First Person: Audrey

After leaving the Pillars of Hercules - unscathed except for a few coconuts that got eaten by the tar Veon had placed - the ship traveled by air for a few hundred miles. The difference in the monster population had increased ten-fold. We were attacked several times an hour. A flock of flesh-eating Stymphalian birds swooped out of the night sky, and Festus torched them. Storm spirits swirled around the mast, and Jason and Zy had to handle them by blasting them or blowing that green mist Zy had learned to control into them. I'm not exactly sure what the green magic of hers did, but it either killed the things or caused them to run away, which was good enough for me. While Coach Hedge was having dinner on the foredeck, a wild pegasus appeared from nowhere, stampeded over the coach's enchiladas, and flew off again, leaving cheesy hoof prints all across the deck.

"What was that for?" The coach demanded.

"I think that was the pegasus version of an attack," I said.

"All enchiladas beware," Veon commented.

"Does that include Enceladus?" Zy asked. I nodded.

"Yep. Enchiladas should be running in terror from the wild pegasus."

Finally, around midnight, after the ninth or tenth aerial attack, Zy and Jason sent Percy and I below deck to get some rest. The two of them would keep blasting stuff for a few more hours, and then we'd go by sea for a while and we could take over. Kaze had been enjoying the fighting, after having to stand down so often, but even he was getting tired, not to mention hungry. We were lucky that the dining hall had plates and such that could summon any food you wanted, because he ate enough for ten people before going to bed.

I dreamed I was in a dark cavern. I could only see a few feet around me, but the space must have been vast. Water dripped from somewhere nearby, and the sound echoed off distant walls. The way the air moved made me suspect that the cave's ceiling was far, far above. There were heavy footsteps, and the twin giants Ephialtes and Otis shuffled out of the gloom. I could distinguish them only by their hair - Ephialtes had the green locks braided with silver and gold coins, while Otis had the purple ponytail braided with…were those fireworks? Otherwise, they were dressed identically, and their outfits definitely belonged in a nightmare. They wore matching white slacks and gold buccaneer shirts with V-necks that showed way too much chest hair. A dozen sheathed daggers lined their rhinestone belts. Their shoes were open-toed sandals, proving that, yes indeed, they had snakes for feet, the straps wrapped around the serpent's necks. The snakes flicked their tongues excitedly and turned their gold eyes in every direction, like dogs looking out the window of a car. Maybe it had been a long time since they'd had shoes with a view. The giants paid me no attention, instead gazing up into the darkness.

"We're here," Ephialtes announced. Despite his booming voice, his words dissipated in the cavern, echoing until they sounded small and insignificant. Far above, something answered.

"Yes, I can see that. Those outfits are hard to miss." The voice sounded vaguely female, but not at all human. Each word was a garbled hiss in multiple tones, as if a swarm of African killer bees had learned to speak English in unison. It wasn't Gaea, I was sure of that, but whatever it was, the twin giants became nervous, shifting on their snakes and bobbing their heads respectfully.

"Of course, Your Ladyship," Ephialtes said. "We bring news of-"

"Why are you dressed like that?" She asked. She didn't seem to be coming any closer, and while I didn't really want to see her, for fear that she may be able to see me even though this was just a dream, I did want to know what we were up against. Emily had said that Annabeth would have to face Arachne, the first spider, and if that voice was anything to go by, I had a feeling that this was her. Ephialtes shot his brother an irritated look.

"My brother was supposed to wear something different. Unfortunately-"

"You said I was the knife thrower today!" Otis protested.

"I said I was the knife thrower! You were supposed to be the magician! Ah, forgive me, Your Ladyship. You don't want to hear us arguing. We came as you requested, to bring you news. The ship is approaching." Arachne made a series of violent hisses like a tire being slashed repeatedly, which I realized was a laugh.

"How long?" She asked.

"They should land in Rome shortly after daybreak, I think," Ephialtes said. "Of course, they'll have to make it past the golden boy." He sneered, as if the golden boy was not his favorite person.

"I hope they arrive safely. It would spoil our fun to have them captured too soon. Are your preparations made?"

"Yes, Your Ladyship." Otis stepped forward, and the cavern trembled. A crack appeared under Otis's left snake.

"Careful, you dolt!" Arachne snarled. "Do you want to return to Tartarus the hard way?" Otis scrambled back, his face slack with terror. The floor, which looked like solid stone, must've been like the glacier back in Alaska - in some places it was solid, in other places…not so much. I'm glad I weigh nothing in my dreams. Then again, I'd want to be able to make this floor crumble and send those damn giants to Tartars for taking Nico, not to mention working with this spider to hurt Annabeth.

"There is little left holding this place together," Arachne cautioned. "Except, of course, my own skill. Centuries of Athena's rage can only be contained so well, and the great Earth Mother churns below us in her sleep. Between those two forces, well…my nest has quite eroded. We must hope this child of Athena proves to be a worthy victim. She may be my last plaything." Ephialtes gulped. He kept his eyes on the crack in the floor.

"Soon it will not matter, Your Ladyship. Gaea will rise, and we all will be rewarded. You will no longer have to guard this place, or keep your works hidden."

"Perhaps. But I will miss the sweetness of my revenge. We have worked well together over the centuries, have we not?" The twins bowed. The coins glittered in Ephialtes's hair, and I realized that some of them were silver drachma, exactly like the one Annabeth had gotten from her mom. Each generation, a few children of Athena were sent on the quest to recover the missing Parthenos statue, and none had ever succeeded. The giant Ephialtes had centuries' worth of coins in his braids - hundreds of trophies. And Annabeth would have to come here into this dark place alone, taking on Arachne, someone who even the giant twins feared.

"Uh, Your Ladyship," Ephialtes said nervously. "I would remind you that Gaea wishes the girl to be taken alive. You can torment her, drive her insane, whatever you wish, of course, but her blood must be spilt on the ancient stones." Arachne hissed.

"Others could be used for that purpose."

"Y-yes," Ephialtes said. "But this girl is preferred. And the boy - the son of Poseidon. You can see why those two would be most suited for the task." Poseidon and Athena, two gods that challenged each other to be the patron of Athens, capital and largest city in Greece, original home of the gods.

"We will see," Arachne grumbled. "Leave me now. Tend to your own preparations. You will have your spectacle. And I…I will work in darkness." The dream dissolved, and I woke in my waterbed. I hopped out and hurried to Emily's room. Jason was heading to his room, looking utterly exhausted, Percy had woken and went to Annabeth's before the two of them went above deck, and Zy and Veon came with me to Emily's while I explained the dream.

"So that's where Annabeth's going," Zy muttered.

"She has to face that spider-woman alone?" Veon asked. "Smarts are cool, brains can beat all kinds of brawn, but we're talking about one of her mom's worst enemies. With the twins too, what makes us think Annabeth can do this? Hundreds of her predecessors died down there, and what's this about returning to Tartarus the hard way?"

"That cavern is a one-way-ticket to Tartarus, simple as that," Zy said, running her hands through her hair. "It's a bit complicated, but going down there doesn't necessarily mean you're dead. Monsters don't die, they just go to Tartarus. If a human were to go down there…well, I'm not sure what would happen. Tartarus is a dangerous place, and even Hades won't claim to fully understand most of its dangers. I'm not sure the soul of a human would make it to Hades if it died down there."

"Annabeth's not going to go down there, right?" Emily asked.

"We can't be sure, but we do know that if she did fall to Tartarus, it's unlikely she'd survive the fall alone, let alone the monsters that are down there. She'd need someone's help."

"But she has to go for the Mark of Athena alone," Audrey said. "Or else the trail doesn't appear or some other crap."

"You have to admit, the fact that one has to go alone for the Parthenon is just stupid," Veon said. "If you really want it recovered, then more people should be allowed to help. If that one-person-only rule didn't apply, the statue might have been recovered ages ago."

"Athena's honor," Zy said simply. "She and her blood have to recover it or she feels like a weakling that needed to ask for help. At least she's willing to ask her demigod children, but another's? That would just hurt. It's bad enough that her statue was stolen and she was dishonored as Minerva, but to have her statue recovered by someone other than herself? No. She has to get it back by herself and restore her both her pride and honor, or it means nothing. There's no use arguing or complaining about it. We just have to work with what we can. I've been practicing my new magic powers and trying to come up with a way to both slow the Romans and defend Camp Half-Blood. I will not let that camp fall. But in the process, I might be able to send some help with Annabeth while still making it so that she's still technically alone."

"Well I should get up to my shift," I said. "How long has it been since we were last attacked?"

"Not since we touched the water."

"Well, that means something extra fun might be coming."

"I'll come too then."

"You've been up all night. You need rest."

"I sense an attack coming. I will not be sitting below deck to be ambushed in my sleep."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yep. Kaze's gotten a pretty good night's rest. I'll get him too. Besides, I have some emergency energy bars that give you a day's worth of energy and sleep. Remember when I gave some to Hylla in case Otrera was to start wearing her down? It's better than any caffeine."

"Just don't strain yourself," Veon muttered.

"No overprotecting. I'm fine." She walked out of the room and back to hers for Kaze. We headed above deck to find Percy and Annabeth talking on the deck. Leo was still manning the helm. He'd refused to go to sleep after the skolopendra incident, even though we'd told him that what happened wasn't his fault. You couldn't blame him, really. Not forgiving yourself for mistakes was the natural trait of a demigod.

It was about four in the morning, and 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, just as miserable as the weather. Zy had given her pills again, but it wasn't a perfect and permanent solution. I looked around. Though the fog was thick, I still had perfect bearings at sea. I knew our exact longitude and latitude, the depth of the ocean and which way the currents were flowing, the ship's speed and the rocks, sandbars or other natural dangers, or lack thereof, in our path. Being blind to the fog was still unnerving despite all that.

There was a difference in the water than before, a more powerful and ancient feeling. I could sense its layers swirling below. 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 also feel them stirring, responding to the Celestial bronze hull of a Greek trireme and the presence of demigod blood. It was kind of weird to think that mortals could just travel over with such ease. Why did we have to have so much trouble with monsters here? The world was modernized, the monsters shouldn't be so thick.

"It's a paradox," Zy said, walking up.

"Hm?" Ve asked.

"This place has little to no demigods, or anything that might tame the number of monsters here, therefore the monsters grow uncontrolled. The large number of monsters keeps the demigods and those that might challenge the beasts away, and so the cycle continues. These days, the entire Mediterranean is surrounded by human towns and such. I visited Italy for kicks back when I was traveling the world, but I learned to stay well away from the Mediterranean, along with the Black Sea. That's why I accidentally ended up going all the way through the south end of Russia before I turned south and headed to China."

"You made it a long way on your own as…how old were you?"

"Don't know. Took years. I know I started at around five and ended around nine, if that answers your question. Not having proper daily nutrients didn't help me much either. Come to think of it, I'm not sure how I made it so far and so long. Even once I came to the States and tried to be modernized, old habits die hard and it took a while for me to be able to eat three actual meals per day. I slept on the floor because beds were uncomfortable, especially after my "orphanage" where they forced me to sleep on a mattress in a bunk. And don't get me started on the educational system. I could only ready kanji at first - Japanese symbols, that is - and romaji - English letters - were just squiggles on a page. All those good times when you could pretend that you didn't know what people were saying or couldn't read that book. Of course, then I discovered fiction and then the rest is history."

"We're not far from the Italian coast," I said. "Maybe a hundred nautical miles to the mouth of the Tiber."

"Then by daybreak we should-" She cut herself off. My skin suddenly felt washed with ice. "Stop. We have to stop."

"Leo, stop!" I shouted. Too late. The other boat appeared out of the fog and rammed us head-on. I tried to take in the details. It was another trireme, black sails pointed with a gorgon's head, hulking warriors, not quite human, crowding at the front of the boat in Greek armor, swords and spears ready, ant a bronze ram at water level, slamming against the hull of the Argo II. Festus blew fire, sending a dozen very surprised warriors screaming and diving into the sea, but more swarmed the Argo II. Kako began to rise out of puddles of tar, grabbing some of the invaders and pulling them under before rising with more and more gloppy monsters. Grappling lines wrapped around the rails and the mast, digging iron claws into the hull's planks.

I couldn't see well through the fog and the dark, but the invaders seemed to be human-like dolphins, or dolphin-like humans. Some had gray snouts, others held their swords in stunted flippers, and some waddled on legs partially fused together, while other had flippers for feet, which reminded me of clown shoes. Leo sounded the alarm bell. He made a dash for the nearest ballista, but went down under a pile of chattering dolphin warriors. Annabeth and Percy were back-to-back a little ways away, while the four of us had our weapons drawn and Kaze was running around slashing at the intruders with his weapon and sending a good deal overboard. The Kako were slow, but they worked well together, cornering some of the dolphin-men and absorbing them into their ranks.

I tried to summon the water to try and knock the enemy ship away, or even capsize it, but it was like there was a lock on the water, and no matter how hard I pulled, I could barely make a ripple. Even with Kaze and the Kako, we were outnumbered. More of the warriors flooded onto the ship, some going downstairs to secure the hull. I heard them breaking down cabin doors, scuffling with the others. Even if the others hadn't been fast asleep, they wouldn't have stood a chance against so many. Some of the dolphins grabbed Kaze's arms, but he shook his arms so fast that they blurred and his captors weren't able to keep their hands on him. He grabbed his shuriken and went speeding off once more, but with the enemy's numbers, he had to resort to running in a circle to avoid getting grabbed and jumped. Zy summoned him back to us, and the Kako began to rise in a defensive circle around us, Percy, and Annabeth as the large number of dolphin-men closed in. Our two groups were forced together, for better or worse, and the Kako were holding the attackers back, at least for now.

Leo was dragged across the deck, half-conscious and groaning. Below, the sounds of fighting tapered off as the others were subdued. 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 their 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. The guy's helmet was slightly unnerving. His 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. Having met gorgons before, the likeness was a little too good. In my dream, I remembered a golden boy being mentioned. This must've been him. Please, not another Midas situation.

"Who are you?" Percy demanded. "What do you want?" The golden warrior chuckled. With a flick of his blade, near faster than I could follow, he smacked Riptide out of Percy's hand and sent it flying into the sea.

"Hello brother." The golden warrior's voice was rich and velvety, with an exotic accent - Middle Eastern, maybe. "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 Annabeth. "Well, that's easy. I want everything you have." Chrysaor walked back and forth, inspecting us like prized cattle. A dozen of his dolphin-man warriors stayed in a ring around us, staying away from the Kako, but their spears raised and ready to attack, while dozens more ransacked the ship, banging and crashing around below deck. One carried a box of ambrosia up the stairs. Another carried an armful of ballista bolts and a crate of Greek fire.

"Careful with that!" Annabeth warned. "It'll blow up both our ships."

"Ha!" Chrysaor said. "We know all about Greek fire, girl. Don't worry. We've been looting and pillaging ships on the Mare Nostrum for eons."

"Your accent sounds familiar," Percy said. "Have we met?"

"I haven't had the pleasure." Chrysaor's golden gorgon mask snarled at him, though it was impossible to tell what his real expression might be underneath. "But I've heard all about you, Percy Jackson. Oh, yes, the young man who saved Olympus. And his faithful sidekick, Annabeth Chase."

"I'm nobody's sidekick," Annabeth growled. "And, Percy, his accent sounds familiar because he sounds like his mother. We killed her in New Jersey." Percy frowned.

"I'm pretty sure that accent isn't New Jersey. Who's his…? Oh. Medusa is your mom? Dude, that sucks for you." Judging from the sound in Chrysaor's throat, he was now snarling under the mask too.

"You are as arrogant as the first Perseus," Chrysaor said. "But yes, Percy Jackson. Poseidon was my father, Medusa was my mother. After Medusa was changed into a monster by that so-called goddess of wisdom…" The golden mask turned on Annabeth. "That would be your mother, I believe…Medusa's two children were trapped inside her, unable to be born. When the original Perseus cut off Medusa's head-"

"Two children sprang out," Annabeth remembered. "Pegasus and you." Percy blinked.

"So your brother is a winged horse. But you're also my half brother, which means all the flying horses in the world are my…you know what? Let's forget it."

"First off, ew," I said. "Why are so many things in Greek history weird like that? Second, have we not had this realization before, Percy?"

"But if you're Medusa's kid, why haven't I ever heard of you?" Percy asked. Chrysaor sighed in exasperation.

"When your brother is Pegasus, you get used to being forgotten. Oh, look, a winged horse! Does anyone care about me? No!" He raised the tip of his blade. "But don't underestimate me. My name means the Golden Sword for a reason."

"Imperial gold?" Veon guessed.

"Bah! Enchanted gold, yes. Later on, Romans called it Imperial gold, but I was the first to ever wield such a blade. I should have been the most famous hero of all time! Since the legend-tellers decided to ignore me, I became a villain instead. I resolved to put my heritage to use. As the son of Medusa, I would inspire terror. As the son of Poseidon, I would rule the seas!"

"You became a pirate," Annabeth summed up.

"The best pirate. I've sailed these waters for centuries, waylaying any demigods foolish enough to explore the Mare Nostrum. This is my territory now, and all you have is mine."

"Know what I have to say to that?" Zy asked. She stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. "'I'm not famous so I'm gonna go be a pirate and live out my Pirates of the Caribbean fantasies.' Well, good for you, bud. Herc-the-jerk tried going the hero route and look where he ended up. We just visited him over yonder way and he was not happy, let me tell you. He was all 'Hera made me kill my first family and then my second wife poisoned me with centaur blood, and now I'm stuck here standing guard over a couple of pillars named after me.' Honestly, you people only get worse with age. In another couple millennia everyone's gonna be just complaining all blah-blah-blah, "my immortal life sucks" and we're all gonna have a bonding session of how all of us are bored with the world, we're gonna try and have a revolution, and all those younglings who've barely been alive for two decades are gonna stop us and we're gonna repeat the cycle all over again until the end of time!" She took a deep breath. "All right, so what were we talking about again?"

"And you are?" Chrysaor asked. She leaned on her bow casually.

"I'm me. You're you. Enough said, bud. I'm getting tired of introducing myself. Once a week is fine with me, but once every few hours is just tiring me out."

"Let me go you tuna fish!" We all looked to see Hedge being dragged up from below by one of the dolphin warriors. He tried to kick the warrior, but his hoof clanged off his captor's armor. Judging from the hoof-shaped prints in the dolphin's breastplate and helmet, the coach had already made several attempts.

"Ah, a satyr," Chrysaor mused. "A little old and stringy, but Cyclopes will pay well for a morsel like him. Chain him up."

"I'm nobody's goat meat!" Hedge protested.

"Gag him as well," Chrysaor decided.

"Up-bup-bup," Zy said. She pointed to the dolphin warriors like a mother scolding her child. "Nope. Release him. Any sensible Cyclops wouldn't want that satyr, trust me." Hedge opened his mouth to protest, but Zy closed her fingers in a claw kind of way and his voice was cut off. "None of that. Just please sit still and be quiet, or I'll make you." She pointed to the dolphins and they began to glow with her light green energy before moving away from Hedge. Hedge glowed too, and suddenly he was frozen like someone had hit stop on the TV. "So, where were we?"

"Who are you, witch?"

"Ah, witch. I've been called a heathen, and a demon, but how many times have I been called a witch? Hm. Anyway, I'm your worst nightmare, and believe me, I make Tartarus look like a toddler. Ask your dolphin boys who are trying to get into my room now. The walls of that room can take a nuclear blast with barely a smudge mark. I must say, they are a…weird choice of company."

"My warriors have been trained to perfection. They are vicious, cutthroat-"

"They're dolphins, my friend." Chrysaor shrugged.

"Yes. So? They had some bad luck a few millennia ago, kidnapped by the wrong person. Some of their crew got turned completely into dolphins, others went mad, but these…these survived as hybrid creatures. When I found them under the sea and offered them a new life, they became my loyal crew. They fear nothing!" One of the warriors chattered at him nervously. "Yes, yes," He growled. "They fear one thing, but it hardly matters. He's not here."

"Of all the people to fear," Zy muttered, unintimidated. More dolphin warriors climbed the stairs, hauling up the rest of the crew. Jason was unconscious, but judging from the new bruises on his face, he'd tried to fight. Hazel and Piper were bound hand and foot, and Piper had a gag in her mouth, so apparently, the dolphins had discovered she could charm speak. Frank was the only one missing, though two of the dolphins had bee stings covering their faces.

"Excellent!" Chrysaor gloated. He directed his warriors to dump Jason by the crossbows. Then he examined the girls like they were Christmas presents, making my grit my teeth. I saw that the entire deck was turning black with tar, but with the light and the fog, it was hard to tell. "The boy is no use to me. But we have an understanding with the witch Circe. She will buy the women - either as slaves or trainees, depending on their skill. But not you, lovely Annabeth." Annabeth recoiled.

"You are not taking me anywhere." Percy's hand crept into his pocket for his pen that must've reappeared by now. The golden warrior tutted.

"Oh, sadly, Annabeth, you will not be staying with me. I would love that. But you and your friend Percy are spoken for. A certain goddess is paying a high bounty for your capture - alive, if possible, though she didn't say you had to be unharmed." At that moment, Piper wailed so loudly it could be heard through her gag. Then she fainted against the nearest guard, knocking him over. Hazel got the idea and crumpled to the deck, kicking her legs and thrashing like she was having a fit. Percy drew Riptide and lashed out. The blade should have gone straight through Chrysaor's neck, but the golden warrior was unbelievably fast. He dodged and parried as the dolphin warriors backed up, guarding the other captives while giving their captain room to battle. They chattered and squeaked, egging him on, and I got the feeling they saw this as more of entertainment, they didn't believe their leader was in any sort of danger.

They battled back and forth, thrusting and parrying, and I saw Zy scowl as though she'd had a plan ruined. She sighed and hefted her bow into her right hand, so clearly she had little to no intention of shooting an actual arrow. The warm fog, the slick deck boards, the chattering of the warriors - none of that helped Percy. One of the dolphin-men was holding a knife at Annabeth's throat in case she tried anything tricky. Zy looked unconcerned by the precarious situation, and signaled for us to not interfere yet. Percy feinted and thrust at Chrysaor's gut, but Chrysaor anticipated the move. He knocked Percy's sword out of his hand again, and once more, Riptide flew into the sea. Chrysaor laughed easily. He wasn't even winded. He pressed the tip of his golden sword against Percy's sternum.

"A good try," Said the pirate. "But now you'll be chained and transported to Gaea's minions. They are quite eager to spill your blood and wake the goddess."

"Whelp, time to do something then," Zy said. She suddenly shot forward and smacked Chrysaor's sword away from Percy with her bow. "Everyone, please do try and restrain yourself from doing anything stupid." I pulled Percy out of the battle ring that had been made. "Now, I haven't gotten much chance to use this bow yet." She spun it in her hand similar to a sword. "You're practically the Mediterranean Lityerses, you know? Covered in enough gold to be Midas's son, and Lit was called the Reaper of Men, meaning he was pretty good with a sword too. I wonder who'd win in a fight with the two of you. Now that would be fun to watch. I'm pretty sure, since he's human, he'd eventually lose, but still. A goddess can wonder, can't she? Now, where were we?"

"What are you playing at?"

"Oh, nothing. I just want to see what kind of fighter you are. You see, my little buddy over there can fight at the speed of sound on an average basis. So do you think you pose a challenge to me?" She twisted her bow in her hand so that the bowstring was against her arm. Then she shot forward and swung her bow like a sword, Chrysaor parrying. She spun around and struck again, though she didn't seem surprised when he blocked once more. She kept on the assault, forcing Chrysaor to back up to gather his bearings. When he began to strike back at his blinding speed, Zy easily countered his strikes, hitting them with her bow as though every move had been planned between them previously. Her bow had the advantage of reach, as it was near twice the length of Chrysaor's sword and allowed her twice the mobility, only having to turn her bow less than 180 degrees at most to block a strike. That, plus the fact that it could be used both offensively and defensively at once. Since she knew how to use her bow so well, she fought with a straight face, as though she was bored, actually.

Despite her ability to handle herself against the main man, we were still outnumbered by his crew. They said they had been afraid of one thing, a he, and if the stories that I'd been told back at Camp Half-Blood were true, I think I knew who they were talking about. So these dolphin-men had been pirates millennia ago, when they had been kidnapped by "the wrong person." Heck, the same "wrong person" in question had threatened to turn Percy into a dolphin, but according to Percy, he was just too lazy to do it. With a glance toward the stern, I spotted Frank, in human form, peeking out from behind a ballista, waiting. The big guy claimed to be clumsy and useless, but he always seemed to be in exactly the right place when we needed him.

"Oops, sorry, Chrysler," Zy said. I looked back to the fight to see that she smacked Chrysaor in the face with her bow, and his helmet had consequently hurt him, even if it had protected him from getting smacked with her seemingly innocent yet very deadly bow shaft. She spun the bow in her hand like a baton, walking around her opponent as though they were simply in a training match. His stunned state would be easy to take advantage of, but she must've wanted to play dumb or something.

"Oh, you'll pay for that." Chrysaor charged again and she smirked before blocking with her bow and pushing him back. Then she charged in and they resumed their dance. The dolphin warriors were now studying the battle with less enjoyment, seeing that their leader was facing a real threat. There was a moment when Zy got struck on the cheek, and suddenly that seemed to renew the spirits of the troops. Zy looked to the sides, as if just realizing there were others around us. She understood that even if she could handle Chrysaor, the sheer numbers of his crew would still be a slight problem when it came to protecting the others.

"You won't be taking us, our captain won't let you," She said loudly, going into acting-mode and making sure those that knew her understood she wasn't serious. Chrysaor looked to her, probably feeling as though he had the upper hand now that he'd gotten a little cut onto her.

"What captain? My men searched the ship. There is no one else." She raised her hand dramatically.

"The god appears only when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our camp for us demigods, doesn't he?"

"Yes!" Annabeth said, nodding enthusiastically. "Mr. D! The great Dionysus!" A ripple of unease passed through the dolphin-men, one dropping his sword.

"Stand fast!" Chrysaor bellowed. "There is no god on this ship. They are trying to scare you."

"You should be scared!" Percy said, looking over the pirate crew with sympathy. "Dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girl's falling into the wine god's madness?" Hazel and Piper had stopped the shaking fits, but when Percy gave them a pointed look, they started hammering it up again, trembling and flopping around like fish. The dolphin-men fell over themselves trying to get away from their captives.

"Fakes!" Chrysaor roared. "Shut up, Percy Jackson. Your camp director is not here. He was recalled to Olympus. This is common knowledge."

"So you admit Dionysus is our director!" I pointed out.

"He was," Chrysaor corrected. "Everyone knows that." Zy gestured to the golden warrior like he'd just betrayed himself.

"You see?" She asked dramatically. "We are doomed! If you don't believe me, look to the ice chest!" Percy stormed over to the magical cooler, and no one tried to stop him. He knocked open the lid and rummaged through the ice. He then brandished a silver-and-red can of soda at the dolphin warriors as if spraying them with bug-repellent.

"Behold!" Percy shouted. "The god's chosen beverage! Tremble before the horror of Diet Coke!" The dolphin-men began to panic, and they were on the edge of retreat.

"The god will take your ship!" I warned. "He will finish your transformation into dolphins, or make you insane, or transform you into insane dolphins!"

"Your only hope is to retreat now, quickly!" Emily added, and I could tell she was pushing her influence through her words because I suddenly felt the urge to jump ship and retreat.

"Ridiculous!" Chrysaor's voice turned shrill. He didn't seem sure where to level his sword - at Zy or his own crew.

"Save yourselves!" Emily shouted. "It's too late for us!" I gasped dramatically and pointed to where Frank was hiding.

"Oh, no! Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!" Nothing happened. "I said, Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!" Frank stumbled out of nowhere, making a big show of grabbing his throat.

"Oh, no!" He said, like he was reading from a teleprompter. "I'm turning into a crazy dolphin!" He began to change, his nose elongating into a snout, his skin becoming sleek and gray. He fell to the deck as a dolphin, his tail thumping against the boards. The pirate crew disbanded in terror, chattering and clicking as they dropped their weapons, forgot the captives, ignored Chrysaor's orders, and jumped overboard. Within seconds, Chrysaor was alone and surrounded.

"So, care to continue our match?" Zy asked, pointing her bow like a sword. The Kako spread in a semicircle, the other demigods in front of them with murderous looks that made up for the lack of weapons. Chrysaor backed to the edge of the rail.

"This isn't over, Jackson," He growled. "I will have my revenge-" He was cut short by Kaze, who threw his shuriken at Chrysaor's face at the speed of sound. It swiped across Chrysaor's face, raking off the golden mask of his helmet. Chrysaor screamed, instantly covering his face with his arms and tumbling into the water. We ran to the rail, but Chrysaor had disappeared. I thought about chasing him, but these waters were unfamiliar, and I didn't think I had the prowess to defeat him even if Percy came with me. Kaze shouted something that must've been insulting based on his tone. He blew a raspberry at the water where Chrysaor had disappeared before throwing a round sphere into the water. There was an explosion, causing a pillar of water to shoot into the air. Another blast happened in succession, about five happening in all. Neko jumped onto his shoulder and blew a mechanical raspberry as well, which inspired some laughter from the group.

"Whelp, that was fun," Zy said. "You're all natural actors. Now, what are we to do with this pirate trireme?"

"Burn it?" Annabeth suggested. I looked to the Diet Coke in Percy's hand before taking it.

"You know something? I think I've got a better idea."