The girls said their goodbyes to Estelle and sent on her way with a bag of supplies. The trail she'd shown them looked like a deer trail. It was small and narrow, forcing the girls to either walk single file or be eaten by the underbrush.

The beach was nice. It was a warm day. But the wind was strong enough enough to nearly knock the girls off their feet, although Kat didn't seem to mind. Every time there was a particularly large burst, she simply lifted her feet off the ground and floated until it past. The closer they got to the beach, the more annoying the wind got.

As Estelle said, there was only one boat on the beach. Well, not exactly a boat. It was smaller than the Argo, but it was still a ship. The gangplank was out and there was sign beside it, stuck into the sand to welcome all guests.

"Trade floor open! Find your trade or treasure here!"

The girls shuddered against the breeze and quickly huddled up the ramp. Kat insisted it was a pirate ship. She didn't understand that it was nothing but a large bartering boat. It seemed to be mythical in nature, as told by the third eye of the man who walked off the boat past them.

"Casey, they steal stuff and sail across the seven seas! They're pirates," she insisted.

Casey rolled her eyes. "They don't kidnap people and make them walk the plank, or wear eyepatches, or have peg legs. They're not pirates, Reyna can tell you that. And they don't travel all seven seas; that's not exactly an easy feat. Trust me, it took Jase and I like five months."

Kat shrugged as Rose laughed at her and they boarded the gang plank. Inside, it looked like a Walmart. There was a dirty shelf of mostly open candy bars. Casey grabbed one of the few unopened energy bars for herself. Weapons hung on the walls, some behind glass cases. On hangers were shirts from Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter and a few of what the trio recognized as Olympian robes.

"Why does that look so familiar?" Rose asked, pointing at something hanging on the wall. Kat's eyes went wide and she tried to push Casey out the door. Casey, being particularly stronger, didn't move an inch. She looked up at the wall and gasped. Casey tensed in an untamed anger that only her brother knew how to keep in check. Kat tried though, gently putting her arm around Casey's shoulder and whispering soothing words.

"Uh, sir?" Rose calmly getting the barter's attention. She felt worry seeping through her body but she chose to approach the situation with peace. Her voice was trembling.

"Ah, chosen an item?" The barter wrung his hands together. He didn't notice the girls' discomfort.

"Yea. How much for that sword?" Rose asked, pointing at Jase's sword that hung on the wall. There was a large chip out of the handle. Dried blood smeared its blade. Rose wondered whose blood it was.

"I'm afraid you've chosen our most valuable artifact. It's rumored to have belonged to a Jackson," the barter said. Casey growled. It took every ounce of strength Kat had to keep her from tearing across the room in a bloody rage and strangling the man.

"A Jackson, really? That's very interesting. Which one did it belong to?" Rose tried to keep her voice from shaking.

"Assumingly one of the children. We, acquired it, after the eldest Jackson child fell into Hell. This sword belonged to the Jason Jackson. Slayer of the Minotaur, killer of the Drakon, conqueror of the River of Lamentation. It is said that he still lurks in the shadows of monster's hell, boiling with rage at the one who put him there."

Kat's heart skipped a beat. Casey went red. Nobody felt the need to restrain her this time. They didn't want to be polite anymore. Now with Tartarus on their minds, they only felt anger and despair.

"We're going to need that back now. I'm sure my brother will want it when he returns home," Casey spat.

The old man stared at confusion. Casey glared at him and took her dagger half way from its sheath.

"Brother?" His eyes widened in fear. He turned from Casey to gaze at the sword on the wall. He wasn't scared of her. He almost looked like he was scared of the sword, or of the one who had beheld it.

"Yeah, brother! Now give me the gods-damned sword before I make you!" Casey yelled.

Kat laid a hand on her arm to calm her for just a moment. "Who sold you that sword?"

"I cannot say!"

"You'd better say," Kat threatened. She was doing everything she could to hold Casey back. But if the barter wasn't going to talk, she didn't care what the grief-stricken sister did.

"You will have to kill me! Or die trying," the barter oozed.

"Gladly," Casey growed. Before she or the others could reach the keeper, he swung the wheel of the ship at such a sharp angle that the wheel snapped off and rolled the floor. Immediately, the ship tilted. Its passengers smashing into the starboard side of the boat, along with all its cargo. The sudden unbalance of weight forced the ship to capsize.