Leo's POV

When we got to Utah, I must say, it wasn't a pretty landing.

With the oars damaged and the foresail torn, I could barely manage a controlled descent. Everyone had strapped themselves in below- except Coach Hedge, who insisted on clinging to the forward rail, yelling, "YEAH! BRING IT ON, LAKE!"

Oh, and Peri.

She stood at the helm with me, her hands outstretched as she coaxed the ship into a safe landing. We worked together to keep the beat-up warship in the air, and landing it would be a feat all in itself. It was crazy amazing how she could control the Argo II like that, but I couldn't meet her eyes. I was still thinking about earlier.

How could she have just jumped in front of me like that? What if Percy had swung on her? What if she had gotten hurt? She barely even knows me. Why would she do something like that? But more importantly. . . why do I feel as though I would do the same for her?

I shook my head quickly, clearing my thoughts. I needed to focus on the task at hand.

"Ready, Captain?" Peri asked, that confident smirk on her face.

"Are you kidding?" I said as I pushed buttons on the keyboard. "I was born ready."

Festus creaked ans whirred warning signals, which were relayed through the intercom to the quarterdeck where we were.

"Are you underestimating the awesome power that is me and Leo?" Peri exclaimed to Festus. "We are the dynamic duo!"

"Yeah, Festus, get with the program!" I said, playing along. "We got this!"

I'm not entirely sure if I believed it myself, but with her here I became more confident. I knew we could do this together.

Around us, the landscape sped closer. To the southeast, a city was nestled in the foothills of a mountain range, blue and purple in the afternoon shadows. A flat desert landscape spread to the south. Directly beneath us the Great Salt Lake glittered like aluminum foil, the shoreline etched with white salt marshes that reminded me of aerial photos of Mars.

"Hang on, Coach!" I shouted down at the old satyr. "This is going to hurt!"

"I was born for hurt!"

"That dude is so badass!" I heard Peri whisper right before impact.

WHOOM!

A swell of salt water washed over the bow, dousing Coach Hedge. Thankfully, Peri and I stayed dry. The Argo II listed dangerously to starboard, then righted itself and rocked on the surface of the lake. Machinery hummed as Peri changed the aerial oars that were still working to nautical form faster than the warship could have managed on its own.

Three banks of robotic oars dipped into the water, moving us forward.

"Good job, Festus," I said, patting the railing.

I faced Peri. "Take us towards the south shore. That would be the best place."

She saluted. "Aye aye, Captain." She flicked her wrist and the warship glided in that direction. It was awesomely bizzonkers how she could do this, and someone had to tell her.

Before I could give credit where credit was due, Coach Hedge came running up, pumping his fist. He was drenched from horns to hooves, but grinning like a crazy goat.

"Yeah! Do it again!" He cried excitedly.

Peri jerked her head at him, grinning wildly as well. "I know, right!" She squealed.

I facepalmed at the both of them. "Coach, just stay here above deck, okay? You can keep watch, in case- you know, the lakes decides to attack us or something."

"On it," He promised.

Peri wiggled her fingers and rang the All Clear bell. We headed for the stairs, but before we got there, a loud clump-clump-clump sound shook the hull. I could tell just by the way her stance changed that Peri was on high alert almost instantly. A tan stallion appeared on deck with Hazel Levesque on his back.

"Yo what?!" Peri exclaimed as Hazel dismounted like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"How-?" My question died in my throat. "We're in the middle of a lake! Can that thing fly?!"

The horse whinnied angrily.

"Arion can't fly," Hazel said. "But he can run across just about anything. Water, vertical surfaces, small mountains- none of that bothers him."

"Oh." was all I said.

"Well, that's pretty amazing." Peri muttered. I think she was getting exhausted of being amazed by everything. She was just accepting them now.

Hazel looked at me strangely, the way she had during the feast- like she was searching for something in my face. I was tempted to ask if we'd met before, but I doubted it. She was making me really uncomfortable the way she kept staring at me like that. I shifted on my feet awkwardly.

Coach Hedge crept forward with his baseball bat, eyeing the magic horse suspiciously. "Valdez, does this count as an invasion?"

"No!" I said quickly. Gods, that dude was cray.

"Um, Hazel, you'd better come with us. I built a stable belowdecks, if Arion wants to-"

"He's more of a free spirit." She said, patting his warm brown coat. "He'll graze around the lake until I call him."

"Oh, sweet." Peri piped. "He's like a dog!"

Arion snorted angrily, and I swear he was cussing her out in horse language. He turned tail and ran off the ship's side before disappearing out of view. And when I say 'ran', I use the term loosely. I can't stress enough how fast this horse was moving. It was like a brown blur against the afternoon light.

"I want to see the ship." Hazel said. "Lead the way."

The Argo II was designed like an ancient trireme, only twice as big. The first deck had one central corridor with crew cabins on either side. However, long before the Argo II was even completed, Coach Hedge refused to sleep on the same floor with a bunch of "annoying teens who can't understand the complexities of mixed martial arts fighting." He slept on the very bottom of the ship in the horse stables. They were incredibly clean and basically made for a goat anyway.

On a normal trireme, most of the space would've been taken up with three rows if benches for a few hundred sweaty guys ti di the manual labor, but my oars were automated and retractable, so they took up very little room inside the hull. The ship's power came from the engine room on the second and lowest deck, which also housed sickbay, storage, and the stables.

I led the way down the hall with the seven cabins. At the stern was a large mess hall/lounge, which was where we were headed.

On the way, we passed Jason's room. The door was open. Piper sat at the side of his berth, holding Jason's hand while he snored with an ice pack on his head.

Piper glanced up at us. Instantly, I felt bad all over again, and Peri looked at her shoes guiltily. Piper put a finger to her lips for quiet, but she didn't look angry. That was something. I kept walking, still feeling a heavy lump in my stomach. When we reached the mess hall, we found Percy, Annabeth, and Frank sitting dejectedly around the dining hall table.

I had made the lounge as nice as possible, since I figured we'd be spending a lot of time there. The cupboard was lined with magical cups and plates from Camp Half-Blood, which would fill up with whatever food or drink you wanted on command. There was also a magical ice chest with canned drinks, perfect for picnics ashore. The chairs were cushy recliners with thousand-finger massage, built in headphones, and sword and drink holders for all your demigod kicking-back needs. There were no windows, but the walls were enchanted to show real-time footage from Camp Half-Blood, the beach, the forest, the strawberry fields.

But now I wondered if this made people homesick rather than was staring longingly at a sunset view of Half-Blood Hill, where the Golden Fleece glittered in the branches of the tall pine tree.

And what did Frank, Hazel, and Peri think of the walls? I mean, they've never been to Camp Half-Blood, so I wonder if this makes them angry Camp Jupiter wasn't recognized.

"So we've landed," Percy said, interrupting my thoughts. "What now?"

Frank plucked on his bowstring. "Figure out the prophecy? I mean. . . that was a prophecy Ella spoke, right? From the Sibylline Books?"

"The what?" I asked.

Frank explained how their little harpy friend was freakishly good at memorizing books. At some point in the past, she'd inhaled a collection of ancient prophecies that had supposedly been destroyed around the fall of Rome.

"That's why you didn't tell the Romans," I guessed, nodding my head. "You didn't want them to get hold of her."

Percy kept staring at the image of Half-Blood Hill. "Ella's sensitive. She was a captive when we found her. I just didn't want. . ." He made a fist. "It doesn't matter now. I sent Tyson an Iris-message, told him to take Ella to Camp Half-Blood. They'll be safe there."

I doubted that any of us would be safe anywhere ever again. All because I had stirred up a camp of angry Romans on top of the problems we already had with Gaea and the giants. But I said nothing.

Annabeth laced her fingers. "Let me think about the prophecy- but right now we have more immediate problems. We have to get this ship fixed. Leo, what do we need?"

"The easiest thing is tar." I said quickly, glad to change the subject. "We can get that in the city, at a roofing-supply store or something like that. Also, Celestial Bronze and lime. According to Festus, we can find both of those on an island in the lake, just west of here."

"Once we get closer, I'll be the metal detector." Peri said, arousing strange looks from the others. She explained how she could sense Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold, much to the surprise of everyone.

"Well, then we'll have to hurry," Hazel warned. "If I know Octavian, he's already searching for us with his auguries. The Romans will send a strike force after us. It's a matter of honor."

I felt everyone's eyes on me and instantly felt self-conscious again. "Guys. . . I don't know what happened. Honestly, I-"

Annabeth raised her hand in silence. Damn, she was like Reyna! "We've been talking. We agree it couldn't have been either of you." She said, gesturing towards Peri and me. "That cold feeling you mentioned. . . I felt it too. It must have been some sort of magic, either Octavian or Gaea or one of her minions. But until we understand what happened-"

Frank grunted. "How can we be sure it won't happen again?"

I felt my fingers heat up like they were about to catch fire.

"It won't." Peri snapped. "Everything's all good now. You just make sure you don't accidentally blow up into a T-Rex while you're sleeping."

Frank grumbled something under his breath, but said nothing more.

"Maybe we should use the buddy system." I suggested. "Nobody goes anywhere alone. We can leave Piper and Coach Hedge on board with Jason. Send one team in to get the tar. Another team can go after the bronze and the lime."

"Split up?" Percy said. "That sounds like a really bad idea."

"It'll be quicker." Hazel piped. "Besides, there's a reason a quest is usually limited to three demigods, right?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, as if reappraising Hazel's merits. "You're right. The same reason we needed the Argo II. . . outside camp, eight demigods in one place will attract way too much attention. The ship is designed to conceal and protect us. We should be safe enough on board; but if we go on expeditions, we shouldn't travel in groups larger than four. No sense alerting more of Gaea's minions than we have to."

Percy still didn't look happy about it, but he took Annabeth's hand. "As long as you're my buddy, I'm good."

Oh, gods! Will they ever stop?! Ugh, if I'm not killed by monsters than I'll be drowning in the Percabeth!

Hazel smiled at them like it was cute. "Oh, that's easy. Frank, you were amazing, turning into a dragon! Could you do it again to fly Annabeth and Percy into town for the tar?"

Frank opened his mouth like he wanted to protest. "I. . . I suppose. But what about you?"

"I'll ride Arion with Peri and Sa- with Leo, here." She fidgeted all awkward-like with her sword hilt. Hazel is so weird. "The three of us will get the bronze and the lime. We can all meet back here by dark."

Frank scowled. Clearly, he didn't like the idea of Hazel going with the two of us. He probably thought Peri and I were a couple of dangerous loose-cannons who would get his girlfriend killed in a shameless manner.

For some reason, Frank's disapproval made me want to go. I had to prove myself trustworthy. I had to show them I was on the good side. I'm not going to fire any random ballistae again.

"Leo," Annabeth said, "if we get the supplies, how long to fix the ship?"

"With luck, just a few hours."

"Fine," she decided finally. "We'll meet you back here as soon as possible, but stay safe. We could use some good luck. That doesn't mean we'll get it."