Who is not as obvious as I thought, huh? Well, that's okay. You'll see the light :3
As for why, I'll leave you guessing. It's not a complicated 'why' either.
I own nothing you recognize as canon. Kids/Teens are mine.
XXIII
LACY
"Atlas."
Everyone looked at Annabeth with wide eyes. The daughter of Athena had her arms crossed, leaning back in her chair.
Currently, they were all sitting at the dining table in the mess hall, which felt kinda crowded. Well, almost all of them were. Leo was standing a little ways off (back in his overalls and a proper messy white t-shirt) fiddling with the kitchen area. He had insisted on cooking some of his famous tacos. No one was driving the ship, which apparently didn't matter since Icarus decided he wanted a turn. The key was hooked up to Icarus's control center, so when they arrived the dragon would inform them through the speakers.
"Um," Jason drawled, his stomach growling for a taco. "Care to elaborate?"
"Isn't it obvious enough?" Annabeth asked. "From what Lacy described, it seems as if he's trying to get someone to hold up the sky again. Someone female. There's only three of us left to rescue and Percy's out of the list as soon as we get to him. So that leaves Piper and Calypso."
Lacy looked at Leo, who was currently adding a few things to the tacos. He paused briefly, and for just a split second Lacy could see pain flash across his face. Then, he fixed himself. He shook his head and whistled a happy tune as he cooked.
"Piper can't possibly hold up the sky," Jason protested.
"You saying she's not strong enough?" Bobby asked, a twinkle in his eye.
Mark rolled his eyes. "Mom's strong, Bobby. Don't ever say otherwise."
"No," Annabeth said. "Piper could not hold that weight for very long. Believe me, I know."
Lacy shuddered. She had forgotten her own parents had held that burden. She hoped no one else in the present group would be forced to hold it.
"But Calypso isn't immortal anymore," Frank pointed out. "She's just as mortal as we are."
"She's still got her strength," Leo put in. "Her Titan's strength never went away."
Esperanza nodded. "She taught me and Tulio how to control our own strength when we were younger."
"She could hold up the house if she wanted," Tulio mused, not really paying attention as he tinkered with a mechanical whatsit in his hands.
"Didn't Pluto say he was related to one of the Seven?" Jason asked. "Atlas didn't have any of our parents for children and Calypso isn't one of the Seven."
"Then that rules out Atlas," Frank agreed.
"No it doesn't."
Leo placed a huge plate of tacos—tofu and regular—on the table and crossed his arms. "He's related to me. He's not a blood relative. Since he's Calypso's father, he's related to me through marriage."
Jason smacked his forehead. "Duh."
Bobby cleared his throat. "Well, we've figured out who the mastermind is. Why he's doing it can wait a bit longer. Right now we have a problem: the ambush."
Lacy nodded. "When we go rescue Dad, there's going to be some sort of ambush waiting for us."
"So we'll blast 'em before we even get off the ship," Leo said with a shrug. "Easy day."
"The ambush party will probably be underwater," Sammy Leo noted. "I'm guessing Percy's going to be underwater and the ship will be unable to fire anything down there, much less see anything."
Tulio grumbled, "It's a ship, not a sub. Be thankful it flies."
Sammy Leo held up his arms in surrender. "I wasn't complaining. This ship is awesome! I was merely pointing out that we're probably not going to be able to help the rescue party with the ship if the ambush is submerged…"
He had a point, much to Lacy's dismay. "Then we're going to have to fight underwater. Obviously, I need to go."
"I'll go," Frank volunteered. "I can turn into a shark or an octopus to help."
No one else spoke up.
Lacy sighed. "Okay, that's two. Now we need the third. 'Love and fear of water together.' So, who's afraid of water?"
Immediately, someone whimpered, "Three in a row…I hate this…"
All eyes locked on to Tulio, who seemed to shrink in his chair. "Seriously. Why do I have to go on three rescues in a row?"
"You're afraid of water?" Mark asked incredulously. "You must be joking!"
Tulio shrank even more. "When we were kids…Mom made Papi take us to the beach in Florida. She was still pregnant with Aria back then, but we went anyway."
"Oh yeah," Leo mused. "The Jacksons came, too, didn't they?"
"Yes we did," Lacy said with a smirk. "And me and Bobby buried you in the sand."
Leo grimaced. "You left me there."
Bobby snickered.
"Anyway," Tulio said. "Espie and I were playing in the ocean with Percy while Mom and Annabeth sat on the beach. We were pretty far out. Percy thought it would be fun to dunk me and Espie underwater. He placed a little air bubble around us. It was just for us to see what it was like under the sea."
"Oh yeah, that was fun," Espie said with a smile. "I saw a bunch of starfish and kept calling them Patrick."
Tulio grumbled. "I freaked out. Percy didn't give me any warning and just dunked me! The free-floating and the initial darkness of the water…like it swallowed me…" The demititan shivered. "I panicked and thrashed."
"Oh, I remember now," Annabeth said. "You were suddenly running up the beach, crying. Percy and Espie came after you. I smacked Percy to the next Tuesday when I found out he dunked you like that."
Tulio smirked, but it fell. "Yeah, well, the experience really scared me…Ever since then, I can't go near deep water. Shallows on the beach are fine, and if I'm on a ship, that's okay too. But swimming in the deep end of the pool or going out into deep water…" he shook violently. "I…I just can't."
Espie took his hand. "Aw, Tulio…"
Leo scratched his head. "You never told me you were afraid of deep water."
"I never told anyone," Tulio said in a small voice. "Mostly because the subject of swimming never came up around me. If it did, I would politely refuse to go."
Lacy blinked. She had always loved the water. Being Poseidon's favorite grandchild, she went to the water as much as possible. Her father always helped her with her powers, making sure she'd never feel afraid.
She really couldn't understand how someone could be afraid of water, but she let it go. Everyone's afraid of something, she mused in her head. Mark's afraid of heights. Sammy's afraid of the dark. Bobby hates spiders. I hate clowns. I guess somebody had to be afraid of water…Poor Tulio.
Frank reached across the table and patted Tulio on the shoulder. "You'll be fine. Lacy and I will be with you the whole way."
"I can't breathe underwater," Tulio said flatly. "I won't be much help if I drown."
Frank smiled. "I have an idea on how you can keep up with us." He looked at Leo. "Remember those fish-horse guys back in the Atlantic?"
Leo cocked an eyebrow and smiled. "Yeah. Those brownies were delicious."
"I want a brownie," Jason complained.
"Remember how you, me, and Hazel stayed down there?"
Leo's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh yeah! That was a weird feeling, but I think that might work!"
Lacy cocked her head. "What might work?"
Frank grinned. "Getting Tulio to breathe underwater shouldn't be a problem."
A couple hours later, after practicing what Frank had suggested on Bobby with the tub water, Lacy heard Icarus click and whir on the intercom. Leo then shouted though the corridors, "We've arrived! All hands on deck!"
Lacy rushed upstairs. She went right to the rail and looked down. Annabeth was right behind her. Despite the danger Percy could be in, both Jackson girls smiled. Bobby, who was suddenly next to them, grinned, looking just like his father.
Annabeth chuckled. "It would be here. Percy never shuts up about with jokes when Thalia comes over."
"I love them," Lacy said. "So, after we rescue Dad…I could go for some dam food."
Annabeth laughed. "As long as you get rid of the dam monsters first."
"It's a dam ambush," Bobby said.
"For a dam rescue," their mother finished.
Lacy snickered, looking below once again. She stared at the Hoover Dam with fierce intensity. Somewhere down there, her father was waiting. And so was an ambush of monsters.
Don't worry, Dad, she thought. We're coming to rescue you.
A/N: Those dam jokes...so bad, yet I can't help but smile.
As for Tulio's story about the beach...I think I may write that. I actually already drew a picture of the twins and preggers Calypso at the beach a while back (on my Deviantart, winkekita, if you're interested) so that idea for a story has been floating around my head for a while.
This story has turned out to be more about the Valdez family than anything, hasn't it? That's okay, though. Cause I'm biased towards them anyway. Deal with it.
