Hey guys. Apparently I'm bad at keeping promises since I'm not updating quite as frequently as I wanted to. Oh well, at least I did get to update eventually. I hope you guys like this chapter. I think I overdid it in some way but I'll let you judge. So as always, Read & REVIEW. Enjoy :))

Percy had been in a lot of dangerous and scary situations by now. This was probably one of the worst. Not only did he have to get into fight with one of the most powerful, ruthless and scary beings in the sea but also he had to get into an argument with Jason, right in the middle of the battle! Two leaders weren't meant for one quest. Each had his own leadership style and strategies and while he and Jason got along well enough in some cases, there were times when they wanted to strangle each other. Well that was most of the time. This was one of the times.

The whole attack started when he and Leo were talking on the deck. Leo was an interesting person to talk to, probably because he did most of the talking. Also, Percy got the distinct feeling that Leo was either afraid of him or wary of him.

" You're not scared of me, are you?" he asked Leo bluntly.

" What me?" Leo grinned, " you think this awesome, fire powered hunk of a demigod is afraid of you?"

Percy raised his eyebrows, "is that a challenge?"

Instantly Leo began stammering " Well of course not. It could be if you want to but I hope you don't want to. Do you know umm… Could we talk about something else?"

Percy just grinned and turned to stare at the ocean. He had been staring at it most of the time during this trip since he had taken in it on himself to be on the deck in anticipation of a possible attack. His plan was perfect. He could sense powerful opponents quicker. Unfortunately, that also meant that he was the one who got attacked first. After making the ship maintain a constant, fast pace while sailing, fighting off the Scolopendra and wasting all his free time worrying about the camps and Annabeth, Percy didn't really have a lot of power to fight left. So when the horrific goddess Keto decided to make her appearance, Percy didn't really have it in him to resist her properly. Leo wasn't of much help either. He squeaked when he saw the attacker and ran inside. Probably to get the others.

Hazel screamed when she saw the goddess, while Frank managed to maintain some dignity by making an extremely terrified face. It was Percy's job to protect them. The ocean was his turf. Whispering "Father, help me now.", he took a deep breathe and started gathering all the power he could from the ocean. The goddess kept interfering with his efforts by constantly hitting the ship with huge waves and talking in his mind.

" You cannot win this one, son of the sea god. This is my home as well and I shall prevail." She laughed and rocked the ship. Percy could feel the power emanating from her.

The goddess looked just like her child, the Scolopendra, except her eyes were more intelligent and she had a vaguely humanoid figure. Her teeth were green fangs, her eyes yellow slits. Percy got the chills just by looking at her. He steeled his nerves and faced her.

"A sea goddess serving Gaea? Isn't that disgraceful?" he taunted her.

The goddess narrowed her yellow eyes.

" You cannot goad me demigod. The sea is my territory and earth goddess orders or not, I would still want to eat you and destroy you for your impudence."

" What impudence?" Percy yelled furiously.

" You dared sail across my dominion," the goddess cackled, " and now you shall pay the price."

At that moment she lunged and the ship began rocking dangerously. Percy redirected one of her huge waves in her direction and knocked her of course. Instead the goddess ended up hitting the waves. Before Percy could enjoy his brief victory, Keto rose with a furious expression spluttering,

" You shall die painfully, demigod!"

Exactly at that moment. When Percy was thinking of his own little plan to defeat her, Jason ran onto the deck yelling

" I know how to defeat her!"

At that moment the goddess grinned and whispered,

" Do you really, Jason Grace?"

The ship shook and all hell broke loose.

"Piper, Frank and Hazel, distract her!" Percy yelled, "Leo, go over the ships weapons. Find something that might be helpful while trying to veer the ship into a different direction!"

Then he ran towards Jason who nearly fell of the deck from the last attack. Percy pulled him to his feet while asking,

" What plan do you have?"

Jason glared at him for a moment before saying

" Chiron told me that we should either run from this thing or avoid altogether. If we are attacked by it though, which is the case now, we should hold it back for a while by distracting it and aiming for it's head or heart."

"So the same tactic as with the Scolopendra?" Percy asked.

" Basically, yes."

" This thing is the mother of the Scolopendra. She wont fall for the same tricks!" Percy yelled.

" I'm just saying what Chiron told me and what plan worked last time!" Jason yelled back.

" Barely worked!"

" Well if we had planned it more carefully." Jason grumbled while Percy narrowed his eyes.

" You were the one who helped set up and agreed with the plan." He said, " If you had something to complain about, you should have said it earlier."

" You're not supposed to be telling me what to do. I'm perfectly able to judge when and where I should say something." Jason said hotly.

" So now is the best time to discuss your issues?" Percy yelled, " In the middle of the battle? While our friends are out there, risking their lives? Perfect timing."

At this point it was obvious that they both had enough. For the first time in his life, Percy forgot all about friendship and loyalty. The ship was being attacked by Keto yet he and Jason stood facing each other, getting ready to fight. Their friends couldn't do anything because they were busy holding Keto of. So they fought.

Percy uncapped Riptide and Jason unsheathed his gladius. The next second, they clashed. Keto continued to goad them as they fought. Jason was a powerful demigod and a very good fighter. Percy knew that beforehand. He also knew that he had an advantage when it came to single combat. Especially since they were in the ocean, his home turf. Lightning flashed and the wind rose as they clashed. The ship continued to rock, threatening to drown and the monster kept laughing.

" Fight little demigods, fight." Keto laughed.

Just about when Percy had an advantage and was about to beat Jason they all heard someone scream,

"Stop!"

Piper. She put all her charm speak into that one word. Both he and Jason dropped their weapons. Even Keto stopped attacking.

" How can you two be so immature?" she yelled at them, " all our lives are at stake and you're fighting each other?"

Both Jason and Percy hung their heads guiltily. Percy had never felt more ashamed. He saw Hazel and Arion panting on the deck, Frank in a bear form lying next to them. He let them all down. He looked into Jason's eyes and saw that he felt the same. At that moment they came to a silent agreement. Get rid of the goddess first and settle their dispute later.

Jason nodded at Percy, so he picked up Riptide and glaring up at the monster yelled,

" This ends now."

Drawing his power from the ocean, Percy rose on the wave and attacked Keto in the head. She hissed and tried to swat him away but at that very same time Jason hit her with lightning and gave her a deep cut. Ichor began spilling into the ocean. Leo launched a few missiles. Keto was able to evade most of them but a couple caught her in the chest. She groaned.

" Attack her while she's weakened." Percy yelled, " Aim for the head or heart."

Frank and Jason tried to hit Keto in her chest wounds. Hazel meanwhile, with the help of Arion , was trying to blind the goddess with Percy. He was stabbing her with all his might. He couldn't summon the ice spike like last time but he did try to cut the monster as deeply as possible. A moment later the goddess let out a scream,

" This is not over demigods. I shall have my revenge. And I shall take you Percy Jackson, dead or alive. I don't care about what Gaea says."

With that she dived into the ocean and Percy felt her presence fading away. Taking a deep breathe he turned to the others.

" She's gone. At least for a while."

He received six blank stares. The first person to speak was Piper, glaring both at him and Jason she spoke forcefully,

" I demand an explanation for what happened today. We were in the middle of a bloody fight and you two just decided to attack each other? Not only did you threaten our safety by leaving us alone to deal with that horror but also you ignored the main rule of our group, which is getting along. If you two cant get along, how do you expect the camps to?"

" It's not like that the camps saw us." Jason grumbled. " Besides, our conflict isn't just about us being Greek and Roman. We're two leaders forced to lead one quest."

" Well cant you lead it together?" Hazel asked.

Percy sighed, "Not well enough, obviously."

" Why cant just one of you agree to listen to the other, so we don't have two leaders." Leo suggested.

He got a steely glare from both Percy and Jason.

" It's not that easy." Percy muttered. " Anyway, we'll resume this discussion tomorrow during a group meeting. We all need some sleep after this experience. I'll take first watch."

Then he turned his back on everyone and returned to staring at the sea.

" You should get some sleep too." He heard Leo say behind him, " I'll take first watch, this fight didn't wear me out as much as you."

Percy realized that he was too tired to argue so instead he nodded gratefully and shuffled of to his room. Without paying any attention to his surroundings he just plopped down on his bed. His thoughts were of Annabeth and where she was while drowsiness took over and he passed out.