people know me at all?” 

 

We opened our duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything—extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. He’d even managed to pack Tyson’s oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, and Annabeth’s cap of invisibility, which made them both feel a lot better.

 

“I’ll be next door,” Annabeth said. “You guys don’t drink or eat anything.”

 

“You think this place is enchanted?”

 

She frowned. “I don’t know. Something isn’t right. Just … be careful.”

 

“Yeah,” Leo agrees. “You don’t want to eat something bad, and suddenly you have a pedicure, and you’re doing a synchronized dance to Poker Face by Lady Gaga.” The group stares at him. “You know, like Hollywood shows us.” 

 

“They were 13, who on Earth would ever think that that would be appropriate to make happen?” Jason asks him.

 

We locked our doors.

 

Tyson crashed on the couch. He tinkered for a few minutes on his metalworking project—which he still wouldn’t show me—but soon enough he was yawning. He wrapped up his oilcloth and passed out.

 

“Why would Tyson get the couch…?” Frank asks. 

 

Hazel looks at him. “You sleep on the couch.” 

 

“Yeah, but I can turn into a bulldog, so that there is still room on the couch for others too. And Tyson is taller than I am!” 

 

I lay on the bed and stared out the porthole. I thought I heard voices out in the hallway, like whispering. I knew that couldn’t be. We’d walked all over the ship and had seen nobody. But the voices kept me awake. They reminded me of my trip to the Underworld—the way the spirits of the dead sounded as they drifted past.

 

Finally my weariness got the best of me. I fell asleep … and had my worst dream yet.

 

“ That’s saying something.” Reyna mutters, scrunching her nose. 

 

I was standing in a cavern at the edge of an enormous pit. I knew the place too well. The entrance to Tartarus. And I recognized the cold laugh that echoed from the darkness below.

 

Nico and Annabeth wince, Nico reaching out and gripping her hand. Annabeth shoots him a small smile. 

 

Hazel pretends not to notice.

 

If it isn’t the young hero. The voice was like a knife blade scraping across stone. On his way to another great victory.

 

I wanted to shout at Kronos to leave me alone. I wanted to draw Riptide and strike him down. But I couldn’t move. And even if I could, how could I kill something that had already been destroyed—chopped to pieces and cast into eternal darkness?

 

“And in a dream.” Leo says, laughing in an attempt at lightening the mood of his friends. “I mean… yeah…”

 

Don’t let me stop you, the titan said. Perhaps this time, when you fail, you’ll wonder if it’s worthwhile slaving for the gods. How exactly has your father shown his appreciation lately?

 

“First of all, Tyson is enough of a sign of appreciation.” Frank huffs, crossing their arms over his chest. “Second of all, how the frick frack does Kronos know about that? He makes the gods look like present, child support paying parents.” 

 

Reyna smiles. “Is it just more, is anyone else really starting to love sassy Frank?” 

 

His laughter filled the cavern, and suddenly the scene changed.

 

It was a different cave—Grover’s bedroom prison in the Cyclops’s lair.

 

“Grover!” Piper exclaims, happily tapping on the steering wheel in excitement. 

 

“In prison.” Jason reminds her. 

 

Piper pretends that she can’t hear him. Selective hearing at its finest. 

 

Grover was sitting at the loom in his soiled wedding dress, madly unraveling the threads of the unfinished bridal train.

 

“Honey Pie!” the monster shouted from behind the boulder.

 

“More like Goat Pie!” Leo tries cackling. 

 

“Leo, love, I know that you are trying to be nice and all, but I will break down in tears if you joke about Grover like that again.” Piper tells him, not once taking her eyes off the road. 

 

“Damn, Pipes.” 

 

Grover yelped and began weaving the threads back together.

 

The room shook as the boulder was pushed aside. Looming in the doorway was a Cyclops so huge he made Tyson look vertically challenged. He had jagged yellow teeth and gnarled hands as big as my whole body. He wore a faded purple T-shirt that said WORLD SHEEP EXPO 2001. He must’ve been at least fifteen feet tall, but the most startling thing was his enormous milky eye, scarred and webbed with cataracts. If he wasn’t completely blind, he had to be pretty darn close.

 

“World Sheep Expo--” Nico quickly stops himself. “You know what, I shouldn’t ask questions I don’t want to know the answers to.”

 

“What are you doing?” the monster demanded.

 

“Nothing!” Grover said in his falsetto voice. “Just weaving my bridal train, as you can see.”

 

“See, a part of me definitely feels bad about Grover taking advantage of Polyphemus’ blindness.” Jason pushes his glasses up his nose. “But, on the other hand, he would definitely already be eaten if he wasn’t tricking him, so…” 

 

The Cyclops stuck one hand into the room and groped around until he found the loom. He pawed at the cloth. “It hasn’t gotten any longer!”

 

“Oh, um, yes it has, dearest. See? I’ve added at least an inch.”

 

“Too many delays!” the monster bellowed. Then he sniffed the air. “You smell good! Like goats!”

 

“Oh shit.” Reyna mutters, taking a sip from her Dr. Pepper. 

 

“Oh.” Grover forced a weak giggle. “Do you like it? It’s Eau de Chevre. I wore it just for you.”

 

Piper’s face goes still, before she pastes a smile on her face. “Oh… he speaks French too.” 

 

Hazel furrows her eyebrows. “Do you know what the translation was? I only understood water…”

 

“Mmmm!” The Cyclops bared his pointed teeth. “Good enough to eat!”

 

“Pipes?” Leo asks hesitantly. “You okay, babe?” 

 

“Oh, you’re such a flirt!”

 

“No more delays!”

 

Piper’s face twists. “Goat Water. Okay? The English translation of Eau de Chevre is Goat Water.” 

 

“But dear, I’m not done!”

 

“Tomorrow!”

 

“No, no. Ten more days.”

 

Reyna starts breathing shallowly. 

 

“Don’t laugh.” Piper orders.

 

“I’m not.” Reyna protests. “I am simply trying to think of how they would make Goat Water .”

 

“Oh my, gods.”

 

“Five!”

 

“Oh, well, seven then. If you insist.”

 

“Seven! That is less than five, right?”

 

“Certainly. Oh yes.”

 

Frank winces. “I am so torn between being annoyed by the improper math, and grateful that Percy has a week to get there.”  

 

The monster grumbled, still not happy with his deal, but he left Grover to his weaving and rolled the boulder back into place.

 

Grover closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, trying to calm his nerves.

 

“Hurry, Percy,” he muttered. “Please, please, please!”

 

“We’re trying our best, Grover.” Annabeth promises the radio, as if Grover was right there in front of her.

 

“You okay, Annabeth?” Hazel asks.

 

“I am still very exhausted, and the Gryphons did not help matters.” Annabeth replies, but refrains from letting her eyes slip shut.

 

I woke to a ship’s whistle and a voice on the intercom— some guy with an Australian accent who sounded way too happy.

 

“Like Jason when he says he’s going on a morning jog.” Leo hums. 

 

“It’s not that weird.” Jason protests.

 

Leo pats Jason’s arm. “No, it is. Just accept it and move on, as I have done every morning that you try to wake me up and take me with you.”

 

“Good morning, passengers! We’ll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo party! Don’t forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o’clock, and for our special guests, disemboweling practice on the Promenade!”

 

The car goes silent. Obviously Percy had made sure to enunciate the ‘disemboweling’ part, but they easily could have misheard him. Right?

 

I sat up in bed. “What did he say?”

 

“Disemboweling?” Leo asks hesitantly, looking around to make sure he wasn’t the only one that heard it. 

 

Hazel turns around and nods at him, her golden eyes wide open.

 

Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying facedown on the couch, his feet so far over the edge they were in the bathroom. “The happy man said … bowling practice?”

 

“Did he say that?” Hazel asks, genuinely confused.

 

Jason rubs at his jaw. “Well… that would definitely make more sense in context…” 

 

I hoped he was right, but then there was an urgent knock on the suite’s interior door.

 

Annabeth stuck her head in—her blond hair in a rat’s nest. “Disemboweling practice?”

 

Self consciously, Annabeth reached for her hair. She mouths the words ‘Rat’s nest’ , and Hazel quickly shakes her head ‘no’. 

 

Leo looks at the group. “So he definitely said disemboweling right?” 

 

Once we were all dressed, we ventured out into the ship and were surprised to see other people. A dozen senior citizens were heading to breakfast. A dad was taking his kids to the pool for a morning swim. Crew members in crisp white uniforms strolled the deck, tipping their hats to the passengers.

 

Nobody asked who we were. Nobody paid us much attention. But there was something wrong.

 

“Like the Lotus Casino.” Nico sighs, his lips pursing into a thin line.

 

“Kind of.” Annabeth agrees. “Except we were aware the entire time that something was definitely off.” 

 

As the family of swimmers passed us, the dad told his kids: “We are on a cruise. We are having fun.”

 

“Yes,” his three kids said in unison, their expressions blank. “We are having a blast. We will swim in the pool.”

 

“That’s not too weird.” Reyna breaks the silence in the car. “Nico and I had a very similar conversation at camp. Tone and all.” 

 

“And I swam in the pool.” Nico replies, his voice cold and deadpan, even more so than Percy’s impression of the kids. 

 

They wandered off.

 

“Good morning,” a crew member told us, his eyes glazed. “We are all enjoying ourselves aboard the Princess Andromeda. Have a nice day.” He drifted away.

 

“Percy, this is weird,” Annabeth whispered. “They’re all in some kind of trance.”

 

“Really?” Piper asks. “What tipped you off, Wise Girl?” 

 

Annabeth and Hazel stare at their friend with varying levels of disgust. “Don’t call me that.” Annabeth says.

 

“Felt wrong as soon as I said it.” 

 

Then we passed a cafeteria and saw our first monster. It was a hellhound—a black mastiff with its front paws up on the buffet line and its muzzle buried in the scrambled eggs. It must’ve been young, because it was small compared to most—no bigger than a grizzly bear. Still, my blood turned cold. I’d almost gotten killed by one of those before.

 

“That’s disgusting.” Leo grumbles. “ Scrambled eggs .” He then shudders as if someone had stepped on his grave, and fake gags. 

 

The weird thing was: a middle-aged couple was standing in the buffet line right behind the devil dog, patiently waiting their turn for the eggs. They didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

 

“Not hungry anymore,” Tyson murmured.

 

“I’m with you.” Leo agrees. “If I had to see scrambled --”

 

“Would you cut it out with the eggs already?” Reyna huffs. “They’re good for you, you need protein.” 

 

“If I want to be protein deficient, I will !” Leo pumps a fist into the air. “My body, my choice-- and I am sorry for that turn of phrase, my mouth was moving before my brain could catch up.” 

 

Before Annabeth or I could reply, a reptilian voice came from down the corridor, “Ssssix more joined yesssterday.”

 

Annabeth gestured frantically toward the nearest hiding place—the women’s room—and all three of us ducked inside. I was so freaked out it didn’t even occur to me to be embarrassed.

 

Apparently enough time had passed from the incident to when Percy began talking about it, because the embarrassment was clear in his voice. It took him nearly a minute to choke out the words ‘ women’s room ’.

 

Something—or more like two somethings—slithered past the bathroom door, making sounds like sandpaper against the carpet.

 

“Yesss,” a second reptilian voice said. “He drawssss them. Ssssoon we will be sssstrong.”

 

“He?” Frank questions.

 

“He…” Hazel trails off, her eyes lit up like she could deduce who they were talking about.

 

“He.” Annabeth deadpans, her eyes devoid of all warmth.

 

The things slithered into the cafeteria with a cold hissing that might have been snake laughter.

 

Annabeth looked at me. “We have to get out of here.”

 

“You think I want to be in the girls’ restroom?”

 

“Who cares.” Leo replies. “You do you, boo!” 

 

“Are you okay?” Frank asks in concern.

 

Leo whispers back, “When the tension gets too much, my class clown energy starts working overtime. I’m just going to be making random comments until someone shuts me up.” 

 

“That doesn’t sound healthy.”

 

“It most certainly is not!” Leo agrees, giving Frank a thumbs up. 

 

“I mean the ship, Percy! We have to get off the ship.”

 

“Smells bad,” Tyson agreed. “And dogs eat all the eggs. Annabeth is right. We must leave the restroom and ship.”

 

I shuddered. If Annabeth and Tyson were actually agreeing about something, I figured I’d better listen.

 

Then I heard another voice outside—one that chilled me worse than any monster’s.

 

“I doubt it could be that bad--” Piper stops herself as soon Percy starts speaking again. In fact the entire car goes silent.

 

“—only a matter of time. Don’t push me, Agrius!”

 

They knew that voice. Or, at least they knew the voice that Percy used to imitate him. 

 

It was Luke, beyond a doubt. I could never forget his voice.

 

“That SOB!” Jason hisses, his blue eyes glinting like metal.

 

“I have never loved you more.” Hazel tells him, reaching in the backseat to grab Jason’s hand.

 

“I’m not pushing you!” another guy growled. His voice was deeper and even angrier than Luke’s. “I’m just saying, if this gamble doesn’t pay off—”

 

“It’ll pay off,” Luke snapped. “They’ll take the bait. Now, come, we’ve got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket.”

 

“Bait?” Jason hisses. “He better not be talking about my sister!” 

 

“Casket?” Reyna asks, her face starting to turn a light shade of green. “What do they need a casket for?” 

 

Nobody answers. They didn’t really want to say what most of them were thinking. 

 

Their voices receded down the corridor.

 

Tyson whimpered. “Leave now?”

 

Annabeth and I exchanged looks and came to a silent agreement.

 

“Aww,” Frank coos. “I love it when you two do your little mind reading thing.” 

 

“We can’t read each other’s minds.” Annabeth objects, though her tone is unconvincing. And, due to this and other factors, the rest of the group is unconvinced.

 

“We can’t,” I told Tyson.

 

“We have to find out what Luke is up to,” Annabeth agreed. “And if possible, we’re going to beat him up, bind him in chains, and drag him to Mount Olympus.”

Notes:

I know it's been a while. A LOT has happened.

I went on my Senior Class Trip. Then I watched every season of Parks and Recreation 3 times. Then I started watching Brooklyn 99 again because they have a writer in common. Then I got inspired to finish reading a B99 and PJO crossover fic where Annabeth is a detective. 100% recommend btw. Then I started thinking about this story again. Now, here we are.

I reread some of the old chapters before this because the distance between updates makes me forget things easily, and I'm glad I did because I didn't realize I already made a 'Hazel doesn't know Phineas and Ferb' joke, so I just incorporated it. And I also forgot that I sent them to McDonald's a few chapters ago.

Anyways, sorry for the long note. I love you all, and I hope that the sporradicnous of the updates doesn't turn you off to this story completely. I swear I started writing this as soon as I finished the last chapter and then... well, I already told you what I've been up to.

Until next time <3

Chapter 9: I Have The Worst Family Reunion Ever

Notes:

Yay, I'm back!

Enjoy!

“YES!” Hazel yells. “I am so here for that!” 

 

Annabeth volunteered to go alone since she had the cap of invisibility, but I convinced her it was too dangerous. Either we all went together, or nobody went.

 

“Nobody!” Tyson voted. “Please?”

 

“I am just like him.” Frank tells Leo. 

 

“Yeah, I know, dude.” Leo whispers back. “I’ve seen you vote ‘nobody’ several times.”

 

Frank sighs. “And yet, every time I do that, Annabeth still goes.” 

 

But in the end he came along, nervously chewing on his huge fingernails. We stopped at our cabin long enough to gather our stuff. We figured whatever happened, we would not be staying another night aboard the zombie cruise ship, even if they did have million-dollar bingo. I made sure Riptide was in my pocket and the vitamins and thermos from Hermes were at the top of my bag. I didn’t want Tyson to carry everything, but he insisted, and Annabeth told me not to worry about it.

 

The group turns to face Annabeth. 

 

“Okay, look,” She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “In my defense, I could’ve carried all of those by myself . Trust me, Percy would’ve just slowed us down if he’d tried to help.” 

 

Hazel cocks her head to the side in curiosity. 

 

Tyson could carry three full duffel bags over his shoulder as easily as I could carry a backpack.

 

“He didn’t start weightlifting until…” Annabeth cringes.  “Well, the next winter.” 

 

Nico purses his lips together. “That is a wide generalization of what happened, and you know it.” 

 

“Of course I do.” Annabeth says in a whisper to avoid Hazel hearing and accusing her of ‘spoilers’. “I had to ‘lift’ for at least a few hours.” She twiddles with the strand of blue hair that she had dyed. 

 

Back in New York, Percy had a matching strand of his own.

 

We sneaked through the corridors, following the ship’s YOU ARE HERE signs toward the admiralty suite. Annabeth scouted ahead invisibly. We hid whenever someone passed by, but most of the people we saw were just glassy-eyed zombie passengers.

 

As we came up the stairs to deck thirteen, where the admiralty suite was supposed to be, Annabeth hissed, “Hide!” and shoved us into a supply closet.

 

I heard a couple of guys coming down the hall.

 

Annabeth tilts her head to the side, her eyes clouded in thought. Then her eyes widen, and her face turns ashen as she looks around the car. 

 

“You see that Aethiopian drakon in the cargo hold?” one of them said.

 

The other laughed. “Yeah, it’s awesome.”

 

“They have a drakon in the cargo hold?” Piper asks.

 

“An Aethiopian drakon.” Reyna adds. “Those things are big enough to eat elephants. And typically do… Don’t question how I know that.” 

 

Annabeth was still invisible, but she squeezed my arm hard. I got a feeling I should know that second guy’s voice.

 

“I hear they got two more coming,” the familiar voice said. “They keep arriving at this rate, oh, man—no contest!”

 

“ More drakons?” Piper asks, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. 

 

Jason and Reyna share a look. 

 

“There were at least two at Othrys.” Jason mumbles.

 

Nico scrunches up his face. “Only one in New York.” 

 

“Well, now I feel left out that there weren’t any drakons during the Giant War.” Hazel deadpans, and for some reason that helps to lift the mood. 

 

The voices faded down the corridor.

 

“That was Chris Rodriguez!” Annabeth took off her cap and turned visible. “You remember—from Cabin Eleven.”

 

“ Chris Rodriguez ?” Leo hisses, his voice hoarse. “As in our Chris Rodriguez? As in Clarisse La Rue’s boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez? As in-- helps me decorate the Christmas tree at camp, Chris Rodriguez? As in--”

 

“Yes!” Annabeth breaks through Leo’s ramblings. “ That Chris.” 

 

Leo sinks down in his chair. “Holy mother of Zeus.” 

 

I sort of recalled Chris from the summer before. He was one of those undetermined campers who got stuck in the Hermes cabin because his Olympian dad or mom never claimed him. Now that I thought about it, I realized I hadn’t seen Chris at camp this summer. “What’s another half-blood doing here?”

 

Piper narrows her eyes. “Wait, but Chris is a child of Hermes. Isn’t he?” 

 

“Yeah…” Nico sighs. “But he didn’t get claimed ‘til, like, after the Battle of Manhattan. And, he’d been back at camp for a year and fought with us in two battles at that point.”  

 

Jason bites his lip. “Well, in Hermes’ defense, he was kind of busy with his son that had started the Second Titan War to worry about the kid that was just participating in it.” 

 

Hazel nods. “And that’s probably why he joined the Titan’s army.” 

 

Annabeth shook her head, clearly troubled.

 

We kept going down the corridor. I didn’t need maps anymore to know I was getting close to Luke. I sensed something cold and unpleasant—the presence of evil.

 

“Dang, that was cold.” Leo snorts.

 

“Just like Luke’s soul.” Jason huffs.

 

Nico smiles. “I can finally say that I am honestly proud to call you an acquaintance.” 

 

“I don’t know which part of that to take offense to.” 

 

Nico sends him a wink. 

 

“Percy.” Annabeth stopped suddenly. “Look.”

 

She stood in front of a glass wall looking down into the multistory canyon that ran through the middle of the ship. At the bottom was the Promenade—a mall full of shops— but that’s not what had caught Annabeth’s attention.

 

Piper wrinkles her nose. “Then you should just say what did, Percy !” 

 

“Calm yourself.” Annabeth instructs her.

 

“Don’t tell me what to do, Annabeth .” Piper huffs, mock pouting.

 

A group of monsters had assembled in front of the candy store: a dozen Laistrygonian giants like the ones who’d attacked me with dodgeballs, two hellhounds, and a few even stranger creatures—humanoid females with twin serpent tails instead of legs.

 

“Scythian Dracaenae,” Annabeth whispered. “Dragon women.”

 

“Dragon women…” Leo waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“No, Valdez.” Reyna sighs, barely bothering to glance at the boy in question. 

 

Leo scrunches his face. “Come on, Reyna! I have to get back out there somehow!” 

 

Jason blinks, turning to face Leo so quickly that his neck makes a cracking sound.

 

The monsters made a semicircle around a young guy in Greek armor who was hacking on a straw dummy. A lump formed in my throat when I realized the dummy was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. As we watched, the guy in armor stabbed the dummy through its belly and ripped upward. Straw flew everywhere. The monsters cheered and howled.

 

“Oh, my gods.” Frank whispers, their hands over their eyes, but their fingers spread far enough apart that they could still see through the gaps.

 

Annabeth stepped away from the window. Her face was ashen.

 

“Come on,” I told her, trying to sound braver than I felt. “The sooner we find Luke the better.”

 

“Yes,” Hazel nods. “Find him and destroy him.”

 

“That’s so not going to happen.” Piper replies.

 

“A girl can dream, Pipes. A girl can dream.” 

 

At the end of the hallway were double oak doors that looked like they must lead somewhere important. When we were thirty feet away, Tyson stopped. “Voices inside.”

 

“You can hear that far?” I asked.

 

“Leo,” Jason whispers. “What did you mean when you said ‘get back out there’?” 

 

“Y’know, next relationship since me and Calypso broke up.” Leo replies, moving his right leg so that it is crossed over the left. 

 

“You what ?” Jason’s voice raises without his permission. 

 

Hazel turns around and shushes them, her fingers to her lips. “Stuff is happening !” 

 

Tyson closed his eye like he was concentrating hard. Then his voice changed, becoming a husky approximation of Luke’s. “—the prophecy ourselves. The fools won’t know which way to turn.”

 

“Wait, what?” Piper asks. “Is this, like, a real thing that Tyson can do.” 

 

“Yes.” Nico replies. “He can do pretty much any voice that he has heard before, and it creeps out all of the younger campers. I think it’s awesome.” 

 

Before I could react, Tyson’s voice changed again, becoming deeper and gruffer, like the other guy we’d heard talking to Luke outside the cafeteria. “You really think the old horseman is gone for good?”

 

Tyson laughed Luke’s laugh. “They can’t trust him. Not with the skeletons in his closet. The poisoning of the tree was the final straw.”

 

“Those are plastic skeletons for Halloween!” Frank says indignantly. “Oh, wait, figurative skeletons. Got it, I’m good now.” 

 

“No.” Jason says. “No, ‘got it’! I’m still curious about those ‘figurative skeletons’!” 

 

Annabeth shivered. “Stop that, Tyson! How do you do that? It’s creepy.”

 

“And awesome!” Nico says, wagging his finger. “Don’t forget awesome.” 

 

Tyson opened his eye and looked puzzled. “Just listening.”

 

“Keep going,” I said. “What else are they saying?”

 

Tyson closed his eye again.

 

He hissed in the gruff man’s voice: “Quiet!” Then Luke’s voice, whispering: “Are you sure?”

 

“Sure about what?” Leo asks, leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees.

 

“Yes,” Tyson said in the gruff voice. “Right outside.”

 

“Wait…” Frank says slowly. “Aren’t they …”

 

Too late, I realized what was happening.

 

“Oh, shit.” Reyna grumbles. “Here we go again.” 

 

I just had time to say, “Run!” when the doors of the stateroom burst open and there was Luke, flanked by two hairy giants armed with javelins, their bronze tips aimed right at our chests.

 

“Well,” Luke said with a crooked smile. “If it isn’t my two favorite cousins. Come right in.”

 

“Ew.” Hazel scrunches up her face. “How dare he remind us that you are technically related to him and each other!”

 

Annabeth makes a face. “Did you have to add the ‘each other’ part?” 

 

“I didn’t throw the shot, Annabeth. I simply observed and reported it.”  

 

The stateroom was beautiful, and it was horrible.

 

The beautiful part: Huge windows curved along the back wall, looking out over the stern of the ship. Green sea and blue sky stretched all the way to the horizon. A Persian rug covered the floor. Two plush sofas occupied the middle of the room, with a canopied bed in one corner and a mahogany dining table in the other. The table was loaded with food—pizza boxes, bottles of soda, and a stack of roast beef sandwiches on a silver platter.

 

“Wow, it's amazing…” Piper whispers in awe. “You can already start to see the Annabeth influence in him.” 

 

The horrible part: On a velvet dais at the back of the room lay a ten-foot-long golden casket. 

 

“What the fuck?” Only three people yell, but a majority of the car has their mouths dropped open in horror or their faces scrunched in disgust. 

 

A sarcophagus, engraved with Ancient Greek scenes of cities in flames and heroes dying grisly deaths. Despite the sunlight streaming through the windows, the casket made the whole room feel cold.

 

“Well,” Luke said, spreading his arms proudly. “A little nicer than Cabin Eleven, huh?”

 

“Excuse me, but I don’t think Cabin Eleven has any occupied coffins inside of it!” Leo’s voice pitches an octave higher with each word. 

 

“At least not recently.” Nico adds, which only gets him curious looks in response.

 

He’d changed since last summer. Instead of Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt, he wore a button-down shirt, khaki pants, and leather loafers. His sandy hair, which used to be so unruly, was now clipped short. He looked like an evil male model, showing off what the fashionable college-age villain was wearing to Harvard this year.

 

“Oh, right.” Reyna wrinkles her nose. “I completely forgot, he’s a grown ass adult.” 

 

He still had the scar under his eye—a jagged white line from his battle with a dragon. And propped against the sofa was his magical sword, Backbiter, glinting strangely with its half-steel, half-Celestial bronze blade that could kill both mortals and monsters.

 

“Wow.” Jason whispers. “Honestly, there is so much that I forgot about him after he, you know, poisoned my sister, but the more details Percy adds, the more I’m reminded of how much he sucks .” 

 

Hazel looks back at him. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I have never felt closer to you than I do while hating on some random person.” 

 

“Honestly, same.” 

 

“Sit,” he told us. He waved his hand and three dining chairs scooted themselves into the center of the room.

 

“Don’t sit.” Piper orders, and some of her charmspeak might have leaked into her words, because Leo immediately starts trying to stand up. 

 

None of us sat.

 

“Finally, you’re listening.” Piper sighs.

 

“Yeah, Pipes,” Jason grunts as he and Frank pull Leo back down. “They’re not the only ones.” 

 

Luke’s large friends were still pointing their javelins at us. They looked like twins, but they weren’t human. They stood about eight feet tall, for one thing, and wore only blue jeans, probably because their enormous chests were already shag-carpeted with thick brown fur. They had claws for fingernails, feet like paws. Their noses were snoutlike, and their teeth were all pointed canines.

 

“Why are so many humanoid people that he encounters only half dressed?” Hazel asks, twirling a curl around her finger. 

 

“If it makes you feel better,” Nico also tugs on one of her curls. “They’re more dressed than the Minotaur.” 

 

“That does not make me feel better, in fact it just disturbs me more.” 

 

“That’s why I said ‘ if it makes you feel better’.” 

 

“Where are my manners?” Luke said smoothly. “These are my assistants, Agrius and Oreius. Perhaps you’ve heard of them.”

 

“Why would he have heard of them?” Piper asks, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel as she stops for a red light. “I’m pretty well versed in mythology, and I have no idea who they are.” 

 

I said nothing. Despite the javelins pointed at me, it wasn’t the bear twins who scared me.

 

I’d imagined meeting Luke again many times since he’d tried to kill me last summer. I’d pictured myself boldly standing up to him, challenging him to a duel. But now that we were face-to-face, I could barely stop my hands from shaking.

 

A moment of silence passes over the car. Both from the occupants, and from young Percy, who was taking a very audible deep breath after what he just admitted. 

 

Annabeth’s hand momentarily clenches into a fist.

 

“You don’t know Agrius and Oreius’s story?” Luke asked. “Their mother … well, it’s sad, really. Aphrodite ordered the young woman to fall in love. She refused and ran to Artemis for help. Artemis let her become one of her maiden huntresses, but Aphrodite got her revenge. She bewitched the young woman into falling in love with a bear. When Artemis found out, she abandoned the girl in disgust. Typical of the gods, wouldn’t you say? They fight with one another and the poor humans get caught in the middle. The girl’s twin sons here, Agrius and Oreius, have no love for Olympus. They like half-bloods well enough, though …”

 

“Wait, wasn’t she the one that Zeus turned into Artemis to sleep with?” Piper questions. 

 

Hazel’s eyes bug out of her head. “What?”

 

“No.” Annabeth replies. “You’re thinking of Callisto, who was also one of Artemis’ handmaidens, but Hera turned into a bear because Zeus slept with her.”

 

Nico raises an eyebrow. “While she still thought he was Artemis?” 

 

Annabeth presses her lips together. “Y’know, nobody actually knows for certain.”

 

“He’s gross.” Piper comments.

 

“Yeah.” Annabeth sighs. A rumble of thunder comes from the distance, but nobody backtracks their statement.

 

“For lunch,” Agrius growled. His gruff voice was the one I’d heard talking with Luke earlier.

 

“Hehe! Hehe!” His brother Oreius laughed, licking his fur-lined lips. He kept laughing like he was having an asthmatic fit until Luke and Agrius both stared at him.

 

“Oh, my gods! Just like Frank.” Leo exclaims, gesturing wildly to the kid next to him. 

 

“I actually am asthmatic, though.” 

 

“Hey, we don’t know this guy's story!” Leo puts his hands up in surrender. “You don’t know. Maybe the whole interspecies-ness of his birth gave him asthma and Percy was making fun of him like I used to before I knew you were asthmatic!” 

 

“Shut up, you idiot!” Agrius growled. “Go punish yourself!”

 

Oreius whimpered. He trudged over to the corner of the room, slumped onto a stool, and banged his forehead against the dining table, making the silver plates rattle.

 

Luke acted like this was perfectly normal behavior. He made himself comfortable on the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table. “Well, Percy, we let you survive another year. I hope you appreciated it. How’s your mom? How’s school?”

 

“You know damn well how school is going, and keep Sally’s name out of your fucking mouth.” Reyna hisses.

 

“You poisoned Thalia’s tree.”

 

Luke sighed. “Right to the point, eh? Okay, sure I poisoned the tree. So what?”

 

Jason grinds his teeth, then winces at the sound, so instead starts scratching the knees of his jeans. 

 

Annabeth turns to face Nico, whispering under her breath, “That is exactly how he said it, too. So… flippant.” 

 

“How could you?” Annabeth sounded so angry I thought she’d explode. “Thalia saved your life! Our lives! How could you dishonor her—”

 

“I didn’t dishonor her!” Luke snapped. “The gods dishonored her, Annabeth! If Thalia were alive, she’d be on my side.”

 

“Liar.” Jason huffs. 

 

“Yeah,” Piper adds. “I mean Thalia gave her life-- sorry, present tense-- gives her life every day to help kids, demigod or not, in need. This isn’t at all something she would approve of. And even though I have only met her a few times, I feel comfortable making that declaration.” 

 

“Daaamn, girl.” Reyna approves.

 

“Liar!”

 

“If you knew what was coming, you’d understand—”

 

“I understand you want to destroy the camp!” she yelled. “You’re a monster!”

 

“Pop off, queen!” Hazel yells, before turning to face Piper. “Did I use those words right?” 

 

Piper momentarily takes her right hand off of the steering wheel to give her the ‘ok’ sign. 

 

Luke shook his head. “The gods have blinded you. Can’t you imagine a world without them, Annabeth? What good is that ancient history you study? Three thousand years of baggage! The West is rotten to the core. It has to be destroyed. Join me! We can start the world anew. We could use your intelligence, Annabeth.”

 

“Because you have none of your own!”

 

Nico purses his lips, saying nothing as several other members of the car cheer on Annabeth. She leans her head closer to him, and closes her eyes in contentment as Nico starts braiding her hair without further preamble. 

 

His eyes narrowed. “I know you, Annabeth. You deserve better than tagging along on some hopeless quest to save the camp. Half-Blood Hill will be overrun by monsters within the month. The heroes who survive will have no choice but to join us or be hunted to extinction. You really want to be on a losing team… with company like this?” Luke pointed at Tyson.

 

“Just to be sure I’m hearing this right, he’s talking about murdering children , right?” Leo asks, his mouth slightly agape. 

 

“Yup.” Reyna pops the ‘p’. 

 

“Okay, just making sure…” 

 

“Hey!” I said.

 

“Traveling with a Cyclops,” Luke chided. “Talk about dishonoring Thalia’s memory! I’m surprised at you, Annabeth. You of all people—”

 

“Wait, what’s up with Cyclops?” Jason asks. 

 

Nobody responds, mostly because the only person that knows the story is Annabeth, who is still getting her hair braided by Nico.

 

“Stop it!” she shouted.

 

I didn’t know what Luke was talking about, but Annabeth buried her head in her hands like she was about to cry.

 

“I also do not know what Luke is talking about.” Jason speaks to the silence. “Can someone tell me what happened to my sister?”

 

“She turned into a tree.” Leo says, his face a mask of seriousness. 

 

Jason narrows his eyes. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am now in the market for a new best friend. Please and thank you.” 

 

“It’s saying nerdy stuff like that that keeps you from getting a better best friend than me.”

 

“Leave her alone,” I said. “And leave Tyson out of this.”

 

Luke laughed. “Oh, yeah, I heard. Your father claimed him.”

 

I must have looked surprised, because Luke smiled. “Yes, Percy, I know all about that. And about your plan to find the Fleece. What were those coordinates, again … 30, 31, 75, 12? You see, I still have friends at camp who keep me posted.”

 

Annabeth winces, her whole body clenching. 

 

Nico lets out a long breath through his nose, and grabs her hand. 

 

“Spies, you mean.”

 

“Okay…” Piper mutters. “He has spies. I guess that makes sense…”

 

Annabeth lets out a little noise. “For a while, people thought it was me.” 

 

The rest of the group remains silent at this revelation. 

 

He shrugged. “How many insults from your father can you stand, Percy? You think he’s grateful to you? You think Poseidon cares for you any more than he cares for this monster?”

 

“Okay,” Frank crosses their arms over his chest. “I officially hate him.” 

 

“ Officially ?” Hazel and Jason ask at the same time. 

 

Hazel narrows her eyes at Frank. “You didn’t hate him before this?”

 

Frank shakes their head. “Not to the same level that you guys did.” 

 

Tyson clenched his fists and made a rumbling sound down in his throat.

 

“He tried to kill Percy!” 

 

“He poisoned my sister!” 

 

“And he made Tyson upset.” Frank nods. “I think that all of those are equally valid reasons to hate him.” 

 

Luke just chuckled. “The gods are so using you, Percy. Do you have any idea what’s in store for you if you reach your sixteenth birthday? Has Chiron even told you the prophecy?”

 

“ Luke knows this prophecy? And I don’t?” Piper asks, slamming her hands down on the wheel. “This is so unfair.” 

 

I wanted to get in Luke’s face and tell him off, but as usual, he knew just how to throw me off balance.

 

Sixteenth birthday?

 

“Percy and Annabeth’s anniversary.” Hazel says promptly.

 

“It’s weird that you know that.” Annabeth murmurs. 

 

Hazel furrows her eyebrows. “Your three year anniversary is on Percy’s 19th birthday. Simple math.” 

 

“Still weird.” 

 

I mean, I knew Chiron had received a prophecy from the Oracle many years ago. I knew part of it was about me. But, if I reached my sixteenth birthday? I didn’t like the sound of that.

 

“I know what I need to know,” I managed. “Like, who my enemies are.”

 

“To be fair, that is all we are really allowed to know.” Frank sighs. “They tell us who to attack, we have to figure out when, where, how… maybe why if we’re lucky.”

 

“Then you’re a fool.”

 

Tyson smashed the nearest dining chair to splinters. “Percy is not a fool!”

 

“Debatable.” Nico jokes. “I mean, he did think that I was straight for three years.” 

 

Before I could stop him, he charged Luke. His fists came down toward Luke’s head—a double overhead blow that would’ve knocked a hole in titanium—but the bear twins intercepted.

 

Hazel punches her thigh. “Damn it, bear twins! We were so close!” 

 

They each caught one of Tyson’s arms and stopped him cold. They pushed him back and Tyson stumbled. He fell to the carpet so hard the deck shook.

 

“Too bad, Cyclops,” Luke said. “Looks like my grizzly friends together are more than a match for your strength. Maybe I should let them—”

 

“How. Dare. You.” Frank huffs. 

 

“I know, right.” Leo leans closer to Frank. “Tyson is awesome. Don’t hurt Tyson.”

 

“Luke,” I cut in. “Listen to me. Your father sent us.”

 

His face turned the color of pepperoni. “Don’t— even— mention him.”

“He told us to take this boat. I thought it was just for a ride, but he sent us here to find you. He told me he won’t give up on you, no matter how angry you are.”

 

“That’s actually not bad for an Olympian parent.” 

 

“Angry?” Luke roared. ” Give up on me? He abandoned me, Percy! I want Olympus destroyed! Every throne crushed to rubble! You tell Hermes it’s going to happen, too. Each time a half-blood joins us, the Olympians grow weaker and we grow stronger. He grows stronger.” Luke pointed to the gold sarcophagus.

 

“We all have daddy issues, you are not special!” Reyna huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. 

 

“Isn’t your mom the goddess?” Leo asks her.

 

“And?” 

 

The box creeped me out, but I was determined not to show it. “So?” I demanded. “What’s so special …”

 

Piper gasps, her mouth forming a perfect ‘o’ shape. She had apparently come to a conclusion at the same time that Percy had.

 

Frank leans forward. “Piper, you okay?”

 

Then it hit me, what might be inside the sarcophagus. The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees. “Whoa, you don’t mean—”

 

“I don’t get it…” Leo says. “What’s in there?” 

 

“I think it’s more like, who…” Jason trails off, as the realization comes over him as well.

 

Nico shakes his head. “I think both apply here. He wasn’t much of a person.” 

 

“Did you just quote Fiddler on the Roof?” Frank asks.

 

“Did you just recognize my inadvertent Fiddler on the Roof quote?” 

 

“Touché.” 

 

“He is re-forming,” Luke said. “Little by little, we’re calling his life force out of the pit. With every recruit who pledges our cause, another small piece appears—”

 

“The pit…” Leo’s eyes widen. “As in… grandad?”

 

“Your great grandad.” Jason corrects.

 

“ Our grandad.” Hazel gestures to herself, Nico, and Jason. 

 

Nico scrunches his nose. “Please don’t include me in this family tree.” 

 

“That’s disgusting!” Annabeth said.

 

Luke sneered at her. “Your mother was born from Zeus’s split skull, Annabeth. I wouldn’t talk. Soon there will be enough of the titan lord so that we can make him whole again. We will piece together a new body for him, a work worthy of the forges of Hephaestus.”

 

“He certainly thinks highly of himself.” Annabeth huffs, before she clamps her mouth shut, as if just realizing what she’d let slip. 

 

Piper blinks slowly. “What was that, Annabeth?”

 

“Nothing…” Annabeth whispers, her voice laced with an unnamed emotion.

 

“You’re insane,” Annabeth said.

 

“Join us and you’ll be rewarded. We have powerful friends, sponsors rich enough to buy this cruise ship and much more. Percy, your mother will never have to work again. You can buy her a mansion. You can have power, fame—whatever you want. Annabeth, you can realize your dream of being an architect. You can build a monument to last a thousand years. A temple to the lords of the next age!”

 

“Isn’t that exactly what Poseidon said that he offered Sally?” Reyna questions, her obsidian eyes narrowed. 

 

“Hypocrite.” Jason spits out. 

 

“Go to Tartarus,” she said.

 

Annabeth and Nico wince. 

 

“I did say that, didn’t I?” She groans, letting her hand fall down her face.

 

Luke sighed. “A shame.”

 

He picked up something that looked like a TV remote and pressed a red button. Within seconds the door of the stateroom opened and two uniformed crew members came in, armed with nightsticks. They had the same glassy-eyed look as the other mortals I’d seen, but I had a feeling this wouldn’t make them any less dangerous in a fight.

 

“Plus, only Luke’s sword would actually work against them.” Leo hums, only to be met with several questioning gazes. “Not that I’m saying he should kill the zombie mortals. I’m just saying, if I was thirteen, and in a fight with armed adults, I’d rather be armed too. I don’t think that’s so weird!” 

 

“Ah, good, security,” Luke said, “I’m afraid we have some stowaways.”

 

“Yes, sir,” they said dreamily.

 

Luke turned to Oreius. “It’s time to feed the Aethiopian drakon. Take these fools below and show them how it’s done.”

 

“I hate him,” Hazel says between gritted teeth. “ So much. I don’t think it’s healthy to hate someone I’ve never met this much.” 

 

Piper sighs. “Welcome to the fangirl life.” 

 

Oreius grinned stupidly. “Hehe! Hehe!”

 

“Let me go, too,” Agrius grumbled. “My brother is worthless. That Cyclops—”

 

“Is no threat,” Luke said. He glanced back at the golden casket, as if something were troubling him. “Agrius, stay here. We have important matters to discuss.”

 

“No threat.” Frank asks, their eyebrows furrowing. “He literally almost killed you, and smashed one of your dining chairs.” 

 

“But—”

 

“Yeah,” Jason agrees. “Like is he being purposefully stupid, or…?”

 

“Oreius, don’t fail me. Stay in the hold to make sure the drakon is properly fed.”

 

Reyna shrugs. “I, personally, don’t care either way. He still sucks.” 

 

Hazel smiles at the older girl. “You get me.”

 

Oreius prodded us with his javelin and herded us out of the stateroom, followed by the two human security guards.

 

As I walked down the corridor with Oreius’s javelin poking me in the back, I thought about what Luke had said—that the bear twins together were a match for Tyson’s strength. But maybe separately …

 

“His memory astounds me.” Leo declares. “Like, I’m assuming that Luke just said that, but I can’t actually remember hearing that. Amazing .”

 

We exited the corridor amidships and walked across an open deck lined with lifeboats. I knew the ship well enough to realize this would be our last look at sunlight. Once we got to the other side, we’d take the elevator down into the hold, and that would be it.

 

I looked at Tyson and said, “Now.”

 

Piper’s eyes widened. “Now-- now what? That was so unclear, Percy!” 

 

Thank the gods, he understood. He turned and smacked Oreius thirty feet backward into the swimming pool, right into the middle of the zombie tourist family.

 

“Okay, well, at least he seems to realize that was a very unreasonable thing to just randomly shout out.” Piper sighs, earning a comforting arm pat from Hazel.

 

“Ah!” the kids yelled in unison. “We are not having a blast in the pool!”

 

To everyone’s surprise Annabeth actually giggles at that. “They--” She gasps for breath. “They actually did say that. It was so funny, but I didn’t have time to appreciate it because it was such a stressful situation.” 

 

One of the security guards drew his nightstick, but Annabeth knocked the wind out of him with a well-placed kick. The other guard ran for the nearest alarm box.

 

“Stop him!” Annabeth yelled, but it was too late.

 

Just before I banged him on the head with a deck chair, he hit the alarm.

 

Leo puts his arms out as if Percy had just proved a point for him. “See? Wanting to be armed is not that weird!” 

 

“Nobody ever said it was.” Reyna tells him.

 

“Nobody said anything .”

 

Reyna nods. “That’s just how I am dude, get used to it.” 

 

Red lights flashed. Sirens wailed.

 

“Lifeboat!” I yelled.

 

We ran for the nearest one.

 

By the time we got the cover off, monsters and more security men were swarming the deck, pushing aside tourists and waiters with trays of tropical drinks. A guy in Greek armor drew his sword and charged, but slipped in a puddle of piña colada. Laistrygonian archers assembled on the deck above us, notching arrows in their enormous bows.

 

“They’re archers too ?” Frank wails. 

 

“Huge, Canadian archers…” Leo muses. “You sure you aren’t related?” 

 

“Bite me.” Frank sticks out his tongue at Leo. 

 

“Other way around, cannibal.” Leo retorts, smiling widely. 

 

“How do you launch this thing?” screamed Annabeth.

 

A hellhound leaped at me, but Tyson slammed it aside with a fire extinguisher.

 

“Get in!” I yelled. I uncapped Riptide and slashed the first volley of arrows out of the air. Any second we would be overwhelmed.

 

“Uh oh.” Piper sighs. “I have a feeling I know where this is going.” 

 

“That makes one of us…” Annabeth hums. “I kind of blocked this exact part out of my memory for some reason.” 

 

The lifeboat was hanging over the side of the ship, high above the water. Annabeth and Tyson were having no luck with the release pulley.

 

“Oh…” Annabeth sighs. “That’s probably why.” 

 

I jumped in beside them.

 

“Hold on!” I yelled, and I cut the ropes.

 

A shower of arrows whistled over our heads as we free-fell toward the ocean.

Notes:

So, I have finally decided to make a posting schedule for this work, because it has occured to me that I have been writing this series for almost three years, and two of those years have been dedicated specifically to this one story. So, I'll try to be posting every other week from now on.

Yay!

Also, I started rereading previous chapters because of how long it has been since I've written some of these updates, and it is good that I did that, because I completely forgot that I had already made a Phineas and Ferb joke in here, but then decided to keep the new one I made. So, do with that what you will ;)

Also, yes, I officially broke up Caleo. Sorry about that, but I don't like their romantic relationship enough to keep it going for this story, and I'm honestly considering just cutting out Calypso's chapter entirely if I make it to BoL so...

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!

Until next time <3

Chapter 10: We Hitch A Ride With Dead Confederates

Notes:

On behalf of myself and Rick Riordan, I firmly apologize for the chapter title.

However, if you still wondered why I hate this book so much... all you have to do is look at the title and understand why.

“Why is he always freefalling into water?” Hazel asks. “I mean, once, maybe. Twice, seems like a bit of a problem. By the third time, we just have to be concerned.”

 

Annabeth whips her head around. “I’m sorry, what do you think is the third time?”

 

Hazel blinks slowly. “I-- I am not sure how to respond to that.” 

 

“Thermos!” I screamed as we hurtled toward the water.

 

“What?” Annabeth must’ve thought I’d lost my mind. She was holding on to the boat straps for dear life, her hair flying straight up like a torch.

 

“Why is he always talking about my hair?” Annabeth asks, thankfully taking her attention away from Hazel. 

 

Nico shrugs. “He’s obsessed .” 

 

But Tyson understood. He managed to open my duffel bag and take out Hermes’s magical thermos without losing his grip on it or the boat.

 

“I love that whole sibling thing where they know just what you’re saying without you having to say too much.” Leo hums contentedly, one hand resting over his heart. “Like when you put your hand out and they immediately know which tool you need.”

 

“Yeah.” Piper agrees. “Or when you pour out there favorite perfume in a rose bush, and they know that what you’re really saying is ‘you’re a trash person with trash taste, and I hate you, you ruined my life’.” 

 

Jason leans forward. “How is everything going with you and Drew?”

 

“Better than ever.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Arrows and javelins whistled past us.

 

I grabbed the thermos and hoped I was doing the right thing. “Hang on!”

 

“I am hanging on!” Annabeth yelled.

 

“Tighter!”

 

“Yeah, Annabeth!” Reyna jeers. “Why don’t you get that?” 

 

“Fuck off.” Annabeth replies.

 

“Oh great.” Leo sighs. “Mom and dad are fighting again.” 

 

Annabeth wrinkles her nose. “Leo, I’ve told you to please stop using that metaphor. It’s kind of weird when you call me your mom, considering I’m only a year older than you.”

 

Reyna furrows her eyebrows. “Wait, he's used that metaphor before? And I’m the dad in this situation?”

 

I hooked my feet under the boat’s inflatable bench, and as Tyson grabbed Annabeth and me by the backs of our shirts, I gave the thermos cap a quarter turn.

 

Leo shakes his head. “First off, stop acting like my mom if you don’t want me to call you that. And, of course you’re the dad, Reyna! Me and Jason are your sons--” 

 

“Never agreed to that.” Jason inserts.

 

“Noted. Percy is our stepdad that we lowkey resent for ‘breaking up’ our parents--”

 

“Okay, I can actually see that.” Jason replies. 

 

Instantly, a white sheet of wind jetted out of the ther-mos and propelled us sideways, turning our downward plummet into a forty-five-degree crash landing. 

 

“Hazel is our stepsister that Percy brought with him, but love that we’re a big, happy, dysfunctional family.” Hazel nods emphatically. “Frank is the new half-sibling--”

 

Frank furrows his eyebrows. “How can a half-sibling be ne-- Wait, am I a baby in this scenario?” 

 

“You’re a baby in all the scenarios, dude, just own it.” 

 

The wind seemed to laugh as it shot from the thermos, like it was glad to be free. As we hit the ocean, we bumped once, twice, skipping like a stone, then we were whizzing along like a speed boat, salt spray in our faces and nothing but sea ahead.

 

“Piper is our mom’s best friend who is basically like a second mom to us. I took my first steps to her, and Annabeth is still bitter about it--” 

 

“Oddly in depth, but sure, I claim it.” Piper responds. 

 

I heard a wail of outrage from the ship behind us, but we were already out of weapon range.

 

“And Reyna, Nico is your kid from your first marriage.” 

 

Reyna’s mouth flies open. “Why am I always getting divorced?” 

 

Nico narrows his eyes at Reyna. “ That is your biggest take away from what he just said?” 

 

The Princess Andromeda faded to the size of a white toy boat in the distance, and then it was gone.

 

As we raced over the sea, Annabeth and I tried to send an Iris-message to Chiron. We figured it was important we let somebody know what Luke was doing, and we didn’t know who else to trust.

 

The car falls into an awkward silence, before Leo bursts out, “Oh, come on! My thing is not as weird as you two--” He points at Annabeth, then Reyna, “Calling Chiron and Hedge dad.” 

 

“We didn’t have stable father figures!” Reyna replies. 

 

“Nor mother figures!” Annabeth adds. 

 

“Neither did we, that’s why we imprint on you!” 

 

The wind from the thermos stirred up a nice sea spray that made a rainbow in the sunlight—perfect for an Iris-message—but our connection was still poor. When Annabeth threw a gold drachma into the mist and prayed for the rainbow goddess to show us Chiron, his face appeared all right, but there was some kind of weird strobe light flashing in the background and rock music blaring, like he was at a dance club.

 

This image was enough to distract everyone from the chaos in the car. 

 

“Chiron…” Jason says slowly. “Is at a dance club ?” 

 

Frank scrunches up their face. “I don’t even know Chiron that well, and I still find this disturbing.”

 

We told him about sneaking away from camp, and Luke and the Princess Andromeda and the golden box for Kronos’s remains, but between the noise on his end and the rushing wind and water on our end, I’m not sure how much he heard.

 

“Percy,” Chiron yelled, “you have to watch out for—”

 

His voice was drowned out by loud shouting behind him—a bunch of voices whooping it up like Comanche warriors.

 

Piper’s nose wrinkles. “I’m really not sure how to feel about that metaphor.” 

 

“What?” I yelled. 

 

“Curse my relatives!” Chiron ducked as a plate flew over his head and shattered somewhere out of sight. “Annabeth, you shouldn’t have let Percy leave camp! But if you do get the Fleece—”

 

Reyna raises an eyebrow. “Did he just say his relatives ?”

 

Frank’s eyes are wide. “I have so many questions. And also an answer.” He gives Annabeth a pointed look. 

 

She rolls her eyes. “Shut up, we all knew that I was reaching with my reasoning for going on this quest.” 

 

“Yeah, baby!” somebody behind Chiron yelled. “Woo-hoooooo!”

 

The music got cranked up, subwoofers so loud it made our boat vibrate.

 

“Subwoofers.” Piper repeats blankly. “What the hell are subwoofers?” 

 

“They’re the speakers.” Leo replies, as if the answer was obvious. To him, it probably was.

 

Piper hits the rim of the steering wheel. “Then why doesn’t he just say speakers!”

 

“—Miami,” Chiron was yelling. “I’ll try to keep watch—”

 

“Because they’re subwoofers!” 

 

“But you just said--”

 

“Calm down, you two!” Annabeth hisses. 

 

Leo deflates. “Yes, mom!” 

 

Our misty screen smashed apart like someone on the other side had thrown a bottle at it, and Chiron was gone.

 

“Don’t call me that!” Annabeth sighs. She looks to Reyna for support. “Reyna, do you have anything to say?”

 

Reyna smirks, before saying in complete seriousness, “Listen to your mother.”

 

“I hate you all.”

 

An hour later we spotted land—a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats and tankers. A coast guard cruiser passed on our starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look. I guess it isn’t every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going a hundred knots an hour, manned by three kids.

 

“Uh huh.” Jason nods. “I think that there is more than a good chance of that.” 

 

“That’s Virginia Beach!” Annabeth said as we approached the shoreline. “Oh my gods, how did the Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That’s like—”

 

“How do you know that that was Virginia Beach?” Leo asks Annabeth, leaning closer.

 

Annabeth raises an eyebrow. “Because I used to live there.”

 

Frank also leans forward. “Since when?”

 

“Since-- since the summer before this one. And until I was seven before that .”

 

“Huh…” Both Leo and Frank mutter at the same time, both obviously confounded by this (not) new development

 

“Five hundred and thirty nautical miles,” I said.

 

Hazel’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. “That’s specific.”

 

“It’s also wrong.” Nico speaks up. “You’re not supposed to say the ‘and’. It's an incorrect form.” He shudders. “What has proper education done to me?”

 

She stared at me. “How did you know that?”

 

“I—I’m not sure.”

 

Annabeth thought for a moment. “Percy, what’s our position?”

 

“Oh!” Frank hops in their seat. “I know this one! The Friend Zone!” He holds up a hand to Leo for a high five.

 

Leo blink at them, then sighs deeply, before complying. “I mean, I guess A for effort?”

 

“36 degrees, 44 minutes north, 76 degrees, 2 minutes west,” I said immediately. Then I shook my head. “Whoa. How did I know that?”

 

“Because of your dad,” Annabeth guessed. “When you’re at sea, you have

perfect bearings. That is so cool.” 

 

Piper tilts her head to the side. “ Is it , though ?” 

 

“I think it’s cool.” Annabeth replies.

 

Piper shakes her head. “You are such a dork.” Though the words aren’t particularly kind, they are said with a mix of exasperation and fondness. 

 

I wasn’t sure about that. I didn’t want to be a human GPS unit. But before I could say anything, Tyson tapped my shoulder. “Other boat is coming.”

 

I looked back. The coast guard vessel was definitely on our tail now. Its lights were flashing and it was gaining speed.

 

“We can’t let them catch us,” I said. “They’ll ask too many questions.”

 

“Keep going into Chesapeake Bay,” Annabeth said. “I know a place we can hide.”

 

Leo grins. “Who’s waiting in Chesapeake Bay?”

 

Nico groans. “ No --”

 

“ Lafayette is there waiting in Chesapeake Bay.” Jason replies. 

 

Reyna and Frank turn to each other and say in near perfect sync, “Immigrants, we get the job done!” 

 

“First my boyfriend, now you guys.” Nico breathes deeply through his nose, pinching his temples in order to stave off a headache. “I swear to the gods, I’m going to murder Lin Manuel Miranda.”

 

I didn’t ask what she meant, or how she knew the area so well. I risked loosening the thermos cap a little more, and a fresh burst of wind sent us rocketing around the northern tip of Virginia Beach into Chesapeake Bay. The coast guard boat fell farther and farther behind. We didn’t slow down until the shores of the bay narrowed on either side, and I realized we’d entered the mouth of a river.

 

Piper presses her lips together into a thin line. “Rivers have mouths?”

 

“Yeah.” Hazel replies. “They’re called deltas, and they form when a river goes into a larger body of water, and-- oh, my gods, I’ve been spending way too much time with Percy.” 

 

Annabeth laughs. “And you still have at least two more years.” 

 

Hazel goes silent, looking down at her lap. “Right. Two more years.” 

 

I could feel the change from saltwater to freshwater. Suddenly I was tired and frazzled, like I was coming down off a sugar high. I didn’t know where I was anymore, or which way to steer the boat. It was a good thing Annabeth was directing me.

 

Leo sighs, putting a hand over his heart. “Some things never change.” 

 

Jason nods in agreement. “Imagine where we would be if Annabeth wasn’t always directing us.” Annabeth looks like she is about to open her mouth in protest, but there is no malice in Jason’s voice, so she holds back.

 

“There,” she said. “Past that sandbar.”

 

We veered into a swampy area choked with marsh grass. I beached the lifeboat at the foot of a giant cypress.

 

Vine-covered trees loomed above us. Insects chirred in the woods. The air was muggy and hot, and steam curled off the river. Basically, it wasn’t Manhattan, and I didn’t like it.

 

“Is that a theme throughout these stories?” Hazel asks.

 

Annabeth snorts. “It’s a theme for his life . He’s already planning on us moving back to New York once we finish school.”

 

A smile curls on Hazel’s face. “You mean… together .” 

 

Annabeth is about to respond, before she sees the shit eating grin that Hazel is giving her, and rolls her eyes, her cheeks growing warm. “Oh, shut up.” 

 

“Come on,” Annabeth said. “It’s just down the bank.”

 

“What is?” I asked.

 

“Just follow.” She grabbed a duffel bag. “And we’d better cover the boat. We don’t want to draw attention.” 

 

Reyna snorts. “I think that that ship has long sailed-- pun not intended-- when you started getting followed by the Coast Guard.”

 

“Who says ‘pun not intended’?” Leo questions. “Take the credit!” 

 

“Over your dead body. And, no, I did not misspeak.” 

 

After burying the lifeboat with branches, Tyson and I followed Annabeth along the shore, our feet sinking in red mud. A snake slithered past my shoe and disappeared into the grass.

 

“Not a good place,” Tyson said. He swatted the mosquitoes that were forming a buffet line on his arm.

 

Piper shudders. “Bugs.” 

 

Frank tilts their head. “Nothing about the snake.”

 

“Nah. After you see a humanoid snake, it’s pretty much impossible to still be scared of the little ones.” 

 

After another few minutes, Annabeth said, “Here.”

 

All I saw was a patch of brambles. Then Annabeth moved aside a woven circle of branches, like a door, and I realized I was looking into a camouflaged shelter.

 

Leo gasps. “You have a secret lair? You’re so lucky.”

 

“It’s not a lair.” Annabeth argues. 

 

The inside was big enough for three, even with Tyson being the third. The walls were woven from plant material, like a Native American hut, but they looked pretty water-proof. Stacked in the corner was everything you could want for a campout—sleeping bags, blankets, an ice chest, and a kerosene lamp. There were demigod provisions, too— bronze javelin tips, a quiver full of arrows, an extra sword, and a box of ambrosia. The place smelled musty, like it had been vacant for a long time.

 

Piper shrugs. “I dunno, it sounds like a lair to me.”

 

“Lair, lair, lair!” Leo starts chanting, pinging between Frank and Jason like a pinball machine, urging them to join the chant. 

 

One withering look from Annabeth, stops anyone from joining them.

 

“A half-blood hideout.” I looked at Annabeth in awe. “You made this place?”

 

“Thalia and I,” she said quietly. “And Luke.”

 

Leo stops chanting at the sound of the L-word. 

 

The way Annabeth’s eyes had gone dark, as if reliving something painful, caused the rest of the car to settle into an uneasy silence.

 

That shouldn’t have bothered me. I mean, I knew Thalia and Luke had taken care of Annabeth when she was little. I knew the three of them had been runaways together, hiding from monsters, surviving on their own before Grover found them and tried to get them to Half-Blood Hill. But whenever Annabeth talked about the time she’d spent with them, I kind of felt ... I don’t know. Uncomfortable?

 

Hazel can’t help but lean forward, and whisper a small, “Oh?”, at his words.

 

“I’m sensing a realization of feelings.” Piper sing-songs, quickly glancing at Annabeth, barely concealed worry in her eyes. 

 

Thankfully, Annabeth lets out a soft laugh. “Please, if only it was that easy.” 

 

No. That’s not the word.

 

The word was jealous.

 

Annabeth’s eyes widened in surprise. 

 

Nico snorts. “Well, at least he was being honest with himself, if nobody else.”

 

“So ...” I said. “You don’t think Luke will look for us here?” 

 

She shook her head. “We made a dozen safe houses like this. I doubt Luke even remembers where they are. Or cares.”

 

She threw herself down on the blankets and started going through her duffel bag. Her body language made it pretty clear she didn’t want to talk.

 

Present day Annabeth was putting up the same defenses. It was odd, how she could be thawing at one moment, almost joking, and then one mention of Luke, and she looked like a caged animal. 

 

“Um, Tyson?” I said. “Would you mind scouting around outside? Like, look for a wilderness convenience store or something?”

 

“Convenience store?” Jason repeats, dubiously. 

 

“Convenience store?”

 

“Yeah, for snacks. Powdered donuts or something. Just don’t go too far.”

 

“Powdered doughnuts.” Jason says softly, looking at the other occupants of the back seat, as if they could guarantee that he was truly hearing what he thought he was hearing. “In the wilderness.”

 

“Powdered donuts,” Tyson said earnestly. “I will look for powdered donuts in the wilderness.” He headed outside and started calling, “Here, donuts!”

 

Jason’s eye started twitching at the absurdity of Percy’s claim, but Frank gently patted his shoulder.

 

“Breathe, man. Just breathe.” They advise, gently rubbing Jason’s shoulders.

 

Once he was gone, I sat down across from Annabeth. “Hey, I’m sorry about, you know, seeing Luke.”

 

“It’s not your fault.” She unsheathed her knife and started cleaning the blade with a rag.

 

Nico starts braiding Annabeth’s curls, an obvious effort to comfort her. 

 

Because she misses the blade, obviously. No other reason.

 

“He let us go too easily,” I said.

 

I hoped I’d been imagining it, but Annabeth nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. What we overheard him say about a gamble, and ‘they’ll take the bait’... I think he was talking about us.”

 

“Really?” Piper deadpans. “I never would have assumed that.” 

 

“I know, right?” Leo asks, in an earnest tone that had Piper questioning whether or not he was being sarcastic or not. 

 

“The Fleece is the bait? Or Grover?”

 

Piper’s lips purse in anger. “I swear to the gods if Grover is being used as bait…”

 

She studied the edge of her knife. “I don’t know, Percy. Maybe he wants the Fleece for himself. Maybe he’s hoping we’ll do the hard work and then he can steal it from us. I just can’t believe he would poison the tree.”

 

“Really?” Hazel asks. “That seems like something he would do.”

 

“Hazel…” Nico gives Hazel a significant look that she doesn’t quite understand.

 

“What? We’ve clearly established that he’s not afraid of poisoning people!” 

 

“What did he mean,” I asked, “that Thalia would’ve been on his side?”

 

Jason yells. “He’s wrong!” 

 

“He’s wrong.”

 

“You don’t sound sure.”

 

Annabeth glared at me, and I started to wish I hadn’t asked her about this while she was holding a knife.

 

Reyna shrugs. “Well, it’s not as if she’s ever unarmed . At least this way, you are more aware of the risks that you take.” 

 

“Percy, you know who you remind me of most? Thalia. You guys are so much alike it’s scary. I mean, either you would’ve been best friends or you would’ve strangled each other.”

 

Nico lets out a strangled laugh, accidentally pulling on Annabeth’s hair as he giggles.

 

Annabeth narrows her eyes. “What?”

 

Nico shakes his head. “You just had to be there.” 

 

“Let’s go with ‘best friends.’”

 

“Thalia got angry with her dad sometimes. So do you. Would you turn against Olympus because of that?”

 

I stared at the quiver of arrows in the corner. “No.”

 

There was an intensity in the way that Percy said ‘no’. As if he was having second thoughts on his answer after the fact, and everyone could hear it. 

 

Leo clears his throat, trying to alleviate the tension, he whispers, “Foreshadowing, am I right?”

 

“Okay, then. Neither would she. Luke’s wrong.” Annabeth stuck her knife blade into the dirt.

 

I wanted to ask her about the prophecy Luke had mentioned and what it had to do with my sixteenth birth-day. But I figured she wouldn’t tell me. Chiron had made it pretty clear that I wasn’t allowed to hear it until the gods decided otherwise.

 

“Damn it, Annabeth.” Piper yells. “Just tell us!” 

 

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “No.”

 

Piper sighs. “Alright then.”

 

“So what did Luke mean about Cyclops?” I asked. “He said you of all people—”

 

“I know what he said. He ... he was talking about the real reason Thalia died.”

 

Jason sucks in a deep breath, and leans forward. 

 

I waited, not sure what to say.

 

Annabeth drew a shaky breath. “You can never trust a Cyclops, Percy. Six years ago, on the night Grover was lead-ing us to Half-Blood Hill—”

 

She was interrupted when the door of the hut creaked open. Tyson crawled in.

 

“Damn it, Tyson!” Jason yells, hitting his leg.

 

Frank holds up a finger. “Okay, I know that you’re going through something with your half-dead tree sister, but you don’t need to take it out on Tyson.”

 

“Powdered donuts!” he said proudly, holding up a pastry box. 

 

Annabeth stared at him. “Where did you get that? We’re in the middle of the wilderness. There’s nothing around for—”

 

“Fifty feet,” Tyson said. “Monster Donut shop—just over the hill!”

 

“‘ Monster donut shop’?” Hazel repeats. “As in a doughnut shop run by and for monsters?”

 

Leo huffs out a laugh. “No, Haze. It’s a chain. Like Dunkin’ and Krispy Kreme.” 

 

“This is bad,” Annabeth muttered.

 

Hazel crosses her arms over her chest. “Well, I’ve heard of those two places. Why haven’t I heard of Monster Donut before?”

 

“‘Cause Monster isn’t as good as Krispy Kreme or Dunkin’.” Piper replies. 

 

Annabeth presses her lips together into a firm line. “Right… That’s why.”

 

We were crouching behind a tree, staring at the donut shop in the middle of the woods. It looked brand new, with brightly lit windows, a parking area, and a little road leading off into the forest, but there was nothing else around, and no cars parked in the lot. We could see one employee reading a magazine behind the cash register.

 

That was it. On the store’s marquis, in huge black letters that even I could read, it said:

 

MONSTER DONUT

 

A cartoon ogre was taking a bite out of the O in MONSTER. The place smelled good, like fresh-baked chocolate donuts.

 

“Mmm…” Frank hums. “I could actually go for a doughnut right about now.” 

 

“Who couldn’t.” Leo whispers, licking his lips as if he could actually smell the baked treats. 

 

“Um…” Jason holds up a hand. “I don’t want a doughnut.”

 

Leo pushes Jason’s hand down. “You don’t count as a person.” 

 

“This shouldn’t be here,” Annabeth whispered. “It’s wrong.”

 

“What?” I asked. “It’s a donut shop.”

“In the middle of the woods surrounding Virginia Beach, fifty feet from a demigod hideout.” Reyna points out. “Does this not ring any alarm bells?”

 

“Shhh!”

 

“Why are we whispering? Tyson went in and bought a dozen. Nothing happened to him.”

 

“He’s a monster.”

 

Hazel whips her head around, staring down Leo, a look in her eyes screaming, “Aha!”.

 

Leo puts up a finger, signaling, “Just wait one minute, before jumping to accusations”.

 

“Aw, c’mon, Annabeth. Monster Donut doesn’t mean monsters! It’s a chain. We’ve got them in New York.”

 

“A chain,” she agreed. “And don’t you think it’s strange that one appeared immediately after you told Tyson to get donuts? Right here in the middle of the woods?” 

 

“Yes.” Everyone but Leo, who is still in his staring contest with Hazel, chimes in.

 

I thought about it. It did seem a little weird, but, I mean, donut shops weren’t real high on my list of sinister forces.

 

“As they shouldn’t be.” Leo replies, nodding along with Percy’s logic. 

 

Jason wrinkles his nose. “Doughnuts are super unhealthy. Deep friend, and filled with sugar. They are evil.” 

 

Leo and Frank both look at Jason, their gazes unflinching. 

 

“Get out.” Frank says seriously, pointing at the door that Jason is sitting next to.

 

“It could be a nest,” Annabeth explained.

 

Tyson whimpered. I doubt he understood what Annabeth was saying any better than I did, but her tone was making him nervous. He’d plowed through half a dozen donuts from his box and was getting powdered sugar all over his face.

 

“He’s so real for that. Doughnuts…” Reyna says, looking at her backseat companions, a glint of mischief in her eyes. 

 

“You love causing trouble, don’t you?” Piper laughs. 

 

Reyna shrugs. “Only when the consequences aren’t real. I never get to do this sort of stuff as Praetor.” 

 

“A nest for what?” I asked.

 

“Haven’t you ever wondered how franchise stores pop up so fast?” she asked. “One day there’s nothing and then the next day—boom, there’s a new burger place or a coffee shop or whatever? First a single store, then two, then four— exact replicas spreading across the country?”

 

Nico’s face goes ashen. He whips his head around to face Annabeth. “What about McDonalds? Tell me McDonalds isn’t a part of this?” 

 

“Um, no. Never thought about it.”

 

“Percy, some of the chains multiply so fast because all their locations are magically linked to the life force of a monster. Some children of Hermes figured out how to do it back in the 1950s. They breed—”

 

“What do they breed?” Piper asks in alarm. 

 

“What about McDonalds !” Nico shouts, gripping Annabeth by the shoulders as she does her best not to look him in the eye.

 

She froze.

 

“What?” I demanded. “They breed what?”

 

“Answer us, bitch!” Piper yells, a white-knuckled grip on her steering wheel.

 

“Calm down!” Annabeth orders her.

 

Piper lets herself deflate. “Right, got caught up in the moment. Sorry, bitch.”

 

“No—sudden—moves,” Annabeth said, like her life depended on it. “Very slowly, turn around.”

 

Then I heard it: a scraping noise, like something large dragging its belly through the leaves.

 

Frank wrinkles his nose. “Please tell me it’s just a snake.”

 

Hazel shakes her head. “We both know that it’s never just a snake.”

 

I turned and saw a rhino-size thing moving through the shadows of the trees. It was hissing, its front half writhing in all different directions. I couldn’t understand what I was seeing at first. Then I realized the thing had multiple necks—at least seven, each topped with a hissing reptilian head. Its skin was leathery, and under each neck it wore a plastic bib that read: I’m A MONSTER DONUT KID! 

 

Leo gasps. “It’s the Hercules monster!” 

 

Piper opens her mouth, as if to correct him, before clamping it shut. “Yup. It’s a hydra .”

 

“Right.” Leo nods. “The Hercules monster.”

 

I took out my ballpoint pen, but Annabeth locked eyes with me—a silent warning. Not yet.

 

I understood. A lot of monsters have terrible eyesight. It was possible the Hydra might pass us by. But if I uncapped my sword now, the bronze glow would certainly get its attention.

 

We waited.

 

“I can’t believe that I’m saying this.” Reyna sighs. “But this is the most dull monster meeting I have ever heard of.” 

 

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Jason asks her.

 

Reyna shrugs. “I haven’t decided yet.” 

 

The Hydra was only a few feet away. It seemed to be sniffing the ground and the trees like it was hunting for something. Then I noticed that two of the heads were rip-ping apart a piece of yellow canvas—one of our duffel bags. The thing had already been to our campsite. It was following our scent.

 

My heart pounded. I’d seen a stuffed Hydra-head trophy at camp before, but that did nothing to prepare me for the real thing. Each head was diamond-shaped, like a rattlesnake’s, but the mouths were lined with jagged rows of shark-like teeth.

 

“There’s a taxidermied Hydra head at camp?” Frank asks, their face scrunched up in confusion. 

 

“Mhm.” Nico hums. “Clarisse uses it for a pillow.”

 

Frank swallows. “You’re joking, right?”

 

Nico raises an eyebrow at Frank. Nobody can tell if he is joking or not.

 

Tyson was trembling. He stepped back and accidentally snapped a twig.

 

“Uh oh…” Leo sing-songs, rocking from side to side between Jason and Frank. 

 

Immediately, all seven heads turned toward us and hissed.

 

“Shit.” Piper hisses out between her teeth. 

 

“Scatter!” Annabeth yelled. She dove to the right.

 

I rolled to the left. One of the Hydra heads spat an arc of green liquid that shot past my shoulder and splashed against an elm. The trunk smoked and began to disintegrate. The whole tree toppled straight toward Tyson, who still hadn’t moved, petrified by the monster that was now right in front of him.

 

Frank winces in sympathy, a hand over his chest. “Poor thing.”

 

“Tyson!” I tackled him with all my might, knocking him aside just as the Hydra lunged and the tree crashed on top of two of its heads.

 

The Hydra stumbled backward, yanking its heads free then wailing in outrage at the fallen tree. All seven heads shot acid, and the elm melted into a steaming pool of muck. 

 

“Move!” I told Tyson. I ran to one side and uncapped Riptide, hoping to draw the monster’s attention.

 

“He does that a lot.” Piper comments. 

 

Annabeth lets out a long suffering sigh. “Yes.” She replies. “Yes, he does.” 

 

It worked.

 

The sight of celestial bronze is hateful to most monsters. As soon as my glowing blade appeared, the Hydra whipped toward it with all its heads, hissing and baring its teeth.

 

The good news: Tyson was momentarily out of danger. The bad news: I was about to be melted into a puddle of goo.

 

Annabeth’s head falls into her hand. “Why do I love him?” She asks nobody in particular.

 

“Because he does shit like that.” Nico replies.

 

Annabeth glares at him. “I hate it when you’re right.” 

 

One of the heads snapped at me experimentally. Without thinking, I swung my sword.

 

“No!” Annabeth yelled.

 

Too late. I sliced the Hydra’s head clean off. It rolled away into the grass, leaving a flailing stump, which immediately stopped bleeding and began to swell like a balloon.

 

Reyna pinches the bridge of her nose. “Oh, dear gods.”

 

In a matter of seconds the wounded neck split into two necks, each of which grew a full-size head. Now I was looking at an eight-headed Hydra.

 

“Percy!” Annabeth scolded. “You just opened another Monster Donut shop somewhere!”

 

Jason tilts his head to the side. “ That’s your biggest concern right now?” 

 

“I’m with her.” Piper shrugs. “Monster Donut is gross.” 

 

Annabeth shakes her head. “That was not my point at all .”

 

I dodged a spray of acid. “I’m about to die and you’re worried about that? How do we kill it?”

 

“Fire!” Annabeth said. “We have to have fire!”

 

“Easy peasy lemon squeezy.” Leo snaps his fingers. 

 

“For people that can’t create fire out of thin air.” Frank replies.

 

Leo shrugs. “Well, then, sucks for them, I guess.”

 

As soon as she said that, I remembered the story. The Hydra’s heads would only stop multiplying if we burned the stumps before they regrew. That’s what Heracles had done, anyway. But we had no fire.

 

Leo narrows his eyes. “Whose Heracles?” 

 

“The Greek version of Hercules.” Piper answers. 

 

“What about Hercules?” 

 

“That’s the Roman version.” Jason informs him. 

 

I backed up toward the river. The Hydra followed. 

 

“Why the fuck would Disney use all of the Greek Gods, but use Roman Hercules? It doesn’t make sense!” 

 

Annabeth moved in on my left and tried to distract one of the heads, parrying its teeth with her knife, but another head swung sideways like a club and knocked her into the muck.

 

Jason shakes his head. “Neither does Hera being Hercules’ mother, but Disney did that too.”

 

“No hitting my friends!” Tyson charged in, putting himself between the Hydra and Annabeth.

 

Leo shakes his head. “My childhood is officially over.”

 

Frank narrows their eyes. “ Really ?”

 

“No, that ended a long time ago, I’m just trying to be overdramatic.”

 

As Annabeth got to her feet, Tyson started smashing at the monster heads with his fists so fast it reminded me of the whack-a-mole game at the arcade. But even Tyson couldn’t fend off the Hydra forever.

 

We kept inching backward, dodging acid splashes and deflecting snapping heads without cutting them off, but I knew we were only postponing our deaths.

 

“Isn’t that all we ever do?” Hazel asks. “Fighting off monster after monster, just delaying a death that we all know will be coming for us one way or another.”

 

Piper blinks at her friend, just barely turning her head to face the younger girl. “Dude, what the fuck?”

 

Eventually, we would make a mistake and the thing would kill us.

 

Then I heard a strange sound—a chug-chug-chug that at first I thought was my heartbeat. It was so powerful it made the riverbank shake.

 

Annabeth’s eyebrows furrow, before her eyes go wide, and she slaps a hand over her mouth. “Oh, shit.” She whispers.

 

“What’s that noise?” Annabeth shouted, keeping her eyes on the Hydra.

 

“Steam engine,” Tyson said.

 

“I swear to the gods, I forgot all about this.” Annabeth says, looking apologetically at the rest of the car.

 

“About what?” Jason asks suspiciously.

 

“What?” I ducked as the Hydra spat acid over my head.

 

Then from the river behind us, a familiar female voice shouted: “There! Prepare the thirty-two-pounder!”

 

Frank's eyes light up. “Isn’t that the voice that he uses for Clarisse?”

 

Leo shrugs. “I dunno, dude. I’m still pretty bummed out from what Hazel said.”

 

I didn’t dare look away from the Hydra, but if that was who I thought it was behind us, I figured we now had enemies on two fronts.

 

A gravelly male voice said, “They’re too close, m’lady!”

 

“Damn the heroes!” the girl said. “Full steam ahead!”

 

Jason looks around. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Aye, m’lady.”

 

“Fire at will, Captain!” 

 

“Oh…” Jason says slowly. “That… that’s what that is supposed to mean.”

 

Annabeth understood what was happening a split second before I did. She yelled, “Hit the dirt!” and we dove for the ground as an earth-shattering BOOM echoed from the river. There was a flash of light, a column of smoke, and the Hydra exploded right in front of us, showering us with nasty green slime that vaporized as soon as it hit, the way monster guts tend to do.

 

Piper gags. “Gross.”

 

“Gross!” screamed Annabeth.

 

“We’re so in sync, babes.” 

 

Annabeth nods mutely, still staring at the powder keg that was their friend group. 

 

“Steamship!” yelled Tyson.

 

I stood, coughing from the cloud of gunpowder smoke that was rolling across the banks.

 

Chugging toward us down the river was the strangest ship I’d ever seen. It rode low in the water like a submarine, its deck plated with iron. In the middle was a trapezoid shaped case mate with slats on each side for cannons. A flag waved from the top—a wild boar and spear on a bloodred field. Lining the deck were zombies in gray uniforms— dead soldiers with shimmering faces that only partially covered their skulls, like the ghouls I’d seen in the Underworld guarding Hades’s palace.

 

Annabeth winces, just as Reyna asks, “What kind of soldiers?”

 

The ship was an ironclad. A Civil War battle cruiser. I could just make out the name along the prow in moss-covered letters: CSS Birmingham.

 

“CSS?” Frank asks.

 

Leo surprises them when he answers, “Confederate States Ship.” 

 

Hazel blinks. “I’m sorry, did you just say--?” 

 

“Confederate States Ship.” Leo repeats. “ Yup , that is what I said.” 

 

“Uh huh…” Frank says slowly. “And pardon my limited American history knowledge, but which ones were the bad guys again?”

 

And standing next to the smoking cannon that had almost killed us, wearing full Greek  battle armor, was Clarisse.

 

“Losers,” she sneered. “But I suppose I have to rescue you. Come aboard.”

Notes:

So, I know I'm a few days late, but I hate this chapter more than the others, and have three different essays I need to finish in order to graduate in two weeks, so I'm kind of busy.

In an effort to avoid doing anything real, I have created a map for this roadtrip, and an official timeline. If anyone is curious, they are travelling on the week of July 31st, 2023.

Also I finished writing the last sentence of this story. Not the rest of the book, just about a page and a half at the end, but I still call that progress.

Friday was very special, because I got to see The Little Mermaid! I'm so excited, and I know this has nothing to do with anything, but I'm happy, and this movie is technically already released in this timeline, so there will probably be references (if you don't think Percy is obsessed with The Little Mermaid and saw it in theaters at least 3 different times, you are WRONG) later on.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and I really wish I could say that there won't be anymore Confederates in later chapters, but we all know that that would be a lie.

Until next time <3

Chapter 11: Clarisse Blows Up Everything

Notes:

Happy birthday to Leo Valdez!!!

I'm back! I know I'm very late, but I promise I have good reasons, lol.

More Dead Confederates in this chapter... joy.

Enjoy!

Hazel lets out a dull laugh. She turns to face Frank. “So, it looks like your sister is taking a ride with a bunch of our ,” She gestures to the Romans in the car, “Relatives. How fun!”

“You are in so much trouble,” Clarisse said.

Jason clears his throat. “Well, actually Hazel--” 

“Dude,” Leo puts a hand on Jason’s bicep. “I say this with the utmost amount of love and respect, please don’t accidentally defend the Confederates again.” 

Nico narrows his eyes. “I’m sorry, ‘again’ ?” 

We’d just finished a ship tour we didn’t want, through dark rooms overcrowded with dead sailors. We’d seen the coal bunker, the boilers and engine, which huffed and groaned like it would explode any minute. We’d seen the pilothouse and the powder magazine and gunnery deck (Clarisse’s favorite) with two Dahlgren smoothbore cannons on the port and starboard sides and a Brooke nine-inch rifled gun fore and aft—all specially refitted to fire celestial bronze cannon balls.

Leo makes a small sound in the back of his throat. “Okay, but… that ship sounds kind of awesome. I mean, I detest all that it stands for, but I would definitely like to get a look at some of those weapons.”

Everywhere we went, dead Confederate sailors stared at us, their ghostly bearded faces shimmering over their skulls. They approved of Annabeth because she told them she was from Virginia. They were interested in me, too, because my name was Jackson—like the Southern general—but then I ruined it by telling them I was from New York. They all hissed and muttered curses about Yankees.

“Is-- is losing interest from dead Confederates really considered ‘ruining’?” Hazel asks slowly, before looking over at Annabeth. “Did they really ‘approve’ of you?”

Annabeth shrugs, her face contorting. “I don’t know if ‘approve’ is the right word, but they weren’t being overtly racist. I mean, I don’t know if it was because Clarisse somehow ordered them to not be? Or since they lost all of their skin they couldn’t judge me on the color of mine?” 

Tyson was terrified of them. All through the tour, he insisted Annabeth hold his hand, which she didn’t look too thrilled about.

Frank sends Annabeth a look. “His palm was very sweaty.” She offers, with a small shrug.

Finally, we were escorted to dinner. The CSS Birmingham captain’s quarters were about the size of a walk-in closet, but still much bigger than any other room on board. The table was set with white linen and china. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, and Dr Peppers were served by skeletal crewmen. I didn’t want to eat anything served by ghosts, but my hunger overruled my fear.

“Okay, again, is ghosts really his biggest concern about the Confederates?” Piper questions, before her face smooths. “Wait… does Percy know who the Confederates were at this point?” 

Nico scoffs. “Okay I know we give Percy a lot of grief in this--”

“No, I’m serious. I mean, now that I think about it, I didn’t really know what the Confederates were until I learned about it in school, and if Percy’s education has been as dicey as he makes it out to be, and I know they didn’t teach about the Civil War at Merriweather… did he know?” 

Annabeth looks like she is about to wave Piper off again, before she stills. “Oh, shit.” 

“Tantalus expelled you for eternity,” Clarisse told us smugly. “Mr. D said if any of you show your face at camp again, he’ll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV.”

“I can learn so much from him.” Reyna whispers. 

Jason swallows thickly. “Please, dear gods, don’t.” 

“Did they give you this ship?” I asked.

“‘Course not. My father did.”

Frank lets his head fall. “Of course my dad is the one that gives Clarisse a ship filled with racist ghosts. Of course.” 

“Ares?”

Clarisse sneered. “You think your daddy is the only one with sea power? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. That’s their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for a naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them. Won’t you, Captain?”

The captain stood behind her looking stiff and angry. His glowing green eyes fixed me with a hungry stare. “If it means an end to this infernal war, ma’am, peace at last, we’ll do anything. Destroy anyone.”

Hazel scoffs. “I’m sure he was angry.”

Clarisse smiled. “Destroy anyone. I like that.”

Tyson gulped.

“Clarisse,” Annabeth said, “Luke might be after the Fleece, too. We saw him. He’s got the coordinates and he’s heading south. He has a cruise ship full of monsters—”

“Good! I’ll blow him out of the water.”

“Excellent, Clarisse!” Hazel cheers.

Piper laughs. “Calm down, there, Hannibal.” 

Hazel’s eyebrows furrow. “The elephant?” 

“Okay, seriously, horror movies. We must watch.” 

“You don’t understand,” Annabeth said. “We have to combine forces. Let us help you—”

“No!” Clarisse pounded the table. “This is my quest, smart girl! Finally I get to be the hero, and you two will not steal my chance.”

“Again, is ‘smart girl’ really an insult?” Jason asks. “It more sounds like a… back-handed compliment.” 

“Where are your cabin mates?” I asked. “You were allowed to take two friends with you, weren’t you?”

“I dunno…” Leo mutters. “Depending on who she took, the obedient Confederates seem like an improvement.” 

Frank sighs. “That is my family.” 

Leo nods, as if Frank had just proved his point for him. “Right. You’ve met them.” 

“They didn’t … I let them stay behind. To protect the camp.”

“You mean even the people in your own cabin wouldn’t help you?”

“Shut up, Prissy! I don’t need them! Or you!”

Reyna starts giggling. “Ha ha. Prissy…” 

“That’s my boyfriend.” Annabeth tells her.

Reyna raises one perfect eyebrow. “So? I believe your exact words when you started this little journey was ‘Screw that bitch, I’m listening.’” 

Annabeth swallows. “I redact my previous statement.”

“Thought you might.”

“Clarisse,” I said, “Tantalus is using you. He doesn’t care about the camp. He’d love to see it destroyed. He’s setting you up to fail.”

“Tantalus does suck.” Piper points out. “Why have we given up on our Tantalus hate train?”

“Oh,” Frank replies. “I will never give up on the Tantalus hate train.”

Piper hums. “I like this side of you. We need to hang out more.”

“We really do.” 

“No! I don’t care what the Oracle—” She stopped herself.

“What?” I said. “What did the Oracle tell you?”

“Damn it, Clarisse!” Hazel hisses. “Tell us, and then kill the dead Confederates!” 

“If it makes you feel better,” Nico says, placing a hand on Hazel’s shoulder. “When we go down to the Fields of Punishment to jeer Tantalus, we can make a pit stop at this place I know where they torture Confederates.” 

Hazel nods. “That would make me feel better. Thanks. You’re a good brother.”

“Nothing.” Clarisse’s ears turned pink. “All you need to know is that I’m finishing this quest and you’re not helping. On the other hand, I can’t let you go…”

“So we’re prisoners?” Annabeth asked.

Jason sighs. “Prisoners is where you first jump to…” Jason trails off, as Annabeth raises an eyebrow at him. “Just an observations, it makes perfect sense.”

“Guests. For now.” Clarisse propped her feet up on the white linen tablecloth and opened another Dr Pepper. “Captain, take them below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don’t mind their manners, show them how we deal with enemy spies.”

“Woman after my own heart.” Leo says. “Not about threatening you guys to behave by trusting the Confederates, but Dr. Pepper is the right way to go.” 

“Mr. Pib is better.” Piper says. 

“I will throw you out of this car, McLean.” 

“I’d like to see you try, Valdez.” 

The dream came as soon as I fell asleep.

A long-suffering sigh echoed around the car at once. Of course it was another dream. As if they didn’t get enough of those on their own. 

Grover was sitting at his loom, desperately unraveling his wedding train, when the boulder door rolled aside and the Cyclops bellowed, “Aha!”

“Oh, shit.” Leo says, eyes wide. Jason, besides him, was frantically keeping his eyes on Piper to make sure she didn’t get startled by this newest ‘Grover Crisis’.

Grover yelped. “Dear! I didn’t—you were so quiet!”

“Unraveling!” Polyphemus roared. “So that’s the problem!”

Piper lets out a long breath, trying to keep herself focused on the road, a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. “Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck.” 

“Oh, no. I—I wasn’t—”

“Come!” Polyphemus grabbed Grover around the waist and half carried, half dragged him through the tunnels of the cave. Grover struggled to keep his high heels on his hooves. His veil kept tilting on his head, threatening to come off.

“Okay, I know I’m a tad bit affectionate of Grover--” Piper starts to say.

“A tad ?” Reyna asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“--But you have to give him props where it's due. I mean, I can’t even keep high-hells on with my normal feet.” 

Jason raises a finger. “I think you mispronounced heels.”

Piper stares at him through the rear view mirror. “I know what I fucking said.”  

The Cyclops pulled him into a warehouse-size cavern decorated with sheep junk. There was a wool-covered La-Z-Boy recliner and a wool-covered television set, crude bookshelves loaded with sheep collectibles—coffee mugs shaped like sheep faces, plaster figurines of sheep, sheep board games, and picture books and action figures. The floor was littered with piles of sheep bones, and other bones that didn’t look exactly like sheep—the bones of satyrs who’d come to the island looking for Pan.

Frank winces. “Well that’s an image I won’t easily get out of my head.” 

“I know.” Nico agrees, shuddering. “Sheep collectibles.” 

“Why am I not surprised that bones don’t affect you?” Hazel mumbles.

Nico shrugs. “Well, I did spend much of my formative years flitting between graveyards and the Underworld, it really shouldn’t surprise you.”

Polyphemus set Grover down only long enough to move another huge boulder. Daylight streamed into the cave, and Grover whimpered with longing. Fresh air!

Leo leans forward. “Is nobody going to comment on the graveyard comment?”

The Cyclops dragged him outside to a hilltop overlooking the most beautiful island I’d ever seen.

It was shaped kind of like a saddle cut in half by an ax. There were lush green hills on either side and a wide valley in the middle, split by a deep chasm that was spanned by a rope bridge. Beautiful streams rolled to the edge of the canyon and dropped off in rainbow-colored waterfalls. Parrots fluttered in the trees. Pink and purple flowers bloomed on the bushes. Hundreds of sheep grazed in the meadows, their wool glinting strangely like copper and silver coins.

Jason sighs. “Someones gonna die here.” 

Annabeth turns to face him. “Now why would you say that?” 

“I think I’ve known you long enough to know that nobody ever dies in the most obvious places, like arenas or underground caves. They die in nice places like tropical islands or--”

“Cruise ships.” Leo volunteers.

“Sure.” Jason shrugs. “Cruise ships.” 

And at the center of the island, right next to the rope bridge, was an enormous twisted oak tree with something glittering in its lowest bough.

“Ooh…” Piper and Leo hiss, like the laugh track on an old Disney show. 

The Golden Fleece.

Nico gasps dramatically, putting both of his hands on his cheeks. “Oh my, gosh! No way, the Golden Fleece!” 

Hazel tilts her head at her brother. “What is the matter with you?”

He shrugs. “Dunno, felt like there needed to be a reaction, and those ones--” He jerks his thumb to gesture to the most reactive of their group-- Piper and Leo-- who had, for once, made no noise. “Completely let me down.” 

Even in a dream, I could feel its power radiating across the island, making the grass greener, the flowers more beautiful. I could almost smell the nature magic at work. I could only imagine how powerful the scent would be for a satyr.

Grover whimpered.

“Yes,” Polyphemus said proudly. “See over there? Fleece is the prize of my collection! Stole it from heroes long ago, and ever since—free food! Satyrs come from all over the world, like moths to flame. Satyrs good eating! And now—”

“They’re also good for marrying?” Reyna guesses, wiggling her eyebrows.

Nico shakes his head at her. “Oh, Ra Ra.” 

Polyphemus scooped up a wicked set of bronze shears.

Grover yelped, but Polyphemus just picked up the nearest sheep like it was a stuffed animal and shaved off its wool. He handed a fluffy mass of it to Grover.

“Put that on the spinning wheel!” he said proudly. “Magic. Cannot be unraveled.”

“Magic.” Hazel hums, looking over at Annabeth. “Wanna give us a little heads up on this one?”

Annabeth stares her down. “Is that a genuine question, or are you going to yell at me for ‘spoiling’.” 

Hazel hesitates. “That… that’s fair.”

“Oh … well …”

“Poor Honeypie!” Polyphemus grinned. “Bad weaver. Ha-ha! Not to worry. That thread will solve problem. Finish wedding train by tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow!” Jason squeaks out. Literally.

Leo looks up at him. “Dude, what happened to your voice? I thought that I was supposed to be the elf in this relationship.” 

“Isn’t that … thoughtful of you!”

“Hehe.”

“But—but, dear,” Grover gulped, “what if someone were to rescue—I mean attack this island?” Grover looked straight at me, and I knew he was asking for my benefit. “What would keep them from marching right up here to your cave?”

“Good save.” Reyna deadpans.

“What is your deal with Grover?” Piper yelps.

Reyna shakes her head. “No deal.”

“Other than the fact that he is one of the few people that isn’t mortally terrified of you?” Nico replies.

“That may be one deal.” 

“Wifey scared! So cute! Not to worry. Polyphemus has state-of-the-art security system. Have to get through my pets.”

“Pets?” Frank repeats.

“Pets?”

“Probably the metallic ones Percy noticed earlier.” Hazel breaths. “I mean I’m not an expert, but… that certainly doesn’t seem normal.

Grover looked across the island, but there was nothing to see except sheep grazing peacefully in the meadows.

Piper bites her lip. “Actually, I do remember a story about golden sheep that were poisonous.” 

“Really?” Leo asks, leaning forward. 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure my mother sent her pregnant daughter-in-law to collect their wool.”

“Ah…”

“And then,” Polyphemus growled, “they would have to get through me!” He pounded his fist against the nearest rock, which cracked and split in half. “Now, come!” he shouted. “Back to the cave.”

Annabeth swallows thickly, one hand going to her temple. 

Grover looked about ready to cry—so close to freedom, but so hopelessly far. Tears welled in his eyes as the boulder door rolled shut, sealing him once again in the stinky torch-lit dankness of the Cyclops’s cave.

“Aww.” Piper whimpers. “Poor baby, Grover.” 

I woke to alarm bells ringing throughout the ship.

The captain’s gravelly voice: “All hands on deck! Find Lady Clarisse! Where is that girl?”

“‘She needs to take her head out of the clouds and back into the water where it belongs.’” Annabeth sighs.

Leo presses his lips into a thin line to suppress his smile. “Did you just quote The Little Mermaid?”

Annabeth stills. “Fuck, I did. That movie is never going to leave me alone.”

Then his ghostly face appeared above me. “Get up, Yankee. Your friends are already above. We are approaching the entrance.”

Hazel narrows her eyes. “The entrance to Hell ?” 

Leo smirks. “Oh, Haze, they approached that long ago.”

“The entrance to what?”

He gave me a skeletal smile. “The Sea of Monsters, of course.”

Frank raises a hand. “That explains the title.” 

I stuffed my few belongings that had survived the Hydra into a sailor’s canvas knapsack and slung it over my shoulder. I had a sneaking suspicion that one way or another I would not be spending another night aboard the CSS Birmingham.

“Is that really a bad thing, though?” Jason asks, his eyebrows furrowed.

Leo shrugs. “Well, it was a place to sleep, and apparently had plenty of Dr. Pepper.” 

Annabeth wrinkles her nose. “Well… one of those things is true. I… didn’t feel comfortable sleeping surrounded by the… you know… dead, racist soldier.” 

I was on my way upstairs when something made me freeze. A presence nearby—something familiar and unpleasant. For no particular reason, I felt like picking a fight. I wanted to punch a dead Confederate. The last time I’d felt that kind of anger …

“Wanting to punch a dead Confederate is not irrational.” Hazel objects. 

Frank narrows their eyes in suspicion. “Why does that sound familiar…”

“Because Percy just said it was.” Leo shrugs.

Instead of going up, I crept to the edge of the ventilation grate and peered down into the boiler deck.

Clarisse was standing right below me, talking to an image that shimmered in the steam from the boilers—a muscular man in black leather biker clothes, with a military haircut, red-tinted sunglasses, and a knife strapped to his side.

Frank grunts. “Of course.” 

My fists clenched. It was my least favorite Olympian: Ares, the god of war.

“I don’t want excuses, little girl!” he growled.

The car stares at the radio with matching wide-eyed expressions. Reyna’s hands clench into a fist.

“Y-yes, father,” Clarisse mumbled.

“You don’t want to see me mad, do you?”

“Is he saying that this is him… not mad?” Piper whispers, her voice oddly strained. 

“No, father.”

“No, father,” Ares mimicked. “You’re pathetic. I should’ve let one of my sons take this quest.”

Familial issues, especially those of the daddy variety, are not uncommon to Demigods. It never stopped the memories, or the anxieties that crept up. It certainly didn’t make listening to this private moment any easier.

“I’ll succeed!” Clarisse promised, her voice trembling. “I’ll make you proud.”

“You’d better,” he warned. “You asked me for this quest, girl. If you let that slimeball Jackson kid steal it from you—”

“But the Oracle said—”

Hazel leans in, in spite of herself, curiosity over what ‘the Oracle said’ overtaking her for just a minute, before she curls in on herself at the next line. 

“I DON’T CARE WHAT IT SAID!” Ares bellowed with such force that his image shimmered. “You will succeed. And if you don’t …” He raised his fist. Even though he was only a figure in the steam, Clarisse flinched. “Do we understand each other?” Ares growled.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Frank,” Leo says, gently patting Frank’s arm as if to cushion the blow of what he was about to say. “But your dad is a dick.” 

Frank sighs, their head falling into his hands. “I know.” 

The alarm bells rang again. I heard voices coming toward me, officers yelling orders to ready the cannons.

I crept back from the ventilation grate and made my way upstairs to join Annabeth and Tyson on the spar deck.

“Spar deck?” Hazel questions.

“The upper deck of a ship.” Leo answers automatically, before narrowing his eyes. “We spent all those months on the Argo, and not one of you picked up any of this lingo?” 

“Nope.” The car choruses.

“Shameful.” 

“What’s wrong?” Annabeth asked me. “Another dream?”

I nodded, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to think about what I’d seen downstairs. It bothered me almost as much as the dream about Grover.

Piper takes one hand off of the wheel to scratch behind her ear. “I can think of a few things off of the top of my head.”

Clarisse came up the stairs right after me. I tried not to look at her.

“That’s fair.” Frank sighs. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to look at Percy when we see him in person after this.”

“Otherwise you will immediately cave and tell him everything.” Reyna supplies.

Frank nods solemnly. “Exactly.”

She grabbed a pair of binoculars from a zombie officer and peered toward the horizon. “At last. Captain, full steam ahead!”

I looked in the same direction as she was, but I couldn’t see much. The sky was overcast. The air was hazy and humid, like steam from an iron. If I squinted real hard, I could just make out a couple of dark fuzzy splotches in the distance.

My nautical senses told me we were somewhere off the coast of northern Florida, so we’d come a long way overnight, farther than any mortal ship should’ve been able to travel.

Piper shudders. “Florida.” 

Jason narrows his eyes at her. “What’s up with Florida?”

“Do you not remember what happened when Grover was in Florida?” Piper asks, her voice raising an octave with each word.

“No.” Leo replies. “Was that when we met the pink poodle?”

The engine groaned as we increased speed.

Tyson muttered nervously, “Too much strain on the pistons. Not meant for deep water.”

I wasn’t sure how he knew that, but it made me nervous.

After a few more minutes, the dark splotches ahead of us came into focus. To the north, a huge mass of rock rose out of the sea—an island with cliffs at least a hundred feet tall. About half a mile south of that, the other patch of darkness was a storm brewing. The sky and sea boiled together in a roaring mass.

Hazel blinks. “That sounds ominous.”

“Uh-huh.” Frank agrees, their mouth slightly dry. 

Nico sighs. “What do you want to bet that they have to choose between the weird rocks and the random storm?”

“Oh, I’m not taking that bet.” Hazel shakes her head, curls flying every which way.

“Hurricane?” Annabeth asked.

“No,” Clarisse said. “Charybdis.”

“Gesundheit?” Leo offers hesitantly.

Annabeth paled. “Are you crazy?”

“Only way into the Sea of Monsters. Straight between Charybdis and her sister Scylla.”

“Does anybody but Annabeth understand what she is saying?” Leo asks, scrunching his face in confusion.

“Nope.” Frank replies, popping the ‘p’.

Nico responds, “Sounds like a bunch of gibberish to me.”

Clarisse pointed to the top of the cliffs, and I got the feeling something lived up there that I did not want to meet.

“Probably Scylla.” Jason pipes up, earning glares from the others. “What? It’s called using context clues.”

“What do you mean the only way?” I asked. “The sea is wide open! Just sail around them.”

Clarisse rolled her eyes. “Don’t you know anything? If I tried to sail around them, they would just appear in my path again. If you want to get into the Sea of Monsters, you have to sail through them.”

Hazel lets out a deep, long suffering sigh. “Of course it is.” 

“What about the Clashing Rocks?” Annabeth said. “That’s another gateway. Jason used it.”

Reyna raises an amused eyebrow, looking over at their Jason. “Well…”

Jason sighs deeply. “I know that it’s a joke, but I kind of resent being looked at everytime a child-murdering philanderer is mentioned.”

Leo’s eyes widened. “Wait what? Why didn’t I ever hear about that part of the story?”

“I can’t blow apart rocks with my cannons,” Clarisse said. “Monsters, on the other hand …”

Piper looks at him through the rearview mirror. “I definitely mentioned it one of the times we met Medea.” 

“Do you expect me to remember that, Pipes? Don’t you know me at all ?”

“You are crazy,” Annabeth decided.

Leo looks up. “Oh, shit, what just happened, I was too busy yelling at Piper to listen.” 

“Watch and learn, Wise Girl.” Clarisse turned to the captain. “Set course for Charybdis!”

Piper sticks her tongue out at the nickname. “That feels wrong.” 

Annabeth tugs on a curl. “Yeah, it does.” 

“Aye, m’lady.”

The engine groaned, the iron plating rattled, and the ship began to pick up speed.

“Clarisse,” I said, “Charybdis sucks up the sea. Isn’t that the story?”

“Okay, seriously, can somebody explain this story to me?” Nico asks.

Annabeth turns to face him. “Do you want to hear about how Poseidon and Gaea had a daughter that Zeus turned into a sea monster?” 

Nico swallows. “I no longer have any curiosity. About anything. Ever again.” 

“And spits it back out again, yeah.”

“What about Scylla?”

“She lives in a cave, up on those cliffs. If we get too close, her snaky heads will come down and start plucking sailors off the ship.”

Hazel’s eyes light up in interest. “Sailors you say…” 

Jason raises an eyebrow. “You know, typically, I would be concerned with this murderous train of thought, but seeing as how all the Confederates are already dead…”

“Choose Scylla then,” I said. “Everybody goes below deck and we chug right past.”

“I agree with the first part of that statement, Percy.” Hazel declares. “But not everybody has to go below deck. Maybe just the ones that didn’t fight on the racist side of a war. Scylla gets some prey. It’s a win-win.” 

Annabeth sighs. “Now where were you when we needed that plan.” 

“No!” Clarisse insisted. “If Scylla doesn’t get her easy meat, she might pick up the whole ship. Besides, she’s too high to make a good target. My cannons can’t shoot straight up. Charybdis just sits there at the center of her whirlwind. We’re going to steam straight toward her, train our guns on her, and blow her to Tartarus!” She said it with such relish I almost wanted to believe her.

Jason sighs. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Hazel. Just sacrifice the freaking Confederates.”

Hazel claps. “Whoo, we got the white vote!” 

The engine hummed. The boilers were heating up so much I could feel the deck getting warm beneath my feet. The smokestacks billowed. The red Ares flag whipped in the wind.

As we got closer to the monsters, the sound of Charybdis got louder and louder—a horrible wet roar like the galaxy’s biggest toilet being flushed. Every time Charybdis inhaled, the ship shuddered and lurched forward. Every time she exhaled, we rose in the water and were buffeted by ten-foot waves.

Leo whistles. “Damn. And I thought Shrimpzilla was bad.”

“Don’t forget the huge turtle.” Hazel reminds him.

“Of course, I’ll never forget Percy’s weird brother and his pet turtle.”

I tried to time the whirlpool. As near as I could figure, it took Charybdis about three minutes to suck up and destroy everything within a half-mile radius. To avoid her, we would have to skirt right next to Scylla’s cliffs. And as bad as Scylla might be, those cliffs were looking awfully good to me.

Annabeth lets out a huge huff of air, which was her Percy-just-said-something-that-annoyed-her huff of air, sometimes confused with her dear-gods-I-love-that-idiot huff of air. 

Undead sailors calmly went about their business on the spar deck. I guess they’d fought a losing cause before, so this didn’t bother them. Or maybe they didn’t care about getting destroyed because they were already deceased. Neither thought made me feel any better.

Hazel grunts angrily. “Stop focusing on the fucking Confederates. I’m going to need a lot of Percabeth moments soon if I’m going to be able to tolerate this.” 

Annabeth stood next to me, gripping the rail. “You still have your thermos full of wind?”

I nodded. “But it’s too dangerous to use with a whirlpool like that. More wind might just make things worse.”

“Did Percy just call Annabeth out on one of her plans being illogical?” Nico asks. 

Frank quickly intakes a huge breath of air, causing him to cough violently, before choking out the words, “It’s the end of the world.

“What about controlling the water?” she asked. “You’re Poseidon’s son. You’ve done it before.”

She was right. I closed my eyes and tried to calm the sea, but I couldn’t concentrate. Charybdis was too loud and powerful. The waves wouldn’t respond.

“I—I can’t,” I said miserably.

“Hmm.” Leo hums, cocking his head to the side. “Do you think Percy would be able to do that now ?” 

Silence settles on the group as they consider the thought. It wasn’t simply a matter of if they thought he could do it or not, but what the implications would be if Percy were able to overpower an ancient sea monster at only nearly nineteen mortal years.

“We need a backup plan,” Annabeth said. “This isn’t going to work.”

“Annabeth is right,” Tyson said. “Engine’s no good.”

“Okay,” Leo raises a hand. “That is like the third time that Tyson has mentioned that, why has nobody gone to check this out yet?” 

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Pressure. Pistons need fixing.”

Before he could explain, the cosmic toilet flushed with a mighty roaaar! The ship lurched forward and I was thrown to the deck. We were in the whirlpool.

“‘Cosmis toilet.’” Reyna repeats. “I’m sure that Charybdis would appreciate that imaginative and flattering description.”

“Full reverse!” Clarisse screamed above the noise. The sea churned around us, waves crashing over the deck. The iron plating was now so hot it steamed. “Get us within firing range! Make ready starboard cannons!”

Dead Confederates rushed back and forth. The propeller grinded into reverse, trying to slow the ship, but we kept sliding toward the center of the vortex.

A zombie sailor burst out of the hold and ran to Clarisse. His gray uniform was smoking. His beard was on fire. “Boiler room overheating, ma’am! She’s going to blow!”

“Who could have predicted that?” Nico deadpans.

Frank stares at him wide-eyed. “Tyson. Tyson clearly predicted all of this.”

“Well, get down there and fix it!”

“Can’t!” the sailor yelled. “We’re vaporizing in the heat.”

Nico looks expectantly at Hazel. “Well?”

Hazel sighs forlornly. “Nothing I say will ever be able to roast those Confederates as well as that engine did.” 

Clarisse pounded the side of the casemate. “All I need is a few more minutes! Just enough to get in range!”

“We’re going in too fast,” the captain said grimly. “Prepare yourself for death.”

“Oh, fuck off, Captain .” Annabeth hisses at the radio, Hazel’s irritation clearly beginning to spread.

“No!” Tyson bellowed. “I can fix it.”

“Yeah you can!” Frank cheers, pumping their fist in the air.

Clarisse looked at him incredulously. “You?”

“He’s a Cyclops,” Annabeth said. “He’s immune to fire. And he knows mechanics.”

“Yeah he does!” Frank yells again.

“Calm yourself.” Reyna orders. 

“I don’t know how!” 

“Go!” yelled Clarisse.

“Tyson, no!” I grabbed his arm. “It’s too dangerous!”

He patted my hand. “Only way, brother.” His expression was determined—confident, even. I’d never seen him look like this before. “I will fix it. Be right back.”

Annabeth winces. The others notice.

“Oh…” Leo whispers. “Don’t tell me…” 

“He jinxed himself.” Frank whispers. It was a statement, not a question. 

As I watched him follow the smoldering sailor down the hatch, I had a terrible feeling. I wanted to run after him, but the ship lurched again—and then I saw Charybdis.

“Uh oh.” Piper mutters, though the others are still reeling from the whole Tyson situation to notice.

She appeared only a few hundred yards away, through a swirl of mist and smoke and water.

The first thing I noticed was the reef—a black crag of coral with a fig tree clinging to the top, an oddly peaceful thing in the middle of a maelstrom. All around it, water curved into a funnel, like light around a black hole. Then I saw the horrible thing anchored to the reef just below the waterline—an enormous mouth with slimy lips and mossy teeth the size of rowboats. And worse, the teeth had braces, bands of corroded scummy metal with pieces of fish and driftwood and floating garbage stuck between them.

“It’s giving Tamatoa from Moana vibes.” Leo murmurs, more out of the need to say something than the need to get his thoughts out. 

Annabeth groans. “Yet another movie that I have seen way too many times.”

Piper smiles. “I loved your couples costumes as Maui and Moana, though. You make a great Rock.” 

Charybdis was an orthodontist’s nightmare. She was nothing but a huge black maw with bad teeth alignment and a serious overbite, and she’d done nothing for centuries but eat without brushing after meals. As I watched, the entire sea around her was sucked into the void—sharks, schools of fish, a giant squid. And I realized that in a few seconds, the CSS Birmingham would be next.

“ That’s what Clarisse is trying to shoot at?” Reyna asks, turning the conversation in a serious direction for the first time in forever. “I’m inclined to agree with Annabeth’s theory of mental instability.” 

“Lady Clarisse,” the captain shouted. “Starboard and forward guns are in range!”

“Fire!” Clarisse ordered.

Three rounds were blasted into the monster’s maw. One blew off the edge of an incisor.

“Oof.” Piper winces, one hand going to her mouth as if imagining a cannonball coming at one of her own teeth. Actually, that is exactly what she was imagining.

Another disappeared into her gullet. The third hit one of Charybdis’s retaining bands and shot back at us, snapping the Ares flag off its pole.

“Karma.” Hazel hums.

“Is my boyfriend.” Leo begins singing underneath his breath. “Karma is a god. Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend. Karma’s a relaxing thought.”

“Leo?” Annabeth interrupts him, giving him an unimpressed stare.

Leo shrugs. “Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?” 

“Again!” Clarisse ordered. The gunners reloaded, but I knew it was hopeless. We would have to pound the monster a hundred more times to do any real damage, and we didn’t have that long. We were being sucked in too fast.

Then the vibrations in the deck changed. The hum of the engine got stronger and steadier. The ship shuddered and we started pulling away from the mouth.

“Go Tyson!” Frank cheers, before quickly sobering up. “Now get to safety!” 

“Tyson did it!” Annabeth said.

“Wait!” Clarisse said. “We need to stay close!”

“No.” Reyna says. “You really don’t.”

“We’ll die!” I said. “We have to move away.”

I gripped the rail as the ship fought against the suction. The broken Ares flag raced past us and lodged in Charybdis’s braces. We weren’t making much progress, but at least we were holding our own. Tyson had somehow given us just enough juice to keep the ship from being sucked in.

Suddenly, the mouth snapped shut. The sea died to absolute calm. Water washed over Charybdis.

“Wait…” Jason hums. “If that was Charybdis sucking in the sea, doesn’t that mean--”

Then, just as quickly as it had closed, the mouth exploded open, spitting out a wall of water, ejecting everything inedible, including our cannonballs, one of which slammed into the side of the CSS Birmingham with a ding like the bell on a carnival game.

“Were you going to say that she was about to spit it out?” Leo asks Jason.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much exactly what I was gonna ask.

We were thrown backward on a wave that must’ve been forty feet high. I used all of my willpower to keep the ship from capsizing, but we were still spinning out of control, hurtling toward the cliffs on the opposite side of the strait.

Another smoldering sailor burst out of the hold. He stumbled into Clarisse, almost knocking them both overboard. “The engine is about to blow!”

“Oh, shucks.” Frank groans, his face squeezing up. “This isn’t going to turn out well, is it?” 

Annabeth hesitates. “Why don’t you just see what happens?”

“That means it isn’t going to turn out well.” Frank groans miserably.

“Where’s Tyson?” I demanded.

“Still down there,” the sailor said. “Holding it together somehow, though I don’t know for how much longer.”

Leo narrows his eyes. “He’s fireproof though. He should be good.”

“Yeah.” Piper says bitterly. “That’s what we thought about you, too.”

Leo opens his mouth, as if about to retort, but ultimately thinks better of it, closing his mouth.

The captain said, “We have to abandon ship.”

“No!” Clarisse yelled.

“We have no choice, m’lady. The hull is already cracking apart! She can’t—”

He never finished his sentence. Quick as lightning, something brown and green shot from the sky, snatched up the captain, and lifted him away. All that was left were his leather boots.

“Yay!” Hazel begins clapping her hands together.

“Good show, old chap.” Nico says, joining her

“Scylla!” a sailor yelled, as another column of reptilian flesh shot from the cliffs and snapped him up. It happened so fast it was like watching a laser beam rather than a monster. I couldn’t even make out the thing’s face, just a flash of teeth and scales.

“They're like the Nico and Hazel of sea monsters.” Jason says.

The aforementioned siblings turn to face Jason. “What is that supposed to mean?” Hazel demands.

“That you are both terrifying and deadly, in similar but different ways.”

“Oh, good.” Nico replies. “I thought you were trying to insult our teeth.” 

I uncapped Riptide and tried to swipe at the monster as it carried off another deckhand, but I was way too slow.

“Everyone get below!” I yelled.

“We can’t!” Clarisse drew her own sword. “Below deck is in flames.”

“Did you learn nothing from the dead Confederates, Percy.” Leo playfully reproaches, dramatically rolling his eyes.

“Lifeboats!” Annabeth said. “Quick!”

“They’ll never get clear of the cliffs,” Clarisse said. “We’ll all be eaten.”

“We have to try. Percy, the thermos.”

“I can’t leave Tyson!”

“We have to get the boats ready!”

“So much is happening at once.” Piper hisses. “My head is spinning.”

“I know.” Leo agrees. “I wouldn’t even know who was talking if Percy wasn’t doing the voices.”

Clarisse took Annabeth’s command. She and a few of her undead sailors uncovered one of the two emergency rowboats while Scylla’s heads rained from the sky like a meteor shower with teeth, picking off Confederate sailors one after another.

Jason leans forward. “ Heads ?”

“Scylla has, like, eight heads.” Annabeth explains.

“Oh.” Jason breaths out. “I thought that meant she decapitated heads and let them loose.” 

Nico stares at the blonde boy. “That is certainly a dark place to go.” He smiles. “I am a good influence on you.”

“Get the other boat.” I threw Annabeth the thermos. “I’ll get Tyson.”

“You can’t!” she said. “The heat will kill you!”

I didn’t listen. I ran for the boiler room hatch, when suddenly my feet weren’t touching the deck anymore. I was flying straight up, the wind whistling in my ears, the side of the cliff only inches from my face.

“He got captured by Scylla.” Piper sighs. It isn’t even a question. This whole situation felt like an inevitability from the beginning.

“Of course he did.” Annabeth lets out her Percy’s-about-to-die huff of air. 

Scylla had somehow caught me by the knapsack, and was lifting me up toward her lair. Without thinking, I swung my sword behind me and managed to jab the thing in her beady yellow eye. She grunted and dropped me.

Leo leans forward. “This is escalating so fast.”

The fall would’ve been bad enough, considering I was a hundred feet in the air. But as I fell, the CSS Birmingham exploded below me.

KAROOM!

“Oh, dear gods, this is so much to process in thirty seconds!” Frank gaps, pressing a hand to their left temple.

The engine room blew, sending chunks of ironclad flying in either direction like a fiery set of wings.

“Tyson!” I yelled.

“And Annabeth and Clarisse.” Hazel adds. “What the fuck is going on with everybody?.”

The lifeboats had managed to get away from the ship, but not very far. Flaming wreckage was raining down. Clarisse and Annabeth would either be smashed or burned or pulled to the bottom by the force of the sinking hull, and that was thinking optimistically, assuming they got away from Scylla.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Annabeth deadpans, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Yeah. He is awfully judgy for someone freefalling a hundred feet.” Nico responds. “Which, by the way, is like the second time this has happened in just this one story.”

Then I heard a different kind of explosion—the sound of Hermes’s magic thermos being opened a little too far. White sheets of wind blasted in every direction, scattering the lifeboats, lifting me out of my free fall and propelling me across the ocean.

I couldn’t see anything. I spun in the air, got clonked on the head by something hard, and hit the water with a crash that would’ve broken every bone in my body if I hadn’t been the son of the Sea God.

“Wow.” The entire car says at once, all letting out a breath as the never ending series of events seems to finally come to a close. 

The last thing I remembered was sinking in a burning sea, knowing that Tyson was gone forever, and wishing I were able to drown.

Notes:

I know it's been a while, but in my defense I am now a high school graduate, and life has been real hectic.

The Confederates... I really, really, REALLY hated writing them, and coming up with reasons why nobody else seemed to have a problem with them in the book? But I also really enjoyed them being roasted by Hazel and the engine room.

Also, I wrote some of this listening to Speak Now TV which isn't relevant to anything, but I am so far very happy.

Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Next up, we watch Reyna's life implode in real time haha :|

Enjoy <333

Chapter 12: We Check In To C.C.’s Spa & Resort

Notes:

Hi, all! I know that according to my usual timezone, this is getting posted on Saturday, but where I am right now, it's only ten so still Friday!!!

Fun fact, I am posting this at the airport in Las Vegas. I've been here the last week or so, unfortunately I did not find the Lotus Casino, nor did I see a Zebra running down the Strip, so kind of a waste of a trip ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, I saw the Barbie Movie last week, and I couldn't resist because they obviously all went to see it and Oppenheimer. Don't worry, I tagged the 'spoilers', just warning.

Also, fun fact we have officially suprassed the total word count of the original Sea of Monsters book, so that is fun!!!

Enjoy <3

“My god.” Leo whispers, a hand to his heart.

Nico groans, upsetting the stunned silence surrounding the car. “Really? A Hamilton reference? Now?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how to process real emotions, and this was all getting too real.”

I woke up in a rowboat with a makeshift sail stitched of gray uniform fabric. Annabeth sat next to me, tacking into the wind.

Reyna’s eyebrows shoot up. “You made a sail out of one of the dead Confederate’s uniforms?” 

Annabeth shrugs. “Yes, and?”

Reyna also shrugs. “Respect.” 

I tried to sit up and immediately felt woozy.

“Rest,” she said. “You’re going to need it.”

“Tyson … ?”

Frank’s bottom lip quivers. “Tyson…”

Leo furrows his eyebrows. “Dude, you literally saw him last week.” 

“I can’t see him now, Leo. I can’t see him now.”

She shook her head. “Percy, I’m really sorry.”

We were silent while the waves tossed us up and down.

“He may have survived,” she said halfheartedly. “I mean, fire can’t kill him.”

“That is true.” Jason says. “And he’s a son of Poseidon, which also means that he can’t drown. I think Tyson is the least of his concerns right now.” 

I nodded, but I had no reason to feel hopeful. I’d seen that explosion rip through solid iron. If Tyson had been down in the boiler room, there was no way he could’ve lived.

“ Actually ,” Leo speaks up. “Boats are typically made of steel, not iron. And, unlike Cyclops, steel is not completely fireproof.”

Piper nods. “Good points all around Leo, though considering the fact that Percy doesn’t have a huge knowledge of the composition of boats, was just carried off by his sea monster half sister, and is running on maybe one consecutive hour of sleep over the last day, I think we can cut him some slack.”

He’d given his life for us, and all I could think about were the times I’d felt embarrassed by him and had denied that the two of us were related.

Leo lets out an awkward chuckle. “Did you guys think like that after you thought I died?”

“No.” Jason says immediately, hesitantly wrapping one arm around Leo’s shoulder in a hug. “We’ve never been embarrassed by you.” 

Frank joins in the hug, bringing the other two into his arms in a bear hug. “Mildly irritated, maybe, but never embarrassed.” 

Waves lapped at the boat. Annabeth showed me some things she’d salvaged from the wreckage—Hermes’s thermos (now empty), a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia, a couple of sailors’ shirts, and a bottle of Dr Pepper. She’d fished me out of the water and found my knapsack, bitten in half by Scylla’s teeth. Most of my stuff had floated away, but I still had Hermes’s bottle of multivitamins, and of course I had Riptide. The ballpoint pen always appeared back in my pocket no matter where I lost it.

“Riptide is the coolest.” Hazel sighs. “I would kill to be able to have a weapon with me at any moment.” She begins fiddling with her hands in her lap. “I have anxiety right now, and my spatha is only in the trunk.”

We sailed for hours. Now that we were in the Sea of Monsters, the water glittered a more brilliant green, like Hydra acid. The wind smelled fresh and salty, but it carried a strange metallic scent, too—as if a thunderstorm were coming. Or something even more dangerous. I knew what direction we needed to go. I knew we were exactly one hundred thirteen nautical miles west by northwest of our destination. But that didn’t make me feel any less lost.

No matter which way we turned, the sun seemed to shine straight into my eyes. We took turns sipping from the Dr Pepper, shading ourselves with the sail as best we could. And we talked about my latest dream of Grover.

“Wow…” Nico hums. “Talk about a first date.” 

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “This was not a date.”

“It was the first time the two of you were alone together, sharing a drink, both harboring a mutual crush for the other with lots of conversation.”

Annabeth’s eyes widened. “Oh, my gods. How many times did we accidentally go on a date without me realizing it?” 

Piper shrugs. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to figure that out.”

By Annabeth’s estimate, we had less than twenty-four hours to find Grover, assuming my dream was accurate, and assuming the Cyclops Polyphemus didn’t change his mind and try to marry Grover earlier.

“Come on, don’t be like that, Perce!” Leo grouses. “Don’t get in the way of love!” 

“Yeah,” I said bitterly. “You can never trust a Cyclops.”

Annabeth winces. 

“Oh, darn, that came out of nowhere.” Frank murmurs, eyes wide. 

Annabeth stared across the water. “I’m sorry, Percy. I was wrong about Tyson, okay? I wish I could tell him that.”

I tried to stay mad at her, but it wasn’t easy. We’d been through a lot together. She’d saved my life plenty of times. It was stupid of me to resent her.

“True, you are soulmates.” Hazel says matter-of-factly.

Annabeth’s cheeks flame red. “Hazel!” 

“What, are you saying you aren’t soulmates?” Piper teases, both her and Hazel sending a side-long glance at Annabeth. 

Annabeth, for once, seems inarticulate. “I-I-that-I- shut up !” 

“That was eloquent.” Leo murmurs. 

Jason nods. “No wonder it took the two of them five years to get together.”

I looked down at our measly possessions—the empty wind thermos, the bottle of multivitamins. I thought about Luke’s look of rage when I’d tried to talk to him about his dad.

“Annabeth, what’s Chiron’s prophecy?”

“In what way were those two lines of thought connected?” Leo asks. 

“Says the boy who once went on a tangent of how Danny Phantom was the best cartoon, and ended it by talking about the cultural significance of Harrison Ford.” Reyna sighs.

Leo shrugs. “I’m not judging, it’s just much easier to see the connection of a thought process when it’s in my own mind. Mostly. Actually, scratch that, my own brain is actually kind of hard to navigate most of the time, too.”

She pursed her lips. “Percy, I shouldn’t—”

“I know Chiron promised the gods he wouldn’t tell me. But you didn’t promise, did you?”

“Knowledge isn’t always good for you.”

Reyna’s eyebrows furrow. “Isn’t your mom the goddess of wisdom?”

“Your mom is the wisdom goddess!”

Piper tries to suppress a smile,  looking at a rather pale-looking Reyna. “You good there, Rey?”

“No. This… this is a low moment for me, honestly. I refuse to have the same thinking pattern as that of a pubescent white American boy.” 

“I know! But every time heroes learn the future, they try to change it, and it never works.”

“The gods are worried about something I’ll do when I get older,” I guessed. “Something when I turn sixteen.”

“Date Annabeth?” Hazel asks. 

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “That is not the answer to every question!” 

“I’m just saying, you guys got together on his sixteenth birthday! I’m thinking out loud to see the connections!” 

Annabeth twisted her Yankees cap in her hands. “Percy, I don’t know the full prophecy, but it warns about a half-blood child of the Big Three—the next one who lives to the age of sixteen. That’s the real reason Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades swore a pact after World War II not to have any more kids. The next child of the Big Three who reaches sixteen will be a dangerous weapon.”

Jason swallows thickly. “ What ?” 

“Why?”

“Because that hero will decide the fate of Olympus. He or she will make a decision that either saves the Age of the Gods, or destroys it.”

Jason stares at Reyna. “Did you know about this?” 

She shakes her head. “I am just as baffled by this as you are.” 

I let that sink in. I don’t get seasick, but suddenly I felt ill. “That’s why Kronos didn’t kill me last summer.”

She nodded. “You could be very useful to him. If he can get you on his side, the gods will be in serious trouble.”

“Guys!” Leo calls, waving his hand in front of Jason’s wide blue eyes. “I think this broke Jason!” 

“But if it’s me in the prophecy—”

“We’ll only know that if you survive three more years. That can be a long time for a half-blood. When Chiron first learned about Thalia, he assumed she was the one in the prophecy. That’s why he was so desperate to get her safely to camp. Then she went down fighting and got turned into a pine tree and none of us knew what to think. Until you came along.”

Jason’s mouth was still dropped open. “How the frick did I not know about this?” 

Annabeth shrugs. “I dunno. Blame your oracle.” 

“Already on it!” Reyna replies, before glaring down at the floor. “Octavian, you fucking good for nothing!” 

On our port side, a spiky green dorsal fin about fifteen feet long curled out of the water and disappeared.

“This kid in the prophecy … he or she couldn’t be like, a Cyclops?” I asked. “The Big Three have lots of monster children.”

Annabeth shook her head. “The Oracle said ‘half-blood.’ That always means half-human, half-god. There’s really nobody alive who it could be, except you.”

Nico gently pats Annabeth’s knee. “Well, you were almost right. Just off by three.”

Frank cocks their head to the side like a confused puppy. “But Hazel was technically dead back then. No offense, Haze.”

Hazel gives him a soft, slightly sad smile. “None taken. I’m not a part of the three.” 

“Then why do the gods even let me live? It would be safer to kill me.”

Annabeth scrunches her nose up, obviously remembering a particularly upsetting memory. 

“You’re right.”

“Thanks a lot.”

Leo had graduated to clapping very close to Jason’s ears, searching for a reaction. Still, nothing. “Okay, seriously, I’m starting to get worried. We might have to take serious action… Does anyone have a brick?” 

“Percy, I don’t know. I guess some of the gods would like to kill you, but they’re probably afraid of offending Poseidon. Other gods … maybe they’re still watching you, trying to decide what kind of hero you’re going to be. You could be a weapon for their survival, after all. The real question is … what will you do in three years? What decision will you make?”

“Well…” Hazel says slowly. “Considering we’re all here, alive and well-- physically at least-- I can assume he made the right one.” She looks at Annabeth. “Would you say that is accurate?”

“Did the prophecy give any hints?”

Annabeth hesitates, her eyes betraying the storm in her mind. 

Annabeth hesitated.

“Ooh.” Reyna says softly. “That’s freaky.”

Maybe she would’ve told me more, but just then a seagull swooped down out of nowhere and landed on our makeshift mast. Annabeth looked startled as the bird dropped a small cluster of leaves into her lap.

Finally Annabeth looks up at Hazel, whose attention had partly drifted back to the radio. “Yeah. I think he made the right decision.” 

“Land,” she said. “There’s land nearby!”

I sat up. Sure enough, there was a line of blue and brown in the distance. Another minute and I could make out an island with a small mountain in the center, a dazzling white collection of buildings, a beach dotted with palm trees, and a harbor filled with a strange assortment of boats.

“Oh, fuck.” Reyna hisses, squeezing her eyes shut. 

“What is it, Rey?” Nico questions his friend/apparent dad. 

Reyna shakes her head. “Just some… bad memories.” 

The current was pulling our rowboat toward what looked like a tropical paradise.

“That most certainly means that it is a trap.” Piper sighs. 

“Welcome!” said the lady with the clipboard.

She looked like a flight attendant—blue business suit, perfect makeup, hair pulled back in a ponytail. She shook our hands as we stepped onto the dock. With the dazzling smile she gave us, you would’ve thought we’d just gotten off the Princess Andromeda rather than a banged-up rowboat.

Reyna presses the heels of her palms into her eyes. She takes a few, deep steadying breaths, gaining a look from the other two coherent backseat passengers. 

“Reyna?” Leo asks her.

Reyna shakes her head. “Leo, if you want to get Jason back, take your shoe off and waft it under his nose. Trust me, that will wake him up.”  

Then again, our rowboat wasn’t the weirdest ship in port. Along with a bunch of pleasure yachts, there was a U.S. Navy submarine, several dugout canoes, and an old-fashioned three-masted sailing ship. There was a helipad with a “Channel Five Fort Lauderdale” helicopter on it, and a short runway with a Learjet and a propeller plane that looked like a World War II fighter. Maybe they were replicas for tourists to look at or something.

Piper shakes her head. “I-- I can’t. I can’t anymore.” 

“Is this your first time with us?” the clipboard lady inquired.

Annabeth and I exchanged looks. Annabeth said, “Umm …”

“First—time—at—spa,” the lady said as she wrote on her clipboard. “Let’s see …” She looked us up and down critically. “Mmm. An herbal wrap to start for the young lady. And of course, a complete makeover for the young gentleman.”

“Of course it’s a spa.” Piper hisses through her teeth. “The root of all evil.” 

Hazel leans forward. “What does she mean by a ‘complete makeover’?” 

“Oh!” Jason shouts, his hands going to his nose. “Dear, gods. What is that smell?” 

“A what?” I asked.

She was too busy jotting down notes to answer.

“Right!” She said with a breezy smile. “Well, I’m sure C.C. will want to speak with you personally before the luau. Come, please.”

Frank narrows his eyes. “I-- I didn’t miss anything, right? This is confusing for everyone that didn’t live it.” 

“Yep.” The rest of the car chimes in. 

Annabeth shrugs. “To be fair, it was confusing to most of us that did live it too.” 

Now here’s the thing. Annabeth and I were used to traps, and usually those traps looked good at first. So I expected the clipboard lady to turn into a snake or a demon, or something, any minute. But on the other hand, we’d been floating in a rowboat for most of the day. I was hot, tired, and hungry, and when this lady mentioned a luau, my stomach sat up on its hind legs and begged like a dog.

Nico shrugs his shoulders. “I mean… That’s valid.”

“The luaus were really good too.” Reyna sighs. 

Jason still looks disoriented, but his eyes drift to Reyna. “What was that?” 

“Nothing.” 

“I guess it couldn’t hurt,” Annabeth muttered.

“Liar.” Annabeth huffs, rolling her eyes at herself.

Of course it could, but we followed the lady anyway. I kept my hands in my pockets where I’d stashed my only magic defenses—Hermes’s multivitamins and Riptide— but the farther we wandered into the resort, the more I forgot about them.

“Theeerrreee it is.” Piper says slowly, shaking her head. “Fucking spas.” 

The place was amazing. There was white marble and blue water everywhere I looked.

Terraces climbed up the side of the mountain, with swimming pools on every level, connected by watersides and waterfalls and underwater tubes you could swim through. Fountains sprayed water into the air, forming impossible shapes, like flying eagles and galloping horses.

Tyson loved horses, and I knew he’d love those fountains. I almost turned around to see the expression on his face before I remembered: Tyson was gone.

Frank looks genuinely offended. “Now why would you go and say something like that and make me sad?” 

“I don’t think he said it specifically to make you sad.” Jason shrugs.

“Well, it feels that way, Jason. It feels that way.” 

“You okay?” Annabeth asked me. “You look pale.”

“I’m okay,” I lied. “Just … let’s keep walking.”

Hazel smiles up at Annabeth. “Well, at least you’re liars together.” 

We passed all kinds of tame animals. A sea turtle napped in a stack of beach towels. A leopard stretched out asleep on the diving board. The resort guests—only young women, as far as I could see—lounged in deck chairs, drinking fruit smoothies or reading magazines while herbal gunk dried on their faces and manicurists in white uniforms did their nails.

“Interesting.” Leo waggles his eyebrows. 

Piper rolls her eyes at him. “You realize you say the same thing every time a woman you don’t already know is mentioned?”

Leo waves her off. “Damn, McLean get your mind out of the gutter! I wasn’t talking about the girls, I was talking about the manicures!” He holds up his rather grubby hand. “I could really use one.”

As we headed up a staircase toward what looked like the main building, I heard a woman singing. Her voice drifted through the air like a lullaby. Her words were in some language other than Ancient Greek, but just as old—Minoan, maybe, or something like that. I could understand what she sang about—moonlight in the olive groves, the colors of the sunrise. And magic. Something about magic. Her voice seemed to lift me off the steps and carry me toward her.

Hazel sighs, a tired sound. “He’s going to die.”

We came into a big room where the whole front wall was windows. The back wall was covered in mirrors, so the room seemed to go on forever. There was a bunch of expensive-looking white furniture, and on a table in one corner was a large wire pet cage. The cage seemed out of place, but I didn’t think about it too much, because just then I saw the lady who’d been singing … and whoa.

Annabeth glares, opening her mouth to say something, before closing it immediately. “You know what? That’s valid. She was easily in the top five of my bisexual awakenings.” 

Piper raises an eyebrow. “Am I on that list?” 

“Of course, babe.” Annabeth replies. “Right between Sarah Michelle Geller as Daphne from Scooby Doo and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.”

“That is literally the nicest thing you have ever said to me.” 

She sat at a loom the size of a big screen TV, her hands weaving colored thread back and forth with amazing skill. The tapestry shimmered like it was three dimensional—a waterfall scene so real I could see the water moving and clouds drifting across a fabric sky.

Annabeth caught her breath. “It’s beautiful.”

The woman turned. She was even prettier than her fabric. Her long dark hair was braided with threads of gold. She had piercing green eyes and she wore a silky black dress with shapes that seemed to move in the fabric: animal shadows, black upon black, like deer running through a forest at night.

Nico scoffs. “So typical. A pretty woman has shapes in her dress, Percy finds it acceptable. But when Hades wears his damned soul robe, suddenly he’s the bad guy.”

Hazel purses her lips. “You know what? That is so true. Just this once, justice for Hades!”

“You appreciate weaving, my dear?” the woman asked.

“Oh, yes, ma’am!” Annabeth said. “My mother is—”

“Wow.” Leo says slowly. “The gay panic just jumped out.” 

“Shut up.” Annabeth grumbles. “You would have acted the same exact way.”

“True.” Leo nods. “I am the human embodiment of gay panic.” 

She stopped herself. You couldn’t just go around announcing that your mom was Athena, the goddess who invented the loom. Most people would lock you in a rubber room.

Our hostess just smiled. “You have good taste, my dear. I’m so glad you’ve come. My name is C.C.”

Frank nods slowly. “Ooh! That’s C.C.” He pauses. “That doesn’t clear anything up, I’m still quite confused.” 

The animals in the corner cage started squealing. They must’ve been guinea pigs, from the sound of them.

Piper’s eyebrows furrow. “Guinea pigs? Guinea… pigs . C.C…. Ci…”

We introduced ourselves to C.C. She looked me over with a twinge of disapproval, as if I’d failed some kind of test. Immediately, I felt bad. For some reason, I really wanted to please this lady.

Leo nods. “I’ve been there, dude.”

Jason looks over at Leo. “Sometimes I worry about you?”

Leo smiles. “Well, I’m glad to hear that I’m not so fucked up that it isn’t always.” 

“Oh, dear,” she sighed. “You do need my help.”

Hazel’s eyebrows raise to her hairline. “That’s kind of rude. Between that and the whole ‘complete makeover’ thing, I’m not loving the vibes of this place.” 

“Ma’am?” I asked.

C.C. called to the lady in the business suit. “Hylla, take Annabeth on a tour, will you? Show her what we have available. The clothing will need to change. And the hair, my goodness. We will do a full image consultation after I’ve spoken with this young gentleman.”

Frank perks up. “Hylla?” They look over at Reyna. “Like your sister?”

Reyna shrugs. “Must just be a coincidence.”

“Weird coincidence.” Frank mutters. “I’ve only ever met one Hylla, and Percy has apparently run into two.” 

Annabeth’s face scrunches up in the front as Reyna sighs. “Yep. Weird.” 

“But …” Annabeth’s voice sounded hurt. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

Nico puts a hand on Annabeth’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Percy is still obsessed with your hair.” 

Annabeth’s features relax, and a soft little smile forms on her face. “He is, isn’t he?” 

C.C. smiled benevolently. “My dear, you are lovely. Really! But you’re not showing off yourself or your talents at all. So much wasted potential!”

“ Excuse me ?” Piper asks, indignant on Annabeth's behalf. 

“Wasted?”

“So I got wasted, like all my potential…” Leo sings under his breath. 

Frank looks at him. “I don’t think it’s time for a Taylor Swift reference.” 

“First off, it’s always time for a Taylor Swift reference. And it’s not my fault that these stories have so many .”

“Well, surely you’re not happy the way you are! My goodness, there’s not a single person who is. But don’t worry. We can improve anyone here at the spa. Hylla will show you what I mean. You, my dear, need to unlock your true self!”

Piper sighs. “Okay, I see what she’s saying. But, at the same time, she doesn’t need to be a bitch about it.” 

Annabeth’s eyes glowed with longing. I’d never seen her so much at a loss for words. “But … what about Percy?”

“Oh, definitely,” C.C. said, giving me a sad look. “Percy requires my personal attention. He needs much more work than you.”

“Bitch…” Hazel drawls. 

Leo shrugs. “I don’t get why you guys are so upset, I’ve heard the exact same things my entire life, and I’m completely fine.” 

Without saying a word, Frank wraps one large arm around Leo’s shoulder and squeezes him. 

Normally if somebody had told me that, I would’ve gotten angry, but when C.C. said it, I felt sad. I’d disappointed her. I had to figure out how to do better.

The guinea pigs squealed like they were hungry.

“Or angry.” Piper says slowly. “Perhaps even hangry.” 

Reyna sighs, an almost sad sound. “Definitely hangry.” 

“Well …” Annabeth said. “I suppose …”

“Right this way, dear,” Hylla said. And Annabeth allowed herself to be led away into the waterfall-laced gardens of the spa.

C.C. took my arm and guided me toward the mirrored wall. “You see, Percy … to unlock your potential, you’ll need serious help. The first step is admitting that you’re not happy the way you are.”

Jason wrinkles his nose. “Nobody is completely happy with themselves, that’s true. But you shouldn’t try and bring out those thoughts to a thirteen year old boy, because, trust me, they are the most self-conscious of us all.” 

Hazel stares at Jason, surprised. 

“What?” He asks.

“Nothing…” Hazel says slowly, internally reeling with the fact that even perfect Jason Grace, blonde superman himself, struggled with his own appearance.

I fidgeted in the front of the mirror. I hated thinking about my appearance—like the first zit that had cropped up on my nose at the beginning of the school year, or the fact that my two front teeth weren’t perfectly even, or that my hair never stayed down straight.

Annabeth crosses her arms over her chest, her expression forlorn. “ I like all of those things about him. I even liked that at the time he was three inches shorter than I was.” 

“You know what, I don’t think I can make fun of Percy being obsessed with you anymore. You are both simps.” Nico shakes his head at her.

Annabeth raises her chin. “And proud of it.”  

C.C.’s voice brought all of these things to mind, as if she were passing me under a microscope. And my clothes were not cool. I knew that.

Who cares? Part of me thought. But standing in front of C.C.’s mirror, it was hard to see anything good in myself.

The car listens in silence at this. Percy sounded so… dejected as he remembered this part. As if he still felt this way about himself even after C.C. was no longer in the picture. 

Which, just sounded insane, because… Percy was Percy . A boy that fought in two wars against immortals before he turned 18. Several people’s gay awakenings. Who looked like a literal god amongst men. And he was self conscious.

“There, there,” C.C. consoled. “How about we try … this.”

She snapped her fingers and a sky-blue curtain rolled down over the mirror. It shimmered like the fabric on her loom.

“What do you see?” C.C. asked.

Leo swallows thickly, needing to break the heavy silence. “Blue fabric?” 

I looked at the blue cloth, not sure what she meant. “I don’t—”

Then it changed colors. I saw myself—a reflection, but not a reflection. Shimmering there on the cloth was a cooler version of Percy Jackson—with just the right clothes, a confident smile on my face. My teeth were straight. No zits. A perfect tan. More athletic. Maybe a couple of inches taller. It was me, without the faults.

“Like he is now.” Frank whispers. 

“No.” Annabeth says, a small smile on her face. “His teeth still aren’t straight.” 

“Whoa,” I managed.

“Do you want that?” C.C. asked. “Or shall I try a different—”

“No,” I said. “That’s … that’s amazing. Can you really—”

“I can give you a full makeover,” C.C. promised.

Leo scratches at his head, not because of an itch, just because he needed to ground himself. “That… that sounds way too good to be true.” 

“What’s the catch?” I said. “I have to like … eat a special diet?”

“Oh, it’s quite easy,” C.C. said. “Plenty of fresh fruit, a mild exercise program, and of course … this.”

Hazel groans. 

“What?” Nico questions. 

“I think I realized why C.C. has a cage full of guinea pigs in her room.” 

She stepped over to her wet bar and filled a glass with water. Then she ripped open a drink-mix packet and poured in some red powder. The mixture began to glow. When it faded, the drink looked just like a strawberry milkshake.

“Mmm…” Piper hums. “I love a good strawberry milkshake.” 

“One of these, substituted for a regular meal,” C.C. said. “I guarantee you’ll see results immediately.”

“How is that possible?”

She laughed. “Why question it? I mean, don’t you want the perfect you right away?”

“Yes.” Several people say at once, though the slip is almost unconscious. 

Something nagged at the back of my mind. “Why are there no guys at this spa?”

Reyna, looking cool as ever on the outside, says, “At least he’s finally asking the real questions.” 

“Oh, but there are,” C.C. assured me. “You’ll meet them quite soon. Just try the mixture. You’ll see.”

Leo narrows his eyes. “Wait a sec. C.C…. Guinea pigs … holy, shit! She’s Circe!” 

Piper’s mouth drops open, staring at Leo through the rearview mirror. “How the fuck do you know who Circe is?” 

“I can know stuff, I am a man of culture!” Leo yells indignantly. “They told her story in an episode of the Simpsons. Homer, as Odysseus, ate all of his crewmates who were turned into pigs.” 

I looked at the blue tapestry, at the reflection of me, but not me.

“Now, Percy,” C.C. chided. “The hardest part of the makeover process is giving up control. You have to decide: do you want to trust your judgment about what you should be, or my judgment?”

Nico sighs deeply. “He should definitely say his judgment, which means that he’s more than likely going to say hers.” 

My throat felt dry. I heard myself say, “Your judgment.”

“Damn, I should’ve put money on that.” Nico grumbles.

Hazel shakes her head. “Nobody would have bet against you.” 

C.C. smiled and handed me the glass. I lifted it to my lips.

It tasted just like it looked—like a strawberry milkshake. Almost immediately a warm feeling spread through my gut: pleasant at first, then painfully hot, searing, as if the mixture were coming to a boil inside of me.

Frank shrugs. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but that is exactly what happens when I drink a milkshake.” 

Leo wrinkles his nose. “I guess Shake Shack is officially off the list of places we can stop on our way.” 

I doubled over and dropped the cup. “What have you … what’s happening?”

“Don’t worry, Percy,” C.C. said. “The pain will pass. Look! As I promised. Immediate results.”

Something was horribly wrong.

“Obviously.” Jason sighs. “When was the last time anything went right for him?” 

The curtain dropped away, and in the mirror I saw my hands shriveling, curling, growing long delicate claws. Fur sprouted on my face, under my shirt, in every uncomfortable place you can imagine. My teeth felt too heavy in my mouth. My clothes were getting too big, or C.C. was getting too tall—no, I was shrinking.

Nico sighs. “He’s turning into a guinea pig.” It wasn’t a question. At this point they’ve learned not to question whatever happens to Percy, such as being turned into a rodent by an apparently immortal sorceress.

In one awful flash, I sank into a cavern of dark cloth. I was buried in my own shirt. I tried to run but hands grabbed me—hands as big as I was. I tried to scream for help, but all that came out of my mouth was, “Reeet, reeet, reeet!”

The giant hands squeezed me around the middle, lifting me into the air. I struggled and kicked with legs and arms that seemed much too stubby, and then I was staring, horrified, into the enormous face of C.C.

Leo looks, wide eyed at Frank, who is simply staring ahead as they listen to the story. “Damn, you know we’ve become hardened when even Frank isn’t surprised by this turn of events.” 

“That is rude.” Frank huffs. “It’s true, I’m constantly surprised by things, but it’s still rude.” 

“Perfect!” her voice boomed. I squirmed in alarm, but she only tightened her grip around my furry belly. “See, Percy? You’ve unlocked your true self!”

She held me up to the mirror, and what I saw made me scream in terror, “Reeet, reeet, reeet!” There was C.C., beautiful and smiling, holding a fluffy, buck toothed creature with tiny claws and white and orange fur. When I twisted, so did the furry critter in the mirror. I was … I was …

“I realize that this is kind of off topic, but why is Percy’s fur ‘white and orange’ if he has black hair?” Piper strokes her chin in thought. “Unless!”

Annabeth shakes her head. “Please don’t start your Percy-is-actually-blonde theory again.” 

“But, it makes so much sense!” Piper protests. “You dye your hair blonde, he dyes his hair black, you both have those matching colored streaks… that’s soulmate-ism, babe.” 

“A guinea pig,” C.C. said. “Lovely, aren’t you? Men are pigs, Percy Jackson. I used to turn them into real pigs, but they were so smelly and large and difficult to keep. Not much different than they were before, really. Guinea pigs are much more convenient! Now come, and meet the other men.”

“Not unlike real men.” Nico sighs, earning a raised eyebrow from Annabeth, Hazel, Reyna, and Frank. “What? After being forcibly outed by the god of love, I’ve been learning to be more self aware. It’s a work in progress.” 

“Reeet!” I protested, trying to scratch her, but C.C. squeezed me so tight I almost blacked out.

Annabeth’s hand clenched into a fist. 

A series of conflicting emotions cross Reyna’s face.

Neither notice the other’s reaction. 

“None of that, little one,” she scolded, “or I’ll feed you to the owls. Go into the cage like a good little pet. Tomorrow, if you behave, you’ll be on your way. There is always a classroom in need of a new guinea pig.”

Jason’s left eye starts to twitch, his hand pressed against his lips. “This is so messed up.” 

Reyna takes a deep breath, willing herself to say something. Anything . “Didn’t your mother abandon you to Juno when you were three years old?” 

“Two.” Jason corrects.

Reyna nods, trying her best to keep her voice level. “Much better.” 

My mind was racing as fast as my tiny little heart. I needed to get back to my clothes, which were lying in a heap on the floor. If I could do that, I could get Riptide out of my pocket and … And what? I couldn’t uncap the pen. Even if I did, I couldn’t hold the sword.

“At least he realized the insanity of that plan relatively quickly.” Hazel shrugs. “He’s learning, at least.”

I squirmed helplessly as C.C. brought me over to the guinea pig cage and opened the wire door.

“Meet my discipline problems, Percy,” she warned. “They’ll never make good classroom pets, but they might teach you some manners. Most of them have been in this cage for three hundred years. If you don’t want to stay with them permanently, I’d suggest you—”

Annabeth’s voice called: “Miss C.C.?”

Leo sighs. “Damn it, Annabeth. I wanted to hear her suggestion.” 

“Really?” Frank questions. “I’m kind of terrified of what she was about to say.”

C.C. cursed in Ancient Greek. She plopped me into the cage and closed the door. I squealed and clawed at the bars, but it was no good. I watched as C.C. hurriedly kicked my clothes under the loom just as Annabeth came in.

I almost didn’t recognize her. She was wearing a sleeveless silk dress like C.C.’s, only white. Her blond hair was newly washed and combed and braided with gold. Worst of all, she was wearing makeup, which I never thought Annabeth would be caught dead in. I mean, she looked good. Really good. I probably would’ve been tongue-tied if I could’ve said anything except reet, reet, reet. But there was also something totally wrong about it. It just wasn’t Annabeth.

Annabeth’s cheeks turn bright red. “What’s he saying? That I’m not myself when I’m wearing make-up?” 

“I think that he finds you pretty no matter what, he just prefers when you feel comfortable, and like yourself.” Nico shrugs. “And I think that you know that, and so you’re deflecting so that you don’t have to consider all of this in front of us.” 

Annabeth stares down the younger boy. “Fuck off, Nico.” 

She looked around the room and frowned. “Where’s Percy?”

Hazel claps. “Yes, Annabeth! Find your pig!” 

Annabeth’s nose wrinkles. “Please don’t call him a pig.”

“Sorry, got caught up in the moment.” 

I squealed up a storm, but she didn’t seem to hear me.

C.C. smiled. “He’s having one of our treatments, my dear. Not to worry. You look wonderful! What did you think of your tour?”

Jason speaks up. “Wait, so you’re saying that Annabeth managed to get a full makeover, and a tour of C.C. 's spa at the same time it took Percy to drink that strawberry milkshake and turn into a guinea pig?”

Leo wrinkles his nose. “The math is not mathing.”

Annabeth’s eyes brightened. “Your library is amazing!”

“Yes, indeed,” C.C. said, “The best knowledge of the past three millennia. Anything you want to study, anything you want to be, my dear.”

“An architect?”

“Pah!” C.C. said. “You, my dear, have the makings of a sorceress. Like me.”

“You can’t just say ‘anything’ and then push your own expectations of what you want her to be onto her.” Frank grunts. 

Piper looks at him in the rearview mirror. “You think you could pray that to my mom?” 

Annabeth took a step back. “A sorceress?”

“Yes, my dear.” C.C. held up her hand. A flame appeared in her palm and danced across her fingertips. “My mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic. I know a daughter of Athena when I see one. We are not so different, you and I. We both seek knowledge. We both admire greatness. Neither of us needs to stand in the shadow of men.”

Piper makes a sound in the back of her throat. “Excuse me? Annabeth managed to lead a rowdy group of seven demigods, defeated Arachne, and completed a centuries old quest that many have died over, you are most well-known for turning men into swine. Do not compare, bitch.” 

Annabeth wrinkles her nose at the praise. “Pipes…”

“Nobody disrespects one of my bitches like that, and that is the truth of that.” 

“I—I don’t understand.”

Again, I squealed my best, trying to get Annabeth’s attention, but she either couldn’t hear me or didn’t think the noises were important. Meanwhile, the other guinea pigs were emerging from their hutch to check me out. I didn’t think it was possible for guinea pigs to look mean, but they did.

Reyna’s shoulders shake slightly. Annabeth notices this time.

There were half a dozen, with dirty fur and cracked teeth and beady red eyes. They were covered with shavings and smelled like they really had been in here for three hundred years, without getting their cage cleaned.

Frank huffs, crossing their arms over their chest. “Wow, she can’t even manage proper pet maintenance. She really is the worst.” 

“Stay with me,” C.C. was telling Annabeth. “Study with me. You can join our staff, become a sorceress, learn to bend others to your will. You will become immortal!”

“But—”

“You are too intelligent, my dear,” C.C. said. “You know better than to trust that silly camp for heroes. How many great female half-blood heroes can you name?”

“Um, I can name four, in this car alone.” Hazel replies, crossing her arms over her chest. “Don’t you dare put any of us in your box.” 

“Um, Atalanta, Amelia Earhart—”

“Bah! Men get all the glory.” C.C. closed her fist and extinguished the magic flame. “The only way to power for women is sorcery. Medea, Calypso, now there were powerful women! And me, of course. The greatest of all.”

Leo shakes his head. “Wow, both me and Jason’s exes mentioned in the same sentence, what are the odds?” 

Jason raises a hand. “Okay, you know what? I need to know what happened between you and Calypso.”

“You … C.C. … Circe!”

“Now?” 

Jason shrugs. “Yeah, I mean, we know how this is going to end, more or less. Percy obviously isn’t a guinea pig anymore.” 

“Yes, my dear.”

Leo sighs, leaning back in his seat. “Alright, but it’s going to take a while, so you might as well get comfy.” 

Frank looks at the two of them. “So, are we all just going to ignore the fact that Amelia Earhart is apparently a demigod?” 

Annabeth backed up, and Circe laughed. “You need not worry. I mean you no harm.”

“What have you done to Percy?”

“Only helped him realize his true form.”

“Oh, that’s just mean.” Piper grimaces. “Someone needs to keep this woman away from Leo.” 

“Don’t worry,” Reyna mutters. “Someone does.” 

Annabeth scanned the room. Finally she saw the cage, and me scratching at the bars, all the other guinea pigs crowding around me. Her eyes went wide.

“Forget him,” Circe said. “Join me and learn the ways of sorcery.”

“But—”

“Your friend will be well cared for. He’ll be shipped to a wonderful new home on the mainland. The kindergartners will adore him. Meanwhile, you will be wise and powerful. You will have all you ever wanted.”

Nico raises a dubious eyebrow. “Circe, she literally just said that that wasn’t all that she had ever wanted. Do you listen?” 

Annabeth was still staring at me, but she had a dreamy expression on her face. She looked the same way I had when Circe enchanted me into drinking the guinea pig milkshake. I squealed and scratched, trying to warn her to snap out of it, but I was absolutely powerless.

AN: Remember how I said there would be a Barbie Movie reference?

“Just like Ken from the Barbie movie.” Hazel shakes her head, before looking proudly at Piper. “Did I do that right?” 

Piper gives her a small smile. “Kind of, though I’m pretty sure Percy is the Barbie in this situation.” 

“Really?” Hazel scrunches up her nose. “Man, I still don’t totally get that movie.” 

AN: That’s it 😘

“Let me think about it,” Annabeth murmured. “Just… give me a minute alone. To say good-bye.”

Frank leans forward. “Annabeth, just know that I have complete faith in you, but my trust and abandonment issues really cannot handle this, so if I start kicking and screaming, that is the only reason why.” 

“Of course, my dear,” Circe cooed. “One minute. Oh … and so you have absolute privacy …”

She waved her hand and iron bars slammed down over the windows. She swept out of the room and I heard the locks on the door click shut behind her.

“Oh, shit.” Piper hisses. 

Nico groans. “Frank, please stop kicking my chair.”

“I’m sorry.” Frank’s voice pitches upward.

The dreamy look melted off Annabeth’s face.

She rushed over to my cage. “All right, which one are you?”

Frank breathes a sigh of relief, doubling over, pressing one hand to his chest. “Oh, thank gods. I knew you weren’t like my grandma.” 

Annabeth turns around. “What?”

“Nothing.”

I squealed, but so did all the other guinea pigs. Annabeth looked desperate. She scanned the room and spotted the cuff of my jeans sticking out from under the loom.

Yes!

She rushed over and rummaged through my pockets.

But instead of bringing out Riptide, she found the bottle of Hermes multivitamins and started struggling with the cap.

Piper narrows her eyes. “Multivitamins?” 

“Vitamins, minerals, amino acids,” Reyna recites. “Everything you need to feel yourself again.” 

“How the fuck do you remember that?” 

Reyna shrugs, allowing herself to smile for the first time in a while at the look of awe on Piper’s face. “It’s a curse.” 

I wanted to scream at her that this wasn’t the time for taking supplements! She had to draw the sword!

“Calm yourself!” Annabeth tells the radio in what Leo dubbed her ‘Mom Voice’. 

Piper speaks up. “He can’t hear you--”

“I’m aware!” 

She popped a lemon chewable in her mouth just as the door flew open and Circe came back in, flanked by two of her business-suited attendants.

“Well,” Circe sighed, “how fast a minute passes. What is your answer, my dear?”

“This,” Annabeth said, and she drew her bronze knife.

Frank smiles. “Our mom is so cool.” 

“I’m not--” Annabeth starts to say. 

“I know, right.” Hazel cuts in, sending Annabeth a dazzling smile as she does. 

Annabeth sighs tiredly. “This is just gonna be a thing at this point, isn’t it?”

Nico cackles. “Bold of you to assume it ever was not.” 

The sorceress stepped back, but her surprise quickly passed. She sneered. “Really, little girl, a knife against my magic? Is that wise?”

Circe looked back at her attendants, who smiled. They raised their hands as if preparing to cast a spell.

Run! I wanted to tell Annabeth, but all I could make were rodent noises. The other guinea pigs squealed in terror and scuttled around the cage. I had the urge to panic and hide, too, but I had to think of something! I couldn’t stand to lose Annabeth the way I’d lost Tyson.

“Aww,” Piper coos. “Percy is such a sweet and traumatized little guinea pig.” 

Nico furrows his eyebrows. “Odd thing to say, but not incorrect.” 

“What will Annabeth’s makeover be?” Circe mused. “Something small and ill-tempered. I know … a shrew!”

Blue fire coiled from her fingers curling like serpents around Annabeth.

I watched, horror-struck, but nothing happened. Annabeth was still Annabeth, only angrier.

Frank gulps. “That’s her scariest form.”

Hazel sighs. “Talk about a transformation.”  

She leaped forward and stuck the point of her knife against Circe’s neck. “How about turning me into a panther instead? One that has her claws at your throat!”

Piper raises an eyebrow. “You know what, I could actually see that. You are such a jungle cat.”

Annabeth furrows her eyebrows. “Thank you?”

“You’re welcome.”  

“How!” Circe yelped.

Annabeth held up my bottle of vitamins for the sorceress to see.

Circe howled in frustration. “Curse Hermes and his multivitamins! Those are such a fad! They do nothing for you.”

Nico shrugs. “I dunno, they seemed to help in this situation.” 

“Turn Percy back to a human or else!” Annabeth said.

“I can’t!”

“Then you asked for it.”

“Ooh, what’d she ask for?” Frank leans forward. 

“Dunno.” Piper sighs. “But the last time Annabeth said that, Connor Stoll got ‘Carrie-d’, and we’re still not sure if that was or wasn’t blood.” 

Circe’s attendants stepped forward, but their mistress said, “Get back! She’s immune to magic until that cursed vitamin wears off.”

Annabeth dragged Circe over to the guinea pig cage, knocked the top off, and poured the rest of the vitamins inside.

Reyna winces. 

“No!” Circe screamed.

I was the first to get a vitamin, but all the other guinea pigs scuttled out, too, and checked out this new food.

Without thinking, Annabeth sticks her hand out to the other girl. Reyna looks down at it for a second, before stealthily taking Annabeth’s hand in hers. Annabeth squeezes Reyna’s hand comfortingly.

The first nibble, and I felt all fiery inside. I gnawed at the vitamin until it stopped looking so huge, and the cage got smaller, and then suddenly, bang! The cage exploded. I was sitting on the floor, a human again—somehow back in my regular clothes, thank the gods—with six other guys who all looked disoriented, blinking and shaking wood shavings out of their hair.

Hazel’s eyes widened. “Holy shit, I wasn’t even thinking about his clothes. How--”

“Best not to question it, Haze.” Piper shakes her head. “Thinking about it too hard will just lead your brain to unwanted places.” 

“No!” Circe screamed. “You don’t understand! Those are the worst!”

Annabeth lets go of Reyna’s hand, and grabs her phone, beginning to type rapidly. 

One of the men stood up—a huge guy with a long tangled pitch-black beard and teeth the same color. He wore mismatched clothes of wool and leather, knee-length boots, and a floppy felt hat. The other men were dressed more simply—in breeches and stained white shirts. All of them were barefoot.

“Oh!” Hazel jumps in her seat. “I know this one! Jason was showing me this movie. That’s Johnny Depp, right?” 

Piper blinks a few times, before shrugging slowly. “Sure?” 

“Argggh!” bellowed the big man. “What’s the witch done t’me!”

“No!” Circe moaned.

Annabeth gasped. “I recognize you! Edward Teach, son of Ares?”

“Oh, no.” Frank murmurs, scrunching their nose up. “This can’t be good.”

“Aye, lass,” the big man growled. “Though most call me Blackbeard! And there’s the sorceress what captured us, lads. Run her through, and then I mean to find me a big bowl of celery! Arggggh!”

Reyna’s jaw began to twitch, a sheen forming over her black eyes. 

Frank sighs, having apparently not caught onto his co-praetor’s discomfort yet. “Of course. Of course Blackbeard is my frigging half brother!” 

Circe screamed. She and her attendants ran from the room, chased by the pirates.

Reyna’s phone beeps, and she looks down to see a new text message from Annabeth. 

Annabeth

I’m sorry. 

Annabeth sheathed her knife and glared at me.

Reyna

For what?

“Thanks …” I faltered. “I’m really sorry—”

Before I could figure out how to apologize for being such an idiot, she tackled me with a hug, then pulled away just as quickly. “I’m glad you’re not a guinea pig.”

Piper pouts. “The one hundred and first way to say ‘I love you’.” 

Annabeth looks up from her phone for a moment, glaring, but the effect is greatly diminished by the fact that her cheeks are still bright red. “Shut up.” 

“Me, too.” I hoped my face wasn’t as red as it felt.

“They were.” Annabeth confirms absentmindedly, still typing rapidly. 

She undid the golden braids in her hair.

“Come on, Seaweed Brain,” she said. “We have to get away while Circe’s distracted.”

Annabeth

I don’t know the full story about what happened after we left the spa, but I know it led you away from your home. 

I am so sorry for that. I’m sorry if I ruined your life.

We ran down the hillside through the terraces, past screaming spa workers and pirates ransacking the resort. Blackbeard’s men broke the tiki torches for the luau, threw herbal wraps into the swimming pool, and kicked over tables of sauna towels.

Reyna smiles softly. 

Reyna

You didn’t ruin my life.

You may have made it a little difficult for a while, and I was mad for sometime, but I don’t blame you anymore.

 Afterall, everything that happened led me here. With you guys. 

My family.

I almost felt bad letting the unruly pirates out, but I guessed they deserved something more entertaining than the exercise wheel after being cooped up in a cage for three centuries.

Annabeth covertly looks at Reyna from the corner of her eye. They share a smile.

Annabeth

That’s so corny.

Reyna

You tell anyone I said that, and I’ll kill you 💗

“Which ship?” Annabeth said as we reached the docks.

I looked around desperately. We couldn’t very well take our rowboat. We had to get off the island fast, but what else could we use? A sub? A fighter jet? I couldn’t pilot any of those things. And then I saw it.

“I just don’t get it!” Jason groans. “How could you two have been broken up the whole time without me realizing?” 

“We decided to stay friends. That’s all.”

Jason scrunches his nose up. “But you and Calypso were acting so… normal right before we left.” 

“There,” I said.

“That’s completely normal.” Frank agrees. 

Annabeth blinked. “But—”

“I mean, me and Hazel’s relationship hasn’t changed all that much since we broke up, either.”

“I can make it work.”

Most of the occupants of the car pause, their attention officially dragged away from Percy’s drama, and straight to Frank and Hazel’s. 

“How?”

“WHAT?” They scream. 

I couldn’t explain. I just somehow knew an old sailing vessel was the best bet for me. I grabbed Annabeth’s hand and pulled her toward the three-mast ship. Painted on its prow was the name that I would only decipher later: Queen Anne’s Revenge.

Hazel and Frank share startled looks. “What?” Hazel asks, clearly confused by her friends’ shock. 

Hazel shrugs. “Yeah. Did you guys not know that?” 

“We very clearly did not know that, Hazel!” Leo shouts, his voice pitching so high only dogs could hear parts of his sentence. 

“Argggh!” Blackbeard yelled somewhere behind us. “Those scalawags are a-boarding me vessel! Get ‘em, lads!”

“Oh…” Frank says slowly, snapping his fingers. “I knew there was something that I had forgotten.” 

“We’ll never get going in time!” Annabeth yelled as we climbed aboard.

“How--” Piper stutters, trying to keep her eyes on the road, one ear on the radio, and one on her friends. She was a multitasker like that. “ When did this happen?” 

Frank shrugs. “Like a month ago?” 

Hazel nods. “Sounds about right.” 

I looked around at the hopeless maze of sail and ropes. The ship was in great condition for a three-hundred-year-old vessel, but it would still take a crew of fifty several hours to get underway.

Nico glares at Frank. “You broke up with my sister?” 

Frank’s eyes widened. “What?” 

Hazel shakes her head. “It was mutual.” 

We didn’t have several hours. I could see the pirates running down the stairs, waving tiki torches and sticks of celery.

Nico turns to Hazel. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did they hurt you? Did something bad happen?” He turns back to Frank. “I swear if you hurt her in any way--”

Hazel rolls her eyes. “Nico--”

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the waves lapping against the hull, the ocean currents, the winds all around me. Suddenly, the right word appeared in my mind. “Mizzenmast!” I yelled.

“--I will tear your eyeballs from their sockets--”

“Nico.” Hazel’s voice now had an edge to it. 

Annabeth looked at me like I was nuts, but in the next second, the air was filled with whistling sounds of ropes being snapped taut, canvases unfurling, and wooden pulleys creaking.

“--Then I’ll feed them to you like grapes--”

“Nico, shut up!” Hazel yells, effectively silencing her brother. “Frank didn’t do anything wrong! I was the one that initiated the break!”

Annabeth ducked as a cable flew over her head and wrapped itself around the bowsprit.

“What?” Nico’s eyebrows furrow. “Why?” 

“Percy, how …”

“I initiated it because--” Hazel staggers under the weight of all of the gazes now leveled at her. “Because…” 

I didn’t have an answer, but I could feel the ship responding to me as if it were part of my body. I willed the sails to rise as easily as if I were flexing my arm. I willed the rudder to turn.

Hazel sighs, looking at Reyna and Frank for encouragement as she finally spouts her secret. “Because I’m moving to New York.” 

The Queen Anne’s Revenge lurched away from the dock, and by the time the pirates arrived at the water’s edge, we were already underway, sailing into the Sea of Monsters.

Notes:

DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNNN

lol, so sorry if that last part was too chaotic, and off topic, but at least you now know why I haven't put the frazel tag in, and I can finally reveal this little plot nugget that I got over two years ago when I was still writing LttLT lol. A more in depth explanation will be coming, but come on, can you honestly say that you would have preferred me to write some sort of reaction to Percy controlling a boat than whatever tf I just wrote (apologies if the answer to that is yes, I'm writing this at 1:30 in the morning)

Fun fact, I wrote the ending of this and the previous author's note before I wrote a majority of the middle, so yes this is chaotic lol

I hope you like it. I really wasn't sure how to handle Reyna's trauma in the background, especially because she feels much more like the person that focuses on everyone else's trauma than have people focus on hers. Also, adding a few more hints to the Pipeyna and Valgrace agendas, as well as some Pipabeth for my friends, bc as much as Iove Percabeth Annabeth was Piper's sapphic awakening and you will have to pry that hc out of my cold dead hands.

Anyway, until next time <3

Chapter 13: Annabeth Tries To Swim Home

Notes:

I was hoping to post this on August 18th (y'know the national holiday) but then I didn't finish.

A lot has been happening, but I hope that you enjoy <3

Hazel leans forward to pause the radio. She was going to need peace and quiet for this conversation. And she really didn’t want to miss more of this story than she had to.

Nico stares at his sister. “You’re… moving? To New York? When? Where? How?”

Hazel sighs. “Well, I’m going back to New York with you next week once I finish packing my stuff. I’m moving in with Sally, Paul, and Estelle, into Percy’s old room to be more specific. And with a few doctored birth certificates and transfer papers, I start my Sophomore year of high school on September 7th.” 

The car stares at her blankly, trying to process the sheer amount of information that she had just relayed. 

“Well, damn, Haze.” Leo says slowly.

Piper tries hard not to look at Hazel, as her eyes need to stay on the road. “You’re moving in a week? And you didn’t tell any of us?” 

Hazel fiddles with her fingers.  “Actually, that’s not true. I already told Reyna and Frank. Percy knows because I’m moving into his old room--” 

“Oh, that’s why Percy was asking you about paint samples.” Jason mutters. “That makes way more sense.”

Hazel nods. “Yeah, and since Percy knows,” She turns to Annabeth, “I’m assuming--”

“I’ve known for at least a month.” 

Nico’s mouth drops open, betrayal written across his face. “Really, Annabeth?” 

Annabeth shrugs. “It wasn’t my secret to tell. It also wasn’t Percy’s, but that’s a conversation between his therapist and his codependency issues.” 

Hazel takes the conversation back. “I was just trying to figure out the best way to say something.” She blushes. “I don’t think that was it, but it feels really good to get it off my chest.” 

Leo pouts. “But why are you leaving? Was it something I did?” 

Hazel’s eyebrows furrow. “You live in Washington. I’m actually moving closer to you by living in New York.” 

“Right…” Leo says slowly. “So, it was something that Jason did?” 

“Hey!” Jason yelps. 

Hazel shakes her head. “I’m not moving because of any of you. This is a decision I made for me.” She swallows thickly, looking down at her lap. “You know when Percy first introduced me to Marvel movies, I really understood Captain America. Ironically the Steve Rogers version.

“In the Winter Soldier, when he was making a list of things he had missed out on when he was gone for 70 years… that was me! And he at least got to live in the real world. Yes, he still  did missions, but he was living a real life!” 

Piper worries at her lip. “Haze, I’m sorry, but I’m barely following this metaphor.” 

“Most people go to New Rome because they’ve experienced the real world, and realized that they can’t do that forever.” She turns to Reyna, Frank, and Annabeth. “You guys knew what you were leaving behind, but I didn't. Not really. The world has changed so much since I was alive. There’s no World Wars, no Great Depression… I think. Even the Civil Rights movement has moved a little further than when I was around!”

Jason laughs. “I actually get what you’re saying. The Legion was all I’ve ever known.”

Hazel nods. “And now you’re going to school, and finding yourself. I want the chance to do that. I want to go to a school where the teachers don’t rinse my mouth with soap when I curse, and where I’m not in segregated classes, and I want to make some friends my own age!” 

Piper clears her throat. “What are we?”

Hazel looks at her with sad eyes. “Pipes, you turned 18 last month. I don’t turn 16 until December.”

“Oh, shit.” 

“Yeah!” Hazel’s hands fly up. 

Leo leans forward. “Why are you moving to New York, though? Can’t you just go to a boarding school in California like Jason, and go back for breaks?”

Hazel’s cheeks pinken, sending a look at Nico who refuses to make eye contact. “I could, but New York is the better option all around.”

Jason nods. “Yeah, I’m sure you don’t have to share a room at Sally and Paul’s, plus if you’re going to Paul’s school, you already know one of the teachers.”

“Yeah, there is that.” Hazel admits. “But also…” She grabs Nico’s hand in hers. “Traveling to Camp Half Blood from Manhattan is much shorter than from California.”

Nico blinks, as if the thought had just now occurred ot him. “We’re going to live in the same city.”

Hazel nods. “Yeah.” She squeezes his hand, lowering her voice so that he is the only one to hear her. “I wasn’t sure if you would like that or not, but--”

Nico drags her into a hug. “Yeah, I would.” He whispers into her hair. “It’ll be nice to have a big sister around again.” 

“Aw,” Leo coos. “That is so sweet, but the drama is over now, so can we keep listening to whatever was happening to Percy last?”

Hazel clears her throat, pulling away from Leo. “Oh, thank gods, I thought you would never ask. I would much rather focus on Percy’s drama than my own.”

Reyna sighs as Hazel presses ‘play’. “Wouldn’t we all?” 

I’d finally found something I was really good at.

Leo blinks several times. “Shit, I was so focused on Jason, then Frazel, I don’t even know what happened to Percy before we paused it.”

Reyna shrugs. “He learned he can control a boat. Nothing that impressive.” 

The Queen Anne’s Revenge responded to my every command. I knew which ropes to hoist, which sails to raise, which direction to steer. We plowed through the waves at what I figured was about ten knots. I even understood how fast that was. For a sailing ship, pretty darn fast.

“Wait…” Leo says slowly. “Percy can control boats? And when I was designing and building the Argo II, nobody thought to tell me?”

Annabeth shrugs. “I didn’t think about it… I mean, he only did it once.” 

It all felt perfect—the wind in my face, the waves breaking over the prow.

“I could have saved so much time by just not building the water part! Do you realize how long it took me to find a non-complicated way to do that that everyone would understand?”

Piper stares at him through the mirror. “That was your non-complicated method?”

Leo’s mouth drops open. “Fuck you, Pipes.” 

But now that we were out of danger, all I could think about was how much I missed Tyson, and how worried I was about Grover.

“Same here.” Frank raises one hand, trying to dispel the car’s tension. “If anyone cares?” 

I couldn’t get over how badly I’d messed up on Circe’s Island. If it hadn’t been for Annabeth, I’d still be a rodent, hiding in a hutch with a bunch of cute furry pirates. I thought about what Circe had said: See, Percy? You’ve unlocked your true self!

I still felt changed. Not just because I had a sudden desire to eat lettuce. I felt jumpy, like the instinct to be a scared little animal was now a part of me. Or maybe it had always been there. That’s what really worried me.

“A part of me kinda wishes that he kept that desire to eat lettuce.” Annabeth hums. “His diet is atrocious. Just carbs and blue food dye.”

“I wish.” Piper groans. “He’s so lucky that he has a fast metabolism.” 

We sailed through the night.

Annabeth tried to help me keep lookout, but sailing didn’t agree with her. After a few hours rocking back and forth, her face turned the color of guacamole and she went below to lie in a hammock.

Annabeth presses a hand to her cheek. ‘Guacamole.’ She mouths.

I watched the horizon. More than once I spotted monsters. A plume of water as tall as a skyscraper spewed into the moonlight. A row of green spines slithered across the waves— something maybe a hundred feet long, reptilian. I didn’t really want to know.

Once I saw Nereids, the glowing lady spirits of the sea. I tried to wave at them, but they disappeared into the depths, leaving me unsure whether they’d seen me or not.

“Or if he’d actually seen them.” Nico shrugs. “Sleep deprivation and loneliness will make you see some stuff...”

Frank looks at Jason, who shakes his head. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to.” 

Sometime after midnight, Annabeth came up on deck. We were just passing a smoking volcano island. The sea bubbled and steamed around the shore.

“One of the forges of Hephaestus,” Annabeth said. “Where he makes his metal monsters.”

“Ooh, a forge…” Leo scooches to the edge of his seat, eyes bright. 

Annabeth shakes her head. “Fucking forges.” She mutters under her breath.

“Like the bronze bulls?”

She nodded. “Go around. Far around.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. We steered clear of the island, and soon it was just a red patch of haze behind us.

I looked at Annabeth. “The reason you hate Cyclops so much … the story about how Thalia really died. What happened?”

Jason leans forward to match Leo’s stance. “Is this finally happening? Am I finally going to know? Frick, do I even want to know?”

It was hard to see her expression in the dark.

“I guess you deserve to know,” she said finally. “The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused, took some wrong turns. You remember he told you that once?”

“I believe that he was doing his best.” Piper shrugs. “I am a Grover defender at heart, don’t come at me.” 

I nodded.

“Well, the worst wrong turn was into a Cyclops’s lair in Brooklyn.”

“They’ve got Cyclopes in Brooklyn?” I asked.

“The location of the lair is what he chooses to focus on?” Frank questions. 

Leo shrugs. “It’s not easy to be an ADHD demigod in this day and age. It’s probably easier than it was back in Ancient Greece, but it’s still not easy.” 

“You wouldn’t believe how many, but that’s not the point. This Cyclops, he tricked us. He managed to split us up inside this maze of corridors in an old house in Flatbush. And he could sound like anyone, Percy. Just the way Tyson did aboard the Princess Andromeda. He lured us, one at a time. Thalia thought she was running to save Luke. Luke thought he heard me scream for help. And me … I was alone in the dark. I was seven years old. I couldn’t even find the exit.”

Nobody speaks. They all remain silent, watching Annabeth out of the corner of their eyes. 

She brushed the hair out of her face. “I remember finding the main room. There were bones all over the floor. And there were Thalia and Luke and Grover, tied up and gagged, hanging from the ceiling like smoked hams. The Cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the floor. I drew my knife, but he heard me. He turned and smiled. He spoke, and somehow he knew my dad’s voice. I guess he just plucked it out of my mind. He said, ‘Now,  Annabeth, don’t you worry. I love you. You can stay here with me. You can stay forever.’”

Annabeth stares intently at her lap, where her hands are folding over and over again. 

Nico and Hazel look over at Annabeth, both of them wanting to reach out to her, but not knowing how that would be received. 

I shivered. The way she told it—even now, six years later—freaked me out worse than any ghost story I’d ever heard. “What did you do?”

“I stabbed him in the foot.”

Reyna breaks the group's silence with one, two-syllable word. “Da-amn.” 

I stared at her. “Are you kidding? You were seven years old and you stabbed a grown Cyclops in the foot?”

“Oh, he would’ve killed me. But I surprised him. It gave me just enough time to run to Thalia and cut the ropes on her hands. She took it from there.”

“You’re so cool.” Piper whispers in awe. “Y’know that, right?” 

“Yeah,” Leo nods. “Coolest mom ever.”

Annabeth doesn’t even try to correct him this time. 

“Yeah, but still … that was pretty brave, Annabeth.”

She shook her head. “We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares, Percy. The way that Cyclops talked in my father’s voice. It was his fault we took so long getting to camp. All the monsters who’d been chasing us had time to catch up. That’s really why Thalia died. If it hadn’t been for that Cyclops, she’d still be alive today.”

Jason releases a long breath through his nose. “Okay… I can live with that, I guess. Only because she is still alive now, but that’s beside the point.” 

We sat on the deck, watching the Hercules constellation rise in the night sky.

“Go below,” Annabeth told me at last. “You need some rest.”

I nodded. My eyes were heavy. But when I got below and found a hammock, it took me a long time to fall asleep. I kept thinking about Annabeth’s story. I wondered, if I were her, would I have had enough courage to go on this quest, to sail straight toward the lair of another Cyclops?

Heat rises in Annabeth’s cheeks. “I’m not that brave.” Are the words she speaks, her voice slightly raw from disuse. 

Hazel finally reaches out, and grabs Annabeth’s hands in her smaller one. 

I didn’t dream about Grover.

“Aww,” Piper pouts.

Instead I found myself back in Luke’s stateroom aboard the Princess Andromeda. The curtains were open. It was nighttime outside. The air swirled with shadows. Voices whispered all around me—spirits of the dead.

Beware, they whispered. Traps. Trickery.

Kronos’s golden sarcophagus glowed faintly—the only source of light in the room.

Hazel wrinkles her nose. “Not this shit again.” 

A cold laugh startled me. It seemed to come from miles below the ship. You don’t have the courage, young one. You can’t stop me.

I knew what I had to do. I had to open that coffin.

Reyna presses her lips together, raising a dubious eyebrow. “Oddly enough, I don’t think that that is the right thing to do…” 

I uncapped Riptide. Ghosts whirled around me like a tornado. Beware!

My heart pounded. I couldn’t make my feet move, but I had to stop Kronos. I had to destroy whatever was in that box.

Then a girl spoke right next to me: “Well, Seaweed Brain?”

Annabeth blinks, as if being taken out of a dream, glaring at the radio like it had personally offended her. “ Bitch ?” 

I looked over, expecting to see Annabeth, but the girl wasn’t Annabeth. She wore punk-style clothes with silver chains on her wrists. She had spiky black hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy blue eyes, and a spray of freckles across her nose. She looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure why.

Leo and Frank turn to look at Jason, whose face still remains clouded from the Cyclops story. 

“Well?” she asked. “Are we going to stop him or not?”

“Aww, Thalia.” Annabeth places a hand over her heart. “I love you, but that is my Seaweed Brain.”

“You do realize that she’s just a figment of his imagination, right?” Piper asks. 

Annabeth’s eyes narrow. “ Mine .” 

I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t move.

The girl rolled her eyes. “Fine. Leave it to me and Aegis.”

She tapped her wrist and her silver chains transformed— flattening and expanding into a huge shield. It was silver and bronze, with the monstrous face of Medusa protruding from the center. It looked like a death mask, as if the gorgon’s real head had been pressed into the metal. I didn’t know if that was true, or if the shield could really petrify me, but I looked away. Just being near it made me cold with fear. I got a feeling that in a real fight, the bearer of that shield would be almost impossible to beat. Any sane enemy would turn and run.

“I have literally seen him fight her with that shield out.” Nico hums under her breath. 

Hazel furrows her eyebrows. “What was that?” 

“Don’t ask, trust me.” 

The girl drew her sword and advanced on the sarcophagus. The shadowy ghosts parted for her, scattering before the terrible aura of her shield.

“No,” I tried to warn her.

But she didn’t listen. She marched straight up to the sarcophagus and pushed aside the golden lid.

Jason’s face lands in his hands. “Of course.” 

“She’s so real.” Leo says at the exact same time.

For a moment she stood there, gazing down at whatever was in the box. The coffin began to glow.

“No.” The girl’s voice trembled. “It can’t be.”

From the depths of the ocean, Kronos laughed so loudly the whole ship trembled.

Reyna sighs deeply. “There’s great-grandfather…”

Leo’s head whips around. “Wait, he’s your great-grandfather too?” 

“My mother’s parents are Jupiter and Juno.” Reyna says as if this was common knowledge. “Roman mythos is important too, people.”

“No!” The girl screamed as the sarcophagus engulfed her in a blast of a golden light.

“Ah!” I sat bolt upright in my hammock.

Annabeth was shaking me. “Percy, you were having a nightmare. You need to get up.”

“Doesn’t even have a moment to process what just happened.” Piper sighs. 

“Him or us?” Hazel asks.

The older girl shrugs. “Both.” 

“Wh—what is it?” I rubbed my eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Land,” she said grimly. “We’re approaching the island of the Sirens.”

“Ooh, like Ariel in the Little Mermaid?” Frank’s eyes light up. 

Piper glances at him through the rearview mirror. “You’re joking, right?” 

Frank blinks. “Yes…” They say slowly.

I could barely make out the island ahead of us—just a dark spot in the mist.

“I want you to do me a favor,” Annabeth said. “The Sirens … we’ll be in range of their singing soon.”

“Wait, how did you know it was the Siren’s island? I thought you guys were going through this more or less blind?” Jason asks, his head tilted to the side in confusion.

Annabeth opens her mouth to respond, before promptly closing it, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I… I don’t actually remember…” 

I remembered stories about the Sirens. They sang so sweetly their voices enchanted sailors and lured them to their death.

“No problem,” I assured her. “We can just stop up our ears. There’s a big tub of candle wax below deck—”

Piper subconsciously moves one hand to her ear, scrunching up her face as she imagines the feeling of candle wax stopping her ears. 

“I want to hear them.”

Nico blinks several times. “Excuse me?”

I blinked. “Why?”

“They say the Sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you didn’t even realize. That’s what’s so enchanting. If you survive … you become wiser. I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?”

Reyna raises one eyebrow. “Oh, so you’re that bitch.” 

“Oh, you know she is.” Leo nods in agreement.  

Annabeth goes silent. 

Coming from most people, this would’ve made no sense. But Annabeth being who she was—well, if she could struggle through Ancient Greek architecture books and enjoy documentaries on the History Channel, I guessed the Sirens would appeal to her, too.

Hazel giggles behind her hand. 

“What’s so funny?” Frank asks.

“Annabeth makes so little sense to Percy that crazy ideas just sound normal coming from her.” She smiles widely. “I just think that they’re neat.”

She told me her plan. Reluctantly, I helped her get ready.

As soon as the rocky coastline of the island came into view, I ordered one of the ropes to wrap around Annabeth’s waist, tying her to the foremast.

“Don’t untie me,” she said, “no matter what happens or how much I plead. I’ll want to go straight over the edge and drown myself.”

Leo blinks three times, fast. “That’s dark.” 

“Are you trying to tempt me?”

“Ha-ha.”

Hazel snorts. “I adore you two.” 

I promised I’d keep her secure. Then I took two large wads of candle wax, kneaded them into earplugs, and stuffed my ears.

Annabeth nodded sarcastically, letting me know the earplugs were a real fashion statement.

“He got all of that from a nod?” Reyna asks. 

Leo sighs. “He doesn’t understand morse code, no matter how often I try and teach him, but he’s fluent in Annabeth.”

I made a face at her and turned to the pilot’s wheel.

The silence was eerie. I couldn’t hear anything but the rush of blood in my head. As we approached the island, jagged rocks loomed out of the fog. I willed the Queen Anne’s Revenge to skirt around them. If we sailed any closer, those rocks would shred our hull like blender blades.

I glanced back. At first, Annabeth seemed totally normal. Then she got a puzzled look on her face. Her eyes widened.

She strained against the ropes. She called my name—I could tell just from reading her lips.

Piper giggles. “Oh he’s down so bad.” 

Jason leans forward. “Annabeth wants to drown herself, why are you reading into Percy’s feelings for her?” 

Leo pats Jason’s shoulder. “You just answered your own question, bud.” 

Her expression was clear: She had to get out. This was life or death. I had to let her out of the ropes right now.

“Again,” Reyna sighs. “One expression. All of that. It’s actually kind of impressive, after only one summer of knowing each other.” 

She seemed so miserable it was hard not to cut her free.

Annabeth’s lips purse, and she wrinkles her nose. 

I forced myself to look away. I urged the Queen Anne’s Revenge to go faster.

I still couldn’t see much of the island—just mist and rocks—but floating in the water were pieces of wood and fiberglass, the wreckage of old ships, even some flotation cushions from airplanes.

How could music cause so many lives to veer off course? I mean, sure, there were some Top Forty songs that made me want to take a fiery nosedive, but still … What could the Sirens possibly sing about?

Leo’s head falls in disappointment. “I know that that was a drag on my girl T-Swift. Percy is such a hater.” 

For one dangerous moment, I understood Annabeth’s curiosity. I was tempted to take out the earplugs, just to get a taste of the song. I could feel the Sirens’ voices vibrating in the timbers of the ship, pulsing along with the roar of blood in my ears.

“Ignore the impulse, Percy!” Frank demands, leaning forward with their hands braced on their thighs. 

Annabeth was pleading with me. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She strained against the ropes, as if they were holding her back from everything she cared about.

How could you be so cruel? She seemed to be asking me. I thought you were my friend.

“It feels like he’s just projecting his self loathing tendencies onto Annabeth at this point.” Jason mutters. “No way an expression could say all that. Even if Percy was able to lipread that well.” 

I glared at the misty island. I wanted to uncap my sword, but there was nothing to fight. How do you fight a song?

I tried hard not to look at Annabeth. I managed it for about five minutes.

Nico raises both of his eyebrows. “I can’t believe he actually just admitted that.” 

“Down. Bad .” Piper enunciates. .

That was my big mistake.

When I couldn’t stand it any longer, I looked back and found … a heap of cut ropes. An empty mast. Annabeth’s bronze knife lay on the deck. Somehow, she’d managed to wriggle it into her hand. I’d totally forgotten to disarm her.

“Of course he did.” A majority of the car echoes.

“Okay, in Percy’s defense,” Jason raises his hands placatingly. “Annabeth also forgot to mention disarming her. They are both equally to blame.” 

I rushed to the side of the boat and saw her, paddling madly for the island, the waves carrying her straight toward the jagged rocks.

I screamed her name, but if she heard me, it didn’t do any good. She was entranced, swimming toward her death.

I looked back at the pilot’s wheel and yelled, “Stay!”

Then I jumped over the side.

“That’s three.” Hazel counts. “Three times he’s fallen towards the ocean in this story alone.” 

I sliced into the water and willed the currents to bend around me, making a jet stream that shot me forward.

I came to the surface and spotted Annabeth, but a wave caught her, sweeping her between two razor-sharp fangs of rock.

Annabeth blinks several times, as if breaking out of a daze. She didn’t actually remember any of this.

I had no choice. I plunged after her.

“That’s probably for the best.” Frank agrees. 

I dove under the wrecked hull of a yacht, wove through a collection of floating metal balls on chains that I realized afterward were mines. I had to use all my power over water to avoid getting smashed against the rocks or tangled in the nets of barbed wire strung just below the surface.

I jetted between the two rock fangs and found myself in a half-moon-shaped bay. The water was choked with more rocks and ship wreckage and floating mines. The beach was black volcanic sand.

Piper shudders. “That sounds disgusting.” 

“Yeah, it does.” Annabeth says slowly. “I don’t-- I don’t even remember this…” 

I looked around desperately for Annabeth.

There she was. Luckily or unluckily, she was a strong swimmer. She’d made it past the mines and the rocks. She was almost to the black beach.

Then the mist cleared and I saw them—the Sirens.

“I’m gonna guess they didn’t look like Halle Bailey.” Nico sighs.

“Of course not.” Reyna replies. “Halle Bailey is one of a kind, beeyotch.” 

Imagine a flock of vultures the size of people—with dirty black plumage, gray talons, and wrinkled pink necks. Now imagine human heads on top of those necks, but the human heads keep changing.

“Wow…” Leo whispers. “Yet another thing The Simpsons got right.” 

“I know what you’re talking about…” Piper says, looking at him through the mirror. “Don’t do Patty and Selma like that.” 

I couldn’t hear them, but I could see they were singing. As their mouths moved, their faces morphed into people I knew—my mom, Poseidon, Grover, Tyson, Chiron. All the people I most wanted to see. They smiled reassuringly, inviting me forward. But no matter what shape they took, their mouths were greasy and caked with the remnants of old meals. Like vultures, they’d been eating with their faces, and it didn’t look like they’d been feasting on Monster Donuts.

Piper gags. As does Nico. And Hazel. Basically anyone with ears and a stomach that had to hear that description was gagging.

Annabeth swam toward them.

I knew I couldn’t let her get out of the water. The sea was my only advantage. It had always protected me one way or another. I propelled myself forward and grabbed her ankle.

The moment I touched her, a shock went through my body, and I saw the Sirens the way Annabeth must’ve been seeing them.

Annabeth squeezes her eyes together, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. This part… this part she did remember. She remembered it with scary accuracy.

Hazel hesitantly places a hand on Annabeth’s thigh in comfort, but the older girl flinches slightly at the touch. 

Three people sat on a picnic blanket in Central Park. A feast was spread out before them. I recognized Annabeth’s dad from photos she’d shown me—an athletic-looking, sandy-haired guy in his forties. He was holding hands with a beautiful woman who looked a lot like Annabeth. She was dressed casually—in blue jeans and a denim shirt and hiking boots—but something about the woman radiated power. I knew that I was looking at the goddess Athena. Next to them sat a young man … Luke.

It was as if the entire car had taken in a collective breath. Hazel reluctantly removes her hand from Annabeth’s leg, seeing that what was meant as a comforting action was doing quite the opposite. 

The whole scene glowed in a warm, buttery light. The three of them were talking and laughing, and when they saw Annabeth, their faces lit up with delight. Annabeth’s mom and dad held out their arms invitingly. Luke grinned and gestured for Annabeth to sit next to him—as if he’d never betrayed her, as if he were still her friend.

There was an edge to Percy’s voice. Every word is laced with bitter anger.

Annabeth’s shoulders hunch, as if she was trying to protect herself. What exactly she needed protection from was unknown to the rest of them.

Behind the trees of Central Park, a city skyline rose. I caught my breath, because it was Manhattan, but not Manhattan. It had been totally rebuilt from dazzling white marble, bigger and grander than ever—with golden windows and rooftop gardens. It was better than New York. Better than Mount Olympus.

I knew immediately that Annabeth had designed it all. She was the architect for a whole new world. She had reunited her parents. She had saved Luke. She had done everything she’d ever wanted.

Leo takes a swig from Jason’s water bottle. He needed to do something to keep the quiet from overtaking him, and he didn’t think that Annabeth was willing to hand him his confiscated water bottle.

I blinked hard. When I opened my eyes, all I saw were the Sirens—ragged vultures with human faces, ready to feed on another victim.

I pulled Annabeth back into the surf. I couldn’t hear her, but I could tell she was screaming. She kicked me in the face, but I held on.

“I kicked him in the face…” Annabeth says slowly, letting out a huff of air. She was clearly trying to defuse the tension, so the others decided to give her what she wanted…

“And he still held on.” Hazel says half-heartedly. “That’s love, bitch.” 

Annabeth chuckles wetly, and Nico pretends to ignore the tears clumping her eyelashes together.

I willed the currents to carry us out into the bay. Annabeth pummeled and kicked me, making it hard to concentrate. She thrashed so much we almost collided with a floating mine. I didn’t know what to do. I’d never get back to the ship alive if she kept fighting.

“It’s funny.” Reyna murmurs. “Percy defeated the god of war by standing in the ocean, and yet he can’t sedate a thirteen year old Annabeth.” 

“There is a very clear difference between those two incidents.” Leo replies. “Percy cared about what happened to Annabeth.” 

Frank nods. “That is very true.”

We went under and Annabeth stopped struggling. Her expression became confused. Then our heads broke the surface and she started to fight again.

The water! Sound didn’t travel well underwater. If I could submerge her long enough, I could break the spell of the music. Of course, Annabeth wouldn’t be able to breathe, but at the moment, that seemed like a minor problem.

Annabeth opens her mouth slowly, then closes it. “That’s fair.” She mutters, but her voice sounds softer than it should. Less amused than tired.

I grabbed her around the waist and ordered the waves to push us down.

We shot into the depths—ten feet, twenty feet. I knew I had to be careful because I could withstand a lot more pressure than Annabeth. She fought and struggled for breath as bubbles rose around us.

Bubbles.

“Bub-bub-bubble, gup-gup-guppies! Bubble, bubble, bubble! Guppy, guppy, guppies!” Leo sings under his breath. 

Jason stares at his best friend. “Only you.”

“Thank you.” Leo replies, smiling brightly.

I was desperate. I had to keep Annabeth alive. I imagined all the bubbles in the sea—always churning, rising. I imagined them coming together, being pulled toward me.

The sea obeyed. There was a flurry of white, a tickling sensation all around me, and when my vision cleared, Annabeth and I had a huge bubble of air around us. Only our legs stuck into the water.

Annabeth lets out a genuine chuckle at that. “I love him.” She whispers softly. 

Nico lets his head fall into the crook of Annabeth’s shoulder, and she nuzzles her cheek against the top of his soft hair. 

She gasped and coughed. Her whole body shuddered, but when she looked at me, I knew the spell had been broken.

She started to sob—I mean horrible, heartbroken sobbing. She put her head on my shoulder and I held her.

Piper grinds her teeth together, a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. She had to hold herself back from fighting whatever/whoever made her best friend feel this low. 

Fish gathered to look at us—a school of barracudas, some curious marlins.

Scram! I told them.

They swam off, but I could tell they went reluctantly. I swear I understood their intentions. They were about to start rumors flying around the sea about the son of Poseidon and some girl at the bottom of Siren Bay.

“Marlin are terrible gossips.” Frank confirms. “Not as bad as dolphins, but let me just tell you that you cannot trust them with anything .”

“I’ll get us back to the ship,” I told her. “It’s okay. Just hang on.”

Annabeth nodded to let me know she was better now, then she murmured something I couldn’t hear because of the wax in my ears.

Nobody dares ask Annabeth what she had said. If she even remembered it after all this time. 

I made the current steer our weird little air submarine through the rocks and barbed wire and back toward the hull of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, which was maintaining a slow and steady course away from the island.

We stayed underwater, following the ship, until I judged we had moved out of earshot of the Sirens. Then I surfaced and our air bubble popped.

I ordered a rope ladder to drop over the side of the ship, and we climbed aboard. I kept my earplugs in, just to be sure. We sailed until the island was completely out of sight.

Annabeth sat huddled in a blanket on the forward deck. Finally she looked up, dazed and sad, and mouthed, safe.

Leo laughs robotically. “Finally, am I right?” 

Annabeth nods. “You’re definitely right…”

I took out the earplugs. No singing. The afternoon was quiet except for the sound of the waves against the hull. The fog had burned away to a blue sky, as if the island of the Sirens had never existed.

“If only.” Piper says so quietly that nobody can hear her. She glances at Annabeth out of the corner of her eye.

“You okay?” I asked. The moment I said it, I realized how lame that sounded. Of course she wasn’t okay.

“So…” Leo says slowly. “What’s the last tv show you guys watched in its entirety? Me and Piper just watched four seasons of Nancy Drew on the CW.” 

Annabeth tilts her head to face Leo and gives him a small, approving smile.

“I didn’t realize,” she murmured.

“What?”

Her eyes were the same color as the mist over the Sirens’ island. “How powerful the temptation would be.”

I didn’t want to admit that I’d seen what the Sirens had promised her. I felt like a trespasser. But I figured I owed it to Annabeth.

The rest of the car agrees with the feeling. Trespassing on your friend's most intimate moment feels wrong. None of them felt like they should be listening to this. At least… not with Annabeth present.

“I saw the way you rebuilt Manhattan,” I told her. “And Luke and your parents.”

She blushed. “You saw that?”

“What Luke told you back on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch … that really got to you, huh?”

“That was something that he’d said?” Reyna asks. “Wow, even I’m starting to have trouble keeping up with everything that’s happened. And I don’t even have ADHD… just a severe form of anxiety with very similar symptoms.”

She pulled her blanket around her. “My fatal flaw. That’s what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris.”

I blinked. “That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?”

Piper blinks. “Brown…? Is he talking about hummus ?” 

She rolled her eyes. “No, Seaweed Brain. That’s hummus. Hubris is worse.”

“What could be worse than hummus?”

Piper momentarily takes her eyes off of the road to glare at the radio. “You bitch.”

“Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else … even the gods.”

Hazel’s leg is bouncing up and down. “Back to that TV show conversation, Percy convinced me to start watching Smallville. I’m almost done with season four.” 

“You feel that way?”

She looked down. “Don’t you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody is homeless. No more summer reading homework.”

Nico presses his lips together. “I love that you put summer reading homework in the same category as homelessness and war.” 

Annabeth’s nose wrinkles. “Shut up, A Tale of Two Cities almost ruined me.” 

“I’m listening.”

“I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did—that’s why the fire is still burning. That’s why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: ‘If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.’ Don’t you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?”

“I realize that this is a hypothetical question…” Jason says slowly, “But my eye is legitimately starting to twitch imagining a world where Percy is in charge. I love the guy, but I don’t even trust him to pick a pizza topping.” 

Piper shudders. “It’s always pineapple.” 

“Um … no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare.”

“Agreed.” The car choruses.

“Then you’re lucky. Hubris isn’t your fatal flaw.”

“What is?”

“I don’t know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don’t find it and learn to control it … well, they don’t call it ‘fatal’ for nothing.”

Frank swallows thickly, eyes wide. His eyes darted from side to side, face remaining ashen. 

I thought about that. It didn’t exactly cheer me up.

I also noticed Annabeth hadn’t said much about the personal things she would change—like getting her parents back together, or saving Luke. I understood. I didn’t want to admit how many times I’d dreamed of getting my own parents back together.

Piper raises an eyebrow. “Yeah… I don’t relate. My dad is way better off without any gods in his life. As I keep telling Apollo whenever he stops by…” She grumbles that last part under her breath, but Jason stills hears it.

“What was that?”

“Don’t ask.” 

I pictured my mom, alone in our little apartment on the Upper East Side. I tried to remember the smell of her blue waffles in the kitchen. It seemed so far away.

Leo blinks several times. “Oh my, gods. That was this story, wasn’t it?”

“So was it worth it?” I asked Annabeth. “Do you feel … wiser?”

She gazed into the distance. “I’m not sure. But we have to save the camp. If we don’t stop Luke …”

She didn’t need to finish. If Luke’s way of thinking could even tempt Annabeth, there was no telling how many other half-bloods might join him.

Annabeth waits for Hazel to say something. She expects the word ‘bitch’ to be spoken soon. 

However, Hazel remains silent, and that almost makes her feel worse.

I thought about my dream of the girl and the golden sarcophagus. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I got the feeling I was missing something. Something terrible that Kronos was planning. What had the girl seen when she opened that coffin lid?

Jason inhales deeply. “I mean she was looking into Kronos’ coffin… so… I’m going to assume she saw who was inside the coffin, that belongs to Kronos…” 

Leo pats Jason’s bicep. “Just let it go, dude. Let it go.” 

Suddenly Annabeth’s eyes widened. “Percy.”

I turned.

Up ahead was another blotch of land—a saddle-shaped island with forested hills and white beaches and green meadows—just like I’d seen in my dreams.

My nautical senses confirmed it. 30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west.

“Oh, wait! Those are those numbers, I think!” Leo says excitedly, jumping up and down in his seat. 

We had reached the home of the Cyclops.

Notes:

So, I am officially moved into college. I wrote this in my new dorm room <3 August 18th was the day I moved all of my stuff in, which is why i couldn't post then, bc life was crazy.

Also, I have been catching up on TV. Four seasons of Smallville AND Nancy Drew, two pretty great shows on the CW (which doesn't deserve them tbh).

ALSO WHO SAW THE PJO TRAILER??? DECEMBER 20TH, I'M SCREAMING!!! I am literally so excited, and I am working overtime to finish this story and maybe... start the next one before the premiere.

Speaking of 'the next one' check out Twitter and Tumblr for an update <3\

Finally, I went through all of LttLT and changed Frank's pronouns throughout and the formatting of the story, so now there are TWO stories in my Non-Binary Frank Zhang tag <3

Thank you so much for reading all of this, and I hope to be back by September 8th. Maybe sooner if my course load isn't too bad.

Until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 14: We Meet The Sheep of Doom

Notes:

I know that I'm a little later than I said I would be, but since today is a special occasion, I hope that you can forgive me and accept this peace offering <3

Enjoy!!!

“Finally!” Annabeth groans. “You don’t realize how much exposition goes into a quest when you’re on one, but this journey really felt like forever.” She pauses. “And all of this took like maybe three days!” 

When you think “monster island,” you think of craggy rocks and bones scattered on the beach like the island of the Sirens.

The Cyclops’ island was nothing like that. I mean, okay, it had a rope bridge across a chasm, which was not a good sign. You might as well put up a billboard that said, SOMETHING EVIL LIVES HERE. But except for that, the place looked like a Caribbean postcard. It had green fields and tropical fruit trees and white beaches. As we sailed toward the shore, Annabeth breathed in the sweet air. “The Fleece,” she said.

Leo takes a deep breath, a small smile taking over his face. He wasn’t the only one.

They could all imagine what Percy was describing, because they had just been there, hadn’t they? The sweet, strawberry air and bright green grass of Camp Half-Blood could still be recalled.

I nodded. I couldn’t see the Fleece yet, but I could feel its power. I could believe it would heal anything, even Thalia’s poisoned tree. “If we take it away, will the island die?”

Piper hums, distractedly. “Probably even Thalia.” Her words end with a giggle, before she pauses. As does everyone else. “Wait a second…”

 

Annabeth shook her head. “It’ll fade. Go back to what it would normally be, whatever that is.”

I felt a little guilty about ruining this paradise, but I reminded myself we had no choice. Camp Half-Blood was in trouble. And Tyson … Tyson would still be with us if it wasn’t for this quest.

“Plus the only inhabitant of the island is a cannibalistic cyclops that has been luring and eating satyrs for centuries…” Jason adds. “In case that helps to lessen the guilt.” 

In the meadow at the base of the ravine, several dozen sheep were milling around. They looked peaceful enough, but they were huge—the size of hippos. Just past them was a path that led up into the hills. At the top of the path, near the edge of the canyon, was the massive oak tree I’d seen in my dreams. Something gold glittered in its branches.

“This is too easy,” I said. “We could just hike up there and take it?”

“It’s never that easy.” The car echoes. 

Rule number one of Being a Demigod: It’s never that easy.

Rule number two: Don’t mess with Annabeth Chase.

Annabeth’s eyes narrowed. “There’s supposed to be a guardian. A dragon or …”

Nico presses his lips together. “Let me guess, the Hippo-Sheep?” 

Annabeth sighs. “The Hippo-Sheep.”

Hazel shakes her head. “Does nobody respect the spoilers rule anymore?” 

That’s when a deer emerged from the bushes. It trotted into the meadow, probably looking for grass to eat, when the sheep all bleated at once and rushed the animal. It happened so fast that the deer stumbled and was lost in a sea of wool and trampling hooves.  Grass and tufts of fur flew into the air.

A second later the sheep all moved away, back to their regular peaceful wanderings. Where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.

Piper gags. “What the fuck?” She asks. “Sheep are herbivores. They’re my soul-siblings. What the fuck ?”

Annabeth shrugs. “At least you didn’t have to see it happen.” She shudders. “I felt way less guilty about eating lamb after that.” 

Annabeth and I exchanged looks.

“They’re like piranhas,” she said.

“Piranhas with wool. How will we—”

“Percy!” Annabeth gasped, grabbing my arm. “Look.”

She pointed down the beach, to just below the sheep meadow, where a small boat had been run aground … the other lifeboat from the CSS Birmingham.

Frank jumps in his seat. “Tyson?” They ask excitedly. 

Reyna looks at him. “You know that your sister was also on that boat, right? And that unlike Tyson, she doesn’t have the ability to breathe underwater?” 

Frank’s mouth forms an ‘o’. “Right, Clarisse. Clarisse is clearly the more obvious answer…” 

We decided there was no way we could get past the man-eating sheep. Annabeth wanted to sneak up the path invisibly and grab the Fleece, but in the end I convinced her that something would go wrong. The sheep would smell her. Another guardian would appear. Something. And if that happened, I’d be too far away to help.

Besides, our first job was to find Grover and whoever had come ashore in that lifeboat—assuming they’d gotten past the sheep. I was too nervous to say what I was secretly hoping … that Tyson might still be alive.

Reyna’s eyebrows furrow. “Is everybody forgetting about the only other living passenger on that ship?”

Leo shrugs. “We’re ADHD kids with single-track minds, what can you expect?” 

We moored the Queen Anne’s Revenge on the back side of the island where the cliffs rose straight up a good two hundred feet. I figured the ship was less likely to be seen there. The cliffs looked climbable, barely—about as difficult as the lava wall back at camp. At least it was free of sheep. I hoped that Polyphemus did not also keep carnivorous mountain goats.

We rowed a lifeboat to the edge of the rocks and made our way up, very slowly. Annabeth went first because she was the better climber.

We only came close to dying six or seven times, which I thought was pretty good. Once, I lost my grip and I found myself dangling by one hand from a ledge fifty feet above the rocky surf.

“That’s not too bad.” Piper sighs. Hazel whips her head around to stare down her friend, so Piper sighs, lightly tapping on the rim of her steering wheel. “Look, I think that if we learn anything from this story, it’s that Percy has fallen from much worse heights and survived. Especially when there is water underneath him.” 

Annabeth presses her lips into a firm line. “That’s true…” She says slowly.

Only after that does Piper realize where else Percy has fallen from, and guilt immediately churns in her gut. 

But I found another handhold and kept climbing. A minute later Annabeth hit a slippery patch of moss and her foot slipped. Fortunately, she found something else to put it against. Unfortunately, that something was my face.

Frank laughs awkwardly. “Well, at least he’s choosing to look on the bright side.” 

Leo raises an eyebrow. “Dude, what is up with you?”

Frank shrugs, leaning closer to Leo and lowering their voice. “I don’t know, it feels kind of awkward in here, and I don’t like uncomfortable silences.”

“Sorry,” she murmured.

“S’okay,” I grunted, though I’d never really wanted to know what Annabeth’s sneaker tasted like.

Nico wrinkles his nose. “Well, I guess that’s a relief.” 

Finally, when my fingers felt like molten lead and my arm muscles were shaking from exhaustion, we hauled ourselves over the top of the cliff and collapsed.

“Ugh,” I said.

“Ouch,” moaned Annabeth.

“Garrr!” bellowed another voice.

Several people in the car jump at the sudden and loud noise. 

Reyna, however, raises one dubious eyebrow and asks, “Gar? Really?”

Jason stares at her. “Does anything impress you?”

“Very rarely.” 

If I hadn’t been so tired, I would’ve leaped another two hundred feet. I whirled around, but I couldn’t see who’d spoken. Annabeth clamped her hand over my mouth. She pointed.

The ledge we were sitting on was narrower than I’d realized. It dropped off on the opposite side, and that’s where the voice was coming from—right below us.

“You’re a feisty one!” the deep voice bellowed.

“Challenge me!” Clarisse’s voice, no doubt about it. “Give me back my sword and I’ll fight you!”

“Oh, Clarisse…” Frank sighs. Deeply. “My sister has no sense of self preservation.” 

Piper glances at Leo in the rearview mirror out of the corner of her eye. “You get used to it…”

The monster roared with laughter.

Annabeth and I crept to the edge. We were right above the entrance of the Cyclops’s cave.

“Of course they were…” Nico shrugs. “Why not?”

Below us stood Polyphemus and Grover, still in his wedding dress. Clarisse was tied up, hanging upside down over a pot of boiling water. I was half hoping to see Tyson down there, too. Even if he’d been in danger, at least I would’ve known he was alive. But there was no sign of him.

“Aww.” Frank pouts. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Clarisse is alive, and I obviously know that Tyson is alive too… I just miss him. We haven’t been able to schedule a hangout in, like, two months…” 

“Hmm,” Polyphemus pondered. “Eat loudmouth girl now or wait for wedding feast? What does my bride think?”

He turned to Grover, who backed up and almost tripped over his completed bridal train. “Oh, um, I’m not hungry right now, dear. Perhaps—”

Reyna sighs. “Well, at least he managed to finish his train.” 

Hazel turns to look at Reyna. “Look at you, trying to find the bright side.”

“Did you say bride?” Clarisse demanded. “Who— Grover?”

“Oh no.” Jason mutters, his eyes darting to Piper. 

Next to me, Annabeth muttered, “Shut up. She has to shut up.”

“Shut up. She has to shut up.”

Funnily enough it was Piper that had spoken the same words at the same time as ‘Annabeth’. 

Polyphemus glowered. “What ‘Grover’?”

When Piper said nothing about her and Annabeth saying the same thing, Annabeth took it upon herself to laugh out, “Look at us.”

Piper gives her a small smile in response.

“The satyr!” Clarisse yelled.

“Oh!” Grover yelped. “The poor thing’s brain is boiling from that hot water. Pull her down, dear!”

Hazel cocks her head to the side. “Can a brain be boiled?”

“Yeah.” Jason says, too quickly. “You actually have to boil a brain if you want to cook it.”

Leo inches away from his friend, eyes wide. “Why in the hell do you know that?”

Polyphemus’s eyelids narrowed over his baleful milky eye, as if he were trying to see Clarisse more clearly.

The Cyclops was an even more horrible sight than he had been in my dreams. Partly because his rancid smell was now up close and personal. Partly because he was dressed in his wedding outfit—a crude kilt and shoulder-wrap, stitched together from baby-blue tuxedos, as if he'd skinned an entire wedding party.

“Oh, my gods.” Frank whispers in horror. “Do you think he did?” 

Piper’s left eye starts to twitch. “Well, now I do!” She mutters under her breath, “Fucking Percy and planting seeds into my overactive imagination…”

“What satyr?” asked Polyphemus. “Satyrs are good eating. You bring me a satyr?”

“No, you big idiot!” bellowed Clarisse. “That satyr! Grover! The one in the wedding dress!”

“Oh, Clarisse…” Nico sighs, his head landing in his hands. “I am begging you to stop talking.” 

“Especially before Piper decides to slap her.” Hazel adds. “I’m not ready to go to any of your funerals yet.” 

I wanted to wring Clarisse’s neck, but it was too late. All I could do was watch as Polyphemus turned and ripped off Grover’s wedding veil—revealing his curly hair, his scruffy adolescent beard, his tiny horns.

Polyphemus breathed heavily, trying to contain his anger. “I don’t see very well,” he growled. “Not since many years ago when the other hero stabbed me in eye. But YOU’RE—NO—LADY—CYCLOPS!”

Jason speaks up. “I realize that this is super off topic, especially when Grover is probably about to die, but Polyphemus’ grammar is really starting to get on my nerves. It’s like, speak properly, or don’t! At least stick with one!”

The Cyclops grabbed Grover’s dress and tore it away. Underneath, the old Grover reappeared in his jeans and T-shirt. He yelped and ducked as the monster swiped over his head.

Leo wrinkles his nose. “We are all so lucky that Grover was wearing something underneath that dress.”

“Props to him.” Reyna adds. “Think about it, he’s wearing a wedding dress, a veil, a train, and a whole outfit underneath that on a tropical island off of Florida in the middle of the summer.” 

Piper mimes being choked up. “He is the strongest of us all.” 

“Stop!” Grover pleaded. “Don’t eat me raw! I—I have a good recipe!”

Hazel snorts, her hand moving up to cover her nose and her mouth. “I’m sorry?” She croaks out once she’s managed to somewhat compose herself.

I reached for my sword, but Annabeth hissed, “Wait!”

Polyphemus was hesitating, a boulder in his hand, ready to smash his would-be bride. “Recipe?” he asked Grover.

“Oh y-yes! You don’t want to eat me raw. You’ll get E coli and botulism and all sorts of horrible things. I’ll taste much better grilled over a slow fire. With mango chutney! You could go get some mangos right now, down there in the woods. I’ll just wait here.”

The jaws of several members of the group drop. 

Jason blinks. “There is no way that that actually works.”

The monster pondered this. My heart hammered against my ribs. I figured I’d die if I charged. But I couldn’t let the monster kill Grover.

“Grilled satyr with mango chutney,” Polyphemus mused. He looked back at Clarisse, still hanging over the pot of boiling water. “You a satyr, too?”

Hazel stares at Annabeth. “That worked?”

Annabeth shakes her head, as if the absurdity of the situation was finally catching up with her about half a decade after the fact. “I swear to the gods, even Percy’s warped imagination couldn’t make up that .”

“No, you overgrown pile of dung!” she yelled. “I’m a girl! The daughter of Ares! Now untie me so I can rip your arms off!”

“Rip my arms off,” Polyphemus repeated.

“And stuff them down your throat!”

“You got spunk.”

“Oh no…” Jason whispers, horror slowly creeping onto his face as he seems to predict what is about to happen. Or, what had been about to happen? The tenses are confusing.

“Let me down!”

Polyphemus snatched up Grover as if he were a wayward puppy. “Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we’ll eat satyr for the main course!”

Hazel’s eyebrows furrow. “Wait… he’s still getting married?” 

“But … you’re still getting married?” Grover sounded hurt. “Who’s the bride?”

“Wow. You know what, I would be hurt too.” Leo concedes. “Imagine your fiance decides to eat you instead of marrying you, then decides to marry someone else at your wedding ceremony right in front of you!” 

Nico blinks. “There is no world in which I will ever imagine myself in that scenario.”

Leo taps his finger against his temple. “ Exactly .”

Polyphemus looked toward the boiling pot.

Clarisse made a strangled sound. “Oh, no! You can’t be serious. I’m not—”

“Oh, gods.” Reyna mutters, her palm slapping her forehead. “I don’t know if this is more or less disturbing than how Tantalus was treating her.” 

“Don’t quote me on this,” Piper says. “But I’m choosing the same. They’re both deeply odd, especially in regards to a teenage girl.” 

Before Annabeth or I could do anything, Polyphemus plucked her off the rope like she was a ripe apple, and tossed her and Grover deep into the cave. “Make yourself comfortable! I come back at sundown for big event!”

Then the Cyclops whistled, and a mixed flock of goats and sheep—smaller than the man-eaters—flooded out of the cave and past their master. As they went to pasture, Polyphemus patted some on the back and called them by name—Beltbuster, Tammany, Lockhart, etc.

“Of course…” Nico says slowly. “Of course Percy would go out of his way to remember the names of the cyclops’ sheep and goats. He can be so observant when he wants to be, and so clueless at other times.”

Hazel looks at her brother. “Is this about him thinking you were straight?”

“I was not subtle.”

“No.” Both Annabeth and Jason agree at the same time. 

When the last sheep had waddled out, Polyphemus rolled a boulder in front of the doorway as easily as I would close a refrigerator door, shutting off the sound of Clarisse and Grover screaming inside.

“Mangos,” Polyphemus grumbled to himself. “What are mangos?”

Piper’s eyes dart to Annabeth for a moment. “Hey, Annabeth?”

“Yeah?” 

“Do you realize that that is your future brother-in-law?” 

Annabeth remains silent, simply staring straight ahead. Then she says, “Fuck you, McLean. Fuck you.” 

He strolled off down the mountain in his baby-blue groom’s outfit, leaving us alone with a pot of boiling water and a six-ton boulder.

We tried for what seemed like hours, but it was no good. The boulder wouldn’t move. We yelled into the cracks, tapped on the rock, did everything we could think of to get a signal to Grover, but if he heard us, we couldn’t tell.

Even if by some miracle we managed to kill Polyphemus, it wouldn’t do us any good. Grover and Clarisse would die inside that sealed cave. The only way to move the rock was to have the Cyclops do it.

Jason’s eyes narrow. “You two spent hours trying to move a six-ton boulder before realizing that you couldn’t do it?” 

Annabeth holds her palms up, leaning side to side as if she was weighing them. “I mean, time is relative. It could’ve been hours, it could’ve been ten minutes. There really is no way to tell.”

In total frustration, I stabbed Riptide against the boulder. Sparks flew, but nothing else happened. A large rock is not the kind of enemy you can fight with a magic sword.

Jason shakes his head. “That… that’s not… ten minutes does not feel like hours!” 

“For two adhd pre-teens who are doing a task they don’t feel like doing, it most certainly does.” Leo says. “Einstein was right, time moves at different speeds. That’s why gym class always felt longer to me than, say, shop class.”

Reyna blinks several times. “Why am I not more surprised that Leo just quoted Einstein? Oh, dear gods, I’ve been spending way too much time with you people.” 

Annabeth and I sat on the ridge in despair and watched the distant baby-blue shape of the Cyclops as he moved among his flocks. He had wisely divided his regular animals from his man-eating sheep, putting each group on either side of the huge crevice that divided the island. The only way across was the rope bridge, and the planks were much too far apart for sheep hooves.

We watched as Polyphemus visited his carnivorous flock on the far side. Unfortunately, they didn’t eat him. In fact, they didn’t seem to bother him at all. He fed them chunks of mystery meat from a great wicker basket, which only reinforced the feelings I’d been having since Circe turned me into a guinea pig—that maybe it was time I joined Grover and became a vegetarian.

Piper gasps. “Oh, after all the vegetarian jokes over the years, I am going to hold this over his head!” The others turn to glare at her. “I mean, when he’s on his deathbed and we can finally admit that we heard these, I will totally be holding it over him then.” 

“Sure, sounds like a plan.” Leo agrees. “Most of us will have lived a full life by then.”

“Trickery,” Annabeth decided. “We can’t beat him by force, so we’ll have to use trickery.”

“Kind of an abrupt change of topic, but okay.” Nico mumbles, rubbing his hands on the the thighs of his what Will dubs is-the-aesthetic-really-worth-it-it-is-90-degrees-outside black jeans.

“Okay,” I said. “What trick?’

“I haven’t figured that part out yet.”

“Come on, you slacker!” Reyna jibes. 

Annabeth sighs. “I need new friends.” 

“Great.”

“Polyphemus will have to move the rock to let the sheep inside.”

“At sunset,” I said. “Which is when he’ll marry Clarisse and have Grover for dinner. I’m not sure which is grosser.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure either.” Piper reveals. “Equally disturbing, but for two very different reasons.” 

“I could get inside,” she said, “invisibly.”

“What about me?”

“The sheep,” Annabeth mused. She gave me one of those sly looks that always made me wary. “How much do you like sheep?”

Jason leans back in his chair. “I have a bad feeling about this.” 

“Do you ‘Brain Cooker’?” Leo asks.

“I never said I cook them, I was just explaining how you cook them!” 

Hazel turns around to look at Jason. “Yet, you’ve never explained why you know that!” 

“Just don’t let go!” Annabeth said, standing invisibly somewhere off to my right. That was easy for her to say. She wasn’t hanging upside down from the belly of a sheep.

“Shush, all of you!” Piper hisses. “Do you realize that Percy just implied that he is hanging upside down from the belly of a sheep ?” 

Hazel rights herself in her chair. “The brain conversation can wait for later.”

“Spoken like a person who isn’t sitting next to the Brain Chef.” Leo mumbles under his breath, eliciting an eye roll from Jason.

Now, I’ll admit it wasn’t as hard as I’d thought. I’d crawled under a car before to change my mom’s oil, and this wasn’t too different. The sheep didn’t care. Even the Cyclops’s smallest sheep were big enough to support my weight, and they had thick wool. I just twirled the stuff into handles for my hands, hooked my feet against the sheep’s thigh bones, and presto—I felt like a baby wallaby, riding around against the sheep’s chest, trying to keep the wool out of my mouth and my nose.

In case you’re wondering, the underside of a sheep doesn’t smell that great. Imagine a winter sweater that’s been dragged through the mud and left in the laundry hamper for a week.

Nico shrugs. “At least Smelly Gabe prepared him for things that smell bad.”

Reyna smiles, an actual, non-sarcastic smile. “You’re right! That right there is an advantage for Percy!” 

Something like that.

The sun was going down. No sooner was I in position than the Cyclops roared, “Oy! Goaties! Sheepies!”

The flock dutifully began trudging back up the slopes toward the cave.

“This is it!” Annabeth whispered. “I’ll be close by. Don’t worry.”

“Spoken like someone who has never had to hang upside down by the belly of a sheep.” Leo sighs.

Frank’s head whips around. “Wha--”

“Don’t ask.” Leo directs. “Just know that I’ve seen and done some stuff that I’m not proud of.” 

I made a silent promise to the gods that if we survived this, I’d tell Annabeth she was a genius. The frightening thing was, I knew the gods would hold me to it.

Annabeth’s cheeks flush a rosy red at that. 

“So, Annabeth,” Piper says slyly. “Did Percy follow through with his promise?”

“Not that I remember.” She tilts her head to the side, eyes growing distant. “Unless--” She stops herself from finishing that thought, shaking her head so hard that her blonde hair goes flying in different directions. “No.” 

My sheep taxi started plodding up the hill. After a hundred yards, my hands and feet started to hurt from holding on. I gripped the sheep’s wool more tightly, and the animal made a grumbling sound. I didn’t blame it. I wouldn’t want anybody rock climbing in my hair either. But if I didn’t hold on, I was sure I’d fall off right there in front of the monster.

Leo bites his lip. “Not gonna lie, I think that would have made for a much more interesting story.” 

“Leo!” Jason reprimands.

“What? It would have!” 

“Hasenpfeffer!” the Cyclops said, patting one of the sheep in front of me. “Einstein! Widget— eh there, Widget!” Polyphemus patted my sheep and nearly knocked me to the ground. “Putting on some extra mutton there?”

Uh-oh, I thought. Here it comes.

But Polyphemus just laughed and swatted the sheep’s rear end, propelling us forward. “Go on, fatty! Soon Polyphemus will eat you for breakfast!”

Frank wrinkles his nose. “Oh, Polyphemus… don’t body shame your pets. Or eat them”

And just like that, I was in the cave.

I could see the last of the sheep coming inside. If Annabeth didn’t pull off her distraction soon…

The Cyclops was about to roll the stone back into place, when from somewhere outside Annabeth shouted, “Hello, ugly!”

Hazel shakes her head slowly. “You two really are soulmates.” 

“The couple that stays together is the couple that uses the same taunts.” Nico tells her, gently patting her curly-haired head. 

Polyphemus stiffened. “Who said that?”

“Nobody!” Annabeth yelled.

 

Leo snorts. “Good one, Annabeth.” 

Piper, however, lets her mouth drop open. “You pretended to be Nobody ?” 

“Wait, why are you saying it like that?” Leo asks. “Is there some significance about the word nobody?”

That got exactly the reaction she’d been hoping for. The monster’s face turned red with rage.

“Nobody!” Polyphemus yelled back. “I remember you!”

Hazel takes pity on the boy. “They’re saying Nobody as a name, not the word, nobody.”

“That literally clears up nothing for me, Hazel!” Leo screeches. “It’s just the same word, but you’re adding a different inflection to it!” 

“You’re too stupid to remember anybody,” Annabeth taunted. “Much less Nobody.”

Leo’s face was starting to resemble the meme of the woman with lots of mathematical equations floating around her head.

Jason, for his part, shrugs. “I mean, you’re not wrong, Annabeth. Shouldn’t Polyphemus be a little bit confused by the fact that Nobody went from sounding like a man to a teenage girl?” 

“Yeah, I’m going to be honest, that bruised my ego for a while.” Annabeth admits. “As well as other parts of me.” She adds underneath her breath.

I hoped to the gods she was already moving when she said that, because Polyphemus bellowed furiously, grabbed the nearest boulder (which happened to be his front door) and threw it toward the sound of Annabeth’s voice. I heard the rock smash into a thousand fragments.

For a terrible moment, there was silence. Then Annabeth shouted, “You haven’t learned to throw any better, either!”

“Gods, Annabeth,” Frank chastises. “Don’t scare us like that!” 

“But I’m sitting right--”

Reyna shakes her head. “I’m not ready to be a single father, Annabeth.”

“Wha--”

Polyphemus howled. “Come here! Let me kill you, Nobody!”

“You can’t kill Nobody, you stupid oaf,” she taunted. “Come find me!”

Jason gently patted Leo’s shoulder. “Maybe if I wrote it out for you, you would understand it better?”

Leo glares at his best friend. “Do you know me at all ?”

Polyphemus barreled down the hill toward her voice.

Now, the “Nobody” thing wouldn’t have made sense to anybody, but Annabeth had explained to me that it was the name Odysseus had used to trick Polyphemus centuries ago, right before he poked the Cyclops’s eye out with a large hot stick. Annabeth had figured Polyphemus would still have a grudge about that name, and she was right. In his frenzy to find his old enemy, he forgot about resealing the cave entrance. Apparently, he didn’t even stop to consider that Annabeth’s voice was female, whereas the first Nobody had been male. On the other hand, he’d wanted to marry Grover, so he couldn’t have been all that bright about the whole male/female thing.

Frank shrugs, and mutters, “Alright I’ll give him one point for that.” 

“That explanation only slightly helped, I’m going to have to re-listen to that whole thing later on to understand it better.” Leo grumbles. 

I just hoped Annabeth could stay alive and keep distracting him long enough for me to find Grover and Clarisse.

I dropped off my ride, patted Widget on the head, and apologized. I searched the main room, but there was no sign of Grover or Clarisse. I pushed through the crowd of sheep and goats toward the back of the cave.

“Great, now I’m imagining Percy in a life-sized, animal-themed Where’s Waldo puzzle.” Piper grumbles.

“Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, focusing on the road that you are driving on?” Jason asks her.

“I can multita-- oh, shit.” Piper hisses, quickly hitting the brakes as she notices the car in front of her starting to slow down. “Give a little warning next time, jackass.” 

Even though I’d dreamed about this place, I had a hard time finding my way through the maze. I ran down corridors littered with bones, past rooms full of sheepskin rugs and life-size cement sheep that I recognized as the work of Medusa. There were collections of sheep T-shirts; large tubs of lanolin cream; and wooly coats, socks, and hats with ram’s horns. Finally, I found the spinning room, where Grover was huddled in the corner, trying to cut Clarisse’s bonds with a pair of safety scissors.

“Oh, the safety scissors.” Frank groans. “I hated those things… always squeezing my fingers. Not one size fits all, and of course all the other kids look at you weird when you try to ask your teacher for the adult-scissors. I’m sorry that I have a different body type than the rest of you, and my fingers were unusually chubby!” 

“Frankie, you okay?” Jason asks softly, reaching out to pat Frank on the shoulder.

“My childhood was… not great.” 

“It’s no good,” Clarisse said. “This rope is like iron!”

“Just a few more minutes!”

“Grover,” she cried, exasperated. “You’ve been working at it for hours!”

“Again,” Annabeth speaks up. “It may or may not have been hours. None of us have a good sense of time.” 

And then they saw me.

“Percy?” Clarisse said. “You’re supposed to be blown up!”

“Good to see you, too. Now hold still while I—”

“Perrrrrcy!” Grover bleated and tackled me with a goat-hug. “You heard me! You came!”

“I would like an explanation of what a ‘goat-hug’ is.” Reyna requests.

“It’s like a bear hug, except Grover jumps up to the point where you either have to catch him, or you’re both going to fall.” Annabeth replies.

Piper pouts. “I want a goat-hug.”

“Yeah, buddy,” I said. “Of course I came.”

“Where’s Annabeth?”

“Kind of loving the fact that Clarisse is still tied up, meanwhile Grover is hugging Percy and asking where Annabeth is rather than letting him free her.” Leo says in between cackles.

“Outside,” I said. “But there’s no time to talk. Clarisse, hold still.”

I uncapped Riptide and sliced off her ropes. She stood stiffly, rubbing her wrists. She glared at me for a moment, then looked at the ground and mumbled, “Thanks.”

“Wow,” Annabeth says, clearly surprised. “Clarisse was being polite to Percy.” 

“She must really not have wanted to get married.” Nico replies, leaning closer to Annabeth.

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Now, was anyone else on board your lifeboat?”

Clarisse looked surprised. “No. Just me. Everybody else aboard the Birmingham … well, I didn’t even know you guys made it out.”

Hazel shrugs. “On the bright side, everyone else on the Birmingham was already dead, so it sucks to suck, I guess.”  

I looked down, trying not to believe that my last hope of seeing Tyson alive had just been crushed. “Okay. Come on, then. We have to help—”

An explosion echoed through the cave, followed by a scream that told me we might be too late. It was Annabeth crying out in fear.

Notes:

Remember how I said today is a special occasion? Well, if you didn't know, today is the TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS STORY!!!

I don't know which is crazier, that I've been working on this for two years, or that some of you have actually been here the whole time, reading every chapter that I sporadically throw at you!

Remember that I am now a college student, which is great! In fact, I have a paper due tonight at 11:59, and my last class of the day doesn't get out until 8:30 at night, but I'm giving this to you anways 3

Also, if any of you want to check out my socials, here are the links:Twitter and Tumblr for an update <3\ I may or may not have posted a fun surprise in honor of two years <3 also if you like this story you might even like my random thread of reactions to watching Smallville, bc sometimes I'll post something coherent, but a lot of the times I just randomly post curse words and that is exactly what I do here, so maybe I'll end up turning that into a book featuring these 8 too (I AM JOKING, BRAIN DO NOT DO THIS TO ME)

Anyways, wish me luck on my paper lol

Until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 15: Nobody Gets The Fleece

Notes:

Going to be honest here, this was not one of my favorite chapters, but I actually ended up finishing it earlier than I thought I would, so I'm counting this as a win!

Enjoy <3

The other members of the car turn to stare at Annabeth, eyes wide. 

“You were captured by a fully grown Cyclops?” Frank asks, their eyes wide with concern. 

Annabeth scratches the back of her neck. “Yeah… that was a crazy story. At least from what I’ve heard about it after the fact, my memory of this part is actually pretty hazy.” 

“I got Nobody!” Polyphemus gloated.

We crept to the cave entrance and saw the Cyclops, grinning wickedly, holding up empty air. The monster shook his fist, and a baseball cap fluttered to the ground. There was Annabeth, hanging upside down by her legs.

“Hah!” the Cyclops said. “Nasty invisible girl! Already got feisty one for wife. Means you gotta be grilled with mango chutney!”

“Hold up!” Leo’s hand goes up in the air, palm facing outward. “Is he implying that he would have married Annabeth if he hadn’t decided to marry Clarisse?” 

Hazel shakes her head. “There’s gotta be something in the air with those Poseidon kids, I swear to the gods…” 

Annabeth struggled, but she looked dazed. She had a nasty cut on her forehead. Her eyes were glassy.

“I’ll rush him,” I whispered to Clarisse. “Our ship is around the back of the island. You and Grover—”

Reyna raises one thick, black eyebrow. “He’s going to rush Polyphemus alone? Oh, this bitch cannot be serious.”

Nico turns his head to stare at Reyna. “I think we all know that he most definitely is.”

“No way,” they said at the same time. Clarisse had armed herself with a highly collectible rams-horn spear from the Cyclops’s cave. Grover had found a sheep’s thigh bone, which he didn’t look too happy about, but he was gripping it like a club, ready to attack.

“Way to go, Grover.” Piper praises. “Always willing to make big sacrifices.”

Jason tilts his head. “Does holding a sheep bone count as a ‘big sacrifice’?” 

Piper glares at him through the rearview mirror. “Shut up, Brain Eater.” 

“We’ll take him together,” Clarisse growled.

“Yeah,” Grover said. Then he blinked, like he couldn’t believe he’d just agreed with Clarisse about something.

“That’s fair.” Annabeth mumbles. “Admittedly, it takes a while to get used to.” 

“All right,” I said. “Attack plan Macedonia.”

“I hate attack plan Macedonia.” Piper grumbles under her breath. “It requires way too much running.”

They nodded. We’d all taken the same training courses at Camp Half-Blood. They knew what I was talking about. They would sneak around either side and attack the Cyclops from the flanks while I held his attention in the front. Probably what this meant was that we’d all die instead of just me, but I was grateful for the help.

The car pauses as they take in Percy’s statement. 

“Well…” Leo says awkwardly. “That got dark real quick.” 

I hefted my sword and shouted, “Hey, Ugly!”

The giant whirled toward me. “Another one? Who are you?”

“Put down my friend. I’m the one who insulted you.”

“You are Nobody?”

“His ability to discern voices is appalling .” Reyna mutters. “Almost as bad as Percy’s self-preservation skills.” 

“That’s right, you smelly bucket of nose drool!” It didn’t sound quite as good as Annabeth’s insults, but it was all I could think of. “I’m Nobody and I’m proud of it! Now, put her down and get over here. I want to stab your eye out again.”

“RAAAR!” he bellowed.

The good news: he dropped Annabeth. 

Nico furrows his brow. “Speaking as the boyfriend of a guy on the pre-pre-med track, that doesn’t sound too good.” 

Jason leans forward, his forearms resting on his knees. “I’d hate to hear what the bad news is.”

The bad news: he dropped her head first onto the rocks, where she lay motionless as a rag doll.

“Damn it, Jason!” Piper and Leo yell at the same time. 

Jason simply shrugs and rolls his eyes, far too used to his two best friends and their antics.

The other bad news: Polyphemus barreled toward me, a thousand smelly pounds of Cyclops that I would have to fight with a very small sword.

“For Pan!” Grover rushed in from the right. He threw his sheep bone, which bounced harmlessly off the monster’s forehead. Clarisse ran in from the left and set her spear against the ground just in time for the Cyclops to step on it. He wailed in pain, and Clarisse dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled. But the Cyclops just plucked out the shaft like a large splinter and kept advancing on me.

“Fucking attack plan Macedonia.” Piper grumbles under her breath. 

“Yeah,” Annabeth mutters. “I don’t know why we keep that one in circulation, it never actually works.” 

I moved in with Riptide. The monster made a grab for me. 

I rolled aside and stabbed him in the thigh.

I was hoping to see him disintegrate, but this monster was much too big and powerful.

Reyna shrugs. “I mean… I guess that makes sense. Polyphemus got stabbed in the eye and apparently survived, it’s not totally crazy to think that he survived Percy stabbing him in the leg.”

“Get Annabeth!” I yelled at Grover.

He rushed over, grabbed her invisibility cap, and picked her up while Clarisse and I tried to keep Polyphemus distracted.

Annabeth smiles softly. “He grabbed my cap for me… I’ve gotta thank him for that the next time we talk.”

“You mean tomorrow?” Frank asks.

Annabeth shrugs. “Maybe even sooner. Percy and Grover are clingy like that.” 

I have to admit, Clarisse was brave. She charged the Cyclops again and again. He pounded the ground, stomped at her, grabbed at her, but she was too quick. And as soon as she made an attack, I followed up by stabbing the monster in the toe or the ankle or the hand.

Nico snorts. “Can’t wait to hear what he thinks when she takes on that Dracon all by herself.” 

Jason leans forward. “I’m sorry did you just say that Clarisse takes on a Dracon--”

Nico shakes his head. “I don’t recall saying anything. Hazel?” 

“I didn’t hear him say anything.” Hazel tells Jason.

“But--” Jason stops talking, looking between his cousins. “I-- Whatever…”

But we couldn’t keep this up forever. Eventually we would tire or the monster would get in a lucky shot. It would only take one hit to kill us.

“Well that’s one shitty Uno reverse card.” Leo mumbles, letting his head rest on Frank’s bicep.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grover carrying Annabeth across the rope bridge. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, given the man-eating sheep on the other side, but at the moment that looked better than this side of the chasm, and it gave me an idea.

“Fall back!” I told Clarisse.

She rolled away as the Cyclops’s fist smashed the olive tree beside her.

Annabeth wrinkles her nose. “That is not at all symbolic in any way shape or form.” 

We ran for the bridge, Polyphemus right behind us. He was cut up and hobbling from so many wounds, but all we’d done was slow him down and make him mad.

“Grind you into sheep chow!” he promised. “A thousand curses on Nobody!”

Annabeth shivers at Polyphemus’ words. She remembered all too well the feeling of losing her eyesight in the deepest pits of hell during her run in with the Arae. 

It was almost comical to think that her curse could be traced back to a few small comments she’d made when she was thirteen. Almost being the operative word.

“Faster!” I told Clarisse.

We tore down the hill. The bridge was our only chance. Grover had just made it to the other side and was setting Annabeth down. We had to make it across, too, before the giant caught us.

“Grover!” I yelled. “Get Annabeth’s knife!”

“Oh no.” Reyna grumbles. “Is he thinking what I think he’s thinking?”

Piper allows the corner of her mouth to curl into a smirk. “You’re being exceptionally chatty lately.”

Reyna shrugs. “What can I say? Insanity is contagious.” 

His eyes widened when he saw the Cyclops behind us, but he nodded like he understood.

As Clarisse and I scrambled across the bridge, Grover began sawing at the ropes.

Jason grumbles under his breath, “There is no way that this is going to end well.” 

The first strand went snap!

Polyphemus bounded after us, making the bridge sway wildly.

The ropes were now half cut. Clarisse and I dove for solid ground, landing beside Grover. I made a wild slash with my sword and cut the remaining ropes.

Leo starts jumping up and down in his seat. “Come on, Percy! Prove Jason wrong for me!” 

The bridge fell away into the chasm, and the Cyclops howled … 

“Yes!” Leo yells his arms raising over his head in victory.

…with delight, because he was standing right next to us.

“That pause was just mean.” Leo pouts, crossing his previously raised arms over his chest.

“Failed!” he yelled gleefully. “Nobody failed!”

Clarisse and Grover tried to charge him, but the monster swatted them aside like flies.

My anger swelled. I couldn’t believe I’d come this far, lost Tyson, suffered through so much, only to fail—stopped by a big stupid monster in a baby-blue tuxedo kilt. Nobody was going to swat down my friends like that! I mean … nobody, not Nobody. Ah, you know what I mean.

Percy’s words had started stumbling into each other, making it harder to understand what he was saying. It didn’t sound as if he’d even taken a breath as he forced his way to the end of his sentences.

Strength coursed through my body. I raised my sword and attacked, forgetting that I was hopelessly outmatched. I jabbed the Cyclops in the belly. When he doubled over I smacked him in the nose with the hilt of my sword. I slashed and kicked and bashed until the next thing I knew, Polyphemus was sprawled on his back, dazed and groaning, and I was standing above him, the tip of my sword hovering over his eye.

An awed silence falls over the car as they absorb all that Percy had just relayed.

“Mind over matter.” Reyna mutters. “Just forget how hopelessly outmatched you are, and you're good to go.”

“Uhhhhhhhh,” Polyphemus moaned.

“Percy!” Grover gasped. “How did you—”

Frank shrugs. “I’ve learnt that it’s best not to question it. Just smile, nod, and thank your lucky stars you weren’t murdered by cow monsters.” 

Hazel wrinkles her nose in distaste. “Freaking cow monsters.” 

“Please, noooo!” the Cyclops moaned, pitifully staring up at me. His nose was bleeding. A tear welled in the corner of his half-blind eye. “M-m-my sheepies need me. Only trying to protect my sheep!”

He began to sob.

“Oh, come on, man.” Nico huffs. “Have a little pride.”

I had won. All I had to do was stab—one quick strike.

“Kill him!” Clarisse yelled. “What are you waiting for?”

The Cyclops sounded so heartbroken, just like … like Tyson.

Piper cringes. “Oh, Percy, no.”

“He’s a Cyclops!” Grover warned. “Don’t trust him!”

I knew he was right. I knew Annabeth would’ve said the same thing.

“Speaking from experience, it’s best to trust Annabeth.” Leo mutters.

Jason shakes his head. “I can already tell that this isn’t going to turn out well.” 

But Polyphemus sobbed … and for the first time it sank in that he was a son of Poseidon, too. Like Tyson. Like me. How could I just kill him in cold blood?

“Y’know Procrustes was also a son of Poseidon.” Piper points out. “One that I’m not even completely sure was a monster. And we all know what Percy did to him.”

Hazel nods. “Yeah, Percy decapitated him.”

Reyna arches an eyebrow at the younger girl. “Didn’t Piper just say ‘we all know what Percy did to him’?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to say what happened just in case Leo forgot.”

Leo nods solemnly. “Good call. I did, in fact, forget.” 

“We only want the Fleece,” I told the monster. “Will you agree to let us take it?”

“No!” Clarisse shouted. “Kill him!”

The monster sniffed. “My beautiful Fleece. Prize of my collection. Take it, cruel human. Take it and go in peace.”

“Oh, Percy’s going to get eaten…” Piper coos. 

Annabeth glares at her friend. “We know that he doesn’t get eaten!” Truth be told, even she didn’t sound totally convinced by her own words.

“I’m going to step back slowly,” I told the monster. “One false move …”

Polyphemus nodded like he understood.

I stepped back … and as fast as a cobra, Polyphemus smacked me to the edge of the cliff.

“Now why the fuck does he get to be a giant and fast?” Frank sighs under their breath. “So unfair.” 

Leo suddenly perks up in his seat. “Wait, I just realized that you’re also related to Polyphemus!” 

If looks could kill, Leo would already be standing in front of the car during one of the times that Piper spaced out. 

“Foolish mortal!” he bellowed, rising to his feet. “Take my Fleece? Ha! I eat you first.”

He opened his enormous mouth, and I knew that his rotten molars were the last things I would ever see.

“Oh, my gods, he’s going to be eaten…” Annabeth mutters. 

“Told ya.” Piper sighs. “But you didn’t wanna listen…”

Then something went whoosh over my head and thump!

A rock the size of a basketball sailed into Polyphemus’s throat—a beautiful three-pointer, nothing but net. The Cyclops choked, trying to swallow the unexpected pill. He staggered backward, but there was no place to stagger. His heel slipped, the edge of the cliff crumbled, and the great Polyphemus made chicken wing motions that did nothing to help him fly as he tumbled into the chasm.

“Finally!” Leo says excitedly, jumping in his seat. “I am glad to be rid of him.”

“Really?” Jason deadpans. “I couldn’t tell.”

Leo looks at his friend. “Y’know what? I’m not like this new sarcasm of yours.” 

I turned.

Halfway down the path to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep, was an old friend.

“Bad Polyphemus,” Tyson said. “Not all Cyclopes as nice as we look.”

“He’s back!” Frank cheers. 

Hazel smirks mischievously. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re glad to get your favorite uncle back…”

Frank’s shoulders drop. “Stop relating me to Poseidon’s family, my own father’s family is bad enough.”

Tyson gave us the short version: Rainbow the hippocampus—who’d apparently been following us ever since the Long Island Sound, waiting for Tyson to play with him—had found Tyson sinking beneath the wreckage of the CSS Birmingham and pulled him to safety. He and Tyson had been searching the Sea of Monsters ever since, trying to find us, until Tyson caught the scent of sheep and found this island.

“That’s why Rainbow is a king.” Nico nods.

I wanted to hug the big oaf, except he was standing in the middle of killer sheep. “Tyson, thank the gods. Annabeth is hurt!”

Piper tilts her head to the side. “He’s thanking the gods that Annabeth is hurt?”

Hazel sends a questioning look towards Piper. “What?”

“You thank the gods she is hurt?” he asked, puzzled.

“No!” I knelt beside Annabeth and was worried sick by what I saw. The gash on her forehead was worse than I’d realized. Her hairline was sticky with blood. Her skin was pale and clammy.

“I’m just saying, he should put a pause between his sentences if he doesn’t want people to be confused!” Piper shrills.

“Nobody but you and Tyson were confused.” Reyna replies. “Even Leo got it.”

“Hey!” Leo huffs. “Wait, was that a compliment?” 

Grover and I exchanged nervous looks. Then an idea came to me. “Tyson, the Fleece. Can you get it for me?”

“Which one?” Tyson said, looking around at the hundreds of sheep.

“Oh, Tyson…” Jason says slowly, pressing his lips in a firm line, looking at the radio with a sort of exasperated fondness.

“In the tree!” I said. “The gold one!”

“Oh. Pretty. Yes.”

Tyson lumbered over, careful not to step on the sheep. If any of us had tried to approach the Fleece, we would’ve been eaten alive, but I guess Tyson smelled like Polyphemus, because the flock didn’t bother him at all. They just cuddled up to him and bleated affectionately, as though they expected to get sheep treats from the big wicker basket. Tyson reached up and lifted the Fleece off its branch. Immediately the leaves on the oak tree turned yellow. Tyson started wading back toward me, but I yelled, “No time! Throw it!”

“That doesn’t sound good…” Reyna mutters.

Nico nods. “Yeah, I mean I basically have the opposite of a green thumb, but even I know that yellow plants aren’t good. Mostly because the Demeter kids got so mad at me the one time I tried to take care of a plant and it started turning yellow.”

Annabeth shudders. “I remember that. So many seeds were thrown.” 

The gold ram skin sailed through the air like a glittering shag Frisbee. I caught it with a grunt.

It was heavier than I’d expected—sixty or seventy pounds of precious gold wool.

Jason tilts his head to the side. “What did he expect sixty to seventy pounds of gold wool to weigh?” 

“I think he’s saying he didn’t take into account the fleece to actually be solid gold.” Frank says slowly. 

I spread it over Annabeth, covering everything but her face, and prayed silently to all the gods I could think of, even the ones I didn’t like.

“Oh…” Annabeth pouts, her eyes going big and soft. “That’s so sweet…” 

Please. Please.

The color returned to her face. Her eyelids fluttered open. The cut on her forehead began to close. She saw Grover and said weakly, “You’re not… married?”

Grover grinned. “No. My friends talked me out of it.”

“The three of you are literally soulmates.” Reyna says seriously, putting one hand on Annabeth’s shoulder. 

“Annabeth,” I said, “just lay still.”

But despite our protests she sat up, and I noticed that the cut on her face was almost completely healed. She looked a lot better. In fact, she shimmered with health, as if someone had injected her with glitter.

Hazel starts giggling. 

“What’s so funny?” Frank asks her, leaning forward.

“Just thinking about how in love little Percy obviously is with little Annabeth.”

Frank also starts laughing, before stopping, furrowing their eyebrows. “I don’t get it.” 

Meanwhile, Tyson was starting to have trouble with the sheep. “Down!” he told them as they tried to climb him, looking for food. A few were sniffing in our direction. “No, sheepies. This way! Come here!”

They heeded him, but it was obvious they were hungry, and they were starting to realize Tyson didn’t have any treats for them. They wouldn’t hold out forever with so much fresh meat nearby.

Reyna turns to face Piper, who has suddenly gone silent, her eyes half on the road, and half on the directions on her phone. “You have anything to say about that, Pipes?”

“Huh?” Piper asks slowly. “What? Yeah, that’s great… Haha…” 

“We have to go,” I said. “Our ship is…” The Queen Anne’s Revenge was a very long way away. The shortest route was across the chasm, and we’d just destroyed the only bridge. The only other possibility was through the sheep.

“I hate it when there’s only one other possibility.” Leo grumbles. “The only other possibility freakin’ sucks.”

“Tyson,” I called, “can you lead the flock as far away as possible?”

“The sheep want food.”

“I know! They want people-food! Just lead them away from the path. Give us time to get to the beach. Then join us there.”

Tyson looked doubtful, but he whistled. “Come, sheepies! Um, people-food this way!”

Nico raises his eyebrows. “Yeah, but it sounds like there’s also people-food right there, Tyson.”

“Thank gods that Nico wasn’t born a piranha sheep.” Jason chuckles.

“Says you.” Nico replies, turning to face the boy and playfully biting the air, which actually causes Jason to jump back a bit.

He jogged off into the meadow, the sheep in pursuit.

“Keep the Fleece around you,” I told Annabeth. “Just in case you’re not fully healed yet. Can you stand?”

“I just realized,” Piper says suddenly, finally drawing her attention away from the phone directions. “The Golden Fleece is also technically your future brother in law, Annabeth.”

“Nope.” Annabeth shakes her head. “We are not going there. The Golden Fleece is a fleece .”

“Okay, fine.” Piper concedes. “It’s the remains of your dead future brother in law.”

Annabeth glares. “If you weren’t driving…” 

She tried, but her face turned pale again. “Ohh. Not fully healed.”

Clarisse dropped next to her and felt her chest, which made Annabeth gasp.

“Ribs broken,” Clarisse said. “They’re mending, but definitely broken.”

“How can you tell?” I asked.

Clarisse glared at me. “Because I’ve broken a few, runt! I’ll have to carry her.”

Frank cocks his head to the side like a puppy. “Is she going to carry you bridal style or--”

Before I could argue, Clarisse picked up Annabeth like a sack of flour and lugged her down to the beach. Grover and I followed.

“Nope, right over the shoulder, got it.”

As soon as we got to the edge of the water, I concentrated on the Queen Anne’s Revenge. I willed it to raise anchor and come to me. After a few anxious minutes, I saw the ship rounding the tip of the island.

“Incoming!” Tyson yelled. He was bounding down the path to join us, the sheep about fifty yards behind, bleating in frustration as their Cyclops friend ran away without feeding them.

“They probably won’t follow us into the water,” I told the others. “All we have to do is swim for the ship.”

“Sheep don’t like to go into the water.” Jason informs the group. “Because of their wool, it’s not safe for them to go into the water.”

Reyna nods. “I’m sure the fact that they’re the size of hippos also doesn’t help their cause all that much either.” 

“With Annabeth like this?” Clarisse protested.

“We can do it,” I insisted. I was starting to feel confident again. I was back in my home turf— the sea. “Once we get to the ship, we’re home free.”

“Well, that’s easy for him to say.” Annabeth quirks an eyebrow. “I was kind of out of it, but I’m pretty sure Clarisse still had me over her shoulder while we swam.” 

We almost made it, too.

“Uh-oh.” Several people echo at once.

We were just wading past the entrance to the ravine, when we heard a tremendous roar and saw Polyphemus, scraped up and bruised but still very much alive, his baby-blue wedding outfit in tatters, splashing toward us with a boulder in each hand.

Notes:

It's been a long time since I've finished a chapter this early, honestly, and true to those previous times, I'm really not entirely sure what it is I wrote. It's been a blur of classes (where I admittedly ended up writing a lot of these chapters sorry professors), grades, covid scares, and how i met your mother episodes (which if you've ever seen it explains some of the humor I ran into this time around).

Also, to everyone that wished me luck on my paper, thank you very much! I ended up getting an 83, which I think is pretty good for a first attempt at a paper that I started and finished the day that it was due so...

ALSO ALSO, CHALICE OF THE GODS COMES OUT NEXT WEEK!!! I'm going home on Wednesday when my copy is supposed to be delivered. The buzz that I got after reading the chapter titles... damn...

ALSO ALSO ALSO, WE GOT A MINUTE LONG PJO SHOW TRAILER!!! IT LOOKS SO GOOD!!! AND THE THRILL RIDE O' LOVE SCENE!!! I WILL NEVER RECOVER!!!

You can find me on Twitter and Tumblr

Until next time <3

Chapter 16: I Go Down With The Ship

Notes:

Fun fact, the duration of this chapter on Audible is only 11 minutes long, and ALL OF IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO REACT TO!!!

Enjoy <3

The entire car groans at the return of Polyphemus.

“I’ve never been more pissed at the children of Poseidon and their inability to die.” Annabeth grumbles under her breath. 

“You’d think he’d run out of rocks,” I muttered.

“Swim for it!” Grover said.

He and Clarisse plunged into the surf. Annabeth hung on to Clarisse’s neck and tried to paddle with one hand, the wet Fleece weighing her down.

Nico looks at Annabeth. “Do you remember any of this?”

“About 25 percent.” Annabeth admits. “But it does explain my chronic nightmares of being trampled by a bunch of wet sheep.” 

But the monster’s attention wasn’t on the Fleece.

Reyna’s eyebrows furrow. “Then what is it on?” She asks slowly. “He’s not still in love with Grover, is he?” 

Piper cracks her knuckles. “For his sake, I hope not.” 

Jason’s head pops up behind her. “BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL!” 

“You, young Cyclops!” Polyphemus roared. “Traitor to your kind!”

Frank raises both his eyebrows. “Oh, no he did not.” 

Tyson froze.

Leo shakes his head, snapping his fingers in a zig-zag pattern. “Oh, yes he did.”

“Don’t listen to him!” I pleaded. “Come on.”

I pulled Tyson’s arm, but I might as well have been pulling a mountain. He turned and faced the older Cyclops. “I am not a traitor.”

“You serve mortals!” Polyphemus shouted. “Thieving humans!”

“We’re not thieves!” Piper pouts, sounding offended.

“Piper, you are literally a convicted thief.” Annabeth says.

Piper opens her mouth, as if to protest, before promptly closing it again. “Oh right, I forgot about that…”

Polyphemus threw his first boulder. Tyson swatted it aside with his fist.

“Y’know what?” Hazel asks the car. “I’m with Percy. Where is he getting all these big-ass rocks?” 

“Not a traitor,” Tyson said. “And you are not my kind.”

“Death or victory!” Polyphemus charged into the surf, but his foot was still wounded. He immediately stumbled and fell on his face. That would’ve been funny, except he started to get up again, spitting salt water and growling.

Reyna snorts. “Well, considering the others are still standing, I’m assuming Polyphemus doesn’t make it out of this.”

Annabeth’s eyebrows furrow, and she tilts her head to the side, suddenly blink rapidly. “Did he?” She asks so softly that not even Nico can hear her. 

“Percy!” Clarisse yelled. “Come on!”

They were almost to the ship with the Fleece. If I could just keep the monster distracted a little longer…

Frank wrinkles their nose. “Not loving all the name-calling between these half-brothers.” 

Piper glances at Frank through the rearview mirror. “Are you saying it’s wrong to call your half-sibling a monster?” 

“Go,” Tyson told me. “I will hold Big Ugly.”

Jason sighs deeply. “Piper, you can’t keep calling Drew a monster.” 

“Well, if she stopped acting like a monster, I wouldn’t call her a monster!”

“No! He’ll kill you.” I’d already lost Tyson once. I wasn’t going to lose him again. “We’ll fight him together.”

“Together,” Tyson agreed.

“Aww,” Reyna coos. “Look at those brothers teaming up to kill their other brother.” 

Nico nods. “Nothing bonds people quicker than justifiable homicide.” 

I drew my sword.

Leo leans forward. “Is nobody going to question why he just knows the term ‘justifiable homicide’?” 

Polyphemus advanced carefully, limping worse than ever. But there was nothing wrong with his throwing arm. He chucked his second boulder. I dove to one side, but I still would’ve been squashed if Tyson’s fist hadn’t blasted the rock to rubble.

I willed the sea to rise. A twenty-foot wave surged up, lifting me on its crest. I rode toward the Cyclops and kicked him in the eye, leaping over his head as the water blasted him onto the beach.

Piper winces. “Look, I dislike Polyphemus as much as the next person, but why did he have to kick him in the eye? Hasn’t it been through enough?”

“Destroy you!” Polyphemus spluttered. “Fleece stealer!”

“You stole the Fleece!” I yelled. “You’ve been using it to lure satyrs to their deaths!”

“So? Satyrs good eating!”

Leo shrugs. “Well, we can’t exactly fault the guy for liking his food…”

“LEO!” Several people screech at once.

“Sorry. Too soon?”  

“The Fleece should be used to heal! It belongs to the children of the gods!”

Hazel narrows her eyes. “But I thought it was already made perfectly clear that Polyphemus is a child of the gods.” 

“I am a child of the gods!” Polyphemus swiped at me, but I sidestepped. “Father Poseidon, curse this thief!” He was blinking hard now, like he could barely see, and I realized he was targeting me by the sound of my voice.

“Well… he does have a point.” Reyna concedes.

Jason scrunches up his face. “Maybe Percy should’ve specified ‘half-human children of the gods’?” 

Leo looks at Jason, and deadpans, “Dude, that’s racist.” 

“Poseidon won’t curse me,” I said, backing up as the Cyclops grabbed air. “I’m his son, too. He won’t play favorites.”

“Well, that’s simply not true.” Annabeth says under her breath.

Nico nods, moving his head closer to Annabeth’s. “Yeah, playing favorites is literally one of the gods’ favorite things to do.” 

Polyphemus roared. He ripped an olive tree out of the side of the cliff and smashed it where I’d been standing a moment before. “Humans not the same! Nasty, tricky, lying!”

Annabeth presses her lips together into a thin line. “Seriously, why are there so many olive trees on that fucking island!” 

Grover was helping Annabeth aboard the ship. Clarisse was waving frantically at me, telling me to come on.

Tyson worked his way around Polyphemus, trying to get behind him.

“Young one!” the older Cyclops called. “Where are you? Help me!”

“No, Tyson!” Frank urges the radio. “Stay strong.” 

Tyson stopped.

“You weren’t raised right!” Polyphemus wailed, shaking his olive tree club. “Poor orphaned brother! Help me!”

Hazel presses her lips together. “Yeah, I don’t think Tyson is going to help you up Polyphemus. Which is sad for you, considering this is the same kid that once carried six Ares campers on his back so they didn’t have to wade through mud on their way to archery.” 

No one moved. No sound but the ocean and my own heartbeat. Then Tyson stepped forward, raising his hands defensively. “Don’t fight, Cyclops brother. Put down the—”

Polyphemus spun toward his voice.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Piper hisses. “You son of a--”

“Tyson!” I shouted.

The tree struck him with such force it would’ve flattened me into a Percy pizza with extra olives. Tyson flew backward, plowing a trench in the sand. Polyphemus charged after him, but I shouted, “No!” and lunged as far as I could with Riptide. I’d hoped to sting Polyphemus in the back of the thigh, but I managed to leap a little bit higher.

Nico blinks. “Wait is he saying--” 

“Blaaaaah!” Polyphemus bleated just like his sheep, and swung at me with his tree.

“Oh my, gods.” Leo says slowly. “Percy stabbed his half brother in the dick.” 

I dove, but still got raked across the back by a dozen jagged branches. I was bleeding and bruised and exhausted. The guinea pig inside me wanted to bolt. But I swallowed down my fear.

Polyphemus swung the tree again, but this time I was ready. I grabbed a branch as it passed, ignoring the pain in my hands as I was jerked skyward, and let the Cyclops lift me into the air. At the top of the arc I let go and fell straight against the giant’s face—landing with both feet on his already damaged eye.

Reyna starts blinking rapidly. “Great, even my eye is starting to sting.” She mutters, rubbing at her eyelids. “I think Piper’s compulsions might be contagious.”

“Haha.” Piper deadpans, though a small smile does make its way across her lips.

Polyphemus yowled in pain. Tyson tackled him, pulling him down. I landed next to them—sword in hand, within striking distance of the monster’s heart. But I locked eyes with Tyson, and I knew I couldn’t do it. It just wasn’t right.

“Wow, good for him for not being able to murder his brother.” Hazel nods. “I cannot relate.”

Leo leans forward, eyebrows furrowed. “Huh?”

“Percy’s brother, not mine.” Hazel clarifies.

Leo nods. “Oh…” He says, leaning back in his seat, before furrowing his eyebrows once more. “ Huh ?” 

“Let him go,” I told Tyson. “Run.”

With one last mighty effort, Tyson pushed the cursing older Cyclops away, and we ran for the surf.

“Huh…” Annabeth says slowly. “I guess he did survive…”

“How bad exactly was your concussion?” Frank asks, concerned.

“I will smash you.’” Polyphemus yelled, doubling over in pain. His enormous hands cupped over his eye.

Annabeth shrugs. “I have no idea, because I was pretty much healed by the time I saw a healer… but a majority of the last few minutes feels like brand new information.: 

Tyson and I plunged into the waves.

“Where are you?” Polyphemus screamed. He picked up his tree club and threw it into the water. It splashed off to our right.

I summoned up a current to carry us, and we started gaining speed. I was beginning to think we might make it to the ship, when Clarisse shouted from the deck, “Yeah, Jackson! In your face, Cyclops!”

“He couldn’t have tried to summon a current to carry the 70 pound golden fleece?” Jason asks.

Nico shrugs. “He was busy fighting the cyclops.”

“Right, but only to distract him from the fleece.” Jason says slowly. “They would have gotten away a lot faster if he’d--”

Shut up, I wanted to yell.

“Jason, logic is no place for a fight scene.” Leo says wisely. “Just don’t think too much, and enjoy watching Reyna rub at her eyes.”

“I hate you, Valdez.” 

“Rarrr!” Polyphemus picked up a boulder. He threw it toward the sound of Clarisse’s voice, but it fell short, narrowly missing Tyson and me.

“Yeah, yeah!” Clarisse taunted. “You throw like a wimp! Teach you to try marrying me, you idiot!”

“Clarisse…” Piper says warningly, as if she was talking to a puppy she was trying to train. “No!” 

“Clarisse!” I yelled, unable to stand it. “Shut up!”

Too late. Polyphemus threw another boulder, and this time I watched helplessly as it sailed over my head and crashed through the hull of the Queen Anne’s Revenge.

“Oh, shit.” Most of the car says, even Annabeth, who seems just as shocked as the rest that this was happening. 

You wouldn’t believe how fast a ship can sink. The Queen Anne’s Revenge creaked and groaned and listed forward like it was going down a playground slide.

Nico stares at Annabeth. “You don’t remember being on a ship as it sank?”

She shrugs helplessly. “Not really. In my mind it was there one minute, and then the next sea horses were dropping us off in Florida.” 

I cursed, willing the sea to push us faster, but the ship’s masts were already going under.

Frank was staring at the back of Annabeth’s head, blinking rapidly. “I have so. Many.  Questions…” 

“Dive!” I told Tyson. And as another rock sailed over our heads, we plunged underwater.

My friends were sinking fast, trying to swim, without luck, in the bubbly trail of the ship’s wreckage.

Not many people realize that when a ship goes down, it acts like a sinkhole, pulling down everything around it. 

“Well, yeah, I don’t expect that to be the type of general knowledge that us, run of the mill, not-children of the sea god would know.” Piper laughs.

“Actually, I knew that.” Leo raises one hand. 

“Yeah, but you’re not run of the mill.” Piper replies. “You’re Leo.” 

Clarisse was a strong swimmer, but even she wasn’t making any progress. Grover frantically kicked with his hooves. Annabeth was hanging on to the Fleece, which flashed in the water like a wave of new pennies.

I swam toward them, knowing that I might not have the strength to pull my friends out.

Worse, pieces of timber were swirling around them; none of my power with water would help if I got whacked on the head by a beam.

Jason’s eyebrows furrow. “But… doesn’t water heal him? I’m assuming an injury he got in water would just--”

“Dude, what did I say about shutting off your brain for a little bit.” Leo says soothingly, rubbing circles in the center of Jason’s back.

We need help, I thought.

Yes. Tyson’s voice, loud and clear in my head.

“That’s some Spy Kids shit right there.” Leo proclaims, earning a look from Hazel.

I looked over at him, startled. I’d heard Nereids and other water spirits speak to me underwater before, but it never occurred to me … Tyson was a son of Poseidon. We could communicate with each other.

“Why didn’t I know that Percy could communicate with his brother like Spy Kids?” 

“I may regret asking this,” Hazel says slowly. “But what is a ‘spy kid’?” 

Piper makes a small sound in the back of her throat. “Um, only my childhood!” 

Rainbow, Tyson said.

I nodded, then closed my eyes and concentrated, adding my voice to Tyson’s: RAINBOW! We need you!

“Imagine if they just yelled out ‘Hey, you guys’!” Frank says, which causes both Leo and Piper to laugh. 

Jason hesitates. “Is that also a ‘Spy Kids’ reference?” 

Reyna raises one dark eyebrow. “Jason, even I saw the Electric Company.” 

Immediately, shapes shimmered in the darkness below—three horses with fish tails, galloping upward faster than dolphins. Rainbow and his friends glanced in our direction and seemed to read our thoughts. They whisked into the wreckage, and a moment later burst upward in a cloud of bubbles—Grover, Annabeth, and Clarisse each clinging to the neck of a hippocampus.

Rainbow, the largest, had Clarisse. He raced over to us and allowed Tyson to grab hold of his mane. His friend who bore Annabeth did the same for me.

We broke the surface of the water and raced away from Polyphemus’s island. Behind us, I could hear the Cyclops roaring in triumph, “I did it! I finally sank Nobody!”

“Mhm…” Leo hums, his eyes darting from side to side. “Sure, Jan.” 

I hoped he never found out he was wrong.

We skimmed across the sea as the island shrank to a dot and then disappeared.

“Did it,” Annabeth muttered in exhaustion. “We …”

“I’m sure the healing concussion wasn’t helping your grammar much.” Jason murmurs. 

“No, probably not.” Annabeth agrees. 

She slumped against the neck of the hippocampus and instantly fell asleep.

I didn’t know how far the hippocampi could take us. I didn’t know where we were going. I just propped up Annabeth so she wouldn’t fall off, covered her in the Golden Fleece that we’d been through so much to get, and said a silent prayer of thanks.

“Aw…” Piper coos. “That’s sweet. And utterly sappy. But mostly sweet.” 

Which reminded me … I still owed the gods a debt.

“He does?” A few people chorus, bewildered by this odd new information.

Hazel gasps, reaching over Nico to grip Annabeth’s forearm. “He does!” She squeals.

“You’re a genius,” I told Annabeth quietly.

Annabeth sniffs, blinking rapidly. “He’s such a dork. I hate him so much.” 

Then I put my head against the Fleece, and before I knew it, I was asleep, too.

Notes:

I am genuinely so shocked that I managed to get this chapter out on time.

First of all, I had another psych paper due. You'd think I'd have learnt to not start it until the day it was due like last time, but that was not the case (It will probably also not be the case for my philosophy paper due on Friday 😬) Let's pray the formatting issues aren't as bad this time 3

THEN my mom peer-pressured me into watching more Smallville. In the month that I've been gone she's watched at least up to season 8 episode 14, meanwhile I was stopping myself from watching more than season 5 episode 10 (if you've seen it, you know why I was scared), so that was a whole thing too.

Also, Chalice of the Gods came out. My copy won't arrive from Amazon until today, but it's being shipped to my house and won't be able to see it until the weekend, so i ended up buying it on apple books and finished it :) (don't worry, this is a spoiler free zone!) i may or may not have also bought it on audible for no apparent reason hahaha...

So, yeah, we only have FOUR MORE CHAPTERS! Which is insane, bc it feels just like yesterday when I was posting chapter 10 after a six month hiatus ToT.

anyways, i'm sleep deprived and going to bed now. good night/morning depending on how you look at it

(btw, did anybody else forget that Polyphemus survived, because that was a genuine surprise to me seriously did i even read this book???)

Until next time <3

Chapter 17: We Get A Surprise On Miami Beach

Notes:

Enjoy!

“I’m hungry!” Leo announces, suddenly.

“When aren’t you hungry?” Nico asks him. 

“Percy, wake up.”

Salt water splashed my face. Annabeth was shaking my shoulder.

“Y’know what?” Annabeth sighs, a sound full of regret. “I could eat too.” 

Leo claps, “It’s settled then.” Quicker than anyone can react, Leo pulls out his phone, and starts searching for restaurants. 

In the distance, the sun was setting behind a city skyline. I could see a beachside highway lined with palm trees, storefronts glowing with red and blue neon, a harbor filled with sailboats and cruise ships.

“Miami, I think,” Annabeth said. “But the hippocampi are acting funny.”

“Probably because you’re in Miami .” Nico shudders. “Nothing good ever washes up in Miami.” He holds up his hands defensively. “No offense to Miami or anyone from Miami.”

Hazel raises an eyebrow. “On behalf of Miami and people from Miami, offense taken.”  

Sure enough, our fishy friends had slowed down and were whinnying and swimming in circles, sniffing the water. They didn’t look happy. One of them sneezed. I could tell what they were thinking.

“Fish-horses can sneeze…” Piper says slowly. “That’s interesting to know. 

“This is as far as they’ll take us,” I said. “Too many humans. Too much pollution. We’ll have to swim to shore on our own.”

None of us was very psyched about that, but we thanked Rainbow and his friends for the ride. Tyson cried a little. He unfastened the makeshift saddle pack he’d made, which contained his tool kit and a couple of other things he’d salvaged from the Birmingham wreck. He hugged Rainbow around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he’d picked up on the island, and said good-bye.

“Ooh!” Leo jumps up and down in his seat, but it has nothing to do with what is happening in the story. “There’s a Waffle House like thirty minutes from here!”

“And?” Piper asks, raising one eyebrow.

Leo pouts. “I haven’t been to a Waffle House since I lived in Texas. Besides, we might even see Lana Del Ray.” 

Frank, completely oblivious to Leo’s joke, leans forward. “Ooh, I love Lana Del Ray!” 

Once the hippocampi’s white manes disappeared into the sea, we swam for shore. The waves pushed us forward, and in no time we were back in the mortal world. We wandered along the cruise line docks, pushing through crowds of people arriving for vacations. Porters bustled around with carts of luggage. Taxi drivers yelled at each other in Spanish and tried to cut in line for customers. If anybody noticed us—five kids dripping wet and looking like they’d just had a fight with a monster—they didn’t let on.

Now that we were back among mortals, Tyson’s single eye had blurred from the Mist. Grover had put on his cap and sneakers. Even the Fleece had transformed from a sheepskin to a red-and-gold high school letter jacket with a large glittery Omega on the pocket.

Reyna sighs. “Actually, I’ve always wanted to see a real life Waffle House since I saw the SNL skit.”

Jason stares at her. “You watch Saturday Night Live?”

“Jenna Ortega was hosting.”  Reyna replies, as if that explained everything. 

Annabeth ran to the nearest newspaper box and checked the date on the Miami Herald. She cursed. “June eighteenth! We’ve been away from camp ten days!”

Hazel’s eyebrows furrow. “I thought you said this quest took three days.” She directs this statement towards Annabeth.

“That’s impossible!” Clarisse said.

Annabeth shrugs. “It’s been, like, five years, give me a break! Besides, I’m ADHD. Time in itself is not real.” 

But I knew it wasn’t. Time traveled differently in monstrous places.

“Not just monstrous places.” Nico sighs deeply. “Time feels like it’s always moving at different speeds.”

“Yeah!” Leo exclaims. “Like this road trip. Logically, I know that we’ve only been driving for about 24 hours, but it feels like it’s been going on for, like, three years!” 

“Thalia’s tree must be almost dead,” Grover wailed. “We have to get the Fleece back tonight.”

Piper blinks, as if being taken out of a dream. “Oh, right, Thalia’s tree. Is it weird that in all of the chaos, I completely forgot the whole reason that they needed the Golden Fleece in the first place?” 

“Yes.” Jason replies. “My sister is dying!” 

Piper sighs. “Jason, people are losing earrings in swimming pools.” 

Clarisse slumped down on the pavement. “How are we supposed to do that?” Her voice trembled. “We’re hundreds of miles away. No money. No ride. This is just like the Oracle said. It’s your fault, Jackson! If you hadn’t interfered—”

“Right, the Oracle.” Frank mutters. “You guys are right, that feels like forever ago.” 

“Percy’s fault?!” Annabeth exploded. “Clarisse, how can you say that? You are the biggest—”

“Stop it!” I said.

“C’mon, Percy,” Reyna jeers. “I wanted to hear how Annabeth was going to finish that sentence!” 

Annabeth shrugs. “I would offer to tell you, but even I don’t remember what I was going to say.”

Reyna shakes her head in (probably) mock consternation. “Fucking Percy always ruining everything.” 

Clarisse put her head in her hands. Annabeth stomped her foot in frustration.

The thing was: I’d almost forgotten this quest was supposed to be Clarisse’s. For a scary moment, I saw things from her point of view. How would I feel if a bunch of other heroes had butted in and made me look bad?

“Probably not good.” Leo guesses.

“Very insightful, Leo.” Nico deadpans.

“I try.” 

I thought about what I’d overheard in the boiler room of the CSS Birmingham—Ares yelling at Clarisse, warning her that she’d better not fail. Ares couldn’t care less about the camp, but if Clarisse made him look bad…

“Frank, how upset are you going to be if I call your dad a dick again?” Piper asks, glancing at the other kid through the rearview mirror. 

Frank sighs deeply. “I mean… it isn’t like he doesn’t deserve it.” 

“Clarisse,” I said, “what did the Oracle tell you exactly?”

She looked up. I thought she was going to tell me off, but instead she took a deep breath and recited her prophecy: “You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone, you shall find what you seek and make it your own, but despair for your life entombed within stone, and fail without friends, to fly home alone.”

“Ouch,” Grover mumbled.

“No,” I said. “No … wait a minute. I’ve got it.”

I searched my pockets for money, and found nothing but a golden drachma. “Does anybody have any cash?”

“You’d think that pieces of gold would get you further in life than pieces of paper.” Reyna says. 

Hazel shakes her head, her hand going to tug at the pendant on the necklace that Frank had given her for her last birthday. “It’s a paper world, and we’re all just living in it.” 

Annabeth and Grover shook their heads morosely. Clarisse pulled a wet Confederate dollar from her pocket and sighed.

“Cash?” Tyson asked hesitantly. “Like … green paper?”

Frank sits boltright in his seat, his hands starting to flap excitedly. “Is this the moment when Tyson saves the day again?” 

I looked at him. “Yeah.”

“Like the kind in duffel bags?”

“Yeah, but we lost those bags days a-g-g—”

I stuttered to a halt as Tyson rummaged in his saddle pack and pulled out the Ziploc bag full of cash that Hermes had included in our supplies.

“Tyson’s back must be hurting him from carrying this quest, like damn !” Leo whoops. “No offense, Annabeth.” 

Annabeth waves him off. “None taken, Tyson deserves the praise. That’s my probably-future brother-in-law!”

“Tyson!” I said. “How did you—”

“Thought it was a feed bag for Rainbow,” he said. “Found it floating in sea, but only paper inside. Sorry.” He handed me the cash. Fives and tens, at least three hundred dollars.

I ran to the curb and grabbed a taxi that was just letting out a family of cruise passengers.

Piper’s spine stiffens. “Wait, did he just say ‘cruise passengers’?”

Leo shrugs. “I think so, why?”

“Clarisse,” I yelled. “Come on. You’re going to the airport. Annabeth, give her the Fleece.”

“Huh?” Jason asks, for once inarticulate without being induced by a blow to the head.

I’m not sure which of them looked more stunned as I took the Fleece letter jacket from Annabeth, tucked the cash into its pocket, and put it in Clarisse’s arms.

The majority of the car also looks dumbfounded by this turn of events. Even Annabeth, who had already lived this, still looked a bit surprised. 

Clarisse said, “You’d let me—”

“It’s your quest,” I said. “We only have enough money for one flight. Besides, I can’t travel by air. Zeus would blast me into a million pieces. That’s what the prophecy meant: you’d fail without friends, meaning you’d need our help, but you’d have to fly home alone. You have to get the Fleece back safely.”

“This is a bigger plot twist than the ending of Now You See Me.” Leo whispers. 

“I’ve never seen it.” Piper tells him, her voice soft.

“You should, it’s awesome. And it has an awesome plot twist.” 

I could see her mind working—suspicious at first, wondering what trick I was playing, then finally deciding I meant what I said.

She jumped in the cab. “You can count on me. I won’t fail.”

“Not failing would be good.” Reyna tells the radio, nodding her head.

“Not failing would be good.”

Reyna furrows her eyebrows. “I’m not sure how I feel about this.”

The cab peeled out in a cloud of exhaust. The Fleece was on its way.

“Percy,” Annabeth said, “that was so—”

“Generous?” Grover offered.

“Why are they always cutting you off?” Hazel asks Annabeth.

“Insane,” Annabeth corrected. “You’re betting the lives of everybody at camp that Clarisse will get the Fleece safely back by tonight?”

Annabeth shrugs. “I really don’t know. If I didn’t love them so much, I think I would have punched them already. But, like, seriously, not in a playful way.”

“It’s her quest,” I said. “She deserves a chance.”

“Percy is nice,” Tyson said.

“Percy is too nice,” Annabeth grumbled, but I couldn’t help thinking that maybe, just maybe, she was a little impressed. I’d surprised her, anyway. And that wasn’t easy to do.

“It’s true. Remember the surprise party that took two and a half years of planning.” Piper grumbles.

“It was a good effort.” Annabeth tries to say comfortingly.

“You showed up two hours early to help decorate!” 

Annabeth shrugs. “I like being helpful!” 

“Come on,” I told my friends. “Let’s find another way home.”

That’s when I turned and found a sword’s point at my throat.

“Oh, shit.” The words echo throughout the car.

“Hey, cuz,” said Luke. “Welcome back to the States.”

Hazel groans, a sound from deep within her chest. “Not this bitch again.” 

His bear-man thugs appeared on either of side of us. One grabbed Annabeth and Grover by their T-shirt collars. The other tried to grab Tyson, but Tyson knocked him into a pile of luggage and roared at Luke.

“Percy,” Luke said calmly, “tell your giant to back down or I’ll have Oreius bash your friends’ heads together.”

“He’s not a giant!” Frank says, sounding genuinely heated. “He is a cyclops! There is a difference, Luke ! Learn it!” They hesitate, before hastily adding, “And also don’t bash Annabeth and Grover’s heads together.”

Oreius grinned and raised Annabeth and Grover off the ground, kicking and screaming.

“What do you want, Luke?” I growled.

He smiled, the scar rippling on the side of his face. He gestured toward the end of the dock, and I noticed what should’ve been obvious. The biggest boat in port was the Princess Andromeda.

Leo nods slowly. “That should’ve been obvious, but then again Jason forgets where he placed his glasses when they’re on his face , so I think we can cut Percy some slack this time around.”

Jason bites his lower lip. “That only happened twice.” 

“Why, Percy,” Luke said, “I want to extend my hospitality, of course.”

“Thanks,” Hazel says. “But you can keep it.” 

The bear twins herded us aboard the Princess Andromeda. They threw us down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool with sparkling fountains that sprayed into the air. A dozen of Luke’s assorted goons—snake people, Laistrygonians, demigods in battle armor—had gathered to watch us get some “hospitality.”

Jason narrows his eyes. “He-- he brought the son of the sea god on a boat, and then dropped him in front of a swimming pool with fountains ?” 

“And so, the Fleece,” Luke mused. “Where is it?” He looked us over, prodding my shirt with the tip of his sword, poking Grover’s jeans.

“Okay, now that was just unnecessary!” Piper huffs, throwing her hands in the air. “Does Luke genuinely expect Grover to have hidden a fleece of golden wool in his pants ?” 

“Hey!” Grover yelled. “That’s real goat fur under there!”

“Sorry, old friend.” Luke smiled. “Just give me the Fleece and I’ll leave you to return to your, ah, little nature quest.”

“Okay,” Piper lifts one hand in the air, glaring. “Now I know that this bitch did not refer to Grover as his friend .” 

“Blaa-ha-ha!” Grover protested. “Some old friend!”

“Good for you, Grover.” Hazel commends. “Don’t let him get away with being a bitch.” 

“Maybe you didn’t hear me.” Luke’s voice was dangerously calm. “Where—is—the—Fleece?”

“Not here,” I said. I probably shouldn’t have told him anything, but it felt good to throw the truth in his face. “We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up.”

Reyna allows her head to fall into her hands. “Why would he speak? He has to know that speaking usually makes things turn out badly for him.”

“Oh, he does.” Annabeth reveals. “Yet, he still does it.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed. “You’re lying. You couldn’t have …” His face reddened as a horrible possibility occurred to him. “Clarisse?”

“I’m going to be honest, I would genuinely kill to be able to see what Luke’s face must have looked like.” Hazel says. “I bet it was hilarious.” 

I nodded.

“You trusted … you gave …”

Hazel looks at Annabeth. “Was it hilarious?”

“Yeah.”

“Agrius!”

Annabeth shifts uncomfortably. “I mean, maybe . I was a little more focused on not being killed to enjoy it.

The bear giant flinched. “Y-yes?”

Nico nods. “Not dying is usually a good choice.” 

“Get below and prepare my steed. Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to the Miami Airport, fast.’”

“But, boss—”

“Do it!” Luke screamed. “Or I’ll feed you to the drakon!”

“Why does he keep threatening people with the drakon?” Frank asks, their eyebrows furrowing.

The bear-man gulped and lumbered down the stairs. Luke paced in front of the swimming pool, cursing in Ancient Greek, gripping his sword so tight his knuckles turned white.

Leo shrugs. “I have no idea, but I speak from experience when I say that threatening your goons with large winged beasts is not the way to keep them happy.” 

The rest of Luke’s crew looked uneasy. Maybe they’d never seen their boss so unhinged before.

Frank stares at Leo. “I’m sorry, wha--”

I started thinking … If I could use Luke’s anger, get him to talk so everybody could hear how crazy his plans were …

“Don’t ask questions.” Annabeth advises him, then shudders. “Let’s just say things got a little tense when we were building the Argo II and leave it at that.” 

I looked at the swimming pool, at the fountains spraying mist into the air, making a rainbow in the sunset. And suddenly I had an idea.

“Uh oh.” Jason mutters.

Annabeth holds up a hand. “No, it was actually a really good idea this time.” 

“A good idea as in an actually good idea, or a good idea as in it’s better than challenging the god of war to a duel?” Reyna asks.

Annabeth shrugs. “Both, I guess.” 

“You’ve been toying with us all along,” I said. “You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it.”

Luke scowled. “Of course, you idiot! And you’ve messed everything up!”

“Can you really call Percy an idiot when he managed to outsmart you, Luke?” Hazel asks the radio. 

Nico smiles at her. “It’s moments like these that make me proud to call you my sister.”

“Traitor!” I dug my last gold drachma out of my pocket and threw it at Luke. As I expected, he dodged it easily. The coin sailed into the spray of rainbow-colored water.

I hoped my prayer would be accepted in silence. I thought with all my heart: O goddess, accept my offering.

Leo crosses his arms over his chest. “Was anyone going to tell me that Iris accepts silent prayers, or was I just supposed to find that out by invading Percy’s private audio diaries?”

“You tricked all of us!” I yelled at Luke. “Even DIONYSUS at CAMP HALF-BLOOD!”

Piper narrows her eyes. “Is Percy trying to call Mr. D, or is he having the weirdest voice crack in history?”

“That’s what we were all wondering.” Annabeth mutters. 

Behind Luke, the fountain began to shimmer, but I needed everyone’s attention on me, so I uncapped Riptide.

Luke just sneered. “This is no time for heroics, Percy. Drop your puny little sword, or I’ll have you killed sooner rather than later.”

Hazel scoffs. “Of course he’s a sword snob too.”

“Who poisoned Thalia’s tree, Luke?”

“I did, of course,” he snarled. “I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus.”

The car recoils at the name. Most of the group may not have known that “names have power” but it took just one look at their friends to understand that this was one name that you didn’t go throwing around. 

“Chiron had nothing to do with it?”

“Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn’t have the guts.”

“Guts.” Hazel repeats. “Is that what we’re calling cowardice nowadays?” 

“You call it guts? Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?”

“Don’t forget letting a man that has literally dedicated his life to protecting and raising heroes take the fall for it.” Annabeth adds, bitterness sharpening her words like a blade.

Hazel puts her hand out. “Up top.”

Annabeth hesitates, before high-fiving Hazel.

Luke raised his sword. “You don’t understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece … once I was done with it.”

“What?” Piper asks.

“Why?” Reyna adds.

“Who?” Leo jumps in. 

That made me hesitate. Why would he let me take the Fleece? He must’ve been lying. But I couldn’t afford to lose his attention.

“You were going to heal Kronos,” I said.

“Yes! The Fleece’s magic would’ve sped his mending process by tenfold. But you haven’t stopped us, Percy. You’ve only slowed us down a little.”

“And so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods.”

Luke gritted his teeth. “You know that! Why do you keep asking me?”

“Because I want everybody in the audience to hear you.”

“Not gonna lie, that’s kind of badass.” Reyna mutters. “Kudos.” 

“Gotta love kudos.” Frank smiles, before looking straight ahead at the windshield. 

“What audience?”

Then his eyes narrowed. He looked behind him and his goons did the same. They gasped and stumbled back.

Jason nods. “Okay, yeah, this was a genuinely good idea.” 

Leo pats Jason’s shoulder. “Be sure to mention that to Percy when we reunite in the afterlife. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it after a few hundred years to calm down.” 

Above the pool, shimmering in the rainbow mist, was an Iris-message vision of Dionysus, Tantalus, and the whole camp in the dining pavilion. They sat in stunned silence, watching us.

“Well,” said Dionysus dryly, “some unplanned dinner entertainment.”

Nico scoffs. “I wish we had that kind of ‘unplanned dinner entertainment’. The last time anything cool happened at dinner was when Apollo’s friend beat up Sherman Yang and Connor Stoll. And that was two years ago.”

“Mr. D, you heard him,” I said. “You all heard Luke. The poisoning of the tree wasn’t Chiron’s fault.”

Mr. D sighed. “I suppose not.”

“The Iris-message could be a trick,” Tantalus suggested, but his attention was mostly on his cheeseburger, which he was trying to corner with both hands.

“Shut the fuck up, Tantalus!” Piper yells. 

“Nobody likes you!” Frank continues with the jeering. “Not even your food wants to stay with you!” 

“I fear not,” Mr. D said, looking with distaste at Tantalus. “It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse’s pinochle games.”

Tantalus grabbed the cheeseburger. It didn’t bolt away from him. He lifted it from the plate and stared at it in amazement, as if it were the largest diamond in the world. “I got it!” he cackled.

“NO!” The entire car yells in protest. 

“We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus,” Mr. D announced.

Tantalus looked stunned. “What? But—”

“You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed.”

Leo raises his eyebrows, nodding appraisingly. “I’ll give Mr. D points for this. I mean, it’s kind of cold, but well deserved.” 

“No! But—Nooooooooooo!”

“Mr. D is an icon, actually.” Reyna replies. “He is what I aspire to be, minus the godhood and philandering.” 

Nico shrugs. “Even then, he is one of the least philandering gods, and easily the most involved parent.” 

As he dissolved into mist, his fingers clutched at the cheeseburger, trying to bring it to his mouth. But it was too late. He disappeared and the cheeseburger fell back onto its plate. The campers exploded into cheering.

Hazel smiles. “Y’know what? Good for them. I, too, would be cheering for Tantalus’ downfall.” 

Piper stops herself in the middle of letting out a loud whoop. “What do you mean ‘would’?” 

Luke bellowed with rage. He slashed his sword through the fountain and the Iris-message dissolved, but the deed was done.

I was feeling pretty good about myself, until Luke turned and gave me a murderous look. “Kronos was right, Percy. You’re an unreliable weapon. You need to be replaced.”

Hazel’s eyebrows furrow, her smile literally turning upside down. “What does he mean by 'replaced’?” 

Frank leans forward “And why did he just call Percy a ‘weapon’?” 

“An ‘unreliable weapon’.” Nico adds. 

I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I didn’t have time to think about it. One of his men blew a brass whistle, and the deck doors flew open. A dozen more warriors poured out, making a circle around us, the brass tips of their spears bristling.

Leo clears his throat, looking around the car at his confused friends. “So… Waffle House?” 

They all groan.

Luke smiled at me. “You’ll never leave this boat alive.”

Notes:

i'm sorry that i'm late. I got swamped with schoolwork, and then i had fall break. instead of using that time to actually work on my school work, i ended up staying up until 4 am this morning finishing up a paper that was due on SATURDAY (so this isn't the only thing i'm slipping on) and watching a broadway musical adaptation of Taming of the Shrew. btw if you were curious how my philosophy paper went, i ended up misspelling the author of the work i was reflecting. his name was WRIGHT not WHITE... this is way, way worse than 'a half-blood of the eldest dogs' :(

anyways, i ended up finishing this in between working on TWO psychology homework assignments due today (which again I did not work on during fall break...)

i hope that you enjoy, and that this came out comprehensive enough. I'm not joking when I say that i ended up finishing this chapter in like thirty minutes.

You can find me on Twitter if you want. Every now and then I'll post something funny on there.

I'm hoping to get chapter 18 out on Wednesday, but don't hold me to it, because that's the wednesday before midterms and i really cannot tell you how my procrastination will kick in at that point.

Until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 18: The Party Ponies Invade

Notes:

Happy day after Halloween/All Saints Day for anyone that celebrates! Here's a little treat~

Enjoy <3

“You know what, Leo?” Piper sighs, relenting. “Just navigate me to Waffle House.” 

Leo smiles. “I already made it the next destination in the GPS.”

Reyna leans forward. “We’ve been driving towards Waffle House this whole time?”

“No! Not the whole time. Just the last 16 minutes or so.” 

“One on one,” I challenged Luke. “What are you afraid of?”

“Oh, that didn’t last long.” Jason sighs.

“What?” Hazel asks him.

Luke curled his lip. The soldiers who were about to kill us hesitated, waiting for his order.

Jason shakes his head. “The feeling of dread that Percy is going to do something stupid that will probably get him killed.” 

“But we know that he doesn’t die.” Hazel reminds Jason. 

“And yet , the dread is always there.” 

Before he could say anything, Agrius, the bear-man, burst onto the deck leading a flying horse. It was the first pure-black pegasus I’d ever seen, with wings like a giant raven. The pegasus mare bucked and whinnied. I could understand her thoughts. She was calling Agrius and Luke some names so bad Chiron would’ve washed her muzzle out with saddle soap.

“Wow.” Reyna murmurs. “I’ve only ever known Blackjack to be a pure black pegasus. I can’t believe Percy has seen two.” 

Annabeth shakes her head. “That is Blackjack.”

Hazel’s eyebrows furrow. “I thought Blackjack was a stallion.”

“He is.” 

“Sir!” Agrius called, dodging a pegasus hoof. “Your steed is ready!”

“Wait…” Leo says slowly. “Are you saying that Percy’s pegasus is trans?” 

Frank shrugs. “That explains why he always canters in the camp pride parade.”

“Yeah.” Annabeth nods. “This must’ve been recorded before he and Blackjack reunited.”

Luke kept his eyes on me. 

“I told you last summer, Percy,” he said. “You can’t bait me into a fight.”

Nico looks skeptical. “I don’t know, at this point, I think that Percy can list “baiting people that he really shouldn’t be fighting into a fight” as one of his powers.” 

“And you keep avoiding one,” I noticed. “Scared your warriors will see you get whipped?”

“Like you are for Annabeth?” Hazel interjects, before looking excitedly at Piper. “Did I use that term right?”

Piper nods. “You did great, hon.”

Luke glanced at his men, and he saw I’d trapped him. If he backed down now, he would look weak. If he fought me, he’d lose valuable time chasing after Clarisse. For my part, the best I could hope for was to distract him, giving my friends a chance to escape. If anybody could think of a plan to get them out of there, Annabeth could. On the downside, I knew how good Luke was at sword-fighting.

Annabeth glowers at Hazel. “Not a word.” 

Hazel pouts. “Oh come on, Annabeth! If we learned anything during Leo’s story at brunch was that I need this! Let me have this one thing! I don’t ask for much!”

“It’s true.” Leo agrees. “Hazel is easily the least needy out of all of your children.” 

“I’ll kill you quickly,” he decided, and raised his weapon. Backbiter was a foot longer than my own sword. Its blade glinted with an evil gray-and-gold light where the human steele had been melded with celestial bronze. I could almost feel the blade fighting against itself, like two opposing magnets bound together. I didn’t know how the blade had been made, but I sensed a tragedy. Someone had died in the process. Luke whistled to one of his men, who threw him a round leather-and-bronze shield.

He grinned at me wickedly.

“Every new detail I hear about him makes me feel more and more weary.” Frank admits. 

Nico nods. “That was pretty much what it was like knowing him.” He glaces sidelong at Annabeth. “No offense.”

Annabeth shrugs tiredly. “None taken.” 

“Luke,” Annabeth said, “at least give him a shield.”

“Sorry, Annabeth,” he said. “You bring your own equipment to this party.”

The shield was a problem. Fighting two-handed with just a sword gives you more power, but fighting one-handed with a shield gives you better defense and versatility. There are more moves, more options, more ways to kill. I thought back to Chiron, who’d told me to stay at camp no matter what, and learn to fight. Now I was going to pay for not listening to him.

“Of course you only think about what could have stopped you from getting killed before you get killed.” Leo sighs. “You know what I mean?”

“Yeah.” Hazel and Jason reply. 

“No.” Frank says at the same time. “That is not a normal situation that most people can relate to. You should talk to someone.” 

Luke lunged and almost killed me on the first try. His sword went under my arm, slashing through my shirt and grazing my ribs.

I jumped back, then counterattacked with Riptide, but Luke slammed my blade away with his shield.

“My, Percy,” Luke chided. “You’re out of practice.”

“Of course he is.” Hazel mutters. “His sword instructor left kind of suddenly, in case you didn’t hear.” 

He came at me again with a swipe to the head. I parried, returned with a thrust. He sidestepped easily.

The cut on my ribs stung. My heart was racing. When Luke lunged again, I jumped backward into the swimming pool and felt a surge of strength. I spun underwater, creating a funnel cloud, and blasted out of the deep end, straight at Luke’s face.

“I called this.” Jason sighs, turning to Leo. “Didn’t I call this?”

“I dunno, dude. I’m typically too wrapped up in my own head to know what Percy’s doing, how am I supposed to remember everything that you say too?” He narrows his eyes, as if seeing something that nobody else could. “Wait… the rewind in my head remembers, you did call this!” Leo holds up his hand in a high five.  “Nice one, dude!” 

The force of the water knocked him down, spluttering and blinded. But before I could strike, he rolled aside and was on his feet again.

I attacked and sliced off the edge of his shield, but that didn’t even faze him. He dropped to a crouch and jabbed at my legs. Suddenly my thigh was on fire, with a pain so intense I collapsed. My jeans were ripped above the knee. I was hurt. I didn’t know how badly. Luke hacked downward and I rolled behind a deck chair. I tried to stand, but my leg wouldn’t take the weight.

“Perrrrrcy!” Grover bleated.

“Aww, Grover.” Piper pouts. “How dare you hurt Grover’s best friend, Luke!”

“You do remember that he’s one of our close friends too, right?” Frank asks, leaning forward, their elbows on their thighs.

Piper nods. “Yeah, but at this point in time I only knew him as the kid that blew up my hippie school’s gym.” 

I rolled again as Luke’s sword slashed the deck chair in half, metal pipes and all.

I clawed toward the swimming pool, trying hard not to black out. I’d never make it. Luke knew it, too. He advanced slowly, smiling. The edge of his sword was tinged with red.

“One thing I want you to watch before you die, Percy.” He looked at the bear-man Oreius, who was still holding Annabeth and Grover by the necks. “You can eat your dinner now, Oreius. Bon appetit.”

“He’s such a dick .” 

I can’t really tell you which member of the car had said it, because it was definitely more than one. And those that didn’t speak it out loud were definitely thinking it. 

Even Frank. 

That’s how much Luke sucks.

“He-he! He-he!” The bear-man lifted my friends and bared his teeth.

That’s when all Hades broke loose.

“Were you eaten by the bear man?” Piper asks in mock seriousness.

Annabeth deadpans, “Yes. I was eaten at the age of thirteen. I have been a ghost this entire time.”

Reyna shakes her head. “I knew it.” 

Whish!

A red-feathered arrow sprouted from Oreius’s mouth. With a surprised look on his hairy face, he crumpled to the deck.

“Brother!” Agrius wailed. He let the pegasus’s reins go slack just long enough for the black steed to kick him in the head and fly away free over Miami Bay.

“This is the second proudest I’ve ever been of a horse.” Hazel cheers.

For a split second, Luke’s guards were too stunned to do anything except watch the bear twins’ bodies dissolve into smoke.

Then there was a wild chorus of war cries and hooves thundering against metal. A dozen centaurs charged out of the main stairwell.

Jason’s eyes widen behind his glasses. “I can honestly say that I was not expecting that… ”

“Now you know how we felt.” Annabeth mutters. “Y’know how Leo sometimes spaces out and feels like he missed something? That is exactly what I thought had happened.” 

“Ponies!” Tyson cried with delight.

My mind had trouble processing everything I saw. Chiron was among the crowd, but his relatives were almost nothing like him. There were centaurs with black Arabian stallion bodies, others with gold palomino coats, others with orange-and-white spots like paint horses. Some wore brightly colored T-shirts with Day-Glo letters that said PARTY PONIES: SOUTH FLORIDA CHAPTER. Some were armed with bows, some with baseball bats, some with paintball guns. One had his face painted like a Comanche warrior and was waving a large orange Styrofoam hand making a big Number I. Another was bare-chested and painted entirely green. A third had googly-eye glasses with the eyeballs bouncing around on Slinky coils, and one of those baseball caps with soda-can-and-straw attachments on either side.

Piper huffs out a breath. “That isn’t appropriation or anything.”

Nico shakes his head. “Yeah, the Party Ponies aren’t well known for being ‘politically correct’. They’re like that one family member that you love because they’re family, but sometimes say shit that really .”

They exploded onto the deck with such ferocity and color that for a moment even Luke was stunned. I couldn’t tell whether they had come to celebrate or attack.

Apparently both. As Luke was raising his sword to rally his troops, a centaur shot a custom-made arrow with a leather boxing glove on the end. It smacked Luke in the face and sent him crashing into the swimming pool.

Hazel guffaws loudly, her hand quickly moving to cover her mouth. However, she could not muffle the loud giggles bubbling out of her throat as she imagines Luke being shot by a boxing glove arrow and falling into the pool. 

Hell, even the characters that didn’t have a terrible grudge against Luke cannot contain their laughter at that image. 

(It’s the kind of thing that I would very much like to see with my own two eyes *wink, wink*)

His warriors scattered. I couldn’t blame them. Facing the hooves of a rearing stallion is scary enough, but when it’s a centaur, armed with a bow and whooping it up in a soda-drinking hat, even the bravest warrior would retreat.

“Heck, I retreat when it’s Leo in a soda-drinking hat.” Frank sighs, shaking his head. “It is not advisable to have that much sugar in such a small package.”

“Come get some!” yelled one of the party ponies. They let loose with their paintball guns. A wave of blue and yellow exploded against Luke’s warriors, blinding them and splattering them from head to toe. They tried to run, only to slip and fall.

Chiron galloped toward Annabeth and Grover, neatly plucked them off the deck, and deposited them on his back.

I tried to get up, but my wounded leg still felt like it was on fire.

Luke was crawling out of the pool.

“Boo.” Hazel hisses, cupping her hands over her mouth. 

“You’re such a hater.” Leo comments, shaking his head. “I taught you well.” 

“Attack, you fools.’” he ordered his troops. Somewhere down below deck, a large alarm bell thrummed.

I knew any second we would be swamped by Luke’s reinforcements. Already, his warriors were getting over their surprise, coming at the centaurs with swords and spears drawn.

Tyson slapped half a dozen of them aside, knocking them over the guardrail into Miami Bay.

“Tyson is so cool.” Piper sighs. “You’re lucky to have such a cool brother-in-law, Annabeth.” 

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “He’s not my brother in law, yet.” 

Piper raises her eyebrows. “Yet?” 

“Oh… shut up.” 

But more warriors were coming up the stairs.

“Withdraw, brethren!” Chiron said.

“You won’t get away with this, horse man!” Luke shouted. He raised his sword, but got smacked in the face with another boxing glove arrow, and sat down hard in a deck chair.

Hazel was full on cackling, and, surprisingly enough, Annabeth had joined her in her joy. 

A palomino centaur hoisted me onto his back. “Dude, get your big friend!”

“Tyson!” I yelled. “Come on!”

Tyson dropped the two warriors he was about to tie into a knot and jogged after us. He jumped on the centaur’s back.

“Why couldn’t he have finished tying them into a knot?” Leo asks. “I feel like he should have finished what he started. Nobody likes a quitter.” 

“Dude!” the centaur groaned, almost buckling under Tyson’s weight. “Do the words ‘low-carb diet’ mean anything to you?”

“Again with the body shaming.” Frank huffs. 

“It’s also kind of hypocritical because the average weight of an adult male horse is about 1200 pounds.” Reyna adds. 

Luke’s warriors were organizing themselves into a phalanx. But by the time they were ready to advance, the centaurs had galloped to the edge of the deck and fearlessly jumped the guardrail, as if it were a steeplechase and not ten stories above the ground. I was sure we were going to die.

Jason leans forward. “Do we add this to the running total of how many times Percy has almost plummeted towards his death?”

Nico shakes his head. “Nah, I think we should save that for just how many times he’s landed in the ocean. He has way more of a chance of dying on land, so it’s not as funny.” 

We plummeted toward the docks, but the centaurs hit the asphalt with hardly a jolt and galloped off, whooping and yelling taunts at the Princess Andromeda as we raced into the streets of downtown Miami.

I have no idea what the Miamians thought as we galloped by.

Piper shrugs. “Probably not the weirdest thing that’s happened on the streets of Miami.”

Streets and buildings began to blur as the centaurs picked up speed. It felt as if space were compacting—as if each centaur step took us miles and miles. In no time, we’d left the city behind.

We raced through marshy fields of high grass and ponds and stunted trees.

Finally, we found ourselves in a trailer park at the edge of a lake. The trailers were all horse trailers, tricked out with televisions and mini-refrigerators and mosquito netting. We were in a centaur camp.

“It’s odd how much a centaur camp sounds just like a college dorm room.” Jason notes. 

“Yeah,” Leo replies. “Except you probably don’t have to pay through the nose to live in a centaur camp.”  

“Dude!” said a party pony as he unloaded his gear. “Did you see that bear guy? He was all like: ‘Whoa, I have an arrow in my mouth!’”

“Such an eloquent way with words.” Reyna mutters. 

“Damn,” Nico sighs regretfully. “Why can’t Percy tell the story more like that?” 

The centaur with the googly-eye glasses laughed. “That was awesome! Head slam!”

The two centaurs charged at each other full-force and knocked heads, then went staggering off in different directions with crazy grins on their faces.

Chiron sighed. He set Annabeth and Grover down on a picnic blanket next to me. “I really wish my cousins wouldn’t slam their heads together. They don’t have the brain cells to spare.”

Hazel snorts. “Chiron is so sassy.” She tilts her head to the side, and looks Annabeth over assessing. “Is this where you get it from?”

Annabeth shrugs. “Partly Chiron, partly genetics-- on both sides of my family tree, in fact.”

“Chiron,” I said, still stunned by the fact that he was here. “You saved us.”

He gave me a dry smile. “Well now, I couldn’t very well let you die, especially since you’ve cleared my name.”

“But how did you know where we were?” Annabeth asked.

“Advanced planning, my dear. I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami.”

“No offense?” Jason asks.

Annabeth shakes her head. “No, I’m quite certain that the offense was fully intended.”

“Gee, thanks,” Grover mumbled.

“No, no,” Chiron said. “I didn’t mean … Oh, never mind. I am glad to see you, my young satyr. The point is, I was able to eavesdrop on Percy’s Iris-message and trace the signal. Iris and I have been friends for centuries. I asked her to alert me to any important communications in this area. It then took no effort to convince my cousins to ride to your aid. As you see, centaurs can travel quite fast when we wish to. Distance for us is not the same as distance for humans.”

I looked over at the campfire, where three party ponies were teaching Tyson to operate a  paintball gun. I hoped they knew what they were getting into.

“I cannot tell who in this scenario is worse off.” Jason admits.

Reyna pointedly raises an eyebrow. “Clearly you have never seen Tyson play laser tag. The man is a menace.” 

“So what now?” I asked Chiron. “We just let Luke sail away? He’s got Kronos aboard that ship. Or parts of him, anyway.”

Chiron knelt, carefully folding his front legs underneath him. He opened the medicine pouch on his belt and started to treat my wounds. “I’m afraid, Percy, that today has been something of a draw. We didn’t have the strength of numbers to take that ship. Luke was not organized enough to pursue us. Nobody won.”

“So…” Leo says slowly. “Does that mean that Annabeth won?” 

Jason shakes his head. “No, I think that Chiron literally meant ‘nobody’.”

“I know.” Leo shrugs. “I just felt like making a joke. Lighten the mood.” 

“But we got the Fleece!” Annabeth said. “Clarisse is on her way back to camp with it right now.”

Piper pulls into the parking lot of Waffle House. “We’re here.” 

Hazel bites her bottom lip. “Can we wait until this part of the story is over before we get out?”

“I don’t see why not.” Piper replies. “It’s not like any of us are starving.” Leo pointedly clears his throat. “That’s an odd sound for the wind to make.” 

Chiron nodded, though he still looked uneasy. “You are all true heroes. And as soon as we get Percy fixed up, you must return to Half-Blood Hill. The centaurs shall carry you.”

“You’re coming, too?” I asked.

“Oh yes, Percy. I’ll be relieved to get home. My brethren here simply do not appreciate Dean Martin’s music. Besides, I must have some words with Mr. D. There’s the rest of the summer to plan. So much training to do. And I want to see … I’m curious about the Fleece.”

Jason leans forward. “What is that supposed to mean?” 

“It means that Dean Martin’s music is an acquired taste, and the Party Ponies are tasteless.” Nico crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s amore .” 

I didn’t know exactly what he meant, but it made me worried about what Luke had said: I was going to let you take the Fleece … once I was done with it.

Had he just been lying? I’d learned with Kronos there was usually a plan within a plan. The titan lord wasn’t called the Crooked One for nothing. He had ways of getting people to do what he wanted without them ever realizing his true intentions.

“It must be a genetic trait.” Hazel mutters. 

Leo’s eyebrows furrow. “Is this another dig about Luke?”

“Actually it was a dig towards Kronos’ mother, Gaea, but yeah, I guess Luke is also technically related to him.”

Leo’s eyes widened. “Fuck, I wasn’t even thinking about him being her son... This family is so messed up.”

Over by the campfire, Tyson let loose with his paintball gun. A blue projectile splattered against one of the centaurs, hurling him backward into the lake. The centaur came up grinning, covered in swamp muck and blue paint, and gave Tyson two thumbs up.

Reyna and Jason share a look. 

“I told you.” Reyna shrugs one of her shoulders. “A menace.” 

“Annabeth,” Chiron said, “perhaps you and Grover would go supervise Tyson and my cousins before they, ah, teach each other too many bad habits?”

Annabeth met his eyes. Some kind of understanding passed between them.

Piper shakes her head. “I hate it when they talk without words. It’s so confusing.”

“Sure, Chiron,” Annabeth said. “Come on, goat boy.”

“But I don’t like paintball.”

“Yes, you do.” She hoisted Grover to his hooves and led him off toward the campfire.

“Well, if Annabeth says it, it must be true.” 

Chiron finished bandaging my leg. “Percy, I had a talk with Annabeth on the way here. A talk about the prophecy.”

Frank furrows his eyebrows. “The Clarisse prophecy?” 

Hazel turns around to face Frank. “I’m pretty sure they’re talking about that prophecy that they’ve been hinting about Percy, that only Annabeth and Chiron know for some reason.” 

“Right… that makes more sense…”

Uh-oh, I thought.

“It wasn’t her fault,” I said. “I made her tell me.”

His eyes flickered with irritation. I was sure he was going to chew me out, but then his look turned to weariness. “I suppose I could not expect to keep it secret forever.”

“No, you really couldn’t.” Reyna agrees. “Especially when the fate of your secret lies on the shoulders of a thirteen year old girl. No offense, Annabeth.”

“None taken.” Annabeth mutters. “Even I find it highly irresponsible that he told the full contents of a world ending prophecy on the shoulders of a grade school student.”  

“So am I the one in the prophecy?”

Chiron tucked his bandages back into his pouch. “I wish I knew, Percy. You’re not yet sixteen. For now we must simply train you as best we can, and leave the future to the Fates.”

The Fates. I hadn’t thought about those old ladies in a long time, but as soon as Chiron mentioned them, something clicked.

Hazel jumps in her seat, excitedly clapping her hands together as she understands what Percy is alluding to. “The fruit-stand ladies from the last story!”

“That’s what it meant,” I said.

Chiron frowned. “That’s what ‘what’ meant?”

“Last summer. The omen from the Fates, when I saw them snip somebody’s life string. I thought it meant I was going to die right away, but it’s worse than that. It’s got something to do with your prophecy. The death they foretold—it’s going to happen when I’m sixteen.”

Annabeth’s mouth drops open, and she looks down at her hands clasped together in her lap. 

Nico bites his lower lip. “Well… this is awkward.”

“Why?” The rest of the car asks.

Nico remains silent. 

Chiron’s tail whisked nervously in the grass. “My boy, you can’t be sure of that. We don’t even know if the prophecy is about you.”

“But there isn’t any other half-blood child of the Big Three!”

Jason, Nico, and Hazel all look at one another. 

Leo presses his lips together, eyes darting from side to side. “Sure, Jan.” 

“That we know of.”

“And Kronos is rising. He’s going to destroy Mount Olympus!”

Jason shrugs. “Well, he’ll definitely try .” 

“He will try,” Chiron agreed. “And Western Civilization along with it, if we don’t stop him. But we will stop him. You will not be alone in that fight.”

I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but I remembered what Annabeth had told me.

Annabeth presses her lips into a thin line, and shares a look with Nico. “Why does he only remember what I say when it isn’t good?” 

It would come down to one hero. One decision that would save or destroy the West. And I felt sure the Fates had been giving me some kind of warning about that. Something terrible was going to happen, either to me or to somebody I was close to.

“I’m just a kid, Chiron,” I said miserably. “What good is one lousy hero against something like Kronos?”

The car falls silent at this. When Percy says ‘miserably’ he means miserably. He sounded so raw, so honest as he spoke. There was a weight to his words that the occupants of the car understood only all too well.

Hell, Percy recorded this when he was the same age that Hazel was during the Giant War. 

Chiron managed a smile. ‘“What good is one lousy hero’? Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain said something like that to me once, just before he single-handedly changed the course of your Civil War.”

He pulled an arrow from his quiver and turned the razor-sharp tip so it glinted in the firelight.

“Celestial bronze, Percy. An immortal weapon. What would happen if you shot this at a human?”

“Nothing,” I said. “It would pass right through.”

“That’s right,” he said. “Humans don’t exist on the same level as the immortals. They can’t even be hurt by our weapons. But you, Percy—you are part god, part human. You live in both worlds. You can be harmed by both, and you can affect both. That’s what makes heroes so special.

“It’s also what makes us more likely to die.” Jason sighs. “We have double the ways we can die.”

“Thanks for bumming us all out, Jason.” Piper mutters.

Jason mutters, “Anytime.” 

You carry the hopes of humanity into the realm of the eternal. Monsters never die. They are reborn from the chaos and barbarism that is always bubbling underneath civilization, the very stuff that makes Kronos stronger. They must be defeated again and again, kept at bay. Heroes embody that struggle. You fight the battles humanity must win, every generation, in order to stay human. Do you understand?”

“I dunno if I even understand this, Chiron.” Reyna says slowly. “I mean, you’re asking a thirteen year old to understand a lot of deep, philosophical conundrums that not even the immortal gods can answer.” 

“I … I don’t know.”

“You must try, Percy. Because whether or not you are the child of the prophecy, Kronos thinks you might be. And after today, he will finally despair of turning you to his side. That is the only reason he hasn’t killed you yet, you know. As soon as he’s sure he can’t use you, he will destroy you.”

“But try and stay positive.” Nico deadpans. 

“This conversation is such a bummer, it almost makes me not want waffles anymore.” Leo sighs, before glaring at Piper, who moves as though to restart the car, through the rearview mirror. “I said ‘ almost ’.” 

“You talk like you know him.”

Chiron pursed his lips. “I do know him.”

“That sounds ominous.” Leo mutters, waggling his eyebrows at Jason. Jason tries to keep a straight face, but his lips quirk up without meaning to. 

I stared at him. I sometimes forgot just how old Chiron was. “Is that why Mr. D blamed you when the tree was poisoned? Why you said some people don’t trust you?”

“Indeed.”

“But, Chiron … I mean, come on! Why would they think you’d ever betray the camp for Kronos?”

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Frank says slowly, clutching their stomach in the same way as they did that time that Leo accidentally gave him regular whipped cream instead of the dairy free version.

Chiron’s eyes were deep brown, full of thousands of years of sadness. “Percy, remember your training. Remember your study of mythology. What is my connection to the titan lord?”

“There’s a connection between Chiron and Kronos?” Leo asks, leaning towards Piper. 

Piper shrugs. “I guess. I don’t know every Greek myth, you know.” 

“Then what are you good for?” Leo asks in mock outrage.

“On second thought, maybe I should drive us away from Waffle House.” 

Leo bats his eyelashes at Piper. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?” 

“Mhm…”

I tried to think, but I’d always gotten my mythology mixed up. Even now, when it was so real, so important to my own life, I had trouble keeping all the names and facts straight. I shook my head.

“You, uh, owe Kronos a favor or something? He spared your life?”

“Percy,” Chiron said, his voice impossibly soft. “The titan Kronos is my father.”

The car inhales as one at the new revelation. 

Piper leans forward and pauses the story. “That seems about as good a place as any to pause. Come on, let’s go eat.”

Notes:

i know it's been awhile, but life was a little hectic. School ramped up, I had a midterm, a psych test, my second philosophy paper, ran out of my meds, and now I'm here :)

I hope this chapter was not as chaotic as I fear it is, but the source material is super chaotic so not all of it is my fault.

Only two more chapters left... i can't believe it...

Until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 19: The Chariot Race Ends With A Bang

Notes:

Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate!

I know it's been a while, but I wouldn't allow myself to work on this until I finished this paper I had that was over a week late... anyways, I finished that two days ago, so here you go <3

Enjoy!

“And that’s why Hazel hasn’t seen any Superman film yet.” Leo concludes, as the group crawls back into the car after their meal.

Jason blinks. “I cannot believe that that story lasted all through lunch.”

Leo corrects. “Technically it’s brunch. Breakfast for lunch.”

“Can you really use the term brunch when it’s way past noon?” Piper questions.

“If we can’t, then this is not a world I want to live in!” 

Hazel glares at Leo. “Can we please get back to invading Percy’s privacy? I’m so invested!” 

We arrived in Long Island just after Clarisse, thanks to the centaurs’ travel powers. I rode on Chiron’s back, but we didn’t talk much, especially not about Kronos. I knew it had been difficult for Chiron to tell me. I didn’t want to push him with more questions. I mean, I’ve met plenty of embarrassing parents, but Kronos, the evil titan lord who wanted to destroy Western Civilization? Not the kind of dad you invited to school for career day.

“I know that we should really be focused on Chiron and his sucky dad,” Piper says slowly, “but it truly is a testament to our transportation system that in the time it took the Party Ponies to run to Camp Half-Blood, Clarisse had just gotten to camp after her plane ride.” 

Nico waves her off. “We all have sucky dads, we can talk about that anytime. But Clarisse had to take a cab to the airport, buy a paper ticket, go through security, actually fly two and a half hours, take a cab back to camp, and just managed to beat the centaurs. We should definitely be talking about that.” 

When we got to camp, the centaurs were anxious to meet Dionysus. They’d heard he threw some really wild parties, but they were disappointed. The wine god was in no mood to celebrate as the whole camp gathered at the top of Half-Blood Hill.

Hazel blinks at her brother. “I never knew that you had such personal feelings about airports.”

“They’re hell on earth.” 

Leo blinks. “That’s a lot coming from a kid that has been to actual hell.” 

The camp had been through a hard two weeks. The arts and crafts cabin had burned to the ground from an attack by a Draco Aionius (which as near as I could figure was Latin for “really-big-lizard-with-breath-that-blows-stuff-up”). The Big House’s rooms were overflowing with wounded. The kids in the Apollo cabin, who were the best healers, had been working overtime performing first aid.

“Actually, the closest latin translation would be Eternal Dragon.” Jason speaks up. 

Leo coughs, and then says clearly, “Nerd!” 

Jason glares at him. “The cough is supposed to cover the ‘nerd’.” 

Leo shakes his head. “Nah, I’m starting a thing where the cough is its own separate thing.” 

Everybody looked weary and battered as we crowded around Thalia’s tree.

The moment Clarisse draped the Golden Fleece over the lowest bough, the moonlight seemed to brighten, turning from gray to liquid silver. A cool breeze rustled in the branches and rippled through the grass, all the way into the valley. Everything came into sharper focus—the glow of the fireflies down in the woods, the smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of the waves on the beach.

“Do you think the silver is foreshadowing Thalia becoming a huntress?” Frank asks, leaning forward.

Nico shakes his head. “Frank, this is real life, recounted by a twelve year old Percy, not a series of novels written by some middle school teacher.”

Gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green.

Everybody cheered. It was happening slowly, but there could be no doubt—the Fleece’s magic was seeping into the tree, filling it with new power and expelling the poison.

Chiron ordered a twenty-four/seven guard duty on the hilltop, at least until he could find an appropriate monster to protect the Fleece. He said he’d place an ad in Olympus Weekly right away.

“Peleus.” Nico coos. “He was my first real friend at camp.” 

Hazel furrows her eyebrows. “That’s…”

“Yeah, I was a sad kid.” 

In the meantime, Clarisse was carried on her cabin mates’ shoulders down to the amphitheater, where she was honored with a laurel wreath and a lot of celebrating around the campfire.

Nobody gave Annabeth or me a second look. It was as if we’d never left. In a way, I guess that was the best thank-you anyone could give us, because if they admitted we’d snuck out of camp to do the quest, they’d have to expel us. And really, I didn’t want any more attention. It felt good to be just one of the campers for once.

“Again,” Leo speaks up, pressing his fist to his cheek. “I really would have liked to be made aware of the fact that we can be expelled from camp. It would’ve saved a lot of people a lot of grief.” 

Piper shakes her head. “Like the fear of being expelled has ever stopped any of us from doing anything before.” 

Annabeth speaks up, raising one finger in the air. “That…” She sighs deeply, her shoulders slumping. “That is fair.” 

Later that night, as we were roasting s’mores and listening to the Stoll brothers tell us a ghost story about an evil king who was eaten alive by demonic breakfast pastries, Clarisse shoved me from behind and whispered in my ear, “Just because you were cool one time, Jackson, don’t think you’re off the hook with Ares. I’m still waiting for the right opportunity to pulverize you.”

Piper shrugs, “At least she’s consistent.” 

I gave her a grudging smile.

“What?” she demanded.

“Nothing,” I said. “Just good to be home.”

“I’m going to be honest, I would be way more concerned if she started acting nicer to him.” Jason admits. “It would just be weird.” 

The next morning, after the party ponies headed back to Florida, Chiron made a surprise announcement: the chariot races would go ahead as scheduled. We’d all figured they were history now that Tantalus was gone, but completing them did feel like the right thing to do, especially now that Chiron was back and the camp was safe.

“Do you guys ever think about the fact that Chiron can be just as flippant about danger as the people we hate, but we don’t like to admit it just because we love him?” Leo asks the car.

“No.” Annabeth replies.

Leo shrugs. “Cool, me neither.” 

Tyson wasn’t too keen on the idea of getting back in a chariot after our first experience, but he was happy to let me team up with Annabeth. I would drive, Annabeth would defend, and Tyson would act as our pit crew. While I worked with the horses, Tyson fixed up Athena’s chariot and added a whole bunch of special modifications.

“Talk about a dream team.” Frank murmurs.

Piper stares at him through the rearview mirror. “I prefer the Percabeth plus goat boy team, but this one is cool, I guess.”

We spent the next two days training like crazy. Annabeth and I agreed that if we won, the prize of no chores for the rest of the month would be split between our two cabins. Since Athena had more campers, they would get most of the time off, which was fine by me. I didn’t care about the prize. I just wanted to win.

“That is so fair.” Reyna mutters. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but for once I completely get Percy.” 

The night before the race, I stayed late at the stables. I was talking to our horses, giving them one final brushing, when somebody right behind me said, “Fine animals, horses. Wish I’d thought of them.”

“Huh?” A few people ask after hearing the weird statement. Because, let’s be real, that statement sounds weird as fuck out of context. 

A middle-aged guy in a postal carrier outfit was leaning against the stable door. He was slim, with curly black hair under his white pith helmet, and he had a mailbag slung over his shoulder.

“Hermes?” I stammered.

“I’ve never seen Hermes.” Piper says. “What do you guys think he looks like? I’m imagining Nathan Fillion. Y’know, the guy from Castle.” 

“I love that guy.” Leo replies.

“Hello, Percy. Didn’t recognize me without my jogging clothes?”

“Uh …” I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to kneel or buy stamps from him or what. Then it occurred to me why he must be here. “Oh, listen, Lord Hermes, about Luke …”

Jason shrugs. “I don’t know why, but I’m imagining Lin Manuel Miranda.”

Annabeth nods. “Speaking as someone who has seen Hermes more than once, both of those answers are equally correct.” 

The god arched his eyebrows.

“Uh, we saw him, all right,” I said, “but—”

“You weren’t able to talk sense into him?”

“To be fair, you asked Percy Jackson to talk sense into someone.” Reyna speaks up. “The same boy that challenged the god of war to a fight at the age of twelve . You really shouldn’t be surprised by this outcome.” 

“Well, we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death.”

“I see. You tried the diplomatic approach.”

Nico raises one dubious eyebrow. “‘The diplomatic approach.’ Well, in this family, that probably is true.”

“I’m really sorry. I mean, you gave us those awesome gifts and everything. And I know you wanted Luke to come back. But … he’s turned bad. Really bad. He said he feels like you abandoned him.”

I waited for Hermes to get angry. I figured he’d turn me into a hamster or something, and I did not want to spend any more time as a rodent.

Instead, he just sighed. “Do you ever feel your father abandoned you, Percy?”

“Trick question. Trick question. Abort, abort, abort!” Leo rambles, jumping up and down in his seat. 

Oh, man.

I wanted to say, “Only a few hundred times a day.” I hadn’t spoken to Poseidon since last summer. I’d never been to his underwater palace. And then there was the whole thing with Tyson—no warning, no explanation. Just boom, you have a brother. You’d think that deserved a little heads-up phone call or something.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I realized I did want recognition for the quest I’d completed, but not from the other campers. I wanted my dad to say something. To notice me.

The car remains silent. It was one of those awkward silences where everyone had something they wanted to say, but not even the chatterboxes were willing to break. Nobody liked seeing themselves in bad moments. 

This was one of those moments.

Hermes readjusted the mailbag on his shoulder. “Percy, the hardest part about being a god is that you must often act indirectly, especially when it comes to your own children. If we were to intervene every time our children had a problem … well, that would only create more problems and more resentment. But I believe if you give it some thought, you will see that Poseidon has been paying attention to you. He has answered your prayers. I can only hope that someday, Luke may realize the same about me. Whether you feel like you succeeded or not, you reminded Luke who he was. You spoke to him.”

“Y’know, the hardest thing about being a parent is when your kid's other parent leaves you alone for decades for bullshit reasons.” Piper says under her breath.

Hazel holds up a hand. “Up top.” 

“I tried to kill him.”

Hermes shrugged. “Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we’re related, for better or worse … and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum.”

Annabeth speaks up. “I disagree. It is never for the best for any god to remind me that my boyfriend is technically my mother’s cousin.” 

Nico wrinkles his nose. “Why would you put that out into the universe?”

“Sometimes I have anxiety dreams.” 

It didn’t sound like much of a recipe for the perfect family. Then again, as I thought about my quest, I realized maybe Hermes was right. Poseidon had sent the hippocampi to help us. He’d given me powers over the sea that I’d never known about before. And there was Tyson. Had Poseidon brought us together on purpose? How many times had Tyson saved my life this summer?

“ So many!” Frank speaks up, as if Percy could hear him.

In the distance, the conch horn sounded, signaling curfew.

“You should get to bed,” Hermes said. “I’ve helped you get into quite enough trouble this summer already. I really only came to make this delivery.”

“A delivery?” Leo and Hazel ask at the same time, Leo sounding vaguely curious, while Hazel leans forward in her seat. 

“A delivery?”

“I am the messenger of the gods, Percy.” He took an electronic signature pad from his mailbag and handed it to me. “Sign there, please.”

“And, apparently, the inventor of the internet.” Leo remembers. “Right? That was something that came up, wasn’t it?” 

Hazel nods, leaning as far as she could to lightly pat Leo’s knee. “It was, don’t worry.” 

I picked up the stylus before realizing it was entwined with a pair of tiny green snakes. “Ah!” I dropped the pad.

Reyna wrinkles her nose. “Why would you drop George onto the floor? What has George ever done to you?” 

Ouch, said George.

Really, Percy, Martha scolded. Would you want to be dropped on the floor of a horse stable?

“Oh, uh, sorry.” I didn’t much like touching snakes, but I picked up the pad and the stylus again. Martha and George wriggled under my fingers, forming a kind of pencil grip like the ones my special ed teacher made me use in second grade.

Did you bring me a rat? George asked.

“No …” I said. “Uh, we didn’t find any.”

“Guinea pigs are rats. You could give him the guinea pigs you found.” Reyna pipes up, earning a glare from Frank. “What? They’re both rodents.” 

What about a guinea pig?

“All the guinea pigs got turned back to normal.” Hazel reminds Reyna.

She raises a pointed eyebrow. “So?”

George! Martha chided. Don’t tease the boy.

I signed my name and gave the pad back to Hermes.

In exchange, he handed me a sea-blue envelope.

“Ooh, I wonder who sent it.” Leo trills.

Jason narrows his eyes, evaluating his best friend. “Sometimes I can’t tell when you’re joking or not.”

Leo nods. “Then my life goal is complete.” 

My fingers trembled. Even before I opened it, I could tell it was from my father. I could sense his power in the cool blue paper, as if the envelope itself had been folded out of an ocean wave.

“Good luck tomorrow,” Hermes said. “Fine team of horses you have there, though you’ll excuse me if I root for the Hermes cabin.”

“I would be super disappointed in you if you weren’t.” Jason mutters. 

“Hold up!” Frank holds out a hand. “Does this mean that the gods are not only aware of our random camp activities, but actually watch them and root for us? 

“Yeah,” Nico deadpans. “Get with the program, Frank.” 

And don’t be too discouraged when you read it, dear, Martha told me. He does have your interests at heart.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Piper asks, leaning forward in her chair in spite of herself. 

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Don’t mind her, George said. And next time, remember, snakes work for tips.

“Enough, you two,” Hermes said. “Good-bye, Percy. For now.”

Annabeth jumps in her seat, as if suddenly coming to a realization. “Wait! Does this mean Hermes knows what we write in the letters that he delivers?”

Small white wings sprouted from his pith helmet. He began to glow, and I knew enough about the gods to avert my eyes before he revealed his true divine form. With a brilliant white flash he was gone, and I was alone with the horses.

I stared at the blue envelope in my hands. It was addressed in strong but elegant handwriting that I’d seen once before, on a package Poseidon had sent me last summer.

“Oh right, the package where Poseidon sent the murder weapon for Percy’s step dad.” Reyna recalls.

Leo nods. “Yeah, and then Piper’s dad bought the corpse.” 

Piper’s head falls forward for a moment, before quickly snapping up to look at the road again. “ That he remembers without hesitation.” 

Percy Jackson

c/o Camp Half-Blood

Farm Road 3.141

Long Island, New York 11954

An actual letter from my father. Maybe he would tell me I’d done a good job getting the Fleece. He’d explain about Tyson, or apologize for not talking to me sooner. There were so many things that I wanted that letter to say.

“And it probably says none of them.” Hazel sighs, knowingly.

I opened the envelope and unfolded the paper.

Two simple words were printed in the middle of the page:

Brace Yourself

“Seriously,” Annabeth is leaning forward. “Does he know what we all say in those letters?” 

Nico narrows his eyes at her. “What are you sending through the Hermes postal system?”

“That is between me and who I send the letters to! Not Hermes!” 

The next morning, everybody was buzzing about the chariot race, though they kept glancing nervously toward the sky like they expected to see Stymphalian birds gathering. None did. It was a beautiful summer day with blue sky and plenty of sunshine. The camp had started to look the way it should look: the meadows were green and lush; the white columns gleamed on the Greek buildings; dryads played happily in the woods.

And I was miserable. I’d been lying awake all night, thinking about Poseidon’s warning.

“That sounds like a waste of a night.” Piper sighs. “And a waste of a comfortable bed, with nice, warm blankets.”

“Pipes?” Jason asks, leaning forward.

“Sorry. Got lost in a daydream for a second. How long have I been driving?” 

Jason looks down at his watch. “About 5 hours and 1 minute.”

Brace yourself.

I mean, he goes to the trouble of writing a letter, and he writes two words?

Reyna shrugs. “Well, the last time he sent you a package he just reused your letter, so I would actually call this growth .” 

Martha the snake had told me not to feel disappointed. Maybe Poseidon had a reason for being so vague. Maybe he didn’t know exactly what he was warning me about, but he sensed something big was about to happen—something that could completely knock me off my feet unless I was prepared. It was hard, but I tried to turn my thoughts to the race.

“He better.” Hazel nods. “Annabeth is way too competitive for you to be distracted.” 

“Hey!” Annabeth yells. “It’s true, but hey !” 

As Annabeth and I drove onto the track, I couldn’t help admiring the work Tyson had done on the Athena chariot. The carriage gleamed with bronze reinforcements. The wheels were realigned with magical suspension so we glided along with hardly a bump. The rigging for the horses was so perfectly balanced that the team turned at the slightest tug of the reins.

Tyson had also made us two javelins, each with three buttons on the shaft. The first button primed the javelin to explode on impact, releasing razor wire that would tangle and shred an opponent’s wheels. The second button produced a blunt (but still very painful) bronze spearhead designed to knock a driver out of his carriage. The third button brought up a grappling hook that could be used to lock onto an enemy’s chariot or push it away.

“Damn!” Leo hisses. “You think I could get Tyson to work for me?”

Annabeth shrugs. “Maybe if you beat Poseidon’s health care plan.” 

Leo leans forward. “How good is it? Because currently my plan is ‘don’t get sick’.” 

I figured we were in pretty good shape for the race, but Tyson still warned me to be careful. The other chariot teams had plenty of tricks up their togas.

“Here,” he said, just before the race began.

He handed me a wristwatch. There wasn’t anything special about it—just a white-and-silver clock face, a black leather strap—but as soon as I saw it I realized that this is what I’d seen him tinkering on all summer.

“That’s the watch that turns into a shield!” Leo says excitedly, having known something ahead of time. 

Hazel turns around and glares at him. “Leo!”

I didn’t usually like to wear watches. Who cared what time it was? But I couldn’t say no to Tyson.

Piper, who usually had a mini panic attack if she didn’t have the ability to see the time, snorts and says, “Right?” 

“Thanks, man.” I put it on and found it was surprisingly light and comfortable. I could hardly tell I was wearing it.

“Didn’t finish in time for the trip,” Tyson mumbled. “Sorry, sorry.”

“Hey, man. No big deal.”

“If you need protection in race,” he advised, “hit the button.”

Hazel crosses her arms over her chest, and harrumphs. “I wish I could be confused by what that is supposed to mean.” 

“I know technology!” Leo throws his arms up. “Sue me!” 

“I might! You and Piper, joint lawsuit over spoilers.” 

“Ah, okay.” I didn’t see how keeping time was going to help a whole lot, but I was touched that Tyson was concerned. I promised him I’d remember the watch. “And, hey, um, Tyson …”

He looked at me.

“I wanted to say, well …” I tried to figure out how to apologize for getting embarrassed about him before the quest, for telling everyone he wasn’t my real brother. It wasn’t easy to find the words.

“Yeah, I don’t believe that is an easy thing to say without making someone cry.” Nico sighs, before adding under his breath, “I should know.” 

Reyna leans forward. “What did you say?”

Nico shakes his head. “Nothing.” 

“I know what you will tell me,” Tyson said, looking ashamed. “Poseidon did care for me after all.”

“That is definitely not what he was going to say.” Jason mutters under his breath. 

“Uh, well—”

“He sent you to help me. Just what I asked for.”

I blinked. “You asked Poseidon for … me?”

“For a friend,” Tyson said, twisting his shirt in his hands. “Young Cyclops grow up alone on the streets, learn to make things out of scraps. Learn to survive.”

Piper pouts. “Am I alone in wanting to wrap Tyson into a big hug?” 

“Absolutely not.” Frank and Annabeth speak at the same time. 

“But that’s so cruel!”

He shook his head earnestly. “Makes us appreciate blessings, not be greedy and mean and fat like Polyphemus. But I got scared. Monsters chased me so much, clawed me sometimes—”

“Damn you, Polyphemus.” Reyna shakes her head, crossing her arms over her chest.  “Always ruining everything. Trying to eat Grover, and marry Clarisse. Makes me sick.” 

“The scars on your back?”

A tear welled in his eye. “Sphinx on Seventy-second Street. Big bully. I prayed to Daddy for help. Soon the people at Meriwether found me. Met you. Biggest blessing ever. Sorry I said Poseidon was mean. He sent me a brother.”

Frank wrinkles their nose. “Anyone wanna help me murder a sphinx on seventy-second street?”

Annabeth huffs out a laugh, filled with absolutely no amusement. “I’m afraid Percy beat you there. And if she’s smart, she won’t be coming back.” 

I stared at the watch that Tyson had made me.

“Percy!” Annabeth called. “Come on!”

“Damn it, Annabeth!” Piper yells in mock outrage. “Stop interrupting sweet sibling moments!” 

“Bite me, McLean.” Annabeth sticks her tongue out at Piper. 

Chiron was at the starting line, ready to blow the conch.

“Tyson …” I said.

“Go,” Tyson said. “You will win!”

Frank leans forward. “Did you win?”

“Nobody answer that! Frank, I am not afraid to add you to that lawsuit.” Hazel wags her finger at the entire car. 

“I—yeah, okay, big guy. We’ll win this one for you.” I climbed on board the chariot and got into position just as Chiron blew the starting signal.

“Wow,” Reyna says slowly. “You really are a Boomer.” 

Hazel shakes her head. “Actually, I was born in 1928. That makes me a Traditionalist.”

Nico laughs. “Imagine not being the Greatest Generation. 1924 baby, here.” 

The horses knew what to do. We shot down the track so fast I would’ve fallen out if my arms hadn’t been wrapped in the leather reins. Annabeth held on tight to the rail. The wheels glided beautifully. We took the first turn a full chariot-length ahead of Clarisse, who was busy trying to fight off a javelin attack from the Stoll brothers in the Hermes chariot.

“We’ve got ‘em!” I yelled, but I spoke too soon.

Piper shakes her head in mock disappointment. “Of course he jinxed you.”

“Incoming!” Annabeth yelled. She threw her first javelin in grappling hook mode, knocking away a lead-weighted net that would have entangled us both. Apollo’s chariot had come up on our flank. Before Annabeth could rearm herself, the Apollo warrior threw a javelin into our right wheel.

The javelin shattered, but not before snapping some of our spokes. Our chariot lurched and wobbled. I was sure the wheel would collapse altogether, but we somehow kept going.

Frank claps excitedly. “Go Tyson!”

Leo sighs deeply. “I really need to look into changing my health care plan.”

“And your dental.” Annabeth adds. “Poseidon has an amazing dental plan.” 

I urged the horses to keep up the speed. We were now neck and neck with Apollo.

Hephaestus was coming up close behind. Ares and Hermes were falling behind, riding side by side as Clarisse went sword-on-javelin with Connor Stoll.

If we took one more hit to our wheel, I knew we would capsize.

“You’re mine!” the driver from Apollo yelled. He was a first-year camper. I didn’t remember his name, but he sure was confident.

Nico shakes his head. “That isn’t my Apollo kid.”

“Yeah.” Annabeth agrees. “I can’t say with complete certainty, because we didn’t hang out, but I’m pretty sure that Will was a part of the Chariot Race Strike.” 

“Yeah, right!” Annabeth yelled back.

“There was a Chariot Race Strike?” Jason asks. 

Annabeth nods. “Yeah, that’s why there were only five chariots competing.”

She picked up her second javelin—a real risk considering we still had one full lap to go—and threw it at the Apollo driver.

Her aim was perfect. The javelin grew a heavy spear point just as it caught the driver in the chest, knocking him against his teammate and sending them both toppling out of their chariot in a backward somersault. The horses felt the reins go slack and went crazy, riding straight for the crowd. Campers scrambled for cover as the horses leaped the corner of the bleachers and the golden chariot flipped over. The horses galloped back toward their stable, dragging the upside-down chariot behind them.

“First off, of course it was perfect, it’s Annabeth.” Piper sighs. “Second, you threw a javelin at another camper’s chest?” 

Annabeth shrugs. “I really wanted to win.” 

I held our own chariot together through the second turn, despite the groaning of the right wheel. We passed the starting line and thundered into our final lap.

The axle creaked and moaned. The wobbling wheel was making us lose speed, even though the horses were responding to my every command, running like a well-oiled machine.

The Hephaestus team was still gaining.

“WHOO!” Leo cheers, clapping excitedly. “That’s my cabin!”

Beckendorf grinned as he pressed a button on his command console. Steel cables shot out of the front of his mechanical horses, wrapping around our back rail. Our chariot shuddered as Beckendorf’s winch system started working—pulling us backward while Beckendorf pulled himself forward.

“That sounds so cool.” Leo starts jumping up and down in his seat. 

Annabeth glares at him.

Leo clears his throat. “I mean… Oh no, Percy and Annabeth are losing…” 

Annabeth cursed and drew her knife. She hacked at the cables but they were too thick.

“Can’t cut them.’” she yelled.

The Hephaestus chariot was now dangerously close, their horses about to trample us underfoot.

“That is an overstatement… Right?” Frank asks, peering closely at Annabeth. 

Annabeth hesitates. “I don’t know. I mean, those horses were huge and mechanical. That easily could’ve been the case.” 

“Switch with me!” I told Annabeth. “Take the reins!”

“But—”

“Trust me!”

She pulled herself to the front and grabbed the reins. I turned, trying hard to keep my footing, and uncapped Riptide.

“Aww…” Hazel coos. “You trust him.” 

Annabeth wrinkles her nose. “Whatever.” 

I slashed down and the cables snapped like kite string. We lurched forward, but Beckendorf’s driver just swung his chariot to our left and pulled up next to us. Beckendorf drew his sword. He slashed at Annabeth, and I parried the blade away.

We were coming up on the last turn. We’d never make it. I needed to disable the Hephaestus chariot and get it out of the way, but I had to protect Annabeth, too. Just because Beckendorf was a nice guy didn’t mean he wouldn’t send us both to the infirmary if we let our guard down.

“I can definitely see why we don't do chariot races anymore.” Jason murmurs. 

Annabeth nods. “Yeah, that, and it was Tantalus’ idea, and nobody wanted to give him credit for anything.”

The entire care echoes the sentiment of, “That’s fair”, nodding at Annabeth’s words.

We were neck and neck now, Clarisse coming up from behind, making up for lost time.

“See ya, Percy!” Beckendorf yelled. “Here’s a little parting gift!”

He threw a leather pouch into our chariot. It stuck to the floor immediately and began billowing green smoke.

“Greek fire!” Annabeth yelled.

“What the fuck?” Piper yelps, eyes wide. 

I cursed. I’d heard stories about what Greek fire could do. I figured we had maybe ten seconds before it exploded.

“That is so dangerous.” Frank whispers in horror.

Leo nods solemnly, his face bright with awe. “My siblings are so cool.”

“Get rid of it!” Annabeth shouted, but I couldn’t. Hephaestus’s chariot was still alongside, waiting until the last second to make sure their little present blew up. Beckendorf was keeping me busy with his sword. If I let my guard down long enough to deal with the Greek fire, Annabeth would get sliced and we’d crash anyway. I tried to kick the leather pouch away with my foot, but I couldn’t. It was stuck fast.

“This is a summer camp.” Jason says slowly. “For children .” 

“They’re following the rules!” Leo defends his siblings.

Jason’s eyebrows furrow. “What rules?”

“Exactly!” 

Then I remembered the watch.

I didn’t know how it could help, but I managed to punch the stopwatch button. Instantly, the watch changed. It expanded, the metal rim spiraling outward like an old-fashioned camera shutter, a leather strap wrapping around my forearm until I was holding a round war shield four feet wide, the inside soft leather, the outside polished bronze engraved with designs I didn’t have time to examine.

All I knew: Tyson had come through. I raised the shield, and Beckendorf’s sword clanged against it. His blade shattered.

“Again, I don’t see how that could be anything other than an over exaggeration.” Frank mutters. 

Annabeth throws her hands into the air. “It might be. It might not! I was driving a chariot! What do you want from me?”

“What?” he shouted. “How—”

He didn’t have time to say more because I knocked him in the chest with my new shield and sent him flying out of his chariot, tumbling in the dirt.

“Boo!” Leo jeers. 

I was about to use Riptide to slash at the driver when Annabeth yelled, “Percy!”

The Greek fire was shooting sparks. I shoved the tip of my sword under the leather pouch and flipped it up like a spatula. The firebomb dislodged and flew into the Hephaestus chariot at the driver’s feet. He yelped.

Leo shakes his head. “Oh, so it’s okay when Percy does it.”

“No.” Jason replies. “I very much oppose anyone doing it. That’s a bomb .” 

In a split second the driver made the right choice: he dove out of the chariot, which careened away and exploded in green flames. The metal horses seemed to short-circuit. They turned and dragged the burning wreckage back toward Clarisse and the Stoll brothers, who had to swerve to avoid it.

Annabeth pulled the reins for the last turn. I held on, sure we would capsize, but somehow she brought us through and spurred the horses across the finish line. The crowd roared.

“Whoo! Go Annabeth!” Piper cheers. 

Leo deadpans. “Yeah, whoo. Good for you, I guess.” 

Once the chariot stopped, our friends mobbed us. They started chanting our names, but Annabeth yelled over the noise: “Hold up! Listen! It wasn’t just us!”

The crowd didn’t want to be quiet, but Annabeth made herself heard: “We couldn’t have done it without somebody else! We couldn’t have won this race or gotten the Fleece or saved Grover or anything! We owe our lives to Tyson, Percy’s …”

“Brother!” I said, loud enough for everybody to hear. “Tyson, my baby brother.”

“Aww…” Frank pouts, holding their hands to their chest. “That’s cute. I wish one of my older brothers was nice to me.” 

Jason turns his head to Frank. “You mean like Percy is to Tyson?”

Frank sighs deeply, his head falling. “No, just in general.” 

Tyson blushed. The crowd cheered. Annabeth planted a kiss on my cheek. The roaring got a lot louder after that. The entire Athena cabin lifted me and Annabeth and Tyson onto their shoulders and carried us toward the winner’s platform, where Chiron was waiting to bestow the laurel wreaths.

Notes:

SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER OMG???

I'm hoping to finish the last chapter at some point before the 28th for reasons...

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed!

Until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 20: The Fleece Works Its Magic Too Well

Notes:

HEHEHE!!!

ENJOY <3

Hazel giggles, poking Annabeth's shoulder. “I can’t believe you kissed him.”

“I can’t believe that the Athena cabin managed to lift Tyson onto their shoulders.” Piper says in awe, lightly shaking her head. “Those kids really can do anything that they set their minds to.” 

That afternoon was one of the happiest I’d ever spent at camp, which maybe goes to show, you never know when your world is about to be rocked to pieces.

“One sentence in, and already ominous.” Jason mutters.

“I love that for us.” Reyna says, sending him a smile.

Grover announced that he’d be able to spend the rest of the summer with us before resuming his quest for Pan. His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn’t gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month furlough and a new set of reed pipes. The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn’t improved much. He played “YMCA,” and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around our feet like they were trying to strangle us. I guess I couldn’t blame them.

“Don’t talk about Grover like that!” Piper grumbles.

Annabeth shakes her head. “Spoken as someone that has never had to listen to “YMCA” played on the reed pipes.” 

Grover told me he could dissolve the empathy link between us, now that we were face to face, but I told him I’d just as soon keep it if that was okay with him. He put down his reed pipes and stared at me. “But, if I get in trouble again, you’ll be in danger, Percy! You could die!”

“If you get in trouble again, I want to know about it. And I’ll come help you again, G-man. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

In the end he agreed not to break the link. He went back to playing “YMCA” for the strawberry plants. I didn’t need an empathy link with the plants to know how they felt about it.

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Jason asks. 

“I would call Grover and ask him to play it for you…” Annabeth sighs. “But then that would mean I would also have to hear it, so… Don’t get me wrong, I love Grover. I just don’t love his music. Don’t tell him I said that, though. It would make him super sad.” 

Later on during archery class, Chiron pulled me aside and told me he’d fixed my problems with Meriwether Prep. The school no longer blamed me for destroying their gymnasium. The police were no longer looking for me.

“My dad still blames ‘that hooligan’ that blew up the gym, though.” Piper speaks up.  “Chiron couldn’t fix that. And I’m glad for that, because I never had to go back to that school.” 

“How did you manage that?” I asked.

Chiron’s eyes twinkled. “I merely suggested that the mortals had seen something different on that day—a furnace explosion that was not your fault.”

“You just said that and they bought it?”

“I manipulated the Mist. Some day, when you’re ready, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Hazel’s eyebrows furrow. “But… he hasn’t.” 

“No, he hasn’t.” Annabeth agrees. “It’s been 6 years. Percy is still waiting to be ready.” 

“You mean, I can go back to Meriwether next year?”

Chiron raised his eyebrows. “Oh, no, they’ve still expelled you. Your headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, said you had—how did he put it?—un-groovy karma that disrupted the school’s educational aura. But you’re not in any legal trouble, which was a relief to your mother. Oh, and speaking of your mother …”

“Sally.” Reyna coos, then looks at Piper. “The headmaster’s name was Mr. Bonsai .” 

“Dear gods, was it?” Piper asks. “Again, worse. School. Ever.” 

He unclipped his cell phone from his quiver and handed it to me. “It’s high time you called her.”

The worst part was the beginning—the “Percy-Jackson-what-were-you-thinking-do-you-have-any-idea-how-worried-I-was-sneaking-off-to-camp-without-permission-going-on-dangerous-quests-and-scaring-me-half-to-death” part.

The members of the car try to hold onto each words that Percy was saying, which was hard because he was speaking in a rush to avoid running out of breath. For a kid that could breath underwater, Percy’s lung capacity was not great.

But finally she paused to catch her breath. “Oh, I’m just glad you’re safe!”

That’s the great thing about my mom. She’s no good at staying angry. She tries, but it just isn’t in her nature.

“So where did Percy get his temper from?” Leo asks before he can stop himself.

“Poseidon is famously known for his temper, which is responsible for causing earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes.” Jason replies.

“You’re such a nerd, Jason.” 

“I’m sorry, Mom,” I told her. “I won’t scare you again.”

“That is definitely not a promise that you can keep.” Nico mutters, shaking his head. “Speaking as someone that has helped Percy scare his mom before.”

“Don’t promise me that, Percy. You know very well it will only get worse.” She tried to sound casual about it, but I could tell she was pretty shaken up.

“Sally is so smart. Such a queen.” Reyna praises, holding her hands up as if in prayer.

I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but I knew she was right. Being a half-blood, I would always be doing things that scared her. And as I got older, the dangers would just get greater.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the car. After all, they knew what young Percy had not yet known when he’d recorded this; All of the scary shit that he did as he got older. 

“I could come home for a while,” I offered.

“No, no. Stay at camp. Train. Do what you need to do. But you will come home for the next school year?”

“Yeah, of course. Uh, if there’s any school that will take me.”

“Hey, I have to pee, can we find a rest stop?” Leo asks, leaning forward.

Piper sighs deeply. “Why didn’t you go when we were at the Waffle House?”

“I didn’t have to go, then.” Leo whines.

“Oh, we’ll find something, dear,” my mother sighed. “Some place where they don’t know us yet.”

Piper sends a pleading look at Annabeth, who looks back at her apologetically. “I also have to use the bathroom, actually.” 

“Damn you, Chase.” Piper grumbles, already searching for the nearest gas station. 

As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. I would’ve been happy to have him as my cabin mate forever, but that evening, as we were sitting on a sand dune overlooking the Long Island Sound, he made an announcement that completely took me by surprise.

“Dream came from Daddy last night,” he said. “He wants me to visit.”

Jason’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline. “That is surprising. Imagine your dad wanting you to visit.”

“Why?” Reyna asks. “He currently works for and lives with Poseidon.” 

I wondered if he was kidding, but Tyson really didn’t know how to kid. “Poseidon sent you a dream message?”

“I was trying to make a joke.” Jason admits.

“Well make a joke that makes sense, Jason.”

Tyson nodded. “Wants me to go underwater for the rest of the summer. Learn to work at Cyclops' forges. He called it an inter—an intern—”

“An internship?”

“Yes.” I let that sink in. I’ll admit, I felt a little jealous. Poseidon had never invited me underwater. But then I thought, Tyson was going? Just like that?

“No!” Frank pouts, their eyes wide and round. “Also, I’m sorry, Piper, but I also have to go to the bathroom.”

“I’m already driving to a rest stop!” Piper grumbles.

“When would you leave?” I asked.

“Now.”

“Now. Like … now now?”

“Now.”

“That was a lot of ‘now’s.” Jason blinks rapidly. “I think my brain may explode.” 

Reyna looks at him. “ That , I would be interested in seeing.” 

I stared out at the waves in the Long Island Sound. The water was glistening red in the sunset.

“I’m happy for you, big guy,” I managed. “Seriously.”

“Hard to leave my new brother,” he said with a tremble in his voice. “But I want to make things. Weapons for the camp. You will need them.”

“Plus, there are probably a few other of your brothers already working in the forges.” Frank says under his breath. “Does anyone else find it weird that Poseidon has kids, and then employs them?”

Leo shrugs. “At least he’s interacting with them?” 

“And paying them.” Nico adds. “It would be way worse if he weren’t paying them.” 

Unfortunately, I knew he was right. The Fleece hadn’t solved all the camp’s problems. Luke was still out there, gathering an army aboard the Princess Andromeda. Kronos was still re-forming in his golden coffin. Eventually, we would have to fight them.

Hazel wrinkles her nose. “Ugh. I almost forgot about he-who-must-not-be-named.” 

“Are you talking about Kronos or Luke?” Piper asks.

“Why would you go around naming him?” Hazel shakes her head at Piper.

“That’s not answering my question.”

“You’ll make the best weapons ever,” I told Tyson. I held up my watch proudly. “I bet they’ll tell good time, too.”

Tyson sniffled. “Brothers help each other.”

“You’re my brother,” I said. “No doubt about it.”

“Now that’s what I call character growth.” Frank claps lightly. 

He patted me on the back so hard he almost knocked me down the sand dune. Then he wiped a tear from his cheek and stood to go. “Use the shield well.”

“I will, big guy.”

“Save your life someday.”

“And it has.” Nico reveals.

Leo narrows his eyes at Hazel. “No threat of a lawsuit.” 

“No.” Hazel replies. “I know exactly how much he has, and I don’t want it.” 

The way he said it, so matter-of-fact, I wondered if that Cyclops eye of his could see into the future.

“I think it’s a pretty easy assumption that one could make just by knowing Percy.” Jason admits. 

“And he would agree with you.” Annabeth nods. 

He headed down to the beach and whistled. Rainbow, the hippocampus, burst out of the waves. I watched the two of them ride off together into the realm of Poseidon.

Once they were gone, I looked down at my new wristwatch. I pressed the button and the shield spiraled out to full size. Hammered into the bronze were pictures in Ancient Greek style, scenes from our adventures this summer. There was Annabeth slaying a Laistrygonian dodgeball player, me fighting the bronze bulls on Half-Blood Hill, Tyson riding Rainbow toward the Princess Andromeda, the CSS Birmingham blasting its cannons at Charybdis. I ran my hand across a picture of Tyson, battling the Hydra as he held aloft a box of Monster Donuts.

I couldn’t help feeling sad. I knew Tyson would have an awesome time under the ocean. But I’d miss everything about him—his fascination with horses, the way he could fix chariots or crumple metal with his bare hands, or tie bad guys into knots. I’d even miss him snoring like an earthquake in the next bunk all night.

“I feel the same way about Leo.” Piper sighs. 

“Aww.” Leo coos.

“Actually,” Piper holds up her index finger, “you snore worse than an earthquake, so that comparison doesn’t work.” 

“Hey, Percy.”

I turned.

Annabeth and Grover were standing at the top of the sand dune. I guess maybe I had some sand in my eyes, because I was blinking a lot.

“Sure…” Piper says slowly. “Just keep telling yourself that, buddy.” 

“Tyson …” I told them. “He had to …”

“We know,” Annabeth said softly. “Chiron told us.”

Hazel’s eyebrows furrowed together. “How did Chiron know?” 

Annabeth just shrugs in response.

“Cyclopes forges.” Grover shuddered. “I hear the cafeteria food there is terrible! Like, no enchiladas at all.”

Annabeth held out her hand. “Come on, Seaweed Brain. Time for dinner.”

We walked back toward the dining pavilion together, just the three of us, like old times.

“I miss those times.” Annabeth sighs, then apparently remembers where she is, and says, “No offense.” 

Jason presses his lips together. “None taken until just now.” 

A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did.

Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in our valley. We were protected again, thanks to the Fleece, sealed inside our magical borders.

Still, my dreams were restless. I heard Kronos taunting me from the depths of Tartarus: Polyphemus sits blindly in his cave, young hero, believing he has won a great victory. Are you any less deluded? The titan’s cold laughter filled the darkness.

Annabeth and Nico simultaneously wince at the name of The Pit. 

Then my dream changed. I was following Tyson to the bottom of the sea, into the court of Poseidon. It was a radiant hall filled with blue light, the floor cobbled with pearls. And there, on a throne of coral, sat my father, dressed like a simple fisherman in khaki shorts and a sun-bleached T-shirt. I looked up into his tan weathered face, his deep green eyes, and he spoke two words: Brace yourself.

Frank looks around. “Is anyone else scared of what is about to happen?” 

“What’s about to happen?” Leo asks earnestly.

“I dunno, but it sounds ominous.”

I woke with a start.

There was a banging on the door. Grover flew inside without waiting for permission. “Percy!” he stammered. “Annabeth … on the hill … she …”

“The last time Grover ran into Percy’s cabin in the middle of a storm, the minotaur attacked, and Sally was kidnapped.” Piper recalls. “I’m with Frank, I, too, am quite scared.”

The look in his eyes told me something was terribly wrong. Annabeth had been on guard duty that night, protecting the Fleece. If something had happened—I ripped off the covers, my blood like ice water in my veins. I threw on some clothes while Grover tried to make a complete sentence, but he was too stunned, too out of breath. “She’s lying there … just lying there …”

“Annabeth, are you okay?” Piper asks, concerned, her face pale as she looks at her friend.

“I am clearly fine.” Annabeth replies, refusing to make eye contact.

Frank leans forward. “Then why is Grover scaring us?” 

I ran outside and raced across the central yard, Grover right behind me. Dawn was just breaking, but the whole camp seemed to be stirring. Word was spreading. Something huge had happened. A few campers were already making their way toward the hill, satyrs and nymphs and heroes in a weird mix of armor and pajamas.

I heard the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped up behind us, looking grim.

“Is it true?” he asked Grover.

“Is what true?” Jason asks, his voice pitching higher. “What is going on?” 

Grover could only nod, his expression dazed.

I tried to ask what was going on, but Chiron grabbed me by the arm and effortlessly lifted me onto his back. Together we thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.

“I have a ball of anxiety forming in both my chest, and my stomach.” Frank is rocking back and forth in their seat. “Somebody tell me what is happening!” 

Annabeth reaches forward, just barely able to touch Frank’s knee. “Calm down, it’s okay. It’s okay.” 

I expected to see the Fleece missing from the pine tree, but it was still there, glittering in the first light of dawn. The storm had broken and the sky was bloodred.

“Curse the titan lord,” Chiron said. “He’s tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy.”

“Huh?” A few people in the car ask. 

Nico wrinkles his nose. “I don’t even know what is happening. And I’m pretty sure that I’ve heard this story before.” 

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The Fleece,” he said. “The Fleece did its work too well.”

Piper’s eyes narrow. “Too--” Without her consent, her hands hit the outside of the steering wheel. “Wait a minute!” 

We galloped forward, everyone moving out of our way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armor was kneeling next to her.

Blood roared in my ears. I couldn’t think straight. Annabeth had been attacked? But why was the Fleece still there?

“Wait? Was Annabeth attacked?” Leo asks, looking around. 

Frank is kicking his feet nervously. “Why is nobody answering our questions?”

The tree itself looked perfectly fine, whole and healthy, suffused with the essence of the Golden Fleece.

“It healed the tree,” Chiron said, his voice ragged. “And poison was not the only thing it purged.”

“Why does he have to say everything in the most confusing way possible?” Hazel grumbles, shaking her head so that her curls go flying. 

Then I realized Annabeth wasn’t the one lying on the ground. She was the one in armor, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. When Annabeth saw us, she ran to Chiron. “It… she … just suddenly there …”

“Thank gods you’re okay, Annabeth.” Frank breathes, their hand on their heart. “Don’t scare me like that again.”

Annabeth shrugs. “I-- I’ll try?”

Her eyes were streaming with tears, but I still didn’t understand. I was too freaked out to make sense of it all. I leaped off Chiron’s back and ran toward the unconscious girl. Chiron said: “Percy, wait!”

I knelt by her side. She had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth—a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of bands I’d never heard of.

Jason’s mouth drops open, and he looks around at the others. “Wait a second…” 

She wasn’t a camper. I didn’t recognize her from any of the cabins. And yet I had the strangest feeling I’d seen her before….

Hazel’s hands go to her mouth. “Oh, my gosh. That’s an insane twist.” 

“It’s true,” Grover said, panting from his run up the hill. “I can’t believe …”

Frank shakes his head. “Yeah, it’s cool… but still not worth the anxiety attack.” 

Nobody else came close to the girl.

I put my hand on her forehead. Her skin was cold, but my fingertips tingled as if they were burning.

Leo looks at the others. “Just to clarify, the girl is Thalia, right?”

Reyna nods. “Yes.”

Leo gives her a grateful smile. “Thanks, dad.”  

“She needs nectar and ambrosia,” I said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. I could sense that just from one touch. I didn’t understand why everyone was acting so scared.

“Probably because the only person that is okay with hanging out with formerly dead people hasn’t shown up to camp yet.” Nico replies.

Jason narrows his eyes at him. “Are you talking about… you?” 

“Yes, I thought that was clear.”

I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder.

“Come on!” I yelled to the others. “What’s wrong with you people? Let’s get her to the Big House.”

No one moved, not even Chiron. They were all too stunned.

“You’d think Chiron of all people would deal with the shock better.” Piper mutters. “I mean, he’s thousands of years old. He taught Hercules the Jerk. He’s literally seen it all.”

“Don’t worry, he definitely handled it better when Percy came back from the dead.” Annabeth sighs.

“What?” Piper asks.

“What?” Annabeth repeats. “I didn’t say anything.”

Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes.

Her irises were startlingly blue—electric blue.

“Not to be that person, but didn’t he say that Thalia’s eyes were green in the last book?” Frank asks.

Leo shrugs. “I dunno, did he? I can’t remember.”

The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. “Who—”

“I’m Percy,” I said. “You’re safe now.”

“Strangest dream …”

“It’s okay.”

“Dying.”

Frank looks over at Jason, who’s still staring at the radio with a slack jaw. “You okay, dude?”

Jason shrugs. “I… I really don’t know right now.” 

“No,” I assured her. “You’re okay. What’s your name?”

That’s when I knew. Even before she said it.

The girl’s blue eyes stared into mine, and I understood what the Golden Fleece quest had been about. The poisoning of the tree. Everything. Kronos had done it to bring another chess piece into play— another chance to control the prophecy.

Jason presses his lips together. “I have so many mixed feelings about this. I mean, on one hand, my sister is alive. On another hand, the only reason she’s alive is because a cannibalistic titan decided he didn’t want to wait for Percy to turn 16.”

Even Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover, who should’ve been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future. And I was holding someone who was destined to be my best friend, or possibly my worst enemy.

“To this day, I’m still not totally sure what the answer to that question is.” Annabeth sighs deeply. “I take it as a win, that they haven’t killed each other yet.” 

“I am Thalia,” the girl said. “Daughter of Zeus.”

Anyway, that was my summer. Thalia’s been back for about six months now, and things are… interesting.

A new voice can be heard over the recording device, a vaguely familiar woman’s voice.

“Percy, are you ready? We have to go pick up the girls.”

Coming, mom!

My mom is driving Annabeth, Thalia, and I to Grover’s new school. He said that he found some new demigods and needed help to get them to camp. I hope they aren’t too much trouble, that’s just what I need right now. 

Annabeth and Nico share a look as the recording comes to an end.

“Good timing.” Piper mutters, as she pulls into the parking lot of the gas station. As she parks the car, she looks around. “Alright, anybody who has to pee, should get out no--” Every member of the car starts piling out. “Except for Leo!” Piper is quick to add. “I have to talk to Leo real quick!” 

“Ugh!” Leo huffs, staying where he is as everyone else begins to exit the car. 

Piper turns in her seat, until she is facing Leo. “I noticed a few miles back that there were some… extra stops programmed in the GPS.” Piper says, looking him dead in the eye. 

Leo feigns surprise. “Oh, really ?.” 

“ Please , this has your grubby little hands all over it.” 

Leo huffs. “My hands are not grubby!” 

Piper ignores him. “Springfield, Kentucky? The St. Louis arch? Las Vegas ? Are you kidding me?”

Leo bites his lip in contemplation, before letting out a long-suffering sigh. “Oh, come on! You’re saying that you aren’t at least a little curious to see the place where 12 year old Percy plummeted hundreds of feet? Or the kick ass casino that nobody ever wants to leave? It’s bad enough we didn’t get to see Medusa’s shop!”

Piper narrows her eyes. “That doesn’t explain Springfield, Kentucky.” 

“The Simpsons!” Leo exclaims, as if that explains everything. 

It does. 

Piper sighs. “I’ll admit, seeing all of that stuff does sound cool, but what are you going to do when Annabeth catches on and kills you?”

“ If .” 

“No, this is definitely a when situation.” Piper replies. They both go silent for a moment, before Piper groans. “Alright, I’ll try to help you cover this up.” 

Leo pumps his fists in the air. “Yes!” Then he furrowed his eyebrows. “How do we do that?”

“We become smart.” Piper tells him, glancing around the empty car as if scared someone was listening. “Which means, we can’t let Annabeth glance at the GPS--”

“Will never let her drive me again.” Leo says instantly, and they both shudder to remember the last time that had happened.

“ And ,” Piper continues. “We can’t let Reyna get behind the wheel.”

Leo pouts. “But she’s such a good driver!”

“She’s also our biggest risk! Jason would be too nervous thinking that he would do something wrong to tell anybody. And Frank… well there’s a good chance Frank won’t notice anything. Reyna, though. She’ll notice, she’ll tell Annabeth, and then they’ll both kill you for adding half a day to our drive.” 

“I hate it when mom and dad team up against us.” Leo grouses. 

Piper nods, as if what he just said makes perfect sense. “I understand. We also can’t let Nico catch on, ‘cause he’s a wildcard, and there is no telling what he’ll end up doing if he finds out.”

“And Hazel?”

Piper sighs. “Hazel is before even the time of Magellins , I don’t think we have to worry about anything.” 

Leo nods. “Okay.” He narrows his eyes at Piper. “Is that all you wanted to say to me?”

“Yeah.” She tilts her head. “Why?”

Leo shrugs. “I dunno. I thought you wanted a pep talk before you told everyone that… thing .”

Piper flushes, remembering how she had vowed to Leo that she was going to make an announcement at some time during the drive. Before all of this chaos started. “No. No, I’m… I’m actually good with that.” 

Leo smiles at her. “Cool. I’m proud of you, Pipes.” Then he starts bouncing in his seat. “But, as long as that is everything, I really do actually have to pee, so bye!” 

Piper laughs, watching his retreating form. She presses on the eject button, grabbing the CD as it exits the disc player. 

Piper picks up the CD case from the floor, wrinkling her nose at the musty, dusty material. She opens it, placing it back in its slot behind the Lightning Thief. Then-- just because she can’t help herself-- she looks at the CD beside it, and her heart leaps into her throat. 

She remains frozen in time as her companions slowly fill back into the car, drinks and snacks in hand, chatting about things that don’t really make sense. 

“I’m actually kind of glad that that is over.” Jason speaks up over the rest. “I mean, I feel like I can breathe again. You know, now that my sister isn’t a tree anymore.” 

“I agree.” Reyna replies. “Not about your sister being a tree, I hardly care about that, but about it being over. I don’t know what I would do if it kept going on.”

Annabeth nods, her curls flapping around. “This is good.”

Hazel leans against Nico. “No more stress. Just a nice, normal car ride.”

Piper speaks up, looking at each of her friends in turn with the utmost seriousness. “He made another one. It’s called the Titan’s Curse.” 

Silence.

And then, “Well, what are you waiting for?” Reyna hisses. “Put it in!” 

Piper gives a mock salute, the silver disc already in hand. “Sir, yes, sir!” 

Everyone waits with bated breath as the radio plays. 

The Titan’s Curse, Book 3.

This was fine .

Notes:

giving you all a thanksgiving treat <3

Fun fact, about 52,212 of these words were mine, as well as 51 pages... which considering this story took me more than 2 years to make should probably be more ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I just want to thank all of you that have stuck with me this long, you really are the reason why i do this. you guys inspire me, and that is why I have officially decided to write book 3!!!

Tuning In to the Titan's Curse is planned to be published on November 28th, the three year anniversary since I started Listening to the Lightning Thief!

Thank you all, and until next time <3<3<3

Notes:

I literally wrote this in between band camp, and practices, and I started school.

Finished it today, and decided to immediately post it. Still trying to get back into my groove, but I think this is an okay start.

As always let me know your thoughts, so excited to see reactions!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Peeping on Percy Jackson and the Olympians