Chapter 10

Hermes Helps Us

Thankfully, nothing had happened to the statue while we were gone. It was still in one piece, no one graffitied it, and there was no giant pigeon poop on it. That had to be a pretty good sign, right? Wrong. Things always had to get worse.

When I snapped my fingers, we went back through the rift. This time, things felt different. Not necessarily harder, but I felt like I was going to stray off the right path. I started to pray to my dad that we'd get out of the mess, though it seemed unlikely that something would happen.

Just then, I felt a strong tug, like we were on a tow. We and the statue toppled out of the rift. I groaned as my knees slammed to the ground. I looked around me. We were on a rocky island that wasn't much larger than a baseball diamond. Waves crashed around us violently, and the wind was picking up.

We weren't safe here, and Reyna and Coach Hedge were lying on the ground. I didn't know what had happened.

Before I could process any of this, a man about thirty feet tall with lizard legs rose from the water. He had wild green hair and blue armor. I knew who he was. He was a Giant; the one that was supposed to counteract Poseidon.

I drew by sword and put myself between the Giant and my friends. "What did you do to them?" I shouted.

He threw his head back and laughed. "I thought I'd spare them a painful death. You on the other hand, will die slowly and alone because you betrayed Kronos."

Right now, I wished I had actually studied Greek history. I might have known what to do, or at least know this guy's name. That monster probably pulled us out, so I couldn't just teleport us to safety. I also knew I couldn't beat him. Maybe I could scare him away.

I ran at the Giant, attempting to slice through his leg. My sword only clanged against the scales, sending sparks around.

"Fool! Did you think you could defeat the mighty Polybotes with a sword?"

"Kinda."

I could have used some Greek fire, but we left all of it on the ship. I slid out of the way as Polybotes thrust his trident at me. It narrowly missed me and stuck into the rock, shaking from the impact.

I definitely was the ADHD child of the year, because I tried to attack him again. Polybotes only laughed and swung his arm at me, sending me sprawling across the ground. I think I cracked a rib.

Polybotes went over to his trident and pulled it out from the rock. "I can't wait to rip you apart slowly."

I tried to jump back up, but Polybotes put his foot on my stomach. I felt like the mouse that was being played with by the cat. He scooped up some water and gargled it before spitting it back in my face. I wasn't sure what he was trying to do other than to gross me out.

I felt cold and weak right now. My whole body ached, and my mind was drawing blanks.

"Polybotes!"

I looked up. My dad had appeared above the Giant's head. "Don't you have mail that's due?" Polybotes grumbled.

"Get away from my son," Hermes growled. He dove at Polybotes and knocked him into the water. I was sure that Polybotes would resurface, but he didn't.

"Luke, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I wiped Polybote's spit off with my sleeve. "Dad, why—what's going on?"

"A lot. None of us can watch as Olympus crumbles. I shouldn't have helped you, but we have no other choice."

"My friends aren't dead are they?"

He shook his head. "No. They'll wake in a couple hours. Get out of here, Luke. Go to Camp Half-Blood."

I nodded. "Thanks for everything, Dad."

I could have sworn I saw a smile creep across Hermes face, but I didn't spent any time looking. I got up and moved over the statue. I had to hold up the two in one arm as I teleported us to… Vatican City, Rome. Not even close to Paris or Falmouth. If I were a wuss, I would have cried.

I started to feel dizzy, like I was roofied. Gods, I didn't need this right now. I tried to wake Coach Hedge, but he only mumbled, "Gotta kill em all."

"Please, Coach, wake up!"

He slowly opened his eye before kicking his leg like a dog and settling back down.

"Why bother."

I sat down at the base of the statue and took a deep breath. I shouldn't have been alive. I couldn't complete the mission and now we were all going to die. This was all on me. I was the one who wanted to get going early. I should have just let Nico bring the statue back because he would have done it in one swift move.

My body began to ache and I was getting a splitting headache. I was also breathing really fast like I was having a heart attack. Gods! Was I having a heart attack? No, I was being stupid. I couldn't be.

I got up and stumbled over to the side of the road to get help. The last thing I remembered was losing my balance and falling into a ditch.

. . .

I was officially the king of sleeping. I think I've spent over half of my time alive sleeping or passing out.

I looked over my bedside. Reyna was sitting in an arm chair.

"What time is it?"

She got up quickly and moved over to me. "It's ok, try not to strain yourself."

"No, God damn it." I stood up and immediately tripped over my own backpack. I got back up and started to throw on some clothes.

"Slow down, Luke."

"We need to get to Falmouth. Where the hell are we?"

"We're in a hotel. You were out for a long time. When we found you in that ditch, we thought you had died."

"What happened?"

"You were poisoned. I don't know how though."

"Polybotes. You guys passed out when he pulled us onto this little island."

My mind was racing. We needed to get on that barge, but I sort of knew what had happened. "We're not going to make it on the barge, are we?" I asked defeated.

Reyna shook her head. "Luke, it's not your fault. We couldn't do anything."

"We have to get to Camp Half-Blood from here, then."

"You sure, Luke?"

I nodded.

Reyna said hesitantly, "I don't know. Let me get Coach."

Reyna left the room before I could protest. I got bored waiting, so started to look around. This room got a pretty good view of St. Peter's Square. I think my mom was Catholic. I guess it didn't matter since she married an actual God.

I started to snoop around Reyna's things. I know I shouldn't have, but I was bored. She didn't have much: a pack of Winstons, chewing gum, car keys, and a Kindle. I swiped a couple of the Winstons—she wouldn't notice—and sat back down on the bed.

I'm glad that Reyna wasn't in the room because I took a whiff of my armpit, which surprisingly, did not smell terrible. Someone must have washed me when I was out. Weird. Oh, Gods. Did Reyna see me naked?

I looked over to my side. Huh, there was a napkin on the nightstand. Someone had written all over it. I assumed Reyna was trying to figure out how to get back to Camp Half-Blood. I was so wrong.

I can't stand waiting like this. We need to get out of here, but Luke's still sick. I wish he'd just wake up and tell me that he's ok. Even in his sleep, Luke is on guard. He keeps moaning about Octavian in his sleep. I try to comfort him, but it only works for a short time, then he starts moaning again. Sometimes he just cries about things. Either way, I can't help Luke. I'm afraid that Octavian's crazier than I could have imagined. Gods, I feel so helpless.

I put the napkin down and laid down on the bed, hands behind my head. I hated that Reyna worried about me all the time I was out. Gods, I felt so pathetic.

I didn't have time to sulk because Coach Hedge came in the room in his human costume. "Hello, sleeping beauty," said Coach sarcastically, "Ready to get going? Or do you need more sleep because there was pea under your bed?"

"Shut up."

"Watch it, blondie. I'll take you down."

"Either fight me, or stop threatening me," I said.

.

After breakfast at Einstein's Bagels, the three of us walked towards the outskirts of the city. It was a pretty nice day. The sun was shining, there was a cool breeze, and the country side was beautiful. The heat made me feel sleepy. Still, I felt very cautious, since monsters tend to show up either when you're having the worst day ever, or when everything seems perfect.

"Hey, Luke."

"What?" I asked through a yawn.

Reyna shifted her backpack onto both shoulders. "If we get out of this, do you want to come back to New Rome with me?" she asked.

I started to blush and my hands felt clammy again.

"Eh, I got killed in New Rome—"

"You were killed on Temple Hill."

"And I'm like public enemy number one," I continued, "I don't even know what's going to happen. It's all moving so fast."

"There was a group of people protesting your death. It was like Save Shamu, except for you."

Great, my life was as important as a fish's. I slunk down and sped up a little bit to hide the embarrassment on my face. I didn't want to admit that I still had feelings for Thalia. I had no idea what I was going to do if Thalia wanted to be with me.

I spotted the statue on the side of the road. It was right where I had passed out. Coach Hedge jumped on my back as we got ready to transport the statue.

I focused my best on Camp Half-Blood. I'm not going to lie, I thought we were going to die this time. I felt the pressure of the universe on my whole body. It was worse than holding up the world for Atlas.

We finally dropped down in what looked kinda like Spain. There were a bunch of cafes and shops. I was surprised that nobody noticed the forty foot tall statue. I said dejectedly, "Hooray, I messed up again."

"Luke, don't beat yourself up. We're in America."

"Which America?"

"Latin America. San Juan to be exact. Piña coladas were invented here in the sixties"

I racked my brain for an answer to why we landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, not Long Island, New York. It didn't sound like Long Island, New York. It didn't look like Long Island, New York. It wasn't close to Long Island, New York. And I know I didn't want to come here just to enjoy some authentic piña coladas and the local culture on summer break. Styx, I'm such an idiot.

Reyna pulled me so that I faced her. She brushed a drooping lock of hair out of my eyes, and said, "It's not good for your heath to be this stressed."

"Alright, let's just take a break. I feel dead on the inside."

I sat back down on the base of the statue and took a deep breath. I tried not to let the doubt from Polybotes's attack set in. Things are going well. We'll get back in time I told myself. You're not a failure.

Reyna sat down beside me and started to rub my shoulders. I started to calm down and accidentally let out a moan.

"Hey! What did I say about contact?" shouted Coach Hedge.

"It's not a big deal Coach. I'm just giving him a shoulder rub. He's tense and I'm a registered masseuse."

"Fine, me next."

The idea of her giving him a massage sent shivers down my neck.

"Luke, you're getting tense again."

"Sorry, just thinking about something grody. Hey, wanna eat?"

"You read my mind, blondie."

Reyna only shook her head. "Why are guys always thinking about food?"

"Dunno, so you think it's ok to leave the statue?"

"We've done it before," said Coach Hedge as he started to head inside the bar.

Reyna looked bothered the moment we got here. She seemed to be looking very pensively at the bar, like there was some painful memory there.

"Hey, Reyna. Are you alright?"

"No, but it's just a personal thing," she said tiredly.

I put my arm around her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Before Reyna could say anything, Coach Hedge fell to the ground like a boulder. I let go of Reyna and ran to him. A silver dart was sticking out of him like from a James Bond movie. Ahh! Something hit me directly in the neck. I stumbled as I tried to get back to Reyna, but by now, everything was starting to go dark. I fell to my knees, but I kept crawling forward.

The last thing I saw was Reyna being manhandled by some hooded figures. I wanted to rush at them and beat them up, but I couldn't.