II

Percy

As soon as Percy hit the water he calmed down. Up there with the others he wasn't really needed to make decisions like that. They could sail through the strait or not and Percy would still do the same thing he always did—fight to protect everyone he loved.

The water around the Argo II was murky like it was filled with silt and Percy struggled to see, though his underwater radar-sense was a fine replacement. He could pinpoint everything around him and it was much more reliable than sight.

Usually when Percy was in water he didn't get wet, but now he just wanted to get soaked, wash away Gaea's words, so he willed the water to soak him. It felt good to float around in the sea, to let the current bob him all over. He kept the Argo II within half a mile so he could warn his friends if he sensed any monsters, but otherwise he wasn't paying attention to where he was going or how long he was under.

As much as Gaea was eating at him, he couldn't help but remember how angry he'd been, even in a dream. This wasn't even Ares-type anger, it was blinding hatred. It was primal and instinctive, and he had no idea where it had come from. Percy was a pretty easy going guy and never got angry unless his friends and family were threatened, but even then he wasn't the type to fall off his rocker. After he'd come back from Tartarus, though, he was getting angry more and more often. That run-in with Akhlys broke something inside of him, and he could feel it.

By the time Percy started to head toward the Argo II, he wondered what Annabeth would say. She'd seen him flip and choke the goddess of misery, and he was sure some of his emotions were showing during that dream spectacle. Would she even want to talk about it?

I have to tell her. She deserves to know. After all, I told her we wouldn't be separated again, he thought.

As he neared the ship, Percy noticed the silt getting thicker and thicker to the point of utter blindness underwater. Using a wave of water to lift him up, he hopped onto the main deck and scanned for Annabeth.

Only Leo and Hazel were up there, both of them pressing buttons on the controls and swearing in other languages. Leo's elfish features were scrunched up in confusion and frustration, making him look like one of Santa's really ticked off elves. Hazel, on the other hand, was a lot more vocal about her building impatience and decided to kick the control panel a couple of times before sitting down and giving up.

Hazel saw him first, but Leo spoke once he realized Percy was back aboard. For some reason, Leo's grin was so big it almost split his face. "Hey, man! Were you pouting or something? You looked like you'd seen a ghost."

Leo's mood was contagious and Percy felt a little better, especially over earlier. "What in the world are you doing? Your face looks like you've discovered a way to read people's minds or make Buford the Wonder Table do the Macarena."

Leo somehow grinned even bigger before he tossed Archimedes' sphere up in the air and caught it. He wiggled his eyebrows mischievously like he was either going to explain the old Greek sphere or maybe you'll find explosives in your mattress, and he would be happy with either.

"We're going to get around the Peloponnese faster than Frank got out of that Chinese finger trap with my ingenious inventions," Leo declared triumphantly. "We'll feel like we're shadow-traveling we'll be flying so fast." He made ridiculous sound effects with his mouth including a racecar, a jet, and, for some reason, an airplane crashing into a mountain. "It'll be epic!"

Percy had to laugh. Leave it to Leo to cheer everyone up. That's definitely what he needed right now.

Hazel spoke up then. "Uh, are you okay with us going around the Peloponnese? You weren't exactly here when we decided," she said, ever so slightly avoiding eye contact. She wouldn't look at him or even hardly speak to him, and Percy bit back a comment.

"Why would I care?" he asked genuinely. "That's not exactly my thing, you know? I'm more of a chop-the-heads-off-monsters kind of guy. Besides, we've only ever had one goal, and that's defeating Gaea, which means we all have to be alive to do it. I trust Annabeth and the others' judgement with my life."

Hazel's shoulders relaxed a little and she smiled, but Percy could tell something was bothering her, something she didn't want to admit. Her bright golden eyes seemed a little dull and preoccupied with something, almost like she'd seen a ghost. She tried to hide it, but he knew that look anywhere—she'd had a really bad nightmare.

"Hazel—"

Before he could get another word out, Percy sensed something move underneath the ship, slightly rocking it and stirring up the water. He couldn't sense the source of the disturbance, but he assumed it was trying to kill them just like the rest. The ship lurched to one side, but he steadied it almost immediately, calming the waters around the Argo II and allowing Hazel and Leo to get their footing.

Percy uncapped Riptide, but stayed focused on keeping the water calm. For some reason he was getting resistance, almost like two equally powerful forces were warring over shared turf. It was causing a weird feeling all over his body, like the energy was draining out of him. He tried to think of why that could be, but had absolutely no idea and couldn't afford to be distracted or his hold over the water would release. As he fought against the weird force, Leo and Hazel burst into action, Leo scrambling with his magic tool belt and Wii remote. Hazel drew her spatha and stood on alert, but there was nothing to kill.

Until an explosion of monsters came shooting up out of the water straight for Percy. Wicked sharp claws and sizzling poison came hurtling toward him faster than a train, but he couldn't dodge or slash them without letting the ship go, which he speculated would snap it forward like a rubber band at this point. Just as he was about to be ripped to shreds and vaporized at the same time, Hazel jumped in, stabbing monster after monster, her face beaded with sweat.

"Percy! What's wrong?" she shouted over the noise.

But Percy was in no condition to answer. His entire body was soaked in sweat and his muscles felt like he'd run a hundred miles uphill. Just standing was almost too much for him at this point as he struggled to grip Riptide, and yet the ocean around the Argo II was still starting to churn and rock the ship, despite his efforts. He needed the others awake and out here, now. There was no way Leo, Hazel, and him could keep all of these monsters away and figure out what was causing the problem. Truth be told, he needed Jason to help corral this storm, maybe subdue some of the gale-force winds so that he could dive into the water and figure out what was going on.

Hazel continued to kill any monster in her vicinity until finally Percy had to let go of shreds of hold over the water. The ship pitched forward and he and Hazel were thrown forward a few feet, but nothing too bad. Percy landed hard on his left shoulder, but ignored the dull ache and stumbled over to Hazel.

"We need the others!" he shouted. "This is too much for us!"

Hazel looked a little dazed, but nodded and yelled back, "Where's Leo?"

Percy was about to say he didn't know when a loud, high pitched whine came from the bow of the ship and a spray of fire enveloped the nearest monsters, frying them to a crisp and sending them back to the death pit they came from. The rest of the surrounding forces scurried away, trying to avoid the bronze dragon head that was whirring and spinning, spewing fire as it went.

And then came Leo with the cavalry in tow. Maybe wearing holey T-shirts and boxers, but hey, reinforcements were reinforcements.

Jason, ever the serious one, came right out and demanded to know what was going on, his muscles tensed as he drew his Imperial Gold gladius and scanned for any incoming monsters. As Percy explained the exhaustion that came with controlling the water, Jason narrowed his eyes and gave a quick nod. "Let me try something," he said and lifted himself into the air.

Frank, Piper, Hazel, and Leo began attacking the monsters toward the stern of the ship, Piper using charmspeak to make some of the monsters jump into the sea or fight with their allies, and Frank changing into a dozen different animals as the need arose.

Annabeth was the only one who didn't take off to engage the monsters. Instead, she paced, and Percy watched as she muttered something about gods and goddesses before turning to him, fixing him with her grey-eyed gaze.

"You need to find out what's going on," Annabeth said. "And fast, or we'll be walking to Athens." Then she pointed above them where Jason was stuttering in the air, losing a lot of altitude but catching himself at the last second. "Jason seems to be having the same issue as you, and we have to figure this out, now."

Percy ran a hand through his hair and raised Riptide. "Okay, let's—"

Just as he was about to take off, a venti swooped down and plucked him from the deck, hovering at least thirty feet in the air so he was out of reach from any of his friends on the ground. Annabeth shouted something, but he couldn't hear it over the wind-tunnel sound from the venti. Percy tried to use Riptide, but it passed right through the wind spirit, and he recalled how hard they were to kill, even with Celestial Bronze. He cursed in Ancient Greek.

The venti hurtled toward the sea, which made no sense to Percy since that was where he had the advantage, but at the last second dropped him over the open water and disappeared. As soon as he was under he felt his strength returning and his mind clearing. He noticed the silt had cleared a little, but it was still somewhat hard to see, so he focused on his underwater radar.

He sensed the giant coming before he saw it. As soon as he realized it, he cursed in English and raised Riptide, hating himself for not assuming Polybotes would come after him once he found his way out of Tartarus.

"Arrrggh!" the giant roared as he approached Percy. His snake legs were as disgusting as ever and his hair was still teeming with basilisks, all of them hissing viciously, their forked tongues darting in and out of their mouths.

Polybotes swam within twenty feet of Percy before laughing and pointing his finger. "Ah, Percy Jackson, how wonderful to see you again! This time I'll finally capture you and torture you until your little mortal heart fails!" He cackled some more, to add effect.

Percy stomach turned at the thought of the giant's green poison, and he could've kicked himself for yet again being completely blind. The only reason the he'd be thrown into the sea would be to fight the anti-sea giant. Now he was stuck, and had no idea how to fight Polybotes effectively. Deciding to draw him above water and by the ship, Percy tried to will himself upward. But just as soon as he moved an inch, he that same exhausted feeling settled over his body.

"Having trouble little demigod?" Polybotes sneered. "You'll find that your powers will only tire you and make you easier to kill. Gaea has enlisted the help of a most useful minor goddess—Kymopoleia, show yourself."

Next to Polybotes appeared a twenty foot tall goddess dressed in a flowing green dress and adorned in all manners of jewelry made from abalone shells.

"Are you ready to die, dear brother of mine?" the goddess shrieked gleefully.

*I apologize for the delay. I had major computer issues. In the future, chapter will come in a timelier manner.