Annabeth's POV
Sleeping on the back of a hippocampus and using the Golden Fleece as a blanket was surprisingly comfortable. Having no dreams along with it made it even more peaceful.
That is, until, I realized Percy was sleeping against me. I could only imagine how red my face was. I would probably get to see it later since Jasmine was taking a picture of us with her phone.
So cute, she mouthed while laying against a sleeping Will.
Stop it, I mouthed back.
Never! She took another picture.
I rolled my eyes and splashed water at her. Toothless flew back to dodge it and Jasmine stuck her tongue out at me.
Very mature, I mouthed.
In the distance, the sun was setting behind a city skyline. I could see a beachside highway lined with palm trees, store-fronts glowing with red and blue neon, a harbor filled with sailboats and cruise ships. Based on where the Sea of Monsters was located, I had a fairly good idea where we were.
The hippocampi had slowed down and were whinnying and swimming in circles, sniffing the water. They didn't look happy. One of them sneezed.
Everyone was starting to stir from their naps. I sat up a bit and shook Percy's shoulder. "Percy, wake up." I splashed salt water on his face and his eyes opened.
He looked around at our surroundings and noticed the city in the distance.
"Miami, I think," I said.
"It's gotta be," Jasmine agreed.
"But the hippocampi are acting funny."
Percy noticed. "This is as far as they'll take us. Too many humans. Too much pollution. We'll have to swim to shore on our own."
None of us was very psyched about that, but we thanked Rainbow and his friends for the ride. Tyson cried a little. He unfastened the makeshift saddle pack he'd made, which contained his tool kit and a couple of other things he'd salvaged from the Birmingham wreck. He hugged Rainbow around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he'd picked up on the island, and said good-bye.
Once the hippocampi's white manes disappeared into the sea, we swam for shore. Jasmine, Toothless, and Will joined us. The waves pushed us forward, and in no time we were back in the mortal world. We wandered along the cruise line docks, pushing through crowds of people arriving for vacations. Porters bustled around with carts of luggage. Taxi drivers yelled at each other in Spanish and tried to cut in line for customers. If anybody noticed us—seven kids dripping wet and looking like they'd just had a fight with a monster—they didn't let on.
Now that we were back among mortals, Tyson's single eye had blurred from the Mist. Grover had put on his cap and sneakers. Even the Fleece had transformed from a sheepskin to a red-and-gold high school letter jacket with a large glittery Omega on the pocket.
I ran to the nearest newspaper box and checked the date on the Miami Herald. I cursed. "June eighteenth! We've been away from camp ten days!"
"That's impossible!" Clarisse said.
But I knew it wasn't. Time traveled differently in monstrous places.
"Thalia's tree must be almost dead," Grover wailed. "We have to get the Fleece back tonight."
Clarisse slumped down on the pavement. "How are we supposed to do that?" Her voice trembled. "We're hundreds of miles away. No money. No ride. This is just like the Oracle said. It's your fault, Jackson! If you hadn't interfered—"
"Percy's fault?!" Jasmine and I exploded.
"Clarisse, how can you say that?" I said. "You are the biggest—"
"Stop it!" Percy said.
Clarisse put her head in her hands. I stomped my foot and Jasmine crossed her arms in frustration.
Clarisse blamed Percy for everything. Who blew Grover's cover to Polyphemus? Who was the one that caused our ship to sink? She took no responsibility for her own actions.
"Clarisse," Percy said, "what did the Oracle tell you exactly?"
She looked up. I thought she was going to tell him off, but instead she took a deep breath and recited her prophecy:
"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,
You shall find what you seek and make it your own,
But despair for your life entombed within stone,
And fail without friends, to fly home alone."
"Ouch," Grover mumbled.
"No," Percy said. "No . . . wait a minute. I've got it."
He searched my pockets for money, and found nothing but a golden drachma. "Does anybody have any cash?"
Will, Grover, Jasmine, and I shook our heads morosely. Clarisse pulled a wet Confederate dollar from her pocket and sighed.
"Cash?" Tyson asked hesitantly. "Like . . . green paper?"
Percy looked at him. "Yeah."
"Like the kind in the duffel bags?"
"Yeah, but we lost those bags days a-g-g—"
He stuttered to a halt as Tyson rummaged in his saddle pack and pulled out the Ziploc bag full of cash that Hermes had included in our supplies.
"Tyson!" Percy said. "How did you—"
"Thought it was a feed bag for Rainbow," he said. "Found it floating in sea, but only paper inside. Sorry."
He handed him the cash. Fives and tens, at least three hundred dollars.
Percy ran to the curb and grabbed a taxi that was just letting out a family of cruise passengers. "Clarisse," he yelled. "Come on. You're going to the airport. Annabeth, give her the Fleece."
I'm not sure which of us looked more stunned as he took the Fleece letter jacket from me, tucked the cash into its pocket, and put it in Clarisse's arms.
Clarisse said, "You'd let me—"
"It's your quest," he said. "We only have enough money for one flight. Besides, I can't travel by air. Zeus would blast me into a million pieces. That's what the prophecy meant: you'd fail without friends, meaning you'd need our help, but you'd have to fly home alone. You have to get the Fleece back safely."
I could see her mind working—suspicious at first, wondering what trick he was playing, then finally deciding he meant what he said. I knew he did.
She jumped in the cab. "You can count on me. I won't fail."
"You better not," Jasmine said.
"Not failing would be good," Percy agreed.
The cab peeled out in a cloud of exhaust. The Fleece was on its way.
"Percy," I said, "that was so—"
"Generous?" Grover offered.
"Honorable?" Will offered.
"Admiring," Jasmine said.
"Insane," I corrected them all. "You're betting the lives of everybody at camp that Clarisse will get the Fleece safely back by tonight?"
"It's her quest," Percy said. "She's deserves a chance."
"Percy is nice," Tyson said.
"Very," Jasmine agreed.
"Percy is too nice," I grumbled, but I couldn't help being a little impressed. He'd surprised me, anyway. And I'm not an easy person to surprise.
"Come on," Percy told us. "Let's find another way home."
That's when he turned and found a sword's point at his throat.
"Hey, cuz," said Luke. "Welcome back to the States."
His bear-man thugs appeared on either side of us. One grabbed me and Grover by their T-shirt collars. The other tried to grab Tyson, but Tyson knocked him into a pile of luggage and roared at Luke. Toothless stood in a defensive position and growled in warning while Jasmine unsheathed her dual blades, using one to create some sort of shield in front of Will, who had his bow in hand, and using her other towards Luke.
"Percy," Luke said calmly, "tell your giant to back down or I'll have Oreius bash your friends' heads together."
Oreius grinned and raised me and Grover off the ground, kicking and screaming.
"What do you want, Luke?" Percy growled.
He smiled, the scar rippling on the side of his face.
He gestured toward the end of the dock, and I noticed what should've been obvious. The biggest boat in port was the Princess Andromeda.
"Why, Percy," Luke said, "I want to extend my hospitality, of course."
Jasmine's POV
The bear twins herded us aboard the Princess Andromeda. They threw us down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool with sparkling fountains that sprayed into the air. A dozen of Luke's assorted goons—snake people, Laistrygonians, demigods in battle armor—had gathered to watch us get some "hospitality."
I looked around the crowd, half hoping to see the girl that helped us the last time was among them, but I couldn't spot her anywhere. Even I didn't think Luke was stupid enough to allow her around us again. I'm worried about what he did to her. Where was she?
"And so, the Fleece," Luke mused. "Where is it?"
He looked us over, prodding Percy's shirt with the tip of his sword, poking Grover's jeans.
"Hey!" Grover yelled. "That's real goat fur under there!"
"Sorry, old friend." Luke smiled. "Just give me the Fleece and I'll leave you to return to your, ah, little nature quest."
"Blaa-ha-ha!" Grover protested. "Some old friend!"
"Maybe you didn't hear me." Luke's voice was dangerously calm. "Where—is—the—Fleece?"
"Not here," Percy said. He probably shouldn't have told him anything, but I knew he would enjoy throwing the truth in his face. "We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up."
Luke's eyes narrowed. "You're lying. You couldn't have . . ." His face reddened as a horrible possibility occurred to him. "Clarisse?"
Percy nodded.
"You trusted . . . you gave . . ."
"Yeah."
"Fortunately this time," I muttered.
"Agrius!" Luke called
He flinched. "Y-yes?"
"Get below and prepare my steed. Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to the Miami Airport, fast!"
"But, boss—"
"Do it!" Luke screamed. "Or I'll feed you to the drakon along with the girl!"
The girl . . . What she did for us, just to be killed . . .
Agrius gulped and lumbered down the stairs. Luke paced in front of the swimming pool, cursing in Ancient Greek, gripping his sword so tight his knuckles turned white.
The rest of Luke's crew looked uneasy. Maybe they'd never seen their boss so unhinged before. I have, and I didn't like seeing it again.
"You've been toying with us all along," Percy said. "You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."
I raised my eyebrow at him. He had a habit of stating the obvious too much.
Luke scowled. "Of course, you idiot! And you've messed everything up!"
"Traitor!" He dug his last gold drachma out of his pocket and threw it at Luke. He dodged it easily. The coin sailed into the spray of rainbow-colored water.
O goddess, accept my offering. I heard Percy pray in his mind.
My eyes widened. Oh!
"You tricked all of us!" I yelled at Luke. "Even DIONYSUS at CAMP HALF-BLOOD!"
Behind Luke, the fountain began to shimmer. I could hardly keep my expressions under control because I was so anxious with what was about to come. Percy needed everyone's attention on him, so he uncapped Riptide.
Luke just sneered. "This is no time for heroics, Percy. Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."
"Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?"
"I did, of course," he snarled. "I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."
"Chiron had nothing to do with it?"
"Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts."
"You call it guts? Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?"
Luke raised his sword. "You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece . . . once I was done with it."
That made Percy hesitate and I couldn't quite blame him. Why would he let Percy take the Fleece? He could've been lying. But Percy couldn't afford to lose his attention.
"You were going to heal Kronos," he said.
"Yes! The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. But you haven't stopped us, Percy. You've only slowed us down a little."
"And so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods."
Luke gritted his teeth. "You know that! Why do you keep asking me?"
"Because I want everybody in the audience to hear you."
"What audience?"
Then his eyes narrowed. He looked behind him and his goons did the same. They gasped and stumbled back.
Above the pool, shimmering in the rainbow mist, was an Iris-message vision of Dionysus, Tantalus, and the whole camp in the dining pavilion. They sat in stunned silence, watching us.
"Well," said Dionysus dryly, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."
"Mr. D, you heard him," Percy said. "You all heard Luke. The poisoning of the tree wasn't Chiron's fault."
Dionysus sighed. "I suppose not."
"The Iris-message could be a trick," Tantalus suggested, but his attention was mostly on his cheeseburger, which he was trying to corner with both hands.
"I fear not," Dionysus said, looking with distaste at Tantalus. "It appears I shall reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games."
Tantalus grabbed the cheeseburger. It didn't bolt away from him. He lifted it from the plate and stared at it in amazement, as if it were the largest diamond in the world. I have to admit, sometimes a cheeseburger kind of is. "I got it!" he cackled.
"We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus," Dionysus announced.
Tantalus looked stunned. "What? But—"
"You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed.
"No! But—Nooooooooooo!"
As he dissolved into mist, his fingers clutched at the cheeseburger, trying to bring it to his mouth. But it was too late. He disappeared and the cheeseburger fell back onto its plate. The campers exploded into cheering. I cheered along with them. Finally, that bastard was gone.
Luke bellowed with rage. He slashed his sword through the fountain and the Iris-message dissolved, but the deed was done.
I smirked. Percy seemed to be feeling pretty good about himself, as he should be, until Luke turned and gave him a murderous look.
"Kronos was right, Percy. You're an unreliable weapon. You need to be replaced."
I wasn't sure what he meant, but I didn't have time to think about it. One of his men blew a brass whistle, and the deck doors flew open. A dozen more warriors poured out, making a circle around us, the brass tips of their spears bristling.
Luke smiled at us. "You'll never leave this boat alive."
This is going slower than I was hoping it would. But I'm still moving (some days)!
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