And the sequel begins with a bang!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"You should've seen your faces, man!" Leo laughed.
Percy blushed. "Shut up."
After Leo left camp, he found Percy sitting in a car with Rachel Dare from the Labyrinth, their lips a few mere inches apart.
Now, Leo could've watched this quick kiss to be polite, but does that sound like Leo? I think not.
Instead, he landed Blackjack right on the hood of the car, indenting the metal a little bit, and scaring the life out of Rachel and Percy.
Now, Percy was on the back of Blackjack, right behind Leo, as the said child of Hephaestus teased him, mercilessly.
"Anyway, seen the ship yet?" Percy asked.
"Yep, the monster's right there," Leo answered, pointing to the tiny dot in the middle of the Bay that was the Princess Andromeda. "Are you ready for this?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."
Leo smiled, a tad bit sadly. "That's what I told Nyssa," he murmured before he dived.
They landed on the deck, well away from the monsters that were on the main deck and underneath the ship.
Leo leaned close to Blackjack and whispered so low that Percy wouldn't be able to hear him.
"Come back here in twenty minutes. If we're not here, return to camp and do your best to tell them that Percy will be on his way shortly."
Blackjack snorted in a questioning manner, but Leo didn't answer. He just patted the Pegasus and sent him on his way.
"Let's do this," Percy muttered before the pair marched inside.
As soon as they arrived below deck, Leo set to work, strapping the explosives to every object within his reach.
"How long do you think it will take?"
"Max of five minutes," Leo grunted, strapping another bomb to the consol.
Leo stopped.
"Why'd you stop?" Percy demanded.
"Shh, listen," Leo hissed.
Sure enough, voices rang near, as did some shuffling as monsters roamed about near to where the demigods stood.
"Did you hear them? Watch out for demigods?" One voice barked a laugh.
"Yeah, like demigods could get within a mile of this ship, much less get on it," a second voice chuckled.
"Hah, watch out for demigods," the first voice repeated.
"I'm gonna go distract them," Percy whispered.
Leo wanted to fight him on it, tell him that it wasn't necessary, but for his plan to work, Percy had to go.
"Kay, good luck, and don't get killed," Leo growled, daring to raise his voice slightly.
Percy smirked. "Not planning on it, Valdez," he said before he rushed off.
Leo turned back to his project and lit his hand alight, slowly pressing it to one of his own explosives, watching as it turned from red to blue to white. This would cause the flames the bombs gave off to be twice as hot, killing even the fire retardant Cyclopi.
As long as Percy got off the ship, they'd be fine.
But what if he doesn't? That nasty little voice in the back of his head muttered.
Shut up, I have thought of every possible thing that could go wrong and worked out a solution, Leo thought.
For example, Percy not getting off the ship in time. Leo had slipped a small protective device into his pocket when he hopped on Blackjack, one that would create a fire proof force field and protect him from the majority of the explosion. The worst he could get were a few burns that the water would heal up just fine.
Or that one of the monsters would find the explosives. Leo pulled out the invisibility sheet. This was somewhat like the invisble cloak from Harry Potter, but it also created an illusion that would make the area seem absolutely normal. No one could see the shape of the explosives or feel them or the material of the cloak. If Leo survived this, he'd have to thank Lou Ellen for adding the illusion effect.
Monsters captured Leo? Great, that was part of the plan.
BANG! The sound of fighting could be heard upstairs, and Leo prayed Percy would keep them busy for a few more moments.
He grabbed another device. It was an explosive, but it was a different kind of explosive. It would maim even Kronos with the force of the explosion, and it should buy the camp some time.
He strapped it to the consol, grabbed the sack, and headed for the stairs.
Leo made a big show of looking sneaky, ducking behind objects and through doors. When he saw an empousa, he turned and started heading for the engine room.
"Well, lookie here," the empousa muttered. "A demigod all by his lonesome. Grab him boys."
There were three monsters and a demigod there. The demigod was a blonde boy with Runes drawn on his pants, allowing Leo to identify him as a child of Hecate.
He made a big show of fighting them off by drawing his hammer and battling the trio of monsters, but he didn't fight near to his best ability.
By the end, he was covered in cuts and bruises with a swollen eye. The empousa ripped off his armor, taking some of his shirt with it. Luckily, they hadn't thought to take his tool belt; he was gonna need that if things went wrong.
"Have you set up the explosives yet?" The empousa asked.
Leo shook his head, spitting out blood.
"The bag is still full," one giant grunted.
Two giants (Malcom told him about these: Laistrygonians) grabbed him by his arms and dragged him towards the stairs.
This plan better work, Leo thought.
When the giants shoved him onto the deck, he prayed even harder.
It was worse in real life. Clusters of monsters stood around him, and on the balcony was Percy, standing across from Kronos.
"LEO!" Percy shouted, sounding distressed. "Let him go!"
"Why would we do that after we went through so much trouble to capture him?" The empousa asked.
Leo glanced at his watch, praying that Percy was smart enough to put the pieces together.
He was relieved when his friend's sea green eyes widened in realization.
"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"
"Soon." Kronos scowled at a demigod standing across from him.. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"
"He was going toward the engine room, my lord."
"How do you know that?"
"Er . . ." The demigod shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."
Percy's eyes widened more if possible.
Kronos hesitated.
"Open his bag," Kronos ordered.
One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Leo's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of explosives, they would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.
"Did you, perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near the galley?"
The demigod near Kronos turned pale. "Um—"
"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"
The demigod scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ran.
Percy turned to Leo, a silent question in his eyes: how long?
Leo made a circle with his hand: zero.
Kronos turned towards Percy with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks."
He held up something that Leo couldn't see.
Percy muttered something about a spy.
Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way. Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."
One of the giants put his hand around Leo's neck while the other continued to rummage through the sack, meaning Leo's left hand was free. He reached for his watch.
Go! He mounted to Percy, who shook his head.
Damn his loyalty, Leo thought.
Then by the swimming pool, one of the dracaenae hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"
Leo brought his hand up to his watch.
Percy threw his sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. He pushed through a crowd of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship—toward the water a hundred feet below.
The world exploded, putting Leo in one of the hottest fires he'd ever been in. He could almost feel it's burn.
The world went black.
Also, remember that Ethan has been captured. How'd you like it? Bye!
Trivia:
What is the name of the Anti-Poseidon giant?