The Grace Trilogy: Book One
The Cruise of Death
The Grace Trilogy
Book One: The Cruise of Death
To everyone that has ever helped me become a voracious reader and writer.
Prologue
Well, I GUESS being a demigod is fun. If you're not sent on a quest that could possibly get you killed, that is. Quests are fun, until the part where you have to go and face who or whatever it is, and then get maimed. And don't even get me started on the monsters. Gods, you get so used to them that you can feel when they're about to pop out. I could tell you more, but I have to go. Mark's stuck on the top of the rock climbing wall, and he's too chicken to come down. Now Rachel and I have to get him. But don't tell him I called him chicken.
Oh, and, by the way, if you recognize yourself in these pages, you might want to stop reading and get to Camp A.S.A.P.!
Chapter One
Gianna, Rachel, Jason, and I were sent on a quest for the gods and goddesses. There are four of us, instead of three, and that's because I broke the rules. So, anyway, their magic items had been stolen mysteriously. The bandit left Olympus and set sail on a cruise liner docked in New York Harbor. It was up to us to recover the items and catch the thief.
"Thalia! C'mon! Hurry!" Jason shouted from our ship's stairwell. He gripped the stair's handrail as he inched up the stairs.
"Zzzap!" went the railing. I zapped it just to make Jason a little less enthusiastic. He winced in pain, and I snickered.
"You're gonna pay!" he yelled.
"Would you like that in cash, drachma, or my lightning bolt, Corpse Face?" I retorted, smirking.
"Ha. Ha. Ha," he said sarcastically.
"Glad you like the joke. Help me with the bags," I said.
"What the Hades is in here? II thought you were a daughter of Zeus, not Aphrodite!" Jason complained.
"Be careful, you bag of bones! Those have Greek fire and a bunch of magic items from my dad! The magic Items, I'm not so worried about. But the Greek fire can go off in extreme motion. You wanna die BEFOREthe quest?" I warned.
He gulped. "No."
"Raaaaaaaaachellllll! Giaaaaaaaaannnnnnaaaaaa!" I called. They ran up to the ship, dragging the cases of Greek armor. As soon as they were onboard, I lifted the stairs, which folded into the ship.
We went inside, through the winding hallways, and to the control room.
"Ok, who's ready to die?" I asked sarcastically, as Jason switched the ship and the navigation system on.
Chapter Two
We toured the ship (Jason turned the navigation system on). Each of us got our own 21'x21' room. Thanks to the Hephaestus, Hecate, and Aphrodite cabins, our rooms were exactly our style and taste.
I got a room painted electric turquoise with black stripes, a big bed with black sheets, an expansive bathroom tiled with granite, a huge white couch with a flat-screen tv, a gigantic desk with a MacBook, iPhone 4, and drawers containing a collection of well-balanced swords and Greek fire bombs. There was also a walk-in closet with any kind of clothes you could think of (courtesy of Stacy in Aphrodite cabin), a big balcony with iron-wrought bars that was next to Jason's, a massive collection of paintball artillery hidden in a wall panel. A snack bar stashed with anything (thank you, Hecate cabin!), and lastly, a set of iPod speakers I could hook up to my iPod.
"What in Hades? Holy Olympus!" I heard Jason shout. "Thalia! Get over here!" Jason called.
"What?" I yelled, and flung his door open, which was next to mine.
I could see what he was yelling about. The Hephaestus, Hecate, and Aphrodite kids had overdone Jason's room. There was a flat-screen hooked up with a PS3 with Black Ops- and all its hacks, a huge couch the size of two gods' thrones, a gumball machine, a king-size bed, a bathroom the size of a normal cabin at Camp, a desk as big as his couch stocked with a black MacBook, an iPhone, and pictures of Jason plastered against his dark blue and black walls.
"Evans, I gotta tell you, you're more self-absorbed than a sponge," I said.
"Thaaaaaaaliaaaaaa! Jaaaaaaaason!" Rachel yelled from the room on the left of mine. We ran from Jason's room on my right.
We walked into her room. It was light blue with faint streaks of black. There was a large, gray bookshelf stocked with all her favorite books, a giant, soft, white, couch and a flat-screen TV. Next to the couch and her blue-and-black bed was a huge writing desk with a big shelf above it. Corinthian columns connected to the desk supported the shelf. The desk's legs were just a bunch of arches connected to each other. But in/on the desk was what a typical child of Athena would have. An iPhone, a MacBook, Greek armor, and a collection of swords. Her bathroom, was tiled with granite, which was colored light blue, and again, lightly streaked with black.
"Diimmortales!" I breathed, admiring the drink bar built into the walk-in closet and the balcony with the same arches on the desk.
"Thals! Rach! Jason!" Gianna yelled from her room, next to Rachel's.
We walked in. Her room was lavender with a black carpet, a big bed with light blue sheets, a walk-in closet, a plasma TV with a light blue couch, and a dance floor complete with a disco ball and a DJ booth. There was even a pithos that had an unlimited supply of any cookie you could think of.
"Thalia, we haven't seen your room yet," Jason said.
"Ok, sure, come on!" I said happily, walkingto my room.
I opened the door. I couldn't see their reaction because I was ahead.
"What does this do?" Jason asked, but already pressed the buttons on the control panel.
The wall behind the desk slid open and the space contained various paintball guns, 200 or so drachmas, and $700 in mortal American money.
"Holy Olympus," they remarked.
"Yeah, I owe Hephaestus cabin a lot. I heard they sold a bunch of their weapons to the mortal government," I grinned.
Just then, an Iris message appeared in my room. In front of us were Poseidon, Lord of the Sea, and Apollo, god of light and truth.
"Hi, Uncle Poseidon. Hi, Apollo," Jason and I said while the other two were still stunned that Apollo the Teenager was with the (old) sea god.
I cleared my throat and coughed on purpose.
"Oh, yeah. Hi Poseidon. Hi, Apollo," they chimed.
"Hello, Thalia, Jason, Rachel, and Gianna," said Poseidon.
"Wassup, little sister?" asked Apollo. I stared at him blankly.
"You forgot some people," I answered monotonously.
"Oh, yeah. Hi, Jason, Rachel, Gianna, " he said sheepishly.
"Uncle, what's wrong?" I asked Poseidon.
"Well, child, I have a son named Mark," he replied.
"Percy's not going to be happy about this," I murmured.
"That ismyproblem, thank you very much," he said.
"If you say, so, Uncle," I responded.
"Now, where was I? Ah, yes. I have a son named Mark," he stated.
"Yeah. You said that already," scoffed Jason.
"Watch it, son of Hades. Tomorrow morning, you might wake up with a sea slug in your ear," Poseidon shot back. "Now, as I was saying, Mark was visiting me on Olympus with his friend. He left just in time to see the thief make a getaway. But the despicable thief didn't stop his robbing spree yet. He took one of the only witnesses with him."
"Uncle, you said, 'one of the only witnesses'. Are there more?" I inquired.
"Yes, child, but that would be Apollo's turn to explain. Apollo?" said the Sea-God.
"Oh, yeah, right, my turn. So, like, my son Ryan was with Mark, because, they're, like, friends. Ryan was with me and Mark was with Uncle Sea-God. So, they, like, left together and both saw the thief. Ryan is the other kidnapped witness," explained Apollo.
"Right, so I'm guessing you want us to go find them, along with your 'Symbols of Power'?" asked Jason.
"Why else would they tell us? The gods obviously want us to go get them," I said to Jason.
"She is right. Iris is busy, and now I'm paying extra. Goodbye, children, and thank you," Poseidon said as he ran his hand through the mist, making it fade into the air.
Chapter Three
That night, as we went off to bed, I knocked on Rachel's wall and told her to get Gianna and come to my room. When they got there, I told them my plan and sent them back to their rooms. I didn't want to scare them.
"Jason! Jason! Jason! HELP!" I yelled, hiding behind my door, holding a paintball gun.
"Thaila! Thalia!" I heard him yell. He was frantically getting out of bed, dashing to my room and opening the door.
Wham! Smack! I shot him with a hot pink paintball.
"Heh heh heh," I snickered. "Nice boxers. Like the polka dots."
"Those aren't polka dots, they're bullet holes!" he argued.
"Sure they are. Good night," I said, flashing him a smile. "See you at breakfast."
The next morning, I went downstairs to the lower deck for breakfast.
"Morning, Rachel. Morning, Gianna," I said. "Where's Jason?"
"Brooding, probably. I think you should apologize."
"Uh, WHY?" I asked.
"He doesn't like getting beat up by girls. It makes him feel weak," she replied.
"FINE. I'll wake him up AND apologize," I said, stomping upstairs.
I opened Jason's door and entered. One night and his room was already cluttered. Typical boy.
"Hey, Jason, WAKE UP! Get up and drag your damaged ego downstairs!" I jumped up and down. "Ugh. Okay, fine. I'm sorry for shooting you with a hot pink paintball," I sighed.
"Thanks. I'm starved," he said, rubbing his eyes.
I grabbed his wrist and dashed off down the hallway. Next to the stairs were two tables with trays. Jason smirked and winked at me.
"Ready, Thalia?" he asked.
"Whenever you are, Corpse Face," I said. We sat on the rays and slid down the stairs.
"Houston, we have problems. The-e-e-ere's t-t-turbulence a-a-and I'm st-t-tuck wi-i-i-th a girl tougher tha-a-a-an nor-r-rmal and we're fa-a-alling
down the stair-r-rs!" Jason yelled.
"Don't talk to me about normal!" I shouted back, bursting through the dining room's doors.
"Breakfast time!" the son of Hades yelled.
I ran to the serving area and grabbed a tray, a cereal bowl, and a plate.
"Holy Zeus," I remarked, looking at all the food.
"Wow…" Jason sighed.
I got eggs, pancakes, sausages, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and seventeen ounces of hot chocolate, not adding the whole can of whipped cream I managed to down.
He, on the other hand, got fiveeggs, hash browns, bacon, French toast, and apple juice for the little toddler still in him.
"That's what I call childhood obesity," I said, staring at Jason's tray. "TREE!"
"That's what I call childhood anorexia," he replied, glancing at my tray. "STICK!"
We walked to the only occupied dining table in the massive room.
"Good morning, Jason," Rachel said. "How's your little ego?"