Leo's POV
Lauren insisted on having breakfast alone in the engine room. When I left her here, I heard her sniffle in between sobs. It was heartbreaking to listen to but I was probably just a pain in the butt. We were almost in Atlanta pretty soon. Frank, Percy and Coach Hedge went to meet Phorcys as Bacchus had suggested. Annabeth really wanted to go but after what happened last night, Coach wouldn't allow it. I wanted to go check on Lauren but didn't want to disturb her so I stayed put.
Lauren's POV
My hand was flying across my diary, but instead of tears streaming out of my eyes, I had a smile plastered to my face. Over the past few hours, I had been writing and I found that I had no reason to cry. If the others found Frank's powers being related to 2 gods cool, they wouldn't mind me. I had set my priorities right after consulting my diary and I was about to go to deck when something made the ship lurch to one side.
I ran to the deck, everyone was fighting something which was in the water. The thing was the length of their ship. In the moonlight, it looked like a cross between a giant shrimp and a cockroach, with a pink chitinous shell, a flat crayfish tail, and millipede-type legs undulating hypnotically as the monster scraped against the hull of the Argo II. I took my rubber band off my wrist as it elongated into a sword. I stabbed and slashed every time it took hold of someone.
But something horrible happened. I watched as Hazel and Frank were pulled into the sea with the monster, bobbing up and down. I was about to dive in when Leo had to play hero. He got a vial of Greek fire as the monster grabbed him. As the monster opened its mouth, Leo threw the vial in. It killed the monster, but as it drowned, it pulled the three along with them. For one, whole minute, everything was quiet. And then I came back to my senses. I ran to the edge, but Annabeth held me back.
'Lauren, your Achilles heel might be weak,' she said. I knew why she said it.
'No, no. He's not gone. I can know it. I need to find him,' I said.
Annabeth looked at me sympathetically. 'You have to acknowledge the possibility that he is gone.'
'Fine! I'm either coming back up with him or not ever reaching the surface again.' I said as a broke free of her grip. I jumped into the sea before anyone could stop me. For a moment, the water felt as inviting as ever but then, it started flooding my lungs. It suffocated me. I tried to get back up, instinctively but then I remembered my words, I'm either coming back up with him or not ever reaching the surface again.
I let myself sink slowly into the sea…