Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter
The Unrelenting Frozen Seas: Symphony of Tempering
Chapter Ten: Winning the Campaign
Beta: ShadowofAxios
Rhode looked out at the infamous seaway known as the Clashing Rocks from the prow of her anchored icy trireme and could only think that it truly lived up to its name. Jagged mountains of rocks shot out of the water ahead of her like the uneven teeth of some fearsome monster. That alone would make sailing through the entry into the Sea of Monsters treacherous enough but add in the fact that the rocks moved without any discernible pattern and it made trying to sail through it suicidal. She might make it. As a daughter of Poseidon she was a supernaturally gifted sailor but even then… It was a major risk. One that thankfully since she was alone she did not need to take.
Glad I packed light. Rhode mused as she secured the last of her questing gear tightly to her person, including the mokeskin backpack she was using to carry her supplies. She couldn't risk any of it falling off during what she would be attempting. If they did, there would be no recovering it and likely no chance of replacing it in the dreaded Sea of Monsters.
"Okay, all's secure." She said, as she took a deep breath and psyched herself up for what she was about to do. "Alright, here goes nothing."
Drawing her wand, Spellbound being just a little too bulky for this, she spun on the spot, apparating off the deck of her ship.
She reappeared in the skies above the Clashing Rocks, about mid-way through the deadly seaway and began falling towards the rocks below. Behind her she could hear the sky rumble thunderously as her Uncle Zeus expressed his displeasure at her presence in his domain, but she had too much to worry about at the moment to pay it heed. Besides, she wouldn't be there long. So instead of worrying about that, she focused on a ledge on one of the moving rocks and spinning in the air apparated once more.
She reappeared just slightly off target and stumbled but quickly grabbed hold of a handhold on the side of the moving mountain and thus managed to keep from falling to her death.
"When they said apparating onto moving objects was tricky, they weren't kidding." Rhode noted as she caught her bearings. "One slip up and I'll be paste."
That didn't deter her though and having identified her next destination, she apparated once more. She repeated this thrice more in succession, each time teleporting further and further through the Clashing Rocks until she was on a rock spire at the very edge and looking out at the open water of the Sea of Monsters beyond. She might've managed to just apparate all the way across but she wasn't going to risk apparating across such a dangerous and magically charged place in one go. Hence the need for multiple stops.
"Επικαλούνται: Βασίλισσα του Αιγαίου (Epikaloúmai: Vasílissa tou Aigaíou/ Invoke: Queen of the Aegean)." Rhode cast, conjuring a new icy trireme from the sea, the deck of which she promptly apparated onto.
"Glad that's over." Rhode said breathing a sigh of relief. "That was nerve wracking."
Her reprieve was short lived however and suddenly her ship was rocked by churning waves.
"What now!?" She grumbled as she ran over the starboard side where the disturbance was coming from, just in time to see the shark-like head of a sea serpent surface from the depths.
A head that Rhode recognised.
"Just my luck, the Ketos Troias," she said with a groan as the dreaded Trojan Sea Monster let out a furious roar. "Guess he's still unhappy about taking that job of being debt collector for Dad that ended up getting him killed by Heracles."
As if in a sign of agreement with her statement, the Ketos roared again and lunged forward, its jaws wide and with the clear intent to swallow Rhode whole.
"Oh no, you don't!" Rhode shouted as she reached out with both her control of her conjured ship and her cryokinesis at once to pull her ship back, narrowly avoiding the Ketos' jaws.
The serpentine, flippered monster was largely unfazed and taking its miss in stride, just dove back underwater. It would've been too much to ask for it to just decide to call it a day at that and just leave, but no! The damned thing instead chose to pop its head out of the water on the other side of Rhode's boat and started to coil itself around it.
"You damned persistent monster!" Rhode cursed as she stowed her wand and summoned Spellbound, which she immediately swung at the Ketos' coils in a wide slashing motion. "Sectumsempra!"
The white light of her spell leapt from her trident in sync with her slash and cut a deep wound into the monster, causing it to let out a pained howl.
"Let go and get back to the deep, you pest!" Rhode warned. "Or there's gonna be plenty more where that came from!"
The monster still didn't seem ready to relent though and tightened its coils, causing the ice that made up Rhode's trireme to crack under the strain. This just annoyed Rhode even more and reaching out with her cyrokinesis she had razor sharp icicles erupt from the ship, impaling the serpent's coils.
"Get lost already!" She growled as she leveled Spellbound at the Ketos' head and let loose another spell. "Scorpionem Seras (Crossbow Bolt)!"
The arcane bolt shot from the Celestial Bronze prongs of her weapon at high speed, aimed right for the monster's left eye, but the thing ducked its head at the last second. This saved its eye but still nevertheless earned it a nasty wound along its crested head.
This seemed to be the final straw for the beast and with one last pained roar, it released Rhode's ship and retreated back into the depths.
"And good riddance!" Rhode shouted after it, as she used her magic to repair the damage to her ship caused by the Ketos Troias even as she shot its retreating presence the middle finger.
"Okay, first I run into the Ketos Troias and now the sirens?" Rhode said with a tired sigh as her trireme exited a mysterious fog bank that appeared out of nowhere and neared an island of black volcanic rock and sand with a large cove that was filled with spikes, mines, broken wood, and shredded ships. Perched on the jagged rocks of the beach were the human sized vultures, with dirty black plumage, gray talons and wrinkled pink necks that were the greatest seductresses in all Hellenistic myth.
She couldn't understand why people thought that learning their greatest desire was a good thing when it came with the risk of dying to the sirens. If she wanted to figure out something so deep and meaningful, she would search for it on her own.
She, for one, didn't want to almost die to find it.
Pulling out her wand, she held it towards her head and cast a spell to protect herself from the Sirens' tempting song. "Muffliato!"
Immediately her ears were filled with an unidentifiable buzzing sound that easily drowned out the sirens as they began to sing.
As she sailed past them, she waved to the former handmaidens of Persphone. Just because she was sailing past them, didn't mean she had to be rude and ignore them fully.
"Sorry, I can't be your lunch today." She shouted at them. "Better luck next time."
The Sirens actually blinked at her at that before bobbing their heads on their long necks at her in what she imagined were respectful nods. Guess, not many escaped their wiles, and those that did earned their respect. Who knew?
She offered them a bow back even as her trireme sailed into the fog bank surrounding the island and she lost sight of it.
The next island Rhode encountered was thankfully not surrounded by what she belatedly realised was probably the Mist, but was a natural island. Well, as natural as seeing an island with a thriving bazaar on a beach being overlooked by a very active volcano was natural.
"I'm pretty good on supplies," Rhode said to herself as she put away the spyglass that was Spellbound's disguise. "But maybe I'll find something that'll be useful later. I doubt the gods or the Fates would send me here for no reason."
Deciding that taking a look wouldn't hurt, she mentally commanded her ship to head towards the section of beach that seemed to be the designated docking area, as seen by the dozen or so ships of all types, ranging from classical era triremes to modern motorboats were either anchored offshore or beached.
"Have you come to view Picha's wares, little half-blood?" A telekhine barked out with a wide toothy smile as Rhode stepped up to his stall. It was the most well stocked, non-food related stall in the market. Since she was pretty set in the food department, she was pretty sure that wasn't what she'd been brought here to buy.
"Aaahhh… So I'm not going to be killed because, you know…" She trailed off, directing her hand up and down herself.
"What? No no! How would Picha get his drachma?" The telekine looked scandalized. "Not many half-bloods stop by here no more. Shame shame, we have much to offer. Goddess Circe stop by once in full moon for baubles and wares."
"Oh yeah, Lady Circe has an island around here, doesn't she?"
"Yes, yes, she run resort on nearby island. Used to buy groceries from us. Good business. But then she went all self-sufficient. Black day for market." The dog-seal monster said, looking legitimately depressed.
"I can imagine." Rhode agreed with a sympathetic nod. "So, um, got anything you think I might need?"
"Ah, letting Fates show you what you need?" The monster asked knowingly. "Smart girl. Many half-bloods now so confident they know best. Bah! It's why they get eaten!"
"Yeah…" Rhode replied, noncommittally and trying hard not to wince. "So, uh, anything useful?"
"Tell me what you in the Sea for first, then Picha can suggest something."
"The Golden Fleece." Rhode told him in a cautious whisper, looking around worriedly for potential eavesdroppers.
"Oh? Truly? Been long, long time since heard of Fleecey."
"Yeah, well, it's what I'm after." Rhode confirmed.
"Then you need something to help you with Polyphemus and his meat-eating giant sheepies." The telekhine said, rubbing his scaly chin thoughtfully. "Picha got nothing for cyclops, but maybe- Yes, that'll help with sheepies."
"What will?" Rhode asked curiously as the sea monster rushed over to one of his shelves and retrieved a glass bottle.
"This," the dog-like humanoid said as he handed it over to Rhode. "It is buffet-in-a-bottle. Like bargain bin cornucopia but for meat. Break it and huge pile of meat appear. Perfect distraction for Polyphemus' sheepies."
"That sounds perfect." Rhode said with a smile. "How much?"
"A hundred drachma!" The telekhine pitched with an eager grin.
"You're joking! Thirty!" Rhode countered, a grin of her own spreading across her face as she got down to the bartering game.
It took a good twenty minutes of back and forth, but Rhode eventually walked away with her buffet-in-a-bottle for a very reasonable price of sixty drachma. Considering how fun the bartering had been and the potential utility of the thing, she felt it was a very fair deal indeed.
She wondered if she could come back again some time.
"Okay, where the hell am I now?" Rhode asked herself as her trireme sailed into the harbor of the latest island. One which unlike the others had modern looking piers that had an odd array of vessels ranging from an authentic pirate ship from the Golden Age of Piracy to a US Navy attack submarine docked.
She was just angling in to dock herself when she saw Percy and Annabeth fleeing down the docks whilst what looked like a group of bonafide Golden Age pirates chased them, led by a fearsome looking man in an outfit of a pirate captain with a thick black beard.
"Percy! Bethy! Over here!" Rhode shouted at her two siblings.
Both younger half-bloods looked startled to see her, but shook it off easily enough and changed their destination from the pirate ship they were previously heading for to Rhode's trireme instead.
"You two are not getting away so easily! Not before ya hand over your loot and let us have a go with the girl!" The pirate captain roared.
"Fuck off Long John Silver or I'll feed you your cock!" Rhode shouted back with a furious snarl.
"You'll be serving it soon enough wench!" The pirate shouted as he pointed his cutlass at Rhode's ship and the cannons on the pirate ship barked. In an instant, twenty cannonballs from the guns facing Rhode's ship flew at it, smashing the icy trireme to pieces in a single volley.
Thankfully though, Rhode had apparated off the moment she'd seen the muzzle flashes of the cannons. Rematerializing in front of the pirate, she lunged at him fully equipped in the Pallas Amour and with Spellbound in hand.
"I said, fuck off!" She roared as the prongs of Spellbound were about to bury themselves into the captain's stomach, but he backed off at the last second, only earning a few gashes instead of spilling his guts.
Unfazed by his injuries, he pulled one of the flintlock pistols from his waist and fired it point blank at Rhode's face.
It was only the enhancement to her reflexes granted to her by the Pallas Armor and the runes she'd woven into the bodysuit she wore underneath it that allowed her to pivot her head out of the way of the shot in time. Even then the near miss burned her face badly and she winced.
She swung her fist, aiming to break his wrist, but only managed to break the flintlock to splinters as he pulled away.
"Got a fire in your belly lass. Hehe, it won't be alone long though!" He smiled his crooked teeth as his piggish eyes bore along her body.
"Stay away from my sister!" Percy shouted from nearby where he was owning a duo of pirates in a swordfight.
His distraction almost got him shot by a third, but Annabeth had snuck up behind the gunman with her invisibility cap and smashed the mortal over the head with what sounded like a wooden board, knocking him out. Though the trio of pirates were soon replaced by another four more.
"She's ya sister?" The pirate captain laughed. "I will make you watch as I break her."
"By the Pit you will," Rhode cursed as she gathered her magic for a spell, only for the pirate to pull another flintlock from his waist and shoot it at her.
Rhode was forced to abandon her casting and evade. The bastard seemed to expect it and even how she'd do it. As she dove to the right, she found herself running straight into a thrust from his sword that had the flat of his blade slamming into her wrist hard and causing her to drop Spellbound.
That wasn't the end of his attack though, and he followed up with a powerful kick that sent Rhode sprawling. Before she could recover, he planted a boot on her chest and leveled a cocked pistol right between her eyes.
"I win girlie." The pirate captain said as he leered down at her. "It'll be so fun breaking ya. I can just te-"
He was cut off as a boulder slammed into his back, sending him flying out into the ocean.
"Edward Teach! You will not defile a woman on my island!" A very beautiful woman with long dark hair braided with threads of gold and piercing green eyes dressed in a silky black dress with shapes that seemed to move in the fabric said. As she spoke, clouds began swirling above, crackling with green lightning.
That's gotta be Circe. Rhode thought. A badass magic caster in the Sea of Monsters? Who else could it be?
Unfortunately, for all that Circe was a powerful magic user, she was not a fighter. Which was why she made the rookie mistake of standing right in front of the pirate ship's broadside. She was thus completely taken by surprise when no less than three cannonballs slammed into her and spilled golden ichor all over the dock as her body ragdolled into the water of the harbor.
"You are an idiot, witch." The pirate captain, Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard apparently, said as he hauled his waterlogged body back onto the dock. There was a six foot long tiger shark gnawing on his arm, but with a single punch, he brained and dislodged the shark. That done, he turned to face Circe and twitched his fingers at the US Navy submarine that the immortal's inert body had landed in front of, causing it to come to life. It rammed the body and began setting out to sea, with the immortal's body acting as some kind of twisted figurehead.
Wait, he has command over ships? No, wait! It's a warship. A weapon! That means he has command over weapons. He's a son of Ares! Rhode realized and cursed. Of course Blackbeard was Ares' child.
"Now, where was I?" Blackbeard said, after he admired his getting rid of Circe for a moment before turning his attention back to Rhode who had by now gotten back to her feet and recovered Spellbound. "Oh right, breaking you little girl."
"I am afraid that's gotta wait." A new but still familiar voice said, and everyone looked behind them at the stairs leading up to the island to see the cursed immortal sorceress Tanya emerge from a portal on the back of a Nightmare, a twisted accursed former pegasi who had been transformed into a twisted, monstrous version of its past self by the gods. "As entertaining as that undoubtedly will be, I'm afraid I have dibs on that half-blood."
Well, I guess that explains how the sorceress got here. Rhode thought as she eyed the monstrous horse warily. Nightmares had the special ability to freely move between mythical realms.
"And what do you and your mate want with her, God Butcher?" Teach asked, his eyes narrowed and wary.
It seemed Tanya set even a monster like Blackbeard on edge.
"Mate!? They're really-" Rhode heard Percy begin, only for Bethy to surprise her by elaborating.
"Yeah," The daughter of Athena said, sounding disgusted. "I researched her after Rhode mentioned running into her. Let's just say they're the parents of many monsters."
Rhode shuddered.
"By the way, where is Circe?" Tanya asked, conversationally as what Rhode recognised as wizards poured out of the portal behind her.
"I sent her out to sea," Teach said, fidgeting nervously. "You got a problem with that?"
"A bit, yes. So be quiet as I go kill her, piggy." Tanya said, before turning to look at Rhode and co. "As for you lot, I guess I can let you go this time. But if you're here when I get back… Well all bets are off. Let's go Thunderleg."
"Yeah, yeah." The Nightmare said as he broke into a trot that took him and his mate into the sky. "You're such a taskmaster when you're on a hunt."
"You know I'll repay you." The immortal sorceress said lasciviously as she patted the monster's flanks and they disappeared into the distance.
"I'm going." Teach said suddenly. "Consider yourself lucky girl. If the God Butcher had not intervened, I would have had fun breaking a wench like you."
With that he walked past Rhode as if she wasn't even there and boarded his ship, shouting at his crew to hurry up and get ready to set sail.
Annabeth materialized at Rhode's side and tugged on her arm.
"Rhode, we need to go now." She hissed, pointing at the chaos of the island behind her where a mixture of pirates and wizards were ransacking the place. "Before someone tries to stop us or worse the Devil of the Rhine gets back."
"She's called what now?" Rhode asked, bewildered by yet another moniker of the infamous god-slayer.
"The Devil of the Rhine! It's because she's from the Rhineland." Annabeth explained, entering into a ramble like she always did when nervous. "And since that's where she committed the crimes that got her cursed in the first place. At least that's what I dug up when I researched her after you mentioned running into her in Atlantis."
"What the hell did she do to get cursed so badly anyways?" Percy asked with a frown. "She spurned a god?"
"I wish." Annabeth breathed out shakily. "I couldn't find much! Just that it was heinous."
"She hunted down and killed demigods then drained their blood so she could create a potion she then bathed in to maintain her youth." Rhode elaborated. "Triton told me."
"Was she Elizabeth Bathory or something?!" Annabeth gasped.
"They were working off the same recipe, at least that's what Amphitrite said." Rhode replied with a tired shrug. "Anyways, it's why she's an immortal child. She wanted to be eternally young? The gods gave it to her but made her too young to enjoy said youth."
"How did you know all this and I didn't?" Annabeth asked with a pout.
"You weren't the only one to research her, Bethy. Though I just asked Triton and Amphitrite and they never mentioned that nickname you dug up."
"It's what Chiron called her," Annabeth confessed. "Said it's a lot more respectful to the gods to call her that than her other more common epithets."
"Yeah I'm sure the others offend them enough just by existing." Rhode agreed with a wince as she recalled how Tanya was sometimes referred to as the god-slayer or God Butcher.
"Look, now isn't the time for a history lesson." Annabeth insisted. "We need to leave now!"
Rhode nodded and cast Επικαλούνται: Βασίλισσα του Αιγαίου to summon a new trireme of ice, which they all hastily boarded.
As they began to sail out of harbor, Rhode turned around to see the madness behind her. It seemed the pirates weren't leaving unscathed as the wizards, which she now noticed were being led by Cedric, were harassing them all the way. Heck, Cedric himself had somehow gotten into a fight with Blackbeard and was holding his own!
Why? Well, 'cause the bloody pirates weren't just loading their ship with items. Part of the loot they were carrying onto the ship were girls! Something that the wizards seem to take extreme offense with.
"Holy Olympus, is that guy matching Blackbeard?" Percy gasped, as they began to pull away from the island. "How!?"
"I dunno," Rhode said with a shake of her head as he observed the crazy tactics and spells that her old schoolmate was using. It was like nothing she'd ever seen. "I know that guy from Hogwarts but I've never seen him like this."
"Rhode, no offense, but your old magic school must've been one crazy place."
Rhode could only nod.
"We should turn around," Annabeth said, suddenly. "We need to help save those girls. You heard what Blackbeard was saying when he was fighting Rhode. Imagine what he and his men will do to them."
Rhode was just about to do just that when the terrifyingly sweet voice of Tanya called out to them from above.
"Oh, so you guys are turning back?"
"Tanya!" The daughter of Poseidon snarled as she spun around to find the demented immortal looking down at them with a smug look on her face.
"Guess, I'll get to reap you three too after all." The monstrous sorceress said as she leveled her gun at them.
Rhode was faster on the draw though.
"Επικαλούνται: άβυσσα φυλακή (Epikaloúmai: ávyssa fylakí / Invoke: Abyssal Prison)!" She cast as the child-like immortal was still busy slowly charging up her own spell.
The waters of the deep materialized out of nowhere and wrapped around the ancient sorceress and her mate, entrapping them with the dark waters of the ocean's abyssal zone. It looked like nothing more than a black pearl, hovering in the air.
"Percy, take control of the ship." Rhode said through gritted teeth as she collapsed to her knees as the strain of keeping the two powerful entities inside her binding spell drained her strength. "Get us out of here!"
Thankfully her brother didn't argue and soon they were sailing away from Circe's Island as fast they could. Through it all they remained in tense silence, eyeing the black orb in the sky as it slowly disappeared from view.
"Rhode?" Annabeth asked, as they lost sight of it. "You okay?"
"J-Just a little tired." She confessed with a strained smile and shaking arms.
"I think we're far enough away now, you can cut off the spell."
"No, Bethy. Not yet. We need as much distance as possible." Rhode insisted. "They have a Nightmare."
"Exactly, Rhode." Annabeth countered. "That means that they can chase us regardless of distance. It can teleport to wherever we are in an instant if they want to."
"No. W-We need to keep them there as long as possible. More time, n-need that time." She mumbled as her knees buckled and she was covered in sweat from the strain.
"Uh, Rhode, maybe you should listen to Annabeth?" Percy tried, but Rhode just shook her head at him.
She probably should've listened. Already the edges of her vision were fading into darkness but she didn't. Couldn't. She'd sacrificed those women the pirates had taken to make her escape. She had to make that count and actually succeed in getting away. And it wasn't just her on the line was it? Percy and Annabeth were counting on her too! She had to keep going as long as she could. Buy them as much distance and time from the God Butcher as she could. She had to!
"Rhode!" Both Percy and Annabeth shouted worriedly as Rhode's stamina finally gave out and she collapsed into an ungainly heap as she slipped into unconsciousness.
"Argh!" Rhode shouted, shooting up into a sitting position.
"Rhode," Annabeth said as she hugged her tight, burying her face into Rhode's shoulder. "I'm glad you're alright. When you passed out, I was so worried."
Rhode blinked as she processed that and patted her little sister comfortingly.
"I'm fine, Bethy." She said soothingly. "I was just exhausted. I'm fine now."
"You're sure, Rhode?" Percy said as he walked into the cabin where it seems they had moved her after she'd passed out. "You were asleep for at least half a day."
"Almost eleven hours," Annabeth said as she pulled away. "You had us worried."
Rhode offered them both a reassuring smile. "I'm fine."
Annabeth didn't look convinced but Percy nodded as he came to take a seat next to the blonde by the bed Rhode was lying on.
They all sat in silence for a long moment that was finally broken by Annabeth.
"Those girls that the pirates captured…" She said, looking dejected.
"We couldn't save them." Percy added, his hand squeezing the pen that was Riptide's disguised form in a white knuckled grip.
"Yeah…" Rhode said with a self-loathing sigh. "But we had to go. We wouldn't have stood a chance against the God Butcher. We had enough trouble with Blackbeard already… I can't imagine fighting her too."
"Still…" Annabeth said, tears leaking out her eyes and streaming down her face. "What they were condemned to… That's not something I'd wish on anyone."
"I know, Bethy. I know." Rhode said as she took one of Annabeth's hands and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"Maybe the wizards saved them?" Percy offered. "I mean they were working with that Tanya girl, so, they have a chance, right?"
"Probably," Rhode agreed. "But I wouldn't bet against Blackbeard either."
Everyone winced at that, silently agreeing with her.
"Hey!" Rhode said with a raised voice. "We can worry about maybe somehow rescuing those girls later. Get Chiron to send out a Quest or something, but for now we need to focus on the Quest we're on right now."
"Camp is at stake." Percy agreed with a determined nod.
"Thalia's Tree." Annabeth added.
Rhode nodded.
"Okay, so we're heading to Polyphemus' Island?" Rhode asked. "Those coordinates you got from the Gray Sisters are for the island."
"Yeah," Percy confirmed. "I've set us on course for it. Polyphemus' Island?"
"I figured out that's who has the Fleece." Rhode told them and Annabeth winced.
"A cyclops? The most infamous cyclops ever?"
"Yeah. That was my reaction too." Rhode lied.
"Don't worry. We'll manage it somehow." Percy reassured them. "Grover and Camp are counting on us."
"Exactly," Rhode agreed. "So, um, where's Tyson?"
Annabeth and Percy exchanged a look, before the blonde sighed and began to explain.
Rhode listened dutifully as her little sister told her of getting captured by Luke on the Princess Andromeda - thankfully without too many details that would piss her off, though it still had her growling angrily at the mere mention of the traitorous son of Hermes - and barely escaping thanks to the thermos of winds Hermes had given them. Then how they had run into Clarisse on the ghost ship, the CSS Birmingham, that her dad, Ares, had given her for the Quest. How the daughter of Ares had proceeded to sail between Scylla and Charybdis, only to end up with her ship getting blown up leading to them ending up at C.C.'s Spa and Resort on Circe's Island.
"So you don't know where Tyson or Clarisse are?" Rhode asked with a frown.
"We don't even know if they're alive." Annabeth confessed with a shake of her head.
"They are!" Percy insisted. "If we managed then they did too."
Annabeth frowned disbelievingly but nodded anyway.
"I am sure we'll find them." Rhode said with certainty. "They are on this Quest with us, the Fates are sure to send them in the direction of the Fleece too."
"That's if they survived the Birmingham's explosion." Annabeth added with a frown.
"They did!" Rhode and Percy chorused.
Annabeth sighed. "Okay, let's just focus on getting ready to face Polyphemus alright?"
"What do we need to prep?" Percy asked, blinking in confusion.
"A plan at least." Annabeth insisted. "Polyphemus isn't a pushover. We'll need to come up with something before we face him."
"Good thing I did some shopping." Rhode smirked, earning confused looks from her younger siblings.
Percy and Annabeth watched as Rhode looked at Polyphemus' Island through her spyglass.
"Looks like the island is split into two parts by the gorge." Rhode said, pointing at a deep chasm that separated the two tabletop mountains that made up Polyphemus' Island.
"So lure the sheep onto one side and break the bridge to separate them from Polyphemus?" Annabeth suggested. "Then we can hopefully ignore whichever is on the side without the Fleece."
"Let's make it the one with the sheep." Percy chimed in. "As scary as Polyphemus is, I'd rather fight him than a whole flock of giant, man-eating monsters."
"The problem is luring them. I mean, if we do so we might end up getting Polyphemus' attention."
"Right. So, we'll need to distract him first, then lure the sheep." Annabeth added.
Hmm… Maybe planning things out is a good idea. I wouldn't have realised we needed to do that if we didn't.
"And we'll need to hurry," Rhode said as she saw something through her spyglass that had her tensing. "It looks like Polyphemus caught Clarisse and Grover and is preparing to cook them for dinner."
"What? Oh man did Clarisse blow Grover's bridal cover?" Percy winced.
Yes, his best friend had been exploiting the fact that Polyphemus was blind to pretend to be a lady cyclops that wanted to marry him to avoid getting eaten. Something he'd managed to do for weeks now but it seemed Clarisse had shown up and acting like the bull in a china shop like all Ares kids were had blown his cover.
"...I guess so?" Rhode hedged. "So, plan?"
Annabeth hummed thoughtfully before she spoke up.
"Rhode, the sheep are out and about?"
"Yeah." Rhode confirmed, as she checked with her spyglass. "They seemed to be grazing on the other side of the bridge."
"Good," Annabeth said with a nod and turned to Percy. "I'll use what Rhode bought at that bazaar to lure them away from the bridge while I'm invisible. Once I am on it, I'll take off my cap. You stay here on the ship and once you see me you use a water tendril to grab me and rip the bridge apart. You can do that?"
Can I? Percy thought and felt a sense of certainty.
"Yeah, I think I can manage it." Percy affirmed.
"Good, then we'll leave distracting Polyphemus to Rhode." Annabeth said with a pretty smile that had Percy's stomach flip flopping just a bit. "Rhode, once I break the bottle, I want you to apparate to the Fleece and grab it but don't apparate back to the ship. Not yet. Instead-"
"You want me to grab Polyphemus' attention." Rhode said with a nod as she put away her spyglass. "Got it."
"You're the most equipped to handle him if it gets worse case scenario." Annabeth said as if it was the most obvious thing.
"So we've got our plan. Let's do this!" Percy said, pumping his fist in the air enthusiastically.
He received eager nods in reply.
"Good luck," Rhode whispered to Annabeth as she apparated back to their ship after dropping her off on the plateau of Polyphemus' Island opposite the gorge from where his cave was.
"She give the all clear?" She asked Percy as he peered through a pair of binoculars she'd loaned him out of her supplies. She honestly didn't know why she'd packed it with her supplies since she had Spellbound but she had and it was proving useful now so she wasn't complaining.
"Yeah, it seems the sound of your apparition didn't catch anyone's attention." Percy confirmed. "She shot us a thumbs up and went invisible a minute ago."
"I guess sight and hearing are Poly's weakness." Rhode giggled in amusement.
"That and him and his sheep are like on the total other side of his island." Percy added.
"True," Rhode conceded with a pout.
They waited in tense silence then for a few minutes before the sudden appearance of a literal mountain's worth of raw meat on the side of the island where Annabeth was signalled the next part of their plan.
"Don't miss your cue." Rhode warned Percy even as she spun on the spot and apparated to the tree that held the Golden Fleece.
"Time to go somewhere safer where you can be more useful, Chrysomallus." Rhode told the Fleece as she pulled it off the gnarled tree where Polyphemus had hung it. It transformed into a golden letterman jacket as she did and Rhode smirked in amusement as she slipped it on.
"Now time for a distraction," Rhode said as she once more spun on the spot.
"Knock knock!" Rhode called out as she appeared a good thirty feet away from the mountain of fat and muscle that was her cyclops brother. The bastard was roughly fifteen feet tall with arms as long as Rhode was tall.
"Sheep! Where are you going!? Come back! It's a trap! Mountains of meat don't come out of nowhere!" He shouted after his herd as they wandered over to the heap of food that Annabeth had delivered for them before noticing Rhode and spinning to face her. "Who are you? And why you wearing my Golden Fleece!"
His milky sea green eye narrowed to focus on her as he bared his jagged yellow teeth at her. His large body clad in a faded purple tee-shirt labeled; GRAND SHEEP EXPO 2001.
"Who are you?" He demanded again. "You one trying to trick me sheepies?"
"Yup," Rhode said with a cheeky grin. "You can call me Nobody."
"Nobody!" Polyphemus bellowed in utter rage. "I hate Nobody! I'll kill you, Nobody!"
"We'll see about that," Rhode taunted as she apparated out of the way of the boulder Polyphemus tossed her way. "Επικαλούνται: Δύναμη του Δούρειου ίππου (Epikaloúmai: Dýnami tou Doúreiou íppou/ Invoke: Power of the Trojan Horse)!"
The earth rumbled at her spell's invocation and Polyphemus toppled over like he was a bowling pin hit dead on by a ball. He screamed in agony as he did too and his monstrous blood poured from his orifices as he curled into a fetal position.
"How them bones feeling, Poly? Shaken up?" Rhode asked in the most condescending voice she could muster.
Polyphemus could only roll around on the ground, clawing at his head as if to try and stop the pain.
"Forget the oaf, Rhode!" Clarisse shouted from where she was strung up like a hog alongside Grover over a roaring fire pit. "And get us down from here!"
"I'm coming, but I'm not turning my back on this fucker." Rhode told her as she retreated to the spit slowly with Spellbound out. Though she did chance a glance at the bridge and was happy to see it was wrecked with all the monster sheep on the other side and a tendril of water was safely carrying Annabeth back to their ship.
Suddenly a massive boulder came flying towards them.
"Shit!" Rhode cried out as she dive bombed out the way, tumbling along the ground and shot back to her feet.
She needn't have bothered as it fell far short of her and instead landed on Polyphemus.
"Huh? Wha-!" Rhode sputtered in shock. Clarisse and Grover making similar expressions of surprise.
"I help sister Rhode!" Tyson said as he vaulted over the lip of the tabletop mountain some distance away.
Rhode turned, eyes wide at the silly excited smile on Tyson's face as he hefted another boulder.
"Yeah, nice one big guy!" Rhode called out to him with a stunned expression.
Surprisingly, the blow Tyson gave to his noggin hadn't knocked Polyphemus out and he groaned before turning towards the younger cyclops.
"Traitor!" Polyphemus screamed as he pushed the boulder off of him. "You cyclops! Me smell ya! Why you help half-bloods?! You should help me, not them! Traitor! Traitor to us!"
"Fuck you!" The daughter of Poseidon snapped. "He's ten times the cyclops you've ever been!"
"I help family!" Tyson replied defiantly to Polyphemus' taunt as he tossed the boulder in his arms, this time aiming for the older cyclops' blind eye and scoring a bullseye.
In fact, the force of his throw was so great it blasted straight through the eye and out the back of Polyphemus' skull.
"Olympus!" Grover gasped, giving voice to everyone's shock. "Did he just-"
"Holy shit! Nice one, Cyclops guy!" Clarisse cheered and wiggled. "Now get us down, Rhode! I'm starting to cook here!"
"Yeah, great job buddy." Rhode agreed with a proud grin as she ran towards the spits. "Now help me get them down before they really start cooking!"
"Coming!" Tyson agreed as he ran over to help.
"So how did you make it here?" Rhode asked conversationally as they freed Clarisse and Grover. With Polyphemus dead, there really was little need to rush anymore.
"Rainbow the sea pony helped me." Tyson explained as he finished untying Grover.
"Sea pony?" The satyr asked, blinking in confusion.
"Hippocampi, huh?"
Tyson nodded with a bright smile on his face.
"Are we taking those back to Camp?" Clarisse asked, looking uncomfortable with the idea. She got her. Riding on a beast of a god who wasn't your divine parent or you weren't exactly good with? Not the safest thing.
"Nah, we've got my ship. Though Rainbow can swim along with us if you want Tyson." Rhode offered while Clarisse looked relieved.
"Yay! Thank you, Sister!"
"So how are we getting down to that ship of yours?" Grover asked as he stretched out what must've been mighty sore limbs, he'd been hanging for a good fifteen minutes at least. "The only path down is on the other side of the island."
"Grover, I can apparate us down but before we go." Rhode said, turning to the pile of gold dust that had been Polyphemus and the pearl like bauble lying inside it. "Tyson, go grab your spoil."
"Man, I missed you Rhode." Grover said as he hugged her tight whilst Tyson went to grab the pearl.
"Missed you too, Grov." The teenaged girl said as she returned the hug and patted his back.
The ride back through the Sea of Monsters wasn't nearly as bad as Odysseus' time trying to get home. With Rainbow navigating them through the sea like a more wet Rudolph they managed to get back to Miami in just a few hours.
"Bye Rainbow! Bye!" Tyson said as he waved goodbye to his hippocampi friend as they sailed into Miami's harbor, the legendary creature unable to stand the human stench of the city and being forced to leave. Though not before it waved its front flippers in goodbye to Tyson in return.
"So you sure the Mist will keep us from being noticed?" Percy asked warily as they sailed into the nearest free dock.
"Yes Percy, I'm manipulating it right now." Rhode told him.
"You absolutely sure?" Clarisse asked. "'Cos, no offense Rhode, but you suck at Mist manipulation."
"I do, but I have been practicing a lot lately." Rhode stated as they managed to dock.
"Okay, so how much time do we have till the Fleece needs to get back to Camp?"
"A few hours I think, at best." Annabeth said with worry.
"So we need to fly back to Camp." Percy frowned, looking up at the sky.
"Three of us have no flying clearance from our Lord Uncle." Rhode sighed in frustration. Of course Zeus would happily zap them even if it meant saving Thalia's Tree.
"It's my quest," Clarisse declared. "I'll fly it back."
"That's fair." Rhode agreed, removing the Fleece and handing it to her. "You did get locked in Polyphemus' cave for what? A few days? That must've been hell. You deserve this win."
"Actually, it was only a day-" Grover started, but Clarisse elbowed him.
"Yep. Total hell."
"You have money for the trip?" Annabeth asked.
"Uh, spot me? I'll pay you back during the next CTF game. Alliance for the rest of the summer."
Rhode rolled her eyes but pulled out 500 dollars from her supplies and passed it to Clarisse.
"Here," she said. "Just get the Fleece back to Camp ASAP."
"You got it. Try to get back safe and whatever." The daughter of war said, trying to sound cool. Kids these days, honestly.
Grover looked longingly at Clarisse as she hailed a cab.
"You know, you could go with her." Rhode told her old friend. "After being stuck with Polyphemus for so long, you deserve it."
"Nah, I've got my friends right here. Besides, we totally need to catch up." The young satyr smiled as the cab drove off.
"Indeed, we do." A voice that sent a shiver of fear and anger down Rhode's spine said and she spun around to see Luke standing on the pier surrounded by a horde of monsters. "Hello, friends."
"Luke!" Rhode hissed in such feral anger that Percy struggled to even understand what she'd said.
"Hello, Rhode," the traitor greeted with a smile so bright it literally sparkled. "It's a pleasure to see you."
"Go to the Pit, Luke." Percy spat, stepping to stand shoulder to shoulder with his sister as Tyson did the same on her other side.
"I wasn't talking to you, Percy." Luke said, glaring at him with eyes that looked golden for some reason.
A feminine cry from the side had Percy glancing towards its source and he spotted Annabeth being manhandled by Agrius and Oreius, the bear men they'd last met on the Princess Andromeda, her invisibility granting Yankees cap falling off her head.
"Trying to backstab me, Annabeth? Bad form." Luke said, shaking his head at the daughter of Athena.
"Like Percy said, go to the Pit, Luke." Annabeth shouted even as the two bear men forced her arms behind her back and onto her knees.
"I'll pay it a visit eventually, but not yet." Luke said with a shrug. "For now, where's the Golden Fleece?"
"Gone." Rhode spat out with a mocking smile.
"Oh come now, do you expect me to believe that Rhode?" Luke said with a shake of his head. "There was no way you'd trust Thalia's life to anyone else. If you're here then the Fleece is too."
"You think I'm so inflexible? If it's to save Thalia I'd do anything. Not that you'd understand since you tried to kill what was left of her!"
"Don't be overdramatic, Rhode." Luke said with a roll of his eyes. "I'd have given the Fleece back once I was done with it."
"Give it back? Why wo-" Rhode began to say before her eyes blew wide in realization.
"Rhode?" Percy asked, warily eyeing his sister.
"Fuck, Granddad's good. The Fleece, it's not just going to heal Thalia's Tree, is it? It's going to get her back to the land of the living. Just another means to control the Great Prophecy."
Luke smirked. "It is within its power, yes. As expected Rhode, nice and fast on the uptake."
As the realization settled in, something else occurred to Percy.
"So that's why you did it." Percy realized even as he used his hydrokinesis to create a rainbow behind his back and discreetly tossed a drachma through it. "Camp Half-Blood! You were risking all of Camp just for that!? Even Mr. D?!"
"Percy? What do you mean?" Rhode asked, looking at him in confusion.
"He poisoned Thalia's Tree." Percy said. "Or arranged for it to happen. All so he could get us to go get the Fleece. Everything so far has all been part of his plan."
Luke gave him a look as if he was a slow idiot. Shows what he knew. "Yeah, I did. Are we just going to rehash what's going on or can I continue my actual conversation?"
"You poisoned Thalia's Tree?" Rhode gasped and then snarled in rage. "I had hoped it was just one of your lieutenants or something. But you gave the order!?"
"Yeah, I did." Luke confirmed with a shrug. "Like I said, I'd have given the Fleece back."
"You bastard! I challenge you to a duel!" Rhode demanded stepping forward, revealing the still open I.M. and the face of an amused, almost impressed looking Mr. D watching on.
He had his hand up demanding silence on his end, but it seemed now that his presence was out in the open, the god felt it was time to chime in.
"M-Mr. D!?" Luke gasped, stepping back as the god leveled him with a glare.
"Dinner and a show? How nice." The god turned an eye to Tantalus and sighed. Just as the man grabbed a donut. "Too bad old chap, looks like you aren't needed anymore."
And just as the distracted Tantalus was about to sink his teeth into the donut, he disappeared, the donut landing on the table.
"As for you Castellan," Mr. D said, his voice a quiet, dangerous whisper. "You will pay for causing me all the grief I've been getting from the other gods for Camp's latest troubles. Evans, gut him."
"Happily," Rhode shouted with glee as she leapt off the deck of their trireme, Pallas Armor equipped and Spellbound raised to stab Luke as she fell upon him. It might've just been Percy's imagination but Rhode almost seemed to be surrounded by an aura of purple flame.
"You think just because Mr. D blessed you that you can beat me?" Luke taunted as he took a lazy step back to avoid being impaled. The insane enhancements to his reflexes his Lord's blessings had given him allowing him to do so without any difficulty.
"I don't care about a blessing. You betrayed us! Betrayed me!" Rhode roared with utter fury as she let loose a series of thrusts to stab him like a stuffed pig.
"You can try," Luke said with a smile as he casually sidestepped her attacks, before barking orders to his troops. "Don't let the others interfere."
"Evans, be careful." Mr. D, of all people, warned. "Castellan is juiced up by the Crooked One. Even with my blessing, it will not be easy to beat him. But don't you dare lose!"
"Got it, Mr. D." Rhode replied distractedly as she blocked a swing of his sword.
Her block was textbook perfect but that wasn't good enough. Not against him. So with a quick twist, Luke dragged his blade along the top half of her trident, aiming for her fingers. The daughter of Poseidon was quick though and flattened her hand just as his blade would have taken off her digits and pushed him away with a strong push.
As much as he loved the girl, damn her freakish strength.
He got his footing back quickly though but instead of pressing the attack like he expected, she actually retreated back a few steps and aimed her pronged weapon right at him. It crackled with arcane energy and with a whisper of "Sagitta Infernum (Arrow Hell)!" she fired several magical bolts at him.
Quickly, he dodged the first two and blocked the next two but found the force behind them made his arms shake. But the feeling faded quickly as all pain did nowadays and he easily swatted the remainder out of the air as well.
She exploited his preoccupation with her magical arrows though and charged.
Now that's the aggression I'd been expecting. Luke thought with a smile as he admired the beautiful look of fury that Rhode sported.
It did not stop him however from tilting the flat of his blade just right to reflect the light of the noon sun into her eyes to blind the girl for a second. She flinched and he went for a stab to her leg, going for a disabling blow.
Just as he expected, she pivoted out of the stab, and snapped her fist out for a punch to his throat. The bracer on his quickly raised forearm deflected the punch and he stepped into her guard, looping his arm around her extended one to lock her in place. He raised his pummel back up to strike her in the face.
She staggered back and Luke swept her feet from under her.
He would have pressed the attack further but she used her trident like a pole and vaulted back to her feet, slamming her feet into his chin in the process.
It was his turn to stagger back and it gave Rhode the breathing room she needed to recompose herself.
"You've taken up gymnastics?" Luke asked curiously as he rubbed his tender jaw even as the pain from the blow faded away.
"I've always been flexible, dumbass." Rhode scoffed as she stabbed her trident into the ground, its prongs quivering with arcane energy.
"So it has nothing to do with the gymnastics module you took at Horace Mann last semester?" Luke countered as he charged forward at blinding speeds thanks to his Lord's power and slammed the pommel of his blade hard onto the trident, knocking it firmly out of Rhode's hands.
He did not give her time to even process that before he kicked her hard in the chest, sending her flying straight into a shack on the pier, smashing it to bits.
"Done yet, Rhode?" Luke taunted even as a traitorous part of his mind pondered on the feel of his kick deforming her breasts. Even through her armor, he had felt her tender flesh. Or at least he thought he did.
Her response was to toss pebbles at him. Pebbles? His eyes caught the etches on them and cursed as he made to move out of the way.
Even with the speed granted to him by his Lord, it was barely enough and the back of his shirt was singed by the blast.
"You kicked me in the boobs!" Rhode shouted indignantly as whips of her poisons lashed out at him.
"You're wearing armor!" Luke shot back as he bobbed and weaved around the deadly lashes.
"It still hurts you pervert!" She countered as she pulled tendrils of seawater into the game.
"I can kiss it better later." Luke said, offering Rhode a winning smile.
"Are you honestly flirting with me? Now?" She thundered as she gathered her poisons into a single blob from which she began firing droplets at his general direction in a deadly rain. He managed to get out of the way even as the torrent of poison followed him, but his monster followers weren't so lucky. Dozens died as the acids and other deadly liquids killed them almost on contact.
This game has gone on long enough. The dark voice of his Lord whispered into his ear. Finish this!
As you command, my Lord. Luke replied, as calling on more of his Lord's power than ever before he blurred towards Rhode.
She saw him coming and formed a deadly spiraling double helix around herself out of her poisons, raindrop sized bullets firing from it as it did so. Yet Luke weaved through them with ease, his incredible speed allowing him to slip between the deadly strands of poison without harm. There was little room between him and Rhode beyond them and so he didn't try for anything elegant, just thrust Backbiter forward.
Rhode let out a shuddering gasp as she looked down, the fractured scythe of his Lord easily going through her divine armor as he caught her dead center in the gut. It had even cut through the aura of protection that Mr. D's blessing had granted her like it wasn't there.
No heart, no lung, just a devastating blow. That and the immense pain that Backbiter gave whatever it cut.
"This is a little early, but since I have you at my mercy..." He whispered to her as the poison around them splashed down to the ground. He ignored the burning feeling the bottom of his feet felt as the poison ate at him but he did admit, her scream of pain broke his heart a little.
"Rhode!" Annabeth, Percy, Grover and the cyclops they'd been traveling with all cried out in alarm but Luke ignored them, choosing instead to lean into a shocked Rhode's face and steal a kiss before kicking her off Backbiter's blade.
She tumbled to the ground, clawing at her chest as she writhed in pain. The cursed blade certainly did a number on someone with divinity in them.
"Don't worry Rhode, it'll be fine in a bit." He reassured his girl. "I'll heal you up once I get the Fleece."
Luke smirked and was turning to interrogate the others to figure out just where the thing was when an arrow pierced his right shoulder out of nowhere with such force that it literally blew it apart, causing him to drop Backbiter.
"What?" He managed before an arrow with a foam fist for a tip smashed into his face with enough force to knock him out.
"Grab Rhode!" Annabeth ordered as she surged to her feet, grabbing her Yankees cap as she did, in the midst of the confusion of the storm of arrows that had suddenly descended on the pier.
Tyson rushed to obey as Percy impaled Agrius and Oreius with lances of seawater even as the sea churned in the utter fury he must be feeling. He was pissed, no, beyond pissed at this point. As she saw him leap off the deck of their ship, he looked like nothing more than a literal manifestation of righteous fury as he swung Riptide around like a man possessed, leaving nothing but gold dust in his wake.
In any other situation, a sight like this would have had her gasping and needing a fresh pair of panties. And she probably still did. But right now, she shoved her hormonal lust at the glorious sight aside and took charge of the situation.
"Chiron! We need to go!" She shouted at her mentor as he and his Party Pony brethren materialized out of the insanely fast gallop that all centaurs were capable of.
"The Princess Andromeda is right there," she added, pointing at the cruise ship just a stone's throw away. "It's full of monsters. We can't beat them all!"
As if to prove her words true, there were already literally hundreds of monsters pouring out of the ship to engage them.
"I see them, Annabeth." Chiron replied as he turned to Tyson. "Rhode?"
"I've got sister." The loyal cyclops declared as he cradled Rhode in a princess carry and shoved Luke's body into the water with a powerful, angry kick.
"Then we're going." Chiron said with a nod even as he grabbed Annabeth like a sack of potatoes. It was somewhat demeaning but they were in a hurry so she didn't complain. "Someone grab them. Grover and Percy too."
"We've got 'em, dude!" A centaur with a beer hat shouted. "Go! Go! Go!"
"Party Ponies, retreat!" Chiron called out as they started to fly across the ground at the raw speeds that only centaurs could achieve.
At least they were safe for now, right?
The annoying buzzing of her phone was what woke Rhode and as she sat up, or tried to, she howled in pain.
"Fucker, it hurts!" Rhode gritted her teeth as she was laid flat. She lifted the blanket off her chest, showing only her sports bra underneath with bandages wrapped all around her torso.
"You should probably check your phone, Rhode." Chiron said as he looked up from where he was mixing some herbs. "I believe Mr. D gave you his number."
Rhode blinked, checked her phone and noticed he was right.
"Guess he was happy enough with my performance even though I lost?"
"I suppose so. I suppose he's giving you a pass since the Crooked One enhanced Luke from what I could tell." The Trainer of Heroes agreed. "Or maybe he got those boosts because that blade was enchanted somehow? We'll have to investigate."
"However, he got it Luke was definitely powered up." Rhode said with a nod. "He was moving like the Flash at times during the fight. A literal blur. He couldn't do that before. Period."
Silence filled the small tent they were in. Or well, she was in, Chiron was seated outside of the flap.
"How bad?" She asked, as she put her phone down.
"It took my vitakinesis, nectar and some herbs my relatives had on hand. And the fact you are still in pain? The blade is as dangerous as I feared." The bushy bearded centaur said with a frown.
"And the herbs you're mixing now?"
"You'll need medication for some time I'm afraid." The centaur informed her. "The power of that blade is not to be scoffed at."
"So I'm benched for now?"
"If I had my way? For the rest of the month. Knowing your vaunted constitution and stubbornness? I'll mark you down for five days."
"I'll take it easy for the rest of the month." Rhode told him and laid her head back down. "Half activity?"
"I'll take what I can get." Chiron chuckled softly. "But I must insist on at least five full days of bed rest."
"Deal."
"So what now?" Rhode asked, sounding just a little lost now that the Quest was over.
"Now we head back to Camp. I retake my position as Activities Director, while you rest and recover."
"And Thalia's Tree? The wards?"
"I've received word from Clarisse via I.M. that the Fleece has already begun to work its magic. Camp should be restored by the time we head back."
"And Thalia?"
"That I do not know," Chiron confessed. "Luke was not wrong that theoretically the Fleece can free Thalia from her tree but how long that'll take is not something that I can be certain of."
"Oh," Rhode said, disappointed.
"But rest assured, Rhode." Chiron said giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I am sure you will see Thalia again soon."
"Thank you Chiron," Rhode told her mentor sincerely. "For saving me. For being there for me. Just for everything, ya know? Please don't leave us again."
"I won't, child." Chiron said, offering her a smile. "Not if I can help it."
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless and Axios as always!
Damn, one of our long chapters like back when we started these series. Still, it was fun navigating Rhode through her own course through the Sea of Monsters. From just porting over the Clashing Rocks, to swatting the Trojan Sea Monster like it was a bad dog, blotting out the sirens, her shopping trip on the old Lotus Eater island, Crice's resort and finally getting to Poly's island? It's a hell of a trip!
Nameless: Hope you liked how Rhode kept losing but still winning this chapter. You don't need to win every battle to win the war. Besides Blackbeard and Luke are scary opponents. One beat Circe in canon and the other is backed up by Kronos himself. Though Polyphemus did die like a bitch. Then again, we've never done that before so we thought doing so this time would be interesting at least. Hope you guys agree.
Yeah, even if she lost, it was against Luke who had fucking Kronos amping him up and Blackbeard who is a badass mother fucker, even if he's a rapist pirate shithead. Rhode must have thought he would just fuck any woman after being trapped by Circe, but she keeps forgetting how hot she is! Even Luke showed how badly he wanted her as they fought too. Shiver, creeper alert!
Nameless: Now, some of you might be upset at how we had Blackbeards and his pirates treating women in this chapter. Please keep in mind what time period they come from. They're from the Golden Age of Piracy and are literal pirates. It was a time when slavery was a thing and pirates routinely carried off slaves (and yes, contrary to some recent revisionist histories, this did include white people) as loot. Add in that they've been stuck for centuries at Circe's mercy and abused for just being men… Yeah, they're not inclined to be nice to women at all. And before anyone says we could've just omitted them altogether, yeah we could but we chose not to. Our reasons are manifold but the principle one is that we want to keep Reyna and Hylla's backstories as established in canon. And unless you forgot, they were kidnapped off Circe's Island by Blackbeard and his pirates in canon too.
Axios: Maybe someday we'll see our favorite daughters of Bellona!
And then one became a Praetor of the Roman Legion and the other, the Queen of the Amazons respectively. So I don't think they got the worst of it, but certainly learned to thrive in combat to keep themselves pure in some regard.
Nameless: Somehow, I doubt they managed. Not to be dark but let's be realistic. They more than likely, even in canon, had to turn some tricks to survive among the pirates. You can choose to think otherwise but… Well, reality is a cruel thing. Sure they eventually earned Blackbeard's respect to the point they could leave of their own free will, but what did they need to do to survive until they managed that? At least some unsavoury stuff went on. It's hard to imagine it didn't. If you're squeaked out by their ages… Keep in mind that they were on Circe's Island, a place where you don't necessarily age. So take their listed ages in canon with a grain of salt. That and remember that Blackbeard and his pirates are evil.
Axios: Imagine not discussing the fact that Luke KNEW what classes Rhode was taking at Hugh Mann the past year. Hmmm… Maybe he's watching her? … Nah.
Nameless: I thought that was obvious. I mean considering he is actively spying on Camp and all...
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