_Leo Valdez _

_Coast of Virginia, Atlantic Ocean _

Google Search: The sea of monsters in Greek Mythology.

2,729 results in 2.6 seconds

"I love google," I muttered, scanning through the results. If you couldn't tell, I was doing so research. I clicked on the second link on the first page (cause who even goes to other pages on google).

If we were going to be in this Sea of Monsters, I needed to make sure we were well prepared. And I was definitely not going to read a book. Although, we did have an extensive collection of books on deck. Yeah, we linked Nerdy Annabeth's room to The Library of Congress, which is believed to be the biggest library in the world. It was a kind gesture, and super cool.

Stop thinking about Annabeth, I thought. Research. Research. Research.

The Sea of Monsters (also known as the Bermuda Triangle to humans) is a sea in which Polyphemus, Scyllaand Charybdis, the Sirens, and other monsters and godly things, like Circe, the sorceress, live in. Much like Olympus and the Underworld, the Sea tends to move around following the light of the Western World. It was originally in the Mediterranean Sea in the ancient times. Because of its large triangular size, the Mist hasn't been able to hide it completely and the area has become famous among mortals because of the planes and ships that disappear there. The Sea of Monsters is known to mortals as the Bermuda Triangle.

Okay, so more Exterior links to click, of these hard-ass names. Unfortunately, once I clicked the one with a 'P', I came across a locked page. Stroking my imaginary beard, I read through the gray page.

Access Denied

Unauthorized Personal

Please input six-digit code to proceed

My guess was that this was…a passcode. I know, so amazing! But seriously, how was I supposed to figure this—AH! Look, almost all locked websites are blocked by a private party. In the top left corner, in small text (which took me like, nine minutes to read), it said: Delphi Laboratory of Human Research.

So, I very much did research that took forever, and found absolutely nothing. Like literally, it's like these people disappeared off the face of the earth!

"Leo." I jumped, turning to look at Piper.

"Gosh Pipes! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I exclaimed.

"Dude, you've been staring at that computer screen since I went to bed nine hours ago." Piper pointed out, crossing her arms. "C'mon, let's get food."

"No thanks, I'm busy."

Piper looked at me like I'd just grown a second head.

"I'm getting help." With that, she literally ran off.

There was a rumbling of clicks from about ten feet in front of me, where the masthead was. You've only hear about my ship, the Argo II, for like the five seconds Percy was on it. But the masthead of Argo II was none other Festus. Shut up, Jason already laughed for like, ten minutes when I told him. Festus was first constructed from pieces of lost metal I'd found in junkyards. It was a giant, gold and bronze dragon.

Festus had giant rubies for eyes that can light up like high-powered searchlights, bronze wings, and drill-like razor-sharp teeth. He was close to 50 tons in weight, but could still easily fly with passengers on his back.

Notice the past tense? Unfortunately, we had to use his body to make the ship and other stuff, so now he's just a head. He was basically just a cool little accessory to my ship, that was most definitely not alive.

When I say Festus was talking to me, I do not mean I head a voice saying stuff like Sup Hot Stuff. How's it hangin'? First, if Festus could talk, he'd probably speak Spanish, cause its such an awesome language. He'd be all like:

Festus: Hola mi hermano! ¿Qué tal?

Leo: Solo relajándome. ¿que hay de ti?

Festus: Estoy jodidamente aburrido, solo viendo pasar el agua y todo.

Okay, so Festus probably wouldn't curse. You never know, he's deactivated. Well, he's slightly deactivated. Before I started imagining what a conversation would be like between me and my metal dragon's head (I swear, my mental health is okay!), I was telling you about how Festus talks. He communicates with me, his main man, through Morse code.

"Yeah bud, but I'll figure it out. I always do."

There was more clicking, causing me to shake my head. "What does Percy Jackson have to do with this?" Clicking. "Sally? Sweet Ms. Jackson?"

"Oh, you mean Percy's dad. What's his name again?"

"I find it incredibly creepy that you know that, bud."

Piper came back, this time dragging Jason behind her. I was already turned back to the computer, doing my research on Poseidon Olympia.

"I hear you don't wanna eat," Jason stated.

"Go away," I muttered. "Very busy."

"Too busy for food?"

"Yep."

"What are you even doing?" Piper asked, moving to over my shoulder.

"Who's Poseidon Olympia?" Jason asked.

"A dead guy."

"Okay so why—"

"This guy," I pointed to a Google image, probably from years ago, of the man. "Worked for them."

I pointed at the split screen of my locked page. "He was also, Percy's dad." I pointed to a picture of Poseidon with kid-Percy. "He died, the same day that Percy and Annabeth got their powers."

"How do you know this?" Jason asked curiously.

"Festus told me."

I'm pretty sure they looked at each other like I was crazy. "Leo," Piper said, pulling my chair away from the desk. "Maybe we should get some food in you."

"And sleep." Jason added.

"I'm not—"

"Leo, sound the alarm." Piper tensed, her voice laced with charmspeak.

I immediately stood up, moving to the alarm and slamming a closed fist on it. Nothing happened.

"Uh, it's disconnected," I remembered. "Festus is shut down. Gimme a minute to get the system back online."

"We don't have a minute! Fires – we need vials of Greek fire. Jason, call the winds. Warm, southerly winds."

"Wait, what?" Jason stared at her in confusion. "Piper, what's wrong?"

"It's her!" Piper snatched up her dagger. "We have to –"

Before she could finish, the boat listed to port. The temperature dropped so fast that the sails crackled with ice. The bronze shields along the rails popped like over-pressurized soda cans.

Jason drew his sword, but it was too late. A wave of ice particles swept over him, coating him like a glazed doughnut and freezing him in place. Under a layer of ice, his eyes were wide with amazement.

"Leo! Flames! Now!" Piper yelled.

I clenched my right hand, setting it on fire, but the wind swirled around me and doused the fire. Leo clutched my sphere as a funnel cloud of sleet lifted me off my feet.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Hey! Let me go!"

Piper ran to me, but a voice in the storm said, "Oh, yes, Leo Valdez. I will let you go permanently."

The next thing I knew, I was shooting skywards, like I'd been launched from a catapult. I disappeared into the clouds, blacking out soon after.

A/N: Excerpt From: Riordan, Rick. "Heroes of Olympus 04 - The House of Hades." Penguin Books Ltd, 2013-10-07T16:00:00+00:00. iBooks.

This material may be protected by copyright.

I've decided that this needs some Caleo. So, we shot Leo into the sky. Although I did change that one little excerpt, I did have to put in copyright. And no, this isn't a rewrite of the HoO. This is more like Tartarus/Sea of Monsters/Ogygyia/Superheroes with Festus. Next chapter is Annabeth's POV, where you'll see that it's not a rewrite of the House of Hades.