As he pulled his friends onto the ship, Artie watched as Percy and Tyson kept Polyphemus occupied. From what he could hear over the roar of waves, Polyphemus was telling Tyson he was a traitor to his kind by helping Percy and his friends. Artie opened his bow and drew an arrow. As he drew back the string, a bolt of pain erupted from his shoulder. It just enough for Artie to let go, sending the arrow well overhead into the cliff side. The arrow then exploded, sending rocks and boulders down toward Polyphemus, Percy, and Tyson. While Percy and Tyson had to watch each step to avoid being crushed, Polyphemus was large enough for even the largest of boulders to bounce off his skin like pebbles.

"Who's side are you on?" Clarisse demanded.

Artie shot Clarisse a look, "You try to use a bow with dislocated shoulder and we'll see if it doesn't effect your aim a little."

Annabeth tossed Artie the Fleece,"Here."

"What about your ribs?"

Annabeth patted her side, "I'm done. Plus, you're the only one with a bow."

Artie sighed as the Fleece's magic healed his shoulder. He felt the fleece warm his shoulder to the bone. It then instantly went cool as he felt his bones reshape to the correct shape and his muscles were soothed. In matter of seconds, Artie tossed the Fleece back to Annabeth. He smiled triumphantly as he drew an arrow, took aim, and fired. The arrow couldn't have been time better. Percy had grabbed a branch from Polyphemus's tree trunk club and landed on the monster's face, both feet on his massive eye. Percy jumped off as Tyson rammed into Polyphemus like football player, sending him right into the arrow's path. The arrow split into four separate ones with stone hands for tips like boxing gloves, catching Polyphemus in both his knees and then sent him to ground by the other two. Percy and Tyson used the opportunity to escape and plunged into the surf.

Artie drew another arrow as Clarisse began yelling, "Yeah, Jackson! In your face Cyclops!"

Polyphemus he threw a rock towards the direction of Clarisse's voice, nearly hitting Percy and Tyson. Artie felt uneasy, but he wasn't sure about what. As children of Poseidon, Tyson and Percy were as safe as they could be in the water. Grover and Annabeth were safe and unharmed. Even Clarisse was safe, he guessed from her taunting. Then it hit him, why missed Tyson and Percy countless times even though they were directly in front him, but only hit them when they made noise.

Polyphemus was using sound instead of sight to fight.

"Yeah, Yeah!" Clarisse continued taunting. "You throw like a wimp. Teach you to marry me, you idiot!"

"Clarisse!" yelled Artie, before she did irreparable harm. "Pelo amor de Aphrodite, SHUT UP!"

His words were punctuated by a loud crunch and the Queen Anne's Revenge lurched forward so hard, it sent everyone down hard on their rear ends. Everyone stared daggers at Artie as the ship began to sink like a rock.

Clarisse opened her mouth to say something, but Artie cut her off, "Not a word Clarisse. Not — one — word."

They entered the water in seconds. Instantly Artie's vision went blurry and stung with the salt in the water. Artie had never been on a sinking ship before so he was unprepared with the suction created by the sinking wreckage. It also seemed his friends were also fighting to reach the surface, even Clarisse the strongest of them all. Artie could barely make out Grover frantically kicking his hooves while Annabeth hung onto something shiny, which he guessed to be the Fleece. His lung began to burn as they yearned to breath fresh air. He kicked hard as he could, but he continued to sink as the suction pulled him and his friends closer and closer to the ocean floor. His arms and legs soon felt like hot lead as tired himself out. Darkness began to creep along the edge of his vision and when he felt something come out from under and pushed him towards the surface. He managed to wrap his arm around something that resembled a long neck as he, and whatever he was holding onto, shot to the surface like torpedo.

Artie gasped and coughed the second his head broke the surface, filling his lungs with precious oxygen. Though his limbs burned with exhaustion and he incredibly dizzy and light headed, he was able to understand he hadn't drowned. Once his head had cleared somewhat, he looked at what had saved his life. From the waist up, it had the body of a horse though it had the glistening scales of a fish instead of hair. Where a hair mane should have been on a normal horse, was rainbow fin that matched it's tail and front fins. It nickered and looked back at him, giving him a concerned look.

He rubbed the creature's neck, "A seahorse right?"

"Technically you're right," said Grover next to him, riding another seahorse. "They're called Hippocampi."

Artie looked around and saw the largest of the Hippocampi bore Clarisse and Tyson while a smaller one bore a sleeping Annabeth and an exhausted Percy. Artie saw that they still had the Golden Fleece as Percy adjusted it around Annabeth so it wouldn't fall off. He saw that the Hippocampi were taking them out to sea, hopefully far away from Polyphemus and his island. As the island grew smaller and smaller, he swore he heard Polyphemus cheering on how he finally sunk Nobody. And Artie didn't feel the need to burst his bubble. If Polyphemus thought he had won, better let him think so. Unless Polyphemus somehow found a way to track them down.

Artie looked over to Grover and laughed, "Grover, I think you picked up a little friend on our way back up."

"What?" he asked.

Artie leaned over plucked a small cone like creature off Grover's head, "You must have gone near a school on your way up and this little guy hitched a ride.

"W-w-w-what is t-t-that?"

Artie held it up, "I caught one of these when I was a kid. It's a reef squid."

"Well, get rid of it!"

Artie faked a disappointing look. "No, I'll keep him."

"You're gonna keep a squid for a pet?" Grover asked, not believing a word.

"I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy." Artie held up the squid as it turned an angry shade of red.

"Uh, guys?" said Grover calling out to his friends, "I think Artie drank the sea water. That stuff makes you crazy, right?"

Artie continued to baby talk Squishy, until he dropped it into the ocean. "Time for to head home little guy. And Grover, I'm not crazy."

"You were baby talking a squid."

"I was quoting Finding Nemo." said Artie. "I think we are entitled to a little fun. You're not married or being roasted with mango chutney. Polyphemus thinks he won, and we have the Fleece. So from where I see it, we won."

Hours passed when the Hippocampi finally stopped. Artie squinted as the sun dipped below a city skyline. He saw a familiar beach highway line with pal trees. He could also make out store fronts with red and blue glowing neon signs. And there were several docks with sailboats and cruise ships. Unless he was mistaken, It was the same harbor where he had been captured and brought aboard the Princess Andromeda. He was hours away from a hot meal and, more importantly, dry land. While he didn't hate the water, he preferred not having to worry about drowning every minute.

"We did they stop?" Artie asked.

"This is as far as they'll take us." said Percy. "Too much pollution. We'll have to shore on our own."

"So no chance of surfer sea turtle?" Artie hoped.

Percy cocked his head, "What?"

"Never mind." said Artie before he dived into the ocean and headed towards Miami.

Once the Hippocampi disappeared under the water, Percy willed the currents to carry him and his friends to shore. They pushed their way through people who had just arrived for a vacation on a Caribbean cruise line. Porters bustled around with lots of heavy looking luggage. Taxi drivers yelled at each other in Spanish trying to cut in front for customers. If anyone noticed six kids , dripping wet and looked like they had just a monster — they didn't let on. Annabeth crossed the street to check the date on the newspaper. Artie;s stomach growled as he sniffed the air. They were only a block away from his favorite diner where they served the best Cuban sandwiches. He was busy toying on how to best convince his friends when Annabeth came back and held up the paper.

Annabeth pointed to the date."June eighteenth! We've been away from camp ten days."

"That;s impossible!" said Clarisse.

"Thalia's tree must be almost dead." Grover wailed. "We have to get the Fleece back tonight!"

There goes my medianoche, Artie bitterly thought to himself. One sandwich, is that so much to ask for?

Clarisse slumped on the pavement, "How are we supposed to get to Long island by tonight? We hundreds of miles away with no money and no ride." She leveled a finger at Percy and his friends. "This your fault. If you hadn't interfered — "

"You would have married a cyclops." Artie finished, sounding angry. "While Grover — "

Clarisse cut him off with a solid left hook to his jaw, "I had it handled!"

"Handle this!" Artie snarled and headbutted Clarisse in the face, which sent her back a few steps. "I've had it with you."

"Stop it!" said Annabeth. "This isn't getting us anywhere."

Artie ignored her and leveled a finger at Clarisse. "I've put with your merda for two years now. I'm done."

Clarisse wiped her nose and looked down at her bloodstained hand, "You're dead. I'm gonna use your head as a flowerpot and feed your — "

"Are you gonna bark all day little doggy?" said Artie quoting Reservoir Dogs. "Or are you gonna bite?"

Clarisse charged Artie who struck out with his claws. Percy was about to jump in and separate them when Tyson did. He grabbed both their wrists and yanked them up off the ground. Tyson held them in the air, completely ignoring the insults thrown his way in English, Greek, and Portuguese. Both Clarisse and Artie kicked and struggled to get free, but Tyson held them out too far to touch him.

"Annabeth is right." said Tyson ."Fighting is not helping."

"Deixe para baixo," growled Artie as he struggled to get free. "Eu não sou um gato de rua!"

Tyson looked to Percy, "What?"

Percy shrugged, "No idea, just don't let them down."

"Something about a cat," said Grover, unsure. "I think."

"Tell him to let us done already!" bellowed Clarisse.

"Only if you two swear on the Styx to stop fighting." asked Annabeth.

"At least until we get back to camp." added Grover.

Artie stopped struggling and sighed bitterly, "Fine, I swear."

"Me too." grunted Clarisse, almost to quiet to hear.

Percy motioned for Tyson set them down. As he did, Percy asked Clarisse, "Clarisse, what exactly did the oracle tell you?"

She took a deep breath and recited. "You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone / You shall find what you seek and make it your own / But despair for your life entombed within stone / And fail without friends, to fly home alone."

"Ouch." Grover mumbled.

"Ouch is right." agreed Artie.

"No," said Percy. "I think i got it. Dose anyone have any cash?"

Artie held up a wet, but empty wallet. Annabeth and Grover both shook their heads. Clarisse brightened for a moment, but it was lost when she held out a wet confederate bill. Percy checked his pockets and only found a single golden drachma. It would have been perfect for an iris message, but hardly for anything else.

"Cash?" asked Tyson hesitantly. "Like green paper?"

Percy nodded, "Yeah."

"Like the kind in duffel bags?"

"Yeah, but we lost those days ag-g-g-g-g-" Percy stuttered as Tyson took out a Ziploc bag full of cash.

"Thought it was a feedbag for Rainbow," he explained. "Found it floating in ocean, but only paper inside. Sorry."

Artie took the money and counted it, "Pelos deuses, its nearly three hundred dollars."

Percy stopped a taxi and yelled to Clarisse, "Come on, you're going to the airport. Annabeth give me the Fleece."

Percy took the fleece and tucked the money into it before handing it to Clarisse. "Its your quest and we only have enough for one ticket. Besides, I can't travel by air. Zeus would blast us out of the sky. That's what the prophecy meant : you'd fail without friends, meaning you'd need our help, but you'd have to fly home alone."

Clarisse jumped into the cab, "You can count on me. I won't fail."

"Not failing would be good."

Artie exchanged a few word of rapid Spanish with driver before the cab peeled out in a cloud of exhaust. The Fleece was on its way, and with a little luck, Clarisse would make it time.

"Percy," said Annabeth. "That was so . . . so . . ."

"Generous?" offered Grover.

"Risky?" added Artie.

"Insane." she corrected. "You're betting the lives of everyone at camp that Clarisse will get the Fleece back safely by tonight?"

"Its her quest." said Percy. "She deserves a chance."

"Percy is nice." said Tyson.

"Percy is too nice," grumbled Annabeth, though she sounded impressed.

"Come on," said Percy. "Let's find another way home."

"Okay," agreed Artie."But first things first. I'm hungry and we're only a block away from the best medianoches in all of Miami."

"There's something seriously wrong with you," said Annabeth. "If you can think of food at time like this."

"Actually, I'm with him." sided Percy. "I'm not sure about you Annabeth, but I haven't eaten anything since those multivitamins."

"Me too." admitted Grover. "All Polyphemus had to eat was cheap goat feed. And they were really stale."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but relented. "Alright. I guess it would be stupid to go hungry if we need to fight anything along the way."

Artie clapped his hand together, "Lucky for you, I have an open tab with the place. Come on, you guys haven't lived till you've had a real Cuban sandwich."

Artie began leading his friends down the street to cafe. His mouth watered as he thought about those sandwiches. The tangy mustard and sour pickle mixing perfectly with pulled pork, grilled ham, and gooey melted Swiss cheese. All of it held between two fresh slices of toasted Cuban bread. And he would wash it all down with a batido, a Cuban milkshake that had the perfect mixture of mango, papaya, and banana along with milk and ice cream. He was so lost in thought he missed what Percy had said.

"What?" he asked.

"What's on those Cuban sandwiches?" repeated Percy.

"Well, it has pulled pork and ham . . ." Artie began.

"And?"

"Tinha que ser você," said Artie, sounding rather annoyed.

"What is th — oof" asked Percy before bumping in Artie.

"Hey, what did you . . ." Percy looked around Artie who had frozen in tracks.

It was Luke and the bear twins — all holding weapons to Artie's throat.

"You're supposed to be dead." said Luke, sounding rather surprised.

"A wee bit of a beamer," Artie slipped into his Irish brogue. "Ain't it?Ya bloody tosser."

"I should have guessed." said Luke, trying to hide how impressed he was. "Nice job on the accent by the way."

"I'm expecting a call from Tarantino any day now."

"You have my vote for the Oscar."

"Thanks."

"What do you want, Luke?" demanded Percy.

Luke looked to Percy, "Why Percy, I wish to extend my hospitality."

"Well, I don't want to spend the rest of the day signing autographs, so — "

Luke poked Artie in the throat with Backbiter to silence him, "I insist. You wouldn't want to disappoint your fans, would you?"