The attacks stopped once Charlie had been hit. The unidentified flying object flew in quick bursts so I could never make out the shape. If I knew what we were dealing with then I'd be able to find a way to fight it. It was unlike any monster I'd ever seen before, yet it didn't seem to be fighting us. Now it just flew over the ship and made the noise of turning gears. It must have been a robot, but what kind? Who made it and why was it after us?

"What is it?!" Casey yelled in frustration, throwing pieces of wood at the flying thing. Charlie squinted at the object.

"It's a machine," he said quietly. I stopped next to him.

"How do you know that?" I asked,

He shrugged. "I don't know."He suddenly ran forward, between us and the machine. What was this dude trying to accomplish? "STOP!" He yelled, which was actually quite loud for his size. "Stop fighting it!"

I didn't lower my sword but I stopped my canons of water. Charlie turned towards the object and opened his arms in a welcoming gesture. What was he doing? Was he inviting that thing on board? It just threw a ball of fire at him! This guy may just be crazier than Leo.

The flying object actually slowed down. I adjusted my glasses, not sure I was trusting them. What landed on our deck was, a table? And was that a laundry hamper attached to the bottom?

"Is that a table? Kat asked. "Please tell me we have no spent the last hour and a half fighting a freaking table."

Max jumped. "OH! Guys! I think I remember a story like this that Dad told me!"

He didn't get a chance to finish before Nico approached the table with a confused look. "Buford?" he said. I lowered my sword.

"Wait, Buford as in the table? The table that Leo tamed in the woods with Piper and Jason?" Will asked. No, because there were so many other tables with a mind of their own named Buford in the demigod world that happened to have a hamper of Frank's very old laundry. There was no way in Hades this quest could get any weirder. I guess my parents thought the same thing on every. Single. Quest. Ever.

The world of "mythology" is a very strange place. A place full of flying tables and a wine dude that turns people into dolphins. Trust me on that last part. (My grandfather turned me back, it's cool. But I still hate the dude. Wine sucks anyway.)

"Charlie," I said softly as Buford rubbed into him affectionately. "I think the table thinks you're Leo."

His eyes widened and he backed away from Buford. "I don't know that table though! I didn't even know that gods or demigods existed until like five minutes ago! I think this is a bit more than I can handle. Tell the table to leave me alone," he turned away. The table, if this is even possible, looked hurt by Charlie's words. It jumped forward and its single drawer slid open. Charlie stopped backing away and very gingerly pulled a strange looking hammer from the drawer.

"It's Dad's," he whispered.

"Wait, that's your dad's hammer? How did the table get it? Maybe it knows where the seven are!" Max said, getting excited. Max got his hopes up to easy.

Charlie shook his head. "No, my dad makes a bunch of these. I haven't seen this one before, but I know he made it. It looks like an older version of the ones he taught me to build…" He closed his eyes, then stood up straighter, holding the hammer steadily at his side. Determination was fierce in his eyes, his former joking look all but gone. He wanted to find his dad just as much as we did. For some reason, this made me trust him just a bit more. We had a common enemy. When powerful people have a common enemy and a strong motivation, a fight can only go one way.

We had a lot of powerful people. And we had a very strong motivation. You can't just take our family and expect to get away with it. So what if this was probably a trap to get the Sevens' descendants? We weren't going down without one Hades of a fight.

"I'll take care of Buford. Can you guys explain everything to me? I want to know what we're up against," Charlie said, staring solemnly at the hammer in his hand. I nodded to Casey, who had the best memory out of all of us and could probably explain our world the easiest. She rolled her eyes at me but lead Charlie and Buford to the workshop where he could work on his table-dog-thing while she told him all of our stories.

"Nico, can you make sure we're headed for Orlando still? I don't want to get off track," I asked. Nico nodded and followed a bemused Will, who was watching the walking table disappear into the hull of the ship.

Max came up to me, acting almost shy. "Jase, you ok?"

Guilt ran through me as I remember what happened last time he'd tried to talk to me. "Max, I'm sorry I yelled. I'm just, really stressed. I know I shouldn't be taking it out on you guys-,"

"Don't worry about it. But this time listen to me when I say take a break," he smiled.

I sighed and closed my eyes.

"Take a break," (AN: resisting urge to make Hamilton reference too strong...) he said. I wanted to argue, but I also didn't. What could I do besides go over all my research again and again until I passed out from exhaustion? I wouldn't be able to do anything if I didn't get some rest.

"Fine."

(Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed!)