PERI'S POV
It was about four in the morning. The weather was miserable.
The fog was so thick, I couldn't see Festus at the end of the prow, and warm drizzle hung in the air like a bead curtain. As we sailed into twenty-foot swells, the sea heaving underneath us, I could hear poor Hazel down in her cabin…also heaving.
Percy and Bonnabelle were still up on the deck speaking quietly and urgently to one another. I was starting to think there was something serious going on that those two weren't telling us. Something big.
Sailing on the water wasn't something I was particularly thrilled for. Every salty sea spray on my face set me on edge. I couldn't stop thinking about the last time I was in the ocean. I never needed to touch the ship to control it, but now I found myself gripping the helm like a vice.
Despite not being able to see Festus through the fog, I was able to sense his Celestial Bronze framework along with that of the Argo. I could tell our position in the ocean and anything around us, but that was about it. I clung to that tiny sliver of security as tightly as I could.
A warm hand touched my waist, making me jump.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Leo's warm presence immediately put me a bit more at ease.
"Scare me? Me?!" I scoffed. "Yea right!"
He smirked. "Mhmm whatever you say."
I bit my lip. His scent was fresh and masculine and so different from the rank sea stench I had quickly become accustomed to out here. He had changed into a grey graphic tee with a red flannel over it and dark jeans. His curly hair was wet and looked soft to the touch.
Leo's eyes ran over the control console, scanning every little detail. "How's everything out here, sailor?"
"Fucking boring as shit, dude."
He chuckled. "Yea, well, boring is better than dead. Mind if I take over?"
I shrugged and ceded the controls to their creator. I watched with weary eyes as he pushed buttons and turned knobs. "Ya know, you could just let the Argo run on autopilot. It's been pretty quiet for hours now."
Leo shook his head. "I don't want anymore Shrimpzilla surprises."
I furrowed my brows, instantly feeling guilty. "Leo, the skolopendra attack wasn't your fault. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time about it."
"Don't be." Leo said flatly. "I screwed up and almost got everyone killed. I'm not letting that happen again."
"I just don't want you to blame yourself—"
"Can you just drop it?" His voice had an edge to it. There was a silence between us before he sighed deeply. When he spoke again, his voice was pained. "I'm sorry.. I just hate thinking about what almost happened."
I nodded solemnly before gazing out over the foggy waters. We hadn't been attacked since we started sailing here, but that didn't make me any less anxious. This sea felt different somehow... more ancient, more powerful.
It terrified me to my core.
Every Greek or Roman hero had sailed these waters—from Hercules to Aeneas. Monsters still dwelt in the depths, so deeply wrapped in the Mist that they slept most of the time; but I could feel them stirring, responding to the Celestial bronze hull of a Greek trireme and the presence of demigod blood.
They are back, the monsters seemed to say. Finally, fresh blood.
A familiar scent hung in the air. I sniffed., frowned, then I sniffed again. There was no mistaking it.
But how? Here of all places.
"Leo," I began.
"STOP!" Percy's deep voice rang out through the night sky. "STOP THE SHIP!"
But it was too late.
The other boat appeared out of the fog and rammed us head-on. In that split second, my brain registered random details: another trireme; black sails painted with a gorgon's head; hulking warriors, not quite human, crowded at the front of the boat in Greek armor, swords and spears ready; and a bronze ram at water level, slamming against the hull of the Argo II.
Everyone on the deck was nearly thrown overboard.
Festus blew fire, sending a dozen very surprised warriors screaming and diving into the sea, but more swarmed aboard the Argo II. Grappling lines wrapped around the rails and the mast, digging iron claws into the hull's planks.
By the time I had recovered my wits, the enemy was everywhere. I couldn't see well through the fog and the dark, but the invaders seemed to be humanlike dolphins, or dolphinlike humans. Some had gray snouts. Others held their swords in stunted flippers. Some waddled on legs partially fused together, while others had flippers for feet, which reminded me of clown shoes.
With a wave of my hand, a long Imperial Gold sword appeared in my hand. Leo sounded the alarm bell. He made a dash for the nearest ballista but went down under a pile of chattering dolphin warriors.
Percy and Bonnabelle stood back to back, their weapons drawn, but we were hopelessly outnumbered. I kept my sword outstretched and swung it wildly at any dolphin warriors that came near. But there was no telling how long we could keep this up.
Several dozen warriors lowered their spears and made a ring around the four of us, wisely keeping out of striking distance of our weapons. The dolphin-men opened their snouts and made whistling, popping noises. I had never considered just how vicious dolphin teeth looked.
I tried to think. Maybe I could break out of the circle and destroy a few invaders, but not without the others skewering the rest of us.
At least the warriors didn't seem interested in killing us immediately. They kept the four of us contained while more of their comrades flooded belowdecks and secured the hull. I could hear them breaking down the cabin doors, scuffling with our friends. Even if the other demigods hadn't been fast asleep, they wouldn't have stood a chance against so many.
My heart ached as I heard what were Hazel's unmistakable screams. Dolphin warriors armed with ropes and spears chattered eerily as they swarmed us. I struggled and pulled against them, blood pumping with adrenaline.
In a last, desperate attempt at rebellion, Leo set himself ablaze. The dolphin creatures were taken aback at first, but then used the butt ends of their spears to beat his flames down. Leo was dragged across the deck, half-conscious and groaning, and dumped on a pile of ropes.
Percy and I fought desperately against our assailants. I sliced against the nearest dolphin warrior wildly, blind with rage. Bonnabelle's voice was the only assurance resounding in my head.
"Be calm, you two," she hissed urgently. "Our time will come."
I bit back bitter tears and went limp as the dolphin warriors bound my wrists and ankles together.
Below, the sounds of fighting tapered off. Either the others had been subdued or…or I refused to think about it.
On one side of the ring of spears, the dolphin warriors parted to let someone through. He appeared to be fully human, but from the way the dolphins fell back before him, he was clearly the leader. He was dressed in Greek combat armor—sandals, kilt, and greaves, a breastplate decorated with elaborate sea monster designs—and everything he wore was gold. Even his sword, a Greek blade like Riptide, was gold instead of bronze.
My nose twitched.
So this was the gold bounty I was smelling all the way out here.
The mystery guy's visor was a full face mask fashioned like a gorgon's head—curved tusks, horrible features pinched into a snarl, and golden snake hair curling around the face.
"Who are you?" Percy demanded. "What do you want?"
The golden warrior chuckled. With a flick of his blade, faster than any of us could follow, he smacked Riptide out of Percy's hand and sent it flying into the sea.
He might as well have thrown Percy's lungs into the sea, because suddenly Percy looked like he couldn't breathe. The expression on his face told me he'd never been disarmed so easily.
"Hello, brother." The golden warrior's voice was rich and velvety, with an exotic accent—Middle Eastern, maybe—that seemed vaguely familiar. "Always happy to rob a fellow son of Poseidon. I am Chrysaor, the Golden Sword. As for what I want…" He turned his metal mask toward Bonnabelle. "Well, that's easy. I want everything you have."