So we stole a lifeboat and used that to make our escape, using wind from within a flask that had been gifted to Percy by Hermes as our propeller and it was pretty nifty too. I'm pretty sure the speed alone could have broken our necks if we let that thing out full blast. I lay myself down with one of the duffel bags under my head as a pillow, thinking deeply and tapping my fingers against my wrist as Percy and Annabeth were trying to contact Chiron to tell him what had happened, but I don't think they got much through to him because the connection was pretty poor and it sounded like he was at a rave. Chiron at a rave? I would have loved to have experienced that. Tyson was currently taking a nap, having snacked on some of the food in his bag. All in all our escape had been pretty successful since nothing chased after us, but I couldn't stop thinking about Luke and everything he'd said so as we journeyed I pondered over everything that had just happened. We got pretty far and, as it happened, we discovered that Percy and I had perfect bearings at sea, even though it made me gag and shudder to think that I had a natural talent for seamanship because of dad. Unfortunately this was a gift that I could not supress, and so I just stayed quiet as Annabeth directed us to a place we could stay. I was glad for the opportunity for more rest, because ever since leaving the sea I'd felt bone tired. We headed further inland on the river to this place that Annabeth had made years ago with Thalia and Luke when they'd travelled together, a sort of safe house that I felt out and found to be made predominantly from sticks and branches. Neat. Anyway as much as I wanted to go back to sleep, I got the feeling that my little brother wanted to talk to Annabeth in private, so I smirked at him then said I was going to help Tyson look for doughnuts in the middle of the wilderness. Only problem was, we found doughnuts. Now for most people, finding doughnuts when you're hungry and tired was a great thing. When you're a demigod and slap bang in the middle of nowhere, it usually meant that something bad was going to happen to you very soon because it was way too much of a coincidence. Plus according to Tyson, who had gotten pretty good at describing things to me because of all the practice, it was called 'Monster Doughnut'. If that wasn't a warning screaming you in the face, I don't know what was.
Tyson was more than happy to investigate, the scent of doughnuts outweighing any sense of wariness he might have had and told me to stay put so that I was safe before leaving to go check out the store. I could hear the sign humming which meant that there were lights out front, probably neon or something, and despite the fact I had a bad feeling about all this, those doughnuts really did smell good. Thankfully Tyson had bought a huge box full of them and I didn't even hesitate to grab two in each hand to stuff them into my mouth as Tyson did the same, eating three all at once. Damn, these were the best doughnuts I'd ever had. They were fresh and still warm with different kinds of flavour fillings and icings, even the plain powdered sugar ones were incredible and I would willing risk fighting a monster just for another box of these things. Too bad if I went in, I'd be the one to get eaten. "Hm, delicious. Right buddy?" I said to Tyson quietly as we crouched in the thicket where Tyson had told me to stay undercover just in case a monster showed up. Tyson only mumbled in agreement because his mouth was also stuffed to the brim. "Tell you what, I'll stay here and keep a lookout whilst you go and get Percy and Annabeth. Just save some of those doughnuts for me when you come back!"
Licking my lips and wiping at my mouth because I was pretty sure I had chocolate frosting all over me, Tyson agreed to go back for Percy and Annabeth rather obediently, smacking his lips each time he finished a doughnut. I grabbed two more and sat there eating them after I'd sent Tyson back to warn Percy and Annabeth whilst keeping an eye out, but when they came to investigate too, we ran afoul of a hydra. I for one remembered my ancient monsters class. Percy, it seemed, did not. He ended up cutting off one of the heads which then split, making seven heads eight instead. Just perfect. I twirled my new trident over my head, finding that when I did it made a metallic whirring sound that seemed to irritate the monster, causing it to writhe and convulse according to its feet patterns before I then ran underneath its head and thrust at the body, stabbing it quickly with the sound of ice spreading across its leg and slowing it down before then darting away again as I felt a head snap at me, trying to bite me in half. This was not a fun game, and to make things worse, we never got the chance to eat anymore doughnuts because Tyson finished them all. We weren't doing great, but we were at least holding our own against the hydra, but then a chugging sound came from the river and Tyson announced that there was a steamboat, and when we heard Clarisse calling out directions to fire, I reasoned that she probably wouldn't care if any of us got caught in the blast. We hit the deck. Hard. So that's how we came aboard the CSS Birmingham, captained by Clarisse who was still on her quest to find the Golden Fleece, and rather pleased to crow over us that we were going to be in so much trouble if we ever made it back to camp alive. To be honest, I couldn't care less about that by this point. I was just glad that Clarisse was being hospitable, giving us food and Dr Pepper to drink. "Tantalus expelled you for eternity. Mr D said if any of you show your face at camp again, he'll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV." Out of all of that, only one thing surprised me.
"Mr D has an SUV?" I felt Clarisse scowl at me as Percy cleared his throat and tentatively asked if they had given Clarisse this ship. She turned away from me, thankfully, meaning I could eat my sandwich in peace. Even though I was three years older than her and sixteen, I had a feeling Clarisse had her daddy's eyes, and they were not comfortable to be under.
"Course not. My father did." Percy did not hide his shock. "You think your daddy is the only one with sea power? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. That's their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for a naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them. Won't you, Captain?" Clarisse turned her sneer to one of her crewmen, who were all skeletons in aged and weather worn uniforms, as Percy told me. A heavy and restless voice answered.
"If it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am, peace at last, we'll do anything. Destroy anyone." Clarisse said she rather liked the sound of that last one, making Tyson gulp so I found his hand and patted it. Clarisse was adamant that she didn't want our help on her quest, though Percy started to argue with her so I cut in.
"Its fine, we're after Grover, not the Fleece. If we succeed, the Fleece is yours Clarisse. We just want to rescue our friend, that's all." I assured her and she seemed to settle after that. At the very least, we didn't get thrown into a brig, but were treated as guests. It wasn't anything like the cruise ship, but it was better than nothing, and at least now we were heading in the right direction. Apparently some of the supplies had been lost to the hydra at the camp that Annabeth had taken us to, made by herself, Thalia and Luke when they were on the run. I still had my backpack as well as my duffel, as I'd rather luckily shouldered both before I'd left, so I gave Annabeth a change of clothes since hers were muddy and a little worse for wear after trying to go toe to toe with a hydra. I could smell the mud from that place on her. My clothes might have been a little big, but she was happy to be clean at the very least. We all slept for the night, swaying rather pleasantly on hammocks down below deck until the alarm rose to signal that we were approaching the Sea of Monsters. Our destination.
Only thing standing between us were two deadly monsters both sounding as horrible as the other. Charybdis and Scylla. One was basically a giant toilet with teeth which then spat everything it didn't want to eat back out in a geyser that would rip a modern day battleship in half, and the other had multiple heads that would snatch you from the deck of your ship and eat you. It wasn't a great choice, but Clarisse chose Charybdis. All around me I could hear the great washing sound of water being sucked in and spat out whilst the ship grew hot and shivery under my feet, like the vessel itself was terrified of approaching the monster that guarded the entrance to the Sea of Monsters. It was times like these I wasn't sure if it was better or worse to be blind. Either way, I was terrified enough as I grasped hold of the railing and pretty much hoped I didn't die in one of many horrific ways. With everybody shouting and rushing around to work, no one had a spare moment to tell me what was actually going on, especially after Tyson disappeared below deck to help in the engine room.
As far as I could tell, we were in a pretty crappy situation. We were either going to get eaten, or the ship was going to blow up with us still on it. Personally? I was very glad when someone shouted for us to get to the lifeboats. My heart was racing like crazy, so much so it felt like it was about to jump right out of my mouth whilst screaming for retreat. Sweat had been washed away by the spray of the sea, meaning I was now damp and the salt rubbed at my skin as I grabbed hold of Annabeth as she reached for me and let her lead me to the lifeboats, even though I knew roughly were they were. It was like on the Andromeda, I had a rough schematic of the old ship in my head. Still, I think we were glad to cling to one another in our terrified state, though through that petrified haze I thought about Tyson and Percy. I screamed for them both over the noise, starting to pull away but Annabeth was surprisingly strong and all but threw me into her lifeboat as I completely lost my sense of direction. I scrambled to get up, a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Tyson was still below and Percy had gone after him, giving Annabeth the flask that contained the four winds from Hermes. I felt the boat hit water, causing me to fall once again as I desperately scrabbled. "Percy! Where's Percy? Tyson? Answer me!" But neither of them did, and as Annabeth uncapped the flask I heard the lid pop off as she acted instinctively to get us out of there, letting all the winds out at once to give us that burst we needed to escape just as the ship exploded.
I heard the sound of wrenching metal, groaning and crying under pressure before it was ripped apart with a fireball that burned at my face and reverberated through my chest. My scream pierced the air but was lost to the sound of the explosion as the ship went up in flames. I surged forwards unsteadily in the boat but was thrown back from the force of our speed and something hit my head, I don't remember where at the time, but before I could come to terms with the fact that I didn't know where Percy or Tyson was, I was out cold and had no further memory of what happened thereafter.